Little mice

Hello lovely people,

I did warn you that I could well be back for a third day in a row and here I am!

I survived another day in work yesterday and now have another couple of weeks off before my full return.  I popped out at lunchtime to get my new glasses and am really pleased with them; well, they are purple!  Much as I love pink I'm not sure about it for my glasses - lol!  Dr. Hubby commented that they were very 'sexy schoolteacher!' so I think that's a compliment!

Enough of that though because today I have a card to share with you that I made with some gorgeous goodies from The Ribbon Girl.

We Ribbon Girls are allowed a little break in August, but I couldn't resist having a play with these beautiful new papers that are newly arrived at The Ribbon Girl; they have such a lovely vintage style and beautiful soft colour palette.

I was drawn to my Inktense pencils again for this image and was pretty happy with the result.  I am thinking I might do a little post dedicated to Inktense to share my insights so far into using them, such as they are!  Anyone fancy that?

I do love making criss cross cards, and that's another potential for a tutorial so I can show you the stand that I make for them and share my tips for attaching lace across the front.

I've made a large pull out tag; just a sweet and simple one with some little die cut hearts.

One more peek at the gorgeous flowers that I used and that scrummy lace, which I ended up covering quite a bit - oops!

I hope you all have a super bank holiday weekend :-)

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

The Ribbon Girl products;
Galleria Papieru - As if in a dream (retro) 12x12" papers
12mm Donna creamy ivory fine cotton lace
Heart charm with side loop
Ivory asters
Natural colour button twine
White cherry blossom

Other products;

Image: Hugs and kisses (Everyday in moonbeam meadow) - Crafter's Companion

Other flowers: from stash

Dies: Large frilly frames #10 - Go Kreate, Nesting hearts mini die - Xcut

Sentiment tags - LOTV

Inktense colours;
Mice: 2100 Charcoal Grey & 0310 Mid Vermillion, 1530 Crimson for feet
Flowers / waistcoat / bow: 0530 Crimson
Leaves / grass: 1550 Spring Green, 1510 Beech Green
Mushroom top: 0310 Mid Vermillion, 1900 Willow, 1740 Saddle Brown
Mushroom stalk: as top plus 1730 Oak, 2010 Sepia Ink

Bye bye to Top Tip Tuesday

Hello lovely people,

It's time for a new challenge at Top Tip Tuesday but as you may have guessed from my post title is is the last ever challenge...so sad :-(

I may not have been on the team all that long but it what a wonderful team to have been part of; such fabulous people to work with, such inspiring creativity, and I have enjoyed every second of it :-)

Our very last theme for you is...

RIBBONS & PEARLS

We have an incredible number of sponsors for our last challenge so I'm not going to list them all here but you can see them all on the Top Tip Tuesday post.

Ribbons and pearls usually sends me off in a flurry of pretty pink girlyness, but for some reason this time I was inspired to make a Christmas card...
...my first Christmas card this year!

I wanted to create a design that looked great, was easy to produce lots of but where I could change a few details to personalise each one.

So, I dragged myself away from the Copics...far too time consuming...and chose a LOTV pre-coloured art pad image.
These are so stylish and fitted well with my idea of an 'easy' design; the only thing I added was a touch of sparkle on the snow.

Then I chose a criss cross design, which you may be thinking is utter madness compared to a standard square card!
However, I find them really quick and easy to fold, and they are a lovely shape to design on...so they look fancy but are really easy :-)

Card recipe;

Image: Furry Christmas art pad - LOTV

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

Twine: Ivory button twine - The Ribbon Girl

Seam binding: The Ribbon Girl

Tag: Christmas sentiment tags - LOTV
Pearl brad: Retro mix pearl brads - The Hobby House

I hope you will pop over to Top Tip Tuesday and check out the fabulously creative projects from the rest of the team and I hope you can join in our last challenge :-)

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

Challenges I am entering;

A summer challenge

Hello lovely people,

How wonderful to see some sunshine here today; perfect timing for our Summer Special Challenge Event at  LOTV!

We are having our first Facebook challenge and want to see all your Summer themed cards and projects using LOTV products.

We have some amazing prizes for you too...

For our hand picked top 3;
1st prize: £50 LOTV voucher
2nd prize: £25 LOTV voucher
3rd prize: £10 Ribbon Girl voucher

AND 3 x £20 LOTV vouchers for 3 randomly selected entrants

To enter, you need to like the LOTV facebook page, click to join the Summer Special Challenge Event and add a photo of your creation to that event page.

