final DT card for 2010

Today is the final challenges for 2010 for both Sketch Saturday and Sweet Stampin because next Saturday is Christmas Day so there won't be a challenge set.
Obviously the layout uses this weeks sketch for Sketch Saturday, and the theme for Sweet Stampin is 'celebrations!'

I have combined both challenges to make this card...

actually I have made 2 identical cards, as I still haven't sent out all my cards yet!
I will need to find time to finish them this weekend between work shifts so that I can post them on Monday, Tuesday at the latest.

I used a snowflake cuttlebug folder to emboss the acetate card blank, then used card stock and paper from my sizzix 'little sizzles' pad for the layout.
The image is from SU's fun & fast notes set.

I'd like to thank all the sponsors, DT members, Guest Designers and of course, the challengers for their support and kind comments throughout 2010.

Merry Christmas to you all! xx

YAY!

I have a warm house again :)
about time too.
I will be able to make my last few christmas cards now before it's too late,
and I still haven't posted out my cards yet....yikes!

thank you for your messages of support, they were much warmer than my house has been recently xx

arrrrrrrrrrrgh!

an EON engineer came today to fix my boiler
only to be told that the part that the previous engineer ordered last week is the wrong part!
I am NOT a happy bunny right now!!
we have no heating and no hot water and the weather men say we have more snow on the way later this week.
EON say that they can't get back to repair it now until next monday
It's not my fault that the previous engineer was incompetent.
I have complained, watch this space

grrrrrr!

be back soon

sorry to all my DT friends, it's too cold to sit and craft at the mo, my central heating boiler has broken, hopefully it will be fixed on tuesday afternoon so that my fingers will thaw out enough to hold my stamps and I can take part next week

HoHoHo!...

...it's Terry's DT week over at Sketch Saturday, and we are sponsored by Your Zoap! :)

Terry has given us a lovely sketch to work with this week

here's my take on it...

first of all I need to tell you that the stars and the scalloped oval around the sentiment are infact gold mirri card and not black cardstock, but it is difficult to get a photo showing the gold while using a flash.

I started this card by cutting strips out of the front of it so that I could add acetate instead.
The acetate was stamped with stazon using snowflake stamps taken from this set, bought from the The Craft Barn.
The red striped paper is by SU.
The image is by Dustin Pike and I coloured it with my promarkers, he's such a cute santa eh?

Please go visit the other SSDT blogs to see their fab cards this week, we also welcome the mega talented Bev this week too, Bev will be our guest designer throughout December! :)


No sweet stampin card from me this week, it's the turn of Team Fluff to delight and inspire you, to go to this weeks challenge please click here

Have a fab weekend, whether it be crimbo shopping, fun in the snow, or staying in the warm getting ink on your fingers ;)

challenge card

This card is for 2 challenges, CES challenges and Wild Orchid Challenges, who both have the theme 'vintage christmas' or 'old fashioned/victorian christmas'

I recalled that I had downloaded a lovely santa image from HERE along with some fab tickets and some beautiful papers too, I used one of these papers before on this card.

The scalloped strip across the card isn't a freebie, I stamped a piece of cream cardstock, stamped it with a snowflake stamp, coloured in parts of the pattern with a gold gel pen and used my eyelet border punch from SU to pretty up the edges.

The flower is handmade too, I stamped out the 'love' text onto a piece of paper, used my 5 petal SU punch and punched out 2 flowers, sponged the edges (to hopefully make them look vintage!) then thread some beads onto a piece of nylon thread for the centre of the flower, then attached them all together with a brad, and glued some leaves underneath.

thanks for stopping by today, wrap up warm if you have to go out in the snow!

entering a few challenges

Brrrrr! cold innit?!

so I decided to make a more summery card by using my lovely SU 'tea party' papers. Actually this card has a pocket inside so I can add a small gift or RAK.

The image is of course a lovely Hanglar, a perfect image for sending something to a friend. I coloured her with SU markers to match the papers.
I'd like to enter this into the following challenges...

Sketchy Colors - lovely sketch by Maya

Cute Card Thursday - Blast from the past - to revisit an earlier challenge
I chose challenge 9 - "Gems and Jewels", way back in May 2008

A Spoonfull of Sugar - Anything goes

Charisma Cardz - One for the girls

Blog Hop Winner

Thank you for entering my Sweet Stampin blog hop candy, the winner of my gift wallet with candy is...

Debs! (pink dandelions craft space)

Congratulations Debs, I hope you will like the candy :)
Please EMAIL ME with your postal address so that I can get it sent out to you.

To see a full list of winners, please go to Sweet Stampin :)

Combined DT card.

I don't usually like to combine my DT commitments as I like to make a card for each one, but I was a little pressed for time this week, my son is 12 today :)
Happy Birthday to Jake xx  He's growing up so fast!

So here's my card for Sketch Saturday and Sweet Stampin...

picture quality isn't very good, sorry.

