A Little Candy Giveaway - 100 Followers!

*This is a Sticky Post - please scroll down for my latest post - Thank You*

Hi there

Well, for the last few weeks I've been keeping an eye on my follower count and I've now got a massive smile on my face as I've reached my first milestone...100 followers!

It's been two years, almost to the day that I shared my first makes with you and I'm so grateful to each and every one of you.  I'm always so thrilled to know you've visited and I so appreciate all the kind and supportive comments you leave for me.

So, I now feel it's only right to give something back to you...

CANDY!!!

Candy items are:

1 x Echo Park 6x6 paper pad - A Perfect Summer

1 x Craft Too embossing folder - Blossom

1 x Stick it Permanent Adhesive Roller

1 x pack of 3 Forever in Time Designer Paper Tape

1 x Milton & Co Clear Stamp - Toby With Balloons

1 x Papermania Glazed Gems (Iridescent)

1 x pack of Helz Cuppleditch 'Fun Fair' Buttons

1 x pack of 10 Kraft Tags

1 x Papermania Mini Clear Stamp (flowers)

1 x pack of Woodware Mini Mounting Pads

1 x roll of Dovecraft grosgrain ribbon

1 x pack of Jolee's by You mini die-cut hearts

2 x packs of Doodlebug stitched grosgrain ribbon in Tangerine and Cupcake

1 x Stickles in silver

To be in with a chance of winning this bundle you must be a follower of my blog and enter using the link up below.  Many of my wonderful comments come from my overseas followers so this giveaway is open to all my followers worldwide, I wouldn't want to leave anyone out :)

I'd love it if you could mention this post on Facebook and your own blogs too but this isn't something you need to do to be in with a chance of winning.

The link up will close on 31 January 2015 and I will pick a winner at random shortly after this date.

Thank you and good luck! xx

There's Still Time...

Hi guys

Just popping by to say that there's still time if you want to be in with a chance of winning my blog candy, link up here.  Please let others know too.

I'm so sorry I've not managed to share anything else with you this week, I'm still in chaos at home but I'm making progress so should be back in a routine very soon.

Bye for now x

Addicted to Stamps and More #128

Hi guys

Well, I'm back with my first card of 2015 for Addicted to Stamps and More.  We are sad to have lost a few members of our Design Team but are also happy to welcome some awesome new teamies, some of whom you will have met already if you managed to pop by at ATSM for last week's challenge.

So, onto this week's new challenge which is...

Holiday

We would like to see your creations using any holiday such as Christmas, Easter, a National Holiday, or feel free to interpret this as meaning a holiday destination, etc.

Not only do we have some new Design Team members, we also have some fab new sponsors for 2015.  And for this week's challenge we are sponsored by Deedee's Digis who are offering a prize of $15 to spend in the store.

So, without further ado, here is my DT card.  After making so many Christmas cards and with the weather being very dull here in the UK I decided to bring a little Spring to my crafting and found this lovely digi which I thought would be great for an Easter card.

I downloaded this free digi from Opal Manor and printed it onto some white card before colouring in with my ProMarkers.  I cut the panel to the width of my card base and die cut the bottom with a curved die.  I then did the same with two different patterned papers before layering them up.  I thought the curved cuts would work great with the curvy image.  I then stamped the sentiment before adhering the white panel.

Materials used:

• Digi Image: Opal Manor - Easter Lily
• Coloured with ProMarkers
• Stamps: Clearly Besotted - Fresh Flowers (sentiment)
• Ink: Versafine - Onyx Black
• Patterned Paper: Doodlebug - Kraft in Color - Color
• Die: MFT Die-namics - Snow Drifts

Challenge entries:

Without Words - January Challenge - Dreaming of Spring

Crafty Catz - Challenge #262 - New Beginnings (new season - nothing signifies the start of Spring more than a daffodil!)

