Kool Kitty Musings

Hey Little Magpie project catch-up - December

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas break. It's been pretty busy for me as not only have I spent time with family I've also got a doggy house guest and we've tried to be out in the (fleeting) good weather when possible.

I also had some work the past few days and haven't had any chance to read my book pile let alone do some crafting!

But that's ok, I have plenty of lovely product from my Christmas presents to play with in 2016.

But before we see out 2015 I thought it was time I should share my last projects of 2015 for Hey Little Magpie!

My December blog post featured the very cute Winter Wonderland collection by Pebbles Inc. All the info can be found over on the Hey Little Magpie blog. :)

Here are the cards:

Paper and ephemera: Pebbles Inc. - Winter Wonderland
Glitter paper: Heidi Swapp
Dies: Avery Elle, Mama Elephant, Lawn Fawn
Other: Distress Stickles

I really love the accompanying glittered die-cuts in this collection, so many cute details for making little winter scenes. :)

Paper: Pebbles Inc. - Winter Wonderland, Pinkfresh Studio
Sticker: Pebbles Inc. - Winter Wonderland
Dies: PTI, MFT, WPlus9
Other: glitter paper, enamel dot, 3D foam tape, Glossy Accents

I really like how the scaled down journaling cards in the 6x6 pad fit into tag dies, so handy for adding extra sentiments and text, also I found a handy greeting in a wordy paper from the Pinkfresh Xmas pad so used a speech bubble die to cut it out! :)

Oh and those fab MFT STAX stitched arch dies had another outing for a snow globe style card:

Paper: Pebbles Inc. - Winter Wonderland
Dies: MFT, Avery Elle
Stamps: Pebbles Inc. - Winter Wonderland, Lawn Fawn
Other: 3D foam tape, enamel dots, Stickles, glitter paper, Copics

 

I really like how easy the snowman stamp is to cut out, but to keep his arms intact, the best way to do it is to stamp him on the background and then separately stamp him on white cardstock, colour him in, then trim around him (chopping his arms off) then mount him on image you stamped on the background, lining his arms back up. Really effective and means that there is no white border around the stamped image. :)

Paper, glitter snowflake, and sticker: Pebbles Inc. - Winter Wonderland
Dies: Lil' Inker Designs, PTI
Stamp: PTI
Other: 3D foam tape

For a little bit of extra wintry-ness, I snipped away at this strip of striped paper to create a little tinsel meets winter scarf look! It really made the greeting stand out better on the card and was so easy to do. :)

Paper, ephemera: Pebbles Inc. - Winter Wonderland
Dies: PTI, Lil' Inker Designs
Stamps: Neat & Tangled
Other: 3D foam tape

With the busy papers like the snowmen in the background here, it's really easy to create eye-catching cards with just a few elements on them. I also wanted to mix things up a bit and use coordinating inks to stamp the greeting. Lots of purple in this collection. :)

And finally we have this card:

Paper and stickers: Pebbles Inc. - Winter Wonderland
Stamps: Neat and Tangled
Die: WPlus9
Other: enamel dots, twine, 3D foam tape

And there we have it, a cute way to use up all those mitten stickers! :)

I've got plenty of elements left over from this collection, especially lots of glittery snowflakes, so will be putting them to good use for my Christmas cards in 2016.

I hope you have a lovely NYE celebration tonight and a very crafting 2016!

Pebbles - Winter Wonderland - 6x6" Paper Pad	Pebbles - Winter Wonderland - Glittered Stickers - Icons	Pebbles - Winter Wonderland - Clear Acrylic Stamp - Snowman	Pebbles - Winter Wonderland - Die Cut Ephemera
Pebbles - Winter Wonderland - Die Cut Glitter Snowflakes	Heidi Swapp - Marquee Love - 8.5" x 8.5" Glitter Paper Pad	Avery Elle - Season's Greetings ELLE-ments dies	Mama Elephant - Landscape Trio stitched border dies
Lawn Fawn - Forest border die	Pinkfresh Studio - Christmas Wishes - 6x6" Paper Collection Pack	MFT - Die-Namics Stitched Arch STAX	Papertrey Ink - Tremendous Tags die
WPlus9 - Conversation Bubbles dies	Papertrey Ink - In the Meadow Die Collection (set of 2)	My Mind's Eye - Christmas on Market Street - Enamel dots	MFT - First Place Award Ribbon dies
Lawn Fawn - Deck the Halls stamp set	Lil' Inker Designs - Stitched Mats: Circles die set	Papertrey Ink - Tag Sale #10 die set	Papertrey Ink - Phrase Play #6 stamp set
Neat & Tangled - Winter Wishes stamp set	Papertrey Ink - Double-ended banners dies	Lil' Inker Designs - Stitched Mats: Rectangles die set

InLinkz.com

 

 

Over on the Hey Little Magpie blog - December projects

I have a flurry of new card projects over on the Hey Little Magpie blog today using this really cute collection by Pebbles! Snowmen, penguins and snowflakes abound!

Sneaky peek...

My last projects of 2015 for Hey Little Magpie will be coming to the store blog tomorrow! I hope you can pop along and see Mr Fox and his friends! :D

Hey Little Magpie project catch-up - November

A few weeks ago I shared a new round of festive card ideas over on the Hey Little Magpie blog that featured some lovely papers and embellishments by Basic Grey - their Juniper Berry collection has to be one of my favourite Basic Grey releases of late, plus the B-side collection includes a couple of very handy neutral papers that mix well with the festive tones of Juniper Berry.

Here are the card projects I made:

Paper: Basic Grey - Juniper Berry
Ephemera tag: Basic Grey - Juniper Berry
Heart die: Lawn Fawn
Other: twine, enamel dot, 3D foam tape, 3D glitter paint

The wood/natural patterns in this line are a great complement to the more colourful designs and accents. I used one of the journaling cards from the cut-apart 12x12 sheet of paper for my greeting and just dressed it up with a few accents, including dots of 3D glitter paint on the Ys.

For this next card I used one of the papers from B-side which I thought looked a bit like down falling on a wintry night sky:

 

Paper: Basic Grey - Juniper Berry, B-side
Ephemera tag: Basic Grey - Juniper Berry
Stamp: WPlus9
Dies: Lawn Fawn, WPklus9, PTI, Lil' Inker Designs
Other: enamel dot, 3D foam tape, Copic pens

These cute designs together (especially the polar bear design) totally made me reach for the lovely Holiday Hugs stamp and die set by WPlus9 - the style of illustration is just a great match for these papers.

One of my favourite papers in the collection may seem unremarkable, but it's like the ninja warrior of this collection! The green striped paper is great for die-cutting trees as in the bear card, for use on large areas of your background, or for cutting holly leaves. The two tones of green bring die-cuts to life and make them really pop!

Paper: Basic Grey - Juniper Berry
Ephemera and sticker: Basic Grey - Juniper Berry
Die: PTI
Other: enamel dots, 3D foam tape, Distress Inks

I love that woodland scene - so bright and cheerful and a really busy pattern that needs a bit of contrast. To make the scallops stand out more I added 3D foam tape under that bottom edge.

Next is a milestone card... why is it a milestone? Well, see that Santa hat? It is from a set of Jolee's Boutique stickers I bought over 10 years ago and finally, finally have put it to use on something rather apt:

Paper: Basic Grey - Juniper Berry
Sticker: Basic Grey - Juniper Berry
Santa hat: Jolee's Boutique
Dies: Lil' Inker Designs
Other: enamel dots, 3D foam tape

This is definitely one of those cards that I'll be giving in person! :D

Next up more cuteness!

Paper: Basic Grey - Juniper Berry, B-side
Ephemera: Basic Grey - Juniper Berry
Stamps: Lawn Fawn, Avery Elle
Dies: Lawn Fawn, Lil' Inker Designs
Other: enamel dots, 3D foam tape, Copic pens 

I just love how versatile that aqua dotty paper is for making lovely little winter and Christmas scenes. Such a nice backdrop to that hill of wintry trees I created with the Lawn Fawn border die.

This next card shows the green striped paper in holly leaf mode:

Paper: Basic Grey - Juniper Berry
Ephemera: Basic Grey - Juniper Berry
Dies: Avery Elle, Lil' Inker Designs, Paper Smooches
Other: twine, 3D foam tape, jingle bells, vellum

I dressed up the frame and sentiment from the ephemera pack with with some festive holly leaves and berries, a snowflake cut from vellum and some jingle bells for extra merriment.

