House Mouse birthday card

This was a really quick card I made for my nephew's birthday in November. It's a little House Mouse stamp and I think he's really cute.  Very easy to colour in too :)
The sentiment is stamped with Stampin' Up real red ink and the black dots are card candy from craftworkcards.co.uk.

I can't believe Christmas is only 2 weeks away! With all the snow lately, I have been stuck in the house and am nowhere near prepared! I'm heading out to the craft room now to try and make something for the teachers.

See you soon
Sarah x

Christmas cards

These are some cards I've made for a friend who is having a card sale and donating the money to charity.

I'm just making family Christmas cards this year for I don't have time to make general ones. I also have to make the teachers' gifts and cards too and I will post them when they're finished :)

Thanks for stopping by today!

Sarah x

Cards using Lili of the Valley stamps

 I am loving Lili of the Valley stamps :)  I think they're really cute and lovely to colour in.
The papers on this card are from the Dovecraft christmas pack (not sure what it's called....)
and the image is coloured in with Copics.  I'm realising I should be making a note of the colours I use so I'll be doing that in future :)

This is a birthday card for my little nephew Oliver who was 6 yesterday :) It's another Lili of the Valley stamp
and the papers are 3 Bugs in a Rug (snips & snails I think...)

Better run, I'm going to the Christmas Craft Fair in The Argory (National Trust House) today and I should have been ready ages ago!  Will post again soon with Christmassy things:)

Thanks for visiting today
Sarah x

Doesn't time fly........!

Hi everyone!!

I hope you are all well and enjoying the cold/hot weather wherever you are :)

I'm embarrassed to see it's been over a month since I updated this blog..... I have good intentions and then get distracted!  I've been doing a little bit of crafting so I'll upload some photos later - I promise!
Our local primary school held an Open Night last night and I had a little stall (my first ever) and it was great fun :) I brought my camera but forgot to take photos! How daft is that....

I still have loads more to make and do so I better get cracking!
Until later....
Sarah

Tag book using Tim Holtz inks

This is the tag book I made at a class in Forgetmenot Papercrafts in Belfast a couple of weeks ago.  It was a really fun class with lots of inking and stamping and we had very messy hands afterwards.  Some of the pages are a bit of a disaster but I have learned loads of new techniques and will be having a go at making some more tags soon.

It's a bit of a change for me as I tend to make 'clean' cards and am always sanding rough edges....lol

Thanks for visiting and have a great weekend
Sarah x

A little thank you card

Hi again!  I thought it was about time I posted something :)

The papers on this card are MME Bloom & Grow and the flower and sentiment are American Crafts clear stamps.  I got mine in TKMaxx in Londonderry last month but you can also get them here

I've haven't been crafting very much this month but I've been sorting out my inks and ribbons.  I have so many ribbons I keep forgetting what I have so I've been snipping off the ends and sticking them on card. I should be able to see exactly what I have instead of having to poke through the boxes trying to find a match - not great when you're in a hurry.....!!  When I'm finished I'll punch holes along the edge and put them in a file.

 Some of the ribbon reference cards

 Some of the Ink reference cards 

I was at a class in Forgetmenot Papercrafts in Belfast and we made a tag book using Tim Holtz inks.  I haven't it finished yet but I'll take a photo of it and post it tomorrow.

Thanks for stopping by today
Sarah x

Baby Girl Card

A little baby girl card :)

The base card is A6 landscape in white and the designer papers are from a Making Memories 6x6" paper pad.  I taped two strips of paper to the base card (one is broader than the other).  Then stamped 'Brand New' & 'tiny miracle' on the base card with sky gray versacolor pigment ink. Next I tied pink satin ribbon around the card and finished with a bow at the front.  I took another piece of matching pink paper and cut a scallop circle with a Nestabilitie die (you could use a punch) and then I cut another smaller plain circle from white card.  I stamped a baby face on the circle with sky gray ink and coloured it with copic markers.  I attached the white circle to the pink circle with foam pads and then taped the pink circle to the base card.

