The Great Leveller

I ♥ Promarkers - Sketch week

2012-02-29T08:00:00.041Z

Mornin' :) Today sees the start of a new challenge over at I ♥ Promarkers, where we have a really lovely, and simple sketch to follow. I say simple...... but I just couldnt resist adding lots of embellies to mine! lol.

We are sponsored this week by one of our regular sponsors - Digi Doodle Shop and the DT were given some lovely images to play with.

I actually chose the above image, as my poor dog Kevin took a wee tumble down the stairs and hurt his leg, and has had to have a bandage on it over the last week. It wasnt serious, and its almost better, but I guess I made this with him in mind :) awww!

I used Papermania papers, Marianne dies, and MS butterfly and border punch.

I will be entering this card in the below competitions:

Allsorts challenge - Its Your Choice

Moving along with the Times - Layers

2 Sisters Challenge - Anything Goes

Lexis Creations - Monochromatic

Simon Says Stamp - Anything Goes

Creative Inspirations - Anything Goes

Thanks so much for looking at my blog today, and all the lovely comments, they really are appreciated. My internet has been pretty poor over the last couple of days, but I will be catching up later :)

Sweet Stampin - Masculine

2012-02-25T08:00:00.077Z

Good morning fellow bloggers and happy weekend! :)

Today is the start of our new challenge at Sweet Stampin and this weeks theme is 'Masculine'. We are sponsored by the wonderful Quixotic Paperie (which I love!) and so its a really brilliant prize! :)

Now, I am not an impulse buyer of stamps - at all. I prefer to have a (very long) wishlist, and then just get my favourites when I can, but I saw this cute little Nellie Snellen stamp last sunday and without even knowing it I had ordered it! :D lol! I just 'HAD' to have this - I soooooooo wanna cuddle him! Little boys have to have cheeky grins, lots of mischief and mud on their faces, and think this is just adorable. :)

It also turned out to be quite handy, because I really struggle with male themed cards, and never know quite where to start, and quite how to finish ;) lol.

My Cameo gets all the credit for this card, it cut out the layered shutter doors, the sheriff's badge, hinges and even the 'Wanted' sign. I just distressed and hand-stitched HOTP papers and then added some brads, button brads (HOTP) and extra stitching on the border. The charm was from my generous blogging buddy Abi which was so perfect for this - thanks hun! :)

I am entering this card in the following competitions:

Stamptacular Sunday - Charm Me

Dream Valley - Just for Men

Crafters Companion - Anything Goes

Papertake Weekly - Gettin Krafty

Creative Card Crew - Masculine

Do You Stack Up - Distress

Crafty Catz Weekly - 'B' - My B is for boys, buttons and brads

2 Sisters Challenge - Anything Goes

Moving Along with the Times - Layers

Bunny Zoe's Challenge - Celebrations

Paper Sundaes - Birthday

Thanks so very much for looking at my blog today, and I hope everyone has a really smashing weekend!

Charisma Cardz - ♥ Love is in the Air ♥

2012-02-23T08:00:00.053Z

Good Morning fellow bloggers! :) And yes, I am back today in a much better mood! See my post below if you have been experiencing the same blogger issues as me, as I found another temporary fix! :) You cant keep a determined girl down! ;) lol!

So, this card is for our new challenge starting today over at Charisma Cardz where our theme is ♥ Love is in the Air ♥. We have 2 great sponsors this week, the ever generous and wonderful Joanna Sheen, and the brilliant DigiStamp Boutique.

I used another gorgeous Lili of the Valley stamp which had been on my wishlist for ages, and I finally snapped it up when it was on offer. I went all out for a bit of colour on this, and it is quite bright for me. I hand-stitched and distressed K&Co papers, used Spellbinder, Joy and Marianne dies, and an MS punch. The flowers are WOC, and the ribbon is Joanna Sheen.

I will be entering this card in the below competitions:

Totally PaperCrafts - Ribbons and Bows
Allsorts Challenge - Anything Goes
Emerald Faeries - Tag it
Crafters Companion - Anything Goes

Thanks so much for looking at my blog, and I hope everyone has a smashing day :)

More Blogger issues and another temporary fix! :(

2012-02-22T23:29:00.002Z

So, last night and all day today I have been unable to write a post. All I see is a spinning widget and the text box that never loads. I am not alone in this, as its affected many people these last few days.

I still believe that this constant stream of 'new incompatibility issues' for users of Internet Explorer are a determined and manipulative move to make us all switch to Google Chrome.

I will not be bullied into switching browsers!

So, after much research and moaning (lol) I have discovered a wee fix until blogger fix it.

If you are experiencing the same problem as me and have a 'compatibility button' (situated top left) on your address bar like the one below:

then as soon as you enter your 'edit post' page, click the icon and it should fix it.

It worked for me :)

Hope this helps, if you are stuck,

I ♥ Promarkers - Dandelion Clock

2012-02-22T08:00:00.077Z

Well this post almost didnt get written. Blogger has been a right nightmare for me today and I nearly chucked the towel in as it got to 1am and was still unable to edit my post. :( I was literally sat in tears - tut!

Anyway, today sees the start of a new challenge over at I ♥ Promarkers and our theme this week is 'Time'. We are sponsored this week by the fabby Crafty Emmas Store so well worth playing along! :)

This challenge had me scratching my head for days - lol! I had no idea how to interpret the theme with what I had, but eventually settled on the gorgeous 'Dandelion Clock' stamp by Lili of the Valley. I love this stamp!

I used some marble sky glitter card for the backing, and cut lots of little dandelion type flowers from a Marianne die. I then added irridescent MS tinsel glitter, layering them up and slotting into the back of another Marianne die. I was aiming for it to resemble a clock! lol. The border die is Memory Box and the doily die is Nellie Snellen.

I am entering this card in the below competitions:

Crafts & Me - Shades of Spring - I thought the stormy sky backing paper was perfect! lol
ABC Challenge - J = Jazz it up - glitter and bling
Do You Stack Up - Layers
Bunny Zoe's Crafts - Celebrations
Crafty Catz Challenge - My Favourite Things - Dies! :)
Allsorts Challenge - Anything Goes
Paper Sundaes - Birthdays
Cute Card Thursday - Flower Power - Mr Google says dandelions are flowers, lots of little ones :)
Thanks so much for looking at my blog today, and I will be back again tomorrow with another card :)

Nature - I ♥ Promarkers :)

2012-02-15T08:00:00.018Z

Good Morning :) Today is the start of our new challenge over on I ♥ Promarkers and our theme is 'Nature'. We are sponsored this week by the generous Stampeezee who are giving our winner a fab £10 voucher to spend on their online store.

For my DT card, I used a lovely Teddy Bo image, as it was perfect for the theme, and coloured with my PM's. I cut the below stencil out of bazzill card on my Cameo, and then chalked and inked through onto some plain textured ivory cardstock for my backing. This is the first time I have tried this technique and was quite pleased with the soft and natural look. I also sprayed it with perfect pearls from a mister, so its slightly shimmery IRL. I then bunged the used stencil on the back of the card - waste not, want not! :D

The dies are a mix of Doo-Hickey, Spellbinder and Memory Box, and the quote is from a poem by W.H. Davies, which often seems to rattle around my head when I am walking my dogs. I still havent seen where a squirrel hides its nuts tho! :D

I am entering this card in the below competitions:

The Stampman Challenges - Texture

Sir Stampalot Challenges - In the Garden

Allsorts Challenge - Free and Easy February

Moving Along with the Times - Cute Critters

Simon Says Stamp and Show - Anything Goes

Thanks so much for looking at my blog today and for all your lovely comments, they really make my day,

CAS at Sweet Stampin' - EEK!!

2012-02-11T08:00:00.058Z

Yay!!.....Happy Weekend! :)

Now our new challenge over at Sweet Stampin today is CAS!!... A genre I particularly excel at - NOT! :D lol! We are sponsored this week by Stamp Addicts Shop who are giving a brilliant prize to the winner, and I hope we see lots of fabby entries as I could do with the inspiration :)

I admit to being in a panic over this CAS malarky, as to me, its not about how to start, its about when to stop. I cant resist just adding stuff and whooshing around with dies, flowers, bling and what-not. Anyway, I have had this old wooden rubber stamp for years and it was the first time I had used it. That in itself proved quite a trial and a real challenge to finish up with an image I was happy with. It took me about 12 attempts using various ink pads and colours, but the Versafine Black Ink pad proved champion and it literally knocked spots off the others when it came to fine detail.

Not much else to say about this card, as it was quite simple. I will try to resist finishing it later! LOL.

I am entering this card in the below competitions:

Simon Says Stamp - Love is in the Air

Paper Sundaes - CAS

Sentimental Sundays - Feel the Love

Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes

Do You Stack Up - Love

Dream Valley - Valentine

By The Cute and Girly - Love is in the air

Creative Inspirations - Lots of Love

Totally Gorjuss - Lurve

Thanks so much for looking at my blog and have a smashing weekend! :)

Things with Wings - Charisma Cardz

2012-02-09T08:00:00.038Z

Back again today with another card :)

Our new theme over at Charisma Cardz this week is 'Things with Wings', (which I love!) and we are sponsored by Crafty Emmas Store, Crafty Ribbons and Washi Tapes. You can also enter our challenges on Facebook. :)

Now this is the first time I have used this GORGEOUS Crafts & Me image and I am so addicted to their digis, I cant wait for the first of the month! lol! :D. I dipped back into my scraps box for the papers and card off-cuts (there is even some old Kanban foiled card on this) and distressed and hand-stitched the paper and panels. The image is coloured with PM's and it was just lovely to colour. The flowers are mostly WOC and the dies are a mix of Spellbinders, Doo Hickey and Joy Craft.

I am entering this card in the below competitions:

Crafts & Me - Use a new image

Joanna Sheen Challenge - Love is in the air

Wild Orchid Crafts - Love is. . . . . . . . . . .

Thanks so much for looking at my blog and I hope everyone has a smashing day,

Love is in the Air - I ♥ Promarkers

2012-02-08T08:00:00.065Z

Awww! Forever Friends bears always make me want to hug someone - how scarey is that?!! :D lol

Our new theme today over on I ♥ Promarkers is 'Love is in the Air', and we are sponsored this week by Letraset who are giving the winner a fab pack of Promarkers! :) Brilliant!

For this card I used a great digi-stamp from one of my Forever Friends cd's and printed it 3 times (once on red Bazzill) so I could layer it up. The rest of the work was done on my Cuttlebug and I used one of my favourite Marianne layered dies, a joy craft heart die and a swirly embossing folder. The pearly card is centura from Crafters Companion and its so much more gorgeous IRL!

I am entering this card in the below competitions:

Deep Ocean Challenge - Love You

Do You Stack Up - Anything Goes

Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes + Love

Allsorts Challenge - Free & Easy (2nd entry)

Dream Valley Challenges - Valentine

Bling it On - Love is all around

Emerald Faeries - Be My Valentine

Crafters Companion - Anything Goes

Forever Friends Monthly Challenge - Valentine
Simon Says Stamp - Love is in the Air
Truly Scrumptious - Love & Hearts

Ooh La La Creations - Valentine

Lexis Creations - Love

Kreative Stempelfreunde - Valentine

Thanks so much for looking at my blog today, and I will be back tomorrow with another card,

No DT - Just for me :)

2012-02-04T08:00:00.089Z

I thought I would share this card today ............... just because :)

I dont very often get time to play just for the fun of it, as I am usually trying to work in advance with DT stuff, but I stumbled upon some old vintage photos I bought years ago from Joanna Sheen and couldnt resist just sitting and having a play. All the papers and card used on this are from my scraps box, as I quite often just like to see what I can make from bits and bobs that I didnt want to throw away.

I hand-stitched, distressed and painted scraps of K&Co paper, and it all just kind of fell into place itself after that - lol! :) The chipboard sentiment is also from ancient stash and I just 'ruffed it up' a bit.

I am entering this card in the below competitions:

Joanna Sheen Challenge - Love is in the Air

Crafts and Me - Brighten up your day

Bling it On - Love is all around

ABC Challenge - I = In Pairs - 2 pins

Truly Scrumptious - Love & Hearts

Deep Ocean Challenge - Love You

Do You Stack Up - Anything Goes

Vintage Udfordring - 3d

Creatalicious Challenges - Love

Marianne's Design Divas - In with the new - I used my new Ivy Die by Marianne :)

Thanks so much for visiting my blog today, and have a smashing weekend!

