Wedding Card #2

Well March has certainly gone out like a lion today.  We've had the lot ... gales, rain, sleet, snow, hail, and all interspersed with dazzling sunshine and blue skys!  'Spring' a couple of weeks ago was definitely nowhere in sight today ;)

I was asked to make another card for the same wedding that I made a card for a couple of days ago... panic!  My repertoire of ONE wedding design had to quickly grow to TWO hahaha!

I bought these Mr & Mrs stamps from Woodware a while back after seeing the lovely Coops use them on one of her cards - I stamped them first on patterned DP and then matted up on some white card.  The text at the bottom (silver peel offs) was by request, I thought it was a bit odd myself!  Ah well, hope they like it as I'm really pleased with how it turned out.

Taylored Expressions scallop die; Paper Smooches heart die.

Die Cuttin Divas #209 - include a die
The Challenge - anything goes
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday - anything goes
Clear it out - I've been hoarding this DP for ages as too nice to use, and then I went a bit crazy on this card and used loads!!

High Hopes: Flop Eared Rabbit

It's Monday so it's my day for posting over at High Hopes blog :) 
(the March 'Anything High Hopes Goes' challenge runs until tomorrow)

Today I have a CAS Easter card for you, featuring Flop Eared Rabbit ... isn't he a cutie!  I've coloured him with watercolour pencils, and added clear gloss and glitter to his tail
Simon Says Stamp 'Happy' die.
Bling from stash.

Other challenges

• Layout inspired by PALS Paper Arts PPA245
• Pile it On #62 - Easter / Spring
• Sweet Stampin - Easter
• My Time to Craft #285 - Easter animals
• Less is More #217 - combine 3 LIM challenges: #177 watercolour, #173 die cut; #215 animal
• Addicted to CAS #60 - cute
• Papertake Weekly - a cut above
• Simon Says Stamp Wednesday - anything goes
• Day 27 of Kathy's 30 day colouring challenge #thedailymarker30day

Burgundy Wedding Card

Just a quickie post tonight ... Poldark is on the telly and if you haven't seen it yet, all I can say is 'phwoar'!! ;)

I love how this wedding card turned out, I reckon it may become my 'go to' design as I always find them so difficult to make.  Anyway this one was nice and easy .... my BG hearts is a die from Simon Says Stamp.  Image from Lili of the Valley coloured with watercolour pencils.  Silver peel off letters from stash.

Papertake Weekly - a cut above
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday - anything goes
As you like it - line or no lines - definintely lines, I don't think this image would have as much impact with no lines!
Polkadoodles -#13 - use a die
Simply Create Too #82 - anything goes
Day 26 of Kathy's 30 day colouring challenge #thedailymarker30day

Another Easter Bunny

Yippee our clocks go forward tonight .. it will be great to have the brighter evenings, I so hate the long dark days of winter!

Mind you, the only down side to Spring is the Dawn chorus outside my bedroom window!!  This little guy is on VERY thin ice at the minute ...









I'm not sure if he's a Thrush maybe, but boy, he has a chirp on him that would waken the dead!    He must be exhausted though, he hasn't been to bed for about a week!  The sooner he gets himself a lady friend, the quieter for us all LOL

Anyway, my card today uses a couple of High Hopes images .... Flop Eared Rabbit and Easter Balloon Bouquet.  Doubtless you'll be seeing them again this week while I try to get a move on with my Easter cards ;)  Both coloured with watercolour pencils.  White flowersoft added to his tail.  I fussy cut my balloons and popped up on dimensionals and then added clear gloss, glitter and gems.  My DPs are some super oooooold stuff from my stash .. I so begrudge using this easter egg DP, love it so much I can't actually use it LOL.  White enamel dots round my edge.

