Here's all 6

I thought it would be good to take a photo of all 6 cards together (see previous posts this week) and here they are. I think I met my personal challenge to make all 6 cards different.

Last Forever Friends today

Well here it is the final card which is for 2 challenges. The great sketch is from Our Creative Corner and cute and cuddly is the challenge at One Stop Craft. The leaves are Sizzix and the flowers are Prima with Shimmerz. The butterfly is K & Co with doodles in pink glitter pen. The papers are mainly Papermania Rich Red which are actually deep pink.

And again

See previous posts this week for Forever Friends for an explanation. This one is from the great sketch at Friday Sketchers. The optional challenge was blue and orange. Well offering an optional challenge means that of course I have to try it. They aren't colours I would normally put together but I am really pleased with the combo. Corners and swirl are Sizzix and the stars are Cuttlebug.

Forever Friends Again

Hope you all had a good bank holiday weekend. The weather here has been lovely so have been out and about. Saturday night we went out for a meal and to the theatre to see the musical Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, which was fantastic. When the car flew above the stage it was really magical.

We bought Adobe Photoshop yesterday so my photos should be looking better now although we have to learn how to use the program so I have just used the autocorrect.

For those of you who have been following me this last week you will know I had 6 A5 Forever Friends cards to make all with the same image. I challenged myself to make them all different and managed to make the last 3 last night. That's all the crafting I have had time for this weekend. The first one is from a sketch from Dutch Dare. The papers are Papermania Sweet Nothings and the lovely flowers are K & Co. I added Shimmerz and some star stickers to the green card to soften down the colour.

Florida scrapbok

We love to holiday in America and have been to Florida several times starting in 2001. Mostly we visit at Christmas when the weather is lovely but not humid. I started my first scrapbook last year and work on it whenever I have time from all the cardmaking. The challenge at Charisma is scrap it so I felt inspired to scrap. I found the transition from cards to scrapbooking very challenging to begin with as the page seemed so big compared to a card but the more I have done the more confident I have become. However I feel I am still very much a novice in this area but plan to start using some of the sketches to help me to improve. A few of the first pages are a bit busy for my liking now but we all have to learn don't we. My next scrapbook will be other places we have visited in the US. The second challenge is C for Circles at ABC.

Christmas by candlelight

When I saw the challenge at Winter Wonderland I just knew it was the perfect opportunity to use one of my new Whiff of Joy stamps. Isn't she gorgeous? The colour scheme of ruby, gold and cream came from Colour Create and the fab sketch from Papertake Weekly. She is coloured with Promarkers and as the optional challenge for Colour Create was to add gems I punched the top corners with an X cut corner and border punch and added some gems to the stars. Her hem is coloured with my new Sakura clear star pen. I love this pen as it gives such a sparkly raised finish. The ribbon and papers are from last Christmas's stash. The holly leaves are cut using a small X cut punch on white card and then coloured with Promarkers. I managed to make a Christmas card without snowflakes for a change. I'm sure they'll be back for the next card.

Anyone for Anya

A couple of quick posts tonight. The first is a lovely Anya image sent to me by Jenny. The very first challenge at Anyone for Anya is sugar and spice and all things nice. Well what could be nicer than shopping if it is for craft stash, of course. She is in my favourite colour for the challenge at Passion for Promarkers. I used all 4 purples and can't wait to get my hands on the new ones that are coming out. You can never have too many purples. The fab sketch is from Crafts 4 eternity. Although it doesn't show up too well on the photo I used my lovely Shimmerz on the flowers for added bling. The zigzag sparkle is Paper Cellar.

New baby

I love the Whiff of Joy stamps but have only rcently bought some. I am really pleased with the way this card turned out. I wanted to make a card for a new baby boy and decided to use lilac and blue as I had outlined the image in lilac with my trusty Promarkers. The papers are all Papermania, the blue I have had for ages and the lilac are from the Amethyst Infusion pack. I love sketches with slanted papers and this one from Creative Card Crew was so lovely to use. The flowers are Hero Arts to which I added some some shiny blue flowers and silver brads. The silver bow was the last one from this pack. Don't you just hate using the last one of something? I have no idea where I bought them which is a shame as they are so lovely and shiny. I used a Sakura clear star pen for some added shine to the frills on her dress and white glitter corner cut with my Sizzix. At Whiff of Joy the challenge is bling and atWhimsy it's a touch of sparkle so I think I have those challenges covered. At Cute Card Thursday the challenge is New Beginnings.

Willow Sketchie and some exciting news.

