Challenge Winning cards

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Pot of Gold

So here's the second Good Luck card of the day - this one has the theme of a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. I found the image of the pot through Google and made the rainbow with strips of coloured card - I found that lining them up on a strip of tape helps keep them straight and in place. I don't know if I've seen the greeting somewhere or made it up but it sounds right for a Good Luck card!


I'm in two minds about this one - I'm not keen on the balance of the design. Who'd have thought good luck cards would be so difficult!

I've entered this into the challenges at:

Less Is More - anything goes (entry #2) to celebrate Chrissie's birthday

CAS-ology - rainbows



Settled down now to enjoy the gymnastics at the Commonwealth Games - come on England!

Byeee

Sharon
x

Four Leaf Clover

I've been such a lazy blogger lately but the weather has been gorgeous and it seemed a shame not to get a lot of work done in the jungle garden! 

I've been asked to make a couple of good luck cards which I've put off and put off because I had no inspiration whatsoever. After looking through what other people have created on Pinterest and Google images, I liked the idea of making a 4 leaf clover with die-cut hearts. I took the heart idea one step further by using my stash of wooden laser cut embellishments that I recycled from cleaning up after a friend's wedding (they were going to be thrown away - the horror!).



I sanded the hearts to get a light colouring surface and coloured them with a Forest Green pro-marker. The card candi was done in the same colour, as was the matting on the greeting (Candy Round font). The patterned paper matting is from Papermania's green Capsule Collection.

I've entered this card into the 'anything goes' challenges at:

Less Is More
Divas By Design
Fan-Tastic Tuesday

Thanks for looking

Sharon
x

Saturday, July 19, 2014

Dancing in the Rain

Afternoon All...

Welcome to a warm but damp Saturday afternoon here in the North East. The pollen count is still quite high though because I'm sniffling constantly!

Today's card has been inspired by the following challenges:

Just Us Girls - colour scheme
Addicted To Stamps - CAS
 Inkspirational - Splash
Less Is More - Singing In The Rain




 

I've used a fun digi I've had for years - a freebie by Louise Brigden at Charmed Cards and Crafts. The quote under the image is from Vivian Greene - wife of the great author Graham Greene



 Thanks for visiting

Sharon
x

Sunday, July 13, 2014

Fingerprint Bird

Back in the craft room after a lovely week away and I think my mojo has returned. 

There's a very unusual challenge this week at Less Is More - adapt a finger print!


 


It's One Layer Week aswell, which is also the current challenge at CAS on Sunday - I love one layer cards!

I did have a little chuckle at the thought of getting inky as I have a bit of a phobia about having dirty hands. I located a black ink pad that was last used about 3 years ago and surprisingly it was still 'wet'. One big fat thumb print later produced this effort:





I then immediately had to go and scrub my hands!
 
I don't know where this idea came from - a finger print chick with a crown and a reggae tail. Is it a bit drunk - why the red nose? Never mind - it was fun to do and made me smile! The greeting was done on the computer using my fave new font - Mountains of Christmas and I've added a googly eye and some diamantes on the crown.

 Thanks for visiting

Sharon
x

Sunday, July 06, 2014

Retro Flowers

Where has the last week gone - I've been so busy I just haven't had the time to blog - sometimes life just takes over!

Today's card was inspired by the challenge at Less Is More:

Earth Tones.


The 'flowers' are made with three sizes of die cut circles arranged 'artistically'. Very simple and very retro - I could see these on 1970s furnishings!

There's something missing from it at the moment though - the right hand side of the card is 'too' bare if you know what I mean - I'll sleep on it.

Thanks for visiting

Sharon
x

Sunday, June 29, 2014

Recycled Birthday Card

Today's card is inspired by the challenges at The Paper Players:

 

 and also by the challenge at Less Is More:

 Use a recycled item!

For the first challenge I've followed the top line and for the second challenge my recycled items are:
 

The sequin waste was used as a mask to make the background.  I've always cut the ribbons out of clothing as they never stay hidden and I have a huge bag full - I chose some in a lovely shade of cornflower blue. The leaflets were packaging waste from my fave perfume - Angel by Thierry Mugler. Here's the result...


Thanks for visiting

Sharon
x



Friday, June 27, 2014

Joey's Baby Sister

Now here's a card with a theme I haven't been asked to make before - a card for a little boy who has a brand new baby sister. Not much inspiration out there but I hope I've stepped up to the challenge with this...




I used this ever so cute bird digi stamp I have had for a while - no idea where it came from! I printed a large version directly onto the base card and fussy cut a smaller version to be mounted in front. Both birds have been paper-pieced with some subtly striped LOTV/NitWits paper I got with a recent edition of  Simply Cards & Papercraft. The greeting was done in Candy Round font.

