40th Birthday Shaker Card

I have a confession….I was getting sequin withdrawal!  I needed some sparkle and twinkle to brighter up the grey days we’re having in Essex at the moment!  So a request for a pretty 40th birthday card seemed like the perfect excuse to bring out the sequins 🙂

The papers are all from the Sweet Spring Patterns digital paper collection by Harper Finch.  The vintage label shape is from the Silhouette store (such a versatile label shape, it’s indispensable!).  The banner was created in the Silhouette software, with faux stitching added before cutting, and it is held in place by two little brads.  Lastly, the sequins!  They were from my stash – pretty little flowers, with a generous handful of cup sequins 🙂

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Phew! Made It!!

I’m breathing a huge sigh of relief after finishing this card!  Although I’ll be nearly home by the time this post goes live, it is actually the last card I need to complete before packing my case and heading beachwards for 10 days!!

Anyway, on with the card!  This card is for the new challenge at Sentimental Sundays – we’re sponsored by Paper Pretties and the theme is “Make It Fab-ric!” (nice and easy, just add a little fabric onto your card!).

I chose to use Tommy on my card – his kite seemed to be a pretty good place to add some fabric into my card!  As usual, the image was coloured with Pro-Markers and cut on the Silhouette.  The sky background is from the In The Woods collection by Harper Finch, I’ve just lightened the colour of the sky slightly before printing it.  Two strips of grass were cut on the Silhouette, from the Snippets stack by Studio Calico; Tommy was popped between the two to give an element of depth to the card (I was massively inspired by our Guest Designer Maja‘s card from a couple of weeks ago – thank you!!).  The fabric I’ve used for the kite is a scrap of denim-like material that I’ve had in my stash since…..forever!!  Nice to finally use a bit of it!  I drew the bars from the kite on using a Sakura Jelly Roll.  The final touch was the sentiment banner and button – I picked a yellow button to add a little sunshine to my scene!

Hope you get a chance to pop over to Sentimental Sundays and show us how you’ve added fabric (and a sentiment!) to your makes this week.  I’m off to carry on packing 🙂

Keep It Cute And Cuddly!

For our new challenge over at Crafting From The Heart, we’re looking for your cute and cuddly creations!  The DT were fortunate to be sponsored by Bugaboo and Patties Creations – I chose to work with this cute little Sock Monkey…

Now, it’s nearing the end of the school term for us, so there are many assemblies, Easter parties and parades, as well as all the usual weekly commitments.  With this in mind, I needed to make a quick card!  Just recently, I’ve ended up taking several days umm-ing and aah-ing over the right layouts and papers, but I really didn’t have that much time this week, so I chose to faux paper piece the card, using Harper Finch’s Sweater Weather paper stack.  I added several more layers than I usually would, as I couldn’t decide on my favourite papers for the background!  And I’m proud to say, the card was started when I came home from the school run this morning, finished by 11am and my whole post was completed before I left home to pick my youngest up from pre-school at lunchtime.  The only downside is that I haven’t got any excuses to avoid the ironing this afternoon….

I look forward to seeing all your cute and cuddly entries – don’t forget to stop by Crafting From The Heart for a peek at the other DT projects!

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

2 Cute Ink – Anything Goes

Make It Monday – One For The Boys

Ooh La La – For A Child

Perfectly Rustics – Baby Cards

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

Make Your Own Background!

This week’s challenge over at Sentimental Sundays is “Make Your Own Background” and we are sponsored by Oak Pond Creations.

I chose to use this gorgeous Hibiscus digi image, and in my mind, I knew exactly how I wanted the card to look when it was finished!  However, as is often the case, things didn’t pan out the way I planned!  The first spanner in my wheels was half term…I had overlooked the fact that both my children were off school for the week and we had allsorts of plans for catching up with friends!  This meant that I was only free to craft in the evenings after their bedtime, and I really struggled with colours because of the lack of daylight 😦 Then, although I could see the card and the background I wanted to create for it, I didn’t have the faintest idea how to start, which led to a great deal of frustration and at least two half started cards/backgrounds screwed up and in the bin!!  (I have to confess, I am a bit of a perfectionist and have been known to have hissy-fits if I can’t get things just right!).

Which brings me neatly to my completed card….  Not at all the card I had in mind, but all things considered, a card I am pleased with!  I have recently upgraded my Silhouette software to the Designer package, mainly in order to be able to use all my digital papers as patterns within the software, so I was pleased to be able to play around with the additional  functionality of the package.  After reading an excellent tutorial on  faux paper piecing over at Paper Doll’s Creations I was itching to have a go….  So that’s exactly what I did!  I popped the Pro-Markers back in their pots, opened Harper Finch’s It’s Easter Solids digi paper collection and put my newly learned skills to the test.  I dragged the papers from my folder on my pc, across into the Silhouette software, choosing a slightly lighter shade for the flowers in the background.  Once I was happy with the colours, I used the Silhouette to print and cut the beautiful Hibiscus, cutting a second copy of the front flower to mount with 3D pads and create a little more depth.

The background I created was very low tech….  I printed a panel of another one of the papers from the stack, then clear embossed a Thank You sentiment across it, and set the powder with a heat tool.  Not the background I thought my card would have, but all in all, a quick and easy card to put together.

Hope you’ll make time to pop over to Sentimental Sundays and have a look at the amazing projects from my talented team-mates!

Thanks for reading x

New Challenge at Crafting From The Heart

Aah well, here we go, the first Monday of the year…!  And that means it’s time for a new challenge over at Crafting From The Heart.  There’s a small change to the challenges for 2014 – we’ve added in some optional  themes for you to follow, if you fancy!

