Santa Claus is Coming to Town!

Just a quick post this morning as I'm going to be out and about all day. Yesterday I managed a fairly mega crafting session and made a grand total of 4 cards which is mahoosive for me (yep ... I'm a very slow worker lol!).

This is the first one, which I made to catch the end of two challenges - Wild Orchid Crafts and Sketch and Stash. I know there are those who may say that Santa isn't a teddy bear, but here's what I say ... I don't have much in the way of stamps with an old fashioned Santa on, and in any case when it comes to Santa it's a matter of what you believe lol!! .. and last but not least, if you look very closely you will see that one of the images on my background paper is actually Santa (he is just about disappearing off the edge of the paper, and his little helpers must be hiding behind the other papers  :-)  lol!)

Stamps: Forever Friends Santa bear; LotV Christmas Sentiment Circles;

Media: Promarkers, Flexmarkers, Copics, glamour dust on coat and ground;

Papers: Dovecraft "Jolly Happy Christmas";

Supplies: Flowers by Wild Orchid Crafts; Ribbon by Papermania; pearls from The Hobby House.

Challenges:

Wild Orchid Crafts #35 - Santa Claus is Coming To Town!

Really Reasonable Ribbon #35 - Christmas

Sketch & Stash #73 - Sketch

(old stash is the stamp and ribbon, new stash is the flowers)

Gotta dash - enjoy the rest of your weekend :-)

Beary special mum ... with roses

It's my mum's birthday this coming weekend, so I decided to make her a card that would fit with this fortnight's Wild Orchid Challenge Beary Special and LotV Roses. I always like to go to town on my mum's cards ... the more flowers and details the better .. and this one is no exception lol!

I had a bit of a dilemma with this card actually, as I have to post it mid week, but mum is not at all well and is waiting for some test results which won't come until after I post it but before her birthday. So I have gone for a sentiment that I hope will hit the spot whatever.

For some reason I can't get a big picture of the A5 size card that fills the width of my blog post .. so here's a closeup of the cute teddy.

Recipe:

Main image: LotV "Teddy Bouquet" coloured with Promarkers and Copics;

Sentiment: LotV Sentiment Circles;

Papers: Best Creation Inc. (sparkly swirly paper) and Papermania "Henbury lane" (sparkly dots);

Supplies: roses and lace from Wild Orchid Crafts; blossoms from Crafts4U2Do; Papermania heart gems;

Tools: large circle and large lacy circle nestabilities; Martha Stewart floral edge punch; marianne D Creatables swirls (from ribbon flower set); letters cut using Cuttlebug "Hippie Chick" alphabet.

Challenges:

Wild Orchid Challenge #29 - Beary Special

Lili of the Valley #108 - Roses

Charisma #31 - Bingo!

(flowers / gems / circles)

That's all for today ... back tomorrow with a new Oldie But A Goodie DT card :-)

Love Is In The Air

Quite a few weeks ago I was given a commission to create a card quite a for a May wedding, but I have been putting it off until now. However, inspired both by the Royal wedding and also by being on holiday from work, I finally sat down yesterday to get down to it. My main problem was that I couldn’t quite decide what to make … so I made two! My only brief was that the sender loves pink and flowers :-)

Here’s my first card.
 

Recipe:
Main image; LotV “Wedding Couple”, coloured with Promarkers and dusted with glamour dust;
Sentiment; Whiff of Joy;
Papers: none – pearlescent white card scored and decorated with pearls;
Supplies: flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts; ribbon and pearls from my stash;
Tools: large circle and lacy circle nestabilities; Marianne D Creatables heart die.

Challenges:
Wild Orchid Challenge #22 – White + 2 with a twist – use roses
(my colours are white + pink + a hint of ivory)
I ♥ ProMarkers #63 – No Designer Papers
LotV #94 – Love Is In The Air

When the lady who asked me to make the card decides which one she prefers, I will make a box to go with the one she has chosen. Meanwhile I’ll be back tomorrow with wedding card number 2 ….

Enjoy the Bank Holiday!

Birthday Bear With Wings

Back again with my second post for today (unusual for me!) … if you’re looking by any chance for my LIM card for this week, it’s here :-)

I sat down to make a card for this fortnight’s Wild Orchid Challenge – just in the nick of time – and decided to use this adorable LotV bear with butterflies .. there is something about this image that really melts my heart!

Recipe:
Main image: LotV “Bear and Butterflies” coloured with Copics and Promarkers and decorated with glamour dust;
Sentiment: Penny Black transparent set “Salutations”;
Papers: “From Me To You” (new Tatty Teddy range);
Supplies: cherry blossoms from Wild Orchid Crafts; pearls from WOC and The Hobby House; ribbon from my stash;
Tools: “Labels Four” nestabilities; Leone Em “Ash branch” leaf punch.

