Beautiful Blossoms... Sketch Saturday Week #310 :)

Hello!! :)

It's time for another Sketch Saturday GDT card from me... the sketch was again a little out of my usual CAS comfort zone this time so the card(s - I made two in the end!!) have come out rather busier than my recent norms... but... I really love it in the end!! :) Plus, I got to use my new (and utterly, amazingly gorgeous!!) CBS Love Blossoms Stamps and Dies on the day they arrived!! lol So, here they are...

I mainly stuck with the dies for these cards to save on time/energy as I am still feeling rather exhausted after my friends' visit last week and I used some beautiful papers which came free in Craft Seller magazine a few months ago... oh but they are soooo pretty!! :)

I shaped the flowers slightly by pressing them into my cupped palm and then they, of course, got the WoS and Stickles treatment for a bit of sparkle :)

The sentiments are layered for extra impact (as were the branches actually) - thank you to whoever came up with the stacked die cuts idea... love it!! :) The underneath layers are just cheap white card so I edged them with co-ordinating ProMarkers... fiddly but it looks so much better!! lol

{The List}

Cardstock - 6x6in scalloped card blanks, Core'dinations - Super Assortments Nostalgia

Stamps - Clearly Besotted Stamps - Love Blossoms, A Little Sentimental

Dies - Clearly Besotted Stamps - Love Blossoms Die Collection, Birthday Word Die, Thanks Word Die

Inks - Memento - Espresso Truffle

Colouring Mediums - ProMarkers to edge the diecut layers

Papers - Craft Seller Magazine Freebie - Oriental Garden Collection

Tools - Cuttlebug, scissor blade for distressing; Martha Stewart Punch - Butterflies

Embellishments - Anita's - 2mm Pearls

Finishing Touches - Clear Wink of Stella, Stickles - Crystal

This week's sponsor at Sketch Saturday is the fab Bunny Zoe's Crafts...

... and here's the sketch for you...

Challenges: Clearly Besotted Stamps - Colour Challenge (I have the peachy-pinks and brown... hope that's enough!!) ; Papertake Weekly - Pretty Pastels :)

I'm going to keep this short and sweet as I really don't have a lot of energy at the mo' and my arms are exhausted just typing this much but I hope you'll join in and pop over to the SS blog to see what the rest of the DT have come up with!! :) Have a good week!! :)

Summer Butterfly... Sketch Saturday Week #308 :)

Hello!! :)

So... a while ago, Jen asked me if I would like to be a Guest Designer for the month of May over at Sketch Saturday... and- funnily enough!- I said 'Yes!!'... so here I am today very happily sharing my first GDT card using a fab sketch by Jen... which is also a birthday card for a wonderful and butterfly-loving crafty friend...

This is a simple card... just a piece of DP, one die cut butterfly and some vellum- with a touch of sparkle and a few pearls added, of course!!- but I was really pleased with how it came out... I have shied away from sketches recently but felt like my layouts were getting a bit stale, so I'm glad Jen's offer gave me a push to try something different :)

Told you there was 'a touch' of sparkle... the butterfly was cut from a glittered paper... but I still added several coats of amazing Wink of Stella to the rest... and then couldn't resist adding a bit more to the background piece, which was also already glittered!! lol

{The List}

Cardstock - Papermill - Pale Turquiose Smooth

Stamps - Clearly Besotted - Dandelion Dreams (sentiment)

Dies - Clearly Besotted - Elegant Butterflies Die Collection

Inks - Hero Arts Shadow Inks - Soft Pool

Papers - First Edition - Summer Breeze; DoCrafts Anita's - Vellum

Tools - Cuttlebug, half a broken pair of scissors for distressing edges, Heat Tool, my teeny-tiny sewing machine

Embellishments - Flat-backed Pearls

Finishing Touches - Clear Wink of Stella

Extras - Embossing Powder - WOW! Clear Semi-Dull

This week's sponsor over at Sketch Saturday is Whimsy Stamps...

