Christmas Shaker!!

I am starting to build up my Christmas Card stash ands had fun making this shaker card.  I cut mini windows in my card with the small Stitched Square die from Simon Says.  Then I stamped up and coloured these mini Santa's from Hero Arts. I then fussy cut and added them inside my windows before adding the acetate for the shaker element.

I then just added the mini snowflakes, decided not to add a sentiment as I rather like the CAS look. I shall add this to the Simon Says Wednesday Challenge "Lets get ready for Christmas!"

Its feeling really autumnal here today and I have spent the day in the garden getting it ready for winter.

Hope you have a great week

Hugs
Sally

Watercolour Poinsettia.

Just a quick post today as we are decorating and I need to get on with it !

Love this "Antique Poinsettia" stamp from Hero Arts, I have stamped with Distress inks and then using water and a paintbrush dragged the colour into the image.  I then Die cut the rectangles and added a sentiment and some pearls.  Such a simple card but I am pleased with the out come.

I am adding this to the Simon Says Wednesday Challenge "Stamp it" and also the Love Handmade cards Flickr Group challenge.

Also made this spinner card based on a card I made the other week,  This time I have three layers using both gold and silver embossing, I then added the stoned split pin to make the elements spin.
This is for both the Simon Says Wednesday challenge and the Simon Says Flickr group challenge.


Hope you are having a relaxing weekend.
Hugs
Sally

Back on Track!!

It's been a while since I had time to make a card, but I am back on track and found time to make two today for a couple of challenges.  This first card is using Simon Says "Stitched Square"die and "Thanks"die with the "Zen Floral" stamps from Honey Bee .  I have coloured with Zig markers and added some pearls. This is for the challenge over at the Simon Says Flickr group " Black and White with a splash"

My son asked me to make this card, he wanted a bright sparkly card for his friends little daughter Amelie.  The stamp is from Hero Arts and the window die for the shaker element is  from MFT.  I cut her name with my Silhouette machine.  I am adding this to the "Anything Goes" challenge at the Love Handmade Cards Flickr Group.

Hugs Sally

30 Day Colouring Challenge !

I have got very behind with the 30 Day Colouring Challenge organised by Kathy,   Here are two more cards I have made both coloured with my Zig Brush markers.  This first one is using an old Hero Arts stamp, embossed in white then the coloures have been smooshed over, I then added some highlights of colour with the pens.  The sentiment is from Simon Says.  I am adding this also to the Simon Says Flickr group challenge #66 "Colouring".

For this card I used the Tim Holtz Flower Garden set also stamped and embossed in white before colouring.

I am now off into the garden, we have lots to do !!

Hugs
Sally

More Christmas Cards!

Two more cards (Still loads to do)  This card has the words embossed in metallic gold (hard to see in the photo)  so I am adding it to the challenge at "Virginia's View.  Its good to be making challenge cards again , I really missed being tested with my designs! I am also adding it to the Hero Arts holiday challenge "Mad about Metallics"

This second card used the Hero Arts Winter Town stamp plus my memory box die.  I have added lots of shimmer with my Wink of Stella" pen although it doesn't show in the photo.

Thank you for all the good wishes I have received, hopefully I am on the mend now!

Lets Be Clear!!

The latest Wednesday Challenge over at Simon Says is called "Lets Be Clear"   The variety of choices for this include acetate, glossy accents, vellum etc.  I decided to use some clear embossing powder on my Hero Arts Poppy.  As the poppy is the star of my design I have left the rest of the card as simple as possible. 

The window has been cut using a Spellbinders wonky rectangle die.  

Have a great Friday!!

"Shake it " !!

Although they are quite fiddly to make I quite enjoy making Shaker Cards, so when I saw the Simon Says Wednesday Challenge I had to have a go.   I wanted to try something a little different this time so decided to use an old flower die that I have had for ages.  I have made two pockets for the sequins so that they shake easily in both flowers.

I am also going to add this to Challenge#5 over at Virginia's View which this month is Die Cuts!

We have had a "Fun Day" at school which involves lots of different activities, I had  the pleasure of taking 20 boys to the local angling society for a day of fishing.  The weather was fabulous and we all had a great day although I am really tired now so Its going to be a relaxing evening watching the football.

Have a great weekend!!

A one layer card and More Glitter!!!

At last I am crafting again, its still busy but I have been missing my craft room!!  This first card is for the "One Layer " challenge on the Hero Arts blog and it also fits the "Anything Goes" Challenge over at Simon Says Wednesday challenge.  For this card I made a stencil using a Spellbinders die and then stamped and embossed through the stencil.  I then coloured with my Distress Markers. A very easy but effective card!!

For this second card I used my new Poppystamps die again, this time going for a more masculine look but still using some glittery card.  It shimmers beautifully in real life.

Have a great week.

