Best Friend

This is a birthday card for an old friend who has had a horrid few years, her husband died, she had some very bad health problems and cannot walk without a frame. But last time I spoke to her, she had decided that it was time to have another dog in her life; she found a dog that was in need of a home and that had some health problems of its own. She sounded so much happier and more positive about life now she has her new best friend to share her life and give her a reason to get up in the mornings.

I used an adorable image from Phindy's Place, called Gift Wrapped, coloured it with Copics, cut it out and mounted it onto gold cardstock then cut it out again. It's popped up onto foam pads and stuck to a circle of Basic Grey paper from the Infusion pad. The DP and the blotchy dark brown paper are also Basic Grey and the sentiment is by Craftwork Cards, I had a hard time taking a picture of this; it's metallic gold with brown lettering.

My card fits several challenges:

• Papertake Weekly - brilliant sketch, saved for future use
• Basic Grey - animals
• Totally Papercrafts - new challenge blog - Friends
• One Stop Crafts - Make it personal
• Phindy's Place on Papercraftplanet has a red & brown birthday challenge

Distressed Butterflies

This is a fairly simple card that took me a long time to make. I went to my local shop, Made By You, last week and had a play with Distress Inks sponged onto the background, this is a card I came up with. I'm entering it for two butterfly challenges: the first is Danni's Flutterby Wednesday and this week Quixotic Challenges also has a butterfly theme.

The stamps are by Crafty Individuals. I stamped the butterflies onto a piece of card using Aged Mahogany and then on a larger piece in dark brown, then added lots of inks with sponges until I got a heavily antiqued effect. I also stamped a couple of framed flowers repeatedly and sponged them with slightly lighter inks, then cut out a frame. The smaller piece of card was stuck inside the frame and both were then put onto the larger piece of card, using pads for the frame. I added a cutout butterfly to the frame.

Twisted Thursday Challenge #41 - with a twist of chocolate

It's Twisted Thursday Challenge time again and this week we have a sketch with a twist for you to play along with! Shirleys2Girls are challenging you to make a card or a project based on the sketch with a twist - of chocolate! Now I think no day is complete without chocolate, you can interpret this as colour, image, anything you like.

You are not required to use Shirley’s 2 Girls images, but if you've got them, we'd love to see you use them:). Upload your card to your favorite online gallery and/or your blog. If you upload to SCS or PCP, please use the keywords S2GSC41 AND shirleys2girls. Post a direct link to your card using Mr. Linky on the Challenge Blog, here. The deadline for uploading your card is Wednesday, 3 February 2010 at midnight PDT. Not one, but TWO winning cards will be chosen by Random.org, the lucky winners will get to choose an image from Shirley’s 2 Girls, they'll get a "Winner" blinkie to display on their blog and the winning cards or other project will be showcased on the Shirley's 2 Girls Challenge Blog. Please do visit the other Ladies with Attitude, check out their amazing creations and leave them some love, here's the team: Ann, Anne (me), Carlie, Cat, Deanne, Debbie, Georgia, Gina, Jana, Jane,Jeannie, Jennifer, Judy and Lisa.

My card uses a fab image called Cake Piece, available from Shirleys2Girls Digishop. The dessert forks are coloured with silver glitter and there is squidgy icing in my cakes, made from Liquid Pearls. The thinking behind this card is that every day is chocolate cake day, and if it's not it could be :) The DP is Basic Grey, card candy frm Craftwork Cards and ribbon from stash.

Shirleys2Girls' Indulgence Blog Hop - Open till Weds 27 January

Indulgence...What is yours?
I have a long posting today, please bear with me, Shirleys2Girls have a new range of images, that are as irresistable as chocolate :). To celebrate the launch we're having an Indulgent Blog Hop this week... Here's a sneak peek at the Grand Prize:
Want a day of "All out Pampering"?

Want to 'Indulge' yourself just a little?

Well, then Join us...NEW DT for S2G...for a Fabulously, Decadent
Blog Hop of New Digital Stamps & Digital Papers!

The New Line of Digi stamps is called "Indulgence"...and we're
treating you to a Sweet Tour through our personal Blogs...& have
we got some exciting projects to show you! Can you say Bling?
The line has everything a girl desires...from images of partying
with your girlfriends, going on a shopping spree, taking a bubble bath
...to a little spread of delicious desserts.
My indulgence is a long, hot, deep bath with a drink and a good book. I've added the Bathtime digi image to a candle for my indulgent bath sessions. My card uses one of the delicious new digi papers for background and for a paper pieced shower curtain.
The bath is also paper pieced and the bubbles have Liquid Pearls addded to them so they are glossy and 3D. How indulgent is that! Here's a close-up of the bubbles:

And here's the inside of my card with a different take on bubbles, using another iconic image:


So, please come and Indulge yourself a little, I'm sure you deserve pampering.

