Tripping Flowers Tilda

This week's Marvelous Magnolia's Challenge #33 is to go all shabby chic - I think I've got the look on this card. This is a style of cardmaking that I love, but just cannot pull off very well as I'm too OCD to do it! I like things to be neat and symmetrical and find the messy shabbiness goes against that OCD of mine LOL. This card took me absolutely ages and I had to keep telling myself it was ok if it didn't look perfect and a bit aged, as that was what it needed. (Gosh I sound so anal :P) I covered so much of it up with embellishments but all the edges are distressed with both inks and a distressing tool. Threw in a bit of frantage (which again had to be just on the corners, not all over the place!) and I think it's as shabby chic as I can do. Totally love it though, so might just make another one! Hehe!!!


Recipe:

Stamps: Tripping Flowers Tilda from Magnolia, Everyday Button Bits from Papertrey Ink

Papers: Rose Red, Soft Suede, Whisper White all from Stampin' Up, Once Upon A Time Red Rose Ornament Paper, Special Moments Riffard Roses Paper both from Magnolia, Memorable Journey Adventure Paper from My Mind's Eye, Copic X-Press It Blending Card

Inks: Rose Red from Stampin' Up, Tea Dye Duo from Papertrey Ink, Memento Tuxedo Black, Copic Markers

Accessories: Very Vanilla Seam Binding, Antique Brads both from Stampin' Up, Paper Doily from eBay, Paper Flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts, Big Pink Rose from The Range, Shabby Pink Frantage Embossing powder from Stampendous, White Opal Liquid Pearls, Brown Pearls from Doodlebug, Framed Tags Die from Cart-Us, Lace from local craft store, Butterflies Dies, Leaves Die both from Marianne Creatables, Elegant Flourish from Crafts Too

And that's all from me today folks! Thanks for stopping by.

Happy Summer

To be honest I think we've almost had out summer over here in the UK - we're getting plenty of rain at the minute where I live and are predicted for more. We didn't get much of a summer last year, but I'm hoping this year will be better! Anyways...this card is for Friday MashUp's Challenge #116 to use masking with a beachy theme (I used my post it notes and cloud dies to make masks for the sky and sand), for Sketchy Challenges #50 for the sketch and for Kraftin' Kimmie's Challenge #185 for the colour chooser below. I think I got a lot of those colours in!


And here's my card using my new little cutie that I won a couple of weeks ago from Kraftin' Kimmie! This card will be perfect to give to one of my year group colleagues when we break up for the summer holidays in   4 weeks time!


Recipe:

Stamps: Lulu stamp from Shell Me A Story from Kraftin' Kimmie, Tropical Party (Retired) from Stampin' Up, Wishing You, Friendship Jar: Summer Fillers both from Papertrey Ink

Papers: Daffodil Delight, Old Olive, Whisper White, Sunshine and Sprinkles DSP (Retired) all from Stampin' Up, Copic X-Press It Blending Card

Inks: Soft Sky, Bordering Blue, River Rock, Crushed Curry, Old Olive, Daffodil Delight, Basic Black all from Stampin' Up, Memento Tuxedo Black, Copic Markers

Accessories: Tab 2 Die from Crafty Sentiments, Clouds Dies from Papertrey Ink, Anita's 3D Gloss, Cherish Punch Around The Page set from Martha Stewart

And that's all from me for this post folks! Thanks for stopping by!

Beautiful Snow White

Saturated Canary's Challenge #46 is called Summer Fruits and I instantly thought of this cute Snow White holding her apples - not sure if apples are strictly classed as a summer fruit, but it's a fruit right?! I also used the sketch from The Sweet Stop's Challenge #217.


And here's my card...


Recipe:

Stamps: Snow White from Saturated Canary

Papers: Bashful Blue, Basic Black, Whisper White all from Stampin' Up, Copic X-Press It Blending Card, Stationery Noted patterned papers from Teresa Collins

Inks: Bashful Blue from Stampin' Up

Accessories: Riding Hood Red Pleated Satin Ribbon (Retired) from Stampin' Up, red Gems from Hobbycraft, Filigree Corner Die from La-La Land Crafts, Circle Nestabilities, Lacey Circle Nestabilities, Paper Flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts

And that's all from me for this post folks! Thanks for stopping by!

