Down on the farm

I am really pleased with the way this card turned out. I bought the new set of farm digis from Digistamp Boutique, such great value as it was on early bird offer at just 99p for 14 images. I merged the barn, grass and animals together to create a scene which I coloured with Copics, using chalk with my MFT cloud stencil for the sky,

The papers are Nikki Sivills tree love. I used a Crafter's Companion icicle die for the grass, First Edition farm set for the gate and an old Memory Box branch die.

Challenges

Simon Says anything goes
The Paper Shelter die cuts

Poppies

This is one of two cards I made for the latest Crafts Beautiful magazine. I used a new Woodware stamp I bought at the Thetford craft show. I coloured it with Copics and teamed ti wit some MFT papers. The lace is from Crafty Ribbons and I used a MFT stitched scalloped border die and a Joy butterfly die.  I went for red but would love to try it in purple too. We are off to the theatre tonight with friends to see Halfway to Paradise, the Billy Fury Story.

Challenges

Simon Says anything goes 

Crafteezee flowers 

With Sympathy

Our new challenge at A Gem of a Challenge is get well or sympathy. I like to keep sympathy cards fairly simple and this new topper from Pink Gem is so lovely it doesn't need much embellishing. I simply added the sentiment which is one of several that come with the precoloured topper, a backing paper, ribbon and bow and 2 butterflies from Poundworld.

Challenges

Simon Says anything goes 

Crafteezee flowers 

Crafty Calendar buttons or bows

Peas in a pod

Well I certainly have plenty of baby cards in stock after this latest release from LOTV and I still have some waiting to be coloured. This is such an adorable image which I coloured with Copics. The papers are new digi ones from LOTV. I don't use green that much but the fresh green and white papers go so well with the image. I kept the colours neutral so it will suit boys or girls, or one of each.

I added some cheesecloth, used a MFT wonky stitched rectangle die, MS fern punch, burlap flowers from America and some little wooden hearts.

Challenges

Dies R Us Springtime 

Simon Says anything goes 

Crafteezee flowers 

Creative Inspirations Springtime

The Ribbon Girl anything goes

The kitchen is coming along nicely. Two part walls to be painted and the new blind to hang. We also need some new pictures for the largest wall. I will share some pictures once it is finished. Really pleased with it.  

Proud moment

Well I must say I am doing better this year with my scrapbook layouts. This page is from 2015 when we were on holiday in Yorkshire and I paid what was to be my last visit to Lili of the Valley.  I didn't know then the shop would be closing but I am so glad I got the chance to visit it three times. This last time I met with Anne who used to work there and I was delighted to see some of my cards on display as I had joined the DT.

I used Santoro papers and some old LOTV Antebellum papers which I cut with MFT jumbo stitched banner dies. I used American Thickers letters and some new alignment guides I bought in Hobbycraft last week. I used the circle one as a template and one of the wavy line ones to align my heading.   The LOTV I cut from the front of the paper pad.  I added a few bits from a pack of diecuts.

It's the start of the powerboat racing season at Oulton Broad today so hubby will be off  just after lunch to go volunteering on the rescue boat and won't be home until late this evening so lots of crafty time for me.

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

Hedgie and Holly

You may have seen my snowman card on Tuesday well I also bought this Penny Black stamp at the same time.  I coloured him with Copics and added a subtle grey shading around him which I haven't done for ages. It's funny how some things I used to do a lot on cards I forget about until I seem the technique on another blog and think I must do that again.  The oval is MFT wonky stitched and the holly is an old Memory Box die.  The sentiment is LOTV.

Challenges

Allsorts pearls

Silhouettes

I hadn't bought any new Digistamp Boutique images for quite some time and having seen various DT cards on their blogs and Facebook decided I must check out the new stamps. I bought some lovely Spring flower ones and these silhouette and shadow stamps. I merged the silhouette, shadow and sentiment and die cut them using a stitched square die from The Works. The papers are First Edition Sweet Nothings. I also used a MFT scalloped stitched border die and Memory Box flower dies.

Challenges

Creative Inspirations Springtime 

Dies R Us Springtime 

Crafteezee flowers

Allsorts pearls

I will also be entering the DSB challenge which is now on Facebook.

Today is launch day!

