No stamps today!

Well as you know, stamping is my thing, but from time to time I can't resist a bit of decoupage - especially when there are House Mice involved. I made this card for a friend of mine who is, shall we say, a little bit partial to the odd G&T so I thought this lemony theme would be just perfect.

There is not too much to say about this card other than a lot of time spent cutting and a lot of silicon glue used to create about 6 layers of decoupage, but I think the final result is well worth it!

So that's about it today, other than to enter a few challenges, so here they are.....

http://createdwithlovechallenges.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/cwlc-55-anything-goes.html
http://ppp-makeitmonday.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/mim-155-with-2-cute-ink.html
http://sisteractcardchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/challenge-22.html
http://totallypapercrafts.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/challenge-182-decoupage.html

Thanks for stopping by.

Sharon x

Getting Digi at Bearly Mine

There's a new challenge over at Bearly Mine this week and this time it's to use a digital image on your creation.

Now as you know I am quite a 'Digi' fan and therefore had the unenviable decision of wondering which of my many images to use!

In the end I went for this cute little robot which I had been meaning to colour up for ages. Not only is he so cute but also the easiest decoupage ever as everything is square!

As you can see I have coloured him in lovely shades of blue and grey to match him with the lovely papers from the BM Boyz Zone range. Check out the great card candies too, which look nice and metallic I think!

That's about it really, but in case you were interested...the little robot comes  from TiddlyInks.....reckon he will be making an appearance again in the not too distant future!

Thanks for stopping by today and don't forget to join in the fun over at Bearly mine this week!.

Sharon x

Lacy Sunshine Native American Girl

Have any of you ever visited Lacy Sunshine? The digital images drawn by the owner, Heather, are just so sweet  and there are such a variety of characters as you can see from this lovely Native American girl.

After going to watch The Lone Ranger at the cinema this week, I was prompted to print out this image and colour her in, to see how I got on with black hair.

As you can see, I still have a way to go with my black hair technique  but I soooo enjoyed colouring her and also having a go at creating the yellow glow around her.

I have kept my card really simple, yo focus on the image itself but I teamed her up with a Bearly Mine Steampunk paper (set one I think) because it reminded me of hemp or hessian. The feathers weren't on the paper, but I stamped them using brown dye ink for a bit of interest.

Finally I had to make a few paper feathers for the embellishment as I didn't have any real ones!

So of course there are a few challenges that I would like to enter and here they are.....

http://ppp-makeitmonday.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/mim-155-with-2-cute-ink.html
http://sisteractcardchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/challenge-21.html
http://deliciousdoodleschallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/challenge-50-birds-of-feather.html
http://pinkgemchallengeblog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/challenge-94.html
http://thesquirrelandthefox.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/challenge-51-spring-or-autumn.html
http://lacysunshinechallengeblog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/lacy-sunshine-challenge-15-girls-girls.html
http://createdwithlovechallenges.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/cwlc-55-anything-goes.html

Thanks for visiting today.

Sharon x

Cute as a Bug........

I just love this stamp from Stamps by Judith.....it's one that I bought on a whim a few years back, thinking that I probably wouldn't use it much, but it comes out of my box time and time again!

This is a card that I made to teach at classes at the recent Stamperama show at Stevenage.

As you can see, I have stamped and coloured the main stamp with my Promarkers and I have created my own backing papers to match using sticks and stubbies.

Hope you like my little card :o)

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

http://ppp-makeitmonday.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/mim-154-with-bugaboo-stamps.html
http://sisteractcardchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/challenge-21.html
http://cutiepiechallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/challenge-51-anything-goes.html
http://createdwithlovechallenges.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/cwlc-54-something-sweet.html
http://promarkerchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/week-212-theme.html
http://papertakeweekly.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/flower-power.html
http://ilovepromarkers.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/challenge-182-bugs.html
http://inkychicks.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/challenge-11-use-bestie-image.html
http://southerngirlschallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/the-warm-fuzzies.html
http://cardcrafterscircle.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/challenge-89-bright-colours.html
http://pinkgemchallengeblog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/challenge-94.html
http://thesquirrelandthefox.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/challenge-51-spring-or-autumn.html

Thanks for visiting today.

Sharon x

Is it really that time already???