Layout from MFT Sketch MFTWSC221
Papertake Weekly - a cut above
Creative Inspirations #306 - feathered friends / animals
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday - anything goes
As you like it - favourite lines or no lines .. I prefer my images with lines as they're easier to colour!
Creative Card Crew #83 - Easter Critters
Top Tip Tuesday - buttons or bows
Day 25 of kathy's 30 day colouring challenge #thedailymarker30day

Eat Cake Graphics - Too late for cake?

Gasp, imagine being too late for the cake, that would be a disaster Hahahaha ;)

This is my first DT card for Eat Cake Graphics A Sprinkling of Samples blog  :)
I've used little Abigail (doesn't she look the picture of pure innocence!) - combined with the text stamp she makes a great Belated Birthday card.  I coloured her with watercolour pencils and fussy cut Abigail and the sentiment, and then added clear gloss to her empty plate.  My BG is just a quick swoosh of Shimmer Mist.  Photo frame and little Abigail popped up on dimensionals, and a few random gems added from my stash to finish.

Stamps used:

1021-F Abigail's too late for cake 

8011-D Am I too late for cake (text)

Cuttlebug Mania - Freeze Frame - I used a photo frame die from Taylored Expressions
Papertake Weekly - A Cut Above
Top Tip Tuesday - buttons or bows
Addicted to Stamps #137 - make your mark
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday - anything goes
Penny's Paper Crafting #220 - boys and girls come out to play
As you like it Challenge - lines or no lines technique ... I definitely prefer lines on my images as the invisible lines always look a bit unfinished to me!

Easter Bunny

As per usual I've left it to the last minute to make my Easter cards ... I think I may have one in my stash so I need to get a move on ;)

CASology challenge this week is to craft your CAS style, and I'd say this is mine!  ... a cute image with a focus on the colouring and minimal embellishments and doodled borders.  I've also managed to use up some of this DP scraps which have been in my stash for a while but were too nice to chuck out!

Image: Bunny with Tulip from High Hopes - coloured with watercolour pencils and clear gloss and glitter added to the tulip

Layout from Try Stampin on Tuesday #211
CASology #139 - style
Creative Card Crew #83 - Easter critters
Simply Create Too #81 - Easter / bunnies
Tulips / colour theme from Simon Says Stamp Wednesday inspiration picture
Cute Card Thursday #365 - Spring Fever
Bunny Zoe's Crafts March - Spring colours
Day 21 of Kathy's 30 day colouring challenge #thedailymarker30day

High Hopes: Foxy Knitter

It's Monday so it's my day for posting over at High Hopes blog :)
(our Anything High Hopes Goes challenge runs to the end of the month)

Today I've used Foxy Knitter from our Spring Release ... isn't he perfect to make cards for those knitters in your family!

I've coloured him with one copic marker (Peach) and just used light feathery strokes to build up colour and texture.  I also used the same marker to colour my accessories, but it decided to run out on me when I was colouring my flower  ... which is the main reason my I fell out of love with my copics!  At least when I'm using pencils I can see how much I have left LOL
Simon Says Stamp 'Happy' die; Paper Smooches hill die.  Woodware flower punch.

Sister Act #98 - anything goes
Polkadoodles #12 - birthday
Inspiration Destination #25 - anything goes
Crafty Creations #285 - chevrons or stripes
Whimsy Stamps Inspiration challenge #81 - use a diecut
Kathy's 30 day colouring challenge #thedailymarker30day

Eat Cake Graphics news

Whoohoo I'm delighted to announce that I'm one of the new DT members for Eat Cake Graphics :)
I've been a long time admirer of Holly's art work and to say I'm chuffed to bits to be part of her new team is an understatement!
Pop over to A Sprinkling of Samples to say Hi to the new DT if you get a chance, and follow us on Facebook: eatcakegraphics
 :)

Dodgy Engagement card

Aaarrgh a dreaded love themed card!  I was asked to make an Engagement card as a quick order, so I used these stamps that I won ages ago from CC Designs but have never inked up.  (sorry, but I have issues with faces with no mouths!)

