Home Sweet Haunted Home

Hello.
It's almost spooky season.
I only make a couple of Halloween cards, so I don't feel the need to splash out on any new goodies.
Instead I raid what I have and make do.

Here, I've teamed up an old MFT ghost set, with some Christmas house dies.

This is for my Grandson, so I've gone with bold, bright traditional Halloween colours.
You can't really beat the orange, purple and lime green combo - it just works so well.

I've added some ghosts, bats and a pumpkin - and used distress ink for a moonlit sky.

Challenge

As You Like It

Favourite Halloween Colours

• concord & 9th - yuletide lane
• my favorite things - ghostly greetings
• spellbinders - holiday haul (pumpkin die)
• distress ink - shaded lilac, wilted violet

Hoppy Birthday To You

Hello.
Rummaging through my dies today I came across this birthday sentiment.
I really wanted to use it for the sketch over at Freshly Made, and it took me a while,
but I finally came up with a way to make it fit!

I die cut the sentiment from white card stock and then cut it into 3 equal pieces.
These were added to coloured card with foam tape.
That's actually 3 different shades there, but the photo makes them look the same.

Then I backed it with another coloured panel and fussy cut that cute, little bunny
on his way to the party :o)

Challenge

Freshly Made Sketches

As usual, I've played around with the sketch, but just a little this time ;o)
I've rotated it and used my bunny in place of the circle.

• mft dienamics - happy birthday to you die
• purple onion designs - bugsy
• pinkfresh studio - diagonal stitch rectangle
• copic markers

Cosy Season Unlocked

Hello.
Some cards I make are never intended to be sent out.
These ones are just for fun, cos I have an idea swirling round my head, or they fit my seasonal decor.
This is one of those.

Autumn is my favourite time of year.
I love the cool air, walking the dog on misty, drizzly days and snuggling up with a hot chocolate and a good book.

This bear is all set for the cooler weather.
The leaves are swirling all around him, but it does look like he's about to be hit on the head with that apple!! :o)

Challenge

Allsorts

🦊All Creatures Great and Small🦒

• spellbinders - festive friends
• spellbinders - fall gnomes (leaves, acorns, apple)
• concord & 9th - handmade holiday (gingerbread man, hot chocolate mug)
• embossing folder
• my favourite things - mini well connected alphabet 
• pink fresh studio - diagonal stitch rectangle

Wild and Free

Hello.
Here's another 'back to school' card.
This one is for my youngest Grandson, who started in reception at a forest school this week.
Wow! It's amazing. He's going to have so much fun exploring the woods, building dens and cooking outdoors.

The only uniform he needs, is a purple puddle suit, so that's what this little fox is wearing :o)

And... four changes of clothes, that are stuffed into his backpack!

Hands up who wants toasted marshmallows.

Challenge

As You Like It

Favourite Wild Animal

I have gone for a fox, because they're just too cute.
Like Annette, we too have foxes visiting our garden regularly.
Sometimes, they come right up to the door and have a little nosey in
and sometimes they just bury chicken bones in my tomato planter!
We always have to check the garden before we let the dog out at night.

• spellbinders - trailside trio / camp days
• spellbinders - holiday haul / landscape edges
• the greetery - christmas care-a-van (sentiment)

NOTE :  Is anyone else having trouble commenting?
I've been to a few blogs now and 'publishing' just doesn't go through.
So, apologies if you've left a comment and I haven't been able to get back to you.

I've tried both laptop and phone, but no luck yet.
Hopefully it's a blogger glitch and will sort itself out soon.

School Days

 Ahhh!
Is that a collective sigh of relief over the country, as the kids go back to school :o)

Our eldest Grandson B, has gone back this week and is now in Year One.
I made this little good luck card for him.

This cute fox was just perfect.
I gave him a little backpack and dressed him in the school colours.
The classroom background is a digi stamp from Clearly Besotted, easily re-sized for Foxy, and coloured with copics.

Challenge

Addicted To Stamps & More

These die cuts are a dream to put together,
and so much fun to mix and match to your theme.
They're definitely some of my all time favourite sets.

• spellbinders - trailside trio / camp days
• clearly besotted - school days digis
• copic markers / white gel pen

Thank You For The Days

Hello.
Last week was my Grandson's last day at nursery.
He has had such a fabulous time there, and we wanted a card that reflected
that it has been a home from home for him, for the last 4 years.

I decided on this house stamp set, that represents his home and his nursery.

There are 3 houses in this set, so I've created larger houses by layering a couple of different ones onto the same base house. Does that make sense?

Then I've added in the trees, fence, and flowers. It's kinda cute IRL, with that extra layering.

All coloured with copic markers.

Challenge

Inkspirational

The nursery definitely represented home, family and love.
They have taken such great care of him and we were all a little bit sad to leave.
Of course, he strolled out of there on his last day,
with the nonchalance of a 4 year old, and didn't look back!

• wplus9 - neighbors
• pinkfresh studio - diagonal stitch rectangle
• copic markers / white gel pen

Christmas Road Trip

Hello.
I've made an early start on my Christmas cards this year.
I am determined not to be caught out with last minute makes.

So here's another one for the pile.

I've used the waffleflower crafts snowy hills stencil - and I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong, but I cannot get those trees to line up perfectly with the sky. I'm left with some white areas, and I'm calling those areas snow!
Those are snow, topped trees. Definitely!  :o)

The pals, on their way home for Christmas, are stamped, die cut, and coloured with Copics.

Challenge

Freshly Made Sketches.

