Rainbow Lady's challenge - Take a town or country break

Good morning all, this is getting to be a habit me being here on a Thursday as well as Sunday. Now I'm on Rainbow Lady's DT I need to make an effort and get my cards done on time, this week it was the turn of my new stamps from Chocolate Baroque. These stamps are smaller versions of stamps they've had on other sheets and I just love them and how useful they will be. The backing paper is printed in greyscale and then coloured with chalks and it's one of the famous embosibilities from Sharon Duncan who is our sponsor this week.

I do hope you will come over and see what the rest of the team have done and join us if you can, we'd love to see you

Dragons Dream - Tag it On - Birds As you will

So Frankie's got herself a brand new design team and they have done some fab work, everyweek I go see what the challenge is at DragonsDream  and say yes I'll do it this week but before I know it I have missed it again. Well I couldn't let the first postings by the DT go by and not join in so this is my take on the challenge.

The background is chalked and then stamped with one of the brocade background stamps (which are just so yummy if you haven't got them) it is stamped in cantaloupe memento ink. The piece with the bird on was done slightly differently, the bird was stamped in versamark and then chalked over with the same colours as the background piece, the word thankful was again stamped in the memento ink but it would have been better if I had managed to get it straight!

I couldn't find my fibres so have just used some oddments of ribbon at the top but will try to find something different as I think fibres would be better.

CD Sunday - Butterflies

Well here we are and it's Easter Sunday so Happy Easter everyone.  We are starting a new challenge over on CD Sunday and this week it's Butterflies so hopefully there will be lots of you joining in as it's quite an easy one again.

For my card I have cut the shaped card on the Cricut and printed the papers from Debbi Moores cd Flutterby, then cut another two butterfly shapes in smaller sizes to layer them up, the smallest butterfly in the middle is from the same cd but printed on both 160gsm paper and on acetate and fastened together, to finish off I used some gems in the middle to give a bit of body.  Hope you like and we look forward to seeing you over there soon.

Sweet Treats for Easter - Rainbow Lady's challenge #149

Good morning to you all, well it's another Thursday so this means another challenge over on Rainbow Lady's blog, this week we are asking for Sweet Treats for Easter.

My card is made with some Docrafts stamps, these little bears are very popular so I thought I'd buy them even though they have limited use.  They are stamped with Versafine and coloured with Promarkers and the wall is taken from a Joanna Sheen cd but I can't remember which one, it took me a while to find it!

I do hope you can come on over this week and join us, you could be the lucky one to win £15 worth of crafty goodies from the Artistic Stamper, now that is worth having.

CD Sunday Birthday challenge

Hello crafters, it's Sunday again and that for me only means one thing it's time for CD Sunday's newest challenge. Well this week it's a little bit special because it's our birthday and to celebrate we have decided to give away a couple of prizes so do come on over and join us and maybe win a little something for yourself.

My card this week is made with the Regency cd from Debbi Moore, I love her cd's and will always find something suitable on them.  This card is for a friend at work who is taking nearly two weeks off over Easter and while she is off it's her birthday so I needed to get this done quite early.  I printed the backing paper which I matted onto silver mirri card, added a bit of beautiful lace which I normally only look at. I had a piece of mirri left over so decided to cut a couple of ovals and run them through the cuttlebug, I thought it gave a bit of something to frame the images. I added some flowers in the corner and the leaves are cut out of the left over backing paper.

I want to add a little thank you to the DT for their generosity in providing things for the prize, without them it would have been one or two little items instead of a feast of crafty goodies.

Rainbow Lady's challenge #148

Hi everyone, yes I know it's unusual for me to be posting on a Thursday morning but I'm all excited as this is my first week with the team over on Rainbow Lady's challenge blog.  I have been dying to tell you all but couldn't let the cat out of the bag until today. I did have a bit of a panic as I lost my internet connection for a few days and did think I wouldn't be able to join in.