Challenges:
Wild Orchid ~21 – Wings
Colour Create #69 – Pink, Blue and Brown
Everybody-Art-Challenge #138 – Pearls

Hope you’re enjoying the weekend.

Penny Black Saturday #146 - Say It With Flowers

Good morning all, and welcome to another Penny Black Saturday Challenge. Thanks very much to everyone who rocked Domi's sketch last week - don't forget to check the main prize blog to see if you are a winner. I'm still struggling mightily with blogger and my recent attempt to install Windows Live Writer crashed and burned ... so I'll get straight to business ...

This week's theme is

Say It With Flowers

Easy peasy!!

And we also have a fantastic prize as always - this week it is a $20 online store voucher from our sponsor 1-2-3 Stitch.

Do check out the other ladies' lovely floral arrangements - here is my card for this week.

Recipe:

Main image: Penny Black "Hedgehog Bouquet" (1444K) coloured with Promarkers;

Sentiment: Craftwork Cards;

Papers: Papermania "Forever Friends - Springtime";

Supplies: flowers by Wild Orchid Crafts; ribbon from my stash;

Tools: large circles and lacy circles nestabilities; Martha Stewart "wild flowers" PATP edge punch; Leone Em "Ash Family" leaf punch.

Challenges:

Wild Orchid Challenge #20 - Sketch (flipped horizontally)

Crafty Pad #115 - Flowers

Paper Sundaes #63 - Spring Blossoms

PaperPlay #14 - Critters Galore

Creative Inspirations #106 - Punches & Dies

Pollycraft #87 - Old / Neglected stamp

Corrosive #110 - Pastel Colours

Craft your Passion #52 - Anything Goes

Hope you can join us this week - look forward to seeing what you create :-)

Oldie But A Goodie #15 - Colour Combo

Good evening all, and welcome to a new Oldie But A Goodie Challenge. I'm running a bit late today, and I have to confess that the reason is very simple ... I got my weeks wrong and didn't make my card in time - oh the shame!! had to rush my card out last night and then take a photo this morning before rushing out the door for work ... so hope you will all be kind!! Thanks so much to everyone who entered last fortnights's OBAG challenge - fab entries as always. Don't forget to check the main challenge blog to see if you are a winner. So onto this fortnight's challenge, which has been chosen by Liza, and is a colour combo Pink/Blue & Brown We also have a fabulous prize by our new regular sponsor Stämpelkällan which is these darling stamps ... Don't forget that in order to be eligible for the prize you should submit a new piece of work and use a stamped image (not a digi) that is at least 6 months old ... so have a little riffle through your stamp box to find an old but loved stamp ... and of course have fun!! :-) The other DT ladies have made some gorgeous samples - here's mine (at last!) Now I have to confess that I am not big on brown when it comes to crafting, so I immediately thought of incorporating the brown through an animal, with most of the decorative elements being pink and blue. So what better than this adorable LotV bear ... would you look at his little face?? I think this little guy was released in either spring or summer last year, so he's just nicely old enough for the rules of this challenge :-) Recipe: Main image: LotV "Bear and Butterflies" coloured with Promarkers and Copics, and butterfly wings dusted with glamour dust; Sentiment: Penny Black "Birthday Dreams" (3849E); Papers: Pink Petticoat "Vintage Rose"; Supplies: cherry blossoms and lace from Wild Orchid Crafts; Dovecraft dragonfly brad; ribbon from my stash; Tools: "Labels 3" nestabilities; Marianne D Creatables doily die; Cuttlebug "birds and swirls" embossing folder (on the doily). Challenges: I used this week's Sketch Saturday #147 sketch Simon Says - Happy Birthday (2nd entry)

Everybody-Art #134 - Happy Birthday

Stamp Something - Something Sweet (I think this is an adorably sweet image!)

Passion For Promarkers #92 - In The Garden

Paper Sundaes #61 - Embossing

Teddy Stampers #32 - Embossing PaperPlay #11 - Embossing

Wild Orchid Crafts #19 - Dieing to Punch It Out (2nd entry)

Shabby Tea Room #54 - Bingo! (2nd entry)

(This time I have used lace, flowers and embossing) Now I've finally caught up with myself i'm off to get my feet up with cup of tea lol! Have a great week!

Penny Black Saturday #143 - Spring is Sprung!

