Strawberries... yum!!

I made this card following the scrummy sketch at Sketch and Stash

And this is my card:

My new stash??? Most of it really!! The papers are from my new K&Co book Que Sera sera - scrummy papers! I also cut the image out with my new peony nesties. Ribbon and crystals from stash.

I also used my equally scrummy new Whiff of Joy stamp! Coloured with my pro-markers.

This is the inside:

Fairly plain but following the sketch again.

It also fits the challenge set this week at A Spoon Full of Sugar, who are looking for lace or (as in my case) a lace effect punch!

I'm giving this card to my friend who had her birthday during the week - yes I know it's late, but I was on my way to her house and discovered she wasn't there so had to turn and come back! So it's her own fault it's late! That's my story, and I'm sticking to it!!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Thinking of you

This card was a long time in the making. I really wanted to make a card for my forum friend who sadly lost her brother. I stamped several images but none of them seemed right.
Then one day I was rumaging in a box looking for a different stamp and found this one, and I instantly knew what I wanted to do.

This is my card:

I followed the lovely sketch from Cupcake Craft Challenge

I heat embossed the Stampendous Dandie Trio image with gold embossing powder. I added a couple of flowery bits from stash and a couple of swarovski crystals. I also used peel-offs for the sentiment which I very rarely use - even though I have a book full of them! I inked the edges of everything with vintage photo distress inks - including the ribbon! The papers are from DCWV Once upon a time stack.

Here's the inside:

I wanted to write a few words so I used paper from a note book and punched along the top with my SU spiral punch, again inking all the edges with vintage photo distress ink. And finished it off in a tissue lined box.

Thanks for looking!

I missed the birthday - better not miss the challenge too!!

I missed one of my forum friends birthday last week - ooops! Sorry Christine!! And I made her a card following the challenge from Just Magnolia which is up tomorrow and I don't want to miss the challenge - especially as I made the card on sunday!

This is the sketch:

And this is my card

I coloured the gorgeous dragonfly Tilda with pro-markers.

I used papers from the Basic Grey Sultry pad, ribbon from stash threaded through some silver mesh ribbon and some card candy instead of brads. I punched the flowers and the sentiment is from a See D's set - I thought it suited both the occasion and the image down to the ground!

I didn't take a photo of the inside as I didn't really decorate it - I did say the card was already late!!

Update on invitations... Almost finished!!! Yay!!!

Thanks for dropping by!

They're like buses!!

How chuffed was I to discover that I'd recieved an award?!! Well how much more chuffed d'ye think I was to discover that I'd recieved another award just after I'd posted about the first one!!!

This cutie is from Spyder - her blog is brilliant! a really funny read!!! and fantastic cards!

This time I decided to give my thinking cap a rest - it's getting too old to be used twice in one day!

So I'm giving this award to everyone who reads my blog - as a thank you for all your support! So if you read my blog feel free to accept this award from me - and leave a message so I know who has accepted it and is therefore a reader!

I got an award!

I have just received this lovely blog award from Teddyree - Thanks pet!! Go check out her lovely blog!

Now I have the oh-so-difficult job of passing this on! There are just so many lovely and deserving blogs out there that its so hard to select a few.

So I've put my thinking cap on - it's getting a little worn out I can tell ya!! - and after some careful consideration I've decided upon the following

The first blog I chose is one that I get so much inspiration from and it is easy to see just how much hard work and dedication is put into it. I always look forward to catching up on Bev's fabulous blog!

My second blog is one that is just fabulous in every way! I simply love Kath's style of cards and just wish that some day mine will look half as good as hers!

Thirdly, is one that I love reading! Cos apart from the gorgeous cards that Dawny P creates, her style of story telling is brilliant!! I'm usually in fits laughing when I read her blog!!

Next is a blog that is also so inspirational and inovative - it's amazing what all you can do with a cuttlebug!! So a big thanks to Eileen, aka Ikki, for your fabulous tutorials!

And lastly, one of my very good forum friends has recently started up her blog again - and she's keeping her word by keeping it updated! I also love Louise's clean style of cards and wish mine could look so good too. I especially love her "name" cards!

So there you go - for those of you that haven't visited any of these blogs - 1, where have you been??? and 2, go check them out!!!

Welcome Baby Jack!

A card here for a new baby and I've used the gorgeous Ellie Stamp from Stamposaurus again - this time in blue!

I followed the sketch from Crafts 4 eternity:

And this is my card:

I used papers from DCWV's Nana's kids stack. I added a little pram charm to the corner of the image. Ellie was coloured with my pro-markers.

I had forgotten to put the highlights on to my colouring before I took the photo but they were added before the card was delivered!

Here's the inside:

Again, semi following the sketch.

