Lavender and lace

Hello lovely people,

It's Thursday again and so to a new challenge from Crafty Little Fairies where this week we have a fab theme for you of...

LAVENDER AND LACE

We are sponsored by the lovely Stamp and Create who have a $20 voucher up for grabs :-)

This is a super easy theme right?  Well, I thought so too until I found I had absolutely no DP of anything even remotely resembling lavender in my craft room.
So, I just had to go shopping and bought some more of the beautiful Maja DP in shades of lavender... and possibly a few extras while I was there!

This sweet little lady is a Saturated Canary digi stamp and oh, such fun to colour all the pleats and hair :-)

I was rummaging in my box of dies and came across these heart stem dies which I haven't used for a bit and yes, I am still loving the double bow right now!
You can see that I have curved the sentiment slightly and raised the middle up on foam pads to add a little dimension.

Card recipe;

Image: Canary Love - Saturated Canary

DP: Vintage Spring Basics - Maja Design

Shaped base: Large Frilly #2 die - Go Kreate

Lace: White Droplet Venise - The Ribbon Girl

Seam binding: Sky Mauve Lilac - The Ribbon Girl

Copic colours;

Skin: E0000/000/00/11/21 & R30

Hair: E55/23/25

Dress: R81/83/85 & BV0000/000 & V20/22/25/28

Bird: T0/1/2/3/blender

Shoes: T2/3/4/5 & T4/5/6/7

Socks: T0/1/blender

Ground: T1/2/3/4/blender

Leaf: YG61/63

If you pop over to Crafty Little Fairies you can check out the beautiful creations from my Fairy teamies.

Thanks for visiting and I really appreciate any comments that you leave,

Hugs,

Kat xx

Challenges I am entering;
1.  Inky Chicks (bingo - lace, pearls, ribbon)
2.  Sweet Stampin' (in stitches)
3.  The Ribbon Girl (anything goes)

Lovely James

Hello lovely people,

I had a wonderful weekend catching up with my friends and despite the wine consumed on Saturday night I was feeling quite sprightly on Sunday morning!
Today I have had a day off work so have been getting in some crafting time and I have a little CAS card to share with you today featuring one of the new LOTV James bear stamps.
I am enjoying making CAS cards at the moment and this one was a CASE of a fab layout that Lisa did (see the original here), although I have added the chevron strips at the sides.

I love all the different ways to colour James so this time I tried a new colour combo and tried for a very soft effect with lots of light fur and small amounts of shading.  I guess I was trying for something akin to what others achieve with distress inks and I'm really quite pleased with him!

Card recipe;

Image: James big heart - LOTV

DP: December documented - Simple Stories

Twine: Ivory button twine - The Ribbon Girl

Tags: Sentiment tags - LOTV

Copic colours;

Fur: E30/31/55/43

Heart: R37/39/59

Patch: T1/2/3

Rose: R39/59/89 & G94/99

Shading all round image: T0 (just to stop it being so bright against the Kraft!)

I think this little chap is destined to be Dr Hubby's Valentine's Day card as I know he is a fan of the CAS card!  So, that will be a first for me, not forgetting it was coming up and making something at the very last minute!  Oh, and there is no chance he will see this on my blog before then as he really is not that interested!

Thanks for popping in and I really appreciate any comments that you leave,

Hugs,

Kat xx

Challenges I am entering;
1.  As You Like It (fave CAS - for me it usually involves fussy cutting, strips of DP and some twine with tags - I like the pops of colour against the clean background and it's great for male cards!) 
2.  Cute Card Thursday (so sweet)
3.  Totally Gorjuss (furtastic)
4.  Craft Mojo (all things new - my gorgeous James stamp!)

Fabulous!

Hello lovely people,

Finally it's the weekend and I hope you all have something lovely planned.  I am catching up with some friends from uni who I haven't seen for ages so am very excited about that :-)  There may be some wine involved!

So, while I am enjoying myself I have a card to share with you using a fabulous digi stamp from All Dressed Up and I just had to team her with one of the large LOTV sentiment stamps.

I am loving the combo of pink and teal right now and also some slightly more CAS cards, which I would say are quicker to make but not when you are the queen of faff like me!  I have also been practicing my fussy cutting again!

