Passion for Promarkers - Guest Design Team woo hoo....

Wooo hooo, I am lucky enough to have been given a one month guest design team post with Passion for Promarkers and today is my first challenge. I was asked to choose the challenge, so I selected Cool Aqua and Apricot as the colours for this week, as I thought they would go with my favourite papers, MME Bloom & Grow, however once I started colouring with them realised how wrong I was.....



As you can see, I had to go back to the drawing board for the papers, but good old DCWV came to the rescue with some papers from the Citrus stack. The optional extra was to use flowers you have made yourself. It was pretty late when I was making these otherwise they would have had a few more layers....

Thanks girls for the opportunity to take part in the design team, hope I don't let the side down. Looking forward to seeing all your cards this week.

I am going to enter this for the Anyone for Anya challenge as I used this week's sketch for this card.

Miss Anya stamped with Memento Rich Cocoa
Sentiment from Hero Arts set
Ric-rac and brads from stash

All That Sparkles

It's Paula's turn to set the challenge this week at Creative Card Crew and she has chosen 'All That Sparkles'

Come on girls we all know how much you love to add a bit of bling to your cards..... what better excuse. I can't wait to see your cards come rolling in, there's a fabby prize up for grabs this week.



I used the opportunity to increase my Christmas card stash - can't believe how well I'm doing so far, if I carry on at this rate I'll have enough for next year too!!

Papers from DCWV All Dressed Up stack
Miss Anya Snow
Copics
CB Snowflake embossing folder
Stampin Up punches and sentiment
Glamour dust.

Hope you have a wonderful day...

AWOL & Winter Wonderland GDT

Working every day this week has certainly taken its toll on me and my crafting..... haven't managed much at all! I've spent the weekend catching up on chores, enjoying the sun and a bit of patchwork.
Hope to get back to more regular posting this week, now I'm back on track with everything else...

It's my second week as a guest design team member at Winter Wonderland

The challenge this week is to make a gift box, gift bag or wrapping paper.






I made this lil' box and covered it with Bo Bunny papers, added a couple of Miss Anya Snow images and some snowflakes cut with MS punch and a CB embossing and cutting folder. I got the instructions for this from an SU! training session but I believe they can be found on the scorpal website. I think I'll be making a few more of these, they are easy peasy to make.

Hope you have all had a fab weekend. I'll be round to catch up on your blogs soon...

Tilda blooms and grows in the kitchen....

Sorry for the lack of blogging this week, still trying to catch up at home after the demo last weekend. Lots of clearing up to do as we (Barry) are still decorating the hall stairs and landing. The new spindles and handrails are in but the old woodwork is being burnt back and sanded down - can you imagine the dust flying around here????
Then to add insult to injury, I've got to work all week - yep no day off, boy am I shattered.... only one more day to go!

I ventured into my craft room last night, to tidy up! I had just dumped the stuff from the weekend anywhere I could put it so a major clear up was the order of the day! Its looking a lot better out there now, so thought I would get a card or two in...



I've followed the Bev's sketch from the Magnolia challenge this week and added distressing so I can enter it into the Cupcake challenge.
I just adore the Magnolia fall kit and the Bloom and Grow papers. Image coloured in copics and distressing with distress inks.

Hope to get round your blogs over the next day or two - have a wonderful weekend, hope you manage lots of crafting.

Decorate the inside of your card

It was my turn to set the challenge this week at Creative Card Crew. I've seen lots of cards beautifully decorated on the inside as well as the outside, something I keep meaning to do but never get round to, so thought this could be my challenge.

The challenge is being sponsored by Katharina from Whiff of Joy so make sure you take part to be in with a chance of winning the wonderful prize up for grabs.

Onto my card..... I'm still into making Christmas cards, doing quite well so far, I've never been so organised!! It won't last long, so gotta make the most of it while it lasts LOL.



I love this cheeky Charlie with snowballs image, which I coloured with copics and finished off with Icicle stickles. The papers are DCWV and some of the mirri card has been run through a CB snowflake embossing folder.



I decided to carry the layout from the front through to the inside. I was wondering how to decorate the inside when this lil' calendar stamp jumped up begging to be inked up - I've had it for almost a year and its not seen a drop of ink - can you believe that!

