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My Fab Followers and Blogging Friends

Wednesday, 31 August 2011

It's The CHRISTMAS Challenge at FOR FUN!

** UPDATE **

Wow! I made TOP 3 at Crafts 4 Eternity with this card...thanks so much!

Morning bloggers,

this morning sees a new challenge at FOR FUN, and this week it's all about

CHRISTMAS

I am thrilled to say we have the very talented Michelle Perkett Studio as our sponsor, and as you will know, I am a huge fan of her work, so this week's DT card was a pleasure to make! Here it is:
I made a rocker card, using the gorgeous Snow Goddess, which is available from Michelle's Etsy shop. I printed the digi DP straight onto card, and cut a rocker-shaped base. I used my lacey circle nesties to cut the image & frame, and coloured her with co-ordinating Promarkers. I added a ribbon to the base before attaching the topper, then finished it off with some of my homemade Posh Pins!

We do hope to see lots of you taking part this week, and with such a fab prize up for grabs, why wouldn't you! The DT love to visit your blogs and leave some love for you talented guys out there too!

I will enter my card into the following challenges:

Thanks so much for visiting my little corner of blogland.
Posted by at 13 comments

Monday, 29 August 2011

THANK YOU MPS

 Phew! made it! I so wanted to join in with the last challenge at  Michelle Perkett Studios. I am really sad, but they do say all good things must come to an end. The theme this week rather fittingly is Thank You. I followed this sketch (#28) from A Gem of a Challenge:


Here's my card:


Apologies for the poor picture, the lighting is terrible; it's actually really pretty, mint and lilac. My papers are digital, from a set called Aurora Tides (sorry, can't remember where I got them.) The image is of course a Michelle Perkett one, and was a freebie from PCP. I coloured it with Promarkers. I used a Martha Stewart border punch for the diagonal border, my lacey circle nestie for the image, and my grommet tags for the sentiment. I added gems, punched flowers, some leaf punchies and pearls to complete.
I am dedicating my card to Michelle annd the mermaids...thanks girls for such a fab blog.

I will enter the following challenges:
See you soon, thanks for visiting.
Posted by at 7 comments

Sunday, 28 August 2011

I'm DISTRESSED!

** UPDATE ** 

Yay! This card WON the I Love Promarkers challenge (paper piercing!) ***

Hi everybody, so sorry I'm late today, we decided to come to our caravan for the last week of the holiday and so it was a mad rush to get sorted, packed and away! We've arrived safely, and the first thing I've unpacked is of course....my laptop!!

So, today's new challenge at THE CRAFTY PAD is.....

DISTRESSING & TEARING

Our sponsor this week is the lovely CRAFTY EMMA'S STORE, with a £10 voucher to spend in her online shop.
Well, I can honestly say, this challenge took me WAAAAAY out of my comfort zone! It's not a stlye/technique I'd ever tried, but I wasn't going to let that get the better of me! So, I googled and watched several YouTube videos, and set to work! Here's what happened:


Now don't laugh, this was my very FIRST attempt at distressing, and I think I went over-board and tried to use ALL of the techniques I saw in the demos on this ONE card! My images are of course from The Crafty Pad Designs, Sammy Scarecrow (currently on offer for just 59p) and Albert Diggin' (just 99p)

Inside the card
Definately a 'rustic' feel, and as a dear friend said when she saw it, it does indeed look as if it's been hanging around in the shed for a while! Lol!

Tearing & paper-piercing

The scarecrow was crumpled up then rubbed with a used teabag to stain it. Once dried, I paper-pierced the edges. The 'straw' looking bits are unravelled pieces of string, held in place with card candy dots.


My farmer has been coloured with earthy tones of Promarkers, and inked over before paper-piercing.

Do you like my cabbages? I used my Marianne flower dies to make them!! Not your pretty flowers, but |I think they kinda work...?!


