Cake glorious cake!

Hello lovely people,

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

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

Our sponsor this time is Bunny Zoes Crafts with a £10 voucher

My favourite occasion to make cards for is birthdays because it's so nice to personalise each card with a specially chosen image or their name.

I especially like making girly birthday cards because I can make pretty cards like this one!

LOTV have been bringing back some of the previously retired stamps but sadly not this one...yet!
I totally adore this stamp and use her quite often.
Maybe I am drawn to it because of the size of that cake....yummy!

I don't think I have posted a card with this Happy Birthday banner before and I *really* love it so you will be seeing more of it!

Card recipe;

Image: Cake glorious cake (retired) - LOTV

DP: Romance and roses - retired from LOTV but available as digi download from Nitwits

Flowers: Wild Orchid Crafts

Dies:Happy birthday banner - Taylored Expressions, Advent drawer deco die set (for number 3) - Tonic Studios, Old Swedish lace - Magnolia Doohickeys

Name: freebie alphabet stamp set
Sparkle: Clear Wink of Stella 

Copic colours;
Skin: E000/00/21/11/04 & R20
Hair: E53/35/59
Cardigan: BG10/11/13
Skirt: BG10/11/13/49
Shoes: R81/83/85
Wings: RV0000/000/R81
Cake: E81/41/42 & R81/83
Candle: BG10/11/13 & Y21/YR23/27
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;

The bunnies are back!

Hello lovely people,

If you haven't seen or heard about this yet then let me fill you in...the LOTV Ideas to Inspire blog is back - hurrah!

On top of that, some of the best loved LOTV  images are coming back too, including a couple of the gorgeous bunny stamps.  So, I thought I'd use one of them for my Design Collective card today.

This bunny was the first ever LOTV stamp I bought and he is just as adorable now as he was when I bought him :-)
I did a little paper piecing again on the balloon and cupcake.

Card recipe;

Image: Balloon bunny - LOTV

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

Dies:

Copic colours;
Bunny: W00/0/1/2/3/4
Ears: R0000/00/01

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

Bubble blooms for Mum

 Hello lovely people,

I am very excited today as my beautiful new wooden box set of Inktense watercolour pencils has arrived!
It's not even my birthday!
I have been toying with the idea of getting them for ages and finally just decided to go for it :-)

Now I just have to learn how to use them, so while I am having a play, I have another Mothers' Day card to show you.
I tried out my new bubble bloom stamp and made a pretty pastel CAS design, with homemade candy dots.

This design was slightly more complicated than it looks because I inked the edges of the dots before I shaped them and I paper pieced the leaves, but those little details really make the difference in my eyes.

Card recipe;

Image: Bubble Bloom Melanie - Woodware

DP: Spring paper bloc - Joy! Crafts

Twine: Ivory button twine - The Ribbon Girl

Tag: Sentiment tags - LOTV

Tag: Family sentiment tags - LOTV

Dies: Dotties - Presscut

Copic colours;
Tiny leaves: G40/YG61

I hope you all had a great weekend :-)

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

Candle Ellie

Hello lovely people,

Woohooo! It's the weekend again and I hope you all have lovely things planned.
I will be crafting and catching up with friends :-)

Today I am sharing another card for The Paper Nest Dolls and no surprises I have gone for a pretty girly design!

I have used a fairly new image that I instantly fell in love with when I saw it.

Just don't get me started on the health and safety issues here...candle...hair...just saying - lol!

On a positive note, if that's the size of the candle, how big must the cake be?!

Card recipe;

Image: Ellie with candle - Paper Nest Dolls

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

Flowers: Wild Orchid Crafts

Sentiment: For you circular sentiments - LOTV

Dies: Tilda lace - Magnolia Doohickeys

Copic colours;
Skin: E000/00/21/11/04 & R20
Hair: E11/15/18
Dress: R20/21/22/24
Dress sash & frill: R0000/00/20
Candle: B52/BG72/75 & R0000/00/20 & YR20/21

Enjoy your weekend!

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

Pretty little fairies

Hello lovely people,

Do you ever have those days when you rush around and get loads done but still feel like you should have done more?!
That was yesterday for me :-(
So now I'm grumpy because I didn't get to do any crafting yesterday and Dr. Hubby has been away for a few days as well so I am missing him *big sigh*

Ok, time to stop feeling sorry for myself and tell you about our new challenge at In The Pink where we have the theme...

SO CUTE
Don't forget we want to see more pink than any other colour!

