Bethany's Birthday

I was very honoured to have been chosen by the  Scrapbook Stamp Society challenge DT as a winner for my entry in their December challenge. As well as being able to choose two new digis I was also offered a GDT spot on the Scrapbook Stamp Society blog to show a couple of my cards.

For my GDT card I used a gorgeous Sherri Baldy digi to make this double fronted birthday card for a wonderful young lady who turned 18 at the beginning of the month.

I took an 8"x 8" card blank and made a flap to go round the front from ivory card. I cut out the '18' with a craft knife and created a frame with a Whimsy Stamps corner die. I then added pink flowers and gems and a lilac bow.

Inside is the card blank front. I covered that with more ivory card and a paper from First Edition Mulberry Kisses. I added a strip of  pink lace and lilac ribbon. The sentiment was computer generated.

I couldn't resist this gorgeous image when I saw it in Sherri's Etsy shop.  She is IMG 303. I coloured her in pinks and lilacs with my Copics and cut round her. I placed her onto pink card that I had die cut with an X-cut scalloped oval die and added some pink gems. I placed her so she is peeping out from behind the 18 on the card front.

I'm pleased to say that the card was well received.

I'd like to thank the Scrapbook Stamp Society challenge DT for this opportunity to showcase my work.

I'm being kept very busy at the moment with preparations for my upcoming Docrafts demos so may not be around much over the next few days. I will be back to show you the fabulous new Docrafts collections towards the end of the week. Until then, have fun crafting.

I've entered this card in the following challenges:
http://scrapbookstampsocietychallengeblog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/challenge-85-anything-goes-option.html x
http://mybestiesuk.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/my-besties-uk-challenge-anything-goes.html x
http://inspirationdestinationchallengeblog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/AG-NO-74.html x
http://craftingwithanattitude.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/challenge-12_32.html x

Birthday Fish

Another week has passed me by so I thought I'd better show that I am still crafting. I hope you are all keeping well and enjoying your crafts.
I have a male birthday card to show you today that I made for a very dear friend of mine that I call my crafty brother.

It's an A5 tent card. I do prefer tent cards as you can add embellishments without the cards falling over. All the papers are from a pad by Craft Sensations called Vintage Colours Character. I matted and layered them all onto Papermania grey card and tattered the edges with scissors. I cut one into a tag shape and stamped cogs onto two of them.

This fabulous image is from the My Craft Studio CD Tinkering With Steampunk. The sentiment was printed on the computer and cut up. The image and sentiment panels were matted onto the grey card and mounted with foam pads. 

I stamped a couple of ships wheels onto Kraft card and cut them out. The shells and anchor are from Marianne dies and I finished the card with a scrap of cheesecloth and some twine.

I shall try not to leave it too long before I pop back again. In the meantime I hope you all stay well and have fun crafting.

February Birthday Girl

It's the start of another week and I hope you all had a lovely Valentine's weekend.

 I really must get the hang of this blogging lark. I never seem to have enough hours in the day to actually write a blog post. That's a shame as I have lots of cards and projects I'd like to show you all.

I have finally found a few spare minutes to share this card that I made for a lovely friend.

I hold my hands up and admit I made a mistake with the colours on this card. I didn't realise how yellow the paper was when I coloured the image. In my defense the paper looked more cream to me. Maybe it's time for an eye test.

The card is an 8"x 8" (20 x 20 cm) base and the papers are all from the First Edition Mulberry Kisses paper pad. They are matted onto white card edged with Memento London Fog ink. I added a strip of lace and some scraps of cheesecloth.

The image is from Saturated Canary. I coloured her with my Copics and matted her onto white card. The sentiment was printed on the computer.

I created the flowers using the two smallest Tim Holtz Tattered Flowers dies and finished them with a pearl bead each. I then made the three stick pins and tucked them in behind.

I finished the card with some large half pearls.

I hope you all have a lovely, creative week.

