Lots of roses

Hello lovely people,

I hope you are all enjoying a lovely Easter weekend, maybe with a little chocolate treat from the Easter bunny?!

We have a new 'Use any image' challenge starting over on The Ribbon Girl blog, so you can enter with any type of project as long as you include an image.
There are loads of fab prizes up for grabs too :-)

I've used the recently re-launched House of Roses paper pad from Lemoncraft and it is even better this time round as you get more different designs and the tone is much pinker, which of course I love!

It seems like ages since I used a Magnolia image and it seemed appropriate given that the papers are House of Roses to use a Tilda with a big rose!

I have coloured her with Inktense watercolour pencils.

Just in case the papers and image weren't quite enough, I added paper roses too!

I was going to add some little fishtails in the top left corner but decided to leave it plain for now so I could add a name instead if I wish.

If you find yourself tempted by any of the pretty supplies I've used then you can go straight to the individual products via the thumbnails at the end of my post or just pop over to The Ribbon Girl and have a little browse around!

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

Inktense colours;
Skin: Baked earth, Madder brown
Hair: Tan, Willow, Oak
Dress / ground: Indian ink
Pink bits: Crimson
Leaf / stem: Light olive

Lovely things I've used from The Ribbon Girl;

House of roses - Lemoncraft	faux hessian (natural)	12mm pale pink faux silk ribbon	Ivory button twine
20mm pale pink open roses	10mm ivory open roses	miniature ivory cream blossoms	heart charm

InLinkz.com

Other card ingredients;
Tilda with a big big rose - Magnolia Rubberstamps
Scallop bracket die - La La Land crafts
Fancy flourish die - My Favorite Things
Other flowers - from stash

Little Sweetie

Hello lovely people,

I very much enjoyed a day of crafting yesterday, especially as Dr. Hubby was nowhere to be seen for most of the day since he was happily playing a newly released, and much anticipated, game for the Playstation 4!

I had a lovely time experimenting with some more of my new stamps :-)

Now, it's time for a new challenge at As You Like It and we have a lovely theme for you...

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

Very appropriately given our theme, our sponsor this time is Wild Orchid Crafts with a £12 voucher

My favourite flower might be a little predictable but it's roses, even more from a card-making sense than IRL!
I love the way roses can be used on both modern and vintage style designs and of course, I love to use 3D roses on my creations, but I have them on the image and papers here too!

It's quite a 'classic Kat' kind of card but I did do a couple of tiny things differently to usual.

The biggest difference is the use of Inktense pencils to colour the image rather than my Copics, and I have to say I am loving these more and more.

I feel happy that I have now figured out how to get a nice flicking effect on the hair which I think adds a lot of texture.

I used a darker Distress Ink to edge my papers and image to give more of an 'antique' feel, so this is Gathered Twigs instead of my favourite Frayed Burlap.

I also didn't take the twine across the entire card...ok, that's a VERY tiny difference - lol!

It's funny isn't it how we all have our favourite die cuts that get used a lot and some that don't...but just sometimes are perfect for a project.  That was the case with this corner die cut that I really like but don't use a lot as it often doesn't seem to suit the card...I hope you agree it found it's niche here!

I have still used my beloved Maja DP but this is some that I haven't used before even though it's from quite an old collection and I am loving the deep blue.

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,

Card recipe;

Image: Sweetie - Wee Stamps for Whimsy Stamps

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

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

Tag: Sentiment tags - LOTV

Dies: Filigree corner - La La Land

Inktense colours;
Skin: 1800 Baked Earth, 1520 Carmine Pink, 1740 Saddle Brown
Hair: 1740 Saddle Brown, 1730 Oak, 2010 Sepia Ink
Dress / flowers: 0830 Navy Blue, 0840 Iron Blue
Leaves: 1540 Light Olive

Peace on Earth

Hello lovely people,

I have just 9 weeks left of my career break and now my course and the USA trip are all done and dusted, I am suddenly feeling an urgency to tick off a few more goals for the year.

So, this week my plans include;
 - making serious inroads towards completing the Kit and Clowder skin/hair colouring class
- buying a few new kitchen items that we need; kettle, saucepans, hand blender
- start seriously decluttering the house

I have made a start today by sorting through all the accumulated stuff in the area behind the sofa in the cinema room and got rid of loads :-)

I did find time to play with some of the new release Christmas images from LOTV though.  I say 'new' but actually the image I have used today is one of our returning friends.

