Cute Card Thursday Challenge & Our Creative Corner Challenge

So I've finally been able to join in some challenges- yay! This card is for both Cute Card Thursday Challenge and Our Creative Corner Challenge.

Cute Card Thursday Challenge is to use the colour lilac and Our Creative Corner is to use the above sketch.

So here is my entry. I used this gorgeous Pink Petticoat image which I recently bought from them. I coloured it with watercolour pencils and added Crystal Stickles around the image and added lilac Liquid Pearls to the present. I then mounted on cardstock and used various lilac/purpley papers (sorry, don't know where they're from). The sentiment is a Pink Petticoat one- I love this funky font! I added this lovely flower sentiment which I've recycled. Finally I added lilac ribbon and some hot fix crystals.

Emma at Sassy Crafts sent me this wonderful package as my prize for winning last week's Friday Sketchers challenge. I was so pleased with it, I thought I was just getting the Sarah Kay stamp which would've been fab on its own so am a very happy bunny!! Thanks to Sassy Crafts & all at Friday Sketchers x

Lili of the Valley Challenge 10

This week's challenge over at Lili of the Valley is "Sprinkle and sparkle" so this is my card for my DT responsibilities. The winner will get to be a guest designer for 2 weeks so get crafting for such a fab prize!!!

I've been itching to use this cute LOTV mermaid stamp so this seemed like the perfect opportunity. I coloured in the image with copics and covered her tail in my trusty Crystal Stickles and added a tiny gem on her necklace. I then experimented a little (luckily it worked first time) as I wanted to create a lovely glittery sea with lots of different colours in it rather than just have one colour of card. To do this I basically cute out a scalloped circle with my nesties and then coloured it with 4 or 5 different blue/green copics. I then patted it with clear Versamark ink pad and embossed it with clear glitter embossing powder. I repeated this twice more so it gave this lovely glittery sea but so that you could still see all the changing colours of the sea beneath it. Hope you like it! I then mounted on some green/blue Bazzill card cut with my nesties and then made a base card using my nesties. It's the first time I've done that but I wanted the card to look like a scalloped shell like she has as her bikini. I finished it off with a ribbon and a seahorse button from my stash.

Crafty stash used: Stamp (Lili of the Valley); Copics; Crystal Stickles; Assorted cardstock; Nesties; Ribbon (recycled); Button (?); Versamark embossing pad; Clear glitter embossing powder; Gem (recycled)

I'm hoping to enter some challenges towards the end of the week. I haven't done any cardmaking for over a week (I made this card a week ago!) as I've been doing a painting for my watercolour class in my spare time and I'm getting withdrawal symptoms! I may post my painting on here if it turns out vaguely OK!

Cupcake Craft Challenge 15

This week's Cupcake Craft Challenge theme is "Cakes and sweets" set by Sarah. As usual you can create anything you like as long as it follows the theme. Do check out the other DT members' creations and we have a new entry system too! Enjoy!

This is the card I made for my DT responsibilities. I coloured in the Penny Black image with a mixture of copics and brush markers and highlighted a few areas with Crystal Stickles. I then cut her out and mounted her on some layered card which I'd already decorated with Stickles and some sticky ribbon. The papers I've used were from a kit from Papermania. I used my nesties to cut the circles to which I then added a flower and brad. The little cake stickers were also from the Papermania kit. I finished with a sheer pink ribbon.

Crafty stash used: Stamp (Penny Black); Copics; Brush markers; Crystal Stickles; Paper (Papermania); Nesties; Assorted cardstock; Stickers & sticky ribbon (Papermania); Ribbon (Joanna Sheen); Flower (Ebay); Brad (Woodware)

New crafty stash and an award!

Just thought I'd show you my new crafty stash I bought last week- a bit naughty as it's my birthday in a couple of weeks but I fancied cheering myself up so I bought these! They're all 12"x12" papers and matching card from American Crafts. I've been longing to get some of their paper for ages as it's all so bright and striking- can't wait to get started on using them x
Plus I have received this award from the lovely June.