I've entered this into the challenges at:

Sweet Stampin' Challenge - paper piecing
Hannah and Friends - paper piecing 
Creative Inspirations - clean and simple

Enjoy your weekend...

Sharon
x

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Baby Tag Card

Today's card was a real quickie. I got asked to make a cute new baby girl card for tomorrow so to save time I looked through my already made gift tags collection, chose one for a baby girl and just mounted it on some pink patterned patterned paper - yes - it only took minutes! I do wish all cards could be put together this quickly!



The paper is from my stash and the adorable image is cut from a sheet of printed watercolour images by Ruth Watkins which are as old as the hills. The greeting was computer generated (School Bell font) and I used a tag die that came free with a magazine. I've attached a gossamer pink ribbon and covered the knot with Card Candi.

I've entered this into the challenges at:

Oldie But A Goodie - Baby
Try It On Tuesday - Tags Anywhere
Sisterhood of Crafters - Monochrome (pink of course!)
The Card Concept - Oh Baby (Clean and Layering Style)

Thanks for visiting

Sharon
x


Sunday, June 22, 2014

Home Is Where The Heart Is

I'm back refreshed after a week away from the craft room and what better way to get my creative juices flowing than a visit to the Ross Papercraft fair at Rainton Meadows today. I came away with loads of bargains - lots of new dies, a mountain of paper and card and a bag full of new embellishments, toppers and kits.

I've used some new Kanban stash to make today's card...



Aren't the wooden hearts adorable - they are my new favourite embellishment. A couple of friends got married a few weeks ago and the tables were decorated using loads of these tiny wooden hearts - I asked if I could have a few for my cards and at the end of the night I was presented with a huge bag of them! Apparently they were going to be thrown away - the horror!

I've entered this card into the challenges at:

Divas By Design - 3 or more layers (there's 5 if you count the black matting, 3 if you don't)
Penny's Paper-Crafty Challenge - use your favourite embellishment
Through The Craft Room Door - Anything Goes
Craft Your Passion - 3 or more embellishments

Thanks for looking!

Sharon
x

Saturday, June 14, 2014

Because.... You're Gorgeous

It's one layer week at Less Is More and the challenge is:

OFF THE EDGE

Well my inspiration came from a song I heard on the radio this morning that's ended up as an ear worm! I just can't get rid of it!

I used a free vector image I found via Pinterest called Lipstick Lady. 

 I printed this in a corner of the printable space with some of the image going 'over the edge'. She is coloured with promarkers and I've added a pearl for her earring and some glossy accents on the lips and lipstick. The greeting is the title of the song!

This is the result:



Thanks for taking the time to visit

Sharon
x

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Colourful Houses

Hello!

Just a quick post as it's way past bedtime! Today's card features my favourite digi for new house cards from Digistamp Boutique...


The unusual colour scheme was inspired by the current challenge at Colour Throwdown:

 

I've fussy cut then coloured the image with promarkers and made the greeting using Smell The Roses font.

I've also entered this into the challenges at:


Catch you later

Sharon
x

Monday, June 09, 2014

Pink Bird

Hello - it's nice to be back. I kind of lost my mojo a bit over the last fortnight but I seem to have perked up a bit today and got to work on the craft desk.

A very quick and simple card done in my fave technique - paper piecing - and inspired by the challenges at:

Cute Card Thursday - Perfectly Pink
Less Is More - the colour of your bedroom
Inkspirational Challenges - CAS
Paper Crafting Journey - Perfect in Pink

Well the colour of my bedroom is actually white but the bedding is like this:




You can just see the shadow of the bad cat in the corner - he knows he's not allowed in the bedrooms!
My card features the pattern as well as the colour...




The image is of course from Digistamp boutique and the paper is from my stash. I've continued with a strip of the paper on the inside as well but the angle was difficult to photograph resulting in a flat photo.

Thanks for looking

Sharon
x

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Keep On Rockin'

Today's card was a special order for a friend's husband who is still rockin' and rollin' with his band as he turns 60. I've used the fabulous Rock Dude digi by Kenny K and some papers that came free with a magazine that are actually Christmas papers...



I've used a large 8in x 8in Kraft base card and matted the patterned papers with thin black card. The image has been coloured with pro markers and I've lightly sponged the edges of the image and the sentiment with black ink. I've continued the pattern from the papers with various die cut stars.

I've entered this card into the challenges at:

Die Cuttin' Divas - for the boys
The Pink Elephant - anything goes
Whoopsi Daisy - lots of layers

Good night folks - thanks for visiting

Sharon
x

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Wedding Bells

Today's card is for an upcoming wedding. I've used one of my favourite cute wedding images from Digistamp Boutique which is perfect to personalise by using the colours of the wedding colour scheme...



