Sunny Thank You

Afternoon all.

Just sat down after taking Max for a walk before going out to cut the grass, so thought I would post another thank you card for Nich.

This one is based on the latest cue word from Addicted to CAS - Sun.

I love this MB die and really suggests rays when in front of a yellow backing. It needed a little something and I remembered seeing a sun with it's center filled with assorted yellow buttons, what a great idea, but not sure whose card it was, I must make notes as I don't have pinterest. 

Some of the buttons are from bought packets but some are saved from those extra you get on tops in little plastic packets! The die cut is popped up on pads but the yellow is flat on the square base card. The sentiment is from Hobbycraft.

That's about it, better get the grass cut!

Wood

The latest cue word at CAS- ology is WOOD.

One or two things popped into my mind but wasn't sure if one 'would' be CAS enough. In the end I made both as the second was really quick.

This is one of the thank you cards I made, not sure if its Nich's cup of tea though. The background is a heat embossed wood grain texture stamp.

This the second -

A bit of fun really, just something that popped into my brain. The golf wood, ball and tee are just die cuts with a bit of dry embossing on the ball and wood. The grass is made using a MS edge punch and a scrap of card as are the other elements, I love a bit of recycling.

OK, better get moving and get the tea going!

Summer Lovin'

Good morning peeps.

What a difference a day makes. This morning we woke up to blue skies, no rain in sight for the moment at least.

Today I would like to share a card I made for the CAS-ual Friday Challenge.

I was going to post last night but we had visitors so didn't get the chance. I was inspired by a card I saw a while ago but don't know whose it was, so apologies for the lack of acknowledgement. When I saw the challenge title was Summer Lovin I thought of this Kaisercraft stamp which I only used a while ago. I had so much fun playing with the DIs and water technique last week I used it again for this card. 

The sentiment is heat embossed in detail white, then the panel was inked with Picked Raspberry, Dried Marigold and Squeezed Lemonade, such well named summery colours and splat and spritzed with 'Eau de Corporation' - water to you ( my Mum used that term when we were kids n were asking what there was to drink!). The hearts were punched from the waste. and scattered about. All on a A6 white base card.

OK, that's about it. I may be back later as Nich wants some thank you cards for work but it depends on Al who is off ragwort pulling in the far field later and he may require assistance! 

I shall enter the following challenges:-

Nightshift Stamping - CAS

Sparkle, Shimmer and Shine

Evening all.

Was that summer? No need to open all windows tonight, but at least the rain has stopped so Al has gone out to play again!! Hopefully it may be a little better tomorrow and the weekend.

So while he was out I was playing in the craftroom and came up with this.

I had half a mind to this weeks Merry Monday Challenge when I made this.

I know the MB die is called Calm Countryside but it did shout snow scene when I got it out of the packet. I am still playing around with different ways of framing and layering so this was a little bit of invertage, if there is such a word. Really simple construction just a couple of the MB diecuts plus some stacking square frames all overlayed onto some pale blue/ turquoise glitter card then onto a white square base card.

I shall also enter the following challenges:-

Keep it Simple - lots of turquoise

OK, time for my Wimbledon fix, thanks for stopping by.

Watercolour Gardenia

Evening all.

I love the theme of this week's theme at Less is More -

WATERCOLOUR

I've already submitted one card for this challenge but I was playing around with a softer technique, such as used in some of my other gardenia cards.

This time I went with a textured off white cardstock and an apricot colourway.

I'm loving this die and can't use it enough, so I'm trying to get ideas on how to use the die, I stumbled across a You Tube video by Therese Calvird. This time I used some scrap of gold mirror card to create the outline and then used watercolour markers to colour the base with a few extra splashes of the dark peachy orange. For a change I used Therese's idea of a colour block on the right hand side and raised the w/c panel on pads. A few sequins and domed crystals from the stash complete the image.

OK that's it for tonight, may just have to check up on Wimbledon today at 8 on the telly while hubby is out playing with his toys!

