Beret

When my mum asked for a crochet beret for her birthday I thought it would be easy and the crochet was. Finding the right pattern though took a lot of effort and searching but as soon as I saw this I knew it would be perfect!

I found this over at Hannicraft's blog and within a few hours it was done! Such an easy pattern to follow.

I just need to wait and see if she likes it! Fingers crossed.

The hardest thing has been to photo the beret. My normal camera didn't work at all so these are from my iPhone. Anyone have any tips on capturing wool?

I'm linking this over at Handmade Monday which has always been an inspiration to me and which I've been away from for far too long!
Also linked over at Life on Lakeshore Drive

Notelets

My turn again over at SarahHurley365 to do a daily spot and this time I've made some notelets.

This last two weeks have passed by in a haze of night duty,migraines and a dose of teenager!Add to that a dodgy internet connection,a printer out of ink,running out of card and three weeks til pay day and crafting feels almost impossible!

I have a few catch up letters to send so I turned to the Snip 'n' Stick cards from Sarah's A Few of my Favourite Things kits. These were perfect for a few quick notelets and satisfied my crafting urge until pay day and supplies!

Thank you card

Hello notelet

A man card

A mum card

I wish I could win the lottery card!

I really enjoyed making these and the clean and simple effect. Love those Snip 'n' Stick cards!

Have entered Wish upon a Star over at Creative Card Crew- keep it simple challenge
Have entered Fan-Tache-Tic over at Cards und More - for men

A bit of crochet

I've recently rediscovered my love of crochet. I used to knit a lot but could never finish anything without getting fed up of it! That's why I love crochet so much. It's great for little projects,easy to pull back and grows quickly so I have less time to get bored of it.

One of the first things I made was a little bag for my niece for Christmas. I searched the internet for a simple pattern and found this one. I used some silver wool for a bit of bling and made a little flower to embellish it. I was quite chuffed with how it turned out.

I filled it up with hair slides,beads and trinkets and was really happy that she liked it!

Mini canvas

This month's challenge is up and running over at SarahHurley365 and it's all about embellishments. I decided on stars and made a mini canvas wall hanging to use up a nail that was stuck in the wall!

I used Sarah's chevron mask for the background with a bit of red and gold ink then stamped and coloured the stars before glossing them up a bit. The sentiment is from Sarah's Stars stamps.

It's now hanging and brightening up the wall. Nip over and have a look at the challenge-there's some great prizes up for grabs!

Have entered this over at Through the Purple Haze challenge- Anything Goes

ATC card

Here's my first post on the new look Sarah Hurley365 blog which features daily posts from the Design Team to inspire and encourage. I made my first post today which I've put here too.

I've been going through a dry spell recently (think my mojo's still on Christmas leave!) so I turned to Sarah's A Few of my Favourite Things kits for inspiration as there's always something new that catches my eye!

Not long after I started making cards, I came across ATCs and was hooked-have been ever since,as anyone who's visited my blog before will know!
Artist Trading Cards are 2.5 by 3.5 inches and are a brilliant way to experiment and use up odd bits of card. Traditionally they're swapped(but never sold) and there are loads of forums around for people who want to swap with others. I've received some fabulous ATCs in the past and my collection is an inspiration in itself.

I stamped the background crosses in gold using Sarah's stamp from one of the kits and the embellishments are from one of the Snip 'n' Stick sheets(I'm a big fan of these!). When I'd finished I decided to use my ATC to embellish a card, another great use for ATCs and with all the goodies in Sarah's kit you can build up quite a stash of ATC toppers!

The finished card looks like this.

This is my first post for a long time. My mojo seems to be coming back bit by bit so I'm hoping to get up to speed and back on track soon.I'm thinking of posting my crochet here too so watch this space!

Bonfire Brights

I'm a bit nervous about the challenge over at Sarah Hurley this month as it's my first time in charge! I picked the theme Bonfire Brights because I love all the bright colours of bonfire night.

I made an ATC using Sarah's Journaled365 kit. This is my go to kit as it is so versatile and I can always find new things to do with it! The sentiment is from Sarah's Stars Stamp kit which has lots of lovely sentiments.

Please pop along and have a look at the Design Team's inspiring makes and good luck- I can't wait to see all the bright makes!Oh and please make sure you all stay safe on Bonfire Night and follow the firework code.

Halloween!

It's getting close-yes Trick or Treat is nearly here and I can never resist joining in the Halloween fun!
I don't get to make many cards for Halloween but I really enjoy all the pumpkins,skulls and general spookiness of it all!

