I spy with my little magnifying glass ...

I had a great day out with my Mum yesterday. Her birthday's actually tomorrow but it's an annual tradition that I take a day off work sometime close to it and we go out for the day together. Yesterday we went out to Matlock Bath and the Heights of Abraham. Mum's always wanted to up in the cable car but Dad's not keen on the idea, so it made it the perfect choice for a mother/daughter day out. We didn't go down the caverns, as they warned that you needed to be of average fitness and mobility and Mum thought it might be a bit much for her. Instead we had a pleasant lunch up at the top looking out over the valley. There are some fantastic views from up there. I took a few pix but unfortunately it was a rather grey day so they don't really do the views justice. I'm still going to see whether I've got enough to do a bit of scrapbooking though.

I can't share Mum's card with you until after her birthday but here's another one that I'm preparing ahead, ready for the birthday of my friend's son. It uses a combination of stamp sets to create a small garden scene that's viewed through the "magnifying glass".

One of the stamp sets used is Something Sweet, currently on offer and reduced from £23.95 to £19.16. Please email me to order.

Recipe

Stamp sets: Something Sweet, Touch of Nature, Garden Whimsy, Happy Moments (sentiment)

Cardstock: Mellow Moss, Very Vanilla

Ink: Mellow Moss, Close to Cocoa, Soft Suede, SU Markers

Punches: Round Tab, 1-3/4" Circle, Scallop Oval, Word Window

Taffeta Ribbon: Mellow Moss

Other: Brass Jumbo Eyelet, Sweet Treat Cup

Non-SU: Jelly spider

First I trimmed a little off the front edge of a standard landscape A6 card so that my bookmark closure wouldn't extend beyond the card. A card front layer and a bookmark strip of Very Vanilla card was stamped randomly with the fern leaf from the Touch of Nature set using Mellow Moss. The 1-3/4" Circle was punched from the card front and this was used as a template for where to punch the stamped layer. The Sweet Treat Cup was adhered in place behind the stamped layer with glue dots and the adhesive backing left in place (otherwise it will stick to the slider). Narrow strips of card were adhered to the long edges of the stamped layer to create the ever so slight gap for the slider to move up and down more easily to get at the sweets. Sticky Strip was added to the sides and bottom of the back of this stamped and bordered layer (none in the centre or the top) and it was adhered to the card front, lining up the punched circle and the Sweet Treat Cup.

The slider bookmark closure was finished with a punched Round Tab of Mellow Moss, folded over and held in place with an eyelet and ribbon. The jelly spider was added to the cup and the slider slid into place between the stamped layer and the card front to hold it there.
The snail was stamped in Soft Suede and the magnifying glass handle in Close to Cocoa on Very Vanilla card. The ladybird and the butterfly were inked direct to stamp using markers and stamped onto Very Vanilla card. All were cut out and popped up on dimensionals.

A Scallop Oval of Mellow Moss was punch and the top and bottom trimmed off, leaving 3 scallops at each side. The sentiment was stamped in Close To Cocoa onto Very Vanilla and punch out with the Word Window. This was adhered direct to the trimmed Scallop Oval and the whole was popped up on dimensionals.

Recipe (Inside)

Stamp sets: Something Sweet, Garden Whimsy

Cardstock: Very Vanilla

Ink: Garden Green, Close to Cocoa

Little bugs were stamped onto the exposed edge of the card back and the insert.

A bit fiddly but worth the effort I think.

Of course I had to eat the spider on the card in the photo. I won't be sending the card for a few weeks so I'll need to buy a fresh sweet nearer the time, I can't send him a stale one now can I? ;-)

Sara xx

August sketch challenge at ILWS

A busy day today blogpost-wise as it's the first of the month already and I've so much news to share with you. Next up is the whole new set of August challenges for you over at In Love With Stamping. This month we have a sketch challenge (below), a colour combo, an inspiration image and a technique (using cling film). We also have some new Design Team Members ready and willing to provide you with inspiration.

