Lili's Little Fairies DT - Anything But A Square

Good morning Lili lovers, and welcome to another Lili's Little Fairies Challenge. Thnaks as always to everyone who entered last week - fab creations, and don't forget to check the main challenge blog to see if you have won the prize.

This week we are back into our Team A and B rotation, and it is Team B's turn to host the challenge  :-) This week we would like to see

Anything But A Square

Don't forget to be eligible for our weekly prize you need to use a LotV image or die cut topper on your creation, and most importantly have fun!

This week's inspiration from the team really does come in all shapes and sizes .. here is my effort.

Now I have to admit that when I saw this theme on the challenge list I was filled with trepidation and horror ... I make square cards! It's what I do!! The truth is that don't have a large die cutting machine so don't have the equipment to cut out eg. mega sized nesties in assorted shapes and sizes!

However after a bit of racking my brain I  decided to go with a stepper card, and as luck would have it my local Hobbycraft had a pack of pre-cut ones that were exactly what I had in mind! (The one and only other time I made a stepper card I cut out my own ... let me tell you what a performance that was!! I copied the suggested measurements EXACTLY but it still looked wonky on the first God-knows-how-many attempts lol!!)

Having eliminated the faff of cutting out the card template, I really enjoyed myself once I got going. It did take me a loooooong time to make this card though as I got very embroiled in cutting various sized bits of paper for the steps and deciding on my embellishments. Mind you ... following from my previous Promarker storage box project (here), finding my pens was a lot quicker and easier :-) .

Here's a close up of some of the embellishment detail - I should mention that the flowers super-imposed on the stems of the flower border are actually a more lilacy-pink than the picture suggests!.

Stamps: LotV "Thomas - Big Bunch of Flowers" and "Everyday Grungy Messages";

Media: Promarkers and Flexmarkers;

Papers: LotV "Nitwits - Bonnets and Bowties";

Supplies: pre-cut stepper card by Craft Creations from Hobbycraft; most flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts; green edged blossom and all pearls from The Hobby House; ribbon from my stash;

Tools: "floral ovals" nestabilities; Simon Says "Harrington Vine" die; Memory Box "Summer Border"; Magnolia Doohickey "Lovely Fence"; X-Cut small butterfly punch.

Challenges:

Wild Orchid Crafts #69 - Anything Goes

Dies To Die For - Anything Goes

Simon Says - Anything Goes

Thanks so much for visiting, and hope you will be able to join in with the challenge this week.

hugs

Me and My Promarker Storage

Hi everyone - hope you're having a nice weekend, and that you have all coped with the incredible snowfalls we've been having! Luckily all our snow has now gone almost as fast as it came, though yesterday we were looking out at a winter wonderland!

Today I have something rather different to show you. For some time I had been getting really fed up with my Promarker storage - up until yesterday it looked like this ....

Yep ... an old DVD box which was full to bursting with a variety of Promarkers, Flexmarkers and a handful of Copics thrown in for good measure.

Looking for particular pens was a nightmare which involved emptying the box out all over the table and ruffling through it whilst peering at my colour chart - what a waste of time I've not got to play with!! Something just had to be done!

I had googled around for ideas, and had been particularly tempted by this one  by Nicky - using a DJ's CD flight case. This seemed like a brilliant idea to me, so I decided to look into it a bit more. it particularly appealed as I don't have a dedicated craft room so couldn't build a fixed storage rack - it needed to be portable.

Nicky got her case from Tesco, but unfortunately they don't seem to stock it any more so I looked around online. I definitely wanted one that I could pick up from a store rather than buy online (I couldn't see it fitting through the letterbox lol!) and after some searching I  found this one in Maplin ...

Now Nicky used a 200 CD case and this was a 300, so I wasn't sure whether it would be too big .. it was the same width and height but half as deep again as the 200 CD version. However I reasoned that I not only have standard Promarkers but also 3 seasonal sets and some Flexmarkers as well ... and when I saw it in store I decided to go for it!

This box isn't a standard silver "DJ case" but is kinda slightly mesh-look black colour - quite smart I thought.

Inside it has room for 2 "rows" of insert pockets, of which 150 are supplied with the case.

Before I could get started I bought a pack of teeny rectangular labels (from WH Smith) with which to decorate the pockets, and a pack of teeny round labels (from Staples) to decorate the end of each pen.

I printed off nice clean colour charts for Promarkers and Flexmarkers from the Letraset site, and coloured in the colours I own - I could then see the order in which to display the pens in the case.

