Twisted Witch

CCM #60 Beads

2012-01-23T12:33:00.001Z

Our challenge for you at Crafty Cardmakers this week is to use beads on your project, or beads as your project! It is hosted by Jack. Don’t forget to stop by and check out her lovely creation and the other team members’ designs.

I used a Mo Manning image, which I have coloured with Flexmarkers, and she is matted onto some Basic Grey cardstock, which I have cut with my nesties and also a white layer of paper which I ran through an embossing folder and also trimmed down one side with my newest Marianne die. This is all matted onto more Basic Grey paper.

The floral arrangement are with flowers mainly from Wild Orchid and my beads are in the form of three different hat pins, one of which has had more beads added to it.

I also added some glamour dust to my fairy’s wings and around the edge of the scalloped mat. You can just about see in the pic below that I also chalked directly onto the Happy Birthday mat to highlight the embossing.

We are delighted to be sponsored by with a £10 voucher and

with a $10 certificate.

I am entering this into the following:-

Allsorts – #138 Needles and Pins

Basic Grey – #61 Favourite Things (Flexmarkers and flowers)

Birthday Sundaes – #40 Birthday Wording

Card Makin’ Mamas – Something Old (Birthday sentiment embossing folder)

Chalk-Ah-Lot – #2 Direct To Paper

Crafty Ann’s Challenge – #57 What’s New Pussycat (Marianne die and image)

Hot Shot Craft – #3 Flowers

Moving Along With The Times – #132 Things With Wings

My Sheri Crafts – #77 New Things (Marianne die and image)

Paper Crafting Journey – #1 Floral

Lexi’s Creations #57 Fancy Folds

2012-01-23T10:00:00.000Z

At Lexi’s Creations this fortnight we want to see your project with fancy folds.

I had seen a Teepee card in the Magnolia Ink Magazine and decided I would have a go, but actually turn it into a teepee, so have a theme of cowboys and indians for my decorations.

Having made the teepee with 3 sheets of 6” square card folded diagonally and put together I trimmed a semi circle out of the top wish a circle punch, so that I could put some cocktail sticks through so it would look like the poles that support a real teepee, and bound them together with some twine from Stampin’ Up.

This first side has Tilda as a native american from the Bon Voyage collection. the swirl is a K&Co acetate.

The next side has Tilda as a cowboy from the same collection. Although I think that should be cowgirl! The doily is from my stash and the floral diecut is a Memory Box, and I chose it because it sort of represents a lasso.

The final side was a little more tricky. I had to manipulate Edwin (from the 2010 Fairytale collection) a little to remove his robin hood hat and draw an indian headband on him. The somewhat dire decoration with the feathers is meant to be an indian headdress with the beads dangling down but it was extremely hard work trying to stitch through feathers and I lost my patience with it more than once! The bow and arrow charm is from my stash.

All images are coloured with promakers and the edge of the teepee is from K&Co but I forget the name of the collection. The paper is from First Edition. The teepee can be opened and folded flat for postage as I used a velcro button to close it.

A few times I regretted not just doing a teepee card but decorating it as I would any card, as it was difficult to find indian themed things in my stash and flowers and frou frou just didn’t seem appropriate, lol

We are sponsored by

I am entering this into the following challenges:-

Crafty Sentiments – Anything Goes

I Brake for Challenges – Fancy Folds

I Love Promarkers – #100 Anything Goes

Inky Impressions – Any shape but a square

Let’s Ink It Up – #19 Anything Goes

Pan Pastel UK – #2 Use Two of Something (Two Tilda’s)

Pattie’s Creations – #35 Fancy Folds

Phindy’s Place – #89 Shaped Cards

The Hybrid Chick – #11 Punches/Dies

Truly Scrumptious – #72 Something Forgotten (Tilda and Edwin stamps)

Dream Valley #24 Animals

2012-01-22T22:06:00.001Z

At Dream Valley this fortnight we want to see your creations involving animals. the prize will be a surprise parcel from Mel, the owner, which will have a nice selection of flowers, ribbons and a couple of stamps.

For my card I used ‘Katarina’ designed by Teri Sherman of Delicious Doodles and what a stunning image she is.

She would clearly make a fabulous Christmas card, but I have chosen colours so that it does not look like a Christmas image.

I’ve coloured her with mainly flexies, and she is matted onto some Basic Grey cardstock, with a slice of some leopard print glitter card down the side. The leopards (or at they cheetahs I never know the difference) in the bottom corner were stamped onto shrink plastic and coloured with flexies too. The sentiment was made on my pc and printed onto Safmat, and the corner is a metal filigree corner which was silver and I colured with the Lime Green promarker to tone in with the rest of the card.

I’m entering this into the following challenges:-

Basic Grey Challenges – #61 Favourite Things (labels die and flexmarkers)

Craft Us Crazy – Animals

Crafty Purple Frog – Anything Goes

Fab N Funky – #104 Bingo (Top Line)

I Love Promarkers – #100 Anything Goes

Mark’s Finest Papers – #91 Birthday

Sentimental Sundays – #86 Die Cuts

Shelley’s Images – Anything Goes

Stamptacular Sunday – #148 Seeing Spots (on the leopards)

The Squirrel and The Fox – #90 Critters

ABC Challenge H is for ….

2012-01-16T00:03:00.001Z

…..Happy Birthday

Our challenge to you this time over at ABC is to design a birthday creation. Card, gift tag, invitation, as long as it has a birthday theme we want to see it.

I created this for a member of my team over at Crafty Cardmakers who has just had a birthday, and who is in a swap with me on a craft forum.

It’s a stepper card and I started off with a sheet of 12x12 bazill basics card and trimmed it down to 14cm wide. I then scored it at 3,6,10,14,19,24, and 27 cms and folded it along those score lines. I cut co-ordinating sheets of card in slightly different shades to decorate the steps and embossed two of them with two different embossing folders. The front I used a Memory Box border die and the back is a Martha Stewart border punch.

The image is a digi from Sassy Cheryl and I coloured her with my promarkers, flexies and prisma pencils. The flowers are from my stash but I edged them with glitter to give a bit of sparkle. The diecuts are various marianne and doohickey dies and the dragonfly is a porcelain embellishment. It made it through the post in one piece apparently, phew!

I do hope you will join us over at ABC and check out the other team creations whilst you are there.

We are sponsored by with a $25 gift certificate for their store.

I am entering this into the following:-

Bugaboo – Turning Two Birthday Challenge

Card Crafters Circle – #5 Happy Birthday

Challenge Up Your Life – #60 Bingo (Right hand vertical, Purple, Diecuts and Sparkle)

Charisma Card Challenges – #1 Happy 3rd Birthday Charisma (Birthdays)

C.R.A.F.T. – #137 Celebrations

Creative Inspirations Paint – Inspired By Birthdays

Marks Finest Papers –#90 Use A Border Punch

One Stitch At A Time – #96 Anything Goes

Pan Pastel UK – #1 Anything Goes

Sugar Creek Hollow – Embossing

Crafty Cardmakers #59 No Floral Embellishments

2012-01-10T12:06:00.001Z

Well it’s our first post back at Crafty Cardmakers and this time around we would like to see your creations that DO NOT include floral embellishments. So you can use florals in your papers, a floral image or florals in your image, but no flowers of any kind added to your project, so no actual flowers, flower shaped buttons, flower charms etc. etc.

We have a whole new bunch of Sponsors this year, and I used an image from one of our new sponsors Digi Doodle Shop for my card. As soon as I saw him ‘Hobo Prayer’ I could see the funny side of turkey soup so close to Christmas.

I have coloured him with promarkers and prismas. I think he has a fabulous ‘lived in’ face. The paper is from K&Co, buttons from my stash and the silly rhyme is mine own! Much as we all joke about what to do with all that turkey I am actually a huge fan of it and would happily eat it for several days afterwards but it doesn’t hang around that long in my house as the dog is a fan too!

We are sponsored in this challenge by and so why not come on over and win one of our fabulous prizes?

I am entering this into the following challenges:-

Bearly Mine – #26 Anything Goes

Catered Crop – Buttons

Come and Get It – January Colour Challenge

Crafty Us Crazy – Anything New and/or humourous

Dude Time Doodles – Anything Goes

House Of Gilli – Anything Goes

Pile It On – #2 Manly Cards

Stamp and Create – Anything Goes

StampsRUs – What Did you Get For Christmas/Anything Goes

Tanda Stamps – #188 Have Faith

Lexi’s Creations #56 Anything Goes

2012-01-10T11:04:00.001Z

Over at Lexi’s Creations we would like to see your projects with the theme of Anything Goes, which is a nice easy one to start back with in the New Year.

I have used Lexi’s own image Roxi and coloured her with prismas and promarkers.

I had a lot of fun with this one as I didn’t have any flowers or ribbon in the right colours so I made my own (apart from the large Prima flower) and coloured my own ribbon with the same promarker I used on Roxi’s top, I also edged the top layer around the scallop with the same colour. The dies are from Marianne and Magnolia. You can’t see it in the pic but the darker streaks in Roxi’s hair were made with a sakura stardust pen, and her belt buckle is also sparkly.

We are sponsored by and the lucky winner will win 5 of Lexi’s Images.

I am entering this into the following challenges:-

Bearly Mine Challenges – #26 Anything Goes

Challenge Up Your Life – #60 Bingo (Left hand side vertical, flowers, ribbons, swirls)

CI Paints – Inspired by Something Old (My prima papers are a year or so old)

Inky Impressions – Anything Goes

Paper Creations Ink – #16 Die Cuts and/or Punches

Paper Sundaes – #102 Saturated Colours

Simply Create Too – #4 Layers, Layers and More Layers (there are four layers on my card plus the ribbons and diecuts and image layer)

Truly Madly Crafty Challenges – Anything Goes

Dream Valley #23 Anything Goes

2012-01-10T09:06:00.001Z

Well here goes my first post for the New Year. A little slow I guess but I have been having a much needed break from blogging for a couple of weeks. As some of you know I have health issues and I was really in need of a good winding down to recharge my batteries

Happy New Year to you all. I hope that 2012 proves to be YOUR year.

My first card of 2012 is for Dream Valley for our challenge, anything goes.

I have used a lovely digi from The Paper Shelter and coloured her in with Promarkers and Prismas. The die cuts are all from the latest Marianne range and are rather sweet I thought. Paper is Basic Grey’s Wisteria. I used a sakura stardust pen on the flowers in her hair, her belt, lips and the wisteria blossom on the paper, and Martha Stewart glitter on the tree.

The picture below more accurately reflects the colour, but sadly didn’t show the sparkle on her hair and the backing papers.

We are sponsored by with a £10 voucher for their store.

I’m entering this into the following:-

Art Impressions – #46 Anything Goes

Basic Grey – # 60 Something New (Wisteria paper)

Bugaboo – Anything Goes

CCEE Stampers – CCEE1201 Inspired by Grimm’s Fairytales (Rapunzel)

CES Challenges – #67 Anything Goes

Gingerloft Challenges – GL31 Anything Goes

Jellypark Friends – Something Old (Basic Grey Paper) Something New (Image and die cuts)

Sassy Studios – #106 Something New (Image and Die Cuts)

Sparkles Forum – Anything But A Christmas Card

The Squirrel and The Fox – #8 Something New (Image and Die Cuts)

ABC F is for Frosty

2011-12-16T09:08:00.001Z

Our challenge at ABC is - "F for Frosty" -

Use snowy scenes, snowflakes, a snowman, or anything you can think of to get your frosty fun out.
We want to see some FROSTY themes.

For mine I chose a LOTV stamp called Build A Snowman

We are sponsored by

My papers are from K&Co’s Winter Wonderland stack and the glittery flourishes are cut from glitter paper with dies from MFT and Cheery Lynn. The Cheery Lynn dies do not like my BS and I spent an hour picking all the bits out of that corner flourish, but oh so worth the effort! The poinsettias were in my stash. I have coloured the image with DIs.

I am entering this into the following challenges:-

Crafts and Me - Christmas

Crafty Boots Challenges - Christmas

Crafty Purple Frog – It’s Cold Outside

Creative Belli Blog - #132 Winter and Christmas

Cupcake Craft Challenges – 172 Don’t Look at The Light (Glitter, Bling, Shine etc.)

Divas by Design - #17 Christmas

Freshly Brewed Challenges - ‘76 Christmas

Paper Crafting Journey – Christmas

Paper Creations Ink – #14 Bling It Up

Paper Cupcakes – Winter Fun with Bling

PaperPlay Challenges - #50 Christmas

Stampin’ With The Dragon – Show Us Your Christmas Bling

Victorine Stamps - #23 Christmas

This is likely to be my last post before Christmas and perhaps even the New Year, depending on how busy I am so I want to wish anyone who reads this post a very merry Christmas and a healthy, happy and prosperous 2012.

CCM #58 Use It Three Times

2011-12-13T09:23:00.001Z

Our final challenge of the year at Crafty Cardmakers is for you to ‘Use It three Times’, and for my interpretation I stamped the same image three times and coloured it three different colourways and placed it on identically designed cards but with three different combinations of backing papers.

We are sponsored for the final time at Crafty Cardmakers by the lovely Joanna Sheen, to the tune of £10.

Most of my BPs are Basic Grey, with the exception of the softer pink card which are all printed from the Polka Doodles Magical Winter CD. My image comes from Adam Pescott and was free with Card Making and Papercraft. The snow is Shaved Ice and the glitter highlights are a sparkly glitter glue, and the little metal snowmen have been in my stash for a few years! I blinged up the two first snowflake corners with Spray and Sparkle from Crafters Companion, but the one on the third card was cut from glitter paper.

So what’s your favourite, mine is the final card as I think the papers match the dogs which I am calling Scotties but I feel sure someone will correct me and tell me that in fact they are a different breed entirely, lol.

