Gorjuss 2000 Party - Sugar Nellie

Ok, so it turns out I have twenty Gorjuss Girl stamps! 

Until this morning they were stored in different boxes so I thought it would make more sense to keep them together rather than split them by company. Then I decided to count them.

I was a little bit surprised to discover just how many I'd got... And then, when I thought about it, I was surprised that I didn't have more!

I've been loving Gorjuss Girls since Sugar Nellie/Funky Kits produced the first stamps way back when. In actual fact I may have been a fan of Suzanne's Woolcott's artwork before I stumbled across the stamps; its a bit of a chicken-and-egg situation!

So here is my offering for the Gorjuss 2000 Party!

This sweet little Gorjuss Girl is one of the new release which I bagged earlier in the week. She is called Hush Little Bunny and I coloured her in similar colours to those featured on the packaging. I die-cut the word happy and used some of my favourite Stella and Rose papers (Hattie). The second picture is a little over-exposed so the top picture gives a truer representation of the colours.

The Gorjuss Party 2000 Challenge is open until the last week of April and the DT girls have set the bar very high with some glorious inspiration pieces. I wonder how many Gorjuss Girl stamps they have... And more to the question; how many do YOU have?

Happy Easter everyone!

Its been a while...

Yes, it has! Guess who has been poorly with a mammoth chest infection? Yup, that would be me and I've been barking like a dog (and frightening the cat) for about three weeks. Anyhoo, I'll cease the moaning and share the little card I made in a big hurry this morning.

The ink was barely dry on this one before I coughed and wheezed my way to the Post Office to 'First-Class' it on its way! It's our literacy coordinator's birthday and as she is a fellow 'book nut' I thought this little Gorjuss Girl would be the perfect way to wish her 'Many Happy Returns'.

I really like this little bibliophile from the set 'New Heights' and loved colouring her with my Promarkers. I seem to be having my own little Gorjuss Girl revival at the moment so was thrilled to discover that Sugar Nellie/Funky Kits have a new release starting on April 4th. Wooohooo!

Rest assured I'll be sitting here at my computer at 10am with a cup of coffee in one hand and my debit card in the other!

Happy crafting everyone!

The brightest star

Here's one I made earlier...

July Card Chain Challenge Reveal

I am always, always late in posting my 'reveal' for Deborah Card Chain Challenge!

Here is the card I sent to the lovely Joy.

I hadn't inked up a Gorjuss Girl in ages so decided to use a Santoro cling stamp bought in a sale a while ago. Unfortunately, I discovered that the cling part of the stamp was really tacky and had stuck to the packaging. Perhaps this is why the stamp was in the sale? Luckily, it doesn't seem to have damaged the stamp, just the illustration but you might want to check your own stamps by this manufacturer just in case.

After stamping the main image I carefully masked it so I could create a background using Hero Arts stamps with Versacolour ink in grey and silver, with highlights of blue. These were Deborah's colours for July and I have to say that I love this pretty colour combo.
I was lucky enough to receive a card from Mynette in Kansas, USA this month and am very proud to have such a pretty card sitting on  my mantelpiece!

You can sign up for the August Card Chain Challenge over at Deborah's blog. I've made some lovely new blogging buddies through taking part in this challenge and would urge everyone to give it a go.

Finally, I thought I'd share a picture of the amazing Mr C.
Sweet Custard the cat has a choice of four sofas, some soft rugs, and three cat beds for snoozing during the day but right now he seems to prefer a dusty patch of garden. Guess who was given a thorough brushing before he was allowed in the house...

Have a happy day!

Gorjuss paper piecing

Hi blog buddies, I hope your Sunday has been as pleasant and relaxing as mine.

Here are my final two cards using my favourite Gorjuss girl stamp. I decided to experiment with paper piecing this image and am quite pleased with the results.

Both cards are still fairly CAS, but the paper piecing certainly gives them a bit of a lift.

Off to finish my final assignment for college now - woohooo!

Happy crafting everyone!

Who stole the weekend???

Seriously, have I really had two days off? I must say I feel somewhat short changed in that department!

The nice weather has meant that we've been very busy this weekend: in the garden, cleaning the house, cleaning the windows and out shopping. As we strolled hand-in-hand around the Merry Hill Shopping Centre I remarked to Hubby that it was really nice to go clothes shopping together as this isn't something we do very often. Five minutes later I remember why: as we head for the fuller bust section of the lingerie department and he loudly remarks 'Surely you're not that big darling, look at the size of this bra... it looks like two buckets on a string!' Aha, so that would be why I've been shopping alone so much recently.

Here's my card for today, and no surprises that its another Gorjuss Girl.
I thought I'd go for a bright, bold red and a little decoupage on her face.

