We Are Sailing At CD Sunday

My first thought for the We Are Sailing challenge at CD Sunday was a cute image from the Faye Whittaker CD but then I remembered I had used it on a previous CD Sunday challenge here so out came the House Mouse CDs and I found this cute little micicle sailing in a nutshell. Just perfect. As the backing paper is very busy I didn't want to add to much so just a die cut leaf branch, some flowers from my stash and some snippets of ribbon. And as they were snippets of ribbon, I'm popping it over to Pixie's Snippets Playground too. No greeting either as I'm not sure what it's for yet

Cool Summer

I'm trying to forget the horrible wind and rain we have at the moment so I got out my Summer By The Sea stamp set by Stampin Up and had a go at the Faux Tile technique which is the current challenge at The Technique Twist. There are links to two different tutorials on the blog and I've gone with the one by Julie Warner. My twist is only slight in that after I scored the tile lines, I then drew over them with a Versamark pen and used clear embossing powder to form the grout. I've then gone lightly over it with Tumbled Glass ink and then stamped the image with the same ink. The sentiment is from the same set and punched out with a Stampin Up punch. The backing paper is from a Dovecraft Back To Basics pack which I've edged lightly with Tumbled glass and the used the seaweed stamp from the By The Tide set to add some texture at the bottom although it doesn't show very much. Some ribbon and a few gems to finish

Technique Time Tuesday - Choose your Favourite Technique

The girls at Technique Time Tuesday have extended the deadline for the current challenge so I thought I'd have another go. It was difficult to choose a technique so I've actually used three! The first is the Faux Leather technique from September 2012. My first effort didn't go too well as when I heat embossed the clear powder the masking tape came unstuck and the card buckled. So for the second attempt I used a thicker card and burnished the masking tape with a bone folder and this turned out much better. I used Gathered Twigs Distress Ink to go over the tape before embossing. The second technique is Faux Frame from November and I've used a Nestie and Gathered Twigs ink. The third technique is the Embedded Image from February so I've covered my Nestie die cut with Versamark and clear embossed three times and then stamped the car with Versamark and used a copper embossing powder. The car has lost a lot of detail but it does have a lovely copper sheen which doesn't show up. The sentiment is from a Personal Impressions set and triple embossed to match the image. A tied string knot finishes it off

Three D's

The challenge this week at CD Sunday is to make a card with Three D's - DL, Decoupage and Die Cuts. I really can't remember the last time I made a DL card so it was a challenge. I've embossed the ends of the card with the Cuttlebug Divine Swirls folder as I didn't want to add backing paper. The image is from The Best Of La Pashe 2012 and I';ve decoupaged the man, the alka seltzer and the pain tablets and layered it onto a snippet of blue card. The die cuts are from a  balloon die (Die-namics I think) again cut from snippets to match the picture and embossed with the swirl die. The greeting is computer generated and cut with  a Stampin Up banner die

I'm also entering this into the Anything Goes Challenge at Here Come The Boys and the Celebration challenge at The Male Room

House Mouse & Friends Last Challenge of 2013

It's the last challenge of 2013 at House Mouse & Friends and also my last one as guest designer. For this challenge you have to use gold or silver on your card. I've chosen silver and the image is from the House Mouse CD. I love these cute little micicles playing on the computer. The backing paper is from the same CD.The silver letters are embossed on mirror card using the Crafts Too Scrap Alphabet folder and the Yippee is from the Cuttlebug Friends folder - there are some great words to use on their own on this folder. A few gems and the card is finished

The challenge is open for 4 weeks due to the Christmas break so there is plenty of time to play along

Technique Time Tuesday - Stamped Punch Window

It's the last challenge of the year at Technique Time Tuesday and we are allowed to choose our favourite technique of previous challenges. I've cheated a little as the technique I've chosen is the first ever challenge and I've never done this one but I'm sure it will be a firm favourite. It's called Stamped Punch Window and you can find the details here. For my card I've used the Stampin Up set called Elementary Elegance. It's perfect for this technique as it has a window frame and matching punch. I started by stamping the frame with Dried Marigold onto cream card. I've then punched the centre of the frame out and embossed it with the Darice butterfly folder. The Happy Birthday is from the same set and stamped with the same ink on the punched shape. I've put some dark peach card onto the base card and cut a butterfly from the same cardstock with a Joy Craft die and highlighted the wings with the distress ink. The punched sentiment is stuck flat onto the base and the embossed stamped piece is stuck on with foam tape. This turned out to be a very quick card but I think it's quite pretty

