Merry Christmas!

 The month of December has arrived and there are just a matter of days until Santa arrives.  Obviously there can only be one theme for this month's: Christmas.

We'd love to see your Christmas projects, so please do play along with us - we love to see what you make.  Pop over to the Sweet Stampin' blog to check out the details and see the Sweeties' inspiration makes.

I used the very popular postage stencils for my DT card.  I went for a dark background for dramatic impact and thoroughly enjoyed putting this card together.  The stamped sentiment is from a Waffle Flower set which has matching dies that are so useful.  I also added a couple of clear droplets for a bit of extra something.  

Hope your Christmas preparations are going well and we look forward to seeing your projects over on the blog.

xxx

Happy Birthday Sweet Stampin'!

 It's our birthday month, so our latest challenge has a birthday theme.  We'd love to see your birthday designs, so hop along to the Sweet Stampin' challenge to check out our inspiration makes and the challenge details.

For my DT card I chose an oldie but a goodie.  I often overlook my older stamps in favour of the newer ones, but colouring this cutie reminded me just how much fun it is to create something simple and understated.

I used a Magnolia Tilda red rubber stamp and coloured her with my Copics. The design paper behind the image is from my scrap box and is years' old, but I love the autumn colours.

I hope you'll celebrate with us this month by playing along.

Have a fab weekend xx

Halloween!

 It's only a few days until the end of October so over at Sweet Stampin' we're taking Halloween as the inspiration for our next challenge, which starts today.  You can create something that is full-on Halloween, or a design inspired by Halloween colours.

If you're like me, Halloween isn't really a "thing" but I do love the Halloween images offered by MFT and Lili of the Valley.  I used a Lili of the Valley digi image for my DT project:

I kept everything very simple and straightforward so that I can choose a sentiment when I have a recipient in mind.  I coloured the image with Copics and added some glittery dots using a Sakura pen just to add a bit of sparkly.

I cut a thin mat from black cardstock and adhered everything onto another panel cut from Maja Designs paper before adding to my card base.

We hope you can play along with us this fortnight. You can find inspiration from the Team Susan Sweeties plus all the challenge details over on the Sweet Stampin' blog.

Have a brilliant weekend!

xx

Transport at Sweet Stampin'

 It's the end of September and the weeks are just flying by.  There's a new challenge today at Sweet Stampin' which will run for the next 2 weeks, taking me to the half-term holiday :) 

Our theme this fortnight is Transport and we'd love you to share your stamped designs with us.  Any form of transport will do, but I went for this ship that I found in a holiday-based stamped set.

I used a mask to create a circle on my cardstock, stamping the ship image inside it.  I coloured the image with Copics and added a little bit of white pen to the waves.  The stamped sentiment comes from the same set (wish I could remember the manufacturer).  I like the fact that it's quite a good size so it gives balance to the layout.

I  matted the image panel on some blue cardstock and adhered this to my card base.  Not quite a one-layer card, but simple enough and easy to post.

All of the challenge details, plus inspo from the Team Susan Sweeties, can be found on the challenge website here https://sweetstampinchallengeblog.blogspot.com/

Have a great weekend!

xx

Beverages/Drinks of all kinds

 It's time for another fortnightly stamping challenge at Sweet Stampin'.  This time we'd like you to feature drinks of any kind on your projects.

Here's my take on the theme

I used a stamp and stencil set from Taylored Expressions to create the focal image on my card.  There are 3 stamps in the set, each featuring a row of drinks and you can use the stencil to colour in the contents of the glasses.  I added more colour to the garnishes with my Copics and a bit of shimmer using a glitter brush pen.  I then decided I wanted a bit more interest so I created some further shine with some Glossy Accents and popped on a few clear droplets.

I matted the image onto black cardstock and yellow DP  before adhering the panel onto my card base.

The sentiment is foiled and comes from a Simon Says Stamp pre-printed set - did you know that these are printed with toner so you can foil over them?

