Easter, Tulips and Polka Dots...

Hello Everyone!! :)

I hope you all had a lovely long Easter Weekend? I'm back with my post for March (to keep up with my target of posting at least once each month throughout 2016!!) and I have a few very last minute Easter cards to share...

I needed some cards in a hurry so reached for the gorgeous two-step tulips from CBS' new With Love set and some chalk inks...

I decided I wanted a larger vase to balance my tulips than the one in the set so used one from another favourite CBS set from last year, stamped and masked it before stamping the tulip then coloured with a very light FlexMarker for depth. I also added a sentiment from an old-faithful Woodware set.

I knew I wanted to use  some of the fabulous polka-dotty card Jen had let me have for the bases so found a few complimentary shades of paper in my stash and added a punched border and some butterflies... go me- that's the second time in the last couple of weeks that I've dug out those punches having not even looked at them for aaaaages!!! lol Then just some WoS sparkle on the flowers and butterflies and I was done... I actually made five cards altogether but for some reason only photographed three of them so for two evenings work (on rather exhausted days!), I was pretty pleased with how these came out!! ;)

{The List}

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

Stamps - Clearly Besotted Stamps - With Love, Simple Silhouettes; Woodware Clear Magic - All Through the Year

Inks - Memento - London Fog; VersaMagic - Pixie Dust/Pink Petunia, Thatched Straw/Pumpkin Spice, Spring Pansy/Pretty Petunia and Tea Leaves

Colouring Medium - Flexmarkers (mainly Dove Grey but I think I grabbed a couple of brighter blues in there by mistake too!! ;D)

Papers - DoCrafts - Forever Friends Springtime; First Edition - New Leaf and Spring Feast

Tools - X-cut Scalloped Border punch; Martha Stewart Butterflies punch

Finishing Touches - Clear Wink of Stella

Challenges: Less Is More - Polka Dots; Addicted To Stamps and More - Make Your Mark; Simon Says Stamp Wednesday - Anything Goes

Phew!! I might actually manage to hit 'Publish' before midnight and keep my one-a-month goal on track!!! ;) Thanks for reading everyone, see you in April!! :) (Btw- *how* the heck is it April tomorrow?!?! Somebody please slow time down a bit for me or I'll never be ready for Christmas... again!! :/ )

Purple Haze for Mother's Day at Dream Valley... :)

Hello there folks!! :)

I hope you’re all well and enjoying the weekend!! :) Another fortnight has flown by and I’m still feeling rubbish which is why I’m here a tad later than intended again- I’m so desperate to be feeling better and get back to blogging more often and even for crafting (or anything else come to that! :S ) to be a little less like climbing Mount Everest but I am glad to have my fortnightly Dream Valley posts to keep giving me the impetus to get on here occasionally at least!! :)

Speaking of Dream Valley- it’s time for a new challenge and this fortnight we’d like to see your ‘Mother’s Day’ creations... not long to go for us here in the UK so perfect timing if you need a bit of inspiration!! :) We have two fab sponsors this time- our monthly sponsor OSCC and also Crafty Ribbons...

I make four Mother’s Day cards each year to give- one each for my Mum and Gran, of course, and these two are usually fairly involved, then slightly simpler ones for my Aunty (who’s also my God Mother) and for a lovely family friend who I think of as my ‘adopted Gran’- she has always been there for my Mum and I since I got so ill and we’d never have managed without her all these years... this one was made with her in mind :)

I kept it pretty simple again, partly due to how I’ve been feeling and partly because I think that suits this lovely image from Tiddly Inks pretty well... :)

I bought a couple of these gorgeous Wryn digis a few weeks back and printed them straight away as I wanted to enter the Tiddly Inks Valentine’s challenge... well, that didn’t happen so instead of being red, little Wryn has now come over all spring-like and pastel-coloured... and I finally got a purple blend I liked with my Amethyst PM, too!! :) I layered her up with the free co-ordinating flowers in my graphics program before printing.