I have used this lovely Hanglar image and coloured her with watercolour pencils and promarkers.
The patterned paper is called 'ski slope' by Stampin Up (love it)

The layout is using this weeks sketch from Sketch Saturday, our sponsor this week is the fabulous The Craft Barn.



The challenge over at Sweet Stampin is 'buttons & bows'
I have made a paper bow and used the same paper beneath the clear buttons.
The added pin is by Pretty Pin Embellishments, who are our sponsor for this week and gave the DT a pin each to use on their cards (thank you PPE)
don't forget, we also have a monthly sponsor too, Blackleaf Studios.

And remember to stop by here tomorrow morning at 9am when I will announce the winner of my blog hop candy, you will also be able to see a full list of winners over at Sweet Stampin at the same time too.

Also, You have just a few days left to apply to be a Sweet Stamper yourself, our DT call closes this coming Friday, 3rd December at 10pm GMT.


I'd like to enter this card into the challenges over at Meljens and Fairy Fun Fridays, who both also want us to use buttons and bows this week.


Thanks for stopping by today xx

Thank you

To those of you who entered my blog hop candy draw, I will be using random.org to select the winner.
To find out if you have won please pop back on Sunday at 9am

A full list of winners will be announced on Sweet Stampin at the same time.

sorry it's late!

Well I think my pooter is feeling a bit better now *fingers crossed*
I haven't lost connection today so that's promising :)

Here's my card for the current Sketch Saturday challenge...

I have used my scrummy 'Cat Nap' stamp from Artful Stamper and coloured it with promarkers, I added white glitter to the hat trim and used my glitter gel pen on the bell.
The paper is a freebie in a mag, isn't it gorgeous?
I can't remember where I got the sentiment from, it's a freebie digi. If anyone knows where it's from please let me know and I will give credit where credit is due.


Sketch saturday is sponsored this week my the fabulous Digital Delights by Louby Loo, where you could win $10 to spend in their store if you are our challenge winner :)

I'm sure you have already seen the gorgeous creations made by the rest of SSDT, but if you haven't please go visit these talented ladies, thank you so much xx

Happy Birthday Sweet Stampin!

Welcome to the Sweet Stampin First Birthday Blog Hop!

If you've just come from Faye's Blog then you are in the right place! While you're here, please leave me a comment, enter my Candy and then hop over to Lesley next.
Don't forget you need to enter this weeks Sketch Challenge at Sweet Stampin to be eligible to win any Design Team Candy! If you think you've lost your way, head back to Sweet Stampin and start from there!


Here is the gift wallet I have made which will be sent to one of our fab sweet stampin challengers...

We are sponsored by Di's Digi Downloads this week who very kindly gave the design team some images to play with :)
I have used Penguins Christmas Tree, such a cutie!
I've coloured him with promarkers, and added a little bit of flock to his hat to finish.
I used this weeks sketch layout but decided to add a few flowers too.The sentiment is from Stampin Ups 'best yet' stamp set.

So if you like the look of this gift wallet, and would like to win it, along with a surprise crafty present inside it too then please make a card using this weeks sketch from Sweet Stampin and leave a comment here so that I can come see your card and enter you into the prize draw.
Don't forget to visit the rest of the girls and leave a comment on the challenge blog too ;)

good luck! xx


DT CALL
We have a DT Call on at the moment if you'd like to be a sweet stamper :)
You have until 10pm, Friday December 3rd to apply.



Sketch Saturday
just a note to add that my DT work for sketch saturday will be a little late this week, I have had a few pc problems my cpu is permanently on 100% and it has completely slowed up my machine for anything else or has shut down completely, internet access is limited so I am adding a message to this scheduled post quickly before it slows up again.
will post my DT work asap, in the meantime, please visit my fellow teamies over at Sketch Saturday, thank you xx

Arrrrrgh!

Time for another Sweet Stampin challenge, and this week our theme is snowflakes.
OK, so you might be wondering why the "Arrrrrgh!"

this is why...

This card was a NIGHTMARE to make!
everything had to line up properly as there were 10 layers in total to match up

The house is an image from Tiddly Inks who happen to be our sponsor this week :) the image itself is 3 layers, I coloured it with pm's, cut it out, layered it, then glued it to the spotty circle then put foam pads around the edge before sticking the glittered piece on top.
The glittered piece is 2 pieces of acetate sandwiched together with silicone glue after putting glitter inside.
Then because of all the layers I needed to make the card layered too so that it was all flush. arrrrgh! I clearly didn't think this through lol
While trying to line everything up I messed up and fit the top square piece wonky, so had to slice the foam pads, twist it round slightly to line it back up then glue the foam pads back together!
That's when I realised that my craft knife had sliced the 2 pieces of acetate too! double arrrrgh!! I lifted up the card and had a lap full of glitter!
So I had to glue the whole lot again.
The idea for this card seemed great in my head, but in practice.... never again!