Have a lovely day :)
Sarah x

Supplies
White card
Making Memories 'Kate' collection
Versacolor cube ink - sky gray
Stamps - sentiments are American Crafts & Studio G
            - Baby face is Doodlebug designs
Ribbon - Poppicrafts
Copic markers

Sock Piggy!

Here's another little sock creature :) 

She's made with baby first size socks - 1 pink with hearts and the other plain white.  Her eyes are tiny black brads and the little bow is made with ribbon from my scrap box.

 I should have made her a curly tail!

Thanks for taking the time to visit :)

Sarah x

Apologies

I am so sorry I haven't been updating my blog.  I haven't been feeling very well (my haemoglobin has dropped again) though I have been able to make a few things (in between naps!) I just haven't been able to upload them.  I'm going to try and post a bit more regularly from now on :)  Thank you to all who have stuck with me!!

Here's a quick little card using dry embossing, stamping and punching.

The flowers/leaves along the bottom are embossed using a Cuttlebug embossing folder.  The designer paper is MME Bloom & Grow and I punched the flowers from it using different sizes of EKSuccess retro flower punches. The flowers were then layered and held together with an orange brad.  The leaves are punched with a Woodware grass punch and the Just Because stamp is by American Crafts.

Thanks for visiting :)
Sarah x

Birthday - For my Wife

This was a last minute card I made for Dad to give to Mum.  I just couldn't think of what to make but it eventually came together in the end :)

The paper is American Crafts double sided and I cut a wavy line with a craft knife and turned one side over overlapping slightly.  I hand stitched the two pieces together with two lines of straight stitches and stitched the two corners of the pink paper.  I then matted it onto brown card. 

For the die cuts I used nestabilies Labels One (brown card) and Labels Four (white card).  The clear stamp used for the image is by Recollections and I coloured it with Copics and added star dust stickes glitter glue to the flower and leaves.  The sentiment is computer generated (anke calligraphic font) and cut out with a nestabilites labels trio die. I tied the brown organza ribbon around the mat before adhering it to the base card.  The little white pearls are Papermania.

Have a great weekend!
Sarah x

Happy Birthday Easel Card for Mum

Hello again!

This is the easel card I made for Mum's birthday last Sunday.  Lots more stitching too!
Tip - When you have stitched the whole way around the card and you finish off at the end, to tidy up loose ends, give the threads at the back a little tug and the front threads should start to come through to the back.  Pull them completely through, tie them together and tape down.

The double sided paper is from the My Mind's Eye, Quite Contrary range.  The sentiment is computer generated and cut out with labels one nestabilities die.  I stamped some flowers on it and put adhesive gems in the centre.  Then I inked victorian velvet distress ink around the edges. I cut the large scalloped circle with a nestability die and inked the edges with distress ink, then added the rabbit with foam pads.

Thanks for stopping by today :)
Sarah x

Supplies
White card - 15x15cms card (folded size) plus extra 15x15cm square
Bazzill - Vintage Pink
DP - My Mind's Eye
Stamps - Joanna Sheen Messy Rabbit, American Crafts Clear stamp collection (Fun) 59096
Inks - Memento Tuxedo Black, Distress ink Victorian Velvet
Nestabilities - Scalloped Circle, Labels One
Thread
Buttons
Ribbon - Ribbons Galore Australia
Papermania adhesive gems

Mum's birthday

Hi everyone!

This is a really quick post today, as we are just heading off on holiday this week. (Richard's tapping his foot - we should already be away!)

This is the first of Mum's birthday cards and I would have had it uploaded for yesterday but this computer has been very tempermental and keeps crashing :(  Here's hoping I get this post finished before it happens again!!

The papers for this card are Cosmo Cricket Garden Variety mini deck.  I have my sewing machine out permanently now and am stitching everything in sight.  The sentiment is computer generated and cut out with a circle nestability die.  The flower is made with the blossom nestabilities, crumpled, cut and layered together with some ribbon and a button in the centre.

Thanks for visiting today and I will be back on Friday with more cards.  One of them is my first attempt at an easel card.

See you soon
Sarah x

Sock Creature - Meet Flossie!

