Wednesday 29 June 2011

Come back Mrs Mojo....

Sob, sob... seriously rubbish creating day today, I should've just given up!

I've made one rubbish card for One-Layer Wednesday, where the challenge is 'quick layers of ink'...


I used a set of Pink Gem stamps for the flower and sentiment, and added some little stamped hearts in the centre of the flower.  White linen cardstock and Memento inks in 'tangelo', 'canteloupe' and 'rose bud'.


Then I made another rubbish card for CAS-ual Fridays, where the challenge is 'getting edgy'...


Used the Pink Gem flower stamp again, stamped in 'ladybug' Memento, with a button centre.  The papers are from my scraps, cut into borders using a Tim Holtz die.  Sentiment is Penny Black.  As I've used my scraps I'm also entering this one for Jules' Crafty Snippet Challenge but I'll try and come back later in the week with something better!

I'm also entering my cards for the 'clean & simple' challenge at Moving Along With The Times.

Oh blimey, I'm in such a grumpy mood!  It's the hayfever blocked head that's doing it I think.  Please can someone send Mrs Mojo home to cheer me up?!

Tuesday 28 June 2011

Passion For Promarkers - babies

Time for a new challenge at Passion For Promarkers - don't the weeks just fly along?!  This week we'd like to see your 'baby' creations, and we're sponsored by In2Stamps who are providing 2 lovely stamps for our lucky winner :o)



I've used the adorable Baby Ellie from DigiStamp Boutique, coloured with promarkers and koh-i-noor pencils, and then cut out.  The gingham papers are some K&Co scraps, sentiment is from Elzybells and the ric rac was plain white - I've coloured it with 'soft peach' promarker.  Added some little pearls to the image.  Super simple card, which I think quite suits baby cards... and also I can only stand being in the boiling hot craft room in short bursts at the moment so there probably won't be anything elaborate from me until it cools down lol!

I'm entering my card for the following challenges:

Monday 27 June 2011

Crafty Cardmakers - spots & stripes

Our challenge for this fortnight at Crafty Cardmakers is 'spots & stripes', a really easy one for most of us I think.  Although for some reason, instead of doing what I'd normally do and getting out lots of lovely spotty & stripy papers, I did something a bit different for me...


I'm not much of a 'distressy' type of crafter usually, as you may have noticed!  I had lots of fun with this though, it's good to get messy sometimes :o)

I wanted to use my new Flourishes stamps, bought mainly for this image... there's just something about it that I love!  The sentiment is from the same set and I love that too.  Anyway... I've not used any papers for this - just Kraft cardstock and Brushed Corduroy distress ink.  I used a Penny Black stamp to make the spotty background, and then I made the stripes myself using post it notes to section off areas which I then inked, and then cut a scallop border using a Tim Holtz die.  Finished with lots of inky distressing - so not me lol, but I'm quite happy with it.

I'm entering my card for the following challenges:
Thank you for all your lovely comments on my Sugar Nellie showcase :o)  Sorry if I haven't managed to leave you a comment yet, but I'm still feeling ill so I'm getting around you all but a bit slowly!  I think I've just got hayfever but I've only ever had it really mildly before whereas this year it's really bad... I've no idea how you cope if you always get it this badly.  I feel like someone's sedated me!

Anyway, enough of my moaning... off to plod around a few blogs...

Sunday 26 June 2011

Sugar Addicts Showcase Sunday!

Eeeek!  I had a lovely email from Elaine asking if I'd like to be showcased on the Sugar Nellie blog... can you imagine how shocked and excited I was?!  I couldn't quite believe it.  Then I had to decide which stamp I was going to use for my showcase card... that took me most of the week.  I finally decided it should be one of my new uninked stamps, so I chose this one...



This is Boho Chic and I think she's just fab :o)  I've coloured her with promarkers and koh-i-noor pencils.  The papers are (I think) Cosmo Cricket, with purple core'dinations cardstock.  Sentiment is CC Designs, flowers cut with MFT die, buttons from stash and border is a Tim Holtz die.

Oh, I'm so nervous now... my cards on the Sugar Nellie blog - who'd have ever thought it eh?!

