Magic and sparkle

Hello lovely people,

My trip to Ikea yesterday was great; I don't really enjoy the experience all that much and Dr. Hubby certainly doesn't, but I got all the lovely things I wanted...and just a few extra storage boxes.
Because you can never have too many storage boxes, right?!

Today I have a new In The Pink challenge to share with you and our theme this time is...

MAGICAL

We are sponsored this time by Live and Love Crafts with a £10 gift voucher

I was having a CAS moment for this one as I felt it suited the image and I do love a bit of polka dot DP, especially if it's pink!

I have had this little lady printed out and ready to colour for ages and she is certainly magical...just look at those wings, which of course, demanded a large amount of sparkle!

Uh oh...this was the last piece of this lace and I love it so much...I will just have to go shopping ;-)

Card recipe;

Image: Dreams and wishes - Sugar Nellie (from Funky Kits)

DP: from stash
Lace: Chantilly cotton lace (Jane) - Crafty Ribbons

Twine: Baker's Divine twine (cotton candy pink) - The Ribbon Girl

Tag: Sentiment tags - LOTV
Charm: Daisy chain - The Hobby House
Glitter: Crystal Glamour Dust

Copic colours;
Skin: E000/00/21/11/04 & R20
Hair: E51/55/59
Dress / flowers: R81/83/85
Wings: RV000/000/R81
Mushrooms: W00/0/1/2/3/4/5/6
Grass / leaves: YG61/63/67/G99

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.

Oh, and don't forget there are just 2 more days to enter my giveaway which is at the top of my page :-)

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

Challenges I am entering;

New home

Hello lovely people,

I'm off to Ikea this morning to buy new furniture for my craft room!  I'm so excited...even though it will have to be a very organised and quick trip round with no deviation from the shopping list to avoid any tantrums from Dr. Hubby!

While I'm probably trying to work out how to fit all my lovely new stuff into the car, here's the new Creative Inspirations challenge and this week we have a little photo inspiration for you...

Our prize this week is a £20 gift certificate from Craftie Charlie

The photo inspired me to use both the gorgeous brown and teal colour scheme and to choose an image with birds on.
I pretty much never make new home cards so this was fun!

I bought this stamp ages ago at a Hobbycrafts show and yep, you guessed it...first outing today!
How often do I find myself saying that?!

I tried for a woodgrain effect on the birdhouse and I've seen better but I'm fairly happy with this as a first attempt.
I'm less happy with my slightly dodgy photo since I had to take it in artificial light :-(

Card recipe;

Image: Bird House - Hobby Art

DP: Welcome Home - Bo Bunny (a very old collection!)

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

Dies: Tea label tags and Heart swirl - Magnolia Doohickeys

Sentiment: A little sentimental - Clearly Besotted

Copic colours;
Bird house: E31/34/44/47
Birds: E50/51/53/55
Hearts: BG57/07/09
Flowers: YR31/Y23/YR23
Leaves: YG17/G07/G28

The DT have made some wonderful samples to inspire you so pop over to Creative Inspirations to take a look :-)

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

Challenges I am entering;
to follow

Toot toot!

Hello lovely people,

Phew, another busy weekend for me!
It all kicked off with a night out on Friday with much beer and dancing to celebrate a neighbour's birthday.
This was followed by a visit to friends yesterday, where we were treated to some tasty curry, cocktails and a glass (or 3!) of wine :-)
 After a wonderful cooked breakfast we headed back home and I enjoyed a nice quiet Sunday afternoon of crafting.

Appropriately the card I have to share with you today is the one I made for my neighbour's special birthday and it is also my first October card for the LOTV Design Collective.

I was struggling to find the right shade of red card to cut the numbers out of and then had what I thought was a rather a bright idea to cut them out of my usual white colouring card and colour them with my Copics.  A perfect match and I think the shaded effect looks good too!

He loves vintage cars so the choice of image was a no-brainer and I got to play with this stamp for the first time - yay!

