Happy Christmas everyone!

I can't believe this is my first post for December... sorry everyone!
I've been rather poorly so didn't manage to hit the craft room until last weekend.
My inspiration for getting back in the crafting saddle was the need to make a card for my Dad's birthday. I'm amazed that he is now 76 as he is as lively as a cricket and never fails to be the life and soul of the party! Dad loves the Peanuts characters, so when I saw this sweet stamp on offer over at the Craft Barn I just had to get it.
Next up I'm going to share two cards that I made using a gorgeous stamp from Crafty Individuals. I thought CAS with red and cream was just the ticket. The red ink and the cardstock is Stampin' Up Real Red - lovely!
The next image is also from Crafty Individuals. I stamped in Memento and then coloured with a variety if Distress inks, and mounted on a leftover of that rich red card. I really like this traditional image of Santa on his sleigh.
My final two cards are the one's that I made for my parents......and for my hubby.
I've had my eye on this image from the fabulous Mo Manning for ages, but have never felt that my colouring skills could do it justice. In the end I decided to throw caution to the wind and go for it!

Well, that just leaves me to wish you all a very HAPPY CHRISTMAS.
Thank you for all your friendship, kind comments and inspiration... Blog friends are real friends and I appreciate each and every one of you.
Festive hugs and kisses to you all, hope you have the best Christmas ever.

Delia is a vision in green!

Love this cute stamp from Sugar Nellie so much!

I don't often use green, yet it's a colour I always love seeing on cards around Blogland, so I decided to 'go green' for this simple birthday card.
The background is stamped with the butterflies from a Hero Arts clear design set called 'Birds and Butterflies'. I think this was the first ever Clear Design set that I bought so it was good to get it inked up with Distress inks again.
Not much else to add about this card as it is quite plain and fuss free.
Hope you all have a good day, and I'll try and get a little visiting done today as I haven't had much opportunity this week.
Hugs to you all!!!!

You warm my heart!

What a damp and drizzly day... anyone would think it was mid-November!

For this simple little card I used PI Gorjuss Girl 'Puddles of Love' and coloured her with Promarkers. I clear embossed some tiny snowflakes on white card and then I got all inky with Ditress inks and my much loved Hero Arts Swirls stamp. The big snowflake is from Marianne D Creatables and I added a gem and plenty of Stickles. I had aimed to stitch around the card, but had stuck everything together before I realised... doh!I would have preferred stitching but I think the Stickles looks ok.
I really like this image and can't believe that she has been sitting unused in my stash for so long. However, this does mean that she qualifies for the Oldie but Goodie Challenge 'Let it Snow'!
Other challenges are Crafty Catz Snowflakes, Die Cuts at Frosted Designs, Totally Gorjuss Swirly Whirly and there's oodles of cuteness required for the Winter Wonderland Challenge.
For the Whoopsi Daisy Challenge it's those Colours of Winter.
Finally, it's Anything goes Week at One Stitch at a Time.
Well, I must go and tackle the ironing now. I've done so much housework today that for once the house is gleaming like a new pin and I feel strangely pleased with myself.
Enjoy the rest of the weekend everyone!

Delia's in the pink!

This is sweet little Delia from Sugar Nellie/Funky Kits. Isn't she adorable? Look at that little puffball skirt... so cute.
I really enjoyed colouring her. I used up some Basic Grey 'Lemonade' scraps and added faux stitching on each panel. Unfortunately, I blew it with the embellishments. What was I thinking of???! Oh well {sigh}.

I thought I'd also share this cute Snoopy card as it seems perfect for the Little Miss Muffet Challenge this week which is Simplicity.
I'm sorry that it hasn't photographed very well due to the poor light quality. I used Glossy Accents on the fairy lights and printed the sentiment on my PC. Great for quick and easy Christmas cards!

Hope your week has got of to a good start; happy crafting everyone!

Snow Day!

Here's that sweet Gorjuss Girl and her fox again.
I paper pieced her coat and hat using up some tiny scraps, and then got busy with the Distress inks.
I used the emboss resist technique to achieve the snowflakes, and am fairly pleased with how it's turned out. Looks like it's started to snow and there are just a few first flakes in the air!
The large snowflake comes from the LR0123 set of Marianne Creatables.
I know I am going to have so much fun with these gorgeous dies!
Have a good weekend everyone, and keep safe on Bonfire Night in the UK.

