Another Birthday Bunny...

Hello folks!!

Firstly... Happy New Year to you all, I hope 2017 has started well for you and that you had a lovely Christmas time!! :) Secondly, I finally have another card to share with you... made for my lovely Mum's birthday just before Christmas...

My mum has always loved rabbits since being given a toy one- named Mr Bun, and who still resides, wrapped up safely, in Mum's wardrobe to this day!- so I ordered her a lovely mug with a watercoloured bunny as one of her presents and decided to continue the theme with her card and use an equally gorgeous LOTV bunny stamp :) I have had this stamp for a very long time (bought to use for my Mum!) but think this is the first time I've actually used it... it definitely won't be the last as I love it even more now!! 😍 I'm sooo glad I have it as it's one of the many that has now been discontinued :(

The image is simply coloured on cream cardstock (Papermill Direct's Cream Smooth, which I've found to be fine for colouring with markers on so long as you're not worried about laying down too much ink for perfect blending... and I like the relaxed style of quicker colouring so it's all good here!! ;) ) with Pro/FlexMarkers and Warm Grey Copics for the bunny... with a little added glitter and shimmer here and there, of course!! :)

I also added a bit of blue paper to match the butterflies and a scattering of diecut hearts and sequins... so many of my favourite brands made it on to this card!!! lol

{The List}

Cardstock - Papermill Direct - Cream Smooth; SU! - Blushing Bride

Stamps - Lili of the Valley - Gift Wrapped (retired); Clearly Besotted Stamps - Many Mini Messages

Dies - Simon Says Stamp - Mum, Mini Hearts Set; CBS - Scalloped Edge (retired)

Colouring Medium - ProMarkers, FlexMarkers and Copics

Inks - Memento  - Tuxedo Black; VersaMagic - Pretty Petunia, Cloud White

Papers - My Mind's Eye - Lost and Found Portobello Road

Tools - Cuttlebug

Embellishments - Little Things by Lucy's Cards Sparkly Shaker Selection - Cherry Blossom, Forget Me Not

Finishing Touches - Wink of Stella Brush Pen - Clear; Sakura Stardust Pen - Clear

{Challenges}

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday - Anything Goes

And, last but not least, a fuller pic to show the lovely mug :) I only discovered the amazing artist, Hannah Dale of Wrendale Designs, late last year when a friend posted a picture of a book she had won... it was full of gorgeous dog images with a Black Lab on the cover and I fell in love there and then!! 😍 When I searched for the book on Amazon, though, I discovered she paints sooo many stunning animals and there are all manner of different items... if I had the room in amongst the craft stash I'd totally start collecting!!! lol

Right, I'm off to press post then to bed! Thank you for reading, have a good week!! :)

Bunny Birthday...

Hello everyone!! :)

Happy Hallowe'en to all those who celebrate it... and to those who don't, I hope avoiding the Trick or Treaters hasn't driven you mad!! ;D 

I cannot quite believe that I missed posting in September and had to say goodbye to my 'One Post A Month' goal... I just didn't actually realise it was the end of the month- thought I still had at least a few days left!! :( That's this year in a nutshell though, isn't it?! It has just flown by soooo fast!!! :/ I'm still really disappointed, to be honest, to have got over halfway and then let it slip... but I still intend to make one a month for the rest of the year... hence this *very* last minute post again tonight...

This is the card I made for my lovely Grandad's birthday a few weeks ago... I did planes for Father's Day so I thought this time I would go with a bit of cute fun... and no-one does that better than Lili of the Valley!! :) 

It's been a while since I did much colouring and I feel kind of rusty lately every time I try but, so long as you don't look *too* closely, I think this feela came out looking just about okay!! lol

I've not had a huge amount of energy going spare for cardmaking lately so I kept him pretty simple... some dotty paper, an old-skool label-maker sentiment (another purchase made after a Skype session keeping Jen company while she crafted!!! lol), some glitter, sequins and of course, a glossy balloon... thankfully these images lend themselves perfectly to CAS cardmaking as well as more involved styles!! :)

{The List}

Cardstock - Papermill Direct - White Smooth

Stamps - LOTV - Balloon Bunny

Dies - Simon Says Stamp - Stitched Shapes

Colouring Medium - ProMarkers and FlexMarkers

Inks - Memento - Espresso Truffle

Papers - Simple Stories - Sn@p! Color Vibe (an amazing pad of spots, dots, stripes and chevrons... soooo useful!!!)

