DT Post - Phindy's Friday Challenge #8 - Happy Birthday!

Hooray for Friday, it's a lovely sunny day and I don't have to work today! It's also time for the Phindy's Place Friday Challenge, which this week is to make a birthday card or a birthday project. You can never have too many birthday cards and there are certainly images to suit everyone in Phindy's shop, check out the DT's cards, not one uses the same image:).

I based my card on sketch #68 from Inspirational Card Sketches, they are having a choose your own sketch week. I enjoyed looking through the old sketches and then picked the one from last week after all that lovely browsing! My colourscheme came from Paper Sundae's kraft and blue challenge.

Kraft always seems to me as though it should be on a fairly clean & simple card and also this isn't an image that wants too much fuss around it. So I coloured Love Letter with Copics and edged it with Distress Inks. The DP behind it is Basic Grey, seniments are Papermania. The kraft paper has a pattern so I used the WS and I've stitched in white to fill in those wide empty spaces:).

DT Posting - Twisted Thursday #59 - Baby blues - use BLUE on your card

This week the S2G DT is all about babies and weddings; this week we're having fun with the adorable baby images available in the shop. I've made a fun gatefold card that gives the fabulous Celebrations image centre stage on my card. DP was a freebie from a magazine, the lacy ribon is from Stamp Attic. Image coloured with Copics. I hope you'll play along, the twist is for your card or project to use the colour BLUE. You don't have to make a baby card, you just have to use some blue!

Please check out the challenge blog for full details and be sure to 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, Jane,Jeannie, Judy and Lisa.

I won 2 challenges!

Woo hoo! I was lucky enough to find out about winning two challenges today: first Isabella's Sketchbook which sadly isn't getting as many entries as it might right now. She has lovely images, well worth checking out. Then I found I won at Totally Papercrafts too - wow maybe I should have done the lottery today LOL! Both are Random.org selections, so no skill involved I'm afraid:).

The least and most - what WAS I thinking of?

I've just completed this card and I'm really not too sure about it. Mmm... here goes:). My crafting friend Val was kind enough to bring over her new Sweet Pea stamps recently and I was the first to get them inky, stamping a few sheets of images. I've been rather shying away colouring these challenging images, there are some wonderful cards around made with them. First go was in conventional green and pink and looked ok-ish. I discarded it when I found a smudge that looked like a failed tattoo on her shoulder:).

So then I thought about the Crafty Cardmaker's Challenge which is to use your least favourite and most favourite colours, which is how I ended up with orange and green LOL! Don't get me wrong, it's quite a fun combo and I think the fairy looks great as a redhead. But then I've spent most of the day trying to find DP to work with this rather unusual colourway, ended up with Basic Grey Eskimo Kisses Christmas DP and some Basic Grey orange from the Green at Heart pad. A little odd, no? I'm also entering it for the Totally Gorjuss Challenge of Wings - and notice that one of their DT has a rather more polished version of the same image! Nice card Gez;). I've used this week's Card Patterns Sketch for my card's layout.

I'm fairly pleased with my first colouring attempt, these seem to need a dramatic background, so I gave it purple and went over it with light orange, which gave it a glow. Colouring is Copics and Stickles and when I'd finished I saw a tiny mark on the image so I oversprayed the whole card with gold Glimmer Mist as a kind of fake tan to disguise the blemish:). The ribbon has dots on the RS, which looked too strong so I used the wrong side. Sentiment is Hero Arts. What do you think? Hit or miss?

Life's just beachy

I love this image from Isabella's Sketchbook, I have a couple of these vintage-style beach ladies, this is how a trip to the seaside should be:). It's for Isabella's Challenge this week, which is based around Memorial Day for those who celebrate it and patriotic colours for those who don't. I've used the red, white and blue theme and, instead of Memorial Day, we have the Spring Bank Holiday which should be glorious sunshine and picnics. You'll note that I said should, LOL, it's grey and chilly here and all that you can say is that it's not raining - yet!

I've used a sketch from the Pixie Cottage Challenge for my card, haven't come across their site before. Charisma Cardz has a Going in Circles Challenge, Stamptacular Sunday has Life's a Beach as their theme this week, Cupcake Craft Challenges' theme is Summer Delights and Cute Card Thursday wants us to use no designer papers.

Image is coloured with Copics and cut out. The backgound is made from paper that has been Glimmer Misted. Sentiment is Elusive Images. I've set eyelets into the red circle - woo hoo - finally worked out how to use the setting tool, the white card is dry embossed with a CB folder.