Thank You Verve

I made a little card today that I am dedicating to Julee Tilman of Verve Stamps because I won the Viva La Verve Challenges for June and received (and quickly spent) a $100 gift certificate! I bought 3 new stamp sets, a set of ribbon and a heap of dies! I spent all but 45 cents of it hehe!

This card is for Mojo Monday's Challenge #299. I just pulled out some retired DSP and went along with those colours and just love this bright pink and dark purple combo!


And here's my card...


Recipe:

Stamps: making A Statement from Verve Stamps

Papers: Melon Mambo, Concord Crush (Retired), Whisper White, Cheerful Treat DSP (Retired) all from Stampin' Up

Inks: Melon Mambo, Concord Crush (Retired), Lucky Limeade all from Stampin' Up

Accessories: Concord Crush Ribbon (Retired), Delicate Doilies Sizzix Die both from Stampin' Up, Loopy Blooms Dies from Verve Stamps, Buttons from stash

And that's all from me for this post folks! Thanks for stopping by!


You're Invited!

The House of Cards Challenge blog has finally revealed all four of its different design teams now - The Cute & Fun Team (which I am on), The CAS Team, The Classic & Elegant Team and The Shabby & Vintage Team and the two final members of the blog were revealed today - Mynette and Ruth, the masterminds behind the fantastic challenge blog.

To celebrate the launch of our first challenge on Monday 1st July, we have a fantastic competition for you to enter. All you have to do is become a follower of the House of Cards Challenge blog and join us on our Facebook page as well! If you do, we've got two prizes that we're giving away!!!

If you follow us and like us on Facebook
and you live in the USA or Canada, you could win this fabulous prize...


If you follow us and like us on Facebook 
and you live in the UK or Europe, you could win this fab prize...


We hope you'll join in these fabulous give aways (they end on July 31, 2013) and that you will join us on Monday for our FIRST EVER CHALLENGE!!! HUGS and happy stamping friends!

My Besties Fairy/Butterfly Girl

I saw an advert on SCS the other week for these cute little girlie stamps by Sherri Baldy. I had to have a look and promptly went to her Etsy store and bought a load of digi stamps - they are just so darn cute. They have the same big eyes as a few other stamps out there but they have the most gorgeous outfits and sweet, little faces!  And to top it off there are hundreds of different designs and they are only about £2 a stamp! I may have found my next stamp addiction hehe!!!

This card is for My Besties Challenge #22 to make a shaped card (my card started as a Go Kreate die base, but as I printed my image quite large, it didn't fit so it ended up hanging over the top, but I love how it came out!) and for Totally Gorguss Challenge #190 to use wings.

And here she is...I just had to colour some of my flower trim to match the trim on her dress as well - so cute!


Recipe:

Stamps: IMG708 from Sherri Baldy

Papers: Pool Party, Basic Black both from Stampin' Up, Copic X-Press It Blending Card, What's Up Constellation Patterned Paper from Basic Grey

Inks: Pale Plum (Retired), Pool Party both from Stampin' Up, Copic Markers

Accessories: In Colors 2011-13 Brads, Vanilla 5/8" Flower Trim, Scallop Edge Corner Punch, Scallop Edge Border Punch all from Stampin' Up, Large Frilly Frame #10 Dies from Go Kreate, Black Seam Binding Ribbon from Crafty Ribbons, Isabella Butterfly die from Memory Box

And that's all from me today folks! Thanks for stopping by!

Boho Patchwork Butterfly

Lili's Little Fairies Challenge this week is called 1-2-3 which means we have to use 1 image, 2 papers and 3 types of embellishments. I wasn't sure if my border die counted as an embellishment or not, but just in case it was, I counted it as such. I also used the sketch from Papertake Weekly's Sketch Challenge #80. (but just realised I missed the ribbon/paper at the back off - oops!) I used some new papers from First Edition, Boho Chic, which I've had for a couple of months, but have not used until today and they are full of really lovely soft coloured patterns.


