Greetings from my holiday

Hi everyone. Here we are dressed up in our holiday clothes, lol. Just the thing for walking round in New England. The hotel here in Salem Massachusetts has a computer for guest use so here I am saying hi. We arrived on Friday evening and had a great day yesterday in the sunshine. Unfortunately this morning it is raining so we thought we would take the opportunity to view our pictures we had taken yesterday. I've always fancied having some of those old time photos taken and as these were available on a CD rather than prints decided to go for it. There was a choice of witches, naturally we are in Salem after all, pirates, 1920s or American Civil War. Having always been a fan of Gone With the Wind I couldn't pass up the chance to wear one of these lovely Southern Belle outfits. Doesn't hubby look smart in his soldier's uniform. He thinks he looks older on these photos, maybe because he isn't wearing his glasses. Thought I would share just one of the 50 photos they took. Off to the Witch Museum this morning which should be interesting. Leaving Salem early tomorrow and heading up to Freeport in Maine, then down to Cape Cod next weekend for 4 days and then Boston for a further 3 days, which is where I shall spend my Birthday. I don't know if any of those hotels will also have a PC I can use but if not catch my scheduled post next Sunday.

I'm leaving on a jet plane

Well my bags are packed, I'm ready to go. Well they soon will be. Thursday morning finish packing and off to Heathrow. Lovely overnight hotel stop and fly out to Boston on Friday. I'm typing this Tuesday evening and scheduling it for Wednesday morning. I haven't done a scheduled post before and I need to make sure I know how to do it before I can schedule my posts for Stamptacular Sunday's guest DT spot. So here's hoping I've got it right. I'll try to catch up with a few of you before I go.

This is one of the pictures we took last time we went 3 years ago and hope to see more of this gorgeous foliage.

Pink, black and white Pollycraft

Here's the second of my Cherry Kisses frames I bought this week. The challenge over at Pollycraft is to use black, white and another colour. Now I love black, white and pink or purple so really enjoyed this challenge. I love these digi stamps and it was a good chance to use some of my new PMs. I love the combination of flowers and dots too.

Please check out Nikki's blog candy from my sidebar. This is a huge candy, worth $275 and she is asking you to donate to a very good cause.

This will probably be my last post for a while. I have to make the cards for October for my guest DT so will schedule those for whilst I am away. We're flying off to New England on Friday. I'm looking forward to it so much and will be visiting a few craft shops I'm sure. I hope you will check out my scheduled posts for October Sundays and catch up with me when I get back. If you're not already a follower now would be a good time to join as one of my first posts when I'm back mid October will be to offer my first blog candy to say thanks for welcoming me to blogland.

Marianne x

Cupcake and some exciting news

This is another card made for my guest DT spot at Squiggle Stamps. I wanted to show how you can use a simple stamp to make a lovely card. Well, I think it's lovely. I'm much more pleased with this one than the last card I posted. The colours are much more my style. I cut out the coloured stamp and layered it on nestie cut card embossed with the Cuttlebug divine swirls folder, layered onto another nestie. The gorgeous flocked paper was part of the goody bag sent by Tracy at Squiggle. It is so lush I didn't want to use it, but that is what paper is for isn't it or is it just to stroke and admire? I added some gems to the flocked flowers, some Primas and brads. No challenges for this card for a change.

And my exciting news. I have been asked by Stamptacular Sunday Challenge to be their guest DT for October. I hadn't realised that everyone who enters at least 3 of their challenges in a month has the chance to be their next guest DT. The DT vote for their favourite cardmaker each month and they chose me. It is so lovely to know that people think my cards are good enough to invite me to be a guest DT. I hope you'll all be joining in their challenges and that you like my entries.

Baby boy

Good evening everyone. What a gorgeous day it's been today. Hope the weather has been good wherever you are. Looking forward to the weekend and sorting out clothes for my upcoming holiday. This gorgeous image is one of the new Tina Wenke stamps. This card hasn't quite worked for me although I love this stamp. I think the paper overwhelms the image a bit and I really prefer cards with less colours. It has grown on me a bit since I made it earlier this evening. Challenges are Cute Daisy May Hey Baby, 3 types of embellishments, flower, buttons and brad for La la land and 3 embellishments, 2 papers and 1 image at Simon Says. Yes there are 2 papers, the image is layered with blue paper, not card.

