Make it Pretty

Hey there.

This will be my last post for a while.

I am surrounded by packing boxes and praying that the paperwork

for our rental property goes through  before the sale of our house is completed!!

It's gonna be a close thing!

Even if only for a short time, playing with these pretty stamps and inks,

held the stress at bay!

I admit, I always thought gold embossing was a little on the tacky side,

but it's popular right now, so I thought I would give it a try.

I'm a convert !

Even against the multi-coloured leaves and blooms here, I think it's pretty

and  gives the card just that little extra something.

It's taken me a while to get there, but

gold embossing is my new favourite thing :-)

Challenges.

Stamping Sensations - Flower Power

Papertake Weekly - In the Garden

Penny Black & More - Dies & Punches

Supplies.

Lawn Fawn - Penelope's Blossoms Stamps & Dies  / Stitched Rectangle Die

DP - Lawn Fawn, Let's Polka Mon Amie

Sentiment - Clearly Besotted, Say It In Style stamped and embossed in gold

Inks - VersaColor, Celadon / Orchid / Heliotrope / Boysenberry / Magenta

Celebrate Good Times

Shhhh...   I'm  not supposed to be buying any new craft supplies,

but I just couldn't resist these 'Amigos'.

I thought they would be great for hubby's birthday card,

and, with all the sentiments they come with, they are super versatile.

 1. Cover base card with dp.

2. Die-cut stitched rectangle.

3. Stamp 'celebrate' sentiment and heat emboss with clear powder.

4. Add stitched hillside border.

5. Stamp and die-cut three amigos, colour with Copics and white gel pen,

and attach with foam pads.

6. Add glitter dots and attach the panel to the base card with foam pads.

Challenges
Sweet Stampin' - Inspired by a book or film.
These critters definitely remind me of 'Over the Hedge'. One of those 'kids' movies that just cracks me up!
4 Crafty Chicks - Anything Goes
Cute Card Thursday - Use A Sentiment
Addicted to Stamps -  Make your Mark

Supplies.

Mama Elephant - Three Amigos

DP - Echo Park, Dots & Stripes 'Girl'

Stitched Rectangle and Hillside Border - Lawn Fawn

'Celebrate - Winnie & Walter, Big, Bold & Party - stamped in Versacolor Celadon

Glitter Dots

Feel Better Amigo

Hello :-)

Just a quick post from me today, with a simple, get well card.

I guess when I made this card, I had that new MISTI tool in my head.

It's designed to make placing and lining up your stamps even easier, but,

as I don't have the budget for one right now, I  had to stamp my arrows by eye.

They have a little slant on them, but that's all part of the handmade look - right ??

Challenges.

Cute Card Thursday - Clean and Simple

Simon Says - Clean and Simple

Addicted To Stamps - Anything Goes

NOTE : 

Huge thanks to everyone that's left a comment recently.

 I do appreciate each and every one of them.

Right now, I'm travelling a round trip of 180 miles to visit family and try to find a house, 

and this weekend both my parents ended up in  hospital !!

So, I'm struggling to find the time to reply, but I will get round to you all eventually ;-)

xxx

Supplies.

Mama Elephant, 3 Amigos, coloured with Copics.

Lawn Fawn - Stitched Hillside Borders and Rectangle.

Clearly Besotted Sentiment - Time To Relax

Inks - VersaColor, Baby Blue, Cyan, Camelia.  Memento, Danube Blue, Bahama Blue.

Hola Amigo

Decisions, decisions !!

It seems likely that our stuff will have to go into storage.

That means,  I am only allowed one art box to keep with me - 

and it's filling up fast!

I made this super, quick card with a few supplies, that are so versatile,

they  will defintiely make it into the box.

On a stitched rectangle I die-cut a balloon shape. 

Then I popped a balloon, cut from my dp, back into the space,

and added the hillside border.

I die-cut my 'Amigo', coloured him with Copics and popped him up on foam pads.

I gave him a jaunty top hat and used a black fineliner to draw the balloon string.

My base card was covered with dp, and I attached the panel with foam pads.

Finally I scattered on a few sequins and gems.

Challenges.

Less Is More - Up, Up and Away

Allsorts - Quick & Easy

Supplies.

Mama Elephant - 3 Amigos

Clearly Besotted - Make A Wish

Lawn Fawn - Stitched Rectangle and Hillside Borders Dies

Echo Park DP - Bundle of Joy, Dots & Stripes, Boy & Girl

Sequins/Gems

...but I don't own a cat!

