Fancy DP!

I bought a pack of DP from the Range ages ago and it really seems to be never ending!! This pink one is a bit difficult to use as it's so patterned, but I thought I'd give it an outing for a change.
I've used this oldie from Whiff of Joy - coloured with polychromos and glitter added to her flower, dress trim and the stamps.  My colour combo was pink and green - I thought I didn't have enough green so added the little corners from some scraps.

• Layout from CAS colours and Sketches #334
• As You Like It - colour combo - I would normally use grey or blue with pink so it was a bit of a change for me!

This one's a wee quickie, using that paper stack again and a cake stamp from Gummiapan.  I wish I'd paid more heed to the blue sentiment and would have put another layer of colour on it as it's a wee bit faint.  Siler stars from stash.

• Simon Says Stamp Wednesday - midsummer blues
• The Male Room #116 - birthday
• Addicted to Stamps #354 - CAS
• Penny Black and More August - for boys and men

Friends and Thanks

Happy Saturday folks!  I've had a busy day doing some spring cleaning and clearing out.  I think everyone else had the same thought as there was a queue into the Recycling Centre for the first time ever!

Anyway, this first card was a special request, thus the odd sentiment!  I've coloured my girls with my polychromo pencils and added a little Gummiapan butterfly die.

• Simon Says Stamp Wednesday - something new (my pencils)
• Word Art Wednesday #368/369 - anything goes

And this one is based on this week's sketch over at Splitcoaststampers.

I've used this oldie from Whiff of Joy, coloured again with my polychromos.

And I've used my favourite technique of splattering the background, love this - so easy and instantly effective.

• Stamp Ink Paper #180 - thank you
• Crafters Castle #13 - anything goes

Two blue cards

Ack I've no mojo :(  Reckon it's just because I've been so busy recently there's no energy left for creativity.  The weather has been so good recently, with only the odd drop of rain, that it's almost a sin not to be working outside!

Anyway, this card is for our boss in work.  I just couldn't think what to put on it!  All my flowery stamps have been used for various cards in work and she's seen them all, I figured she likes a bit of cake (don't we all) so I used good old Henry Mouse.
I've also had this lovely sparkly card in my stash for a while so thought I should cut into it.  For my background I chalked up a stencil in purple, green and blue and then coloured my image to match.  Image popped up on foam pads.  Some blue enamel dots to finish.

• General card design based on Bharati's beautiful card over at the Muse Challenge #276
• Make My Monday #76 - colour an image
• Simon Says Stamp Wednesday - use a die or punch

This one kinda looks better in real life.  I should really have got my lamp out for a better photo!

I smooshed my background with several different blue watercolours.  I also went over it with my waves stencil.  My little girl is an oldie from CC Designs - coloured with watercolour pencils and popped up on foam pads.  Sparkle added to her bathing suit and clear gloss to her flippers, snorkel and goggles. I also stamped some little blue fish in the background but they're hard to see here.

• The Library Challenge #12 - The Little Mermaid - I don't have any mermaid stamps so this is the closest I could get! 
• Addicted to CAS #141 - summertime
• Crafty Cardmakers #216 - holidays / vacations

Hot stuff

Northern Ireland very nearly broke it's own record for the hottest day today, just missed it by 0.3C, so the 30.8C record still stands!   Did you know this is how they measure temperature?: www.bbc.co.uk/weather/features


Anyway, it's lovely weather if ....
* you don't have to wear 'work' clothes and you're in your shorts and a light vest (and it would be heavenly to ditch the bra!!)
* you've your toes in the ocean
* you've a cold beer in one hand and/or an ice cream in the other
* the air conditioning on the bus actually works!

Not so lovely sitting in a non-air conditioned office watching the sunshine outside, and especially not when it feels like 90% of the country is off on holiday!  (I was the only one at the bus stop yesterday morning - some days there's up to 20 of us there!)  Thankfully tomorrow's Friday, so only one more day to get through before I can get those shorts on!!  And if none of our neighbours are about I'll be ditching that bra too hahahaha

Anyway, I've been colouring in the garden, so here's a few just to use some of them up.  No mojo for fancy design, so they're dead simple

This first one uses an oldie Penny Black - coloured with watercolour pencils.  Both the bear and the frame popped up on foam pads.

