Sending you festive cheer

Good morning everyone

Still Christmas I'm afraid -

The papers are from a Docraft's Boofle paper pad from my Christmas stash which I matted and layered onto a card blank. To create the border I used an EK Success border punch. I then cut two Christmas trees using some green paper and a LaLa Land Christmas tree die.The image is from the Crafter's companion Barkley range and is called Friends and family. It has been coloured with the following Spectrum Noirs -

• Barkley - GG1, GG2, GG3, GG4 and GG5
• snowman - GG1, GG2, OR1, OR3, CT2 and DR4
• hats - DR2, DR4, DR6, BGR1 and BGR2
• Purrdy - EB1, GB1 and PP4
• Purrdy's hat - BGR1, BGR2, BGR4, BGR5, DR4CG2, CG3, DG4, TN4 and TN6
• trees - CG2, CG3, DG3 and DG4

I added glitter to the snow and the snowflakes. I then cut the image out using an oval nestie and inked whilkst still in the die with tumbled glass distress ink. I matted it onto a gold oval nestie. To finish I added some gold gems and a sentiment from Lili of the Valley's Christmas handwritten phrases.

Thanks for stopping by.

Lesley

Snowy and sparkly

Hello

Apologies again for the late post but I have been madly cleaning my house before I have to return to work on Monday. I can't believe I've had 5 weeks off - where did it go? And to add to the excitement I am starting a new job too. Still doing the same thing but at a different school. Very exciting!

Today's card uses Snowy hug Tilda. I have used this image before but I coloured it red as
 below -

This time I decided to colour it blue to see what it looked like and I liked the result so here it is -

This image has been coloured using the following Promarkers -

• skin - almond, putty, dusky pink and coral
• hair - chestnut and burnt sienna
• coat, hat and snowman's hat - pastel blue, arctic blue and sky blue
• trousers - ice grey1, ice grey3 and ice grey 5
• boots - cobalt blue and midnight blue
• snowman - icicle, pumpkin, orange, cool grey 4 and cool grey 5
• broom - cocoa, henna, mustard ans sandstone

I added some Stickles on the hats, broom and snow. I then cut the image out using Spellbinder's Grand decorative circles and inked whilst still in the die with tumbled glass distress ink. I then cut two more of the Grand decorative circles using Lili of the Valley Frosty Christmas paper pad and arranged onto the card as shown. I cut several snowflakes using Spellbinder's snowflake pendants and create a flake 4 and arranged them onto the card. To finish I added some blue gems and a sentiment from Lili of the Valley's Christmas handwritten phrases.

Thank you for stopping by.

Lesley 

Look what arrived

Hello

Two posts in one day! You lucky people! Look what the postman delivered today - 

Yeah my new stamps from Lili of the Valley. Here they are stamped out - 

Can't wait to get crafting with them.

I hope you were able to catch Dawny P on Create and Craft this lunchtime - so great to see them back on TV. If you missed the show Dawny will be back on at 4pm.

See you all tomorrow.

Lesley

Home for Christmas

Good morning folks

Sorry its back to Christmas today. I am still trying to get them done before next week but I am getting a little jaded now. To try and boost my creative juices I have ordered some of the new Lili of the Valley stamps which you can find here. I am hoping they will be here soon and I'll be able to show you my creations.

Today's card uses a new stamp called Barkley Home for Christmas and is from Crafter's companion.

It has been coloured with the following Spectrum Noirs - 

• wall - GB1, GB4 and GB7
• door - DR2, DR4 and DR6
• door handle - GB1, GB4 and GB5
• wreath - CG3, DG3 and DR4
• letterbox - GB1, GB4 and GB5
• cat - EB1 and DR2
• hat - DR4, DR6, DR7, GG1 and GG2
• Barkley - GG1, GG2, GG3, GG4 and GG5
• snow - BGR1

For added sparkle I added glitter to all the snowflakes and stickles to the snow and door. I cut out the image using Spellbinder's Romantic rectangle and inked whilst still in the die with tumbled glass distress ink. I matted and layered the image onto the largest of the romantic rectangles. The papers are from my Christmas stash but I think they are from a Boofle set from Docrafts (although I may be wrong). I cut the white piece of paper a lot narrower on one side and punched the edge using an EK success border punch. I then added some red snowflake ribbon from The Ribbon Girl and a Spellbinder's poinsettia cut from red and green card. I added a gold gem to the centre of the flower. To finish  I added a sentiment from Lili of the Valley's Happy circular sentiments which I cut out using a circle nestie and matted it onto a Spellbinder's scalloped circle cut from red card.

