Tanda Teaser – Seeing Spots & Sketch This #77

All these challenges and templates are proving to be so useful for me at the moment.

I’m trying to get ahead of myself with card orders because my holiday is coming up so I’ve been using the challenges to keep on top of things. The good news is that I’ve finished all of my orders for February and I’m currently working my way through the cards I know I will need to do for March, so I’m on track.
If only I was always this organized!

So this is my second challenge of the day and it’s the Tanda Teaser, Seeing Spots.

For the life of me I couldn’t think of one single stamp I own that has spots on so I went for spotty Funky Hand paper instead.
I still used a stamped image thought, because I stamped the car onto the spotty paper, so hopefully it still counts.

I also used the template from Sketch This for the card lay out,

making various layers, with the Funky Hand papers.

Here’s the card:-



Papers – Funky Hand, Now That’s Funky
Stamps – Fun Stamps (V.W.Beetle) Whisper Words (Happy Birthday)
Inks – Distress Ink (Faded Jeans) Versa Fine (Onyx Black)
Embossing Powers – Fun Stamps (Clear)
Pencils – Prisma Color Pencils
Chalks – Readicut decorating Chalks

Other bits
Ribbon

Double Dutch #10

Well here we go with my first card of the day and my first ever Double Dutch challenge.
Here’s the template.

I always find making cards for men so difficult and all the more so when you don’t know them personally as in this case. If I knew of any hobbies it might have helped a bit but no such luck so I decided in the end to keep the card very simple.

I’ve added some texture ‘Cuttlebug stylie’ with some dry embossing. I also mounted some of the squares onto 3D foam and added some faux stitching.

The greeting was stamped twice, embossed and then layered onto the card.
Lastly I ‘chalked’ the card using my trusty box of eye shadows.


Card – Craft Creations
Patterned Papers – Memory Stor (Costco Kit)
Inks –Ranger Distress Ink (Vintage Photo) Versa Fine (Onyx Black)
Embossing Powder – Fun Stamps (Clear)
Stamps – Papermania (Greeting)
Embossing – Cuttlebug Embossing Folder (Number Collage)
Pen – Staedtler Triplus Fineliner (Black)


Other BitsBrads
Eye Shadow

OMG.......I'm in Shock!

On and off over thee weekend I’ve been popping across to the Cuttlebug Challenge blog where they were having a ‘Luv Bug’ Weekend, which translated to three days packed full of tutorials and projects that the wonderfully talented design team had made.
Not only did it help take my mind off my painful knee and the op that I’m waiting to have on it but it was fun and there were also prizes up for grabs each day.

Well, I’m in shock because when I visited the site today there was my name on the winners list, not once but twice. Aparently I won a prize on Saturday and on Sunday, just for visiting all the blogs and leaving a little message for them all, which was in no way a chore I can tell you.

I’ve no idea what I’ve won because all it says on the blog is a gift pack but I’m sure it will be wonderful what ever it is.

Still can’t believe I’ve won, so thank you girls for a great weekend and for making me a winner twice over.

By the way, if you haven’t visited the Cuttlebug Challenge blog yet, can I suggest that you do. It full of great tutorials and there’s lots of ideas that I would never dreamed of doing.

I have a loooooong list of things to try out now!

Papertake – Hearts & Flowers & Mojo Monday #72

Another card made today and two more challenges under my belt.

The theme for the Papertake challenge is Hearts & Flowers and I’ve had my first go at a Mojo Monday challenge, using their template.


Here’s my card:-


Unfortunately the photo hasn’t come out very well and my card looks Grey when in fact it’s Powder Blue and Pale Green.
This one will have to do for now but I’ll try and get a better photo in the light tomorrow.

Card Blank– Craft Creations
Other Card – DCWV Textured Pastels Stack
Papers – DCWV Luxury Stack
Rubber Stamps – Rubber Stamp Tapestry (Heart Deco & Spring Offering)
Inks – Ranger Distress Ink (Peeled Paint) Versa Color (Lapislazuli, Neptune, Sky Blue & Green Tea) ColorBox Fluid Chalks (French Blue & Ice Jade)
Dies – Spellbinder Nestabilities, Sizzlit’s (Heart)
Paper Punch – Fiskars Threading water Punch
Glitter Glue – Stickles (Crystal)

Other BitsRibbon
Brads
Sticky Backed Pearls
Computer printed Greeting

Colour Create #1 & 2 Sketches 4 You #19

This weekend saw the first challenge from a new group of crafters who call themselves Colour Create .
Every Sunday they will give us a new collection of colours to work with and this week it was Pink, Green and Brown.