Enjoy what's left of Sunday everyone!

Meet my bestest crafting buddy!

And my bestest crafting buddy is my Mom!

What better way to spend the morning than card making with your Mom. At this point we were having a little play with some Distress Inks... plus nattering and having a cuppa of course.
How nice of Mom to dress so she perfectly matched my blue dining room.

Carrying on the blue theme here's another CAS Gorjuss girl.

The delicate flowers are from a Hero Arts set called Four Dolls, which I masked to achieve the size that I wanted.

Finally, I'm going to share my good news....

...just look at my snazzy, new Blog Badge. I can't believe that I won the first Craft Stamper Challenge with my faux airbrushing card! Talk about amazed, what a lovely surprise.

Better hurry along now as I have a dining room to tidy up before hubby gets home!

Happy crafting everyone!

Black, Lime and Spring Sunshine!

What a bright, sunny day! We still have snow in our garden but at least the snowdrops and miniature daffs are visible again, and there is much more green than white to be seen.

Good morning bloggers, and a happy Saturday morning to you all.
Chrissie and Jen have come up with a yummy colour combo for us over at Less is More Week #114.
I love their choice of lime and black so couldn't wait to play along.

I've been waiting to ink up two new Gorjuss Girl stamps, but wanted to try something a bit different with them. I'm not 100% sure this works but wanted a CAS look. The flower is from Hero Arts and is stamped in black Versafine on watercolour paper. The Gorjuss girl is raised on pop dots and coloured with my trusty Promarkers.

Hope you all have a great weekend and that some Spring sunshine finds you too!

It's a been a messy business...

Happy Wednesday!
Now here's something you don't usually find on my desk...
Acrylic paint, chipboard, a paintbrush, Distress ink and what appears to be (but isn't) a tiny pair of handcuffs!

I decided to try and make a little chipboard album into a little book and here's my progress so far. I actually wish I'd taken the photograph at an earlier stage as my desk was totally trashed. This picture was taken after a good tidy up... and the removal of my cat.

I've purposefully kept the colouring to the bare minimum and let the beautiful illustrations and script take centre stage.

If I'm brave enough I'll share the finished book!
As always, I've learnt so much while working on this project. One crucial tip I'll share is not to allow a large black and white cat to sleep on your desk while acrylic paint is drying.
I'd do some things differently on another project, but am amazed at how close to my original plan this little album has turned out.

Time to go visiting the rest of the WOYWW gang starting, as always, with the wonderful Julia...

You warm my heart!

What a damp and drizzly day... anyone would think it was mid-November!

For this simple little card I used PI Gorjuss Girl 'Puddles of Love' and coloured her with Promarkers. I clear embossed some tiny snowflakes on white card and then I got all inky with Ditress inks and my much loved Hero Arts Swirls stamp. The big snowflake is from Marianne D Creatables and I added a gem and plenty of Stickles. I had aimed to stitch around the card, but had stuck everything together before I realised... doh!I would have preferred stitching but I think the Stickles looks ok.
I really like this image and can't believe that she has been sitting unused in my stash for so long. However, this does mean that she qualifies for the Oldie but Goodie Challenge 'Let it Snow'!
Other challenges are Crafty Catz Snowflakes, Die Cuts at Frosted Designs, Totally Gorjuss Swirly Whirly and there's oodles of cuteness required for the Winter Wonderland Challenge.
For the Whoopsi Daisy Challenge it's those Colours of Winter.
Finally, it's Anything goes Week at One Stitch at a Time.
Well, I must go and tackle the ironing now. I've done so much housework today that for once the house is gleaming like a new pin and I feel strangely pleased with myself.
Enjoy the rest of the weekend everyone!

Snow Day!

Here's that sweet Gorjuss Girl and her fox again.
I paper pieced her coat and hat using up some tiny scraps, and then got busy with the Distress inks.
I used the emboss resist technique to achieve the snowflakes, and am fairly pleased with how it's turned out. Looks like it's started to snow and there are just a few first flakes in the air!
The large snowflake comes from the LR0123 set of Marianne Creatables.
I know I am going to have so much fun with these gorgeous dies!
Have a good weekend everyone, and keep safe on Bonfire Night in the UK.

Let it snow... nearer to Christmas that is!

Please don't let it snow just now, especially as it's another bright October day with beautiful clear blue skies.