And here's my card - a much softer version of this stamp than the last time I used it!


Recipe:

Stamps: Patchwork Butterfly, Vintage Labels - Just To Say both from Lili of the Valley

Papers: More Mustard, Soft Suede both from Stampin' Up, Neenah Solar Crest, Boho Chic Patterned Papers from First Edition

Inks: More Mustard from Stampin' Up, memento Tuxedo Black, Copic Markers

Accessories: Soft Suede Polka Dot Ribbon (Retired) from Stampin' Up, Paper Roses from Wild Orchid Crafts, Die-Namics Dainty Lace Border Die from My Favorite Things

And that's all from me for this post folks! Thanks for stopping by!


More Summer Silhouettes

I do love this set from Stampin' Up and am so glad I finally caved in and bought it. This card is for Just Add Ink's Challenge #171 for the sketch and for ColourQ's Challenge #195 for this lovely combo. I wasn't sure about this one at first, but it's such a soft colour palette and the colours work really well together, even though I would never have put them together myself.


And here's my card. I did have to cut the Pool Party flowers out and layer them over the leaves as they just didn't stand out enough. I should have masked them really but I was just building it up as I went along and hadn't thought that far ahead!


Recipe:

Stamps: Summer Silhouettes from Stampin' Up, Background Basics: Chevron Stripes, Flower Fusion #4 both from Papertrey Ink

Papers: Summer Starfruit, Basic Gray, Whisper White all from Stampin' Up

Inks: Summer Starfruit, Basic Gray, Pool Party, Orchid Opulence all from Stampin' Up

Accessories: Summer Starfruit Stitched Satin Ribbon, Corner Rounder Punch both from Stampin' Up, Decorative Labels 8 from Spellbinders

And that's all from me for this post folks! Thanks for stopping by!

Dotty Butterfly Birthday

This week's Make It Monday's Challenge #122 was to use your Copic markers to make polka dots - I coloured most of my butterfly in with lots of tiny dots, adding a few darker ones randomly here and there. I used the sketch challenge from Inkspirational's Challenge #26 for this card as well (I was one of their winners from last week's challenge so thank you to the girls who picked my card!).


And here's my fairly CAS card. Someone asked me last week how I get my mounts so close using the Framelit dies from Stampin' Up. Easy - I cut out the patterned paper using the die, glue it to the card I'm mounting on and cut round it with scissors, keeping roughly the same distance from the patterned paper all the way round. A bit fiddly but it gets the mounts to the size I want!


Recipe:

Stamps: Enjoy The Ride from Papertrey Ink

Papers: Spring Rain, Enchanted Evening, Pretty Pastels Patterned Papers all from Papertrey Ink, Whisper White from Stampin' Up

Inks: Night of Navy from Stampin' Up, Copic Markers

Accessories: Labels Collection Framelits from Stampin' Up, Doily Details Dies, Limitless Layers 1 3/4" Circle Collection, Beautiful Butterflies Dies all from Papertrey Ink, Gems from stash

And that's all from me for this post folks! Thanks for stopping by!

Sketch Saturday Challenge #265 with Milk Coffee



It's time again for another fabulous sketch from the Sketch Saturday Challenge blog and this week we are sponsored by the fantastic Milk Coffee digital stamp and scrapbook store on Etsy.


The winner of this week's sketch will win a fantastic prize of 5 digi stamps of their choice from the Milk Coffee store!!! How about that for a prize?!

Here is this week's sketch designed by our Queen of Sketches Jen.

We hope you enjoy using it!


And here's my card using the stunning Madeline in Retro Outfit from Milk Coffee. I love her spotty top so made some spotty background paper to go with it using the colours from Color Throwdown's Challenge #248 as well.


