Flowers for Mum...

Hello everyone!! :)

Just popping in to share the card I made for my mum for Mother's Day this year... I was pleased with this for several reasons- I had fun making it; I liked the end result; it was finished a week before Mother's Day (a record for me and very helpful to the stress levels!! lol); I managed to use no less than four stamp sets/dies from my SMS Challenge drawer on this one card (Go me!! ;D ); and last but definitely not least... my mum loved it, too... which is the most important thing, but the others help, too!! lol

Anyway, here it is...

A pretty, springlike card... perfect for Mother's Day :)

I borrowed the sentiment from Jen when she was over here the weekend before M's Day and it was the perfect centre piece on one of my new Nesties with a bit of texture from my amazing PTI Linen Plate. The stunning flowers are from WMS and I can't quite believe they have been in unused 'til now :S But I used the newly released matching die set, too, and it worked out just as I was hoping... always a bonus!! lol

I also decorated the insert as this was a special card for a special person!! :)

{The List}

Cardstock - A6 top-fold blank - Papermill Direct - Pink Smooth, White Plain

Stamps - Waltzingmouse Stamps - Funky Flowers; SU! - 'Happy Mother's Day' (don't know the name- sorry!)

Dies - Waltzingmouse Stamps - Funky Flowers Die Set; Spellbinders - Nestablities Labels 16; PTI - Linen and Canvas Impression Plate

Inks - Hero Arts Shadow Inks - Soft Purple, Soft Blue, Soft Pink; VersaMagic - Thatched Straw, Aloe Vera

Tools - Cuttlebug, one half of a pair of broken scissors to distress edges

Finishing Touches - Clear Wink of Stella Brush Pen

No challenges for this one, I just wanted to share :) I'm not sure how much I'll be around in the next few weeks as I have friends coming to stay next week and so don't expect to have much spare time or energy... I am so excited to see them- last time they came, they were only able to pop in for a few hours, this time we get several days!! :) I will, however, have a couple of scheduled posts going up for a fun GDT stint during May!! :) If I can remember how to do a DT post after so long, that is!! ;) Thanks for stopping by today... have a lovely week everyone!! :)

Grunge Me...

Hello!! :)

I have a quick little card from my stash of newly edited pics to share with you today... 

I made this quite a few weeks back with the fab Papertrey Grunge Me set- which I have loved since first seeing it over on Susan's Simplicity blog a long while ago and finally got my hands on when my lovely friend Rach added it (and a few other bits!!lol) to her order for me earlier this year-thank you hon!! :)

I whipped this up *very* quickly when I was in need of a creativity fix and dying to play with my new stamps but feeling pretty ill- just a card blank and some inks, nice and simple- and I wasn't too sure about it to start with... I still don't think I did the fabulous stamps, Susan's inspiration or even myself much justice with it but it has grown on me a little in the intervening weeks so I thought I would share it anyway!lol

{The List}

A6 top-fold white card blank

Papertrey Ink Grunge Me stamp set

Memento ink pads - Summer Sky, Paris Dusk & London Fog

Cat's Life Press sentiment

VersaFine ink pad in Onyx Black and WOW! Clear Semi-dull EP

I'd like to enter this in the following challenges: A Passion for Papeprtrey - Going 'Round in Circles :) ; Simon Says Stamp - Masculine/Father's Day :) ; The Hobby House - Anything Goes :) ; Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes :)

Well that's it for today- remarkably short and sweet for me but there's a lot to catch up on here as I have got very little done this week due to *finally* managing to feel well enough/ache-free (relative term :S) enough to get my hair cut then needing to recover plus a trip or two down into the garden to enjoy the lovely sunshine... want to go and sit out in it again today really but the aforementioned 'To Do list' and the general exhaustion of all that activity last week is telling me I really shouldn't :S Ah well!!lol Hope you are all well and enjoying the lovely weather too!! See you soon, I hope!! :)

Just for You from LOTV...

Hello everyone!! :)

I have a card to share today which was inspired by Jen over at The Tiny Blue Butterfly... after clearing out her stash, Jen has challenged herself to make a CAS card each Monday using one of her neglected LOTV stamps... I have more than a few of those too so thought I'd join in!! :)

This cute image is one I have wanted for some time and have always thought would be well suited to CAS designs :)

I am very out of practice with colouring at the mo' as, especially with my health as it has been of late, I just haven't had the energy to sit and colour in the way I was a year or so ago (tons of pens out all over the place and spending ages paying so much attention to getting my blending as good as I possibly could, etc.) so I decided to used just my FlexMarkers to colour this one as I find it easier to relax and colour with a (quicker!) more sketchy style with them... so it's far from perfect but I am relatively happy with it (all but the skin anyway- don't have my usual skin colours in my FMs so that ended up a bit of a mess!) all things considered :) And- I had the whole card put together in less time than an image would normally have taken me!!lol

