Gift time and this weeks candy

Our Sarah would like us to Make a Gift at Allsorts this week and our super sponsors are A Passion for Stamps and the Craft Barn and a warning in advance, this post is rather picture heavy !

Before I tell you about my DT creation I want to say thank you so much to you all for your kind words of understanding both on my blog and e.mails whilst I continue through my copy and past comment period, you have no idea how much they are appreciated.

OK now for my share and due to being Mrs Fumblefingers what I intended making for this theme didn't materialise as stamping remain a challenge to say the least, so I came up with this alternative which was more forgiving when it comes to accuracy.

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The lovely floral images as Nicecrane Vintage Flower Postcards all printed onto linen cardstock and the box was made using my screoboard, covered with Tonic DP's and some die cut leaves and Roses made with Ruth's Tonic punch and stamp Rose set.

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I won't begin to tell you how long this took me with all the fumbling about but I did thoroughly enjoy making it, so thanks for the theme Sarah.

And I thought I would give this to one of my DIL's as a little extra for her Birthday in a couple of weeks, she loves anything pretty and feminine so I think these will appeal and be useful at the same time.

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I also thought I would share this little gift box as well, again using Nicecrane images from the recent Joyful Christmas release, I really fell in love with these sweet Victorian children and it will be lovely filled with sweets.

                         
The images are really useful for making quick cards, but of course the sky is the limit if you want to go to town with all your lovely embellishments.

And if you want to try out this little box the instructions are here on one of my older posts.

Now onto my Saturday candy and last weeks candy winner is Karen, please mail me with your full name and postal addy. And this week I have a gorgeous Art Deco stamp and feathers from the Urban Stamps range.

Add the Saturday Candy logo from my sidebar to your sidebar

Be a follower of my blog.

A random winner will be selected from all comments left on my blog between now and Friday, so two comments during the week two chances of winning and so on.

The winner will be announced next Saturday.

Kraft It

Morning all, this is the first of my holiday schedule posts and hopefully Mr Blogger is doing his job and this will appear on time as by now we should be close to Barcelona where we are spending a couple of days before we join the ship for twelve days sailing the Greek Islands, Turkey, France and Italy.

It's our lovely temie Sarah's turn to host the theme at Allsorts this week and she would like us to 'Kraft It' and use Kraft card stock somewhere on our artwork. Our sponsors this week are Digi Darla and The Craft Barn.

I really wasn't sure about the first card I made so ended up doing a second but thought I might as well share them both. So for the one above, my second make I created a background with Dylusions melted chocolate and sweetened orange.........don't they have yummy names, I could almost taste the combo. I distressed the edges with a Sheena stamp, such a clever little corner stamps this one and ever stamped with a Visible Image harlequin and script stamp, added some swirls cut with a Memory Box die and lilies made from Kraft cardstock using Tonic Peruvian Lily Punch and Stamp set. The sentiment is Penny Black and sadly long since discontinued.

For this second card I used Kraft as the focal section using one of the pretty Marianne Anja dies coordinated with Kaiser Craft DP's and a Penny Black sentiment. I added some roses also made using a die and the prettly little swirls that come with the Anja dies.

Have a lovely weekend everyone.

Old enough to know better & Saturday candy

A very good morning to you all, time for another challenge at Allsorts and this week my teamie Tracy has come up with the great theme of 'Here Come the Girls'. so many possibilities here I am thinking.

I felt a bit of pink coming on and have used a really Old Stamps Happen image called Parisian Socialite which to me always says pink, funny how some stamps do things like that. I have a feeling the stamp may no longer be generally available as but I did find a link to it on Ideal World who seem to have it in stock so have added the thumbnail link below.

I repeat stamped a Hero Arts print stamp for the background and distressed the corners, coloured the image with watercolour pencils and added a bit of glitter. Some feather and flowers made with Tonic Peruvian Lily punch and stamp set and some Marianne leaves. The sentiment is years old and although it's wood mounted doesn't have any name on it, but I rather like it, fits my lifestyle so to speak !

