Like buses....

 things come in three's don't they?

Good morning blogland,

And the reason for this rambling? It's because it's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at Passion for Markers.  This week the theme has been set by our lovely Teamie Lorraine and now it's where the three thing comes from, she would like to see a project made where you use 'three of something'.  

As always our normal rules apply - you must use your markers (any brand); follow the theme and no backlinking. 

For this challenge we are sponsored by All Dressed Up stamps and there is a lovely prize for one lucky winner drawn at random.  Now ordinarily I would be saying that ADU also let the the Design Team use a digi - which did happen - but! I'm on the DT for ADU so I used one of the digis that I already own and, here's where the but comes in, it's no longer in the shop!!

There are, however, many other lovely images you can buy and then do a similar thing with that I've done.  Take a look at the card and I'll explain:

Supplies used:

Digital stamp:

All Dressed Up: Pool Ready

coloured with my Copics

Rubber stamp:

Concord & 9TH : Fashion Shoppe stamp set

Dies:

Catherine Pooler : fabulous

un-branded stitched rectangle

Anything else:

another rectangular die to make the 3 line corner doodles

red self-adhesive gems

Copic fineliner

So, the digi, I took the whole image which is a full length stamp of a girl ready for the pool with tote bag and then zoomed in on the upper body.  I then cropped it when I was happy with the image I'd created and then spun it but then spun it back again once I decided on placement.  I then just printed, cut and coloured as normal. Oh and for added ingenuity - the stamp I used actually has the word 'fabulous' but I masked it and added 'fabulous' as a die-cut instead.

Now there are a few digis that you can do this with if you go have a wander around the etsy shop - Play Day; any one of the girls in Winter Walks; Love to Dance or Beret Girl, to name just a few.

I suppose you could say this is the perfect example of a 'Design Team' card - the actual stamp isn't currently for sale, but the idea is a spring board.

I really am very curious to see what you will all come up with!

See you soon,

Sarah

Challenge/s:

We Love Stamping: July 26 - Summertime or AG

Crafty Catz: #718 - AG

Just Add Ink: #790 - Dies and/or Stencils - as you can see no stencils but I have used 2 dies (or three if you count that I used a die to create the corner lines)

Tic Tac Toe: no:297 - Middle Row: Any colour / free / sentiment

The children take the spotlight

 Good morning blogland

Saturdays are rolling around almost as fast as Tuesdays are - here were are with another Saturday and so another Sweet Stampin' Challenge appears as well.

This time the theme is 'For the children' and, as always, these are 'for fun' challenges so no prize but we do have 'Top 5' with a badge.  It's also a really friendly challenge with very few rules - you only need to make sure you stamp (whether that's rubber or digi), follow the theme and don't backlink.

So what did I make for a child - this card:

Supplies used:

Rubber stamp:

The Greeting Farm : OA Happy Day

coloured with my Copics

Time for Tea Designs : Bold Sentiments set

Dies:

Creative Craft Products : Stitched Nestables - Stitched Circles Set

Honey Doo Crafts - Connect the Dots nesting dies

Time for Tea Designs : Bold Sentiment Co-ordinating Dies

Paper:

Polkadoodles : oh boy!

Anything else:

Cuttlebug embossing folder : Seeing Spots

Distress Ink

That's quite a long list - for a fairly simple card - isn't it!

It was really nice pulling out my old stamps (this card and the last two CaS) and I had forgotten how quick they are to colour.  I think/hope (?) I've done both sets of images more justice now that my colouring skills have improved over the 15 to 20 years (oh my God - how long!!) since I've been colouring.

So I do hope you find time to pop on over to Sweet Stampin' and take a look-see at the lovely cards my Teamies have made.

And I will see you on the other side of my holiday - we are off to Inverness for a week.  All three of us!  That will be interesting ;-)

Sarah

Overdone the Clean and Simple

Good morning blogland,

These Tuesdays are coming and going at an alarming rate! Today we have another one and so, also, another Passion for Markers challenge.

This week I'm in the driving seat and my chosen theme is 'Clean and Simple', with our sponsor being Dies to Die For, there is a great prize for one lucky random winner who pops in an entry and sticks to the rules.  With those aforementioned rules being: use your markers; follow the theme and no backlinking.

Now, I know a lot of you will probably be groaning at Clean and Simple (CaS) and I forgive you for it! :-) I will say that, honestly, it's one of my favourite styles of card making. I will also admit that I'm not always sure my take on the style is 'pure' CaS but maybe more a paired back look, but still it's a style that I really love.

Less waffle - more card!  And to prove that I really do like CaS - I made one more card than I needed to!

Without further ado - cards:

Card one

Supplies used:

Rubber stamps:

Image

Sugar Nellie Stamps - Gorjuss: A Little Birdie Told Me

coloured with my Copics

Sentiment

Inkylicious - Hello Stamp Set

Dies:

Lawn Fawn - lawn cuts: Hello Border

Anything else:

Time for Tea Designs - circle masking stencil

Distress Oxide ink pad

blending brush

tiny, weeny, little gems

Card two:

Supplies:

Rubber stamps:

Image

Sugar Nellie: Up Up and Away

coloured with my Copics

Border

Blonde Moments: Bordering on Love

Sentiment

Whimsy Stamps: Simple Sentiment Strips

Dies:

un-branded stitched rectangles

Anything else:

Lisa Horton crafts: Cloud 9 ink pad - mermaid lagoon shimmer

blending brush

more teeny, weeny gems

All joking aside, one of the serious reasons I made two cards was because I couldn't get the bleeding stencilled circle on the first card to show properly.  I mean it does fade towards the top of the circle - and that is intentional - but you can still see it in real life.  You cannot on the picture at whatever angle I went for, it was extremely annoying!

Anyways, I am seriously finger crossed here that we get even one entry for this challenge.  Otherwise I might have to contemplate retiring the old CaS when it comes to my turn for picking themes, and that would make me sad!

I will wait with baited breath. :-)

Sees ya soon,

Sarah

Challenge/s:

Unicorn Challenge: #122 - No Designer Paper (Card 1)

Shopping Our Stash: SOS578 - Popsicle colours - Card 2 (I think it has enough of the colours to enter, but if not no worries if you delete it)

The Neglected Stuff Challenge: July 2026 -  Card 2 OK so both the stamps are old fashioned rubber and the packaging is dated 2009 - I've probably not used them since 2012! The border stamp on the 2nd card is about the same age.  The other stamps and dies are young 'uns at around 2 or 3 years old.  I'll be Instagramming the cards soon - photographic evidence will be included! :-)

Addicted to CAS: Up - Card 2

Simply Clean & Simple: July 2026 - Birthday Card 2