Project: A mermaid birthday card

Hello and happy Saturday! This week we have a fun sketch to play along with at Sketch Saturday. The sponsor is one of my personal favourites, The Paper Nest Dolls.

I started by colouring the image with Spectrum Noir pencils, I really wanted a gradient effect and found the blending easier with pencil than with marker. I have a mermaid-obsessed friend so I went with colours I knew she would like.

I decided to make the left hand panel blended Distress Oxides and got another gradient. You can't have too many rainbow/ombre effects with a mermaid card. Fact. The sentiment is a modern one that I got in a sale last summer and it is perfect for this card. It's modern and silly and completes the sketch really well.

Super happy with the result, can't wait to see what people play along with!

Project: A bee fairy for Sketch Saturday

Hello and happy Saturday! We have a great sketch for you at Sketch Saturday designed by the talented Mrs G! 

Our sponsor is Star Stampz and I just fell in love with this little bee fairy, I thought she was great. 

I decided to colour her with Spectrum Noir pencils and then cut her out and put her against a black background. The yellow card was stencilled with a honeycomb pattern and distress ink. The sentiment is an ancient one from my stash. I love how it came together, black, white and yellow are a favourite crafting combo and I think it works really well with the sentiment. Hope you have fun playing along! 

Project: A tropical card for Sketch Saturday

Welcome to another fun week at Sketch Saturday! Here's our sketch: 

This week our sponsor is Scribbles Design and I thought it'd be a cheerful start to this January day to use their tropical drink image. 

I colored it using Spectrum Noir pencils and then die cut it out using spotted border dies to give them a but more texture. I used an arrow paper clip for the starburst in the sketch and the strip along the top is a washi tape border I have that I thought matched the yellow in the spotted paper (ancient from my stash and I love it used here). The sentiment is such fun, I got it in a set last year and just thought it was perfect for this image. 

Hope you have fun playing along with us! 

Project: A dino-mite sponsor for Sketch Saturday

Happy new year everyone! 

First post of the year and I'm delighted to be playing along with this week's post on Sketch Saturday, a layout designed by the one and only Claire Grantham! 

Our sponsor provided this adorable dinosaur hatching image and so I coloured him using Spectrum Noir pencils then used a mix of patterned spotted papers from my stash for the background and banners. The sentiment is one from my collection that I wanted to use, I thought the big text worked really well in the space. The strip of half beads is from Poundland, I love how toy-like they are, the matte-effect I think makes a good alternative to pearls or bling. 

Hope you enjoy playing along this week! 

Project: A Christmas card for Sketch Saturday

Happy Saturday! This week at Sketch Saturday we are playing with a sketch I designed, wahoo! I had a lot of fun looking through our Scrap N Dipity sponsor this week as there are so many sweet images to chose from.

I love these little penguins and I colored them with ProMarkers. I fussy cut them out so I could layer them on top of each other. I was pretty generous with the glitter glue, I think Christmas cards are a chance to be a bit excessive! I added a Art & co sentiment at the bottom and then topped it off with some stars.

I hope you have fun playing along with my sketch!

Project: 2 takes on a teapot card for Sketch Saturday

This week's sketch for Sketch Saturday was a bit tricksy for me but I did two attempts all the same featuring an image from our sponsor LeAnn's World. 

I colored the image using ProMarkers and then die cut it using a scalloped and stitched square. I thought it was a good way of getting the edges on the sketch. I used a bright striped paper and then took some white scraps from my scrap pile for the diagonal stripes. I struggled to make it not so twee, I was hoping the colors would lift it a bit. 

This is my second take on it. I tried to get a watercolour effect on the teapot but I don't love it. The colors don't work as well but I do prefer the grey textured background paper. 

So a bit of variety with the same sponsor image and sketch! hope you have fun playing along! 

Project: Monster card for Sketch Saturday

Hello and happy Saturday. The sketch for today's Sketch Saturday has a couple of components but I hope you find some inspiration in our Little Miss Muffet sponsor:

The little monster was just too much fun, I decided to play with him in greens and yellows. The sentiment is an old one from my stash, I love how it works with the silly image. The spotted paper has been in my stash for ages and the colors worked so well. The strip along the side is blended with Distress Inks and I used the same Peeling Paint color to stencil some spots on the die cut circle layer. 

