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

Swipe, Swipe, Done!

Hello.
I am definitely not great at fancy ink techniques,
but this one was so easy I had to give it a go.
                                             Direct to Paper Inking

I chose some ice-cream colours, dragged the ink cubes across a card panel and voila - instant background. How easy is that?

Suzie skunk was die-cut and assembled, complete with ice cream and backpack.
Then I used the pole of the oar for the happy birthday sign. 

The stitched rectangle panel was also swished with pink ink, which was brilliant as it always really hurts me to use a big piece of my coloured cardstock for those bases. :o)

Challenge

Group Of Cardmakers

Direct to Paper Inking 

• spellbinders - trailside trio / camp days / splash days
• altenew inks - cotton candy / peach sorbet / mango smoothie
• hero arts ink - green hills
• pinkfresh studio - diagonal stitch rectangle
• lawn fawn - offset birthday sentiments

Soaking Up Some Sunshine

Hello.
I hope you're enjoying the long weekend.
Today's card feels very fitting for the lovely weather we're having right now!
A group of sunbathers, stretched out on their towels, making the most of every bit of sunshine.

This was fun to put together, but boy, are those die cuts tiny!
I started off by making up all those sunbathers in their swimwear. Then attached them to their towels.

For the frame I used a 3d embossing folder, because it made me think of the tiles around the pool.

Challenge

Freshly Made Sketches

I'm missing the sentiment, cos I just couldn't decide what to use.

• concord and 9th - poolside dies
• altenew 3d embossing folder - diamond stars

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

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

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

A Sympathy Card Straight From The Heart

Today I'm sharing a sympathy card.
Not the easiest card to make, but often the most meaningful.

Flowers are my nemesis, and you will rarely see them on any of my cards, but I guess they are the go-to for sympathy cards, and I really had no idea what else to use.
This was a tough card for me though - in so many ways.

Challenge

AAA Cards

I think I'll have to go with 'anything goes' this time,
but whilst making the card I did have in mind the monochrome theme.
I kept my blooms tone on tone, and used greys for the leaves and background panel.

• altenew - garden picks dies
• spellbinders - sending you stamps and dies
• pinkfresh studio - diagonal stitch rectangle

Poolside Fun

The UK is in the middle of a heatwave - everyone is either sat on a small patch of grass in the sun, or melting quietly in the shade, with a cup of tea  :o)
Which one are you?

I used the smaller dies, of this poolside set, to make-up these people lounging in the sun, topping up their tan.

I could just take a dip in that water myself. It might be time to get out the paddling pool :o)

Challenge

Addicted to Stamp & More

• concord and 9th - poolside dies and stamps
• the stamp market - criss cross stamp
• altenew ink - fresh lemon/tide blue
• rnger distress ink - tumbled glass/spiced marmalade
• verscolor ink - turquoise
• my favorite things - in and out stitched rectangles

Miss You, Mum

Hello.
My mum passed away in 2021, but I still make her a birthday card.
Is that weird?
I like to think she's up there, having a party with my dad and my brother.

If you visit at all, you'll know that I don't play well with flowers :o) 
But even I can make this bouquet look presentable.

I added the hand/arm from a Christmas Concord & 9th set and love how it turned out.

Challenge

Little Red Wagon

Flowers Challenge #808

• the greetery - flower market bouquet
• versacolor ink - camelia, magenta
• altenew ink - fresh leaf, fresh lemon, maple yellow, sea breeze, dark chocolate
• concord & 9th- arm/hand  handmade holidays
• pinkfresh studio - perfect sentiments, diagonal stitched rectangle

We Are All Artists

Hello.
This Easter, Nibbles the Guinea Pig became an artist,  painting his very own egg with some colourful blooms.

I created the egg with a large oval nestie, and used a scalloped die for the trim.
The blooms and leaves were stamped from an old lawn fawn set I have (yes, I do have an odd flower set in my stash).
Then, I added a grassy edge and my guinea pig was fussy cut - yeah, I need to practice that!

