Don't be gnomeless!

Today I have a monochrome card to show you, using the Gnome Sweet Gnome set from Stamp Addicts, I've decided tto leave the sentiment off for now, really he could be used for all kinds of things.  As usual, he's coloured with Copics, edged with Distress Inks.  The DP is, I think, My Mind's Eye for the large square and some Stampin' Up in front of it.  I've stitched round all the DP and added a MS punched fence in kraft paper, with some twine around it.  And that's it, this little chap doesn't need too many embellies...

My card is for:
Sketch'n'Stash - sketch (new stamps, old DP)
Ooh la la - stitching
Totally Papercrafts - stitch it
Anything Goes - stitch it
Bearly Mine - one for the boys - Get Well Soon Donna!
Craft Your Passion - anything goes + brown
House of Gilli - monochromatic
Incy Wincy - stitching

Phindy's Place Challenge #78-Blue Christmas

Welcome to this week's Phindy's Place Challenge, this week our challenge is "Blue Christmas" - a colour challenge, we hope you will not be blue this Christmas!  I'm thrilled that Phindy has produced a winter version of her In the Field image and rushed to the shop to buy it for this challenge; isn't it gorgeous?  You can buy In the Winter Field here.  I coloured with Copics and went a bit mad with Sparkle & Shine iridescent spray, it has taken a day for it to really dry out!  I've had the DP for years, I think it's Dovecraft.  The scroll dies are Memory Box, I added some seam binding, dotty buttons and a beautiful blue lace braid that came from an embellie shop in Hay-on-Wye that I visited when we took older son back to uni.

My card is for the following challenges:

Cupcake Crafts - buttons & bows

Bunny Zoe - lace it up

Forever Friends - anything goes animals

Ooh La La - let it snow

Lollipop Crafts - no sentiment allowed

The Crafty Pad - monochromatic

Catch the Bug - animal antics

Little Claire's - Christmas

Crafty Ribbons - ribbon & lace

Southern Girls - stripes & polka dots (dotty buttons, stripy DP)

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)

Guest Designer Ooh La La Challenge #83 - Summer Flowers

Here is my last card as a Guest Designer for Ooh La La Challenge, I've really enjoyed my time creating for them and would like to thank the Ooh La La ladies for letting me play along.  This week's challenge is Summer Flowers which is a really easy theme.  I got completely hung up on this gorgeous background paper, from the Floral Extravaganza CD, which looks so much like my English roses that are flowering their hearts out at the moment and I decided to make the paper as big a star of the card as I could.   I added a watercoloured Crafty Individuals stamp, which is a stamp I got when I renewed my Craft Stamper subscription.  The image has been lying on my desk a while and it nearly worked with the paper, but it was a bit yellowy.  Inspiration struck and I sprayed it with Glimmer Mist, something I used to use a lot and have neglected for the past year or so.  I like the way it looks on this vintage style stamp.
I followed the Sketch Saturday layout, adding some little bits of ribbon a lacy ribbon, decoupaging some of the roses from the Ooh La La toppers and adding a Sheena Douglass sentiment stamp.
My card is also for the following challenges:
Sketch Saturday - sketch
CD Sunday - mixed bouquet
Craft your days away - vintage
Totally Gorjuss - ribbons & lace
Shopping Our Stash - tools of the trade (Glimmer Mist)

Ooh La La - Guest Designer - Challenge #82 - Father's Day/ someone special

Welcome to this week's Ooh La La Challenge, which is to make a card for Father's Day or for someone special.  This card is for my father-in-law who has had several holidays to the Yorkshire Coast, so when I saw this scene on the Ooh La La Watercolour Memories CD I had to make it for him.  I printed it onto heavyweight watercolour paper which makes it look even better.  My printer doesn't like such heavy card so I printed the scene out a little way down a sheet of thin copy paper, then I used spray glue to attach cardstock cut to size.  Somehow this kids the printer into co-operating:).  I extended the picture using my Hobby Art Scene-It stamps, computer generated a sentiment and used a backing sheet from the same CD that goes with a different scene, Aldborough I think.
My card is for the following challenges:
Mark's Finest Papers - Father's Day
Delicious Doodles - Father's Day
One Stop Craft- Father's Day
Secret Crafter - masculine card
Stamp Scrap & Doodle - Father's Day
Polkadoodles - something for Dad
Simply Create - all about you Dad
Fussy & Fancy - man cards
Crazy 4 Challenges - masculine cards
Stamptacular Sunday - Dads or Grads