More Double Stamping

Another card for The Technique Twist Double Stamping challenge - it's so nice not to be doing Christmas cards. For this one I've done some double masking using the Stampin Up Postage Collection stamp set and the Postage Stamp punch.. I've stamped the first square onto a piece of cream card then used a mask before stamping another two either side all with Vintage Photo ink and then masking these as well. I've also stamped the sentiment above from the Itty Bitty Banners set and masked that. The next step is to use the Sanded background set with Gathered Twigs before using Tea Dye over the whole card while leaving the masks in place then added some Vintage Photo around the edge to frame it. Remove all the masks and stamped the three images onto the squares and then layer it onto a cream card base

I'm also entering this into the Here Come The Boys Anything Goes challenge

Technique Twist - Double Stamping

The current technique at The Technique Twist is Double Stamping where you mask of a stamped image and stamp over it. For my card I've used my new SIzzix/Hampton Art stamp & die set. I've stamped the butterfly onto my card base using Peacock Feathers Distress Ink and cut a mask using the die and a post-it note. I've done the same with the sentiment from Stampin Up's Itty Bitty Banners stamp and matching die. I've then used Tumbled Glass DI over the card base protecting the butterfly and sentiment with the masks and then stamped Stampin Up's French Filigree background stamp with Tumbled Glass. Some Lagoon Stickles on the butterfly to finish. I love how the butterfly pops even though it's flat apart from the Stickles

Cuttlebug Mania - Anything Christmas

It's time for our last challenge of the year at Cuttlebug Mania and the theme theme is Anything Christmas. There's a lovely prize from Digi Scrap Kits on offer and you have until Monday 16th December to enter your card

For my card I've used a pretty Marianne Design image and matted it on aqua card to match the colour in the picture.  A ribbon from my stash is tied below the image. The white backing card has been embossed with the Cuttlebug Snowflakes embossing folder and highlighted with Crystal Stickles. The branch is from a Marianne Design Twigs die cut from aqua glitter card. The sentiment is another Marianne Design die cut from the same cardstock.

Home Sweet Home

I needed a new home card for my niece who is moving into her new house just after Christmas so I thought it was perfect for the CD Sunday Home Sweet Home challenge. She is a great animal lover so I wanted to do something a little different. The image is from The Best Of La Pashe 2012 CD. There is something for everyone on this and I'm so glad I have it.The embossing on the yellow card is my new Darice Duck & Ducklings folder. I've embossed onto Coredinations but when I turned it over I preferred the debossed side. The sentiment is computer generated and layered onto green card cut with Stampin Up's curly label punch and the card is finished with a strip of sticky ribbon

It's beginning to look like Christmas at the House Mouse & Friends Challenge blog

Oops - I scheduled this post as I knew I wouldn't be home and I forgot to press publish so this is a little late going live

The girls at House Mouse have a great new challenge for you and the theme this time is Anything Christmas.

The image on my card is from the Winter House Mouse CD and matted onto red card. The backing papers were loose in my stash so I don't know the make. I've covered the join with some glitter card. The piece on the left is actually card and I've used my screw punch to make two holes and threaded ribbon through to tie the candy cane on. The snowflakes are cut with Elizabeth Craft dies using glittered card. I had to put them through the bug a couple of time but they cut quite well. The sentiment  is from a little Helz Cuppleditch set called Santa's Workshop.