So, lots of tearing, lots of ink, crumpling, paper-piercing, roughing up with the edge of my scissors and rubbing with sandpaper...not to mention the old teabag!!! I did have fun but have to admit its not my best creation, or my proudest moment!! I have made a couple of other cards using these techniques, and I have improved a little ;)

If you want to see some superb examples, then head on over to the challenge blog, and see what the other DT members have made...stunning creations that really do put my effort to shame! We really hope you will join us this week.

Don't forget, we currently have a DT call out too, so pop over and leave us some details if you're interested!

I am going to enter a few of challenges:
Thanks so much for visiting me today, here's wishing you a fab Bank Holiday Monday!
Posted by at 19 comments

Thursday, 25 August 2011

I'm a Guest Designer at Michelle Perkett Studios

Hi my friends, today is a special day for me as I am the Guest Designer at Michelle Perkett Studios. It is a bitter-sweet moment if truth be known, as I am their final GD as the challenge blog is closing down, and this week's challenge is their last.

I am really sad to see the end of the challenge blog, but so pleased that Michelle will be continuing to create her wonderful images and selling them in her Etsy shop.

I used the beautiful image called 'Air' one of the elements images to create two different cards...one using soft pastels and the other bold brights. Here they are:

Soft Pastels Card #1 - A Spring Card


I am entering THIS CARD (#1) into the following challenges:


Bold Brights Card #2 (a 6" scalloped square card)
 



My DPs are all freebies from magazines by Pink Petticoat and Kate Knight. I used Promarkers to colour both images, and everything else is from my stash.

This week's final challenge at MPS is 'Thank You' ... I do hope you will be able to join in and bid the mermaids a fond farewell.

I am going to enter THIS CARD (#2) into the following challenges:

Before I go, I'd like to say hello and give a big wave to my latest followers: Crafty Chris and Jemima's Gems (no link that I can find...) Thanks so much for joining me on my crafting journey.
Posted by at 10 comments

Wednesday, 24 August 2011

'Back to School' with the FOR FUN Challenge

** UPDATE **

I WON at Simply Create with my 'Back to School' card! Yay!

Happy Hump-Day everyone! I am at my mum and dad's on the Isle of Wight with my 3 littlies for a few days, catching up with the family.

Just a week and a half left of the holidays, then back to school for mine, and for most if they've not started back already. So, quite appropriately, our theme this week at FOR FUN challenges is:

BACK TO SCHOOL

Our sponsor this week is Digi Doodle Shop with a $10 gift certificate, and the DT have all used images very generously donated by them.

...Here's my card:


Such a beautiful, wistful image, she's called DAYDREAMER and you can find her and loads of other fab images in the Digi Doodles Shop. She is coloured with Promarkers and cut with a labels nestie. I then inked it up a little to fit the vintage-style I was going for.


My sentiment is computer generated , again slightly distressed.


The papers are digis from various sources, which I distressed with my scissors and inks, matted onto an olive green base-card, and teamed with some Kraft card too. I've added some vintage lace and flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts, and some posh pins which I made myself...following a tute by my DT buddy, Leesa.


I also added some detail to the inside, including a fabulous quote: 'The Worth of a Book is to be Measured by what you can Carry Away From it.' (James Bryce.)


I do hope you will join our challenge this week, and don't forget to check out the rest of the DT's inspiration too.

My card was made with the following challenges in mind:
See you there!


Posted by at 14 comments

Monday, 22 August 2011

Baby on the Way!

.......Yikes, NO, not ME !!!! What WERE you thinking!?

I've made this card following the Glitter Geeks sketch this week:
Here's the card:


I chose my fave colour combo, lilac and lemon, and used simple gingham DPs from Pink Petticoat. My image is called Pregnant Emmy from The Digi Stamp Boutique.  I coloured her up with promarkers and popped her on top of a lacey circle nestie cutout.

I added some punched flowers, flat-backed pearls, a die-cut flourish and computer-generated sentiment, using Sunshine Poppy font.
Challenges I'd like to enter:

Lonzo Update:
My little kitty is finding her cage-rest VERY difficult. She climbs and wails and squeezes her head through the gaps at the top of the cage! She is allowed 'time-out' for a cuddle/social development as she is so young, and I have to admit, she has had a lot of 'timeout' for lap-cuddles!!! It's gonna be a looooong few weeks!!!
Posted by at 9 comments

Sunday, 21 August 2011

Shake It On A Sunday !!