• Less is More #374 - item from your bits box - I'd cut my frame for a previous card but it turned out to be too small and I knew it would come in handy for something!
• AAA Cards #118 - use a frame
• CASology #306 - bear

Daily Marker 30 Day Colouring challenge

And this one is a Whiff of Joy cutie.  Again coloured with watercolour pencils.  Clear gloss added to her shoes and headband.
I added a little heart and then embossed the white panel with an old cuttlebug folder.  And that's it really!

• Simon Says Stamp Wednesday - anything goes
• As you like it - favourite type of embossing - mine's definitely dry embossing, my heat gun and powders live in the cupboard at the far end of the kitchen and I'm usually too lazy to go get it!!
• Sparkles #105 - let's be pretty

Faffing about

Sometimes I spend an age just faffing about and getting nowhere!  This was based on the Library Challenge - this week it's Breakfast at Tiffanys - another book I haven't read so I just took the cover as my inspiration.
First obstacle was my Dienamics town die -  I cut it too short first time and had to do it again.
I thought it needed a wee something so went on the hunt for a little car image I have from Eat Cake Graphics .... nope, nowhere to be found.
Then I went looking for some little wooden cars that I definitely saw somewhere recently ... nope, couldn't find them either.
So then I stamped an Alley Way Stamps car, paper pieced the body work with my gold card, decided it looked crap and threw it in the bin.
And that's why I ended up with Henry Mouse as my image - it was sitting ready and waiting after being coloured in the garden yesterday!
What a faff!!
Though I'm pleased with how it turned out in the end ;)

• Simon Says Stamp Monday - masculine
• CASual Fridays #200 - Birthday Celebration
• MFT The Birthday Project - delicious Birthday delights

And in comparison, this card for work just made itself!  Stamped, coloured with watercolour pencils in our company colours, added a bit of glitter to the little heart and some bling, and job done!

• Creatalicious challenge #139 - anything goes
• Love to Craft #22 - May anything goes

Pink Get Well

I was a good girl today and finally tidied my crafty stash.  And it was a proper tidy up too, not just a 'shovel it all together' type tidy!  I found a lost Christmas stamp that I've been looking for this past 6 months, and a flower die that I'd misplaced so long ago I'd forgotten I'd lost it ;)

This pretty DP was in my forgotten pile, I've paired it with my cutie from Whiff of Joy. Coloured with watercolour pencils.  Sparkle added to her flowers, and clear gloss to the flower pot.  Sentiment popped up on foam pads.  MFT  wonky stitched circle die.

• Crafty Creations #359 - anything goes
• Simon Says Stamp Wednesday - layer it up
• As You Like It - fave die - this is my favourite circular die, I love the extra bit of interest from the stitching
• Happy Little Stampers January anything goes with dies

Daily Marker colouring challenge

Cat 'n Mouse

Boo hoo I'm feeling a bit yech tonight ... not surprising though, the amount of colds and bugs going round, and not helped by the number of people coughing and spluttering on the bus to work who don't know how to cover their mouths.  Pet hate of mine!

But it's Word Card Making Day and I need to get my card stash built up before I start tacking the Xmas cards, so here's a wee quickie using this old Whiff of Joy mousie.  For my background I puddled some watercolours onto a plastic and then rubbed my white card in it.  I love how it turned out, definitely less of a faff than using brushos or watercolouring.  Popped my mouse up on pads and added clear gloss and glitter to the icing.

• Simon Says Stamp - Word Card Making Day
• Daisy Chain #13 - Happy Birthday
• Penny Black and More October - close to nature
• Addicted to Stamps #262 - make your mark
• Word Art Wednesday #302/303 - anything goes

This one uses a mixture of MFT stamps and the sentiment and mouse are from Paper Smooches.

MFT wonky stitched circular die and Woodware corner punch.  And that's it really, nice and simple!

It is a lesson however in not being so lazy - I knew when I stamped this sentiment that it wasn't the best but I carried on and used it anyway.  Should have stamped it again!

• Layout from MFT Wednesday Sketch Club #353
• Sparkles challenge #96 - dies and punches

A late calendar and a thank you

Lol I knew we'd never get 2 dry Saturday's in a row .. it poured all morning, but there was a quick window of sunshine in the afternoon so at least Rubydoo got her customary walk in the park.   A good day for crafting though!