Each inner pocket is capable of storing up to 7 pens, so I just went through methodically creating labels for every colour on the chart  - colouring those I own, and leaving white those I don't. (I actually coloured the labels first and then wrote text on top - otherwise the pen will smudge :-)  ).  I have now decided that I am going to tape the row of labels onto each pocket - but I didn't have any  narrow sellotape to hand so will do that in the near future.

I also coloured matching labels to stick onto the bullet end of each pen.

I kept going until I had covered the whole of the main Promarker colour chart, followed by the seasonal colour chart (I packed these 6 to a pocket - one pocket for each seasonal set).  last but not least I created pockets for my Flexmarker 6-pen sets, plus one for a few Flexmarker "singles".

I popped my colour charts into plastic envelopes - they are the perfect size to store in the lid!

And voila! Here's the final result.

All in all this took about 4 hours' work but I'm pretty pleased with it - I can see that my colouring sessions are going to be much more productive from now on. All that's now missing is the rest of the Promarkers to fill the gaps ;-)

Enjoy the rest of your weekend, and thanks for looking.

Hugs

Lili's Little Fairies Challenge - Anything Goes!

Hi everyone, and welcome to the latest Lili's Little Fairies challenge. So sorry to all you Lili fans that there was no challenge last week ... Mummy Fairy (Jacqui) has had 'pooter problems and been completely icognito, and it's fair to say we've been lost without her!!

Anyhoo we're hopefully back on track this week, with a really easy peasy theme of

Anything Goes

So let your imaginations run wild ... so long as you use a LotV image on your creation we would love to see it and put it in the draw for out prize, which this week is a fabby $10 store voucher from Nitwit Collections..

As there was no challenge last week we've got a selection of fabulous inspiration cards from both Team A and Team B - here's my effort.

This is another adorable stamp I bought at the end of last year and never got to play with due to the Christmas rush ... I think I need to get all these stamps inked up now or I'll be getting overtaken by the next release :-)

How adorable is this little bear?? I love LotV stamps generally, but I have to admit that the little bears tend to be my favourites; and I have considerably more of them than I do people stamps.

Stamps: LotV "Thinking Of You" and sentiment from "Sentiments to Fit Scroll" set;

Media: Promarkers and Flexmarkers;

Papers: LotV Nitwits "Bonnets and Bowties";

Supplies: flowers by Wild Orchid Crafts; berries by Magnolia from The Glitterpot; large pearl brad from The Hobby House; heart gems by Papermania; two-tone ribbon from my stash;

Tools: Fleur-de-Lys squares nestabilities; La La Crafts filigree corner die..

Challenges:

Top Tip Tuesday #94 - Lavishly Lucious Layers

Bearly Mine #70 - Tic-Tac-Toe

(flowers / sentiment / lots of embellies / fancy corners)

Papertake Weekly - Tie Up your Loose Ends

Kaboodle #155 - Ribbon

Simon Says Stamp & Show - What Are You  Known For?

(cute stamps, pink, bows, lots of flowers)

Forever Friends #53 - Your Favourite Embellishment

(close call between ribbon and flowers)

Pile It On #3 - Have A Heart

Crafty Calendar (January) - What's New? (stamp & corner die)

I ♥ Promarkers #152 - Anything Goes

My Mum's #1 - Anything Goes

Bunny Zoe's Challenge - Anything Goes

Hope you will be able to join us this week.

Baby, It's Cold Outside!

Good afternoon everyone - hope you are all keeping safe and warm now that winter has truly hit all over the UK!

Just a quick post from me today ... I haven't really been doing any crafting due to a lack of mojo ... I think it's a bit of a mixture of being busy at work, the house being cold and just general apathy! For today's card I could equally well have just taken a photograph out of doors lol, but I decided to make a CAS card using this extremely apt stamp.

Not a great picture but it's getting dark so early!!

Stamps: Penny Black "snowy park" (3231K); Crafter's COmpanion sentiment;

Media: scene stamped and then covered in double-sided adhesive film and completely covered in glamour dust (MUCH twinklier than the photo shows!);

Supplies: sparkly white ribbon and silver gems from my stash:

Tools: Martha Stewart "snow flurry" edge punch; Whimsy snowflake die; Cuttlebug "snowflakes" embossing folder.

Challenges:

Papertake Weekly - Baby It's Cold Outside!

Without Words - Baby It's Cold Outside!

