Lorraine's Place

JOURNEY INTO THE UNKNOWN

2012-01-26T14:23:00.008Z

When I saw this photo of my granddaughter riding her bike, even though it's not a good photo, I had to scrap it. I wanted to try my hand at layering as it's not a technique I'm very successful with. I'm not sure I've cracked it yet either lol, but I'm getting there. Papers are K & Co's Brenda Walton 'Mira'. I cut the title on my Craft Robo. I cut 3 in card and layered them up to be a bit thicker and then covered them with one cut in paper. The embellishments are all cut from sheets of paper within the pack. Some lace and a couple of buttons finished it off.

Journalling reads:
This isn't the best photo in the world, but when I saw it, it captured something in me. As I looked at you riding into the sunset, I wondered where life's journey would take you. Where will you go to? What will you see? What will you be? A doctor? A lawyer? Maybe an artist? Or, maybe you'll be content to just be a wife and mother. Who knows?

Wherever you go and whatever you do Mia, I hope and wish for you that your journey through life has so many more ups than downs and that you will find happiness and fulfilment in everything, big or small. Learn to trust and never be afraid of asking for help if you need it. Stay strong through all the downs and you will come out the other side. Be yourself Mia, because you are beautiful.

Entering into:
SIMON SAYS STAMP - Anything goes.
INCY WINCY #130- Anything but a card.
MAKE IT MONDAY #73 - Anything goes.
PAPER PLAY #4 - Lovely lace.
OUTLAWZ - Anything goes with red.

BACK TO CHILDHOOD.

2012-01-26T13:22:00.006Z

It's challenge #101 over at I ♥ PROMARKERS THIS WEEK and the theme is Pink & Purple. We are sponsored by the lovely DIGI DOODLE SHOP and when I saw this set of images, I thought I'd do something different from a card and use them. Everybody that's seen them so far have all commented on how it took them back to childhood. I too remember cutting them out of my weekly comic and spending many a happy hour with them. No computers then eh? lol. Hopefully my 4 year granddaughter will like them too when she's next here.

Entering into:
CHARISMA CARDZ #3 - Pretty in Pink
SIMON SAYS STAMP - Anything goes
DAISY DOODLES #51 - Anything goes
INCY WINCY #130 - Anything but a card
MAKE IT MONDAY #73 = Anything goes
DIGI DOODLE SHOP #92 - Anything goes
CREATIVE INSPIRATIONS PAINT - Pink

MOTHER LOVE

2012-01-21T15:18:00.003Z

My grandson Aidan with my daughter, just before Christmas. I'm trying to get myself back in scrapping mode as I haven't done any for months and I've shed loads to catch up on. Papers are from Paper Trunk, the 1974 collection.

DO WHAT YOU WANT!!!!

2012-01-18T08:00:00.022Z

Wooohooo!!!! Remember THIS? Well, I've signed up for another of ANDY SKINNERS superb online workshops. This time it's 'Timeworn Techniques' covering everything from rust, to copper patinas to chipped old paint. Can't wait until next month when it starts.

This month's challenge over at I ♥ Promarkers is our 100th so we're doing everybody's favourite theme...Anything goes. Our sponsor is DIGITAL DOWNLOADS with a £10 spend.
As we didn't have to use a sponsor image, I was able to revert back to my fave style..eclectic with a bit of weird and darker colours. The clock lady stamp is by Paper Artsy and this was masked off and over stamped with Pipe Man from Zettiology. The sentiment is by Rivercity Rubberworks and my papers are MME Lost & Found 'Breeze'. I just love the greens in this pad. The velvet ribbon has been in my stash for years and the brown dotty one is new. I finished with three eyelets, as I haven't used them for ages but didn't think pearls were quite right.

Entering into:
CRAFTY CARDMAKERS #59 - No floral embellishments.
HAUNTED DESIGN HOUSE #116 - Freakishly Chic
LEXI'S CREATIONS #56 - Anything goes.
LET'S INK IT UP #19 - Anything goes.
MAKE IT MONDAY #72 - Anything goes.
PINK ELEPHANT #131 - Fave colour.
ONE STITCH AT A TIME - Anything goes.
CRAFTY SENTIMENTS. - Anything goes.
ANYTHING GOES #58 - Anything goes.
PAPER MINUTES - Anything goes.
~~CREATIVE INSPIRATIONS PAINT - Birthdays.~~ TOP 3.
~~PARTY TIME TUESDAYS #51 - Birthdays.~~ WINNER

Oooops! It's #99

2012-01-15T11:58:00.003Z

I forgot to do my blog post. Doh! It's challenge #99 over at I ♥ PROMARKERS and this week the theme is Cute and Cuddly. Our sponsor this week is STAMP FAIRY with a $10 gift certificate for our winner. I used her image 'Molly through the year - November'. I reckon it's cute, but not so sure I made it very cuddly, lol.

Shhhhh! IT'S A SECRET!

2011-12-26T14:47:00.020Z

It was secret santa time again and I racked my brains for what to do for my friend Karelyn on my craft forum. Then, I saw some of these house shaped shadow boxes and so I did one of them for her. I covered it with paper and then inked and sealed it. The wood frame itself was painted with acrylic paint, textured paint, metallic paint and then sealed. As usual, odds and sods were added. I filled the tiny apothecary bottles with micro beads, stuck some charms on, did some dye cuts with grungepaper and inked them, stamped my greeting with my Waltzing Mouse remedies stamp and painted the spools. The 'flowers' are done with my Tim Holtz die and the lace and other bits were in my stash. I'm well chuffed with how it turned out and I really struggled to part with it, lol.

Entering into:
~~CREATIVE INSPIRATIONS PAINT - Anything goes.~~ TOP 3
~~SPARKLES #27 - Anything BUT a Christmas card.~~
~~THE CRAFTY PAD #152 - Anything but Christmas.~~ TOP 3.
ALLSORTS #134 - Blue and Brown.
MARKS FINEST PAPERS #87 - Anything goes.
SECRET CRAFTER #166 - Anything goes.
MAMI DOODLES #40 - Altered Art/Home Decor.
JELLYPARK CHALLENGES - Anything but a card.
STAMPIN' FOR THE WEEKEND #23 - Anything goes.
FAB 'N FUNKY CANDY CHALLENGE.

SHAPE IT UP..

2011-12-08T22:51:00.008Z

Hellooooo peeps. It's been a bit of a poorly time in this house so far this week, but finally I can get my I ♥ PROMARKERS card up. Challenge #95 this week is to make a shaped card and we're sponsored by the lovely JOANNA SHEEN. I used one of my own templates, available HERE and made an open book type card. It's the first time I've used it for a proper paper card and I have to say, I'm really pleased with it.

My papers are K & Co Handmade Speciality, Tilda is sitting on a piece of card punched with Martha Stewart's heart edge punch and the sentiment is from the fabulous Waltzing Mouse 'Rescue Remedies' set. It's a lovely sentiment to celebrate a friends birthday with. Punched leaves, flowers, lace, pearls and a charm finished it off.
Entering into:
ART IMPRESSION STAMPS #43 - Try something new.
CUTE CARD THURSDAY #194 - Anything goes.
COOKING IT UP WITH KATIE #86 - Anything goes.
DIVA'S BY DESIGN #16 - Anything goes.
WHIMSEY STAMPS #18 - Patterns and Pearls.
PASSION FOR PROMARKERS #129 - Celebrations.
MAKE IT MONDAY #66 - Anything goes.
CRAFTY BOOTS - Anything goes.
PAPERTAKE WEEKLY - Anything goes (option of a dangly).
CRAZY CHALLENGE #96 - Anything goes.
CRAFTY CREATIONS #147 - Card with Sentiment.

SNOWMEN & SNOWFLAKES.

2011-11-30T12:43:00.006Z

Those of you that know me will know that I really, REALLY don't like making Christmas cards, but sometimes...we've just gotta do it. This week for challenge #94 over at I ♥ PROMARKERS the theme is snowmen and snowflakes. I was under orders but once I'd decided I wanted to go purple, it wasn't too bad, lol. Our sponsor this week is ROBYN'S FETISH and we were given her snowmen images to work with. I have to admit though, they are rather cute.

I combined two of the snowmen in Photoshop and cut them out and I also designed my own paper as I don't have much Christmas stuff. The frame is a Martha Stewart PATP and I cut the centre out with a nestie. The sentiment is also one of my own design and you can get this on a sheet of 15 different sentiments from DIGITAL DOWNLOADS.

Entering into:
SASSY CHERYL #92 - Winter.
MAKE IT MONDAY #65 - Anything goes.
ANYTHING GOES #55 - Altered corners.
CREATIVE CARD CREW - Monochromatic.
JENS DIGI STAMPS - No red or green.
PARTYTIME TUESDAYS #44 - Anything goes.
CRAFT YOUR PASSION #86 - 'Tis the season.
HOOKED ON CRAFT - Winter Wonderland.
POLLYCRAFT #120 - Winter fun.
PAPER SUNDAES #97 - Winter Wonderland.

ANYTHING GOES..

2011-11-24T12:43:00.012Z

I've been a bit lax with my blogging lately, but then again, I've been a bit lax with everything. I have, regrettably, stepped down from one of my DT's, The Crafty Pad but hopefully now, I'll have a bit more 'me' time as my crafting passions are changing again. I tend to go through phases, lol. Why not pop over and see my parting post, it's a tutorial for a lovely little cross ribbon folder. You can also find it at Make Something Nice too.

Anyway, on to the reason for this post. Challenge #93 over at I ♥ PROMARKERS and the theme is Anything Goes. No doubt we'll be inundated, lol. Our sponsor this week is the fabulous Judy over at DIGI DOODLE SHOP and we, the DT, all used one of her images.

I hate making Christmas cards, so I chose to use this lovely image called 'Weighing In'. My papers are Papermania 'Hanoverian', I really like the vintage feel to these papers, Martha Stewart deep lattice punch, turned upside down, and everything else from my stash.

Entering into:
CRAFTS AND ME #62 - Shabby Chic/Vintage
PAPERCRAFT STAR #72 - Anything goes.
LOLLIPOP CRAFTS #58 - Anything goes.
SISTERHOOD OF CRAFTERS - Polka Dots (girls dress).
CREATIVE CRAFT CHALLENGES - Free for all.
SASSY CHERYL #91 - Anything goes.
MAKE IT MONDAY #64 - Anything goes.

LOVE YOUR LAPPY..

2011-11-11T12:40:00.005Z

Challenge #91 over at I ♥ PROMARKERS this week is to follow a sketch. You can see the sketch on the Promarker blog. It's a nice one, so come and have a go with us. Our sponsor this week is LETRASET with a pack of Promarkers.

This image is one of the wonderful Mo Manning's and the sentiment is one of my own design, available HERE. The frame is Spellbinders 'Ornate Artisan Tags and Accents' and I cut the top off. Papers are MME 'Quite Contrary' and the flowers and ribbons are from my stash.

Entering into:
ART IMPRESSIONS - 2 or more ribbons.
CCCE STAMPERS - 3 different shapes. (squares, fancy, oval)
DUTCH DARE - Punches/die cuts.
RAINBOW LADY - Pink and green.
STAMPAVIE - Anything goes.
DIGITAL TUESDAY #136 - Anything goes.

A MINGER AND OTHER STUFF....

2011-11-06T15:13:00.010Z

They (whoever 'they' are) do say that it's the little things that please, well, I think it's possibly true. I've just won a brand new pair of Next jeans for my Granddaughter for £2.50 on Ebay and it's made my day, lol. I hardly ever bid in an auction 'cause I never win (lost 3 cardigans already) so I'm well chuffed today.

Anyway, who's the minger? Well, this is he:

My 19 month old Grandson Aidan. Absolutely filthy, but obviously enjoying himself, lol. He also has this face that he puts on when you ask him to do his 'thinking face'. Finger on chin, eyes skewed and eyebrows up....gorgeous, lol. All papers and embellishments are Echo Park 'Little Boy'.

Entering into:
BIRD IS THE WORD - Adore. (hope this qualifies, I have used 'adorable' in my text).
CRAFTING WHEN WE CAN - Anything but a card.
CREATIVE INSPIRATIONS PAINT - Anything goes.
SIR STAMPALOT - Blue and Green.

What else have I been up to? Well, I decided I wanted rid of the table that I craft on and I wanted a long work surface instead.

So, I popped off to B & Q and brought myself this home. I love it and it's a great surface to work on. I've got plenty of room in there now too.

Today sees the start of Challenge #146 over at THE CRAFTY PAD and this weeks theme is paper piecing. The sponsors this week are LETRASET and CRAFTY RIBBONS. All the design team used 'Sammy Scarecrow' available from THE CRAFTY PAD DESIGNS.

I used my Promarkers to colour parts of him but his clothes and hat and the backing papers are from K & Co's 'Urban Rhapsody' pad. I used a Martha Stewart punch for the lattice and a Marianne D die for the leaves. In my stash I found what I thought was some rafia, but I think it's brown paper made into a trim actually. I'm really not sure, lol.

Entering into:
COME AND GET IT - Autumn.
ONE STITCH AT A TIME - Use a digi.
CRAFT YOUR DAYS AWAY - Autumn.
MARK'S FINEST PAPERS - Fall.
CRAFTY CATZ - Anything goes.
INSPIRE ME FRIDAY'S - Anything goes.
PIXIE DUST STUDIO - Paper Piecing.

TAG IT!

2011-10-26T21:09:00.006+01:00

Well, it's been a couple of weeks since I blogged ....life and stuff but this week over at I ♥ PROMARKERS, it's challenge #89 and the theme is tags. Make a tag or add a tag of some sort to your project. I'm loving tags at the moment, I seem to just 'flow' with them. Our sponsor this week is DIGI DOODLE SHOP and the prize is a $10 spend in the store. Judy has some fabulous images, you really should take a look. I chose to use 'For My Love' and I split the elements for my tag.

I covered my tag with text paper and inked it well with Walnut Stain distress ink. The smaller tag was done the same, but I stamped on this as well. The cardboard strip was one of those rip strips to open a cardboard box and the sentiment strip is another piece off some junk mail that I kept. The pen nibs, key and corner were in my stash and when I'd coloured the image, cut out and split the pieces, I covered the candle and ink pot with Diamond Glaze.

Entering into:
SIMON SAYS STAMP - Anything goes.
TOTALLY PAPERCRAFTS #89 - Layer upon layer.
ANYTHING GOES #52 - To the Letter.
BEARLY MINE #22 - Anything but a card.
CREATIVE CARD CREW - Fallin' for You.
PARTY TIME TUESDAYS #39 - Anything goes.
HOUSE OF GILLIE - Recycle and Texture.
MAKE IT MONDAY #60 - Anything goes.
LOLLYPOP CRAFTS #54 - At least 3 embellies.