So this is Mum's calendar page for the month ... and yes I know its the 9th but she's been on her jollies, so she'll never know how late it was ;)
Aaargh, I've just checked back in my blog and I've already used this girl on one of last year's pages, ah well, that'll teach me to check before I stamp!    Coloured with watercolour pencils.

• Simon Says Stamp Monday - Stampember Stamp It
• Crafty Creations #349 - anything goes
• Word Art Wednesday #298/299 - anything goes
• Daily Marker 30 day colouring challenge

And here's a super quick Thanks card ... not much to say about it really, except I love how it turned out!

I added some blue splatters and some glitter to the popped up heart.  Easy peasy.

• My inspiration came from Kim's beautiful card over at CASual Fridays #182
• Creative Knockouts #210 - something to say
• Crafty Catz #383 - thank you

Mother's Day

So this is my Mum's card for Mother's Day.  It's hard to remember sometimes what I've given her for Birthdays etc, but I don't think I've used this stamp on one of hers before.

Image from Whiff of Joy - coloured with watercolour pencils and sparkle added to the flowers and to the little heart snippets.
I didn't quite get the dimensions of my layout right - the pink panel should have been shorter to show off the little heart panel which is mostly hidden now!
Sentiment stamp is an oldie from Lili of the Valley.
Dienamics stitched circles die.

• Sketch from MFT Wednesday Sketch Club #324 - I didn't have any fancy curved edge dies so had to go with a straight edge
• Creative Inspirations #270 - use an LOTV stamp
• Sweet Stampin - Mother's Day
• Crafty Cardmakers #184 - for a special woman
• Simon Says Stamp Monday - layer it up

The Daily Marker 30 day colouring challenge

November calendar

Brrr, it was a cold windy day today, the first day that it felt like winter was on it's way.  Time to dig out the winter boots I think!
 I'm ahead of myself with my calendar page (for a change!)  I've used my new girl from Whiff of Joy and my little Firefly bug in the corner is from Eat Cake Graphics.  All coloured with watercolour pencils.  Flowers and the bug's wings covered with my clear glitter pen, and clear gloss to the flower pot.
I've actually managed to write in my dates straight ... it's only taken about 2 years of practice ;)

• Colour theme from Just Us Girls #365
• Crafty Creations #326 - not a card
• Word Art Wednesday #252 - anything goes
• Polkadoodles #41 - anything goes
• Cutie Pie #104 - 5 of something - my 5 flowers

Two pink ladies

Eeek it's the 15th of October already, and you know what that means? ..... only 2 more pay days till Christmas!!  Scary when you say it like that eh?

Anyway, this is my mid-post DT card for the Naughty or Nice challenge of Spooky Sistahs or Wild Wild Women - I've gone for the wild and free look with this fab stamp from Eat Cake Graphics - Auntie Daisy enjoys freedom.  I thought my card needed 'something' so I also added little Daisy Mouse in the bottom corner.
I went for the bokeh effect on my base - I chalked in some circles and some cloud shapes, but it just looks like a fudgey mess here ;)

• Layout from CAS(e) this sketch #194
• Love to Scrap #87 - go pink
• Daisy Chain Challenge #1 - pink for Breast Cancer Awareness
• Inspiration Destination #107 - anything goes

This cutie is one of my new purchases from Bunny Zoe's sale - from Whiff of Joy.  I love her!
I hadn't intended to add the little pink flower at her feet but I had an Oops that needed covering ;)
Coloured with watercolour pencils.

• Layout from MFT Wednesday Sketch challenge #302 - I kinda ran out of room so ended up with that itty-bitty green rectangle ;)
• Allsorts #385 - Pink October
• Creative Knockouts #163 - anything goes

Practising my colouring

Awk I can't believe it's Saturday already :(  I've had a fab busy week off work .... my garden is ready for inspection, not a weed in sight (for a change!), some housework done and a bit of decorating too.  I'm hoping to tackle the ironing mountain tomorrow, but we'll see how that goes, no promises.  I'll be ready for a rest when I go back to work on Monday LOL

Kerri had a great tutorial over on the Stamping Bella blog on how to colour skin tones with Derwent Inktense pencils.  I've never been overly happy with my skin colouring so it was great to have a go.  The trick is to give your paper time to dry between layering colours (which I didn't do - so there's a dark brown line to the left of her face!).
This one uses an old Tiddly Inks image - I covered the balloon with my clear glitter pen and added some googly eyes.  For her hat, I added some dark glitter to the nose and baubles.  Clear gloss to her shoes.