The theme or this fortnight’s challenge is “Buttons and Pearls” and we were delighted to be sponsored by Lacy Sunshine, Angie’s Digi Stamps and A Day For Daisies.  I chose to use Valentina by Lacy Sunshine – it’s the first time I’ve coloured a Lacy Sunshine stamp, but I think I might be hooked!!  She looked cute uncoloured, but I think she looks amazing now she’s had the Pro-Marker treatment!!  I used the print and cut facility on the Silhouette for the image, choosing to add a little stitched border too.

The papers are from the I Heart You collection by Harper Finch.  I’ve used several of these collections now and have found them so versatile – I loved the greys mixed with reds and pinks!  I only managed to include one button on my card – the little heart button on the banner, but I think it works pretty well with the image and papers.

I based the layout on the current sketch over at Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge:

Make sure you pop over to Crafting From The Heart with one of your New Year creations – remember, anything goes if you’d rather not use the theme, we would just love to see what you’ve been up to!!  There’s also a DT Call on right now – if you’re interested, make sure you pop over.

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

Lacy Sunshine – Challenge 24

I Love Promarkers – Frame It

Crafting By Design – Anything Goes

Robyn’s Fetish Challenge – Use a Digi

Silhouette Challenges – Challenge 9: Anything Goes

Card A Day Blog – Valentines

Thanks for reading x

A very quick, last minute post…

I promised to share my three special family cards with you, and here I am with the last in the trilogy….

This card is for my husband; we’ve been together since our late teens and celebrated our 12th anniversary earlier this year!  I chose “Christmas Together” by Sami Stamps as it reminded me of that moment, before we tiptoe up to bed on Christmas Eve, when we just take a look around and count our blessings…

I kept the style of the card very simple, as that is the card style that he prefers – the bright reds and greens bring the tree to life, while the doodle frames it all off nicely.  I paper pieced the jumpers from the Harper Finch Sweater Weather paper collection and coloured the rest of the card in with Pro-Markers, not a spot of glitter in sight on this card!

Anyway, I’ve got brownie mince pies in the oven, so I’d best hustle on…  Best wishes to you all for Christmas and the New Year!

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

Tuesday Throwdown – What Christmas Means To Me

Try It On Tuesdays – Trees

Top Tip Tuesday – Christmas

Scribble And Scrap – Anything Goes

Partytime Tuesdays – Challenge #152: Merry Christmas

LEJ Designs – Challenge 84: Anything goes

Ladybug Crafts – CAS

The Squirrel And The Fox – Merry Christmas

Thanks for reading x

Crafting From The Heart GDT

I’m delighted to share a little news with you today…I was recently asked to be GDT over at Crafting From the Heart, a new challenge blog which opened its virtual doors for the first time in late November.  I am very lucky to be joining them for their December and January challenges.

There are two sponsors and two great prizes up for grabs this fortnight.  Delicious Doodles have 4 images up for grabs and Dilly Beans are offering 3 digis to a lucky winner – definitely worth popping over there to enter!!

I have two cards to share with you today.  My first card uses an adorable framed penguin image from Dilly Beans.

I had great fun with this little chap; after colouring most of the image with ProMarkers, I paper pieced his hat and scarf using a knit-style paper from the Sweater Weather collection by Harper Finch.  I also added a second layer of holly and popped his beak up on 3D pads to create some depth.  I embossed a piece of white cardstock using the ???? folder to echo the chevron knit of the paper.  For a final touch, I coloured a textured vinyl snowflake with the same blue as I used for the sky in the background, added a button, some silver beads and a little baker’s twine.  Hey presto!  An adorable little penguin, all bundled up warm!!

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My second card features a wonky 3-tiered cake image from Delicious Doodles.

I coloured the image with a selection of ProMarkers, and the added some Stickles to give it a little shimmer and sparkle, which I hope you can see in the photo above.  For the background, I laid a layer of shimmery pale pink wrapping paper over a card blank, then added a layer of white card with some sparkly vellum.  In the centre, I added a piece of pink polka dot satin ribbon and some square pink gems to a happy birthday sentiment from  a Forever Friends paper stack.

I hope you’ll get a chance to pop over to see the DT projects over at Crafting From The Heart; they’re such a friendly bunch of crafters, I know they’ll make you feel welcome!

I’d like to enter the following challenges:

Framed Penguin card:

MelonHeadz – Christmas

Craft Your Passion – Let It Snow

CAS On Sunday – Christmas

My Time To Craft – Cute and Cuddly Christmas Animals

Thanks for reading x

New Challenge At One Stitch At A Time

Hope you’re having a lovely Sunday!  I’ve just popped over to share my latest project for One Stitch At A Time, where the theme this week is simply “Use A Digi”.

This lovely owl digi was a pleasure to colour!  Once I had cut the image out using my Silhouette, I used papers from “It’s Easter” and “In The Woods” by Harper Finch.  The layout follows Sketch 21 at From The Heart Sketches.

Why not head over to One Stitch At A Time now and enter the challenge for your chance to win the complete set of images that the DT used in challenge #186 and there’s even a runner up prize of $3 to spend in the store!  Please remember to use a Stitchy Bear image to be entered into the main challenge…

I will be entering this card into the following challenges:

Crafting For All Seasons – Autumn Colours

Challenges 4 Everybody – Anything Goes

Glitter and Sparkle – Leaves

Sentimental Sundays – Falling Into Autumn

Speedy Fox and Friends – Orange and Brown

Hiding In My Craft Room – Fall Colours

Cards Galore – Animals

Ladybug Crafts – Autumn Colours

Little Blue Button Stamps – Fall Inspiration

The Stamping Boutique – Use Fall Colors

Brown Sugar – Things With Wings

Savvy Handmade Cards – Gone Batty

Thanks for reading x