Hey Little Birdie, A Creative Romance DT

Happy Friday to all my lovely followers and visitors.  I'm so very glad that this week is over, it's been hectic, stressful and downright depressing. At the end of last week I was on top of the world and regardless of being too busy to catch a breath everything seemed to finally be going right, then I came crashing down to earth last night with some awful news, I won't go into details here but Christmas was almost cancelled.  We managed to pull some of the worst of it out of the fire, but still Christmas is not going to be quite so merry as it was.  Ahh well, I dare say I'll bounce back in time, but anyway I'll stop whinging now and share my card.

It's time for a new challenge over at A Creative Romance, and as it's our last one for this year, both the teams have combined to make it extra special.  The theme is 
'Sparkle at Christmas' 
so we want to see lots of sparkle on your cards.  Here's my take on the challenge.

I used one of the new Sugar Nellie Christmas Fairies but avioded a Christmas sentiment so that the card could also be used as a card for a winter birthday, or  thank you card etc.

I've used a Martha Stuart Punch Around the corner set to shape the card, and a Go Kreate die for the base of the image. Other dies used are Magnolia Doohickey Die - Leaf and Swirl  and  La-La Land - Scalloped Border The gorgeous papers are by Maja, from my favourite collection 

Crea Diem - With All My Heart and 

True Friendship love, love, love these. They've all been inked with Pumice Stone DI and stitched with grey top stitch thread and plenty of stickles on the edge for more sparkle.

I just love this image, all the new fairies are fab tbh, this one is called Hey Little Birdie, isn't she adorable?  Sooo pretty, I coloured her with Copics as usual, but I tried to keep my colouring quite light, as she's really delicate looking.  I really must try out colouring with distress inks soon, I think they would quite suit this. I'd add them to my Christmas list, but my list is already so long I think Santa may end up with a hernia lol!

I've added lots of Glamour Dust to her hat, collar, cuffs and wings for plenty of sparkle.

Flowers, ribbons, button . twine and lace are from The Ribbon Girl. The bird charm is from my stash.

I finished off with some clear gems for ...yup, you got it...extra sparkle.

This card is for sale in my Etsy Store with some other recent ones.

I hope you like my inspiration for today, do head over to A Creative Romance to check out the rest of the teams creations, they are very drool worthy!  Why not join in our challenge, you can use any image, and can enter as many times as you like and combine with other challenges, as long as it's a new creation and follows the theme.  We have a fab prize on offer from our sponsors 

Little Darlings Rubber Stamps....yum!

Well that's it from me today, if you haven't already, do take a look at my other card for today...it couldn't be more different than this one other than the colour lol, and if you haven't already entered my giveaway for a 

Dies to Die for £15 Gift Voucher 

you can find it 

here 

with up to 4 chances to win!

Enjoy your day, I'm working till 4.30 pm but I have crafting planned for my weekend, so I'll see you soon :) xx

Under The Mistletoe at Dies to Die for

Happy Tuesday all, Christmas is creeping racing ever closer, and I have that sinking feeling that I will have a last minute panic to get everything done.  So I got into the Christmas mood this weekend, I visited the German Christmas Market in Leeds and then made some Christmas cards and I'm sharing one here with you today. This is my DT card for Dies to Die for.

I thought using these 2 stamps together just looked soooo cute!  Perfect for a couples first Christmas together.  I've coloured them with my Copics and fussy cut them both and popped them up on some foam squares to give them some dimension.  I used the     Blueprints die set with Pion papers to make this little scene so that they look like they're standing by a window looking out into a snowy landscape, I added some glamour dust to the scene for some sparkle, but you can't see it very well in these pics.  Everything is inked with Distress Ink in Vintage Photo and and hand sewn as I usually do.

Lot's of Whimsy goodness here as I've also used a sentiment form their Season's Greetings Notables 7 set and the matching die to cut it out, love these, I'm starting to make a bit of a collection they're so very useful.

I've also used some La La Land dies for the lace, the doily just peeking at the top and the heart border along the top.

I've finished off with some ribbon and a button from stash and bit of bling.