The blue and green means that my card is also eligible for the Colour Create challenge. I love being able to fit a few challenges into one card - it sort of creates another challenge in itself!

I hope the weather is brighter where you are - here in Northern Ireland the week started beautifully but has gone back downhill again with dreary rain and it's so dull! Not good for us crafters who like a bit of natural light. Oh well, not much you can do about the weather!

I hope you all have a nice day and that you have something nice planned for the weekend!

Bye for now!

Ruby Wedding...

I had to make a really quick card for my aunt and uncle who's 40th wedding anniversary was yesterday and we didn't realise that until yesterday!! So I came to blogland once again for some much needed inspiration! I followed the sketch from Friday Sketchers:

This is my card:

I used the New Years glass from magnolia and I used my stamp-a-ma-jig for the first time! I thought as it was a celebration card they could be clinking together in a cheers like fashion! I used a small amount of dusky pink pro-marker and blended it out to look a bit like pink champagne and coloured the whole glasses with clear stardust pen. I stuck a few pink and clear dew drops to look like some bubbles escaping from the glass. I added some faux stitching to the basic grey backing papers so it fits the Just Magnolia in stitches challenge also.

This is the inside:

I hope you liked it!

OTT OCC!!

I had an engagement card to fit in with all the wedding invitations at the weekend (as well as other things).
I hate doing engagement cards!! I much prefer doing a birthday card as you can get away with so much more, plus I don't really have any stamps to suit an engagement.

I liked the sketch on Our Creative Corner, so I used it:

And this is my card

I'm afraid I need to smack my wrists and sit in the corner because I can't remember who these scrummy papers are by. And it doesn't say on them. But the black background paper is fabulous!!! It has a rubbery bubbly texture (which meant that it was a bugger to cut!) but it looks and feels lovely - it's just a pity the photo doesn't do it any justice! The black feathers and loads of swarovski crystals add some glamour!!

Here's the inside:

Because of the feathers and crystals, I decided to make a box for it.

Bit of a plain box admittedly, but that just leaves what's inside all the more exciting - don't ye think!!

I lined it with black tissue paper to add some more drama!!

I also have a baby card to show - but I'll leave it til tomorrow - don't get too excited though!!

I've had a facelift!

Well, not personally!! But I decided it was well past time I re-vamped the look of my blog and to tell the truth I'd been thinking about what all I wanted to do for a while. Then I got scared that I would lose all my links and everything! But I played it safe and took a back-up and went for it! I love the fact that I can make my pictures bigger now, although I can't find anywhere that does backgrounds for this style of template, so I just made a nice header and followed with some nice colours through the text. I suppose it makes the pictures stand out a bit more!

I hope you all like it too!

A Christening Card

Here's a card I made for a friend whose baby was being christened yesterday. I followed the lovely sketch from Sketch Saturday:

And here's my card:

I used the gorgeously cute Ellie stamp from Stamposaurus Stamps which I coloured with my pro-markers. I used dp from Craft Creations and ran the pink piece through my cuttlebug swiss dots folder (I don't use that enough!) I cut the image with my oval nesties with a scalloped oval behind and doodled some dots with my white glaze pen. A wee bit of pink gingham ribbon, a few punched flowers and a bit more doodling and there you have it!

Here's a close-up of Ellie:

I followed an element of the sketch for the inside too:

Oh, I forgot about the little crystal flower on the front, you can sort of make it out here, it really added a bit of sparkle to the card!

So there you are, I hope you liked it! I'm still up to my eyes with my friends wedding invitations so not sure when I'll have another card to show. But I'll try to keep up with my hopping in the meantime!

Happy crafting!

Laura, Don't Look!!!

Hi all!
It was one of my forum friends birthday the other day and because of the forum being down for a few days, a lot of us are late with our cards for her. Sorry Laura!
So she probably doesn't actually have her card from me yet but I'm gonna show it here anyway...So please leave now Laura (if you haven't already gotten my card that is!! lol!)

I used Bev's fabby first sketch for this one for the Stamp with fun challenge

And I came up with this:

I cut into my brand new set of Gorjuss Girls set 2 and I just love them! I coloured her with my promarkers and highlighted with white glaze pen and clear stardust pen. I used Bo Bunny Alissa papers with contrasting black. The flower was cut from the paper and a couple of punched daisy's added with a black gem stone brad. I also used my favourite MSBP too!

Here's a close up of the Gorjuss girl!

I sort of semi followed the sketch again for the inside:

And I used a Gorjuss girl from set 1:

Coloured in the same way as the one on the front.
So I hope you had a really happy birthday Laura - and sorry it's late! (although it just makes your birthday last longer, so it's not all bad!!)

I'd also like to say how sorry I am to hear the very sad news from another of my forum friends whose brother was tragically killed in an accident. My thoughts are with you, Lynsey, at this terrible time. xxx