A spoon full of sugar.

There's a great new challenge blog using Sugar Nellies from Funky Kits this will include Sweet Ebony, Maggie and Hamish and Rachelle Ann stamps as well. I've used Sweet Ebony with Basic Grey papers I think its sultry range. I do find though that these stamps work better with watercolouring then prisms. I have a scary amount of stamps that I haven't even used yet, I must try to use them before I buy more.

Papertake Weekly Mens Theme

So for the Papertake weekly challenge is for a male card especially with Father's Day round the corner and my brother and my Dad both have birthdays round the same time. Lets be honest mens cards are so hard to do. The papers are dovecrafts which has been excellent for mens cards, the stamp is Sugar Nellies from Funky kits. I've been watercolouring with pencils recently simply because its a bit quicker.

CPS66

The sketch on CPS66 is circular which I find really difficult and they wanted a summer theme now maybe some people think sunflowers are more autumn but they seem to flower in August when its hot and sultry. August is the month full of children laughing and running semi naked in the garden where providing we're not on drought orders plenty of water is involved. The stamp is High Hopes which I got from Silly Monkeys. Not sure on the paper and I used watercolour pencils to colour.

Torn Tilda

Ask anyone who knows me and you would know that I don't do tearing paper and when I've gone to classes where I'm instructed to tear, you would either see me take out the deckle scissors or if I'm force to tear I will do so with my eyes shut. So the challenge on Tilda & Co is torn paper, I raided my scraps so it least if it looks really bad I've only wasted scraps but the square doesn't look too bad although the sky looks a bit stormy.

Living down South we had enough rain to last all summer yesterday or at least it felt like it, you would have thought I would have spent all day crafting, afraid not went to my sis and was trying to work out her video camera.

70th Pool Shark

So today is a bank holiday and the weather is doing what is usually does, it's raining hard. I've been struggling to make a card for a friend of ours whose 70 and its a fella. I decided to use the pool shark as the zero and made the chipboard 7 using cricut and mickey font and that was it couldn't think what else to do, then Saturday workout wanted you to use a resist technique so I made the bubbles using a hero arts stamps with random circles, versamark and clear embossing powder then using sponges I used distress pads to colour and make the bubbles stand out. Then on Friday Sketchers they had a sketch from Carol and suddenly the card was finished, I couldn't quite work to closed to the sketch had to turn bits a different way to work but without the sketch I probably would still be staring at it. Oh the papers are doodlebug.
Look what I got, cool award from Tracey, thanks.
If anyone fancy a trip to Hobbycraft in Woking I can firmly recommend it or at least till they sell out of stuff. The few times I've been able to get to Hobbycraft it was alway half empty but I suppose cos they've only just opened it was full. The card and scrapbooking making is upstairs but there is a lift at the back of the store. I find lots of scrapbooking stuff I hadn't seen before from American craft, K&co and Making Memories. Some of the prices are quite dear especially for gadgets circut and cuttlebug, yet some were quite resonable. But it was noisy there was quite load music by the tills of all places.

25th May

Yes its the 25th of the month and its Rudolph day. I've tried to use Di Hickman sketch May#3 but it sort of went wrong, I made sure you could read the sentiment then realised they should have read on the opposite sides to follow the sketch to where the penquins go but the principle is still there. The penguins are Penny Black which I cut out and the papers were some freebies from a mag but I think they are doodlebug, the sentiments were in a goodie bag from a craft day with Authors and Artists in Fleet last year.

So the second honeymooners are back today, I know this because BIL is cleaning carpets tonight with OH. These are some pics that my Sis sent to us on her phone talk about rubbing it in.

They had priority boarding, this was on arrival in Tiffany's lounge where Wine and a bit of lunch was served.Champagne and dressing gowns, don't you love the slippers.
On their balcony, it looks like it's large enough to have a party.

Hopefully OH is going to take me to the new Hobbycraft at Woking, it opened yesterday but OH was too busy to take me, I know the chains can be a disappointment but for essentials it could be handy.

Sunny Saturday

Had to use another of the Sweet Ebony stamps from Funky Kits, they're just so cute, the papers are chatterbox and I used my watercolour pencils. The sketch is from Paperworld, which suits theses stamps to a tee.

Now the challenge on Arty Girlz is recycling, now sitting on my desk is this box that had a circle tin sitting on top with birds in, from Prima. I had the box for ages and the challenge pushed me into doing something with it. So I decorated the top of the box.

And inside I made a little concertina book using Laura Ashley papers from Dovecraft.
And when you lift up the ribbon this is what pulls out, pictures of my brothers and sister with their other halfs, all dressed up in our posh gear for Damien and Rachel's Wedding last year.
Inside the bottom of the box is a blossom just to make it look pretty and I used the flourishes die from quickcutz and corner die for the cuttlebug.

