Be my Valentine

Hello peeps, two post on consecutive days is a bit of a rarity for me nowadays, but the sun was shining and I got some decent photos of a batch of cards I've been waiting to take photos of for days, so thought I would share one.

I have used Ruth's A Passion for Stamps Stargazer Lily..............when I first went on her DT she asked if there were any flowers I particularly like, well I love all  flowers as you know, but lilies have to be one of my favourites and a few days later Ruth had drawn this lovely image. 

I had lilies for my wedding bouquet much to the horror of my elderly aunts......... in those days you most definitely did not have them for weddings. As we married in October they had to be sourced from France as they were out of season, now they are available year round as standard and our daughter had  them for her bouquet when she married on the same Saturday in October as us.......not 'the' same Saturday of course, twenty odd years later.

I used a sheet of Bo Bunny DP to create the pleated rosette, which I mounted onto a doily, then used another smaller one to mat the flower onto.......these pretty little ones are available from Sarah at Pretty Little Ribbons, as are the pins and seam binding. I printed the lily out a second time onto the same DP, cut out and decoupaged. Two hearts using an MS punch and corners using Spellbinder Fleur de Lis.

Now this bit really is more than a rarity, I am going to enter my card into a challenge, it's almost a year since I did so as these dodgy eyes of mine have great difficulty dealing with all the links, but as I seem to have used several of Sarah's products I am going to give it a try and enter it for:

Be My Valentine theme at Pretty Little Ribbons challenge

Have a good day everyone and as always, thank you so much for popping in, I really do appreciate your visits and kind words.

Handbags and Haribo's

Still reliant of the help of Mr Blogger, so hopefully today will be Saturday and time for our new challenge at Allsorts where Amanda is our hostess with the mostest for our final Free and Easy July theme.

Today we are scheduled to be in Kusadasi in Turkey, home of all things designer........fake 'labels' that is, so there will be some serious shopping going on here and that little Prada number I bought for £15 last visit needs replacing. And what are the children looking forward to here.........the Haribo shop, last week we had a whole evening re-living their previous visit...........it is a rather large shop dedicated purely to those chewy sweets, but I ask you Haribo's when you have travelled half way round Europe to get there.

So my cards, the one above so so simple that all I can tell you is I used some scraps of DP to create a border punched with Martha Stewart doily lace, made a flower out of organza ribbon and some leaves punched with another MS punch. The sentiment is Penny Black 4071F.

And the one at the top of my post uses several Hero Art stamps, TH inks dusky concorde, peeled paint and marigold. The card itself was created using Grand Nesties labels four.

Lemon and Lime and more !

Helene is our host at Allsorts this week and I admit I totally lost the plot here hence several cards. I had prepared my post, thought I had the weeks wrong so changed it all yesterday only to find I was right in the first place.......are you still with me or as confused as I was ?

So the theme definitely is Lemon and Lime, but thought I might as well share all the cards. The one up top uses the gorgeous new lily stamp Ruth created at A Passion for Stamps. I used Hero Arts F2365 to stamp the background with TH pumice stone and mounted onto a mat punched with MS around the page 3 dot scallop and lightly shaded the edges with the same inkpad. The image is coloured with Copics and decoupaged.

My second card is one of the samples I made for a Stamp Addicts programme using the Courting Couples silhouette stamp sheet. The background is stamped with Hero Arts K5056 friendship writing then the image stamped over using Brilliance orchid. The DP is Bo Bunny and I punched a border using MS garden trellis.

And the one above is the original one I did for Helene's Lemon and Lime theme. I stamped a piece of lemon bazzil with Hero Arts S5264 Antique flower background using Hero chalk ink soft green, The ovals are cut with Nesties and the butterfly is from Hero CL383 set and coloured with Aquamarkers. The sentiment is from Darkroom Door.

All white on the night

I've come to the conclusion it's a conspiracy at Allsorts and my fellow DT's are setting me as well as all you peeps a challenge just lately ...............only joking Emma, it's a great theme really, I just freaked at first.

White and more white sent me into total panic, but I actually quite like my card now it's finished and it has a purpose as one of our sons and his wife celebrated their first anniversary last week.................hard to believe it's a whole year ago since we were having a ball in France for their wedding.