I combined my card with this week’s template from 2 Sketches 4 You

and here’s the result:-

Card Blank – Craft Creations
Other Card – DCWV – Textured pastels Card Stack
Patterned Paper – Basic Grey, Sugared
Rubber Stamps – Whispers Words (Happy Birthday)
Inks – ColorBox Fluid Chalks (Brown) Ranger Distress Ink (Vintage Photo)
Embossing Folder – Cuttlebug (D’Vine Swirl)
Glitter Glue – Stickles (Pink)
Gems – Anita’s Tiny Gem Wheel
Numbers – Basic Grey Alphabet Stickers (Sugared)
Border – Basic grey Element Stickers (Eva)
Other StuffRibbon
Fabric Flowers
Button

Basic Grey – Challenge #20

I’ve just finished my second card for the day and it includes a couple of firsts for me.

It’s my first attempt at a Basic Grey challenge.

I came across their blog whilst I was doing a bit of hopping this morning and it looked quite interesting so I thought I would give it a go.

My next ‘first’ is an attempt at making those little distressed flowers that I mentioned the other day. I’m not completely happy with mt attempt but hopefully I’ll improve a bit the next time I have a go.

Anyway, here is the template from Basic Grey challenge.

And here is my card:-


Card Blank – Bazzill Bling
Other Card – DCWV Textured Pastels Pad
Patterned Papers – Basic Grey, Oh baby, Girl
Ink – Ranger Distress Ink (Dusty Concord)
Embossing Folder – Cuttlebug (Swiss Dots)
Thread – Anchor Embroidery Silk

Other StuffButtons

Sketch Saturday #36

Oh my….we have SNOW!

All I can say is…….. roll on some warmth and Florida sunshine in just less than three weeks time….Yah!

In the mean time I’ll have to be content with playing with the fabby template from Sketch Saturday while I dream of warmer climes.

I think this is such a versatile template and the girls over at Sketch Saturday have made some wonderful cards with it so why not pop over and have a look.

This is my little effort:-


Card – Craft Creations
Patterned Papers – Basic Grey, Sugared
Rubber Stamps – Rubber Stamp tapestry (Porcelain Bouquet) Personal Impressions (Hearts & Flowers Kit Greeting)
Inks –Versa Magic (Pumpkin Spice), Versa Color (Sand Beige) ColorBox Fluid Chalks (Olive Pastel, Dark Moss, Rose Coral & Rouge)
Glitter Glue – Stickles (Pink)
Gems – Anita’s Tiny Gem Wheel

Other StuffRibbon

A Big THANK YOU and Sketch This – Cards #76

The first thing I want to do today is say a great big Thank You to all you wonderful crafters out there who have visited my blog this week and left some really lovely messages for me. Your comments are always much appreciated and I will try and get around to everyone to thank them personally but for now please except a public Thank You for the time being.

My card today was made using the template from Sketch This and my wonderful new set of Basic Grey ‘Boxer’ papers and embellishments.

And here’s my card.


I really love adding texture to my cards lately so I’ve run the Red patterned paper through my Cuttlebug in an embossing folder and then gave it rub over with Distress Ink.
The Oval panel was also embossed in the same folder but this time I used Gold Metallic Rub On to highlight the pattern. But I still wasn’t content with the amount of texture I had, so I went even further and added some folded work across the centre of the card.
Card – Craft Creations
Patterned Papers – Basic Grey (Boxer)
Inks – ColorBox Fluid Chalk (Blue Iris), Ranger Distress Ink in Faded Jeans
Rubber Stamps – Whisper Words (Birthday Wishes) Flower Unknown
Pencils – Prisma Color Pencils
Embossing Folder – Cuttlebug (Textile Texture)
Chipboard Flower & Fibres – Basic Grey (Boxer)

Other BitsMetallic Wax Rub-On’s (Colonial)
Sticky backed Gems
Paper Flowers
Gem Brad

Papertake #7

Well, I think you’re only going to get one card from me today.
This is partly because Thursday is food shop day with dad but the main reason is that I think my paper trimmer has been on the Cider. It seems that no matter what I do I can’t seem to get a straight cut from it.

I wouldn’t mind, I didn’t make things any easier for myself either when I decided to have a go at the template from Papertake and decided to make mine a gatefold card.
Oh well, we live and learn!

