Sketch Saturday #44 & 'Huggles' Kadoodle Candy

Hi folks!
It's Saturday and time for another one of Jo's fabulous sketches over on Sketch Saturday. Lots of lovely circles on this one. The Craft Barn are sponsoring this weeks challenge and the prize is, not one but, two splendid Whiff of Joy stamps. Our Guest DT, Dawn, has made a beautiful card to inspire you as have the rest of the Design Team so don't forget to visit their blogs for an abundance of creative ideas.

For this card I used Papermania designer papers from their 'Sweet Nothings' range. I added iridescent sequins to some of the dots on the patterned paper. The ribbon is by American crafts. I cut the circle and scalloped circle using my Nestabilities. I then embossed the lilac layer using my Cuttlebug and lightly inked with Crimson copper Brilliance ink. The fabric flower was a bit if a find. I was in my local Sainsbury's yesterday and they had reduced their Mother's Day lines. In amongst the chocolate and scented candles were a couple of kits to be made up as flower garlands for mum. The kit was £1.24 reduced from £4.99 and contained about 20 fabric flowers, in 4 colours, 1 yard of pink ribbon, some glitter glue, thread and a bag of sequins. Great value! (I just had to have it) I have layered the fabric flower with a felt flower cut with my Cuttlebug and finished off with a plastic pink dot (not sure what these are called) I cut the sentiment with Go-Kreate dies. The stamp, coloured in with Koi watercolours, is one of my own designs available at The Craft Barn. 'Huggles' is also being offered as Blog Candy on the Kadoodle blog this week.

That's enough rambling from me. Have a great weekend.

Ciao for now!

Sandra xx

Cute Little Hanglar Girl and some Awards!

Hi folks!

Boy has this card taken a long time to make! I'm afraid the cute little Hanglar girl is still having a 'bad hair day'... oh well, I won't dwell on it too much. I followed the sketch on Truly Scrumptious, a great design that I'm sure I'll use again. I also had this weeks Cuttlebug Spot challenge in mind which is 'Celebrate Spring' but I think this card has rolled into Summer... let's say late Spring then ;o)

The papers, ribbon and brad are all from a QVC Bo Bunny kit. I used my Martha Stewart Doily punch along a couple of the papers. I made the large flower using a Sizzix die. I glittered the Cuttlebug embossed panel so that birds and vines would be more prominent. I coloured the image with Copics, koi watercolours and twinkling H2O's. I finished the card off with black self adhesive pearls in the corners. I do hope you like the card... still not sure if it's blog-worthy.

Some Awards!

The wonderful Poppy has given me a Hug and a Lemonade.... just what I needed this afternoon. Thank you!!

I would like to pass these awards to:

Chris

Ruby

Heike

Ria

Tracie

Mariska

Mandy

Jo

Jeanette

Gill

Debbie

Coco

Jacqui

Marlene

Ciao for now!

Sandra xx

Hanglar Cutie Challenge Card

Hi folks!!

Hope all you Mum's out there enjoyed your day yesterday :o) I managed to squeeze in some crafting time towards the end of the day and this is what I came up with. I followed the sketch over on Friday Sketchers. Colour Create have another great combo to use. I tried ever so hard not to use designer papers but I just had to give in to this piece of K&Co, it was too perfect for the Navy, Lime and Turquoise combo. It did make me get my embossing powders out, which is great for me as I haven't used them in ages (lost my heat tool in the craft room 'move' back in November... have just replaced it). Don't know about you but the card I'm working on is always my favourite, so I'm hoping it's ok to enter this one to The Saturday Challenge who are asking for card made with your favourite colour.

