Saturday Spotlight

At last I've had time to make a challenge card. I chose the

Saturday Spotlight With Hidden Potential challenge for this one.

The theme this week is Repeatedly Useful, so that means using a stamp repeatedly on your card.

This one is a really quick but fairly elegant card - good for the bulk cards that we need to make each year. I've used the large Christmas tree from the Papermania Joyeux Noel stamp set, inked it up in silver ink and blobbed a few bits of stickles on the trees. I raised one of the trees on 3d foam pads.

Later today I'll try to take the photos for the easel card instructions I posted yesterday and I'll do another post with them in tomorrow.

Thanks for looking,

Sharon xx

Easel card instructions

Before I show my card today, I just have to tell you how impressed I was with the 'masterboard' technique in this month's Craft Stamper magazine. I tried it out last night and I love the results I got. Maybe I'll share the results with you on here soon.

Okay, on to today's One Stop Craft Challenge. The lovely Shelley picked the theme of
Cards for kids
and I decided to make a card for an older kid. Shelley is giving away a cute teddy wood mounted stamp as the prize. Okay, I think you can see that I'm really having fun with these easel cards. Someone asked me to point them to the instructions. Well, I thought I'd share how I make them instead (which may be totally wrong - but it works for me).

You need:
1. a square card blank and
2. a square piece of card the same size as the front of the card blank.

Instructions:
1. Score the front of the card blank in half and fold the 'open' end back towards the spine.
2. Add double sided tape to the part that you just folded back and stick the square piece of card onto it, lining it up so that it makes a new 'front' to the card.

Then just decorate however you want to. That's all there is to it!

If you need me to show photos of these instructions just leave me a comment.

Hope you'll join us this week - and thanks to everyone that tried the newspaper/text challenge we had last week. There is lots of inspiration for kids cards on the challenge blog.

Thanks for looking.
Sharon xx

Silver Christmas Raccoons

Good Morning!

What a wonderful combination we have for you over at Colour Create this week. Not only are the colours fantastic for Christmas cards...but the optional extra is perfect too. The DT absolutely loved working on their challenge items this week and we're sure you will love them too if you join in with us.

Our really talented Karen picked this picture for inspiration:

Brrrrr! Chilly looking but a fab picture.

The challenge colours are BLUE, SILVER and WHITE and the optional extra is WINTER and GLITTER.

Yep - perfect for crossing off another Christmas card on the list. I really enjoyed having a try at making an easel card. I think there are instructions for how to make these over at splitcoast stampers - but I just dived in and made one without instructions. I was pretty pleased with myself when it turned out looking like this!

I'm really impressed with how these cards look when they are finished so I can see I may be making a few of these to send out this year.

Items used:
Whimsy stamp (I adore this one of the raccoons and the Christmas tree). Coloured with Pro Markers.
Bearly Mine Christmas paper. Papermania textured silver card, Anita's 3D Border Glitterations, Prima Hydrangea flowers, Papermania Gems, Sentiment made up from several woodware sentiment stamps in a set, Glamour Dust, ribbons from my stash.

The DT have made some amazing items with these colours. I hope you'll find time to pop round to their blogs and leave them a little comment. We all love it when that happens and the DTs always work so hard on creating something inspirational for the challenges.

We have 5 prizes from Handy Hippo for the winners of this challenge. I hope you'll all find time to enter.

Thanks for looking.

Sharon xx

Ribbons and Gems.....

....That's the gorgeous theme picked by Sam today over at the Creative Card Crew Challenge today. My card is a bit rushed because I had some orders to finish in double quick time. But at least I managed to get the ribbons and gems on it.
The door on the image has turned out almost fluorescent in the photo - don't you just love electric light? :o) It really isn't that bad when you see it in real life.

I've used Bearly Mine Xmas papers. Sarah Kay image. Prima bling swirls, Celebrate ribbon, distress inks, Stickles (but they do not show up).