Wednesday Muse

Morning all

I'm a bit out of sequence this week as I'm only just putting my card I made on Monday up now. I was out a lot on Monday taking a friend to hospital., not Di this time so was catching up with scheduled posts on Monday. It was a lovely day for sitting around waiting in the shade admiring the view, didn't feel like a hospital car park at all! Anyway here is the card I made for the Muse #73 challenge.

I seem to be in rainbow mode but this was based on this gorgeous card by this weeks guest Muse, Beverley Brown.

I was inspired by the butterflies and jewel colours she used to colour them. I checked through my stash of butterfly stamps but wasn't inspired then went for my Memory Box dies again. I've been enjoying playing with taking out and replacing die cuts to create one layer so I played again using sparkly filigree butterflies where I had cut away the plain shape. I coloured the base card underneath with copics to match. The sentiment is from Stampin Up.

I shall also enter the following challenges:-

ATSM - Anything goes

CAS on Sunday -  Birthday

Seize the Birthday - Anything goes - with no topping

Crazy For CAS - Stencilling 

( I used the top layer as a stencil for colouring the butterflies underneath!)

OK, that's a wrap, must make the most of the last sunny day and get the washing out! 

See you back soon.

Sport at Cardz 4 Guyz

Morning again.

Now it's time for the new challenge at Cardz4Guyz. This week it was my choice and I chose:-

SPORT

Well there's lots of scope here and plenty of sport around at the moment, Wimbledon, World Cup, Test Match series, Commonwealth Games all around at the moment, not to mention the Grand Depart of the Tour de France in my native county Yorkshire.
So this is my card for your inspiration.

This little cricketer is from LOTV and the layout is based on the latest sketch at Sketch Saturday.

The papers are from NitWits and the image was coloured using Copics. The clouds were done using a cloud mask and Tumbled Glass DI. The circular sentiment is by Molly Bloom with the center coloured to look like a cricket ball and the stitching done with a white Sakura gel pen. The bottom left ball was done the same using card candi.

So that's about it try and take part and if you want more inspiration visit the main page and see what the rest of the DT have come up with for your inspiration.

I shall also enter the following challenges:-
Addicted to Stamps -  Polka dots
Gem of a challenge - Child/Baby
LOTV - Male/Sporty

Recipe at Cards und More

Morning all.
It's double post Tuesday, first off the rank is this weeks challenge over at Cards und More.
The challenge is a recipe of 3- 3 papers, 3 dies and 3 ribbons or lace.
Here is my card for the DT.

I made this for my daughter whose birthday it was yesterday. I'm not saying how old she is but I remember it rained on the first day of Wimbledon, so I didn't miss a match while otherwise engaged! Vitas Guerulitas was one of the players at the time I do recall, all blond mullet!
I have used 3 different fancy circle dies to go behind the LOTV bears.
3 different ribbons, on the parcels and on the front and
3 different NitWit papers, you can hardly see the third one as it's used on the lacey circles and the piecing on the daughter stamp.
The lace edging was made using a MS edge punch and the butterflies were punched out of left over paper or plain white coloured with Copics to match. The daughter stamp is from Papermania and I paper pieced it with a couple of the papers, then added a bit of bling with matching diamontes. The phrase is also LOTV as are the Bear Trio, coloured in Copics then mounted on punched coloured circles.

I shall enter it in the following challenges:-
Creative Inspirations - Tie it up
Stamping Sensations - Animal Antics
Fab n Funky Challenges - Shaped Cards
A gem of a challenge - Animals
Why don't you check out the rest of the DTs inspiration over at the main challenge blog.
Thanks for popping by, I'll be back in an hour with the latest challenge at Cardz4Guyz, so come back soon. 

ATSM 2nd birthday

Good afternoon peeps.

It's a glorious day again here, too hot for me at the moment, I'm not one who loves to be out soaking up the rays. So just taking a few minutes to post while the heats at it's worst.

