Dotties World and Sketch Saturday

Here I am - at last ! It's been a fun filled week with there being no school, the ironing has been done and school and PE kit packed so finally, it was time for me to make a card ! I hope you had a good half term too. Just think - only another 7 weeks to go and they will be at home with us for about 7 weeks - can't wait ;o) !!


It is my fabby friend Tara's debut appearance as a DT member on Dotties World today so I thought I would join in with their challenge this week and give her my friendly support ! Her card is absolutely amazing and I am so thrilled for her. The challenge this week is "coffee and cream" with stripes or dots.


I also loved the sketch this week on Sketch Saturday and decided to join their challenge too.

After receiving my new Koh-i-noors last week I was so impressed that my eye started wandering in the direction of Prismacolors. I have 24 Koh's and 24 Derwent Coloursoft you see but 48 just isn't enough colours, is it ?!!! I ended up buying from this most fantastic chap on e-bay (cough, cough, splutter, splutter - says very quickly in a whisper), all 132 pencils !!! I cannot recommend this chap enough for his communication, service and after care as he explains all about them and even sent me links to various tutorials ! I ordered them on Friday afternoon and Saturday morning they were delivered by first class recorded delivery. If you are interested in purchasing any Prismas and want to know someone reliable, please email me and I'll send you his details.

Anyway, back to the card !

The base card is cream card from The Papermillshop.

The patterned paper is DCWV the Spring Glitter Pack.

The image is Charmed Cards Holly and Madison "Madison - So Chic" and she has been coloured with Prismas. I'm pleased with the results seeing as it is my first time although I need some practise with the outlines I think !

The sentiment is a Melissa Frances clear stamp sentiment embossed in white embossing powder. The ribbon is from my stash.

The roses were cream roses which I sprayed with "Coffee Shop" glimmer mist.

The flowers are by Hero Arts, the brads are BasicGrey and the leaves are a Sizzix die which Tara very kindly sent me for a present - thank you darlin mwah !

Hope to see you again soon !

Simon Says Challenge !

What a miserable morning we have here. Such a shame for the children on holiday and for their parents too who have to keep breaking up their fights ! My two have been in the ring more than once this morning and its only 10am ! Still, this afternoon will keep them occupied. We are going bowling in Bristol with some friends of ours and their two children and then out for a scrummy tea !

I am hoping I can stay awake ! I went to the cinema last night with some girlfriends to see Angels and Demons and they had booked a 9pm showing (I'm usually ready for bed by then) ! We didn't leave the cinema until 11.30pm !! I must say, it was a fantastic film, full of twists and turns and of course, Tom Hanks was in it so he kept me awake !!

This week on the Simon Says Challenge Blog ....

Simon Says ..... ANIMALS !

"This week, the theme is ANIMALS ! You know how we all love our animals so this shouldn't be a difficult challenge for you. Don't forget, you can use any image you like it does not have to be a Simon Says Stamp image (although if you did, we would love to see what you create with the amazing Simon Says Exclusive Stamps !!)".

Here is my card

The base card is a Papermania scalloped card.

The patterned paper is The Paper Company Paws and Claws Doggy Argyle. They also do one for cats which is lovely too.

The images are Simon Says Stamp Exclusive stamps Cats and Dogs are Best Friends I have coloured the images with Koh-i-noor and Derwent Coloursoft pencils and sansodor (wooo, my first time !!).

The ribbon and buttons are from my stash.

I also decorated the inside with the last piece of paper I had left from this sheet.

I know we are all having terrible, terrible problems with Mr Linky at the moment but don't let that put you off having a go at our challenge. There are instructions on the blog telling you how to enter your creation !

Yet again Heidi has very generously offered a $25 spending spree in the Simon Says Stamp Store for the winner of the challenge so its worth having a go, isn't it ? I have just spotted the most fantastic, enormous sturdy tube of Prima flowers which has just arrived in store and apparently someone has counted them all and there were over 700 all for the fantastic price of $13.99 (£8.75) so you could buy these and still buy a stamp or two with the change !!!! Worth having a go ?!!!

We look forward to seeing your little cuties very soon.

Colour Create Challenge # 17

Good morning !

So sorry I am late posting my card this morning. I have been trying to sort this mess out on my PC as it drove me MAD yesterday and I can't get on with Firefox. Anyway, I have solved the problem ! I have uninstalled Internet Explorer 8 and now everything is honky dory again. My hubster was able to view all blogs from his laptop and he refused to put IE8 on his laptop so this morning he has been taking it off mine. What a darlin !

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

Firstly we have some news for you........

