Something new...(or old?)

Hello lovely people,

I have something a little different for you today...although if you've been following me for a while you'll know this is more like a throwback than something new for me!

I have admired the gorgeous Tracy Hey stamps for such a looooong time so I finally nabbed myself some, and this is the result...

I loved using all the little elements to build my scene.

I added lots of tiny glitter dots; you can see some of the ones at the bottom of this photo but they are all around the image.

And yes, the stitching has made a comeback! I used to do this all the time but it's pretty time consuming and stitched dies took the place of a lot of it...but for this special card I wanted to throw it back in the mix :-)

If I've tempted you with any of the lovely supplies I've used then you can go straight to the individual products via the links below or just pop over to Dies to Die For and have a little browse around!

Thanks for popping in and I hope you have a great day!

Lovely things I've used ;
Rocking the wreath stamp set - Tracey Hey in association with Alpaca Pals
Hugs and kisses 6x6 paper pad - Your Next Stamp
Stitched borders 3 - Pretty Pink Posh
Stitched ric rac - My Favorite Things
Birdie Brown alphabet and numbers - My Favorite Things
White blizzard Nuvo glitter drops

Circle dies, Kraft card, twine - from stash

Copic colours;
Bear: E41, E42, E43, E44 (R30 in ears)
Flowers: R81, R83, R85
Leaf sprays: YG01, YG03, YG23
Flower leaves: YG03, YG25, YG17

Oceans of love

Hello lovely people,

It's shocking how long it takes me to get round to using the crafty stash I buy sometimes...like these gorgeous little mermaids!

They finally came out to play for this Dies to Die For DT card - yay!!

I am enjoying inking sooooo much more now I have the lovely Taylored Expression brushes :-)

It was so quick and easy to brush patches of colour over card and blend them together for the ocean background, which I then spritzed and splashed with water.

It's probably not very obvious in the photos but I added glossy accents on the stamped bubbles.

If I've tempted you with any of the lovely supplies I've used then you can go straight to the individual products via the links below or just pop over to Dies to Die For and have a little browse around!

Thanks for popping in and I hope you have a fabulous day!

Lovely things I've used from Dies to Die For;
Little mermaiden agenda - Mama Elephant
Little mermaiden agenda matching dies - Mama Elephant
Mermazing - My Favorite Things (for the sentiment)
Gill Friends - My Favorite Things (for the plants and bubbles)
Stitched hillside borders - Lawn Fawn
Blender brushes - Taylored Expressions (available for pre-order and due in 15th Sept)

Other ingredients;
Distress Oxides in Tumbled glass, Broken china, Mermaid lagoon, Shaded lilac and Wilted violet
Glossy accents (on the bubbles)

Copic colours;
Skin: E51, E11
Pink: RV52, RV55
Green: YG03, YG25
Blue: B02, B04
Yellow: Y15

Inky Hey!

Hello lovely people,

WARNING: this post contains a lot of enabling because I have been playing with lots of new stash for my Dies to Die For DT card this week.

I'll show you what I made first and then we'll talk details :-)

I love the idea of creating inky backgrounds and effect, but am usually disappointed with my efforts when I give it a go. I'm left wondering if  it's my tools or my cardstock, or maybe my technique is just rubbish.

So, I took the plunge and bought a set of the Taylored Expressions blender brushes to see if that would help...and OMG, they are a HUGE game-changer for me!

I think I still need some better cardstock but I found that they made it easier to blend colours into each other, didn't leave any 'edge' marks on my card and required a lot less pressure to get a smooth blend.

For the background I placed a square of card onto a glass mat, popped the the star stencil over the top and taped it down. Then I just brushed 3 or 4 shades of inks in diagonal stripes over the stencil and that's it!

I brushed stripes of the same inks onto a strip of card and die cut the letters from that, then added them to my card with 1mm foam pads to make them pop out.

Oh, and the additonal enabling (other than the brushes)...those alphabet dies. They are definitely an investment but I just know how much I am going to use them so it is 100% worth it.

They team up so beautifully with the new bitty birthday wishes sentiments too...yes, more enabling!

