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

Small Heroes Bring Big Joy

Hello.

Today our very own super hero grandson is 5 years old.

I had so much fun making this card for him - he is a huge fan of superheroes, and is always coming up with bits of information about them. I don't know where he gets it all from.
So this little group of  warriors is right up his street.

Those cute heroes, are stamped and fussy cut, coloured with Copics and popped up with foam tape.
I kept the background skyline neutral, so that it didn't all clash.

Batman and Superman are fitted with mini wobbles for some extra fun interaction.
(check out my Instagram post here if you want to see it )

Challenge

A Place To Start

Anything Goes with optional twist small critters

• clearly besotted seriously super
• copic markers
• mini wobble
• pink fresh studio diagonal stitch rectangle 

A Sweet Woodland Birthday

Hello.

For a minute, when I got up this morning, I thought it wasn't raining.
False alarm. 
It's still raining  :o)

That makes more than 40 + days of rain in the UK this year. 
What's a person to do, other than get comfy in their craftroom.

I couldn’t resist inking up Bugsy and Jessie from Purple Onion Designs -  they’re just too sweet.
Bugsy with his balloon and Jessie clutching that birthday present, with a stencilled birch tree background - it’s basically a little woodland party waiting to happen.

Challenge

Freshly Made Sketches

• clearly besotted - treemendous times stencil
• purple onion designs - bugsy and jessie
• time 4 tea designs - walrus (green die cut)
• mama elephant - labeled messages
• distress ink - shaded lilac
• copic markers / white gel pen

Life Is Sweeter With You... And Doughnuts!

Hello.
Here I am with another Valentine's Day card, featuring these cute, doughnut pals.

This time the challenge at Allsorts, was to create your own background.

I used some pink ink with a stencil, for that drippy effect, and then stamped it with hearts in various pink and white shades.
It doesn't come out too well on the photo, but it's really pretty IRL  o:)

Then I stamped and fussy cut those doughnut pals, and popped them up with foam tape.

Challenge

Allsorts Challenge

Create Your Own Background (Or Anything Goes)

• clearly besotted - donut worry / splat it stencil
• distress inks - worn lipstick / pickled raspberry / festive berries
• white ink
• copic markers / white gel pen

All You Need Is Love... And Doughnuts

 Hello.

Today I'm playing along at AAA Colourful, and using their pink, colour palette.
Perfect for a Valentine's card.

What's also perfect for Valentine's day?
That's right - doughnuts.  :o)

I used strips of pink card on my base and layered it with a 'peek-a-boo striped heart'.
Then, I fussy cut those cute animals, coloured them with Copics and popped them up with foam tape.

Challenge

AAA Colourful

• clearly besotted - donut worry
• my favorite things - peek a boo striped heart die
• the greetery - valentine wishes sentiment from sweet tooth
• copics / white gel pen

A Little Card To Celebrate The Fun

 Hello.

I was meant to be following a sketch today.
You know when you have it in your mind, and you make your card, but it's not quite right.
It's close though - if you squint :o)

This is a Valentine's card for my dh. 

After 40 years of marriage, we're kind of over the red, love hearts and roses, so  I think this cute Eddie and Ethel stamp is more our thing.

Challenge

Freshly Made Sketches

I converted this to portrait and moved those stripes a bit. 
By which I mean a lot. It still looks a bit like the sketch though, right?

• purple onion designs - eddie and ethel
• memory box - parker alphabet dies
• pinkfresh studio - diagonal stitch rectangle
• mft - sentiment from frost loving friends
• copic markers, white gel pen

Eat you Own Weight In Cake

 Hello.

Today I needed a card for a little girl, so I reached for the pink card and some cute 'pawty time' stamps.

I white heat embossed the sentiment and streamers onto the pink cardstock, which gives it a lovely crisp contrast and a little texture.

Then I added my cute animals (a dog and a cat ???)  and a huge cake.
It's not really a birthday unless you eat your own weight in cake, is it?

Challenge

Krafty Chicks Challenge

• my favorite things - pawty time
• pinkfresh studio - diagonal stitch rectangle
• lawn fawn - stitch hillside borders
• versamark ink and hero arts white embossing powder
• copics and white gel pen