I am entering these into the following challenges:-

Crafts and Me - #64 Snow /Snowflakes

Crafty Purple Frog – It’s Cold Outside

Hanna and Friends - #123 Wintercards

Let’s Ink It Up – Christmas

Paper Crafting Journey - Christmas

Paper Sundaes - #99 Anything Christmas

Pixie Dust Studios - #104 Glitter and Bling

Stampin’ With The Dragon – Show Us Your Christmas Bling

The Squirrel and The Fox - #7 Christmas

Winter Wonderland – Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow

Lexi’s Creations #55 Non-traditional Christmas

2011-12-12T17:18:00.001Z

Lexi’s latest challenge is an non-traditional Christmas – no red or green.

It is a fairly easy theme to follow 'Christmas', the twist being you must not used the colours RED or GREEN.

You can make whatever you wish to, cards, notebooks, tags, bookmarks, 3D items, please remember to follow the theme to be fair to everyone. Most important of all have fun!

This challenge will last until 9th January as we are taking a break for the Christmas holidays.

We are sponsored by the fabulous and the prize will be 5 of Lexi’s lovely digistamps.

I have used Lexi’s image of the spiral bauble christmas tree, and have coloured just the baubles in a purple sakura sparkly pen, which oddly looks black in the picture above.

I first printed out the image and then embossed and cut it with the gorgeous Marianne craftables cutting and embossing die, which I then matted onto purple shiny paper. The edge of the card was a plain bracket shaped edge and I ran just the edge through the BS with a CBug snowflake embossing folder, and then layered some more of the shiny purple paper just under the edge.

I am entering it into the following:-

Card Makin’ Mamas - #35 Christmas

Crafty Purple Frog – It’s Cold Outside

Creative Inspirations Paints – Non Tradtional Christmas Colours

Crimbo Crackers - #4 Embossing

Lollipop Crafts - #61 Happy Holidays

Paper Sundaes - #99 Anything Christmas

Patties Creations - #34 Christmas

Simply Create Too - #2 Embossing

Stampin’ For the Weekend - #22 Christmas

Winter Wonderland Challenge – Let It Snow, Let It Snow

Dream Valley 22 Christmas

2011-12-12T16:41:00.001Z

It’s the last challenge of the year over at Dream Valley and in keeping with the season we want to see your Christmas creations. Anything goes, doesn’t have to be a card.

We are sponsored by

with a £10 voucher

with a $10 voucher and

also with a $10 voucher.

It’s our last challenge at Dream Valley until 8th January, so you have until the 7th to get those Christmas entries in.

For my card I stamped the gorgeous Papermania Christmas Cheer stamp using a Kaleidoscope Multi inkpad and then embossed with clear powder. I punched four snowflake corners and then mounted it onto brown shimmery paper, and mounted that onto a scalloped card blank.

To my horror I realised I don’t have a Poinsettia punch or die (what are you like Linda, Christmas and no poinsettias) so I substitued the marianne die instead, and I cut through both the patterned and orange paper at the same time which meant that the orange card beneath retained the insides of the petals, which was the effect I was after, and I sort of hoped the end result was a bit like a poinsettia. Of course, it’s bright orange, but hey that’s artistic licence for you.

I am entering this into:-

Creative Inspirations Paints – Non-Traditional Christmas Colours

Gingerloft – GL30 Christmas and Winter

Let’s Ink It Up - #18 Christmas Projects

Lollipop Crafts - #61 Happy Holidays

Paper Sundaes - #99 Anything Christmas

The Squirrel and The Fox - #7 Christmas

Card Makin’ Mamas - #35 Christmas

Clearly Inspired Challenge – CIC41 Christmas

Patties Creations - #34 Christmas

Simply Create Too - #2 Embossing

CCM #57 Heat Embossing

2011-11-28T12:11:00.001Z

Over at Crafty Cardmakers our challenge to you this time is to use heat embossing on your creation. As our hostess Josephine described it ‘Any technique using heat embossing - stamping or ultra-thick embossing powder or something else I haven't thought of!

We have a fabulous prize on offer from The Stamp Man of some Starburst Stains Pots - Holiday Wreath I am also extending the Design Team call for another fortnight as last time’s challenge was a little bit more specialised and I wanted to give everyone a chance to enter even if recycling had not been there ‘thing’ Please pop by the blog if you are interested, and, of course, to enter the challenge.

So onto my card. I printed out a couple of sheets from the Artylicious Seasons’ Greetings CD in two different sizes and on the smaller one I stamped the gorgeous Baroque Christmas Tree from IndigoBlu, and embossed it with white detail powder. I wonder if anyone makes a truly WHITE powder as this one, in my opinion is more cream than white, especially when compared to the white mat I have under the first layer of paper.

I added a few little presents diecuts that have been in my stash since Adam was a lad! Guilty as charged MeLud, I purchase stuff and hoard it! The oh so lush snowflakes are cut from glitter card with a Memory Box die. I am fast falling in love with these dies, and I bought mine from a seller on Ebay US so got an excellent deal on them.

I’m sitting here nursing a bad back, everyone say Ahhhhh!, which happened when I had to rescue my little Poppikins from a huge brute of a dog that was chasing her down across the park. My back just went pop. About ten minutes later I was chatting to an elderly lady, bemoaning my lot when the monster dog reappeared. She was like Supergran. She bent down and scooped Poppy into the safety of her arms and then starting yelling at Dogzilla and swatting at him ‘go away you brute, leave her alone’. Big up Supergran, thanks for rescuing us because at that stage there was NO WAY I could bend over to grab my dog.

Right back to the business at hand.

I am entering this into the following:-

4 Crafty Chicks - #65 Snowflakes

Addicted To Stamps - #18 Christmas Card

Cardmadfairy’s Digi Days - #22 Winter Wonderland

Charisma Cardz - #46 Snowflakes

Fashionable Stamping - #9 I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas

Fun with Shapes and More – #97 Cold as Ice

Our Creative Corner – Oh Christmas Tree

Paper Sundaes - #97 Winter Wonderland

Scrapbook Sisters - #61 Christmas Time

Stampotique Designers Challenge - #43 Non Traditional Christmas

Stamptacular - #140 Anything Christmas

Lexi’s Creations #54 One For the Lads

2011-11-28T10:33:00.001Z

This time on Lexi’s Creations we want to see your creations for the males in your life.

We are very lucky again this time to have two sponsors,
the wonderful Fairy Dust Crafts ....
Giving one lucky winner the choice of 5 digi images from her store.

Our other fabulous sponsor is designer Marina Neira owner of The Stamping Bazaar....

Giving one lucky winner the choice of one digi image.

We are holding a DT call on the blog so please drop by if you are interested in joining our team.

My card will be heading off to my great Nephew, so I hope he doesn’t think it’s too cute, lol. I have used Lexi’s own image called Sammie Snowman and coloured him with my promarkers. The paper is from K & Co and I used glamour dust for the snowman’s body and the snow beneath him and stickles for his hat trim and bobble as they are dimensional and a slightly different shade.

I am entering this into the following challenges:-

Crafty Catz - #110 Snowmen

Crazy4Challenges – #115 Some sort of snow

Fairytale Challenge Blog - #29 Christmas

Gingerloft – #30 Christmas and Winter

Here Come The Boys - #16 For the Man/Men in Your Life

Mark’s Finest Papers – #83 Make It Masculine

Pattie's Creations - #34 Christmas

Phindy’s Place – #83 A Sprinkling of Snow

Simply Create Too - #1 All About Christmas

The Poodles Parlour – Christmas

Dream Valley #21 Sparkle

2011-11-27T20:39:00.001Z

Our challenge at Dream Valley is for you to sparkle! We have a prize on offer of a couple of stamps from Lili of the Valley.

For my card I started with a stamped image on acetate. So sorry no idea what the stamp is called as I unmounted it and forgot to label it! I glittered onto the wrong side of the acetate as this protects the final card from shedding glitter, which is one of my pet hates.

The card is a bracket edge and I ran it through my BS with a texture plate for the embossing. I did run a very pale lilac inkpad over the raised areas, but it’s not really showing up here. I also cut two Marianne shapes, one in glitter card and one in white and layered them onto the centre of the embossed card front with the glitter panel on top. I made a sentiment on my pc and added a couple of flourish die cuts to the back of it.

I am never sure which picture to blog, one looks too dark the other always looks too bright, wish I could get it somewhere in the middle, lol

For the inside, because of the cut away edge it was difficult to put an insert so I made a plate for the greeting to go on, to match one of the mats on the front of the card, and with the same font as the sentiment on the front.

I am entering this into the following challenges:-

Alphabet Challenge Blog – V for Very Vibrant

Crafty Purple Frog – For Someone Special

Fab’nFunky #100 Happy Birthday

More Than Favors Wacky Wednesday – #60 Birthday

Papercraft Star - #72 Anything Goes

Papercrafting Journey – Anything Goes

Sweet Stampin’ Challenge – Punches & Dies

The Hybrid Chick Card Caravan Challenge - #7 Glitter

The Outlawz Twisted Thursday – Anything Goes

Totally Gorjuss - #108 Sparkle

Free Card Template - Santa's Sleigh

2011-11-22T06:28:00.001Z

Get a free "Santa's Magical Sleigh" card making template from Card Carousel.
Just visit www.cardcarousel.co.uk/free/sleigh.html

Fantastic Blog Candy at The Craft Barn

2011-11-18T14:24:00.002Z

The Craft Barn have the most amazing Blog Candy on offer! Who wouldn't want to win all the lush goodies in this photo

To be in with a chance of winning click here and follow the instructions.

ABC D is for Dazzle

2011-11-15T22:00:00.001Z

At ABC today we want you to Dazzle us! We want to see lots of sparkly and blingy projects.

We are sponsored by Bugaboo Stamps and they have a fabulous prize of

My design incorporates a gorgeous Lili Of The Valley stamp called Fishing Buddies, which I coloured with promarkerts. And that has been stuck to a mat which I ran through the BS with a snow embossing folder.

I clean forgot to add some glitter to the actual image before I stuck it down inside the aperture I created using the MemoryBox Frostyville Border die – isn’t it just lush! The die that is. I trimmed out top and bottom of a six inch square of white glitter card and then just trimmed up the edges to form a snowy aperture. I should have started with a larger piece of card, but I was constrained by the internal opening of the BS, but if you have a Grand Calibur I would recommend starting with card 6.5 to 7” wide. I then stuck it over acetate and created a shake card with foam tape. The shaker is filled with Shaved Ice mica flakes. The little tree and purple snowflake are from my stash.

These dies are a bit fiddly to pull out as they are so thin that they don’t want to part company easily from the waste, but oh so worth the effort of a bit of poking with a pokey tool.

I’m entering this into the following challenges:-

Christmas Stampin’ All Year Long – Never Seen Ink

Crafty Hazlenut’s Christmas Challenge - #46 Whatever Lights Your Candle

Crimbo Crackers - #2 Make It Sparkle

Delightful Challenges - Snowflakes

Floweret Stamplar - #8 Christmas

Inky Impressions - #32 Glitter It Up

Mami Doodles - #37 Christmas

Samuel Taylors – Christmas

Sweet Stamps Challenge - #41 Non Traditional Christimas Colours

Wags N Whispers - #67 Christmas Themed

Whoopsi Daisy Challenge – The Colours of Winter

CCM #56 Recycle

2011-11-14T12:16:00.001Z

Over at Crafty Cardmakers this week we want to see you use something recycled on your projects. That could, for example, be a pringles container you turn into a pen pot, the inside of a parcel tape roll to make a jewellery box. Alternatively just something on the project that is recycled, ie corrugated cardboard for background, bits of sweet box ribbon, shiny foil etc.

We are once again sponsored by with a £10 voucher for her online store, and as Joanna doesn’t charge postage in the UK that’s even better value for money.

I have gone slightly mental, or should that be metal, with mine. Firstly the image, the gorgeous new Friends Forever from Lili of The Valley, was stamped onto the back of a box of cereal and coloured with cosmic shimmer micas mixed to a paint with water.

The borders, swirls and flower were all made from recycled coke cans. I should issue a word of warning here, be VERY careful when you are handling them as I ended up with a sliver of metal in my thumb which took ages to fish out.

After I had trimmed down the cans I added alcohol inks and left them to dry then I cut out two swirls with a Die-Namics die and two borders using an EK Success punch.

The flower was a combo of S!r T!m of Hotlz' Tattered Florals Die and a small punch for the centre of the flower, plus a brad. It got a little messy on the edge of my image because I attempted to stick the flourishes down with glue gel, which didn't work. In the end I went for Stick and Stay, but I think that a better method might be to anchor the swirls with a flower or something to hide a glue dot.

With the borders, I cut them long enough to fold under the backing paper and then stuck the whole thing down onto the green card. The paper is from the new Basic Grey Picadilly pad.

The pic below shows just how shimmery the cosmic shimmer micas are. I angled it into the light as the other pics make the painting look a little flat.

I’m really annoyed at the gluey mess left on the side of the image, so if you want to incorporate metal into your design, I recommend some test gluing first so you don’t end up spoiling your design like I did.

I am entering this into the following:-

Blog-A-Doodle – Sparkle And Shine

Challenge Up Your Life - #56 Friendship – The stamp is called Friends Forever

Crimbo Crackers - #2 Make It Sparkle

Cuddly Buddly - #20 Two Little Characters

Divas By Design – #14 Use Metal

Flutterby Wednesday - #179 Friendship

If The Shoe Fits - #96 Try Something New (I have never used recycled aluminum before)

More Than Favours - #58 Buttons, Bling or Brads

My Partner In Crafting Crime - #35 Use A Freebie/Recycle – Apart from the paper and actual image, everything on my card is recycled

Party Time Tuesday #41 Bling It On

Ruby’s Rainbow - #16 Something With Wings

Lexi’s Creations #53 No Straight Edges

2011-11-14T10:38:00.001Z

Today at Lexi’s Creations we would like to see your projects with NO straight edges.

We are sponsored by Letraset who have a five pack of promarkers up for grabs.

I made a card base by cutting out two Marianne decorative circles, the second one of which I folded in half and glued in place to form an upside down V so the card could stand. I have edged both it and the inner circle – also a Marianne die – with DI in Dried Marigold.

The image is Georgina Giraffe from Lexi at Fairy Dust Crafts, and I coloured her in with prismas and OMS. The flourishes are from Die Namics, my new favourite ones! The little charm I had in my stash. You can’t see too well here but I coloured the charm with a combination of orange and brown promarkers as it was too silver for the soft oranges of the card.