The theme for this weeks challenge is In the Springtime and is sponsored by Chi-Chi Memories and we have been lucky enough to be given some images to play with. I have made a small bag to fill with treats and this little fella is so cute I have coloured him with Promarkers, the image is printed directly onto the bag and I have coloured the background with chalks.

CD Sunday - Song in my heart

Hello everyone, I'm a little bit late with my posting for the CD Sunday challenge as I have been off line. I love my pc but not when it's playing up and I can't carry on as normal. 

Anyway onto the challenge, this week it is called A Song in My Heart and although I do sing a bit when no-one is listening to me this made me think of the birds sitting on my rooftop sing their little hearts out. 

The background is a paper printed from the Decadent Brocade cd from Artylicious.  The stamp is an Artylicious one too, it is stamped onto a 160gsm paper which I have coloured with distress inks and brushes, still haven't got the hang of using the brayer.  I needed something to pull it all together and decided to use some of the papers to make a little corner decoration then I cut out two branch die cuts and there it was done.

If you haven't already been and had a look at the challenge please pop over and hopefully join in, we would love to come and visit you.

Oh by the way I almost forgot, it's our birthday next week and we'll have presents but you'll have to join us for the event!

Bah Humbug! challenge - Cards that make you giggle

Over at Bah! Humbug! this week it's cards to make you giggle, well what better than this moose in a tangle with his Chrsitmas decorations. This is a digi stamp that I bought last year, he is coloured with Promarkers and I was going to put some glaze over the lights but forgot, must go back and do it!

Over on our CD Sunday blog this week we have a fabulous challenge which is make something for Someone Special. We are being sponsored by

and the prize is 4 sheets of digi images, so if you love digi stamps or if you have never used one and fancy giving them a try now is the time. My card is done using a beautiful ballerina digi and the backing paper is from the Baby Love cd from Joanna Sheen.

Less is More - A Touch of Red

This weeks challenge on the Less is More blog is a touch of red, I stamped the image and painted the poppies with Worn Lipstick Distress Ink with a little bit of Shabby Shutters to do the stems and darken the buds slightly. I layered it onto a red mat and then stamped the sentiment straight onto the card.

Bah! Humbug! - Christmas Trees

Here's my card for the Bah! Humbug! challenge this week which is Christmas Trees, I have used some papermania backing papers and some fabby green ribbon and thenused the Cuttlebug to emboss one of my favourite trees, I used the Core'dinations papers and sanded it back to reveal the green below. Finished with some red pearls in the corners and a bit of glitter on the tree, have to have glitter at Christmas!

CD Sunday - Transport

Good morning once again, this is the fourth time I've tried to upload this picture. I've had to revert back to the old style editor to get it to work but not sure why. This is my offering for our challenge over on CD Sunday, I have a few youngsters in the family who are into the army and am very slow at making the cards for their birthdays so have decided to use the theme of transport to get ahead. The topper was done in Craft Artist Platinum and the dog tags have been glazed in an attempt to make them look more metallic. I picked out the colours on the star for the papers to mat onto and there it is finished. To be honest it's not really my kind of thing but the boys will love it! Do come over and join us, we love to see your entries.

Music and Movement

I've made this card for a swap and the theme is music and movement. I have used some Basic Grey papers after much thought, I love the papers and hate cutting into them! I also downloaded the music from Swan Lake which I coloured with distress inks to blend in. The image is a digi which I have coloured with Promarkers and added a little glitter to the dress and headband.

The flowers are from one of my favourite places Wild Orchid.

Less is More - Sketch

I can't believe I am actually waiting for Saturdays so I can see what the Less is More girls have in store for us. This week it's a sketch so I have done a DL card which thinking about it is the first one I've done in a very long time.  I printed the pattern on the bottom and the sentiment then using the same card cut a strip which I put through the Cuttlebug, the flower is cut from a set  of dies and I popped a brown pearl in the centre to finish it off. 

Bah! Humbug! - Metallic

Over at Bah! Humbug! hall they have asked us to use something metallic. Well the first of my cards is done in Craft Artist and all the elements are metallic looking and I've layered the topper onto silver so hopefully that fits.

