Beary Anniversary

Oooh there's a wee nip in the air this evening, Autumn is definitely just round the corner.  Lots of leaves down too already.  I'm not complaining though, I love to get my cosy sweaters and boots out, and we did have a great summer (for a change!)

I'm not sure if this card works or not, think it might be the brown DP strip that's throwing me but I really don't know.

Lili of the Valley image coloured with pencils.

Layout from Papertake Weekly
Tammy's Scrappin Corner #77 - anything goes
Simon Says Wednesday challenge - anything goes

Sky gazing

I love this little dude from Penny Black ... not sure though if he's just totally chilled out, or collapsed with exhaustion!

Really simple wee card ... sky chalked; glitter added to bee's wings; couple of clouds popped up for dimension and some flower soft grass for a bit of texture.
My happy sun is Sm. Sunnie from High Hopes

Cute Card Thursday #284 - things with wings
Simon Says Wednesday challenge - anything goes
Die Cuttin Divas #130 - just because
Let's Craft and Create #77 - animal antics
Penny Black Saturday August Challenge - Bright and sunny

Birthday Pinkness :)

I didn't get as many cards made on my week off as I'd hoped so the more CAS the better!

My image is from Lili of the Valley - coloured with pencils and lots of glitter added to her headband, ribbon and shoes - what wee girl wouldn't love a pair of pink sparkly shoes!!

I love this sketch from MFT Wednesday Sketch Club MFTWSC139 and will definitely be using it again!

Lili's Little Fairies - no flowers
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge - anything goes
Totally Gorjuss #198 - bows

Cards for Josh and Aunt Lucy

I've had a lovely week off so far, can't believe its Wednesday evening already!  My nephew (age 9) came up for a visit and made this card for his friend - he'd a tough time narrowing down his favourite images from my High Hopes stash, but decided on this as the robot looked like his friend.  Hahaha.

The only thing I helped with was sticking down the DP and the googly eyes, everything else he chose and designed himself.  Didn't he do a great job!!

I'd like to enter Ryan's card into the Simon Says Kids Summer Vacation challenge

Image = Wheel-ie Robot from High Hopes


My card is for my Aunt's Aunt who celebrates her 90th birthday.  Image from Taylored Expressions - coloured with pencils and lots of glitter added to the wee flowers.  Silver peel off sentiment and letters.  Taylored Expressions heart die and scallop die.  Dienamics mini tab die.

Layout from Monday Lunchtime #277
Card Crafter's Circle #89 - bright colours
Sister Act #21 - anything goes
Pile it On #34 - designer paper
Cuttlebug Mania - die cuts
Crafty Creations #237 - use a number
Fab'n Funky #182 - you can stick it

High Hopes Challenge #184

Our new challenge at High Hopes is
Pearls or Gems

I rarely make a card that doesn't have some bling on it, so this was a super easy one for me!!  Play along with your High Hopes stamps to win a new one of your choice :)

My image is Batty Boo - coloured with copics and some googly eyes added to the 'O's.  I've added a bit of dimension to my bat by decoupaging him and adding some dimensionals to his wings and sticking his body flat to the base.

Other Challenges:
Oldie but a Goodie - embossing
A gem of a challenge #94 - beginning with B (Bat and Boo)
The Squirrel and the Fox #51 - spring or autumn
Cutie Pie #51 - anything goes

Baby Isaac

I've a couple of special request cards to get made this week, so this is the first.  Couldn't get a decent pic though, my blue base isn't quite as dark as it looks here.

Wild Rose Studio image - coloured with pencils and promarkers, and glitter added to the 'lace' on the pram.

Layout from Sweet Sunday #191
Totally Gorjuss #198 - bows
Dream Valley #64 - for a child
Simon Says Monday Challenge - dotty
Sister Act #21 - anything goes
A Gem of a Challenge #94 - beginning with 'B' (baby, butterfly, bow)
Creatalicious #54 - for the boys

Drinkies and cupcakes

Just a quickie post ... I've the drinkies chillin in the fridge and I can hear them calling :)
I've a week off work now yippee, and my card stash is so low, so I'm hoping Mr Mojo co-operates.