What's cooking? Corrosive Challenges DT Post

This week's Corrosive Challenge is such a fun theme - What's Cookin'. I used my new Phindy Image, Celebrate with Cake, you can buy her here. The card is based on this week's Friday Sketcher's Challenge and uses My Mind's Eye DP and a scrap of dry embossed cardstock. Don't look too closely at the embossing, the bird on the pattern is turned on its side! Image coloured with Copics, roses are Prima, sentiment is Craftwork Cards. Machine stitched around all DP.

The slice of cake is from a template from Cathie Shuttleworth, I saw her stand at the NEC and bought this just last week, cute isn't it?

My card is also entered for Digital Tuesday's Cute People Challenge, the JUGS Wild Card Dry Embossing Challenge and Polka Doodles' Sew and Sew Theme .

Long Fair Plaits

I've made a card for this week's Lili of the Valley Challenge, using their gorgeous stamp of a girl on a swing. I feel that I have to do something about the sheer quantity of cards that I have, last night I sat down with boxes of them and sorted them into saleable - or not. Happily there were a lot more in the first pile:). I found a couple of cards that used this image and remembered how much I like it - so here it is getting another airing! I've sent for polythene bags for cards, not sure of the best way to sell them, we shall see... Also today we went to Ikea and bought lots of lovely storage - for DH's flytying stash and for my crafting stash. So watch this space:).

The card follows Bev's pretty sketch and is fairly simple. Image is coloured with Copics and edged with Distress Inks, DPs are Papermania from an A5 pad, flower is an E-line Prima.

This card is also an entry for Paper Sundae's Favourite book/poem/fairytale challenge. I loved to read books by Monica Edwards as a child. Both her series set in Sussex and the one in Surrey featured girls with long fair plaits, though Lindsey cuts her plaits off to try to make money to fence her beloved yew tree on the farm after cattle are poisoned by it. I see this as Lindsey on her swing in the yew tree. I still have the books and they are being republished so that at last I have the set, as well as a biography of Monica Edwards, from which I learnt that the girl with the plaits is Monica's daughter, Shelley, who sat for many of the drawings in the books.

DT Post - Phindy's Friday Challenge #7- Buttons or Brads

This week's Phindy's Friday Challenge is to use either buttons or brads on your project - or both! That's a really easy challenge that fits a multitude of Phindy's lovely images, so let's see lots of lovely entries to the challenge this week. I used a really sweet, vintage style image called Celebrate with Cake, you can buy it here. I followed the sketch from the Truly Scrumptious Challenge and also the recipe at Dutch Dare which is to use 2 patterned papers, 3 colours and 4 buttons. It's a celebration card so it also fits the theme at A Spoonful of Sugar.

Image is coloured with Copics and edged with Distress Inks. The DP is My Mind's Eye, couldn't resist these new papers when they came in at my local stamp shop. Sentiment is Hero Arts, I made the flower with Bigz dies and I added my buttons around the image.

Candy alert - Lili of the Valley

Check out this AMAZING candy, here is the info:
"Tuesday 1st June is the date for the fabulous new release from Lili of the Valley, there are 12 new designs – 4 Dressing Up Girls, 4 Boys, 2 Babies and 2 Get Well Designs, they will also be reducing Overseas Postage to £3.5o and orders of £25 will get free shipping from 1st June. As an extra special promotion the really generous and sweet Lisa and Laila have given us a whole set of the new release to offer as candy to one of our lovely followers, this candy is open from Thursday 27th May until Midnight on Saturday 29th May so you only have 3 days girlies. All we ask you to do is post about this gorgeous new release and link back to here on your blog . Best of luck to you all and a big thanks to Laila and Lisa."

DT Posting - Twisted Thursday #58 - Hooray for Dads

This week Twisted Thursday Challenge is all about Dads, the challenge is to make a card for the special man in your life (doesn't have to be your Dad) and to use a masculine image. They have a lovely new release of digis, and since my DH is a fisherman I got a head start on cards from the boys with Big Fish, which you can buy here. I coloured my fish my Copics, some Stickles and lots of Glossy Accents. The tape with the fishing flies printed on it comes in beige, I've coloured it deep bluey green with my Copics, the flies show up better in real life. DP is Daisy Bucket and my sentiment is made-up and computer generated.

Please check out the challenge blog for full details and be sure to 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, Jane,Jeannie, Judy and Lisa.

