For Dad

It's my dear dad's birthday this week, so last night I sat down to make him a card so that I could pop it in the post at lunchtime today. My dad hasn't been at all well over the past few months plus he is the main carer for my mum ... he's a real rock so he definitely deserves a card that gives it my best shot!

I bought this darling LotV stamp specially when I went to Port Sunlight 3 weeks ago, and here is the card I made for him. it is deliberately not too fussy but hopefully has enough detail that he will know I made an effort :-)

Recipe:

Main image: LotV "Cheers Bear", coloured with Copics (bear) and Promarkers (clothes and gift), and edges distressed wtih "Vintage Photo" and "Walnut Stain" distress inks;

Sentiment: LotV sentiment circles, distressed wtih "Antique Linen" and "Walnut Stain" distress inks;

Papers: BasicGrey "Capella";

Supplies: pearls from The Hobby House; ric rac and peel offs from my stash.

Challenges:

Papertake Weekly - Sketch #56 (rotated)

Creative Inspirations #61 - Father's Day / Card For Dad

Simon Says Stamp - Father's Day / For A Male

Craft Your Days Away #21 - Father's Day / Special Man

Fussy and Fancy - A Card For a Man or a Boy

Stamp Man #24 - Boys and Men

Scrapbook Sisters #38 - A Man's World

BasicGrey #45 - Shabby Chic (2nd entry)
Copic Creations #51 - Vintage / Distressed

Crafty Pad #124 - Stripes

Craft Your Passion #61 - Anything Goes

Gotta dash ... been at home studying today and I want to do a bit more before I sit down for dinner.

Magical pearls and swirls

Well I had a brilliant day out yesterday. For quite a while I have been getting friendly online with the lovely Katina, and we had been meaning to meet up since last autumn at Port Sunlight craft fair. However Katina wasn't well that day, and since then time has flown by and we have never managed to meet up ... until now :-) We both live in different parts of Liverpool, and I had the idea of us going on a little jaunt to a large craft shop with coffee shop I know in St Helens called Crafts4u2do, so we could chat over coffee and cake and get to know each other.

Woke up yesterday morning with the sun cracking the flags, so it was a perfect day for a litle drive. We met late morning and before we knew it we were chatting for England over tea and chocolate cake (which Katina INSISTED on buying despite my protests .. thanks hun :-) We have both had a few trials and tribulations recently but it didn't feel at all awkward talking about what's happening in our lives, and time flew by.

Eventually we thought we ought to have a look around the craft shop and we certainly weren't disappointed. I hadn't been over there for about six months and was very impressed with their new stock - especially their own new range of flowers which could give well known online flower retailers a run for their money!! Katina was very good as she is trying to save at the moment and only had a very moderate spend ... I didn't get too carried away, but quite a few of the flower packs did fall into my basket along with some lace, card, a couple of distress inks and just the one rubber stamp.

By the time I got home mid-afternoon I was in cheerful mood, having made not only a few new craft purchases but also hopefully a new friend :-) The whole thing put me right in the mood for crafting, so I made a couple of cards in the late afternoon and evening - here's one of them which I made for a few challenges.

Recipe:

Main image: LotV "Freedom" coloured with Promarkers and decorated with Glamour Dust;

Sentiment: free with craft magazine;

Papers: BasicGrey "two scoops";

Supplies: yellow roses by Sweet Lilac (from Crafts4U2Do); other flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts; pearls from The Hobby House; lace and ribbon from my stash;

Tools: small, large and lacy circles nestabilties; Marianne D Creatable swirly leaf die; Magnolia doohickey "vintage tag" die; Cuttlebug "swirls" embossing folder.

Challenges:

BasicGrey #41 - More Than One Fold

Magical Mondays #19 - Magical Pearls and Swirls

Anything Goes #38 - Pearls

Passion for Promarkers #94 - Yellow and Pink

Simon Says - Spring Colours (2nd entry)

Crafty Pad #116 - Spring Is in the Air

Flutterby Wednesday's #149 - Open Theme with Butterfly, Fairy or Angel

Dream Valley #4 - Things With Wings (2nd entry)

Freshly Brewed (April) - Flowers

Stamptacular #106 - Girls and Swirls

Back tomorrow with another very different card I made with a couple more of my new purchases :-)

Papertake Weekly Guest DT spot - woo hoo!

