Second sneak peek of Lily

A contrast to my clean and simple Lily card on Sunday. This is another of the four new Lily images launching on 1 January at LOTV. They will be available in both rubber and digi.  There will also be some fab bunting stamps along with numbers and alphabet stamps so you can stamp them into the bunting. 

I used the digi stamp and added two lots of the star bunting.  She has been coloured with Copics and I used various sparkle pens.   The sentiment is LOTV, the lace I found in my stash along with the pearl stems which I think came from Wild Orchid a long time ago. The flowers are all Wild Orchid.

Carolsinging trio

This is the card I made for hubby using my new LOTV carolsinger stamps. I do like digis but there is something so nice about new rubber stamps. I am not sure if I have ever masked images before, if so it must have been a long time ago.  I knew I wanted to mask these so I could have three of them together and I am really pleased with how it turned out. Good job he appreciates cute characters.

The papers are LOTV vintage Christmas and I coloured the images with Copics. I mixed some glitter with fun flock for the hats and added some silver acrylic paint to the snow.  The lamp post was diecut with a Doohickey die and I added some wooden stars.

Challenges

ABC Christmas Y for your favourite (Lili of the Valley are my fave stamps) 

Creative Inspirations feeling festive 

Penny Black and more at Allsorts traditional Christmas colours 

Stamping Sensations Winter sparkle 

Simon Says Christmas

We will be coming home today from a one night break at Potter Resort on the coast. We love it there, great food, lots of activities, quizzes etc and a fantastic Christmas show.

First sneak peek of Lily and a tutorial

Meet Lily the sweet new fairy launching from LOTV on 1 January. Lily will be available as both rubber and digi stamps which will please everyone. I created the card using a Go Kreate frilly 10 die and MFT paper. The scalloped circle was also cute with a Go Kreate die.

Along with the new images will be a lovely set of circular sentiments. They all come with this pretty flower circle and as one of hem is a blank circle I placed Lily inside the circle. Now I thought this would be simple in Word but as this is a digi the backing is a white rectangle so when I placed her in the circle parts of it were missing.

So this is how I did it. I inserted both images, clicked on each, clicked text wrap and through. I then needed to make her background transparent. I clicked on the fairy, clicked format, recolour, transparent and then resized her to fit in the circle. Simple when you know how. I have a book with tips, measurements etc so this info has gone into my book ready for next time in case I forget how I did it.

I coloured her with Copics and used some sparkle pens. Her wings are super sparkly.

Elephants at play

I bought some of these MDF  blocks from the Inkylicious stand at the NEC. I wanted to make a present for a lady who works at the hospital and who always comes to see me when I am there. She  rarely goes away without buying at least one thing and usually a few items. She loves elephants and I know teal is her favourite colour. This has been painted with Rustoleum chalk paints and I then used some stamps from the MFT adorable elephant set to create a scene. I used a black fineliner to add some grass.  I hope she likes it.

Challenges

Crafteezee Gift

Hello Mr Robin

This is the last of the four cards I made for last month's Making Cards magazine using a coloured Lee Holland digi. The papers are Nitwits. I used Go Kreate frilly 3, Lawn Fawn stitched circle, Marianne poinsettia, MFT pierced banner and Impression Obsession birdhouse dies.  The sentiment is LOTV.

Christmas preparations are going well. Some of the presents are wrapped and the last of the cards has been made.  Shopping trip to Tesco this morning and then late afternoon we have been invited for nibbles at the cafe and gift shop where I sell some of my gifts.  I hope you are all prepared for the Big Day.

Challenges

ABC Christmas Y for your favourite (snowmen are my favourites) 

Creative Inspirations feeling festive 

Simon Says Christmas 

Allsorts Christmas flowers

Purple dragons, why not!

Firstly let me start by saying I really don't like lime green.  However having coloured the dragons purple the green seemed to go so well. Then looking through a new MFT paper pad I found these papers which matched the images perfectly. So a rare sight on my blog, lime green.

