Ooh La La!

Good afternoon happy bloggers and I hope you are enjoying the weather as much as I am.  In North London it was quite dull this morning but the sun is blazing now and it has gotten hot again - not warm but hot!!

You will likely know how over the moon I was to get my new Simply Sassy rubber stamps ttrhu my letter box the other day.  They have been inked and waiting to be coloured in so here is Ooh La La!  I just adore them all and want to get all the older ones too now!!



I coloured her using my PMs (hoping to get some colouring pencils to see how I get on with them but need advice on which ones to get you lovely ladies out there pls), mounted her onto pearlised blue paper that I embossed using a fab funky folder from Papermania, then mounted that onto a Nellie Snellen Oval Die embossed with the same folder.  The red backing paper is from The Works (a massive pack of handmade that I got ages ago for 99p) and the blue dotty is from my stash.

You can see that on top of her stamped rose I actually added a small red rose that was left over from my son's wedding stationary last year (knew they would come in handy at some time!!) and I think it looks fabulous!

The side-on view below shows the depth of that stunning blue spotty ribbon and the ruby red rose.

I am entering this one into the following challenges~

I Love Promarkers Anything Goes;

Tip Top Tuesday Open;

Ribbon Girl Red, White & Blue;

Simon Says Emboss It;

Sunday Sketch & Stamp and

Incy Wincy Designs Bright & Bold.

Ingredients:~

Ooh La La rubber stamp from Funky Kits;

PMs ~ Ivory, Blush, Dusky Pink, Pastel Pink, Caramel, Cinnamon, Sandstone, Pastel Blue, China Blue, Poppy, Ruby, Moss, Cool Grey 1 & 4;

Papers, ribbon & sentiment from stash;

Nellie Snellen Oval Die & Papermania Embossing folder used.

Luv A Latte

Don't you just adore these fabulous stsamps from Funky Kits?  I have fallen in love with them all!  Oooops my purse will be empty very soon again!!

This card is for the following challenges ~

I Love Promarkers Paper Piecing Challenge;

FabNFunky Make your own Embellishments;

Passion for Promarkers Coffee & Cream and

Sarah Hurley's Food & Drink Challenge.

I paper-pieced her fabulous t-shirt onto cream pearlised paper and am very pleased at how it came out - I know its not that obvious from the pics but I promise it is pp'd! I made my flower using brown and cream pearlised paper put thru my Bigshot with a scalloped circles Nestie, then scrunched them all up, unfolded them and added a small cream button at the centre.  The sentiment is from Rainbow Earth and I just love it as it is so true!  I also distressed the edges of the papers - one of my fav looks at the mo!

Ingredients:~

Rubber stamp 'Luv A Latte' form Simply Sassy range at Sugar Nellie coloured with PMs~

Cool Grey 1, 2 & 3; Ivory, Satin, Blush, Pastel Pink, Sandstone, Caramel, Cinnamon, Henna, Duck Egg Blue and China Blue;

all papers from my stash cut using XCut punch;

Ribbon from stash;

Sentiment is a freebie from Rainbow Earth - (sorry on lappie at the mo so don't have the link).

Ella with Flowers

I am getting really upset because I am not able to craft as much as I want to with my bad neck - and yes I am STILL waiting to hear when my op will be despite chasing them up twice already!! (can you guess I am not good at waiting for things to happen?) - but I have come up with htis card for several challenges ~

Using the ever so cute Ella with Flowers from Digistamp Boutique I coloured her with my Promarkers and cut out the shape using a Nellie Snellen die inking the edges with a PM.  Following Sketch Saturday's sketch, the DPs are from Funky Hand's Very Funky Blue for Boys range and darak brown pearlised paper from my stash.  The flowers I made using a Marianne Die Cut with the same papers and added a pearl gem to the centres.  The sentiment is computer generated - easy to do when you have access to a printer etc.

I am entering this into the following challenges ~

Digistamp Boutique February Competition;

Totally Papercrafts 'Friendship' challenge;

Sarah Hurley No 27 'Die Cuts';

Fab'n'Funky's 'Chocolate & Brown';

Sketch Saturday's current challenge and

I Love Promarkers 'Anything Goes'.

Ingredients:~

Digi image Ella with Flowers from Digistamp Boutique coloured with Promarkers ~ Ivory, Blush, Caramel, Sandstone, China Blue, Cornflower, Marsh Green, Apple & Satin;

Papers from Funky Hand's Blue for Boys range on Very Funky CD;

Pearlised dark brown paper and white card from stash;

Gems from stash.



