We Memories challenge.

Just a quick post today with my entry for this weeks challenge over at the Wee Memories Blog This is my CAS card.

I have used my new Hero Arts cling stamp of "The Snow Globe", I coloured the image with Copics and added some sparkles with Stickles then I covered the globe area with Glossy Accents to give the effect of glass.
Thanks for looking.
Sallyx

Now i've started I can't stop!!!!!

Now I have inked up this beautiful Christmas Tree set I can't stop using it, here are a couple more cards that were very quick to make.

I love my new embossing folder it makes a perfect frame for all sorts of things and the spellbinders ovals fit in it to!

The background paper and notepad image on this card are from a FREE digital kit here lots of beautiful papers included!

These cards are also for the Caardvarks clean and simple challenge sponsored by Hero Arts.

Short entry this afternoon as I have lots of things to do in the house, want to get tidy so I can play with my sewing machine!!

SallyX



Started at last!!!

At last I have been inspired to start my Christmas cards, I usually start making them at the end of August as I have quite a few to do and I like to make a variety of designs rather than one design that I send to everyone.  This year I couldn't seem to get motivated and then I saw the challenge on the Caardvarks blog was sponsored by Hero Arts and I love Hero Arts products!!! I love the new snow globe cling stamp and it seemed perfect for a shaker card.

This card by the lovely Lucy also caught my eye, I love the beautiful trees she has created.

I stamped the image three times onto green paper then cut the images out and folded them in half.  Gluing them together creates a 3D effect.

Woo Hoo no work  tomorrow my Uncle is 90 and we are having a surprise party for him, should be fun .
 SallyX
Supplies: Hero Arts stampsCG235 Snow Globe, CL459 Merry Christmas Trees, S4878 Old Letter Writing. Victirian Velvet Distress Ink.

I love colour challenges!!

Over at "The Ribbon Girls Blog" they have just announced there first challenge and its a colour swatch one, my favourite!!  The colour palette is Black, White and Orange, the prize is some amazing ribbons.  They sell some beautiful ribbons and embellishments from the online store and are very prompt at delivery! I love these
and these I am always tempted by pretty buttons!
This card is is stamped in black with the Hero Arts silhouette corner, I then ran the other half of the circle through with my swirls embossing folder.  The butterfly is a digital image that I coloured with copics and then added some crackle paint.
This card also qualifies for the Paperplay challenge this week "All shapes ans sizes".
Thanks for looking and have a good week.
SallyX
Supplies: Hero Arts stamp H5011 Silhouette corner. Hero Arts digital butterfly.

Scallops, Orange and String!!

I can't stop making these cute little gift bags!!   After watching Lisa's tutorial here I am totally hooked, they are so simple to make and you would never believe that the base is an envelope. For this one I dug out my Country Hearts design block and stamped in white, then I distressed with Fired Brick, Spiced Marmalade and Mustard Seed Yellow. The Top is a Nestie shape cut in half.

Here is another more simple design using an oval nestie shape folded in half for the flap, I have added a hook and loop dot for a fastener under the flap. The apples have Glossy Accents on to give a nice shine.

A little photo of my three favourite bags, great for little gifts!!
The top two bags are for the challenge on sweet Jenny's blog this week, which is "Scallops, Orange and String" you have to incorporate two into your design.  They are also for the current Hero Arts challenge of small gift bags.
I am all excited my DH took me shopping yesterday and has bought me a new all singing all dancing sewing machine, I spent Saturday learning how to use all the functions.  Can't wait to get started on a proper project!!
Hope your weekend is going well.
SallyX
Supplies: Hero Arts stamps, S5161 Country Hearts. CL320 Designer Fruit. CG139 Cling Dots. CG187 Floral Brocade. Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade and Fired Brick Distress inks.

Play Date Houses

Another challenge at The Play Date Cafe  and another colour swatch that had me out of my comfort zone, this time I decided to use the inspirational photograph as well and try and put some houses on my card.