My not-buying-crafty-stash resolution crashed to the floor with the purchase of several new DP pads ... but at least I didn't succumb to any new stamps LOL

Uptown Girls image coloured with pencils; clear gloss added to the tray, bottle and glasses, and glitter added to the cupcake icing and highlights on the blue dress, so its nice and sparkly.  I also did a wee bit of hand stitching.  CC Designs fence die; Die-namics photo die; corner punch (sorry don't know make).

Layout from MFT Wednesday Sketch Club MFTWSC138
Totally Gorjuss #197 - dies and punches
Crafty Catz #195 - stitching
Stampin for the Weekend - butterflies
Sister Act #21 - anything goes
Bunny Zoe Crafts August Challenge - Bingo - I used the middle line - dies, sparkle, stitching

High Hopes Challenge #183

Our new challenge at High Hopes is ....
Add some sparkle!
Easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy!

This card is for my Uncle Ivan who lives in Canada - my image is Mountie Marc and the leaf is the central bit cut out of another image - Team Canada.
I had spent most of the morning searching my stash for a maple leaf stamp that I was adamant I'd seen recently.  I usually keep a record of my High Hopes stamps so when I eventually went and checked, I never actually had a maple leaf stamp in the first place! Aaaarrggh!  Ah well, I 'rediscovered' loads of goodies in my hunt LOL

Unfortunately my glitter and sparkle isn't very camera friendly!  I used black glitter on his belt and hat band, black gems as buttons, and black metallic dots at the top of the black base panel.  Note to self, don't use black, black and more black when trying to show sparkle HaHa

Wanna see my reference books ... I REALLY wish I'd done one of these for all my other stamps - it's so handy to have a flip through and I always spot a 'forgotten' stamp.  Oh, and its great for a winter's evening when you've no mojo, but need something for your hands to colour :)






Other Challenges
Layout inspired by Splitcoaststamper's Featured Stamper - here's Heidi's original.
Seize the Birthday - anything Birthday
Sister Act Card Challenge #20 - anything goes
A Gem of a Challenge #93 - punch or die

Stripey Flowers

This is another neglected stamp set (Happy Flowers from Stampenduous) - I masked off my flowers and then decided I'd paper piece them, so that was a bit of a waste of time LOL.  I would have liked to have stripes instead of zigzags on the bottom panel but these are the tiniest scraps ever that I was 'saving'!!


Layout and floral theme inspired by Marion's pink flowers at the Muse Challenge #31
CAS on Sunday #15 - floral fantasy
Let's Craft and Create #76 - say it with flowers
Fab'n Funky #181 - anything that looks like summer

Quick and Easy!

I haven't played in the 10 minute challenge for ages, so thought I'd give it a go today but I've missed the challenge deadline anyway.  Time taken 9 min 31 secs ... most of my time was taken up sticking my panels together and masking off my sentiments.

My favourite kitty? ... the crazy lookin dude in the middle!!


One Stop Craft #239 - add stripes
Layout from Freshly Made Sketches #99
Papertake Weekly - Occasion-ally

Little Boy Blue

I've been really struggling with my mojo recently, and this card was "Hmm, it's OK" until I discovered that my mirror card candy that my Mum bought me ages ago, fitted perfectly into the holes in my side panel and now I love it!!  I'll def be using this effect again!

Lili of the Valley image coloured with promarkers; also an old LOTV sentiment set (postmarks)
Dienamics peekaboo dots die

Allsorts #220 - use your new stash (I've been a good girl and haven't bought anything for a while ... well a week or two LOL ... so this dotty die is my newest stash!)
Dream Valley #63 - monochrome
Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge - make the cut
Colour theme from Moxie Fab World Trigger Tuesday
Papertake Weekly - occasion-ally
Oldie but a Goodie - boys / male
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge - monochrome

Also, while I've got you, Clare Curd Crafts are having a shop relaunch blog party ...

High Hopes Challenge #182

Time for a new challenge over at High Hopes and this week it's a colour theme ...
Red and Green
Now that just screams Christmas to me ...or maybe I'm just wanting to use my new HH stamps ;)
Oh and the lucky winners of some new stamps from the Christmas Fun hop are up on the blog now too - enjoy your new goodies!

