Be my Valentine...........

Hello Everyone

Hope you've all had a good week.  The weather down here in Somerset has been pretty good this week apart from some horrendous winds on Tuesday evening which saw a neighbour's small greenhouse end up in our garden!!!  Enough said!

Anyway on to my Valentine card that I have made my hubby.  Here it is:

I started off with an 8"x 8" scalloped card base and cut out 3 mats, two red and one white.  The top red mat went through my machine with my We R Memory Keepers Next Level Dotted e/f.  The fancy toppers were cut using Sue Wilson Portuguese Collection - Lisbon and the sentiment is Honey Doo Crafts Life & Heart stamps.  The die cut sentiment is Penny Black and I just cut the Happy away from the other part of the die so I could put it in opposite corners of the card.  Each embossed heart has a small gem in the centre.  Flowers and ribbon were from my stash, as were the hat pins.

Thanks for dropping by.  Hope you all have a lovely weekend.

Happy crafting.

Christmas Card Club - Challenge #5 Robins

Hello everyone, it's time for another challenge for the girls in the Christmas Card Club and this time it's been set by the lovely Margaret and she has chosen ROBINS.  Come and see what I made.

I've used the robins on the Penny Black Winter Wonderland stamp set, aren't they cute?  I die cut some ivy from the Joanna Sheen Ivy Flourish die and popped it up using Pinflair on to my base.  The robins have been coloured with Flexmarkers and I added Stickles to their hats and the ivy. I shaped the robins slightly and used Pinflair to add them to the card.  The sentiment is also from the same stamp set and I added some Liquid Pearls.  The b/p is from my stash and also includes robins hopping cross the paper.

I am also entering this into Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra - Anything Goes and into the brand new Completely Christmas Challenge.  

Thanks for dropping by.  Hope you're having a great weekend.

Less is More - Week 107 - Up in the Air

Just managed to make another quick card for the Less is More Up in the Air challenge.

I've used my Penny Black Hedgehog Kisses stamp with Memento Ink Tuxedo Black and stamped on white card.  I wanted them to appear to be "floating" so thought I'd use my Memory Box Marshmallow Cloud die but because it's a solid die you can't do the normal thing of cutting the area that's going to be outside the die cut shape.  Instead I used the larger of the two dies and placed it over the image and pencilled around it.  I then fussy cut all the way round.  Image coloured in Letraset Flexmarkers and I've added some atyou Spica clear glitter to the balloons and cheeks (although not sure it came out on the photo).  I took a scallop edged card blank and popped up a small cloud in the right hand corner (I edged the bottoms of the clouds in light grey) and then doubled the depth of the foam on the main image to add more dimension.  The sentiment is from another Penny Black set called ".... in the air".

Thanks for dropping by - be sure to visit tomorrow for the brand new Addicted to CAS challenge.

Less is More - Week 96 - Colour Challenge

Hello everyone - hope you're having a good weekend.  This week's challenge over at Less is More is a colour challenge and Chrissie & Jen have some gorgeous samples for everyone.

You knew it would be a colour challenge, we wonder if anyone guessed correctly!

We won't keep you in suspense any longer... it's

RED & GREEN

Very seasonal, very traditional...  what novel ideas will emerge this week?

My card is a fairly simple one starting with an 8"x8" scalloped card.  I wanted to use my new Stampin Up "Blissful Bird" stamp which matches their bird and branch punch.  I love the negative image with the wording.  I stamped and clear embossed the images twice using Always Artichoke ink and then punched them out.  I die cut a red and white bauble using my Spellbinders 2011 Heirloom Ornaments dies and added a gold and red top to the white diecut.  The bird has been popped up on some d/s foam to give dimension as has one of the branches. 

 

I then added some red Liquid Pearls for berries.  I'm not sure if you can see it but I've stamped SU Flowering Flourishes using VersaMark Dazzle "Champagne" on the left side of the white bauble.  I embossed a piece of white card using a 8" Embossalicious e/f.  The sentiment is Penny Black Christmas Flourish stamped in SU Cherry Cobbler.  The holly in the corner is from an All Night Media punch.

Thanks for dropping by.

