Crafty Place ATC Swap

The theme of this months ATC swap over on the Crafty Place was "Feathers". My swap partner was the lovely Debbie (aka Padster) who's gorgeous makes I've already blogged. Here's the ATC and card I sent in return.

The background has been created with distress inks. The bird has been stamped directly onto the ATC. I've then masked the bird and stamped and heat embossed the cow parsley heads. The bird has then been painted with distress inks and the wing tips given a brushing of Perfect Pearls.

This card uses the free stamp that came with this months Craft Stamper magazine. I've stamped it onto white card using Vintage Sepia Versamark Ink. The flower has then been coloured with Spiced Marmalade distress ink and then triple embossed to give it a glass effect. The centre of the flower has been filled with Glossy Accents and micro glass beads. The flower has been mounted onto a black/gold metallic paper.

Tools
Heat Gun

Materials
Brown Card - The Papermill
Black/Gold Metallic Paper - The Papermill
Beige Linen Paper - The Papermill
Heat It Up Embossing Powders - Gold and Clear
Distress Inks - Forrest Moss, Spiced Marmalade, Walnut Stain, Tea Dye and Scattered Straw
Tim Holtz Flights of Fancy Stamps

I'd like to enter the ATC into the following challenges:
Alphabet Challenge - N is for Nature
Rosie D's - All creatures great & small
PaperPlay - Anything goes
Creative Inspirations - Animals
Kah Wink E Dink - Anything goes as long as it's cool
The Stampman - Anything goes
Stamping with the Dragon - Distressing
Stamp n Doodle - Anything goes
Crafty Cardmakers - Oldest, latest & greatest

It's Out of This World!

It's my friend's sons 8th birthday at the weekend and this is the card I've made for him.

The alien is a digi stamp and the stars and spaceship have been stamped using Memento ink. The images have been coloured with Promarkers and accented with Glossy Accents. The card candy has been coloured with Promarkers. The alien, stars and spaceship have been mounted using silicone glue to give a bit of dimension. The sentiments have been generated on the computer using this font and then printed onto Safamat which I've burnished onto mirri board.

Tools
Martha Stewart
Purple Cows Guillotine


Materials
Black card - The Papermill
Silver Mirri Board - Anita's cards
DP's - Prima - Hello Spaceboy
Spaceship and Star Stamps - borrowed from a friend
Alien digi stamp - freebie from here
Card Candy - Craftwork Cards
Glossy Accents
Letraset  Safamat
Promarkers

I'd like to enter this into the following challenges:
Donna's Den of Crafts  - Green
Ali.B's MSE Challenge - out of this world!
Passion for Promarkers - Green
Totally Sampalicious - Birthdays
Our Creative Corner - Green, Red, White & Black (the dp has all those colours on).
Allsorts Challenge Blog - Baby or Child
Craftalicious - Birthdays
C.R.A.F.T - Out of this world!
Crafty Cardmakers - Easel Card
Creative Inspirations - Anything goes
Digi Doodle Shop's Best - Anything goes
Pear Tree Designs - Birthdays

Another Sweet Pea Stamp - Thousand Years Waiting

I'm struggling to resist playing with these gorgeous Sweet Pea stamps, the only trouble is I'm supposed to be making men's cards!! I really like this card, despite the mistake I've made - there's been a substantial rescue job with the image which I hope isn't glaringly obvious!

The image has been coloured with Promarkers and the background created with Distress Inks. The mermaid has been highlighted with Stickles. The flowers have been coloured with Promarkers and given a spritz of Glimmer Mist.

Tools
Tim Holtz Blender
Nellie Snellen Embossing Flower Punches
X-Cut Border Punch

Materials
Cardbase - Craftwork Cards
Black card - from stash
DP's - Lawrence Llewellyn Bowen
Hatpins - made from items in stash
Glimmer Mist - Diamond
Tim Holtz Distress Ink - Victorian Velvet, Broken China
Promarkers
Pearls - from stash
Stickles - Crystal Ice

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:
Sweet Pea Stampers - Anything goes
Cowgirls Sunday Challenge - Anything goes
Create4fun - Flowers
Creative Inspirations - Anything goes
Think Ink - Create your own background (the background to the image has been created using distress inks & a mask)
Gingersnap Creations - Markers

July Crafty Place ATC Swap

This months theme for the ATC swap over at The Crafty Place is feathers and my swap partner was the lovely Debbie (aka Padster)

This is the gorgeous ATC and beautiful card that she sent me. The bear on the card makes me chuckle each time I look at him! Thank you Debbie.