A lovely lady at work is retiring tomorrow so this card is for her. I followed the sketch at Willow Sketchie. I love these cute little owls. I didn't want to add another circle to the image so inked the edges. The bottom flower was white but I coloured it with a Promarker and added lots of Angel Wings Shimmerz. The papers are papermania Sweet Nothings.

And my exciting news is that I have been invited to be a guest DT for the last 2 weeks of the Winter Wonderland Challenge and the first guest DT for September for the new challenge at Squiggle Stamps. The site launches on 1 September and there will be candy. So don't delay get on over there and become a follower.

Little brown bears

A card for 3 challenges. The lovely sketch is from The Pink Elephant, the colour challenge is turquoise and brown at Secret Crafter and Lazy Dayz at Cute Card Thursday. I stamped the Garden Bears, a Rachelle Anne Miller Stamp, and cut out the bears, coloured with PMs of course. I inked the edges of the floral paper for a change. I usually think that would be a good idea when I have finished the card. Must do this more often.

Forever Friends in Purple

This is the 3rd of my FF cards I have to make by next Monday, see earlier postings. I just had to use this fab sketch at Forever Friends. I really love this sketch and resolve to use more diamond shapes on my cards. We don't use this shape enough. I used my X Cut shape cutter and added some purple glitter leaves and a flower made from 3 Primas and a flower brad. The second challenge is cheers me dear at My Time to Craft where you have to use a beverage on your card. Well I have a whole bottle of champagne here.

Card for a Liverpool FC fan

This is the 4th of my orders. The great sketch is from Allsorts who also want at least one torn edge. Now I'm not a fan of torn edges but I gave it a go with the football paper at the bottom. The challenge at ABC is B for Buttons so I thought I would enter again. The image is one I bought yesterday and is part of a digi set of sports images from Charmed Cards. The football is cut from some card I bought about 3 years ago and have no idea where I got it from. The image at the bottom is from a set of Personal Impressions stamps. All coloured with Promarkers.

Ruby Wedding

This is number 3 of the 8 orders I have to make. Luckily I don't have to make them all today. I'm really pleased with the way this one turned out. I ordered a couple of items from the lovely Quixotic paperie shop which arrived today. Isn't it exciting when the postie delivers something you are desperate to try out. I immediately got my brush into the angel wings Shimmerz and used it on the 2 smaller red flowers on this card. It dried really quickly and gives a lovely silvery shine to the flowers. The sketch is from Friday Sketchers and at Die Cut Dreams the challenge is hearts and flowers. I used various flowers with red heart brads in the centre. The die cut is from Twiddleys and the red patterned card is K&Co.

Sugar Bowl

Well for once I'm not making this card at the last minute for The Sugar Bowl. As well as their sketch the challenge was to make your own flowers. I used this lovely image sent to me by Jenny after I admired her cards with this stamp. I cut her out and mounted her on an oval cut with one of my faithful nesties. The flowers are made with a ix of punches and Sizzix die with added gems. It hasn't worked as well as I had hoped. I liked the papers together when I chose them but once I had finished sticking them wasn't so happy with my choice. Not my best Sugar Bowl entry.

Another Forever Friends card

Here's the second card which is 3D for the challenge at Stamptacular Sunday Challenge. I decoupaged the stamped image of the bear's arms, bottle and cork and flowers are also raised. The leaves are made from a Sizzix die. Must get on, more cards to make.

Celebrate

Wow what beautiful weather we had this weekend and today is lovely too. Don't like to complain but the gardens so badly need some rain. We've only had the odd shower over the last 2 weeks or so. Went to a retirement party yesterday at somebody's house in the country which was lovely and today I have the day off work, hooray, so plan to spend it mainly making cards. I have 8 A5 cards ordered, 6 of them using this image so my challenge to myself is to make all 6 different. This is the first one using the sketch at MAWTT. I die cut the image and layered up using my nesties and added some bling to fit the sketch, scrolls and stars using Sizzix and Cuttlebug dies.

I'm dreaming of a pink Christmas!

Now this card is much more detailed. I followed the lovely sketch at I love promarkers and used pink and black for One Stop Craft. The Christmas theme is for Our Creative Corner and Creative Card Crew. At Pollycraft the challenge is my favourite things. My favourite things on this card are the image, Promarkers, snowflakes, pink and black and glitter. The papers are from the new Rose Tinted Christmas pack from DCWV which I couldn't resist buying the other day as I am very short of pink Christmas paper. I cut out, coloured and glittered the image and layered her onto white card embossed with the Cuttlebug snowflakes and layered that onto black glitter card. The pink snowflakes were part of the bling I won on the CRAFT challenge the other week. and the gems and swirls were from stash.

