Exciting news..............

............what, I hear you cry! Did ya notice my new badge over there ->->-> on the right. Yep, I'm the newest recruit into the Stitchy Bear Stamps Design Team, over at One Stitch At A Time challenge blog. Big thanks to them for allowing me to do more of what I enjoy best.........oh it's a hard life!



Anyhow, there's a new challenge posted there every Sunday (in which yours truly will be participating from September 5th), so if you feel like joining in, and possibly winning some goodies, hop on over. There's also a little 'sneak peak' contest starting on Saturdays, from September 4th, where more prizes are up for grabs.



So, like I said, if you feel like a challenge, or want to check out some great digi images, go take a look.........

......... I may see you there!

Life is..............sweet!

Well, it's Bellarific Friday tomorrow over at Stamping Bella's Bloggabella, and the theme is Anything Goes. Also, for anyone who didn't know, it's the last week for entries to the open DT call. Ooooh, exciting stuff, can't wait to see who wins as there have been more than 50 examples of super phenomenal talent every Friday, for the last 4 weeks.

Anyhow, enough rambling, here is my effort for this week.

'Life is....sweet!'.......presented by 'the Turtle Tots'...........

I had fun colouring these 3 summerliscious babes as they are so cute. I remembered to choose my DP's first for a change (which made life a lot easier when colouring!) so I like how the 'striped dress' especially, matches perfectly. I really should do that more often........someone remind me please..........

I coloured solely with Prisma's and Gamsol, apart from the one shade of pale blue I didn't have, and had to use a Copic marker. DP's are from Fancy Pants 'Rustic Sun' line. I used a little Glossy Accents for the sweet treats the turtles are holding, and found a chipboard ice-cream in my stash, which I covered and inked. I was super pleased when I noticed the reverse of one of the papers was perfect for the cone, so that worked out nicely! Ribbon and Dew Drops from my stash, together with some 'faux' stitching and we're done.

Have a 'sweet' weekend.

3 in 1........

.........there's something quite satisfying about completing a challenge, especially if you manage to combine numerous challenges, and still meet requirements. That can be a whole other challenge, so I'm quite happy with this card I created last night, that I'll be entering in 3 different challenges. From The Greeting Farm, here's Anya......in the snow........

So, here they are (in no particular order), we have

Cute Card Thursday #126 A sketch by Fran : this was a great sketch......lots of layers.

Flutter By Wednesday #118 a recipe challenge.......... 1 part sparkle, 2 parts DP, 3 parts buttons or gems (and of course you have to have an angel, butterfly or fairy on there) : I think I got everything in.

7 Kids College Fund challenge No.2 Strip It Down........use no more than 2 layers of DP on your card : this was quite a challenge as the sketch mentioned previously, has loads of layers. I made up for the lack of DP, with loads of card stock, embossed or otherwise!

So, I coloured with the usual combination of Copic's and Prisma's, used plenty of glitter, sponged around the image with a grey ink, also used some handmade paper on there to create that soft 'downy' fuzz. The angel is sort of pieced together with various shapes of chipboard I had (covered with card stock and inked). DP's are K & Company and Basic Grey's Kioshi.

Well, that's it for now..........I have to get working on my card for Stamping Bella's, Bellarific Friday.

DP2 Challenge........

........over at Mo Manning's Challenge Blog this week, the call is 'Thank Heaven for Little Girls'. I think I can find an appropriate image, living in a household that has a 75% female population! It also worked out very nicely, as my niece has a Birthday coming up very soon....she'll be turning the grand old age of 7. So with her in mind, here is one of my favourite little girls, Bella and her dog Bronte in 'Celebrate', for another of my favourite little girls! Happy Birthday EG.............

So, if you happen to be reading this Auntie Emm, I am technically on time (or even early!) for the Birthday celebrations....yes? Unfortunately, by the time I get it mailed 'across the pond', I probably should have sent the 'white rabbit "Am I Late?"' instead!

I had a little play around with this card. The colouring is done predominantly with Prisma's and just a touch of Copic's for skin. There's also lots of super fine glitter and silver gel pen on her dress. I really wanted Bella to be jumping out of the 'Nestie' so I played around with that.......are 2 arms any more substantial than the 2 antennae from my previous post?.....I think not! Because I wanted her to leap out, this meant I had to mask the main portion of the image, and print again onto the solid DP behind, in order to get the confetti in there. Are you with me? I guess I could have just dotted glitter there, but I wanted to stick to the true Mo Manning image. DP's are from Basic Grey's Kioshi line.

