Sing loud!

Here is the card I made last night for my grandson. The first thing he did when he got to our house was sing We Wish You a Merry Christmas extremely loudly!

The little boy is a Molly Blooms stamp, "We Wish You..." is an Indigo Blu stamp, and "The Best Way...." is a Kaisercraft stamp. The verse is die cut with a Spellbinders speech bubble, the panels of paper are die cut with Spellbinders too, the spotty paper was a freebie and the music paper is from a Craftwork Cards pad. The image is coloured with Promarkers and Stickles Ice Diamond on the fluffy bits, and finally some ribbon from Crafty Ribbons.

Can you tell what it is yet? By the way he said he liked the box best and played inside that for hours!

Challenges entered:

Ike's World - Santa is coming (28th Dec)

Die Cut Divas - warm and cosy (Dec)

LOC - #109/110 Anything goes (1st Jan)

ABC - X for xtreme (Tues)

Papertake Weekly - last ever challenge Let it Snow (Tues)

Love to Scrap - #68 anything goes (3rd Jan)

Cute Card Thursdays - #405 anything goes 

Passion for Promarkers - Mega Christmas Challenge (5th Jan)

That's Crafty - anything goes (11th Jan)

Creative Card Crew - #103 Anything goes (12th Jan)

Oddball Art - Winter or Christmas (14th Jan)

Polkadoodles - anything goes (15th Jan)

Digi Chooseday - anything goes (19th Jan)

Catching up on Christmas - Doodle Dragon robin

I love this Doodle Dragon robin. I haven't been able to get in the mood for Christmas. I had maybe a dozen cards left from last year or made this year, but I need more. So I got out the digis that I had already coloured with Promarkers and die cut last year, or maybe the year before and this is one. It was ready mounted on the fancy Spellbinders Label as well as coloured, I just added some paper and a stamped greeting that was also in the box already (Hero Arts?). The paper is from a Craftwork Cards pad and is designed by Steph Davies. 

Like my Yankee Candle jar top? I can't get it to work with all cards, and there is a trick to getting them to actually stand up on this one, which is to open them so the other half counterbalances the front!

I've entered the following challenges:

Crafting from the heart - #91 anything goes (28th Dec)

Cards Galore - anything goes (Dec)

Crafting by Designs - Here comes the Holidays (Dec)

LOC - #109/110 Anything goes (1st Jan)

Love to Scrap - #68 anything goes (3rd Jan)

Crafty Cardmakers - #154 Snow (6th Jan)

Pile it on - Winter/Christmas (9th Jan)

Quirky Christmas and DT call reminder

 I have managed to make one card, I've been in bed for a week with a virus or flu, not sure which! It is Quirky Reminder time, I didn't make it for the challenge due to computer problems, then getting sick!
I have used two cute Bugaboo images, they are one of our three sponsors this time, Skinny Bird Candy Cane and Skinny Bird Ornaments, they go so well together to make a scene.
The papers are: red and green striped from Craftwork Cards in a pad called Christmas Post, and the Merry Christmas Robins are from My Mind's Eye and the pad was a freebie with Card Making and Papercrafts magazine last year I think.
The ribbon is an exclusive from Crafty Ribbons and the digi and panel are cut with Spellbinders dies.
The images are coloured with Promarkers, with added glitter glue and Flowersoft in Polar White.

The other sponsors at Quirky are Ditzie Designs and Digital Delights so hop on over and see some more and play along to win some great prizes.

Also Bugaboo are having a 50% off sale on Christmas digis right now!

Don't forget Your Quirky Needs You! We need more Quirky teamies to keep going, we have a few applicants so far, if you would like to apply please let me know.

I've entered the following challenges:

Passion for Promarkers - Nearly Christmas (Tues)

Crafting by Design - get ready for Christmas (Wed)

Fab n Funky - Christmas (Wed)

Crafty Ribbons - Frosty Christmas (Thurs)

Creative Card Crew - 101 It's cold outside (Thurs)

Pile it on - use red and green (Sun)

Christmas Card Challenges - anything Christmas goes (Sun)

Graph'it Markers - Christmas (4/11 Dec)

Challenges Won.

Catch the Bug - sketch #319 3rd place.

Pumpkins are not just for Halloween!

I just bought a pumpkin the other day, got to decide what to cook it into now, but it has to be Slimming World friendly, in other words as healthy as possible.

Are we sprouting feathers over at Quirky Crafts? You bet we are! The challenge is as light as a Quirky feather, any project with birds and/or feathers of any kind will do.

