Diamond Anniversary

Hi there!  Thanks for popping by.  The Play Date Cafe Challenge colours this week are really pretty so I do hope you play along. 

Here’s what I created with them.

I dug into my stash of Basic Grey and MME papers and used the latest sketch over at Retro Sketches.  If you’d like details of supplies just drop me an email and I will fill you in.  Sorry my post is a bit short, I’m away at the weekend so I’m a bit pushed for time right now.  There is a hint of red in there too, just take a look behind that panel on the left and you will see a smidge of it!!


For more inspiration pop on over to the main PDCC blog for the rest of the gorgeous DT entries.  PDCC has a prize from our vault for you to try for. Don’t forget about our DT call too!

Bon Voyage over at MTDS

Happy Tuesday!  Over at Make The Day Special I am sharing a card that I made for a friend using an older Paper Smooches set.  I just love this car, it reminds me of something you’d see in an old cartoon!


To see the stamps I used card pop on over to the main MTDS blog.

Enjoy the sunshine! (if you have some that is!!)

Make Lemonade & A Patriotic Card

Hi there.  I’m back today with a little project for you for Paper Issues.  The latest challenge is Picnics and Patriots.  I chose this little stamp set because I thought it would be fun to make lemonade to bring along to a picnic, don’t ya think?!

First up is the card. 

I covered the card base with kraft, then die cut the label. Firstly a larger one in black and then another smaller one in white.  I die cut the banner in white and then after cutting the sentiment into two (eek… I know… cutting stamps scares some people, but sometimes it’s just gotta be done!) I stamped the banner and attached it to the panel.  I stamped and Copic coloured the pitcher, glass and lemon.

The bottom part of the card is a monarch border by MFT and some more gingham paper.  (All paper by Authentique).  I tied on the twine and added the lemon.  (I’m sure I saw this done by someone else somewhere but I can’t seem to find who so if it was you, thank you for the inspiration!  If anybody knows who please can you let me know because I really like to acknowledge those I’ve been inspired  by).  Speaking of inspired I was inspired by this sketch over at Inspired by Stamping..

and also by Lawnscaping Challenge’s Color Splash. 

I liked the idea of this challenge, it’s a little bit like our colour splashes over at The Play Date Cafe but instead of it being just black and white with a pop of colour, it’s to use neutrals with a pop of colour.  Next up is the little bag..

Following the same theme I made up the little bag and then added the strips of kraft and gingham paper and the little black die cut banner.  To finish I added the little doily and my Copic coloured lemonade pitcher and glass using foam dots.

Last up is the little recipe card..

Using kraft I covered the white card base and then just added the little black banner and some yellow gingham.  I tied on some twine and then added the little Copic coloured lemon.  My writing changed halfway through writing out the recipe, it looks like I was on the Limoncelllo when I made it lol.

I made this set for a very special friend of mine and there’s a little story behind it.  When we were on honeymoon in Sorrento, Italy, we found these amazing enormous lemons so as a joke we brought one back for her and said she would have to make some lemonade for us.  She agreed, but when she cut open the lemon this was what she got…

The lemon in the middle is about the size of a large lemon that we would normally buy here in the UK!  When she tried to juice it she barely got juice of one lemon, never mind the 5-6 we had estimated it would be lol.  So as a little joke I bought her the Lawn Fawn ‘Make Lemonade’ stamp set and made her the little recipe card with a lemonade recipe I found on line here.  Isn’t this set the ca-utest!!  It just makes you smile and it’s really fun to colour.  Speaking of colour the Copics I used where Y19, Y15 and Y11, with BG10 for the glass.

So for my news… This will sadly be my last post with Paper Issues, but I will still be popping by there from time to time. I’m doing a coaching course and studying is taking up a lot of my time so I needed to cut back on some stuff.  I’ve had such a great time on the team, all of the girls are so incredibly gifted, in fact I still pinch myself as to how I ever got on the team in the first place!  Cassie Box is super talented too and I’ve nicknamed her the ‘Banner Queen’!  She does the most amazing banners, in fact she got me into making them.

We have an extra giveaway for you too,we are giving away this Pink Paislee Declaration Paper Pack..

 
Well that’s it from me today.  I hope you enjoyed my little project.  As this challenge is all about Picnics & Patriotic I thought I would finish by leaving you with the little card I created for my very first challenge theme at Paper Issues …

If you’ve never played along it’s simple, you just have to find/make a project that fits in with the theme and link it up, that’s it!  There’s also some fab goodies in the Paper Issues Shop so pop on over there and if you use my code, Ruby 2 Shoes, you will get a 20% discount.

Have fun!

Big Hair!

