Saturday 28 December 2013

help Audrey reach 2000 followers

Hippi Aud wants to reach 2000 followers and as an incentive she is offering candy not 1 but 2 so why not pop over and help her reach her goal., wish her happy new year and tell her I sent you in the right direction.

 CANDY - HELP ME REACH 2000 FOLLOWERS:)

Sunday 15 December 2013

Christmas birthday

When growing up I always felt sorry for my sister and one of my friends as they both had birthdays near the Christmas season. One on 20th December the other near the beginning of January. I felt sorry for them as not everyone made the distinction between birthday and Christmas and they often had presents for your birthday and Christmas and birthday cards are so hard to find near Christmas. My mums birthday is at the beginning of December and cards are hard enough to find then.

My neighbour and friend has a birthday a couple of days before Christmas her husband jokes that is why her parents called her Carolyn so when I made her birthday card I wanted it to be as little like Christmas as possible.



I'm not good at pink cards but as its not a colour that is associated with Christmas then I thought it would make a good colour to use, it also reminds me of the pink blossom that arrives in Spring and I am so looking forward to the 21st the shortest day as I can then do a happy dance and say the dark days will start to wane and spring is on its way as I hate the long dark days of winter.

I used another image from sugar Nellie this one is a sassy girl and as Carolyn wears glasses and her hair similar I thought it would be a fun image to use.

The card design is inspired by one from Mandy at a sprinkling of glitter, I love her cards but am so far off creating anything as beautiful she definitely has no worries I'll ever make cards as beautiful.

I used a Martha Stewart punch for the card edges and a spellbinders die oval. The image is coloured with promarkers as are the roses and the ribbon as I wanted the colours to blend with the image. The papers were a magazine freebie scrap and the sentiment is from LOTV.



Hope she likes it , have to say I'm still not a pink card fan as I'm not sure I like how it looks but it definitely doesn't look like Christmas.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:-

cutie pie-for a special friend
4 krafty girls -anything goes
Pennys-feminine with a sentiment
little red wagon-holiday birthday
crafty catz-anything goes
hiding in my craft room-use your scraps
pumpkin spice-ribbons or bows
QKR stampede-3 favorite embellishments( ribbon, flowers,gems)


Thursday 12 December 2013

clean and simple nativity

This is my last Christmas card and a quickie as I realised that I hadn't posted this one to friends who live in the USA. I decided to make a light weight single postcard type card with an attached stand like on a photo frame ,in the hopes it will arrive on time. The image is from LOTV and just super cute. I coloured with promarkers that I used like watercolours by scribbling onto acetate and painting onto the image with a water colour pen. I think it works quite well though you have to work pretty fast before the promarkers dry on the acetate.

The star is coloured with sakura gel pen in silver, well there has to be some sparkle. I also added sparkle with the moonglow mica embossing powder in  ruby obsidian which is a freebie magazine stamp. Quick and simple but hopefully it sends our love and best wishes across the miles.



i would like to enter this card into the following challenges:-

crafty girls-anything goes
scribble and scrap-always anything goes
CRAFT-inspired by a movie/TV/Song-away in a manger
happy campers-christmas
passion for promarkers-include a sentiment
ladybug-clean and simple
crazy for challenges-Nativity One layer Embossing Lambs


In the pink Santa


Its that Santa again from Sugar nellie but this one is coloured with my neighbours 5 year old in mind. She already thinks I'm totally silly with the things I say guess she's just 5 going on 50. OOPs maybe I'm 50 going on 5. 
Anyway she is a proper girly girl and loves pink and sparklies so thought Santa ought to dress appropriately just for her. I coloured him with promarkers and added stickles for sparkle- where would we be without stickles or glitter at this time of year?


I added some embossed copy paper brick design made using a fiskars board to make a roof and some paper I think may have been a magazine paper for a night snowy sky. The sentiment is a pink peel-off , card done, just got to hope she likes it although I can just here her say Santa wears red silly Julye and giggle.


I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:-

All that stickles- happy holiday
addicted-to-stamps-sketch layout
colour me creative-holiday bash
passion for promarkers-include a sentiment
In the pink-it's Christmas
Creative knockouts-t'is the season



Snowflake Santa


Another Santa card this time an easel card too this time . The sentiment is from LOTV and embossed in red moonglow ink and a hand-cut snow flake glammed up with stickles for extra impact. The easel card I used a Martha Stewart snowflake punch to fancy up the edges.


The image I used is a forever friends magazine from a magazine freebie set. I coloured him with the grah iy markers i won and some I bought to trry a while ago. I tried to blend the colours firstly paprika and plum for his clothes and lemon and peach for his body. I yhink I need alot more pactice as I found that the blender tended to dilute the colour  so I tried colouring onto the card and blending there. The clothes colours seemed to work quite well but the peach and lemon not so much but I think I quite like the effect. I need much more practice though.