I hope you you have a great week, I'll be back on Friday with some more inspiration to share :) xx

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A Joyful Tilda & Five Weeks Till Christmas? Eeek!

Good evening, I hope you had a great start to your week.  This weekend it hit me hard....Christmas is just around the corner...I need to get my finger out and start getting prepared lol cos I've barely given it a thought.  I kind of like Christmas to feel special so I don't like to start too early...but then again I don't want to be left panicking at the last minute lol.   Anyway, I decided to try and get into the spirit and spent most of my weekend making Christmas cards and I thought I'd share one today.

So I'm not a big fan of traditional Christmas colours in the main.  My tree (always real) is about the only thing in the house at Christmas that is, how it's decorated....not :P  Anyway I decided to go with a Pink Christmas, though it's a violet pink.  The paper is by Maja, not a Christmas collection but this covered it's not like anyone will notice lol.

All papers have been stitched and inked with DI in Vintage photo, I've used some cheesecloth behind the image.

I love, love, love this stamp.  It's A Joyful Tilda, one of the latest collection, love her outfit and she looks so adorable playing in the snow so I used some shabby white frantage to make it look like the snow was flying around.  She's coloured with Copics, my usual skin tones plus RV63, 66 & 69 & E40, 42, 44 for her clothing. I've used some liquid applique and sprinkled it with Glamour Dust for the snow she's standing on.

I've used a few dies here (me using dies?  no big suprise there huh?)  The ones to shape the card are from Go Kreate .  I've also used some Spellbinders Fancy Framed Tags ,  Some Marianne Design Creatables Snowflakes Dies and one of the  La La Land Crafts Stitched Tags, you can find all 3 die sets at Dies to Die For and I've added the links so you can just click on them to find them easily.

I've decorated the inside with the same papers as on the front and added some of the same snowflake stamps, this is an old stamp set of mine from Wild Rose Studios, I think they still make it though. 

Well that's all from me today, though I'll no doubt be sharing more Christmas cards in the following weeks.

I'll be entering this card in the following challenges:

Time for Magnolia -Christmas in non traditional colours

Tilda's Town Favourite Tilda or Edwin

Simply Magnolia Over the Edge

Magnolia-licious Winter Themed

Magnolia Down Under Jingle Bells

Deep Ocean Challenge Favourite Colour Combo

Copic Marker Europe Everything About Christmas

GDT - Marvelous Magnolia Birthday Bash

Good morning to all my wonderful followers and visitors.  I bet your surprised to see a post from me on a Monday no?  Obviously this post is scheduled as I shall be beavering away at work when this goes live.

What's the reason for posting on a Monday I hear you cry, well it's simple, I was recently asked by the fabulous Rina, to guest and make a card Marvelous Magnolia for their Big Birthday Bash, of course I said yes!  If you're not familiar with Marvelous Magnolia, they're an awesome Magnolia only challenge blog that runs new challenges weekly with fab prizes.  Currently for their birthday bash they're having a special celebration, not only are they holding their usual challenge (running for 2 weeks this time), but also all the DT ladies are offering their own creations (and really they are amazing) as special prizes, not content with that they've been having a guest designer every day for 10 days and if you leave a comment on the GDT post you have a chance of winning a prize from that sponsor!

This is the card I made.

I decided to make an oval easel card, using some large Spellbinders dies.  Papers are by Bildmalarna. All are inked with DI in Pumice Stone and stitched with white Top Stitch thread. The hot air ballon is made with a La La Land Crafts die, I've added a little frantage in Shabby Pink.

This little cutie is Celebration Tilda, isn't she gorgeous?  I've coloured her with my Copics and added a little Glamour dust for sparkle. She's sitting on a die-cut made with La La Land Craft's String of Hearts Die.

The tag is Magnolia DooHickey So Wrapped Lovely. I've added pink seam binding and rolled ribbon roses from The Ribbon Girl.  You can just see the Heart Doily Border also from LLLC peeking out behind the tag and flowers.

The rest of the flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts.

The inside is decorated with matching papers.  The stamps and die used to make the tickets are from Whimsy and the little heart scrabble tiles are also from a Whimsy stamp set.  The whole card has been finished off with some hand coloured pearls and some Prima pearl flourishes.

