Sugar Bowl Challenge 20 - Gayle's Sketch

Made it - 3 in a week!

This is for the Sugar Bowl Challenge and I've really enjoyed following this sketch. Here's the card:

The papers are English Paper Company - Vanessa Arbuthnott, including the paper piecing for the Gorguss Girl's dress (I did colour it though to make it go with the colouring of the design better). I used my Copic Markers to colour the image and also coloured the fibres for the hair band. The flowers are from WH Smith and the brads are Papermania. The stamp is a Gorguss Girl from Sugar Nellie and is called Flower Girl.

Thanks for looking.

Susan

Papertake Weekly Challenge #24

Two cards in one week, aren't I doing well. Well not really especially compared to a lot of you out there in blogland. I do have another challenge in mind though so let's see if I can make it three!

This card is for the Papertake Weekly Challenge and is a just the kind of sketch I like to follow.

The papers used are Basic Grey Cupcake and I've tried to distress the edges, but don't think I've got the knack of that yet. I added some raffia to make a colourful band across the middle. Sentiment made using Word. The little lady is an Ollyfant stamp from the Picnic set. I bought a few sets of these at the recent Great Northern Papercraft Extravaganza in Harrogate, where the ladies from my craft club had a great day. I've coloured her with my Copic Markers (I'm so enjoying using these markers - must get more!!! - feel an addiction coming on!).

Thanks again for dropping by. Have to hurry now because I'm going out for breakfast with some of my friends from Church. Bye for now.

Susan

Sunday Sketch & Stamp Challenge #11 - Arianne's Sketch

Long time, no blog! Back after a hectic Summer. Eldest son has finished at University - got a 2.1 BSc (Hons) in Multimedia Technology. Eldest daughter finished her A levels - an A, 2Bs and a C and has now started at University. Other daughter completed her GCSEs - 5As and 5A*s and has now started 6th form. So we've been moving children in and out and swapping bedrooms around (thrown out masses of junk). At last I've managed to do a card - yippee!!

I chose to do the challenge at Sunday Sketch & Stamp and here's the card.

For a long time I've wanted the pretty little girl shown and I managed to get her just before the summer. She's Daisy from Sugar Nellie and I've coloured her using my new Copic Markers, again something I've wanted for ages. This is the first image I've coloured using the Copics and I'm quite pleased. I reflected the flowers in her hair going down the side of the card with flowers from Papermania and Basic Grey brads. The papers are Ladies of Leisure from The English Paper Company.

Hope you enjoy looking at my card. Thanks for stopping by.

Susan

Sunday Sketch & Stamp Challenge #5 - Arianne's Sketch

Been gone a long time. Mainly been helping my husband with his end of course marking so that his students get their qualifications. Also had my hands full with the kittens.

Trixie had her kittens on 15 May 2009. She had 4 beautiful kittens who all look very different from each other. The first was Tabby Kitten (most of the kittens aren't named yet because they'll get their names from their new families) who we at first thought was a girl but turned out to be a boy. Tabby was followed by Patch Kitten who was always a girl because she's a Mimi Mummy, she looks so like Trixie with tortoise shell and white markings. The third was a ginger kitten (takes after Daddy - I have the photos to prove it) who we thought was a boy but turned out to be a girl. This one has been named Biscuit because my daughter thinks she smells of biscuits and carrots (strange combination) and also she's a ginger biscuit and a kitkat orange biscuit. Biscuit will be staying with us as she "chose" my husband and likes to lay on his shoulder purring when he's layed on the couch. The final kitten was so much bigger than the others that we thought it must be a boy but turned out to be a girl. She has the nickname Bear because she was like Baloo the Bear in size. She's black but with small flashes of tortoise shell and little flashes of white on her neck and tummy. I'll try to post some pictures.

The card I've made is for my son's friend who has fallen for the Patch Kitten and so I've tried to put a mini version of Patch Kitten on the card. The layout I've used is from Sunday Sketch & Stamp Challenge #5.


