Hi

More of the new bears from LOTV.  I hope you got yours ordered. I sent this card as a thank you. The alpha-bears are coloured with Copics and the papers are MFT. I added some ribbon and used a MFT wonky stitched oval and Joy bunting dies.

Challenges

The Cutie Pie bear hugs

The Ribbon Girl any image

Anyone for cake?

Non Christmas cards for the next two days starting with this cute card which is one of the new LOTV bears precoloured simply prints. This is Greg cupcake and he is the perfect shape for my MFT stitched dome dies. I used a mix of Basic Grey Sugared and Anna Marie Blissful pink papers. The ribbon which was very hard to photograph is an old one from Crafty Ribbons. I also used a Bebunni cupcake die with pearls and a MFT stitched scalloped basic edge die.  I would like to enter this into the any image challenge at The Ribbon Girland the food and/or drink challenge at Simon Says.

Ppppink Pppppenguin

Yesterday’s craft fair was a great success. Such a lovely Christmas atmosphere and great footfall. This is the second stamp my friend bought me for my Birthday knowing that I also love penguins as well as snowmen. I haven't made a pink Christmas card for a while so here we have a pink penguin. The penguin stamps black which is why there isn't any shading. The rest is coloured with Copics.  The paper is MFT and yes I used my new MFT layered snowflakes again with some new pink glitter card I bought at Peterborough show. I added some doodling and silver glitter acrylic paint.

Challenges

Noor! Design UK Winter 

Creative Inspirations sparkle

In the pink spots and/or stripes
The Ribbon Girl any image

The Paper Shelter a Christmas card

Looking forward to another theatre visit tonight, this time just with hubby, to see an Alan Ackbourn play.   Should be a good laugh.  Going to Pizza Express first using some of our Tesco vouchers.

Imagine

I love the Inkylicious quote stamps and here I combined them with the lovely Maja Denim and friends papers and a shabby chic look. I used some patterned burlap from The Range, Hobbycraft and Dovecraft star punches and a Fiskars tag punch.  Lots of distressing using DI vintage photo and a distressing tool.

Today is the third of my three craft fairs this week. It is a really lovely Christmassy one we went to check out last year. Inside and outside stalls (I am inside!), band, children's choir and the best refreshments I have ever seen as the lady who runs it does outside catering.

Ella and snowman

Today is our penultimate challenge of the year at A Gem of a Challenge and we want to see animals in the snow. I have used one of my favourite colour combos for my card. Although I love the traditional red and green for Christmas green isn't one of my favourite colours unlike blue. I have coloured Ella and snowman with Copics. The papers and dies are MFT, apart from the snowflakes which are  cut from silver glitter card using a Marianne die. The sentiment is LOTV. I added some silver glitter acrylic paint to the image.

Challenges

The Ribbon Girl any image 

Noor! Design UK Winter 

As you like it favourite Christmas colour combo (see above for why) 

Creative Inspirations sparkle

Launch Day

Launch day at Lili of the Valley of the alpha-bears, num-bears and 16 other bear stamps. This one is Dragonfly and if you love James you will love this one I'm sure. I coloured him golden for a chnge from my usual bear colours. The paper is Basic Grey nook and pantry. I diecut the image usign a MFT die but also used some of my older dies for a change, Doohickey fence, Memory Box dragonfly and Crafts too butterflies. 

Challenges

The Cutie Pie bear hugs 

The Ribbon Girl any image

It's the second of my craft fairs this afternoon at the local school. I have been told it is well supported so hope they are right as it is the first time I have done this one. Still only 2.5 hours and 1 mile down the road. Yesterday’s fair was brilliant, my best sales so far this year.

More snowflakes

It's those new MFT snowflakes again but this time on patterned paper. I used aqua glitter and white card and used a MFT sentiment die too. Not much more to say about this card really other than how much I love these layering snowflakes.

Challenges

Noor! Design UK Winter 

Dies R Us snow 

ABC Christmas W for white

Today I am at the hospital craft fair, the first of three craft fairs over four days, just the way it worked out.  Good job I have plenty of stock. A very early start as we usually get to the hospital about 7.20 so we can get unloaded and get the car parked well before 8.

A new snowman!

Absolutely fun evening yesterday, the show was hilarious, haven’t laughed so much for a long time. A friend bought me some Christmas stamps for my Birthday and as she know how much I love snowmen one of the sets was a Hero Arts set of snowmen. There are 2 snowmen, 4 hats and 3 sentiments as well as snowflakes. It was so easy to stamp the different elements using my stamping platform. So the snowman, hat, snowflakes and sentiment are all part of the set. Not much colouring as the hat and part of the scarf are already black. I kept it simple adding some doodling, pearl dots and my new MFT diecut snowflakes. The paper is an old LOTV one.

