Nope, no way, not yet!

 Good evening blogworld,

There's actually two nope, no way, not yets' to cover here.  One is it's time for a new challenge over at Sweet Stampin' and the challenge theme this fortnight is 'Christmas in September', good for all you wonderfully organised people who are already making their Christmas cards.  

For all the others, me really!, it's oh my Lord - nope, no way, not yet is the year working it's way to Christmas! I'm also not supposed to be here this week, it's not my Team's turn, but Winter brain has already set in and I made a card before I realised that it wasn't my Team. I've made no secret of the fact that Christmas isn't my favourite time of the year but there you go - I've made a card already and someone will be very honoured to have this hen's teeth of an item I'm sure.

Please come join in with the challenge, my Teamies - well this weeks' temporary Teamies - have made a wonderful selection of inspiration cards which are well worth a pop over and look at.  Do however remember this is a stamping challenge so your entry does need some element of stamping (rubber or digi) on it.

The card:

Supplies used:

Rubber stamp:

Whimsy Stamps - Penguin Christmas Sweetheart

coloured with my Copics

Dies:

Creative Expressions - Sue Wilson 'Big Words'

unbranded stitched rectangle dies

Anything else:

Cuttlebug embossing folder - snowflakes

doesn't show up very well in the picture at all, but I promise it's there.

The other nope, no way, not yet is that TTT goes off on her Iceland adventure tomorrow.  We have to be outside school (about a 15 min drive away) for 5.20am!!! We've spent all day buying last minute supplies, packing the suitcase and double checking that she's got everything she needs for this grand adventure.  We pick her up next Saturday at 2am, when she will no doubt be very tired and grumpy!

Anyways I'm extremely late with this post - see reason above - and as it's nearly 8pm I'm off to bed to get ready for my early start in the morning.

I'll link up to some challenges and then that's it I'm gone!

See you soon,

Sarah

Passion for Markers: Week 659 - Use a rubber (or clear) stamp

Crafty Catz: Challenge #607 - Anything Goes - make it cute

Aud Sentiments Challenge: #297 Christmas + a sentiment

One for the boys

Good evening blogland,

Just back from a school evening presentation on GCSE revision - things are getting real now that TTT is in Yr11 and GCSEs are a 'real thing'! 

Therefore I am relaxing by surfing and realised it's been nearly a week since I posted a card last, so here's one for the little boys out there! This one was made for the challenge on All Dressed Up's Facebook group, the challenge runs until the end of September and themed For the boys so cards featuring any ADU image from the 'boys' selection. Here's the card:

Supplies used:

Digital stamp:

All Dressed Up - 3, 2, 1 GO!

coloured with my Copics (the image is the boy, 3,2,1 Go and the car - I created the scene)

Rubber stamp:

Catherine Pooler - All Around Wishes

Dies:

Pretty Pink Posh - Scallop Borders 1

Un-branded stitched rectangles

Anything else:

Stiped card

black card

Hope everyone else is having a less stressful evening!

See you all soon,

Sarah

Challenge/s:

Krafty Chicks Challenge - #630 All Occasions

Addicted to Stamps and More! - Challenge -438 Birthdays

Gem of a Craft Challenge: Wk 19 - Anything Goes

A Facebook freebie

Good morning blogworld,

I will, I'm sure, eventually get back into a normal routine with blog and cards, at the moment all I seem to be able to manage are DT projects. It's taking longer this year after the summer holidays to get back into the swing of things and I've no idea why.

In the meantime here is my latest All Dressed Up (ADU) DT card. Although it's not strictly a Design Team make, ADU and Kit and Clowder Colouring Facebook Groups are having a joint special offer - a free digital stamp when you sign up for both groups! The ADU digi stamp is in the Etsy shop to buy, and those stamps are really reasonably priced so you could just treat yourself if you like the stamp and aren't a Facebook person, I know I've been known to do something like that :-)

If you are a Facebook person here are the links to the Facebook Groups:

All Dressed Up Digital Stamps

Kit and Clowder

If you like colouring I would heartily recommend Kit and Clowder, it's a fabulous group and Alyce who runs it, and the website, is an absolute genius when it comes to colouring - markers and pencils.

