Thank You

I just adore this new Wild Rose Studio stamp and was lucky enough to be at Kraft Crazy in Amesbury when the stock came in as she sold out very quickly. I've coloured her with Promarkers and cut her out with Nesties. The background paper is from Dovecrafts Garden Party pad and the sentiment is stamped onto another paper from the pack with Stampin Ups Itty Bitty Banner set. A few perals on the flags, a gem in her hair and Stickles on the candles to finish. I'm entering this into the following challenges

Tuesday Morning Sketches - Sketch (see below)
I ♥ Promarkers - Spring Is In The Air
CRAFT - Mothers Day/Female
Incy Wincy - Use Pastels

Mail It

Mail It is the theme of the current challenge at Anything Goes. I've used this layout from Sketch Saturday

This is a Wellington Bear embossed sticker layered on a Nestie. The backing paper and sentiment are from the Wellington Ultimate kit. I've cut out some little envelopes from white and kraft paper and some raffia to finish

Brick Wall

We did a card at my craft class last month using the Brick Wall technique and this is the technique featured this month at Technique Time Tuesday. This is the card I made at class

My card for the challenge I've used a Kanban stamp. I first stamped it in Majestic Blue Versafine then overstamped with Versamark a little to the left. Rather than embossing powder, I've used some Perfect Pearls and it really shimmers in the right light. I've layered it onto blue mirror card. The backing paper is from a DCWV pack called Blossoms & Butterflies. The side die is by Crafts Too. I really like this technique and it doesn't really take too long although I do like doing jigsaws so maybe that helps

Orange Lily

It's a picture inspiration challenge at Pan Pastels this week and this is the beautiful photograph we have to work with

While I was clearing my desk, I found a half sheet of Kanban toppers and there just happened to be an orange lily. I've used a black card base with a Stampin Up backing paper layered onto mirror card. To add interest to the paper I've stamped a Woodware Wheat stamp with Versamark in the bottom right corner and added some silver Metal Magic. I'm not sure about a sentiment yet so I'm leaving it blank for now but I've added a ribbon to finish

It Won't Hurt

This is a great image by Bugaboo. I've coloured her with Promarkers and cut out with Nesties. The papers are from the Papermania Capsule Collection and althoutg the pad has quite a feminine look, these papers are great for men. I've used the Dienamics chevron dies for the border and printed the greeting and punched it with Stampin Up punches

I'm entering this into the following challenges:

Freshly Made Sketches - Sketch
Eclectic Ellapu - Funny/Whimsey

Thanks A Bunch

It's a picture inspiration this week at CRAFT and this is the picture

For my card I've used Fergus With Bouquet by Wild Rose Studio and I've coloured him with Promarkers. The backing paper is also by Wild Rose Studio and I can't remember what make the sentiment is. The little flower is a Nellie Snellen punch.

I'm also entering this into the challenges at My Mums Craft Shop which is Spring has Sprung

Well, I only just posted this in time for the C.R.A.F.T. challenge and it won - what a fantastic surprise

Lucky Ewe

A bit late for St Patricks Day but I had the image printed and wanted to use it. It's by Bugaboo and I've coloured it with Promarkers. I've based my layout on the sketch at Seems a Little Sketchy

The corners are an old Spellbinders die and I've moved them to the outside of the card rather than the image square. I've made a little clover flower from a heart punch with a gem inside. The clover backing paper and sentiment were freebies I found Googling but I can't remember where. I,m entering this into the following challenges:

Digi Galore - St Patrick's Day
The Crafters Cafe - Green and/or St Patrick's Day
I ♥ Promarkers - Spring Is In The Air
Seems A Little Sketchy - Sketch

Free Papers

There are a couple of free papers to download on the Docrafts blog to use in their challenge. I've imported them into Craft Artist to layer them and add a shaped border and ribbon. I made the greeting in CA too. For the bird I've used the X Cut Paisly dies, a flower punch and a googly eye. The blues of the bird and ribbon don't look as well matched in the photo than they do in real life but its another card for the charity box

Chalkboard

I'm in the craft room early this morning as he was snoring so loudly - no, not OH but Buddy!

The girls at Daring Cardmakers have asked us to pay homage to the chalkboard this week. This is my first attempt at doing the Chalkboard technique and I quite enjoyed it. I've followed the tutorial by Betsy Veldman recommended by them. My first attempt didn't quite work - what I though was white powder turned out to be clear! I think I'll be adding some Pan Pastels to that one. I thought the wording on the Amazing Family set by Stampin Up would be perfect for this. I've also used one of the cars from a Tim Holtz set called The Journey. I've stamped them all in Versamark and embossed with WOW Opaque Bright White powder then overstamped with Ink It Up white ink with an Inkssentials white pen around the image. I didn't have any suitable backing papers so I've used the rest of the Tim Holtz set to make my own, stamping with black Versafine. I must say that I do like this technique and it's not as frightening as it first seems once you get going. I was also surprised how quickly it came together but it is a very forgiving technique

Easter Inspiration

I can't believe it's Easter this week. I know it's early this year but it is so cold out there and it wasn't fun walking from Christchurch as I made my way home from Southampton this morning. Luckily we don't have any snow here but the wind was so bitter. Anyway, I'm tucked up in my craft room for the rest of the day now.