613 Avenue Create - Challenge #107 - Anything Goes

Craft Your Passion - Challenge #245 - Anything Goes

So, whether you want to get a head start on this year's Christmas cards (!!!) or fancy making another holiday themed card, why not link up with us at ATSM.  As always, my fellow teamies have lots of inspiration on offer for you so why not pop over and show them some love :)

Oh, and before I go, those of you with eagle eyes may have noticed my fab new watermark on my photos.  Our wonderful 'boss', Kylie has designed these for each of us on the ATSM Design Team, and she also designed my other watermark too.  If you'd like a watermark unique to you please contact Kylie, details below, and she will be more than happy to help you...

Thanks for popping by and I hope to see you again very soon.

Fabulous Friend

Hi guys

Well, after almost two weeks of no posts I've finally found some time to craft today.  I'm still living in a mess, and will be for about the next month while my kitchen is sorted but the majority of the dismantling and boxing up is done, so it's just a case of making a pathway amongst the chaos so I have a route from craft stash to table!

Here's what I've made today, I thought I'd have a bit more practice with my Promarkers...

I stamped the image and coloured it with ProMarkers.  I'm still struggling with blending as I don't have enough of the tones of each colour so that's my aim this year, to purchase a few more each month so I've got more options.  I then cut some patterned paper to leave a border each side of the image panel.  I then had this (not so) great idea that I'd stamp the 'fabulous' sentiment so that it flowed across the three layers.  It wasn't the easiest technique but I got there in the end.  I started by stamping it on the card base, then I used some low tack tape to hold the patterned paper in place while I lined it up and stamped it again.  And I then did this again with the top panel, only inking up as far as the 'u' so I didn't overstamp what I'd already done.  I then adhered the panels ensuring the sentiment was lined up and finished by stamping 'friend'.  I added some clear Wink of Stella to the drinks but I couldn't capture this in the photo.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Stamping Bella - Uptown Girls Victoria & Juliette; Uniko Studio - All Occasions Sentiments #3; Stampin' Up - Fabulous Phrases
• Ink: Impress - Jet Black; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Patterned Paper: Lawn Fawn - Let's Polka
• Coloured with ProMarkers
• Accented with clear Wink of Stella

Challenge entries:

Less is More - Week 207 - Friends

Uniko Studio - Challenge #17 - Love and Friendship

Brown Sugar - Challenge #129 - Birthday for a Girl

Simply Create Too - Challenge #77 - Happy Mother's Day (or For a Female)

I hope to get back into some kind of routine now that I can access my stash a bit more easily.  

And don't forget my Candy Giveaway which can be found here.  The link will be open until the end of January so please link up for a chance to win.  I realise that with my Bloglovin followers and my subscribers I have more than 100 lovely readers but it's difficult to gauge exactly how many as some of you use more than one method to keep up with your blogs.  I am grateful to ALL of you, whichever way you follow me and I hope I can continue to give you some inspiration with my projects.

Bye for now, see you soon :)

A quick update...

Hi guys

I just thought I'd pop in and explain why I've not posted this past week.

In a nutshell, I'm in the process of having my old kitchen ripped out to prepare for a nice shiny new one so at the moment my home is upside down!  I've been boxing things up and having building work done so my crafting has been put on hold.

The worst is yet to come as I'll need to find space I don't really have to accommodate everything but I can just about access my stash and my table so hopefully I'll have some projects to share in the next few days.  That's the plan anyway!

Please bear with me, I'll be back soon :)

Hugs

Clearly Besotted January Release - Bon Voyage & Flowers & Flourishes (Guest Designer!)

Hi guys

I've scheduled this post this morning as right now I will be running around like a mad woman trying to get ready for work.  Unfortunately, I have already been back to work during the Christmas break but Mondays are always tough!

At 10pm tonight the new products at Clearly Besotted Stamps will be available to purchase from the store here.  I can already picture lots of you with your fingers on the refresh button ready to fill your baskets with your favourites...I know this as every month I am usually doing exactly that!

If you visit Stephanie's blog today, here, she will be revealing the release in its entirety for your viewing pleasure, and you'll find links to the lovely DT ladies there too.  There are eight stamp sets and six die collections in this release and it's a really varied selection so there will be something for everyone.