Fall into Autumn

Well there are a lot of challenges this week for autumn or fall cards, depending upon where you live. I used one of my new digital Pollycraft Cherry Kisses frames for this one, coloured with PMs. I added some punched leaves to the picture. Papers are Papermania, the branch is a Sizzix die cut. I added some skeleton leaves, gems, a flower covered with Shimmerz, topped with another flower and a brad. I 'm really please with the way this card turned out, which is for a very good friend of mine, whose birthday is next weekend. Challenges are Digital Tuesday, Whimsy, A Spoonfull of Sugar and Our Creative Corner.

Snowflakes

Another quick post. I coloured this gorgeous Sugar Nellie image Monday night and as my meeting didn't start until 9am I was making this card at 7.30 this morning! She is coloured with PMs and I highlighted the spots and snowflakes with Sakura Stardust. The sparkly snowflakes are Me & My Big Ideas and were bought in America along with the foam flakes. I'll try to find some more of these for my promised candy next month. I flipped the fab sketch from Sketch Saturday and the challenge at Winter Wonderland is a vintage Christmas. Well she has an old fashioned look about her doesn't she. One Stop Craft said Let it Snow and Passion for Promarkers want polka dots. Thanks for all your comments. I will get round to visiting you as soon as I can.

Second Squiggle Guest DT card

I've spent all day in a meeting today and have another one all day tomorrow so two long days for me and no time for crafting tonight. I made this one last night and really wanted to get it posted. This cutie is another Daisy stamp from Squiggle. They stamp so beautifully, I really love using them. I used some of my new PMs on this card, they are fab. I rotated the lovely sketch from Willow Sketchie. The background paper is a digital download from Willow. The other papers are Papermania Amethyst Infusion. The flowers are Prima and the edges are coloured with Royal Purple Shimmerz. Sorry you can't see the lovely sparkle.

You're a Star

A quick post from me today as I need to get some more cards made. I've got all day meetings for the next 2 days so have to work later than usual and might not get much time for crafting but will try to visit your blogs. I just bought some digital downloads from the wonderful Pollycraft and this image is perfect for Digital Tuesday's challenge of all about kids. I am really pleased with the effect I got with his jeans. I wanted to give them a faded look so used the cornflower Promarker and then coloured ivory in a circular motion on top. The star is Cuttlebug and the sentiment is a Personal Impressions stamp. The fab sketch is from Crafts 4 Eternity and teenage boys is the theme at Secret Crafter.

My 6 new pink and purple Promarkers arrived today so I can't wait to use them this evening.

Daisy Sitting Pretty

I finally had time to make a card this evening and I'm sitting typing this whilst listening to Thank You for the Music on Radio 2, the ABBA tribute programme. Trouble is I keep losing concentration as I can't help singing along. I don't like taking photos this late but wanted to get this card posted. Unfortunately although I didn't use a flash you can't see the sentiment very well as it is so shiny.

I received my lovely goody bag from Tracy at Squiggle Stamps and it included this cute stamp. So this is my first card for my very first guest DT spot. Make whatever you like said Tracy so I used this great sketch from A Spoon Full of Sugar. Yesterday was a beautiful warm sunny day but today it has been grey and dull all day. Autumn is on it's way so I went with autumn colours again for this card. She is coloured with Promarkers and I used my Sakura stardust pen to give her flower on her top and the spots on her socks some sparkle. I cut her out and layered her on paper cut with a nestie and layered again on card embossed with Cuttlebug swiss dots. Papers are Papermania Simply Elegant and Craftwork Cards, along with the sentiment, also layered on nestie cut card, and candy. The twig and flowers are Sizzix and the large flowers are from stash and Prima.

Candy

Rach has a fab WOJ stamp plus some Cardstock to give away. Get on over there. You just need to mention it on your blog and leave a link. Closing date is 19 September.

Don't forget I will be offering some candy next month so hope you will sign up us a follower, if you haven't done already, and keep a check on my blog. I'm off on holiday at the end of next week and will be checking out those USA craft stores for candy to add to the items I have already collected. I'll hope to find some things not available in England. Now who wouldn't want to win that?