If you get a chance today check out Create and Craft to see Dawny P and the lovely Lili of the Valley stamps. The show times are 12pm and 4pm.

Thank you for stopping by.

Lesley 

Girly card

Good afternoon everyone.

Its a very late post today - so sorry - I am still recovering from the raid on my bank balance from shoe buying yesterday. Why are children's shoes so very expensive? I could have bought myself at least two pairs for the price of one pair of the children's shoes. On the plus side they did give me vouchers for 20% off adults shoes so every cloud and all that.

Anyway enough of the rant and onto a far nicer subject -  crafting.  Here is today's card - 

Over at the Ribbon girl blog which you can view here the Magnolia challenge is "girly cards" so this is my entry. The image is On the road Tilda which is another stamp which I bought before my holidays. I really need to stop spending but these stamp companies keep producing such must have stamps and I can always justify every crafting purchase. Ha Ha! It has been coloured with the following promarkers -

• skin - almond, putty, dusky pink and sunkissed pink
• hair - terracotta, chestnut and burnt umber
• dress, bow and shoes - cocktail pink, antique pink and carmine
• bike - soft green, grey green, ice grey 3 and ice grey 5
• flowers and basket - cocktail pink, antique pink, carmine, lush green and henna
• shadows - ice grey 1
• sky - pastel blue and arctic blue

I cut out the image using Spellbinder's Floral ovals and inked whilst still in the die with tumbled glass distress ink. The papers are First Edition Summer breeze and I matted and layered the background using 3 of the papers. I then cut 2 Memory Box Arboscello trees, a Memory box Fairytale flower border (which I then chopped up to make 3 pieces) and 2 LaLa Land heart fences from the same paper pad and arranged on the background as shown. I then used foam pads to attach the image to the card. I arranged some flowers from the Ribbon Girl (I think they are ivory carnations, ivory open roses and ivory sweetheart blossoms), which I inked using spun sugar distress ink, at the base of the die cut. To finish I added a sentiment from Lili of the Valley's Everyday grunge messages and some very small silver gems.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenge - 

www.ribbongirls.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/august-magnolia-only-challenge

Thank you for stopping by.

Lesley

More exam congratulations

Hello

I made today's card for my second son Liam who sat his GCSE french 2 years early this year and last Thursday we discovered he had got a grade C. We are again very proud parents.

The image is from a Kanban stamp set and has been coloured very simply using the following Spectrum Noirs - 

• TB1, TB2, TB6, BGR1, BGR3, BGR4, BGR5 and blender pen.

I cut the image out using an oval nestie and inked around the embossed edge of the die using TB6. To create the backing paper I used the small sentiments from the stamp set and randomly stamped them over Elegant satin paper using denim and stonewashed adirondack inks. To finish I added the sentiment to the car as a number plate.

Well I am off to buy three pairs of children's school shoes now - so will call by the bank to arrange a second mortgage!!!

See you tomorrow. Thank you for stopping by.

Lesley

Dare to create

Hello everyone

Happy bank holiday. A bright and early post today. I'm up early to try and get some of my Christmas cards completed before my family wake up. I was hoping to get them allone before I have to go work as I have done in previous years but I don't think it is going to happen. Never mind I have enjoyed the sunshine and my garden looks lovely so all is not lost.

I made today's card for my son's friend and have used sketch #61 courtesy of Dawny P from her blog www.pinkpiggywiggy.blogspot.co.uk - 

I made the card base from a piece of dark blue centura pearl card which I folded in half and cut to measure 6 inches by 7 inches. I then turned the card to landscape. The papers I have used are from Docrafts Chronology paper pad and plain blue cardstock which I embossed using Spellbinder's creative cogs embossing folder. I stamped the large corner from Sam Poole's Steam punk flowers stamp set using denim adirondak ink. I used Docrafts stamps for the large numbers and then stamped cogs from a free stamp set all over the numbers using tumbled glass distress ink. I then cut out the numbers and layered then onto a circle cut from the paper pad and a cog (Spellbinder's Spritely sprockets) cut from craft metal.