I wanted to add to my growing pile of Christmas cards today, so dug out one of my favourite Gorjuss girls called 'Foxy'. So cute.
It's worth a mention that there are currently some reductions on the Sugar Nellie Gorjuss Girl's so now is a good time to top up on any you might be missing.
So, believe it or not this is my card for the current Sugar Bowl Sketch Challenge set by Maria Therese. Yes, I know I've jiggled around with the sketch a bit (lot) but if you look closely you might just find it... honest! If you haven't played in the Sugar Bowl recently why not drop by, the DT cards for this challenge are going to rock your socks.
I'm also entering this card for The Prairyfairy friday Challenge #64 which is 'wet' or 'heat' embossing. I stamped the little snow flakes in Versamark and then embossed in white. I think I need a better embossing power as it's a little speckled in places but it still looks ok and I don't even mind that some powder stuck to the Versafine sentiment as it looks 'snowy'. The embossed flourish is Leaf Flourish from Hero Arts - never get tired of using this stamp.Well, I think I'll grab a coffee and go visiting Blogland as I always love a virtual trip around the world.
Happy Friday everyone!

Ta ta for now....

I've been putting off this decision for a few weeks.... but I think the time has come for me to take a little break from blogging. I've noticed that I seem to be dropping Followers and I'm not posting as often as I feel I should. Work is proving very challenging right now, plus I have my ICS qualification to complete by March 1st and there just aren't enough hours in the day!

Before I take my leave I thought I'd share a few projects that I've managed to slot in amongst all the recent craziness.

This first card uses lots of lovely Stampin' Up! goodies and that beautiful Hero Arts background stamp that I bought recently. I don't often show sympathy cards but thought I'd share this one as it showcases stamps from one of the new level one Hostess sets from the current Stampin' Up! catalogue.

The second card that I'm sharing today is one that I made for my best friend's wonderful daughter Hannah. Don't tell her, but along with her ever so slightly crazy Mother, Hannah is one of my favourite people on the planet!

Myself and my friend always say 'if it's going to happen it will happen to Hannah'. Once again she proved this to be true by having her appendix removed and being in a car accident in the two weeks proceeding her 18th birthday last Thursday. Thankfully she is on the road to recovery and still managed to celebrate her birthday in style.

This adorable new Sugar Nellie stamp by Krista Smith seemed perfect for a sleepy 18 year old who can't understand what all the fuss is about! The sentiments and beautiful paper are both from Kaisercraft.

My final project is the reveal of how I altered that cardboard cat food box you've seen loitering on my workdesk for the last couple of posts. Perfect for my overflow of punches!

I love this Gorjuss/Sugar Nellie stamp called Up, up and away, and the highly appropriate sentiment from Hero Arts. I also used the Memory Lane stamp from Crafty Individuals and my new Hero Arts block - totally gorgeous!!! I've never done anything quite like this before and learnt plenty to take forward to any future projects!

So now I'll say au revoir... I'm sure that I'll pop up from time to time as I know I'll find it very hard to stay away from my blogland buddies.

Thanks for dropping by at my blog, thanks for your wonderful friendship and encouragement and thanks for all the amazing inspiration and fun. You are all totally fabulous and much appreciated.

Ta ta for now... and very happy crafting everyone!

Happy Halloween!

I had planned to make a Halloween card, but simply ran out of time. Today was spent over at my in-law's house having fun with my adorable niece. We haven't been home very long.

So I thought I'd share a card that I made a few weeks ago for the lovely Deborah Nolan. This was to say a big 'thank you' to her for organising her wonderful Card Chain Challenges.

I was trying out a few different techniques and also decided to go with Halloween colours. Sorry that the picture is so poor, not quite sure what happened there. The super sparkly Platinum Stickles were a gift from my sweet friend Linda.

Hope you all have lot's of spooky fun everyone!

WOYWW!

Hi everyone, I just couldn't resist sharing a picture of my own desk this week after seeing Julia's workspace on WOYWW this week. I notice that we both need our specs in order to get crafty!

The partially coloured image is the sweet Italian Girl from The Secret Crafter. I love these little manga inspired stamps. They cling beautifully to the block and give a clean, crisp image... lovely!

When I took this picture I was having trouble deciding whether she should be a blonde or a brunette!

I also thought I'd share a little card that I've made for a sweet blogging friend. Hopefully this card is nearly at it's destination by now... it's got to travel quite a few miles to reach her!

Yep, I've used that Gorjuss Goth Girl again. I just can't help myself as she is adorable!
I did quite a bit of work with Spun Sugar Distress Ink so I decided to enter it for Challenge #104 over at SCSC. The sentiments are from Hero Arts and I broke out some of my favourite papers too!

Enjoy the rest of your Wednesday, hope it's a crafty one!

Cute as a button

Hello everyone, long time no blog!

I worked all of last week and had to spend Sunday catching up on housework, so just couldn't fit any card making time into a packed schedule.

