Friday 30 May 2014

Scrapbooking with A Few of My Favourite Things

Hello there, Claireliz here, how are you?

Today I've got a pink and girly scrapbook page to share with you. It's not often I get to do pink and girly even though I have an 8 year old daughter, she is the most ungirly girl, she refuses to wear dresses or anything pretty and will only wear pink if it's hot pink, I cannot imagine where she gets it from... erm, what's that saying.... "like mother, like daughter"

There was a time when she was girly but that was before she started having a say in her wardrobe and luckily enough I had the presence of mind to take this particular photo because it will never happen again....


Here she is aged 5 in her little pink leotard, tutu & wrap cardigan at her ballet lesson with her ballerina doll, oh so sweet, she stopped going to ballet after her first ballet exam as she didn't really enjoy it and they wanted to move her into the next class which was mostly full of tweenagers and teenagers.

As soon as I saw Sarah's Neopolitan A Few of My Favourite Things kit, I knew I was going to scrap this photo, it also gave me the opportunity to use the teeny pink dress embellishment that had been in crafty stash for longer than I can remember.

I ripped the papers into strips and inked the edges with Pumice Stone Distress Ink,which is a great colour for when you want some definition but not as harsh as Black or Brown. I arranged the strips onto the cardstock then ripped a square of the pink paper for the mat behind the photo. Once I'd arranged them on the page there was still something missing so I cut circles out from the Stamp & Stick sheet and cut them in half, I used these to make the scalloped border at the bottom of the page. When I was happy with the layout I stuck everything to the page. I added a strip of ribbon and a string of pearl beads.

The photo is an Instagram print from Printed.com, they are printed on really thick card so they're great for attaching with 3d foam pads as they don't sag of get too squashed in your scrapbook album.

I cut the banners from the Stamp & Stick sheet and attached them to the top of the page and used the little gold feathers as wings behind the dress embellishment. I used Thickers for the title and finally drew a little doodly border around my page.

That's all from me for today, hope to see you soon.

Claireliz xx

Wednesday 28 May 2014

Challenge 92 - Winners

Hello and welcome to Sarah Hurley 365.

Today we are here to announce our last challenge ( Anything Goes) winner. Huge thanks to everyone who entered, we had a blast viewing your projects and visiting your amazing blogs. So without further ado......

our winners are.....

First place

no 3 - Tracey



Second place

no 43 -  Millie





Third place

no - 29  Cheremane


congratulations everyone


Please email Sarah using the contact address in the right hand bar to claim your prize. 

Thank you once again to everyone for playing along.

Tuesday 27 May 2014

Journalling Page Layout

Hi all,

It's Nicole here today to share a rare event from me - a layout! I tend to do a digital layout once in a blue moon. I always do them in A4 size with the idea that I will eventually get them all put into one of those digital photo books that you can get printed. I recently visited an alpaca farm and spent a day helping out at their shearing event -  long story! I got some great photos that I thought deserved a page so here you are....

I used the April 'A Few of My Favourite Things' Digital 365 kit for this one. I love the colours and patterns of the journaling cards in this kit. I knew I was unlikely to print them out and use them as journaling cards so I created this page instead. I used Photoshop but you could use any program really. I laid the cards out and cropped my photos to fit along the right hand side. I added the title using a font called Sketch Block. The date was added using the Sarah Hurley Handwriting font which is available here.
You could do this technique with pre-printed journaling cards or the cards from the physical kits too. It would look very fun stitched down too - real or faux. On this layout I liked the graphic clean look though.

Thanks for stopping by today. Our new challenge is up tomorrow so make sure you drop back in again to check it out!!

Sunday 25 May 2014

Lemon Butterflies

Morning All. It's Lisa here today and I have made a birthday card using the April A Few of My Favourite Things kit.

A little while back I was lucky enough to play with some cork sheets for a magazine commission, it was fabulous and really versatile, so I was more than a little bit excited to see some in the kit. Here I have used it to stamp and colour on...



I love the texture the cork adds to CAS layout.


The butterfly was stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black and coloured with ProMarkers. 