I hope you can join in with our challenge - we'd love to see what you make.

Cheers!

xxx

Summer Fun at Sweet Stampin'

 Our latest challenge at Sweet Stampin' starts today and our theme is Summer Fun.  We're having a typical Scottish summer with two glorious days of sunshine and (relative) heat at the beginning of this week.  That will no doubt have to keep us going until this time next year!

Here's my DT card

I combined a couple of Magnolia images to create my scene, which I coloured with Copics and shimmer pen for a bit of sparkle.  I made a deep frame using rectangle dies and added a stamped sentiment from an Avery Elle set.

Hope you can join in the Summer Fun this fortnight.  Do check out the inspiration makes that the Team Susan Sweeties have created at the challenge blog, where you'll also find the challenge details.

Hope you're having a great summer!

xxx

Things with Wings at Sweet Stampin'

 A new challenge at Sweet Stampin' starts today and our theme is Things with Wings.  This gives you quite a bit of scope as far as stamps are concerned (butterflies, birds, dragons, angels, insects - the list goes on!).

I chose birds because a) I love them and b) I also love the Concord & 9th stamps and stencils I used for my DT card.

The school holidays have just started but it appears someone has forgotten to tell the sky that it's the summer holidays and that we need to see the sun!  Hopefully these cheery ink colours will make someone's day a little brighter.

The set is simple to use: ink over the layering stencils then stamp over the top with the co-ordinating stamp to add the beaks, legs, eyes and patterns.  The greeting is also in the set.

We'd love you to take part in our challenge this fortnight. You'll find full details plus some fab inspiration from the Sweeties over on the Sweet Stampin' challenge blog.

Happy stamping!

xx

Father's Day/Special Man- Sweet Stampin' Challenge

 We're heading towards Father's Day in the UK so for this fortnight's challenge at Sweet Stampin' we'd like to see stamped projects for a special man in your life.

Here's my take on the theme

I combined 2 hAnglar & StAnglar stamps to create my image and coloured them with Copics.  I matted the image onto black cardstock and then cut co-ordinating papers from my stash (these are Basic Grey from way back when) to build up some layers on the front of the card.  A few enamel dots in the top corner and the card was done.

I hope you can play along with us - we love to see what you make.  You'll find all the challenge details as well as inspiration makes from the team over at the Sweet Stampin' challenge blog.

Enjoy your weekend!

xxx 

CAS at Sweet Stampin'

 I'm jumping in with Team Wends this week as our challenge theme at Sweet Stampin'   for the next fortnight is CAS - one of my favourites.

I took advantage of an offer and treated myself a wee while ago to this stamp from Simon Says Stamp. It's the perfect size for a CAS card

The stamp in question has 3 layers and I opted for warm yellows and greens for my design.  The sentiment is also part of the stamp set and is just the right size to accompany the image.

We'd love you to join in with us and share your CAS projects.  You can check out the inspiration makes my lovely teamies have created on the Sweet Stampin' Challenge Blog 

Have a fabulously crafty weekend!

xxx

Choose a country at Sweet Stampin'

 There's a new challenge theme at Sweet Stampin' starting today: Choose a country. If that makes you wonder if you have anything in your stash which would work, fear not!  You can take your inspiration from the colour of the flag, a food or flower which would be associated with a particular country, a scene which suggests a landscape typical of the country you have in mind... the choice is endless.

I went with a literal interpretation

I used an old wood-mounted stamp and stamped in Versamark blank ink onto watercolour paper.  I did some very loose water colouring with distress inks to add a bit of colour and added a sentiment from a very old stamp set (Sizzix, I think).  I cut a black mat for the image and adhered the panel to an A2 cardbase.

Nothing fancy and pretty quick to do!

We hope you can join in our challenge this fortnight. Check out the Sweet Stampin' blog for full details and to see the inspiration makes my teamies have made.

