Been AWOL...

Good Morning,

I'm not sure if anybody still visits as I have been a very naughty blogger lately, things have been so hectic here I have had no chance to create anything so I've had nothing to blog about!

I have just about managed to put a little tag together for out new challenge at the Pretty Little Ribbon Shop  blog.  This month Marlies has challenged us to use Lace.  Well I do have lots of pretty lace in my craftroom so this was a nice easy challenge for me.

As time was short I made a tag which I hope to tie onto a gift bag.

I thought this would be sweet for a little new baby gift.  I used a Melissa Frances sticker (I've had these for so long but they are very useful when you are in a hurry!) and added some lovely gingham ribbon and a piece of my favourite guipure lace, which I then embellished with a few blue self adhesive pearls. 

I used more gingham ribbon to tie a pretty bow with;

All ribbon, lace and pearls are reduced at the Pretty Little Ribbon Shop

Please do pop over to the challenge blog and have a look at my team mates creations they are so talented and inspiring.  There is a lovely prize on offer too if you want to join in.

Thanks for visiting!
Sarah xx 

Spring is in the Air.......

Good Morning!

Well after the weather over the past month I hope that Spring is finally here!

This month we are using Spring as our inspiration at the Pretty Little Ribbon Shop challenge Blog, do come and join in with us

Spring is in the Air

The prize this month is this little collection of  Spring goodies

My first card uses a favourite stamp of mine from Waltzingmouse stamps

I paper pieced this image using some of my scraps, then used  the Floral Ovals die as the main focal point.

 I used more scraps of white card for my background and finished off with white satin ribbon, cornflower blue grosgrain ribbon, ivory button twine and some self adhesive pearls all from the Pretty Little Ribbon Shop.

For my second card I used the Apple blossom stamp from Waltzingmouse, I coloured it with promarkers and mounted it using the seed packet stamp.  

The ribbons are 25mm satin, sheer ruffle edge and velvet ribbon, topped with a bow of siam pink seam binding finished with a little pink button all  from the Pretty Little Ribbon Shop. 

Come along and join in with the challenge, we love to see all your lovely creations!

The Pretty Little Ribbon Shop has a Spring Spectacular event on at the moment, reductions on nearly everything in store!! Pop by and grab a bargain while you can!

Sarah x

Happy Birthday!.....

Good Morning,

Gosh I can't believe we are already onto the month of March! Last month has flown by so quickly and it's already time for March's challenge at the Pretty Little Ribbon Shop blog.  It's my turn to chose the challenge this month;

Happy Birthday!

 A nice easy challenge - make a birthday card for someone.

Come and join in with us you never know you may win this collection of 500 rhinestones;

As you can see I made this card for my youngest daughter as it was her birthday last week.  I am in the process of sorting out all my stash in my craft room (it is taking a long time as I have years of stuff I have held on to, well that's why its called stash, right?)

 I came across this pink pearlescent cardstock which I used for the base, die cut leaves and Fleur De Lis square.  This scrap of paper from my scraps mountain matched it well so I used that up too.

The stamps are from Waltzingmouse, I like the way the Compact Family set matches Compact Sentiments.  The pearls and carnations are from the Pretty Little Ribbon Shop. 

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges;

Bunny Zoe's Challenge - Flowers and Pearls
Crafts and Me - Die cuts and punches
Moving along with the times - Lovely Ladies
Allsorts - For a Lady

Do pop over to the blog and see my team mates creations they really are so inspiring.

thanks for visiting!

Sarah x 

Lovin' this Stamp!...

Hello there.

The weather is so changeable in the UK at the moment isn't it? One minute it's raining then it's snowing, I'll be glad when Spring is finally here.

I've seen this Penny Black 'scented message' stamp used  in blogland and always admired it so I finally treated myself last week. I inked it up almost immediately and have been trying out different ways to colour and use it.  

