New designers and a freebie link!

Can you believe May is almost over? Its been such a hectic month: I've been at school working a lot of additional days and we've had family visiting too. We get to see so little of our family, that this was an extra special event for us ....but now it is all back to normal.

May was also very special as I joined two more very talented designers creative teams! This is the first:

SuzyQ's home shop is here at Scrap Orchard. I wanted to be part of her team as I couldn't resist her doodly collection (especially the adorable frogs she's created!). Here's a new card from me made using a combination of her designs, including her new dino doodles:

The invite to join the second team came out of the blue - and once I saw the wonderfully eclectic designs of Ju, I couldn't say no as I just itched to make something with her designs:

Ju's fairly new to being an individual designer, but you simply must check out her work - its so unique and vibrant. She sells her kits etc at both Digiscrappers Brazil and CatScrap, which I believe is based in Norway - isn't it wonderful how global our community is?!?!

Here's an all digi-card I made with Ju's Strawberry Swing kit:

I do have lots of other bits 'n bob's to share with you that I made in May, but I'll do that in a day or so as I really, really should be getting ready to go for a day-out to the Natural History Museum. We've promised Alex that we'd go and see the dinosaurs today :)

I've linked the pictures you can see in this post so that you can see all the details as to what I used to make the cards. In the galleries, you'll see more of my work - but do take time to go for a wander about as there is some amazingly talented people out there wanting to share their work with you!

One last thing, I posted a freebie card front on the fabulous Heather Roselli's blog a week or so ago - its the cheeky monkey card you saw at the top of this post! I saved it with wording for both Father's Day and Happy Birthday, sized 6x4in and 7x5in. All you have to do is download, choose the front you want and print. Then cut out and stick to a card blank! You can find the freebie waiting for you right here!

Enjoy your holiday weekend - and if your school is on half-term holiday too, then I sincerely wish you sunny, dry weather and not-too-crowded parks, museums, pools, cinema......!

Sara x

Spring flowers and Chinese take-away

We are having beautifully sunny weekend here in the UK - I have washing drying in the warm, gentle breeze, my son is happily surveying his kingdom from the top of his climbing frame and even my husband is in a good mood! All is well, in my little corner of the world :)

I wanted to share the card above with you today 'cos it such a nice Spring day, and it was made with a sweet kit called 'Touch of Spring' from the lovely ladies of Polka Dot Plum designs! I made it for the April edition of The Fix, from DigiScrap Addicts - which includes this kit and an additional three others too. Bargain, and well worth checking out, ladies and gentlemen!

The card was made using my Sizzix Big Shot and template to cut the vase out, though I really do think you could achieve a similar look using sticky foam pads.

All the flowers were from the kit; I just printed and snipped them out then dusted the edges with pink chalk. The tag is actually a journalling element from the kit, but it works prefectly as a tag too, don't you think?

Chalk is definitely my favourite colouring medium - I love the delicate hint of colour it gives, plus I never seem to be able to get an even, neat flow of colour when I use pens, though I am very willing to concede it is simply because I don't practice enough with them!

On to other things...

I subscribe to the weekly newsletter from Scrap Orchard, and was very sorry to read that both Megan Turnidge and Yari of Jady Day Studios were retiring from designing. Their creations are just lovely, and I'm sorry to see them both go. On the good side for we consumers, they are both having fantastic retirement sales, and I highly recommend indulging! Oh, don't miss out on picking up a Megan's hybrid templates - they're a real bargain. I made these with her takeaway box template:

...all decorated with Kate Hadfield's gorgeous Chinese Zodiac doodles (but if you like what you see in the photo, you can grab them all ready-to-print from here!).


Wishing you all sunshine and fluffy white clouds...


Sx

Hills made from clouds, and fonts

Sometimes when I see a kit, its simply love at first sight and I have to have it. This happened when I saw Zoe Pearn's Away We Go (from Sweet Shoppe Designs) - I just fell for its fun retro feel. I teamed it up with some birthday 'And I Quote' wordart by MandaBean, and voila!

I had to modify the wordart a little in order to make it 'fit', and I also printed the large car separately onto card so that I could layer it with sticky foam pads. ....oh, and the hills were made by layering the greeny paper from the kit over an expanded cloud element. Did you guess?

Do you have a weakness for fonts? Well, have you discovered the amazingly generous Kevin & Amanda.com's Free Fonts?

If you like your fonts to look more handwritten, or are looking for something just a little different, then you must, MUST check them out! Their font creations are all free to download, but do check their terms of use if you plan to use them for anything but a personal layout or card. I can't tell you how much I love the fonts from these lovely people!

This card of mine used 'Smiley Monster' from Kevin & Amanda.com - plus Zoo Day by Kristin Aagard, of course!

Bye for now,

Sx

It's alive!

