One for four ....

... Good afternoon from a somewhat dull, grey and rather humid Northville! Not easy to take photos when it's like this, so please excuse the photo!  I've made a card and managed to use four challenges to make it, and they are:

• The Male Room - TMR1 - Anything Goes
• Sweet Stamp Shop Use What You Have - UWYH11
• Colour Throwdown - CTD253
• Muse - MUSE28

Stamps: Sweet Stamp Shop - Chemistry
Inks: Memento - Tuxedo Black
Dies: Lil' Inkers - Instant Camera Die
Accessories: Stampin' Up Card - Smokey Grey; Promarkers - Cyan, Sunflower, Pumpkin, Cool Grey 1 & 3; White Lustre Card

The Male Room is a new challenge that launched today and, as the name says, focuses on projects for Men/Boys.  I know that lots of people aren't too keen on guy cards, but I really enjoy making them, so I had to play along with their inaugural challenge - it's an easy one too - as Anything Goes!!!  I've also managed to play along with Muse this week - just love Lynn Mangan's inspiration card and have used the layout for my card.  This week's Colour Throwdown challenge are bold and bright and I think perfect for a guy card.  Finally, I'm submitting this to the Sweet Stamp Shop challenge to "Use What you Have".  I've have a super stash of SSS stamps and I've had the chemistry set for a while (I'm a science nerd) and haven't inked it up before, so that's the one I'm using!  I'm trying to build a stash of cards to send to Ben - I try to send one a week - and I think he'll like this theme!

I cut the Camera die twice - once in grey and one in white.  I stamped the flask image directly onto the white panel, used the second impression and then coloured it with Promarkers.  I stamped the chemical symbols onto another scrap of card and cut them out and adhered them over the flask.  I stamped the bulb onto some more scrap, coloured with Promarkers and adhered it to the card with dimensional tape.  I love the fun sentiment - Ben might think it means him :))  Here's a photo of my SSS stash - got lots of ideas for the new ones!

Well, I think that's all for today.  I've off to get dinner ready.  Kathryn is having a friend over for a sleepover tonight - she's so excited!!

PJs at Waltzingmouse ....

....  Good evening everyone - Claire's having a Pajama Party over at Waltzingmouse Stamps.  At the beginning of July Claire launched some wonderful new stamps and this is the perfect opportunity to play with them.  Claire has given a list of challenges here.  Here's my card:

Stamps: WMS - You're a Doll, Folk Art Medallions, Crackle Background
Inks: Stampin' Up! - Early Espresso, Crumb Cake, Coral Calypso
Dies: Spellbinders - Ovals Sm (S4-112) #5, Scalloped Ovals Sm (S4-113) #5
Accessories:  SU Card - Crumb Cake, Calypso Coral; White Lustre Card; SU Glitter; Promarkers - Pear Green, Mango, Soft Peach; Copics - E00, E01, G42, R20

I've been itching to play with all the new sets - they are just fab!  And I particularly like the sweet little Russian Dolls - so I decided to make a thank you card with them.  This card is for one of my friends in the UK who was kind enough to have Kathryn over for a sleepover when we visited.  I decorated the inside too - keeping it simple.

 I used a few challenges in the making of this card:

• Colour Q - cQc199 - for the colours
• Fusion Card Challenge - FUSION 14 - used the sketch
• Addicated to CAS - ATCAS18

I had to adapt the colours a bit as I don't have the shades listed on the cQc graphic, but I think the colours are close.  I love the simple sketch at this week's Fusion challenge (so pleased to finally get to play along).  I turned the sketch on its side as it worked better for my card. I added just a touch of glitter to the doll - which is the challenge at Addicted to CAS this time.

I'm going to get a coffee and get into my PJs and check out all the cards.  See you soon.

Are we there yet? ....