If I had time I would remake this card ... my colouring on this is absolutely pants and their positioning isn't right either.  I think I should have stamped the groom to the left instead of to the right of his intended ... at the minute their body language doesn't bode well for a happy relationship LOL

Coloured with watercolour pencils.  Clear gloss and glitter added to her diamond ring.  Silver peeloffs from stash.  Oldie embossing folder from Ellison.

Sister Act Card Challenge #97
A Gem of a Challenge #130 - pretty in pink
Papertake Weekly - Happy Anything
Addicted to Stamps #136 - anything goes
Creatalicious #73 - anything goes
Day 15 of Kathy's 30 day colouring challenge #thedailymarker30day

Chalked snowflakes

Well surprise surprise, there was no gardening done today ... It was a bit damp and a bit cold and I was a bit couldn't be bothered! So I had a play with my craft stash instead :)

I was inspired by Kathy's stencil card for Day 13 of her colouring challenge.  I die cut a couple of Paper Smooches snowflakes and used the negative for my stencil.  I don't have any coloured inks, so I used dark blue, light blue and purple chalks instead.  Took a while, but I love how it turned out!  Images and sentiment from My Favourite Things - coloured with watercolour pencils.  Clear gloss and glitter added to Santa's hat and pressie ribbon.  Santa and sentiment both popped up on dimensionals.

• Kathy's 30 day colouring challenge Day 13 #thedailymarker30day
• Layout from MFT meets Page Maps
• Merry Monday #150 - gifts
• Christmas at Sweet Stampin - blue Christmas
• CRAFT #302 - Christmas
• Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas challenge extra - March

High Hopes - Happy Panda

Happy Monday peeps!

It's my day for posting over at High Hopes blog and we're showing peeks of our new release... pop over to the blog for more peeks from the DT!
The Anything High Hopes Goes March challenge runs through to 31 March - the lucky winner gets to choose 2 stamps of their choice.

My card today uses Happy Panda - available to purchase from Thursday 19th.
I've coloured him with my watercolour pencils.  My embossing folder is an oldie from my stash but I thought it kinda matched my bamboo.  Silver peel offs and bling from stash.

Fab'n Funky #250 - focus on the image
Cute Card Thursday #364 - Celebrate
Polkadoodles #11 - Birthday
Addicted to CAS #59 - green
Simon Says Stamp Monday - animals
Love to Scrap LTSCB#50 - anything goes

High Hopes - Brutus

We've had quite a few staff leave in work this past while due to budget cuts and whatnot, so it's no fun making these goodbye cards :(
I've made this one in our company colours and added this cute doggy from High Hopes for good measure!  I've coloured Brutus with watercolour pencils, popped up on dimensionals, added clear gloss to his nose and glitter to his pendant.  My alpha set is a very old die cut set from Ellison - I think it's called Mac'n Cheese.  Stacked star dies from Taylored Expressions.

Stamping Sensations March - one for the guys
Whimsy Stamps #80 - use a sentiment
Sister Act #97 - anything goes
Creative knockouts #80- faux stitching
Tuesday Throwdown TT235 - good luck
Kathy's 30 day colouring challenge Day 12 #thedailymarker30day

Spring is most definitely on its way here, even though there's a nip in the air yet.  Here's a wee pic of the lovely daffs outside my back door ...

Hopefully the weather will hold for tomorrow, I've big plans for my front garden  I need to do a bit of rearranging and digging out, but we'll have to see how that goes ;)

Mother's Day card

Phew I'm pooped tonight ... it's been a dry but brrr chilly day.   We had a few hours at the garden centre this morning and then I spent all afternoon out sorting the back garden.  Who knew there were so many weeds hiding under the fallen leaves! ;)  Looks good now though!

This is my card for my Mum.  I won this Lili of the Valley image a while back - coloured with watercolour pencils.  Marianne Design butterfly die.  Woodware flower punch.

