My Favourite Colours

Here is a card I created for the Penny Black Saturday Challenge and Basic Grey Challenges.

Penny Black had this cute little sketch to follow and obviously the image should be a Penny Black one, she is called Bunny Snuggles and comes from their Victorian Country range of stamps. I coloured her in with distress inks and Memento inks.

Basic Grey like you to use something from the BG range, and their challenge was Tutti Frutti. Luckily it can be interpreted as colours, as I sadly couldn't find any fruit embellishments anywhere. So the colours I chose were to represent harvest berries, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, and plums; and come from the gorgeous new pad Green At Heart. Basic Grey are probably my most favourite range of papers, very pretty.

I loved the ribbon as it had both sets of colours in it, both the greens and plum/mauve. A couple of shades of roses and finished.

Lin

Easter is coming

I have another combo challenge for today. I really like the added challenge of fitting in all of the various requirements and coming up with something, hopefully, unique. Helps to keep my otherwise unchallenged brain active. A couple of blogs are asking for Easter so here goes.

Stamp with Fun want Easter as their challenge, and there are some way cute cards and other easter themed things from their DT.

Stampin' For the Weekend also ask for Easter projects, and again they have some seriously cute easter inspired projects from their DT, again not necessarily cards.

Just Magnolia wanted an easel card

I followed the sketch for the top half of the Easel Card from Friday Sketchers.




Stamp Something required distressing somewhere on your project.

Finally the ABC Challenge Blog's letter this week is Q is for Quotation, so there is a cute little Easter quotation on the bottom half of the easel card.

The two images are both Magnolia, obviously. When I was colouring them my Daughter said 'where are their mouths' but doesn't everyone say that? I coloured them in with distress inks, which seem to match the colours of the magnolia 'Some Bunny' papers beautifully. Were they designed with that in mind, who knows. These two images are just so cute, and what is more Easter than lambs, well apart from chocolate that is.

I have put a few pics on. If anyone out there knows the best way to photograph an easel card without it looking a) wonky b) fat c) scrunched up, please tell me, I found it a nightmare to get a good pic, hence the several pics from slightly different angles.The ribbon was from my stash as were the flowers, and the quotation I found on line.

Lin

Fi, Fi, Fo, Fum

I took delivery of the remaining Ranger Distress Inks last week, such lush new colours I just had to crack their lids and get painting. I chose a Mo Manning digi which I believe was a freebie called 'They grow so fast'. The beauty of digi stamps you can size them however you like. Anyhow I coloured this little chap and his beanstalk in with the distress inks on some actually quite cheap watercolour paper I got from a cut price store in town. I was a little concerned about trying to print onto it instead of stamping, but it worked fine. I edged it with a blue promarker, my word that was a mistake, the paper sucked the ink out of that promarker like nobody's business. Shan't be wasting my precious new pens like that again! Anyhow I am entering him for four challenges as I think he fits the bill nicely for all four.

The first is the Sketch and Stash challenge which had a sketch, below, which I flipped and my new stash on this is, of course, the inks, and the mat which I cut with a brand new nestie just received this morning; plus the never used is the watercolour paper which has been hanging around in a drawer in my craft room for a very long time.




Next is the Raise The Bar challenge which wanted you to 'go green' and that could be colour, recyled material, basically your own interpretation of the challenge. My papers are mainly green, and the back of the mats is some recyled core-dinations which I had used on a larger card which had gone wrong so I binned most of it and just recycled the green card for mats. Also I think it meets the challenge because what's more 'green' than planting and growing your own plants! Save the Planet, meet a giant!

A Spoonful of Sugar's 94th Challenge is also to recycle so hopefully it meets the criteria because of the recycled core'dinations card.

Finally Secret Crafter has a challenge of 'anything goes' and as there are some gorgeous looking new stamps up for grabs, how could I resist. So hopefully anything will go into my basket for free!!! Well you have to be in it to win it, eh Wendy?

The papers are basic grey and K&Co, and the ribbon is from my stash.

I should have remained a child. Nothing makes me happier than 'colouring in' inks, paints, pens, pencils, who cares as long as I am colouring!

Oh yes and does anyone know the answer???? Just how many beans do make five? I always wondered the answer to that stupid question.

Lin

PS Pandy is officially mine since yesterday was Mother's day and what a lovely day it was, spoiled rotten by my Daughter and her lovely new bloke. Sometimes it's just great to be a Mummy Bear.......