I ♥ Promarkers - Photo Inspiration

2012-02-01T08:00:00.020Z

So, today sees the start of a new challenge over on I ♥ Promarkers and this week we have a photograph for inspiration. We are sponsored by the wonderful and very generous Joanna Sheen, so well worth playing along for :)

I took the image of buttons on the picture (loosely) for my inspiration, as I dont 'do' buttons very often. I used this gorgeous free digi-image from Saturated Canary. Thank you so much Krista! :) The papers are Papermania (mostly from my scraps box) and the buttons are WOC. I used a mix of marianne, doo-hickey and spellbinder dies and coloured with PM's.

I am entering this card in the below competitions:

Saturated Canary - Dies and Punches

Wild Orchid Crafts - Creatures - I hope my little bird on this image is ok, if not then please delete my entry :)

Thanks so much for visiting my blog today, its much appreciated and have a great day,

Sweet Stampin - Animals :)

2012-01-28T08:00:00.025Z

Awww, I was feeling really ready for spring when I made this card, and its not stopped sleeting or trying to snow since! :) lol.

So, our new theme today over at Sweet Stampin is 'Animals', and we are sponsored this week by Di's Digi Downloads, and one of our regular monthly sponsors Joanna Sheen.

I was really chuffed we had this theme, as I always seem to neglect or forget my Penny Black stamps, and they are just lovely to use. I hand stitched the papers - no idea what they are, as they were from my scraps box, and followed Donna's great sketch on the Sunday Sketch & Stamp blog. The letters were cut on my digi-cutter.

I am entering this card in the below competitions:

Joanna Sheen Challenge - Celebration

Sunday Sketch & Stamp - Fabby sketch

Stamptacular Sunday - Seeing spots

Dream Valley Challenge - Animals

Bling it On - New Beginnings

Emerald Faeries - Green & Yellow

By The Cute & Girly - New Beginnings.

Papertake Weekly - Happy Highlights

Simon Says Stamp - Anything Goes

Totally Gorjuss - Welcome

Thanks so much for visiting my blog today, and I hope everyone has a smashing weekend!

Pretty in Pink - Charisma Cardz

2012-01-26T08:00:00.034Z

Back again today with another card to share :)

Todays card is for our new challenge over at Charisma Cardz where this week our theme is 'Pretty In Pink' and we are sponsored by Digistamp Boutique and Crafty Emmas Store. Both fab prizes! :)

I followed last weeks sketch on Just Magnolia and hand-stitched and layered Papermania papers and kraft coloured card. I distressed and inked the edges and then painted with white acrylic paint. The flowers are WOC and they were sprayed with white undercoat model paint, to add to the shabby chic look.

I am entering this card in the below competitions:

2 Sisters Challenge - Embossing - the white pearl paper panel is embossed

Craft Your Days Away - Distressing

Papertake Weekly - Happy Highlights - Glitter

Simon Says Stamp - Anything Goes

Crafts and Me - Pink and Sparkly

Creative Inspirations - Anything Goes

Deep Ocean Challenge - Sparkle

Moving Along with the Times - Bloomin Marvelous

Dutch Magnolia Lovers - Kraft, white +1 colour and embossing folder.

Thanks so much for looking at my blog today, and I appreciate all the wonderful comments :)

I ♥ Promarkers - Purple & Pink!

2012-01-25T08:00:00.024Z

Not a card from me today! :)

Todays theme over at I ♥ Promarkers is Purple and Pink. . . . . . . . . . hmmm, so this had me stumped a bit, cos I am not a big fan of purpaidh (Gaelic for purple) :) We are sponsored this week by the very generous Digi Doodle Shop, and when I saw this Stargazer Lily image I thought it was perfect for the theme.

For a change I made a card wrap, letting my digi-die cutter do most of the work and using a downloaded design. I sized it to 5 x 5 inches and inserted a piece of pale pink card inside to show the details of the cut. The oval is a marianne die and I coloured and decoupaged the image several times for depth. I chalked the edges and inbetween the cuts to soften it off a little. The wrap tucks in at the top like an envelope, as the image secures the other 3 sections. Easy peasy :)

Thanks so much for visiting my blog today, and I will be back again tomorrow with a card,

Anything Goes - I ♥ Promarkers

2012-01-18T08:00:00.066Z

Happy Wednesday! :)

Today is the start of a new challenge at I ♥ Promarkers, and this week it couldnt be easier to join in as our theme is 'Anything Goes'. We are sponsored this week by Digital Downloads where my teamie Lorraine is offering a £10 voucher to this weeks winner. Great prize! :)

I used a gorgeous LOTV stamp and hand-stitched Prima and K&Co papers and bazzil card. I used spellbinder and doo-hickey dies and the image was coloured with PM's. Im not usually a fan of orange, or even warm and spicy colours, but I really enjoyed making this card.

I am entering my card in the below competitions:

Lili's Little Fairies - Use your favourite LOTV stamp. I read on a friends blog that she couldnt choose, and so just put her hand in a bag and drew one out randomly. I did the same! :) I have a box full of them, and they are all gorgeous.

Papertake Weekly - Buttons, bows, bling and blooms

Sketch Saturday - Great Sketch! :)

Ladybug Crafts Inks - Bows

Chocolate, Coffee & Cards - Glitter Latte - 2nd Entry

Deep Ocean Challenge - Sparkle and Glitter

Stamptacular Sunday - Texture

CES Challenges - Vintage

Now, Im still struggling to leave comments on some of my favourite blogs due to the recent changes blogger made to embedded commenting (white screen and crashing). So if you havent had many comments over the last few days please checkout my post below just in case you are affected by these changes and its stopping people from being able to access your blog and comment. :) If we all have pop-ups its also much quicker too ;)

Sweet Stampin - Glitter, Shine & Bling!

2012-01-14T08:00:00.014Z

Morning, I hope everyone has smashing plans for the weekend :)

My card today is for our new challenge over at Sweet Stampin, where the theme this week is 'Glitter, Shine & Bling'. We are sponsored this week by the gorgeous Emerald Faeries, and the DT were given some adorable images to play with. :)

I layered Papermania papers, Marianne, Doo-hickey and Spellbinder dies and just topped them off with some ice diamond glitter and ice blue gems. Pretty quick card to make, as I have been chasing my tail this week! lol :)

I am entering this card in the below competitions:

Dream Valley - Anything Goes

Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes

Chocolate, Coffee & Cards - Glitter Latte

Paper Cutz Challenge - Use any colours you like - I like blue! :)

Thanks so much for looking at my blog today, and good luck to everyone entering the challenges.

Blogger Issues - White screen, no comments - Fix :)

2012-01-13T12:53:00.001Z

Just a quick wee post from me today.

Yesterday my blog wasnt playing nicely, and everytime I tried to access a post from the main page to read comments etc, it just went blank.

I googled blogger issues, and it seems that they have altered the 'threading' in embedded comments yesterday, and many other bloggers were having the same problem.

The easy fix is:

Settings
Comments
Comment Placement - You have to untick the radio button next to Embedded Comments and select 'Pop Up' instead.

This will fix it :) And will allow people to see your blog properly and leave comments. Hope this helps anyone having the same problems.

Edited to add: This will only fix the issue on your own blog, you cant change what you see on others blogs obviously, and this could affect quite a few blogs :(

xxalisonxx

Happy 3rd Birthday - Charisma Cardz!! :)

2012-01-12T08:00:00.017Z

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you!....... :)

Its Charisma Cardz 3rd Birthday today, (Woo!) so we are celebrating by having lots of fabby sponsors and some gorgeous inspiration by every one of the DT! The challenge theme is 'Happy Birthday' and we are sponsored by:

The Stamping Boutique

Santa bought me some gorgeous Magnolia stash for crimbo (lucky me!) and I have been dying to have a good play with it, so I went to town on this card with a cute Tilda and lots of doo-hickey dies. I have also used Spellbinders and Memory Box dies and I hand-stitched Prima papers and inked all the edges.

I am entering this card in the below competitions:

Just Magnolia - Anything Goes

CES Challenges - Anything Goes

Magnolia Down Under - Anything Goes

Magnolia Stamp Lovers - Kraft Card

Magnolia-licious - Anything Goes

Papertake Weekly - Die Cute Special

Crafts and Me - Anything Goes

Dream Valley - Anything Goes

I hope you find time to check out the challenge blog and enter if you can, and good luck! :)

I ♥ Promarkers - Cute & Cuddly

2012-01-11T08:00:00.047Z

Our new challenge today at I ♥ Promarkers is 'Cute & Cuddly' and I am so chuffed that we are sponsored this week by The Stamp Fairy! :) I adore their digi-stamps, so was thrilled to be able to play with one of their fabby images.

I used this adorable Molly Fairy image and she was so lovely to colour. The papers are K&Co, flowers are WOC and the dies are a mix of Memory Box and Marianne. This was quite a quick card for me, as most of the dies were pre-cut when I was testing out my xmas stash! lol!

I will be entering this card in the below competitions:

Wild Orchid Challenge - Anything Goes

Simon Says Stamp - Spots &/or Stripes

Papertake Weekly - Die Cute Special

Thanks so much for visiting my blog today, and good luck to everyone in the challenges.

Charisma Cardz - Over the Rainbow

2012-01-05T08:00:00.000Z

Hope everyone is safe and warm today - the storms have given us a bashing eh? We lost our power again for 2 days (its getting to be a pain lately!) tut, and tonight we have been treated to thunder and lightning! (which I do not like!) :(

Anyway, my bright and cheery card today is for our new challenge over at Charisma Cardz where our theme this week is 'Over the Rainbow' and we have some fabby prizes to be won. We are sponsored by Simon Says Stamp and Crimson Cloud, so well worth playing along, and the rest of the DT's creations are gorgeous, bright and beautiful.

I used a cute digi-stamp from a Country Companions CD (DoCrafts) and matched it with some old rainbow paper and new MS Punch, embossing folder and doohickey dragonfly dies.

I am entering this card in the below competitions:

Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes

Simon Says Stamp - New something (MS Punch)

Paper Sundaes Out with the Old, In with the New - Old Rainbow paper, New MS punch :)

Simon Says Stamp and Show - Show old and new - (as above)

I am still a little behind on my commenting (due to power cuts) but I will definately be popping along this week to catch up. Thanks so much for all the lovely comments, and good luck to everyone entering the challenges.

New Beginnings - Sweet Stampin

2011-12-31T08:00:00.088Z

Oooh - I hope everyone had a smashing time over Christmas! We had a really wonderful few days, but I was banned from entering my craft room - bah! LOL :D

Anyway, I managed to rustle up this card for our new challenge at Sweet Stampin this week, where our theme is 'New Beginnings'. Now you can interpret this in lots of different ways, and the DT have come up with some really gorgeous inspiration for this too. Our fabby sponsor this week is Angel Crafts .

Santa bought me some awesome stash this year, and though I haven't had time to play with any of it properly, I did manage to use my new Silhouette Cameo on this card to cut out the fireworks. The cute image is Mo Manning, and I thought it was perfect for a New Year card. :)

I am entering this card in the below competitions:

Simon Says Stamp - Anything Goes

Crafts and Me - Anything Goes

Cute Card Thursday - Happy New Year

Totally Gorjuss - Happy

Thanks so much for looking at my blog, and good luck to everyone entering the challenges.

HAPPY NEW YEAR! :)

Anything Goes @ I ♥ Promarkers!

2011-12-21T08:00:00.084Z

Morning fellow bloggers :)

So today sees the start of a new challenge over at I ♥ Promarkers and because its such a busy time of the year for everyone, this challenge will run for 2 weeks. It also couldnt be easier to enter as our theme is 'Anything Goes!' :) What a great excuse to test out any new stash we get from Santa! ;) lol.

We are sponsored this week by Di's Digi Downloads, and she has some real cute images to choose from.

I have made this card for my wonderful hubby to give him on Christmas Day. I know he has indulged me and spoiled me rotten this year, and is also taking us out for Christmas Dinner. It takes such a lot of stress away when you dont have to worry about last minute grocery shopping, cooking the perfect dinner and then the dreaded washing up! :) lol.

Best. Present. Ever!!!

I used a cute Fizzy Moon stamp and matching papers, and kept it quite clean and simple looking for me. The dies are Spellbinders and Marianne, and the image is coloured using PM's and Flexmarkers.