Over at Addicted to Stamps and More it's their second birthday and 100th challenge, woohoo and a round of applause to Kylie and the rest of the team. It's a great challenge and I always try to take part if I can. This week it's a photo inspiration:-

I have been studying this for awhile, then along came this weeks challenge at Less is More . This week they are challenging us to use -

WATERCOLOUR

Well I just couldn't refuse to take part and after playing around I decided to combine the two challenges and came up with this card.

What you may say has it to do with watercolour, well if you look closely at the rainbow panel you will see a subtle pattern. This was created by spritzing a Happy Birthday definition stamp with water then laying the inked panel, made by blending DIs, on top and pressing down then gently removing it and leaving to dry. The water acts as a bleaching agent and removes the ink to leave the interesting pattern. I tried using acrylic stamps with this technique but it wasn't as successful as the rubber stamp. 

The panel was laid down on an A6 black base card and then I used a Memory Box 'Fresh Foliage' diecut and Spellbinders D-Lites sentiment 1 Best Wishes in white card on top.

OK, that's about it. Hope you can join in over at ATSM for their birthday celebrations.

You still have time to enter the Anniversary Challenge over at Cardz4Guyz.

Here Comes Summer

Good morning peeps.
It's Saturday so it's time for another challenge at Fantasy Stampers. 
The latest theme is :-

HERE COMES SUMMER

Lots of ideas here for you in this topic I hope. Although the name of the challenge is called Fantasy Stampers your entries don't need to be of a fantasy nature just stamped in the old fashioned way, no digis allowed. Here is my card for your inspiration.

Nothing suggests summer more than a trip to the beach!
Having just come back from holiday in Cromer, N Norfolk the beach hut idea was still on my mind. After last years storms the beach huts in the area were devastated so a whole bunch of brand spanking new ones are starting to reappear, all bright and sparkling with new paint. We were all nostalgic about our past holidays with the kids so this design is really a homage to that.
The little boy and girl are Molly Bloom stamps but as I don't have any other stamps to create the scene I had to do a little freehand drawing for the huts, bucket and sandcastle! I inked the sky using DI inks and a cloud mask, then coloured the huts using Copics in bright summery colours.

The foreground sand and sea were made by tearing Bazzil card to expose the core, with a little extra white Sakura gel pen on the sea and then layering it up. I saw this technique on the Molly Bloom site ages ago and thought it was a good idea. The two children were stamped and coloured using Copics, then fussy cut as were the sandcastle and bucket.

I shall enter the following challenges:-
Clear it out Challenge - Anything goes
Copic Marker Norge - Summer
The ABC Challenge - N for Nautical /Ocean
Moving along with the times - I do like to be beside the seaside
Cute Card Thursday - Beach/ Seaside

OK that's a wrap, now its up to you so get your thinking caps on and join us at Fantasy Stampers. Don't forget to check out the fab DT inspiration.

Fusion Card Challenge

Evening folks. 

It's been a lovely day, that little bit of breeze has made the heat quite bearable. 

Fusion card challenge has been on my radar for a bit but as yet I haven't got around to entering, that is until now. I know I've done a few anniversary cards recently but the image at Fusion just shouted celebrations 

(I went with the picture only)

and as the cue word at CASology is Celebrate I thought I would combine the two with this card.

This photo didn't show the gold up very well, it looks a little grey, think the sun was too bright so I took another one.

I seem to be experimenting with layering in different ways at the moment and this is no exception. I also cut out the background butterfly and pieced it back in one layer before overlaying the matching tracery butterfly from Memory Box on top. The gold ring is supposed to represent the plate in the picture. The circular sentiment is from LOTV which I embossed in gold detail powder.

OK, that's it for tonight. Come back soon.

Happy Anniversary

It's Tuesday so it's a new challenge at Cardz4Guyz. 

This week the lovely Jan has chosen the topic of :-

Happy Anniversary

I thought that this was a little bit tricky at first but the lightbulb moment was when I found this stamp in a set that was free in a magazine ages ago. It is from the same set as the one I used for the CASology challenge last week. The challenge finished earlier than this post so I made another for my DT inspiration
as I liked both stamps.

This layout stacks the circles on top of one another but otherwise it's much the same. The little bubbles are out cuts from a border die and the cats were coloured using Copics. 

