Butterfly Grid

I've just had no motivation to make cards lately - I'm beginning to think my real hobby is buying craft supplies rather than making actual cards!!

I was however very taken by this neat sketch at Freshly Made Sketches

I really love graphical symmetry like this - I struggle with strange lines in sketches! Here's my creation:

I got these butterfly stickers at a recent Ross Papercraft Show bargain bin and created the background using eau de nil dotted patterned paper from my stash. The greeting was created in Publisher using Newton Cursive font and I've added a few random flat-backed pearls.

I'm also entering this card into the challenges at:

My Time To Craft #393 - Mother's Day
Moving Along With The Times #93 - bugs
Krafty Chicks Challenge #447 - polka dots

Thanks for visiting

Sharon
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Lilac Birds

A quick card to share tonight - another for my Mother's Day pile...

I've used a really old digi stamp - I think from Birdie Brown - and coloured it in shades of purple/lilac. I've mounted the image on some pretty polka dot lilac paper and that's about it really!

I'm entering this card into the challenges at:

Addicted to Stamps and More #327 - make your mark
Watercooler Wednesday #207 - feminine - Watercooler Rocker
Passion for Pro-markers #479 - flora and fauna
Double Trouble #21 - flowers and anything with wings
Stamping Sensations - all things bright and beautiful
Crafty Friends #102 - animals/birds

Thanks for visiting

Sharon
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Pink and Grey Posy

This morning I started to make a few Mother's Day cards for my box at work...

Using some lovely white linen textured card I created a 6x6 card base and die-cut the flowers and leaves from the same card. The flowers are very old Marianne dies and the stem is a Memory Box flower die with the flower heads cut off (I'm not keen on the shape of them). The butterfly die came with a magazine.

I coloured the die-cut shapes with pro-markers - the linen texture shows through  - I don't like mixing different card on the same card.

I added very tiny pearls to the butterflies and silver brads to the centre of the flowers. The greeting was created in Publisher using Formal 365 font.

I'm entering this card into the challenges at:

Scrapyland Challenge #106 - anything goes (using dies)

Aud Sentiments #219 - anything goes

Creative Fingers #156 - anything goes

Passion For Promarkers #477 - flowers

Thanks for visiting

Sharon

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A Special Lady

Happy Friday everyone - not long now until the weekend!


There's a new challenge over at Simply Papercraft today ...

As usual the challenge is 'Anything Goes' which makes it so much easier to join in. Today's sponsor is the fabulous Morgan Fitzsimmons at Morgan's ArtWorld - a lovely place to pick up some gorgeous fantasy images and digital stamps...

This is what I have created using one of Morgan's images...

I'm so please with how this has turned out - I think I'll give it to one of our Mams on Mother's Day this Sunday.

I've used some mint green polka dot paper from my stash and coloured the image using co-ordinating pro-markers - a die cut circle in the patterned paper gives the effect of a mount.

As a border around the circle, I've used various die-cut leaf swirls and punched daisies with coloured flat-backed pearls from my stash as centres. The greeting is a digi stamp I've had for years by Hannelie at Desert Diva.

I've entered this card into the challenges at:

Moving Along With The Times - die-cut flowers
Creative Inspirations #271 - anything goes
Inky Chicks #80 - flower embellishments
Crafty Cardmakers #184 - for a special woman
Fab n Funky Challenges - use flowers
Passion For Pro-markers - girl power 
Morgan's ArtWorld - anything goes
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday - more than 1 die/punch
 
So get yourselves over to Simply Papercraft and join in the fun - it's only a click away!

Thanks for visiting
Sharon
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Orange Bouquet

Orange is one of my favourite colours to used in cards - it's so vibrant. I've been making a stash of Mother's Day cards to take into work (very popular with the men who can't be bothered to go card shopping) and I've made a few in this design but this orange and pink one is my favourite...

The image and sentiment are from the wonderful Digistamp Boutique and I've kept it very simple with just a few orange pearls as embellishments.

I'm entering this card into the challenges at:

C.R.A.F.T. Challenge #404 - Mother's Day
Cute Card Thursday #466 - florals 
Southern Girls #154 - nature inspired 
Creative Inspirations #269 - petals and pearls
Sweet Stampin' - flowers

thanks for visiting

Sharon
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Hunkydory Flowers

Today's card was made with some leftover papers from a Hunkydory Flutterby Wishes Collection pack that came free with a magazine . 

I've printed the greeting in Candy Round font on the same paper as the image - I don't know about you but I find Hunkydory products never co-ordinate with other brands. Finally, I've added some clear gems to add some sparkle. Not the most complex card I've ever made but a great way to use up leftovers!

