Digi Haven DT Card - Christmas Theme

We have a brand new challenge for you over at Digi Haven starting today, this time our theme is Christmas.  To play along all you need to do is use a free digi and add a link to it in your post.  We're having a grand reopening next year where you'll be able to use any digi, not just freebies, and there will be prizes up for grabs as well as our winner's badges.  I've used a Dearie Dolls image for my card, you can find it here.

The cute image has been coloured with Promarkers, I chose shades of blue so I could use my yummy new Lili of the Valley Frosty Christmas papers again, I just love them.  To make the frame, I die cut on oval and then ran it through a Papermania Black and Gold frame embossing folder which happened to be exactly the right size!  The sentiment is Anita's, from the latest Docrafts goody bag and the laser board snowflakes were made with a Martha Stewart punch.  I finished off with my usual ribbon and bow, along with some blue pearls and a scattering if clear gems.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges -
Charisma Cardz - #47 - Christmas, no red, green or gold
DRS Designs - #51 - snow fun
Dutch Dare - #193 - winter wonderland
Pixie Dust Studio - winter holiday
The Paper Shelter - #92 - Christmas
Ladybug Crafts Ink - snowflakes
Oldie But a Goodie - let it snow.  My older stash is, the embossing folder, snowflake punch and ribbon.
Sweet Stamps - #93 - cold and snowy

Robin Card and Gift Box

Morning all, sorry I've not been leaving many comments on all your gorgeous projects, but I've not been too well again.  The old fibromyalgia hasn't been great, I've had a two day migraine and the mother of all colds!  Anyhow, I've unhitched the pity wagon as my pal, Alison, would say and I've even done a bit of crafting!
It's an Imagination Crafts stamp coupled with Pan Pastels again, this time I borrowed one of my Mum's stamps and we had fun playing with it together.

Once again, I stamped with Versamark, and dusted on the Pan Pastels in shades of green with a brush, I love the subtle look this gives.  I added a touch of shimmer with a metallic Sakura pen on the swirls on the left hand side.  The robin was then paper pieced with Krafty Christmas Lili of the Valley and Papermania Boofle papers.  I used a Martha Stewart Punch Around the Page set to create the holly border, layered up with more Boofle papers, added some tartan ribbon with a bow and finished with some red glitter domes and lustrous red pearls for the holly berries.
The matching gift box was made on my Boxer board from green pearl card and was topped with a matching robin panel made in exactly the same way as the card.

I'm entering this project in the following challenges -
Crafts and Me - #112 - ribbon or trim
The Paper Shelter - #92 - Christmas
Whimsy Stamps - #53 - traditional Christmas colours
Going Grey With Scrap Creations - Christmas
The Paper Girls - #20 - winter or Christmas
The Pink Elephant - #176 - pretty packaging
Christmas Card Challenges - #52 - paper piecing
A Gem of a Challenge - #60 - paper piecing

I Love Promarkers DT Card - The Not So Little Mermaid!

It's challenge time again over at I Love Promarkers, this week it's "Anything Goes", so get out your Pros and colour up anything you want.  Our sponsor this time is Dr Digi who has fab images for cards with a sense of humour.  Some of the DT were given an image to play with, I chose this mermaid, I think she's hilarious.  It's not my usual sort of image but I had such fun with this one.

After colouring, I added Anita's 3D Gloss to the tail and sprinkled on some green "hairy" glitter and some fine dark blue glitter for a big splash of sparkle.  I also added pearls and Liquid Pearls for bubbles.  The sentiment is from a Lili of the Valley set, I thought it was perfect for this image.  The patterned papers are all Papermania Capsule Collection in Blueberry Pie, I chose watery swirls and a leafy print which I think is rather like seaweed to continue the under the sea theme.  The fronds of seaweed were made with a Spellbinders Foliage die and I finished off with a ribbon, bow, Card Candi, gems, three punched circles and some blue pearls.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges -
LEJ - #31 - favourite technique, mine is colouring with Promarkers
Tuesday Throwdown - #125 - lots of layers
Card Mania - #8 - pearls and swirls
Incy Wincy - magical/mystical
Paper Pretties - girly
Squigglefly - #4712 - glitter and bling
There's Magic in the Air - sparkle
Whoopsidaisy - use a digi
One Stitch at a Time - #141 - fabric, ribbon, or lace

Cutie Pie DT Card - Use a Doily

It's challenge time over at Cutie Pie again, this time we'd like you to "Use a Doily".  I'm sure you've all got some doilies or a doily die in your stash so why not play along?!  Our sponsor this time is Pink Gem and the DT were all lucky enough to be given a digi to play with.  I chose this cutie as I have quite a lot of children's birthday cards to make and I thought that this image would be perfect for a little girl.

