Squeeze 'til I Squeak!

I have combined this weeks Sketch Saturday with PBSC's Romance theme. I am hoping this is the last lurve card I make for a while!!

Rather than go for the pink/red theme I chose to create more of a little scene. I coloured the distressed the ickle mice and cut them using my nesties. I always struggle to use this paper as I always end up hiding the interesting bits. So I have decoupaged the leaves and some of the flowers to give the impression of the mice hiding in the hedgerow. Did make 1 little mistake - sneezed as I was putting the image on the paper and ...its not straight!!

Recipe:
Stamp(s): Squueze 'til I squeak (Penny Black)
Colouring Media: Distress inks
Papers: Basic Grey Sugared
Embellishments: eyelets from stash

Giddy up

One of Ellie's special friends at preschool is 4 next week ... so I have had to make him a card for her. She will ldo her own but he has to have a 'proper' card too!! So I have combined the sketch from Friday Sketchers this week and the LOTV theme, Men, for this card. As it is for a 4 year old boy it is very simple, and non fussy. Ellie wanted wire and had a go herself and then ripped it off - "wire isn't easy Mummy" was her comment!

I let Ellie choose the image, I don't have many boy ones, and thought she would go for a teddy, but she chose this one. I haven't inked him up for ages so it was lovely to colour him and distress the background. I kept the colour theme simple and used simple papers. Just a few brads for embellishments.
While I was doing this card Ellie was playing with my proze from the LOTV challenge, Twinkle. Apparently Twinkle is not mine!!

And this is what she came up with ...

Twinkle at Night
Twinkle in the garden.

We are just waiting for the glitter glue to really dry LOL!

Recipe:
Stamp(s): Giddy Up (Sugar Nellie), Twinkle (LOTV), sentiment Penny Black
Colouring Media: Distress inks, watercolour crayons
Papers: Making Memories and stash
Embellishments: brads and Ellie's stash

A couple of cards

I made this for the CCT challenge this week (Metallica) and The Chrisma Cardz recipe challenge.

I do love these Elizabeth Bells, and love colouring them. I have kept it reasonably simple, just distressing the image, and adding simple flowers and swirls. I love this strawberry charm.

This is one of the cards I made at my craft retreat. A friend set a challenge to make a card using bits and peices she sent and a new technique ... so I chose shrink plastic.

I am quite pleased with the results ... and now the mind is racing with all the things the girls can do with it!

Recipe:
Stamp(s): Strawberry Tea by Sugar Nellie, Daisy Chain and sentiment by Penny Black
Colouring Media: Distress inks, watercolour pencils
Papers: K and Co, DCWV Pocketfull of Posies, Coredinations
Embellishments: Prima flowers, brads, gems, ribbon and charms from stash

Sugar Bowl Love Tag

I have taken my time over this challenge and created it over a few days, adding bits and pieces. I used the theme Love and Romance and Tiets Tag Card tutorial to make this ... might give it to hubby ... if he is good!!

This is the front of the tag card. I hate trimming Sugar Nellies, but I had to in order for her to fit :(! I watercoloured her and used my nesties to do the wicked deed of trimming! As her flowers were cut off I have matted them onto the sentiment, which I wrote myself.

I cut the tag part out using a chipboard anchor as a pattern, and inked up all the edges of hte papers in order to hide the 'white' bits! I added an eyelet, ribbon and charm to add a bit of wieght to hold it down.

The inside looks like this - the frame is cut with my nesties and the sentiment finished ... suppose I better send it to hubby!LOL

This is the full inside ... Ellie helped do the embossed heart ... which is why it is RED instead of a raspberry pink!

What I did learn from the experience of making the card is not to use white cardstock and cover it ... the tag easily looks too messy.

Recipe:
Stamp(s): Sugar Nellie Girl and Birdhouse, Heart - freebie
Colouring Media: Distress inks
Papers: Fancy Pants Crush
Embellishments: Prima flowers, spacers, ribbons from stash, charm, chipboard photo anchor/tag

DDCC challenge #34

This week's challenge is to make a love themed card without using red or pink.

I chose purple as my colour!! Think I might have gone a bit mad on the purple!! I coloured Tilda and Edwin in using my promarkers, and sat them on a bench from Magnolia - don't they look cosy! I used coredinations carstock and embossed and distressed it. The other papers are from my cardstock. All the edges have been inked in purple ink from Papermaina (I use alot of their little pads for distressing). I added ribbon and wire from my stash and the large heart ribbon slider brad from Papermania. The sentiment is from a PB transparent set.

Check out what the other DT members have come up with.

1 stamp, 2 challenges

I am still trying to stick to the 'at least 1 Christmas card a week' resolution I set myself at the beginning of January. So I have used this gorgeous Whiff of Joy image to make 2 Christmas cards, while the girls have a sleep - Beth is teething and Ellie has a bad cough and cold, so niether are sleeping well at night, oh and neither am I!!