Home for the holidays

Home for the Holidays is the theme this week at Winter Wonderland. I love to do their challenges and it is boosting my stock of Christmas cards but couldn't think of a suitable image. I sorted through my stash and found this topper so I made this really simple card. Picking up on the colours on the topper I found some grey and lilac snowflake paper and punched some snowflakes out of purple glitter card. A very simple card.

Here be dragons

This cute little fella was a Friday freebie from Pollycraft. Thanks Paula for these weekly freebies. It's the first time I have used him and I thought he would be perfect for a little boy's birthday so I used nice bright primary colours. He is coloured with my beloved Promarkers of course and some gold pen added to his tail and body. The sketch is from Sunday Sketch and Stamp, the challenge at Rainbow Lady is dragon, at ABC B is for buttons and at Pile it on a male card is needed for Oh Boy.

Third Thank You

This is the last of my simple thank you cards. I was asked if I could make a card with a teapot on it! Luckily I bought some assorted die cuts a couple of years ago and remembered I had a couple of teapots so here is my card. I added a flower sticker to the teapot, some pretty papers, a butterfly sentiment from Craftwork Cards and some Prima flowers and brads. It felt strange to make a card nowadays without a stamped image. This is for another Papertake Challenge of take your pick. This one is To Die For from 2 June 2008.

Another Thank You

This is the second of my thank you card which I made last night. The sketch is from Crafts 4 eternity. I decided to use the same image as before but in purple this time. Again I was asked to keep it simple but had to add some sparkly flowers from stash and some white and silver Crafty Bitz flowers. Not my most exciting card but the customer is always right.

Jane's blog candy

Check out Jane's mystery blog candy,which closes on 21 August. You can find it here .

Footballing bear

Another simple card for the challenge at Stamptacular Sunday Challenge which is beary special. The challenge is to use a bear stamp and as I was asked to make this card I used one of the Personal Impressions stamps.

A simple thank you

I have been asked to make 3 simple thank you cards so here is the first one. The lovely simple sketch is from The Fresh Batch. Over at Papertake the challenge is Take Your Pick. It is their 100th challenge and you can choose any of their previous 99 challenges. Their is some fab blog candy up for grabs so I chose a challenge from Jan 2008 which was Thanks a Bunch. The weather here is really hot but I need to get 2 more thank you cards made tonight.

Blowing in the wind

This gorgeous image was one of those I received in my blog candy and i thought she was perfect for the Whiff of Joy Challenge of brown and pink. Cocoa and rose pink are also the promarkers I had to use for the challenge at Passion for Promarkers. I found it quite hard to only use those 2 colours plus skin and hair but managed it by using one coat of Rose Pink on the dress and 3 coats on the pinafore. The flowers are highlighted with glitter pens. The papers are Papermania Simply Elegant and the pink striped paper is Craftwork Cards. The lovely sketch is from Papertake. The corners are a Sizzix die cut for Secret Crafter. The punched flowers bring the whole thing together for Allsorts In a English Country Garden. I really love the way this card turned out so I will save it for a friend's birthday next month who loves pink, no not you Lynsey, can't post your card on here, lol!

Late posting

Well this post is rather late for these three challenges. Hope I'm not too late but if I am well c'est la vie. I've had a busy weekend and only had time to make this card tonight. Had almost finished it when I heard some tinkling in the drawer of my unit where I keep some of my stash. When I checked the drawer I found one of my button containers didn't have the lid screwed on properly and all of the buttons had fallen out to the bottom of the drawer. As the drawer is made of basket and some of the buttons are the smallest buttons in the world they were also falling onto the floor and getting stuck in the wicker. Being a compulsively tidy person I had to clear them all up before I could finish the card. They are now stored in a wooden drawer at the bottom of the unit. So onto the card. The Forever Friends image has been coloured with Promarkers, cut out and framed with a nestie embossed with the swiss dots Cuttlebug folder and is for the Forever Friends Challenge of Lazy Days of Summer. Summer makes me think of flowers and butterflies so I added lots of butterflies to this card. I rotated the sketch from Cupcake who also wanted blue, brown and cream. The colour challenge at The Pink Elephant is brown, turquoise and neutral. As it is now dark I had to use the flash on the camera which has bounced back a bit on one of the butterflies, unfortunately. Hope you all had a good weekend. Back to work tomorrow.