This next card is a bit of a contrast as it uses the more subtle papers and designs from B-Side and Juniper Berry:

Paper: Basic Grey - Juniper Berry, B-side
Ephemera: Basic Grey - Juniper Berry
Other: enamel dots, 3D foam tape, Stickles 

I added a pop of sparkle to those neutral subtle tones with Stickles and gold enamel dots and then it was good to go!

Finally I die-cut some stars from some of the left-over piece on my desk to make this tag:

Paper: Basic Grey - Juniper Berry, B-side
Ephemera: Basic Grey - Juniper Berry
Dies: PTI
Other: twine

I think it would make a great decoration for a wine bottle on the Christmas dinner table. :D

Well that's it for the catch-up - below are the products I used:

 

Basic Grey - Juniper Berry - Cardstock & Vellum Die-Cuts	Basic Grey - Juniper Berry - 5x12" Cardstock Element Stickers	Basic Grey - Juniper Berry - Journaling Cards Paper	Basic Grey - Juniper Berry - Garland Paper
Basic Grey - Juniper Berry - Lump Of Coal Paper	Basic Grey - Juniper Berry - Jolly Bear Paper	Basic Grey - Juniper Berry - Balsam Paper	Basic Grey - Juniper Berry - Good Cheer Paper
Basic Grey - Juniper Berry - Reindeer Games Paper	Basic Grey - Juniper Berry - Merrily Paper	Basic Grey - Juniper Berry - Rooftop Paper	Basic Grey - Juniper Berry - Holly Jolly Paper
Basic Grey - Juniper Berry - Workshop Paper	Basic Grey - Juniper Berry - No Peeking Paper	Basic Grey - B-Side - Maybe Paper	Basic Grey - B-Side - Stellar Paper
My Mind's Eye - Christmas on Market Street - Enamel dots	Lawn Fawn - Hearts dies	Hemptique natural hemp cord	WPlus9 - Holiday Hugs stamps set
WPlus9 - Holiday Hugs dies	Lawn Fawn - Large stitched journaling card	Lil' Inker Designs - Stitched Mats: Circles die set	Papertrey Ink - In the Meadow die set
Papertrey Ink - Medium scallop border die	Lil' Inker Designs - Stitched Mats: Rectangles die set	Lawn Fawn - Snow Day stamps	Lawn Fawn - Snow Day dies
Lawn Fawn - Forest border die	Avery Elle - Noel stamps	Lil' Inker Designs - Holly Jolly dies	Avery Elle - Noel ELLE-ments dies
Paper Smooches - Stitched dies	Papertrey Ink - Seeing Stars die collection (set of 3)

InLinkz.com

 

 

 

 

 

Joyeux Noel and greetings from around the world!

This week over on the Daring Cardmakers blog Lythan has come up with a lovely challenge - to make a card that features a language other than the one you use everyday.

It perfectly reflects the global nature of the online crafting community - we may be separated by physical distance and sometimes language barriers, but we all share the same love of this craft.

Now, I really could have done with making a card in Polish, but I don't have any Christmas greeting stamps in Polish (they'd be pretty handy it has to be said!) and my printer doesn't cope well with paper/card going through it so it was down to sticking with some international greetings I had in my stamp collection, and the only one I have is for Joyeux Noel.

Paper: Pinkfresh Studio
Stamps: Avery Elle, PTI
Die: Paper Smooches
Other: enamel dots

It's a very simple card (and much flatter than my usual creations) but I just loved the sparse and subtle imagery combined with this greeting - peace be still is the PTI stamp set the Joyeux comes from and it is so apt for that winter scene. All I did was add a stitched edge with my trusty Paper Smooches, a bit of stamping and some enamel dots. :)

But anyway, I was determined to use something from the lovely Simon Says Stamp December card kit which arrived earlier in the week:

And the paper is what got put to use first! :D

Anyway, definitely check out the blog for more interpretations of this dare!

And in the meantime here are some festive snaps from around the house - I'm still not quite in the festive spirit, perhaps it's because I haven't got my copy of the Radio Times yet! Must get to the shop and get one when when I visit the post office for stamps!

This year's calendar is a bit of a luxury one thanks to my mum! Lindor goodness!

Ma and I had a bit of fun with our new Santa plates from Next:

Peekaboo!

The perfect way to enjoy those lovely Christmas cake cupcakes my friend Claire's mum baked - super tasty!

Then the decking of the halls got underway - only have snaps of my mantelpiece so far:

My new glass dome ornament there - it wasn't exactly cheap but I love how tall it is.

I actually forgot how many glass dome ornaments I had - which was a lovely surprise when unwrapping the baubles.

It meant I could dedicate the mantelpiece to glass dome ornaments and...

My Heidi Swapp marquee light plus little red accents dotted about (love my toadstool baubles).

And the bottlebrush trees from Debenhams sale a few years ago have finally made it to the mantelpiece. :)

I have also made a start on the wrapping, one gift down...

 

Pinkfresh Studio - Christmas Wishes - 6x6" Paper Collection Pack	Avery Elle - Noel stamps	Papertrey Ink - Peace Be Still stamp set	Paper Smooches - Stitched dies
My Mind's Eye - Christmas on Market Street - Enamel dots	Hero Arts - Charcoal mid-tone shadow ink

InLinkz.com

So this happened!!!

What an amazing surprise it was to get a shout out for not just one card, but two on the Lil' Inker Designs blog for You Made It Monday #3!

I was totally amazed and pretty over the moon. :D

Anyone who visits my blog or sees my cards floating about on Instagram and Flickr will know that I use that tree die from the Holly Jolly die set a lot. Like A LOT!

Especially because you can do some pretty cool things with it and it always looks fresh.

I love it so! And I have some other "unsung" heroes in my Lil' Inker die collection that get used a lot especially on holiday cards:

Lil' Inker Designs - Holly Jolly dies	Lil' Inker Desings - Jolly word die	Lil' Inker Designs - Snowflake dies	Lil' Inker Designs - Instant Camera die
Lil' Inker Designs - Stitched Mats: Circles die set	Lil' Inker Designs - Stitched Mats: Rectangles die set

InLinkz.com

I especially cannot do without the instant camera die and stitched circles and rectangles - I use them on almost every other card I make.

The other card that got featured was one where I used that fab Jolly word die on a card I made in July last year - it must have been one gloomy summer as the photo for it came out so dark. LOL

But here is the glittery Jolly die in all its glory complete with some holly from the Holly Jolly dies:

So all in all, a very happy Monday night.

Thanks again to Laura at Lil' Inker Designs for the shout out! I look forward to more crafting with your lovely products!

 

December inspiration

I can hardly believe we're in December right now, I am still not quite on the festive bandwagon, but I am slowly but surely getting there.

This week on the Daring Cardmakers blog we have our last elemental inspiration dare of 2015!

Dawn picked this lovely photo for us to use:

The three elements I chose to focus on were the wreath, bells, and the wood:

Paper: Basic Grey
Stamps: WPlus9, PTI
Dies: WPlus9, PTI, Lawn Fawn
Other: enamel dots, Stickles, baker's twine, bells, 3D foam tape

I do love a bit of 2 and 3-step stamping and I used a couple of sets by WPlus9 to do the wreath and sprigs. The inks are all PTI dye inks, so it's nice to see how their colours go together quite well for this style of stamping.

As always there is lots of lovely inspiration on the blog from the rest of the design team, so pop on over and join in! :)

Happy crafting!

Basic Grey - Juniper Berry - Rooftop Paper	Basic Grey - Juniper Berry - No Peeking Paper	WPlus9 - Woodland Wreaths stamps	WPlus9 - Woodland Wreaths dies
WPlus9 - Merry & Bright stamps	WPlus9 - Merry & Bright dies	Lawn Fawn - Stitched journaling card	Papertrey Ink - Stylish Sentiments: Holiday Stamp Set
Papertrey Ink - Double-ended banners dies	Simple Stories - DIY Christmas - Enamel Dots

InLinkz.com

Something stencilled

This week over on the Daring Cardmakers blog our dare is sponsored by the very generous Caroline over at Bubbly Funk, a UK store specialising in stencils - not only did the design team get to pick a stencil to play with for this challenge, but there's also a fantastic prize up for grabs if you join in!