Also this week I want to tell you that there's a two week competition running over at THE CRAFTY PAD. It's based around stitching and wall hangings and there's two great prizes on offer, so why not pop over and join in. Crafty Ribbons are giving some fabulous new design ribbons and buttons and Debbie at The Crafty Pad Designs is giving her complete set of Sewing Images AND her dress form trio too. Definitely worth an entry folks.

YOU.

2011-10-12T14:50:00.002+01:00

I was in scrapping mode last night so did this layout of my 4 year old granddaughter, Mia. Papers are MME Lost & Found 'Blush' and I painted the chipboard pieces with acrylic paint, dotted them white and sealed with mod podge.

FROM THE GATES OF HELL!!!!

2011-10-09T18:48:00.004+01:00

I've just done an online workshop with the amazing Andy Skinner. This guy is awesome if you're into altered stuff. This is my very first attempt at 'properly' altering a bottle. I started with an empty sherry bottle:

and finished at the gates of hell.

I totally enjoyed doing this and truth be told, I don't think I ever want to make another card again, lol.

THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME.

2011-10-09T15:16:00.004+01:00

Well, at least, I hope so, lol. I'm on a diet AGAIN! and I really want to be this shape. It's challenge #142 over at THE CRAFTY PAD and the theme is vintage. The DT all used Debbies trio of dress forms available from THE CRAFTY PAD DESIGNS. These images are on sale for 59p at the mo, so why not treat yourself. We're sponsored this week by CREATIVE CRAFT WORLD and there's a £10 spend for the winner.

As soon as I saw the image we had to work with, I knew just what papers I would use, (mind you, I'd rather stroke than use these papers, lol). They're from MME Lost and Found 'Blush'. It's a totally fabulous pad. I printed my image onto acetate and made a slightly raised frame from it. The sentiment is my own design and the flowers, as always, are from Wild Orchid Crafts.

Entering into:
DI'S DIGI DESIGNS - Girly.
ONE STOP CRAFT #152 - Anything goes.
FAIRY FUN FRIDAY #63 - Girly.
INSPIRE ME FRIDAY #27 - Anything goes.
DELIGHTFUL CHALLENGES - Make it dimensional.
ONE STITCH AT A TIME #83 - Anything goes.

SPOOKY!!!!

2011-10-05T16:15:00.003+01:00

Wednesday again already and time for another challenge over at I ♥ PROMARKERS. This week is challenge #86 and the theme is Spooky. Our sponsor is JOANNA SHEEN with a £10 spend again.

I'm a bit of a misery and I just don't 'do' Halloween so I don't own an image or anything to suit. Off on a web search, but as always in the end, Elizabeth Dulemba came up trumps with this witch. The papers I also made myself as that's something else I had none of and the black cat is a photoshop shape. The sentiment was a freebie from Limited Runs Digi Stamps.

ONE FOR THE BOYS.

2011-10-02T16:05:00.007+01:00

It's challenge #141 at THE CRAFTY PAD this week and the theme is One for the Boys. Debbie has recently released a Pocket Watch and Steampunk images over at THE CRAFTY PAD DESIGNS and the DT worked with them. I have to say, I really love these. There are so many things I'll be using them on.

Fed up with making cards, I thought I'd make a tag for a change. It's a nice six incher which I took out of a Junkitz tag book that had been in my drawer for a couple of years. I figured I'd never make the book, so just get on and use the tags, lol.

I started in Photoshop with a six inch rectangle and placed some of the digi elements where I wanted them. Doing it this way ensured that my DP would be printed exactly how I wanted it to be, (not realising of course, that most of it would be covered up, lol). I printed this onto copy paper, then stuck my piece of DP over it and ran it through the printer again. Edges were all inked with Walnut Stain distress ink.
I printed two sizes of watch faces and the ruler and inked them. The vintage image was actually from some junk mail about a lottery, so I kept the leaflet knowing I'd be able to use it. Recycling at its best eh? The black clock hands were cut on my Robo and the gorgeous reinforcement ring is a Tim Holtz Ideology bit. I found the sentiment in some more long forgotten stash and inked it and finally the watch face and little watch parts are from my stash.

Entering into:
CRAFT YOUR DAYS AWAY #30 - Tag it.
SUGAR CREEK HOLLOW - Trash to vintage.
ONE STITCH AT A TIME #82 - Use a digi.
PAPER SUNDAES #89 - Lots of layers.
CARD AND SCRAP #17 - Distressing.
CREATALICIOUS #26 - Anything goes.
ONE STOP CRAFT #151 - Just for men.
STAMP, SCRAP & DOODLE - Anything but a card.
INSPIRE ME FRIDAYS #26 - Anything goes.
SIMPLY CREATE #53 - Older than 6 months.

A DISTRESSING DAY.

2011-09-28T14:42:00.010+01:00

Well, not for me lol but challenge #85 over at I ♥ PROMARKERS this week is distressing. One of my fave techniques, I just love the tatty look. We're sponsored by the lovely Judy at DIGI DOODLE SHOP and there's $10 to spend for the winner. Judy has some fabulous images so if you haven't been before, you really should take a look. All the design team used one of her images this week, and I chose to use 'The Day Off'.

My papers are all from the Basic Grey 'Recess' pad. I scuffed up all my edges using a scissor blade and inked all the edges with my walnut stain distress ink pad and a little black soot too. The birds were done with a Marianne Die, one in paper to flip and one in black card and the little swirl at the top left was also a Marianne die, but I just used the top of it. The sentiment is my own design.

Entering into:
DIGI DOODLE SHOP #76 - Autumn colours.
GINGERLOFT #25 - Vintage or Distressed.
ANYTHING GOES - Anything goes.
PARTY TIME TUESDAYS #35 - Anything goes.
MAKE IT MONDAY #56 - Anything goes.
OUTLAWS 26th sept (Greeting challenge) - Anything goes.
WOODWARE USA - Fall.
CARD CUPIDS #38 - Fall.
THE SQUIRREL AND THE FOX #1 - Anything goes.
FRESH BREWED #66 - Fall/Autumn.
ONE STITCH AT A TIME #81 - Favourites.
HOUSE OF GILLIE #17 - Fall.

I'M IN STITCHES.

2011-09-25T11:55:00.007+01:00

It's challenge #140 over at THE CRAFTY PAD and this week it's STITCHING. We want to see stitches on your cards. The sponsor is CRAFTY SENTIMENT DESIGNS and 3 digi images of your choice is the prize for the winner this week.

To make my card, I designed my own papers.

All of the elements (see below) were taken into Photoshop, resized and placed around the paper and I used this as my background. The patterned paper was also done in Photoshop and I used a border punch and pearls to just enhance it a little. The buttons were stamped and cut out and a piece of lace finished it off.

Debbie has just released some new silhouette images with a sewing theme, and this week all the design team used the sewing machine and elements.

You can buy the images separately or as a set, so why not pop over and treat yourselves.

Entering into:
MY SHERI CRAFTS #69 - Sew Simple.
SHOPPING OUR STASH - No colouring. (T3)
OUR CRAFT LOUNGE #84 - Patterned paper.
~~WAGS 'N WHISKERS #63 - Lace.~~

YOUR NUMBER'S UP!

2011-09-22T10:59:00.007+01:00

It's week #84 over at I ♥ PROMARKERS this week and the theme on your projects is to include a number. The sponsor this week is CRAFTY EMMA and there's a £10 gift certificate for the winner.

I thought about doing a card with a birthday number on it, but then decided to think outside the box a little, so this is what I came up with. I love steampunk but don't find it easy and the same goes for monochromatic (hence some colour added, lol) so combining the two was a bit of a challenge for me.

My papers are MME 'Gertie'. I used two embossing folders, Cuttlebug 'Clockworks' and Tim Holtz Alterations 'Collage', both lightly sanded. The steampunk girl is from the wonderful Krista Smith and the clock and gears are from Kim Lariviere. I have lots of watch parts in my stash, so I added a few of those too. I don't really know why I stuck the doily on, but hey ho! it's too late now, lol.

Entering into:
CRAFTS AND ME #53 - Stripes.
DIGI STAMPS 4 JOY #28 - Anything goes.
FAB 'N FUNKY #91 - A hard theme.
PAPER SHELTER #32 - Anything goes.
MAKE IT MONDAY #55 - Anything goes.
ANYTHING GOES #50 - Anything goes.
~~SCRAP CREATIONS - Anything goes.~~
DAISY DOODLES #42 - Raise it Up (Embossing).
HOUSE OF GILLI #16 - Embossing.
MAKE MY MONDAY #16 - Metal steampunk.
THE SQUIRREL AND THE FOX #1 - Anything goes.

ARE WE THERE YET?

2011-09-14T14:39:00.015+01:00

Well, my leg still hurts but it's not as bad as it was, so I'm getting about. Mind you, I've got a poorly arm now, lol. I think I'm falling apart at the seams.

Anyway, does the post title give you a clue on this weeks I ♥ PROMARKERS theme? Yep, it's Travel/Transport. The sponsor this week is LETRASET with a pack of Promarkers on offer to the winner.

This week I did something I rarely, if ever, do. I used some digital papers I'd downloaded as I loved the map and the blue colour. The arrow elements were also part of the download and I just cut them out and stuck them to card. They came from Cottage Arts and I'm seriously tempted to get more of their stuff. This set is called Road Trip.

The image of the car is one I'd seen some time ago and bookmarked for if I ever needed it as I thought it was fabulous, especially with the cases in front. That was downloaded from Doodle Pantry. Coloured with Promarkers and cut out with a nestie and that was that.

Entering into:
CRAFTING FOR ALL SEASONS #9 - Birthday
CRAFTY BOOTS #1 - Anything goes.
CREATIVE STAMP FRIENDS #33 - Card for a man.
HEART2HEART - Die cut.
MAKE IT MONDAY #54 - Anything goes.
~~MY PARTNER IN CRAFTING CRIME #31 - Planes, trains and automobiles.~~ - Random Winner
PAPER CREATIONS INK #8 - Vintage or distressed.
CRAZY CHALLENGE #84 - Birthday.
PINK ELEPHANT #116 - Vintage.

DINGLE DANGLE.

2011-09-07T15:02:00.007+01:00

As I write this post, I'm looking for a bit of sympathy. I fell over this morning and landed with such a thump that it made me really queer. Anyway, the nausea passed, but I can hardly walk. I can't put any weight on my right leg at all..it's killing me. Nothing's broken so probably really bruised the bone, but oh! I could cry.

Anyway, who doesn't like a bit of dingly dangly eh? Over at I ♥ PROMARKERS this week, the challenge is to use metal or a charm on your card. Now, I very rarely use charms even though I've got loads (I don't know why..probably too lazy to get them out), so this made a change for me and I love my little scissors and sewing machine. Our sponsor is JOANNA SHEEN with £10 to spend for the winner. Because Joanna doesn't provide images for us it means we can use anything we like, so I rooted through my hundreds of stamps and decided to use a plate I bought a long time ago (and almost forgotten about) by Oxford Impressions. It's an A4 plate called 'The Art of Being Beautiful' and there's some fabulous stamps on it.

To go with the theme of the images, I decided to go a bit vintage, and hopefully I've succeeded. Apart from the papers (K & Co) and the lace, everything was stamped and coloured with my Promarkers. I then cut out some of my stamped pieces and 3D mounted them.

Entering into:
~~FASHIONABLE STAMPING #3 - Ribbon or lace.~~
ARTISTIC STAMPER - Numbers.
ANYTHING GOES #49 - Vintage/Shabby Chic.
CRAZY AMIGO - Sewing.
CREATIVE CARD CREW - Anything goes.
CREATIVE CRAFT - Just Charming.
PAPERTAKE WEEKLY - Anything goes.
SWEET STAMPS - Lace.

GOT THE BLUES (and browns).

2011-09-04T19:25:00.009+01:00

Helloooo! It's CRAFTY PAD time again and this week, challenge #137 is to use the colours Blue and Brown. I love those colours together and it meant that I could use my fave Ella Blue papers again. The sponsor this week is CRAFTY RIBBONS and there are some exclusive Christmas ribbons on offer to the winner.

For my card I combined two images: Just Ted and Ball and Just Ted and Flower, both available from The Crafty Pad Designs. As they're both jpeg's I had to do a little layer masking in Photoshop but I do like them joined together. I coloured them with my Promarkers and then just added a paper rosette made with my Tim Holtz die and a bit of ribbon.

If you pop over to The Crafty Pad Designs, take a look at the new Steampunky images Debbie has just released. This is a little taster...there's some fab new sentiments too.

I'm entering this card into the following challenges:
~~DO YOU STACK UP #35 - Friendly critters.~~
ALY'S SUNDAY CHALLENGE - Bows.
~~CRAFTING WHEN WE CAN #1 - Do it your own way.~~
~~ONE STITCH AT A TIME - Use a digi.~~

CLICKETY CLICK!

2011-08-31T14:32:00.013+01:00

I love these funny images from La Pashe's Flippin' range but I don't like decoupage. So, when they brought out the lot in a clear stamp range, I had to have them and I've got the whole range of women and the men. Some of those are soooooooo funny, lol. Just like the decoupage you get the front and back of the character and although they look their best backed onto acetate in a window, I think they do just as well stamped inside the card. They come with sentiment and greeting stamps too.

Anyway, challenge #81 over at I ♥ PROMARKERS this week is an Anything Goes, so I was able to use one of my stamps and chose the bingo one. She proper looks the part doesn't she? lol. Our sponsor this week is LETRASET with a pack of Promarkers for the winner.

The papers I've used are MME Stella & Rose 'Gertie' and all the text elements were stamped. Everything was coloured with my Promarkers. The white bingo panel is a Tim Holtz embossing folder and the ribbon was also coloured with my Promarkers to match. I stamped the back of her onto card and coloured it and then cut it out and stuck it inside. The sentiment went inside too and it's obviously a little play on words, lol.

I have to say, she makes me smile. :o) And, I've been chosen as Featured Blogger over on Make It Monday this week...and that made me smile too so thank you.

Entering into:
CITY CRAFTER #72 - All dressed up.
CREATIVE CARD CREW - Anything goes.
PASSION FOR PROMARKERS #115 - Anything goes.
TUESDAY THROWDOWN #64 - Punny Sentiment. (T3)
MAKE IT MONDAY - Anything goes.
HAPPILEIGH SCRAPPIN'#37 - Birthday.
HEART SONG INSPIRATIONS #13 - Anything goes or Fave colour combo.
FASHIONABLE STAMPING #3 - Use ribbon and/or lace.
DIGI DOODLE SHOPS BEST - Anything goes.
AI FACTORY - Anything goes.

TOO COOL

2011-08-26T21:10:00.006+01:00

Well, I might have been planning to use the stuff from my embellie box, but yet again, I didn't. To be honest though, I don't think the Lil' Robot papers need anything else. I seem to have got myself right back into scrapping mode and it's making a nice change from making cards.