Have a great weekend!

xxx

Earth Day/Recycling at Sweet Stampin'

 A new fortnightly challenge theme starts today at Sweet Stampin'.  We'd like to see creations that represent Earth Day and/or contain recycled items.

I was a bit stumped about what image to use at first until I remembered this Altenew stamp.  I decided to ink up the image in different shades of green and used greetings from around the world for my sentiment.

I also added some recycled cardboard for the image mat which also gave the image a bit of dimension.

It would be great if you could play along with us this fortnight - we'd love to see what you come up with.  You'll find inspiration from the Sweet Stampers and all the challenge details over on the blog here.

Have a great weekend.

xxx

Easter

 It's new challenge time at Sweet Stampin' and we've chosen Easter as our theme this fortnight.

I have been wanting to play with my Waffle Flower postage stencil for ages and this challenge seemed the perfect opportunity.  I combined the Waffle Flower stencil with the Pretty Pink Post Easter Egg stencil to create my Easter layout.  The sentiment is from a Colorado Crafts stamp set that came out a year or two ago.  I then die cut the panel using the matching Waffle Flower die.

I kept everything really simple, just adding a pale lilac cardstock mat behind the die cut panel.  This was surprisingly quick to do so I think I'll be using this Waffle Flower set pretty often!

I hope you'll play along with us this fortnight.  You'll find all the challenge details plus Easter inspiration from my lovely teamies over at the Sweet Stampin' challenge blog.

Have a fabulous weekend!

xxx

Always look on the bright side

 I bet that tune is stuck in your head now!

Our latest challenge at Sweet Stampin' starts today and we're looking for bold and bright colours to cheer up the grey days.

I managed, at last, to use some of my Concord and 9th supplies that I bought but didn't get a chance to play with until recently.

The Concord and 9th goodies in question include a die set for the gift decorations and a stamp set for making your own gift wrap pattern, plus messages for a gift tag.  I loved using a selection of bright red inks and cardstock from both Concord and 9th and Gina K. Once you've got everything cut, stamped and glued I think you could have quite an efficient production line if you needed to make number of cards and I like the fact that the design could suit so many occasions.

We'd love to see your colourful designs.  Play along with us over at the Sweet Stampin' challenge blog where you'll also find the bold and brilliant makes my Team Susan teamies have made.

Have a great weekend!

Tracey x

Births, Weddings and Anniversaries

 A new challenge starts at Sweet Stampin' today and we'd love you to play along.

This fortnight your stamped project should celebrate a new baby, a wedding or an anniversary.  I opted for a baby theme for my DT card

First, apologies for the lighting in the photo.  Even with a daylight lamp I'm struggling to get decent pictures just now as it's dark when I leave for work and dark when I head for home.  Not too long until we have longer days, thankfully.

So I used a coverplate die for the background and popped that onto my card base.  The baby-gro is die cut using a now unavailable die from  and some MFT paper.  The stamped sentiment is from a very old set from Simon Says Stamp.  I added some tiny hearts to the background which pick out the colours in the baby-gro to complete the design.

Team Susan has made some cracking inspiration projects so do check them out over on the Sweet Stamping challenge blog.

Have a lovely weekend

xxx

Happy New Year

 We're kicking off 2024 with the theme of "What's New?" over at Sweet Stampin'.  You can choose the new year, or use some of your new goodies if you've been lucky enough to have been given stamps for  Christmas.

I went with the New Year theme for my DT card

I went for some simple stamping in the background as the numbers are very sparkly.  The fireworks are from a tiny Altenew set and I stamped them in gold, silver and rose gold pigment inks.  I cut the numbers using a Papertrey ink die set that I've had for years, using glitter cardstock from a Memory Box pad (their glitter cardstock is gorgeous, btw).

We'd love you to join in with our first fortnightly challenge at Sweet Stampin'.  Do come on over to the blog to check out the design projects the team have made to get you inspired.

I hope you've had a great start to 2024 and I wish you all love, good health and happiness in the coming months.  And peace.  That would be really good.

xxx