She's been coloured with Promarkers and I paper pieced her dress and bow with Capsule Collection paper and glittered with Glamour Dust.  The rest of the patterned papers are Lili of the Valley, from a stack called Promises which I just love, I can't get enough of them at the moment!  The Glittery number six is Papermania, as is the sentiment.  The flowers were made with Nellie Snellen punches and I finished off with lace, ribbon,a bow and some mint green pearls.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges -
Glitter 'n' Sparkle - #8 - ribbon and lace
Joanna Sheen - anything goes except Christmas
A Gem of a Challenge - #60 - paper piecing
Unique Crafters - sugar and spice (girly)
Jellypark - I'm hungry
Do You Stack Up - #99 - numbers
Inky Impressions - #86 - make it girly
The Paper Shelter - #91 - birthdays

Another Notelet Set

Here's another set of notelets I've made for a Christmas present.  I've used the same stamp and same techniques as last time but changed the colour combo.

The stamp is from Imagination Stamps, from their decoupage range, I bought three different stamps from this range at the SECC last month but I think this one is my favourite.  I made half a dozen notelets which are all slightly different and I made the box for them on My Boxer Board.
The background has been done by stamping in Versamark then dusting over with Pan Pastels using a large brush.  I couldn't resist picking out the ladybird in red as a contrast to the shades of green.
I then stamped in black ink onto seven different patterned papers from Papermania's Capsule Collection Chelsea Green range, fussy cut all the leaves and paper pieced them onto the background.

I'm entering this project in the following challenges -
Gingerloft - #53 - leaves
A Gem of a Challenge - #60 - paper piecing
Sweet Pea Stampers - gifts
Delightful Challenges - red and green
Divas By Design - #62 - 2 or more patterned paper
Shopping Our Stash - #78 - leaves

Tree Fairy

I've been playing with my new SECC stash again, this time I used this cute as a button stamp and Nitwits paper pack, called Promises, both from Lili of the Valley, and my new Spellbinders Hexagon and Cherry Blossom dies.

She's been coloured, as usual, with Promarkers, and I used Tumbled Glass Distress Ink for the background and Dusty Concord on the edges of all the mats.  I love this paper pack, the soft, pretty colours and delicate designs really rock my boat!  The sentiment is a Lili of the Valley stamp too.
To finish off, I added some spotty organza ribbon, gems, pearl centres to the flowers and a sprinkling of Glamour Dust to her wings and the mat for the sentiment.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges -
Sweet Stampin' - flowers
Allsorts - #182 - bling
Craft Punked - #47 - best friends
Delicious Doodles - #12 - something that flies
Polka Doodles - #47 - any die will do
Lili's Little Fairies - anything goes
Divas by Design - #62 - 2 or more patterned papers
Inky Impressions - #86 - make it girly
Deep Ocean - #39 - pastel colours

Cupcake for an Eightieth Birthday

Afternoon all!  Here's a card I was asked to make by a friend's Mum for her auntie who'll be celebrating her eightieth birthday next month.  I decided to use my Papermania Lucy Cromwell ultimate pack, I think you can't go wrong with it for ladies of any age as the designs and colours are so pretty.

I used a Craftwork Cards shaped and embossed blank and simply matted up with some pink card and some oh so pretty cupcake paper.  I then made up the decoupage topper, shaping the layers as I went, added some pink ribbon and attached a die cut sentiment with green glitter brads.  The number stickers are Papermania too, from the Birthdays range.  For a touch more girliness, I die cut a pink  butterfly using a Spellbinders die from my Positively Me set and stuck on some clear gems as the body.  Lastly, I decorated the cupcake with tiny pearls, I used them as centres on the embossed flowers too, used tiny pink pearls on the number panel and added pinks gems to the corners.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges -
Papertake - ribbon and pearls
Speedy Fox and Friends - #134 - pop it up, I used decoupage
Paper Playtime - #89 - anything goes
Jellypark - I'm hungry
Creative Moments - #4 - anything goes
Do You Stack Up - #99 - numbers

I Love Promarkers DT Card

Our new theme, starting today over at I Love Promarkers is "Singing and/or Dancing".  I have quite a few images I could have used, I was quite tempted to do carol singers, but decided on this lovely Teddy Bea digi, I love how she looks totally lost in the moment.

