Annabelle Stamps Blog Hop & giveaway

     

Hi, there's a blog hop happening at Annabelle Stamps. There's also a chance to win these 2 gorgeous stamp sets. There's a little bit of time left, so join in .

Thanks for visiting :)

Fiery Flower

Hi, I sat down this afternoon determined to use one of my flower
stamps that hadn't been inked yet. This daisy patch flower stamp set by Heartfelt Creations jumped out at me.
I stamped three flowers in ruby ink, fussy cut them and coloured them with  Inktense pencils. Then I shaped them and layered them together. 

I wanted to enter the challenge at Inkspirational where there is this gorgeous photo for inspiration.

I love the bold colours. There's a link to the artist and the fairytale The Firebird that the illustration is from. I used the bird's colours for my flower.

I also wanted to try a new to me challenge called The Card Concept. There are a variety of design styles all clearly explained with lots of examples from the fab design team.

 I tend to make clean and simple cards, although sometimes I think they don't quite fit due to background embossing or a few matting layers. I discovered another category on this site called Clean & Layered. So I think this card fits that category. The theme this time is to add texture. I've used an embossing folder.

Materials used: Heartfelt Creations stamp; Colorbox ink & clear embossing powder; Inktense pencils; diamond stickles; Memory Box Elegant Scroll die; Divine Swirls embossing folder; flower bling in the centre of the flower from stash.

Thanks for visiting :)

Owl Anniversary

Hi, I've made another owl card. Hubby suggested the design with the single hearts cut from my ribbon this time. (I think he was humming the song Love is in the Air!!) Decided to use bling instead of the googly eyes on this one too!

I'm going to link up to Simon Says Monday challenge where the theme is to create something starting with the letter A. I've gone with Anniversary.

I cut my branch from a snippet of brown card so I'm visiting the playground at Pixie's Crafty Workshop

Materials used: Stampin Up owl stamp and Cloudy Days embossing folder; Distress inks; Prismacolor pencils; Memory Box Woodland branch die; hearts are cut from ribbon; bling and sentiment sticker from stash.

Thanks for visiting :)

Owl Love Hearts

Hi, I had a few of these stamped owl images left from a craft session at my sister's place. I attached some jiggle eyes to see what they looked like. One of my sons has spent a good while playing with them to make the eyes stay in silly positions. He's 22!

I'm going to enter the challenge at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Blog, where the theme is Have a Laugh!

At Cuttlebug Mania the theme is All You Need is Love. You also need to use any die or embossing folder and a manual machine like a Big Shot or Cuttlebug. I diecut Memory Box woodland branch and the background is Stampin Up Cloudy Days embossing folder. The herats are a ribbon that I bought a few years ago. Finally cut a section off to use!

At Crafting With Dragonflies the theme is anything goes as long as it's a card.

Materials used: Stampin Up owl stamp & Cloudy Days embossing folder: Memory Box Woodland Branch die;  Versacolor ink & clear embossing powder; Prismacolor pencils; distress ink; jiggle eyes, heart ribbon and sentiment sticker from stash.

Thanks for visiting :)

Butterfly Flourishes

Hi, It's been too hot to do much craft lately!

 I'm lucky to have a small dedicated craft room, just need to find a fan that won't blow my bits and pieces everywhere!

I made this card for a neighbour's new baby girl. I wanted to use non traditional colours, and yes, I do happen to like purple...a lot! The design is a revamp of a card I did early last year. I cut and repositioned the scroll a little differently and didn't cut the edge of the second butterfly off.

I'm going to enter a few challenges.

At Less is More the theme is New Baby.

At Addicted to CAS the code word is New.

At Addicted to Stamps & More the theme is Clean & Simple.

At CASology the cue card is Contrast.

I've contrasted a dark & light shade of purple and have kept 1 butterfly low, while the other is mounted on foam tape.

I used snippets of watercolor paper and silver paper for the butterflies, so I'm off to the playground at Pixie's Crafty Workshop.

Materials used:

Memory Box butterflies, elegant scrollwork & heart delight dies; Twinkling H20's; sentiment sticker & bling from stash.

Thanks for visiting :)

Birthday Butterflies

Hi, I've been playing some more with my inktense pencils.

I used Sienna gold for the butterfly wings and used a water brush to blend the colour out. I used tan for the wing accents.
 When I did my colour chart I had written down tea as the colour, but it definitely says tan! I visited the optometrist yesterday and I have new glasses coming! It's amazing how much my vision has deteriorated in the 2 years since my last visit.