This is the template.


It struck me straight away that the template would work well as a gatefold card so here’s my card in all it’s glory….mind you it’s lucky to ever have been finished, given the afore mentioned roblem.
When I stamped and embossed the flower image directly onto the patterned paper my intension was to just leave it Black but unfortunately it didn’t stand out quite as much I had hoped it would. I ended up calling my Twinkling H2O’s into play which I think did the trick. I’ve also used them on the Grey panel down the side to make the embossing stand out but you can only just about see it in the photo because it’s hidden under the ribbon now.

Card Blank– Craft Creations
Papers – Basic Grey Scarlet’s Letter
Rubber Stamp – Basic Grey Boxer Insignia (Flowers) Heidi Swapp (Happy Birthday)
Inks – Tsukineko Versa Fine (Onyx Black) Ranger Distress Ink (Peeled Paint)
Embossing Powder – Fun Stamps (Clear)
Embossing Folder – Cuttlebug (Floral Fantasy)
Paints – Twinkling H2O’s (Moss Green & Scarab Beetle)
Gems – Anita’s Tiny Gem Wheel

Other BitsRibbon
Eyelets

Tanda Teaser – Handbags At Dawn!

Here’s my second card challenge for today, this time it’s for the Tanda Teaser where the brief was handbags.

I was pleased about the theme because I have a little background stamp with nine tiny bags on that came in the bargain lot of Hampton Arts stamps that I got from eBay a little while back.

I stamped the bags onto white card, cut them all out individually and coloured them with my Prisma Pencils. It was as I started to mat all the bags and squares I realized I’d made a fundamental mistake……….. I had cut and embossed all the squares in White card but the patterned paper had Cream in it not White. I thought I might get away with it but when I put them together it really didn’t look right at all so I thought to my self, no problem, I’ll chalk them.
Only problem with that was that there’s not a Cream coloured chalk in my box, but all was not lost................... I remembered a big box of cheap eye shadows that I brought in Superdrug’s a few years back and sure enough I found just the right colour in there.

Here’s the card:-



Papers – Basic Grey (Boxer)
Stamps – Hampton Arts (bags and sentiment)
Inks – Tsukineko, Staz-On (Black) Ranger, Distress Ink (Faded Jeans)
Pencils – Prisma Color Pencils
Punches – Woodware (Heart)
Dies – Spellbinder (Nestabilities)
Gems – Anita’s (Gemstone Wheel)

Other bits
Ribbon
Eye Shadow

2 Sketches 4 You - Sketch #18 & Cuttlebug Challenge

I don’t know what it’s been like where you are but it’s not stopped raining here today.
It’s been so miserable but not that bad because it gave me a good excuse to stay inside in the warm and craft…. after the ironing was finished of course.

The first thing I did was hop over to 2 Sketches 4 You and pick up the sketch for this week.

Seeing as I’ve not had my Tapestry Stamps out for a while I decided to work with them for a change and I also wanted to give my new gismo a trial run.

For a while now I’ve been looking in awe at the way people distress the edges of their paper to make it curl up and it was only on Monday when I visited Imagine That that I found out there was actually a little gadget for doing it. Needless to say, before I left the shop one just happened to find its way into my basket!
I’m not sure if I’ve done it right or if it really needs ‘more’ distressing but it was my first attempt so it can only get better…..hopefully. I’m quite pleased with the results but what I really want to be able to do is make those gorgeous round flowers that I keep seeing everywhere. Lots of practice first I think but you never know, you may just see some here pretty soon!

Anyway here’s the card and the good thing is that it fits in with the Cuttlebug Challenge too.


Card – Craft Creations
Patterned Papers – Basic Grey, Perhaps
Inks –Color Box Fluid Chalk (Amber Clay, Cadmium, Rose Coral & Rouge) Ranger Distress Ink (Worn Lipstick)
Stamps – Rubberstamp Tapestry (Full Mum Border)
Chalks – Readicut – Decorating Chalks
Dies – Spellbinder (Nestabilities) Cuttlebug (Vintage Corners)
Embossing – Cuttlebug Embossing Folder (Swiss Dots)

Other BitsRibbon
Eyelets
Greeting produced using Photoshop

Sketch Saturday #35……again!

Ok, better luck this time....Lol!