The pretty papers are Dovecraft Fairytale Princess which I've teamed with Core'dinations for matting. I really love the soft mix of peach, pale sage green and denim blue in this paper pack, I don't use the colour peach anywhere near as much as I should.  The sentiment is from a Teddy Bo mag freebie stamp set from a while back and the stars were made with Xcut dies.  A sprinkling of pale peach pearls and three larger green ones provide the finishing touches.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges -
Flourishes - #196 - project which makes you feel happy
Teddy Bo - anything goes
House of Gilli - #46 - die cuts
Sketch Saturday - #234 - sketch, I rotated it
Glitter 'n' Sparkle - #7 - lots of layers
One Stitch at a Time - #40 - use a digi
Raise the Bar - #20 - bear
Cute Card Thursday - #243 - starry, starry night

Topiary

Here's my make from our Monday night craft session.  This week's home baking was scones with home made jam and Chantilly cream washed down with copious quantities of tea, after which we all made topiary tree shaped cards using a B-C-E template.

 I made the blank from white card, covered the tiny bit of trunk with brown paper and covered the circular part with Papermania Born to Shop Go Green patterned paper.  If you look closely, you'll see it has a leafy print with tiny birds perched amongst the foliage, I thought it was just perfect for this project!  The yellow flowers were made with my new Spellbinders Cherry Blossom die set with gold gems for centres.  The cute wee bird was made with a Marianne die that I borrowed from my Mum.
Next came the pot.  I made it from pale beige wood-grain cardstock which I inked with Brushed Corduroy Distress ink, then added ribbon bands and a double bow.
I very simple card I know, but shaped cards always appeal to me!

I'm entering this card in the following challenges -
Artistic Impressions - #16 - anything goes
The Corrosive Challenge - #162 - flutter by
Simply Create Too - #26 - use your stash, I used, a template, white card, wood-grain card, patterned paper, die cuts, gems and ribbon.
D.L. Art - Thursday challenge -  inspiration pic, I used the colours
Shopping Our Stash - #78 - leaf or leaves, there are hundreds of leaves on the paper!
Oldie But Goodie - anything but Christmas, all the papers and card are older stash

And Now For Something Completely Different!

It's a rare day I make a card like this with a printed blank and ready made topper, but Mum and I really enjoyed playing with this Hunkydory kit.  I bought a Hunkydory goody bag ages ago and was kindly given another, different one as a gift, so I have enough to fill an A4 storage box.  There are toppers, foiled acetate, decoupage, blanks and foiled, embossed and silk art card and plenty more besides, the goody bags even had gems glitter and a Quicky glue pen, so we had plenty to play with!

I love this colour combo and the foiling is top notch, the foiled gems even look faceted.  The blank was already printed and foiled to look like mats and layers, the tree was ready made too, but I added some clear gems for even more sparkle.  I did manage to give it a Wendy twist by creating a punched strip, using an EK Success punch and adding my trademark ribbon and bow!  I LOVE the colour of this ribbon, it's so lush!.  The sentiment was part of the kit and I topped it with a die cut bird using one of my new Spellbinders sets I bought at the SECC.  He's made from satin board which has a gorgeous, soft sheen.  The final touch was a scattering of tiny punched leaves which are the waste from another EK Success border punch, and some random clear gems amongst the leaves.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges -
The Squirrel and the Fox - #31 - anything goes
Hiding in my Craftroom - #72 - glitz and glam
Crafty Catz - #159 - sparkle
Color Throwdown - #218 - colour combo
Songbird - #8 - diamonds are a girl's best friend
Crafty Cardmakers - #79 - more than one punch/die cut

Lili of the Valley Oriental

I've just had a lovely crafternoon with my friend, Alison, playing with her new Lili of the Valley stamp.  We both bought a geisha stamp at the SECC last month but made sure they were different so we could use each others, we decided to play with this beauty first, mine will have to wait!