I'm entering my card for the following challenges:

Saturday 25 June 2011

Less is More wk21 - sketch

Apologies if I make no sense - I'm just not with it today.  I've felt so ill the last couple of days, my head feels like it's been stuffed with cotton wool and all I want to do is sleep.  I didn't think I'd make anything today, but then I saw the latest Less is More challenge is a lovely simple sketch.  I thought I could manage that, but actually I've created the world's most boring card... honestly, it is...


The butterflies were cut with a Stampin' Up embosslit die, the gingham is some leftover Pink Petticoat paper I found in my scraps.  Pearls from my stash and the sentiment is a Little Claire stamp.

I'll hopefully be back later in the week with a more interesting version of the sketch!

Friday 24 June 2011

Stamp Something - 4th July/ Celebration!

Oops, I'm sooo late with this today!  I've not been very well today and ended up sleeping most of the afternoon - I woke up feeling much better though :o)  Our challenge at Stamp Something this week is '4th July/ celebration somethings' and we're sponsored by Simon Says Stamp, who are providing a $20 gift certificate for our lucky winner.



Typically for me - all the great sketches that are around this week and I couldn't seem to follow any of them!  So I gave up and made it up as I went along lol.  I've used a new Tilda stamp - I don't have many of these but I thought this one was quite sweet.  I coloured her with promarkers and koh-i-noor pencils.  The papers are Pink Petticoat, red cardstock is from Papermill Direct.  The border was cut with a Tim Holtz die, flowers cut with a MFT die. Sentiment is Penny Black, ribbon and pearls from stash, and embossed corner using a Stampin' Up embossing folder.

I'm entering my card for the following challenges:
I'm very behind with all your blogs so I'm off to have a bit of a catch up now!

Wednesday 22 June 2011

CAS-ual Fridays - colour blocking






Lots of photos, sorry, and I've had such a faff trying to get them to upload! I've ended up having to switch to the old editor but it's added the photos all mixed up (with my least favourite at the top!) and it won't let me add my text before the photos... and the cursor seems to have disappeared... agh!

Anyway... I decided to combine my entry for CAS-ual Fridays, where their theme is 'colour blocking', with the sketch at Clean & Simple, and also use up some of my scraps for Jules' Sunday Snippet Challenge. I may have got a little carried away as I seem to have made quite a few cards! Although really I should be using up patterned paper scraps as I've got loads of them, so maybe I'll make another batch later in the week.

I won't go into too much detail as I don't want to bore you silly, but I've used my new Stampin Up embossing folder on all of them. All made entirely from scraps apart from the card bases. Stamps are mostly a mix of Penny Black and Kanban.

The school rang me to collect a poorly Morgan this morning, so I've ended up with him at home. He says his head hurts and he feels sick. So I've not got as much done today as I would've liked!

Right, let's see if I can get this to post now...



Tuesday 21 June 2011

Passion For Promarkers - park life!

This week's challenge at Passion For Promarkers is a fun one - our theme is 'park life', and we'd like to see anything that you'd expect to see in a park!  We're sponsored by Letraset and there's a fab prize for the lucky winner :o)



I went through various images that I thought I might use... I was thinking swings, ice cream, ducks... and then I spotted this image on my desk and it seemed ideal - there are always dogs being walked in the park aren't there?  This is one of the new Wallace images from DigiStamp Boutique, available as a set of 4 images here.

I've coloured him with promarkers and koh-i-noor pencils, and used a Sakura clear stardust pen on the outline of the butterfly, and on the butterfly's trail.  The papers are Echo Park 'walk in the park' - see what I did there?  Lol :o)  The butterflies were cut with my new embosslits die from Stampin' Up and the sentiment is computer generated, pearls are from my stash.

I'm entering my card for the following challenges:
   

Monday 20 June 2011

Crafty Cardmakers Spotlight - sentiments

For this fortnight on The Spotlight Challenge, Jenni has set the challenge and she'd like to see creations where the focus is on the sentiment - so the sentiment must be the dominant part of the card.


I've had this Paper MakeUp sentiment stamp for AGES - I bought it just because I liked it, but then realised I couldn't really think of a use for it!  So it's sat there unused until now.  I've stamped it onto ivory linen card using 'bamboo' memento ink, and then used 'new sprout' memento to stamp a Kanban tree - I wanted this to be paler so that the sentiment was still the focus.  Mounted the stamped panel on a piece of core'dinations from my scraps, and that's it - super simple!

