Sketch Saturday #75: Witchybella

We have another fab new sketch for you over at Sketch Saturday today, and as it's the final Saturday in the month, our sponsor is the fabulous The Craft Barn.

Jo also set the DT the challenge of making our creations 'Halloween', as of course it's the 31st of October today - All Hallows Eve - so I decided to use my new Stamping Bella stamp 'Witchybella' as she fitted perfectly into this sketch (once I'd turned it 90 degress to the right). 

        

A bat punch would have been perfect, but as I don't have one I used a bat graphic I found on the internet and used Microsoft Word to resize it.  I also downloaded this fab spooky font to make my "trick or treat" sentiment.

I went a bit overboard on the embellies on this card ... lace rafia, 3 colours of organza ribbons, gems plus my 'must-have' pearls!  However, I was rather pleased with myself for coming up with the idea of threading some purple organza ribbon through the black rafia, as I think it creates a great effect!

I'm going to enter this card into the following challenges:

1. Simon Says Stamp ... All That Sparkles : anything that sparkles
2. Crazy 4 Challenges ... Week 9 Very Scary C4C9 : Halloween
3. Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge ... Challenge 56 Halloween : Halloween

Not much 'chat' from me today as I'm mega busy (...I hear many of you sigh in relief, LOL!!).

Thanks, as ever, for dropping by!  Do hop on over to the Sketch Saturday site, where you'll be able to feast your eyes on all the DT's spooky delights!

Have a great day!

Hugs, Sem x

Ingredients

STAMP: Stamping Bella 'witchybella' (bat and font were free downloads from www)

COLOURING MEDIA: Copic Ciaos (100 C-3 E00 V09 V12 V04 YR07 YR02 YG03)

PAPER: K&Co 6x6 Hopscotch (orange), Doodlebug 12x12 Lilac Filagree (purple)
CARD: Core'dinations 12x12 ColorCore 'Nightfall' (FB040)
EMBELLISHMENTS: Purple, orange and black organza ribbon; 5mm orange and purple gems; black, purple and orange 4mm pearls; Versamagic Dew Drop 'Persimmon' (GD-33); Black rafia lace
TOOLS: Woodware Corner Rounder punch, Paper trimmer, scissors, PVA glue, 3D foam pads

Whimsy Stamps Change of Seasons Blog Stroll WINNER!

The Whimsy Blog Hop is now closed.  Thank you to everyone who stopped by and left me such wonderful comments.

Using random.org, and discounting all the DT's comments (thanks girls!), the winner of the Whimsy Stamps Winter Raccoons stamp is:

Which means that's Trish from DiamondDolls crafty space who said...

Wonderful card Sem your colouring is just fab.I love this image so different from any i,ve seen.The trees great. Trish (-:

Congrats Trish! Please email me with your details and I'll get your prize in the mail to you once I receive it myself (...darn these Royal Mail strikes, LOL!).

Hugs, Sem x

Stamptacular Sunday Challenge 30: It's Fall Y'all

This week's challenge over at Stamptacular Sunday Challenge is to create a Fall (Autumn) themed card or project.  Our sponsor this week is Shaz at Funky Fairy, who has donated the PINKIE POPS DOWNLOADABLE KIT for our prize:

I decided to follow my Whimsy DT 'sistah' Debbie's tutorial that she has posted over at the Whimsy Stamps SNR group for the Whimsical Wednesday Challenge #3, and make an Image Swap Folder.  This has been made especially for one particular person, and I have filled it full of stamped images that I know she'll love!  This very good crafting buddy has been known to visit my blog now and again (LOL!) so I'm sure she'll work out it's her when she sees this post!