Here's my card:

Supplies used:

Digital Stamp:

All Dressed Up - Dog Walker

flipped and coloured with my Copics

Rubber Stamp:

Taylored Expressions - Think Happy Thoughts

Dies:

Taylored Expressions - matching die with stamp set

un-branded stitched rectangles

Now I just have to get my backside in gear and get this linked to a few challenges and it might feel like I'm somewhere near blogging 'normal'. Oh and make it round blogs to look at everyone's makes, I haven't done that in ages!

See you all soon,

Sarah

Challenge /s:

Passion for Markers: Week 658 - Use your favourite tool and/or embellishment. I think it's probably blindingly obvious that my favourite tool is my die-cutting machine! I think I've used it on every single card since I got my very first Cuttlebug over 20 years ago! Unless you can count Copics as 'tools' - and I would if I could! ;-)

Krafty Chicks Challenge - #629 - CAS

Crafty Catz - Challenge 606 - Technically the card I used for a matt is a metallic purple, but I'm guessing that's not really in the spirit of the challenge.  So I'm going for the Anything Goes part!

As You Like it Challenge : Favourite - Metallic or Glitter card - oh metallic everytime! I have a DCVW metallic stack that I've had for years (beautiful colours) and I love it - I've no idea what I'm going to do when it runs out as it's so old I doubt I'll be able to find it again. Glitter is too messy for me.

All aboard for the final bus!

Good morning blogland

And this is bus number three!

On a more serious and sensible note, this is my third and final post for the weekend's flurry of posting. It'll get quieter again now on the old blogey-blog and then, hopefully, as the Autumn Term progresses more regular posting will occur.

This post is for the new release over at All Dressed Up Stamps, it really should have been up a few days ago but I've been super busy with back to school stuff and this is my first deep breath and pause since then.

The new stamps are, as always, super cute and there are a combination of Christmas and non-Christmas and boys and girls images. I'm sure the one I've used could be used as a Christmas image if you felt like it, but I don't really 'do' Christmas (except where I have to) so I used it as a sweet friendship card.  There is more inspiration over at the All Dressed Up Facebook Group, if you Facebook why not pop over and take a look.  If you blog the images are also up on the blog - there's some wonderful inspiration there as well.

My card:

Supplies used:

Digital stamp:

All Dressed Up - Deer Hug

coloured with my Copics - please note I turned the wings into butterfly wings using a Copic Fineliner

Rubber stamp:

The sentiment is one from a very old set whose name I can't remember!

Dies:

Pretty Pink Posh - Scallop Borders

Creative Expressions - Double Stitched Squares

Paper:

BoBunny - Alora Collection

Right I'm off now to find some challenges to enter for all the blog posts I've put up over the weekend, oh and carry on with the piles of washing I've got!

See's y'all soon.

Sarah

Bus number two!

 Good morning blogworld,

I'm still holding tight to the bus allegory and so this post is bus number 2!

However, on a more sensible note, as it's Saturday it's time for a new challenge for Team Wends over at Sweet Stampin' with the theme this fortnight being Favourite Colour Combo.  As always we really love to see all your varied craft projects, they do not have to be cards, but they must have some element of stamping (digital or old fashioned rubber) on them somewhere, the clue's in the challenge name after all.

So I know this challenge caused me some head scratching - I simply love colouring and don't feel I have a firm favourite colour combination. I just go with the moment and pick whatever colours I feel either suits the mood or feel of either me or the image I'm colouring.  Having said that, I looked back over a few of my last cards and I seem to be using green / blue / red quite a lot. I therefore plumped on my favourite combination - right now - of Green / Blue with a hint of Red. 