Another card using a Cardmadfairy Digi image

Many of you will have seen 'All Dressed Up' before on my blog but this time she is in purple!  I do hope you have all  been along to Jenni's New Challenge Blog to become a follower and be in with the chance of a fabulous prize (see previous posting)

I am entering this card into the following challenges:~

I Love Promarkers Lavender & Lace and

Fab'n'Funky's Delight in Your Digi.

Ingredients:~

Image is All Dressed Up from Cardmadfairy Creations coloured with Promarkers~

Ivory, Blush, Shale, Amethyst, Lavender & Cool Grey 1;

Papers & card are from Papermill Shop;

Brown card embossed using Papermania Swiss Dots Folder;

Lace edging made using XCut punch;

Doily and Sentiment stamp I got as a Bday pressie from my buddy Mandy;

Gems are from my stash;

Lace along the top is the off-cut of the lace part along the bottom (thought it looked too good to toss out!).

Cards using Cardmadfairy Digi images

I would like to share with you 2 cards I have made as part of Jenni's Design Team for her new Challenge Blog over at Cardmadfairy Do It with Digis which is coming along on Friday 4th February (see post below for more details and link).

The pink one I am entering into the following challenges:~
Fab'n'Funky Anything Goes and I Love Promarkers Recycled.

Ingredients:~

Image Digi from Cardmadfairy Creations Stylised Flower 2 coloured with PMs~

Moss, Pear Green, Marsh Green, Pastel Pink, Rose Pink & Burgundy - image outlined in Satin;

Papers from Papermania Hampstead Collection; Core'dinations Whitewash Collection and from my stash;

Ribbon is recycled from PJs;

Gems from Hampstead Collection and wooden butterfly from collection bought from Button Shop in Keith, Banffshire, Scotland on a recent visit.

This second blue and green card is again using one of Jenni's stunning floral digis.

I am entering this one into Bearly Mine's new challenge after following their sketch for this week and using one of Donna's fabulous Freebie Design Papers..

Ingredients:~
Image from Cardmadfairy Creations coloureed with PMs:~
Marsh Green, Pear Green, Moss, French Navy, China Blue & Duck Egg - outlined in Satin again.
Paper from Bearly Mine Freebies Range - inked around the edges with Whispers Archival Ink in Savoy Green & Pine Green;
Ribbon from my stash as are other backing papers used for matting and layering.

Crafty Cardmakers DT card

Using Hamish in Kilt from the Sugar Nellie range at FunkyKits I made this extra-special Christmas card for my brother who lives in the Netherlands.  I wanted something with a Scottish Twist and this is perfect.  I followed The Sugar Bowl's sketch and dry embossed with a Sizzix snowflake folder the red card (not easy to see in pic but promise it is there), mounted that onto matt gold mirri board, coloured the image with Promarkers, matted and layered onto green and matt gold mirri, and cut the sentiment using my Ultimate Pro on white linen card and added a bow.  I then added a green border cut using an XCut  border edge and added a Happy Christmas ribbon.

As well as being my DT card for Crafty Cardmakers Spotlight Dry Embossing Challenge this week, I am also entering it into the following challenges~

I Love Promarkers Snowflakes;

The Sugar Bowl Challenge 47 and

Charisma Cardz With Love at Christmas.

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Ingredients:~
Hamish in Kilt from Sugar Nellie Home Grown range at Funkykits coloures with PMs~

Ivory, Dusky Pink, Blush, Caramel, Sandstone, Ruby, Apple, Meadow Green & Forest Green;

All card used from Papermill Shop;

Ribbon from Papermania.

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Autumn

Hello all,
Before I tell you about this card I have to tell you about our day out in London for my Birthday! Graham let me choose where to eat (opted for Chiquito's in Leicester Square which I adore) and then we went to see Shirley Valentine - the one woman show starring the fabulous Meera Syal (gran from The Kumars).  It is fabulous and very heart-tugging at times yet hilarious at other times.  She really pulled the audience in to the play as it was in the very intimate Trafalgar Studios on Whitehall.  If you get the chance to see it before it ends please do go or if you have already seen it I would love to know what you thought of it.

Anyways....onto todays' card.  Using the fabulous freebie image from the talented Inger Harding, I coloured her with Promarkers and matted and layered her onto pearlised brown and DP from Papermania's Hampstead range - I adore them just now - using a sentiment freebie from Rainbow Echo Designs which matches the image and DPs perfectly I think, I then added ribbons from my stash.  I distressed all the edges using a new (to me) technique - my tiny sewing scissors - and I much prefer the outcome of that than using my distressing tool that I recently purchased in The Range. I inked the edges too with Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Tattered Rose.

