Simon Says Challenge ! BLOG CANDY

Don't forget, 1st April is looming and there is BLOG CANDY up for grabs on the Simon Says Challenge blog and as they say, you have to be in it to win it !

There will be two sets of simonsaysstamp exclusive stamps up for grabs and all you have to do for your chance of winning is leave a comment on the blog before 7pm (UK time) on 1st April, tell people about the blog candy on your blog and become a follower ! If you become a follower, you will also get another entry into the drawer !

The first challenge will also be published on 1st April. Looking forward to seeing you !

Colour Create Challenge # 9

Good morning everyone ! I hope you have all remembered to move your clocks on an hour ?

We had the most fantastic evening and went to see Ski tap dancing in her dance school's production of The Wizard of Oz - it was and she was absolutely fantastic. Yes, I did sit and cry when she came on stage ! It's a Mum thing !

Back to Colour Create. Well, not only do we have a fantastic challenge for you this week but you should see the mountain of BLOG CANDY Tara is offering this week - it is enough to make me wonder why I agreed to be in her DT !!!! (only kidding hunny pie !!). Would you believe she has even managed to get her hands on some of those hard to come by Anya stamps from The Greeting Farm !

This week's challenge has been set by our very talented DT member Sharon.




The color combo for this week is blue and lilac and the optional extra is swirls and ribbons - easy one for you this week !

This is my creation :



The base card is white Bazzill and again, I based my card on the sketch Rica made for the BasicGrey Challenge yesterday - I loved it that much !

The patterned papers are BasicGrey "Lilykate".

The lilac card is from the Papermania card stack. The corner stamps I have used on the card are from Tesco would you believe. I found them lurking and needing a home because our Tesco seem to think we don't like crafting anymore and so have removed nearly all of their stock apart from a few very lonely items.

The raffia ribbon is from Hobbycraft.

The Zoomz are by Robins Nest and are from Simonsaysstamp.

The pearls are from my stash.

The image is a Sarah Kay image called "Anyone for Apple Pie" and I adore it. She is of course coloured with ProMarkers. Ivory and blush (skin), cocoa (hair), lilac and amethyst (hat and apron), cornflower and china blue (dress), cocoa (shoes), sandstone and cinnamon (basket), grass, forest green and ruby (apples), meadow green and grass (grass), cornflower (flowers).

The rest of the DT have made some amazing cards again this week and that is definately worth a look !

Have a great Sunday and have a great week.

I shall be back on Wednesday when it is the launch of the brand new challenge blog Simon Says Challenge and they have BLOG CANDY too !

BasicGrey Challenge #28

Good morning !

I hope you have all had a great week. Mine has been exceedingly busy taking Ski here, there and everywhere. She is performing in two shows at the same time at the moment. The Wizard of Oz with her dance school. She is a tap dancing Munchkin and she looks soooo cute ! She is also a PR person in her school's production of Cinderella Rockerfella. I have never heard of this show before but I have now. Should any of the children drop out at anytime there is a Cinderella and Rockerfella standing in the wings ready to take their place. My DH and I know the show inside and out !!!

Anyway, back to business.....

Today at the BasicGrey Challenge Blog we have a sketch for you. This sketch has been created by Heather (Rica) and its wonderful to work with. I hope you enjoy it as much as we have.




It was great to make a large card again as like everyone else, I've gone square. This is my take on Rica's sketch.



The red base card is from The Papermillshop.

The patterned papers are BasicGrey Upbeat (red patterned) and Recess (apples and cherries).

The petrol blue card is Core'dinations which I ran through the Swiss Dots folder in my Cuttlebug and sanded a little.

The image is teacher Anya from The Greetings Farm and she is coloured with ProMarkers. Cinnamon and henna (hair), ivory and blush (skin), sandstone (top and skirt), petrol blue (top and skirt), poppy and ruby (apple), green (leaf).

The letters are BasicGrey Two Scoops mini monogram stickers.

The raffia ribbon is from HobbyCraft.