AND to top it all, my 'white' glitter and 'white' textured paint on the roof of the house looks beige!!!





Image - Tiddly Inks (coloured with promarkers)
Cardstock - Stampin Up (kraft)
Papers - Stampin Up (bella bleu)

Please stop by my fellow teamies to see their beautiful snowflake creations this week,
their links are over there >>>

tfl, enjoy your weekend, i'm working today and tomorrow.

Dear Santa...

Gotta love this sentiment! :D
I got it from Gingers House, there's loads on this blog and most make me giggle.
The image is from Bugaboo and is called Wavy Hair Girl. I coloured her with promarkers.
The dark patterned paper is a freebie from Miss Cutiepie, it's so lush, I love it.
The other paper is from Hot off the Press and is called 'memories'.
The holly images were stamped using a freebie stamp from a mag a couple of years ago and then coloured with pm's.

I made this card using this weeks sketch over at Sketch Saturday, this week we are sponsored by the fabulous Simon Says Stamp, and our lucky winner will receive a whopping $25 to spend in their wonderful store! :)

My friends and fellow teamies have produced as always the most stunning cards, please go visit them and see how they made them :)

Back in a minute with my sweet stampin card xx

wish me luck

I'm entering another card challenge set at Cardmaking & Papercrafts.
(remember that I won a prize in their chocolate card making comp recently?)
I don't think for one minute that I'd be lucky enough to win anything again, luck just isn't something that runs in my family! And besides, after making the card I realised it said CHRISTMAS sketch challenge!! doh!
But i'm entering anyway cos I loved the sketch and wanted to use this gorgeous stamp that I have just bought off Becky (thanks again Becky)

It's called 'You go first' and is a Lelo stamp from Stampavie. I stamped it 3 times, coloured it with promarkers, cut it out then layered it up for more depth...

The paper used is from the 'windswept' collection from Provo Crafts Bitty Scrap Pad. The pink piece has been stamped with a paw print stamp which was from TandaStamps.
I used my punches to make the pretty flowers andthe piece around the sentiment, which is a stamp set free with a mag.

Ok, off to submit it, wish me luck please!

Leonie's DT week

It's my week off at Sketch Saturday this week, because it's the lovely Leonie's DT week :)
Leonie has a special treat this week too, not only because her equally talented sister Sandra has agreed to be our GD for the month of November, but also because her sponsor for this week is Art Journey and there are 3 prizes to win, so that's THREE winners this week! yay!

Here's my card using Leonie's lovely sketch...

I've used one of the new images from Pollycraft for my card. Isn't it a fab image? I love it, and will be using it lots.
It's called Tis The Season - Door if you want it for yourself :)
I coloured it in with my promarkers.
The red paper is from my SU ski slope collection. the white piece is obviously an embossed piece of white card. The 'bricks' were hand drawn and coloured.
Sentiment is hand written. Not sure if the photo picks it up well enough, but there is white flock beneath the door and 'bricks' to resemble soft snow.

I wanted to use this image mainly cos I loved it the moment I saw it, but also because it's one of a set of images that you could win if you take part in Team Fluff's 'inspiration photo' challenge over at Sweet Stampin this week.


To see more stunning examples, please go visit my friends and fellow DT members to see what they have made this week :)

Have a fab weekend xx

Matching set using my own paper design

I have made my own backing papers for the following matching card and envelope set...

I also used the paper to line the inside of the envelope too...

To make my card I  distressed the edges of my paper a little, I originally intended to have snowflakes embossed with gold on the yellow piece, however, after I stamped the snowflakes and applied my gold embossing powder, all I had to do was heat emboss it, thats when I found out that my heat gun had died,
can we have a minutes silence please... :(
...ok, so not wanting to start over, I brushed away the embossing powder and drew over the faint versamark image with a gold gel pen, not ideal but it looks sort of ok.
The image is of course a lovely hanglar, coloured with promarkers,
I cut out some hearts, layered them onto cream cardstock, and added the thread to replicate the heart in the image.
The sentiment is from a free stamp set in a magazine.
I then made my envelope using the same papers to match the card, then faintly stamped the postmark at the top, the stamp is by Stamps Away.

I'd like to enter this set into the challenges at

Charisma Cardz - who have asked us to make a matching pair of something

Wild Orchid challenges - who want to see red green and gold this week

LOTV challenge

Lili of the Valley challenge blog have a beautiful sketch for us this week, designed by the oh so talented Bev.

Here's my card...

I've used Fairies - on tiptoe and coloured her with promarkers to coordinate with the paper which is another craftsuprint download.
I used the same paper to make my flowers too, using a selection of punches then adding a flat-backed pearl to the centre of each flower to finish.

sweet stampin #50

WOW! we've reached week 50 at Sweet Stampin! YAY! *claps!*
and this week we have a sketch for you.
But before you get out your stamps and papers, can you please take a few minutes to read through Carrie's post on the blog as there are a few changes we'd like to tell you about, thanks :)

Here's my DT card...

