Just Because

Hi there

I'm back with my second card for this evening, and yet another butterfly card!

I wasn't really sure what I was trying to create when I started this one, it was one of those cards that just evolved as it went along.

I started by cutting a white panel and a slightly larger panel in sand coloured cardstock.  Before adhering the two together I used a leaf die to cut out and use the negative image from the white card, allowing the sand colour to show through from behind.  Next I stamped the sentiment in black and then adhered the layered panel to the card base.  I then used a butterfly die to cut out the two colours and cut two more from vellum.  I glued the vellum to the coloured butterflies in the centre then once dry I added some Doodlebug Sprinkles and gently manipulated the vellum wings to add some dimension.

Materials used:

• Dies: Clearly Besotted Stamps - Leafy Accents and Elegant Butterflies
• Stamp: Clearly Besotted Stamps - Elegant Butterflies
• Ink: Versafine - Onyx Black
• Cardstock: Neenah - Solar White; Papermania Premium Textured Cardstock
• Vellum from stash
• Doodlebug Sprinkles: Ladybug and Blue Jean

Challenge Entries

Less is More - Week 173 - Die Cut

Dream Valley - Challenge 82 - Thing with Wings

Colour Throwdown #294 - Colour challenge

Thanks so much for taking the time to visit.  That's it for today.  I'm now off to bed as I'm feeling sorry for myself with a stinker of a cold so I need to go and get cosy and hope I can sleep better than I did last night!

Take care

With Gratitude

Hi guys

I've got a couple of late posts tonight to share two cards I made last night but left it far too late to photograph them.  Then today I was at work for 12 hours so didn't get home until late but I need to get these linked up as I won't be around tomorrow.

So, lets get to it with the first one...

This was quite a fiddly card to make but I persevered and got there in the end.  I cut a vertical panel from the same cardstock as the card base (you can just about make it out in the pic) and about 2/3 the width.  I then decided where I wanted the butterflies to sit and die cut the butterfly three times along the edge of the panel.  Next I stamped the sentiment onto the panel.  I then die cut the butterfly from three different colours of cardstock.  I then popped the panel up on 3D foam and adhere it to the card base.  Then came the fiddly bit, fitting the butterflies into the apertures I'd previously created.  A lot of sticky fingers later my card was finished.

Materials used:

• Die: Memory Box - Vivienne Butterfly
• Cardstock: Papermania Premium Textured Cardstock; Kraft card base from stash
• Stamp: Paper Smooches - Chit Chat
• Ink: Versa Color - Boysenberry

Challenge entries:

Less is More - Week 173 - Die Cut
Dream Valley - Challenge 82 - Things with Wings
Time Out Challenges - Challenge #6 - Home Sweet Home Photo inspiration (I used the colours as inspiration)

Thanks for popping by, I'll be back in a few minutes with my second card.

Happy Bee-lated Birthday Wishes

Good morning!

I know this isn't my usual time of day for blog posts but I have an appointment with the dentist before work this morning (euchhh!) so I have a little more time before I have to leave today.  So I thought I'd share a card I made last night.

When I saw the latest challenge at CASology had the cue card 'Bee', I knew straight away what I wanted to use.  A while ago I purchased some digis from Pink Petticoat, many of which I haven't yet had the chance to use, and one little set is called Buzzy Little Bees.

So here's what I did with it...

I printed off the digi (I decided on the 'bee-lated' image and sentiment, its always handy to have one of these!) and cut it out with an oval die.  I coloured the bee and flower with Promarkers and then added a touch of Wink of Stella to the bee's wings - yes, I've finally purchased the famous little pen and I love it!  I then picked out the red of the flower and cut some deep red cardstock with the co-ordinating scalloped oval die to frame the image.  Next I used a honeycomb embossing folder (I used the de-bossed side of the card) and cut away a section which I adhered to my base card at an angle, and then mounted the framed image over the top on 3D foam.

Materials used:

• Digi Image: Pink Petticoat - Buzzy Little Bees
• Dies: Spellbinders Nestabilities - Classic Ovals and Classic Scalloped Ovals
• Embossing Folder: Stampin' Up - Honeycomb
• Coloured with ProMarkers and Wink of Stella - Clear
• Cardstock: Neenah - Solar White, Bazzill Basics (red)

I am also entering this card into the following challenges:

Dream Valley - Challenge 82 - Things with Wings

Crafty Catz - Challenge 232 - Embossing

Addicted to CAS - Challenge #39 - Texture

Craft Your Passion - Challenge 215 - Frame It

Right, must dash, not looking forward to this visit to the dentist at all!  Have a wonderful day x

Geographic Masculine Birthday

Hi guys

Today I've got a card to share with you which I made for my brother who celebrated his birthday this weekend.  I always find masculine cards a real struggle and this time I tried something very different and went in a geographical direction.