I used the flower stamps from Steam punk flowers stamp set to create the flowers which I stamped twice using denim adirondak ink, cut out and layered to make fuller flowers. To finish I added small cogs cut using craft metal and Spellbinder's Spritely sprockets dies. I arranged the flowers in one corner of the card. To finish I added a sentiment from the Steam punk flowers stamp set.

To add some interest to the inside of the card I stamped the smaller corner stamp from the Steam punk flowers set in the four corners of the inside of the card using denim adirondack ink.

That's all for today. Thanks for stopping by.

Lesley

Bugs life

Good afternoon everyone

I hope you are enjoying this lovely bank holiday Sunday. I am sorry for the late blog today but I have discovered Pride and Prejudice (the BBC series) on Drama so I have done my ironing and enjoyed the company of the wonderful Mr Darcy.

Anyway enough of all that, today's card is this one - 

As you can see it is a shaped easel card made using Spellbinder's grand ovals nesties and yellow centura pearl. I folded a piece of card stock in half and cut the nestie leaving part of the die off the card to create a spine and then I scored and folded one side of the card blank in half to create the easel. I cut another oval from the same centura pearl and added it to one half of the folded card blank. I then cut two smaller ovals in green coredinations and two of the next size down in yellow coredinations. I embossed the two yellow ovals using a dotty embossing folder and sanded back to reveal the core. I then matted and layer the ovals to the card base as shown.

The image is from the Joanna Sheen Happy Hoppers range and is called You did it. I stamped one of the main images from the set and also one of the smaller images for the stopper. I have coloured it with the following Promarkers - 

• rabbits - warm grey1, warm grey 3, warm grey 4, pastel pink, sandstone,cocoa, sunflower, gold, ice grey 3, ice grey 5 and black.
• wings - ivory and blush
• flower - pine, lush green, yellow and canary
• sky - pastel blue
• shadow - ice grey 1

The images have been cut out using Spellbinder's Floral ovals and have been inked whilst still in the die with antique linen distress ink. I then added the larger image to the easel part of the card base using foam pads and the smaller image was added to the centre of the base with foam pads to form the stopper. I then cut flowers from scraps of various yellow papers using Spellbinder's anemone flower toppers dies and the foliage from green paper using Spellbinder's Floral flousishes. To finish I added a bow made from Docraft's vintage notes lace and some flat back pearls.
I would like to enter this card into the following challenges - 

www.ilovepromarkers.blogspot.co.uk#183

www.asyoulikeitchallenge.blogspot.co.uk#9

The challenge at As you like blog is "favourite shape and why". I love to use ovals especially the Floral Ovals dies as I find them very versatile because you can change the orientation and they are more interesting than a rectangle.

Well that's all from me today - sorry about the long post. See you all tomorrow

Lesley

Variation on a theme

Good morning.

Hope you are enjoying the bank holiday weekend. Sorry we are back to Christmas again with today's card. It is a variation on a card I showed on 14th August.

It is made using a piece of white centura pearl which has been folded 3 times (I used my Ultimate Pro for this) and then cut at a diagonal along the top. I then embossed the whole card using a snowflake Embossalicios A4 folder. Last time I made this card I used snowflakes and silver mirriboard but this time I used Spellbinder's poinsettia die and some red cardstock.

I cut various sizes,  layered them together and added them to the top of the card. I then cut ivy using a Marianne Creatables die and holly using a Die'sire die from green coredinations. I then added them to the flowers. For a little added sparkle I glittered the flowers, ivy and holly. To finish I added a sentiment from my Christmas stash and gold gems to the centre of the flowers.

Thanks for stopping by.