I finally got my sock creature photographed and here she is...

the socks we started with

Last week we were visiting Richard's parents and took the opportunity to visit their local library.  I came across this book and fell in love with all the wee creatures inside.  A quick trip to Primark for socks and we were ready to make sock buddies! What I didn't realise was.....we should have bought baby socks...... A bag and a half of stuffing later and we had Flossie! (her nose is huge!!!)
I so enjoyed making her and I have a few requests for some more :)

Thanks for taking the time to visit today.
Sarah x

Have a Happy Day

I'm late again for the Clean and Simple sketch this week!  Here is FTL 103





and this is what I made

I love these little birds :)

The stamps used are Unity and I used Stampin Up's Stamp-a-ma-jig to place them.  The folded paper down the side is by Daisy Bucket and the string in the button is coloured with Victorian Velvet distress inks to match the sentiment.

The background of the card is embossed with the Swiss Dots Cuttlebug embossing folder and inked with Pumice Stone distress ink. The birds are coloured with distress inks as well.

Have a lovely day :)

Sarah

Another thank you card

I can't believe it's been a week since I last posted anything.......!  I have been making cards but can't show you them until Sunday - they're for Mum's birthday and I'm afraid she might look at the blog before then.

I did make a card this morning but I've just remembered I left the camera in the car and Richard is away to work in it, so I can't take a photo 'til he comes home!  I've also been sewing a sock creature but again no camera for a photo.....

I made this Thank You card a few weeks ago using Bazzill Kraft cardstock.  The various stamps are by Heidi Grace (flowers & sentiment) and Papermania (tag & scallop border).  It is coloured with Koh-i-noor pencils and Sansodor oil.

Thanks for visiting today and if you stop by tomorrow, I should have some pics of my sock creature :)

Sarah xx

CAS sketch - Quick Thank You card

Here is this weeks great sketch FTL 102 on the Clean and Simple stamping blog.

This card was very quick and simple to do. I created a template for the card in a Word Document and printed it. (The font is Pea Stacey Tunibug)
My friend Freda gave me some strips of felt flowers (I love felt!) and I cut a flower from each strip and glued them to the card and added pink gems to finish.

Sarah xx

Card gone wrong....

Hi again!

Well, after thinking I was going to get lots of craft time this week the opposite happened!  There's always something else to take priority, but I did get lots done even if it wasn't crafting. 

I made this card on Tuesday but I didn't like it :p

I took the flower off, covered the top white part of the card with the reverse side of the blue paper and made this....

  

I had coloured and cut out this little image a few weeks ago when I was playing with the copics.  She is coloured using the blender pen and a little colour from the nib of the pens (just to give a lighter effect)

I think she's a lovely match for this double sided paper which was in my scrap drawer. (I think it might be 3 Bugs in a Rug?)   The background die cut is cut with a Nestabilities blossom die which I then kept in the die after cutting out and used Tim Holtz distress ink - Victorian Velvet - to colour it in.

The sentiment is computer generated - Pea Stacey Tunibug font - and cut with Nestabilities Labels Trio dies and coloured the same as the other die cut.

The flowers are Prima e-line and Kaisercraft. The rock fern punch is by EK Success.

Thanks for looking in today, have a great weekend :)
Sarah xx

Baby Boy Photo Album

I made this for Mum to give as a baby gift but she didn't like the lower case 'd'!  I don't have capital letters for this set of Sizzix dies so I cut a capital 'D' from the Cuttlebug 'Groovy Chick' dies and put it on instead.  (I didn't have time to take a photo - but I think I prefer it with the lower case anyway ;)

I made the chipboard buttons by cutting just the circle of the question mark on this Sizzix die.  Then punched two 1/8" holes in it with the cropadile and tied some embroidery thread through it.

The elephant is another Sizzix die, cut from chipboard and paper pieced.  His eye is a white pearl, coloured with a black copic marker.  I added green thread behind his trunk to look like water spraying.......but it looks more like grass. lol

The children are going to Bible Club this week so I will have 3 whole hours to myself every morning!  Lots of craft time and I hope to make the most of it and get some mini books finished :)

Thanks for stopping by today.
Sarah xx

Supplies
DP - DCWV Nana's Nursery , Boy
White chipboard
Dies - Sizzix: go slim, elephant, dingbats #1
Punch - Martha Stewart, Zig Zag
Green Embroidery Thread
Black pen

Another sketch challenge

It's time for another sketch challenge FTL101 from the Clean and Simple Stamping blog :)  

To attach the flowers to the card,  I tied the ribbon around the patterned paper first and threaded it up through all 3 flowers. Then just tied it in a little bow and finished with a pearl. 