We're sponsored today by The Creative Cottage . And don't forget to take a peek ant the beautiful creations the DT have come up with for this challenge.

Thanks for looking,
Sharon xx

Spread The Love! Blog Hop

"On October 4th, 4 teenagers armed with knives broke into a home in a small town in New Hampshire, USA. Alone and sleeping inside were a mother and her 11 year old daughter. These 4 boys broke into this home with the intent to rob and kill anyone inside. They stabbed the mom, Kimberly Cates, to death and left her daughter, Jaimie, for dead in their driveway. It was a completely random act, their home was chosen only due to its secluded surroundings."

Our hope is that everyone hopping around today will stop for a moment and think about Jaimie and her father and what life must be like for them now. One moment in time has changed their lives forever. We are asking that everyone reading this message please take a moment to make a card and send it off to Jaimie. You can make something very simple or much more involved, but please share some words of hope and love and let her know that people do care and want the best for her.

Please send your card to the address below:

Jaimie Cates
c/o Mont Vernon Fire Station
Main Street
Mont Vernon,
NH 03057
USA

If you would like to read more about Jaime then please visit the

"Stamp Something...for Jaimie: Spreading Love and Hope" blog.

This hop is open from Monday 2 November 10am ET until Monday 9 November 10am ET (New York time)

For those of you following the hop, if you arrived here from
Samantha from SPCC then you are in the right place.

If you arrived from anywhere else, or if you want to start from the beginning, then please go to Katharina Frei's blog,

I was deeply distressed when I heard Jaimie's story and immediately said 'Yes' when I was asked to join this hop. I really hope that my card, along with all the other cards she will receive, brings some comfort to a deeply traumatised little girl who needs her faith in humanity restoring.

My card for Jaimie uses her favourite colours of hot pink and black. I know she's not a 'girly girl' and that she enjoys outdoor sports, but I lacked a sporty stamp. I chose this stamp to symbolise the gifts of love and hope that she will be receiving from all over the world.

On the inside is a simple heart for spreading the love.

Thank you so much for pausing along the way. I hope you liked my card and if you can spare the time and the postage PLEASE think about making Jaimie a card too.

We have generous sponsors who have kindly offered up some prizes to anyone who makes a card, posts it on their blogs, and lets us know they mailed it out. Just let us know when your card is in the mail at "Stamp Something...for Jaimie: Spreading Love and Hope" blog.

Winners will be chosen on Monday 9th November.

To Carry On Hopping - Your next stop is

Janna Sicard

Thanks for looking,
Sharon xx

Use newspaper on a card ???

Good Morning! The card I have for you today is the result of one of my harebrained light bulb moments, and to be honest I think the DT thought I'd completely lost the plot! (but you should see the amazing work they came up with; it is awesome. Well done ladies!!!)

Whilst thinking about what to set for the challenge at the One Stop Craft Challenge this week I really wanted to set something completely different as the theme. What was right in front of me at the time? A newspaper. Right - that'll do, I thought. I haven't seen any challenge blog setting a challenge to use newspaper.

However, reality did creep in a bit so I widened the theme to include dps with text on them, or maybe even a stamp with text on it (not a sentiment - more like text in the background) - you could even use the cuttlebug script folder. But for those of you that really do want a challenge - try using newspaper.

I used newspaper to make the flowers and leaves. You can see how to make these flowers with Rach's fantastic video tutorial here. Thank you so much for doing that tutorial sweetie!

I also had another go at colouring my Whimsy image with distress inks. I'm really getting to like that medium.

Okay, you creative and crafty people. I hope you'll join us and wow us all with the amazing creations you make again this week. Shelley has put up a beautiful wood mounted corset stamp as the prize for one lucky winner.

Well, it's the perfect day for me to get holed up in my craft room and make a start on all my DT items for this week - yes it's a bit wet and miserable where I am. With weather like that I shouldn't get too distracted ;o) Now...where did I put my mojo?