I am entering this card in the below competitions:

Totally Gorjuss - For someone special

Crafty Calendar - Cold & Frosty

Deep Ocean Challenge - Warm Wishes

PaperPlay Challenges - Christmas

Do You Stack Up - Winter

ABC Challenge - F = Frosty

Really Reasonable Ribbon - Anything Goes + Ribbon

Crafts & Me - Anything Goes

Papertake Weekly - Last Christmas Card

Simon Says Stamp - Bingo - Ribbon/Gems/Glitter

Thanks so much for looking at my blog today, I am still catching up, and just wanted to say I really appreciate all the wonderful comments. I have been lucky to get quite a few lovely new followers lately, and I always follow back (if I can find a link), so if I haven't been to visit yet, please leave a comment so I can find you :)

Sweet Stampin - Glitter, Sparkle or Bling!

2011-12-17T08:00:00.058Z

Oooh, how exciting is it the week before Christmas? :) We are off out to Glasgow today (my favourite city after my birthplace Nottingham! lol :) and it is truly beautiful. We are only going for a mooch around and to feel xmassy, you dont get the excitement of lights, shoppers and madness when you live so remote. :)

Anyway, onto my card. Today sees the start of a new 2 week challenge over at Sweet Stampin where this week our theme is 'Glitter, Sparkle or Bling', and we are sponsored by the lovely Di's Digis .

For my card I hand-stitched Bo Bunny papers, used Spellbinder and Marianne dies, card candi and my favourite MS doily punch. The gorgeous image is 'Poinsetta' from Crafts and Me and I just enlarged it, and cropped it to focus on just the top part of the image. Thats why I love digis - its like having multiple stamps! :)

Now, I dont get on very well with glitter, and it doesnt like me either. I have ruined many a card when adding the final touches with glitter......... but I found my box of Glitter Art Medallion glitter and its such a fine transparent glitter it was easy to use. There are 3 shades on her wings, and it looks much better IRL.

I am entering this card in the below competitions:

Crafts and Me - Christmas

Simon Says Stamp - Gorgeous Sketch! :)

Stamptacular Sunday - Christmas Glitz

Dream Valley Challenges - Christmas

ABC Christmas Challenge - Yippee its xmas

Creative Craft Challenges - Stitching

Cute Card Thursday - Stripes

Passion for Promarkers - Mega Xmas Challenge - entry no 3

Papertake Weekly - Fave Xmas colour - I like the traditional colours :)

Thanks so much for looking at my blog today, I will be catching up tomorrow with all my comments :) Good luck to everyone entering the challenges and please checkout the rest of the fabulous Sweet Stampin DT's beautiful work!

Charisma Cardz - Last Minute Xmas Makes

2011-12-15T08:00:00.036Z

Sooooo, Christmas is really marching on its way!... and this weeks theme on Charisma Cardz is 'Last Minute Christmas Makes'. We have mutliple sponsors this week, Meljens Designs, Pretty Little Ribbon Shop and All That Scraps, so lots of great prizes and well worth playing along. The rest of the DT have come up with some great and original inspiration too, so I hope you get time to check it out. :)

For my 'last minute xmas makes' I set my digi-die cutter off and let it do all the work! :D lol. Both of these boxes were available as a download, and I just walked way and left it to it. It took about 15 mins to cut both boxes, and then just about 10 mins to fold them, fill with sweeties and tie up with ribbon. I dangled little Tilda faeries and thought that these were lovely, inexpensive gifts for classmates or colleagues.

I actually have to sell my fabulous digi-die cutter (Silhouette SD), because Santa is bringing me a larger model for christmas. Hubby says I dont need 2, and he is right, so if anyone is interested in buying it before it ends up on ebay, please feel free to email me. I have the box and all the original gubbins (software etc), and as you can see from my blog its created some wonderful things, but has not been over-used at all. It is just 6 months old.

I also thought I would share a pic of the 'Advent Calendar' I made for my very generous husband! :) and he has been taking these in his pack-up for work. They are not normally this full though! lol :D

I designed the label in Do-Crafts Forever Friends software, imported it to my Silhouette software, printed it, cut it and then cut out the numbers in different paper patterns.

I am entering my gift boxes in the following competitions:

Paper Sundaes - Anything Christmas

Just Magnolia - White Christmas

Bunny Zoe's Crafts - Fancy Folds/Shaped

ABC Christmas Challenge - Yippee, its Christmas

Passion for Promarkers - Mega Xmas Challenge - Celebrate christmas - 2nd entry

Dream Valley Challenges - Christmas

Magnolia Down Under - Lost & Found. The red bow was recycled from a chocolate box

Thanks so much for looking at my blog today, and good luck to everyone in the competitions.

I ♥ Promarkers - Blue and White

2011-12-14T08:00:00.020Z

Ooh, it seems ages since I posted a card - I cant believe its been a week! :) I have been quite busy with Christmas preparations though, it gets mental this time of year eh?

Anyway onto our new challenge at I ♥ Promarkers, where the theme this week is 'Blue and White' and we are sponsored by the brilliant Crafty Emmas Store.

I used a stamp I bought ages ago from Crafts and Me (I love this image) and it was really quick and easy to colour. The leaves were cut from the hidden part of the deep lace border and I have no idea how many years I have had this lace, some of it is quite faded. I hand-stitched K&Co paper, used spellbinder dies, ribbon from Joanna Sheen and the flowers are WOC dipped in frosty glitter.

I am entering this card in the below competitions:

Totally Papercrafts - Anything but Christmas

Do You Stack Up - Something old - the lace

Allsorts Challenge - It Takes 2 - 2 colours

Cupcake Craft Challenges - Dont look at the Light/Sparkle
Creative Craft Challenges - Stitching

Chocolate, Coffee & Cards - Celebrate - I think she is off to a masked ball :)

Thanks so much for visiting my blog today, I will be back tomorrow with something a little different :)

No card....... just more weather! :)

2011-12-10T11:31:00.000Z

Just a quick post from me, as I thought I would share this pic. All of the snow disappeared on Thursday morning due to the gale force winds and storm that took out our electricity out for over 30 hours. It was blimming freezin! :) Luckily we only have solid fuel heating, so whilst it was cold, stormy and dark, we managed to keep warm and eat soup! :D I was quite bored though!

This picture was taken this morning from my front door as I waited for the postie. The snow has returned, but nothing like the amount we had last week.

I hope everyone has a great weekend, and now we have electricity and internet back I will be popping round and catching up.

I ♥ Promarkers - Shaped Cards

2011-12-07T08:00:00.057Z

Brrrr!!.... Morning bloggers! :) Anyone else got too much snow??

.......... it started snowing here on Sunday, and hasnt stopped for the last 3 days. We had another 8 inches fall last night (Im not joking!), so we lost our TV and internet. I was quite worried I wasnt going to even get my post finished and we ended up having to bash the satellites with a broom and T-towels in the middle of a blizzard. Of course, it wont make the news, not unless half an inch falls in London and grinds the big city to a standstill... Am I whinging? Probably! :D LOL.

Anyway, onto my card. Our new challenge this week on I ♥ Promarkers is 'shaped cards', and the rest of the DT have made some really inspirational projects. We are sponsored by the uber-generous Joanna Sheen (who has provided most of my xmas presents!) lol, so its a fab prize up for grabs this week.

I used a cute LOTV image (another never before inked stamp) and coloured with PM's and Flexmarkers. The pink paper I have had ages from an old papermania QVC kit (I think) and I kept it quite simple with just a few dies, an MS punch and some Card Candi.

I am entering this card in the below competitions:

Lili of the Valley - Anything but Christmas

Allsorts Challenge - Going round in circles

Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes

Passion for Promarkers - Celebration

Penny Black & More - Happy Birthday

Thanks so much for visiting my blog today, and for all the lovely comments :)

Sweet Stampin - Snowflakes & Snow-people

2011-12-03T08:00:00.033Z

Morning :) finally the weekend.... Yay! Thanks so much for all the lovely comments yesterday and good wishes. The rain appears to have finally stopped - for now (though we have gales and sleet instead!) and the insurance assessor is coming out sometime next week to look at our damaged stuff.

Anyway, onto todays card. Our new challenge over at Sweet Stampin this week is Snowflakes and Snowmen, and we are sponsored by Crafty Emmas Store, so its a brilliant prize :)

I used a fab digi-image from Tickled Pink, coloured with PM's and used different shades of medalion glitter for highlights. The rest of the work was done by Marianne and Doo Hickey dies. The Moonstones are WOC and the backing card I have had years! :)

I am entering this card in the below competitions:

Simon Says Stamp - Anything Goes

Totally Papercrafts - Let it Snow

By The Cute and Girly - Let it Snow

Tickled Pink Challenges - Anything Goes

Thanks so much for looking at my blog today and I hope everyone has a smashing weekend,

Charisma Cardz - Spots

2011-12-01T08:00:00.027Z

Back again today with another card, and its a good thing I had it made at the weekend! I have spent the last 2 days mopping up, emptying buckets and saucepans and drying off towels used to soak up the flooding water coming in all over the house. Its not stopped raining heavily here all week, and what a stormy battering we have had! :(

Anyway, we have a new challenge today over at Charisma Cardz and our theme is 'Spots'. We are sponsored by Simon Says Stamp and Pink Cat Studio so there are some lovely prizes to play for. The DT have created some really brilliant cards, so I hope you find time to check out the blog and play along.

I did an awful lot of die-cutting on this card too - lol! :) I love the frostyville border by Memory Box, and I teamed it with various Spellbinders and Marianne dies. The paper is K&Co and I coloured with PM's.

I struggled to take a good pic of this, and couldnt choose, to I uploaded them all! :D lol.

I am entering this card in the below competitions:

Totally Papercrafts - Christmas

Totally Gorjuss - Sparkle

Bling It On - Its Christmas

Just Magnolia - Red, White & Pink, the DP is red with pink spots (hope this is ok)

Magnolia Stamp Lovers - Red & White

Stamptacular Sunday - Anything Christmas

Simon Says Stamp - Anything Goes

Deep Ocean Challenge - 'C' for Christmas

Colour Create - Red, White & Green

Crafts & Me - Pearls and Swirls

Marianne Divas - Sparkle & Shine. Glitter, and crystals on this.

Thanks so much for looking at my blog today, and good luck to everyone in the challenges.

I ♥ Promarkers - Snowmen & Snowflakes

2011-11-30T08:00:00.009Z

What a wintry week of grim stormy weather we have had up here!! tut! :) Anyway, I hope everyone else is having a smashing week so far?

Now todays new challenge over at I ♥ Promarkers is 'Snowmen & Snowflakes' and we are sponsored this week by Robyns Fetish.

I decided on making a few gift boxes, and spent several happy hours digi-die cutting, die cutting and punching on these. The two smaller boxes are a perfect fit for 4 Yankee Candle T-Lights (I LOVE Yankee Candles!) and all boxes are 1 inch deep, and edged with MS deep snowflake border. The wintry tree background is the negative from a digi-die design and the actual tree is stuck on the bottom. :) The Joy and Noel tags were also done on the digi-cutter and the smaller snowflakes are just the waste from the MS PATP on the larger box. It sounds a lot more effort than it took, as they just kind of evolved - trust me! ;) .......but it was easier to do them all in one go.

I am entering these in the below competitions:

Crafty Catz - Snowmen

Simon Says Stamp - Anything Goes

Totally Papercrafts - Christmas

Stamptacular Sunday - Anything Christmas

Dream Valley - Sparkle

The Ribbon Reel - Anything Goes

Totally Gorjuss - Sparkle

ABC Challenge - D is for Dazzle - I have also used snow white glitter card behind the trees.

Thanks so much for popping by my blog today, and I will have another card to share tomorrow

Anything Goes - I ♥ Promarkers

2011-11-23T08:00:00.037Z

Morning bloggers :) its the start of a new challenge over at I ♥ Promarkers today, and our theme is 'Anything Goes'! You can enter anything at all, as long as you have used your PM's, Flex markers, Aqua Markers or Trias. We are sponsored this week by one of our favourite and generous sponsors - Digi Doodle Shop .

I used Cecil Wrapped Up and opted for a warm golden glow on this card. We all know how hard mirri board, and gold and silver is to photograph, and this pic really doesnt do it justice. I struggled to find a photograph I was happy with and still cant get the Gold Sakura pen to show up! lol :)

(a workman and his tools eh?)