Card recipe;

Image: Toot Toot - LOTV

DP: Country Gent (discontinued) - LOTV

Dies: Large Frilly Frames #10 - Go Kreate, Puffy clouds - Memory Box, Advent drawer deco die set - Tonic Studios

Sentiment: A little sentimental - Clearly Besotted

Copic colours;
Skin: E000/00/21/11/04 & R20
Hair: E34/37
Car: R27/46/39/59
Hat / glove: E42/43/44
Scarf: B91/93/95/97
Windscreen: B0000/000
Headlights: YR30/31
Greys: W00-7
Ground: E40/41/42/43

I hope you have all had lovely weekends whatever you have been getting up to :-)

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

Challenges I am entering;

Pretty pastels

Hello lovely people,

It's another exciting day for me today...no, not another DT...lol!
This morning I am off for coffee (and maybe cake?!) with a lovely lady I met in blogland (that's you Sue!) and I am very excited to meet her in person!

Meanwhile, it's time for a new challenge at As You Like It and our theme this time is...

YOUR FAVOURITE...BRIGHTS OR PASTELS
...and don't forget to tell us why it's your favourite!

Our sponsor this time is Sweet Pea Stamps

I am definitely a fan of pastels as I love the soft romantic look they give, and I was in a purple mood for this floral design; my fave colour after pink!

If this looks quite a vibrant pastel colour then it may just be the computer screen; I find this looks different on my 2 screens and it is properly pastel IRL!

The sentiment was generated on my computer so I could fit it on this cute tag and I love to layer tags up with twine and a charm; it looks so sweet!

Card recipe;

Image: Summer bunch - LOTV

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

Twine: Ivory button twine - The Ribbon Girl

Seam binding: Sky mauve lilac seam binding - The Ribbon Girl
Lace: from stash

Dies: Large frames frilly #7 - Go Kreate, heart swirl and teal label tags - Magnolia Doohickeys

Sentiment: done on computer
Charm: Daisy chain - The Hobby House

Copic colours;
Flower petals: BV01/02/04/08
Flower centres: YR23/24/27/E37
Leaves / greenery: YG61/63/67
Pot: E41/42/43
Ground: W00/1/2/3/4

I hope you will pop over to As You Like It and check out the beautiful creations from the rest of the team :-)

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

Challenges I am entering;

Fussy and Fancy (orange, black or purple)
Papertake Weekly (all about the base)

Getting creative with a new DT spot!

Hello lovely people,

Well, this is very exciting...I am delighted to announce that I am joining the wonderful and talented DT at Creative Inspirations!
*happy dance*

Just don't tell Dr. Hubby because he already thinks I do too much crafting ;-)

For my first week on the team we have everyone's favourite theme...

ANYTHING GOES

with the option of a sketch
- you can use any previous Creative Inspirations sketch or this lovely new one;

We are sponsored by TimeforTea Designs with a prize of 5 digi images of the winner's choice :-)

I decided to use the sketch because it really suited my style and I just added the extra detail of the fence along the bottom....
...and some extra flowers top left...
..oh, and my circle is a square!
I love sketches but do have a habit of tweaking them - lol!
Good job the sketch is optional, huh?!

This image has a lovely cosy Autumn feel to it...although I am not sure why she has gloves and a hat but an off the shoulder top - lol!
I am really starting to love colouring longer hair with lots of detail even though it takes a while to do, and practice will make perfect!

Card recipe;

Image: Fall love - TimeforTea

DP: Vintage baby and Vintage Spring - Maja Designs (available from Live and Love Crafts)

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

Tag: Sentiment tags - LOTV

Dies: Lovely fence - Magnolia Doohickeys

Frantage: Stampendous shabby white embossing enamel - Live and Love Crafts
Glitter: Crystal Glamour dust - Live and Love Crafts

Copic colours;
Skin: E000/00/21/11/04 & R20
Hair: E41/43/47
Hat / jumper / socks:B91/93/95/97
Skirt: E41/42/43
Heart / gloves: YG61/63
Trim on socks / jumper: W00/1/2
Boots: E43/44/47/49
Ground: W00/0/1/2/3/4

The DT have made some wonderful samples for you to see so do pop over to Creative Inspirations to take a look :-)

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

Challenges I am entering;
The Ribbon Girl (pastels)
A Gem of a Challenge (spots +/or stripes)

Pink snowflake wreaths

Hello lovely people,

It's time for a new challenge at In The Pink and since October is breast cancer awareness month we thought it was only fair to have this theme...

USE A PINK RIBBON
(and of course, we still want to see more pink than any other colour except white/neutrals!)