I can't believe it but the Summer holidays is nearly at an end...I can't believe how quickly that time passes by! With just over a week to go, we are now getting ready for my son to start a secondary school - a big leap and quite sad in a way as I know that things are about to change BIG TIME and my 'little' boy will soon be lost forever.  :o(

Still - for every occasion there is a card to be made, and this is no exception, and I would like to think that my son will be a bit like this card when he goes back to school (although in reality, I know we will be arguing about him doing his homework, probably from day one......he's a typical boy in that respect and tells me tat he doesn't 'agree' with homework!!)

This is a really sweet little image from DSB and I have paired it up with my Live n Learn Nitwits papers set, which I  sized to perfection on Serif.

Since I had plenty of paper, I also made a variation on the theme, using the same image but a slightly different layout.

And as always, there are some lovely challenges out there that I would like to enter, and here they are......

http://cutiepiechallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/challenge-51-anything-goes.html
http://ppp-makeitmonday.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/mim-154-with-bugaboo-stamps.html
http://tiddlyinkschallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/challenge-116-back-to-school.html
http://cutecardthursday.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/challenge-283-back-to-school.html
http://delightfulsketches.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/weekly-challenge-back-to-school.html
http://sisteractcardchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/challenge-21.html
http://cardcrafterscircle.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/challenge-89-bright-colours.html
http://pinkgemchallengeblog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/challenge-94.html

Thanks for visiting today.

Sharon x

Bearly Anything but Bearly Mine and a Sale!

Hello and welcome to my second post of the day...this time featuring Bearly Mine.

I have made this card using nothing but papers from the Bearly Mine Steam Punk Fantasy 1 set and a piece of base card...not bad huh?????

Steampunk is way out of my comfort zone as a rule but I can't help but love this particular colour combination...and the ballon image that you see was just cut straight from one of the patterned papers too. A very simple card indeed but great for a man I think.

Plus a little more good news....Bearly Mine are having another one of their Bank Holiday sales this weekend......

Why not go grab a bargain and enjoy!

Finally a couple of challenges for my little card.........

http://ppp-makeitmonday.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/mim-154-with-bugaboo-stamps.html
http://sisteractcardchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/challenge-20.html

Thanks for visiting.

Sharon x

Lili's Little Fairies all about the boys challenge

Time for another new challenge at Lili's Little Fairies and this week the theme is 'All about the Boys'.

There are some really lovely boy stamps in the LOTV range and I particularly like the vintage boys which were released recently.

As my dad is a keen golfer, of course I just had to snap this one up.....I love how he looks so determined, marching around with his golf club in the air - definitely a boy on a mission!

I picked some papers from my 'Little Men' Nitwits digi collection and used my trusty Serif to size them perfectly. Even the little buttons have come from a digi kit - I love how they look textured and wooden.

As you can see, I coloured the little boy to match the papers before finally adding a bit of faux stitching to complete the card.

I am pleased to say that my dad really liked his card, and I hope you do too.  :o)

Finally, here are some other lovely challenges that I would like to enter today....

http://southerngirlschallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/the-warm-fuzzies.html
http://sisteractcardchallenge.blogspot.co.uk
http://cutiepiechallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/challenge-51-anything-goes.html
http://ppp-makeitmonday.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/mim-154-with-bugaboo-stamps.html
http://inkychicks.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/challenge-11-use-bestie-image.html
http://promarkerchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/week-212-theme.html

Thanks for stopping by today.

Sharon x

A few of my favourite things.....

Today I thought I would post a card using a gorgeous wild Rose Studio stamp which I thought would match perfectly with some freebie papers which came in a magazine,

I am a bit of a fan of pastel colours so I really enjoyed playing around with my palest pens to colour in this image which really gives you the feeling of an English summertime (or at least how we would like the english summertime to be anyway!)

I have followed a sketch from Passion for Promarkers for this challenge and finished of with a circular Little Claire's sentiment.

On to some lovely challenges that I would like to enter today.

http://promarkerchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/week-211sketch.html

http://emeraldfaeries.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/challenge-46-colour-challenge.html

http://ilovepromarkers.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/challenge-181-summertime.html

http://totallypapercrafts.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/challenge-180-favorite-colors.html

http://sisteractcardchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/challenge-20.html

http://allsortschallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/week-220-use-your-new-stash.html

http://lacysunshinechallengeblog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/lacy-sunshine-challenge-15-girls-girls.html

http://paulaholifieldcrafts.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/albc-summer-sun.html

http://cutiepiechallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/challenge-51-anything-goes.html

http://ppp-makeitmonday.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/mim-154-with-bugaboo-stamps.html

Thanks for visiting today.