I am entering this card in the below competitions:

Winter Wonderland - What a Cutie

Totally Gorjuss - Swirly Whirly

2 Sisters Challenge - Let it Sparkle

One Stitch at a Time - Anything Goes

Papertake Weekly - Christmas Crackers

Creative Craft Challenges - Free for All

Thanks so much for looking at my blog today, and good luck to everyone entering the challenges,

Happy Birthday Sweet Stampin! :)

2011-11-19T08:00:00.021Z

Its a really special week this week over at Sweet Stampin - its our 2nd Birthday!! Woo Hoo! :) So our theme this week is 'Anything Birthday'. We have fabulous sponsors and prizes this week both for entries to the challenge and random commentors candy too!

To celebrate there are prizes from Saturated Canary, who generously gave us some images to play with this week, and also prizes from Crafty Sentiments Designs, My Creative Classroom, Prairie Fairy Designs, The Craft Room and Tiddly Inks. Whew!.. What a brilliant selection of prizes and lots of chances to win.

So we would LOVE to see your birthday related creations and hopefully you get time to visit some of the other DT's fabulous work, and dont forget, if you leave comments, there are random prizes for that too.

For my card, I have used the Saturated Canary image Zorana and followed closely the sketch from Bling it On. I distressed and hand-stitched Prima Papers and then hand-beaded the MS doily punch borders. I used Roses from WOC, and then hand-beaded the pearl drapes in between. I did take quite a long time on this card, but I really enjoyed making it and found the image just wonderful to colour.

I will be entering this card in the below competitions:

Bling it On - Great sketch

Simon Says Stamp & Show - Women Only

Paper Sundaes - Use a digi.

Craft Your Days Away - Embellishment bingo - I have used Pearls, Flowers, Ribbon. But 2 pins crept in when wasnt looking :)

Thanks so much for visiting my blog today, and I hope everyone has a smashing weekend,

Lace and Pearls - Charisma Cardz

2011-11-17T08:00:00.035Z

Back again today :) Woo, steady, 2 days running! LOL.

So, this week on Charisma Cardz the theme was picked by me, and I chose 'Lace & Pearls'. We are sponsored this week by Some Odd Girl and The Stampin Boutique .

I coloured a gorgeous Sweet Pea image (I bought a plate of 4 stunning facial images) and also splashed out this week and spent £2.20 on some white acrylic craft paint as I have been dying to try this shabby technique for a while. I need to be a bit more heavy-handed and adventurous I think, but I will definately try again. I hand-stitched and hand-beaded Prima Papers, and the pearl pin, metal corner and flowers are all WOC.

I am entering this card in the below competitions:

CES Challenges - Roses and Ribbons

Dream Valley Challenges - Stitching (2nd entry)

Ooh La La Challenges - Bingo - Pearls, flowers, lace

Thanks so much for visiting my blog today, and good luck to everyone entering this weeks challenges,

I ♥ Promarkers - Christmas Trees

2011-11-16T08:00:00.031Z

Hope everyone is having a lovely week :)

Now this weeks theme on I ♥ Promarkers is Christmas Trees, and we are sponsored by Stampeezee who are offering our lucky winner a £10 voucher to spend online. Fabulous prize!

I loved colouring in this little urchin angel by Mo Manning, and knew just what kind of feel I wanted on this card. My only problem was that I dont appear to have very many christmas papers that are not 'in your face christmassy', so I had a good mooch through my stash and found these vintagey papers by K&Co in a 108 page massive pad.

I hand stitched the papers, hand beaded the borders and used a mix of Spellbinder, Marianne and Nellie Snellen dies. The sentiment was found in a crafty bitz bag and I added stickles, glitter and adhesive pearls to the trees and corners.

I am entering this card in the below competitions:

Bunny Zoes Crafts - Anything christmas with pearls
Totally Gorjuss - Christmas traditions
Stamptacular Sunday - Punch it
Truly Scrumptious - Vintage/Pearls
Dream Valley - Stitching
Sparkles Forum Christmas - Angels
Deep Ocean Challenge - Vintage
C.R.A.F.T Challenge - Cute
Totally Papercrafts - Victorian
Crafter's Companion - Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow
Do You Stack Up - Inspired by song - Hark the Herald Angels Sing. My favourite christmas carol ever, it reminds me of victorian carolers singing in the streets, snow, angels and good old Charlie Dickens.

Thanks so much for looking at my blog today, I will be back tomorrow with another card ;)

I ♥ Promarkers - Sketch

2011-11-09T10:08:00.000Z

Morning fellow bloggers :)

Today sees the start of a new challenge over at I ♥ Promarkers, and this week we have a great sketch to follow. We are again sponsored by Letraset, and so have a fabby prize of a pack of ProMarkers for the winner!

I have used a cute stamp from Lili of the Valley, papers from Brenda Pinnick and the metallic corners are WOC. The celtic snowflakes were cut on my digi-die cutter and are sprinkled with frosty glitter.

I am entering this card in the below competitions:

Lili of the Valley - Bright and Sparkly
Crafty Catz - Anything Goes
Papertake Weekly - First Christmas or Christmas Card

Thanks so much for visiting my blog and have a great day :)

Sweet Stampin - Photo Inspiration

2011-11-05T08:00:00.057Z

Wow!...We had a record-breaking amount of entries last week on Sweet Stampin with heaps of really brilliant entries! :) This week we have a photo-inspiration theme, and a really stunning prize of 2 Sugar Nellie Stamps!

This is the inspiration piccie:

Now the colours on my card match the picture a little better IRL, but the light in my window disagreed! LOL

I used a gorgeous Crafts and Me image, and hand-stitched and distressed paper from a Crafty Individuals seaside pad. The carnations are WOC and I threaded wooden beads on the flower-stem twiddly bits. The dies are a mix of Spellbinder and Marianne.

I am entering this card in the below competitions:

Crafts and Me - Inspired by a song - Wishful Thinking, China Crisis.

CES Challenges - Inspired by song - Wishful Thinking, China Crisis

Ooh La La Creations - Stitching

Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes

Crafty Catz - Anything Goes

Totally Papercrafts - Stitch it

Creatalicious Challenges - Distress Edges

Pink Ink Sketches - Great Sketch ladies :)

2 Sisters Challenge - Ribbon

Marianne Design Divas - Dying to die cut

Thanks so much for looking, and have a smashing weekend, and I hope you find time to check out all the other fabulous DT creations too.

Glitter and Glitz - I ♥ Promarkers

2011-11-02T08:00:00.021Z

I had a lovely birthday on Saturday, though the weather was really grim, so thanks so much for the wishes and emails :)

Now todays new challenge over at I ♥ Promarkers is 'Glitter and Glitz', and we are sponsored this week by the very fabulous and generous Joanna Sheen. Awesome prize!

I used a real cute Mo Manning image, another one which makes you smile while you are colouring it, and matched it to some old Brenda Pinnick papers, word stickers and card. The flowers and leaves are WOC.

I am entering this card in the below competitions:

Mo's Digital Pencil - Any celebration/holiday

Totally Papercrafts - Glitter it

Stamptacular Sunday - Borders & Frames

Dream Valley - Anything Goes

By The Cute & Girly - Christmas Girls

Emerald Faeries - Christmas Red

Bah Humbug - Dies - spellbinder frame and borders

Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes + Bling

Creative Inspirations - Lashings of sparkle

Thanks so much for looking and good luck to everyone in the challenges,

Anything Goes - Charisma Cardz! :)

2011-10-27T08:00:00.040+01:00

Back again today with another card to share :)

Now this is an exciting week on Charisma Cardz as not only is it 'ANYTHING GOES!', but we have some very awesome sponsors too! :)

Firstly we are sponsored for the first time by Saturated Canary - WOW!! :) and the DT were given some stunning images to play with. I used 'Gothica' - isnt she gorgeous? Secondly we are also sponsored by the very generous Crafty Emmas Store, (I love that shop!) and our third sponsor is Digi Stamp Boutique.

I distressed and hand-stitched Prima papers, and the dangly is from a section of a deconstructed necklace I bought for 75p from a charity shop (t'was a bargain!) :) I had to cut the image out, following an accident with some ink - tut! lol :)

I am entering this card in the below competitions:

Saturated Canary - Stitching

Emerald Faeries - Flowers

Die Cut Dreams - Charms

Simon Says Stamp - Anything Goes

Thanks so much for visiting my blog today, and dont forget - you put your clocks back on Saturday - I knows this cos its my BD! :)

Tags - I ♥ Promarkers

2011-10-26T08:00:00.007+01:00

Something bright and fun from me today :) as I am fed up of all this dreich weather!

Todays challenge over at I ♥ Promarkers is 'Tags'. Now I often neglect to add a sentiment or greeting to my card, but I do like tags. We are sponsored this week by Digi Doodle Shop who are giving the winner a $10 voucher to spend online. I have used 2 images on this card, raising the speedy snail on top and adding googly eyes.

This card is also another 8 x 8 biggie, and the card base, backing card, candi and flowers were all from Craftwork Cards. I was quite taken by this jolly 'christmas flowers' pack and it felt like a really easy card. The borders and layered tag were cut from my digi-die cutter and the googly eyes and pearls were from stash.

I am entering this card in the below competitions:

Totally PaperCrafts - Layer upon layer

Crafters Companion - Pink and Green

I am just fiddling about with a few blog settings atm, so its currently a WIP. Not sure if I like it or not yet, but if you have difficulty seeing anything please let me know :)

Thanks so much for looking, and good luck to everyone entering the challenge.

Eat, Drink and be Scary! :)

2011-10-22T08:00:00.016+01:00

Morning campers! :) T'is the weekend - Yay!

Now, I love this time of the year. :) Being a Scorpio I likes the dark stuff, and Halloween has always been one of my favourite excuses for getting upto mischief ;)

BOOOO!!................ (lol)

So anyway, our theme over at Sweet Stampin this week is Halloween and we are sponsored by the fabulous Bugaboo Stamps. The DT were all given some smashing digi's to play with, and I loved colouring this kooky image in. There are quite a few Halloween themed challenges in blogland this week, so I hope you find time to play along and check out the other DT's gorgeous creations.

My digi-die cutter did most of the work on this with the webs and spideys, and the orange glitterboard and textured paper was from very old stash. The sentiment I nabbed from the Teddy Bo website on its 'wordy wednesdays' post - they have some great quotes on there. :)

I am entering my card in the below competitions:

Papertake Weekly - Spooky Hues

PaperPlay Challenges - Use Black

ABC Challenge - B is for Boo!

Allsorts Challenge - Halloween

2 Sisters Challenge - Pumpkin Patch

Craft Your Days Away - Halloween Colours

Paper Sundaes - Halloween

Cupcake Inspirations - Halloween

Simon Says Stamp - Inspired by Nursery Rhyme - Itsy Bitsy Spider

Thanks so much for looking at my blog today, and I hope everyone has a great weekend! :)

Cute - I ♥ Promarkers

2011-10-19T08:00:00.013+01:00

Morning :) Hope everyone is having a good week.

So, todays theme for our new challenge on I ♥ Promarkers is 'Cute'! :) and this is another one of my favourites. We are sponsored this week by Crafts 4 You who gave the DT some really fab sentiments to play with. I love using digi-sentiments, as you can resize them as you see fit and either make them the focus of your card, or squeeze them in the smallest of tight spots. :)

I used a really cute Teddy Bo image - I love the elephant in this range, and coloured the image with flex markers for a really soft, cuddly feel. I used Prima papers and an MS doily punch, and this was a really quick card for me.

I am entering this card in the below challenges:

TeddyBo Challenge - Clean and Simple

Stamptacular Sunday - Anything Goes

Simon Says Stamp & Show - Stripes

Thanks so much for looking, and good luck to everyone in these challenges.

Charisma Cardz - Stitching

2011-10-13T08:00:00.004+01:00

Back again today with another card! :) This one is for our new challenge over at Charisma Cardz where this week our theme is 'stitching'. We would like to see real or faux stitching on entries this week, and are sponsored by Some Odd Girl and The Stamping Boutique .

I used a fab image called Alice Mae as she looks just like my neice who is almost 21 :)

This card is 8 x 8 inches (its huge!) and I hand-stitched and distressed K&Co papers, layered, punched and die cut bazzil kraft coloured card, and followed the great sketch over at Sketch Saturday. The flowers are WOC, dies are spellbinder and the PATP is Martha Stewart.

