Homespun Card

Hello!

Just popping in to wish you a Happy New Year!  I hope you have been enjoying the festive celebrations and are looking forward to a fabulous 2016 ahead :)

I have made a card to play along with Less Is More's homespun theme:

 

I used a new background from My Favourite Things to create the look of fabric on cream cardstock and some stitched stamps to create the border.  The flowers and cross stitches are from a set by Lil Inkers and I watercoloured them using my Zig Watercolours.  I have inked around the edge to emphasise the vintage, homespun look.

I hope you like my last card of 2015!

Thanks, as always, for stopping by and your kind comments - they make my day :)

Sarah x

Not a Christmas Card

Hello!

Did you have a fabulous Christmas day?  I hope you are relaxing with some quiet time after a busy festive build up or perhaps you still have lots of entertaining to do?!

I am just popping by with a non Christmas card for a change....it is quite nice to be able to put all of the snowflakes and rich colours away for another year :)

I used the beautiful Lace Up stamp from Altenew stamped in pale grey.  I cut out the flower from the design coloured it in grey and yellow and popped it up.  The sentiment is from Altenew's Fresh Freesia.

I hope you like the grey and yellow colour combo!

I will link up at Inkspirational's fun Bah Humbug challenge to make anything other than a Christmas card :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Sarah x

A Very Merry Christmas!

Hello!

I haven't had time to post much recently with my studies, work and Christmas preparations but wanted to stop by to wish you a very merry Christmas.  I hope you are ready for the festive celebrations and enjoying a lovely time with your family. 

I am glad that we are heading over to my Mum's for Christmas day so we don't need to worry about Christmas dinner this year :)  My 10 year old is beside himself with excitement as he is hoping to get the Millennium Falcon in lego and we are hoping for a few days peace and quiet while he builds it!  I am guessing that it will be an early start....

I stamped some Uniko snowflakes and embossed them in gold and silver and combined them with a sentiment from MFT.  A silver glitter die cut snowflake adds a bit of dimension and some gold mirri in the background gives a bit of extra bling.

I haven't had time to play along with many challenges recently so will enter my metallic snowflakes at Simon's Wednesday Challenge which is to make it sparkle and at CASology where the cue card is Merry.  I will also play along at Happy Little Stampers CAS challenge to use a favourite technique....I love heat embossing and use it whenever I can.

Thank you for all of your comments and visits over the course of the past year - I really do appreciate them :)

Merry Christmas!

Sarah x

Cutie Pie

Hello!

The cue card this week at CASology is Pie and was just the excuse I needed to make a non-festive card for a change!  I don't have any 'pie' stamps but remembered this 'cutie pie' sentiment from Clearly Besotted.  Here is how I used it:

I combined the sentiment with this sweet panda from There She Goes (discontinued) and some heart paper from Lawn Fawn.  A few heart stickers complete the design.

I thought this would work for a new baby card.

I hope you like my cute take on pie and stop by again soon!

Sarah x

ATCAS #78

Hello!

Today is our next challenge over at Addicted to CAS and I had the honour of choosing the code word.  I went with JOY as it is great for festive cards and just a generally happy theme :)

I was so excited that I posted this a whole week early!!  Please tell me that I am not the only person getting their weeks totally mixed up in the lead up to Christmas :o)

I made two cards featuring Joy:

 

This card feels a bit like cheating as it just uses patterned paper from American Crafts.  I cut the topper out and layered it up.  Super easy but quite effective!

 

I simply white embossed a sentiment and some sweet bird stamps from Avery Elle's fab Noel set.  I do love navy and white for a crisp look.

 

I hope you will join us for this challenge and check out the inspiration from the wonderful DT. 

 

 

 

See you again soon!

 

Sarah x

Honey I Shrunk the Kit #4

Hello!

Hazel from Hazel's Paper Designs, Shona from Twine Around and I each prepare a mini kit every few months to share some 'virtual' crafting time together.  Today is time for the fourth Honey I Shrunk the Kit that Hazel has put together which is full of wonderful festive goodness!

I made 4 cards by combining the elements with some of my own dies and papers.  First up is the beautiful dove:

I partially inked the wings with some tumbled glass distress ink and a bit of wink of stella and combined it with the beautiful sparkly embellishment that Hazel included in the kit.  They were layered on a piece of the patterned paper from the kit and I silver embossed a sentiment from My Favourite Things to complete the design.

Secondly I made a card featuring the fabulous sentiment from xx that Hazel provided.