I’m entering this into the following challenges:-

Cardmad Fairy’s Digi Days - #21 Texture

Crafty Catz - #108 Use A Digital Image

Crafty Purple Frog - #28 Use Orange

Dutch Dare Challenge - #138 Punch Time

Forever Friends – November: Something Old, Something New (Old Marianne die for base card, new Marianne die for inner circle and Die-namics flourish die)

Little Claire - #15 Shaped Cards

Meljen’s Designs - #84 Orange

Paper Sundaes - #95 Digital Image

Dream Valley #20 Stitching

2011-11-14T09:23:00.001Z

I know I shouldn’t complain about the unseasonal weather we are having, after all, who wants to pay the Electricity and Gas companies a fortune heating freezing cold houses, but it is having a strange affect on the wildlife. I was walking Poppy late last week and stood chatting on the park to a friend. When I got home I thought my legs felt itchy, and sure enough some nasty little nipping creature has snuck out of the grass and bitten me. One bite is now so bad I can’t actually walk without severe pain! I normally only have to avoid hanging around grass in the Summer! Anyhow enough of my moaning …..

Our challenge at Dream Valley this time is for you to incorporate stitching into your design. That can be faux or real, machine or hand and you can, of course, enter anything you like, not just a card, as long as it has stitching on it.

Our prize is a £10 voucher for

The team have created some fabulous items so pop along to Dream Valley and check them out.

For my card I used a Joycraft stencil with you can both prick and emboss. You can just about see the embossing around the edges of the butterfly’s wonderful trail, or maybe he has a long fluttery tail – I’m not quite sure which it is. Anyhow I pricked it and then stitched it with a lovely variegated thread and used a couple of purple gems to make his body and head. It is matted onto some lush purple crinkly paper, and that in turn is matted onto some cardstock I have had for years. It’s a half fold card as you can see in the next picture, and on the bottom right hand side I added a gorgeous dufex decoupaged lady, with a feather to give some extra interest to her hat.

I haven’t gone in for lots of embellishments as I think the beautiful stitching and lovely decoupage make enough of a statement on their own.

I am entering this into the following:-

2 Sisters Challenge Blog - #65 Anything Goes

Anything Goes Challenge – #53 Stitches Real or Faux (mine are real)

Crafts and Me - #60 Birthdays

Creative Belli Blog - #130 Paper Piercing (obvioulsy I had to pierce the holes before I stitched them!)

Deep Ocean Challenge - #12 Vintage (my decoupaged image)

I Brake For Challenges - #13 White Out (the butterfly is stitched on mauve and green mottled cardstock and the background card is lilac)

Paper Crafting Journey - #23 Embossing

Ruby’s Rainbow - #16 Things With Wings

Stamp-N-Doodle – Time To Sparkle and Shine

The Hybrid Chick – Card Caravan #6 Birthdays

CCM #54 Cute With a Dark Twist

2011-10-17T12:06:00.001+01:00

OMW what a response we have had over at Crafty Cardmakers to our relaunch challenge. 543 entries! As I was picking the winner/Top 5 I opened up every single one of them! Unfortunately I didn’t have the time to comment on all of them but was impressed at the quality and variety of entries. Thank you

Please check the CCM blog to see if you were a Winner/Top 5.

So to this fortnight’s challenge. Unsurprisingly and like a lot of other challenge blogs out there we have a challenge aimed at the time of the year, Cute with a Dark Twist and it’s being hosted by our Sarah, so it’s her turn to choose the Winner/Top 5 spots.

We're sponsored again by the lovely who is offering a £10 voucher for her online shop which is crammed full of goodies with new stock arriving all the time! Thanks once again Joanna!

So onto my card.

My image is the gorgeous Priscilla from Crafts and Me, which I was lucky enough to win in a FB draw. I have coloured her with Flexmarkers and DI in the background. The paper is a digital one I printed but could I find it on my pc to give credit, could I heck! Sorry. The pumpkin, hat and spider are all peel offs and the gorgeous bat corner, and bats were cut on my Robo from a Silhouette 99c image!

I have distressed the edge of the paper and embossed it with Sheena Wow powders.

I am entering this into the following:-

Craft Your Days Away - #31 Halloween Colours

Creatalicious - #27 Distress Your Edges

Delicious Doodles - #4 Halloween but NO ORANGE (my besom by the way is brown!)

Designed 2 Delight – Halloween

Everybody Art - #163 Halloween

Gingerloft – GL27 Halloween or Fall

One Stop Craft Challenge - #153 Halloween

Paper Sundaes - #91 Halloween or Fall

Scrappin’ Chics – October Halloween Using Purple and Green

Simon Says Stamp – Halloween or Goth

Please remember to drop by CCM and enter your own creation and also don’t forget to drop by my fabulous DT’s various blogs and leave them some love, cos they deserve it!

Lexi’s Creations #51 Just A Sentiment

2011-10-17T10:11:00.001+01:00

Over at Lexi’s Creations this time our challenge to you is ‘Just a Sentiment’. We are again sponsored by who are offering a pack of 5 promarkers as the prize.

For my card I used Lexi’s own sentiment Husband & Wife, which I altered in my graphics program so that the sentiment was mauve instead of black.

I kept the card very simple with just some mats and layers in mauve sparkly card and white, and a couple of Doohickey swirls. The flower is a Prima cloisonne flower, which are fabric overlayed with some sort of glaze giving the effect and pliability of soft metal. Gorgeous!

I’m entering my card into the following:-

Anything Goes - #51 Die Cuts/Punches or both

Bling It On – October No Patterned Papers

By The Cute and Girly – 2nd Anniversary Anything Goes

Die Cut Dreams - #100 Use a Poem on your Card

Stamptacular Sunday - #134 You Choose

Dream Valley - #18 Halloween

2011-10-16T13:43:00.001+01:00

Over at Dream Valley we are also following a halloween theme, and we are sponsored by

with a prize of 5 of their lovely digital images up for grabs.

The team were lucky enough to be provided with some images and I have used two of them combined on my card, Franky Frankenstein and WillowdaWitch.

I coloured my images with a combination of promarkers and prisma pencils. The background paper is a Bearly Mine freebie which I have overstamped with images from Elusive Images. The sentiment is my own printed onto safmat and overlayed onto the BP.

I’m entering this into the following:

Card Makin’ Mamas - #31 Halloween

CES – #58 Forever Autumn (I always think of Halloween when Autumn arrives as it is closely associated with the Pagan Samhain festival)

Craft Your Days Away - #31 Halloween Colours

Creatalicious - #27 Distress Your Edges

Fresh Brewed Designs - #67 Pumpkins

Hanna and Friends - #115 Halloween

Liastampz - #5 Use Two Images

My Sheri Crafts - #71 Pumpkins

The Outlawz – Paper Al La Mode Halloween

Through The Craftroom Door - #12 Halloween and Colour Orange

ABC B for Boo!

2011-10-16T13:15:00.001+01:00

Wow what a lot of entrants to our relaunch Anything Goes Challenge, 462! What with that and CCM I have gone boggled eyed this last fortnight checking so many out.

So to this time’s challenge, well it’s that time of year B for Boo!

We are sponsored by with this lovely prize

So this is what I came up with

The papers are all freebies from Bearly Mine. The image is Bentley Bear. It wasn’t until I just checked I realised I meant the cat to be black. Duh! The spiders were a gift from a Friend but I believe they are courtesy of Asda!

I’m guessing it’s the time of the year and the position of the sun in the sky but I just don’t seem to be able to get a decent photo at the moment, the above is after I enhanced it, but I am still not sure if that one or the one below is better.

The actual card looks half way between the two pics really. As you can see it has a REALLY scary spider because he appears to have escaped from his foam pad and is off to terrorise me in the night!

Anyhow I am entering this into the following:-

Challenge Up Your Life - #54 Halloween

Drunken Stampers - #76 Halloween

Fussy or Fancy – Fall or Halloween

One Stop Craft Challenge - #153 Halloween

Pattie’s Creations - #31 Halloween

Sarah Hurley Challenge Blog – #51 Halloween Horrors

The Artistic Stamper – Autumn Colours

The Poodle’s Parlour – Spooky Halloween

Through The Craftroom Door - #12 Happy Halloween

Crafty Cardmakers #53 Anything Goes

2011-10-03T14:57:00.001+01:00

Well finally I got myself a brand spanking new team into place, along with 9 lovely original ladies who stayed to lend me their support and their gorgeous creations, and we are back!

Our Challenge at Crafty Cardmakers this time is a nice simple one to ease you all back in ‘Anything Goes’, so that’s any project, any stamp, any creation. So you can let your imagination run wild.

Before I show you mine I would like to introduce you all to the lovely new members of the team. Please visit their blogs and show them some love.

So onto my creation for our relaunch.

I was very fortunate a couple of weeks back to win 3 gorgeous digis from Crafts and Me. This little beauty is called Felicia and I coloured her with a combination of flexmakers and promarkers and her tail is glittered with glamour dust. Her beads are also glittered with MS Glitters. The BP is from my stash, a lovely paisley pattern, and the blue embossed background I made with a paisley pattern embossing folder. Some flowers from my stash, a doily, which I have edged in toning inks to match the colour scheme, and some bling finish it off.

Right about now I am feeling frazzled having had a frantic morning with last minute admin for Crafty Cardmakers, a Mr. Linky that didn’t, a post that wouldn’t and a dog who is for some strange reason is in ClingOn mode, so I could do with relaxing back like Felicia and watching life swim past me!

Anyhow I am entering this into the following challenges before I go off and get myself a very stiff cup of tea….

Card and Scrap - #17 Embossing/Distressing

CES Challenges – #56 Totally Gorjuss/Pretty Girls

Crafts 4 Eternity - #39 Anything Goes

Desert Island Crafters - #17 3 Items from their list I chose Dry Embossing, Fish and Circles (the shape of the doily)

DYSU – #39 Swirls

Sew Many Challenges – Anything Goes

Some Odd Girl – Picture Inspiration I went with the Aquas and Blues and the fact that the wreath reminded me of pearls and therefore oysters, there are some oysters in my image

Southern Girls - #28 Anything Goes

Sparkles Forum - #21 Something That Sparkles

Sweet Stampin’ Challenge – Lilac and Lace (If this has too much blue just yell)

The Emerald Faeries Garden - #10 Punches/Dies

Lexi’s Creations #50 Pink For Boobies

2011-10-03T12:19:00.001+01:00

For this week's challenge at Lexi’s Creations we would love to see all your projects with the theme

'PINK FOR BOOBIES'

We are so excited to see your creations for this challenge. It is basically for the breast cancer appeal but what we are wanting to see is pink - pink and more pink on your creations.

Our Sponsor for this week is the wonderful and the winner will receive 5 digi images of their choice.

I used FDC’s image called Melissa as I thought she represented that this terrible disease can strike anyone. I coloured her with promarkers, and edged the mat, which I trimmed out with a nestie, with a lovely scrolly stamp which I also used around the edges of the WRMK Tiffany’s paper. I then embossed with Sheena’s Glittery Wow powders. I distressed and glittered all around the edge of the Tiffany paper to give it a bit of definition. The glittery circles, and little corners, were from papermania and were originally Silver Glitter but I risked colouring them with my pros and it worked, had to wipe the end of my pro off though cos it got a little rough with glittery bits. The ribbon is a freebie digital I got last year.

I’m entering this into the following challenges:-

Crafts 4 Eternity - #39 Anything Goes

4 Crafty Chicks - #57 Crazy Egg Anything Goes

Digistamps4Joy - #28 Anything Goes

Hiding In My Craft Room - #14 Pink

I Love Promakers - #85 Get Distressing

Paper Crafting Journey - #20 Die Cuts and/or Punches

Prarie Fairy Fridays – #62 Pink and Distressed

The Emerald Faerie Garden - #10 Punches/Dies

Dream Valley #17 Monochrome

2011-10-03T11:32:00.001+01:00

At Dream Valley this fortnight we would like to see your creations following a monochromatic theme. Don’t forget, it doesn’t need to be a card, a scrapbook LO, altered page or object or indeed anything your imagination can create is just fine.

We are sponsored again by with a lovely £10 voucher as the prize.

I made my card by starting with a 5x7 scalloped card blank which I inked around the edges with. My BPs are mostly My Mind’s Eye, apart from a smidgeon of DCWV. My image is LOTV and I coloured her with Lyra Aquamarkers. The scrolls are Magnolia and Marianne, and the ribbon and flowers, and paper ribbon down the sides are all from my stash. My two little dogs look a little like biggles, as I did something strange to their eyes!

I’m entering this into the following:-

Card and Scrap - #17 Embossing/Distressing

Creatalicious - #26 Anything Goes

Gingerloft Challenge – #26 The Colour Orange

Just Some Lines – Fall Colour Challenge

Marianne’s Design Divas - #2 Bloom and Grow

Paper Crafting Journey – #20 Die Cuts and/or Punches

Stampin’ For The Weekend - #17 What a Cutie

The Artistic Stamper – October Challenge Autumn Colours

The Emerald Fairie Garden - #10 Punches/Dies

The Outlawz Twisted Thursday – Anything Goes

ABC Challenge – Anything Goes We’re Back!

2011-10-01T08:57:00.003+01:00

I am thrilled to announce that the ABC Challenge is back. We have some new team members and are raring to go.

Please meet our (mainly) new team:-
Angelique
Cinzia
Clare
Jenn
Julie
Leah
Lin (Me)
Patty
Sabina
Shanna
Vicky

I hope you will find time to pop around their blogs and say hello.

Our first challenge is Anything Goes, and this is what I came up with

The image is Sarah Kay, the papers are My Mind’s Eye and various embellishments from my stash. That gorgeous square lace cotton doily is to die for. I coloured my little couple with promarkers.
I hope you will pop along and join in the fun because we have two fantastic sponsors this time.
Who have a £20 voucher to spend in their store, and I wouldn’t mind winning that one myself!

with a fabulous prize of £10.

