Cafe au lait

 OK the Simon Says Challenge this week is Coffee & Cream but I like the sound of cafe au lait:).  The additional option is to use a Whiff of Joy stamp.  I've not got any of these inky for a while and it was good to use Willow with her recipe book, a much loved stamp.  Willow is coloured with Copics and the image sponged with Distress Ink and Memento Ink.  The DP is Basic Grey Capella.  I've made flowers with punches and added in a large Prima flower from a pack I got from Simon Says.  The sentiment is from Craftwork Cards and the lacy ribbon from Stamp Attic.

I'm entering the following challenges with my card:
Simon Says Challenge - coffee and cream
Corrosive Challenge - distressing
Stamptacular Sunday - you've been framed
Crafty Catz - for a friend - I'm sending this to my Mum
Ali Factory - monochromatic

OLW - use yellow

 

This week's One Layer Wednesday challenge is to use yellow.   I got out some Crafty Individuals stamps that I bought when Graphicus sadly closed down before Christmas, masked off areas of my card and got to work using brushes and Distress Ink.  I used Mustard Seed and Dried Marigold for the bird card (sentiment is Whiff of Joy) and the moonlight card is Adirondack Lemonade with some Dried Marigold added.  Once I read the wording under this stamp I saw that the yellows are much too warm to be moonlight!  That'll teach me not to stamp out first and work out the writing lol!

 

DT Posting - Corrosive Challenges - #77 - Faux techniques

Oops this is a late posting - sorry!  This week's Corrosive Challenge is to use a faux technique.  I've taken the easy route here and opted for a little faux stitching.  The punch of the bird and branch is Stampin' Up, the sentiment is Whiff of Joy.  The colours are navy and white, doesn't show up too well in the photo.

DT Posting - Corrosive Challenges - #65 - Clean & Simple

The Corrosive Challenge this week is Clean & Simple, something I have trouble with, it's hard not to keep adding extra embellies and add-ons:). I really like the card I've made for this week, I used the punch that I bought at my first Stampin' Up workshop, the bird on a branch. The wing has some faux stitching and is popped onto a black foam pad, the bird has silicon glue behind it. Sentiment stamp is Whiff of Joy, ribbons are from stash.

What do you think? Clean & simple or just too minimal...

It's the Elf and Safety reindeer

I've ended up making two Christmas cards for this week's ABC Christmas Challenge as the first time I didn't read the challenge properly and I forgot to use red and green:). The Challenge is E is for Elf, but happily Whiff of Joy gnomes are allowed too! So here is version 2, for the Challenge.

I've based it on Claudia's pretty sketch from Friday Sketchers and I'm also entering it for Cupcake Craft Challenge, who have the theme Round and Round, I've got lots of circles on my card and although they're not true circles, the DP looks quite rounded too.

Whiff of Joy image is coloured with Copics and Stickles. DP, card candy, sentiment and ribbon are all Craftwork Cards.

Darling, look how much I saved in the sales!

This is another of my new Whiff of Joy stamps, from the City Girl set. The minute I saw this stamp I fell for it and it found its way into my basket alongside the Spring kit :). She's laden down with shopping but looks very pleased with her purchases.

Whiff of Joy's challenge this week is the colour scheme Coffee & Cream, this is monochromatic so it also fits Stampin' for the Weekend's theme. I've used the sketch from Sketch and Stash, my new stash is the stamp, the 'E' flowers from Prima (which are brown in real life, they look purple in my photo) and the new card candy that I bought last week at Make It - lots of new things there:). Stamp Something's theme this weekis Something Girly - what could be more girly than a shopping spree?

Image from Whiff of Joy coloured with Copics, shopping bags are paper pieced. Background DP of writing from Made By You, other DPs are Stampin' Up. Card Candy from Craftwork Cards, Martha Stewart lattice punch used on border, Prima E flowers have Stickles added to them.

Spring Birdsong

I got my Spring stamp kit from Whiff of Joy last week, only just had time to cut a couple out and ink them up. Isn't this the most beautiful Spring image?

I used the sketch from Paper Sundaes as the basis for my card, another great to work with sketch, thanks! I've kept my card clean and simple, so I'm entering it for Saturday Spotlight's Keep it Clean theme. The ABC Challenge this week is P is for Paper Piecing; one of my favourite techniques; I've paper pieced Willow's dress from a lovely small-scale Basic Grey Wisteria paper.

All DP is Basic Grey Wisteria, Whiff of Joy image is stamped with Memento London Fog and coloured with Copics, as well as some Stickles on the flowers in Willow's hair. Distress Inks edge the image. The paper punch used is Martha Stewart Hydrangeas, card candy is from Craftwork Cards, white ribbon from stash is coloured with Copic pen.

