52 Weeks of Crafting

Another happy Saturday to join in the fun at Sketch Saturday! The sketch this is week is SUPER flexible:

I love this image from our sponsor The Paper Nest Dolls and I decided to color it to look like one of my friends. I used ProMarkers to color the image and then die cut it into a circle. I embossed a turquoise sheet with dots to tie into the raincoat.

I then added enamel accents to the raincoat and dots to the sentiment, which was from a magazine freebie. I kind of wish I had added them to the boots and not the raincoat. That was a mistake. Oh well. I added glitter to the duck bill and the barrette in the girl's hair and I like that as a feature.

It's a simple little one and I hope you are able to follow along!

Claire found this amazing sketch challenge this week and we we had a little Skype playdate to play with it. She just gifted me a full set of new stamps and some mini stamp and embossing folders sets and it was a perfect challenge to play with them. The sketch is from CAS Colours and Sketches: 

I love Bugaboo stamps - Claire introduced me to them years and years ago and they quickly became a digi favourite. So whenever we have them as a Sketch Saturday sponsor I do a little happy dance.

This image is A Kid's View Moose and I haven't used it for Christmas cards before - I don't know why! I colored a bunch of these and then die cut them in a rectangle and then paired them with lovely tartan papers from a Nordic Christmas stash I have. I embossed a brown card and then added a plain banner. The little tag is in a pop of jolly red to make it pop and stand out.

I love how it came together, I decided to make a few more so I had a little collection of them to add to my Christmas card stash which is always a great thing.

Last year Claire gave me this great little French bulldog stamp and as I had just using him for Christmas I used him for wintery thank you cards. This year I decided to have a session playing with him exclusively and had fun making 3 relatively simple makes, keeping the color of the dog the same for all of them.

The headline were the simplest but probably also my favourites. I embossed a red card using a houndstooth folder (see what I did there?) and then die cut the dog in a circle. I used a Tim Holtz sentiment die set to frame the image and it's so simple but I really like how it came out. I added pearl accents to the scarf pompoms and left it at that.

This next one features a Nordic paper set from the stash and I chose one of the busier patterns simply because I've struggled to use them elsewhere but love the colors. I die cut the dog using the matching dies and popped him up on foam tape. I even used my ancient Happy Christmas peel-offs in one of the plain stripes as I couldn't get a sentiment to work otherwise.


I thought I would show this one even though it's my least favourite. I used adhesive fabric (I bought a set at Tiger to see if I liked it - I don't think I do) and a scrap of spotted paper already on my desk. I die cut the dog in a circle again. I think it's the colors, maybe that's why I don't love it. Or maybe I just really prefer the other two. Who knows! Still fun to try the same image a few different ways.

This week at Sketch Saturday features an image from our sponsor Oddball Art Co

I loved this little toy, I just thought with the sweet santa-style hat it would be perfect for a little Christmas card. I colored it using Spectrum Noir pencils, which I love for the ability to add really great texture and depth. I opted for a simple color scheme and then die cut him out using a stitched die. I embossed some lavender card and used a stitched square card, alternating with a patterned card.

I hand wrote a little greeting as  I thought it would be perfect for my niece's first christmas card from me. I hope it goes down well! Looking forward to what everyone else is creating this week.

As I was on a craft date with Claire this weekend I was feeling more brave in my card makes. These might not look very brave but look! The paper is torn, not trimmed! Small things.

We made the headline card as a joint challenge with repeated image/text in a resist and a watercolored background and her card is pretty awesome, I hope she shares it soon. I got a bit bored with the heat embossing as the stamp took quite a lot of powder but otherwise I liked the combination of colors I got from Peacock Feathers and Blueprint Sketch Distress Ink. The little tag is covering an oops where I messed up my stamping. I liked it better neat on the card but then had to hide the mistake. Oh well!


The next card uses the ripped scrap from the headline, painted in Mowed Lawn ink. The image is a new Tim Holtz that I heat embossed in black. I embossed a yellow scrap in a woodgrain folder to go with the leaf. The little tag is a new punch from EK Success.


Finally I thought I'd share this just as a freebie. The frame is cut from the headline card from yesterday. I used a flower freebie from a card magazine and a thank you from a set I got second hand. I colored it all using ProMarkers and added some pearl and glitter accents to the flowers and sentiment. It's a girly but I like it, it's very different from my recent makes.

Hello and happy Saturday!

This week's Sketch Saturday challenge is a lot of fun


And we are sponsored by the excellent collection of digis Drawn with Character. 

I went with the PB&J image and it went so well with this layout. I coloured the image using ProMarkers and then die cut the square. I decided to keep the colors brown and purple to go with the image, so I embossed a tan piece of card using a triangle folder from Sizzix and and then die cut the background into a square. I separated the sentiment from the image so I could turn it into a tag - I made it quite a bit bigger than the sketch because I wanted it to have more prominence. I was able to use a little brown and pink bow I had in my stash, how perfect is that?