The layout is CASEd from this card by Jen who in turn, CASEd it from this card by Rebecca... and I think it's one I'll keep coming back to for CAS cards :) Thanks for the inspiration ladies!! :)

{The List}

A6 top-fold white card blank

Image - LOTV Milly Just for You, stamped in Memento London Fog and coloured with FlexMarkers (sorry, no colours... I'm so out of the colouring habit that I put them all away without thinking!!lol)

Paper - Forever Friends Springtime 6x6" pad

Sentiment - PTI Happy For You set

Twine - Papermania Spots and stripes Pastels Collection

Tiny pearls from Anita's

Sakura Clear Stardust pen

I'd like to enter this in the following challenges: Jen's CAS Monday with LOTV #3 :) ; ATCAS #10 - Friend :) ; Allsorts - Spring has Sprung :) ; Joanna Sheen - Spring into Spring :) ; Fab 'n' Funky - Spring Colours :) ; Divas by Design - Flowers (if the flowers in my image and papers are okay) :)

Jen's challenge set me to thinking about how many character stamps I have and how much I like to make more CAS cards with them with the image taking centre stage... so... I have decided to attempt a little personal challenge of my own and have been colouring like a crafter possessed since the idea hit... Gorjuss Girls aplenty coming to a blog near you soon!!lol Though I do have a couple of Clearly Besotted Stamps cards I want to share with you first... the sudden spate of creativity around here is causing problems as I have more cards to share than I have time or energy to blog... but I'd much rather have that problem than nothing to blog 'cause I've not managed any crafting!! :D

Thanks for stopping by today!! :) See you soon I hope!! :)

Vinatge Loveliness for Mother's Day :)

Hello!! :)

I have been dying to share the Mother's Day card I made for my amazing mum and am finally getting around to it... I was still really ill when I made this and had to enlist a little help from my mum herself (to get things out and to turn the handle on my 'bug... with extra paper to hide the actual dies so she didn't know what I/she was cutting!!lol Did I mention she was amazing btw?!!) but I was really chuffed with how it came out and she loved it too so all the effort was well worth it... hope you'll like it too!! :)

The processes are all pretty simple and self-explanatory, I think, so I will save us all the time and effort of too many details but I managed to cram in an awful lot of new stash (when I can't craft, I buy crafty stuff- ooops!!lol) on this one as well and was surprised how it all came together... usually when I try to add in too much lately, it all goes horribly wrong!!lol

So, I have some gorgeous new stamps and dies from Clearly Besotted and PTI... and I can't tell you how much I am loving all the fun I seem to be having with dies at the moment...

...to be able to cut something as delicate as this leafy vine and then stamp it too...

...and negative alpha die cuts as well... why, oh, why did it take me so long to catch on to all this!!!lol

There is also new paper and my new MS butterfly punch... well, I got that just after Christmas but hadn't used it yet!! :) I am in craft addict heaven!! :D :D

{The List}

A6 Top-fold Cream card blank plus extra card for main layer

Paper from Papermania Vintage Notes 6x6 paper pad

PTI Block Alphabet dies

Clearly Besotted Stamps Leafy Accents and Butterfly Wishes stamp sets and matching dies

Memento inks in New Sprout and Bamboo Leaves

VersaMagic Ink in Malted Mauve

Core'dinations Vintage Collection cardstock

Martha Stewart Butterflies Punch

Papermania Scalloped Border Punch

Papermania Spots and Stripes Pastels twine

Anita's 3mm and 2mm gems

Scissor blade (one half of a broken pair!) to distress papers and Corner Chomper

I know you wouldn’t believe it from the list of 'ingredients' or even the look of the card really, but it is a fairly simple card in layout too... try imagining it without that one sheet of highly patterned paper... amazing what a difference a paper can make!! :) And apparently not so much of a divergence from my recent CAS style as I originally thought!!lol

I would like to enter this in the following challenges: A Passion forPapertrey - Negative Die Cuts :) ; Bunny Zoe's Monthly Challenge - Girly :) ; Crafty Bloggers Network - Spring/Pastel :) ; Crafts and Me - Pretty in Pink (if there is enough pink for you ladies? :) ) :) ; My Mum's Craft Shop - Spring Has Sprung (...if only, we had sunshine and blue skies in the middle of a blizzard earlier!!) :) ;

Right, that's it from me 'til next time... when that will be depends very much on whether my body stops playing silly beggars on me for more than five minutes at a time!! :S Until then, I hope you are all well, as warm as possible (come on Spring, where the heck are you?!!) and have a lovely Easter weekend... as I doubt I'll be back before that somehow!! :)

Accentuate the... Negatives!?! :)

Hello everyone!! :)

I am still feeling a bit rubbish but popping a post on my lil' ol' blog last week proved such a pleasant distraction from the stresses around here that I thought I would make another flying visit to share a couple more very CAS cards I made a few weeks ago using my two fave butterfly dies... 