I was looking through my stamps for a sentiment to go on the front of the card and this lovely one from the Loads of Love set from Stampin' Up! caught my attention, it just had to go in the middle.

I am really pleased with how this turned out. I would like to say I will continue with this trend as I think it finishes off the card nicely but there are so many other plates to keep spinning at the moment (and patchwork crying out for my attention)I'm not sure I will be able to....

Hope you have a great week, don't forget to check out the other DT members fabulous cards. I look forward to seeing your entries for my challenge.

Winter Wonderland GDT spot

Sorry I'm a bit late posting this. I meant to do it first thing, but after a long lie-in having been playing catch up all day and have only just realised that I hadn't posted it...

I've been lucky enough to be chosen for a 2 week guest design spot for Winter Wonderland. The challenge this week is 'Hot Chocolate'



My immediate thought was of the image of Willow with Hot Chocolate but as I don't have that stamp I had to improvise - so thought I would use chocolate coloured papers and the Willow with Cookies image.
I coloured the image with copics and used Stampin' Up! papers. The square punch is also SU! and sentiment is one from a 99p set from The Range.
Why not check out the Winter Wonderland blog and see what the very talented DT members have created.

Whiff Of Joy DT call

Whiff of Joy have a DT call out at the moment but only for the next few minutes - yeah last minute dot com again - that's me but I've got a good excuse, be back later to tell ya why, just off to link to the post...
Back again..... I had hoped to post this earlier in the week but had to make samples for a local craft show I was demoing at today. Finally finished at silly o'clock this morning and crawled into bed exhausted, had a great day, met lots of lovely people.

Anyway onto my DT card. I adore this image, only problem is it makes me feel hungry.... I used Laundry Line papers, coloured with copics. The sentiment and punches are Stampin' Up! blooms & brad from stash.
I hope Katharina likes it, I would love, love, love to be on the DT for Whiff of Joy, the stamps are adorable, fingers and everything else crossed. Good luck to everyone who entered.
Hope you are having a great weekend.

Hidden Treasure

It's my second week as a guest designer at Cute Card Thursday this week and the theme is

'Challenge 78 - Hidden Treasure
This week we want to see a hidden element/gift in your cards/projects'.



I decided to make a pop up style card, which is always well received. I was really pleased with the colours on the manga girl card I posted recently so thought I would go with that colour scheme again.

And here's the hidden element, well she was nearly hidden....



I coloured Miss Anya with copics and mounted on to the black, gray & white sparkly papers from a DCWV paper stack. The sentiment and punches are from Stampin' Up! and ribbon from stash. Another card for my Christmas box - I'm doing quite well this year...
Don't forget to visit the Cute Card Thursday blog to see the wonderful cards the DT members have made and the fabulous prize up for grabs.
It's my day off today, got a list of jobs and cards as long as my arm so had better get started.... Have a wonderful day.

Manga Boy - Copic Colour Challenge

I've had the pens for this challenge out on my desk all week, ready to take part - yet another week slipped by though and I thought I had missed the deadline.
While doing a spot of blog hopping I realised I had until midnight, so off I went to create.....



After much dithering I decided to use papers from the DCWV Citrus stack, they are so bright and cheerful, just what I needed after today. Cutting it very fine for the deadline so will be back with deets tomorrow.

Nite all.....

Creative Card Crew - Claire's recipe challenge

It was Claire's turn to set the challenge this week at Creative Card Crew and she chose a recipe. We had to use 2 papers, 3 flowers, 2 brads, 1 ribbon and 1 button.
The challenge this week is being sponsored by Crafty Addicts, so make sure you check out the lovely stash up for grabs this week - I would hate you to miss out so make sure you join in the challenge this week.
Here's my take on the recipe....



Once I had decided on what papers I was going to use the rest of it seemed to fall in place, I love it when that happens, although it doesn't happen very often!
I am pretty pleased with the result, hope you like....

Recipe
Papers - DCWV All Dressed Up & mirri card
Image - Sugar Nellie, Manga Girl,
Sentiment - Stampin Up
Coloured with copics
All other items from stash

Magnolia kitchen door hanger

I am lovin' the Magnolia Fall kit, just in case you hadn't noticed ..... LOL Its out on my work surface, not found a home for it yet so a couple of the images found their way onto this project!