Hi everyone.  It’s that time again when we run another new challenge over at Color Me Creative.  This time we are talking about big hair!  Hair can be really tricky but I've learnt that if you take it step by step it's a whole lot easier than trying to take big sections at a time. 

We are being sponsored by Crafts & Me and were all sent various images.  My image is called Deevonne.  Isn’t she beautiful! 

This is my favourite hair colour combo (see colours below) She was really fun to colour, although she took me forever!  I ended up going onto a hair video in Suzanne’s Copic Class 5.  Suzanne makes it look sooo easy, but because she explains it in such a simple way you leave the video feeling confident you can do it, or at least try anyway!  In that particular video she tells you to dance if you start feeling frustrated when you’re colouring and it’s not going right… now that’s what I call a great idea!

I was inspired with the following sketch over at Skipping Stones Design and I’m also entering this into the following challenges…

Crafty Chicks – By the Sea
Delightful Challenges – Anything Goes
Paper Play – Use a Die

I used Basic Grey Indie Bloom papers, Want 2 Scrap bling border, PTI Script Sentiments and the die is the Nesties rectangle.

For more information on our prize and to see what the rest of our fabulous DT have created using these divine images pop on over to our main CMC blog.  You won’t be disappointed!  Don’t forget you’re not limited to Copics, check out what else you can use to play along with our challenges.

I’m back tomorrow with a project for Paper Issues and some news.

Back soon.

Colour Splash Time

Happy Thursday!!  It’s time for a Colour Splash over at The Play Date Cafe this week, this time with a pop of cobalt blue!


For this card I dug out my PTI dies; the flower dies are from Beautiful Blooms and I used the Zipper die.   Behind the zipper panel I stamped the sentiment, ‘happy birthday’ on the blue cardstock.  The recipient will tear off that panel and get a little surprise, eeek,  I just looooove that die, it makes me happy lol.

Here’s our inspiration pic for the challenge..

We are being sponsored by Want 2 Scrap this week and I used some of their lovely black gems to create the centre of my flower and then I’m not sure if you can see but I used them in each of the corners on the black panel.


I really hope you join in with our colour splash, they are so much fun.  Pop over to the main PDCC blog to see what the girls have created for you and the prize up for grabs.  Also, don’t forget we still have our DT call running..

Have a lovely Thursday!

Cuteness and Gnome Naming Ceremony!

For my post today over at Make The Day Special Blog I used this adorable little dragon from the Lawn Fawn Critters Ever After set.  Grab yourself a cuppa, put your feet up and pop on over to the MTDS shop, there are some gorgeous things to buy.


For a bit of help I used the latest sketch of the month over at I Heart 2 Stamp

I decided to paper piece him in different colours. The flame is coloured in with red pen, I’m not that good at paper piecing lol. The circle was just cut from a hole punch and then the star paper pieced.

I’m a bit late but I need to select a prize winner for my gnome naming.  He was given to us as a wedding gift.  You can read more about it here.. Savannah O’Gwynn won with the name... drum roll please.... Fudwick!!  He's so happy he has a name now!

Well done Sav, I will pop something in the post to you.

Hope you all have a great day!

'Joys of Blogging’ Anniversary Celebration

Hi there.  No card from me today but a quick note to remind you about Julie Murray’s ‘The Joys of Blogging’ 3rd Anniversary Celebration.  There are loads of prizes up for grabs from some fab sponsors.

Julie’s goal is to spend 4 days celebrating the people and companies who have made such a difference to her ...She will be sharing stories and photos...so I hope you will plan to stop by.  She’d love a visit….


Have fun and fingers crossed you win something fab!!

Pretty Peonies

Hiya!  It’s time for another challenge over at The Play Date Cafe and we also have some exciting news!

We are having our first Open Design Team Call in well over a year, so if you want to join a fab and fun challenge and work with some designers that not only know how to create but also have hearts of gold and support each other through all sorts of different life scenarios then put down what you’re doing and come and apply!!  We encourage all sorts of mixed media so you’re not limited to cards, we’ve even had cupcakes added into the mix for some of our challenges! Full details can be found on the main PDCC blog.

So what’s today’s challenge?  Well we have some luscious colours for you to play with.  As you know my mojo hasn’t been so hot lately but these colours kick-started me into action which is a bit of a challenge right now.  I really wish I had some blackberry stamps to play with, they would have been perfect for this, but I thought I’d dig out my GORGEOUS PTI Pretty Peonies anniversary set and actually use my quatrefoil die!  I absolutely had to have this die when I got it; you know those crafting supplies that you can’t get out of your head or rest until they are in your hands ready for use?  No, oh ok, I will check in for therapy then lol.  Well this was one of those!  Then I only ever used it once.  (Speaking of therapy it’s really therapeutic popping out the little sections of the die when you’ve cut it, you should try it sometime!!)