Lesley

Time to relax

Hello

A break from Christmas today. Hooray I hear you say! Over at Lili's little Fairies Thursday challenge this weeks challenge is "It's all about the boys" and as always it is a challenge to make cards for men and boys. So I rose to the challenge and  here is my card for the challenge  

The image is from Lili of the Valley and is called Put your feet up (ST419). It has been coloured using Spectrum Noirs as follows - 

• chair and stool - GB8, GB9 and GB10
• skin - FS1, FS3 and FS5
• hat and socks - GB1 and GB4
• boots - EB6, EB7 and EB8
• shirt - GB6 and GB7
• mug - GB1 and GB11
• remote control - GB8 and GB11
• hair - TN7 and TN8
• carpet - GB1 and GB4

The papers are from Country gent paper pad and the sentiment is from mixed circular sentiments (set 9)  both from Lili of the Valley. I have used a EK success punch to make the border and have added some twine to finish.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenge - 

www.liliofthevalleythursdaychallenge.blogspot.co.uk

That's all for today. Thank you for stopping by.

Lesley

Sunshine

Good morning

Here is today's card -

The image is another Magnolia stamp (quite a few fell into my basket just before I went on holiday!) called Bikini Tilda and has been coloured with Spectrum noirs as follows - 

• skin - PP2, FS3, FS5 and FS6
• bikini - BT2, BT3, CR3 and CR5
• flowers and beads - BT2, BT3, BT4, CR3, CR5 and CR7
• hair - TN5, TN7 and TN9
• sand - GB5 and GB7
• sky - IB1

The papers are First Edition Summer breeze. I cut the image out using scissors and mounted it onto a Spellbinder's Marvellous square. The sentiment is from Lili of the Valley's set 39 Grungy messages which I mounted onto a tag from Spellbinder's Filigree delight. The ribbon and bobble trim are both from The Ribbon Girl. To finish I added a LaLa Land heart banner.

Thank you for stopping by.

Lesley

Holy light

Hello

Today's card uses a Lili of the Valley stamp called Holy Light (ST439) and is one of the new stamps I bought just before I went on holiday- 

The image has been coloured with Promarkers as follows - 

• skin - almond, putty and dussky pink
• hair - cinnamon, cocoa and burnt sienna
• dress - pastel blue and arctic blue
• sky - powder blue
• snow - icicle
• stars - metallic silver 
• head dress - pine and berry red
• wings - ivory
• candle - metallic silver, orange and gold

I have added Stickles to the stars, wings and snow. It has been cut out using Spellbinder's 5 x 7 elegant labels 4 and inked whilst still in the die using tumbled glass distress ink. The papers are from Lili of the Valley's Frosty Christmas paper pad. The border has been cut white centura pearl and embossed using Spellbinder's Holiday Magic M-bossibilities embossing folder. I have then added a piece of paper from the Frosty Christmas paper pad and some white lace called Elizabeth Cluny lace and blue velvet ribbon both from The Ribbon Girl. I cut a poinsettia flower using white centura pearl and a Spellbinder's die and two pieces of holly using white centura pearl and a Marianne Creatables die. I inked through the die using tumbled glass distress ink. To finished I added a blue gem to the centre of the flower.

Over at the Allsorts Challenge the challenge is to create something using something new so I would like to enter this card into that challenge as I have used the following new purchases - 

• Holy light stamp (from Lili of the Valley)
• Elizabeth Cluny lace (from The Ribbon Girl)
• a EK success punch

The challenge can be found at - 

www.allsortschallenge.blogspot.co.uk

Thank you for stopping by.

Lesley

Red

Good morning

Over at The Ribbon Girl blog the colour challenge is red so here is my entry to the challenge - 

The image is called Snowy hug Tilda and has been coloured with the following Promarkers - 

• skin - almond, putty, dusky pink and pastel pink
• hair - caramel, cocoa and burnt umber
• coat, hat and snowman's hat - red, poppy and crimson
• jeans - powder blue, denim blue and cobalt blue
• snow - ice grey 1
• snowman - icicle, cool grey 5, black, pumpkin, orange, henna, umber, sandstone and mustard

I cut the image out using Spellbinder's decorative label 8 and inked through the die with fired brick distress ink. I also added some Stickles to the coat, hats, broom and snow. the papers are from my Christmas stash. The border was made using a EK success punch and some ribbon from The Ribbon Girl (I think it is called red snowflake grosgrain). I cut some holly using green core'dinations and my new Die'sire dies (yes I know I keep saying no more Christmas stash but these were too irresistible). I added some flowers, beads, dew drops and a wooden heart button all of which are from The Ribbon Girl.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenge - 

www.ribbongirls.blogspot.co.uk - red

Thank you for stopping by today.

