Sugar Nellie Sneak Week - day two

It's day two of the Sugar Nellie blog hop, and I think today's reveal might be my favourite of these lovely mermaid stamps... of course, I might have changed my mind again by tomorrow!

If you arrived here from Anita's blog, then you're on the right track... if not, do pop over to the Sugar Nellie blog so you don't miss anyone's gorgeous creations for today.

Mermaids can carry off the pink hair look, right?  Lol... I just had the urge to colour her hair pink and couldn't resist!  This little lovely is called Ocean's Gift and she'll be available from Funky Kits along with her mermaid friends, on Friday 3rd August.

I've coloured her with promarkers and flexmarkers, and added my little Viva pearl dots around her.  The papers are Raspberry Rd's Let Them Eat Cake, printed onto linen card.  The leaves were cut with a Stampin' Up die, sentiment is also Stampin' Up.  The flower is the Memory Box cherry blossom die (again!) with a silver spacer and black pearl from my stash.

Your next stop on the hop is the lovely Vicky - go and see her fabulous card, and don't forget to leave comments along the way as there's hidden candy to be won!

Today we're off to meet up with Morgan's 'girlfriend' Katie and her mum... well, the pair of them can't possibly be parted for the whole 6wks holidays!  So if I don't get chance to catch up with you this morning, I'll be around to see you in the evening instead.  Hope you all have a lovely day :o)

Tilly with Flowers - The Stamp Basket DT

**My 2nd post for today - please scroll down or click here for the Sugar Nellie blog hop**

I'm very late posting this, so I'll try to keep it fairly brief!  I'm back with my DT card for The Stamp Basket blog using one of the adorable Tilly stamps from Wild Rose Studio...

Items available from The Stamp Basket

Craftwork Cards - scalloped edge card blank

Wild Rose Studio - Tilly with Flowers stamp

Wild Rose Studio - Letters From Paris papers

Whimsy - corners die set (currently out of stock)

Vintage style pink ribbon

The Hobby House rhinestones - clear

The Hobby House - pearls

I love all of the Tilly images - they're so cute and very easy to colour.  I've coloured with promarkers and flexmarkers as usual, and added some of my little Viva pearl dots around her.  The sentiment is LOTV, the butterfly was cut with a Kars punch and the scalloped border is a MFT die.

I followed the sketch at Sketch Saturday so I'm entering my card there.

Thanks so much for all your lovely comments on my first Sugar Nellie DT card today - I'll be back in the morning with another sneak peek for you :o)

Sugar Nellie Sneak Week - Day One

Ooh... I've been keeping this quiet for a while and now I can have a good squeeeeeeeeeeal  lol!  Yes, somehow little old me managed to make it onto the fabulous Sugar Nellie Design Team... no, I don't know quite how I managed to be chosen, but I'm absolutely thrilled :o)

This week is 'sneak week' at Sugar Nellie

to show you the gorgeous new stamps featuring some very pretty mermaids!

So... if you arrived here from Anita's blog you're on the right track - if not, pop over to Sugar Nellie so you don't miss anyone's gorgeous creations :o)

And here's my very first DT card for Sugar Nellie... eek, so nervous!

This is 'Under The Sea' - isn't she a beauty?  She'll be available, along with her lovely friends, from Funky Kits on Friday 3rd August... not long to wait!

I coloured her with promarkers and flexmarkers, adding my little Viva pearl dots around her.  The papers are from the Life Documented set from Raspberry Rd, printed onto linen card.  I've used the lovely Memory Box 'party lanterns' die from My Crafty Heart, and the pretty little resin flower was a freebie that Teresa kindly popped in with my order - think I need to buy some of these!  The scalloped border was cut with a MFT die, the tab is a Stampin' Up punch, sentiment is LOTV and the pearls are from my stash.

Your next stop on the hop is the fabulous Vicky and don't forget to leave comments for everyone, because there will be hidden candy along the way!

Well, I hope I did everything right... hops make me nervous as I always think I'm going to be the one who makes it all go wrong lol... fingers crossed!  Have a lovely day everyone :o)

Red & white wedding

I have a simple wedding card to show you today - I made this one before our holiday and then didn't get chance to blog it...

The image and sentiment are from Pink Petticoat, and I added a little bit of colour with a red promarker and some shimmer to the glasses using a Sakura clear stardust pen.  The red mat was cut with a nestie 'blossom' die, red textured card and white hammered card are from Papermill Direct and I embossed the piece behind the image using the 'swiss dots' folder.  Pearl buckle from Wild Orchid Crafts and ribbon from my stash.