Love the image, now to try to find the time to use the others in the kit... does anyone have any spare time going spare please? :)

Everyone loves cupcakes!

I've made a card using an image from my crafting friend's visit the other week, this is of course a Whiff of Joy image, Melinda with muffin basket. I've iced the tops of my muffins, with pink Copic and Glossy Accents and turned them into cupcakes.

Whiff of Joy has a lovely sketch by Bev for its challenge this week which I've followed and Charisma Cards has the theme of Birthday cards - with a candle on. You may need to click on the photo to enlarge it, but the cake in Melinda's hand has a lit candle on it. One Stop Craft Challenge's theme is Optimistically Pink and I'm entering my primarily pink card for this challenge too. Meilnda's a fairy with wings so I've also entered her for Flutterby Wednesday's open challenge.

Image is coloured with Copics, Stickles and Glossy Accents, the edge of the oval is edged with Torn Paper Distress Ink. Papers are My Mind's Eye, sentiment is Hero Arts, flowers are Prima with Stickles added and Card Candy is from Craftwork Cards.

MMSC#42

I've had a busy week with little chance to craft. This afternoon I made a quick Christmas card using the sketch from the Midnight Madness Challenge Blog. Raise the Bar also challenges us to use things in threes - the 3 pieces of card candy and 3 DPs set at an angle fit this one I think. I've used a Whiff of Joy stamp and My Minds Eye DPs. The card candy, sentiment and the middle DP are all from Craftwork Cards. Having watched Tim Holtz on craft tv earlier this week I tried using Distress Stickles on my reindeer and heating them. It looks better in real life than in my photo, but still not anything like when TH did the demo :).

Edited to add: I also made this for E is for Elf at the ABC Christmas challnege but thought I couldn't enter it as I forgot the red and green part of the challenge. Samantha from their DT pointed out this is optional so I'm entering this card too, which is almost, sort of red and green :). Thanks for the heads-up Samantha and it has a good side, I now have 2 more cards ready for Christmas, not one:)

Aqua & Red Willow, Part III

And here's the third in the series, just in time for the Whiff of Joy Challenge - I hope :). This time I've followed Mojo Monday's sketch and included some stitching, which is this week's challenge at Just Us Girls (JUGS). The papers, as before, are free downloads from Summertime Designs. I've added a ribbon onto the strip paper that I used for the top border and a setniment from Craftwork Cards. The stitching is a couple of wavy borders done on my sewing machine. Willow is coloured with Copics and her candlelight has Glossy Accents on it.

Whew! I found this colour combination very tricky and I still think my second card makes Willow look like she's in a football strip :), but I've got there in the end with all three.

Aqua & Red Willow, Part II

This is the second of the three Whiff of Joy images that I coloured for their Aqua & Red Challenge. I've based my card on this week's CPS Challenge sketch.

I've stamped Willow and masked her to sit her on the toboggan, she's coloured with Copics and there are Stickles on the toboggan's runners. The image is edged with Distress Ink in Broken China and I'm also entering Corrosive Distressing Challenge. The DPs are, again, free downloads from Summertime Designs. The card candy and the sentiment are from Craftwork Cards.

Willow writing recipes

Hmm... yesterday there was some definite thawing and it was much warmer; we hoped for some improvement and sadly we didn't get it. There was just an inch or so of new snow, but this was enough to delay the school buses and with my older son doing an A Level this morning being late was not an option. So I drove a bunch of exam teenagers down a road that is now not gritted due to the government's cutting the routes treated and returned to collect them a few hours later, which wasn't conducive to a productive day at work. Tonight's bad news is that only contingency routes will be gritted, which doesn't even include the main road north out of the village, which leads to my nearest craft shop (oh and Sainsbury's) :(. OK enough whingeing and on to my card.

Whiff of Joy has a challenge to use aqua and red this week, I've seen some beautiful cards using this colour combo but it's one that gives me a lot of trouble. I couldn't find any DP in my stash to help me but eventually found some free downloads from the generous Summer Driggs with the required colours. They are Christmassy papers so I've used the winter 09 stamps. Having found the DP I coloured three images and hope to post the other cards tomorrow, they're not complete. I've based this card on the Sketch Saturday Challenge and I'm also entering it for Crafty Cardmaker's Challenge which asks: What's new? I bought the stamp in Whiff of Joy's pre-Christmas sale and haven't used it until now, so it was uninked and new. Love the stamp, just haven't had a chance to play yet...

