Donna's Delightful Dare U 2 Digi Stamp Sketch

Hi folks!

It's Friday!!!! Dare U 2 Digi Stamp day and a delightful sketch from our very own Donna.  What a pleasure it has been working with this sketch.  Thank you Sweetie.  Also introducing 'Yolanda and Daddy' available soon from my Digi-Stamp Blog along with her brother Leo.

As well as following Donna's sketch I let Colour Create choose my colour scheme and I must say I really enjoyed using this combo.  The Background card is the totally yummy Co-Ordinations 'white wash' card that I embossed with a Fiskars embossing plate then distressed. The Brown card is by DCWV.  The ribbons and paper trim are a combination of American crafts and Doodlebug.  The flowers I cut with my fav Sizzix die.  I coloured the image in with a combination of Copics (for the skin) and Koi water colours (for the clothes). I finished off the the card with some pink self adhesive pearls and 'Go-Kreate' die cut letters.

I'll see you tomorrow for a really special Sketch Saturday Anniversary Celebration!!

Ciao for now!

Sandra x

A card for Grandpa & ' I can't believe I won!'

Hi folks!

Here's my card for this weeks Sketch Saturday challenge.  It's another fabulous sketch by the talented Jo.  Sponsoring us this week is 'Victoria Case Art Design'.  Do hop on over to see the lovely prize and to feast your eyes on the wonderful cards by my fellow DT and of course our fabulous GDT Janneke.  Next week we're celebrating our first Anniversary , we'd love you to join in with the celebrations!

I made this card for my father-in-law from my kiddies.  I have used some leather from the swatch that he gave me once they had finished choosing their new suite.  He is so thoughtful always on the look out for things I may find useful in my card making.  I used a DCWV embossed card which I coloured using chalks and Cosmic Shimmer mist.  I got my needle and thread out hand stitched the rectangle. The Whiff of Joy chair and Magnolia Edwin are coloured using Koi water colour paints.  I finished the card of with some decorative brads and rub on letters from K&Co.

My HUGE news for the day is.......

 

I'm on cloud nine to think that my card was chosen to be the first 'Card of the Month' at Just Magnolia.  I can't thank them enough for choosing it.  I'm so excited to be able to display my new blinkie.  Thank you again!

Ciao for now

Sandra x 

Gorjuss Girlies

Hi folks!!  

Have finally got round to inking up these Gorjuss Girlies.  Tried to keep things simple on this card.  Followed the sketch from Mojo Monday. Colour Create wants us to use Blue & Green, The Pink Elephant has challenged us to use the same combo with the addition of white.  The theme over on A Spoon Full of Sugar is buttons.  You may need a magnifying glass for mine but I have added a tiny one to the sentiment (lost about half a dozen in the process!)   

The paper and sentiment are from K& Co, the punch is a Martha Stewart border punch and I have used a combination of Koi Water colours and Copic markers to colour the Gorjuss Girls. It's much more sparkly in real life with the blue foiling on the backing paper and the touch of glitter on each girl.

Please take a mo to scroll down and see my newly released 'Holy Communion Boy & Girl' digi stamps. Thank you!

Ciao for now ;o)

Sandra x

Hi folks!

There are lots of birthdays in May...I made this card for one of my DT buddies who celebrates her birthday today! HaPpY bIrThDaY *Kim*

I followed the sketch over on Papertake Weekly and am entering this card to the Spoon full of Sugar Challenge who have asked for 'touchy-feely' cards. I have used Imaginisce papers. The red and white polka dot paper has a lovely glossy sheen to it. In contrast I have die cut (Quickutz) fuzzy velour decorative corners. There is also some satin ribbon on my design and lastly a soft layer of mulbery paper behind the main image. The rubber stamp is my own design, 'Home Sweet Home', and is available exclusively at The Craft Barn. I coloured the image with Koi water colours and finished it off with some glitter for Loupy Lou's fairy wings.
Ciao for now!
Sandra xx

Sketch Saturday #50, Birthday Wishes

Hi folks!