I haven't done much today, just a bit of commenting and we've been to my mum's.  Holidays are supposed to leave you relaxed and refreshed aren't they?  I seem to be exhausted and can't stop yawning lol, hopefully I'll get back into the swing of things soon!  Hope you've all had a lovely weekend :o)

Sweet Stampin' - Christmas in July

Hi honeys, I'm home!  Have you been behaving yourselves?  We've had such a lovely week - gorgeous weather everyday, and Norfolk and the 'holiday house' (as the boys call it) we stayed in was fab too.  We loved it so much, I think we'll be going back to the same place next year.  Ooh, and I was lucky enough to meet the very lovely Lisa while I was away, for some crafty shopping and lots of chatting in the coffee shop! It was so nice to meet you hun :o)

So, getting back to cards... here's my DT card for Sweet Stampin', where our challenge is 'Christmas in July'.  Our sponsor for this week is Di's Digi Downloads who are giving one lucky winner a $10 voucher to spend in their store, and our monthly sponsor is Joanna Sheen with a £10 voucher prize.

The fab snowman is one of the new images from DigiStamp Boutique - he's from the Cute Christmas Frames set.  I coloured him with promarkers and flexmarkers, and the sparkly paper is from the gorgeous First Edition 'Isabelle' pad again - they're not Christmas papers, but I think it works.  Gold ribbon is from my stash.

Thank you for all your lovely comments while we've been away - I'm about to settle down and have a marathon catch up session with all your blogs now... see you soon :o)

GDT for DYSU Challenge

Another scheduled post... everything crossed it'll work!

I was asked to be Guest Designer for DYSU Challenge this week - it's one that I try to play along with whenever I can, so I was very pleased to be asked :o)  Their theme is 'for a friend' and I've used a sweet image from one of the sponsors Little Darlings for my card...

I've coloured the image with promarkers and flexmarkers, and used some gorgeous new First Edition papers I bought from My Crafty Heart recently, with dark brown cardstock from Papermill Direct.  The banner die is Memory Box (I think), and the sentiment is LOTV.  The butterfly was cut with a Kars punch, and the pearls are from my stash.  Oh, and I added my little Viva pearl dots around the image too of course!

Hopefully we're having fabulous weather in Norfolk - well, we can hope, can't we?  Back in a couple of days, hope you're all having a lovely week :o)

Passion For Promarkers - feeling fruity!

A scheduled post today, as we're in Norfolk (yay!)... so I hope blogger's playing nicely!

Our challenge for this week at Passion For Promarkers is 'feeling fruity', which could be actual fruit or just fruity colours.  We're sponsored by Bugaboo, who are offering one lucky winner 7 digi images.

I've used the very gorgeous Louie and Apple from DigiStamp Boutique, as I needed a thank you card for Morgan's teaching assistant.  He's coloured with promarkers and flexmarkers and the papers are from Raspberry Rd - not sure which sets they're from though, they were pulled from my huge printed pile!  The border is the dienamics pinking edge die, the corner is from the dienamics photo corners set.  Buttons from my stash and a computer generated sentiment.

See you soon, hope you're all having a lovely week :o)

A Gem of a Challenge - Kraft at Christmas

I'm scheduling this so I hope it works... round about now I'll be running around frantically throwing last minute packing into cases, because we're setting off for our holiday in Norfolk today.  So looking forward to the break :o)

So... our new challenge at A Gem of a Challenge is 'Kraft at Christmas' - so anything Christmas and use some kraft card.  I'm getting quite a collection of Christmas cards now, it's not like me at all!

I've used the pre-coloured version of the very cute new Snowy Robins image - I just added a bit of stickles on the snow and cut it out with a Nestie Labels 14 die.  The papers are also from Pink Gem Designs - the blue one is from Christmas Sparkles and the pink is Stripes.  The corners were cut with a Whimsy die, sentiment is Pink Petticoat and the pearls are from my stash.

There will be a couple of posts while I'm away, assuming blogger plays nicely!  And then I've got lots of fun stuff to show you when I get back :o)  See you in a week, be good while I'm gone!

How CAS can you go?...

Now you know I like my CAS cards - as well as all the other styles I play with - but this one is a bit extreme even for me...

This is for my Auntie's anniversary... I wouldn't consider giving a card this CAS to anyone else I don't think, but Di buys lots of her cards from me and always goes for the most minimal ones I show her.  I know she'll like this, just as I know my mum would be very unimpressed with it lol!

