Wild About Relaxing

Hello.

Well, I blew my budget last month, because I couldn't resist the 'Trailside Trio' from Spellbinders.
It comes with a fox, a raccoon and a skunk.

Here is the first outing for Mr Fox.

Mr Fox is die cut, and put together with the 'splash days' set that includes his clothing, fishing rod, oar and canoe.

I've chosen bold, bright colours for his day in the sun.

Challenge

As You Like It

Do you Prefer Brights, Or Pastels?

This year I have definitely gone for a more 'brights' look to my cards.
For ages I used coloured card from cheap, high street stores, but

I've recently invested in some good cardstock from Concord & 9th
and I love how the colours match up and really pop.

•  spellbinders - trailside trio and splash days
•  concord & 9th - sentiments - poolside stamp set

Life's Too Short... Jump In Puddles.

 Hello.

Today I'm sharing this little goose, in the rain with his wellies on.
Sometimes you just have to get in there, splash about, and make the most of a rainy day.

My grandsons are 4 and 5 years old - so every puddle is fair game!

My silly goose, is die cut and popped up with foam tape.
The sentiment is made from an alphabet stamp set - I almost made it without an error - then a letter dropped off my acrylic block just at the end. I managed to cover up the worst with a large raindrop.

My eureka moment was the raindrops :o)

They are flames from a birthday candle die set.

Challenge

Inskspirational

concord and 9th - silly goose / make a wish

my favorite things - well connected alphabet

pinkfresh studio - diagonal stitch rectangle

Berry Blooms (And A Rare Floral Win)

Hello.
Today I'm sharing a rare, floral card. 
I always find them really tricky to put together, but I'm happy with how this one turned out.

I went for a mix of berry shades, through to soft, light pink, for the blooms and added in the fresh green leaves to pull everything together.

I kept the background simple, so I didn't distract from the blooms, but added that little extra detail, using the scoring blade on my paper trimmer to create the subtle horizontal lines. 

Challenge

Inspired By

I was inspired by the mix of flowers and leaves
with berry shades, to light pink and a touch of green.

• altenew - garden picks 3d dies
• sentiment - colorado craft co - citrus berry cupcake
• pinkfresh studio - diagonal stitch rectangle
• coloured cardstock - concord & 9th

Superhero Birthday Vibes

Hello.
This week our own little, superhero grandson turned 4.
So the gang is all here, to help him celebrate.

For the background, I stamped the skyscrapers a couple of times, and then distress inked the grass and sky.

The tiny superheroes were fussy cut, and coloured with Copics.
I attached them with foam tape, and put Superman and Spiderman on a fun wobble.

Challenge

Allsorts

🐝In the Garden🌺

or anything goes

This time I've gone for anything goes

• clearly besotted - seriously super
• ranger distress ink - mowed lawn / tumbled glass / salty ocean
• copic markers / white gel pen

Flowers From A Friendly Hedgie

Hello.
I love die-cutting right now, but sometimes I just want to colour.

This sweet little hedgie, with his pretty bouquet,  is perfect for that.
Not too taxing - my Copic skills aren't up to much - but turns out looking really cute.

This is a wooden block Penny Black stamp that I have had forever - so it was lovely to give it an outing.

I stamped into the corner of a panel, and then just coloured it in with copic markers.

There's something very therapeutic about colouring, isn't there?

Challenge

We Love Stamping

🐣Spring🌷

• penny black - bountiful
• colorado craft company - citrus berry cupcake (sentiment)
• copic markers C1 C3 C7 - YG00 YG23 YG11 YG06 - G05 G14 G17 G28
• E00 E11 R05 - Y17 YR07 R29 - BV04 BV13V06

Wobble On Silly Goose

 Hello.

I couldn't resist adding a wobble to this silly goose -
for a cute, spring birthday card.

This was a fun, die-cut card, to put together for my daughter's birthday.
For some reason a goose seems to be a popular spring thing, but in our house 'goose' is a standing joke.

*long story* :o)  so this set was perfect for us.

Today's annoying mistake - adding a little cheek blush to my geese, with a new Copic marker.

Argh! It just flooded colour the second it touched the card!