7 challenge card

Hooray it's Friday. This cute penguin may be small but he is for 7 challenges. The fab sketch is from Inspirational Card Sketches. I used black glitter flocking on the penguin,blue and silver glitter card, silver card, shiny snowflake confetti and a sparkly greeting reading sparkle and glitz for the theme of twinkle and sparkle at Winter Wonderland. The colours of blue, sand, black and silver are for Colour Create. Both My Time to Craft and Dutch Dare want a Christmas card. Whimsy Stamps theme is animal magic and ABC is a for anything goes with the option of animals.

How charming

A quick post and no time for blog hopping at the moment. A pile of ironing awaits and unfortunately the ironing fairy hasn't been whilst I have been at work. Another A5 card order for an elderly mum who loves flowers. I love making these larger cards, though they are more time consuming. The larger area gives so much more scope. I coloured this lovely Pollycraft image with Promarkers and used a glitter pen on the stems and leaves. I then added a few white highlights. The papers are Papermania Boutique again. I love this set of papers, they are so elegant. The cream flowers are Hero Arts and the purple ones are Prima. The leaves were cut using a Sizzix die and the sentiment was done on the computer. It's the first time I have used a charm on a card, which I got from Quixotic Paperie. Check out Elaine's fab shop. Other products are from stash. The sketch is from Sketch Saturday and the other 2 challenges both require a charm this week. They are Lili of the Valley who have some gorgeous new stamps available to pre-order, and Stamp Something.

Fabulous Sixty

I was asked to make a card using an elegant card for a 60th Birthday. I decided to go with the vintage theme as my mum had been having a sort out and gave me some lace and ribbon. It's the first time I have ever used lace on a card and as the lace had holes in it thought I would thread through some ribbon. I am really pleased with the result and shall definitely use this idea again. I added some white glitter to the fur on her outfit for a bit of sparkle. You're never too old for some sparkle. Now to the challenges. The sketch is from Friday Sketchers, the theme is vintage at Allsorts lace is required for Dutch Dare and S is for Sixty at Rainbow Lady, a new challenge for me, this one.

Image - Debbi Moore

Coloured with Letraset Promarkers
Paper - Papermania Boutique
Die cuts - Nestabilities
Flowers - Prima
Sentiment - Craftwork Cards

Number - Poundland

Gems and ribbon from stash

Lace from my mum

Elisabeth Bell's Blog Candy

Hop on over to Elisabeth Bell's blog for the chance to win some fabulous stamps.

Anya in the Sun

This is my first entry for the Splendid Stamping with the Greeting Farm Challenge. I loved using this sketch for a birthday card for a friend's birthday early next month.
Stamp - Anya Sun
Coloured with Letraset Promarkers, highlighted with glitter pens
Paper - Papermania
Die cuts - Nestabilities
Embellishments - Papermania Monochromatic, purple butterflies cut with X cut punch
Flower - Papermania Monochromatic
Sentiment - Craftwork Cards

Whiff of Joy

This gorgeous little angel was one of the images from my blog candy win from Vicky. The sketch is from the Whiff of Joy Challenge. The colours of grey, blush, orange and rust are for Color Throwdown and the roses are for One Stop Craft. Over at Cute Daisy May the challenge is floral fantasy and at Stamp with fun an easy challenge this week of Birthday. The final challenge is a new one for me, Pile it on. Their challenge was tough this week as it is to use no patterned paper. You also have to enter other challenges with their challenge. I found only using plain paper quite difficult but I managed to find the right colours in my stash. The leaves are cut using a Sizzix die.

Sugar Bowl

The Sugar Bowl is one of my favourite challenges. They always have such lovely sketches and some fantastic prizes. I though I would try a different colour combo for a change. The other essential item for the prize draw is doodling so I doodled a flower headband for her with some glitter pens and some dots on the white nestie with a Letraset fineliner. I used my much neglected wavy edged scissors on the grey and lilac striped paper though it is hard to see on the photo.

Stamp - Sugar Nellie Gorjuss Goth Girl
Coloured with Letraset Promarkers, highlighted with glitter pens
Paper - Papermania Amethyst Infusion
Die cuts - Nestabilities
Flowers - Prima
Flower brad, gems and Sentiment - Lakeland (when they had a craft department)

My first award

I have received this award from Kazabing, one of my new followers. I am a bit overwhelmed as I have only had my blog for a couple of months and never expected an award. Before I pass it onto 5 people I have to list 5 things I like.....

1) Cardmaking, of course!!!

2) Holidays in Florida in the Winter, especially at Christmas. Not going this year, sob.

3) New England in the fall, going again this year, yippee.

4) Reading. I'm a regular bookworm and always have to have a new book to start as soon as one has finished. Mind you I don't read nearly as much as I used to since I started cardmaking.

5) Flowers. I love flowers and beautiful gardens.

