Flowers and Swirls

Oh my!!  I can't believe that it is almost a month since I last posted anything!!  First up my sincere thanks to all of you who have sent me your best wishes - they are all truly appreciated.  I am REALLY sorry but at the moment I am struggling to sit for any length of time so just haven't been able to make it round to your blogs lately as the time I spend on the computer is so limited.  I hope you'll bear with me on this!!

Anyway talking of limited time I had better get on with showing you my card for today.  I realised this morning that I had never gotten around to showing you a card that I did actually manage to make this year for my Mum so thought I'd show you her Mother's Day card.

The papers used were by Prima and were from the Jack and Jill collection and the main image was stamped from my Daisy Daydreams stamp set (Aspects of Design No.38).  The swirls were die-cut using a Magnolia swirl die and the added flowers were numerous ones that I had got in my stash.  The Happy Mothers Day was a stamp that I cut into three pieces.

I coloured the main image using Copics and added a muted dotty background around the flowers using my lighter coloured Copics.

I then took a dark brown Copic and run it around all the edges of the die-cut swirls to help them stand out and also used my Copics to lightly stain some of the flowers to match the distressed look of the background papers.

This was a circle that I punched out from a piece of scrap Prima paper and then handwrote the words.

As this was a 'special' card for my Mum I went ahead and decorated the inside of it too using those same Prima papers and nestabilities dies.

Here's a closer look at the left hand panel. I used a LOTV sentiment for the wording and mounted it too a large yellow daisy to simulate the 'sunshine' sentiment.

And a closer look at the right hand panel before I went ahead and wrote in it.  I added some 'distressing' of my own to the nestabilities panel using distress inks to match the papers and a sponge to apply them with.

I hope you like it!!

I'd like to enter this into the Allsorts Week 120 Flowers and Swirls Challenge.

A Card For A Special Friend

Hi everyone.  A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to win one of the Belles 'n' Whistles challenges and my prize for winning is to guest design for the next couple of challenges.  Luckily for me I had already got some of their beautiful images already coloured and just waiting to be made up into cards so I grabbed my Tea Time girl (from The Craft Barn) and assembled this card following Anki's sketch. (Click here to see the sketch and to see how to enter this challenge.)  The background paper is from one of the Basic Grey 6x6 paper pads - can't remember which one!!)

I used my circle nestabilities die to cut a circle from the dp - embossed it using the Daisy Pattern embossing folder and coloured the embossed daisies with light coloured Copic markers.  I then handwrote the Happy Birthday and added the faux stitching using a 0.3mm Copic black multi-liner.

I used my Labels Twelve Nestabilities die to cut out the Tea Time girl. Once I'd stuck these components to the main card I stamped the Leafy Swirls with Walnut Stain Distress ink.

The flowers are by Prima from their E Line collection, the butterflies are a Martha Stewart punch and I used an assortment of self-adhesive pearls for decoration.

The girl was stamped onto The Craft Barn's smooth white Copic card and coloured using Copic markers but as I did this last year I'm afraid I can't remember the colours I used!!  Still - I hope you like it anyway!!

All the products used came from The Craft Barn apart from the Prima flowers which are from The Glitter Pot.

Playful Pepper

Hi guys.  Today I thought I'd share a card with you that I made for a very good friend of mine.

I stamped and embossed the background using that lovely Scrolling Along Penny Black stamp again. (See told you this was one of my favourite stamps!!)  The happy birthday is also a PB stamp too and the dog (Pepper) came from a Helz Cuppleditch clear stamp set.

It's been a while now so can't remember whose DP I used but it did come from The Glitter Pot as too did the clear stamp set and PB stamps.  For some interest I used my Floral Lace MS edging punch and the EK Success swirl punch.

I stamped Pepper with black Memento ink and coloured him with Copic markers, die-cut him with my Deckled Rectangles Nesties and added faux stitching with a white opaque pen.  The flowers are Prima and the pearls are from my stash.

As this card was for a special friend I went ahead and decorated the inside of it too using those Deckled Rectangles Nesties again along with that same flourish punch and another MS punch Doily Lace Trim (from The Craft Barn).  The wording stamp is by Penny Black and is such a lovely sentiment.

Here's a closer look at Pepper and the bee.  Hopefully you can make out that I stamped that Scrolling Along stamp around Pepper with Versamark Dazzle to add some soft decoration around him.

I hope you like it!!

I'd like to enter this card into Sir Stampalots All Creatures Great and Small Challenge as with Pepper being after the bee it seems quite apt!

Christmas Eve

Ok so it isn't Christmas Eve yet but this is what this sweet image by Penny Johnson reminds me of!  This is one of the cards we did at The Craft Barn in November.  The green backing paper is by Prima, the holly leaves are from the Snowflakes and Candies clear stamp sheet, the wording is from Woodware's Must Have Xmas Words and the jewels and pearls are cut from Crystal Clusters - all from The Craft Barn.