I never had this cutie the first time round (I'm shocked too!) but couldn't resist her second time around :-)

I was planning to colour her dress in white because...well, it's easiest!  At the last minute I decided to make life a little harder for myself and go for red instead because I thought it would match the papers better *sigh*

I often like non-traditional colours for Christmas cards but this Maja Design collection is so beautiful and it does suit the angel rather well I think.

The release date for all the images is...TOMORROW!!
As usual, I would get in quick if you don't want to miss out...there are some super cute new stamps and more fab returning friends :-)

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

Card recipe;

Image: Christmas angel flying - LOTV (coming back soon!)

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: Christmas sentiment tags - LOTV

Dies: Fanciful trim - Creative Expressions
Charm: Holly leaves tiny - The Ribbon Girl

Copic colours;
Skin: E000/00/21/11/04 & R20
Hair: E41/43/47
Dress: R27/46/89
Wings: W00/1/3
Holly: BG93/96 & R59/89

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,

Romance in an umbrella

Hello lovely people,

I've been in Bath studying for a couple of days and Dr. Hubby has been working away for a few days so we are now re-united and going to enjoy a day together...I think it's coffee date time!

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

YOUR FAVOURITE...1 LAYER OR MULTI-LAYER
...and don't forget to tell us why it's your favourite!

Our sponsor this time is Crafts-U-Love with a £10 voucher

I love to make multi-layered cards as I enjoy combining lots of pretty papers and it works well with the slightly vintage style that I like.

Sometimes I find it hard to achieve a soft look when colouring with Copics but I was delighted with how this turned out :-)
The umbrella was tricky because BG70 is so much lighter than BG72 that it is really hard to blend it nicely but I used a bit of 'tip to tip' technique and it worked a treat.
If you haven't come across this technique before, I coloured the image as I usually would but then touched the tip of BG70 on to the nib of BG72 to pick up a bit of the darker colour and applied this to the image to smooth out the shading between these 2 colours on my image.

I finished off by adding a couple of random lacy edges, some flower clusters and a little metal charm...ah, so romantic :-)

Card recipe;

Image: True love - Everyday in Moonbeam meadow - Crafter's Companion

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

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

Tag: Sentiment tags - LOTV

Dies: Old Swedish lace - Magnolia Doohickeys

Charm: Delicate hearts - The Hobby House

Copic colours;
Umbrella: BG70/72/75
Mice: E40/41/42/43
Roses / butterflies / heart: R30/32/35
Leaves: YG61/63/67
Wrapping: W00/1/3
Moon: YR30/31
Water: BG70/B25
Shading round image: BG0000/000

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,

Winter warmth

Hello lovely people,

I have come to the conclusion that I need a time machine and then maybe, just maybe, I could be ready in time for Christmas ;-)

Ok, not going to happen so I'll just crack on with those Christmas cards and meanwhile...

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

ANYTHING GOES
with the option to use a sketch

Here's a lovely new sketch for you, or you can use any of the sketches from the Creative Inspirations sketch page

Our sponsor for this challenge is Time for Tea Designs with a prize of 5 digis of the winner's choice

I have done my usual thing of using the sketch but tweaking it a little...so my embellishment cluster grew a little bit and also migrated over to the opposite corner!

The papers I chose are such soft pastels that I wanted to keep my colouring a little paler than normal, which I find quite tricky with Copics.  So, I just did one layer of each colour rather than my usual two layers and I think it does look a little softer.

I always find myself reaching for my little letter stamps when I want to personalise cards...although in this case 'Felicity' is entirely fictional and can be replaced with any other name as and when I need to!

Card recipe;

Image: Winter warmth - Time For Tea Designs

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

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

Tag: Sentiment tags - LOTV

Letter stamps: magazine freebie set

Copic colours;
Skin: E000/00/21/11/04 & R20
Hair: E41/44/47
Coat / boots: R81/83/85
Hat / scarf / boots: B91/93/97
Hand warmer / pom poms: W00/1/3
Boot soles: W6/7/9
Ground: W00/0/1/2/3/4

The DT have made some gorgeous 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;

New home

Hello lovely people,

I'm off to Ikea this morning to buy new furniture for my craft room!  I'm so excited...even though it will have to be a very organised and quick trip round with no deviation from the shopping list to avoid any tantrums from Dr. Hubby!

While I'm probably trying to work out how to fit all my lovely new stuff into the car, here's the new Creative Inspirations challenge and this week we have a little photo inspiration for you...