Imagine how thrilled I was to see the new Sarah Hurley digi-kit 31 Spook Street  There's so much for us Halloween addicts to try! 

I made this card using the backing papers and ready coloured digi images. Couldn't resist adding a few pumpkins to my ukulele too! 

Nip over to Sarah's Challenge Blog and have a look at the Halloween challenge. We can't wait to see all your spooky makes!!

Texture and dimension

The new challenge over at Sarah Hurley's blog is Texture and Dimension. What better excuse could there be for getting messy!

I recently treated myself to one of Sarah's Day Books and have to say it's one of the best things I've ever bought. It's A5 size with about 20 pages of silky paper in a variety of backgrounds so there is a page ready to use anytime, without worrying about the background paper. Love it!

I used my favourite stamp from Wish Upon a Star set with some journaling cards and a small chevron bag mixed and matched from some of  my A Few of My Favourite Things monthly kits. The sentiments are from Star stamp set. The plan is to use the chevron bag to put a small journaling card in when I've written something appropriate.

I stencilled some gesso chevrons using Sarah's chevron stencil and mixed in some liquid pearl. Of course I didn't know when to stop and ruined the girl's dress when the sparkly Mod Podge I put on made the promarker run but let's just say that's the effect I was going for!

Hello!

Oh my where's the time gone?

I'm late again. I spent most of last month running around like a zombie getting son ready to go away on holiday, dreaming of all the time I'd have while he's away.

Now he's away and I really don't know what to do with myself- it's quite an odd feeling just hanging there and waiting for him to return. Crafting mojo's gone and chocolate intake's on the up and up!

I made this card for Sarah Hurley's latest challenge Pink Sparkles using her Journaled365 range for the backing paper which I sprayed with mica mist. The embellishments are all from her latest monthly kit, A Few of my Favourite Things, which I recommend to anyone and everyone!There's so much choice over in Sarah's shop and the range is expanding so fast at the moment I just know there's something for everyone!
Zig-zag ribbon is a scrap I found hiding in a drawer and rescued!

There's still time to enter so please bob along and play!

Friends

A page from a journal on the circle journal I'm on over on UKScrappers. The background's coloured with Aquatone pencils and I decided to give my Stampotique girls a day out! The phrase is one of my favourites and reflects my weekly latte sessions with the girls from work!

I really enjoyed doing this and made a note to self - Journal more! 

Happy Birthday Sarah!

Happy Birthday Sarah! I hope you have a fabulous day and are thoroughly pampered and spoilt as a girl should be on her birthday! You deserve it after all your hard work and this little hop is to celebrate your birthday and to wish you loads more success in the future x 

You should have come here from Lisa and Candice and now it's on to Nicole. Enjoy the journey and thank you so much for having me on your DT! 

For anyone reading this and wondering what's going on, this is our Sarah Hurley Blog Hop for Sarah on her birthday and I'd love for you to join in and play along!

A bit of Gold and a Blog Hop!

I've been neglecting my blog lately-too much running around and not enough crafting time but I really hope this is me getting back on track again!

It's all gone golden over at Sarah Hurley's Challenge Blog. We want to see glitter,gold and sparkly twinkly things! I have started a few things but nothing's been turning out as I wanted so I've made an ATC (staying safe in my comfort zone). It's a decorative ATC for hanging on my wall and I used paper from Bookworm and I Love Paris with Wish Upon a Star Girl stamps (am loving these new stamps!)

Please come along and join us-can't wait to see the sparkle!

I'm linking this over at Handmade Monday-come along and join this fabulous community of crafters.

And now for the blog hop!

I love a blog hop. What better way to get around blogland and discover blogs and crafters you've never seen before.

Elaine, my fellow design team member at Sarah Hurley is relaunching her All Crafts Challenge at Sparkling Black Rose-Craft My Life and I'm pleased to be a part of her relaunch blog hop.

If you're on the blog hop trail you'll have arrived here via the fabulous Jaine's blog and her gorgeous notebook.. Next on the trail is Natalie so please pop along and see her fab layout.

I hope you have fun along the way and good luck!

Shades of Blue

It's exciting times over at Sarah Hurley. Not only is it time for a new challenge but Look Book Volume 3 is out and is exploding with lots of crafting inspiration-more of that later!