For the second card I've stamped some baubles onto silver mirri with Stazon, cut them out and hung them from the tree branch. They were very difficult to take a picture of as the silver reflects everything or just looks black so I have done the best I can. I have embossed the card using a couple of folders and then did the lines to fill the gap. The sentiment is from the same set of stamps as the baubles, they came in a Do-Crafts goody bag. The ribbon has been coloured with Promarkers and I added a little colour to the baubles too, being very careful so the Stazon didn't run.

I was off line last week as my pc stopped working so didn't get a chance to enter the challenge so hopefully this makes up for it and keeps my tally of cards going in the right direction.

Less is more - Masculine

Over on the Less is More challenge this week it's masculine, my first thought was oh no! but then I remembered this lovely husky stamp from Clarity and I was away. The frame was put onto the card in Craft Artist as was the sentiment and now I've closed the programme down I can't remember which font I used.  I love this image and although I have used this for the challenge I know lots of ladies who would just love a card like this. 

Quick update just in case anyone likes the font it's Morning Limerick BTN.

CD Sunday - Wild Thing

Hello everyone, I almost didn't get to post this card as I had a sick pc and have been off line all week, you all know the trauma this brings.  Over on CD Sunday this week the challenge is Wild Thing, not unsurprisingly we have all gone with the animal theme but there are other things that can be done with this theme so I'm hoping that we'll see some really good entries this week.
My card is for my brothers birthday, he loves otters and has always fancied a tattoo on his leg, he is a bit of an artist and has even drawn the design he wanted but has never got around to having it done so I decided the next best thing is have one on a card.  The image and the bubbly backing paper is from the first of the Jayne Netley Mayhew cd's, I have used a fabulous photo paper for the main image and it looks really crisp. The seaweed and coral I have cut out on my Cricut in a matching paper from the Life's a Beach cartidge. I do hope he likes it.

Simple Sympathy Card

I like the simpleness of this card, it is a five inch square and although is being used as a sympathy card I didn't want to use black so I have used a very dark green.

I am entering this into the Less is More challenge which is one layer and off the page.

CD Sunday challenge - Colour

I've made two cards for you today, these are my challenge cards for CD Sunday which this week is colour   we want you to use the colours blue, yellow and brown. I love blue and brown together but thought I'd throw a little something extra in and decided on yellow, when I came to do my cards I couldn't make up my mind what to do and it wasn't flowing as well as I had hoped so I ended up doing two and both of them have come from Joanna Sheen discs. I can always find something to fit the bill with her cd's as there is so much variety on them.

I am also entering the crocus one in the Stamp, Scrap and Doodle challenge which this week is spring.

Less is more - Off the Page

Over on the Less is More blog this week the challenge is a one layer card and off the page.  I stamped the lady leaving the back end of her dress disapearing off the edge of the card, coloured with Promarkers and then stamped the sentiment.

Bah Humbug! challenge - Embossing

Over at Humbug Hall this week the staff are having a great time and have asked us to do a bit of embossing, not sure if they have got their inspiration from the wallpaper but anyway I thought I join them and do a bit more for the Christmas box, I have used a cuttlebug embossing folder which funnily enough I won last year from those very nice ladies, I have used a little distress ink to highlight the trees. The words were cut on the Cricut as were the snowflakes, I really should use this machine more often as I do love it but just forget to switch it on at times.

I'm also entering this for the CHNC challenge which this week is embossing,

CD Sunday - St Patrick's day/Luck of the Irish

Good morning from sunny Wigan, it's another Sunday and can only mean one thing, yes it's another challenge from us over at CD Sunday. This week we are going to Ireland and celebrating St Patrick's day, our theme is based around luck so this is what I chose to use.  My card is done using the newest set of cd's in my collection, Craft Artist Platinum. I have had a ball using these cd's and built up the design before printing off, the bunch of shamrocks is a digi stamp from either last year or even the one before which I reduced in size to fit in the frame and then coloured it with Promarkers.