I've used this adorable Whimsy Pet Friends stamp, coloured it with Whispers, and then inked around the edge with my trusty ... yep, you've guessed it ... Versamagic Wheat Dew Drop:

I used a mixture of papers for this (which, as you know, I don't usually do - too scared, so always go for papers from the same 'range'), and I really love the orange and brown theme:

I used 2 pieces of 6x6 paper (brown houndstooth), and so as this left a join in the middle of the back of the wallet, I adhered a scrap piece of some of the paper I used on the front to cover the join:

And finally I used two of the Whimsy Simply Said sentiment stamps (which are currently on special at only $3.50!)  to stamp a message inside:

I'm going to enter this into the following 2 challenges:

1. Allsorts Challenge Blog - Challenge 24 Furry Friends : They want to see your favourite furry friend on your creation.

2. Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge - Challenge 55 Orange + 1 Other Colour : I have used orange and brown as my colour theme.

Don't forget that we're holding our monthly BONUS FUN DAY at Stamptacular, so hop on over to the challenge site now to see how you can join in!

Thanks, as ever, for dropping by!

Hugs, Sem x

Ingredients

STAMP: Whimsy Pet Friends and Whimsy Simply Said

COLOURING MEDIA: Whispers pens

PAPER:

CARD: Core'dintaions 12x12 ColorCore - French Roast

EMBELLISHMENT: Brown organza ribbon, 5mm brown pearls, Versamagic Dew Drop 'Wheat' and

TOOLS: Paper trimmer, scissors, PVA glue, 3D foam pads,

Sunday Sketch & Stamp 14: Your Next Stamp

Morning everyone!

It's Sunday again (gosh, the weeks seem to be flying by at the moment!), and so time for a brand new sketch at Sunday Sketch & Stamp, designed by the wonderfully talented Ger:

 

Karen, my fab boss at Your Next Stamp, has very generously donated one of YNS's gorgeous stamp sets called "Shopper Fhiona" as the prize for this challenge:

The DT at SS&S were very lucky to be given the entire set of YNS Limited Edition Halloween digi stamps to play with for this challenge.  As I said, these are limited edition, and will only be available until 31st October, so if you'd like to purchase some of these fantastic quality digi stamps, hop on over to the Your Next Stamp store right now!

There are 5 different YNS Halloween digi stamps available to buy, but I chose to use the one entitled "Cute Witch".  However, I used my graphics software to flip the stamp into its mirror-image to fit the sketch better.  I coloured her using a mixture of Copics and ProMarkers, and then added some coloured glitter to the tiny black stars in the sky plus the green stars adorning her hat:

There are a few Halloween themed challenges out there at the moment, so I'm going to enter this card into the following:

1. Stampin' For the Weekend - Challenge #21 A Haunting Good Time : Halloween Cards

2. Cupcake Craft Challenge - Week 62 Things that go Bump in the Night : Halloween Creations

3. Creative Inspirations - Challenge 32 Halloween : Halloween theme

4. Stamp Something - Halloween Somethings Challenge : Something for Halloween

Make sure you hop on over to Sunday Sketch and Stamp and check out what spooky delights the rest of the DT has made - I promise you won't be disappointed!

TTFN, and thanks for dropping by!

Hugs, Sem x

Ingredients

STAMP: Your Next Stamp Cute Witch digi stamp

COLOURING MEDIA: Copic Ciaos (E37 E29 E00 E21 R20 BV08 BV02 BV00 YG06 YG03 YG11 Y00 100) and ProMarkers (Apricot, Warm Grey 1-5)

PAPER: Imaginisce 12x12 Hallowhimsy

CARD: Core'dinations 12x12 ColorCore Nightall and Mantis

EMBELLISHMENTS: Versamagic Dew Drop Midnight Black (GD-91), 9mm Lilac organza ribbon

TOOLS: Compass, scissors, paper trimmer, 3D foam pads, PVA glue, MS Lattice Arch punch, Woodware corner rounder punch

Sketch Saturday #74 meets Kraftin' Kimmie

Hey everyone! It's Saturday again (yay!), so time for a brand new challenge over at Sketch Saturday. As always, we have a fabulous sketch for you to follow, and our sponsor this week is Quixotic Paperie.

For my card, I used this adorable stamp called "Charlotte". Charlotte is part of the Moonlight Whispers range of stamps from an exciting and brand new stamp company - Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps. Don't you just love her hair? Oh, and Elaine over at Quixotic Paperie stocks all of the Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps (click here), which is fab news for us Brits!