Eek!  Things are getting a bit crazy here.

We have had an offer on the house already and, I don't want to jinx it,

but things are moving quickly.

Which means lots of clearing out and packing, and not much time for crafting.

I did get chance to make this CAS card for my dd Maria,

who has just moved into a new home.

 I made a little front room scene with some die-cut stamps, and added a cat :-)

Ha ha!  Maria doesn't actually have a cat, but I know she'd love to get one, or two ;-)

 

Challenges.

The Card Concept - Photo Inspration. CAS Style.

Crafty Creations - Seeing Spots

Party Time Tuesdays - Anything Goes

Supplies.

Lawn Fawn - Stitched rectangles and Hillside Borders.

Clearly Besotted - Time To Relax, Shine Bright, Home Sweet Home

Inks - VersaColour, Magenta / Cyan

Little Claire's Designs - Silhouette Cats (fussy cut)

DP - was a scrap from a magazine freebie.

La Di Da Birthday

Morning everyone.

I have just about recovered from the long weekend,

and my daughter's birthday celebrations.

Here's the card I made her.

I went for bright and girly, with plenty of glitter.

I love this big, bold sentiment stamp from Winnie & Walter,

which I stamped  in lime green and embossed with clear powder.

Then I die-cut, and coloured those cute elephants, and popped them up on foam pads.

I mounted the panel onto some gorgeous, glittery paper.

I was a little worried about adding those stars in black ink,

but I think they turned out perfectly. 

With all that glitter and the bright colours anything else would have been just too much.

Challenges.

Penny Black & More - Birthdays

The Paper Players - To Die For

Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes

Supplies.

DP -  Kaiser Craft - La Di Da

WPlus9 Unforgettable (elephant coloured with Copics and a touch of a glitter pen)

Winnie & Walter - Big, Bold & Party

VersaColor Inks - Orchid, Lime, Heliotrope

Lawn Fawn Stitched Rectangle Die

Easter Bunny

Afternoon everyone... hope you're enjoying the weekend.

Today I'm sharing a quick Easter card with you.

I don't send Easter cards, but I thought it would be nice to have one up at home.

 With no Easter stamps in my stash, I had to get creative and  I

chose a couple of WPlus9 Christmas sets to work with.

 I stamped my wreath and random hearts, onto a die-cut stitched rectangle.

Then I added, on foam pads, my banner, bunny and bow.

The sentiment is a tiny digi stamp from Pink Petticoat.

Simples!

Challenges.

Addcited to CAS -  Cute

Inkspirational - Neon Colours

Allsorts - Feature A Creature

Sweet Stampin' - Easter

Less Is More - Combine Any 3 Previous Challenges.

(#3 - Theme/Spring  #38 -  Recipe/Polka Dots  #55 - Theme/Die Cuts)

Supplies.

WPlus9 Heartfelt Holidays and Winter Woodland.

Lawn Fawn - Stitched Rectangles and Let's polka DP.

Sentiment - Pink Petticoat Digi.    Inks - Versa Color, Orchid, Cyan.  Mememnto - Dandelion.

Robots Need Love Too

It seems to me that cards have their own little personalities.

Some are careful and easy going, some are clever and witty,

and some are just plain obstinate and grumpy - I get a LOT of those!

This card was definitely, lively and cheerful, and I had fun making it.

I began by stamping my 'birthday sentiment' 

( it looks a bit washed out on these pics but, irl it's a bright, lime green)

and embossed it with clear powder.

I die-cut my robots, cupcake and bow ties, coloured them with Copics

and popped them up on foam pads.

Then, I stamped some random nuts and bolts, echoing the colours of my dp.

Finally, I fixed the panel (with foam pads) onto my dp covered, card base.

 

Challenges.

Seize the Birthday - Anything Goes

Addicted To Stamps- Make Your Mark ( I used Copics, inks and embossing to make my mark)

Aud Sentiments - Anything Goes + A Sentiment

Supplies.

Lawn Fawn, Beep Boop Birthday & Stitched Rectangles.

Winnie & Walter, Big Bold & Party

VersaColor Ink - Lime, Cyan, Orange

DP - Paper Cellar, Celebrations.

Bring me Flowers

It's double nemesis day for me today - watercolouring and flowers.

The two things I can't seem to get to grips with!