.... Hi - back again!!  I'm sure that if you've got children that phrase "are we there yet?" will be so familiar!!  This card has been made with a couple of challenges in mind:

• CASology - CAS39
• Colour Throwdown - CTD327

Stamps: Sweet Stamp Shop - Across the Miles; Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz - Travel Blueprints
Inks: Stampin' Up! - Night of Navy, Poppy Parade, Crumb Cake; Versamark
Accessories: SU Card - Crumb Cake, Night of Navy; SU Markers - Real Red; Promarkers - Poppy, Baby Pink, Soft Green; White Lustre Card; Clear embossing powder

I got these fabulous blueprint style stamps a few weeks ago and this is the first time they've seen ink!!  I really like the aeroplane blueprint image and thought it would be perfect for the travel theme at CASology.  I started by cutting a mat layer in Crumb Cake and stamping the image directly on the card.  Then I stamped the image again on Night of Navy card - I used Versamark, embossed with clear powder and cut out the plane.  I stamped the image again onto white card and cut out the stamp part of the image.  I used Promarkers to colour the number and stripes.  I finished the front with that phrase we all know so well and a compass, spotlighting the N for north.

For the inside I made a mat layer in Crumb Cake and a white layer onto which I stamped a map of the United States and used the little arrow and "I'm here" phrase to mark where I live in Michigan.

That's all for today.  We have a busy afternoon lined up - Jonathan is out at at shoot in Pontiac, and Kathryn and I are joining a photography group to do a walk around Historic Northville.  I'll take lots of  photos and share them during the week.  See you tomorrow.

A splash of coral ....

... Good morning - I hope you all had a good weekend.  My was really good - I watched the England v Wales rugby match on Saturday and was delighted that Wales won.  Mind, I would have been okay with England winning too - that's the plus of having both English and Welsh sides to the family!!  I do hope that all my Welsh friends have recovered from their hangovers ;))))

Today my card is a really quick and easy one - I've made it for the current Play Date Cafe Challenge - PDCC178.

Accessories:  Papermania - Inspirations Design Paper; Stampin' Up! - Calypso Coral Marker Pen; Promarkers - Coral, Soft Peach; Craftwork Cards - sentiment label; Gems, white and black card from stash

As you can see - there's no stamping on this card at all!  I selected a piece of the designer paper with nice big flowers so that I could colour them.  I edged the white paper with some Calypso Coral and then attached it to a black mat.  On another sheet of paper I coloured a few more flowers and then cut them out.  I attached a few flowers to the card, a label sentiment which I edged with coral, and lots of tiny gems. 

That's all for today - I really do have to catch up on some house stuff!

Christmas animals .....

... Hi!  It's time for our new challenge at 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown.  Louise is hosting the challenge this month and this week she'd like us to make Christmas/Holiday cards featuring animals that are popular at Christmas. 

Now, I have a lot of Christmas animal stamps, so this is an easy challenge - wrong!  It turned out to be harder than I first thought - my first couple of cards are in the bin; didn't like them at all!  However, I found a couple of stamps that I think are just super - oh yes, I made two cards!!  Here's the first:


My card features a well-loved Christmas animal - Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer!  I used some polka dot paper for the backing layer and the debossed side of the white card.

Stamps:  Stampin' Up! - More Merry Messages; Animal stamps free with Simply Cards & Papercrafting; Waltzingmouse - Festive Foliage
Inks: Memento - Tuxedo Black; SU - Real Red
Accessories: Promarkers - Berry Red, Cocoa, Burnt Sienna, Tan; SU 1¾" Scallop Circle Punch ; SU Design Paper - Real Red; Cuttlebug EF - Distressed Snow; Gem from stash; White lustre card

The design paper is double sided with white polka dots on the front (as on the front of the card) and large outline circles on the reverse, which is the side I used for the mat on the inside of the card.  I added a few holly leaves and berries as well.  I'm going to come clean here - I managed to get a couple of ink marks on the white background and rather than start over, I simply covered them with the holly leaves (that's why they're black) and some berries!  I seem to remember that there are no mistakes in crafting, just happy accidents!  I think the inside looks much better with the addition of the leaves and berries.