I am entering my card into the following challenges:-
Charisma Cardz - #39 Love
Crafts4Eternity - #39 Anything Goes
Cuddly Buddly Crafts – #14 Babies/Kids
Pals Paper Arts – PPA113 Heat Embossing (my image is embossed)
Paper Crafting Journey - #20 Die Cuts/Punches
Rainbow Lady’s Challenge Blog - #172 Autumn/Fall Flowers
Stamping With The Dragon – Fall Colours
The Outlawz Promarker Challenge – Anything Goes
The Stamp Man – Pears or Pairs (Two children, two swirl die cuts, two green flowers)
Totally Papercrafts Challenge – Autumn

Just a quick reminder CRAFTY CARDMAKERS will be back on Monday!

Lexi’s Creations #49 For a Child

2011-09-19T10:00:00.000+01:00

Today at Lexi’s Creations we would like to see you create something for a child.

We are sponsored by our regular sponsor who have a 5 pack of promarkers on offer.

Unfortunately I had printer issues so was unable to use one of Lexi’s own images as I normally would for these challenges, so instead I used a Sugar Nellie, from the Little Cotton Rabbit range.

I coloured his body with the gorgeous new flexmarkers, but as in my earlier post for DV there are just not enough colours yet in the flexies so I went back to the promarkers for his sweater. I trimmed him out with a nestie mat and edged that with scattered straw distress ink. I got my neighbour to print out the sentiment, well what else are neighbours for! He’ll be relieved that my printer is now running okay again though, lol.

Both blue mats have gone through the BS with an embossing folder and they are both layered over some gorgeous Prima paper, with a self adhesive mesh trim to provide a bit of detail. The little dome stickers I have had for ages.

I am entering this into the following challenges:-

4 Crafty Chicks - #55 Embossing (my blue mats are embossed)

Card Cupids Blog – Anything Goes

Crafting For All Seasons - #9 Birthday

Crafty Ribbons - #2 Anything Goes

Creatalicious Challenges - #26 Anything Goes

Cute Card Thursday #182 Anything Goes

Di’s Digi Designs - #1 Anything Goes

Passion For Promarkers - #117 Beary Special

Shelley’s Images – Anything Goes

Stamptacular – #129 Just Saying

Dream Valley 16 Buttons

2011-09-18T15:27:00.001+01:00

Our challenge at Dream Valley this time is to use buttons. It doesn’t have to be just a card, you can scrap, alter, distress or anything else you can think of, and you could even try home made buttons.

We are sponsored by with $10 canadian to spend in their store.

For my card I went with a LOV stamp which I have coloured with the lovely new letraset flexmarkers, apart from her hair and the dog as there are just not enough colours yet! I trimmed her out and placed her over a Marianne diecut which in turn is on a gorgeous Kanban ornate mat. A friend bought me a set of these Ornate Mats and I couldn’t believe how many there were in the set. I reckon you will be seeing a lot of them for the foreseeable future as otherwise I will never get through them all! The buttons are from an old cardigan I pulled apart and the flowers are Wild Orchid crafts. The leaves are a sizzix die. Corners courtesy of a MS punch.

I’m entering this into the following challenges:-

Bearly Mine - #19 Button It Up

Creative Craft Challenges - Buttons and Bling (the bling being the gorgeous foiling on the mat)

Delightful Challenges – Girly Girl

Delicious Doodles - #2 Cute as A Button

If The Shoe Fits - #FF91 Bejewelled Blue

Marianne’s Divas - #2 Bloom and Grow

One Stop Craft Challenge - #149 Girly

Ruby’s Rainbow - #12 For the Girls

Shelley’s Images Blog – Anything Goes

Splendiferous Creations – Button, Button… who’s got the Button

PS Don’t forget my DT call over at Crafty Cardmakers. I have received a few comments along the lines of ‘but I’m not good enough’; but how do you know unless you try. I really am looking for a diverse range of skills and talents, so go on give it a go, you might surprise yourself.

Quirky Crafts Guest Design Spot – Anything But A Card

2011-09-13T12:08:00.001+01:00

My apologies to all at Quirky Crafts for failing to blog this on time. I was offered a Guest Designer spot and forgot to blog the post on Sunday and yesterday I was poorly, so better late than never, I hope!

The Challenge is sponsored by and the prize is either 5 Digi images or 4 images and 1 Digi paper pack. They also supplied the team and the lucky Guest, me, with some gorgeous images to choose from and I picked Emily Reading, because a) I loved it and b) I had a couple of perfect pics of my own gorgeous Emily which I wanted to scrap!

I printed the image onto Neenah and coloured it with Prismas and OMS. Then I scanned it back into my PC and Using Digital Scrapbook Artist I made the LO below.

Any of the digital paper packs on offer at Robyn’s Fetish would, of course, be perfect for a digital LO like this. I love the options with digi LOs because you can store them on your pc or print them.

Don’t forget to pop on over to Quirky Crafts and vote on the lovely entries into this challenge.

I’m entering this into the following:-

Addicted To Stamps – #12 Anything But A Card

All That Scraps – Anything Goes

C.R.A.F.T. - #119 Children

Crafting When We Can - #1 Anything Goes

Crafty Boots - #1 Anything Goes

Di’s Digi Designs - #1 Anything Goes

I Did It Creations – #72 Anything Goes

One Stitch At A Time – #79 Anything Goes

The Crafting Misfit – Show And Tell Anything goes

Wags ‘n Whispers – #62 Anything But A Card

Under New Management – Design Team Call

2011-09-11T19:28:00.001+01:00

I have recently taken over the running of the Crafty Cardmakers and Spotlight Challenge blogs and am looking for some new team members to join our happy and talented, bus sadly somewhat depleted band.

Crafty Cardmakers is a more generalised blog specialising in, but not exclusive to, card making, and the Spotlight Challenge is more technique based dealing with technique, style or product.

We do not offer rewards, although occasionally we may have Sponsors who might offer items to use for the challenge (normally digital) and you should be prepared to use these when offered.

We are interested in people who are willing to try different styles or showcase their own particular technique, perhaps with the occasional tutorial as we aim to be a resource for the newer crafter as well as the more experienced one. So you might like the CAS approach or excel in shabby chic, altered art, steampunk or maybe you are a scrapper. Whatever your talent we could have space for you on the team.

Your commitment will be to produce two projects per month and to contribute with ideas for challenges. We take it in turns to host the weekly challenge and it will be your responsibility when it is your week to choose a Top 3. You will also be responsible for commenting on entries, including to the challenges you do not participate in yourself, and to that end you will be assigned a number to comment on. For example all entries ending with 1, 2, etc. 10% of the total entries.

If you like the sound of this and think you could give it a go then please create a blog post, in which you can showcase your three favourite projects or those that you think reflect your style the best, and also a new creation for the call along the theme of New Beginnings and then link to it below.

The call will run until 26^th September, so you have just over two weeks to register your interest.

There will be no further challenges posted on either blog until I have a new team up and running and I will put a post up here when we are re-starting.

Please visit either blog to enter the Call.

Crafty Cardmakers 52 – Summer Holiday Memories

2011-09-05T14:35:00.001+01:00

Woohoo we’re back. After a much needed break, we are back with our memories of the Summer, a theme chosen by Mandy. We would love to share your interpretation of your own holiday memories with us.

We are sponsored by to the tune of £10, so get creating ladies.

Sadly we have lost a few of our team over the holidays due to work and other commitments, Gill, Cazro and Jacki and we wish them well for the future.

I am taking over the running of the blog for a while to give our lovely Vix a much needed break from that and I shall shortly be announcing a Design Team call on the blog, and would love to be able to welcome some lovely new folks to our team. So if this interests you keep your eyes peeled please.

Right enough of the business end of things, onto my card.

For my image I have combined three Magnolia stamps to create a beach Scene, Edwin and Tilda surfing and the beach backgound. I have coloured it with promarkers and the beach was paper pieced on from a beach background paper. The shells are from my stash as are the fabulous and real little starfish. I made the hat pins from some pearl headed pins and beads, using an earring back to hold it all in place on the pin. The sentiment has been printed onto safmat.

I hope my card reminds you of your holidays too, and don’t forget to join in the fun with your own holiday memories.

I’m entering this into the following challenges:-

2 Sisters Challenge - #55 Friends

Allsorts Challenge - #119 Green and Blue

Charisma Cardz – #35 Anything Goes

Get Funky – At The Seaside

I Love Promakers - #81 Anything Goes

Our Craft Lounge - #81 Anything Goes

Stampin’ For The Weekend - #15 Holidays

Stamptacular Sunday Challenge - #127 The Sky’s The Limit

Sweet Stampin’ - Anything But Birthday

The Crafting Misfit – Show and Tell Anything Goes

Lexi’s Creations - #48 Autumn

2011-09-05T14:15:00.001+01:00

Over at Lexi’s Creations this time we want to see your interpretation of Autumn, I chose Autumn colours for my card.

Our Sponsor this time is and I used one of Lexi’s gorgeous digi images called Elaina for my creation.

I have coloured her with a combination of copics (skin tones) promarkers (dress, shoes, bag and hair) and prismas (shading). Her wings have glamour dust on them.

The mat is from Kanban and was a quite hideous pink (donated by a Friend - I wonder why!!) and I just inked over it with Victorian Velvet DI, and when I buffed it off the lovely gold foiling popped back through.

The flourish is a new Cheery Lynn Die called Victorian Romance which I cut out of orange card and then embossed with Sheena’s wow Clear Holo powder having first gone over it with Victorian Velvet DI in an attempt to match the diecut mat, and the leaf embellishment came from my stash as did the flowers. The sentiment is one of Sheena’s from her Lil Bit Sketchy Range.

The beautiful papers are from the Basic Grey Indian Summer pad, which I distressed around the edge and embossed with Sheena Wow powders, and the fabulous bling is the Frantage mica Fragments, which are both blingy and dimensional, unlike guilding flakes which are blingy and flat. The Fragments are meant to represent the glorious carpet of fallen leaves which occurs every Autumn. All those beautiful orange, red and brown colours floating around your feet as you walk.

Here is a close up so you can see the gorgeous differences in colour and the fabulous dimension they create.

I am entering this into the following challenges:-

CCEE Stampers – Fall card with a diecut

Cuddly Buddly – #10 Vintage, Distressing and Flowers

Fun With Shapes and More - #91 What You Want

Heidi’s Hobbystuggu – Fall Colours

Kenny K - #59 Vintage/Grunge

Mark’s Finest Papers - #71 Bring On The Bling

Polka Doodles - #35 Autumn Leaves

Scrappy Frogs – Time For Some Bling

Secret Crafter – #150 Colours of Autumn

Stamp Something – September Digi Day Challenge

Dream Valley #15 Picture Inspiration

2011-09-05T11:35:00.001+01:00

Hi, we have a picture inspiration for you at Dream Valley this fortnight, and two fabulous prizes on offer too.

In order to be in with a chance of winning one of our fabulous prizes from our regular sponsor One Stop Card Crafts with a £10 voucher

or Sassy Studio Designs with 4 fabulous free digis

You just have to make or create something that is inspired by our picture. For example garden parties, tea parties, maybe outdoor Weddings or even just use the simple colours on your creation. You can create anything you like, scrapbook page, card, object, as long as it meets the theme in some way.

For my card I chose the colours in the picture. My image is called Sock Hop Sweetie from Sassy Design Studios and I coloured her in with promarkers and shaded her with Prisma pencils.

She reminds me of me back in the late 70s early 80s when there was the Rock n Roll revival era here in the UK. Rockabilly was huge. I recall going on the march to London to demand that the BBC play some of the new rockabilly music on the radio!! I was frequently at gigs jiving along to music from Freddie Fingers Lee, who had a patch over one eye and who if my memory serves me right could stand on his head and play the piano upside down, Crazy Cavan and The Rhythm Rockers, Crepes N Drapes, and the uber talented and gorgeous Stray Cats!

The girls wore the amazing turntable skirts and stockings and suspenders, and the boys looked on in awe in their Drape suits as the girls whirled showing a flash of their stocking tops! Nowadays of course, both girls and boys have their underwear hanging out on show almost permanently and there is no mystery and no thrill when you catch a glimpse of it.

Around about that time my Sister had her 21st birthday and she said I could invite a couple of friends of my own, and so I invited my Rockabilly buddies. I can remember how we all lit up the dance floor twirling and jiving, bopping and hopping and several people asked my Mum where on earth had she booked the entertainment as they were fantastic and they wanted them for their own parties!

Here are some pics of the boys from the Group, sadly they are very old and grainy, a bit like me really!

I dated the tall one at the far right as you look at it, in the front row kneeling down with the blond quiff, and then later the little one second from left in the front row. I also became Godmother to the fourth one in from the left back row’s gorgeous little Son. I wonder how they all turned out, and what they are doing now.

Doin’ the Hand Jive Baby

At the Hop

I wonder where those umbrellas came from!

Happy Days.

Anyhow back to the present. So when I saw this lovely image I had to use it. To go with the theme and the pictures in my head I stamped up some Kanban stamps to make a mat to place her on and also onto shrink plastic the treble clef, music and piano to make little embellishments. The lace is from my stash and the papers are from Bearly Mine. The flowers are from Wild Orchid.

I should like to enter my trip down memory lane into the following challenges:-

Cardmadfairy’s Digi Days - #16 Add Flowers

Card Makin’ Mamas - #28 Going Digital (both my image and papers are digi)

Crafting When We Can - #1 Anything Goes

Fairytale Challenge Blog - #23 Flowers and Lace

One Stitch at A Time – #78 Use a Digi

Stamp Something – September Digi Day Challenge

Stamptacular Sunday – #127 The Sky’s The Limit

Sweet Stampin’ Challenge – Anything But Birthday

The Altered Alice #1.7 Text as Nonsense (as decoration) Text on my music score

The Crafting Misfit – Show and Tell Anything Goes

Lexi’s Creations #47 - Oriental

2011-08-24T18:13:00.001+01:00

Arggghhhh I should be shot. I completely forgot to post my DT card for this fortnight’s challenge at Lexi’s Creations, where we are once again sponsored by with a 5 pack of promarkers up for grabs.