The main image was stamped onto smooth white Copic card using black Memento ink and coloured using Copic markers. (Can't give you the colours I'm afraid due to this being a class card.)

Here's a closer look at the colouring for you. 

More Sarah Kay

Hi guys!  A little while ago I showed you one of the Sarah Kay cards that we made when I was last at The Craft Barn.  Here is the other one that we made as well, although to be honest the ladies only had chance to colour up one of the images as there is quite a lot of colouring to do with these little works of art!  I must say though that they did a really fantastic job!

I just love the Sarah Kay stamps as the detail is just incredible so as soon as I saw this image (which is called Eloise and Mimi Saying Hello) I just had to have it, although as it takes a little while to colour I don't think I'll be using it on my own Christmas cards this year!

The papers are by Bo Bunny (the brown one which I decorated by stamping snowflakes onto it with white ink) and Prima which I stamped with the wording and ivy using brown ink.  (The Prima papers are absolutely gorgeous - so pretty and pastel.  I want them all!!) The snowflakes and ivy came from the Personal Impressions Snowflakes and Candies clear stamp set and the wording and small snowflake is from Woodware's Must Have Christmas Words clear stamp set.

Here's a slightly closer look of the papers. As you can see I used my Martha Stewart Snowfall edging punch as well to add some decoration to the Prima paper. (Just love this punch set.)

As you've no doubt already guessed the image was coloured using Copic markers and then stickles was added to the snow area.  (Once again I'm afraid that I can't tell you the Copic colours used due to it being a class card but I chose markers that would match the papers.)

All products on this card came from The Craft Barn.  I hope you like it!

So how is everyone's Christmas cards coming along then?  I've only just begun to make a start on mine!!

Winter Fields

Hi guys. So have any of you (in the UK) had snow yet?  We have had a few flakes falling but nothing of any substance yet!!  However for our region they are forecasting blizzards for Tuesday and Wednesday so we have been out and bought snow shovels and rock salt in preparation!!  Which of course will mean that we won't see a single snowflake now that we are all prepared!  Even without any snow it is absolutely freezing here as the current temperature is -1c - thank goodness for our log burner!

So with snow (and cold temperatures) in mind I thought I'd show you one of the cards we made at The Craft Barn last Saturday using one of the new Christmas releases by Sarah Kay.  Isn't she sweet?  This one is called Francesca in the Winter Field and being that she is so lovely I had to have her!  The background papers are by Prima and Bo Bunny and the ivy and snowflake stamps are from the Snowflakes and Candies clear stamp set by Personal Impressions and the wording is from Woodwares Must Have Xmas Words.

The image was stamped using black Memento ink and coloured using Copic markers. (Sorry can't give you the colours as this was a class card!)  The brown snowflakes were punched using a Martha Sewart edging punch from the Snowfall set.

All products used on this card including the ribbon and the self-adhesive pearls came from The Craft Barn.

Here's a closer look at the colouring for you.  As you can see I opted to create a snowy ground by adding touches of blue here and there with the grass tufts peeking up through the snow.

Hope you like it!

Busy, Busy, Busy!!

Hi guys.  Sorry that I haven't been posting very much these last couple of weeks but have been busy with card making stuff!!  Thanks so much to all of you who have wished me a happy birthday for tomorrow - really appreciate it.  Infact I have a confession to make!!  As I'm not here tomorrow I have just opened my birthday cards that came through the letterbox this morning - sshhhhhh, don't tell anyone!!

So sorry that I haven't been getting round to some of your blogs recently but I will aim to do better after next weekend when things will have simmered down a bit.

I haven't gotten around to uploading any of the cards that I've done this week for The Glitter Pot's weekend so instead I thought I'd share a card with you today that I made for when I was last demoing there.  I'm afraid that it has been so long since I made this that I can't remember whose the paper is - but it did come from The Glitter Pot so I'm sure you'll find it on the website somewhere!!

The flowers are just sooooo pretty and are by Prima, the leaves were done with a punch and the wording is from one of the Craftwork Cards Oh My Words sets.  These are great for when you want something quickly and are a real life saver!!

The main image is called Kira With Kitten and is by Wild Rose Studio.  I stamped her onto Craftwork Cards Digital Smooth cardstock with black Memento ink and coloured her using Copics.  (Sorry just don't have the time at the moment to find and list the colours I used!!)

All materials used on the card came from The Glitter Pot apart from the Digital Smooth card which came from Craftwork Cards.

Anyway I hope you like the card and hopefully I'll see some of you tomorrow and Sunday at The Glitter Pot.  . 

Have a great weekend everyone.

