Monday, May 27, 2013

Into the woods we go...

Hello everyone. Well, it is Monday again and a Bank Holiday here - again! Sunny? Mmmmm, the jury is out on that one! Rain or shine, grab your picnic basket, as it's off into the woods we go with the fabulous new challenge theme from Simon Says Stamp & Show!

I swing from girly to grungy and this week it was the return of the pastel tones. I think a lot of us like to play around with houses when creating and I decided to raid my stash of cardboard to rustle up a home in the woodlands. A shop in my town mounts pictures and they let me buy all the centre cut-outs for a pound! I have a huge bag of fabulous sturdy cardboard just perfect for this project.
I cut my pieces to shape and covered the main part with sticky back canvas for a bit of texture. Then I set about adding the roof which I stamped with dots before going on to the details.... The wording is taken from a larger sentiment which I cut to my suit my piece.
I know I use these Wendy flowers a lot but I just love their shape and that they come in three sizes (on different stamp sets). You can layer them up, stamp and cut them from all sorts of things and make them very simple or full on fancy.

My Art Parts leaves are painted white before I stamped them in delicate Bundled Sage with another favourite background stamp from Wendy. Seeing as I am raving on about my fave Wendy things, I just have to add the Just Fly butterfly. Here I have stamped it onto card but used the reverse side so as to achieve a simple shape...
 A little ric-rac, lace and buttons finish it all off. I think it would make a great gift for someone's new house... Or you copy the design and make it into a card...
Into the woods.... where does that take your crafty mind to???? Take a look at how the rest of the Design Team played around with the challenge here! the ideas are fabulous. Do join in! We are on the hunt for our top three artists and there is this very generous $50 voucher to be won too.
Thanks for calling by. Enjoy the holiday if you have one...
See you soon. Sarah.

Posted by Sarah at Monday, May 27, 2013 12 comments

Monday, May 20, 2013

A little thinking and inking...

Hello Monday! Well, I'm feeling blue today but thankfully it's all inky so that's good. The new challenge theme over at Simon Says Stamp & Show is all about your favourite ink pad. Eeek! Now there's a tough one...
In all honesty I could say all of them, but after looking at my desk and recent dabblings I went for Salty Ocean Distress Ink. It just keeps on popping up on my desk so it got the popularity vote from me.  Sometimes I'm just want to be creative with some good 'old school stamping'... I started out my crafty journey many moons ago when I decided to create my own Christmas cards and I still love cardmaking today.
There's just something about seeing that crisp inky image on white paper that does it for me. As usual I played around with my stamp collection and composition to see what I could magic up. I really love one layer stamping and decided that would be the mood to linger in. I like to be consequent in style and stamping when creating pieces so I stayed with a range of Mr. Tim beauties.
To create the eye I carefully dabbed and wiped away the ink from the stamp with a dryish baby wipe until I had the eye shape I wanted. I practised on scrap paper a few times to get the right look.
I had so much fun that I couldn't resist trying out another one. I combined the Papillon background writing with the smaller butterflies from Attic Treasures which is a great set of stamps. Just the right size for so many projects...
So there you go... gentle waves of Salty Oven from me.

Have you worked out which ink pad is your best friend?

 Take a look at how the rest of the Design Team played around with the challenge here!  

Inspiration galore! We are on the hunt for our top three artists and there is this very generous $50 voucher to be won too. Do join in and share your inky antics with us.
Thanks for calling by. I'm off to attack my 'to do' list... See you all soon.
Sarah.

Posted by Sarah at Monday, May 20, 2013 13 comments

Monday, May 13, 2013

O paper, thou art small and beautiful...

We may not have sunshine but we all have a little paper that's for sure. Crafters? A little paper? Now, there's an understatement if ever there was one. So the new challenge theme over at Simon Says Stamp & Show is right up everyone's street.
l love working in miniature and thought it would be great fun to have a go at one of those famous folding mini books. If you have no idea what I mean then check out this great You Tube tutorial  from Mr. Timotheus Holtz himself here!

l used a piece of 12 x12 from my Destinations Paper Stash. I love this collection, use it all the time and still seem to have lots of yummy pages left over. It's been a while since the old Steampunk fellows have gotten inky and just as long since I did something in my vintage shades...
I've decorated the back with some smaller pieces from the same paper stash. All the pages have been stamped with numbers throughout and I've also added a few typed quotes and images inside too.

I used Grungeboard for both the book-plate frame and the binding which gives the book a really nice sturdy feel - and it was also the perfect location for a Wordband!

There's more of less here too! Lots of mini tags that are tucked into the pockets of the book...
It's such a fun project to play with, adaptable to any style, colour of theme you like. I think they would make a great alternative to a greeting card too.
So there you go. Literally a bit of what you fancy! It's a really fabulous challenge theme. There's no excuse for not joining in this week. Check out the really wonderful  ideas from the rest of the Design Team here! We are on the hunt for our top three artists and there is this very generous $50 voucher to be won too. Do join in and share a little paper creativity with us.
That's me all done again. Gotta run, got one very mobile baby on the loose...Thanks for the visit! Have an inspired week and I'll see you soon.
Sarah.

Posted by Sarah at Monday, May 13, 2013 25 comments
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