Life is a canvas....

Throw as much paint at it as you can. I thought I'd start with a little motivational therapy on this Monday morning. Well, August has hit town, the Olympic spirit is high and QVC is selling Christmas decorations! Monday also means a new challenge theme over at Simon Says Stamp & Show where we are painting it up...

l'm just slowly getting back into my design work as I discover life with my new daughter, so any crafty time is very precious indeed. My brain is also still pretty frazzled from all the sleepless nights, so when I sat down to work on this weeks challenge, I had no idea what to make at all. Nada, zilch, nuffink!

Know that feeling? Ready to rumble but devoid of inspiration... So I did what I normally do when this happens. I surrounded myself with lots of my favourite crafty goodies and just started playing. I was toying with the idea of creating a masterboard from Kraft cardstock, to then cut into sections, but once I got going I decided to leave the background whole.

I've been doing a bit of dabbling lately with an Art Journal and really enjoy the freedom it brings... So I thought it would be a good idea to explore the same techniques and the fab Claudine Hellmuth Studio Paints to create my cards. I started like this... DO REMEMBER TO DRY BETWEEN EACH LAYER. I roughly swiped yellow paint over my base with my Craft Scraper. Then I applied a layer of texture through a dahlia stencil with white gesso, stamped the Mixed Media dots in red paint and then the mini-mum flowers in yummy teal.

I wanted to add a bit more detail and contrast so I went for a bit of stamping in Archival ink... so as to create both thick and thin layers of ink, paint and colour. I grabbed my word and number stamp strips from Stuff to Say and then added some lettering with Alpha Grunge. Don't be too fussy about the stamping. Use the rubber stamps without an acrylic block. Just hold it in your hand, bending the stamp slightly and roll sections of the stamp over the surface for a more random effect.

As the background is quite busy I decided to keep the embellishment simple by using just some wording and die-cut butterflies. I stamped the wording in Saffron Yellow for the first card and Monrach Orange for the second. I didn't use all of the first sentiment... just a section. That way you get a lot more mileage out of your stamps!

The flutter-bys are cut from book pages and thickly coated with gesso for texture. I stitched around the edges before matting the cards up with three bright layers of card. A wrap of trusty parcel string and a bit of distress work and I was done!

And great fun it all was too. So why don't you join in the painty antics and creativity? Just get your favourite crafty goodies out and just start playing around... Who knows where it will lead to? Hop over to the Design Team Blog and take a look at the fab makes from the rest of the team for more inspiration. There's a great $50 spree to be won and the top Three Artists crown too! Well, that's all folks, as Bugs would say. Thanks for calling by... Sarah.

*Claudine Hellmuth COMPLETE LOT 15 STUDIO PAINTS Ranger Paint	*Claudine Hellmuth GESSO Studio Primer Paint Ranger	*Ranger Inkssentials CRAFT SCRAPER Tool Remove Paint Glue Wax ICSR23890	*The Crafter's Workshop MINI MUMS 6 x 6 Template
*Tim Holtz Sizzix Die MINI BUTTERFLIES Movers & Shapers 657209 Alterations	*The Crafter's Workshop MINI DAHLIA 6 x 6 Template	*Tim Holtz Cling Rubber Stamps 2012 MIXED MEDIA cms125	*Tim Holtz Cling Rubber Stamps 2012 WORDS FOR THOUGHT cms132
*Tim Holtz Cling Rubber Stamps STUFF TO SAY CMS110 2011	*Tim Holtz Rubber Stamp ALPHA GRUNGE x3-1221 Stampers Anonymous	*Ranger Archival Ink Pad MONARCH ORANGE AIP31239	*Ranger Archival Ink Pad JET BLACK AIP31468
*Ranger Archival Ink Pad SAFFRON AIP31222	*Ranger Archival Ink Pad MANGANESE BLUE AIP30454

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What's on your wordesk Wednesday?

WOYWW? Well, still not a lot, but we are back on first name terms... I didn't make it last week and that felt rather strange...a bit like that dream when you realise you are walking around in your underwear at a wedding... In other words surreal and not much fun. In fact it was a big 'pile of pants' week all round. Little Ruby went on strike and gave up feeding, hubby was in France and so began a long week of very intense worries and tears - not helped by the very hot spell of weather. (This learning curve (Julia!) is kind of boomerang shaped...)

After trying every trick in the book and beyond, spending 22 hour days nursing and seeing Ruby go downhill fast, I had to make the very difficult switch from boob to bottle. All sounds very random, emotional, mumsy, hormonal stuff for some I know, but it was a horrendous 8 days. Your world becomes very small, your heart heavy and your head very full. Little babies need to come with a warning on their pert bottoms... "Life-changing, heart-wrenching miracles. Please handle with extreme care."

I have made a start on some new DT projects for Simon Says Stamp and Craft Stamper so my own dabblings are on hold at the moment. I was very happy to see the new Craft Stamper mag fall on the mat, heralding a better week. That's me in the corner there...!

I have a tutorial on metal tape inside the magazine and have created an Art Journal and some other metal goodies... Hope you like it if you are a reader.

Life is very busy indeed at the moment and it seems the days are flitting by the second. So yesterday morning I was totally thrilled and touched to receive a fabulous hanging and card from Elizabeth up there in bonny Scotland. THANK YOU so much, they are beauties. How lucky is Ruby with all these aunties?