Thanks for looking,

Sharon xx

Whimsy Winner!

It is time to announce the Whimsy winners. But first a very big THANK YOU to each and every one of you that joined in the 'Change of Seasons Blog Stroll'. I hope you all had fun seeing the new stamps.

The grand prize winner of the full set of new Whimsy stamps has been published on the Whimsy website. Congratulations!

The random winner of the stamp that I am giving away - the Fall Raccoons is .........

Trish from Diamond Dolls Crafty Space

Many congratulations Trish! If you like to contact me via the e-mail address on my profile I'll arrange for your stamp to be sent out to you.

Snowflakes are a-falling

Christmas is in the air today over here with 2 cards that I made using different techniques. One is stamped and coloured with distress inks (oooh, my first real try at that and I loved colouring with distress ink), and the other is a simple embossed card.

Today is Creative Card Crew Challenge and our very talented Claire chose the theme of using

SNOWFLAKES

somewhere on your creations. Well, the possibilities are endless and there is some wonderful inspiration over at the challenge blog. This first card uses the fab WOJ herb stamp. I think it is a fantastic Christmas stamp. I just had to add a bit of bling snow with some diamond ice stickles, although they have turned a bit blue in the photo. I've used Dovecraft paper with snowflakes. Hmmm, makes a change for me to use traditional Christmas colours, doesn't it?

The second card uses the cuttlebug folder of a Christmas tree. I made this one out of very few items: white card, X-cut snowflake punch, Cuttlebug folder, pale blue promarker pen, a few gems and some glamour dust. This is my Christmas on a budget card!

Come on over and join in with us this week. There is a fab credit voucher from Simon Says Stamp! for one lucky winner.

Thanks for looking

Sharon xx

Fly Away Tilda

Woo Hoo! I managed to do a challenge card (for a change!) But I didn't finish it until the sun went down so were on electric light again.

This one is for 2 challenges:

A Spoonfull of Sugar Challenge - this week is a fab sketch by Debbie

ABC Challenge - F is for flying. Believe me Tilda is hovering above the ground ;o)

Even though it may not show up on this blog, I seem to have been stuck in Autumn colours for quite a while now, so I decided to go back to one of my favourite colour combinations. I love light blues with lilacs and purples together on cards, and this really made a refreshing change. I think Tilda looks so sweet in these colours. It also made a change to do some doodling. Uh oh! I can see I'll be making a few cards with doodling now :)

I wasn't sure if the stickles would show up too well on the card so I took a close-up.

Items used:
Basic Grey Wisteria papers
Prima Hydrangea flowers
Iced Gems card candy
Butterfly Tilda stamp
ProMarkers
Stickles - Diamond Ice
Woodware sentiment stamp
Martha Stewart Ash Branch punch.

Thanks for looking,
Sharon xx

It's a celebration!

Good morning everyone. It's time to party and celebrate today! I only mentioned the other day how quickly time flies - well, today it's one year on from the start of the One Stop Craft Challenge so we're celebrating our first blogoversary today.

We've come a long way since the humble beginnings and I'd like to thank each and every one of you that has supported us over the past year. It is so nice to see so many regular people coming back and visiting the challenge each week.

Maggie has chosen our theme for this week and what else could she pick but

CELEBRATE

So we'd love to see all your celebration projects. There are so many celebrations to choose from: Weddings, anniversaries, engagements, christenings, new birth, new job, graduation, birthdays, Christmas, Easter, mother's day, father's day, valentines day....to name just a few :o) I've chosen to celebrate a new baby. In fact, I made a boy and a girl card.....just so I have one ready for when my daughter's need to give some out.

I hope you join us this week and remember to pop over to the challenge site for more inspiration from the DT. There are fantastic two prizes up for grabs!! (Thanks Shelley)

Thanks for looking.

Sharon xx

Whimsy - Hop through the seasons

This hop is now closed

Welcome to the Whimsy stroll through the seasons blog hop

and welcome to the season of FALL (or Autumn).