Off for a little hop around your blogs before I have to pick the boys up from school/ nursery...

Sunday 19 June 2011

Less is More wk20 - monogram

Oh dear... this week's Less is More challenge is sooo not me!  This week Chrissie and Mandi would like to see monograms.  I'm fairly sure I've never made a card with a monogram on, and I had absolutely no idea what to do.  I finally had a brainwave, but I think it's probably a bit of a cheat....


Is a 'P' plate a monogram?  Apologies if it doesn't count!  I've used a Riley Moose stamp, stamped in 'lady bug' memento onto Kraft card.  I decided not to colour him because I thought he looked quite cute as he was - or maybe I was just feeling lazy!  The 'P' was cut with a sizzix die, and the 'well done' is a Papermania stamp.  The corner square is a bit of a cover up because I smudged the sentiment.  Added some bakers twine from my stash.

Well Dex has been a bit brighter today and there's still no sign of spots, so maybe he's not getting chicken pox after all.  We'll see!  Thanks for all the lovely comments on Morgan's father's day card - he was so happy reading them :o)

Saturday 18 June 2011

Hubby's Father's Day card & one my son made!

Mrs Last Minute dot com here again... trailing in with hubby's father's day card at last!



I've used a LOTV stamp and for some strange reason I decided to colour with koh-i-noor pencils instead of my usual promarkers... probably not my best effort colouring-wise but I do find the pencils very relaxing :o) Papers are Pink Petticoat printed onto linen card, red cardstock is from Papermill Direct.  Cut the stars with the sizzix primitive star die, and then embossed them with my brand new Stampin' Up embossing folder - my new favourite thing I think!  Buttons and twine from stash, sentiment is Elzybells.  Layout is based on an old Papertake Weekly sketch.

I'm entering my card for the following challenges:

And this one was made by my 8yr old son Morgan... (note the bold type - I didn't colour this lol!)


Bless him, I think he's done a really great job of it, and he was so pleased with himself :o)  I let him loose in my craft room with my promarkers (eek!) and he picked the paper and matched up the colours himself.  He even did the stamped sentiment himself, first time he's ever stamped anything.  I just did the cutting for him.  Image is from DigiStamp Boutique available here.

I've spent the whole day at home with Dex today - I've a horrible feeling he's coming down with chicken pox!  It's going round nursery at the moment, and he's been really limp and hot all day.  He won't eat or drink and hasn't moved off the sofa all day, poor thing.  So I'm expecting to see some spots soon.  Means we can't go and see MIL as planned tomorrow - she's got cancer and apparently because of the reduced immune system it can be quite dangerous for her to be exposed to it, even though she's had it before.

Blimey, I can't half go on!  Well done if you actually read any of that waffle... off to hop around your blogs now...

Friday 17 June 2011

Stamp Something - with pretty papers!

This week at Stamp Something our challenge is 'pretty papers'... Seen as I've put myself on a paper ban, it's going to be torture for me seeing everyone's lovely papers, and not being able to rush off and buy them!  I've managed 17 whole days so far lol, and there's been no cheating :o)  Only 6.5 months to go - eeeek!



We're sponsored by Funky Kits so there'll be a fab prize for the lucky winner.  I've got some new un-inked Sugar Nellie stamps that I could have used, but I had an urge to use this gorgeous Annie stamp that I've not used for far too long.

I've coloured her with promarkers and koh-i-noor pencils, and cut her out with a nestie that I'd forgotten I'd even got, it's so long since I used it.  The papers are Craftwork Cards ones that I usually can't bear to use - it's hard to tell from the pics just how lovely they are... they've got a gorgeous pearly sheen.  The flowers were cut with my MFT die, border cut with MS scallop dot punch, buttons from stash and sentiment is Pink Petticoat.

Something's not really working with this card, but I'm not sure why and I had to stop myself from faffing around with it in the end!

I'm entering my card for the following challenges:

Thursday 16 June 2011

Sale at DigiStamp Boutique

Just a quick post to let you know there's currently 15% off all Wedding & Love images at DigiStamp Boutique, but only until Sunday - so pop over if you fancy a bargain :o)

Wednesday 15 June 2011

Less is More wk19 - one layer, in the frame

It's one layer week again at Less is More, with an 'in the frame' theme - Chrissie and Mandi would like to see some sort of frame on our cards.  I made 5 LIM cards today, but only 2 of them are fit to be seen lol... the others will either end up in the bin or I'll chop them up and see if I can make them into something else!