I watercoloured the background with zig watercolours and spritzed with some shimmer spray.  I die cut it with a round die and added a bow die cut from Penny Black to give the look of a bauble.  I used Uniko's snowflakes in complementary colours in the background.

Hazel included a fabulous big merry Christmas die cut in the kit and I used it twice:

On this card I coloured the sentiment with some silver wink of stella and then clear embossed it a few times to give additional shine.  I simply combined it with a few Uniko snowflake dies and some silver mirri.

 

I used the negative of the die cut as a stencil and sponged through with red ink (festive berries, I think).  I added some stickles to the letters and used the sweet Clearly Besotted robbins from the kit as accents.  The holly die is from Paper Smooches.

 

I can't believe that I got 4 cards from this kit and still have bits to play with including the lovely vellum and cardinal die cut that Hazel included.  Here is a pic of the kit as it arrived:

 

 

 

I hope that you like my 4 festive cards and will check out what Hazel and Shona have come up with - I am sure that they will have created completely different designs with the same supplies!

 

Thanks for stopping by :)

 

Sarah x

 

Merry Mondays

Hello!

The weeks are flying by and I am spending a lot of time with Mr Amazon sorting out Christmas presents when I should be revising or crafting....However, I did get the chance to make a card using the fantastic Rustic Christmas set by Waltzingmouse.  These traditional Christmas images with the integrated sentiments make great quick and easy card designs and I need all of the help that I can get:

I white embossed the elegant dove on to navy cardstock and stamped one of the snowflakes from Waltzingmouse in navy on the card base.


The theme this week at Merry Mondays is to feature a bird on the card so I shall link up there and as the theme at Simon Says Wednesday Challenge is to Let It Snow I shall play along there too.

I hope you are getting some crafty time as the Christmas season draws closer!

Sarah x

Countdown to Christmas Blog Hop

Hello!

Welcome to Uniko's Countdown to Christmas Blog Hop!  Earlier this month Bev released a fab range of Christmas stamps (and a super cool coffee set).  Now that the DT have all got the stamps we are having a blog hop to showcase them and (hopefully) inspire you in that last push to get your Christmas cards finished!

 

I created this Christmas 'wreath' using images and a sentiment from Christmas Essentials.  The little poinsettias are from Uniko's Background Builders Vines Winter Additions and the pine needles are from the new Jingle set.  They all play very nicely together!  I have added some Wink of Stella and stickles to the wreath for some festive bling but I don't think it shows up in the photo.

 

I hope that you check out the rest of the cards that the DT have made along the hop.

 

I will also link up at Simon's Wednesday Challenge which is Anything Goes.

 

Thanks, as always, for stopping by,

 

Sarah x

Uniko Challenge Reminder

Hello!

Just popping in with a quick reminder card for the Uniko Challenge which is Christmas with the optional twist of CAS.  It is our last challenge of the year and, if you are anything like me, you are still in the midst of getting Christmas cards made. 

 

 

I used Uniko's fabulous Rustic Christmas set for the tree and sentiment along with their snowflake stamps.  It is a one layer card where I masked the border and created a hill behind the focal tree so that the 3 trees sit behind it.  I added a bit of pencil shading around the edges and a silver star for the main tree.  Very simple but the bit of glitter to highlight the snow makes the card look a bit more festive in real life!

 

I hope you join in on the Uniko Challenge with us.  The DT have more fab inspiration here and we are joined by two great GDs this month - Shona from Twine Around and Jen from The Other Fickle Pixie.

 

I will also link up at the Anything Goes Challenge over at AAA Cards.

 

See you again soon!

 

Sarah x

Sew Pretty

Hello!

I have been itching to play with my new Avery Elle sewing themed stamps and dies.  I used to do a lot of sewing but don't have the time now - this way I can get the look in minutes!

I stamped the sentiment on cream cardstock and die cut the embroidery hoop out of wood effect paper.  The flowers are watercoloured and I added a few 'stitch' stamps around the hoop.  The stitched border stamp is from Inky Doodles.

I will link up at CASology where the theme is 'Pretty' and at Addicted to Stamps and More where Anything Goes.

I need to get back to Christmas card making but it was nice to make a non-festive card for a change!

Thanks for stopping by,

Sarah x

ATCAS #77

Hello!

It is a super special challenge over at Addicted to CAS this week which is hosted by the fabulous Loll!  The Code Word is Dimension.  It is ATCAS's 3rd birthday so we hope that you will play along and there are lots of great sponsors and prizes to help the party go with a swing!