The girls at Cuttlebug Mania have chosen an Easter theme this week. For my card I've used the Marianne cross die and cut around it on green card to mat it. I've layered it onto another Marianne die with another green mat. The corners are a square die which I have quartered. The greeting is from a Stampin Up set but I'm not sure I like it so may change it. I'm also entering this into the Cards For Men challenge which is to to create a male Easter card

Love

I love this Don & Daisy image by Marianne Design and I think I'l be using it a lot. I've coloured it with Promarkers and cut out with a Marianne die - a lot of Marianne dies on this card. The backing paper is from the Marianne Beautiful Butterflies paper bloc. The heart is another Marianne die which comes with some cute word stamps. The flowers are  yet another die set which comes with 5 dies which is great for creating flowers of various sizes. I've added glitter glue to the centre of the flowers and a few gems to finish. Probably unsurprisingly, I'm entering this into the Marianne Design challenge, the the Wedding challenge at That Craft Place and the Anything Goes challenge at I Love Promarkers

Bundle of Joy

That's the challenge at CD Sunday this week. I wasn't lucky enough to have children so my animals have always been my babies. This is Buddy sitting on his chair in my craft room today

We didn't have him as a kitten but I imagine him to have been cute & fluffy like this gorgeous creature from Joanna Sheen's Furry Friends CD. The glittered backing paper is from the New Leaf pack by First Edition and has some teal flowers but they don't show up in the picture. The paper is so nice I didn't want to add too much else so a simple border punched with a Martha Stewart punch and some ribbon added and a few flowers. The greeting is by Stampin Up

Get Well Soon

I love this image by bugaboo and have used it quite a lot. I've coloured it with Promarkers and cut it out with a Nestie. The backing paper is from Garden Party stack by Dovecraft and the grass border is a Martha Stewart punch. I've used a scalloped hexagon card base to go with the Make A Shaped Card challenge at Incy Wincy. I've coloured the card base with Pan Pastels.

Friends

Sjoukje has come up with this lovely sketch for us at Sunday Sketch & Stamp

For my card, I've gone with the theme of Friendship which is the current challenge at Crafty Cardmakers and used vintage colours. The image is a Mabel Lucie Attwell stamp by The Artistic Stamper. I've stamped it with Rich Cocoa Memento ink and added a touch of colour with brown toned Promarkers. The two backing papers are by Papermania. I didn't want a sentiment so I've added a large cream Prima flower. A lace border and some square gems to finish. I'm also entering this into the Anything Goes challenge which is seeing double - two girls and 2 dogs

Cute Easter

It's Easter time at the Cutie Pies and obviously it has to be cute and what is more cute than a Forever Friends image. This is another from the Easter toppers set I got for 25p and the greeting and eggs are from a different Easter set.. The papers are from the Forever Friends Spring Time paper pad. I've added some glitter to the lace border on the stickiness of the tape underneath although it doesn't really show up too well. I'm also entering this into the Polka Doodles Easter challenge.

This is another card that will be winging it's way to someone on Post Pals

Peeking Posies

I missed the challenge at Feeling Sketchy last week so I thought I'd get my card for this weeks challenge done earlier - this is the sketch

As soon as I saw the sketch I thought of the Peeking Posies stamp set by Hero Arts. I've used three of the flowers from the set and coloured them with Promarkers. The fourth square is from another Hero Arts set called Message Tags and is stamped with Certainly Celery ink. I've added some gold Stickles to the stamen and a ribbon to finish. I'm also entering this into the A Blog Named Hero which is Free Style and the Addicted To Stamps challenge which is On Your Mark

Typical - I made this card early and then forgot to photograph it as the Stickles were drying but at least I've made the deadline

Wonderful Wings

My Egyptian card for CD Sunday last week was a little different to say the least so I thought I'd have a different take on this weeks Wonderful Wings challenge. For my card I've used Joanna Sheens Nostalgia Collection CD. I love the artwork on this CD as a lot of the pictures have been made in Gibsons  jigsaws which I've done a lot of. I've used the backing paper and image from the CD and I've used the current sketch at Tuesday Morning Sketches

I was lucky enough to win last weeks challenge at Tuesday Morning Sketches and it looks like a great prize - thanks girls 