I stamped and embossed the first layer with a swirl stamp (those foam ones from QVC) the embossing powder is by Debbie Moore. There is a strip of vellum over the K&Co patterned paper which I punched using the Martha Stewart Doily punch. I embossed the blue panel with my Cuttlebug. I used Co-ordinations and so was able to sand it to reveal the core colour. I coloured theHanglar image (hope you like it Heike ;o) using distress inks (for the first time), my koi watercolours and glitter. Was a I had to cut his antennae off, so I made him, some new ones with wire and a couple of blobs of liquid pearls. I layered a button on more card. The leaves were also in my button box. Lastly the sentiment is K&Co.

Have just noticed I forgot to give this poor chappy his rosey cheeks... Doh!

Hope you like the card,

Ciao for now!
Sandra xx

Made on Demo Day

Hi folks!!

Please excuse my lack of coming to visit all you lovely crafters and leaving comments on your blogs. I have been so busy with family commitments. My eldest is on a residential school trip to an outdoor adventure centre (cannot believe the amount of 'stuff' he had to take!) so I should be back on form this week as I only have the twins gorgeous hubby here.

Anyway, enough about me. Here are some snaps I took at The Craft Barn of one of the cards I made last Saturday. It was great to be in the shop. I just love talking to people that share my passion for craft. I was thrilled to meet the uber talented Debby. I think she survived the big bear hug I gave her (sorry Debby, Couldn't help it.... was soooo excited to meet you!) I also met Ruby of Ruby 2 Shoes, another exciting and vibrant crafter... just check out her blog! (edit: thank goodness for spell check, or you would have been checking out her bog!) As well as lots more lovely ladies and gentlemen including Marie (*waves*) I think she actually lives at the shop and just goes home to sleep....only joking ;o)

For this card I used Basic Grey papers and some pink and brown Co-ordinations card. I embossed the pink panel with my Cuttlebug. The flowers were punched inked, curled, glued and finished off with a self adhesive pearl. I nabbed the Butterfly sentiment from the bit box in The Craft Barn Studio. I didn't have my QK flourishes with me so I used my Cuttlebug corner and double heart dies. Just a snip here and there and a little repositioning. The curly heart made the cute swirls at the bottom of the flower. The stamped images were Whiff of Joy. These are available to buy at The Craft Barn. I have coloured them with Coloursoft pencils, Sansodor and paper stumps.

Don't forget that that this week Kadoodle have Blog Candy that's very easy to enter.
Hope the sun is shining where you are.

Ciao for now,

Sandra xx

Sandra Dry Digi Stamps is now Open!!

Hi folks!!

The fairies have finally landed. Sandra Dry Digi Stamps is now officially open!! Hop on over to see the Rosabella Fairy collection. I hope some of them will flitter and flutter their way by magical digi dust to your house.

For this card I followed a few challenges. The sketch over on Mojo Monday is another cute one which was fun to follow. Cupcake Craft Challenges has the theme of Spring this week. A little fairy with fresh flowers in her hair remind me of Springtime. The Cuttlebug Spot is challenging us to use embossed Serendipity's (see their blog for a tutorial). I have embossed my Serendipity panel, alas my photography skills are not advanced enough to pick it up for you. It's a pretty simple card. Lots of layers adhered with glue gel to add dimension. The papers are K&Co. The sentiment, from Crafters Companion has been cut with deckle edge scissors, matted and cut again. Then I shaped it to produce quite deep undulations and adhered with dimensional glue gel. Rosabella Sitting, has been coloured in using promarkers and glitters. I also highlighted the embossing by painting with cosmic shimmer Aurora Sparkle glitter paint. I finished of with a knotted ribbon.
That's all for now
Hugs
Sandra xx

Truly Scrumptious Challenge 2

Hi Folks!

A quickie card from me today. I needed a card as my twins were off to their friend Alfie's bouncy castle party yesterday. So I turned to the great sketch over on the Truly Scrumptious challenge blog for some inspiration. None of my usual little details on it but works fine as a card for a little boy.