It's that birdcage again!!

I'm loving this die and have lots of plans for it in the future. It was definately money well spent! I've made this card for another forum friend's birthday, I hope she's had a great day!

I've used Core-dinations Whitewash cardstock and run it through my Bigshot. It's then been sanded and the edges distressed. The birdcage has been embossed and I've rubbed some of the powder off before heat setting it. I've made flowers using my 3D flower die and have then given them the stickles treatment. The ferns have been die-cut using my new Little Claire's die.

Tools
Bigshot
Sizzix Tim Holtz Birdcage Die
Sizzix 3D Flower Die
Little Claire's - Fern Die
Sizzix Texturz Swirly Vine
Tim Holtz Blender
Heat Gun
Fiskars Tag Punch

Materials
Cardbase - Craftwork Cards
Whitewash Cardstock - Core-dinations
Metallic Paper - The Papermill
Embossing Powder - Heat it up
Pearls - from stash
String - from stash
Stickles - Diamond
Sentiment - computer generated

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:
Rosie D's Challenge - All creatures great and small
Cowgirl Up Sunday Challenge - Anything goes
The Crafty Pad - Vintage theme
Creative Inspirations - Anything goes
The Pink Elephant - Brown
Create4fun - Flowers
Mami Doodles - Anything goes

Butterfly Bling

I made this card for another of my fellow forum buddies on MSE. Happy Birthday Gemma I hope you've had a fab day.

The butterfly was cut using Marianne Creatables. I've then glittered it up with some dimensional glitter glue. The Co-ordinations paper has been embossed and distressed, I've then rubbed it over lightly with Papersoft to give it a subtle sheen.

Unregrettable Pirates Life

My new Sweetpea stamps arrived the other day and I couldn't wait to start inking them up.Unfortunately, I had to be selective as to which ones I used, as I ran out of mounting foam! In the end I choose this stamp because it's DD's birthday in a few days and I think she will love this image and the papers I've chosen. My one regret is making it into an easel card - I think it would've been better as an ordinary card.

I was really worried about colouring these stamps and think in hindsight that I should've chosen one of the less detailed ones to colour! But hey, it wouldn't be me if I wasn't trying to run before I could walk!! LOL. The image I've used on this card is my fourth (yes you're reading right) attempt - the others all ended up in the bin as they were totally unsalvageable. I struggled with the hair and the background on this stamp, but was determined to produce something half decent, so carried on. I'm just glad the kids were at school otherwise I think they may have expanded their vocabulary somewhat! Anyway, here it is.

I stamped image onto cardstock and then created a mask. Once the mask was securely in place I created the background using distress inks. I sponged the sun and palm tree and then blended over the top - in future I will just colour the tree with Promarkers. I then removed the mask and coloured the image using Promarkers.

My picture really doesn't show it, but, stickles have been added to her belt and earrings, and her eyes have been accented with Glossy Accents.

The roses have been made using the Sizzix 3D flowers die, I've then distressed the die cut and covered it in stickles. The hatpins were handmade and the skull embellishment has been made from shrink plastic.

Tools
Sizzix Bigshot
Sizzix 3D Flower Die
Sizzix Pirate Set
Tim Holtz Blender
Cosmetic Sponge

Materials
DP's - Pirate Princess, Rusty Pickle
Core-dinations - Black Magic
Pink Shimmer Card - from stash
Tim Holtz Distress Inks - Scattered Straw, Victorian Velvet, Spun Sugar, Dusty Concord
Promarkers - Ivory, Satin, Blush, Sandstone, Henna, Rose Pink, Silver, Cool Grey 1 & 4, Burnt Sienna
Glossy Accents
Stickles - Black Soot & Diamond
Beads - from stash
Headpins - from eBay
Shrink Plastic - from stash
Pink Gems - from eBay