The sentiment is from a Woodware set I borrowed from my friend Di. The silver card was mounted on pads on top of a A6 base card.

OK, that's it, quite simple really so why not create your own for the man in your life. Pop over to the main site and check out what the other DT's have done for your inspiration.

I shall enter it in the following challenges:-

Moving along with the times - Keep it simple

Creative Corner Challenge - Just For Boys

Pumpkin Spice  - Masculine

That's about it then, hope to see you back soon.

Merry Monday Again

Evening all.

I hope I can get through this post without crashing as t'internet is playing up. It's the cost of living in the sticks!

I know its just a few days from the longest day but hey it's never too early to start your Christmas cards. After my foray into Merry Monday I thought I would join in again when time and theme permitted. Well today their new challenge is -

OK, not your usual Christmas colours but I quite like them so a quick make while Al is out playing and there's nowt on the telly!

Just a small square base card with a layer of white card inked with Picked Raspberry DI and another piece of white out of which I cut a Memory Box Starry Wreath then put a silver one in the space and mounted on pads. I left the center out and stamped a LOTV circular greeting, which I punched out and mounted on pads in the middle.

OK I said it was quick so I'll say nite nite.

Anniversary at CASology

Morning peeps, hope the sun is shining where you are.

This week the cue word at CASology is ANNIVERSARY. Hubby and I don't really do the anniversary thing but what the heck I had time to play and I found this cute stamp in a box of freebies I had got over the years from magazines.

A very simple card made a little different by taking away the circles rather than mounting them on top of one another. I used copics to colour the cats and added a few 'bubbles' above the glasses by gluing some dots from a diecut strip. The sentiment is from Woodware, I really must give this back to Di!!

OK that's it for the time being, see you back here again soon.

I shall also enter the following challenges:-

Love Rubberstamps - Clean and Simple

Muse #71

Good morning peeps, just!

My daughter text me on the way home last night, could I make her a card for her friend who is moving house this weekend. Well I had been mulling the challenge over at Muse this week and thought I could have a go incorporating the two. 

I love'd this weeks Muse's card, it's by Therese Calvird.

I loved the bright colours and the repeated sentiment that was layered to be above the background but still be in the pattern. Now I have a slight problem here. I only have some old Ellison alphabet dies that have 2 letters on a die and no electronic cutting machine so I had to think laterally. So this is what I came up with.

The letters are Block Party and the paper NitWits Summer Splash, left over from the last project!

I cut a little house freehand and embellished it with a pearl. The background was embossed using a DoCrafts folder as I thought plain was too much of a contrast to the stripey paper.

I shall also enter the following challenges:-

ATSM - CAS

Inkspirational - CAS

Creative Inspirations - Bright Colours

Thanks for popping by and leaving a comment if you can.

A Child's Birthday

Morning all. 

It's Tuesday so it must mean a new challenge at Cardz4Guyz.

This week the lovely Janice has chosen the theme of -

A CHILD'S BIRTHDAY

This is my inspiration for the DT. The layout is based on this weeks Sketch Saturday Challenge.
It uses a NBUS (never before used stuff) stamp from LOTV - Tree House. The sentiment is also LOTV and the papers are NitWits- Summer Splash.

I used Copics to colour the image and finished the layout with three buttons from the stash.

OK, now it's your turn. Visit the rest of the DT to see what they produced and then have a go. We know there are plenty of cardmakers making guyz cards after the last challenge had more than 60 entries! So no hiding your light under a bushel!!!

I shall also enter the following challenges:-
Crafty Little Fairies - Spots and Stripes
LOTV - Male or Sport
Sketch Saturday 


Don't forget you can also enter the challenge over at Fantasy Stampers as their challenge is For the Boys.
Just make sure it's not a digi, despite the title it doesn't have to be Fantasy!