I was inspired  by the challenge at  Inkspirational to use brown and yellow. Not a combination I've used much before.

At Seize the Birthday the theme is colouring using any medium you like.

In addition to the inktense pencils I used  distress inks to colour my base card.

At Cuttlebug Mania, the theme is distressed.

At Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge, the theme is to emboss it. I used Versafine ink & clear embossing powder on the butterflies and the sentiment and I dry embossed the base with  Petal Pleasures folder.

At Simon Says Monday challenge, the theme is anything goes.

Supplies:

Stamps:. Hero Arts Antique engravings; Annabelle stamps sentiment.

Inks & Colouring: Versafine, clear embossing powder; distress ink, inktense pencils.

Embossing folder: Couture Creations Petal Pleasures and my Cuttlebug.

Thanks for visiting :)

Dotty Pinwheel

Hi. I've been trying to use up some of my ageing stash on each of my cards.

I bought this dotty paper a few years ago and thought it was perfect for the challenge at

Scrapbook Boutique. The paper was dark brown on the reverse which I thought was too dark, so I cut a pink pinwheel and folded it in with the dotty one to lighten it up. A double pinwheel!

Here's the inspiration pic for the challenge.

The waffles remind me of the pinwheel blades!

I used heaps of snippets cutting out the letters so I'm popping into the playground again at Pixie's Crafty Workshop.

At Addicted to CAS the code word is die cuts.

Materials used: Stampin Up pinwheel die; Memory Box Parker alphabet dies; Tiny Bubbles embossing folder; brad & sentiment sticker from stash.

Thanks for visiting :)

Poppies with Love

Hi, I've used this poppy die from Memory Box a few times, but mainly for sympathy cards.

This time I separated the flowers and put the bud on the other side to create a bouquet.

I cut the flower tops from snippets of watercolor paper and coloured them with Inktense pencils. I'm still getting used to using them so my blending and shading needs a bit more work. I'm going to visit the playground at Pixie's Crafty Workshop, I hear there's going to be some fireworks, I hope I'm not too late!

I'm also entering  Addicted to CAS the code word is die cuts.

Materials used: Tulip border embossing folder; Memory Box Prim Poppies and Primo Label dies; Inktense pencils; ribbon & sentiment sticker from stash.

Thanks for visiting :)

Yellow daisies

Hi, I've been playing with my Inktense pencils. The colours are very vibrant but to me look fairly ordinary until you wet them. Then the change is amazing.

I stamped this Lucy's daisy in Versafine and clear embossed. I used a couple of yellows to give some shading and put stickles in the centre for some bling. The greenery is the leaf from my Susan's Garden daisy die.

I'm entering the challenge at Allsorts, where the theme is to use ribbon but no bows. I used some yellow ribbon I've had in my stash for ages to create a border.

I'm putting a 2nd entry into  Addicted to Stamps & More where the theme is to Make Your Mark using pens, pencils etc.

Thanks for visiting :)

Happy Birthday Mo!

Hi, It's my sister Maureen's birthday ! YAY!

I visited her earlier this week and gave her this card so it's ok to post it now.

We had a lovely catch up.

I stamped the background ages ago - white ink, clear embossed. (Thanks again for the loan of the stamp Amanda). I distressed it with a few greens and a blue. I've used my all time favourite butterfly stamp from Hero Arts Antique Engravings set.

The flowers were punched from some dp that Mo gave me years ago. Her resolution this year is to use up some of her stash on every project. I think I'll try and get through some of mine too!

I'm going to link up to some challenges.

At Addicted to Stamps & More the theme is to Make Your Mark. I coloured my butterfly with my Prismacolor pencils and blended them with odourless mineral spirits and a blending stump. I love this technique, the colour just melts as you blend it.

At Cuttlebug Mania the theme is distressed. You also need to use a manual die cutting/ embossing machine. I used my cuttlebug to cut the Memory Box Madeira Corner dies. I distressed them with pine needles and forest moss distress ink to get them to match my base card.

At Make It Monday the theme is anything goes and to share creativity.

Materials used: Stampin Up Weathered bg stamp; Hero Arts Antique Engravings butterfly stamp; Versafine & Versa color ink & clear embossing powder; Distress inks; Prismacolor pencils; Memory Box Madeira Corner die; Carl flower punch; stickles; sentiment sticker & bling from stash.