The same, but different!

Isn't it funny how you can make a card and be quite pleased with it, but before you send it you decide it needs a little 'tweak'?
That's what happened with this card:

I liked it, but the black sentiment looked too heavy... so I changed things to this:
and I think it looks much better for that subtle mini-makeover!

I hope this card has reached it's Blogland recipient by now and she's as happy to receive it as sweet 'Love Letter Kaylee'.

Challenges:
Tip Top Tuesday - Make your own backgrounds
The Pink Elephant TPE123 - Distressing

TTFN, happy crafting everyone.

Let it snow... nearer to Christmas that is!

Please don't let it snow just now, especially as it's another bright October day with beautiful clear blue skies.

I wanted to add to my growing pile of Christmas cards today, so dug out one of my favourite Gorjuss girls called 'Foxy'. So cute.
It's worth a mention that there are currently some reductions on the Sugar Nellie Gorjuss Girl's so now is a good time to top up on any you might be missing.
So, believe it or not this is my card for the current Sugar Bowl Sketch Challenge set by Maria Therese. Yes, I know I've jiggled around with the sketch a bit (lot) but if you look closely you might just find it... honest! If you haven't played in the Sugar Bowl recently why not drop by, the DT cards for this challenge are going to rock your socks.
I'm also entering this card for The Prairyfairy friday Challenge #64 which is 'wet' or 'heat' embossing. I stamped the little snow flakes in Versamark and then embossed in white. I think I need a better embossing power as it's a little speckled in places but it still looks ok and I don't even mind that some powder stuck to the Versafine sentiment as it looks 'snowy'. The embossed flourish is Leaf Flourish from Hero Arts - never get tired of using this stamp.Well, I think I'll grab a coffee and go visiting Blogland as I always love a virtual trip around the world.
Happy Friday everyone!

Christmas joy!

It's a beautifully bright and sunny day today, but it is a little chilly!
Well, I've finally made a start on my Christmas cards - wooohoooo.
A big thank you to the girl's over at The Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge for giving me a kick up the backside with the theme 'Wrap up Warm'. I knew that I had the perfect little festive digital stamp in Mistletoe Kaylee to join in the fun. I'd forgotten how much I love Some Odd Girl images, isn't she sweet?
I flipped Kaylee horizontally so that she fitted a design that I came up with for another card (I'll share later) and then went with a cozy colour combo.
I wanted a nice bright background, so stamped some snowflakes onto Stampin' Up card thus making this card eligible for One Stop Craft Challenge #154 'No Patterned paper'.
I'm going to make a whole bunch of cards in this design as they are sweet and simple to create.
Well, it must be cold outside as my man of the great outdoors (aka Hubby) has just come in from the garden! I better go and offer hot drinks and snacks asap.
Have a great weekend everyone!

I love pink!

I've got to admit that when it comes to choosing a colour combo I often have to stop myself reaching for pink. Doesn't matter whether it's a prawn cocktail pink, a cool fuchsia pink or a hot fruity berry shade, if it's pink then I love it! So what an easy decision when I saw that the Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge for this week was 'white plus one other colour'.

I've had Simply Sassy Tiffany waiting patiently for some ink for a few days, so I decided this was her moment in the spotlight! She really is lovely to colour. This card is to thank my cousin Janis for all her kindness over the last few days while I've been poorly. I stamped a variety of thank you phrases in Stampin' Up Whisper White onto the pink cardstock to make the middle panel and am quite pleased with how it turned out.

Here's the other challenges I'm linking up with:
Tip Top Tuesday Challenge #56 - Layer it Up! (A highly recommended site for great tutorials).
Little Miss Muffet Challenge #20 - Girly Girl
Crafty Purple Frog - Thank you (DT cards to die for)
Raise the Bar Challenge #79 - Pink is in! (Yes, yes, yes!)
PrairyFairy - Sugar and Spice and everything nice

So TTFN everyone, I hope your week's going well and that you're all getting some happy craftin' time along the way!

