Easter Chicks

 

I've been lucky enough to be picked for the Design Team at Digi Doodle Shop and will be showing off my first DT posting next week.   In the meantime I have made a paper pieced card using their adorable Hen & Chicks image.  The chicks are paper pieced from Basic Grey Out of Print DP and all are on a Basic Grey chicken wire DP.  I used the same DP for a punched border and added a Happy Easter sentiment.

My card is for the following challenges:

Just Add Ink - just add Easter

Cute Card Thursday - Happy Easter

Charisma Cardz - Easter

Paper Play - Easter

Sisterhood of Crafters - celebrating Easter

Fab'n'Funky - Easter

Paper Shelter Challenge - Easter

Penny's Paper Crafty - Easter

Crafty Sentiments - Easter

Engraved flowers

 

This card uses one of the new Engraved Flowers set from Stamp Addicts, gorgeous detailed stamps that are right up my street.  I've gold embossed the rose 3 times, watercoloured it and layered it, adding some beads to the centre.  Then I stamped the rose at random onto kraft card, using brown Memento ink, which makes a lovely co-ordinating DP. The other papers are Basic Grey Indian Summer and I followed a sketch from Sunday Sketch & Stamp. 

I'm also entering my card for:

Crazy4Challenges - something new

Basic Grey - something new

Bearly Mine - anything goes

Cardmaking Mamas - new goodies

Simply Create - layers and layers

Delicious Doodles - all things new

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge #59 - No floral embellishments

Good Morning, I am excited to be able to tell you that I have been picked as part of the Design Team for Crafty Cardmakers and here is my card for this week's challenge, which is sponsored by both One Stop Crafts AND  Digi Doodle Shop.   The challenge is to use no floral embellishments on your card or project; I have still made a very flowery card but with no floral embellies.   I used a stamp and sentiment from a new set I've got called Engraved Flowers by Stamp Addicts, the lily is coloured with Copics and Glossy Accents.  I've embossed the border with Swiss Dots after I punched it, the DP is Basic Grey Sweet Threads and there are little pink pearls accenting the card.  Oh, the ribbon is recycled from a box of chocolates:)  I do hope you'll join us and play along with the challenge.
I'm also entering:
Basic Grey - something new (new stamp set)
One Stop Craft - Bingo (embossing, diecuts, flowers diagonal)
Cute Card Thursday - what's new (stamp set)
Crafty Emma - anything goes

Phindy's Place Challenge 81 - Thankful

 Welcome to this week's Phindy's Place Challenge, which is all about being thankful.  My Thank You card uses an old favourite, Mrs Comfy and Pogg.  Here Mrs Comfy is being careful to keep Pogg dry as they go for their walk:).  I really wanted my image to be a good size so I could enjoy colouring it without agonising over tiny bits of image, so I chose to make it an easel.  Image is coloured with Coics and Distress Ink.  The DP is Basic Grey Sweet Threads, I added a computer generated sentiment, some stitching, some buttons, a Martha Stewart punch and a bit of glitter for the puddles.

My card is for:
Basic Grey - anything goes
Pile it On - give thanks
Incy Wincy - stitching
iCopic - thank you
Digital Tuesday - anything goes
Creative Card Crew - thankful
Sisterhood of Crafters - giving thanks
Penny's Paper Crafty - give thanks
Digistamps4Joy - with gratitude
Paper Pretties - buttons
Aud Sentiments - thank you

It's all falling into place - I don't be-leaf it - no trees!

This evening, instead of trees, I have leaves to show you:).  By good fortune this card fits the challenges for several of my favourite blogs, where I try to play along as often as I can.  Midnight Madness has a fab prize of House Mouse stamps this week and since the lovely America is also part of House Mouse Monday she suggest combining the sketch with their Fall challenge.  This little chap is a Joanna Sheen stamp, never seen ink before and I think I've had him for about a year - shameful!  Cupcake Craft is where I won my first ever blog hop candy; I also one one of my first ever Top 3/5 awards from them so I love to join their challenges and this week they have leaves as their theme.  Add to that Anything Goes at Basic Grey and Simon Says and I cover almost all my favourite challenges in one here.
About the card:  coloured with Copics and Distress Inks.  DP is Basic Grey, border punch EK Success, leaf and button punches Woodware. Sentiment is Dimension Fourth, strip ribbon from Stampin' Up.
This has been the strangest autumn for weather, we had that lovely sunny hot Indian summer, now it's mild but damp and we have a second bumper crop of mushrooms in the field where we keep out horses - unheard of so late in the year!  Tonight I took my hat off and filled it with mushrooms in the absence of a clean container!
Challenges for my card:
Midnight Madness - sketch
House Mouse Mondays - Fall
Cupcake Crafts - take a leaf out of my book
Simon Says - anything goes
Basic Grey- anything goes
Creative Inspirations Paint - inspired by Fall
Quirky Crafters - autumn leaves
Stampin' Sisters in Christ - Fall colours
Craft Your Days Away - autumn
Pattie's Creations - Halloween or Autumn colours
Whimsical Wednesday - Fall cuties
Shopping our Stash - autumn colours
Crafty Creations - fall and leaves