So, without keeping you waiting any longer, here are my remaining cards to showcase two more beautiful sets.

The first set is called Bon Voyage.  This set includes cityscape silhouettes of London, New York and Sydney together with some sentiments in 'typed' and 'script' fonts.  Here is my first card using the Sydney cityscape...

Materials used:

• Stamps: Clearly Besotted - Bon Voyage
• Ink: VersaMark; Versafine - Onyx Black; Memento - Tangelo (applied through stencil with Ink Dusters)
• Embossing Powder: Stampin' Up - Black
• Cardstock: Papermania
• Stencil: MFT Mix-ables - Sun Ray
• Die: MFT Die-namics - Pierced Squares Stax

Challenge entries:

CASology - Week 127 - Light

The Crafter's Cafe - Challenge #97 - New (as yet unreleased stamp set and new/unused stencil)

My second card uses the London silhouette stamp which I thought would be a great to create this New Year card (although a little late to now send this year!)

Three of these 'fireworks' were actually flower heads, I used multiple other CBS sets to create these!

Materials used:

• Stamps: Clearly Besotted - Bon Voyage, Many Mini Messages, Window Dressing and Dandelion Dreams
• Ink: VersaMark
• Embossing Powder: Wow! - Metallic Silver and Metallic Gold Rich
• Coloured cardstock: Papermania
• Die: MFT Die-namics - Stitched Rounded Rectangles Stax
• Tools: Tonic - corner punch

Challenge entries:

Creative Inspirations - Challenge #294 - Christmas/New Year
Simply Create Too - Challenge #76 - Let's Celebrate
AAA Cards - Challenge #31 - Use a Little Gold

My next two cards use the new stamp set called Flowers & Flourishes.  This set features beautifully ornate blooms in linear and solid images, leaves and buds and some useful sentiments too.  Firstly I made this little note card combining this set with some other CBS products...

Materials used:

• Stamps: Clearly Besotted - Flowers & Flourishes, Leafy Accents and Sentimental Type
• Ink: VersaMark; Versafine - Onyx Black; Versa Color - Sky Gray
• Embossing Powder: Wow! - Opaque Bright White
• Die: Clearly Besotted - Trellis Die
• Vellum and cardstock from stash
• Accents: Doodlebug Sprinkles - Bumblebee

Challenge entries:
DJ Kard Kreations - NBUS Challenge #3 - as yet unreleased stamp set and new/unused die
Sweet Stampin' Challenge - New - as yet unreleased stamp set and new/unused die
Inkspirational - Challenge #73 - Word prompt 'note'



And my final card also uses the new Flowers & Flourishes set.  This one didn't go to plan.  I wanted to use the ghost stamping technique on kraft but my white pigment ink isn't the best and I initially wanted to use Neenah Desert Storm cardstock but it wasn't showing up enough so I had to resort to using a darker kraft cardstock which isn't as pretty but hopefully you can see the general effect I was going for...

Materials used:

• Stamps: Clearly Besotted - Flowers & Flourishes and Diagonal Stripes
• Ink: Versa Color - White, Raspberry, Grape and Green Tea
• Cardstock: Papermania - Kraft

Challenge entry:

My Time to Craft - Challenge #273 - All Things New (as yet unreleased stamp set)

So there you have it, I think you'll agree that Stephanie has created a fantastic release for this month.  I'd like to thank her massively for inviting me to Guest Design with her team once again and I've so enjoyed creating these teasers for you all.  And don't forget, if you want to get your crafty hands on any of this month's release, they will be available at the store from 10pm GMT tonight! Yay :)

Thanks for all your lovely comments these last few days, they really do mean a lot to me.

Bye for now

Clearly Besotted January Release - Child's Play & In Print (Guest Designer!)

Hi there

I'm back with more samples I've made using the new products from the upcoming Clearly Besotted release.

If you've not seen my posts over the last couple of days, just to update you there are eight new stamp sets and six co-ordinating die collections launching this month, all of which will be available to purchase from the Clearly Besotted Stamps store from 10pm GMT tomorrow, 5 January.

