How About Another Wedding Card?

It has been a while since I last made a wedding card - I was sick of the sight of them I had so many to make in the second half of last year, but I needed another one for a work colleague who is getting married tomorrow and I thought I would incorporate this card into my latest DT card for the new challenge at the Alphabet Challenge Blog.
Yep, we're yet another fortnight into 2012 and the new challenge is up.  This time the theme is...

B for Busy Bugs!

And as the theme on the wedding invitations were butterflies, I thought I'd stick with that.
Here's my card:

No image!  No colouring!  I thought I'd make their names the focal point of the card.  I printed out the names onto ivory stardream card, the font is Papyrus and I printed it out in brown.
The heart is a large Go Kreate heart frame die and the details are cut out with a spellbinders fancy tag.  It looks a bit wonky in the picture but I think (and hope!) it's just because the the heart is at a jaunty angle and the ribbon curves down into the buckle.  That's my story anyway!
The flowers and pearls are from Wild Orchid Crafts.  I don't use the flowers very often but I think they went well with the style of this card.

The papers are from the Prima Printery collection and I distressed the edges with Frayed Burlap distress ink.  The fancy corner is a Melissa Frances embellishment that I got from My Crafty Heart (some lovely things in stock there and really fast service!)
The butterfly, silver dangly heart, buckle and ribbon are all from a local craft supplier.

The inside of the card has been decorated like so...

I used the same papers as the front and I brought the heart theme through with a die cut Joycraft heart attached to the pocket on the left hand side (for the present!)

A card with these sorts of embellishments needs a box, so I made one to match...

So that's my card and my butterfly!
Why don't you head on over to the Alphabet Challenge Blog and see what all my lovely teamies have come up with, there are some stunners on there!

I'd like to enter my card in the following challenges:

Allsorts Challenge Blog; Anything goes
Bling It On; Love is all around
By the Cute & girly; Love is in the air
Charisma Cardz; Love is in the air
Little Claire's; Romance
Quirky Crafts Challenge; Love story with ribbon and charm
Scrappy Frogs; Die Cut challenge
Stamp With Fun; Shapes
Stamptacular Sunday Challenge; Charm Me
The Pink Elephant; Print it

Thanks for stopping by and for your lovely comments!
 

WOYWW 142

It's that time of the week again when we all have a nosey around everyone's desks, courtesy of the fabulous Julia at Stamping Ground, and I'm back to being late on Wednesday again this week!  That didn't last long did it?!

Another thing that didn't last long was me keeping my desk tidy!
Let's see the proof:

I still haven't finished the cards with the images that I was colouring last week - I've had a couple of last minute things needed done and I had to put them to one side.  So as they're now back on my proper workdesk I thought I'd take a picture of the area beside me to my left and it really is a mess!  It's where I dump everything that I've finished using or have yet to use.  My poor wee pens have to do more than colour!

I'll not even show you what's to my right!

So I'm off to have a quick nosey before I head to bed.

Thanks for looking!
(Oh, and I haven't forgotten about the blog candy I mentioned last week, but I'm still waiting on a couple of things arriving in the post before I can take pics etc.  Sorry for the wait!)

Linky Followers

Hey everyone,
After reading different articles about Google getting rid of the Friends Connect Follower gadget (even though it's only going to be affecting those not on blogger for now), I've added the new Linky Follower widget.
I'm baffled as to why they are removing it - one article I read said that Google are "in the process of shutting a number of products which haven't had the impact we'd hoped for" - what?!!  Almost every blog I go to has that widget and some of them have thousands of followers, how is that not the impact they'd hoped for?  What did they expect?
They recommend joining Google+ and adding a badge.  I'd never heard of Google+ before this (maybe I live under a rock!) but it is basically Google's version of Facebook and in my opinion is not a suitable replacement for the follower widget.  It seems to be just a way for them to promote their own social network.  And in the meantime to get people to leave other blogging sites and join Blogger.
I'm of the opinion that if Google are making it unavailable to some, they may well get rid of it altogether in the not-too-distant future, also, I want people from other blog sites to have the ability to follow me if they want to, so I thought I'd add the other one now instead of getting in a panic later.
And hopefully by then I'll have got the hang of the new one!
For now I'm not bothered which one anyone chooses to follow me on, I'm just chuffed that people have chosen to follow me in the first place! :)

Thanks for looking!
 

WOYWW 141

Oh, get me, posting so early (which is actually so late as it's really Tuesday night but technically it's Wednesday!)  I'm usually about 24 hours later than this, so I thought I'd try harder this time and get this done nice and early as I have so much to do!

I'm colouring some images for a swap I'm taking part in on the MAC forum (Anne, don't look too closely!)

My to do book from last week is in it's new home and although I've managed to tick off a couple of things out of it, there are a lot more to get done and I'm hoping to make a good dent on the list over the rest of this week and the weekend.

I've got a bit of a thing coming up and I need to have all my cards done before it so that's the main reason my list is so long!

But anyway, that's me for this weeks What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday - if you fancy looking at some more desks then head over to Julia's Stamping Ground.