Tools - Cuttlebug, Label Maker, Guilloutine

Embellishments - Little Things from Lucy's Cards Sequins in Fairy Lights

Finishing Touches - Clear Wink of Stella, SU! Crystal Effects

Challenges I'm entering: SSS Wednesday - Anything Goes

Okay... now I'm off to bed before the Witching Hours strikes!!!! ;) Thanks for reading and I'll hopefully be back before the 30th of  November... I'm not sure why I always leave it so late since I have so many things I'd love to share!!! lol Have a great week, folks!! :)

Crochet and Cross Stitch For A Cause :)

Hello Everyone!! :)

I'm here for a flying visit tonight as I'm really not feeling well enough to be on the computer but I am determined not to let my 'One Post A Month' streak go!! So, to save my eyes and painful head, I have a quick share with some pics I already had edited of a couple of items I donated to a charity craft auction earlier this month in aid of Post Pals, a fantastic charity which sends post and arranges treats for seriously ill children and their siblings in the UK :)

First up is a crocheted baby blanket... I've made a fair few baby blankets but this has to be one of my absolute favourites!! :) The colours were insipred by my love of the film Frozen... not intentionally- I just picked some of my favourite colours and then wondered why I had 'Do You Wanna Build A Snowman?' in a loop in my head while I was working on it... had to laugh when that one finally clicked!! ;D The yarn is Stylecraft Special DK and the pattern is the simply gorgeous (and free!) Rainbow Ripple Baby Blanket by Celeste Young on Ravelry, which my fabulously talented crochet friend, Heather, of The Patchwork Heart introduced me to through her instagram feed... I've made this in several colourways now and it always looks wonderful!! :)

The second item I donated is something that will be more familiar to my papercrafting followers as it's from the wonderful Lili of the Valley... but with a twist as it's not one of their adorable stamps but one of their adorable Cross Stitch Designs!! :) You may have seen me mention giving Cross Stitch a go again after twenty-something years in this post... well I loved stitching this sweet Odd Dog Picking Flowers design so much that I decided to make another for the auction!! :) I didn't take any pictures of the back, but for those who are interested, the aida is trimmed and gathered with a running stitch then all the ends and edges are covered by a circle of felt (hooray for papercrafting tools, my Grand Calibur came in useful for this!! ;D ) which I handstitched to the aida :)

I was so happy to be able to contribute to such a good cause by doing something I love!! :) There will be another craft auction in time for Christmas (which will be advertised on their Facebook page nearer the time) which I hope to be able to join in with again :)

Okay, I'm off to bed now to see if I can sleep off this headache... not that I'm really complaining... I only feel this ill because I did something amazing on Monday- I went to visit Jen at her house for the afternoon... the first time in 15 years that I have been able to visit someone else's house as she and her wonderful dad have made the outside/downstairs accessible for me in my wheelchair!!! :D :D Hope you all had a great Bank Holiday Weekend, too?!! See you soon!! :)

Daffs and Bunnies... Easter again!! ;)

 Hi everyone!! :)

I popping in (just in the knick of time again!) with my post for April... I was honestly so sure I would manage two posts this month but... you know... life always has other ideas!! lol

Anyway, I have another Easter card to share this time... this one went to my Mum who claimed the image as soon as she saw it coloured on my desk!! :)

I managed to get hold of this cutie from Lili of the Valley when they re-released some old favourites earlier this year and I'm so glad I did... very cute... and very easy to colour!! ;D I just die-cut him with my new MFT Wonky Stitched Squares (love these and can't wait to get a hold of the rectangles!!) and added a few sequins and some Wink of Stella... with the dotty card base to add interest, it really didn't need anything more!! Perfect since, as usual, I was on the last minute getting this one finished!! lol

{The List}

Cardstock - Polka Dot card from Anna-Marie Designs (I think!)