This image is Making Friends and the sentiment Work of Art from High Hopes.
Coloured with Promarkers; clear gloss added to his nose and boots; orange glitter on carrot; fine flowersoft to Snowy's hat.

I've been a good girl again and used up some of these fabulous sparkly borders that have been in my stash for a couple of years :)




Other Challenges:
Layout from Monday Lunchtime Sketch Challenge #275
Moxie Fab World Holiday Card Challenge
Pile it On #32 - outdoors
Winter Wonderland - cute Christmas
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Extra - August

Raquel's Wedding Card

{sigh} How can it be Sunday evening already?  Monday mornings come waaaay too quick :(  It's been a bit cooler today than of late, think it's time to get the duvet back on the bed - though I don't think I ever remember sleeping under a light cover for so long before our heatwave this year!

This card is for a work colleague - I was specifically asked to add a beard to the groom, I'm not sure if mine looks OK or not!
Image from Lili of he Valley - coloured with copics and some little liquid pearl drops added as accents.  Silver peel off letters.  Little grey pearls from stash.  Martha Stewart butterfly punch; Marianne design heart die; CC Designs flower dies.

Natalie and Amy's August challenge - a celebration
Papertake Weekly - anything goes
Cute Card Thursday #281 - Die-ing to punch
Sister Act #19 - anything goes

Xmas Card #13

I hope you enjoyed the High Hopes blog hop (if you haven't hopped yet, you only have a couple of hours left!), to see the full release go to the High Hopes stamps catalogue and type HOTP (hot off the press) in the search box.

This cutie is Penguin Block - coloured with copics and some sparkle added to their hats.  I rediscovered my snowball ribbon in my stash, lovin it :)

Papertake Weekly - anything goes
Top Tip Tuesday #107 - embossing
ABC Christmas challenge : P is for Penguins
Creative Inspirations #226 - something old (my ribbon and embossing folder) and something new (my new penguin stamp)
Penny's Challenge #139 - dry embossing
WinterWonderland - cute Christmas
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Extra August

We had a great week showcasing Northern Ireland to the world with the Police and Fire Games in town, and then on their last night what do we do? A full scale riot in the middle of Belfast!  Talk about letting yourself down a bucket full and all the hard work of thousands of people forgotten in the name of the few!  This pic did make me laugh though ... you just couldn't make it up!

High Hopes Sneaky Peek Day 3 and Blog Hop

So are you lovin the new High Hopes Christmas release?  If you've been over to High Hopes blog you'll have seen them all by now, plenty to choose from!  Me? I'm just delighted that lots of the new images feature my favourite snowman!
This image is simply called 'Snow'.  I've coloured it with promarkers and popped up on dimensionals though it doesn't really show up in the pic.  Clear gloss added to his nose and white flowersoft to his hat, and some white enamel dots for snow.  A super quick, super sweet Christmas card!

Today we have a Blog Hop to celebrate the release. The High Hopes Dream Team are showcasing some of the stamps that will be released today. You will want to start at the top of the hop at the High Hopes Blog then hop along the way. There will be prizes along the hop, but you won't know where! So make sure to leave a comment at each stop since that is the way you will be entered into the candy giveaway.  You should have arrived to my blog from Alex, and from here you'll hop on to Andrea

The Blog Hop Candy will remain open until 12:00 midnight EST Saturday.
The winner will be posted on Monday over on High Hopes blog.

The new stamps are availalbe to purchase from these retailers:
High Hopes Rubber Stamps
Stamp and Create
Bunny Zoe's Crafts
One Crazy Stamper

A very orange birthday!

Just a quickie post between all the High Hopes new Christmas releases ... scroll down for today's peek and there'll be a blog hop with candy tomorrow too!

My Birthday stash is getting a bit low, so I pulled out this wee girl from Lili of the Valley - I think she's one of my favourite LOTV images.  Coloured with copics.  Sentiment from Taylored Expressions.  CC Designs flower die.  I kept some of the wee cut outs from my Dienamics spotty die and used them as card candy.