Our challenge to you this time is to make something Oriental. I was lucky enough to be given this gorgeous image from Lexi’s own range which are available at Fairy Dust Crafts. My lovely oriental girl is called Ching Lan.

I coloured her in with Promarkers, apart from her skin which are copics. The paper is a freebie from a craft magazine from a Kate Night stack, and the pink card is a WRMK sheet. The corners were cut with Nellie Snellen dies which I mistakenly thought were corner dies, but actually I prefer that they sculpt the corner of the page instead, although you do have to be very precise with where you position them before you cut. The centre and image are cut out with nesties. Greenery is cut with various Marianne dies and the flowers are from my Wild Orchid stash. The chinese coin I have had for ever and it was originally brass but I coloured it with the same colour I chose for her dress.

I am entering this into:-

Ai Factory Challenge – August Anything Goes

Art Impressions - #28 Anything Goes

Crafty Calendar Challenge – August, Hot Colours

Delightful Inspiration – Anything Goes

Karen’s Doodles Challenges – Punch It Out

Marianne Design Divas – Anything Marianne Goes

One Stop Craft Challenge - #145 Bold and Bright

Paper Creations Ink – #7 Show Us Your Flowers

Paper Playtime - #53 Anything Goes

Simply Stampin’ Challenge - #21 Punch It Up (Punches/diecuts etc)

Dream Valley #14 Colour Theme

2011-08-22T08:10:00.001+01:00

We have a colour theme for you this time at Dream Valley. But beware, put your sunglasses on first ‘cos it’s bright!

We are sponsored again by with a fabulous $10 prize for their store. The team were lucky enough to be given some fabulous Stitchy images to play with and this is what I came up with.

My image is called Tattoo and Feathers and I coloured her in with promarkers. Using mainly the orange and lime colours in the colour combo. I made the base card and the daisy layer (Bearly Mine paper) from a Go Kreate die. The doily is from my stash as is the orange feather and the gorgeous filigree corner piece. The ribbon comes from Bunny Zoe Crafts, as I was lucky enough to win a £10 voucher to her store recently. The cogs are genuine from an old clock that had stopped working years ago but which stood on the mantle when I was a child. Strangely when I started to dismantle it it suddenly kicked back into life and started to chime. The sound took me back 40+ years!

I used the metallic gold promarker for the studs on her funky glasses and the chain, but to be honest I am not overly impressed with it, and I would have preferred a sakura or pentouch pen I think.

I’m entering this into:-

4 Crafty Chicks – #51 Where’s the metal – the corner and clock pieces

Craft Us Crazy – #15 Anything Goes

Crafty Calendar – Hot colours

Designed To Delight – Anything Goes

Frosted Designs – Clocks and timepieces (hope my genuine clock parts count?)

Mami Doodles - #32 Shaped Card

One Stop Craft Challenge - #145 Bold and Bright

The Poodles Parlour – Anything Goes

The Stamp Man – #29 Anything Goes with Summer Colours

Try It On Tuesday – Anything Goes

Dream Valley 13 Distressing

2011-08-10T09:28:00.001+01:00

Over at Dream Valley this fortnight our theme is Distressing

We have a couple of prizes on offer and in order to be in with a chance you need to enter something you have distressed. This could be something you have used a distressing tool on, or a sanding block, you might like to use inks to give that distressed look, and you can enter any project you like, not necessarily a card.

Our Sponsors are

with a £10 voucher for their store

and

with a $10 voucher for their store

The DT were lucky enough to be given some Digi Doodle images for their cards this week and I chose Daisy Girl for mine.

I have coloured her in with promarkers, and distressed the edge of the image, she is matted onto an equally distressed Marianne diecut, with a layer of lace in between. the ribbon and daisy buttons were in my stash and the other additions are also Marianne diecuts. The Just Relax sentiment is courtesy of Sheena Douglass and the paper is WRMK Tiffany.

I should like to enter this into:-

Card Cupid’s Blog – Buttons and/or Ribbon

Crafty Ann’s Challenge - #46 Summertime

Creative Inspirations - #65 Summertime

Frosted Designs - Colouring

I Did It Creations - #67 Children

If The Shoe Fits - #88 Show Us Your Green

Just Some Lines – Summer/Outdoor Colours and my favourite thing to do outdoors is sit in the sunshine and read

Marks Finest Papers – #67 Anything but a standard 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 card

One Stitch At A Time – #74 Use a Digi

Paper Creator’s Crafts – #4 All about Flowers

Sentimental Sundays - #67 Flowers

Belated ABC Z is for Zoo Challenge

2011-08-01T07:45:00.001+01:00

I am not entirely sure where my head is at this week but I completely forgot to post my ABC DT card from last Wednesday! Arggghhhhh – sorry team

Anyhow late, but finally here is my idea for the Zoo challenge.

As soon as I saw the gorgeously cute little elephant from Robyn’s Fetish, who are our sponsors this week. I was put in mind of hayfever because he looks like he might be sneezing. So with that in mind I sorted through my huge Basic Grey stacks for some floral paper that would fit the bill. The image has been coloured with prismas and OMS.

The ribbon, button and clip are all from my stash and I made the sentiment myself with a floral font in my graphics program. It reads, in case it’s not too clear here, ‘To keep hayfever at bay, take one Ell-ereze tablet a day …. Bless You!’ I also made the flowers from a combo of the papers.

I’m entering this into the following:-

Anything Goes Challenge – #46 Pick of The Bunch (Flowers)

Charisma Cardz – #30 Four Legged Friends

Creative Card Crew – Animal Antics

Creative Craft World – Anything But Birthdays

Cutie Sunday - #46 Flower Power

Papercraft Star - #55 Anything Goes

Paperplay Challenges - #30 In The Garden

Partytime Tuesdays - #26 Anything Goes

The Paper Shelter – #24 Anything Goes

Truly Scrumptious - #62 Buttons and Bows

CCM 51 Butterflies

2011-07-25T22:32:00.001+01:00

This fortnight’s challenge at Crafty Cardmakers is Butterflies, chosen by the lovely Melly.

We are sponsored by and they are offering a prize of £10 to use in their store.

Ironically I had just done a card for Lexi and I had chosen a butterfly for that one. Perhaps I should have tried a sneaky and combined two DT challenges in one post! But as I love butterflies I have made a nice fresh card for this challenge.

My image, sentiment and indeed BP are all from Elusive Images, the paper being part of the Graphicus Guild welcome pack.

For the image I started with a blank sheet of card and ink dusted some Big N Juicy Inks onto it. I then stamped the gorgeous and huge (6”) butterfly onto my ink dusted background with versamark and then embossed it with Sheena’s Wow sparkle powder in purple. I distressed the edges of the card with a pair of scissors and embossed them with a combination of the purple Wow powders and a sparkly blue (the same two colours I used on the sentiment stamp). The lace ribbon I dyed with the same Inkpad using both the pinky/purple and blue/green shades.

The flower is from HOTP, lovely organza petals layered up to make a flower and the centre is actually a snowflake brad, but who would know, well you all do now, lol, cos I told you. All the swirly/branch embellishments are cut with various Marianne dies.

I’m entering this into:-

Clear It Out – Anything Goes (Flowers, had for a year or more, the lace for even longer and I cannot even remember how old the paper is!)

Craft Us Crazy - #13 Anything Goes

Crafts and Me - #44 Add A Flower

DYSU - #29 wings

Flutterby Wednesday - #163 Open challenge

Little Claire’s Designs - #11 Things With Wings

Paper Cutz - #101 Anything Goes

Shopping Our Stash – #9 Technique Turn Back (I haven’t stamped and NOT coloured in ages, and I haven’t used this stamp for months)

Simon Says Stamp and Show – Anything Goes

Stamp Something - Embellished

Lexi’s Creations 45 A Shaped Card

2011-07-25T22:16:00.001+01:00

It’s challenge time again at Lexi’s Creations and this time we would like to see your shaped cards.

We are once again sponsored by who are offering a 5 pack of promarkers as the prize.

So onto my card.

I have recently received one of the gorgeous Cheery Lynn Dies, and the largest one in the set is a perfect size for making a card, so I used it to make this easel card.

First though I printed Lexi’s image of the Fairydust Butterflies image and then trimmed it out in my BS.

I did the same with some basic grey paper to match and the sentiment is also from Fairydust Crafts.

The image was coloured with my promarkers.

I edged the top and bottom layers of the easel with cosmic shimmer glitter, and also the nestie mat I cut for the sentiment.

Flowers from my stash and the bow beneath the large flower is from a bath scrunchy/puff.

I’m entering this into the following:-

Craft Us Crazy - #13 Anything Goes

Crafts 4 Eternity – #29 Shaped Cards

Divas By Design - #6 Pastels

DYSU - #29 Wings

Flutterby Wednesday - #163 Open, but use Butterfly/Fairy/Angel

Forever Friends – Pastel Colours

Happileigh Scrappin’ – #32 Shaped Card

Just Some Lines – Easel Card

My Time to Craft - #149 Citrus Colours

Paper Playtime - #51 Digi Monday with a Summer theme

Stamp Something – Embellished

Dream Valley #12 Surprise

2011-07-24T22:00:00.001+01:00

This fortnight at Dream Valley we want to see a surprise element on your card. A hidden flap, a pop up, something hidden …. if you pop on over to the blog you will find some links to tutorials for various ‘surprise’ ideas for your creations.

We are sponsored by with a $10 gift certificate for their store, where you will find lots of lovely Digis to choose from.

So onto my Surprise card.

I started with some paper from a freebie stack I got with a Craft Magazine. One of the prettiest freebies I have seen in ages, all the papers co-ordinated so beautifully together. Having distressed the edge I layered this onto some DCWV textured card. I cut a large white mat with a Marianne die and from the same set I cut a co-ordinating paper from the stack.

My image is from Crafters Companion’s Humphrey range. Isn’t she just too cute?!? I coloured her with promarkers, and trimmed her out with the smallest of the set of Marianne Dies.

I stuck the whole matted image slightly off centre, leaving an area unglued for my surprise. This was created with another Marianne die and a sentiment stamp which went with the floral theme of the card.

I plaited together a long length of three pastel satin ribbons and framed the corner of the card with it. And the flower was made up of various petals from my stash and some gem pics, hat pins and a habib pin.

Why not pop on over to Dream Valley and show us your surprise!

I am entering this into the following challenges:-

Charisma Cardz Challenges - #29 Sunshine colours

Craft Us Crazy – #13 Anything Goes

Crafts and Me - #44 Add a Flower

Crafty Ann’s Challenge Blog - #45 Embossing (lots of dry embossed areas on the die cuts)

Kaboodle Doodle - #76 Embossing (lots of dry embossed areas on the die cuts)

Paper Cutz Challenge - #101 Anything Goes

Papertake Weekly – Getting Cute

Pattie’s Creations - #26 Glitter or Bling

Stampin’ For the Weekend - #13 Paws for Thought – Anything with 4 legs (elephants have 4 legs, even cute ones)

Totally Gorjuss - #90 Punch or Die

CCM #50 One Layer Card

2011-07-12T07:32:00.001+01:00

This fortnight at Crafty Cardmakers we are after your one layer cards. This is so not my style, as whilst I don’t put as much on as some other folks I find that a card with nothing added looks naked, so this was a real challenge for me. Anyhow this is what I came up with.

I masked out a rectangle on a 7x5 scalloped card blank and then ink dusted some Big N Juicy ink into it. I then stamped this lovely Kanban stamp into the inked area, and embossed it. I then bleached out the lady and the flowers.

I coloured in the bleached out areas with Cosmic Shimmer paints and used an embossing pen to go around the outside edge of the design to give it the illusion of being matted onto the card.

I was going to leave it like the pic below, but decided that even if I couldn’t embellish it it needed something, so I practised with scrap paper, a lot of scrap paper, until I could get it where I wanted it and printed the sentiment onto it to finish it off. Obviously it would have made more sense to start with the sentiment, but who needs safe! I like crafting without a parachute. I did consider safmat, but even though that blends into the background really well I figured it was slightly cheating as it was not exactly one layer, lolI’m really sorry but I seem to have managed to create TWO blurred pics! LOL

By the way, the mess in the corner was where I forgot to put the inkduster away!!!

Don’t forget to stop by the blog as my fellow teamies have come up with some fabulous designs.

Dream Valley Challenges #11 Summer Theme

2011-07-12T06:51:00.001+01:00

Our Challenge for you this fortnight over at Dream Valley is to create something with a ‘Summer’ theme. A bit difficult here in the UK as all we seem to have is rain, rain and more rain at the moment. Either that or it’s too hot to breathe.

Anyhow I remembered these lovely Mo Manning images that I have and decided to make a beach scene with them using Paint.Net and it’s fabulous ease of merging images.I printed the scene onto watercolour card and coloured it in with Lyra Aquacolours.

The cloudy sky and sun were created with DIs. It is matted onto some DCWV Perfect Posies papers and finished off with some ribbon, cute little sea themed embellishments and a sentiment printed onto safmat.

Just to show the irony of the theme, here is the first pic I took of my finished card showing raindrops at my window! Summer, Pah!!

I chose the font ‘Old Dreadful' for the sentiment on purpose as it had this funky little thing where the dots at the end of the word ‘comes’ turned into eyes looking towards the right, the same direction roughly that the little lad is looking towards the sun. Also in the word Summer the U looked like a big surf wave, and the other letters looked like some animals you might see in a zoo.