The image is by Sugar Nellie, and is called 'snowflake', i've coloured this little beauty with promarkers and added a little glitter to the falling snowflakes too.
The patterned snowflake paper was free with a mag.
The sentiment is from a Dovecraft clear stamp set.
I'm really loving this contemporary christmas colour combo of purple, blue and peppermint green, it looks so fresh.

Hope you all enjoy your weekend, don't get eating too many sweeties when you go trick or treating tomorrow, send them to me instead! LOL! ;)

Be careful, but have fun! xx

Sketch Saturday #127

This weeks challenge over at Sketch Saturday is sponsored by the lovely Sandy from The Craft Barn, this weeks challenge winner will receive a truly fabulous prize too!... An exclusive Katzelkraft rubber stamps plate worth £12.99! Sandy really spoils us! ;)

Here is my DT card this week...

I got out Herb from Whiff of Joy for this card, colouring him with ProMarkers.
The patterned paper is a download from craftsUprint and the bashful blue piece has been stamped with a snowflake design using white ink.
The sentiment is by Catslife Press Rubber Stamps.
A really quick make :)
I'm steadily getting a stash of christmas cards made,
and you'll be seeing another one in a minute's time too ;)

Cookie Monster

This week, Sketch Saturday is sponsored by The Stamp Shoppe, who will be sending this weeks challenge winner a fabulous Chris'moose' Malkin stamp and 2 matching sentiment stamps! :)

Here's my card using this weeks sketch...

I used this fabulous image from Paper Makeup Stamps called 'Cookie Man', I coloured him with my ProMarkers, using Pine/Meadow Green/Buttercup for the monster, Poppy for the monsters spots and claws, and Cinnamon/Oatmeal for the cookie jar.
The red and brown papers are by SU (ski slope)
The sentiment is from a free set that came with a magazine, I love the fact that this card now says "Cookies... Always there when I need you!" LOL! :D
Talking of cookies, they are hand-drawn & coloured.

I'd like to enter this card into the current challenge over at Crafty Creations, which is to use the colours Red, Brown & Green.

Please go take a look at the amazing work by Sketch Saturdays Design Team, they are sure to inspire you! :)

No Sweet Stampin card from me this week as it's Team Fluffs turn, and wow! they have made some awesome projects for you this week, the theme is 'Anything but a card'

Thanks for stopping by today xx

My 'Bingo' card

Allsorts challenge blog are playing crafty bingo this week, and we get to choose which row we want to use to make our entry. I chose Brads, Buttons, Punch...

I used Provocraft papers 'Tags, Bags & Boxes' using my SU spiral punch on the graffiti piece, actually the buttons were also punched, with a small circle punch, pierced with 2 holes and threaded with twine.
The image is of course a hanglar, this little cutie is sitting on top of a SeeD's greeting. The football is an inchie stamp from Tanda Stamps. I was originally going to put a small train shaped button there but I couldn't find the button so opted for a football.

I'm also entering this card into the challenge at Cupcake, who have the theme Boys and their Toys.

For Jake

My son Jake will be 12 on November 27th, he's growing up SO fast!
Here's the card I have made for him...

I have used Tiddly Inks products to make this card, starting with Grunged Checkerboard paper which I have used behind Charles's Tulips, (which is minus the tulips!). I coloured the image with my promarkers.
The greeting is hand drawn by myself in a similar grunge design.
Is it just me, or do you think the Charles image has a bit of a David Tennant as Dr Who look about it? which isn't a bad thing actually because Jake loves Dr Who and D.T. is his favourite doctor :)

I'm entering this card into the following fab challenges...

Crafty Emma's - Male birthday card

Meljen's - Anything Goes

Craftalicious - Anything Goes

Thanks for looking xx

Pink Christmas

Pink isn't the first colour you'd think of for Christmas is it?
Yet that is an option for the challenge over at Passion for Promarkers this week, to make either a pink & white or a purple & white christmas card.
Here's mine...

The pink cardstock has been stamped with snowflakes using white ink. I then sponged around the edges to distress them using the same white ink. The white card base has been sponged/distressed with pink ink.
I used my eyelet border punch to make the pretty scalloped strop across the top which has also been sponged.
The image is of course by Whiff of Joy, and has been coloured with ProMarkers. Main colours used are caramel/buttercup for Henry, ice grey 5/warm grey 1 for his lady friend, and rose pink/blossom for the candy cane.
The bauble is simply 2 circles punched from pale pink card, one of them being sponged in a darker shade of pink, the other punched with my nellie snellen stamen punch and layered ontop of the sponged circle. Then I added a crystal gem to the centre and doodled with my glitter gel pen. The top of the bauble is just scraps of silver card. I added a pink organza bow to finish.
The sentiment is from a Dovecraft clear stamp set.