If you saw my second post yesterday you will have seen the baby plaque I made for a baby girl so today I am sharing the one I made for a baby boy. These new images, sentiments and alphabets all launch at noon today at LOTV.

The new image is called Sweet Dreams and has been coloured with Copics. The alphabet letters are new and are called Toy Block. They come in a range of colours and are so easy to cut out.

For this one I covered the plaque with some paper from Craftwork Cards, added some cheesecloth from he Ribbon Girl, lace, ribbon from Crafty Ribbons, flowers from Wild Orchid and again coloured a wooden heart with white Wink of Stella.

A better view of the ribbon.

We are going into the city today as we both have eye checkups at the opticians. I only had new glasses last year so I am hoping my eyes haven't changed enough to need to change my glasses.

Another sneak peek

Back with a second post again today as I have so many of these new images I want to show you. I made a pretty baby plaque using one of the new LOTV images, polkadots and one of the new princess sentiments.  I coloured the image with Copics and tried out a different skin colour combo which I learnt at Faye's colouring class last year and which she said is good for babies, YR20, YR00, YR000 and a little E04 for the cast shadow.

The aper is from an old LOTV pad, ribbon from Crafty Ribbons, flowers from Wild Orchid, cheesecloth from The Ribbon Girl, lace from stash  I coloured the wooden hearts with a white Wink of Stella pen and use Dovecraft pastel pink 3d pearl drops around the image.

Here is the whole thing so you can see the ribbon better.

Challenges

Crafteezee flowers 

The Ribbon Girl anything goes 

As you like it favourite colouring medium and why (I love using alcohol markers and Copics are the best I think for colour range and blending.) 

Stamping Sensations one for the girls

Allsorts pearls

New zoo alphabet

I have another sneak peek for you today and this is actually an image from another of the new alphabets launching tomorrow from LOTV. This is from the zoo alphabet. Each letter comes with a cute animal image and I thought what great card toppers they make. You could use the whole alphabet to make a poster or frieze for a child's bedroom.

I love the bright colours and the old K&Co Hopscotch papers were a perfect match. It really didn't need much so I just punched some stars and crimped them.

There are some lovely samples from the rest of the DT so do check them out on their blogs or on the LOTV World Facebook page.

LOTV new beginnings launch

As promised on my second post yesterday I am sharing one of the new images launching on Monday as part of the LOTV New Beginnings launch. This is Scuffy Edward, well I think he is adorable. He has been coloured with Copics. I used one of the new sentiments which come in a variety of colours. I kept the layout very simple using some gingham paper and MFT scalloped basic border dies and some enamel dots.

Challenges

Penny Black and more at Allsorts black and white plus one 

As you like it Favourite colouring medium (Copics which I love as I prefer using alcohol markers and find Copics the best for depth of colour and blending.) 

The Ribbon Girl anything goes

We have just had our kitchen refurbished with new doors, drawer fronts etc so been very busy emptying it all out and using the utility as a kitchen for a couple of days. It was finished yesterday afternoon so we cleaned everywhere and refilled the cupboards. That is the kitchen spring clean done. Not too much time for crafting this week so planning more this weekend as  have so many new LOTV images to use and hubby needs to get on with painting the kitchen walls.

LOTV sneak peek with more bunting

Back with a second post today.  There is a new release from LOTV on Monday called new beginnings. There are new images, sentiments and some fabulous alphabets. I made some more paper bunting and used the patchwork alphabet which comes in various colours. If you zoom in on the photo you can see the patterns on the letters. Tomorrow I will be sharing a card made with one of the new stamps and it is soooooo cute.

Pink rose barrow

There are so many lovely new precoloured digi toppers at Pink Gem and as flowers are always popular with my customers I used pink rose barrow for my Birthday card. The paper is an old Prima one and I remembered I had a similar colour doily which was fortunate. I found he sentiment already stamped up in my sentiment folder, no idea where it comes from. The sparkly butterflies are from Poundland and I used a clear Wink of Stella pen on some of the image.