I used an old Spellbinder labels 10 die and some Little Claire dinkie sentiment stamps. The banner was cut with a Joy die and I added a couple of enamel dots.

I would like to enter this into the sketch challenge at MFT and anything goes challenge at The Ribbon Girl.

Sweet foxes

As a complete change to Monday's clean and simple fox card I have gone for my preferred style today. I have used another of the new LOTV Simply Sweet fox images coloured with Copics. I used a MFT mini cloud stencil with Copics for the sky. The papers are Crafter's Companion Rustic wedding. I added some diecut Cheery Lynn mushrooms coloured with distress inks and some diecut grass.  The wooden hearts are from Hobbycraft and the sentiment is from a Stamposaurus set.

I would like to enter this into the anything goes challenge at The Ribbon Girl.  Looking forward to a meal out with friends tonight.  We are going to a local restaurant that we haven't been to for a couple of years so hope it is as god as it has always been before.

Simply sweet

Have you seen the new Simply Sweet digis available here from the LOTV shop at Etsy? This is one of the cute foxes which I have coloured with Copics. The colouring isn't as good as I would like as I feel a little out of practice having used more toppers recently. That will change now that I will have more time for colouring. I always struggle with colouring big faces. 

I kept the design really simple, just adding a stamped sentiment, 

some cabuchons I found in my stash which I bought ages ago and some doodling. I wanted some neat doodling for a change so used a fineliner and ruler.

I wold like to enter this into the anything goes challenge at The Ribbon Girl.  I was very sorry to see that this is closing once all the stock has been sold. Another lovely craft store closing, such a shame.

After a few chores I am planning to get my last two Christmas cards made today and hopefully some tags and a Christmas bag then all my Christmas crafting is finished. Need to get wrapping next.

Mum's card

I can share this card as I have given it to my Mum. She dos love an easel card and I had the design in mind and it came together just as I wanted, Apart from the ribbon which is from Crafty Ribbons, white glitter card, wooden trees and fun flock all the products are from MFT. I love these cute new penguins and am glad I bought the dies to match the stamps which have been coloured with Copics. I used he stitched mountain and Winter tree dies and a new paper pad candy land.

Challenges

Creative Inspirations feeling festive 

ABC Christmasyour favourite (I love penguins) 

The Ribbon Girl anything goes 

As you Like It Your favourite Christmas animal (I love penguins as they are so cute and funny) 

Crafty Calendar It's Christmas time 

Stamping Sensations Winter sparkle

No cooking today as we are going out to see some friends and then going for a late lunch with them at a nearby restaurant. Somewhere they recommend and new to us so looking forward to a carvery.

Nearly finished

Have you finished your Christmas cards yet? I just have two left to make, one is hubby's and I always make his last. He is  finishing buying my pressies on Monday so I shall make it then. I have some new stamps in mind for his card.

I made this one for the neighbours who have a pug so this image from one of the LOTV coloured art sheets was just the thing for their card.  I used LOTV scandi papers, a LOTV sentiment and just added some wooden snowflakes. I used one of my fave dies, MFT wonky stitched oval.

Challenges

The Ribbon Girl anything goes 

Creative Inspirations feeling festive

The sun is shining for a change from the last couple of gloomy and partly wet days, though it is quite windy. I am looking forward to a morning in the craft room.

Mice in a cup

The new Crafts Beautiful magazine is published today and this is the card I was commissioned to make for it. I coloured the cute Stamping Bella image with Copics. The papers are MFT and I used a Go Kreate frilly 9 die to create the shaped card.   The leaves were diecut with a Britannia die and he roses are from Wild Orchid.

Challenges

The Ribbon Girl anything goes

The right decision and thank you

Wow we had a brilliant day selling at my last hospital shop on Monday.  I had my very best sales ever. I know that I have made the right decision not to continue though. It was hard work spending about two and a half hours on Saturday setting it all up and then standing nearly all day on Monday and being so busy and then having to take it all down and get it to the car.  