It's also for this week's Less Is More challenge, which is a one-layer card with 3 of something - I have 3 hearts and also 3 colours (red, black, kraft).  The heart stamp and sentiment are Stampin' Up and I added a bit of bling on the red heart... and that's it... eek!

** Also, just a quick mention - there's a digi stamp give-away on The Stamp Basket blog, but it's only until 8pm this evening, so have a look at this post for all the details **

Hope you all have a lovely day :o)

Waste Not Wednesdays wk27

It's week 27 of my little Waste Not Wednesdays challenge, here to get you using up all those neglected and unused stamps and stash... As we go on holiday in a few days, I'm leaving the linky open for 2 weeks this time and I have a prize for one lucky random winner, to make up for the fact that I won't be around to leave comments for you all!

The prize is this very cute Christmas stamp set from The Greeting Farm :o)

And here's my card for today...

I needed a 40th birthday card for my Auntie - although as I've mentioned before, I don't actually call her auntie as she's only a few years older than me and we're friends more than anything else.  She prefers my clean & simple cards, so although this is fairly simple, I think it's probably a bit on the fussy side for her really... Wait until you see the anniversary card I've made for her though - I'll show that tomorrow and it's scarily CAS!

Anyway... I've used Papermania papers, a butterfly die (x-cut? not sure...) that I haven't used for ages, and pearls from my stash.  I cut the edge of the sentiment with my ancient scallop scissors and added a corner cut with a Whimsy die... and that's about it.

Running off to do some commenting again!  Have a lovely evening :o)

Nursery thank you cards

I made Dex's cards for his 'nursery ladies' at the weekend - I'd planned on using an image but Dex wanted himself on them lol!  So I thought I'd use this photo - the daffodils were grown from bulbs that nursery gave to the children... he looks very proud of his flowers doesn't he?

I printed the photo onto hammered card, which I quite like in 'real life' but looks a bit odd in this pic.  The papers are digi ones from Pink Petticoat, printed onto linen card.  Sentiment is computer generated.  I kept them really simple as I made 4 of them.

Keeping this very short, so I can have a mad dash around some of your blogs!  Have a lovely evening :o)

Mimosa waiting for Santa - The Stamp Basket DT

Hello!  Here I am, late again... I'm sorry I've been a bit absent for the last couple of days - I've got so much to do before we go away on Saturday, I'm crafting non-stop at the moment lol.  At the weekend I wrote myself a list of all the cards I need to make before we go, I thought it might make me feel less stressed to see them written down and getting them crossed off... when I'd finished there were 17 cards on my list and I most certainly didn't feel less stressed!  So I apologise in advance if I don't get chance to visit your blogs too often this week, I'll do my best whenever I get a spare moment.

Right, onto today's card which is for The Stamp Basket blog, where it's still 'Christmas in July' so I had to make another of them there Christmas thingies... also Janet's having a Guest DT call so pop over and read this post for all the details if you fancy applying.

Items available from The Stamp Basket

Craftwork Cards - scalloped edge card blank

Bildmalarna 'Mimosa - waiting for Santa' stamp

Bo Bunny - 'Father Christmas' papers

The Hobby House - 5mm ivory silk pearls

Deco Art Glamour Dust - crystal

I've coloured Mimosa with promarkers and flexmarkers, and added a bit of sparkly glamour dust.  The snowflakes were cut with a MS punch and sprayed with 'spray & sparkle', not that you can tell from the photos... Added some card candy and a Stampin' Up sentiment, and everything else is from The Stamp Basket.  Oh, I used my new MFT mini scallop border die too, on the edge next to the stripy paper - it cuts beautifully.

I followed the sketch at Sketch Saturday, so I'm entering my card there.

Will try and do some catching up with you all tomorrow if I don't manage it tonight.  Hope you've all had a lovely day :o)

Sweet Stampin' - flag colours

At Sweet Stampin' this week, we'd like you to use the colours of your Nation's flag... could be easy or very tricky depending on your flag I suppose!  We're sponsored by Letraset who are offering one lucky winner a set of promarkers, and Joanna Sheen is our monthly sponsor with a £10 voucher prize :o)

It's hubby's birthday today, and this card is for the boys to give him.  I had pneumonia when it was Father's Day and couldn't make him a card, so I wanted this to be a sort of birthday/ Father's Day combined thing...

I've used the fab Rock Idol stamp from Sugar Nellie, and coloured him with promarkers and flexmarkers.  The papers are from the Stars & Stripes set from Raspberry Rd, printed onto linen card from Papermill Direct.  The loopy border is a new purchase - I had a little spend at My Mum's Craft Shop last week and got a few new dies... this one's by CC Designs and I love it :o)  The sentiment is just made up from sheets of lettering that I print out and then cut up.