I'm entering this card into the challenges at:

A Perfect Time To Craft #2 - anything goes
Crafty Gals Corner #108 - add some sparkle 
A Bit More Time To Craft #37 - anything goes
Crafting When We Can #137 - flowers 

Thanks for visiting

Sharon
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Special Mam

I decided to make a start on Mother's Day cards today using this lovely heart-shaped floral wreath which was a freebie many moons ago from The Digistamp Boutique ...

I've coloured the image using pro-markers in pastel shades and embellished with pearls. The spotty backing paper came from Dovecraft's Back To Basics II pack.

I'm entering this card into the current challenges at:

The Paper Players - flowers
CAS On Sundays - hearts
Cupcake Inspirations - pearls - Sweet Seven!
Crafting When We Can - spots and/or stripes
A Gem Of A Challenge - hearts and/or flowers

Thanks for visiting today

Sharon
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Kanban Pastel Bouquet

Hello all

Today's card was a really quick make using die-cut floral decoupage from Kanban. I used cream linen card for the card base and some floral patterned paper from Dovecraft. I also embossed a cream panel for the backing to add some texture and a ribbon to hide the join with the patterned paper. Gems were also added for the centre of some flowers.

I'm entering this card into the challenges at:

Chocolate Coffee & Cards Challenge - anything goes
Morgan's Art World - for the ladies
Craft Rocket Challenge - Mother's Day
Crafty Girls Creations #14 - anything goes
Brown Sugar Challenge - anything goes

Thanks for visiting

Sharon
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Flowers For Mother

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! Hope you were spoilt rotten!

Today's card is for a lady in our lives we all love - your Mum, Mom, Ma, Mother, Mummy or as we say here in the North east - Mam.

I used a gorgeous vase of flowers digi from The Digistamp Boutique, printed onto a linen base card and coloured with Pro-markers. The greeting is also from Digistamp Boutique. I've also added three of the tiniest flat-backed pearls I possess just to make it less 'flat'.

I'm entering this card into the challenges at:

Sweet Stampin' Challenge - clean and simple
Less Is More - one layer week - include a stem
Suzy Bee's Bloomin' Challenge - sentimental
That Craft Place - anything goes
Addicted To CAS - 

Thanks for visiting

Sharon
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Cats

I'm still in Mother's Day mode! Today's card is a request from a work colleague who wanted a cat themed Mother's Day card.

This adorable image is available from Urban Threads for less than a pound! I discovered this web site a while ago and although the designs are intended for embroidery, they make great digi images. The border is also a digi, available from Delicious Scraps. I've coloured the image using ProMarkers - I would love a scarf in these colours! 

I've entered this card into the challenges at:

Less is More - One layer week - Love
Passion for ProMarkers - Someone I Love
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - All Creatures Great and Small

and the colour scheme is from:

Nacho Average Challenges:
 

Thanks for visiting

Sharon
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Blue Daisies

Do blue daisies even exist? I don't know but that's the colour I've used to match the gorgeous polka dot backing paper. The paper is from my stash and the image is of course from Digistamp Boutique. I've tried to shape the daisy heads to make them look more real - it's kinda worked!

I've entered this card into the challenges at:

Allsorts Challenge Blog - Any occasion other than birthday
Simply Create Too - Anything goes
Sister Act Challenge - Anything goes

Thanks for looking

Sharon
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Blooming Fabulous

My favourite Saturday challenge blog, Less is More, celebrates its 4th birthday today and the theme is PINK and GREY. Also, the current challenge at CAS on Sunday is 'flowers'. Combining both challenges is the perfect mix for making another Mother's Day card.

The image is from the Digistamp Boutique and I've paper pieced it with grey and a subtley patterned pink paper. The flowers were so fiddly to cut out! I added the pink pearls to give it a bit of bling.

Enjoy the weekend

Sharon
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Flowers For Nanna On Mothers Day

Here's the first of this year's Mother's Day cards. I've been asked to make a few for work so I'd better start early...

I've used one of the fab Mother's Day Flowers images from Digistamp Boutique, octagon dies and scallops and the pink background is embossed with a butterfly embossing folder that came free with a magazine. The image has been coloured with pro markers and I've decoupaged a couple of the flowers and the vas to add more depth.

I've entered this into the current challenges at:

4 Crafty Chicks Challenge - anything goes
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - anything goes
Stampavie And More Challenge - lots of flowers
Digistamps4joy Challenge - Bingo (flowers/free/2 or more layers)

Happy crafting

Sharon
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Hunkydory Mother's Day Card For Nanna

A quick card today made with a Hunkydory kit that came free with a magazine. These kits contain ready die cut decoupage images and matching papers so it doesn't really take much design ability to put them together - almost crafting by numbers.