Card recipe;

Image: Love to shop - ADU

Sentiment: Statements - Fabulous - LOTV

DP: Vintage summer basics - Maja Design

Copic colours;

Skin: E0000/000/00/21/11

Hair: E57/47/49

Jacket: E41/42/43

Top / bag: R81/83/85

Trousers: BG000/53/57/09

Shoes: E43/44

If you didn't come here from the All Dressed Up blog then I suggest a visit as there is so much inspiration there.

Thanks for visiting and I really appreciate any comments that you leave,

Hugs,

Kat xx

Pretty pastels

Hello lovely people,

My day off yesterday was filled with shopping, a haircut and a spot of exercise - all good stuff but not so much time for crafting :-(
I did receive an enormous parcel of goodies from Sarah's Cards though with some amazing paper pads so I can't wait to play with those!

And now it's Thursday so it's time for a new challenge at In The Pink and our theme this time is...

DIE CUTS AND PUNCHES

We are also super excited to be sponsored for this challenge by All Dressed Up Stamps so the winner will get to pick 2 digi images of their choice :-)

I have gone for sugary sweet pastels this time... mostly pink of course!  Oh, and those all important punched and die cut elements which add a lovely girly feel I think :-)

I have used one of the super cute ADU digi stamps and I am so sorry but she isn't actually available in the store but if you pop over there are many other lovely images to choose from.

Card recipe;

DP: Vintage summer basics - Maja Design
Dies: Memory box cherry blossoms and fancy blossoms, Magnolia Doohickey leaf and swirl

Punch: Martha Stewart deep edge punch - fans and flourishes
Flowers: Wild Orchid Crafts (smaller pink ones coloured with RV91 Copic)
Pearls: Wild Orchid Crafts (some coloured with Copics)

Copic colours;

Skin: E0000/000/00/21/11

Hair: E25/27/29/47

Dress / bow: RV0000/000/91/93

Wings: RV0000/000/91 & BG0000/70

Butterflies / bow: BG000/70/72

Ground: T0/1/2/3

If you pop over to In The Pink you can check out the fabulous creations from my teamies and I hope you will join in with our challenge.

Thanks for visiting and I really appreciate any comments that you leave,

Hugs,

Kat xx

Challenges I am entering;
1.  Wild Orchid Crafts (spring photo inspiration)
2.  Divas by Design (anything goes)
3.  Bunny Zoe (stitching)

Blue Monday?

Hello lovely people,

Apparently today is supposed to be the most depressing day of the year, also known as 'Blue Monday.'  Well, I had a very busy day in work but overall not particularly depressing ... especially since I had an e-mail saying my new Maja DPs are on the way to me from the fabulous Live and Love Crafts!

I thought I would share something blue with you but hopefully it won't depress you!  I made this card for the lovely Lisa's birthday :-)

I got the gorgeous deep MS edge punch for Christmas and cut away part of the front of the card then punched the edge so some of the inside of the card was visible.  The photo above is the card laying flat and below you can see it popping open a little.

I don't usually decorate the inside of my cards but in this design the inside is very much part of the overall design so I added a panel directly under the image panel for a greeting and popped a bit of seam binding underneath.

You may just be able to see that I curved the greeting a little by popping some foam pads under the centre.

I think this sweet image from LOTV makes a lovely winter birthday card although I am quite glad we don't have any snow yet this year!  I added a little sprinkling of Frantage round the edge and some liquid pearls to the snow.

Card recipe;

Image: Snow Queen - LOTV

DP: Vintage Frost Basics - Maja Design

Punch: Fans and flourishes - Martha Stewart
Dies: Precious stars - Memory Box
Sentiment: Mini clear stamp sent - Kaisercraft
Frantage: Shabby White - Stampendous
Seam binding / twine: from The Ribbon Girl
Button: from stash

Copic colours;

Skin: E0000/000/00/21/11

Hair: E40/41/42/43

Dress / shoes: B91/93/95/97

Soles of shoes: W4/5/6/7

Socks / fur: W00/0/1/2 (&B91 on socks)

Crown / stars: YR30/Y21/Y23

Ground: W00/0/1/2

This was a card I was really pleased with (even though it's not pink!) and will definitely be doing this style again :-)  It also has lots of my fave things on it - stitching, Frantage, seam binding, twine and a LOTV image...I was quite sad to part with this one!

I hope you all had a completely uneventful and non-depressing Blue Monday!

