Sketch Saturday #306 Put on your Easter Bonnet!

It's Saturday and time for another sketch at

Sketch Saturday
This week Deb is the designer of our great sketch 

and we are delighted to be sponsored by
the wonderful

A Day for Daisies

I used this fabulous image called "Bird Bonnet" which you can find here and paper-pieced the girl's dress and what I like to think of as her Easter bonnet with Crate Paper "DIYShop". I merged the ADFD image with a photograph I took of my own back garden so it looks like the little girl is sitting on the fence overlooking my Teahouse.  My borders are two EK Success punches.  I am still waiting for my Easter sentiments to arrive but this can be added later.

And here is Deb's fabulous design layout

Isn't it a fun sketch?  Now all you have to do is scooch some space on your craft table and come and play along with us.  And don't forget to share some love with my teamies!  I know they would be pleased to see you.

I am entering my card into the following challenges:
A Day for Daisies - All about Easter (I think this little girl is wearing an Easter bonnet)
A Creative Romance - Eggcellent Spring
My Mum's Craft Shop - Anything Goes
The ABC Challenge Just as You Like; and
Loves Rubber Stamps - Easter or Spring

Sketch Saturday #305 with Simon Says

It's Saturday and time for another great sketch at

Sketch Saturday

and we are delighted to be sponsored by
our very good friends at
Simon Says Stamp

I used a vintage image given to me by best matey Julie who just happens to be our guest designer at Sketch Saturday this month. I loved Jen's fab sketch this week and I thought it would look good in a fancier fold.

My papers are My Minds Eye Lost and Found "Union Square". The oval frame is a Spellbinders Nestie.  The "LOVE" sentiment frames are Stampin Up and the internal sentiment is PTI.

And here is my card opened out.

Please share some love with my teamies and then come and play along with Jen's lovely sketch.

I am entering my card into the challenge at Deep Ocean "Inspired by a Movie" - Love Actually

Sketch Saturday #304 K is for Kissable (and Kuddly and Kute)!

It's Saturday and time for another great sketch at

Sketch Saturday

This week it's my turn to host and we have the hugely talented Maureen J Manning of Mo's Digital Pencil as our sponsor.  I have been a GIANT fan of Mo's wonderful work for as long as I've been blogging. There is very little that can make me happier than colouring up one of her sweet images and I am delighted and oh so grateful that she has agreed to sponsor us and has very generously agreed that each of THREE lucky winners will win a $5 voucher to spend in her store.

Visit Mo's:

SHOP

http://mosdigitalpencil.com

BLOG

http://digitalpenciltoo.blogspot.com

HELP PAGE

http://digitalstampfaq.blogspot.com/

FACEBOOK GALLERIES

http://facebook.com/mosdigitalpencil

 Here is my card using Bunches which you can find here.

I used these lovely Teresa Collins Fabrications "canvas" papers which match the colour scheme in my Mum's lounge and coloured my image in Copics and Promarkers.  I added three extra flowers on top of the bouquet from a McGill punch.  They provide a little additional dimension and I think they match the lily type flowers in the bouquet really well.   The embellishment roses are from Wild Orchid Crafts and I have used two different Marianne dies for the foliage around the roses.  

And here is my sketch

Please come and play along with us this week!  We love seeing you!  And don't forget to share some love with my teamies including our guest designer this month, Julie, who just happens to be my best mate!

I am entering my card into the following challenges: 
Anything Goes at Loves Rubber Stamps  and Papertake Weekly
Spring flowers at A Creative Romance; and 
K is for (Kissable and Kuddly and Kute) at Mo's Digital Pencil
and in the on-line gallery at Bronte and Bella's Clubhouse if I can work out how!

Sketch Saturday #303 Pick-A-Sketch

It's Saturday and time for another great sketch at

Sketch Saturday

and we are delighted to be sponsored by
The Doodle Garden

This week you can Pick-A-Sketch from any of Sketch Saturday's previous sketches between #215 and #302.  You can find our past sketches here.  You just need to let us know which one you used.  I went for sketch #228 although as per usual my card is not an exact replica of the layout; I didn't want to cover up my alphabet papers with the image and his border.

We were lucky enough to be given a Doodle Garden image to play with and this little guy called Frogs and Slingshots  was my choice.  I coloured him with Copics and used three different paper packs for my DPs.     And here is the sketch I used,  It is one of Donna's.  