I've entered this card in the following challenges:
http://pileitonchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/pile-it-on-101-homemade-embellishments.html x
http://craftyhazelnutspatternedpaper.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/craftyhazelnuts-patterned-paper.html x
http://craftyfriendschallengeblog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/challenge-25-girly.html x
http://morgansartworld.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/challenge-3-add-flowers.html x

Bearly a Headache

The lovely Holley is holding her annual celebration month of being seizure free. This is her 6th year since having the successful brain surgery. As part of the fun this month Holley has organised a 'Bookmark Making Contest' with the help of the fabulous artist Sandra Caldwell. 

Sandra has drawn this endearing little bear especially for Holley. The image is called 'Bearly a Headache' and is available in Sandra's Etsy store.

I decided to make a card as a holder for my bookmark so I could send it to someone as a Get Well gift card. Doesn't it look like the poorly bear is tucked up under the duvet?

The papers are from Kraftyhands Picnic Time CD. I used an A6 card and matted the first paper onto pink card. I then created the little pocket with two more papers and a sentiment. I mounted it onto the card front with 1mm foam tape on the sides and bottom. I added buttons to match the button paper.

I printed the adorable little bear onto cardstock with the sentiment and coloured it with my Copics before cutting it to size and rounding the corners. I inked the edges with Spun Sugar DI and finished the bookmark with a button on a punched flower.

Visit Sandra Caldwell's Etsy shop to get yourself this adorable image so you can make a bookmark and play along too. The Bookmark Making Contest is open for another couple of weeks and Holley's fun celebrations run for the whole of February. Pop along and join in.

I've entered this in Holley's Bookmark Making Contest.

Kraftyhands February 2016 Challenge

I hope you are all enjoying a nice weekend. I'm spending mine with my gorgeous little grandson. He has grown so much since I last saw him at Christmas.

Welcome to the first challenge at Kraftyhands for 2016. We hope you will all join in with us. The challenges will be a bit different this year. We have three notable differences:

- The themes each month will now be based on a colour and shape chip. 

- You must use at least one Kraftyhands product to be eligible to be chosen as a winner.

- The lucky winner will receive a £10 voucher to use in the Kraftyhands shop.

A full set of the new rules are on the blog.

This month the theme is

"Hearts with Reds, Pinks and Creams"

As it's Valentine's Day next week I thought I'd use this theme for my lovely husband's card.

I started by printing four different papers from Kraftyhands Romantique Collection CD onto linen card. I used one of the papers, matted onto cream card, for the base then used hand drawn heart templates to cut out the three hearts and ivory coloured mats. These were placed on the card with some Cheery Lynn flourishes. All the edges were inked with Spun Sugar DI.

I printed some tickets from the CD and added them to each heart. I then created some dots with gold embossing powder.

I used X-cut dies to make a mini envelope and hearts and added a couple of tickets. I finished the card with some gems.

Please visit the  Kraftyhands Challenge Blog for a full set of the challenge rules and to view the inspirational creations from my talented team mates. This challenge runs until the end of the month. Remember to be a follower of the challenge blog to qualify for entry.

I've entered this card in the following challenges:
http://brownsugarchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/challenge-184-valentinelove.html x
http://cardmaniachallenges.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/cmc77-add-some-red.html x
http://liveandlovecrafts.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/challenge-44-love-is-in-air.html x
http://creativecornerchallenges.blogspot.de/2016/02/team-jess-happy-valentines-daylove.html x

Creative Artiste February 2016

As it's the first Friday of February, it's also the start of a new challenge at Creative Artiste We are a challenge blog for everyone who likes to mix their media. As long as you use more than one medium on your creation we'd love to see you enter the challenge. This is a month long challenge so you have time to create projects and enter up to three times. A full list of the rules is on the challenge blog. Thank you to everyone who entered Challenge #10 for January. The winner has been announced  on the blog.

The theme this month is everyone's favourite
"Anything Goes"
This month's challenge is a Team Sponsorship and the prize will be a fabulous 'crafty bundle' for the winner.