I got some door hangers recently from my bloggy friend Susie, who runs an online shop Die Cut Dreams why not nip over there now and check out the fantastic goodies she has on offer there, all at very reasonable prices and super speedy delivery.



Barry and I tend to share the cooking so this gave me the idea for this door hanger. I decided to have the Tilda Chef on one side and Edwin Chef on the other.



I used the Swiss Dots and D'vine Swirls CB embossing folders, MME Bloom & Grow papers, I'm sure they do bloom and grow as I use them quite a bit but the pile never seems to get any smaller! I coloured the images with copics, this is the second Edwin image as I managed to drop my Memento Black Tuxedo ink pad on the first one leaving a couple of black marks on the image - perhaps it would help if my desk wasn't so cluttered - yep I still haven't managed to tidy it yet :0

I've had a fantastic weekend, great weather and lots of crafting, hope you've had a great one too.
Can hear my pillow calling me now, so off to bed.

Sketch & Stamp - last minute dash.....

Why is it when you are in a hurry Blogger is on a go slow...
I was going to enter this into the Sketch & Stamp challenge this week but there were a few last minutes glitches which meant I couldn't post it in time. Then I realised I had already entered a card for this week's sketch - loved the layout that much! Never mind a girl can never have too many cards..... or shoes or handbags ;-)
The papers are MME Laundry Line I think, not sure and haven't got the pack any more
Stamp from Magnolia Fall kit, coloured with copics. Pearl brads from Papermania.

And Tilda makes 3

challenges....



I admired this image on my friend Paula's blog and she very kindly sent me some of them along with a selection of other lovely images.
I am entering this for 3 challenges
Roses on Paper - colour combo of Lavender, Soft Blue & Cream,
the sketch at Inspirational Card Sketches,
La La Land challenge - distressing.

I coloured the image with copics, used Gelly Roll pens on the wings, and inked the edges of the image with a dew drop ink pad. The papers are from a couple of DCWV paper stacks I've had a while, I love the sparkly bits on the bottom paper. Sentiment and tag punches are from SU!

I am off to catch the last bit of sun in the garden, hope to be back later with more craftiness....

What's on your work desk Wednesday?

Okay I know its not Wednesday, but ...... discovered this blog yesterday via Rach's blog. I took the photos late last night and just remembered to post them.



This is my main work space, its about as good as it gets here.... I have to have lots of stash on display otherwise I forget about it !! I love crafting here in the winter with the little radiator in the space under the worktop - lovely and warm.



Sorry about the blurry photo but it doesn't look so bad with the image all fuzzy! I really need to tidy this side, there is a craft mat under all that stash and sometimes I work on this area but not at the moment as you can see...



This Ikea unit houses most of my Stampin' Up! stash, papers and ribbons. The unit on the right side of the photo is about A4 size and has 18 drawers which are full of embellies, glitter, stamps and forgotten stash. Then there's my beading, x-stitch and knitting stuff which is in various cupboards around the house!!
Am feeling that I ought to go and have a tidy now but know when I get out there I will start crafting... oh well here goes.

Hope you have a great weekend, looks like its going to be a nice one. I'm hoping to get some patchwork done as well as some DT work and a few challenges - no time for housework this weekend.

Guest Design Team spot for Cute Card Thursday

Woo hoo!!! I was thrilled to be offered a 2 week GDT spot at Cute Card Thursday. Thursday is my day off, so I try and take part most Thursdays although I haven't done very well lately :-( , as my school report always used to say - needs to try harder....



The challenge this week is
'Strawberry Mint Julep' - use a pink and green colour combo.

These are not normally colours I would put together, although I'm not quite sure why.
I really enjoyed making this card, apart from when I lost the image. I stamped and coloured it at the weekend then it went AWOL - I'm sure Tilda had a little holiday as she reappeared on my desk on Tuesday evening. I used some Basic Grey paper which I've had for ages but didn't want to cut into, how sad am I?
I used glossy accents on the plate to give it a glazed effect, it looks very effective IRL, not managed to capture the effect very well in the photo.

Don't forget to check out the very talented design team members fantastic creations.