I made this card last night and this afternoon while blog hopping I have noticed that Lin must have been thinking along the same lines as me, love her cute snowy scene.
I have added some glossy Accents to the windows for a little shine and as there are "Offset Scallops" along the bottom this also qualifies for the challenge over at Moxie Fab World.
Looking forward to the weekend as my DD is coming home from Bristol, we haven't seen her for a while should be fun.
Hope you have a great weekend.
SallyX

Fall into Autumn

Jenny's challenge this week over at the "Wee Memories" Blog is "Fall into Autumn", I don't have any leaf stamps but already had this wheat grass image in my scraps basket waiting to be used.  The sky has been distressed with various coloured inks and has a very Autumnal feel.  I cut it into a circle and added seed beads to the wheat heads to give a little sparkle.  The background is distressed with Spiced Marmalade and then stamped with Hero Arts cling Dots stamp.  I have added some blue perfect pearls to the dragonfly wings.
This card is also for the "All distressed" challenge over at the Sir Stampalot blog, they have a monthly challenge and always have awesome prizes!
Its also eligible for the Hero Arts challenge.

Hope you are all having a good week, the sun is shining today and I need to get in the garden!
SallyX

Supplies: Hero Arts Stamps CG139 Cling Dots, Wheat Grass S5316 Antique Engravings CL183. Distress inks. Spiced Marmalade, Mustard Yellow, Bundled Sage Tumbled Glass and Worn Lipstick.

A Birthday and the September CCC

I was asked to make a card for a friend at work, it is her sisters 50th birthday and she wanted a card that reflected her sisters character.  She is really a keen gardener and loves nothing more than spending a day in her wellies in the garden planting her vegetables and flowers.  This stamp seemed perfect for the job, I was lucky enough to win it in a recent Play Date Cafe challenge, its a set of stamps from Artistic Outpost and is called "Bloom and Grow".

The seed packets are stamped and  coloured with copics and distress inks.
Supplies: Artistic Outpost, "Bloom and Grow Stamps" Hero Arts stamps S4878 "Old letter writing, S5213 Dots and Flowers. Ranger distress inks, Bundled Sage, Spiced Marmalade, Tea Dye. Prima Flowers.

I was thrilled to receive this beautiful card today from Agata in Switzerland, every month the lovely Deborah organises a Card Chain Challenge, she gives us a colour scheme, a choice of themes, and a template to use to make our card. We sign up at the end of one month for the next month, and everyone sends someone else a card following the guidelines. We have participants from all over the world! If you'd like to get in on the fun, check Deborah's blog at the end of this month and sign up!

The distressing and shimmer to this card is stunning, she is definitely a master of distressing, check out her blog for a real treat. 

SallyX

Play Date Cafe #46

This is the colour inspirational photograph for the challenge at The Play Date Cafe this week  its colour splash week and the colours are:

'Color Splash' actually means 'black & white with a touch of color'.

What we ask of our color splash challenges

is that you literally stick to 'black & white with the

required splash of color' and this week, it's

pink, copper or gold"

As you can see I have chosen pink as my splash colour.  The outside white panel has been embossed with my new border folder.  I then stamped the Hero Arts Poppy Background onto black card and embossed with white. I cut with the oval nesties and glued on some pink seed beads to the flower head.

Just a quick post, back with more tomorrow!
Sallyx
supplies: hero Arts stamp CG140 Poppy background. Cuttlebug folder swirl border.

Wee Ones Challenge!!

Its proving to be a really busy week this week but I have just found time to make a quick card for challenge #21 over at Jenny's blog.  I do find it hard to do "cute" cards as I am really a flower and hearts type of girl but I  like to stretch myself a bit, after all that is what a challenge is all about!

I really love these Pure Innocence images from Heather Ellis and even though I don't often do cute they are great images for children's cards. I decided that an Autumn theme would be good as all the leaves are beginning to turn here and I love the Autumn colours.  I purchased this image   last year and as the little girl  has her gardening outfit on it was a perfect choice, I decided to cut off the watering can and have her wander through the leaves. (I love rustling through the leaves on a crisp Autumn day) .  I have coloured with copics and also added Glossy Accents to her wellies.
Hope you are having a good week, I am looking forward to the weekend!!
Sallyx

Manly challenge!!

