Hand me Downs

Happy Friday to all my lovely followers and visitors. I have another share for you as GDT for Saturated Canary....sooooo exciting!!

Today the Saturated Canaries are starting our next image showcase challenge over on our Saturated Canary Facebook page.

And its a super duper one this time! we just want to see where your creativity takes you so its...

Anything Goes.

You can make any creation you like be it card, scrap page, an altered something, smash book/journal page etc...just let your creativity go!

The prize, as always, will be 2 digital images of your choice from the shop and the rules are super simple too..

* you can enter ONLY ONCE. 

( this makes it fair for everyone )

* you can enter with any FINISHED creation but...IT MUST BE HANDCRAFTED. 

(digital colouring of Krista's images is not permitted in accordance to TOU's)

Krista has some gorgeous new digi stamps available in the shop here and I would have loved to have used one, but this week has been super busy and I just didn't get quite enough time, this image was already partly coloured and I'd chosen her to go with these lovely Pion Papers from the new Paris Flea Market collection that I won recently but you can buy them here.  I thought she went just perfectly!

This is HandmeDowns  isn't she pretty? I just love her. I've coloured her in Distress Inks

Skin: Tattered Rose, Tea Dye, Worn Lipstick

Hair: Antique Linen, Broken Twigs, Spun Sugar, Victorian Velvet

Clothing: Pumice Stone, Broken China, Spun Sugar, Victorian Velvet, Mowed Grass.

Floor: Walnut Stain

I popped a little cheese cloth behind my layers to soften the edges and I added a couple of bits from the cut out sheet. I edged all my layers with Walnut Stain Distress Ink, but I didn't sew all my layers for once as I needed to be quick and hand sewing takes a long time, but I did sew around my image to frame her, with top stitch thread in blue.

I added some lace, ribbon, buttons and flowers for my embellishments, most of these can be found at The Ribbon Girl.

Finally I decorated the inside simply to complement the front.

That's all from me today, but I'll be back on Sunday with my post for Totally Tilda & Friends.

Have a great Friday! :) xx

Baby Luka - It's a Boy Think at La-La Land Crafts

Good Morning everyone! Well Monday has reared it's ugly head again, not sure what I will find when I get into work, I discovered a leak in on of our lecture theatres on Friday and had to leave it in the hands of Estates and Facilities when I left for the weekend, they still hadn't discovered where it was coming from!  So hopefully I won't need my wellies!

Anyway it's time once again for Team Monday to share some inspiration with you.  I'll fess right up, I hate making boy's cards, they scare me lol.  So I chose to use Baby Luka thinking that at least I could go soft and pretty. I choose to make a long skinny card for a change, not entirely sure that I like the result, but if we don't try new things we never grow right?

La-La Land items used:

Baby Luka

Stitched Sun and Clouds Die (just the clouds used)

Moon and Stars Banner Die

Luka has been coloured in Distress Ink Markers

Skin: Tattered Rose, Tea Dye
Hair: Antique Linen
Clothing and Bear: Wild Honey, Brushed Corduroy, Spun Sugar, Broken Twigs.

The gorgeous papers are Pion Design's My Beloved Son and the Ribbon, lace, and pearl trim are from The Ribbon Girl. Charm and embellishment are from my stash.

Tracy at Dies to Die for should be getting this stamp and dies in stock soon.

That's all for today, super quick share from me as I have a super busy week including the other half's birthday on Wednesday!

TTFN :) xx

Waiting for Spring

Happy Sunday everyone,

Super quick post from me as I'm sooooooo busy today.  As you know I recently applied for a GDT spot at Saturated Canary and I'm soooo happy to announce that I got picked.....boy have I been doing the happy dance for the last few days!!

Anyone one of the first things I got to do as GDT was to play with this super cute stamp that Krista is giving away to 5 lucky winners on her Instagram feed.  I must admit I'm a bit of a dinosaur when it comes to instagram, I've yet to take the plunger.  These days I mainly only take pics of my cards, but I used to photograph like mad when the children were younger.

Anyway if you want the chance of winning it got to @kristacanary . Follow and tag a friend on Instagram . 5 winners; one springtime stamp. Photo is first in her feed.

I just couldn't wait to colour her up right away and this is what I did with it.

Shes coloured with Distress Ink markers to match this gorgeous paper that's been sitting in my stash and waiting for the right project.

It's Sunday and I'm busy and being lazy lol, so no links today except for where you can get the stamp.

