Project: CAS tag card for Sketch Saturday

This week at Sketch Saturday we have another great sketch by Claire.

Our sponsor Just Me Digital Stamps is great, and I was able to get a great sentiment that worked so well with the sketch. I colored the image with ProMarkers and then cut it into a tag. I decided after I'd covered it I was going to make it all white and mint green, despite originally thinking I was going for yellow! I added the ribbon to the tag and this lovely big striped paper as a background. I tried a few different things - buttons, flowers - on the bottom right hand of the tag but went with a lovely gingham bow in the end.

I was looking at adding a bit more but I decided to keep it really simple and just stop. The best cards are usually the ones without all the nonsense in my book.

Fun sketch I hope you find the sketch a good inspiration for your craft adventures this week!

Project: A fun skating girl for Sketch Saturday

I love when I see Claire's sketches in our Sketch Saturday challenges and I thought this was a really fun one to play along with:

The image is one that Claire gave me, she stamped a bunch of images for me from her stash and this is one I've been holding onto for a while. I decided to give her bubblegum pink hair when I colored her with ProMarkers. The balloons were originally part of the stamp but I decided to trim it down and have the balloons go off the card with a Stampin' Up balloon punch (and a felt tip pen to get the strings off the edge!). I decided to double down on the pink sweetness and use a pink chevron paper that I've had in my stash for a while. 

Because the image is so central, I used a tiny little sentiment just above the wrapped pink twine. I love the finished product, it brings me such joy and I know the perfect recipient. 

Can't wait to see what everyone else comes up with this week! 

Project: Ribbon card for MAWTT

This week at Moving Along with the Times we're doing a ribbon theme - and I freakin' love ribbon. I have SO MUCH of the stuff, it's tangled and balled and tied together and covering so much space...and I love it.

I decided to feature it instead of an image and cut 6 strands in dotted grosgrain ribbon, knotting them in the top third and then cutting them on the bias. I put them on a diagonal for a rainbow effect and then used Stampin' Up Endless Birthday Wishes set to split the sentiment in the top and bottom. I added a touch of mustard over the navy to give it a bit more of an accent.

I had so much fun shopping my ribbon stash for this I hope it provides you with the same entertainment as you craft!

Project: Two takes on animal cards

This weekend I had a playdate with Claire and she talked me through using a new pull-off die she sent me and I decided it would be perfect to play with my fun little marching band animal set.

I started by die cutting the white strip on a scrap so I could see how it worked. I chose far too small a scrap so that limited my ability to choose the rest of the components! I know this for next time...I then stamped, colored and die-cut the animals. I stamped the first part of the sentiment on the tab of the pull-off and then on the backing piece added 'happy birthday' so there is a good reveal. I mean, it's an obvious one but I think the big adult kids in my life will love it.

This one has nothing to do with the first but as I was playing with Claire I decided to do some stencilling over a stamped image. See this post of her's for the inspiration she gave me! I stamped the hummingbird first and then stencilled over it using a mosaic Tim Holtz stencil with Distress Ink. I used his range of stickers as well as a bit of fun. Then I went old school and added twine and candies - it's like the cards I used to make in layout but with some more contemporary techniques. 

Playdates always encourage me to use the newer and more challenging tools! 

Project: Cheerful yellow cards

This weekend I had a little play at my desk and I am so pleased with this card. I have a little 2 year old friend who's birthday is on the horizon and I decided her card needed to be lots of fun. She loves animals and I regularly buy her books and toys that make animal sounds as she's great at mimicking them. She also speaks 3 languages (at 2!) and it's fun to get her to say the names of animals in different languages.

I decided to use the lovely Avery Elle set that has these amazing musical animals. I colored them with ProMarkers and die cut them out. My kangaroo is a bit poorly cut but I doubt she'll notice if I'm honest! I used a number 2 sticker I had in the stash and decided to forego the sentiment. Just a big number for kiddos - they don't have to worry about reading but get to see the number. I went for a yellow background as it's cheerful and gender neutral - she's not an overly pink girl so this works well.

And now a bonus card. This clear transparency came with something - a package? an item of clothing? I can't remember - and I kept it on my desk for nearly a year. I've been thinking it would be a lovely shaker card but couldn't decide what to do with it. I decided in the end to leave it on its own. I stencilled the background in Peacock Feathers distress ink to give it a bit of colour. Probably a touch too much but oh well! I added a big yellow foam ring and added some gold and silver sequins.

