Wedding Bells are Ringing

We are off to a wedding today, so it seemed like a good time to post a Wedding Card.

For anything wedding…call me a traditionalist, but I like  to keep things fairly clean and simple, with lots of white or cream. This is my favourite type of layout for for that very reason!

I started with plain white card, which I embossed with a Crafters Companion trellis folder. Next was the task of applying the little pearl dots using the pin flair pearl paint…..a rather satisfying task I might add.

Whilst that was drying I stamped out the bells using a very old stamp from Woodware and coloured them in with my Spectrums.

Finally, I have mounted on a coordinating card to match with the colours of the Wedding.

So that's my little offering today. I hope you like it and I also hope that this rain doesn't persist…typical Bank Holiday weather here in the UK.

Lastly, here are some challenges that I would like to enter:

http://craftyourpassionchallenges.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/challenge-276-always-anything-goes.html
http://cinspirations.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/challenge-324-anything-goes-option-of.html
http://a-step-in-the-darkness.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/challenge-28.html
http://asyoulikeitchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/favourite-layout-and-why.html
http://creativeknockouts.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/104-anything-goes-sls-lines.html
http://sisteractcardchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/challenge-120.html

Thanks for visiting today.

Sharon x

Santa's Little Penguin

Welcome back to my blog where, once again, I have Christmas on my mind.

Whilst searching through some papers recently, I came across this lovely image from Digistamp Boutique, which I had printed ready to colour, but never go around to using. So I decided to make this project all about using up old scraps.

Everything that you see in this card was made from odd and ends that I found. The lovely digital papers were Nitwits ones that I printed 'just in case'.. I found one odd A4 sheet of red card which was a slightly different shade to all the others, so I gutted it and used it to create my mats , the die cut greeting and the diary lights too. I was really pleased that I had managed to use stuff that had been lying around for ages and still come up with a card that looked like it had all been planned!

Here's a close up shot of the cute penguin…….Just because he is so cute.

So before I go, of course I need to enter some challenges, and here they are:

http://craftingfromtheheartchallengeblog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/challenge-73.html
http://papertakeweekly.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/to-die-for.html
http://pennyschallenges.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/welcome-to-pennys-challenge-241.html
http://carabbiemomentsofcraft.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/challenge-75-anything-goesfancy-folds.html
http://creativeknockouts.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/103-celebrtion-time-sweet-n-sassy-stamps.html
http://craftyhazelnutschristmaschallenge2.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/chnc-challenge-extra-for-august-2015.html
http://craftyhazelnutspatternedpaper.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/craftyhazelnuts-patterned-paper-august.html
http://graphitmarkers.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/wk-34-paletteanything-goes-colouring.html
http://thesistersofcraft.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/sisters-of-craft-aug-anything-goes.html
http://littleclairesdesigns.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/monthly-stamp-challenge-60-christmas-in.html
http://creativeladybirdscreations.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/challenge-6.html
http://christmascardsallyearround.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/august-challenge-snowflakes.html

I'm off now to enjoy a couple of hours of being creative.  :-)

Thanks for visiting.

Sharon x

Pedal Power

What a busy week it has been! I had all the best intentions of loading some posts on to my blog, but it all came to nothing…..so finally, here I am with my first post of the weekend.

This is a card that I made especially for my husband who is a dedicated cyclist and recently completed the 100 mile Prudential London ride in aid of MacMillan Cancer care, where he successfully raised over £800 and completed the ride in under 5 hours….good going don't you think?

I bought this image from Polkadoodles, especially to make a card for him and I have customised it to look like his cycle kit.

I was a bit worried about all of that black, but, in the end, it was his hair (which has a lot of tray 'highlights' these days) which was the hardest to achieve.

Also, although I have many, many ribbons I couldn't find just the right colour in my stock, so the simple answer was to colour white ribbons with my pens for a perfect match.  :-)

I hope that you like my card for today. Here are some lovely challenges that I would like to enter:

http://craftyourpassionchallenges.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/chalenge-275-always-anything-goes.html
http://craftingfromtheheartchallengeblog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/challenge-73.html
http://digichoosday.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/wk-33-crafting-challenge-at-digi.html
http://pennyschallenges.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/welcome-to-pennys-challenge-241.html
http://carabbiemomentsofcraft.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/challenge-75-anything-goesfancy-folds.html
http://sisteractcardchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/challenge-120.html
http://graphitmarkers.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/wk-34-paletteanything-goes-colouring.html
http://polkadoodle.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/week-33-crafting-challenge-at.html
http://thesistersofcraft.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/sisters-of-craft-aug-anything-goes.html
http://creativeladybirdscreations.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/challenge-6.html

Thanks for visiting today.

Sharon

Scruffy Little Cat, but no Felines to be seen…...