Here is my card:

I used gold embossing paste through a Tim Holtz stencil on to green card and die cut a tag.  I inked through the stencil on the card paste and gold embossed the sentiment from My Favourite Things.  The tag is popped up for added dimension.  In retrospect I should have made a birthday card :o

Head over to ATCAS to see what the DT have created alongside our fab GDT - Gerrina whose designs are always so vibrant and full of colour.  You must check out all of the inspiration on her blog Gerrina's Creatieve Wereld.

I hope you will take part in our 3rd birthday celebrations :)

I will also link up at Simon's Wednesday Challenge where the theme is Christmas.  I also nearly forgot to link up at Happy Little Stampers Christmas challenge which is to incorporate a tag!

Thanks for stopping by,

Sarah x

Uniko November Challenge

Hello!

Today we are kicking off Uniko's November challenge which is Christmas with an optional twist of CAS.  Of course it gave me another chance to play with Uniko's latest fab release of festive stamps.

Here's my card:

I used the holly and ribbon image from the Jingles Bell set and masked a few of the little holly leaves to stamp the bells behind them.  I coloured the bells and ribbon in with pencils to give a soft look and then added two of the multi layer poinsettia flowers. I combined it with the bold sentiment from All Occasion Sentiments #4.

I have definitely gone with the optional CAS twist! 

Do check out the rest of the inspiration from the DT and also from our two amazing guest designers - the super talented Shona Chambers from Twine Around (she is the queen of CAS) and the fabulous Jen from The Other Fickle Pixie.

I hope you can join us for the last Uniko challenge of the year - if you are anything like me you still have plenty of Christmas cards to make :)

I will also link up at Simon's Wednesday Challenge where the theme is Christmas.

Thanks for stopping by,

Sarah x

Merry Mondays

Hello!

Well my Christmas card making is in full swing so I have another festive card to share with you today which I will link up over at Merry Mondays where the challenge is to feature a reindeer:

This gorgeous Waltzingmouse stamp did all of the work for me!  I simple inked around the edge of the panel.  This is definitely one that I can return to for those last minute cards :)

That is it for today - short and sweet!

Sarah x

One Layer Santa

Hello!

I have just managed to squeeze in a quick card for this week's Less is More Challenge which is a one layered card featuring Santa.  I dug out one of my old favourite Waltzingmouse Stamps and combined them with a trusty black and gold colour combo:

I masked the front ornament to add the black one behind it.  I do love the traditional santa silhouette :)

I will also join up at the CAS Christmas challenge over at the The Paper Players.

Thanks for stopping by!

Sarah x

25 Tags of Christmas

Hello!

I am so excited to be taking part in Tracey McNeely's fabulous 25 Tags of Christmas event as part of the Uniko DT :)

Tracey is super talented and has been running this fun feature for 5 years.  Although I love seeing all of the creations every year, this is my first time playing along!

Luckily Uniko's new Christmas release arrived just in time so that I could use them on my tags and mix them in with some of the older stamps too:

This tag features the wonderful layered poinsettia stamps from the Jingle Bells set combined with a sentiment from Peace on Earth.  A few touches of gold add to the festive feel.

This tag features the fab tree from Rustic Christmas and stars from Essentially Christmas:

Finally, this tag features the sweet mistletoe and sentiment from Essentially Christmas:

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to play along, Bev and Tracey - it has been a lot of fun :)

Sarah x

Release Day!

Hello!

Today is the day that you can get your hands on Uniko's wonderful release.  I have a few more cards to share with you.....

 

First up I used the tree background from Uniko's older Background Builders set which goes perfectly with the cute tree from Essentially Christmas.  The gold star is actually the centre from one of Uniko's snowflake dies! 

 

Here I have used the Labelled Christmas as a centrepiece on a shaker card. I have covered it with glossy accents and added glitter.  It is popped up over a large Uniko snowflake in silver glitter with some frosty sequins in the shaker.

 

I decided to make a springlike card with the lovely little Uniko flower stamp from I Love Coffee combined with an older Uniko sentiment.  Stamped randomly it looks fresh and could be stamped in a range of colours.

We will be back again at the end of the month with a full DT blog hop!  In the meantime I hope you like the look of these stamps:

Essentially Christmas:




Jingle Bells:




Labelled Christmas:





I Love Coffee:




Head over to the Uniko Blog to see what the DT have made with these stamps.