We have a fabulous brand new sponsor this time; it's The Paper Nest Dolls who are very generously offering a $15 voucher to one winner chosen at random from our Perfect Pnkies

I have seen several beautiful cards on Pinterest with snowflake wreaths so really wanted to have a go myself.
I had a shabby chic style in mind for it...but despite having a HUGE stash of pink ribbon I simply couldn't find the right shade!
So I switched the DP for a bold polka dot so I could use this lovely little scrap of raspberry ribbon :-)

I layered the snowflakes up quite heavily to create a nice full wreath.  I had no particular plan for this, just made it up as I went along, although I did draw a circle on the DP to use as a guide to placing the first layer.

Now, I really couldn't leave the idea of a shabby chic version alone so I ended up making a second card!

This one doesn't have pink ribbon though as the twine fitted better with the shabby chic style

Oh well, at least that's another 2 Christmas cards made!

Card recipe;

DP: Pink spotty - from stash, 2nd card background layers from Vintage Frost Basics and snowflakes from Vintage Spring Basics - all Maja Design (available from Live and Love Crafts)

Twine: Ivory button twine - The Ribbon Girl

Tag: Christmas tags - LOTV
Dies: Small snowflake die set - Impression Obsession
Pearls: from stash

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;

Papertake Weekly (Two by two - I made 2 different styles of the same card)
Fab 'n' Funky (make it square)

Autumn treats from LOTV

Hello lovely people,

It's a beautiful sunny morning here in Gloucestershire and I am just back from my Wednesday 'coffee date' with Dr. Hubby; we like to walk into the village once a week and treat ourselves to coffee (tea for Dr. Hubby!) and cake (carrot cake today - yummy).

So, I'm in a good mood now, and hopefully news of a fantastic sale at LOTV will put you in a good mood too.  Starting right now and running through until Sunday, there are brilliant offers available on selected rubber stamps, art pads and paper pads.

We are also having a Facebook challenge where we want to see your creations using any of the special offer stamps and of course, there are wonderful prizes on offer so we hope you can join us for that :-)

Here's a little inspiration using one of the special offer images and I kept it really simple for this design as I love the paper far too much to cover it up!

This cute image fell into my basket during one of my shopping sessions at LOTV several months ago but I hadn't got around to inking it up, so this was a perfect opportunity to do so.

I've made a cute girly card but this image would work well for men too...just without the flowers and all that pink!

Card recipe;

Image: Watering can - LOTV

DP: Romance and roses - LOTV

Twine: Ivory button twine - The Ribbon Girl

Seam binding: Pink tulip seam binding - The Ribbon Girl

Tag: Sentiment tags - LOTV

Dies: Circle stax - MFT Die-namics, Large frames frilly #10 - Go Kreate
Charm: Daisy chain - The Hobby House

Copic colours;
Watering can: T0/1/2/3/4
Bird / seed packets: E40/41/42/43
Seed packet picture background: B0000/000
Flowers: R81/83/85/RV17 & BV02/04
Leaves: YG25/G24
Label / flower centres bird beak: YR30/31
Ground: E42/43/44/47

I hope you will join us for the Facebook challenge; we can't wait to see all your lovely creations :-)

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

Challenges I am entering;

The Ribbon Girl (any image)

Tilda is back!

Hello lovely people,

As this posts today I am heading into 'work' to start observing ward rounds for my prescribing course; I have to do 90 hours of practice so I really need to make a start! 

While I am exercising the little grey cells it's time for a new challenge at As You Like It and our theme is...

YOUR FAVOURITE...MONOCHROME OR COLOUR
...and don't forget to tell us why it's your favourite!

Our sponsor this time is Stamp and Create with a $20 voucher

Occasionally I go for black and white but most of my cards are in colour...well, there are so many lovely colours to choose from!

Especially pink!

It has been ages since I coloured up a Tilda and this is one of the collection I have that have never seen ink.
I'm so glad I decided to play with her as I had such fun colouring her :-)

My original design for this card had a circular sentiment in the top right corner and there I was with the sentiment hovering over the card with the back taken off the sticky pads....and suddenly I wasn't sure I wanted it...so I left it off!
What do you think; would it look better with a sentiment?!