I am also very excited to be a 'Kraftin' Friend' this Saturday over at Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps Challenge Blog, where the challenge this week is "Shades of Autumn". I actually started this card using some lovely autumnal October Afternoon paper, but after colouring Charlotte, I felt that the paper was too busy and overpowered the image, so I tried again and pulled out my unused MME Wild Asparagus 6x6 pack of paper instead. I really love how this card has turned out, especially considering it was quite different to start with!

Now, if you visit me often, you'll know that I don't like adding sentiments to my cards, as I never know who they are going to be given to. However, I'm now lucky enough to have a fantastic set of sentiment stamps in my stash from Whimsy Stamps. The fab sentiment stamp I've used on this card is part of a brand new release Whimsy Circle Postmark Sentiments stamp set which you can see by clicking here. The set contains 6 circular stamps and 2 postmark stamps. They are really fantastic and I'm sure once you see them, you'll want to buy them!

Well, I think that's enough from me for now! Thanks, as ever, for taking the time to pop by and visit me. Sorry I haven't got round to everyone's blogs this week - it's been absolutely manic here! If you fancy popping back tomorrow, I'll have my Sunday Challenge DT cards to show you.

Have a great day everyone!

TTFN! Hugs, Sem x

Ingredients
STAMP: Kraftin' Kimmie Moonlight Whispers 'Charlotte'
COLOURING MEDIA: Copic Ciaos (E00 R20 E29 E37 E21 BG09 BG23 G00 YG06 YG03 YG11 R59 E04) and ProMarkers (Pastel Yellow, Ivory)
PAPER: MME Wild Asparagus 6x6 paper pack
CARD: Core'dinations 12x12 ColorCore (French Roast, Mantis)
EMBELLISHMENTS: Prima flowers, Roses from Joanna Sheen, 5mm broan pearls, Versamagic Dew Drop Wheat
TOOLS: Paper trimmer, scissors, PVA glue, 3D foam pads, Woodware corner rounder punch

Whimsy Blog Hop: Change of Season

Hello everyone, and welcome to the Whimsy Stamps 'Change of Season' BLOG HOP! The DT have 4 fantastic new stamps to show to you today from the Whimsy Animals range.

If you'd like to participate in the hop, and you didn't arrive here from Ann's blog, then click here to return to the start of the blog hop, as you don't want to miss all the fab new releases as we hop through the changing seasons!

The hop starts today (Friday 23rd October, 12noon EST) and ends on Wednesday 28th October at 12noon EST.

We have some great prizes for you to win on this hop, but remember that to be eligible to be entered into the draw to win our hop prizes, you must leave a comment on EVERY blog along the hop.

1. Each DT member is giving away the stamp they used on their creations (brand new) - so I will be giving away "Whimsy Winter Raccoons" to one randomly picked winner from the comments on this post.

2. If you join the Whimsy Stamps group over at SNR, then you will be entered into the draw to win a small mystery prize ... ooooh, wonder what it could be?

3. Finally, the grand prize for participating in our hop is all 4 of the new Whimsy Animals stamps, showcased through this blog hop.  The winner will be drawn from the comments on the company site, so make sure you follow the blog hop all the way to the end!

So for my blog hop/new release card, I have used this brand new stamp called "Winter Raccoons", which is available to buy (along with all the other stamps you'll see along the hop) at the Whimsy Stamps store.

Aren't these Raccoons the cutest?  :o)  I have to confess that I had a quick squizz on the worldwide web for some piccies of real raccoons, just to make sure I got the colouring spot-on!  I added some Flowersoft Polar White to represent the snow on the tree, and punched out some small snowflakes from white glitter card and stuck them on randomly (sorry the pics are 'grey' - it's wet, dark and cold here today!):

(Click on any of the pics to see a larger version of them.)

So now you need to hop on over to my wonderfully talented Whimsy Stamps DT 'sistah' Debbie to see what wintry delight she has to show you.... but don't forget to leave me a comment first!! ;o)

Thanks for popping by - have fun on the hop!

[I'm going to enter this card into this week's Crafty Angels challenge, which is Black & White ... I completely understand if my card doesn't count, as it has quite a lot of green accents, LOL!]