The sentiment was made by me on the PC. The font is called "kidtyperuled"

The star brads are from my stash.

The rest of the DT have excelled themselves again this week so hop on over and have a look at their creative genius !

Have a great Saturday and see you back here, same time for Colour Create !

Simon Says Challenge !

Heidi of Simon Says Stamp asked me to be on her design team for their new challenge blog "Simon Says Challenge" and I was thrilled to accept and I'm so excited and can't wait to get going !

The BIG DAY is Wednesday 1st April and not only will the first challenge be posted on that day but also BLOG CANDY will be drawn too. All you have to do is post about it on your blog and leave a comment HERE. If you become a follower you will have TWO entries ! You have a chance to win one of TWO EXCLUSIVE Simon Says Stamp sets!!!! Here are 2 that you could choose from (although the winners will have their own choice from 41 sets !) :

So, what are you waiting for ? Put Wednesday 1st April in your diaries.

When you visit the challenge blog - see if you can find the "fool" !!!!!

Colour Create - Challenge # 8

Happy Mother's Day to all you Mum's out there ! I do hope you have been spoilt so far this morning ? I am scheduling this post because I hope that I shall be allowed to have a well deserved lie in. Somehow I feel this will not be the case because my two girls are jumping up and down as if it's going to be Christmas Day. They are so excited and can't wait to give me my present and card ! Awwww !!!


This week at the Colour Create Challenge Blog we have a challenge for you !!!


This challenge was set by the very talented Sarita.


The colour combination for this week is navy, turquoise and lime and the optional challenge is "no designer papers" ! I can hear your gasps from here !!!! If you have a look at Sarita's blog you will see that she very rarely uses designer papers and makes all her own.


This is my attempt !

I was afraid, very afraid ! I only had some navy ink and I didn't have any background stamps and then an idea sprang to mind that I had seen on a ProMarker/Copic tutorial on You Tube (I think !). I made my own papers from three ProMarker pens and I had all the right colours of these ! I made the stripey paper and stars with the colours cyan, lime green and indigo blue.

The shiny navy blue card and the lime green card are from The Papermillshop.

The image is from simonsaysstamp and a set called "Frogs Jumping for Joy" which has been coloured with ProMarkers.

The ribbon is from Poppicrafts.

The button and scrappers floss are from my stash.

The mini brads are by BasicGrey.

I cut the stars on my Cricut using George Basic Shapes and coloured these with the same colour ProMarkers and added some doodled holes and stitches to make them look like buttons.

You must have a look at my fellow DT member's creations - they are just stunning and sooo elegant - they put me to shame this week. Well done girls !

I am looking forward to seeing all your amazing creations for this great challenge.

Hope you have a great day and even better week ahead. See you soon !

BasicGrey Challenge #26

It was lovely to see so many of your wonderful creations last week all with beautifully rounded corners (even though Mr Blogger wasn't playing ball most of the time and letting me put my two penneth in to say how well you had done !).

Well, this week we have another good one for you - texture. That's right, we want to see some texture in your creations for example, embossing, felt, material, distressing, flocking etc. etc.



The base card is white Bazzill.

The patterned papers are BasicGrey Urban Prairie and I have doodled on this with a black pen.

The flowered paper has actually be embossed with the bloom dots embossing folder but you can't really see it in the photo.

The petrol blue coloured card is from the Papermania card stack.

The image is a gorgeous Anya which my buddy Tara sent to me and she has been coloured with ProMarkers (Anya - not Tara !!). Ivory and blush (skin), poppy and ruby (hat and top), cool aqua and cyan (hat, skirt and bow), mustard and sandstone (hair).

The circles were cut with my nesties, distressed and embossed.

The flowers have been punched with a retro flower punch and daisy punch and then a spacer from my stash added and a BasicGrey mini brad. The retro flowers were embossed with my swiss dots embossing folder.

The ribbons are from my stash.

I added a little button to her hat and also put some blue beads (which were also from Tara) around her neck with glossy accents.

I also decorated the inside very simply.