Very rushed post today, sorry... I'm ashamed to admit I haven't actually finished my own card for hubby yet lol!  He'll not be back for a few hours though, as he's working this morning, so I'm going to rush off and get it done now - hopeless aren't I?!  Hope you all have a lovely day, will be round to catch up with you later :o)

Less is More - gold

Yay, I found some time to make a card for Less is More this week... it helped that their 'gold' theme fit in with a wedding card I needed to make...

I've used the gorgeous new Stampin' Up wedding stamps from the summer mini catalogue - stamped the cake and sentiment with versamark and then embossed them with detail gold embossing powder.  I cut the cake out, inked it around the edges and added a punched butterfly.  One end of the sentiment panel is cut with (ancient and under-used) scalloped scissors.  Used an embossing folder on the background - think this one is divine swirls... not sure why it looks a different shade of cream because it's all made from the same rich cream linen from Papermill Direct.  Added a few pearls from my stash... and, done!

I'm also entering my card for the following challenges:

• Clean & Simple Stamping - sketch
• Creative Card Crew - swirls & pearls

We actually had a break from the rain today - it was sunny but still fairly fresh, not too hot... perfect for me!  It's supposed to be back to the heavy downpours again tomorrow though, but I'm hoping that's wrong as I'm meant to be meeting my friend in the park and we had to cancel last week due to the rain.  Fingers crossed! Hope you've all had a lovely day :o)

Waste Not Wednesdays wk26

It's week 26 of my little Waste Not Wednesdays challenge, here to get you using all your neglected and unused stamps and stash :o)  Last week was prize week so we need a winner, and that is....

Number 17 - Little K Smith

Congratulations Kelly!  You won a £5 voucher to spend at DigiStamp Boutique - could you email me hun, so I can sort out your prize.

Here's my card for this week....

I've used one of the very cute LOTV printed images, so no colouring involved on this one... I tend to buy these and then feel bad about using them, so they just sit there - silly really!  The papers are very old, possibly Papermania, with bright pink cardstock from Papermill Direct.  Whimsy pennants die set and matching stamps from The Stamp Basket, butterflies cut with a Kars punch.  Ribbon, pearls and thread from my stash.

Sorry if I'm a bit slow visiting your blogs at the moment - we go away in a little over a week, and I'm trying to get everything done before we go.  We're off to Norfolk this year, haven't been before - anyone know if there are any craft shops there lol?  Good to have a little spend while you're on holiday isn't it ;o)

Hope you're all having a lovely evening!

Passion For Promarkers - gingham/ checks

I'm back with my 2nd post for today - my DT card for Passion For Promarkers, where our challenge for this week is 'gingham/ checks'... easy peasy :o)  We're sponsored by the fabulous DigiStamp Boutique and the lucky winner will receive 6 digi images of their choice.

I've used the lovely 5th Avenue simply sassy stamp from Sugar Nellie, and coloured her with promarkers and flexmarkers.  I added a teeny pink pearl on her bag and some Viva pearl dots around her.  The papers are Papermania with bright pink cardstock from Papermill Direct.  The flower was cut with that Memory Box cherry blossom die (again... think I'm addicted) and the scalloped border is a MFT die I think.  Added a bit of bling for the flower centre and the sentiment is computer generated.

I'm entering my card for the following challenges:

• Creative Craft - pink & black
• Let's Ink It Up - all girl
• Saturated Canary Challenge - bling it out

Bit of a rushed post again, sorry - I'm trying to get a few cards finished, so I can sit down and catch up with some of your blogs this evening.  Hope you're all having a lovely day :o)

GDT for Papelitos Stamps

I had a lovely email a couple of weeks ago, asking if I'd be a Guest Designer for a week, for the new Papelitos Stamps Challenge - it's a weekly challenge blog featuring Cristina's fun images, and this week their challenge is a nice and easy 'flowers' theme...

I chose to use this Skater image, and she's coloured with promarkers and flexmarkers.  I didn't want to add too much fussy stuff or girly colours because I didn't think it suited her... So I used some sparkly First Edition 'up, up & away' papers, with dark brown cardstock from Papermill Direct.  The flowers were cut with my favourite Memory Box cherry blossom die again, leaves cut with a Woodware punch, pearls from my stash.  The gingham ribbon is from The Stamp Basket and the sentiment is Pink Petticoat.

