I ♥ Promarkers #99 - Cute & Cuddly

Wow the week is flying  by ... Wednesday already, which means it is time for another  I ♥ Promarkers Challenge. Thanks as always to everyone who entered last week's Buttons & Lace challenge - there were some really pretty creations, and the winner is on the main challenge blog.

This week we have a theme of

Cute & Cuddly

which ties in very well with the type of images produced by our sponsor, Stamp Fairy, who are offering a $10 gift certificate for their online store where you can find a wide selection of whimsical and cute digi images.

Don't forget to be eligible for our prize you should submit a new piece of work that follows the theme, and where your image is coloured using Promarkers, Flexmarkers, Aquamarkers or Tria pens by Letraset.

Stamp Fairy very kindly provided some digi images for the DT to play with, and I chose the adorable Molly Fairy ... here's my card.

This is really rather a departure for me, as I have always deliberately steered away from stamps where the faces have no mouths - I find eg. Tilda really creepy for some reason (I can still admire other people's Tilda cards for their composition and details, but I don't like the images per se). However this stamp seemed to me to have a more appealing face than many stamps of that type, and in the end I really enjoyed colouring her :-)  Here's a closeup to try to show the sparkle on her wand and wings!

I decided to go for a spring-like colour scheme ... partly to distract myself from the dark miserable days of January, but also so that I could use my brand new Me To You "Spring Chic" papers - just bought a 12" * 12" pad and they are absolutely scrumptious! I think they will be appearing on here a lot over the next few weeks lol!

Stamp: Stamp Fairy "Molly Fairy";

Media: Promarkers (Dusky Pink, Blush, Ivory, Sandstone, Vanilla, Duck Egg, Cool Aqua, Buttercup, Primrose) and Flexmarkers ( Soft Aqua, Pale Citrus, Lemon Chiffon, Tea Rose, Nutmeg); glamour dust on wings and wand;

Papers: Docrafts "Me To You - Spring Chic";

Supplies: flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts & Sweet Lilac; lace from The Ribbon Box; pearls from The Hobby House; ribbon from my stash;

Tools: X-Cut nested star die; Marianne D "Branch Forest" (LR0150); Martha Stewart small monarch butterfly punch; Cuttlebug "daisies" embossing folder.

Challenges:

Craft Your Passion #92 - Mythical Creatures

Cute Card Thursday #198 - What's New?

( papers and star shaped die)

Crazy 4 Challenge #118 - New Toys / New Techniques

Crafty Creations #152 - Something New
Papertake Weekly - Die Cute Special
Really Reasonable Ribbon #39 - Sparkle & Ribbon
Passion For Promarkers #131 - Inspired By A Song
("Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star")
Sweet Stampin' - Spots & Dots 
(2 of my 3 papers have dots on)
Simon Says - Spots &/or Stripes
(as above, plus one of my papers has both spots & stripes! :-)  )

One Stop Craft Challenge #164 - Bingo! 

(flowers, diecuts/punches, embossing) 

Dream Valley #23 - Anything Goes

CES #67 - Anything Goes

Magical Mondays - Anything Goes

Anything Goes #58 - Anything Goes
Sketch Saturday #189 - sketch 

Looking forward to seeing all your cute and cuddly creations ... have a great week! 

At the going down of the sun and in the morning,

We will remember them.

(Laurence Binyon, "For The Fallen").

Today is Armistice Day (also known as Remembrance Day), a day originally set aside to commemorate the signing of the Armistice at the end of the First World War in 1918, but today an occasion to remember the sacrifice of the fallen in many conflicts around the world. This year is a once-in-a-lifetime Remembrance Day, as it falls at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in the 11th year - 11-11-11-11.

I have made a card today to enter into some challenges that are marking this occasion. I will be at work this morning, but am scheduling this post for 11:00am.  I will pause at that time to remember all those who gave their lives or were injured in conflicts over the years so that we can live today in a democracy.

