Less is More #17 - Pick a square

Good evening fellow crafters ,

First of all I'd like to say Thank you again to Chrissie and Mandi for choosing my butterfly card for the spot prize last week , I can't believe mine was picked from all the excellent entries ..... I was thrilled to bits :)

..... and so onto this week at Less is More and we have a card sketch divided up into squares , we have to choose a square to base our main image in and leave the rest as white space ..... scary white space !!

I've used my new Lawn Fawn stamp set called Bon Voyage , I really love the chunky line drawn images that you can colour or paper piece in the Lawn Fawn sets , you can buy them here in the UK 

I have coloured the aeroplane with promarkers and highlighted the windows with glossy accents .
The clouds have been highlighted with stickles and promarkers to give them a bit of dimension .

Sentiment is from a Printworks set ..... which are half price at Stamp Addicts at the moment , for your information :)

This was quite a challenge for me as I would never dream of just using one corner of a card to base my main image and especially a top corner so it was good to give it a try . For details of this weeks challenge click here to visit the blog ,if your new to LIM you can still join in but you've missed some cracking challenges :)

I'm hopping over now to look at the recent entries .

Thanks for visiting me today X

How to find your Followers

Hello peeps,

A quick info post from me.
If you are still missing your followers from your blog page , simply go to the design tab on your dashboard then remove your followers and then reload them and they'll appear again .... it worked for me :)


It's lovely to have you all back again X

Oh and pssst ..... pass it on please :)

CAS-ual Graduation

Happy lazy Sunday morning everyone ,

I just love Sundays in a bank holiday , knowing we have another day at home altogether and I don't have to worry about getting the weekly ironing done .... looking at the pile it's more like two though :)

....... so Friday was the launch of the fourth  Cas-ual Fridays challenge and this week is Graduation card , very topical for this time of year although we haven't got to that stage yet , another 3 - 4 years maybe :)

I don't have a lot of Graduation stamps so I decided to  go with the sentiment as the main focal point . As promised I have used my new 'School Days Back drops' stamp set from Lawn Fawn to make the lined paper effect and the linen IP from Papertrey Ink to emboss texture on the raised mat , this is such a cool IP and it gives just a hint of texture ( not sure if you can see it on the photo ) .
The mortar board and 'C' are coloured using promarkers ..... I think I'm gradually getting the hang of them with the help of tutorials on the internet :)

If you fancy playing along hop over to the blog here and check out the details and inspiration from the fabulously talented design team .

Having never been to Uni myself I'm looking forward to when we visit universities at the end of June with Hannah in readiness for sending applications off around Christmas time . All too soon they grow up and I don't think it's quite hit me yet that she'll soon be flying the nest .

Thanks so much for popping by , hope you're enjoying the Bank Holiday too X

Play Date Cafe-83

Happy weekend to everyone ,


This is my second time visiting the PDC and this week is black & white with a splash of green . The colour graphic was chosen as a farewell challenge to Sarah Anderson who is co creator of the PDC and a member of the Senior design team , you can take part in a farewell blog hop over at PDC , one lucky winner will win a couple of stamp sets ......


....... so whilst I had my Inkadinkado dog stamps out yesterday an idea came into my head and this is what I came up with ...

I really enjoyed using these colours and I'm pleased I've had a go at a colour splash challenge , doesn't he look sweet with his lime green bow on :)

I've been a lucky girl this week as my Papertrey Ink order arrived eventually as did a few Lawn Fawn stamp sets so I have some new toys to play with . It's half term this week so crafting time will be severely restricted to evenings and hopefully we can  enjoy this lovely sunny weather ....... okay I know , I wanted rain , but only overnight :) 

Well that's all from me at the moment, thanks for calling by , until next time ..... bye X

OLW - cats and dogs

Morning everyone ,

I nearly titled this raining cats and dogs as my little dance worked yesterday and the garden had a drink , woo hoo :)

The cats and dogs actually refers to this weeks OLW , see details here and play along to .... it'll get your grey matter working .

Being an animal lover I have a good choice of dog stamps , not so many cats tho , but I decided to go with this little fella

He's from an Inkadinkado set along with the sentiment and the frame is from a Waltzing Mouse . I drew the eyes in so he was looking at the sentiment and he does kinda look like he's had a bad day .

