Molly Blooms goes to the fair

Good Morning, time for another challenge at Allsorts, it's my turn to host the theme and I have come up with a game of Bingo, here's the grid which  you  will  also  find  over at  the  challenge blog and I hope you will find time to join in.

I am still testing out a new way of listing the products used on my work with the little thumbnails located down the bottom of my posts, you can click on each one to get full product details or even copy and print the individual thumbnails to take on you next crafty shop. It's amazing how it opens your eyes to the amount of products you use in just one card................bit like baking really, lots of ingredients..............which I recon totally justifies the need to keep buying crafty stash.

The fairground carousel at the top following the 'yellow, pink and blue' line is one of the pieces I made for the recent NEC Trade Show using the new Molly Blooms stamps. As soon as I saw the carousel stamp land on my door mat I saw a carousel in my mind so set about making it. I used Nesties to create the base and roof, stamped the image onto a long piece of cardstock which I then scored at intervals about 2cm deep top and bottom to fold inwards to create a lip to fixed to the base and roof to create the central element. I stamped the horses a second time to decoupage after colouring all with Cosmic Shimmers to achieve a bit of fairground glitz. The instructions sound pretty basic and I guess they are, although it took me the best part of a day to assemble it all.

My second piece is a nice messy inky creation. I dabbed the distress inks onto a silicone craft sheet, spritzed with Glimmer Mist and dragged a piece of watercolour card through before randomly stamping the background. The flower stamp has been cut out and the centre decoupaged, some pearls and seam binding and finito.

Whatever you have planned, have a lovely Easter weekend everyone.

Molly Blooms in the pink

Morning peeps, hope your week is going well.

It's been an off mixture of weather here in the Fens this week, we've had rain, sun, fog and still the overnight frosts............my in house weather man reports it was minus four again in the garden last night, but at least that does usually lead to a nice day so fingers crossed.

It's no secret that I just don't do cute and always struggle when it involves anything other than flowers, fairies and trees, but I'm always ready to rise to the challenge which was what was called for when a bundle of the new Molly Blooms stamps landed on my doormat a few weeks ago. The samples were for the launch of the new Circus and Fairground stamps at the NEC Trade Show last month, which I can now share and you can buy them from Sir Stampalot.

The card at the top using the big top and ringmaster Molly were paper pieced using DP's from stash. The little tickets are also amongst the new release stamps. The card base was cut using Nesties labels 23, the rose is made from punched five petal flowers.

My second card uses the lovely carousel stamp which really is my favourite from the new releases which I coloured with Derwent watercolours, decoupaged and added a frame cut with a Go Create die. Then added a bow and stick pin to embellish.

Whatever you have planned, hope you have a good day.

Molly Blooms ready for Christmas

Saturday morning can only mean one thing, a new challenge at Allsorts and this week Helen would like us to use Pennants on our work.

Now this did create confusion with one or two of us as it seems Pennants in Sweden where Helen lives are what we call bunting, which in Sweden are larger flags. But I think we got there in the end.

I have used some of the lovely Kaiser December 25th DP to create a frame using my Nesties Fleur de Lis squares and a sentiment in the centre Stampendous CRQ146. I have coloured Molly with Aquamarkers and stamped the Molly Blooms bunting onto the same DP and cut out. The back panel is Coredinations embossed with a Sizzix folder and sanded down.

Welcome to the Stampalot Garden Party

Hopefully Blogger is still playing the game with me and this will pop us as scheduled on the 1st August for the new challenges at Sir Stampalot and Penny Black at Allsorts.

Today we should be in the beautiful Greek isle of Santorini, but there is one element that spoils my trips here and that is those poor little donkeys making repeated treks up and down the steep hillside to ferry visitors to the village above. The family all tell me I am sad and I am in total agreement, the only difference is my sadness is that these poor creatures are exploited in the burning heat day after day.

OK, off my high horse now, I know that's one animal rescue I cant deal with so I will tell you about the challenges, at Stampalot we have the theme of "Whatever you Fancy" and Penny Black at Allsorts "Free and Easy", so basically both totally open to create what you like.

My Stampalot creation is a sort of concertina box card, I'm sure there is a proper name for it but not really sure what this is. I stamped and coloured several Molly Blooms stamps and created a little scene, took me the best part of a day to do this one but really enjoyed it even if it is outside my comfort zone.

My Penny Black make above uses the lovely image Penny Black 4076K Gift of Flowers and I did some paper piecing for her dress and hat and coloured the other parts with Copics. The DP is Scribble Scrabble and the ribbon threaded through a Marianne die.

Thanks for visiting and have a lovely weekend.

