And then there were cards...

And now for some cards. The other day I blogged about my recent purchases so today I thought I had better show you one of the cards I made with them. I love these Dear Lizzy papers. So much so that I even went out and bought some more!

I'm not overly happy with the saturation of this photo but I guess the more I try the better I'll get at this! I do like the detail shot below though...

That's about it for now! Happy Crafting

Sarah

 

You can't use up creativity, the more you use, the more you have - Maya Angelou

Todays Purchases - Episode #05

Some of the purchases I made the other day at Chandon Craft, my favourite local scrapbooking store!
1. Dear Lizzy 5th and Frolic papers. I wanted to get the paper pad because I'm into cards at the moment. They were sold out so I bought a few of the papers I loved and cut them down to 6x6 and 6x4 sections as soon as I got home. Then I bundled them together in a bulldog clip and ta-da! My very own paper pad. Plus no fear of ruining a big 12x12 pad by cutting it up because it's already done
2. Midway paper pad by October Afternoon - so fun!! How could I go past this for birthday cards?
3. Dear Lizzy Thickers - love the gold! So sparkly, and it's the same font as Playschool. I felt very nostalgic when I remembered that
4. Lost and Found 3 Ruby paper pad. I have been attempting to make some wedding/engagement cards lately and I thought this colour pallate would be great for them.

Happy Scrapping
Sarah

Every artist was once and amateur - Waldo Emerson

Challenge #228 - Sketch

This was my attempt at this week's sketch at 365cards. I tore the sandy coloured paper to make it look more like sand and thought some surf boards would look cool sticking out from between the layers.

I covered the surfboards using dimensional magic which makes them look more realistic and adds some extra texture to the card.

I drew the clouds by hand using white gel pen.
Sarah

You have to go whole heartedly into anything in order to achieve anything worth having - Frank Lloyd Wright

3 Favourites

A fun card with three of my favourites. The challenge at 365 is to use your favourite colour, favourite patterned paper and favourite tool. I used the butterfly punch and went for polka dots.

The more I think about it Chevron is really my favourite pattern (if you couldn't tell) so I'd better have another go and use that as my entry.

Thanks for stopping by
Sarah

Stars can't shine without darkness - Anon

Challenge #226 - Colour Scheme

Here is my attempt at the colour challenge. It wasn't the colours that sparked this card in the end, it was the tree sticker. I was cleaning my desk and flipped through a sticker book I had from Amy Tangerine and found this cool sticker with a heart on a tree. I thought it would be really cute with two wood veeneer people underneath.

 The colour I added next was the green - this seemed obvious to me as leaves are green. Then I already had 3 of the 4 colours needed for the colour challenge so I just flipped through my stash and pulled some other brown papers. I liked this brown damask because it fits with the theme of engagement/weddings in a subtle way.

So it appears that the portrait function on my camera works better if it's in auto mode rather than portrait... oh well
Sarah

The question isn't who is going to let me; it's who is going to stop me - Ayn Rand

Challenge #227 - ATC

I haven't made an ATC card before but when the challenge came up today on 365cards I thought I would give it a go. The theme was 'School' so I searched through some older paper pads and found one from Kasier that had some cool die cuts and foil papers in it.

Here is my ATC (Artist Trading Card I believe it's called) It was a fun little experiment and made my card come together really quickly.

I think I could make some of these to just add to cards when I get stuck. It would be a good way to start when I get stuck or if there is a particular embelishment I want to use.

Another detail shot that worked. I wish it was a bit more blurry in the background but I think I may have to have a better camera to actually achieve that. Will have to add a camera to my wish list
Sarah

Challenge #223 - Double the fun

I bought this paper pad from Simple Stories a while ago. It has some really fun cut apart sheets with great sentiments that I can't wait to use. In this case the challenge was to double up on at least three items on your card, so I used a stamped sentiment for a second ink colour.

The doubled up items are: 

• two gift embellishments (I made these myself)
• two colours of bakers twine
• two inks (I used black die ink for the sentiment and distress ink to highlight the patterned papers)

Here's a detail shot. I raised the presents using foam dots for a bit of emphasis and to make them seem like they were a bit more real. This was for challenge #223 at 365cards challenge blog. Been having fun with these challenge this week
Now I'm off to have a go at a colour challenge. Not my usual thing but a challenge is supposed to be a challenge, yes?
Sarah

Challenge #224 - Neon

Another 365cards challenge. I thought neon would be a bit of a challenge because I am deffinately not a fan of Neon colours (except for highlighting things.) I set to brainstorming some ideas and thought that it would be less in your face if I did a monochromatic card. Luckily, this flower was sitting on my desk so I had a jumping off point - and went from there. The colours look more neon in real life, but the pink flower centre is neon for sure.

