Spring is in the air!

Hello bloggers,


have you missed me?? *lol* I have been away to visit my parents and an aunt who celebrated her 80th birthday last week. It was a very busy week for me with lots of travelling, organising etc. but fun, too!  I got to see my parents which was lovely and my mum spoilt me rotten. She cooked my favourite foods, took me shopping and eating ice cream! 
But now it's time to go back to "work" and show you a couple of cards I did. Spring has come to this part of England, everywhere there are flowers and colours and lovely smells so I couldn't resist to use these images from Ruth's new release of digis.
Tulips being my favourite flower it was easy to decide to go for that one and I love the look of the Hyacinth as well so had to make a card with that one, too.

The paper I used is by Papermania, as is the ribbon. I paperpieced the blossoms witha  Basic Grey paper (Eva collection) and shaded with Copics. The rest is coloured with Copics as well. Pearls are by SU and I used a Fiskars punch on the tulip card and a MS punch (butterfly) on the Hyacinth card as well as a scalloped border die by PTI. Sentiments are both by PTI.


I am entering into these challenges:
Totally Gorjuss - Challenge 73: Spring has sprung
Prairie Fairy Friday - Oh so spring
Sew many challenges - Challenge 48: Spring fling
Stamp Something - Spring
Creative Stamp Friends - Spring
Stamps R Us - Celebrate spring
Creative Inspirations Paint - Inspired by Flowers

Really quick birthday set...

Hi there bloggers!
Yesterday my little one was invited to a birthday party and although I did get the presents in the morning, I had other things on so I only had about 45 minutes to make a card and wrap the presents.
A bit of a challenge but it worked out fine I think as I made the card in super-speedy 10 minutes and made gift tags to match in a few minutes as well which left me with a good 20 minutes to wrap the presents and grab my kids to head off *lol* 

I used the Mat stack one die as well as the By the Numbers die from PTI, the star punches are Fiskars and SU, the large oval is a punch by SU. Papers are Papermania Capsule Collection Blueberry Pie and I used some ribbon from my stash. Stamps are by PTI, Big Birthday wishes and Border and Corners Ovals. 

As I said, it was very quick, but not too bad, what do you think?

Spring-time!!

Hello bloggers,


Ruth from A Passion for Stamps has got a few new digis out and I couldn't resist this lovely snowdrop image from her spring flowers release. It just is beautiful!

I used a plain white card base that I embossed with polka dots (Papermania embossing folder) and then just coloured the images with Copics and decoupaged some of the petals to give it dimension on the card. I raised the panel with foam dots and added some detail with piercing an edge around the panel. The ribbon is from Stampin' up, as is the sentiment. 
Here is another view so you can see the dimension a bit better:

As I also wanted to play with my new PTI goodies I thought a little bag with those snowdrops would be nice, so I made this:

I printed the snowdrops and coloured them, then cut out with my new mat stack die. I put another SU stamped sentiment on and adhered it to the front of the Favor-it box (also PTI).
Here is the back, where I used my new blooms dies from PTI:

I am entering this into the following challenges:
Papertake weekly - Anything goes
Paper Romance Challenges - Anything goes
Guylous Inimitability - Anything goes
Fun at Fairy Knoll - Feeling a little green
Little Claires Designs - Anything goes
Sentimental Sundays - Anything goes
Dream Valley Challenge - Anything goes
Woodware USA Clear Stamps - Anything goes
House of Gilli - Use green
One Stop Craft Challenge - Spring flowers


I feel like I am cheating a bit with all these "anything goes" challenges, but what the heck *lol*

Purple Iris!

Hi, it's me again,

Ruth has designed some lovely new flowers for A Passion for stamps again this month and this iris is my favourite. I used the sketch on Truly S

crumptious challenge blog to make this card, the image is coloured with Copics and the background is airbrushed. Sentiment is PTI again, papers are Papermania Capsule Collection.

I enter this card into the following challenges:

truly scrumptious - sketch (optional oldie stamp, obviously didn't do that...)

creative inspirations - anything goes

Cute card thursday - whateva

Hope you like this card, I think I am in love with that iris... so gorgeous! Thanks for looking and any comments you want to leave!

Quick cards...

Hello fellow bloggers,

I am a little miserable old mum at the moment because I don't get enough crafty time at all lately. I have had the odd half an hour here and there, but nothing "proper" for about two weeks now! Scandal, don't you think?

Well, as I still had to do some swaps and a birthday card to make, they all had to be quickies. I am usually rather not that fond of my quick cards, but some of these turned out better than I expected, considering none of these cards took longer than 45 minutes to make. I hope you agree ;-)

This first card is a birthday card for a friend of my husband. I've met him and he's a very nice guy, so I made him this. It only took 20 minutes, which I'm rather pleased with. I forgot to take a picture of the inside, where I stamped another sentiment in, but it's gone now...

Papers are Basic Grey Archaic, SU linen thread and star punch, Fiskars medium star punch, metal button from stash and sentiment(s) are PTI - Signature Greetings.

