Happy Days!

I grew up watching the Fonz and Happy Days, so it was no surprise that I couldn’t resist the Papermania Happy Days Collection…especially as it was reduced!!

The papers on this card are all from the stack, with a little added Kraft for contrast.  I printed the sentiment banner directly onto the Kraft and skewed the banner slightly to avoid looking like I’d tried to cross out the cars behind it!

And that was pretty much that!!  As you can see, this card is headed to France for a birthday, so I’d better hop off down to the Post Office pronto!!

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Manly 21st Birthday Card!

Our new challenge starts today over at Crafting At The Weekend!  As usual, our theme is Anything Goes, and we’re lucky to be sponsored by Faery Ink and Crafty Sentiments.

My card for this challenge focussed once more on clearing our my stash!!   

The striped and spotty papers are from a pack of origami paper that I couldn’t resist buying from Tiger (I may have also “accidentally” bought a couple of other colour ways too….!).  I like the combination of kraft and navy for a male card – as it felt a little too dark, I added a coupe of touches of cream to break it up.  The 21 was cut on the Silhouette, using a store file, and the sentiment was printed directly onto the cream card stock.

Why don’t you head over to Crafting At The Weekend now to see what else the DT have to share with you today?

Let’s Go!

This week’s challenge at Sentimental Sundays is all about Vehicles!  We are sponsored by Doodle Pantry – they have some great value packages available; I especially like the pre-coloured images for those days when you just don’t have time to break out the pens!

My sample this week features the Mustang from the Classic Cars 2 collection.  I used the pre-coloured image, along with four of the digital papers included in the set.  As I have Designer Edition of the Silhouette software, I was able to drag the papers straight from the folder to fill my shapes – meaning  I had print and cut all my pieces within about five minutes!!

The wheel is not part of the set – this was made using a wheel cut file from the Silhouette store.  I added the sentiment to the wheel, then print and cut it.  The chrome was from a scrap of adhesive foil that was lurking in my stash!

I’ve based the card around the latest sketch challenge at Techno Stamper – I didn’t even have to take a moment to plan my card out! (How lazy was I??!!)

Head over to Sentimental Sundays to see what projects the rest of the DT have made to inspire you this week.

I’d like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Technostamper – see sketch above

Aud Sentiments – For The Men In Our Lives

I Just Want To Dance!

I’m back with another challenge for Sentimental Sundays!  This week, we are sponsored by Calypso’s Crafty Things – and there’s a fabulous prize for the lucky winner!  The theme for this challenge is “Inside and Out”, another first for me!  I always pay a lot of attention to the front of my cards, but I can’t remember ever continuing the theme inside!

I based my card around sketch 60 at From The Heart Sketches.  I love to flick through the old sketches when I’m struggling to pin down a design, it’s just packed full with inspiration! So, the details for my card….  The image I have used is a MilkCoffee freebie from a while back – not sure how I have overlooked her for so long!!  I coloured her using Pro-Markers as usual.  I’ve tried a new hair combo – Ivory, Satin and Tan – and I’m really pleased with the way it’s turned out.  The image on the inside of the card is by Patties Creations.  I’ve coloured the ballet slipper with ProMarkers, then mounted on a lilac mat before popping it inside the card.

To create the frame on the front of the card, I designed a “ring doughnut” shape in the Silhouette software by laying a smaller circle over the larger circle and the subtracting the top shape.  I then welded the letters of my daughter’s name to the outside edge of the doughnut.  The banner pieces were also cut from glitter card on the Silhouette, before being hand stitched to the corrugated card with some matching ribbon.

The papers on the front of the card are from the Papermania Spots and Stripes collection; all the other papers are from my stash.

Make sure you pop over to Sentimental Sundays to see what the rest of the DT have been up to this week!

Very Pink And Girly!

It’s time for a new challenge over at Crafting From The Heart!  As always, our theme is Anything Goes, which makes it so easy to play along!  We have some great sponsors again this week – A Day For Daisies and Aurora Wings!