I know, I always seem to be pushing the boundaries of the sketch,
but I hope you can see my cars representing the shapes.

• waffle flower crafts - snowy hills stencil
• distress inks  - tumbled glass, cracked pistachio, evergreen bough
• my favorite things - special delivery, cute caravan, snow globe sentiments
• pinkfresh studio - diagonal stitch rectangle
• copic markers, white gel pen

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

Freshly Made Sketches

• 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

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

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

Addicted to Stamps & More 

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

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

Freshly Made Sketches 

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

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

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

Life Is Better With You

Hello.
This week, my dh and I, celebrated our 41st wedding anniversary.
Wow! That seems a crazy long time :o)
I am so happy I found my soul mate all those years ago 💘

As we've just come back from the beach, this seemed a cute stamp to use for the card.

As you can imagine, we've done our fair share of hearts and romance cards over the years, but this time I wanted something cute and fun.

This took quite a bit of masking here and there to separate these 2 critters from the full image, but I think it was worth it.

Challenge

Allsorts

🏖️At the Seaside⛱️

or Anything Goes

• colorado craft company - beach life
• my favorite things - ray of light stencil
• pinkfresh studio - diagonal stitch rectangle
• ranger distress ink - mustard seed / fossilized amber
• copic markers / white pen

Sweet Treats and Summer Days

Hello.
We've just had the most amazing week away in Abersoch, North Wales.
Have you been? It's our second time there and I would thoroughly recommend it.
The beaches are stunning.

So this is a thank you card for our dd, for inviting us along to share the fun with our youngest grandson.

Lot's of ice cream was consumed on our trip (it was hot!) so this little van was perfect.
The shaker card - not so perfect. It drove me crazy.
Those little elements keep sticking on top of each other. 

I've had a tip that maybe my foam tape isn't deep enough, so next time I'll try doubling up on it.
Any other shaker tips - send them my way  :o)

Challenge

Freshly Made Sketches

• time for tea designs - cool critters
• my favorite things - in and out stitched squares
• copic markers

Big School, Big Adventures

Hello.
I know we haven't even had summer yet, but I'm already thinking of 'back to school' cards.
I have 3 special family ones to make and here's the first.
For a special girl who is starting big school.

This was fun to make.

The jumper is in the new school colours, but I didn't want to use the shorts from the set because they just looked too masculine. So, I gave her a little ra ra skirt. I'm sure that won't make it past the uniform police, but it does look kinda cute.

The background is a digi image from Clearly Besotted - I tried colouring it, but it looked too busy so in the end I left it plain.
The 'good luck' tag was stamped and heat embossed in white.

Challenge

Addicted To Stamps & More

• spellbinders - trailside trio / splash days  camp days
• clearly besotted - school days digi
• colorado craft company - good luck sentiment - rooting for you
• wow - white embossing powder

Yeehaw Birthday Girl!

Hello...  or howdy! :o)

Today I'm sharing this birthday card with a bit of cowgirl charm, and a sprinkling of pretty blooms.

I could definitely stomp around the dance floor in these boots :o)

This is for the MAWTT Challenge - where they want to see your favourite stamp, die or tool.

I've gone for tool - and my sizzix big shot. I've had my machine since I started blogging (2008) and it's never let me down - touch wood.
Wow! That makes it 18 years old!!!
It definitely gets a lot of use too - I think I use it on every card I make, even the simplest ones. So I couldn't do without it.

Challenge

Moving Along With The Times

Use your favourite stamp, die or tool.

• concord & 9th - bootcut and coloured cardstock
• pinkfresh studio - diagonal stitch rectangle 

Sweet Sprinkles

Hello.
I had so much fun making this card.
I think the recipient is going to love it.

It's a wrapped shaker - so the shaker bit is made with some scrap, plastic packaging, 
wrapped around the card, and secured with DS tape. So easy!

The shaker confetti was the fun bit. I didn't have much in the way of pretty sprinkles,
so I made some of my own...

large and small cherries - die cut and coloured with copics

ice creams - die cut from coloured cardstock and pieced together

ice lollies - I put a strip of ds tape onto white card and made sure the 'lolly' part was cut from that piece - then I peeled off the tape and pressed the die cut into some glitter. IRL it's very sparkly.

This is definitely something I'll be trying again.
I'm already thinking of gingerbread men sprinkles, and tiny Christmas trees!!

Challenge

Just Us Girls

Nothing says summer like ice-lollies and cherries :o)

• concord & 9th - celebration squad / charmed (small cherries die)
• time for tea designs - cool critters - sentiment and ice lolly die
• sugar pea designs - summer scoops - large cherry die
• spellbinders - camp days - ice cream die

Snow Falling, Fizz Flowing

Hello.
Well, what a change in the weather this week.
Here in Yorkshire, we've had just about non stop rain. It's lovely.
No sarcasm here - I LOVE the rain :o)
And it gives me time to play in my craft room.

I've kept things simple with this cute, penguin image.
I'm afraid it might be the last outing for this guy - it's one of my older stamps and is just starting to disintegrate around the edges.

I coloured him with copics, then added distress ink around him, and some snowfall.
I'm not sure why he's drinking fizz in the snow, but he's having a lovely time!

For the recently restarted

CAS Christmas Challenge

• wildrose studio - pickle with tipple
• distress ink - tumbled glass
• wplus9 - winter wonderland sentiment
• pretty pink posh - snowfall stencil
• pinkfresh studio - diagonal stitch rectangle
• copic markers - white gel pen