I do hope you like my card for the Big Birthday Bash at Marvelous Magnolia, don't forget to pop across and leave a comment on the post there, you have a chance if winning a prize from 

I'll be popping this card into my

store later this evening once I'm home form work.

Enjoy the rest of your day! :) xx

Entered in the following challenges:

Simply Magnolia - Anything Goes

Lovely hAnglar or Sweet Magnolia - #82 Shabby Chic or Vintage

7 Kids #86 Anything Goes

Addicted to Stamps #69 Punches & Dies

Hanna & Friends #184 Glitter

DT A Creative Romance - Winter Blues

Happy happy Friday people!  This is my 2nd post today (haven't I been busy? :P ) and my very first post as a DT member for A Creative Romance....sooo exciting!

Our theme this week is an easy one and perfect for this time of year it's 

Winter Blues

Simple right?  I decided that I wouldn't go with an obvious Christmas Card, though you could use this for one it's also very suitable for a winter wedding (I saw one at the Ice Hotel a few years ago that was just fab!) or a winter anniversary or engagement.

I used a Go Kreate die to create the shape. The papers are Wintertime in Swedish Lapland by Pion Design.  They've been lightly distressed with DI in Chipped Sapphire and sewn with a mixture of light and dark blue top stitch thread.

The image is from Tiddly Inks Victorian Couple, this is a Digi but yu can get it in clear rubber also.

The ticket stamp and matching die are from Whimsy.

Velvet ribbon, seam binding , bead trim and lace are from The Ribbon Girl

The snowflake die are from La La Land Crafts and the flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts, they've been coated in Twinklets Diamond Dust to give a frosty feel to them.

I do hope you like it, please pop over to the A Creative Romance blog and check out the rest of the Elegant Artisan's creations, they really are stunning.  If you have the time we'd love for you to join in with our challenge, it's a nice easy one and we'd love to see what works of art you create.

Enjoy the rest of your day, it's nearly the weekend!! :)xx

This card will go into my Etsy store at the weekend along with a couple of my other recent cards.

I'm entering this into these challenges:

Tiddly Inks #121 Anything Goes
Wild Orchid Challenge #89 Ribbons and Lace

Sympathy Bugs - Wee Stamps

Good morning (oops no it's afternoon here now, how did that happen?!), folks!  It's the weekend and I have no visitors or other demands on my time this weekend (other than the normal regular chores), so I have plenty of time to craft, yay! :)

I have a card to share with you today and I must firstly apologise for the photos, I had to make this card super quick and get it sent out and I didn't really have time to do more than take a few shots before packing and sending and when I've looked the pics I had were not brilliant but the card has been sent and no time to take more sadly.

I made this card for a colleague at work who recently lost her Mum.  It was after a long illness and her passing was a relief to her family (and herself as she was tired and wanted to go) who didn't want her to suffer, so I didn't want to go with a traditional sympathy card and rather made something just to let her know she was in my thoughts.

I thought that this image from Wee Stamps by the talented Sylvia Zet, was perfect for this.  It's called Sympathy Bugs and this is a digi but you can also get it in rubber if you prefer.

I coloured it up very quickly with my Copics so you'll have to forgive any  little mistakes you spot lol.

The paper is from Maja Designs, Summer Basics from the 6 x 6 Pad.  I got this one from Dies to Die For, they also see the rubber version of this stamp and the stamp set and die that I used for the sentiment.  I love these sentiment sets that you can buy a matching die for, from Whimsy Stamps, they have such a great selection I'm starting to collect some, I have a whole wish list lol.  The shape of the card is cut with a Frilly Frames no #7 from Go Kreate. The colours on this photo are really not great, but I really couldn't improve it in editing more than this sadly and no chance to take alternative photos now so it will just have to do.

Flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts as usual.

The button and twine are from The Ribbon Girl, and everything else is from stash.

I hope you enjoyed my share today, I'm off to get some more crafting done, I'm hoping to do a Blue Peter job (here's one I made earlier) on some of my upcoming DT cards, but hopefully I'll also have something else to share with you tomorrow.