Here's the embelishment in more detail. I am so glad I finally got a detailed shot to work how I had planned it! I have alot of trouble with detail shots, trying to get the camera to focus where I want it to can be a challenge, but occasionally it works out.

I also put some washi tape and border punches to good use and am happy with the result. I will deffinatley try this technique again when I have other big embelishments to use. In fact I have a cool wedding cake that I want to make a card out of and it might work well... I will have to take note and give it a go soon!
Sarah

Challenge #222 - Tick Tock

When the challenge was to include a reference to time I thought about clocks. But cakes are so much more fun, and I love to party party! So I used the theme as inspiration for my sentiment, "Party Time!"

This My Minds Eye paper pad is full of fun colours, I'm not a huge fan of orange but this pattern is cool so I thought I'd use it here. Check out the challenges at 365cards
Sarah

Challenge #225 - Tape It

Well this challenge was deffinately up my alley! I love washi, I was hesitant to buy it to begin with because I wasn't sure how much I would use it but I use it so much! To check out this challenge or others see the 365cards blog

This is one of my favourite techinques with washi tape. I cover a smaller piece with washi at an angle (Here I've used some patterned papers to vary the widths a little) then mount that piece onto the card using foam dots. I will often do a piece that is 1/2 an inch smaller than the card front so it covers almost all the front with a nice border.
If you haven't invested in washi tape yet I deffinatley reccomend it. And the best part is, if you make a mistake you can just pull it back off your project without any problems!
Sarah

Challenge #221 - Super Sketch

Super Sketch Sunday at 365cards involved a fun circle element. So I broke out this circle scallop border sticker and traced it to create the orange section. Then I jus added a sentiment sticker and some white gel pen stitches and hey presto!

I'm trialling some different ways to photograph my cards. This photo was taken outside on the steps with a white tshirt draped over them for a neutral background. I am still tweaking the effects in photoshop to get the colours right. This one is a bit saturated but I guess practice will make perfect. (I also need to iron the shirt I think!)
Sarah

Challenge #220 - Missed Oppurtunity

The challenge at 365cards was to try a challenge that you missed in the past. Well I loved this sketch from challenge #200 so I gave it a go. It was a good oppurtunity to make good use out of some of my border punches

Made it through another huge pile of card bases today - have been scoring more whilt watching tv tonight. It makes it so much easier if I have them all ready to go!
Sarah

Challenge #217 - Long and Lean

The challenge today at 365 cards was to make a card that was 3x5 in dimension. I used what was on my desk to make this and it all came together pretty quickly.

I love instagram. It makes taking photos and sharing them so easy! It's not the same quality of other images but for uploading a quick snippet it is deffinately worth it.

Sarah

Primary Colours

Some cards I made using MME paper pad The Sunny Side. Love the primary colours, I was unsure about them at first, but once I started playing I realised these classic colours are super fun!

 How cute are these bikes and banners?

I mucked around with this second one for a while and it's something a bit different but I think I pulled it together in the end.
Happy crafting
Sarah

Tiny Scraps

The perfect design for those tiny paper scraps! Punch little shapes out of the offcuts left from other cards. Hearts are so small that almost any scrap is big enough. It was a little fiddly to stick all the hearts onto the card front, but well worth it in the end!

Happy Crafting
Sarah

Love you just the way you are

Love this butterfly punch from Martha Stewart Crafts. A few pearls or rhinestones are the perfect addition to make them sparkle.

This sentiment is from a lable sticker sheet from My Minds Eye. So cute. I love a sentiment that is a bit different from the standard Happy Birthday or Thank You.
Happy Scrapping
Sarah

Challenge #188 - 21st Century

The challenge today over at the 365Cards blog was to be inspired by technology from the 21st Century. Well I thought about social media and mobile phones and was inspired to use text talk for my sentiment.

Here's my card - hope you like!
Sarah

The Paper Pad Challenge!

Yesterday I recieved my order from Anna's Craft Cupboard and set myself a challenge. I was going to use every piece of paper from a paper pad, right down to the scraps! It was fun and was deffinately a good way to make use of a paper pad fully. I usually find I've only made a card or two from many, many paper pads I already have. I got 18 cards from the paterns and only used a few extras like letter stickers and some sentiments I had pre-cut.

