Ooh la la!

I made this card for my "sister" Vanja's birthday, last week. Vanja does wonderful cards, she's a big fan of Sarah Kay and of Elizabeth Bell, check out her blog, she's so creative. The card uses my Dimension Fourth Parisian kit and is mainly coloured with sepia watercolour pencil. There are some Stickles highlighting the table legs, the flowers of her hat and on the cupcakes. The dog is stuck on with a foam pad to make him 3D. I had a lot of fun making this card, the image is one of my favourites at the moment.

My Lucky Day!

Today has been the last day of my week off and I'm due back in for a very busy week tomorrow :(.

So I was really excited to see that I've won this week's Twisted Thursday challenge! It's a random choice of winner, but I'm chuffed to bits! Karolyn said the paper I used was "some of the yummiest design paper I've seen". I agree with her and I need to thank my friend Anne who gave it to me as she thought I'd have a better use for it. Thanks Anne! I only used some, perhaps you'd like a sheet back now ;). There is no Twisted Thursday this week, there is going to be blog candy and all kinds of fun going on at Shirleys2Girls instead. Clik on the link in my sidebar to visit them...

And then I found that I am one of two winners at Ismaki this week as well!!! This is just brilliant and I feel like the sun has come out on this rather cold, grey Bank Holiday :). Maybe I should buy a lottery ticket, or maybe I have had my share of the luck... :)

Thank you to the Ismaki challenge team and to Karolyn and the Shirleys2Girls Team!

To find your Prince... you've got to kiss a lot of frogs :)

My "Sister" Janet got her birthday card in the mail today, so I thought I'd post a picture of it now it's arrived :). I used my April stamps from Dimension Fourth and had a lot of fun with this card. The coach is stamped onto the scalloped circle and a mask used to stamp the princess inside the coach. Just the body of the coach is stamped onto card and coloured with watercolour pencils and Stickles, this is curved and added to the card with silicon glue. "Princess" is repeatedly stamped along the pale pink starry paper and the frog prince is again added with silicon glue to make him 3D. I computer generated the extra wording that I wanted to add.

Janet has blog candy, you can enter until her birthday, 8th May. Have a wonderful birthday Janet!

Twisted Thursday #9

It's the last day to enter Twisted Thursday's challenge again! Every week I plan to enjoy this challenge before the deadline and every Sunday here I am making my card :). This week there is a great sketch to use, with the twist of adding dimension.

I've done this literally and metaphorically; I've used my owl stamp from Dimension Fourth AND I've popped him out from the card using foam pads :)!

The owl is coloured with Copics, his branch is stamped with Timber Brown Stazon onto yellow pearlescent card, it's leaves are coloured with a Marvy le Plume pen. The fab DP at the bottom was a gift from my crafting friend Anne, who bought a paper pack at Ally Pally and kindly gave me the 3 owl pages in it as she felt I could make good use of them. I could and I have. :) Thank you very much Anne! The little pink scrolls come from the free bird stamp with Craft Stamper magazine, when I'd completed the card the corners looked a bit empty. Oh, and the owl has green gem eyes.

Corrosive Challenges #10 - Happy Birthday to Janet!

It's Sunday and it's time to take the Corrosive Challenge again. It's Janet's birthday on the 8th May and this week her challenge is to make a birthday card. I've opted to make a mostly Digi card. My image of the birthday bird comes from Pink Petticoat - they have some lovely images to choose from. The background paper comes from a blog called Summertime Designs, which belongs to Summer Driggs, who creates free digi-scrap images and papers. This paper is from a set called Sweet Springtime, isn't it pretty? Summer is amazingly talented, check out her site if you get a minute...

I've printed the DP out and then overprinted the image onto it. The bird is cut out and mounted onto a foam pad, as are the speech bubbles. I've used Bazzil card to frame the image and die cut flowers from the DP and the Bazzil card. The ribbon is black grosgrain and the faux brads are from Craftwork Cards.