See you again soon!

Sarah x

Uniko November Release Continued

Hello!

I am delighted to be back with some more cards made with this month's fab release from Uniko.  Today is the turn of Labelled Christmas which has a range of lovely circular festive sentiments.

I had time to make two quick cards:

On this card I stamped some Uniko snowflakes in the background and hand stitched a thread for my hanging ornament.  A bit of extra bling adds to the Christmas shine.

This card is very simple and uses non traditional colours.  I triple embossed the sentiment to create some shine and added holly from the Essential Christmas set.

These Christmas labels add a great element and are big enough to be a focal point too.

The stamps are available from Wednesday - giving you plenty of time to get your Christmas cards made!  We will be back tomorrow with some release day inspiration but in the meantime do check out what Bev and the UK DT have got to share with you. 

Thanks for stopping by,

Sarah x

Uniko November Release

Hello!

I am back with some more cards made using the fab November release from Uniko.  Bev designs great stamps all year round but her Christmas sets are amongst some of my all time favourites and these are no exception!

Today we are showcasing the Jingle Bells set.  I am looking forward to having more time to play with this gorgeous set but I whipped up 2 quick festive cards featuring the beautiful main sentiment:

I matted and layered up some American Crafts Christmas paper behind the central panel and black embossed jingle.  The bells are gold embossed and then coloured with gold wink of stella - they look very shimmery in real life! 

 

 

 

 

I love these bells - they are so sweet.  I popped this central panel up on a card base on which I had stamped two holly borders from Uniko's Background Builders - Christmas an older set but so versatile.

 

I hope you like today's festive cards.  These set contains really beautiful layering stamps which I will be playing with next!  Head on over to the Uniko blog to see what Bev and the DT have got to share with you :)

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Sarah x

 

Uniko November Release

Hello!

Uniko has been showcasing a fab new release for November and I have been itching to get my hands on them!  They arrived yesterday morning so I have managed to sneak some crafting time in and play along with Bev and the DT.

Today we are sharing cards made with the lovely I Love Coffee mini set.  Whilst I don't drink coffee, I do love buying hot chocolates from the coffee shop and am mildly addicted to the takeaway cups :)

I loved this set so much that I made 2 festive cards as well.  I will use them to give the boys teachers coffee gift cards for Christmas.

 

I combined the coffee cups with a sentiment from the Essentially Christmas set - love this font!

I hope you check out the November release over at Uniko's blog to see what Bev and the fab DT have made. 

Thanks for stopping by :)

Sarah x

  

Watercolour Blooms

Hello!

Just a quick post from me featuring a couple of cards that I made recently which I haven't got round to blogging.  They both use the SSS/WPlus9 set - Many Thanks:

 

First I went with one of my fave colour combos of yellow and grey.  It gives a lovely soft look.

 

On this card I used richer colours and popped the panel up over some patterned paper.  A few splatters and soft inking around the edge give this card more of a distressed feel.

I will link my second card up at Simon's Wednesday Challenge as part of their Thanks theme and I have also played along at SSS's Flickr Challenge for the first time in months.  It is Anything Goes.

Thanks for stopping by :)

Sarah x

ATCAS #76

Hello!

I am back with our latest challenge at Addicted to CAS which is hosted by the lovely Anja with a code word of Hero.

I chose Santa as the hero on my card....well he obviously has super powers, right?!  Mainly I wanted to play with some new My Favourite Things stamps - I wanted to get this set last year so am glad that I have got it for this year's Christmas cards.

I hope you like my festive hero and check out the rest of the inspiration that the fab DT have to share with you!

Thanks as always for stopping by,

Sarah x

Cool Christmas

Hello!

I was inspired to make some Christmas cards with this week's Less Is More challenge to use paper piecing.  I combined some lovely patterned paper from Lawn Fawn along with Uniko's dove which is one of my fave stamps:

 

I silver embossed the dove on to patterned paper and the card base.  I combined it with a sentiment from Clearly Besotted. 

 

As I had paper left over I went with the same idea but used a banner die to create a bit of visual interest.

 

Finally, whilst I was playing with my Lawn Fawn paper I used it with this My Favourite Things Christmas die.  Backed with acetate it is perfect for a shaker card.  I added a Uniko snowflake in the middle.  This is an easy make which would work in a heap of different colours.

 

I hope you like the blue and silver combo for Christmas!

 

Thanks for stopping by,

 

Sarah x