LOTV launch; birthday treats!

Hello lovely people,

I am off to the in-laws for the weekend and am taking my Copics with me - lol!

Today is a very exciting day as it is release day for a whole heap of gorgeous new images from LOTV :-)

So of course, I have a DT card to showcase one of the new images...

This is a new character and she has the cutest little bear friend!

I've added my usual layers and stitching but kept the embellishments sweet and simple.

I used the balloon dies from the Adorable Elephants set but cut off the strings and added the longer thinner strings from the Blueprints set; there's nothing like making life complicated is there?!

Tune back in tomorrow for another card featuring a different image with this little pair of sweeties!

I hope you all have a fab weekend whatever you are up to :-)

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

Lovely things I've used;

Blueprints 26 - My Favorite Things

Adorable elephants die-namics - My Favorite Things

Essential sentiments - My Favorite Things

InLinkz.com

Papers are discontinued ones by Nitwit Collections

Copic colours;
Skin: E000/00/21/11/04 & R20
Hair: Y21/YR23/E15/E18
Dress: R81/83/85 & BG 11/53/57
Backpack: BG11/53/57/49
Bear: E40/41/42/43 (&R000/00/01 for ears)
Present: R81/83/85 & BG10/11/53
Milkshake: B0000/000 & RV000/10
Straws: BG0000/000/10
Table / stools: N0/1/2/3/4

Ground: W00/0/1/2/3

You are my sunshine

Hello lovely people,

This weekend started very promisingly with a fabulous curry with friends on Friday night.

Then it was off to my brother and his girlfriend's for a relaxing weekend with some gorgeous food; fish pie cooked by my brother on Saturday and a lovely Sunday lunch out.
Oh, and how could I forget the cream tea in beautiful sunshine in the garden on Saturday afternoon - yum :-)

We also went to see Jurassic World at the cinema on Saturday evening and would you believe it has been 7 years since I last went to the cinema?!  I absolutely loved the film and it was worth the trip to the big screen :-)

I can't believe June is nearly over, and I have one more card to share this month for the LOTV Design Collective.

Since it is Summer, and even the weather is nice and hot, I thought I'd go for some pretty florals and you can't get much prettier than these new LOTV papers!

This turned out really quite CAS; I just couldn't bring myself to cover up the gorgeous papers too much!

This image does have a lovely sentiment that comes with it but I was itching to use my new postmark greetings!
I added a little sparkle to the flower centres and butterfly wings :-)

Card recipe;

Image: You are my sunshine - LOTV

DP: Romance and roses - LOTV

Twine: Ivory button twine - The Ribbon Girl

Sentiment: Greetings postmarks - LOTV

Dies: Scalloped squares - Nestabilities, Circle stax - MFT Die-namics
Sparkle: Crystal glamour dust

Copic colours;
Bear: E41/42/43/44
Pink flowers: R81/83/85RV17
Aqua flowers: BG10/11/34
Grass / leaves: G20/43

I hope you all had wonderful weekends whatever you have been up to!

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

Challenges I am entering;

Bunny Zoe (furry friends)
Papertake Weekly (trio-tastic - 3 designer papers)
A Gem of a Challenge (summer time)
Addicted to Stamps (bingo - flowers, stamped image, punches/dies)

Finishing touches

Hello lovely people,

I seem to have developed a thing recently for having several cards on the go at once.  It was getting a bit silly when I had 7, yes 7, half finished cards on my desk... and I was running out of space to craft in!
So, I have finished 5 of the 7 cards and consequently will have lots to share with you over the next few weeks :-)

First up is my card for our new challenge at In The Pink and our theme this time is...

DIE CUTS AND/OR PUNCHES

I have made a buckle card and if you want more details of how to make one of these, check out my tutorial here.
The die cut swirl I have used is a firm favourite of mine especially as you can cut it up to fit where you want it and create slightly different shapes.

The 'buckle' slides out from under the image panel like so...

The inside is decorated both to look pretty and to hide the buckle mechanism.

I used my fave little bear, sweet James from LOTV, and I'm sorry to say this rubber stamp has now been discontinued :-(

The fishtails for the sentiment were cut by hand and I used foam pads to add some dimension to them.

Card recipe;

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

Flowers: Wild Orchid Crafts

Twine: The Ribbon Girl

Dies:Leaf and swirl - Magnolia Doohickey
Tag: Christmas sentiment tags - LOTV
Snowflake charm: Snowflake 1 charm - The Ribbon Girl

Copic colours;
Fur: not entirely sure as I coloured his fur a while ago but I usually use E41/42/43 and maybe E44
Hat / scarf: RV91/93/95
Ground / fur on hat: W00/0/1/2

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.  LOTV (Merry Christmas)
2.  Bunny Zoe's Crafts (snow)
3.  A Creative Romance (something old - this is one of my oldest  LOTV stamps but comes out to play every year!)