Our sponsor this time is The Paper Nest Dolls with a $10 voucher

I have a lot of stamps in my collection that fit the cute theme but these little fairies caught my eye and I thought it would be 'fun' to make a CAS design - lol!

A very big thank you to my fellow Pink Ladies for helping me to be brave and leave off the stitching for a change!

The border along the bottom is my bargainous new Martha Stewart punch...so pretty!

I added a subtle sparkle to the wings and star with Wink of Stella...it's so subtle you can't see it!

I liked the design so much that I made 2 more in different colours.
I still love the pink one the best but shhhh, don't tell the other fairies!

Here's a lilac one...

And one in aqua...

Card recipe;

Image: Little Fairies - LOTV

DP: Pastel Dreams, Snow Princess and Romance & Roses - available as digi downloads from Nitwit Collections

Punch: Floral lace - Martha Stewart

Sentiment: A little sentimental - Clearly Besotted

Copic colours;
Skin: E000/00/21/11/04 & R20
Hair: E53/35/59
Pink fairy: RV0000/000/R81 & R81/83/85
Purple fairy: V20/22/25/28
Aqua fairy: G0000/000/00/BG32/13
Socks: W00/1
Wink of Stella (clear) on star and wings

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.

I hope your week is going well and roll on the weekend I say!

Thanks for visiting and for all the lovely comments that you leave me.

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;

Craft show review and stash

Hello lovely people,

This post is a little later than intended but as promised here is a round up from my trip to the Paper Craft Show at the National Motorcycle Museum last weekend.

I was interested to see how it compared to the Hobbycrafts show at the NEC and the immediately obvious advantage is that entry is only £4 and parking is free :-)

It was well worth a visit but was a lot smaller than the NEC so didn't have all the variety that the NEC does.  I still managed to spned a decent amount though and got a few good deals.

I think because it was only on for one day and on a Saturday, it was very crowded and difficult to get close to some of the stalls especially early on.

Ok, here comes the stash...

A few new dies are always a must and I thought the swirl on the right would be lovely to cut up and tuck in amongst my flower clusters

Some stamps that are a bit different for me so I can try out a few new ideas

More stamps; this lot are my first purchases from Little Claire and I reckon they will make really cute little cards.
I shared a multi-buy with my Mum for these so they were a great price :-)

My biggest bargain of the day; a pretty Martha Stewart border punch for just £5, and I've already used it :-)

Something you don't usually see at the NEC is loose 12" papers but there were some at this show and the Pion papers were a fab price of £1/sheet so I couldn't resist just a few!

Some more papers at 50p per sheet

One of the new ideas I want to try needs some coloured inks so I bought a selection...and yes, there was no way I could resist those pink brads and pegs - lol!

It was worth a visit for the cheap entry price but really don't think it can compare to the NEC...
so I am planning to go to the NEC in March with a few crafting buddies!

Thanks for visiting and I hope you enjoyed seeing my new stash and hopefully I will share some cards with it very soon.

Cross my heart

Hello lovely people,

As I expected I had a fabulous time catching up yesterday with the lovely Sue and Debs and it also involved the most enormous pieces of cake I have ever seen - yummy!
We had a great discussion about craft stash organisation and I am feeling determined to organise some of my supplies a bit better!  

So, while I see if I can whip some of my stash into shape, here's the new challenge at As You Like It and our theme this time is...

YOUR FAVOURITE...FANCY FOLD OR SHAPE
...and don't forget to tell us why it's your favourite!

Our sponsor this time is Sweet Stamp Store with a $10 voucher

I really love making any kind of fancy folded or shaped cards but my favourite is the criss cross card because I think it looks so very special and it's fun to have a tag inside that you can pull out.

I can't believe how long it has been since I coloured up a James bear image!
I have recently been using a 'dotting' technique to add texture to fur, which works well for smaller images but I prefer the 'flicking' technique for this larger James bear image.

Aw, don't you just want to give him a hug?!

I kept the tag inside quite simple with just a few co-ordinating details.

The flower clusters are a Kat classic combo although I only used the leaves from my fave die rather than the swirl bits and just for a slight change!

I also scattered a few pearls around which I haven't done on any designs for a while; to be honest I thought the corners of the heart panel were a bit bare so out came the pearls!