So other than all the other 'bells and whistles' on there, that's it for today's creation.

Before I leave, I just wanted to take a moment to share a little love with all you wonderful 'Followers' and 'Commentators' out there in Blogland. You would think it creates the same effect as a double espresso, from the bounce in my step, after I find 'new activity' on my blog. You have certainly made me welcome in this new little venture. From my Mom, who is single handedly recruiting half of my family (sorry guys!) and anyone she knows to check 'it' out. To my Dad, who has probably never done anything 'crafty' in his life (no offence!), and shared with me on the phone the other night, that he had sat and read my blog from start to finish.........ahhh a proud moment. I also received a comment the other day from Lori Boyd.....the Lori Boyd, creator of those gorgeous 'Lollipop' images I luurve so much..........Oh I'm a happy gal! So once again, thanks to everyone who has taken the time to visit, comment, follow etc.

That said, here is my challenge to each and everyone of you out there in Blogland.............share the love!

Visit a blog + leave a comment = make someone's day!

You know you want to........you'll feel better for it!

'Bee' Happy........

..........well, I did 'chill' for a day.....til I remembered it was Bellarific Friday over at the Stamping Bella blog, and I hadn't 'created' anything. So, after a few rants yesterday to try and get the kiddie winks to clear away the endless supply of clutter, and give me 5 minutes peace (never gonna happen!), I finally came up with something............

This is Lizzie, another of Lori Boyd's cute little 'Lollipop's' which you can find over at Stamping Bella. The challenge this week was a sketch...... gotta love em! Takes the guess work out of layouts which means I get more time to play. I've also decided I do love black matting....black and red, black and yellow......who cares, it just looks so sharp.

I coloured with Prisma's/Gamsol with a touch of Copic's for skin, and used some great DP's from October Afternoon. This was the first time I tried to cut with a 'Nestie' and have part of the image protruding from the edge. I just about succeeded, but maybe next time I'll try with something a little more substantial, instead of two antennae!

Anyhow, that's it for now. I'll leave you with the words from the song that has been running through my head since I started colouring this card......

'Don't worry.......Be Happy'

...........I promise you'll be humming it for the rest of the day!

The last days of Summer..........

......or at least 'Summer' themed cards that is. Just a very quick post with my final 'Summerish' card this week. This will be entered into 2 challenges I found whilst scouting around.

A new challenge blog by 7 Kids College Fund started up within the last couple of weeks, and looks like it should be fun. Their first challenge involved 'pink' and 'dots' so here goes.........




The stamp is from The Greeting Farm and was coloured with mostly Copic's and just a touch of Prisma's for skin shading. DP's are who knows........the remains of my wagon stash, as is pretty much everything on this card!

I do like the look of the Martha Stewart border punch,which I believe is actually 'dripping paint', but I thought looks quite good for a melting hot Summer theme. That leads me nicely into the other challenge I'll be entering this card into. The theme for challenge #26 over at One Stitch At A Time Challenge Blog is 'Pack A Punch', ie. use any punch or punches on a card.


That's it for now. I think I'll chill for the next couple of days!

Party.......

So, I'm back with this weeks Summer creation #2. This card is for a challenge on the Simon Says Stamp Challenge Blog entitled 'Summertime Blues' i.e. produce a Summery creation with 'blue' in there. I used a great 'House Mouse' stamp I've had for a while called 'Lemon Lips'..........

.......I love these two little guys - Maxwell and Mudpie apparently - they bring a smile to my face every time I see those pouty little lips!

I coloured with a combo of Copic's and Prisma's/Gamsol and it was a little tricky let me tell ya! Me being me, I bought the stamp cause I liked it, but never gave a thought to the colouring (you'd think I would have!). Two minutes into colouring and I finally realize I have to tackle the shading of the glass, liquid through glass, ice through glass and liquid, mouse through glass, mouse through liquid and glass.......get the picture. Mild panic to say the least, however, trooper that I am, I persevered and I'm pretty proud of my first attempt.

I'm not sure which DP's I used because yet again I dug into my wagon of stash. I did use a border sticker and alpha's from the Echo Park Sweet Summertime collection. I also stamped the slice of lime and parasol separately and popped from the card.

So, cocktails anyone? I have a great little image (which I will colour one day!) of a Grandma with cocktail in hand saying "I don't care what time it is.....it's 5 o'clock somewhere!"

Enjoy......