The brushes are available for pre-order and are due to arrive in August so go and check them out! 

If I've tempted you with any of the lovely supplies I've used then you can go straight to the individual products via the links below or just pop over to Dies to Die For and have a little browse around!

Thanks for popping in and I hope you have a wonderful day!

Lovely things I've used from Dies to Die For;
Blender brushes - Taylored Expressions
Impact alphabet - My Favorite Things
Bitty birthday wishes - My Favorite Things

Scattered stars stencil - Taylored Expressions

Inside and out stitched square STAX - My Favorite Things

Distress oxides;

Combo 1 - picked raspberry, spun sugar, peacock feathers

Combo 2 - mustard seed, spiced marmalade, ripe persimmon, candied apple

Combo 3 - cracked pistachio, broken china, faded jeans

Unicorns, cupcakes and sparkle!

Hello lovely people,

Do you like unicorns, cupcakes and sparkle?

If so, you are in the right place because I have a Dies to Die For DT card featuring all those things!

Oh, and I certainly love all those things PLUS I love rainbow colours, polaroid frames and cute # captions so you can probably get a good idea of how happy I was creating this card - lol!

If I've tempted you with any of the lovely supplies I've used then you can go straight to the individual products via the links below or just pop over to Dies to Die For and have a little browse around!

Thanks for popping in and I hope you have a fabulous sparkly day!

Lovely things I've used from Dies to Die For;
Party unicorns - CC Designs
Polaroid shaker frame - My Favorite Things
#captions - My Favorite Things
Stitched borders 3 - Pretty Pink Posh
Sweet Celebration 6x6 paper pad - My Favorite Things

Other ingredients;
twine, glitter card - from stash

Copic colours;
Unicorn: C00, C0, C1
Hooves: C5, C7
Nostrils / inside ears: R00, R30
Mane / tail: R81, R83, R85
Hat / cupcake top: Y21, Y35
Cupcake tops: BG32, BG34
Cherry: R85
Cupcake wrappers: BG0000, BG000, BG01

To plant a garden...

Hello lovely people,

I suppose all the recent (and seemingly never ending!) rain is very good for the garden but I do wish the sunshine would come back now!

This gorgeous Curvy Girl Gardener on my Dies to Die For DT card looks like she has been having a lovely time outside though!

It's not often I use so many colours all together but I was very much inspired by the pretty floral paper that I chose.

I also don't often reach for the sequins but they seemed just right to finish off this card :-)

I always have the best time colouring Stamping Bella images, and isn't that just the loveliest sentiment too?

If I've tempted you with any of the lovely supplies I've used then you can go straight to the individual products via the links below or just pop over to Dies to Die For and have a little browse around!

Thanks for popping in and I hope you have a bloomin' lovely day!

Lovely things I've used from Dies to Die For;
Curvy girl gardener - Stamping Bella
Spring fling 6x6 paper pad - Lawn Fawn
A2 stitched rectangle STAX 1 - My Favorite Things
Scallop borders 2 - Pretty Pink Posh

Other ingredients;
twine / sequins - from stash

Copic colours;
Skin: E50, E51, E21, E11
Hair: E53, E35, E59
Dungarees: B00, BG01, BG02, BG05
Pink: R81, R83, R85
Green: YG03, YG25, YG17
Yellow: Y15, Y19, Y38
Flowerpot: E97, YR27, E99
Watering can / trowel: C00, C0, C01, C02, C03
Flower centres: C5, C7

Heart tree

Hello lovely people,

It's back to die cutting this week for my Dies to Die For DT card because I fell in love with this cute little MFT tree die; it's not new but I somehow missed it at the time it came out.

There are lots of options for using this die...but I limited myself to just the one card this time!

I've inked a slightly shimmery card with Distress Oxides and placed that behind the die cut tree, then die cut the trunk in Kraft and hearts in silver to piece back into the holes.

If I've tempted you with any of the lovely supplies I've used then you can go straight to the individual products via the links below or just pop over to Dies to Die For and have a little browse around!

Thanks for popping in and I hope you have a fabulous day!