I’m entering this into the following:-

2 Sisters Challenge Blog – #47 Summer Time Fun

Card Makin’ Mamas - #24 Summertime

Crafty Calendar Challenge – July - Under the Sea or Water themed

Crafty Purple Frog – Summer Fun

Crazy 4 Challenges – #95 Summer themed card

Mami Doodles - #30 At The Beach

Samuel Taylors Crafts – July - Summery Theme

Stampin’ B’s – 118 Beach Scene to Include Sand (real or imagined)

The Stamping Boutique - #10 Summer Scene

Totally Gorjuss - #88 Summertime

Totally Papercrafts - #74 The Beach

Wee Memories – Summertime

ABC Birthday Blog Hop and a DT Call

2011-07-06T11:02:00.002+01:00

Good morning. Today we are celebrating The ABC Challenge’s third Birthday with a Blog Hop.
We are also having a Design Team call so please make sure you go on over to the main blog and check out the details for entering.
You should have reached me from Sari’s Blog. If not, you can start the hop at Vicky’s Blog or indeed the ABC Challenge blog. Our challenge for the hop is Y is for yesterday. My creation reminds me of my youth, a long, long time ago. Not that I ever had a pet duck, lol, but I can recall sitting on the bridge at the ford and dangling my feet in the water.
On to our blog hop.
In order to qualify for a prize, you must comment on all the hop stops you visit, all prizes will be drawn at random from all the qualifying entrants.
Here are all the hop stops in order
1 - Vicky
2 - Clare (Distressed miss)
3 - Sue C
4 - Hanna
5 - Emma
6 - Cecilia
7 - Gro
8 - Sari
9 - Lin
10 - Jackie
11 - Kendra
12- Angelique
13- Karli
14- Suzanne T
15 - Lols
16 - Ali
17 - Sandie
18 - Cathy
My prize is 5 digi downloads courtesy of

I have used two of Di’s gorgeous Digis in my card. Firstly Lou with Duck and I have merged her onto the Bridge Background, using Paint.Net.
My image was coloured with prismas and OMS.
The BPs are Basic Grey, the raffia ribbon from Bunny Zoe, and the vintage seam binding from Ebay. The flowers are mainly from Wild Orchid Crafts. The butterflies I trimmed from some lovely ribbon, and the two little gem designs anchoring the ends of the seam binding are from my stash.
Next stop on the hop is
Jackie
Don’t forget to leave a comment at every stop to be in with a chance of winning the prizes on offer.
I am entering this into the following:-
A Spoonfull of Sugar - #159 Sewing
Bearly Mine - #14 Anything Goes
Craft Room Challenge – Summer Birthdays
Craft Your Passion – Anything Goes
Creative Craft Challenges – Pretty Blossoms
Karen’s Doodles – More Than One Image
KB Cute Monday - #20 Anything Goes
Ladybug Crafts Ink TLT - #35 Summer Birthdays
Ooh La La Creations - #83 Summer Flowers
Party Time Tuesdays - #23 Square Cards
Sentimental Sundays – # 62 Anything Goes
The Emerald Faerie Garden - #4 All Things Girly
Try It On Tuesday – Flower Power
Wee Memories - #61 Summertime

The Spotlight Challenge #49 Masking

2011-07-06T10:15:00.001+01:00

This week over on The Spotlight Challenge we would like to see masking on your creations.

We have a fab prize on offer of this gorgeous Lemon Shortbread stamp courtesy of Crafts & Me.

This challenge is hosted by Jack and this is her description of what she would like to see.

SPOTLIGHT ON MASKING-
Its my turn to set the challenge this fortnight and I'd like to see you using masking - This can be using a bought mask (or stencil), making your own, stamping your main image and masking over it before you do your background, using torn paper as a mask, but NOT a picture of a mask. I'd also like a short explanation of how you used your mask.

So onto my card.

Sorry about the poor quality of the pic!

I started with a blank piece of white card and stamp the LOTV couple onto it. Having made a mask of them I then covered them and stamped the Cuddly Buddly church. I also made a mask of that and then stamped the larger of the trees just behind the church.

I did a sort of reverse mask for the sun by punching out a circle and overlaying the paper with the hole and then pouncing through it.

The sky was done with Broken China DI and the other background with a couple of toning colours from the same Kaleidoscope ink pad which I used to stamp the trees. Finally I coloured in the couple and church with promarkers.

I’m entering this into the following:-

Craft Your Passion – #65 Anything Goes

Cupcake Craft Challenges – Single Layer Cards

Kaboodle Doodles - #74 Celebrations

KB Cute Monday – #20 Anything Goes

Paper Creator’s Crafts - #2 Special Occasion

Pollycraft - #100 Celebrations

Quirky Crafts - #14 No Patterned Papers

Sentimental Sundays #62 Anything Goes

Top Tip Tuesday – #41 Wedding or Anniversary

ABC Challenge X is for ……

2011-06-29T12:43:00.001+01:00

Crossing Ribbons.

The theme this fortnight over at ABC is X is for crossing ribbons, and we are sponsored by

This is what I came up with.

I actually only did this yesterday as what with the PC issues etc I was way behind. Anyhow that was good because it meant I was able to rip open my newest Basic Grey paper and use it here! This one is from the Sweet Threads pad and they are sooooooo gorgeous, but then BG is probably my favourite company for pre-printed papers.

The image is also new by Sassy Cheryl and is called The Little Girls Flower. Isn’t she just the sweetest?

I coloured her with promarkers and trimmed her out with a Nestie, she is matted onto a matching Nestie and also a Go Kreate diecut. The ribbon was from my stash as were the gems stuck on it. The flowers are also from my stash, mostly from Cuddly Buddly I think.

I am entering this into the following challenges:-

Deep Ocean Challenge - #2 Flowers

Dream Valley – Ribbons (No cheek here as I was unable to create a DT card for this challenge due to PC issues – sorry Mel couldn’t resist! *Grinz*)

Digital Tuesday Challenge - #117 Flower Power

Hooked on Craft Challenges – #2 Show Us Your Flowers

I Love Promarkers - #72 Include Flowers

KB Cute Monday – # 19 Flowers

Ooh La La Creations - #83 Summer Flowers

Paper Sundaes – #75 Sunday Bar two of four toppings (Gems and Purple)

Rainbow Lady’s Challenge Blog – # 158 Digi Day

Ruby’s Rainbow - #6 Flowers

Stamps R Us – There Was A Little Girl

Lexi’s Creations # 43 A Bug’s Life

2011-06-27T15:19:00.001+01:00

Here is my card for the Lexi’s Creations current challenge which follows the theme ‘A Bug’s Life’.

I created my card using Lexi’s image entitled ‘Mushroom Ladybug’ which can be obtained from Fairy Dust Crafts. We are sponsored by the fabulous

with a prize of a pack of 5 promarkers.

I printed the image onto watercolour cardstock and coloured it in with a combination of Whisper Brushstrokes pens and Lyra Aquacolours. The cloudy sky I made with Broken Glass DI which I dusted around the edge of an oval scalloped nestie to hopefully look like clouds!

The pink paper came from a freebie cdrom which was available in issue 88 of Quick Cards Made Easy. It was meant to be a series of borders for trimming out but I liked the look of it for a main background. Most peculiar set up as it refused to print anything larger than A5 and there seemed to be no way to access the file directly from the cds as they were in some strange format, but hey ho it was free so I shouldn’t really complain.

The blue floral mat was another freebie from this month’s Quick Cards! I ask you, who needs to buy paper, but of course we all do and it’s my one weakness as Dorcas Lane from Lark Rise would propound!

I created some faux stitching around the edges of the card with a stitch stamp from HOTP and some blue ink.

The greenery was made with various Marianne dies and the little bugs are wooden and they have been in my stash for a very long while. The sentiment came from the fabulous Burl Ives Song from my youth entitled Ugly Bug Ball! What a fascinating voice that man had and what quirky songs he made.

I am entering this into the following challenges:-

Lisa Somerville Bloggers Challenge – Things With Wings

Rainbow Lady’s Challenge – #158 Digi Day

Scrapbook Sisters – #41 Anything Goes

Simply Create Challenges - #46 Fly With Us

Southern Girls Challenge - #21 Anything Goes

The Crafty Calendar Challenge – June Things with Wings

The Outlawz POM Challenge – Things with Wings

The Poodles Parlour – Come Fly With Me

Nightmare Windows Update!

2011-06-27T14:25:00.001+01:00

I have had a nightmare couple of weeks following a Windows 7 update that my PC appeared to have issues with. It completely killed the OS stone dead and I had to reformat. It has taken me over a week to get email back, and bookmarks etc. It’s still not running 100% smoothly but I am so behind already with my DT comments. So if you are a fellow teamie, my apologies for not having been around your blogs for a bit. Also apologies to my team at The ABC Challenge as I should have been uploading a card for them a couple of weeks back and I just couldn’t access my files from my pc to do so.

It’s obviously way too late now to be entering any challenges with this as I clearly made it to be uploaded to my blog almost a fortnight ago now, but just in case anyone clicked on my name on the ABC blog expecting to find my Wedding themed card here it is!

The papers are from Bearly Mine, which I printed out at 8” and then again at 6” so that I wouldn’t lose the beauty of the border by chopping it off. The image is a Bentley Bear digi that I downloaded. The flowers are from Wild Orchid and the sentiment was part of the Bentley download, printed onto and then trimmed out using a nestie.

The two little images inside the hearts are both printed onto shrink plastic and then shrunk. The top one is a repeat of the main image and the bottom one is a church stamp from Cuddly Buddly.

It’s so long ago now I can’t even remember how I coloured it, lol, but I believe it was prismas and OMS, certainly looks like that when I enlarge the image anyhow! I can’t check as the card went off to be given to a friend of my Daughter for her wedding day. The main image has been matted onto toning colours of DCWV card which I cut out with various sizes of one of the Go Kreate Dies. At least the bride loved the card apparently!

My Daughter created the rhyme herself, and I am including it just so you can see how lovely the Bearly Mine papers look on the inside of the card.

I am hoping to be back later with this fortnight’s card for the Lexi Creations Challenge so watch this space, lol.

CCM #48 Alter a Food Carton/Box/Container

2011-06-13T20:48:00.001+01:00

On Crafty Cardmakers this week we want to see your altered food containers! Do pop on over to the blog as there are some awesome projects there. We also have on offer a prize of £10 from the lovely Joanna Sheen

So to mine. I started with an empty box that holds puppy pouches.

I painted it white. Not sure why, I think I might have been going to fusion it and then changed my mind. Anyhow I covered it with some gorgeous Bo Bunny paper that has been sitting in my stash for years.

I wrapped a long length of white stretchy lace fabric around the middle and also a length of purple satin. I made a couple of bows from the satin and stuck them in the centre of the ribbon. Some Tim Holt diecuts and a few petaloo flowers finish it off.

I am using it for storing my Bigz dies, as currently they are inside a zipped container and I can normally not be bothered to drag them out, perhaps I will be encouraged to use them more now. I have a couple of these types of boxes slightly larger which I think I will adapt to hold my BS embossing plates cos they are hidden away and NEVER get used!

I’m entering this into the following:-

Gingersnap Creations – Packaging Materials

KB Cute Monday – Anything Goes

Moving Along With The Times – Anything But A Card

Papertake Weekly – Anything Goes

Pollycraft Challenge – Ribbons and Flowers

Shelley’s Images Blog – Anything Goes

The Poodles Parlour – Anything Goes

Lexi’s Creations #42 – No Sentiment

2011-06-13T10:00:00.002+01:00

Hi, over at Lexi’s this week we are sponsored by Fairy Dust Crafts

Our challenge for you this fortnight is to create something that has no sentiment on it. ‘Oh goody’ I thought, as I rarely bother with sentiments on my cards, until that is I came to make it, LOL

I have made my card with one of the gorgeous digs designed by Lexi and available at Fairy Dust, called JT.

Having coloured JT in with prismas and OMS I picked out some lovely Basic Grey papers to mat him onto, and then I was stuck. Whatever I did it didn’t look finished, and a sentiment would have solved that problem for me, lol, but I couldn’t use one so I had to put my thinking cap on. Finally after a good root around in my stash I came up with the three metal embellishments and the gorgeous brass clock charm. I tied that on with some Stampin’ Up twine. The flourish is a grey diecut I coloured up with gold paint.

We all get so wrapped up in copics/promarkers that we tend to neglect all the other lovely colouring mediums out there and my first love has to be my prismas. I love the soft subtle effects you can get with them. Whilst alcohol markers are amazing and the better crafter can achieve results that look like the image has just come off the printing press sometimes I think it’s nice to look like you did actually colour it in yourself.

I am entering this into the following challenges:-

Alphabet Challenge – Father’s Day or a Male Card
Craft Us Crazy – Father’s Day and/Or Masculine colours/theme
Fab ‘n Funky – Magnificent Men
Fussy and Fancy – Man Cards
Mami Doodles – Make a Card for a Boy or Man
Paper Play – Father’s Day/Man’s Card
Secret Crafter – A Male Card
Sew Many Cards – Father’s Day/Male Cards
The Stamp Man – Boys and Men
Wee Memories – Free For All

Dream Valley #09 Father’s Day

2011-06-12T18:21:00.001+01:00

It’s time for another challenge over at Dream Valley and this fortnight we want to see your Father’s Day creations. So this can be anything at all as long as it’s Father/Male related.

We are sponsored by two lovely sponsors this week

who kindly provided the team with some of their lovely images to work with and the prize on offer is 3 images from their store.

Also have on offer a £10 voucher for their store

I have used Time to Relax from our first sponsor. I printed it onto watercolour card and coloured in with a combination of whisper brush markers and distress inks. My paper is from a Prima pad, and the little frog and metal name plate I found in my stash.

If you pop on over to the blog you will see we have announced the addition of four new team members, and I should like to take this opportunity to welcome them. They are all very talented ladies and I am sure you will enjoy what they have to offer.

I am entering this into the following:-

C.R.A.F.T. Challenge – Father’s Day

Delicious Doodles – Father’s Day

Fairy Knoll – Father’s Day

Mark’s Finest Papers – Father’s Day

Pattie’s Creations – Wedding or Father’s Day

One Stop Craft Challenge – Father’s Day

Polka Doodles – Something For Dad

Sew Many Challenges – Father’s Day

Simply Create – Father’s Day

Stamp, Scrap and Doodle – Father’s Day

ABC V is for Variety

2011-06-02T09:52:00.001+01:00

Wednesday, 1 June 2011

Welcome back to another ABC challenge .. .we are almost at the end of the alphabet, and V is for ...

Variety

We want to see at least 3 different types of embellishments on your creations.

This weeks challenge is being sponsored by Stamp Fairy. Be sure to check out the store because there are so many cute whimsy digistamps for all sorts of projects!

My cute little image is called Linda Fairy, no relation!