This award states that:

This blog invests and believes the PROXIMITY- nearness in space, time and relationships

These blogs are exceedingly charming

These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends

They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement

Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated

Please give more attention to these writers 

Deliver this award to 8 bloggers who may then pass it on. I'm going to pass on this award to 8 lovely bloggers who inspire me and who are always friendly, encouraging and sharing. Enjoy ladies, you deserve it! xx

June, Fi, Linda, Louise, Natalie, Val, Chris

Terrie

Cute Card Thursday Challenge

The challenge over at Cute Card Thursday this week is snow or snowflakes which is pretty easy at this time of the year so I knocked this small one up quickly. I coloured in my Penny Black image with copics and then to add a 3D element to the card I used my Snow writer to add snow in all the relevant places. When this was dry, I added Crystal Stickles to the snow to make it glisten. I then mounted to some red mirror board. The background paper is the Christmas stack from DCWV. The sentiment is PC generated and I finished off with some brads and gems.

Crafty stash used: Stamp (Penny Black); Paper- Christmas stack (DCWV); Assorted cardstock; Mirror board; Copics; Snow writer; Brads (Lakeland); Stickles (Ranger); Gems (Lakeland); Sentiment- PC generated

Lili of the Valley Challenge 9

This week's challenge at Lili of the Valley is "Our 4 legged friends"- so basically any animal you want! The prize is a fantastic set of Baby diecuts and matching papers so what are you waiting for?!

I decided to use the lovely paw print paper from Lili of the Valley which I mounted on beige card. Using my nesties I cut a whole in the card blank to make an apeture. The cute doggie and paw print embellishment are both Quickutz dies I bought on Ebay which I think go really well with this paper. The sentiment is from the Lili of the Valley Neutral Sentiments. I finished it off with some gingham ribbon.

Crafty stash used: Paper (Lili of the Valley); Sentiment (Lili of the Valley); Assorted cardstock; Quickutz dies (Ebay); Ribbon (Jo'Anns); Nesties

Cupcake Craft Challenge 14

Today's Cupcake Craft Challenge is a sketch set by Rosette which I think is fab. But, it's not only the sketch, there are also a few guidelines to follow as well. The first was that there has to be brown within the sketch somewhere and it must feature a scalloped edge. You can also add a sentiment if you wish and this can go anywhere within the sketch. As usual, you can reverse or flip the sketch so long as the original can be seen.

I really enjoyed doing this sketch and have made a card along similar lines to the one I did on Friday. Another Stamping Bella image (I looooove these!) coloured in with watercolour pencils. The 4 papers are from the Papermania Brights set, as is the sentiment. I inked the edges of all the papers with Vintage ink to tie them all in together. Finally I added a couple of flowers, a pink brad and some champagne hot fix crystals. I confess I did forget about the scalloped edge so I added some scalloped sticky ribbon at the last minute!

Crafty stash used: Stamp (Stamping Bella); Watercolour pencils; Paper (Papermania); Vintage Photo ink (Ranger); Sentiment & sticky ribbon (Papermania); Brad (Woodware); Flowers (Lakeland & Ebay); Hot fix crystals (London Bead Co)

Friday Sketchers Challenge

This is my first entry for the Friday Sketchers Challenge. This sketch is no. 28 and has been designed by Mumur from France.

So here is my entry. The image is Stamping Bella which I coloured with watercolour pencils. All the papers were in a Papermania set called Retro, as were the little flower embellishments and the sentiment. I added gems onto the flowers and on the small flowers I mounted the stickers on card and then cut them out so they popped a little more. I inked all the papers with Vintage Photo ink just to make them tie together and to give a little distressed look.

Crafty stash used: Stamp (Stamping Bella); Papers (Papermania); Embellishments (Papermania); Sentiment (Papermania); Gems (Lakeland); Ink (Ranger)

Lili of the Valley Challenge 8

This week's sketch over at Lili of the Valley is this fabulous sketch set by Donalda. Do pop over and have a look at all the Design Team's work- as usual it's amazing! The prize this week is to be a guest designer and as the winner is chosen by random generator, everyone's got an equal chance of winning so even if you're a beginner, do please join in!