A different sized card than my usual square card today. This one is an A5 card and I made it for my fellow DT Buddy *Wendy* who celebrated a special birthday yesterday.

The sketch is by the talented Jo for The Sketch Saturday Challenge. There is a smashing prize up for grabs. A $25 voucher for Simon Says Stamps could be yours if you are the lucky winner. Don't forget to check out all the fab crafty makes by the Sketch Saturday Design Team.

For my card I have used papers from the huge Cosmo Cricket set from QVC. The stamp is a Penny Black, I have coloured it in with my trusty Koi water colours. I have used a Martha Stewart border punch and the scallop blade for my carl trimmer to create the ornate border. The sentimement is Hot Off The Press. I finished off the card with some paper roses with green ribbon looped and adhered to suggest leaves. The ornate corners are die cut Cuttlebug shapes. You can hardly see them but I squeezed some three dimensional pearl paint onto the teddy's neck lace and the girls buttons.

If you would like to see some more detail to my cards then feel free to click on the picture to enlarge it.

Ciao for now!

Sandra x

Dare U 2 make a child smile this week

Hi folks!
This weeks challenge over on Dare U 2 Digi Stamp is all about Gingham and stitching. We're being sponsored by Post Pals (more about that in a mo) and there is a fabby prize on offer. If you like Martha Stewart's punches, then hop on over to the blog to see which one is up for grabs.
My card features Rosabella & Drake, they have been coloured in with Koi water colours and their wings have been glittered. The gingham paper is from a Joanna Sheen pack I've had for a long time. I hand stitched the swirls and added the butterfly button. I used a Martha Stewart punch to create the doily border.

As part of the challenge this week. We have been asked to send our cards to one of the children on Post Pals. I have chosen to send mine to Bethany B Bethany is in the process of transferring to Adult services. I work with adults with severe learning and physical disabilities and so was naturally drawn to Bethany's story.
I hope you will be able to join in with the challenge this week and brighten a child's day.
Have a great weekend
Sandra xx

Thank Heaven for You....

Hi folks!

Phew, what a weekend.... lots of working and driving kiddies to and from grandparents.  What would I do without m'Ma & Pa??  Hope you all had a lovely weekend and the weather didn't spoil your plans too much.

My card today is a multi-challenge card.  The Sketch is by the lovely Bev for Just Magnolia challenge,  the Saturday Challenge wants to see Flowers, Charisma Cards has a theme of 'Thank You' this week and Cute Card Thursday would like us to use something shiny for their 'Mirror, Mirror' theme.

I know I have only recently made a card with these Imagininsce papers, they were still on my desk and crying out to be used on this card.  I have also used my Nestabilities, Martha Stewart border punch and Doodlebug paper frills.  The swirl in the corner is an adhesive sheet, die cut with a Quickutz revolution die and sprinkled with glitter.  I added flower gems and leaves.  I coloured the cute Tilda Magnolia image with Copics, Koi watercolours and glitter.  The sentiment is from a Precious Moments angel set that I have.  There are lots of 'shiny' bits to this card, the glitter, the gems and the mirri card.

Hope you like it.

Ciao for now!

Sandra x

Sketch Saturday #49

Hi folks!

Just nipping on quickly in between horrendously long shifts at work this weekend to share my Sketch Saturday DT card with you.  This week is Debbie's DT week and she has come up with a fabulous sketch.  Our fab new GDT for the next 2 weeks needs no introduction as it is the talented Jacqui whom we all know and love.  If you are craving more inspiration then check out my fellow DT as they have all come up with stunning cards following Debbie's sketch.  There also a prize up for grabs with this weeks challenge, so hop on over to the blog to see what you could win.  When I saw there was a lovely circle on it I new exactly which stamp I was going to ink up...