Thanks for visiting :)

Baby Boy Bunting

Hi, I was lucky enough to get some new dies to play with for christmas. 

This Memory Box baby clothes die is a set of three tiny jump suits. I added one to each end to create my bunting.

I  punched my stars from snippets left over from the die cuts, so I'm visiting the snippets playground at Pixie's Crafty Workshop. The ribbon came from the shoulders of a tshirt. Each side is just long enough to tie 2 small bows. 

At Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge, the theme is Something New.

Materials used: Memory Box baby clothes and Parker alphabet dies; Swiss dots embossing folder; Fiskars star  punch; ribbon.

Thanks for visiting :)

Merry Christmas

Hi, I'd like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas. 

Thank you so much for your support, encouragement, and friendship during my first year of

blogging. I have learnt so much from so many talented and generous people, about design, new techniques, and about compassion and caring for life's joys and sadness. 

Thank you :) 

I hope 2014 finds us all safe and happy.

A friend wanted a special Christmas card to give to his wife. I hope she likes sparkle and bling!

I used a new die set, Spellbinders min-n-match ornaments with glitter paper. The sentiment and chains are stickers.

I'm linking up to a few challenges.

Scrapbook Boutique has the theme of A Traditional Christmas with this gorgeous picture for inspiration.

At Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge the theme is Bling it On.

I used snippets of glitter paper for the tree and the snowflake so I'm also visiting the playground at Pixie's Crafty Workshop. The playground is one of the first challenges I ever entered. Di and the playmates are so welcoming and full of fun.

There is lots of inspiration for all of these challenges, so take a break from the busyness of christmas preparation and join in if you can.

Thanks for visiting :)

Sparkly Baubles

Hi, I'm finally getting close to the end of the christmas cards I need to make!

I've used these Memory Box dies a lot in the last couple of years, I just change the colours and the layout. 

The bauble base was coloured using distress inks, then sprayed with perfect Pearls. Every bauble looks a bit different as the colours dilute with the mist.

I'm entering the Anything Goes challenge at Addicted to Stamps & More, it's their last one for the year and there's still a few days left to join in.

I cut my silver tops and bows using snippets of silver paper. It became a challenge in itself to see how many I could get out of a scrap! So I'm visiting the playground over at Pixie's Crafty Workshop, there's always lots of fun (and mischief) happening there!

At Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge the theme is bling it on! I've used sparkly spray and gems on my baubles.

Materials used: Memory Box snowflake & classic ornament and crisp bow dies; distress inks; Perfect Pearls mist; Stately embossing folder for the card border; watercolor and silver paper; sentiment sticker and bling from stash.

Thanks for visiting :)

Thank you Flourish

Hi, I've used a lot of silver ink and powder lately, so when I was out meandering around pinterest recently and saw this card by Kez at KB Papercraft blog I was struck by the beautiful blues and gold embossing. Thanks again for the inspiration Kez.

I inked up Darkroom Door's flourish background stamp with gold Versa color and used gold detail embossing powder. The powder seemed to take ages to melt and I thought I was going to scorch the card!

I cut a panel and coloured with a few blue distress inks.

The butterfly stamp is also Darkroom Door (thanks for the birthday pressie Mo!)

I stamped one on vellum but some of the embossing on the body started to crack. So I stamped another on white card distressed with tumbled glass and popped it under the vellum one.

I'm going to link up to a few challenges:

At Less is More the challenge is to use a metallic element and one other colour. I've used gold embossing

 and snippets of gold paper.

At the Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge, the theme is to create with a flourish.

At Freshly Made Sketches there's still some time to join in with this sketch.

At Flutterby Wednesdays the theme is to use any winged creature on your project.

I'm also going to enter the clean and simple themed challenge over at Addicted to Stamps & More.

Materials used: Hammer card base: Darkroom Door stamps; gold ink and embossing powder; Distress inks; vellum; gold paper; Memory Box Butterfly Delights die; sentiment sticker and bling from stash.

Thanks for visiting :)

Star Ornaments

Hi, when my boys were young I made a heap of these stars with them to decorate our christmas tree. They did the colouring with the kindy glitz. Back then I used a lot of chipboard from the backs of notepads and any dark card scraps I could get hold of. We needed to make quite a lot!

 I thought I'd make some new ones and enter the challenge at Crafting with Dragonflies. The theme is to create a christmas ornament for the tree or wall.

I'm also linking up to Holly Jolly Christmas challenge where there's a challenge and a blog hop. The theme is anything goes christmas card or project. 