Hugs, Sem x

Ingredients

STAMP: Whimsy Winter Raccoons

COLOURING MEDIA: Copic Ciaos (G00 G05 G17 E37 E29 E21 C-3) and ProMarkes (Warm Greys 1-5)

PAPER: Unknown (given to me in a RAK - thanks Shelia!)

CARD: Core'dinations 12x12 ColorCore - Nightfall and Envy (SG040), and White Glitter Card

EMBELLISHMENTS: Green organza ribbon

TOOLS: Paper trimmer, scissors, PVA glue, 3D foam pads, Nesties, Woodware small snowflake punch

Feeling bummed-out! :o(

Part of the top of one of my molars broke at the weekend (tip - don't eat Cadbury's toffee eclairs!!), and so I took a trip to the denist on Tuesday to have it checked out.  Haven't been for a while (slap my wrists!), so after a very thorough exam, I was told I obviously had to have the broken tooth sorted, plus a couple more small fillings.  I was feeling no pain whatsoever, and the dentist was confident she could just build the broken tooth back up.  Went in this morning to have this done ... or so I thought ... once she started cleaning the tooth, it became apparent that I need a root canal!!  Oh joy!  So today's treatment was drilling down and cleaning out the canal and filling with a temporary filling.  I have to return in a week to have the rest of the treatment for that tooth (have to make sure there is no infection left before filling it properly).  Luckily I'm able to have that part of the treatment done on the NHS, otherwise it would have cost me £360-£495 - OMG!!!!!
So, suffice to say I'm bummed out at the moment.  The numbness is subsiding, and the pain is starting - ouch! Thankfully all my DT cards are made and all posts scheduled (except one) so at least all that's out of the way.  So I'm sorry in advance for not visiting your blogs over the next few days, as I'll be lying on the couch moaning with pain...LOL!!!

Hugs, Sem x

Your Next Stamp Challenge #2: Shape Card

It's Wednesday and time for a new challenge over at Your Next Stamp! Challenge #2 is being hosted by my wonderful DT Starlet sister Lana, and she has chosen the theme of "shape card". As always, a randomly picked winner with receive a YNS stamp! You have 2 whole weeks to join in with each YNS challenge - plenty of time to place your order and receive your stamps from the YNS store! And remember that there are some really cute limited edition YNS Halloween digi stamps available at the store until 31st October for instant gratification!

So onto my card ... I have to confess that I have never made a shaped card before so I went for a rather predictable scalloped circle!! I handmade this scalloped circle card by using a compass to draw a large circle onto a white 4.5" square card and then cut it out using my scallop scissors (...making sure I overlapped the circle so that I still had a fold!). I then coloured the edges of the card using my RV10 Copic Ciao to give it a pink cloudy/mottled effect.

I chose to use this cute Bubbly Fun Fhiona stamp (part of a 10 piece stamp set) and therefore wanted to create a bit of a bathroom effect by using some striped paper for the 'wall' and some patterned paper for the 'tiled floor'. Because I cut Fhiona out, I recreated the bubble pattern that are part of the original stamp by using some self-adhesive pearls. Some pink and brown spotty ribbon from my stash together with some liquid pearls, and voila!

Thanks for popping by everyone - have a great day!

Hugs, Sem x


Ingredients
STAMP: Your Next Stamp Bubbly Fun Fhiona
COLOURING MEDIA: Copic Ciaos (E00 E21 R20, E27 E29, BG23 G00, RV10, YG06 YG11) and ProMarker 'Ivory'
PAPER: Making Memories Boho Chic 'Lauren' 6x6 pad
CARD: Core'dinations 12x12 ColorCore 'French Roast'
EMBELLISHMENTS: Brown/pink spotty grosgrain ribbon, Crystal Stickers Perals 5mm Pearl (#1952) and 3mm Lt Pink (#2504)
TOOLS: Scallop scissors, compass, PVA glue, 3D foam pads, scissors

Stamptacular Sunday Challenge 29: Spooktacular Gorjuss Girl

It's Sunday again, so that means it's time for a new Stamptacular Sunday Challenge! For this week's challenge we invite you to create a SPOOKY Halloween themed card or project!