... and here's the sketch for you...

Whew... I'd forgotten how much more there was to add to DT posts!! lol I do hope you'll join in, though, and you should definitely pop over to the SS blog to see what Jen and the rest of the regular DT have come up with!! :)

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!! :)

LOTV Japanese Birthday for my sis’ 18th... :)

Hello everyone!! :)

My ‘baby’ sister turned 18 in November (where the time went I do not know!!lol) and today I am going to show you the card I made for her...

As some of you who have been following my blog a while may remember from last year’s card, my sis has a fascination with all things Japanese and when I was wracking my lil’ old brain to think up a card that would be truly special for her, I remembered the fab Geisha Girls stamps Lili of the Valley had released a few months previously... and so off I popped for a wee shopping spree as I knew they would be perfect!! :)

I knew I wanted to use my gorgeous Kioshi papers so, after a quick look to choose likely sheets, I settled down to colour the beautiful Aimi with Lantern image with my PMs and FMs... first time I’d done any colouring in ages, colour combos I’d never used before, first time colouring this stamp *and* no time to do-over if it all went horribly wrong after I’d got halfway through... so no pressure on myself there then!! :S lol Luckily, thanks to a spare image (or three!!) to test my colours on first, it actually worked pretty well first time and I was pretty chuffed :) So that was day one... now for a night’s sleep and a rest for my aching neck/back!!lol

Then back again the next day to put image and papers together... I wanted to use this lovely paper with the flowers over one side as my main piece and didn’t think it need too much fuss on it, both because that’s not really my sis’ thing and because the paper is just to pretty to cover up. So I just embellished what was there with glaze, glitter and some stamped Japanese- my sis says Kanji?!l- characters which I gilded with Flitter Glu and flakes... all (except perhaps the glitter, but you just *have* to have glitter, right!?!) to add to the traditional gilded and lacquered oriental feel... :)

I cut the numbers on my electronic cutting machine and layered them on another piece from the Kioshi pad with some more gilded characters for interest...

For the base of my easel I also cut one of my Cherry Blossom border svgs, which I designed last year, to make the stopper. The happy birthday stamp and handwritten ‘sister’ are heat embossed with gold glitter powder as I don’t ever like the look of gilding on fine text stamps. The final touches were just a few punched butterflies dotted around and some pretty blue pearls :)

The List:

• 6x6in Sq. White card blank plus extra panel for easel front
• Geisha Girls Aimi with Lantern stamp from LOTV, stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black and coloured with ProMarkers and FlexMarkers (no list this time as I can't lay my virtual hands on the photo... but if you really want to know something, ask and I'll have another look!!)
• Basic Grey Kioshi paper pad
• Scissor blade (from an old broken pair!!) for distressing edges
• Japanese character stamps from Aspects of Design’s Japanese Plum Blossom stamp plate
• Indigo Blu Flitter Glu and Variegated Green Gilding Flakes from Crafty Notions
• Quickie Glue Pen (for gilding flake detail)
• Diamond Glaze
• Sakura Clear Stardust pen
• Happy Birthday stamp from Penny Black, VersaMark ink and Gold glitter embossing powder
• X-cut label dies
• Electronic cutter for my own design Cherry Blossom border cut-file and numbers (cut from gold pearl card)
• Tiny Butterfly punch from Lakeland years ago
• 3mm Pale Blue Pearls

As I wasn’t going to be seeing my sis’ before her birthday and her main pressies was absolutely not postable (you’ll see why if you stop by next Monday...!!! ;) ), I also made a little gift to pop in the post with her card... a little glass cabochon necklace made with a piece of matching Kioshi paper :)

I added a few coloured beads to the bail on a jump ring for interest and was quite pleased with the pretty way they hung over the heart :)

And a pic of both together :) I was pleased with how they came out... and my sis' loved them too, so smiles all round!! :D