I would like to pass this award to:

Lynsey

Christine

Pinky

Poppet

Jenny

Winter Wonderland

Final Christmas card for tonight. The sketch is from Winter Wonderland whose theme this week is Winter Wonderland! These jolly Penny Black snowmen are also for Cute Daisy May who are looking for a Christmas card this week. The third challenge is teal and red at Cute Card Thursday.

Forever Friends at Christmas

This is my second Christmas card this evening. The fab sketch is from Passion for Promarkers. This cute little bear was one of the images I won from the FF blog candy. He is of course coloured with PMs with some white glitter on his hat. As I promised myself I am using more glitter on my Christmas cards this year.

First of 3 Christmas Cards

I've done really well this evening, making 3 more Christmas cards. That makes 18 so far. The sketch is for Stamp with fun and the other challenge is All Creatures Great and Small for Paperplay. The stamp was free with Do Crafts magazine. The papers and stars are from last year's Christmas stash ad the swirl is gold glitter card using Sizzix Scribble Swirl.

Creatalicious Challenge

There's a new monthly challenge blog about to be launched called Bizzy Becs Creatalicious Challenges which goes live on the 15th August and each month thereafter, and they're looking for 2 DT members. This is my entry based on their sketch. I'm sure there will be some much better entries than this but I really enjoyed using this sketch for my friend's birthday card for next week. This is where you can find the challenge. This is where you can find their fantastic online shop.

Stamp - Greeting Farm Dahlia
Coloured with Letraset Promarkers

Paper - from blog candy, K& Co
Die cuts - Nestabilities, Cuttlebug divine swirls embossing folder
Embellishments - buttons from stash
Flowers - Prima, Hero Arts and small mulberry flowers

Mum's Birthday

The main reason I wanted to get these owls was this cute image. My mum has always loved to knit and I'm sure this image will amuse her. The fab sketch is for Mojo Monday and the buttons and ribbons are for Simon Says. Hope Mum likes it.

Image - Willow Designs

Paper - Papermania Boutique
Die cuts - Nestabilities
Ribbon - Laura Ashley Love Song
Flowers - Prima Vintage Ruby
Buttons and bow from stash

Two Owls

When I saw these little owls on the Willow Sketchie Challenge I just had to buy them. They are digital downloads available from Willow Designs. The first card is from a sketch for The Fresh Batch challenge. Its a floral fantasy for A Spoon Full of Sugar and has 3 brads, 1 flower and designer paper for The Pink Elephant. Paper is Papermania and the flower is K & Co. The butterfly ribbon and brads are from stash and I used my nesties of course.

The second card is for a sketch at Secret Crafter. Papers are K& Co and Papermania's Sweet Nothings. The butterfly is K& Co with sparkly doodles and the very sparkly flowers were bought in the US.

First wedding anniversary

A good friend at work asked me to make a first wedding anniversary card for some friends for whom I made their wedding card last year. Where did that year go? The girl loves pink so here is a rather pink card. The image is a freebie from Pollycraft, coloured with Promarkers, whose challenge this week is buttons and bows. I love buttons and thought these little heart buttons were just perfect for this card. The fab sketch is from Sunday Sketch and Stamp. Papers are Papermania's Sweet Nothings and Simply Elegant.

Wedding Day

Saturday's post was a bit rushed as I had to quickly get the cards onto my blog before getting ready to go out with friends for a meal. I didn't even get a chance to include the recipe. Got home from work a while ago so want to get this card posted. I made it last night and by the time I finished it was time for bed. A friend at work wanted this card made for a young couple. I coloured the hair to match her description of their hair colours. She was a bit of a challenge so I combined cinnamon with ruby to get auburn, Promarkers of course. I wanted a lively bright feel to the card and as the person who asked me to make is very fond of pink thought I would include that by sing Papermania's Touch of Pink papers. It is so nice to make an A5 card especially when you want to put the names and date on the card. The lovely sketch is from Friday Sketchers. The other challenges are Go for Gold at High Hopes which is covered by the Wedding Day die cut from Sizzix and punched wedding rings on gold glitter card, the gems and bow and 3 flowers, 2 papers and 1 ribbon at Allsorts. You can't see the wedding rings very well on the photo but they are just under the couple.

1 Anya, 2 cards, 3 challenges

Over at Passion for Promarkers their challenge was this fab sketch and the colours Cool Aqua and Pastel Pink. I don't know why but I immediately thought of making a Christmas card and here it is. The second challenge is One Stop Craft swirls and pearls.

The purple card is for Our Creative Corner who have a colour challenge of purple. I was very happy with this challenge as purple is my very fave colour for cards.