I recently bought a chalkboard for our kitchen but the colours were all wrong so I altered it to match our decor of black, white and pale wood. 

First I removed the actual blackboard (it's like a photo frame) then sanded the frame and gave it three coats of white Gesso. I decorated the top section first. To do this I cut three layers of black and white card to size then made a stencil in gold mirror card with a Tim Holtz tattered diamond die from the Mixed Media set. Using black ink and gold Frantage I created a pattern on the large white piece of card. I then matted it onto black card and attached to the top of the board.

For the smaller white panel I stamped the sentiment using a Kaisercraft stamp and stuck on the 'waste' from the die-cut stencil. I inked around the edge before fixing in place.
Then I printed a Harlequin pattern onto card and hand cut the Venetian mask. I added feathers, lace, pearls and made 3 stick pins. I attached it to the board using foam pads.

I used my stencil to create the pattern around the frame first with embossed black ink and then with clear ink and gold embossing powder. I tied a double bow and added a large pearl and diamante button. I finished off my project by cutting nesting diamond shapes for the chalk holder and replacing the blackboard.
My revamped chalkboard looks perfect in the kitchen now and is proving very useful.

Please visit the Creative Artiste Challenge Blog to see the wonderful projects created by my talented team mates. Remember to have fun and enter your "Anything Goes" mixed media creations in the challenge for a chance to win our 'crafty bundle'.

I've entered this project into the following challenges:

http://alteredeclectics.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/a-very-happy-new-year.html x
http://welove2create.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/challenge-3-anything-creative-mixed.html x
http://thatcraftplaceblog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/anything-goes-challenge-with-blog-hop.html x
http://rheddscreativespirit.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/february-challenge.html x

Crafts Galore Encore February 2016

This year seems to be flying by already but the weather doesn't appear to be getting any better. I hope you are all coping well with whatever Mother Nature is throwing at you.

 The first of February means it's time for a new challenge on the Crafts Galore Encore Challenge Blog. Thank you to everyone who joined in with January's challenge. The winners are on the challenge blog 'winner's page'. This is a month long challenge and you can enter up to three times. A full list of rules are on the challenge blog.

Our theme this month is
"Use a Digi or Stamp"
We are being sponsored by the fabulous Sherri Baldy who is offering the three digis that the team have used for the winner. This is a prize worth $12. Sherri's images can be purchased from Sherri's Etsy Store or the My Besties Shop

As it's Valentine's Day this month I chose this cute image for a romantic card with a difference.

I used an X-cut scalloped circle die to create the base with salmon pink textured card. The paper is from an LOTV pad and I added a length of lace around the top. I created the Valentine sentiment on the computer.

This delightful digi of a girl cuddling a Frog Prince is IMG803 and I coloured it with my Copics. I then cut the image out with a scalloped circle before fixing to the card with foam pads.

The flowers were made with the two smallest Tim Holtz Tattered Flowers dies and I added green pearls to the centres. The leaf dies are from Marianne and the butterfly is by Sizzix.
I made a triple bow from seam binding and finished it with a large button.
Now visit the  Crafts Galore Encore challenge blog to see the fabulous projects the team have created with Sherri's images for your inspiration.
I've added my card to the My-Besties Designs Facebook group page and

I've entered this project into the following challenges:
http://brownsugarchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/challenge-183-anything-goes.html x
http://lilpatchofcraftyfriends.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/challenge-26.html x
http://meetatthescrapperscorner.blogspot.com.au/2016/02/1st-february-my-besties-meet-at.html
http://worldwideopendesignteamchallenge.blogspot.com.au/2016/02/1st-february-2016-world-wide-open.html x
http://scrapbookstampsocietychallengeblog.blogspot.nl/2016/01/challenge-84-anything-goes-option.html x
http://mybestiesuk.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/my-besties-uk-challenge-anything-goes.html Winner
http://butterflyspotchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/47-butterflies-o-is-for-over-edge-or-u.html x