For this card I used DCWV patterned papers and textured cardstock. I just cut a series of squares using my guillotine, inked the edges and layered them up. The circle and scalloped circle are cut using my Nestabilities and then embossed using my Cuttlebug. I knotted some ribbon and adhered to the circle using dimensional glue gel. I stamped Edwin (a Magnolia stamp) and coloured him with Koi watercolours. He has been closely cut out, shaped a little and also adhered with glue gel. I cut the name using my Sizzlet alphabet 'Night and day'. That's pretty much it.

For those of you waiting on news of my Digi-download site, I'm still working on it. It's taking a little longer than expected. Just wish there were more hours in the day! I'll keep you posted. Thank you so much for hanging on in there :o)

Hugs,
Sandra xx

New Look Blog & Bobo kickin' back

Hi Folks!!

What do you think of my New Look Blog? It as all courtesy of my fabulous friend Christine. I couldn't have done it without you...thank you, Thank You, THANK YOU!!!!

For this card I followed the sketch over on Cutie Sunday. It's a great one if you are partial to circles. I have used one of my new stamps available at The Craft Barn called Kickin Back. I wanted to create a dreamy, floaty feel hence the calm serene colour pallet. The designer paper is Cosmo Cricket. I have inked the edges with blue brilliance ink pad. I stamped and coloured the image with my Koi watercolours; cut it out with my scalloped circle Nestabilities and inked the edges with black ink. I cut a two vellum circles with Nesties, embossed them with my Cuttlebug. I adhered using wacky tack and added a little glitter glue to the velum. This did crinkle the vellum slightly but I quite like the effect. It glistens much more in real life. The sentiment is die cut using the Amsterdam Go-Kreate die adhered to a metal rimmed tag which has been threaded with ribbon. I finished off the card with white brads in the corners.

My new Digi-Download-Design blog is near completion...I'll keep you posted regards the launch!! (I'm soooo excited..... can you tell? :o)

Hugs
Sandra xx

21st Birthday Card & Award

Hi folks!!

I made this card for my niece's boyfriend who recently celebrated his 21st birthday. I followed sketch over on Lili of the Valley Challenge blog. Quite an imaginative sketch which was fun to use.

The backing papers/card/glitterboard are from my stash mountain.... sorry but I can't remember where they are from. I have used my Cuttlebug to emboss two of the panels. I have coloured Edwin (Magnolia) using a mixture of Copics and koi watercolours. I have not been able to pick it up on the photos but I have added glitter to the glasses. The '21' is die cut using a Cuttebug alphabet and i added the name 'Steve' which is cut using the Go-kreate 'London' alpha. I attached the ribbon with a star brad. I added most of the elements with glue gel to add dimension.

An Award

Huge thanks to Pamela for this wonderful award. I am delighted and honoured that you like the cards on my blog.

I have to pass this award on to 10 people.... here goes:

Chris over on Sketching Stamper

Mariska over on Sending you a little smile

Jeanette over on Happy thoughts and inkspots

Jacqui over on Cats whiskers

Joey over on Joeys world of stuff

Heike over on kreative-stempelwelt

Debby over on A Scrapjourney

Kim over on Cards by Kim

Poppet over on Poppet's Place

Janet over on Pink Gem

Thank you so much for the wonderful inspiration ladies
Hugs
Sandra xx

A Multi Challenge Card

Hi folks!
For this card I have followed the sketch over on Friday Sketchers and incorporated the theme of 'Spring has Sprung' which can be found on The Saturday Challenge blog. I thought this little Hanglar girl would be perfect for the theme, and so the card evolved. It Also had a lot of Glitter and is quite 'blingy' so I thought it would be perfect for this weeks 'All that Glitters' challenge over on The Pink Elephant.

The papers are DCWV, from Nana's kids stack. The design had some really cute little pink ladybirds on it. The papers are glittered and quite sparkly but I couldn't catch that on the photo. I used my Nestabilities to cut the oval and scallop. I then embossed the oval with my Cuttlebug.
The flowers are Prima with some added punched flowers in the middle and finished off with a brad. The flourishes off the flowers are a Quickutz revolution die.