For this card I used Promarkers and I do like the subtle colour of the flowers.  I stamped the image onto some pattered paper for the background and then used the largest Labels one die to cut it out, I then restamped the image onto white cardstock, coloured in the flower and then fussy cut around it. To add dimension I decoupaged parts of the flower (although you can't see this very clearly in the photo)

I can't remember what papers I used for the background they have been sitting in my scraps box for a long time. The ribbon is my new favourite - Sheer wrinkle edge  layered with  22mm guipure lace and dusty pink velvet ribbon. 

Stamp - Penny Black

sentiment stamp - Waltzingmouse

Ribbon and lace - Pretty Little Ribbon Shop

I'm entering this card into the following challenges;

Crafts and Me - Favourite colour Combo - Pink and Brown

Craft us Crazy - Get to Cutting - Grand Calibur

Pixie's Crafty Snippets - use up your snippets

thanks for visiting

Sarah x 

February Waltzingmouse Christmas Card Challenge

Hi there!

It's already time for February's Waltzingmouse Christmas card challenge, and I cannot believe that I have actually managed to make a card for day 1 of the challenge!

This month it's Lynn's turn to choose the challenge and she has asked us to include a heart somewhere on our card - well that is a challenge made in heaven for me!

I already had this heart stamp on my desk as I have used it for Valentine's cards so it was simple for me to make a card designed around it. I used a sentiment from the same set  - Seasons of Love which I stamped onto an oval die cut and then mounted onto the heart. 

I decided to keep the background white and just add some Pretty Ribbon - this is my new favourite - Wrinkle Edge Sheer - it ties the most beautiful bows and has a luxurious sheen to it so it is perfect for a bit of sparkle for Christmas.  I layered a strip of red satin ribbon on top and then embellished with a strip of 3mm red pearls.

This card was very quick to put together so it is great for duplicating at Christmas. 

Stamps - Waltzingmouse

Ribbon and pearl - Pretty Little Ribbon Shop

Why not pop over to the forum and join in? 

Thanks for visiting,

Sarah x 

Pretty Little Ribbon Shop Challenge - Anything Goes

Good Morning!

Gosh is it really February already?  January seems to have passed by so quickly.  

This month at the Pretty Little Ribbon Shop Blog our challenge is Anything Goes, this has to be a favourite with most of us.

The prize this month is this bundle of goodies;

I have chosen to make a Valentines card as it's nearly that time of the year, and I have gone back to one of my favourite stamp sets for this card Waltzingmouse Season's of Love . I just use this set so often, it's really been fantastic value for money.

I stamped the heart in grey ink and then embossed it with WOW clear embossing powder, I then layered it with a red heart underneath and a little oval on top with the sentiment on it. 

I chose plain grey for the background in two different shades and embossed one of the layers for a bit more detail.  The red gingham ribbon is currently in the sale HERE, I love this ribbon for Valentine and Christmas cards. The bow was made using Venetian red seam binding, and I added a felt rolled rose and a few self adhesive pearls  for a bit more interest.

Do pop over to the blog and have a look at my team mates cards they are such a talented bunch of girls. 

We'd love to see you all join in with our challenge too.

Stamps - Waltzingmouse

Ribbon, seam binding and pearls - Pretty Little Ribbon Shop

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges;

ABC challenge - Going Dotty
My Mum's Craft Shop - Valentines/Love

Thanks for Visiting
Sarah x 

Waltzingmouse Christmas Card Challenge - 2013

Hello there,

Well so much for my New Year resolution to blog more often!!

Can you believe I have a Christmas card to share today?   I know it's only January and I should be making oodles of Birthday cards in preparation for the year but on the Waltzingmouse forum the Christmas card challenge is up and running for this year so I couldn't resist joining in.  This year it will be a bit different as there will be different hosts each month for the challenges (I'm lucky enough to be hosting one later in the year) but to start off the very talented Anya is hosting with a fabulous sketch;

I think my card is a loose interpretation of the sketch so I hope that will be ok!

It's a bit of a none traditional colour combination for one of my Christmas cards as I do like the traditional colours at Christmas but I started with this kraft tag and so the rest of the card evolved around that.

