Feature a creature

Good morning to you all, it's time for our new challenge at Allsorts and this week Tracy has chosen the theme of' Feature a Creature'. Our sponsor is Digistamp Boutique and Sizzix and as always my teamies have come up with lots of inspiration to set you on your way.

I do apologise that I've not been out and about in blogland for a few days, the NHS are the culprits and now I am taking a little time to rest.

It's another one that I really enjoyed making, well you know me and scenes. Although we are well onto November now I still couldn't resist a hint of Autumn in my scene which I created with a good number of different stamps........in fact I counted them and seems I used fifteen in total. Once I has stamped everything in place using black archival ink I added the background colouring with Pan Pastels and finally hand drew a fence, something about fences and I always feel a need to add one to a landscape scene.......well how else do you keep the livestock in ?

I have a second make, this is one of my samples for next Saturday's Stamp Addicts Hochanda shows at 8am and 2pm, the Moose I have used on this card is one of the featured stamps along with a smaller version of the same image, some beautiful leaves and if your love Roses then you must not miss the shows...................I will share some more including the Rose closer to the day.

I stamped the Moose twice, coloured with Spectrum Sparkle pens and cut out one of the images to decoupage so he peeps over the Tattered Lace frame. The papers are I believe Trimcraft.

Happy weekend all.

A fenland meadow

Morning to you all, hope your week is going well. Thanks you for all you kind comments on my Parisian scene on Monday and also welcome to my new followers.

I thought I would share the birthday card I made for hubby, I did think it had already been blogged but seems not so here it is. I started by stamping the trees with black archival ink, the large one is Creative Expressions and the small one Stampscapes, then created the background with Pan Pastels and finished by stamping the Sutter Stamps fence, Hobbyart sheep, birds and branches adding a little watercolour here and there to highlight. The sheep stamp is a long one with six on it but they are all in a bit of a row so I ink the stamp in sections to give a more random look. I then rub out the Pan Pastels..............that's the great thing about them....... and add a little white micron pen to lift them.

Hope you all have a good Wednesday.

Pan Pastels snowy cottages

Time for me to share my mid month inspirational post for Craft a Scene challenge where our theme is 'Snowy Cottages' and I think I must have had foresight when I made this one as the weather here in the UK is indeed snowy and frosty just like the scene in my card.

The village scene has been created with a Penny Black stamp which I stamped a second time to extend the scene, the little deer are part of a Hobby Art stamp which I masked before inking so I only got the two animals and the man and his dog are Art Impressions. I lightly water coloured the cottages and added snow to the roofs and added a little shading here and there to the sky and foreground using Pan Pastels.

I know the idea of creating a scene is a bit scary if it's not something you do as a norm, but really it's such fun and I think if you select a few of your favourite images and experiment on a piece of copier paper and try brining several together you will be surprised how they can take on a whole new perspective for you. And it would be really lovely to see some new faces at our challenge so go on give it a try !

Keep warm and safe everyone and enjoy the rest of your Sunday.

Yet more inky fingers

Good Morning Peeps, just having a coffee break so thought I would do a quick post with a couple of shares and some inky fun.

It's pretty miserable weather here in the Fens still, typical November and getting decent photos is almost impossible as that glimmer of sunshine never arrives so these piccies are not as I would like, but I know we are all having the same problems.

For the one above I sponged Adirondack dye inks sunshine yellow and watermelon and TH distress ink broken china and spritzed with Glimmer Mist pearl, then lifted some of the ink to create a watery sun and stamped over that with a Clarity stamp using Adrondack pebble to give a soft feel. Next I stamped some grasses in black from the Andy Skinner Winter Tale sheet and then Penny Black 3381K Aspire using versamark and detail gold embossing powder. I cut the finished piece into six and mounted onto gold mirri card.