I’d like to enter these in the following challenges (either the card, necklace or both as each challenge allows): Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes :) ; Moving Along with the Times - Only Girls Allowed :) ; Beading Friends Forever - Anything Goes :) ; Inspire Me Fridays - # :) ; Happy Hour Projects Friday Linky Party - 02.08 :)

Thank you so much for popping by today- I truly appreciate the comments people have been kind enough to leave for me and am trying to do better at leaving comments and returning visits just as much as my health/energy allows :) I hope you’re all well and have a lovely weekend!! :) Oh, and don’t forget to pop back on Monday for a special post with my sis’ gift!! :)

A Vintage Christmas... and Anything But Square at Dream Valley :)

Hello!! :)

Well, I’m finally here to share my card for our latest challenge over at Dream Valley- I’m exceptionally late with this as it should have been posted last Sunday but I’ve had a mixture of feeling really quite ill and trying to catch up with all the things I’ve not got round to doing due to feeling so rotten for the last month so have only just managed to get on my netbook to type this up... but, as we are a fortnightly challenge, you do still have another week to enter... so, I’d best get straight on then!! :S Our challenge this time is ‘Anything But Square’ and as always, any type of creation from cards to jewellery, scrap layouts and altered items will be welcome... just so long as it’s not square!! ;) We’re sponsored by OSCC and Meljen's Designs this time!! :)

And this is my belated offering...

It’s actually the card I made for my mum for Christmas last year... I had a pretty little circle card I made specially for this challenge, photos taken, edited and ready well in advance... but, when I came to upload the pic for the challenge blog... yup- I couldn’t find them anywhere!! How hopeless!! I’m normally unusually organised with my card pics- have to be with my permanently befuddled brain!! :S – but they seem to have disappeared completely... so I’ll share those when I’ve re-edited the originals and, in the meantime (whilst trying not to panic!!lol), I managed to find this one ‘not square’ card in my overflowing folder of as-yet-unposted bits and pieces...

It’s an A5 top-fold card with a panel of the same card matted on and is almost entirely made from Waltzing Mouse Christmas sets... I just love Claire’s Christmas designs so much- they really make me feel the magic of Christmas and it seems basically impossible to make anything but a lovely card from them!! :) I used a Spellbinder’s die with Claire’s co-ordinating stamp and a WMS sentiment for the focal point and then made a frame and branch for the bauble to hang from with the gorgeous Festive Foliage set.

The only non- WMS stamp was the ‘’Twas the night before Christmas’ poem from Inkylicious (another company whose stamps I love!!lol), which I stamped all over the background in Antique Linen DI to tone in with the AL edging around the whole panel. I also smeared some Antique Linen Distress Stickles all around the edges, too... I had so much fun with this card, I love doing things like this!!lol

And a close-up of the decoupaged pine cone branch and my six-loop bow (only meant it to be four loops but I was getting carried away!!lol) in gorgeous Venetian Red seam binding :)

The List:

• Top Fold A5 off-white Linen card blank (made from A3 card), plus almost A5 piece for image panel
• Stamps- Festive Foliage, Compliments of the Season & Vintage Ornaments from Waltzing Mouse Stamps and 'Twas the Night Before Christmas from Inkylicious
• Inks- VersaFine Vintage Sepia & Olympia Green and Antique Linen DI
• VersaMark, Gold embossing powder and heat tool
• Spellbinders Heirloom Ornaments Dies
• Venetian Red Seam Binding from The Ribbon Girl
• Antique Linen Distress Stickles

I’d like to enter this in the following challenges: Divas by Design – Christmas in July :) ; Crafter's Companion - Ho Ho Ho Christmas :)

So that’s it from me for now- do pop over to Dream Valley to see the fab creations from the rest of the DT... you still have a week to enter!! :) I’ll see you soon, I hope- if my brain and body play nice and let me get anything done, that is!! :S I hope you’re all well and have a good week- thank you for stopping by and bearing with me and my haphazard blogging habits!! :)

ETA: No idea what the strange and not very pretty white background to some of my text is but I can't get rid of it so please just ignore it, it's not intentional!! :/

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!! :)