This next one is for a very nice lady in Germany that I "met" on a cricut yahoo group. Unfortunately the picture isn't that great, it doesn't show the glaze on parts of the focal image nor the pearlised cardstock or glitterpaper. Hope you still like it and that Ingrid does, too!

Not much I can say about supplies on this as image was donated and I haven't got a make, glitterpaper and pearlised cardstock are from PDA cards and crafts (I think...), I used a Martha Stewart punch set for the rings, Copics for colouring and Diamond Glaze on top, sentiment is from Whiff of Joy and Ribbon I found in the Range, no brand that I can detect, sorry!

This card didn't photograph too well, the base card is actually a leather textured black card with red/pinkish (Mica?) shimmer on it. It was made entirely from scraps and I am rather pleased with the outcome, although it looks better in real life.

The paper I used is Papermania Chatsworth Collection, Ribbon is very old stash, I used a MS border punch and Butterfly punch and a butterfly cutout made with my cricut that I glittered with Stickles. Sentiment is again from PTI - Signature Greetings and I added a couple of heart shaped gems for interest.

This next card was made to fit with the floral challenge on DoCrafts at the moment, which said to focus on a sentiment and put flowers on opposite corners of it. I think this fits the bill.

Paper is Papermania Chatsworth Collection, sentiment from My Sentiments exactly, placed on a cricut cut out. Flowers are from stash and I added some ivory and cappuccino coloured half pearls in the flower centers and around the card. The ribbon is recycled from a T-Shirt...

I liked the feel of those colours and made another card in a similar style but still different.

No flowers this time but some nice little birdies.

Papers are again Papermania Chatsworth Collection, sentiment is from PTI set "Out on a Limb Sentiments" on a cricut cutout that I threaded some more recycled ribbon through. The birds on branches are from an SU punch.

Mo's DT spot Challenge - Sketch

Hello fellow bloggers,

before I will post my entry for the challenge on Mos DT blog, where I am sooo hoping to win a guest DT spot, I want to tell you how much I love her images and how much fun I had to colour them. I did the tantrum one on Saturday sitting next to my dear friends Lesley and Julie while chatting, laughing and generally having a great time! I'll tell you more about that in the next post where you'll also be able to see the lovely gift Julie made for me.

Now on to my challenge cards. I actually made two as the sketch is a really good one and there is an abundance of gorgeous images to choose from. I used Tabitha fairy for the one and "Two Tasha" for the other one. Love them to bits.

First off Tasha and her Tantrum:

Isn't she cute even with that tantrum? I used a Hero Arts sentiment, Papermania papers from the red hot capsule collection, pink and white cardstock and some scrap papers from Lesleys stash for the leaves. Tools I used were a flower punch (sorry, don't know the brand) to make the roses, leaves punch by McGill I think (Lesleys stash again...) and a Martha Stewart border punch. I added some pearls for added bling and edged all my papers with Distress Ink by Tim Holtz in Victorian Velvet. The image is coloured with Copic Markers and I added a bit of sparkle on her Tiara with a Sakura Stardust pen in clear.

Hope you like her as much as I do!

Right, next up is Tabitha, the bubble blowing fairy. I have to admit I struggeled a bit with her skin colour as I never done such a dark skin tone before, but it's not too bad I hope.

The sentiment is from Papertreyink, butterfly s a MS punch again, I also used the MS border punch again. Papers on this are Basic Grey Wisteria range (love them!) and I used some organza ribbon with added gemstones, also some gems on the butterfly body. I used my trusty copics for colouring and also added some depth to the butterfly punch-out with markers.

I know it doesn't show but the veins of Tabithas wings are glittered with copic spica pens in clear and I added glossy accents to the bubbles and her little bottle.

That's it from me for now, I will be back later tonight though with more from my meet with Lesley and Julie and also the start of my big craft clear out sale!

Some quick cards and a box

Hello everyone,
no I haven't vanished from the face of this earth... We are in the last stages of planing for our loft extension and due to start building in 2 weeks time, so life is hectic in our household.
So I keep this short an sweet... I have a few cards to share that were made with the new Papermania kit in black and teal .

Also a card made for the Magnolia challenge over on DC which was to use yellow and pinks and a bit of sparkle.

The box is inspired by Lauren Meader who designs for PTI and I love her work.

I saw her new template and as it will only be available from tomorrow (15th May) and I thought it looked pretty easy to put together I had a fiddle on the computer and made my own template. Lo and behold, it works perfectly. Happy bunny :-) I made the pretty floral paper with a PTI stamp set as well. I stamped in 2 colours onto pearlized blueish paper and edged with the same ink and a sponge.
Thanks for stopping by and hope you enjoyed the visit!

Magnolia vs Stampavie, first time for me...

I made a card today for the 80th birthday of a gentleman in the USA... I thought the sketch for this challenge was quite nice for this. I am not sure now if I really like it, though... It is all black and white with silver apart from a bit of yellow thrown in for the stamped image and the kraft cardstock. 