The sentiment is computer generated, the base run through the Cuttlebug using Swiss dots, a Marianne die swirly leaf, mat punched with MS round the page vintage lace and a light brush of TH tea dye round the edges to give definition. Oh yes, and a dusting of Stickes frosted lace. How simple was that when I eventually got my head round the idea.

I always keep my odds and ends of linen and pearl card after I have scored and cut a batch of card blanks.........too nice to throw away.............. and several came in useful here for the punched mat, little flowers, leaves and swirl which were all made from those odds and ends. So I think it might just about qualify for Jules weekly event. Hope you realise just how honoured you are matie, I've not entered a challenge since about March.

Don't forget we have a DT call going over at Allsorts Challenge blog, we are looking for two new teamies, so if you fancy joining the team, pop over and see what you need to do.

Thanks for popping in and Mr Blogger obliging, there should be a post appearing tomorrow with some more samples using the beautiful Animal Spirit stamps.

Things with Wings

Happy Saturday peeps, here we are with yet another Bank Holiday to contend with, life can be tough.............mind you, after the week we have all had with Blogger, we need a break.

My teamie Fleur is hosting this weeks challenge 'Things with Wings' at Allsorts, but first I want to thank everyone who took part in our Birthday celebrations last week. It was great fun and the winners are all listed on the challenge blog, so do go check to see if you were one of the lucky ones..........

Can I also say a quick thank you to they guys from Sir Stampalot for featuring four of my pieces of work using Hero Arts products in the June edition of Craft Stamper.

My DT card for this week uses one of the gorgeous stamps from Crafts and Me, she's a real little minx and I just love her in these colours. She was coloured with Copics and mounted onto a frame created with MS round the page vintage lace which I distressed with TH black soot. I added some flowers, gems and a feather to embellish plus the obligatory glitter here and there.

Whatever you have planned, enjoy the weekend.

Thank you Mrs Patterson

Kirsten is our host at Allsorts this week and would like us to make some thing suitable for a teenager.

Always a difficult age group to create for I think, so checked with Anysia who's pushing nineteen and her answer was "well, OK for a youngish teenager", so I figure that's about as much confirmation as I am likely to get. I guess the sentiment says's it all.....how right Harry Enfield always was when he depicted that age group.............."thank you Mrs Patterson".........tell me I'm not that old and the only one who remembers that character ?

So on to my card, the image is one of the more recent Crafts and Me Hannah Lynn stamps called Frosted Rose which I coloured with Copics. The sentiment is from a Hero Arts sets called Whatever and the DP is Nitwits with borders punched with Martha Stewart Embossed Scallop. This card is also for the following:

ABC challenge - P is for pink

Alphabet Challenge - R is for ribbons

Pixie Dust - Seeing polka dots

Next for our new challenge at Stamptacular Sunday - "You lucky Duck" - not nothing to do with duck's actually, we would like to see good luck, congratulations or best wishes on projects.

My card was made as a good luck card for a colleague leaving work to have a baby. The lovely flower image is Penny Black 4042K Daisy Fields, inked with TH fired brick and spritzed with water before stamping onto a background stamped with Hobby Art GR1341F Shakespeare Sonnet.....I also stamped the leading edge of the base card with this. The punched border is made from Kaiser DP which I also used to make the green roses, the larger flower is Magnolia.

This will be my last post for Stamptacular Sunday as I have decided to reduce my DT's until I feel fully able to cope with typing and blogland again. I have enjoyed working with Priscilla and the team, they have such wonderful themes so perhaps I can join in their challenges now and then.

And last but by no means least, a couple of 'Scrap' card for my mate Jules who is on a mission to get us to use up our odds and sods. And my two here are just that, offcuts of DP, cardstock and ribbon and the stamps was a freebie, so I recon these fit the bill perfectly. The above card is for:

Stamping for the Weekend - Spring

Fab 'n Funky - Spring into action

Finally, don't forget that we have Spring themes running at both Stampalot and Penny Black at Allsorts challenges and some awesome prizes on offer.

Love is all around us

It' love all around this week, at Allsorts my teamie Debs says "it must be love, love, love".......well it is nearly Valentines isn't it........ and our new theme at Stamptaculr Sunday is "Hearts gone Wild", all a bit outside my comfort zone as I'm not really a love and hearts person, but have given it my best shot.