Cute Card Thursday

On one of my blog hopping days I found this blog , Kerry draws her images and mentioned that Debbi Moore brought some of the images for stamps and last week they were at last on the shops website. Yesterday they arrived, quite surprised how large they are, so with a sketch for Cute Card Thursday from Katharine I couldn't resist to use them. The paper is papermania and I used my watercolour pencils and plenty of glamour dust.
I don't have any Halloween stamps, nor do I take pics at Halloween so why did I buy Halloween stickers from Poundland last year on my travels! At last, one of Kerry's stamps is of a witch and I just couldn't stop myself, the sketch is sort of based on Katharine's papertake weekly sketch and I used a piece of DCWV glitter card.
I'm such a lucky gal not only do I have some lovely bloggers who pop by my blog leaving some fabulous comments but they give awards too. This one makes me laugh, all I can think of is "Does my bum look big in this" and I'm pretty much sure my bum is that huge.

Thanks to Nikki (Bunny-Zoe's) and Beth for this great Circle of Friends award, everyone who visits my blog deserves it too, but a couple of Favourites Fran and Carole.

Really cute.

Birds of a feather is the challenge on Tilda & Friends ATC challenge, you have to use either a magnolia bird or feathers. Now I have these cute birds or normal looking birds from the spring club but lets be honest you can't beat cute. I regret not getting the magnolia wall which I hope soon will be rectified. So the wall is hand draw, actually I'm really please how it turned out. Had to put Two little dicky birds because I have two brothers called Peter and Paul and it used to annoy them when I used to sing it when I was little.
Isn't she gorgeous and we're not talking about my colouring but the stamp designed my Elisabeth Bell and turned into stamps by Funky Kits (they're waiting for more to be delivered). I thought they may be a bit fiddly for prisms and paper stubbs, so I got my watercolour pencils out. The hat cried out for layering and I use silcone glue so that its only slighty raised but enough to give it some depth. The papers are K & co and I used the amazing sketch from Katharine on Papertake Weekly, the border is matching paper using a Fiskars border punch which I had to blow the dust off after I managed to find them.
I've heard from the second honeymooners they're having a Fabulous time with champagne every day and Sis even managed to find a craft shop in one of the towns.

Ismaki#20 challenge

The Ismaki #20 challenge was certainly out of my comfort zone, a circle sketch and no patterned paper, so thanks to the challenge on Saturday Workout chalks were still on my mind. So with the little daisy stamp from Blade runner I stamped randomly then using pebbles chalks I chalked in a few colours over the white card stock and then using the chalk pencils highlighted the daisies. The large daisy stamp is from HobbyArt that I masked into a group and again used the pencil chalks. The sentiment is stampin up, DCWV coloured cardstock which I love when you use the cuttlebug embossing folders, rub an emery board lightly over the top shows the white core coming through.

On a forum I go on they have an ATC swop with Magnolia's and here are the three fabulous ones sent back to me. The first one is from Jo (Fairymad)
This little gem is from Fran.
and last but not least Lynn.

The three below are the ones I sent to swop.

Challenges.

This card is using the latest CPS sketch, isn't it great when you see a sketch you know immediately what you want to do. The blossom stamp is stampendous and for Saturday Workout the challenge was to use chalks and hiding in my drawer are some chalk pencils I brought last year when I was in the US which gave the blossoms some delicate colours, once again I've used PSX butterfly on contrasting paper by papermania. There some stampin up words just above the butterfly.
Now onto the Tilda & Co challenge to use beads, so I've used the dinky flowers I made ages ago that have beads has their centres. Paper pieced Tilda's dress with matching Making Memories papers.
Last but not least DCM challenge last Friday was for Animalia, I've used BG papers and bits of leather with a stampendous stamp of Giraffes the sentiment is a rub on, its a bit large cos it has to hide a messy blot.

Ruby Anniversary Post

Congratulations to my Sis and her hubby on their Ruby Anniversary, at this moment they are on board the Oceana visiting the Fjords. BIL has come up trumps by upgrading to a suite which comes with a butler called Andrew! The suite is full of pressies and flowers and I'm green with envy. Anyway back to business the above card is a Ladybug stamp designed by Rachelle Anne Miller as soon as I saw it I had to have it for their Anniversary. BIL has a thing about frogs and this stamp has Mr & Mrs Frog with their three little frogs and so has my Sis has three little frogs too called Louise, Mark and Timothy. This card I made for Mum to give to Sis using Joanne Sheen stamps love the elegance of these stamps .
This is the box that I made for the special project from a few weeks ago, I then had to make a box to put the box in so I could seal it.

I love this mini book and I've made quite a few now, its orginally a class on UKS on their summer Cyber Crop from last year. Hope the link works.

I've been really good no sarcastic remarks like the bridesmaids dresses were LIME GREEN.
Or the fact that if we so much has drop a flower from our baskets we would be for IT
Not too mention how slim everyone looks!

Nor did I mention the fact if you met KC as a 7 year old wouldn't you be scared of him too! Of course I've made up for it since there' nothing like gettin one over your BIL.
I think I did smile in ONE photo!
Ahhhhh don't they look sweet!

If blogger behaves you can see the pics larger if you click on them.


Happy Ruby Anniversary

Doreen & Keith Collins

19th May 2008