For each ornament I stamped four stars in silver Versacolor and used super fine silver embossing powder. I used  kindy glitz to colour them then taped some silver cord between the inside 2 stars. Finally, glued the outside 2 stars on. They look great on the tree with the christmas lights making them sparkle.

I popped a couple of brads into this sheet of black card to hang the ornaments on. If I was organized and had my tree up I could've photographed them there! It's on the list  for this weekend.

Materials used: PSX stamp, the date on it says 1992!! silver ink and ep; kindy glitz; glue and silver cord from stash.

Thanks for visiting :)

Metallic Christmas Trees

Hi, I found another stash of christmas tree brads that I've had for ages.

The challenge at Less is More is to use a metallic element plus one other colour.  The brads are my metallic element and the sentiment sticker adds a pop of red.

At CASual Fridays the theme is out on a limb, to feature a tree or trees in your project.

Materials used: Metal brads; MFT sentiment die; Swiss dots embossing folder; ribbon and sentiment sticker from stash.

Thanks for visiting :)

Christmas tree brads

Hi, I was inspired to make another card for the ribbon challenge at CASology.

I've had these brads for ages and never used them. Using the swiss dots embossing folder and a paper piercer made lining up the holes for positioning really quick and easy.

The label was cut from a snippet of white using a small Spellbinders rectangle and trimming it to suit. So, I'm popping into the playground again at Pixie's Crafty Workshop.
I'll add another entry to Addicted to Stamps & More where the theme is Clean & Simple.

Here's another version with a dotty ribbon!

Thanks for visiting :)

Blingy Christmas Trees

Hi, it's so busy everywhere at the moment. There's only 2 more weeks of school left and such a lot to do! I'm looking forward to some quiet time at the weekend to escape into my craft room.

The stamp is an Outlines brand. It has a border of holly around it but I decided just to fussy cut the trees out, and place them on a plain square. The ribbon is really sparkly in real life.

I'm going to link up to the challenges at CASology, where the theme is ribbons, and Addicted to Stamps & More where the theme is Clean & Simple.

The green squares are diecut from a scrap of green card stock, so I'm also visiting the playground at Pixie's Crafty Workshop.

Edited to add: I'm also going to link up to Less is More where the theme is Sparkle, thanks for the suggestion Sue :)

Materials used: Outlines christmas tree stamp: silver ink & embossing powder; Spellbinders square die; ribbon, bling and sentiment sticker from stash.

Thanks for visiting :)

Christmas sparkle

Hi, I stamped this image while I was at my sisters recently, it may be a Lucys brand stamp. I've coloured it with my Sakura sparkle pens and mounted the images on pearl cardstock.

My apologies if this photo is a little blurry, my internet problems have been joined by camera problems! The bottom of the battery compartment keeps popping open! I'll have to learn how to use hubby's camera.

I'm going to link up to the challenges at:  Less is More where the theme is Sparkle,

 Inkspirational where the theme is Anything Goes,  Addicted to Stamps & More,where the theme is Holidays and Simon Says Stamp & Show Wednesday Challenge where is's also anything goes.

Thanks for visiting.

Floral Basket

Hi, I tried to upload some cards last night but my internet is VERY slow and couldn't do it. So I'm up early before work and it is onlyslightly better. We're on satellite broadband and I think there's some problems with over subscription to the service. Have to see what happens.

I stamped this basket on the weekend at my sister's, it's an old Penny Black stamp. The flowers are Heartfelt Creations and the greenery is Memory Box Madeira corner cut from snippets of green card. I cut up and positioned the tendrils with glue at the back of the basket

I'm linking up to the challenge at Addicted to Stamps & More, where the challenge is to Make Your Mark.

I used Prismacolor pencils to colour the basket and tombows to colour the flowers.

Using snippets means I can visit the playground at Pixie's Crafty Workshop, there's always lots of fun things going on over there!

At Inkspirational it's an anything goes challenge this fortnight.

At Seize the Birthday, there's an option of using pink and 2 images or embellishments to celebrate the arrival of  Jenny's twins,

or to create an anything goes birthday card. 

Materials used: Heartfelt Creations flower and Penny Black basket stamps; Versafine ink & clear embossing powder; Memory Box Madeira corner die;Punch Bunch tiny flower punch for the flower centres; Kaszazz vine border embossing folder; tombows; prismacolor pencils; sentiment sticker from stash.

Thanks for visiting :)