Lovely things I've used from Dies to Die For;
Heart tree - My Favorite Things
A2 stitched rectangle STAX 1 - My Favorite Things
Inside and out stitched rectangle STAX - My Favorite Things
Mini tags - Mama Elephant
Mini everyday messages - Mama Elephant

Other ingredients;
Distress Oxide ink pads in Twisted citron and Mowed lawn

twine - from stash

Fairy Time!

Hello lovely people,

By now you may be getting the idea of how much I love the Mama Elephant Little agenda stamps so you probably won't be surprised by what's on my Dies to Die For DT cards today!

You wouldn't believe how long I faffed around with various sentiments before realising that once again vellum was the answer!

I actually coloured up about 30 of these little beauties all at once, so I still have plenty more left to use on other projects!

If I've tempted you with any of the lovely supplies I've used then you can go straight to the individual products via the links below or just pop over to Dies to Die For and have a little browse around!

Thanks for popping in and I hope you have a fairy lovely day!

Lovely things I've used from Dies to Die For;
Little fairy agenda stamps -  Mama Elephant
Little fairy agenda dies -  Mama Elephant
Inside and out stitched square STAX - My Favorite Things
Puffy cloud borders - Lawn Fawn
Fairy happy - My Favorite Things (for the sentiment)
Dots and stripes pastels 6x6 pad - Sunny Studio
Vellum - Lawn Fawn

Other ingredients;
Crystal Glamour dust for the wings

Copic colours;
Skin: E000, E21, E11
Hair: various combos that I didn't write down - oops!
Errrr...actually it appears I didn't write any of it down, so sorry :-(

It's cocktail o-clock!

Hello lovely people,

It's Friday so I think we should all drink to that!

I tried really really hard not to buy EVERYTHING from the latest Stamping Bella release but this image was first into my basket!

I think that sentiment is making a fair point, don't you?!

If I've tempted you with any of the lovely supplies I've used then you can go straight to the individual products via the links below or just pop over to Dies to Die For and have a little browse around!

Thanks for popping in and I hope you have a whole day of happy!

Lovely things I've used from Dies to Die For;
Curvy girl with a cocktail - Stamping Bella
Stitched rectangle scallop edge frames - My Favorite Things
Dots and stripes pastels 6x6 pad - Sunny Studio
Stitched jumbo fishtail banner STAX - My Favorite Things

Other ingredients;
Sentimental Too dies - Avery Elle

Copic colours;
Skin: E50, E51, E21, E11
Hair / flower centres: T5, T7, T10
Dress: B01, B02, B04, B05, B06
Dress frill: B000, B00, B01
Flowers: R81. R83. R85
Leaves: YG17, YG67
Drink: R0000, R000, R30
Ground: T0, T1, T2, T3

A Bunny Thank You

Hello lovely people,

I'm pulling out all the cute for my Dies to Die For DT card today...

Ok, I admit it...I have a little bit of an obsession with polaroid frames!  I have quite a few already but MFT bring out a new one...and I just can't resist - lol!

As you can see I also couldn't resist these sweet bunnies...and the ric rac...total cuteness :-)

The grass and little flower stamps I used here are also part of the stamp set, and I inked them up with Distress Oxide pads.

If I've tempted you with any of the lovely supplies I've used then you can go straight to the individual products via the links below or just pop over to Dies to Die For and have a little browse around!

Thanks for popping in and I hope you have a lovely day!

Lovely things I've used from Dies to Die For;
Sweetest somebunny - My Favorite Things
A2 stitched rectangle STAX 1 - My Favorite Things
Polaroid shaker frame - My Favorite Things
Stitched ric rac - My Favorite Things
BB Greetings galore - My Favorite Things
Blueprints 29 - My Favorite Things (for the fishtail banner)
Gingham pastels 6x6 paper pad - Sunny Studio

Other ingredients;
Distress Oxides in Mowed Lawn and Wilted violet
Neenah Desert Storm Kraft card - Crafter's Companion

Copic colours;
Bunny: E41, E42, E43, E44
Ears: R0000, R00, R01

Finally...Heartstrings!