Bokeh Effect

Challenge #46 at A Blog Named Hero Is "Bokeh"

For those of you unfamiliar with the Bokeh effect, it's a photography term, and it refers to the look of sparkles that appear in a photograph when part of the image is out of focus or if light reflects. 

I made a couple of cards for this challenge, the bottom card is my favourite although the top has more sparkle than you can see as I have sprayed the background with shimmer mist!!  The Happy Birthday is cut using my Silhouette machine.  

This second card is made by just dabbing the card with my Distress Stains, I have also added  "A Touch Of Stella" to the dots for added sparkle.

The weather here has been glorious this weekend and I am out to sit in the garden now.  Happy Sunday!!!

Scraplings

 I have made this scrapling for challenge 4 set by Virginia over at the Virginia's View Blog  I have been really busy and hopefully have sneaked this in just before the challenge closes.  A Scrapling is basically the scraps that you end up with after you cut from your 11x14 card stock (when you make a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" card). You can easily fold the rectangular paper into a a small tall card .  

My card is much brighter in real life, it wasn't the easiest to photograph , my recycled item on the card is the die cut background which is cut from a paint sample great for an ombre effect.

Just a quick post again as I am about to watch some football with DH.  Have a great evening!!

A card for two challenges!

I have had a few spare minutes tonight and made a card that fits two challenges.  The Simon Says Wednesday Challenge, Clean and Simple, and the Hero Arts Sketch Challenge,   The card is based on the 3rd sketch.  

I have had a very busy first week back to school and I need some me time, so with the football on the TV tonight I plan to make a couple more cards as its a very busy month for Birthdays!!

A New Stamp!

I have just got this new HA stamp and have been keen to ink it up, my daughter has a bike just like this one and I plan to make her a card with it.  In the mean time I tried to make a sky with some cloud dies as a stencil, the blue is much nicer than shows in the photograph, this is the best image I could get!!

I had time to make another card for the Hero Arts Sketch challenge, I used the second sketch as my inspiration and stamped onto watercolour paper with the Poppy stamp and Wheat Grass.

This is the last day of my holidays, I have had two great weeks off with glorious weather but its back to work tomorrow :0(

Sketch Challenge

I have been enjoying the Easter break from school and as the weather has been glorious I have not founds time to do any creating.  Today I decided to spend a couple of hours in my craft room and make a card for the new Hero Arts Sketch challenge. I have followed sketch 2 and used my new Poppy stamp. I also dusted off the Envelope Background and stamped the red card and the edge of the label.

On Tuesday I went with Francesca for a visit to London, I have been lucky enough to win a competition and the prize is some jewelry designed by Alex Monroe, we went for the consultation and after treated ourselves to coffee on the 32 floor of the shard.

This is a selfie taken in the cocktail bar of the shard, ( it was very plush inside!!)

 And this is the view from our table, I am not very good at heights but managed this ,I don't think I could venture to the viewing point on the 64 floor!!

It looks like the weather is on the turn here, just in time for the Easter weekend, such a shame as we have lots planned, its my sons and husbands birthday on Saturday..

Hope you have a great holiday weekend.

Happy Birthday

 Its been a very busy week, the last week of the Spring Term at school and I now have two weeks holiday to look forward to. I am hoping the weather is fine as my garden is needing a tidy up after the winter!!

Yesterday I had fun playing with my Copic markers and some Blending Solution to create this background for my Memory Box dies.  I am adding this to the challenge at ABNH which is "Build a Background". This card is also for the Simon Says Birthday challenge. 

Hope you all have a fun weekend.

A New Challenge!!

I have just got back from a couple of weeks house sitting and have found that there is a new challenge blog called Virginia's View.  I have long been a follower of Virginias Blog so had to take part in this challenge which is cards with Water colouring. Here is my card, a CAS design but with I have water coloured the flower stems with Distress stains.  Both the Dies are from Memory Box and the sentiment is Hero Arts.

For the past two weeks I have been house sitting in the country for my cousin, he has the most amazing garden with lots of wildlife visiting every day. Here are some photos.  The top one is of the Goldfinches and Blue Tits feeding.

Here is a very well fed Blue Tit.

Not a great photo but at night a badger visits, we left out some peanuts for him!

 We have had some beautiful weather over the last few days and spring is on the way at last!

Have a great week, I hope to catch up with some of my favourite blogs this week!

February CCC

I took part in Deborah's fun Card Chain Challenge again this month, this was the card I sent Jacqueline in France.  I know she has received it so its safe to reveal.  I loosely followed the sketch Deborah provided and also tried to make a card in Jacqueline's style, (that's flowers and butterflies).

I was lucky enough to receive this lovely card from Lisa in the USA, I am afraid my photograph does not do it justice as the flowers have lots of sparkle on them, they really glisten in the light.  She also sent me lots of die cuts that I know are going to be very useful!!

I am going to take a little blogging holiday now, we have been asked to house sit for my cousin who has a beautiful house in the country.  He has lots of wildlife visit his garden and its our job to feed them!!

Have a great week.