Indian Summer

  We've been enjoying lovely hot sunny weather and a beautiful end to summer, something that certainly keeps going into autumn is the weeding, everything is growing like mad!  With this in mind, I've made an autumn card using Flowertop Fairy Dandelion Puff from Phindy's Place, I've seen a lot of gorgeous cards made with this image but not used it before myself.  I was aiming for deep, saturate colours after reading some of the links from this week's Copic Colour Challenge, but I'm not sure if I've achieved it - or not - what do you think?  The DP is Basic Grey Indian Summer, sentiment from Stampin' Up and punch is EK Success.
My card is for the following challenges:
Sketch Saturday - sketch
Stamps RUs - autumn/fall
Stamptacular Sunday - photo inspiration
Copic Creations - saturated colour - I think I got it for the hair, not sure about the dress?
Simon Says - anything goes - trying for 1,000 entries
Rainbow Lady - autumn flowers
Crafty Catz - things with wings
Basic Grey - nursery rhymes and fairy tales - anyone remember the rhyme when you blow the seeds from a dandelion clock?
Woodware USA - anything goes
iCopic - all about Fall
Daisy Doodles - fall colours
Creative Stamp Friends - autumn colours

Birthday bike

Yesterday was DH's birthday, we had a quiet supper at home as we went out to celebrate last week while older son was still here.  He loves his old motorbikes, not sure how many we have in the garage (I don't want to know!) so this image of a Norton looked like a good choice for him, it came from Stitchybear.  It's a detailed image and I gave it minimal colouring, mostly greys. The sentiments are Joanna Sheen and the clock cogs around the base of the easel are from Stampin' Up.  MS bubble punch got an airing as it's not too feminine, DP is Basic Grey.

My card is for the following challenges:

One Stop Craft - easels

Cards for Men - sports

Incy Wincy - fancy folds

Pile it On - fancy folds

Ooh la la - punches or dies

Victorine Originals - easel cards

Come and Get It - easels

One Stitch at a Time - favourites (Copics, Distress Inks, punches, Basic Grey DP)

Partridge in a Pear Tree

Hmm... it's time to start on the Christmas cards soon, I'm sure I had a lot more made this time last year!  This uses a lovely set from Stamp Addicts that I've been sent of a Partridge in a Pear Tree, complete with tree, partridge, sentiment (not this one) and solid and outline pears, making it easy to use in lots of different ways.  I brushed and brayered glossy card then stamped my tree in Stazon, with Distress Ink pears.  I decoupaged my partridge onto the tree, he's also inked with Mustard Seed Distress Ink to match the pears.  The vertical strips are embossed with snowflakes and the pear DP is Basic Grey from Nook & Pantry, couldn't resist combining it with the tree:).  The card is a large, shaped Craftwork Cards blank.  Lovely sparkly ribbon came from Really Reasonable Ribbons.
My card is for the following challenges:
Sketch 'n' Stash - sketch with the DP being old stash and the stamps new
Basic Grey - anything goes
Hooked on Craft - things with wings
Mark's Finest Papers - emboss it (white strips)
Secret Crafter - make a scene
Bah Humbug - something new (stamp set)
Fuzzy Wuzzy Challenge - shaped cards
Aud Sentiments - anything goes
Papercraft Journey - anything goes

Sticky Fingers? No, it's Baking Bedlam

 I couldn't resist this new image when it came out at Phindy's Place:  this is called Baking Bedlam
I do a lot of baking but I promise it never looks quite this messy:  if only because the dogs will clear anything that hits the floor lol!  Yesterday I made a chocolate and Guinness cake for the cricket tea, meringues for our friends visiting and then custard with the egg yolks and it was a little chaotic for a while...
My card follows the sketch from Sweet Sketch Wednesday and I used a piece of my treasured Nook & Pantry Basic Grey DP for the cupcake background.  Sentiment comes from Paulette at TLC Creations, from a set designed to co-ordinate with this image.  Image is coloured with Copics, mounted onto a Nestie with dimensional glue, tied with baker's twine (of course!) and a little punched scroll added to balance the sentiment.

