More words ....

... I can't help it - the challenge over at Simplicity this week is just fabulous.  Susan wants us to make a card featuring sentiments - "more than one sentiment" is exactly what she said!  And I think I've played a bit fast and loose with the requriement, but these quote stamps are just so cute that I couldn't resist making a few more.

Stamps:  Inkadinkado - Friendly Advice
Inks:  Kaleidacolor - Cappucino Delight

Stamps:  Inkadinkado - Tell It Like It Is
Inks:  Kaleidacolor - Blue Breeze

Stamps:  Inkadinkado - Tell It Lik It Is
Inks:  Kaleidacolor - Luau

These are all little card - just 3" x 3" - and I think they are so cute.    I've got one more card to finish and I'll post that one later.  I'm now off to have a glass of wine (or two) and watch a bit of TV.  See you later.

What a star ...

... I think that's the title for this card.  I've combined two challenges - last week's Clean & Simple FTL123 sketch and this week's Colour Q challenge.

I've been very faithful the sketch, and I've matched the colours as closely as I can.  I don't have much card from Stampin' Up!, so I do try.  I found these colours rather difficult at first, in fact I wouldn't have put them together at all.  But once the card was finished, it was obvious that this colour combination works.  It's a strong palette and I think the way I've used it, quite masculine! 

Stamps:  See D's - You're the Star
Inks: Memento - Cottage Ivy; Distress - Scattered Straw
Accessories:  Martha Stewart punch; Stampendous - Detail Gold embossing powder
Card, paper and ribbon: - from my stash

I can't remember which company made the stamp I used.  It's part of a set of clear stamps which features a very large capital X, and images and words starting with X.  I have most of the alphabet, but I didn't keep the company details.  If anyone recognises it - please let me know.

That's all for now.  I'm off back to play a bit more.  I'll be posting again later this evening.

OLW37 - more words ...

... I've managed to make another quick one for this week's challenge over at Simplicity.  Susan wants us to make cards using only sentiments - no embellisments, well maybe a little glitter, gems or ribbon.

Stamps:  Inkadinkado - Friendly Advice
Inks:  Memento - Tuxedo Black, Tangelo, Bahama Blue

This one was very easy - I have a super set of stamps featuring quote from children.  I remember when I saw the set that I thought it was just lovely, but sadly it's not really been used.  I think I'm going to make a few more cards for this challenge using other stamps form the set.  But it's grey and dull, and sometimes that can make you feel a bit low.  So this quote was appropriate.  I notice now that it's been scanned - that I got a bit of black ink onf the colour bit - darn!!  I also think I need slightly stronger colours!

Just got back from Scouts - we had a fun evening!  And next week the Scouts are cooking my tea!

OLW37 - words ...

.... are often secondary when we make cards, just a simple greeting.  This week over at Simplicity, Susan has challenged us to make a one layer card using only SENTIMENTS.  No pictures or images are allowed, but glitter, gems and ribbons is okay.  You can be as creative as you like with the card - and there are already some fabulous cards linked - so it is well worth a visit.

I know that I have lots of sentiment stamps - some that have barely seen ink.  So this challenge serves two purposes - it stretches my crativity (to the limit) and allows me to use some of my old stamps (this year's resolution).  I've got two cards to show you this morning (and may have more later this week).  Both cards are really simple.

Stamps:  Stampendous - Mega Thanks
Inks:  Memento - Tuxedo Black
Promarkers:  Lipstick Red, Orange, Yellow, Bright Green, Trule Blue, Purple

Stamps: PSX - K3227 (107)  Collage
Inks: Kaleidacolor - Pastel

The first was stamped and coloured - I went for a bright rainbow look.  The second card might not quite fit the challenge - there are lots of words in the collage, but there are a few tiny images too!  This was super quick and easy - and very pretty using the multicoloured pad.

I've got to finish my preparations for this evening's Scout meeting.  We're doing a bit of Scout History - there will also be games and a quiz.  Should be fun!!  If  I don't get back again later, I'll see you all tomorrow.

Award ....

... I'm a little late in saying thanks to Kevin at McCrafty's cards for giving me an award.

I first came across Kevin's card when I joined the Docraft Community - way back in 2005.  Kevin's one of the few men in crafting - his cards are lovely.  Now I know that I have to tell you three things about myself and pass the award to five other carfters.  So three things:

1. I like to be organised.
2. I love being with my family.
3. And, this isn't new, but I love gems.

Now five other blogs - this is the really hard part:

1. Vicky
2. Danielle 
3. Stella
4. Chrissie
5. Meredith

These ladies are all so creative and inspirational - I love to see what they've made - pop over for a visit.

Thanks again Kevin - this is much appreciated.