The above card is one I did at my Stampalot demo last week and very similar to one I shared a couple of weeks ago, but this time using Art Impression trees and Hobby Art cows. The background is brayered with Adirondack shy blue, denim, lettuce and meadow. The poem is computer generated an the fence hand drawn with a fine nib black pen.

'Freebie Friday again'

An early post ahead of work with a couple of shares and a reminder about 'Freebie Friday' at Sir Stampalot.

To be 'in the know' and ahead of the rush you need to sign up to Smudges newsletter here or by clicking on the icon on the left hand side of the home page sidebar here and you will receive their newsletter telling you what freebie you can receive each week.

My card at the top was created through a bauble shaped mask which I cut on the Cricut, brayered with Adirondack denim, butterscotch and ginger and stamped with Hobby Art XM3/05 E Three Kings and QT801A Star. The sentiment is Penny Black 3995F.

This one is a sample I made using one of the new releases from Prickly Pear HH0082 Winters Glow. I cut out the image, coloured with Aquamarkers and mounted it onto a Marianne holly circle die and Magnolia circle die.

Who can smell a barbie ?

My DIL snapped this yesterday, you would never guess I was holding a tray of chicken fresh off the barbie would you ? True Labradores every one of them - George and Bernie are up in London so missed out on this one.

Hope everyone had a good weekend and the weather was kind to you as well, it's been ideal garden weather here so we made the most of it and not a lot of crafting got done.

So just a couple of shares of Stampalot samples I came up with last week.

I love the fresh colours of the Kaiser DP and used that as the basis of my card. The flower is from Hero Arts CL374 which I stamped twice on to the DP, then inked with versamark and spritzed with Glimmer Mist pearl, shaped whilst wet then decoupaged. The diamond pattern is Hero Arts G3316 inked with Adirondack pebble using the second stamping to get a softer colour. Borders are Spellbinders Parisian accents and the frame Nesties Fleur de Lis and Labels 17. The little bird was cut from the DP.

And a bit of brayering with my Speedball friend, Adirondak dye inks, a masked sun and a mixture of Art Impression and Hobby Art stamps.

Spring is all around us

Good Morning peeps, it is I.......... here in person........my first proper post unaided for six weeks, wow what progress indeed.

I am pleased to say I really do seem to be headed in the right direction now, this relapse seems to have been very slow going, but everything crossed the progress will continue. I have told myself that I must still proceed with caution and not do my usual and throw myself back into things all at once, but I do intend getting round you all bit by bit a.s.a.p.

It's perfect timing really as today we have new challenges at Stampalot and Penny Black at Allsorts. And before I tell you about this months themes, I want to say a great big thank you to my design teams at both challenges for holding the fort whilst I have been MIA. You have all done a fabulous job girls, please accept my thanks for being so supportive.....a further thank you as well to all my blogland friends for all their wonderful support and visits here, although I have not been able to be active I have read your comments and each and every one is appreciated.

OK back to business and it will probably come as no surprise that the themes at both challenges are pretty similar.........I make no apologies as Spring is my favourite time of year and I never fail to be amazed by the wonders of Nature bursting into life as if by magic after the long dormant winter months.

So at Penny Black at Allsorts it is simply "Welcome Spring" and at Stampalot "Spring is in the Air".

It's a theme I could make dozens of cards for, but I whittled it down to just two for Stampalot but using the same set of stamps, the little girls is Art Impression T3093 and tree branches and fence are both Magnolia. In both cases I masked the little girl and then stamped the fence twice to extend it. Both are coloured with Aquamarkers and the DP's are offcuts which I think are Doodlebug. The top card is also for the following challenge:

Wild Orchid - Anything goes

Die Cut Dreams - Spring garden scene

Stamp Scrap Doodle - Easel card

Crazy Challenges - Here comes Spring

Now a couple for Penny Black at Allsorts. The one above is fairly plain and simple to show off the gorgeous flower and sentiment stamps. I started with a piece of silk cardstock and masked the edges and brayered Adirondack lake mist to the bottom corner, then with the masks still in place stamped the flowers, inking the stamps Penny Black 3587K Jonquil with distress inks and spritzing with water before stamping (as it's a coated cardstock you need to be careful as the wetness of the stamp can make it slip and blur). The sentiment is PB 3096K Host of Daffodils.