We have 3 amazing prizes you could win! There is 1 Grand prize,1 second prize
and a third prize of a gift certificate hidden somewhere in amongst the DT's Blogs.

Here is what the Prize Winners will get - and yes, Shirleys2Girls will ship world-wide -
1 - GRAND PRIZE Winner: spa gloves, spa slippers, eye mask, manicure set, bath fizzy,
body lotion, felt coasters, shaped paper clips, chipboard buttons, 3 mini glitzy frames,ribbon, small charms, rhinestones, glitter, 2 clear stamps, 6 DPs, chocolates, tea or coffee, 3 digi images of Indulgence, 2 jelly roll pens

2nd PRIZE
1 set of Indulgence Images (the dreaming chocolate, cake, slice of cake, box of candy)

3rd PRIZE
$15.00 S2G GIFT certifiicate

So, sit back, grab a latte, relax and enjoy
the TOUR! You need to start out from the S2G Challenge Blog, here's the full blog hop order in case you get lost:
Ann English
Anne Ray you are here :)
Jeannie Thomas
Carlie Mays
Georgia McDonald
Lisa Futch
Gina Lindsay
Jana Mays
Jane Wetzel
Cat Darling
Jennifer Scull
Judy Applegarth
Debbie Daniels

****Before you leave to go on the 'Indulgence Tour'... be sure to leave us a comment
at the S2G Challenge Blog about one of your favorite ways you pamper yourself
and leave comments at each blog along the hop.
You must do this in order to be eligible to WIN. Entries to the Blog Hop close Wednesday 27 January, so get hopping!

Now that you're in an indulgent frame of mind, I hope you'll play along with us this week for our Twisted Thursday Challenge....All you have to do is share YOUR INDULGENCE and post your card or project to Mr. Linky over at the S2G Challenge Blog.

Bubbling Over

Card Patterns is a new Challenge blog to me, how ever have I missed this one for so long?! I used their sketch as the basis for this card, made with one of the new Indulgence images from Shirleys2Girls. Don't forget you only have one day left to join in the Indulgence Blog Hop, don't miss out :). If you're looking for my stage of the hop, please click here :).

I combined this card with the Paper Sundae Challenge which is a recipe: brown, pink, lace and flowers, far too pretty a combo to miss out on!

I've coloured my image with Copics and trimmed it down, cropping out the background, it's then been glued onto DP using silicon glue to give it lots of dimension. The bubbles have Liquid Pearls added for even more dimensions. The papers are all Basic Grey from the Porcelain collection. Plain white cardstock has Swiss Dots embossed on it, the lace is from my fabric stash and the flowers were a little gift in with an order from Simon Says.

Text Addict

This is an attempt at mission impossible - the home made card deemed acceptable for a teenage boy :). The image is Connected Boy from Phindy O'Neill's digi art, coloured with Copics and cut out with Nesties. The papers are a plain navy, a bronze pearlescent card and Basic Grey Nook & Pantry which has some surprisingly masculine DP, very useful.

I've based my card on this week's Sketch & Stash, my new stash is the image which I bought a few weeks back and haven't used.

Jingle Bells in January

I'm keen to take part in the ABC Christmas Challenge, but I was a bit stumped by B is for Bells - until I remembered that there are tiny bells on the harness of the Fjord horses in the image - phew! If you click an enlarge the image you can just make them out :). I've based the card loosely around the pretty sketch at Truly Scrumptious this week, though I've not gone with their optional extra challenge of stitching, it just didn't seem to work with this card...

Image is digi art by Phindy O'Neill, coloured with Copics, glitter and Stickles. I've used a Martha Stewart punch on the border, which is bronze pearlescent paper. The DP is Basic Grey Eskimo Kisses, the flowers are Prima and the sentiment and flower centre are both from Craftwork Cards.

Thank you - old and new working together

I was lucky enough to get a Martha Stewart round-the-corner punch set from my parents for my birthday and, of course, I was dying to try it out. This week's Simon Says Challenge is to use punches, so this was the ideal time to give the set a try. I have a few sets of Tapestry stamps, the tiny ones on dowelling that were all the rage a while back and I remembered that one set was of violas, which would go perfectly with the new punch. Quixotic's Challenge this week is to ink up an old stamp, so this also worked for the card :).

