Serendipity Stamps Blog Hop - Day 1

Hi all and welcome to the start of the serendipity Stamps 3 day Blog Hop! Today is Day One, and we are showcasing the new dies and a couple of stamps from Serendipity Stamps!

If you arrived here from Miriam's Blog you're on the right track, if you want to start from the beginning of the hop, please start at Mary's Blog for the complete list. To make this blog hop fun, there will be a prize for each day for a random commentor throughout all the Design team Blogs of a $10 discount code to use in the Serendipity Stamps store.

Today we are showcasing the fab new Shamrock die. I've said this before, but these dies really do cut like a dream, and I have never had any trouble extricating any of the cuts from the dies, unlike many other dies in my collection.

The shamrock features a lovely Celtic design, and I cut the die twice in Gumball Green and So Saffron, and pieced the yellow into the green.

I layered the shamrock onto some Stone coloured card, and stamped the sentiment also in gumball Green.

For some sparkle I added some gold sequins topped with green gems, and some pearly stars. I  cut the bottom of the green mat with a Martha Stewart punch and wrapped some woven jute ribbon and green chevron stripe around the base.

Next on the Blog Hop is Vickie Zimmer, and don't forget to leave a comment on each blog to be in with a chance to win a prize!

Thanks for stopping by,

Pauline

Serendipity Stamps Challenge Blog - Buttons

Hi bloggers, I'm here today with a couple of cards for this month's Serendipity Stamps Challenge Blog! The challenges run monthly, but every two weeks, the design team will be posting some more inspiration for you!

This month the challenge is to use Buttons along with your Serendipity Stamps images or die cuts!

As the Design Team, we are asked to add a little extra to the challenge, so this fortnight we were asked to incorporate the Chalkboard technique, along with buttons.

I have made a couple of cards:

This first one is a fairly CAS one, using the sentiment stamp 'Just Living..', cut using nesties and layered with some Authentique patterned paper.

I added some buttons topped with gems for a little sparkle.

My next card is using the 'Retro Owl' stamp, teamed with the 'Hello' sentiment. I matted and layered with some papers from My Mind's Eye and some green Bazzill. I finished off with a wooden Prima button and some hemp.

I hope you feel inspired to give our button challenge a whirl! Here's the rest of the D.T to get your mojo going:

Jeanne Jachna

Jenny Gropp

Julie Warner

Karen Amidon

Marybeth Lopez

Miriam Napier

Pauline Pollington

Vickie Zimmer

Anya Schrier 

Thanks for stopping by,

Pauline 

WMFC, Seize the Sketch

Hi all, i got some time to myself yesterday and got a bit crafty, but by the time I had finished it was too dark for a photo, and today is not much better! However, I persevered and carried on regardless!

I have a card for two challenges - Seize the Sketch, and Waltzingmouse Fanatics Challenge.  This week the Fanatics have asked us to use some fabric on our creations. As it happens, I just discovered some fabric squares in my stash whilst sorting everything out this weekend, so that was very handy!

Here's the sketch:

And here's my take:

I have used the new Waltzingmouse flower dies to cut some flowers, and layered them together with some patterned fabric, and blue felt.

I have used a sentiment also from WMS, and finished off the flowers with some sparkly gems.
The blue Bazzill has been embossed with a new folder I got from the NEC back in November, and the patterned paper is from Authentique. This card will go to my Mother-inLaw for her birthday on March 1st, nothing like being prepared!

Thanks for stopping by today,

Pauline

My New Craft Room

Hi all, I haven't got anything crafty to show you (yet!), but I thought I would stop by and show you my almost finished craft space! I've still got to work out where to put stuff, and get more storage.

My hubby went to Ikea last weekend, and put together this fab desk and book shelves, yes it took him all day Saturday and part of Sunday. Anyway, here are a few pics, and for me to see it like this is giving me some ideas for the storage issue.

 So, this table is massive, and also very deep. I think I need some more shelving on the right hand side, and some shelves on the left wall. I was in the middle of going through my dies for a sort out, and they are in piles on the desk. The two purple spotty folders hold all my Serendipity Stamps  rubber stamps, and behind them is where I amgoing to keep my 'tools;, like my Cuttlebug, Grand Caliber, score board and guillotine. In the little purple box I have my hot glue gun and heat tool.

Underneath the desk I have my sewing machine and some boxes of scraps. To the right, in the unit are my embellishments, punches, and rubber stamps that don't get used much - maybe I need a clear out! Then to the right of that, I have a wheely bag that contains some craft mags (another clear out due) and some files with Stamin' Up! papers in. Then there are some more box files full of craft mags, a Next Directory, a Christmas panettone in a big tin and a little drawer unit of miscellaneous crafty items that I really should go through and bin a lot, but I know it will take me hours!