The challenge theme is Shades of Blue which straight away made me think of Sarah's I Love Paris kit (I'm so predictable!). My DT make is a fold out ATC book using paper,digi-stamp and embellishments from the kit. It's going to be part of a birthday present for a friend who loves Paris as much as I do.

Front of book

Folded out

Casually open!

I think this will make a nice alternative to a birthday card!

Now...the Look Book!

You can find the Look Book here on Sarah's blog. It's crammed pack of some fantastic crafting using a variety of Sarah's products and is a fabulous source of inspiration. Unfortunately I was ill (don't ask!) and didn't get my things finished in time but if I make a start now, I'll be more than ready for the next!

April Showers

Well the brief 'sunny' spell didn't last long and now we have rain again-which is good for us as the latest challenge theme over at ATCs with Attitude is April Showers!

Here's my ATC for the design team.

Come along and join us in our celebration of the good old English tradition  of rain. I'm just hoping that one the weather bucks up my mojo comes back from whichever sunny corner of the globe it's hiding in!

Sparkle!

Here I am late again and desperately searching for my mojo at the moment! I think it all ties in with this miserable winter weather. It's been anything but sparkly recently but we're asking for sparkly creations over at ATCs with Attitude.

I'm lucky to have the fabulous My Fair lady image by Sassy Studio Designs to work with. I had the best time colouring her and deciding on the right kind of sparkle for her! The lucky winner of this fortnight's challenge gets to chose four digi-images from Sassy.

I'm hoping that it's just my mojo that's gone walkies and we get to see some fabulous sparkly entries. I'm linking over at Handmade Monday because I know the wonderful crafters over there will inspire me to get a move on and get crafting!

The new challenge is up at Sarah Hurley - it's sponsored by Letraset and is all about character! We're looking forward to seeing all sorts of different characters, human, animal...vegetable?!

I made a thank you card using an image and papers from The Secret Rose Garden.

I really need to work on my colouring skills but I enjoy it and isn't that what counts?! Come along and join in-look forward to seeing some amazing characters.

Away with the Bunnies!

Oh my! I'm a week late with this post. Sometimes 'real' life has a habit of getting in the way doesn't it?

The latest challenge at ATCs with Attitude is all about Easter. I used an image from Delicious Doodles coloured and stuck to an embossed background. Strange to be making Spring images with all this cold and snow around!

Please come along and join us but remember if you do-ATCs are as addictive as Easter eggs!

The Secret Rose Garden

I'm a bit late with this post due to disappearing laptop chargers-blame the teens!
Last week was the launch of Sarah Hurley and Phill Martin's Secret Rose Garden.

It's a fabulous collection of summer garden papers, digi-stamps, embellishments and is such fun to work with. I had time for a little play for the launch. And - for us stampers, there are co-ordinating clear stamps. Fabulous!

Note book

Card

Card

Easel ATC-front

Inside 

Easel ATC

You can find details of the whole Secret Rose Garden collection here. See you there!

Mothers' Day-All Sewn Up

Mothers' Day! Happens every year but still manages to catch me off guard. This year I had the ideal kit to make my mum's card with. As my mum's very into sewing I decided to use Sarah Hurley's new digi/hybrid kit, All Sewn Up. It's perfect for any sewing themes and has papers, embellishments and ...this is so exciting...now has matching sets of clear stamps for the stampers amongst us!

I'm not a big user of sketches for cards but came across this in a random internet visit the other day and liked it so gave it a go. I found it at Random Acts of Creativity.
I'm linking this over at Handmade Monday.Please pop over and take a look at the fabulous crafters over there.

ATC-Flower Power!

It's all about flowers over at ATCs with Attitudes to get us in the mood for Spring! (Let's ignore the forecast for snow). 
I've made my ATC with an image from Bugaboo called Daisy Girl. Isn't she sweet?! The background's a bit of a mish mash with Glimmer Mist and text added along with a few flourishes. I did add quite a lot of gloss to add a bit of shine and texture but you can't see it in the photo as usual.

I made an extra ATC from an image I had from Beccy's Place called Waterlily Fairy. The background's Glimmer Mist again (I think I'm addicted!) with gold embossed flourishes.

I made both of these in the supportive Twitter environment of #CreativesUnite, a group of crafty people who dedicate a couple of hours on a Thursday evening to crafting. It was my fist time crafting and tweeting and I intend to keep going-it's great to have an excuse to do nothing but craft for two hours! Come along and join in-I recommend it as stress therapy! If you click the link in my sidebar it'll take you to Miss Beatrix's blog and all the details of how to join the group.