Saturday, 22 August 2026

Getting His Tinsel In A Tangle

Hello.
Today I'm sharing an early Christmas card -  this cute James Bear, wrapped up in tinsel, with some baubles, and a present at his feet. One of my favourite (and oldest) stamps.


I loosely followed the sketch below, replacing the diamond shape with James Bear.
To start with I masked off a central area, stamped my bear, and then coloured everything with copic markers.
I added some extra lines in the grass for the lines on the sketch.


I intended to keep this flat, for easy postage, but as usual, I messed up the sentiment stamp!
 It was an easy fix though, to just re-stamp, cut out the circle and stick the sentiment on top.

Challenge


  • lili of the valley - James wrapped in tinsel (now only available as a digi stamp)
  • Sorry - I can't remember who makes the sentiment stamp.
  • copic markers / white gel pen

Wednesday, 19 August 2026

Spiced Lattes

Yay!
It finally rained here - and the heatwave broke. 
Thank God for that.
I think the whole of Yorkshire managed to get some sleep last night :o)

I am so ready for autumn.


This card is just for fun. I saw a similar idea on Pinterest and wanted to give it my own twist.

The little pumpkins were die-cut, coloured with Copic markers and given faces and legs. Then I attached them with foam tape.

The sentiment was stamped with the tiniest alpha set I have - which is obviously missing the letter 'E' - 
so I made do with an 'F' and a black pen  😄


Challenge

Simply Clean & Simple

August Challenge
Anything Goes CAS - Optional Nature Theme

  • spellbinders - fall gnomes (pumpkins)
  • mft - strike up the band (legs)
  • lawn fawn - sprinkled with joy (faces)
  • stampendous - tiny alpha
  • pinkfresh studio - diagonal stitch rectangle
  • copic markers - white gel pen

Friday, 14 August 2026

Put Your Records On

 Hello.

Well, it's still bloody boiling here.
If I open my craft room window every scrap of paper and card swirls around me.
So, my choices are furnace, or hurricane.

What's it like where you are?


Today I went with bold, colour blocks, for this retro style birthday card.

I used a hand/arm die from a Christmas set to hold my record up, and then added some die-cut stars
(in the same colours as my background pieces) for a little added interest.
I love this kind of faux embossing style.



Challenge



  • concord & 9th - greatest hits dies and stamps
  • concord & 9th - handmade holidays (arm)
  • concord & 9th - make a wish (sentiment)
  • pinkfresh studio - diagonal stitch rectangle

Saturday, 8 August 2026

Ghostly Greetings

Hello.
I've already blown my August budget, so I'm trying hard not to obsess over all the 
gorgeous new Halloween sets I keep seeing.
I  don't even make more than a couple of Halloween cards a year, but it's still hard to resist those goodies.
Have you splurged?


These spooks are from an old 'my favorite things' set, and they're popped up on a distress ink background.


Challenge



  • my favorite things - ghostly greetings
  • ranger distress ink - spiced marmalade / carved pumpkin / kitsch flamingo                                                                              

Wednesday, 5 August 2026

Turn on the Charm

 Hello.

"Relaxing Hobby" they said.
Have you tried die cutting and gluing these teeny, tiny charms
to a delicate bracelet piece?  Argh!   
One breath of wind and they would have been scattered across the craft room floor  :o)


I'm a Yorkshire lass, with hands like shovels - so 'delicate' is tricky for me  :o)
I was happy when all those tiny pieces were stuck in place.

The simple background stripes were created with a stencil and some distress ink.
I definitely need to use this stencil more - I love those stripes.


Challenge

Inspired By

Congrats on reaching Challenge #400  💖

I was inspired by the bracelets and the blue/coral colour palette

  • concord and 9th - charmed dies
  • clearly besotted - stripes stencil
  • distress ink - tumbled glass
  • mama elephant - labeled messages
  • altenew ink - sea breeze
  • pinkfresh studio - diagonal stitch rectangle

Saturday, 1 August 2026

Welcome to the Herd

Hello.
News of a new baby is always a delight - so this card was a joy to make,
and I love this cute giraffe.

For the background I tried out some faux embossing. Simply using die-cut stars in the same colour card as the base. I think it turned out really cute.
Of course, after sticking on all those stars,  I decided to add a small panel of mint green on top, so most of them were covered up - but I know they're under there!   :o)


Challenge

As You Like It 

(Just playing for fun) 

Favourite Safari Animal, and Why

It's a giraffe!! They are such cute and gentle creatures and did you know,
a giraffe's spots are unique. They're like fingerprints.

Also  - my grandson's favourite giraffe fact - their tongue is so long 
they can clean their ears with it :o)


  • my favorite things - joyful giraffe
  • sentiment - mft - hello little one
  • star dies - clearly besotted
  • tiny star die - mft bundle of baby clothes
  • pinkfresh studio - diagonal stitch rectangle