This week our challenge is sponsored by Art of Craft and they have been very generous in giving us a voucher for £20 to spend on anything in the shop, so go on over and have a look it's very well stocked.

Less is more - Three Squares - Take Two

OK I have to admit that I do like to do things right if that is possible, I know I don't always achieve it so will go back and start again. Earlier I made a card for the Less is More challenge this week which is three squares, now I wasn't 100% happy with it and most of the comments echo my thoughts. 

I decided to have another go but have done this one a little differently, once again the sentiment is computer generated but so are the squares. I found it a lot easier to get the squares in the right place using the pc, once I had printed the base out I used a stamp that I've had for quite a few years, I then coloured the flowers with promarkers. Now once again I'm not 100% happy as I could have placed the 1st flower a little further to the left  but I feel it's a great improvement on my earlier attempt.

Less is more - Three Squares

On the Less is more challenge blog this week the theme is three squares, easy you may think but not for me!

I have done this and now I've looked at it again I don't like the placement of the words, but I can easily do another and move them, I think they should be a bit higher.  The purple paper is a patterned one and this is why the shading is different on each square, again maybe I should have used a solid colour?

CD Sunday - Art Nouveau

Over on CD Sunday this week we want you to use the theme Art Nouveau, I have used My Craft Studio for my card and printed the background and the image onto pink pearlised paper. The base card is pearl white with a hint of colour and it changes with the light, I have embossed some lines down one side and across the bottom and added some brown pearls.

I am entering this into Crafty Ann's challenge which this week is a birthday card, thanks Ann a nice easy one this time.

I do hope you'll come over and join in with us, we'd love to see you.

Things That Fly - Bah! Humbug!

The Bah! Humbug! team are being nice to us this week after the stinker last week, and their theme is things that fly. Now this may be the oddest robin you have ever seen but it can fly so fits in with the challenge.  The card is an 8 inch square, yes Ann I know I said I wasn't doing big Christmas cards but this is for someone in particular.  In the background I have stamped some snowflakes with Perfect Medium and then dusted with pale blue Perfect Pearls, the dotty paper is from a digi kit in Craft Artist, the ribbon is not 100% right but once it was stuck it wasn't letting go without doing some damage so it will have to stay as is.

Bah! Humbug! - Use a CD

Over on Bah! Humbug! this week the ladies have decided we should use a cd, now my first thoughts were oh that's easy I'll print off an image and I'll be away but no, that wasn't how they wanted us to include the cd in our designs.

I found an old cd and used cranberry and lettuce alcohol inks to give it it's colour, I then found some green card and cut out a wreath, I used a bit of red glitter and lots of irresdecent, looks quite dull in this picture - oh for some sunny days!  I used another stamp from the Penny Black sheet I bought recently and coloured he image in.  I used a backing paper with presents on it to tie it all together.

Well it's Sunday so ..................

Good morning all you wonderfully talented crafters out there, today is Sunday so that only means one thing in my world - another challenge from CD Sunday.

This week the DT have decided on the theme  Get ahead- Get a Hat, now I had lots of different ideas for this one and the card I have made has no resemblance to any of them.  I wanted to do something a little different and maybe make you smile so I turned to DSA2 and a digi stamp I have had for a long time but never used.

This image always makes me smile and I have coloured him with Promarkers, the rest of the card was built in DSA2. I hope you can come on over and join in with us this week, we'd love to see you.

Less is more - Spring 2nd version

Help!  This blog is starting me off on a journey I hadn't planned on, when I found the

 Less is More blog last week I thought I'd have a go, not satisfied with one entry I had to do another. Now then this week they have a theme going and it's spring, well as I usually use stamps and inks and things but the entry I did earlier was totally digi. I guess it's because I have this software and I need to learn how to use it, now I'm feeling like I should try harder even though I can't tell you how long it took me to sort out where I wanted everything on the page for the first one.

The thing is this is also a digi but I have had some input as I have used Promarkers to colour the flowers.  I was going to stamp an image and had the sentiment all planned but can't find the stamp so have had a go with this, hope you like it.