I have followed Donalda's fab sketch over at Whiff of Joy challenges for this card. I watercoloured Willow and the corners. The image is distressed using greeny gold ink. I have left it embellishment free, partly as I couldn't make my mind up what to add, and partly because it looks a bit busy. I haven't added the text yet - I am looking for some new Christmas text stamps, so the text will be added later.

I used JCBC's sketch this week for this card. Same image and distressing. I did some faux stitching, and added flowers, ribbon and gems. Again the text will be added at a later date.

Recipe:
Stamp(s): Whiff of Joy Willow with Lantern
Colouring Media: Distress inks
Papers: Basic Grey Wassail
Embellishments: chipboard photo corners, prima flowers, ribbon from stash, Papermania brads and gems

ABC challenge ... Z is for ...

Sleepy

For this challenge we want to see sleepy images on your cards.

I have resisted the urge to use my lovely PB sleeping teddy, and instead used this gorgeous sleeping Hedgie.

I cut the image out using my nesties and matted him onto blues and green dp. I distressed the edges of the papers in blue ink to soften the lines. I added a sentiment, some adhesive gems and an organza ribbon. I have kept it nice and simple.




Recipe:
Stamp(s): PB In a Nutshell
Colouring Media: watercolour pencils
Papers: carsdstock, DCWV Nursery stack
Embellishments: Making Memories Defined sentiment, adhesive gems and ribbon from stash

Hearts and flowers

Another combined challenge for me ... crafting time seems to be slipping away from me during the week, so I have combined the Spoonfull of Sugar sketch with the Papertake Weekly Challenge, Hearts and flowers.

I watercoloured the image in and resisted the temptation to distress her!! So instead I did some faux stitching! The papers are all from a co-ordinating pack and come with the matching lace ribbon, so all I needed to do was raid my flower stash for some flowers! The dp does have rises on it, and the image has hearets on it to, so got both hearts and flowers in there! I wrote the sentiment myself.
Recipe:
Stamp(s): Penpal (Sugar Nellie)
Colouring Media: Distress inks
Papers: Fancy Pants
Embellishments: Prima flowers, Fancy Pants ribbon, brads from stash

Sketch and Stash Challenge #3

My 1st challenge card as a member of the Design Team, and what a fab sketch again by Becky.
My new bits form my stash are the buttons and pink organza ribbon. I rounded the corners and added photo anchors to make it look more like a scrapbook photo. The image is a RAK from Vicky.
I love this sketch and can't wait to see your interpretations of it.
Recipe:
Stamp(s): Magnolia Pink Tilda Ice/ballerina Princess, chair, PB sentiment
Colouring Media: promarkers
Papers: K and Co Sweet and Sparkly, cardstock
Embellishments: buttons, chipboard photo anchors coloured with promarkers, organza ribbon

Crafty Weekend

This is going to be a bit of a long post!!
I have spent the weekend with a fab bunch of crafty friends ... not partners or children ... just crafting! I can't believe how many cards I have made, and it was bliss crafting without having little fingers or paws fiddling, pinching or otherwise intruding!
For the retreat I did a demo on distressing and paper beads and these are the cards I made, using Sugar Nellie's gorgeous Bird house stamp.

I don't know who the papers are but I love them and have bought up the craft shop's supply!! I coloured and distressed the background using my distress inks, and distressed the papers using my paper distresser - a much coveted tool!! I stamped scrolls on the cardstock and added ribbon and Prima Hydraegena flowers.

I used the same image for this, but gorgeous brown dp (again unknown). I demoed making the paper beads that i put on this card. I love these paper beads - so quick and easy to make and a different embellishment on a card. No flowers on this one ... yet. I am pondering a couple, but not sure yet. I love my PB Duckling stamp, and haven't inked it for a while. I thought I would start on some Easter cards and combine a few challenges in the process. So I made this circle card for the PBSC this week, which is circle cards. I used my scalloped nestie to cut the circle and crop-a-dile to punch the holes. I used yellow cardstock and DCWV Pocketful of Posies papers. The duckling is distressed, and the ribbons are from my stash. I have scanned the card with blue cardstock behind so you can see the card.

For this card I used this week's sketch from Sketch Saturday - I used ribbon as well as papers for some of the elements. Its that fab duckling again, with cardstock and this cute little flowers and adhesive gems.

I have had these fancy pants papers for a while, but thought they would work really well with this gorgeous image by PB - Lazy Days, I added co-ordinating ribbon, brads and buttons to complete it.
The last three cards feature animals so all three fit this week's Secret Crafter challenge ... animals.

I can't wait for the next retreat!!