Challenges

Noor! Design UK Winter 

ABC Christmas W for white
Dies R Us snow 

The Ribbon Girl any image

Birthday Bear

A change from Christmas today with another of the cute new LOTV alpha bears launching on Friday.  I added the part word which is another set of stamps launching on the same day. I kept the layout simple on this one making a fun bright card using Copics,  MFT papers, MFT pierced rectangle die and my Fiskars tag punch.

Challenges

Simon Says furry friends 

The Cutie Pie bear hugs

The Ribbon Girl any image

Off to the theatre again tonight with friends. A meal at ASK Italian first then we are going to see Slava's snow show. We saw this several years ago and it was one of the funniest shows we have ever seen. Really hard to describe, a very visual comedy and a very messy theatre by the time everyone leaves,

Deer oh Deer

Now did this card make you smile? These are another new MFT die I couldn't resist. I did resist buying any of the new stamps as I have so many still waiting to be used and so many older stamps I really want to use too. I created a scene using Bo Bunny Altitude papers, various dies, MFT mountains, Lawn Fawn Let it Snow and various trees.  I just added some white dots and tiny red pearls to the deer.

Enjoying the snow

Have you got your copy of the latest Making Cards magazine yet? i am delighted to have three snowman cards in there which I will share with you next month but in the meantime here is a card I made using the free papers and one of the sentiment stamps with this month's edition. These are worth the price of the magazine alone. I love these fun penguin toppers which are part of the free papers. I used a new Elizabeth craft tree die I bought at Peterborough. It is a 5 part die but some of the pieces can also be used as smaller trees as you can see.

Challenges

Noor! Design UK Winter 

Dies R Us Snow

As you like it favourite Christmas colour (this is a hard choice as I do love using a range of Christmas colours but having to choose just one combo I would say red and blue are my favourite. I particularly love this combination for snowmen cards.)

Guest designer

The DT at Pink Gem were asked if we would like to be guest designers a The Crafty Friends challenge where Pink Gem are sponsors. The challenge is add a sentiment. I had this card which I made for Papercrafter magazine sitting in my file waiting to blog. These penguins are so cute. I used one of the digi kits which of course are precoloured. I added some fun flock to the hats. The papers are First Edition Merry Little Christmas and I used a icicle and Memory Box stitched snowflake dies.

Challenges

The Ribbon Girl a card 

Noor! Design UK Winter

Well tonight is the first of three theatre trips over the next 10 days. We are going to a high school production of We Will Rock You. It is at one of the Norwich theatres and a friend's youngest daughter is in it. The three girls are are all very talented, singing dancing and acting so this should be good.

Introducing Greg

As if the alphabet and number bears weren't enough cuteness there are 16 more bears being released by Lili of the Valley on 24th November. They will be rubber, digis and precoloured so something for everyone. So let me introduce you to Greg. This image is called just a note. There are also some new sentiments and I have used one on my card. I really like the font being a mix of capitals and lower case. Coloured with Copics of course. I wanted some cloud paper and remembered I still had some of the old LOTV Nitwits up, up and away papers and they were just what I needed. I fussy cut the image, used Lawn Fawn puffy cloud dies and All Occasions bird dies.

White and gold

White on white must be the hardest to photograph but hopefully you can see how pretty this card turned out. I was lucky enough to have a voucher for Dies to Die For as part of my Birthday present from Lynsey and I saved it until the new release from MFT, I love snowflake dies and although I have several just had to buy the layered set. They are my current favourite snowflakes so you will be seeing a lot of them. They can be layered in various ways or used alone of course. I used an embossing folder and white and white glitter card with the dies. The sentiment is a Tim Holtz die and I added just a touch of gold with tiny pearls and some star ribbon I found in Tiger. I don't know if you have Tiger where you live but they sell all kinds of things including stationery and what crafter can resist a stationery shop. You never know what you will find. I also bought some wooden heart tags which I made into Christmas decorations.

Challenges

Noor! Design UK Winter 

The Ribbon Girl a card 

ABC Christmas W for white 

Creative Inspirations sparkle

We are out for a carvery with friends tonight so looking forward to that. This has been a quiet week for a change which has meant plenty of crafting time. Just as well as the next two weeks are full of craft fairs and theatre visits.