I will be back at some point with a cat card too when I find the stamps .... probably up a tree somewhere ,  LOL

Thanks for looking , I really appreciate your visit X

A couple of Birthday cards

Happy Thursday peeps ,


** IF YOU ARE HAVING PROBLEMS WITH COMMENTATING ON BLOGS AT THE MOMENT - READ THIS POST HERE , IT MAY HELP **


A bit cooler today but still no rain , we are heading towards two whole months with only a trace of rainfall here .... our dust bowl of a garden could really do with a soaking from above .


I have a couple of recent birthday cards to share with you today and as the dates have passed now I'm able to post them .
This card I made using a new Woodware stamp set called Glasses as the recipient happens to be an optometrist ( clever eh ? ) .

I cannot take credit for this idea as I drew a blank when it came to using the stamps and searched the Woodware gallery for inspiration and found this card . I played about on Word to type the sentiment and then mounted the glasses on top with foam dimensionals .

 This second card uses a new Die namics die called sheltering tree , it's so cool , it embosses the bark pattern as well as cutting the shape , I've placed a nestabilitie die cut behind it adding the leaves on top .

The strip of teal checked tape is Japenese masking tape , I think it's also called 'Washi tape' but I could be wrong . I've seen other crafters use it on their cards so had to buy some too , It's on ebay if you search either names and apparently , according to the t'internet , John Lewis sell it too :)

Well I'm off to do a rain dance to see if that works , don't blame me if it does :)

Back soon , thanks for dropping in X

Less is More#16 - Butterflies and the PDC

Morning Everyone ,

This weeks theme challenge over at LIM is Butterfly/Butterflies .... sounds easy but that depends on how many variations of butterfly punches or stamps you have , and in my case not many.

I turned to my recently acquired Martha Stewart punch and the colour combination  red , black and white popped into my head for some reason and this is what I came up with

The text is a Waltzing Mouse stamp and I've embossed it in black ...... yes , I returned to the embossing powder after last weeks revival , and then embossed the greeting onto a piece of white vellum to wrap around the card .
I pricked the spiral from a template and hand stitched it with white thread before adding the butterflies , which have tiny bugle beads for bodies .

The red card is then mounted onto a white card blank and both are edged with black distress ink to make them pop .
I had inner arguments over the number of butterflies to add but settled with three as it seemed too over crowded with more .

My daughter has been inspired to play along this week , she's been crafting to give her a break from studying for AS exams , she'll post hers later in the week . I think this will be a popular challenge this week as butterflies are always a favourite on cards , so pop over to see the entries and play along too .... the details are here .

I also made a card for the Play Date Cafe as I really like the colour combo this week and I had an idea how to use the Paper Smooches stamp set again

I just love that little element in the stamp set , I wasn't sure what it was supposed to be at first , but I noticed it made quite a cute little chick , so I popped him in a nest for a new baby card . The nest is made from stamping the little fir branch over and over and cutting into shape .
Just love this new stamp set :)

Thank you so much for stopping by and sorry for the long post X

Smooched and Smitten

Good Morning Everyone ,

I just couldn't wait to show you these two cards I've made with my new Paper Smooches stamps

I just love the 'line drawn' cute images ...... they remind me of colouring book images from my younger days and they are great for paper piecing too which is something I've still to try with them .

The stamp set I've used here is Hang ups  ( pictured below ) and as you can see it contains a lot of fun elements that give you endless possibilities .

The peanut feeder on the first card is made from a few different elements in the set. I used the coat hanger , rectangle , part of the wooden stick and the berries from the mistletoe and then added some mesh faintly over the top.

I just couldn't resist hanging that cheeky squirrel from the feeder and adding the very appropriate sentiment which came from the 'Falling for you' stamp set :)

He's just hanging out of the tree on the second card whilst Mr Birdie looks on.

They are so much fun to use and that squirrel cannot fail to put a smile on your face ...... he's soooo adorable.

Thanks for calling by again , I'm off to think about my Less is More entry now X

CAS-ual Bling

Hello Everyone ,
Todays card is for CAS-ual Fridays challenge blog and this week we are to add  BLING  to our Clean and Simple designs .


I don't often do bling on cards but definitely at Christmas time so I cracked open my new Waltzing Mouse stamps and got blinged up for Christmas 2011

These stamps are from the WMS set Teeny Trees and the sentiment is from Frame It .
I just subconsciously made a one layer card , perhaps because I made my OLW card yesterday too , but have to say I'm pleased with how it turned out  .
I decided to ground the trees with some ' ink sponged ' snowy ground rather than a broken frame and then inked the edge of the card with the same colour .
I just 'blinged' one tree and the sentiment using a mixture of gems , stickles and glitter gel pen and then added frosted lace stickles ( my favourite colourway for snow ) to the ground .

