Hey there little froggie

Boo.  Back to work today.  Ah well, nothing else for it until I get that big win on the Lottery!  Its well overdue too, I don't think we've even won a tenner for over a year!  Hopefully its just saving it up to give us the big one LOL!

My new Nellie Snellen stamp hasn't quite made it off my craft table (a.k.a. kitchen table!) so I had another go with my new pencils.  Added clear gloss and loads of sparkle to her wings and wee highlights on her tutu.  I also splurged on a new Memory Box die ... don't think my Cuttlebug was too fussed on it though, I found I had to add several shims to get it to cut through my purple BP.

• Sketch inspired by Sketch Saturday #190 - though I had to move the placement of the sentiment and I couldn't add a fancy border as it looked too fussy with my fancy die - hope it still counts!
• ABC Challenge - H is for Happy Birthday
• Crafty Creations #152 - new goodies (my die and stamp)
• My Mum's Craft Shop #39 - here come the girls
• Papertake Weekly - Die Cute special
• Simon Says Stamp - spots or stripes

My favourite LOTV Stamp

Oops, I had my wonky eyes in when I took this pic!
Well I'm finally starting to feel a bit better ... thanks everyone for your get well wishes!
This wee card features my favourite Lili of the Valley stamp, coloured with pencils which I was inspired to get by my bloggy buddy Linda ... if you've never been at her blog you should pop over for a wee visit, she has the most fabulous colouring skills with her pencils! I've quite a bit of practice to go, especially with hair colouring!

I also managed to add a button to my card which is quite an achievement for a button-challenged-crafter! .

• Sketch from i{heart}2stamp SFYTT January
• ABC Challenge - H is for Happy Birthday
• Sparkles Forum ChallengeC#28 - new crafty goodies (my die-namics notebook edge die)
• Simon Says Stamp - spots and/or stripes
• The Pixie Cottage #103 - stitching
• Charisma Cardz - Happy Birthday
• Lili's Little Fairies #02 - your favourite LOTV stamp
• Catered Crop - Button Up

ETA: I won at Pixie Cottage - 2 new stamps!

Xmas card #01

Grrr I'm getting really fed up with this head cold.... every time I blow my nose my ears pop and I go deaf for half an hour!

Anyway, yes, you did read right, this is my FIRST Christmas card for 2012.  How smug do I feel!  I'm determined not to be caught out like I was this Christmas. And I know, blah blah, I've probably said that before LOL!

I got my new dies out for this card, inspired by the Die Cutting Challenge in the Moxie Fab World (there's a prize of their latest mag Cool Tools up for grabs and I'd love to get my mitts on it!)  There's loads of new goodies on this card ... my wee tab die and star border from Dienamics, Echo Park DP and the wee girl is from Marianne Designs.  (The bigger star dies are from Taylored Expressions) Coloured her with promarkers and added some glitter to her hairband, slippers, tinsel and some clear gloss to the baubles.  Looks so much nicer and sparkly IRL!  I think this image would work well with that lovely skinny tinsel ribbon, but I forgot to order myself some when I was in my spending spree and the guilt has already struck. Ha.

• Moxie Fab World Cool Tools Week - die cutting challenge
• I flipped the sketch from Totally Gorjuss #113  
• Stamp Scrap and Doodle Saturday - Winter something
• One Stitch at a Time #95 - use 3 embellishments (I've used twine, die cuts and stitching)
• The Corrosive Challenge #140 - use new stash
• Crafty Cardmakers #59 - no floral embellishments
• ABC Xmas - A is for anything goes
• Mums Craft Shop #39 - here come the girls

CAS Wedding

I had a go at making a CAS Wedding card today ... I find it difficult to make lovey dovey cards so this seemed to be the best way to go!
I'd bought this wee Art Gone Wild birdie stamp aaaages ago and think they look so sweet!  I liked this embossing folder as the flowers were kinda the same shape as the flower in her hair (...hair? Haha!!!)  Added some clear gloss to their beaks and some silver gems.

• Alota Challenge #74 - A B or C (B=Birds)
• Bling it On - New Beginnings
• By the Cute and Girly - new beginnings
• Crafty Catz #114 - new beginning
• The Cats Pyjamas TCPTUES192 - embossing

Another SPARKS Kangaroo

Booo hoo, I'm still feeling really yeuchy and had to take the day off work, but in an effort to concentrate my mind elsewhere I had a wee go at making this card.  Not easy with having to stop every 5 seconds to blow my nose!