Another Cupcake Sample

Here is another sample card made for the recent programme on C&C, this image comes from CD 16. I printed out the image and decoupaged it but didn't want to use the highly patterned background papers as I find them a bit too busy for my taste so chose this one as it is quite muted. The frame and tag were cut on the Cricut.

Less is more - Challenge 3

Over on the Less is More challenge this week there is a theme to work with, this week it's Spring. One of the things that make you think spring is here is the new green shoots on things and so I have chosen to use green as my inspiration.

Rainbow Lady's Challenge - Use something from a cd

Over on the Rainbow Lady's Challenge blog the theme this week is use something from a cd, now I could have waited for Sunday and combined our CD Sunday challenge so I would only have to do one card but I have decided to share this one with you.

This is done with a Cupcake cd  I think number 16 with artwork by Andrew Hull, I have stamped the Penny Black stamps in the middle of the heart and used a corner punch.  It's not something I would normally do but I do hope you like it.

I am also joining in with Crafty Ann with this one as she has asked us to do Love is all around.

More - Less is More

This is once again for the Less is More challenge which this week is a one layer card. Yesterday I did a fairly quick card but wasn't happy with it and I have to agree with some of the comments that the wording was too big, in my defence it didn't look that big on the screen and it was well past my bedtime.

Today I have gone down the old fashioned route of inks and stamps rather than digi, I have used duster brushes and Distress Inks for the background and stamped the image which is an Elusive Images stamp in black versafine. I have added a bit of colour with Promarkers.

Oh and by the way the card from yesterday has now been transformed into something smaller without the wording on it, lol.

Wedding invitation

Sorry the picture's a bit drunk looking but it's so difficult at night, I have been asked to do a couple of samples of very simple invitations for someone who is getting married later in the year. This is my first sample so it's not printed on a special card just a cheaper cream card to see what the effect was like.

Less is more

I've just found a new challenge blog - Less is More  and thought I'd join in, the theme is a one layer card. Now this is something a lilttle alien to me but it's good to have a go so hope you like it.

Bah! Humbug! - Doilies

Well it's Sunday and it seems Sunday service has resumed, just like buses you wait for an age then three come together!

I felt a bit guilty about my earlier entry for the Bah! Humbug! challenge as it didn't feel like I had actually made it, even though I had spent an age at the computer screen. I decided to make a 'proper' card  and this is what I've come up with. I do love white on white and this little Penny Black stamp was perfect to be cut with a circle punch and popped in the middle.  Not sure how much of the embossing you can see but I've used a border folder and the snowflake folder and inbetween I have embossed some lines to fill in the gap.

Hope you like it and I've now pleased the die hard paper crafters as well as the new wave digi people, lol

A digi card

It's a miserable wet Sunday afternoon and I couldn't get myself going at all so decided to play with DSA2 , I have just ordered the new Craft Artist that has recently been released so thought I'd have a little play and see how these things work.

Over on Bah! Humbug! this week the challenge is to use doileys so I did a bit of hunting and found this one in one of the wintery themed kits. I have to say I really enjoyed playing with all the different layers and embellishments but could have probably made three cards in the time it took me to get something I found passable.  I was going to print off an extra snowman and tree to decoupage onto the card but decided to just leave it flat and it will be better for posting.  I have gone over the wording with glitter and even made an insert with the same backing paper.  It has been a lovely way to waste time and I will be making more cards this way but it won't replace my love of playing with paper and inks.

Sorry about the flare from the light but it is way to dismal to take a picture without it.

CD Sunday - Swirls and Pearls

Over at CD Sunday this week we want you to use Swirls and Pearls, I have used a background from a Debbi Moore cd and used a stamp from Kanban for my image, she is coloured with Promarkers.  I have added a ribbon and a few pearls on the curly bits of the swirls and it's all finished.

I hope you can come over and join us this week, we'd love to see you.

