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......

Summertime..........

Just popping in, to post a juicy little summertime card I created for a couple of challenges. It seems every challenge I checked out this week is calling for a summer theme, so I will be back over the next couple of days with more variations on that theme.

First up, Digital Pencil Too Challenge Blog are calling for creations using the following photo as inspiration.........

.......I can't help but think of summer with this mouthwatering citrus colour palette, so here's what I came up with..........

The image is of course Mo Manning's Pool Party with the adorable characters Bella and her dog Bronte. I love her podgy little tummy (Bella's that is!) and scrawny little legs - too cute!

I'm also entering this card over at Little Red Wagon, for challenge #41 where the theme is.....of course......you guessed it.........a Summer theme.

I coloured with Prisma pencils and Gamsol, and I wish I could tell you which PP's I used but unfotunately, I dug into my scraps and can't remember!

See you tomorrow.......

Bling it on...........

Red, white and black..........I love this combination of colours on a card, so when I saw the Bellarific Friday challenge this week, to add 'bling' to your project, I knew instantly that this is what I'd use. Introducing 'Billboardabella'.............


I love this stamp (which you can find over at Stamping Bella obviously) as it comes with 6 different sentiments and is therefore pretty versatile.

I coloured with Prisma pencils and Gamsol, sponged 'chalk ink' around the image as per usual, and added red ultra fine glitter to the heart and billboard, which I'd stamped separately, then 'popped' from the card - those ancient decoupage scissors are coming in pretty handy! The red DP is from Martha Stewart and the 'newsprint' DP, which is one of my favouritest papers evah (!!!!!), is from 7 gypsies. The added extra bling comes via the rhinestones and beaded flower, from my stash, and a little 'faux' stitching rounds it off.

Yep........I'm lovin' it!

Am I late?........

I've been meaning to colour this Mo Manning image of the White Rabbit, from Alice in Wonderland, for quite some time now, as I think it would come in very handy for the amount of occasions I miss. Maybe I need to make numerous versions, because if any of my family happen to read this, I can practically hear the voices now.......'Are you kidding?'.......'You got that right'....blah, blah, blah.........Let's just agree that I'm a little time challenged! But what can I say - I'm my Father's daughter (as my Mother would say!), so it's not my fault....it's genetic!! Anyhow, I digress, so here he is..........

......... as you can see, I've been at 'it' again........paper piecing that is! I knew his waistcoat (or vest for those without a British accent!) was just crying out for something a little different, so I pieced with paper from the Basic Grey Max and Whiskers collection. Now is about the time I should mention that I created this with a challenge in mind..........Little Red Wagon are calling for 'circles' on a project this week. I knew I wanted to use that great embossed 'clock' tag (from We R Memory Keepers) together with this image, so you can't miss the circle there. Add the circular embossing on the teal coloured DP, and tiny circle alpha's from Jenni Bowlin around the clock, and I think I have met challenge requirements!

I coloured mainly with Copic's and a touch of Prisma's, all DP's are Basic Grey as mentioned before. You can barely see from the photograph, but the ribbon, from Martha Stewart, has 'Happy Birthday' printed on there. I did a little 'fake' stitching around the edge i.e. paper piercing and white pen, as I was too tired to pull out sewing machine and thread!

That's it for now........I think for my next trick I will try something that may not be from Mo Manning (lol) or could even be a scrapbook layout (gasp!).

You never know............

Twuly scwumptious..........

I don't normally post on a Saturday but this card has been lying around for a couple of days and is just itching to take flight. Rather than leave it on my dining table table any longer, to attract dust and flying food crumbs from my kids, I thought I'd get it out there.......

Now, you know how much I love Mo Mannings images, so when I saw the challenge this week on Mo's Challenge Blog for 'Things with Wings', the creative (and digestive!!) juices started flowing pretty quickly, when I decided on this image.

Of course, while I was scouting around the web, I also found a few other challenges to plunge into as well:

Simon Says Stamp Challenge Blog : Sing It Baby - this is a pretty cool quest this week, to create a card whilst singing a song in your head! For some reason, Truly Scrumptious (hence the title of my post!) from the movie Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (if anyone can remember that far back!!) got in there and would not leave I tell ya! I think it's the fact that both the cupcake and the fairy are pretty 'munchable'.

One Stitch At A Time : Challenge #24 - Use a little Pink (no problem there!)

Flutter By Wednesday : Challenge #116 - Use a Butterfly, Fairy or Angel and your favourite colour (I do love me the pink and green combo)

Cute Card Thursday : Challenge #124 - Whateva!

So all that said, oh yeah...........let's get to the nitty gritties of the card. I think I'll have to send this to myself cause it's just too sweet to give away! I coloured mainly with Prisma pencils and just a touch of Copics, and of course plenty of super fine glitter for the tutu/wings/cupcake. I also used some Glossy Accents on the star sprinkles and sponged a little 'chalk' ink around the image. I tried blades of grass for the first time also, and although I am no Paula Williamson....it's not a bad effort! DP's are from Pink Paislee and ribbon and sentiment button are from my stash.

Phew, that 's it. Wow, my longest post ever. Just one more thing.......an ammendment to my last post.......

I think this is my latest favourite card.......til the next one!

Somebunny loves you........

I tried my hand at something new this week.....paper piecing......ever tried it? I have done various things on cards which I guess would qualify, but I've never actually stamped an image and paper pieced together. Not anymore! The challenge at Stamping Bella's Bloggabella this week was paper piecing (I wonder how many times I can say that phrase within a post before it gets annoying!). So, I set to work with scissors and craft knife in hand and came up with this.....


This is Presley, one of Lori Boyd's Lollipop images and she really is a sweetie. I used two DP's for the bodice and skirt of the dress and I have to say, I'm lovin' the look it creates. The technique is definitely a little "fiddly" on something this tiny, but once I'd ditched my craft knife for a pair of teeny tiny decoupage scissors (I've had stashed away for the past fifteen years) things got easier. I love how she turned out, so me thinks I will be trying this again sometime soon.

I coloured mainly with Copic markers and just a tiny bit of Prisma pencils. I also added a touch of glitter to her dress, and two spots of Liquid Pearls for the buttons. The DP's are Kioshi from Basic Grey together with BoBunny's Double Dot cardstock.

I think this is my latest favourite card........for now!

Christmas in July......

Well, we're back, rested, rejuvenated, and the vacation is over, so back to reality. It seems everywhere I look at the moment, I see the above phrase. Maybe it's just a ploy to throw us into the mad panic of Christmas shopping and card making! Anyhooooooo.........I don't think I'll be starting either anytime soon! That said, I did come up with this little creation for the challenge over at Mo's Challenge Blog, the theme for which is........you guessed it......Christmas in July!

I decided to use one of her images which, probably has absolutely nothing to do with Christmas, but hey....I thought it was cute and I like a challenge!

I coloured, again with a combo of Prisma's, Copic's and Gamsol, added a little Tim Holtz Distress Stickles on the wreath for 'snow', sponged a little around the image using a ColorBox Cat's Eye 'Chalk" ink pad and finished with last Christmas' leftovers of BoBunny pp, ribbon and a Martha Stewart holly sticker.

I realize it's not overly 'Christmassy' but I just couldn't bring myself to dig into the whole holiday assortment just yet......I'm still dusting sand from my flip flops.....let me enjoy it a little while longer!