Simon Says - Wednesday Challenge

The challenge over at Simon Says is Wedding/Anniversary and as I've just finished this anniversary card for our friends' 47th wedding anniversary I thought I'd enter.

I've used an Anna-Maria 8x8 card blank and embossed the front with an Embossalicious e/f and then cut a piece of dark gold cardstock slightly smaller than the card front and embossed it with the same e/f.  I cut a frame using nesties and used the "waste" at the back of the frame to stamp my greeting which is from Waltzingmouse Stamps.  I used my lovely Delicata GoldenGlitz ink to stamp.  I used my Tattered Lace Double Delights die to cut two of the shapes out of gold cardstock and attached them to the back of the frame which I had already embossed using Sue Wilson's lattice e/f.  This was then popped up over the sentiment (which I curved on my block to match the space in between the two die cuts).  I added a ribbon and some Liquid Pearls to finish.

Thanks for dropping by.

Happy crafting.

A gift to remind you.............

As I mentioned the other day our good friends and neighbours are leaving the village next week to move to West Sussex.  You all saw the new home card that I made them and now here is their gift that I've been working on.

I thought it would be nice for them to have something to remember the village by and we have a copse that is very popular with everyone, especially dog walkers, and Annie and Brian often go up there.  I decided to do a piece of drawn thread work whereby you remove all the horizontal threads in a marked square on the fabric, leaving just the vertical threads.  You then free machine these threads together to make the tree stems and branches.  The backing is hand dyed fabric and the foreground has been needle felted using my embellisher. As it was quite a large mount I decided to bring one of the trees outside the piece of work onto the mount itself and matched this up with some of the foreground which balanced it.  They are both coming to dinner tomorrow night for a final farewell and we will be giving them their card and gift then.  Hope they like it.

Hope you've all had a good weekend.  We had a fairly nice Friday and Saturday (albeit cold) with some blue skies and sunshine but back to not so nice today - very windy with strong gusts and showers.  Forecast for the South West isn't very good for the coming week.  In the garden all snowdrops are out and bobbing their heads, we have leaves and buds on some clematis, crocus, daffodils and more - you'd think it was Spring........apart from the weather!!!  I'm sure it will arrive sometime but I'm not holding my breath!!! lol

Happy crafting.

New Home, Peppa Pig and Deer.............

Hello everyone - thought I'd pop by to share some cards I've recently finished.  The first one is for good friends of ours who are moving to West Sussex next week - we have been friends and neighbours for 17 years and we will be really sorry to see them go.

I used Britannia Dies Lattice Edge and Open Window for the front of the card.  I cut the Open Window twice so I could sandwich acetate inbetween to act as the "glass".  I stamped the house which is from Chocolate Baroque on the base card and coloured with Flexmarkers.  I then shaped the front to give the appearance of a bow-fronted window.  The sentiment is computer generated and printed on my laser printer, then foiled and die cut with a Spellbinders Labels die.  Flowers and butterflies from my stash.

The next two cards are commissions from a friend.  The first is for her granddaughter who will be three and loves Peppa Pig and the second is for Darren who has started running his own deer herd.  Maria had seen a card I'd made earlier using my Taylored Expressions Birch Tree and accessory dies and thought it would be perfect for him.

So the first one is Peppa Pig - not something I had in my stash so had to go hunting to find some colouring pages etc.  Luckily I found a few so took them into CraftArtist and used them along with a digikit which had zoo animals in it. I decoupaged up the bunting and the characters to give a bit of dimension, added Diamond Glaze to the "sausage shaped" balloon and then made up a circle sentiment which was die cut with circle nesties and popped up on a scalloped circle.

The last card is the deer card.  I started off layering up the trees - there are actually about four layers starting with light trees and coming to the fore with darker ones sponged with DI's.  The deer are a combination of the Taylored Expressions deer and my Memory Box deer trio die.  They have been weaved in and out of the trees, again with some in the background.  They were all diecut from kraft cardstock and sponged with DI's. The signpost is part of the TE accessories set, as is the birdhouse, owl and bird.  I diecut Darren's name using Die-Versions Editor in Chief font.  I finished off using Clearly Besotted's grass die and Poppy Stamps Leafy Tree Border.