I edged everything with two shades of purple DI and stamped the little LOTV corner stamp twice on top of each other- the second time in the darker shade and slightly off centre to give a bit of depth. Then I added some sparkle to that and the flowers... well, you just have to really, don’t you!!lol

The List:

• 5”x7” white card blank
• Wryn – Grow A Little Love and Freebie Garden of Love digi from TiddlyInks 
• ProMarkers and FlexMarkers to colour: Dress- Amethyst and Orchid; Flowers, Grass, Shoes and Stripes- Pink Carnation & Blossom, Lilac, Lavender & Soft Mauve (FM), Blue Pearl & Glacier Blue (FM), Soft Green, Pastel Green & Honeydew (FM); Skin- Satin, Blush, Dusky Pink & Putty with Pale Pink for cheeks ; Hair- Caramel, Cinnamon, Cocoa, Henna, Walnut, Honeycomb & Spice (no clue why it ended up so many!!lol); Soft Aqua (FM) and Copic Blender for shading
• Paper from First Edition’s Dreamcatcher  pad
• MS Traditional Scallop border punch
• MS large Butterfly punch
• DIs- Milled Lavender and Dusty Concord
• Cat’s Life Press sentiment stamp
• Crystal Stickles and Sakura Clear Stardust
• 3mm and 2mm teeny gems from Docrafts

I’d like to enter this in the following challenges: Joanna Sheen – Spring/Easter :) ; Crafter’s Companion – Spring :) ; CES – Flower frenzy :) ; Flutterby Wednesdays – Open Challenge (must include fairy, angel or butterfly) :) ; Sweet Stampin’ – Nature, bugs and bees :) ; Craft Your Days Away – Mother’s Day :)

So, that’s the first of my Mother’s Day cards... only three more to go... wish me luck- and some more energy!! :S Make sure you pop over to the Dream valley blog to check out the rest of the DT’s fab cards... there’s so much lovely inspiration to make that special Mother’s Day card!! :) Right, I’m off for a much needed rest... see you whenever my body decides to let me post again!! And thank you for all your lovely comments, they mean a lot!! :)

Teddy Bo’s back... and it’s just for the men at Dream Valley...

Hello everyone!! :)

I hope you’re all well and having a lovely weekend? It’s rather windy and cold here but at least the days are getting longer!! :) Well, the last fortnight’s just disappeared on me again... largely because I’ve still not been feeling too good at all so will do my best to keep this as brief as I can... typically I have a double project to share with you today but here we go...

Our challenge for you over at Dream Valley this fortnight is one which- if you’re anything like me at least!! ;) - will give your creative muscles a wee bit more of a workout than our last few lovely, easy challenges have... but I had fun with mine and hope you’ll brave it and join us, too!!lol We’d like to see you creations made ‘Just For Men’ this time and we’re sponsored by the fab Bugaboo who have some great fun images for men’s cards- which some of the DT did an amazing job with to inspire you so do pop over to the DV blog to check them out, too!! :)

Luckily I’ve had my projects for this challenge ready for a while as I’ve not been up to creating much this last couple of weeks... but this is the card I made for my Dad’s birthday earlier in the year :)

When I made this back in mid-January, I hadn’t been well enough to get to my desk since Boxing Day and the old mojo was feeling as rusty as the rest of me so I kept it all very simple!!lol

I went on a little shopping spree at Teddy Bo ready for my Dad’s birthday- any excuse!!lol I cropped the outline tag shape off this image then added in my own border and personalised greeting. I tried a different colour combo of PMs and FMs for his fur this time, which I found a lot easier and much prefer to my previous attempts!! :)

To make a little extra gift (I am pleased to have finally come up with an idea for a handmade gift for my dad as I have given many to the female members of the family and have been trying to think of something he’d actually like for ages- scarves and jewellery not being quite his thing!!lol), I made an easel base for a calendar with my Nesties and used the same gorgeous First Edition papers to decorate it, along with the same MS punch and some more little brown brads, too, so it all co-ordinated :)

My dad works from home and I thought this fella, called ‘Computer Daze’ might sit on his desk and catch his eye while he worked... maybe even diffusing a bit of the computer daze/rage we all feel when we stare at these (can’t live with’em, can’t live wiithout’em!) things too long!!lol

The List:

• 6” Sq. White card blank and two A6 white card blanks (for the calendar base)
• Teddy Bo images- TEDDYBOBEA_TABS_002 Three Little Piggies and TEDDYBO_135 Computer Daze
• ProMarkers and FlexMarkers to colour: Bo- Antique White (FM), Ivory, Vanilla, Oatmeal, Tan and Putty for cheeks; The rest- Cinnamon, Cocoa & Walnut; Lime Zest, Pear Green & Moss; White Pearl (Spectrum Noir) and Copic Blender; CG 1, 2, 4 and Ice Grey 1 (FM), Tulip Yellow and Lemon; Satin, Pastel Beige and Khaki
• Nesties- Labels One
• First Edition New Leaf paper pad
• MS Zig Zag punch
• Scissors and brown ink pad to distress edges, Peeled Paint DI for calendar image
• Brown Sugar Baker’s Twine from The Ribbon Girl
• Brown brads from stash (possibly from Panduro years ago)
• Calendar by Anita's

I’d like to enter the following challenges: Allsorts - Anything Goes :) ; CES - Spots and Dots :) ; Sarah Hurley - Die Cuts (my calendar made with Nesties) :) ; PaperPlay - Critters :) ; Fab 'n' Funky - Try something new (this was my first calendar) :) ; Hotshot Crafts - One for the Boys :) ; Paper Sundaes - Birthdays :)

Well, so much for brief, eh!! :S Thanks for stopping by today and for all the lovely comments on my last cards!! :) Sorry I’m still not managing to leave comments when I visit you all at the mo’- really hope I’ll be feeling well enough to soon but thank you for the fabulous inspiration and for saving my sanity when I’m not up to crafting in the meantime!! :) Don’t forget to stop by the Dream Valley blog to see all the amazing creations from the rest of the DT!! :) 

Happy New Year... and Shaped Cards at Forever Friends :)

Hello Bloggers!! :)

Well, I think it’s time to finally wish you all a very Happy New Year and, come to that, Happy Christmas, too!! :) I really thought I’d be able to get back on my blog in time to do both those things but the madness that is the month before Xmas in my family, with my sis’, mine and my mum’s birthdays plus Xmas, meant my body had other ideas and I just haven’t managed it... permanent exhaustion aside, though, I did have a lovely time and thank you for all the birthday wishes on my last post!! :) I hope you all had a lovely time, too, and found yourselves with lots of new crafty goodies to enjoy!?! I didn’t get much crafty stash for Xmas but I got some money to spend on it instead- people have preferred to do this since they started to see my obsession with crafting and it suits me just fine as I get to shop in the sales and get exactly what I want!! :) I also got given a Kindle (Yay!!! :D) and, as I was planning on trying to save my birthday and Christmas pressie money- not mentally spend most of it on craft stash before I even had it like last year!!lol- to buy one, I decided to use the extra money and treat myself to a Grand Calibur :) I’ve been looking wistfully at them for a while but kept telling myself I didn’t need one- and where would I find to put it anyway?!lol- but have given in as I just keep finding myself having great ideas for cards/projects and then realising they would be impossibly tricky- or just plain impossible- in my lovely little ‘Bug... so come on Mr. Postie, I want to play!!lol   *** ETA: It's arrived!! :D lol ***

Anyway, it’s time for our first challenge of the year at Forever Friends & Co. And this time we want to see ‘Shaped Cards’... any shape you like so long as it’s not square!! :) We’re sponsored this time by the fabulous Ribbon Girl!! :)

I made this card on Boxing Day for a good friend who’s birthday is on the 27^th Dec.- one year I *will* be prepared and have her card ready before Xmas rather than struggling to find the energy straight after but not this time, so I combined this and the challenge... I’ve been wanting to try a circular easel card for quite a while and never got around to it- ‘til now...