Frosty the Snowman

What a busy week I've had and not as many cards made as I would have liked. It has also been a great week for me as I won 2 challenges and what fantastic prizes they were. Elaine of Quixotic Cards, a great shop, had generously donated a £10 voucher to the Cupcake Challenge, which I had great pleasure in spending today. Today I found I have won a set of label nesties of my choice from Stamp Something. Another generous sponsor, Christian Papercrafts. Thanks so much for these great prizes. I decided to spoil myself and order 6 of the new Promarkers as Secret Crafter now offer free p&p. There are so many lovely new colours it as hard to choose but 3 pinks and 3 purples will be coming my way. There just weren't enough of these colours in the original set. I've been very lucky with the prizes and candy I have won since I started 3 months ago so there will be candy on offer sometime next month so spread the word and if you're not already one of my lovely followers now would be a good time to become one.

Well on to today's card. Finally got round to doing the Winter Wonderland challenge of Frosty the Snowman. I just love snowmen and snowflakes on cards. The fab sketch is from Mojo Monday. I decided to go with something different and used the colour challenge of pumpkin, cocoa and ruby from Color Throwdown. This was a challenge as most Christmas papers aren't orange and brown. Apart from the strip of Christmas papers the others were all from my non Christmas stash. The stamp is Pink Gem coloured with PMs. I decided to add some red flowers and bronze roses both of which I bought in local shops over the last 2 weeks. This week's challenge at Stamp Something is to use your favourite embellishments. Well, mine is definitely flowers of any shape, size and colour.

A busy weekend ahead but I am having a facial and back massage tomorrow so should be nice and relaxed and will hopefully find a little time for crafting on Sunday. Hope you all have a great weekend and the weather is good for you.

Lavender, soft blue and cream Anya

I've had a busy week at work this week and had to work over my normal hours the last 2 days so am behind again with catching up with blogland. Just one card to post today and then I'll check out what's been happening with you all.

What a lot of colour challenges this week. I love this one from Roses on Paper. Anya is coloured with Promarkers and I decided to give her auburn hair just to give these lovely soft colours some zing. I used pastel yellow, gold and spice for her hair. Papers are mainly Papermania Amethyst Infusion. Flowers are a mix of Hero Arts, Prima and Sizzix die cuts. Hearts and flowers are for Secret Crafter and buttons, bows and brads for Anyone for Anya. D is for Die Cuts at the ABC Challenge.

Let it snow

Second and final post today. It's funny to think about snow when it has been really hot today. Should cool down tomorrow thank goodness, the garden is wilting. Hope hubby goes out to water it tonight. Well, on with the card. This gorgeous image is last Friday's freebie from Pollycraft. If you haven't nabbed her yet then you should. I love these Cherry Kisses images. She is coloured with PMs and her coat has a lovely sparkly edging thanks to my Sakura stardust pen. I inked the edges of the nestability shape. Papers are DCW Rose Tinted Christmas and Forever Friends Christmas Snow. The sentiment is a Sizzix die cut, one of my faves, and the snowflakes and stars were cut from pink glitter card using a Cuttlebug die. The challenge at Cute Daisy May is pink and any other colour. What a great challenge.

Merry Christmas

This little bear was part of a stamp set given away with this month's Cardmaking and Papercraft. I couldn't resist buying the mag when I saw the bears. The lovely simple sketch is from Moving along with the times. Sewing, faux or real, was also required so I drew some french knots around the white circle. Sew, sew, sew was also the theme at Whimsy. Lastly polka dot party is the challenge at My Time to Craft. The papers are DCWV Rose Tinted Christmas. The image is coloured with Promarkers as are 2 of the snowflakes, which came from America. I added a bow instead of text to the sketch as the bear says it all.

One for the boys

I turned the sketch from Friday Sketchers 180 degrees to make this men's card. The image is a digi image from Charmed Cards and is coloured with Promarkers. The sentiment comes with the image too. Something for the boys is the challenge at Allsorts and a male card including brown (backing paper) and metal (brads) is for the new challenge blog Creatalicious. Last challenge is stars and stripes at Our Creative Corner.