I did make another card, but I'd completely forgotten that we weren't including birds!!  Here's my other card:

Stamps:  Stampin' Up! - More Merry Messages; Animal stamps free with Simply Cards & Papercrafting
Inks: Memento - Tuxedo Black; SU - Real Red
Accessories: Promarkers - Berry Red, Cocoa, Burnt Sienna, Tan; SU 1¾" Scallop Circle Punch ; SU Card - Real Red; Cuttlebug EF - Distressed Snow; Piccolo Pure Sparkle Gold Glitter; White lustre card

I just love robins - they really remind me of Christmas.  I stamped the image twice onto white card, cut around the circle on one and around the body of the bird on the other.  I coloured the robin with Promarkers and glued the coloured image to the circle.  I used a glue pen to colour the crown and when touch dry poured on some glitter!  I used my scallop circle to punch out a red background.  I stamped the image onto the red mount in order to see the robin's feet!  I cut a couple of panels in red and white.  I attached the red card to the card base and ran the white through my Cuttlebug.  I used my Fiskars stamp press to stamp the sentiment.  For the inside I cut a couple more red and white panels.  I stamped the singing robins along the bottom of the white card and a greeting in the centre.


Now - don't forget to visit the rest of the team and check out their inspiration cards!  We had so many lovely entries last week, and I can't wait to see your cards for this week's challenge!

That's all for now.  See you soon.

Spaceman birthday ....

..... Good afternoon - hope you've all had a good day.  It's been really nice today with sunshine, but rather cool, however, it is getting quite dull now and the weathermen have promised snow tonight!!!  Anyhoo - I have a card for you and I'm submitting it to a couple of challenges:

• CASology - CAS35 where the cue word is "EXTRATERRESTRIAL"
• Charisma Cardz Challenge - CCC10 to use stars on your cards

Stamps: Waltzingmouse - Half Pint Heroes
Inks: Memento - London Fog, Lady Bug; Distress - Pumice Stone; Stampin' Up! - Daffodil Delight
Accessories: Promarkers - Warm Greys 1 - 5, Poppy, Mandarin, Primrose; Copics - E00, E21; Robot sticker; White lustre card

I had lots of fun making this card.  While sorting through my stash I found this sweet little robot sticker (sadly I've no idea what company produced him), so I decided to play along with the CASology challenge.  I stamped the spaceship directly onto the card base and coloured it with Promarkers and used Copics on the boy's face. I stamped a few stars and a moon in the sky.  I sponged in a planet on which the little robot lives and he's shouting a message to the boy in the spaceship :)

I actually made this card for my great-nephew, Xander, who was a year old yesterday and I completely forgot!!  I'm such a bad Aunt!  Anyway, this will be in the post to him tomorrow!

That's all for now - it's almost time for Jonathan to get home, so I'd better go and get dinner started.  See you tomorrow for the new 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown challenge - it's a fun one!!  See you!

Red carpet dresses ....

.... Good afternoon - told you I'd be back.  Kathryn and I had a really fun morning visiting Twelve Oaks Mall at Novi - Kathryn did very well, coming home with some new T-shirts and a jacket, as well as a pair of shoes!  I paid a quick, but not cheap, visit to Archivers and came home with some Tim Holtz bits and pieces.

I spent the early part of this afternoon checking out the fabulous cards that the Waltzingmouse Stamps DT have made with one of the new sets coming out on Friday - A Good Egg - all just lovely!  And then I realised that I only had a few hours left to make a card for the current challenge at Waltzingmouse Stamps.  Claire had been watching the Oscars and decided that it would be fun to take inspiration from the Red Carpet dresses - WMSMMM4  worn by the stars on Oscar night.  This is fun for two reasons: it gave me an excuse to have another look at some of the wonderful dresses and then to make a card!  Here's what I made:

Stamps: Waltzingmouse - You're Lovely
Inks: Memento - Tuxedo Black
Accessories:  Promarker - French Navy; Cuttlebug EF - Jules Jewells; Glitter paper, white lustre card from stash

This really is about as clean and simple as it gets.  I stamped the dress onto white card and cut it out. Then I tried to stamp the dress on the glitter paper - wasn't a success, so I made a pattern, traced it on the back and cut it out - simples!!!  I cut a panel of white card which I embossed with the elegant flourishes and adhered that to a panel of the glitter paper.  I shaped the dress and attached it to the card with dimensional glue.  I finished off with this lovely sentiment from the same set; I actually used a Promarker as none of my ink pads were close to the colour of the dress.

