Beach huts

Hello lovely people,

I didn't manage to come back and share any cards after posting the pics of my new stash...I did play with some of it but then realised that I can't show you the projects yet - oops!

It's Creative Inspirations challenge time and this week we have the theme...

SEASIDE / SUNSHINE / SUMMER HOLIDAYS

Our sponsor for this challenge is Craftie Charlie with an amazing £20 voucher

I was surprised by the lack of Summery stamps in my collection but I stumbled upon this previously unused stamp with some cute beach huts and some suitably seaside-y papers.

I wanted to include a knot on my design so did a little Google search and came up with this...for anyone interested it's called a carrick bend...I just thought it looked nice!

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,

Card recipe;

Image: Dinkies beach huts - Little Claire (also available as digi)

DP: Shoreline treasures - Pion Design (available from Live and Love Crafts)

Twine: from stash

Tag: Sentiment tags - LOTV

Dies: Stitched scalloped edges - MFT Die-namics

Copic colours;
Blue: B91/93/95
Red: R24/29/46/59
Pale grey: W00/0/1
Roofs / ground: W2/3/4

Dreaming of Summer

Hello lovely people,

I have my family visiting today and am planning to have a pretty chilled out day just catching up and eating cake :-)

It's Creative Inspirations challenge time and this week we are playing Bingo, so you just need to choose any 3 items in a line (horizontal/vertical/diagonal) to include on your project.

We are sponsored this week by All Dressed Up with a prize of 2 digi images of the winner's choice

I have chosen the 'button/twine/white' line and just in case the white space around my image wasn't sufficient to count, I also added white dots around my image...which I think turned out really prettily so I must do this more often!

You know I like a bit of a hair challenge and this certainly fitted that category!

This image is 'Dreaming of Summer' hence the post title and I think we can all relate to this...roll on Summer please!

Card recipe;

Image: Dreaming of Summer - All Dressed Up

DP: Yours truly - Pebbles

Twine: Ivory button twine - The Ribbon Girl

Sentiment: mini stamp set - Kaisercraft
Button: from stash
White dots: Gloss white crystal drops - Nuvo drops by Tonic Studios

Copic colours;
Skin: E000/00/21/11/04
Hair: E53/57/59
Dress: R21/32/35
Butterflies: R81/83 & BG53/57
Leaves: G24/28

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,

It's Summer!

Hello lovely people,

Thanks for all your lovely comments on my happy news from my last post; it's so lovely to be able to share it with you and to have your support :-)

My first aim when I got back from holibobs was to do some crafting but the gorgeous sunshine put paid to that plan, in the best possible way!

Instead I have been tidying the jungle where my garden used to be - lol!

I did eventually do a little crafting yesterday evening because it is Creative Inspirations challenge time and our theme is...
SPRING INTO SUMMER
So we want to see any creations with a Spring or Summer feel

Our sponsor for this challenge is My Mum's Craft Shop

I'm continuing to challenge myself to try new styles so I was having a play with this pretty flower stem die and discovered some freebie papers on my desk that provided the perfect backdrop for them; isn't it great when that happens?!

 I love how striking the black borders and die cuts look against the white card and pretty DP :-)

The sentiment stamp is an ordinary straight line stamp but it's really easy to curve it as you stick it down on the acrylic block and I used the edge of the circle die as a guide to make sure it follows the curve of the aperture.

Card recipe;

Dies: Circle stax - MFT Die-namics, Tall Chloe stem - Memory Box, Butterfly dies set - Impression Obsession

DP: freebie with magazine

Sentiment: from Wire roses set - Woodware

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,

Baking apron

Hello lovely people,

It's Creative Inspirations challenge time and we have the theme...

SHAPE IT UP!
(NO SQUARE CARDS ALLOWED!)

Our fabulous sponsor for this challenge is Live and Love Crafts with a £10 voucher

I have made a couple of apron shaped cards before and I really don't know why I don't make more of them because I always love the way they look and you can do quite a few themes with them.

As you can see, this one has a hint of a baking theme but is mostly just pretty and flowery!

I used oval dies to create the apron shaped base card and the matching shaped piece of DP to cover the front.

I loved choosing the embellishments for this card and although I have used real lace for previous designs, the Kraft borders make a really good alternative. 

The teeny rolling pin is my favourite bit of the card and is the perfect size to wrap a sentiment banner round :-)

Card recipe;

DP: Coffee in the arbour - Maja Design (available from Live and Love Crafts)

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

Dies: Old Swedish lace & Tea label tags - Magnolia Doohickeys, Numbers - Tonic Studios, Alphabet soup - Memory Box, A nice cuppa die set - Stampin' Up
Rolling pin - Miniature rolling pins - The Ribbon Girl

Sentiment: A little sentimental - Clearly Besotted
Ribbon: from stash

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,

Mini caveman #2

Hello lovely people,

It's Creative Inspirations challenge time and this week we have the theme...

