Christmas jumper

Although Janet at Pink Gem no longer has a Design Team she kindly asked if any of the former DT would like to promote her images from time to time. I am delighted to be sharing one of her new images which is available from her Etsy shop, link in my sidebar. I coloured her with Copics and created a snowy scene. I cute some hills from white card and added some die cut trees. The snowman was a Birthday present from a friend and is from Hobbycraft. The sentiment is from Sleek Designs.  I added lots of Stickles for a really Wintry look.

Challenges

Christmas with the cuties wrap up warm 

Winter Wonderland colour it

Launch day with Greg

Yes it is launch day and for my post today I have three cards using images from Greg the Bear art sheet. I have used another of the new paper pads called Soft Cuddles. There is also a pink version.  I decided on a layout and kept it exactly the same this time. It was amazing how this speeded up my cardmaking, nicely adding to my stock.  I added some clouds to this one using chalk and a MFT mini cloud stencil. For the shaped card and papers I used my fave Go Kreate frilly 10 dies.  I cute the images using MFT wonky stitched and The Works stitched dies. All I added were some enamel dots.

Fairy and butterflies

Today I have one of the new flower fairy art sheet images to share with you. I teamed her with some of the new Blooming Lovely papers, punched leaves, apple blossom flowers from Wild Orchid and some butterflies from Poundworld.

The new stamps, art sheets and papers will be available from tomorrow.

Challenges

The Cutie Pie going girly 

A Gem of a Challenge anything goes 

Allsorts pearls

How many little girls would love this

You may have seen the previous freestanding heart that I decorated with a shabby chic look. I decided to try one for a young girl this time. I have sold several decorated unicorn items and when I saw the new enchanted sentiments and unicorns launching new week at Lili of the Valley I decided to make this. The heart has been painted with clotted cream chalk paint. 

You can't really see it in the photo but at the back is a piece cut from a voile blind. I then added some crispy ribbon, lace from Crafty Ribbons, wooden hearts, rainbow and fairy coloured with sparkle brush pens, some velvet ric rac ribbon and flowers. I diecut the unicorn and sentiment using MFT wonky stitched oval dies.  There are 4 gorgeous unicorns which will be available as rubber stamps or an art sheet which is what I have used.

Meeting friends for coffee this morning before a food shop and then a crafting afternoon before cooking dinner and settling down to watch TV starting with Dr Who.

One layout four ways

I tried something different yesterday using the new art sheet of pretty girls and the watercolour dots papers launching next week at LOTV. I made one basic layout and then varied it for each card.

I used Lawn Fawn pierced rectangle and MFT scalloped border dies along with an old flower punch. The sentiment is from LOTV and I added contrasting spotted ribbon and large enamel dots.

I love the way these turned out and will be trying this again especially when I need to build up my stock of cards.

Challenges

The Cutie Pie going girly

I am at a farmer's market and craft fair this morning. I did a couple there in the Summer and they weren't very good so I don't have high hopes but as it is only a morning and I take less than half my stock there it is worth a try at this time of year.

Starry unicorn

Unicorns seem to be more and more popular amongst the little girls. On Monday I sold several items with unicorns on them. Lili of the Valley are bringing out an art sheet and rubber stamps with some gorgeous unicorns drawn by Laila and there are also some enchanted sentiments. I have used one of the art sheet images and one of the new sentiments teamed with some new paper. I used some silver glittermesh from The Works, gorgeous but so messy. I used sparkle brush pens on the wooden stars and job done.

Snowy again

Yes Snowy has come out again. It's funny how some stamps get used over and over again yet others only once. He is so easy to colour and so cute too. I used Copice and added some fun flock to his pompom. The papers are LOTV frozen snowflakes and the sentiment is also from LOTV.  I used a snowflake banner die from The Works and a Lawn Fawn forest border die.

Challenges

Christmas with the cuties wrap up warm 

Di's Digis creepy or cute

We are meeting up with friends for breakfast this morning and then some shopping. Hoping to find some ideas for things we would like for Christmas.