First up the one at the top and an easel card created on the Cricut using the DS so I could weld the elements together. The smaller heart is cut with a Nestie, with I shaded using TH linen whilst still in the die then stamped randomly with Penny Black 3322D Je t'aime using Brilliance gold.

The main image is Penny Black 3865K Gossamer which I stamped several times onto DP from stash which I also used on the base card again cutting on the Cricut and decoupaged the flowers. The heart border is a Martha Stewart punch and I used the little waste hears to decorate here and there and ruched some red and gold ribbon.

My second share is the first outing for Penny Black 4023K Love is the Message.......I've actually had the stamp for ages but never quite sure if it's me or not. I decided on the colours but took ages to find an ink that matched the purple bazzil and the only one close was Memento which dries really quick, but I managed to get some detail clear embossing powder on it in time so I got a nice shiny finish.....but thanks to the rotten weather and light it looks more like black than purple in my picture.

The mat is punched with Martha Stewart double loop round the page and I stamped directly onto the Fancy Pants DP which has a pretty delicate pattern that does not overpower the image. Flowers coloured with Copics, feathers, punched leaves, a border punched with Martha Stewart hearts punch and some pearls to finish.

Say it with flowers and a woof

This post was scheduled a few weeks back and this is just a very quick message........I have been let loose from my chains for five minutes.......to say I am overwhelmed by all you wonderful and kind messages and thank you all so much, you have no idea how much they all mean to me. I have not been on the computer at all, but was 'allowed' to read your messages. The rest period continues..................

The first of the month means I am brimming with new challenges and have shares for Stampalot Challenge where the theme is "Noah's Ark" and Penny Black at Allsorts where the theme is "Say it with Flowers".

My card for Penny Black at Allsorts is very pink and girly, not normal me but I do love the image and the colours are growing on me. The image is Penny Black 4076K Gift of Flowers.......which I thought was most appropriate for the theme..........stamped several times with versafine black, embossed with detail clear and coloured with Aquamarkers then decoupaged. The DP is from my stash, flowers, some lace and a border using Martha Stewart Floral Vine.

My Stampalot card has Stampendous CRR123 stamped onto a background lightly brayered with Big and Juicy Spice, coloured with Aqumarkers and set into a Nesite frame. I borrowed the pooch stamp from the Stampalot classroom so don't have the code, but I think it's an Art Impression stamp which I stamped and embossed onto white cardstock and added a little shading with Copics. The DP is Nitwits and I used a paw print stamp onto some jute ribbon to tie across the middle and added some buttons.................dare I admit that this is the card I made for George's second birthday..............yes I do mean George the Labrador !!

Whateva !

"Whateva !" is the theme at Stamptacular Sunday this week, so of course it's no surprise that I have gone floral.

A pretty mat punched with Martha Stewart Eyelet Lace around the page set, some DP from stash and the flowers are Hero Arts S5362 Dogwood.......I make no excuse for using this one over and again as it is so versatile and lends itself to decoupage beautifully. After stamping with versamark back and embossing with detail clear, I coloured with Aquamarkers, cut out the three flower heads, inked with versamark and spritzed with Glimmer Mist dazzling diamonds. The combination of the two blends the colours and allows you to shape the flowers which become quite rigid as they dry. Finally I added orange stickles.

Recycling at Allsorts

My teamie Helene is "Saving Nature" at Allsorts this week and would like us to re-cycle on our projects.

My re-cycled element is the red ribbon which came from a Christmas package, it was a bit crumpled but a after a good iron it was good as new. The main image is Penny Black 4-39K Candid which I inked with Aqumarkers and spritzed with water before stamping onto a piece of cardstock which had I stamped with Hero Arts H2365 Old French Writing. The DP is My Minds Eye, the border punched with Martha Steward Doily Lace then the spine of the card scored, eyelets added, tied with cord and finally a few gems in the flower centres.

Fairy time again

Good Morning evenyone, hope you are all having a great weekend.

Before I move on to my share for today, can I say a great big thank you to all the guys over at the Crafty Pad for selecting my Venetian Mask as one of their Top 3. I was really not sure about it as it's not my normal style of crafting and the peeloffs were so alien to me and a faff to work with, so that makes it all the more special.

