Cupcakes With Bling

Good Afternoon,

I don't about you but lately I have seen old fashioned tea rooms opening up everywhere. In the village near me there is a great one called Donny's, and they have the best tea and cupcakes, ever!

When I saw this weeks Mojo Monday sketch I knew exactly which stamp set I was going to use for my image panel, Crazy for Cupcakes.

I have gone with the square option, but I may give the round a go as well at some point. To match the girlie theme I wanted, I matched these yummy cupcakes with the Lap of Luxury DSP.

If you take a closer look at the water coloured cupcakes you'll see that each on has a rhinestone cherry on top! With three larger ones along the top of the panel. What more could a girl want? Cupcakes and bling!!
I will also be entering this card for the Stampin' Royalty challenge - bling!

That post has made me hungry now, so I'm off for some lunch, xx

The Early Bird

Good morning,

If you can call it morning, it's before 7am, and I've been up for ages. My kitty is still poorly think we're nearing 3 weeks that he hasn't been well for now. Currently he had an abscess under his chin/mouth which is now open, he has antibiotics and a cone which he HATES! When he is 'coned' he always wants lots of cuddles, which means I haven't had very much sleep for the past 3 nights since the cone went on.
So at the moment I'm trying to type at the timy computer desk while he sleeps across the front of it.

right back to crafting, I have made this card for two challenges the sketch I have followed is from the Paper Players and the colour combo is from CR84FN,

I have chosen Basic grey as my neutral colour (hope that counts) I still had it out on my desk from the previous card I made and I thought it went well with the blues.

I have used Just Believe, for this card. I recieved a thank you card Saturday using the set, which reminded me I had it and I'm sure I've never used it!! How terrible so it has now seen ink! I have added a distressed edge to the circular layer, and embossed the grey layer with the Manhattan Flower embossing folder.

Enjoy the rest of the bank holiday weekend, xx

More From My Stash

Hi there,

Me again, you're probably getting bored of me know but I'm back with another card for the Just Add Ink challenge to use something from your stash. I am a very naughty crafter, I sometimes get caught up in wanting everything I can afford and then I forget what I have so I am loving this challenge. I decided once again to pull out a retired stamp set from Sale-a-bration, it's such a shame that these stamp sets are only available for two months of the year, especially as they are soooo pretty. I have chosen Bliss, and teamed it with some DSP from the Greenhouse Gala set.

It was great to ink this baby up again, I may have another go at this challenge while I'm searching through my stash, try it, it's great fun! xx

White on White

Good morning,

Bank holiday weekend and I spy sunshine out my window, can it be true??

On Saturday mornings the first thing that I do is look at the Simply Stampin' and Less is More challenges and this week I've decided to combine them. It's a sketch challenge from Simply Stampin' this week which luckily for me a quite a simple design, perfect to combine with LIM!



This week at Less is More, the ladies have asked that we look for through the old challenges and pick three, well I had a hard time choosing, in the end I decided on

week 11 Acetate

week 14 white on white

week 16 butterfly/butterlies

week 25 button or ribbon

As you can see I couldn't decide on only three, so I went with four, hope the ladies don't mind!

Now I don't know if you see it but in the bottom corner of  the card is an acetate butterfly, which I have embossed. there is a strip which also has the ribbon on it, that is also acetate. I have glitter embossed a graphic flower from the Baroque Motif set, and finished off with Bitty Buttons.

I really love white on white cards! xx

Paper Players Masculine Map

Hello again,

Twice in one day! This is becoming a bit of a habit, and with not much planned for the bank holiday weekend I can see more to come in the next few days. This time I'm playing along with a sketch set by The Paper Players, the sketch is a simple one but after trying to stay very simple (this one is on my desk and needs much, much more work!) I went with a bit more detail, I love layers so I had to put a few in this card.

Here is the sketch I have used for the card

I have swapped the three circular elements for a design split into three portions, I have done this before with an image but have seen it done a few times, I thought it was quite effective with the motorcycle image, I used a piece of paper from the Newsprint DSP which features a map, and the green band and repeated sentiment have come from the Plane and Simple set.

So glad that I managed to complete a card that I liked for this challenge, it's no fun when you finish something only to look at it and not really like it. I'm sure many of you will know what I mean, we are our own worst critic sometimes.

Hope you have fun plans for the weekend,  xx

A Stitch In Time

Hello there,

I woke up all excited this morning, every Friday Viva La Verve post a new sketch, I've done all the other sketches for this month so I couldn't wait for this one. As soon as I saw it all I could think was wow! It's very pretty so I couldn't wait to get started. I have decided to team the sketch with a colour combo challenge over at Color Throwdown which I love, I don't think I've ever used Perfect Plum before and I really can't think why?!