Stamps: poppy from Penny Black transparent set "flowers and wishes"; sentiment from PB transparent set "hugs!";

Media: Promarkers;

Supplies: ribbon and tiny heart gems from my stash.

Challenges:

Simon Says - Photo inspiration (poppy field)

Cute Card Thursday # 190 - Red is for Remembrance

Less Is More #40 - Red & Orange

Creative Craft - Minimalist

My Partner In Crafting Crime #35 - Use A Freebie

(I won the transparent set of stamps including the poppy)

Thanks very much for visiting today. I'll be back tomorrow with another Penny Black Saturday Challenge.

Oldie But A Goodie - Ribbon and Lace

Good morning everyone - hope it is sunny where you are ... we had a lovely day here yesterday :-)  It's time for another Oldie But A Goodie Challenge - thanks so much to everyone who entered our Anything Goes challenge last time - fab projects as always !

This fortnight we have a theme I'm sure you'll love - I definitely didn't need any encouragement to get going with this one! It is

Ribbon and lace

Ooh! my favourites (along with flowers, pearls etc... etc... lol!!)

This fortnight we are sponsored by Poppy's Cabin - do be sure to check the main blog for further details and all the other ladies' gorgeous ribbony and lacy samples :-) And just a reminder ... in order to be eligible for the prize you should link to a new piece of work that features a stamped image (NO digis please) that is at least 6 months old ... that's why we're called An Oldie But A Goodie ;-)

When I got to thinking about my DT card for this challenge I decided to ink up a stamp which is both old in terms of initial release (1996!!) and also old in terms of the physical stamp in my hand ... but it is new to me. My local craft shop sells a few second hand stamps, and I spotted this pre-loved (but very well cared for as there was hardly a mark on it) vintage Penny Black stamp .... and they were asking £2 for it - that's got to be one of the best crafty bargains I've ever had!! I also got some new summery papers by Prima so I couldn't wait to get started ... the final element of inspiration was this week's Sketch Saturday sketch, which had perfect elements to incorporate as ribbon and lace.  I felt this created a really fresh summery feel, especially when I piled on the flowers :-) Here's the result .... I'm actually rather pelased wtih this one for once :-)

I also noticed that there are a number of stitchy challenges around right now ... and as the image itself has a bit of stitching on it I thought I'd get down to a bit of faux stitching as well (I don't do real stitching lol!!) Unfortunately it doesn't show up too well (my pink marker was running out!!) so here's a closeup just to prove it is there (along with the distressed paper edges)  ...

Recipe:

Main image: Penny Black "A Gift of Flowers" (586K) coloured with Promarkers and Copics;

Sentiment: LotV sentiment circles;

Papers: Prima "Sparkling Spring";

Supplies: flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts and Crafts4U2Do; lace from Crafts4u2Do; ribbons and pearls from my stash;

Tools: pokey tool used to make faux stitching; Tim Holtz distressing tool used to rough up the paper edges.

Challenges:

Sketch Saturday #163 - sketch

Simon Says - A Stitch in Time

Simon Says Stamp and Show - Stitching

One Stop Craft Challenge #139 - Summertime

Totally Gorjuss #88 - Summertime

Crazy 4 Challenges #95 - Summer

Pile It On #28 - Favourite Technique

(colouring with Promarkers)

Penny Black Challenge - Favourite Distressing Technique

(distressing paper edges with TH distressing tool)

CES #44 - Recipe: 1 image, 2 ribbons, lace or twine + 3 DP's

Cute Card Thursday #172 - Lace

Penny Black at Allsorts (July) - Flower Power (2nd entry)

Charisma #27 - All About Flowers

Creative Craft - Pretty Blossoms

Crafty Pad #129 - Lots of Texture

Kaboodle #75 - Use Those Scissors

(my vintage image wasn't a perfect rectangle so I cut it out by hand rather than with a  paper cutter)

Craft your Passion #66 - Just For You

ABC - Y is for Yesterday

Cupcake #150 - Your Favourite Challenge

(wow I could choose so many ... but howzabout 1. Flowers, 11. Vintage, 36. Summer, 61. Going Girly, 69. Flower Power, 103. Lace, 138. Lots of Layers ... all great themes in my opinion :-)  )

Hope you can join in the challenge this fortnight - look forward to seeing your creations.

