An Invitation!

Thanks to some links on a couple of blogs I found a few new challenge blogs I had not come across before and got lured into their challenges. So here goes...............

Oh, Alice! (what a fantastic name for a blog) had a sketch which I followed

Pile It On (again love the name as it encourages piling on the challenges) had a theme of 'Outside the Box' so my outside the box idea was to load up some lovely digital papers and then print a Mo Manning image called 'Tea Party' onto the paper in four different designs, which I cut out little bits out of and then paper pieced onto the same image printed onto plain cardstock. I coloured her hair, gloves, legs, shoes, scarf and teacup and saucer before placing the printed pieces on top of the image. The entire card was made with the same set of digital papers. Trust me to pick such a complicated image, I had to just colour the scarf over the printed skirt as it was too fiddly to cut the scarf as well, but I wanted it because of the next challenge which was to do a Tea Party theme for The Shabby Tea Room challenge.

Digital Tuesday wanted cute people. I think this little girl is really cute

Crafty Cardmakers wanted the inside to be decorated as their theme is Inside Out, so I have made it into an invite for the Tea Party, again the flowers are from a digital kit superimposed over the digital paper. I digitally removed an oval from the centre left and then added the same Mo Manning image inside the oval, which I have coloured with promarkers.

By the Cute and Girly (another brilliant name!) wanted a celebration theme, and what better thing to celebrate than the summer finally arriving. I chose the colours to reflect the warmth of summer.

I finished it off with a couple of bits of ribbons, some flowers from Wild Orchid, two sparkly beads and two bead caps which I have flattened and added adhesive gems to the centre.

Typical though. I make a summery card and it turns really cold here again today. I wish this weather would make it's mind up!

This one has taken me all day, on and off, and the inside was the most complicated bit of all, working out where to cut the oval and positioning the image inside it. I desperately need some more Ram for my PC as it kept coming to a full stop with the graphics programme.

Lin

Soft summer shades

I have made the above card for a number of challenges.

Firstly I used a sketch from Stamp With Fun.

Stamp Something wanted 'two of something' so I chose two colours, and two little flowers the same on the top mat.

Colour Create had a recipe of soft lime and aqua colours.

Stampavie and More wanted 'Flower Power'

Charisma Cardz wanted 3d - for example flowers etc.

Basic Grey wanted you to 'punch it'

And the image was from Mo Manning for her weekly challenge of 'Love' and this little girl clearly loves her dolly!

The image was coloured in with promarkers and then I cut it out and matted it onto a nestie cut shape which I had run through the bug, made of basic grey card from the Two Scoops pad, as was the lovely background card. The strip down the right hand side as you look at it was punched using a Martha Stewart punch, the flowers were from Wild Orchid Crafts and Prima Flowers.

The overall effect was quite cooling on a hot sunny day.

Lin

Get Well Soon

Is it serendipity when something happens for a reason. My Daughter asked me this morning for a get well card for a male friend of her's who was taken into hospital suddenly. Then I have a look through the various blogs and there is a challenge called 'Under The Weather' from My Time To Craft. Perfect timing, although not, of course, for her friend.

Anyhow before it wings it's way off to him I thought I would share it with you and enter a challenge at the same time.

What is it with us crafters, we spot a stray piece of string on the ground and pick it up to be filed away for later use! Rubbish comes through the post and we stash it away like it's belongs in the Royal Mint / Fort Knox, we make a card and cannot just send it, we have to enter it in a challenge first.

Anyhow the card is quite plain as being a male he will be having a hard enough time accepting he is ill, he wouldn't want fancy flounces on a card at the same time. Although I found it really hard work not adding bits to it,and to my eye it doesn't look finished off properly, I was also aware that it would be possible the Hospital would not allow a card with too much frippery on it as they have become uber cleanliness conscious of late.

I used a lovely House Mouse stamp for this one.

Coloured in with Promarkers, which are fast becoming a favourite of mine. Papers from my stash.

Lin

And Finally ............ well for today anyway

My Darling Daughter announced the other day that she and her fella are engaged. She has had a rough couple of years as she had an earlier stressful marriage.

This new bloke seems Top Brick material to me - you know the sort who would give you the top brick off the chimney! Well I like him anyway!

So I made them this card.

I combined two Tiddly Inks images into one as I loved her gothic styling, but the only couple she had were in wedding gear and they weren't quite what I was aiming for.

I have made the card in deep shades of purple as purple and gothic always seem to me to be ideal.

