Petals & Stems - my first Verve Stamps purchase!

Wow! Hasn't the weather been just fabulous here this week. It's lovely to be able to walk the kids to school in the morning without fear of a heavy shower. It also makes everyone so much happier seeing some sunshine.


Well, I was on that famous auction site the other day looking for bargains, as you do. I spotted these beautiful stamps and it said they were by a company called Verve. 

I had never heard of Verve Stamps but thought they were so pretty. I then found myself on the trails of Verve Stamps and found that they have a website here in the USA. Unfortunately the stamps are not stocked here in the UK at the moment but you can buy online from their website. They are absolutely fab. Right up my street.

Whilst looking I went to their blog which is full of inspiration. I found a challenge called Sketch For You To Try (SFYTT). So, I thought I'd give it a go. I don't get time to do many challenges but I thoroughly enjoy them when I do.

Here is my card:

Colours: Versacolour Cubes Amethyst and Lime Green, and Spiced Marmalade Distress Ink

Sentiment: Craftwork Cards

Ribbon: Lime green satin ribbon

Fiskars Threading Water Punch used on purple strip

Thanks for looking! Have a fab weekend.

Sue x

Happy Anniversary to my hubby!

Happy Anniversary to my husband today! We've been married 14 years now. Gosh! Where does the time go. Actually, alot of people comment as we run the shop together but we do quite well working as a team. I'm surprised we're not sick of the sight of each other!

It's another digi stamp this time from Bee Crafty Downloads called Whimsical Girl Th Kiss. It's such a versatile picture and so clean and simple. I coloured it with Prismacolor pencils.

I used some red card punched with Fiskars Threading Water punch and then used a small heart punch to punch out some Tiny Typed Alphas printed from a Pink Petticoat download. Finished off with some lime green ribbon from Poppicrafts.

Gorgeous weather out there again today. Long may it continue! Have a fab day.

Sue x

Happy Father's Day Pops!

Morning or should I say nearly afternoon. Long time since my last post. We went to Cornwall for a week before half term and then I took the kids down to Mum and Dad's for half term near Worthing. Since we've been back I don't know where the time has gone! Haven't even had chance to pop a Penny Black challenge card together but have enjoyed looking at everyone else's entries.

My sis ordered some more cards for birthdays so have been busy doing some of those, which I enjoyed very much.

I made an A5 card for Dad (also known as Pops in the family) for Father's Day. I was looking on Beth's Little Card blog and from there noticed that there are some digi stamp challenges. Went through and found some fab sites where you can buy digi stamps. As a result I bought this image from Di's Digi Downloads. What a fab blog.

This image is called Back In Ten. My Dad is not into fishing or beer or footie so this was just perfect. All Di's images look great for colouring and of course you can re-size them to your requirements.

Used prismacolor pencils for colouring, MME bloom and grow papers on brown card (similar to Bazzill bling) and the tiny typed alphabets are from a Pink Petticoat download.
Recently had a birthday and my hublets agreed to buy me the Prismacolor pencils. When I told him the price he was quite shocked that I would want some mere pencils for that kind of money and offered to pop to Smiths for some deluxe felt pens! He was happy though as I was happy and he knows I'll use them.

This is my first card with them so hopefully with practice I'll improve somewhat! Have tried out a few ProMarker colours and I seem to be a pencil kind of girl at the mo. Can't get on with the pens.

It's our wedding anniversary on Tuesday so hopefully I will get a picture of the card I am making for hublets and will post it asap.

Have a great Sunday!

Sue x

Penny Black 100th Saturday Challenge

Well, I have finally completed my card for this week's Penny Black Saturday Challenge. You wouldn't believe that I started this last weekend and it has taken me until today to fit time in to put all the bits together! This week's challenge is a special one because it is the 100th challenge set.

I bought a lovely Penny Black stamp last week called 'Greetings' (3706H) and decided to use it for my card this week:



I used a Craftwork Cards blank. The papers are set on Bazzill Basics 'Pirouette' card. Not sure about the paper at the back with small daisies on as it has no brand on the back. The papers to the front and around the image are Bright Grey 'Green at Heart'.