The stencil I went for was this one from Hero Arts called Bubble Confetti:

I thought it would work great for Christmas backgrounds, but also some everyday cards too!

Oh and it gave me ideas for using a rainbow of colours:

Stencil: Hero Arts - Bubble Confetti
Glitter paper: Heidi Swapp
Dies: WPlus9, Avery Elle, Lil' Inker Designs, PTI
Enamel dots: Teresa Collins
Other: 3D foam tape, twine

I originally intended to use texture paste to create a snowy background... then I thought about simply blending a few shades of Distress Ink in to create an ombre look... but in the end I wanted to add colour to individual rows of bubbles and did just that!

I washi-taped the stencil down onto a piece of white cardstock and used little pompoms I had in the drawer from the days of chalking trends to apply 7 different shades of dye ink row by row. I masked off the adjacent rows with post-it notes and tape to make sure the ink from the other rows did not bleed in when blending the next colour. It also made it easier to clean off the remaining ink with a tissue as I went.

I couldn't help but go for a rainbow background and the glitter paper for the die-cuts really helped lift them off the card a bit more.

There are some really creative ideas and techniques from the design team over on the blog so check them out along with the fab prize!

Hero Arts - Bubble Confetti stencil	Heidi Swapp - Marquee Love - 8.5" x 8.5" Glitter Paper Pad	Lil' Inker Designs - Stitched Mats: Rectangles die set	Avery Elle - Custom Panels Elle-ments dies
Papertrey Ink - Phrase Play #6 stamp set	Papertrey Ink - Tag Sale #10 die set	WPlus9 - Happy trio dies	WPlus9 - Whole Lotta' Happy dies
Teresa Collins - Family Stories enamel dots	Hemptique natural hemp cord

InLinkz.com

Over on the Hey Little Magpie blog - November projects

Over on the Hey Little Magpie blog today I've got some brand new Christmas card projects featuring the lovely papers and other elements from Basic Grey's Juniper Berry release.

Hope you check it out! :D

Anything but a card eh?

...the alternative title to this post could have been Nat vs. Mica flakes...

Or Nat defeated by Mica flakes...

Or Glue: you can never leave it enough time to dry!

But no, this week's dare over on the Daring Cardmakers blog came from Dawn and is a great opportunity to get crafting on anything that is NOT a card.

I immediately had something in mind. A few somethings actually.

They were hiding in a box and had waited 2 and a bit years to be used.

Namely this glass dome ornament by Melissa Frances ready for altering:

And these mini bottle brush trees from the same range:

Oh and of course, a lot of Mica flakes by Melissa Frances.

So, here is my end result. Apologies for the less than clear photo, but I will explain how shabby chic altered crafting really is not my jam in a moment!

I suppose the end result is quite atmospheric, there's definitely a blizzard going on under the dome there.

But the making of this little ornament started last Saturday when I painted one side of the base in Martha Stewart off cream acrylic paint and left it to dry before applying the paint to the other side of the cardboard base. Then it was time to paint both sides with Tattered Angels Chandelier glimmer paint for a little sparkle to the plain cream finish.

Sunday I applied Glossy Accents to the entire top of the base and dumped a small mountain of Martha Stewart crystal coarse glitter on it and pushed the little crystals down and into the Glossy Accents.

I also stamped and cut the little Fa-la-la banner and applied silver Stickles to most of it and left it to dry.

Come Monday evening it was time to remove the excess glitter from the base and see how things were looking.

Not bad!

Next I fixed the cream and pink bottle brush trees to the base with liquid glue and applied a puddle shape of Scrappy Glue (I swear the formula for this must have changed since I bought it in 2012 as it was seriously runny even after shaking well) around the trees but so it was still well within the circle of the dome.

I spooned mica flakes over the puddle, pushed down on them a bit to make sure they surrounded the tree bases and left to dry over night again.

Tuesday I was trying to get my banner to look a bit more altered, so out came the Glossy Accents to dip the edges in rock candy Distress glitter and left it to dry.

Well, after that dried it looked a heck of a lot worse, so out came some Platinum Stickles to be added into the vintage glitter mix!

Tuesday evening I removed the excess mica flakes and added glue in places where it needed topping up. The Scrappy Glue had dried to a white puddle - not clear - but it gave the illusion of a snowy scene under all the mica and contrasted against the cream base.

Wednesday morning after getting rid of the excess Mica, I glued the banner to the trees and added some dashes of Glossy Accents and spooned over more mica flakes so some would catch on the banner.

Wednesday evening it was finally time to attach the base and glass dome. The glue I used for that was deemed suitable for glass and has extremely strong hold, so good idea I thought!

I held the dome upside down and spooned some more mica flakes as I wanted to have a lot of loose mica in there that would be a bit like a snow globe, minus the water. I held the base in place with my hand between spoonfuls to get more or less the right amount of snow in there and when I was happy I applied glue to the glass rim and just a little inside the rim so that once I placed the base on the upside down dome the mica flakes inside the dome would stick around the seal.

As you can see in the photo I took yesterday afternoon (ugh the only day with direct sunlight and preventing easy photo taking!) the glue is still drying and that also meant some condensation inside the dome and the mica flakes have stuck to it.

But hey, it is looking a little blizzard like in there.

I'm hoping come Christmas the glue around the glass dome will have finally dried clear - or less white...

We'll see!

But yes, I have two little Melissa Frances chipboard houses that can be decorated with the remaining bottle brush tress, mica, glue, glitter - the whole shebang! But I think I will leave those for another year!

My hat is well and truly off to anyone who has the patience for altering on this level - I am sure they manage it a lot faster and more neatly, but I am barely capable of leaving a Stickled project alone without prodding it to check if it has dried yet, let alone something that might require 24 hours drying time between layers. ;)

Anyway, enough about this project! Head on over to the Daring Cardmakers blog and check out the lovely non-card creations by the rest of the team! :)

Happy crafting!

 

 

Hey Little Magpie project catch-up - October projects

It's about time I shared the card projects I made for the Hey Little Magpie blog last month. :)

I picked out a mix of papers and embellishments from three collections to get my Christmas cardmaking started:

• Elle's Studio - Joyful
• My Mind's Eye - Christmas on Market Street
• My Mind's Eye - Cozy Christmas

The full details for all the cards can be found via the blog link above. :) On with the photos!

First up the cards using Elle's Studio Joyful - I just loved this collection. All my favourite colours for Christmas - the traditional reds and greens mixed in with vibrant pink and aqua tones.

Paper: Elle's Studio
Sentiment: Elle's Studio
Dies: Lil' Inker Designs
Other: 3D foam tape

I absolutely love using the Lil' Inker tree die for this technique - and it looks even nicer with this bright and bold shades.

Another cool die technique is making dimensional stars with regular star dies:

Paper: Elle's Studio
Ephemera: Elle's Studio
Dies: PTI, Mama Elephant
Enamel dot: MME
Other: 3D foam tape

Even with small star die cuts you can really make them stand out.

Finally this card using Joyful features another favourite Christmas colour of late - grey!

Paper: Elle's Studio
Ephemera: Elle's Studio
Die: Mama Elephant
Enamel dot: MME
Other: 3D foam tape

The tag and heart were from the ephemera pack and worked great as a greeting.

Next there were a couple of random papers I picked for some festive projects.

Paper: Simple Stories, Crate Paper, Elle's Studio, Simple Stories
Stamps: Neat & Tangled
Die: Spellbinders
Sentiment: MME Christmas on Market Street ephemera pack
Other: 3D foam tape

The night sky is actually a Halloween paper by Crate Paper. I thought it would look nice as a background to the snow globe look using my favourite Neat & Tangled stamp set. :)

These next projects use papers, journaling cards, and ephemera from the two MME collections.

Paper: MME
Ephemera: MME
Enamel dot: MME
Other: 3D foam tape

I think the Christmas on Market Street papers are nicely balanced with light grey as a neutral tone.

Journaling cards: MME
Ephemera: MME
Dies: Lil' Inker Designs, PTI
Other: 3D foam tape

I used two Christmas on Market Street journaling cards as "paper" and used a Lil' Inker Designs stitched rectangle die for a little contrast. The sentiment and candy canes are from the Cozy Christmas ephemera pack.