My card is for the following challenges:

Sweet Sketch Wednesday - sketch

Pile it On - sweet treats

Craft Your Days Away - cupcakes

Simon Says Stamp - food & drink

Basic Grey - anything goes

Paper Sundaes - green & twine from the sundae bar

A Sketch Saturday card

 

Tomorrow I'm off bright and early for four days at the NEC at Birmingham for Festival of Quilts.  It's well out of the city centre where there has been trouble, but I think us quilters can more than hold our own against a few rioters anyway!  Apologies for the poor photo here but I need to pack and doubt I'll get the chance to blog this in the morning...

There's a great prize on offer this week from Art Journey at Sketch Saturday and I had to have a try at it, I found Terry's sketch quite a challenge to work with but have given it my best shot.  I made a summery card using Sweet Threads from Basic Grey.  The stamp is from Kanban, comes with a lovely rectangular flowery border.  I've embossed it in WOW sparkly green and inked the background.  Used some lace from stash. MS round the page punch, butterfly punch and some flowers from stash.

My card is for the following challenges:

Sketch Saturday - sketch

Basic Grey - sizzling summer

Crazy Challenge - embossing

Truly Scrumptious - lace it up

Sew a Little Happiness

 

Phindy has a new range of simple but effective images called Two Seven Oh, which cost, you guessed it, $2.70 :).  As a quilter, with lots of friends who sew, I had to buy Spools, which fits all kinds of puns for a sentiment, this one is by Pink Petticoat.  I based my card on the simple sketch at Sketch'n'Stash this week, new stash is the image and old stash comes from my button box.  The DP is Sweet Threads from Basic Grey, to keep the theme going, I've stitched on my card, added buttons and used some lace coloured with Copic for the flower.  I used a running stitch to gather it into a flower.

My card is for the following challenges:

Sketch and Stash - sketch

Cupcake Crafts - sew made

Digital Tuesday - doilies

Going Grey with Scrap Creations - buttons or bows

Delightful Challenges - stitching real or faux

Our Daily Bread- seamstress

Sparkles Forum - one for the girls

I'm nuts about you

 I know, it's a corny sentiment but I had to do it lol!  Good morning and welcome to this month's Tiffany Doodles Challenge, which is All Creatures Great and Small.  There are two great chances to win a Gift Certificate from Tiffany Doodles: a $10 TD Gift Certificate to the winner who uses a Tiffany Doodles digital stamp and a $5 TD Gift Certificate to the 2nd runner up - no matter what stamp you've used.

Tiff has some stunning animal images, fun and realistic and I have chosen the Squirrel for my card.  Somehow, even though it's high summer (in theory anyway) he has ended up as an Autumnal card, with Basic Grey Indian Summer DP, some tiny punched out leaves and lots of stitching.  Midnight Madness, CPS and Critter Cards have ALL used basically the same sketch this week so I'm entering my squirrel in all three!

My card is for the following challenges:
Basic Grey - stitching
Simon Says - a stitch in time
A Spoonful of Sugar - stitching
Paper Sundaes - stitching
Critter Challenges - sketch and use red
CPS - sketch
Midnight Madness - sketch

White space isn't always white...

 When I saw this week's CPS sketch I knew it was made for a clean and simple card using one of the new Fred She Said Doodledallion flowers.  I know C&S has lots of white space by definition but I reckon sometimes that space can be coloured as long as it's not been fussed about with:).  So here is my purple & gold version of white space!  DP has stitched borders on Basic Grey Wisteria and Cosmo Cricket Mitten Weather, image is coloured with Copics and layered.