I then laid a post it note inside the edge masking before removing it to reveal the white edges and brayered the two corners with Adirondack sunshine yellow and overstamped with Hero Arts F5042F Leaf Flourish......this must be the most used worker stamp in my collection. Finally I squiggled a freehand line round to frame it the central stamping. This card is also for the following challenge:

By the Cute and Girly - Spring
Incy Wincy - Spring is in the air

My second PB card uses Penny Black 4039K Candid coloured with Aquamarkers and shaded round the edges with TH Mustard Seed. The sentiment is Hobby Art GR223. The DP is Jillybean. I stamped the flower heads twice more and added to one of the steps of the card, along with some borders punched with MS embossed scallop. The above cards is also for the following challenges:

CES - Flowers and flutterbys
Crazy 4 Challenges - Flowers

Remembrance

Hi folks, still pretty windy here and sounds the same right across the Country, so perfect crafting weather.

I should really be decorating, but my cold sort of slowed me down, but hopefully the weekend will prove more productive on that front. Certainly need to get the dining room sorted because M&S want to deliver the new furniture. I have already put them off twice but they are getting a bit agitated now, understandable I guess as most people what new things yesterday.

Have you entered this months Penny Black at Allsorts challenge yet ? Lots of stamps to win again and such a nice easy theme "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas".....how easy is that ?

A couple of shares today. The one above is a my take on the lovely card Shenna Douglas made with her new stamps which were some of those I succumbed to at the NEC. I adore poppies so this was a must have set and apart from adding some ribbon and probably slightly different colours, this is more or less a direct take on Sheena's fabulous inspiration. The stamps are in two different sets, the tree and landscape all one stamp, then the poppies another set which which have been overstamped. All are coloured with Aquamarkers and some Copics to add depth to the poppies. This card is for the following challenge:

Daring Cardmakers - A time to Remember

Crafty Catz - Paper tearing

My second card uses the same Hobby Art sentiment used on one of the cards in my last post, a frame cut with Nesties using Kaiser DP, a border punched with Fiskars threading water, some lace and a flower and leaves made using one of the Cuttlebug quilling sets. This card is for the following challenges:

CRAFT - Colour palette

Moving Along with the Times - Summer colours/lace/flowers

Me, like fairies ?

I woke up at 5am sneezing, by 8am it was a full blown cold and by lunchtime I look like Rudolph.

Must be something to do with the rumour of decorating, so I decided not to go into the office today and take it a bit easy with some craft. And has that been slow going, just one card completed, one finished from yesterday and a sample from stock, so here they are.

A couple of easel cards as I have a bit of a glut of them right now thanks to the one and only puppy from hell, Daisy. I had all my nice new cardstock from the NEC laid out on the sofa in my craft room.......200 cards and envelopes in total.........in comes Daisy fresh from the stables with hubby and literally launched herself onto the sofa, muddy pawmarks everywhere. Dog's don't do sofas in our house, lets fact it, if they did we would be the ones sitting on the floor.

So the only option I could see to salvage some of the ruined cards was cut off the muddy fronts and assemble some easel cards. In fairness to Daisy, the ruined ones were in the minority, but think she learn a hard lesson there. And for you peeps, a few more easels to come still......but I do love the shape so not too fussed if I am honest.