Thanks for popping by.  Hope you all have a great weekend.

Happy crafting.

STAMPlorations #6 & February challenge and just how kind are crafters??????

Hello everyone from a much nicer day here in Somerset........we actually have a bit of blue sky and some sunshine (in between the showers), so fingers crossed the weather is on the turn..........you realised I didn't say I was holding my breath!!!!! lol

It's a new bi-weekly sketch challenge over at STAMPlorations and here it is:

I really fancied joining in this one and here is my card:

I used my Lil'Inkers stitched circle mats to die cut  an off the edge circle and the next size up for the frame which was cut off short for the side.  I embossed the top mat with a Couture Creations Breeze e/f.  The stamp set with the cupcakes and sentiment was a freebie from a magazine, coloured with Flexmarkers and a bit of glitter on top.  The sentiment was cut out using my SU punch and a pink dotty ribbon added to the side of the frame.  This also links up with STAMPlorations February challenge Stamps & Stitches so will be entering that challenge as well.

Now, I think you all know the answer to the second part of my post title - very eh?  Last week a lovely lady called Petra in South Africa submitted a card for our Love challenge over at Addicted to CAS.  I loved the card and the stamp she'd used.  So I went on a hunt for it.  Now I just saw Great Impressions but could I find a similar stamp??? NO - so I emailed Petra asking her about it.  Turns out the shop she bought it in was called Great Impressions (duh!!!) and it was one of their own stamps but she offered there and then to go and buy one and post it off to me.  See what I mean?  Anyway I couldn't ask her to do that but she was very insistent and so after a while we came to an agreement that I would send the money to her via PayPal and she would send the stamp to me.  Anyway she had to post it first to see how much that cost and when she emailed said she had put some goodies in as well!!!  So this is what arrived today in the post:

A sachet of Cappuccino, some Redbush teabags and a bar of chocolate all contained in the most gorgeous box - oh and the stamp!!!!  How kind was that - it really made my day - and I can't begin to thank her enough.  So please pop on over to Petra's blog and check out her amazing cards.  If you scroll down the photos for her entry to the ATCAS challenge you will see someone else trying to get in on the act!!! lol  Thanks again Petra - you're a star.

So that's me for the day - should have a couple of cards to show you tomorrow.

Happy crafting.

Christmas Card Club - Challenge # 4

It's time for another challenge over at the Christmas Card Club where a group of lovely ladies set each other challenges every two weeks to make sure we don't have a mad dash to make them in December!!!  If you are interested in joining us email Margaret (link on my right hand bar).  This challenge has been set by Hazel and the challenge is Snowflakes and/or all white.

Couldn't resist using this huge snowflake from Spellbinders which is a cut and fold shapeability. I didn't have any white glitter card so after I'd folded it I sprayed with Stick & Spray and then added Glamour Dust. Not sure you can see that much glitter in the photos.  I used some white linen card for the card base, added the snowflake to a mat on the same white linen card and then popped it up onto the base.  The sentiment is My Sentiments Exactly! Q252-10 and is supposed to be an Innie and Outie but I decided to use both on the front. I heat embossed in silver, shaped them and used Pinflair Glue Gel to add to the card. 

Thanks for dropping by.

Happy crafting.

Addicted to CAS - Challenge #32

Hello to everyone on this Saturday morning - can you believe we are halfway through February already? And it's time again for another challenge which, this week, is being hosted by the lovely Deepti.  Here's what she's chosen:

Our Sponsor is:

and we have the lovely Anni joining in as Guest Designer

I ummed and ahhed about this challenge......since I didn't have any stamps that would fit the challenge should I go for coffee tones/colours?????

Anyway I went and had a look through my digi folders to see if I had anything that would be suitable and came across this fab little image from Deary Dolls.  It was already coloured so printed it out twice so I could decoupage up some elements.  I then die cut it with a Spellbinders die and matted onto a pink bazzill cardstock and added some Diamond Glaze.  The sentiment was also a free digi but I don't know where from - just loved the wording as it went so well with the image.




Hope you haven't been too affected by this awful weather. Don't forget to hop over to the ATCAS blog to see the fab cards made by the rest of the DT. We're looking forward to seeing what you come up with for this challenge.

