A Gem of a Challenge - aquamarine

This week at A Gem of a Challenge we have a photo inspiration chosen by Jackie... I'm not very good at these!

Aquamarine

And here's my card...

I've kept my card quite CAS this week, and used this sweet baby image Baby Boy in Pram - the baby and wheels are coloured with promarkers and flexmarkers, and the pram is paper pieced.  I'm not sure if you can actually tell that it's paper pieced though, because I added a bit too much pencil shading!  I added a couple of gems on the wheels and a Stampin' Up sentiment.  The paper is Magnolia 'cloudy turquoise hearts', which you can currently get as one of the weekend specials at The Stamp Basket.

I'm entering my card for the following challenges:

• Crafty Catz - use a digi image
• CRAFT - things with wheels

I had a bit of a busy day yesterday so I've got loads of commenting to catch up with, and then hopefully I can squeeze in a bit of crafty stuff too ;o)  Hope you all have a fab weekend!

Laura and Henri - The Stamp Basket DT

Ooh I'm very late today aren't I?!  I'll try and keep this as brief as possible so I can get it posted before it's tomorrow ;o)  Here's my card for my regular weekly post on The Stamp Basket blog.

Items available from The Stamp Basket

Craftwork Cards scalloped edge card blank

Stampavie Laura and Henri stamp

Prima Nature Garden papers

Dovecraft white flat lace 2 1/4"

Chalk white seam binding (dyed with inks)

The Hobby House pearl brad and ZVA pink pearl (on Laura's bow)

I coloured Laura and Henri with promarkers and flexmarkers.  The hearts were punched with an MS punch that I've not used for ages, flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts and the sentiment is Pink Petticoat.  I inked around the edges of the papers, and the seam binding was dyed using so many different inks I can't remember them lol - it took a while to get it the right colour.  Dex was fascinated with the whole messy process and thought my stained fingers were very funny :o)

I'm entering my card for the following challenges:

• Secret Crafter - shabby chic/ vintage
• Simon Says Stamp - anything goes
• My Mum's Craft Shop - stamp it
• Divas By Design - stamp something

Not too much of my usual waffle today, it's too late!  Except to say - little chicken pox boy finally got a bit itchy today, after a week of spots... eek!

Waste Not Wednesdays wk13

Week 13?!  How did that happen then?  Hmm... apparently it's now week 13 of my little Waste Not Wednesdays challenge - where you can use anything forgotten or neglected, anything at all.  Usually it's just for fun, but I think we'll have one of my little mystery prizes this week :o)

I've used some old K&Co papers - I think I've had these for 2 or 3 years and there were only a couple of sheets used!   The sentiment and controller stamp (stamped on the paper) are from a Paper Pretties set that I won at least a year ago, and the dew drops are old too - I bought them, used them on everything for a couple of weeks and then forgot about them.  The image (video boy from Mo Manning) is new (to me), coloured with promarkers, flexmarkers and prisma pencils, and I've inked everything with 'gathered twigs' distress ink.

I'm entering my card for the following challenges:

• Creative Inspirations - sketch
• Simon Says Stamp - anything goes
• Pile It On - for/ from a man
• Cute Card Thursday - anything goes

Thanks for all your get well wishes for Dex - he's still coping really well with his spots, except for getting really bored of being kept away from other people.  He was so excited today when I said we could still go round to Di's house on Friday - her little girl's already had chicken pox so we're safe there.

Hope to see lots of you joining in this week, there were so many lovely entries last week - thank you!  Have a lovely evening :o)

Less is More wk60 - take 3 challenges

I didn't really feel like colouring today, so I've made a couple of simple cards for this week's Less is More challenge, which is to combine 3 past challenges.

Struggled with the photos a bit, I suspect hubby has been playing with the settings on the camera... will have to fiddle with it later, see if I can figure it out!