Enjoy what's left of the weekend and I'll see you back here on Monday :) xx

Eva - Vintage Style at Dies to Die for

Woohoo it's nearly the weekend!  I've been super busy this week working on some secret projects that I can't tell you about just yet, but I will say it's terribly exciting! I'd like to say a big hello to all of my new followers, it's so lovely to have you join me on my creative journey :)

I must admit to being just a little bit in love with today's card for Dies to Die for, the mojo was just racing along with this one, I had so much fun making it.

The beautiful girl is Eva, a Saturated Canary image from Little Darlings Rubber Stamps.

Isn't she gorgeous?  I've coloured her with my distress ink markers....I know, I know, I will colour again with my Copics, but to be honest I'm just having so much fun seeing what I can do with the DI markers right now. I went for a slightly darker skin tone this time as I wanted her to look a little exotic.

Colours used:

Skin: Tattered Rose, Tea Dye, Vintage Photo, Fired Brick

Hair: Antique Linen, Walnut Stain, Broken Twigs

Outfit: Milled Lavender, Spun Sugar, Picked Raspberry, Pumice Stone

I used some lovely Bildlamarna papers and the pretty doily die is from Cheery Lynn.

All papers have been edged with Pumice Stone DI and hand stitched with Top Stitch thread.

I added lots of lovely embellies, finished off with some daubs of Gesso, 

and decorated the inside simply to complement the front.

Eva -Stamp

Bildmalarna Paper - From the Sale box

MFT Pierced Ovals

Cheery Lynn Kissimee Doily Die

Platinum Liquid Pearls

Embellies from the Ribbon Girl

Cheesecloth

Ophelia Lace

Pearl String

Flat Back Pearls

Aubergine Silky Crush Ribbon

White/purple/pink 2 tone roses

Lilac Wild Roses

Sweetheart blossom flowers

Ivory Cherry Blossom

I've entered the following challenges:

Creative Card Crew - Shabby Chic
Inky Chicks - Anything Goes
Magnolia-licious - Love is in the Air

Well that's all from me today, if you're in the UK I hope you're doing ok in the snow, and I'll see you back here on Monday.

Take care! :) xx

Paper Doll Marci - Birthday, Funky Colours at La-La Land Crafts

Well it's Monday again, no lottery win for me so back to work I go lol.  As it's a Monday, it is of course time for a little La-La Land inspiration post.

This week the theme is 'Funky Colours'. Well I thought that the very funky, quirky and cool Paper Doll Marci - Birthday would be just perfect for this. She's one of the new release revealed at the CHA show last weekend.

La-La Land Crafts Products Used.

Paper Doll Marci - Birthday

Small Lacy Border Die
Stitched Zig Zags Die

Random Flags Banner Die

I coloured Marci with my Distress Ink markers:

Skin: Tattered Rose, Tea Dye. Fired Brick, Worn Lipstick
Hair: Evergreen Bough. Shabby Shutters
Outfil: Evergreen Bough, Shabby Shutters, Worn Lipstick, Fired Brick, Spiced Marmalade, Rusty Hinge.

All the new stamps and dies will be available soon from Dies to Die for

I used the following products from The Ribbon Girl

25 mm Aqua Berisford Satin Ribbon
Black Button Twine
Apple Blossom Mixed Pastels - Lemon and Mint Selection
Red Top Stitch Thread.

That's all from me today, but don't forget to head over to the blog to check out the rest of the team's fabulous makes!

Thanks for popping in :) xx

Breeze - Easel, Stepper or Joy Fold card at Totally Tilda and Friends

Happy Sunday!  I hope you're all enjoying the weekend. I had my first full week at work since the Christmas holidays, so the weekend break felt sorely needed by me.  Mostly I've spent it relaxing and doing some crafting, what about you?

If you're looking for something to do, why not join in the new challenge over at Totally Tilda and Friends?  The challenge this time is Easel, Stepper or Joy Fold, just make a card of one of those types, you can use any stamp you want, as long as it's a rubber stamp and not a digi.

I chose an old favourite of mine, Breeze. She's drawn by the very talented Krista Smith of Saturated Canary and available in rubber from Little Darlings Rubber Stamps.  I've included links to items I've used at the end of my post.

Anyhooooo, this is what I did with her.

