18.03.2017

Charity Blog Hop with Sandy Allnock

Charity Hop blog header

You should have arrived here from the very talented blog of Lisa Stein – if you’re looking for the start then head over to Sandy’s Blog and start from there.  The full list of participants can be found at the bottom of this post.

I’m so happy to be part of a VERY special blog hop today organised and hosted by my lovely, kind, funny and very talented friend Sandy Allnock.  I was so happy when she asked me to join in – there are a great many causes out there and so many ways to support them – the gift of a charity donation being a GREAT way to do that!

The charity I’m supporting today is called IMPACT.  They are a fantastic organisation who help people across 11 different countries in Africa and Asia trying to reduce disability-causing diseases which leave millions of people every year suffering from life-changing illnesses.  They have a variety of different gifts you can purchase ranging from £10 for equipment to help a childbirth attendant to £200 for surgery to repair a fistula.  The gift I decided to get is The Gift of A Home Garden.  This will provide seeds, saplings and training to help establish a vegetable garden which could feed a family for a lifetime.  That must be better than giving someone a bottle of perfume or box of chocolates, mustn’t it??  Along with the gift card you also receive a cotton tote bag – sweet!

Card and gift

 

And here’s the card I made to go with the gift card.  I thought these wee gnomes from My Favourite Things would make the perfect partners to the theme of the gift.  I made a wee garden scene by first stencilling the Small Brick Wall stencil using different colours of Avery Elle pigment inks and Clarity Brushes (what a revelation they are)!  I then stamped a couple of the gnomes from You Gnome Me and coloured them using Copics and Distress markers.  I built up the rest of the garden using die-namics – Grassy Fields and Spring Garden (now seems to be discontinued but is still available at Seven Hills Crafts!).  

card

Awesome companies are helping inspire you to hop along and leave comments on all the blogs – Altenew ($30), Lawn Fawn ($50), My Favorite Things ($25), and Ellen Hutson ($25)! Be sure to go say thanks to them on their social media for helping get the word out about giving…and leave comments by Wednesday March 22. Winners will be announced on Sandy’s blog on Thursday March 23, along with a total amount we’ve raised together!

charity hop prizes

 

And here is the full list of hoppers – if you get lost at any point head back to Sandy’s blog and start from there.  Your next stop is Carly Tee Minner

08.02.2017

Simon Says … Cute

New @simonsaysstamp Wednesday Challenge starts today – and it’s all about CUTE!Hi all and welcome to another week on the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge

Thank you for joining us for the last week’s challenge and we hope you will all join us again this week too.

This week the challenge is

Cute

This week we are showcasing Wild Rose StudioProducts this week. You don’t have to use them for the challenge but if you have them we would love to see them used.

As always Simon Says Stamp will be giving away $50 voucher to shop at the fabulous Simon Says Stamp Store

50dollar_voucher_600px

So I thought I’d pair this ADORABLY cute bear image from My Favourite Things with the sweet little sentiment from Wild Rose Studio – this is a great little set with a few extra flower images which I also used.  I created a cream card base for a change and stamped the Gingham Background from Simon Says Stamp in Kraft pigment ink from Avery Elle.  I stamped the bear in Barely Beige Dye ink and gave the “no-line colouring” technique another go (I seriously need so tips on that – #fail)!  To distract from the shoddy colouring I added some sparkle to the icing on the cake using a Spica pen and then a dollop of glossy accents on top for good measure!!  All products used are listed below!

Cute WRS copy

Cute WRS


So now it’s YOUR turn, Happy Crafting
Do you use Instagram ?  If so please add  #ssswchallenge to your challenge entry uploads so we can see them on there too.
You have until Wed  8am Ohio time. 1pm UK time, 2 pm CET to join in

06.02.2017

New My Favourite Things – Wine anyone?

Hey!  I’m happy to be sharing a card and bottle tag today dedicated to one of my favourite hobbies – wine!  The brand new release from MFT Stamps features a really fun stamp set called Uncorked with some really cool sentiments along with a bunch of coordinating die sets – the Wine Tag, Wine Service and Cheers Die-Namics.

Print
Print Print

 

 

I actually had the EXTREME pleasure of crafting along with my buddy Karolyn Loncon in her amazing craft haven when I attended CHA in Phoenix a few weeks ago.  It was like a little treasure trove of goodies – don’t you love investigating other people’s craft spaces??!!  Of course the main thing I came away with was a huge desire to spend money, lol!  Well, I rummaged through her vast collection of MFT goodness and created this card and tag using both new release stuff (thank you so much MFT) and some previously released gems like the Peek-a-Boo Polka Dots cover plate and the Stitched Strip Die-namics.  As a fun little touch I made a tiny wine glass charm out of a wee jewellry ring (what are they called??) and one of the little gold die cut stars from the Stitched Strip die-namics.

Wine card

Wine tag


Thanks for popping in today – Have a good week!