I'll be back in a little while with my Passion For Promarkers DT card :o)

Fizzy Moon - The Stamp Basket DT

It's 'Christmas in July' for the next couple of weeks over on The Stamp Basket blog - do pop over and have a look as there's Christmas Candy up for grabs :o)  This means I had to make one of those dreaded Christmas card things lol...

Items available from The Stamp Basket

Craftwork Cards on the edge scallop card blank

Fizzy Moon - Presents stamp

Papermania - Noel glitter paper pack

Berisfords satin ribbon - red

The Hobby House rhinestones - clear

Deco-Art glamour dust - crystal

Fizzy Moon's very cute isn't he?!  And he's only £2.99 at the moment in the sale at The Stamp Basket :o)  I've coloured him with promarkers and flexmarkers, added lots of glamour dust on his hat and used a Sakura clear stardust pen for the silvery ribbon on the presents.  The papers are lovely and sparkly - not that you can really tell from my photo!

I'm entering my card for the following challenges:

• Forever Friends - Christmas in July
• The Crazy Challenge - Christmas in July
• The Cutie Pie Challenge - glitter & bling
• The Squirrel & The Fox - Christmas in July

I got absolutely soaked when I did the school run this afternoon!  It's my own fault for thinking how lucky I'd been to miss the worst of the rain until now... All my clothes were wet through, my shoes are probably ruined - looked like I'd got in the shower in my coat lol.  Oh, and didn't Andy Murray do well?!  It was a shame he didn't win, but it was a fab match and I did shed a few tears when he got all emotional trying to give his little speech at the end... fingers crossed for next year eh?  Hope you all have a lovely evening :o)

A Gem of a Challenge - Jenny's sketch

Good morning (just), happy Saturday everyone :o)  Today I have my card for A Gem of a Challenge to show you - Jenny has created a fab sketch for us all to use...

I've used one of the lovely new images from Pink Gem Designs, this is Mimi & Bird, and I've coloured her with promarkers and flexmarkers and added a little pearl on the flower in her hair.  The papers are Life Documented from Raspberry Rd, printed onto linen card.  Flowers were cut with an x-cut punch, and I made the middles by embossing little circles of kraft card - there's a couple of small circles on the Stampin' Up owl punch that are the perfect size for them, and I also used the owl punch for the little kraft hearts.  The sentiment is LOTV, cut out with a nestabilities labels 14 die.

Here's Jenny's fab sketch

I'm entering my card for the following challenges:

• Papertake Weekly - anything goes
• Creative Craft - tweet tweets

Well I'm going to keep this fairly short today so I can attempt to catch up with some of your lovely blogs!  I've also had a couple of prize wins that I haven't spent yet, so I think a bit of online browsing is in order, and then it'll be off to the craft room for me.  Hope you're all having a lovely weekend so far :o)

Sale at The Stamp Basket

Just a quick post to let you know about the fab sale currently on at The Stamp Basket - 10% off most Memory Box and Poppystamps dies - see this post on The Stamp Basket blog for full details.

Oh, and for those who asked... no, there's next to no chance of a photo of my new hair lol!  I just don't do photos, they're a very rare thing, photos of me!

I'll be back tomorrow with my Pink Gem DT card, have a lovely evening :o)

Pippi Longsocks

Well I'm a bit late today aren't I?  It's nearly tomorrow!  I've had a lovely day but have hardly stopped... had my hair done (all cut off in a very short bob!), went clothes shopping with hubby (and actually bought stuff this time), to the cinema to see Spiderman (much better than I expected, really enjoyed it), and finally got in the craft room to make this card...

I mentioned yesterday that Morgan had been through my box to find a card for his 'girlfriend' Katie... there are lots of girly cards in my box, but the little darling (ahem...) rejected them all!  He had a look at my stamps and chose this one - the rather fabulous Pippi Longsocks from Sugar Nellie.  She's coloured with promarkers and flexmarkers with lots of glamour dust on her wings, and Viva pearl dots around her.  The papers are Making Memories, with dark brown cardstock from Papermill Direct.  The corner is a Whimsy die, flower buttons and pearl are from my stash and the sentiment is LOTV - very appropriate because Katie's actually having two parties and Morgan's going to both of them :o)

I've followed Fi's fab sketch at The Sugar Bowl again, and also made it for this week's challenge on the Sugar Nellie facebook page, which is to use your favourite colour combo.  A tricky one for me, because I don't really have a favourite - I just like colour in general... but I've used pink, yellow and orange that I do love using.

I suppose I'd better start thinking about going to bed now lol... hope you've had a lovely day, I'll catch up with you all tomorrow :o)