The image was coloured with Promarkers to match the lush papers kindly given to me by Alison, the dragon border punch is her's as well, she's a handy girl to know!  The Spellbinders Cheery Blossom dies are from my SECC haul, I think it's a set I'll get a lot of use from.  I added some gold gem centres to the flowers for a subtle touch of bling.  To finish my card, I used some burnt orange ribbon, a bow, some copper Card Candi and a coin charm.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges -
Craftymess - #22 - choose a country, I chose Japan
Stamping With the Dragon - so cute
Frosted Designs - colour inspiration
Crafty Ann's - #78 - tic, tac toe - gems, ribbon, flowers
Craftroom Challenge - punches and die cuts
Papertake - flower power
Crafty Cardmakers - #79 - more than one punch/die cut.  I used one punch, one Nestie and almost the whole Spellbinders Cherry Blossom set.

Vintage Travel

Evening all, hope you're all enjoying the weekend.
My Dad's birthday is at the end of the month, this is the card I've made for him.  He's something of a globetrotter, he even had his gap year at the ripe old age of 59, ten years ago now, when he took early retirement. He even went sky diving in New Zealand and scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef, as well as traveling the length of the west coasts of Canada and the USA, along with several countries in SE Asia!  There aren't many countries in Europe he hasn't visited at some point either, so it seemed altogether appropriate that I made a travel themed card, and, as he's now of a certain vintage, a vintage theme seemed appropriate too!

I haven't done one of my crazy collages for a while, I rally enjoyed making this one, even although it's a dreaded male card!  The backing paper I used here is Papermania Portobello Road, onto which I stamped with a Kaisercraft postmark and postage stamp.  Next I made the circular panel using Papermania Urban stamps, two travel themed sets and a Portobello Road set.  I inked the whole panel with Antique Linen Distress Ink, then made post it note masks for the main stamped areas and went in with Wild Honey and Brushed Corduroy inks.  The postal ephemera was stamped with the same stamp sets and aged with Antique Linen and Brushed Corduroy inks, and everything was further shabbified by distressing the edges with my Tim Holtz tool.  Finally I went wild with the embellishments, ladling on buttons, nail-heads and pearls.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges -
Polka Doodles - #46 - square card with a round element
Papercrafting Journey - anything goes
Deep Ocean - #38 - around the world
Paper Pretties - #232 - buttons
Oldie But A Goodie - anything but Christmas, all stash used here is more than six months old, except the nail-heads
Tuesday Alchemy - #40 - anything goes

Digi Haven DT Card

If you're looking for my Fussy and Fancy card, it's in the post below.

We have a new challenge for you starting today over at Digi Haven, this fortnight we'd like to see "Thanksgiving or Thank You" projects.  To play along all you need to do is follow the theme using a free digi and add a link to it.  We have lots of freebie links on the Digi Haven blog.  We also have a DT call running at the moment, please feel free to apply.

 As we don't celebrate Thanksgiving here in Scotland, I made a thank you card using this adorable image from Beary Wishes, you'll find it here.  He's been coloured, as usual, with Promarkers.
I had lots of fun using new stash for this card, the patterned papers, glitter paper, ribbon and die cut border are all from the latest Docrafts goody bag, and the Rose Creations and hexagon dies are Spellbinders, I bought them at the SECC.  The sentiment is from a Popcorn Bear stamp set and is the only older item I used on this project.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges -
Fab 'n' Funky - #147 - bears
Aud Sentiments - thanks
Pixie Dust Studio - thanksgiving or thank you
Crafting for all Seasons - #40 - thank you
Digi Stamps 4 Joy - #55 - giving thanks
Digital Tuesday - #186 - thankfulness
Going Grey With Scrap Creations - give thanks
Shopping Our Stash - #77 - thanksgiving or thank you
Tuesday Throwdown - #124 - thankful for you
Lexi's Creations - #78 - thank you

Fussy and Fancy DT Card

It's challenge time again over at Fussy and Fancy, this fortnight our theme is "Feeling Blue", so have a good old rummage through your stash and see what blue items you have!

Mum and I had a lovely afternoon playing with this stunning Imagination Crafts stamp.  I began by stamping in Perfect Medium onto white card then dusting over with Pan Pastels in blue and grey.  Next, I went in with a silver gel pen and picked out the leaves and squiggly border.  The dove was then stamped onto Lili of the Valley Frosty Christmas paper in black ink, fussy cut and layered on with foam pads for a bit of dimension.  I added a few tiny clear gems as berries on the branches.
The star background was created by adhering stiff organza fabric, which has gorgeous dimensional stars on, to some subtly patterned paper from the same Lili of the Valley paper pack.
The sentiment is from the same stamp set as the image.  All I needed to finish my card was a double layer of ribbon, a bow and a few dark blue pearls on the sentiment.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges -
CRAFT - #181 - use fabric, the starry background is organza
Charisma Cardz - #45 - cool colours
Dutch Dare - #191 - diamonds and pearls
Little Miss Muffet - #48 - textiles
Paper Play - #46 - paper piecing
Crafts and Me - #110 - non traditional Christmas colours
Ruby's Rainbow - #41 - birds
Creative Card Crew - #27 - silver and blue