Sisterhood of Crafters - Baby It's Cold Outside!

Christmas At Sweet Stampin' #2 - Cold & Frosty

Creative Card Crew #27 - Snow & Ice

Crimbo Crackers #33 - White On White

Papercraft Star #128 - White on White

Our Creative Corner - White on White with a Decorative Edge

CRAFT #190 - Christmas In January

Crafty Creations #205 - Snowflakes

Cute Card Thursday #252 - Diamonds Are Forever

Totally Gorjuss #167 - KISS

Card Makin' Mamas - Clean & Simple

Daring Cardmakers - Embossability

Gem Of A Challenge #63 - Emboss it!

My dear bloggy friend Helen loves making Chrimbo cards and she keeps a tally on her blog sidebar ... I have decided to do the same this year to see if it will shame me into making more cards ahead of time (though i'm not holding my breath!!)  Anyhoo ... here it is ... NUMBER 1!!

Off now to see if I can squeeze another card in before it's time for Dancing on Ice (I guess that's what we'll all be doing when we set out for work tomorrow lol!!)

Hugs

Wishing You Baby Happiness

One of the girls in my office is leaving work to have a baby ... now I have made new baby cards in the past, but have never had occasion to make a card for leaving to have a baby before. However Emma is a lovely girl so I thought I would have a go. This was a real challenge actually, as I don't have any specific images or wordings for this particular life-event; so I had to think a bit wider.

I thought that this cute LotV teddy holding a balloon and flowers would be suitable; and I found a sentiment in my stash to wish someone happiness ... finally I decided to tie the colour shcheme in to the fact that she is expecting a little boy - here's the result.

Stamps: LotV "Teddy With Balloon"; "For You Circular Sentiments", "Sentiment Tags";

Media: Promarkers and Flexmarkers;

Papers: Forever Friends;

Supplies: flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts; ribbon and heart gems from Hobbycraft; lace and cheesecloth from The Ribbon Girl; round gems by Papermania;

Tools: Labels Four nestabilities; Cheery Lynn "lace deco" corner die.

Challenges:

Sketch Saturday #240 - Sketch

Top Tip Tuesday #93 - Fur or Feathers

Cute Card Thursday #251 - Beat the Blues

Cupcake #224 - January Blues

I ♥ Promarkers #150 - Tag It!

Totally Papercraft #149 - Ribbon

Crazy 4 Challenges #167 - Ribbons & Bows

Totally Gorjuss - Anything Goes With Ribbon

Papercrafting Journey- Anything Goes

Divas By Design - Anything Goes

Thanks for looking ... take care this weekend with the wintery weather sweeping in!

Something Old and Something New

Hi everyone - hope you are all coping ok with being back to work after the long Christmas and New Year holiday. The days are certainly pretty dark and miserable at the moment, but hopefully at least on the weather front things can only get better!!

I have been trying out a couple of CAS cards for a change ... one is to show some of my new stash, and the other one is using a really old stamp of mine, chosen specifically to create a particular effect for one challenge..

First up, here is a card to show an incredibly pretty Stampendous butterfly stamp I got for Christmas from my dear friend Helen  :-). Pretty much everything on this card is new!! ... and although it is a very simple design it took about five attempts before I got it right!! Also please excuse the pictures .... I forgot to take these cards to work to photograph in daylight today, so have had to do my best by photoshopping pics taken in poor artificial light!

Stamps: Stampendous "Cling Flowerfly"; LotV sentiment from "Geisha Companion Set";

Media: Butterfly stamped with Marvey watercolour pens;

Supplies: pink gems from my stash;

Tools: Memory  Box "Summer Border" die.

Challenges:

Allsorts #188 - CAS

Papertake Weekly - Happy  New ...

Incy Wincy - Something New

Totally Papercrafts #148 - Something New

CCT #250 - Something New

Everybody-Art #218 - Pastel Colours

Sweet Stampin' - White + One

Charisma #52 - Monochrome

PTT #102 - Sparkle, Glitter, Shine

Crafty Mess #24 - Sparkle / Bling

Stampin' For The Weekend - Anything Goes

Crafty Catz #164 - Anything Goes

Divas by Design - Anything Goes

My second card is using a really old stamp from deep in my stamp box ... it's one of the earliest stamps I ever bought and I really love it, so I'm not really sure why I don't use it more often! I chose this stamp specifically because I wanted black and white with a teeny splash of colour for this week's Less Is More Challenge... and I always want to accent the part of the text which says 70 degrees with a teeny sparkly gem!