Oh, go on then...just one more pic of my wee lassie. Here's Ruby getting into the Olympic Spirit with a GO TEAM GB cheer! On that celebratory note, I shall sign off... the 15 minutes of freedom are up! It's a flying visit I know, but it's good to say hello.
Until, um, whenever...
Sarah.

A Sentimental Journey...

Monday morning Greetings to al! I'm on Blog Street again to share two new creations for Simon Says Stamp & Show! Mondays mean a new challenge theme and this week it's all about "Your sentiments".

Well, who doesn't have a few of those in the old stash then??? Good old words and sentiments. "Easy to stamp, harder to abide by..." I always say, but we all seem to love them!

Now this is a scheduled post from end May, so by the time you read it, it'll be a bit of a time-warped one. These cards were/are (?) the last project of my huge pre-baby DT boot camp marathon. Lots of relief, fatigue and pride knowing 'all is done!' Mojo has now gone a go-go...

So admittedly, I didn't want to dive into anything too complex or demanding. But with Sarah being Sarah, I still wanted to create something I was happy with.

Flicking through luscious thick pages of Design Paper is all very well, but like a car stuck in a garage - it sure ain't going anywhere!!!

Inspired by the wonderful vintage colours and  images from Tim's Destination Paper Stash, I decided on two cards that incorporated a feeling of nostalgic travel. I started by picking a few of my favourite snaps from the collection. 

l also used the papers for my card bases as I thought that would be a nice colourful and unexpected surprise on opening the card. I added an aged and stamped tag to the inside so that you can write a personal message...

The first card is about the sun, sea and cruises and the second auto-mobiles, road trips and visiting family....

I choose two photos and a handful of snippings for each card, distressing and inking them to create an aged look. Can't survive without Vintage Photo and Walnut Stain Distress inks! I also stamped the card fronts with the City and street stamp from the Papillon set.

I played around with the composition and layers for a while to see what looked best and then stuck it all down. I added a wrap of parcel string and a couple of buttons to add a bit more texture and depth.

Here's another inside shot - the tag is stamped with the ticket stamp from Tim's 'On the Railroad' set and splattered with ink.

I added a small tag to the string and stamped my Attic Treasures sentiments in Ranger Sepia Archival ink. Very small and dinky stamps, just perfect for these little tags.

I set out to do something simple, yet ended up having as much fun as always - and I love both my cards... I think vintage photos and sentiments go hand in hand! So which words will your inky fingers be reaching for? Pop over to the Design Team Blog for more inspiration! Do join in and maybe you could be the Happy Shopper with this generous $50 prize voucher from Simon Says Stamp or one of our top three chosen artists...!
Thanks for calling in today. Sarah signing off - and until whenever....!

*Tim Holtz Idea-ology Paper Stash DESTINATIONS TH93004	*Tim Holtz Distress Ink PAD VINTAGE PHOTO Brown Ranger	*Tim Holtz DISTRESS INK PAD WALNUT STAIN Brown Ranger	*Tim Holtz Cling Rubber Stamps PAPILLON CMS106 2011
*Tim Holtz Cling Rubber Stamps 2012 ON THE RAILROAD cms127	*Tim Holtz Cling Rubber Stamps 2012 ATTIC TREASURES CMS123	*Ranger Archival Ink Pad SEPIA AIP31505

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One for the Girls...

All the single ladies.. all the married ladies... all the happy ladies... all the moody ladies...! 'Tis another Monday morning and I'm here with my new piece for Simon Says Stamp & Show where it's a HEY GIRL thing! Girl power, femme fatale or delectable damsel... Take your pick!

For some obscure reason I felt a compendium of bright inks and circles in the offing... a shape I don't really use that much. I like doing 'threes' of things but I didn't want to do tags or an ordinary card and when I remembered my Bubbly Circle background stamp from Wendy, it all came together!

I also wanted to give my Ranger Specialty Stamping Paper a test run to see how it took to a good dose of embossing and inkiness! I started out with a whole sheet of the paper and clear embossed the circle background over the whole surface.

Then I randomly sprayed patches of Vibrant Turquoise, Bubblegum Pink and a little Fresh Lime Dylusions inks on top. I dried the surface and then went in again with the same colours but this time I sprayed through punchinella. I got a really nice kind of water mark effect! I wanted to bring out the clear embossing so I lightly buffed the surface which also blended the colours slightly too. I cut three large circles and stuck them to corrugated cardboard.

I added a few splatters of Black Marble ink and also stamped the fabulous Wrought Iron Border in Jet Black Archival Ink. I heat set it all well to prevent smudges as the ink does stay a little wet due to the paper's special coating. It's a great paper and can take a lot of action! I stuck old dictionary pages to card, stamped three of Wendy's Art Rules girls and cut them out, adding a touch of colour to their features.

I wanted to give the girls a bit more oomph in the head-wear dept. so I stamped the larger flower from the same set onto card, added an upholstery stud to the centre and layered them onto the faces.
Same idea with the starry eye - except I embossed it with black powder for a glossy look!

I stuck the ladies to the circles, adding a few words cut from other sentiments and added washers coloured with Alcohol Inks in the same tones. The circles also have a washer base to help them stand and are joined together with a small cardboard hinge. Voila! An alternative greeting card!

I hope you like the bright colours and dramatic black... I'm loving the combo! One for the girls is a really great theme - there's so many ways you could go with this one so I'm really looking forward to seeing what everyone comes up with! Who will make he top three this week or win this great $50 shopping voucher???
Thanks calling by and taking a look - stay inspired!
See you soon,
Sarah.

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