Today is different: the sky is blue, the sun is shining and I am having a day off.

No major housework, just a day of cardmaking and relaxing... heavenly!

I'm having a bit of a Gorjuss girl fad right now (oh, you'd guessed!). I want to practice my colouring techniques and find that Suzanne W's wonderful little girls virtually colour themselves.I picked a warm blue and red colour combo for Goth Girl , mainly because I wanted to use Cosmo Crickets lovely Material Girl papers. This is such a fabulous pad of retro papers and I love the vintage look of the colours and patterns. This is only the second easel card that I've made and I've got to admit that I struggled to remember how one went together until I re-found these great instructions.

It's easel card time over at the Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge, and also at the ABC Challenge (E is for Easel), so thanks for the inspiration girls!

I'm now off to make cards while the sun shines... happy crafting everyone!

Gorjuss giveaway result!

Hi everyone, just dropping by to announce that comment no. 6 is the winner of my giveaway... and that would be Lynne from NI!
Congratulations Lynne, that cute little mirror will be in the post asap!!!!

Also here's quick heads up for some mystery Torendi Candy currently on offer over at my good friend Beth's blog IFR. I can't believe that Beth's inky fingers have been working their magic as part of the Torendi DT for a whole year now. Beth will be stepping down from the team and this blog candy is by way of a fond farewell. Drop by at this post for a fabulous retrospective of Beth's year as a Torendi girl and all the details of how to sign up for her candy draw.

I baked apple and cinnamon muffins yesterday with the first crop of apples from our tree - yummy! And we have an amazing number of pears ripening too, so I am on the look out for a few pear recipes and would welcome some suggestions.

Have a happy Sunday!

A Gorjuss giveaway!

Hi everyone, I'm back with a card today.

No surprises that it features that sweet Gorjuss image 'Untamed' again as this is such a favourite of mine at the moment!

The pretty paper is from Kaisercraft. I cut it to size, added tiny Stickles dots, stamped a Hero Arts sentiment and butterfly, and that was just about it. Job done - what a quick and simple card!

When I started colouring these images I decided to take a peek at Gorjuss creator Suzanne Woolcott's blog. I was so sorry to read about Suzanne's health problems following surgery. Suzanne's partner is caring for her full time and although Suzanne's work continues to grow in popularity you get the feeling that a little extra money in the bank wouldn't go amiss.

With this in mind I popped across to Suzanne's Etsy shop and made a few purchases. There are some great little gifts and stocking fillers available there.

Here's one of them....

This sweet little pocket mirror is my latest candy giveaway.

Please leave a comment on this post to go into the hat (or other suitable receptacle!) and I'll draw the winner next Sunday. If you take a look over at Suzanne's Etsy site and make a purchase you know that you'll be helping one of Blogland's most favourite artists and her family!

If you want to share a link to this post on your blogs that would be great.

Hugs to you all!

Happy 1st birthday

I cannot believe that my little niece will be celebrating her 1st birthday on Thursday. Time, as they say, really does fly!

I have been looking forward to using this cute little Gorjuss girl image and was delighted by how quick and easy she was to colour.

The background was created with Spun Sugar Distress Ink and a mixture of Hero Arts and The English Stamp Company images. There is a generous amount of Tattered Angels Pearl Glimmer mist carefully spritzed on for a subtle shimmer. I used Diamond stckles on her wings.

I punched out the butterflies and tiny flowers from white paper coloured with my Cool Aqua Promarker and distressed with Tumbled Glass. The 'sentiment' was printed on my PC after I had finished the background. The sentiment always needs to be printed last as Distress ink can make it blur and bleed.

Hopefully we'll get to see our sweet little niece this weekend. My sister-in-law tells me that she is into everything and full of fun and smiles... can't wait to see her!

Happy crafting everyone!

How many cats?

It's a colour challenge over at the Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge #67!

However, looking again at the picture I realise that I was way off with the colours that I used for my card! Oh well....

The Gorjuss Girl stamp is called Purrfect friends, and the sentiment is a 99 cent bargain from Squigglefly. They go together so well!

I wanted some of the cats to face the other way so used the 'kissing technique' to do this.

I need to say a very big thank you to the lovely Sally for giving me the low down on how to do this!

I coloured with promarkers and had lots of fun giving each little cat his own 'purr-sonality'.

If you count the cats on the card you will only find 8, but look inside and there's the last cat waiting to be found!This card is for my Mom's friend Pat. Now that adorable little monster 'Fluff' has moved in she has four cats. Fluff can only see through one eye but she doesn't miss a thing and can still climb the curtains with ease!

Happy crafting everyone!