Addicted to CAS - Challenge #2

Happy Saturday everyone.  Well, what a fantastic response we got to our first ever challenge at ATCAS - thank you all for joining us and posting your wonderful creations.  Now, are you all going to step up to the plate again this time?  Here is our challenge:

 

We are delighted that Joanna Munster from Inspired by Stamping is sponsoring this first challenge and has offered a $20 voucher to her store.  Please hop over to her blog at http://www.inspiredbystampin.com/inspired-by-stampin/ and start dreaming what goodies you can buy!!!  lol

For my card I have used my Heartfelt Creations HCPC 3417 - Poinsettia Ornament and the matching Spellbinder dies.  I stamped and heat embossed in silver e/p four of the largest baubles.  I then die cut them, scored each one in half and then glued them together.  I added a little bit of Stickles to the centres of the poinsettias and glued down onto an A5 card.  The sentiment, also heat embossed in silver, is Penny Black Christmas Flourish.  The addition of some silver ribbon finished the card.  I don't think you can see but I glittered each edge of the bauble but the camera didn't seem to pick it up.

Please pop on over to the Addicted to CAS blog and have a look at all the gorgeous creations the DT have come up with.

Thanks for popping by.  I'm looking forward to visiting your blogs to see your lovely cards.

Addicted to Stamps & More! Bingo Challenge #4

Morning everyone.......... well it's a new challenge over at Addicted to Stamps & More! and this week it is a Bingo challenge.  All you have to do is choose a line either horizontally, vertically or diagonally and make your card from the three elements you've chosen.  Here is the bingo card:

I've chosen diagonally with Orange, Free and White and have taken a little bit of artistic license by using gilding flakes "Sunset" which is mostly coppers.    So orange is the gilding flakes, free are my stamps and white is the base card.  I've inked my Clarity Stamps Hummingbird stamp with FlitterGlu and stamped onto a white pearl cardstock panel.  I then added the gilding flakes, rubbed over and then used a scoochy pad (like a soft Brillo pad!) to buff up.  I put some red liner tape around the edges of the cardstock and used the same method to add the gilding.  The sentiment is from Penny Black and is popped up on foam pads.  This was then layered on a DL card.

Thanks for dropping by - please pop over to the ATS&M blog to see all the wonderful creations made for you by the DT.

Less is More Week 88 - Colour

Hello Everyone - hope you've had a great weekend.  We've been busy with visitors and had a great time, made even better by the weather on Saturday which was glorious and meant we could take them to Stourhead which they loved.

The new challenge over at Less is More is a Colour challenge:

The first week of the month is time for another colour challenge and for your delectation this time we have chosen

Silver

It could be ink, paper, card, embossing powder, metal, a charm, whatever you can dream up as long as there's a touch of silver somewhere.

Part of my new goodies that I got from Westpoint the other week were some templates and sparkle medium from Imagination Crafts.  I've used the Leaf Swirl on a 6x6 card base and used the silver sparkle medium.  I let it dry overnight but it only takes a couple of hours or you could give it a blast with your heat gun.  This morning I stamped the sentiment (Penny Black Dreams come True) with Versamark and silver embossed it.  It was die cut using my Spellbinder ovals and a mat cut using the scalloped ovals.  Very simple but very twinkly!!!

Thanks for dropping by.

Addicted to Stamps - CAS #1

Hello Everyone - well today signals a new challenge over at Addicted to Stamps and this week it's CAS (Clean and Simple).  For my card I have stamped out my Penny Black Reverie stamp using black Versafine ink.  I've then used three colours of Liquid Pearls (my new best friends!) to fill in the dots on the tree.  I've cut it out using a nestie and edged in silver.  The sentiment is Hobby Arts and it's been embossed in Silver detail e/p.  I die cut a Spellbinders fancy tag and added the sentiment and used the Liquid Pearls to add a bit extra.

Please pop over to ATS to see the wonderful cards the rest of the DT have made and come join the fun!

Thanks for stopping by.

Purple Poppies - A colour challenge - Chocolate Baroque

Glenda's just issued a challenge over on her blog which originated from beautiful poppies seeding themselves in the gravel where they park their cars.  They are such an unusual colour she has issued the challenge based on their colours.  As I've been off line all day due to problems with BT I thought I'd play along with this as the colours are gorgeous.......