I chose to use G Is For Girl by A Day For Daisies for my DT project.  Believe it or not, I didn’t have a pink and girly card in mind, despite the fact that the image is about all things girly….!  However, this card ended up being a very last minute make – something I hate doing as I prefer to take my time over my makes!  Unfortunately though, events including a garden makeover, a smashed conservatory window and the school holidays all led to this card being made up against a deadline!

All in all, I’m quite pleased with the results though!  The image was so quick and simple to colour – I kept to shades of pink to co-ordinate nicely with the papers and ribbon.  The layout is based around the latest sketch challenge over at Kraftin’ Kimmie Stamps, which is such a lovely classic design that I couldn’t resist joining in!

Would you believe that I spent more time on the bow than the rest of the card altogether!  The polka dots are only on one side, but I didn’t want to show the plain side on the loops and tails of the bow – I love the way it is only visible at the centre!  Let’s just say, it took several dozens tries to get it just right 🙂

That’s it from me today – I hope you get time to pop over to Crafting From The Heart, where even the quickest makes are welcome!!

 

Final Chance To Play At Unstampabelles

Today I’m sharing the last card I made for my Guest Designer spot over at Unstampabelles.  We’re nearing the end of the this month’s challenge, so there’s still time to enter if you hurry! In case you need a reminder, this month’s challenge is to incorporate an animal or bird into your project and the twist is to use pastel colours.  Don’t forget that fabulous prize too – a $15 voucher is being offered to the winner by Regal Press.

This card has been made for my little niece, who will be two in early May.  I loved this file as soon as I saw it, and thought it would make a very cute birthday card, but would also easily fit a new baby theme.  The file is available from Miss Kate Cuttables direct or through the Silhouette Online store – they also list a free cutting file every day, so it’s well worth a visit!!

I used my Silhouette to cut all the pieces and then popped the bear back together with the help of some Mod Podge (perfect as it didn’t warp the card).  I created a mask to add the details to the hearts, and used a sponge dauber to add the Starlite Silver Brilliance pigment ink. I then cut a frame from Kraft card, ran it through the Cuttlebug with the Darice chevron folder and mounted it onto the white cardbase.  I popped the bear inside the frame, adding 3D pads to the back of the balloons.  Finally, I cut a 2 from pink card, then a slightly larger copy in yellow, glued them together and mounted them on the strip of vellum in the top corner, secured with a yellow brad.

Why not pop over to Unstampabelles now for a look at the final inspiration pieces from the Design Team?

I’d like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Eclectic Ellapu – Birthdays

2 Sisters – Teddy Bears

A Gem Of A Challenge – Cute and Cuddly

Paper Crafting Magic – No Patterned Paper

A Creative Romance – Scrappy Cards (balloons, tab and number 2 all made from scraps)

4 Crafty Chicks – Embossing

 Fairytale Challenge  – Cute

Happy 18th Birthday!

Today’s card was made for my next door neighbour’s oldest son, who turned 18 at the weekend.  I’ve kept the colours simply and masculine and opted to focus on the age, rather than add an image to this card – after all, it is a landmark birthday, so it’s all about the numbers!

The die cut is by Lori Whitlock in the Silhouette Online store (I also have similar ones by Alaa’K).  The side panels were embossed with the Darice Chevrons folder.  And, to top it all, I’ve managed to make this card entirely from my leftovers box 🙂

I’d like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Artistic Inspirations – CAS

Crafty Bloggers Network – Die Cuts and Embossing

Whoopsi Daisy – Emboss It!

Stamped Blessings – Chevrons

Robyn’s Fetish Challenge – Square Cards

Crafting Musketeers – Monochrome

While I’m here today, I’d also like to let you know that I’ve (finally) claimed my blog on Bloglovin, and have added a button in the side bar for you to click on if you’d like to join my band of followers!  I’ve recently swapped from WordPress Reader to Bloglovin as I was having trouble receiving posts for the blogs I was subscribed to – I’ve found Bloglovin really straight forward to use, both as a follower and blogger; it’s all there waiting for me when I get five minutes peace with a cup of coffee 😉

 

 

 

Cute and Cuddly

“Cute and cuddly, boys.  Cute and cuddly.”  Any other Madagascar fans out there?  I’ve had Skipper’s voice going round and round in my head since I saw the theme for the new challenge over at Sentimental Sundays!  Must spend some time on the sofa with the kids and a DVD this weekend, I think 😉

So, as I mentioned, our theme is Cute and Cuddly, and we were very lucky to be sponsored by MilkCoffee, home of some really cute and cuddly images!!  I chose Lola and Bear (I think it may now have been retired) for my card – definitely the perfect image for the challenge!