Winter, Spring, Summer or Fall ...

I have decided to try to keep up with the new Less Is More Challenge each week - I find it really interesting as when working with white space the main challenge is to keep finding something "different" as the main focus. This week the theme is a one layer card (eek!!) with flowers or trees ... so I decided to try a "four seasons" friendship card, to convey the idea that friendship lasts forever.

Now although I say so myself I was pretty pleased with the concept, though I'm not so sure about the execution. It doesn't help that for some reason this card was very difficult to photograph, and the light here is really dull today. But never mind - today's the last day of this week's Less is More challenge so I thought I'd better bung it up here and hope for the best :-) I'm really hoping that my "white space" cards will improve as the weeks go on!

Recipe:
Main image: Art Impressions bare branch tree, stamped four times. First three trees coloured by stippling with watercolour ink from Marvey brushstroke pens, last tree decorated with Art Institute Pee Wee Fine Art glitter;
Sentiment: Penny Black "Salutations" transparent set;
Supplies: coloured gems from my stash.

Challenges:
Less Is More #2 - One Layer Card with Flower or Tree
Creative Card Crew - Friendship
Dutch Dare #100 - Sparkle, Glitter and/or Bling
Cute Card Thursday #152 - Shiny Happy Cards
PaperPlay #7 - Add Shine

That's it for today :-)

The World is Full of Beauty When the Heart is Full of Love

Having attempted a CAS card the other day I think I felt really inspired by some of the other entries I saw, and i also noticed that the Penny Black blog has been showcasing "crafting with white space". So I think I got a bit over-excited as I have made another CAS card. This time it really is CAS because I actually (sharp intake of breath) stamped or coloured everything directly onto the base cardstock - eek!

My flower is from the Penny Black "Flowers and Wishes" set, and the gorgeous sentiment is by Lavinia Stamps. I made my sun by die cutting a circle from card to make a stencil, and then sponging through it using Versamagic chalk inks. The only embellishment is a row of teeny weeny gold heart shaped gems by Papermania. Job done!

Challenges:

Penny Black - Crafting With White Space
Totally Papercrafts #53 - Clean & Simple
Penny Black At Allsorts (February) - Say It With Flowers
Paperplay #6 - Hearts and Flowers (but not Valentine)
Cute Card Thursday #151 - Hearts and Flowers
My Time To Craft #127 - Hearts and Flowers
Papertake Weekly - Have A Heart
Rainbow Lady #139 - It's All About Love
My Partner in Crafting Crime #19 - Love - No Red or Pink

Back tomorrow with a new Penny Black Saturday Challenge :-)

A Special Day

I have been so behind with everything recently that I decided yesterday to get ahead of myself for once! So I sat down and made card for my oldest friend, who will turn 50 on December 8th. I think I'm quite safe publishing it on here though, as she isn't a cardmaker or blogger (I sure hope that's the case right now!!)

I had been thinking vaguely about this card for a while and had already decided that I would just have to use this darling LotV image "Thomas with Champagne", but when I received my new LotV calendar stamps last week it struck me that one of them is also perfect for milestone birthdays such as this. Here's the result of my efforts ....

Recipe:
Main image: LotV "Thomas with champagne" coloured with Promarkers and Copics;
Sentiments: LotV "calendar stamps" and Penny Black transparent set "Salutations", both heat embossed with detail gold powder;
Papers: make unknown;
Supplies: large rose from Hobbycraft; cherry blossoms, small roses and lace from Wild Orchid Crafts; pearls from The Hobby House;
Tools: large cicrcle and lacy circle nestabilities; numbers cut using Cuttlebug "Hippie Chick" alphabet; Cuttlebug "Floral Fantasy" embossing folder.