A challenge with a difference - Or a Tale of Joy

Bear with me (no pun intended), or scroll down for the info on the challenges, but first a little, or should that be long story, with apologies to anyone from CraftTelly.com who has already read it once.

There I was last Friday week, 26th February, in the morning watching the Charlie Bears programme on QVC UK when there was a 5 second preview of a bear called Pandy. Oh I thought, my childhood name for my Sister and the name of my long lost panda bear, I will get him for my Sis for her birthday next month!. So I quickly bought him and sat back to await the presentation. Imagine my shock when Charlie started telling my story!!!!!! I screamed out to my Daughter 'OH MY WORD MY BEAR IS ON TV .... QUICK, QUICK COME SEE.'

I missed most of the story, because I was crying with excitement and joy.

About 6 months ago I rang Charlie Bears to ask about how to make a bear stand up properly and Charlotte Morris 'Charlie' herself answered the phone. We got chatting and I told her about how when I was a small child I went to school one day and when I came home the Council Builders, who were renovating our house, had bricked up my Pandy under the stairs. I cried, I pleaded, I begged, but they were having none of it. Pandy is still there today and it broke my little heart. The lovely Charlie was touched by my story and told me if at all possible she would make me a Pandy bear. Well people say these things, but you never expect them to really deliver.

So last Friday I tuned in and there he was. Obviously my Sister has a cat in hades chance of getting him now, and my lovely Daughter is buying him for me for Mother's Day. What a lovely treat. I will have something to cuddle when I am missing Bonnie.

I telephoned after the presentation and asked to be put through to the studio, but they said they were not taking any more calls until I explained that Pandy bear was mine. When I got through Debbie, the presenter of the hour, made me promise if I was going out and had builders in again I must take the bears with me I am afraid I burbled like a nitwit, partly I was struggling not to cry with the emotion of it and partly I was just so excited.

Here is the first little pic I saw of him.
You can't see it in this photo but he has a sad frown on his face where he has been trapped under the stairs, but finally he is free at last!

So Friday 5th March, after what seemed a very long week he finally arrived. I am a little bit ashamed to say I took him out the box and emotion just overwhelmed me and I hugged him whilst crying for a good few minutes. He is absolutely beautiful, and sooooooo soft, and he has a nice tinkly bell around his neck, presumably to call out for help if he ever gets trapped again.

I sat him down and popped out the room to use the bathroom and when I came back what do you suppose had happened. The other bears had thrown a party for him and they were all sitting on the sofa with tea cups and garibaldi biscuits having an impromptu tea party in honour of Pandy's safe arrival.

I grabbed my camera and hid behind the door and took a couple of snaps of Pandy's welcome home party.

















I can't take my eyes off him. I keep checking he is still there. My Daughter has agreed I don't have to put him back in his box until Mother's Day next Sunday, after all he has been shut away for the best part of 45 years. The little girl in me is brimming with joy, the old lady is thrilled that someone went to so much effort to put a smile back on my face. So to all at Charlie Bears but particularly the lovely Charlie herself, thank you, a thousand thank yous.

Finally, a friend over at Craft Telly called Juliet penned this little ode, which she has given me persmission to publish here.

ODE TO PANDY

We used to go a-wandering Pandy (my teddy) and I,
We'd climb the hill, smell daffodils and watch the world go by.
He came with me on holidays, boat trips, car trips and more.
I'd dress him up, he looked so smart as we headed out the door.
And when the day was ended and stars lit up the sky,
I'd lie in bed, hug Pandy close and keep him by my side.
Then one day it happened,
I hardly could take it in,
I came home to find the workmen had bricked my Pandy in.
Behind the bricks and mortar my poor Pandy lay,
I cried my little heart out but the builders wouldn't give way.
They wouldn't take the bricks down, They wouldn't hear my pleas,
That was the end of Pandy,
He'd been taken away from me.
Years have gone by since that awful day,
I'm an adult now you see
but I've never forgotten the happy time we spent,
dear Pandy and me.
I never dreamt that one day my story would be told,
Pandy would come back to me before I got too old.
A bear named Pandy will be with me soon,
All fluffy bright and new,
He'll represent to me all my memories
even tho he is still new.
The spirit of my childhood days, my family, friends and more
will always be around me in Pandy who I'll adore.
He'll never be near the fireplace,
He'll never be blocked in a hole,
For this Pandy will be with me, no matter where I roam!

To all Pandys everywhere!