Lesley

Exam congratulations

Hello

This is the card I made for my son to tell him how proud we are of his exam results - 

The image is a House Mouse one from Joanna Sheen called Hopping Happy and has been coloured with Promarkers (sorry I haven't made a note of the colours). I then added the sentiment from You did it stamp set. It has been cut out using Spellbinder's label 11 and then mounted onto silver mirriboard cut using the next size die. The dotty background has been created using a dotty mask which I ran through my Grand Calibur and then inked all over using broken china distress ink. It was then layered onto silver mirriboard. I then added more broken china distress ink to the card blank and stamped randomly using a Clarity Stamp from the Alliums set and broken china distress ink. (I thought they looked a little like fireworks).

A close up of the coloured image.

To finished the card I added one of the little rabbits to the inside of the card again coloured with Promarkers, cut out using labels 11 and mounted onto silver mirriboard.

Thank for stopping by.

Lesley

Happy Anniversary

Hello blogland

Today is my sister-in-law's wedding anniversary and this is the card I made for her and her husband.

The image is from Lili of the Valley and is called Love birds (ST425) and has been coloured with the following Promarkers -

• pastel blue, pastel yellow, pastel green, pastel beige, pastel pink, sky blue, arctic blue, ruby and khaki.

I cut the image out using a heart X-cut die and cut a faux nestie from silver holographic card. I then cut a piece of white centura pearl card and embossed it with hearts M-bossibilities embossing folder and matted it onto silver holographic card. I then cut 2 Spellbinder's vines of passion from more silver holographic card and arranged onto the embossed card.

To finish I added some heart shaped gems.

Happy Anniversary David and Caroline.

Thanks for stopping by.

Lesley

Christmas wishes

Good morning everyone

Back to Christmas today.

The image is gorgeous and is from the new collection from Lili of the Valley. It is called Christmas prayer and has been coloured with Promarkers - 

• skin - almond, putty and dusky pink
• hair - mustrad, gold and sandstone
• hairband - pine, berry red and silver
• stars - silver
• dress - pastel blue and arctic blue
• wings - ivory

I cut out the image using Spellbinder's marvelous squares and mounted it onto silver mirriboard using the next size of die. The papers are from Frosty Christmas paper pad from Lili of the Valley. To make the border down the side I embossed a piece of white centura pearl with Spellbinder's Holiday magic M-bossibility folder. I then added a piece of paper from the paper pad and then added a piece of white cotton zig zag lace and blue velvet ribbon  both from The Ribbon Girl. I cut a poinsettia using white centura pearl and a Spellbinder's die and added a blue gem in the centre. To finish I added a Christmas sentiment.

I would like to enter this card into the follwing challenge - 

                                           www.ideastoinspire.blogspot.co.uk/challenge

Thank you for stopping by.


Lesley


 

Seashell Tilda

Hello everyone

We had an excellent day yesterday. My son got 3 grade Cs so he is off to college to study gaming art in September. I'm so proud of him.

Moving on to today's card. It is a bit more summery than those of late and uses a Magnolia stamp called Seashell Tilda and more of the First Edition Summer breezes paper pad. It should be chocolate and a teal blue but the colours haven't come out very well in the photo -

It has been coloured with the following Promarkers - 

• dress, bow and flipflops - mint green, soft green and grey green
• hair - caramel, chestnut and terracotta
• skin - satin, blush, sunkissed pink and pastel pink
• bucket - salmon pink, dusky rose and antique pink
• shells - pastel pink and coral
• sand - gold and sandstone
• sky - powder blue

I cut out the image using the oval die from Spellbinder's Filigree delight and inked whilst still in the die using tumbled glass distress ink. I mounted the image onto Spellbinder's Filigree delight and added pearls to the die cut. I also added some faux stitching with a brown micron pen to the oval and the base die cut. I used an EK Success border punch to make the border and matted the whole thing onto a scalloped card blank.

Thanks for stopping by.

Lesley

A bit more Christmas

Good morning everyone

It's a big day today in our house - A level results day. I'm taking my eldest to collect his at 11 this morning (obviously not even something as important as results day can affect his holiday routine) so I have everything crossed.