Elzybell's Challenge #19 & Cute Card Thursday #58 - Mirror Mirror

Isn't this dog image from Elzybells cute? There is a matching image of a dog carrying a rolled up newspaper but I like this one best, he is giving a very feeble tail-wag because he knows he shouldn't tear up the paper but sometimes you just can't resist temptation :).

I've used Rachel's sketch from this week's Elzybell's Challenge and I've included lots of gold shiny card, which means I'm also entering it for Cute Card Thursday's Mirror, Mirror Challenge.


I've coloured the dog with my Copics; I'm a bit underwhelmed with the effect I'm getting, doesn't look all that professional :(. The edge started out with faux stitching drawn in with a Pigma Micron pen. Annoyingly I smudged a corner so went over it with a waterbrush and Distress Ink to blend it in. To my surprise, the "permanent" ink ran into the blend... Hmm...


Flowers are Hero Arts, Design Paper is from a gorgeous Basic Grey pad I bought at Ally Pally. The card blank is left showing in the background, I like the contrast of brown matte with gold shiny.

ATC round up

I've been working on some ATCs for swaps over the last week and since I have no new cards to show, I thought I'd post the ATCs on here:

The first one is for "AWalk in the Woods", for a swap at the Stamp Attic.

I've stamped the lovely tree/water scene onto glossy paper that I've brayered with a Kaleidocolour inkpad.

I've stamped some leaves from an Inkadinkado Inchies set onto the Bazzil card for the ATCbase and added another inchie on foam pads to finish it.

The other ATC is for a UKATC group swap, with the theme yellow and green. It's a sort-of free ATC:). The green paper is a magazine freebie (very lightweight, mounted onto card). The tree is from a set of Paper Artsy stamps that Igot when I renewed my Craft Stamper subscription and the bird is last month's free stamp with Craft Stamper. I love the bird! The bird is stamped onto Glimmer Misted paper and some Stickles jazz up its crown and the tree behind it. The feathers and the bird's legs both came from my husband's fly-tying supplies - shh! Don't tell... :)

Mojo Moday Week 84 & My Time to Craft #59 - Black & White +1

I bought this lovely, large-scale black, white and red paper from Stamp Attic ages ago and have never found the right project to use it - until now! I decided to use it with this week's Mojo Monday challenge sketch.


I coloured my Leanne Ellis Sugar Nellie stamp very simply, with black, red and some Glossy Accents on the flowers and the bubbles. It's mounted onto red Bazzil paper with black brads beside it. The DP is used behine the image in a border and as a centre to the circle. The other DP is also from Stamp Attic, as is the ribbon.

When I'd finished it I realised that it fits in with My Time To Craft's challenge for this week: Black and white +1.

Friday Sketchers #49, Cupcake Crafts Challenge #37 and Spoonful of Sugar Challenge #39

I've been playing with my Elusive Images Butterfly theme plates and come up with a card that fits three challenges.

I've used Mumur's lovely sketch from Friday Sketchers as the basis for my card. The colour theme comes from A Spoonful of Sugar's challenge this week: Blue & Green. I remember the old adage that "blue and green together should not be seen" and thought it would be interesting to see if I could get enough contrast into my card. And finally, Caryn at Cupcake Crafts has challenged everyone to use at least five different embellishments on a card, in honour of her five children! I have used: a brad, Stickles, gold thread, butterflies and flowers.

All the stamps are from the Elusive Images themeplates, Butterfly Poppy Collage and Butterfly Daisy Collage. All are coloured with Inktense watercolour pencils, highlighted with Stickles and with Glossy accents. The Happy Birthday is a Dimension Fourth stamp, the main image is mounted onto Bazzil card and the background paper comes from a free download from Making Handmade Cards, who sell printable papers and offer really great lessons and how-tos, as well a a free trial pack of designs.

I really like this, however it's quite a heavy card, don't think I'll be posting it to anyone :)!

Places to go...