Beccy's Place GDT Card

I'm really enjoying my month as guest designer for Beccy's Place, her images are so much fun to work with.  Here's my third card, this time I used this gorgeous robin image to make an easel card, it's available in Beccy's digi shop from today.

The image has been coloured with Promarkers and the edge of the topper was gently inked with Antique Linen Distress Ink to soften the white and fit in better with the vintage papers I wanted to use.  The papers are Papermania, left from last year, the sentiment tag is from the latest Docrafts goody bag, to which I've attached some gold ribbon with a holly brad.  I echoed the holly in the image with a Martha Stewart Punch Around the Page set and distressed the edges of the topper and mats with my Tim Holtz tool to add to the shabby, vintage look.   I added a bit of sparkle with more gold ribbon and a multi loop bow and finished with some dark red pearls and gems.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges -
The Paper Shelter - #90 - Christmas easel
Ruby's Rainbow - #41 - birds
Whimsy Stamps - #53 - traditional Christmas colours
Craftroom Challenge - punches and die cuts
LEJ - #29 - season's greetings
Bunny Zoe's Crafts - winter
The Pink Elephant - #174 - punches and die cuts

I Love Promarkers Dt Card

Morning all!  It's Wednesday so that can only mean one thing, It's challenge time over at I Love Promarkers.  This week we want to see "Christmas Trees".  This time our sponsor is Nit Wits, who are offering a voucher for their shop, they have the loveliest digi kits, the papers are divine.  The DT were all given a kit to play with, but my printer is currently having a nervous breakdown and is refusing to print in colour despite having full ink cartridges, but luckily I had some Nit Wits papers which had come free with a magazine.  They're from the Merry and Bright range.

 I really struggled to find a Christmas tree image suitable for colouring with my Promarkers, I have quite a few tree stamps but they are better suited to stamping in coloured ink or heat embossing etc., so in the end I went a bit left field and plumped for this fun Limited Runs digi I won a while back but hadn't used.  I really love cupcake images, I love baking them too and I can't help wondering how I could make trees like these to go on real life cupcakes, the cogs are well and truly turning on that one!
I really enjoyed indulging my girly side on this Christmas card, using bright, candy colours and embellishing with flowers, pearls, gems, Card Candi and pink ribbon.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges -
Jolly Holly - inspired by a carol, I went for Christmas Tree O' Christmas Tree
(Pin)spirational - #33 - inspiration photo, I was inspired by the cake and pearls
My Graphico - #140 - anything goes
Cupcake Inspirations - #186 - inspiration photo, I used the colour combo
Crazy 4 Challenges - #162 - inspired by a carol, I went for Christmas Tree O' Christmas Tree
Pause, Dream, Enjoy - #45 - food or drink
The Crafty Pad - #196 - cake

Festive Milk Cartons

Last night was craft night with the girls, so after tea and home made banana loaf we all made milk carton gift boxes.  You'll find a brilliant tutorial on Kerry's blog, A Load of Old Pickle, just click here.

I made three boxes to house cute cupcake shaped bubble bath bottles for Robbie's teacher and classroom assistants.
The boxes were made from linen texture pearl card and were matted up with Papermania Home For Christmas papers, I went round the edges of the mats with Fired Brick Distress Ink for a bit of definition.  I made a matching tag using kraft tags which were a mag freebie, scraps of paper and a ready made bow.  I used garden twine to tie them on to the mini bulldog clips which were dead cheap in Tesco.
The pine cones were made with my Tim Holtz Tattered Pine Cones die and the fir branch was made with my much used Spellbinders Fall Foliage set.  I just couldn't resist adding a touch of Glamour Dust to the cones for a touch of festive sparkle.

I'm entering this project in the following challenges -
Pan Pastel - #44 - make an embellishment, I made the cones
Crafts 4 Eternity - #97 - tags
Crafty Creations - #195 - no flowers
Ladybug Crafts - use office supplies, I used bulldog clips
Crafty Sentiments - Christmas

Cutie Pie DT Card

If you're looking for my Beccy's Place GDT card, scroll down to the post below.