I was absolutely thrilled and delighted when the lovely Dawny P emailed me to ask if I would like to be Guest Designer on Papertake Weekly for the next 4 weeks. Would I?? er .... yeah ... PLEEEEASE!

And for my first challenge I had the pleasure of working with this fabby sketch from Miss Pink Piggywiggy herself - hope you can join in this week's challenge too ... don't forget to visit the challenge blog to check out the other DT members' gorgeous samples and this week's prize.

So here's my first GDT card - bit of a scramble this one as I had a bizzy weekend, so I hope it's up to scratch!! I found myself feeling autumnal again for the second time in just over a week - not like me at all as my cards are usually a festival of pinkness! However I do really like the versatility of this stamp - it is really a Christmas stamp but I can see all sorts of possibilities for using it across the seasons :-)

Recipe:
Main image: Penny Black "Fantasy "(3880K), stamped using "Vintage sepia" Versafine onto pale stone coloured card, and decorated with small punched flowers and pearls;
Sentiment; See-D "Celebrations";
Papers: Bo Bunny "Olivia";
Supplies: large turquoise pearl brad and silver spacer from The Hobby House; brown pearls - BasicGrey "Opaline"; flowers, white pearls and silver beads from my stash;
Tools: small and large classic circles & lacy circles nestabilities; Martha Stewart "Woodland Bough" edge punch; small flower Papermania punch.

With its autumnal feel I would like to enter this card for the following challenges:

The Stamp Man #7 - Autumn

Crazy4Challenges #59 - Autumn
Stampin' for the Weekend #49 - Hallowe'en or Fall
BasicGrey #31 - Autumn / Harvest Time
(note the papers aren't BG but some of the pearls are :-) )
Penny Black at Allsorts (2nd entry) - Colours of Autumn
Corrosive #86 - Get Rid of the White

(don't stamp onto white card)

Our Creative Corner - Embellishments - the more the better

ABC - F is for Flowers

That's all for today ... look forward to seeing your interpretations of Dawny's sketch.

Cute kitty and multi-congratulations

One of my closest friends has just recently finished some important post-graduate exams for which she had been working hard all year, and she told me yesterday that she had passed them all - yippee! So I decided to make her a card to congratulate her , and this cute LotV kitty came straight to mind. I also decided to attempt a multiple challenge card with it ... so here we go :-) I followed the sketch for this week's Papertake Weekly, as it seemed perfect for the image and colour scheme I had in mind. I also made this card for Creative Craft - What a Glamour Puss BasicGrey #30 - Sparkle! (kitty and mousey are drinking sparkling champagne, and I have glamour dusted the bubbles, stickled the flowers, and added pink gems) Creative Cottage #24 - Bling it On!

One Stop Craft Challenge #100 - Congratulations Stamp Something - Something to Celebrate (entry #2) Wild Orchid Challenge #6 - Ribbons & Bows Craft Garden (October) - Pink Ribbon, Lace or Yarn

I love Promarkers #34 - Pearls & Swirls (my paper is swirly, and I have added swirl die cuts to the sides of the flowers instead of leaves) Paper Sundaes #38 - Something From Your Stash (that would be the ribbon) Stamptacular Sunday #79 - Layer it on (at least 5 layers ) ... I reckon at its thickest point mine has got ten ... base card/pink card/paper/raffia lace/ribbon/pink card/paper/pink card mat /pink paper/image card. Sew Many Challenges - Anything Goes

Incy Wincy #61 - Anything Goes

... and here's a closeup of my WOC flowers stickled to within an inch of their lives lol!

Recipe: Main image: LotV "Thomas - Champagne", coloured with Promarkers & decorated with glamour dust; Sentiment: die cut using Cuttlebug cut'n'emboss set "Everyday greetings"; Paper: BasicGrey "Two Scoops"; Supplies: flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts; raffia lace from Hobbycraft; pearls from The Hobby House; ribbons & gems from my stash; Tools: Cuttlebug cut'n'emboss set "Everyday greetings"; Marianne D Creatables "Ribbon flower" set used for leaf swirls.

Just off now for another little crafty sesh .. hope everyone is having a good weekend. >

Hearts and flowers

Although I am a huge fan of their cute hedgies, teddies and meeces, I also really love Penny Black brushstroke flowers. I hadn't used one for quite a while so decided to ink up the beautiful and very versatile "blush" stamp ... or rather watercolour up, as I used various shades of Marvey brushstroke marker (how long is it since I got them out of their packet??) to produce a soft impressionist effect.