For my green card I've used a Little Claire flower stamp and a Penny Black sentiment.  I stuck a post it note in the centre and then 'randomly' stamped the flower in memento 'pear tart' all around the card.  I then inked around the post it note using 'shabby shutters' distress ink, lifted off the post it note and stamped the sentiment in the centre, using 'bamboo' memento.  The card base is ivory linen from Papermill Direct.


For my pink card I've used the Hero Arts 'wildflower garden' stamp and a Stampin Up frame and sentiment - from the set I won at a demo on Saturday!  I stamped the frame first, then masked the frame off and stamped the flower stamp over the top.  I didn't think it looked quite right with the flowers stamped once, so I stamped it again at either side, but only using the top part of the stamp.  Then added the sentiment, a little bit of glamour dust on some of the flowers, and a few pearls.

I'm also entering my cards for the 'single layer' challenge at Paper Pretties.

Tuesday 14 June 2011

Passion For Promarkers - here comes the bride

Our challenge for this week at Passion For Promarkers is 'here comes the bride', and I must admit I was a little bit worried... I'm never very happy with my wedding cards.  I'm not sure what it is about them, but I seem to go a bit blank when I try and make one.  I think it's maybe because I have it in my head that they must be 'special' and that makes me nervous lol... there's no hope for me really is there?  We're sponsored by the lovely Sally-Ann at DigiStamp Boutique :o)



My image is from DigiStamp Boutique of course - this is the bride & groom from the Cute Wedding Collection.  Coloured with promarkers and koh-i-noor pencils, with lots of glamour dust on the bride's veil.  Papers are Paper Cellar, with core'dinations cardstock, sentiment is LOTV.  The flowers were punched with an x-cut punch, then snipped with scallop scissors and sprayed with iridescent spray & sparkle, added pearl centres.

For a change I actually quite like this now it's finished, although it took AGES for quite a simple card! A lot of my time was spent just staring at it though, trying to work out what else it 'needed'.

I've scheduled this post because I think I might be having a sneaky visit to a craft shop with a friend after I've dropped the boys at school/ nursery :o)  So I'll be back to link up to challenges later.

Monday 13 June 2011

DigiStamp Boutique - Mum Spencer

One of those 'can't create' days again today... seems to be a Monday thing!  I managed a DT card this morning, and then this one this afternoon...


Just one pic because it's also 'wonky photo' day, and my other pics were all over the place!  The fab image is one of the 'offer of the month' images from DigiStamp Boutique, available as part of The Spencer Family set.  Coloured with promarkers and koh-i-noor pencils.  All the card and paper, apart from the card base, is from my scraps.  Ribbon is from Little Claire, sentiment is from a Penny Black transparent set, butterfly cut with MS punch and buttons from my stash.

I'm entering my card for the 'girly girl' challenge at Paper Sundaes and Jules' Crafty Snippets Challenge, although I think I've broken Jules' rules a bit because I've used a coloured image - sorry Jules!

Saturday 11 June 2011

My last DT card for Little Claire

Aww such a sad post for me... I've been agonising over this decision for a while, but it feels like the right time, so this is my very last post as a DT member for Little Claire.  Although it won't be my last Little Claire card, as there are so many of their stamps amongst my favourites :o)  It's been a great year, working with a lovely and talented team of stampers - I'll miss being on the team with you all!

Our challenge this time is 'cards for men' - just in time for father's day, but it can be anything for a male, it doesn't have to be for father's day.  Here's my card...



Just a quick and simple one from me.  I've used a stamp from the Oh Man! set, coloured it with promarkers and then covered the ties with glossy accents.  The Kraft card is from Stampin' Up, blue card is from Papermill Direct.  Ribbon from my stash and the sentiment stamp is also from Little Claire.

I've been at Busy Bees all day - I was demoing this afternoon, but this morning there was a fab Stampin' Up demo.  I have ordered a couple of things of course lol, and would have liked a lot more!  We made some lovely little boxes - I must take a pic later so I can show it off!  And I must have been having a lucky day because I won the door prize - a lovely little set of stamps called Vintage Labels.  Yay!  And double yay because there are some great little frames in the set that I could use for this week's LIM challenge :o)  Off to catch up with you all...