This week we have TWO sponsors! Our first sponsor is Digital Stamp Oasis who have kindly donated 5 digital images of the winner's choice. And our second sponsor this week is Simon Says Stamp, who have generously donated a $25 gift certificate:

We Brits don't celebrate Halloween in the same way that our buddies from over the pond do, and so I don't have any need to make Halloween cards to send or to sell! So when I found this old line piece of Imaginisce 'Hallowhimsy' paper half price, I was really happy, as it's still Halloween paper, but not with any actual Halloween prints! I don't own any actual Halloween stamps other than the YNS digi stamps (that I made a card with last week), so I chose one of my 2 Gorjuss Girl stamps, as I think they're perfect for that Gothic look (plus I love her stripey 'Halloween' tights!):

I coloured her using a mixture of Copic Ciaos and ProMarkers, then inked around the edge of the image with my Tea Leaves Versamagic Dew Drop. (I also used my Midnight Black Versamagic Dew Drop to ink around the edge of the design paper).

The layout of this card is my very own design!! YAY!! I'm usually not brave enough to design my own card layouts, preferring to take inspiration from other fabulous designers, but I'm really pleased with how this turned out! Also, I don't own any square or rectangular nesties, or a scallop border punch, so I painstakingly measured everything out and used my scallop scissors to achieve the black scalloped card mat!

I took some of my precious tiny weeny Prima flowers and coloured them black with my black Copic, then popped on a spacer and some small Papermania brads. I also used the tiniest of green flowers with a black pearl in the middle to adorn Miss Gorjuss' hair. Some black organza ribbon and a heart charm, and it was done!

I really like how this card turned out, as I think it would be perfect for an older girl or teenager! I have 2 nieces who are in their teens, so this will definitely be going to one of them!!

Finally, I am going to enter this card into the following challenges:

1. Creative Card Crew challenge 32 - scallops.

2. Papertake Weekly Challenge -  'The Dark Side' ...Mwah, ha, ha, ha!

3. Cute Card Thursday Challenge 82 - 'spook fest'
4. One Stop Craft Challenge 51 - 'Halloween'
5. Pile it On Challenge 19 - 'Ready for Halloween'

Thanks for taking the time to drop by, peeps, and for any comments you have - I love reading them all.

Hugs, Sem x



Ingredients
STAMP: Sugar Nellie Gorjuss Girl 'Sitting'
COLOURING MEDIA: Copic Ciaos (E00, 100, YG03, YG06, YG11) and ProMarkers (WG1, WG3, WG5)
PAPER: Imaginisce 12x12 double-sided Hallowhimsy paper (#000704 Lollipop Lizzy)
CARD: Core'dinations 12x12 Colorcore - Mantis and Nightfall
EMBELLISHMENTS: Versamagic Dew Drops (Midnight Black and Tea Leaves), black organza ribbon, jump rings and heart charm, Prima flowers colour with Black Copic, Bead spacers, Papermania Small brads, Black 4mm pearl
TOOLS: Paper trimmer, scissors, 3D foam pads, PVA glue, Scallop scissors

Sketch Saturday #73: Swiss Pixie Heidi Among Flowers

Yay, it's Saturday, so that means it's time for a brand new challenge over at Sketch Saturday! As always, we have a fabulous new sketch for you to follow, and our sponsor this week is Cute Daisy May Digi Stamps who will give the winner five sheets of digi stamps of their choice!

I've been dying to ink up my Heidi Among Flowers from the CC Designs Swiss Pixies range stamp for ages, but I just haven't had the chance until now. I was fortunate enough to find this Imaginisce paper on sale the last time I placed an order at The Craft Emporium and I think it works perfectly with this image!

As soon as I saw this sketch, I knew exactly what I wanted to do ... stamp, papers, embellies. So a huge shout out of thanks to Jo for such a wonderful sketch - they are always SO inspiring.