The card is huge - 8in x 8in and I've coloured the image with pro-markers and used neutral grey stripes and hearts for the backing papers. The flower embellishments are made using various punches and dies with added flat backed pearls and card candi.

I've entered this into the challenges at:

Stamping Royalty - Weddings
Divas By Design - Anything Goes
Addicted to Stamps - Anything Goes
I ♥ ProMarkers - Anything Goes

Thanks for visiting

Sharon
x


Saturday, May 17, 2014

Burlap Flower

Today's card is inspired by the challenges at:

Less is More - Flowers
Just Us Girls - Colour challenge:


 

While shopping during the week I found a roll of burlap in The Works for 99p - it would have been rude not to buy any and I've been dying to use it ever since! I think with a bit of artistic license it could be called 'kraft' coloured! The flower and leaf dies are really old - I think they are Marianne dies.


It's such a beautiful day here in the North East - off to spend what's left of it in the garden

Enjoy your day

Sharon
x

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Hannah's Sweet 16

Following on from my last attempt at stamping and paper-piecing using rubber rather than digis, I got the ink and the Stamping Bella Posh Has A Present (unused Christmas pressie) out the box and made this extremely girly 16th birthday card for a friend's niece...






I've coloured her with pro-markers and following a lapse of concentration when cutting, decoupaged her bag cos I cut the corner off! The papers are very very old from my stash and the numbers are from a sheet of stickers.

I do love paper-piecing - it's my all time favourite technique!

I've entered this into the 'Anything Goes' challenges at:

Penny's Paper-Crafty Challenge
Ladybug Crafts Ink Challenge
Through The Craftroom Door Challenge

Thanks for taking the time to look

Sharon
x

Sunday, May 11, 2014

Thanks!

Today's card is inspired by two challenges.

It's one layer week at Less Is More and the challenge is:

Our ONE LAYER theme 
this week is 
THANK YOU!
 
 
 
I used a very cute bird digi I've had for a while but I don't know where it is from as the file is un-named. Any ideas? The sentiment is a digi from Paper Smooches.
 
My colour scheme comes from this week's challenge at Color Throwdown. 
 
 
 
Thanks for visiting
 
Sharon
x

Sunday, May 04, 2014

Three Shades of Turquoise

For my second card today, I was inspired by the challenges at:

Less Is More - three shades of one colour
Allsorts Challenge - butterflies
CAS on Sunday - sparkle and shimmer



I made the circle background in Publisher by using a circle pattern digi and pasting it three times colouring each image in a shade of turquoise. This sounds far more complicated than it actually was!

I cut 2 vellum butterflies using a free die that came with Simply Cards and Papercrafts a few issues ago. I added fine white glitter (which is very difficult to photograph) to the butterflies and used turquoise gems for the 'body'. The greeting is printed in a wonderfully funky font called Mountains of Christmas.

I love Bank Holidays weekends - so much more time to craft!

Thanks for looking

Sharon
x

Christening Day

Today's card is for a little girl who is being Christened today:





I found this gorgeous digi by googling 'Regency dresses colouring pages' as I wanted a Jane Austen style dress to use as a Christening gown. I changed the colour of the digi to silvery grey, printed it onto card then fussy cut the image. I've added some white glitter which is difficult to see in the photo and some pale pink ribbon and flat-backed pearls. The image is mounted onto the card with foam pads to make it stand out. The greeting is done in Candy Round font on the computer and matted onto pastel pink and silver mirri paper.

The whole thing looked a bit too CAS if you know what I mean, so I added some Rennie Mackintosh style peel-offs in the top corners.

I've entered this card into the challenges at:

2 Sisters Challenge - Baby
Penny's Paper Crafty Challenge - Pastel colours
Craft for the Craic - something for baby

Thanks for visiting

Sharon
x

Monday, April 28, 2014

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

Today's card is a bit of a change of direction for me - I've been rubber stamping! It's not that I don't like stamping or have any stamps - I have hundreds that I've collected over the years or got free with magazines. I just don't feel as though I have the same control that you get with a digi image.

I've used the delightful Uptown Girls stamp Victoria and Juliette (a not yet taken out of the wrapping Christmas Pressie!) and I must admit it was a LOT quicker paper piecing with rubber than it is with digis!



The papers are from my stash - they came free with a magazine, and the greeting was printed using Candy Round font.

I've entered this into the current challenges at:

Creative Card Crew - girly
Simply Create Too - at least 2 layers
Scrapping 4 Fun Challenge - use a stamp or digi
Eclectic Ellapu - birthday

Thanks for taking the time to visit

Sharon
x