For my first card I've used an MFT flower die on black core'dinations, and used the 'leftover' piece instead of the flowers - I saw Jenny do the same with her flower die ages ago and have been meaning to try it ever since.  I stuck some small scraps of paper (Papermania capsule) behind each flower cut out and added some gems.  The sentiment is Stampin' Up, stamped onto pale pink linen card, which was also used for the mat behind the flower panel.

Combined past challenges for my first card: week 43 bit of bling, week 51 cut it out (aperture or hole), week 55 punches or die cuts.

And for my second card I used a Memory Box die called Dancing Tulips - it's supposed to have a large leaf too but I didn't use that bit... not sure why!  Used some pink card from my scraps, a Stampin' Up sentiment and some gingham ribbon from my stash.

Combined past challenges for my second card: week 1 pink, black & white, week 12 off centre, week 42 silhouette.

Dex is still coping fine with the yucky chicken pox spots - he's even got one on the inside of his eye and it's still not bothering him... strange child!  It's bound to start getting itchy soon, we can't be this lucky with it for long lol!  Will be round to catch up with you all later, hope you have a lovely evening :o)

Gus golf retirement card

I had fun with this one :o)  Mum asked me for a card for someone at work who's retiring - he's into golf, which always makes things easier for men's cards, doesn't it?!

I've used Gus Golf from Bugaboo, with some fab MME papers and dark brown cardstock from Papermill Direct.  I added the sentiment before I printed the image, and Gus is coloured with promarkers and flexmarkers.  The embossed star and 'golf ball' circle I found in the tub where I keep all my rejected shapes - the things that get cut out or punched and then don't make it onto my card for some reason.  Added some spotty Papermania buttons, a button from my stash and some baker's twine to finish.

I'm entering my card for the following challenges:

• Craft Your Days Away - just for men/ boys + buttons
• Totally Gorjuss - spots & stripes
• Pile It On - for/ from a man
• Paper Playtime - for the guys + add a sentiment

Dex has still been fairly cheerful today, the chicken pox doesn't seem to be affecting him too badly - although he's absolutely covered in spots.  At the moment he thinks they're quite funny, but I keep expecting the itchiness to start properly - don't think he'll be quite so happy then!

Hope you've all had a great weekend :o)

Sweet Stampin' - anything goes

Sorry I've been a bit quiet for the last couple of days... to top off our couple of weeks of colds and various other bugs, Dex has now got chicken pox!  The spots appeared yesterday and he was feeling very poorly and unhappy.  I was a bit worried because he said he was in pain and kept screaming, so we ended up at the doctors just in case there was something else going on... doc said it was definitely chicken pox and gave us a prescription for antihistamines.  I know most people struggle to get an appointment with their doctor, but I can't fault ours really - rang up at 1.45pm yesterday and by 2.15 we'd been seen!  Today he's a lot more cheerful, and he doesn't seem to be too itchy, although more spots appear all the time.  Fingers crossed he'll stay cheerful!

Anyway, the real reason for today's post is the new challenge at Sweet Stampin', which is everyone's favourite 'anything goes' this week.  We're sponsored by A Day For Daisies who are offering a $12 gift certificate for the lucky winner, and Joanna Sheen is our monthly sponsor with a £10 voucher prize :o)

A Day For Daisies kindly let the DT choose an image to use on our creations this week, and I've used this pretty Pansy Fairy.  I've coloured her with promarkers and flexmarkers, the papers are Prima 'meadowlark' again - third card in a row, really must use different ones on my next card!  I added a border cut with an MFT die, a Craftwork Cards sentiment and some punched butterflies with little purple gems from my stash.  I tried to keep it fairly simple to suit the delicate image, but it didn't seem quite 'finished' without the butterflies.

I'm entering my card for the following challenges:

• Stampin' for the weekend - anything goes
• Cute card Thursday - anything goes
• Papertake Weekly - bingo (gems, die cuts, flowers - on the image and paper)

Hope you're all having a lovely weekend so far :o)

Tilda with Daisy - The Stamp Basket DT

It's my regular day for posting on The Stamp Basket blog, and I've used one of my sweet Tilda stamps today...