Rainbow Lady's challenge - It's All About Love

Over on Rainbow Lady's challenge blog this week It's 'All About Love' so I have used one of my lovely Penny Black stamps to make this card. The background is Core'dinations and although it doesn't show up in the picture it has been sanded and is a slightly different colour where it is embossed. I'm not normally into cute but these stamps do it for me and I find I use them quite a lot.

Bah! Humbug! - Buttons and Bows

Over on Bah! Humbug! this week our friends have challenged us to use buttons and bows, now for me that combination doesn't conjure up Christmas but not to be beaten I have had a bit of a play and here is the result.

The snowman I bought in January when Sir Stampalot had a sale, as soon as I saw him he was sold! I have use Promarkers and some extra fine glitter which I'm not sure shows very well but it does make a difference. The buttons on his belly are covering four drawn ones but they were too big to use four. The backing paper is pale green but looks white because of the light and finally I have tied a big red bow around the bottom. There isn't a greeting on it at the moment because I can't find the one I want to use so it will stay bare until the stamp shows up again.

CD Sunday -Friendship

Over on CD Sunday we are quite excited because this week we are being sponsored by the wonderful Debbees CD's. The design team were lucky enough to have some designs to play with from Debs and this is what I decided to do. I love the square pages with the design made into a circle so used that inside the card on the out side I have used a set of three images and made half the card from acetate.  These images are so sweet and the backing papers match so well that they were a joy to use.

The heme this week is friendhip and for once I have made my card entirely from a cd, this quite unusual as I normally only use bits and then add stamps and inks etc., these images were perfect and didn't need anything adding.

I hope you'll come over and join us and check out the teams work, we look forward to seeing you.

Bah! Humbug! - Oldie but Goldie

Over on Bah! Humbug! this week the ladies are asking for Oldies but Goldies, well unfortunately my photo didn't fit with Christmas so had to dig out an old cd, this image is from Joanna Sheen's Victorian Christmas.  I have printed the backing paper from a new disc to me Backing Papers 4 you by Tabbycat this was a prize I won over on Rainbow Lady's challenge blog. I am going to get my run of the mill cards done early and do all the bigger ones nearer to Christmas.

I have added a little gold ribbon and bow which is quite shiny but doesn't really look it in this photo.

Rainbow Lady's Challenge #137 Beary Good

Over on Rainbow Lady's Challenge blog this week she has asked us to use something with a bear.  I decided that i would use a stamp I bought last year in a set from QVC, the backing papers are Basic Grey and I nearly had to have counselling to use them. The image is once again coloured with Promarkers.

CD Sunday - Love is in the Air

Good morning everyone, it's yet another Sunday and for me it only means one thing - another challenge over on CD Sunday. This week the team have chosen the theme 'Love is in the Air' so I have done a wedding card.  This card is an easel card and the image is a stamp from LOTV, I had seen this stamp made up as a card with no indication of where the image came from and it took me quite a while to locate it but if I had stopped and thought about it, it should have been easy but hey ho sometimes we can't see the obvious. 
I managed to buy it when i went to the NEC last November and have enjoyed using it, I think it's just on the right side of cute.  This time I have coloured it with distress inks and put a few dots of glitter on the brides dress.  The flowers are from Wild Orchid and the sentiment is the item from a cd, it comes from MCS Papercraft Library.  The backing papers are from Basic Grey and are coloured with Spun Sugar distress inks.

I do hope you will be able to pop over and see what the rest of the DT have done and hopefully join us, we look forward to seeing you.

CD Sunday - Waters Meet

Good morning all amd welcome to another lovely Sunday morning, the weather may be awful but I'm not in work so that makes everything all right.  This week on CD Sunday Challenge blog we want you to go where waters meet, now I was spoilt for choice with this one but needed a quick card for a man so this is what I've done

I've used the Thomas Kinkade cd from Joanna Sheen and this is printed onto a mat photo paper, the card background is printed directly onto the card and is a cloud background, it looks textured but it's not, I just embossed some lines down each side and added a few gems, perfect for the man in question.