Wishing Shoe A Very Happy Birthday

Good Morning, here is a card from me for this week's Ooh La La Challenge - a very easy challenge of Happy Birthday.  I spent a lot of time agonising over this image and trying to do something clever with it.  In the end I left it alone, it is so beautiful that it needs to be the star of the card and I made a very simple easel card.  Sorry the colours are much better IRL, not sure what went wrong with the photo...  The gerbera daisy shoe is from a lovely CD called Shoes in Bloom, with artwork from LS Brownlee.  Lovely, lovely designs with plenty of matching papers and inserts.  I've used a gerbera DP as well as one with the pink ribbons on it, some green ribbon and a few gems.  Most unusually for me, there is no stamped image at on on my card.
This card is also for the following challenges:
Scrappy Frogs - Happy Birthday
Little Claire - shaped cards
Daring Cardmakers - passion for fashion
Fairy Fun Fridays - more than one fold

Ooh La La - Guest Designer - Challenge #80 - Fancy Folds

Oops should have posted this earlier, here is my card for this week's Ooh La La Challenge, having checked out the blog there are some amazing folded projects on there to look at, do check it out.  I made a side step card with a very pretty Cosmos image.  I've decoupaged it and gave the extra petals a bit more shine with Crafter's Companion Spray & Sparkle Iridiscent.  Lovely spray, smells like pear drops and makes me feel very happy.  Oh, it gave the petals a nice shine too lol!  Back later to enter this in a few challenges I hope:)

Ooh La La - Guest Designer - Challenge #79 Tres Chic

 I was honuored to be asked to be a Guest Designer for Ooh La La Creations Challenge for May and June and here is my first card for them, this week's challenge is Tres Chic and I have used a pyramage with two papers from their Passion for Fashion CD.  It's a detailed image that called for a fairly simple background, I decided to frame it with a Marianne Creatables Die and this inspired me to try something new and finally get to grips with embossing a die cut shape, as the frame looked nothing much at all until I embossed it.  I used my Big Shot, with the following layers:  grunge paper, platform with one leaf folded back, cutting plate, die, rubber sheet, black plastic plate.  Hoorah now I just have to remember the combination :).

Other embellishments are:  Hero Arts sentiment stamp gold embossed, gemstones and roses.

My card is also for the following challenges:

One Stitch at a Time -embossing

Sparkles Forum - anything goes

Sweet Stampin' - try something new (embossing diecut, pyramage)

Sugar Creek Hollow - embossing

Do You Stack Up? - make it pop (3D)

Phindy's Place Challenge #50 - Easter Time

Good Morning and welcome to this week's Phindy's Place Challenge, this week we'd like to see your Easter projects, if you don't celebrate Easter it's fine to make a spring card.   You don't have to use one of Phindy's images, but we love it when you do - and you get a second entry into the prize draw!

I've used the fun image "Just Saying Hi" from Phindy's Place, I've also used some Scene-It stamps to create a bit of a background.   Image is coloured with Copics and scene with Distress Inks.  I think giraffes look great with spots and stripes, so I've added in a dotty paper from Bearly Mine as well as a My MInd's Eye stripe.  Frame is a Nestie, text is computer generated.