Stephanie of Clearly Besotted, along with her fab Design Team are also sharing their wonderful creations prior to the release to whet your appetite.  Stephanie's blog can be found here, which also includes links to each member of the Design Team.


Today, I'm showcasing two more great stamp sets for you.

The first set is called Child's Play.  This is a great little set of stamps with lots of images for young children and babies, along with some sentiments in a great font.  Here is my first make...

Materials used:

• Stamps & Dies: Clearly Besotted - Child's Play
• Ink: VersaMark; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Embossing Powder: Stampin' Up - White
• Coloured with Derwent Inktense pencils
• Cardstock: Crafter's Companion - 300gsm Watercolour Card; Stampin' Up (coloured)

Challenge entries:

ColourQ - Challenge #273

Happy Little Stampers - January Sketch Challenge

Brown Sugar - Challenge #127 - Bears
Happy Little Stampers - January CAS Challenge - Watercolouring


For my second card using Child's Play I've made a pretty card for a little girl...

Materials used:

• Stamps: Clearly Besotted - Child's Play
• Ink: Memento - Tuxedo Black; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Die: Clearly Besotted - Decorative Edges Shallow Die Collection
• Patterned Paper: Doodlebug - Kraft in Color - Color
• Coloured with ProMarkers
• Accents: Wink of Stella

Challenge entries:

Passion for ProMarkers - Challenge #277 - Bingo (diecut/free/glitter)

I Love ProMarkers - Challenge #250 - Anything Goes

Papertake Weekly Challenge - Pick a Fave - I chose Pretty Pastels from May 2014

The second set I'm introducing today is called In Print.  I LOVE this set!  I features a fingerprint stamp and lots of line drawings of animals and bugs and some punny sentiments.  Here's my first card using the cute little frog...

Materials used:

• Stamps: Clearly Besotted - In Print
• Ink: Versa Color - Green Tea; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Die: Clearly Besotted - Decorative Mat Die
• Patterned Paper: Doodlebug - Kraft in Color - Color
• Coloured Cardstock: Papermania

Challenge entries:

Freshly Made Sketches - Challenge #167

Cute Card Thursday - Challenge #354 - Anything Goes
Fantasy Stampers - Challenge #27 - Happy Birthday


And finally, I've used this cute little bee, also from the In Print set...

Materials used:

• Stamps: Clearly Besotted - In Print and Basic Stripes
• Ink: Versafine - Onyx Black; Versa Color - Marigold
• Die: Clearly Besotted - Love Hearts
• Patterned Paper: Doodlebug - Kraft in Color - Kraft
• Accents: Doodlebug Sprinkles - Bumblebee; Wink of Stella

Challenge entries:

Crazy 4 Challenges - Challenge 267# - Clean and Simple

Virginia's View - Challenge #11 - Clean Slate

CAS(E) this Sketch - Challenge #104

Phew, that was a picture-heavy and challenge-tastic post, I hope you're still with me!

I hope you are liking all these new CBS products I've showcased so far, not long to wait now!  I will be sharing my final samples tomorrow before these stamp and die sets will be available to buy tomorrow night at 10pm.

Thanks so much for popping by and I hope to see you again soon.

Clearly Besotted January Release - With Sprinkles & Recipe for Love (Guest Designer!)

Hi guys

Thank you so much for your lovely comments following my Clearly Besotted samples yesterday.  I've had great fun playing with these new products and today I have more to share with you using two more wonderful stamp sets and dies.

All the new stamp sets and die collections from this month's release will be available at the Clearly Besotted store from 10pm GMT on 5 January.  Stephanie, the owner of Clearly Besotted, and the Design Team are also sharing some wonderful creations over the next few days.  You can find Stephanie's blog here which will also have links to the other lovely ladies on the Design Team.


Today I've decided to share samples using two 'yummy' stamp sets.