Hello lovely people,

I have to say that I am usually fairly speedy at using my new stash but occasionally there is something that for some reason sits unused for aaaaages, and the die I have used on my Dies to Die For DT card this week is one of those things!

I really don't know how I ignored this die for so long as it's one I had wanted for quite a while by the time I bought it, plus it's absolutely gorgeous :-)

It finally got used because I had a wedding card to make - lol!

I've chosen to use an inlaid die cutting technique here but there are several other ways to use this die too...quicker ways as well, but I do love the inlaid look :-)

If I've tempted you with any of the lovely supplies I've used then you can go straight to the individual products via the links below or just pop over to Dies to Die For and have a little browse around!

Thanks for popping in and I hope you have a beautiful day!

Lovely things I've used from Dies to Die For;
Heartstrings - Concord and 9th
Fancy frames squares - Sunny Studio

Other ingredients;
Sentimental dies - Avery Elle (not stocked at DtDF any more)
Devoted 6x6 paper pad - Carta Bella

Little Chickie Notelets

Hello lovely people,

It's Easter weekend, the weather is set to be lovely and I persuaded Dr. Hubby that I really *needed* an Easter egg, so all is well in my world!  I hope it's all good for you too :-)

So, I have a quick little trio of notelets to share for my Dies to Die For DT project.

I am such a sucker for the Mama Elephant little agenda stamps; I adore these cute chickies!  They are fab for quick little notelets.

The sentiment is also a new Mama Elephant set which I took about 0.2 seconds to decide I needed because...well, you always need sentiments and these are gorgeous!

The fishtail banner is also new, from MFT, and I know some people were unsure about this as it comes in 3 parts rather than a single folded banner, but I think it's more versatile in 3 parts.  Here I shortened the main banner and the ends to give me a teeny banner to match my sentiment!

If I've tempted you with any of the lovely supplies I've used then you can go straight to the individual products via the links below or just pop over to Dies to Die For and have a little browse around!

Thanks for popping in and I hope you have a wonderful day and a lovely Easter!

Lovely things I've used from Dies to Die For;
Little Chickie Agenda - Mama Elephant
A2 stitched rectangle STAX 2 - My Favorite Things
Inside and out stitched circle STAX - My Favorite Things
Flirty flowers 6x6 paper pad - Sunny Studio
Fishtail flag trio - My Favorite Things
Mini everyday messages - Mama Elephant

Copic colours;
Chicks: Y11, Y13, Y15, Y19
Beak: YR04
Blue: B01, B02, B04
Pink: RV52, R83, RV55
Hat: E41, E42, E43
Grass: YG03, YG25

Floral heart wreath for Mum

Hello lovely people,

Do you remember the floral heart stamps and die set that I was having so much fun with back in February?

If not, you can check it out here, and if you do, then get ready to see some more of it for my weekly Dies to Die For DT inspiration...but I think you'll agree it has a bit of a different vibe this time!

I think you can see a little better in this angled shot how I cut an aperture in a square of Kraft card and layered the die cut floral heart on top.  I then attached this with foam pads to the scalloped square in which I had already stamped the greeting.

The very different vibe for this card comes from the combination of colouring on Kraft and the no-lines colouring.  I'll be honest, it's kind of a pain in the backside to do but oh sooooo worth it when it's finished!

If I've tempted you with any of the lovely supplies I've used then you can go straight to the individual products via the links below or just pop over to Dies to Die For and have a little browse around!

Thanks for popping in and I hope you have a beautiful day!

Lovely things I've used from Dies to Die For;
Floral hearts stamp set - Pretty Pink Posh
Floral hearts co-ordinating dies - Pretty Pink Posh
Stitched mini scallop square STAX - My Favorite Things
Mini messages - Mama Elephant

County fair plaid 6x6 paper pad - My Favorite Things

Other ingredients;
Kraft card - from stash

Copic colours;
Pink flowers: R81, R83, R85
Purple flowers: V12, V15, V17
Yellow flowers: Y21, Y17, Y38
Leaves and stems: YG17, YG67

Little ninjas

Hello lovely people,

I was rifling through my box of 'not yet used' stash and spotted these little ninjas that looked like they could do with an inking, so I popped them on my Dies to Die For DT card for this week.