** UPDATE **

I made TOP 3 at Crafty Ann's with this card...I'm so chuffed!

Morning folks, it's Sunday (again!) which means time for a brand new Crafty Pad Challenge! We had a mammoth number of entries last week, and it was sooo hard to pick my faves, there were so many! I do hope I have the same 'problem' again this week !!

Our theme this week is to make a
SHAKER CARD
I do LOVE shaker cards, they are so effective! Here's mine.

Our sponsor is once again the very generous Joanna Sheen with a £10 gift voucher to spend in her online shop.

The DT have all chosen their own image from Crafty Pad Designs this week, I chose to use the cupcakes from the Complete Cupcake Set. I used the layer elements for dimension and coloured them with Promarkers. I added a little strawberry to the top of each one, which I cut out from some spare DP.

My papers are all from The Creative Cottage Strawberry Garden collection. Sadly The Creative Cottage closed down in June, so these papers are no longer available. They have been matted onto black card, to give definition.
My sentiment is also from The Crafty Pad Designs, you can get it HERE.
Onto the shaker itself. I cut the shapes using my nesties, and filled it with a selection of tiny flower beads and pearls.

I added some tiny strawberries and gems to the border, and a little gingham bow. My finishing embellies are some Baker's Twine, gingham ribbon, a flower made from the DP and some corners, again made from spare DP.
The DT have made some fab samples yet again this week, and each one of us used something different inside our shaker, so do go and get some inspiration...not forgetting to leave some love of course!

My card was made with the following challenges in mind:
Posted by at 16 comments

Friday, 19 August 2011

BBQ Birthday Card & GOOD NEWS for Kitty!!

Happy Friday folks, and thank goodness it's a bit brighter out there today! I'm here to share a card I made a while back for my nephew's birthday, AND to share some good news about my little kitten, Lonzo!

First, the card.
This fab image is from Nitwits 'All Fired Up' collection. I printed it 3 times and layered sections up to give a real 3D effect.

The DPs are digital, purchased from Cardmaking Downloads, called Gingham Backing Papers, Beach Colours...there are 8 different colours for just £1. I matted and layered them up on matching cardstock, using a layout I made up as I went along! The sentiment was created in Word, and cut with my grommet tags.
I secured it woth some tiny button brads, added a couple more elsewhere on the card, some Baker's Divine Twine and some card candy to complete.

I also decorated the inside using the pieces of DP I had left over.
I made this card with the following challenges in mind:


And NOW....Lonzo!
Firstly, thanks so much for all the kind words and well-wishes, you really are so sweet!
She's home! :D Had a call from the vets, and to cut a long story short, they only got as far as the anaesthetic because she had an adverse reaction and they couldn't do the op! The vet did assure me he was confident the break was stable and will heal quickly as she's a kitten, so sent her home for cage-rest with painkillers. She's not enjoying the cage (understandably) but they were ADAMANT she must stay there, and not climb etc. So, happy to have her home....fingers crossed she heals well.
Posted by at 19 comments

Vintage Style at MPS

Good Evening (or it may well be Good Morning by the time this post gets published as it's close to midnight here!)

I have spent a bit of time over the past couple of weeks having a go at distressing techniques and the vintage look in my cardmaking, and have realised I have a lot to learn!! I googled it and watched numerous videos on You Tube, and my first creation rivalled Frankenstein in HIS creation of a monster if I'm honest...quite gruesome!! It's actually one of my DT cards for an upcoming challenge, so look out for it, you WON'T miss it I can promise you that!

Today I have made another 2 cards, and I must say, I AM improving, especially since I don't have any special tools, (or even any proper distress inks for that matter!) I've used some grotty old ink pads that have seen better days and the blade of my scissors to do the distressing....here's card number 3:


I guess it's hard to see how I've distressed the edges of the DPs and card-mats in the pics, but I really did go to town with the scissors!!!