A tale of two stamps

I'm lucky enough to have a DH who will go to the local craft shop and buy me things for birthday and Christmas. Last Christmas he bought me a really unusual Hero Arts stamp, the first of the Clings that I had seen, a negative of a field of flowers. I stamped it out a few times and really liked it, brayered inks across the surface and did a few other things. Set it to one side, as you do, then when I wanted to use it, around March time, it had vanished. I turned my craft room upside down, DH looked everywhere, I looked everywhere, with no luck. In the end, yesterday, I admitted defeat and bought another Cling as a substitute. I joked in the shop that now I'd bought another the original would turn up. This afternoon, lifting down one of my ring binders of stamps, I noticed something on the shelf. Yes, the Cling had reappeared on the shelf that had been searched many times. Deeply weird; perhaps it was abducted by aliens who wanted to make cards...

So in celebration of its return I've made two cards:).
Card number 1 uses the new Cling of a bird in a circle on top of text. I've cut out and popped up the circle; flowers and bird are coloured with Copics, the background are sponged with Distress Ink. I used my MS hydrangea punch on the bottom of the mat for the image, the DP is Basic Grey Capella, I've dry embossed a couple of bits of pink pearlescent card and addded pearls to the centres of the flowers.

This card is for Sketch Saturday's Challenge, and it's colourscheme is based round this week's Simon Says Challenge of Pink or Blue with Green and Brown. My greens look a bit greyish but they are green! This week's ABC Challenge is V is for Vintage, Create4Fun has the same theme of Vintage and the theme at Quixotic Challenges is embossing.
Card two uses the original stamp on this week's Mojo Monday sketch. I've inked it with Distress Inks and added some gems to the daisy centres. They are yellow in real life, the photo isn't great. DP is K&K, sentiment is Craftwork Cards and ribbon is from stash.

Too many berries

This House Mouse image needed a simple sketch, it's quite large and busy, so I was really pleased to see this week's sketch at Inspirational Card Sketches, it's ideal. My mouse is meant to be saying "Goodbye" for the House Mouse Challenge this week, they've got a blog hop and all sorts of prizes. But I think he looks more like a mouse with indigestion than a sad mouse saying farewell:). I'm also entering this for Totally Papercraft's photo inspiration challenge, thanks for the heads-up Lols:).

Image is coloured with Distress Inks, edge is distressed and its mounted onto Bazzill Bling. Sentiment is computer generated, DP, border and sticker are Basic Grey Nook & Pantry.

Elegant Maribel

This is a stunning Stempelglade stamp called Maribel that my friend brought across when we had a crafty day last week, isn't she beautiful, she needs very little adding to make a gorgeous card. I've used her for Sketch & Stash's Challenge. As ever, they want to know neglected and new stash: I've used new Basic Grey Capella DP, new Prima flowers bought from Quixotic Paperie and the sparkly adhesive ribbon across the card is neglected stash; a Laura Ashley set I bought and haven't used. Sentiment is an Elusive Images stamp.

I coloured Maribel with Copics and sponged Distress Ink all around the image. Couldn't find a Nestie that fitted the image so I used the deckle edged rectangle and kept moving it till I had the size and proportions I wanted, working on one side at a time. I'm entering this for the Basic Grey Challenge to use a punch (hope the Nestie counts?)

Summer Flowers

Geraniums are so evocative of summer, that lovely scent that they give off when they are bathed in sunshine is second to none. Today I've had a day off work and filled my pots and tubs with geraniums and other tender plants, I just hope the summer is as kind to them as it is today:).

This lovely image is from Isabella's Sketchbook and I'm entering their birthday card challenge with it. The sentiment underneath is Hero Arts. Image is coloured with Copics and the DP is Basic Grey Green at Heart. Card candy is from Craftwork Cards. The sketch is from Card Patterns
Challenge I'm also entering it for Papertake's say it with flowers challenge.

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...

Today is about...

The weather has been just gorgeous today, far too nice to spend time in my craft room:). Took a picture of the wisteria this afternoon, how often do you see a sky this blue in England in May?
We went plant shopping with a voucher that we got at Christmas (and a bit of help from Visa) so instead of inky fingers I have earth stained fingers.The card that I have to show you came from a lovely crafty day with my friend Val. We had lots of creative plans but again we were slightly scuppered by the weather, we kept escaping outside to enjoy the sun:). I bought some journalling sentiments from Elusive Images, although I don't have a journal:). Don't know why, but they called my name...