I am entering this card in the below competitions:

Sketch Saturday - Fab Sketch

Saturday Challenge - Anything Goes + sparkle

One Stitch at a Time - Anything Goes

Emerald Faeries - Punches/Dies

Bunny Zoe's Crafts - Lace it up

Creative Craft Challenges - Congratulations

Ladybug Crafts - Tag it

Truly Scrumptious - Distressing

I am currently playing catch-up on commenting this week, but thanks ever so much for visiting my blog today,

Autumn Colours - I ♥ Promarkers

2011-10-12T08:00:00.015+01:00

Yay, Im back! :) Hope everyone is having a great week, and the weather isnt too wet where you are.

This weeks theme on I ♥ Promarkers is 'Autumn Colours', and over the last 2 weeks we have had rainbows, rain, wind, sun and even the first sight of snow on Ben More up here! We are sponsored by Letraset for this weeks challenge, who are generously giving a fab pack of Promarkers as the prize, so its well worth joining in.

I used a gorgeous Sweet Pea image on this card and hand stitched and distressed Prima papers. I used Spellbinder dies and McGill punch for the frondy leaves and the flowers are WOC. The larger leaves are from quite old stash, as is the old necklace bead, and I also used an MS punch for the loop border.

I am entering this card in the below competitions:

Paperplay Challenges - Autumn

Do You Stack Up - Brown

Crafts and Me - Orange

Stamptacular Sunday - So Distressing

One Stitch at a Time - Anything Goes

Emerald Faeries - Punches/Dies

By The Cute & Girly - Anything Goes

In A Sweet Pea Dream - Anything Goes

Stampin for the Weekend - Colours of Autumn

Crafty Cardmakers - Anything Goes

CLP Challenges - Fab Sketch

Moving Along with the Times - Autumn Leaves

Thank so much for looking at my blog today, and I will be catching up later :)

Spooky! - I ♥ Promarkers

2011-10-05T08:00:00.031+01:00

Morning bloggers :)

Today sees the start of a new challenge at I ♥ Promarkers and our theme this week is 'Spooky'. We are sponsored by one of our regular and most fabulous sponsors Joanna Sheen who is offering the winner a £10 voucher to spend online.

I followed the fab sketch over at Saturated Canary and the gorgeous image is Witches Cauldron. The spiderweb background was cut out with my digital die-cutter (and it took blimmin ages!) lol, and the bats were also cut on that. The flowers are WOC, charm and ribbon from stash.

I am entering this card in the below competitions:

Saturated Canary - Fab sketch
Moving Along with the Times - Spooky Halloween
CES Challenges - Gorjuss Pretty girls
Really Reasonable Ribbon - Halloween
Emerald Faeries - Punches and Dies
Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes
Simon Says Stamp - Sparkle and Bling
Allsorts Challenge - Flowers
Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge - Halloween

Thanks so much for looking at my blog today, and good luck to everyone in the challenges,

Lilac and Lace - Sweet Stampin

2011-10-01T08:00:00.011+01:00

How daft has the weather been then!! lol It was so warm here yesterday I took my dogs for a swim and had all the windows open! What a lovely end to the summer :)

Todays DT card is for our new challenge over at Sweet Stampin which is Lilac and Lace. We are sponsored by Tiffany Doodles, and this is such a pretty theme I hope you find time to play along.

I used a gorgeous digi-stamp from Crafts and Me (which I have had for ages!) and the papers are Flowersoft. Flowers are WOC, and the strandy glitter was a freebie with a magazine this week. :)

I am entering this card in the below competitions:

Crafts and Me - Flowers

Simon Says Stamp - Anything Goes

Crafty Catz - Things with Wings

CES Challenges - Totally Gorjuss/Pretty girls

ABC Challenge - Anything Goes - welcome back ABC! :)

Bunny Zoe Challenge - Fab sketch

Allsorts - Flowers

Thanks so much for looking at my blog today, have a smashing weekend and good luck to everyone in the challenges.

Charisma Cardz - Love

2011-09-29T08:00:00.012+01:00

Thanks for putting up with my whinging yesterday :) I often helps to get it off your chest eh? lol

Now then, todays new challenge over at Charisma Cardz is 'With Love'. We are sponsored this week by Digi Stamp Boutique, and the DT have made some really gorgeous creations, so if you get time to pop over and play you should take a look.

This card was quick and simple. Paper is Anna Griffin and I used Spellbinder flowers and frame dies, MS heart punch and McGill branch punch. I paper pricked the edges, and the pearls, charm and ribbon were from stash.

I am entering this card in the below competitions:

Simon Says Stamp - Anything Goes

Magnolia Mania - Photo inspiration

Thanks so much for looking at my blog today, and I will catch up later tomorrow when my internet is turned back on :)

I ♥ Promarkers - Distressing

2011-09-28T08:00:00.020+01:00

Morning :) Never mind about an Indian Summer, we had a monsoon (almost) yesterday! lol.

Anyway, today sees the start of a new challenge over at I ♥ Promarkers, where this week we are sponsored by Digi Doodle Shop and our theme is 'distressing'.

I used this cute image from Digi doodle shop, and distressed, inked and hand-stitched the prima papers. The dies are a mix of spellbinders and marianne.

Now talking of distressing and a bit of a whinge.... again on my favourite subject - my crappy internet and Avanti as an ISP!.

Below is the new price plan for my satellite internet:

So basically, I currently pay £23.50 (+vat) for 25gig a month @512kbps.

They now want to charge me £58.75 (+vat) for the same usage, or drop me down to a measly, meagre and very mean 10gig a month for the same price I am paying now :(

WHAT UTTER PANTS!!! :(

This will absolutely cripple me!... I am so razzed off. I cannot justify (or afford) £58.75 a month for the same amount of internet I get now, its such a rip off!..

Anyway, I just wanted to share that, as sometimes I get a little behind with my commenting, and its mainly down to watching my limit :) I will always visit back, but often I can only pop along a couple of times a week, so I hope everyone understands I have to space my usage out a little. Once they throttle me to 12kbps, the internet is virtually broken for me as it just doesnt load pictures!

I intend to fight them on this, as I am absolutely convinced that the Scottish Executive did not award them the contract for rural broadband and envisage it being this extortionate!

.......and breathe! :)

Now, I will be entering my card in the below competitions:

Sketch Saturday - Brill sketch, thank you.

Simon Says Stamp - Anything Goes

Crafty Catz - Autumn

PaperPlay Challenges - Autumn Leaves

Crafts 4 Eternity - Autumn Days

Thanks so much for visiting my blog today and good luck to everyone in the challenges,

One Stop Crafts Challenge - Easel Cards

2011-09-24T08:00:00.003+01:00

Well, its the weekend! :) yay! I am currently in a brilliant mood after watching Karl Pilkington last night in An Idiot Abroad (my hero!) He makes me laugh SO much! :D

Anyway, our new challenge this week over at One Stop Crafts is Easel Cards :) We are sponsored this week by Stitchy Bear Stamps and if you remember I got this great image from there a while back.

Now, I really like making easel cards, they use up loads of scrap and always look really special, and you can just bung loads of embellies on them! :)

They just arent that easy to photograph! lol.

Anyway the gorgeous flowers are the new spellbinders floral die 2, and I was thrilled with how they turned out!

I used Martha Stewart PATP, Marianne dies, Prima Botanical Papers and the chipboard tags were free with a magazine.

I am entering this card in the following competitions:

One Stitch at a Time - Punch it

Emerald Faeries - Pearls

Ooh La La Creations - Punches/Dies

Paper Playtime - Easel Cards

Simon Says Stamp - Dies to Die for

Crafty Creations - Fabulous Faeries

Stampin for the weekend - What a cutie

Thanks so much for visiting my blog today, and I hope everyone has a fabby weekend! :)

I ♥ Promarkers DT Card - Numbers

2011-09-21T08:00:00.010+01:00

Morning :)

Todays challenge over at I ♥ Promarkers is to create a project with numbers on it. We are sponsored this week by Crafty Emmas Store who is offering one lucky winner a £10 online voucher to spend instore. Fab prize!

I used a super-cute Sugar Nellie stamp for this card, (this stole my heart when I saw it) and followed the sketch over at the Sugar Bowl. The papers are HOTP and the 'Dec 25th' was cut from my digi-die cutter. I also used Marianne and Magnolia dies and an MS snowflake corner punch.

I am entering this card in the below competitions:

The Sugar Bowl - Fab Sketch

Simon Says Stamp - Dies to Die for

Crafts and Me - Stripes

Crafty Creations - Faeries

Cute Card Thursday - Anything Goes

PaperPlay Challenges - Punches & Dies

Bah Humbug! - Flourishes and Swirls

Emerald Faeries - Pearls

Thanks so much for looking at my blog today, and good luck to everyone entering the challenge.

Flowers - Sweet Stampin

2011-09-17T08:00:00.050+01:00

So today over at Sweet Stampin our new challenge is 'Flowers' (with an optional sketch).

We are sponsored this week by Stamp Galaxy and I used a super-cute snowman image from our monthly sponsor, Heather Ellis. An absolute breeze to colour! :)

Im really enjoying making frosty christmas cards atm, and used MME free papers, snow white glitter card, MS snowflake punch and poinsetta dies. The frosty frond branch was cut on my digi-die cutter, and the double-die mat was Nellie Snellen.

Thanks so much for looking at my blog today, and I hope you find time to play along with this weeks challenge,

Charisma Cardz - Sky

2011-09-15T08:00:00.024+01:00

Considering the grey skies we have had this week, it was nice to imagine something blue and clear like this! :) lol.

So, todays challenge over at Charisma Cardz is to have 'sky' on your project and there are some fabulous cards by the rest of the DT, so worth taking a look. We are sponsored this week by Kenny K and Crimson Cloud, so gorgeous prizes too!

I used a cute little Sugar Nellie image, Marianne Dies and some pearls from stash. A really quick card to make as the dies did all the work :)

I am entering this card in the below competitions:

The Stampman Challenges - Monochrome

CES Challenges - Make it Spooky

Simon Says Stamp - Song or Film - Mr Blue Sky (ELO)

Saturday Challenge - Inspired by song - Mr Blue Sky (ELO)

Magical Mondays - Anything Goes

Papertake Weekly - Things with Wings

Creative Inspirations - Anything Goes

Thanks so much for looking at my blog today, and good luck to everyone in these challenges.

I ♥ Promarkers - Travel or Transport

2011-09-14T08:00:00.046+01:00

Hope everyone is not too soggy today? :) We have had so much rain here, its halfway up the field and the river burst its banks about 2 days ago. I dont mind, but I am a bit fed up of putting frogs back outside! :D lol.

Anyway, today is the start of another new challenge over at I ♥ Promarkers, and this week our theme is travel or transport. Our fabulous sponsors again are Letraset, so its a brilliant prize and well worth playing along for.

I used another Kenny K image called Val Ventura and I thought she looked perfect for the theme of travel with some jungle type foliage and papers. Quite a simple card really, the leaves are spellbinders and the flowers are ebay. The papers are Prima Melody and the 'explore' tags are a print and cut embellishment from my digital die cutter.

I am entering this card in the below competitions:

Do You Stack Up - Texture

Die Cut Dreams - Flower Power

Ladybug Crafts Ink - Flowers

By the Cute and Girly - All things bright and beautiful

Thanks so much for looking at my blog, and good luck to everyone in these challenges,

Food and Drink - One Stop Craft Challenge

2011-09-10T08:00:00.019+01:00

G'Mornin :) It's the start of a fabby weekend and a fabby new challenge over at One Stop Craft Challenge today! This week our theme is Food and Drink, and we are again sponsored by Robyn's Fetish.

I love how cosy Forever Friends bears are, so this image seemed perfect for this theme. Its a digi-stamp from one of the FF cd's and I paired it with some HOTP scraps (yep, scraps) Spellbinder and Marianne dies and an MS snowflake punch.