... 'cos butterflies and pretty papers are a sure way to make me happy!!lol I kept these really simple after being inspired by some gorgeous creations on Pinterest and around blogland :)

This first one uses a beauitiful PTI die a lovely blogging buddy gave me last year... I just love the shape and it has become a firm favourite in my stash!! :) 

I added a simple stamped greeting to suit any occassion, inked the edges and inside of the negative in the same colour for a bit of interest and popped on a bit of seam binding...

... and then I smudged a few dots of ink all around on the main layer... which was absolutely intended from the outset and not at all because I noticed I had got a stray ink mark on there from my mucky fingers!!lol I actually rather like the effect anyway- I do like a happy accident!! :)

And this one uses my oh-so-gorgeous Clearly Besotted Butterfly Wishes die and another lovely piece of Summer Breeze paper :)

I was looking through my sentiments for something just a bit different to go on this card and as soon as I saw this one by Sam Poole, I knew exactly who I wanted to send this card to... a lovely friend who lives far too far away... oh, how I wish I could just fly on down for a cuppa and a catch-up with her!! :)

This one has a different colour of ink and of seam binding but is essentially the same... isn't that paper gorgeous?!! :)

{The List}

White A6 top-fold card blanks plus extra card for die cut layer

PTI Butterfly Die and Clearly Besotted Stamps Butterfly Wishes Die

First Edition Summer Breeze paper pad

VersaMagic inks in Pixie Dust and Aquatic Splash

Craftwork Cards Alphabet Stamps for 'hello...' 

Creative Expressions by Sam Poole Art Sayings A5 stamp sheet

Seam Binding in Peach and Rose Petal from The Ribbon Girl

So, that was my next experiment in uber-CAS cards... I am so loving CAS right now!!! :D I still haven't been well enough to play more with my new Clearly Besotted goodies but hopefully over the weekend I'll be able to... I see more CAS in my future!! Just imagine that in a Mystic Meg-like voice!!lol

I'd like to enter these in the following challenges:  Addicted to CAS - Wings :) ; Bunny Zoe's Monthly Challnege - Girly :) ; Papertake Weekly - 1, 2, 3! (One layout, two dies and three colours- aqua, peach and white... if I'm reaching to far here then please just delete me!!) :) ; Joanna Sheen - Mum's the Word (For a Special Lady) -these are heading off to two lovely friends asap!! :) ; Allsorts - Springtime :) ; Crafty Bloggers Network - Spring or Pastel :)

Thank you so much for stopping by today- I hope you like my cards!! :) And thank you for all the comments on my last post and the well wishes too... sooo much appreciated!! :) Hope you are all well and have a lovely weekend!! :) I'll be back... soon, I hope!!lol

CAS with PTI...

Hey everyone!! :)

I’m back again... if a bit later than I hoped but I am just going to go with the flow and post when I can so it’s all good!! :) Last week was a pretty rubbish week, hence no blogging- I spent most of the time either half-comatose with exhaustion or in so much pain that half-comatose would’ve felt like a blessed relief!! :S But, in the odd good patches I did finally manage to have a play and make a few v simple cards... which probably saved my sanity!! :) Here they are...

This uber-CAS trio are all made with a stamp set and co-ordinating die from Papertrey Ink (I sense a dangerous new addiction coming on!!) which a lovely blogging buddy and great friend so kindly sent me for my birthday and I have been dying to have a play with ever since :)

I made myself a stack of card blanks and some mats the other week so I just got out my beloved Memento inks in my fav colours and just had a play... *ahhhh* stamps, ink and plain cardstock- pure, relaxing bliss!! :) lol I absolutely love having the perfect die-cut stamp and being able to add the little heart in the balloon in a different colour!! :) I can see these in so many different colourways too!! :)

I added the borders from a Papermania set just to give a bit more strength and interest to the design and edged the mats, too :) Simple as that- they’re pretty basic but I was really pleased with them :) Oh, and almost forgot the bracket die cuts I added at the last minute to hide a pink smudge in *just* the wrong spot!!lol

The List:

A6 top-fold white card blanks plus extra card for matting and die-cutting (card from C&C ages ago)

PTI Heart-2-Heart #2 stamp set (including sentiments) and co-ordinating die

Papermania Mix & Match Borders stamp set

Memento inks in Teal Zeal, Lilac Posies, Sweet Plum, Lulu Lavender and London Fog

CC Designs Parenthesis die

I’d like to enter the following challenges: Bunny Zoe’sCrafts – Anything Goes :) : Addicted to CAS #5 – Heart :)

And an arty shot cos I was I that kind of mood!! ;)

Well, I’ve made it to the end of my first papercraft post including supplies list so maybe now I will really feel like I’m blogging proper again!! :) :) Thank you so much for stopping by and for the comments on my last post- they meant a lot after so long especially!! :) I hope you are all keeping well and get a good night’s sleep tonight... I just hope we don’t get any more of the thunder we had earlier this evening-...sooo loud and with snow falling at the same time- our weather is just plain crazy!!lol