So here's the sketch:

For my first take on this sketch I've created a card with a slightly masculine feel:

Recipe

Stamp set: Touch of Nature

Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Taken With Teal, Whisper White

Ink: Black Stazon, Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, More Mustard, Creamy Caramel

DSP: Autumn Meadows

The bird on a branch from the Touch of Nature set was stamped onto Whisper White card with Black Stazon. It was then coloured in using blender pens and ink pads, this gives greater control than using markers and allows me to better control the intensity of the colour. The panel was sponged around the edges with Chocolate Chip to spotlight the bird and then matted onto Taken with Teal card. A panel of woodgrain effect DSP was also matted onto Taken with Teal and adhered direct to the Chocolate Chip card base. I created the bargello panel to the left by cutting the Autumn Meadows DSP into strips and adhering them to Whisper White card, off-setting the stripes slightly. This was then cut into the shape within the sketch following the lines of the strips and popped up on dimensionals over the top of the wood grain panel. The image was also popped up on dimensionals on top of the other layers.

Back a bit later with details of Stampin' Up!'s great August offer.

Sara xx

A bit of sparkle

Wow, my internet is still working, can you believe it? For anyone who hasn't been following along - my broadband connection has been on again, off again (mainly off) for nearly a month and so I've been grabbing internet time here and there in coffee shops. So ... what have I missed sharing with you?

I went to see Laughter in the Rain at the Lyceum last week. It's the Neil Sedaka story and was absolutely excellent. I love musicals anyway but I was most impressed at the energy of the performers, especially the male lead, on what was a really hot and muggy night. Less impressive was the service at the restaurant we went to before the show. We tried Ego, next to the Winter Gardens. Despite having made reservations and explaining that we were going to the theatre, it took an hour to get served, then we waited ages for our puds and nearly missed the beginning of the show. The desserts were delicious but the main courses were rather bland. Won't be going there again.

Friday I had a stand at a local School Fayre and it was also DH's birthday. My mojo has been missing and so he got a Blue Peter card (here's one I made earlier), poor thing. In the evening we went to the Blanc Brasserie in Leeds. It's a Raymond Blanc chain of restaurants and not too badly priced ... until you have starter, main course, dessert, wine and after dinner drinks (and a bottle of french cider to take home for DH as well) and then it adds up a little bit. On the other hand the service couldn't have been better and the food was excellent. They even put a birthday candle on DH's Tarte au Citron, lol. This one we will be going back to again ... when we've saved up.

Well I think that's the fun things caught up now, so on to the cardmaking.

I started this card last night but had to wait for some elements to dry and so couldn't finish it and post until this evening.

Recipe

Stamp sets: Touch of Nature, All a Flutter

Textured Cardstock: Sage Shadow

Plain Cardstock: Whisper White

Ink: Sage Shadow, Regal Rose, Black Stazon

Punch: Boho Blossoms

Other: Flower and Rhinestone Brad (both Pretties Kit), Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint, Crystal Effects, Fine Galaxy Glitter, Medium Window Sheet

I started by dragging my Regal Rose ink pad across the large flower to colour it and then used an aquapainter dipped in Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint to paint it all over. This gives a lovely golden shimmer to the flower and it also changes the shade of pink quite considerably to a more orangey shade. The flower was then left to dry. I stamped the All a Flutter butterfly in Black Stazon onto Medium Window Sheet. (You could use the butterfly from the Touch of Nature set instead but at this stage I hadn't decided on my background and I think I prefer this size butterfly with the flower anyway). This was "coloured in" on the reverse of the stamped window sheet by adding Crystal Effects and Fine Galaxy Glitter in sections, letting each colour dry before adding the next. I used Black for the body and Champagne and Silver for the wings. Once completely dry, I cut out the butterfly leaving a margin all around and a strip at the top for the "dangle". To complete the card this evening I created a 4x4 card blank from textured Sage Shadow. A mat and a scrap of Whisper White were both stamped with the fern from the Touch of Nature set in Sage Shadow. I then punched a large flower from stamped scrap using the Boho Blossoms punch to create the flower centre. A large Rhinestone Brad completed it. The dangle strip for the butterfly was adhered behind the mat before popping up on dimensionals on the card front.