We've been blessed with good weather for our week off and have been out and about. Yesterday I had a work appointment, but Geoff came along too. It was a tour of Oaksey House in the village, a unique facility, just opened, that provides fitness and rehabilitation for jockeys, along with homes for those who need it, including a self-contained unit for respite care for some of the paraplegics that they look after.


The building is astonishing, it is light and airy and has so many wonderful design features and little touches. I won't list them all here, but click on the link and have a look. Each room has been named after a benefactor (Hitchin's kitchen) or a horse (Party Politics is the meeting room) and I was mesmerised by the murals that have been painted by a very talented artist called Jess Arthur.

Can I point out that this is a mural, NOT a photo! :)

Today we visited the garden at Rooksnest, a large house a mile or so away, as the garden was open in aid of charity.

The gardens were beautiful, the house is stunning.

Can you guess what is inside the building with the tower? Bet you can't...

It's an indoor swimming pool with a water slide inside the tower - yes really! A small Disney waterpark in Lambourn Woodlands...

To top everything, I saw the first swallows of summer in the stableyard at Rooksnest!

Roll on summer...

Thanks Judith!

http://poppycottage.blogspot.com/ has kindly given me a "makes my heart smile" award. Thank you so much Judith! Judith is another fan of Graphicus and their Elusive Images stamps, check out her blog for some lovely work.

Please award yorself the Heart Smile logo if you're reading this, I love to read EVERYONE'S blogs :)

Ismaki Challenge 27/04 - sketch & violet

Ismaki has a great sketch to use for this week's challenge, with the twist that there must be some purple included in the card. I've used a new stamp set that I bought at Ally Pally last week from Dimension Fourth The set is their Parisian stamp set and it includes a map of Paris, a little dog, and the threee stamps I've used here: Ooh La La, Eiffel Tower and the woman drinking cafe au lait.

This is the first time I've bought from Dimension Fourth. They sell clear stamps that I'm really liking using. They give a sharp image and seem to take various inks happily without the problems I've had with a better known brand. I think you'll be seeing more of Dimension Fourth on here... :)

I've watercoloured the woman in purple and edged the oval with chalk ink. The Eiffel Tower and the text are stamped in Adirondack Eggplant onto a greyish purple cardstock from the Stamp Attic, it's the plain side of one of their lovely florals. The cardstock was edged with a decorative blade on my paper trimmer.

The flowers are made from Bazzil bling and the cardstock, using two flower punches. I've stamped leaves behind them I' don't have anything to cut leaf shapes. The ribbon is from Stamp Attic and the sentiment is from a Hero Arts clear set.

Corrosive Challenge #9 - For Mum

It's time to take the Corrosive Challenge again. If you get a chance, please go to Janet's blog and read about her Mom. Janet's Mum died in 05; a few years before, Janet gave her a kidney. I don't know about you, but I see this as a heroic act. Janet you are a hero!

My Mum is still alive and kicking, however we had Mothering Sunday a while ago in the UK so I haven't sent this card to her yet! I've put a card together using Mum's favourite flower, a pansy. I used tapestry stamps to make the main image, with a little yellow Stickles in the centres of some of the flowers. It's mounted onto green card with some ric-rac on it. The letters are from Dimension Fourth, with the pansies stamped onto them, the Glossy Accents applied. This has blurred the pansies and changed the colours, I'm not too keen on this. The letters were curved around a shaping tool and stuck down with silicon glue.

I think the letter may come off and the card undergo a makeover before it gets sent...

Card Sketch A Day - #239

Today another couple of cards that I made for Susan Costanza's blog were published. The theme with the sketch was "split the sentiment". Top card uses a flower stamp from the Craftwork Cards botanicals set. I've used Glossy Accents on the flowers to give them some dimension. The sentiments are from a Hero Arts set and the papers are all from the Stamp Attic, I've used this co-ordinating set a lot.