 I wanted to add some texture to tag, so I raised it up in the middle and glued it down at each end.  I didn't have a large pale grey flower (plenty of white ones though!) I took one of those and coloured it with a grey Copic marker.

                     FTL 101 sketch

Thanks for stopping by today, I hope you have a great day :)

Sarah xx

Supplies

Cream & Grey cardstock

DP - October Afternoon - This Little Piggy

Flowers - Green Tara & Poppicrafts

Flourish die cut - Marianne Creatables LR0116

Tag die cut - Cuttlebug

Stamp - Technique Tuesday

Ink - Versacolor cube - Sky Gray

Pearls & Ribbon

Hugs & Kisses

When sorting out my stamps, I found this little one I bought months ago and never used :o  After rooting through a lot of my stuff, I think that instead of buying any more, I better start using what I have already......

Can you believe I've managed to post 4 days in a row!

Have a lovely day and come back soon :)

Sarah xx

Supplies

White card (12x12cms)

DP: Bo Bunny double sided

Stamps: Image- Alota rubber stamps, Girl colouring

            Sentiment- Heidi Grace

Flowers: Green Tara

Pearls: coloured with Copics

Ribbon: Green grosgrain

Punch: Woodware grass punch

Colouring: Copic markers

Using Marianne Creatables dies

I'd said in an earlier post that my friend Meryl had sent me some Marianne Creatables dies from Australia and I've been playing with them a LOT!  I love them :) 

The green flourishes were cut from DCWV card and the flowers were cut from various scraps of card.  The yellow one is mulberry paper. The thank you stamp is by Technique Tuesday (clear stamps).

Quick post today - I've loads of housework to do :(  and then albums and cards to finish :)

Thanks for visiting!

Sarah xx

FTL100 using a Sugar Nellie stamp

It's been ages since I followed a sketch from the Clean & Simple Stamping blog, so here is this week's lovely sketch FTL100

I can't remember the name of this little stamp but she reminds me so much of Phoebe.  She's always dressing up (when she's not messing in the craft room!) sometimes doing both at the same time :p

This card was very quick to make because I had the image coloured and cut out earlier in the week.  My lovely husband bought me Copic Markers for our 15th Wedding Anniversary a couple of weeks ago and I've just got around to playing with them now.  I really love them though, they are so easy to use :) Don't look too closely at the coloured image.....it's hard to keep inside the lines!  The sentiment is Doodlebug clear stamps.

Enjoy your day and thanks for stopping by :)

Sarah xx

Photo album covered in My Mind's Eye papers

This is another of the covered photo albums for a baby girl.  I absolutely love the My Mind's Eye Quite Contrary collection of papers.  They are excellent quality for covering these albums.  At the end of the post I have a picture of the album before it was covered.  The name 'Hannah' was cut from chipboard using the Cuttlebug and the 'Olivia' dies and inked with rose red versacolor ink.  The butterfly, hearts and swirl are all chipboard, cut with Sizzix dies.

The flower is cut using a Cuttlebug die (I can't remember which one) and I cut it out with patterned paper, again with pink shimmer card and lastly with green card. I replaced the inner petals with the pink shimmer card and the centre with green.  The hearts were inked with versacolor rose red ink and covered with glossy accents.  While that was wet I spinkled them lightly with DecoArt glamour dust.

For the butterfly I covered chipboard with the stripe paper and cut it out with a Sizzix die.  Then cut it again with pink shimmer card.  I cut out just the body of the pink shimmer butterfly and glued it on top of the stripe butterfly.  I doodled some hearts and dots on it with permanent black pen. 

This is the album I started with.  I just took it all apart, covered it inside and out and then glued it back together again.  Hope you enjoy and thanks for stopping by today :)

Sarah xx