Thanks for stopping by.

Sara xx

July sketch challenge at In Love With Stamping

Our sketch challenge this month over at In Love With Stamping is this one:

I decided to create an image that I then split into segments and then because I'd placed my focus in the upped right corner I just flipped the sketch to put my square on the opposite side for balance:

Recipe

Stamp sets: Touch of Nature, Sincere Salutations (sentiment)

Cardstock: Certainly Celery, Old Olive, Whisper White, Summer Sun, Basic Black

Ink: Black Stazon, Old Olive, More Mustard, Pumpkin Pie

SU Markers: Summer Sun

Stampin'Pastels: Certainly Celery, Old Olive

Other: Flowers, Rhinestone Brads (Pretties Kit)

I started by stamping the butterfly in Black Stazon and coloured it with Summer Sun marker and then shaded with More Mustard and pumpkin Pie picked up with a blender pen. This allows you to control the intensity of the colour so that it isn't too strong if that's the effect you're after. I masked the butterfly by stamping it again onto a post-it, cutting it out and placing over the original. The fern was stamped around in Old Olive. This image was then cut into segments and each segment was chalked around the edges with Certainly Celery (towards the inner) and Old Olive (at the outside edge). A little Old Olive ink was then sponged around the edges and the segments were adhered direct to an Old Olive mat. Flowers from the Pretties Kit were secured to the mat with Rhinestone Brads, cutting them up to fit the segments and layout. The mat was then adhered to the Certainly Celery card blank. A sentiment was stamped onto Summer Sun card with Black Stazon and matted onto Basic Black card. This was popped up on dimensionals on the card front.

Thanks for stopping by.

Sara xx

A flight of butterflies for the Stamp With Us colour challenge

Today's challenge at Stamp With Us is a colour one using this image as inspiration:

I had a lot of fun with this piece and decided that as the sand looked like Kraft I'd use that as my main colour in this card:

Recipe

Stamp sets: Flight of the Butterfly, Touch of Nature

Cardstock: Kraft, Old Olive, Whisper White

Ink: Yoyo Yellow, Almost Amethyst, Real Red, Versamark

Other: White EP, Paper Piercing Tool, Mat Pack

The flower was stamped off the corner (using my stamp-a-ma-jig for placement) with Versamark and heat embossed with white EP. I stamped my little butterflies to match the colour of the beach huts, cut them out and attached with glue dots. Then using the mat pack and paper piercing tool I pricked out a little trail for each butterfly from the flower.

I'm off now to have a look at what my fellow DT members have done with this.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend and I look forward to seeing your own creations.

Sara xx

Sketch challenge at In Love With Stamping - take 2

This is another take on the sketch challenge we have this month over at In Love With Stamping:

My previous version (scroll down to yesterday's post to see) has soft colours, further softened with some sponging to frame the image. This time around I decided to stick with the flowers but give them a harder edge with bolder colours and some metal and bling.

Recipe

Stamp sets: Touch of Nature, Happy Moments (sentiment)

Cardstock: Basic Black, Taken with Teal

DSP: Sweet Pea

Ink: Versamark

Other: Silver EP, Filigree Brads, Circle Ice Rhinestone Brads

The flower and sentiment were stamped in Versamark and heat embossed with Silver EP. I chose a small pattern background from the Sweet Pea stack and matted it on a Basic Black card blank. The Filigree Brads were attached to the main image with medium and small Turquoise Rhinestone Brads from the Circle Ice collection. This was then popped up on dimensionals. The Filigree Brads are quite heavy so I used a couple of extra dimensionals behind them for strength.

Hope to see some of your entries to these challenges in the ILWS gallery soon.

Sara xx