On to my share which is my DT work for this weeks new challenge at Stamptacular Sunday where the theme is "Who said three was a crowd ?".......use 3DP's, 3 ribbons and 3 flowers.

A chance for me to use one of my latest Sweet Pea fairies.....whose name I seem to have lost temporarily. Anyhow, I can tell you what I did to create my card which was to stamp the image with Adirondack black, then mask her and a moon and brayer over with Big and Juicy Hydrangea. I then coloured the image with Copics, glittered her wings and framed her using a Nestie. The DP is American Crafts from a pack I had for Christmas.....they are gorgeous and most are glittered and foiled. The border and corners were punched using Martha Stewart doubler loop, then ribbons, flowers and a swirl cut with a TH die. This is also for the following challenges:

Moving Along with the Times - Sketch and flowers

Glitterbabes - Sparkle and pink gems

Lets Ink it Up - Anything Goes

Crafty Emma's - Angels or Fairies

Penny Black rain or shine

Hi everyone, it Allsorts challenge day again and this week is Emma's turn to host the theme where she would like us to use fancy folds to our cards.

I have gone with a tri fold card (tutorial here) using this really pretty Kaiser DP and Penny Black 40 024 Rain or Shine which I stamped several times, coloured with Copics and decoupaged. Flowers and stick pin from stash, swirls cut with Tim Holtz die and corners punched with Martha Stewart eyelet lace. This is also for the following challenges:

Stampin B's - Old and new (DP old, flowers and beads new)

Pixie Dust Studio - Tie it with a ribbon

Sparkles - Two new things (flowers and beads)

Sweet Stamping - Something different (the tri fold)

More snow ?

Our new challenge at Stampacular Sunday this week is 'Snow Much Fun'..create a card of project that has snow on it.

I have uses this lovely image from Simply Stamps 102K Winter Scene, which I stamped with vesamark back, embossed with detail clear and simply watercoloured with Aquamarkers, adding Judikins snow glitter to the the fences and here and there on the ground. The DP is October Afternoon, a Tim Holtz tattered die swirl, Martha Stewart embossed scallop border, ribbon and gems and a pretty quick card. This card is for the following challenges:

Ladybug - Song title (Walking in a winter wonderland)

Crafts and Me - Anything goes

Moving Along with the Times - as above

Scrapbook Sisters - It's a man's world

TREEmendous

'TREEmendous' is the theme for this weeks new challenge at Stamptacular Sunday, do pop over and join in the fun.

For my DT piece I created a background using Tim Holtz peeled paint, stormy sky, broken china and fired brick which I dabbed onto my craft sheet and spritzing with water and then placed a piece of watercolour card into the wet inks....I find it helps to agitate the card just a little to get a soft blend of colours.

I stamped Art Impression U3095....don't know the name of the image but it's the park bench and trees all in one......using versafine black and embossed with detail clear. The sentiment is from a Sheena Douglas set as is the flower which I stamped twice to decoupage, colouring with Aquamarkers before inking with Versamark frost and spritzing with Glimmer Mist pearl and shaping whilst still wet. The border is Martha Stewart double loop punch around the page.

This card is for the following challenge:

CES Challenge - Anything goes

Crafty Sentiments - Anything goes

Patties Creations - Punches

My second share again has a background created with TH distress inks, this time with a masked sun, then stamped with Hero Arts S5316 Silhouette Grass using versafine sepia and embossed with detail clear. The sentiment is an unmounted one which needless to say I have no idea of the origin........that's why I prefer wood mounted as I always lose the packaging. My friend Tracy Mouse told me she stamps all her images, labels them and keeps them in a folder for reference.......what a great idea.........so when are you coming to catalogue my stamps Tracy ?

This card is for the following challenges:

Gingerloft - Distressing

Paper Pretties - Male card

Crafty Catz - Your choice

I Did It - Anything goes

Last Minute Christmas

Our challenge at Allsorts this week is hosted by Debs who is mindful that there will be lost of us who still need to rustle up a few Christmas cards so she had given us the theme 'Last Minute Christmas' with an eye on quick and simple cards.