How are you liking the new images so far? Absolutely fabulous, aren't they?

This hop is open from noon EST on Friday 23rd October until noon EST on Wednesday 28th October.

If you've made it here from Denise's blog then you are still on track.

If you've arrived any other way and would like to join in the hop

please start here at Stacy's blog.

To be eligible for the grand prize you need to visit each of the blogs and leave a comment on all the blogs in the hop.

Here is a peek at what the grand prize winner of this hop will receive - all four of the new season stamps.

But that's not all!

There's lots of candy to be had on the way!

Someone who leaves me a comment on my blog will receive a candy prize of the stamp I've used on my card. Of course, you won't get the one I've actually used, it will be a brand, spanking new one.

Here is the card that I made. As well as the Whimsy Fall Raccoons stamp, I've also added a sentiment stamp from Whimsy's previous release of stamps.

Now, this is the first time I've tried colouring raccoons and I haven't ever seen one in my life, so I did my best. I know they should be more brown than grey, but I preferred the grey look.

I tried to recreate the dry, cracking leaves of Fall on this card by using some crackle accents on stamped leaves. I think you can just make out the cracks in this photo

I hope you like the card I made.

Okay peeps - time to carry on the hop. The next stop is Vicki's blog

Have fun and Good Luck!

This hop is now closed

Thanks for looking,
Sharon xx

All White Sarah Kay

Well, it's definitely that time of year again. I'm leaving home in the morning before it is light enough to take a decent photo of my cards and it is dusk when I get back. This card is the first one I've had to take by electric light. That'll teach me for not completing it at the weekend!

Today is Colour Create challenge day and our fabulously talented Heather has been a real stinker. (ONLY JOKING Heather!!!). Actually, she's chosen one of the most enjoyable challenges that I've had in a long while and this is one of those rare moments where I really like the card I made.

I must admit that when I first saw her suggestion I went as white as the card we were asked to make! But when I plucked up the courage to give it a go I really did enjoy it. It was fantastic not to think about picking papers and patterns that go together. All I had to think about was getting a few different textures on the card. Brill!

Yes, the colours this week are:

ALL WHITE

with colour on the image. Luckily there is no optional extra to include in this challenge.

The electric light has made the white glitter card look cream, but believe me, it is a pristine white in real life. What a perfect way to show off my favourite Sarah Kay stamp. This is the first time I've inked it up and coloured it. Why? Because I've been after this stamp for a long, long while and it was never in stock when buying my crafty goodies. It finally arrived on my doormat when Paula bought it for my birthday. Thank you so much Paula.

If you look at the amazing cards the rest of the DT have made you'll see how effective an all white card can be. There are some real beauties on the challenge blog for inspiration.

There is another $25 credit voucher from Heidi at Simon Says Stamp! as the prize for the winner of this week's challenge. (Thanks Heidi). I hope you'll all be brave enough to join us; I bet you'll be really pleased with what you make if you do.

Thanks for looking,
Sharon xx

The Princess and the coach

Where does the time fly to? :) In the blink of an eye it is time for the Creative Card Crew Challenge again. The incredibly talented Linda has set the challenge this week and she's chosen the theme of:

babies and children's cards.

Well this was a stroke of luck for me! I had to make a card for a little girl who's birthday is coming up in November. And what does she like? Princesses of course. I chose to do one of these lovely shaped cards because I wanted to use the Whimsy images of Princess Emma and the Pumpkin Coach on the same card. I think this shape displays two images beautifully.

And what else do little girls like? Pink, glitter, jewels, gold and silver and a feather. Yep - think I got them all on this one ;)

Please pop over to the challenge blog this week. You're in for a special treat because not one, but two design teams have made cards for this challenge! What a lot of inspiration. And there is a fantastic $15 gift certificate donated by DRS designs for this week's winner.

Thanks for looking.
Sharon xx