Paper: MME - Christmas on Market Street
Ephemera: MME - Cozy Christmas
Other: 3D foam tape

I really like this B-side pattern - a great neutral background to bright pops of red and darker greens.

Then there's this busier floral paper in the Christmas on Market Street collection:

Paper, journaling card, ephemera, enamel dots: MME - Christmas on Market Street
Die: Lawn Fawn
Other: 3D foam tape

I die-cut the journaling card down with a Lawn Fawn die to get the stitched border and simply added a banner from the ephemera pack behind it to make it stand out more.

This next card uses some paper from last year and a 6x4 journaling card used as paper:

Paper: Pink Paislee
Journaling card, ephemera, enamel dots: MME
Other: 3D foam tape

There's a fair bit of layering and concealing on this card and those large enamel dots work as great berries. :)

Finally I used one of the 6x4 journaling cards as a sentiment:

Paper, ephemera, journaling card, enamel dots: MME
Die: PTI
Other: 3D foam tape

I cut the floral ephemera apart so that it could be popped under the journaling card in places.

Here's everything I used:

Elle's Studio - Joyful - Bits and Pieces (with vellum die cuts)	Elle's Studio - Joyful - A Merry Little Christmas Paper	Elle's Studio - Joyful - Shine Bright Paper	Elle's Studio - Joyful - Warm and Cozy Paper
Elle's Studio - Joyful - It's Snowing Paper	Elle's Studio - Joyful - Countdown Paper	Elle's Studio - Joyful - Celebrate Paper	Elle's Studio - Joyful - Making a List Paper
Elle's Studio - Joyful - Christmas Tree Paper	My Mind's Eye - Christmas on Market Street - Holly Boughs Paper	My Mind's Eye - Christmas on Market Street - Merry & Bright Foiled Paper	My Mind's Eye - Christmas on Market Street - Mixed Bag Cardstock Die-Cuts
My Mind's Eye - Christmas on Market Street - 3x4" & 4x6" Journalling Cards	My Mind's Eye - Christmas on Market Street - Enamel dots	My Mind's Eye - Cozy Christmas - Mixed Bag Cardstock Die-Cuts	Simple Stories - Claus & Co - Red Stripe/Stars Simple Basic Paper
Crate Paper - After Dark - Pumpkin Paper	Pink Paislee - Merry & Bright - Tis The Season Paper	Simple Stories - December Documented - Blue Snowflake/Chevron paper	Lil' Inker Designs - Instant Camera die
Lil' Inker Designs - Holly Jolly dies	Mama Elephant - Dainty bow die	Papertrey Ink - Tag Sale #10 die set	Papertrey Ink - Seeing Stars die collection (set of 3)
Neat & Tangled - Winter Wishes stamp set	Spellbinders - Nestabilities - Standard circles large	Lil' Inker Designs - Stitched Mats: Rectangles die set	Papertrey Ink - Sending You Die Collection (set of 2)
Lawn Fawn - Stitched journaling card	Papertrey Ink - Pinking Shears border die

InLinkz.com

 

 

 

 

 

Cuddly creatures

This week over on the Daring Cardmakers blog it was my turn to set the challenge. :)

I've been inspired by the very many lovely stamp sets that have been popping up in my Instagram and Feedly feeds and well, at least one of them made it to my shopping cart!

Yep, those lovely pandas, bunnies and bears from Mama Elephant, WPlus9 and many other companies just make me smile and I'm sure they'd make whoever receives a card featuring them very happy too. :)

So the challenge this week is to feature cuddly creatures on your card, with extra gold stars if you manage to include a hug on there in the imagery or the greeting.

The design team really came up with some nice cards, and the cuddly creatures don't necessarily have to be your typical kind - Svenja featured some great little monsters on hers.

Me on the other hand.... I have my lovely Holiday Hugs stamp and die set from WPlus9 its first outing. :)

Paper: Basic Grey
Stamps: WPlus9
Dies: WPlus9, Lil' Inker Designs, PTI, Paper Smooches, Sizzix
Other: Copic markers, enamel dots, 3D foam tape

I also finally took out my Basic Grey Juniper Berry papers plus this great grey woodgrain paper from the B-Side collection that goes perfectly with it. Now that image is a happy hug!

Also in a roundabout way, the card layout and composition was very much based as a jumping off point on the November card challenge Pinspiration prompt:

I was inspired by the winter snowglobe look, there's the dotty aqua background, the woodland scene, the bear's scarf like a banner, the mica flecks look a bit like the pink dots of the paper that I used to stamp the sentiment, there's a scallop edge, plus some woodgrain.

Not all that far off, but yep, that image definitely kick-started some ideas in my head that got me to that final card.

Anyway, just one more prompt for November - there's actually I chance I will get all three prompts made this month!

That's it for now, do pop on over to the Daring Cardmakers blog and if you have chance, play along! :D

Happy crafting!

Basic Grey - B-Side - Maybe Paper	Basic Grey - Juniper Berry - No Peeking Paper	Basic Grey - Juniper Berry - Workshop Paper	Basic Grey - Juniper Berry - Balsam Paper
WPlus9 - Holiday Hugs stamps set	WPlus9 - Holiday Hugs dies	Lil' Inker Designs - Stitched Mats: Circles die set	Papertrey Ink - In the Meadow die set
Paper Smooches - Stitched dies	Crate Paper - Wonder - Enamel Dots & Sequins

InLinkz.com

 

You're the apple of my pie!

I recently took delivery of my November card kit from Simon Says Stamp.

And I thought with this change of weather we've just had (hard to believe this time last week it was 16 degrees C and I was wandering around the Metrocentre sweltering in a cardi!) it was time for a little autumnal detour before more Christmas cards.

Along with wanting to make my first card with the kit, I really wanted to use the sketch for this month's 2015 card challenge that I posted on the 1st, here's a reminder of what it was:

My card isn't an exact match, but it was definitely inspired by the sketch:

Paper: Pebbles Inc.
Cardstock: American Crafts
Die-cut ephemera: Pebbles Inc.
Dies: Lil' Inker Designs, Lawn Fawn
Stamp: Simon Says Stamp
Other: white embossing powder, 3D foam tape

 

I had this woodgrain cardstock lurking in my stash and it went so well with the other items in the kit that I had to use it. :)

I also seem to be moving towards using white embossing powder more often - OK, so it's been two cards in a row, but that's more than I made last year with white embossing powder. The one I have is by Personal Impressions and is over 10 years old now so wondering if I need to get a better one that is a bit more white... depends how much I use white embossing powder in the near future I guess!

I also have a few pics to share from Instagram, well I've not been up to much that's exciting and pic-worthy of late, but I did go out for cocktails and lunch a one Monday not so long ago - if all Mondays could be like that I wouldn't mind!

There was also a trip to the nearby illuminations on what had to have been the warmest October evening ever - I kinda wished I'd not been wearing a jumper under my coat.

I suggested a trip on the Ferris wheel.

And although it looked a lot bigger once we were stood in the queue, I didn't think my fear of heights would manifest itself - surely not when I only get uncomfortable when too near an edge or seeing a long drop under me...

Well I am kinda glad I had the view I had and not the one where you see how far you are going up and when you are about to reach the top. I'm happy to report others were much happier with the height, but I will stick to carousels as my adrenalin rush fairground ride of choice!

Also in the land of the bizarre, unicorns seem to be a real fixture in Christmas displays this year as well as Christmas decoration installations you can buy and take home.

This guy was first spotted in TK Maxx:

And I have since seen 3 other similarly life-sized unicorns in other stores since then.

All I was looking for was a new bauble to add to my collection this year (I have found one new decoration so far, after visiting 10 or so stores with no luck of finding something truly new and worthy of the price tag) - Mr Unicorn is no longer in TK Maxx so must have found a new home. I would have loved to have seen how his new family got him from the store to their front door!

Well that's it for now, best get off the PC and zoom round to my mum and dad's for Sunday dinner!

Simon Says Stamp Card Kit of the Month November 2015	American Crafts - 12x12" Woodgrain Textured Cardstock - Chestnut	Pebbles - Front Porch - Breezy paper	Lil' Inker Designs - Stitched Mats: Circles die set
Lawn Fawn - Hearts dies

InLinkz.com

November inspiration challenge

We've reached the first Friday of a new month, so we have a great new inspiration photo over on the Daring Cardmakers blog today to play along with.