Thanks for visiting and I really appreciate any comments that you leave,

Hugs,

Kat xx

Challenges I am entering;
1.  LOTV (anything goes)
2.  A Little Bit Crafty (celebrate)
3.  Divas by Design (use ribbons)
4.  Sweet Stampin' (your fave style - pretty and girly)

In the kitchen

Hello lovely people,

I did warn you I had a lot of cards to share this week and now it's time for the Crafty Little Fairies challenge, where we have the theme...

IN THE KITCHEN

It's a double sponsor week again with fantastic prizes on offer from;

(prize = stamp of winner's choice)

(prize = voucher)

Initially I wasn't sure what I was going to do for this theme but then I spotted the perfect stamp and had an idea for a CAS design with it so here it is;

I love this image but colouring the skirt is quite scary because it's such a big expanse of white!  I think it could be better but I am well aware I am my own worst critic so I guess it's not too bad.
I added stickles to some of the details and although it is a bit more sparkly IRL, you can actually see it in the photos for once!

Card recipe;

Image: Ava loves to celebrate - Stamping Bella

DP: Dottie card set 1 - Anna Marie Designs

Tags: Sentiment Tags - LOTV

Twine: Ivory button twine - The Ribbon Girl

Copic colours;

Skin: E0000/000/00/11/21

Hair: E41/42/43

Dress: BG000/35/45/57/09

Cake / roses: E40/41/42 & YR30

Leaves: G61/63

Tray: T0/1/2

If you pop over to Crafty Little Fairies you can check out the fabulous creations from my teamies; there is a lot of cake so be warned, it may induce some drooling!

Thanks for visiting and I really appreciate any comments that you leave,

Hugs,

Kat xx

Challenges I am entering;

1.  Without Words (spots and/or stripes)

A Dressy blog hop

Hello lovely people,

Our first All Dressed Up challenge & release of 2014 is here...and what a fantastic release it is. 

Both our teams have joined together for this Challenge/Release, and we are also having a blog hop...more details of this below! 

We have four new releases this month, all of which can be found over on the store 

Our theme for the the challenge is "Anything Goes". A nice and easy theme to start the new year with. 

Here is my design team card for this challenge; 

I have used 'Little Bookworm' which you will find  here.  I took my cue from the gorgeous retro hat she is wearing and used vintage DP and colour palette.  Isn't she so cute?!

I also learnt to tie a beautiful double bow; something I have been meaning to do for a while.  I know some of you already have this skill but if not, I checked out a few different tutorials and found the video tutorial here the easiest to follow and it made the nicest bow :-)

Card recipe;

Image: Little Bookworm - All Dressed Up

DP: Vintage Autumn Basics - Maja Designs

Seam binding: Cruise Beige - The Ribbon Girl - not stocked now

Border: Martha Stewart edge punch

Flowers: Country Elegance - Prima

Dies: Anja's vintage swirls - Marianne Designs

Copic colours;

Hair: E57/47/49

Hat: E40/41/42

Dress / bow / book: E04/R56/R59/RV69

Chair: E42/43/44

Books: G94/85/99 & E50/51

The challenge will run until 2nd February and the winner will receive 3 images of their choice from the store. 

Please make sure you stop by the blog to check out the rest of the talented Dressy Girls creations. 

Now as I said earlier we are also having a blog hop for this challenge, two lucky winners will receive 2 images of their choice from the store, in order to be in with a chance of winning you have to visit every blog on the hop list and leave a comment by the date shown below. Two winners will be picked at Random by two of the Dressy Girls on Wednesday 22nd January . We know we have quite a few Dressy girls, so we have spread the hop over a week to give you all plenty of time to hop along. 

If you have been following the hop list you have arrived here from Marilyn.

Here is the hopping list so you don't get lost along the way;

All Dressed Up 

Marilyn

Kat (that's me!)

Lyndsey

Christine L 

Lizzy

Jennifer

Kelly

Carolyn

Peggy 

Bettina

Stacey
Trudie

Maritha 

Anne 

Lis 

Mary

Viv

Nicole 
Lynn

Christine R 

Nancy 

Sharon 
Guest Designer Victoria

Tracy 

Good luck on the hop and make sure you check out the blog for the winners & all the challenge details.

