Cards for men at Sweet Stampin'

 It's time for a new challenge at Sweet Stampin'!  This fortnight we'd like to see your take on masculine-themed cards: birthday, father's day, or any other occasion you can think of!

My card isn't perhaps obviously "male" but I hope it fits the bill nonetheless.

I used an Anita Jeram mini stamp for my image, which I coloured with Copics.  With so much white space, this clean and simple design was quick to create.

We love to see what you make, so do hop on over to the Sweet Stampin' challenge blog to check out the DT inspo and play along with us.

xxx

Things with Wings at Sweet Stampin'

 Another fortnight has flown by and it's time to start a new challenge over at Sweet Stampin'.  Our theme this time is "Things with Wings".

I chose a tiny Altenew stamp set to create my butterfly, one of their mini-delight range (I think that's what they're called!).  Rather than go for lots of white space around the image, this time I broke out my much-neglected embossing folders and opted for one which has quite a lot of detail.  I cut a panel of black cardstock to 4.25 x 5.5 cm and embossed the floral/diamond pattern onto this before adding it to a cardbase made from black cardstock.  The sentiment is from the same Altenew stamp set and to keep things simple I just added a couple of clear dew drops as embelllishments.

It would be great if you could join in our Things with Wings challenge Sweet Stampin' Challenge Blog- we love to see what you make!

xx

Favourite Colour - Sweet Stampin'

 We have a new challenge starting today at Sweet Stampin' and our theme this fortnight is an easy one - use your favourite colour.

I can't honestly say that I have an absolute favourite colour, but I'm often drawn to red or deep pink.  I chose to use The Stamp Market's Raspberry ink with my Betterpress to create this image and I think it's a lovely, vibrant colour.

I managed to find some coloured cardstock in my stash which matches the ink quite well - I think it's one from MFT, which is sadly now discontinued, although if you're in the UK I believe Dies to Die For may still have some MFT cardstock left.

I used a Gina K die set to cut the sentiment mat and the scalloped layer; the sentiment itself is years old and is part of a big floral set from Simon Says Stamp.  All I really had left to do after sticking all the layers together was add some clear dew drops.

I love my Betterpress! I find it great for mass producing cards and so far I've found that all of my inks work well provided they are not too dry.  I made a few more using this particular plate while I had all the gear out:

The inks used for these cards were Stardust (Concord & 9th), Mossy (The Stamp Market)  and Blueberry (Concord & 9th).

Do hop on over to the Sweet Stampin' Challenge Blog to check out the inspiration makes from my lovely teamies.  We'd love it if you' play along this fortnight.

Have a great weekend!

xx

Use gingham or plaid

 Sweet Stampin's latest challenge starts today.  This time we'd like you to incorporate either a plaid or gingham pattern in your design.  

My DT card uses patterned paper from my stash.  All my paper is now donkey's years old and I really need to use it up.  I chose to use the Stamping Bella image as the snowdrops are out and are looking beautiful just now.  My drive to work takes me past lots of woodland and the snowdrops look like a white carpet under the trees.

We'd love you to play along with our challenge this fortnight.  Head on over to the Sweet Stampin' challenge blog to check out our inspiration makes - you'll find the challenge details there, too.

Happy stamping!

xx

No design paper at Sweet Stampin'

 We have a new challenge starting today over at the Sweet Stampin' Challenge Blog.  This fortnight we'd like you to avoid using design paper in your creations.

Once upon a time I'd have found this challenge theme really difficult as I used DP all the time.  Not so much now, though, thanks to the lovely stencils and stamps we have access to!

I used a  Concord and 9th stencil (Cottage Garden) and a combination of Concord & 9th and Gina K inks.  The stencil set is really easy to line up so it took no time to ink up, so it is perfect for batch creating.  The sentiment is from my stash but I can't remember where it's from.  The joy of these stencils is that they'll work with pretty much any sentiment, whether it's stamped or die cut.

I added a couple of co-ordinating dew drops and that was that.  I was on a roll, so made a few more...

I hope you can join us for this challenge.  You'll find all the details, plus some lovely inspo from my teamies, over at the Sweet Stampin' challenge blog.

Have a great and hopefully crafty weekend!

xxx

Bright and Beautiful

 Happy New Year!  Thank you so much for stopping by.

We have new challenge over at Sweet Stampin', starting today and our theme for the coming fortnight is Bright and Beautiful.

I was able to find some time over the Christmas holiday to use some previously unloved crafty goodies, including this Concord & 9th stamp set

There are 3 main stamps in this set which create the sentiment and rainbow, so I used Summer Shower ink from Pinkfresh Studio for the blue colour, plus Concord & 9th inks in Lemongrass and Pink Lemonade.  You can then add extra details to the letters with additional stamps and I used the same inks to get a tone on tone effect.  All I needed to do then was pop the image onto a Dragonfruit (C&9th) cardstock mat and add some co-ordinating enamel dots from my stash.

This proved to be quite a quick card to mass produce so I made a few to keep in my "emergency card" stash at work.

I hope you'll be able to play along with us this fortnight.  You'll find the challenge details plus fab inspiration makes from my teamies over on the Sweet Stampin' Challenge Blog.

Have a great weekend

xx

It's Christmas at Sweet Stampin'!

 No prizes for guessing the theme of our last challenge for 2025 - it's Christmas!  The Sweet Stampin' challenge will be open for the duration of the month, so there's plenty of time for you to enter your Christmas creations.

I opted for a Concord & 9th stamp and die combo, so that I could build a row of houses.  The house die has a tab on the right-hand side making it easy to attach more die cut houses.  There are plenty of choices when it comes to decoration, with both stamps and dies to create different looks for each house.

I used Concord & 9th and Spellbinders cardstock to cut out the shapes and used inks to stamp the bricks, wooden slats and the detailing on the doors.  For a tiny bit of sparkle I used Sakura glitter pens on the banner and fairy lights; I used ceramic dots to create the baubles on the trees.

We'd love you to share your Christmas cards, tags etc so do take a look at the Sweet Stampin' challenge blog. You'll find inspiration from the Sweeties plus the challenge details.

Hope to see what you've made!

xx