 

Challenge

Moving Along With The Times

Challenge #188 Anything Spring

• concord and 9th - silly goose
• spellbinders - landscape edges
• pinkfresh studio - diagonal stitch rectangle

Coffee, Books and Cosy Vibes

Hello.
The new Inspired By Challenge caught my eye today - Cocoa Café.
I loved the pink and green colour combo and could just imagine sitting there
with a hot drink and a good book.

Rummaging around in my stash, I came across this old die set, and created a cosy, reading nook.

I finally got round to buying one of those little applicator bottles, with a fine tip, for my glue.
Honestly, it's a game changer for these tiny die cuts.
Why did it take me so long to get one!

The background wallpaper was made with some pink distress ink and a cute little stamp that has 4 columns of hearts.

Challenge

Inspired By 

I was inspired by the green and pink combo - 
and the idea of sitting down and relaxing with a nice drink

my favorite things - décor and more dies/couch potato sentiments

concord and 9th - heart stamp - celebration squad

pinkfresh studio - diagonal stitch rectangle

ranger distress ink - kitsch flamingo

A Silly Goose To Keep Your Page

 Hello.

Today I'm sharing something a little different - a bookmark.
Now, I'm not going to win any awards for my stitching, but this was a fun, little project.

I die cut my pieces from felt, and stitched them onto a green felt panel. 

Then I blanket stitched another green piece of felt for backing.
Just to make this a little sturdier, I added a piece of card in between the green felt, secured with DS tape.

This is just your everyday, cheap felt from Hobbycraft, so the tiny pieces - the beak and legs of the goose - did fall apart on me and I had to do some creative stitching! 

Maybe the good quality wool felt would work better.

I stamped the silly goose sentiment with versafine ink, but it didn't really show up too well, so I went over it with some black thread.

So - not perfect - but definitely cute!

Try It On Tuesday

Make It Cute

• concord and 9th - silly goose
• wplus9 - feathers and florals
• cheap felt and embroidery floss

Silly Goose Says Happy Birthday

Hello and Happy Easter.
Not great weather here in Yorkshire, but we'll be making the most of the 4 day break.
Bring on the chocolate eggs and hot cross buns :o)

I am seeing geese everywhere!

How does it work when two similar releases, from different companies,  pop up at the same time?
Is it industrial espionage in the crafting world! :o)

For this card I used the silly goose set from Concord & 9th

I always find the stamp sets with these dies very versatile - this one has a striped stamp that I think will be used a lot. 

Challenge

Allsorts

🌷It's Springtime🐣

or Anything Goes

• concord and 9th - silly goose stamps and dies
• ranger distress ink - salvaged patina
• avery elle - postage stamp die

Good Tunes... Good Vibes

 Hello.

Today I'm trying a retro vibe, for this fun, musical card.

I checked out Pinterest for retro colours, and this is is one of the combos that kept popping up.
So, for my background I used a 'ray of light' stencil and distress inks.

Then I added those records - popped up on foam tape, the sentiments, and a few embellies.

I know this card will be perfect for my SIL, who loves her music and even has her own jukebox.

Challenge

Little Red Wagon

Vintage or Retro

• corncord and 9th - greatest hits
• mft - ray of light stencil
• distress inks - salvaged patina/carved pumpkin/kitsch flamingo

Honk If You Like Crafting!

 Hello.

Today I finally found some time to play along at the Inspired By Challenge.
They have some gorgeous mood boards right now and the inspiration from the DT just blows me away.
It's amazing.

This week the mood board had some beautifully painted eggs, in shades of soft green, for a calm, nature inspired theme.
I opted to use the green colour tones, but went more playful with this silly goose cameo.

I used the stripes stamp (from the matching set) to create a gingham style background.
Then layered my goose onto some die cut ovals. 
I love how this one turned out.

Challenge

Inspired By

• concord & 9th - silly goose dies and stamp set
• versa color ink - celadon
• spellbinders nested ovals and scalloped edge ovals
• tiny bow from concord & 9th handmade holidays

Let's Get This Party Started

Hello.
I finally got to ink up these 'tiny tipples' - and how cute are they?
Perfect for a bubbly, birthday wish.

I LOVE all those postage collage cards that are everywhere, but I'm not great with stencils and I don't have a lot of inks, so I had to find a work around. I bought a couple of postage style punches - layered a piece of coloured card on top, then added my fussy cut animals.
It's not perfect, or as polished as those stencils, but it's still cute.