Thanks for stopping by and hello to more new followers!  I've now got over 100 followers (which I can't believe - thank you!) so I'm thinking of doing a wee bit of candy.  Watch this space for when it happens - I'm gathering some things together for it now.

 

Liebster Award!

Hey everyone!

I have recieved an award (for the first time in ages!) from two amazing crafty bloggers - both May and Anne very kindy passed this award onto me - thanks so much ladies for thinking of me!

The idea of this award is that you have to pass it onto 5 other inspirational blogs with less than 200 followers.  A tough job as there are so many blogs that I find inspiring - how do I pick just 5??!

These are the rules
1. Link back to the persons blog who gave you the award and thank them.
2. Post the award on your blog.
3. Give the award to five fellow bloggers who inspire you.
4. Leave a comment on their blogs to let them know.

I picked out a load of blogs that inspire me, removed the ones that I saw who have already recieved the award (I didn't know whether to do that or not, but it reduced my list and gave the others a better chance) and then chose 5 at random.  They are:

Kathryn at Paper Matters
Zoe at Craftygasheadzo
Shaz at Shaz's Crafty Corner
Sarah at Created By Sarah
Lesley at The Messy Crafter

I'd just like to say thank you ladies for being so inspirational and helping me in so many ways!

Thanks for stopping by!
 

Have a Beary Happy Birthday!

Hi everyone!

I meant to do this post last night and schedule it for this morning but I completely forgot about it!
It's my little sister's birthday today and we were having cake and pressies last night as she's going to the junior disco tonight.

It's Friday and it's been a fortnight since the last challenge at The Alphabet Challenge Blog.  We completed the alphabet last time so we're starting at the start again for this fortnight (it'll be my first full round of the alphabet!).
So the challenge is....

A for Animal Antics!

We were restricted to zoo animals last time so you can have whatever animal you want this time!

Here's my card:

 
The stamp I used is from Lili of the Valley and it's called Armchair Bear.  I coloured it with Copics but I made it a while ago and I haven't got the list :( sorry.

The papers are Authentique, Journey collection (I won these off Bunny Zoe's blog - and they're fab!) mounted on pale blue and kraft card.  The sentiment is from a Waltzing Mouse set called Fancy Phrases.
And no other embellishments!  Maybe that's the trick to men's cards - put nothing on them!

The inside is even more simple than the front!  I just used the same paper and a wee corner stamp from the Fancy Phrases set.

So that's my card.  You should pop over to the Alphabet Challenge Blog to see the rest of the DT's creations - they are really fab!

I'd like to enter this in the following challenges:

Crafts & Me; Use a new image
Moving Along With The Times; Cute Critters
Papertake Weekly; Anything goes
The Poodles Parlour; Anything goes
Stampin For The Weekend; Colour combo

Thanks for stopping by and for your lovely comments - and a big hello and welcome to another new follower!  (I can't get into some profile's so I'm having trouble following back - if you leave me a comment I should hopefully be able to get to you that way.)

WOYWW 140

Another Wednesday has come and almost gone so it's time I had my What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday post done and linked up to Julia's Stamping Ground!

I managed to get to everyone on last weeks list by Sunday evening and read each one and commented on each one!  It's quite a feat!  There were 187 entries!  I'm glad I did it and I saw some fantastic desks and work spaces and picked up a few ideas on storage solutions etc.  So I really enjoyed my journey around blogland, but I don't think I'll be doing it every week!  I had very little time left to craft, and that sort of defeats the purpose of the whole thing! lol

Thanks to everyone for the sympathy over my sore finger last week - I'm sure you'll all be pleased to know that it's all healed up and isn't sore any more (I'm sure you'll all sleep better tonight knowing that!).
I also had a few comments on my light box/tent thingy.  I bought it off Amazon and it came with 2 wee lights, but they emitted very yellow light so I put them away and I use my daylight lamp instead.  It folds flat which is great for my small craft room, so I put it up and then away every time I use it.  I got it cos I can only ever really craft in the evenings so it's usually always dark outside when I'm taking my pics and I just wasn't getting good quality pics at all (it also means that I don't always have to tidy up the mess on my desk!).  So, I would recommend one to anyone who thinks they need one.  I know people who prefer not to use them but they are generally able to take their photo's during the day.

So, onto my desk this week...

Not a lot to show this week,  I got the new limited edition pro-markers so I was just adding them to my pro-marker colour chart and adding coloured stickers to the lids.  I was also filling in my "to do" list as I realised I have quite a lot of cards that I have to get made in the next few weeks and I need to keep track of them.  I remembered that I made this wee book about 2 years ago so I thought I'd put it to use.  I've now got it hanging off a hook over my desk so it's at easy reach.

So I'm late as usual in posting - hopefully I'll get to visit a few other desks over the next few days, but maybe not them all this time!

Thanks for looking and for your lovely comments - and hello to another new follower! :)
 

Rachael's Birthday

It's my little sister's 15th birthday on Friday.  She used to look at my blog but I don't think she does anymore, so hopefully I'm safe to show my card!  If you are looking, Rachael, - STOP!  and don't look any further!

My mum wanted a card for her so this is what I did...