I started off with the Artylicious Essence of Nature CD and printed out some background paper and a tag.  I then found some lovely circle frames which I also printed out.  I've then taken an 8x8" scalloped card blank and matted on some purple card which had the top and bottom edges punched with a Martha Stewart edge punch.  The background paper was matted onto some pewter mirri and black card and I then criss-crossed some purple ribbon over.  The main image is a Penny Black stamp called "Flying Stars" which I inked with Distress Inks and clear embossed.  I then used a Quickie Ink Pen and added glitter.  I cut out the circle frame using my EK Success circle cutter and added some acetate behind the aperture.  I used some shaker tape around the frame and added some more glitter to the image and mounted on top of the background papers.  The sentiment and tag were from the Essence of Nature CD and I then added some flowers.

Thanks for stopping by - please leave a comment as they are always appreciated.

Less is More - Week 18 - Colour - Monochrome

This week's challenge over at Less is More is a monochrome colour challenge but still keeping to the CAS brief.

I have taken a cream square card blank and used my Penny Black Flying Stars stamp.  I have inked it up using Stampin Up inkpads in Summer Sun, More Mustard and Really Rust and clear embossed the image.  The sentiment is also from Stampin Up using the same inkpads and cut out using the Stampin Up labels punch.  I have also added a few dots of Quickie Glue and some Glamour Dust.

Hope everyone had a great crafty weekend.

Hugs.

Bah! Humbug! Challenge 12

This week's challenge over at Bah! Humbug! is Christmas Trees.

Rather than going down the traditional route I decided to use my Penny Black Fantasy Tree which was stamped and gold embossed.  I then decided to create a pyramage using a set of nesties that I bought which were exclusive to Create & Craft.  Instead of using all the dies in the normal way I thought I would alternate each die at a 45 degree angle so they all fit inside each other but created a different look.  I also cut the largest shape from a piece of gold mirri and laid this down on my square card blank first so that the gold would glint through the layers.  I then used silicone glue to pyramage all the layers.  I then used various Stickles glue to add colour making it look as though there were Christmas lights throughout the tree.  I then added some ribbon and gems.  The sentiment is computer generated and matted using my Stampin Up oval and scalloped oval punches.

Thanks for stopping by.

Trees - Bah Humbug!!!

It's been a few days since I have posted anything but things have been pretty hectic recently. A group of us went to Farnborough on Friday to the craft show and had a great time but were glad we didn't go on Sunday as it was cancelled due to bad weather. Wouldn't have been happy bunnies travelling all the way from Somerset to Farnborough to find it wasn't on!!!

Anyway, just had time to join in the Bah Humbug challenge which is trees.

I have used my Penny Black "Fantasy" for the main tree image which was embossed onto SU cardstock. I then added various gems and a ribbon from my stash. Main image was matted and layered onto more SU cardstock and each corner was punched with my new Martha Stewart eyelet lace corner punch with is part of a Punch around the Page set. I have used a 6" square cream card as the base which I covered with a piece of My Mind's Eye Christmas glitter stack and, rather than making it a "normal" easel card, I have made it into a diagonal easel card by scoring the front of the card diagonally from top left to bottom right corner. The sentiment was computer generated and I used my SU oval and scalloped oval punches.

Thanks for looking.

Masking samples

Club night has come around quickly this month as we have had to have it a few days earlier than normal as the hall has been booked for a harvest festival "do". Anne and I are showing the girls the masking technique and so I have made some samples.

The frog trio is a Penny Black stamp "Jump for Joy" and I love it - such a happy stamp!! The bird stamp is from Inkadinkado, the lovely teddy bear is a PSX stamp called "Fuzzy Bear" and the last one is a lady's face by 1st Class Stamps with the flower by ISC.

The other card is a stamped and watercoloured image by Stampin Up which is the homework card we set the girls.

Tender Showers

Couldn't resist buying this Penny Black stamp at the Stitch & Creative Craft Show last week at the Bath & West Showground. It's my friend's birthday soon and so I have made it for her. When you pull the tab on the right handside the hedgehog moves along watering the flowers as he goes!! I could do with one of these in my garden......

A Trio of Froggie Easter Wishes

I've just managed to finish off my last three Easter cards using my Penny Black "Jump for Joy!" stamp. It seemed lovely and spring like (haha........ frog - get it????) and appropriate for some light-hearted Easter cards. The middle card was decoupaged and the other two I masked to get the three images. Thanks for looking.