I used Seasonal Remedies for the tag, the snowflake was stamped from Nordic Winter and the sentiment from 2011 Holiday Ornaments. The layers were created using Spellbinders Marvellous Squares (I cannot put these dies down at the moment!)

If you like Waltzingmouse stamps do pop over to the forum and join in, it's very easy to join if you aren't already a member.

The paper is from Maya design, and the ribbons are Antique Gold silky crush ribbon and Sheer polka dot both are from the Pretty Little Ribbon Shop.

Stamps - Waltzingmouse

Ribbon and pearl - Pretty Little Ribbon Shop

Paper - Maya design from Live and Love Crafts

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges;

Crafts and Me - Vintage

Creative Inspirations - Anything goes

Pretty Little Ribbon Shop Challenge - Ribbon and Flowers

Good Morning

It's time for the first challenge of 2013 over at the Pretty Little Ribbon Shop Blog and it's a nice easy theme for you this month;

Ribbon and Flowers

Here's the prize for this challenge which surprisingly is 'Ribbon and Flowers'!

I've made a simple Birthday card for this challenge as I need to make a start on stocking up my card box for this year, it is looking rather empty at the moment.

I used my favourite die set at the moment -Spellbinders Marvellous Squares which I layered up with my patterned paper.  The stamp is from Waltzingmouse's Compact sentiments set which is another favourite of mine. 

I used some carnations, hip rosebuds and sweetheart blooms to embellish and also some 3mm white pearls.The bow is made from Rose Pink seam binding. 

So that's the first card in my box for this year, I  need to get crafting to make a lot more now!

Please do pop over to the challenge blog to have a peep at my team mates beautiful creations they really are such a talented bunch of girls you won't be disappointed.  

We'd love to see you join us for the challenge too!

Thanks for visiting

Sarah x 

Happy New Year!!

Hello there and a very Happy New Year to you all!

I hope you all had a fabulous Christmas, we certainly had a lovely time here, but things are pretty much back to normal now, the trees have been taken down and everyone is back to work as usual.

This year I joined in with the Waltzingmouse Christmas card exchange which was organised on the forum. I received the most beautiful card from Teresa all the way from the USA and she very kindly sent me some beautiful seam binding too.

Here is the lovely card I received;

It's so festive with the gorgeous seam binding and lace and those little pine cones are just so sweet!

Thank you so much Teresa!

The card I made was sent to the USA too;

I used Waltzingmouse Vintage Ornaments stamp set,  Heirloom Ornaments nesties, white seam binding, 10mm bells and some pearls to finish with.

Thanks for visiting!

Sarah x 

Pretty Little Ribbon Shop Challenge - It's Christmas!

Good Morning Lovely Crafters!

Gosh can you believe it's December already? I still have so many Christmas cards to make!  I do have all my pressies bought and wrapped now though so I can get on with the cards this week.

It's challenge time over at the Pretty Little Ribbon Shop Blog and it's a nice easy one for this time of year;

It's Christmas!!

Yes we would like to see all of your Christmas cards and projects this month please.

The prize on offer is 50 metres of Bakers Twine.

I decorated a couple of gift bags for the challenge, for a couple of little people that I needed to buy gifts for. 

This first one is for my next door neighbour's Grandaughter, she is such a little chatterbox, whenever we are outside gardening she does love to come and chat to us, and she loves to come along on dog walks too.

I thought this large pre- coloured die cut from the Hobby House was perfect for the bag, I mounted it onto some patterned paper and cut around it with some scalloped scissors.

The flowers are a mixture of gardenias, red cherry blossoms and hip rosebuds along with these gorgeous Kort and Godt berries and a few die cut holly leaves.

 The double bow is made from red silky crush ribbon which just ties the most beautiful bows, I think it is my most favourite ribbon.

The second bag is for a dear friend's son - it will be his first Christmas (such a special time!) and I have bought him a gorgeous little outfit  to pop inside this bag.

This is another die cut pre coloured image from the Hobby house - great for quick makes.  I layered up some Christmas papers and stitched them together and then decorated with some Christmas mix twine and some  little jingle bells.

