Floral romance

Hello lovely people,

I can't say I have been entirely as productive as I would like this week and my crafting mojo seems to be a little hit and miss right now.

I actually think I have too many ideas floating round in my head and can't quite decide what to do with myself!

A challenge can sometimes be a good way to get the mojo going and making something for the new challenge at As You Like It did get me focused, with our theme of...

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

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

I have to admit that my favourite die changes quite often depending on my mood but this is my current favourite because I got it really cheap after having my eye on it for ages.

This die is the largest from a set of heart dies and I think it looks gorgeous framing the sentiment.

Some pretty flowers and lace complete the romantic look and I have tucked in a few die cut heart stems too.

Card recipe;

Sentiment: Statements, congratulations (Discontinued) - LOTV 

DP: discontinued paper pad - Always and Forever, available as digi from Nitwit Collections

Flowers: Wild Orchid Crafts
Lace: Chantilly cotton lace (Jane) - Crafty Ribbons

Dies: Heart vines base, affections die set - Tonic Studios, Heart stems - Impression Obsession

While I had these dies out I challenged myself to make a few more cards with them so watch out for those over the next couple of days!

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,

Vintage racer

Hello lovely people,

Here we go again...a brand new week ahead and as usual I am full of plans to 'get things done.'  We'll see how well that went at the end of the week ;-)

I have another LOTV card to share with you today and the fab new images are really encouraging me to make more male designs.

I'm sure this image will appeal to vintage car fans...and colouring fans too!

Card recipe;

Image: Vintage racer - LOTV

DP: North Pole - Dovecraft

Twine: Ivory button twine - The Ribbon Girl

Sentiment: Happy circular sentiments - LOTV

Dies: Notebook edge die - Clearly Besotted

Copic colours;
Car body: R27/46/39/89/W7
Wheels: W5/7/9
Other grey bits: W3/5/7
Grill: W00/0/2/3
Headlights: YR30/31
Trees: YG61/63/67
Grass: G40/YG61/63
Road: E41/42/43/44
Sun: Y23/35/YR23/24
Sky: B0000/000/blender

I wish you all a fab and productive week!

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

LOTV June card challenge

Hello lovely people,

The weekend is here!!

Yes, I know I'm still on a career break but I'm just excited on behalf of all you hard-working peeps out there!

And of course, I get to spend time with Dr. Hubby, so that's fab, although we don't really have plans for the weekend.

If you don't have plans then you could always join in with our LOTV June card challenge, which has the theme 'SPORTS.'

 You can find all the details on the Facebook page, including the 5 amazing prizes on offer and it runs until Weds 15th June so you still have time to join in the fun :-)

Here's what I came up with for my inspiration card for the challenge;

This is one of the Little Folk images, which are a little smaller than the regular images, so are super quick to colour but still a good enough size to make a great focal point for your design.

I bought a HUGE set of washi tape whilst in America; I had no idea what I wanted it for but I just couldn't resist the pretty colours - sound familiar?!

So for this card I tried using it to add detail to the top and bottom of the image and I like it :-)

Card recipe;

Image: Little folk - sporty girls - LOTV

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

Flowers and stamens: Wild Orchid Crafts

Sentiment: from stash (Kaisercraft mini stamp set)
Washi tape: Recollections (bought in USA)

Copic colours;
Skin: E000/00/21/11/04 & R20
Hair: E53/57/59
Sun visor / shorts / shoes: R21/32/35
Shirt: B52/BG72/75
Golf club: W00/1/3
Grass: G20/21/46

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,

Pretty cupcakes

Hello lovely people,

It was another lovely day yesterday so Dr. Hubby and I enjoyed a walk in the beautiful Gloucestershire countryside.  I did miss all the gorgeous rolling green hills and woodlands while I was away; you can't beat it IMHO.

The only downside was that we both acquired a tick while out and about (note to self: stop wearing shorts no matter how hot it is!) but I managed to remove them safely with tweezers - phew!

Ok, let's move on to something a little nicer...

It's time for a new challenge at In The Pink and for this challenge we have an inspiration photo;

Aren't these just gorgeous...almost too gorgeous to eat!
You can use any element from this photo such as cake, bows, pearls, flowers.
Don't forget we want to see more pink than any other colour!

Our fabulous sponsor this time is The Ribbon Girl with a £10 voucher

I took this theme very literally and made a cupcake shaped card!

In keeping with the inspiration photo I added a topping of plenty of flowers and pearls!

Card recipe;

Cupcake shaped base: cut with Cricut (Cartridge = Straight from the nest)

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

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

Dies: Tea label tags - Magnolia Doohickeys

Sentiment: from Happy Bears stamp set - LOTV

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,

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,

Feeling happy

Hello lovely people,

Things I am happy about today;

1)  I have had an utterly amazing 38 day holiday in America but am actually happy to be home again to sleep in my own bed and catch up with all my friends and family

2) I passed my course and am now a Pharmacist Independent Prescriber (so I can prescribe medicines just like a doctor!)

3)  It has been sunny today so I was able to do a little tidying in the garden; still LOTS more to be done though!

4)  While I was away, this happened...

I had to sit on this news for ages and then I was unable to get my hands on the actual magazine until I got back to the UK so I am super excited to finally share it with you.

I even got a little bit of my colouring on the cover!

I thought I'd share all 3 cards at once rather than spread them out but I won't do all the extra shots with close ups and details as this post would be unbelievably long if I did, and I kept the cards fairly simple anyway to show off the images.

 #1 - my favourite card of the trio :-)

#2 - that sentiment is so true!

#3 - yum yum...anyone fancy ice cream now?!

Card recipes;

Image: Sand castle Ellie, Surfer Avery, and Ice cream Ellie - all from The Paper Nest Dolls

DP: Country meadow, Pastel dreams, and Bonnets and bowties (solids) - all from Nitwit Collections

Twine: Ivory button twine - The Ribbon Girl

Dies: Tilda lace - Magnolia Doohickeys

Charms: Shell mix - The Hobby House
Sentiments: various from stash

Copic colours;
Skin: E000/00/21/11/04 & R20
Hair (ice cream): E11/15/18
Hair (sandcastle): E53/35/59
Hair (surfer): Y21/YR23/E35
Turquoise bits: BG000/01/02
Pink bits: R81/83/85
Yellow bits: Y23/35/YR23
Sand: YR30/E50/E51/YR31/E53
Water: BG0000/000
Shell: E41/423/43
Stick: E55/57
Ice cream cone: E50/51/53

I hope you have all had a beautiful day, sunny or otherwise!

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

Good times

Hello lovely people,

I'm still on holibobs and loving every moment of this epic trip :-)

It's great that I am still able to share cards while I'm away though and today's card is one I made for a lovely friend who enjoys cycling.

I have prettied the bicycle image up with an explosion of flowers....I don't think you could actually ride this bike though - lol!

I used some Card-io peg stamps for the flowers and added spots of sparkle to each flower centre.

I treated myself to these stamps at the last Hobbycrafts show and haven't had time to play much with them but they worked so beautifully for this design.

Hopefully you'll see lots more with them in future as I really love them :-)

Card recipe;

Image and sentiment: Good Times - discontinued, but you can get Good times 2 - Clearly Besotted
Flowers: Pottery petites Majestix stamp set - Card-io
Sparkle: Nuvo glitter drops (White blizzard) - Tonic Studios

DP: from stash

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