I am really looking forward to having more free time in the future which will include more time for blog commenting.  Thank you so much to everyone who visits and comments so regularly. I really do appreciate every comment.

I have booked a local craft fair for 23 March and have my first hospital craft fair on 20th March. I have been told by several of the staff that they will miss me being in the shop so I hope to sell more at the craft fairs there. I shall look for a few more fairs to do, mainly from September onwards as that is when I sell the most.  

I also hope to get back to posting every day if possible and you can expect to see more scrapbook pages next year too.  Back with a card tomorrow. Today mu Mum is coming to Norwich so we will pick her up, back to ours for coffee and then we will be going out for lunch with her.

Penguins galore

I made this gift bag for a friend for her Christmas pressies and I gave it to her yesterday because she works at the hospital and I won't see her again until next year.  I used an image from one of the LOTV coloured art sheets and the scandi Christmas papers.  The sentiment was cut from white glitter card using a MFT die and I added some of my fave diecut Christmas trees also from white glitter card. For the tag I used a Lawn Fawn die and a Winter penguin stamp and die coloured with Copics.

Challenges
The Ribbon Girl anything goes 

Crafteezee a gift

Crafty Calendar It's Christmas time

Snow family

Yes, another card made for Making Cards magazine using a coloured Lee Holland digi. Papers are Nitwits and I used my favourite GO Kreate frilly10 dies along with MFT wonky stitched oval and Lawn Fawn stitched circle dies.  I added lots of fun flock to their hats and simply added some cute wooden trees from Hobbycraft.

I would like to enter the anything goes challenge at Simon Says and The Ribbon Girl.

It is my last day at the hospital shop today so an early start and a long day. That is me done then with selling until next March. I have had a very good year but having enough stock for the hospital shop once a month plus a few craft fairs has been a lot of work. I have therefore decided not to continue with it next year and shall just be doing some craft fairs. I want to have more time for colouring and scrapbooking and time to experiment with making other things. I also want more time for going out and other hobbies. I love crafting and cannot imagine ever giving up making things but I want to make things I want to make and when I want to make them not feeling I have to make them which I have sometimes this year having to make quicker cards than I like just to keep up stock.

More hugs

I said when I used this stamp hat I had coloured two images and he has been sitting on my desk waiting to be used. I coloured this image with Copics adding some snow with a white gel pen. I used my MFT wonky stitched oval die again. I diecut some trees from white glitter card using Marianne and Doohickey slender fir dies. I haven't used either of these much this year. The sentiment is from LOTV.

Challenges

Simon Says anything goes

Penny Black and more at Allsorts traditional Christmas colours

Stamping Sensations Winter sparkle

As You Like It rubber or digi (I love both but if I could only have one type of stamp, as I did when I first started stamping I would choose rubber. I love the process of stamping rather than printing and feel I own the stamps rather than having them filed on a computer.)

The Ribbon Girl anything goes 

Crafty Calendar It's Christmas time

Hang in there

I have the second of the four cards I made for the last Making Cards magazine to share today. I diecut the Lee Holland coloured digi with a MFT wonky stitched oval die. The papers are Nitwits, wooden snowflakes from Hobbycraft, sentiment from LOTV diecut with a Lawn Fawn stitched circle die.  I added fun flock to his hat.

I would like to enter this into the anything goes challenge at Simon Says.

Give me a hug

This is one of four cards I made for making Cards magazine using Le Holland coloured digis. I was asked to do a feature using fun flock. I love Lee's digis and was very pleased with the feature. I used a Go Kreate die and Nitwits papers. I love making a frame with these dies. I used a clear sparkle pen on the background and it swooshed to give a snowy effect. The sentiment and stitched circle dies are Lawn Fawn and I used MFT layered snowflakes. I added some white glitter to the fun flock.

I would like to enter this into the anything goes challenge at Simon Says and inspired by a song at Allsorts (My song is Baby it's cold outside)

Looking forward to an evening out with hubby tonight. Pizza Express then the theatre to see a comedian we both like, Hal Cruttenden.