The top card is sheer indulgence with another of the new Sweet Pea Stamps from Crafts and Me (link on sidebar) called One and Only Heart. Isn't she the sweetest ? She is stamped with versafine and embossed with detail clear, then masked so I could add a sun.........I know I am a bore but all fairies need a moon or sun in my fantasy world. I decoupaged her glove, flower and heart, coloured with Copics and glittered her wings and the heart. The DP is a really old piece from my stash, the two white hearts are made with glittered card using an Martha Stewart punch, the border another MS punch and feathers and a based pin used to embellish along with some roses and beads. This card is for the following challenges:

Crafts and Me - Glitter

My Time to Craft - Rhapsody of Roses
Flourish Timeless Tuesday - Glitter

My second card, another of the reassembled easel cards stamped with Hero Arts CG179 aptly named Rose Background and coloured with Twinkling H20's. The sentiment is Hobby Art GR1353, such a lovely sentiment, stamped with versamark and embossed with detail clear. The bottom section is Magnolia DP, Tim Holtz Bigz swirl dies and two roses made from plain purple paper and dipped into hot UTEE to give a lovely glazed finish. This card is for the following challenges:

Tuesday Taggers - Gold, silver and purple

Anything Goes - Embossing

My final share today using this lovely little Sarah Kay girl, whose name I'm afraid I don't remember........my biggest problem with unmounted stamps as there is no wood block with the details to remind me. She is coloured with Copics and mounted onto a pretty embossed circle using the Magnolia die. The DP is My Minds Eye, a MS punched border and some punched flowers.This card is for the following challenges:

Fab 'n Funky - Going round in circles

ABC - Holidays (Christmas, Thanksgiving etc)
For Fun - Dry embossing
Scrapbook Sisters - Christmas colours

New Challenges, Fabby Prizes

It's the first of the month and that means new challenges at Stampalot and Penny Black at Allsorts.......and my wedding anniversary.......hubby will have had his usual rummage through my baskets of cards trying to remember which ones I said I especially liked.

I know I promised to think outside the box a bit more when I came up with challenge themes although its clear it did not work this month, but they were sent a while back and the girls were all enjoying making their DT cards so left things as they were. Mind you, judging by some of the lovely work in blogland the last week or two, it's a theme you all enjoy.

The top card is my DT card for Stampalot Challenge where the theme is "Autumn Breezes, Buttons and a Bow". I created a background with Tim Holtz rusty hinge, frayed burlap, olive and Glimmer Mist iridescent gold. I then stamped the leaves with bleach using Inkadinkado 97513. The sentiment is Hobby Art GR1353 with a frame made with Nesties using Basic Grey DP and the bird Magenta 41014I. Some lace, punched leaves coloured with the same TH inks and embossed with detail clear, buttons, cord and a flower made with my Tattered Floral Die. This card is also for the following challenge:

Stamping for the Weekend - Autumn Inspired

Everybody Art Challenge - Friends

Another card for Stampalot Challenge, a background created by stamping leaves from Hero Arts CL457 with TH frayed burlap, then covered with Diamond Glaze. When dry I inked the whole piece with TH barn door, wild honey and sage, then overstamped with Hero Arts H2365 old French writing. The fairy is from an unmounted set by Personal Impressions embossed with iridescent powder and her wings glittered. The leaves are punched, the border Martha Stewart woodland branch and buttons, ribbons and raffia to finish. This card is also for the following challenges:

Flutterby Wednesdays - Glitter and Shimmer

Moving Along with the Times - Fairy or Fantasy

Glitterbabes - Embossing wet or dry

This one is my DT piece for this months Penny Black at Allsorts challenge where the them is "Colours of Autumn".......told you I was repetitive. It's quite a quick and simple card to make, but I quite like the effect. I used various Autumnal coloured inks to brayer the backgrounds with masks to represent the changing phases of the moon. The tree is Penny Black 3880F Fantasy, stamped with versafine black and embossed with details clear with stickles added here and there amongst the branches.

I did say there was a lot of it about didn't I, so I am entering the above cards for the following challenges:

Simon Says - Autumn

For Fun - Fall

My Time to Craft - Looks like Autumn

Finally a bit of Christmas. I was sent this new Magnolia die to try out. It's a half circle which you need to match up to cut the other half. I though it was a bit of a faff at first, but once you get used to matching up the dos it's easy and makes a really pretty doily like circle.

