Bling it on

Over at House Mouse & Friends they are celebrating their 100th Challenge. If you enter a card and follow the Blog Hop there are some incredible prizes up for grabs. The theme is  Buttons, Bows & Bling.
What a great excuse to get out all my glitters  :-)

I used this cute 'Tis the Season stamp (thanks Lols xxx), coloured with Copics and sprinkled liberally with glitter. If anyone has any tips for photographing glitter, please share... IRL this is much more sparkly. 

I've also chalked the background in blue, but that doesn't show up real well either.

Challenges.

House Mouse & Friends - Buttons, Bows & Bling + Blog Hop

Papertake - Getting Cute. (I think this has the awww factor!)

Cupcake - Wish upon a Star

Paper Sundaes - Christmas in July

Stamptacular - Animal Antics

2 Sisters - Christmas in July

Supplies - 

House Mouse 'Tis the Season Stamp

DP - Memory Box Mistletoe and Daisy & Dandelion A Winter's Tale.

Art Institute fine silver glitter.   Ultra fine crystal glitter.

Catslife Press Merry Christmas Stamp

Martha Stewart lace border punch

Ribbon and buttons from my stash.

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It's your birthday...celebrate with a bath!!!

This will be my pooch tomorrow ( minus the mice, I hope!!! )
as she goes to the groomers for a bath and a haircut.

I have to keep it quiet though - if she suspects that's where she's going

she will hide under the cupboard and refuse to come out!

This is my card for the House Mouse challenge,
where the theme is 'Make a Splash!'

It was a very simple and quick card.
I coloured the image with Copics and added glitter to the bubbles.
The little doggy is a button - I just used pliers to snip off the shank
and the 'happy birrthday' is lifted with foam pads.

Stamp - House Mouse 'Soggy Doggy'
Design Paper - Basic Grey - Max & Whiskers
Happy Birthday Stamp - Cat's Life Press
(Papers and text stamp available at Crafty Emma's Store )

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Christmas in July

I am a bit out of practice with Christmas cards,
but seeing as there are only 175 days 'til Christmas Day (eek!!)
it seemed like a good time to start making some.

I managed to dig out my box full of Christmas papers and stamps,
but I definitely need to buy some seasonal embellies.

I came across some mulberry paper (the dark green)
that I haven't used in ages.
If you wet the edges and carefully tear it,
you get a lovely feathered effect.
I 3D'd a couple of mice with foam pads,
coloured them with copics and added some stickles glitter.
I used a green chalk around the image and some yellow,
where the lantern is.
It doesn't show up too well in the photo though.

I finally found a great leaf punch.
My last one - I had to stamp on to get it to cut through anything,
and then it would completely jam!!
This one is from Xcut and it embosses as well.

Challenges I am entering...
Stampin' For The Weekend - Christmas in July and Sandie's Sketch
Fussy and Fancy - Christmas in July
Winter Wonderland - Punch It Out!

Recipe -
Stamp - Penny Black Christmas Critters.
Design Paper - My Mind's Eye - Signature Christmas.
Leaves - XCut Botanical Embossing Punch.
Blooms - Wild Orchid Crafts
Sentiment - Craftwork Cards
Star Charm - The Hobby House
My Stash - adhesive pearls, brad and ribbon.

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Art Nouveau

How stunning is this Art Nouveau lady?
I got a couple of these beautiful stamps
( my win over at Papertake Weekly)
from the lovely Beckie at Lilac Lemon Designs.

I haven't used a stamp like this before,
so I wasn't sure how to colour it.
In the end I went for this monochrome look
and used just a few grey Copics.
I also added some stickles glitter here and there.

I am entering my card for this week's challenge at Sketch and Stash,
I have followed their sketch and, of course, my new stash is the stamp.
This is another of those cards that look better in person... honest!!
The picture doesn't really show the glitter too well,
or the lovely texture of the black, velevet ribbon.

Stamp - Lilac Lemon Designs, Art Nouveau Lady,
coloured with Copics and stickles glitter.
Design Paper - Papermania Capsule Collection, Monochrome.
Small roses from Wild Orchid Crafts.
Heart charm from The Hobby House
Black velvet ribbon from my stash.
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Card and Cookies

Crafting AND cookies... what more could you want?
Except, on my diet, I am not allowed to eat these - tempting as they are.
Well... maybe just a little one... only to check quality control!!!

I found this House Mouse stamp sooo tricky to colour -
and my stamped image wasn't great to start with.
I need to get used to stamping such a large image.

I coloured with Copics and 3D'd the little 'cat was here' note.
The edges of my papers were distressed and
I punched the ribbon holes to thread the ribbon through the paper,
then added a bow at the top and the sentiment at the bottom.