Friday 10 June 2011

Stamp Something - punched!

This week at Stamp Something our challenge is to 'punch something'... lol, sounds a bit violent doesn't it?!  We'd like to see you use punches or dies etc.  We're sponsored by Whiff of Joy and there's a great prize for the lucky winner :o)



This cute little image is a digistamp from Whiff of Joy.  She was a little bit of a colouring challenge for me because I'm never sure of what I'm doing with creases and folds - it's a good image to practice on though!  I've used promarkers and koh-i-noor pencils to colour her, and added some glamour dust on her heart and crown.  Papers are Papermania, with cardstock from Papermill Direct.  Sentiment from Craftwork Cards, butterfly cut with MS punch, pearls were from my stash.

I'm entering my card for the following challenges:
I mentioned the other day that I was taking Morgan to the docs so they could look at his leg, and a few of you have asked if he's ok.  He'd been limping around for a few days, 'ouching' whenever anything touched his knee and generally complaining constantly... no sign of a bruise or anything, so I thought we'd better get it checked out.  Apparently being in the doctors waiting room brought about a miraculous recovery, because by the time we saw the doctor all her 'does this hurt?', 'does that hurt?', 'does it hurt when I do this?' questions were answered with a firm 'no' from my little darling... that boy certainly knows how to embarrass me lol!  They probably have 'paranoid mum' warnings all over our notes now.  Oh well, at least he's ok!

Wednesday 8 June 2011

Yet more Less is More!

I'm sorry, this must be getting very boring, but I'm back for a 3rd time with some more monochrome cards for Less is More!  I promise this is my last entry for this week.



Both using a Hero Arts stamp, stamped with memento inks onto white linen card from Papermill Direct. For the black version, I've stamped once in London Fog and again in Tuxedo Black, and for the purple I've used Lulu Lavender and Grape Jelly.  Added a teeny bit of glamour dust to the flower centres - hardly showing in the pics.  'Thinking of you' sentiment is from a Kanban set and 'with sympathy' is computer generated and punched out with the Stampin Up 'word window' punch.

I might be back later with another creation - although I promise it won't be another LIM one!  I've got to take Morgan to the docs after school though because he's hurt his leg, so I might have to blog this afternoon's card tomorrow.

Tuesday 7 June 2011

Passion For Promarkers - pink & brown or blue & brown

Our challenge for this week at Passion For Promarkers is a fab one - either pink & brown or blue & brown... I love using both combinations so it was really hard to choose!  We're sponsored by the lovely Joanna Sheen who is providing a £10 voucher for one lucky winner :o)



As you can see I eventually decided on blue and brown, partly because I wanted to use this new Sugar Nellie sassy stamp and I thought she might suit blue!  I've coloured her with promarkers (obviously) and koh-i-noor pencils.  Her shoes have been coated in glossy accents and her bag has been glamour dusted.  Paper is GCD Studio 'ella blue', sentiment is CC Designs, flowers were cut with a MFT die and buttons from my stash.

I'm entering my card for the following challenges:
Apologies for the very rushed post!  I'm writing this at nearly midnight - realised almost too late that I need to schedule my post for the morning because I'm meeting a friend for coffee after I've dropped the kids off at school/ nursery.  Haven't seen my friend for ages, and she recently had twin boys!  Can't wait to meet them, I bet they're scrummy :o)

Monday 6 June 2011

Less is More wk 18 (again!)

I started off with so many ideas today and everything went horribly wrong! I made a DT card, which didn't go too badly, but then I wanted to make some more cards for this week's Less is More 'monochrome' challenge. Mum says a few people at her work have been interested in my cards, so I'm sending a box in next week... I've got loads of birthday cards that I can put in but I need some other themes, so today I was going to do some monochrome 'get well' and 'thinking of you' type things.  Well I've only managed one get well card!  Nothing else worked out... grr!


I was aiming for a card that could be used for a man, not sure if I really achieved it though! I've used a Hero Arts stamp, stamped in Rich Cocoa memento ink, and a Papermania sentiment.  The textured and plain Kraft cardstock is from Stampin Up, dark brown card is from Papermill Direct. Ribbon and pearls from my stash.  Seem to have been on a bit of a corner rounding mission with this card lol!