And here's the inside - carrying on the dots theme


Recipe:

Stamps: Madeline in Retro Outfit from Milk Coffee, Framed Out #7, Polka Dot Basics I, Embellishments, Think Big Favorites #6 all from Papertrey Ink

Papers: Pool Party, Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, Subtles DSP Stack, In Colors 2011 - 13 DSP Stack, Neutrals DSP Stack all from Stampin' Up, Copics X-Press It Blending Card

Inks: Crumb Cake, Pool Party, Pretty in Pink all from Stampin' Up, Copic Markers

Accessories: Pool Party Ruffled Ribbon, Pretty in Pink Polka Dot Ribbon both from Stampin' Up, Framed Out #7 Die from Papertrey Ink, 3D Flower 1 Die from cArt-Us

So why not come along and join in the challenge!


Butterfly by Crazy Town

I went to my local craft store yesterday for a full day class making Saturated Canary cards and whilst there I had a bit of a splurge, including this gorgeous new Tilda stamp which fits perfectly with Totally Tilda's Challenge #74 which was to make a card inspired by a song title - well one of my fave oldies is Butterfly by Crazy Town and just had to use this stamp for it! (Just glad we didn't have to be inspired by the actual lyrics as they're a little naughty!). This one is also for Marvelous Magnolia's Challenge #32 to use bright colours and for Totally Gorguss' Challenge #189 to make a birthday card.

And here's she is...This card seemed to take its own path this afternoon. The tag was supposed to be a pull out one but kept falling off the card so I decided to stick it on permanently instead which changed where I put everything else, but I do quite like it!


Recipe:

Stamps: Sitting Tilda with Butterfly from MagnoliaBeautiful Butterflies, Heart-2-Heart #2 both from Papertrey Ink

Papers: Melon Mambo, Pacific Point, Whisper White, Gingham Garden DSP all from Stampin' Up, Neenah Solar Crest

Inks: Melon Mambo, Pacific Point, Daffodil Delight all from Stampin' Up, tea Dye Duo from Papertrey Ink, Memento Tuxedo Black, Copic Markers

Accessories: Melon Mambo Polka Dot Ribbon (Retired), Island Indigo Baker's Twine both from Stampin' Up, Heart Circle Nestabilities, Circle Nestabilities, Scalloped Tag Die, Boxing Lace Chocolate Die both from Magnolia, Paper Flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts, Hydrangea and Bisque Liquid Pearls

And that's all from me today folks! Thanks for stopping by!

Pretty Vellum Flowers

This card is for Inkspirational's Challenge #25 to CASE the card in the photo below and for Make It Monday's Challenge  #121 to use coloured vellum flowers. As the flowers I used were quite intricate, it took forever to ink them up using a cotton bud like Betsy did in the video, so I squished them into the ink pad instead and got a more intense colour but not overly intense either. Love how this card came out, even though it's so not me at all.


And here's my card...


Recipe:

Stamps: Delightful Dahlias from Papertrey Ink

Papers: Pink Pirouette, Baja Breeze, Whisper White all from Stampin' Up

Inks: Pretty in Pink, Baja Breeze both from Stampin' Up

Accessories: Delightful Dahlias Dies from Papertrey Ink, Swirls Embossing Folder from Crafts Too, Pearls from Hobbycraft


Triple Time Daisies

Friday Mash Up's Challenge #115 this week was to use the triple time stamping technique and to choose 3 from the following colours: Crumb Cake, Daffodil Delight, Summer Starfruit and Pacific Point. As Summer Starfruit is not a colour I'm fond of at all, I chose to drop that one and went for the other three colours instead and came up with this.


Recipe:

Stamps: All About You from Papertrey Ink

Papers: Daffodil Delight, Crumb Cake, Whisper White all from Stampin' Up

Inks: Crumb Cake, Daffodil Delight, Pacific Point all from Stampin' Up

Accessories: Labels Collection Framelits from Stampin' Up

And that's all from me for this post folks! Thanks for stopping by.


Ice Cream Sunday Harriet

This little cutie was a freebie this week from Crafty Sentiments and I just had to ink her up for Crafty Sentiments' Challenge Fun In The Sun. I also used the sketch from Viva La Verve's Sketch #3 for June. I had the idea of chocolate, peach and strawberry in my head for this one and I actually like this combo!


And here's my card...