I would like to enter this for the Sunday Sketch & Stamp challenge,
which is a fabulous sketch by Arianne

Stamp - House Mouse, Mice Style
Text Stamp - from Penny Black 'Bubbly' set
Design Paper - Papermania Capsule Collection, Aqua
Ribbon Punch - Martha Stewart
Ribbon and small gems from my stash
Nestie Tibbon Tag

Cookies... more like little rockcakes really!

Makes 10

250g SR Flour / 1 tsp Allspice / 85g butter
85g caster sugar / 55g glace cherries / 55g Sultanas
1 egg / 2tbsps milk / brown sugar, for sprinkling

Heat the oven to 200C / 400F (I had my fan oven at 180C)
Sift the flour and allspice into a bowl.
Add the butter and rub in until it resembles breadcrumbs.
Stir in the sugar, cherries and sultanas. ( I added a few chopped pecans too!)
Break the egg into a bowl and whisk in the milk.
Pour most of the egg mix into the dry ingredients and mix with a fork.
Add the rest of the egg mix, if necessary, to make a stiff, coarse dough.
Using two forks pile the mix into 10 rocky heaps and a greased baking sheet.
Srinkle with the brown sugar.
Bake for 10 - 15 mins or until golden and firm to the touch.

Enjoy!

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Totally Papercrafts Challenge - More than one fold

Morning everyone... is it Friday already?
Then it must be time for a new challenge at Totally Papercrafts.
This week the challenge has been set by the lovely Joey and is

"MORE THAN ONE FOLD"

Our sponsor this week is Karen's Doodles and she is offering a lucky winner 3 digi images from her store. She also has a gorgeous new FREE image on her site HERE if you would like to go and get it !

Here is my design - it's a simple gatefold card.
To keep the gatefold closed, I added a heart to each side of the card, with one heart tucking in behind the other. It wasn't a complete success though, so I ended up putting some ribbon on the bottom too.
This card is for my 25th Wedding Anniversary, which is next month.. where does the time go???
I already had the image chosen and it was ready and waiting to be used, and I do like the way this fold makes the little hedgies kiss in the middle. Sweet!
The hedgies are Penny Black, Long Kiss, coloured with Copics, with stickles glitter added to the balloon and rose.
DP, Ribbon and Bloom are all from the Papermania Mono Capsule Collection.
It's hard to see, but I also added some glitter to the hearts.
I used more of the DP inside the card and added a Rub on quote from DCWV, Love Quotes.
The heart charm is from the Hobby House.
Sorry the pics aren't better... I knew exactly what I wanted to focus on, but the camera had a mind of it's own!! This is one of those cards that really does look better in real life... honest!

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With Love, Anya

Well, we managed to escape the extra snowfall today,
but it's still cold out there.
I have turned the heating up again
and settled into my craft room.
Remember when you would go back to school after the holidays
and you had just about forgotten how to write!!!
Well, I think I have forgotten how to use my Copics.
So don't look too closely at the colouring.
:-)

My card follows the sketch at the Truly Scrumptious challenge
(my first challenge entry of the year,
so I have my fingers crossed...lol* ).

Recipe:
Stamp - The Greeting Farm, Miss Anya Dressy,
coloured with copics. I paper pieced the little hat bow
and added a little gem to her collar.
Design Paper - DCWV Valentine's Card Kit.
Prima flowers, spacers, pearl brad and heart charm
from The Hobby House
Sentiment was made on my comp.
xxx

Christmas Girls

I used the great sketch over at
Create4fun
to make Christmas cards for my girls.
I couldn't give them exactly the same so

I just changed the papers and colours.

I think they came out pretty cute -
and I am enjoying using 'non-Christmas'
stamps for my Christmas cards.

Recipe:

Stamp - Sugar Nellie, Pen Pal
coloured with Copics and stickles glitter.

Design Paper - My Mind's Eye, Signature Christmas.

Bloom and snowflakes were X Cut punches.

Pearl brad and star charm from the Hobby House

Ribbon from my stash
and sentiment made on my comp.
xxx

Christmas Bear

I am feeling a bit sniffly today -

so I am going to turn on the heating,
wrap up warm and plonk myself in front of the TV.

But first, here is my entry for this week's

Sunday Sketch & Stamp,
which is a fab sketch from Clare.
Pop over there and check out the fab DT work.

Recipe:

Stamp - Forever Friends, paper pieced and coloured with copics.
Xmas design Paper from last year's stash.

Punched snowflakes sprinkled with Diamond Dust.

Star charm from the Hobby House

Sentiment and card candy from Craftwork Cards.

xxx

Ruby Wedding No2

Here's the second Ruby Wedding card

I needed to make.
I'm starting to doubt myself now,
and wonder whether the lady that ordered them will like them.

They aren't your typical Anniversary card.

Oh well, I will know soon enough!

Over at Daring Cardmakers,
Keryn is planning her 2nd anniversary
as a Stampin' Up demonstrator,

so she has chosen 'Anniversaries'

as this week's challenge.

Pop on over there and check out the work
of the DT.

It's lovely to see so much variety in their projects.

