Welcome Flowers

This card is for a friend in work who's been ill for this past year or so, so we're all delighted that she's now due back.   I've been stumped for ages what to put on this!

Cat's beautiful card over at the Muse challenge was the perfect inspiration.  I've used this Prima stamp - coloured with watercolour pencils and then the petals covered with some sparkle.

• Muse challenge #231
• That's Crafty - only cards
• Addicted to CAS #118 - friends
• Simon Says Stamp Wednesday - anything goes
• Word Art Wednesday #298/299 - anything goes

Sweet little kitty

My bloggy buddy Jo (aka DottyJo) filled my head recently with tales of a new release from KatzelKraft.  So of course I had to go see, and ooops, oh no, accidental purchases were made!  All your fault Jo ;)

But isn't this just the sweetest saddest little kitty ever!!
I've coloured him with some swishes of watercolour and added glitter to those tears.  My BG is a giraffe-stencil - I masked off my kitty and just puddled in some watercolours.  Nice and quick and easy!

I love how this turned out, I'm struggling with my mojo at the minute so some new crafty goodies was just what the Dr ordered ;)

• Simon Says Stamp Work it Wednesday - your favourite stamp - well my favourite stamp is usually my most recently purchased one!
• Tuesday Throwdown #358 - masking
• AAA Cards #97 - masking
• Word Art Wednesday #296/297 - anything goes
• That's Crafty - only cards

A new puppy and a Fix up

This card is for a friend in work who's daughter's getting her new puppy tomorrow and she's soooooooo excited!  Rubydoo will be sending this one to say hello!

I haven't used my Brushos for a while and came across them so thought I should use them.  Image coloured with watercolour pencils and popped up on dimensionals.  Kinda wish I hadn't added those pink banners, but I reckon Erin won't care ;)

• Simon Says Stamp - add a sentiment
• Crafty Creations #348 - anything goes
• Moving along with the times #52 - beginning with B - blue, bark, banner, bowl
• Crafting by Designs August - anything goes

And here's the fix up from my previous post with the wonky sentiment.  Cheryl, you're a genius - colouring in the lines did the trick well enough!

Exam Congrats and a Dud!

This is a special request card for a girl who did well in her exams.  I've used this Penny Black oldie from quite a few years ago - coloured with watercolour pencils, glitter added to the flower centres and sparkle to the petals.  This pretty DP is from one of the pads I rediscovered, isn't it just a perfect match for that little hedgie!

• Layout from Retro Rubber #69
• Simon Says Stamp Wednesday - add a sentiment
• Tuesday Throwdown #356 - anything goes
• Word Art Wednesday #296/297 - anything goes
• My Time to Craft #352 - hats / bags

And this one I think is a possible dud!

Considering it's such a CAS card, I spent aaaages faffing about choosing my DP and deciding what colour of plain card to use, then double mounting the MFT porthole stencil.  And then it all went wrong!  I didn't have my card tucked into my stamp positioner right, and I've ended up with a double impression of the sentiment.  Hubby says he thought it was a 3-D effect, but I reckon it needs a fix up!  I'll think about it and see what I can do with it tomorrow!

• Layout from MFT Wednesday sketch club #346
• CAS on Friday #114 - Birthday
• Creative Knockouts #207 - tic-tac-toe - stamp / sentiment / twine

ETA....  Here's the updated finished card with the wonky sentiment simply coloured in!  Looks less like a visit to SpecSavers is needed ;)

Gone Sailing

I came across this lovely DP in my stash recently, must have been a pack of too nice to use!  So it's on my table now and sure to be used up soon!

I've paired it with this oooolide form Lili of the Valley.  Coloured with watercolour pencils, clear gloss added to the hull of the boat, and sparkle to the sails.  My dirty mark this time is disguised with the Paper Smooches die in the corner ;)

This little guy could well have sailed his yacht in our garden earlier ... the rain couldn't have been any heavier!  And 5 minutes later the sun was out.  Mad 'summer' weather we're having!