Next Friday (8th) is my first DT post for A Creative Romance (and yes I have this card already made and photographed ready to go lol), soo exciting, so look out for that in addition to my regular Crafty Catz DT card, and the following week I'll be showcasing my special GDT card for a certain birthday celebration, but I won't let all the surprise out so you'll have to swing by on the 11th  to check it out!!

Well that's all from me for today, I'mm off for a little visit and comment catch up in blogland and Facebook before I continue crafting.  

Whatever you plan to do this weekend, make sure you have fun doing it.

See you soon :) xx

Entered for the following Challenges:

Whimsy Stamps - Anything Goes
Addicted to Stamps - Colour Palette

DT CC Spots & Stripes

Good morning everyone!!  It's Friday and that can only mean it's time for my DT post for Crafty Catz, and for once my post is not scheduled because I have the day off work!

Of course looking out of my window it's cold, grey and raining lol, but I don't care because not only do I have the day of work (in fact I have no work now until Wednesday)  I'm going to see the Cirque du Soleil tonight!! I'm sooo excited as I've been wanting to see them for years and never managed to ge tickets before for one reason or another and actually the tickets have been stuck to the front of my fridge for almost a year.........I wasn't missing out this time lol.

Anyhoo on to the challenge....

This week it's the wonderful Anna who chooses, (she is always making me smile with her fun comments in our DT blog)  and Anna chose 'SPots and Stripes'  Very easy, you just have to have some spots and some stripes somewhere on your card.  This could be on the image, design paper, the way you've coloured, the ribbon, embellishments etc....as you can see it should be easy to get some spots and stripes on there somewhere :)

This week we are being spobsored by Crimson Cloud and they are offering a prize to our winner.

This is my take on the challenge I chose some beautiful Maja Design paper that hade spots on one side and stripes on the other but after I made it I realised that I'd actually got more spots on my card than I'd realised.   Can you (pardon the pun) spot them all? :P

I used a Martha Stewart Punch Around the Edge set to make the shape.

The image is by the wonderful Krista Smith from Saturated Canary (and she's actually sponsoring our challenge in 2 weeks (which also happens to be my first time hosting the challenge!), so keep an eye out for that).  She called Ribbons Fairy and is available here. I've coloured her with my Copics.

Flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts, lace and ribbon from The Ribbon Girl and the sentiment is by Whimsy and cut with a matching die, both of which I got from Bunny Zoe crafts.  The pearl trim and the paper came from Live & Love Crafts.

This is the inside of the card, sorry for the terrible lighting I didn't have enough space to set up the 2nd light as I'm moving and tidying stuff ready for my daughter's visit at the weekend, I'll try and replace it later.

This card is available for sale in my Etsy shop

Well that's it for now, do pop over to the Crafty Catz blog and see the wonderful designs the other girls have made and give them some love. 

Have a fab day :) xx

I'll be entering the following challenges:

Wild Orchid Crafts - Lovely Lavender
BunnyZoe Crafts Use Ribbon
The Ribbon Girl - Brown

Wee Stamps Summer Fairy

Good evening (or morning, depending on when you read this and indeed, what part of the globe you're from I guess).  I should have blogged this card earlier today, in fact it was made and ready to go but then we had a visitor and I needed to go out to get a guillotine, as I'm fed up of buying blades for my trimmer.  I even bought titanium ones last  time and they seemed to last no longer to be honest. Anyway, finally I got round to taking pics and just finding time to blog it before bed. 

I didn't make this for any particular reason other than that I loved the image and fancied trying something a little different. I had an idea I wanted to try out, I'd seen a card in monochrome with a touch of blue here and there a while back, and loved the kind of frosty look of it.  I thought it might be fun to do a similar thing but with pink, like something gradually warming up and coming to life.  Here's what I made.

I used my favourite Maja Design papers collection, Crea Diem, love love love these papers.  Well I love all the Maja papers to be fair, but these most of all, these come from Dies to Die For.  All the papers and card have been edged with Pumice Stone DI and stitched with white top stitch thread. I don't think the camera really does this card justice (or maybe it's just the photographer :P), the effect is very subtle and doesn't really capture on film as it does in RL. 