Sharon x

It's beginning to look a lot like..............

I am not going to say the actual word....but it's that time of year when crafters minds start to turn towards a certain festive period!

Isn't it funny how you always want to do Spring colours in the depths of winter (to cheer yourself up on those cold dark days).....and yet in the summer we can't wait to get our hands on a frosty snowman! Well that's how it works for me anyway :o)

So on to my card for today which I made for Stamp Addicts using their new Christmas Tree stamp and an oldie but a goodie snowman, also from SA.

As you can see, they are both quite sizeable stamps so they really fill a 6 x 6 card. I actually went a little out of my comfort zone and did the thing where you go outside of the borders of the card. I like the look, but I'm not sure how I'm gonna get it in a 6 x 6 envelope - lol!!

I created a background for this card by sponging with turquoise dye based ink and stamped the snowflakes with a Stamps by Judith stick.

The snowy ground was plain paper sprayed with glitter spray and, you can't see it very well on this picture, but it is actually slightly raised so that one of the christmas trees fits behind it.

The trees are stamped with marvy matchable ink pads which have strips of different tones of the same colour so that are great for adding a bit of shading.  Finally my lovely snowman is  coloured iwth pro markers...what a cheerful chappy he is!!

Well I hope you like my card for today and my masterful avoidance of a certain festive word!

I will leave you with some lovely challenges that I would like to enter this week.

http://christmascardchallenges.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/challenge-37-evergreen-trees.html
http://hobbyhousechallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/challenge-3-christmas.html
http://stamp-n-doodle.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/stamp-n-doodle-challenge-14th-august.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+Stamp-n-doodle+(Stamp-n-doodle)
http://deliciousdoodleschallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/challenge-49-christmas-in-august.html
http://ppp-makeitmonday.blogspot.co.uk
http://christmasblogchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/red-and-green-must-be-seen.html
http://allsortschallenge.blogspot.co.uk

Thanks for visiting me today.

Sharon x

A quick post to show you something new...

The very talented Donna at Bearly Mine has just released a second set of Steampunk set....Steampunk Fantasy 2.

Now I will be completely honest and say that I am not really in to Steampunk, but I REALLY like these papers, and those from the first set as they are not too hard core and there are also some lovely colour combinations in there aside from the normal browns and blacks.

If you fancy a closer look at the Steampunk Sets, or indeed any of the other lovely digi papers then hop over to Bearly Mine and feast your eyes!

Sharon x

Anything Goes at Bearly Mine

It's time for another challenge over at Bearly Mine and this time it's everyone's favourite - Anything Goes. One things for sure .....my little typing fingers will be aching as there will be lots of lovely entries to  look at and lots of comments to be made!

I am  posting a card with a double shout out today as I have used a page from the lovely patchwork party set from Bearly Mine and paired it with the new thank you heart stamp from Stamp Addicts.

Isn't the paper gorgeous - lovely tones of brown which would make the perfect background when you're in the mood for making a Sepia toned card. It also happens to match really well with the Flexmarker browns six pack, which is what I used to colour the image.

As for the stamp - as you can see I have decoupaged it......It's lovely and easy to cut out too! Stamp Addicts have a show coming up on Crate and Craft this Friday, which will feature this stamp and I believe some lovely Christmas ones too, so look out for that one.

Well that's all from me today.

I hope you will hop o over to Bearly Mine and have a look at the other DT creations, and perhaps join in the fun :o).

Sharon x

Keeping it Simple

Today it's time for my Bearly Mine Post, featuring a lovely paper from the Vintage Fantasies range.

For this card I have printed one of the more delicately patterned sheets and stamped directly on to the paper before colouring in with promarkers, in a selection of pinks and purples.

I used a fine tip to add some faux stitching around the edge and finished off with some candy dots and a lilac satin bow......and that's about it - very quick and simple.

Here are a few lovely challenges that I would like to enter:

http://ppp-makeitmonday.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/mim152-with-cc-designs.html
http://papertakeweekly.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/anything-goes.html
http://promarkerchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/week-210-theme.html
http://stamp-n-doodle.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/stamp-n-doodle-challenge-7th-august.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+Stamp-n-doodle+(Stamp-n-doodle)
http://sisteractcardchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/challenge-19.html
http://cutiepiechallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/challenge-50-thank-you.html

Thanks for visiting this evening.

