Sponged butterfly

Good morning!

I've another quick little card to share with you today :)  I was clearing the mess on my craft table when I came across the negative cut out of a TH alterations butterfly. I was about to throw it in the bin but then thought it might work as a stencil using distress inks.  As it's another butterfly card I'm entering the LiM challenge again.... :)

I taped the negative die cut on white card (with eclipse masking tape) and sponged over it with Scattered Straw.  Then dabbed lightly around the edges with Spiced Marmalade and finished with Fired Brick on the tips of the wings.
The sentiment is from this Kaisercraft mini stamp set and is stamped using Vintage Photo distress ink.
I cut a rectangle around the butterfly and matted it onto a blank card with foam pads, then used my SU piercing template to prick the holes.

I made this card for my Dad who is going through major heart surgery today.  He loves it and has taken it with him to hospital....please pray for him.

Thank you for visiting and I hope you have a lovely day :) 
Sarah x

Update - Dad's operation has gone better than we ever expected, he is now in Cardiac Intensive Care and is recovering well.  Thank you for all your lovely messages...they're very much appreciated :)

An Owl card

Arrrgh, the tummy bug left Phoebe and now Caleb has it.....he's blaming Phoebe for kissing him on the lips 2 weeks ago...of course she says she didn't and so the argument goes on and on and on and on....lol.  The weather here has been miserable too, it has rained hard all weekend and today it's been so windy it's blown our full to bursting wheelie bin over twice!  Richard had to run down the road picking up bags of rubbish as they blew away....lol.  Fortunately the bin lorry came shortly after :)

I made this notecard a wee while ago but am only getting it uploaded now.

The owl is a Unity stamp...I think it was part of a Kit of the Month.
I stamped and watercoloured it and stamped an extra set of eyes, cut them out and layered on top. I added glossy accents to the pupils and the spots on its front. The sentiment is a Papermania 'Honey & Hugs' stamp and the textured base is DCWV green card from the Christmas stack.

Thanks for stopping by today and thank you for taking the time to leave a comment. I really appreciate your support!

Sarah x

LiM challenge - Butterfly/Butterflies

It's a new challenge again over at the Less is More blog and I love the theme this week - butterflies!
I made a card yesterday using butterflies but I don't think it's LiM enough so I've made another one this morning.  This is my 3rd attempt at the card...it started off with a sponged panel in the middle (was a disaster so threw that in the bin) then a Father's day card (it got scrapped for being a bit too girly) and I ended up with this one.

 Close up of raised butterfly - the grey brads look a strange colour in the photos!

The butterfly and sentiment are Unity stamps.  They are stamped on white card using Weathered Wood distress ink and cut out.  The butterfly is added to the card with foam pads and a row of holes pricked for the butterfly trail.  I added grey and pink brads to the holes and then wrapped grey thread a few times around the bottom of the card and tied with a little bow.  The pink heart is punched out of white card and coloured with opera pink versacolor ink, covered in glossy accents and sprinkled with glamour dust.  It is added to the butterfly with a foam pad. The grey spotty paper is downloaded from Allison Kimball's blog - she has lots of beautiful digi papers and kits which are free to download. 

   (not included in the LiM challenge)

This is the card I made yesterday and it's for Lydia's friend who will be 14 soon.
I also used the same free digi papers from Allison as the last card. The butterflies and 'happy birthday' are die cut using Tim Holtz alterations dies - Typeset and Mini Butterflies. I doodled on the butterflies and around the edges of the papers and added a tiny clear gem to the centres of the butterflies.

Thank you for visiting today and I hope you have a lovely evening!
Sarah x

Happy Birthday - Daisy with balloon

Hello again everyone :)

I'm pleased to say Phoebe has fully recovered and I'm getting a little crafting time again. Isn't it funny when they're sick they won't let you out of their sight and when they're better they 'don't need you anymore'  as Phoebe said to me yesterday - that's gratitude isn't it!! She also asked me what age I was and when I told her I was 39 she said, 'oooh that's a BIG number isn't it?' so it really was a 'make mummy feel good day'....lol 

On to today's card...  I downloaded this little Daisy image from Squiggle stamps and I think she's so cute...