Make sure you check out my fellow Saturdays' blogs and share some love and then scootch some space on your craft table, grab your stash and come and play along with us.  We love to see you!

I am entering my card into the following challenges:
Creative Card Crew - Animals

Sketch Saturday #302 22nd March Deedees Digis

It's Saturday and time for another great sketch at

Sketch Saturday

and we are delighted to be sponsored by
Deedee's Digis

I cheated this week and used these adorable pre-coloured images from Sassy Cheryl's called We're All Ears which you can buy here.  I merged them together, coloured over Noah's hair with some white pencil to make him look more like the hubster and borrowed Noah's ears to add to my cat whom I Photoshopped in behind.  It was important that the card was from the whole family as the recipient is very good friends with us all including kitty!

My papers are My Minds Eye Lost and Found Union Square and the numbers were cut using some PTI dies. Cathy has made a great sketch so why not grab your stash and come and play along with us and don't forget to share some love with my fellow Saturdays.

I am entering my card into the following challenges:
Sassy Chery's Digi Stamps - Lots of Layers and
A Creative Romance - Seeing Double

Grateful for Frogs

I happened upon two absolutely gorgeous frog stamps by Stampendous and I just had to buy them.  I have two friends (wait for it...that's not the end of my sentence!)...I have at least two friends who share my love of all things froggy and I needed to make a card for one of them.  Unhelpfully, both of the frogs on these individual wood mounted stamps are facing the same way on the actual stamp so I had to flip one of them around.  They look much better facing each other.

I coloured my cuties with Copics and used some papers that I happened to have to hand which are probably Prima but I can't be sure because they were loose on my desk.  My die is Papertrey Ink and I love it!
I am entering my card into the following challenges:
Totally Gorjuss - Thank you
The Ribbon Girl and Kaboodle Doodle who both want us to use Green; and
Creative Inspirations - where the challenge is Vintage/Shabby Chic and I'm hoping it's okay to choose only the vintage element as my card was predominantly for a guy and shabby chic would have been too girly.

Sketch Saturday #301

It's Saturday and time for another great sketch at

Sketch Saturday

and we are delighted to be sponsored by
the oh so lovely
Bunny Zoe's Crafts

But before I get to this week's challenge, I want to say a great big
THANK YOU
to everyone who hopped along with our blog hop last week.  After discounting for duplicate entries, I received comments from 48 individuals before the closing deadline and Random Number Generator picked number 41

That's YOU - Mari of Itte Tehty
Please send me an e-mail within the next 14 days with your home address and I will send you this prize:

I loved Jen's fun sketch this week and I knew exactly which image I would use and who my card would be for and then I had sooooooooooooooo much trouble making my card.  

This fun, fun image called Tall Cake by the brilliant Mo Manning can be found here and, as with all Mo's images, it was a dream to colour.  It was not, however, a dream to print; my printer nozzles had clogged up nozzles and kept spitting ink everywhere.   I got there in the end and I'm very pleased I persevered even though I'm pretty sure my card is not going to be with the recipient yet because I got behind.   I used  my favourite embossing folder "Tied Together" by Couture Creations with We R Memory Keepers Anthologie papers.   The Happy Birthday is Crate Paper Party Day and, although not visible, I did fussy cut alot of the image.  The dress is paper pieced as is the apron and the hat and cake have a little Pinflair glue beneath them to give some added dimension.             And here is Jen's brilliant sketch.   

Do visit my fellow Saturdays and share some love.  Don't forget to check out the winners post at Sketch Saturday to see if you won any blog hop prizes and then grab your stash, scootch some space on your craft table and come and play along with us.

I am entering my card into the following challenges:

Mo's DP2 - plenty of embellies (there are 15 pearls, 4 scrabble letters, 3 spoons and a button) 

Crafty Creations - Happy Birthday

Cute Card Thursday - Girls, Girls, Girls

Charisma Cardz - Birthday Girls; and

Stampin for the Weekend - Anything Goes

Sketch Saturday #300 Special Celebration with Simon Says Stamp and a Blog Hop

We  have  some exciting news for you today.  
This is our 300th challenge here at 

Sketch Saturday
How amazing is that!

We  are sponsored by our very special friends at
Simon Says Stamp
who are offering one lucky winner $25 to spend in store

AND
Jo Edwards, the founder of Sketch Saturday
has joined us to celebrate!
The sketch this week was designed by Jo
and was the very first sketch here at Sketch Saturday...

AND

To celebrate we are having a BLOG HOP!

