Back from Beyond with Subtle Splatters...

Hello! Do not adjust your screens... Yes, a blog post from Sarah. I cannot believe my last post was back in August. All I can say is 15 month old toddler in top gear. How can I have ever thought I was busy before I had Ruby. Never been so exhausted, but never been so happy!

Anyway, back at the inky ranch...
I'm here to share a little make for the Craft Stamper Blog Take it, Make it Challenge where it is all about the splatters. Check out the great feature by Paula Whittaker in the November issue of Craft Stamper Magazine (see below). We're inviting you to do anything you fancy with splatters and this is my take on things.

I just have to grab a few crafty minutes when I can these days  but sometimes that makes you just get on with things! I covered white card with lots of splatters of watered down Distress Paints before stamping just a portion of this lovely damsel and my flutterbys.

l cut them all out, edged them with Distress Ink and added three Chit Chat words to create a linking theme. Voilà! (I used all Mr. Tim stuff if you're asking...)

Here is the November issue of the magazine and I must do a tad bit of boasting, as I have made the cover!!!!!!!!!
I have  created a few cards inspired by Andy Warhol. Hope you enjoy them.

Well, that is it for now. Time for me to clear up the toys and flop into bed. I do hope you will join in with the Challenge Blog and shower us with inky splatters!

Thanks for calling by. See you when I see you is the best farewell at the moment. Happy weekending!
Sarah.

Spotty, dotty stuff...

Hello there. It's me again, along with my grubby craft desk, mat and fingers. I don't feel like  I have managed to get anything done at all this week so this WOYWW post is a complete midnight miracle.

I have spent EVERY waking minute chasing after a speedy toddler. Sigh. I used to look at mums of many and say, "Well, I can't be that busy, I've only got one baby..." Now, I don't care! One or ten... there just ain't any lounging around time folks!

Yesterday I realised the week was already running away with us and as it's hubby's last holiday week, I thought I would grab an hour in the crafty zone. Again, I am having to let go of all my OCD crafty thoughts and just get stuck in. No time to tweak,, fiddle or twiddle... 

I was feeling dotty in both mind and ink so all the more reason to join in the same themed fun over at Simon Says Stamp. Back to my vintage roots in colour and style...

I would have loved to have created something bigger but I only had an hour, so just a card. Otherwise it'll be Christmas by the time it gets finished. Hmmm, sounds like my housework. Hey-ho, put it on the list girl and go and watch TGBBO instead!
Right, time to sign off here. Until soon, Sarah.

Splodges, wonky bits and PJs...

is kind of how it is in both real and crafty life. Signing in at WOYWW to gently flaunt my oh so messy stuff. Yesterday, after a mad week of a teething toddler, I announced my retreat to the inky zone and so it was up to baby to walk the hubby. The kiddo has found her feet and is already in training for a marathon. I need eyes in the back of my everything...

As you can see I am a scrupulously neat crafter, I always clean up and put away my stash. Well once a leap year then.
I dived into a trio of tags inspired by a Wendy Vecchi post about using up your left overs. Seeing as that is all that is ever on my desk, it should be a doddle...

Gone are my former days of timeless inky dabblings, so I dived in and decided to just go for it.

Wonky stamping, splodges of paint, blobs of frisky glue... just embrace it girl. I even stayed in my PJs to win more time!

There's a great "Carnival" theme over at Simon Says Stamp (sigh, my old DT) so I decided a blast of full blown colour was just fine. Do all these colours go together?I dunno. In my Carnival imagination I see a hundred Brazilian Samba dancers jiggling their be-sequinned derrières and feathers. It's all voluptuous, glitter and neon catsuits...

Hmmm. Not the best pics of the colours... The sun was fading fast and Ruby was eating the fuchsias. Anyway, as said, I'm taking it as it comes today which is better than not getting it at all.

Thank you so much to all who called by last week and the lovely comments. I'm hoping to squeeze in a some blog hopping if I can blackmail the baby, oops toddler, into giving me the i-pad.

Farewell for now,
Sarah.

What, what, what's on your workdesk Wednesday?

Hello there and welcome to my blog and desk...both back from the brink of beyond! Finally, I managed to scrape a few spare moments together and say a brief bonjour to my craft room (albeit with a feisty baby tugging at my leg and little fingers trying to sneak an ink pad off the table...) Seems like life with my little one just gets busier and busier lately. I think I might have to wait for the infamous teenage years for a day off or a lie in. Anyway, I'm glad to join the ranks of all the other mid week exhibitionists over at WOYWW?  This is my desk and debris after a dabble with a tag or two...

