Another Baby Boy

Hi everyone!

I hope you're all well?

Great news about the New Royal Arrival yesterday, another baby boy born in the same week (just!) as my new wee nephew!  Oh such different lives they shall lead!  Good luck to all and any new Mummys and Daddys out there!

Another new arrival today sees a new challenge at the Creative Card Crew and we are being sponsored this fortnight by the Scrapping Center!

and they're offering $15 to spend in their store to one lucky winner!

So the challenge for this fortnight is...

Baby!
or Lot's of blue
(to celebrate the new Royal baby boy) 

or Lot's of pink

(to celebrate the birth of Mari's new granddaughter!)

So we expect loads of new arrival cards this fortnight!  Or if you don't have a baby card to do you can still enter as long as your card has either lots of blue or lots of pink!

I needed a card for a boy, so it's a baby one, but not too pink - and I haven't made one for my brother yet as they haven't totally decided on a name yet!  Here's what I did:

I made an easel card

The gorgeous image I used is Baby Christening by Lili of the Valley and I coloured him with the following copics:  Skin: E21,13,00,0000,R20.  Everything else: BV00,0000,E41,40,W3,1,00.

The papers are Pink Petticoat and I printed them onto pearl paper, so the card was a nightmare to photograph as no matter where I placed my lamp, it glared off the paper!  But it looked lovely in real life!  Dies used are Spellbinders Fleur De Lis squares, Fancy Tags, Labels 3 and circle.  The ribbon is from Stampin' Up! and the pearls, buckle and lace are from my stash.  I made a box to complete the gift and scored the top panel with my score board to match the card.

and the inside with the computer generated sentiment.

So I do hope you can join us this fortnight at the Creative Card Crew - pop over to see the rest of the DT creations for some fab inspiration!

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

4 Crafty Chicks; Let's hear it for the boys
Crafts 4 Eternity; Inky fingers
Crafty Sentiments Designs; Bling it on
Dream Valley Challenges; Fancy folds
Here Come The Boys; Anything goes
Patties Creations Design Challenge; Monochromatic
The Corrosive Challenge Blog; Fancy folds
The Squirrel And The Fox; Use something spooled
Top Tip Tuesday Challenge; Spooled items
Whimsy Stamps Inspirations Challenges; Ribbon & lace

Thanks for looking!
 

Happy Mother's Day!

Hello everyone and a special Happy Mother's Day to all the mum's out there, I hope you're all having a lovely day and are being spoilt!  I'm going to spoil my mum soon - just need to finish this and wrap the present!

I'm not showing my Mother's Day card today though cos it's time for a new challenge at Eclectic Ellapu and it was the lovely NanaConnie's turn to choose the theme and as it is her birthday next week - on St. Patrick's Day - she has asked us all to make something with the theme of...

Birthdays!

So a lovely easy challenge this time!

I actually made mine a while back and this is what I did.

A nice simple card for a nice simple theme!  I used Milly Flower Power by LOTV and coloured her with the following promarkers:  Skin; Sunkissed pink, Oatmeal, Blush, Pastel pink. Flower; Magenta, Carmine, Cocktail pink, Orange, Pumpkin, Honeycomb, Lush green, Emerald, Honeydew. Dress; Burgundy, Hot pink, Lipstick red, True blue, Sky blue, Powder blue. Hair; Umber, Chestnut, Cocoa. Ground and shading; Shale, Caramel, Satin, Blender.

The papers are Stampin' Up! Cheerful Treat.  The ribbon is also Stampin' Up!.  The sentiment is Wild Rose Studio on Stampin' Up punches!  The border punch is a Martha Stewart one and the diamanté buckle is from my stash.

As always, the inside follows the theme from the front.

So take a minute to pop over to Eclectic Ellapu to check out what the rest of the DT have made!

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

Crafty Ribbons Challenge; Anything goes with ribbon
Crafty Sentiments Designs Challenge Blog; Pretty in pink
Fashionista Challenge; Pink
Fussy and Fancy Challenges; Flowers
Oldie But A Goodie; Feeling floral
Passion For Promarkers; One for the ladies
Stamp N Doodle; A card for a female
Totally Papercrafts; Punch it
Whoopsidaisy Challenge; 2 patterned papers

Thanks for looking!
 

Flowers Always Make You Feel Better!

Morning!

Hasn't it been very mild over the past few days?  I was roasting at work yesterday, but I'm sure it won't last too long - we'll be shivering before you know it!

I was back at the physio yesterday and had another session of acupuncture.   It hurt a bit more this time but it really worked wonders last week for my trip to Birmingham so fingers crossed that it will keep working!  I also asked her if there was anything I/she could do about the Bells Palsy.  She said I could keep on doing funny faces - I wasn't aware I was doing funny faces before that! lol!  Apart from that I just need to ride it out.  So I can only hope that it won't last too long.

Anyway, it's time for a new challenge at the Alphabet Challenge Blog and this fortnight the challenge we have for you is...

U for Under the weather!

