TGI Friday

Thank Goodness it's Friday!!!!

For a change it's not because there is only one day of work left, but because it's a Bank Holiday - a four day weekend awaits me, what a lovely thought!

Also, I have woken up to lovely blue skies and sunshine, so, even though it's still FREEZING, it's really nice to see things brightening up a bit.

I have decided that today I am going to have a proper day off......not start the housework early etc. I am going to enjoy a bit of crafting time (not least because I haven't finished my Easter cards yet....oops!!!)

So today I thought I would show you something that I made for Stamp Addicts using one of their lovely rabbit stamps.

I have to admit that this was not a 5 minute job as it all started out as plain, flat bits of card, but, with the help of my trusty boxer board and a bit of trial and error, I got there in the end, and I think that the effort was worth it.

Here's a picture of the box in the closed position. As you can see I have made panels using some of the Stamp Addicts background stamps and Red Brick Distress Ink.

Then - when you take the lid off............boing!!!! Out pops the mad rabbit.

As you can see I have coloured him with pro markers and surrounded him with plain punched flowers with coiled wire stems which I created by winding the wire around a pen. The difficult part was affixing the wire stems to the box and in the end I opted for making a raised base, poking the wire through and securing the wires with sticky tape. All this becomes invisible once you stick the base in place and this has the added advantage of making the whole box a bit more solid too.

Here's one final picture, showing the panels that I created for the inside of the box. on this inside panels, you can see that I hand coloured some of the stars in blue, just so that they didn't appear too monochrome.

So, now on to the lovely challenges that I would like to enter this week.
ABC Challenge - Anything Goes
Simon Says Stamp - Anything Goes
Stamp n Doodle - Easter or Spring
Fab n Funky - Boxed In
Paper Shelter - Anything Goes
I love Promarkers - Spring is in the Air
Delightful Challenges - Hippity Hoppity
Stampin for the weekend - Anything but a Card
Cute Card Thursday - Brass in Pocket
Totally papercrafts - Metal
Make it Monday

Thank you for stopping by to visit my blog. I hope that, if you like what you see, you might come and follow me  :o)

Happy (hoppy) Easter everyone.

Sharon x

Are you sure Summer is coming

I was over visiting my parents today and my mum happened to remind me that British Summer Time officially begins next weekend. Well I looked out of the window at the snow, and took a moment to remember that my hands had been about to drop off from the cold only five minutes earlier, and I just had to laugh! What on earth is going on with our weather at the moment...and will there ever be any end to it????

Still - at least there are lots of lovely Spring challenges out there to make us think of the lovely season to come...if it ever gets here!!

Here's a very simple little card that I have made using one of the cutie pie images from LOTV.......this is what we should be doing right now - not shovelling snow with our wellie boots on!

As you can see I have gone for a lilac and lemon combination which I think is nice and fresh and I have coloured this little lady in with my much adored Pro Markers.

I have gone for my 'cheats' bow, involving a bit of cutting, a bit of folding and some super sticky tape...and that's about it really.

Here are a few challenges that I would like to enter with this card:

Make it Monday (Link to follow)
Bearly Mine - Anything Goes
Simon Says Stamp - Easter / Spring
Stamp n Doodle - Anything Goes
Paper Shelter - Let it be Spring
Lili's Little Fairies - Spring Colours
ABC Challenge - Anything Goes

Finally, I am delighted to have had some new followers join me over the weekend. Thank you for coming to join me, and I look forward to seeing you around.

Thanks

Sharon x

Easter..but not 'in your face' Easter

I'm back again with my second post today, this time focussing on the quickly approaching Easter celebrations.

I love to make Easter cards as they give you a chance to get some lovely Spring colours going and brush away the winter blues (something which is badly needed if you happen to live in the UK!)

That said, sometimes I don't want to be too obvious about Easter and this is an example of just such a card........there's a cute LOTV bunny but no eggs and no chocolate!

I don't know who the artist is but I just love the way that he/ she draws their animals with the fluff lines around the edges, and, this time I wanted to keep that soft textured look in my colouring, so I did a bit of dotting with my blender pen and I think it has actually been quite successful on this occasion (not sure if I would be able to do it again though!)

For the rest of my card I have used some NitWits digital paper matted with fuchsia pink card and co-ordinating ribbons and buttons to give what I hope will be a clean but pretty look.

As you can see from the close up, I have also been practicing grounding the character with a bit of shading at the base. That's the great thing about this hobby, there is always something new to learn, don't you think?

And now to move on to the myriad of challenges that I would like to enter with this card:

Make it Monday (link to follow)
Cutie Pie - Easter
Deep Ocean Challenge- Cute and Cuddly
Papertake - Easter Treats
Created with Love - Button Up
Bearly Mine - Anything Goes
Digital Tuesday - Easter
Simon Says Stamp - Easter / Spring
Stamp n Doodle - Anything Goes
The Paper Shelter - Let it be Spring
I Love Promarkers - Anything Goes
In the Pink - Spring / Easter
Cute Card Thursday - Easter Parade
Totally Papercrafts - Easter Eggstravaganza
Lili's Little Fairies - Spring Colours

Well that's the end of my challenge list.