Thanks for popping in.

Happy crafting.

It's the little things................

Hello from a very wet and windy Somerset.........hope everyone is safe and well out in blogland.  Happy valentine's Day to you all.

Had to pop by to share a quick post with you today.  After looking, considering, saying no, looking and considering again I actually bought a Brother Scan N Cut machine.  Now I did put a whole lot of thought into this as my friend Jan and I bought a Pazzles Inspiration a few years ago but neither of us could get on with it so it's been sitting in the corner gathering dust.  I think the main problem was that you needed it to be attached to a computer and the actual programme was pretty complicated.  It was one of those things when if you didn't get good results you were reluctant to use it.

Anyway you can see why I ummed and ahhed about this.  The main reason that I was convinced was the fact that you can stamp an image, scan it into the machine and it actually cuts that image out...........PERFECTLY!!!!

It's been sitting on my worktop for a few days partly because I didn't want to be disappointed and also I wanted to have time to dedicate to playing with it.  And that came this morning.......took my heart in my hands and plugged it in.  First came the test cut...........which worked.  Then came the big test, for me anyway, so I stamped this gorgeous stork from the February release at Clearly Besotted, scanned the image in and did a direct cut.  This is the result:

I did a little happy dance - I was so pleased.  I suppose you can expect trial and error period when using a new machine but I can't tell you how delighted I was with the result.

Okay, that's me signing off - time to have another play!

Happy crafting.

Look at the goodie that arrived today.....

Hello everyone

Just a quick post today but I wanted to show you what arrived in the post today:

A few weeks ago my great blogger buddy Dippy (or Darnell as you may know her) posted a card which I actually loved and left a message saying so.  Imagine my delight when said card arrived today addressed to Tony and me.

The sheer generosity and kindness of our fellow crafters never fails to amaze me, so Dippy a huge thank you from both Tony and me - mwah, mwah, mwah! Mind you I did open it very carefully this time!!! lol

Happy crafting.

Karen x

Less is More Happy 3rd Birthday and STAMPlorations Sketch Challenge #5

Hello All - well the weather has quietened down a bit today.  Yesterday was absolutely horrendous with storm force winds of about 70mph and horizontal rain!  We've still got the rain but the wind has died down thankfully.

I wanted to play along with these two challenges as it's Less is More's 3rd Birthday - can you believe it!! How time flies.  It was great that Mandi came back to take part and what amazing photos of her gorgeous shop.  Here's what they want:

Our colour challenge for this week is 

RAINBOW

And over at STAMPlorations this is their criteria:

It’s open to interpretation. Feel free to change the orientation of the sketch, use different shapes, add other elements to suit the type of paper craft you’re making, and so on — just make sure the sketch is recognizable in your submission(s). You can use stamps by other companies to create projects that you enter to our challenges, although if you have STAMPlorations stamps in your stash, we'd be tickled if you use them!

I knew I didn't want to change the sketch about too much but also wanted to include the colours of the rainbow into it and those stripes gave me an idea....... so I got out my Spellbinders A2 Bracket Borders and started cutting.  This is what happened:

 

The sentiment is from my Stampin Up Apothecary Art set, stamped using Kaleidacolour Royal Satin inkpad and I used my SU ticket punch on the corners.

Pop on  over to both challenges and look at the great cards that the DT's have given us.

Happy crafting.

Speedy recovery and a request out of the blue!!!

Hi Everyone

My lovely brother-in-law Jim went into hospital yesterday for a hip replacement.  Thought I'd cheer him up with a card...........

On Saturday I received an email out of the blue from someone who I didn't know - maybe not that unusual but he wanted me to make a bookatrix card for his parent's 50th Wedding anniversary.  He actually lives in Yeovil (how strange is that.........he must just have done a Google search for bookatrix and come across my blog!!!) but works in London and he was only going to be around until today.   Sooooo.........got onto this straight away and this is what I made:

Rather than the Bookatrix board (which I find a pain to cut out neatly!) I used my Go Kreate XXL Bookish die set which is virtually the same as the embossing board and so much easier! Then I've used various layers ending up with an embossed top white layer for which I used my Stampin Up Manhattan Rose e/f.  Flowers, gems, ribbon and hatpins from my stash.  I've used Spellbinders scalloped hearts and normal hearts, the bells are Memory Box as is the large flourish.  I made a matching box for it.  I also foiled the working on the sentiment heart.

