Bows and Lace

It's been a while since I last wrote on my blog. It's been a busy week or so, what with school finishing and catching up with some card making and craft challenges I've entered.

I've created two cards and for the first time, a set of 3 ATCs. I'm happy with the cards - they are familiar territory - but not entirely convinced about the ATCs, but more about those later.

My first card that I created was for a challenge that was to include lace. love the Shabby Chic style and thought I'd use that style for this card. I used some lace that I recently purchased, which is a lovely cream colour, plus I layered card and paper that coordinated with the lovely bird and nest image I found on some card I was given. I'm pretty pleased with the result.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Fussy and Fancy Friday Challenge #143 Things with Wings 

Inspiration Destination Challenge #43 Anything Goes

Sketch Saturday Challenge #371 with The Paper Shelter 

Suzy Bee's Bloomin Challenge #90 Anything Goes with a Twist - Icecream Shades

My second make is a card for a challenge that the content needed to begin with G. I was limited in time so i chose a lovely image I've not used before. It's from the Gorjuss range, and it's a little decoupage set I was given when i bought some stamp sets. I adore this little girl and this image is just so cute with her bunny. I layered her up - it was a gloomy day so neither of my images came out really bright, but I think you can see enough detail.

I'd like to use this image for the following challenges:

Trimmies Craft Challenge #321 Wish you were here 

Crafty Gals Corner Challenge  #29 To Die For

Book Inspired Challenge

What a week! My son has been unwell and off school since Wednesday - and so close to the end of term too! Been nurse and porter for him for the past three days so not much time for crafting.

I managed to do a little mixed media heart hanging decoration this evening for a challenge in a Facebook group I admin on - Flourishing Crafters. It caters for all different crafts and experience. Novices and professionals alike and everyone in between are welcome. Our latest five day challenge was to create something with the theme of our favourite book. We had some lovely entries and I decided to create something other than a card for a change and went with this.

I used acrylic paint to coat the heart and then layered up with paper and stamped images, die cut pieces and some felt shapes and finally a brad holding a little key. Can you guess what my favourite book is? The stamps I used were Indigoblu's Alice II and the scraps of paper were from Kanban's Mechanica paper pack.

I really enjoyed making this and shall carry on experimenting with different mediums and methods! I hope you like it too.

Elisabeth Bell 'Post Box'

Have had a glorious Saturday here in the south of the UK, and taken advantage of the lovely weather with lots of washing. Spent time outside and the cats have been sunning themselves and then taking shade underneath my chair when they got too hot. I do love our long summer days and it's almost the middle of July already! Another couple of weeks and it'll be school holidays!

Anyway, back to my latest make. This is in fact take two of a previous make that I wasn't 100% happy with, so the backing and sentiment will look rather familiar. I have started collecting Sugar Nellie stamps - as I said in my last post, and adore one of my latest purchases - Post Box by Elisabeth Bell. I was so inspired by it that I decided I'd forego my original image and replace it with her. So here's my latest make. I love the composition of this stamp design and decided my Inktense pencils and water brush would be the best medium to use for colouring it. I added a lovely green ribbon to coordinate with the backing paper and contrast with the pink, and a little quirky bow made from green and white bakers twine. Hope you enjoy! I've done a little close up photo of the girl so you can see the detail. She's so gorgous!

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Elisabeth Bell's World July Challenge - Anything Goes
Penny's Paper Crafty Challenge - #235 Anything Goes 
Inspiration Destination Challenge Blog - #41 Anything Goes

Sugar Nellie in the Pink

 Sugar Bowl Challenge - Sugar Nellie Anything Goes

It's been an overcast Sunday here but still nice and warm. Been a busy one so didn't get around to making a card until late, and I expect it'll be after midnight when I publish this post so will show it to be Monday.

For this card, I wanted to use a colour I don't go for very often - pink! Why? Well, firstly because I have some gorgeous paper I wanted to use, which has pink in it, and also there's a challenge I wanted to enter that was entitled 'Pink and Girlie'. Being neither pink nor particularly girlie, I scratched my head. I have some adorable stamps I recently purchased secondhand I was keen to use, by Sugar Nellie - and intrigued, I looked on the good old net to see what I could find, and came across yet another blog challenge, yaaay! Not that I'm addicted or anything. Shhhh don't tell anyone, but I decided to enter that one too hehehe, so with two requirements in mind - pink and girlie AND it had to be a Sugar Nellie stamp, I came up with the following. Bear in mind it's not my usual style please, but overall I think it's cute. There are a few things I'd change next time, but that's the joy of crafting - enjoyment and learning.