I printed her onto some brown card, would love to call it Kraft, but I think it was a cheap imitation. She has been coloured with chalks, with a little bit of glitter glue for her slightly hidden wings and her wand. The papers are from K&C and the ribbons from and flowers from my stash. I made bases for two of my flowers using the bps and some more of the brown card. The two leaves are large ornate headed pins. I also stamped a sentiment onto the same card and matted it onto the bps.

I’m entering this into the following challenges:-

A Spoonfull of Sugar – Flower Power

Allsorts Challenge – Things With Wings (she does have wings, honest, she has to she is a fairy!)

Card Cupids – Ribbon and/or Fibres

Kenny K’s Krafty Girls – Fabulous Florals

Party Time Tuesdays – Anything Goes

Top Tip Tuesday – Wrap it up with Ribbon

The Outlawz Greetings Challenge – Anything Goes

CCM 47 Love – The Lasting Kind …..

2011-05-30T12:40:00.001+01:00

This weeks Crafty Cardmakers Challenge which is hosted by Benita, is to make a card that shows who you love and why.
There is a £10 voucher on offer for the winner, sponsored by
Mine was simple. Sadly as my parents are both gone and I am no longer married, thank heaven’s for small mercies, that just leaves my beautiful Daughter and my oh so cute Poppy dog. No contest really, in case you were wondering squiddy, hands down it has to be my Daughter!

I have kept the card simple, and in fact it’s 8x8 so is going to end up in a scrapbook, because I wanted her to be the focus of attention and sometimes with all the frippery we add to things it can detract from the central image. I wanted this to be about her, not beautiful flowers and flouncy ribbons.

The background is from the ever so lush DCWV Luxury stack, the sort of card you look at but don’t want to chop into.

I am a sentimental old softy, and the sentiment, a rub on, just about says it all really. I manipulated the picture in Photoimpact so that rainbows were beaming out from her, although it does look a little like the sun caught her tiara!

I’m addressing this last paragraph to her ……..

I made this for you, my lovely Daughter to show you how I see you, which is with beauty radiating from within, as the sentiment says. You have been my rock, my joy and my laughter, since the day you were born when I looked into your little pinched up face and my heart was lost forever. Of course there were moments as you grew that were frustrating, but on the whole you have been a person to be proud of. One whom friends can call on and know you will be there, fiercely loyal. One who sticks up for what is right no matter what the cost to yourself, as your recent brush with the idiot where you worked showed only too well, and one who has shown me more love than I could ever wish for. You have filled my heart with love and my life with delight and wonderment and have become my absolute best friend. …………. Sweetheart I LOVE YOU.

I’m entering this into the following challenges:-

Crafting for All Seasons – Anything Goes

Crafty Purple Frog – Things of Beauty

Creative Inspirations Paint – Inspired by Friends – as mentioned above my Daughter is my best friend, and she was the inspiration for this creation

Divas By Design – One For the Girls

Drunken Stampers – Something magical – My image manipulation has created magical rainbows emanating from within

Little Miss Muffet – Something Metal – my corners are filigree metal

Papertake Weekly – Pale Pretty Pastels

Secret Crafter – Clean and Simple

Sentimental Sundays – Anything But A Card – As this is going to end up in my scrapbook I hope it qualifies, if not girls, please yell out!

Sparkles Forum – Something Metal – my corners are filigree metal

Stamp Something – Use a sentiment

Lexi’s Creations #41 – Father’s Day

2011-05-30T10:00:00.000+01:00

Our challenge over at Lexi’s Creations this fortnight is Father’s Day. We are once again sponsored by the fabulous Letraset and the winner will receive a pack of 5 Promarkers.

My card is made using Lexi’s image Golfer Max, as that’s where a lot of Dads would really like to be on Father’s Day. My Family were in Golf for years as Greenkeepers and my Grandad and his Brother actually built one of the courses at Wentworth.

I’ve coloured Max in with promarkers and the green behind him is chalk. The golf balls I found online, and the gorgeous golf bag is a resin embellishment I have had for ages.

I’m entering this into the following challenges:-

Craft Your Days Away – Father’s Day/Special Man

Creative Card Crew – Anything Goes

Digi Doodle Shop’s Best – Anything Goes

ECP The Challenges – For Dad

Here Come The Boys – Father’s Day/Hubby/Partner

Karen’s Doodles – Father’s Day

Stamping, Scrapping Challenge Central – Masculine Challenge

The Outlawz Copic Challenge – Anything Goes

Dream Valley 8 Stamp Something

2011-05-29T23:35:00.001+01:00

Over at Dream Valley our challenge this time is to ‘stamp something’.

That's it! No digital images allowed and anything you make must have some sort of hand stamping on it! As usual you can make enter anything into our challenges from cards to ATC's, Scrap page layouts to altered items! As long as your item has stamp and ink!

We have 2 sponsors this time for you all!!

Firstly with a £10 voucher

and secondly with a choice of a stamp

This challenge was perfect timing for me because I had just received the gorgeous Art Deco Bride/Flapper stamp from Crafts and Me after keep missing it every time it was in stock, so I was eager to stamp her up.

I was originally going to colour her in with promarkers, but fancied a softer approach so got my prismas out. Her hat feather’s were made by feathering small strokes of a turquoise shade with whispers pens as they come with a fabulously fine point nib as well as a brush tip. I have added glamour dust to the front part of her hat, and the roses on it, and also to her dress and arm decoration, and finally the rim of the mat, which I first edged with DI.

The BPs are from various Bearly Mine sets and I tried to match the colours of the rose paper in her dress. The ribbon was white ribbon which I dragged the DI ink over, feathers were from my stash, as were the roses and the diecuts are Marianne dies. The peel offs were chosen to match the pink areas.

I’m entering this into the following challenges:-

2 Sisters Challenge – Anything Goes

Bearly Mine Challenges – Die Cuts and Lace

CES Challenges – Embossing – My die cuts are embossed and inked over

Crafting For All Seasons – Anything Goes

Crafts 4 Eternity – Alter Something – My lacey ribbon has been altered by changing it’s colour to a soft blue

Creative Craft World – Use 3 or more flowers

Delicious Doodles – Lovely Lace

The Emerald Faerie Garden – Anything Goes

Paper Sundaes – Vintage or Shabby Chic – My image is vintage

Papercrafting Journey – Anything Goes

PaperPlay Challenges – Blossoms and Blooms

Scrappy Frogs – Happy Birthday

The Outlawz POM Challenge – Anything Goes

The Paper Shelter – Anything Goes

Truly Scrumptious – Anything Goes

Lexi’s Creations #40 Spots And/Or Stripes

2011-05-16T10:00:00.000+01:00

This week over at Lexi’s Creations we want to see spots and/or stripes in your creations.

Our sponsor for this challenge is 'Fairy Dust Crafts'

Check out this fabulous craft store there is such a lot there, including Lexi’s own images, and the prices are amazing!!!

For full details of the challenge and to see some absolutely beautiful inspirational creations from our design team call across to Lexi's Creations Challenge Blog.

For my card I have used Lexi’s gorgeous Butterscotch Fairy.

I have coloured her in with promarkers, and added some glitter glue to her wings and a small gem for her necklace. The spotty paper is from Basic Grey and the stripes, which I did with the Hougie Board is a sheet of coredinations card. The flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts, the central one has been stuck onto some Marianne Diecuts and I have edged it with the same glitter glue as on the fairy’s wings, to give it more ooomph! The sentiment is an old metal tag I have had hanging around for years, coloured with promarkers. I think I should have left it to dry a bit better before I went over it again as it looks a bit patchy here.

The ribbons are from my stash.

I should like to enter this into the following challenges:-

Catch The Bug – Polka Dots and Stripes

Crafty Creations – Anything Goes

Creative Belli Blog – The Letter S – My Spots and Stripes

Divas By Design – Anything Goes

Make it Colourful – Dotty Backgrounds

Mami Doodles – Spots And/Or Stripes

One Stitch At A Time – Anything Goes

Penny’s Paper Crafty Challenge – Anything Goes

Scrappy Frogs – Anything Goes

Send A Smile For Kids – May Flowers

Stamp Scrap and Doodle – Old Supplies – The Metal Tag

Sweet Stampin Challenge Blog –Spots, Stripes and Sparkle

The Spotlight Challenge #45 Inchies

2011-05-09T19:34:00.001+01:00

Over at The Spotlight Challenge this fortnight we are highlighting Inchies. Please pop on over to the blog for a more detailed explanation of what is required but essentially it involves using 1 inch squares, and our hostess for this challenge, Cazro, has requested that there be a minimum of 3 inchies on your project. There are some interesting DT samples so please pop on over and check them all out.

So down to business, lol. When I saw we had this challenge coming up I scouted around for something suitable to cut into 1 inch squares and my Stampendous Corset stamp seemed the perfect one as it is divisible nicely by 3 in one direction and 4 in the other.

Having stamped and embossed it I cut it out and layered it over some purple paper that I had. Then my mind began wandering off at a tangent as it so often does, and I started thinking about inches and corsets and before I knew it I had a theme for my card. I made my own background paper using another corset stamp in the same colours as the main image, and I designed my sentiment to be a play on the theme of inchies and the theme of my card, as the whole thing is meant to look like an advert for a corset making company. All sorts of dressmaking odds and ends have ended up here including a lace flower and you don't want to know where that came from *winks*

The bits and bobs are meant to look like the components that might go into the making of a corset, and the inchie topper itself is meant to resemble what it’s like looking through one of those old fashioned lead windows at a corset on display inside the store. Don’t know their architectural term but the ones that are made up of squares of glass.

I had a great deal of fun with this one, but setting out those inchies so they were neat on the background paper was hard work so if anyone has any tips for lining up please yell out!

I am entering this into the following:-

Catch The Bug Challenge Blog – Anything Goes

CES Challenges – Your Favourite Colour Combo – Purple and Black

Crafty Catz – Give us a Quote/Sentiment

Crafty Purple Frog Challenge – Purple and Lace

Creative Cowgirls – Anything Goes

Creative Inspirations Paint – Inspired by Your Favourite Colour – Mine happens to be purple

Do You Stack Up – Purple

Secret Crafter – Dust off Your Stash – My old Stampendous Stamp and all the odds and sods from my sewing box

Scrappy Frogs Challenge – Anything Goes

Sentimental Sundays – Anything Goes

ABC T is for ……

2011-05-04T09:48:00.001+01:00

Two Or More Images. This week at ABC we want to see two or more images on your card, not including a sentiment or text. They can be two separate images, masked, digitally merged (as I have done) etc.

We are sponsored by

And our winner will get this adorable new Milton stamp as their prize

So onto my creation.

I had a lot of fun with this one. I have used digital images from two different companies. The first is the background one which is called Whimsical Log and comes from Make it Crafty, and the faerie is from Debs Mitchell Creations The Emerald Fairies Collection and is called Ally and Beeble. The MIC images are perfect for merging with other images to make a whole scene, and the Emerald Faeries come in both rubber and digi, whatever is your preference, but I went for digi because they are in Australia so it was quicker and cheaper, lol. I imported the first image into Paint.Net and then brought the second one in over the top and using the programme merged the two images together. I then printed onto watercolour paper and coloured in with Inktense watercolour pencils.

I glittered up Ally’s wings, the flower she is sitting on, the flower over her head and the mushrooms. The image is matted onto some dimensional craft paper, it’s like a sort of net with white blobs of paint dotted onto it and it put me in mind of the mushrooms. The paper is from a digi scrapkit whose name escapes me, sorry. The little charms are from my stash and coloured with promarkers. The words were made on my PC with Letraset’s Safmat and the rest of the embellies are potpourri, so the card smells nice too!

Don’t forget to come on over to ABC and join in the fun and check out the other DT samples whilst you are there.

I am entering this into:-

Anything Goes Challenge Blog – Home Sweet Home (clearly a Faerie lives in a Glen)

By The Cute and Girly – Anything Goes

Craft Your Passion – Anything Goes

Creative Craft Challenges – Get Recycling (My potpourri is recyled!)

Papertake Weekly – Anything Goes

Pollycraft – Anything Goes

Scrappy Frogs – Anything Goes

The Emerald Faerie Garden – Anything Goes

Top Tip Tuesday – Open Challenge

Try It On Tuesday – Something Old, Something New (My old is the good old recycled potpourri and my new is the faerie part of the image)

My First DT Post for Lexi’s Creations - Friendship

2011-05-02T10:00:00.000+01:00

I was honoured to be picked for the Lexi’s Creations Design Team a couple of weeks back and this is my first post.

The theme this week is Friendship and I was asked to pick an image to work with before I knew what the challenge was going to be. Silly me I should have asked first, cos you can imagine what I thought when I realised I had chosen the three wise monkeys and the theme was friendship! However, hey ho, that’s why they are called challenges ………

I have coloured the monkeys in with prisma pencils , the diecuts are Marianne and the papers are Basic Grey. I made up the sentiment myself.

The button and blingy bits are from my stash.

I am entering this into:-

Alphabet Challenge Blog – Z is for Zoo Animals

Amber’s Crafts and Stuff – Use a Digital stamp

Art Impressions Stamps – Use an Animal

Crafts4Eternity – Anything Goes

Drunken Stampers – Say It Like It Is

Moving Along With the Times – Anything Goes

Paper Cutz Challenge – Anything Goes

Party Time Tuesdays – Anything Goes

Sew Many Challenges – Easel Card

Wags ‘n Whiskers – Use A Die or a Punch

Dream Valley #6 – Flowers

2011-05-01T23:50:00.001+01:00

It’s time for another Dream Valley challenge and this fortnight we are looking for your creations with flowers on them. This can be anything a card, scrapbook LO, altered art, something for the home. You name it, we would love to see it. As long as it has flowers on it then it will qualify for our lovely prize.

My ‘flowers’ creations is a Paint Fusion poppy frame. With a picture of Poppy inside it! Now you can’t get any more floral than that!!

I started off with a Brenda Pinnick frame from a kit of lots of different sized frames, and to be honest the pattern on it was so not me. I first painted over it in black acrylic paint and then added a layer of pva glue, I partially dried that and then added a layer of white acrylic paint. I was thrilled to see it cracking before I even got a chance to get the heat gun back out.