The chap came this morning at 8.30am to collect it and was so delighted he paid me double what I asked!!!  Made my day - as you know you just can't charge for your time, but to know someone appreciated it that much was lovely.  He also said it was his wife's 50th next year so he'll be back!

Well, I'd better get back to it - very good friends of ours in the village are moving to East Sussex in a couple of weeks time and we will really miss them.  As a going away present I am making one of my drawn thread embroidery pieces - so I'll be posting a photo of that when it's finished.

Happy crafting.

What a great start to the week.........

Hello all - well I got a lovely surprise this morning when I found out I'd won the Sketch Challenge #4 over at STAMPlorations.  So I've now got a lovely new badge on my side bar.  Thanks ladies.  Not only that I've also been invited to be Guest Designer in next month's sketch challenge.

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend.

Happy crafting.

Christmas Card Club Challenge #3

Hello everyone.  It's time for another challenge over at the Christmas Card Club and today's challenge has been set by the lovely Mary.  She's chosen "feature a heart/the colour red".

Here's my take on the challenge:

 

I've chosen a digi image from Make it Crafty - I just love this little guy don't you?  He's been printed out and then die cut using Lil'Inkers Stitched Circles dies which I've been hankering after for quite some time now!!! lol  Matted onto a matching red circle.  I then took a 6" square red card and folded back the front to create a "z" card.  I matted some Christmas d/p snippets onto white card stock and the inside panel has been punched using a Martha Stewart punch.
  
The hearts were diecut using Spellbinders dies and I punched a hole in the largest to add a silver bell mirroring the cute little guy's hat.  The sentiment is from JustRite Merry and Bright stamp set and I used my Stampin Up circle and scalloped circle punches.

Why don't you pop on over to the rest of the girls blogs (see my side bar for their links) to see what they came up with.

Thanks to my friend Kate I am also entering this into the Winter Wonderland challenge which is Digi Days.

Happy crafting.

Addicted to CAS - Challenge #31

Happy Saturday to all my followers and fellow bloggers.  Hope you are all safe and well.  Can you believe it's time for another new challenge at Addicted to CAS?  They seem to come round so quickly and we are delighted to have had so many fabulous entries in the latest challenge #30 New. There were 164 amazing entries at my last count.......thank you all so much for playing along with us.

This week your hostess is the fabulous Jaydee and here is the code word she's chosen:

Our Sponsor for this challenge is:

http://www.whimsystamps.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=13_38

Prize is 5 free digis

____________________

Anni Lerche will be our Guest Designer for the month of February.  

Welcome Anni!!

"Hello, I am Anika (aka Anni or Annikarten) and I’m from Germany. For 15 years now I´ve lived in the beautiful city Berlin and I am married. I work as a math-teacher at a vocational college; to perform handicraft work is a perfect compensation for that.

From the cradle I grew up in a family of creative hobbyists, whereas I always only loved working with paper – I am wasted on needlework.  Into stamping I am since 2008, I love clean and simple cards, and yet eventually my cards often turn out to be somewhat more complex. I love the soothing paper piecing and resist techniques. You can see all my projects at annikarten.blogspot.ca."

Now, onto my DT card for this challenge.  I've used one of Kathryne's lovely images called  Filled with Love.  I've printed the digi out twice; the first time on white printer card and the second on designer paper so I could paper piece her dress and hair bow.  Image coloured with Flexmarkers.  I cut out the heart balloons separately and added some bakers twine which I attached to her hand and then decoupaged her hand (paw?) on top.  The hearts are Spellbinders and she was popped up with Pinflair.  The sentiment is Tim Holtz Stacked Words: Valentines and die cut out of the same d/p.  The heart balloons and the heart on the sentiment had Crystal Lacquer added.  The base card was embossed using a Cuttlebug border e/f.

Now pop on over to Addicted to CAS and have a look at the fabulous DT cards.  Looking forward to visiting your blogs to see your wonderful creations.

Have a great weekend - happy crafting!