I decided to make this card as an easel card and as the stopper on the base I used a sparkly poinsettia. I used another spellbinders circle for the place to write my message and again added embossed snowflakes paper to the base and punched snow flakes down the sides.


I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:-

Shelly images-welcome to winter
graph it marker challenge-colour mixing( not sure if I'm in time)
All that stickles-happy holidays
great impressions-glitter and sequins
fitztown-easel card
creative card crew-pointsettia or holly
creative inspirations-traditional Christmas colours
C is for -traditional Christmas colours
paperminutes-typical Christmas symbols

Wednesday 11 December 2013

James sledging variations on a theme


I love getting all my old Christmas stamps out at this time of year and because they haven't been used all year they are like meeting an old friend once again after not seeing them for a long time. Pennies are not available for new rubber friends to come and stay at my house as we are helping our son set up a new home .

These 3 cards I made with a cutie having fun from LOTV James sledging. All 3 images are coloured with promarkers and accented with icicle stickles for that hint of crisp fresh snow glinting in the early morning sun of a clear blue winter sky often with the delicate soft snowflakes falling from the sky. 


i again made this background all white using embossed copy paper from fiskars embossing boards . The sentiment is again from LOTV. 


I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:-

passion for promarkers-include a sentiment
kafty hands-anything goes
All that stickles-happy holidays
My time to craft-cute and cuddle Christmas animals
created with love-anything goes


My second James card i fussy cut James again and layered him on a snowflake embossed spellbinders circle. I mounted that on a snowflake base of a freebie paper from bird house. The sentiment once again is also LOTV and the ribbon is from my stash.

i would like to enter this card into the following challenges:-

crafty boots-Christmas
incy wincy-let it snow
craftin' desert divas-it's Christmas
craft your passion-let it snow
papertake weekly-Christmas creations



The third James card again coloured with promarkers and accented with stickles but this time extra sparkle with a gltter board tree.




I used bird house freebie paper again and a LOTV sentiment , a really quick card to make and I think it makes a cute scene.


I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:-

All that stickles-happy holidays
party time tuesdays-winter wonderland
Addicted to stamps-photo inspiration
sweet stamps-simple Christmas
Love rubber stamps-anything goes Christmas
Top tip tuesday-snowflakes
LEJ designs-festive fun
cards und more-10 minute make

Tuesday 10 December 2013

saturated princess


many will know I don't tend to use many digi images , I think I prefer rubber stamps though I do see the merit of digis, the ability to make them any size and no need for storage . I do however often run into problems printing them when my aging printer decides to be temperamental when pulling the card through and I often finish up with 1/2 a digi and many decapitations even though I only use the weight of card suggested.

this digi however did successfully print and I do love it. It is a saturated canary image and I love it as it is just so glamorous and a little bit fairy-tale too just what every girl dreams of.

I coloured this cutie with mica inks as I felt they lent themselves well to the feel of a rich evening gown as they have a two tone sheen  and building layers adds depth of colour. I added stickles to the image for added sparkle, well it is the holiday season. I think she looks really glam and off to a very special event.

I decided i'd use he on a card for my husband , not that I will be whisked away to an evening out that would require this kind of attire and its not an outfit for cooking Christmas dinner in either. I do love my hubby though so my card is sent with love and it is always good to tell our loved ones so as you never know whats around the corner.

I added a peel off to a small spellbinders oval which I added a hand tied bow to and a little heart charm too.

I am so loving white on white cards (white is one of my 2 fav colours in everything not just crafting) as they really allow the image to be the true focal point, well that's my opinion anyway. I embossed the layer of copy paper using a fiskars board and stuck to my hand-cut card base. I know the card will be put in place by me once hubby has opened it so for a change I made a plate card and I will ensure it stands correctly on display. Maybe hubby will surprise me and stand it up himself who knows. I finished the card off  by adding pearls to three of the corners always odd numbers these work better as they are what is found in nature.






I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:-

paper crafting journey-its Christmas time
saturated canary-untraditional christmas colours
a gem of a challenge-anything goes
Ali-craft-Christmas
Dis digis-non traditional Christmas colours
All that stickles-happy holidays
Robins fetish IDIC-must have a bow
613 Avenue-anything goes, optional create a calendar
kaboodle doodle - non traditional Christmas colours






Sunday 8 December 2013

Oh Christmas tree magic card

I don't have many penny black stamps but of those I do have  i have a set of clear Christmas stamps and love them all as they are so cute. This wee mouse looks like he is greeting the robin with a cheery Christmas greeting , so simple but so cute too.

I coloured  this image with the mica inks so it has a wonderful sheen which just adds some sparkle. I added icicle stickles to both the tree and as snow to ground both the tree and the wee mouse.the sentiment is embossed in green sparkle embossing powder and is from LOTV, the shine doesn't show very well guess that's due to the lighting sorry.

