Ruby wedding anniversary

Hello lovely people,

I've had a weekend packed with celebrations; firstly my parents' 40th wedding anniversary and then my sister-in-law's 40th birthday.

I decided to take the plunge and make an exploding box card for my parents' anniversary card so here's what it looks like from the outside...

I kept the outside fairly simple and used several different flowers to make a little 'bouquet' on the top.

Since 40 years is ruby I wanted to use some red in the design...now, that is a colour that I have very little of in my paper collection!

I made the most of a small leftover piece of gorgeous Maja Design heart paper and scrounged together a few scraps of plain red - just enough for the heart centrepiece and a few heart stems!

The heart centrepiece is made from strips of paper and is held in place with a rather large blob of glue, which I hid with a whole heap of flowers!

The little heart stems are a real favourite die of mine and I think they look so cute 'tied' with a twine bow.

Card recipe;

DP: Vintage baby - Maja Design (available from Live and Love Crafts) and scraps of red from stash

Flowers: Wild Orchid Crafts
Twine: Natural button twine - The Ribbon Girl

Tag: Sentiment tags - LOTV
Dies: Circle stax - MFT Die-namics, Vintage lace - Magnolia Doohickey, Heart stems - Impression Obsession, Tiny heart set - Memory box, scalloped circles - Spellbinders I think!

Sentiments: done on computer (font - Kayleigh)

I am pleased to say that my parents loved this 'card' and we had a wonderful time celebrating their special anniversary.
I'll have more cards from the weekend to share with you soon!

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

Challenges I am entering;
1.  Simon Says Stamp (anything goes)
2.  A Gem of a Challenge (flowers)

Time flies

Hello lovely people,

It's time for a new challenge at In The Pink and our theme this time is...

THINGS WITH WINGS

I hope you all love fairies, butterflies, birds... all things winged because we certainly do at In The Pink!

Now here's a little tip for you...
The lace looked just a teensy bit too bright white for this card so I got the sponge that I use to apply my Frayed Burlap distress ink and lightly pressed it over the top of the lace; I didn't add any ink to the sponge and just used the residue on it so it was a really subtle effect.
You won't even be able to tell by looking at the card but it is much better!

I have used another of my new stash of LOTV stamps with a little added sparkle of course!

I made a large pull out tag with space to write a message.

I am wondering if I should have popped some pearls or maybe a sentiment on the front of the card too, but do let me know what you think!

Card recipe;

Image: Time flies - LOTV

DP: Vintage baby & Vintage Summer basics - Maja Design (available from Live and Love Crafts)

Flowers: Wild Orchid Crafts
Lace: Chantilly cotton lace (Penny) - Crafty Ribbons
Twine: Natural button twine - The Ribbon Girl

Tag: Sentiment tags - LOTV

Sparkle: Stardust Stickles
Pearl dots: Viva pearl pen (white)

Copic colours;
Skin: E000/00/21/11/04 & R20
Hair: E41/43/47
Dress / shoes: RV11/R83/R56
Wings / socks: RV0000/000/11
Dandelion: G20/YG61/63 & E47 & W0/2/3
Grass: G20/YG61/63

If you haven't already done so then do pop over to In The Pink and check out the gorgeous creations from the rest of the Pink Ladies.

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

Challenges I am entering;
1.  Deep Ocean (bingo - flowers, stitching, tag)

All about hair

Hello lovely people,

What a lovely long weekend!
I had lots of fun walking in the sunshine, designing wedding stationary with a friend and making/eating what I consider to be the best pudding ever...behold the sticky toffee cheesecake...

I was going to do a spot of gardening yesterday morning but an enormous (2 inch thick!) bamboo pole fell on me, leaving a nasty gash under my eyebrow and requiring me to lie down with an ice pack for a bit :-(
Bamboo pole 1: Kat 0
Dr. Hubby was a star and planted out the many cannas all by himself!

Sadly, it's back to work for me today but of course it's time for a new challenge at Top Tip Tuesday and our theme this time is...

IT'S ALL ABOUT THE HAIR COLOUR

We have The East Wind as our lovely sponsor for this challenge and they are offering 3 images to the winner.

I've kept my card fairly CAS since the image is so beautiful and detailed.

I have wanted to colour up this gorgeous image for a while and this was the perfect opportunity since I had 2 lots of hair to colour!

Card recipe;

Image: Octavia Moonfly Unicorn - Polka Doodles

DP: XOXO - American Crafts (pink stripy) and Yours Truly - Pebbles (turquoise spotty)

Ribbon: 7mm aqua satin Berisford No78- The Ribbon Girl
Sparkle buckle: Oval tiny diamante buckle - The Ribbon Girl

Copic colours;
Skin: E000/00/21/11/04 & R20
Hair: R81/85/RV19
Eyes: B91/93
Wings: T0/2
Unicorn: T0/1/3/4/5
Unicorn mane and tail: BG11/13/49
Dress: R81/83 & BG11/13
Tights: R81/83/85 & T0/2
Background: B0000/000/00

I hope you will pop over to Top Tip Tuesday and check out the fabulously creative projects from the rest of the team and there are some great tips for you too :-)
We are also having a DT call so if you fancy joining a wonderful friendly team then please check out the details of how to enter.