The transparency went over the card and then I added a big yellow chevron ribbon with a knot to mask the edge of the transparency that I didn't glue down - it was getting gummy and weird and I needed to hide it. It's a bit random and weird but then again it's a shaker so whoever gets it can have a bit of a laugh. Really fun day of playing with yellow in different ways.

Project: An owl Mother's Day card for Sketch Saturday

Happy Saturday with Sketch Saturday! When I saw our Sponsor Little Miss Muffet's images I knew I had to use Celeste Amberglow Owl Always Love You. I love owls and I thought this was perfect for a mother's day card.

I decided to go purple and yellow in the colors to keep it cheerful. I used ProMarkers to color the image and then cut it out in a circle over a stitched background. I used spotted purple ribbon for the stripes in the background.

I tried putting the sentiment in a circle but it wasn't working for me so I went for a larger sentiiment and put it straight on the background. It's a bit streaky but I kind of like it. Instead of tags I used these gorgeous little flowers from Recollections.

I love the result and can't wait to see what other people do with our sketch!

Project: An early Christmas card for Sketch Saturday

This week at Sketch Saturday we have a fun little sketch for you. I love that it was designed by my buddy Claire as well :)

Our sponsor is Fabrika Fantasy and I've featured the Skating Dog stamp - too cute right? I decided that as we're getting to the end of winter I wanted to save him for Christmas. I die cut him out on a spotted rectangle die and colored him with ProMarkers. I used a touch of glitter glue on his hat though can't really see it in the photo.

The sentiment is a new one from Claire - she got it in the post-Christmas sale - and I thought it went well with the cheerful image. I added some spotted ribbon for a bit more texture and plain colors for the vertical stripes.

Such a fun challenge, I hope you play along!

Project 458: A tic tac toe Bugaboo challenge

This weekend I was having so much fun with challenges I knew I had to play along with the Bugaboo Tic Tac Toe challenge. Claire had already been tearing it up with their birthday challenges and I wanted to see if I could put myself to the test.

I went for the right hand column: Ribbon, Bugaboo, Dots & Stripes.

I used these Love Monsters as my base - Claire used them in her challenge entry here and it inspired me to get them out for a play myself. I decided to limit myself to a single color scheme and went with orange and red. I colored the monsters using ProMarkers and then die cut out a square. The spotted backing paper has been in my stash for ages and was already cut into so I counted it as a scrap. The ribbon completes the 'stripe' requirement and I added a birthday sentiment that Claire had given me years ago. The googley eyes really add dimension, they make these little love monsters even sweeter!

Love the output, will definitely be playing along again.

Project: Star Stampz Christmas cards x2

This week at Sketch Saturday we have a fun sketch sponsored by Star Stampz. Truthfully, I couldn't choose an image so I made two cards with the sketch because I was that indecisive. Here's the sketch:

The first is just so silly. This one is called Christmas Tangle and I colored her using Spectrum Noir pencils and fussy cut her out. The background paper has been in my stash for ages and though I worried it was a bit too busy it gives it a lovely retro edge that I was looking for. I stamped the sentiment on a label that I cut from a newsprint paper. I added little glitter accents to the string of lights and then added two black candies to complete the sketch.

The second one is a bit simpler, featuring Santa's Letter which I also colored using Spectrum Noir pencils. The sentiment is an ancient banner I have, maybe my first ever Christmas sentiment set, and is a bit tricky to use but I think it works well as a headline banner. I added some really lovely stitched ribbon and two shiny red stars to complete the sentiment. Both were great fun to color, I really do love the sponsor this week.

Be sure to do a sketch before Friday to join the fun!

Project: A girly patterned Sketch

I have really enjoyed working with the images from our sponsor Paper Nest Dolls this week at Sketch Saturday, the images are so modern and fun to color. I decided to use Love Strung Ellie and colored her using Spectrum Noir colored pencils. 

I die cut it out and layered it against a spotted paper that I have had in my stash for a long time. I decided to go for pattern overload and make the ribbons patterned as well! I adore ribbon and have dozens and dozens of them. I went for girly patterned ones using some of the colors in the image. The label is ancient and from my stash from Claire. 

Hope the sketch inspires some fun crafting this week! 

Project: Sketch Saturday May 20th

Welcome to another Saturday with Sketch Saturday! As a Guest DT I'm having so much fun.