These are just a couple of my favourites!
Happy Scrapping
Sarah

Todays Purchases Episode #04

I have placed another order with Annas Craft Cupboard and these are a few of the goodies coming my way! It is super fun waiting for the mail to arrive when you know something special is coming.

1. My Minds Eye lable stickers - these are a cut addition to scrapbook pages and cards and at $1.50 I always pick these up when new designs are in.
2. October Afternoon Woodland Park papers - so many cute designs, I have so much paper at the moment but I just had to grab these funky new pages
3. Simple Stories Handmade Holiday paper pad - love red green and kraft
4. Simple Stories Handmade Holiday sticker sheets - alphas and icons, so cute for cards. I have plans to make christmas cards early this year.... we'll see how that goes
5. October Afternoon Woodland Park word and label stickers - those bunnies look so cute :)

Looking forward to getting creative with these bits and pieces when they arrive
Happy Scrapping
Sarah

Super Sketchy

Here's my take on the Sketch for challenge #165 over at the 365cards blog. Love these papers and embellishment but I've been a little stumped as to how to use them so a sketch was the perfect inspiration!
Happy Scrapping
Sarah

Tri-Fold



Here's my interpretation of a tri-fold card for challenge #169 over at the 365cards blog. I love this cute penguin and the bright colours! So fun



The sides of the card meet flush down the middle and the penguin frame is attached to one side so that it is central when the card is closed. I like this method for making a tri-fold card look whole and not split down the middle.
Happy Scrapping
Sarah

Todays Purchases Episode #03

1. Amy Tangerine sticker books. I love these - so much variety in a compact little booklet. Gold!
2. Amy Tangerine D-ring album. I bought two of these I love them so much, they are such a funky design and they were only $22 which is uber cheap
3. Crate Paper - Paper Heart paper pad. 24 designs, 48 sheets, and it's got one of my all time favourite background patterns
4. Amy Tangerine Sketchbook pinwheels. Just too cute

A shopping trip to Spotlight had me super excited! Not only did I find so much product that I had been having trouble finding, but it was all 30% off!! I bought a huge box of Amy Tangerine Sketchbook collection from the US when it first came out but the pinwheels, album and sticker book weren't in stock yet so I missed them. I had every intention of getting them from my local scrapbooking store but they didn't get the whole line it... I was shattered but didn't want to waste my money on huge postage costs for just a few items. Then I walked into spotlight and they had the entire range. I was super pumped because spotlight can be a bit all over the place with their stock and just have bits and pieces. For example the Crate Paper paper pad, no embelishments or stickers, just the paper pad. It didn't worry me though :)
Happy Scrapping
Sarah

Boy Card Challenge

For a masculine card I picked out some older Kaisercraft papers with these funky tools on them. They are deffinately not traditionally boys colours but it is nice to see something different. The image on this paper meant this card came together super quickly because it sort of told me what to do :)

This was for challenge #167 All Boy over at the 365cards blog. If you like to make cards and need a bit of a kick start sometimes like I do then you should deffinately check it out.
Happy Scrapping
Sarah

Now open

My Etsy store is now officially open! It is exciting to see some of my wares for sale even if they may not go very far. You can check it out here

I loved working with this October Afternoon collection. It was heaps of fun, with bright fun patterns and these super cute party animals. I do love a good pun so this sentiment is a must for me whenever I include an owl.

The elephant card below is probably my favourite, I think he is such a cutie. If you have seen The Castle and remember Dale talking about elephants bringing good luck, then you'll know why Elephants always make me laugh now!

That's it for today!

Happy Crafting

Sarah

So Happy Together

I cracked open my new box of goodies and this layout just flew together. I love the polaroid craze at the moment so that's where I started and with a collection pack it was easy to pull coordinating letter stickers, journalling blocks and other icons. I have also used one journal block from the Dear Lizzy sticker book to ground the title.

I liked this bottom photo but my friend was leaning over and her cleavage was taking focus so I cleverly covered it up with some stickers. I think I've done it cleverly enough to make it look like a design decision and not that I'm hiding anything!