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

Challenges I am entering;
1.  The Pink Elephant (anything goes)

Cute gardener

Hello lovely people,

I'm still here!  I've had a really busy week but finally have a card to share with you!

I'm showcasing some LOTV products today as part of the Design Collective with this Father's Day card...yes, that will be here before you know it!

I am loving my new notebook edge die...this is going to see a lot of use I think!

I felt like I needed a few more male images in my collection and this cute little gardener really appealed to me.

Card recipe;

Image: Vegetable patch - LOTV

DP: Country gent - LOTV
Dies: Notebook edge die - Clearly Besotted

Twine: Ivory button twine - The Ribbon Girl

Sentiment: Happy circular sentiments - LOTV

Charm: Trowel charm - The Ribbon Girl

Copic colours;
Skin: E000/00/21/11/04 & R20
Hair: E41/43/44
Hat / boots / braces: YG63/67/G99
Shirt: B91/95/97
Trousers: E41/42/43
Fork: E44/47/49 & T0/2/4
Robin: E43/44/47 & R27/46/39
Pots: E97/13/15/99
Carrots: YR18/YR24/27 & G43/YG17
Seed packets: YR30/31/E41
Ground: E41/42/43/44

Any moment now I have friends arriving and we are off out into the sunshine for a long walk followed by some wedding invitation designing and then dinner and drinks :-)

I hope you all have a wonderful bank holiday weekend whatever you are up to!

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

Bikinis and cocktails

Hello lovely people,

I have had a delightful a weekend and it has flown by as usual.

I had a lovely catch up with friends and very much enjoyed seeing their new house and pilfering plants, specifically some very pretty aquilegias, from their new garden!

I also got several hours of gardening done and had two lovely walks in semi-sunshine :-)

Ok, onto the crafty stuff...

I really have nothing against yellow but it's not a colour I would usually choose for my cards, however I thought it was perfect with this image to create a sunny feel.

I had lots of pretty flowers and lace out to go on this card and really couldn't get them arranged to my liking so decided it just didn't need any of them and left it all CAS instead.

In the end I did add a couple of pearls to 2 corners of the flowered layer...and forgot to re-take the photo...you'll have to use your imagination...lol!

My new word die was the perfect match though!

I bought this stamp about 3 months ago with a special friend in mind...so of course I didn't want to use it before her birthday...which was today!

It was lovely to finally ink it up!

Card recipe;

Image: Uptown girl Sandy and her sombrero

DP: Nyhavn - Maja Design (available from Live and Love Crafts)

Dies: Birthday words - Paper Smooches

Copic colours;
Skin: E000/00/21/11/04 & R20
Hair: E50/53/55
Hat: YR30/Y21/Y23/YR23
Bikini / flip flops: R81/83/85 & B91/95/97
Bag: R81/83/85 & YR30/Y21/Y23
Drink: R0000/000/81
Sunglasses: T6/8/10 & B97
Sand: YR30/31/E50/51/53

Now, roll on summer so we can all lounge around in bikinis with a cocktail in hand...I wish!

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

Challenges I am entering;
1.  Without words (pink, yellow, blue)
2.  Sweet Stampin' (CAS)

I {heart} sewing

Hello lovely people,

Hmmm, I wish the weather would make up it's mind; one minute I'm in shorts and the next I'm popping the heating back on!
At least all the pretty flowers in the garden are doing well and my tomatoes are rocketing away :-)

But you didn't drop by for a weather report and it's time for a new challenge at In The Pink where our theme this time is...

STITCHING

This can be real or faux, it's up to you!

I love to stitch on my cards but thought I'd use the theme in a slightly different way and have a play with an MDF heart to create a sewing themed decoration.

You can't see in the photo but I painted the back and sides of the heart with white acrylic paint and covered the front with pretty paper, which I sanded slightly around the edge.

Then it was the fun part of adding all the little details...the heart is only 8cm across so I managed to get quite a few on there!

I was excited to use one of the teeny wooden bobbins I picked up at the Hobbycrafts show especially when I found just the right shade of thread to wind onto it!

The quote was typed on the computer and printed onto scraps of DP.

Given my love of stitching on my cards it is rather ironic that the stitching isn't real this time but I didn't want anything to stop the DP sticking really nice and flat to the heart.

Heart recipe;

DP: Vintage Summer basics - Maja Design (available from Live and Love Crafts)

Flowers: Wild Orchid Crafts
Twine: Ivory button twine - The Ribbon Girl

Seam binding: Pink tulip - The Ribbon Girl
Dies: Timeless rectangles - Spellbinders

Tape measure: freebie stamp with magazine
Pins: Teardrop ivory pearlised pins - The Ribbon Girl
Charm: Silk cord spool - Live and Love Crafts
Buttons / pearls: from stash

I had so much fun decorating this heart and can't wait to do another one!
Maybe a baby or wedding one?