Thanks for coming to visit my blog, and, if you like what you see, I hope you might follow me!!

Sharon x

Keep on Movin'

That's the title of this week's Pink Gem challenge and I thought that this little skater boy from their range was perfect to fit the theme.

I actually used this image to make some thank you cards after my son' s birthday...it's so cute and really fun to colour too, as there's enough space in there to get a bit of shading practice going.

Anyway, it simple is as simple does for this card, focussing on the main image with a single paper matted behind it. The paper happened to be double sided and the faux ribbon that you can see is actually a scrap of the flip side....waste not want not as they say!

So, on to a few challenges that I would like to enter:

Make it Monday (link to follow)
Bearly Mine - Anything Goes
Southern Girls - The Kids are Alright
A Gem of a Challenge- Keep on Moving
I love Promarkers - Anything Goes

Well that's my first post of the day out of the way. I'll be back shortly with something a little more girly I think!

Sharon x

An Easter Bunny

With Easter just around the corner, it is now time for me to turn my attention to Rabbits and of course, chocolate!!

Here's a little something that I made to hold a few hidden chocolates...I don't know what you would call it exactly...a folding gift card I guess :o)

I made this from scratch, i.e.flat bits of card, and it was actually very easy to make, and also easy to make in different sizes for different presents as well.

Once again, I used my Stamp Addicts Bunny for this item and coloured him in with my trusty Promarkers.

That's about all I have to say about this card, other than to enter a few of those lovely Easter challenges out there.

So here goes:

Bearly Mine- easter
I love Promarkers - Ribbons and Bows
The Paper Shelter - Easter
Creatalicious - Lovely Easter
Cute Card Thursday - Anything Goes
ABC Challenge - Just as you like
My Time to Craft - Bunnies
One Stop Craft - Anything Goes
Pink Gem - Easter / Spring
Cutie Pie - Easter
Make it Monday

Thanks for stopping by.

Sharon x

Funny Bunny

Whahoo it's the weekend at last! Although the weather is rubbish, at least I have a little bit of free time!!

It has suddenly hit me that Easter is just around the corner and I have done precisely NOTHING card wise.....aaarrgghhhhh!!

What I do have though, is this cute little rabbit stamp from Stamp Addicts, which I used to make a birthday card, although it would do just as well as an Easter stamp I think.

The lovely bright papers were a freebie pad from a magazine, and probably not something that I would choose to buy, even though they are really lovely. I took colours from the papers to use on the balloons and the rabbit.......well he's just rabbit colour I guess!!

I think you can just about see that I went with a bit of distress ink in the background, but, before I did that I edged the circle with alcohol pen and faded it in a bit with a blender.

I also used a ribbon from a freebie pack so, all in all this turned out to be a really good budget card for me!!

So - on to the lovely challenges that I would like to enter:

Anything Goes - Seeing Double   (Two stamps)
Papertake - 1,2 3 (1 ribbon, two stamps, 3 papers)
I Love Promarkers - Ribbons and Bows
Cute Card Thursday - Anything Goes
ABC Challenge - Anything Goes
Make it Monday
My Time to Craft - Bunnies
One Stop Craft - Anything Goes
A Gem of a Challenge - Easter / Spring
Card Makin Mamas - Spring Time

So that's all from me for now...time to get back to the housework I think!!

Sharon x

The most frustrating game........

My parents are both keen golfers and, like any player of this sport, they tell me it's a great game when all is going well, but hideous when you are having an 'off' day!

None the less, the both like to frequent the golf course on a regular basis and, in the case of my Dad, this makes a perfect focus for birthday cards.

A little while back, Stamp Addicts released a new stamp called Gary the Golfer, and, since my dad is also called Gary, I thought I would have to make sure I used it for his birthday card this year.

So, on my card you can see 'Gary' accompanied by his gormless caddie who, I hasten to add, does not represent anyone in my family.

I started off with an 8 x 8 base card which I covered with bazill card stock, and then went to town with my grand nestie dies and some 'golfish' papers which were lurking in my stash.

The characters are two separate stamps which I coloured with alcohol markers and I used paper piecing for their tops and hats.

Finally I have distressed the edges of the top layer with a Tim Holtz ink pad.

So now it's time to enter a few challenges which are:

Anything Goes - Seeing Double (2 characters)
Papertake - 1,2,3  (1 distress ink, 2 characters and 3 papers)
Delightful Challenges- One for the Boys
Make it Monday
Sweet Stampin - One for the Boys
Cute Card Thursday - Anything Goes

So that's my post for today. Only one more day until the weekend...let the count down begin!

Thanks for stopping by.

