Snippets Challenge #452

The sun is shining and I'm happy to be playing in the playground again over at Snippets for Challenge #452!

Isn't this gorgeous digi from Mo's Digital Pencil just a fabulous way to use up a snippet of pretty patterned paper? 

I don't know which paper pad the snippet is from as it was just sitting in the bottom of my paper stash, but I knew it would look so good paper pieced into this image.  OK, so paper piecing isn't as in vogue as it used to be, but I do enjoy making the odd card with this technique as it reminds me of those paper dolls we all played with back in the day.

Hope you're having a good day in your part of the world.

The Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers Challenge #88 - K is for Kids

How lovely to see Edna's maternal side for this challenge... And doesn't she look a picture of motherly pride surrounded by her little brood? No? Well, perhaps you're right!

It's all about kids for Challenge #88 and my fabulous sistahs have truly excelled themselves for this one.

I feel that my cards have been a little lacking in snark recently, so hopefully I'm back on track with this gorgeous image from Mo's Digital Pencil and a fun 'sentiment'.

I always enjoy colouring this image and I love that slightly winsome expression on her face, which seems to fit the wording perfectly!

Wanna see some fabulous inspiration from the Sistahs??? Course you do, who doesn't want snark and creativity in equal measure! Enjoy!

Creative with Stamps - Challenge #9 - Mid-month Inspiration

It's mid-point in December, so it's time to remind you of our current challenge over at Creative with Stamps and to offer a little more inspiration!

Isn't this little girl by Mo Manning simply adorable? She was so much fun to colour.

I'm loving my teamies creative offerings for this theme and hope that you'll drop by, leave them some love and join our final challenge for this year!

October Card Chain Challenge Reveal

Due to some serious work commitments our Card Chain Challenge hostess, Deborah, was forced to push back the October Reveal for a few days. Things are back on track for her now, so the October reveal is good to go in all it's glory!

I was truly blessed to be the recipient of this gorgeous card from Mimi in California. Love that shabby chic look sooooooooo much.

Just like Mimi, I went with Deborah's suggested theme of cats. As as you can see we interpreted it in very different ways! Unusually, my card didn't have too far to travel this month to reach my recipient: just a short hop across the Irish Sea to Julie in Ireland.

I. LOVE. THIS. CAT! I'm sorry to shout but isn't she just so funny sat on her piece of cheese? I couldn't resist CASE-ing Mo's colouring of this gorgeous moggy for my CCC card as I think she looks adorable. 

This super yummy colour combo meant that I had extra fun with the October Challenge: these are colours I love but don't use very often. If you are wondering where the Juicy Currant colour is on my creation let's just say it's very, very subtle and takes the form of a sequin tucked in the bottom-right of the card! You can't really tell from the photographs but there's plenty of layering and sparkle going on here.

You can take a look at all the other participants cards by visiting Deborah's blog here and if you're tempted to become a link in the January chain (we skip December) you can click here to find out all the details.

Happy birthday, Shirley!

So, you decide to send a birthday card to a fellow card maker... Well, not just any card maker but the super-talented Shirley B. You feel a little nervous because Shirley is so talented and you are not. You carefully select an image you hope Shirley will like and you start colouring with your Promarkers.

Everything seems to go pretty well with your colour-work so you die-cut and layer and then you decide to add some Wink of Stella from your newly purchased pen. You shake and squeeze: nothing happens. You try again but the fluid won't flow into the barrel. You undo the pen and suddenly you are engulfed in what will go down in the annals of history as 'The Great Wink of Stella Disaster of 2015'.  You print out a second image...

Yes, it's fellow blogger Shirley B's birthday today. As I am sure many of you are aware, Shirley is one very talented lady and not only does she make cards she also designs her own stamps!
Earlier this year Shirley shared a gorgeous card for a 50th birthday which I admired in the comment I left for her. Before I knew it I had a stunning card made just for me to celebrate my half-century!

So, (eventually) here's the card I sent to Shirley to celebrate her birthday. Don't you just love this sweet girl with her birthday tiara?

Happy birthday, Shirley, I hope you have a wonderful day!

A Little Bit Naugh-tea!

After seeing my previous card a work colleague asked if I could make a tea-themed version for her daughter... And here's the result!

I was struggling to decide on a colour combo until I found this lovely palette of colours over at The Card Concept. 

I've seen other card-makers link to this blog on many occasions but I've never actually visited The Card Concept until now. I have to say that I love what I've found as this is a great little blog with some very talented ladies on the design team.

The DT inspiration comes in a variety of styles CAS, Clean and Graphic, Clean and Layered, Shabby Chic, Freestyle Collage, Classy and Elegant or Mixed Media and you can choose a style for your card from one of these. I guess my card is best described as Clean and Layered as there are a few layers going on here but the overall design is still very simple. I love the colour inspiration as these are colours I would never have chosen without seeing them together. 