Gez chose this cool image:

There are lots of cool and trendy ways you could go with that image - I love the rainbow colours mixed in with the black background, but since I needed to add another card to my Christmas card production line for this year I went in a different direction!

You need to feature 3 elements from the photo and interpret them on your card, colours are counted as 1 element:

Paper: Elle's Studio, Simple Stories
Stamps: PTI, WPlus9
Dies: Lil' Inker Designs
Other: enamel dots, 3D foam tape

I went ahead and took the chalkboard painted black wall as my main inspiration - I wanted to replicate the look of a chalkboard for my sentiments, so out came a favourite technique Betsy Veldman shared a while ago on one of PTI's Make it Monday videos. The other elements are a dash of pink in the patterned papers and a little heart.

There are some fantastic card ideas that were inspired by this month's challenge photo, so definitely pop on over to the blog and play along! :)

Elle's Studio - Joyful - Shine Bright Paper	Simple Stories - December Documented - Chalkboard Snowflake/Chevron paper	My Mind's Eye - Christmas on Market Street - Enamel dots	Papertrey Ink - Peace, Love & Joy mini stamp set
Lil' Inker Designs - Stitched Mats: Rectangles die set	Lil' Inker Designs - Holly Jolly dies

InLinkz.com

Head on over to the Hey Little Magpie blog today...

To see how I'm kicking off my 2015 Christmas card production line! Full details are here on the blog. :)

Tempting Treats

Over on the Daring Cardmakers blog this week we're sharing some tempting treats on our cards. :)

I had an idea that I was wanting to go with, but it didn't work out so instead I was just pushing around left-over bits and bobs from other projects and made a couple of cards that kinda qualify for the task at hand.

Paper: Dear Lizzy
Dies: PTI
Stamp: PTI
Other: enamel dots, 3D foam tape

This card kinda alludes to a birthday cake, but really there was need for something a bit more obvious.

Enter an actual cupcake!

Paper: Jen Hadfield - Pebbles Inc, Crate Paper
Standout stickers: Crate Paper
Dies: PTI
Stamp: PTI
Other: 3D foam tape

Two very simple offerings, but they get the job done. :D

Pop on over to the Daring Cardmakers blog here for more tasty treats!

American Crafts - Dear Lizzy Fine & Dandy - 12x12" Paper Pad	Papertrey Ink - Phrase Play #6 die	Papertrey Ink - Phrase Play #6 stamp set	Papertrey Ink - Tag Sale #10 die set
Simple Stories - Life Documented - Enamel Dots	Pebbles - Jen Hadfield DIY Home - Soft Blue Classic Paper	Crate Paper - Poolside - Lawn Chair Paper	Crate Paper - Maggie Holmes Confetti - Standouts Layered Embellishments
Papertrey Ink - Phrase Play #5 die	Papertrey Ink - Phrase Play #5 stamp set

InLinkz.com

Thank you for the (festive) music!

Welcome to another Friday and another new challenge over on the Daring Cardmakers blog!

This week we're celebrating music, and well... I really needed to get into the festive mood for cardmaking (the struggle is real right now!) so I popped on some Christmas music and decided to make a festive card for this dare.

The paper I've chosen was the last bit piece of the sheet from an October Afternoon collection, and it has verses of carols in some of the dots, and well I love a sentiment set where the sentiments are also from Christmas carols and songs.

Paper: October Afternoon
Dies: Lil' Inker Designs, MFT, PTI, Lawn Fawn
Stamp: WPlus9
Enamel dots: Basic Grey
Other: 3D foam tape

I couldn't quite find the right background for the little Christmas tree, and in the end I re-purposed the packaging from a set of Elle's Studio Christmas die-cuts I bought last year as it was the perfect "snowy scene" and a lot more interesting than boring old white. I also don't think I will ever get over how cute this tree die by Lil' Inker Designs is - I use it so much on Christmas cards.

Remember to pop on over to the Daring Cardmakers blog to see the musical masterpieces the design team have come up with - there are some really, really creative card ideas!

Happy weekend!

October Afternoon - Make It Merry - Make a Figgy Pudding	WPlus9 - Strictly Sentiments 6 stamps	Papertrey Ink - Sprial Notebook Page die	Lawn Fawn - Hearts dies
Lil' Inker Designs - Holly Jolly dies	MFT - First Place Award Ribbon dies	Basic Grey - Candy Buttons - Aqua/Green enamel dots

InLinkz.com

By day she works with a lot of words...

...but at night, she dusts off her paper trimmer and gets down to some crafty business!

 

<or you know... spends a lot of time on Pinterest... whatever..>

 

<same thing>

 

This week on the Daring Cardmakers blog the lovely Miri is back with another dare, this time challenging us to create a card inspired by what we do when we're not crafting.

And well, that would be the day job that goes towards funding the crafting habit!

So by day I work as a freelance translator it involves a few of the things depicted here:

Paper: MME - My Story
Journaling cards: MME - My Story
Stamps: Simon Says Stamp
Die: Simon Says Stamp
Other: Enamel dot, 3D foam tape

So yea, I do a lot of typing (thankfully at my PC and not on a typewriter, although sometimes you can't beat a typewriter for some things), I look up a lot of stuff (although rarely in print dictionaries any more), and I definitely, definitely wear my glasses to do it all!

So yep, this was the first card I actually made with my October Simon Says Stamp kit - I even managed to use one of the stamps from the set for this month and stamped it and a couple of hearts onto one of the books on the journaling card. The butterfly is also a cut-out from one of the other journaling cards in the kit.

I have to say this was a very fun dare, and even more fun was seeing what the cards from my fellow team mates revealed about them! So definitely pop along to the blog to check out their cards and play along with us! :)

Simon Says Stamp Card Kit of the Month October 2015 HERE'S LOOKING AT YOU CKOct15	My Mind's Eye - My Story - 6x6" Paper Pad	My Mind's Eye - My Story - 3x4" Journalling Cards	Simon Says Stamp - I See You stamp set
Simon Says Stamp - Painted Hello die	My Mind's Eye - Kate & Co - Cambridge Court - Enamel Dots

InLinkz.com

Sending you birthday wishes

I had a bit of a creative moment one evening this week and made another card with the October Simon Says Stamp card kit while watching the last episode of the Hairy Bikers on their Baltic Adventure.

It definitely didn't come out how I thought but I also wanted to give some of my new PTI goodies an outing too:

Paper: MME - My Story
Dies: PTI, Lawn Fawn
Stamp: PTI
Other: 3D foam tape, black Stickles, enamel dot

I used cardstock from the kit for the Phrase Play die but the pimento red was a bit too dark, so I swapped it out with pink cardstock for the frame to better match the papers.

My Tombo liquid glue also had a bit of an explosion coming out of the bottle, must have been an air bubble but it just went everywhere so I will definitely be using something else to stick those letters down next time!

Anyway, that's it for tonight's little crafty share...

But I have in my possession some lovely new must-have festive items for Christmas 2015:

I now just need my brain to engage and embrace the Christmas productivity mindset!

Here's hoping! ;)

Simon Says Stamp Card Kit of the Month October 2015 HERE'S LOOKING AT YOU CKOct15	My Mind's Eye - My Story - 6x6" Paper Pad	Papertrey Ink - Small scallop border die	Papertrey Ink - Phrase Play #6 die
Papertrey Ink - Phrase Play #6 stamp set	Lawn Fawn - Hearts dies

InLinkz.com

Back to kit crafting

So along with my little PTI splurge the other week I also decided to fill the kit void that I've felt for a bit.

It's been a while since I subscribed to any kit - especially a card kit. I remember the happy days of the Self-Addressed cardmaking kit, those were fab kits and then when those kits finished I switched to some scrapping kits until they just didn't do it for me any more.

So it's been a good few years since I had a regular craft delivery to my door every month where I didn't choose the contents and there was an element of surprise. :)

I finally took the plunge and signed up for the Simon Says Stamp monthly card kit starting with the October kit:

I got to play with it yesterday for a card I'll share later in the week, but I also needed to make a flat card for posting to Poland - so enter the kit for a very simple creation because anything that has to stay flat feels to me like it needs to be simple!