Finally, sorry for the poor lighting in the piccies. I made this a few days ago for a very good crafty buddy's birthday, and as I wanted to get it straight in the mail to make sure it got there on time, I had to photograph it late in the day. I hope she likes it....

Be back tomorrow with my Stamptacular DT card.

Thanks for popping by!

Hugs, Sem

Ingredients
STAMP: C C Designs Swiss Pixies 'Heidi Among Flowers'
COLOURING MEDIA: Copic Ciaos (E00 R20) and Whispers
PAPER: Imaginisce 12x12 double-sided 'For Peep's Sake' paper - #000484 Drapin' Daisies
CARD: Core'dinations 12x12 Colorcore - Katy Did (OG010) and Vienna Lake (TW010)
EMBELLISHMENTS: Versamagic Dew Drop Aegean Blue, 4mm white and gold pearls, white satin ribbon
TOOLS: Paper Trimmer, scissors, PVA glue, 3D foam pads, MS Doily Lace border punch, xcut small daisy punch

Truly Scrumptious 18: Whimsy Connor

Hey everyone!

I've been super organised this week and already made my DT commitments for this coming weekend, so that's left me with some time for some extra crafting - yay!

As some of you will know, hubby is a New Zealander, and ALL his family live over there. His older sister has 2 children, and her youngest, Alex, is about to turn 2, so I thought this gorgeous Whimsy stamp called 'Connor on Bike' would be ideal! I had a bit of a looksie around challenge-land and found a perfect sketch to match this image by the fantastically talented Mina, over at Truly Scrumptious. Although I love my layers, I'm really loving these kind of sketches at the moment - the ones that allow you to really show off the patterned paper rather than cover it up with a different piece ... kwim?

Of course, boys (even two-year-olds) don't want flowers on their cards, so I used a combination of punched out stars and buttons from my stash. I was SO lucky that the buttons matched, as I only have about 50 in total!!

And frugal old me even managed to use up the scrap pieces of card as the strips in the sketch (plus some organza red ribbon for a bit of texture!).

Sorry for the pants piccies. I'm afraid the gorgeous, sunny Autumn days have gone in my neck of the woods, and it's dull, grey and overcast today with absolutely NO light! So I've been unable to really capture the colours correctly, despite spending ages with my photo editing software!!

As I said to Denise (of Whimsy Stamps) yesterday, I love every single one of my cards that I have made for Whimsy. It's really rare for me to like my cards (I'm my own worst critic!), so I feel that this is such an achievement. It must be those Whimsy Stamps, LOL!

I'm going to enter this card into the following challenges:

1. Whimsy Stamps Challenge #23 'Get punchy' - I've used my 1" Woodware star punch to punch out the red and green stars.

2. Cupcake Craft Challenge #61 'Buttons & Stitching' - I added some gorgeous BG buttons and some faux stitching around the image.

3. Crafty Angels Challenge #5 'Buttons & Bling' - BG buttons and ... if you look really hard you'll see two small yellow gems in the middle of each bike wheel!

4. Creative Inspirations Challenge #31 'Family' - This card was made especially for my nephew, Alex, in New Zealand ...

5. One Stop Craft Challenge #50 'Happy Birthday' - ...to celebrate Alex's 2nd birthday!

6. Truly Scrumptious Challenge #18 Mina's Sketch - and last but by no means least, I've followed Mina's amazingly gorgeous sketch! Thanks Mina for yet another fab sketch!

Thanks for popping by everyone!

TTFN!

Hugs Sem x

Ingredients
STAMP: Whimsy Connor on Bike
COLOURING MEDIA: Whispers
PAPER: Basic Grey Cupcake 6x6 paper pad
CARD: Core'dinations 12x12 ColorCore - Palm Grove (OG020) and Cardinal (CR020)
EMBELLISHMENTS: Versamagic Dew Drop 'Spanish Olive' (GD-59), Red 9mm organza ribbon, Basic Grey buttons
TOOLS: Paper Trimmer, Scissors, PVA glue, 3D foam pads, Woodware 1" star punch

Miss Anya on an October Afternoon...

Woo-hoo, it's time for the monthly bonus fun day at Stamptacular Sunday Challenge!!

