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!! :)

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!!

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!! :/ )

Cute Christmas Owls...

Hello everyone!! :) And A Happy New Year to you all!! :) I'm popping in today after yet another long and unintended break- when will this 'Real Life' thing stop getting in the way of my blogging schedule?!?!! ;D - to share some of the few Christmas cards I actually managed to make this year... hopefully while the challenge that helped inspire them is still open!! ;)

I borrowed this gorgeous Lawn Fawn Winter Owl Stamp Set and Die from Jen after she made a few adorable cards with it last Christmas... and it took me 'til the week before the big event this year to do anything with them... but I loooove them now I have... so much I may need my own!! ;)

I kept it nice and simple as I needed to make several along the same lines, and enlisted some help (thanks, Mum!) in putting my SSS Stitched Shapes dies to good use for a simple frame, with some of my favourite Christmas/Winter paper pack, Winter Wishes from Echo Park :) A spot of CBS magic for the sentiment and banner die, a generous coating of Wink of Stella (of course!) on their scarves and the edges of the layers... and I had four *very* cute little 4" cards to add to my meagre stash :) Here they all are:

{The List}

Cardstock - Papermill Direct - White Smooth

Stamps - Lawn Fawn - Winter Owl; CBS - Many Mini Messages

Dies - Lawn Fawn - Winter Owl , SSS - Stitched Squares, Stitched Circles, Stitched Flakes; CBS - Keep in Touch Die Collection (banner)

Colouring Medium - ProMarkers

Inks - Memento - Espresso Truffle

Papers - Echo Park - Winter Wishes

Tools - Cuttlebug (plus one pair of stronger arms than mine!), Heat Gun

Embellishments - 3mm Gems

Finishing Touches - Clear Wink of Stella

I'd like to enter these in: Freshly Made Sketches #217:

 

Thank you for reading this (anybody who is still out there and following my little blog after all these interruptions, anyway!)... I always say it but it's always true... I hope I'll be back again before *too* long as I do so miss blogland and all you lovely folk when life gets in the way!! In the meantime, I hope you all had a good Christmastime and that 2016 brings you lots of precious moments!! :)

#ThrowbackThursday :: Up and Away :)

Hello :)

I'm back with the second in my as-and-when series of #ThrowbackThursday, or #tbt posts and I have another card using Clearly Besotted Stamps goodies, made at about the same time as my last #tbt card, so around 18 months ago...

Simple but effective, with a negative diecut aperture and some lovely clouds to set the scene for this fab hot air balloon... I made this one for my Grandad's birthday and he loved it (don't Grandparents make the best and most receptive of audiences!! lol)... I still rather like it myself!! ;)

The panel with the aperture has some inked clouds, which I made using a stencil I created with a negative of some of the same CBS cloud dies and some white pearlescent ink :)

This pic shows the lovely effect of using different heights of 3D foam to stick down all the different bits and pieces... much more interesting than everything being all one level ;)

{The List}

Cardstock - Papermill Direct - Sky Blue, White Linen; Craftwork Cards - Digital Cardstock (for the balloon)

Stamps - Clearly Besotted Stamps - Going Places; Woodware Clear Magic - Retro Words

Dies - Clearly Besotted Stamps - Going Places, Sky's the Limit, Tag Along; Spellbinders - Nestabilities Circles

Colouring Medium - ProMarkers (sorry, no colour list as it was so long ago!)

Inks - Memento - London Fog; Brilliance - Moonlight White

Tools - Cuttlebug, Ranger Blending Foam

Finishing Touches - Sakura Stardust Pen - Clear

Challenges I'd like to enter: Simon Says Stamp Wednesday - Let's Get Sentimental ; CASology - Shape

Thanks for stopping by today, I hope you've enjoyed another detour into the depths of my computer's Pictures folder!! :) Have a great week everyone!! :)

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!! :)

An easter card? This early?!

Hello again everyone!! :)

I'm back at last with another LIM card... wasn't sure I would make it this week as I first had to wait for my new cardstock (ordered last week!!) to arrive so I could put my card together, then had to wait for my body to stop messing me about so I felt well enough to get the pics taken... oh, yes- and there might have been a Skype chat with Jen and a CBS release that took up most of Wednesday evening too... !! ;) But I'm here now, so I'll get to the point...

Jen and Chrissie asked for Yellow and Green cards this week... at first my mind flew to tulips and daffodils... but then I started really thinking about all the unused stamps I had uncovered in the last week for mine and Jen's challenge (more on that later!) and I remembered this little LOTV bunny :)

He's simply coloured with Pro and FlexMarkers, edged with yellow ink, embellished with some Mimosa seam binding then added to a Lime Green card blank with a bit of Wink of Stella on the flowers to finish... nice and easy... I think this may be my grandparents' Easter card :) Must be a record for me to have an easter card made more than six weeks early!! lol

{The List}

A6 Top-fold card blank - Papermill Direct Lime Green

Stamps: Image - Lili of the Valley - Spring Swing; Sentiment - Clearly Besotted Stamps - Spring Blooms

Ink - Memento - Espresso Truffle; VersaMagic - Thatched Straw

ProMarkers and FlexMarkers (no colours, I'm afraid... so out of practise I put them away without taking note)

Seam Binding - Ribbon Girl - Mimosa

Wink of Stella - Clear

Corner Chomper

Challenges: Less is More - Yellow and Green :)

This card also fits with my own Clean & Simple Characters series, which aimed to get me using more of my many character stamps and has been sadly neglected since the first post last year!! :(

I've been busy making cards this week but can't share just yet as the recipients read my blog... but I'll be back soon!! :)

Thank you so much to those who left comments on my last post to... a lovely warm welcome back to blogland and I sooo appreciate it!! :) Hope you've all had a lovely week so far!! :)

{{ Also, Please excuse any oddities with my blog design- I redesigned my header to get a long-overdue makeover in place with some help from Jen... and I love it- much more me and in keeping with my card style these days!! :) ... but there are still a few details I haven't got to yet!! :) }}