So here is my entry for my DT responsibilities. I used the LOTV stamp Polar Bear-For You which I coloured in with copics. I then added some Crystal Stickles onto the main part of the present to make it sparkle. I cut out the circle using my nesties and mounted to some pearlescent dark blue card and then some mirror board. The various papers are all from LOTV. The sentiment is stamped using my Christmas See D's set and embossed using Glitter embossing powder. I then sponged on the same colour ink plus white ink over the top. The lovely snowflake embellishments are recycled from an old Christmas card.

Crafty stash used: Stamps (LOTV & See D's); Copics; Glitter embossing powder & inks; Assorted cardstock; Papers (LOTV); Crystal Stickles; Embellishments (recycled); Nesties

More blog candy!

Just spotted some great blog candy over at Fran's blog.  She's celebrating her 1 year anniversary- I can't believe how many hits she's had as well!!! Congratulations, Fran!

The offer is open until Sunday 16th November. 

Blog candy and awards

Second post of the day and I just have to say HOW MISERABLE A DAY IS IT????!!!! It's been pouring with rain for the last god knows how many hours!!  Anyway, moan over!! My lovely friend Fi is giving away some fab blog candy so pop over and check it out! Winner will be announced on 18th November.

Denise has tagged me- thanks Denise! I haven't had this particular tag before so I thought I'd give it a go and answer the questions.

THINGS I LOVE

1. My husband, family and friends- nothing in the world more important!!!

2. Crafting and blogging!!!!

3. Laughing

4. Dancing

5. Yoga

THINGS I DON'T LOVE

1. CFS/ME 

2. Arrogant/selfish/thoughtless people

3. Rainy days

4. Baked beans ewww!!!

5. TV progs designed to humiliate people

MUSIC ON MY IPOD

1. George Michael

2. Madonna

3. Take That

4. U2

5. Justin Timberlake

FAV FOOD AND DRINK

1. Water- believe it or not, it's my favourite drink!

2. Red wine

3. Chocolate digestives- well anything with chocolate to be honest

4. Pasta

5. Salmon

Now I know I'm meant to pass this on but I like to be free and easy :0) so if anyone chooses to pick it up from my blog, then leave a comment so we can find out your likes/dislikes x

Finally, I'm so chuffed that June has given me this award. Coming from June it's a huge compliment as I absolutely adore her crafts because they're more arty and are very different to alot of blogs out there. She's inspiring me so much to get into doing ATCs, I can't wait to get started! I've already been thinking of ideas for series of ATCs so watch this space!! But not only has June given it to me but also Jackie!!! Now Jackie totally wowed me over with photos of her craft room (see the bottom of her blog), I thought I was lucky!!... I love Jackie's blog because she makes all different types of crafts, not just cards and I especially lurve her candles, so much so that I'm going to give them a go myself, I think they'd make great presents. So thank you ladies!

I'd like to dedicate this award to all my lovely followers, so please do grab it and pop it on your blog. You constantly inspire me and make me want to stretch my imagination and the techniques I use. Thank you! x

Cupcake Craft Challenge 13

Hi. This week's Cupcake Craft Challenge is "Spots and dots" and we have a wonderful Christmas CD as a prize so why not have a go? This is the card I made for my DT responsibilities. It's for my friend's little boy who's 3 next month.

So I went really overboard on the spots and dots- tee hee! The polka dot paper is from the All Dressed Up DCWV stack and the other retro looking spotty paper I think is Artic Frog which I bought from Banana Frog. I coloured in this cute little stamp from Spiral Whisper and layered him in front of two circles, the upper one I ran through my Swiss dots embossing folder. The sentiment at the bottom is from Lili of the Valley. I then stamped out his name using my new Paper Studio alphabet stamps and cut them out using my nesties.

Hope you like- I think he's cuuuute! x

Crafty stash used: Stamps (Spiral Whisper & Paper Studio); Copics; Paper- All Dressed Up stack (DCWV) & Artic Frog; Assorted cardstock; Sentiment (LOTV); Swiss dots embossing folder; Nesties;

Snowmen!