I made this card with a few challenges in mind, in particular Michelle Perkett Studios who are having a VINTAGE theme this week, AND are also giving away this wonderful image I've used for the card as a FREEBIE too!

I followed the sketch from this week's Cupcake Craft Challenge (see below.)
My DPs are digital, called a Touch of Elegance, and were purchased from ScrapBookingMad. I printed the 'Believe' senti straight onto the DP and coloured the image with Promarkers.

 It is mounted using double layered foam pads for a real 3D effect. I cut some flourishes and added white flat-backed pearls (I always think pearls are kinda 'vintage.')


Some of my fave black gingham ribbon to one of the panels, and added a small Tibetan silver charm using jump-rings to complete.  


I also made my card with the following challenges in mind:

Thanks for looking! I'll be back tomorrow with an update on our little Lonzo!
Posted by at 25 comments

Wednesday, 17 August 2011

Oh What a Day!

Boy oh boy, what a day today turned out to be! My poor little kitten (Lonzo, a silver tabby,) started limping whilst we were away, so as soon as we got back I made an appointment with the vets. Well, to cut a long story short, she has a broken leg, which is further complicated because the break is on the growth plate....I have been from the regular vet to see a specialist, who kept her in and is going to operate tomorrow. So far it's cost me £500, and the op estimate is for £2000  !! OMG, I am so pleased we took out pet insurance (although a large part of today's expenditure won't be covered.) All this tooing and froing with 3 littlies in-tow, (one of whom was my 4 year old son, Noah, who is Autistic, and finds anything out of routine/strange places difficult to handle, so that was no picnic in the park I can tell you!)

We have no idea how she did it, poor little love, but she's still been playful and not off her food. 

So folks, my advice to all you pet-owners out there, is for goodness sake, TAKE OUT PET INSURANCE! You never know when you might need it!

Oh yes, once she is home I've got to keep her cage-rested (in a small dog-cage) for SIX WEEKS!!! Goodness knows how any of us will cope with that!

I'll let you know how she gets on. x
Posted by at 9 comments

Scrap That!!!!

Welcome to Wednesday, already halfway through another week.....the summer hols are just galloping by! :(

The good news is that we have a new challenge over at FOR FUN and a new sponsor too.....I am very excited to announce that we have none other than Sylvia Zet's WEE STAMPS as our sponsor! If you don't know her work, (where have you been!?) you simply MUST go and see it.....you are going to fall in love at first sight!



Our challenge this week is to create a SCRAP PAGE that shows FUN!

The lucky winner will receive 3 digi images of their choice from the Wee Stamps Shop!

Now, if I'm honest, I'm really not a scrapper, in fact I've only ever made cards, but a challenge is a challenge, and as part of the DT I had to rise to that challenge!! Here's what I made:



It's a 12"x12" page of my daughter, Zoe. I chose 4 photos of her, all from fun times over the last couple of years...blowing bubbles in Nanny & Grandad's garden, riding her bike, playing on the beach, and at my sister's wedding. I used nesties and tag grommet dies to cut the shapes. And then, the clever bit! I printed my Wee Stamps images, kindly provided by Sylvia for our challenge, directly onto Safmat (by Letraset.) I also printed the text and some dandelion seed images onto the Safmat too. Cut around the section you want, peel off the backing and apply to wherever you want it! If you look carefully at the image below, you can JUST see the light reflecting off the fairy image next to the photo, but to all intents and purposes, once it's stuck on, it's virtually transparent.

I then added a few paper flowers, some brads, a border down the left hand side (that went on first actually!) and some corner flourishes to complete the page...not bad for a first attempt, even if I do say so myself!!!

So, if I can do it, so can you!! Challenge youself if you're not a scrapper, and if you are, what better excuse to create a new page!

I am going to enter the following challenges:
I do hope you will come and join us at FOR FUN CHALLENGES this week...thanks for looking!
Posted by at 18 comments
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