The label has been cut with my nesties and the sentiment is by simonsaysstamp from their card sentiments stamp set.

The little dog is from the Anya image and he has been coloured with ProMarkers, cinnamon and burnt umber and poppy.

I'm looking forward to visiting you and having a feel of all your textures - oooh errr missus !!! Hopefully Mr Blogger, pretty please, will let me leave some comments this time.

You must hop over to the BasicGrey Challenge Blog and have a look at my very talented fellow DT's creations - they are awesome (as always !).

Have a great weekend and see you back here tomorrow for Colour Create !

Toodles and Binks - New Release !

Hop on over to the Toodles and Binks Blog and just have a look at their new release - the sweetest chick you have ever seen called "Chickadee" ! Awwwww ! Chickadee is available for pre-order at Stamp Galaxy and will shortly be in Oyster Stamps. If you are lucky enough to go to any of the forthcoming shows then you should be able to buy Chickadee there. If you are not so lucky to go to any of the shows and can't wait for pre-ordering then you can enter the draw at Toodles and Binks Blog just like I have !!!

Holly in the Garden and Fantastic Blog Candy !

Have you seen the fantastic blog candy over at Karen of Charmed Cards' blog ? Well, you have the chance to win 72 Copic markers, yes, 72 !



Well, you have to be in it to win it so here is my entry.

The base card is white Bazzill.

The image is Holly in the Garden which is a download from Charmed Cards which I have coloured with my ProMarkers. Ivory and blush (skin), rose pink and blossom (hat and top), marsh green and olive green (boots and dungarees), apricot (belt and ties in hair), mustard, sandstone and cocoa (hair), blue pearl and china blue (flowers), sandstone and cocoa (basket), blue pearl (eyes), magenta (lips). I also used a Sakura clear gel pen on the flowers to give some sparkle.

The patterned papers are DCWV Nana's Nursery.

The pink card (which isn't as bright as on the photo !) is from the Papermania card stack.

The cream raffia ribbon is from HobbyCraft.

The photo corners have been punched with an EK Success photo corner punch.

The flowers have been punched with two EK Success retro flower punches and doodled with a white gel pen and distressed with some vintage photo distress ink. The buttons are Woodware.

The leaves have been punched from a Leone Em leaf punch and distressed with vintage photo distress ink.

The sentiment is Hero Arts stamped with Versafine Olympia Green ink.

I'm keeping my fingers and toes crossed that RNG chooses me but go on, give it a go !!!

Happy Tuesday !

Kaboodle Doodles Challenge #4

Good evening !

Yes, I am back in the land of the living with a clear head ! Thank you all so much for your kind words, I appreciated them but didn't deserve them seeing as it was self inflicted ! teehehehee

I had a lovely afternoon, the weather has been glorious and so the girls and I made our way over to Bradford on Avon where we played on the park, walked by the river, Ski looked for ducks while Fizzy ate the bread for them ! and then we walked back along the canal. Poor Fizzy was so exhausted her eyes were fighting to stay open while she was having her tea and gave up in the end and had an early night !

Anyway, Kaboodle Doodles ! This week we have a lovely sketch for you to follow which was designed by Andrea.

This is my take on the sketch :

Very simple - just like me really !

The base card is a scalloped card from Little Claire Designs

The gold papers are from the "Old" kit at Kaboodle Doodles.

The image is from "Bubbles and Squeak", Daisy and Dandelion stamps which I have stamped in Versafine vintage sepia. The sentiment is from the same set.

The ribbon is from my stash and the teddy bear charm is from e-bay.

I hope you enjoy using this sketch as much as we did and I look forward to seeing your take on it too.

Early night for me too I think.

Take care and see you soon.

Colour Create Challenge # 7

This week at the Colour Create Challenge Blog ......

This week the colour combo is RED and GREEN and the extra option we would like you to add wings, but please remember that this is not compulsory. You could use animals and insects that have wings, but many of our well-loved characters also have little wings tucked away (Tilda springs to mind here)!