Hope you like the outcome!

Supplies used:

Digital stamp:

C.C. Designs - Heidi among the flowers

coloured with my Copics

Rubber stamp:

taylored expressions - Think Happy Thoughts

Dies:

Un-branded stitched rectangle

Sunny Studio - 'Happy'

Anything else?

Green card for the matt

Home made stencil and Memento Ink for the clouds

So there we are folks, hope you like my current favourite colours and that you come join in with us! There are some lovely DT inspirations for you to look at on the blog, my Teamies are so talented.

I will be back tomorrow with my final of three makes, hopefully after that you'll see me more regularly now that the summer holiday is over and chez Sarah returns to normality and routine!

See's you soon,

Sarah

I'm a bus!

Good morning blogworld,

Yes I'm going to use that old chestnut! It's like buses you wait for ages and then three turn up at once! Sorry I'm still a bit absent from the blog - still got a lot going on, but as normality and routine reappear so will I.

This is my first of the three of my 'buses' and, hopefully, a start of return to routine.

It's my Team's turn for the new challenge over at Colour Crazy Craft Challenge and our sponsor this week is Ching-Chou Kuik Digital Stamps, who very kindly gave the Design Team some images to use.  I love these wonderfully detailed stamps and the images provided for the Design Team this time are no exception, I'm using Purple Dragonfly and have coloured her with my Copics. I think the images are so detailed that they can work be the centre of attention and so I kept the rest of my card fairly simple - just some patterned paper, a bit of die-cutting, some rhinestones and sentiment.

Supplies used:

Digital stamp:

Ching-Chou Kuik Digital Stamps - Purple Dragonfly

coloured with my Copics

Sentiment:

Taylored Expressions - Simple Strips: Birthday

Dies:

Taylored Expressions - Simple Strips: Well rounded

Pretty Pink Posh - Eyelet Borders

Anything else:

Patterned Paper - Prima: Fairy Flower

Gem flourish and flatback rhinestones - from my stash

And that's it folks - I hope you get a chance to pop over and join in the challenge - you'll be amazed by the gorgeous creations my talented Teamies have made!

See's ya soon,

Sarah

Wait, it's September?

 Good morning blogworld,

Already?

So Summer is almost over, August has flown by, and now we are at the start of September which means new challenge time at Crafty Calendar Challenge.  This month the theme is 'Anything Goes' and the sponsor the ever wonderful SheepSki Designs - with a great prize for the lucky winner!

As always SheepSki very generously offered the DT their pick of images to use in our inspiration cards, but I'm a bit of a fan (and have won digi stamps before) so I have a little range of my favourite images from them.  I used one of those favourite stamps in my card - said card below:

Supplies used:

Digital stamp:

SheepSki Designs - Serenity (Please note the image does not include the butterfly tattoo - I added that)

coloured with my promarkers

Rubber stamps:

Butterflies - the small one on her neck and the large one under the sentiment. I can't tell you where they are from, they don't have their packaging anymore!

Anything else:

A very old rub-on sticker for the flourish

self-adhesive rhinestones

Un-branded stitched rectangular dies

Sentiment created in Publisher

I do hope you get some time to pop over to the challenge blog and take a look at my Teamies lovely creations, maybe even pop in an entry while you are there? There's a great prize on offer!

While I'm here, I wanted to say thanks for bearing with me during the Summer break - normal service will be resumed in the next week or so.

See you soon,

Sarah

Challenge/s:

Krafty Chicks Challenge: #627 - Week 1 - Stamp Act

As You Like It: Favourite Card base shape, and why!  It always used to be a 6"x6" square card base for me - until I started crafting again after my break.  I then discovered 5"x7" top fold cards and they just seem, for some reason, to suit my designs - I still go back to square occasionally, but I find myself going for the 5x7 much more.

Cardz 4 Galz: #180 - 3 of anything - there are three rhinestones in the corner of my card.