I will NOT be beaten though.  Ha ha!    :-)

My inspiration came from Tenia's gorgeous Muse card (see below).

For my background I stamped and embossed the flowers in white,

and used my little set of kids paints, to add some pink watercolouring.

Then I went back and stamped a few black dots here and there.

Once this was dry, I attached a strip of dp and my sentiment banners -

then popped up the elephant on foam pads and scattered a few sequins.

Then all that was left to do, was  attach the panel to my pink, card base.

Tenia Nelson's Muse Card

 

I would also like to enter my card for...

Simon Says Stamp Challenge - Anything Goes

Papertake Weekly - A Cut Above (die cut elephant / fussy cut flower)

Supplies.

WPlus9, Unforgettable.    Lawn Fawn, Penelope's Blooms.

Sentiments - Clearly Besotted, Make a Wish and Basic Banners.

Sequins/Black Gems.

Cupcakes and Babies

Happy Monday.

 

Today I'm sharing a new baby card with you.

Cupcakes and babies go together, right??

 This is what happens, when you want to join in a couple of 'cupcake' themed challenges,

and you need a 'new baby' card  :-)

I started by stamping and embossing my welcome sentiment.

Then, I added a banner, cupcake and birds, all popped up on foam pads.

The cupcake is paper-pieced, and is sprinkled liberally with glamour dust.

IRL it really sparkles!

  

Challenges.

The Card Concept - Cupcakes - Clean & Layered.

Allsorts - Cake and Cupcakes

Supplies.

Mama Elephant, Just Hatched.    Clearly Besotted, Make A Wish + Basic Banners

Simon Says, Sweet Cupcakes.    Lawn Fawn, Stitched Rectangles.

DP - Daisy & Dandelion, Picnic Patch + First Edition, Bird Song.

Ink - VersaColor, Boysenberry.  Copics. Glamour Dust. Sequins. Pearls.

Party Elephant

Yay! It's the weekend.

I'm struggling to find time to get into my craft room at the moment.

But, with 5 minutes here, and 10 minutes there, I finally finished a card...

here's another cute, little elephant.

 

 I started off by stamping the 'party' sentiment and embossing it.

Then I added my die-cut, elephant and party balloon.

I love seeing how you artists out there, colour these little, elephants

 and I was a little scared about how I would shade mine - colouring NOT being my strong suit.

But, I'm starting to get to grips with my own style elephant - 

a little shading and dotting with various grey Copics, a hint of blush pink,

and some white dots from a gel pen (tricky for the camera to pick up).

 With a quick glance, you would almost think I knew what I was doing!   ;-)

As for the balloon - I totally chickened out of colouring it - and paper-pieced it instead :-)

 

Challenges.

Seize the Birthday - Focus on the Sentiment

Addicted To Stamps -  Anything Goes

Sister Act - Cards Only

Fussy & Fancy - Girly

Supplies.

WPlus9 Unforgettable.   Lawn Fawn Stitched Rectangles.

Winnie & Walter, Big Bold & Party.  DP - GCD Tea Time.  

Versa Colour Ink, Magenta.   Copics, White Gel Pen, Sequins, Pearls.

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star

Hooray... it's the weekend

and I've had chance to play in my craft room.

Here's my card for the colour challenge over at

Make the Day Special.

 What I love about these cute, elephant stamp sets is that,

not only do you get different elephants to play with,

but you also get some little extras to decorate the rest of your card.

Here, I've used the different sized stars to make a pretty banner.

Make the Day Special Colour Challenge.

Check out the blog for other colour combos you can choose.

Supplies.
WPlus9 - Unforgettable Stamps & Dies.       Lawn Fawn Stitched Rectangle Die
DP - Papermania, Sweet Nothings                  Sentiment - Clearly Besotted, Make A Wish
Inks - VersaColor, Cyan, Sky Blue, Turquoise, Bisque.   Memento, LuluLavender
Sequins and Glitter Dots.

Yellow Rose

 Hello.

Today I'm playing along over at the MUSE challenge.

I love Michele's inspiration card, with my fav colour combo of yellow and grey,

and the way she highlighted one flower with watercolour.

Now, I'm not great when it comes to flowers, but I really wanted to give this one a go.

Here's my attempt.

I took a white card panel and stamped the grey leaves on it. 

Then I added the die cut bottle and the rose blooms, popped up on foam pads.