Milton

Well in my last post I introduced you to Mille so this time I felt it was Milton's turn!  This particular image is called Milton With Card and again he is by Wild Rose Studio.  The background paper is by Bo Bunny and is called Peacock Lane/Tweet, the flowers are from the Athena range by Prima, the leaves are a punch and the wording came from my Fancy Flourishes stamp sheet. The sheer ribbon was originally white but I coloured it with a Copic marker to match the rest of the card.

I stamped Milton using Tuxedo Black Memento ink and coloured him with Copics.  I added some sparkle to the Prima flowers using Platinum glitter glue.

Here's a closer look at the colouring of Milton so you can see that I added some texture to some of his fur to make him more scruffy looking than Millie. This was done by using a flicking motion using my second darkest fur colour of E33.

COPIC COLOURS
Fur - E35, E33, Y11, Y000 and E30
Inner ears - R20 and R22
Card - V15, V01 and V000
Ground - C5, C3 and C1
Dotty background - C1, V01 and V000

Whiff Of Joy Guest Designer Call

Today I thought I'd share this card with you that I have made to enter the Whiff Of Joy Guest Designer Call. Every 2 months Katharina puts out a call for some guest designers to make some card samples using the wonderful Whiff Of Joy range of rubber stamps, so I thought that I would enter.

As many of you are well aware I love the stamp designs by Elisabeth Bell and of course Elisabeth Bell designs for Whiff Of Joy, so being a guest designer for 2 months would be a 'dream job'!! (I also like the other stamp designers too - infact WOJ keeps me VERY poor!!)

The challenge this time around is a colour one - you need to use red, orange and one other colour of your choice as well as at least 1 Whiff Of Joy stamp.

As you can see I have used Shopping Willow for my main image (that I bought from The Hobby House) and coloured her using Copics. I then used Walnut Stain distress ink to add some shading around her and applied some diamond glitter glue to add some sparkle.

The papers are by My Minds Eye (bought from The Glitter Pot) and the brown swirls (stamped directly onto the background papers with Walnut Stain distress ink) came from the Spring Swirls Collection that I bought direct from Whiff Of Joy.

The flowers are by Prima.

Anyway wish me luck and keep your fingers crossed for me!!

***********

Tomorrow I am heading up the motorway to Stamp Addicts and am looking forward to catching up with everyone there.  I am unable to get up there very often now so I'm really looking forward to it!!  So Tracy and Sharon - I'll see you tomorrow!!

Scarlett The Teacup Girl in Aqua

Hi guys.  As you can see the blog has been tweaked a little now in order to add a little more colour to it.

Today I thought it would be nice to show you the other card I made using that same Scarlett The Teacup Girl stamp by Stamping Bella that I showed the other day - this time in a colour scheme that is far more me!!

I stamped and embossed two shades of Bazzill cardstock using two different sizes of stamps from my Daisy Flutters un-mounted stamp sheet using a Versamark inkpad and an old embossing powder that I had in my stash called Bridal.  Then I coloured the daisy heads using a clear Copic Spica marker. The wording also came from this same stamp sheet.  The daisy border was done using one of my new Martha Stewart punches called Doily Lace Trim which I thought was the perfect choice to go with the daisies on the image and the background!  The little snippets of paper you can see are from Bo Bunny, the flowers are Prima and the brads came from The Craft Barn.  Then of course there is my Labels Twelve nestabilitie dies that I used for my main image.  (See I do actually get around to using the stuff I buy - eventually!!)

And here is a closer look at Scarlett herself which I stamped with Graphite Black Brilliance and heat set before colouring her with both Copic Ciaos and Copic Spicas to add a little sparkle. To embellish her further I added some self-adhesive pearls to the centres of the daisies, that came from The Craft Barn and then made her sparkle even more with some Stardust glitter glue.  Unfortunately the photo doesn't do her justice!!

Anyway I hope you like her!!

Too Many Nice Things & Not Enough Money!!! - Part 3

Hi guys - sorry didn't get around to posting anything yesterday as was too busy trying to catch up with work stuff.  Although I haven't actually managed to catch up as yet!!

After Lisa's comment on my last post I've decided to show you what else I recently succumbed to!  Not only have I got a secret Elisabeth Bell fetish but I am also finding it incredibly hard to resist all the gorgeous flower embellishments that are around at the moment and as you can see my will power totally failed me in this instance.  I just had to have them!

Plus I just had to have these as well!!  Aren't they pretty??  I am a little bit worried that they might end up falling under the category of 'Too Nice To Use'!!  I'm sure that many of you will know what I mean by this!

Both lots of flowers are by Prima and came from The Glitter Pot where they have got a vast array of pretty flowers to choose from as well as lots of brads too which is something else that I buy oodles of!  The trouble is, I already have enough stock to actually fill any craft shop that you care to mention but it doesn't seem to stop me buying more!!

Oh...............one last confession................I also bought some Bo Bunny background papers too!!

Right I'm off to go and do some work now in order to finance my uncontrollable spending urges!!  Next time I'll post up a card.