DOTTY GIRL

Hello

They're going dotty at the 

Inkspirational Challenge

this week.

It took me a while to get my head around all those

red spots on white, and white spots on red!

In the end, I took my inspiration from the girl in the centre

and did a little paper-piecing.

I grounded my girl on some stencilled grass, then just added a sentiment and a couple of clouds.

Inkspirational Challenge

mft stamps - love you a bunch, paper pieced and coloured with copics, grassy edges stencil with distress ink mowed lawn and sentiment from 'hello little one'  

memory box -  puffy clouds

avery elle - postage stamp die

BEACH LIFE

Hello.
Check out this week's 'beach' theme over at the

Inspired by Challenge

I, for one, am counting the days 
till we can have a paddle along the sea front.

Colouring is not my strong suit, 

so this beach scene was a bit of a challenge.

I kept it simple for myself by only using a few colours 

and minimal shading.

I even held my breath when I added that white pen to the sea. 

That could have mucked everything up, but it turned out ok :o)

Inspired by Challenge

clearly besotted - scene it more, coloured with copics

mft stamps - woof pack

CHRISTMAS IN JULY

Hello.
As soon as I saw this cover plate die, I knew I NEEDED it.
I just had to track one down.
I was so happy when I got an email from Bumbleberry Papercrafts to say they had one in stock, and I snapped it up quick.
Ok, a few extra things may have fallen in my basket too :o)
(delivery was quick and well packed, so if you're in the UK check them out)

I simply die cut a panel in each colour and then placed some pieces back into the frame, like a jigsaw. 
It was fun, and nice to get away from inking and stamping for a change.

The Flower Challenge

I thought these blooms had a look of poinsettias about them, so I went for a winter theme with the red and cream combo.

pinkfreshstudio - ornate floral die

mft - snow globe sentiments / fish tail flag die

BEAUTIFUL BOLD BLOOMS

Hello.
I'm a typical Virgo - so when things aren't perfect it drives me to distraction.
Like this stamp set for example.
Thanks to everyone who sent me tips on how to get a perfect impression.
I tried washing the stamps, using an eraser on them, and priming them with Versamark.
They definitely print a lot better,
and I'm learning to live with the patches :o)

Challenge

Inspired By

altenew - bold floral drape stamp set
altenew inks - fresh leaf, fuchsia, magenta, baby pink, maple yellow
sentiment - hero arts, floral
mft - stitched scallop border die

YOU HAD ME AT WOOF

Hello
It's my wedding anniversary today - 35 years -
and here's the card I made for my dh

I love how this card came together, with those cute puppies playing in the garden.

I began by using stencils to ink up the clouds and grass. 
The fence was popped up on foam tape and then the puppies were added on top, for an extra 3D effect.

Challenge

Penny Black & More

*** In The Garden ***

mft - woof pack coloured with copics

mini cloud edges and grassy edges stencils

distress ink - tumbled glass and twisted citron

The fence die has been in my stash for years - I think it's memory box

PARTY ANIMALS

Hello.
Time to party till the cows come home  :o)

Is it old fashioned to still think of colours as masculine or feminine?

This card is for the 'masculine' challenge at

                     Watercooler Wednesday

and it's for a little boy, so I coloured it with blues, orange and green.

Boys like pink too though, so maybe I need to be more conscious of my colour choices.

Watercooler Wednesday

mft - party animals coloured with copics
distress ink background - tumbles glass

WATERMELON CAKE

Hello.
Hands up who knew watermelon cake was a thing?
I discovered it when I was looking for ideas for this week's 
                        Inspired By Challenge.
I have to say, this wind swept corner of North Yorkshire does not see an abundance of watermelon.
Alas, my local co-op counts pineapple on pizza as its nod to the exotic! :o)

I used copics to colour my watermelon cake.

and slightly pressed down on the tip of a black marker to create those seeds.

The cake was a little plain when I'd done it, so I tried adding tiny blooms, or more candles for interest,  but eventually went with those citrus slices.

Now I need to go and try some of those tutti frutti cake recipes I came across. 

Inspired By Challenge

hero arts - birthday cake layering, coloured with copics and white gel pen

citrus slices from clearly besotted, raise a glass

mft - rectangle die and stitched scalloped basic edge die

BIRTHDAY FISHES

Hello.
How long does it take you to make a card?
It takes me FOREVER :o)
I think about what I'm going to do, 
then I mess about with die cuts and sentiments,
and pens and inks,  on a rough card base,
before actually sitting down to make something.
So the AAACards Challenge 'Made in Minutes' intrigued me.

This card didn't take much planning, but making it took much longer than I thought -

 20 minutes and 29 seconds - 

from cutting the card base, to attaching the last dew drop.

Despite trying to keep my Copic blending to a minimum, 

that's what slowed me down.

AAA Card Challenge

Hero Arts - I'm a puffer for you - coloured with Copics

STITCHED BALLOONS

Hello.
First rule of crafting: NEVER throw anything away.
I think I've had this embroidery thread for 25+ years!
I knew it would come in handy one day :o)

I'm playing along at the 

Inspired By Challenge

and, as usual, I have had to improvise.

I loved the decorations on the inspiration photo,

and I tried to create a honeycomb design on graph paper, 

that I could cross stitch,

but I just couldn't get it to work.

So, I went for bright, cheerful balloons instead.

Inspired By Challenge

mama elephant - pegworks die and labeled messages

embroidery thread

WEAR THE RAINBOW

Hello
Quite often I get an idea in my head,
that is way beyond my crafting abilities.
This time it was rainbow dresses, in floaty, organza fabric with matching shoes (of course).

I am not the best at colouring and I've never really got to grips with my zig watercolor brush pens, but I used them here for the dress, trying to blend the colours by slightly overlapping them.

Once she was all coloured I added some white highlights here and there 

(not very happy with those on the dress)

and some glossy accents on the cake icing and roses.

I kinda like how she turned out in the end.

Challenges

Watercooler Wednesday

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday

Bright and Cheerful

stamping bella - ava loves to celebrate

zig clean color real brush pens

avery elle postage stamp die