Challenge

Freshly Made Sketches

I swapped out the circles for my 'postage stamps' - 
and I've just noticed I missed off that foliage. Oops! 

• clearly besotted - tiny tipples
• postage stamp punches
• avery elle - postage stamp die
• copic  markers 

Silly Goose

Hello.
I may have blown my March budget on these silly goose dies, but..   no regrets!

After seeing all the gorgeous, flowery Mother's Day gifts in the shops, I may have got a bit carried away with the blooms and bright colours on this card. But, I had fun stamping that background, and that's all that counts, right?

Challenge

Freshly Made Sketches

• concord & 9th - silly goose dies 
• wplus9 - feathers and florals
• distress inks - carved pumpkin/twisted citron/pickled raspberry/spiced marmalade
• squeezed lemonade/festive berries/walnut stain
• altenew ink - fresh leaf
• avery elle - postage stamp die

Find Me In The Garden

Hello.
Today I'm sharing a sweet, bunny card with you.
These guys are helping themselves to the veg patch! Let's hope Mr McGregor doesn't spot them :o)

I did a little bit of masking to get those bunnies close to each other, and some more on the bench and vegetables. I admit, trying to get my brain around which parts to mask and stamp first can be tricky - so some of those veggies are fussy cut and added afterwards.

Challenge  

We Love Stamping

🦅🌳🐿️ Wildlife 🌺🐝🐟

 

or anything goes

• colorado craft company - garden therapy/rooting for you
• I think the bench stamp is Magnolia
• Copic markers

A Little Creative Experiment

Hello.
Today I decided to have a go at the 'faux cyanotype' technique, which is a bit brave for someone like me, who isn't inky  - or arty.  :o)
I'll be honest - it was a bit tricky and not totally successful, but it was definitely fun to try something so different.

I started by inking up my background with distress ink, and then adding the stamping - some in white ink and some using the same distress ink. Sounds easy, right?

If you want to see how it's really done check out the amazing cards over at Group of Cardmakers

where they've also included the links to a couple of technique videos.

• ranger distress ink - salty ocean
• hobbycraft white ink
• wplus9 - winter woodland/feathers and florals/heartfelt holiday
• winnie and walter - big bang confetti
• mft - stitched square die

Special Delivery... From The Dog

Hello.
I'm excited today, to be a Guest Designer over at the 

AAA Birthday Challenge

where the theme is 'die cuts'

This was right up my street. I LOVE using die cuts.

For my card I've used this cute pup. Yes, he's supposed to have skis, but I had other plans.
Instead of the ski poles, I've got him to carry this birthday present.

I wanted to use some more die cuts for the background, but still keep the overall look pretty simple.
So I went with cloud and grass dies, and a couple of extra presents - one is never enough!  :o)

You've got a whole month to play along and show us your die cuts.
Do you alter yours?
I'm always looking for ideas to stretch my supplies,
so I'd be interested to know how you do it.

Thanks to AAA Birthday for letting me guest design this month.
It's been fun  xxx

• waffle flower - cool pup
• spellbinders - landscape edges dies / handmade holidays (presents)
• pinkfresh studio - diagonal stitched rectangle
• distress ink - tumbled glass / twisted citron
• concord & 9th - poolside (sentiment)

Tied Up With A Bow

Hello.
I'm excited to be joining the Allsorts Challenge  today
as a Guest Designer.

This is such a fun and friendly challenge, and I hope you'll find time to play along. 
 Sarah has chosen the theme...

Add a Ribbon or Bow

Ooh, this one had me scratching my head for a while.
I haven't used ribbon on a card for AGES! But when I went digging through my stash I found it all beautifully packed and organised. Go me ! (I've added a pic below to show how tidy and organised I used to be)  :o)

Back to the card.
And I couldn't resist a little box of sweet doughnuts all wrapped with ribbon and a bow.

The doughnuts are stamped and die cut. The sprinkles were added with Copic markers and some glossy accents. Then I added a layer of acetate to my scalloped edge die, and taped ribbon and a bow onto the corners.

Allsorts Challenge

Add Ribbon or a Bow

• the greetery - sweet tooth
• distress ink - salvaged patina
• altenew ink - maple yellow / fuchsia
• pinkfresh studio ink - warm buff / doe / gathered twigs
• copic markers, glossy accents
• sentiment - sugar pea designs - summer scoops