Challenges

Allsorts spring flowers or showers 

Crafteezee flowers 

Creative Inspirations Springtime

Bunting

Sorry for the photo but it was very difficult to get a good picture of my new bunting I have been making. I have had the idea of making some paper or card bunting for a while so when I saw a set of triangle dies at The Works for £6 and I had a 25% off deal come through I decided to by them as diecutting is so much quicker than measuring and cutting by hand.   I was even more pleased to find that the dies actually come with an extra deep top which is perforated enabling me to cut the patterned card attach double sided tape and the ribbon and then fold the top over the ribbon. I then cut more triangles, trimmed off the extra top piece and attached them to the backs to neaten them.

On the top one I added paper flowers and card candi and on the second one some butterflies from Poundland. I dug out an old Sizzix alphabet die for the baby ones and added diecut babygros and prams to the ends. I shall be taking these to my next hospital shop day in May.

Four unicorns

This is one of the latest Pink Gem precoloured digis which I just had to use straight away. I added some glitter using a clear Wink of Stella pen but of course it doesn't show on the photo. The stitched clouds are a MFT die and I stamped and diecut a rainbow using Avery Elle products and coloured it with Copics.  I just wanted something to finish it off and the Hobbycraft star punch was just the thing.

I would like to enter this into the delightful digis challenge at The Cutie Pie challenge

and anything goes at The Ribbon Girl.

I bought Snowy!

I have wanted Snowy, a wooden Penny Black stamp, for years and the price he has gone for on Ebay has always been too much. When a fellow crafter was having a clearout last week I spotted Snowy amongst the stamps for just £2.50 I snapped him up before anyone else could. I bought another PB stamp and an old Sugar Nellie Gorjuss one too that I had always wanted.  Well it made paying £3 postage worthwhile then.

I was happily colouring him and my R35 ran out but luckily I had a spare. I am starting to buy refills for some of my most used colours as it works out cheaper in the long run.

So he has been diecut with a Lawn Fawn stitched circle die and I decided to use an old Cuttelbug embossing folder for a change. The paper is from the MME touch of chalk pad. The sentiment was in my Christmas folder and i am pretty sure comes from an old Humphrey stamp.

Challenges

ABC Christmas H for hats 

Simon Says add texture 

Penny Black and more at Allsorts black and white plus one

World Craft Week for Bliss charity

It is World Craft Week in aid of Bliss, the charity that supports parents and families of premature babies. I was asked by Hannah at Papercraft Inspirations if I would create a card for the Immediate Media event. The idea is that designers create simple cards for beginners which can be made without stamps or dies using basic shapes or a template.   I had fun coming up with the idea of a sailboat and created a simple template though it can easily be made without. I used various scraps of paper and although it isn't my normal style of card it is rather fun isn't it.

Home is where love resides

Some friends moved home at Easter and this is he card I made for them.  I went for a shabby chic style using a sentiment stamp from Inkylicious.   The fun papers are Nikki Sivill's Tree Love from Dies to Die For.  The burlap with lace is from my stash, flowers from Michaels in the US and wooden butterfly from The Works.

Challenges

Noor! Design UK flowers 

The Ribbon Girl anything goes

Simon Says add texture

The Paper Shelter flowers

Birthday Boy on his Bike

It is my turn to host he new challenge at A Gem of a Challenge and I chose Children's Playtime as the theme. Any image of a child or children playing is what we are looking for. I used an image which was one I used in 2014 for my first magazine feature in Making Cards. I tend to use red and blue for boy's cars so I challenged myself to use yellow instead.

Image - Pink Gem Josh on Bike

Medium - Copics

Papers - MFT sweet sunshine

Sentiment - LOTV

Dies - MFT stitched basic border, Cuttlebug stars (a very old one I suddenly remembered I had and haven't used for years)

Challenges

The Cutie Pie delightful digis 

The Ribbon Girl anything goes

As you like it Favourite colouring medium (I love Copics. I used Promarkers for a few years but prefer the quality of Copics for the colour blending and vibrancy. I don't dabble with other mediums preferring to keep using just Copics as practice makes perfect.)

I am going to a craft sale in aid of charity at lunchtime. They have been given boxes and boxes of craft products and they are selling them today so I hope to pick up some bargains.  Well it is for charity!

Peek a Boo

Yesterday was my friend Lynsey's daughter's Birthday and this is the card I made her.  They both love fairies so I knew I had to use one of the new LOTV fairies that I had waiting to be coloured with Copics.  The papers are from The Works and I love the sentiment. I used an old MS zigzag border punch and added some new flowers I bought from Wild Orchid and some pearls.  The little toadstool was made with a Cheery Lynn die. I added some sparkle to her wings and the toadstool with a clear Wink of Stella pen.