Just a quick post today,  I need to post a card for the challenge at the Play Date Cafe.  After seeing the colour swatch chosen by Julie I thought I would try something different and make a mans card!!

I tried so hard to get a good photo but the weather is really dull and it doesn't show the true colours that I have used. The background card is dark orange and I have embossed it with the Wood Grain folder, the second layer is plum although it looks alot darker here.  I have had this stamp for years and I haven't inked it up in a long while but I need a birthday card for a fishing mad man.

I made a second image of the postage stamp section and coloured with water colours, then added crackle glaze to age it,  It is pop dotted to give a little dimension, I also added Glossy accents to the float image and some stickles to the reel and weights.
Sallyx

A rather large flower and a Blog Hop!!

If you saw yesterdays post you know I have been playing round with the flower making technique recommended by Heather, well this was my first attempt.  The glisten is achieved by spraying with perfect pearls in water.

The flower is rather large and I wasn't sure what to do with it, in the end I made a stem by twisting some ribbon onto double sided tape. The leaf and green side to the background is an off cut from my scrap basket.
I am never going to be able to post this card as its far to fat and would definitely get damaged so it will give me an excuse to hand deliver!!

Supplies: Hero Arts stamp CG187 Floral Brocade, CG139 Cling Dots.  Cuttlebug embossing folder, Wood Grain

I have also been playing with my new small clear set of stamps from Hero Arts called designer fruit.

The apple is paper pieced with some of my favourite Bo Bunny paper, the green card has been run through the wood grain embossing folder.  Another card for the Hero Arts September challenge of "Everything Autumnal" .  With all the lovely apples and blackberries around at the moment  I am going to make a crumble for Sunday lunch, Yummy my favourite!!

We are having our first ever  blog Hop at the Hero Arts Flickr group to show off our own style check out the link here and enjoy the Hop there are so many talented ladies in the group with lots of different styles.  Its a contant source of inspiration for me and I have to try and visit every day!!  When I first started making cards everyone was so kind and encouraging it certainly inspired me to try different techniques and styles.
Sallyx

Supplies: Hero Arts Stamps, CL320 Designer Fruit, CG119 Flourish Background. Papers by BoBunny and Basic Grey. Woodgrain embossing folder.

Envelope Gift Bag

I watched this tutorial by Lisa and decided to have a go at making a gift bag from a Kraft envelope, we don't really get many "Trick or Treaters" so made my bag for an adult. Its the perfect size for chocolates or small toiletry samples.

After seeing Heather's fabulous card and watching this tutorial that she recommended, on how to make these beautiful flowers I knew it would be the perfect finishing touch to my bag. I Love how the flower turned out so have made more, you will probably see them popping up from time to time!

This bag is for the current Hero Arts challenge which for this month is an Autumn theme and also gift bags, it also fits the challenge at Sir Stampalot which is "All Distressed".  Lots of distressing here, what did I ever do before Tim Holtz inks!! (I seem to remember using cold coffee and tea bags! to age paper).

Supplies: Hero Arts stamp CG187 Floral Brocade. Distress inks, Bundled Sage, Barn Door,

Well I have survived my first two days at work its always hard to get back in the swing of things after the summer holidays.  Hope you have a fun weekend.

Sallyx

Gift Card

I had a little bit of fun today trying out Kelly's masking technique from Mondays post at Hero Arts, I decided to make this little gift card that holds a Tea Bag, (perfect for a small gift for a friend). I masked the cup design and then stamped with  the Art, Life and Beauty stamp from Hero Arts.  The cup was then coloured with watercolour pencils and distressed with Dusty Concord.  I added a small amount of sparkly stickles for the steam.

Inside is one special tea bag from Fortnum and Mason.

I was really excited to receive this collecton of embellishments in the post today, it was a little giveaway I won on The Ribbon Girls blog.

I love ribbons and pretty buttons can't wait to use these!

 Summer is officially over for me today as I have to go back to work tomorrow after 5 weeks holiday, I am feeling a bit sad as there will be less time for crafting and less time for blogging,  these past weeks have gone by so quickly but its been a great holiday, lots of lovely weather and of course my trip to beautiful Italy!!
SallyX