Many Odd Dogs!

Hello lovely people,

Here we are on Monday morning again but I have something that might just brighten your day a little :-)

As you may know, LOTV are gradually making many of their images available as digis and today sees the release of the adorable Odd Dog digis.  There are a whopping 21 images to choose from including many that have never been released before!

I love being able to re-size the digi images and for this pair of cards I made them 6cm tall so I could make cute notelet style cards which are just 8.5 x 11.5 cm.

This Odd Dog with his mug of coffee/tea was one of my faves from the rubber stamp collection.

Alongside an old favourite I thought I'd show you one of the brand new images which I really loved.

You can go and check out the fab selection of Odd Dogs over at LOTV and of course, the rest of the DT will be showcasing more images for you.

Oh, and I haven't even mentioned that you get a cute sentiment with each image too! (which I didn't use for these cards but I will have more later in the week...)

I wish you all a great week even if you are working!

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

Card recipe;

Images: Odd Dog digis - LOTV

DP: from stash

Twine: Ivory button twine - The Ribbon Girl

Tag: Sentiment tags - LOTV

Copic colours;
Odd Dog: W00/0/1 & E31/35
Mug: R81/83/85
Stool: E42/43/44
Flower: YR21/Y17/Y38 & YR18
Stem / leaf: YG61/63
Ground: W00/0/1

Wheeeeeee!

Hello lovely people,

After the last couple of weekends catching up with family I am spending this weekend mostly in my craft room.  I popped out for a good long walk with Dr. Hubby and a friend yesterday and although it was super chilly, it was beautiful and always so lovely to be out and about in the gorgeous Gloucestershire countryside :-)

Today we have a new 'Use any image' challenge starting on The Ribbon Girl blog, so you can make any type of project as long as it has an image on it.

As usual, you can find details of all the gorgeous products from The Ribbon Girl at the end of my post.

I am totally in love with these pretty papers and they are such good value for money too.  I actually made this card a little bigger than normal because I didn't want to trim even a little off the edge of the gorgeous design of the bottom layer!

My brother's girlfriend has started cycling recently so I thought this image would be great to use for her birthday card.

I enjoy adding detail to my cards but in fairly small amounts so you will often find me snipping up embellishments to suit my tastes!

For this card I have cut the faux hessian in half to get a thin strip, and I snipped out individual pearl clusters from the full spray to tuck in with the flowers.

Do come along and join in with our challenge at The Ribbon Girl, where we have 3 fabulous prizes up for grabs from Lili of the Valley, The Ribbon Girl and Marianne Designs.

I hope you are all having fantastic weekends whatever you may be doing :-)

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

The Ribbon Girl products;
Craft and You 'Beautiful Day' 6x6 paper pad
25mm natural faux hessian
White cherry blossom
Miniature white blossoms
Ivory 10mm open roses
Pale pink 10mm open roses
Cream hip rosebuds
Pearl cluster flowers on silver stems

Other products;

Image: Pedal Power - Time for Tea

Other flowers: from stash

Sentiment: Teenage girl sentiments - LOTV (also available as digi stamps)

Copic colours;
Skin: E000/00/21/11/04 & R20
Hair: E53/57/59
Eyes: E44/57 & B0000/000
Hat / boots: BG93/96/99
Top: R000/00/01
Leggings: W2/3/4/5
Basket: E41/42/43/44
Flowers: R32/35
Leaves: BG90/93
Bike: W0/1/2/3/4/5/6
Ground: E40/41/42/43

Be Merry!

Hello lovely people,

I really really did intend to post earlier this week but gosh, the time has flown by and clearly I didn't get around to it.

Given my ongoing cries of 'there's not enough time in the day', especially now I am back at work, I have decided to step down from the AYLI team so this will be my last challenge with them.  I'm so sad to leave and huge thanks to each and every DT member for being wonderful teamies :-)

So, for my very last challenge (sob sob) at As You Like It we have the theme of...

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

Our sponsor this time is Digi Stamp Boutique with a £10 voucher

I have several favourite colour combos for Christmas and tend to choose based on the style of project I am making and any image I am using.
But, I think my favourite is blue and brown as it is simultaneously elegant yet cosy, and it suits lots of styles...today it's CAS style!

I tried out triple embossing for the sentiment and holly leaves and was delighted with how they turned out; the photos definitely don't do them justice!

The papers are totally scrummy too and, since I try to go for slightly quicker designs for my Christmas cards, there's no stitching but I did add a pierced border on one layer.

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;

DP: Snow Queen - Galleria Paperieu

Dies: Scripty merry - Lawn Fawn, Filigree holly - Sue Wilson for Creative Expressions

Silver embossing powder

Pretty pink poinsettias

Hello lovely people,

I had one of those days yesterday where I feel like I blinked and missed a few hours; there were lots of things I was going to do and didn't, but probably because I was doing crafting instead - lol!

I know it's come round ever so quickly but yes, it's time for a new challenge at In The Pink and our theme is...