Recipe:

Stamps: Ice Cream Sunday Harriet Digi Stamp from Crafty Sentiments, Sweet As Can Be from Papertrey Ink

Papers: Melon Mambo, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Melon Mambo Prints DSP (Retired), Groovy Guava Prints DSP (Retired) all from Stampin' Up, Copics X-Press It Blending Card

Inks: Melon Mambo, Groovy Guava (Retired) both from Stampin' Up, Copic Markers

Accessories: Chocolate Chip Scalloped Dots Ribbon from Stampin' Up, Oval Nestabilities, Paper Flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts, Swirl Circle Die from Marianne Creatables

And that's all from me for this post folks! Thanks for stopping by!

Tropical Blooms

This week's Papertake Weekly's Challenge is called Hot Hot Hot (great Cure song btw!) so I decided to use some hot tropical colours using The Sweet Stop's Sketch Challenge #216 and Just Add Ink's Challenge #170 to add leaves. I always forget that I actually do have the Turning A New Leaf dies until I've stamped and am halfway through cutting the leaves out!


And here's my card.


Recipe:

Stamps: Turning A New Leaf, Beautiful Blooms II both from Papertrey Ink

Papers: Daffodil Delight, Lucky Limeade, Whisper White, Brights DSP Stack all from Stampin' Up

Inks: Daffodil Delight, Lucky Limeade, Melon Mambo, Tempting Turquoise all from Stampin' Up

Accessories: Beautiful Blooms Dies #1, #2 and #3 from Papertrey Ink, Everyday Enchantment Organdy Ribbon in Lucky Limeade (Retired), Brights Brads both from Stampin' Up

And that's all from me for this post folks! Thanks for stopping by!

Hmmmmm .........

I'm really not very sure about this card. When I made it I thought it was ok, but not I've come back to it I don't think I like it at all. The colours just don't do it for me at all. Anyway it's too late to change it as I still have 4 end of year reports to write after my dinner this evening, so it'll have to do. This is for Mojo Monday's Sketch #298 and ColourQ's Challenge #194.


And here's my attempt...


Recipe:

Stamps: Label Love, Mosaic Madness both from Stampin' Up

Papers: Calypso Coral, Gumball Green, Whisper White, In Colors 2012-14 DSP Stack all from Stampin' Up

Inks: Calypso Coral, Gumball Green, Tempting Turquoise, Poppy Parade (Retired) all from Stampin' Up

Accessories: Mosaic Punch, Poppy Parade Ribbon (Retired) all from Stampin' Up

And that's all from me for this post folks! Thanks for stopping by.

Sketch Saturday Challenge #264 with Loves Rubber Stamps!

It's time for another Sketch Saturday challenge and this one is a little different to our usual sketch challenges.

This week's challenge is sponsored by the fabulous


This week's prize from Laura at
is a rubber stamp to the value of $10.00.

And now for the sketch! Well there isn't one! "What?!" I hear you say!

Today, 22nd June is Jen's birthday so to celebrate we think you should pick your favourite sketch beginning from when she started designing them...

#216 was the first one she did!!! 

I chose sketch #222 for my card.


And came up with this using a new stamp I bought a little while ago but hadn't cracked open! Isn't she just darling?!


And here's the inside - simply decorated but adds a nice touch.


Recipe:

Stamps: Apple Blossom and Milkshake Baking from Whimsy Stamps, Signature Greetings, Inside & Out Thank You both from Papertrey Ink

Papers: Crumb Cake, Strawberry Slush, Whisper White all from Stampin' Up, Copic X-Press It Blending Card, Kraft Notes Patterned Papers from 

Inks: Crumb Cake, Strawberry Slush both from Stampin' Up, Memento Tuxedo Black, Copic Markers

Accessories: Corner Rounder Punch from Stampin' Up, Double Loops Punch Around the Page set from Martha Stewart, Buttons from stash

So why not come over to the Sketch Saturday Challenge Blog and join in.


All Things Magical and Mythical #119 Featuring Mermaid Birthday Party Treasure from Faery Ink

Good morning everyone and welcome to this week's All Things Magical and Mythical post. I haven't used a Faery Ink image for ages so...