I followed the sketch for this fortnight's BasicGrey Challenge #29 - I did employ rather a lot of "artistic licence" with the shapes for the different elements of the sketch as I was stuck on using the heart doily which has been sitting in my stash since I received it as a birthday RAK from Paula :-). So I hope it's ok for the challenge!! Still, it also gave me opportunity to break out my heart shaped nesties which have been sitting naughtily unused in my stash for quite a while!

I would also like to enter this card for the following:

A Pocket Full of Posies #7 - Lavender & Old Lace
Challenge Up Your Life #28 - Lace & pearls
CRAFT #70 - Fancy Floral
Creative Card Crew - Bloomin' Marvellous

Recipe:
Main image: Penny Black "Blush" (2666K) stamped twice and coloured with Marvey brushstroke markers;
Sentiment: Penny Black "Happy Birthday" (2912D);
Papers: BasicGrey "Wisteria";
Supplies: Papermania lilac flowers; large pearl brads, pearls, lilac ribbon and lace from my stash; heart doily was an RAK from Paula;
Tools: classic hearts nestabilities; Marianne D Creatables "leaf swirl" die.

Just time before I go for a quick sneaky peek of this week's card for the Penny Black Saturday Challenge - don't forget to join us then :-)

BasicGrey meets a few other challenges

I've got a couple of days extra off work following the bank holiday, so that I can sort out a few household things whilst my husband decorates the living room .... but seeing as the weather has been so appalling otday i decided to get a bit of crafting in rather than going out shopping :-)

I decided to make a card following this fortnight's sketch for BasicGrey Challenge #21

... and once I had chosen my BG "Two Scoops" papers everything else just seemed to follow from that. I haven't used too many embellishments as the image and the papers are both fairly busy.

Recipe:
Main image: Lili of the Valley "Teddy with bouquet", coloureed with Promarkers;
Sentiment; Penny Black "Salutations" transparent set;
Papers: BasicGrey "Two Scoops";
Supplies: Raffia lace from Hobbycraft; pearls from The Hobby House.

I would also like to enter this card for a few other challenges:

Just Cute Bears #19 - Thankyou card
Crafty Creations #69 - Use your favourite stamp
Charisma #21 - Going round in circles
One Stop Craft Challenge #82 - swirls and pearls
Stamp Something - birthday recipe - dp, ribbon, bow and tag

(the last 3 are all in the image :-) )

Just a short post from me today, as I guess I should pop along and start doing some of the things I ought to do rather than the crafting I want to do lol!

Penny Black Challenge #94 - Butterflies & bees

Hello and welcome to another Penny Black Saturday Challenge. Thanks to everyone who played along last week with Carole's fab sketch, and don't forget to check the challenge blog to see if you have been randomly picked as our winner.

This week our thoughts are turning once more to spring themes, so our challenge is

butterflies & bees

Yes ... we would like to see at least one butterfly or bee (or both!!) on your creation. Don't worry if you don't have any PB images of these flying creatures - you can always use a punch, patterned paper or anything else you can think of that depicts a butterfly or bee - so long as you follow the one golden rule of having a Penny Black image on your creation too :-)

This week we have another fab prize for you from our regular sponsor, Dick at PB stamps - which is a lifetime 15% discount for his online store. With what is probably the largest stock of PB stamps in the world, that's a brilliant prize for all PB lovers!

The DT have all been as busy as bees ;-) making their gorgeous samples, so hope you will visit them and check them out. Here's mine .... this theme gave m a perfect opportunity to crack on with my Easter cards.

Recipe:
Main image: Penny Black "Bees & Bunny" (2305H) which was an RAK from Cathy - coloured with watercolour pencils;
Sentiment: Penny Black "Happy Easter" (2855D);
Papers: Papermania (background), BasicGrey "Oh! Baby Girl" - Hannah (discontinued) (panels);
Supplies: flower - Woodware; large pearl brad and green sparkly gems by Paper Company Studio; large spacer from The Hobby House; floral ribbon and small pearls from my stash;
Tools: large circle, large classic scalloped circle, large oval and large classic scalloped oval nestabilities; Martha Stewart butterfly punch; Leone Em "Ash Family" leaf punch.


I followed the sketch over at this week's Creative Inspirations #53

and would also like to enter this card for the following other challenges ...