I am pleased to announce the winner of last weeks prize on my Saturday post is Wedgie, well done please mail me with your full postal addy.

This week I have some pretty summery Hunkydory goodies and ribbons, as usual a winner will be selected at random from all comments left this week, if you visit more than once then all comments will go into the draw. All you need to do to be in with a chance of winning is:

1) Be a follower 
2) Pop the Saturday Candy logo from my sidebar on your own blog

Have a lovely weekend everyone.

A bit of glitter and Saturday candy

Morning Peeps, hope everyone is OK and enjoying this lovely spell of sunshine, fingers crosses it lasts the weekend. I spend a few hours out in it yesterday helping check and secure the fences before the horses are turned out for their first Summer graze and it was lovely to feel the warmth.

It's time for a new challenge at Allsorts and Tracy Mouse wants us to 'Add Some Glitter' and everyone who knows her will realise she has a bit of a penchant for a bit of sparkle.................as do most of us if we are honest, so nice choice Tracy.

I have used Modern Flower 4 from one of this weeks sponsors DigiStamp Boutique, paper piecing it to match the side pane with Nitwits DP, a little subtle inking with Spun Sugar, a bow and Marianne  rose, Cheery Lynn lattice and some liberal glittering of the rose, black liquid pearls and image. I also took a close up of the flower to show what I really did glitter up as it's not too evident on the main picture.

I am thinking this theme will be right on song for lots of you and look forward to seeing all your lovely entries.

And now for the winner of last weeks candy who is Ali from her comment on Monday's post, please mail me with your full postal addy so I can your goodies in the post to you.

And this week I have a pretty set of floral stamps for you, as usual a winner will be selected at random from all comments left this week, if you visit more than one then all comments will go into the draw. All you need to do to be in with a chance of winning is:

1) You are a follower 

2) Pop the Saturday Candy logo from my sidebar on your own blog

Have a lovely weekend everyone, the weather man assures us it's going to be barbie weather so lets hope he's got it right.

More Sping flowers

Good Morning Peeps, is it cold again or what and there as I thinking Spring was all but here.

Thank you so much everyone who has joined in my blog celebrations so far with some really stunning creations, but I know lots of you are still thinking on what you will create and there is still plenty of time to take part so no need to panic yet.......you can check it out from the post above.

I have a quick couple of shares for you which have a feel of Spring to them despite the snow which is falling outside, the one above a quite simple and straightforward card using some new Spellbinders and Ruth's Lily punch and stamp set.............. I think I could play with these all day because they are such a joy to work with. Links to stockists on the thumbnails below.

I would like to enter this into the following:

Artistic Inspirations - Flowers
Crafty Passions - 2 colours

My second share is my mid month inspirational piece for FlonzCraft Vintage Stamping Challenges, I've used this sweet little girl called Girl on a Windy Hill and paper pieced her to match the backing paper and Roses which are made with a Marianne Die.

I would like to enter this into the following:

Paper Mill challenge - Easter
The Squirrel and the Fox - Spring or Autumn

Hope you all have a good Tuesday and as always thank you so much for popping in, your comments and kind words are always greatly appreciated.

Beautiful spring

Saturday means a new theme at Allsorts and this week another of our new team mates Wendy is hosting her first challenge with us with the very seasonal theme of Springtime.

It's my favourite time of year and I just love making cards with all the fresh and pretty spring colours. The one at the top uses Ruth's Pick of the Bunch rose punch and stamp set and although daffodils are not one of the intended flowers for this set, I found that by turning the petals the other way round I could come up with a reasonable daffodil. I used a Penny Black image in the centre of the Marianne die set and cut some leaves for the daffodils from Bazzil cardstock.

Hubby.......my biggest critic..........suggested the centres of my flowers were not quite right, but after spending some considerable time looking at images on the Internet I found some varieties do indeed have little stamens inside the trumpets.