If the sunshine isn't enough inspiration for you here's my Summer inspired card...

Here are the gorgeous little bears in close up...

As usual I have made a large pull out tag to write a personal message on.
I used the border die to create the little tab at the top.

I have used my fave combo of pretty flowers and swirls to decorate the corner.

Card recipe;

Image: Happy Bears - LOTV

DP: Country Meadow - LOTV

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

Tag: Sentiment tags - LOTV

Dies: Heart swirl and Old Swedish lace - Magnolia Doohickeys

Copic colours;
Bears: E40/41/42/43
Pink bits: RV34/17/19
Yellow bits: YR20/21/23
Leaves: YG17
Ground: T0/1/2/3/4

You have until the end of 4th June to join in the fun and we can't wait to see your Summer projects :-)

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

Challenges I am entering;
1.  Papertake Weekly (anything goes +/- Summer)
2.  Fab 'n' Funky (check it out)

Time flies

Hello lovely people,

It's time for a new challenge at In The Pink and our theme this time is...

THINGS WITH WINGS

I hope you all love fairies, butterflies, birds... all things winged because we certainly do at In The Pink!

Now here's a little tip for you...
The lace looked just a teensy bit too bright white for this card so I got the sponge that I use to apply my Frayed Burlap distress ink and lightly pressed it over the top of the lace; I didn't add any ink to the sponge and just used the residue on it so it was a really subtle effect.
You won't even be able to tell by looking at the card but it is much better!

I have used another of my new stash of LOTV stamps with a little added sparkle of course!

I made a large pull out tag with space to write a message.

I am wondering if I should have popped some pearls or maybe a sentiment on the front of the card too, but do let me know what you think!

Card recipe;

Image: Time flies - LOTV

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

Flowers: Wild Orchid Crafts
Lace: Chantilly cotton lace (Penny) - Crafty Ribbons
Twine: Natural button twine - The Ribbon Girl

Tag: Sentiment tags - LOTV

Sparkle: Stardust Stickles
Pearl dots: Viva pearl pen (white)

Copic colours;
Skin: E000/00/21/11/04 & R20
Hair: E41/43/47
Dress / shoes: RV11/R83/R56
Wings / socks: RV0000/000/11
Dandelion: G20/YG61/63 & E47 & W0/2/3
Grass: G20/YG61/63

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.  Deep Ocean (bingo - flowers, stitching, tag)

Rosebuds and ribbons

Hello lovely people,

Oh dear, I really should have scheduled this...I'm a little late posting as it was my birthday yesterday and I went out with a couple of girlfriends for drinks and dancing until the wee small hours of this morning ;-)

And this is no ordinary post either...look what I am up to today...

I was delighted to be asked to join The Ribbon Girl DT for this week's card challenge which is

MOTHER/GIRLY

This card was made for a lovely blogging buddy who always inspires me with the range of styles and techniques she uses....so I wanted to see if I could do something a little bit different to my usual style.

My brief to myself was a shabby chic feel, NO focal image and of course, lots of pretties from The Ribbon Girl...

So I managed 2 out of 3 then!

I intended to make a cluster of rosebuds and ribbon as my focal point but I'm afraid I lost my nerve and added the birthday sentiment panel...but obviously kept the rosebuds because they are so gorgeous :-)

Here's the large pull out tag decorated to match...

Card recipe;

Items from The Ribbon Girl;

pink tulip seam binding

ivory button twine

17mm Faye ivory vintage style lace

hip rosebuds pale pink

rosebuds large ivory white

3mm ivory pearls

dragonfly charm small

Other items;

Sentiment stamp: Statements: fabulous - LOTV

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

Punched tag edge: Cherish punch - Martha Stewart

Sentiment on tag: For you circular sentiments - LOTV

Remarkably, I am feeling no ill effects from last night's shenanigans so I'm all set to enjoy the rest of the bank holiday weekend with my parents who are arriving in a few hours.

I reckon there's just enough time for me to go and pot on the tomato seedlings and do a bit of colouring first!

I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend whatever you are up to :-)

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

Criss cross layers

Hello lovely people,

I think I shall be clock watching all day today as I look forward to finishing work and heading up to my parents' house...
and then off to the Hobbycrafts show at the NEC tomorrow with my Mum!