Here's what I used:

  • 'Jet Black' Archival Inkpad
  • 'Tuxedo Black' Memento Inkpad
  • ProMarkers: Gold, Canary and Tulip Yellow
  • 5" Square Kraft Card Blank
  • Wink of Stella Clear Brush Pen
  • Viva Decor Pearl Pen Black
  • Pearl Beads

Thanks for stopping by

Lisa

Friday 23 May 2014

STAMP STORAGE USING PL POCKETS

Hi folks,
it 's Clare here today and I'll be sharing something a little bit different. It all came about when I realised I need a quick reference for all my Sarah Hurley stamps. Up until recently I used to just lay them out on my desk while I was crafting but due to my ever increasing collection it's just not an option anymore. I should also confess I am such a messy crafter so space on my desk is a rarity lol.

I also needed something more organised to store them in so they are easily accessible. My initial thoughts were to make an album but then this little, perhaps crazy idea popped into my head. At first I was a bit like really? would this work? Had I gone bonkers, well more than normal, to even suggest such an idea never mind blog about it ha ha I guess you will have to be the judge of that!

So here goes.....it's an album using Project Life plastic pockets. Unlike my usual posts I thought I 'd show you the finished album first then show you how I created one of my layouts. 

I've also done a little step by step on masking. I've only just tried this so I'm very much a newbie who only has a few inks. But I can show you that you only need one ink pad to create great layouts.


Doodle Doll stamp sets I used


*****
 First select your chosen design pocket then measure and cut out card to fit in the pockets. I used white and I rounded the corners using my corner punch.


*****
Next I stamped my Doodle Doll stamp from the 'Be Amazing' collection.


*****
Now you need to create your mask. I'm sure you can buy masking sheets but here I just used large post it notes bought from Asda lol Stamp your image onto the paper making sure you cover the side that has the sticky bit on the reverse. This is what holds it down preventing it from slipping when you add ink to the card. Finally cut it out and place it over your stamped image on the white card.


*****
You will need to now choose your ink and using your blending tool cover the white card until you get the desired effect you want.




*****
With the mask still in place select a stamp to add to your background. Here I stamped the small plain feather still using the same ink pad. The aim was to create a subtle background and I think this works well.


*****
Using a black ink pad I stamped the text border along the bottom, some eyes on her face then I added the sentiment at the top. The mask can now be removed and saved for a future project. And that's it, ready to be placed in the pocket.


*****
 To show some contrast to my page I stamped the remaining (small)  stamps in the set directly onto white card, again rounding the corners, here's a close up!



*****
Sarah's stamp sets fit perfectly behind the large pockets...


*****
I decided to make all my Doodle Doll pages blue again for easy reference. Next I will be creating layouts for my stamps from the 'A Few Of My Favourite Things' kits, this time using an orange colour.

I hope you have enjoyed today's post and be sure to check out the other dt's posts too. We also have a monthly challenge with amazing prizes up for grabs. Pop on over here or click on the challenge button at the right hand side.

Take care

Clare






Wednesday 21 May 2014

Sneak peak of something new.

Hi, it's Carol here today. And I thought I would be naughty(again) and use a stamp from a set that hasn't been released yet. I really had to have a play with these as soon as Mr Postman had delivered them.

I decided to heat emboss with them, which isn't easy to do with a clear stamp with lots of details, but thankfully Sarah's stamps are lovely and deep so it easily picks up the details. I was going to take step by step piccies but got so excited doing it that I completely forgot, you know what it is like when the mojo is with you.

I stamped out the image onto pre-cut white card using Perfect Medium Ink Pad, then covered the image with embossing powder. I used gold, silver and bronze seeing as I live in Glasgow and we have the Commonwealth Games coming here this summer! I then used the heat gun to melt said powders. I layered it onto matching cardstock, popped foam pads under them for dimension then placed them onto the card.

I added some accent sequins(I thought they looked like wee medals) and heat embossed the "Create" sentiment from the Doodle Doll Art Girl Stamps



Keep your eyes on the website for these fab new stamps, this is just one of them and there are lots more in the set.

Remember there is still a few days to enter our Anything Goes Challenge this month.

Thanks for popping by, Carol x

Monday 19 May 2014

Funky Art Dolls.

I absolutely love the Art Doll Mermaid stamp set as it has so many possibilities. Some really cool looking art dolls can be made easily with all the parts being completely separate.

Here I've created two, one in card and one other in shrink plastic.


I stamped the doodle flower from the last monthly kit to add something pretty to her body and drew stripes on the legs so I could give her stripy leggings.