And I just had to do another card as I wanted to do one with spring bunnies, this pair are a Lavinia stamp, and I created a little scene around them with blossoms and flowers, coloured with Pan Pastels and popped a Chocolate Baroque bird into the corner. And when my 'critic' saw me taking photos of this one he said 'Is the theme Watership Down then'..............I didn't deem that worthy of a polite response !

Have a lovely weekend everyone.

Roses all the way

My friend Tracy Mouse is hosting her very first theme with us at Allsorts this week and would like to see 'Something for a Lady' which is perfect with Mothering Sunday coming along next week, but of course your card can be something for a lady's birthday or any other occasion.

Still in love with Ruth's lovely stamp and punch sets by Tonic I had to use them for my card and made two roses, complete with droplets of water fresh from the garden ! The DP is from stash and I have absolutely no idea of the make but have used for the background and then the reverse to cut the layers using a Marainne die set. Some seem binding from Pretty Little Ribbons and beaded pain and swirls to embellish.

And one more using this pretty stamp from the Rose stamp sheet from DigiStamp Boutique printed onto Fabriano watercolour card and coloured with watercolours. An embossed background and some matching ribbon and pearls to embellish. That's another one knocked of the Mothering Sunday list.

I really hope you can join us this week and look forward to seeing all your entries.

Things with Wings

Happy Saturday Peeps, time for a new challenge at Allsorts and this week it's my turn to be the host and I've chosen the theme 'Things with Wings'.................. it's no secret I like my flutterbys and fairies and I thought the theme would brighten these dull winter days.

I've made another of the threefold cards which I shared a couple of weeks ago, this one just has a different die across the top................. it's actually quite easy to create this effect, you just place the die onto each panel and secure with low tack tape and place on the cutting plate so that only the top element which you want cut is on the is on cutting plate............. in other words the majority the card is over the edge of the plate.

I have randomly stamped over all three panels using Tim Holt distress ink Victorian velvet, tea dye and vintage photo and Tim Holt papillion stamp set.

I stamped the butterflies the second time and cut out and use gems for their thorax. 

The mannequin die is a new one, I've looked at its ages but was not sure if I would actually use it, but now I've got it I really like it and I especially enjoy dressing it up this which I did with some fine cotton, lace and gems

On another panel I used the TH bird on branch die and some eyelets and pink seam binding to join the three panels together.

The rose was made from plain white paper which I stamped with a music text, inked lightly with tea dye and punched out five, five petal flowers with a 1.78 punch and after assembling the rose dipped into clear UTEE which gives a lovely glassy feel.

I also dipped the leaves cut from a spellbinder die into the UTEE and then embossed a little copper powder round the edges.

Sounds like a bit of a long drawn out process but it's not really as bad as it sounds I think it worth the little extra time it took me to create it.

I really hope you'll join in the challenge this week, I love coming round to see all your entries and always enjoy the diversity of the way in which people interpret themes, that's what makes crafting such fun.

Venetian memories and winners

Good afternoon Peeps, I was going to do this post earlier, but Blogger really has got a hissy fit on him and didn't want to play nice so I have been trying on and off ever since to get this posted.

I received my packaged from over the pond and at last got my grubby mitts on some of the new Spring release Penny Black stamps and just had to use the one above called Venetian Summer 40-217, as Venice ranks in my all time favourite places in the world. No matter how many times you visit it still holds magic and excitement.

Now I would like to say the scene reminds me of our last trip there a few months ago, the image of St Marco is the background is right, the gondolas bobbing up and down on the Grand Canal spot on and so is the lovely blue sky and with a bit of imagination I can see the restaurant right on the canal bank where we had lunch one hot and sunny day...........how sad am I as I even remember we had carbonara and a bottle of Prosecco............but that's where the fairytale ends as no way did I look anything like as elegant as the slender lady of fashion in the foreground...............I can but dream !