Again I've taken inspiration from the current Paper Smooches SPARKS challenge, this time I just focused on the colour theme.
I've also used one of my new border dies from Dienamics, and then coloured the wee bits from the centres with a Copic to match the blue theme.

• Paper Smooches SPARKS Dec 29 - Jan 11
• Lothian Crafts #22 - die cuts
• Top Tip Tuesday #67 - anything goes
• Try it on Tuesday - no DP or stickers
• Simon Says ... New something (my new die)
• Papertake Weekly - anything goes

Dream Valley Challenge #23

We're back with a new challenge for the New Year at Dream Valley and it couldn't be easier ....
Anything Goes!

(There's a fab prize on offer too from One Stop Card Crafts)  Make anything you like, doesn't have to be a card and you've a fortnight to play along. (max 3 entries)

My card uses some wee paper-pieced flowers from Stampendous and the DP was from a Christmas pack.

Other Challenges:

• Allsorts #136 - paper piecing
• Ribbon Carousel RCC34 - anything goes
• The Pink Elephant TPE129 - anything goes
• Joanna Sheen - celebrations

ETA: Top 5 @ Allsorts

More new goodies!

Aaahhchoooo!  Yip, I've got the dreaded lurgy ... well, OK it's a head cold!  But its totally stolen my energy and my mojo!

These cards are made with another of my new Nellie Snellen stamps ... I've been more than good to myself in the crafty sales and have had a wee package almost every day this week of goodies!

First Card (coloured with promarkers)

• Sketch from Mojo Monday #222
• Sweet Stampin - spots and dots
• Card Crafters Circle #4 - make it colourful
• Fussy and Fancy #53 - Happy Birthday
• Simon Says ... New something (stash)
• The Pink Elephant TPE129 - anything goes

Second Card (coloured with pencils)

• Sketch from Sweet Sketch Wednesday #135
• Fab n Funky #102 - something new (my stamp and DP)
• Cute Card Thursday #198 - what's new
• Paper Sundaes #101 - something old (my flower punch and leaf die) something new (stamp and DP)

ETA I got Top 3 at Card Crafters Circle! 

New Goodies!

I didn't get any crafty goodies for Christmas (booo Santa!) so me and my flexible friend went shopping in the sales instead!  Ha!
So what nicer than coming home from my first day back at work to find a lovely wee package from Bunny Zoe Crafts sitting waiting on me.

This gorgeous wee fairy is a Nellie Snellen stamp and new DPs too from Marianne Design.  Coloured her with copic markers and added some bling and some Smooch Illuminate to her wings.  Paper Smooches sentiment. (BTW, the base is a dark green colour, though it looks black here!)

• Sketch from Sketch Saturday #188
• Simon Says Stamp - anything goes
• Charisma Cardz #50 - anything goes
• Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge #166 - anything goes
• Paper Sundaes #101 - something old (my gems and butterfly punch), something new (my stamp and DP)
• iCopic challenge #63 - smooth shiny hair
• Top Tip Tuesday #67 - anything goes

ETA: Winner @ Top Tip Tuesday ($10 Stamp Fairy digis)

SPARKS Kangaroo

Boo hoo, I can't believe my 2 weeks off work are up and I'm back to the grindstone tomorrow.  Feels like I've been off for ages, though I'm sure after 5 minutes at work it won't!

This card is inspired by the photo inspiration from the Paper Smooches SPARKS challenge.  I didn't have a master plan when I started, it just kinda made itself!

By the way, Hazel has some candy up for grabs at her Christmas challenge blog HERE (ends 6 Jan)

• Paper Smooches SPARKS challenge Dec 29 - Jan 11
• Creative Inspirations #143 - anything goes
• Simon Says Stamp - anything goes
• My Mum's Craft Shop #37- anything goes
• Do You Stack Up #52 - a rainbow of colours
• Stampavie and more #159 - hearts

Chris' Birthday Card

Happy New Year!  Hope you had a good one whatever you were doing!  We just had a quiet night in with the telly and a bottle of Bailey's, yum!

This card is for my BIL, just kept it nice and simple and used one of my High Hopes stamps, coloured with Promarkers.  The fish image is popped up on dimensionals and some sparkle added to the bubbles and to his eyebrows.

• Sketch from Skipping Stones #108
• Passion for Promarkers #129 - celebrations
• Creative Inspirations #143 - anything goes
• Simon Says Stamp ... anything goes
• Totally Gorjuss #112 - Happy