This one is going into the following challenges:~
I Love Promarkers Autumn;
Charisma Cardz Vintage;
Moving Along With The Times Anything Goes (who are lucky enough to have Letraset as their sponsors this week!) and
Sentimental Sundays Distressing.

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Ingredients:~
Freebie image from Inger Harding coloured with Promarkers-
Skin - Ivory & Blush;
Coat - Caramel, Cinnamon & Sandstone;
Hair - Sandstone & Caramel;
Gloves - Spice;
Letter - Pear Green & Marsh Green;
Papers from Papermania Hampstead Range and pearlised from Papermill Shop;
ribbons from stash;
Sentiment freebie from Rainbow Echo Designs.

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Purple Christmas

Over at Passion for Promarkers and also at Sarah Hurley, they are looking for Christmas cards this week - the former purple/pink and the latter no red/green.  Easy for me as I do love Christmas cards that are modern yet still traditional therefore this is what I have made this year for my daughter's general Christmas cards.

Using the fabulous freebie stamp from Craft Stamper magazine I stamped onto Rymans smooth card then coloured with Promarkers. I then added mirri board and no sentiment as there is an insert and she wanted them very simple.  Think I have achieved this here.  I also made some in pink and also blue so she has an assortment to choose from.

The close up below shows how I shaded the image with 3 different colours of PMs ~ Maroon, Lilac & Lavender, and the texture on the backing paper which is from The Papermill Shop.

I hope you all have a fab weekend whatever you are doing ~ Graham is treating me to a day in London tomorrow and then we are going to the theatre in the evening - dunno what to see as it is a birthday surprise for me!! Will let you know on Sun/Mon. X

Lily & Flowers

Look at this fabulous prize Fairymoon Crafts are offering for Challenge 31. It s a fab selection of 'Shop Til You Drop' goodies and all you have to do is visit the site and follow the sketch...............you have until 5pm on Sunday 17th Oct to get your entry in girls (and guys!)......

................this is my first DT card for the fabulous Fairymoon Crafts. Please come and play along - simple this week with a sketch to follow so get your thinking caps on and be creative. Using the beautiful Lily & Flowers from DigiStamp Boutique which I won recently, I have coloured her with my PMs, used backing papers and pearlised cream and brown paper, added faux stitching, a handmade sentiment and a big dotty bow recycled from a pair of jim-jams bought by my daughter.

I am entering this into the following challenges also:~

Passion for Promarkers Recycled;

I Love Promarkers Think Pink and

Fab'n'Funky Use a Digi Image.

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Ingredients:~

Lily & Flowers digi image from Digistamp Boutique coloured with Promarkers ~

Skin: Ivory, Blush & Pastel Pink;

Hair: Cinnamon, Caramel, Sandstone & Satin;

Dress: Blossom & Rose Pink;
Flowers: Rose Pink & Maroon;

Image edged in Cool Grey 1;

Pink papers from Basics Vibrant PP from Papermania;

Brown & Ivory pearlised papers from Papermill;

Sentiment made using cheapy stamp letters from The Range and

Ribbon recycled wrapping from pair of pyjamas from large national store.

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Chloe by Jenni

Well folks, I have caught the cold that so many people seem to have at the moment down here and I feel like s**t. I recently bought this beautiful digi image from Jenni at Cardmadfairy Creations along with another two which you will be able to see very soon. I think she is adorable in her bonny party frock (as we Scots say) looking bashful (or is that a guilty look I spy?). No matter, she is a wee honey! I coloured her with my PMs and mounted her on to black linen paper after inking the edges. Using 2 backing papers from Pink Petticoat Lola's Boudoir Range in black & white, I matted and layered again after inking; the dotty embossed paper is white linen paper put thru my BS with Papermania embossing folder; flowers are made using PP paper again and Marianne's Dies; the swirls are actually from a Sissix photo corner set I found in the sale bin at a nearby craft shop and the sentiment and pearls are both from my stash.

Those glorious folds in her dress really make me wanna dance right now but feeling so ill I can hardly keep my wee eyes open.

This card is going into the following challenges:~

Passion for Promarkers No 71 Vintage/Shabby Chic;

Double Dutch Sketch No 53;

Alphabet 'Vintage' Challenge;

I Love Promarkers Pearls & Swirls; and

FabnFunky Black & White with a Twist.