The papers are The English Paper Company Fairy Fun. The image is another Gorguss Girl from Sugar Nellie and she's called Little Goth Girl. I coloured her with watercolour pencils and added a flower gem in her hair (not very keen on the skull and crossbones that's underneath). The kitten is from another Gorguss Girl stamp - Purrfect Friend and I've coloured it as near as I can to have Patch Kitten's markings.

I'd now like to introduce to you my youngest son, Joshua's version of the girl above which, for a first attempt at colouring with watercolours, is excellent.

Didn't he do well. We added her to the inside of the card.

I have another card which I will hopefully be posting tomorrow or the day after, just don't have the time to write up the blurb.

Thank you for looking and I hope you like the card.

Susan

A Birthday, a Cat and a Card

Busy week as usual, but possibly a little more busy than usual. It's my youngest son's 9th Birthday tomorrow, which he's getting so excited about. Also our cat, Trixie, is due to have kittens. She's already a few days overdue, based on the date we took a photo of the suspected father (paternity suit evidence), so I'm fully expecting that she'll have them tomorrow, which will make my son's birthday extra special.

The card I have done is for the Sugar Bowl Challenge which is a sketch and has to include buttons. Here's the card.


Wasn't too sure about whether I liked this card until I put the image on and then it all came together. The papers used are Basic Grey Oh Baby! Girl - Lily and Taylor and also English Paper Company Get Groovy. The scrolly part at the top, where the bird is sitting and the pink ric rac pattern are Papermania Felt Ribbon. The flower is from a garland making set which Sainsbury's were selling off after Mother's Day (I like a bargain), with a pink button for the centre. Again a pretty girl from Sugar Nellie's Gorjuss Girls first collection called A Little Birdy Told Me, coloured with watercolours.

Hope you like the card. Off to check on Trixie to see if she's thought about having any little ones whilst I've been doing this blog.

Bye for now.

Susan

A Gold Teddy for a Little Girl

Hi Everyone, and this includes my Mum, my Aunty Margaret and my Aunty Barbara (see you're on t'internet now), back after quite a break. Went on holiday to Spring Harvest (a Christian holiday at Butlins in Skegness) and as we all know when you've been on holiday you need a holiday to get over it. Well I couldn't go on holiday again because then I'd need to go on holiday again and so on, you get the meaning, so I've just been tired out at home, not had time nor the energy to make cards or write on this blog. Anyhoo, back now and yesterday I had a good look round at different challenges and found not one, not two but three that I could use to make the card below for a little girl we know who has a birthday this week. The first challenge was a sketch at Stamps and Smiles - The Fresh Batch (Challenge #13- SASSC13). The second challenge was at Papertake Weekly where you are to include Spots and Strips. Last, but not least was at Cute Card Thursday where the challenge is Mirror Mirror which is to use something shiny.

I was so pleased with how this card turned out, especially when I decided to make the teddy out of gold mirriboard, it really stands out. The papers used are all Papermania Sweet Nothings, including the little girl's dress. The ribbon and the sentiment stamp came free on the front of magazines. I used Anita's Gems to go round the sentiment and in the centre of the Papermania flower to reflect the spots in the background and on the dress. The pretty little girl is again a Sugar Nellie stamp from Funky Kits. She's from the new Gorjuss Girls set which I got on pre-order and will be available as a single girl in a few weeks.

Thanks for taking a look.

Susan

Sugar Bowl Challenge 8 - Tiets Sketch #2

Being an admirer of many of the Sugar Nellie stamps, I've decided to start playing in the Sugar Bowl, so here is the card I've created for the Sugar Bowl Challenge where the prize is 6 Sugar Nellie stamps of the winner's choice.


The papers used are all Laura Ashley Traditional Collection and the flowers are Angel Kisses Hydrangea Heavenly Blue and Midnight with Papermania brads. The pretty little girl with her kitty is a Gorjuss Girl from Sugar Nellie called 'Purrfect Friend' (for some reason it isn't showing on the Funkykits site at the moment, might need restocking). I moved the kitty nearer to the girl so that it would fit in with the sketch better. This sketch really made me work, but I really like the finished effect, although I think my colouring could still do with improving, I could do with some of the wonderful Copics Markers that I've seen used.