Baby hammock

That was a surprise wasn't it, a non Christmas card on my blog today. I like a little change and do need to keep my stock up of other cards too. This must be one of my most used baby stamps. I kept the colours neutral so it can be used for a boy or girl. Coloured of course with Copics, the papers are from The Works, such pretty colours and a bargain at £2.  I added some flowers from Wild Orchid, lace from Crafty Ribbons and coloured a wooden heart with white Wink of Stella

Challenges

Penny Black and more at Allsorts flower power 

The Ribbon Girl a card

Hubby has an osteopath appointment this morning so I am going into Norwich with him to finish my Christmas shopping for his presents. How is your Christmas shopping going?

Carolsingers

I have been making more Card-io cards. I could play with these all day experimenting with different scenes. I used some of my newest stamps on this one along with some from last year. The branch is an Inkylicious stamp as it is a lot bigger than the Card-io branches I have. I added a little colour behind the houses using small ink pads and a Copic pen on the lamp. I coloured the Christmas tree decorations with glitter pens for more sparkle and used silver acrylic paint on the snow. Last year I used a hill I cut from card but this year I am using the MFT drifts and hills stencil which is great as it has different shaped sides and as it is acrylic the ink can easily be wiped off.

Challenges

Noor! Design UK Winter 

Stamping Sensations one layer Christmas card 

Creative Inspirations sparkle 

The Ribbon Girl a card
Simon Says snow white

Away in a manger

I made this card for Crafts Beautiful magazine. They wanted a Christmas card for their last Christmas issue of the year so I thought this sweet image from LOTV was most appropriate. I used some lovely Kaisercraft papers. The ribbon is from Crafty Ribbons. Dies are Memory Box star, Lawn Fawn stitched circle, Tim Holtz on the edge star and MFT snow doily.  I added some Viva white pearl dots.

Challenges

As you like it Christmas or non Christmas (Definitely Christmas, such a magical time and I love making Christmas cards the best) 

  The Ribbon Girl a card

White cottage

Had a great time at Crafting Live, bought lots of MDF to paint and decorate, lots of staples like card blanks and tape and some other lovely things too. Best of all ordered a craft cupboard from Storage 4 Crafts to replace a dresser in my craft room. So excited to have better storage but it will take some time reorganising everything. I have been debating getting one for some time and hubby said I needed it so who am I to argue. I haven't made a white on kraft card for Christmas so far this year so here is the first one I made. I often seem to use Inkylicious and Card-io stamps together and today is another of those times. The Winter Lodge is Inkylicious and the foliage stamps are Card-io. I love using white ink and it is much quicker than heat embossing but gives a similar effect. It would be quite a job to heat emboss the circle as I stamped the foliage a few times. I added some Dovecraft 3D pearl effects in blue and coral.  

Challenges

Noor! Design UK Winter

ABC Christmas W for white

Stamping Sensations one layer Christmas card

Simon Says snow white

Footballer

A change from Christmas today with my DT card for the new challenge at A Gem of a Challenge which is buttons and/or ribbon. I used one of the precoloured digis for a change, fussy cutting him and mounting him onto a MFT wonky stitched oval.  I found the football button in my Crafty Ribbons box and remembered I had the football ribbon which I cut into banners. The football paper is from a Forever Friends pad.

Challenges

The Ribbon Girl a card

We stayed overnight in a Premier Inn at Peterborough as we are going to Crafting Live today and coming home later this afternoon. Looking forward to caching up with some crafting friends and making a few purchases.

Christmas geese

Another Card-io card today this time using the geese from one of the new sets I bought recently. I just love making these cards and they look so effective. I added some red liquid pearl drops for berries on the foliage this time. Not much more to say about this card really.

Challenges

The Ribbon Girl a card 

Noor! Design UK Winter
Simon Says snow white

We are off to Springfields in Spalding today. Haven't been there for a long time so looking forward to seeing the Christmas decorations and some retail therapy.

Friend

I have another inspiration for the Facebook LOTV challenge of something beginning with B and it is another sneak peek of the cute alpha bears launching later this month. As well as the bears there will also be a rubber set of part words to use with the bears. I created this little plaque adding some tiny wooden hearts with clear Wink of Stella for sparkle and some tiny pink flowers. 

Snowfall

This card is based on an idea I pinned which I think was a Card-io sample card. They used a large tree stamp but as I don't have one of those and I wanted to make the design my own I used a Inkylicious twiggy branch stamp.  I added some Card-io snowflakes and stamped the Card-io deer. The colouring around the deer was done with Copics and I heat embossed white chunky enamel embossing powder. The sentiment is a Lawn Fawn die with aqua glitter card.  I love the way this turned out and may make a few more similar ones.