The gorgeous flourish is cut with one of the new Tim Holt dies, the larger flower is a stunning prima one and the three smaller were just from my stash as were both bits of ribbon. Papers are from Basic Grey's Wisteria collection, mats courtesy of Nesties and coloured with promarkers, with a touch of distress ink for the shading on the background, and more promarkering for the edge of the mats.

Hope to be back later in the week with a challenge or two, but I do have the dentist on Monday, wish me luck.

Lin

Rodley the Very clever Panda!!

I have been looking forward to posting this next creation.

As my friends over on Craft Telly know I have turned into a Charlie Bears nut!

I should like to take credit for this design but it was all Rodley's own work. Rodley being the beautiful green and white panda pictured here.

I took some photos of Rodley hard at work and the finished card he made. Hope you like them.



He coloured in this Sassy Cheryl image with promarkers and mounted it onto a postcard style card which he cut with Go Kreate dies into this lovely shape.

He used some digital papers from my stash, cheeky wee boy!

He seems to have an eye for colour, and obviously he was aiming for a self portrait.

I think he did quite well, hope you agree.

In the first picture he is looking for materials, the next ones are of him hard at work colouring and the finished result and then finally he is having a well earned rest.







Well, as he explained to me, this cardmaking can be exhausting, a boy has to put his feet up!!!

Look out for more of Rodley's creations in the future as he is now taking commissions from the other bears to make portrait cards of them too!

Lin

PS Don't forget my blog motto............. but this time it's not me that's cracked, it's the cute little Panda!

Two down, three to go

Almost half way through my post catch up.

I made this for my Friend's Daughter's birthday. She apparently loves pink, so I obliged, but she doesn't like fussy. Hope it met with her approval.

The background paper is WRMK Tiffany's and the pink side of a sheet of Core'dinations whitewash, run through the BS with a bug folder.



The stamp is a Mo Manning one called Sorry Shana, and she just looks so sweet and innocent, a bit like my Friend's Daughter ... NOT!! Coloured with promarkers. The two corner pieces are from a MME flower pad.

Lin

Brother In Law's Birthday Cards

These are a couple of cards I made for my Brother-in-Law's birthday. I find making for men so difficult as you cannot really add all manner of pretties to them to finish them off.

One was quite simple, no stamping, but it had some complicated (at least for my poor brain) folding which I did on my brand new Hougie Board, loving that board it's so precise and I love the even spaces, plus I can get my favourite 12x12 papers on there.

The focal image is a gorgeous dufex topper which I was drawn to when a friend sent me the same image on a card for me and does perfectly for male or female. My Daughter immediately told me half a dozen people who would want the same, but I couldn't get any extra supplies!
The stamped card I used my new Joanna Sheen Country Scenes stamps, which I coloured with promarkers, and went over the water with diamond glaze to give it life. The swirls were cut from a marianne die. This is the only marianne die I have been able to successfully use so will sadly be steering clear of them in the future.

Lin

A month since I posted

Wow another month has just slipped past. Where on earth does the time go. In my defence I have recently been diagnosed with diabetes and I am having a few issues of suddenly feeling quite peculiar. Hopefully that should settle once I get my dietary requirements sorted out and they decide if I can continue without (I pray) insulin. On the plus side, or should that be minus; I have lost a stone in weight. Up until a week or so ago I couldn't really see where it had gone from but suddenly I can see a definite difference in my shape and I am sitting here in a skirt that nearly cut me in two 6 weeks ago. Anyhow enough of my moaning. I haven't been idle and have still completed a few projects so here is the first.

My Sister recently celebrated her Silver Wedding Anniversary. This was hilarious as last year she tried to celebrate it then because she had muddled up the dates. WOW I just realised I missed my first anniversary of my blog. Can't believe I have been doing this for a whole year now.

So back to my Sister and her 'official' 25th Anniversary.

I made a couple of cards for her one from me and one from my Daughter.

The blue one is the one I had in my mind for last year. In fact it was almost done and it was searching for the photo to go in the middle that made me realise she was jumping the gun datewise.

It's mainly DCWV cardstock overstamped and embossed with various swirl/flourish stamps, the two hearts are an Elusive Images stamp embossed and cut out.

The purple one has some lush Kanban cardstock as it's base with a Mo Manning stamp for the image, coloured with my promarkers.The hearts were punched from silver mirri with my lovely new SU punch, thanks Fab, and embossed through the BS with a bug folder then I coloured them with promarkers to tone in with the card.

This is my first card I have put on my blog with promarkers, I have done a few now and am getting to love them more and more, although a part of me still thinks that I personally can do a better job with distress inks or prismas. But for the moment I am enjoying getting to know them.

Will be back later with a few more cards.

Lin