Entering into:
AUD SENTIMENTS - Anything goes.
CASE STUDY - Signature style.
DO YOU STACK UP - Boys or men.
CRAFT US CRAZY - Anything goes.
DUTCH DARE - Anything but a card.
PAPER CRAFTING JOURNEY - Anything goes.

IT'S ALL ABOUT EMBELLIES.

2011-08-24T19:52:00.011+01:00

I struggle with embellishments when I'm doing my scrapbooking. Even though I have plenty littered about the craft room, I tend to just use what's in front of me, usually just my papers and printer. Which is pretty much what I did with this layout of my grandson Aidan yesterday (inspired by page 37 in the new Craft Stamper mag). A few rub-ons are always handy too.

Today I was planning another layout and I decided to start using more of my stash. So, I got my 'embellie box' out to see what I had that had been long forgotten. I can't actually remember the last time I opened this RUB. It was like an Aladdin's cave in there! Chipboard, die cuts, Tim Holtz metal, alphabets, felt borders, paint...all sorts of stuff. And, that's not all - I have stuff in various drawers too.

I reckon I've got no excuse now, lol. I'm going to have to work my way through this lot.

Entering into:
INCY WINCY - Anything but a card.
MAKE IT MONDAY - Anything goes.
PAPER PLAYTIME - Anything goes.
AI FACTORY - Anything goes.
CREATIVE CRAFT CHALLENGES - Anything but a card.
DEEP OCEAN - Light blue.
EVERYBODY ART - Blue and brown.

A BIT OF A PRICK.

2011-08-24T18:32:00.008+01:00

Time for challenge #80 over at I ♥ PROMARKERS and this week it's paper piercing. Not piecing..piercing, so we want to see you pricking your cards or whatever you make this week. We are sponsored by the fabulous Digi Doodle Shop with a $10 voucher for some of her terrific digi images up for grabs.

The image I used is one from Digi Doodle Shop (as are all the design team)and I think it's a lovely image for a boy's card. Coloured of course, with my Promarkers. I have pierced the card all the way around the edges as well as around the image and under the ribbon. The rosette was made with my Tim Holtz die and the papers are from a massive pad (180 sheets) from My Minds Eye called 'Complete Boy'. Ticket sentiment from The Crafty Pad Designs. Buttons and ribbon from stash.

Entering into:
AI FACTORY - Anything goes.
MAKE IT MONDAY - Anything goes.
TUESDAY THROWDOWN - Dimension and texture.
TOP TIP TUESDAY - Masculine card.
CARDS FOR MEN #17 - Anything goes.
~~PAPER PLAYTIME - Anything goes.~~

SHAKE IT UP.

2011-08-21T15:08:00.006+01:00

Challenge #135 over at THE CRAFTY PAD this week is to make a shaker card. I've not made one of these for years I don't think, so I quite enjoyed making it for a change. As always the DT used Debbie's images from THE CRAFTY PAD DESIGNS and I used Butterfly and Verse. We're sponsored this week by JOANNA SHEEN who has a £10 voucher as the prize for the winner.

Oh yeah, we've got a DT call out too if you're interested.

My papers and plain purple card have been hanging about in my stash for eons and then I just used my M.S. punch and that's pretty much it, lol. I wanted to keep it simple though and let the verse take centre stage. I cut the frame with nesties Labels 2.

Entering into:
ALLSORTS #117 - You've been framed.
DESIGNED 2 DELIGHT - Anything goes.
SEND A SMILE FOR KIDS - Punches & diecuts.
SIMPLY STAMPIN' #21 - Punch it up.
CRAFTY ANNE'S #47 - Scallops and/or fancy borders.

IT'S ALL IN THE DRAWER...

2011-08-17T14:06:00.010+01:00

Phew, Wednesday again already and time for another challenge over at I ♥ PROMARKERS. It's #79 this week and the challenge is to make an easel card. Our sponsor this week is STAMPEEZEE and there is a £10 voucher up for grabs and boy, do they have some nice stuff.

I really like the easel cards on a drawer, so that's what I made this time. My image is from The Paper Shelter and my papers are from the pad 'Julianne' by K & Co. Prima flowers and a bit of ribbon from my stash and the knob on the drawer is a Tim Holtz hitch fastener. The sentiment which says 'You make me Smile' is from Pollycraft. I even got my sewing machine out for this one too. I'm stitching more and more for some reason.

Entering into:
SPOONFUL OF SUGAR - Birthday.
ANYTHING GOES - Birthday.
CELEBRATE THE OCCASION - Birthday Easel Card.
TRY IT ON TUESDAY - Anything goes.
TUESDAY THROWDOWN - Non stamped sentiment (assuming that digi counts as non-stamped).
~~CUPCAKE CRAFTROOM - Soft and sweet.~~
BUNNY ZOE'S - Easel Card.
MAKE IT MONDAY - Anything goes.
PAPER PLAYTIME - Anything goes.
PINK ELEPHANT - Stitching.
~~ONE STITCH AT A TIME - Anything goes.~~

And, naughty, naughty me forgot my DT blog post for THE CRAFTY PAD challenge. This week #134, is Cute 'n Girly and all the DT used girlie images available from THE CRAFTY PAD DESIGNS.

ILPM # 78

2011-08-10T15:54:00.010+01:00

Wednesday already!!!! Time is going way to fast for my liking lol. Anyway, this weeks challenge over at I ♥ PROMARKERS is to follow a sketch. We are sponsored this week by DI'S DIGI'S and the prize is 5 images of the winners choice. Most of the design team used one of Di's images and the one I used is called 'One Each'.

I don't use a lot of sketches, but I really liked this one. So much in fact, that I've used it for another card too.

I think I went slightly over the top though, as this is very busy and soooooo not me, still nobody can say it isn't bright and cheerful, lol.

My papers are all from the pad 'DeLovely' by Cosmo Cricket. I coloured my image with my Promarkers and the lace and doily were in my stash. The flowers are by Prima (the ones in the bra shaped pack) and I just added a pearl to the centre. The sentiment is from The Crafty Pad Designs.

Entering into:
AI FACTORY - Anything goes.
STAMP SOMETHING - Use a digi.
ONE STITCH AT A TIME - Use a digi.
A SPOONFUL OF SUGAR - Birthday inspired.
~~ANYTHING GOES - Birthday.~~
TUESDAY THROWDOWN - Birthday.
KB CUTE MONDAY - Use a digi.
MAKE IT MONDAY - Always anything goes.
VICTORINE - Birthday.
INCY WINCY - Something old, something new (new pearls and image, everything else from stash).

GONE FRUITY.

2011-08-07T23:05:00.009+01:00

This weeks challenge over at THE CRAFTY PAD is gone fruity, so you all have to have some fruit on your creations. The DT all used this lovely 'Berry Sweet Strawberries' image which is of course, available from THE CRAFTY PAD DESIGNS. Our sponsors this week are Letraset who are giving a pack of 5 'Brights' Promarkers and Debbie at The Crafty Pad is giving 3 single digi images of the winners choice.

I decided to keep it clean and simple this week, so nothing much to tell you about this card other than where the image came from, lol.

Entering into:
~~A GEM OF A CHALLENGE - White on white.~~
CATCH THE BUG - Anything goes.
MARK'S FINEST PAPERS - Not standard size.
INSPIRE ME FRIDAY - Anything goes.
RAISE THE BAR - Anything goes.
CRAFTUSCRAZY - Anything goes.
AI FACTORY - Anything goes.
~~KELLEY KID'S - Anything goes.~~

CHRISTMAS SENTIMENTS

2011-08-03T13:28:00.004+01:00

Are you looking for some sentiments for your Christmas cards. A lovely selection of 15 is available from DIGITAL DOWNLOADS under the Christmas section.

THINGS WITH WINGS....

2011-08-03T11:13:00.005+01:00

Whoopee doo! I finally got to it. I've made my first card in 2 months so at least am back on track with I ♥ PROMARKERS and our theme for this weeks challenge #77 is 'Things with Wings'. Our sponsor is the lovely JOANNA SHEEN with a £10 spend in her online store up for grabs for our winner this week.

I'm not sure if my crafting head is on or not really, but this card is more 'me' than all the cute ones I do (or have to do). The bird stamps are from Elusive Images and the flower stamp was a freebie on the Craft Stamper magazine. I only used a few promarkers on this but that's all it needed. Papers are from 7 gypsies 'Morrocco Journey' and K & Co 'Julianne'.

Entering into:
CRAZY AMIGO - Anything goes.
PAPERTAKE WEEKLY - Anything goes.
CRAFT YOUR PASSION - Anything goes.
ALLSORTS - Free 'n Easy
SUNDAYS WITH CHRISSIE - Keep it simple (this is simple for me, lol).

I'M BACK....

2011-07-29T18:45:00.002+01:00

hopefully anyway. I've had a pretty horrendous couple of months. No crafting done at all and obviously haven't done anything with my two DT's I ♥ PROMARKERS and THE CRAFTY PAD.

Anyway, I'm nearly finished moving into my new home, I've got my mother out of a care home and home with me and my daughter and family are safely ensconced in their new home in Cyprus. I just have to finish sorting my craft room out and then I can get to it.

I've really missed my crafting and my blog friends.
See you soon....:o)

A BIT OF 'SAUCE'...

2011-06-01T10:37:00.003+01:00

Hi there peeps, I hope you're all having a good week so far. If I'm honest, I'm having nightmare after nightmare, lol so thank goodness for my craft room. This weeks challenge #68 over at I ♥ PROMARKERS is Sparkly Bling so it's got to be glitter, glitter everywhere. The sponsor is JOANNA SHEEN with a £10 gift certificate.

I used this saucy image from JUST INKLINED and it's actually a Christmas Image (Maude Merry Christmas) but I changed her hat slightly and made it into a hair net. I also added some lines to her stocking tops to make them look netted. Coloured of course with my Promarkers and a computer generated sentiment. I cut the paisley shapes and the centre embellishment from paper and made my own embellishment with them. Glamour dust was applied to them and Maude's lace and some stickles were dotted around the roses. Roses from Wild Orchid Crafts, Martha Stewart border punch, lace and gems from my stash and I used my chalks to outline the nestie mats.

For the 'older' ones among you, do you think Mae West would look like this now if she was still alive? pmsl.

Entering into:
DESERT ISLAND CRAFTERS - Itinerary (orange, glitter, chalks, handmade embellie).
SPOONFUL OF SUGAR - Flower Power.
BEARLY MINE - Die cuts and lace.
LADYBUG CRAFTS - Make your own embellishments.
PARTY TIME TUESDAYS - Anything goes.
TUESDAY THROWDOWN - Make your own embellies.
BUNNY ZOE - Lace.
PAPER CRAFTING JOURNEY - Anything goes.
MY TIME TO CRAFT - Very funny.
HOUSE OF GILLI - Flowers.

PIZZA BOX (or not)?

2011-05-30T16:10:00.012+01:00

I was in a box swap recently and we had to make our own box from scratch...not alter or decorate a ready made one. I made a standard 'pizza' type box with the lift up lid and strengthened it with a thick piece of card top and bottom. The papers I covered it with are the fabulous 'Ella Blue' from GCD studios. I can't remember where I got the little lock charm or the key but it fastens with one of the Basic Grey mini magnets, which are perfect for this kind of thing. The embellies on the top are done with Marianne dies (you've got to love her dies).

In case you're wondering why it's full of Galaxy bars it's because it went to a friend in France who loves the stuff but finds it hard to get hold of. I have to be honest, when I'd finished this, I really didn't want to part with it, lol.

Entering into:
EMERALD FAIRIES - Anything goes.
PAPER SUNDAES (if a box is allowed) - Shabby Chic.
SPARKLES FORUM - Something metal.
2 SISTERS - Anything goes.
MYCREATE INK - Colour challenge.
FAIRY TALE CHALLENGE - Anything but a card.
INSPIRE ME FRIDAY - Anything.
CREATIVE CARD CREW - Anything goes.
TRULY SCRUMPTIOUS - Anything goes.

THE AWOL STUFF

2011-05-29T21:23:00.007+01:00

Grrrrrr!!!!! to blogger. Hasn't it been a nightmare recently, I hate it when it goes AWOL. I hope they're all sorted now..I can't live without my blogs, lol so a couple of cards in this post today.

Challenge #67 over at I ♥ PROMARKERS is to use Pearls and we're sponsored this week by DIGI DOODLE SHOP with a $10 gift certificate for the store. The DT all used images from the store and I chose to use a new image called Crawling Baby.

The papers are, I think, called Foundations. I used a nestie for the circle and a Marianne D for the base of my flower embellie. The sentiment is from Pollycraft although I did change the original text.

Entering into:
CREATIVE CORNER - Beautiful Baby
BEE CRAFTY - Little one's birthday.
INSPIRE ME FRIDAY- Anything goes.
SIMPLY CREATE - Special day/event.
DIGI DOODLE SHOP - Anything goes.

The new challenge (#123) at THE CRAFTY PAD is a recipe. 3 papers, 2 ribbons and 1 flower. All the design team used images from the new Thank you Teacher collection available from THE CRAFTY PAD DESIGNS and it's got to be worth a visit as there is a 30% off sale on until 2nd June. The sponsor this week is Michelle's Scrap.

My papers are from Basic Grey's 'Lime Ricky' pad, ribbon and flowers from my stash. The image is coloured with Promarkers.

Entering into:
CARD CUPIDS - Ribbon or Fibres.
EMERALD FAIRIES - Anything goes.
2 SISTERS - Anything goes.
CATCH THE BUG - Bright Colours.
RAISE THE BAR - Teachers Pet.

Also over at Crafty Pad Designs is a new release set of stamps that make the most adorable little story book for a little boy. You can alter the text and put your own child's name in and finally, our Maggie has a project printed on page 29 of the new Crafts Beautiful magazine. Way to go Maggie, well done hun.

PORTRAIT OF A BEAR.

2011-05-18T22:20:00.004+01:00

This weeks challenge over at I ♥ PROMARKERS is Animals, so your cards have to have an animal on them. The sponsor this week is CRAFTY EMMA with a £10 voucher to spend in the online store.

I considered using an animal as my focal image but then I found this Sarah Kay stamp still unused in my drawer. The bear she's painting wasn't really enough of an animal so I searched for a cat image and found this one in an Ollyfant set of stamps by Kars, so I stamped it and masked it before stamping the main image. Ok, so the cat is a 'little' large, but hey ho! lol.

My papers are from the V & A collection and I inked them all around the edges. Using my Tim Holtz ruler (the one with the holes down one side) I used my pokey tool and punched around the edges of the panels then added a few flowers and half a dozen pearls and that was basically it. Oh, and a Martha Stewart punch for the mat.

Entering into:
AMBER'S CRAFTS 'N STUFF - Cats and/or dogs.
CRAFTS AND ME - Anything goes.
CREATIVE CARD CREW - Cute and girly.
DIVA'S BY DESIGN - For the girls.
PAPER PRETTIES - Use flowers.
TRULY SCRUMPTIOUS - Anything goes.
A SPOONFUL OF SUGAR - Anything goes.
CLAUDIA AND COMPANY - Birthday for a girl.
MAKE IT MONDAY - Always anything goes.
ONE STITCH AT A TIME - Anything goes.
STAMP SOMETHING - Anything goes.