I'm also entering my card for the following challenges:
Fingers crossed for a better day tomorrow!

Sunday 5 June 2011

Less is More wk18 - monochrome

This week's challenge at Less is More is 'monochrome', and for my first attempt this week I've combined it with the sketch challenge at CAS-ual Fridays and ended up with this...


I say first attempt, because I've got lots of ideas for this one so if I find some spare time I might be back with some more...  The boxer shorts are from the Lazy Days set from Little Claire, stamped in bamboo memento onto ivory linen card.  The border stamp is from a Kelly Panacci set that I've had for AGES and have never used - I rediscovered it when I had a sort out last night! Coloured the shorts and border with promarkers.

I'm also entering my card for the 'clean & simple' challenge at CES Challenges.

Thanks for all your Anniversary messages yesterday! We had a yummy Chinese takeaway and some sparkly wine, and a nice evening in front of the telly lol. Off to visit mum now but I'll be round to visit you all later :o)

Saturday 4 June 2011

Hubby's Anniversary card

It's our wedding anniversary today :o) I haven't actually seen Pav yet because he left early for work this morning, but he was only doing a few hours so he's on his way back now.  Here's the card I've made for him...



I know, it's probably a bit on the girly side, but luckily hubby doesn't mind that sort of thing!  I've used the lovely Valentine Zoe image from Digistamp Boutique, coloured with promarkers and koh-i-noor pencils.  Added glossy accents to the heart balloon and then sprinkled it with glamour dust, and added some sakura clear stardust pen on the little hearts.  Papers are MME 'ooh la la for him' with dark brown cardstock from Papermill Direct.  Bakers twine and pearl from stash, sentiment is Papermania.

I'm entering my card for the following challenges:
We're not doing anything special for our anniversary, as we don't really have any willing babysitters.  We'll probably just have a takeaway and some nice wine... oh we know how to celebrate eh?  Lol, never mind - one day we'll be able to go out whenever we like and I'm sure I'll miss the kids being little then!

Friday 3 June 2011

Stamp Something - digi!

It's the first Friday of the month (how did that happen? June already!) so that means it's time for our regular 'Stamp Something - Digi' challenge at Stamp Something. As always, we have loads of fabulous sponsors so there are lots of prizes to be won :o)


I'm Mrs Cheaty Pants today, because I've used a pre-coloured image from one of our sponsors The Paper Shelter - the only bit I've coloured is the shadow underneath the cute bear, and I added some glossy accents on his nose.  Oh and a button on his flower too.  The papers are K&Co and luckily they're the perfect match for the image.  The sentiment is an old one and I'm not sure who it's by as I don't seem to have any packaging for it.  Added some card candy to finish.

I'm entering my card for the following challenges:
I'm hoping the boys will play nicely this afternoon so I can get in the craft room - it dawned on me yesterday (when my auntie handed me a card) that it's my wedding anniversary tomorrow... oops!  So I'd better get a card made for hubby I suppose :o)

Wednesday 1 June 2011

Less is More wk17 - pick a square

Back from our little holiday in Devon :o)  We had a lovely time but it's always nice to get home isn't it?  Thanks for all your lovely comments while I've been away, I'm still trying to catch up!  One of the first things I did when we got back was check what the new challenge was at Less is More lol... totally addicted!  So... this week Chrissie and Mandi want us to pick a square of our card - either one of the corners or the centre square.  I've made 2 and I'm not overly happy with either of them...


For my first card I've used the new Gerbera Set of stamps from Little Claire.  I've used the corner flowers and one of the sentiments, but there are more flowers and another sentiment in the set too.  Stamped the flowers in green and coloured them with promarkers.  Added some pearls from my stash.


For my second card I've used a new stamp from a set I bought on holiday - I managed to drag Pav into Crafty Devils Papercrafts and treated myself to a few new stamps.  This one's from the Birds in Cages set by Words Like Honey.  The sentiment is Penny Black.  Added a tiny blue pearl to the top of the birdcage.  Cardstock is pale blue linen but the photo's washed it out a bit.

I'm also entering my cards for the 'clean & simple' challenge at Secret Crafter.