I wanted to try something a little bit different with this card and I'm sure you have already noticed that I have not used any patterned papers.  I stamped the base card with a swirly stamp using a stamp & stick glue pad ( have had it for ages so am quite surprised that it still works) and sprinkled over some glitter. I used my Nestabilities to cut the circle for the aperture on the next panel.  I also used the Circle Nestie as a template for the rounded edges.  (You can actually see the next step better on the top picture.)  I die cut some small stars.  Glued two together and stuck to the panel (for height) repeated this until I was happy with the number of stars.  Then, using wet glue, I adhered dark blue mulberry paper over the whole aperture panel gently rubbing around the stars with an embossing tool.  I used my latest Martha Stewart punch for the scalloped boarder and Quickutz die for the corners.  The stamped image is one of my favourite Hanglars.  I have coloured him using koi watercolours and glitter for his star.  As you can imagine the whole card glistens a lot more than I have managed to capture in the photo.

Hope you are all enjoying the Bank Holiday weekend....have some fun for me!

Ciao for now!

Sandra x

DU2DS #4 'Things with Wings'

Hi folks!

Wow... it's week 4 already over on Dare U 2 Digi Stamp and the theme is 'Things with Wings'. There are lots of ways to include 'winged things' on your design; backing papers, charms, die cuts or the digi image itself to name but a few. Would love to see what you come up with this week. If you need some inspiration then search no further than our fabulous Design Team.

I have used Surahbi from my new Bollywood collection. I painted her with koi watercolours and added glitter and gems to her outfit and jewels. She has a Cricut die cut bird (from the Storybook Cartridge) perched on her hand. I also used the Cricut to cut the shape of the card (Dreams Come True cart) I cut it 3 times in black, mirri green and mirri gold cardstock, hand cutting away l little more of the scroll and flower design to reveal the colours underneath once stacked together. The inside panel is cardstock from the new DCWV Taj Mahal stack.

Two Awards!!

Thank you Cato for nominating me for this award :o) I'm to choose 5-10 folk who show 'great attitude and gratitude' so here goes... Chris, Evelina, Sue, Dawn, Pinky, Lisa, Alexandra and Tracie.

Larissa has given me this cute award. I'm so pleased my blog makes you smile Larissa :o) I'm to pass it on to 5 people so here goes... Coco, Heike, Mariska, Janet, Maddy. Yes, your blogs make me smile ladies!!

Ciao for now!

Sandra xx

Ben's little Hanglar boy card

Hi folks!
Well here's Ben's card as promised. The twins had a great day yesterday. Had lots of fun and ate lots of cake. Thank you for all your kind birthday wishes which I passed on. Not forgetting a huge thank you to my good friend Chris. She made a little boy and girl very happy with some beautiful cards (if you'd like a peak they are on her blog)

This card is a little different for me. Not hugely embellished. I like to make my cards so that the card base groans with the weight ;o) I followed the fab sketch over on Paper take weekly and the Reuse, Recycle theme The Pink Elephant has set. I have used a piece of cardboard salvaged from a box that arrived with.... crafting goodies of course!

I snipped off the tiny line which was the string that the Hanglar boy is holding in his hand so I replaced it with some thread from my sewing box. I have also used some glossy accents on the truck to make it glossy.

Hope you are enjoying the sunshine.

Ciao for now!

Sandra x

Birthday card for my Beautiful 'Belle

Hi folks!

My twins are 4 today..., where do the years go? I can't believe that they start 'big school' in September. Here is the card I made for Isabelle. Will share Ben's tomorrow. Another late night crafting for these babies.

I followed some challenges which really helped me to focus on what I needed to do. The sketch is from Just Magnolia. It's their launch week and I just had to join in (looks like everyone else in blogland is having fun with this sketch too :o) Cute Card Thursday is asking to see flowers. Over on the Saturday Challenge they want us to create a scene. Lastly my dear and uber talented friend Chris Dark has set the challenge over on Colour Create which is to use Pink, Black and white with the option of polka dots. A delish colour combo I 'm sure you will agree.

So 4 challenges for a four card for a little girl who is turning 4.... (fork handles anyone?...tee hee)

Back tomorrow with bonny Ben's card.

Ciao for now!