Layout from Sketch Saturday #270
Cuttlebug Mania - girly
MarkerPOP #28 - anything goes
Lili's Little Fairies - here come the girls
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge - anything goes

High Hopes Sneaky Peek Day 2

Day 2 of our sneaky peeks of High Hopes new Christmas Fun release, and today I'm delighted to show you this little tag!  How sweet is little "Snowy Tag"!  Guess what's gonna be on all my Christmas pressies this year :)
Coloured with Copic markers.

We're combining today's sneaky peeks with our new challenge ...
your favourite embellishment
Mine is baker's twine (I really don't know how I managed before I got my inky paws on this - sometimes I have to actually stop myself using this on every card I make!) and a bit of bling always goes down well with me too.  Oh before you ask, NO I haven't got my pressies bought and wrapped and I don't think you'd really want this 'fake' present anyway ... a box of dried lasagne sheets from our larder!
Play along with the challenge at High Hopes blog, and join us tomorrow for more sneak peeks and a blog hop with the chance to win some new rubbah :)

Moxie Fab World - holiday gift tag challenge
Papertake Weekly - anything goes
CAS on Sunday #14 - tag it
MarkerPOP #28 - anything goes
CraftyHazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra August

High Hopes Sneaky Peek Day 1

Day 1 of sneaky peeks for High Hopes new Christmas  Fun release ... it's been hard to keep these under wraps and not show them off! 
Sneaky Peek day 1 today, then another tomorrow along with our new challenge, and then a blog hop on Wednesday for the new release :)  You can see all of today's sneak peeks on the High Hopes Blog!

My image is 'Dogs Trio Block' - I wanted to keep my card CAS so I just hand doodled a border to match my image, dead easy!
Sentiment is an oldie: Bold Merry Christmas - I managed to stamp it a bit wonky, so put a wee holly leaf in the bottom corner to throw your eye off it!  I definitely need to get a stamp positioning thingy from Santa!  Maybe if I start hinting now in August he'll take a hint by the time December comes? Ha. 
(think I'll just buy it myself!!)

Image coloured with promarkers;  glitter added to my holly berries; flower soft to his hat; clear gloss to their noses and to the candy cane.


Simon Says Wednesday challenge - anything goes
One Stop Craft #237 - keep it simple
Cute Card Thursday #280 - anything goes
Creatalicious challenge #53 - pets
Craftyhazelnut's Christmas challenge extra - August
Sister Act #18 - anything goes

Two little monkeys!

I've sadly negleted the little scrapbook for my niece, but this pic was too cute not to use!  She's a little sweetie, but look at the dirt of those hands LOL!
I added Monkey Love from High Hopes - coloured with copics and little heart paper pieced with pink gingham.  Hearts and alphas from Paper Smooches.
(Sorry its such a crappy pic, if I remember I'll try again tomorrow)

Also starting tomorrow are the sneaky peeks of High Hopes new Christmas Fun release, so I hope you'll pop by for a preview!

Layout based on Sweet Sunday #190
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - anything goes
Crafty Catz #194 - pastel colours
Cute Card Thursday #280 - anything goes

Shane's Leaving Card

We've had a day full of season's today ... warm and sunny, windy, lashing rain with thunder and lightening, and now a muggy warm night!  So if you don't like the weather, just wait half an hour!  I was down in Belfast this morning and nipped round to see the World Police and Fire Games Dragon Boat racing... pics below.  Great to see Belfast with such a happy buzz and lots of folk from all over the world having a great time.

 

Anyway, back to my card which for a guy in work who's got a new fancy job in London.  The story behind this is that he'd eat chicken curry and chips from our local takeaway every day if he could, so I thought I'd send him his own chicken off to London :)  I would have liked to have added another cloud or two, but unfortunately ran out of this nice dp.  Chicken popped up on dimensionals and clear gloss added to highlights on chicken, his balloon and the arrow.  Also got my neglected silver peel offs out, and my googly eyes haven't been used in a while either (I'm on a determined mission to use up my stash!)

Natalie and Amy's challenge - a celebration
Oozak #19 - anything goes 'funny'
Charisma Cardz #30 - up in the clouds
Cute Card Thursday #280 - anything goes
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - anything goes
The Pink Elephant TPE210 - masculine
Crafty Creations #233 - use an arrow