There were so many lovely dresses worn on Oscar night that it was really hard to pick one - so I based my card on two dresses that I particularly liked:

 Jennifer Hudson - Gown by Roberto Cavalli

 Robin Roberts (presents Good Morning America) - Gown by Marc Bouwer

I think they both look stunning.  Robin had a bone marrow transplant at the end of last year - she looks stunning now!

That's all for today.  I need to finish off my Easter cards and get them in the post so hopefully I'll have a card or two to share tomorrow!  See you soon.

Easter MUSE ....

.... Hi - this is quite late, but I thought I'd get it posted before heading to bed.  I've got an Easter card to share with you - based on this week's Muse Challenge - MUSE6.

 

Stamps: Waltzingmouse - Spring Baskets
Inks: Memento - Tuxedo Black
Accessories: Cuttlebug EF - Jules Jewells; Promarkers - Mango, Peach, Soft Peach, Pear Green, Cool Aqua, Pastel Green; Copic - E21; Stampin' Up! Design Paper - Melon Mambo; White lustre card from stash

The Muse this week is Deanna Jean with her lovely floral birthday card.  I flipped the layout for my card, but kept to the colours (mostly) that Deanna used.  I cut a piece of white card slightly smaller than the card base.  I lightly traced, in pencil, a rectangle on the card and then, taking my courage in both hands, drew the border free hand!!  Really pleased how it turned out.  I stamped the sentiment and then embossed the panel in my Cuttlebug.  On plain white card I stamped the basket full of Easter eggs as well as several sets of flowers, colouring them all with Promarkers.  I cut them out and attached them to the card.  For the finishing touch, I stamped the little bow onto some pink design paper, cut it out and attached it to the image.  Only about six more Easter cards to go!

That's all for now - do check back later - I've got some exciting news to share with you!  It's so hard to keep a secret :)

Easter eggs .....

... Good morning!  I've got an Easter card to share with you this morning.  I used a couple of challenges for the card:

• The Paper Players - PP134
• Colour Throwdown - CTD231

Stamps: Waltzingmouse - Spring Baskets
Inks: Stampin' Up! - Crumb Cake; Memento - Tuxedo Black; Distress - Antique Linen
Dies: Spellbinders - Nested Eggs (S4-264); Die-namics - Fishtail Flags Layers Stax
Accessories:  SU Design Paper - Melon Mambo, So Saffron; SU - Everyday Enchantment DP - Lucky Limeade; Promarkers - Carmine, Pear Green, Pastel Yellow, Khaki, Pastel Beige, Warm Grey 1; SU Markers - Melon Mambo, So Saffron; White lustre card from stash

I really like the sketch - it has so many possibilities and those colours are so fresh and spring-like; both are just right for an Easter card, .  I started off by cutting several fishtail flags in patterned papers and attaching them to the card.  I stamped the basket and eggs onto white card and then used my dies to cut the egg shape.  I coloured the images with Promarkers.  While the egg was still in the die, I added a touch of colour to define the shape.  I stamped the bow onto a piece of Melon Mambo DP, cut it out and attached it to the basket.  I used warm grey 1 to highlight the basket of eggs.  I used my spritzer tool and marker pens to create the spatter pattern.  I stamped the sentiment in Crumb Cake and finished off by attaching the Easter egg with dimensional tape.  A clean, simple Easter card and reasonably flat so will go in the post okay!

I managed to wrench my back yesterday morning while shovelling the snow from the front door step.  I was silly, I tried to lift a very large shovel of wet snow and just pulled a muscle.  Well, I suppose it's a good excuse not to shovel any more snow!!!  I wish!  That's all for now - I hope to be back later today with another of my Easter card collection!  See you soon.

Mother's Day ....