We have a new challenge for you, starting today over at Cutie Pie, this time we'd like to see your "Brown and Cream Christmas" projects.  This one was right up my street as this is a colour combo I love and it gave me a chance to play with my new Lili of the Valley Krafty Christmas paper pack which was one of my SECC purchases.  Our sponsor this time is Floppy Latte, we have digis up for grabs for our winner.  The DT were given some images to play with, here's what I came up with.

No prizes for guessing that I used Promarkers for the colouring!  The sentiment stamp is from a Papermania set.  To my new papers, I added some brown mirri for a bit of Christmas shine and embellished with ribbon, a bow, wooden snowflakes, pearls and gems.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges -
The Corrosive Challenge - #162 - things with wings
Christmas Stampin' All Year Long - #36 - anything goes
Stampin' With The Dragon - Christmas but no red or green
Paper Play - #45 - snowflakes
Crafty Creations - #195 - no flowers
Hooked on Craft - #26 - Christmas but no red or green

Beccy's Place GDT Card

Here's my second card as GDT for Beccy's Place, I really love this image as it's a bit different to most stocking images.  This one is decidedly more grown up then most, so I decided to go with a fairly muted, elegant colour combo.  It's available in Beccy's digi shop as of today.

I've had these Papermania papers lurking in my stash for ages, so this was the perfect chance to use up the last few sheets in the pack, I'm down to part used sheets now!  I really love the olive green with the grey, mulberry and pink.  I kept the layout fairly simple, adding a bit of interest with a Martha Stewart border punch and a Papermania foiled sentiment.  I echoed the poinsettias on the stockings by making some as embellishments using Nellie Snellen punches.  A ribbon, bow and a few olive pearls finish it off.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges -
Christmas Stamping All Year Long - #36 - anything goes
One Stop Craft - anything goes
Simply Create Too - #26 - use your stash, I used old papers
Papercrafting Journey - anything goes
Stamp 'n' Doodle - use a digi
Kaboodle Doodles - #145 - use plaid

Ooh, New Stamp!

I've been playing with my new SECC goodies again!  This time I've used this oh so sweet Lili of the Valley stamp and some of my new Spellbinders.  She has, of course, been coloured with Promarkers and then liberally glittered with Star Dust Stickles and Glamour Dust.

The pretty papers are Lucy Cromwell by Papermania, I just love that paper stack, the colours and designs are so beautiful.
The tag was made with a Crafts Too punch, I used a peel off for the number and yet more Glamour Dust round the edges.
The flower, butterfly and flourishes were all made with one of my new Spellbinders sets, it's called Positively Me and it's a set I'm sure I will use loads.  Ribbon, bow, gems, done!

I'm entering this card in the following challenges -
Crafty Catz  - #158 - anything goes
Flutterby Wednesday - #213 - open
The Paper Shelter - #89 - fairies or elves
Glitter 'n' Sparkle - #6 - things with wings
Alphabet Challenge - T for tags - the  6 is on a tag
Hotshot Crafts - #13 - butterflies, mine is on the tag
Totally Papercrafts - #142 - cute and girly
Passion for Promarkers - #174 - in the garden
Sweet Sketch - #179 - sketch

GDT Card for Beccy's Place

I've been lucky enough to be selected as a guest designer for Beccy's Place for the month of November, I'm so pleased as I'm a huge fan of Beccy's images.  She has a wonderful digi shop full of stunning images and lots of freebies too.  I often use her free stamps for my Digi Haven DT cards, so regular visitors will already know how much I like them!

Here's my first card for Beccy, the super cute image is available in the shop as of today.  I've coloured this sweet angel with Promarkers, adding a touch of Diamond Stickles on her wings for a bit of sparkle, and then got busy with my new SECC goodies to make up the card.  I used my new grand dies to make the blank and for the layers, along with my regular Spellbinders.  The papers are new too, they're from Lili of the Valley, a stack in the most gorgeous shades of wintery blue.  The sentiment is from a Papermania stamp set.  I couldn't use this image and not use these oh so cute fairy light embellishments which I've had in my stash for a wee while now.  I strung them on green craft wire and added a couple of tiny silver bows.  A white organza ribbon and bow along with some weeny blue pearls finish it off.