Card recipe;

Image: James - big heart - LOTV

DP: A gift for you - Maja Design (available from Live and Love Crafts)

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

Tag: Family sentiment tags - LOTV

Dies: Heart swirl - Magnolia Doohickeys, Heart stems - Impression Obsession

Copic colours;
Fur: E40/41/42/43
Rose: R46/39/89 & YG95/97
Shading on heart: W00/0/1/2
Ground: W00/0/1/2/3

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;

More Dolls!

Hello lovely people,

Today is a wonderful day for 2 reasons;

1)  I am off for a catch up with two lovely crafting blogging friends and I am soooooo looking forward to the coffee, cake and most of all, the company :-)

2)  I am delighted to tell you that Christine of The Paper Nest Dolls asked me to do a few more cards as a guest DT member...cue happy dance!

Today sees the release of a brand new set of images from The Paper Nest Dolls and I have the super cute Lemon Ellie to show you...but all the new images are very yummy!

Everything got a little bit distressed in the making of this card with lots of inking, tearing, rolled corners, and bits of lace peeking through!

Here's the star of the card...so adorable!

I had to dig out some sunny papers to go with this image.  It's not often I use yellow but it seemed to be called for in this case and I even found the perfect little sentiment cut from one of the papers :-)

Card recipe;

Image: Lemon Ellie - The Paper Nest Dolls

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

Flowers: Wild Orchid Crafts
Lace: Laila - The Ribbon Girl

Dies: Heart swirl - Magnolia Doohickeys
Stamped edge detail: Goblin branch - Magnolia Rubberstamps

Copic colours;
Skin: E000/00/21/11/04 & R20
Hair: E53/57/59
Dress: B32/34/37
Frills: W00/1/3
Lemon: Y21/35
Leaf: YG61/63/67
Ground: W00/0/1/2/3/4

Wishing you all a great day!

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

Just my type

Hello lovely people,

I'm busy busy with some custom orders at the moment; isn't it nice to be in demand?!

So, I'm just popping in really quickly with a cute little Valentine's Day card.

The typewriter image (now sadly unavailable) came with some individual pages with sentiments on and also a blank page image, so I chose a typewriter style font to add my own text to the blank page image, cut it out and put a thin foam pad underneath the top.

I was then able to use the same font for the word labels underneath so it's all nicely co-ordinated :-)

Card recipe;

Image: retired digi from Pink Petticoat

DP: A gift for you - Maja Design (available from Live and Love Crafts)

Twine: Ivory button twine - The Ribbon Girl

Dies: Notebook edge die - Clearly Besotted
Paperclip: from stash

Sentiment: done on computer (font: Travelling typewriter)

Copic colours;
Main body of typewriter: W00/0/1/2/3
Darker details on typewriter: W3/5/7
Hearts: R46/59

I hope you all have a good week :-)

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

Circular baby girl card

Hello lovely people,

I spent most of yesterday doing one of my favourite activities...shopping for crafty stash!
I went to The Paper Craft Show at the National Motorcycle Museum with my Mum and came home with lots of lovely new things to play with.  I'll share some pics and my thoughts on the show in another post.

My head is now buzzing with ideas for using my new stash so while I have a play, here's a new baby card I made using LOTV products for the image and tag.

I wanted to make use of my new-ish large circle dies and do a circular base shape, but did wonder how I would make it stand up straight!
I eventually settled on cutting the bottom of the back layer off to make sure it would stand up straight; what does anyone else do?

I paper pieced the onesie as this is a great way to get a perfect match to the DPs and I still added some shading for definition.  How cute is the teeny heart print for baby girl clothes?!

I haven't used my Cricut for ages, probably because it was on the floor due to lack of space on my desk.  It now has a space to sit on my new desk so I hope I will use it a bit more.  I think lettering is one of the most useful things I can do with it and that's what I used to personalise this card.

Card recipe;

Image: Rocking horse - LOTV

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

Flowers: Wild Orchid Crafts

Tag: Sentiment tags - LOTV

Dies: Nesting circles - Tonic Studios, Circle stax - MFT Die-namics
Lettering: cut with Cricut (Lyrical letters cartridge)
Stars: from stash, painted with white acrylic paint

Copic colours;
Skin: E000/00/21/11/04 & R20
Shading on babygro: RV91/93
Horse: W00/0/1/2/3 & W5/7/9 for mane
Rockers: E41/42/43/44
Bridle: RV91/93/95
Teddy: E40/41/42/43
Ground: W00/0/1/2/3/4

I hope you all have great weekends whatever you may be getting up to...and haven't got too soggy with all this rain!

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