I thought it might seem a bit small as I still only have regular Nesties and my little ‘Bug at the mo’, but I think, as an Easel card with the extra surface area that gives, it’s actually quite sweet and the small area means you can have fun with embellishing!! :) I cut the base from a card blank and another circle from a second blank for the top, then cut more circles from two gorgeous new First Edition pads, which I got before Christmas but hadn’t used yet, to layer on top :)

The image is one of my fav FF stamps and is coloured with my usual PMs- I almost always stamp more than one of the FF bears (and all other stamps, just in case I go wrong with colouring...which happens a lot!!lol) but I always colour the spare bears and just leave the extra bits- in this case the flowers- uncoloured... then I have a nearly ready image that I can finish colouring quickly to match whatever I need if I’m in a rush or not well enough to colour from scratch :) I used a tag from one of the paper packs and added some seam binding, lovely butterflies and my staple pearls :)

For the stopper I used a border from one of the paper packs, then embellished with a swirl and a flower I have had sitting in a pot on my desk for months, which just matched perfectly... I made the flower myself from a cut file I designed for my Cricut last year and had a few spares as I really enjoy sitting making them up but have now run out so best get making some more!! :) I have used them on a few special cards already- just haven’t got around to blogging those quite yet!! :S

The List:

• Two white card blanks to make the base
• Nesties- Circles Large and Petite Scalloped Circles Large
• First Edition Paper Pads- Spring Feast and Birdsong
• Forever Friends wooden stamp from DoCrafts, stamped in Memento Rich Cocoa and coloured with ProMarkers: Bear- Ivory, Vanilla and Oatmeal with Sunkissed Pink for ears and cheeks; Flowers- Pale Pink and Cocktail Pink, Buttercup, Green Whispers Marker fineliner for stems
• Handmade flower- made with Hi-5 Pearl paper and my own digi cut file
• Marianne D Swirl die
• MS Large Monarch Butterfly punch
• Sentiment is an old Anita’s one
• Cream Seam Binding from The Ribbon Girl
• Stickles- Diamond, I think!?!
• Sakura Clear Stardust pen
• Pale Green and Pale Pink Flat-backed Pearls

So, a pretty simple card in the end but the lovely papers make all the difference!! :)

I’d like to enter this in the following challenges: Bunny Zoe’s Crafts – Fancy Folds/Shaped Cards :) ; TheSecret Crafter – Anything Goes :) ; Papertake Weekly – Anything Goes plus optional ‘something new’ (my papers) :) ; Paper Sundaes – Out with the Old, In with the New (Old- stamp, New- Papers) :)

Thanks for stopping by today and for all the lovely comments on my last cards- please do pop over to the FF blog to what the rest of the fab team have created to inspire you and don’t forget that you don’t even have to use and FF image to enter- though we’d really love it if you did!! :) – but you must have an animal on your creations!! :)

See you again soon, I hope- I have plenty to share if energy allows, my lack of blog posts before Christmas was mostly down to the amount of actual crafting I was trying to get done, after all!!lol

It’s All Christmas-sy at Forever Friends!! :)

Hello again Bloggers!! :)

I'm back again as promised- if slightly later in the day than intended!!lol As it is now officially December- how!!??!! O_o - it is time for our next Monthly Challenge over at Forever Friends & Co. And it's an incredibly easy one for you as 'It’s All Christmas!!' is our theme and, if you're anything like me at least, then all you'll have the time to think about is getting those Christmas cards, tags and gift ideas made!!lol We are being sponsored by the lovely Di's Digi Designs for this challenge so come along and join in the fun!! :)

I went all vintage-y with this one, inspired by this lovely FF stamp and some new acquisitions from the amazing Waltzingmouse Stamps- their gorgeous Festive Foliage set to be precise!! :) - and made my own background paper by stamping on parcel paper... then I got out a host of Tim Holtz's Distress fabulousness and let myself play with DIs on the edges of everything and the absolutely indispensible Antique Linen Stickles on all the corners- in my usual 'spread it around with my fingers' style of application!! :) 

I must say that, despite spending ages fiddling with this pic in two different photo editing programs, it still looks a bit more green around the gills than it really is irl- the other pics probably show the colour better but this was the best I could do!! :S

I coloured on Kraft with my Prismas- my first attempt at colouring these lovely bears with pencils on any kind of card and it’s not great but I'm reasonably happy for a first attempt!!lol

The largest snowflake is another MS punch- which I got for just over a fiver in the sales last year!! :) - and the others are Make it Crafty Chippies which I inked with DIs, then covered with Distress Crackle Paint... I actually used White Picket Fence- thought I had some Antique Linen but apparently the day I remember putting that in my basket while shopping online was one of the rare occasions I managed to rein in my stash-addict tendencies!!lol But it didn't matter as it took on the colour from the inks anyway... so no need to buy any other colours after all!! :) I also added some Stickles to them after the paint was dry, too- that I really must get some more of!!lol