 I stamped my blooms in yellow, but  they looked a little flat,

so I used a slightly darker shade of Copic to add a little feathering.

 

MUSE challenge

Inspiration card by Michele Ferguson

 

 

Supplies.

Clearly Besotted, Sweet Rose Stamps and Dies

Inks - Memento Grey Flannel. VersaColor Canary

Sentiment - Pink Petticoat

Elephant Love

Hey everyone.

Hope you're all enjoying the weekend.

I finally got some time in  my craft room this morning

and inked up my new Wplus9 elephants.

 I am not great at colouring, so these elephants scared me a little.

In the end, I kept it pretty simple, using shades of grey for outlining,

and adding a few dots on ellie's head.

The balloon took me forever - I kept going back to it and adding more colour,

then taking it away again!! 

It's something I definitely need to practice.

Challenges.

Allsorts - Spring Is In The Air  - The green and yellow combo says spring to me and, irl, the background paper is much more yellow than the camera pics up. Check out my Instagram for a better picture!

Cute Card Thursday - Die Cuts and Punches. The dies for this set of stamps are the outline type, which makes them really easy to place and cut.

Sweet Stampin' - Green

4 Crafty Chicks - Green

Supplies.

WPlus9 Unforgettable, coloured with Copics.

Digi Paper - Pink Petticoat, Little Big Dots.

Watercolours for the background.  Rectangle and Scalloped Rectangle Nestie Dies.

Sequins.

Just Floating By

It's been a busy week here.

We've decided to put our house on the market, so we have been

cleaning, scrubbing, tidying and throwing things into boxes and cupboards!!

The house has never been so clean :-)

This morning the estate agent took the pictures, so this afternoon I sneaked into my craftroom

and got a few goodies back out :-)

I just had time to make a card for the Lawnscaping challenge.

Sunglasses at the ready everyone...

They're celebrating their 100th challenge, so naturally the theme is 'Birthday Celebration'.

I created a scene with stitched hillside borders and cloud dies,

and had my little, turtle floating along, tied to some balloons.

Lawnscaping Challenge

Supplies.

Lawn Fawn - Year Two Stamps. Let's Polks DP.  Stitched Rectangle. Stitched Hillside Borders.

Balloons - Clearly Besotted, Make A Wish.    Clouds - Memory Box.

Inks - Memento Dandelion and Rosebud.

With A Little Help From My Friends

Hey there.

2 posts without penguins and I'm already having withdrawal symptoms.

So, here's a whole gang of them :-)

 These penguins are so easy to die cut, that this card took no time at all to make.

They don't even need much colouring - just a hint of pink cheeks, a little yellow belly

and a grey outline (which the camera hasn't picked up today).

My penguins are popped up on foam pads underneath my sentiment.

Then I added a couple of party balloons and some'confetti'

Challenges.

ABC Challenge - D is for Die Cuts

Paper Players - CAS Feathered Friends

Sweet Stampin' - Inspired by a Song  - With A Little Help From My Friends

Supplies.

Mama Elephant - Arctic Penguins.   Clearly Besotted -  Make A Wish

Lawn Fawn - Beep Boop Birthday (Balloon Strings).    Winnie & Walter, Big Bang Confetti.

Clearly Besotted - Say It In Style.   Memento Ink -  Rose Bud

VersaColor Inks - Turquoise, Canary    DP -  Lawn Fawn, Let's Polka

A Cabin in the Woods

 Looking at this card, I can see that I definitely had one of my fav TV shows

 going round in my head.

Can you guess what it is?

Think cold, arctic conditions and cabins in the middle of nowhere...

 It's always good to look through your stamps and see if you can use them in a different way.

Here, I've used a couple of my favourite Christmas sets for this wintry, new home card

 

Challenges.

Addicted To Stamps & More - Anything Goes

Stampin' Royalty - Trees

Allsorts - Anything BUT Birthday

Did you guess the TV show?? I didn't give you much to go on, did I ? It was...

** Fortitude **

Supplies.

Stamps and Dies - WPlus 9 Heartfelt Holidays, Winter Wonderland.   Sentiment - Clearly Besotted, Home Sweet Home

Stitched Rectangle and Hillside Border Dies - Lawn Fawn.         DP - Lawn Fawn, Let's Polka

Inks - VersaColor, Bisque and Magenta  Memento - Grey Flannel

Flowers are scary

*** Happy Valentine's Day ***

Hope you're all having a good weekend.