I used Bev's excellent sketch from this week's Lili of the Valley Challenge #75


and would also like to enter this one for

Charisma #47 - One for the Girls
Cute Card Thursday #140 - Blast from the Past
(I have chosen Challenge #112 - Someone Special)
Passion for Promarkers #79 - Old & New
(I have had Thomas + my embossing folder for a while, but my calendar stamp is brand new)
I ♥ ProMarkers #42 - Anything Goes
Fab 'n' Funky #50 - Going with the Flow
Craft Your Days away #9 - Texture
Alphabet Challenge - E is for Embossing

Have a good Sunday and keep warm!

Going Gothic!

And now for something completely different, as they say .....

Usually my cards fall into either one (or both) of two very distinct styles ... cute or pastel floral ... but it occurred to me that was never really going to cut it when making a birthday card for the lady who sits opposite me at work ... because she is a goth! I think she would probably be quite happy with a card in my usual styles as she does compliment them when I take them to work to photograph in daylight, but clearly it's not really where her heart lies.

So I decided to exit my comfort zone and enter the Twilight Zone, with an arty image, scripty writing and plenty of black, silver and a dash of red (eek!)

Now I didn't really think this card would be suitable for any blog challenges, but as luck would have it a couple of appropriate challenges have popped up with perfect timing :-)

Cute Card Thursday #138 - Anything Goes
Lili of the Valley #73 - Anything Goes & Blog Hop ...

I actually feel extremely naughty entering the LotV challenge with a non-LotV card ... but hey!! the special rules (for one week only) allow it, and seeing as my previous 4 cards were all LotV I can't be accused of not pulling my weight in the LotV fan stakes. And OMG what a set of prizes ... I totally NEED those stamps lol!! Truth is I will probably also sneak in a LotV card before the week is over ;-)

Recipe:
Main image: Stampington "Pressed Profile" (C8408), heat embossed with detail silver onto black/silver card;
Sentiment: Penny Black;
Paper: Anita's "Classic Black Christmas";
Supplies: silver and black pearls from The Hobby house; silver lace from Bunny Zoe's Crafts; red gems from my stash;
Tools: Martha Stewart "eyelet lace" edge punch.

That's all for now ... I've been working really long hours this week so I'm totally shattered and ready to flop down with a cup of tea!!

Simply scary

I don't really "do" Hallowe'en, so I'm not exactly over-burdened with supplies when this time of year comes around. However, as a Penny Black lover and PB Saturday Challenge DT member I considered it my duty whilst at Port Sunlight last Saturday to snap up one or two of the bargain PB Hallowe'en stamps which were on half-price-or-less offer - it would have been rude not to!!

Here's the result of my first playtime - the card is relatively simple as I have very little in the way of Hallowe'en embellies and I'm not really prepared to splash out on them - I just bought a couple of pieces of Bo Bunny Hallowe'en paper and a bit of cobwebby lace.

I followed the sketch at this week's Sketch Saturday #124, which I rotated by 90 degrees to the right, and also interpreted the 3 dots at the top fairly liberally with my hanging spiders lol!

This card is also for

Fussy & Fancy Friday #21 - Hallowe'en
Everybody-Art-Challenge #112 - Hallowe'en
Crafts & Me #15 - Hallowe'en
Creative Cottage #25 - Hallowe'en

Stampin' Royalty #41 - Hallowe'en
Aly's Sunday #23 - Hallowe'en

Double Dutch #54 - Boo to You!
Cupcake # 112 - Scary Creatures
Creative Crafts - Trick or Treat
Creative Belli #102 - Pumpkins
Cute Card Thursday # 134 - What's Buggin' You!
Tuesday Taggers - More Than Two Legs
Passion For Promarkers #73 - Orange, Black, Green & Purple + option of Hallowe'en

Let's ink It Up #4 - Hallowe'en Colours
Simon Says - Recipe - 3 types of embellishment, 2 patterned papers & 1 image
(I have used lace, pearls and peel off embellies, 1 striped and 1 mottled Bo Bunny papers {it does have a subtle pattern - honest!!} )
Ooh -La-La #64 - Nothing Floral

I've managed to stop just short of 13 challenges - how scary would that have been?? Edited ... I just found 6 more open Hallowe'en challenges .. and I just couldn't resist ;-)

Recipe:
Main image: Penny Black "Frightful Flight" coloured with Promarkers;
Sentiment: Penny Black;
Papers: Bo Bunny;
Supplies: pearls from The Hobby House; lace and peel offs from my stash;
Tools: Labels nestabilities.