A friend of mine asked me to make a birthday card for her mum so this time I’ve got it right and I HAVE USED template #35 from Sketch Saturday


Here’s the card


Card – Craft Creations
Patterned Papers – Basic Grey, Lillykate
Inks –Ranger Distress Ink (Peeled Paint & Dusty Concord)
Dies – Nestabilities, Small Circle
Paper Punch – Fiskars, Elegance Border Punch.

Other StuffSticky backed Pearls
Ribbon
Computer Printed Greeting

CPS -#100

Well I took this sketch to Lythan’s with me yesterday too and I’m pleased to say that this one was the correct one. Lol!

It’s the sketch from CPS.


Again I’ve used the same range of Daisy Bucket papers.

Here’s my card:


Card – Craft Creation
Papers – Daisy Bucket, Perfect Harmony
Inks – Ranger Distress Ink (Worn Lipstick) ColorBox Fluid Chalk (Warm Red)
Rubber Stamp – Personal Impressions (Best Wished)
Flower Punches – Woodware & Xcuts
Dies – Nestabilities
Embossing – Cuttlebug Embossing Folders (Swiss Dots & Spots & Dots)

Other Bits
Velvet Brad
Ribbon

Chipboard Flower

Sketch Saturday #35

Oh my did I have a fun day yesterday when me and my craft bag headed off to ‘play’ at Lythan's house!

We spent the day chatting, looking at new stash that both of us had acquired and doing a little bit of crafting, naturally, and then after lunch we went to visit Imagine That, the craft shop in Upminster.


The craft shop visit was a must because I only needed a couple of stamps to fill up my loyalty card and then I would have a whole £20 to spend on something special. I picked up a few things that I needed and then I found the perfect item to treat myself to……….What do think of this little baby?



I’ve been agonising over how best to store all by Cuttlebug Embossing folders for ages and now I agonise no longer because I have this purpose made bag to keep them all neat and tidy in, isn’t it wonderful!

Well as I said, we did do a little bit of crafting while I was there.

Lythan was concentrating on the beautiful summer holiday album she’s making and I set about making a card for this weeks Sketch Saturday
template.

The only problem was.......I took the wrong template with me and made another card using last weeks template.......what an idiot!

Oh well, here's the card anyway and I'll have another shot a this week one later on.



Card – Craft Creations,
Patterned Papers – Daisy Bucket, Perfect Harmony
Inks –Ranger Distress Ink (Dried Marigold), ColorBox Fluid Chalk (French Blue)
Dies – Nestabilities, Sizzix 12 border (Love, with Hearts)
Paper Punch – Fiskars, Threading Water Border Punch.

Other StuffAnita’s Tiny Gems
Ribbon

Di Hickman- #3 (21st Jan)

On a roll today with my second challenge of the day.
This time it’s the sketch from Di Hickman’s blog

You may have noticed that I’m using a lot of Basic Grey papers just recently.
Well the reason is that I picked up some bargain sheets in the sales, just odd sheets but from collections that I’ve not used before. I’m on a big learning curve though because some of them seem rather difficult to use. Still, I shall persevere!

Luckily these one’s were ok but a little on the bright side!

Card Blank – Craft Creations
Papers – Basic Grey – Oh Baby! Girl!
Inks – Distress Ink (Dusty Concord)
Embossing Folders – Cuttlebug (Bloom Dots & Swiss Dots)

Other Bits
Brads
Silk Flowers
Computer Printed Greeting

Two for the price of one!

It’s not often that I make a card that covers more than one challenge at a time, but the card that I made from the 2 Sketches 4 You template this week also covers the brief to use three different shape on a card from Papertake.

This is the template from 2S4U.

you’ll notice that I’ve turned it round. and there are Circles, Squares and Rectangles on it for the Papertake challenge.


I was finishing up some old scraps of Crate Papers, so alas, my ‘Kate’ Collection is no more! There was just one largish piece and a few smaller pieces of the same paper but fortunately it was double sided. Iwas able to stamp the dart board and darts onto it using VersaMark ink and then dust it with chalks to create two more patterned papers to go with the one I already had.


Card – Craft Creations (Cream Hammer & Green)
Patterned Paper – Crate Paper, Kate Collection
Inks –Tsukineko, Staz-On (Timber Brown), VersaMark & Ranger Distress Ink (Vintage Photo)
Stamps – Stamps Away (Dartboard & Darts) Studio G (Alphabet)

Other BitsChipboard Numbers
Ribbon
Brads
Diamond Glaze

DCM - Give It Some Heart

Well, Friday’s here again and my intension to do lots of challenges fell by the wayside this week.