This card isn't a million miles from something that Glenda Waterworth (Elsuive Images) blogged when she released the stamps. I put as many sentiments as I could onto a large arylic block in a very loose, sort-of order and stamped it in Dusty Concrd Distress Ink. I sponged Distress Inks onto the background and used a glue pen and Glamour Dust to highlight some of the words. Matted it onto dark purple card and made a flower from a Woodware punch with a bit more Glamour Dust and a silver brad. I made this for Quixotic Challenge's "How Sentimental" and it's also entered for Secret Crafter's Challenge which is No Patterned Paper

DT Post - Phindy's Friday Challenge #6 - Masculine Card

It's Friday, the sun is shining and thank goodness it's the weekend. It's time to take Phindy's Friday Challenge, this week it's to make a masculine card or project. I think this has been my most unproductive week for cards ever, I've just not been inspired. However here's a card I've been thinking about making for ages, with one of DH's fishing flies attached for a present. In reality, when it's sent, it will have several smaller, more useful flies attached, but to take the photo I've used one of the larger more colourful flies so that it shows up:).

The lovely image is simply called "Fishing", you can buy it from Phindy's Place here. Image is coloured with Copics and edged with a bit of Broken China Distress Ink. I chose to work with the Card Patterns Sketch for this week, it's clean and uncluttered, just right for a masculine card:). DP is My Minds Eye, the edge is punched with the first Martha Stewart punch I ever bought, which I think is called Arabesque, which gives a lovely wave effect. The fly is hooked into a piece of ribbon from stash, I'm told it is called a Dentist's Delight :)! Charisma Cards' theme is 3D this week, the fishing fly works perfectly for this.

I opted to decorate the inside of my card as the sentiment stamp I wanted to use is too big for the front of the card, so I'm entering it into Crafty Cardmaker's Inside Out Challenge. Can't remember where the stamp came from I'm afraid, bought it at Ally Pally a year or so ago. Dareu2Digistamp has One for the Boys as it's challenge for this week as does Creative Cottage, so I'm entering my card in their challenges too. One last challenge to nail with this card: Allsorts Challenge is celebrating its brthday with a birthday theme.
I hope you'll join us over at Phindy's Place this week for our challenge. Phindy herself is away at present, her sister is gravely ill in hospital. please keep them in your thoughts and if you'd like to send a card to Gerry, Phindy's sister, there is information in the PCP group here.

Twisted Thursday Challenge #57 - Favourite Colour

It's time for Shirleys2Girls' Twisted Thursday Challenge and this week the twist is to use your favourite colour. My favourite colour is blue and I've decided to go monochrome with my blue card. You don't need to though, as long as you use some of your favourite colour then you've nailed the twist and you're in the challenge:). Please check out the challenge blog for full details and be sure to 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, Judy and Lisa.

I based my card on the sketch at Card Positioning Systems, adding a bit to the RH side of it. I'm also entering the Copic Creations Challenge to make a monochrome card. The image and sentiment are a S2G image called Taking a Break, you can buy it here. Image is printed onto Basic Grey DP and then onto plain white cardstock. The white version was coloured with shades of blue and grey/blue, cut out and added to the blue DP image. Background DP is My Minds Eye, image is secured to it with brads. The thread I've added to it is hand dyed perle thread from my stash.

DT Posting - Corrosive Challenges #64 - Easel Card

It's time for another Corrosive Challenge - this week the challenge is to make an easel card. I've made a few of these now, I'm getting the hang of custom measurements. However this is an easy one, I've used a standard square card and added the front onto it.

The image is one of my favourites from Isabella's Sketchbook, click on the photo and you can read the words: "With a lot of coffee and a bit of chocolate there isn't a problem that can't be solved". I'm entering my card for the Isabella's Sketchbook Challenge, which is to use the background colours of their blog for a project.

Card is printed onto DP, the bow coloured with Copics and the cup and saucer paper pieced and coloured with Copics. The flowers come from Quixotic Paperie and I've punched the ferns from Bazzill card. All DP is Basic Grey, the card candy is from Craftwork Cards..

Sweet summer sun

This card began with the background, another Distress Ink experiment. It made a lovely beach scene so I used one of my Isabella's Sketchbook digis, colouring her with Copics and cutting her out and adding her to the background. I drew the lines back in on the sand using a Pigma pen.

I've used the Sketch Saturday layout for my card, which I'm also entering for One Stop Craft Challenge's theme of Summer Breeze. Basic Grey's Challenge this week is Punch It; I've created flowers using my DP and assorted punches. Crafty Cardmakers has Distressed for its theme this week so the background fits their challenge too. One final challenge: DareU2Digistamp has the theme Anything Goes.

The background is Broken China and a little Weathered Wood at the top, with Scattered Straw and Spiced Marmalade below. I've splashed plenty of water on with my fingers to get the colours to run together. The DP is Basic Grey Cupcake, the sentiment is from Elusive Images.The flowers are made with 2 Woodware flower punches and the smallest Nestie circles.