Get Sketchy Challenge

Hi everyone

I hope you had a lovely weekend.  I should be back into the swing of things next week when my treatment is finished completely.  I have one more session in London on Thursday, but I'm suffering a lot with my back so I think it will be a bit hit and miss this week, sorry! 

While I was away I made a couple of mini cards.  I don't often make them but I didn't want to take loads away with me, so thought I would make up a few mini cards for me for a change.   You know what it's like when you make cards, you get lots of requests, but when you need one for yourself you just don't have a single one to hand.  (or is that just me?!!)

I had a lot of thank you cards to make for people that have been helping out while I've been away, but in the end only managed about one card a week, but still it was better than none!  I can't believe how tired I've been after the intensity of the course, I'm absolutely shattered, and sore to boot with all of these new strengthening exercises.  It's good too though, I'm moving a bit better than I was and have made a little progress in lots of areas so there are a lot of positives too.  Anyway, enough of that doom and gloom, you want to see a card, right?! 

This little 3 x 3 card was made for the Get Sketchy Challenge. 

Camille over at Get Sketchy said that at first she thought the sketch was a little 'dated' (she did create the sketch so it was ok to say lol) but I loved it.  I had loads of ideas of how to use it but my first thought was to do a felt flower.  Can you believe I'm only just trying felt for the first time now?!  How behind the times am I?!  I am really odd with trends, I kind of don't like them to start with.  Then when I see them all over the place I eventually like them, by that time the next trend's come along though and I'm out of date lol.

This card is pretty self explanatory.  I cut out a felt flower using Papertrey Ink flower dies, and attached with a sparkly red brad.  I cut out a piece of navy Basic Grey cardstock (if you look closely you can see a slight pattern in it - but unfortunately I'm not sure of the range it's from) which I matted to the front of the mini white card.  I then cut out a square using Basic Grey June Bug paper to fit onto the navy, which I cut into triangles.  I decided not to use the fourth triangle because I wanted to add the sentiment to the right (the tag is one of the nestie rectangles) 

This card actually looks so much nicer in real life, it's really quite cute!

Reminders....

If you haven't done so already don't forget to check out Tiffany Doodles challenge.  Tiffany has just released some new images that fit perfectly into Nesties, they are lovely!  Go check them out!

Also, over at the Play Date Cafe we have another fun challenge running this week.  Last week we hit a record number of 108 players, which was SO exciting for us all.  We've got another fun one coming later this week too, watch this space!!

Ciao for now!

Manicure anyone?!

Hi there everyone

This is a very quick posting today as I'm dashing out the door, but first wanted to share a card with you that I made for a friend (hope she's not reading my blog today!)

My friend is nailvarnish mad, 'Jessica' being her favourite brand. She always has perfectly manicured nails, and also loves anything beauty like facials, manicures, etc! This stamp set by Inkadinkadoo is perfect for her, it's called 'Stamp it, girlfriend'! It was a bit of a drama to make because I'd got all of the little stamps out only to lose the nailvarnish bottle stamp. After ages searching (I got the whole house helping too!) I gave up and went over to Tiffany Doodles, downloaded her nailvarnish bottle, shrunk the image down in size and used that instead! I'm enjoying this digi stuff!

I'm entering this card into two challenges, Get Sketchy, with this sketch,

and Everything but the Kitchen Sink for their 'nailpolish' challenge. I'm not sure if you can see from the picture that I've painted the little nailvarnish bottles with some bright red nailvarnish that I have! (that's what happens when you take photos in a rush!)  Fun!

I will be back tomorrow with my card for this week's Play Date Cafe Challenge.

Have a great day/evening wherever you are!

I've gone all dotty!

Hello!  'Tis me again!

Here is a card that I made for the Get Sketchy challenge.  I LOVE dots so when I saw this sketch it just had to be be done. 

So here is my card...  I just LOVE the yellow, red and navy together in this Basic Grey 'June Bug' range.  Isn't it a fab sketch?!!

On Saturday I went along to an Art Journalling workshop run by Sarah Anderson, one of the senior designers of the Play Date Cafe over at The Stamp Attic.  It was SO much fun!  I brought Natasha (Tink) with me and we had a great time playing with paint and generally getting very messy!  Sarah is SO lovely!  All of the DT are based in the US, it's just Sarah and I that are over here, so it was fab to meet her in person!  Sarah is going to share some photos tomorrow I think so I will come back and tell you more about it later this week.  I might even share a couple of my beginner pages with you, if I'm brave enough!  Speaking of Play Date Cafe the challenge for this week is nearly at an end, but you do still have time to enter so pop on over and show me what beautiful creation you can come up with using this week's challenge colours!

For this card I wanted to play with my new June Bug Basic Grey papers (which you will be seeing a bit more of!) Ooh these papers are just too yummy for words!! I also bought some of the new Tim Holtz die cutters from The Stamp Attic when I was over there. I LOVE that shop, it's not far from me and I didn't even know it was there!! My poor bank manager is going to be cursing the day I came across it!