Sneak peek

It has been a busy few days.  After my bumper sales last Friday I was busy making more stock at the weekend. On Saturday afternoon we had a nice walk at the coast, lovely meal and then saw a great show at the theatre. Monday was another good selling day, not as busy as Friday but we came home with some empty boxes so I shall be busy making more again. I need to restock my cards and luckily I have some lovely new art sheets and papers which will soon be launched by Lili of he Valley.

This is Greg and he was previously available as a rubber stamp and digital simply print. Well now he is on an art sheet and he makes a very cute card. I have used some new papers called watercolour dots cool sunset. I used MFT scalloped circle frame and scalloped border dies, a new Paper Roses leaf die and a block sentiment from LOTV.

Challenges

Crafteezee leaves 

Simon Says animal antics 

Di's Digis creepy or cute

A blast from the past

Once upon a time I used to use a lot of Sugar Nellie stamps but they stopped making their stamps and closed the challenge quite some time ago. They are such lovely stamps and I don't think I would ever get rid of them. I really must make the effort to use more of them. Anyway her is one of the gorgeous fairy stamps coloured with Copics. I used chalk and a MFT mini cloud stencil for the sky and Spectrum Noir sparkle brush pens on her wings. The papers were a Birthday present, Paper Boutique a touch of Winter. I added a LOTV sentiment, flowers from Hobbycraft and ribbon from Crafty Ribbons.

Challenges

The Cutie Pie going girly 

As you like it CAS or FAF (Although I like the challenge of CAS cards I do love adding lots of embellishments especially flowers.)

Autumn Hedgie

We had an amazing day selling at the hospital yesterday, what a good job I have plenty of stock as we are there again on Monday. It was by best day ever, by a long way. I made this for a friend whose Birthday was a couple of days ago. She is a huge Penny Black fan like me. I coloured him with Copics and used my fave Go Kreate frilly 10 dies to create a shaped card.  The papers are Lilybee Autumn spice. I added some ribbon from Crafty Ribbons and used Lawn Fawn stitched leaf dies.

Challenges

Simon Says animal antics 

Penny Black and more at Allsorts Autumn splendour 

Stamping Sensations shades of Autumn 

Creative Inspirations Autumn colours 

Crafteezee leaves

We are off to the coast this afternoon for a meal and a show, a tribute act to Roy Orbison. It has good reviews so hope it is good.

A very old stamp

This is a very old stamp from Crafter's Companion, by Sheena I think. It belonged to a friend who hasn't made cards for 6 years so this stamp is even older than that. I borrowed it from her and stamped several as I loved the clean simple lines and I do love robins. I coloured it with Copics and used some of the lovely new LOTV scandi papers.  I just added some doodling and a LOTV simple sentiment stamp.

Challenges

ABC Christmas U is for Upon 

Simon Says animal antics

Dancing Penguin

Well did you miss me for the last two days? I have been so busy that I haven't had time to schedule any posts and haven't been making much that I can share yet either. I coloured this cute Pink Gem image whilst on holiday and have finally had time to make it into a card. I used some very old Papermania Home for Christmas papers, a Lawn Fawn stitched circle die, LOTV sentiment stamped in white for a chalkboard effect and a wooden snowflake coloured with a white Wink of Stella sparkle pen.

Challenges

Simon Says animal antics 

The Paper Shelter digital image 

ABC Christmas U is for Upon

We have an extra day in the hospital shop so will be setting up this evening ready for trading tomorrow and Monday.  Good job I have plenty of stock.

Squirrel in the forest

Sorry but another LOTV art sheet for today's card and another new paper pad, Winter Woods. The trees were cut from one of the sheets from the pad. I dug out a very old Tim Holtz Sizzix on the edge snowflurries die for the snowflake border.

How are your Christmas cards coming along. I am doing better than usual but still have lots to make. Good job I love making them and these new art sheets do help make quicker cards.

Simply Robins

Yes another LOTV art sheet teamed with the new Winter Pastel papers. I kept this one fairly simple, adding some clouds using a MFT mini cloud stencil and chalk and then some pearl dots for snow. I used an old Memory Box ivy die  and that's it, no more embellishing needed.