I've been making some more Christmas cards. I made these quite a while ago but haven't had a chance to post yet. I've nearly made all my cards now which is good cos now I'm starting to think about little pressies to make! 

So for this card I used my Penny Black stamp which was one of the first stamps I bought and I've used it loads! I coloured the image with copics and layered up with assorted cardstock and paper from the DCWV Christmas stack.  The sentiment is from the Elzybells Messages sheet of stamps and the flowers I bought off Ebay.

Crafty stash used: Stamps (Penny Black, Elzybells); Copics; Paper- Christmas stack (DCWV); Assorted cardstock; Ribbon (Recycled); Gems (Lakeland)

A variation on a theme-this time with lilac. The paper was in a set I got from my husband last Christmas so I don't know who it's by. The flowers in this case were from Lakeland who I just can't believe aren't doing craft stuff anymore!!!

Crafty stash used: Stamps (Penny Black, Elzybells); Copics; Assorted cardstock; Paper (?); Flowers (Lakeland); Button (recycled); Gems (Lakeland)

This little cute snowman was an image I had so I coloured up with copics. The paper is Dovecraft including the little stripey piece. The flower is from Ebay.

Crafty stash used: Stamps (Penny Black, Elzybells); paper (Dovecraft); Flower (Ebay); Gems (Lakeland)

Lili of the Valley Challenge 7

This week's challenge over at Lili of the Valley is to make a card for a teenager which we all know is pretty difficult- especially for boys! The prize is a fantastic LOTV Jasmine stamp- I have it and it's sooo useful!

So here is the card I made for my DT responsibilities. I kind of based the design on a card I'd seen over at Kitty's Krafty Corner (thanks, Kitty) which used background paper in this way. I used LOTV Oliver- text stamp and coloured it in with my copics. I then made several different circles using my nesties to provide a background for him to sit on. The light blue one I doodled on. The background papers are from LOTV as is the sentiment. I then computer generated "cool dude!" and made a little tag out of it.

Crafty stash used: Stamp (LOTV); Paper (LOTV); Sentiment (LOTV); Assorted cardstock; Nesties; Copics; Eyelet (Papermania); Ribbon (recycled); Black fine liner

New craft room!

Hi! Well I've cut the ribbon on my new crafting corner and now announce it officially open so here it is!! Hope you like it! This first photo (above) shows the spare room as it was used before ie basically as a dumping ground for everything- including some of my craft stash!

And here it is all shiny and new! The desk, bookcase, stamp storage, desk tidy and magazine boxes were all from Ikea. The purple trolley was from Argos. If you click on the photo, you can see I have labelled everything in more detail to show you how everything is organised:

1- Up here I store my craft tote for when I go to my local craft club and the most recent cards I've made

2- Storage jars

3- Craft books

4- Files

5- Magazine box containing cards I've made

6- Big Shot- this space is actually big enough for me to use the Big Shot actually on the bookcase

7- Files

8- Storage for colouring and various craft mats 

9- Sentiments including rub-ons & stamped images

10- Various tins containing Stickles & glitter; Liquid Pearls; Pearl Ex & Alcohol inks; Friendly Plastic; shells & wire

11- Magazine box containing Sizzix dies, embossing folders and nesties

12- Beading boxes (I don't use these as much)

13- Xyron machine 

14- Magazine box containing ribbons stored by colour in self seal bags 

15- Embellishments

16- Embellishments

17- Magazine box containing felt, sewing bits, odd material scraps (I don't use these much)

18- Painting & beading caddies (I go to a painting class & sometimes take beading stuff to my craft group)

19- Card

20- Paper

21- Desk tidy

22- Stamp storage

23- Storage containing punches, card blanks & less well used tools eg light box

These storage jars are from Ikea and are a lovely way to store my flower and buttons.

This is the top left corner of my bookcase which I thought I'd do more of a close-up photo so you could see everything in more detail.