Paper and journaling card: MME - My Story
Stamps: PTI, Simon Says Stamp
Other: enamel heart

I cannot tell you how hard it was to resist the urge to bring out the 3D foam tape for a bit of dimension, but hopefully this card will make it to the recipient without any issues. :)

Simon Says Stamp Card Kit of the Month October 2015 HERE'S LOOKING AT YOU CKOct15	My Mind's Eye - My Story - 6x6" Paper Pad	My Mind's Eye - My Story - 3x4" Journalling Cards	Papertrey Ink - Phrase Play #6 stamp set
Simon Says Stamp - I See You stamp set	My Mind's Eye - Just Sayin' - Enamel Dots

InLinkz.com

World Cardmaking Day fun

So, I feel like it's been a while since I made anything that wasn't for assignments or a specific occasion and well, Christmas is soon upon us and I am not sure my mega Christmas card efforts of last year will see me through Christmas 2015, so really it's time to get started on some festive projects!

Enter this month's Throwback Thursday challenge over on the WPlus9 blog - I was reminded of one of my favourite little festive purchases the Pretty Patches: Tree stamps and die set.

I twinned the dies and stamps with some new purchases for this year:

Paper: Elle's Studio - Joyful
Stamp: WPlus9 - Pretty Patches: Tree
Dies: WPlus9 - Pretty Patches: Tree; PTI - Tag Sale #10
Other: enamel dot, 3D foam tape

I love how versatile the Pretty Patches tree and heart die are - they're great on their own as well as when combined with the coordinating stamps. The Season's Greeting sentiment from the WPlus9 set fit perfectly in the banner die from the PTI Tag Sale #10 set which is a new purchase from this week.

I've used the longer greeting from the stamp set for the inside of the card.

There's been some nice happy crafty mail this week - I finally spent some birthday money on fun, fun, fun stuff and things that have been on my wish list for a while at PTI - and I was fully prepared to have to pay a sizeable customs bill too, but miracle of miracles my package arrived a week after placing my order with no customs charge!

Yep, almost the entire back catalogue of PTI dye ink cubes - I already had a few of the new formula dye ink and I received notification that the last few out of stock colours I was waiting for came back in so time to put an order in after over 2 years of waiting. :)

I also got all the colours stamped out on my DIY ink chart:

Happy colours = happy me! They stamped really nicely and I am looking forward to having such a lovely choice of colours to work with in future. The only colour that is a bit off compared to another sample I had of it is the Spring Rain cube which is a bit more purple than the baby blue I thought it was going to be, but c'est la vie! I am just so happy all the other colours are as gorgeous as they are and best thing about these ink cubes is the lack of staining compared to the Hero Arts inks that have been really hit and miss with me.

Anyway, I need to get back to the craft desk and see if any more creativity will be happening today! :D

WPlus - Pretty Patches: Tree stamps	WPlus9 - Pretty Patches: Tree dies	Elle's Studio - Joyful - Shine Bright Paper	Elle's Studio - Joyful - Making a List Paper
Elle's Studio - Joyful - Celebrate Paper	Papertrey Ink - Tag Sale #10 die set	My Mind's Eye - Kate & Co - Cambridge Court - Enamel Dots

InLinkz.com

October elements

Morning folks!

Well another Friday is upon us and it's time for a new elemental inspiration challenge over on the Daring Cardmakers blog.

Miri picked this cool image for us to work with:

It certainly got the gear turning in my head.

The three elements I was inspired by were the idea of home, adventure and the hearts.

Paper, stickers, ephemera, enamel dot: Crate Paper - Wonder
Die: Lil' Inker Designs
Other: 3D foam tape

So my thinking was that this would make for a nice new home card - true happiness and adventure awaits in your new home... :) I had tried to use the tent die cut from the ephemera pack but it just wasn't gelling with the card layout or wording so in came that little house sticker instead.

Don't forget to check out the blog to see all the interpretations of this month's image from the design team!

Crate Paper - Wonder - 6x6 Paper Pad	Crate Paper - Wonder - 6x12 Journal & Title Stickers	Crate Paper - Wonder - Die Cut Ephemera	Crate Paper - Wonder - Enamel Dots & Sequins
Lil' Inker Designs - Stitched Mats: Rectangles die set

InLinkz.com

Hey Little Magpie project catch-up - September

Not so long ago I shared some new card projects on the Hey Little Magpie blog using a selection of items from Crate Paper's Wonder collection.

The full details can be found here, but it's time to share those cards here on my blog.

Paper: Crate Paper - Wonder
Chipboard: Crate Paper - Wonder
Ephemera: Crate Paper - Wonder
Enamel dot: Crate Paper - Wonder
Die: Lil' Inker Designs
Other: 3D foam tape

I really liked the idea of using the wood-effect pattern from the 6x6 pad as the background to a full on greeting. The alphas are cut from one of the scaled-down papers from the pad combined with the LOVELY from the chipboard elements set.

One of the things I like about this collection is that you can create some more uplifting kind of card ideas or indeed something that would work nicely as wall art and put a smile on your face like this "dream a little dream" idea I had:

Paper: Crate Paper - Wonder
Chipboard: Crate Paper - Wonder
Ephemera: Crate Paper - Wonder
Stickers: Crate Paper - Wonder
Enamel dots and sequins: Crate Paper - Wonder
Die: Lil' Inker Designs
Other: 3D foam tape

I combined lots of the elements from the ephemera pack, the chipboard and the stickers in particular to put this together, and dotted some of the very handy (self-adhesive) sequins around as a finishing touch.

The next card may be my favourite from the lot.

As soon as I saw the moon and the stars in the chipboard set I knew I wanted to use it on a baby card... but how?

Paper: Crate Paper - Wonder
Chipboard: Crate Paper - Wonder
Ephemera: Crate Paper - Wonder
Stickers: Crate Paper - Wonder
Sequins: Crate Paper - Wonder
Dies: Lawn Fawn, MFT
Other: 3D foam tape

I wanted to create the illusion of a night sky and then incorporate the cute birdies some how - so the night sky has a string of lights like little stars to separate it from the daytime sky and the little birdies are sat on a branch die cut from the papers in the 6x6 pad.

Next up the house paper in the collection got me thinking about a very simple way to wish someone well in their new home - there's not much to it!

Paper: Crate Paper - Wonder
Chipboard: Crate Paper - Wonder
Enamel dots: Crate Paper - Wonder
Die: Lil' Inker Designs
Stamp: PTI
Other: 3D foam tape

There are quite a few little houses in this collection so you could put them to good use on new home cards or even Christmas cards for winter scenes.

But back to the cuter elements in this collection!

Paper: Crate Paper - Wonder, Crate Paper - Confetti
Ephemera: Crate Paper - Wonder
Enamel dot: Crate Paper - Wonder
Die: MFT
Other: 3D foam tape

There are plenty of elements in this collection for kid-friendly cards - I really liked the little masks in the ephemera pack, but they were missing eyes!

So enter a handy sheet of paper from Maggie Holmes Confetti collection:

And speaking of those ephemera animal masks, another one made the cut for another quick card:

Paper: Crate Paper - Confetti
Ephemera: Crate Paper - Wonder
Die: Lawn Fawn
Other: 3D foam tape

I simply popped up the HELLO from the ephemera pack on 3D foam tape and ta-da!

It looks like I will be getting my brain in gear for Christmas projects next month! In the land of cardmaking it's never too early to start!

Crate Paper - Wonder - 6x6 Paper Pad	Crate Paper - Wonder - 12x12" Chipboard Elements	Crate Paper - Wonder - 6x12 Journal & Title Stickers	Crate Paper - Wonder - Die Cut Ephemera
Crate Paper - Wonder - Enamel Dots & Sequins	Lil' Inker Designs - Stitched Mats: Rectangles die set	Lil' Inker Designs - Stitched Mats: Circles die set	MFT - Branch with leaves die
Papertrey Ink - Mat Stack 4 Collection stamp set	Crate Paper - Maggie Holmes Confetti - Garden Party Paper	My Favorite Things - Die-namics - Sentiment strips 2 dies	My Favorite Things - Just My Type dies and stamps

InLinkz.com

Creative kids

Happy Friday everyone!

This week over on the Daring Cardmakers blog we've been challenged to create a project for the kids in our lives.

Well, the timing could not have been better!