Hi everyone, I'm back today with a card made using the fabulous Scruffy Little Cat range…….I love this range because it's great for Sassy Ladies of all ages, and the images can look so different depending on your colour choices.

Now I am a lover of perfumes  so this lady would probably suit me very well (if only I had that kind of hair!!!).

I have gone for one o my favourite colours….girly pink and embellished with black. my favourite black polkadot ribbon just had to be fitted in and gorgeous black Tonic Nuvo drops, to look like black pearls on the corners.

For the colouring in part, I have opted for Aqua Markers this time around and used a good quality water-colour card to get a good blend…..it is really worth every penny as it makes a world of difference when you are using this type of medium.

Finally I softened the edges of the white mat using my stubby dots stamp and some random inked, before finishing off with a little bit of doodling.

What a glamorous girl she turned out to be…..even though, looking at her now, I can see that she has no eye make up on!!

So I have spotted some great challenges out there this week, which I would like to enter, and here they are:

http://cutiepiechallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/challenge-90-cute-and-girlyand-dt-call.html
http://craftingfromtheheartchallengeblog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/challenge-72.html
http://a-step-in-the-darkness.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/challenge-27.html
http://thepapershelter.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/challenge-214-lace-andor-ribbon.html
http://natalieandamy.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/challenge-35-buttons-bows.html
http://cutecardthursday.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/challenge-386-anything-goes.html
http://asyoulikeitchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/favourite-2-embellishments-and-why.html
http://pennyschallenges.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/welcome-to-pennys-challenge-240.html
http://sisteractcardchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/challenge-119.html
http://thesistersofcraft.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/sisters-of-craft-aug-anything-goes.html
http://emeraldfaeries.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/challenge-70-favourite-colours.html
http://abc-challenge.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/p-is-for-pretty-in-pink.html
http://cardsgalorechallenges.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/anything-goes-in-august.html
http://sparklesforumchallenges.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/challenge-71-more-than-one-fold.html
http://pinkgemchallengeblog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/challenge-151-one-for-girls.html

Thanks very much for stopping by today and I hope you all have a lovely weekend.

Sharon x

Wings and things

It's time for a new challenge at Fab n Funky and this time it is running for three weeks, which will give you lots of opportunity to join in with our challenge.

The theme this time is things with wings, so I have decided to focus on butterflies which feature in this lovely Scruffy Little Kitten stamp.

I found the lovely papers on the CD and these influenced me to go with a slightly different colour scheme, which I really like.

As usual, my lovely little lady is coloured with Spectrum Noirs and I have gone a bit mad with my circular dies which I used to make this circle easel card.

Hope you like my card today, and do come and join us over at Fab N Funky with your winged creations.

Thanks for stopping by.

Sharon x

Purple floral Bebunni

Hello to everyone…we have a sunny Sunday morning here in the UK…which is something to be cherished in my little corner of the works! So thinking of summer, I thought I would post something floral today, and so here is Bebunni and flowers.

I mostly made this card up using scraps….a small piece of black card for the matting and the die cut border, a scrap of digital paper, and a small pice of left over ribbon that I found…how's that for budget crafting!

Bebunni was coloured using spectrum noirs and a dotting technique with a blender pen that I favour for furry little creatures.

I then finished off with one of my favourite colours of the moment - purple, for the little flowers and I also gave Bebunni matching ears…a little bit of artistic licence never hurt anyone!

Now that I have posted it, I feel like this card is more 'Spring' than 'Summer', but I hope you like it  anyway.  :-)

Now to finish off with a few challenges:

http://digichoosday.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/wk-31-crafting-challenge-at-digi.html
http://papertakeweekly.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/anything-goes.html
http://sisteractcardchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/challenge-118.html
http://emeraldfaeries.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/challenge-70-favourite-colours.html
http://thesistersofcraft.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/sisters-of-craft-aug-anything-goes.html
http://ribbongirls.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/any-image-challenge.html
http://cardsgalorechallenges.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/anything-goes-in-august.html
http://sisteractcardchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/challenge-118.html

Thanks for visiting today and I hope you all have a relaxing Sunday.

Sharon x

Getting back to nature...

I recently had a chance to play with some gorgeous stamps from Sheena Douglass and, although I was a little bit dubious about colouring these stamps, they turned out to be so much easier than I had thought.

The images themselves are quite sizeable and I wondered if I would be able to get the shading right, but the sketchy lines really help with the light and the shadow, so I found I didn't have to be too precious with the colouring at all…..as you can see from this close up!

I picked out two images to use for this quite sizeable card and the sides of the card are what I can only describe as 'Z' shapes; the idea being that the hummingbird would appear to be flying in to the flower when you close the flaps together.

Both the bird and the flower were coloured in the same colour range of Spectrum Noirs to create a monochrome effect and match with the rustic base card.

