Sketch Saturday #500.. Let's get our celebration on!!!

Hey,

Happy Saturday.

Today is celebration time, as the Sketch Saturday team are celebrating our 500th sketch challenge!!

Awesome.

Kindly a lot of our regular sponsors have donated prizes -

A Day for Daisies - $16 Gift Certificate
Crafty Sentiments - 3 digis
Digi Stamp Boutique - £10 Gift Certificate
Fred She Said $10 Gift Certificate
Kitty B - 1 digi
Lemon Shortbread - 1 digi
MMendel Illustrations - digi prize pack
My Besties - 3 digis
Sasayaki Glitter - 1 digi
The Paper Nest Dolls - 3 digis

More info about the prizes and challenge rules can be found on the Sketch Saturday blog post today.

Here's the sketch..

We could choose to use any of the sponsors for today's 500th sketch celebration. I chose A Day For Daisies. I love the 'Skinny Maiden' stamp it is so versatile, sadly I believe it is retired.

I coloured the stamp using Promarkers and added tons and tons of Nuvo Crystal Drops to her dress for some extra special celebration sparkle.

Last year, I bought a second-hand set of really cool sentiment quote stamps by The Ton Stamps and I thought the Coco Chanel one worked really well here.

Both papers I used are scraps and were 'precious'...no more of that in 2018.. Tis the year to use the patterned papers.

Now it's your turn to show us your interpretation of the sketch and join in the celebrations. Don't forget to go over to Sketch Saturday and check out what the rest of the DT have made.

Challenge ends on Friday 2nd February at 7pm GMT / 2pm EST.

Cx

Happy Birthday Man...

Hey,

So today is JT's birthday.

Every single year my birthday post about her / for her is titled the same thing, it's an in-joke between us.

I think it's pretty clear that I love and adore JT. She is not just a friend, she is part of my family.

We have supported each other through all kinds of crap, but we have also had a ton of fun together (late night dancing in various inappropriate venues, speed drinking gin, dinners in our fave rude Italian, being asked to leave numerous bars - because they are closing.., forgetting to collect our takeaway because we got drunk, realising we are both slobs, etc)

I feel so very lucky to have her as a friend and one who shares my craft addiction hobby too.

My card and present are still crossing the Atlantic..so I'll show you her card later on this week, so I don't ruin the surprise.

Instead I am showing you one of my fave photos of us, on the beach in Margate last August. I love this photo, it's so natural and takes me back to the very moment we took it, on an unexpectedly beautiful summers day in one of my fave places.

Having JT in my life makes me a better person, she knows me so well and is always there for me, even when I am difficult and don't want help...

I imagine it's like having a little Sister. But better, because we had a choice and we chose each other.

I'm looking forward to seeing her in March, so we can celebrate in person.

Love you man.

Cx

So much cake...

Hey,

I am heading to Philly today to hang out with my friends.

Yes, I am still waiting for the pesky work permit, so I am going to hang with my friends in an attempt to stem the stir crazy..

Today's card was a fun experiment and I can't wait to make more of them.

The balloon background is by Bugaboo and when I saw it, I thought it would work perfectly with a myriad of physical stamps.

To test my theory, I used one the coloured and cut MFT Bears that I had on my desk from the colouring challenge.

I love the final card, the background adds so much and I really love the sentiment that came with the MFT bear set, I just had to add the 'Happy Birthday'

Cx

Retro Rubber Challenge #79..Still Time to Play Along..Love is in the air..

Hey,

There is still time for you to play along with the current Retro Rubber challenge.

This time we have a photo inspiration for you.

Pop over to Retro Rubber and get inspired by the things the DT have made.

Challenge ends February 9th.

Don't forget to tell us the age of your stamp, that is part of the fun of our challenge and please only enter 10 challenges including Retro Rubber.

Cx

Cupcake Inspiration Challenge: Pearls in my hair...

Hey,

Happy February!

Super late post for me today. I have been busy running errands, at the gym and making homemade pizzas with Hubby!!

I made my card for Cupcake Inspirations current challenge last night and I really didn't want to miss the deadline.

They are being sponsored by A Day For Daisies, I love their digital stamps and I have quite a few of them.

I thought the colours would work really well in watercolour with Pearls in my Hair.

I love the watercoloured stamp, it's so pretty - sadly my birdies don't look as cream as they do IRL.

I layered black and cream patterned papers as a base for the watercoloured panel, I am trying to use as much of my patterned papers in 2018 as I can, so it was great to be able to use the cream patterned paper that I have had for a long time.

I was a bit stuck for the sentiment, but recently I won a huge batch of Unity Stamp Co sentiment stamps and I found the one you see on my card in the bag.

It works perfectly and I'm thrilled with the end result.

Cx