My Heart Pieces - cute
Charisma Cardz - #44 - feeling blue
Southern Girls - #57 - Christmas
Penny's Paper-Crafty - #101 - lots of layers
Stamp 'n' Doodle -  use a  digi
Sweet Stamps - #90 - Christmas
Ooh La La - #117 - Christmas
Paper Pretties - #64 - use two or more circles

I Love Promarkers DT Card

Morning all!  It's Wednesday so it's new challenge timer over at I Love Promarkers.  This week our theme is "Pretty In Pink", so it's time to go unashamedly girly and dig out those pretty pink pens.  Our sponsor this time is Joanna Sheen, the randomly chosen winner will receive a voucher for her online store.

Well, I think I fully embraced the theme this week, it couldn't get much pinker!  I decided to use this pretty stamp for my card, it was free with Creativity magazine a few issues ago and I've been meaning to play with it since I got it, I really love this image, she's so glam.  After colouring with Promarkers, I used a Quickie Glue pen and Glamour Dust for some girly sparkle, the design on the dress was crying out to be glittered.  I also added a teeny punched butterfly to her hair and some nail head gems.
Next it was time to get busy with some of my new stash from my SECC shopping spree!  The Born to Shop papers were going for a song, £2.50 for a 12x12 pack!  The Tonic butterfly punch, Spellbinders flower and flourish dies and the candy pink ribbon are all new too, I'm having such fun playing with my new goodies, I hardly want to leave the house!

I'm entering this card in the following challenges -
LEJ - #28 - dies and punches
Papertake - anything goes
Shopping Our Stash - #76 - great deal stash, I got the papers cheap
Pink Elephant - #173 - use your favourite colouring medium, I used Promarkers
There's Magic in the Air - pretty in pink
Dream Valley - #44 - glitter and bling 
Glitter 'n' Sparkle - glitter and sparkle or anything but square

Patchwork Christmas Tree

We were a bit thin on numbers for my weekly girls craft session as it was Guy Fawkes Night, but as a result there's plenty marmalade loaf left in the tin for later in the week!  This week we made patchwork Christmas Trees based on an idea in Simply Cards and Papercraft magazine.

I decided to use up some pretty mag freebie papers from last year which I teamed with bright red and mint green cardstock.  For the green mat, I used one of my new embossing folders which I bought at the SECC.  The sentiment is from the current Docrafts goody bag which I bought despite my SECC spend up!  Oops!  I finished my card with a handful of buttons, a couple of brown pearls and some brown ribbon and a bow to add to the folksy look.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges -
Card Mania - #7 - embossing
Crafty Bloggers - #5 - Christmas
Ooh La La - #117 - Christmas
Victorine Originals - #46 - bingo, I used paper piecing, DPs, pearls and ribbon, bow, DPs

An Unconventional Wedding Card

Here's a card I made for my brother-in-law's stepbrother (complicated I know!) who's getting married this month.  Mum and I made the wedding invitations and favour boxes as a wedding present for them, which was not the easiest thing to do as the bride had very specific and slightly unusual ideas for them.  She is American and wanted a western element to represent her nationality, along with autumn colours and horseshoes.  It was quite good fun to design as these are colours I love and luckily the design she wanted was fairly simple.

The embossed paisley pattern on the heart represents cowboys' bandanas and the orange wood-grain cardstock ties in nicely with the rustic theme.  I got a chance to play with some of my new SECC goodies, the heart and scalloped heart dies are new, and so are the 8x8 embossing folder I used on the yellow cardstock, the sentiment stamp which is from a Buzzcraft set, and the burnt orange ribbon.  The stepper card blank is from the Tulip bumper pack I bought last month, I'm really enjoying making cards this shape.  The leaves were made with my favourite Spellbinders Fall Leaves set and were inked with Spiced Marmalade Distress Ink.  Wild Honey Distress Ink was used to give some warmth to the sentiment element.  A few coloured pearls finish off what might not be your average wedding card, but I rather like it all the same!
Here are the invitations and boxes so you can see where I'm coming from with my crazy card!

I'm entering my card in the following challenges -
Card Mania - #7 - embossing
My Sheri Crafts - #97 - fall
Craft Punked - #44 - fall/thanksgiving
Crafty Catz - #157 - add texture
Wags 'n' Whiskers - #91 - fall colours
Pixie Dust - leaves
Crafting For All Seasons - #39 - falling leaves
Love to Create - #40 - shades of autumn

Pan Pastels Again!