My god daughter turns 3 tomorrow so I had good inspiration for my project this week. :)

I'm hoping she is still quite partial to owls too...

Paper: October Afternoon
Stamp: PTI
Dies: Lil' Inker Designs, PTI
Other: felt owl, twine, 3D foam tape

I rescued this little owl from one of the lovely birthday cards sent to me by a friend this year - I loved that card and I knew the little felt owl would make another birthday girl rather happy. :) So there she is peeking out of the tree.

Definitely check out the blog to see the other fun and creative ideas from the design team! :D

In other news I have been on a bit of a shopping spree of late and must now do some wardrobe clear outs to make room for new autumnal outfits - timely delivery of some charity bags through the door would be good.And thankfully some of those new outfits will go nicely with my OPI Nordic colours which officially came out of summer hibernation yesterday since autumn is well and truly here:

I have also had some craft-related spending, the first of which was a birthday gift certificate that went towards some lovely new papers from Hey Little Magpie:

Most of the new Elle's Studio Joyful collection is in their - love their designs and colours for Christmas/Winter.

I also added some versatile dot and stripe sheets, plus the wood inlay pattern from the new Jen Hadfield DIY Home line for Pebbles.

And some Festive basics from this year's Simple Stories Claus & Co.

Other craft-related spending was well... impulsive but a long-time coming and in the planning...

I've got a quiet day on the work front before heading out for a hair appointment and lunch with my mum, and depending on how the afternoon goes I'm hoping to be back at my desk not too late in the day so that I can sit down and actually make something.

Busy weekend ahead so got to make the most of any free time today! :D

Have a fun and crafty weekend!

October Afternoon - Weathervane - Crunching Leaves paper	Lil' Inker Designs - Stitched Mats: Circles die set	Lil' Inker Designs - Speech Bubbles die set	Papertrey Ink - Big birthday wishes stamp set
Papertrey Ink - By the numbers die collection (set of 9)

InLinkz.com

It's fashion week...

..over on the Daring Cardmakers blog this week!

Leo has challenged us all to be inspired by Fashion Week and to create an outfit to feature on our cards.

Well, I had a sheet of very nice paper in mind for my outfit!

The Fancy Free paper from the new Dear Lizzy Documentary line has a lovely floral print to it and the colours are lush too.

If only you could get it as a fabric in real life. ;)

I wanted to create a paper dress to go on a mannequin die and stamp set I have that is much underused but handy for challenges like this!:

Paper: Dear Lizzy, Crate Paper
Dies: MFT, Lawn Fawn
Stamps: MFT, WPlus9
Other: seam binding, pearl

I used this template as a rough guide for my dress and cut the skirt bit down a bit - attached the pieces to the mannequin and used seam binding for a sash and to line the skirt. Necessity is the mother of invention and a handy pearl covers up where the edge of the fold started peeking out from under the seam binding. :)

I am happy to have found this gold foil paper from Maggie Holmes' Confetti line in my stash as it was a nice subtle background against the busy colours of the dress, plus it meant I could add little folded hearts cut from the paper to some of the gold dots.

Don't forget to head on over to the Daring Cardmakers blog to see the rest of our haute couture creations!

Here's the stash I used:

Crate Paper - Maggie Holmes Confetti - Ceremony Gold Foil Accent Paper	Dear Lizzy - Documentary - Fancy Free	MFT - Sew Nifty stamp and die set	WPlus9 - Strictly Sentiments 5 stamps
Lawn Fawn - Hearts dies	Lawn Fawn - Large stitched journaling card

InLinkz.com

Wonderful watercolours

The theme for this week's Daring Cardmakers dare comes from the lovely Sharon - we definitely seem to share a brain when it comes to our shopping tastes and funnily enough as soon as I knew what the dare for this week would be I already had my stamp set of choice in mind!

But Sharon beat me to it, so I decided to show a little love to a set I've not used in a while. But there still had to be that 2-step stamping to create that watercolour look. :)

Enter the Pretty Peonies set by WPlus9:

Paper: MME, Simple Stories, AC glitter paper
Stamps: WPlus9
Dies: WPlus9
Other: kraft label, heart doily, 3D foam tape

I used a mixture of Adirondack dye inks for the flowers and leaves, I still think Lettuce is one of the best greens for foliage! It's not too brown and it's just dark enough for a bit of contrast. I used a water brush on the flowers to blend the colours a little but it's so subtle with these shades of pink.

Well, there are some awesome watercolour card designs from the Design Team - so remember to pop on over to the blog and to join in! :)

My Mind's Eye - The Sweetest Thing - Tangerine - Hello - Wishes paper	Simple Stories - DIY Boutique - Stripes/Green paper	American Crafts - 12 x 12 Christmas glitter paper pad	WPlus9 - Strictly Sentiments 5 stamps
WPlus9 - Pretty Peonies stamp set	WPlus9 - Pretty Peonies dies	Versafine ink pad - Onyx black	Adirondack dye ink - Salmon
Adirondack dye ink - Mountain Rose	Adirondack dye ink - Lettuce	Adirondack dye ink - Oregano

InLinkz.com

DCM September elements

It's hard to believe, but yes, it is once again the first Friday of a new month and that means it's time to play with a new set of elements over on the Daring Cardmakers blog:

Lots of autumnal favourites here.

I had a flick through my more autumnal-coloured items and found some chipboard elements from Teresa Collins' Nine & Co. collection from this time last year. The colours were a bit sombre so my card didn't quite turn out as vibrant and happy as I usually like my cards to look.

I went with woodgrain, leaves, autumnal flora, and berries as my elements:

Paper: Crate Paper
Chipboard: Teresa Collins
Dies: MFT, Lil' Inker Designs
Stamp: Waltzing Mouse Stamps
Other: enamel dots, 3D foam tape

 

I thought the chipboard would make a nice accent around the circle aperture. It's hard to tell in the image but the enamel dots are also woodgrain enamel dots to complete the look. I did debate with using some Glossy Accents on the chipboard to lift the accented areas a bit, but my bottle of Glossy Accents is so old now that the tip isn't as fine as it once was and I could see "disaster waiting to happen" written all over that!

Don't forget to check out the much more vibrant and uplifting creations by my fellow team mates over on the blog!

Have a lovely weekend!

Crate Paper - Maggie Holmes Open Book - 6x6" Paper Pad	Teresa Collins - Nine & Co - 6 x 12" Adhesive Chipboard	Studio Calico - Essentials - Woodgrain enamel dots	Waltzing Mouse - Big Day Today stamps
My Favorite Things - Die-namics - Sentiment strips 2 dies	Lil' Inker Designs - Stitched Mats: Circles die set	Lil' Inker Designs - Stitched Mats: Rectangles die set	Versafine ink pad - Onyx black

InLinkz.com

>

Hey Little Magpie August projects - Summer Red Raspberry by Jillibean Soup

Well it has been one tiring week so far! I've had a couple of very long work days that have left no real time to unwind with a bit of crafting.

I had really hoped to get a brand new card made in time for this week's Daring Cardmakers dare which is all about featuring some fruit on your cards - thank you Jo for that one! :D

But had I had time to make a brand new card, I still would have used this aptly named collection by Jillibean Soup which was the focus of my August projects over on the Hey Little Magpie blog.

So for my Miss Cheaty-Pants entry into this week's Daring Cardmaker's dare I am sharing this card from that crafting session as it just fits too well not to!

Paper, stickers, ephemera: Jillibean Soup - Summer Red Raspberry
Stamp: Avery Elle
Die: MFT
Enamel dots: MME
Other: 3D foam tape

I mean come on! Just how perfect is that raspberry paper and those little berry-relate stickers, not to mention the raspberry die-cuts. So, so lovely indeed! :D

Here are the other cards I made with the collection:

Paper, wood veneer, ephemera: Jillibean Soup - Summer Red Raspberry
Stamp: Avery Elle
Dies: MFT, PTI, Lawn Fawn
Enamel heart: Hey Little Magpie
Other: 3D foam tape, glitter paper

I really liked the journaling card paper in this collection - it has some very card-friendly texts and sentiments on it, that hello sunshine card was just begging to be used with my trusty Lawn Fawn sunshine die!

In fact the journaling card paper makes for some very simple yet pretty card ideas:

Paper: Jillibean Soup - Summer Red Raspberry
Other: 3D foam tape

Paper and foam tape - that's all that was needed here... I just love the grey tones against the watercolour pastel shades. So pretty.