I had a quick try-out with the punch on a square of card and it worked perfectly first time. Moved on to a rectangle and made a dreadful mess of things, however this was user error I think and my next effort was fine :). The next problem was that the 3.25 x 5" rectangle wasn't really big enough to take a wreath of pansies so I sarted again and just stamped leaves and flowers around the edge of the card, with space for the sentiment, another old stamp, in the middle.

I really liked this as a very simple card and didn't want to add lots of embellishments to detract from it. So I added a bit of Stickles to the sentiment and the pansies and left it be. When I looked this morning I decided it just needed something else on the white card, so I used my Scorpal to give it a 1/2" raised border by scoring from the back. You can't see this too well in my photo, but I'm really pleased with it in real life. So the new punch and the old stamps make a great combination here, I think :).

Purple flutter-by

Danni has been running the Flutterby Wednesday Challenge for ages now; I don't get to play along as often as I'd like. This week, for a change, I have a card to submit for the challenge. I visited the shop Made by You last Friday and had a play with some of Pat's workshop bits and pieces and came up with a couple of cards, including this one that I finished up at home. The butterfly is a Little Claire clear stamp, very large and ideal to use with shrink plastic. I've stamped it twice, silver embossed it and painted it with Distress Inks straight from the bottle, something I've not used before. The two background panels are stamped with a Papermania scrolly-leaf stamp in Distress Inks and the first panel also has some inks applied with a sponge. The vine shapes were cut from a long Cuttlebug border, I stuck both these and the butterfly layers down with silicon glue to give them dimension.

Paper Sundae's meets Pink Bubbly

First, if you're looking for the Shirleys2Girls Amazing Indulgence Blog Hop, please click here to see my project and join in the hop, you have until Weds 27th to get hopping :).

I've just managed to sneak an entry under the line for the first Paper Sundae's Challenge, which closes at midnight tonight. I've used one of the new Indulgence release from Shirleys2Girls, which as a digi means I can enter the Corrosive Challenge for this week. I've used the new pink digi papers that match the indulgence range and my champagne is pink champagne, so I'm also entering Papertake's Pretty Pink Challenge.

Image is coloured with Copics and cut out with Nestabilities Label 4. The stripe of paper with champagne glasses is from Shirleys2Girls' Digi paper range, the sentiment came with the digi. Pearls and pink gems are from my stash and the matting cards are Bazzill Basics. Oh, and I'm afraid the non-pink champagne is now empty :)

Birthday Stash!

If you're looking for the Shirleys2Girls Amazing Indulgence Blog Hop, please click here to see my project and join in the hop, you have until Weds 27th to get hopping :).

Yesterday was my birthday, I'm afraid I didn't blog though I did a bit of cardmaking at Made By You, my local craft shop. I was very lucky and got the most wonderful selection of craft goodies, thanks to my DH who also gives my parents and my FIL clues about what to buy :).

I also recevied such a pretty card from my blogging friend Judy - how ever she timed it to arrive on the day, all the way from New Zealand, I don't know ;). Such a pretty card Judy, thanks so much :)

Snowflakes Gone Wild

Can't seem to get away from snowflakes... Snowflakes Gone Wild is this week's Challenge at Saturday Spotlight and since it's snowing again today I've got out the snowflake DPs and played with a digi image from Shirleys2Girls. I've used this week's Sketch Saturday Challenge sketch and I'm also entering Mr Penguin for Fussy & Fancy's Winter Challenge.

I printed my digi out once onto white cardstock and once onto some Craftwork Cards DP with silver snowflakes. The image is coloured with Copics, cut out and added to the background. The main DP on the card is more Craftwork Cards silver snowflake paper, the textured linen style card has more snowflakes embossed into it with a Cuttlebug folder and there are 3 more felt snowflakes attached to the card just in case there weren't enough :). The sentiment is from Woodware, it's a clear stamp so I've shaped it to fit the circle.

Here we are with more snowflakes falling and Sweep taking a flying leap for the door:

Shirleys2Girls Indulgence Blog Hop - tomorrow!

Take your mind off the January blues and the winter weather - yes I spoke too soon and the snow is back - join us for an indulgent hop with some fabulous prizes. There is a HUGE and awesome Grand Prize as well as two very generou8s runner-up prizes. The hop is to celebrate the launch of Shirleys2Girl's newest and hottest collection. I've seen the images and they are great, I've got so many ideas for them, which ones will I pick for the hop?