The papers I think might be papermania but I've had them that long that the front cover has gone so I'm not 100% sure, sorry.
The card style is another magic card (from stampArtic) but I have had a play myself and resized the dimensions though the concept is the same. I really love how effective this design is.


I would like to enter this card into the following challenges;-
lacy sunshine-celebrations
hiding in my craft room-holiday colours
Animal friends-anything goes
OSAAT-seeing red
scriibble and scrap always anything goes
stickles-happy holidays
crafters cafe-traditional christmas colours

snow business like snow peeps


I love the simplicity  of look that a white on white card gives even  if there are lots of layers or just one or two. I used another sugar nellie stamp coloured with promarkers though it didn't really take much colouring. I added sparkle with sakura gel pen and stickles.


I mounted the fussy cut image on to a go kreate die cut 
and mounted that onto the base card that I had part layered with some self embossed copy paper using the fiskars snowflake board that is getting overworked at present.


I used some holly garland gift tie, the start of the last pack of 3 I bought from Asda several years ago, sad that they haven't had them since. It has a wire base so I used both pva glue and double sided tape to stick it to the card. I think it finishes the card perfectly and ties in well with the garland the snow peeps are holding.

I didn't add a sentiment as I thought it would make a nice card for my newly married niece and nephew (you might remeber I made the wiccan card) apparently I got bad information as they are pagan not wiccan and my niece described the difference as being the difference between Cof E and catholic, but they thanked me for the effort and kind thoughts. I decided that as pagans they are more likely to celebrate the winter solstice although I'm sure they will expect Santa to visit too.



I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:-

sarah hurley- create your own background
creative fingers-anything goes optional easel
crafty hands-winter or seasons greetings
QKR stampede-white with a dash of red or green(hope its ok I used both like the DT)
creative knockouts-Christmas splendor
creative corner challenges-traditional christmas

Saturday 7 December 2013

Party dress bumble bee



Another fab sugar nellie stamp this one is a gorjuss girl and one of the stamps that led me to find the house of sugar. I painted this sweeties party dress with mica inks and her dress has a fab 2 tone shine . Her hair and skin is coloured with promarkers and her wings with stikles , well you can't have a sparkly Christmas outfit without sparklies.



The card style is a magic card the instructions I found from StampArtic here and I think it could become a favourite as I love the effect it's really quite stunning.
The papers I used were freebies from the bird house, I used 2 different shades of lilac. The sides I punched with a Mary Stewart snowflake border punch its very effective but in hind sight they are a little delicate for use on this design as they are easily damaged. 
The flower and the rose are from my stash and the sentiment is printed on vellum and mounted on gold mirri card and was from an old qvc kit.

The inside of the card I decorated with the same paper and added a spellbinders circle as some where to write the message.


Definitely a card deign I will be making again.

I would like to this card into the following challenges:-

delicious doodles-Christmas/new year
a creative romance-sparkle at Christmas
alphabet challenge-v is for vellum
milk coffee craft-Christmas non traditional colours
stempelgarten-unconventional Christmas colours
CRAFT-Christmas
wags n whiskers -thinks with wings
jelly park-Christmas

Thursday 5 December 2013

how much is that doggie in the window?

Whilst researching information for the joint 60th birthday card I recently made I found out that the doggie in the window song was a hit in April 1953. Hard to believe that a song I remember singing for fun as a child was once thought of as a hit pop song, and I wasn't born in the 50's I'm talking about singing it in late 60's early 70's.



This is another cutie image from Sugar Nellie and I love colouring it as it just pops to life. I fussy cut the image and simply mounted it on copy paper that I embossed using a fiskars snowflake board. I added a punched snowflake border using a martha stewart snowflake punch just to add more texture.


The sentiment is from some kit I have had ages and only have odd bits left but thought the simplicity fit the card, which I think will be perfect for one of my young nephews or the little girl next door.


I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:-

simon says wednesday challenge-create your own background
crafts and me-anything goes
sentimental sundays-traditional Christmas colours
creative knockouts-christmas splendor
allsorts-inspiration from a song or carol
totallly gorjuss-snowy scenes
paper crafting journey-its christmas time

penguin cuddle


Sugar Nellie at funky kits have some of the stamps I really love, I have many still on my wish list but this is an older one but think its perfect to send to couples at this time of year, be it for Christmas or a winter anniversary.

I used it this time for a Christmas card so for a change used traditional colours. The background papers is one of the fab freebies from bird house and makes a great back drop to this image. I added a scrap of white glitter card to ground the fussy cut image and add some sparkle.

The sentiment is from a LOTV set which I embossed in moonglow embossing powder.I added a matt of blue mirri-card and the card is done quite simple but I think it creates an effective scene.


I would like to enter this card into the following challenges;-

Fab n funky-a touch of frost
flutterby challenge-anything with wings
stamp and doodle-Christmas is coming
paper pretties -its beginning to look  a lot like Christmas
inky impressions-winter or snow
a gem of a challenge-winter wonderland
2 sisters -anything goes