We have three great sponsors, Sweet Pea Stamps, Bugaboo and Crafty Ribbons. The image I used this time is from Sweet Pea Stamps, it is by Sandra Caudwell and is called Pilgrim Crow. Sweet Pea are closing down on 25th November sadly so this could be your last chance to win some digis from them.

I coloured the digi with Promarkers and die cut it with Spellbinders dies, the grid die is by Tonic I think. The spotty ribbons are from Crafty Ribbons, and the greeting is stamped with a clear Craftwork Cards set. I added real feathers - I have a small box full and most of them were not suitable colours for this card. Finally some Tim Holtz paper string (twine) tied in a bow with a feather charm.

So hop on over to Quirky Crafts to see some fabulous examples and to play along, and maybe win prizes. 

My card has hopped into the following challenges:

Digi Chooseday - reds, orange or brown (Tues)

Papertake Weekly - anything goes (Tues)

Crafty Gals - #44 Autumn Hues (Wed)

Cute Card Thursday - food or drink (Thurs)

Left of Centre - things with wings (Fri)

Allsorts - ribbons and bows (Sat)

The Ribbon Girl - anything goes (Sun)

ABC - U for unlimited (15th Nov)

Cards Galore -use a stamped or digi image (Nov)

Die cut divas - warm and cozy (Nov)

Stereotype!

 This is a mixture of stamps and hopefully will be ok for at least two challenges I want to enter.

The typewriter doll is by Lost Coast, her sexy legs are by Unity Stamps, the circles and spirals are Rubber Dance stamps, and the type stamps are Craftwork Cards.

You might remember my altered French/English dictionary which I started as part of The Craft Barn challenge last year - well this is another page I have done in that dictionary.

The page is painted with white gesso, the typist is stamped on white card and coloured with Promarkers and a Distress marker, circles and spirals are stamped in Distress inks and the torn edges are inked with Distress ink.

The small Rubber Dance circles have words in them and say: "you are unique and so am I" and "this is different" - I think it is! She has typed - "I am not A Stereotype".

When I got careers advice a very long time ago the adviser thought all girls should become typists, he didn't like it if you wanted to become anything else!

I have a list of challenges I want to enter to try not to forget, and already one has passed by so I have to add a different one for that.

Challenges entered:

That Craft Place - anything mixed media (Sun)

Love to Create - #16 anything mixed media or inky (Sun)

The Craft Barn - pens (Sun)

Lost Coast - circles (you can use any stamps) (7th ASept)

Special mention in:

Rubber Dance - colour challenge (Aug - 7th Sept)

Stand Easy

This little gal will be delivered at the weekend to my neice who is in the Army Cadets. She recently was picked to go to Belgium to take part in the rememberance parade. So when I saw this Polkadoodles image Army Girl I knew it was perfect for her birthday.

I coloured the image with Promarkers, die cut her with a Spellbinders Curved Rectangle die and mounted her on Kraft card. I created the sentiments to match. The boot prints are a free stamp with Craft Stamp by Visible Image. The numbers are from a Pink Gem stamp set and are coloured with Prismacolor pencil, and th is from a Craftwork Cards typewriter alphabet stamp set.

This little gal is marching into the following challenges:

Polkadoodles - CAS (Fri 28th Nov)

Allsorts - no DP (Sat)

Paula Holifield - CAS (Sun)

TTCRD - anything goes (Dec 1st)

Pink Gems - Use Kraft (Sat Dec 6th)

Mother's Day UK

It was Mother's day yesterday here in the UK, and I hope all the Mum's had a good day! We went out for a family meal with my parents, mother in law, my son and his girlfriend and I enjoyed it very much.

Now for Spot the Difference - can you see the differences between the two cards I made for our Mums?

I started this card back to front, it was totally the wrong way to start, by cutting the window with a Spellbinders die, adhering to some DCWV paper adding the paper roses - then try and assemble it to the rest of the card which had not been decided at that point! No, it is better to decide and assemble the card and do the window last! I mounted the DCWV panel on some Papermania paper. This was mounted on to a large scalloped square of pink. Then the spotty ribbon was applied and the pink square was adhered to the yellow square which had ribbon already applied one side, then the holes were punched through both colours for the brads, and this was attached to a Craftwork Cards 8"x8" scalloped card blank. I added some butterfly die cuts that came with the Papermania paper pack, a corner Spellbinders die cut and a spotty bow. I wanted to turn the plain end over but the glue I used to attach the bow was so strong I couldn't do that. A touch of glitter glue on the roses, butterflies and paper, then Happy Mother's Day was stamped on the paper (with a Hero Arts clear stamp) and heat embossed - and it was done.