I am entering this card in the below competitions:

Crafty Calender Challenge - Bears

One Stitch at a Time - Use a digi

Christmas Card Challenges - Chocolate, cream and raspberry

Crafters Companion - Christmas Wishes

Forever Friends Challenge - Use your dies

Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes

Thanks so much for looking, and have a great weekend,

I ♥ Promarkers - Metal or Charms

2011-09-07T08:00:00.016+01:00

This card drove me nuts!... I lost the original image I had coloured for these papers and spent so long faffing around looking for them, that I gave up and had to colour this image in in about 15 minutes! I hate rushing too. I suspect one of my dogs thought it looked tasty, but neither of them were owning up ;) lol

Anyway, this is my DT card for I ♥ Promarkers where this week we are sponsored by one of my very favouritest online shops - Joanna Sheen. We had a fabulous response last week to our anything goes theme, and this week we would like to see metal or charms on your designs.

I used HOTP papers, Marianne and spellbinder dies and a christmas tree charm from stash.

Now - hands up who couldnt resist buying any of the new LOTV releases yesterday then? :D It was just so hard to choose, as they were all so gorgeous! I decided to use this stamp after spotting it on the site and remembering I hadnt inked it up before! Naughty me! :D

I am entering this card in the below competitions:

Lili of the Valley - Fab Sketch

Moving along with the Times - Handmade Flowers

PaperPlay Challenges - Make your own flowers

Craft Your Days Away - Make own flowers

Crafters Companion - Christmas Wishes

Thanks so much for looking and good luck to everyone in these challenges.

Anything But Birthday - Sweet Stampin

2011-09-03T08:00:00.020+01:00

Morning :) It feels like such a long week for me, and whilst I have enjoyed the extra craft time due to the internet being off, you really do feel out of touch even after a week! :)

Anyway, today over at Sweet Stampin our theme this week is 'Anything but Birthday', and we have an optional sketch to follow designed by Vicky (which I loved!). We are sponsored this week by Tiffany Doodles and also our monthly sponsor is Heather Ellis. Fi and Abi have got some fab things lined up on the Sweet Stampin challenge blog, so its really worth checking out and playing along if you can, not to mention seeing all the other fab DT creations! :)

For my card, I used another MIC steampunk image, and really got carried away colouring all the folds on her dress. I used Prima papers and hand-stitched them with metallic thread, and also wound it round the cogs for extra detailing.

I am entering this card in the below competitions:

Passion for Promarkers - Anything Goes

Stamp Something - September digi day

I cant wait to see what everyone creates this week, so I hope you can play along. Have a fabby weekend, and I will be popping along to visit everyone soon, as I am still catching up :)

Anything Goes - Charisma Cardz Challenges

2011-09-01T08:00:00.024+01:00

Im BACK!! :D What a rotten week it was without t'internet! :( (My ISP is rubbish!)

Anyway, this is my DT card for Charisma Cardz where this week our theme is 'Anything Goes'! :) We are sponsored by Simon Says Stamp and Pink Cat Studio, and dont forget you can always share your creations on our Facebook page too, where there is often an exclusive mini prize.

Continuing in my theme this week, I have used another steampunk image, this time from Kenny K, and there was so much detail on this it was just lovely to colour. I have again used Prima papers, MS doily lace punch, and the swirly whirly background panel was cut on my digi-cutter. The pearl cluster strips were from QVC and the metal star brads were from ancient stash :)

I am entering this card in the below competitions:

Craft Catz - Metal and Lace

Papercutz Challenge - Wish upon a star (metal star brads)

Totally Gorjuss - As You Like It

Stamptacular Sunday - Divatacular

Creative Card Crew - Anything Goes

Passion for Promarkers - Anything Goes

Truly Scrumptious - Rocked up Pink

Thanks so much for looking at my blog today, and good luck to everyone in these challenges :)

Anything Goes - I ♥ Promarkers

2011-08-31T08:00:00.050+01:00

A quick post from me today, as I am still without internet (but just one more day to go!) :) and so am leeching at my dads, and trying to get everything scheduled for this week.

So, today over at I ♥ Promarkers our theme is 'Anything Goes' :) Couldnt be easier eh? Remember you have to use Promarkers, Flexmarkers or Trias to be able to enter and the prize this week is a pack of PM's.

I used 2 fab images from Make it Crafty's Steampunk collection and they have some really stunning backgrounds that are great to colour too. The main image is Annabelle, and I just loved colouring her skirt, the backing image is Metallic Flowers .

I used Prima papers, spellbinder dies, and the cogs were cut from my digi-die cutter. Peel-offs, pearls and metal brads from stash.

I am entering this card in the below competitions:

Passion for ProMarkers - Anything Goes

Totally Gorjuss - As You Like It

Stamptacular Sunday - Divas with attitude

Creative Card Crew - Anything Goes

Bearly Mine Challenges - Flowers

Thanks so much for looking at my blog, and I hope you have a smashing day.

Anything But Square - One Stop Craft Challenge

2011-08-27T08:00:00.017+01:00

Morning my lovelies :) Another scheduled post from me, as I am still without t'internet until 1st September - (I am really missing blogging) :(

So, this is my DT card for One Stop Craft Challenge where this week our theme is 'Anything But Square', and we are sponsored by Stitchy Stamps. Check out the rest of the DT's creations, they are fab!

Now next week I will be mostly making......'Steampunk' style cards. I had a couple of days practising my colouring and blending with Flex-markers and Pro-markers, and got quite carried away, so I am on a bit of a roll with them.

The flex markers are quite juicy and so I kind of used them for a bit of foundation and fluidity, and as they are mostly very pale shades, you wouldnt believe how many I used in this pic!.. Im still loving the PM Fine Nibs, as I naturally favour very dark, rich shades IRL, and the precision application has given me a lot more confidence to experiment.

I was also inspired by a recent trip to my blogging friend Paula. She has been sharing her progress on a colouring course, and I was quite taken by the tips for colouring cylindrical objects, so the top hat in this pic was almost a breeze! :) I used a Kenny K image and Prima Botanical papers. The gears, keys and clock wings were cut from my Silhouette digi die cutter, and I dug out some old peel offs for the chains.

I am entering this card in the below competitions:

Kenny K - Layers

Totally Gorjuss - As You Like It.

Papertake Weekly - Dies to Die for - Spellbinders and digi-dies.

Thanks so much for visiting my blog today, and I really, really cant wait to get back to normal and visit everyone soon! :)

I ♥ Promarkers - Paper Piercing

2011-08-24T08:00:00.011+01:00

Fingers crossed this scheduled post appears, as Mr Blogger has let me down twice in the last week. Tut.

Anyway, today sees the start of a new challenge at I ♥ Promarkers, and this week the theme is paper-piercing. The DT were given some lovely images from Digi Doodle Shop who are sponsoring this weeks challenge, and I have used this sweet Faery image.

I used a pricking tool to pierce the edges of the paper panels, and resisted the temptation to stitch them! :D lol. The papers are Prima, the flowers are WOC, and the latex leaves were an ebay bargain.

Most people would notice that I dont usually colour so much of my image, as I dont really have the confidence to potentially ruin a picture once I have coloured the main image in, but the new Flex Markers are fabulous. I managed to colour sky and grass for the first time on the first attempt, so they get a thumbs up from me! :)

On a final note - My internet has been throttled until 1st September and its absolute pants! :( I cant visit blogs, and cannot see pictures as they dont load. I am so upset, as my ISP are quite harsh on this, and its not a brilliant internet speed to begin with!.. bah! So I will endeavour to catch up and visit as soon as I can, and I hope to be back to normal asap :)

Thanks so much for looking at my blog today,

Sweet Stampin - Little Ones

2011-08-20T10:13:00.001+01:00

I love Bugaboo images, and so was thrilled to find they are sponsoring our challenge this week at Sweet Stampin! :) Our theme this week is 'baby cards or little ones' and I just loved colouring this cute little fella in. :) Check out the rest of the talented DT's work!

I used Prima paper, MS Punch and HOTP button brads. The 'Boo's were cut on my digital die-cutter and I hand-stitched the paper edges.

Sorry for the quick posting today, some of my saved/draft posts have been vanishing when I hit 'publish', so this is my second attempt (fingers crossed).

I am entering this card in the below competitions:

Paper Playtime - Anything Goes

The Shabby Tea Room - Polka dots

Papertake Weekly - Bingo - Buttons, Ribbon, Free

Thanks so much for looking at my blog today, have a great weekend!

Charisma Cardz - Negative Space

2011-08-18T08:00:00.014+01:00

Morning :) Back today with another card, and this one is quite CAS for me! :) Oh, but these do give me headaches! :D

Right, so our challenge today at Charisma Cardz is 'negative space' chosen by Leah. This means we want to see 2/3rds of your card left blank (yep - eek!) . We are sponsored this week by Meljens Designs and ATS, so great prizes to play for.

I used a Penny Black stamp as their images are always delightful and quick to colour, Nellie Snellen frame dies, MS punch and Card Candi.

I am entering this card in the below competitions:

Stamp Something - Summer Somethings

Craft Your Days Away - Birthdays

Paper Sundaes - Just Saying Hi

Penny Black at Allsorts - Free and Easy

Really Reasonable Ribbon - Keep it Clean

A Spoonfull of Sugar - Happy Birthday

Penny Black Saturday Challenge - Touchy Feely

Thanks so much for looking at my blog today and for leaving comments.

I ♥ Promarkers - Easel Cards

2011-08-17T08:00:00.030+01:00

Another christmas card from me, I think that must be a grand total of 5 for this year! LOL.

So, today sees the start of a new challenge at I ♥ Promarkers and this week we would like to see Easel Cards. We are sponsored by Stampezee who are offering the winner a £10 voucher to spend at their online store. Fab Prize! :)

If you are anything like me, the amount of christmas stamps and stash I have is disproportionate to the amount of christmas cards I make compared to normal cards! I must have equally as much stuff for xmas cards, ( and easily more stamps!) but it always feels odd to play with them for the most part of the year.

I have seen the upcoming new Christmas releases from LOTV for later this month, and I want them all, so, I thought I had better at least use some older stamps before buying any more :D.

I used Bunny Bo papers, Marianne and Spellbinder Dies, and the scallop frame was cut from my digital die-cutter as I didnt have the inbetween size scallop nestie. Oh yeah, and this was my first attempt at a twisted easel too :)

I am entering this card in the following competitions:

Bunny Zoe's Craft Challenge - Easel cards

The Ribbon Girl - Use Ribbon

Secret Crafter Saturday - Christmas

Stamptacular Sunday - Fancy Folds

Dream Valley Challenges - Distressing

Christmas Card Challenges - Christmas Cheer

Ooh La La Creations - Oh Christmas

Creative Card Crew - Hand made flowers

Papertake Weekly - Bingo - Free, Pearls, Blooms

Try it on Tuesday - Anything Goes

Thanks so much for looking and good luck to everyone entering these challenges.

On the Beach - One Stop Craft Challenge

2011-08-13T08:00:00.029+01:00

Happy Weekend! :) Today is the start of a new challenge at One Stop Craft Challenge and our theme is 'On The Beach'. We are sponsored this week by Robyns Fetish and the DT have created some beautiful cards if you get time to visit the blog and play along.

I used a gorgeous Digi image called DeeVonne from Crafts & Me and she was just fabby to colour and perfect for this challenge. The DP is from a seashore Crafty Individuals paper pad which I won in a challenge, and the flowers, starfish and ribbon are from stash.

I am entering this card in the below competitions:

By The Cute and Girly - The Sea

The Ribbon Reel - Photo inspiration

Creative Craft Challenges - Its Summertime

Digital Tuesday - I Love the Sea

The Stamp Man - Anything goes & Summer colours

Paper Playtime - Water

Stamp Something - Summer somethings

Craft Your Days Away - Birthdays

Thanks so much for looking and good luck to everyone in the challenges

Sketch Week - I ♥ Promarkers

2011-08-10T08:00:00.060+01:00

We have a fabby sketch to follow for this weeks theme over at I ♥ Promarkers. Now, I love following sketches, and this was really easy, with lots of room for adding details, design and embellishments. We are sponsored this week by one of our regular and generous sponsors Di's Digi Downloads, and the DT were given some adorable images to play with. I used Maisy on a stool, and she was just lovely to colour :)

Check out my Chain Stitch!! :D I always prick out my holes first before hand-stitching, using either a parchment grid (for very neat results) or a Tim Holtz ruler with piercing holes for a more relaxed look. I then hand stitched the two borders on the paper panel and it was surprisingly quick!

I used HOTP papers, Marianne doily die, MS punch, spellbinder leaves and I die cut the buttons and glazed them with glossy accents.