Now if you look closely you will see a fancy label that I matted the sentiment on.  I came up with the idea of using the Tim Holtz border die as a label cutter.  Unfortunately I am absolutely hopeless at cutting small straight labels so my gorgeous, wonderful Ian (I have to big him up!) very kindly cut me out the fancy label.  Doesn't it look great though?!  I was so pleased with how it turned out.  I love it when you find other ways to use your crafting goodies! What different ideas have you come up with to use your goodies in other ways?

Dies: Nesties circles, Tim Holtz 'Tattered Florals' & 'On the Edge' Sizzix dies
Stamps: Woodware 'Jane's Script' sentiment
Paper: Bazzill cardstock, Basic Grey 'June Bug' 6 x 6 paper pad
Accessories: Kaleidacolour Creole Spice inkpad, Brilliance Aurora ink pad

That's it from me for now, my bed is calling me!  Back soon though!

Happy Hump Day!

Hi there

Happy Hump Day! ...When I first started blogging I wondered what on earth this 'hump day' was all about so I googled it.  This is one definition that came up... 'The middle of a work week (Wednesday); used in the context of climbing a proverbial hill to get through a tough week'. I'd never heard of it, but it's funny how just by blogging a) you learn loads of new things, and b) you end up picking up some of the lingo of either the blogging world, or just other countries' phrases in general.  Blogging seems to have a whole new language of its own!

Today I'd like to share a card that I made for the Clean and Simple FTL challenge here, only to find that in my usual style it had no stamping on it at all, and the Get Sketchy #38 make a Spring themed card challenge, however if it wasn't for the challenges I wouldn't have been inspired to make this so all credit goes to them!  Well actually it does have the sentiment stamped, which is mostly what I do when entering stamping challenges, although I have got a bit better, don't you think?

This card was a lot of fun to make.  What do you think of my new flower die cutter.  Isn't it GORGEOUS?!  As soon as I saw it I knew I 'needed' it.  (Read the word 'need' in the same way as you know you 'need' new shoes or a new handbag!)

What I love about this card is that fun little spotty brad, and the bright colours.  How cute is that?!

This card came together quite quickly because the paper is double sided and so colourful.

I just wanted to say that if you have left me a comment and I haven't responded it's probably because it hasn't come through to my e-mail account.  I have been having a bit of a hit and miss service with my e-mail so am only noticing more recent comments on postings to which I have replied.  I always try to reply to each and every comment as soon as time permits.  I value the time taken by you to add your comments, and they mean an awful lot to me.  (You only have to ask Ian, I get really excited when someone leaves me a comment.  The poor man thinks I'm totally nuts!)

I will probably be a bit quiet over the next few days because Ian's parents are visiting, and much as I will be itching to create cards I don't know that it would be the most polite thing to do when we have family here!!   As soon as I can I will be back blogging/posting again.

Top 5 - Get Sketchy, Card of the Week & More Challenges!

Hi there everyone

I am SO excited! I made the Top 5 over at Get Sketchy on Saturday! I only found out last night by accident! I had noticed some traffic from there coming to my blog and wondered why, then saw my card listed as one of the Top 5. Woohoo!!!! That's the first challenge I've ever achieved anything in. Then when I was looking through Card of the Week and Best of the Blogosphere(13 -20 Feb) I came across another one of my cards, this one here that I made for the Clean and Simple Challenge.   It must be my week! Wow! I had made a New Year's resolution to keep trying challenges with the hope that I would achieve something in one of them this year! Yay!!!!!! I'm SUCH a happy girl, can you tell?!!!

Ok, so enough of that, here are a few more cards that I'd like to share with you. I've been in the mood for making cards this past couple of weeks, as you can probably tell :o)

This first card is for Card Patterns Sketch #52. Unbelievably I am early with this challenge. I know, can you believe it?!! I can't! As soon as I saw this sketch I knew I just had to dig out my Early Bird papers again. Ooh, they are SO yummy! This sketch was fun.   Sorry about the photo, I took it quite late at night, but have posted it now to a friend so didn't get chance to rephotograph it in better lighting.  Despite trying to brighten it in PSE it's not coming up any better.

The funny thing with this sketch was that I rounded the corners of the little squares so that each one was different to the next, only to then remember that my two panels would cover them anyway, so you wouldn't see them lol.

I made this card for the Clean and Simple Challenge FTL#79 this week.    I have fallen in love with this site, it's fab!  The card is self explanatory, all Early Bird papers and accessories by Cosmo Cricket.  All I did was ink all edges with Tim Holtz distress ink.

I also made this card using the same sketch, although I'm not that sure about it. It doesn't quite work for me somehow, but I can't put my finger on what's wrong with it or whether it's just everything lol. The paper is just so cute though, it had to be used!

After I did these though I realised that neither of them have actually been stamped.  Oh well, I have been having fun doing them :o)  Does using distress ink count as being stamped lol?!! 

I have more to share with you later this week. 

Oh yes... Did I tell you I made the Top 5?!!!! ;o)