The felt snowflakes were recycled from some packaging. No bows for a little boy but I couldn't resist putting ribbon onto the gift bag somewhere so I added a strip of stitched grosgrain in cream and red.

Do pop over to the blog and have a look at my team mates wonderful cards and try and join us in the challenge we love to visit you all and see what you have made.

Challenges I'd like to enter;

Creative Inspirations - Traditional Christmas Colours
Crafts and Me - Ribbon or Trim
Allsorts challenge - Advent
Totally Papercrafts - Anything Christmassy - not a card

Thanks for popping by

Sarah x

Bride And Groom

Hello there!

Today I have a wedding card to share with you, I am trying to get my Christmas cards made but I also have a lot of Birthdays in November and December and also a Wedding just before Christmas.  So this week I am trying to get all of those ticked off my 'to do' list.

Please excuse my wonky photography skills LOL!  I promise you the card is perfectly straight.

I decided on simplicity for this card, and chose a white on white design with this gorgeous embellishment. I haven't even used my sewing machine on this card as I decided less is more.  I love this vintage wallpaper stamp  for wedding cards, I used a white pearl embossing powder (unfortunately you can't see how pretty this is in the photo)

The Bride and Groom stamp is from   Big Day Additions from Waltzingmouse stamps - this is a wonderful little set I have used it so often, it is great value for money too. I embossed it with WOW fine detail silver embossing powder, I always use fine detail powder for sentiments.

I gathered a piece of white silky crush ribbon and then added this beautiful bow embellishment, I think it adds a special touch to a wedding card. I decided against glueing this embellishment onto the ribbon, instead I used some fine silver thread to stitch it on with.

Ribbon, vintage wallpaper stamp, WOW embossing powders available from Pretty Little Ribbon Shop

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenge;

Less is More - Hardware

Thanks for visiting
Sarah x

Another Sketch Card

Hi there

I'm trying to get all my November and December Birthday cards made so that I can concentrate on finishing off the Christmas card list.  I've used this week's Waltzingmouse sketch for my card today;

Here is my interpretation

I've used the Hyacinth stamp from the Vintage Garden Flowers set from Waltzingmouse, I really love this stamp set! As my colouring skills are non existent I have paper-pieced the image instead.

 I kept the card clean and simple using a border punch for the decorative edge and finishing off with some blue organza ribbon and a few blue pearls, both from the Pretty Little Ribbon Shop.

I'd also like to enter this into the following challenge;

Charisma Cards - Cool Colours
Stampin for the weekend - All Stitched up

Thanks for visiting,

Sarah x 

Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge

Hi there,

Now don't faint I know blogging twice in one week is unheard of here!!

I need to get on with making my Christmas cards so what better way than to use a good sketch to get the inspiration going.  It's a while since I participated in the Waltzingmouse Sketch challenge but this week's sketch is such a lovely one it would have been rude not to play along.

I did turn the sketch on it's side for my card but I think that's allowed (hope so!)

Now I'm not sure just how festive this card is, I usually use lots of red and green for Christmas cards so this is a bit different for me.    I used Waltzingmouse Teeny Trees, this is such a versatile set with endless possibilities. I thought these trees had a Christmas tree kind of shape so opted for them, I sponged some distress ink onto the stamp to give it this softer effect then sponged a background using a piece of torn paper as a mask and various shades of green ink. I was really pleased with how this turned out.

I added some Stampendous shabby white embossing enamel which I heated from underneath to give the snowy effect.  I should have used a plainer scallop for my edges as I think this is a bit too fussy with the floral oval die.  Some button twine from the Pretty Little Ribbon Shop finishes off the card.  The sentiment is also from the  Teeny Tree set.

A quick reminder that there is a design team call over at the Pretty Little Ribbon Shop blog, if you like using ribbons and pretty embellishments then check out the details HERE.

I'm also entering this card into the following challenge;

Creative Craft Challenges - Special Occasion (not Birthday)

Cupcake Challenge - Get Krafty

Use Your Stuff Challenge - Christmas 

Thanks for popping by,

Sarah x