So if you've found this hidden post - well done, and thanks for joining us on our...

Stamptacular Sunday Challenge

OCTOBER BONUS FUN DAY

The SSC DT are hosting a Scavenger Hunt today! Each DT member has picked their favorite stamp from their collection, taken a picture of it, and hidden it somewhere in their blog posts some time during the month of October 2009. To play along, you need to visit each of our blogs and hunt around to find out what our favorite stamp is and why, and see some of the creations we've made using it. To be entered into our Grand Prize drawing you need to leave a comment on each of the DT members' blogs telling us what you think about our favourite stamp. 

Also, there are several DT members who will have additional fun posted for you to join in with! Follow the directions and complete the tasks required and you'll be entered into even more drawings and extra chances to win more prizes!

I have SO many favourite stamps, but I have to say that my all-time favourite stamps are The Greeting Farm Miss Anyas.  Why are Miss Anyas my favourite stamps?  Many, many reasons!  The stamps are first and foremost the best quality ever, and give a fab, clear impression first time; the images are so easy to colour - especially love her differing hairstyles; they are perfect for my fave technique, paper piecing; they are cute without being too 'young'; ... the list could go on and on!  I just {heart} my Miss Anya stamps (and yes, I do have every set, LOL!).  So I've chosen a Miss Anya from the very first set of Miss Anya stamps that started my obsession, and posted one of the cards I made with her using my fave paper manufacturer, October Afternoon:

So if you're here on the Stamptacular Bonus Fun Day, you should have hopped on over from Line's blog.  If you didn't, click here to return to the start of the hop. 

Now you've visited me, you need to continue the hunt by hopping on over to Aud Kirsten to hunt around her blog for her hidden 'favourite stamp' post!!   But don't forget to leave me a comment first and tell me what you think about my favourite stamp, or you won't be eligible to be entered into the draw for the delish prizes!

Thanks for stopping by, well done for finding this hidden post, and good luck on the rest of the hunt!

Hugs, Sem x

Stamptacular Sunday Challenge 28: Character Counts

This week's challenge over at Stamptacular Sunday Challenge is "Character Counts: Use a well known cartoon character on your card or project". Now, I know what you're all going to say ... "but you haven't used a cartoon character!". If you squint your eyes a bit and use a little imagination, you will see Ariel from Disney's The Little Mermaid!! ...hopefully, LOL!

The reason why I haven't used a 'proper' cartoon character is because this week's challenge is being sponsored by my wonderful Your Next Stamp boss, Karen! (Thanks hun!) And she has very generously donated one of YNS's scrummy stamp sets called "Just Swimming By Mermaid" as the prize for this challenge - the stamp set I've used on my card! (Can you see why I used it now, LOL!) If you don't own any YNS stamps, then this is the perfect opportunity to join in with this fun challenge and be in with a chance to win ...

So onto my card ...

I stamped the wave stamp onto white card and coloured it using my Copics. I then stamped, coloured and glittered 'Ariel', cut her out and popped her up using 3D foam pads, and finally added some pearly 'bubbles' for interest and dimension:

I followed this fortnight's awesome sketch (challenge #17) over at Truly Scrumptious for this card. (Big shout out to Angela, my lovely and extremely talented blogging buddy, who is the Guest Designer at TS for October & November!). Originally I was going to use the sketch exactly as it is, but then after sticking down the under layers, I decided it suited the image better being turned to the left by 90 degrees!

The sketch worked so well for allowing me to use the two shell stamps plus the octopus stamp which come in this stamp set:

I bought this Daisy Bucket 12x12 double-sided paper especially for this stamp, as I thought the waves and bubbles were perfect for a mermaid card. Again, I used my CB 'Tiny Bubbles' embossing folder, but this time on the green underlaid card.

I hope you can pop over to Stamptacular Sunday Challenge this week and join us, as we'd love to see you! And if you're stuck for ideas of where to get cartoon character stamps, why don't you do what I've done and turn a stamp you already have into one! Alternatively, have a look through the numerous online colouring pages, as there are literally hundreds of free 'digi' stamps you can use - just so long as you don't sell your finished card for money (...otherwise there are issues with copyright!).