Items available from The Stamp Basket

Craftworks Cards scalloped edge card blank

Magnolia Tilda with daisy

Prima papers - Meadowlark

Dovecraft white flat lace 2 1/4"

Vintage style ribbon - pink

Dovecraft adhesive gems

I really wanted to start stitching on some of my cards, but me and the sewing machine don't get on - I did have another go with it a couple of days ago, but I couldn't even thread the blimmin' thing lol.  So I decided to have a go at hand-stitching on today's card, and I'm quite pleased with it really :o)  Maybe one day I'll work the sewing machine out, but at least I can do it this way until then!

I've coloured Tilda with promarkers and flexmarkers, sentiment is Pink Petticoat, flowers and 'gems on a wire' thingy are from Wild Orchid Crafts.  I found my bow maker while I was looking for something else, so I had a go at a double bow, and added a charm from my stash - I've got LOADS of charms but hardly ever think to use them.  Butterflies cut with Kars punches and everything else is from The Stamp Basket.

I'm entering my card for the following challenges:

• Cute Card Thursday - anything goes
• Simon Says Stamp - bingo (I chose charms, punches/ die cuts, ribbon/ twine)
• Crafts and Me - light airy spring colours
• Papertake Weekly - bingo (I chose flowers, punched shapes & lace)
• Simply Magnolia - anything goes

What a day we've had today!  We had a hospital appointment early morning for Dex and his ongoing food issues, and I'd been all organised and arranged for Morgan to go the breakfast club at school so we weren't rushing around.  Just before we were due to set off we had a phone call from school to say Morgan was burning up and coughing, and they needed us to pick him up... agh!!  So we had to take him to the appointment with us, poor thing being dragged around when he didn't feel well.  And Dex's appointment was... interesting... as usual!  Funny how you can be feeling fine about things until the docs start - he's been eating so much better, and eats just about anything nursery give him, but apparently his weight hasn't changed for months, although he's getting taller.  So now he's been referred for blood tests, just to rule any other issues out.  More worry!  I'm sure he's fine though - he looks ok... ah well, we'll just have to wait and see.  Sorry, I'm waffling - better get this posted as I'm so late!

Waste Not Wednesdays wk12

Well it's not very good when you don't have a card for your own challenge, is it?!  My cold got worse again over the last couple of days and all I want to do is sleep... I really did try to get a card made for today but it just wasn't happening.

So for now, I'm just popping in to announce the winner from last week, and that is...

Number 12 - Carole

Congrats Carole!  Please send me an email and I'll send you the fab Easter set from DigiStamp Boutique :o)

I'm adding the link as usual, and if I get chance this week, I'll make a card and add it here.  Back to 'just for fun' again this week - don't forget you can link up anything you've made using any forgotten and neglected stash and I'll pop round to see what you've made :o)

In The Meadow - The Stamp Basket DT

For today's card for the The Stamp Basket, I've used one of the lovely new stamps from Wild Rose Studio's 'Annabelle's Meadow' collection.

Items available from The Stamp Basket

Craftwork Cards scalloped edge card blank

Wild Rose Studio - In The Meadow stamp

Prima Meadowlark papers (available to pre-order, due in very soon!)

Berisfords super sheer ribbon - sky

May Arts off-white ivory lace

ZVA pearls - soft blue

Martha Stewart doily lace border punch

I've coloured the image with promarkers and flexmarkers - my blender pen is running out so the sky was a bit tricky!  The sentiment is Stampin' Up, flowers from stash and Wild Orchid Crafts, and everything else is from The Stamp Basket as listed above.

I seem to be going through a bit of an inky stage at the moment - a couple of years ago I used to ink around the edges of everything and then I eventually got bored with it and stopped.  But recently I've started doing it again, I quite like the soft look you can get using a matching ink on everything - I've used 'lulu lavender' memento ink on this one.

Hope you've all had a lovely day, will be round to do a bit of catching up with some of your blogs later :o)

Mother's Day book card

So... the perfect time to try making a book card for the first time is when you've left it right until the last minute to make your Mother's Day card, right?  Well it is in my world lol...