Olivia's bookmarker

I mentioned yesterday that I'd been a bit unwell with vertigo since Thursday. What I omitted to say was that I'd had a trip to hospital care of the emergency services because I was so very poorly. As a result I've received flowers and cards from my neighbours and work colleagues... and am truly touched by their kindness!
One card really raised a smile as it was hand made by my friend's sweet daughter Olivia. I decided to make her something in return, so created this little bookmarker using Krista's gorgeous 90s Punkette. Isn't she a beauty?
I'm sorry that the photographs are slightly over exposed as I took them outside in the glorious autumn sunshine that we are enjoying today.
I'm entering this marker for Challenge #2 over at Saturated canary Challenge Blog. The challenge is 'stitching', so I think we're good to go!
Thanks to everyone who commented and left get well messages yesterday, I'm feeling a little unsteady but things are improving.
Take care my lovelies!

Pink and a ribbon... and purple and green!

Hi everyone, I'm still on a digi kick but this time I've used one of Claire Keay's super cute images to make a small, circular card.
The image is called 'Girl and Balloon' (I wonder why???) and I couldn't resist going all pink, and purple and green, with my Promarkers!
I'm not feeling on top form right now following a vertigo attack yesterday morning. With this in mind please forgive me for keeping it short.
I'd like to enter this card for Craft your Passions Challenge #79, which is a card for any occasion. Also the new Challenge over at ABC (yes, they're back!!!) which is Anything Goes and The JellyPark Friends Challenge Add Pink and a Ribbon for Breast Cancer Awareness. And no prizes for guessing that the Jellypark Challenge was the starting point for that colour combo and the reason this little cutie is wearing bright pink Mary Janes!
Well it's nearly the weekend girls, I hope its a good one for you all!

Pretty in Pink!

Happy Sunday everyone!
Here's my entry for Krista Smith's Challenge #1 over at her new blog.
We were given this sketch to work with:and I decided to use sweet little Love and Peace Hipster. Isn't she adorable? Having worked with blues and browns for my previous two cards I thought I'd try pink this time. I think this sweet little hippy looks very cute with her pink boots and T-shirt.

No prizes for guessing that I'm totally addicted to Krista's images, and I have to confess that two more digi's have just jumped into my basket over at The Saturated Canary Etsy shop. Krista is currently adding a few new images per week so it's worth visiting on a regular basis!
Anyway, better go now as I need to help hubby search for the wasps nest that has been evading us all summer.
See you soon, and I hope your Sunday is full of fun and crafting.

A Sunny Sunday morning!

It looks like it's set for another hot and sunny day, so I think it's gardening and a little relaxin' on the agenda!
I hope you all had a lovely crafty World Card Making Day yesterday. I had to go to work, so will have to try and catch up on some of the fun today.

Here's the card that I made for my Mom's birthday earlier in the week.

I used adorable Norma Jean from Krista Smith's Etsy shop, but cut off the quirky little 'Blimp' that comes as part of the design!
Mom loves browns and blues so the colour combo was an easy choice. Krista's designs are so much fun to colour and I really enjoyed getting busy with my Promarkers on this little cutie.
The advertisement stamp is from Crafty Individuals and is stamped on cream card, which I then distressed in Antique Linen Distress Ink. A little ribbon and some lace and we were good to go! This is quite a different look for me, almost 'shabby chic', and I felt I was stepping out of my comfort zone a little, but Mom seemed to be happy with the result!
I'm linking up with the following challenges:
Anything goes at Four Crazy Chicks Crazy egg Challenge #57,
Fussy and Fancy - try a new technique (leaving my 'Plain Jane' comfort zone!)
Top Tip Tuesday - 2 or more Ribbons (Great new site I've just discovered!)

Have a lovely Sunday everyone!

Happy World Card Making Day!

Happy WCMD to you all!

I'll be back with a card tomorrow....

Yay, it's Wednesday!