I've turned the sketch on it's side and used a Dienamics chevron die instead of the flags. The image had been triple embossed to give it a glossy look. A few gems finish it off

A Cute Angle

The challenge at Daring Cardmakers is Make a Cute Angle. I may have gone over the top and used a few too many different ones. I started with the car image from a Tim Holtz set called The Journey. I've stamped it in black on Papermania Chronology paper and embossed with clear powder. I've cut it out and layered it with a hexagonal Nestie. I've used the same backing paper and stamped used some diamonds from another Tim Holtz set called French Market. I've stamped it with Versamark and gone over it with green Pan Pastels. I've added another angle with the chevron stip which is a Dienamics die and use the offcut for the top left corner. The sentiment is by Stampin Up from the Itty Bitty set cut with the matching die. I'm also entering it into the following challenges:

Pan Pastels - A Touch Of Green
The Shabby Tea Room - Anything Goes

Baby Blue

This baby boy card is made following this layout from Sketch N Stash

I've used a gorgeous digi stamp that I bought this week from Crafts and Me and I'm entering it into their challenge which is Buttons & Bows. I'm also entering it into the Quirky Crafts challenge which is All About Boys with ric rac, buttons and a sentiment. I've coloured the image with Promarkers and mounted onto blue card. The backing paper and sentiment are from the Forever Friends Baby Ultimate kit. The ric rac, bow and buttons are from my stash

Why Feel Guilty

Chocolate is a natural thing and a little of what you fancy does you good so there should be no guilt. This is the current layout at Saturday Sketch 

I've used a Kanban topper and backing paper. The larger circle is gold mirror card embossed with a Crafts Too dots folder. A little lace and some gems to finish

I meant to post this yesterday but when I went to the Sketch Saturday blog I saw that I had won a previous challenge as the original winner hadn't claimed their prize. I was so excited I forgot to post my card!

Music

I've spent the morning putting inserts in cards and bagging them up for charity - 55 so far and there are loads more to do. I really must get to grips with this and not leave it so long.

The girls at Cuttlebug Mania have come up with this lovely sketch for this weeks challenge

For my card I've used a square music embossing folder that I bought when I was in the Netherlands but there is no make on it. I've used a Marianne Designs die for the music note and a Stampin Up wheel for the music notes across the card. The sentiment is from the Itty Bitty Banners set again by Stampin Up cut out on the Bug with the matching die set. I'm pleased to say that I've already done the insert and it just needs to be bagged now

All Aboard

This is another Darkroom Door stamp but this is from the Tour Eiffel set. I've followed the layout at Addicted to Stamps for my card

I've stamped the image with Ruby Red ink and edged it with Pan Pastels before layering it up. The backing paper is from the new Papermania All Aboard pad and the sticker is from the same range. I must admit I couldn't resist the latest Docraft Goody Bag as it was a mix of this All Aboard range and their new Kraft Forever Friends range and I know I'll be using all of it. I also got 20% off at a demo day so even greater value and it's been a few years since I was even tempted by one

Angel & Crown

This is the current sketch at Seize The Birthday

I've flipped the sketch for my card and I've used a Darkroom Door photostamp called English Pub. I think Darkroom Door is probably my favourite stamp range although I don't use them nearly enough. I've stamped it with Pacific Point ink and layered it. The greeting is a die by Britannia. I've added some twine and a button to finish

A Little Carried Away

Yes, I got carried away with the CRAFT challenge which is Christmas in March. My proper Christmas stash is stored away somewhere in the back of the cupboard so I looked through my digi's and came across this lovely set by Pink Petticoat called Have an Ice Christmas. The only problem was I couldn't choose which image to use as there are 12 in the set so I printed them all and now I've got 12 cards ready for Christmas or knowing my luck, I'll find them in the New Year! All very simple cards, cut and embossed with a square Nestie, coloured with Promarkers, matted onto card with some glitter and ribbon or twine added

and a close up of one

Happy St Patrick's Day

This is the current sketch at Tuesday Morning Sketches

I made my card and went to upload it and saw everything was green so I re-read the challenge post and yes there was a twist - Monochromatic Green! So I started again using a digikit I won from Digiscrapkits. I've laid it out in Craft Artist then printed off the elements separately and put them together. I love doing this as it saves printing a whole sheet of backing paper when you only need a small piece and you can match the colours of anything you've used. I've added some leaves cut with a Sizzlit die from a clover leaf backing paper. I suppose the beer glass should be back for Guinness but this reminds me of a beer called Sign Of Spring by Stonehenge Ales (previously Bunces) which really is green!

I'm also entering this into the challenge at The Crafter's Cafe Challenge Blog which is Green & /or St Patrick's Day