Thanks for looking.

Elephants on Parade

It's my friend's birthday this week and last week she admired this stamp by Little Claire called 'Are We There Yet' at the craft club I run. She doesn't come to the craft club but helps out in the children's playgym in the next room and very kindly helps to organise drinks for the people in the craft club as well. So I stamped the image a few times as it's not my stamp and decided to make her a card for this week. Having seen the sketch on Papertake Weekly Sketch I decided it would fit in very well with the elephants image if I elongated it onto a DL card. So here's the card.

The image is coloured with watercolour pencils and then decoupaged on top of another image to give it some depth. The paper is Dovecraft Retro Floral Prints. Gems are Anita's and sentiment is Papermania.

I am very pleased with the results of this card and really hope that my friend likes it too. Please let me know what you think.

Easter Cards

I've been busy making Easter Cards this week. All of them are along the same lines, but different ie different background papers etc (I don't do 'same', if I can avoid it). I sell my cards for an organisation which my Church supports called Teen Challenge. In case anybody is interested this a wonderful Christian charity that helps people with drug, alcohol etc problems to be free from their addictions and learn to live their lives again. This is a very successful programme with no state aid, which relies on the support and prayers of others.

Anyway, to the cards. This card is an example of the cards I have made for Easter.


The backing paper is Papermania Creative Tones Olivine Essence and the scroll on the left was printed using Publisher. The cross was stamped using a Stampendous stamp and then embossed. Nothing too complicated, but it can be difficult these days to find cards for Easter with a truly Christian theme and not fluffy chicks, Easter eggs etc. I don't particularly like mass producing cards, but the theme was good and the cause is a very important one. Hope you like the card.

Easter Blessing to you all.

A Very Pink Card!

When I started this card, I didn't realise just how pink it was going to turn out. The sketch from Saturday Sketch was in pink, but this isn't part of the sketch I followed, it just happened that way. So here's the card.

The little cutie in the image is a Gorjuss Girl, again from Sugar Nellie, called 'Sent With Love'. I've painted her using watercolour pencils. The papers are English Paper Company Get Groovy and the ribbon, brads and main flower are all Papermania. The smaller pink flowers are from a sprig of silk flowers I had in my stash and I used them to create the frilly border along the ribbon band. Hope you like the card and thanks for looking.

Crafty Goings On Challenge

Over at Crafty Goings On they have a challenge and the Blog Candy is a set of 72 Copics Markers (would love to get my hands on these). The challenge is to create a card which uses a downloaded or a stamped image that has been coloured in.

This card is made using Papermania Oriental Spice papers with Angel Kisses Hydrangea flowers in Heavenly Blue. I am rather fond of the Elisabeth Bell stamps by Sugar Nellie at Funky Kits, so again the image is 'Penpal' coloured using watercolour pencils and I surprised myself with how much I liked the colour combination I used. I think the brads were Papermania and I handwrote the sentiment. The sketch used for this was a Papertake Weekly Sketch on 12 January.

Enjoyed doing this card, hope you enjoy looking at it.

A Couple of Cards I Made Earlier

In the tradition of Blue Peter, just to start off my new blog, here's a couple of cards I made earlier .

The first is one I did for Friday Sketchers challenge on 20 February.


The papers used are Laura Ashley and the image is a Sugar Nellie stamp called 'Kitty'. Flowers were punched from the pink Laura Ashley paper and small Anita's gems used for the centres. The sentiment was created in Word and printed.

The second is from a sketch on Truly Scrumptious on 18 February.

The papers are Laura Ashley with Bazzil card and some ribbon I had in my stash. The flowers are made up of Anita's gems and the sentiment was again created in Word. The image is another from Sugar Nellie called 'Sitting with Bear'.

I hope you like my cards.