My card is for the following challenges:
CPS - sketch
Basic Grey - stitching
Digital Tuesday - flower power
Crafts and Me - birthday
Creative Stamp Friends - dots

Bluebirds

 What beautiful weather, I'm enjoying the sunshine but wondering whether my mojo has melted in the unaccustomed warmth.  I have managed to finish up this card which began life as something a little different.  It's based on Sweet Sketch Wednesday.  If you look under the centre panel there is another Basic Grey Curio DP, I attached the panel with a large decorative stitch on my sewing machine that went slightly off its line, which didn't look great.  So I cut it in half, reattached it under a new piece of ribbon and salvaged it.  The image is from A Day for Daisies, beautiful isn't she.  Colouring is Copics and Distress Inks, some doodling and dotting on the ground line.  Sentiment is Elusive Images, I've cut a large scroll in half to fill the corners and used flowers with card candy centres.
My card is for the following challenges:
Sweet Sketch Wednesday - sketch
Basic Grey - stitching
Southern Girls - anything goes
Sweet Stampin' - something old, something new (sentiment is old, digi is new!)
Simply Create - fly with us
The Poodle Parlour - come fly with me

Summer sunshine - I wish!

I'm sneaking in a second posting today because I wanted to enter the Sweet Sketch Wednesday Challenge and I'm fast running out of time.  I knew I wanted to use some gorgeous Basic Grey Sweet Threads DPs that I bought, when I saw a card made by Debby for the Everybody Art Challenge I decided to distress my papers.  There are a lot of layers to this sketch and I worry about them all staying stuck so I decided to stitch them as well!  The good thing is that I know all my layers will stay put, the bad thing is that where I made a mistake with my layout I can't change it.  Hmm...  more haste less speed and all that:).
Image is the totally inspired Tender Tootsies from Phindy's new Plump 'Uns range, isn't it lovely sometimes to just kick off those shoes and feel the grass under your feet...  She's coloured with Copics and lots of Distress Ink, extra Copics in the corner to cool things down a bit and give an impression of some trees.  Flowers are punched from the DP.

Before I go I'd like to tell you that Phindy is about to become a grandmother and she is running a fun competition on PCP, guess the date the baby arrives and guess the weight.  Do check it out, link here, I think the granny to be is a bit sad that she's not had more entries yet and tha baby could be here any day now!
My card is for the following challenges:
Sweet Sketch Wednesday - sketch
Basic Grey - shabby chic
Everybody Art Challenge - distress
A Spoonful of Sugar - here comes summer
Corrosive Challenge - summer colours
Pile it on - summer heaven
Sweet Stampin' - playing in the summer sun
Fairy Fun Fridays - summer fun
Papertake Weekly - anything goes
Wags'n'Whiskers - stitching

Serenity... and a card

Today I just may have had the most relaxing day ever.  We have enjoyed a few days off and today we went to Bath and visited the Thermal Spa.  The rooftop pool is just 100m or so from the Abbey, there are steam rooms with differently scented areas and there is a basement pool.  All use the hot spring water and are really, really warm.  Just blissful!

OK so despite all that laziness I do have a card to show you.  It's an "on the mend" card for a sewing friend, the patchwork block in the background is Churn Dash.  I've used Basic Grey Kioshi DP, a Martha Stewart punch and the digis are from Pink Petticoat.  The buttons at top right and the one on the flywheel of the machine are from my buttonbox.

My card is for the following challenges:
ABC Challenge - V is for violet
Creative Card Crew - anything goes
Inspirational Card Sketches - sketch
Papertake Weekly - pale, pretty pastels
Digital Tuesday - add some texture (popped up image, buttons)
Creative Craft - restful colours

Really Reasonable Ribbon Challenge - double Dutch

I hope you are enjyongi the gorgeous spring weather, my peonies have come out into full flower, surrounded by late narcissus and tulips that seem to have come and gone in no time.  My card today has a dramatic purple peony on it, while mine are the more common pink in real life! 
The new challenge at Really Reasonable Ribbon is sponsored by Fred, She Said Designs and we were lucky enough to be sent a stunning selection of ribbons to work with for the challenge, which is to use two ribbons, laces or trims.  I picked a couple of the purple ribbons and added in a purplicious pre-coloured peony from the Fred She Said Shop, you can buy it here in a selection of colours and it's also available as a digi to colour, of course.  I printed off a decoupage sheet and layered it up several times, adding some Glossy Accents as dew drops, the background is brushed with Dusty Concord Distress Ink.  I've used a strip ribbon to edge the Basic Grey Kioshi DP strip on the card and I've looped a gorgeous dotty ribbon to the left, securing it with a brad with a metal spacer charm.
My purple peony is for the following challenges:
Basic Grey - use a charm
Fabulous Friday - spots and stripes (on the ribbons)
Simply Create - time to rock the metal
Sassy Studios - monochrome
Tuesday Throwdown - use brads or eyelets

High Hopes

 I've got some bright cheerful colours in my card for a bright and sunny Spring day, the sun is shining and I wish I didn't have to go to work :).  This is another of Phindy's adorable Wee Babbies series, this is called High Hopes and you can buy it here. For some reason I thought of this as a girl babbie, but I see others think this is a boy, so I think the answer must be that it all depends on the colours you use and the card you make:).