As usual, I put off trying one of these because I thought it'd be really hard to do, and it's really not - a bit fiddly, but otherwise fine.  I've forgotten to find the tutorial I watched first though, so I'll link up to that later.

**Edit - here's the tutorial I followed, there's also a link to the matching video tutorial if you find it easier that way**

I've used one of the gorgeous new images from the Easter Collection 2 from DigiStamp Boutique - you could win this set if you play along with my Waste Not Wednesdays challenge this week.  I've coloured this cute bunny with promarkers and flexmarkers.  The papers are 'cute as a button' from Raspberry Rd, printed onto linen card and inked with 'new sprout' memento ink.  The sentiments on the front and on the tag inside are both from the Mother's Day Set from DigiStamp Boutique.  I used the MS scallop dot punch on the inside panels - I would've liked to have used the doily punch but it just chews up linen card and quite a few other things unfortunately!  Flowers are a mix of stash and Wild Orchid Crafts, ribbons from my stash - the pink one on the front is lovely soft velvet :o)

I'm entering my card for the following challenges:

• Totally Gorjuss - spring
• One Stitch at a Time - girly
• Moving Along With The Times - special lady
• Colour Create - pink, blue, sage & white/ cream (not sure if my green is quite right so please delete me if not!)
• Delightful Challenges - someone special
• Simon Says Stamp - bit o' green
• I Love Promarkers - anything goes
• My Mum's Craft Shop - mum's the word
• Papertake Weekly - one for the girls... or mum

Hope all you mums have had a lovely day being spoilt... Huge hugs to all those who need them today, I know it's not an easy day for some.  My main present (the Magnolia spring club stamps) obviously didn't arrive as they've not even started sending them out yet, but I did get some tulips and chocs and a lovely card, and we've spent a few hours at my mum's so it's been nice.  Hope you're having a good evening :o)

A Gem of a Challenge - sketch

This week at A Gem of a Challenge we have a fab sketch created by Jackie, it's a really lovely one to work with...

I'm finally starting to feel better today, still coughing and sneezing but I don't feel so wiped out now - hurrah!  However, when I made this card I still felt awful, so I cheated and used the pre-coloured version of this gorgeous Faye image - I printed her onto linen card and just added loads of glamour dust!  I used papers from the Micro Dots and Gingham collections, also printed onto linen card, and added a scrap of stripy Raspberry Rd paper.

The scalloped border was cut with a Tim Holtz die, the flowers are a mix of ancient stash and Wild Orchid Crafts, gingham ribbon from my stash.  The sentiment is a Pink Gem Designs one available here and the little spotty buttons are Papermania.

I'm entering my card for the following challenges:

• Allsorts Challenge - three in a row
• Fussy & Fancy - fairies
• Cute Card Thursday - happy birthday
• Cupcake Craft - going dotty

Well, as I haven't managed to make my mum's Mother's Day card yet, I suppose I'd better get on with that today!  Hope you all have a lovely day :o)

A published card...

Ooh get me - two magazines in one month lol!  Funny, I'd never had anything in a mag before and then two came along at the same time.  As I don't have anything new to show you today, due to this rotten cold slowing down my crafting, I thought I'd show you the card I made for the Promarker feature in this month's Papercraft Inspirations magazine.  There's a whole page of cards from the Passion For Promarkers team - thanks to Denise for organising it all :o)

I used a gorgeous digi from Crafts & Me, and she's coloured with promarkers and flexmarkers.  The papers are Papermania, cardstock is core'dinations and the flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts.  The lace is from The Stamp Basket, ribbon and pearls from my stash and the sentiment tab was cut with an MFT die.

Well I don't think I'll be doing much today!  Might get chance to catch up on some commenting in between bouts of coughing and sneezing though... Hope you all have a lovely day :o)

Waste Not Wednesdays wk11

Another Wednesday, and that means it's a new week for my little Waste Not Wednesdays challenge - where you can use anything that's been a bit neglected or forgotten, anything at all that needs using.  The lovely Sally-Ann at DigiStamp Boutique has offered a fab prize this week, here's what you could win...