 I lined the inside of the card with Papermania paper, I think it is called Rose Garden.

Same card, a few little differences, the papers are different, there is one large butterfly, the brads are a different colour - that's all!

I have entered the following challenges:

Allsorts - use those dies (Sat)

Craft All Day - anything goes (March)

Cute Card Thursdays - Flowers

Left of Center - flowers and or ribbons (Fri)

Have a lovely day

I recently bought a Sizzix Framelets and embossing folder set that makes a scene, clouds, sun and umbrella. I decided that the scene would be perfect for Warren Rabbit (by Craftwork Cards). The image is coloured with Promarkers and Copic glitter pens, and fussy cut. The background is embossed then coloured with Distress Inks for the sky and hills, and Promarkers for the rainbow and flowers and ground. The clouds and sun are die cut from Coredinations paper and then embossed and sanded.

The sentiment is a free stamp with the current issue of Craft Stamper magazine which I stamped, heat embossed and then die cut with Spellbinders. I know my rainbow colours aren't in the right order, I will do better next time!

I have entered the following challenges:

Craft all day - anything goes (March)

Avenue 613 - anything goes with optional 2d or 3d flowers (Sun)

The Alpha Challenge - B for Britannique

The Craft Barn Alpha Challenge is on B, and I hope I am in time just! I have done Britannique this time, with a variety of stamps from Little Claire, Craftwork Cards, Hobbycraft and some freebies, oh and the phone box is Art Impressions. Paint is Paperartsy Fresco, the red is white with some acrylic mixed in. Real postage stamps!

The Craft Barn Alpha Challenge - V

I only found out about this challenge at The Craft Barn blog yesterday and I have had a lot of fun with it! The challenge is to alter an old dictionary, a redundant one or a charity shop buy. You can also make tags or journal pages without a dictionary but you have to stick to the same thing right the way through this. Now I just hope my book stays in one piece or I will have to add it to pages and make a new book. 

The letter is V, and this is an old French dictionary of no great value as you can see, so I didn't hesitate (much) as I love books and it is hard to vandalise them. So I picked out my first word which is Valiant, meaning brave or courageous (courageux actually), gallant, robuste or hale and hearty or penniless according to the dictionary. I thought of my Rubbadubbadoo knight immediately and after painting the page with white gesso I got stamping. Oh before I started I outlined the word and meaning and then heat embossed them with clear EP, to protect it from the gesso, not sure it was a good idea! I stamped the castle in Memento grey, the knight in Brilliance black and heat embossed with black EP, and the seal with gold Brilliance and copper EP. I found it was not too easy stamping directly onto the book, I need to put a mouse mat or something under the page I think. I stamped the word brave also with Rubbadubbadoo stamps, and stamped an arrow and heat embossed that from an Autumn Leaves set I got in a sale and have never used, all the arrows are from the same set and the You Are Here sentiment. I die cut the V using Sizzix Shadowbox in copper metal sheet and a script paper. I decided the page looked too bare so I stamped the fluer de lis which I got free from Crafty Individuals with some other freebies when I purchased the music stamps. I decided to paint the by now curling edges of the page with Tim Holtz crackle paint in antique photo, this was an unopened pot I bought from someone and it was like thick mud - not sure if that is how it is supposed to be, it was difficult to paint!. Still not happy I sprayed the page with bronze Glimmer mist, this was my first Miranda type mistake - the green fleur de lis's started to run! So sort of happy I had done all I could and after drying the page with my heat gun I started on the word Vacance, holidays, vacation, take a holiday, go on holiday, which was on the other page. I painted the page first with gesso and heat dried it (I was running out of time by now) then painted the sea, beach and sky with acrylics, adding gold glitter to the beach paint. I used a Debbi Moore stamp set to stamp Summer and the shells on the beach, and a recent bargain Warren stamp from Happy Everything set by Craftwork Cards (isn't he the cutest?) onto white card and coloured it with Promarkers and Trias, and cut him out. I also stamped the sun and sheep cloud from a Hero Arts clear set called Sky's the limit. and that is it. Oh my other Miranda moment? I managed to knock the blue paint loaded brush onto my Valiant page and in attempting to clean off blue paint I managed to spread yellow on it too, scream!

So I may have messed this up totally but I had a good time doing it!