So why not pop over to the House Mouse blog to see what the other Design Team members have come up with. And don't worry that I'm late because you have plenty of time to join in - the challenge is open until Saturday 14th December

Sunday Sketch & Stamp #185

It's another week at Sunday Sketch & Stamp so it's time for a new sketch and this is what we have to play with this week - you can add a sentiment and embellishments wherever you like

For my card, I've started with three papers from the First Edition Up & Away pad. I've cut the papers and edged them with Certainly Celery ink before sticking down. The papers are double sided so I've used the back of the centre strip to nest my die cut circle on and to layer the sentiment. The bird and branch are from Stampin Up's Language of Friendship set. I've stamped the bird and wing with green ink onto a blue paper and cut with the matching punch.The branch is stamped with green ink onto the green paper and again cut with the punch. I've stamped the birds feet straight onto the white circle and then onto the stem of the branch before sticking everything down. The sentiment is from Express Yourself and cut and matted with Stampin Up punches. I wanted to add a flower to the sentiment but only had a small snippet of paper so I've used a sticky not to be able to put it in the punch and line it up with the stamped flower. This way you can use the smallest snippet to punch

I'm also entering this into Pixie's Snippets Playground when it opens and the Brown Sugar Thank You challenge

And here is my card

CD Sunday - F is for ...

The challenge at CD Sunday this week is "F is For". I'm having trouble with my printer at the moment and my "administrator" is away until Sunday so I've had to rely on images that I've already printed. Luckily I found this little cutie from the Morehead CD and decided that F is for Friends. The backing paper is from the First Edition Spring Drop pad and is so pretty with a lovely glittery effect so I didn't want to add too much to the card. I've matted the image onto a snippet of blue card and the sentiment is from Stampin Up's Language of Friendship set and stamped onto a snippet from my of white card and cut with a Nestie and inked to make a frame

I'm also entering this into Pixie's Snippets Playground. It's Di's 100th week and her target of 60 entries has been well and truly smashed - well done Miss. And thanks for all the time you put into the playground and in keeping us under control - never an easy job x

Golf - It Takes Balls

I love these Huge Woodware stamps - this one is huge Golf which comes with five additional sentiments. I've stamped the GOLF onto white card and cut out with a Nestie. I've then used Bundled Sage and Faded Jeans distress inks to frame it. There's a great tutorial for this on the Technique Time Tuesday blog as it's there technique of the month. The letters have been stamped and embossed with clear powder onto various snippets of card and paper and cut out and stuck onto the main card. The O is embossed with the Swiss Dots folder before sticking on. The backing papers are from a Crafts too pack which is a great pack for masculine cards although it is a little dark. The sentiment is from the same stamp set  and cut with a Nestie and again framed with the distress ink

I'm entering this into the following challenges
Technique Time Tuesday - Faux Frame Technique
Pixie's Snippets Playground - Snippets
Here Come The Boys - Sentiments Only
Cards For Men - Anything Goes

Cuttlebug Mania Tuesday - Be Thankful

It's time for another challenge at Cuttlebug Mania and this time we want you to make a card/project for Thanksgiving or to say Thank You and use the colours Orange Brown & Yellow

I must admit that I struggled  little with this one but I'm quite pleased with the outcome. I've used the Darice folder Assorted Leaves on the backing card. It wasn't wide enough for the square card so I've used some snippets of brown card to add some stripes to the left of the card The image is from the Tilly Daydream Ultimate pack and backed onto orange card. I've used a snippet of orange card to make the sentiment. It's cut with a Framelit die and embossed with a mini Cuttlebug folder and then sanded lightly. The swirl and foliage are cut with Marianne dies from more snippets so I'm also showing this at Pixie's Snippets Playground where Miss is celebrating 100 years weeks of being in charge

So pop over to the Cuttlebug Mania blog and see what the other girls have created. And don't forget you have two weeks to enter

Simply Square for CD Sunday

The theme at CD Sunday this week is Simply Square and I've used this layout from Sketch Saturday

I've started off with a square card base and the image and backing papers are from the Faye Whittaker Collection - I thought they were perfect for the square challenge. The image looked like a painting so I've printed it on linen cardstock to give it some texture and mounted it onto some blue and yellow card and trimmed the yellow card with a Fiskars border punch. The sentiment is from Stampin Up's Itty Bitty Banners and cut with the matching die. The little boat is from a Cuttlekids Transportation die set. Some yellow and white bakers twine finish it off

House Mouse & Friends Favourite Things

It's time for another challenge at House Mouse & Friends and this is my second project as Guest Design Team member and the challenge this week is Favourite Things.