... Good evening - I do hope you've all had a fabulous weekend.  I did plan to do quite a lot of crafting this weekend, but instead caught up with Season 4 of Fringe - it was brilliant.  I finally got into my craft room about 4.00pm this afternoon.

In the UK Mother's Day is a moving date; it falls on the fourth Sunday in Lent so is much earlier than Mother's Day in the US.  As both my Mum and Mother-in-law are in the UK I need to make a couple of cards for them.  Here's the first:

Stamps: Uniko Studio - The Hands of Time; Stampin' Up! - Occasional Greetings; Hot of the Press - Stitches; CAS-ual Fridays Stamps - Loving Thoughts, Only You
Inks: Memento - Grey Flannel; SU - Daffodil Delight
Dies: Spellbinders - Circles Sm (S4-116) # 5
Accessories: SU Card - Daffodil Delight; Cuttlebug EF - Mistletoe Kisses; Promarkers - Ice-Grey 3, China Blue, Sunflower; White Lustre card, ribbon and gems from stash

I followed a couple of challenges for this card: Mojo Monday - MOJO281 and Play Date Cafe Challenge - PDCC170.  I realised today that's it's been a while since I played along with these challenges - but I love the colours and it's a really fun sketch.

I cut a panel, slightly smaller than the card base, stamped the faux stitching and then embossed it in my bug.   I stamped a couple of the lovely doilies from Hands of Time, the solid one in yellow and the open one in grey which I coloured with Promarkers and then carefully cut both out.  I stamped the sentiment onto white card and added a few of the smaller doilies around the sentiment, then I cut it out with my circle nesties.  The ribbon started off white - I simply coloured it blue with my Promarker so that it's an exact match.  I also coloured the gems with Promarkers.  The sentiment circle was attached with dimensional tape. 

I decorated the inside to match the front.  I cut a mat layer in yellow and on the white panel I stamped several of the doilies, using the second impression to make them a little more subtle.  I stamped the greeting in yellow and grey. 

I'm not sure yet whether this is for my Mum or my Mother-in-law.  They would both like it!!

That's all for now - I'll be back tomorrow with the other card.  See you soon.

Washi fun .....

... Hi, I'm back again!!  We are thawing slowing and steadily here - the tree that I showed you this morning covered with ice and snow is now just green!!  I've spent the morning playing and making my own Washi Tape.  Claire at Waltzingmouse Makes has a super tutorial on how to make your own Washi Tape and she's challenged us to use that tape on a card.  So I've put this card together with a few challenges in mind:

• WMS Monday Morning Make - WMSMMM2 - make your own Washi Tape
• Retro Sketches - RS48
• Colour Throwdown - CTD226

Stamps: Waltzingmouse - Camellia, Faux Fun, Pic Nic Patterns; CAS-ual Friday Stamps - Loving Thoughts
Inks: Distress - Milled Lavender; Memento - Tuxedo Black; Staz-on - Jet Black; Stampin' Up! - Perfect Plum, Garden Green
Accessories: Promarkers - Lilac, Aubergine, Marsh Green, Meadow Green, Pine; SU Card - Garden Green; Flower, button and card from stash

I've had such fun this morning making my own Washi Tape!!  I followed Claire's instruction and got really inky.  I used a mixture of Distress Stains and Promarkers to colour the tissue paper.  I stamped the patterns with SU inks.  I was having a really hard time with the Colour Throwdown colours (which is odd, as I love these colours) but making my own Washi seemed to clear the block.  I stamped the smallest camellia and leaves onto white card and coloured with Promarkers and cut them out.  I cut mats in Garden Green and white.  I torn the DIY Washi to fit and then attached with flower with dimensional tape.  I found this little flower and button in my stash and attached them to the card.  I have gone with a simple sentiment - Just Because !!  Here's a photo of the DIY Washi Tape that I made this morning - only used a few of them.  So nice to be able to make exactly what you want!

Before I go I must welcome some new followers - Hello to Marybeth, Kristie and Jacqdee - so glad you've joined me.  And now I really must stop playing around and get that ironing done; it sort of got forgotten :)