I created the easel card on the DS and Cricut Plantin Schoolbook. The DP is K & Co and the image is Penny Black F5075 Sparkle Poinsettia inked with Tim Holtz fired brick and sage and spritzed with water before stamping. I made the poinsettias with punched vellum, added pearl stamens, punched and glittered leaves using Martha Stewart pine branch and gems to embellish. I also decorated an envibox........I found these on the internet the other day, they come flat packed and are brilliant for cards with a bit of dimension that don't really fit into a regular envelope. This card is for the following challenges:

Creative Cottage - Bling it On
Creative Inspirations - Christmas in September
Charisma Cardz - Christmas
ABC - An Easel Card

Stamp Something - Celebrate Something

Dogs and puppies galore

Sorry Folks !!!!

Seems like a constant whinge from me and I'm forever saying this, but so sorry for being a real bad blogger yet again, I must seem like a real pain in the butt, but I am still feeling so rough and taking ages to shift this infection. I really can't believe I've got this so quickly on top on the last one in June. I 'think' I'm going in the right direction, but since the weekend have have a total lack of energy which they say is the concoction of medication taking it's toll. So not a lot of craft the last few days and this is the best I have come up with.

I stamped the main card with Hobby Art GR1341F Shakespeare Sonnet - 'Shall I Compare Thee to a Summers Day ?' using Tim Holtz broken china, which I also used to create the background for my main image which is Penny Black 4042K daisy fields which I inked with the same TH ink plus tea dye and spritzed with water before stamping. The DP is Doodlebug, the border punch Martha Stewart eyelet lace, then lace, ribbon, gems and pearls to embellish plus three punched butterflies.

This card is for the following challenges:

Tuesday Taggers - Inspired by a Poem

Midnight Madness - Sketch

And a share of a few pictures of the boys and girls, much as I'd love one of all six of them together it night impossible to keep the pups still for long enough to do that.

George, Bernie, Daisy and a non too elegant pose from Buffy (far left)

Buffy and Daisy - night picture and the light makes them look much darker that they really are

George, Bernie and Lily - she's a slightly lighter colour than Daisy

Penny Black Christmas 2010

Hello folks, bet you have been wondering where I have been with no post for three days.

Firstly there are puppydogs who takes a fair amount of time and are growing like triffids. I'll try and get some more piccies shortly to share. Then there is me sounding like a long playing record, I got flue the second day of our holiday, in fairness several of us did, but as usual despite antibiotics I can't shake it off so it turned into bronchitis and now a "hint of pneumonia" - GP terminology whatever that really means. So lots more pills.

But today I actually felt like crafting, helped enormously by a very nice man from Fex Ex who delivered a parcel from America..............Penny Black Christmas 2010.............it's a wonder you didn't hear the squeal, I was that excited. So I have a couple of creations to share with you and you can see all of the new range of Penny Black stamps here and you can get yours from Sir Stampalot just as soon as their delivery lands so keep an eagle eye on the 'whats new' section of their web site.

My first card........another easel I'm afraid, I'm still that addicted to them........... uses this gorgeous collage stamp Penny Black 4112K To Follow the Star. I made a mask for the moon and brayerd with Adirondack eggplant, stamped the image with versafine black and embossed with detail clear, then sponged Tim Holts marigold and sage to add definition. I tore the edges and embossed with iridescent powder to add some shine. The star is Hobby Art QT801A and DP's Kaiser which I also used to make three roses. The swirl is cut through the Big Shot using a Sizzix die then pearls and gems added to embellish.