The lovely sentiment is from the WMS Compliments of the Season set- another stunning set!! :)

The List:

• 5"x7" Kraft card blank plus another to cut up for the image
• Image - Forever Friends wooden stamp from Docrafts, stamped in Memento and coloured with Prismacolor pencils, OMS and paper stumps
• Cream cardstock
• Martha Stewart PATP Cherish punches
• Kraft parcel paper
• Festive Foliage and Compliments of the Season stamp sets from Waltzingmouse Stamps
• Versafine ink pads in Olympia Green and Vintage Sepia
• Distress Inks- Vintage Photo and Peeled Paint
• Make it Crafty Chippies snowflakes
• Distress Crackle Paint- White Picket Fence
• Distress Stickles- Antique Linen
• Mink Flat-backed Pearls from Crafty Emma's
• Natural Jute Twine from The Ribbon Girl
• Sakura Clear Stardust pen (just a teeny bit on the hats) 

I'd like to enter this in the following challenges: Cupcake Crafts - Colour on Kraft :) ; Ready Teddy Go - Anything Goes :) ; Joanna Sheen (the first ever challenge!! :) ) - Christmas :) ;  Anything Goes - Cutting Corners (if the corner punches used for my image mat are enough and second entries are okay?) :) ; Pollycraft - Christmas fun :) ; Fab 'n' Funky - Anything Goes :) ; Divas by Design - Anything Goes :) ; Sweet Stampin' - Punches and Dies :)

Please pop over to the Forever Friends & Co. blog for a look at the gorgeous cards my teammates have created- we have some fab and talented new ladies joining us on the DT for this challenge, too!! :) - and we'd love to see you joining in with your FF images... or if you don't have any at the mo' then any animal on your card will do so long as you follow the theme!! :)

Thanks for stopping by my little corner of Blogland today- hope you'll pop back soon!! :) I have plenty of things just waiting to be posted so I'll try and be back soon... but I really do need to get a wriggle on with the ol' Christmas cards so need to spend some time crafting as well as posting!!lol I had some good news this week as I've been asked by the lovely Melly to join the team at Dream Valley- I'm really looking forward to my first challenge with them in a week or so- on my birthday in fact!! :) Thanks for all your comments on my card yesterday, too- I really do appreciate them all and am doing my best to make it round to a few people at a time whenever I can manage it myself as I know it's been far too long in most cases!! :)

Making it (a) Colourful Christmas with Something Old and Something New at Forever Friends :)

Hello there!! :)

{What a garbled post title... all will become clear(er!) soon!!lol}

Well, it's *not* the first Thursday of the month, it's the first Friday... which means I'm a day late with my card for the new  Monthly Challenge over at Forever Friends!! Ooops!! It's been one of those weeks (or months, maybe!!) and time's just run away from me again!! :S Anyway, we have a fab challenge for you this time as we'd like to see you use both 'Something Old and Something New' on you cards (or any other creations you would like to share!!)!! :) You only need to include an animal not necessarily a FF bear- though we'd love it if you did and I really enjoyed seeing so many more of them in the last challenge!! :)- and we are sponsored this time by Stitchy Bears!! :)

I have ended up with two 'Old' and two 'New' items on my card, although I could probably have got away with just using my FF stamp as both as I have had it for at least a year but this is the first time I've used it!! Tut tut... ;) The old are my FF stamp and the gorgeous K & Co. paper and the new are the fence and LOTV Circular Sentiment stamps :) I must just give credit where it's due and say I came across a gorgeous card similar to this (using probably my favourite of my FF stamps :) ) over here on Caroline's lovely blog while I was visiting entrants to our last Forever Friends challenge (one of the best things about being on a DT is the chance to discover so many fab crafter's blogs and so much great inspiration!! :) ) and I knew at once that I had to have the lovely fence stamp she'd used so that I could have a go myself as I've been wanting to get some stamps that would let me try making scenes for while!! :)