Combining challenges ...

.... can be lots of fun, and save a bit of time too :)  Since discovering challenges on the web, I do try to play a few (not as many as some mind!).  However, I do find that sometimes it's difficult to get time to play in my craft room.  Today is one of those days; I've only got an hour spare as I've got to prepare for our Scouts meeting tomorrow night.

So the challenges that I've combined are the sketch layout from this week's Mojo Monday, the colours from Just Us Girls (so pretty) and the spots 'n' dots theme from My Time to Craft. 

The colours selected at Just Us Girls are really soft and pretty, but they've caused me some difficulties this week.  I couldn't think of what to do.  Then I remembered a lovely stamp that I have, but has only seen ink once!!  Shame on me.  I used London Fog to ink the image - much softer than black - and then coloured it with Promarkers.  I've taken a bit of a liberty with the sketch, opting for a rectangular image rather than circular!  The spotty backing paper is by Craftwork Card and I added some more dots with a piece of card which was embossed with Swiss Dots, and emphasised by distressing.  I added a bright aqua ribbon.  Finally, the two accent circles on the sketch - on my card are the little jewelled flower and birthday greeting. 

Stamps:  Creative Expression - Dancing on Air
Promarkers: Duck Egg, Cool Aqua, Meadow Green, Apple, Oatmeal, Saffron
Inks:  Memento - London Fog;  Distress - Tumbled Glass
Cuttlebug:  Swiss Dots folder
Paper:  Craftwork Cards (free with magazine)
Accessories:  Card, ribbon and flower from stash

Now I'm going to catch up with some blogs that I follow, and reply to a few comments.  I hope to get back later, but if not - see you tomorrow.

Teen grunge ...

... I think that's what I'd probably call this card.  I've made it for two challenges; the first is from One Stop Craft Challenge who want us to make a card for a male, and the second is the sketch challenge from Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge.  It's quite a fun sketch this week.

I've gone for a mixture of greens and blues from a co-ordinating paper pad.  I added some faux stitching (still not got my sewing machine out of its cover) and added a simple greeting.  It's the sort of card I'd send to my teenage son - not too fussy, but shows I care!

Stamps:  Waltzingmouse - Free Spirit Boy, Off Beat Backgrounds;  See D's - You're the Star;
Inks:  Memento - Paris Dusk, Cottage Ivy
Paper:  Papermania - Inspirations Cool Tones

It's taken me a while to get here today, been busy doing house stuff!!  And this evening I went through some of my Scout Leader training modules - which have now been validated - so well on my way to earning my Wood Beads!!  And that's all for now, I'll be back again tomorrow.  I've got a couple of challenges to do and hopefully make the deadline!

WOYWW85 ...

... the week has gone by so quickly again - and it's time to have a good old nosey around other people's desks :)  Over at Stamping Ground, Julia has got lots of books on her desk today.  What, no crafting?  Follow the links - have a snoop look around - lots of lovely creations to see.  This is such fun!! 

As for my desk - it looks like a bomb's hit it!!  Actually, I'm getting ready for a mega session - lots of challenges to do, and I've been browsing through my stamp catalogue.  And I've been naughty - not put away some of the stuff I've finished with - oops!!

I didn't get chance to visit to many desks last week, but I'll try to do better this week.

I also need to take this opportunity to welcome to new followers to my blog - these are very special people.  One is my daughter Kathryn, and some of you have found her blog already.  And the other is my friend's daughter, Mawgan - she too has started her own blog.  It's so much fun having them join in our passion for crafting!

That's all for now - will be back later with some challenges.

Combined challenges ...

.... I've made this card for my friend Annette - it was her birthday on 16th January - and I missed it!!  How could I possibly miss her birthday?  Well, I did, so it's time for a belated card.  And it just so happens that I've used the themes from two challenges to make this card.  The first challenge is from Crafty Cardmakers and is to use a die and the colour red, the second is the Splitcoaststamper Clean and Simple Challenge - where the inspiration is a great card by Cindy.

I've taken the layout of Cindy's card and turned it on its side.  This is one of the quickest and easiest cards I've made, but I really like it.  Using my trusty Waltzingmouse stamps - I stamped one of the frames from Very Vintage Labels No 10 - one with lots of pretty flourishes - in Versamark.  I added plain red embossing powder and heated - voila - a beautiful red frame.  I then cut this out using Spellbinders Labels 10.  The greeting is plain and simple and comes from Waltzingmouse (of course) - Fancy Phrases.  I added a satin ribbon, tied a big bow and added two small black pearls.  Job done!!  Really pleased with this card.