My Time to Craft #283 - for a special lady
Moving along with the times - bingo - I used Die, image, gems
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday - things that fly (butterfly)
Papertake Weekly - Mum's the Word
Simon Says Stamp Monday - B is for ... Bunnies, butterfly, bling and banners
Natalie and Amy's challenge #30 - flowers
Crafty Cardmakers #134 - for a special woman
Kathy's 30 day colouring challenge - Day 11 #thedailymarker30day

1st Wedding Anniversary

Yippee, that's me off work now for a few days till next Wednesday :)  Feels like I haven't been off for aaaages!  Hopefully the weather will co-operate and we'll get out and about, or at least get the garden into shape.

Another lovey dovey card tonight!  My brief for this one was for a 1st wedding anniversary, incorporating France and Scotland.  So I made a 1st wedding anniversary card and ignored the rest hahaha.  Not to worry, it seemed to go down well anyway ;)

My image is from Lili of the Valley - coloured with watercolour pencils.  Heart die from Paper Smooches.  Silver peel offs from stash.

Cute Card Thursday #364 - celebrate
As you like it ... digi or rubber stamp? - my favourite is definitely rubber, I don't have a printer ;)
Fab'n Funky #250 - focus on the image
Sweet Sunday Sketch challenge #259 - free choice - I used #206
Party Time Tuesday #196 - anything goes
Kathy's 30 day colour challenge Day 9 #thedailymarker30day

Wedding Card

I really really struggle with Wedding cards, and this one took most of the evening to make but I'm quite pleased with how it turned out.  The longest chore of the evening was my bow die from Creative Expressions .. takes ages to get a good one die cut and then another age poking out the little filigree bits.  Worth it though, it's so pretty.

Oh, in case you're wondering, the bride's name is pronounced Kay-lean!

Layout from Creative Inspirations #304
Simon Says Stamp Monday - B is for ... bride and bridegroom
Crazy 4 challenges C4C276 - put a bow on
Creative Knockouts #79 - border time
Penny Black and More March - blossoms and bows
Party Time Tuesday PTT#196 - anything goes
Kathy's 30 day colouring challenge day 8  #the dailymarker30day

Mother's Day card

We had the most beautiful sunny day today, felt like Spring was here ... don't get too excited though, normal service is resumed tomorrow with lashing rain most of the day LOL

I was asked to make a Mother's Day card for a 4 month old boy to give to his Mum.  Awwww.  Extra Brownie points for Daddy I think!

My card uses an old Penny Black stamp - coloured with watercolour pencils.  Silver peel off letters from stash.  Marianne Designs butterfly die.  Martha Stewart butterfly punch - I don't use this so much now as my punch has cracked and its a killer on the hands to try and get butterflies out of it :(

Free choice of sketch at Sweet Sunday #259 - I used sketch #223
Papertake Weekly - Mum's the Word
Simon Says Stamp Monday - B is for ... bear and butterfly
Crafty Cardmakers #134 - for a special woman
Dream Valley #101 - Mother's Day
Cute Card Thursday #363 - die cuts and punches
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday - for a special lady
ABC Challenge - E is for exceptionally cute
Kathy's 30 Day colouring challenge Day 7 #the dailymarker30day

High Hopes: Early Bird

Our March Anything High Hopes Goes challenge at High Hopes is underway - play along with your High Hopes stamps to win 2 new ones of your choice!

My High Hopes card today uses this super fun image ... Early Bird  I love the expression on the little worm's face!

I've coloured my image with watercolour pencils and added clear gloss to their eyes.  Black watercolour ink splattered on my base card.
Spellbinders circle/scallop dies
Dienamics peek a boo dots die in BG

Other challenges
Simon Says Stamp Monday - B is for ... bird (or breakfast haha)
Stuck on U - green die cuts
Tuesday Throwdown #234 - circles
Papertake Weekly - anything goes
Addicted to Stamps #134 - CAS
Kathy's 30 Day colouring challenge Day 6 #the dailymarker30day

Birthday Birdies

I was very lucky recently and won a lovely candy package from Jacque - so I couldn't wait to have a play with this pretty border die (sorry don't know the make)

This flock of goofy seagulls has to be one of my favourite stamps - and so easy to colour too ... just a touch of black on their wings and then the lightest hint of blue for a wee bit of shading.
I dipped into my stash for my gold peel off stickers - it was really just to hide the edge of my diecut, but I love how it turned out.
'Happy' diecut from Simon Says Stamp.
I also used some white chalk to add in a cloud effect to my plain blue DP.