Ingredients:~

Image 'Chloe' from Jenni coloured with PMs ~

Skin - Satin, Blush & Ivory,

Hair - Primrose 7 Sandstone,

Dress - Pastel Blue, Cornflower, China Blue & Duck Egg;

Marianne's Floral Dies and Sissix Photo Corners;

Papers from Pink Petticoat & Papermill Shop;

Sparkles on dress from Glitzit.

Thanks you very much for commenting and please forgive me if I do not visit you over the next few days but I think I will need a couple of days in bed (and a hot toddy or two perhaps!).

Take care all and happy crafting :)X

Myth & Magic

This is my second card for tonight - a totally new style for me - Myth & Magic - for I Love Promarkers current Challenge. I stamped swirls onto pink & green papers that I got free with some mag months ago then inked the edges with Whispers inks. I did the same with the image which is from My Craft Studio - didn't realise there was so many images on the CD I recently bought so must find the time to browse for more. Ingredients:~
Image from My Craft Studio coloured with Promarkers~
Skin ~ Satin, Pastel Pink, Blush & Ivory;
Dress ~ Apple & Meadaow Green;
Hair ~ Sandstone, Caramel & Ivory;
Wings ~ Blossom
& Ivory;
Sentiment made on PC using Ales & Wenches font.

Charming!

Hi all, Hope you are all having a fab long weekend! The weather isn't very promising where I am but fingers crossed it stays dry for you wherever you are. This card is for 3 challenges:~
I Love Promarkers 'Charming'; The Sugar Bowl and Sarah Hurley Monochrome No 6. I hand sewed the tiny pearl sequins onto the black ribbon - boy did I need my new specs? Yea I certainly did!

Ingredients:~
'Poise' image from Sugar Nellie range coloured with Promarkers ~
Skin - Blush & Ivory;
Hair - Cool Grey 5, 4, 3, & 2;
Dress - Cool Grey 3 & 2, & Black Fineliner;
Flowers - Blossom.
Papers from Pink Petticoat, backing papers from stash;
Ribbon and pearl sequins from stash;
Charm from Papermania.

Winner at I Love Promarkers!

Hi guys,

Just a very quick post to let you know that I have won $15 to spend at Simon Says Stamps - I have already been and shopped and opted for 2 Whiff Of Joy stamps that I love!! Got me a blinkie too!!

May be back later - if not have a fab bank hol weekend!

Vintage Summer

Hi all, Well I am plased to say the rain has not gotten here yet! The clouds are looking very ominous so think I better go find my two wee boys - Sooty and Sweep - they are loving this nice weather and are out playing in the garden from morning til night! Only pop into the house every so often to make sure we are still around (and for a cuddle from Mammy of course). I got a bit lost with this card as it is supposed to be vintage, seaside and summerfun!! Yikes!! The only vintage thing is my brain today! But I will enter it into the challnge anyway - at least the sentiment looks vintage!
It is for the following challenges:~
I Love Promarkers Challenge 28 - The Seaside; Polka Doodles Challenge 33 - Vintage and Totally Papercrafts Challenge 30 - Summer Fun.

Ingredients:~
Image freebie from somewhere coloured with my fav PMs ~
Blush, Ivory & Satin for skin and sunbed;
Caramel & Sandstone for sand;
Butercup, Mustard, Meadow Green, Apple, Lavendar, Slate, Dusky Rose & Blossom for parasol;
Matted and layered onto handmade pink paper;
Backing papers from stash inked around the edges with Tattered Rose Distress Ink from Tim Holtz and distressed using my Xcut tool;
Sentiment was won in a competition;
Ribbon from stash.

Forgetful old me!

Silly old me had completely forgotten where I got this image from - have had it printed out for ages but cannot find it in my pc files now! I think she is so mysterious looking isn't she?

The card is for 2 challenges:~

Moving Along With The Times No 56 and I love Promarkers No 24 - Buttons.

Ingredients:~

Image from Unknown (or not remembered!!) Source coloured with Promarkers~

Caramel & Sandsone for her hair;

Dusky Pink & Pastel Pink for her frock;

Satin, Vanilla & Ivory for her skin and the remainder;

Button, flowers s & ribbon from stash;

Papers from stash (think they were freebies).

Neck Update and In the Doghouse!