 I made the shape with a Go-Kreate die.  The gorgeous papers are from the Maja Vintage Summer Basics collection 1933 and 1934. All have been edged with Distress Ink in Walnut Stain and all the layers on the front of the card have been hand stitched with Top Stitch thread.

This is what the card looks like closed, I coloured Breeze with distress ink markers, colours are listed below, and then covered the pink part of her dress with lashings of Glamour Dust.  She's a lot more sparkly in the flesh, but as usual the camera has not picked it up so well.

Skin: Tattered Rose, Tea Dye, Aged Mahogany (cheeks) Milled Lavender, Victorian Velvet (lips)

Hair: Antique Linen, Brushed Corduroy, Gathered Twigs

Dress: Evergreen Bough, Milled Lavender, Victorian Velvet

Background: Walnut Stain

The beautiful bling is from my stash.

Lots of lovely embellies from The Ribbon Girl

25 mm Joanne Ivory Fine Cluny Lace

38 mm Vintage Ivory Fluted Edge Sheer Ribbon

4 mm Flat Back Pearl Ivory Bead Trim

3 mm Ivory Pearl Bead String

11 mm Ivory Flat Back Pearls

8 mm Ivory Flat Back Pearls

6 mm Ivory Flat Back Pearls

Pink Sweetheart Blossom Flowers

Apple Blossom Mixed Pastels Pink and Blue (Pink Used)

Cheesecloth

Our challenge is sponsored by

so you could win a lovely prize

Don't forget to check out the rest of my team's gorgeous makes on the blog!

That's all from me for today, enjoy your Sunday, don't forget to sign up for my rubber stamp giveaway if you haven't already, and I'll see you again tomorrow with some La-La Land fun :) xx

Serenade Moments at Dies to Die for

Morning all! Well that's another week almost done and looking forward to my weekend again. With Valentines seemingly just around the corner I'm sure you're getting a huge chunk of Velentine's cards thrown your way to look at. So my card today which has a definite love theme and would make a perfect card for Valentine's, but also for other occasions because I steered away from the 'traditional' Valentine colours of pink and red (ok there is a little red in there, but really not enough to make a difference).

This super cute stamp is one of the Candibean range, isn't it lovely? I'm still on my Distress Ink colouring kick...well my OH bought me a bunch for Christmas so it would be rude not to.

I've not added the colours used today because to be honest I coloured it a couple of weeks back and I've forgotten doh!

The beautiful papers are from the new Maja collection Nyhavn, aren't they just scrummy, they are limited edition though so they won't be available forever.  Lovely colours and made me feel quite summery in the middle of winter!

As usual I've inked and hand stitched all my layers.

Love that cut out heart die and the edging round the card is made from a large die cut into pieces. I used the border strip from one of the papers to make up a little sentiment banner.

LDRS Candibeans - Serenade Moments

Nyhavn - Like a Colourful Bouquet (both sides)

Nyhavn - Old Town Houses (I used the blue side)

Tonic - Love Arch Border Squares Die Set (used the largest cut into pieces behind my card as a border

Die-Versions, Whispers - Love Definition Die

Musical Note Charm

I hope you like my make for today and I'll see you again on Sunday, until then, happy crafting! :) xx

Paper Doll Marci - Spring Showers

Hello, I'm back again with my second make that went to CHA. This time I used Paper Doll Marci - Spring Showers to make a little gift bag.

I must say I'm really loving these Paper Dolls, and tbh I wasn't too sure about them at first.

For some reason this one spoke to me and cried out to not only be paper pieced but decoupaged.

The colouring is done in Copics.  I must admit that I was in such a rush to get ready for Christmas and to send this off to Irina , that I only took a couple of views on my camera doh!

La-La Land Craft Items Used:

Paper Doll Marci - Spring Showers

Open Heart Doily Border Die

Small Lacy Border Die

Stitched Sun and Clouds Die

I thought she'd look awesome in bright colours

Copics used:

Skin: E04, E11, E00, E000, R20, RV32, RV34

Hair: V000, V12, V15, V17

Clothing: YR21, YR23, YR24, YR61, YR68, RV63, RV17, RV66V12, V15, V17

The beautiful bright papers are Bo Bunny Ambrosia, the vibrant orange ribbon is from The Ribbon Girl and the flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts.

If you're in the UK or Europe, you'll be able to order all the new stamps and dies at Dies to Die for

That's all from me today, you can find all of the new release here and don't forget to check the blog for the rest of my teamies AMAZING makes! Don't forget that you can keep up with all the news and share your work in our Facebook Group and we even have a Pinterest page for your pleasure. Have fun and I'll see you on Friday with my regular Dies to Die for post.