For now I have a card to show you for our new challenge at In The Pink where we have the theme of...

LOTS OF LAYERS

We are delighted to be sponsored again by The Ribbon Girl with a £10 voucher prize

Using lots of layers on my card wasn't too tough for me but I know it's not everyone's cup of tea...

...and talking of tea, I just had to give this stamp another outing, this time for a Mothers' Day card for my Mother-in-Law.

I went with pink again, but it is quite a different shade to the last one!

I went with a really simple pull-out tag with a sentiment circle and ribbon loop.

Ooooh, look at all those lovely layers ;-)

Card recipe;

Image: Time for Tea (Moonbeam meadow) - Crafter's Companion

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

Flowers: Wild Orchid Crafts

Seam binding: Pink tulip seam binding - The Ribbon Girl
Twine: Ivory button twine - The Ribbon Girl

Tag: Sentiment tags - LOTV

Tag: Family sentiment tags - LOTV

Sentiment: Happy circular sentiments - LOTV

Copic colours;
Teapot: R81/83/56
Box / label: E40/41/42/43
Box corners / stick: E43/44/47
Mouse: E40/41/42 & R01/11
Bunting: YG61/63 & R81/83
flowers: RV0000/000/R81
Grass: YG61/63/67/G99

If you haven't already done so then do pop over to In The Pink and check out the gorgeous layered creations from the rest of the Pink Ladies.

If any of you are heading to the NEC over the next few days then I hope you have a fab time and come away with some lovely new crafty goodies :-)

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

Challenges I am entering;
1.  Papertake Weekly (happy...anything)
2.  A Gem of a Challenge (pretty in pink)
3.  Fab 'n' Funky (Spring into colour)

Bye bye summer

Hello lovely people,

It's double trouble from me today with 2 blog posts and the first one for you is for our new challenge at In The Pink where we have the theme...

FANCY FOLD

There are lots of lovely fancy fold designs out there and I always think they make for a really special looking card.  My favourite at the moment is the criss cross card so here is my creation...

I am having to limit the number of Magnolia stamps I buy as they are so lovely I could easily have them all, so I just picked my one absolute favourite from the last release which was the Pink Lemonade collection.  And this is it!
I think I am clinging on to the last bit of sunshine and warmth with this card! Yes, I know it's really autumn now but shhh, no-one has told the weather yet :-)

I made a large pull out tag to go inside but have decided to leave it blank for now until I decide how it should be finished depending on what I do with the card!

Card recipe;

Image: Pink Lemonade Tilda - Magnolia (available from Bunny Zoe's Crafts)

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

Flowers: Wild Orchid Crafts

Ric rac: from stash

Tag: Sentiment tags - LOTV
Dies: Circle stax - Dienamics, Tilda lace - Magnolia Doohickey

Copic colours;
Skin: E000/00/21/11/04 & R20
Hair: E50/53/55/57
Top / ribbons: RV32/34/R56/RV69
Trousers: E40/41/42/43
Shoes: E41/42/43/44
Drink: YR30/Y23
Foam / bubbles: YR30/Y21/Y35

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; there are lots of different fancy folds to inspire you.

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

Challenges I am playing along with;

1.  Live and Love Crafts (pink)

2.  Midweek Magnolias (anything goes)

3.  Sweet Magnolia (just for girls)

Anyone for tennis?

Hello lovely people,

Today I have a card to share that was commissioned by a work colleague for her partner's 50th birthday.  She asked if I was able to put specific wording on the inside and although I don't normally decorate the inside of my cards I said I easily could.  But then I decided to do a criss cross design instead as I think a lift out panel is a lovely way to add some text.  Fortunately it went down very well!

Other than the wording it was to be football or tennis themed and guess who just happened to fall into my basket a few weeks ago?  It's Tennis Edwin... or John McEnroe according to Dr. Hubby!

I always feel that criss cross designs don't necessarily need a lot of embellishment as the design adds plenty of interest itself, perfect for a male design of course!
So I just stitched everything...really, absolutely everything!  Then all I needed was a little bit of twine and a sentiment and I let Edwin take centre stage... or should that be centre court?!

Here's a little bit of a peek at the pull out tag but I won't show you all of the personal wording!