...well, I am anyway :)

Its been sooooo long since I last posted here, but I'm hoping to get back into the swing of things - especially as I have lots of things to show off and news to share.

Firstly, about the mini album above. It originally started life as this:

I have to say I'm quite proud of the transformation, especially as its the first time I've ever tackled anything like this! Take a peek at a couple of the inside pages:

I made it in response to a Sweet Shoppe challenge to use recycled items to make something new - and having recently become addicted to skinny vanilla lattes from guess where, I had no problem sourcing the basics for this album.

Here's a quick-ish 'how-I-made-that' guide:

To begin, I cut the card sleeve in two, then I measured and then prepared my colour cards in Photoshop, sizing them to fit. The colour cards were sooo simple to do as I cheated and used Heather Roselli's new Spectrum Flash Cards (with a little digi modification to fit as shown). I mounted each flash card onto coordinating sugar-coated cardstock from Doodlebug Designs (love this stuff!), and then stuck this onto a Starbucks album page using double sided tape.

Once all the pages were ready, I punched a hole through the corner using my Big Bite, and then added a key ring (from Woodware) to hold everything together.

Finally I added stapled a colour coordinating ribbon loop (from Poppicrafts) to each album page, plus a button or similar for extra fun embellishment, and ta-da!

This project was totally inspired by this post by Fiskars - thank you!

Since my last post I promise I really have been busy cutting, sticking and folding.... Just to prove it (!), here are a just a couple more pictures of recent projects:

Easter Egg card

4 'Sweet' Shoppes

Baby Block Gift Boxes

I'll be back with more card ideas to show you soon!

So, I mentioned I had some news to share. I am sorry to say that I have decided to step down from the Poppicrafts creative team, for no other reason that the shop has changed its stock direction quite dramatically (and I'm delighted to say successfully!!), and I don't feel that I am the right person for the job any more. I hated telling Michelle this, but it was the honest thing to do. Michelle's was the first team I was ever invited to join, and I can never thank her enough for the confidence boost she gave me. Poppicrafts will always remain my main source for ribbons though - promise :)

Oh, I do need a pick-me-up after typing that, so here's a final big splash of colour courtesy of the designs of Heather Roselli:

Rainbow cards

Bye for now!

Sx

Guesting for Sahlin Studio...

October was a wonderfully hectic month! I was asked to be a guest team member for Sahlin Studio, and got to play with the lovely Kristin's designs. It was a real pleasure - and so I'm going to pester her to let me guest for her again in the New Year!

Sahlin Studio designs are sold over at Scrap Matters, but Kristin regularly and very generously shares substantial freebies on her blog, so its well worth visiting!! If you like her work, you should sign up for her newsletter too as she often adds little coupons and extras to it.

I made several things for the team whilst with them, including the card above. Here are the other cards and thing-ummy-bobs I created:

I am delighted with how everything turned out - I was on a real roll 'mojo-wise' last month! I think my personal favourite is the ABC card. Its was made using Kristin's back to school kit, but I wanted to use it in a other-then-school way - et voila! Oh, by the way the 'Happy Boy' card is based on a digi-scrapbook template Kristin made and uses elements of a collaboration kit she did. I just resized the template to fit my square card - easy as that.

I'd love to know what you think of everything too!

Bye for now

Sx

PS Instead of listing all credits here, I have linked all the photos to the cards in the Scrap Matters gallery where all credits are - but you already know who's designs I used!! Whilst over there, take a browse around the community forum - if you like card making like me, they have regular card template challenges that I think I'm going to have a go at, so why not join me!?!

Freebies, news and a few pics!

Welcome to October!

I am hoping this month is as sunny, but a lot less frantic than September!

Do you like the Halloween card and matching envelope in the picture above? Its a freebie ready-to-print card that I made for Heather Roselli's team blog. Soooo, if you'd like it click here to get it! Whilst over there, take a peek at all the posts from this week as there are other digi-freebies to grab too made by Heather and other members of her team. Who doesn't like a freebie or two?!

I have a couple of other card to show you too, but I do have some exciting news to share too: I am a guest designer for the lovely Krista of Sahlin Studios during the month of October!

I've just introduced myself to the team, and can't wait to see what Krista has in store for me to play with. I have a couple of kits of hers, and she's very generous with her freebies too (hint, hint!). I made this card with 'Enjoy the Moment' papers, alpha and elements. The kit is really perfect for Disney photos, but I do like to find a different way to use designs, to make them multipurpose - 'cos they should never only be restricted to just one thing - and this one definitely isn't limited at all :)

The little card tag reads 'enjoy every moment'. I added a little glitter glue here and there and the organza ribbon (Poppicrafts, of course - yes, Michelle does organza ribbon now!!!!), plus the frame is layered with stick foam pads for a dimensional look.