This card is for the following challenges:

Crafts and Me - Petals and pearls

Creative Cottage - Christmas

Fab and Funky - Flowers - make your own

A Spoonful of Sugar - Christmas in August

My next card used an absolutely adorable slapstick stamp.....I am certain this is the same little girl as in one of the summer releases 40-021 For Goodness Sake. I stamped and embossed the image three times, colouring each with Copics then decoupaging. The DP is Cosmo Cricket which I also used to make the punched flower and sprayed with Glimmer Mist dazzling diamonds. I added some snow, glitter, lace and pearls to embellish and a a border punched with Martha Stewart embossed scallop.

This card is for the following challenges:

ABC - Blue

Cute Card Thursday - Sketch

Creative Card Crew - Sparkle and shine

And finally, one I forgot to add earlier - my head is obviously somewhere else. This is not a Christmas stamp but it is a new release and when I saw it I just loved it, reminds me of Harvest festival and all the beautiful displays in Church. The image is Penny Black 40-037 Autumnal Gifts, stamped with versfaine sepia and embossed with detail clear, coloured with Copics and some of the fruit decoupaged. I used Hero Arts S5316 Silhouette Grass to the main card using Tim Holtz rusty hinge and punched the October Afternoon DT with Martha Stewart arched lattice.

This card is for this weeks Penny Black Saturday, not entered for a few weeks what with holiday etc., and when I saw the theme of Get Fruity I was stumped , until Mr Fed Ex arrived with his goodies that is.

Strawberries and Cream

A sweet treat I cooked up for crafty research, calorie free of course

Here in the Cambridgeshire Fens, the arrival of strawberries in late May is always an eagerly awaited event in the produce calendar. Although you can buy them year round in supermarkets, there is nothing to beat the flavour as they come straight off the plant.....I should know I was brought up with them and thought nothing of being in the fileld at 4.30am for the start of the picking day for the six week season.

So I have chosen the theme of Strawberries and Cream for my theme week at Allsorts and have come up with two pictures as inspiration for your projects this week. You don't have to have strawberries on your work, but I would like you to draw your colour combo from the pictures.


I created my first card using purely the colour scheme as my inspiration, however my hubby thought I had totally lost the plot and asked where the strawberries were, so I made a second card with a couple of baskets of shrinky ones - OK Lou - for those of you who don't know, she's the queen of cream shrink plastic and believe me Lou, I needed a magnifying glass for these.

So the card above has a little scene created with Sarah Kay farm girl, masked and decoupaged with a Magnolia fence, Hobby Art tree and Art Impression birds, grass and flowers. The strawberries are also Magnolia and the baskets from Sarah Kay stamps.

The second card which was my first effort used Hero Arts CG185 elegant weeds stamped onto a background distressed with Tim Holtz worn lipstick and stickles added to the flower heads. The resist background was created stamping Inkadinkao 9718 with versamark, embossing with detail clear and distressing with the same TH ink. The sentiment is from Hero Arts CG198 whatever, a piece of corrugated card to add some texture and a punched flower spritzed with Glimmer Mist tattered rose.

Wedding pictures tomorrow !!

Allsorts challenge 42

Our teamie Lisa has come up with a great colour combo for the theme at Allsorts this week - Black, Pink and White.

Before I go into what I did with my card I need to explain the strange shadows which are not defects on the card as it looks.......it was sun, yep we had two days of sun earlier this week with real shadows. Wow, it was wonderful.

The layout of my card is a style I often use, but I feel it lends itself well to this type of image which is one I really love from Rubber Stampede 3942 Woman in Repose. I stamped her very simple with versfaine black and added a touch of pink watercolour to remove the stark whiteness of her face. Down the side if the card I stamped Hero G3316 Harlequin and Hobby Art GR1341 Shakespeare Sonnet and round the edges with JudiKins 3347F Doodle with Hero shadow ink blossom.

The border is punched from Kaiser DP using Martha Stewart doily lace trim and the roses made from the same DP which is double sided. I added some tiny roses, punched leaves, ribbon and pearls to embellish.