The first set is called With Sprinkles.  This one features scrummy images of doughnuts and cookies together with their toppings and sprinkles and a few sentiments.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Clearly Besotted - With Sprinkles
• Ink: Versa Color - Bisque, Umber, Lagoon Blue, Magenta, Petal Pink; Versafine - Onyx Black; VersaMark
• Embossing Powder: Wow! - Metallic Gold Rich, Opaque Bright White
• Accents: Wink of Stella and Glossy Accents

Challenge entries:

Virginia's View - Challenge #11 - Clean Slate (one layer, lots of white space, masking)

Crazy 4 Challenges - Challenge #265 - Colour/Photo challenge

AAA Cards - Challenge #31 - Use a Little Gold

And another using With Sprinkles, this time the star shaped cookie stamps...

Materials used:

• Stamps: Clearly Besotted - With Sprinkles, Basic Chevrons and So Sweet
• Dies: Clearly Besotted - With Sprinkles
• Ink: Versa Color - Mint, Cyan, Narcissus, Silver, Umber; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Accents: Wink of Stella and Glossy Accents

The second set is called Recipe for Love.  It features lots of fab baking related images and sentiments.  It's perfect for using on packaging of baked gifts so firstly I made this tag...

Materials used:

• Stamps: Clearly Besotted - Recipe for Love
• Dies: Clearly Besotted - Recipe for Love, Thanks Word Die and Rounded Tag Die
• Ink: Versa Color - Camellia and Turquoise
• Cardstock: Neenah - Desert Storm; Kanban - Sherbert Pips; Papermania
• Twine: Hemptique - Spring Bloom 2
• Accents: Wink of Stella

Challenge entries:
Papertake Weekly - Pick a fave from any previous challenge - I chose 'To Die For'
DJ Kard Kreations - NBUS Challenge #3 - not yet released stamp set!


And my final card for today also uses the Recipe for Love set.  I've combined it with a sentiment from an already released set...

Materials used:

• Stamps: Clearly Besotted - Recipe for Love and Say It In Style
• Die: Clearly Besotted - Tag Along
• Ink: Versa Color - Sky Gray and Camellia; Versafine - Onyx Black; VersaMark
• Embossing Powder: Wow! - Opaque Bright White
• Cardstock: Papermania (black and grey); white from stash

That's all for today's samples, thanks so much for visiting.  Please pop by again tomorrow for a peek at some more I'll be sharing.  

2014 - Year in Review and Some Favourites

**Please scroll down to my earlier post if you are looking for my Clearly Besotted teasers**

Hi guys

I was hoping to get this posted a day or two ago but I completely ran out of time so I'll share it now.

2014 was a fabulous year for me in blogland.  In July I was lucky enough to join the Design Team at Addicted to Stamps and More.  Working with Kylie and the amazing Design Team has been a blast and I'm looking forward to creating with the girls again, plus a few new teamies who I know are going to be fabulous.

I have also had a few amazing Guest Designer spots which I thoroughly enjoyed, these were at Color Throwdown, Crazy for CAS, Muse, CASology and CAS(E) this Sketch, and I had a whole month guest designing with the ladies at Colour...Me! in November.  So, my thanks goes out to those who invited me to take part x

After looking back at my creations in 2013 I can see that I've now found the style I really enjoy which is clean and simple.  I've had a really good sort out of my stash and even though I have bought a lot more goodies than I should have (oopsie!), I am concentrating mainly on useful (and must have because they are so pretty!) stamps, versatile dies, a few good paper pads and some decent coloured cardstock...plus a few other must-haves!  There are lots of techniques I still want to try so hopefully I will be able to give them a whirl this year.

Right, on to my favourite creations.  I haven't picked one from each month, just the ones that I really enjoyed creating.

Here goes...

En'twine'd Hearts

Feel Better

Just to Brighten Your Day 

Eyelet Accents

Fabulous 40

Make a Wish

Hello

Celebrate Your Day

Geographic Masculine Birthday

On Your Wedding Day

Bullrush Sunset

Peek-a-Boo Rainbow

Lovely Leaves

You Are Beautiful

Have a Fabulous Birthday

Thinking of You

Thanks as always for stopping by and for your lovely comments.  I hope I can continue to provide you with some inspiration throughout the coming year.

Bye for now