Hey what do ya know I've made my first Christmas card too .

Why don't you hop over to CAS-ual Fridays and join in the fun too

I'm back tomorrow with a couple of cards I've made from my new Paper Smooches stamps .... they are gorgeous images to work with :)

Here's a sneak peak of one of them

Thanks for looking and see you later X

OLW - Baby cakes

Afternoon Everyone ,

It's so good to get back to making CAS cards after a couple of scrapbook pages , and so to this weeks OLW at Susan Raihala's blog.......

.......this week we are asked to make a 'New Baby' card and use this selection of baby cake pictures for inspiration .

I find these types of challenge difficult because there's so much to look at on the pictures and I have to really focus on one or two elements or my head spins !

Here's my card

I used these two photos for inspiration



The font is printed on the computer in a very light grey and then I went over it in black pen to join up the letters and extend the line to make a washing line effect . This was the most time consuming part of the card and caused quite a lot of frustration .... but hey we got there in the end :)

The onesie is a Personnel Impressions stamp which I positioned with my homemade stamp positioner and then coloured with Coloursoft pencils .

Just love that white space , I've even made a one layer card for CAS-ual Fridays this week too , I'll post that tomorrow .

See you then and thanks for stopping by today .

A Scrap Map and Colour Combo 10

Afternoon Everyone ,

I have another Scrapbook page to share with you today for this weeks Scrap map challenge and also Emilie's colour combo , which is her tenth combination so is offering a prize for one lucky submission .

The scrap map theme this week is birds so I decided to use pictures of a rather obliging peacock at a local open garden last year .

This is one of those LO's that I started then nearly threw out but I decided to keep on with it and I am sort of happy with it . It was really difficult to photograph as the blue green background is shimmery/interference type of paint and it seems to have drained the colour from the pink blooms in the photo .

This is perhaps a better colour representation . The flower branch was cut with the Cricut machine and the pink flowers were dampened and scrunched up to give them shape before adding them to the branch .

This is the sketch and colour combo for this week

If you want to join in either of the challenges just click on the links at the start of the post to see more details :)

Thanks for stopping by today X

Colour Combo Prize Giveaway

Evening everyone ,

Just a quick post to let you know that Emilie , of 'Emilie's Scrapbook' , is having a prize giveaway to mark her tenth colour combo this week and this is the lovely prize

Please hop over to her blog here to see the colour combo and the details of the giveaway , it would be great to see you all join in . I'm busy working on a scrapbook page but the project can be any crafty creation .

Thanks for stopping by and look forward to seeing your projects at Emilie's Scrapbook X

Finally , A scrapbook page

Morning Everyone ,

I have finally got round to last weeks Scrap Map Saturday Challenge which you can see on the CCW blog here , I just ran out of time last week , but you are still able to play along with sketches until the end of the month :)

The theme is family so I chose to scrap this photo from our hols last year in Yorkshire

The family portrait was taken on self timer with the camera on a tripod , up on Whitby sea front , and we provided some entertainment for all the tourists whilst trying to get a reasonable picture :)

I just love how James is pointing and laughing at the camera in this shot.

I went for a doodled style of layout as it's something I admire in other peoples pages but have never tried myself.

Here are some close-ups

The two background papers are Fancy Pants 'the little things' and all the other elements are a mixture from my stash including the camera which is a digital hybrid element .

It's good to get back to putting a scrapbook page together again although it takes me a while to get back into the flow as I have a different scrap style to card making style I think !

Thanks for stopping by today X

Less is More#15 - Embossing

Good Morning Everyone ,

Well this week at LIM it is the turn of the One Layer card again and whilst I'm getting used to its limitations , this week is embossing as well ........ eeek !
That unforgiving technique that leaves fine particles all over your card where they're not wanted , despite using an anti-static bag , and then the heat gun warps your card beyond recognition .
I know we can use dry embossing as well this week but I decided to face my demons and embraced the challenge , and after a few mishaps and rethinks , came up with this card

The stamp is by Studio g and I only bought it last week  because I loved the simplicity of the image . I used black pigment ink and then black disco embossing powder to give it a bit of sparkle .
The sentiment is also a Studio g stamp I've had for a while and this was positioned using my lego stamp positioner and again embossed in black disco powder .
To ground the image I decided to draw a line from each side of the image to the edge of the card , I then used a Quickie glue pen over the black line so I could emboss with the same sparkly powder .
A touch of stickles to the bodice , a blue gel pen for the waist band and then let the card straighten up over night .