I'm not sure how I feel about this one, it seems a bit too busy or maybe I've used too many colours.  I would love to know what you think :)

I cut a square panel slightly smaller than the card base which I used as my main stamping area.  First I stamped the diagonal stripes along the right edge, and then stamped the grungy dots in the background.  Before stamping the rest of the panel I stamped and die cut the 'brother' sentiment and used low tack tape to hold this in place while I continued to stamp around it.  I then added the various arrows and the happy birthday sentiment.  I finished off by using 3D foam to adhere the sentiment strip and added some Doodlebug Sprinkles to complete it.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Clearly Besotted Stamps - Diagonal Stripes, Geometric Style II; Stampin' Up - Gorgeous Grunge; Papermania - Relations
• Ink: Versa Color - Lapislazuli, Topaz, Bamboo, Turquoise and Brown; Memento - New Sprout; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Die: MFT Die-namics - Fishtail Flag Stax
• Doodlebug Sprinkles

Challenge entries:

Addicted to Stamps and More - Challenge #96 - Anything Goes

Creative Inspirations - Challenge 266 - Birthdays

Seize the Birthday - (Optional Tag)

Simply Create Too - Challenge #62 - Fathers Day or For a Male

Brown Sugar Challenge - Challenge #95 - Anything Goes

Thanks for popping by today.  I'm gutted I haven't found any time for any more crafting this weekend.  I had a BBQ at my brother's house yesterday and today has just flown by doing this and that!  

I hope those of you in the UK have had a lovely bank holiday and that wherever you are you had a lovely weekend.  I hope to see you very soon.

Take care

Feel Better Soon

Hi guys

Well, I'm finally back on my blog following my weekend away with the girls last weekend to celebrate my milestone birthday.  I went to Center Parcs at Longleat Forest with six of my fabulous friends and I can honestly say I had the best time EVER!  From relaxing in our lodge (with a few glasses of fizz), leisurely strolls in the sunshine (we were SO lucky with the weather!), fantastic meals, fun activities, total relaxation at the spa and laughing so much it hurt!  Doesn't get better than that does it?! 

So, I was back to reality and work on Tuesday and this is the first opportunity I've had to sit down and make a card.  There are numerous challenges out there at the moment with a floral theme so that's the direction I went in.  I also decided to make a Get Well card as my stock is lacking and there's nothing better than flowers to cheer someone up when they're feeling low.

I kept this one very simple but nice and bright and cheerful...

I started by stamping the sentiment in the centre and then surrounded it with three flowers, all the same stamp but in three bright colours.  I added some co-ordinating Doodlebug Sprinkles to the centres of the flowers and that was it! 

Materials used:

• Stamps: Paper Smooches - Chit Chat; Penny Black - Salutations
• Ink: Versafine - Onyx Black; Versa Color - Marigold, Opera Pink and Heliotrope
• Doodlebug Sprinkles - Bumblebee, Lilac and Bubblegum

Challenge entries:

Less is More - Week 172 - Flowers

CASology - Week 96 - Flower
The Paper Players - Challenge #196 - Clean and Simple Floral (oops - took so long writing my post I missed the deadline for this one! Oh well!)

One Layer Simplicity - Challenge #5 - Fabulous Flowers

Addicted to Stamps and More - Challenge #96 - Anything Goes

Here are a few pics taken with my lovely ladies last weekend..

On the Azalea Boardwalk (I'm second from left, the big birthday badge makes me easier to spot!)

 Me and my bestie by the lake

Birthday meal out at Cafe Rouge

That's all for now folks, hopefully I'll manage to fit in some more crafting this weekend as we have an extra day with bank holiday! 

Have a fab weekend and I hope to see you very soon x

A Special Thank You

Good morning

I'm here this morning to share a card I made a few nights ago but can only share today as I shall be giving it to my bestie, Hazel, this morning.

As some of you know I celebrated my 40th birthday last week and Hazel has been an absolute star.  A while ago I said I wanted to go out for a meal with some friends to celebrate and she asked if she could organise it.  Little did I know that she was planning my surprise party last Saturday and she did a wonderful job!  I'm also going away for a girlie weekend today and again, Hazel has organised it all...what a fabulous friend I have, so this little card is for her, although it seems far too little in return! xx

I had some happy mail arrive this week from Clearly Besotted so I used two of the new stamp sets for this card...

I started by stamping the two diagonal stripe stamps, leaving a gap between.  Once the ink was dry I masked these off and then stamped the blooms and leaves.  I adore these two-step stamps!  To finish I stamped the 'thank you' three times and placed some Doodlebug Sprinkles between them.  I love how this turned out but I think it would have looked better if both sets of stripes were the same colour, I think it would have framed the flowers better.  I'm still really pleased with it though and I adore this floral stamp set, I can see this one getting lots of use!