FOR THE BOYS OR SOMETHING SPORTY

We are sponsored by Crafty Ribbons with a £10 voucher

I have made another card using the awesome Sticks and Bones collection from Polka Doodles.

I had to make this card in a little bit of a hurry so chose a really simple design and the digital papers included in the collection were just the thing.

These little chaps are so much fun to colour and I especially love doing the messy hair :-)

I finished the card with a classic combo of twine and tags.
The little bones are also digital images from the collection and I added a little extra shading to them.

Card recipe;

Image, little bones and DP: from Sticks and Bones collection - Polka Doodles

Twine: Natural button twine - The Ribbon Girl

Tag: Sentiment tags - LOTV

Tag: Family sentiment tags - LOTV

Copic colours;
Skin: E000/00/21/11/04
Hair: E53/57/59
Leaves / loincloth: YG93/95/97
Dinosaur: YG93/95/97/99
Quiver: W2/3/4
Quiver strap / round thing he is holding: E41/42/43
Arrows: W00/1/2 & E43/44
Bone / dino claws: YR30/31
Rocks: W3/4/5
Ground: W00/0/1/2/3

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,

These are a few of my favourite things...

Hello lovely people,

I'm glad so many of you are enjoying my running countdowns; if you missed the latest update it's on my previous post!

Time is just flying by and it's Creative Inspirations challenge time again, and this week we have the theme...

TWO (or more) FAVOURITE THINGS

Our sponsor for this challenge is Crafty Charlie with a £20 voucher - wow!

I think I have used more than a few of my favourite things on this card!

Firstly, I chose to use use my favourite colour combo and some of my favourite pretty papers.

I have also added some of my favourite dies and flowers on my design, and of course I finished my card in my favourite way with a bit of hand stitching!

I have used a favourite image too...any fairy image is pretty much guaranteed to be on my favourites list!

Oh, and of course I have used my favourite colouring medium; my Copics!

Card recipe;

Image: Time Flies - LOTV

DP: Roses and Romance - available as digi download from Nitwit Collections

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

Dies: Happy birthday banner - Taylored Expressions, Old Swedish lace - Magnolia Doohickeys

Copic colours;
Skin: E000/00/21/11/04 & R20
Hair: Y21/YR23/E53
Top / socks: BG10/11/13/15
Skirt / shoes: R81/83/85
Wings: RV0000/000/R81
Dandelion: YR30/31 & E41 & G21/24
Ground: G40/21/24/28

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,

In fashion

Hello lovely people,

It's Creative Inspirations challenge time and we have the theme...

ANYTHING GOES +/- option of a sketch

You can use any of the sketches on the sketch page including this fab new sketch...

This time we are sponsored by the awesome KennyK Stamps with a prize of 3 digis of the winner's choice

I have used the Fashionista image from KennyK on a super simple design

Curly hair really is my colouring nemesis!
Actually, colouring anything is my nemesis at the moment; I seem to be having 'can't colour for toffee' strops fairly regularly but I'm sure (I hope!) normal service will be resumed soon.

The sentiment is from one of the new LOTV sets...and I just had to add a teeny bit of bling!

Card recipe;

Image: Fashionista - Kenny K

DP: Isabella - Bo Bunny

Sentiment: Teenage girl sentiments - LOTV
Gem: from stash

Copic colours;
Skin: E000/00/21/11/04 & R20
Hair: E53/57/59
Top / shoes / earrings: R81/83/85
Leggings: C6/7/9
Bangle: C0/3/5
Ground: C00/0/1/2/3/4

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,

Triple layer flowers

Hello lovely people,

It's Creative Inspirations challenge time and we have the theme...

NATURE

Our sponsor this time is Petal Lu with an amazing offer of 30% off an order!

I really wanted to try out a new technique to me of triple layer stamping that I had seen in a recent card making magazine and since I didn't have a single large floral stamp, I used a selection of smaller flowers to make my design.

There were quite a few times in the making of this card I really wished I hadn't tried to do something new...

#1 - when the masking tape holding the layers together stuck too hard and nearly ripped my card

#2 - when I got a huge splat of Copic ink on the panels after colouring about 80% of the flowers  (yes, that's what the ribbon is hiding!)

#3 - when trying to line the panels back up after layering them onto the dark grey card

So, after all that I am not sure I like it, but I think that might just be down to the trauma of making it - lol!
It might grow on me!