I always try to add a bit extra to make the cards a tiny bit more original, hence the tiny gems dotted about the image an the ribbon and pearls. I've made about 20 Mother's Day cards now for various Mams, Nannas and Grans - only a handful still to do.

I've entered this card into the challenges at:

Eclectic Ellapu - flowers and butterflies
That Craft Place - flowers and Mother's Day
Suzy Bee's Bloomin' Challenge - emboss it

Enjoy what's left of the weekend...

Sharon
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Love You Mam xx

So... I don't do stamping, play with inks or masks or that new paste that people are using with stencils. I don't do anything messier than colouring with pro markers and using the odd bit of glitter.

Therefore my heart sank when I saw today's challenge at Less is More...

This time it is for you to use 

MASKING OR STENCILLING

on your creations.

Oh the horror! I remembered an article I read recently in a magazine about using random things as stencils and one of them was sequin waste. Out came the Christmas box and I located some pretty quickly but what to use as the colouring medium??  My only option was watercolour paints or emulsion test pots - the watercolours won...

 I used some cotton wool and dabbed gently some nearly dry paint on the waste and I loved the result - this might be my new favourite technique! As a topper I used an Anita's Dimensions flower - perfect match.

The colour scheme was inspired by today's theme at Allsorts Challenge Blog -  'Pretty in Pink' and when I saw how pretty the flower looked I decided to make this a Mother's Day card inspired by the theme at Polkadoodles - Mum's the Word

Thanks for looking!

Sharon

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Kaisercraft Roses

Today's card is my first Mother's day card of the year, made with a lovely set of Kaisercraft papers and chipboard flowers that came free with a recent issue of Quick Cards Made Easy...

Not the most original of layouts but I make so many cards for Mother's day that I don't really have time to think of clever designs! I've entered this card into the challenges at:

Glitter n Sparkle Challenge - anything goes
C.R.A.F.T. Challenge - Mother's Day/Female
Polkadoodles - Mum's the word

Thanks for visiting my little corner of the Internet

Sharon
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Paper Pieced Flowers

Here's my final Mother's Day card of the year - made using the build a flower set from the Digistamp Boutique (I should have shares in that place!)

 I paper pieced the flowers using some lovely papers from the Serendipity range from Hot Off The Press. In real life that pink spotty paper is so bright! I've used the palest pink Card Candi for the middle of the flowers and finished off with a computer generated sentiment.

I've entered this card into today's challenges at:

Crafty Sentiments Designs - Pretty in Pink
Cuttin and Stampin Challenges - use flowers
In The Pink Challenge - Floral/Mother's Day and lots of pink

Bye For Now

Sharon
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Learning Curve

I have a huge pile of cream coloured card - I got it free so it seems a shame not to use it, the only thing is it has a bit of a sheen to it. Not a pearlised sheen, more of a 'suck the colour out of pro-markers' type of sheen!

I'm still loving the Mother's Day bouquet image from the Digistamp Boutique and I actually used quite bright colours when colouring this image but they've ended up as pastels. Never mind - part of life's learning curve.

I've also now learnt the difference between hexagons and octagons - doh!! As you can see I bought octagons instead of hexagons... still it's a pretty shape.

Hopefully I can link this card up correctly to the challenges I am entering it into:

Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes (option of Mother's Day card)
Songbird Challenge - Mama, I Love You

Thanks for visiting

Sharon
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More Flowers For Mother's Day

I'm really enjoying playing with these gorgeous Sketchy Flower digis from The Digistamp Boutique - they are great to colour but even better to paper piece...

The papers are by Hot Off The Press and came free with a magazine - the red mottled effect paper is perfect for these poppies.

I've entered this card into the following challenges:

One Stop Craft Challenge - Mother's Day
Allsorts Challenge Blog - For a Lady
Glitter 'n' Sparkle Challenge Blog - Mother's Day

Flowers For Mum...

Or even Mam as we say up north!

Today's card was made using last year's Mother's Day digi from the Digistamp Boutique , coloured with promarkers. I decoupaged some of the flowers and the vase for a 3D effect and mounted the image on a scalloped circle nestie. The background was embossed using the free embossing folder that came with this month's Papercraft Essentials...

I've entered this card into the following challenges:

Sweet Stampin' Challenge - Mother's Day or for a Special lady 
Inky Chicks - Mother's Day or birthday
Simply Create Too - Mother's Day or for a female
Sentimental Sundays - flowers flowers and more flowers

Keep Smilin'

Sharon
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