La-La Land Crafts CHA * New Release Team Monday

Good Morning everyone! Well sadly I'm fully back at work this week, I must say it was very nice having some time off after the Christmas break and it allowed me to catch up with all my DT work and also relax a bit, so I'm feeling quite stress free at the moment! Although after a week back at work that could all change lol.

Anyway as I'm sure you all know, the HUGE Craft show from the CHA (Craft and Hobby Association) is going on at the moment, over in Anaheim USA, and yours truly was asked to create a couple of samples to display there.....very very exciting!

For my first sample I used the newly released Baby Marci. Oh my this stamp is just too adorable for words!  I do love making baby cards, so I was totally in my element with this one.

La-La Land Products Used

Baby Marci and Sentments 
(sentiment used inside the card)

Open Heart Doily Border Die

Small Lacy Border Die

Open Fan Die

Stork Die

Rocking Horse Die

Large Lacy Border Die
(used inside the card)

I coloured Baby Marci with Distress Ink Markers

Skin: Tattered Rose, Tea Dye, Spun Sugar 

Hair: Antique Linen, Brushed Corduroy

Clothing and Accessories: Spun Sugar, Victorian Velvet, Pumice Stone, Antique Linen

I went for a shabby Chic look and used paper from Pion's My Precious Daughter collection, which I inked with Pumice Stone DI, then distressed with a Tim Holtz tool and stitched by hand with Top Stitch thread.

I used a lot of goodies from The Ribbon Girl to add even more prettiness to the card, and then finished it all off with lashings of Gesso.

Other products used

Pink Pouf Tulle Ribbon

White 25 mm Satin Ribbon

White Flat Back Pearl 6 mm Trim

White 4 mm Pearl Bead String

Pink Organza Looped Trim

Pink Organza Spotty Ribbon

Cheesecloth

Ivory 30 mm Wild Rose

White Chrysanths

Pale Pink Tulips

Pink Blossoms

Small Pink Lily

Pale Pink Rolled Roses

Pink 20 mm Open Rose

Pale Pink Semi Open Rose Bud

Stork Charm
Pion Design - My Precious Daughter - Alma's Dress
Pion Design - My Precious Daughter - Baby Doll
MFT - Pierced Ovals - Stax

You can see the complete rubber stamp and die new releases below

I do hope you liked my card, I had such fun making it, and I'll be back here tomorrow with my second sample for CHA with the new La-La Land stamp and die releases.

See you then! :) xx

May - Saturated Canary GDT Entry

Happy Sunday to you all! I hope you're all having/had a great weekend.  As many of you may know, Krista Smith the wonderful artist of Saturated Canary Stamps and her Design Team are having a GDT call in their Facebook group. I must admit I procrastinated about trying out for quite a while, not because I wouldn't love to be a guest, but because after the previous try I really wasn't sure my work was good enough or what they are looking for....and oh my, there are soooooo many simply stunning entries there, I felt quite intimidated! 

But then, I really really love this image (well I love all Saturated Canary images, but this one really called out to me) from the bundle that Krista has in her shop at the moment, and since you're required to use an image from this bundle to enter...I thought, I will colour the image and make something I really like, then at the end of the day if I don't get in.....I will still have had the enjoyment of playing with an image I love and have made something I'm proud of.

Now this image seems to be a favourite of a lot of the entrants (and I can totally understand why) and it's been coloured in many different ways, but just recently I have been playing around with colouring hair in unusual colours with my distress inks, and also using brighter/stronger colours in them, so that's what I decided to do with her.

I did get quite excited when colouring her because she came out so well and I also got nervous too. I'm sure those of you who colour will understand what I mean...things are going so well but almost 'too' well, you are scared that you will make a mistake and destroy the whole thing (and I have to say that the first 2 attempts went straight in the recycling lol!)? So it was very tempting to stop at a certain point, but I made myself go ahead and add in all the little details and depth, and I'm really glad that I did. 

I've put her on a card for now, but I haven't decorated the inside yet, because I may frame her and keep her for myself, I haven't decided yet.

Anyhoooo...enough of my witless waffle and on with the sharing.

This is May and you can find her as part of a special bundle here.