Recipe:

Digital Stamp - from the Pollycraft Promise Collection,
coloured with whispers pens and glossy accents on the heart.
Design Paper - K & Co, Classic
Heart charm and papermania pearl brads were from

The Hobby House
Card Candy from Craftwork Cards.

xxx

Ruby Wedding

Afternoon everyone,
I have been asked to make a couple of Ruby Wedding cards,

and here is the first one.

I was a bit daunted by this,

I've never actually made anything to order before,

so I hope that they will like what I've done.

I am entering this card for the

Lili of the Valley challenge,
which is 'So Charming'.
You need to add one or more charms to your project.

I don't have any Lili of the Valley stamps,

so I am keeping my fingers crossed for the prize
;-)
There's still time to enter this challenge
so head on over there and check out the fab DT work.

Recipe:
Stamps -from the WOJ Spring Collection,
coloured with whispers pens.
Design Paper - Papermania Regency.
Flowers were punched from the DP
and sprinkled with stickles glitter.

Papermania pearl brads and heart charm from

The Hobby House
Card Candy from Craftwork Cards

Ribbon from my stash.
xxx

Make a Wish

Evening everyone,
hope you have all had a lovely weekend.
I have had a full house and we have just had the
most wonderful slow cooked lamb,
thanks to my new Nigella recipe book.
Delicious!

Here's a card that I finished this morning.
I followed the wonderful sketch over at

Sketch Saturday
I definitely did not want to miss out on the chance to win
a £15 voucher from

Bunny Zoes Crafts.

She has a fab selection of goodies in her online shop.

I admit a made a boo boo with this card.

I was going to turn the ribbon under the pink card,
but I got carried away on my sewing machine and
stitched the card down before I realised.

Recipe:
Stamp - Penny Black coloured with whispers pens
and stickles glitter.
Design Paper - DCWV Nana's Nursery Baby Girl
Border is made with a Fiskars lace punch

The flowers were punched from the DP
and I added some stickles glitter to them.

Heart charm is from the Hobby House
Sentiment from Craftwork Cards
xxx

Build A Card

There is a really great challenge over at
Stamptacular Sunday.
I have been so engrossed in it, that the family
have started to wander into my craft room,
to see why they haven't been fed yet!!!

Today's fun is called 'Build A Card'.
You need to visit the blogs of the 10 DT members
and see what elements you need to 'build' your card.
Be quick though - your card needs to be in by midnight
Monday 20th July.

I have checked and double checked
to make sure I have the 10 elements on my card.

I'm not saying what they are though.

You will have to find them yourself!!

Recipe:
Stamp - Penny Black coloured with whispers pens
and stickles glitter.
Paper - DCWV Nann's Nursery Baby Boy
Sentiment from Craftwork Cards

Flowers were punched from the design paper
Charm from Hobby House
Ribbon from my stash.

xxx

'Til the End of Time...

Don't you just love it when a plan comes together?

I am really pleased with how this card turned out.

I was struggling to think of what stamp to use for this week's

'wedding' themed
Spoonful of Sugar Challenge.

until I thought of my new 'elephant love' stamps from

Simon Says Stamp.
Aren't they the cutest?

Recipe: Stamp from 'elephant love set' by Simon Says Stamp,
lightly coloured with whispers pens.

Sentiment from DCWV, Rub-on love quotes.

Design Paper: Papermania Exquisite.

Flowers punched from design paper.

Butterfly die-cut with spellbinders butterfly die,

(flowers and butterfly edged with stickles glitter)
Brads, lace and pearls from my stash.

Heart charm and flower spacers from Hobby House

xxx

2 for the price of 1

Afternoon everyone,

June seems to be a busy birthday time for me,
and my card stock is dwindling, so I made

2 cards for the Friday Sketchers Challenge.
Check out their fabulous DT work for inspiration.

Recipe:
Design Paper: Papermania, Basics Vibrant
and Doodlebug Design Inc (purple 'ribbon' )
Digital Stamp: Pollycraft Promise Collection,
cooured with whispers pens.
I also added stickles glitter to the image and
glossy accents to the balloons/hearts.
Card Candy and sentiments from Craftwork Cards
Heart charm from The Hobby House
Ribbon from my stash.

xxx

Together Forever

Hello everyone,
just a quick post this morning,
before I have to tackle the
European Ironing Mountain!

This is my entry for this week's 'Wedding' challenge,
over at Digital Tuesday.

I got to try out my new digital stamp from
Pollycraft
and one of my new charms from
The Hobby House.

I'm not sure how to attach these charms yet,
I went for ribbon here, but found it a bit fiddly to do.
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Recipe: Pollycraft Digital Stamp - Promise Collection,
coloured with whispers pens.
DP: Papermania - Blueberry Hill
Quote - DCWV Rub on quote stack - Love
Charm and Spacer - Hobby House
Blooms and ribbon from my stash.

xxx