I think the little stamp is great for making your own wedding stationary too and great for Clean and Simple designs ..... well worth the £1.25 it cost :)

I have to say that since starting this blog and entering challenges I have a lovely stock of cards growing which are all ready to use and a feeling of belonging to a growing inspirational community of fellow crafters . 
Thank you so much for all your lovely comments and taking the time to call in and visit my blog X

CAS-ual Fridays + Clean & Simple

Morning again ,

Second post of the day , but then I didn't expect to have to re-post an earlier card !

CAS-ual Fridays this week want us to use twine and buttons on our card so a few ideas sparked in my mind and when I saw the Clean & Simple sketch this week I knew how the card was going to go .

I've used green garden twine spiralled onto a piece of card to make the tree and the trunk was cut and embossed with a MFT Die namics die .

The little heart shaped button has been transformed into an apple with the addition of a leaf and the sentiment is from a Printworks set of stamps .

Not normal for me to craft on a Saturday morning but seeing as everyone else is busy in the house , I thought I'd grab some creative time :)

Check out both challenge blogs for some inspiration and hopefully you will play along too , just click on the images below .

       

Thanks for your time to visit X



OLW 53 - Take Two

Morning Everyone ,
..... So , I was hoping Blogger would reinstate my last post but I guess not unless I'm near the bottom of the pile !

So here is my card , again , for OLW which is being hosted by Jennifer Styles this week and we are to make a new home card using at least two coloured inks .

The two inks are green for the grass and blue for the stippled sky , barely visible in the photo , and the image is coloured with Coloursoft pencils .
The cute picket fence image is from a Woodware set along with the sentiment and the frame is Waltzing Mouse stamps .
That's it , short and sweet ...... a bit like the card :)

Now I've re-posted I suppose Mr Blogger will decided to find my first post ...... I think they call that Sod's Law !

Thanks for stopping by X

Girlie Flip-Flops

Afternoon folks ,

Yesterday I decided to play a bit more with the Sizzlets footprint die that I used for my baby card (see previous post) and I cut a couple of feet from recycled paper , then I cut two pink sandals/flip-flops from a die in the same set .
Now I've always wondered if these two dies are supposed to fit together as they are the same size and shape and here is the card I made as a result of playing about with the die cuts

The feet slip nicely inside the strap and I so I decided to add some sparkle and a little flower at the toe post too . To give them a bit of dimension I then stuck them to pink funky foam and cut around using scissors to give that spongy effect to the flip-flop , which doesn't really show on the picture , but I'm sure you know what I mean .

I've followed the Clean and Simple sketch for this week and the colours suit the CR84FN challenge this week so I'm entering it in both challenges .

Thanks for stopping by today X

Two White Feet !

Hi Everyone ,

This weeks LIM challenge has produced some fantastic cards and I think everyones creative juices are flowing including mine .
Here is my second and last card for this week as I really must get back to doing the dull housework today .... lol .

Whilst flicking through my sizzlet dies I saw this footprint and immediately thought of a pair of baby feet .
Once I had cut the feet I noticed my cutting plates , which are very worn and scared , had left a 'lined' texture to the feet which gave the impression of wrinkles .
I had to turn one of the feet over and send it back through the Big Shot on the reverse side of the sizzlet die to pick the texture up on the correct side and then I shaped them after spritzing them with water .
I cut the round card and embossed it using a cuttlebug folder , the alphabet is a Sizzix one called Blackboard Blues mounted on a Spellbinders tag die . The ribbon is threaded through the spine and joined inside the card and the bow added afterwards .

I think white suits new baby cards , especially if the babies sex is not known .

On the subject of babies I thought I'd share a photo of one of the little goslings in the field next to us at the moment

I managed to sneak up behind some fencing and take some pics :)
These little babies do not stop still long enough for a second and this is the only blur feee shot of the bunch !

Sooooo cute :)

Thank you for stopping by today X

LIM is all White.....

........ as Jonathan Ross would say, but whilst it is an excellent challenge blog I was referring to this weeks requirements to use "white on white" on your card .