1- Craft books. Hopefully you can see I've got books on everything from watercolour painting, beading, stamping,  felting to drawing and art journalling

2- Files containing articles I've saved from magazines, card sketches, templates etc

3- Files containing magazines I want to keep indefinately eg Stampers Sampler, Craft Stamper & some beading  supplements plus my order book

4- Here I store my colouring equipment. In the box is less well used stuff like pastel pencils, sketching pens, felt tips  etc. Then for easy access I store my copics, brush markers and watercolour pencils on top so they're ready to hand. I  also store my craft mats here so I can get to them easily. I always use my Ranger craft mat to craft on.

These next 2 photos show my embellishment drawers which are on the right hand side of the bookcase. The top drawer contains caddies with gems, eyelets, sequins, brads, hot fix crystals & my hot fix crystal applicator.

This lower drawer shows other embellishments like chipboard letters and stick-on embellishments etc.

Here is how I store my card and paper. I have a Papermania storage file for both. Then on the left hand side you can see I have 2 separate boxes for card and paper scraps and there is also some chipboard stored. I tend to store 12 x 12" paper pads whole initially rather than split them up and the other plastic box on the right is for handmade paper.

Here is my desk tidy which I absolutely love to bits. Originally I was going to get one from Betterware which was much smaller with drawers but this is absolutely perfect! At the back there are compartments for all my cuttings tools; all adhesives eg pritt stick, PVA, Glossy Accents, beading glue, glue pens; and other tools eg bone folder, eyelet tools, embossing pens, files. The next row in front holds stationery bits and glue dots, sticky pads, cocktail sticks etc. The bit at the front is really big and enables me to store projects I'm currently working on plus things I'm thinking about eg something I've seen in a magazine or a book review I've seen. To the right you can see I've got a couple of pots on my desk which hold my paint brushes & stationery. I also usually have an old jam jar on there as well for holding water for painting.

So here is a close-up of my stamp storage. I absolutely love this unit because it's on wheels and because the drawers are wide but not very deep, so it's like it was made for stampers! I wanted plenty of space to expand as I'm going to be getting alot of stamps for my birthday and Christmas so it needs to have all that extra space- tee hee!! The top drawer contains my A3 sketch and paintings pads but the rest is all for stamps starting with a drawer for sentiments and alphabet stamps.

This is my cute drawer containing Lili of the Valley, Inkadinkado, Spiral Whisper, Elzybells, Sarah Kay and, of course, Penny Black

This drawer contains contemporary style stamps eg Stampendous, Pink Cat Studio, Stamp Addicts, Banana Frog etc.

This drawer contains my vintage/arty style stamps eg Crafty Individuals, Stampsmith, Stampington etc.

This drawer contains all my stamping tools eg ink pads, embossing folders, acrylic blocks, heat gun, cleaning stuff, stipple brush & brayer, shrink plastic & Kling-on.

So this is my little crafting world! I do hope you like it! I love to see other people's crafting spaces so if you feel like putting a post on your blog with some photos, I'd love to see them! x

Cupcake Craft Challenge 12

Hi. This week's Cupcake Craft Challenge Week 12 has been provided by Jilly and is an inspirational one based on the photo above. I haven't done anything like this before but I really enjoyed it! Thanks, Jilly!

So I decided to make an ATC inspired by all the lovely colours in the photo. I really hope you can see the lovely sheen of colours behind the acetate, I'm not sure the photo captures it well enough.

Here's how I made it: I stamped part of the Stampington stamp onto acetate using Staz-on and left aside. When it was dry I used a technique I saw in Craft Stamper to create this lovely effect on the other side of the acetate. I puddled Klear polish onto the acetate and swirled it around a bit, then I added Wild Plum alcohol ink and gold Pearl Ex and swirled around more. Then I laid onto the acetate some scrunched up tissue paper to absorb all the liquid but made sure all the tissue paper is wet. Then I left to dry for several hours. I then made an ATC blank using gorgeous pink mirror card and laid some yellow and blue scraps on top. Finally I cut down the acetate to size, stuck it on the blank using Spray Mount and added a flower gem.

Crafty stash used: Stamp (Stampington); Acetate; Tissue paper; Alcohol ink (Ranger); Pearl Ex; Klear polish; Assorted cardstock; Gem (Joanna Sheen)