Materials used:

• Stamps: Clearly Besotted - Diagonal Stripes, Bridal Bouquet and A Little Sentimental
• Ink: Versa Color - Seashell, Cinnamon, Laurel Leaf and Olive
• Doodlebug Sprinkles - Spring Assortment

Challenge entries:

Less is More - Week 171 - One Layer Thank You

One Layer Simplicity Challenge #5 - Fabulous Flowers

Addicted to CAS - Challenge #38 - Off The Edge

STAMPlorations - May Challenge - Stamps and Flowers

And I'm so glad I had to wait until this morning to publish this post as the new challenge at Clearly Besotted was announced yesterday and my card fits it so well...yay! I must be psychic!

Clearly Besotted Challenge #11 - Colour Challenge

That's all from me at the moment.  Apologies for my absence lately, I was away for a few days in Cornwall last week and I'll be away this weekend until Monday (these birthday celebrations are busy business!), and its all been a bit hectic in between.  Hopefully next week I can get back to sharing more creations with you.

I hope you all have a lovely weekend and I'll see you very soon.  Right, off to finish some last minute packing!

Take care

Crazy for CAS - Guest Designer!

Hi there

I'm back from my little break in Cornwall and have some great news today.

A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to win a challenge at Crazy for CAS and in doing so I have been given the opportunity to be Guest Designer for the next challenge!  I absolutely love CAS cards and my style has slowly evolved to become clean and simple so its an honour to be given this chance to be part of the Design Team for this challenge.

This time the challenge is to make a CAS creation with twine or ribbon.  I've seen twine and ribbon being used in so many ways to accent cards, its a great staple to have in any stash.

So, without further ado, here is my card...

I started by die cutting the geometric rose out of some pink cardstock.  Next I stamped and die cut the flower and leaves.  I threaded the twine through the button leaving two long strands and then, after adhering a large glue dot to the back of the button, started looping and securing the twine in a floral pattern.  I then used a second glue dot to adhere the button to the flower.  I used a clear stamp for the sentiment which I curved on the acrylic block to follow the curve of the die cut before stamping.  And to finish, I added a few co-ordinating sequins and rounded the top corner. 

Materials used:

• Dies: Clearly Besotted - Geometric Rose Die Large, Fancy Florals
• Stamps: Clearly Besotted - Fancy Florals and A Little Sentimental
• Ink: Versa Color - Lavender, Mint
• Button: Stampin' Up - Designer Subtles Collection
• Hemp Twine: Hemptique - Ruby collection
• Sequins: Doodlebug

Challenge entries:
Addicted to Stamps - Challenge #94 - CAS
Dream Valley Challenges - Challenge 81 - Anything Goes
Papertake Weekly Challenge - Anything Goes

They have a great Design Team over at Crazy for CAS so why not pop over and get some more inspiration and have a go at entering the challenge.  The challenge will run for two weeks from this morning.

Thanks so much for visiting today, your comments are so appreciated.  Have a wonderful weekend x

Be Back Soon :)

Hi there

Just a quick note to say that I will be away for a few days.

I'm off for a short break in Cornwall with Matt in the morning and I was hoping to be able to schedule some posts for you but the last few days have flown by and I haven't managed to make anything to share.

My next post will be on Saturday morning so until then, happy crafting and enjoy the rest of your week.

Take care x

'Out of My Comfort Zone' Grunge!

Hi guys

I woke up super early this morning so decided to get up and do a bit of crafting.

I've been wanting to have a go at the latest challenge at Addicted to CAS which is 'Grunge'.  I have a few grungy style stamps but have never made a card in that style.  So I gathered some stamps together and put my thinking cap on.

I also had a look through some other current challenges and decided to use the colours from the May Colour Challenge at Daring Cardmakers as I thought this palette would work quite well for this style of card.

For my first attempt at grunge I kept my card to one layer...

This was so easy! Six different stamps in six different inks!  I'm a bit disappointed in myself that I lined up the 'Thank You' along the horizonal lines but being a 'liner-upper' this obviously came naturally to me!  :D

Materials used:

• Stamps: Kaisercraft - Grid; Stampin' Up - Gorgeous Grunge; Inkadinkado - Circle and Dots; BoBunny - Sentiments
• Ink: Versa Color - Bisque, Umber, Topaz, Cyan, Lapislazuli; Memento - New Sprout

Here is the colour palette, I chose inks as close as possible from my stash.

I hope to be back with more to share later today or tomorrow.  I am going to Cornwall for a few days later in the week so want to share a bit more before I go.

Have a lovely Sunday whatever you're up to today.