• Layout from Sketch Saturday #351
• Creative Knockouts #79 - border time
• Seize the Birthday - masculine
• Pile it On #58 - adhesive embellishments
• Stamping Sensations March - one for the guys
• Papertake Weekly - anything goes

Lucky dip bunny

I've kinda fallen already at the first hurdle with Kathy's 30 day colouring challenge, but I'm back for Day 4 :)

I've been lucky-dipping into my stamp box again and came out with this oldie from Stamps Happen.  I think he was among the first stamps I ever bought, and I really couldn't tell you the last time he saw any ink, it's been years!

I've coloured my bunny with watercolour pencils. I coloured him first with a paler brown and didn't like it, so went over the edges again with a dark bark colour and blended it out.  Much better now!
Orange bling from stash.

Layout from Clean and Simple FTL2 take 2
Moving along with the Times - show us your bunny's
Papertake Weekly - anything goes
Addicted to Stamps #134 - CAS
Creative Inspirations #303 - something old
A Gem of a Challenge #139 - clean and simple
#thedailymarker30day

Sick Kitty

Ha, I think my new glasses will have to go back ... this photo couldn't have been any wonkier!!

I spotted on Kathy's blog, The Daily Marker, that she's having a 30 day colouring challenge.  I'm going to try to play along and combine it with my own challenge of inking some of my older stamps.  Today's lucky dip is this cute kitty from Whipper Snapper ... do you reckon he looks sick enough.  Bwahahahaha

Coloured with watercolour pencils.  Clear gloss added to his nose, and clear gems from stash.

Papertake Weekly - anything goes
Crafty Cardmakers #133 - stripes
CRAFT #300 - get well
Sister Act #95 - anything goes
A Gem of a Challenge #139 - clean and simple
Simon Says Stamp Monday - a hint of clover (I used the green theme)
#thedailymarker30day - day 1

High Hopes: Leapin' Leprechaun

For my High Hopes DT project today I've made a calendar page which is part of an ongoing project for my Mum.

I've used Leapin' Leprechaun as my image in celebration of St Patrick's Day on the 17th, and St Patrick's Day is always worth celebrating as we get a free day off work here in Northern Ireland ... even better this year as I've treated myself to the Monday off work too ;)

Coloured with watercolour pencils and then popped up on dimensionals.  I added clear gloss and glitter to the shamrocks and silver stickles to his buckles as every leprechaun needs a bit of bling!  My embossing folder and silver date peel off are oldies from my stash.

This is the last day to enter February's Anything High Hopes Goes challenge over at High Hopes, but there'll be a brand new challenge tomorrow.

Other Challenges

Naughty or Nice - it ain't easy being green

Simon Says Stamp Monday - just a hint of clover

Curtain Call - lucky

Simply Create Too #80 - St Patrick's Day

Crafts 4 Eternity R#215 - emboss it

Card for Ruby

This card is for a friend of my Mum ... her name's Ruby, so of course I had to make red a main colour!

My image is an oldie from Lili of the Valley - coloured with watercolour pencils, and then the tag popped up on dimensionals.  After I'd stamped my sentiment I thought the top corner looked a bit bare, so I added this fancy corner.  I should have added it first so that it didn't cover up my sentiment, but hey ho!  My gorgeous sparkly '80' is from a set of peel off stickers.

Sketch from Monday Lunchtime #355
Crafty Catz #268 - dies/punches
Cute Card Thursday #362 - fancy corners
Creative Knockouts #78 - lots of layers
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday - anything goes