Spike and Spikette!

Hi everyone, and a happy Valentine's day!

I just wanted to share the card that I made for my hubby using Jane's cute digi-stamp 'Spike'.

I had sooooo much fun paper piecing these little monsters.

Jane has plenty more cute stamps available to buy over at Squigglefly, and she released a fabulous new collection yesterday. Check out her blog, and those of her rather fantastic DT for details of the new stamps and a chance to win a free set!

Have a great Sunday!

Yet more kissing!

Okay, so I might not be 100% happy with this card but I know that I love the technique that I used to make that centre panel!

This is another card where I have used the 'kissing technique' of stamping that I used a few posts back. I'm sorry about the poor quality of the photographs but the light here is terrible today.

Kiss, kiss, kiss - part 2

This is a great technique to enable you to get a completely new look from your existing stamps.

You will need an outline stamp with plenty of 'flat space' and a patterned stamp. For my outline stamp I used a flower, but I can imagine this would look great using a heart design. The design on your patterned stamp must be quite dense. Make sure that the pattern on your second stamp is not so spread out that you only get a small part of it on your plain or outline stamp.

I used a stamp from the English Stamp Company called 'Fab Flower' for my outline stamp. I inked it up well with Lapislazuli Versacolour as this technique requires a 'juicy' ink.

For my pattern stamp I used the gorgeous Antique Brocade Cling from Hero Arts, which is such a favourite around Blogland. I inked patches of this stamp using a brown Versacolour ink for contrast. As you can see from the photograph above I experimented to see which colour effect I liked best.

I 'kissed' the flower stamp to the Antique Brocade and then stamped my card stock.

As I hope you can see on the finished card below the outline is still a flower but the inside takes on some of the Antique Brocade pattern, giving brown highlights within the blue.

BTW, make sure that you clean your plain stamp before re-inking to avoid spoiling your inkpad. Also try to use a different part of your pattern block for each 'kiss', or again clean and re-ink to avoid ink transfer.

I cut the panel that I had created to size and matted it on blue scrapbook paper before attaching it to my card. The 'Hugs and kisses' sentiment is from Hero Arts and was stamped in brown Versacolour, and then embossed. The ribbon is from my stash and the button is from Basic Grey. I plan to round the corners as I think this card needs a little something to finish it off.

I would urge you to give this technique a try as I think you will be amazed by the results!

As always if you have any queries please get in touch.

Happy crafting everyone!

Vanessa's blog candy!

Vanessa, from Wings of a butterfly, is a real sweetheart and a very talented card maker.

Anyone who is a follower or a regular visitor to her blog will not be surprised to learn that she has now passed 30,000 hits.

To celebrate this achievement she has a lovely rainbow selection of ribbons, buttons and flowers on offer as blog candy.

These are Vintage Buttons in every color available at Papertrey Ink, ric-rac ribbon in yellow and green, different flowers made of fabric and paper (some with prints), three Chipboard frames (Tattered Angels) and 1 metre of Vanessa's favorite 15 mm satin ribbon in different colors.
To be eligible to win this, become a follower (following publicly), post about this candy and leave her a comment!

This candy offer will close on Wednesday 17 th February. It is the first of many candies that Vanessa will be giving away over the next few weeks. The more followers, the more candy!

I'll be back later with a card....

Black and white and gorgeous...

Hi everyone, I'm dropping by to quickly share this little layered nesties card that I made on Sunday.

This lovely heart image was the very first stamp that I ever bought. It is from 'The Heritage Rubber Stamp Company' in Scotland, and was just perfect for my wedding invitations. I am amazed to see that the company still has it in stock. They also have some wonderful Charles Rennie Macintosh stamps that are too tempting!

I took this stamp to work about four years ago so that the children could make Valentines and Mother's Day cards. It was very popular! I rescued it last week as I knew I wanted to use it again myself. The wood block looks like it has been in a pink ink war zone, but as you can see it still stamps beautifully!

The polka dot paper is from the Daisy Bucket 'Little Black Dress Collection' and I think it is called Cocktail Party.

The little red 'Love you' is from the clear design 'Essential Sentiments' set from My Favourite Things, that I bought recently from the excellent Sir Stampalot.

I'm entering this card for The Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge #69 - Monochrome tones of one colour and white and Lucy's Cards Challenge #5 - Polka Dots.

As I am on the subject of 'black and white and gorgeous' I thought I'd share this photograph of Custard.

During the day he likes to sit in his 'big bed' in my craft room and keep an eye on things. If this picture needed a title I think it would have to be 'Paws for thought'!!!!

Happy crafting everyone!

You truly warm my heart!

I am constantly delighted by the kindness of the card making community!

You are such a sweet and generous 'bunch', so I decided to make a little card to let you know how I feel!

There's also three of you lovely people who each deserve a special thank you...

First of all a big thank you to Jane for all those lovely giveaways. I have now been lucky enough to win Spike! He will be perfect for a cute valentine for my hubby.

Next I want to say a big thank you to the adorable Donna for sending me a huge parcel of goodies - you are soooo kind! This is one of the lovely Pure innocence images that she sent me, coloured with Promarkers and gleaming with diamond glaze.

Finally, I'm going to say thank you to Vicky for a really lovely day of stamping and friendship on Wednesday. Such fun ... and lots of nice cups of tea too! Thank you Vicky, and see you again soon!

So this card is to say thanks to them and to everyone who follows my blog or drops by.

... and what do you know, this card is also a good fit with the theme of 'Hearts' for The Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge #86 and 'Heart-to heart' over at Raise the Bar Challenge #4.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Meet Sasha!

I fell head over heals in 'stamp love' when I saw Olga and Sasha over at Jane's blog!

These gorgeous digi-stamps were Jane's new release over at Squigglefly on Saturday and I was thrilled to win the set at Sanne's blog .

This image is 'Sasha' (Olga is just as cute). I decided to paper piece her using Cosmo Cricket Mini-Deck Early Bird.

I am entering this card for Virginia's 'Beat the winter blahs' Challenge. I love these cheery colours and think they are a great antidote to all the miserable weather that we have been having recently. The 'wow' factor on this card is the gorgeous Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Collection stamp. Such a stunning image.

This card is for my dear friend Eileen. She is such a kind and supportive friend, and I feel blessed to know her.

Happy crafting everyone!