For the Inkspirational Challenge

where the mood board is 'decorated eggs'

• colorado craft company - paint the town
• lawn fawn - penelope's blossoms
• altenew inks - fresh leaf/baby pink/citrus burst/turquoise
• nestie oval die
• my favorite things - stitched scallop edge die
• spellbinders - landscape edge die
• pinkfresh studio - diagonal stitch rectangle
• copics 

'Popping' by to say Happy Birthday

Hello.
How is everyone? 
We have lots of family birthdays in February, so it's a busy, card making time for me.

Today I'm sharing this fun, balloon party.

It's my first time inking up and colouring this cute stamp and these guys are definitely party ready.

For the balloons I used an old Altenew stamp, with lots of masking. I thought I had ruined the whole card, when I added those balloon strings - urgh! I was so cross with myself. But I managed to hide the worst of them with the sentiment.

Challenge

AAA Colourful

• purple onion designs - let's celebrate
• balloons - altenew - hug me
• sentiment - my favorite things - party penguins
• copic markers / wow white embossing powder / white gel pen

Frost Loving Friends

Hello.
I'm sending a big thank you to Tara and the team at Seven Hills Crafts today.
I was the lucky winner of their October Challenge and they kindly sent me a £10 voucher to spend in store.
Oooh - what to buy - so many goodies.
I finally settled on this cute frosty friends set. It's an older set, but it had all the elements to make a pretty, winter scene.

I inked up a background panel with some distress ink. Then I used the trees die to cut the foreground and layer it on top. It was a bit stark in plain white, so I did a very light smoosh over with the same colour distress ink.

The die cut friends and elements were coloured with copics and attached with foam tape.
I held my breath whilst I stamped the sentiment, then used a stencil and white gel pen for the snow.

Challenge

Seven Hills Crafts 

December Winter Themed Challenge

• my favorite things - frost loving friends
• pretty pink posh - snowfall stencil
• distress oxide - salvaged patina
• altenew ink - fresh leaf
• white gel pen / copic markers

All Aboard The Christmas Care-a-van

Hello.
I missed the Freshly Made Sketches deadline last week, duh! -
so here I am, getting my entry in with plenty of time left on the clock.  :o)

I wanted to play with this cute 'care-a-van' set, but wasn't sure how it would work. So I cut the white card base pieces, and then just played around with the die-cuts until it started to come together.

This has always been a tricky stamp for me to line up, but I'm starting to be ok with the fact that it's not spot on. It's handmade, right? It doesn't have to be perfect.

Challenge

Freshly Made Sketches

I just rotated the sketch 90 degrees

• the greetery - christmas care-a-van
• my favorite things - snowglobe sentiments
• pinkfresh studio ink - warm buff
• altenew ink - crimson / fresh leaf

Merry Nutcracker

Hello.
I've had another attempt at a nutcracker card today.
I am NOT the most delicate person, so holding these tiny die-cuts with tweezers,
adding the glue, and then sticking them down in the perfect spot, does not come easy to me.
I need more practice.

There's also a rare outing for an embossing folder  -
with that 'diamond star' background giving a lovely 3D element.

Challenge

Inkspirational

This nutcracker has a full base piece, and then the individual elements are layered on top.
I've also layered the foliage and holly, and the message on the banner.

• conocord and 9th - nutcracker
• altenew - diamond stars 3d embossing folder

Life Is Short... Eat The Treats.

Hello.
I'm all about the treats today - with this cute box of delicious goodies.

This is one of those stamp sets that I really love playing with. It has so many elements to put together. But, it's not an easy stamp - it tends to go a bit blotchy and is tricky to line up. I have to get over the fact that it's never going to be perfect.

Challenge

Freshly Made Sketches

I've just rotated the sketch, for a landscape card.

• the greetery - sweet tooth
• sentiment - hero arts - eat cake all day
• avery elle - postage stamp dies
• copics

Inks

• pinkfresh studio - warm buff, doe, gathered twigs
• altenew - blush, rouge, cotton candy