Stamps: Stampington & Co. "Pressed Profile"; sentiment from Unity Stamps set "Insightful Meadows";

Supplies: red gems from The Hobby House.

Challenges:

LIM #101 - Black & White With a Hint of Colour

Simon Says - Black & White With A Splash Of Colour
Crafty Boots - Black & Bright

Hiding In My Craft Room #79 - Black + White + One
Simon Says Stamp & Show - Embrace The Old

Well, that's all from me for today. Thanks for visiting.

Hugs,

Penny Black Saturday Challenge - January Blues!

Good morning everyone, and welcome to the first Penny Black Saturday Challenge for 2013. Sorry I'm late this morning, but last night my blogger went funny and I couldn't upload any pictures to my post from my PC - anyone else having this problem?? Luckily my dear fellow teamies have suggested a temporary "workaround" but this post is a bit picture-lite this morning - hope it sorts itself out soon!

Updated: I've now managed to add pics via my html editor but still hope this situation doesn't persist for too long !! :-)
Anyhoo ... hope you Penny Black lovers had a great Christmas and New Year, and that you're raring to go with a whole new year of challenges. Thanks also to everyone who took the time at a very busy time of year to enter last month's challenge - gorgeous creations as always ... and don't foget to check the main challenge blog to see if you're a winner.

So on to the first challenge for 2013, and it is

January Blues

Pretty apt you may say following the excitement of Christmas and New Year ... but what we would really like to see is a creation that features primarily the colour blue ... and of course a Penny Black image stamp, large sentiment or stickeroo if you want to be eligible for one of this month's prizes.

And talking of prizes we have a fab selection on offer as usual for lucky randomly-drawn winners -


$20 store voucher






 The other ladies have made fabulous inspiration cards as always... Here's my card for this month's challenge.

Stamps: Penny Black "Whispers"; LotV "Everyday Grungy Sentiments";

Papers: Papermania "Blueberry Pie";

Supplies: flowers by Wild Orchid Crafts; ribbon from Hobbycraft; pearls from The Ribbon Girl;

Tools: large floral oval nestabilities; Simon Says "Harringon Vine" die; Cheery Lynn "Lace Deco Corners".

Challenges:

Cheery Lynn #61 - Friendship

Simon Says - New Something
(new SS "Harrington Vine" die)

Wild Orchid Crafts #66 - Anything Goes

Thanks for looking, and hope you will be able to join us for this month's challenge.

Hugs,

Lili's Little Fairies Team B Challenge - 2 Designer Papers

Hi everyone, and welcome to the first Lili's Little Fairies Challenge for 2013. Hope you have all had a great Christmas and New Year ... mine was very quiet, but at least it allowed me to get my DT card done a little ahead of time for once lol!!

Today it is Team B's turn to host the challenge, and the theme is

Two Designer Papers

Easy peasy one to start off the New Year!!

This week we are sponsored by Nitwits

.. so the theme could hardly be more topical. Of course you don't have to use Nitwits papers on your creation though it would be great to see if you have them ... the one thing you DO need is a LotV image on your creation :-).

The rest of the DT have obviously been energised by the Christmas break as they have created some fabulous inspiration cards. Here is my effort for this week.

Both the image and sentiment are stamps I rushed to buy from the latest release, but due to Christmas projects I haven't had any time to play with them until now.

Stamps: LotV "Teddy With Balloon" and "Everyday Grungy Messages";

Media: Promarkers and Flexmarkers;

Papers: LotV nitwits Collection "Bonnets and Bowties";

Supplies: rose from Wild Orchid Crafts; berries by Magnolia from The Glitterpot; pearls from The Hobby Huse; ribbon from my stash;

Tools: small, large and scalloped circle nestabilities; Martha Stewart "doily lace" edge punch;  Leone Em "Ash Branch" leaf punch; Magnolia Doo hickey "Doily Flowers" die.

Challenges:

Simon Says - New Something

Bunny Zoe's Challenge - Celebration

Creative Inspirations #195 - Celebration

Party Time Tuesdays #101 - Celebrate

Fussy & Fancy #79 - Furry Friends

Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes

Simon Says Stamp & Show - Anything Goes

Paper Crafting Journey - Anything Goes

Kaboodle #152 - Anything Goes

Forever Friends Fortnightly #52 - Anything Goes

Hope you can join us in the challenge this week - can't wait to see what you create!