The image is drawn by the talented and sweet Sylvia Zet.  This digi from Wee Stamps is called Summer Fairy.  Isn't she gorgeous.  I think she looks a bit like a statue coming to life coloured like this, love her.

She's coloured in Copics, I used a selection of  Warm Greys and RV91.  I accented her wings with a little glamour dust.

I used a Memory Box frame, a Joy Crafts Butterfly Border split into 2 parts and a Magnolia Doohicky tag.  The card was shaped with dies from Go Kreate.

Flowers are all from Wild Orchid Crafts, the seam binding and narrow white lace (which I realise I have ONCE AGAIN, covered almost completely, what am I like) are from The Ribbon Girl, everything else is from stash.

I rather like the effect, I hope you do too and that it inspires you to try something a little different.

This card can be bought from my Etsy store, see link at Top left of page.

I'm entering this card into the following challenges:

613 Avenue Create #42 (Image, patterned paper, shaped, die cut, liquid pearls, bling, flowers, stitching)

Alphabet Challenge R is for Roses

7 Kids Anything Goes with a twist of marker

Live & Love Crafts #16 Use Pink

Stampin' for the Weekend Anything Goes

I've had quite a productive weekend as I've finished a GDT project as well as this make and almost completed this weeks CC DT project, so now I'm off to catch some zzzs. work in the morning.

See you again soon, until then, take care :) xx 

Tiddly Inks Tanker Fairy Flies

If you're looking for my candy it's here.
I got a chance to play and just create something for the fun of it yesterday, which was nice as I have quite a few projects on the burner that need to get finished this week or by the weekend that it was nice to take a little time out and jut be creative for the sheer joy of it.

Anyhooo....here's what I made (and sorry I didn't post it yesterday, I was really busy and then I got so carried away creating I didn't get time to take pics and post).

The papers are the new Autumn Basics by Maja Design, aren't they yummy? These are the 12 x 12 versions.  I thought the hot air ballons and the clocks had a real steam punk feel to then as well as vintage, so I decided to go with the flow.  The clock  and gears dies are from Cheery Lyn and I used a  Go Kreate die to create the card shape. I stitched all the papers with top stitch thread in Nutmeg and inked the edges with Vintage Photo distress ink.

The image is Tanker Fairy Flies, a Tiddly Inks digi by Christy Croll, I really love the Tiddly Inks stamps, they're so much fun and a joy to colour. She's coloured in Copics as per usual for me and I've just noticed (how embarassing) that I missed  a small lock of her hair, so I shall need to go and touch that in lol.

The flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts, the velvet ribbon (love it) and the seam binding are from The Ribbon Girl, the lace and pine cones (I think they look great here and they're sooo cute) are from Live & Love Crafts as are the Screw style Brads. I can't remember where I got the little clock charm but I think several of the shops sell them.

I cut the cogs in blue corrugated card, toned down the brightness a bit with some white acrylic paint and them added some frantage in shabby white.  I think they look pretty cool attached with the screw brads.

The inside is decorated to complement and coordinate with the front. More of that yummy Maja paper.

To finish I just added some pearls and a couple of flourishes.  You can see the tag pulled out here, this is cut from one of the 12 x 12 sheets which is full of tags, elements and vintage photos, great additions to your cards.

To make the seam binding look shabby I just screw it up into a small ball and then roll it between my hands in little circles so that it creases and textures.

Well that's it from me, don't forget to check out my blog candy here  before you leave.

Have a great evening :) xx

I'm entering my card into the following challenges:

Tiddly Inks  Anything Goes

Inky Chicks 2 different die cuts

Papertake Weekly Anything Goes

A Creative Romance Fairytale or Winged Creations

Stampin for the Weekend Fairies and Fantasy

A Little Bit Crafty  A Little Bit Shabby

Bunny Zoe Crafts Something Blue

CLP  #63

613 Avenue Create Anything Goes

Cupcake Inspirations #231 Steam Punk