Thanks for visiting and I really appreciate any comments that you leave,

Hugs,

Kat xx

A new addiction

Hello lovely people,

Today I have a 'just for fun' card to share with you where I got to play with some more new crafty stash from Christmas.  I couldn't wait to use my Go Kreate dies and they cut beautifully :-)
I also got a Magnolia swirl die that I have wanted for ages and just couldn't bring myself to buy because it is soooo expensive, so I was one happy girlie when I got it for Christmas :-D

I picked up a couple of Magnolia stamps on sale before Christmas so out came one of those and yes, that's the new addiction I am referring to in my post title!  I just adore colouring them :-)

Card recipe;

Image: Tilda loves flowers - Magnolia

DP: Vintage Autumn Basics - Maja Design

Lace: Irene - The Ribbon Girl
Dies: Leaf and Swirl - Magnolia, Fancy Blossoms - Memory box
Sentiment: Mini clear stamp set - Kaisercraft

Copic colours;

Skin: E0000/000/11/21/11

Hair: E53/35/37/47

Dress / socks: W00/0/1/2/3

Shoes: E57/47/49/100

Flowers: RV0000/91/93

Braches: E57/47

Leaves: YG61/G21

I have been a busy little bee in my craft room of late hence a lot of posts from me this week including a fantastic All Dressed Up blog hop tomorrow so do pop back for that one!

Thanks for visiting and I really appreciate any comments that you leave,

Hugs,

Kat xx

Challenges I am entering;
1.  Sweet Magnolia (anything goes)
2.  Papertake Weekly (new year, new stash)
3.  Inky Chicks (anything goes)
4.  Midweek Magnolias (new stash)
5.  Marvellous Magnolia (lovely lace)

Vintage chic

Hello lovely people,

Today I have a card to share that was one of those ones that just came together so easily - yes, it doesn't happen very often!  I really must step away from the pink more often...ok, I don't think that will happen but I do love the colours here.

I know I say this about all the SC images but this is just gorgeous!  I had a lot of fun colouring in pretty bright colours too :-)
I also don't think I have credited Dr Hubby with the most recent improvement in my hair colouring.  He suggested that I should leave a white bit to make it look more shiny and although it feels a bit scary when doing it, he is right you know!  Shhh, don't tell him though!

Card recipe;

Image: Violet Vintage - Saturated Canary

DP: Stella & Rose 'Mabel' - MME
Sentiment: Clear mini sentiment set - Kaisercraft
Crochet flower: made by my mother-in-law
Button: from stash

Copic colours;

Skin: E0000/000/00/21/11

Hair: E57/59/49

Eyes: E57/59

Lips: R21/22

Orange bits: YR21/23/24

Green bits: G21/12

Brown on dress: E41/42/43

Bag: E40/41/42

Roses: R39/89

Shoes: W6/7/8/10

Ground: W00/0/1/2/3

This morning I was all geared up for a crafty day, sat in my craft room and discovered that Mr Mojo had decided to go on a little holiday :-(  So I gave up and pottered around the house for most of the day, popped back in the craft room and Mr Mojo suddenly re-appeared - hurrah!  Let's hope he stays around tomorrow too and I hope he visits you all as well :-)

Thanks for popping in and I really appreciate any comments that you leave,

Hugs,

Kat xx

Challenges I am entering;

1.  ABC (C for colourful)

2.  A Creative Romance (something new - the digi is new)
3.  A Gem of a Challenge (something new)
4.  Papertake Weekly (anything goes +/- something new)
5.  Divas by Design (let's celebrate)

Very pink

Hello lovely people,

Welcome to the first In The Pink challenge of 2014 and it's easy peasy this week with..

ANYTHING GOES

I had a CAS moment again!  And I must have been having a real funny five because I fussy cut the image; although I love the look of fussy cutting I am not all that good at it ...except it was quite easy to do with this image!
I was lucky enough to get a set of Go Kreate dies for Christmas and I reckon they are a great way to add interest to a CAS design...with a little stitching of course!

I bagged this cute Tiddly Inks image a while back in a sale and couldn't let her go un-coloured any longer.  I thought she would make a great thank you card and I just had to go for little fishtail banners to add my sentiment.