Todays Purchases #02

A box arrived in the mail today! It's contents included:

1. Jillibean Soup Alpha Stickers in pink and aqua. Love these for layouts and cards and had to get the few colours I didn't have.
2. October Afternoon Label Stickers from various collections. I love these and use them heaps! There were quite a variety of different sets on sale at Annas Craft Cupboard so I had to pick them up.
3. Echo Park Collection Packs - So Happy Together and Sweet Day. Getting all the papers and stickers from a collection makes putting it all together oh so easy.
4. Dear Lizzy - another great paper that I hadn't managed to get my hands on yet
5. October Afternoon 9 to 5 icon stickers sheet - so many versatile stickers on this sheet, the lists and memos can be used for so many things
6. Dear Lizzy Remarks Sticker book - this has so many stickers in it, what great value. I am dying to get my hands on the Amy Tangerine Sketchbook sticker book too. Stickers are one of my favourite things at the moment.

I'll be back later with some creations!
Sarah

Hens Weekend Mini Album

I have been watching Shimelle's fantastic videos for a while now and have been inspired by one of her recent themes: Kits. This plus the fact that I am headed away from home quite often in the next few weeks inspired me to put together some of my own.

For this particular kit I wanted to put together a mini album for my friend's bachelorette party next weekend. I thought it would be super fun if each of the attendees put together a few pages about why they like the bride! I can print some photos and add those in and by the end of the weekend we should have a complete album that the bride to be can take home as a keepsake.

Some of the main ingredients in this kit include:

1. Mini Album - In this case I chosen a Day Book from American Crafts, Amy Tangerine. I think the K&Co. Smash books would be super fun too for something with more pages, or you can go for something plain. I like the fact these pages are already patterned because there is less work for everyone - especially those who will protest that they aren't crafty.
2. 6x6 paper pad - to add some extra colours and patterns to the pages. The simple stories ones a great becuase they have scaled down versions of their divided pages that can be cut up and used as page accents, journalling cards and titles that are the perfect size for a mini album.
3. Washi tape - not only is it pretty but it is great for sticking things to the pages!
4. Die cuts - I have included pretty ones and ones with lines that will be great for journalling. This will mean that more than one person can work on the album at one time.
5. Letter stickers - great for titles. I am hoping that everyone will write their name using the same set so that we have a cohesive look throughout the mini book!

What items do you like to include in your mini album kits??

Chevron Girl

Todays Purchases Episode #01

I headed to the local scrapbooking store today and had a fantastic time. The ladies at Chandon Craft are so welcoming and helpful. I love that they all remember me and were excited about my engagement!! I was pleasantly restrained today and only purchased 5 items!! I can barely believe it.

These are the goodies I bought:

1. Crate Paper - Pretty Party border stickers. I love the colours in these and I can see them being used in heaps of projects as they match my style and are in colours I use lots.
2. Tim Holtz Distress Marker in Walnut Stain. I have been in the market for a brown fineliner and the surprising thing about these markers is that one end is similar to a ball point pen. I'm not sure how the mechanism works but it writes so finely that it is perfect for all my journalling needs when there is no black on the page. The other end has a brush tip which may come in handy too.
3. Crate Paper - Tag Cuts from the Pretty Party paper collection. This paper has an amazing range of pretty tags you can cut apart on the front but I could not go past the white woodgrain on the bottom. To me using plain white cardstock looks unfinished so subtle white patterns are great when I want to add white 'white space' to my layouts.
4. American Crafts - Dreamy Days from the Dear Lizzy Neapolitan Collection. I have been in love with this paper but it never seems to be in stock. Well I scooped up the last sheet from the store!
5. K&Co. Smash Journal - Wedding. I have been contemplating purchasing this for a while because I wanted a journal to collect things in during our engagement/wedding planning and when I had a look at this in person I couldn't say no.

I think it's time to get creative

Chevron Girl

 

Bachelorette Parties?

I have been against the idea of a bachelorette party since I first heard what they were. I am not into going out drinking with your girlfriends, playing with sex toys or watching nearly naked men dance in a dirty nightclub. It sounds like my idea of a bad time.
Since becoming engaged I have thought about several ideas to do a version of a hens that was more me. But the more and more I thought about it the less and less I thought there was an option for me.

I am a feminist all the way and have always had an equal amount of close friends from both sexes. The idea of going out with my friends for one last hurrah sounds like a great idea. But when I thought about going out with just the girls it made me a little sad. It seemed such a shame that I couldn't invite some of my closest friends just because they were boys.
I have talked with my finace about several solutions which included a joint party where we would invite both our friends. But I don't want to miss out on my last night out without my boy, I want to go crazy and celebrate who I am without him before embarking on our life as a team.
Today I had a thought - what about a party without the boy? It seems mean to leave him out but isn't that the whole point of a hens/bucks? I would be doing just that but having the oppurtunity to invite all my friends.
I think we'll call it a 'my life before A' party!!