Thse second card uses the Craftwork Cards botanicals stamps again. The Get Well Soon is all on one stamp, can't remember who makes it. I've split it by masking part of the stamp with a Post-It. The paper is from the Stamp Attic again, I've cut the papers with a decorative blade in my paper trimmer to make it a little different from the first card.

Thank you Debbie

My blogging sister Debbie has kindly awarded me the Renee Award. The Renee Award was created by Bella (bellasinclair.blogspot.com) and Ces (cesandherdishes.blogspot.com) who wanted to show appreciation of the impact their friend Renee made on their lives. This award is meant, according to Bella, to be given to those that, like Renee, are like "the acorn, a small package becoming a tall and sturdy oak giving more acorns, becoming tall and sturdy oaks, giving acorns…".

In Celtic mythology, the oak was the tree of doors, a gateway between worlds. So, I am passing this on to other artists that have inspired me with their art and their kindness in my growth as a papercrafting artist."


Mostly I ask all who read my blog to receive an award but I feel this one is a little special. So I'm passing it on to:

Danni

Joan

Judy

Karen

Leslie

Vanja

Viv

Thank you for your wonderful blogs and your creativity ladies!

Twisted Thursday #8

Twisted Thursday has a great sketch to use this week, with the additional twist of using ribbon - not too tricky :). The challenge is linked to Shirleys2Girls stamps, but you don't HAVE to use one of their stamps. I only have the one (but am getting more!) so I've used a House Mouse image that my stamping sister Janet sent to me.


It's the first time I've used a House Mouse image and I wasn't sure about colours, I think they look ok though... Coloured with water colour pencils, papers used are free ones that came with a magazine. Don't know where the green ric-rac is from, the flowers are Prima ones from the Stamp Attic. The greeting is mounted onto silver mirror card, looks a bit odd on the scan :). Hope you like my first House Mouse card...

Harvest Moon - Penny Black Challenge Anything Goes

Week 46 on the Penny Black Challenge Blog is "Anything Goes". I thought it's be fun to make an ATC for this and got out my wonderful Nature's Dance stamp that featured on most of my Christmas cards last year. I white embossed it onto white card and decided to change the season by sponging it with Distress Inks in all 3 colours that I have :). The moon was masked off with a little bit of a Post-It note and then a little of the straw coloured ink rubbed across it.


The bronze card behind it is wrapped with silk yarn in Autmn colours and some gem flowers that my DH bought me at Christmas are to the right of the ribbon. I'm wondering whether to add anything else...

Guess Hoo? Sketch & Stash Challenge #8

I've managed to finish this in time for the Sketch & Stash Challenge #8, life's been busy but I do enjoy their challenges. I've some new stash, the owl and branch stamps are both from Dimension Fourth, isn't he gorgeous?

The alphabet stamps are oldstash, a freebie set that I got at the Stamp Attic last year, because I spent over £?? in their shop. I can't remember how much, I'm not trying to hide incriminating evidence :)! Never unwrapped them, they came out today. The papers are free papers that came with a magazine.

Owl and branch are stamped with antique grey Versafine and coloured with watercolour pencils, the leaves and the owl's eyes have Glossy accents on them, as does the centre of the flower, which is cut from the free papers.

CPS Challenge 112

I've used a pretty sketch from Card Positioning System's blog challenge to make this simple card. It isn't easy to get a good photo of it, the paper used is silver and black and it looks better in real life! The paper, card flowers and faux brads are all from Craftwork Cards. The two sentiments are both from a Hero Arts set of birthday greetings.

Corrosive Challenges #8 - Words, words, words

Life has rather got in the way of my crafting this week and I realise that I've forgotten to post my Corrosive Challenges card on here :(. This week's challenge is to use the sentiment as a focal point and not add images.


I've made a very simple card with Basic Grey papers. The sentiment is gold embossed onto cream card and I've striped Basic Grey across the card, cutting out extra gifts and putting them onto foam pads to raise them up. The sentiment stamps were bought from Imagepac at a show ages ago, they are a large set of Christmas messages that's really useful to have.