NESTIE STORAGE...

2011-05-16T11:31:00.011+01:00

Some time ago I made a storage book for my nestie dies. It was in an issue of Craft Stamper magazine and I thought it was a great idea and so easy to make with some card and magnetic paper sheets. I used Basic Grey papers (Infuse and others) to cover them.

Anyway, it's now so full that I can't actually get any more pages in it and I have dies all over the craft room so I've just made another one. The new one has all my Marianne D, Joycraft and Nellie Snellen dies in it and the old one now has all my nesties safely stored together. These are on my desk all the time and used constantly. So much better than keeping them in those horrible stiff plastic cases they come in.

Papers for this one are Basic Grey 'Urban Couture'. The stamp on the front of this one is from the Rescue Remedies set at Waltzingmouse Stamps (another Craft Stamper discovery). Really, that magazine costs me a fortune, lol. These stamps are 'nestie friendly' which means that when you've stamped it out, it will fit perfectly inside one of the nestie frames. A bit of distress ink around the edges and it's all you need.

Entering into:
BY THE CUTE AND GIRLY - Anything goes.
DESERT ISLAND CHALLENGES - 3 items from itinerary (paper, ribbon, stamp).
CREATIVE COWGIRL - Anything goes.
EMERALD FAERIES - Anything goes.
ONE STITCH AT A TIME - Anything goes.
SCRAPPY FROGS - Anything goes.

HOLEY MOLEY...

2011-05-15T12:29:00.003+01:00

Nope, I haven't spelt holey wrong. It's not Holy Sunday it's a holey card. :o) This weeks challenge over at THE CRAFTY PAD is HOLES. Yep, holes in your cards. The sponsor this week is JOANNA SHEEN with a £10 gift certificate to spend in her online store. I love her store, she has so many goodies and free postage too...what more could you ask for.

The design team all used the CUPCAKE set of images this week, available from Debbie at THE CRAFTY PAD DESIGNS.

I coloured my cupcakes with my Promarkers and then coloured a piece of card with the same pink pen so that my mat matched exactly. A nestie circle die and an embossing folder made my background, so it's quite clean and simple too. I cut the sentiment using a nestie and I backed the holes in the circle with some more pink card and punched 4 holes in the corners to finish it off.

Entering into:
ECP CHALLENGES - Pastel colours.
OUR DAILY BREAD - Recipe: At least 2 die shapes, dry embossed background, 1 sentiment
CRAFTY CREATIONS - Anything goes.
DIVA'S BY DESIGN - Anything goes.
MY MUM'S CRAFT SHOP - Use dies.

Grrrrrrrrr!!!!!

2011-05-14T00:45:00.002+01:00

What a cock up blogger has caused this time. Have you all lost your comments and stuff too? Hours of time wasted. *sob sob*

THE LEGLESS BARBER...

2011-05-11T23:31:00.000+01:00

Nope, he's not been on the booze...he's just 'legless' but I love him anyway, lol. I'm talking about the image I've used for this weeks I ♥ PROMARKERS challenge sponsored by ROBYNS FETISH. I actually didn't notice he had no legs while I was colouring him, it was only when one of our other DT's mentioned it and it made us laugh. The theme this week is a colour challenge of PINK AND BROWN. Always nice together, but still I did wonder what I could do with the image I'd chosen and my only definite was that pigs are pink. Anyway, here's what I came up with.

My papers are Daisy and Dandelion and the ribbon was buried in my stash from long ago. The flowers are Prima 'Got Daisies' something else I'd not used in a very long time. I made the bow with my bowmaker to put in the centre of one flower with buttons in the others, the doily is...well a doily I suppose, lol possibly Magnolia and the sentiment is one of my own designs available HERE from Craft Downloads - which reminds me, I've got half a dozen new designs to upload so I better get cracking with those and I've got more sentiments and tickets in Photoshop to finish too.

Entering into:
FAB 'N' FUNKY #72 - Buttons and Bows.
CLEAR IT OUT TUESDAY - Ribbon/trim.
EVERYBODY ART CHALLENGE - Flowers.
FLOURISHES - Anything goes.
PAPER AND SUCH - Birthday card.
THE CRAZY CHALLENGE #66 - Anything goes.
MAKE IT MONDAY - Anything goes.
SIMON SAYS STAMP & SHOW - Anything goes.
MY GRAPHICO - Anything goes.

PURPLE RAIN

2011-05-04T16:00:00.011+01:00

Sheesh, I'm still trying to catch up with stuff but everytime I think I've made some headway, something else crops up. Oh well, plod on I must!

Time for challenge #64 over at I ♥ PROMARKERS and this weeks challenge is to use a song title. You really need to go have a look at all the DT's cards this week, they really are fabulous. We're sponsored again this week by the lovely JOANNA SHEEN with a £10 gift certificate for her online store.

I used one of my minute collection of Tildas for this one (that'll be 3 lol). I never really liked these gobless images, but they are definitely growing on me and I want lots more.

My paper is a sheet of K & Co that I'd bought 5 of to cover a box and I stitched around the edge on my machine. For my border, I used one of the Marianne D's corner dies that stay attached to the card. But...it was an afterthought so I haven't got them lined up perfectly. Next time, I'll cut the card before I stamp and colour my image. Roses and ribbon from my stash, the leaves were punched and the ticket sentiment is from The Crafty Pad Designs.

Entering into:
DIGI DOODLE SHOP #56 - Anything goes.
SPOONFUL OF SUGAR - White/one main colour.
PAPERTAKE WEEKLY - Anything goes.
TOP TIP TUESDAY - Open Challenge.
TRY IT ON TUESDAYS - Something old (ribbon & roses), something new (stamp & corner die).
CRAFT YOUR PASSION - Anything goes.
HOUSE OF GILLI - Layers and Stitching.
MAKE IT MONDAY - Anything goes.
POLLYCRAFT - Anything goes.
MAGIC IN THE AIR - Birthday.

NO BACKING PAPERS

2011-04-27T10:31:00.006+01:00

Oooeerrr!!! I'm still missing my blog posts but I really am trying hard to sort things out. I should be making at least 2 a week for my DT's. Soz peeps.

Anyway, as it's Wednesday and I was up with the lark (well nearly) I'll get my I ♥ PROMARKERS DT challenge card up. This week is challenge #63 and it's No Backing Papers. It's a theme quite a few people struggle with, including myself lol. Our sponsor this week is DIGI DOODLE SHOP with a $10 gift certificate for the online store. The DT all used a selection of her images and I chose Fairy and Daisy and to go clean and simple.

I used a Marianne Designables cutting and embossing folder, turned it lengthways and backed it with some purple card and the corner is a Nellie's die. As this particular corner die stays attached to the main card, I cut around it to use it as a single ornament. The sentiment is one of my own designs, available HERE.

Entering into:
CLAUDIA & COMPANY - Clean and Simple.
EVERYBODY ART - Fairies.
PARTYTIME TUESDAY - Anything goes.
STAMPING BOUTIQUE - Winged Things.
MAKE IT MONDAY - Anything goes.
PAPER PLAYTIME - Friends.
CREATIVE INSPIRATIONS - Use a digi.
DELICIOUS DOODLES - Anything goes.

HOLLA OUT!

2011-04-14T20:28:00.008+01:00

I've had so much going on lately, I missed a couple of blog posts but hopefully, I'm back now. This week, challenge #61 over at I ♥ PROMARKERS is a sketch. I can't remember the last time I followed a sketch and I'd forgotten how easy it makes things for you. Our sponsor this week is the fantastic KENNY K and all the design team used his images. I chose to use HollaBackGirl.

My papers are My Minds Eye 'Mabel' with matching Bazzill cardstock. Flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts. The image was cut out and mounted on 3D foam pads, and the sentiment (also on 3D foam pads) is one of my own available HERE.

Entering into:
DIGITAL TUESDAY - Little women.
KARENS DOODLES NETHERLANDS - Anything goes.
PAPERTAKE WEEKLY - Dimension.
SWEET STAMPS - For the ladies.
MAKE IT MONDAY - Whatever...
WOODWARE USA - Anything goes.
DIGI DOODLE SHOPS BEST - Stripes.

YOU GOTTA LOVE FLOWERS..

2011-04-03T12:00:00.007+01:00

This is a super time of year when all the flowers start to show their pretty heads and this weeks challenge #115 over at THE CRAFTY PAD is just that - FLOWERS. We want to see lots of lovely blossoms and blooms on your projects.
We are sponsored this week by CRAFTY EMMA'S STORE and the prize for the winner is a £10 gift voucher to spend in her store (excluding p&p).

The design team all used an Animal in Window image available from THE CRAFTY PAD DESIGNS.

I decided to make an over the edge easel card for my project this week. I don't make many of these, so it made a nice change and I'm going to give it to my mum (who is in hospital), for mothers day with a big bunch of flowers and a gorgeous pink manicure set.

My image was coloured with Promarkers and my papers are from the My Minds Eye - Stella & Rose 'Mabel' pad with matching Bazzil cardstock. The flowers were cut with a Marianne Designs die with the little centre roses from Wild Orchid Crafts. I don't like gems personally, but mum does so I added some square ones from Papermania and the lace is from my stash. The sentiment is also from The Crafty Pad Designs.

Entering into:
I'll let you know later when I get back from Sherwood Forest.....back now, had a lovely day.
TUESDAY THROWDOWN - Florals
ALLSORTS - Bloomin' Blossoms.
CREATIVE INSPIRATIONS - Mum or Mothers Day.
I DID IT CREATIONS - Anything goes.
PAPER SUNDAES - Spring Blossoms.
SCRAPPY FROGS - Flowers and lace.
CATCH THE BUG - Anything goes.
MARK'S FINEST PAPERS - An animal.

ALTERED CD

2011-03-30T22:28:00.010+01:00

Over at THE CRAFTY PAD we're running a competition this week and for a change from cards, we've asked you to alter a CD. There's some great prizes up for grabs for the winner too. Crafty Pad Designs are giving away a brand new set of digi fairies with sentiments, Jasmine's Cards are giving a CD chock full of floral images and papers and Letraset are giving a pack of Promarkers. Why don't you pop over and have a go. They're great fun to do.

I started off by using alcohol inks on the CD in shades of brown. Then I split a paper napkin into single layers, tore off a few pieces and crumple stuck them down in a couple of places with Diamond Glaze. When dry, I inked them with my distress inks.
I got a sheet of newspaper and inked some of it with browns, again using my distress ink pads and then stamped a flower (Hero Arts) 3 times onto it. I cut out the different sizes and layered them up. My buttons were originally white so I used an alcohol ink to colour them, then used some Basic Grey rub-ons and finished them off with crackle glaze. The ribbon, lace and other stuff were from my stash.

Entering into:
AMBER'S CRAFTS AND STUFF#3 - Flowers.
ANYTHING GOES - Make your own embellishments.
LADYBUG CRAFTS - Handmade flowers.
PARTY TIME TUESDAYS - Anything goes + a handmade flower.
THE STAMPING BOUTIQUE - Handmade flowers.
MY PARTNER IN CRAFTING CRIME - 3 or more buttons.
CATERED CROP - Embellishments (choice from a recipe).

EMBOSS IT

2011-03-30T17:55:00.008+01:00

Challenge #59 over at I ♥ PROMARKERS this week is Emboss it. Obviously, some kind of embossing is to be used on our projects. Our sponsor this week is the lovely SECRET CRAFTER and the prize is 3 digi images of the winners choice.

I stamped my image using a stamp I've had for quite a while. Unfortunately, I can't remember for the life of me who's it is or where I got it from, so if anybody knows, I'd appreciate a reminder, lol. The digi sentiment is from Pollycraft. My background paper is from Basic Grey's 'Kioshi' pad and I used two embossing folders and finished with ribbon from my stash.

Thanks to snarffsplat - the image is Lisa Victoria's 'Story Time' and I remember buying it now from Crafts and Me. Whew, I can sleep tonight now.

Entering into:
POLLYCRAFT #86 - Friends.
DIGI DOODLE SHOP #52 - Ribbons and bows.
SCRAP CREATIONS - Fairy Tales.
PAPER PLAYTIME #42 - Anything goes.
LET'S INK IT UP #11 - Die cuts/punches.
STAMPTACULAR #104 - No kids allowed.
ONE STOP CRAFT #124 - Angels and fairies.

LET'S GO DOTTY...

2011-03-23T17:20:00.007Z

Whew, I'm nearly back on track after the last few weeks crises and have done my DT challenges. This week at I ♥ PROMARKERS challenge #58 is Go Dotty. We want to see lots of spots and dots on your projects. Our sponsor this week is the fabulous DIGI DOODLE SHOP and the prize for the winner is a $10 gift certificate to spend in her online store. You'll have NO problem finding a digi you like over there.

The DT all used images from Digi Doodle Shop and I chose 'Boy With Vintage First Car'

I haven't actually made this for any little boy particularly, I just chose a number that I thought would fit nicely in the corner, lol. I made it large, added the birthday text and printed it onto the DP. The papers used are My Minds Eye 'All Fall' and Basic Grey's 'Lime Ricky'. Image was, of course, coloured with Promarkers except his T-shirt which is digital. I ran the circle and the 2 through the bug and my Martha Stewart border punch and a few buttons finished it off.

Entering into:
DIGI DOODLE SHOP - Anything goes.
CRAFTS AND ME - Anything goes.
THE SISTERHOOD OF CRAFTERS - Let's hear it for the boys.
STAMPAVIE - For a boy.
OPERATION WRITE HOME - Kids
CLEAR IT OUT - Buttons.
CUTTLEBUG SPOT - Buttons.
DIGITAL TUESDAY - Buttons.

SPRING HAS SPRUNG - CRAFTY PAD #113

2011-03-20T23:22:00.008Z

It's been a couple of weeks since I've posted. I've had some really bad stuff happening at home so have been up and down to the hospital for a fortnight, but hopefully things are settling down a bit now. At least, I finally managed to make a challenge card.

The theme over at THE CRAFTY PAD this week is 'Use a Digi'. No problem there, lol and our sponsor is the lovely JOANNA SHEEN again with a £10 voucher to spend in her online store.

The design team used 'Through the Window' images available from THE CRAFTY PAD STAMP DESIGNS.

I coloured my image digitally in Photoshop this time. I had not long ago designed some wood effect papers (not quite as dark as on this photo) available HERE so I used them for the shutters and a digital overlay for the curtains. The rest was brushwork. Papers are Cosmo Cricket 'De Lovely' and the embellies are from the Papermania 'Sunshine' kit. It's a bright one this time, isn't it? lol.

I bent the shutters forward so they looked more like they were open. The sentiment is also from The Crafty Pad Stamp Designs, although I must admit, I changed the text for this one.