I was also very taken with this simple request:

'Comment on the card ahead of you and behind you in the linky.'

What a nice way of doing things to guarantee some additional blog traffic for everyone taking part in the challenge. I know this'll be the first of many visits I'll make to this lovely challenge blog and would urge you to take a look if you've not already done so yourself.

I'm also going to link-up over at Kathy's current 30 Day Colouring Challenge. Once again, she's doing an amazing job of bringing us inspiration and colouring fun on a daily basis throughout the month!

Love you a latte!

In an attempt to wean myself off SOG images, and get a good colouring workout, I headed over to Mo's and bought a couple of her beautiful digis. Isn't this one a beauty? I love her sweet, winsome expression.

I had planned to play along with Amy's Fall Coffee Lovers Bloghop but couldn't find time to finish my colouring until this morning. 

However, I am still in good time to link-up with Kathy's 30 Day Colour Challenge...

And also Virginia's current challenge, where Kathy appears as Guest Designer for the month.

Two seriously talented ladies who know a thing or two about colour: what a combination!

For a little added interest I made some cute coffee-themed embellishments using Lawn Fawn's Love You A Latte set. I even added some Frosted Lace Stickles to the spoon to look like sugar!

Hubby's off to the football in a while... Ooooo, might just manage to squeeze in a little more colouring while I have the house to myself! Well, it is World Card Making Day after all!

Have a great day!

Happy birthday Logan

I've been very poorly this week with a stomach bug, so its good to finally feel like I'm re-joining the world!

This card was made for my friend Helen's gorgeous little boy Logan. He celebrated his 1st birthday last week and was probably showered with presents and love by his mommy and daddy and older sisters. I'm especially fond of Logan because when his nan brings him to my Rhyme Time session he's just about the only child who doesn't get up and run away when I start to sing!

For some reason I photographed the card before I added a yellow star with a big, glittery die cut '1' in the top left-hand corner. No prizes for recognising that this is one of Mo's lovely images, doesn't she have such a great way of drawing children and animals!




Before going to help hubby with the tree I'll just mention Christine's new Advent Cardmaking video series. I've just enjoyed her first video and am looking forward to counting down to Christmas with her. We are promised a great video every day AND there are prizes/giveaways... so why not take a look!


Happy crafting everyone!

 

Happy Christmas everyone!

I can't believe this is my first post for December... sorry everyone!
I've been rather poorly so didn't manage to hit the craft room until last weekend.
My inspiration for getting back in the crafting saddle was the need to make a card for my Dad's birthday. I'm amazed that he is now 76 as he is as lively as a cricket and never fails to be the life and soul of the party! Dad loves the Peanuts characters, so when I saw this sweet stamp on offer over at the Craft Barn I just had to get it.
Next up I'm going to share two cards that I made using a gorgeous stamp from Crafty Individuals. I thought CAS with red and cream was just the ticket. The red ink and the cardstock is Stampin' Up Real Red - lovely!
The next image is also from Crafty Individuals. I stamped in Memento and then coloured with a variety if Distress inks, and mounted on a leftover of that rich red card. I really like this traditional image of Santa on his sleigh.
My final two cards are the one's that I made for my parents......and for my hubby.
I've had my eye on this image from the fabulous Mo Manning for ages, but have never felt that my colouring skills could do it justice. In the end I decided to throw caution to the wind and go for it!

Well, that just leaves me to wish you all a very HAPPY CHRISTMAS.
Thank you for all your friendship, kind comments and inspiration... Blog friends are real friends and I appreciate each and every one of you.
Festive hugs and kisses to you all, hope you have the best Christmas ever.

... and she's back!

Sorry that I've been AWOL for nearly a month... sure have missed my Blogland buddies AND my crafting!
I've been up to my ears in work recently, so it's been lovely today to get the grocery shopping done in record time and then relax with a little gentle cardmaking!
This isn't the card I've made today, I'll share that after my hubby's birthday next week!!!
I think this is the first Mo's Pencil image that I've ever coloured with Promarkers. I had a tight deadline so possibly rushed a bit, but she doesn't look too bad.Unfortunately, I photographed before the Stickles had dried so it looks as if I've created a slightly odd wet-look butterfly.
This week over at The Secret Crafter the theme is 'Something from around the house'. At first I thought that meant I had to be creative with something like a bottle top, a cereal box or the cat (always around the house...usually asleep) but it seems that an image picturing a household item will do, so this one fits the bill nicely!
Thanks to everyone who emailed or sent cards for my birthday on Thursday - you are all soooooo sweet. I can't believe that I am now forty-blinkin'-six... where has the time gone to?