And I do like the colouring with little dots of sparkle on the stamens...which is much better IRL than in the photos of course!

Card recipe;

Flowers: Spring flowers - Honey Doo Crafts plus tiny flower stamp from stash
Sentiment: Clearly Besotted

Ribbon: from stash
Sparkle: Stardust Stickles

Copic colours;
Pink flowers: R81/83/85
Purple flowers: BV000/01/04
Blue flowers: B21/23/26
Flower centres: W00/1

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,

Sewing machine for Mum

Hello lovely people,

For anyone who is following my progress as I undertake the course to become a Pharmacist Independent Prescriber and haven't already seen this on Facebook...
I passed part 2 of 3!!

I think today I might reward myself with a little crafting time so while I enjoy that, here's the new Creative Inspirations challenge and this week we have the theme...

ANYTHING GOES
+/- option of any of our sketches including this new one;

Our sponsor this time is Live and Love Crafts with a £10 voucher

I just about managed to follow the sketch with a few extra flowers to balance the corners.

It will soon be Mothers' Day so I thought I'd make a start on some suitable cards for my Folksy shop and this first one is pretty but not pink...well, not much pink anyway!

The sewing machine image is a retired digi image which I have paper pieced and then I added real embroidery thread, winding it round the bobbin and laying it over the thread line on the image.

 The little faux buttons are one of my new dies and I used them because I was going to go for a flat design...but then I couldn't resist adding the paper flowers so that was the end of that idea!

Card recipe;

Image: Pink Petticoat (now unavailable)

DP: Dress Shoppe - available as digi download from Nitwit Collections

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

Tag: Sentiment tags - LOTV

Tag: Family sentiment tags - LOTV

Dies: Circle stax - MFT Die-namics, Buttons - Impression Obsession

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;

Hugs and kisses

Hello lovely people,

I'm flying by with a quick post to tell you about the new challenge at Creative Inspirations and this time we have the theme...

HUGS AND KISSES

Our fabulous sponsor is Bunny Zoe's Crafts with a £10 voucher

I've gone for quite a simple design this time and I'm finding myself reaching for my word dies a lot lately...good that they are getting used eventually!

I grabbed this image before it was retired recently and I'm glad I did because it's such a joyful image and fun to colour too :-)

Card recipe;

Image: Retired image from LOTV

DP: Romance & roses (retired) - LOTV - digital download available from Nitwits

Twine: Ivory button twine - The Ribbon Girl

Dies: Love word - Paper Smooches, Alphabet soup - Memory Box

Edge punch: Loops - Martha Stewart

Copic colours;
Dog: E40/41/42/43
Roses: RV52/R83/R85
Leaves: YG23/25
Ground: W00/0/1/2/3

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,

Fairy with presents

Hello lovely people,

Happy Wednesday!  I do like Wednesdays because it's Dr. Hubby's day off so we will be heading out for a coffee date this morning and then I usually get in some crafting time while he plays/makes computer games :-)

While I enjoy making a mess in my craft room, it's time for a new challenge at Creative Inspirations and we have the theme...

ANYTHING GOES
(+/- optional sketch, which you can find on the sketch page)

Our sponsor this time is All Dressed Up with a prize of 2 digi images of the winner's choice.

I decided to create a stepper card since I haven't done one for a while, but I'm afraid I didn't have time to write a tutorial for it.  Watch this space though because I love how it turned out so just might have to do another one!

Here's a little tip though; I created more space on the central panel of my card by adding a piece of card a bit larger than the panel on the base card and giving it some fancy edges.

I picked the colours for this image to match the papers I had chosen and then I didn't actually use any of the papers with the salmon pink colour, but I do think it makes a nice contrast with the mint green and grey.

This sweet fairy is actually a Christmas image but I think she makes a nice birthday card too!

I kept this card pretty free of embellishments to give it a fresh modern feel but did sprinkle a couple of enamel dots on there...I always mean to use these more often!

Card recipe;

Image: Christmas present - All Dressed Up

DP: Cottage living (by Jen Hadfield) - Pebbles

Ribbon - 7mm aqua satin Berisford no.78 - The Ribbon Girl

Dies: Old Swedish lace - Magnolia Doohickeys

Sentiment: A little sentimental - Clearly Besotted

Copic colours;
Skin: E000/00/21/11/04 & R20
Hair: E41/43/47
Dress / presents / ribbon: R30/32/22
Wings / presents / ribbon: G0000/000/00/BG32
Present / ribbon: T2/3/4/5
Star label: T0/2/3
Ground: T0/1/2/3/4

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;
The Ribbon Girl - any image