Right idea, wrong pens.....

I was going to enter the Passion for Promarkers challenge of Glittery and Girly, cutting it a bit fine but none the less fancied having a go at this challenge. I enjoyed making the card but it was only when I was putting it together that I realised I had used the wrong pens - got carried away and used my copics.....



Luckily I had combined it with another 2 challenges so all was not lost!
I used the sketch at Friday Sketchers and at Anyone for Anya the challenge is to use Buttons, Bows and Brads.

I've got a GDT spot tomorrow, so don't forget to check back to have a look see...

Have a fairy nice day - Creative Card Crew challenge

The challenge this week at Creative Card Crew is
'Have a fairy nice day'



My first attempt went in the bin, the second attempt took some time to put together but I think that's because I was feeling guilty, Barry was painting the hallway and I should have been helping.... Anyway we got there in the end and I'm pretty pleased with the end result and it means one less card to make at Christmas!

Go on over to Creative Card Crew to check out the other DT members wonderful cards and the great prize that's on offer this week.

Stamps - image Sugar Nellie, sentiment Cuddly Buddly
Inks - Memento Tuxedo Black, Copic markers and Gelly roll pens
Papers - DCWV Rose Tinted Xmas paper stack
Tools - Stampin Up punches, CB embossing folder
All other items from stash

Christmas card in a tin

Here are the pictures of the card in a tin I made at a workshop at one of the local craft shops. I really enjoyed this class and came away with a spare tin to have another go!



Bit disappointed with the lid, you know what its like stamping on a slippy surface with Staz On. If I'd been at home I would have cleaned it off and started again but as there were other people waiting to use the stamps I didn't feel I could.



The first side visible as you open the tin. I love the colours used throughout this project.



This is the reverse side, I've changed the image from the one provided as I wasn't too keen on it and it didn't stamp very well on the textured card - think my lil' snowman looks good here.
There is a scalloped circle popped behind the large snowflake to write the greeting on.

A Magnolia fall card.... 2 challenges

Finally, a card that has gone right the first time today.....
I made a couple of cards earlier today that were to say the least challenging, one is on its way to the recipients now, well sat in the post box, and the other is for the Creative Card Crew challenge this week, so be sure to take on a look on Tuesday morning.



Had a flick through the challenges about this week and this card is a combination of 2, the sketch at Sketch & Stamp and the theme of distressing at A Spoon Full of Sugar.Anyone who knows me knows I don't do distressing, well not on my cards anyway! I tried ripping and tearing a piece of card but just didn't like it on my card, it looked messy so I afraid girls this is as distressed as it gets.... I used my distress inks and a Heidi Swapp distressing tool.

Image - Magnolia Fall kit
Sentiment - Oval All, Stampin Up!
Colouring - Distress inks
Papers - K & Co, DCWV
Glittery heart & brads from stash.

My boys are back to school and my daughter starts Uni, I swapped my day off last week for tomorrow, so looking forward to some quiet time! I've got lots of housework to catch up with, you know what its like when the kids have been off and we had the new banisters fitted yesterday, so a bit dusty round here.... Hoping to fit in some crafting, especially as I bought a pack of Jelly Rolls yesterday, material, not sweets, to have a go at some more patchwork.

Had better go and tidy up my craft room before I go off to bed.
Back tomorrow with a card in a tin I made at a workshop yesterday and a picture of the patchwork I made recently.

Get Sketchy - week 3

Here's my card for Get Sketchy's challenge this week. I thought it was about time I inked up some of the images from my Magnolia fall kit which was on the doormat when we arrived home from our hols last Friday. They are such gorgeous stamps, I spent most of yesterday evening colouring the different images, hence no completed cards made....

I stamped the image in Memento Rich Cocoa and coloured with distress inks, I know I always seem to use the Shabby Shutters and Spiced Marmalade colours, I really do need to buy some more, gonna have a lot online tonight - any suggestions for must have colours? Thinking I need Faded Jeans, Fired Brick, Milled Lavender.

I dug deep into my paper stash and used some Basic Grey papers, a scrap which I ran through a CB embossing folder and distressed the edges and embossing.
Hope you like.....
Am off to make another card now, hopefully in time for Just Magnolia challenge - fingers crossed!