It was a tough choice as there are lots of  cute cat images on the CDs but I've chosen to use the owl decoupage from Joanna Sheen's Best Friends set. I've made an easel card so that the foliage extends above the card base. Various dies have been used to cut the pine cones and leaves all out of snippets of green and brown card so I'll be taking this over to Pixie's Snippets Playground. The sentiment is by Stampin Upand cut out with Stampin Up punches

Sunday Sketch & Stamp

It's time for another challenge at Sunday Sketch & Stamp and this week it's Anne-Marie's turn to give us a sketch

For my card I've used the winter stamp from Stampin Up's Four Seasons set. I've stamped it with Versamark and embossed with white powder and inked over it with Ballet Blue ink. The four squares are done in the same way using another Stampin Up set - Snowflake Soiree. the sentiment is from the same set. I really love how this turned out and will be making more of these. I've added some gems to the middle of the snowflakes rather than the corners but I'm sure Anne-Marie will forgive me

CD Sunday Pennant Parade

The challenge at CD Sunday this week is to use pennants on your card. I've used an image and backing paper from Joanna Sheen's Messy Rabbit CD. Not quite seasonal but it has made me smile in the cold weather we're having at the moment. I've dceoupaged the flip flops and added some die cut shellsfrom snippets of yellow card and highlighted the embossed parts. The sentiment is from Stampin Up's Pennant Parade

Cuttlebug Mania Tuesday - Use An Envelope

We have a new challenge for you today at Cuttlebug Mania and this time we'd like to see an envelope on your card. For the base of my card I've used a Cheery Lynn Stepper Card die. I was so pleased to get this as I love stepper cards but can never be bothered with all the measurements particularly as I usually get them wrong and it ends up wonky. I did hear that they have stopped making this die but I'm not certain

I've embossed a piece of white card with the Darice Wings folder and cut it to size with the die. The side and bottom panels are embossed with a butterfly folder that was free with a magazine a little while ago and again cut to size with the dies. The little vellum envelope is one I've had in my stash for years. I had toyed with getting the Marianne die but I've got about 30 of these little ones already cut so I resisted. The butterflies are cut with the Stampin Up Beautiful Wings Embosslit from scrap of the purple card. I've lightly coloured some of the embossed butterflies with purple gilding wax although the sheen doesn't show in the picture. A few white pearls to some of the butterflies and some purple ones to the white card and it is finished

Technique Twist - Inlaid Embossing

The current challenge at Technique Twist is Inlaid Embossing. This didn't quite turn out how I had intended. I've made quite a few cards with black on recently so there were lots of black snippets on my desk so I've used these and two Marianne dies to cut some leave which I glued around the edges. I wanted to use my embossing diffuser but the sandwich wouldn't go through as both the cream and black card were thick and I didn't want to break my Bug. Instead I've embossed the whole thing with a Cuttlebug folder from the Give A Hoot set. Of course, I was going to stamp directly onto the card but as I didn't use the diffuser, I've stamped onto some scrap card with Versafine (the stamp is by Inkyliscious). I've then cut it with Netsies and layered it onto another piece of black card

Stripey for CD Sunday

The challenge at CD Sunday this week is Stripey and I've followed this sketch from Friday Sketch

Now thinking this should be easy, I grabbed the CD nearest to me on the shelf hoping there would be something suitable. The first thing that came to me when I opened Joanna Sheen's Furry Friends CD is this gorgeous tiger - doesn't he look regal in that pose. I've used some backing paper from my stash which goes with it well. The strip down the middle is punched with a Martha Stewart punch and I've added some stripey bakers twine across the middle. The gems are from a Papermania Art Deco pack and that's the card finished

All Aboard

My OH's niece is leaving work to travel the world for a year - how exciting for her. We're going to give her some money towards her journey as it is something that we would have liked to do at her age but were never brave enough. I never think if her as a girly girl so I've made her a quick card with the All Aboard papers. I've added a strip of washi tape towards the bottom and some bakers twine with a little airplane

LIM - Fireworks

The theme this week at Simply Less Is More is Fireworks and there is this Inspirational photo to work with