I coloured her with Koh-i-noor pencils and matted on to bubblegum bazzill cardstock. The DP's are Doodlebug design and the ribbon is from Poppicrafts - some of their ribbons are still available on ebay even though the online shop has closed.  The die cut corners are from this Tim Holtz atc die and the sentiment is computer generated using Boring Joined font.  I added glossy accents to the balloon and sprinkled with Glamour Dust.

close up of balloon

Thank you for joining me today and I hope to share some more projects soon.  I'm working on a little mini book for Phoebe and a cupcake book for Caleb.

Sarah x

Birthday cards for 3 boys

Good Morning!

I'm posting these photos very quickly and I promise I will update the details later today.  I've had a very sick wee daughter over the weekend who has been very clingy - I'm sort of hoping it's chicken pox to get them over and done with (there's a spate of them in Nursery) but no spots yet so it may be just a bug.  I'm stealing few moments away while she's in bed....

Finally updated! - scroll down for details...

As I'd said before in a previous post, I have triplet nephews whose birthday was yesterday and I was late making their cards mainly because I was finding it difficult to think up 3 cards with a similar theme but having each different. If you know what I mean!

I came across these cute images at The Clipart Fairy printable store.

Perfect for what I needed and I ended up making all the cards very quickly - once I'd figured out how to resize them in adobe reader.  I printed 2 of them twice so I could cut out and layer them to add a bit of depth to the cards. 

I also made library pockets, cut with this Sizzix library pocket die to hold their birthday money. I embossed it with a little cuttlebug embossing folder and went over it lightly with white chalk.

Thank you for your kind comments asking about Phoebe - she was ill again last night and I ended up steam cleaning the tiles on the bathroom floor at 3am... (I'm having to prop my eyelids open today) but so far no spots so it looks like it is a bad tummy bug.  She's sleeping peacefully now and here's hoping we get a full night's sleep tonight :) 

Sarah x

Teacher thank you card - LIM

Hello again!

I'm afraid I couldn't resist the challenge over at the Less is More blog and my nephews' cards are still waiting to be made... The challenge this week is to make a one layer card with embossing!
For some reason in my photos the embossed oval looks as though it didn't imprint properly but looking at the card now - it did! Maybe the camera's picking up something I can't see.....!
It's about a month and a half now until the children finish school for the summer holidays and I'm having to think about teachers cards & gifts... This challenge was just perfect to get me started. 

 heat embossed image

It's very simple to make -
I embossed the background with an oval nestabilities die.
Then stamped the Messy rabbit schoolhouse stamp with pinecone versacolor ink, added clear detail embossing powder and heat embossed. I used the stamp-a-ma-jig to position the stamp but I think it's still tilted a little to the right....
I stamped the sentiment using Woodware clear stamps with cardinal red versacolor ink and again heat embossed with clear detail embossing powder.
I coloured the image with Koh-i-noor pencils, paper stumps and Sansodor solvent.

Looking at it again I'm not too sure it needs a sentiment....

Thanks for visiting again and for all your comments - they mean a lot to me!
Sarah x

Baby girl - A Passion for Stamps digi image

After all the problems with blogger over the past couple of days, I'm finally getting this pic uploaded.  I've also had to post Thursday's card again - with all the hooha, somehow it ended up lost!

This gorgeous little special delivery digi image is from A Passion for Stamps and I coloured it with copics and koh-i-noor pencils.
The circles (plain & scalloped) are cut with nestabilities dies.
To make the flowers - punch them out with a daisy punch, turn them over and score lines from the centre of the flower to the end of each petal.  Then gently fold the sides together (without creating a definite crease mark). Turn over again.
Layer 2 daisies together and another smaller punched flower and finish with a pink gem.
The leaves are made with a McGill pine leaf punch.
The sentiment is computer generated using Splendid 66 & Worstveldsling fonts (dafont.com).
The tulle ribbon and button are from my stash - I think I got the ribbon reel from Crafts U Love.