Willow writing recipes is coloured with Copics and edged with Worn Lipstick Distress Ink. I paper pieced her top from DP, avoiding the snowflakes on it. I then needed to paper piece her apron as otherwise it looked odd for it to be further away if you know what I mean! The sentiment is Craftwork Cards, as are the embossed scalloped borders. I've moved my Prima flowers off centre as otherwise there wasn't room for them on my card. Oh, the scalloped card is also from Craftwork Cards. More aqua and red tomorrow, is it just me who thinks they look like the colours of Best Mate (the racehorse) or West Ham football club? :). Keep warm everyone and let's hope the white stuff goes soon.

Hot Chocolate - yes please!

The weather is cold and snowy and hot chocolate sounds really inviting - if the delivery of milk gets through the snow to the local shop that is - the shelves have been bare for a couple of days, but today the newspapers arrived in the village, which has to be a promising sign :).

Amazingly there are two challenges this week themed to hot chocolate so I reached for the first Whiff of Joy stamp that I bought - Willow with hot chocolate, which is still one of my favourite stamps. This cards was made for the following Challenges:

• Simon Says Hot Chocolate
• Quixotic Challenge - Hot Chocolate
• ABC Challenges - L is for Layering - lots and lots of layering
  
• Corrosive Challenges - a few of my favourite things - favourite embellishments of flowers and ribbons
• Fussy & Fancy - New - Gorgeous new Prima flowers that I won in blog candy from the generous Belles & Whistles
• Sketch Saturday - great sketch from Simonne
• Charisma Cardz - colour combo of pink, brown, cream & toffee - yum!

I'm really pleased with the look of the card, Willow is coloured with Copics and a white Inktense pen. The gold & white stripy and spotty papers are from Craftwork Cards, as is the gingham ribbon, the flower DP says "the paper element" and has been maturing in my stash for a few years :). The beautiful Prima flower came from blog candy, isn't it stunning? There are multiple layers of brown shades of cardstock matting the papers as well as a little bit of gold mirricard on the corners.

Happy New Year and First Card of 2010

Happy New Year to everyone and I hope you had a wonderful start to the new decade, whether you were partying or spending time quietly at home. We've had the most frustrating start to the New Year, having planned to go to the racing at Cheltenham after collecting sons from various parties this morning. There were two inspections of the course, we had just about arrived when it was confirmed at 11.30am that the racing was on. The first race was run and it was clear that some trainers and jockeys were unhappy with the ground and there was a delay of nearly 3/4 of an hour while a deputation walked the course and finally agreed that racing continue. But over a third of the horses due to run were withdrawn, including most of the star horses we'd travelled to see. Whatever the decision, the racecourse staff would be unpopular, this seemed to be the worst of all worlds though... Oh well, such is life:).

Back to cardmaking, I finished this card last night, which began when I read Crafty Cardmaker's Challenge, which is called Favourites of 2009. No, I'm not listing my favourite cards, this is about new/favourite products or techniques and I've included several in my card. 2009 has been the year that I reverted to my childhood and enjoyed colouring in :). So my favourite new products have to be Copics, which I'm beginning to get to grips with. An also-ran for 2009 is Spellbinder dies; I'd just begun to use Nesties last year and they are high up on the favourite list. The technique that I've really enjoyed using is masking, following a demo I bought some Frisket mask and have really enjoyed combining images ever since, as I've done here with the two Whiff of Joy stamps.

I've used Nikki's sketch from A Spoonful of Sugar for my card, tweaking the circle into the large snowflake. The colourway is based on this week's Copic Colour Challenge, which uses YG03, BV02 and B93. I must be slipping, I only have Light Crockery Blue and had to substitute for the other two :). Lovely colourscheme though, which gave me the chance to use the spotty Fancy Pants DP which I bought and stroked but hadn't cut into. The green DP is a Magnolia paper that, again, I hadn't cut into. Small snowflakes are from a Woodware punch, large flakes a Spellbinders die, ribbon from stash.

Warm wishes for Whiff of Joy

I'm still in Christmas card making mode here, this uses a stamp I got from the Whiff of Joy Christmas sale and didn't get a chance to use before Christmas :). For some reason I had a struggle with Bev's sketch for the Whiff of Joy Challenge and I'm not sure I've really nailed it...

Papers are DCWV, sentiment is from Craftwork Cards. Image coloured with copics and Glossy Accents for the candlelight. Ribbon from my stash.