See what I mean? Beautiful! I don't normally do stitched cards, but when you're working with a sketch this pretty you have to go the extra mile, so out came a needle and thread, and a paper piercer, and here are the results

I'm also entering this card for the Just Add Ink challenge which was to use something 'from your stash' I have used a stamp from a Sale-a-bration set that I haven't inked since February called Punch Bunch, and also I found at the back of my drawer a pot of shimmer paint that I bought but I thought I'd lost because I've never used it! Here's a close up of the shimmer on the tag

I have had so much fun making this one, hope you like it too, xx

Shabby Tearoom Mojo

Hello crafty people,

I hope that you didn't get too wet today, looks like we're set for more rain this week, perfect weather for crafting but so great for photography.

Todays' card is a combination of a wonderful sketch courtesy of Mojo Monday and a gorgeous colour/theme challenge from The Shabby Tearoom. Which is 'sweet days of summer' to include pink, peach, green, neutrals, and handmade flowers.

I have chosen to use patterned papers from the Springtime Vintage pack, is it contains the most gorgeous floral papers in beautiful shades of pinks and greens.

It's not an excuse but as I said the weather is not great for taking photos, I made this card yesterday afternoon but by the time I had finshed it it was too dark to photograph it and I had to leave at 7am this morning and it was raining so the greens haven't turned out very well, all things considered it doesn't look too bad. I really need a fancy light box, but think of the stamps, paper and ribbon I could buy?!

I really am a hopeless case! Hope you have a creative week, xx

Viva la Verve Finale

What a day, I've been a very busy bee!

If you are just joining me I set myself the task this morning of making a card for the 4 Viva la Verve sketches released so far this month, there is one more to be unveiled, but that isn't until Friday so my inky fingers can have a rest before then.

This finale card is by far my favourite, (shhh, don't tell the others, so much so that I would like to share it with the ladies over at Make it Monday hope they like it as much as I do) I have turned the sketch around to make a horizontal card and combined it with the colour challenge over at Just Add Ink, which I wasn't sure about as I'm not normally a fan of oranges but I actually really loved in the end!!

I have combined a retired stamp set with a new one for this card, I think they really compliment each other, plus I think this card could be used for a man or women, which always good to have on standby!

Can't wait for the next sketch now! Why not have a go at a sketch yourself? xx

On a Viva la Verve Roll!

Goodness me, if you've popped back from the earlier posts of today, great to see you again, if this is your first visit, hello!

My mojo has well and truly been restored, I'm onto sketch number 3 of this months Viva la Verve sketch challenge, and this one deserved to be a very special card, it's so pretty! My niece will be sweet sixteen next month so this will be her card. Here's the sketch

I went ultra girly with this giant 8x8 inch card, well you're only sweet sixteen once! I love the multiple layers, and knew I had to get my Sweet and Sour DSP out for this one, shield your eyes this ones very bright and colourful!

The colour combo I've used for this one is Elegant Eggplant, Pumpkin Pie and Rose Red. I love to make personalised cards, hopefully this will be a card that she keeps for a long time to come.

I'll be back with one last card today, hope to see you then, xx

Viva la Verve Part 2

Hi there,

I'm back with the next Viva la Verve sketch of the month. I decided that this sketch would be perfect for a wedding card my mum has asked me to make for a wedding she is going to the beginning of next month. She asked for a monochrome card, and I couldn't resist a bit (well maybe quite a lot) of sparkle for this one.

Because this sketch was so wonderfully simple it meant I could really go to town with the stamped and glittered background, without over-powering the finished card, I haven't got an oval die........yet, so I've substituted with a rectangle.

See what I mean about the sparkles?! there are also a couple of rhinestones on the letters, and I teamed it with a strip of polka dot DSP finished with some black satin ribbon.

Really enjoyed making this one, I'm on a roll now, next sketch to follow later, xx

Viva La Verve Marathon

Hello again,

If you checked my blog this morning you will know that I have discovered (thanks Sian) the Viva La Verve sketch challenge, each Friday a new sketch is released, and let me tell you they are gorgeous, so much so that I have decided to go back and attempt all of this months.

So lets start with the first (seems logical to me) I have teamed week 1's sketch with the colour combo from the Play Date Cafe, I apologise for the poor quality of the photo, the colours are much better IRL, honest!

I really liked this sketch, it's simple but uses a number of layers so great for using scraps or multiple DSP, this will definitely be getting used again. I think this colour combo deserves another go too I think maybe my proportions are off. Here is my card,

The colours I've used are Night of Navy, Rose Red (which is actually pink) and Wild Wasabi, may have to take another picture of this one and change it. I die cut two butterflies one in the Rose Red CS, and one off vellum, which I embossed.

