Less bears is more cake... humour at Dream Valley :)

Hello!! :)

Time for my broken record moment... altogether now- ‘Well, another fortnight has passed us by in a flash...’!!! Seriously, where is this year disappearing to!?!! At least the weather seems to have finally caught up with the calendar, though... or maybe overtaken it even!! Isn’t it lovely to have so much sunshine and warmth at last?! Lots of excuses for icecream... as if I needed one!!lol:) :) But enough random waffle and down to business...

It’s time for a new challenge over at Dream Valley and this fortnight we’d like to see your creations with a touch of ‘Humour’!! :) We are sponsored by the fab Bugaboo (perfect for this one, I’d say- and quite a few of the team have put their images to good use!! :) ) and Crafty Emma's Store!! :)

Now, I have to say that I was a bit worried when I saw this one... I don’t mind trying a new style or technique but I don’t really seem to do humorous cards whatever the style- but then I remembered this image and, though not exactly roll-on-the-floor hilarious, I like the gentle humour in the sentiment... as well as the ever adorable Newton, of course!! :)

I’m not sure how it came out *quite* so CAS as this but sometimes a card just makes up its own mind, I find, and this one just wasn’t having any of that fancy paper or pearls and gems malarkey at all!!lol Don’t think it helped that I got myself a tad confused with the colouring when I came to do his patch as I coloured it grass green and it looked kind of odd- I toned it down with greyer greens but then didn’t know if it looked feminine or masculine... was leaning towards masculine but then- pink icing on a man’s card?!! So I kept it simple as that always seems to be my way for men's cards... did manage to persuade myself a scalloped edge card blank was okay, though, which livened it up a bit... but I still don't know- can you tell I’m not sure I like this one?!! :S lol

I coloured this cute Newton digi (a free colouring page from here – there are quite a few and all great!! :) ) with PMs and added a few touches of glaze pen to his nose and the cherries... couldn’t not really!! :) Then I doodled a border and coloured it with a PM and fine nib... couldn’t live without those nibs now!! :) And that was it- couldn’t get much simpler really!! The sentiment even comes on the image, btw, so I just sized it and printed!! :)

The List:

• 6” Sq.  white On the Edge Scalloped card blank
• Newton’s Law digi image - free download from here
• ProMarkers to colour – no colours I’m afraid as I had pens from several images all in a jumble on my desk!!lol
• Sakura Clear Glaze pen
• Black Fineliner

I’d like to enter this card in the following challenges: Crafty Catz - Card for a Man :) ; Passion for ProMarkers - Birthdays :) ; 

Well, CAS is clearly the way to go- that’s been the easiest post to write for a while as well as a quick card!!lol Don't forget to pop over to the DV blog to check out the (far more amusing!) inspiration from the rest of our fab DT!! :) Thanks for stopping by today- I hope to be able to manage a mid- fortnight post with an non-DT card soon... still not feeling great and got to make the most of what energy I have to enjoy this lovely weather while we have it!! :) Have also been experimenting with a couple of new jewellery ideas but nothing’s ready to share quite yet!! :) Hope you’re all well and having a lovely weekend!! :)

Football crazy... and CASEing at Dream Valley...

 Hello bloggers!! :)

Whoops... another fortnight has passed without a post from me and late again to boot!! :/ The excuse/explanation is the same as ever lately so I won’t bore you with it again!! :S On the plus side, though, time flying does mean it’s time for another challenge over at Dream Valley and this fortnight we’d have something slightly different from our norm for you as we’d like you to ‘CASE the DT’... and if you’re wondering what on earth we’re on about- crafting and in particular crafty blogging can be like learning a whole new language sometimes, can’t they?!lol- then the definition of CASE we’re going for is ‘Copy and Selectively Edit’ (which I much prefer to the ‘Copy and Steal Everything’ version- much more scope :) ) and basically we just want you to pick one of the DT’s cards/projects to take your inspiration from for your own creation... don’t forget to tell us which DT member you are CASEing and what elements of their design you were inspired by!! :) We have two fab sponsors this time, our monthly sponsor OSCC and Crafty Ribbons!! :)

There are such a great variety of styles on our fab DT so there’s plenty to choose from- cards or a scrapbook page, CAS to super-embellished, masculine or feminine, subtle or bright colours, birthdays, weddings, even Christmas... :) Here’s what I did:

A while ago I needed a card for a 13 year old boy and, teenage boys being the only ones harder to craft for than grown men, I was stumped... then I saw this fab LOTV stamp with the gorgeous James Bear which I’d wanted for ages (but kept telling myself I wouldn’t get enough use from to justify it :S!) on sale and I knew his love of football was the perfect excuse for a spot of crafty shopping!!lol Only crafters can make other people’s birthdays the perfect excuse to get stuff we want!! ;D Shame we can’t get someone else to buy it for us, though- I just popped to LOTV to check the name of this stamp and remembered how much I want almost all their new sentiment sheets... all donations gratefully received!!lol

I selectively inked the stamp, which actually has a number seven on the shirt, so I could add in his favourite player’s number instead and then coloured it in his team’s colours- he will be jumping for joy today as his team is Man City... in case you can’t tell from my fab colouring!!lol I actually love the pale blue PM combo I found for this- would make a very pretty dress, too!! :)

I found a lovely marbled blue paper that looked like clouds in a rarely opened odds and ends box and added the grass at the base with my PMs- first time I’ve tried grass like this and I like the effect, plus it was really easy!! :) The eyelets have been in my stash for years- I have loads from when they were appearing on everything!!-  I don’t think to use them often but they do come in useful when a male card needs something where you’d normally put pearls or gems!!lol

I stamped the greeting and trimmed it into the banner shapes by hand, then inked with DIs and added some Sakura Clear Glaze pen to make it stand out a bit more. I also glazed the footballs, too, as they just looked a bit plain and flat without!!

The List:

• 6” Sq. White Scalloped On the Edge card blank
• LOTV stamp- No. 7 Bear (with his number edited by me!!)
• Stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black and coloured with ProMarkers (see picture below)
• Marbled cardstock (in a bumper kit from C&C years ago)
• Football stamp from a SeeDs set along with the numbers for the shirt (also years old- I’m doing well!!lol)
• Sentiment from Woodware Clear Magic ‘Mixed Greetings’ set
• Peeled Paint Distress Ink
• Green Eyelets and Cropodile to set
• Sakura Clear Glaze pen

So, for example, if you chose my card then there’s plenty there to CASE, I think- the layout, fairly CAS style, creating a scene with the clouds and grass, the bear, a football theme... !! :) And if that doesn’t spark any inspiration for you, then check out the rest of the DT’s fab creations on the DV blog!! :)

I’d like to enter this in the following challenges: Allsorts- For a Man or a Boy :) ; CES (the last ever!! :( ) – Anything Goes :) ; Cards for Men – Kicking Back :) ; Little Claire’s – Male Theme :) ; Divas by Design – One for the Boys :) ; Lili's Little Fairies - You're Favourite Craft Tool -this is rather difficult as there are several but one of them is definitely my ProMarkers!! :)

Well, all that remains to say now is thank you so very much for all the incredibly kind comments on my SC Rapunzel card- they truly made my day (on whichever day you left them so my week at least!!) and it’s so lovely to know people are reading and enjoying what they see here!! :) I’ve said it before but discovering blogland and starting my blog are the best things I’ve done in a long time- crafting is what keeps me going but it really is so much better with people to share it with!! :) Have a great week!! :)