Sharon x

Longing for Spring

Well we have had another absolutely freezing day here in my neck of the woods.....I am not sure that I can remember such a bitterly cold wind, even in the depths of winter! We have had snow flurries again, and this time the flakes fell down like little balls of polystyrene. I am beginning to wonder if Spring is ever going to arrive!

Never mind - as long as I can make some cards with some lovely bright colours and my favourite images, I know I can always keep a smile on my face.

So here's a card that I made with that very thought in mind. I used a lovely stamp from the Pip range at Sugar Nellie for this card. I only have two of them so far, but I just know that I will be adding to them...I just love everything about her.

I really enjoyed colouring her in to match the freebie papers which I got from a magazine, although I think I need a bit more blending practice, not to mention figuring out how to texturise and highlight the hair a bit better. Oh well, I guess I will have to practice some more colouring......what a shame lol!!

I have found lots of lovely challenges to enter this week, and here they are:

Papertake - Anything Goes
Bearly Mine - Mothers Day
The Sugar Bowl - Anything Goes
Allsorts - Spring
One Stop Craft - Spring
Make it Monday
Totally Gorguss - For Mum
By the Cute and Girly - Favourite Things
Squirrel and Fox - Spring
Gem of a Challenge - Floral Frenzy
Forever Friends - Lots of Flowers

Well that's my belated post from Sunday done and dusted. Now it's time for me to be terribly English and brew up a nice cup of tea!

Bye for now.

Sharon x

So what happened to Spring???

You've got to love the variety of weather here in the UK. Just when I was thinking that winter is coming to an end and Spring is finally on it's way, I get a short sharp reminder that, here in England, you can never count on the  weather! We had some beautiful days here earlier this week.....blue skies, sunshine and slightly warmer temperatures......lovely! But just as I was getting used to it....oh no......grey skies, darkness and constant rain :o(. And it get's worse - tomorrow we are down to 2 degrees and a threat of snow.....it seems we have jumped back to winter again!

Never mind though....I hope to be getting down to a bit of crafting at some point this weekend, and I can do that in any weather.....especially when I have lots of bright cheerful images and papers to put me back in to that 'Spring has sprung frame of mind again!)

So - on to my first card for the weekend, featuring a lovely bunny from Stamp Addicts. As you can see, he is very 'cartoon' style and I reckon you could make him look a bit like the famous Bugs Bunny with a bit of artistic colouring - especially with that carrot in his hand!

For some reason I was really taken with his great big feet, so I felt to need to decoupage his front foot, which I hope you can see on this photo.

The backing paper is from my Nitwits, Just hatched set and the layered flowers were also cut out of the same bit of paper,

So a very simple card, but nice and bright, so I hope this makes you think of Spring, especially if, like me, you aren't seeing it at the moment when you look out of your window!!

Here are some lovely challenges that I would like to enter today.......

Forever Friends - Lots of Flowers
Without words - A Time for Renewal
Papertake - Anything Goes
Cute Card Thursday - Spring Fever
Allsorts - Spring Fever
Catch the Bug - Green Thumb
My Time to Craft - Food or Drink
Make it Monday
One Stop Craft - Spring

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

Sharon x

Rockin Robin

A quick post today to show a card that I made for Stamp Addicts a while ago, using one of their new release stamps - Rockin Robin.

I have kept things really simple and coloured that card in a 2d effect as this strikes me a a cartoony kind of image.

The papers are pulled out of my stash and were from Denami....I think they are still around these days. They are were originally designed to go with some very girly stamps but you would never know!

I am entering this card in to a few challenges and here they are:

Deep Ocean Challenge - For a boy
Make it Monday
Simon Says Stamp - Anything Goes
The Paper Shelter - Animal Magic
Card Makin Mamas - Green
eclectic Ellapu - For a Child

Thanks for stopping by.

Sharon x

Popcorn - Soft and Sweet

Well here I am once again with a little sample of my colouring, using the gorgeous Popcorn the Bear.
This is a really old stamp of mine but I think that everything to do with Popcorn is just timeless and will never go out of fashion.......just as well as I really love colouring this little chap.

This image itself is pretty large. As you can see, it takes up most of a 6x6 card, so it really needs very little else in the way of embellishment.

I had to crack out my Grand Nestie scalloped circles die cuts to fit him, and of, course I have used the matching paper from the original CD Rom as the backing paper.

The colouring part took a little while, so I thought it was worthy of a close up......here you go.....

Now on to the challenges that I would like to enter today....

Bearly Mine - Anything Goes
Cute Card Thursday - Something Old
Natalie and Amy - Dies Cuts
Simon Says Stamp - Anything Goes
Paper Shelter - Animal Magic
My mums craft shop - Spring has Sprung
Make it Monday
One Stop Craft - Mothers Day
Card Makin Mamas - Green
Forever Friends - Lots of Flowers

What a lovely bunch of challenges there are this week!

Thanks to all of you who have dropped by to see me today and I hope you have a lovely crafty weekend.

Sharon x