Sandra xx

DU2DS Week #3 Pink & Green

Hi folks!

I can't believe we are onto week 3 of the Dare U 2 Digi Stamp challenge already, can you? Where does the time go? Anyway, I decided to make a 12 x 12 scrapbook page this week. For me Pink & Green means 'fairies'.

I printed out the picture of my daughter onto linen cardstock which gives a lovely textured, mat finish. The scalloped card is by DCWV. The green and pink patterned paper is by The Paper Company. I folded two long pieces of pink tulle and attached to the back of the p.paper. I flipped and re sized Rosabella Wish before printing her out. She has been coloured with Koi water colours and glitter. The swirls and 'Beautiful' title I cut using my Cricut. I added glitter to the flowers and leaves on the title. I cut Isabelle's name with a Sizzix alphabet called Sprouts. The flowers are a Boss Cut die and I have finished them off with self adhesive pearls that I coloured green with permanent markers.

Don't delay, hop on over to the DU2DS blog today. You will find loads of inspiration from my fellow DT to get you started on this weeks challenge. There is also a prize of 2 digi stamps up for grabs this week.

Hope you can join in with the fun.

Ciao for now!

Sandra xx

Sketch Saturday #46

Hi Folks!!

Hope you are having a great Easter weekend and still managing to squeeze a bit of crafting and blog hopping too :o) Over on Sketch Saturday this week Jo has come up with another fabby Sketch. Clare Chanter who owns Thread Bare is sponsoring this weeks challenge, more details on the blog about the prize. It's also Broceliane's second week as our Guest DT. Be sure to check out her beautiful card and that of the rest of my fellow Designers.

I made this card for my buddy Christine Dark. Please join me in wishing her a HaPpy bIrThDaY today!!!! The papers for this card are by Imaginese. I punched a strip of vellum with my Martha Stewart punch. I think the ribbon was a freebie from a magazine. The cute Tilda is from the Spring kit. As usual I have chopped of the ladybirds antennae and replaced with curled wire ones. I coloured the image with my koi water colours. The flower and leaves are from my button box and have been adhered with dimensional glue gel. The sentiment is a Papermania sticker and I have finished the card off with some lush red self adhesive pearls. Not sure if you can see or not but I gave Tilda some eyelashes which help her to look ultra cute ;o)

Ciao for now!

Sandra xx

Sketch Saturday #45 & a sneaky peek of Rosabella Flower

Hi folks!!

It's Sketch Saturday time again. This week is special as it's DT week and Tracie's turn to host. She has come up with a great sketch, and personally donated the fabby prize of two Penny Black stamps. Broceliane is our fabulous Guest Designer for the next two weeks. To see her gorjuss card and those of my talented fellow DT be sure to visit the challenge blog.

For my card I have used some yummy Imaginese papers, I just adore these soft colours and patterns. I have embossed the rectangle panel using my Cuttlebug. I punched another strip of vellum with the Martha Stewart Doily punch. I had fun stitching on some pink tulle and ric rac. I think you may be seeing lots more sticthing on my designs. Rosabella Flower will be available soon. I have coloured her using my Prismas, Koi watercolours and glitter for her wings. The leaves are a Woodware punch and the flower a little wooden embellishment I have has for ages (so nice to be using some of my ancient stash) I finished the card off with some pretty pink self adhesive pearls.

I've got a long weekend of work ahead of me :o(..... I'll be back soon with details of the new Kadoodle candy and the ,not to be missed, June Extravaganza at The Craft Barn :o)

Hope you are enjoying your weekend.

Hugs
Sandra xx

Dare U 2 Digi Stamp Challenge #1

Hi folks!

Well, it's Friday 3rd April which means only one thing... the first Dare U 2 Digi stamp challenge is finally here. This week is a sketch by my good friend Christine Dark and the sparkly new Design Team have done an amazing job. There is a great prize bundle up for grabs for those who enter the challenge. Don't forget you can use digi stamps/downloads from any company and combine your challenges.