I stamped a few of Sheena Douglass’ fusion poppies around the frame and then loosely, very loosely (as you can see none of them are the same, lol) used the fusion technique and painted them with three different acrylic colours on the brush at the same time. I also went back over with the gold colour to emphasise the petals a little as I was a bit hit and miss with my original painting. I also stamped and then painted the leaves around the edge.

Originally I left it here

but it didn’t look quite finished off. So I took the pic of Poppy back out of the centre as I had printed it slightly too small anyway for the aperture in the frame, and embossed with black sparkle powder around the aperture opening and the outside edge of the frame. I also stamped and embossed some curly swirlies in gold embossing powder, and re-printed Poppy at a better size. I’ve noticed I seem to have a few five petal poppies, I bet you didn’t realise I am a plant breeder – or is that what they call poetic licence?

Isn’t my little Pooch just the most darling thing? She is getting bigger and bigger but still so full of mischief. I take her for a walk around the park and we never get all the way round without someone stopping to fuss her and tell her how beautiful she is. I am sure that’s why she wants to go so much cos she is vain and loves the compliments. She even gave a stranger that ‘look’ one day last week which elicited a few puppy treats from the poor woman who seemed to fall under Poppy’s spell.

I have such an embarrassing story to tell as well. I had let her off the lead, throwing her a ball. If we are alone on the park she comes back quickly loving the fetch game, but the second someone appears she gets distracted so I try to grab her in advance. So this one time she does a runner straight towards this somewhat attractive man, and he very kindly stops and scootches her into his arms to await my coming to collect her. He is really rather nice looking himself and I enjoy a brief chat.

So when I get home later on the phone I tell my Daughter about it, and jokingly tell her that I have rewarded Poppy for running off cos she ‘pulled a cute bloke’! Imagine how completely mortified I was a week or so later to have my Niece tell me that she is chatting to this bloke in the pub and he says ‘I think I met your Aunt last week’ and tells her about Poppy’s running up to him. ‘Oh so you’re the cute bloke then’ she replies ‘Auntie Lin rewarded Poppy for misbehaving that day’. So as if that wasn’t bad enough and now being afraid to stick my face back outside my front door she then falls over laughing as she explains that the cute bloke my Poppy ran into is none other than my Daughter and her Partner’s recently moved out Lodger!!! Of course my Daughter and her fella keep laughing at me every time they talk to me now and I am dreading running into ‘Tim’ again as my face will be the colour of these poppies.

I am entering my embarrassing story, errrr I mean my frame into these challenges:-

CES Challenges – Picture Inspiration I used the red from the picture

Crafty Us Crazy – Mother’s Day and/or Flowers

Charisma Cardz – April Showers, May Flowers – Poppy has just had a shower, during April, in the picture and she is surrounded by flowers I painted in May!

Prairie Fairy Fun Fridays – April Showers, May Flowers – Please see above

My Mum’s Craft Shop – Flowers

My Time to Craft - Pets

Sparkles Forum – Anything Goes

The Emerald Faerie Garden Challenge #1

2011-05-01T11:04:00.001+01:00

There is a brand new challenge blog just started called The Emerald Faerie Garden Challenge. I came across these gorgeous designs by accident a couple of weeks or so ago and so I am thrilled to be able to enter into their first ever challenge.

This started life as an ordinary card and ended up as a wedding card as it was the most suitable thing I had available when my Daughter phoned me half an hour before she was leaving for a friend’s wedding. They do look awfully fond of each other so I thought it might make a cute wedding card, and even I can’t throw something together in less than 30 minutes!

The image is called Willy & Mia, coloured with my promarkers, and I have used papers from Bearly Mine Designs, Summer Lace, I think, lol

The embellishments are from my stash.

These were a treat to colour as they are just so cute.

The light conditions were either too bright or too dark, arghhhh, so I have used the bright sunlit one for the main image above, but the darker one for an image close up. The actual colour was closer to the darker image, but the darker picture overall doesn’t look as good.

Emergency Wedding Card insert …. KIDS!!!!!

I am entering this into:-

Catch The Bug – May Flowers and Pastel Colours

Cardmadfairy’s Digi Days – Wedding

CCEE Stampers – Add A Butterfly to your creation

Everybody Art - Fairies

If The Shoe Fits – Things With Wings

Kaboodle Doodles – Here Comes The Bride

Scrap Creations - Flowers

Stamp Something - Something With Wings

The Emerald Faerie Garden Challenge – Anything Goes

The Stamping Boutique – Winged Things

CCM Spotlight Bottle Caps

2011-04-27T09:44:00.001+01:00

Over on the beautiful new Spotlight blog for Crafty Cardmakers we are challenging you to use bottle tops on your creations.

The challenge was set by Paula and here’s what she had to say about it

‘I'd love you to use Bottle caps either metal ones (new or used) or plastic ones - and remember, you don't have to make a card, you can make anything you like incorporating the bottle caps....anything from jewellery, card embellishments,fridge magnets or like me, a key ring.’

We have a prize for the winner of a set of Hero Arts stamps LL997 called Tiny Greetings

I have to confess to having had lots of ideas none of which came to fruition. I was using real beer bottle caps and no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t flatten them! I think it says more about me than the caps, lol, not enough welly in my hammer hand.

So in the end I plumped for something different.

I made a scrap LO of my lovely Poppy with a few pictures of her sleeping. The papers and embellishments (which I printed and then cut out) are all from Nitwits. The caps, which formed the title, were filled with some lovely K&Co epoxy stickers that had the perfect sentiment for the page.

Please pop on over to the Spotlight blog and have a look at my teamies’ clever designs, and I am sure you will find something there to inspire you.

ABC S is for Sparkle

2011-04-20T21:50:00.001+01:00

Over at ABC this week our challenge to you is to sparkle! Our Sponsor is

with a fabulous £10 voucher to spend in their online store.

For my Sparkle creation I used Sheena’s new Paint Fusion technique. I cut a card with my Go Kreate Dies in the largest size, approx 6”. And stamped out the sweet peas and then used the fusion painting technique to colour them in! As you can see I am still very much getting to grips with this technique and my leaves are not the most attractive on the planet, but hey nature is marvellous, and I bet if you look really hard you could find some leaves that look like that, just not on a Sweet Pea!

For the sparkle element I have edged my card with an embossing pen and used Sheena wow powders in a sparkly pink, which I also used for the words and for the Sweet Peas’ tendrils.

There is also sparkle in my thread that it is hanging from as I plaited together three strands of different sparkly threads to create a thicker one.

The butterflies are Nestie dies and cut out of two different glitter papers.

When I had finished painting I cut another shape the same size and glued the two together and it made a nice sturdy wall hanging.

I’m entering this into the following challenges:-

Creative Craft Challenges – Embossing (Heat or Dry)

Flutterby Wednesday – Open, but to include a Butterfly, Fairy Etc.

Freshly Brewed Challenges – Lots of Sparkle

Ladybug Crafts Ink TLT – Anything Goes

Simon Says Stamp – Emboss It

Top Tip Tuesday – Open Challenge – I have a tip. Paint a blob of ink on the top of the lid of your acrylic paints, that way you can find the colour you want from above without having to pull out all the bottles searching for a particular colour

Woodware Usa Clear Stamps – Die Cuts/Punches – My whole card front is die cut plus the butterflies are die cuts.

CCM 44 Red, White and Blue and/or a Wedding Creation

2011-04-18T15:50:00.001+01:00

With the Royal Wedding being just around the corner, over at Crafty Cardmakers Challenge on the main blog we are looking for RED, WHITE AND BLUE and/or a WEDDING CREATION. If you go for the former please make sure that the colours listed are the most PROMINENT colours on your card, but if you don’t fancy the whole royal colour theme then any wedding creation will be equally fine.

We are sponsored by one of our lovely regular sponsors who is offering our

winner a £10 voucher for her online store.

Do please pop on over to the blog and check our the creations of my lovely teamies.

So onto my creation. My Sister, a long time Steam Rally enthusiast asked me a month or so back if I could make a card for her friend who she meets up with at the rallies. The only problem was she seemed to think I could magic up a picture of a bridal couple on the back of a steam traction engine! Now just where did she think I would find such a beast is beyond me. So having trawled through Google and having come across the odd picture of someone’s personal wedding celebration – and I didn’t feel comfortable with pinching someone else’s wedding pics and putting it onto a wedding card – I was beginning to get a little desperate so I put a call out on the CCM team blog for help!!!

The lovely and talented Eiglas came rushing to my rescue and offered to draw me such an image. Boy was I relieved.

This is what I came up with after she sent it over to me.

As you can see I didn’t colour the engine because apparently the engine that my Sister’s friend owns is black! Whether this looks anything like it I have no idea, but it’s like cars isn’t it, there are black ones and there are coloured ones!

Anyhow I coloured the bride and groom in with promarkers and prismas. I then made a bridal boquet rather than the one that Ei had drawn simply cos I fancied that. The image is matted onto some Centura Pearl cardstock which I first punched with the MS PAP in the double heart design. This was in turn layered onto some brushed silver cardstock and the whole lot onto a 7x10 card which I trimmed down to fit, and also edged with Sheena’s Wow Platinum sparkle embossing powder. The flowers are from Wild Orchid and the silver swirls are an old Quick Cutz die cut from silver glitter paper.

I made the sentiment on the pc and backed it onto one of the new nestie tags.

My Sister hasn’t even seen it yet, as she was not at home when I took it down to her. I hope she likes it, lol

My Sister first got interested in traction engines when she came across this somewhat poor quality old photograph of our Grandfather on top of C&F Freeman’s engine in a local history book. Sadly he died before our parents were even married and long before we were born so was not around to tell us tales of his days working for the local timber merchant and doing the rounds of the farms at harvest time with the steam driven harvesting equipment, but we understand from our Dad that he was a bit of a hero, having jumped into save a man who fell into the threshing machine!

Years later my Sister came across this lovely old engine lovingly restored at a rally and was thrilled to be given a ride around the field on it.

Life certainly looked gentler then and a much quieter pace, but hey bucket and chuckit loos…. I know where I would rather be!

Spookily, it has an uncanny resemblance to the image that Ei incorporated into her wedding drawing! Small world, lol

I’m entering my card into:-

Anita Be Stampin Challenge – Anything Goes

Creative Craft World – Love and Marriage

Little Miss Muffet – Glitter and Shine

Polka Doodles – Tie The Knot

Dream Valley #5 Easter

2011-04-18T07:22:00.001+01:00

Over at Dream Valley we are already on our Fifth challenge, time sure does fly, and this time the theme is Easter. Goodness before we know it, it will be Christmas again *shudders*

Anyhow we are sponsored this week by Stitchy Bear Stamps with a generous $10 to spend in their store. We were lucky enough to be given a few images from Stitchy for our Easter Challenge. As soon as I saw the image I have used I liked it. It is entitled Bunny Break, and I can just imagine the Easter Bunny sneaking off to the pub for a swift drink between hiding eggs to be found by the children.

I coloured him in with promarkers and prismas.

The papers are from the Prima pad Jack and Jill Celebrations. The Charm was from my stash and the flourishes are cut from Kanban acetate.

I shan’t be doing Easter myself as this time last year I was diagnosed with Diabetes, so chocolate is a no, no. But my mouth waters at the thought of a huge Cadbury’s Egg *sigh*

I am entering this into the following ‘Easter’ challenges:-

Cards For Men

Craft Your Days Away

Delightful Challenges

Die Cut Dreams Challenge Blog

Easy Craft Projects

Hanna and Friends

Pattie’s Creations Design Challenge

Pollycraft Challenge

Sparkles Forum Challenges

Stampin’ For the Weekend

Tellen’s Place Designs

The Crafty Pad Designs

The Sisterhood of Crafters

and finally this Eggs/Bunnies inspired challenge:-

Creative Belli Blog

ABC R is for …

2011-04-07T08:17:00.001+01:00

Welcome back for another exciting challenge at the ABC Challenge Blog. This weeks challenge is

R is for Ribbon

Our Sponsor this week is:

The winner gets to choose 5 digi stamps, and there are some really cute ones on there!

Here is my first public effort with Sheena Douglass’ new Paint Fusion concept.

I created a scalloped square from mountboard with a sizzix BIGZ die, and used the Resist technique to make the background and that lilac coming through is my bedroom paint, so you get a sneaky peek in my bedroom as well, lol. I also edged the scallops with dusty concord DI.

I used the stamps from the Simply Sweet set and then embossed them with silver sparkle embossing powder. I seem to be blessed with being cackhanded as my Mother would have called it. I don’t know if it’s the ME or just advancing years or plain ole fashioned clumsiness but I struggle to hold the brush and do the strokes, especially on the smaller things like the leaves and stems as my hand seems to be shaking enough to throw me off course as it were. Anyhow, I did the leaves and then made the roses with the fabulously easy technique of swirling a couple of colours together with the end of the paintbrush!

There was already one hole punched in the corner of the scalloped square so I used my CropADile to punch three more so I could thread ribbon through. Four sweet little ribbon roses covered up the ‘joins’.

I put the whole lot on an 8” square scalloped card which I first coloured with dusty concord DI.

The swirls are a Marianne Die which I had to cut forwards and backwards, from some lovely glitter card, so I could reverse the image. It wasn’t until after it was posted on the ABC blog that I spotted a mistake with the way I laid the swirls onto the background card, and now that’s all I can see…….

I’m entering this into:-

A Spoon Full of Sugar – Tons of Texture - two different textures on your card – Mine are the ribbon and the acrylic paint

Ambers Crafts and Stuff – Try a New Technique (Paint Fusion)

Creative Stamp Friends – Swirls

Papertake Weekly – Anything Goes optional extra Something New (my Paint Fusion is a new technique)

Stamping Vacation – You Name the Challenge (the Paint Fusion, it was a challenge to make something I was happy to blog as I am not very proficient in the technique)

The Paper Shelter – Anything Goes

There’s Magic in The Air – Let’s Use Flowers

Try It On Tuesday who are sponsored by One Stop Card Crafts – Inspiration from Your Home (my bedroom, pics below, and the actual paint used to decorate it is on the card)