If you haven't already done so then do pop over to In The Pink and check out the gorgeous creations from the rest of the Pink Ladies.
We are also welcoming the lovely and very talented Sue to our DT; you may remember her from her gorgeous guest designer cards and we are delighted to have her on board permanently :-)

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

My favourite bear

Hello lovely people,

Well, my weekend of working was not too bad and definitely made up for by a delightful day of crafting yesterday :-)

In fact, I was so chilled out from my day off that I nearly forgot what day it was and that it is time for a new challenge at Top Tip Tuesday!
It's a lovely easy theme for you this week...

ANIMALS

We have Crafty Sentiments Designs as our sponsor this week with a prize of 3 digi images :-)

My favourite animals for cards are bears and my most favourite of all are LOTV bears.

This image is a real golden oldie and is the very first LOTV stamp I bought...and one I have used time and again.
This time I added some liquid pearls to the flower centres...even the really teeny tiny ones!

Card recipe;

Image: retired from LOTV

DP: Snow Princess - LOTV

Flowers: Wild Orchid Crafts
Twine: Ivory button twine - The Ribbon Girl

Seam binding: Sky mauve lilac - The Ribbon Girl

Tags: Sentiment tags - LOTV and Family sentiment tags - LOTV

Copic colours;
Bear: E40/41/42/43
Pink flowers: R81/83/85
Lilac flowers / bow: V20/22/25/BV08
Aqua flowers: G0000/BG11/32
Leaves: G28
Cellophane / letter: C00/1/3
Tag: E40/41/42
Ground: C0/1/2/3/4/5

I hope you will pop over to Top Tip Tuesday and check out the fabulously creative projects from the rest of the team and there are some great tips for you too :-)

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

Challenges I am entering;
1.  Noor! Design (flowers)
2.  Fussy and Fancy (lots of flowers)
3.  Sweet Stampin' (Spring flowers)

Spring fever at LOTV

Hello lovely people,

It's been a little while since I blogged...I was having so much fun over my birthday bank holiday weekend and time has flown by!

Today I have a card to showcase some LOTV products as part of the Design Collective and to let you know that there is a fabulous special offer on at the moment...

This is one of a pair of cards I created for a colleague who wanted birthday cards for 2 of her sisters.  I thought it would be nice to use similar images for each but different colours so she could decide which one suited each sister best!

This is the slightly simpler one of the two...

Pretty Spring colours + Happy bears = happy Kat :-) 

Card recipe;

Image: Happy bears - LOTV

DP: Pastel dreams - LOTV

Flowers: Wild Orchid Crafts
Twine: Ivory button twine - The Ribbon Girl

Tags: Sentiment tags - LOTV and Family sentiment tags - LOTV

Copic colours;
Bears: E40/431/42/43 (&E44 on foot)
Pink bits: R81/83/85
Turquoise bits: BG0000/000/01/53/57
Ground: T0/1/2/3/4

Hurrah for the weekend...oh wait, I have to work :-(
I can still sneak in a bit of crafting though and look forward to having Monday off.

I hope you all have lovely weekends whatever you have planned :-)

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

Challenges I am entering;
1.  Deep Ocean (flowers)
2.  Fab 'n' Funky (May flowers)
3.  Papertake Weekly (anything goes +/- no DP)

Rosebuds and ribbons

Hello lovely people,

Oh dear, I really should have scheduled this...I'm a little late posting as it was my birthday yesterday and I went out with a couple of girlfriends for drinks and dancing until the wee small hours of this morning ;-)

And this is no ordinary post either...look what I am up to today...

I was delighted to be asked to join The Ribbon Girl DT for this week's card challenge which is

MOTHER/GIRLY

This card was made for a lovely blogging buddy who always inspires me with the range of styles and techniques she uses....so I wanted to see if I could do something a little bit different to my usual style.

My brief to myself was a shabby chic feel, NO focal image and of course, lots of pretties from The Ribbon Girl...

So I managed 2 out of 3 then!

I intended to make a cluster of rosebuds and ribbon as my focal point but I'm afraid I lost my nerve and added the birthday sentiment panel...but obviously kept the rosebuds because they are so gorgeous :-)

Here's the large pull out tag decorated to match...

Card recipe;

Items from The Ribbon Girl;

pink tulip seam binding

ivory button twine

17mm Faye ivory vintage style lace

hip rosebuds pale pink

rosebuds large ivory white

3mm ivory pearls

dragonfly charm small

Other items;

Sentiment stamp: Statements: fabulous - LOTV

DP: Vintage Spring basics - Maja Design (available from Live and Love Crafts)

Punched tag edge: Cherish punch - Martha Stewart

Sentiment on tag: For you circular sentiments - LOTV

Remarkably, I am feeling no ill effects from last night's shenanigans so I'm all set to enjoy the rest of the bank holiday weekend with my parents who are arriving in a few hours.

I reckon there's just enough time for me to go and pot on the tomato seedlings and do a bit of colouring first!

I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend whatever you are up to :-)

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