I'd like to enter this into the following challenges:
Cowgirl's Sunday Challenge - Sketch
Passion for Promarkers - Distressing
YNS - Easel Card
Crafty Cardmakers - Easel
Paper Sundaes - Make your own flowers
Meljens Designs - Easel
Digi Doodles - Anything goes
Craftalicious - Birthdays
Shelley's Images - Birthdays
Sweetpea Stampers - Black, White & One Other Colour (hoping that skin/hair accents are allowed).
The Stampman - Anything goes

Winner of the CSN Stores Voucher Giveaway

Thank you for your entries. I was going to use Random Org but it was all gobbledy gook to me, so took the less techie option of putting all 28 names into a bag and got DD to pick one! So without further ado,.....................

the winner is #10 Dawn. 

Congratultions hun, if you email me your details I'll contact CSN and get them to send your voucher over to you.

Pocket Card Invites

It's DD's birthday in a couple of weeks and she's decided that she'd like to have six of her closest friends to come round for a BBQ party and sleepover. So I've agreed on the condition they camp in the garden! She couldn't find any invitations from the shops that she liked, so asked if I'd make "nice" invitations.  So, guess what I've been doing today? yep making up invites. I hope these meet with her approval.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:
Craftalicious  - Birthdays
Pollycraft Mondays - Bold & Bright

Cupcake Crazy

I made this card for one of the lovely ladies on MSE who celebrates her birthday today. I hope she had a fab day.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:
Cowgirl's Sunday Challenge - Sherbert & Icecream Colours
Crafty Cardmakers - Photo Inspiration (colours)
Crazy Challenge - It's Hip to be Square
Stampavie & More - Anything goes

Giveaway for my UK Followers

I have a fantastic giveaway for my UK followers thanks to those lovely folks over at CSN Stores. Just incase you didn't know, CSN sell a huge range of amazing products including ceiling lights, furniture and cookware, please do pop over to check them out. To give you taste of the products available, I've picked out a couple of my favourite items which I think are just gorgeous!

I expect you're all wondering by now what the lucky winner of this giveaway will receive? Well you'll get a £40 gift voucher to spend on anything you please at any one of the six CSN Stores UK websites.

To enter this fabulous giveaway, simply become a follower, pop your name in Mr Linky and spread the word about the giveaway on your blog. If you don't have a blog you can still enter, put your full name in the name box and in the URL box link back to my blog and keep a note of your Linky number in case you're the winner. To make it fair, only one entry per person please.

The draw will close on Sunday 18th July at 8pm UK time and the winner will be announced on Monday so check back to see if your the winner. If the prize is not claimed by Sunday 25th July another winner will be selected.

Crafty Ribbons Challenge # 16

I was lucky enough to be selected for the latest Crafty Ribbons Challenge. I don't use a lot of ribbons on my work and certainly not heavily patterned ones, so when I received my bundle of Fun in the Sun ribbons I knew I was in for a proper challenge!

I decided that I'd like to make a travel game with one of the ribbon designs, a card and a hair clip with a some of the others.

This is the box that I made to contain the travel Tic Tac Toe game

Here's the game

This is the hair clip

This is the card (excuse the piccy on this one, I just couldn't get the angle right. The ribbon looks like it's at an angle - it's not (well I don't think it is!) and the card is most definately pictured at a strange angle.

Tools
Sizzix Bigshot
Sizzix Texturz Kit #2
Martha Stewart Scoreboard
Purple Cows Guilotine
Sizzix Originals Body Die
Sizzix Originals Hair Die
Spellbinder Nestabilities Large Circles
Basic Grey Sanding Tools

Materials
Co-Ordinations Whitewash Card
Red, Yellow & White Paper - Lidl
Blue Cloud Paper - freebie
Beer Mat
Ribbons
Glossy Accents
Shrink Plastic

I'd like to enter the tic tac toe game into the following challenges:
Sir Stampalot - Lazy Hazy Days of Summer
Ohh La -La -Creations - Simply Summer

Totally Tilda Challenge - or an excuse to play!