So it's that time of year again for sniffles and coughs or even any other ailments (like whiplash and Bells Palsy!) so we want to see plenty of cards that make people feel better!

Here's what I did:

My image is Teddy with Bouquet by LOTV which I coloured with the following Copics: Bear;E37,35,33,29. Flowers;R39,37,59,RV34,32,10,E41,40,YR02,YG67,45,41,W7,5. And Dark brown and Black Prisma pencils.

The papers are MME Indie Chic and the sentiment is from Waltzing Mouse.  I used Spellbinder dies to cut all the shapes including the pretty corners which are made by quartering a die cut and inversing the shapes.  I then used a corner rounder punch on the corners.
A few Swarovski's and two different ribbons from my stash finish it off.

The inside mirrors the front and the sentiment verse is by LOTV.

So let us see what you make by entering the Alphabet Challenge Blog and you'll be able to see loads more fab inspiration over there too!

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

Divas By Design; Anything goes
Dream Valley Challenges; Anything goes
Fab N Funky Challenges; Lets see those bears
My Heart Pieces; Anything cute
Oldie But A Goodie; Anything but Christmas
One Stop Craft Challenge; Anything goes
Papertake Weekly; Flower Power
Sweet Stampin'; Anything goes
The Pink Elephant; Punches/dies

Thanks for looking!

First Day Of School!

Afternoon all!

Hasn't it gotten so cold?!  I can't seem to be able to get warmed up at all - I'm sitting at my computer wearing a coat! lol!  The evenings are fairly dropping down too, we're heading for winter!

I remember when I was young sitting in the classroom at the start of a new year, wearing my brand-new uniform with the stiff collar digging into my neck and the jumper that could stand up on its own and the sun beaming in through the floor-to-ceiling window and the sweat lashing me!  This September seems to be a bit different to a few years ago, the weather has been horrible for the start of the new school year.

My gorgeous nephew had his first day of Primary School last week so I thought I'd make him a wee card;

The image is by Lili of the Valley and is called Back to School Boy.  I coloured it in the colours of the Primary school uniform using the following copics: Skin; E21,13,00,0000,R20. Uniform; G99,YG97,67,Y19,17,15. Shoes; 100,W9,7,5. Bag; E37,35,33. Hair; E55,53,51. Plus W3,1,00,Y00.

The blackboard paper is from the Prima: Romance Novel pad and the green one is from the Bo Bunny: Blast Off pad.  I used Spellbinder dies - Star circles, standard circles large and petite ovals large and a star Cuttlebug embossing folder.
The sentiment is computer generated and the stars are from the Spellbinder Star Circles set - the large one is a die on its own and the small ones are some of the bits out of the mat under the image.  The name on the stars is hand written.  The SEI twiney-ribbony stuff is from my stash.

The inside is following the layout from the front and the sentiment is from LOTV.

I used this particular mat to follow on from what I made for him to give to his Play School teachers when he was leaving at the end of last year and I never managed to blog them, so here they are now:

The sentiment on the "lollipop" is computer generated and the one on the tag was hand written by Ryan himself!  The ladybirds are ones I bought in Australia and the ribbon is that most-used ribbon from my stash!

And here he is with the whole set!

I'd like to enter my card in the following challenges:
Bearly Mine Challenges; Anything goes
By The Cute & Girly; Boys/men
Crafts 4 Eternity; Numerical Numbers
Crafty Boots Challenges; One (and I'm now singing the U2 song!)
Divas By Design; For a child
DYSU Challenge Blog; Kraft & Twine
Papertake Weekly; Things that make you go aww!
Quirky Crafts Challenge Blog; Numbers
Scrappy Frogs Challenge Blog; Back to school
Stamp & Create; Anything goes

Thanks for looking and another big hello and wave to my new followers!
 

Quick Card

Morning everyone!

I think this is the fastest card I've ever made!  It usually takes me a full evening (at least!) to make a card but I made this one in under an hour! Go me!  I must admit though that I did have the image already coloured.  I must do a few more pre-coloured images!

I realised that it was a friends birthday in a couple of days and I didn't want to be late with the card (like I usually am!) so got it made pronto!  I took it to work with me to send out with the post and it was only when I got there that I realised I only had 2nd class stamps, so I hope she did get it on time after my effort!

Anyway, here's the card:

I used this weeks Sketch Saturday sketch.  The image is LOTV "Milly Just For You" which I coloured with promarkers: Skin; Sunkissed pink, Oatmeal, Blush, Pastel pink. Hair; Umber, Walnut, Cocoa, Cinnamon.  Dress; Burgundy, Hot pink, Lipstick red. T-shirt; Marine, Turquoise, Green.  Flower; Gold, Mustard, Daffodil Bloom.  Leaf; Olive green, Marsh green, Pale citrus.
It's been cut out with Spellbinder dies.

The papers are MME, Stella & Rose, Gertie papers.  I used a cuttlebug embossing folder for the wee bit sticking out above the image and some pearls from Wild Orchid Crafts below the image.  The sentiment is a LOTV one which I stamped onto a spellbinder die-cut and then I drew some faux stitching around it.