Card recipe;

Image: Tilda hiding rose bouquet

DP: Coffee in the Arbour - Maja Designs (available from Live and Love Crafts)

Flowers: Wild Orchid Crafts

Ribbon: from stash

Sentiment: For you circular sentiments - LOTV

Dies: Leaf and swirl, and Tilda lace - Magnolia Doohickeys

Copic colours;
Skin: E000/00/21/11/04 & R20
Hair: E41/43/47
Skirt / headband / leaves: YG61/63/67
Apron / flowers: RV11/R83/R56
Blouse / lace on skirt: W00/1/3
Boots: E41/42/43/44/47
Ground: W00/0/1/2/3/4

I hope you will pop over to As You Like It and check out the fabulously creative projects from the rest of the team :-)

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

Challenges I am entering;
Papertake Weekly (anything goes +/- Halloween treat holder)

CAS flowers on Kraft

Hello lovely people,

I have a pair of cards to share with you today that I made a few months back when I was having a play with some new Clearly Besotted stamps.

I thought these stamps would be perfect for cute CAS designs, which I would really like to do more of as a change to my more fussy stamped and layered cards.

I have always loved the look of colouring on Kraft especially with white embossed lines.  It can be tricky to choose colours that work well as lighter colours just look a bit muddy on Kraft, so the first one I did was a nice hot pink...are you shocked?!

I decided these would make perfect birthday cards for a couple of wonderful blogland friends so I did another one in blue...to better suit the recipient!

I also made the blue one up slightly differently with a white border and think they both look good.

To get the flower stems all lined up at the bottom, I just masked off the bottom of the Kraft card with some scrap paper.  TOP TIP: Do not do this with a Post-it note if you are going to emboss...the powder will get stuck to where the note was...Doh!

When it came to stamping the sentiment, I just moved the scrap paper down a little and used that as a guide to placement.

Card recipe;

Image: Scribbled flowers - Clearly Besotted
Sentiment: A little sentimental - Clearly Beostted

Embossing powder - Opaque bright white - Wow! - from Clearly Besotted
Pearls - The Hobby House

Copic colours;
RV17/34/69
B04/06/37

I can hardly believe what a long post that was for such CAS cards!
I think a lot of us crafters find that CAS designs take a lot longer than you think because the placement of the elements has to be just right, and also there is no room to hide any mistakes so everything has to be done really carefully!

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

Challenges I am entering;
Papertake Weekly (embossing)

Take it slow

Hello lovely people,

Ooooh, has that been a whole week since I last posted?!

I had a little jaunt to Norfolk from Friday - Monday with the Caterham 7 car club and we had so much fun whizzing around in our cars, eating lots of yummy food and generally having a giggle...especially when we got lost!
It was gorgeously sunny the whole time so that was an extra special treat when you are in an open top car!

Then I have been at Bath University for the past 2 days for the first 2 study days of my prescribing course and boy, I now realise what I have let myself in for!
It was great to meet all the other students though and we got to have a play at taking blood pressures on the simulation arm which was fun :-)

Moving on from my little update and we have a new challenge for you at In The Pink with the theme...

1-2-3

So, we want to see 1 of something, 2 of something and...yes, you guessed it...3 of something on your project.
With more pink than any other colour of course!

Our wonderful sponsor this time is The Ribbon Girl with a £10 voucher

The recipe for my design is;
1 image
2 flower clusters and 2 bows
3 DPs

And I think it turned out pretty tasty!

It was love at first sight for me and this stamp, so it was only a matter of time before I bought it, and already I can't wait to colour her again!

There is something so joyful about this image :-)

After I added the top photo I realised the flower charm was a little wonky because the card was lying flat for the photo but it does dangle freely IRL as you can see here!

Card recipe;

Image & sentiment: Tiny Townie Sally and her Snail - Stamping Bella

DP: Always & Forever - LOTV, Country meadow - LOTV

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

Charm: Daisy chain - The Hobby House

Copic colours;
Skin: E000/00/21/11/04 & R20
Hair: E53/35/37
All pink bits: R81/83/85/56
All yellow bits: YR20/21/23
Snail shell: E41/42/43/44
Snail body: E40/41/42
Grass / leaves: G20/21/24/YG67

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;

Inky Chicks (think pink)
Simon Says Stamp (anything goes)
Craft your Passion (anything goes)