And finally, perhaps my favourite card of the lot:

Paper, ephemera: Jillibean Soup - Summer Red Raspberry
Stamp: MFT
Dies: PTI, Lil' Inker Designs
Enamel dots: Basic Grey
Other: 3D foam tape, sewing machine

I just had to use those floral and leafy die-cuts to make a little decorative frame for my greeting, plus those little butterflies which are also from the die-cut pack add a great finishing touch.

And well, I just love that aqua paper against the vibrant pinks and greens!

So, if you are in the mood for more fruit-filled creating ideas, you definitely need to head on over to the Daring Cardmakers blog!

Have a lovely crafty weekend, I'll be working all of it by the looks of it, but I shall definitely be wishing for some crafty time!

Jillibean Soup - Summer Red Raspberry - Whipped Cream Paper	Jillibean Soup - Summer Red Raspberry - Stick Of Cinnamon Paper	Jillibean Soup - Summer Red Raspberry - Sliced Banana Paper	Jillibean Soup - Summer Red Raspberry - Red Wine Paper
Jillibean Soup - Summer Red Raspberry - Fresh Yogurt Paper	Jillibean Soup - Summer Red Raspberry - Bite Size Bits Paper	Jillibean Soup - Summer Red Raspberry - Frozen Red Raspberries Paper	Jillibean Soup - Summer Red Raspberry - Soup Label Stickers
Jillibean Soup - Summer Red Raspberry - 6x11" Cardstock Stickers	Jillibean Soup - Summer Red Raspberry - Pea Pod Die Cuts	Hey Little Magpie Enamel Hearts - Rainbow Colours	American Crafts - 12 x 12 Christmas glitter paper pad
Lawn Fawn - Spring showers dies	MFT - First Place Award Ribbon dies	Papertrey Ink - Medium scallop border die	Avery Elle - Cake & Candles stamps
My Mind's Eye - Kate & Co - Cambridge Court - Enamel Dots	MFT - Die-namics Fishtail Flags Layers STAX dies	Lil' Inker Designs - Stitched Mats: Rectangles die set	Basic Grey - Candy Buttons - Red/pink enamel dots
Lil' Inker Designs - Stitched Mats: Circles die set	Papertrey Ink - Small scallop border die	MFT - LJD Birthday Greetings stamps	Hero Arts - Charcoal mid-tone shadow ink

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Hey Little Magpie project catch-up - July

So time for another catch-up from my recent Hey Little Magpie projects.

This post is image heavy - but all the info can be found here in my original post over on the Hey Little Magpie blog.

July was the month of a very special event in my family - my brother's and now sister-in-law's wedding! And what a wonderful event it was.

I wanted to make a couple of special gifts for them.

One was using the Marquee Love letters by Heidi Swapp for their favour table.

Here they are after I assembled them at our June crop:

They're just the contents of the box plus a sheet of silver glitter paper and a sheet of pink glitter paper. They looked lovely on the day I just hope the photographer managed to snap them in their full glory. :D

And in addition to those I made the mini album with photos from the happy couple's pre-wedding photo shoot.

All the products were from the Fancy That collection by My Mind's Eye.

I'll let the pictures do the talking now. ;)

Phew!

That was a lot of photos to take!

Naturally there was also a wedding card to make, and I've already shared it here on the blog, but here it is again in context.

And of course there need to be some artful wrapping of said gift:

The Fancy That collection was fab to work with and it definitely proved popular in the shop - here's what I used in case it is still in stock:

My Mind's Eye - Fancy That - Pearl - Bridesmaid Gold Foiled Paper	My Mind's Eye - Fancy That - I Do - Love You Gold Foiled Paper	My Mind's Eye - Fancy That - Tux - Best Man Gold Foiled Paper	My Mind's Eye - Fancy That - Tux - Flair
My Mind's Eye - Fancy That - Kiss - The Mr Gold Foiled Paper	My Mind's Eye - Fancy That - Pearl - Bouquet Gold Foiled Paper	My Mind's Eye - Fancy That - 6 x 6" Gold Foiled Paper Pad	My Mind's Eye - Fancy That - Blush 12 x 12" Chipboard Elements
My Mind's Eye - Fancy That - Pearl - Mixed Gold Foil Bag	My Mind's Eye - Fancy That - Pearl - Gold Foil Stickers	My Mind's Eye - Fancy That - Blush Journal Cards	My Mind's Eye - Fancy That - Kiss - Enamel Dots
My Mind's Eye - Fancy That - Blush Decorative Brads	American Crafts - 12x12" Smooth Cardstock - Stone	My Mind's Eye - On Trend - Party - Confetti Gold Foiled Paper	My Mind's Eye - On Trend - Happy - Happy Gold Foiled Paper

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And as for the day itself, I took very little in the way of photos, but here are some Instagram snaps from that whole event:

Looking forward to seeing the official photos now too - with any luck I'll manage to get some copies for my own album. ;)

Ruby Rock-it blog hop!

As you may have seen on the Daring Cardmakers blog today, we're teaming up with Ruby Rock-it for one epic blog hop!

If you've joined me from Christine's blog - a very happy hello from me here in the UK! :D

We were lucky enough to be sent some great products by Ruby Rock-it earlier this summer for some DCM dares and it's now time to share the last of our projects. :)

Here are the details: Enjoy the hop and leave a comment for each of our fabulous designers along the way, and be sure to leave one on your last stop on the Ruby Rock-It blog!  For those that follow until the end leaving your sweet sentiments along the way, you'll be entered to win a fabulous prize from us!  We will announce our winner the first week of September!

So on with the projects!

This card was made using Bella! glitter kraft paper, layered birthday stickers (item code: FU53), washi-style stickers (item code: FU30) and a little heart from a set of alpha stickers (item code: FUN22).

I used the washi-style strips to make a contrasting border - the bottom strip wasn't quite long enough to stretch to the other side, so I snipped it in half and hid the gap with that sentiment sticker from the same set.

The pink rosette is from the layered stickers, but I used another sticker from the set in the middle as that cute little cupcake was too sweet to pass up! Oh and I added a touch more sparkle with my trusty Stickles!

Here are the other Ruby Rock-it cards I made for our Daring Cardmakers dares.

First up was this baby card:

And then this bright and snazzy birthday card with more of the layered stickers and washi-style stickers:

I hope you've been enjoying the hop so far! Now it's time to head on over to your next stop....

Alicia's blog!

Here's the blog hop in full:

Kathy

Erin

Lythan

Pattie

Jo

Christine

Nat - Me!

Alicia

Leo

Beck

Sharon

Teresa Horner

Miri

Jenifer

Beckie

Teresa Abajo

Svenja

Shannon

Dawn

Ruby Rock-It

Happy hopping!

Let's hear it for the guys!

Friday has arrived again!

Boy are the weeks flying by... but yep, another Friday so it's time for a brand new dare over on the Daring Cardmakers blog - and this week it comes courtesy of Lythan.

We've been challenged to share a new spin on those rather tricky card projects - a card for the male of the species....

Always a challenge!

But since I needed to make a special card for a special someone celebrating a special milestone I thought I would get that special project done and dusted in good time. :)

Paper: Crate Paper, Making Memories, Studio Calico
Stickers: Crate Paper
Stamps: MFT
Dies: MFT, Lawn Fawn, PTI Lil' Inker Designs
Wood veneer: Ruby Rock-it
Other: 3D foam

And speaking of "vintage" - a lot of "vintage" items went into the making of this card, including the Making Memories postcard background paper from 2008! There are snippets of papers left over from my beloved Story Teller collection pack and stickers from my Emma's Shoppe collection pack... just goes to show there's plenty of life in those older products - just not enough hours in the day to use them all!

Right, well I shall leave you to browse the lovely projects over on the Daring Cardmakers blog - I'm off out for my birthday meal tonight so it's a nice way to start the weekend, even if I will be working some of it. :)

Crate Paper - Story Teller collection kit	Studio Calico - Abroad collection pack	Crate Paper - Emma's Shoppe collection kit	Making Memories - Passport collection kit
My Favorite Things - Just My Type dies and stamps	Lil' Inker Designs - Stitched Mats: Rectangles die set	Papertrey Ink - Medium scallop border die

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