Challenges

ABC Christmas U is for Upon and V is for very quick 

Crafteezee leaves

Looking forward to a trip out for a meal this afternoon and then going to the theatre to see Cirkopolis at 5pm which is a Cirque de Soleil type show. Should be home in time to catch he Cry which we are really enjoying but it does mean recording Dr Who. Loved the first episode with Jodie.

Snowwomen

I thought my snowmen might like some snowwomen so I made some. I love making these are they are so easy using circle dies for the head and body, and they are a great way of using those brads we all collected years ago. Mind you I did have to buy some for eyes and noses. I think the red one is showing off with that big bow don't you 😊.

I would like to enter these into the anything but a card challenge at Simon Says.

This way for pudding

Another cute art sheet from LOTV, this one is from the Christmas Mice sheet.  I teamed it with the new vintage Christmas papers, some ribbon from Crafty Ribbons, a LOTV sentiment stamp, Woodware punched holly leaves and a poinsettia from Hobbycraft.

  I used one of my favourite MFT wonky stitched rectangle dies on the image and my favourite distress ink, vintage photo.

Challenges

Crafteezee leaves 

The Ribbon Girl anything goes

ABC Christmas U is for Upon

If you love LOTV then please join our new Facebook group, We Love Lili of the Valley. It is run by the DT and is the only group on Facebook where you will find sneak peeks and inspiration from all the DT.

Cover Girl

Please see this morning's post for my snowman card which I am delighted to see is on the front cover of the new magazine.

I can't see

I made this card for the latest Crafts Beautiful magazine using a new Pink Gem digi and MFT papers. He has been coloured with Copics and I used chalk and a MFT mini cloud stencil for the sky. The sentiment is a Card-io stamp. The dies I used are The Works stitched square, MFT pierced rectangle, Frantic Stamper tall pine trees and Joy ice crystal 2 6002/2020.

Challenges

ABC Christmas U is for Upon 

The Ribbon Girl anything goes 

Dies R Us anything goes using on of their dies (Frantic Stamper)

Apparently I am an expert!!!!!

So why the title of this post? Well a few weeks ago I received an email from the editor of Make It Today magazine asking if I would make a card for a Christmas feature from experts. Now I do not consider myself an expert at all but I was very flattered to be asked and here is the card I made. The image is from Pink Gem coloured with Copics. The papers are Bo Bunny Altitude and the ribbons are from Crafty Ribbons. I added some scrim from B&Q and diecut a snowflake banner using a die from The Works.

Challenges

The Ribbon Girl anything goes
Simon Says let's get ready for Christmas

Opening my pressie

Back to the Christmas samples for LOTV today. The image is from the Christmas Pugs art sheet and the papers are scandi Christmas. I love using spots and stripes to create patterns and used a LOTV swirly greeting, a Fiskars tag punch and MFT banner dies.

Challenges

Simon Says let's get ready for Christmas 

The Ribbon Girl anything goes

I promised to let you know what I did for my Birthday. Well on Saturday we travelled to Doncaster and stayed at a Premier Inn which is next door to some outlets so we spent the afternoon shopping and then had a lovely meal. On Sunday we went to Harlow Carr Gardens and then checked into a hotel in Skipton. We had booked a superior room overlooking the canal. We were there for two nights and will be travelling home today, having spent yesterday in the beautiful Yorkshire Dales. Will try to catch up with you all as soon as I can.

Happy Birthday to Me

Yes, today is my Birthday and I shall be enjoying a lovely day out, more on that tomorrow. I thought the new Winter pastel papers from LOTV would be suitable for many occasions and decided to make a starburst card using the left over pieces. I do like 8x8 papers and when you mostly make 6x6 cards there are always some useful size pieces left. I cut each of the smallest waste pieces diagonally and fitted them around the blue paper. Once they were stuck down I trimmed off the excess, added a LOTV sentiment, double layered using more offcuts, added some pearl trim which was recycled from some Wedding flower arrangements and some large flowers.

If you are going to Stamp Magic at Doncaster and visit the LOTV stand you will find some of my recent cards displayed there.