We are back on a Christmas theme today as I am trying to get the bulk of my Christmas crafting done before I have to go back to work in September.

The image is from the new Lili of the Valley Christmas relesae and is called Polar pairs (ST437). Aren't they cute? I do love polar bears and penguins at Christmas time. There are so many possibilities to use them differently each time so no two cards look the same. The image has been coloured with the following Promarkers - 

• hat and scarf - capri blue and rock pool
• nose and paws - reef blue
• log - cinnamon, burnt sienna and walnut
• robin - umber, walnut and ruby
• polar bears - ice grey 1
• snow - icicle

The layout I have used is from the new challenge at Passion for Promarkers - week 211. The papers are from Frosty Christmas paper pad from Lili of the Valley. The panel down the side is a piece of white centura pearl which I embossed using Spellbinder's Holiday magic M-bossabilities embossing folder. I added two Memory box snowflake corners and then added my image (which I matted onto some silver mirriboard) using foam pads for dimension. The sentiment is from Lili of the Valley Happy circular sentiments (set8) which I have cut out using a circle nestie and matted onto a Spellbinder's snowflake die. To finish I added a snowflake, a blue gem (from The Ribbon Girl) and some glitter - well it is Christmas after all.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenge - 

www.promarkerchallenge.blogspot.co.uk - week 211 sketch

I will be back tomorrow with some good news on the results front (fingers crossed) and a card of course.

Thanks for stopping by.

Lesley

Wishing you joy

Hello
Back to Christmas today I'm afraid. This card is one of my batch cards for the big day.

It is a tri-fold card made using my Ultimate pro and a piece of A4 white centura pearl card stock and cutting  a diagonal piece from the long end of the card. I have cut lots of snowflakes from silver mirriboard using Spellbinder's Create a flake 4 and 2012 snowflake pendant. to finish I added gems to the centre of each snowflake and a sentiment which I found in my Christmas stash.

Thanks for stopping by.

Lesley

Tilda on the beach

Good Morning 

A summery card today (don't want to overdo Christmas just yet) - 

The image is Tilda on the beach and has been coloured with the following Promarkers - 

• bikini and hat - salmon pink, dusky rose and antique pink
• hair - cocoa, henna and burnt umber
• skin - pastel pink, dusky rose and coral
• sand - gold
• sea - duck egg and turquoise
• sky - pastel blue

I cut out the image using a Spellbinder's rectangle nestie and inked whilst still in the die with tumbled glass distress ink. Then I matted the image onto a Spellbinder's scalloped rectangle. The papers are from First Edition Summer breeze paper pad and I have cut squares of different papers which I then matted onto contrast papers. I made a border from another paper and  punched it with an EK success border punch. I faux stitched around the image, border and the squares. The sentiment is from Lili of the Valley set 39 Grungy messages and I have added a LaLa Land heart banner. The hearts are the fall out from the banner.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenge - 

www.allsortschallenge.blogspot.co.uk - stitching

Thanks for stopping by.

Lesley

Clean and simple

Hello everyone.
Well I'm back from a lovely break in rural Suffolk - it was bliss, peace and quiet and no internet, cable TV or games consoles. I loved it but my children struggled a little. We played a lot of card games and jenga!

Now I'm back its card time. Over at the passion for promarkers website the challenge is "clean and simple". This was definitely a challenge for me as I'm not comfortable with large white spaces. This is my attempt (and also uses some of my Christmas purchases) - 

The image is Igloo for two (ST104) from Lili of the Valley and has been coloured with the following Promarkers -

• penguins - ice grey 1, 4, 5, black, sunflower and gold
• presents - pastel blue, arctic blue, sky blue, true blue and azure
• sledge - tan, caramel and cinnamon
• snow and igloo - icicle

The sentiment is from a Docrafts set and I have mounted the image onto silver mirriboard and then onto a paper from Frosty Christmas paper pad from Lili of the Valley. Very simple and quite quick to do and I actually quite like it and have decided to batch make some for Christmas.
I woiuld like to enter this into the following challenge - 

www.promarkerchallenge.blogspot.co.uk - week 209

Thanks for stopping by.

Lesley