For those of you who follow my neck problem - I had an appointment with Lewis Thorne, Neurosurgeon at the Royal Free in Hampstead, North London yesterday. After going thru all my options it has been decided that I will have one further steroid injection in my neck and if that does not help ease th ediscomfort then he has offered to take the discs out and insert wedges so that the remaining discs can fuse together. This op would be a major one as he would go in from the front, move my windpipe and oesphagus to get at my spine and shave off the extra bits that have grown onto my vertebrae that are causing the problem. Separating the bones would then free up the nerves and therefore should get rid of the pain but, like all ops, there is no guarantee! SO now I am in a further quandary as to what to do. I have a few weeks to consider the future but am very undecided what to do - do I risk the op or do I leave things as they are and let my neck degenerate further (nobody know how much worse this can get but the worry is that the bones are now pressing into the spinal cord). If you have any experience of this or know someone who has had this problem I would be very grateful for any advice - good or bad!

Onto my card now - this is for Passion For Promarkers 'Animals' Challenge and I Love Promarkers Sketch and Dogs Challenge.

Ingredients:~

Papers from My Craft Studio;

Image of bulldog from MCS coloured using Promarkers ~

Cornflower, Apple, Dusky Rose, Sandstone, Cinnamon, Shale, Caramel & Satin.

Brads from stash.

Not much else to say about it - it is pretty clear how it was made. Must see if I can get a nesties that does circles now! I am useless at cutting them!

Maggie with Flowers

I have been very lazy the last few days as my neck is really playing up at the mo and hurts like h*ll. Even the short time it will take me to post this will be enough for me for today! I am not going to say too much about this card except that I thoroughly enjoyed tearing the papers distressing them!

It is being entered into the following challenges:~ Pollycraft No 51, Crafty Catz Challenge No 39 and I Love Promarkers - Distressing.

Ingredients:~

Image is Maggie with Flowers from Sugar Nellie Home Range coloured with PMs~

Satin, Pastel Pink, Ivory & Blush for skin;

Poppy & Cool Grey 4 for shoes and flowers;

Caramel & Sandstone for hair and

Pastel Blue & Cornflower for her dress. I wrapped it all up in Cool Grey 1.

Papers are freebie for magazine;

Ribbons from stash;

Whispers Savoy Green Ink used for distressing.

Curtis freebie

Isn't Curtis fabulous - he is one cool dude! He is a freebie from the fabulous SJ Musings.

I coloured him with PMs and inked the edges of the white card; made the diagonally striped card myself with my PMs and stamped the sentiment with a set of 99p stamps I bought from The Range. You may also notice that I have discovered how to use a watermark on my images with our Adobe Photoshop - took me ages to get it right but think I have cracked it now!

Ingredients:~

Image 'Curtis' freebie from SJ Musings coloured with Promarkers~

Satin & Blush for skin;

Buttercup & Sandstone for his hair;

Slate for his sunglasses & shoes;

Cornflower & China Blue for his shorts with a Poppy stripe;

and Meadow Green & Apple for his shirt.

I am entering this into the following challenges:~

Mamidoodles ~ Blue, White and Green with hint of Red;

Polka Doodles ~ Something for a Boy;

Crafty Cardmakers ~ Inky Fingers;

I Love Promarkers ~ Stripes;

and Inspirational Card Sketches ~ Sketch No 72.

Chat away!

She is back - the old Granny like image I mean - not me! I just adore her. I borrowed a tut from the fab Jenny to let her 'come out of the box' but think I have cut in the wrong place so will need to try again! Thanks so much Jenny! Using I Love Promarkers Sketch 20, I coloured my image with PMs and used papers from my stash. I also used my crimper for the layered white card. Flowers were from a very cheap shop - I took them apaprt and coloured them with my PMs.

Ingredients:~
Paper from Stash;

Image from Bugaboo;

Promarkers used~

Cornflower & China Blue for Dressing Gown;

Sanstone & Caramel for the wee bit hair you can see on her rollers;

Ivory & Blush for skin.

I Love Promarkers

Hello again all you followers out there.........another one for today! Again using MCS for backing paper and image - ain't he just adorable. He comes on the Cd already coloured or a simple outline - think the coloured would do for a very very quick card but that's not for me as I have already said. Since discovering PMs I cannot stop using them!! Never mind I have found a cheap supplier....ask if you need to know.

I coloured the wee bear for I Love Promarkers Challenge No 19 'Bear' Theme, and then faux stitched blue running stitch around the square.

Colours used:~

Shale,Carameel & Cinnamon for body etc;

China Blue Pastel Blue &Cornflower for his wee jeans and cap;

Poppy for his little toy (do you think its a DS or something else?); and wrapped them all up in Cool Grey 1.