Woohoo - no diet for me today :-)

I have Prosecco and chocolates at the ready, and I'm cooking hubby's

favourite meal tonight...   a roast chicken dinner with all the trimmings. 

Yum.

Here's my card for this week's CAS(E) this Sketch challenge - 

not a penguin in sight ;-)

 If you're a regular visitor here, you'll know that I am florally challenged.

So this was kind of a scary card for me.

I created a little flower display by randomly stamping my blooms and foliage.

I'm not sure what you call this technique with the word die - any ideas?

I cut the die from my stamped panel, and kept it to one side.

Then I die cut another two 'thanks' from white card and layered them all up - 

putting the original one (with the stamping on it) on top.

Then I placed it back into the space on my panel.

IRL - it has a much more 3d look than the picture shows.

Supplies.

Stamps & Dies - Lawn Fawn, Penelope's Blossoms / Thanks Die

Memento Inks - New Sprout / Pistachio / Angel Pink

VersaColor Inks - Boysenberry / Magenta.

Skater Boy

Hey everyone, hope you're all well.

 Here's ANOTHER penguin card - are you sick of them yet?  ;-)

 

My inspiration came from this week's MUSE card by Michele Ferguson (see below).

I've kept my card masculine and loosely followed her overall design.

I really wanted to add the die-cut word but the 'happy' that I have is just a little too

big for this size card. 

I ended up stamping the sentiment and fussy cutting the 'HAPPY' part.

 

MUSE card by Michele

 

Supplies.

Mama Elephant, Arctic Penguins / Lawn Fawn Beep Boop Birthday/ Clearly Besotted, Make A Wish
and Basic Banners.   Lawn Fawn Stitched Rectangles, Let's Polka DP.
VersaColor Ink, Magenta, Cyan, Mint.

Because I'm Happy

... and so, my penguin obsession continues  :-)

I'm so happy I bought these little penguins,

they are turning out to be even more vesatile than I expected.

On this card I've used one of my fav techniques - the inlaid die cut.

I used my 'happy' die on the white card panel, then cut it again in pink card

and inserted this piece back into the negative space.

Easy peasy - and so effective.

 

Challenges.

Stamping Sensations - Anything Goes

Stampin' Royalty - To DIE for

Inkspirational - Rose Colours

Supplies.

DP - First Edition, Bird Song.

Stamps & Dies - Mama Elephant, Arctic Penguins / Lawn Fawn Stitched Border Die

Memory Box 'Happy' Die         Banner - Stamp and Die, Clearly Besotted, Basic Banners.

'Birthday' Stamp - Lawn Fawn, Year 2          Sequins/ Pearls

Say Yes to Yellow

I tried something new today...   a little bit of water colouring - 

'little' being the operative word!

When it comes to 'arty' stuff, I am rubbish, but I found a small tin of kids paints

at the bottom of a craft box and thought I would give them a go.

I mixed up some yellow on an acrylic stamp block and painted it onto my card panel.

Eek !  I am so chuffed.

Yes, I know the average 4 year old could do this just as well, but it's a start :-)

Challenges

CAS-ual Fridays - Must Love Watercolour

Penny Black & More - Anything Goes (no digis)

Simon Says Stamp -All Thins Bright and Beautiful

Seize the Birthday - Anything Goes

 

Supplies.

Stamps and Dies - Mama Elephant, Arctic Penguins / Clearly Besotted, Make A Wish

DP - Lawn Fawn Let's Polka.   Gem and Sequin.

Ink - Memento, Rose Bud

We're brrr-fect together!

Hey there.

Here's my Valentine's card for my hubby (he won't look in here!)

We've been married 30 years this year, and I've made the whole gamut of cards for him ...

slushy, funny, vintage, CAS, naughty... etc,

but this year, I've gone back to cute :-)

 For inspiration I followed the sketch over at Make the Day Special (see below).

I turned it on it's side and substituted my penguins for the heart shape.

 

All my supplies came from the Make the Day Special Store.

Check them out - they have some fab goodies that us brits have trouble getting our crafty paws on!!

Stamps & Dies - Mama Elephant, Arctic Penguins

Sentiment - Mama Elephant, Just Hatched

DP - Lawn Fawn, Let's Polka

Die - Lawn Fawn, Hillside Borders

Heart Stamp - WPlus9, Heartfelt Holidays