The inside sort of mirrors the front, and uses up the leftover bits of the paper nicely!

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

Sketch Saturday; Sketch
Crafty Catz Weekly Challenge; Anything goes
DYSU Challenge; Circles
Joanna Sheen Challenge; Flower Power
My Mums Craft Shop Challenge; Embossing
Papertake Weekly; Anything goes
The Poodles Parlour; Anything goes
Simon Says Stamps Challenge; Birthday
Totally Papercrafts Friday Challenges; Saturated colours
Lili's Little Fairies Challenge; Anything goes

Thanks for looking!
 

Mother's Day

Morning all!

Another Friday has come to greet us all too fast!  But as well as the weekend, every fortnight it means we get a new challenge at the Alphabet Challenge Blog!

Thanks to everyone for joining in with my challenge last time!

This time we're at the letter D and my ex-teamie, Janet, chose the theme

D for Dry Embossing!

So get out your embossing folders, boards or maybe even your light boxes and get creative!

Here's my card - which I gave to my mum for Mother's Day

The image is from LOTV called Teddy With Bouquet.  I coloured it with the following copics - Flowers; RV06,04,02,R29,27,24,B02,00,0000,YG07,05,03,97,95,93.  Wrapper; RV13,11,10.  Paper; E43,41.  Bear; E37,35,33.  I added swarovski crystals to the centre's of some of the flowers.

The paper is K & Co - Gothic Rose glitter paper, which I've had for ages, and Bo Bunny Love Bandit Bee Mine.
The sentiments are also LOTV from the Postmarks set.  I triple embossed them with UTEE and added a Swarovski to the centres.  They were cut out with a nestie.
The panel across the centre is a Cuttlebug embossing folder and the gorgeous flower is a Prima one.

The inside mimics the front

So head over to the Alphabet Challenge Blog to see what wonderful creations my teamies have come up with!

Thanks for looking!
 

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.)

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!
 

Thanks A Bunch!

We're already a fortnight (give or take a day!) into 2012, can you believe it?!
It'll not be long til it's Christmas! lol!  Just kidding!

But another fortnight means another challenge at the Alphabet Challenge Blog.  We're up to Y now and the challenge this time is...

Y for You can choose!

So basically, anything goes.  Here's what I did:

It's a wee thank you card.  I just adore that wee LOTV stamp and I think she's perfect for a thank you card.  I coloured her with Copics and prismacolour pencils and paper pieced her dress.

The papers are Prima "Alla-Prima Collection".  The seam binding is from The Ribbon Girl and the lace butterfly is from Wild Orchid Crafts.  I added a pearl design which I split up to go further on the card and added a few swarovski's.

The inside used the rest of the pearl design and some more of the designer paper.

So why don't you join us this fortnight at The Alphabet Challenge Blog.

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

Creative Inspirations; Swirls & pearls
Cupcake Craft Challenges; Something new (Lace butterfly and stamp)
Diva's By Design; Thanks
Moving Along With The Times; Spots and/or stripes
My Mums Craft Shop; Here come the girls
One Stop Craft Challenge; Bingo - Lace, die cuts, paper piecing
Papertake Weekly; Die Cute special
Scrappy Frogs; Lace
Simon Says Challenge; Spots and/or Stripes
Sweet Stampin Challenge Blog; Spots & dots
Lili's Little Fairies challenge; favourite LOTV stamp

Thanks for looking!

 

Summer Swap

Over on the MAC forum we had a wee swap set up for Summer.  Now it was supposed to have happened in August, when it was supposed to be summer, but sometimes things don't go like they're supposed to!  Mine were a bit late due to getting stuff ready for the 2 weddings, but I got them finished eventually and they've all been recieved now so time to blog it!

I made 7 in total, all the same (and I only made a mistake on one where I stuck the topper on sideways!  Aww well, it just opens at the bottom, rather than the side! lol)

And here it is

The image is of course a LOTV as is the sentiment.  I coloured the image with Copics and prisma pencils and I did the sky with distress ink.

The papers are from Pink Petticoat, they're called "One in a melon".  I reduced the size of the flowery paper to a little smaller than A5 so I could get more of the gorgeous detail on the card as I lost most of it when I printed the page A4 and cut it down.  The white picket fence is a Doo Hickey and I added some swarovski's.  You can't see it in the picture but I glittered the writting on the sentiment with a clear stardust pen.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges;
Anything Goes: Anything Goes
By The Cute And Girly:  All things bright and beautiful
Copic Creations: Colouring fur
Crafts 4 Eternity: Recipe - Leaves, birds, glitter
Cute Card Thursday: Anything goes
Moving Along With The Times: Sparkle
Paper Play Challenges: Punches and dies
Papertake Weekly: Creature Comforts
Stamp With Fun: Anything goes
Stamptacular Sunday Challenge: Just Sayin
The Pink Elephant: Photo inspiration

Thanks for looking!