I'd also like to enter this one for the Less is More challenge which this week is 'things that move', I just hope this card is CAS enough to be considered, it is definitely not as embellished as my usual style!

Pop back later for the next installment, xx

Colour Throwdown Anniversary

Hello you,

If you read yesterdays post you'll know that I was looking for inspiration for a anniversary card for my friends daughter and son-in-law. She told me that she wanted the card to be girly but not too girly so that her son-in-law wouldn't feel left out.

I found the perfect colour combo over at the Colour Throwdown challenge, perfect mix of feminine and masculine, don't you think.

I didn't have all of these exact colours, I think Barely Banana retired here in the UK last year, and we don't have Kiwi Kiss, so I substituted these for So Saffron and Old Olive, but I really liked this combination.

My friend Ann seemed pleased with it, so I hope the happy couple are too.

I hope you'll pop back and see me again soon, xx

Belated Challenge Win!

Good Evening!

I'm super excited, as you know I enter a lot of challenges well I never expect to win a challenge so I rarely check back to see the winners, usually to excited by the thought of a new challenge! I have a card to make for tomorrow so I was searching for a sketch for some inspiration, was looking back at the Sweet Sunday Sketch's only to find that I was the winner of the first sketch of the month! You can find the Link here!

How amazing is that!

Anyway I better get back to finding inspiration for that card. xx

The Cherry On Top

Good morning,

I'm back with another challenge combo.

Sometimes I know exactly what I want to do when I see a challenge set out before me, other times I sit at my desk and wonder what to do. This was one of whose times, I sat there staring at my stamp sets with out a clue what to do, only knowing that I wanted to enter another card into the Shabby Tearoom challenge of polka dots. I flipped through my Brights DSP stack I decided to use Real Red polka dots, and then it came to me in a flash, my Tart and Tangy stamps, the cherries would be a perfect match to the red paper I had chosen. That meant that I would have to use green as a second colour for the stalks and a neutral so I went for Choc Chip.

I wanted to play along with this weeks Mojo Monday sketch which I have adapted a little

I don't have a photo corner punch yet, so I decided to do a little distressing in the corner, and place another DSP this time Pear Pizazz In-colour paper behind, I also co-ordinated this with a layer on the front.

Right at the end I decided to add buttons for the cherries, I'm really quite pleased with this one.

See you again soon, I hope, xx

Paper Players and Shabby Tearoom Challenge Card

Good evening all,

What a day, my cat is poorly again! This time he has a dental abscess, which means a very swollen lip, and a thoroughly fed up puss. The poor little man doesn't know what to do with himself. He's struggling to eat and drink, as a result he has no energy and coupled with a very high temperature his joints are sore so he can't jump or co-ordinate himself properly. So we have more antibiotics and painkillers, which he will also not be happy about.

Anyway back to happier things, I'm always on the look out for new challenge blogs and I found this one last week, it's called The Paper Players. This weeks challenge is a colour combo of triple pinks.

I was a little worried about this combo until I got the colours out of my stash, they look really pretty together, here is the very feminine card that I have come up with.

I am also entering this card into another new challenge I'm found called The Shabby Tea Room whose theme this week is polka dots, I love polka dots so I can see me entering this one more than once!

Hopefully the rest of the week will be less eventful than today, xx

A Play Date at Sweet Stop

Good Afternoon,

Surprise, surprise I've been looking at more challenges and I've got another combo for you today. When I got comments left on my blog I always try and get back to that person to leave a comment back. I had a comment left by a lovely lady and when I went to find the blog it came from I found a new challenge that I hadn't found before, it's called the Sweet Stop challenge and each week a new sketch is uploaded for us to have a go at. I have a long list of cards to my on my desk for my mum and on it was a card for my grandad so I thought that the colour combo on Play Date Cafe would be perfect for his card.

It was also an excuse for me to ink up a new stamp set that I've got called Plane and Simple, it's a really great set for men's cards, and even includes three very useful sentiments too!

So here is the sketch that I've followed

and the fabulous colour combo, can see this one being a firm favourite for men's cards,

So here is what I've come up with  for my combination of these two challenges

 continuing my quest to use DSP in my cards, I have used a piece of Blueberry Crisp DSP for one layer of this card, stamped-off a border of two the elements in the stamp set. My boyfriend even liked this one so that's my man approval, normally I just get a half hearted 'it's nice' but he actually took this one and had a good look, so it must be OK.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend, xx