I used a pink card stock base, some gorgeous paper from Jenny Ellory called Parisian Dreams, and the pretty stamp 'Flower Girl' by Sugar Nellie - I believe it's a few years old now but it's new to me and I LOVE it. I embellished with coordinating pink and green flatback pearls, a doillie, pink ribbon and a lovely sentiment that's one of my favourites right now - I decided to stamp it on the same coloured paper and attach with 3d foam pads to add a little dimension.

I'd like to enter this card in to the following challenges:

Inky Impressions Challenges #216 Pink and Girlie

Sugar Bowl Challenge Blog #126 Anything Goes (Sugar Nellie)
Suzy Bee's Blooming Challenge Blog #87 Anything Goes with a Twist - Make it Floral

Let There Be Cake!

 Cute Card Thursday Challenge - We Love Cake!

What another glorious day here in the south of England! Too hot for my cats who have been either in a shady spot in the garden (read in the overgrown grass) or indoors in a cool corner behind the tv. My youngest seems intent to sleep out the day and then venture outside when it gets cooler in the evening. Don't blame her - being black she overheats really quickly and doesn't like the heat one bit.

So - back to card making! Today I put my thinking cap on. Have a few birthdays coming up and also have some inspired blog challenges I wanted to enter so I have come up with the following. It's mostly inspired by one of my favourite things to eat - CAKE! I recently bought some lovely cupcake themed papers, brads, and stamps, but it didn't sit right so I had a think and came up with this cute topper inherited by a lovely friend. I wanted to get it bright and summery and so used a variety of papers and matched the colours when colouring the images with my Promarkers.

And here it is - very cute and quirky I think. Instead of using 3d foam pads or matting the sentiment, I used one of the lovely oversized brads I received in my pack to attach it.

I'd like to enter this card into the following blogs::

Cute Card Thursday #380 We Love Cake

I Love Promarkers #276 Summer

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday - We're Gong Dotty

Crafty Gals Inspiration Corner #26 Shades of Yellow

100% Stamping - Nature Inspired

 Virginia's Views Challenge

It's a glorious day here, has been in fact for the past few days. Extremely hot - almost too hot but don't like to complain about such glorious weather!  In fact, it has inspired my latest make - oh and my extremely unkempt front lawn - I like to call it a wildlife haven and that's the excuse I'm sticking with.

So - for this card I used 100% stamps. Every single image was stamped with inks being applied to certain parts of the stamp to build up colour. I'm especially happy with my dragonfly which came out amazingly well first time. I love the colours on his wings.

I'd like to enter this card into the following blog challenges:

Virginia's Views Challenge #16 100% Stamped
Craft Stamper Magazine - July Challenge - Take a Stamp Anything Goes

Penny's Paper Crafty Challenge Blog #234 Anything Goes

Inspiration Destination Challenge Blog  #40 Anything Goes
Wednesdays Creative Inspiration Blog #320 Anything Goes

Napkin Fold Card

 Flourishing Crafters Challenge

I created this card for a Facebook challenge and we were tasked with making a Napkin Fold card. I'd never made one before and had to alter the sizings as didn't have any 12x12 card, only A3 as largest. It turned out okay, a few things I'd change when I make one again - and I will, as it's fun to do and surprisingly easy as well! So here it is - my attempt at a napkin fold card. The inside has been left purposefully blank at the moment so that the right sentiment can be put in once I know who to send it to. Enjoy!

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges

Allsorts Challenge Blog Week 317  - Blue as the Ocean

Inspiration Destination Challenge Blog - Anything Goes Challenge #39
Cute Card Thursday - Challenge 379 - Stars and/or Stripes 

https://plus.google.com/+SimonsCat/about

My favourite animated cat of the moment has to be Simon's Cat. He reminds me a lot of my eldest cat, Mischief (or Mizzy Moo as he is known). Here are links to a couple of my all-time favourites. He captures cats personalities so well, I think.

Butterflies!

April Showers