Entering into:
ALY'S SUNDAY SKETCH - Spring
CARD CUPIDS - Spring
CHEERFUL STAMP PAD - Spring
I DID IT CREATIONS - Spring
CRAFTY ANN'S - Sketch or Spring
MAMI DOODLES - Spring
PAPER CUTZ - Your choice
WAGS 'N WHISKERS - Spring

PURPLE AND GREEN

2011-03-04T00:00:00.003Z

So sorry that this is late. I've been suffering badly with toothache for a while and wasn't up to doing much. The theme at I ♥ PROMARKERS this week is to use PURPLE AND GREEN and of course, you must use Promarkers. Our sponsor this week is JOANNA SHEEN with a £10 gift certificate for her fabulous online store.

I'll post my card and come back later with details, as I'm still feeling rough and very sore where my molar was pulled out today.

CRAFTY PAD #110

2011-02-27T11:49:00.004Z

Something yummy in your tummy. Yep, that's THE CRAFTY PADS'S theme for this weeks challenge. Let's hope you like it better than last weeks, lol. So, we want to see some sort of food on your cards or whatever you decide to make. It doesn't have to be a card. Our sponsor this week is CRAFTY EMMA and she is offering a fabulous Memory Box 6 x 6 paper pad of your choice as the prize.

All the design team used Strawberries available from The Crafty Pad Stamp Designs HERE.

The berries and the text are two different digi stamps and although I could have layered them, I combined them in Photoshop to make one image. They were coloured with Promarkers. The leaf swirl is a Marianne die, the border strip is a Martha Stewart Punch, the background is a Martha Stewart punch around the page punch and a Crafts Too embossing folder and the background paper is Cosmo Cricket's 'DeLovely'.

Joining in with:
LITTLE CLAIRES - Anything goes
SECRET CRAFTER - Sweet treats
CRAFTY ANN'S - Birthday card
CRAFTY CATZ - Friendship
FAIRY KNOLL - Use green
FUSSY AND FANCY - Embossing
GUYLOU'S - Anything goes

LET'S GET STITCHING...

2011-02-23T11:06:00.010Z

Time for another challenge over at I ♥ PROMARKERS and this week, challenge #54 is Stitching. We want to see some form of stitching on your projects and it can be real or faux, so if you don't have a sewing machine or a needle and thread, get your rubons out. Our sponsor this week is again the fabulous DIGI DOODLE SHOP with a $10 gift voucher to get some of her fabulous digi images.

All the design team used Digi Doodle Shop's images so pop over to the challenge blog and see what's available. Better still click on the link above to the shop and go and see the full range.

For my card, I combined two images in Photoshop. 'Across the Bridge' and '1800 Vintage Dress 2'. My papers are from Fancy Pants 'All Fall' paper pad. My favourite papers and I'm running out. *sob* The flower is from Wild Orchid Crafts, the leaves were punched and the sentiment is from The Crafty Pad Stamp Designs. Because of the colours, I didn't think it needed anything else. Images coloured of course, with Promarkers. The sky is chalked blue, but not showing up too well on here.

Entering into:
DIGI DOODLE SHOP - Anything goes
SPOONFUL OF SUGAR - Birthday Wishes
DIGITAL TUESDAY - Punches
MY TIME TO CRAFT - Hats
PARTY TIME TUESDAYS - Anything goes
SCRAP CREATIONS - Birthday
INCY WINCY - Punches or dies
STAMPS R US - For the girls
I DID IT CREATIONS - Anything goes

PLAYING WITH DRAGONS

2011-02-20T23:24:00.006Z

I've spent a lot of time in Photoshop today. Well, actually I always spend a lot of time in Photoshop, lol. I was designing some digital papers for my CRAFT DOWNLOAD site (which I must get uploaded still) and I suddenly went off at a tangent.

For all the years I've been using Photoshop, I've never been a great one for brushes and I've never really bothered to find out all the fantastic stuff they can do. The basics of brushes have always suited me. But...this evening, all that changed. I have a new passion. I may now start to use the hundreds of brush sets that I own, lol. Amongst them is a fabulous set of Dragon brushes, so I set to with my brushes and my layers and did myself a dragon. I'm going to call him Gordon I think. :o) He's not finished yet as he really needs a background but that's gonna take some imagination and inspiration, neither of which I have any more of tonight.

Hope you like him.

CRAFTY PAD #109

2011-02-20T18:24:00.007Z

Challenge #109 over on THE CRAFTY PAD this week is a colour scheme. Red, Pink and Black. The sponsor this week is the lovely JOANNA SHEEN with a £10 gift certificate so spend in her online store.

I fancied a change from a card, so I made this simple little pizza box which would be lovely for a small gift of a bracelet or something. All the design team used the image 'Rose' which is available from THE CRAFTY PAD STAMP DESIGNS. Why not pop over to the challenge blog and see some of the wonderful projects that the DT came up with. They've all done a brilliant job this week.

I basically used just red and black card and my papers round the sides are......oops! lost track there, Dancing on Ice has started, lol. Yes, the papers..they're Kaiser Craft from the 'After Five' collection. The roses are coloured with Promarkers and although it doesn't show too well on the photo, the white rose has pink tones in it. Finished off with the Martha Stewart heart punch and a bit of stickles.

Entering into:
TOTALLY PAPERCRAFTS #54 - Do it with Digi.
WAGS 'N WHISKERS #48 - Use punches
SPOONFUL OF SUGAR #139 - Anything but a card
CRAFT YOUR PASSION #45 - Use pink
CRAFTY ANNES #34 - Love is all around.

A BIT OF PAPER PIECING

2011-02-16T08:00:00.005Z

Paper piecing. A technique we don't see so much of any more and yet it's lovely. So, this weeks challenge #53 at I LOVE PROMARKERS is paper piecing. We are sponsored this week by DIE CUT DREAMS.

But....before I show you my card, I'd like to say thank you to every one of you that joined in our birthday celebration last week and for all your lovely comments. As you know there was a fabulous prize on offer (you'll have to go over to the challenge blog to see who's won that) and a little prize from each member of the design team. The winner of my prize is MAMA J. Congratulations hun.

For my card this week, I've used a Tilda which is rare for me. I only own two, lol. My papers are V & A 'Hanovarian' inked round the edges with walnut stain distress ink and Tilda is pieced with the same papers. The frame behind Tilda is a Marianne Doily Die and I cut the centre out with a nestie. Flowers and leaves were punched, lace was in my stash and the sentiment is from The Crafty Pad Stamp Designs.

Joining in the following challenges:
DIGITAL TUESDAY #98 - Use a die cute (digi element is the sentiment)
OOH LA LA #73 - For someone special
OSAAT - Make it pretty
YOUR NEXT STAMP #36 - Paper Piecing

HEARTS

2011-02-13T12:54:00.005Z

Challenge #108 at THE CRAFTY PAD this week is Hearts. Well, it IS that time of year again, isn't it? Soon be time for fluffy bunnies though.
The sponsor this week is CREATIVE CRAFT WORLD and the prize is some lovely stuff from The Teahouse range.

Not being a lovey dovey person and Valentines Day being a rather sad day for me, I struggle a bit with this kind of card, so I kept it simple.
The image is Teds Love, one of Debbie's images from THE CRAFTY PAD STAMP DESIGNS. I used two different embossing folders (Cuttlebug 'Swiss Dots' and Craft Concepts 'Budding Vine'). The heart slider is a gorgeous metal one that I've just used on my daughter's wedding invites and the sentiment is one of my own design.

Entering into:
2 SISTERS #26 - Hearts
BEE CRAFTY #47 - Hearts and a Digi
CRAFTY EMMA'S #23 - Cute and Cuddly
CRAZY 4 CHALLENGES #74 - Hearts
ECP #31 - Love
LITTLE CLAIRE'S #1 - Anything goes
ONE STOP CRAFT #118 - Love is in the air

I ♥ PROMARKERS BIRTHDAY BLOG HOP

2011-02-09T10:36:00.018Z

Happy birthday to us, happy birthday to us, happy birthday dear......ha, ha, you know the rest.
Yep! The I ♥ PROMARKERS challenge blog is one year old and so we're having a blog hop to celebrate. Our theme is BIRTHDAY, so lets see your birthday cards, but remember...you MUST use Promarkers on your project.

There is a fantastic prize on offer for the winner, plus, every member of the Design Team is also offering a prize to somebody that comments on their blogs.We are sponsored this week by WHIFF OF JOY AND LETRASET.

Whiff of Joy are offering up these two gorgeous stamps:

and LETRASET are offering:

Added to that, our lovely Karen is also adding some of her gorgeous pins.

Here is what I'm offering to one person who comments on my blog:

You're going to love the diamanté ribbon sliders. They're good quality metal ones and twinkle beautifully.

and here's the order for the blog hop:
Karen
Kate
Julie
Lorraine (me)
Wynneth
Ruth
Tine
Kathleen

So, if you landed here first, go to Karen's and follow the order from there.
Then go back and add your card to the challenge blog. You must take part in the challenge to be eligible to win.

This is my card for our celebration. I know these images from Sugar Nellie are all over the internet at the moment, but I just had to use her. Shame I screwed up her face and hair, lol.

Now, I hate using my scrapbooking papers for cards, in fact, I never do, but I made an exception this week and I cut up my gorgeous Ella Blue papers. A Marianne doily die is behind Verity and the roses, (inked with walnut stain distress ink) are from Wild Orchid Crafts. I used a Martha Stewart border punch, a sentiment of my own design and the lace heart was in my stash.

Entering into the following challenges:
SPOONFUL OF SUGAR - Show some love (my heart)
CRAFT YOUR PASSION -Anything goes
ONE STITCH AT A TIME - Use a digi.
STAMP SOMETHING - Digi day
PAPERTAKE WEEKLY - Have a heart.

LOVE IS IN THE AIR....

2011-02-06T12:16:00.007Z

Well, it might be for a lot of you, but it certainly isn't for me, pmsl but I still had to make a Valentine card. Maybe I'll send it to my dog. I'm sure Bailey would appreciate it, lol.

Challenge #107 over at THE CRAFTY PAD this week is 'Love is in the Air'. We are sponsored by ROBYNS FETISH and she is offering the winner 5 digital images or 4 digital images and 1 paper set of their choice.

Debbie also has some lovely new images over at THE CRAFTY PAD STAMP DESIGNS so pop over and check them out.

For my card, I used a little boy called Randy from Robyn's Fetish (couldn't resist, lol). I used my Cuttlebug embossing folder Kimmy Luvs for the panel and the With Love border strip for my greeting. The b/w paper was in my stash somewhere. Two MS punches were used for the bottom and the little hearts that came out of the heart punch fitted perfectly into the hearts on the embossing folder. After colouring, I just put some stickles round the edge of the heart.

ANYTHING GOES..

2011-02-02T09:43:00.008Z

Everybody's favourite kind of challenge, eh? Always popular where ever you go, so this week on I ♥ PROMARKERS for challenge #51 that's our theme. Our sponsor is the ever lovely JOANNA SHEEN with £10 to spend in her store full of goodies.

Now, I just want to tell you something to make sure you come back again, lol. Next week is our blogging birthday and I ♥ Promarkers will be 1 year old. To thank you all for your wonderful support this last year, we are having a blog hop. It's our very first one, so I hope you'll all join in. We have a fabulous main prize (from more than one sponsor *wink wink*) and every member of the design team will also be giving a prize to somebody that comments on their blog. So, next week, start on the I ♥ Promarker challenge page and then follow the blog list in order and make your comment. See you then! :o)

For my card this week, I chose to use a proper stamp for a change - a very nice change I might add, I only realized last week how much I missed my rubber. I've got a few from this very cute family from In2Stamps. Papers are Basic Grey 'Lime Rickey' and a Marianne D doily die produced the back frame and the flower.

Entering into the following challenges:
BASIC GREY - Flowers (mine is the die cut)
ANYTHING GOES - Butterflies (my embossed background)
PAPERTAKE WEEKLY - Anything goes with optional flowers
FOR FUN - Winter or Spring (I'm going for Spring with this bright, cheerful fella although, I admit, I might be stretching the theme a bit, lol)

I've just picked up this fabulous blog award too from the lovely Ali over at AQUILEGIA'S ESCAPE so thanks ever so much, hun. I promise I'll be back later to do the bits I've got to do with it.

CAMEO LADIES

2011-02-01T00:05:00.010Z

I've realised that I only blog when I've got a DT card to put up. Hmmmmm, must be more to it than that, so thought I'd show you something else. I've just hosted a swap where we had to make 3 tags and each one had to have a lady on it. It felt like ages since I'd joined a swap, even though I host at least one a month and I really enjoyed doing these. I use so many digi images now that it was an absolute treat to get my rubber out again. I'd forgotten how much I love stamping.

I used my fabulous distress ink pads to colour some ordinary luggage tags, blending my colours and spritzing the purple one. The stamps are from the 'Cameo' plate from Lost Coast Designs. I just LOVE their stamps.

I was also asking the girls on the Promarker DT team today about the time they spend on cards. I went into my craft room this afternoon and spent 5 hours on a card and...it's not even finished yet!!! It's nothing special at all, so how can it possibly take so long? It's no wonder us crafters don't have time for housework, lol.

Just found out that my Lavender and Lace card is one of the five chosen winners over at OSAAT for displaying their Birthday Bash banner. Soooooooo many gorgeous entries, so I'm well chuffed.

I think I'll join in:
STAMPTACULAR SUNDAY - Whateva.
CRAFTY EMMA'S - Bold and bright.
WHOOPSIE DAISY - Anything but a square.
PENNY'S PAPER CRAFTY - Anything goes.
STAMP INSANITY - Find your Zen.

ONE FOR THE BOYS.

2011-01-30T11:20:00.007Z

It's time for challenge #106 over at THE CRAFTY PAD and this weeks theme is 'Something for the Boys'. I find most crafters seem to have trouble with men/boy cards, including me lol, but I'm sure you'll all come up with some great designs.
Our sponsor this week is CRAFTY SENTIMENTS and she is offering this lovely uncoloured image as a prize.

Before I show you my card, I've just a bit of news to share. We'd like to welcome ALI and LEESA to our design team. We're really looking forward to working with them, so why not go visit their blogs and see what fabulous inspiration they can offer you. They will be making their first cards for us next week. Also, as of next week, I will be taking over the running of The Crafty Pad challenge blog. Debbie will still be sending out your prizes and Maxine will be setting the challenges, but I'll be doing the posts and announcing the winners etc, so I hope to still see you all there (and so does Debbie, or she'll sack me, lol).

So, here's my card for this week. The image is 'Birthday Meeces' available HERE at The Crafty Pad Stamp Designs and my paper is Basic Grey 'Oliver' and that's pretty much it, lol.

Also entering into:
ALPHABET CHALLENGE - M is for Men.
DELICIOUS DOODLES - Spots or stripes.
FUZZY WUZZY - Anything goes (with animal).
POLKA DOODLES - Party Time.
AI FACTORY - For the boys.
DO YOU STACK UP #4 - Patterned paper.