The super cute new Easter Collection 2 - aren't they lovely?!

I wasn't sure if I'd even have a card today, I'm not feeling well at all - rotten colds, wish all these germs would get lost!  But I popped round to my auntie's this morning with the mother's day cards she ordered from me, and she gave me some Lemsip Max - I felt much better for a while after that, so I made what should have been a quick card.

I've used some Stampin' Up stamps that I haven't inked up until now, they're not exactly old but I hadn't got round to using them yet... and I needed something simple!  I also used my new stamp-a-ma-jig, also from Stampin' Up, which I thought would make placing everything on this card a lot easier, but I still binned my first 2 attempts!  Anyway, it was made by masking a circle and stamping the alphabet text stamp over it, then masking and inking the circle, I also masked and inked around the edges of the text.  The giraffe and sentiment are also Stampin' Up, and I added some ancient pink gems from my stash - they actually match the pale pink much better than the photos show.

When I had the idea for this design, I'd planned on making several of them in different colours, but it drove me so mad I don't think I can be bothered to make any more of them lol!

I also made this for the one-layer 'script' challenge at Less is More - I haven't had time or any CAS ideas for the last couple of weeks so I missed the last 2 challenges - sorry Chrissie and Mandi, hope I'm forgiven!

Sweet Misty

This is the last of the cards that my auntie ordered, I really ought to get a move on with my own mum's Mother's Day card now!  Di's mother-in-law has a horse (or horses, not sure) so that gave me a good excuse to use the lovely Misty from DigiStamp Boutique - I haven't used her for a while, isn't she sweet?

The papers are from the digi set Oh So Shabby from Raspberry Rd, printed onto linen card and lightly inked around the edges with antique linen distress ink.  I've had my eye on Raspberry Rd papers for a while, but I couldn't work out whether it was ok to sell the cards I made with them - finally got round to sending them an email at the weekend and had a speedy reply back saying individual handmade items are fine to sell... so I downloaded quite a few different ones, they're all so pretty!

I've coloured Misty with Prisma pencils, although I used flexmarkers for the sky.  I've made a terrible job of the colouring really, but I've got yet another rotten cold and I wasn't really in the mood.  So sick of the constant colds, I'd only just got rid of one!

I'm entering my card for the following challenges:

• Papertake Weekly - one for the girls, or mum
• Digital Tuesday - think spring
• Simon Says Stamp - Mother's Day/ special girl

A few of you have asked how I do my clouds... now there's next to no chance of me doing a tutorial, but this tutorial is where I started, although it's actually for copics, so I adapted it first for promarkers and then for flexmarkers.  It's all quite random so mine ends up looking very different to the original, but it's a fab tutorial so a great starting point if you fancy having a go yourself.  If it helps, the flexmarkers I use are 'glacier blue', 'cloud blue' and 'blue grey 2' and I go over the whole thing with the blender pen.

Hope you all have a lovely evening :o)

Mother's Day flowers

Today's make is another Mother's Day card that my auntie asked for - this one's for her mother-in-law...

I've used a lovely flower image and sentiment from the Mother's Day Set from DigiStamp Boutique, coloured with promarkers and flexmarkers.  The sentiment was cut out with a Labels 14 die and then lightly inked with 'lulu lavender' memento ink while it was still in the die.  The paper is Dovecraft and cardstock is core'dinations - all leftover bits from my scraps.  The butterfly was cut with my favourite little Kars punch, and the gems and pearls were from my stash.

I'm entering my card for the following challenges:

• Simon Says Stamp - Mother's Day/ special girl
• Crafty Creations - stripes (2nd entry)
• Crafty Catz - Mother's Day or special lady
• Allsorts Challenge - say it with flowers (2nd entry)
• Craft Your Days Away - Mother's Day

I don't make so many CAS cards at the moment, but I need to get back into them again - I'm considering having a stall at a local festival... well, I think I will be doing it... so I need to get making!  I've got until June though, so plenty of time really.  Just need to get a bit of confidence and force myself to book it!