Don't miss it - I hope you find the time to play along :)

Sunflower Smooches

There's a different challenge at House Mouse this week, to use a faux grid. I made mine on a piece of lightweight card that I'd sprayed with Glimmer Mist. I scored lines 1/2" apart and emphasized them with some Distress Ink in Scattered Straw and Peeled Paint. The image is called Sunflower Smooches, isn't it beautiful? It's another Ebay bargain stamp :), it's coloured with Copics. I've followed the sketch for this week's CPS Challenge. The background paper is Basic Grey's Nook & Pantry, I've used a punch on the Glimmer Misted paper and green card to make the flowers, ribbon, brads and little green label are from stash and the sentiment is Papermania. Phew, I think that's the lot!

Almost all the snow has gone now, it's just sticking where it was piled up or on north facing nooks and crannies. I do hope the threat of more tomorrow is wrong, though it does mean I'll get more crafting done if I can't get to the outside chores :)

Blow out the candle and make a wish...

I was lucky enough to bid for a couple of House Mouse stamps on Ebay and get them for a good price, made this card with one of them, isn't it a sweet image? I've followed Wilma's sketch from Dutch Dare Card Challenges. Charisma Card's Challenge this week is to use anything new, so that's ideal for my new (well new to me)stamp :). Also One Stop Card Challenges calls for fancy edges or corners. I've only one corner punch, which I've used on this. However I've used a Martha Stewart lattice punch and a border sticker from Basic Grey to make a very fancy edge, as well as the deckled edge to the main image, made with a Nestie.

Image coloured with Copics and cut out and matted with Nestabilities dies. Sentiment is Hero Arts. All DP is Basic Grey Nook and Pantry, including the border sticker.

Today is supposed to be Blue Monday according to the paper. Well maybe, but almost all the snow has gone from the ground and life is so much easier as a consquence, so I refuse to be blue :)

Trying Something New

Phindy O'Neill's group on Papercraft Planet has the challenge to try something new. No, not a new image :), the challenge pushes a bit further than that. You must try out a new technique, tool or material. I've not been cardmaking that long, but I've been fairly adventurous and I've been racking my brains over this challenge. In the end, I've tried two new techniques so I'm pleased with that.

First, I realised that I have never attempted one of the easel cards that are so popular at the moment. I've even seen challenges specifically to make easels and for some reason I've shied away. There was a great tutorial on Splitcoaststamper's newsletter this week so I had no excuse.
I used Dawn's sketch from Papertake Weekly Challenge as the basis for the front of my easel card, love this sketch! And my second new technique came from the Copic Creations Challenge, which is being sponsored by Phindy this week. The challenge is to use ethnic skin tones in a project, all too often we reach for Caucasian colours for a card and never think to use anything else. When I looked through the images I have, it dawned on me that I've never coloured in an image as anything other than white. Mmm... quite shocking and thought provoking. I notice that both Mo Manning and Phindy O'Neill provide a variety of images, black, white, Asian and they seem very aware of this, no doubt because they're both children's book illustrators. So the second new technique just happened thanks to me reading the Copic Creations Blog.

I used Phindy's image Setting The Stars, colouring with Copics then cutting it out and decoupaging it onto Stampin' Up DP. OK the decoupage wasn't in the plan but the colours bled a bit from my angel's feet and this was a rescue mission :). The sentiment is a Woodware stamp and the inside sentiment comes from Imagepac. As the tutorial suggests I've added a border as a kind of "stop" for the easel, using a Martha Stewart punch.
For some reason my photo doesn't show how raised up the angel is, I've used silicon glue and she looks so pretty against the background.

Just because...

Here's a card using Phindy O'Neill's image, Birds Go By , it's not made for a challenge, it's a very simple design for a fishing friend of DH who is suffering from a degenerative disease, a "Get Well Soon" message is not appropriate so I computer generated the sentiment. Watercoloured using Distress Inks, the DP is K&K.

At last, the thaw is taking effect and we can see grass. It's raining hard, the lower part of the horse's field is under water, but they are ecstatic that there is some brown, shabby looking grass to eat instead of boring old hay. Hay's £4.50 a bale so I'm pretty happy too :)

Shabby Chic

This week's Challenge at Simon Says is Shabby Chic, which immediately lent itself to lots of ideas with stamps and colourschemes. I decided to use my Parisian Lady stamp from Dimension Fourth and really, she is more chic than shabby! However the colourscheme and the distressing fit the shabby part of the theme so hopefully Parisian Lady's not too offended by the theme :). I've used Judy's sketch from the Quixotic Challenge, which works really well for this image.