So many ideas in my head for this one but I decided to settle with  paper cutting to make a couple of Calla Lilies

I used a template from a magazine cutting , I have a whole folder of cuttings for ideas and templates , I traced the shapes onto the card using an embossing tool so as not to introduce pencil lines at all and cut them out . I used a mini mister to dampen the card so I could shape it and then assembled the pieces on the card . The sentiment had to be second stamping with black ink so as to soften the ink colour and the background is embossed using a cuttlebug folder using Mandi and Chrissie's tutorial this week .

I have to say there are some stunning entries this week and the page of thumbnails over at LIM is quite something to see , I never realised how many shades of white there are :)

I also want to say thank you to all my lovely followers and people who comment on my blog , I really appreciate your kind words :)

Thanks so much for visiting me today X

CAS-ual Texting !

Morning fellow crafters ,

There's a new challenge on the block and it launched yesterday . CAS-ual Fridays is a weekly challenge that champions clean and simple card designs and this weeks requirements are :

      "For our first challenge, we thought it would be fun to see your texting skills.
   Use stamps, texty pattern paper, a page torn from your phone book..get creative!
    Just incorporate text prominently into your newly created CAS project,"

Hope my card fits the bill

The letters are cut using my Cricut and the expecting mum is a stamp I've had for ages , by A Muse.
I decided to paper piece her dress to give it a pattern and then use a daisy stamp around the edge to compliment the pattern . Check out those yellow trousers ..... but then if you're anything like me , comfort is what mattered most when it came to maternity clothes  lol

If you want to play along with CAS-ual Fridays check out the details for this weeks challenge by clicking on the image below

Hope you enjoy your weekend and thanks for stopping by x

OLW goes round & round

Hello again .... I know .... two posts in a day , well I'm busy tomorrow so thought I'd post my OLW card this eve :)

This weeks OLW marks a years worth of challenges as we are on challenge 52 , I have only been playing along for about 8 weeks but love the weekly mind stretching it causes me . Here are the particulars this week ....

      "This week's One-Layer Wednesday Challenge is to use a circle or multiple circles on your card. You can get really creative with this. For instance, the centers of some flowers are circles, brads are circles, pierced holes are circles. All those would count. Or you can make a round card, punch a round window into a card, or accent your card with bit of polka-dot ribbon. I'll bet y'all can think of LOTS more creative ways to incorporate circles into a ONE-LAYER card."

So here is my card

I've used an Inkadinkadoo stamp from a set conveniently called circles and dots and then used my Making Memories eyelet punch to make holes on a round of dots . You can just about make out that the rest of the card is embossed and I stamped the sentiment with an old Hero Arts alphabet . To give a flash of colour through the holes , I used a brown paper insert , not that it's very visible in the photo. 

Oh and I forgot to say .... because it's OLW's birthday this week Susan is giving a prize away to a lucky winner from this weeks submissions , see the link above for details :)

Thanks for stopping by .... again X

A new Challenge @ The Ribbon Reel

Morning fellow crafters

I've found a new challenge in blogland after buying some lovely bakers twine recently from The Ribbon Reel.

The online shop has a challenge blog which launched on Monday and this first week is a colour challenge , here is my card

As you can see I've revisited my idea of making candy lollies with bakers twine and decided to stick to a clean and simple design and use all the colours of the challenge .

It's a fortnightly challenge with blog badges to be won and a lovely prize for one lucky person  :)

Hop over to see the details here

Oh before I go ......

just to let you know about a new challenge starting tomorrow

Looks like a fun new challenge too , click on the logo to find out more :)

Thanks for stopping by X

Congratulations LIM

Morning everyone ,

I just had to make another card for the LIM challenge this week as the theme is Congratulations or Thanks and when I saw this stamp set in my collection an idea sprang to mind .

Not sure if I like the shortened version of 'congratulations' on a card but it's a long word to fit in if he was going to replace the 't' .
The stamp is from a clear set of Woodware stamps and I've coloured it with promarkers and layered for dimension . The letters are coloured chipboard and cut using a sizzix alphabet die.

Just thought I'd share a picture of our new feathered fluffy neighbours at the moment

A flock of Greylag geese and goslings :)  They are very wary and not easy to get close to , so this is a very cropped photo and not brilliant quality but they are just so cute . The Geese bring their goslings into the field next to us every year but are usually hidden by a growing crop ,  this year , with the dry weather we've had and a change to meadow from cereal , we can see them easily :)

Thanks for stopping by X