As I have no brain space for thinking, let alone inking, I needed a bit of inspiration to get going, so I decided to play along with the August tag from Mr. Tim. It's another huuuuge tag but I think I will turn it into a card by adding a tag shaped base. Another one for the collection then. My craft room is at bursting point as all the projects and design pieces room from the last few years pile up. What do you do with all your "stuff you make"???

Well, the clock ticks on and I am determined to visit my bed before silly o'clock arrives. Here's to a week with plenty of what you need, like and fancy! Be seeing you soon... Sarah.

Craft Stamper Make it Challenge and Stuff...!

Hello Everyone,
By golly I blinked and August appeared from nowhere! I have been a bit AWOL for the last two weeks... Summer holidays, busy babies and an "oh so messy" house do not leave a lot of time for inky stuff but I have found a few moments to create a little something for the Craft Stamper Take it, Make it Blog Challenge where we are inviting you to play around with acetate in any way you like! Check out this months Craft Stamper Magazine to see a great flowers and shakers article by Kim Costello for acetate inspiration galore!

So, if like me, you are a bit short of time, this is a fun and easy idea to create an eye catching design. These Wendy Vecchi butterflies are my favourite "go-to" stamps and I knew they would look great teamed up with some bright Alcohol Inks.

 I pounced Wild Plum and Pool Alcohol Inks onto an acetate sheet and then stamped the Butterflies in Black Archival Ink. Heat set or leave to dry. You must stamp on the opposite side otherwise the inks will react. Trim closely and bend slightly for extra dimension.

My card base has been splattered with a dose of Vibrant Turquoise Dylusions Ink Spray, then I added a few lines of random stitching before glueing the butterflies in place with Matt Medium. The Mr. Tim sentiment is stamped in Dusty Concord Distress Ink and a few Chit Chat words add a pop of brown. Round, distress and ink the corners and we are done!

 So there you go, a little weekend inspiration with acetate. I do hope you will join in our challenge and make a play for this great prize...
Thanks for calling by. See you next time...
Sarah.

WOYWW????

Firstly, I am going to be a real Brit and wave a flag and a nappy for the new Royal Prince. Welcome your royal highness. Blue blood or not, they all do great bottom burps in public!

This WOYWW? post comes in full holiday fashion live from the Belgian coast where it is also...phew, a scorcher!  Just a short walk from the sea and hooray a breeze too. After the terrible packing palaver (sigh...) and enduring a testing lifetime (well, so it seemed) entertaining my "Why am I held hostage" baby in the car, we skimmed over the Channel and on to   Blankenberge which is as traditional as you can get as seasides go... Ice cream, chips, holiday shops full of twaddle, promenade jammed with kiddies on bikey stuff, and the entertaining full range of brown, red and white bodies...
So not much of a craft desk to see...  I just managed to grab some magazines in the hope of finding a few moments to let my mind imagine what I might create during a fantasy free day of inkiness... Who knows? Maybe I can alter those stacking cups or emboss the
Lego?

Right, time to go, it's taken hours to write this on the iPad with a random Internet connection I found floating past the window. But, hey, I made it!

Bye for now. Leaving you with Ruby on the ferry who was so excited to see so much floor space and  water... I was excited to see a cuppa and a catch a whiff of Eau d'holiday...
See you next week my dears.
Sarah.

Wednesday's child...is never asleep when I'm blogging...

So the fact that I am even able to get a WOYWW post up at all is a miracle. Hubby is away on a school trip abroad so this is going to be a sweaty, skinny and speedy post indeed. It is HOT, HOT, HOT! I won't start the debate of love it or hate it.. It all depends on what you're doing and who with. Nuff said.
Here is my desk which is in constant limbo at the moment. A quick sweep up of the scraps seems to be trying to tell me something!

 I did manage to grab a little time to make just one card inspired by Tim's July tag. Takes me two weeks to finish a card these days...

A little close up, the pictures will have to do the talking 'cos I sure ain't got time...

To finish a quick snap of a rather sweaty baby on the loose in my craft room! Help! I think my days are numbered.

Enjoy the desk hopping and have a good week.

Happy WOYWWing to all...
Sarah.