Here she is with washers through the holes and small jewelry rings to pull the parts together. I also punched some holes around the head to add some curly wool giving her the frizzy hair-do. Her head is fixed on with a narrow piece of card.


Here's her little friend, and I mean little. She's not for the faint hearted. The parts were extremely small making it a very fiddly job indeed. I'm not sure I'll repeat the process in a hurry but she is cute.


Here they are together so you can compare the size.


Have fun and if you create your own art doll I'd love to see.

Jaine x

Saturday 17 May 2014

Watercolor background

Hello! Happy Saturday! It's Ria here today.

Watercolors are very popular right now in card making and I have seen a lot of beautiful creations using this medium. I recently got a set of Prang watercolor set that I wanted to try although I already have watercolor pencils and distress inks that can also be used in watercolor techniques. I have used Prang (Prang is a watercolor brand) back in the days when I was still at the Arts school so it hold a special place in my heart :)

So finally today, I had the chance to try watercoloring in my card background. I initially used the Prang watercolors but I find it a little light. It may be because I put too little of the colors. I wanted to test each of the watercolor types on hand but for now, I  just wanted to have a free play.

Here's the Prang watercolors that I got more than a week ago at the local art store and the Sarah Hurley's Butterflies stamp set that I'm also using:


The started off with the Prang ovals to color my base paper. I used watercolor papers as this paper type can hold a lot of water without tearing them apart.

I later moved to use the distress inks I have, putting some inks down in a plastic sheet and sprayed them with water. I then dip my paper into the wet ink and just had that fun moving the paper around and continue to do so after the first, second coat dries.


I did try out some reds in a another sheet of paper just to see how it works. I then chose to go for the Peacock feather distress ink for my project today. 



I then stamped the butterfly with a pigment ink, then run a wet brushed to fade the corners. Pigment ink also reacts to water so this one also gives that watercolor look on the stamped butterfly. I did this to the other two butterflies in the bottom of the card.


   I fuzzy cut this butterfly together with the other ones on this card project.


I then stamped my sentiment, also from the same Butterflies Stamp set and adhere that directly to the watercolor background. I just added a small stamped butterfly to fill that open space.

And this is what I came up with.


A closer look to the butterflies.


I hope this inspires you to create. Remember, the current challenge for this month is Anything Goes. There's still time to play so go ahead and try something out.

Until next time. Happy weekend!  

Friday 16 May 2014

Ukulele documented!

Hi! It's Sharon here with my Project Life-type layout using Sarah's Documented365 add on kits from A Few of my Favourite Things kits. I've got so many photos waiting to be sorted and this is the perfect way for me to make them look pretty and make use of them.

This week I decided to use my ukulele photos in a layout. I recommend everyone to get a ukulele as they are such a cheerer-upper after a hard day at work! All the stress of the day just drifts away and wasn't I lucky having a card with exactly those words on for the header! I added some music notes from a stamp set that came with the AFOMFT kit-perfect for adding a little touch of ukulele.


Couldn't resist adding a little paragraph praising my ukulele again!


The little white heart brad is also from one of Sarah's kits.



My finished layout. I love the simplicity and the way Sarah's kit works so well together.


I recommend these Documented365 kits to everyone with too many photos and not enough time to scrap them as really,the kit does all the work!

Thursday 15 May 2014

Teenage Birthday ...


Welcome back to to our blog, and thank you very much if you have entered our challenge this month.
The theme is 'Anything Goes', so if you havn't already why not have a go.

My name is Claire (Newcombe) one of 3 Cla(i)r(e)'s on our team. I still consider myself to be the newbie on the team, but in actual fact I have been on the team for 1 year now - wow how that time has flown.

For you today I have made a card for the son of my best friend.


To create the background, you can see here, I have used three spray mists through the Sarah's chevron mask. 
This is still a fairly new technique for me (and one I'm determined to master), and from this photo you can see I learned an invaluable lesson today - to wait for each layer to dry before applying the next!

The chevron mask was applied twice, the left (and first) impression shows the colours bleeding, and not doing the mask justice. The clarity is clear to see in the right hand side, and this is the impression I used for the card.


To layer and complete the card, to suit a 14 year old boy, can be fairly tricky.
 I reached for Sarah's kit she sent us from her 'A Few of My Favourite Things' club back in september.