This week's sketch seemed tricky but ended up being a bit of fun to play with:

This image is great, it's from Crafty Sentiment Designs and she is great to color. I used ProMarkers and, having chosen the background paper first, I colored her to match. I chose some ribbons from my stash (I have so many ribbons - maybe hundreds? - that I love playing 'match that color') and used those instead of tags as I liked the texture against the paper. I fussy cut the image over the ribbons and layered her over foam to give her some elevation. The sentiment is stamped on a washi tape punch and I liked the way it mimicked the ribbon.

Hope you enjoy playing with the sketch as well!

Project: Sketch Saturday 6th May

Hello friends - I'm delighted to announce that I'm going to be guest designer for the month of May over at Sketch Saturday. Wahoo! This is my first post for the month and the sketch was really fun to work with: 

My take on the sketch features a great image from Paper Nest Dolls - this one is just too much fun to color. I used ProMarkers and chose really spring-y colors. It's that time of year for cheer, right? I added a bit of turquoise ribbon and then a little rounded oval tag punch that I had in my stash from Claire years ago. I thought it looked sweet nestled on top of the ribbon but it was missing something so I knotted the ribbon and am much happier with how it stands out. The background paper is from Recollections, a gift from Claire so long ago! The turquoise ovals are origami paper - I never think to use it but the subtle print works well to add some texture.

Really looking forward to seeing what everyone has to offer! 

Project 399: A cute little sketch and baby card

Since Christmas I've been struggling for mojo at my craft desk and dipping in and out of challenges less frequently than my usual behaviour. But I really liked the layout at Sketch Saturday and tasked myself to use paper scraps as I wanted to see what I could come up with.

The whole idea came out of the heart paper, I just love the color combos and how sweet they are. It was a gift from Claire this summer and I've been a bit precious about that set - but as this is a scrap I used a fairly big piece guilt free. The green piece is also a scrap and I embossed him using an ancient diamond folder, one of the very first embossing folders I ever got. The sweet hello is from a set that I bought off of Jenn Shurkas who was selling off her old stash and I got in there lightning quick! I punched a little heart and covered it in Enamel Accents to give it a bit texture as all the paper looked a bit flat. 

This one doesn't work to the challenge but as I used the same scraps (hearts and pink border) I thought I'd showcase it here as a freebie. The elephant is a stamp/die from Sizzix that I got in the Black Friday sale, and the sentiment is the same set. The backing paper is a scrap from the Neapolitan stack from Recollections that I have been so precious with but as this is for a colleague I decided to get over myself and just use it! The little white enamel dots add a bit of lightness. 

As I was struggling this weekend I wanted a craft session to be super simple and not too fussy and I'm happy with the result of both of these :) 

Project 393: A very pink baby shower

I have been unable to craft and blog at my usual pace these past few weeks because I have been working non stop on a baby shower for my sister.

So many things made for this shower! So MANY THINGS.

Here's the run down:

• Game boards (I got a template online for a prom invite - yes really - and manipulated it to get the arrangement I wanted. I hated the Baby Shower game boards I found and thought this worked way better for what I wanted) 
• Labels for champagne bottles that say 'About to Pop!' that were printed, die cut, layered over a pink scallop and punched to become a tag 
• Signs for craft stations 
• Tiny folded napkins to look like diapers that hold snacks 
• Ribbon rosettes for the mom to be, x2 grandmas and me, the aunt! 
• Decorated hair bands - there was a station for all the guests do decorate some but Claire and I made x2 testers and then I decorated more with the spares

Plus a bunch of games, prizes, etc. It was all a bit hectic to organise but the final day was beautiful and fun and my sister had a great time which is what really matters. Can't wait to have that little baby in our lives! 

Project: Christmas Scenes for MAWTT

There are few things I love more than a good Christmas scene. I love this time of year and all of the festive things that go with it! So to celebrate, Jan is hosting a Christmas Scene challenge at Moving Along With the Times and we want to see you create a project that depicts a cozy/festive/wintery/Christmasy scene.

I loved this so much I made two. The headline card features a great little stamp that Claire got me as well as a new sentiment I picked up in the Michael's Black Friday sale this year. I heat embossed it in black on a stitched rectangle die that I stole from Claire's stash...she really shouldn't be so generous with her stuff...or maybe she doesn't know she's being generous? ;) I used Distress Inks to watercolor the background, going from grey to light green and then blue at the top. I kept the area around the house blank and then used Wink of Stella shimmer to give it a lovely snowy sheen. The ribbon was a scrap on my desk and happened to go perfectly so I added it to the bottom for a little contemporary touch.