LAVENDER AND LACE

2011-01-26T20:01:00.013Z

Lavender and lace! Sounds very pretty and feminine doesn't it? Well, it's also the theme for challenge #50 at I LOVE PROMARKERS this week. We are sponsored by DIGI DOODLE SHOP and there is a $10 spend for our winner. This is one of my favourite digi image sites, so go take a peek.

As an aside...we all say that, but how in fact, can you have more than one favourite? It either is or it isn't, pmsl. Oh well, less of the deep and meaningful and back to the subject. :o)

The image I chose to use was 1800 Vintage Dress 3. If you like vintage ladies, there is a lovely selection HERE.

My papers were from Basic Grey 'Kioshi' and 'Capella' and the frame was cut using a Marianne doily die in my Cuttlebug. The flowers are from the fabulous selection at WILD ORCHID CRAFTS and the sentiment from Debbie's new sentiment collection at THE CRAFTY PAD STAMP DESIGNS. I'm not sure where I got my lace from, that may have been Wild Orchid too and the leaves were punched, but there's no name on my punch so haven't a clue about that either, lol and I've only just bought it too.

Also entering into the following challenges:
FAB 'N FUNKY #57 - Use a digi.
LITTLE RED WAGON #65 - Lace.
PENNY'S PAPER CRAFTY #45 - Anything goes.
THE SISTERHOOD - Anything goes.
TOP TIP TUESDAY #19 - Flowers.
CRAFT YOUR PASSION #42 - Use two patterned papers.
CRAFTY CARDMAKERS #38 - Flowers.
STAMPIN' SISTERS IN CHRIST #73 - Vintage.
ONE STITCH AT A TIME #46 - As you like it.
BASIC GREY CHALLENGES #36 - Flower Power.
OOH LA LA #72 - Three of a kind (3 white roses).
WILD ORCHID CRAFTS #15 - Let's get sentimental.
PHINDY'S PLACE #39 - Lace and pearls.

SHOES, SHOES AND MORE SHOES.

2011-01-23T11:58:00.007Z

You can never have enough shoes, so why not pop over to The Crafty Pad Stamp Designs and buy yourself a couple of pairs, lol. While you're there, take a look at all the new releases and sentiments too. Oh, and don't forget the DT call is still out.

Challenge #105 over at THE CRAFTY PAD this week, is 'Something Girly' and all the DT used Debbie's shoe images. Our sponsor this week with a £10 spend in her store is the lovely JOANNA SHEEN.

For my card, I chose to use the beaded shoe and stuck little pearls all over the design. The centre of the shoe is done with liquid pearls and it was coloured with Promarkers. The papers were some old ones in my stash along with the lace and the punch is Martha Stewart. The sentiment ticket is one of the lovely ones available from the Crafty Pad Stamp Designs. The embossing folder is from Crafts Too.

Joining in with:
FAIRY FUN - Happy Birthday.
PHINDY'S PLACE - Lace and pearls.
SIMPLY CREATE - Use your punches.
AI FACTORY - Anything goes.

K.I.S.S.

2011-01-19T10:35:00.004Z

It's Wednesday again and challenge #49 at I ♥ PROMARKERS this week is K.I.S.S. Keep It Sweet and Simple. So you can do anything you like but not too busy. Nice one, eh? :o) Our great sponsor this week is SENTIMENTS 4 YOU. They are offering a $10 spend and there's loads of lovely digital sentiments to download. The DT have used one of the ticket sentiments this week.

My card ended up not being quite so simple, lol. I stamped my peacock, did my embossing and put it all together and was quite pleased with it.

OK. What's wrong with it then? I didn't realise until the lovely Tine asked me had I used Promarkers to do it? Ha, ha, nope. Doh!! Of course, this being a Promarker challenge, I had to use them. I was going to make a new card but then decided to get my Marine, Turquoise and Bright Green out and colour it a bit.

I used my Crafts Too 'Flowers and Daisies' embossing folder again and the peacock is from the Kanban 'Peacock' set. There are some fabulous stamps in this set including the most gorgeous bird cage.

Entering into these challenges:
MY PARTNER IN CRAFTING CRIME - Something new. (stamp)
SPOONFUL OF SUGAR - Blue and Green.
COLOUR CHEF - Black, white, green and ocean (blue).
DIE CUT DREAMS - Stamp AND digi.
ALY'S SUNDAY SKETCH - Things with wings.
CREATIVE COWGIRL - Turquoise and black/brown.
ONE STITCH AT A TIME - New (stamp)

SOMETHING NEW

2011-01-17T12:25:00.004Z

Apologies for being a day late with my post this week.
It's challenge time again at THE CRAFTY PAD and this weeks challenge #104 is 'Something New'. It can be new baby, new job, new home or even using some new stash, the choice is yours.

Our sponsor this week is JASMINES CARDS and she is offering a fabulous CD chock full of images of gorgeous flowers.

Don't forget we still have a DT call out on the blog too, so pop over, see what's required and have a go. We'd love to work with you.

For my card, I used two images from the new baby range available at THE CRAFTY PAD STAMP DESIGNS. The baby was coloured with Promarkers and the dummy image was printed, traced, transferred to shrink plastic and, well...shrunk, lol.

CRAFTY PAD - A REMINDER

2011-01-14T18:54:00.003Z

Just a quick reminder that THE CRAFTY PAD still has a Design Team Call out, so why not have a go. We're a friendly bunch to work with. Also, Debbie has a pile of new ticket style digi sentiment stamps for sale over at THE CRAFTY PAD STAMP DESIGNS. There's some fabulous ones and all priced at only 50p.

PUNCH IT OUT

2011-01-12T14:20:00.008Z

Challenge #48 over at I ♥ PROMARKERS this week is to use punches. You may use your diecuts too but you MUST include some punch work. We will be scrutinizing the entries this week as we have such a fabulous prize, so please make sure you use your punches.

CRAFTY INDIVIDUALS are our sponsors this week and they are one of my personal favourite web sites. It's their first time with us and we welcome them. They have a fantastic range of stamps and stuff and excellent prices too.

This is the prize for this week - 3 stamp plates and a paper pad.

For my card, I used an image by Elizabeth Dulemba and my paper is from a Prima paper pad 'Fairy Flora'. I used Martha Stewarts deep lattice and eyelet lace punches and the flower and leaves were also punched, although you can't see the leaves behind the flower very well. The image frame is a Nestabilities Label 16. The flower isn't as vibrant in real life, lol. It looks almost fluorescent here!!!!

Entering into the following challenges:
TOP TIP TUESDAY - Anthing goes.
CRAFT YOUR DAYS AWAY - Anything goes.
DIGI'S BY PHOOKA - Anything goes.
STAMP SOMETHING - Use a digi.
TELLENS PLACE - Punches.
FAB 'N FUNKY - Warm and toasty colours.
INCY WINCY - Dots.
MY PARTNER IN CRAFTING CRIME - Something new (my nestie Label 16 and image).
MOVING ALONG WITH THE TIMES - Out with old in with the new (old paper new nestie and image)

DT CALL - THE CRAFTY PAD

2011-01-10T22:24:00.002Z

A MESSAGE FROM DEBBIE:

As you know Tina and Sally have stepped down from our DT - good luck ladies with your new ventures and thank you both for all your hard work. :)

That of course means I am now looking for 1 new DT member to work with The Crafty Pad Stamp Designs DIGI images.
If you think you would like to be part of our very friendly team and can make at least 1 crafty project a week with my images please read the requirements below :-

1. Have an active blog
2. Can work with my digi images
3. Create a crafty project weekly (card, altered item etc)
4. Please email me at craftypad-deb@hotmail.co.uk
5. Provide a link to your blog and also 2 links to your favourite projects
6. Tell me a little bit about yourself

CLOSING DATE IS - 29th Januarly 2011

I will acknowledge all emails. :)

Look forward to hearing from you. :)

Debbie

IT'S A BIRTHDAY ONE...

2011-01-09T11:57:00.005Z

We're back!!! Our first challenge of the year over at THE CRAFTY PAD is a really easy one for you - Happy Birthday. We are sponsored this week by CRAFTY RIBBONS and the prize is these lovely ribbons.

For my card I used a grey pearlescent card and yellow. I haven't quite got all my mojo back yet so went for something relatively simple. The image 'Birthday Meeces' is available from THE CRAFTY PAD STAMP DESIGNS. The image was coloured with Promarkers and I embossed the back using a Crafts Too embossing folder and a Cuttlebug greeting border. Flowers, ribbon and brads from Papermania Sunshine collection. The frame is Nestabilities Label 7.

Off to check out the challenges now.

NEW YEAR RECYCLING.

2011-01-05T16:45:00.012Z

Well, here we are. 2011. I wish each and every one of you a wonderful year and hope that those of you that had a lousy 2010 will find life much easier.

So..I ♥ PROMARKERS is starting off the new year with challenge #47 - Recycling. We want to see something recycled on your project and you must tell us what it is and what it was from. Not too difficult, eh?
We are sponsored this week by the lovely JOANNA SHEEN again with a £10 voucher to spend in her online store where she has shed loads of goodies to choose from (including Promarkers) and free postage worldwide too. :o)

For my card I used a Sarah Kay image but can't remember what it's called. Sorry. My embossed background was done with a Crafts Too embossing folder 'Daisy and Swirl' and the frame is a Spellbinders Frameabilities 'Classic Frame'. The lovely circular sentiment is a digital one from Pollycrafts and my paper, ribbon and bow were recycled from a box of Lily O'Brien's choccies.

Entering into the following challenges:
FAB 'N FUNKY - Anything goes.
LADYBUG CRAFTS - Anything goes.
PAPERTAKE WEEKLY - Anything goes.
MOVING ALONG WITH THE TIMES - Birthday and circles.
OPUS GLUEI - New. (my frameability, embossing folder and pearl flowers) hope it qualifies, lol.
ONE STITCH AT A TIME - Anything goes.
SENTIMENTAL SUNDAYS - Friends.
WHOOPSIE DAISY - Free and easy.

THE HOBO'S PRAYER

2010-12-22T10:24:00.017Z

So, we've come to the last challenge of the year over at I ♥ PROMARKERS and we are going to leave you with a theme of ANYTHING GOES. This challenge will run until the evening of 4th January and we'll be back with a new challenge on Wednesday 5th. Our sponsor this week again, is the lovely DIGI DOODLE SHOP. There's a 50% off everything sale on over there too, so why not go take a look.

Now, to be quite honest with you, I don't care if I never see another Christmas card as long as I live, lol so as our theme is Anything Goes, I obviously chose not to make a Christmas card. :o) All the design team used a Digi Doodle Shop image and I chose to use another hobo image. This is not an image that would immediately jump out at most people to use, but I think it's fabulous and if I say it myself, I think this is one of my most favourite cards of the year. I am so pleased with how this turned out. Coloured of course, with my Promarkers.

I'm not sure whether he is praying for more or saying thank you for what he has, but I prefer to think it's the latter. I think we should all be grateful for what we have and think of those that have very little or nothing at all, especially at this time of year.

My papers are Basic Grey 'Capella' with a little strip of a Papermania 'Hamstead'. I distressed all the edges and inked them with a Walnut Stain distress ink pad. The stitching is a rub-on. The tree was embossed with a Crafts Too folder and lightly inked. A Tim Holtz on the edge die cut the right hand side. The hobo was cut out and mounted on foam pads and the greeting is a Personal Impressions clear stamp.

Also entering it into the following challenges:
PASSION FOR PROMARKERS - Anything goes.
CRAFTY SENTIMENTS - Anything goes.
CREATIVE CARD CREW - Birthday.
AI FACTORY - Anything goes.
CRAFTY EMMA'S - Anything goes.
ONE STITCH AT A TIME - Anything goes (surprise us).
~~DIGI DOODLE SHOP - New Beginnings. (You never know, his prayers may be answered).~~ Won.
GINGERLOFT - Distressing.
PAPER SUNDAES - Cut it out.
~~I DID IT CREATIONS - Anything goes.~~
SUNDAY SKETCH - Anything goes.
STAMPTACULAR SUNDAY - TREEmendous.
ALLSORTS - Free and easy.
OPUS GLUEI - Anything.
CRAFTY CATZ - Your choice.
SUGAR SWEET PAPER TREATS - Anything goes.

CRAFTY PAD #102

2010-12-19T13:03:00.013Z

This week sees the last challenge of the year over at THE CRAFTY PAD. This one will run until Tuesday 28th. We will return with a brand new challenge on 9th January. We wish you all a very merry Christmas and a wonderful, happy, healthy new year.

Our theme is ANYTHING GOES and our sponsor this week is the lovely CREATIVE CRAFT WORLD and the prize on offer is this gorgeous Gorjuss gift pack - Decoupage packs and topper pack.

For my card I used Snowglobe from THE CRAFTY PAD STAMP DESIGNS. I embossed a portion of the background leaving the bottom plain. Martha Stewart's deep lattice punch was used for the top and a nestie for my greeting. The snowflakes were, yet again, cut on my Robo, coloured, layered and glittered. I coloured the image with my Promarkers and glittered the roof and snow. I then attached a bit of ribbon around the base and dobbed on (less than perfectly, lol) some liquid pearls.

Entering into the following challenges:
SPOONFUL OF SUGAR - Christmas Card.
CRAFTY SENTIMENTS - Anything goes.
CREATIVE CARD CREW - Anything goes.
AI FACTORY - Anything goes.
2 SISTERS - Christmas.
CRAFTY EMMA'S - Anything goes.
~~TOP TIP TUESDAY - Christmas inspired.~~
PASSION FOR PROMARKERS - Anything goes.
~~PEAR TREE DESIGNS - Christmas.~~

THE GUY WITH THE BEARD.

2010-12-15T14:44:00.019Z

Santa has to show his face for challenge #45 at I ♥ PROMARKERS this week. He'll soon be here for real, so we want to see Santa on your cards or projects. We are sponsored this week by SIMON SAYS STAMP and there is a $15 spend in the online store up for grabs and even your postage will be paid.

I used an image from a set of stamps that I got a couple of years ago and never used as I didn't really like them, lol. No idea who made them. I embossed the grid on the red cardstock with my Scor Pal after stamping a greeting with versamark. All his fur is glittered but I didn't pick it up very well with my camera. Self adhesive lace and a couple of bows finished it off.

Entering into the following challenges:
SPOONFUL OF SUGAR - Christmas Card.
CRAFTY ANN'S - Christmas.
CREATIVE CARD CREW - Anything goes.
~~FAB 'N FUNKY - Christmas is for the Children.~~
PASSION FOR PROMARKERS - Anything Goes.
FRESH BREWED - Merry Christmas
ONE STITCH AT A TIME - Anything goes.
~~PEAR TREE DESIGNS - Christmas~~

LET THE BELLS RING OUT....