The sentiment is Stampin Up and it shows how reliant I am on my beloved digis, I had several attempts before I got it to stamp out perfectly - oops!  This is a fairly simple card, the DP is from Basic Grey Marjolaine, the nearly plain paper from the pack is dry embossed and inked, I made tiny flowers with an EK punch and gave them gem centres.

My card is for the following challenges:
Sew Many Cards - sketch
Going Grey with Scrap Creations - spring has sprung
Tuesday Morning Sketches - K.I.D.S. - keep it delightfully simple
KB Cute Monday - babies
Make it Monday - anything goes
Stamp With Fun - spring
I Did it Creations - welcome spring

If money doesn't grow on trees, what about love?

Everyone with teenagers will be familiar with money not growing on trees, but this Phindy's Place image shows that, just maybe, love does:).  The image is coloured with Copics, Glossy Accents and some Forest Moss Distress Ink around the edges.  The card is based on this week's Sketch'n'Stash Challenge, my old stash is the octagon Nestie which I always forget about ans the Indian Summer pad which I found in the drawer.  I've stitched around the die-cut shape and also round the dry embossed stripes behind the image.  The zig zag stitching helps show the strips as I realised that they are quite a low contrast against the DP which is Basic Grey Indian Summer.  The pink card square is torn to add a bit of texture.

I had a bit of a wobble with my stash diet when I had to go to Wantage with DH who asked me if I needed to go the the craft shop (he's very well trained lol!) but I managed to hold out:).

This card is for some of the many Valentine challenges around, including:

Basic Grey - all heart

Sketch'n'Stash - sketch

Allsorts - it must be love, love love

Bee Crafty - digi and hearts

Crazy4Challenges - valentine

Secret Crafter - valentine

Do it with digis - romance

Raise the Bar - hearts

Stamp Something - digi

Stampin for the weekend - St Valentine's day

Simon Says - love is in the air

Tuesday Throwdown - stitching

Tuesday Taggers - feel the lurve

Flourishes - valentine

Phindy's Place Challenge #41 - Embossing

 It's Friday, thank goodness, nearly the weekend and time for another Phindy's Place Challenge.  This week we welcome 3 new Design Team members, their work is just gorgeous, do have a look and leave them some love.  This week we have a very simple theme:  embossing.  You can dry or heat emboss, or even do both as I did!  I used Pretty Blooms, a lovely digi that has me hoping for spring:)

I saw an interesting new tutorial on Splitcoaststampers this week, called Pressed Flowers.  Anne Haralda shows how dry embossing flower embellishments can press them into a project, they lose their 3D element and look like pressed flowers.  This is a new look to me and also means the card doesn't end up needing extra postage on it!  The DP was quite thin and I liked the almost distressed look I got on it when it was embossed, not sure how well it shows in the photos...

The card is based on this week's Sketch Saturday layout, rotated around a bit.  I've paper pieced her top from the DP I used for the little border, which is Basic Grey Marjolaine.  Her hat and scarf are popped up on gel glue and there is Glossy Accents on the scarf and the watering can, as well as Stickles on the flowers, butterflies and rain and of course she is coloured with Copics.  The gold embossed sentiment is from Stampin' Up and I edged the die cut with PVA glue and embossed the edge too.  MS punch is String Lace and the Nestie is a Labels die.

My card is for the following challenges:
Sketch Saturday - sketch
CCEE Stampers - punches
Delightful Sketches - come fly with me (butterflies)
Southern Girls - dry embossing
For Fun  - spring or winter
Anything Goes - butterflies
Papertake Weekly - anything goes + flowers
Totally Papercrafts - friendship - perfect sentiment for this one!
Pile it On - punch it
BasicGrey - flower power
Copic Challenges - we're cool!