So my card is just that. The DP is Nitwits which I used for the background and to stamp trees from Hero Arts CL459 which I cut out and added with foam pads, a border punched with Martha Stewart embossed scallop, a stamped greeting, cord and lace. This card is also for the following challenges:

Penny's Challenge - Merry Christmas

Moving along with the Times - Lots of spots

Stampin' Royalty - Winter holidays

My second share is a bit of a quick and easy one.......I always grab the brayer when time is short and is created a background so quickly and being I am obsessed with masked moons, here's yet another. After adding the mask, I stamped Judikings 2240G (stars) using versamark frost to provide a resist, then brayered taking the ink from just the blue end of Big and Juicy waterfall.

The main image is Lilac Lemon Designs from Crafts and Me, stamped and embossed three time onto linen cardstock with versafine black and embossed with detail clear then coloured with Copics, adding liberal amounts of glitter and some blue foiling to her dress collar and hat feathers. A border using MS eyelet lace, pearls and ribbon to embellish. Oops, nearly forgot, the sentiment is Penny Black 2905H. This card is for the following challenges:

Crafts and Me - Moody blues

Gingersnap - White glitter

Alphabet - G for Glitter

Fairy Fun - Use a star

Stamping B's - Use a star

Lots to Do - Glitz

A peek at the decorating and Stamptacular DT news

Good morning peeps, hope everyone is having a good weekend and more importantly keeping warm if your weather is anything like ours.

We had a great day at Stampalot yesterday, I've still got the inky fingers to prove it despite repeated washing and showering. I saw lots of friendly faces both old and new and want to thank you all for making the effort to come despite the iffy weather.

Now some exctiting news, you all know I am a stamper first and foremost, so you can imagine my delight when I received a mail last weekend inviting me to join the Staptacular Sunday Design Team. I had a little think about it, something like 60 seconds and here I am with my first DT piece.

The theme this week is Blue…Blue…Christmas! So for this first week I opted to stay very much in my comfort zone which means Penny Black and distress inks. My main image is Penny Black 3768K Christmas Montage inked with Tim Holtz stormy sky and highlighted here and there with Aquamarkers and spritzed with water before stamping onto a piece of linen cardstock.

The music down the side is Hero Arts CG222 Music Background stamped with the same TH ink. A border punched with Martha Stewart cornice edging, some lace, cord, pearls, a flower and punched leaves to embellish.

And as promised........eventually, some picture of the decorating in the dining room, was waiting for the curtains to arrive from John Lewis, there's a problem with the pelmet as it's not been cut deep enough so they are coming our Wednesday to re-measure. But it looks OK for the time being and the room is usable.

I am really pleased with the furniture, I just love the sideboard and the table as it fits six chairs comfortably but extends to fit ten chairs which will be useful at Christmas and when the family descend.

Molly Blooms again

Morning folks, it's Saturday which can mean only one thing, time for a new challenges at Allsorts where Kirsten has given us a recipe to work with "Lace, ribbon and a charm".

I usually struggle with recipes because I usually create my card only to discover when I've finished that I have missed something off, but I think I've got it all this time....fingers crossed.

I used a couple of new stamps here, the lovely scene is from Stampendous CRR123 Forest Cottage, which I stamped and very lightly coloured with Aquamarkers and added some JudiKins snow glitter. I created a frame using Nestie and My Minds Eye DP, then decoupaged this lovely little girl which is one of the new stamps designed by our Claire - Molly Blooms MB00341, again coloured with Aquamrakers and decoupaged. Martha Stewart doily lace punched, lace ribbon and a charm............yes it is there.......if you look closely you will see a little Christmas tree in the scene. This cards is also for the following challenges:

My Time to Craft - Window fun

Simon Says - Sparkle

Stamping for the Weekend - Winter

CES - Lovely lace

Our Creative Corner - Holiday 3D

Ladybug - Christmas sparkle

My second share is yet another Christmas creation back in the distressed floral comfort zone using Penny Black 3758K Christmas Montage which I inked with various Tim Holtz inks and spritzed with water before stamping, then added some glitter here and there. The DP is My Minds Eye, all edges distressed with the same inks, a border punched with Martha Stewart cornice edge, buttons and gold cord to embellish. This card is for the following challenges:

Midnight Madness - Sketch

A Spoonful of Sugar - Distressing

An Oldie but a Goodie - Glitter

Stampman - Anything 'Tim'

Creative Inspirations - Christmas/winter