Hi everyone ... welcome to the weekend and another Penny Black Saturday Challenge. Thanks to everyone who entered last week's "green" challenge - fabby entries as always ... don't forget to check the main blog to see if you are a winner ! This week is the spring solstice in the northern hemisphere, so we thought we would celebrate with a theme of Spring Is Sprung As always we have a fabulous prize .. this week it is from our lovely former team mate Carole - and is this adorable and highly appropriate stamp. 2304F Seeing Your Face Please remember that in order to be eligible for the prize you should submit a new piece of work which has a Penny Black image, large sentiment or stickeroo as its main focus. The rest of the DT have made some totally gorgeous spring creations, so I hope you will go and check them out. Here is my springtime card. I should start by saying that this card was very much influenced by Brenda, as I saw an absolutely stunning card using this stamp on her blog. I love brushstroke stamps, but had never realised there was a brushstroke daffodil before (maybe because it is called "Jonquil" - I had never studied the picture closely!!) Anyhow I just had to order it when I saw Brenda's card, and also bought three new Marvey markers so that I would have just the right selection of yellows, golds and greens to colour it with. I'm still liking CAS cards so decided not to over-complicate this image by adding background paper; but at the same time I wanted to get a spring garden effect, so decided to add a garden trellis with butterflies. Recipe: Main image: Penny Black "Jonquil" (3587K) coloured with Marvey brushstroke markers; Sentiment : Penny Black Supplies: Papermania gold gems; Tools: Martha Stewart "garden trellis" deep edge punch and "monarch butterfly" punch. Challenges: Penny Black at Allsorts (March) - Spring (3rd & final entry!) Creative Cottage #35 - Spring has Sprung! Wags 'n' Whiskers #50 - Spring Scrapbook Sisters #27 - Spring Flowers Papertake Weekly - Trio-tastic (I used 3 daffodils) Wild Orchid Challenge #19 - Dieing To Punch it Out Fun With Shapes and More #79 - No Designer Paper

Hope You can join us this week - have a great weekend!

Coffee and cream (cakes)!

The challenge this week over at Simon Says is coffee and cream ... and I was determined to enter for two very good reasons - not only have they got a fantabadozie prize as always, but this week they're also having a DT call - woo hoo! However I felt less sure when I started thinking about the theme ... coffee and cream are not two colours I normally craft with, so not only are they WAY out of my comfort zone, but what to do about supplies?? So this is hardly my best week to put my best foot forward for the DT ... but hey, you've got to give it a go, haven't you?? So, I started riffling madly through my stash in search of something suitable. Here's what I came up with ... I already had this darling image stamped up, so I decided to give her a "coffee and cream cakes" makeover!. I agonized for some time over papers, and this was really the best combo I could come up with, but I hope the soft script-printed paper adds to the overall vintage feel. I was also a little concerned initially about what I would do for embellies as I have never purchased flowers in brown shades and only a few cream ones .... but that's where I really got lucky!! I recently won a yummy little candy from Dawny P ... and not only had she included a yummy selection of WOC flowers in shades of cream and terracotta, but also some really vintage looking deep cream lace - yippee!! I also found a few coffee coloured roses knocking around in my stash which were a present some time ago from my bloggy friend Sue, and remembered that I had a teapot charm lurking in the depths of my charm box ... things were finally starting to come together! (Some of you may think that you can detect a peach coloured rose on the card ... but given that it really gave the overall scheme such a "lift" I would argue that it is in fact cinammon ...y'know ... the stuff you get sprinkled on your coffee. That's my story and I'm sticking to it ;-) ) Recipe: Main image: LotV "Hello Cupcake", coloured with Promarkers and Copics; Sentiment: Penny Black transparent set "Salutations"; Papers: various from stash; Supplies: pearls from the Hobby House; all flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts (with thanks to Dawny P and Sue); lace from Dawny P; ribbon and charm from stash. Challenges: Simon Says - Coffee and Cream (+ DT Call) Secret Crafter #123 _ Sweet Treats Crafty Pad #110 - Something Yummy For Your Tummy Raise the Bar #55 - Mug Shots Paper Sundaes #58 - How Charming Rainbow Lady #141 - Shabby Chic Sweet Stampin' - Oh So Girly Craft Your Passion #47 - Girly Girl My Time To Craft #129 - Hats Creative Inspirations #100 - Stripes Stampin' For The Weekend #4 - Monochrome Wild Orchid Challenge #18 - Anything Goes Sentimental Sundays #44 - Anything Goes Friday Sketchers #143 - sketch

Think I'll go and have a cup of tea and a cupcake now lol (only kidding)!!

Let Them Eat Cake!