Card recipe;

Image: Cocoa wishes - Tiddly Inks

DP: Dottie card set 2 - Anna Marie Designs

Shaped base: Go Kreate Die Large Frilly #2

Sentiment: Kaisercraft mini clear stamp set

Copic colours;

Skin: E0000/000/00/21/11

Hair: E35/37/47

Trousers / ear muffs: R81/83/85

Mug: RV0000/000/R81 (YR30 for froth)

Shoes: T3/4/5/6 & T6/7/8

If you pop over to In The Pink you can check out the fabulous pink creations from my teamies and I hope you will share in the fun with our easy challenge; don't forget to use more pink than any other colour!

Thanks for visiting and I really appreciate any comments that you leave,

Hugs,

Kat xx

Challenges I am entering;
1.  Tiddly Inks (CAS)
2.  As You Like It (fave single colour - pink of course and I just love the range of shades and it is perfect for the girly cards I love to make)
3.  Top Tip Tuesday (CAS)

Book token presentation pack

Hello lovely people,

Are you all settling back into the usual routines post Christmas?  Doesn't it feel like ages ago already?!  Well, here is something I made to give to my aunt-in-law for Christmas to make a book token a bit more exciting!

I found a quote I liked for the front and played around with some fonts on the computer to make a focal point and then added some pretty flowers and leaves to frame it.

I created 2 pockets inside to hold the book token on the left and a matching bookmark on the right.  I only added a little stamped detail and one flower so that the card would actually shut since the pockets and gifts already made it quite bulky!

I made a corner bookmark very similar to a previous one; check out this post if you want to see how it fits on a book!  This also had to be flat so it wouldn't created lumps in the book!

Card recipe;

Image (on bookmark): Posy trio - LOTV

DP: Vintage Summer Basics - Maja Designs

Label shape / scalloped circle: cut with Cricut

Lace: 12mm white scallop flat lace - The Ribbon Girl

Brown/white flowers: Wild Orchid Crafts

Pink flowers: The Ribbon Girl
Dies: Lavish branch - Memory Box, Cherry blossom (for flower centre) - Memory Box

Fancy edge: Martha Stewart edge punch

Pearls: from Wild Orchid Crafts

Copic colours (for bookmark);

Fur: E40/41/42/44
Flower: R81/83

I am working this weekend but can look forward to having Monday off and am really hoping for an end to this grey weather so I can photograph some of my recent projects!  I hope you are all having a lovely weekend and haven't been washed away/snowed in etc. depending on where you live.

Thanks for visiting and I really appreciate any comments that you leave,

Hugs,

Kat xx

Challenges I am entering;

1.  Papertake Weekly (pick of the year...flower power)

So special

Hello lovely people,

Happy New Year!  I was unlucky enough to have a stomach bug for the last few days of 2013 but in general it was a pretty good year.  I have lots of gorgeous new crafting goodies to play with - some from my lovely family and some that I couldn't resist getting for myself as a Christmas treat!  I hope you did too!

And now it's time for our first Crafty Little Fairies challenge of 2014 where we have the theme of...

STARTING OVER

So, we are thinking new baby, new home, new job or anything else new that you can think of!

Our fabulous sponsor this week is...

I sent this card to friends of ours who had their little girl very prematurely 3 months ago when she was finally able to go home from the Neonatal Unit just in time for Christmas :-)

This is from the recent release of gorgeous baby stamps from LOTV and I can see myself using it a lot!  I even pushed myself to do a faint blue background as I thought it might look odd without and I'm actually pretty happy with it.  It seems to have bleached out in the photo below though :-(

Card recipe;

Image: Balloon basket - LOTV

DP: Sofiero collection - Maja Designs

Ribbon / pink thread: from stash

Dies: Precious stars - Memory Box, Timeless rectangles (used as borders) - Spellbinders

Sentiments: Sentiment tags - LOTV

Frantage: Shabby White - Stampendous

Copic colours;

Skin: E0000/000/00/21/11

Blanket: RV0000/000/81

Basket: E40/41/42/43

Ribbon: T0/1 & R85

Background: B0000/000/0

So, make it your first New Year's resolution to pop over to Crafty Little Fairies and see what the rest of the Fairies have created and I hope they inspire you to join in with the challenge.

I hope you all have a wonderful 2014 filled with lots of crafting!

Thanks for visiting and I really appreciate any comments that you leave,

Hugs,

Kat xx

Challenges I am entering;

1.  Simon Says Stamp (something new)

2.  That Craft Place (anything goes)

3.  Totally Gorjuss (new)