Challenges

The Ribbon Girl anything goes 

Stamping Sensations one for the girls 

Creative Inspirations Springtime 

Noor! Design UK flowers

The Cutie Pie delightful digis

Hope that ice is thick enough!

As promised I have a Christmas card to share today. I love the startled expressions on these MFT polar bears.  Coloured with Copics, papers are BO Bunny Altitude, sentiment is LOTV. The ice was made with silver glitter card and a Taylored expression die - build a scene - Central Park. The border is a Lawn Fawn die and the snowflakes were made with MFT layered snowflake dies.

Challenges

Christmas with the Cuties Bingo (pearls, cute Christmas image, border die) 

ABC Christmas I for ice 

Dies R Us anything goes with a Die R Us die (Lawn Fawn)
The Ribbon Girl anything goes

Double Z fold stretch your stash

Yes, another of the cards made for Papercraft Essentials. I do like making double Z fold cards though my favourite cards to make are still square cards. The paper, hearts and flowers are all from the Mum in a Million pack and I just added a sentiment from LOTV and some enamel dots.  This is the last of these stretch your stash cards I am sharing.  Tomorrow I have another Christmas card to share.  

I would like to enter this into the Happy Birthday challenge at Simon Says.

The Photographer

I said I had managed two scrapbook layouts last week and here is the second one. More old photos of Graham. He took up photography in the 70's.  Gradually his equipment grew until as these pictures from the 80's show he ended up with a huge gadget bag. I don;t think he could carry that around all day now.  He had so many lenses and filters and although he still loves photography today's cameras mean not so much to carry. 

I wanted a simple background paper and the clouds were perfect. I bought the camera stamp years ago. The film strip was made with a Tim Holtz die and vintage photo distress ink on the kraft card. The camera card is from a set from Hobby Lobby.

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

Stretch your stash commission

I have another of the cards made for Papercraft Essentials to show you today. This one even made it to the front cover, although just a small pic top right if you have the magazine.  So far out of my comfort zone with these cards but they made me think about different ways to use a few items. I must admit the paper isn't a colour I would normally use. I used some of the heart stickers to form the stem and layered up the flowers.  The sentiment are all from the Mum in a Million set except the Happy Birthday which I stamped.  I would like to enter this into the Happy Birthday challenge at Simon Says.

I always post my cards on Pinterest and it is interesting to see which cards get repinned. I was so surprised that somebody pinned my first card made with this set.

Hospital shop selling today so hoping for lots of lovely customers. An early start so will be tired tonight but will be looking forward to the last episode of Marcella at 9 and then an early night.

Penguin love

I am doing well as I did two scrapbook layouts and two Christmas cards this last week. Here is the first of the Christmas cards.

Image - LOTV Snowy Hugs

Medium - Copics

Paper and sentiment - Kaisercraft Letters to Santa

Dies - MFT winter trees and The Works snowflake banner

Other - fun flock and Viva pearl pen

I would like to enter this into the ABC Christmas challenge H for hats and the anything goes challenge at The Ribbon Girl.

Today we will be loading up the car and setting up the retail unit at the hospital ready for trading tomorrow, then a quick trip into the city centre to collect something I ordered online from The Works, then home. Hubby loves collecting vinyl singles and albums and bought a new case which holds 200 singles so we are having a reorganisation of them this afternoon.  Then it will be roast chicken dinner  before settling down to watch Ordeal by Innocence. We are currently working our way through series 1-3 of Poldark and loving them all over again so may watch one of those too.

Thank you, another magazine card

This is another of the cards I made for Papercraft Essentials showing how the Dovecraft Mum in a Million products can be used after Mother's Day.   I used some of the papers to create banners and added one of the sentiment stickers, added some ribbon, a flat bow and pearls.

Stash busting magazine commission

I was commissioned by Papercraft Essentials to create five cards showing how the Dovecraft Mum in a million products could be used after Mother's Day.  This was quite a challenge as I don't normally use stickers and there were no stamps or dies. I was asked to only add the minimum of extra embellishments. So this is one of the cards I made, raising the sticker on foam pads and adding patterned card candi to the flower centres.