There is a considerable amount of mystery CANDY hidden along the way so be sure to visit all of the Saturdays for inspiration and comment at each stop to maximize your chance to win some candy.  Do then come and play along with our sketch for a chance to win the fabulous prize from Simon Says Stamp.

18.45 GMT 14 Mar 2014        Edited to add: 

Our challenge at Sketch Saturday has now closed and my blog hop candy has also closed 

but don't let that stop you leaving me a comment!  I do so love to have visitors!

For my card, I used this delightful Sugar Nellie Simply Sassy by the lovely Krista Smith called Hippie Chick and coloured her with Copics.  My papers are Farmland by Crate Paper and the whole card is cut using Go Kreate dies.  I have a lot of these oversized Prima flowers which are sadly no longer in vogue but I thought it looked perfect with this large image.  I added some little star charms on chains given to me by our No 1 daughter.  

And here is Jo's very first sketch...

If you are hopping with us you should have arrived here from Carla and your next stop on the hop is Niki:

Lizy
Vannessa
Cathy
Alex
Marzena
Carla
Lesley (ME)
Niki
Laura
Jen
Jo
Debra
Melissa

Then grab your stash and get creative.  We love to see what you come up with.

I am entering my card into the following challenges:
Anything goes at Papertake Weekly, Loves Rubberstamps, Crafts and Me and Creative Inspirations, and
Birthday at The Ribbon Girl;
G is for Girls at ABC; and lastly
Special Lady (or Mother's Day) at The Sugar Bowl

Sketch Saturday #299 with A Random Fan

It's Saturday and time for another great sketch
this week by Deb at

Sketch Saturday

and we are delighted to be sponsored by
A Random Fan

My neighbours held a baby shower last Sunday and I supplied the materials for the invitations which were jointly designed and made by two lovely young ladies - Amelia and Emma - with a little help from me.  I also made my very first "nappy cake" so scroll down for some photos.
I made a card for the lucky Mum-to-be using Debra's brilliant sketch and this sweet image by Lili of the Valley called Baby with Bunny which just happened to be to hand because best matey Julie brought over some baby stamps to play with at my house and I just had to borrow a couple.

Papers are Echo Park Springtime and the sentiment is by Stampin Up.  I don't think this is my best colouring but I had a lot of "cake" work left to do so I was in a bit of a rush and it was getting very late.  Here is our sketch.  I LOVED using it and I'm sure you will too so come and play along!

And these are the invitations we made using some ribbon, a PTI baby shower stamp sentiment and die set and this cute little Cuttlebug pram embossing folder.

Finally - here is the cake!  I had some trouble photographing it because it was quite big.  The ribbons around the "cake" are decorated with LOTV stamped shoes (girls and boys). Thank you Julie!

I am entering my "nappy cake" into the challenge at Charisma Cardz for using something not meant for crafting

Christmas at Sweet Stampin'

I'm on time for a change for the mid-month post at
Christmas at Sweet Stampin'

where our challenge is
A Tropical Christmas
and we are lucky enough to be sponsored by
The Hobby House

My fellow CASSettes have come up with fabulous creations and I urge you to drop by them for a visit, share some love, then grab your Christmas stash and get ahead of the game with your Christmas cards.

I had a lot of fun with my card this month using a lovely sentiment from Papertrey Ink as my focus with My Mind's Eye Merry Little Christmas papers and this little guy cut from my Cricut and coloured with Copics.

I felt my cut flamingo didn't have enough realism so I hand cut a bit off the body of a second cut, flipped it and placed it upside down across his back.  IRL flamingos do not have upward pointing tails, they have downward ones. I added a punched wing from a Stampin Up punch which gave my guy a little more detail even though it shouldn't really be there and I coloured on a face onto a third cut on white paper.  Now of course he looks much more real - especially wearing his Santa hat!  The garland is by Memory Box, the red divider is a Sizzix embossing folder which is straight but looks wonky and I just added a couple of banners to fill up the corner.

I am entering my card into the challenge at
Stamping Sensations - wings, fantasy and fiction.

I don't want to worry you but Christmas is just a whisper over 300 days away...

And having gone for a visit to my fellow CASSettes and spotted a few Santas on the beach, I thought I would amend my post to add my very own photo of Santa on the beach taken last November.  This is Siesta Key Beach (voted best beach in the USA in 2012).  The sculpture is made of sand!  Those people can't possibly be me and the hubster surely.  Goodness the camera adds pounds!!!