I have to say that the proportions of the finished image did stump me a tad on the layout front and I was in a strange mood when I was trying to put this together anyway and just was not going to let the image get stuck on straight... so the odd, slanted layout came about as, while I was fiddling with bits of paper and different shaped/sized card blanks, I knocked this piece of paper to this angle... and just kinda liked it!!lol Gotta love a happy accident... much better than the usual chuck-it-in-the-bin-and-start-again kind!! ;D

I've coloured with ProMarkers and was inspired by the current challenge at Make it Colourful (hence the post title!!) to try 'colouring texture' so the fence is my first attempt at that... have another idea in my head for that challenge, too, but will have to see if I have time/energy enough to try it!!lol I'm none too happy with the sky as it's gone a bit patchy... didn't really think when I chose to use the Santa FF about the fact that the scene would need to be a night-time one... so *slight* panic when that occurred to me when I'd already coloured the fence and was committed!!lol

A close up to show the fence better- I coloured with my normal PM nibs first, starting by laying down a layer of my mid tone (Spice) and then adding the darker colours for shading (Walnut and Cinnamon) and the light (Gold) in short strokes following the direction the grain would run, aiming for a patchy, scratchy look rather than a smooth blend. Then went back in after that was dry with the lightest and darkest colours and my fine nibs for some more definition... I'm fairly pleased for a first attempt and had fun trying which is what it's all about after all!! :) This pic is also the best one to see the stardust pen I used to try to look like snowflakes in the sky- when my attempts to bleach the blue out with my blender didn't work!!lol I was too chicken to use a white gel pen as that always seems to look weird when I try it and I really didn't want to ruin the whole image at the end!! :S

I coloured the bear in my usual way (PMs: – Ivory, Oatmeal, and Vanilla with Sunkissed Pink for ears and cheeks) though he looks paler to me... don’t know if this is 'cos it's the first time I've coloured a FF on this cardstock or just because the rest of the image is so much darker than usual and is making more of a contrast...I'm learning fast how important the card is for colouring!!lol I also used my Glamour Dust for the first time, so another 'New' thing, and it is sooo pretty and much more sparkly than glitters I've used before (though you were right, Carole- it has already got everywhere and I didn't even spill it!!lol)!! :)

A couple more close ups- the lovely sentiment (I have been singing 'Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...' to myself since the Crafter's Companion challenge went live this week ...only, after I get that far, I get stuck as all that comes into my head is 'Wake up, it's a beautiful morning...' - damn that BBC Weather trailer!!lol) and some more of my pre-prepared Cricut Snowflakes, which are sat on my desk, ready glimmer-misted, and just waiting to be added to any Christmas card that needs a little something!! :)

The List:

• 5"x7" white card blank
• Forever Friends wooden stamp
• Snow Fence stamp by Alota Stamps
• Stamped in Memento Rich Cocoa and coloured with ProMarkers (picture below to save time and energy again :) )
• Corner Punch
• Beautiful DP from a K & Co. Tim Coffey pad I was given years ago :)
• MS Cherish border punch
• Glamour Dust
• Sakura Clear Stardust and Clear Glaze pens
• LOTV Circular Christmas Sentiment (stamped in Brilliance Starlite Black)
• Snowflakes- larger ones cut on Cricut from When It's Cold Outside' cartridge and spritzed with Perfect Pearls Pearl shimmer mist, smaller ones were the 'waste' saved from a MS border punch
• Assorted gems 

I’d like to enter this in the following challenges: Crafter’s Companion – Let it snow, let it snow. Let it snow... :) ; Crafts & Me – Let the music move you (song as above!!) :) ; I ♥ Promarkers – Glitter and Glitz :) ; Dream Valley – Anything Goes :) ; Pollycraft Monday –Anything Goes :) ; Charisma Cardz – Cutesy :) ; Papertake Weekly – Anything Goes plus optional (is it ever optional really?!lol) Bling :) ; Pink Gem - Cold and Frosty :) ; Little Claire’s – Christmas :)

Well, thank you for stopping by and sticking with me through another long post- I really must try harder to write less, I just like to share and have a record of not just the basics but the thought processes behind my cards as I forget things so quickly with my hopeless foggy brain but apologies if it bores people!! :S Thanks for the comments on my last few posts!! :) Do pop over to the Forever Friends and Co. blog to see the lovely cards from the rest of the team!! :) Hope to be back soon- have a great weekend folks and enjoy the fireworks if you’re lucky enough to see any!! :)

Christmas Raven and a Colour Challenge at My Partner in Crafting Crime...