I'd like to also enter this card into the following challenges:

Whiff of Joy challenges, who want us to distress our entries, I distressed with ink.

Crafty Catz, who want us to make something inspired by a nursery rhyme or song, my sentiment chose the song 'have yourself a merry little christmas' from the musical Meet me in St. Louis

Totally Gorjuss, who are celebrating their first birthday (Happy birthday TG!), want us to use the colour pink this week.

Thanks for looking, enjoy the rest of your day xx

Red, Gold & Green.....

Time for another challenge over at Sweet Stampin, and this week we want you to get out your ribbons :)

Here's my card, and all the time I was making this card I had a particular song in my head, it wasn't a christmassy song though...

I've used SU more mustard cardstock for the base card, it matched my 'gold' ribbon perfectly so used the same colour for the stocking too.
The colours used for the other 2 stockings are ruby red and old olive/certainly celery.
I punched loads of leaves from Garden Green cardstock, sponged the edges slightly then layered them to resemble a tree branch or garland hung from the mantlepiece.
Then of course I had to add some bling to finish :)


The current Papertake Weekly challenge is called '3 of a kind', we are to use 3 of something, so my 3 christmas stockings fit the bill nicely :)

 Team Carrie have made the most beautiful cards this week, we have 3 new DT members too :)
Vicky, Lorraine & Claire
please stop by their blogs to leave them some love, their links are in my sidebar >>>


Oh yeah.... that song in my head... incase you were wondering, it was Karma Chameleon by Culture Club, hence the title of this post :)
Have a great weekend! xx

Sketch Saturday #125

Time for another Sketch Saturday challenge!

This week our sponsor is Digital Delights by Louby Loo, and you could win $10.00 to spend in their fab store :)

Here is my DT card...

I've used my fave ski slope papers from SU again, 

the image is of course a Hanglar and has been coloured with ProMarkers, the sentiment is from a free set I had in a craft mag.

My latest purchase this week was the Nellie Snellen stamen punch that I've used on top of the largest retro flowers, I've been admiring my friend Catherine's flowers and I just knew I needed the punch too.

Please pop over to the blog to see the sketch yourself and hopefully take part in the challenge too. You should check out the inspirational cards by my fellow teamies while you are there, they have produced the most beautiful cards again, and Terry has made a fabulous calendar page :)

Back in a minute... literally ;)

Candy Fluff!

My lovely Cyber Sister, Faye aka 'Fluff' is celebrating her first blogoversary on the 19th October with a 'sugar rush', she is offering some yummy candy to celebrate!
If you have never stopped by Faye's wonderful blog, where have you been?!
Once you visit I promise you'll be clicking the 'follower' button ;)

Once you have clicked that button to become a follower of stampin fluffnstuff, you are part of the way there to winning :)
Now add Fluff's logo to your blog, type up a post about the sugar rush, linking back to Faye and add your name to mr linky to be in with a chance of winning!....  good luck! xx

for a few more challenges

Hi everyone, I've made a couple more cards to enter a few challenges... This first card follows the sketch at Truly Scrumptious, which has the optional extra of making an easel card, and also the challenges over at Charisma Cardz who want to see more than one fold, and I {heart} Promarkers who want to see cupcakes!...

The brown cardstock is by SU, except for the piece of scrap cardstock that I punched the corner of with my scalloped circle punch so that it resembled a bite. The foil started as a smooth sheet of copper coloured paper but I scrunched it up then flattened it again to give it a bit of texture.
The stamped image is from SU's 'crazy for cupcakes' set, I coloured it in with promarkers, then cut away the candle that is normally on the image, sponged the top of the 'frosting' and replaced the candle with a strawberry that I handcut from scraps, adding a tiny green 'stalk' punched using a small daisy punch. I made another strawberry for the heart part of the greeting.
I wonder what Faye will think of this card eh? She loves choklit! :)

EXCITING UPDATE!: I have won a prize with Cardmaking & Papercraft magazine for submitting my chocolate card to their competition on their facebook page, WoooHoooooooooo! :)

EXCITING UPDATE #2: this card also made the TOP 3 with I {heart} Promarkers!  THANK YOU SO MUCH to their DT for choosing my card :)

Onto this card, which follows the beautiful sketch by Bev for this weeks challenge over at Lili of the Valley, and also the challenges over at Cute Card Thursday - they want to see bugs! and ABC challenges which is F for flowers...

I coloured this beautiful Rosie Posy stamp by LOTV with promarkers. The papers are from Dovecraft's 'Back to Basics' range.
The daisies were made with 3 punches and a woodware punch for the leaves, I used the same leaf punch to punch out the wings of the butterflies, their little bodies are handcut and their heads were made using the large 3/16 side of my cropadile. As you can see the greeting is handwritten.

Tilda in Paris

This is one of my favourite stamps from Magnolia. It's so pretty don't you think?