I'm off now to have a look at the Less is More blog to see what the challenge is for this week - mind you, I still have birthday cards to make for my triplet nephews for tomorrow so I might be better doing that first......I might get too distracted otherwise :)

Thanks for taking the time to visit today, see you soon!
Sarah x

I'm going to enter this card to the following challenges
Simon Says Stamp - baby card
Papertake Weekly - Use punches or die cuts
My Mum's Craft Shop - To die for
I hope I've done it right.....!

Belated Birthday

I made this card last week for a very good friend and I knew by the time it would be delivered to her, it would be late, so I made it belated. The sentiment stamp is from a Personal Impressions stamp set and I love all the sentiments in it.  I hate sending late cards but sometimes it happens!

 Close up of the decoupaged bow

On the base card I took my SU paper piercing template and used it as a guide to prick holes along the outside edge.  I stitched a running stitch around it with pink embroidery thread.  Then I cut a smaller square of white card and embossed it with a Sizzix large dots embossing folder.
I stamped the Magnolia cupcake on white card, cut it out with a circle nestie die and coloured with copics.
I stamped the cupcake again on scrap card, coloured the bow and cut it out.  I then decoupaged it on top using pinflair glue gel. I used a glue pen and some Glamour dust to add sparkle to the icing on the cake.
I stamped the sentiment on scrap card, cut it out and glued it to the base card ( I did stamp it on the card base first but it was wonky - even though the stamp is clear I still couldn't stamp it straight!)  So I had to do a cover up job....

Thank you for visiting again today and believe it or not I do have more projects to share with you! I am definitely feeling the benefits of my operation now and my energy levels are on the up :)

Sarah x

7th Birthday

Good morning :)

A special birthday card for a special boy today. I love this little stamp although this is the first time I've inked it up. Too many stamps as my Mum would say to me..... Mum's not a crafter so fails to understand why I buy more.....and more.... She indulges me though and brings home a suitcase full of goodies every time she visits Australia - Thanks Mum!

Anyway, back to this card...

 

 A close up of the curled edges

The patterned paper is Cosmo Cricket Joy Ride and the stamp is from Elzybells (which sadly closed down) I paper pieced the boy using blocks of colour from the large spot paper and chalked the edges with brown chalk before gluing on the image.  The rest I coloured with copics and inked the edges with Frayed Burlap distress ink. To add detail to the t-shirt I found a little star stamp (studio g) which I stamped in matching paper and glued on the front.  The sentiment is computer generated using Splendid 66 & Indy Pimp fonts.  The buttons are from my stash and I tied East of India twisted paper string through the holes.

I better go now and blow dry my hair and hang some washing out as Phoebe will be home from Nursery shortly and I'll not have a minutes peace.

Have a great day wherever you are!

Sarah x

Baby boy card

For the past while I had only been making cards as I needed them and at times even had to buy cards when I wasn't well enough to make them.  I'm trying to change that now by building up a supply ready for when I need one! I had gingham paper on my desk, so I made this very simple baby boy card.

The larger star die cut is the same Sizzix one I used for the party boxes in a previous post.  I just matted blue card and gingham paper together (rounding the corners first with a corner chomper) and glued them to the white base card. I stamped the sentiment (Papermania Honey & Hugs collection) with SU bashful blue ink, pricked the edges of the stars and added them to the gingham paper. Then tied narrow grosgrain ribbon through a white button and used a glue dot to attach it to the star.

It's Caleb's 'proper' birthday tomorrow, as he calls it, so I'll be back soon to show you his birthday card.

Thank you for visiting and I hope you all have a lovely day :)Sarah x 

Digistamp boutique digi stamps - Monsters

Good morning!

I bought these digi stamps a while ago thinking they would be perfect for a little boys card and the opportunity came to use them last week.  Our Caleb was invited to his best friend Caleb's party on Saturday.  They were born 5 days apart, are in the same class at school and sit at the same table!   

 Glossy accents on the eyes, teeth and number 7

 The decorated envelope



I printed the monsters on white card, coloured them with Koh-i-noor pencils and matted the card onto black.

The sentiment was computer generated using WordArt (grutchline & awakening fonts), cut in a rectangle and matted onto black card. 

The number 7 is die cut using a Cuttlebug 'Olivia' die and then I used gossy accents on it, the eyes and the teeth of the monsters.