Sharon x

Stamp Addicts father christmas and trees

I thought I would show a card today that I made a little while back using nothing but plain card and some Stamp Addicts Stamps.

The Father Christmas is part of a duo set called Mr and Mrs Christmas that was released last year and, don't quote me on this, but I'm pretty sure that it is available at half price at the moment.

The trees have only recently comes out and I think they're really pretty because you can variegate them using multishaded ink pads, as I have done here, but the little snowflakes will always come out lovely and white because they are etched out of the rubber.

So, as you can see I have made a very basic step card and torn some white ppaper to make some snow drifts which I just had to glitter!!

My trees where stamped with a Marvy Matchable inkpad in shades of blue and I gave them a bit of spark with some spray glitter from Crafters Companion.

Finally, Father Christmas was coloured with my Promarkers.

I hope you like my little seasonal offering!

Here are some challenges that I would like to enter today:

http://christmascardsallyearround.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/october-challenge.html
http://ilovepromarkers.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/190-snowflakes.html
http://ppp-makeitmonday.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/mim-162-with-nicecrane-designs.html
http://sisteractcardchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/challenge-29.html
http://stamp-n-doodle.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/stamp-n-doodle-challenge-16th-october.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+Stamp-n-doodle+(Stamp-n-doodle)

Right - that's enough Christmas for one day...right now it's back to Halloween cards for me!

Thanks for stopping by today.

Sharon x

It's Christmas in August....

http://thelittlestamper.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/flowers-galore-at-bearly-mine.html

Welcome to another challenge at Lili's Little Fairies and this time the theme is Christmas is August.....well it's never too early to start making your Christmas cards right?

For this week's card I've chosen one of the lovely LOTV boys and coloured him with alcohol markers. Unusually for me, I coloured him first and then tried to find matching papers afterwards, which turned out to be more difficult than I thought, but I eventually found some old Dovecraft papers in my stash which seemed to match pretty well.

For the embossed panel I used some Coredinations card stock which I sanded, after embossing to help the snowflakes show through. I also couldn't resist throwing in my favourite Memory Box snow flake die in the as well for good measure!

Here's the little laddy close up....I think he is so cute, all togged up for winter.

Well that's my design to fit this week's challenge. I hope you will pop over to Lili's Little Fairies to  see what my talented Team mates have come up with.

Finally here are a few other challenges that I would like to enter:

http://hobbyhousechallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/challenge-3-christmas.html
http://toptiptuesday.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/challenge-107-embossing.html
http://papertakeweekly.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/anything-goes.html
http://stamp-n-doodle.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/stamp-n-doodle-challenge-7th-august.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+Stamp-n-doodle+(Stamp-n-doodle)
http://thepapershelter.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/challenge-123-punches-and-dies.html
http://cutecardthursday.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/challenge-281-die-ing-to-punch.html
http://craftycalendarchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/crafty-calendar-challenge-anything-goes.html
http://ppp-makeitmonday.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/mim152-with-cc-designs.html
http://sisteractcardchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/challenge-19.html

Thanks for stopping by.

Sharon x

What a week!

Well, what a week it has been.....soooo busy! Starting on Monday with my birthday (and no this card is not how old I am!) and then in to am massively busy week at work involving working all sorts of wierd and wonderful hours, and trying to fit taxi service for my son, and all the other domestic stuff in between.

In short the week has gone in a whirl and I am only just finding time to sit down for a bit of blog time.

So here's a card that I made a while ago, to fit in with a request form a friend for their mother's 70th birthday.

I have used a lovely SWALK image, which I coloured with my Spectrum Noir pens and printed the backing papers from one of my Cute Companions CDs.......one of the first CDs that I ever had, so it's good to see that I am still getting good use out of it.

I have gone mad with my nesties and grand nesties to make the actual card and, since it's a birthday, I just had to throw in a bit of glitter and pearl drops as well!

I hope that you like the card. Here are a few challenges that I would like to enter:

http://natalieandamy.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/a-challenge-and-dt-call.html
http://cinspirations.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/challenge-225-anything-goes-option-of.html
http://ppp-makeitmonday.blogspot.co.uk
http://cutecardthursday.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/challenge-280-anything-goes.html
http://sisteractcardchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/challenge-18.html
http://deliciousdoodleschallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/challenge-47.html
http://polkadoodle.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/week-31-birthday-girl.html
http://craftycalendarchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/crafty-calendar-challenge-anything-goes.html

Thanks for coming to visit today.

Sharon x