The Sugar Bowl Challenge 18

Finally had time to catch up with all you lovely ladies yesterday. I spent so long blogging that I made 2 cards in the evening and decided it was too dark to get a good photo so left it till today. The Sugar Bowl is one challenge I always try to do as they have such fantastic prizes and this week is no exception. Their sketches are always great too. The added extra was buttons. I kept the card fairly simple to show off the sketch, the lovely papers and of course the image.

Image - Sugar Nellie Gorjuss Girl
Coloured with Letraset Promarkers, highlighted with glitter and white gel pens
Paper - Papermania Amethyst Infusion and plain paper from stash
Embellishments - sparkly ribbon, sparkly flower and button from stash
Flowers - Prima

Get well soon Paige

This card is for a very special cause which you can read about over at Stamp Something. A 13 year old called Paige was injured in a serious boating accident and has had part of her arm amputated. The challenge is to use your favourite stamp and some punching or die cutting and if you would like to send Paige your card so much the better, though this is optional. My card will be winging its way to Paige in Boston, Massachusetts. (Just realised I made a joke there as the image is an angel.) How do you choose your fave stamp, well it is impossible. This is one of my new Whiff of Joy stamps that I have been itching to use and as she is a guardian angel I thought she was very appropriate for Paige. Let's hope she recovers soon.

The lovely sketch is from Whiff of Joy. The challenge at Secret Crafter is flights of fancy and angels and fairies is the theme at Papertake. She is girly and glittery for the challenge at Passion for Promarkers. Swirls, curls and hearts is for Charisma.

Die Cut Dreams are looking for DT members and in order to enter you have to make a pink card so here is my entry.

The weather has been awful today, rain and wind so let's hope for better weather this weekend. Must go, dinner to cook but will catch up with your blogs this weekend.

Image - Whiff of Joy
Coloured with Letraset Promarkers, highlighted with Sakura clear star pen, wings painted with Angek Wings Shimmerz

Paper - Papermania Raspberry Champagne
Die cuts - Sizzix swirl
Embellishments - brads and hearts from stash

Glitter Ribbon - Laura Ashley
Flowers - Prima painted with Angel Wings Shimmerz

1st Birthday

A friend of mine at work had a little boy last year and this card is for his 1st birthday later this month. The sketch is from Stamp with fun. Anything baby goes is the theme at Stampin for the weekend. Summer is the challenge at Die Cut Dreams and I thought this card has a real summery feel especially with the backing paper with the suns on it. We could do with a bit of that as today has been horrible for much of the day, very windy and wet. The gardens need the rain but I prefer it confined to the night. The image is a Daisy and Dandelion stamp layered onto a nestability shape embossed with Cuttlebug tiny bubbles. The balloons are a Sizzix die. The papers, number and stars are from stash. Gold zigzag is from Papercellar.

What a hoot

The challenge at Allsorts is to make a card without using a stamp, scary stuff. Digi images are allowed so I decided to use another of these cute owls from Willow Designs. I thought if stamps aren't allowed then colouring with my Promarkers should also be abandoned so I used the image that comes ready coloured. I added some sparkle round the sign and to the flowers with my Sakura Clear Star pen. The main papers are Papermania Rich Red. Why there are called rich red when they are deep pink I just don't know. The corner paper is Papermania raspberry champagne. The sketch is from Mojo Monday. Large flowers are Prima with added buttons. The button flowers are from Readicut.

Forever Friends and snowman

This cute little image was part of the blog candy from the Forever Friends challenge. Thanks Wendy. So the first challenge was to use brads or eyelets at Forever Friends. Luckily I had some snowflake brads left from last year. These gorgeous papers are DCWV Rose Tinted Christmas and were perfect for the pink, black and white challenge at Creative Card Crew. The image is coloured with Promarkers and the recipe of 1 ribbon,2 squares and something that sparkles is at The Pink Elephant. I used glitter card for the layering and added some sparkly snowflakes which also fits bling, bling at La La Land Crafts.

Drake the Penguin

This fabulous little fella is a Friday freebie download from the talented Paula at Pollycraft. The challenge there is animals. I just love this penguin, which technically is a bird I know but hope he counts for this challenge. At Pile it on the challenge is round and at Cupcake it is a recipe of 3 buttons, 2 papers and 1 ribbon. I added some red flock glitter to his hat for the touchy feely challenge at Whimsy. The lovely sketch is from Sunday Sketch and Stamp.