I coloured the little Hanglar with mixed media. For the flesh and green tones I used Promarkers, her cheeks are chalked, the pink tones are koi watercolours but I felt they looked a bit flat so I covered with translucent glitter. All except for the pink heart and the black dots to which I added glossy accents. The Key is coloured with a silver galaxy marker and I made the highlights with a white uni-ball signo pen.

I finished the card off with a Papermania butterfly (freebie from magazine) and some pink gems.

You should have seen the state of my craft table when I had all that lot out!! :oO

Have fun crafting!

Hugs

Sandra xx

Sketch Saturday #38. Sponsors - 'The Craft Barn'

Hi folks!

Saturday has rolled around again and Jo had provided another wonderful sketch to play with over on Sketch Saturday. This weeks sponsors are The Craft Barn. I am thrilled to say that the winner of this weeks challenge will receive Dan & Daisy, both part of the Kadoodle range (which is exclusive to The Craft Barn) and both designed by me! I hope you like them :o) Please be sure to check out all the wonderful designs by my fellow DT, another mixed bag with inspiration for everyone.

I had a comic strip in mind when making this card. I wanted Daisy to be thinking about Dan ( like the comic strip thought bubbles) and of course she had a huge crush on him, hence the heart shapes and all the doodles.
The patterned paper is Hot Off The Press. The notepaper down the side I cut using a Sizzix die from cardstock. I doodled the Daisy & Dan messages onto it before adhering to black card using glue gel to add dimension. The blue circle is cut from funky foam using my Nestabilities. The heart and scalloped heart are from the Doodlebug Cricut Cartridge. I then embossed the white heart using my Cuttlebug. Both the characters have been coloured using my Koi watercolours. I finished the card off with tiny hand tied bows for Daisy's plaits, a button in the shape of an apple and some red gems.
This card took quite a while to make but I had a picture in my head as to what it should look like. I'm quite pleased with the results.
Hope you are able to join us in this weeks challenge.
Hugs
Sandra xx

Sketch Saturday #37 and Simply Cards & Papercraft

Hi folks!
Hope you are all well and keeping warm. Please excuse my lack of blogging this week. I had a V.I.P. crafting buddy visiting, the super talented Christine Dark *waves* Crafting was put on hold and 'Project Clean Up' took over. ( I think we passed the inspection ;o)

It's DT week over on Sketch Saturday and Jeanette is looking after us all with a wonderful and very versatile sketch. Denise from Whimsy Stamps, is this weeks sponsor and will be sending the lucky winner two of her February new release stamps. Hop along to the Sketch Saturday Challenge blog to see the wonderful cards made by my fellow DT and Denise.



I knew the colours I wanted to use for this card straight away and was pleased when I found these Bo Bunny papers in my stash. They work perfectly with my 'Toadstool Drake' image. He has been coloured in with my Koi watercolours and his wings have been glittered. I cut the circles using my new 'We R Memory Keepers' circle cutter... which I have to say I'm really impressed with. I used my Cuttlebug to emboss the cream circle and chalks to highlight the detail. These little wooden ladybirds have been in my stash for years so much so that the adhesive dot at the back wasn't sticky! My trusty glue gel soon sorted that out.

********Stop Press*********Exciting News*********
Issue 55 of Simply Cards and Papercrafts magazine is out today and I've designed a card, using my Kadoodle squaw for the supplement. It's actually on the cover too... and page 5.... and page 82 (can you tell I'm excited!?!) I can't wait to show my little girl, Isabelle, as I've used her photo for the matching photo frame.
Please let me know what you think.
Take Care
Hugs
Sandra xx

Ismaki Challenge & Demo Day!