Don't have nightmares and sleep tight 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 :-)

Gone Fishin'!

Today is my darling husband's birthday, and he is a keen fisherman, so I have been hoarding this cute "Dandelion Goes Fishing" stamp set since last summer especially so I could make this card lol!

I was always going to make this card regardless of any challenges, but it's always nice to find some challenges to enter .. and here are a few that I believe this card fits.

Creative Inspirations #29 - Male Card
Double Dutch #28 - Boys only

Crafty Catz #23 - Something for the boys
Crazy 4 Challenges #28 - masculine card

Stamp Something - Something Cream & Green
Fussy & Fancy #6 - Green
Pixie Cottage #11 - Green

All that Scraps - Green

For Fun #2 - Green
Too Cute For Words - Green

Raise the Bar #8 - Go Green
Penny's Paper Crafting Challenge - Going Green

Clearly Inspired #9 - Think Green
Inky Impressions #31 - Think Green

Cute Card Thursday #103 - Celebrations!
Flourishes Timeless Tuesday #57 - Celebration!
Fun with Shapes & More #44 - Happy birthday!

Gingersnap #44 - Birthday Greeting
Die Cut Dreams #38 - No Flowers Allowed!

Pollycraft #35 - Distressing
Spoon Full of Sugar #94 - recycle (I have used buttons which were originally snipped from some garment or other!)
Secret Crafter #74 - Anything Goes
Ooh-la-la #49 - Anything Goes

Phew!! 23 challenges - a new record! not bad considering i didn't even consult a challenge list before I made this one ;-)

Here's a closeup of the cute fish charm I used - I also cut down a piece of raffia ribbon and stained it with distress ink, fondly imagining it might look like a piece of fishing net lol!

Recipe:
Main image: "Dandelion Goes Fishing" coloured wtih watercolour pencils, and edges of image distressed with "Antique linen" distress ink;
Sentiments: Hero Arts (main); "Dandelion Goes Fishing" (in corner);
Papers: K&Co - checked paper edges distressed using scissors;
Supplies: Hobbycraft raffia ribbon (stained wtih antique line distress ink); buttons, dewdrops, green ribbon and fish charm from my stash;
Tools: Fiskars paper cutter "deckle" blade.

Hope it will be a nice day for his birthday so we can have a little r&r :-)Hope you're all having a good weekend.

Penny Black #89 - Colour Combo

This week has just raced by .... already it's Saturday again, and that can only mean one thing ...it's time for another Penny Black Saturday Challege.

Some of you may have noticed I had a week off last week ... but it's fab that so many of you were in lovey-dovey mode for the Valentine Challenge ... as always, don't forget to pop over to the challenge blog to see if you have won the prize

This week our thoughts are turning to spring, with a lovely spring-like colour combo for you

Pink + yellow + green

All the DT members have been pulling out the stops to make some fabulous samples so please do visit them and have a peep!

This week we also have an adorable prize for you ... it's this darling stamp "A Tender Hug" donated by our very own Carole - thanks hun!



Without further ado, here's my card.


I had a slight panic over this, as I didn't have any papers which would successfully pull all three colours together .... although I've got a 6*6 "Two Scoops" pad, the paper I have used for the background is all gone ... so in the end I just had to buy a single piece of 12 * 12. Why the panic about that??? I hear you ask. Well ... I am part of a group of crafty friends where some dear crazy woman (you know who you are pmsl!!....) has suggested giving up stash buying for Lent ....WHAAAATTT?? Lent started on Wednesday ... and I discovered I needed this piece of paper on ... er ... Thursday morning lol!! So I just brazened it out and bought it as an "essential" .. but I'm now probably in the doghouse rofl! It's going to be a tough 6 weeks tee hee!