Molly Blooms having yet more fun at the beach

Molly is definitely still in holiday mode this week as we continue our Free and Easy July theme at Allsorts where this week Fleur is our hostess.

And please don't forget that over at our sister challenge Penny Black at Allsorts this months theme is Flower Power, which means so long as there is a flower somewhere on your work and of course a Penny Black stamp, you can create whatever you like. Here is another one I made following the theme using Penny Black 4161K Pin Striped which I paper pieced onto a background created using PB 3860J Pointelle and Hero Arts H3265 stamped and embossed in white and sepia.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Oana for kindly passing an award to me, it seems a very appropriate one as I do have a very sweet and especially Cadbury tooth, shameful for a diabetic I know, but what's a girl to do when she needs crafty inspiration. Lots of you know how bad I am at passing awards on or selecting peeps to share it with, so I offer it to all my blogland friends with grateful thanks for their continued support and encouragement.

My Allsorts card shows Molly (Molly Blooms stamps available at Sir Stampalot) and her friends having fun at the beach. The background was created by inking various colours of TH distress inks onto a craft sheet, spritzing with water then dragging a piece of watercolour card through it.

The images were then masked and stamped onto it and coloured with a mixture of Aquamarkers and paper piecing. I also added some teeny tiny shells to the sand here and there and the picture Molly has just painted was created by stamping onto shrink plastic and layering over the easel which actually has a Country scene which was not really right for the beach was it ?

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

The NEC looms and Molly Blooms

A day off work to get some last minute NEC samples finished and final preps for an all day class at Sir Stampalot on Saturday, so an early post before I get stuck in.

I can't share any of that work yet, but I do have a some shares. My first card uses three of the super Molly Blooms stamps available from Stampalot. This little fellow always reminds me of Billy Bunter who I have vague recollections of from my childhood....showing my age here. I Stamped and masked the little boy, then stamped the wall with versafine black and embossed with detail clear, then coloured with Copics. I cut some green bazzil to make a grass border and decoupaged some stamped and coloured toadstools. This card is for the following challenges:

Midnight Madness - Sketch

Cards for men - Anything Goes (male of course)

The second another really quick and simple card using Penny Black 3074K Hello Sunshine inked with Tim Holtz barn door and olive and spritzed with water before stamping onto a piece of grid pattern Basic Grey DP. I highlighted some of the image with a versamark pen and embossed with detail gold. The torn edges are also embossed with the same powder. I stamped the leading edge of the card with Penny Black 2410K Penmanship and added some lace and cord. This card is for the following challenges:

Everybody Art - Photo Inspiration

Craft your Passion - Glitter and Sparkle (the ribbon is really glittery and the flowers are highlighted with gold, but hard to show on photo)

Papertake Weekly - Sparkly and Bright (as above)

My last share is an easel card created with a Marianne stencil and circles cut from K&Co DP with Nesties. I stamped the background of the main piece with Hero Arts H2365 Old French Writing using Tim Holtz sage, then inked Hero F5075 Sparkle Poinsettia with TH fired brick and spritzed with water before stamping. I added gold liquid pearls to the flower stamens and a sentiment to the base. Again, a nice quick card and ideal if you have a bundle to make. This is for the following challenges:

The Crafty Pad - Christmas
A Spoonful of Sugar - Lets get punchy

Creative Card Crew - Lets punch it

New Molly Blooms and The Witching Hour

Good Morning, hope everyone is ready for the weekend, whatever you have planned. Lets hope the weather is kind.

I picked up a couple of new stamps at Sir Stampalot this week........well more than a couple if I am honest, needs must and all that and I do have an upcoming class and demo day to consider.........

I fell instantly in love with this lovey scene forest scene CRR 123 from Stampendous which I stamped onto gloss cardstock using stayzon, then used a versamak pen and clear embossing powder to highlight the tree trunks, houses and tiny trees. I added a little watercolour to the roofs and small trees then brayered using the lights end of Big and Juicy soothing sunset. The embossed areas resisted so I could buff up to make them show through the brayered colours.

The image is Molly Blooms MB00341, one of the new Christmas range recently released by Sir Stampalot. She is coloured with the same B&J inks and decoupaged. The frame is a Nestie and the DP My Minds Eye. This card is for the following challenges:

A pocket full of posies - Autumn leaves
Stamplaing for the Weekend - Halloween or Fall

Crazy4 Challenges - Fall

At Allsorts this week Helene would like us to play Bingo. This is a new theme to me but it has been great fun to work with.

Two cards from me, the first following the 'flowers, lace and tag' row on the Bingo board and using what I think is an Inkadinako stamp......no codes anywhere.....which is stamped and coloured with Aquamarkers and Copics. The DP is Cosmo Cricket and the poinsettias are made with punched from red vellum.