• Simon Says Stamp Monday - nautical
• Layout from Freshly Made Sketches #301
• Colour theme from Just Us Girls #407 - red, yellow, blue
• Sweet Stampin - doodling
• Cutie Pie #114 - boys will be boys
• Tuesday Throwdown #356 - anything goes

A prickly pressie

Just a wee quickie card from me tonight.  I've been busy in work all week, but the lovely colour theme from Addicted to Stamps got me out to the kitchen to get crafty :)

I nearly managed to make this without adding some doodling, but at the last minute I gave in ;)

Image from Penny Black.  Coloured with watercolour pencils.  Sparkle added to the ribbons on the little parcels.

My sentiment is heat embossed - I wish someone would invent a white ink that stamped bright white instead of the faff of getting out my heat gun. Or maybe there's an ink already out there that I need to add to my crafty shopping list??

• Addicted to stamps #255 - photo inspiration
• Penny Black and More August - all creatures great and small
• CASology #262 - Prickly
• <- General card design based on Tracey's beautiful card over at The Muse Challenge #229
• CAS on Friday #114 - birthday

Up Up and Away

The theme this month at Naughty or Nice is 'on the move', and there's an optional colour theme too.  If you'd like to play along link your card over at the blog.

my card was for a friend of my Mum who's heading off on her holidays, but I think I'll keep this one in mind next time I need a 'new job' card.
My balloon is from an oldie set (I think Creative Inspirations) - coloured with watercolour pencils and then I went over the pink with my sparkle pen.  Clear gloss and glitter over the blue section, and then popped up on dimensionals.

The 'up' was part of a sentiment in the set, so I masked off the unwanted bits and then added the 'away' from my MFT alpha set.  Background is watercoloured through a stencil.

That Ole Devil called Love

Well Rubydoo is now sweet smelling after her bath ... always a traumatic experience for her, such a lot of crying and trembling for a 10 minute ordeal!  But we're friends again and she's snuggled up fast asleep behind my legs :)
As for the rest of my chores today ... well I managed most of them but didn't quite make it out to the garden or to the car ;)

So this wee card is the only result from this evening's crafting.  I'm still on the hunt for my missing Christmas stamp (grrrrrrrr) but I found this oldie Whipper Snapper one that hasn't been used for such a long time.
Coloured with watercolour pencils.  Sparkle added to the hearts and clear gloss to his horns.  Little devil popped up on dimensionals.  MFT porthole die.

I saw somewhere recently that a stamp company has brought out a range of doodled borders stamps so I stole their double border corners idea and doodled my own ;)

• Layout from MFT Wednesday Sketch Club #345
• Happy Little Stampers August - anything goes with dies
• Penny Black and More August - all creatures great and small
• Sweet Stampers #10 - clean and simple
• As You Like It - favourite embellishment - mine's most definitely clear gems.  I love a bit of sparkle on my cards and I've got them in all sizes (I buy them as nail art gems, cheaper than 'crafting' gems!)

Home Sweet Home

I thought I'd add this card nice and early today ... it's a beautiful sunny morning and I've lots planned for today
First up is Rubydoo, she's definitely overdue a bath, so that will be a snatch and grab or else she scarpers!  Then get a wash on for the doggy towels and bedding, clean the bathroom, dye my hair, get some weeding done, wash the car, and suff my bake in between with Sunday dinner.  That's the general plan anyway, will we take bets how many I get done ;)

This card uses an oldie from Unity stamps, coloured with watercolour pencils and clear gloss added to the windows and cars.  Sentiment is from a Simon Says Stamp set.  I think I'm addicted to this splattering, I love the effect it can give to a CAS card!