Simon Says - Easter with Glimmer (I have used glitter card for my butterflies, plus sparkly gems and a shiny pearl brad)
C.R.A.F.T. #43 - Easter
Paper Play #12 - Easter
Fussy & Fancy #7 - Easter
Charisma Cardz #12 - Spring has Sprung
Cute Card Thursday #105 - Dimensions (I have used fluttering butterflies and layered flower with a big spacer)

ABC Design - Spring is in full bloom

Colour Create #41 -Your choice of pastels + Spring or Easter
Flutterby Wednesday #102 - fairy, butterfly or angel
BasicGrey #16 - tutti frutti (I have used orange, lemon & lime colours, with an obscure discontinued BG paper).

Looking forward to all your creations :-)

All You Need is Love

Crikey!! I don't know where the past week has gone to ... been very busy what with work and one thing & another , so didn't get any crafting in last week at all. Luckily I was able to have a really good sesh on Sunday, although being the slow-coach that I am I still didn't exactly make a mountain of cards lol!!

Anyhow, as there are still so many romantic themed challenges about, I decided to get ahead of myself (unusual for me!!) and make my mum and dad's wedding anniversary card, although their anniversary is a month away.


I followed the fab sketch for this fortnight's BasicGrey challenge #13 - I stretched it a bit to make a C5 card but the basic elements are still there.


I would also like to enter this card for the following challenges:

Simon Says - What's Love Got to Do With It?
Cute Card Thursday #99 - In the Name of Love
Totally Gorjuss #17 - Feel the Lurve

Tree House #36 - Say It With Love
Pixie Cottage #9 - Love
Penny's Paper Crafty Challenges - Valentine/Love

Daring Cardmakers - Have a Heart
My Time to Craft #78 - Hearts & Kisses
Polka Doodles #6 - Hearts & Flowers

Sassy Susie's #8 - Hearts & Flowers

Quixotic #13 - Tag It
Fussy & Fancy #4 - Dazzle Us!
Pile it on #6 - Flowers

Recipe:
Main image: Penny Black "Long-Stem Cuties" (1648K) (an RAK from the lovely Squirrel), coloured with watercolour pencils and Cosmic Shimmers, and the rose dusted with glamour dust;
Sentiment: rub on from stash;
Papers: BasicGrey "Sugared" (roses) and "Two scoops" (plain);
Supplies: lace from Quixotic Paperie; roses from Hobbycraft (decorated wtih diamond Stickles); pink heart gems by Papermania; pearl spray from my stash;
Tools: curved rectangle nestabilities; Leone Em "Ash branch" leaf punch.

Creative Card Crew #44 - Valentine

Hello everyone, and welcome to another Creative Card Crew Challenge- my second as part of the DT. Wow what an amazing set of entries this past fortnight - there were a whole lot of punches flying and it was all in a good way :-). Don't forget to visit the challenge blog to see whether you have won last week's prize.

This week we have a challenge for you in keeping with the time of year ... yes, it's

Valentine

So it's time to get lovey-dovey, and see if you can be the lucky randomly picked winner of this week's fab prize which has been donated by

and is this adorable stamp.

So without further ado, here's my card.

I always struggle with Valentine's as my husband doesn't like the colour red, and I can hardly make him a card with pink hearts on it, can I lol!!??!! I already knew I was going to use this darling image which was an RAK from my fab friend Squirrel, and as I cast around amongst my papers I suddenly spotted this BG "Porcelain" sheet and decided to go for green with red accents ... like the green tree with li'l red hearts growing on it ...aww! I kept the card reasonably unfussy as it is for a man.

I would also like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Paper Sundaes #3 - Valentine
Lexi's Creations #6 - Valentine
Double Dutch #36 - Be My Valentine

Challenge Up Your Life #13 - Valentine with Hearts
Stampavie & More #79 - Love/Valentine

Magical Crafts #7 - Valentine
Sophisticats #20 - Love
Corrosive Challenges #49 - All You Need is Love
Creative Belli #83 - Hearts
Caardvarks - Red Hearts
Cupckake # 76 - 4 legged and furry. Now I know that hedgies are renowned for being a bit prickly, but I bet their tummies are furry lol!!
BasicGrey #12 - Animals (2nd entry - wow have they got a fab prize on offer this time :-) )

Stamp, Scrap & Doodle #25 - Open theme

Recipe:
Main image: Penny Black "T.L.C." (3924K)(RAK from Squirrel), coloured with watercolour pencils and Gelly Roll red sparkle pen;
Sentiment: computer generated using "Gina" font;
Paper: BasicGrey "Porcelain" (green); My Mind's Eye (red);
Supplies: Papermania silver heart gems;
Tools: Martha Stewart "lace scallop heart" punch; Fiskars paper trimmer "deckle" blade.