A little bit of love

Hello lovely people,

I hope you are all well and not wilting too much in the heat!  It has been a little uncomfortable at times especially when working but I absolutely will not complain that it is too hot as it seems waaaay too long since we had a decent sunny summer here in the UK :-)

Now I've done the British thing and discussed the weather I can move on to our new challenge at In The Pink where our theme this month is...

ANIMAL ANTICS

Cue James bear!  I'm sure I have other cute critters in my stash but I really only have eyes for James :-)

It's a cleaner looking card from me today with no inky or distressed edges, just a little sprinkling of Frantage and sparkly edges (Stardust Stickles) to the little heart stems.
The big heart has been paper pieced.

Card recipe;
Image: James - big heart - LOTV
DP: Yours truly & Special delivery (girl) - Pebbles (available at Hey Little Magpie)
Tag: Sentiment tags - LOTV
Seam binding/twine: The Ribbon Girl
Dies: heart stems - Impression Obsession
Frantage: Shabby pink frantage - Live and Love Crafts

Copic colours;
Fur: E40/41/42/43
Rose: R83/85 & G21/24
Ground: T0/1/2/3/4

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 playing along with;

1.  Simon Says Stamp (emboss it - I used Frantage embossing powder)
2.  As You Like It (fave sentiment = 'with love' because it works for a range of occasions and is just a lovely thing to say to someone to make them feel special!)

Balloons

Hello lovely people,

Here we go again with a new challenge at Crafty Little Fairies and our theme this month is...

SPOTS &/OR STRIPES

We are thrilled to have FIVE fabulous sponsors this month:

THE RIBBON GIRL

MARIANNE DESIGN

IVA NOVA CHEST

HANDY HIPPO

CRAFTY RIBBONS

I took advantage of the lovely birthday discount recently to stock up on LOTV stamps, a mixture of old and new.  Today I have used an older stamp but I thought it was a very versatile design and I've teamed it with some of the fab LOTV papers.  Oh, and the sentiment is from a LOTV set I got in my little spending spree as well :-)

I think I've got the theme covered with spots and stripes on the DP and the image!

Card recipe;
Image: Patchwork bunch of balloons - LOTV
DP: Petal Fresh - LOTV
Sentiment: set 7, for you circular sentiments - LOTV
Dies: leaf and swirl - Magnolia Doohickey
Seam binding / twine: The Ribbon Girl

Copic colours;
Fur: E40/41/42/43
Pads on feet: R000/30
Nose: E43/44
Balloons: YG61/63/G24 & B91/93/95 & W00/0/1

If you pop over to Crafty Little Fairies you can check out the fabulous creations from my teamies.

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

Hugs,

Kat xx

Challenges I am entering;
1.  Papertake Weekly (amnything goes +/- summer)

Mother's Day James

Hello lovely people,

I don't know about you but the days off at Easter and then my usual day off yesterday has left me very confused about what day of the week it is right now.
So, in case anyone else isn't sure, it is THURSDAY so that means it's time for a new challenge at Crafty Little Fairies and our theme is...

FURRY FRIENDS

We are sponsored by...

My favourite furry friend has to be the adorable James from LOTV and this is the card I made for my Mum for Mother's Day.  It's a fairly simple design, made before my new stash of flowers arrived, but I  wouldn't have added flowers anyway as it really doesn't need anything else IMHO.

I kept the shading quite light on James and paper pieced the heart adding a different little scrap for the patch.  I wasn't sure how well it would work given the placement of his paws on the heart but a little care with the cutting out and it's all fine!

Card recipe;
Image: James - big heart - LOTV
DP: Vintage autumn basics - Maja Designs
Swirl: Leaf and swirl die - Magnolia Doohickey
Twine: ivory button twine - The Ribbon Girl
Tags: Sentiment tags (set 24 & set 69) - LOTV

Copic colours;
James: E41/42/43/44
Rose: R39/59/89 & YG97/99
Ground: T 0/1/2/3/4

If you pop over to Crafty Little Fairies you can check out the fabulous creations from my teamies.  Don't forget that from next week our challenge goes monthly!

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

Hugs,

Kat xx

Tag!

Hello lovely people,

Another Thursday and another challenge from us at Crafty Little Fairies and our theme this time is...

ADD A TAG

I had a good old think about what to do for this and then the light bulb came on... my fave way to add sentiments is on little tags so that's what I've done.

I have gone for quite a masculine design and kept it super simple although I now think I should have stitched around the image panel.
I think this card would be lovely as a get well soon or thinking of you card but the sentiment makes it really versatile.