Hello everyone!! :)

It's Monday and time for another fab challenge over at My Partner in Crafting Crime!! :) This fortnight it’s a Colour Challenge and we have a gorgeous colour palette to inspire you from the rather lovely Design Seeds site...

You need to use at least three of the colours to enter but the more of them you can use the better!! :)


I'd never heard of Design Seeds before this challenge but I think I'll be popping back quite often as there are so many gorgeous colour palettes to help spark off new ideas... I struggle with colour and don't have much confidence in mixing new combos so this sort of thing is great for me!! :)

We are sponsored this time by the fab Bows & Berries Digital Stamps Shop and the lucky winner will be able to choose three digis from the shop!! :)


So, onto my card:

I seriously need to get a move on with my Xmas cards and these colours seemed great for making a slightly different looking one :) I altered a couple of my own digi papers to the right shades- or so I thought... forgot that blues and greens never show true on my comp to the way they'll print so was actually a bit off with the greens :S but I liked it and knew I had PM colours that would work, so I went with it!!lol

I have been trying to improve on my colouring recently and so had been watching some YouTube vids before I set to on this image- the oh so gorgeous Raven from Sugar Nellie which is so lovely to colour! :) - and so I did my best to put what I'd picked up into practise and I'm pretty happy with the results, as another step in the right direction at least... especially as I've never even used these greens or some of the pinks before!! I have a massive collection of pens but, as with our fav clothes, I tend all too often to stick with the same old combos I've had success with before rather than brave trying anything new!!lol

I used the back of a Craftwork Cards Mini Message I didn't think I'd ever use for the greeting and stamped a Lotv greeting on it (just hoping it'd fit as the stamp has it on two lines... and then adding the gem when it was sooo off-centre!!lol). The snowflake charm adds a bit of movement and interest :) I don't know if you can see it very well in the pics but I did distress the edges of the papers just a wee bit before adding a bit of colour with the pink PM from the image and some Stickles :)

I also used one of my lovely new shaped card blanks for the first time, too- I think they make such a difference to a simple card and the shape is perfect with my fav MS Cherish punch!! :)




The List:

• 6” sq. Elegance white card blank from Craftwork Cards
• Sugar Nellie image Raven from the Home Grown range, stamped in Memento and coloured with ProMarkers: Coat and Boots- Fuchsia Pink & Pink Carnation; Hat and Cuffs- Maroon & Magenta with Cool Grey 1 over the top to tone down the brightness; Dress- Green, Mint Green and Pastel Green; Hair- Walnut & Cocoa
• My own design digi papers
• MS Cherish border punch
• Craftwork Cards Mini Message (I used the back)
• LOTV greeting from Xmas stamp sheet
• Organza Ribbon
• Snowflake charm and jumps from my jewellery supplies stash
• Crystal Stickles and Sakura Clear Stardust Pen
• 4mm gems

I'd like to enter this in the following challenges: Crafter's Companion - Pink & Green :) ; Paper Sundaes – Sundae Bar (I have distressing and plenty of sparkle) :) ; My Time To Craft - Dies and/or Punches :) ; The Secret Crafter - Wrap Up Warm (with something knitted) :) ; Crafting When We Can - Christmas Come Early :)


Well, that's about it from me for today!!lol I’m off to finish my step-mum’s birthday card- did most of the creative bits yesterday so just need to assemble it all now... then cross my fingers the posties are nice and quick for me or it’ll be late!! :S Thank you for popping by and thank you for all the lovely comments on my last cards and bracelet!! I particularly appreciate the comments on the bracelet as I know that jewellery isn’t everyone’s cup of tea!!lol I'm thinking though, as people seemed to like seeing it (I hope, anyway!!), that might try to post more jewellery projects when I'm able to make them... I have one or two either finished or in the works so hopefully I can post them soon-ish and there are bound to be more at this time of year!! :) Don't forget to pop over to PCC to see the gorgeous work from the rest of the fab DT- who all managed to use the right shades of green for their cards, too!!lol Hope you’re all well and had a good weekend!! :)