Material baubles this time

I really enjoyed making the paper baubles which you may have seen on my blog. I have always wanted to make some material ones and after looking at Pinterest and a with a friend's help on Facebook I had a go at them. I bought some slightly larger polystyrene balls for these.

The light yesterday was awful, so gloomy so it was hard to get a photo/

This is a slightly better pic of one of them. Basically you make hem almost the same as the paper ones but the material is folded diagonally into a triangle then diagonally again so the rough edges are at the top of each point. 

I diecut the squares on the first one but that took a long time as unlike paper I had to cut one at a time and then some of the material didn't cut right through it all. So for the second one I measured and cut 5cm squares and my lovely new Fiskars rotary cutter which I bought at the NEC came in very handy.

Challenges

Simon Says anything goes

Crafteezee anything but a card

Ho Ho Ho Hedgies

I just had to make a card using this super cute new topper from Pink Gem. It comes with decoupage and can be used to fill an A5 card but I like to use them as toppers. I used some old papers,punched holly leaves and gems and ribbon from my stash. I though the two left hand corners looked bare and was going to diecut some corners when I remembered these silver corners I have had for a few years. I coloured some white card using a silver Wink of Stella pen and punched some tiny stars to finish.

I would like to enter the Baby It's Cold Outside challenge at Simon Says.  A fairly free week for a change which has been good for getting on with finishing Christmas cards etc. I'm not finished yet though,bags and tags and a few special cards still to make.

Tea light gift boxes

I should be making Christmas cards really but sometimes I get an idea and just have to give it a go. I bought some tea lights and thought I could make some gift boxes with those for my next trading day on Monday. I am not the best at construction as the first attempt in my bin proves. However after an adjustment in calculations making sure the lid was slightly bigger than the base I made these.

I cut a star out of the lids and then used some cute MFT tiny stitched tag dies, sparkly poinsettias from Hobbycraft and some bells and berries from my stash.

I would like to enter these into anything but a card challenge at Crafteezee.

Following the leader

I love these sweet mice which are another image from the LOTV festive friends coloured art sheet. I used some old papers, a gliery poinsettia from Hobbycraft and a Woodware holly and Xcut ivy punches. I added sparkle with a clear Spectrum Noir sparkle pen to the star and bauble on the image and the wooden snowflakes.

Challenges

Simon Says Baby it's cold outside 

Allsorts based on a song (Following the Leader from the film Peter Pan)

Not a Christmas card!

I had a change from making Christmas cards with this one using a sweet Elisabeth Bell topper from The Hobby House which I fussy cut. The papers are MFT hearts and stripes, ribbon from Crafty Ribbons, sentiment from Inkylicious. I used a Lawn Fawn stitched circle and a Spellbinders heart circle die. The butterflies were cut with a Crafts Too die.

I would like to enter this into the based on a song challenge at Allsorts. Mine is based on I'll be There for you by The Rembrandts (Friends TV theme song).

Another early start today for my last craft fair of the year. It is a lovely Christmas fair and I did really well last year. I then have the hospital shop on Dec 3rd and that will be it for this year.

In the forest

So despite making Christmas cards all year I still have about 10 to make. One day I will have them all made by now, maybe next year. I have used one of the images from the LOTV precoloured festive friends art sheet. The sentiment is an old Little Claire dinkie stamp, papers are LOTV forzen snowflakes. The ribbon is a new one from Crafty Ribbons which I bought at the NEC.  I added a couple of trees cut using Joy dies and white glitter card.

Challenges

Simon Says Baby It's cold outside 

The Paper Shelter a Christmas card

Some for the ladies

You may have seen the cards for men I posted last week which were made using Hunkydory toppers. When they asked me to review some of their products I also chose the Amethyst Dreams papers and  The Little Book of Garden Treasures. I used both of those to create these 7x7 cards.