Definitely check out the challenge, be sure to get in your entry before Friday!

Finally week as Guest DT at Sketch Saturday and I'm very sad this is the last of the posts. Happily the sketch was great to play with, I love a starburst!

I had a fun little play date with Claire this weekend and while we were chatting on Skype we both did a bit of a desk clear out. I had so many scraps of paper, die cut things and random stuff on my desk I decided I wasn't going to do anything new until I had made a dent in the left overs. It's an eclectic collection but I am really pleased with the results!

Headline card: the feathers are a mix of dies from my stash; the blue was embossed and cut by Claire and gifted to me and the green is a die cut I made for another card but then didn't use. The stitched grey square is left from another project (another reject where I found a better pattern to use for that piece) and the red paper is the edge of a paper pad that I have had for ages. The bow and sentiment tag are also ancient from the collection. By intentionally ignoring color and pattern, I think it's actually come together really well instead of getting fussy about everything being matchy-matchy!


For these dog cards, I had bought this big die in a sale and then immediately got a bit afraid of him. He's really big! He doesn't always come out cleanly either as you can see from one of the examples, but I decided it was ok as long as the brow and fur at the bottom are out, it doesn't matter. Both backing papers are scraps that had been awkwardly cut but because I love both patterns I just kept them forever. Why?! The turquoise and tan card has a heat embossed sentiment from Creative Stamping magazine and the one with the tartan paper is stamped from a different magazine freebie. Even the white banner on which it is stamped is a scrap!


For this one I used a big sentiment cut from Claire's silhouette machine that I have been saving (again, why?) and some little stitched rings over a scallop circle. The paper is a bit too busy for the sentiment but never mind, I think the colors worked well here given they were all scraps and not cut for purpose.

I wanted to make a few little cards to send to my parents and my sister's in-laws to celebrate the arrival of my niece. I decided to do something simple and cheerful and when I saw the sketch at Freshly Made Sketches I thought it would work well:


And the color challenge at CAS-ual Fridays was perfect for my modern baby card:



The pink paper is punched with an American Crafts punch that I haven't used in ages but always really like using, it's so sharp it works great for adding detail. I embossed the central blue panel in a houndstooth folder to give it some texture. The central greeting is a washi tape punch from Claire and I used a sentiment that is one of the oldest in my collection. It didn't quite stand out as I wanted it to so I added the darker pink background to give it more prominence. The bows are punched using a Tim Holtz punch and to make them a bit cuter I added white enamel accents to the bows, mimicking the pink enamel accents I added to the background paper.

Really enjoyed this as it features a lot of fun little tools but has a simple look overall.

A fun challenge from Moving Along with the Times this week. We'd like to see die cut or handmade flowers.

I chose a Stampin' Up die set for my DT make and layered them up over an embossed card featuring a Sizzix folder. The flowers are joined together to make a little bouquet and even though I didn't put a sentiment on it I thought I would use it as a Mother's Day card. Finally a little gingham candy tops it off, and I'm really happy with how cheerful it is.

I look forward to seeing your entries and what flowers you create!

Since Christmas I've been struggling for mojo at my craft desk and dipping in and out of challenges less frequently than my usual behaviour. But I really liked the layout at Sketch Saturday and tasked myself to use paper scraps as I wanted to see what I could come up with.

I saw the sketch at CAS(E) This Sketch this week and thought it would be fun to play along and make a birthday card for a girlfriend. She loves pink and so with that color in mind I set out to make something fun for her that could also incorporate some of my new craft toys.


I chose a starry stencil and used Picked Raspberry Distress Ink for the pattern. I embossed a strip of card with little Swiss dots and then added a black frame to make it pop out. The butterfly is die cut using an X-Cut die and the message is heat embossed in white powder. It's very girly but I think she'll love it!

Hi everyone! I don't know what happened but my scheduled post didn't work so I'm a few day late. Please forgive me! Our theme at Moving Along with the Times this week is Swirls and Curls. A fun brief that made me revisit some embossing folders I haven't used in ages.

I started with a sheet of card that I blended with Distress Inks in Mustard Seed and Peacock Feathers. I then embossed it using a swirly/dotted embossing folder from Sizzix. I accidentally embossed the wrong way round but I really like that it's indented rather than raised, looks much sharper actually! I stamped a humming bird and then heat embossed it so I could use Picked Raspberry Distress Ink as a watercolor on top. I fussy cut the bird out and decided on the 'Wishing you joy' sentiment from this month's Creative Stamping magazine. Finally a few little drops of liquid pearl to give some touches of bling.

It's a fun little card and I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone else creates!