The will was there but I simply run out of time because I got side tracked a little bit when I had a contact through Genes Reunited about a link to my family tree.
This is the first time that I’ve found a true connection with a total stranger and having access to their tree has given lots more info, so I want to thank Margaret Eastwood (if you read this) and just say Thank You for giving me access to your tree and I hope we can continue sharing information about our families.

So, it’s on with the day and the main reason for my post this morning.

It’s Friday………it’s 10 o’clock (ish!) and it’s Dare Time with the Daring Cardmakers!

This week Keryn wants us to..........

Give it Some Heart

My dare for this one is the predictable, someone had to do it, theme of Valentines. Although I don't want you to feel you just have to make Valentines Day cards, feel free to make a card fitting any theme you like as long as it has a heart somewhere on it. Stamped hearts, punched hearts, diecut hearts, heart embellishments, cut from patterned paper, whatever, whenever as long as it has the right shape.

I’ve managed five hearts, spread over two cards……….it would have been six over three cards but the last one isn’t quite finished so I’ll have to update when it’s done.

Since perfecting my Cuttlebug Embossing Technique, all my cards seem to feature it in one way or another and no mater how much I try not to do it, I can’t help myself. Now everything seems to look so flat and unfinished if I leave it off so I think you can expect a lot more from me in future weeks.



Both cards were made by cutting, embossing and mounting squares on 3D foam and then the edges inked with Distress Ink.

I used a Paper Punch to cut the Hearts and run them through my Cuttlebug in an Embossing Folder. These were then mounted on top of the Squares and finished off with a covering of Lustre Wax Rub-ons.


Card Blank – Craft Creations
Patterned Papers – Basic Grey Perhaps, Phoebe & Sweet Pea Alyssa Collection
Inks – Ranger Distress Ink (Worn Lipstick)
Dies – Spellbinder Nestabilities, Sizzix Skittle Dee Do Alphabet

Other Bits
Ribbon
Luster Wax Rub-On’s (Amber)

Sketch Saturday #34

I’ve been a good girl and been very industrious this morning.

I’ve managed to make a few valentines cards to take into the shop, I’ve made my card ready for the Daring Cardmakers dare on Friday and I’ve also done a card from the sketch over at Sketch Saturday.
I know this one is a bit late but better late than never I always say. (Just as well because I always seem to be late!)
I really liked working with this sketch and have a feeling that it’s going to used quite a lot in future weeks.

I’ve tried to keep my card uncluttered but added texture with some embossing, using both a Cuttlebug folder and my Nestabilities. I then gave the embossing a quick rub with some Luster Wax Rub-Ons to further enhance it.
There are also some 3D elements on there too.

Card – Craft Creations,
Patterned Paper – Basic Grey, Sugared
Die Cuts – Basic Grey, Sugared
Inks –Ranger Distress Ink (Peeled Paint)
Dies – Nestabilities, Sizzix 12 border (Love, with Hearts)
Paper Punch – Woodware, Small Folk Heart (Green)

Other StuffEyelets
Luster Wax Rub-On’s ( Amber)

CPS – Pick Your Favourite Sketch

Yesterday I had fun playing with the sketch challenge from CPS.

They didn’t give us new one to work from this week, instead we had to choose a favourite past sketch, so I went for number 27.


I decided to carry on using the Daisy Bucket papers that I used for the previous challenge but this time I’ve used a collection called In The Meadow.
I love these papers, not only because of the gorgeous colours, Turquoise, Brown and Green in this case, but because the papers have a wonderful textured finish to them.

Here’s my card:


Aww, but I didn’t stop there……..

As the remains of the papers were out on my desk I thought I would have a go at doing the same as Lythan did and see how many cards I could get out of the three sheets of double sided paper.

I've used stick on gems in place of the pearls that she had but I didn’t have any rub-on’s, so instead I gave myself the luxury of a few extra bits and bobs in the way of ribbon, brads and glitter glue.
I ended up making a total of thirteen, including the CPS card and to my amazement only a couple looked anything like the cards that Lythan made.
I would recommend having at go at this at sometime.
Apart from being fun, it's it’s a great way to stock up on some cards to fall back on when you need one in a hurry.

Card – Craft Creation
Papers – Daisy Bucket In the Meadow
Inks – Ranger Distress Ink (Peeled Paint & Vintage Photo)
Glitter Glue – Stickles
Dies - Nestabilities

Other Bits
Brads
Ribbon
Computer Printed Greetings