Look forward to seeing your romantic creations, and don't forget to check out the lovingly created cards form the rest of the DT.

Roses Grow on You - & sweet 17

I've had a few things going on this week, which means I'm moving towards the end of the week feeling a tad sleep-deprived and my mojo has been all over the place!! Not managed to do too much crafting, but luckily I managed to make one card which fits quite a lot of challenges :-) In fact I reckon I've managed 17 ... so I've beaten my personal record - yay!


First of all, I followed the fab sketch over at Papertake Weekly #33

I really love this adorable LotV teddy with bouquet (waiting right now for the postie to come with my new LotV stamps ... can't wait!!) and meanwhile this stamp just had to have an outing. I'm also currently loving my Papermania "Blueberry Hill" paper pad ... even though it's not newly released, I bought it for the first time this week. I've also suddenly discovered paper roses - now I know I've not exactly been quick out of the blocks on this one ... but I'm suddenly seeing and buying them in all sorts of places lol!!

I think I also managed to complete the following challenges:

BasicGrey #12 - Animals ... now I bet you're wondering where there's any BasicGrey items on this card .... hmmm? Well actually there are two ... the butterfly is cut from BG "Two Scoops" pink paper, and all the pearls on the card are BG "Opaline" demi-perles.
Die Cut Dreams #32 - Bears
Just Cute Bears Challenge #1 - One for the Girls
Creative Inspirations #45 - Feminine!
Pile It On #3 - Warm Wishes
Crafty Creations #52 - Celebrate!
Raise the Bar #2 - The Gift that Keeps On Giving. I chose my image both for the bear challenges, and also because it was part of my "Secret Santa" Christmas gift from a crafty friend :-)
Flourishes Timeless Tuesday #51 - Inspired by the letter P. That would be Papermania paper, pink, pearls and petals.
A Spoon Full of Sugar #88 - Freestyle (anything goes)
Cute Card Thursday #97 - Blooming Gorgeous!
Dutch Dare #70 - Summer in Winter
My Time to Craft #76 - Elegant Rose
Quixotic #11 - Flutter By
Flutterby Wednesdays #94 - butterfly, fairy or angel
Your Next Stamp #8 - Anything That Sparkles
Cooking It Up With Katie #9 - "non human" image + texture + a product you've never used before. My texture is from the Stickles, and my new products are the roses and white pearly flower.


Recipe:
Main image: LotV "Teddy with bouquet", coloured with watercolour pencils and decorated with Stickles;
Sentiment: Craftwork Cards "Oh! My Words";
Papers: Papermania "Blueberry Hill"; BasicGrey "Two Scoops" (pink butterfly);
Supplies: Pink/cream roses from John Lewis, decorated with Stickles; white satin/pearl flower from Edwin Allen; BasicGrey "Opaline" demi-perles;
Tools: Martha Stewart large monarch butterfly punch; large circles, small circles and large classic scalloped circles nestabilities.

I think I may be taking a couple of days' break from crafting and blogging to recover from the stresses of the past few days ... but I hope I may get chance to play over the weekend :-)

Sugar Bowl #27 - Kathy's sketch

A last minute entry from me for this fortnight's Sugar Bowl #27 - following Kathy's fab sketch and also incorporating the "added extra" of distressing.
I rotated the sketch by 90 degrees to the right, and incorporated distressing by using my new-ish X-Cut distressing tool ... wouldn't go so far as to say I've really got the hang of it but all my paper edges are definitely looking a bit battered - apart from the ones that are looking smudged with chalk ink, that is!!


Recipe:
Main image: Sugar Nellie GG "Just a Girl", coloured with watercolour pencils and edges sponged with Versamagic chalk ink;
Sentiment: Whiff of Joy;
Papers: BasicGrey "Wisteria", with all edges distressed;
Supplies: curly petal rose from Hobbycraft (edged wtih Stickles); pearls and dragonfly brad from my stash;
Tools: "Labels 4" nestabilities; Leone Em "Ash Family" leaf punch.

Hoping to have a crafty sesh this evening so maybe I'll be back with another card tomorrow :-)