Warm wishes and a Happy New Year to everyone :)

Sparkly reindeer

Yesterday I got virtually nothing done from a long list of plans including card making. My friend had a special outing to London with her visually impaired elder daughter and, once up there well out of reach of home, got a call from school to collect her younger daughter who was unwell. So I picked up Miss Suzie and tucked her up for a short nap, from which she emerged full of beans and ready to colour :). Suzie was with me until quite late in the evening and I promised her that I'd put one of the cards she made onto my blog. So if you scroll down you will find a very nicely coloured House Mouse card :). We both had a great time but Suzie definitely won the crafting session, with a big batch of cards while I'd finished about half of one:)

I've managed to finish up a card using the adorable Whiff of Joy of Wee the gnome with reindeer, which is based on the sketch at Corrosive Challenges this week. The reindeer has black Stickles for sparkle on his hooves, a sparkly Stickles red nose and more Stickles on his antlers and on the snowflake, as Sparkle is this week's Whiff of Joy Challenge. I'm also entering the card into Cupcake Craft's Challenge of a Christmas Carol. Now I'm never sure that Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer is a carol as such, but I'm hoping it will be accepted for the purposes of the challenge!

Card recipe: Whiff of Joy stamp coloured with watercolour pencils and Stickles. Background has Distress Inks sponged on. Paper from Basic Grey Eskimo Kisses and spotty DP from stash. Sttiched with sparkly rayon thread, snowflakes cut from Nestabilities dies, sentiment from Craftwork Cards.


Suzie's card:

Orange, the colour that doesn't rhyme...

Whiff of Joy had a tricky colour combo for their Challenge this week of orange, brown and cream, I've just managed to get my entry finished. When I saw their new range of stamps, from Norma Fickel, I couldn't resist them and wanted them all! After last week at the NEC my survival instinct took over LOL and I opted for just one. Isn't this just adorable? Very European style, quaint rather than cute...

I've followed the sketch for this week's challenge at Stamp Something, a great sketch by Ann of Raindrop Echo Designs, who, like me, is one of the designers for My Grafico Challenges. I'm also entering this for A Spoonful of Sugar's Challenge of a card for Baby's First Christmas.

I wanted a soft, natural look and bottled out of using my Copics, the image is watercoloured and edged with Distress Ink. I stamped the sentiment in Distress Ink too and I distressed the edges of the image and the sentiment with my scissors. Image and paper are matted onto bronze pearlescent card. The main DP is My Mind's Eye, the smaller one came from a small bargain pad in my stash. The wide orange ribbon came from a box of chocolates and I used punches for the flower and snowflakes. Be prepared to see much more of this stamp :)

Winter Willow

Today I got the chance to play with some of my new acquisitions from the NEC, as well as my Whiff of Joy Winter Stamp Kit.

I began with the Whiff of Joy Challenge's very pretty sketch by Jane.
The colourscheme came from this week's Copic Colour Challenge, which uses rose red, spectrum green and robin's egg blue and
Saturday Spotlight's Challenge is "repeatedly useful" - using an image repeatedly, the snowflake stamps were ideal for this.

I stamped Willow and masked her so that she could sit on the sledge and I coloured her with Copics. The snowflakes were stamped in Broken China Distress Ink. Papers are Basic Grey Eskimo Kisses. The ribbon is organza coloured with spectrum green Copic (came out darker than I expected) and the sentiment is from Craftwork Cards, again coloured with Copic. I punched a couple of snowflakes from white card and added some Stickles to them and to the stamped snowflakes.

Whiff of Joy Santa

I've just finished this in time for this week's Whiff of Joy Challenge, which is to use red, cream and one other colour of your choice. I've picked the easy option of adding green and making a Christmas card; I've used the sketch from this week's Mojo Monday Challenge.

Santa's coloured with Copics and I've used Fluffy Stuff to trim his coat and hat, the cream edging is Scattered Straw Distress Ink. The sentiment is from a Creative Expressions set, image is matted onto Bazzill Basics card. The red DP is from a Bearly Mine Designs CD and the green berried DP is Fancy Pants. Gems and ribbon from stash.

Whiff of Joy Challenge #52

Here's a card I made for this week's Whiff of Joy challenge, which uses a sketch by Heather. I found the sketch quite a challenge, and I also made things tricky by using some very pretty, but non-traditional coloured DP from My Mind's Eye. I like the image, like the DP, but I'm not sure they are a match made in heaven!

This is a bit of a blog candy card: I was lucky enough to win the Father Christmas stamp from a Patchwork Planet celebration of a new stamp launch and the charm on the card was one I won from Lorraine's Simon Says candy :).

Father Christmas is coloured with copics, edged with Broken China Distress Ink and with Fluffy Stuff added to his hat and coat. The papers is My Mind's Eye with some plain cardstock to contrast, stitching added and the charm.