I'm really loving my newish MS border punch .. it really makes me think of a white picket fence and I can't help but decorate it every time with butterflies and flowers :-) Hope it gives an impression of spring!

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

Creative Belli #85 - Butterflies or dragonflies
Stamp Something - A Touch of Spring
Paper Sundaes #5 - Glittery Spring
SophistiCat #22 - Stitching
Crafty Creations #55 - Stitching
Corrosive #51 - Sew it up!
Cute Card Thursday #100 - Metal Mania (metal spacers)
Gingersnap Colour Challenge #43 - 3 colours you love
Totally Gorjuss #18 - Flower Power
Cute Daisy May - Bright & cheerful

Recipe:
Main image: "Teddy & Company" transparent set; coloured with watercolourp encils;
Sentiment: Craftwork Cards;
Papers: BasicGrey "Two Scoops";
Supplies: flowers by Woodware; sparkly brads by Doodlebug; spacers from The Hobby House; pearls from my stash;
Tools: large classic oval and large classic scalloped oval nestabilities; shapeabilities "Fancy tags"; Martha Stewart "garden trellis" border punch and "large monarch butterfly" punch; Leone Em "Ash Family" leaf punch.

Hope you're having a great weekend whatever you're doing, and looking forward to seeing your creations.

A Time for Celebration!

Well here we are, almost at the end of 2009 already ... where on earth has the year gone to??

In anticipation of the New Year's party I'm hoping to get to on (weather permitting!) I have made a New Year celebration card for the hostess.

I followed the excellent sketch at this week's Create4Fun Challenge #52, which I rotated 90 degrees to the left. I tried for once to be a bit imaginative and get a bit of artistic licence going (!?!). It's the first time I have cut out a figure and placed her over a background shape .... I know people do this a lot with Tildas but I don't have any of those .. thought I'd try it with Annie, and I'm pretty pleased with the result :-) I also went in for a bit of criss-crossing with some cord ... hope this is close enough to the original sketch!

This card was also made with quite a few other challenges in mind:

Cupcake #71 - A Time for Celebration

Everybody-Art-Challenge #71,
Stamp with Fun #39,
Stamp with Stampavie #75,
and
Lili of the Valley #43
all have the theme this week of
Happy New Year

Simon Says Stamp - Party!
(well, it's for a New Year Party, and I have to say Annie looks like she's started already lol!!)

Daring Cardmakers - New Beginnings
Our Creative Corner - Celebrate Food or Drink
One Stop Craft Challenge #60 - recycled
(my silver star holographic card is recycled from an Asda tissue box!!)

My Time to Craft #72 - Anything Goes
Creative Card Crew #41 - Anything Goes (3rd entry!)

Blimey! I've just counted up and that's 12 ... just about my best effort yet lol!! I actually also made this for 2 more challenges but alas due to poor lighting conditions today for taking phots plus going out for the day .. I've missed them - never mind!!

I love easel cards but am finding them very difficult to photograph (and the miserable daylight conditions don't help lol) ... so here are a couple more closeup shots - first of the "front" of the card ....

... and also the "base" part of the easel.

Recipe:
Main image: Sugar Nellie "Fizz", coloured with watercolour pencils;
Papers: free with issue 10 of Creative Cardmaking magazine;
Supplies: silver gems and stars, silver cord all by Papermania; silver/white ribbon from my stash; recycled silver holographic card from Asda tissue box!;
Tools: large classic circles and large classic scalloped circles nestabilities; numbers cut using Cuttlebug "Hippie Chick" alphabet dies.

I'd just love to wish everyone who visits my blog, end everyone who I visit a

Happy New Year!

Take care, have fun, and here's to more fab blogging and crafting in 2010 ! :-)