First colouring in mono

I have wanted to try colouring an image using just grey Copics and when Faye challenged us in the Copic group on FB it made me determined to give it a go. I have lots of these lovely little Gorjuss Girls stamps which come with such pretty packaging. I thought a small image would be a good starting point and apart from the hair I am quite pleased with the result. The wavy hair threw me a bit so I will try another image next time. I used Go Kreate frilly squares 10 die for the card base and MME touch of chalk paper. The image was cut with a MFT wonky stitched rectangle die and the umbrella is a Memory Box die. I wanted to keep it simple just adding some blue enamel dots for a splash of subtle colour.

Challenges

Penny Black and more at Allsorts black and white plus one 

Stamping Sensations one for the girls 

Dies R Us anything goes with a Dies R us die (Memory Box) 

The Paper Shelter girl power 

The Ribbon Girl anything goes

Off to see my Mum this morning, coffee, looking round a few shops and lunch before coming home. Hubby is on a first aid training course this evening for his volunteer rescue boating so a crafty evening for me.

Jersey

I really fancied doing a scrapbook layout on Monday so I picked out one of our holiday scrapbooks and came across this photo waiting to scrapped. I went through all the photos a while ago and chose the ones to scrap and put them all into individual folders in the scrapbooks. I used to spend so much time going through the photos deciding what to use so now I have them all ready and waiting for layouts. The photo was taken in Gorey on Jersey and as you can see, 29 years ago! Doesn't seem so long but hubby's hair has been grey for a long time now.

I used Kaisercraft Salty Kisses papers and the small words are from one of the papers. The dies are Cheery Lynn lighthouse, Go Kreate seagull and Marianne yacht.  The ribbon is from Crafty Ribbons. I opened a new pack of American Thickers letters, how lovely o have all the letters you need as it is new. Tell me though why are there three of the letter e but four of the letter y?  That means I only have one e left now, a common problem. Luckily I have lots of letter sets and I do have a die too.

Challenges

The Ribbon Girl anything goes 

Dies R Us Anything goes using dies stocked by Dies R Us (Cheery Lynn)

Memories linger

I bought a lovely Inkylicious stamp set from one of my blogging friends when she had a clearout on Facebook last week. This is such a lovely set and will be so useful. It works similar to Card-io stamps with lots of individual stamps which can be put together in different ways. I used my stamping platform and found it much easier to join the stamps together rather than using an acrylic block.  I wanted to make a sympathy card as I really like the sentiment which is part of the set.

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

Butterfly Love

There are some gorgeous new digi printables at Pink Gem and I love to print them a bit smaller and use them as toppers but if you wish you can simply print them to fir your card blank or decoupage them with the extra sheets. This one is Purple Butterfly. The paper is First Edition Beyond the Shore. I used an old Marianne corner die and coloured it with DI Dusty Concord which really acentuates the embossed detail. The wooden cream butterfly is from The Works. I coloured it with purple Wink of Stella then let it dry slightly and pressed kitchen towel on it to remove some of the colour. The flowers are from Wild Orchid.

I would like to enter this into the anything goes challenge at Simon Says and The Ribbon Girl and flowers at Noor! Design UK.

We had a lovely Chinese meal on Friday night and the Kim Wilde concert was amazing. As I said it was hubby's choice but as I like her music I was happy to go.  The atmosphere was fantastic and by the last few songs everyone was on their feet. We came away with a real buzz and it was so nice to say at a Premier Inn rather than driving home afterwards in the dark.  Today hubby is off to Bedfordshire  volunteering driving a rescue boat for the powerboat racing.  After a few chores I have lots of crafting planned.

Marching down the aisle

This is the second card I made for this month's Crafts Beautiful magazine.  When I was asked to make a Wedding card for the magazine I just had to use my favourite Wedding stamp from LOTV. Coloured with Copics. The papers are digital from Pink Gem and the sentiment stamp from Inkylicious. I used a MFT stitched scalloped border die, MFT stitched leaf die, flowers from Wild Orchid and some ribbon from Crafty Ribbons.

I would like to enter this into the anything goes challenge at Simon Says, any occasion at Creative Inspirations and new beginnings at Allsorts.