My friend's little boy is turning 5 (I can't believe this) and I wanted to make him a special card as he's my little buddy and I love making him cards.


I saw the sketch at Sketch Saturday and thought it would be perfect, and I was especially inspired by Claire's post when I saw that Bugaboo was the sponsor. Loving Bugaboo as much as I do I just had to use one of their great images.

I chose the awesome birthday dragon and colored him with ProMarkers. As my little dragon features a hat (as does my sentiment) I thought I would also enter the I <3 ProMarker challenge as well.  I cut him to the shape to match the sketch and then chose some fun papers to match. The background paper features an embossing folder from Sizzix and the spotted paper is a scrap from American Crafts.

The sentiment is a gift from Claire years ago...I can't remember who it is by. I use it a lot with kid cards because it is so fun and works great with the Bugaboo style for little party hats! The little blingy number is from the pound store - I love these glitter numbers. It is so cheerful and fun I know my little friend is going to love it!

I am making a whole bunch of card sets as gifts for people. I should have started this process MUCH sooner but here we all are, crafting late into the evening to get things done before I see the recipients! I'm using it as an opportunity to go through my stash and use things I haven't played with in a while.



This is the first of a few card set posts. The set featured here was such fun. I stamped and die cut the fruit Sizzix set Claire gave me last year and used mini 4x4 cards as my base. The colored papers are from a Recollections square pack (no die cutting or trimming involved!) and I embossed them in different folders: the triangle is from Stampin' Up, the houndstooth is Sizzix, the swiss dots are Cuttlebug and the basketweave I can't remember. I added different sized enamel dots from Recollections to match each card. They took a bit longer than you'd think from looking at them but I really love them!



This next set was a bit simpler. I die cut some intricate butterflies and then layered them over punched hearts. I die cut big chevron patterned circles and added a few touches of bling and enamel dots. They would have been really quick if it weren't for the 8 die cuts required. Still, a very clean card and it makes a nice set for the person who is receiving it....thought I must say I prefer the fruit!

Some weeks the blog challenges combine to make a winning card. I saw the critter challenge at Retro Rubber and have been going through my stamps and images to find a good one over a year old. The little mouse from Bugaboo has been with me for about 18 months.

I thought he would go perfectly in the sketch from Sketch Saturday:

And that encouraged me to follow the circle challenge at Paper Players.

The background has heat embossed circles in yellow embossing powder and I painted with Cracked Pistachio Distress Ink using an aqua brush.

The paper at the bottom was embossed using a swiss dot folder. The teal paper was a scrap, as was the yellow. The sentiment is from Studio G Mini Flip Flops. I added little enamel dots to complete the sketch.

Really like how this card came together, I like the colors and image and think it makes for a cheerful little birthday card.

I had a really great play session in the craft room today and I decided to use some of the textured scraps or backgrounds I recently accumulated. I thought dies would be a fun way to keep things simple.

The headline card has a background that Claire created - I stole it from her mixed media bag. I loved the colors, stamped with that gorgeous hexagon and spritzed to give it some groovy variation. I layered it in ollive and added the maroon Stampin'Up bird punch. Love the simplicity and the retro colors.


For this one, I featured an embossed card where Claire had added ink to the folder. She didn't love it but I thought it would look great with my robot. I love working with a star behind him and thought the color worked brilliantly with this folder. I added tiny little dots of paint for texture and added color. Love this one as well.



Final one here! For this one I used a woodgrain stamp in Stampin' Up khaki dye ink directly on a kraft card square blank. I used a tree die that Claire gave me and I've struggled to use it for a while. But then I had this idea to add little flowers and suddenly it's transformed. I added little gold dots and a greeting and it's a cute little card.

Really happy to go back to basics with these and I have to remember in the future that simple things can make great projects.

This week at Moving Along With the Times we have a baby challenge for you. I have had a lot of babies come into my life lately so this was a fun challenge.

I used a wooden stamp from Michael's that I picked up in a sale. I colored it with ProMarkers and die cut it out and layered on an embossed diecut sheet. The background of the paper is painted with an aquabrush and Distress Inks in Victorian Velvet and Picked Rasppberry. The elephant then got a wash of Wink of Stella sshimmer. The greeting is an old one from my stash and I stamped it onto a punched washi tape strip from Claire.

All in all, really a very cheerful card with a lot of technique but happily a CAS finish.

Can't wait to see whatyou do in the next two weeks!

I wanted to make a Father's Day card for my dad using this great Darice cork embossing folder. The colors at Color Throwdown this week were perfect for a wine-related card.



The background is actually darker green but when I flipped it over I preferred the inverse. The greeting is die cut from a scrap I had on my desk that I thought fit the color scheme. I put it against dark brown to stand out more and added a strip of woodgrain paper. It's pretty simple but I wanted to keep the cork pattern the hero and I think the simplicity makes it more masculine.