Automatically Christmas springs to mind with this colour combo but if you check out the DT's creations this week, you will see that that isn't necessarily the case !

This is the card I made for this week's challenge...

I took inspiration from the fantastic sketch that was on last week's Sketch Saturday.

The base card is white Bazzill.

The patterned papers are Cosmo Cricket "Honey Pie" which were absolutely perfect for this challenge because they are designed to go together (there is a very thin strip of the green in the red paper).

I stamped around the green paper with a Studio G border stamp.

The image is from the new Leanne Ellis set of stamps and this one is called "Cup of Tea". She has been coloured with ProMarkers. Burnt sienna and cocoa (hair), ivory and blush (skin), ruby and poppy (all the red you can see !), grass (leaves), satin and sandstone (top and cup), grass and meadow (teapot), cocoa (tea).

The flowers have been punched with an EK Success retro flower punch and daisy punch. The dew drop in the middle is by Robins Nest and I bought a little bottle of these from simonsaysstamp.

The sentiment is Hero Arts.

I'm looking forward to visiting your blogs to see what you have come up with !

I hope you all have a lovely Sunday and that the week goes well for you. Me ? Well I am off to lie on the sofa with a big glass of water and couple of paracetamol after having a fantastic meal at a friend's house last night which consisted of around 8 courses and far too much wine ! Why is it you never think of the thumping headache, churning stomach and mouth like a badger's bum when you politely say "oh yes please, fill it up" ?!!! Still, its a very rare occasion for me so I think I can be let off !

Hopefully I can prise myself off the sofa later to tell you all about the new challenge for Kaboodle Doodles this week.

Keep smilin !!

BasicGrey Challenge # 26

Phew another busy week gone by and a couple more to come yet for me still, stops me from getting into trouble ;o) !!!!

This week on the BasicGrey Challenge Blog the challenge is rounded corners, no angles allowed ! We also have a fabulous prize on offer which has very kindly been given by my fellow talented DT member Kim ! What a star !

This is my creation for this week's challenge



I followed the sketch on Mojo Monday for this card. It's just lovely and simple but looks so good. I shall definately use this sketch again.

The base card is white Bazzill.

The patterned papers are BasicGrey Granola.

I also used some dark grey and navy card for matting and layering from the Papermania card stack.

The image is Daisy from Daisy and Dandelion which I have stamped in Versafine Vintage Sepia. I haven't added any other colouring because I don't think these stamps really need it (unless of course you want to !). I have added some vintage photo distress ink to the edges of the circle.

The silver photo anchor and brads are from my stash and I think are Making Memories.

The ribbon is from my local haberdashery shop and just went perfectly with the colours of the Granola papers used for this card.

The sentiment is by Craftwork Cards.

All the corners were rounded using a Papermania corner rounding punch which I am very impressed with and would highly recommend.

Please hop over to the BasicGrey Challenge Blog to see my fellow DT's creations - yet again they are outstanding and truly inspirational.

I'm looking forward to seeing all your rounded corners this week !

Have a great Saturday and see you back here tomorrow for Colour Create and Kaboodle Doodles.

Colour Create - Challenge # 6

Good morning !

This week at Colour Create we have a challenge that will get those brain cells working - again ! Well, we can't make it too easy for you now can we ?

This week the colour combo is orange, yellow and green and the extra option this week ? Something other than a card ! See, told you it would get you thinking ! The lovely Tara has been very, very kind though and thought up loads of projects for you and even listed them on the blog ! Now how kind is that ?

Just look at these gorgeous flowers to show off the colour combo ....

This is what I made this week.

We have been swapping deets on Colour Create and BasicGrey and now I have loads more Birthday cards to make ! I have a calendar in the kitchen with family and friends on but wanted something separate for my DT and blogging buddies and so this was just the challenge to get me finally making a buddy birthday calendar to hang next to my PC so hopefully I won't forget any of you.

The chipboard came from the girls I used to work with who save the backs of their telephone message pads for me !

The patterned papers are Making Memories "Chloe's Closet". These are so yummy ! and I distressed the edges with walnut stain distress ink.