I am often asked for cards without cute images, suitable for older ladies. Now my Mum loves cute images but they are not for everyone and these beautiful images really don't need too much embellishing especially if they are used for smaller cards.

The papers are absolutely stunning. However I have to be honest and say the only thing I am not so keen on is that they are shiny and I really prefer matte papers. I have enjoyed working with these and thank Hunkydory for asking me to review them.

I shall be at the hospital craft fair today so a very early start.  Up at 5.15 to get ready and load up the car as we get there about 7.30 to set up. 

A new stamp

I was lucky enough to receive this stamp as a Birthday pressie. It isn't easy to find new PB stamps anymore. I coloured it with Copics adding a little chalk for the sky and some white gel dots for snow. I framed it with a new die I bought from Swedish House crafts. The papers are from LOTV and I added some trees cut from white glitter card.

I coloured two of these so you may see this stamp again soon.

Challenges

Penny Black and more at Allsorts make someone smile (the pressie made me smile and I am sure whoever gets this card will smile) 

Stamping Sensations get ready for Christmas

A unicorn for Christmas

I am delighted to be showcasing another of Janet's new images and you can find it here.  I decided to just use part of it as a topper teaming it with Bo Bunny Altitude papers. The lovely ribbon is from Crafty Ribbons. I used some silver glitter card with a Joanna Sheen star die.

Quick post as I must get on with making more Christmas cards.

My fave colour

I love Lee Holland's digis, elephants, flowers and purple so this is the perfect card for me really.  I coloured the ellie with Copics and mounted him on a doily. The paper is LOTV and flowers from Wild Orchid. I used a new die from Swedish House Crafts.  The sentiment is Inkylicious.

Penguin tags

I had a play with my Copics yesterday afternoon, something I haven't had enough time for lately.  I have ben longing to use these new penguin stamps and dies from MFT. It was such a gloomy horrible day yesterday so the photo doesn't really do them justice.

I used a Spellbinder tag die and some MFT border dies with the spotted card. The sentiment is an old dinkie one from Little Claire which is perfect for tags.

Challenges

Crafteezee anything but a card 

Penny Black and more at Allsorts Make someone smile (they make me smile and I am sure the recipients of the presents will smile too) 

Stamping Sensations get ready for Christmas 

As you like it Monochrome or rainbow (I do like monochrome but mainly use at least two colours so rainbow for me. You need lots of colour for Christmas)

We are out again tonight, meal with friends and then Chicago at the theatre. It is performed by one of the high schools and our friend's 15 year old daughter is in it. Last year's production of We Will Rock You was amazing.

More for men

Two more cards for men using those Hunkydory toppers I told you about yesterday. The Little Book of Magnificent Men is a really useful addition to anyone's collection. Both these cards would suit my hubby. I kept this one really simple again using MFT Free Spirit papers. I simply used the offcuts of paper, reversing the stripes and added a sentiment.  The topper was bigger than I needed so I just cut off some of the sky.

This one would actually be suitable for females too and the sentiment I used is actually from the female teenage sentiments from LOTV. I used the same paper pad. This time I used the two pieces of music paper that I cut off the top and bottom of the image and added some punched musical notes.

I have some lovely purple papers and garden toppers to use and will be reviewing those soon.

All at sea

I was delighted to receive an email from Hunkydory inviting me to review some of their products. I could choose which products I wanted to use and the first ones I am reviewing are the Magnificent Men Toppers. I get asked a lot for cards for men as opposed to boys and people usually want them for the man's particular interest. This pack contains so many different hobbies/pastimes/activities/sports that are going to be very useful.

The images are quite big and I wanted to make a 6x6 card so I cut off the top and bottom. I love the sketchbook and watercoloured style of this nautical image.  I used MFT free spirit papers, added a Cheery Lynn diecut lighthouse and a Go Kreate diecut gull. The little banners were cut from a scrap from the same paper pad using a Fiskars tag punch. I will be back with two more cards I made from them tomorrow.