I hope you have fun playing along! 

Project: Pumpkins and punches for Sketch Saturday

This week at Sketch Saturday we have a lovely little sketch. I was struggling to make it work until I rotated it on my side and then it was a Eureka! moment:

Our sponsor is The Paper Nest Dolls, and I love them. I think their images are so cheery and sweet. I went for something a bit seasonal and colored her with ProMarkers before fussy cutting her out.

I added a strip of orange punched pumpkins as a border down the side to work with the sketch and then added a Tim Holtz sticker for the sentiment. I have a few vertical stamps but I like that this is a bit different. The background paper is ancient, I think I've had it for 6 or 7 years as I bought it with Claire following one of our very first playdates.

I added glitter glue to the sunflower on her shirt and a Wink of Stella touch for each of the pumpkins and her hair band. It's sort of lost in the image here but it looks great in real life.

I love that pumpkin punch and was delighted to have the opportunity to use it (especially since I used a scrap of orange paper exactly the right size, score!) so it was a card of perfectly found pieces coming together.

Hope it works for your inspiration this week!

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: Autumnal sketch for Sketch Saturday

This week at Sketch Saturday our sponsor is Fred She Said and I just love their images. This week I wanted something really autumnal to match the change in seasons and thought this pumpkin and dahlia image was perfect.

And because it's a 5th Saturday in the month (yay! more Saturdays!) it's a choose your own sketch week: pick any sketch from 215-532. I went for 514 as it was one I didn't get to play with originally:

I colored the image with ProMarkers and added A Wink of Stella to the flowers to make them shimmer. I love the contrast of purple, yellow and orange, I think it's a great combo for this time of year. I used some great papery flowers from Recollections that I got a while back that add joy to any card. And then a Tim Holtz sticker sentiment for the banner. I tried it on an actual banner and it really looked better plain against the textured paper. 

Loved having a browse through the sketches - I hope you find inspiration as well! 

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: Monster unicorns for Sketch Saturday

Hello everyone and happy Saturday, another chance to play with Sketch Saturday. I LOVE our sponsor, Oddball Art Co, every time I go on their site I fall a bit more in love with their collection of quirky but sweet images. 

I mean, look at these weird little unicorn monster guys and tell me they aren't just amazing. Impossible. And they went so well with this week's sketch: 

I rotated the sketch on its side so I could have the border not he bottom. I colored the image using ProMarkers and then die cut it using a spotted border die, adding a pop of pink. I used Distress Ink to blend the border and punched it with a Martha Stewart punch. The bottom is a bit frilly but never mind. Because the border is a bit fussy I decided to use the a Tim Holtz sticker sentiment. I usually cut these up and use them stacked but I like how it spans the full thing. And it's perfect. 

Looking forward to seeing what everyone else does with it! 

Project: Fairies and bugs for Sketch Saturday

This is one of the first times I've played along and got to play with my own sketch. Hilariously it's one of the hardest sketches I've ever played. Oy vey.

So this is what I came up with - after a few attempts I should add! I kept the sketch the same but played on a landscape layout as I struggled with the portrait approach. The image is from Paper Shelter, our sponsor this week, and I colored her with ProMarkers. Because she's a bit ethereal and sweet I decided to play with that and use some fun bug stanps. The bugs are from a little stamp set I got in a sale years ago, and I love how much color and weird perspective they bring. I added a little Tim Holtz sticker for the sentiment. and then die cut it so I could get a little dotted border.

Hopefully you like playing along with it as well!

Project: Summery strawberry card for Sketch Saturday

I have to say I absolutely love the sponsor this week at Sketch Saturday, Star Stampz. This strawberry image just filled me with joy. And I knew it would work brilliantly in this week's sketch:

This lovely image got colored with ProMarkers and then cut out in an oval. The sentiment is an old one and I thought it would work well with this cheerful little image. I went for a gingham paper as I thought nothing is like a summery gingham - and it reminds me of a strawberry jam top. I didn't do much else - I added a lovely little flower for texture to complete the sketch -I tried a button but it was too twee. This is just right. I hope you have fun playing along!

Project: Panda on a bike for Sketch Saturday

Another happy Saturday to you all - and happy Sketch Saturday day! 