Challenges

The Ribbon Girl anything goes

Another new item

Meet Toby, our friends' adorable dog who made a lovely model for my latest sewing items, dog bandanas. These are very popular at the moment and when we were on holiday we went to a lovely craft market where two stalls were selling them. One of them tied round the neck and the other made them to slip over a collar. I have made mine to go onto a collar and I made them reversible.

These are the first 4 I made, even a Christmas one.

And this is the other side of them. I do enjoy handsewing and hope these will be popular on my stall. Nice Christmas presents too. 

The gang's all here

Yes another Christmas card using an LOTV art sheet, this time one from the North Pole sheet. The papers are LOTV Scandi Christmas and the sentiment is from the swirly Christmas stamp set. I used a MFT stitched border die and just wanted a little more embellishment. Looking through some odds and ends I found these self adhesive buttons which were the perfect finishing touch.

Songbirds

These little birds are singing well aren't they. This is from the new LOTV Christmas Mix art sheet teamed with the Vintage Winter papers. I added to the distressing with vintage photo DI. The sentiment is from the LOTV simple sentiment stamps. I added some stocking bunting using a Memory Box die.

Challenges 

The Ribbon Girl anything goes

Dies R Us anything goes using one of their die brands

ABC Christmas U is for upon

Simon Says let's get ready for Christmas

Brrrrrr

Brrr she looks well wrapped up doesn't she. This is another of the new LOTV art sheets. I have all 16 and am trying to use one from each sheet to show how lovely and varied they are. This one is from Cosy Christmas. I have used papers from LOTV Frozen Snowflakes and Winter Pastels. I used a MFT scalloped stitched border die and then wondered how to embellish it. I looked through my Christmas die folder and found these cute dies which I used with sanded Core'dinations. The mittens are a Joy die and the others Cottage Cutz.

Challenges

The Ribbon Girl anything goes

Simon Says let's get ready for Christmas

ABC Christmas U is for upon 

As you Like it Favourite season - now mine is Autumn BUT my favourite season to make cards for is definitely Christmas. I love the cute images and he Christmas dies are some of my most used ones.

Snowy penguin

I couldn't resist buying a couple more Lee Holland digis when they were on offer recently. Unlike some digis which I buy and forget to use I printed them off straight away and coloured both of them whilst on holiday. I don't think I will take my Copics away again though as I don't get too much time for colouring on holiday and it is a big case so I will stick to taking some sewing. I do miss crafting if I don't have any to do.

I coloured the sky on Monday as I wanted to try doing a snowy sky and it isn't too bad for a first attempt.  The papers are old 'Twas the Night Nitwits for LOTV. I haven't used twine much lately and I do love it. I had to separate a piece to get a strand through the bells as the holes in them are very small.

Challenges

Simon Says anything goes 

The Ribbon Girl anything goes
As you Like it Favourite season - now mine is Autumn BUT my favourite season to make cards for is definitely Christmas. I love the cute images and he Christmas dies are some of my most used ones.

We are having a new composite front door fitted today so I hope it isn't too windy. Best to get it done before the Winter and last year old our door was rather draughty. That is the trouble with a wooden door though they look nice.

Hello Mr Robin

Today I have used one of the 4 images from the new LOTV reindeer art sheet along with papers from the new scandi Christmas paper pad. I used a digi sentiment from LOTV and added trees using kraft card and Joy, Elizabeth Craft and Frantic Stamper dies. I added a couple of little banners using a Fiskars punch and enamel dots.

Challenges

Simon Says anything goes 

The Ribbon Girl anything goes
As you Like it Favourite season - now mine is Autumn BUT my favourite season to make cards for is definitely Christmas. I love the cute images and he Christmas dies are some of my most used ones.

Ho Ho Ho Plaque

I am working away trying to use as many as I can of the gorgeous new Christmas art sheets from LOTV. This one is from the North Pole sheet. At just £1 a sheet for 4 images they are a bargain and they are great quality too. I used one of the new paper pads, Frozen Snowflakes, added some blue mesh, snowflake ribbon and some wooden embellishments, coloured and sparkled.

Off for my monthly facial and back massage this afternoon, lovely.