My card is also for the following challenges:

Bearly Mine - sketch

One Stop Craft - spots and dots

Little Claire's - spring celebrations

Craft Your Days Away - spots and stripes

Creative Cowgirls - spring or Easter

Card Cupids - dots and/or stripes

Stamps R Us - Easter

Stamp with Fun - Easter

Pink Elephant - Easter

Ooh la la - Easter

Spring Cherry Blossom

I've made my card for Mothering Sunday using Tiffany Doodles' new release,
Cherry Blossom, available in store from Friday 1 April.  I've followed the sketch from Pink Elephant.  Image is coloured with Copics, Stickles and edged with Distress Ink.  There are a couple of Dew Drops on the image, ribbon is recycled from a box of chocolates, text computer generated, DP is Basic Grey Porcelain and the white panel is Cuttlebugged with script.
I'm entering my card for the following challenges:
Pink Elephant - sketch
Amber's Crafts - April flowers
Scrapbook Sisters - Mother's Day
Cupake Crafts - flowers for Mum
Ooh la la - Mother's Day
Dream Valley Challenges - Mother's Day
Creative Inspirations - Mother's Day

Phindy's Place Challenge #47 - Hot Stuff

I hope this scheduled post works as I will be at the Cheltenham Festival for a fourth day's racing today, Friday:)  At Phindy's Place Challenge this week we're anticipating a lovely long hot summer to make up for the hard winter so many of us have had, with our theme of Hot Stuff.  You can interpret this with warm colours, summer image cards, it's up to you.   I've taken the opportunity to use Mr Brown On Vacation, this image is available in the shop here.    It's such a fun image that I wanted the card itself to be very simple, this week's CPS layout is perfect!

Image is coloured with Copics (do you like the touch of sunburn on Mr Brown's nose and legs?) and I used some Stickles on his fishing line and beercan.  The string lace is from Bunny Zoe's, DP is My Mind's Eye and the sentiment is a Joanna Sheen House Mouse one.
My card is for the following challenges:
CPS - sketch
Incy Wincy Challenges - for the boys
Paper Pretties - masculine card
Ooh la la Creations - It's a Man Thing

Home for Christmas

I'm getting to the end of my cards from my Phindy's Place colouring marathon at the weekend!  This image is called Cosy Cottage and was so much fun to colour, I didn't want to add a lot of embellies to it as the image is the star of the card.  I coloured using Copics, lots of Glossy Accents on the windows and Glamour Dust sparkle everywhere that is snowy.  I wasn't sure how to make my fir trees look snowy until I checked out Tammy's blog here.  When I grow up I want to be able to colour like Tammy!  The DP is My Mind's Eye, leaf is cut using a Woodware punch and the sentiment is Craftwork Cards.

My card is for the following challenges:
Sketch & Stash - sketch
Stamps R Us - holiday card
Ooh la la - Christmas song
Digital Tuesday - baby it's cold outside
Spoonful of Sugar - Christmas card

In the bleak midwinter

OK the title of my favourite Christmas carol probably isn't too popular with the poor people stranded in snow up and down the country!  We had a tiny amount of snow and have no problems, apart from having to carry water up to the horses as the supply has frozen. 
This card is something of a departure for me; as a die hard stamper I've bought several CDs lately for the backing papers.  This one, Joanna Sheen's Thomas Kincade, is quite pricy to treat as just a backing paper source as it's a triple CD (though great value as a papercraft CD!).  So, for once, I have printed off an image and here's my first attempt at a simple image card.  I've printed it onto acetate (another first) and backed it with pearlised white card.  I used sticky dots in the corners to attach the acetate to the card and didn't like the show through, so I coveed one corner with punched snowflkaes and stamped a Christmas tree for the other corner.  The remaining dots show more in the photo than in real life.  I've lightly stamped text onto the card and added a check ribbon.  The tree and the text are both Atremio clear stamps.

My card is for the following challenges:

Stamp Insanity -try something new (images, acetate)
CD Sunday - white Christmas
Christmas Stampin' - anything goes
Ooh la la - Christmas song
Paper Playtime - Christmas carol
My Time to Craft - vintage card

Today is the last chance to join in my blog candy giveaway - please do enter if you haven't already:)