When I saw that the Totally Tilda Challenge Blog was running its first challenge I thought it was a perfect excuse to use Tilda as I don't use her nearly as much as I'd like too. The theme is chocolate and I have to say that despite my initial reservations, I think she looks beautiful in this colour.

The card base has been cut using nesties. I've distressed the edges of just about everything in sight and given them a rub over with distress inks. Tilda has been coloured with Promarkers and then her dress has been painted with pearlescent paints. Stickles have been applied to her crown, the bodice and hem of her dress ( unfortunately, I can't get the shimmer and sparkle to show very well). The shoes have had a coat of Glossy Accents.

The brown co-ordinations card has been embossed and sanded. I made the flowers using my new Sizzix flower die. The flowers have been given the stickles treatment too. The gold bow is from ribbon (it's just gold bows joined together and I've cut one off).

Tools
Bigshot
Roses Embossing Folder
Sizzix 3D Flower Die
X-cut Border Punch
Basic Grey Sanding Kit
Spellbinder Nestabilities Labels 8
Xyron Sticker machine

Materials
Brown Dot Paper - K&Co
Brown Stripe Paper - Basic Grey
Brown Card - Core-dinations Card
Lace - from stash
Promarkers
Pearlescent Paints
Stickles - Rock Candy
Glossy Accents
Distress Inks - Walnut Stain
Gold Bow Ribbon - from stash
Card Candy - Craftwork Cards

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:
Totally Tilda - Chocolate
Glitterbabe's Challenge - Make it Sparkly
The Craft Barn - Shaped Cards
One Stitch at a Time Challenge Blog - Lace, Ribbons & Bows
Cowgirls Sunday Challenge - Scallops & Embellishments
Crafty Catz - Distressing
Crafty Cardmakers - Inky Fingers
Stamp, Scrap & Doodle Saturdays - Shaped Cards
La La Land Crafts - Something New (my new Flower Die)
The ABC Challenge - X - xtra dimension
Dutch Dare - Flowers
Stamp with Fun - Birthdays
Everybody Art - Birthdays
Shelley's Images - Anything goes
Craftalicious - Cute
Stampavie & More - Sparkling
Beary Sweet - Embossing
A Lota Rubber Stamps - Inside Out
Prairie Fairy - Anything Goes
Mark's Finest Papers - Die cut
One Stop Craft Challenge - Distressing
Pile it on - Favourite things (my new flower die and of course Tilda)
Basic Grey - Photo Inspiration (the leaves and spots)
Magical Crafts - Flowers
Crafty Cardmakers - First, Latest & Greatest

Butterfly Easel Card

I have lots of birthday cards to make for this month and as usual I've left things to the last minute! Unfortunately, many of the cards will also need to be sent via the post. I've been desperately trying to think up ways of sending nice female cards that aren't too embellishment heavy to avoid having to pay large letter or packet rate. Hopefully, this card is the solution!!

The card hasn't really turned out how I wanted it to, but I decided that I'd blog all of my attempts be they successes or failures! I had an idea in my head but it hasn't quite come together on paper!! The glue dried far too quickly in this heat and I struggled to get the beads to stick and I also ran out red paper scraps. The only consolation is that at least I know what works and what doesn't! I'll definitely be attempting this card again albeit with some alterations!

I've drawn the card base using a freebie shaped card from this months Papercraft Inspirations as a template. The base has then been covered in DP's which have been edged with distress inks. I've also added some dots of Glossy Accents and then tipped a few gold glass micro beads onto it, and then covered them with another coat of glue. You'll notice that there are no stoppers on the base of the easel, the reason for this is that the easel card is designed to lay completely flat when folded (thus avoiding hefty postal costs). The idea for the "stopper less" base isn't mine, I'm afraid. I've shamelessly nicked the idea from Create & Craft TV.

Tools
Tim Holtz Blender
Scissors

Materials
Card - The Papermill
Distress Inks - Scattered Straw, Tea Dye and Forest Moss
DP - My Minds Eye Freebie from a magazine
Template - Freebie from Papercraft Inspirations
Glossy Accents
Glass Micro Beads

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:
Crafty Cardmakers - Inky Fingers
Incy Wincy - Things with wings
Craft Barn - Shaped cards
Creative Craft Crew - Easel card