Thanks for dropping by! TTFN!

Hugs, Sem x

(PS You can click on all the piccies in my post to see larger versions with all the detail!)

Ingredients
STAMP: Your Next Stamp 'Just Swimming By Mermaid' stamp set
COLOURING MEDIA: Copic Ciaos
PAPER: Daisy Bucket 12x12 Posh Poshies 'Groovy'
CARD: Core'dinations 12x12 ColorCore Harlequin (LL040), Mantis (GG020)
EMBELLISHMENTS: 5mm white pearls (purple pearl was coloured using a Copic Ciao), turquoise & purple glitter glue
TOOLS: Paper trimmer, Cuttlebug, CB embossing folder 'Tiny Bubbles', Scissors, 3D foam pads, PVA glue, MS Scallop Dot border punch

Sunday Sketch & Stamp 13: Sugar Nellie Autumn

Hey everyone!

It's Sunday again, and time for a brand new sketch at Sunday Sketch & Stamp, designed by the fabulous Clare! If you take part in this fortnight's challenge, you will be entered into the draw to win a £10 Joanna Sheen gift voucher!

Today is an extra special day for the team at Sunday Sketch & Stamp, as it marks the start of our 3-month Guest Designers positions for Mira, Claire and Vicki! Welcome to the team girls - we're SO happy to have you!

For my DT card, I decided to crack open my brand new (and untouched) Basic Grey 'Indian Summer' paper pad. I love Clare's sketch, as it's one of those that really lets you show off the paper and the image. (I do love using sketches with lots of layers, but it does sadden me slightly to cover up such delicious paper with more paper, LOL!).

I decided to use another of my new Sugar Nellie Autumn Kit stamps. If you don't own them, I would urge you to buy them, as they are all so gorgeous!

Something a bit different for the flower ... I took a large purple Prima flower and inked around the edges with my Plumeria versamagic dew drop pad, took a white daisy Prima and coloured it brown with my E29 Copic Ciao, then threaded 3 co-ordinating roses (bought from Joanna Sheen a while ago) through the middle:

I really wanted to add a charm to this card, but I didn't think I had any other than hearts and strawberries ... but then I found a little packet of charms and spacers that I was sent in a RAK some time ago, and in there was this leaf charm - perfect!

I decided to revisit a style that I used to use quite a while ago - distressing! I sanded the purple Core'dinations card to give it a distressed look, used an edge distresser around the patterned paper and then inked the edges with some Versamagic dew drop ink.

I'm going to enter this card into the following challenges:

1. Cute Card Thursday Challenge #81 'So Charming' - my card has a leaf charm!

2. Stamp Something 'Brown Plus Something' challenge - I hope my card has enough brown to qualify!

3. Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge #53 'Autumn Colours' - I know that purple isn't a traditional autumnal colour, but I think it looks nice as an accent colour to the traditional autumnal colours on this card!

4. Crafty Calendar Challenge #1 'Autumn' - this is a brand new monthly challenge blog, so be sure to hop along and join in!

Why don't you hop on over to Sunday Sketch & Stamp and join in this fortnight's challenge - we'd love to see you!

Thanks for taking the time to drop by and for any comments you have!

TTFN! Hugs, Sem x

Ingredients
STAMP: Sugar Nellie Autumn Kit
COLOURING MEDIA: Whispers Dual Tip Pens, Blender Pen
PAPER: Basic Grey 6x6 paper pad 'Indian Summer' (Milkweed)
CARD: Core'dinations 12x12 ColorCore - French Roast (CC040) and Harlequin (LL040)
EMBELLISHMENTS: Prima flowers (brown flower coloured with Copic Ciao E29), Roses from Joanna Sheen, 5mm white pearls (coloured with Copic Ciao V09), Versamagic Dew Drops 'Wheat' and 'Plumeria', Organza ribbon, Leaf charm (from RAK),
TOOLS: Paper trimmer, Scissors, Cuttlebug, Nesties Labels 4, Edge distresser, Sander, MS Arch Lattice border punch