Stamps:  Waltzingmouse - Fancy Phrases, Very Vintage Labels No 10
Spellbinders:  Labels 10 (S5-0220 die # 3
Inks: Versamark
Accessories:  Red embossing powder, red satin ribbon and black pearl gems

I'm going to be spoilt this morning, but will be back later today. 

Thank you ...

... all so much for your lovely comments on my recent cards - particularly the Valentine card in the Waltzingmouse Waltz!!  You know that I try to reply to each comment personally, but there are so, so many that I'd be here all night!!  And it's almost midnight and I need to sleep.  I really appreciate you all taking the time to leave me a message.  And to those of you who stopped by my daughter's blog - an extra special thanks - you've made a little girl very happy.  See you tomorrow.

Flowerfly .....

....  I've only been able to spend an hour in my craft room today, but then I was at craft class this morning :)  It was a really fun morning - one my friends was given a Grand Calibur for Christmas, she brought it with her.  Super machine and the large nesties are huge!!!  I think I know what I want for my birthday this year :))

And I spent quite some time this afternoon visiting the Waltzingmouse January Blog Hop - check it out - such a fun way to spend the afternoon.  You need to join the forum - but you can get full details here.

Anyway, when I did eventually get into my craft room I was able to make a card for this week's Flutter by Wednesday challenge - as usual we must feature a butterfly, angel or fairy, but this week we also have a sketch to use - designed by Carly.

One of my "resolutions" for this year is to use stamps that I've had for a while, but haven't seen much ink lately!  So my card features the Stampendous Flowerfly!  Such a pretty stamp, and I don't know why I don't get it out more often.  I stamped it using Versamark and heat embossed with detail silver.  I coloured it using my Sakura Stardust pens - it has such a lovely shimmer, and I made antenna with wire.  The whole lot was attached to the card with dimensionals.  The backing papers are by Craftwork Cards and were free with one of my magazines - this is a super set of papers.  I used my Spellbinders dies to cut out a couple of mounts - I ran a green promarker around the edge of the bottom layer and used vellum for the top layer.  I stamped a couple of small butterflies and added two more that came from the Craftwork set.  These were coloured with Stardust pens and chalks.  Finally, I added a greeting - Big Hugs!  I think this is a really sweet card.

Stamps:  Stampendous - Flowerfly;  Waltzingmouse - Sweethearts; Stampin' Up! - Flight of the Butterfly
Inks:  Versamark
Spellbinders:  Big Scalloped Ovals Lg (S4-251) dies # 4 and 5
Pens:  Sakura Stardust; Promarker - Bright Green
Papers:  Craftwork Cards - free from magazine

I think that's likely to be all for tonight.  I'm off to read a story to Kathryn.  She's been very excited today - she posted her Valentine card to the Waltzingmouse Waltz - and she had so many lovely comments.  Thanks to all of you who dropped by.  Kathryn's only going to be doing cards occasionally, but it made her day!!

See you tomorrow.

Come Waltz with me ...

.... it's the first one of 2011 and has such a lovely theme - Love/Valentine.  I've really been looking forward to seeing everyone's cards.

For this Waltz I've made my husband's Valentine card.  There are several things that Jonathan really enjoys - his family, his photography and his music.  So I decided to incorporate Jonathan's love of music into the Valentine card.  And I have just the right stamps to do that - the wonderful WMS Musical Backgrounds. 

I've combined several challenges in this card.  I used the layout - SFYTTJan, from I love 2 Stamp (see below) and I decided to go monochrome for the colour - which is this week's challenge at Just Add Ink - JAI51.  As one of my favourite colours is blue, that's the theme I chose for the JAI51 part of the challenge.

The sketch layout is for a square card, which is fortunate as this is a large 8" x 8" card.  I stamped two borders using the piano keys and mounted them to the blue base card.  Sort of like ribbon.  The card was originally white, but I used the direct to paper technique to add colour (summer sky).  I used some lovely Coredinations card for the layers - the mid-blue has a shimmer finish and the embossed layer has a whitewash finish - which I rubbed after it was embossed.  The long panel was stamped with the sheet music stamp.  The stamped heart is mounted onto some blue silk mirri - both cut using the Spellbinders heart dies.  The stamped heart image is also embossed with Stampendous Kaleidoscope embossing powder.  In real-life it has a lovely shimmer.  Finally, I added the little heart lock and key from the Little Box Labels set.  I've added a subtle shimmer (too subtle to see on the photo) all over the card using pearlescent chalks.

Stamps:  Waltzingmouse - Little Box Labels, Musical Backgrounds, Seasons of Love
Inks: Versamark; Memento - Summer Sky, Paris Dusk
Cuttlebug: D'vine Swirls folder
Chalks:  Pebbles Inc - Pearlescent chalks - shimmer
Paper/Card:  Papermania 8" x 8" card; Cordinations - Gemstones, Whitewash, Plain card

I really enjoyed making this card and hope that Jonathan likes it as much as I do.  Now, note to self - put it somewhere safe, but somewhere you can find it later!!