Hi everyone, here I am enjoying another Wednesday full of crafty fun!
Today, I'm sharing a view of my desk at that delicious moment when you have a new image stamped (or in this case printed) and ready to colour. No surprises that I'm going to be colouring another sweet little digi by Krista Smith. Seriously, just can't get enough of her images right now!!!
I'm not sure how I'll be using her as yet. I might decorate a notebook that I have lying around, and simply enjoy making something for my own use for a change.
Krista's Challenge Blog is now up and running. The first challenge starts later this week, but in the meantime she's introducing us to her rather fabby new DT. I think in this case DT not only stands for Design Team but also 'Dream Team' as Krista has picked some super talented ladies from across Blogland for her new creative crew!
You can check out Krista's new Blog to meet and greet with the girls.
I'm going to do some virtual visiting now over at WOYWW, but will also do some IRL visiting a little later as it's my Mom's birthday today. I'll share her birthday card later as I know she sometimes visits my Blog.
Happy crafting!

WOYWW!

Oh, the joy of actually having something on my workdesk!
I'm such a happy little soul today. I've got a day off, so can get crafty for the first time in ages. Hurrah!! Here's today's card at an early stage, just before I scored the kraft card with my rather wonderful Hougie Board(a gift from my parent's.) I decided against using the darker blue card just after taking the picture.

You won't be surprised to spot yet another Krista Smith image.
I'm not sure how it took me so long to discover that Krista has an Etsy store. Now I'm 'in the know' I can satisfy my addiction to her gorgeous images with just a few clicks!
This little sweetie is called Kate Krafty. She reminded me so much of my friend's daughter that I had to give her Hannah's gorgeous hair colour. This card will do nicely to congratulate Hannah on passing her 'A' Levels. She'll be leaving soon to take up her place at Swansea University... it'll be mighty quiet without her!
I decided not to reach for the embellishments today, just added some stitching and a few flat back pearls from Quixotic Paperie. Sometimes less is more.
However plain, hopefully this card is still girly enough to fit in over at the One Stop Craft Challenge. And it's 'Anything goes week' at Cute Card Thursday - thanks ladies!
Well, now I'm going to pop over and check out some of the Wednesday fun at Julia's for WOYWW #120.
I just love a crafty Wednesday, don't you????

And she's back with a card!

Goodness, it's been far too long since I last hit the 'new post' button!
Work has been even crazier than usual and has left little or no time for crafting, or much else if truth be told. With more and more people leaving it can only get worse.
It was great today to finally put ink to paper. I had forgotten how much of a stress buster a little colouring and cutting can be. I can only apologise for my absence, and say a big thank you to everyone who has stuck with me as a Follower over the last month.
I bought this stamp some time ago, knowing that it would be perfect to use for my beautiful sister-in-law's birthday. Here she is with her hubby, and huge Step-sons at the Christening back in July.For anyone not already in the know this lovely image is called Windswept from Simply Sassy at Funky Kits.
I coloured her with Promarkers and layered papers from Basic Grey's Lemonade Pad.
I watched this fab tutorial for a little help with her hair and had a few practice attempts before colouring the final image. I'm sorry the pictures are a little dark.
I'm delighted to find that It's Anything Goes week over at the Creative Card Crew, and 'open' week at Flutterby Wednesdays, and ' As you like it' for Challenge #95 at Totally Gorgeous. Thanks guys!

Happy crafting everyone - I'll see you again SOON!

One of a kind!

I made this card several weeks ago but decided to hold it back so that I could share some other stuff first. I have to admit that this card is rather 'busy' for my taste, but I did enjoy using that sweet Skater Girl stamp by Christa Smith again.
The paper came from my leftovers box and the ribbon was a teeny remnant from a previous project... thrifty or what! Sorry this is such a short post but I have had one heck of a day and need to try and unwind and relax; before I have to go and do it all again tomorrow!
Take care everyone!

Little Miss Sunshine!

Hi everyone, please forgive the lack of blogging, but work is taking up more and more of my life and seriously cutting down my creative time. To be honest I think it shows with this card. I had been looking forward to making a special card for so long but ended up rushing and making a mess. I nearly didn't share it, but I did want to share the news that our sweet little niece was christened last week... and guess who were asked to be godparents???? We're just a bit proud!Ballerina Mia seemed the perfect choice for little Miss Sunshine's card as she has just started ballet lessons. Her Mom is a former ballerina so everyone is waiting to see if it's 'in the genes' as they say!

Hope you all have a lovely weekend.