I really didn't need to add too much because I didn't want to cover up too much of the background. What is hard to see in the photo, is the beautiful glimmer the inks on the background give. I am not a huge fan of glitter as such, but this is subtle and so apt for the astrological theme of this kit.

 I added a hint of silver to the card, in keeping with the theme, behind the sentiment and under the main layers (just to the right). I used product that is again fairly new to me also, and one that I am fast becoming to love, and that is Washi Tape, and if you are familiar with Sarah's blog then you will know that she is very partial too, and has a lovely selection to chose from HERE.



There are a couple of personalised touches (initials added with rub-ons, and date) to this card, because as I mentioned I made it with someone in mind, hopefully it will give you some fresh ideas how to add that special touch to a card. 
Its all about sharing ideas isn't it, and I would love to know your thoughts and possibly see your designs.


Thank you for joining me today.


Sunday 11 May 2014

Faith, Trust and Pixie Dust.

Hello, it's Carol here today and I thought I would share something very exciting that is coming to Sarah's Website very very soon!! I will probably get put on the naughty step again for this, but some things are worth the risk ;-)

Sarah has a great range of Special Edition stamps, and I have used a brand new set from the fab Clare Brown to make this card. It is from a set called "Woodland Fairy", and there is also a toadstool in it*squeee*.

I printed up some of Sarah's "Be Mine" digi kit, onto glossy photo paper and it looks amazing, it is so hard to capture it in a picture. Once I had printed that, I chose the colour of the fairy's dress to co-ordinate with it. I added some Stardust Stickles using a nylon paintbrush, so much easier to get that wee bit of sparkle exactly where you want it, in this case on her belt, wings and shoes. I finished off the card by popping some tiny punched flowers in the 4 colours of the card and added some flatback pearls. I layered it up using pearlised silver paper.
 


Ingredients
Promarkers; Dress - Mint,Pastel, Tea Green
Wings - Tea Green
Skin - Satin & Ivory
Hair - Saddle Brown & Nutmeg (Flexmarkers)
Outline - Cool Grey 1
Stardust Stickles
Punch, pearls, glossy photo paper, card all from stash.

I am really pleased with the finished card, and I hope you can pop over and join in with this months challenge of "Anything Goes".




Friday 9 May 2014

Inspiration Notebook

Hello there, Claireliz here.

I thought I'd show you the altered notebook I created for this months challenge - Anything Goes.

I have an obsession with stationery, there we go, I've said it.
I have hundreds of notebooks, which is handy as I'm also a compulsive list maker.

I wanted a little notebook that will fit in my handbag that I can write down ideas, flashes of inspiration and anything like that...


I started by covering the front and back of the notebook with the hot pink paper from the AFOMFT kit, I then used 3 strips of washi tape (from a previous kit) to cover the edge of the paper and the binding of  the book, I used one strip on the back, one on the front and the third on the top overlapping the other two.
I stamped a little border using Sarah's doodled border from the Home stamp set. I used the large Polaroid stamp from the Picture this stamp and cut out the centre of the Polaroid frame which I then filled with paper from a previous AFOMFT kit, I also stamped Inspiration on the frame using the Block Alpha stamps. I stamped a lightbulb using a stamp from another AFOMFT kit, I coloured it with a Pastel Yellow Promarker and coated it in Stickles then stuck it to the centre of the frame, I also added some sequins....


As a finishing touch I added a lightbulb paperclip to the elastic closure on the notebook.


Have fun creating & good luck!

C xx



Wednesday 7 May 2014

Wedding Gift Card Box

Hi All,

Nicole here today to show a little recycling project perfect for gifts. I had a lovely box from a necklace I got years ago and I was about to throw it out when I realised it was the perfect size for a gift card.


I used the wedding themed Sarah Hurley stamps for this. I stamped out the wedding cake a few times onto some scraps of the Sarah Hurley papers. 


I then fussy cut all these out and paper pieced my cake back together.


 I stamped out the sentiment in the set and over laid it with the heart stamps.


 I used the wedding cake inside the box to cover up the jewellery logo. I cut the word cherish from one of Sarah's digital kits.


 Here is a close up of it....


 And here is the box closed....


I love this as a way to present cash or a gift card for a wedding present, it looks much nicer than a simple envelope!