Card recipe;

Image: James - umbrella - LOTV

DP: Hope - Authentique

Tag: Sentiment tags (set 24) - LOTV

Ribbon: twill tape - find similar at The Ribbon Girl

Button: from stash

Copic colours;

Fur: E40/41/42/43

Umbrella: B93/95/97/99 & G21/24/YG63/67 & E44/47

Water: B0000/BG70/B21/blender

Head over to Crafty Little Fairies to check out the lovely creations from my teamies.

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

Hugs,

Kat xx

Challenges I am entering;
1.  Simon Says Stamp (anything goes with buttons)

A special pink card

Hello lovely people,

For those of you wondering where I have been, it has just been a busy week and a fab weekend with family.  I have a couple of days off at the moment though and am enjoying a little me (craft) time :-)

But now it's time for a new challenge at In The Pink and our theme is...

MOTHER'S DAY OR SPECIAL LADY

We know that not everyone will be making Mother's Day cards so any card for a special lady will do and we'd love it if you told us who it's for.
My card is for my mother-in-law's birthday but I always struggle to put names on cards so you can't tell from looking at it - lol!

She enjoys gardening so I bought this stamp with her in mind and of course, it works so well in pink!  I used the out-of-the-box technique to cut it into a circle to match the doodled frame of the stamped image.

Card recipe;

Image: Sunny Days and Smiles - LOTV

DP: Always and Forever - LOTV

Dies: Die-namics circle stax, Anja's vintage swirls - Marianne Designs

Lace: from stash (East of India brand)

Twine: Ivory button twine - The Ribbon Girl

Flowers: Wild Orchid Crafts

Tag: Sentiment tags - LOTV

Copic colours;

Bear: E40/41/32/43

Wheelbarrow: E35/37/47/49

Presents: RV0000/000/R81/83/85/R59 & V20/22/25

Butterfly / tulips: R81/83

Grass / leaves: YG61/93/95

If you pop over to In The Pink you can check out the fabulous creations from my teamies.

I will be back later today with another card so for now, thanks for visiting and I really appreciate any comments that you leave.

Hugs,

Kat xx

Challenges I am entering;
1.  As You Like It (fave 3D texture object - mine is more of a combo than 1 item as I love lace layered with twine tied in a bow with a flower on top - it just looks so elegant)
2.  A Creative Romance (bingo: pink, flowers, pearls)
3.  Totally Gorjuss (happy birthday)
4.  The Ribbon Girl (birthday)

Lovely James

Hello lovely people,

I had a wonderful weekend catching up with my friends and despite the wine consumed on Saturday night I was feeling quite sprightly on Sunday morning!
Today I have had a day off work so have been getting in some crafting time and I have a little CAS card to share with you today featuring one of the new LOTV James bear stamps.
I am enjoying making CAS cards at the moment and this one was a CASE of a fab layout that Lisa did (see the original here), although I have added the chevron strips at the sides.

I love all the different ways to colour James so this time I tried a new colour combo and tried for a very soft effect with lots of light fur and small amounts of shading.  I guess I was trying for something akin to what others achieve with distress inks and I'm really quite pleased with him!

Card recipe;

Image: James big heart - LOTV

DP: December documented - Simple Stories

Twine: Ivory button twine - The Ribbon Girl

Tags: Sentiment tags - LOTV

Copic colours;

Fur: E30/31/55/43

Heart: R37/39/59

Patch: T1/2/3

Rose: R39/59/89 & G94/99

Shading all round image: T0 (just to stop it being so bright against the Kraft!)

I think this little chap is destined to be Dr Hubby's Valentine's Day card as I know he is a fan of the CAS card!  So, that will be a first for me, not forgetting it was coming up and making something at the very last minute!  Oh, and there is no chance he will see this on my blog before then as he really is not that interested!

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

Hugs,

Kat xx

Challenges I am entering;
1.  As You Like It (fave CAS - for me it usually involves fussy cutting, strips of DP and some twine with tags - I like the pops of colour against the clean background and it's great for male cards!) 
2.  Cute Card Thursday (so sweet)
3.  Totally Gorjuss (furtastic)
4.  Craft Mojo (all things new - my gorgeous James stamp!)

Book token presentation pack

Hello lovely people,

Are you all settling back into the usual routines post Christmas?  Doesn't it feel like ages ago already?!  Well, here is something I made to give to my aunt-in-law for Christmas to make a book token a bit more exciting!

I found a quote I liked for the front and played around with some fonts on the computer to make a focal point and then added some pretty flowers and leaves to frame it.

I created 2 pockets inside to hold the book token on the left and a matching bookmark on the right.  I only added a little stamped detail and one flower so that the card would actually shut since the pockets and gifts already made it quite bulky!

I made a corner bookmark very similar to a previous one; check out this post if you want to see how it fits on a book!  This also had to be flat so it wouldn't created lumps in the book!