• Layout from MFT Wednesday Sketch Club #294 
• Cats Only challenge #9 - furrything goes
• Tuesday Throwdown #307 - anything goes
• Crafty Catz #334 - birthdays

So this is effort #2 at the colouring tutorial.  This time I misjudged my blusher and she's got a bit of a pink eye ;)

Image from Whiff of Joy - I covered her dress, hairband and letters with my clear glitter pen (what did I do before I got one of these?!!), clear gloss to her shoes, and clear gloss + glitter to her flower.

My text stamp is an oldie from Clear Stamps - I stamped it off on scrap paper first to take most of the ink off.  I wish I'd done that too with the sentiment, it's a bit in your face.

I also embossed the tag at the top for a bit of extra interest.

• General card theme based on amymay998's card - last week's featured stamper at Splitcoast
• Crafty Creations #322 - words on the background
• Colour theme from CAS Colours and Sketches #187
• My time to Craft #327 - embossing

And finally, I've no sympathy cards in my stash, so I might make a few more of these.  They're always a lot easier to make when you don't know who they're for.

I love this stamp from LOTV, it's very easy to colour too - just a dot of colour in the centre of each flower, blend it out and then add some darker highlights.  Easy peasy.  Flowers also covered with my clear glitter pen, and a few clear sequins from Taylored Expressions to finish.

• Layout from Share Joy #49
• Simon Says Stamp Wednesday - make for the border
• As you like it - favourite flower - I love hydrangeas, I've a beautiful one in my garden but for some reason it only produced one lonely bloom this year.  I think maybe I pruned it too late in spring?
• CASual Fridays #154 - time to colour
• Allsorts #377 - fabulous florals

Friendship cards

Just a quickie post tonight .... it's movie night and he's giving me the "are you watching this?" look ;)

Card one uses this sweet image from Eat Cake Graphics ...
8033-K To the world (scene)
Coloured with watercolour pencils.
Old sizzix mini embossing folder.

• Layout flipped from Freshly Made Sketches #245
• Addicted to Stamps #202 - make your mark
• Crafty Creations #319 - clean and simple
• As you like it - trademark style - mine's mostly CAS, a cute image (quite often an Eat Cake Graphics stamp!), bling and doodled borders
• Cute Card Thursday #434 - embossing

Card 2 merits a big shout out to Bunny Zoe's Crafts! 

I learnt on Wednesday that I won last month's challenge, sent Nikki an email, she was straight back with my voucher details, and on Friday the postie delivered my goodies.  How's that for fab service!!

So this little cutie from Whiff of Joy was one of my goodies.  I've coloured her with watercolour pencils, and added some Spectrum Noir sparkle to her pink flower and the pink trim on her dress.

Silver peel offs and bling from stash.

• Layout from CAS(e) This Sketch #181
• Creative Knockouts #150 - favourite embellishment (bling)
• Crafty Cardmakers #168 - bling it up
• colour theme from Pals Paper Arts #309
• Share Joy #44 - keep it clean and simple

The Daily Marker 30 Day Colouring Challenge

Birthday Mouse

I bought this stencil a while back but haven't used it much as I found it always moved and left my embossing messy .. but recently I found a tip on someone's blog (sorry can't remember which) to use some spray adhesive on the stencil first.  Great tip!

My mouse is an oldie stamp from Whiff of Joy - coloured again with watercolour pencils.  Clear gloss and glitter added to the sprinkles on the cupcake.
Paper Smooches dies.

• Layout from Freshly Made Sketches #161
• Papertake Weekly - anything goes
• Colour theme based on inspiration pic at Curtain Call - boho bright
• Party Time Tuesday #188 - anything goes

Birthday mouse

So these are the new dies I treated myself to ... Insta-frame and Peek-a-boo dots, both of which I love!  I must say that the Die-namics dies are brill, I always get a great cut first run through my Cuttlebug.  Oh and great delivery service from Dies to Die For too :)

My old stash on this card are my image (an oldie from Whiff of Joy) and my black sparkly sentiment stickers.  It feels good to get some of this old stash used ... and eases the guilt of buying new stash LOL!!

• Colour theme of green and lilac from the inspiration pic at Cupcake Craft #250
• The Squirrel and the Fox #48 - use something spooled
• Sieze the Birthday - anything goes
• Layout from MFTWSC #132