I used a digi stamp from Saturated Canary called Nevaeh which I coloured with Pro-markers, Flex-markers and Prismacolor pencils (Skin: Sunkissed pink, Oatmeal, Blush & Pastel pink. Hair: Burnt umber, Chestnut, Cocoa & Cinnamon. Clothes: Antique pink, Dusky rose, Ruby, Tea rose, Cadet blue, Sky blue, Denim blue, Pear green, Leaf green, Aniseed & blender. Pencils, Kelp green, Dark purple, Dark brown, Black & White.)  I then cut her out with Petit Oval Large nestie.

The papers are My Minds Eye; Tickled Pink paper pad.
I coloured a chipboard 15 using one of the pink pro-markers and then coated it with glossy accents.  I then embedded some dewdrops in the glossy accents before smothering with some pinky/peachy glitter.
I had a diamate butterfly in my stash which was on a stick, so I removed the stick and coloured the pearls with the pro-marker.  I also coloured some flatback pearls and added them to opposite corners.
The cherry charm was relieved from my stash and I used a nested bird nestie to cut out the name which was computer generated, by me!

After I had taken the photo's I thought I would colour the dots on her dress with a clear stardust pen.  It's always risky to decide to do something to a card once it's finished and it usually ends in disaster for me!  I took another very bad picture to show the sparkly dress.

The inside is fairly plain using the same papers, pearls, nesties and font as the front.

I'd like to enter my card in the following challenges:

Allsorts; Free & easy
CES Challenges; Give me wings
Diva's By Design; Anything goes
Fab & Funky Challenges; Use a digi image
Pixie Dust Studio Challenge; Girlie girl
The Poodles Parlour; Anything goes
Scrappy Frogs, Die cuts
Stamp, Scrap & Doodle Saturdays; Die cuts
The Pink Elephant; Pink
Sketch Saturday: Sketch

Thanks for looking and for your lovely comments - and hello to my new follower! :)
 

Happy Retirement

My plan to visit everyone on this weeks What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday's list isn't really going to plan.  I figured I could visit some at work every so often so that it wouldn't interfere with my work, but the internet is so slow and has occasionally stopped altogether this week.  And I had intended on visiting loads last night, but that plan was scuppered when I got a phone call from my mum - she and my wee sister were stranded in the big city of Newry with a flat tyre and they needed help.  So I collected my brother and in we went on our rescue mission.  We got her tyre changed and got her home safe and sound (well, I must admit that my brother did most of the work!).

Talking of my mum, one of her best friends is retiring from her career as a nurse.  My mum met her when they were both training to be nurses so they've been friends for a long time.
So my mum wanted a nice card to give to her and she wanted a picture of a nurse on it.  I only have 2 stamps with nurses and one is a bit childish.  So, as you may have worked out by now, I used the other one! :P

Here's my card

I used this cute stamp by The Greetings Farm and I coloured her with my copics (Skin: E13,21,00,0000,R20, Dress: BG09,49,45, Hair: E49,39,35, Others: R39,27,24,YR24,23,YG91,C3,00)
I cut the image out with a circle nestability and matted it on anoter nestie shape (some label or other!) I stuck some nail heads onto the points of the mat.

The papers are from My Minds Eye, Gertie Papers.  I used Antique Linen distress inks to make the white card a more ivory colour and then edged everything with Frayed Burlap distress ink.
The sentiments are computer generated and punched out with a Stampin' Up! tab punch.
I added a diamante swirl for a bit of bling which always goes down well with my mum!
The ribbon is from my stash.

The inside is vaguely following the same layout as the front.  The sentiment on the inside is from the new Postmarks stamp set from LOTV.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

Sketch Saturday; Sketch
CES Challenges; Check it out
Charisma Cardz; Vintage
Delightful Challenges; Puches & Dies
Divas By Design; Anything Goes
Fussy & Fancy Challenges; Polka Dots
The Poodles Parlour; Anything Goes
Stamptacular Sunday Challenge: Diamonds or Pearls

Thanks for stopping by and for all your lovely comments!
 

WOYWW 139

Evening all!

I'm just getting around to posting this now.  I'm gonna try to see if I can visit everyone on the list before next week (some of whom I've already visited in trying to get a head start!).  I've never really tried to get to everyone before as it is a daunting task and I don't think I'd be able to do it every week, but I'll try every once in a while.
If you're with me then you'll know what list I'm talking about but if you're wondering "what list?" then take a peek over at Julia's Stamping Ground for What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday and all will become relatively clear.  And you'll be hooked!

So what's on my workdesk this Wednesday?
Well, right now, my laptop is on it, but before that this is what it looked like:

I have been crafting and I was taking photo's of the finished cards last night, so my light box tent thingy was set up at photo taking time.

I took another photo as when I was making the last card, I was cutting out my stamped image and was so engrossed that I didn't notice my pudgy finger in the way and snipped straight into it!  The cut itself looks tiny but it feels huge!  And I never thought I used that part of my finger as much as I have used it all day!  It didn't help that I also burnt that very same finger when I was making my dinner last night.  I think my finger needs a break!

So that's my desk finally uploaded for another week.  I'll be trying to get around everyone - wish me luck!

Thanks for looking and for your lovely comments!