I am entering this card in the below competitions:

Stamp Something - Digi Day

2 Sisters Challenge - Colour Challenge

Dream Valley - Distressing - I distressed the paper edges before I stitched them

Thanks so much for looking at my blog today, and good luck to everyone in these challenges,

Maisie On A Shroom

2011-08-08T08:00:00.009+01:00

Hope everyone has had a fabby weekend? :) We spent a lovely day strolling along the Crinan Canal and visiting the Marina yesterday (known as Britains most beautiful shortcut) .

Anyway, back to my card. I think this has to be my favourite LOTV image ever - isnt she just as cute as a dumpling? :) I hand-stitched Prima papers, used spellbinder dies and the roses were from WOC. The shroom was cut from my digital die-cutter, and the latex leaves were from ebay.

I am entering this card in the below competitions:

Lili of the Valley - Roses

Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes

Stampin for the Weekend - Spots and Dots

Allsorts Challenge - Red Card

Cupcake Craft Challenges - Sew Mad

Creative Card Crew - Best foot forward

Thanks so much for looking at my blog today and I really do appreciate and read all my comments :)

Sweet Stampin DT Card - Rainbows

2011-08-06T08:00:00.005+01:00

Today sees the start of a new challenge over at Sweet Stampin' where this week our theme is Rainbows and we are sponsored by Tiffany Doodles. Check out the challenge blog to see the rest of DT's lovely and colourful creations.

Now, I remembered that somewhere in the darker corners of my stash I had a few sheets of rainbow paper I never thought I would use, so I spent a good hour at least trying to find them! tut. :D Then I had to tidy everything away again! lol. I kept this simple by just using Marianne doily dies, spellbinder corners and white card. I coloured Tilda with PM's and added some faery glitter to her wings.

I am entering this card in the below competitions:

Just Magnolia - Anything Goes + Glitter

Sir Stampalot - Whatever you Fancy

Thanks so much for looking at my blog today and good luck to everyone entering the challenges.

Woo Hoo - My first DT card for........ CHARISMA CARDZ!! :)

2011-08-04T08:00:00.004+01:00

I have been so excited and bursting to announce that I have been asked to join the wonderful DT at Charisma Cardz! :) I have always loved playing along with their challenges, as they have some really fun and inspirational themes, so I am very honoured and proud to be asked. :)

So, onto this weeks challenge - BINGO - this means we want to see your creations using any line from the following list:

Flowers - Gems - Circles

Pearls - Masking - Ribbon

Glitter - Squares - Charms

We have 2 wonderful sponsors this week - Simon Says Stamp and Pink Cat Studio.

I used Flowers, Pearls and Glitter. I hand-stitched the papers, hand-beaded with pearls and went punch crazy with snowflakes. I used Marianne mini poinsetta dies and McGill branch punch.

I am entering this card in the below competitions:

CES Challenges - Feeling the blues

PaperPlay Challenges - Christmas in August

Crafty Catz Weekly - Christmas in July

Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes

Winter Wonderland - Faeries or Angels

Fussy and Fancy Friday - Christmas in July

Simon Says Stamp - Christmas in August

Totally Gorjuss - Christmas in July

Bling it On - ABC - Angel, Blue, Christmas

Crafters Companion - Glitter and Glitz - I use CC rocka-blocks & Stick & Spray

Thanks so much for looking at my blog today, and I hope you find time to checkout the challenge and all other other wonderful creations by the new DT :)

Things with Wings - I ♥ Promarkers

2011-08-03T08:22:00.006+01:00

Now this is going to be a brief post from me, as the original scheduled posting (which took me an hour) just completely vanished when I pressed publish, and threw me in a right panic. It might re-appear and I will have a double post, or it might not :( Naughty blogger!

So today over at I ♥ Promarkers we have a new challenge theme and this week it is 'Things With Wings' - One of my favourites! :) We are sponsored again by one of our regular and generous sponsors Joanna Sheen, so its a really fabulous prize up for grabs.

I used a Sugar Nellie image and followed the great sketch over at The Sugar Bowl.

The lacy border, doily, butterflies and vines were cut using my Silhouette digital die cutter - I told you I would be putting it through its paces! :) lol. It does take longer than using my bug, but its lovely to have such a variety and have the ability to resize them too.

I am entering this card in the below competitions:

The Sugar Bowl - Fabby sketch by KiKi

Colour Create - Pink, Green & White

C.R.A.F.T Challenge - Fairy Tales

PaperPlay Challenges - In The Garden

Totally Papercrafts - Bling it up

Allsorts Challenge - Free & Easy

Emerald Faeries - Lace

Crafters Companion - Glitter and Glitz

Crafty Cardmakers - Flutterbies

The Ribbon Reel - Chantilly Lace

Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes

Crafts and Me - Anything Goes

Thanks so much for looking at my blog today, and if you have the time please check back tomorrow when I have some exciting news. :)

Vintage - One Stop Crafts Challenge

2011-07-30T08:00:00.016+01:00

This weeks theme at One Stop Craft Challenge is Vintage, so we would love to see your distressing, inking or vintage ephemera this week :) We are sponsored by One Stop Card Crafts where the very generous Shelley is offering the winner a £10 voucher to spend at the online store. This is a fab prize, as there is always lots of great new stuff to choose from.

Now if I was asked to pick one of my cards that I feel really reflects my personal taste and style, then this would be it. I am a huge fan of the Pre-Raphaelites, poetry and classic literature. Whilst I love making cute, whimsical and girly cards, this style is a lot closer to my heart and often think I should spend a little more time exploring this side of my creativity.

I recently won this image from Dezinaworld which is based on a painting by Frank Cadogan Cowper called Vanity. I use this as my blogger avatar (as you can see), so I was thrilled to get this digi-image to play with.

I hand-stitched and distressed HOTP paper pizzaz 'Heritage' papers, I coloured the flesh tones and dress detail with PM's and inked the rest of the image. The flowers were an ebay bargain and the pearls, ribbon and brads were from stash.

I am entering this card in the below competitions:

Simon Says Stamp and Show - Anything Goes

Top Tip Tuesday - Make it Girly

Crafts & Me - Ribbon

Creative Inspirations - Fab Sketch

The Stamp Man - Show some stitching

Totally Papercrafts - Bling it up

One Stitch at a Time - Pearls and Swirls

Allsorts Challenge - Free & Easy

Thanks so much for looking and good luck to everyone entering these challenges,

Anything Goes - I ♥ Promarkers

2011-07-27T08:00:00.013+01:00

Yay! Its 'Anything Goes' week at I ♥ Promarkers ! :) Anything you make using your Promarkers can be entered, and we are sponsored this week by one of our regular and very generous sponsors - Digi Doodle Shop, so well worth playing along.

I used an image called Santa Baby and Fawn and I appear to be on a bit of a christmas kick at the mo! :D It wont last! lol.

I went for a Vintagey/Kraft feel to this, distressing and inking HOTP papers, hand stitching and even inking my image edge (which I never do this dark!). I used MS large snowflake deep punch and an MS corner punch for smaller flakes. Gold brads and 'Noel' are HOTP.

I am entering this card in the following competitions:

Moving along with the Times - Cute and Cuddly with a punch

Stamp Something - Embellished

Thanks so much for looking, and good luck to everyone in these challenges,

Sweet Stampin DT Card - Fashion

2011-07-23T08:00:00.009+01:00

We have a great Fashion challenge this week over at Sweet Stampin', so we want to see some gorgeous girly and fashionable creations and our sponsor this week is the very generous Stampin Boutique . Check out some of the other really fabby creations by the rest of the DT, as they have really rocked this theme!

I had quite a bit of fun making this card, considering it felt a bit out of my comfort zone...... I dont really 'do' fashion! lol :) but I aimed for a boutique feel to the papers and background.

I used a mixture of paper scraps, Kenny K image, WOC roses and Spellbinder and Magnolia dies. Pearls, stickles and ribbon from stash.

I am entering this card in the below competitions:

Kenny K Krafty Girlz - Anything Goes

Crafts and Me - Add a Flower

Charisma Cardz - Summer Colours

Stamp Something - Embellished

Totally Gorjuss - Punch or Die

Allsorts - Free and Easy

2 Sisters Challenge - Anything Goes

Thanks so much for looking and have a smashing weekend,

Christmas in July - I ♥ Promarkers

2011-07-20T08:00:00.012+01:00

As I was saying yesterday, there are a few Christmas challenges to play along with this week, and our new challenge over on I ♥ Promarkers is 'Christmas in July'. We want to see your glitter, snow, bling and anything christmassy. We are sponsored this week by Crafts 4 You who kindly gave us some great wintry and seasonal sentiments to use.

I used a gorgeous digi stamp from Crafts & Me, HOTP papers and cut the icicle borders with my digi-die cutter. Pretty simple card for me! :) lol

I am entering this card in the following competitions:

CES Challenges - Christmas

Paper Sundaes - Christmas in July

Stamp Something - Christmas in July

Thanks so much for looking and good luck to everyone in these challenges,

Santa Thinks I'm Nice ;)

2011-07-18T09:00:00.047+01:00

Bit of a brief post from me, but I made this card so I could join in the fun of the Kenny K Anniversary blog hop - I love Kenny K! :)

Now there are quite a few Christmas in July challenges knocking about this week, so I thought as this is my favourite Kenny K digi its an ideal opportunity to get a christmas card made.

I coloured using my trusty PM's (with fine nibs!) HOTP paper, MS punch, Marianne die and the sentiment was digi-die cut. Stocking charm from stash.

I am entering this card in the below competitions:

Kenny K Krafty Girlz - Anything Goes

CES Challenges - Christmas in July

Papertake Weekly - Hot Hot Hot

Creative Inspirations - No Flowers allowed

Simon Says Stamp - Anything Goes

Stamp Something - Christmas

2 Sisters Challenge - Christmas in July

Sparkles Forum Christmas - Glitter

Creative Inspirations - Christmas in July

Paper Sundaes - Christmas in July

Thanks so much for looking and good luck to everyone in these challenges,

One Stop Craft Challenge - Sketch

2011-07-16T08:00:00.050+01:00

This week over at One Stop Craft Challenge we have a fab sketch by my teamie Val, and we are sponsored this week by Sassy Studio Designs . I really enjoyed making this card, and went to town on dies, punches and lots of sparkle.

I hand stitched the papers and hand beaded the embellishments. I used Prima papers, an MS punch and the frame was cut with my digital die-cutter as the image was just too big for a standard nestie.

I am entering this card in the below competitions:

Digital Tuesday - Spellbound - the flourishes are Spellbinders

Crafts and Me - Summertime

Simon Says Stamp - Anything Goes

Emerald Faeries - Nice and Girly

Crafty Calendar - Under the Sea

Simon Says Stamp & Show - Stitching

Cupcake Craft Challenges - 47 - Pearls & Swirls

Magical Mondays - Texture

Really Reasonable Ribbon - Cool it

Bearly Mine - Anything Goes

Do You Stack Up - Stitching

Moving along with the Times - Favourite things - Stitching, pearls & Swirls

Rainbow Ladys Challenge - A Stitch in Time

Allsorts - Free n' Easy

One Stitch at a Time - Anything Goes

Thanks so much for visiting my blog today, and I hope everyone has a smashing sunny weekend! :)

Oooh Arrrgh - a recipe @ I ♥ Promarkers

2011-07-13T08:00:00.034+01:00

Wow!.. Wednesday comes round so quick! :)

Today is the start of a brand new challenge at I ♥ Promarkers and this week we have a recipe to follow of 1 Ribbon, 2 Brads/buttons/gems and 2 backing papers. Now I have made this card for a good blogging friends' special birthday, so if you are reading my blog today Karin - dont look!! :D lol. We are sponsored this week by Sassy Studio Designs who gave us a couple of images to play with.

Now, remember me mentioning my new digi-die cutter that arrived the day of my accident? Well, this is me well and truly putting it through its paces! ;) Everything on this card was made using my Silhouette SD machine (except the paper tearing round the image). I always said if I got one of these machines I would be dangerous!! lol.

I had been hankering after one of these machines for a few years and knew I wanted one with its own software, as I didnt want to be restricted to cartridges. I took to it like a duck to water, as its just like using a printer, the software was easy-peasy. It will never replace my trusty Cuttlebug, but I love to have the ability to just create something quite random and 'one-off' without being stuck with a die that has limited use.