Card recipe;

Image (on bookmark): Posy trio - LOTV

DP: Vintage Summer Basics - Maja Designs

Label shape / scalloped circle: cut with Cricut

Lace: 12mm white scallop flat lace - The Ribbon Girl

Brown/white flowers: Wild Orchid Crafts

Pink flowers: The Ribbon Girl
Dies: Lavish branch - Memory Box, Cherry blossom (for flower centre) - Memory Box

Fancy edge: Martha Stewart edge punch

Pearls: from Wild Orchid Crafts

Copic colours (for bookmark);

Fur: E40/41/42/44
Flower: R81/83

I am working this weekend but can look forward to having Monday off and am really hoping for an end to this grey weather so I can photograph some of my recent projects!  I hope you are all having a lovely weekend and haven't been washed away/snowed in etc. depending on where you live.

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

Hugs,

Kat xx

Challenges I am entering;

1.  Papertake Weekly (pick of the year...flower power)

Lace and pearls at Crafty Little Fairies

Hello lovely people,

OK, I think it's actually winter now folks and the heating is on a lot in my house but I am one of those people that always feels the cold.  I haven't quite got to the stage of wearing socks in bed yet but I'll keep you posted!

Anyway, enough of the weather and on to our new challenge at Crafty Little Fairies where we have the theme of...

LACE AND PEARLS

Our sponsor this week is Live and Love Crafts with a £10 voucher for our lucky winner and I know I could spend this in a flash - it's one of my favourite places to shop!

I really wanted to have another go at making a criss-cross card; you can see my first tiny little one here.  I was able to make a good sized one (140cm square) out of a single piece of card this time since I ordered some A3 Kraft card from Anna Marie Designs.  It is a lovely weight (270gsm) for making base cards from but works well for matting purposes too.

I cut several label shapes with my Cricut and layered them together to make a large tag to go inside - there is a blank panel to write a message on.

The image is quite small but I think it works well on this criss-cross design and the cute bear is perfect for so many occasions.

I really went to town with the embellishments on this one and made sure I added plenty of pretty pearls!  I even took the original flower centres out of the sweetheart blossoms and replaced them with pearls!

Card recipe;

Image: You are my sunshine - LOTV

DP: Always and Forever paper pad - LOTV

Scallop square: Nestie die

Scallop edge: Martha Stewart edge punch

Lace: 18mm 'Teresa' lace - The Ribbon Girl

Seam binding: Light beige from Wild Orchid Crafts

Flowers: from Wild Orchid Crafts

Pearls: from The Hobby House

Copic colours;

Teddy: E41/42/43

Flowers: RV0000/R81/83/85/R39 & E47

Grass/leaves: YG91/93

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges;
1.  Inky Chicks (pearls and swirls)
2.  Sweet Stampin' (tags)
3.  Totally Gorjuss (3 DPs)
4.  Divas by Design (make it pretty)

I hope you will visit the rest of the Fairies at Crafty Little Fairies as they have been hard at work creating some wonderfully pretty cards to inspire you.

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

Hugs,
Kat xx

The return of James Bear

Hello lovely people,

I hope you have been having a lovely weekend and not getting too spooked!  We went to a Halloween Party last night and the costumes were wonderful; even Otto the dog had a little skeleton outfit on!

This is Dr Hubby, and if you don't recognise the costume it is the eponymous 'superhero' from the film Kick-Ass!

I went for a more traditional Halloween costume...

Back to business though and it's on with the Christmas cards for me, using the fab new sketch from the Papertake Weekly Challenge for inspiration this time;

So, I am absolutely loving this James Bear stamp and thought he would look fab teamed with some frosty colours and snowflakes.  I have gone for several layers as usual and distressed them with a Tim Holtz distressing tool before inking them just a touch and stitching them.

I have coloured James pretty much the same as my last card using him but with a different colour hat and scarf!  I also gave the snow some Liquid Pearls treatment :-)

The snowflakes are a new die for me and wow, they are just gorgeous - so detailed and elegant :-)  I have to say that the Impression Obsession dies are always such good quality, cut beautifully and look fabulous.

Card recipe;

Image: James Bear in the snow - LOTV

DP: Vintage Spring Basics - Maja Designs

Lace - Venice Petit - Live and Love Crafts (but I can't see it in the shop anymore)

Dies: Small snowflake set - Impression Obsession (available from Dies to Die For)

Sentiment: Handwritten Christmas Sentiments - Pink Petticoat
Pearls: from The Hobby House

Copic colours;

Fur: E40/41/42/43

Scarf / hat: T0/3 & B91/93/95

'White' bit of hat: T0/1/2/blender

Ground: T0/1/3/blender

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges;
1.  Papertake Weekly (sketch)
2.  The Hobby House (pearls)
3.  Top Tip Tuesday (seasons - mine is winter of course!)
4.  Simon Says Stamp (anything goes)
5.  Totally Gorjuss (anything goes with snow)

Thanks for visiting and I wish you all a good week :-)

Hugs,
Kat xx