My second card follows the 'flowers, pearls and ribbon' row. The image is Rachael Anne Miller, coloured with Copics and cut our on Nesties. The paper was provided to the DT by this weeks sponsor Robyns Fetish. This card is also for the following challenges:

Totally Papercrafts - Autumn

Something Completely Different - Orange and Black

This week at Polkadoodles, Ruth has given us the theme "Something Spoooooky". I so hoped someone would come up with this one as I love the Halloween section on the new CD Sundaes of Seasons. I'm not big on Halloween usually, but this CD changed all of that, thanks Nikky.

Don't you just love the witch ? I enlarged and printed out some spooky trees onto an A4 piece of cardstock, then decoupaged the witch, toadstools and leaves to make a scene. Created an arched window from acetate and added a couple of dangling spiders. This card is for the following challenges:

Everybody Art - Halloween

Creative Craft - Trick or Treat

Cute Card Thursday - What's Buggin' you (spiders)

Molly Ballerina and Polkadoodle flowers

Good Morning everyone from a rather wet East Anglia........where is Summer ? It's absolutely freezing.

Things are setting down in puppy land and we even got some sleep last night, so keeping everything crossed that I might get to do some crafting today.

A coupe of things I need to tell you about:

Penny Black at Allsorts are looking for new Design Team members, so if you love you PB's and would like to be considered for the team pop over to the challenge blog now.

And if you love your colouring and want to win a fantastic set of the new AquaMarkers from Letraset worth £79.99, then check it out over at the Polkadoodles challenge blog where you can find out how to enter. Closing date for entries is 31st August 2010.

It's the lovely Kirsten's turn to host the new theme at Allsorts this week and she would like to see paper Piercing or Paper Piecing on our work.

My card uses Ballerina Molly from the new Molly Blooms stamps by Clare available exclusively from Sir Stampalot.

I used Copics on her face, arms and legs and for her clothes some DP from my stash which I also used to create the back panel using Martha Stewart around the page 3 dot scallop. The three roses are made from the same DP, punched leaves and butterfly, a beaded pin and the letters are cut on the Big Shot with a Sizzix die.

I am also entering this card for:

Cooking up with Katie - Flowery pink square, use flowers, pink and a square

Creative Card Crew - Cute and Girly

And my second card it my DT project for this weeks new challenge at Polkadoodles where it's Stacey's turn to host the challenge and she wants us to print onto acetate or vellum.

I used the Paper Boutique CD, re-sized the flowers and printed onto acetate, which I them matted onto white cardstock and fixed with brads. I printed more of the same flowers onto white cardstock, cute out and glittered the edges. The swirly leaf is cut from a Sizzix die and the card edging Martha Stewart embossed scallop. The sentiment is from the unmounted stamp set.

I thought I would also enter this card into this weeks Creative Cottage challenge as they would also like to see acetate used on projects.

More Molly Blooms

Hello everyone, hope you are all OK and like me getting ready for the long school holidays. We are counting the days here and so looking forward to our holiday, it's going to be a bit of a mad rush as the children break up from school next Wednesday which leaves just Thursday to do all the final preparations and packing as we go on Friday.

My bone graft seems to be working and the pain is sooooo much better.......I even managed to eat some fish yesterday, what a change from soup that made I can tell you. I have been really good and kept away from my computer as the lack of postings confirm, but I shall have something a bit special coming up for you next week.......candy is involved but there's a bit more to it than that, but you will have to wait to find out exactly what's in store, otherwise it won't be a surprise !

I have cards for a few challenges, the first one is the card at the top of this post which is for this weeks Papertake Weekly who's theme is In the Garden. The stamps are Hero Arts K5313 silhouette ivy and Penny Black 4040K sparklers stamped with Hero Arts chalk ink grass and punch. The mats were cut on Cricut storybook, the DP is Doodlebug and the corners a Sizzix die.

My next card is for Everybody Art Challenge who have the theme Holidays. I have used Molly Blooms at the seaside, coloured with Copics. The circles are cut with Nesties and the DP is nameless from my stash. The swirls my favourites Sizzix die and punched flowers added.

The new Molly Blooms stamps are just adorable, they are beautifully etched deep rubber, stamp fantastically and are available exclusively from Sir Stampalot.

My last card is for the following challenges:

My Time to Craft is Butterfly Bliss

Tuesday Taggers - Anniversary

It's a pretty simple make, a card with matching envie. The main panel is run through the Cuttlebug, corners cut from a Sizzix die, roses made from burgundy paper and edges glittered with iridescent embossing powder and the sentiment Penny Black 3851E. And punched glittered butterflies.