Our prize this week is a £20 gift certificate from Craftie Charlie

The photo inspired me to use both the gorgeous brown and teal colour scheme and to choose an image with birds on.
I pretty much never make new home cards so this was fun!

I bought this stamp ages ago at a Hobbycrafts show and yep, you guessed it...first outing today!
How often do I find myself saying that?!

I tried for a woodgrain effect on the birdhouse and I've seen better but I'm fairly happy with this as a first attempt.
I'm less happy with my slightly dodgy photo since I had to take it in artificial light :-(

Card recipe;

Image: Bird House - Hobby Art

DP: Welcome Home - Bo Bunny (a very old collection!)

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

Dies: Tea label tags and Heart swirl - Magnolia Doohickeys

Sentiment: A little sentimental - Clearly Besotted

Copic colours;
Bird house: E31/34/44/47
Birds: E50/51/53/55
Hearts: BG57/07/09
Flowers: YR31/Y23/YR23
Leaves: YG17/G07/G28

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;
to follow

Tilda is back!

Hello lovely people,

As this posts today I am heading into 'work' to start observing ward rounds for my prescribing course; I have to do 90 hours of practice so I really need to make a start! 

While I am exercising the little grey cells it's time for a new challenge at As You Like It and our theme is...

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

Our sponsor this time is Stamp and Create with a $20 voucher

Occasionally I go for black and white but most of my cards are in colour...well, there are so many lovely colours to choose from!

Especially pink!

It has been ages since I coloured up a Tilda and this is one of the collection I have that have never seen ink.
I'm so glad I decided to play with her as I had such fun colouring her :-)

My original design for this card had a circular sentiment in the top right corner and there I was with the sentiment hovering over the card with the back taken off the sticky pads....and suddenly I wasn't sure I wanted it...so I left it off!
What do you think; would it look better with a sentiment?!

Card recipe;

Image: Tilda hiding rose bouquet

DP: Coffee in the Arbour - Maja Designs (available from Live and Love Crafts)

Flowers: Wild Orchid Crafts

Ribbon: from stash

Sentiment: For you circular sentiments - LOTV

Dies: Leaf and swirl, and Tilda lace - Magnolia Doohickeys

Copic colours;
Skin: E000/00/21/11/04 & R20
Hair: E41/43/47
Skirt / headband / leaves: YG61/63/67
Apron / flowers: RV11/R83/R56
Blouse / lace on skirt: W00/1/3
Boots: E41/42/43/44/47
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;
Papertake Weekly (anything goes +/- Halloween treat holder)

Romantic ribbons and bows

Hello lovely people,

Once again time has flown by and we have a new challenge for you at In The Pink and our theme this time is...

RIBBONS & BOWS

We are sponsored by Dies to Die For with a very generous prize of a £15 voucher

I was feeling in a romantic mood so it was pretty florals all the way for this design.

Ooooh, and do you see my brand new shaped base die?!  It may not quite knock my other favourite shaped base (this one) off the top spot but it does have the advantage of being a little bigger.
And I can still stitch round it!

This is the first outing for this adorable image and it was such a joy to colour, with a tiny bit of sparkle on the butterflies and a scattering of Frantage; I haven't used that for a while so thought I'd have a play!

If you are thinking that the seam binding doesn't look terribly white, then hats off to you super eagle eyed people!  I decided it was a touch too bright white so I dabbed almost all the ink off the foam pad I use to apply my Distress Ink and then lightly swiped it over the seam binding and it looked much better!

Hmmmmm, my wedding anniversary is coming up soon but I doubt I will get a ride in an umbrella or a bunch of flowers...nope, probably not even a card, but that's ok, it's how we roll!

Card recipe;

Image: True Love (Moonbeam Meadow) - Crafter's Companion

DP: Vintage Summer basics - Maja Designs (available from Live and Love Crafts)

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

Seam binding: White seam binding - The Ribbon Girl

Tag: Sentiment tags - LOTV
Dies: Large frame frilly #7 - Go Kreate
Charm: Delicate hearts - The Hobby House

Copic colours;
Umbrella: W1/3/5
Mice: E40/41/42/43
Flowers / heart / butterflies: RV91/93/95
Leaves: BG90/93/96
Bouquet wrapping: W00/1/2
Umbrella handle: BG93/96
Moon: YR30/31
Water: B91/93/95
Shading round image: B0000/000

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;
Noor! Design UK (shaped cards)
Papertake Weekly (anything goes)
ABC Challenge (Q is for Queen of hearts)
Addicted to stamps (die cuts)