I've been playing with my new Pan Pastels again, I just love 'em!  They're so smooth and creamy and the pigment is really dense, I'm only at the tip of the iceberg of what can be done with them, I sense many hours of experimentation ahead!

To make the circular panel, I used a sponge to sweep colour over the cardstock, then I laid a metal dandelion stencil over it and, using a bit of Cut 'n' Dry Foam, I sponged on some Perfect Medium.  After lifting the stencil, I used a small sponge tool to apply the same colour Pan Pastel over the Perfect Medium.  Next, I inked up two Personal Impressions dandelion stamps with Perfect Medium and stamped them on the background and applied a darker colour Pan Pastel to the stamped area.  Once I had sprayed the card with hairspray to fix, I stamped again with the same stamps and heat embossed with gold powder.
The papers I used are Papermania Capsule Collection in Red Hot and Heather, the Heather pack being an SECC purchase I got going cheap and was keen to play with.  The edges of the layers were scuffed with a distressing tool and glittered with Thistle Stickles.
The sentiment stamps are from the dandelion set already used, and I used the metal stencil with Dusty Concorde Distress Ink to echo the image.
Finally, I added some black lace, some yummy new plum ribbon and some glitter domes for a touch of sparkle.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges -
The Craft's Meow - sketch
Crafts 4 Eternity - #96 - colour combo
Dream Valley - #44 - glitter and bling
Pile It On - #45 - make it sparkle
The Ribbon Girl - add sparkle
Sweet Stampin' - all that glitters
Delicious Doodles - #9 - embossing
Polka Doodles - #44 - bright colours and sparkle

Leafy Notelets

Mum and I spent a wonderful morning on Thursday playing with some of our new goodies from our shopping spree at the SECC last weekend.  Our Pan Pastels were crying out to be tried and so was this lovely Imagination Crafts stamp.

I stamped the image in Versamark and simply brushed on the Pan Pastels in a range of autumnal shades.  Next, I stamped the image in black ink onto seven different papers from an ancient Papermania stack, fussy cut and paper pieced them onto the pastel background, to make six notelets and one for the box lid.  It took a while to cut all the leaves out, luckily they're a nice easy shape to cut!  I used some orange wood-grain card for matting and for the box, and there you have it, a handmade Christmas gift.

I'm entering this project in the following challenges -
Jellypark - back to nature
Pause, Dream, Enjoy - #44 - orange and brown
Wags 'n' Whiskers - #91 - fall colours
Pixie Dust Studio - leaves
Heck of a Challenge - 50 shades of autumn
Artistic Stamper - anything goes
Crafting For All Seasons - #39 - falling leaves

Digi Haven DT Card

It's challenge time at Digi Haven again today, this time for our fortnightly themed challenge which this time is "Autumn Leaves or Trees".  All you need to do to play along is use a free digi and provide a link to it in your post.  We have lots of links to yummy images on the Digi Haven blog, we'd love you to play along.

I've used yet another fabulous freebie from Beccy's Place, you'll find it here.   Unsurprisingly, it's been coloured with Promarkers!  After colouring, I went round the edges of the topper with Wild Honey Distress Ink to add a bit of warmth, and I stuck on a few tiny pearls as berries.
The real fun was making the background, which I did by splodging Distress Inks straight from the pads onto a non stick mat, spritzing with water, then swooshing the paper round on the wet inks.  I used Scattered Straw, Wild Honey, Spiced Marmalade, Brushed Corduroy, and Barn Door.  After drying with a heat gun, I stamped leaves in Perfect Medium and brushed with red and gold mica powders, the photo really doesn't do the shimmering leaves justice.  The leaf stamps I used are from an ancient SeeDees set.
The scattered leaves were made with my favourite Spellbinders set, Fall Foliage, and were inked whilst still in the die.  On the largest leaf, I stamped a greeting using a Personal Impressions stamp.  Two ribbons, a double bow and a smattering of gold gems finish it off.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges -
Heck of a Challenge - 50 shades of autumn
Lia Stampz - #28 - autumn colours
Natalie and Amy - favorite colour combo, I just love the autumn palette, orange is my favourite colour
Crafting For All Seasons - #39 - leaves
Crafts and Me - #108 - bling
Use it Tuesday - use orange, I dug out some old mica powders and orange wood-grain cardstock left over from another project
Simon Says Stamp and Show - add pearl, I use mica powders and tiny coloured pearls on the wreath