In this unit on the right I have all my Stampin' Up! stamps and punches, and Uniko Studios stamps. On the left, I have a miscellany of stuff - the white box on the bottom holds various note pads and white sticky labels (random!) next to a little bag with decorative scissors and pens, bow easy and some other bits. The shelf above has a bowl of Washi Tape (I didn't realise I had collected so many rolls, I rarely use it!) and the 3 small cubes contain glue and sticky dots, glitter, and scissors.

The shelf above has all my Papertrey Ink stamps, a pot with Stickles, and two tiins of chalks. On the top of the unit are some favourite cards from blog friends, plus a couple of my own which I can't bear to part with! There's also 3 tubes of hand cream, two little pots of die cut shapes, and my cutting plates and embossing folders for the Cuttlebug. I also have my dies from PTI, Serendipity Stamps and Waltzingmouse Stamps here. I need to decide how to store them, and where, I eventually would like to have the top clear.

This is the case I already had, and is where I keep the majority of my papers, and my box of dies. On the top I have four boxes of ribbons and trim and a box of flowers - again I need to get some order and sort them out, they are a mess! To the right of the bookcase is a small desk and my computer.

So there you have it, my work in progress, but it's nice to finally have all my things in the same room! I can see that I need to get some more storage bins or boxes, and I would like it all to look pretty!

This room used to be our dining room, but in the summer we had an extension on the back of the house, and moved our table in there. Here's a few pics of the conservatory, it added some much needed space to the house what with there being 5 of us here we were starting to fall over each other!

I still have my mini Christmas tree on the table, it loves it in the conservatory! I'm hoping it will last until next year!

Thanks for stopping by, and well done if you made it to the end of this post lol!

Pauline

TRR #68 - Ring in the New Year!

Happy New Year bloggers! It's been a long time since I have been here! I have been in the midst of sorting out my new craft space, Christmas, and a job in retail, so I have been very busy. Added to this my complete lack of crafting enthusiasm.

Now I have all my craft stuff in the same room, I'm hoping I will get my mojo back, but I'm taking it easy and not pressuring myself if my creations are not perfect!

This month at The Ribbon Reel Challenge we have the challenge of Ring in the New year, and to use gold, silver and ribbon.

My card was made using some gold and silver silky ribbons from The Ribbon Reel shop, with a tassle and and silver beads from my stash. Actually, the little bead arrangement was saved from my crackers last Christmas - I knew they would come in handy!

The sentiment id from Serendipity Stamps, and I used a Martha Stewart edger punch along the bottom.

Finally I added some clear gems for some sparkle!

Do stop by the rest of the design team for some more inspiration!

Thanks for stopping by!

Pauline

SSCB #25 - Shaped Card

Hi all, it's time for another challenge over at Serendipity Stamps Challenge Blog! This month we would like to see your shaped cards, using your S.S stamps or dies!

I have made a Christmas card:

I have used the stamp Snowman with Birds, coloured with pencils. The sentiment 'Merry Christmas' is also from the Serendipity Stamps shop. After colouring him in, I hand trimmed and laid to one side.

I then cut my base for my shaped card, using my fave dies from Stampin' Up!

I added some background to the bases using the Small snowflake stamped in London Fog, and added some green pleated ribbon topped with a wooden snowflake and clear gem.

Here's the rest of the design team for some more shaped card inspiration:

Jeanne Jachna

Jenny Gropp

Julie Warner

Karen Amidon

Marybeth Lopez

Miriam Napier

Pauline Pollington

Vickie Zimmer
Anya Schrier 

Thanks for stopping by,

Pauline

TRR #66 - Shabby Christmas

Hi all, today brings us a new Monthly challenge from The Ribbon Reel Challenge Blog. We have swapped from a fortnightly challenge to a monthly one, to give us all a bit more time to create with the ribbons we all love!

This month, our challenge is for a Shabby Christmas, using the colours in this beautiful picture (pink and blue) and of course use some ribbon!

I have made my card using some Papermania papers, and a poinsettia die cut from Marianne designs.

The little wooden snowflake was in my stash, and from The Ribbon Reel shop I have used Pink Button Twine and Ivory Button Twine under the poinsettias, and added a Rose Petal Pink seam binding bow to the corner.

The sentiment is from Waltzingmouse Stamps, I just hand cut the little banner and curved it up as I stuck it down.

I edged all the flowers with Tea Dye distress ink and added some pink dew drops to the centres.
The ornate frame has been cut and embossed using Spellbinders. For some Christmas Sparkle, I added some glamour dust to the Poinsettia leaves.

Do stop by the rest of the Design Team for some more shabby Christmas inspiration!

Pauline