2010-12-12T13:55:00.017Z

Thanks to everybody that took part in our celebration challenge last week and congrats to all the prize winners.

This weeks challenge theme (#101) at THE CRAFTY PAD is EMBOSSING. Wet or dry, it's your choice. We are sponsored by ROBYN'S FETISH who is offering the winner 5 digital stamps or digital paper sets of their choice and also, as it's nearly Christmas LETRASET are also donating a set of Promarkers. It is a Hobby & Craft Set which has 10 Promarkers and 1 Black Fine Liner and the lucky winner will receive them in time for Christmas.

For my card, I used Robyn's bell. I was a bit stumped at first, but as I'd just got Labels 7 nesties, I thought I'd make a little book type card. My embossing folder is from Papermania. The snowflakes are my trusty robo cut, coloured with Promarkers and glittered again and I attached the little bell charms with some chain and jump rings.

I shall enter into the following challenges:
CRAFT YOUR DAYS AWAY #10 - Punches and/or Die Cuts.
ELLEPHANTASTIC #21 - Christmas.
FRESH BREWED - Sparkle and Shine (my snowflakes).
PEAR TREE DESIGNS - Christmas Card.
PASSION FOR PROMARKERS - Anything Goes.
CREATIVE CARD CREW - Anything Goes.
ROBYN'S FETISH - Creative Folds (book pages?).
DELIGHTFUL CHALLENGES - Embossing

MY MINI COMP WINNER CRAFTY PAD #100

2010-12-11T20:46:00.004Z

Thank you all so much for entering our challenges and all your gorgeous cards.

For the mini comp on my blog....'Guess how many Gems', only one of you got the correct answer, so thank you all for your guesses.

The winner is SANDRA of SANDRA'S CRAFTY CORNER with the correct amount of 31 flower gems. Well done, Sandra and congratulations, hun.

Please email Debbie at craftypad-deb@hotmail.co.uk with CP winner in your subject line. Please also tell Debbie which image you would like from THE CRAFTY PAD STAMP DESIGNS as the body of your email.

Once again, thanks to all of you.

HIPPO'S RULE!!!!!

2010-12-08T10:08:00.013Z

Time for challenge #44 over at I ♥ PROMARKERS and this weeks theme is to take inspiration for your card or project from a Christmas song or carol. It might be an idea if you told us what your song is too, as some can be a bit 'obscure' for want of a better word, lol. Not least my DT example. :o)

Our sponsor this week is LETRASET and there is a pack of Promarkers on offer to our winner.

So, here's my offering this week. Aren't these hippo's just the mutts nuts? You can find them at PHINDY'S PLACE along with some other fab digi images.

I have known this song for many a year so I wanted to use it for my DT card, but it took me hours to track down a hippo image so I was well chuffed when I found this. They are coloured with my Promarkers of course and I used my Robo to cut the snowflakes, then coloured them with my Promarkers, added a bit of glitter and bead spacers for the centres which I found buried in my old stash again. The border is cut with an EK success punch 'Swirl' and the ribbon, which happily matches the pattern on her dress was in my stash. The background is embossed in my bug using a Papermania folder and that's about it really as I wanted it left fairly simple.

Now, the song. How many of you know it?
It's called 'I WANT A HIPPOPOTAMUS FOR CHRISTMAS' an oldie, but a goodie, lol. You can read the words and have a listen HERE. I thought this image suited as either he or she got what they wanted, hence dancing for joy. Ha, ha. I hope you like it.

I shall enter it into the following challenges:
CRAFT YOUR PASSION - Anything Goes.
THE CRAZY CHALLENGE - All I want for Christmas....
OOH LA LA - Christmas Song.
A SPOONFUL OF SUGAR - Christmas Card
TIP TOP TUESDAY - Use Ribbon.
ONE STITCH AT A TIME - Old Stash, New Stash.
CUPCAKE INSPIRATIONS - His nickname for her is Cupcake, lol.
TUESDAY THROWDOWN - Clean and Simple.
PHINDY'S PLACE - Winter

BIG WEEK AT THE CRAFTY PAD

2010-12-05T11:14:00.041Z

Well, it all kicks off at THE CRAFTY PAD this week so we hope you'll all join in and have fun. There are lots of prizes on offer and a sale on in the shop too. The sale will run for ONE WEEK to coincide with the challenge so you have until Sat 11th Dec 8pm GMT. Click on the banner in my side bar to take you there.

It is our 100th challenge so we are having a bit of a 'do' to celebrate, so grab yourself a coffee, sit down and read on. :o) You'll have to get to the end to find out what prizes are on offer and of course, the rules you must follow. *teehee*

There is also a Promarker colouring tutorial on the main blog this week. So if you feel you need a little help with your colouring, pop over and have a read.

The challenge this week is ANYTHING GOES!!!! How brilliant is that? So, if you're all Christmas carded out, you can just do what you please. Yay! I say, lol. Before I show you what I made, there's lots more to tell you.

What's next? Oh, yeah. EVERY member of our Design Team has a mini competition on their blogs. They are all 'guess the amount' so please do visit the DT members blogs and have a go at all of them. Here's your first one:

GUESS HOW MANY FLOWER GEMS THERE ARE.

You can give me your answer in a comment and the winner will be announced next Saturday. If nobody guesses the correct amount then the nearest guess will win the prize and if more than one of you get the same answer then we will use random.org to choose the winner.

Next up...what you MUST do to join in.

1. Follow CP blog and enter the current challenge.
2. Guess how many gems are in my pic.
3. Display the celebration badge on your blog.
4. Only one entry per person
Closes Sat 11th Dec 8pm GMT

OK so far? Right. The winners of the mini comps on the DT's blogs will each win a digital image of their choice from The Crafty Pad and as you will also be entering the main challenge, you will be eligible to win the main prize. To win that, you must:

GUESS HOW MANY RIBBONS ARE IN THE JAR.

Post your answer to this one in the comment box of the Crafty Pad Challenge Blog.

WHAT YOU CAN WIN.

There will be one winner who will get:
1 pk5 Promarkers sponsored by LETRASET and 6 polymer stamps from The Crafty Pad Stamp Designs - (Holly Mouse with Bauble, Milo Mouse - Congratulations, Platform Shoe, Molly Cat with Birdhouse, Anna over the Rainbow and Snoozin' Albert).
There will also be a £10.00 voucher from JOANNA SHEEN.
Not bad, eh?

There will be one runner up (for nearest guess) who will receive:
3 Crafty Pad Stamp Designs polymer stamps (Christmas Ted Baubles with Text stamp, Ladies Fancy Boots and Ladies Bonnet.

THE SHOP SALE:
A 30% discount on all polymer stamp orders and 10% on all digi images for the week the challenge is running.

IMPORTANT!!!!!
All orders for that week ARE TO BE EMAILED to Debbie through the shop (details on shop front) and she will confirm your balance to you to pay through paypal.

Right, I think that's it, so please join in, visit the other blogs and have fun.

For my challenge this week, I made a little box from one sheet of 12 x 12 card and used the image Ted pulling Snowman from the Crafty Pad. I coloured him using my Distress Ink Pads. I inked the top of the letters and the snowflakes using Broken China distress ink and then glittered them. The paper I found in my stash and I used my Craft Robo again to cut the text and the snowflakes. The border along the front edge was made using an EK Success punch 'Swirl'.

I shall enter my box into the following challenges:
~~BUGABOO - Anything Goes.~~
BEE CRAFTY - Winter but not Christmas specific. (not sure if this qualifies or not?)
SECRET CRAFTER - Christmas.
~~MAMI DOODLES - Gift Item (does a gift box count?).~~
~~SEW MANY CARDS - Snowflakes.~~
~~THE STAMPMAN - Christmas and 3 colours. (blue, orange, brown..assuming b/w don't count, lol).~~
WAGS 'N WHISKERS - Snowflakes.
~~STAMPAVIE - Snow/Snowflakes.~~
~~STAMP SOMETHING - Christmas Combo stuff.~~
DELICIOUS DOODLES - Use a Digi.
2 SISTERS - Sparkly Christmas
DIGI DOODLE SHOP - Let it Snow.
BUNNY ZOE'S - Christmas but not a card.

OH CHRISTMAS TREE......

2010-12-01T11:58:00.007Z

Well, it's nearly here isn't it? So that means that it's nearly over, which brings a big grin to my face. :o) Yeah, I know..Bah Humbug, lol.

Anyway, on to this weeks challenge #43 at I ♥ PROMARKERS and our theme is Christmas Trees. We are sponsored again by the lovely JOANNA SHEEN with a £10 spend in her online store for our winner.

I wanted to do something a little different this week so went for quite an eclectic look, although to be honest, I'm not sure it's worked. It's maybe a little too much for a Christmas card. Some years ago, I bought a load of Christmas stuff including a box of stamps. Well, they were rubbish and I've never used them but I needed a tree and this was all I had. It did actually stamp quite well but I have no idea who made it. My papers and vellum are from some old Christmas stash too.

The bauble was from a free stamp set with a recent cardmaking mag.

I shall enter into the following challenges:
A CRAFTY LITTLE PLACE - Anything goes.
OTHER LOVELIES - The letter M (mine is mice).
PASSION FOR PROMARKERS - Old and New
OOH LA LA - Christmas Song. (Oh, Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree)

SNOWFLAKES

2010-11-28T11:31:00.018Z

It's time for challenge #99 over at THE CRAFTY PAD and this week the theme is snowflakes. Our sponsor is CRAFTY SENTIMENTS

and the prize on offer is this set of digital papers.

Now, before I go any further and show you my card, I want to remind you about next week. It's our 100th challenge and as such, we're having a bit of a celebration. There will be prizes galore on offer. There will be the main prize but also, every Design Team member will have a mini comp on their blogs, so don't forget to check back and see what's on offer.

For our cards this week, the DT used 'Snowmen' which is available to buy at CRAFTY PAD STAMP DESIGNS. Debbie sells polymer stamps as well as digi, so pop over and take a look.

It's been a while since I used my Craft Robo so I thought I'd get it out again for this challenge. I cut my snowflakes and sentiment on it, then glittered them. The paper is one I printed myself and a Martha Stewart punch was used on the edge.

I'll enter this into the following challenges:
OUR DAILY BREAD - Snowflakes.
ONE STOP CRAFT - Christmas Cuties. (well, I think these snowmen are cute)
BAH HUMBUG - Feeling the Blues.
THE CHARACTER CAFE - Neutral and Bling (can't get much more neutral than white, lol).
CHRISTMAS STAMPIN' - Anything Goes.
CRAFTY CATZ - Christmas.
~~A SPOONFUL OF SUGAR - Anything Goes.~~
INCY WINCY - Blue and White.

FEEDING THE PIGEONS.

2010-11-24T10:36:00.008Z

Time for another challenge over at I ♥ PROMARKERS and this week the theme is Anything goes with a bit of sparkle as an optional choice. Our sponsor again is the lovely DIGI DOODLE SHOP with a $10 spend in her store for the winner. She really does have some fabulous images, so if you like digi you must go and have a look.

Anyway, as our theme is Anything Goes - I grabbed the chance NOT to do yet another blurdy Christmas card and I chose this image from Digi Doodle Shop called 'Feeding the Pigeons' as it grabbed my eye the moment I saw it.

My papers are Basic Grey 'Periphery' and I coloured the image to suit the papers, using a slightly darker colour for his skin as I wanted him to look a bit weathered. Not sure if it works though, I think he looks more like he's got a suntan, ha,ha.

The brown card was white coloured with a Cocoa Promarker and the punch is Fiskars 'Threading Water'. The metal sentiment was in my stash and I chose it because I don't think there's anything in life more simple than sitting on a park bench feeding the birds. The brads are Tim Holtz bronze looking things and I offset the mat behind the image to use the....oh! I've forgotten what they're called, but I'm not sure if I like that either now. Oh well, I still like the image. :o)

Ah!!! Photo turns. That's what they're called, pmsl.

I shall enter it into the following challenges:
A SPOONFUL OF SUGAR - Anything goes.
ARTFUL INKABLES - Punches & Diecuts.
ANYTHING GOES - Animals. (hoping birds count)
FAB 'N FUNKY - Going with the Flow.
~~DIGI DOODLE SHOP Anything goes.~~

CRAFTY PAD #98

2010-11-21T11:26:00.010Z

Roast dinner day's here again, but that doesn't stop the challenges. Over at THE CRAFTY PAD the challenge this week is to use the colours Red and Green. It doesn't have to be a Christmas card, but of course, we expect to see lots of them.

Our lovely sponsor this week is JOANNA SHEEN and the prize is a £10 voucher to spend in her store.

The design team all used the image Rodney and Robin and it's available to buy at the CRAFTY PAD SHOP.

The first thing I did when making my card was to change the colour of 'Merry Christmas' to green in Photoshop and then printed it out and coloured it in with my Promarkers. I cut a strip of red card and put it through my bug to layer over the background paper. The holly panel was stamped with a little clear stamp that came with a magazine recently and I dotted the berries red. The ink was from a large Fiskars dye ink pad in Hunter Green and I inked the edge of Rodney and Robin using the same. A little glitter was added to the berries and to Robin's hat.

Finally, I added a strip of red ribbon with canes on, 3 metallic nail heads and the gorgeous Poinsettia which is from Prima Marketing.

THROUGH THE MEADOW.

2010-11-18T23:53:00.008Z

A card I made just because I wanted to. It's been a while since I did any cards that weren't for a DT, lol. I've had this digi image from Digi Doodle Shop for quite a while and I was actually going to use it for an Autumn themed card and call it 'The End of Summer' as she looks so thoughtful. Anyway, I never got round to it, so I came up with this in the end.
The papers are yet again, from my all time fave pad, Fancy Pants 'All Fall'. The quote is in the pad too but it's a border and I just cut and trimmed it. Another fave out again is my Martha Stewart deep lattice punch and the image was coloured with my Promarkers. I just love these apricot shades and they go so well with the papers.

I'm entering into the following challenges:
~~DIGI DOODLE SHOP Anything goes.~~
~~FRESHLY BREWED - Show off your style.~~
~~ONE STITCH AT A TIME- Fave colours.~~
~~A I FACTORY - Die cuts/punches.~~
~~MY PARTNER IN CRIME - Use Markers~~

THE FAMILY 'SNOW'

2010-11-17T14:12:00.004Z

Another challenge at I LOVE PROMARKERS. Time is going way too fast for me. This is challenge #41 and the theme is Snowmen. We are sponsored this week by SIMON SAYS STAMP and the prize for the winner is a $15 spend in their online store. Well worth an entry, I would say. :o)

For my card I used a digi stamp from DIGI DOODLE SHOP and you can find it in her Christmas Collection. I embossed the diagonal grid on the card using my Scor Pal and the bit of snowman vellum (which again, I found in some old stash) was run through the cuttlebug with swiss dots. Some velvet ribbon and some red gems on his buttons and the bottom panel finished it off.

