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

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

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

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

Fun In The Snow

Hello.
Today I'm an elf!
I'm excited to be joining Jo, over at the 

Christmas Kickstart Challenge 

This month I've chosen the theme of Snow Days.

I'm thinking...  building a snowman, kids on sledges, penguins with scarves, birds on snowy branches, you get the idea.
I'm looking forward to seeing all those snowy scenes, so I hope you'll play along.

Here is my card, using one of my favourite stamps.

I stamped my image and coloured it with copics. 
For the landscape, I found a little stamp with those flower tufts on,  which just helped to ground the image a bit.
The sky is distress ink and my snow is made with a white gel pen, through a snowfall stencil.

Thank you Jo, for letting me join you this month.

It was fun xxx

• purple onion designs - happy mail
• fa la la stamp - sorry! Can't remember the make
• landscape stamp - my favorite things - frost loving friends
• distress oxide - salvaged patina
• pinkfresh studio - diagonal stitch rectangle
• pretty pink posh - snowfall stencil
• 
  

Annabel and Friends

Hello.

Little Annabel was celebrating her first birthday - so she deserved something a bit special.

It's pretty cute to see those animal friends peeking out from her name.

The letters were individually stamped and coloured with copics.
Then they were fussy cut and popped up on a distress ink, countryside background.
I added some streamers and balloons, and that cute sentiment.

Who knew taking photos of slimline cards was so tricky!

Challenge

We Love Stamping 

 🦊🐠All Creatures Great and Small🦮🦥

• clearly besotted - as cute as abc
• my favorite things - cloud and grass stencil
• my favorite things - sentiment, streamer and balloons - pawtytime set
• distress inks - cracked pistachio / tumbled glass
• copic markers

Tiny Tipples and Bubbly Vibes

Hello.

Has anyone seen my mojo?
It seems to have deserted me.

I tried to jump start some creativity with the Freshly Made Sketches Challenge,
but I never really got into the groove with this one.

I switched out the squares, for hexagons and tried to keep it bright and cheerful.
My little critters were stamped and coloured with copics.

Challenge

Freshly Made Sketches

• clearly besotted - tiny tipples
• pinkfresh studio - simply hexagons
• copic markers

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

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 

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

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