I coloured her with Distress Ink markers, colours as follows:

Skin, Lips and Eyes: Tattered Rose, Tea Dye, Spun Sugar, Milled Lavender, Evergreen Bough, Peacock Feathers, Pumice Stone.

Hair: Shaded Lilac, Dusty Concord, Milled Lavender, Picked Raspberry.

Clothing & Butterfly: Shaded Lilac, Dusty Concord, Evergreen Bough, Peacock Feathers, Picked Raspberry.

The background is just a little Antique Linen.

I had originally chosen some brighter papers to match her too, but I decided that I didn't want to detract too much from the image and instead used these lovely, more muted papers in the same colours. These are from the Sofiero collection from Maja design. I don't have much of this left and they are out of stock now, so it takes something special for me to cut into them! Papers are inked with Walnut Stain DI and hand stitched as always.

Since there was a butterfly in the image, I took that as my inspiration to use this lovely Joycrafts die. It's actually a circular die, but I snipped into it and opened it up more so I could semi frame my image. I popped a little cheesecloth between my layers, and some gorgeous lace underneath,

I didn't want to over embellish, so I stuck mainly with some flowers and some fairly subtle bling, I liked the flourish (which I cut into 3) as it looked like the breeze blowing the strands of her hair.

Originally I was going to add a bow in my lovely pink organza ribbon, but it looked too much, so I just tucked a snippet under my flowers.

Some of the products I used:

Saturated Canary Digi May

MFT Pierced Ovals Stax

Joy Crafts - Around with Butterflies

Ophelia Ivory Lace

Fuchsia Pink/White Spot Organza Ribbon 

Crystal Flourish

Small Flatback Clear Gems 

Cherry Blossom Lilac/White

Beaded Lavender Gypsophalia

I do hope you like her and I hope Krista and the Saturated Canary DT love her as much as I do, but if not at least I'd made something I'm proud of and had so much fun doing it, and after all, that's what it's all about isn't it? :) xx

Genie at Dies to Die for

Happy Friday everyone!  It was my first week back at work today after my holidays (well I say week I was only in for 2 days lol) and I'm already missing my craft corner, it was really nice to have the time to really go all out and get creative.

I'd been itching to ink up this stamp for quite a while now and yeah I know that maybe genies are supposed to be all floaty and ethereal BUT, look at that funky hair? To me she was crying out to be totally edgy and cool.

I was originally going to colour her with my Copics, or Inktense pencils, but I got all these new colours for Christmas that I wanted to play with and it seems you can go bold and bright with Distress Ink and still keep that translucent delicate look, it shouldn't work, but it does.  I hope you like her.

I've added links to products used at the end of my post. 

Colours used:

Skin: Tattered Rose, Tea dye (I used more than usual to give her a slightly darker skin tone), Aged Mahogany (I can't remember what I used on the lips for this one)

Hair: Shabby Shutters, Crushed Olive, Old Paper, Evergreen Bough.

Clothing: Shabby Shutters, Crushed Olive, Black Soot (white dots were made with a Posca pen)

Background shadow: Frayed Burlap

Then I covered her trousers and top with Glamour Dust, which looks really lovely and sparkly, but I could not get the camera to pick it up hardly at all.

I edged my papers (these are old Glitz ones called Hoopla but you can get them in a sale bundle which is a really super deal) with Old Paper Distress Ink and hand stitched them all with Top Stitch thread and edged all the dies with the same ink and some splodges of Gesso. The beautiful butterfly is one from Karla's Kreative Korner (I really need to get some more as I'm running low and I do love them so. The dies here are from Cheery Lynn and Little Darlings.

I coloured the edging on her outfit to match the corner of my design paper and then added a lush bow to match, love this b & w polka dot ribbon. I thought the button finished it off nicely

Finally I decorated the inside to complement the front and spritzed the whole up with some flowers, lace and ribbon and some little sparklies from my stash.

Stamp - LDRS - Saturated Canary - Genie

Spellbinders Nestabilities - Labels Four

Cherry Lynn - Felicity Doily

Little Darling's - Lovely View

Glitz Hoopla - From Glitz Box Offer

I also used some lovely Ribbon Girl embellishments

Francesca Black Lace

38 mm B & W Spot Organza Ribbon

Black Button Twine

Medium Lime Green Polka Dot Button

9 mm Parrot Green & White Spot Ribbon

I do hope you like my make for today, I was really quite taken with her cool and funky style.

I'm entering this card to the following challenges:

Crafty Catz - Polka Dots