I stamped Tilda with memento ink then coloured her with ProMarkers to follow the theme set by Colour Create, which is Pink, Green & Cream. There is an optional extra of 'frosted' too, I added a little glitter to the flowers if that counts? but as it's an optional extra anyway I guess I can still submit this card to their challenge :)

This week, Stamptacular Sunday have asked us to use buttons, flowers and the word 'Friend' or 'Friendship' on our work.
Well my sentiment (from SU's best yet stamp set) has the word 'friends' so i'm hoping that will count! what's an 's' between friendS eh? ;)
Incase you are wondering about the 'buttons' element of this card, take a look at the centre of the flowers... there's tiny pink buttons glued there :)

Crafty Catz want us to use only Magnolia/Tilda images this week, and over at Just Magnolia, where we also have to use a Magnolia image, the theme is 2x2, so they want to see 2 of something, I have 2 flower embellishments.

The dotty paper is from Nitwit and was free in a magazine.

Bentley Bear

This adorable little bear was a freebie stamp in C&P mag. It is one of a set of clear stamps that are just the right size for small cards or gift tags.
So I made a gift tag to join in with this weeks challenges at
Crafty Emma's and Fairy Fun Friday...

I stamped and coloured Bentley with promarkers (caramel touches, then loads of buttercup over the top so there is just a slight shading where I put the caramel)
then used foam adhesive to 3D his paws holding the merry christmas sign.
The paper is by nitwit and is another freebie from a mag (simply cards and papercraft)
The ribbons and teeny foam stars are from my stash.
Hmmmm, looking at it now, I might change the red ribbon to a piece of the gold ribbon so it matches.

tfl xx

Woohoooooo!

with THIS CARD. Thank you so much to the cupcake DT who chose me to be in their top 5 this week!

Autumn Maggie

I was looking through some of my older stamps today, and decided I wanted to make a card using 'Maggie in Dotty Scarf' from Sugar Nellie...

I decided to go to The Sugar Bowl and check out the current challenge, it's a sketch by Tiets this week with lots of layers :)
There is an added theme of Autumn too if we want to use it.

Obviously Autumn is a popular theme at this time of year, so I checked out what other challenges had the same theme...


Crafty Sentiments current challenge has the theme 'Autumn Colours'

Charisma Cardz are asking us to use Autumn Colours this week too,

as are Lili of the Valley, i'll leave a link in their comments but not with mr linky as I haven't used a LOTV image.

Crafty Calendar Challenge are celebrating their first birthday and have set this months theme of 'Autumn Birthdays'
It's my first time entering a challenge with them as I have only just found their blog.


Stamp Something have asked us to use punches this week, I have used my small oak leaf punch by woodware

Secret Crafter want us to do some distressing,

and last but certainly not least, Totally Gorjuss want us to make a Non-Square card this week.

so that's 8 challenges with one card, not bad eh?

For Emma

This weeks challenge over at sweet stampin is called 'Diamonds are a girls best friend', we want to see some bling on your work this week please.
Technically speaking, this week wasn't my turn to make a card, it was Team Fluff's turn, but this card has been made for my friend, and sweet stampin creator, Emma, who has sadly left the team this week :(
Gonna miss you Emma xx

Quite a simple card to make, using SU bella bleu papers, close to cocoa cardstock, SU sentiment from the trendy trees set and crystal gems all on a cream card base.
The main design is a faux pinwheel design I found on youtube, sorry I didn't save the link, I was too eager to get started once I watched the video but it's bound to be found easily on the site.

I'd like to enter this card into A spoonfull of sugar challenge, this week the theme is 'Sparkle & Shine'

Thanks for looking :)

Anniversary card

This is the card I gave to my husband for our wedding anniversary on Thursday.
We married 7th October 2000, 5 years to the day that we met in 1995 :)

I have used this weeks sketch for Sketch Saturday, making a tall card instead of a square one.
The image of 2 love birds was from a freebie stamp set I had with a craft mag.
I stamped and coloured it twice to 'pop' the birds out a little.
As you can tell, I wrote the sentiments by hand.
The checked paper is by SU (bashful blue)
I made the other patterned paper myself (text design) back in Feb 2008.
The problem now being... I made them on an old computer that has since crashed, and at a lower resolution too, so when I found them on a back up disc, and tried to print them out they are coming out much smaller than originally designed because I now use a higher res for designing.. This means that you can fit 4 on one A4 sheet instead of just the one.

UPDATE: They can be found HERE if you're interested.

I also made the personalised patterned paper for this card, it's hard to see, but it has my parents wedding date included in the design.
Anyway, hubby loved the card, he's a great supporter of my cardmaking (thankfully!)
Please stop by Sketch Saturday to see the sketch and the awesome creations made by the talented design team and our GD for this month, Kathy.

And why not have a go at the sketch yourself?
You could be this weeks winner of a $25 shopping spree courtesy of  Simon Says Stamp! :)

Thanks for stopping by, have a fab weekend xx

Spooktacular!