I wasn't going to enter but then I bought this Tando Creative mask called Ink Splatters and thought it would be perfect

I've placed it over some black card and used a glue pen through the holes. Once dry, I've used some red, green, blue and gold foils. The sentiment is by Craftwork Cards and layered onto a Nesities spirelli die cut from red mirror card. The colours really don't show up well and nor does the shine on the mirror card

House Mouse & Friends Monday Challenge

I was chuffed to bits to be asked to be a guest designer for the House Mouse and Friends challenge. And then I saw the first of my challenges - Anything But A Card. Now I do like altered art but it tends to be a bit too grungy for the cute little meeses. Then I remembered this box that OH keeps his seeds in and decided it needed a makeover

I printed off some papers from the House Mouse CD from the In The Garden section and covered the box. There were lots of images to choose from but thinking about the original use of the box, I thought these catnip images were just perfect

I've made 4 tabs with card from cereal boxes covered with snippets of backing paper. The tops are cut with my envelope punch board. I've not put labels on the tabs yet as I don't know what OH wants

Some garden string tied around the top of the box and on the tag on the end

OH was very pleased with it but wants another one so he can keep the flower and vegetable seeds separate. And because I used snippets of backing paper for the tabs, I'm going to take this over to Pixie's Snippets Playground

Sunday Sketch & Stamp Week 181

It's time for another Sunday Sketch & Stamp challenge and it's Carole's turn to give us a sketch this week and this is what she has given us to play with

For my card I've used a Stella image from Bugaboo who are this weeks sponsors. I've coloured her with Promarkers and use a Sakura Stardust pen on the cake, glasses and candle. The backing papers are from the Bloom & Grow pack by My Mind's Eye. The candle is cut with a Marianne die and a few gems finish off the card. I'm also entering this into the I Love Promarkers challenge which is Anything Goes

Travels Abroad for CD Sunday

I was stuck at first for the CD Sunday Travels Abroad challenge this week but then I remembered the little bear that has travelled the world - Paddington. The image and backing papers are from the Paddington's Day Out CD. I've followed this sketch at Tuesday Morning Sketches

House Mouse - Anything With Twine

The current challenge at House Mouse is Anything Goes With Twine and there's a great blog hop too.

I've used a cute image from the celebrations section of the CD - these cute little mice eating love hearts. The Cuttlebug folder I've used for the background is called Conversation Hearts from the Love Is In The Air set. I did originally emboss onto pink card but found it looked heaps better on the pale yellow. The pink and white bakers twine is by American Arts and I've wrapped it around the card and the cut a small heart from double sided sticky tape and wound the twine into a heart shape

Don't forget to pop over to the House Mouse blog as there is still time to play and there are some fabulous prizes on the blog hop 

Cuttlebug Mania Tuesday - Autumn Is Coming

It's Cuttlebug Mania Tuesday so we have another challenge for you and this time it's Autumn Is Coming. There are so many things that this could cover so get your thinking caps on and don't forget you have two weeks to enter

For my card I've gone with Autumn berries and this cute House Mouse image. The berries in our garden are providing some lovely colour and they will be a good food source for the birds this winter.

I've used the Tim Holtz Winter Berries folder for the background. The strip of backing paper is from the same House Mouse CD. The sentiment is computer generated and cut with rectangle Nesties as is the image. The berries are cut with a Marianne Design holly berry die to finish the card

Happy Everything

I stamped this earlier for the Technique Twist Double Embossing challenge but wasn't sure how to use it so I put it to one side. I used Stampin Up's Medallion stamp and 3 powders - Heat It Up Copper, Personal Impressions Gold Sparkle and Cosmic Shimmer Bronze Lustre Ultra Thick

And then from a link on Mynnette's blog I found the House Of Cards challenge. This week you have to use this sketch to make a Classic & Elegant card

So I cut my embossed image with a Nestie (which means I have the outside piece to use as a frame) and layered it onto a gold mirror scallop. The embossing is done with a Cuttlebug folder from the Preserves set on cream card then cut into four before layering onto a square of mirror card. The greeting is by Craftwork Cards again layered onto a Mirror card die cut.

Too late for the Technique Twist but I've just squeezed into the House of Cards :)