Image is stamped with Tea Dye Distress Ink onto cream card, I've drawn the ink into the image with a waterbrush and sponged the edges of the card with more Tea Dye and Worn Lipstick. The dotty background paper is a magazine freebie, torn, crumpled and with lots of Distress Inks added before matting it onto pink DP. I used a Cuttlebug embossing folder on the circle, again sponging Distress Inks onto it before matting onto a scalloped circle. The sentiment is Papermania and the amazing lace is from my sewing stash, the ribbon is stitched into the middle of it. I think it came as part of a bargain bundle. There are some tiny pearl gems added to the image and one of the paper tears.

Oh, the Simon Says Challenge has a DT call out at the moment, check out the blog for details. I'm entering this card and keeping my fingers crossed :)

Twisted Thursday #39 - ABC Valentine

It's Twisted Thursday Challenge time again! Today is the 14th, so there is just a month to go to get yourself organised for Valentine's Day in February. This week's Challenge should give you a helping hand... Shirleys2Girls are challenging you to make a Valentine with a twist - an ABC (anything but a card) Valentine! You are not required to use Shirley’s 2 Girls images, but if you've got them, we'd love to see you use them! Upload your card to your favorite online gallery and/or your blog. If you upload to SCS or PCP, please use the keywords S2GSC39 AND shirleys2girls. Post a direct link to your card using Mr. Linky on the Challenge Blog, here. The deadline for uploading your card is Wednesday, 20 January 2010 at midnight PDT. Not one, but TWO winning cards will be chosen by Random.org, the lucky winners will get to choose an image from Shirley’s 2 Girls, they'll get a "Winner" blinkie to display on their blog and the winning cards or other project will be showcased on the Shirley's 2 Girls Challenge Blog. Please do visit the other Ladies with Attitude, check out their amazing creations and leave them some love, here's the new team: Ann, Anne (me), Carlie, Cat, Deanne, Debbie, Georgia, Gina, Jana, Jane,Jeannie, Jennifer, Judy and Lisa.

Now ABCs are something I often struggle to get my head around but I saw a flame coloured Zola image on one of the DT's blogs last week and knew just what I wanted to do :). Shirleys2Girls are a digi company now and Zola, one of the saucy new Valentine digis, can be bought here as an instant download. This particular Zola has a feather duster , however I've coloured her and cut her out and released her from housework by cutting off the duster :).

I took the box of extra-long matches that we use to light the log-burning stove and covered the outside with pale peach card. Then I decoupaged Zola with 3D silicon glue onto a pale peach Labels4 Nestie shape, matted onto orange then bronze pearlescent card. So that gives me a cute altered matchbox, but I'm not quite done...

Open up the matchbox and a message on a strip inside pops up
I took out most of the matches so you can see it's just glued to the base of the matchbox. What do you think? I can't wait to see everyone's entries for this Challenge...

Blog Candy with a difference

I'm posting about Shelly's blog candy as well as adding it to my sidebar, it is candy with a difference.

Shelly says: "At work, I share a desk with a nurse Mini. Mini's son is going to be heading to Afghanistan next month. So, I want to offer this set from Firecracker Designs by Pamela as blog candy and ask for you all to say a prayer to ask God to comfort him and keep him safe so far away from home and on such a dangerous mission.
+If you post my blog candy to a blog, leave me a note and I will enter you twice.
+If you become a follower of my blog, leave me a note and I will add you for another chance to win!
+Send a friend who becomes a follower and I will add you for another chance to win!

I will announce the winner FRIDAY, JAN 15th!!!"

Shelly I take my hat off to you but more so to those who are out in Iraq andAfghanistan doing a dangerous and grotty job on behalf of us all.

Turn it off Candy!

The ABC Christmas Challenge is campaigning against Word Verification on blogs, it makes leaving comments when visiting blogs so much more fiddly and time consuming. To encourage us all to turn off Word Verification they are offering blog candy, which closes at midnight tonight.

There's just time to enter if you hurry on over to the blog, but more importantly please check your settings and turn off word verification :).

No cards to post today, just more flippin' snow pictures, there we were again back to square one with 4-5", hardly any roads gritted, no school, papers did get here by lunchtime, but mopst roads very treacherous. Got the car stuck for the first time today but managed to push it out of the snow - phew!
Icicles on the wisteria...

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.