Simon Says Stamp challenge has the theme of Halloween this week, which is great because I wanted to do a personal ATC swap with a friend of mine :)

For this ATC I have used a fab free image by Elizabeth Dulemba, it's simply called 'ghost with pumpkins' and is on her free colouring page tuesdays page of her site.
There's loads of fab images for all occasions to choose from.

I printed out the image 3 times so that I could layer it up.
I've used ProMarkers to colour in the images.
The 2 pumpkins both had the same base colour of 'orange' but one of them was coloured on top with 'gold' the other with 'oatmeal'
The base of the ATC is 2 pieces of black cardstock, one is a little smaller than the other, I used 'ice grey 5' ProMarker on some beige lace ribbon (closest thing I had to resemble a web in some way) and wrapped it around the smaller piece of cardstock before attaching it to the larger piece.
The sentiment is hand written.

The spider was hand cut from black cardstock, starting with 4 small strips for the legs, trimming the ends at an angle, then cutting an egg shaped piece for the body and a circle for the head, gluing them all together then adding the googly eyes to finish.

Not a brilliant close-up pic, sorry...

I'd also like to enter this into this weeks challenge over at Polka Doodles, which is make your own embellishments (my spider), the same theme also being the challenge over at Cute Card Thursday too, for CCT I had to check that it was ok to make something other than a card, and it is! :)

finally, Meljen's Thursday challenge have asked us to create something Halloweeny!


For those that don't know, an ATC is an Artist Trading Card, they measure 2.5" x 3.5" (6.4cm x 8.9cm) and are miniature pieces of art that are then swapped, but NEVER sold.
You make either one unique ATC for a personal swap, or make several depending on however many people are involved in the swap all of the same theme so each person gets 1 of a limited edition of you artwork.
On the back of each ATC is info about the swap and the person who made it...

TITLE: name you give your ATC or name of swap if set within a group, in this case a single ATC named 'You're SPOOKTACULAR"
DATE: when the ATC was made, or date of group swap closing date
CARD: 1 of 1 for a personal swap or 1 of 10, 2 of 10, 3 of 10 etc for example when in a bigger swap
GROUP: either "personal" or "blogger", "PCP", "forum" etc
ARTIST: Your name and signature (if you want to sign it) you can also add contact details or website, blog addy etc

Feel free to copy and save the ATC info back shown above to your own pc so you can print as many out as you need if you want to give ATC's a go yourself.

Hot choklit....Mmmmmmmmmmm!

This weeks challenge over at Cupcake is 'Happy Hour' - something to do with drinks,
When Faye mentioned tipsy hot choklit (Mmmmmmm!) I immediately thought of my 'Willow with hot chocolate' stamp from Whiff of Joy...

I coloured the image with ProMarkers, so that I could enter this weeks challenge over at Passion for Promarkers, which is 'recycled'. As you can see I have recycled a couple of pieces from a pair of jeans that were too small for my son.
The paper is by Stampin Up, my fave 'ski slope' collection.
The pretty edge around the oval was made by punching the smallest flower from my boho blossoms punch several times and gluing them around the oval on the underside.
I'd also like to enter the challenge over at Wild Orchid Challenge, their theme is called 'stitch it up' - to use real or faux stitching. I opted for the latter by paper pricking around the card and dragging a navy marker through the holes.
Easy peasy!

Today started quite dull here, but it's absolutely beautiful now, blue sky too! :)
Today is my 10th wedding anniversary, unfortunately we have a sick son at home (stomach bug/cold) so we haven't been out anywhere today, but it's been really lovely to just spend time together at home.
Hubby went to the shops this morning and bought 2 yummy sirloin steaks, so I cooked us steak, herby boiled potatoes, fried onions & mushrooms in a stilton cheese sauce with blackcurrant cheesecake for pudding.... YUM!

Henry Mouse

Henry Mouse is my favourite WoJ character, he's so adorable and a dream to colour.
For this card I used ProMarkers, adding a little glitter pen to the blades of his ice skates. I cut around him so that I could have him pop out the card a little with foam pads.
The patterned paper is from SU's ski slope DSP range, love it!
The sentiment is from SU's 'best yet' stamp set, punched out with my scalloped oval punch.As you can see from the glare back off the flash, the stars were punched from glittered cardstock. I need a daylight lamp or a lightbox so that I can take better photos, I hate using the flash.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges...

Stamptacular - Layer it on! (at least 5 layers)

Sketchy Colors - Sketch

Pollycraft - Anything Goes

Secret Crafter - Easel Cards

thanks for stopping by :)

sweet stampin #46

This weeks challenge for Sweet Stampin is called 'punch it out'
We want to see you use either punched shapes or die cuts on your cards please.
Here's my card...