These guys just make me smile...cutest ninjas ever?!

Top tip...don't forget to buy the matching dies for character stamps because otherwise you end up fussy cutting three ninjas...*sigh*

It was so simple to layer up different coloured panels behind the Blueprints die and I love how it gives a cartoon vibe to the design.

If I've tempted you with any of the lovely supplies I've used then you can go straight to the individual products via the links below or just pop over to Dies to Die For and have a little browse around!

Thanks for popping in and I hope you have an awesome day!

Lovely things I've used from Dies to Die For;
Ninjas - CC Designs (I recommend the matching dies also!)
Polka dot parade 6x6 paper pad - Sunny Studio
A2 stitched rectangle STAX 1 - My Favorite Things
Blueprints 27 - My Favorite Things
Happy Birthday line border - Lawn Fawn 

Copic colours;
Skin: E50, E51, E21, E11
Ninja outfits: N6, N7, N10, 100 plus N5 for the highlights
Green belt: YG03, YG25, YG17
Red belt: R24, R27, R46
Blue belt: B02, B04, B06

Dino party!

Hello lovely people,

Just popping in with my Dies to Die For DT card and there's a party happening today...a dinosaur party!

I created a very slightly 3D scene for my dinosaurs but not too 3D so it can still go in the post as a standard letter!

How adorable are these dinos in their party hats?!

If I've tempted you with any of the lovely supplies I've used then you can go straight to the individual products via the links below or just pop over to Dies to Die For and have a little browse around!

Thanks for popping in and I hope you have a fabulous day!

Lovely things I've used from Dies to Die For;
Rawrsome stamps - Lawn Fawn
Rawrsome dies - Lawn Fawn
Stitched arch STAX - My Favorite Things
Large dotted square stackables - Lawn Fawn
Grassy hills die - My Favorite Things

Cloud stencil - My Favorite Things

Other ingredients;
Distress oxide in Salty ocean

Copic colours;
Blue dinosaur: B01, B02, B04, B05
Blue dino horns: B06, B37
Blue dinosaur frill: YG03, YG25, YG17
Red dinosaur: R24, R27, R46, R39
Red dinosaur plates: Y38, YR04, YR68
Orange dinosaur: Y38, YR04, YR16, YR68
Orange dinosaur spots: B02, B04, B05

Hats: combos as above

Eek! It's your birthday!

Hello lovely people,

Apologies for the lack of card last week but I was off skiing in the French Alps with friends and family, including taking my niece and nephew for the first time.  I'm happy to report that we did loads of skiing, there were no injuries, the weather was sunny and the kids loved it :-)

One great thing about coming home is being back at my craft desk and for this week's Dies to Die For DT card I was desperate to have a play with some rather cute mice that fell in my basket last month!

Polka dots, stripy bunting and an adorable mouse in a box...what more could you want for a birthday card?!

I love how happy this mouse looks :-)

It reminds me of the time that I came home from work one day and Dr. Hubby was hiding in a box (a very large box).  I went all round the house trying to figure out where he was and it took me a looooong time to realise he was in the huge box in our lounge!  So maybe that backfired a bit on him as he was in there for quite a while - lol!

If I've tempted you with any of the lovely supplies I've used then you can go straight to the individual products via the links below or just pop over to Dies to Die For and have a little browse around!

Thanks for popping in and I hope you have a wonderful day!

Lovely things I've used from Dies to Die For;
It's a mice time to celebrate - My Favorite Things
Dots and stripes pastels 6x6 pad - Sunny Studio
Blueprints 31 - My Favorite Things
Double stitched circle STAX - My Favorite Things (not available but check out all the other fab circle STAX here)
Bunting borders - Lawn Fawn

Copic colours;
Mouse: C00, C1, C3
Ears: R0000, R000, R00, R30
Pink bits: RV52, RV55, RV17
Blue bits: B000, B00, B01, B02
Ground: C00, C0, C1, C2, C3