This week we are being sponsored by Simon Says Stamp, for more details visit our main PDCC blog.

Pop by the rest of the DT to see the gorgeous creations they have cooked up.  There really is something for everyone in our line up and then get working on that DT application, we’d love to see you join our fun team.

Where’s my mojo gone?!!

Hi everyone.  It’s my day over at Make The Day Special and I’ve shared this simple card. For details visit the blog there.

I’m entering it into the Simon Says Stamp Challenge where ‘Anything Goes’.

I think I might need to go to my happy place, maybe that’s where my mojo is?!!

Color Me Creative

Yay, I’m back for my first Color Me Creative challenge in a while.  Wow that was tough trying to remember how to colour properly after such a long time lol.  I seriously need to revisit some of Suzanne’s Copic Class videos, especially the folds one!!  Suzanne has a discount on classes right now for the Summer so why not treat yourself.

For this challenge we are being sponsored by I Brake For Stamps and I got to choose this cutesy little image to colour.

You may notice on my little bear I used a blender pen to add some textured dots.  I used papers from Basic Grey, Picadilly and MME Lost & Found, Blush.  The sentiment is from Plus One by Lawn Fawn and I used a MS punch for the border.

My inspiration for the design came from the current sketch over at Inspired by Stamping. 

I’m also entering this into the following challenges…
Papercrafting Journey – Colour It Up
Pixie Dust Studios – Use 3 Patterned Papers

Don’t forget to pop by the rest of the DT to see their gorgeous creations and I will leave you with the Blog Hop Winners for the May Hop.

Thank you to everyone that joined us on our Summer Kick Off Blog Hop featuring Saturated Canary!  We so appreciate your support & lovely comments!

Winner of $20 GC to 7 Kids College Fund

Janet Hutnik

Cards & Layouts by Janet

Winner of $20 GC to SCACD

Kathy Bradley

Entering Kathyville

Winner of Free CMC Copic Class

Cathi

Designs by Cathi

Congratulations girls, please can you mail Suzanne at sjdean@smartneighborhood.net for prize info.

Have a great weekend everyone, whatever you’re doing.  Thanks for visiting!

Play Date Cafe & My First Grunge Flower

Hi, I’m back today with a card for The Play Date Cafe and I thought I would try my hand at a grunge flower.  I think it will take a bit of practice, but I had a go lol

We have some luscious colours over at The Play Date Cafe for our challenge this week.  PDCC was one of the very first DT’s that I joined and I haven’t taken much time off so it was a bit weird not joining in on the fun!  I’ve missed everyone! It’s like one big family and Julie, our boss is fabulous!  Julie is celebrating her 3rd blogaversary by honouring those that have become part of her blogging world.  She is having a big celebration over on her blog June 14-17 but until then why not join in on the fun over at facebook with the pre-party! 

I have kept the card blank for the moment, it’s for a friend of mine that has suffered a stroke and I haven’t made up my mind whether to do it as a get well card or thinking of you.  For my card I used some of the gorgeous Kaisercraft papers which worked really well for the colour palette but as I didn’t have the two blues I used some Stormy Sky Ranger distress ink to smooch in a bit of blue to make a couple of the flowers a little darker.

The grunge flower was the hardest part of the card for me.  My lovely friend, Sarah Anderson, taught me how to make one of these flowers a few years ago in a workshop but I couldn’t for the life of me remember how to do it.  If you haven’t checked out Sarah’s work you should pay a visit, she is Mixed Media Queen and she’s done some gorgeous BIG doodles lately!!  I miss not having her on the PDCC team, she’s so lovely.

Another fab friend Asia taught me how to make them this time around, she’s brilliant at 3d work and flowers/vintage is totally her thing.  You have to check out her AMAZING Jubilee project, she’s obviously got far too much time on her hands lol ;o) 

Anyway, for my card I stuck a piece of paper onto grungeboard and die cut some flowers using my Sizzix Tattered Florals die.  I then made up the flower using a hot glue gun. (By the way glue guns seriously burn when you’re a novice lol)  I had to add in loads of extra layers of flowers because it wasn’t quite working. To finish the flower I spritzed it with some glimmer mist spray, so close up it’s pretty with all of the metallic. I really need to make a few more though, it’s not great, but I’m pleased for my first attempt on my own.  

I hope you’ll pop by the rest of the DT for a visit, there are some gorgeous projects to get your creative juices flowing.  Pop on over to the main PDCC blog to be inspired and for details of our prize too.

The Craft’s Meow are our wonderful sponsors this week. 

Thanks for popping by.  It’s great to be back!