Anyhow, I still thoroughly enjoyed the couple of hours reminiscing whilst I coloured the image with Pan Pastels and watercolour pencils and mounted it on to some Magnolia DP and made a couple of Marianne Flowers and some spellbinder leaves. And it seemed only right that to embellish it I threaded a pin with a couple of the Murano glass beads I bought in Venice.

And it's also time to disclose the names of the winners which came out of the hat for my colouring candy.............

Sharon

Iruha

Nikbee

Sussie

Bunny

Congratulations to all, please mail me with your full names and postal addys. Should any remain unclaimed by midnight Saturday 9th I will re-draw and mail or leave a message for the new winners.

Thankful always for visiting and your kind comments which always mean so much.

Foxes, fur and feathers

Morning everyone, time for our new monthly challenges............would you believe I had my post all ready to go for a good couple of weeks ago, then for reasons known only to Blogger it totally disappeared so this is a bit of a hasty one.

At Stamping Sensations our new theme is Fur and Feathers, at Penny Black and More we are going Pink, Pearly and Swirly and at Craft a Scene we want to see lighthouses in Let Your Light Shine.

The card at the top is my fur offering using a gorgeous new stamp from Sutter Stamps..............my plan to refrain from any new stamps for a few months lasted zilch seconds and I have to say I love this one. It is coloured with Pan Pastels with a little shading with watercolour pencils.

And a rarity for me as I am entering some challenges:

Pan Pastels - Animals
Raise the bar - Animal Attraction

The pink card above is really quite a simple one using dies, ribbons and lace and a Penny Black stamp for the focal sentiment.

Next my feather offering using a Crafty Individuals stamp and the same colouring system as the top card. I kept the colours and embellies rustic to compliment the image.

My lighthouse scene uses an Art Impression lighthouse, Sutter Stamps waves and rocks and cloud cumulus from Stampscapes and you got it.......Pan Pastels.

And finally, a really simply stamped card using a Penny Black sentiment and a baroque corner from Flonz Craft, some pearls and ribbon.

Have a good Sunday everyone, I am slowly getting round to everyone, only short comments so far but I'm building on it.

Way out of the comfort zone

Before I tell you about my card and our new Allsorts challenge, I must say a huge thank you to everyone for you kind comments and thoughts with my little problems this last week. Also to my lovely challenge team mates for picking up my commenting for me this week, you are all stars ********* 

Holly is home from hospital.....I don't know how many of you are familiar with the Animal health Trust at Newmarket, but they really are a wonderful organisation with some of the best vets from around the world and way out there with their research, specialist knowledge and care. And we are so lucky to have it within an hours drive so can easily be referred there.

The bottom line with Holly is that she is incontinent and at the moment not a great deal more they can do until her female anatomy develops enough for them to operate to try and rectify several issues. Bless her she constantly asks to go outside.....like every ten minutes......but of course it's often too late and very distressing for her as labs are by nature such clean dogs. So we are ploughing through kitchen roll and puppy pads like there's no tomorrow and the washing machine is working overtime with dog beds. In some ways it's worse than a baby because you can at least put a nappy on them and put them in their pram ! Here's a picture of her in the little 'recovery' coat they sent her home in yesterday, not something you get with your average vet's practice.

My speech is slow, I had another drain put in Thursday but at least the pain seems to be easing today, so some light on the horizon hopefully and perhaps something more than soup for a change. 

Now for some craft and it's Jo's turn to host the theme at Allsorts this week and she is challenging us to 'Get Cute' which certainly is a challenge and way outside my comfort zone, but I have been very good and didn't even get my distress inks or Pan Pastels out of the draw.

I've used what to me is cute, or at least as cute as my stamp drawers get, a Penny Black image and some Magnolia DP, lace and lots of die cuts. I used just a little watercolour to lift the image and decoupaged the tiny elements.

Hope you have a good weekend and as always thank you for popping in and I know I've said this several times this week, but I really am trying to get round to you all, even if it's only a few words.