Sketch Saturday #298 with Oak Pond Creations

It's Saturday and time for another sketch from 

Sketch Saturday

sponsored by the oh so cute

Oak Pond Creations

Alex is responsible for our super cool sketch this week.  I first looked at it when I was reclining so it appeared rotated and I instantly thought "Bird House"  - well who wouldn't?  And I came up with this...

I cut the birdhouse shape by hand from First Edition Bird Song papers and added a Spellbinders roof and doorway.  My birdy is a shop-bought embellishment probably by K&Co but I can't guarantee it.  The tags are cut from the same paper pad and the background DP is from a coordinating pad.  Now perhaps you can see why I thought of a birdhouse.

My fellow Saturday's have created wonderful inspiration for you so there is no excuse for not playing along this week.

Sketch Saturday #297 with Dilly Beans

It's Saturday and time for another sketch from 

Sketch Saturday
this week our lovely Vannessa came up with the sketch and we are lucky enough to be 

sponsored by the fun and funky 

Dilly Beans

Megan K. Suarez from Dilly Beans very kindly offered the DT some images to play with.  I chose Lulu framed - a fabulous image ready framed in a rectangle.  Then I saw this week's sketch where the focal point is a circle!  My first thought was" uh oh" but then I had a lightbulb moment and simply rotated the sketch and used a circle embossed with my Cuttlebug swirly embossing folder on which to place my image.  I brayered the raised swirls with black ink, coloured the circle in the same colours I used for Lulu's hair and mounted the combination of image and embossed circle on a spell binder fancy scallop so now she looks like she has a full head of hair and I'm delighted with it.  I tried to give Lulu a darker complexion which I thought went better with her new hair style!

My papers are Crate Paper "Party Day" and I used a new punch for my star and my go-to Stampin Up tiny tag punch for the sentiment.  I wasn't familiar with Megan's images previously but I'm sure I shall pop by Dilly Beans to buy some more as I think they are lots of fun.  And here is Vanessa's wonderful sketch.

So clear some space on your craft table and come and play along with us.  And don't forget to stop by my fellow Saturdays and share some love!

I am entering my card into the following challenges:

Dilly Beans - hearts and love

Papertake Weekly - with a heart

Bunny Zoe - hearts/love; and 

Cute Card Thursday - clever cutting 

(well I think it was clever finding a way to make my rectangular image into a circle)

Sketch Saturday #296 with Simon Says Stamp

It's Saturday and time for another sketch from 

Sketch Saturday

sponsored by our lovely friends at 

Simon Says Stamp

I needed to make a card in a bit of a hurry and I didn't have time to colour an image so I chose these pretty Teresa Collins Fabrications "canvas" papers, some recollections flowers and Marianne Design leaves and teamed them with a Memory Box "happy", a PTI "birthday" and a fat staple.  Job done!

It's an unusual colour combo but it looked very pretty IRL.  Sadly as it seems to be pouring with rain just about ALL the blimmin time these days - my photograph is pants.  Hey ho!

Do come and play along with Jen's lovely sketch and don't forget to share some love with my teamies.

I would like to enter my card into the challenge at
The ABC Challenge - E is for Embellishment
(I used a fat staple, ribbon, shop bought flowers, die-cut leaves);

Sketch Saturday #295 with A Day for Daisies

It's Saturday and time for another sketch from 

Sketch Saturday

sponsored by

A Day For Daisies 

This week our lovely Cathy designed our sketch and I must say that I loved playing with it.  I also adored the image so kindly provided by Tammy at A Day for Daisies.  She is called Graceful Fairy of Flowers and you can find her here.

I coloured my image with Promarkers, Copics and Spica pens and used Prima Meadow Lark papers and a Stampin Up sentiment.

Do share some love with my fabulous teamies and then come and play along with us this week.

I am entering my card into the following challenges:

Creative Inspirations - stamping, 

Cute Card Thursday - something new (my image) ; and

Deep Ocean - Fantasy

Sketch Saturday #294 with Milk Coffee 25 Jan

It's Saturday and time for another sketch from 

Sketch Saturday

sponsored by our lovely friends at
Milk Coffee

I thought I would use this cute image called Fairy Tiffany 2 which you can buy here.  I'm not sure I did her justice because I actually printed her a little too small to enable me to colour her easily.  She does look pretty though with my Prima Romance Novel papers.

And here is our wonderful sketch this week!  

 I hope you enjoy playing with it as much as I have.