Hi Folks!!
You'll have to excuse me today... I'm being a manic mum (shouldn't really be on the pooter) But just had to share with you that I'll be demoing at The Craft Barn tomorrow. I'll be taking this card and more pieces of the 'be mine collection' don't miss out.... come and craft with me.
More details about this card, awards and New Digi shop opening later...


** Hi again folks...

A little more detail about this card.
I followed this weeks Ismaki Sketch Challenge. I found this one a little difficult but I'm pleased with the results. The backing paper has been in my stash for a long time, I think it's DCWV. I have used the 'Divine Swirls' and Swiss Dots' Cuttlebug embossing folders. I have also used my Rectangle and scalloped rectangle Nestabilities. I cut the circles with a large sizzix die (it's been a long time since I used any of those) The sentiment is a Go-Kreate alphabet, 'Amsterdam' and the hearts are Cuttlebug. The beautiful lady is my very own 'Petunia', she's part of the Kadoodle range available at The Craft Barn. I coloured her with Derwent coloursoft pencils and Glitter.

My good friend Christine Dark has opened her own Digi Download site... You'll find it if you click Here. I do not need to tell you how talented Chris is as I'm sure you already know. Her designs are B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L and very reasonably priced. Hop on over and feast your eyes... then fill your baskets!
Pop back here tomorrow if you'd like to see how I've used 'Bearing Love'

The following is an award that I was given by Heike, thank you so much for thinking of me.

The rules of this award are:
1). Post a link of the person who gave you this award.
2). Nominate 5 other people and give a link to their sites
3). Let your nominators know that they got an award from you.
4). Put a logo of the award on the blog.

Here are my 5 gorgeous lovies who encourage and inspire me..... Thanks ladies!

1. Chris
2. Poppet
3. Jo
4. Sandra
5. Jacqui

Hugs
Sandra xx

Sketch Saturday #34

Hello folks!
It's Saturday......it's Sketch Saturday Challenge time again. Jo has come up with another fun Sketch, all those lovely layers to work with. 'Fun' is what I had in mind when I stamped the gorgeous Primrose. 'Aint she a beauty!! Be sure to check out all the wonderful designs my fellow DT have come up with.
My fun card has been made with DCWV papers and card. I think the eyelets came with my Big Bite. I used the Cuttlebug to emboss the circle layer and my Nestabilities to cut out the circles and scallop circles. I coloured in Primrose (from the Kadoodle range) using Derwent coloursoft pencils for her skin (didn't come out too well in the photos... I think my photography is getting worse not better... help!) I used a mixture of twinkling H2O's and cosmic shimmer watercolours for here attire and I finished off with cream pearlidoodles for the ice-cream.
I hope Primrose brings a little Sunshine to your day.
Please join me in saying farewell to Emma who is stepping down from Sketch Saturday DT. I am sure you will agree that her work is truly inspirational. It was great working with you Emma and I hope that you will have more time in the future to enjoy your craft again. Miss you!
Hugs
Sandra xx
** I forgot to add that I die cut the letters using Go Kreate dies, London alphabet. I used some fab stuff. Do you remember 'sticky backed plastic'? Well this is 'sticky back velour' lovely stuff. It's like the cheats version of flocking. (I got mine at Hobbycraft)**

Sketch Saturday #30

Hi folks!

Christmas is nearly here... I'm so excited (am just a big kid really) and I would like to wish you all a wonderful Christmas and new year.

Jo has provided another stunning sketch this week over on Sketch Saturday and my fellow DT have come up trumps again with some gorgeous and varied creations.

For my card I turned the sketch. I have used K&Co papers and American craft ribbons. I embossed the uppermost panel using my Cuttlebug and embossing folder. The image is Hanglar & Stanglar and I have coloured her using my Prismas, Sansodor and paper stumps. I like lots of dimension on my cards and have used glue gel to adhere the layers and image.

Again I wish you all a magical Christmas and New Year.

Have fun and take care of each other.

Hugs

Sandra xx