• Addicted to stamps #254 - CAS
• Addicted to CAS - one layer
• Happy Little Stampers August - watercolour challenge
• Less is More #341 - One layer + vehcile (I might be stretching the challenge with this one, but there's actually 2 vehicles on my card LOL)
• Stamping Sensations August - anything goes

A three-fer

It's been another damp old day here.  Apparently July was the warmest and the wettest for years, looks like August is just going to be the wettest LOL

Good crafty weather though!  But if anyone finds my missing new Christmas stamp please let me know where it is!  I've been in every cupboard and hidey place and it's nowhere to be found.  Maybe I should stop looking for it and hope it shows itself ;)

This first card is for this week's Featured Stamper challenge at Splitcoast - here's the card I chose.  I'm not so happy about the colouring of my little piggy, reckon he might need a wee touch up!

• Penny Black and More - August - all creatures great and small
• Craftaholics R Us #30 - die cuts
• Crafting by Design August - anything goes

One of the plus points of looking through my stash is finding some good old oldies!  I'm not entirely sure what make these are, maybe Creative Inspirations?  Coloured with watercolour pencils, sparkle and glitter added to the blue balloon and popped up on dimensionals.  Sparkle added to the red balloon and clear gloss to the little one.

Took me a while to get my layout on this one, it looked all wrong until I added the little white cloud in the top right.  

• Layout from Stick it Down - August
• Allsorts #427 - colours of your flag 
• Penny's challenge #340 - anything goes

And finally, this one was totally inspired by my bloggy buddy Jo's card here.

It's a rubbish photo, doesn't look so drab in real life!  

I hadn't intended to add those white enamel dots but just as I was putting the last strokes to my card I managed to drop my paintbrush! Arrgghh!  

Drunken Ants and Loved up Birdies

Anyone for a Mojito?  mmmmmm I could go one of these just now, but I'll just have to make do with a biccie and a cup of tea while we decide what movie we're watching tonight ;)

This stamp is an oldie from High Hopes - coloured with watercolour pencils, though I'm not overly happy with the colouring on my ants.  Glitter added to the edge of the lime and I went over the ice cubes and the bubbles with my clear sparkle pen.  I also outlined my sentiment with a white pen as it was a bit lost in my image.

• Make My Monday #51 - monochrome
• Simon Says Stamp Monday - food/drink
• CASology #260 - juicy
• Daisy Chain #11 - anything goes

And here's a wee quickie wedding card, using another oldie from Art Gone Wild.  Again coloured with watercolour pencils, and gloss added to her flower and his bow tie.  I was trying to get the effect of confetti, so added some pale pink and pale blue splatters in the background.  Little clear sequins from stash to finish.

• Simon Says Stamp Wednesday - splatter it
• Word Art Wednesday #294/295 - anything goes
• Moving Along with the Times #51 - things that fly

August calendars

Woops just a few days late with my calendar pages this month !   The 1st just kinda creeps up on me sometimes!

This first one is for Mum, she's off on her jollies this month, can you tell where she's going ;)
I've used my new favourite technique of watercolouring through a stencil for the background again, just because it's dead quick!  My image is an oldie from High Hopes - Mountie Marc - coloured with watercolour pencils and clear gloss aded to his belt.

• Always Fun #17 - anything but a card
• Word Art Wednesday #294/295 - anything goes
• Crafty Catz #381 - anything but a card
• High Hopes August - my favourite things
• Happy Little Stampers - August watercolour challenge

And just for my records, here's mine for my desk in work.  Same idea again, just using this sweet zebra from Whipper Snapper - sparkle added to the umbrella and gloss to his hooves.

• CAS on Friday #113 - exotic

Naughty or Nice ... On the Move

Our theme this month over at Naughty or Nice is 'On the Move' ... so maybe holidays, road trips, new job, there's lots to choose from!  Oh, and an optional colour theme too!

For my card I've used this sweet little stamp from Eat Cake Graphics ... Lewis and Trudy's Wild Ride
Coloured with watercolour pencils and sparkle added to the red car.  In an effort to make my card look less boring (reckon it's that DP that doesn't agree with me!) I added some blue ink splatters, and then, not content, went a bit OTT with my text BG stamping ;)

• Word Art Wednesday #292/293 - anything goes
• Simon Says Stamp Wednesday - anything goes
• Just Us Girls #404 - old = my stamp; new = my DP
• Layout from My Time to Craft #351