The backing papers are all from the Harper Finch I’m Yours (Pack 1) digital paper collection.  I thought the XOXO paper was just perfect!

When it came to the image, I faux paper pieced the dress with the bluebell paper from the I’m Yours stack on the Silhouette – I love the way the pattern is smaller on the top than on the skirt.  I was then torn over how to colour the bear – should I faux paper piece him too?  Or should I attempt fur with the ProMarkers….?  I headed to Google to find a fur tutorial and came across an excellent tutorial on Ideas To Inspire.  I loved the way the inks worked with the watercolour paper, and then remembered I had some in my old stash!  I dug it out and set to work using the tutorial as a guide.  Firstly, I printed the image, with the faux paper pieced dress on a piece of watercolour paper and then coloured the image with ProMarkers – although it looked a little uneven when the ink was dry, I’m delighted with the blends I’ve achieved.  I’ll admit that the image on the card is my second attempt though; I tried browns for the bear in the first attempt, but didn’t like the combination of colours when I put it with the backing papers.  I find the grey works much better in this case.

The banner was cut on the Silhouette; the bluebell paper is a larger version of the pattern on the dress from the Harper Finch papers, the two solid colours are just colour matched to the other papers from my stash.

The button was also a bit of an aha! moment!  I have some epoxy buttons in my stash, but they’re the wrong colours or wrong sizes for this project.  So I adapted a button cut file from my Silhouette library, coloured it in light grey and pink before printing and then cut four copies.  I stuck them all together with Mod Podge, then stuck a generous layer of Glossy Accents all over to create a shine!  Added to a piece of twine, it finishes the card off just as I hoped!

I based the card around the current sketch at Sweet Sketch Wednesday 2 and I’ll be entering the challenge later today!

Make sure you pop over to Sentimental Sundays this week – I’m sure you’ll have some cute and cuddly projects to share with us this week!

I’d also like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Sweet Sketch Sunday 2 – see sketch above

Matryoshka Doll

Today I have a birthday card for you!  A very good friend of mine loves these little Matryoshka dolls and orange, so when I found a cut file in the Silhouette Store and a little Matryoshka key ring, I couldn’t resist!

After a little hunt around online, I was also fortunate to find the lovely background paper, which is by Sharon Turner for Paper Crafter Magazine.  I kept the design quite straight forward as the paper was already quite busy, but overall, I like the effect of all the little Russian Dolls popping up to send their birthday wishes!

Thanks for reading x

 

 

First Crafty Girls Challenge of 2014!

The new challenge over at Crafty Girls starts today.  We were lucky to be sponsored by Bugaboo Stamps, and as the theme is “Anything Goes” for this challenge, I headed straight for this great Candy Jar image:

I coloured the image with Pro-Markers, sticking to bold, juicy colours for the sweets.  To emphasise the glass, I drew a little pale blue ink onto my blender pen and added little light touches around the edge of the glass.   I then added Glossy Accents to the whole of the glass jars, the sweets popping out of the top and the bubbles of colour on the paper.   The papers were part of a lovely freebie set from Cute and Useful – they were perfectly coloured to compliment the bright, bold sweets.  The sentiment was cut on the Silhouette and a piece of bubblegum pink glittercard was popped in behind it.

I hope you’ll have a chance to pop over and have a look at the rest of the inspirational pieces created by my team-mates, and I look forward to seeing your entries in the challenge.

I’d like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Charisma Cardz – Birthdays

Addicted To Stamps – Make Your Mark

Crafter’s Cafe – Anything Goes

Crafting By Design – Birthdays

Divas By Design – Let’s Celebrate

Fab N Funky Challenges – Let’s Celebrate

Penny’s Paper Crafty Challenges – Anything Goes

Scrapper’s Delight – Let’s Celebrate

Thanks for reading x