I have a panda-mad friend so whenever I see panda images I always make her fun little cards. Our sponsor this week is Kitty Bee Designs so this Trike Panda stamp was perfect for our sketch: 

I die cut the image in a circle and then colored the bike using ProMarkers. The papers are from a corresponding American Craft set and I've had these scraps for ages because I love them and always look for lovely cheerful images to use them - like this one! 

I used an ancient punched scallop heart to feature a stamp that was from a Recollections set. I decided to use little rhinestone hearts in the corner to complete the sketch. It's really colourful and bright and I think will make my friend's day. 

Hopefully you have fun with the challenge as well. 

Project: A sparkly unicorn for Sketch Saturday

I love a unicorn so the Digi Stamp Boutique's collection of unicorn and fairy images was too much fun for inspiration for this week's Sketch Saturday:

I die cut the unicorn using a stitched square and colored it using ProMarkers, creating a rainbow in markers for the mane and tail. I used glitter paper to create a die cut sentiment from a Tim Holtz Christmas set and then using stitched circle dies to create a fun little rainbow and then cut it in half to match the sketch. I used a background paper from Hema, how lovely is that? It wasn't that strong against the white card though so I added a light purple border. 

I'm loving it. I hope you have fun with the sketch as well! 

Project: A lovely little bee fairy for Sketch Saturday

When I saw our sponsor at Sketch Saturday this week I absolutely fell in love with this Bitsy Bug Jane image. Oh how cute is she?!

The sketch is fun too, really easy to put together. I die cut the image into a tag and then used ProMarkers for the colouring. The sentiment is stamped using a magazine freebie die cut into a circle, layered over a stitched circle die. I used the scrap of a sheet that I've always loved and this is my last little piece. It was an American Crafts pad that was all my favourite colours and it came in handy with just the right amount of detail and texture. It looked a bit simple so I added white as a border and like it so much more. I added two little enamel dots and oh. I'm just so happy with it! 

Hope you have fun playing along. 

Project: Raincoat dolly and ducky for Sketch Saturday

Another happy Saturday to join in the fun at Sketch Saturday! The sketch this is week is SUPER flexible:

I love this image from our sponsor The Paper Nest Dolls and I decided to color it to look like one of my friends. I used ProMarkers to color the image and then die cut it into a circle. I embossed a turquoise sheet with dots to tie into the raincoat.

I then added enamel accents to the raincoat and dots to the sentiment, which was from a magazine freebie. I kind of wish I had added them to the boots and not the raincoat. That was a mistake. Oh well. I added glitter to the duck bill and the barrette in the girl's hair and I like that as a feature.

It's a simple little one and I hope you are able to follow along!

Project: Wedding cards for Sketch Saturday

This week at Sketch Saturday we have a fun sketch for you to play with and an amazing sponsor MMedel Illustrations. Here's the sketch:

I rotated the sketch so the band ran across the top, with the little sentiment box on the bottom left corner. The image was colored with ProMarkers and then I die cut it out. In the headline card I used a square and the card below I opted for a rectangle. I added a spot of glitter glue to the flowers and the veil and dress. The background for each uses a big rose stencil and Distress Ink.


The headline card features spotted ribbon but I made a big oops on the stencil on the card below so I had to cover it with a bigger strip of paper! I used paper hearts from my collection (I regularly punch or die cut hearts in paper scraps as they are so handy) and then die cut the initials of two couples getting married this summer on top.

They are pretty busy but I think the attention to detail is fun. And happily I have two personalised wedding cards to give! Hope you enjoy the sketch as well :)

Project: A geometric embossed sketch card

Another happy Saturday at Sketch Saturday to everyone. I absolutely love this week’s sponsor image from Sasayaki Glitter – how cute is this called ‘The Garden’? 

The sketch was also a lot of fun to work with – I hope you find some inspiration: 

I started by die cutting the image with a dotted edge rectangle die. I did two equal rectangles in plain card and embossed them with geometric patterns (a triangle and a diamond). I love how simple and geometric the image is so I thought this was a fun thing to play up. I chose a yellow grid background paper to bring some more yellow to it. 

I colored the image with ProMarkers and added some enamel accents to the little rosy cheeks. I kind of messed up the toadstool so I punched some small white dots to make this a bit cleaner. The yellow bow is also a punch from EK Success. 

I love the primary color simplicity and really enjoyed adding the little details. Hopefully you’ll enjoy it as well!