For once I wasn't last minute making the card and had time to decorate the envelope too with another little monster.

Thank you for stopping by and for all your lovely comments, they're much appreciated :)

Also hello to my new followers - lovely to see you!

Sarah xx

Party boxes cut out with the Craft Robo

It was Caleb's birthday party on Friday and we held a party for him and his friends at a local indoor adventure play area.  We normally just have a small family party every year but I gave in to his pleading and agreed to a bigger party this year.


I had great fun making these boxes, though it was very last minute...I started the night before....at 11pm...! and was rolling into bed in the early hours of the morning.....There are 10 for boys and 4 for girls. Just perfect for 7 year olds and they hold a LOT!
If you'd like to know how to make them, the details are at the bottom of the post.

Caleb's box

Side view

Phoebe's box

Close up of the label

It takes 3 sheets of A4 card to make each box and I started by printing the front and back sheets of white card with the star pattern found here at Papercraft Inspirations. It's a free template and you need to scroll down to find it.

I printed the girls' boxes with the flower pattern found here and also the gingham paper for the trim on the outside.

I left the sides of the box white for some contrast (and to save time and ink!)

I bought the GSD file for the craft robo here but you can also get it in other formats including PDF, which you can print out and cut by hand if you don't have a cutting machine.

After printing the card and cutting out the pieces, I assembled them all and embellished them.

For the boys, I cut a 1" strip of coloured card for across the front and the larger stars are die cut with a Sizzix die. The smaller stars are made with a small punch. For the girls, the hearts are die cut from this TH mini hearts set.

I added pearl maker in white to the centre of the flower. 

The label, I created using WordArt and cut it out with oval Nesties.

Sorry it's been such a long post, but I hope these instructions make sense!

Thank you for visiting today and I'll be back soon with more cards - it's birthday season in Caleb's class so plenty to keep me going.

Sarah xx

White on white - Less is More challenge

You know I think everyone is right when they say you can get addicted to the Less is More challenges... I'm back again this week!  The theme is white on white, something I have never done before but I love using white for my base cards so I thought I'd give it a go. 

I had a bit of excitement on Thursday as my younger brother (who I haven't seen for six years) came home from Australia for a short visit.  He brought with him a surprise present from my friend Meryl and it was this Marianne bird die. I think it's gorgeous and it will be used often.

To make this card,

I embossed the base card with a Tim Holtz Damask embossing folder in the Big Shot.

I cut a smaller piece of white card and machine stitched around the edge.

I inked the sentiment with black ink, stamped once on scrap paper and then on the white card (so it wasn't as stark against the white).

I die cut the bird twice, keeping the first intact and only using the leaves and wing from the second.

Then I layered these on the card leaving the leaves free to move.

To finish I used a white pearl on the sentiment.

I have enjoyed this weeks challenge and thank you to all who visited last time and for all your lovely comments.  They mean a lot to me :)

Sarah xx

As soon as I can get them uploaded, I will be back with pics of party boxes I made for Caleb's birthday.......

Baby congratulations

A little baby card today!
I've decided to take the plunge and join in the Less Is More challenge blog - I hope it is CAS enough...! The theme is Thank you or Congratulations.

I started with a blue base card 12x12cms when folded.

Then I cut white card 10x10cms and printed Congratulations using 'the girl next door font', and glued it to the base card.

I punched a circle from brown card and cut it in half, then put it through a paper crimper.
I cut two different sized triangles from gingham card for the sails and a thin sliver of brown for the mast.
Then punched the sun from yellow card but I can't remember what the punch is called or the make of it - sorry!
I cut the ric rac strip with this Sizzix die that my friend lent me.
I assembled it all together, added a tiny button on the boat and some doodling with white and black pens.
Looking at the photo, I think I should have moved the 'congratulations' a bit more to the right...but it'll have to do now!

Close up of sails and sun raised on foam pads

Thank you for visiting today, and I hope you all have a lovely bank holiday tomorrow :)

Sarah xx

Supplies

Blue, White, Brown, Yellow card

Gingham paper

Button

Paper crimper

White & Black pens

Font - the girl next door