"Magnolia vs Stampavie sketch challenge"
Card recipe:
Paper: Dovecraft Charcoal prints
Inks: Versafine (Onyx Black), Distress Ink (Vintage Photo, Mustard Yellow, Tatterd Rose, Black Soot ), Brilliance Starlight Black 
Stamps: Waiter Edwin from Magnolia 
Other: Ribbon from a christmas cracker decoration, Ranger Glossy accents, Papermania brads, Nestabilities curved rectangles, Nestabilities double ended tags, computergenerated sentiment, big button cut off an old cardigan, kraft cardstock (PTI)

Ooops, just noticed that it had to be a Thank You card to be able to enter it... Oh, well, never mind!

Busy, busy, busy day!!!

Hello everyone! I have not had the chance to do much crafting lately but yesterday I had an amazingly fruitful day!! I made 11 christmas cards! Yes, that's right, 11!!! They were all quickies (obviously) but I am still quite pleased with most of them. 

I also included one I did the other day and that I hadn't had a chance to upload yet. Thought it wouldn't make much difference if I bombard you with 11 or 12 cards *lol* 

This first one is with a stamp by Rachel Ann Miller that I got in a swap, I think it's a really cheery image! Coulered with copics, matted onto coredinations cardstock with an edge punched with a Martha Stewart scallopped border punch. I punched a circle as well and heat embossed the sentiment (my own stamp design) with white embossing powder and adhered with brads. Backing paper is Basic Grey Figgy Pudding, ribbon from stash. The base card is inked around the edges a bit to tie in better.

This next one is with a german sentiment, as I need to make a few for my relatives and friends in germany as well... The image is from a swap again and coloured in copics with some diluted stardust sakura over the ice and then glossed afterwards. CB embossed pearlised card as a mat, layered onto some Papermania christmas paper with a bit of ribbon wrapped around. I lifted the image with foam pads.

This Tilda card is with one of the new Tilda stamps from the winter club. She is coloured with Distress inks, cut out and layered onto CB embossed pearlised blue paper and Papermania Christmas paper. I added a border (Martha Stewart zig zag punch) on the top, matted the sentiment (foiled, from a fellow do crafter, the lovely Christina!) onto the embossed blue paper, too and added a sheer ribbon bow. Not one of my favourite cards...

The next one is one of the quickest and simplest, but also one of my favourites. I like simple cards... (so why don't I do them more often????)

The main focus is a CB embossed panel of coredinations cardstock that I sanded down a bit for the embossing to show better. I stamped the sentiment (my own stamp again) onto cream cardstock, matted onto coredinations again and then onto some printed vellum. I mounted it on top of a simple tied ribbon from my stash.

The next 3 cards are made with a stamp I only got yesterday morning, it is from autumn leaves and I stamped it in different colours and played around with some coredinations cardstock and Papermania christmas papers.  All the other bits are pretty self-explanatory, but if you see  something that you would like to know what it is or what I did, just ask!

Another of my new Magnolia winter stamp club images: I coloured it with Distress ikns, cut it out (fiddly!) and layered onto a bit of 'ice' made from pearlised, CB embossed paper on top of Papermania christmas paper. Added foild setiment (edges inked with chalk ink) a glittered felt snowflake and .. presto!

I think the one with "Lizzie with choc box" would have needed a bolder sentiment, the one I used is somehow lost on the card, but for a quickie not too bad, I guess...

Lizzie was from a swap, coloured with copics, edges inked and layered with Basic Grey Wassail papers (one bit punched with doily punch and inked). Added ribbon from stash, a snowflake brad, sentiment is from PTI .

The image in this one is from a swap again. Coloured with copics and snow writer added to the snowflakes. Matted and layered with coredinations card and Wassail papers, sentiment my own stamp and a glittered felt snowflake added.

This one is a stamp called "Lizzie with muff" from Whiff of Joy and I got it from a swap. she is coloured with copics and layered onto papers I got in a swap as well. Added 3 snowflakes and a WoJ sentiment.

I also got this lovely image (High Hopes I think) in a swap and coloured it with copics and added white glitter for the beard and trim. Layered onto Wassail papers from Basic /grey again, ribbon from stash and own sentiment stamp again. Quick and simple. One of my favs.

I would love to hear which ones you think is the best/your favourite!

I had also done this weeks Magnolia challenge over at the do crafts forum, which was a holiday theme and to use 2 colours, two embellishments and something you don't usually use in papercrafts.

I chose relaxing Tilda, as I really like her and she seemed to be the right choice for the theme. My colours are pink and green, two buttons for embellishments and the unusual item is a paper cake doily. Coloured her with copics and added some stickles to the flowers and her hairbands. Cut her out with oval plain nestie and inked the edges with pink chalk ink. The papers I was given by someone so I don't know the make, sorry... I used my new Martha Stewart doily punch and some coredinations cardstock and the sentiment is my own stamp.

Thanks for stopping by and come and visit again!