Card recipe;

Image: Tennis Edwin - Magnolia

DP: Vintage spring basics & Sofiero - Maja Design (available from Live and Love Crafts)

Twine: The Ribbon Girl

Sentiment: Happy circular sentiments - LOTV 

Copic colours;
Skin: E000/00/21/11/04 & R20
Hair: E21/25/29
T-shirt / shorts: W00/1/3
Socks / green details: YG61/G21/YG63
Shoes: W00/1/2/3/5
Racket: E41/42/43
Ball: YR30/31/Y21
Ground: YG61/G21/YG63/G94/G99

I don't seem to have had many cards for you lately; even though I have been busy in my craft room I have been trying to get ahead with DT cards so of course I can't show you those yet!

I won't have any for you this weekend either as I am off to Torquay with the Gloucestershire Caterham Seven Club; I do hope it doesn't rain so we can keep the roof off!

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

Challenges I am playing along with;

1.  Papertake Weekly (oh how cute - well, I think Tennis Edwin is cute!)
2.  Simon Says Stamp (anything goes)
3.  Midweek Magnolias (autumn/fall - the colours here feel very autumnal to me)
4.  Sweet Magnolia (spots and dots - on the tag)
5.  Simply Magnolia (anything goes)

Criss cross Tilda

Hello lovely people,

It's time for a new challenge at Top Tip Tuesday and our theme this time is...

2 OR MORE RIBBON/TWINE

We are sponsored by 2CuteInk who are offering the winner 2 images of their choice.

I had a sudden desire to do another criss cross card and thought I'd break into my new Maja Design papers too... oooh, these are *really* gorgeous!

As you can see I have been practicing my skin and hair colouring again with this cute Tilda.

I made a large tag to slide into the pocket of the criss cross design; this section of the DP with the sentiment across it was just perfect for it!

Here you can see the tag completely removed revealing the fancy label shape on the tag and even more pretty DP inside the card!

Card recipe;
Image: Tilda catching stars - Magnolia
DP: Coffee in the Arbour - Maja Design (available from Live and Love Crafts)
Dies: leaf and swirl and Tilda lace - both Magnolia
Tag: Sentiment tags - LOTV
Twine: The Ribbon Girl
Flowers: Wild Orchid Crafts
Satin ribbon: from stash

Copic colours;
Skin: E000/00/21/11/04 & R20
Hair: E31/23/27
Dress: B21/93/95/66
Crown: W00/1/3/5
Socks: W00/1/3
Shoes: E40/41/42/44
Wand: W3/5/7
Stars: YR30/Y21/35
Ground: W0/1/2/3/4/5

I hope you will pop over to Top Tip Tuesday where we have some fabulous creations from the rest of the team and a wonderful box card tutorial.

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

 

Challenges I am entering;

1.  A Little Bit Crafty (child's play)
2.  Tilda's Town (use dies/punches)
3.  A Gem of a Challenge (for a child/baby)

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

Good luck bear

Hello lovely people,

Happy Liliday to everyone!  Yes, it's time for another challenge at Lili's Little Fairies and this week we want to see 'Good Luck' cards.  This might not seem too easy at first but it can be wishing someone luck for anything you like; leaving to have a baby, a new job, a driving test etc.
Or, like me you could make a fairly non-specific good luck card... although I don't think it would work for a bloke!

I have used one of the Posy Trio stamps so I made quite a wee card, just 10x10cm for the base and this is the first time I have done a criss-cross design - I really like the style though so will definitely be doing this again.

The tag inside pulls out and there is space to write a message on it.

The image is coloured with Copics, cut out with a Nestie circle and layered onto a Nestie scalloped circle.  I may have gone a little mad with the pearls but I really love these teeny tiny little ones - just so cute!

Card recipe;

Image: Posy Trio from LOTV

DP: Kaisercraft - Tigerlilly
Scalloped edge: Magnolia DooHickey Die - Tilda Lace

Seam binding: from Wild Orchid Crafts

Pearls: 2mm ivory silk from The Hobby House

Copic colours;

Bear: E41/42/43 &E44 for nose

Flowers: R81/83/85 & G21/YG61

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges;
1.  Wild Orchid Crafts (lots of layers)
2.  The Ribbon Girl (add a die cut)
3.  The Hobby House (anything goes)

Don't forget to pop over to Lili's Little Fairies to see what the rest of the DT have created and I hope you can enter our challenge for a chance to win £10 to spend at Crafty Ribbons!

Thanks for visiting,

Hugs,
Kat xx