Challenges

Noor! Design UK Winter

The Ribbon Girl a card

As you like it Christmas or non Christmas (Christmas for me definitely, just love making Christmas cards all year round, so many gorgeous images)

Carolsinging Mice

The new issue of Making Cards is in the shops now so I am sharing one of four cards I made for them last month. I used the Carol Singing Mice ultimate kit from Paper Creator and at just £2 for the kit a real bargain. The papers and tag are all part of the kit. I used a MFT fringed scalloped border die which is one of my latest dies and is going to be used a lot. I also used a Lawn Fawn stitched circle die and some ribbon from Crafty Ribbons.

Challenges

The Paper Shelter digital delight 

Noor! Design UK Winter

LOTV Sneak peek

I am so excited to bring you a sneak peek of the next launch from LOTV, Alpha bears. Yes a whole alphabet of bears and all as cute as these ones. They will be launched later this month, rubber, digi and precoloured. They will be useful for so many occasions. I am well into Christmas card making so I decided to combine four of them to make this card. Coloured with Copics and teamed with some older Dovecraft papers. I added a Memory Box stocking banner and some stars from Hobbycraft.

We also have a new Facebook LOTV challenge, anything beginning with B, so this is my first DT inspiration card.  I would like to enter this into the card challenge at The Ribbon Girl.

As you like it Christmas or non Christmas (I love making Christmas cards more than any other card and make them all year.)

Crafting Live ticket winner

Karen Brown please email me your address so I can post your tickets to you. I can't find any details for you from the comment you left using Google+ so can't post them until you contact me.

Lots of love

This is another of the cards I made for Papercraft Inspirations and I must admit I was really pleased with the way this turned out. The leaves and dies are Stampin' Up and I decided to heat emboss them with white embossing powder. The papers they sent me are Kaisercraft. As you ca imagine I was delighted to have purple papers to use. I added some flowers from Hobbycraft, purple doily and some lace from Crafty Ribbons and baker's twine.  The sentiment is LOTV.

A trip out today to visit a craft fair. It is a venue I have enquired about for next year as they only do 3 a year and it is in a good location. I want to check it out for myself and also see what other people are making,

More deer

We had a great day at the hospital yesterday, really pleased with my sales and my new gifts went down well. This is the first of two Winter cards I made for Papercraft Inspirations magazine using Stampin'Up stamps. I created a scene adding a sunset using small ink pads. The papers are Kaisercraft Letters to Santa. Dies are MFT wonky stitched rectangle, MFT stitched dome stax, Lawn Fawn forest border and IO trees.  The wooden leaves are from Hobbycraft.

Challenges

Noor! Design UK Winter

We are off to a quiz and chips night tonight. Enjoy your weekend.

Star of David

I am delighted to have four cards featured in this month's Papercraft Inspirations magazine. Two are Winter and two are Hanukkah. This card was one of the most challenging I have ever made. Construction isn't my strongest point but luckily there are tutorials on how to fold the card. The biggest challenge was the fact that it was so thick with papers either side of the card and the measurements and folds have to be absolutely accurate in order for the design to work.

This shows the way the card opens and the sentiment hidden inside. The papers and embellishments are Kaisercraft and I just added some flowers from Hobbycraft and typed the sentiment.

It's my day for the hospital shop today so I am hoping my new gifts will sell well.

Christmas door and a giveaway

I have been thinking of making a Christmas door like the fairy doors and when a friend suggested I should make one I decide to give it a go. Is it an Elf Door or a Santa Door? The sentiment is Scrapinec and the snowflakes are from Creative Embellishments which I coloured with white Wink of Stella. The stockings are a Memory Box die and I added a sparkly wooden tree, wooden sleigh coloured with a Copic sparkle pen and some gold pine cones. I found the pine cones last Christmas amongst the decorations and thought I could use those for my crafting. They have sat there for a year and luckily I remembered them as I wanted something to add to the ends of the decoration.

And now for a giveaway. I have 2 sets of 2 tickets for Crafting Live Peterborough to give away courtesy of Jayne at Stamposaurus. I am looking forward to going on the Saturday. If you would like 2 tickets please let me know in your comment and I will draw for them if more than 2 people want them.

Winter

Sometimes I like making a card centred around a large sentiment stamp especially when the papers are as delicious as these Bo Bunny Altitude ones, so good I bought two pads. The sentiment is a new one I bought at Thetford from Inkylicious. I used two ribbons from Crafty Ribbons and the MFT pierced banner die.