The pages of the calendar I cut from white card from The Papermillshop, drew the lines on it and then copied it 11 times on my printer ! I then used some Hero Arts dot alphabet stamps to put the months on there.

The image is Anya which my lovely friend Tara sent to me in the most amazing present I have ever received from someone I have never met ! I shall gather it all up (its still in the box she sent me all laid out how it came so I can keep looking at it !!!) and will take a photo and post it later.

Anya has been coloured with ProMarkers. Mustard and sandstone (hair), ivory and blush (skin), apricot and coral (top and bow), lime and canary (funky socks), cinnamon (basket), china blue (flowers), marsh green (leaves), cool grey 2 (outline). I also coloured the flowers with a clear Sakura pen to give them a sparkle.

The orange and green card are offcuts from Core'dinations which I found in my overflowing scraps box.

The ribbons are Anita's.

The charm and chain are from my stash.

The flowers are Hero Arts which I rubbed with some spiced marmalade distress ink.

The brads are Papermania pearl brads.

The leaves are some of Tara's famous leaves which she sent me (have you noticed how she has a leaf for every occasion ?! Go over to her blog and have a look and see !!!). You can find her hanging out here ! She sent me some green and white ones and so I used the white ones and coloured them with my marsh green PM.

I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with this week.

Hope you all have a good week and that the sun keeps on shining.

Take care,

BasicGrey Challenge #25

Oh dear, I'm so late with my card this week - good job the boss is unavailable and offline ;o) !!!!!

Wonderful Martine has given us a brilliant sketch to work with this week at the BasicGrey Challenge Blog and here it is ....

I have followed the sketch to the letter apart from a couple of additions.

The base card is white Bazzill.

The patterned papers are BasicGrey "Porcelain" which have been cut with nesties and punched with the family silver !

The image is by Leanne Ellis called "Fly Free" which I have coloured with ProMarkers. Henna and burnt umber (hair), rose pink and blossom and marsh green (dress), ivory and blush (skin), pastel yellow and pumpkin (flower), meadow green (leaves), cinnamon (bird), burnt umber (boots).

The brown flowers are Papermania and the paper roses are from HobbyCraft.

The pearls and ribbon are from my stash.

The charm is from e-bay.

I also managed to decorate the inside of my card very simply with nestie cut ovals and a sentiment and flower stamp which came with my Leanne Ellis stamps.

I am looking forward to seeing your take on Martine's sketch.

Join me back here tomorrow for Colour Create and a very interesting challenge for you this week ! Yes, I am in time with this one, the boss is stricter ! teehehehehehe (you know I'm joking hunny bun !!).

Have a great Saturday evening. Thank's for looking !

Holly in the Garden

What a gorgeous day it is today and I think we missed all that snowfall by feet. Isn't it amazing how people can be stranded in their cars in snowdrifts only a couple of miles down the road and we didn't so much as see a flake ?

I've been so busy with the girls this week, I've hardly sat in my crafting chair. I was making "brass effect" buckles for Ski's shoes this morning as she suddenly told me at 6.30am (yes, that was AM) that she had to dress up as a character from a book ! I searched her dressing up box and came up with a witches outfit and said she was going to be "Winnie the Witch" and Winnie has buckles on her shoes ! Kids - who would have them ?

I made this card last week and I was wondering whether or not to show it. I have decided to show it just to show you that not everyone can sew !! Yes, this card also turned the air blue but my DH said he thought it looked "Shabby" so that is the new look from now on "Shabby" - thank's so much hun, you say the sweetest things !!






The patterned papers are "Country Garden" by Designs by Krista

The image is a download from Charmed Cards "Holly and Madison" and this is "Holly in the Garden". I have coloured Holly with my PM's. Marsh green and olive green (boots and hat), mustard and sandstone (hair), ivory and blush (skin), pumpkin and orange (shirt), cyan and indigo blue (shorts), canary, mallow (one of my two Copic pens !), orange (flowers), mustard, sandstone and cinnamon (basket).