Stamps - LOTV - Spring Bunny with Daffs; Woodware Clear Magic - All Through the Year

Dies - MFT - Wonky Stitched Rectangles, Fishtail Flag Stax

Colouring Medium - ProMarkers and FlexMarkers

Inks - Memento - Espresso Truffle

Tools - MISTI, Cuttlebug

Embellishments - Little Things by Lucy's Cards  - Sequins from a mixture of  Shaker Selections; DoCrafts - Anita's 2mm Gems

Finishing Touches - Wink of Stella Clear

Challenges: Addicted to Stamps and More - Anything Goes; Simon Says Stamp Wednesday - Anything Goes

Well, I'm off to link up and get ready for bed... I seem to be able to sleep for England at the mo' after a busy week last week!! :/ Hope you're all well and enjoying the week so far... let's hope the weekend brings back that lovely warm sunshine from last week!!

A little more LOTV... :)

Hello again folks!! :)

Yup, it really is me back so soon!!lol I couldn't believe my luck this morning when I saw that the new LOTV challenge was CAS... and I actually managed to get a card that would be perfect for it posted- *last* night!! Typical!!lol But that and the fact I so rarely get to enter over there has persuaded me to get on and post this one, which also fits but had been pushed back in my mental posting queue by the CBS cards I mentioned last night...anyway, this one is from the archives (ie. one of many on my computer I just haven't got to posting yet!!) and was made last October for my Gran's birthday...

I wanted to keep her card calm and soothing as my Gran had lost her sister suddenly the week or so before... I knew she would still appreciate a pretty and cheerful card to celebrate her birthday but didn't want to send anything too bright and jarring or overly fussy... after much head-scratching, I remembered this lovely little LOTV bear and created one of my fav big scalloped circle cards to sit her on- I always think a circular base card makes a card look special even if the rest of it is very simple!! :)

I coloured with PMs and FMs in gentle, pretty tones and added just a smidge of Stickles, then dug out my last whole piece (eeek- only for someone really special!!) of my fav paper from the FF Pink Parfait range and some matching seam-binding...

A sublte white-embossed sentiment, some white layers and a few white pearls brought it all together... perhaps not as CAS as some of my recent creations but I think the limited, pale colour palette with plenty of white keeps it pretty simple and fresh... and my Gran was really pleased with it... so nice to have made her smile!! :)

{The List}

6" Sq. white card blank

Nesties - Grand Big Scalloped Circles, Big Scalloped Circles Large and Standard Circles dies

LOTV Posy Trio image, stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black and coloured with ProMarkers and FlexMarkers (sorry, no colours again... too long ago!!)

Paper - Forever Friends Pink Parfait pad

Blue textured pearl cardstock (from QVC many moons ago)

X-cut Scalloped border punch

Sentiment - LOTV

White Embossing Powder and heat tool

Seam Binding - Tile Blue from The Ribbon Girl

White 4mm pearls

Crystal Stickles

I'd like to enter this in the following challenges: Lili's Little Fairies - Clean and Simple :) ; Jen's CAS Mondays with LOTV (if it's CAS enough for you Jen?!) :) ; Papertake Weekly - Bingo (Glitter, Diecuts, Blooms is the one I've chosen but I think it would fit several lines!!) :) ; Joanna Sheen - Spring into Spring :) ; The Ribbon Girl - Just Add Flowers :)

Well, that's it from me for now... I hope you're all well- thanks for stopping by today and for your lovely comments!! :) See you again soon I hope- though maybe not quite so soon as this time!! :)

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!! :)

Japanese-style Wood & Vellum Lantern...