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

Our fabulous sponsor this time is Bugaboo

I have created a quick CAS card using some new dies and a digi sentiment...and not even a tiny bit of stitching!

I love the cute stitched effect on these dies and also the pink against all the white.  There is a 3rd larger die as well...expect to see more of these dies!

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,

Card recipe;

DP: Assorted dottie card set 2 - Anna Marie Designs

Dies: Stitched poinsettia trio - Poppystamps, Fancy flourish - MFT Die-namics

Sentiment: discontinued digi

Coffee boy

Hello lovely people,

I have had a short working week as I had Monday/Tuesday off to catch up on my crafty projects, and am now enjoying a relaxing weekend at my parents' house.
I attended a great workshop on Saturday with my Mum and my fab crafty friend Debs, and we had a wonderful time getting inky and covered in glitter!
We walked to a brilliant local firework display in the evening and have been indulging in lots of gorgeous home-cooked food courtesy of my Mum; the white chocolate cheesecake with raspberry puree was a real highlight :-)

While we are sat relaxing with a coffee I thought I'd share the card I made for my brother's birthday.  He loves coffee just like me so I had a great reason to use my fab Greeting Farm stamp set again.  Last time I used it the end result was rather more girly as you can see here.

I coloured this with my Inktense pencils and am delighted that I have now figured out how to add finer details like the shadows that the hair casts on the face and clothing folds.

Since I was doing a masculine card I raided my stash of corrugated card again...I love this stuff!  I am pleased to report that I managed to buy some corrugated card and whilst it's not quite as distressed as this lovely recycled packaging, the colour is perfect and I guess I can have fun distressing it myself!

I hope you are all having super weekends whatever you are getting up to.

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

Card recipe;

Image: Mini-remix brewtiful - The Greeting Farm

DP: Accomplished - Authentique

Ivory button twine - The Ribbon Girl
Faux hessian - The Ribbon Girl

Sentiment: Happy circular sentiments - LOTV

Dies: Cosmic star set - Memory Box

Inktense colours;
Skin: Baked Earth, Madder Brown, Saddle Brown
Hair: Oak, Bark, Ink Black
Jumper: Deep Indigo
Trousers: Oak
Shoes: Ink Black
Coffee cup: Oak, Iron Green

A gorgeous teddy

Hello lovely people,

I have been making the most of a couple of days off work to get ahead with all my crafty projects, although I have had to do a little housework too!  I also had a lovely coffee date with Dr. Hubby this morning and we shared a piece of amazing chocolate fudge cake - yum :-)

While I am back to work, it's time for a new challenge at As You Like It and our theme is...

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

Our sponsor this time is Dies to Die For with a £15 voucher

This is a tough choice as I love teddies and fairies and use both a lot on my cards, but the cute and cuddly factor of teddies makes them the winner for me.
I may also be heavily influenced by a certain little bear who has a special place in my heart, and always features on my Christmas cards... it's James bear!

I've gone for the easy option of a pre-coloured art pad image (not available any more) and a simple layout.  I distressed all the edges and added lots of Frantage and sparkle...which you can't see, but it's there on some areas of the image - lol!

I also added a couple of chipboard snowflakes which I have sponged with white acrylic paint, and a sentiment strip cut from the DP.

I hope you will pop over to As You Like It and check out the fabulously creative projects from the rest of the team :-)

I keep telling myself that it's only 2 days until the weekend - hurrah!

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

Card recipe;

Image: Furry Christmas art pad (DISCONTINUED) - LOTV 

DP: A Gift for you - Maja Design
Stampendous Shabby White Frantage

Chipboard snowflakes (DISCONTINUED) - The Ribbon Girl 

Birthdays are good for you!

Hello lovely people,

It's a packed weekend for me as Dr. Hubby and I went out with some of our neighbours last night and are off to a Halloween party tonight.  I'm excited because I have a new Vampire Fairy outfit to wear...I might post pics in a later post but prepare yourselves because it's a bit risque!

Now to some crafting, and I have to admit to a growing fondness for using large sentiments as the focal point of my cards.
This is partly because they are quicker than colouring an image, but given how much I faff around with my cards it doesn't save me as much time as you'd think!
The main reason is that I think they look really good and allow me to add lots of pretty embellies without risk of overpowering an image.
And in the case of this sentiment, it's just fun and made me smile!

Talking of adding pretty embellies I have used lots of beautiful goodies from The Ribbon Girl on this card and all the links for these are at the end of my post.

I also made my own candles again :-)

I hope you are all having fab weekends and maybe enjoying some spooky fun!

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

The Ribbon Girl products;
Pion Lavender Love 6x6 and Pion Lavender Bouquet 6x6 papers
Cheesecloth fabric
White cherry blossom
White sweetheart blossoms
Miniature white blossoms
Miniature lilac blossoms
Vintage lilac 10mm open roses
Tiny white rosebuds
Ivory button twine

Other products;

Image: Birthdays - Woodware

Other flowers: from stash