I'll be back with my challenge entries as I have to go out now. :o)

# 97 CHRISTMAS SPARKLE

2010-11-14T11:33:00.006Z

Time for another challenge over at THE CRAFTY PAD and this week we want to see some Christmas Sparkle on your entries. Don't forget, it doesn't have to be a card and anybody that uses a Crafty Pad image will be entered into a separate draw to win a digi image of their choice.

We are sponsored this week by the fabulous CREATIVE CRAFT WORLD

and the prize is this fantastic MME 'I Believe' gift pack including 12x12 paper pack, bazzill match pack, ribbons and brads.

For my card I coloured Holly and Harvey with my Promarkers and glittered the trims on their hats. I've been rooting through old stash lately and the papers are some I found in there, lol. Soooooooo much stuff that never gets used!!! A nestie Beaded Oval was used for the mat and my fave Martha Stewart punch came into play again. The paper says 'Peace' (I think) in different languages. Under the image is a small strip of lilac vellum which I stamped with my Stazon white and a free snowflake stamp that was in a set off the front of Crafts Beautiful magazine (one I never normally buy, lol). A bit of glitter on the background and 3 ribbons finished it off.

LET'S HAVE SOME ATTITUDE...

2010-11-12T10:55:00.009Z

The lovely Ali over at AQUILEIGA'S ESCAPE has awarded me this blog with attitude award. Thanks, hun.

There are a few rules that go along with it though. Oh, and a $5 gift certificate if you follow them.

1. Share 3 things about me.

a) I won a gold medal for Archery.
b) I used to love housework...now I hate it and I loathe ironing with a passion.
c) I had my voice trained when I was younger and love opera.

2. Pass this on to 5 people and these are some blogs I love.

Ruth
Clare
Beccy
Lorraine
Hazel

3. Display the blog award in your sidebar and link it back to the DIGI'S WITH ATTITUDE challenge blog (then click on the link on the blog to claim your gift).

Thanks again, Ali. :o)

LEST WE FORGET....

2010-11-11T00:14:00.003Z

For The Fallen.

With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children,
England mourns for her dead across the sea.
Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit,
Fallen in the cause of the free.

Solemn the drums thrill; Death august and royal
Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres,
There is music in the midst of desolation
And a glory that shines upon our tears.

They went with songs to the battle, they were young,
Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted;
They fell with their faces to the foe.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years contemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

They mingle not with their laughing comrades again;
They sit no more at familiar tables of home;
They have no lot in our labour of the day-time;
They sleep beyond England's foam.

But where our desires are and our hopes profound,
Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight,
To the innermost heart of their own land they are known
As the stars are known to the Night;

As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust,
Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain;
As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness,
To the end, to the end, they remain.

Brrrrr!!! IT'S ICY...

2010-11-10T19:10:00.005Z

Well, it's so cold and icy out there that this weeks challenge No.40 over at I ♥ PROMARKERS suits perfectly. It's Icy Colours. Now, we don't want you to freeze while you're making your card, but we want to see those cool, icy blues and whites on your cards. We are sponsored this week by LETRASET so you have a chance of adding to your PM collection.

For my card I used papers by Fancy Pants 'All Fall' and K & Co's 'Itsy Bitsy Baby Boy'. I cut a panel of white card and punched it with Martha Stewart's Deep Lattice punch and then put it through my cuttlebug with the swiss dots folder. A strip of lace, a small bow and some pearls finished it off. My Image is the adorable 'Perfect Tree' from the DIGI DOODLE SHOP.

Entered into the following challenges:
CRAFTY CARDMAKERS (Spotlight) - Dry Embossing
C.R.A.F.T. - Dry Embossing
ONE STITCH AT A TIME - Winter Wonderland
ANYTHING GOES - Emboss it
SCRAP CREATIONS - Christmas
DIGITAL TUESDAY - Digi Stamp and something not used before (the stamp and the spotty paper)
FRESH BREWED - Two patterned papers
ABC CHALLENGE - H is for Holidays.
PATTIES CREATIONS Christmas Card
FOR FUN CHALLENGES - Dry Embossing

CRAFTY PAD #96

2010-11-07T12:30:00.006Z

Today sees my first contribution as a member of the Design Team over at THE CRAFTY PAD. I am so pleased to be joining them. We are sponsored this week by both the super CRAFTY RIBBONS and LETRASET. The prizes on offer are a gorgeous box of ribbons (just yummy) and a set of 5 Promarkers in Winter themed colours. But...you'll have to pop over to the challenge blog for a peek at these great prizes and enter the challenge for a chance to win them.

The Design Team all worked with the lovely Crafty Pad image Holly and Bauble which you can purchase HERE. The challenge is to use at least one circle and 2 ribbons.

For my card, as there aren't rules to say I have to use my Promarkers or anything, I chose to colour it digitally in Photoshop. I made my own backing paper by isolating the bauble and reducing it in size to make a regular pattern and then used a Martha Stewart punch around the edges. The plain red paper is some I've had in my stash for years. Edges were inked with distress ink, Fired Brick and then I added some lace, ribbons and a charm.

I will enter into the following challenges:
CATCH THE BUG - Anything goes
CRAZY 4 CHALLENGES - Square Cards
PILE IT ON - Animals
CRAFT YOUR PASSION - Anything goes
CRITTER CHALLENGE - Christmas
LITTLE RED WAGON - Red
PATTIES CREATIONS - Christmas

IT'S SNOWING.....

2010-11-04T00:32:00.007Z

and it's snowflake time. That's the theme over at I ♥ PROMARKERS this week for challenge #39. We are sponsored again by the lovely JOANNA SHEEN and she is offering a £10 gift voucher as a prize to our winner.

For my card I wanted to keep it simple and chose to use an image by JUST INKLINED as I thought it was such a pretty scene. It was, of course, coloured with Promarkers and the snow was added with dimensional paint. This was actually the third time I coloured the image and it just wouldn't go right, the green kept seeping through on the trees, so it's far from perfect, but hey ho! you get the idea. I even added a bit of glitter which is NOT my favourite thing - dreadful stuff, lol. I made my own backing paper in photoshop and made up the sentiment too.

Nestability beaded oval was used for the image (funny how it looks debossed intead of embossed, but it isn't, honest) and the sentiment tag is also a nestie.

I shall enter this into challenges:

ABC CHALLENGE - Glitter
FRESHLY BREWED - Anything Goes
CRAFT YOUR PASSION - Anything Goes
INCY WINCY - Anything Goes
ONE STITCH AT A TIME - Christmas

A NEW DT..

2010-10-31T23:02:00.005Z

Good news today. Cheered me up no end as I have really been under the weather.

I have been asked to join the Design Team for The Crafty Pad. Yay!!!!! I'm really chuffed and start with the next challenge at the end of this week. Pop over and have a look, both at the challenge blog AND the stamp shop.

THE CHALLENGE BLOG.

THE SHOP.

I ♥ PROMARKERS #38

2010-10-28T20:16:00.003+01:00

I'm feeling rather poorly so this is only a quick post. Sorry it's late.

Challenge #38 at I ♥ PROMARKERS this week is a sketch and theme. We are sponsored by DIGI DOODLE SHOP and the prize is $10 to spend in her online store. The DT all used one of her images and mine is Pumpkin Carriage. I designed my own background paper.

AUTUMN

2010-10-21T11:22:00.012+01:00

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!! It's cold. Over at I ♥ PROMARKERS this week, the challenge is Autumn. Well, had to be, didn't it? lol. We are sponsored this week by SIMON SAYS STAMP and there is a $15 spend up for grabs.

I'm somewhat limited on Autumnal stuff, but I did have this gorgeous scarecrow. It's a freebie from BECCY'S PLACE. Thanks, Beccy. I didn't have a clue what else I could do with the card other than wanting to do some panels. I've got my first Big and Juicy inkpad 'Spice' and really wanted to use it, so I got out some shiny card and brayered away and then cut the 4 panels. The background paper is from the 'All Fall' pad from Fancy Pants, inked with walnut stain distress ink.
After I'd coloured the scarecrow, I inked around his edges with spiced marmalade and walnut stain.

Once again, I dug deep into the dark recesses of my craft room for stuff I hadn't used (or even looked at) for years and found the skeleton leaves, dried ferns and corn. Old hat, I know...I mean, when was the last time you saw skeleton leaves used on a card, lol. Still, somehow, I think they work and I actually quite like the finished result - for a change.

I'm entering Mr Scarecrow into the following challenges this week:

TUESDAY THROWDOWN #22 - Anything goes.
CRAZY4CHALLENGES C4C59 - Autumn/Fall.
OUR CREATIVE CORNER - At least 3 embellishments.
THE STAMPMAN #7 - Autumn.
TOTALLY PAPERCRAFTS #38 - Autumn.
ONE STITCH AT A TIME #35 - Embellish it.
CRAFTY CARDMAKERS #32 - Use a freebie.
PEAR TREE DESIGNS #22 Free for all.
THE CRAFTY PAD - Distressing. Don't know if this fits, but he looks pretty distressed to me with all that ink round him, lol.

CUPCAKES

2010-10-13T22:10:00.007+01:00

A bit of a yummy theme for challenge #36 at I ♥ Promarkers this week. We want to see your cupcakes or anything related to cupcakes. Our sponsor this week is DIE CUT DREAMS and Susie is offering some gorgeous plate and book card cuts. Pop over to the Promarker challenge blog to see examples of Susie's work and get a better look at the prize. They are gorgeous.

I won the challenge at Other Lovelies a couple of weeks ago and one of the images I chose from the sponsor LIMITED RUNS, was a Cupcake as I didn't have one.

My paper is K & Co 'Sickly Sweet'...oops! sorry. That should be 'Sparkly Sweet'

I wanted some cream on my cake and I remembered that somewhere in the deep dark recesses of my craft room I had some Anita's white 3D paint. It's been there for years, lol but I dug it out and used it and then sprinkled it with clear hole-less beads.

I didn't want to use my beaded nestie for this so I used the scalloped one with the holes. I cut the white, but then put some lilac pearlescent card through my bug with the die and just the embossing mat. I cut it out by hand and placed the bumps under the holes on the white one. I embossed more lilac card and then added some flowers and lace. Job done.

I'm entering it at:
CRAZY 4 CHALLENGES - Birthday
CRAFTALICIOUS - Anything Goes
FAB N FUNKY - Yummy, Yummy, Yummy
LITTLE RED WAGON Something old, Something new..new image and very old 3D paint.

Thank you, Michelle.

2010-10-10T14:19:00.002+01:00

The lovely Michelle, (Thistleblue) has awarded the I ♥ Promarkers team this blog award. Thank you, Michelle it was a lovely thing to do and I'm glad you enjoy our inspiration and challenges.

INK IT UP...

2010-10-07T22:50:00.007+01:00

Ooooh, two posts in one day. A rarity for me, lol.

I was in the mood for some inking and rubber stamping so I got out my distress ink pads and some of my gorgeous stamps from Onyx Impressions and sat down to see what I came up with. Onyx Impression stamps are just so beautiful. They have some super designs, cut in black rubber and really well made.

I stamped my tiger onto some orange paper from my Fancy Pants 'All Fall' pad but the black background didn't come out as dark as I'd like, so I stamped the tiger again, cut him out and used it as a mask. Then I used my Memento Black and some foam and really deepened the background. Some Marmalade was used to give some patches to the Tiger. That's Spiced Marmalade ink, not the stuff in a jar, lol and I used my black Promarker to draw my own stripes.

The frame is one of the newer Nestabilities...beaded oval.

Then I made a tunnel card. I'm quite fond of these at the moment, but this one didn't come out as well as I'd hoped. I'd actually binned 3 before deciding I'd had enough and going with this one. The black inking around the edges is a bit untidy, but I used a chalk ink pad, which I'd not done before, so I'll not be using one again.

I inked a piece of plain card with my distress inks and then stamped the scene on to it, making sure I had a yellow patch where the sun was. I then inked another the same and stamped the image again. This was cut along the tree and horizon line to make the middle 3D layer. The concertina folds were stamped with an orange swirl on the outside and inked black on the inside. More marmalade ink was added to the panels and then they were stamped with some Basic Grey swirl stamps.

They're really easy to make but just takes a little care (a bit more than I gave this one, lol).

THINK PINK

2010-10-07T14:17:00.006+01:00

This month is Breast Cancer Awareness month, so our theme of challenge #35 over at I ♥ PROMARKERS is 'Think Pink'. We are sponsored this week by the lovely JOANNA SHEEN again and the winner will get £10 to spend in her online store.

I chose an image by Mo Manning for my card and made it very girly. My papers are from the Forever Friends 'Pink Parfait' pad. I used Martha Stewart punches and other bits from my stash.

I am also entering this card at:
ABC CHALLENGE - Easel Cards
CREATIVE INSPIRATIONS - Birthday
FAB 'N FUNKY - Use a Digi Image
FRESHLY BREWED - Girly
PARTY TIME TUESDAYS - Birthday
OTHER LOVELIES - The Letter E and I figured an Easel card would qualify.

Thank you, Dawn...

2010-10-02T17:23:00.002+01:00

for my beautiful blogger award.
It's lovely of you to think of me again.
xxx

PEARLS AND SWIRLS.

2010-09-29T10:48:00.008+01:00

Our challenge #34 at I ♥ PROMARKERS this week is Pearls and Swirls. We are being sponsored by POLLYCRAFT and she is offering 5 digi images to the winner. All the design team used one of her images so go and take a look at their blogs to see what's available. Or better still, go to Pollycraft.

For my card, I chose 'Secrets'. I thought the little girl sitting under the flower was lovely. I cut the image into two so the flower is stuck to the background and the girl is on foam pads. My background paper is Bo Bunny. All my pearls are actually 'Liquid Pearls'. I've had bottles of this stuff for a couple of years and never used it but I've finally got the hang of it, so thought I'd give it a try. Much cheaper than using all your others too, lol.

I used a rub on for my greeting and made the yellow bow using my 'Bow Easy' from BUNNY ZOE'S CRAFTS.

I'm entering this into:
ANYTHING GOES -Going Round in Circles
AI Factory - Anything Goes.
INCY WINCY - Anything Goes
ONE STITCH AT A TIME - Anything Goes.
CHARISMA CARDS - Anything Goes.
OTHER LOVELIES D is for Digi.

WHITE ON WHITE

2010-09-22T11:00:00.004+01:00

I ♥ PROMARKERS challenge week #33. Where do the weeks go?

This weeks challenge is white on white. The only colour allowed is on your image and the rest has to be white. I wasn't sure about this but have to say, I love it and I'll be doing more of it in the future. The design team have come up with some stunning examples so please go take a look.

We are sponsored this week by DIGI DOODLE SHOP, one of my fave places for digi images and the prize is $10 to spend in store.

So not a lot to tell you about this. White card, cuttlebug folders and promarkers to colour, lol. I still haven't decided whether or not to put a greeting on it.