Hello again!! :)

How are you all? I hope you had lovely weekends doing something fun... like crafting!! :D Well, I’m back again and so soon, too... but there is a very good reason!! :)

A few weeks ago my lovely friend, Elaine, asked me if I would like to be a guest designer for her fabulous All Crafts Challenge, which she hosts on her blog Craft My Life to give all of us who enjoy making things other than cards a place to share our projects and find inspiration... well, of course, loving my different crafts as I do, I said yes and so here I am today with something very different to share...

This is the ‘proper’ gift I made for my sister’s 18^th birthday and is a Japanese-style lantern using co-ordinating Lili of the Valley Geisha Girls stamps (as I used for her card in my last post)...

It began life as a kit- which I very happily discovered forgotten on my crafty bookcase after much head-scratching and scouring of t’internet for ideas for something extra special and just a bit different that I could make for her!! :) – with six bare-wood pieces (four legs/sides, two square pieces for top and bottom and a plywood base), which I covered in Tim Holtz Distress Stains in Black Soot, for a traditional Japanese black wood look, and Walnut Stain for a bit of warmth. I have to say that I lost count of how many coats I had to give the pieces to get an evenness of colour I was remotely happy with... suffice to say it was an awful lot and the pieces took up residence on my desk for a loooong time as I was doing it!! Then I added a couple of coats of Mod Podge but that still seemed a bit sticky and like the stain might leave marks so I added a coat of Artiste Acrylic Matte Varnish. I honestly thought I had ruined the whole thing several times during this but got away with it in the end... phew!!lol

Then it was on to making the decorative panels. I used some lovely white marble vellum I have had for years to do this and stamped and heat embossed images from the LOTV Japanese Companion stamp sheet for all four sides and then coloured the images on the reverse with Prismacolor pencils and OMS. I took some pics of the colouring just to show how much brighter and stronger the colour looks than on the outside :)

I used a fine detail gold embossing powder with some added gold glitter, masking the house, bridge and tree stamps on the second panel and stamping and embossing in three stages to get a full scene :)

Then it was time to assemble it all... and boy, was that fun... or not!!lol It was actually extremely tricky and even with another pair of hands (thanks, Mum!!) on hand to help, I was not at all convinced I’d manage it for a while... but we got there in the end and this is how it turned out...

I used super-sticky tape to attach the panels (tried the first one with silicone and nearly made an unsalvageable mess!! :S) and silicone to attach all the wood pieces together... to be honest, I can’t even remember now what order things went together in but since it was so much hard work that I doubt I will ever do it again, I can live with that!!lol

This pic gives an idea of the construction with four L-shaped legs and top and bottom which fitted between them, if that makes any sense.

Then all that was left was to add battery-powered LED candle inside... and spend ages taking pics from all the different angles!!lol

A couple of shots with the lights dimmed and the candle ‘lit’... you can’t really get a sense of the light coming through the coloured vellum here but it was quite pretty in real life, especially witht he marble effect on the vellum!! :)

This was a long and rather stressful project, which I suspect I will not try again for a long time to come but I am very happy to say that my sis’ really loved it and I was so happy to have been able to make something so very personal to her passions- the more usual purely selfish enjoyment of the process aside, aren’t those moments of making people feel happy and special what we do all this crafty stuff for?!! Lovely feeling :) 

I’d like to enter this in the following challenges: Inspire Me Fridays - #95 :) : Happy Hour Fridays - 02.08 :)

Okay, so if you have made it to the end of this post- and especially if you actually took the time to read all the way through!!lol- then thank you and well done!! ;D Please do pop over to Elaine’s blog and check out her fabulous All Crafts Challenge for some wonderful inspiration... and if you make anything other than cards- altered or upcycled items, jewellery, fabric or yarn crafts or anything else- then do stop by over there and share it with her and the rest of us!! :) Have a lovely week folks!! :)

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!! :)