This second card features a big stamp that is also from the Michael's Black Friday sale. I used Stampin' Up khaki dye ink on brown card to get a stain look and then added a die cut sentiment from Dies R Us. The background paper is at least one or two years old...can't quite remember the origins there! I added tiny white enamel accents to make it look like snow and make it pop a bit.

I hope you have fun creating some scenes, can't wait to see what you come up with!

Project 362: An owl balloon birthday

Today is my dear friend Paloma's birthday and to celebrate I gave her a little owl card. I used the Stampin' Up owl punch on some beautiful metallic papers to get the owl body and the eyes are topped with glitter dots to give further accent.

The balloons are done using a stitched circle die from scraps on my desk.  I decided it was more fun this way, and I had seen this Pinterest card and thought the circle balloons were really nice and decided to CASE it. I didn't draw on little owl hands, I tried and it looked weird so I just thought I'd have the balloons come toward the owl without him holding on.

I added white paper thread as the balloon strings and a few little punched hearts to the balloon, just for added bling. I used new alphabet stamps for the sentiment but didn't line them up properly so they look a bit wonky. Oops. Oh well.

A really CAS card and one that is going to make her happy. x

Project 359: A head start on Christmas part 1

This post is from the craft date I had with Claire trying to make a few fussy Christmas cards. You want your Christmas cards to look fun and interesting (people expect it when you're a crafter) but then again you don't want every card to take 45 minutes or you'd never get anything else done in the year!

We decided to try a technique where you heat emboss in white and then use your fingers to dip watercolour paint (in this case Distress Ink spritzed with water) to give it a smudgy kind of effect.

The two images I chose were a snowflake set that is new from Claire and one of my oldest Christmas stamps, an owl tree by Little Claire.

For the snowflakes, we heat embossed and then used a couple of blue and purple inks to get the colors. I layered this over purple stock and then used a star border punch from American Crafts for the bottom. I die cut the sentiment from DieVersions and layered it on black card to stand out. It was too busy with the background to get the text on the purple.

The second one used two green inks and I went for a much more dotted look, I intentionally blended less and just built up the color in dots. I kept this one simpler, and added some raffia at the bottom with some bling star stickers at the top. I kept it sentiment free as I didn't think it needed anything.

They took a long time to heat emboss but I think they have a really special effect. Maybe for special friends and relatives only!

Project 358: A stencilled thank you challenge

Claire gave me a new die recently and when I saw the sketch at CAS(E) this Sketch I thought it would be perfect to try out :

The greeting is a die but it only cuts the inside diamond so I had to cut the frame by hand which made me a bit nervous! I had the green scrap on my desk and that was what inspired the rest of the color scheme by layering it behind. I got out a Tim Holtz stencil and used Distress Ink in Cracked Pistachio and Peacock Feathers for the bottom half. There was a tiny smudge when the stencil slipped so I added the yellow ribbon for contrast and decided to go for tiny enamel dots in yellow to add a bit more of an accent. 

I was slow to put it together but really happy with how it came together with all the different techniques. 

Project 340: Embossed bird birthday

This card had some real serendipity for me; I was looking at the Paper Players sketch this week and thought, that's interesting, and on my desk was a little pink circle already cut out. That steered my hand in the direction of what I did next as I then spent longer trying to find matching pieces for the circle than I would have if I had just started from scratch. Here's the sketch:

I used this little bird stamp from Creative Stamping magazine last summer and heat embossed him in black. The backing paper is a scrap that matched the pink perfectly.

I decided to use black and white ribbon for the banner components of the sketch. I love this little triangle ribbon and it really jumped out when I was looking for accents. I added a little greeting that Claire gave me.

It isn't a color combo or natural pairing of patterns or papers but it came together and I've got just the birthday girl on the horizon to receive it.

Project 326: Yellow wellies for birthday

A colleague asked if I would make a birthday card featuring yellow wellies for his mom. I have this great Little Claire stamp that I knew would be perfect and when I saw the layout in Sketch Saturday I thought it would work well with the image:

The background paper is from Studio Calico. The image is colored with ProMarkers and then cut using nesting Sizzix dies. The greeting was a freebie from Creative Stamping magazine. The yellow spotted ribbon is ancient, I think it's American Crafts. Really pleased with how it came out and I hope my colleague likes it.