I've been making lots and lots of other Halloween inspired bits n' pieces for Heather recently:

....but had a little time to make these cards, amongst others, too:

I've just gotten hold of a blog-in-a-box to revamp this page - but it isn't 100% me (just as the current look isn't me anymore). So I think I'm going to rethink my ideas again...

Love

Sx

Halloween treats and the spooky card: Hallo-Tween kit and Paper Dolls, plus lots of DIY Printable templates including Treat Wrappers, all by Heather Roselli
Together: Enjoy the Moment by Salin Studios, plus Ranger Stickles glitter glue and organza ribbon from Poppicrafts.
XOXO: Boom I Got Your Boyfriend by MandaBean, plus organza ribbon.
Whoo-Knows card and pencil box: Imagi-Nation and Its Elementary kits. The template for the box is by The Hybrid Kid and was a free gift from DST, and the font is my current favourite:DJB Neat Feak by Darcy Baldwin.
Chit Chat Message Box: Made with Shabby Miss Jen's devine Chit Chat kit, which was the Featured Product in the Sept '09 issue of DSA's The Fix. Plus, DIY Printable template: Pizza box and album by Heather Roselli, and finally some stick-on gems to act as 'screws' for the hinges and some organza ribbon for final presentation :)
All cards etc required card paper, a variety of adhesives, plus some needed a touch of ink or chalk.

Sweet news and quite a few things to show you!

It's been a little while since I blogged - and revisiting here, I think my page is definitely in need a of face-lift. Humm, I'm going to have a think about that and surprise you one day!

The past few weeks have been rather busy - with Alex being on holiday and card making. I have just been in the mood to make things, and so have indulged myself when ever possible. I have quite a stock of cards now, so I really am going to have to consider selling them - I haven't had the nerve to before now to be honest! To date I have only 'sold' commissioned cards, not the ones I make 'just because' or for my teams - but unsurprisingly, storage is becoming an issue!

The example below is a commissioned card - my friend wanted a large uncomplicated card that a large group of under 5's could sign for their nursery school. I went completely digital for the design, with no 'real' embellishments at all (so no-one could be tempted to pick things off!). Kate Hadfield's alpha was bright, happy and perfect for the job:

Kate is heavily involved in a site called Gallery Standouts - which does exactly what it implies, and scouts lots (& lots!) of galleries to highlight pieces of work, so if you are looking for inspiration it's another place to checkout ...having said all that, Kate chose this piece of work by me at the end of last month!

I am so pleased to have been selected, as I am quite a fan of Kate's work, so its a lovely compliment that she selected my stuff :)

As you can see from the picture, all the items are designed for a young child's party - if you are, like me, not the most brilliant cake decorator, then do think about making your own cake frill as they are so simple to make: Measure your cake tin for the estimated depth of your finished cake, then for a cake of diameter 7 inches or more, design and print three A4 copies of your frill onto thin card. Stick it together with clear tape, and trim as necessary. If its going to be around your cake for any length of time I would line it with grease proof paper. I do all my 'designing' in Photoshop, so I create a file/ template of the correct depth to match my cake, and then print it three times. You can corrugate the frill, add a ribbon - anything you like :)

Here are a couple more cards etc that I have made recently:

Finally, some HUGE news! You may have gathered how big a fan I am of the family of designers at:

Recently, the Shoppe had a creative team call, and I was awarded the 'hybrid' spot! ...which means I get to play with lots and lots of very pretty digital things, and make cards 'n stuff! Big, enormous wow or what!?!?! Actually, I'm rather intimidated by the company I'm now in - seriously, the other Hybrid Babes (yes, that really is what we get called :) ) produce quite simply incredible work. Our joint gallery is here - more ideas for you to try!

I'll leave it there for now - we're off to the park in about 10 minutes!

I will return soon (-ish!)

Sx

Perfect Pair: Made with papers and elements from Tutti Frutti by Zoe Pearn

EIEIO birthday bits n bobs: Made using predominantly Heather Roselli's EIEIO kit!

Little handbags: Made using Heather Roselli's very sweet DIY printable Purse template (she really has an amazing selection of templates to choose from), and decorated with various of her kits too, including Big Spender & Girls and Dolls)

Engagement Party ideas: Made using Armina Design's 'Young Love Sweet Love' kit which is one of the kits available in the August issue of The Fix from Digiscrap Addicts, plus a bag template from Kelleigh Ratzlaff, and the fab new font DJB Get Your Fix by Darcy Baldwin, which is also in The Fix.

Dinomite: Made using papers and alpha from Tough Guy by Dani Mogstad and Ellie Lash's fab dino brush (I love this little dinosaur!)

All buttons, ribbons and blooms are from Poppicrafts of course

There are a few Doodlebug gems, some craft wire, DMC thread, raffia, a laminator pouch for the EIEIO table mat, lots of ink, chalk, adhesives, card, paper, and Ranger Stickles glitter glue too!