The large flowers are white Prima flowers which I have coloured with a marsh green PM. I'm no Alan Titchmarsh but I quite liked this "variegated" look for a change to solid colour.

The paper roses are from HobbyCraft and these started off as cream and were attacked by my spiced marmalade distress ink and paint brush. This is very effective and I think from now on I'll just buy cream paper roses because then you can colour them to whatever colour you like (well, a two-tone colour would be easier to achieve than a solid colour rose but I did find that the distress ink did bleed so you might be able to obtain a solid colour ?). Sorry - waffling to myself !

The yellow ribbon is Anita's.

I also decorated the inside very simply. The sentiment is by simonsaysstamp. I masked the wand from the sentiment.

Right, off to school where "Winnie" is rehearsing for "Cinderella Rockafella" at school. They will all look a hoot all dressed up in such inappropriate clothes for the occasion !!

Take care and I'll be back soon......

Vintage Kaboodle Doodles

This week over at the Kaboodle Doodles Challenge Blog the challenge is vintage.

This is the card that I have made :

The patterned papers are Kaboodle Doodles "Morris Dance" which are on sale now in the Kaboodle Doodles Shop.

The image is a stamp by Sarah Kay which I have coloured using distress inks, antique linen, vintage photo and walnut stain. I have distressed the edges with a distresser and mounted it onto a piece of distressed Bazzill.

The raffia lace is from HobbyCraft.

The flowers have been cut from two other patterned papers in the "Morris Dance" download with a retro flower punch and daisy punch. I have added liquid pearls to the centres. The leaves have been punched with a Leone Em punch.

You must look at the other DT's creations this week, they are fabby !

I'm looking forward to seeing your vintage creations.

Colour Create - Challenge # 5

This week over at the Colour Create Challenge Blog ........

"We are being very gentle with you this week, using a tried and tested colour combination with an extra option you're sure to like. You see, we don't make it difficult every single week, lol !"

The colour combination this week is BLUE and BROWN and the extra option is lace and pearls although this isn't compulsory.

I couldn't wait to get started on my card 'cause blue and brown are my most favourite colour combo at the moment and of course, lace and pearls just have to go with this colour combo really, don't they ?





The base card is brown Bazzill.

The patterned papers are by Paper Salon which I bought from Craft Central in Bristol a long time ago and I have tried to use it sparingly so I have some left over for another day !

I stamped the blue patterned paper with a Studio G border stamp in Versafine vintage sepia. Aren't these fantastic for 99p ?

The image is by Leanne Ellis and I have coloured her with ....... distress inks - see, fooled ya !!! Black soot, tattered rose, worn lipstick, walnut stain, china blue, faded jeans, shabby shutters and antique linen. I added some liquid pearls to the little hearts.

The lace is from my stash, the button is from my late Grandma's button tin and I made the pin.

The flowers have been punched with an EK Success retro flower punch and daisy punch, curled and a pearl added to the centre. The other pearls are a very pale blue.

I also decorated the inside very, very simply as I had such small scraps left over from the patterned paper and I wasn't about to cut the other piece down !

The blue card is some Core'dinations from their Nostalgia pack and this colour looks like it has been distressed already because it looks rather grubby ! I stamped the border stamp around it again in Versafine vintage sepia, cut the rectangles with my nesties and added a sentiment from Hero Arts.

You must go and see the other DT's creations, they are amazing.

We would also like to welcome Kim to our DT as a permanent member. Tara invited Kim at the start but due to other commitments, Kim was unable to start straightaway but better late than never as they say ! Welcome Kim and I look forward to working with you !

We would also like to welcome this week's guest designer who is Lynsey

Mr Linky's Magical Widget (keep it clean please !) has also been added to the blog so this should make life a lot easier for you to add your entries if like me you spend half the day trying to add that dreaded code and it still doesn't work ! It should also make my tea stops to your blogs a lot quicker too so I should be able to see more of you on my travels.

Have a great Sunday and looking forward to see your blue's, browns, lace and pearls !

Thank's for looking !