One Layer at Cards und More

Morning all.
It's time for another challenge at Cards und More. This time the theme is:-

A One layer Card

Here is my DT inspiration for you, using a Woodware stamp - Daisy Panel.
I masked off the edges of the panel and stamped just the flowers. I then paper  pieced the flowers and grass using a bits of patterned paper from the bits box. The sentiment is also Woodware and the border is doodled freehand with a fine liner. The stamp is on it's first outing therefore it's a 'Never before used schtuff' or NEBUS according to the lovely Darnell. Check out her blog it's a hoot.

The centers of the large flowers are a couple of Dew Drops from Crafty Notions.

Why don't you pop over to the main blog and check out the rest of the DT's inspiration and then have a go yourself!

I shall also enter the following challenges:-

Allsorts - One layer

CAS on Sunday - Paper Piecing

 Darnell's 500 NEBUS challenge.#1 Friendship theme

Scraplings

Morning all. 

I just got ready to take Max for a walk but when I opened the back door it was raining cats n dogs, definitely time to wait until it stopped or at least slowed. Max took one look out, then turned tail! So I'm back in the craftroom posting a scrapling I made at the weekend.

What is a scrapling I hear you ask, well according to Virginia over at Virginia's View it's the bit of card leftover from A4 when you make a square card made into another card or tag.

For this month's challenge she would like us to make a tag or a card or both with a little bit of recycling included. Well I love a bit of recycling as I never throw anything away, ask my co workers, husband, kids and friends! I have boxes of off cuts and can't bear to throw odd bits of ribbon you get on clothes labels and new tops that poke out from your new top!

Anyway here is my card:-

The narrow front panel was inked in DIs through a scrap of plaster board tape to create a bit of texture. The Gerbera Daisy was cut from an oddment in the box and the stems and leaves inked with a W/C marker and waterbrush. The coloured petals were left over from an experiment with colouring I hadn't used. I felt it need a little more vegetation so I found some scraps of string in the bit box and inked them with the same marker. I curled them to resemble buds and glued them to the base, then put down the daisies. Dew drops from the stash gave a little more texture but I thought there was something missing and there on my desk were the circles left from my circle burst die and added a few around. The final touch was a bit of gold elastic chord which was floating at the bottom of my ribbon box tied in a bow and glued above the leaves.

OK that's a wrap for today, thanks for popping by.

Shine

Afternoon peeps. 

Well after last night's downpour the sun is shining so it seems appropriate that the latest cue word at CASology is  

SHINE. 

Well as my daughter's friends and relations are having babies left right and center I thought I ought to make a few more baby cards as my stock is empty! So taking my cue from the lovely Gay's creation, I went with a v. CAS design using my new Spellbinders greeting die and some holographic card in blue I've had since the year dot. It's a tricky thing to use as I mentioned to Gay, so definately less is more! I tried to create a border like her card but the card I had wasn't large enough and when I cut strips off to make one the surface peeled off, so I left it plain and raised it on pads instead.

The sentiment is from Personal Impressions stamped in Memento London Fog.

Well that's it, clean and v simple!

Hope the rain stays away! 

I shall also enter it in these challenges:-
Sweet Stampin Challenge - Baby

Colour at LIM

The latest challenge at Less is More is to use the colour scheme of your bedroom in your card! With the option to show a pic of said room.

I wonder how many of us dare to share with an actual pic of our room?

Well when I went upstairs to make the bed I thought I would take a quick snap of the linen as the room is magnolia, as we haven't decorated since the barn was finished. I just brightened it up with some bright colours on the duvet set. There are matching curtains still in their packet as we put up temporary ones(£10 from Dunelm sale) while we finished and as they go I have left them! (Actually we haven't finished the odd bits and bobs but we are in after 8 years of complete rebuilding!)

The colours are my fave of the moment. The whole house has a burgundy, magenta, lime green vibe in various hues. This set has a little bit of paler pink and two shades of blue dotted around as well.

Well enough of interior design here is my card.

I had to use flowers as the pattern on the duvet is. I chose two of the colours from the main panel and finished it with lime green leaves and two buds in slate blue. I used a Sizzix set of dies to create the blooms and a punch for the centers which I cut down for the smaller flowers. The leaves were cut from a Sizzix sizzlet die from Stampin Up -Little Leaves. The circular die is Large circle burst by Memory Box. I saw the small circle burst used here and it kinda stuck as I thought it a great idea. The circular sentiment is from LOTV.