Challenge Andy

The lovely new Magnolia Spring papers arrived at Sir Stampalot yesterday when I was there.........a huge box spilling over with beautiful pastel colours, roses, harlequin patterns, bunnies, all so yummy. I must have been drooling so badly that Andy set me a challenge........go create with them and a new Martha Steward lattice fence punch.

So who I am to question such an order and here is what I have come up with so far. I have used the aqua and pink ones, but there is also a really pretty one with yellow daffodils and that will be my next one to get to grips with.

For the pink one I used one of the new Penny Black stamps 40-021 For Goodness Sake. I had to have this one as soon as I saw it, call me sentimental, but I remember a picture of myself as a little girl dressed just like that, right down to the hat, I think it was at a wedding. I stamped the image several times, coloured with Copics and decoupaged.

The edges of the Magnolia DPs' have been distressed with one of the new Tim Holt Distress inks Victorian Velvet.......do check the new ones just in stock, there are some beautiful subtle colours. The leaves and flowers around the image are all Art Impression stamps. Then I used my Martha Stewart bunny border punch to match the bunny on the image and also those on the Magnolia DP. The sentiment is Hobby Art and ribbon, cord and a peg to embellish.

For the blue card I created a shaped easel card (inspiration in the current Magnolia magazine) using Cricut Sorybook. I created a background using Brilliance inks and Glimmer Mist pearl, overstamped with Penny Black 2410 Penmanship using TH distress ink Weathered Wood the stamped Penny Black 4042K Daisy Fields with versafine black, embossed with detail clear and coloured with Copics, cutting a second image out and decoupaging the larger flower heads.

The new MS lattice fence punch came into action to create a 'back to back' effect across the middle and also corners. The oval 'prop' on the bottom of the card is Penny Black 3857H Footnote stamped onto the same background as the main image, cut out with Nesties through the Big Shot. To finish I added tiny flowers, buttons and cord.

Happy Birthday

What on earth is happening with our weather.........it's deep midwinter again and snowing like the clappers. I know I am not alone, but I so hate all this cold, it was pretty to see for a few days, but it's been absolutely weeks on end now.

Right moan over, a card which fits this weeks Cupcake challenge of "Friends" and on that note a chance to say Happy Birthday to someone who kept her birthday very secret.............didn't they Janice ? I am told this also fits the theme at Totally Gorjuss this week, so in for a penny.................

And because the weather is so horrid, I am going pink and summery again. I started by making a stencil with Hobby Art U1913D small dragonfly and dabbed lightly with Tim Holtz worn lipstick (I have not stenciled for ages but Lesley got me going with her lovely butterfly card the other day) down the edge of the card, I then overstamped with the same stamp and ink.

The text of the main piece is Hero Arts G2678 art, stamped with Hero chalk ink Latte, the overstamped with the same dragonfly and heat embossed with detail gold. The sentiment is from Paper Makeup Stamps and cut in half after stamping, the border Martha Stewart embossed butterflies and the rose made from pink paper and spritzed with Glimmer Mist tea rose.

In the pink

Good afternoon everyone, would you believe this card has been in the making since about 8am, some days it seems the faster I try and work the slower I am. But at least after a really hard frost again the sun is shining now and it is quite Spring like.

My card follows the great sketch at Stamping for the Weekend and the really pretty colour combo at Penny Black of 'Pink, Green and Yellow'.

Instead of working from my image backwards as I usually do, after a rummage through the 'pink' drawer I worked forward from the Doodlebug DP which has all three colours required. My image is Penny Black 3949 H Poppies, which I stamped several times so I could decoupage the flower heads and coloured with Copics.

The mats were all cut with Nesties through the Big Shot, the border is Martha Steward doily lace........I love this one, but it's a pain in the bum to punch with so I rarely use it. Despite all my efforts with foil, silicone paper and even some punch lubricator it just don't like to play ball with me. The little circle sentiment is from Hobby Art A4981 which I tied with ribbon so it dangles and finally I added some yellow pearls, punhced leaves, trirled up wire and Liquid Pearls to the flower centres.