My card is a mixture of old and new. The Meerkats you see here are from my new releases and are available here. These cheeky chappies are called the Meerkat Amigos! I had to dig deep into my craft Mountain for the animal print paper which is from a Joanna Sheen paper pack. I have been reliably informed (thanks Chris)that the base paper is called 'banana paper'. It has a lovely texture and real pressed leaves in the paper itself. These papers, as with the animal print and the tree buttons, have been waiting to be used for many years. I'm one of those...'I'm sure it will come in handy one day' type of crafters. The string is from under my kitchen sink. Just the job. The sentiment is cut using Go-Kreate dies. I coloured the image in with my koi watercolours and this has been layered onto mulberry paper.

I do hope you are able to join in with our very first challenge.

Ciao for now

Sandra xx

ps. Thank you all for your sweet comments about my not so lost mojo. I fear I may have confused crafting vvvvvveeeerrrrryyyyy slowly as my mojo being A.W.O.L. Any tips on how to speed things up gratefully appreciated :o)

Introducing the Meerkats...Simples!

Hi folks!!
I've been meaning to draw these little fellas for a while now. The Meerkats are available now on my Digi Stamp blog. Hop on over to meet Meerkat Amigos, Meerkat Dancer and Meerkat Youngster. Something a little bit different that can be used for male cards too.

I followed three challenges when making this card. The sketch is another great one from Friday Sketchers. Cute Card Thursday's theme is 'family affair' they are asking for cards made for a member of the family, here I have made a card for Dad. Lastly Charisma Cardz have challenges us to use our favourite things. My favorite thing at the moment is making cards with my vary latest digi stamp releases.

The papers and tag embellishment are all K&Co. I have used my Nestabilities and WRMK compass cutter to cut the circles. All the embossing has been done on my Cuttlebug. I printed 'Love You Dad' on some ribbon using my Xyron Design Runner and cut the sentiment from funky foam using 'Amsterdam' a Go-kreate alphabet. As I have already mentioned 'Meerkat Simples!' is a digi-stamp and I have coloured him using koi watercolours. I have added glossy accents to his eyes and nose. Don't forget you can re size Digi stamps and print them out to whatever size suits your project.

I hope you like my Meerkats and look forward to reading your comments.

Ciao for now!

Sandra xx

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

Sketch Saturday #43, An Award & Kadoodle Candy

Hi folks!

Hope you are enjoying this glorious Saturday morning. It's time for another one of Jo's fabulous sketches over on Sketch Saturday. This weeks sponsor is Dream2Stamp who have offered some really cute stamps for the prize (I wish I could enter... they are gorgeous). We are also lucky enough to be joined by Dawn who has agreed to be our Guest DT for the two challenges. Check out her stunning card and those of my fellow DT over on the blog.

For this card I printed out some background sheets onto linen card from my new Crafter's Companion Flower Fairies Friends CD rom. The final square panel is Vellum as I didn't want to loose all the beautiful detail from the card underneath. The large swirl under Rosabella is a We R Memory Keepers adhesive rub on that I covered in glitter (it's much more sparkly in real life) The leaf tags and tiny dragonflies and butterfly are Quickutz and I have cut them in Vellum. I added some glittery dewdrops to their tiny bodies and some rub on sentiments to the tags. One says 'loving' and the other 'butterfly kisses'. Rosabella Wish is one of my Digi Stamps available here. I have coloured her using Copics, Koi watercolours and glitter.

An Award

I am honoured to receive this award from the talented Ruby over on Ruby 2 Shoes. (Thanks Ruby!!) and would like to pass it on to... All My Followers!!!! So if you are one of my fabulous followers then grab this award, and thank you dearly for all your support and comments.

There is new Candy up for grabs over on the Kadoodle blog. This week it's one of Carol Staple's designs... 'Pa Iggly'. Curious? then hop over and have a look.

The Design Team call for Dare U 2 Digi Stamp is open until 24th March. Details on how to enter are here.

So sorry for the looooong post. Had lots to share with you today :o)

Ciao for now!

Sandra xx