Finally, some of you may know that my daughter, Kathryn (9), has decided to start her blog to share her crafting.  Well, she set that up today and desparately wanted to join this Waltz.  She hasn't used WM stamps for her card (I wasn't too happy about her borrowing MY stamps) - but she will for the next one.

CR84FN11 ...

... gosh the week has gone by so fast - and here we are again at this week's CR84FN challenge.  The colours for CR84FN11 are just fab!!  These colours are just so warm and welcoming.

Leslie from A Creative Mint has provided the images; her blog is full of inspirational images.

As soon as I saw these colours I knew exactly what I was going to make - gingerbread people!!   Now it may not be obvious to everyone, but that's what came to my mind.  Well freshly baked gingerbread people are sort of kraft coloured.  Of course, it may simply be that I have strange thoughts ;)

All the images on this card are from Waltzingmouse Stamps.  I stamped three bodies onto kraft card using rich cocoa and clear embossed them.  I stamped the clothes and shoes onto white card using brown for the boys and red for the girl.  Next I cut out and glued the clothes to the gingerbread kids.  I added the faces and arm decoration directly to the kids.  The backing is layers of red and brown card topped off with vellum.  On the vellum I stamped a pale knit image and lots of little gingerbread kids.  I wrapped the backing paper with raffia in red and kraft and stuck this to the base.  As this is a birthday card for a little girl, I wanted to make the gingerbread girl stand out - so I mounted her onto a Spellbinders label 10 which has been stamped and coloured.  Finally I added a birthday greeting.  As you can imagine Kathryn has said she'd like this for her birthday!!  I'm sure that will change as its months and months until her birthday :) 

Stamps:  Waltzingmouse - Bountiful Baskets Additions, Faux Fun, Half Baked Gingerbread Joy, Oven Fresh Gingerbread Joy, Very Vintage Labels No 10
Inks:  Memento - Rich Cocoa, Desert Sand, Lady Bug;  Distress - Antique Linen, Barn Door
Spellbinders:  Labels 14 (S4-290) die #2; Labels 10 (S5-022) die # 3
Accessories:  Red, kraft and brown card, vellum and raffia - all from my stash

I know that the rest of the Design Team have been really busy this week - don't forget to visit their blogs to see their wonderful creations:

Sue

Meredith

Andrea

Stephanie

Suzanne

Heather

Mona
Lisa



We look forward to seeing your cards. 

That's all for today - I've got to do some work on my Open University course.  I've not done enough study - as I've been rather distracted with making cards :)  So I think it's a case of head down today and study.  I'll be back again tomorrow.

A different technique ...

... is what I used on my card for the challenge set by Brenda Dean at Clean & Simple Sunday Challenge.  Brenda's is a sketch challenge - and I like these as sometimes my brain just won't come up with ideas on its own!

My card is really quite simple.  I stamped my image in Versamark and then chalked it - the result if a soft and subtle rose.  I cut it out using my trusty Spellbinders dies, using the plain mega rectangles for the image and the scalloped mega rectangles for the mount.  The mount was actually white card, but I inked the edges with distress inks in a soft pink.  I added a lovely flower from my stash, to which I added a little ink.

Stamps: Elusive Images - Roses
Inks: Versamark; Memento - Rose Bud
Spellbinders: Mega Rectangles - Plain and scalloped
Accessories: Petaloo rose, peel off sticker and card from my stash

And that's it for tonight.  I've had great fun this evening playing in my craft room.  I think the girls have been enjoying their "sleep over" too!!  Jonathan has just removed various electronic games from their bedroom and told them to go to sleep!!  Yes, right!  Like that's going to happen soon.  Hopefully, though, they will get to sleep.

OLW36 - part 2 ...

... after a bit of a struggle with the two colour challenges that I posted earlier, I've been busy in my craft roomn working on this week's One Layer Wednesday challenge, which is being hosted by Jennifer at Styles Ink.  The challenge is to use a bare tree - no leaves, blossoms, anything like that.  When the challenge was posted on Wednesday, I made a card almost immediately.  And this one has been simmering away since then!!

It is about as clean and simple as it comes.  The tree images were inked up in rich cocoa stamped, and then quickly stamped again and again - to create some depth.  And I think the verse is just beautiful - a sympathy card for my stash.

Stamps: Creative Expressions - Trees; Waltzingmouse - Words of Wisdom
Inks: Memento - Rich Cocoa
Card: Linen effect card from my stash