My punch outs/die cuts are the 4 corner pieces and the holly & berries.
The image is of course by Magnolia and i've coloured it with ProMarkers.
I added some dazzling diamonds to the piece behind the image. The tag is hand written.
The checked paper is from a pad i've had for a few years now, the collection is called 'windswept' and is by Provocraft.

I'd like to enter this card in to the challenge at Just Magnolia - Anything Goes (but must use a Magnolia image)


and why not!... this can be my 3rd & final entry for this weeks Charisma Cardz challenge :)


There's some beautiful cards for you to see by my fab sweet stampin teamies, please go check out their blogs,
their links are in my sidebar >>>

Have a fab weekend! xx

Paula's DT week!

The lovely Paula has designed this weeks sketch for us over at Sketch Saturday, and this week you could win a whopping 10 images of your choice from Pollycraft and a pack of ProMarkers to colour them in with woohoooooo!!!

Paula very generously gave the DT some images to use on their cards,
Thank you Paula! xx

here is my card...




The image I chose is called Luna Bitterfrost - Frosty by Pollycraft, and I've coloured this image with my SU markers.
The sentiment is part of a SU stamp from the 'best yet' stamp set.
As you can see, I used my snowflake embossing folder on the purple piece of cardstock, and as the cardstock was bigger than the folder, I had to turn the card to emboss both sides & where the 2 sides join has been covered by the blue cardstock! ;)

I know you're itching to get started on this weeks challenge, but if you need any inspiration please go visit my fellow teamies, their links are over there >>>

Thank you, back in a minute with my sweet stampin card :)

Hmmmm, not keen!

It took a while to make this, and involved a lot of measuring, scoring & cutting, and now that it's done I'm not too keen on it.

glare off the flash! grrr, this is the best pic of the front I could get, sorry...

The image is a stamp I bought off ebay a couple of years ago, I stamped it twice, coloured both with promarkers, then cut out the cat and pot on one of them so that I could 3D them onto the other. I added pearls and a tiny gold star for the trees decorations.
The hanging greeting is from a Dovecraft clear stamp set.


here's another, moving around the card...

and a pic of the other greeting inside (stamped using a different Dovecraft clear stamp set), pic shows the folding too...

I might not be too keen on this card myself, but someone may like it, so i'll enter it into the challenges anyway ;)

We're allowed 3 entries each week with Charisma Cardz so this is my 2nd (the first being my stack of gifts christmas card)
I think Charisma will be inundated with entries this week as the theme is 'christmas crafting' so I'm guessing most will have 3 crimbo cards/projects they can enter!

I'd also like to enter it into the challenge at Polka Doodles, the challenge being to use a fancy or interesting fold on our cards.

ok, that's me done, off to bed now. Nite Nite! xx

Sugar bowl challenge

Yep, I've made another card for a challenge :)
I've used this sweet Daisy image from Sugar Nellie for this card and coloured her with ProMarkers, I think by now you are getting an idea of the colours I have eh? lol

The patterned paper is from my MME 'quite contrary' pad.
The sentiment is from a See-D's stamp set.

I'd like to enter this card to the challenge at The Sugar Bowl - Make a birthday card using the sketch provided by Lilian.

more challenge entries

I made this card last night, the lovely fairy image is by LOTV, and i've coloured her with ProMarkers, I'll need to get myself some more pm's soon as i'm limited with my colours at the mo.
Can I just say that if you decide to cut out around this image too, please note it is extremely fiddly! half way through I wished I hadn't started it lol

The swirly/floral design stamp was bought off ebay ages ago, I don't know the brand, or even if it actually has a brand.
I added some pearls to the flowers in complimenting colours.
The dotty paper is from Dovecrafts 'back to basics' range.

I'd like to enter this card into this weeks challenge at I {heart} ProMarkers, the theme being pearls & swirls.




Fast forward a few hours to this card that I made this morning, I've had this stack of gifts stamp for a few years now and have hardly used it, I found it last night while rummaging through my stamps to find the swirly/floral one for the previous card.
When I saw that this weeks challenge at Charisma Cards was christmas crafting, I decided to ink up this stamp :)

This is a really simple card to make, and I might sit and make a batch of them for some of my crimbo cards this year...time is marching on and it will be here in less than 3 months! :o
I stamped the image and coloured it with ProMarkers,then added SU dazzling diamonds to the blue and red/green boxes and used my glitter gel pen on the other 2 to add a bit of christmas bling :)
You can't tell, but the image is then stuck to the 4" square card blank using foam adhesive. The sentiment is from SU's 'best yet' stamp set.
The tiny poinsettia flower on the top box was made by using my tiny xcut retro flower punch, then trimming the petals to a point, the leaves are just trimmings off the end of a leaf punch. I added a pearl to the centre of the flower to finish.

I'd also like to enter this card into the challenge at The Creative Cottage this week, the theme being 'Bling it on!'
Hope my card is blingy enough, it's hard to capture bling in a photo.

Thanks for looking, have a fab day! xx