Well that's about it, thanks for popping by.

I shall enter the following challenges:-

Less is More - #175 colour challenge

Addicted to stamps -  Bingo (flowers/ pearls/diecut)

Creative Inspirations - Anything goes option of a sketch

For the boys

Good morning folks.

So it's Saturday which means a new challenge over at Fantasy Stampers. This week it's-

FOR THE BOYS

You didn't have too many weddings in the offing last time so hopefully you will have something in mind for the male in your life, be he small or not so small!

I went with a fairly CAS interpretation with one eye on the CAS-ual Friday challenge What a catch - Manly but no kraft and use ribbon.

The stamp is from JOFY, I loved the hut with the caligraphy behind listing all the things a shed can be to a fella! I Stamped it twice and cut the shed which I coloured with Copics, out of the second one and mounted it on pads. The horizontal scalloped piece I stamped with a Hero Arts text stamp in Memento London Fog and then echoed the roof trim by drawing freehand with a fine liner and finished it off with a scrap of ribbon from the stash. The sentiment is from a set by Woodware and the lines around the card were drawn free hand to echo the main image.

OK, so now it's your turn to have a go and if you need more inspiration why don't you check out the rest of the DT's inspiration over at the main blog.

I shall also enter it in the following challenges:-

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Fathers Day/ Masculine

Fab 'n' Funky - Fathers Day or the man in your life

The Crafters Cafe - Masuline

Muse #70

Evening all.

Sorry I haven't been around much but I have been away with my grandson and his Mum and Dad. We had a good week really over in North Norfolk, just a couple of very wet mornings. May need a week to recover though!

While I was away I noticed the card that Vicki Dutcher has made for the latest challenge over at Muse. She used washi tape to blank off the card to make striped background then inked over.

I thought about it on the long journey home and came up with this. My washi tape must have been a bit stickier than hers because it tore my first two attempts when I took the tape off!

Here is my take on the Muse -

I used Peacock Feathers DI but the picture has come out bluer than the original. I bought the sentiment from Kaisercraft a while ago and this is it's first outing. Stamped in blue and clear embossed, the third line was masked off and stamped again in black on plain white card.  I cut it down and then mounted it on pads over the original.

OK, just  quick post after a very busy day!

Dad

Morning all.
Today is Tuesday so it's a new challenge over at Cardz4Guyz. This week the challenge is to create a card or project for:-

 Fathers Day

Here is my card for your inspiration.

The image is from LOTV as is the circular sentiment, the DPs are from NitWits, cardstock and buttons from the stash. The bear was coloured using Copics and the design used the latest sketch from Friday Sketch challenge

So why don't you pop over to the main site and see what the rest of the DT have made for your inspiration.
I shall also enter it in the following challenges:-
Sweet Stanpin' -  Father's Day/special boy or man
Allsorts - Father's Day
Loves Rubber Stamps - Anything Goes
Thanks for popping by, see you again soon.

Merry Monday

Afternoon all, a bit of a different post today. As a result of winning over at Merry Mondays I was asked to be their Guest Designer for their next challenge.

I was most suprised a: to win and b: to be asked to be their GD, thanks Bonnie and the girls.

So without further ado here is my card.

This is one of my favourite layouts, this time using a Tilda stamp from Magnolia. I don't know the name as it's not on the packet, it was one of my bargain bucket buys. The DP is from the NitWits Still Joyful Hearts collection and the top layer was dry embossed using a Cuttlebug  Snowflake folder. The aperture was cut before embossing using a Sizzix hexagon die. Tilda was coloured using Copics and the greeting is from a Woodware set. The berries on the holly paper were hi lighted with Glossy Accents to make them stand out.

OK, that's about it. I hope you'll be inspired to have a go and join in the fun. Pop along and see what the rest of the team have done and have a go yourself.