I added some pink gems and the sentiment is an English Stamp Company clear stamp (bought for me by my dear sis).

I'm chuffed I managed to complete another challenge! Thanks to Jackie for the inspiration I got from her beautiful card.

Sue x

How Much Fun Was That!

Do you know, I love to look at the cards made by other bloggers each week for various challenges and some of them really are fabulous. This week I have finally plucked up the courage to join in the fun and have a go myself. I have looked at the Penny Black Challenge this week - Let's Get Punchy and I have made the card below.



Actually, as I type this I'm thinking to myself the first challenge will probably be trying to link this card to the Penny Black Saturday Challenge site so that it can be seen by anyone! If I can't work it out quickly this may take a few days to accomplish!

This was the first outing for my Penny Black Constellations stamp (3867K). I stamped it using Brushed Corduroy distress ink and also distressed around the edge of the card.

The backing paper is K&Co but not sure of the design. I used a Fiskars Threading Water punch on the pink strip behind the image. I punched 2 flowers using an XCut and a Tonic Studios punch and put pink self adhesive gems in the centre.

The Craftwork Cards sentiment has been distressed with Brushed Corduroy and I punched out 10 small pink hearts and fixed them on the back with the points sticking out to look like petals.


For the corners of my image I made 2 pink photo corners and put 2 chocolate candy pieces from Craftwork Cards.

I really enjoyed having a go at the challenge and wish I'd tried one sooner! Let's hope it's the first of many to come. After making the card I felt there was something missing so I added a touch of glitter and then wasn't sure that I liked it with the glitter! Never happy!

Thanks for taking the time to look and have a great Bank Holiday weekend.

Sue x

My First Commission!

I think it's going to be a hot one today. Just let the dog out and it's getting warm already! Glorious sunshine here in Lincolnshire and not a cloud in sight.

Now, over the Easter hols I went down to visit my Mum and Dad with the kids and also saw my big bad bro and little tiny sis and their families. Always love to get together with them all. While I was there I was absolutely thrilled when my dear sis asked me to make not 1 but 2 birthday cards for her. I was really chuffed to be asked! My sis liked the easel cards and they were both for two young girls and she wanted them personalised so here's what I came up with:

The background papers are from a Pink Petticoat download. I printed the swirls in one colour first and then put the paper back through the printer and printed a paler pink plain design so the background behind the swirls was lighter. I used a Fiskars Threading Water border punch for the panel behind the angel. The swiss dots paper is Bazzill Basics in Plum Pudding.

The pretty angel is a Rachelle Anne Miller stamp which I coloured with watercolour pencils and added glitter to the wings and tiny heart. I really love these stamps.

Used some Craftwork Cards candy to act as stoppers to prop the card up. The message is computer generated and cut out with Spellbinders Nestabilites Labels. The present is a die cut from a Quickutz die I used through my Epic 6. Added some punched flowers and small self adhesive gems to finish.

Both cards were the same design and I absolutely loved doing them. I was even more overjoyed when my sis said how pleased she was with them!

Have a great Tuesday.

Sue x

Rustic Wheelbarrow

Good morning. It's still quite warm here but we've had a few showers in the night and it's trying to rain again. We had a beautiful day yesterday though with hardly any wind so can't grumble.


I thought today I would show a picture of a card I made recently using a Pink Petticoat image from the Pretty Potties range. Image coloured with watercolour pencils and cut out using a Spellbinders Nestabilities Label. Olive green backing paper and image both distressed around the edges with Brushed Corduroy. I used a small leaf stamp from the Hero Arts Scattered Leaves set CL298 and stamped a panel of them across the card in the Brushed Corduroy distress ink.

Inside the card I used a scalloped circle punch to cut out the printed verse and added distress ink again and a couple of leaf stamps to co-ordinate.

Card was finished with 3 rustic looking buttons and a piece of knotted twine. Card reads 'Simple pleasures' to front .... and inside '-are life's greatest treasures'. The images you buy from Pink Petticoat come with a range of Wheelbarrow designs and you can print them with or without the wordings so there is a wide range of things you can do with them!

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday.

Sue x