Anyway, take care everyone. I'll try and visit as many Blogs as possible this weekend as I've got plenty of catching up to do.
Happy crafting everyone!

WOYWW...?

There's a real hint of spring about today! The Snowdrops in my garden are nodding their sweet heads in the breeze, the sun is shining and I am knee deep in cat hair as Mr C. begins to molt!

With the morning's work of scrubbing and mopping finished I could get crafty, but here was the dilemma: I had to create a scary, scary MAN CARD!!! I really struggle with making masculine cards and have to admit to buying more than I've made.

It's Wednesday, so I thought I'd share a quick view of my desk at an early stage in the proceedings...

... a few minutes with the printer, plus some cute digital images from Mo's Pencil and thankfully everything fell into place. I'm still on my kraft card kick and couldn't resist giving Mo's sweet Bronte a vintage colouring book look. The checked 'paper' is from Pink Petticoat, printed onto kraft.
I wanted to make the little Cuttlebug tags look like dog discs, but haven't quite pulled it off.

They should be more metallic, so I'll look around and see what I can use to achieve this. However, I need to be pretty quick as this card has to be posted to France in time for my cousin John's birthday.

Making the discs made me think of a funny story told to me by a former colleague. The family decided to get a dog. They called the newly arrived puppy 'Snoopy'. Snoopy needed a disc for his collar so my colleague went to get one engraved. He fitted it to the dog's collar and everyone admired the result until someone noticed that 'Snoopy' had been re-christened 'Snoppy'. And needless to say the new name stuck!

I really like these images of Bronte and plan to use them again for my SIL's husband's card later in the year. Bronte bears an uncanny resemblance to their sweet (and slightly rotund) dog, Alfie.

Anyhoo, I'm now heading to Julia's to take a little nose around Blogland over on WOYWW.

Happy Crafting everyone!

Hannah's heartfelt wishes!

Isn't Lori's simple little sketch from The Pink Elephant girls just adorable?
This is the sketch for Challenge #37 and I could just hug those girls as I have had so much fun using it to create my card!

For anyone who doesn't recognise her, this little girl is an image from the fabulous Mo's Digital Pencil.

When I first saw her I really laughed! This little girl with the 'single-sock-situation' reminded me so much of my friend's daughter Hannah! Poor Hannah hardly ever got to wear a pair of socks when she was little. For some reason socks always lost their partner somewhere between the laundry and Hannah's feet. One day I remember dressing Hannah while Jacquie took a shower. At first I couldn't find any socks at all, despite looking in all the drawers and cupboards in her bedroom.

I finally came up with two socks from down the cushions of the sofa in their lounge - needless to say they didn't match, but I felt a great sense of achievement all the same!

I want to invite Jacquie to come for lunch, so this little card will do nicely. I'm sure she will 'twig' who this little girly is meant to be!

The card stock is Bazzils and the sentiment is from Hero Arts. The ribbon comes from my stash, as does that sweet stripey paper. I used white gel pen to create the white dots on the pink swiss dots card and added some sparkle with diamond Stickles. I lifted the little girl, and her collection of socks, on dimensionals. Sadly, the colours haven't really photographed that well as they look really fresh and pretty in real life.

After a week with no crafting, today has felt like so much fun and has really lifted my spirits!

Yes, I spend way too much money on stamps but hey, it's still cheaper than therapy!

Happy crafting everyone, it's sooo good for the soul!

Make a child smile challenge

The lovely Nikki from Sealed with a Stamp has decided to celebrate her one year 'blogiversary' with a very special challenge. Nikki is asking everyone to make a card for a child who is poorly. This challenge is running until October 16th when Nikki plans to randomly draw a winner. There is some rather lovely candy on offer too!
I began my career as a Children's Librarian and used to read to children in some of the local hospitals. This was a wonderful, though sometimes challenging experience. I have some amazing memories of these brave children so felt extra inspired to play along with Nikki's challenge.
One of my favourite stories as a child was the wonderful Danish children's poem 'Wynken, Blynken and Nod'. Sadly, my copy of this beautiful little book disappeared years ago during a house move. However, I couldn't believe my luck when I discovered a digi-stamp image of Wynken, Blynken and Nod over at the fabulous Mo's Digital Pencil!
I have a little project planned for my adorable niece with this image, but first I decided to use it to make my card for Nikki's challenge.



I am sending this card, along with the poem, to a very special little girl called Mollie.
I read about Mollie on the Post Pals website. She has a very rare condition called Fetal Warfarin Syndrome, which was caused because her mom was prescribed the drug Warfarin during early pregnancy.
I hope that this little card and poem will make Mollie smile.