Flower Power

It's all about flowers at Allsorts challenge this week as my teamie Tracy wants to see some 'Flower Power' and we have two prizes on offer this weeks from The Ribbon Girl and My Heart Pieces.

Although it doesn't show up to well on my photograph, the Kaiser DP is a lovely shade of sage green and cream and works really well with the pretty Marianne dies. It's really quite a simple card as the intricacy of the dies needs little more, so I just added some flowers and swirls which are also a Marianne die and to lift the background some dots of liquid pearls.

Whatever your plans this weekend, I hope it's a good one and thank you as always for your kind visits and comments.

Floral overload

Good morning to all, I've got more new challenges to tell you about at Pretty Little Ribbons where we have a lovely theme of  'Flowers and Ribbons' and at FlonzCraft Vintage Stamping where it's simply 'Vintage' and we thought the chance for you to share some of your new stash with us.

I got a little bit carried away with my goodie package from Sarah and coupled with the floral theme ended up with several DT pieces. The top one uses the lovely Amaryllis stamp from Penny Black which I stamped onto the Marianne frame after masking the edge to keep the script central and coloured the flower head with watercolours. The DP is Kaiser Kraft and the ribbons, lace, flowers and charm are of course all from Pretty Little Ribbons...............the thumbnail pictures below all link to their shop so you can grab some for yourself.

The above card is my FlonzCraft DT piece using one of their lovely Vitage images, this one is called   which I paper pieced to match the Bo Bunny background papers. The Ivy is a Marianne die and the flower made with punched shapes.

The inspiration for this altered box comes from my FlonzCraft teamie Claire who use one these boxes for a creation a few weeks ago. Needless to say when she said it was a Graze box the penny didn't drop and I went searching the Internet thinking it was a pre-scored template, it was far too simple to realise it was one of the boxes the health food nibbles arrive in which my daughter leaves laying all round the kitchen.

I used two 12x12 sheets of DP to cover the box, lots of lace, ribbon and liquid pearls and I paper pieced the four flowers which are all stamps from the designs of my friend Ruth whose images and dies are distributed by Tonic Studios. The flowers and butterflies I have used come from the following stamp sheets....... fuchsia, lilies, peony and chrysanthemum.

My final card is another for Pretty Little Ribbons, the image is Penny Black which I inked with Distress Markers, spiritzed with water and stamped onto watercolour card. I did a little stamping on the base card using versamark and a Hero Arts stamp and sponged with Pan Pastels. The bow is using some of the gorgeous silk crushed ribbon from PLR.

Goodness me, that was a bit of a long post, but there seemed so much I needed to share.

I really hope you will join in both challenges and look forward to seeing your creations.

Oh Christmas Tree

Good morning Peeps and thank you for all your lovely messages about Alex's achievement yesterday.

At Allsorts Debs is right into the season with the theme of 'Oh Christmas Tree' and our sponsor this week is my good friend Ruth of A Passion for Stamps so of course I wanted to use one of her images and although her Topiary Tree is not the traditional Christmas tree, it is all dressed ready for Christmas complete with bow...............in fact it's not unlike the one by my front door although mine hasn't got any flowers on it. I coloured the image with watercolours, cut it out and mounted onto a Marianne die oval which I stamped randomly with a Stamp Addicts Christmas background stamp. The DP's are Kaiser Craft and I had to use the Marianne holly die............yet again.

And here's just one more using some of Ruth's beautiful new dies distributed by Tonic Studios, here I have used the Domed Window and Window Box sets, stamped a Penny Black image inside the window and embossed with Frantage aged hunter. The little flowers and leaves all come in the window box set and there are also some matching stamps available which work beautifully with the dies. I can't give you a link to them as yet as C & C had exclusivity on the products for the first month after their November launch, but I know the shops had them on order and I think should be generally available this week.

I hope you all have a good weekend and I imagine there's lots of Christmas preparations going on, but I hope you still find a little time to join in with this weeks challenge.