I also made use of my circle nestie dies to get some nice mounts for my focal points.

Lots of great challenges to enter this card in to today, so here goes:

http://polkadoodle.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/week-32-crafting-challenge-at.html
http://worldwideopendesignteamchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/1st-august-2016-world-wide-open-design.html
http://fantasystampers.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/42-lots-of-layers.html
http://pinkgemchallengeblog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/challenge-150-animals-or-birds.html
http://cardsgalorechallenges.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/anything-goes-in-august.html
http://creativeladybirdscreations.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/challenge-6.html
http://abc-challenge.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/o-is-for-open.html
http://sirstampalotchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/august-challenge-anything-goes-with.html
http://papertakeweekly.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/anything-goes.html
http://a-step-in-the-darkness.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/challenge-26.html
http://thepapershelter.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/challenge-213-punches-and-dies.html
http://carabbiemomentsofcraft.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/challenge-74-anything-goessummer-sun.html

Thanks for visiting today.

Sharon x

It all started with a piece of paper.

You know when you are thumbing your way through digi papers that you have printed but not used, and you come across a gem? well that's what happened to me when I found this lovely floral paper and a scrap of gray stripes…….I knew I had to use them straight away, or they would be lost in the pile once again.

So, for this card I decided to colour a beautiful Polkadoodles Odella image with my spectrum noirs and crack out one of my Tonic Frame stamps and sentiments for the embellishments.

Odella turned out to be quite big, so I ended up making and 8x8 scalloped card for this one. Plus I discovered the joys of fussy cutting whilst leaving a white border..so much easier than cutting right up to the edges….assuming that you can keep the border nice and even. Keeping the border even has always been a bit of a problem for me, but this time I seemed to manage it, so I have resolved to try this technique a bit more often.

As for my lovely frame die…I cut it from centura pearl and got the usual moment of gratification when it came out of the die quit perfect!

I popped all the waste out and was left with the sweetest little confetti hearts , which I couldn't bear to throw away, so I stuck them on too.

Finally, my lovely sentiment was from the same set. Again sooooo delicate but it came out lovely. I cut it twice and layered it to create a shadow effect….a little trick I learned from Jody on the telly!

So that's my card for today, and I have lots of lovely challenges to enter, so here goes……

http://a-step-in-the-darkness.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/challenge-26.html
http://cutecardthursday.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/challenge-384-citrus.html
http://southerngirlschallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/anything-goes.html
http://4craftychicks.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/4cc-challenge-257-anything-goes-and.html
http://craftyhazelnutspatternedpaper.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/craftyhazelnuts-patterned-paper-august.html
http://worldwideopendesignteamchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/1st-august-2016-world-wide-open-design.html
http://thesistersofcraft.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/sisters-of-craft-aug-anything-goes.html
http://creativeladybirdscreations.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/challenge-6.html
http://abc-challenge.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/o-is-for-open.html
http://sirstampalotchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/august-challenge-anything-goes-with.html
http://sisteractcardchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/challenge-117.html
http://digichoosday.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/wk-31-crafting-challenge-at-digi.html

Thanks for visiting today.

Sharon x

Nordic Wreath

Well, despite my best intentions to blog today, it is now nearly 11pm and I am only just getting around to the task!

I don't know exactly what you would call this item - it's a kind of hanging wreath, I guess, and I made it using all things from the Nordic Christmas collection at Crafter's Companion.

The image is one of the cute stamps which I coloured with my Spectrum Noirs, plus I added a bit of glitter to make those Christmas decorations sparkle.

For the wreath, I die cut the circle using 2 sizes of circle die and matted some backing paper on to it.

The CD has a lovely embellishments section too, and this is where I found all the lovely holly sprigs and heart shapes which I cut, curled and adhere to the base using silicon glue for a bit of lift.

If you look closely, you can also see that the backing paper looks like knitting…I love it!!

So that's my creation for today…time to enter a few challenges before I am off to bed.

http://craftyourpassionchallenges.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/challenge-272-always-anything-goes.html
http://craftingfromtheheartchallengeblog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/challenge-70.html
http://digichoosday.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/wk-30-crafting-challenge-at-digi.html
http://craftingforallseasons.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/challenge-106.html
http://a-step-in-the-darkness.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/challenge-26.html
http://4craftychicks.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/4cc-challenge-257-anything-goes-and.html
http://southerngirlschallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/anything-goes.html
http://christmasstampin.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/christmas-stampin-all-year-long_31.html
http://craftyhazelnutschristmaschallenge2.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/chnc-challenge-extra-for-august-2015.html
http://thesistersofcraft.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/sisters-of-craft-aug-anything-goes.html
http://cardsgalorechallenges.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/anything-goes-in-august.html

Thanks for visiting today.

Sharon x