Happy Friday everyone! I've been working such long hours recently that I have more than made up enough time for a flexi day from work ... so today I am having a rare day of r&r and playtime!! I decided to make a card using the adorable LotV "Rosie with Cake" - another stamp I'm ashamed to say I've had since last autumn and not inked up before ... all the stamps I bought back then had to wait until after the Christmas rush!! Anyhow, I decided to go ultra girly today, and here is the result. Recipe: Main image: LotV "Rosie with Cake" coloured wtih Promarkers and Copics; Sentiment: LotV Sentiment Circles; Papers: Pink Petticoat "Vintage Rose"; Supplies: all flowers from Wild orchid Crafts; pearls from Wild orchid Crafts & The Hobby House; pink raffia lace from my stash; Tools: nestabilities small circles, lacy circles and "Labels One"; martha Stewart "Valentine lace" edge punch. Challenges: I followed the sketch for this week's Wild Orchid Challenge #17 Cupcake Challenge #130 - Cake 'n' Ice Cream One Stop Craft Challenge #119 - Birthday Card - With Cake LotV #85 - Circles Ooh-La-La #74 - Pink, Pink and More Pink Stamp Something - Something With Flowers Spoon Full of Sugar #140 - Birthday Wishes Flourishes Timeless Tuesday #106 - Birthday Card Crafty Ann's #35 - Birthday Card Incy Wincy # 81 - Use Punches or Dies Crazy4Challenges #75 - Use Dies Just off now for the afternoon cardmaking session :-) Oh I wish every Friday could be like this!!

Penny Black Saturday #135 - January Sales!

Good morning everyone, and welcome once more to the Penny Black Saturday Challenge. Thanks to everyone who joined in last week and don't forget to check whether you have won last week's prize. Just a short post from me today as I'm still feeling pretty much under the weather, and also apologies because it also means I have not completed my commenting this week. So straight to business ... this week we have got a theme for you... January Sales Yes, we would like to see your bargain stash used on your project. Don't forget that the only rule is that you must submit a new piece of work, which must feature a Penny Black image, large sentiment or stickeroo as its main focus. This week's prize is four roll of ribbon of the winner's choice from Fantastic Ribbons, for one randomly drawn winner. Hope you will visit the main challenge blog to see the fab creations from the rest of the team - here's mine. I didn't actually buy anything in this year's January sales (aren't I good??) so I reached for a couple of bargains from craft fairs I have visited previously. Many of my PB stamps have been bought at a discounted rate from the "bargain bucket" on the Stampers Supermarket stall at Port Sunlight, including this one. I also got a good price for my MS border punch last year at Aintree craft show. Recipe: Main image: Penny Black "Crossing Bridges!" (3206J), coloured with Promarkers and Copics; Sentiment: Penny Black "the journey" (3177F); Papers: Papermania "Forever Friends - Spring Time"; Supplies: flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts; pearls from The Hobby House; ribbon from stash; Tools: large circles and lacy circles nestabilities; Martha Stewart "floral vine" deep edge punch; Leone Em "Ash Branch" leaf punch; Cuttlebug "Daisy pattern" embossing folder. I would like to enter this for the following challenges: Sketch & Stash #53 -

(new paper; neglected stamp, sentiment, embossing folder and border punch) Fab 'n' Funky #56 - Animal Magic Simon Says - Bingo!

(Punch/die cuts, embossing; ribbon) Crafty Catz #66 - A Forgotten Stamp Wild Orchid Challenge #15 - Let's Get Sentimental Top Tip Tuesday #18 - All Sentimental

Paper Sundaes #52 - Favourite Challenge from the Past Year (3rd entry)

(this time I have chosen #14 - No People) That's all from me - hoping to spend the day with my feet up :-)

Pretty in Pink (+ silver + white)

Here's another card from my latest Christmas batch .... quite a few challenges were winking at me from my blog roll when I logged on this morning so I decided to make this one into a quick post. I would like to enter this card for: Wild Orchid #13 - Pink, Silver and White

Cupcake#121 - Non-Traditional Christmas

Incy Wincy #72 - Non-Tradional Christmas Colours

Stamp With Fun #89 - Christmas

Pollycraft #74 - White Christmas

The Pink Elephant #90 - Winter Wonderland

Catch the Bug - Walking in a Winter Wonderland

Stamptacular #89 - Winter Wishes

Keep It Simple - Season's Greetings

Sentimental Sundays #33 - Let It Snow

Totally Gorjuss #60 - Snow!

Daring Cardmakers - Snow Much Fun

Alphabet Challenge - G is for Glitter

Bunny Zoe's #7 - Sparkle & Shine

Stampalicious - Stampaliciously Simple

Recipe:

Main image: Penny Black "Snowy Park", covered in crystal Fine Art glitter;

Sentiment: Penny Black;

Paper: pearlescent white card embossed with Cuttlebug;

Supplies: small roses from Wild Orchid Crafts; silver gems and ribbon from my stash;

Tools: Cuttlebug "snowflakes" embossing folder.

That's all for today :-)