Hope you've all had a lovely day :o)

Slightly OTT?

Well maybe a little bit more than slightly lol...

Well I said I was going to have a crafty afternoon, and I've had lots of fun making this very girly creation :o)  Sometimes I start embellishing and just can't stop, so hopefully it doesn't look too overdone!

I've used a Tilda stamp that I bought recently - she's called Hello Little Butterfly and I've had my eye on her for ages and finally gave in.  She's coloured with promarkers and flexmarkers.  The papers are Dovecraft, flowers are Wild Orchid, as is the little ribbon buckle.  The lace is from The Stamp Basket, leaves were cut with a Stampin' Up die, sentiment is Cuddly Buddly, and everything else is from my stash.

I'm entering my card for the following challenges:

• Allsorts Challenge - say it with flowers
• Crazy 4 Challenges - spring
• My Mum's Craft Shop - spring colours (2nd entry)
• The ABC Challenge - K for Kraft
• Papertake Weekly - anything goes (optional shrink plastic - not used, sorry)

Bit of a flying visit this evening - off to try and catch up with some of you while I can :o)

Sweet Stampin' - lots of layers

Our challenge for this week at Sweet Stampin' is 'lots of layers' and we also have a fab optional sketch that you can use if you like.  We're sponsored by Stamp Fairy and Sew Sweet and our monthly sponsor is Joanna Sheen, so lots of chances to win :o)

No, I've got absolutely no idea why my card ended up all distressed - usually I only distress when it's part of a challenge, but I just had the urge to do it!

The image is Lenny Camping 1 from Stamp Fairy, coloured with prisma pencils.  The papers are MME - this was one of my favourite packs, but I haven't used them for ages, I'm determined to actually finish some paper packs this year lol.  The circle was embossed with the 'swiss dots' folder, sentiment is Stampin' Up and the buttons from my stash.

I'm entering my card for the following challenges:

• Totally Gorjuss - anything goes with a button
• Moving Along With The Times - cute as a button
• Crafty Creations - stripes
• Creative Craft Challenges - boys will be boys

Hope you all have a fab day, whatever you're up to.  I feel the need for a crafty afternoon I think :o)

Bella with presents - The Stamp Basket DT

It's my regular day to post on The Stamp Basket blog and I decided to use one of the very cute Bella stamps from Wild Rose Studio.  I thought I'd have a go at a centre step card, as I've been wanting to try one for ages.  I wanted it fairly big though, so I sort of combined a couple of different tutorials I found and made this one which is 8" wide.  They're actually very easy once you've worked out the measurements, so I'm sure I'll be making more of these.

I'm not happy with my photos - the colours are a lot softer than they look here, and the flowers are not bright pink, they're a soft purple!

Items available from The Stamp Basket

Wild Rose Studio - Bella with Presents stamp

Wild Rose Studio papers - Bella & Annabelle's Meadow

Off-white ivory lace 3/8"

I coloured Bella with promarkers, flexmarkers and prisma pencils, the sentiment is from Cuddly Buddly and the flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts.  I was a bit baffled when it came to embellishing, and I'm really not happy with the flowers this way... I was trying not to add too much though, because it was supposed to be for my auntie to give to her mum (my grandma) for mother's day, and she doesn't like anything too fussy.  I might end up using it for my mum instead lol!

I'm entering my card for the following challenges:

• My Mum's Craft Shop - spring is springing
• Simon Says Stamp - Mother's Day/ special girl
• Dream Valley - Mother's Day

Morgan's been to tea at his 'girlfriend's' house this evening - they're 9 years old, I no likey!  She seems a very sweet girl though and she does seem to be a good influence on his behaviour.  It's not so long ago he would've pulled a face and told me off if I even mentioned girls though lol!

Thank you for all your lovely comments on yesterday's post, I really appreciate them all :o)