I am entering this card in the below competitions:

Totally Papercrafts - The Beach

Simon Says Stamp - Anything Goes

Creative Inspirations - No Flowers

Allsorts - Free n' Easy

Papertake Weekly - Hot, Hot, Hot

Ladybug Crafts - Summer Birthdays

Lexis Creations - At The Beach

Cupcake Challenges - No 29 - use a number

Sketch Saturday - I followed this great sketch

Thanks so much for looking at my blog today and good luck to everyone in these challenges,

Cute n' Cuddly @ Sweet Stampin & Promarker Fine Nibs! :)

2011-07-09T08:00:00.025+01:00

This weeks theme at Sweet Stampin is Cute n' Cuddly (chosen by me! :) and our wonderful sponsor this week is the awesome Di's Digis. Now I love any image with a 'shroom' on it, and as soon as I saw this cute digi (King of the Castle) I knew I wanted to just colour it in! I really hope you find time to join us this week and also visit the rest of the DT's sweet creations.

Now to colour this image, I used for the first time my brand new ProMarker Fine Nib attachments. I dont usually do reviews on my blog, as I dont consider myself any expert or critic at all, but these have really got me buzzing, and I am seriously thrilled to bits with them!!!! :)

I am definately not the worlds greatest colourer, nor even a very confident one, so I love my ProMarkers because they are quick, easy and I am always happy with the results. I do however struggle with adding fine details and often feel that I could have always added a little more. A lot of gorgeous new digi stamps seem to be getting more detailed too, so I was desperate to move my colouring onto something a little more advanced.

These tips are available in packs of 3 (I bought mine direct from Letraset) and they come complete with a new cap and literally just click into place. It takes just a second or two for the colour to come through, and they are also easily detachable again so you can access the standard nib instantly. You can see the difference in the line thickness here, and the inkflow is excellent.

Now I bought several of these sets as I would prefer to have them individually on my PM's, and know I will use them a lot, but you can swap them over easily within a similar colour group, and I would advise just cleaning them by attaching to your blender pen to clear the colour before swapping. But I will say, I was so impressed I ordered more packs today, as they are in my opinion incredibly innovative and what my PM's and I have been waiting for :)

Colouring this picture was the first time I used the nibs, so they were an instant hit for me. They enabled me to give the Kitties some fluff and fur in a way I have never been able to do before, and also you can get into really tight areas easily.

Like I said, I am definately not the worlds best colourer, but this really didnt take me long at all, and I felt in control of the ink and the pen the whole time, so in my opinion - THEY ROCK!! :)

I am entering this card in the below competitions:

Paper Sundaes - Stitching

One Stitch at a Time - Use a Digi

A Spoon Full of Sugar - Sewing

Creative Craft Challenges - Pretty Blossoms

Simon Says Stamp - A Stitch in Time

Charisma Cardz - Flowers

Totally Gorjuss - Summertime

Thanks so much for looking at my blog today, good luck to everyone in these challenges, and have a great weekend!

Normal service has been resumed! :D lol!

2011-07-08T08:00:00.018+01:00

Right, so after my CAS card I was pretty keen to get stuck back into all my usual gubbins and play about with punches, dies and layers. I had coloured this image before my accident and it was such a shame to see it gathering dust for about 4 weeks as it was originally intended for a DT card.

I followed the great sketch over at CLP and the image is Bugaboo from the sunbonnets range (which I love!) :) The papers are Fizzy Moon and the flowers were from ebay.

I am entering this card in the below competitions:

CLP Challenge - Fabby sketch

Charisma Cardz - Flowers

Allsorts Challenge - Free and Easy

Saturday Challenge - Here comes summer

2 Sisters Challenge - Birthdays

Dream Valley - Ribbons

One Stitch at a Time - Use a Digi

Creative Craft Challenges - Pretty Blossoms

Really Reasonable Ribbon - Summer Fun

Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes

Try it on Tuesday - Flower power

Bearly Mine - Anything Goes

Colour Create - Fuschia, Green, White

Thanks so much for looking and good luck to everyone in these challenges - have a great day!

CAS Week at I ♥ Promarkers!

2011-07-06T08:00:00.070+01:00

Todays new challenge over on I ♥ Promarkers is 'Clean and Simple'. Eeeek! ;) Most people would only need to glance at my blog to see its not a style I am accustomed to, or sits favourably with me. (I confess to actually avoiding the genre at all costs!) lol. :)

I do however see some very beautiful CAS projects when I am blog-hopping and commenting, and have a lot of admiration for the crafters who really excel at this. I also feel its perfectly suited to certain cards that are also very difficult to make and give for the obvious reasons.

We are sponsored this week by the uber-generous Joanna Sheen who is giving the winner a £10 voucher to spend at her online store :) This is a smashing prize, as I visit her site regularly and there are always some wonderful goodies to look at.

This really was a quick and simple card for me, using just black and white bazzil card, black peel offs, gems and ribbon and light colouring with Ice Grey PM's 1 - 4.

I am entering my card in the below competitions:

Do You Stack Up - Squares

Bling it On - Anything Goes

Craft Your Passion - Anything Goes

Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes

Bearly Mine Challenges - Anything Goes

Thanks so much for looking at my blog today, and I hope you find time to look at all the other stunning work by the DT.

Tag It! - One Stop Craft Challenge

2011-07-02T08:00:00.027+01:00

Morning :) I'm thinking its gonna be a stunner of a weekend weatherwise! ;) (fingers crossed!)

I'm so excited because I'm off to see Transformers in 3D tonight. For some strange reason Transformers totally mesmerise me! :D ....... I dont 'do' chick flicks! ;) lol.

So, today being Saturday sees the start of a brand new challenge over at One Stop Craft Challenge where the theme is 'Tag - youre it!'. We would love to see your creations with tags on and are sponsored this week by One Stop Card Crafts.

I used a free tag that came with a magazine and just distressed and inked it a bit and took my colours from the matching sheet of free paper (which I didnt end up using! lol). I hand stitched and distressed K&Co papers and made the centre flower and the outer roses from Marianne Dies.

I am entering this card in the below competitions:

Bling it On - Anything Goes

Papertake Weekly - Great Sketch!

Lili of the Valley - Celebrate - I am still celebrating being back! :)

Do You Stack Up - Squares

Top Tip Tuesday - T is for 'Tag'.

Crafts and Me - Birthdays

Bunny Zoe's Crafts - Faeries

By The Cute and Girly - Things with Wings

Allsorts Challenge - Free and Easy

Craft Your Days Away - Vintage

Emerald Faeries - Sugar and Spice & all things girly

I hope you find time to check out the challenge blog and see all the other wonderful creations by the DT and maybe play along.

Thanks so much for visiting my blog today and have a smashing weekend,

I ♥ Promarkers - Add Flowers

2011-06-29T08:00:00.034+01:00

Finally..... I was beginning to think I would never make another card again! :) lol

Firstly thanks so much to everyone for all the get well messages and emails, it was lovely to know I was missed. It did turn out to be quite a bit more serious than I first thought and took much longer to heal, but I am fully recovered now :)

So, this is the first card I have made in 3 weeks, and is my DT card for I ♥ Promarkers where this week the challenge is 'add flowers'. Flowers have to be my favourite embellishment and whilst I love the gorgeous ready made ones, I also love to have a dabble myself and create my own blooms from scraps and left-overs. :) Our sponsor this week is the very generous Di's Digis, who gave us some lovely images to play with. I used Mouse With Love and it was really easy and adorable to colour.

I used Promarkers, Prima Papers, MS punch and a mixture of dies and digi-dies. (I will blog about my new digi die-cutter in a later post) :) but it did arrive the day of my injury! (bah!)

I am entering my card in the following competitions:

By The Cute and Girly - In The Garden

Crafters Companion - Here comes Summer

Bling it On - Embossing - the big flower and the nestie are embossed

Emerald Faerie Garden - Petals

Crafty Calender Challenge - Things with wings

Stamp Something - Red, White, Blue

The Stampman Challenge - Butterflies/Dragonflies

Stampin for the weekend - My Favourite things - PM's, Flowers

Dream Valley - Ribbon

Paperplaytime - Digi Monday, with Red, White, Blue

Bearly Mine - Summer Time

Thanks so much for looking at my blog today, and I hope you get chance to check out the rest of the DT's fabulous work and also find time to play along.

A little accident...........

2011-06-13T17:07:00.000+01:00

So, almost a week ago, I took a wee tumble at the bottom of our stairs carrying the vaccum (whilst being overtaken by 2 dogs!) lol, and it has left me with quite a painful injury, with my left arm in a sling and a pulled muscle in my shoulder. I havent been able blog or comment, as I just couldnt sit at my pc and type. :( It has literally been like losing an arm! lol.

Its getting much better now though, so I hope to be able to catch up over the next few days and also hopefully finish off couple of DT cards if I can. :)

I ♥ Promarkers - Sketch

2011-06-08T08:00:00.016+01:00

Who stole summer then, come on? :D Yesterday was black oe'r Bills' mothers all day!... We had storms, lightening, hail and thunderclaps like I had never heard before, and it shook my house and windows!. Tut! So...... as the weather has been carp all week, its been really nice to play about with some much neglected stash like this Fizzy Moon stamp and papers that I had completely forgotten I had. :)

Now, its the start of our new challenge today over on I ♥ Promarkers and we have a fabby sketch to follow :) Sketches are my favourite challenges as its always great to have some kind of plan or direction to get the creative juices flowing. We are sponsored this week by Secret Crafter who are offering 3 digis of your own choice, and they have some really cute stuff, so I hope you get time to enter.

I used Bazzill card, FMoon sparkly paper and a sheet of Prima paper. The star gems are a mix of AB and crystal and the bows are from WOC. The star charms are from stash and are quite old.

Thanks so much for visiting my blog today, and I hope the sun stays shining where you are :)

Happy Birthday Dad!! :)

2011-06-04T08:00:00.005+01:00

Morning :) Now today is my dads birthday, and without going all mushy, he means the world to me. :) aww.

Anyhoo, today is also the start of a brand new challenge over on One Stop Crafts Challenge where our theme is 'texture'. We are sponsored this week by the the lovely Shelley, who is generously offering a prize from the One Stop Card Crafts online store - how fab is that?

I used one of my favourite Teddy Bo images for this, as I dont believe all men like 'football, darts, sports and beer' - I think all men like Teddy Bears!! :D lol.

I followed a great sketch over on Papertake Weekly, and really enjoyed making this, even though I dont usually 'do' male cards very often. I distressed, inked and hand-stitched HOTP papers, coloured the image with PM's and added some metal corners from WOC. The big brad is also HOTP, and the scroll die is Marianne.

I will be entering this card in the below competitions:

Wild Orchid Challenge - Embossed Layers - I embossed and chalked the edges of the nestie dies.

Papertake Weekly - Great Sketch.

Simon Says Stamp - Fathers Day/Male.

Thanks so much for looking at my blog today, and good luck to everyone in these challenges.

I ♥ Promarkers DT Card - Sparkly/Bling

2011-06-01T09:00:00.003+01:00

Woo, its good to be back! :) lol. What a week that was, first my electricity was off for 3 days, and then my internet was unhappy, and then Mr Blogger had a mardy! tut.

So, this is my DT card for I ♥ Promarkers this week, where the new challenge is 'sparkly/bling'. Now I love an excuse to get girly and add heaps of pretty embellies, so this was brilliant. We are sponsored this week by the uber-generous Joanna Sheen, who's shop I visit regularly and really do buy all my promarkers from! :) Shame I cant enter then! lol.

I used a gorgeous Sweet Pea image called 'Restless Thoughts' and she was just lovely colour. I distressed, inked and hand stitched all the paper panels and made the centre flower from a Marianne Die, (also distressed and inked). The other flowers are of course WOC, and I used a spellbinder die, MS punch and a branch leaf punch by McGill. Its quite a bit more sparkly in RL too, but for some reason Sakura glitter pens just dont photograph :( tut.

I am entering this card in the below competitions:

PaperPlay Challenges - Blossoms and Blooms

Sweet Pea Stamps - Lace and Pearls

Allsorts Challenge - Things with wings

A Spoon Full of Sugar - Flower Power

Bearly Mine Challenges - Die cuts and Lace

Ladybug Crafts Ink - Make own embellies - I made the main flower

Crafts and Me - Punch it out

In A Sweet Pea Dream - Wings

Paper Sundaes - Vintage/shabby chic

Thanks so much for looking at my card today, and I hope you will find time to enter this weeks challenge.