Yes I know I am as mad as a box of frogs, but maybe it's an unwritten rule about bear collecting, or it could be that those builders traumatised me more than I realised :-))

To anyone whoever lost a loved and precious toy, chin up, who knows what delightful surprise might be waiting for you round the corner.

So what better way to celebrate than to make a card! Wouldn't you just know it. It meets the criteria for three challenges. Firstly Celebration over at Creative Card Crew, and I know I already entered this once before but what better celebration than to be re-united with your first love....... my Pandy bear.

Secondly Flower Power over at Cupcake Craft Challenges - the flowers on here are hand made to match the papers used in the design and the background paper itself is a beautiful Summer Driggs design called 'Happy Mother's Day' which is covered in flowers.

Finally Friendship is the theme at Saturday Spotlight. What better friend can a girl have than her teddy, or in my case Panda.

I have used an image from Sassy Cheryl as it was the closest thing I could find to a girl and her panda and tried (not that well to be honest) to colour him in to match the lovely Pandy bear that Charlie has made for me. It's called Love's Healing Hands, appropriate eh?

By the way, in case you were wondering why Pandy is not black and white like a traditional 50s panda would have been, well come on he has been under the stairs for 45 years he would be more than a little faded and definitely very dusty!

Love Lin and Pandy :-)))

Twice in one Day!

Wow haven't done this in a while. Must have gotten some energy from somewhere, lol

Another card with a combination of challenges.

First off I wanted to enter Sassy Cheryl's first ever challenge, so the image is one of her's called Gentle Friends. Do go check out her artwork, until Sunday there is 20% off her digi images. Wish I had known that last week when I stocked up!!! With St. Paddy's day in mind she wanted the theme to be 'mainly green'. I found this gorgeous green digital paper pack I had from Summer Driggs called Limeade, and printed off a few sheets. Her designs are free to download and there are some real stunners on there, do go check outher beautiful blog. I coloured in the image with prismas.





Next over to Cute Card Thursday who also have St. Paddy's day in mind and also wanted mainly green.

I based the card on a sketch from Friday Sketchers and with all those lovely green papers to use it was ideal.

The Stampavie and More challenge blog wanted the theme to be spring and I always think of goregous greens here in England in the Spring. You can tell the world is springing back to life with all the wonderful different greens that suddenly start to appear, from fresh new grass after the Winter lull, to buds on trees and the first tentative plants popping their heads above soil.

Finally Papertake Weekly are after Buttons, Bows, Brads & Bling or any combination thereof. I managed three out of four if you count the centre of my flower and the shimmery ribbon.

I think green might just be my new favourite colour. The card is so fresh and makes me feel that winter is finally on it's way out and spring firmly heading in. Hooray!

Lin

From sad to glad

How appropriate I thought, after my sad news last week that the first challenge I came across this week was Creative Card Crew's celebration theme. I have made a new baby card for a baby boy, as my celebration idea. The image is from KLM Digital Stamps and it's called New Baby. It's a lovely stamp that works equally well for either sex child. I coloured this with promarkers (the only set I own) skintones, apart from the nails which are polychromos pencils, and I went over them with diamond glaze to look like freshly manicured nails. To tone the image into the background I used shimmery lemon chalk around it.

I have combined this with a few other challenges starting with Cupcake Craft Challenges' Round and Round theme. Obviously these are the circles making up the topper and sentiment. I enjoyed making the sentiment to fit around the topper like that, but it took me an hour or so of jiggery pokery in Photoimpact in order to get the sentiment to go around the lovely image and also for it to be positioned in such a way that I could cut it out with Nesties and layer it up in several circles. I hope you agree it looks quite good! (Modesty is really my best quality!). I also chose the backing paper which is from the Papermania Forever Friends range as the duck has little wheels.

Next A Spoon Full of Sugar's challenge was to use beads. I have accentuated the wheels on the gorgeous pram ribbon with beads which I stitched in place.

Delightful Sketches challenge this week was 'kids' and I presume a baby classes as a kid! Let's face it all gorgeous babies are little monsters in the making... errrr I mean kids.

My final combination is with Saturday Spotlight's Clean It Up challenge. They required a nice clean and simple style, or clean edges to the paper etc. Presumably just NO grunge, LOL

I enjoyed having a trip round the blogs this week and it helps to take my mind off of not having Bonnie any more. Although I do miss her licking my feet whilst I am colouring.

It's 7.45 am here and already the sun is gloriously shining. Perhaps Spring is actually on it's way. Hooray!

Lin