It is with enormous sadness that Kim has decided to leave us *sob, sob*. Kim has lots of other work commitments and also that gorgeous new granddaughter to help cuddle and so you can't blame her, can you ? I for one shall miss Kim as she has been a huge inspiration to me and is such a lovely, kind and gentle lady and extremely talented. Thank goodness I can still visit her blog to see that amazing work of hers. I wish you well Kim and good luck in your new post with Magnolia.

The second bit of news is that this is the last week we will be having the challenge on a Sunday. As from 4th June Colour Create's challenges will run from Thursday to Thursday so for this challenge, you will have a few more days to make your amazing creations ! To mark the change, we will be offering some candy so be sure to be there on Thursday 4th June !

This week's colour combo was chosen by our lovely DT member Katy and is .......

Pink, lemon sorbet and chocolate and the optional extra is shabby chic.

The patterned papers are BasicGrey Porcelain and Melissa Frances "Rhonda" which is distressed with a distressing tool and then edged with old paper distress ink.

I ran a piece of brown core'dinations through my Cuttlebug with the stylised flowers embossing folder and then rubbed it over with sandpaper.

The Tilda image was a pressie from my lovely, lovely friend Tara. She has been coloured with ProMarkers and I left on the oval nestie and chalked the background with some yellow chalk.

The flowers are a mixture of Prima and Hero Arts and the spacers and brads are from my stash.

The butterfly is also from my stash.

The sentiment is a Melissa Frances transfer.

You must hop over and see the DT's creations this week, they are amazing and such an inspiration.

Thank you for visiting me and don't forget, we will be back on 4th June with CANDY !!

Have a great and sunny Sunday !

BasicGrey Challenge

Good morning !

I am hoping that this post is going to work because for the past two days, it has been very hit and miss as to whether I can access anyone's blog let alone my own !! I have a window that keeps popping up saying "Internet Explorer cannot access.......operation aborted". Is anyone else having this problem ? I have read somewhere that there are a lot of problems going on and this is driving me mad !! I am sure that it isn't just my PC. I look forward to hearing from you on this.

Back to the BasicGrey Challenge Blog. This week the challenge is to Doodle ! We want to see as many doodles as you can muster on one creation !! Don't forget that your creation must contain at least one BasicGrey product.

This is the card I made.

My doodles are the white stitching, the black stitching and the buttons which I "made".

The base card is cream Bazzill.

The patterned papers are all BasicGrey Lime Rickey - wow, such a bright, zesty pad, I love it !

The image is Homegrown "Little Artist" from Funky Kits which I have coloured with distress inks. The sentiment is from Funky Kits too.

I made the brads from a hole punch and glossy accents.

The ribbons are from my stash.

The DT's creations are amazing yet again this week, hop over and go and have a look.

Don't forget that this is the last week for BasicGrey Challenges. We shall be closing down for a little while while Martine works her magic and gives us a make over and we, the DT, go and glam ourselves up for the big relaunch ! We will keep you posted with news of when we will be back but rest assured - WE WILL BE BACK !!

Have a great Saturday and if I can access any blogs, I will come and visit to see your doodles !

See you back here tomorrow (fingers and toes crossed) for Colour Create.

Simon Says Challenge !

What an amazing response we had to last week's challenge ! It looks as though you enjoy doing cards for the boys as much as I do !!

This week, we have an easy week for you. Our amazing DT member Iris has designed a sketch for you.

A winner will be chosen randomly on May 27th. So hop on into your craft space and get creating!!!! A NEW challenge will be issued on May 27th, so stay tuned!!!! Have fun creating, we can't wait to see what you come up with!!!! Please remember, your submissions for this challenge MUST be a NEW creation that you have made (i.e. it cannot be a card you made in January!) THANKS!!!

Remember, Heidi has graciously donated a $25 gift certificate to Simon Says Stamp for the winner of this challenge. Thank you Heidi!!!!!

Here is my take on the sketch and it has the title "Too Pink Elephants" because I did wonder at the time whether it was too pink but I have been assured by the rest of the DT that too much pink is a good thing !!

For the base card I used Bazzill Swiss Dots.

The patterned papers are DCWV Nana's Nursery.

The images and sentiment are from a Simon Says Stamp set of stamps called "Elephant Love" and you can buy them from here. I have mixed and matched the sentiment to say "Big Hugs" and heat embossed it with white embossing powder. I made the backing card to the image myself using glimmer mist and then stamped the image and heat embossed it in white embossing powder. The hearts are from a Kelly Panicci sentiment set and again, I took the heart from the centre of a sentiment.

The flowers were white flowers which I dipped in glimmer mist and they do actually have a more two-tone effect than shows on the photo.

The brads are pearl brads by Papermania.

The ribbon is from Poppycraft which I bought ages ago.

Please have a visit and see the rest of the DT's takes on the sketch, you won't be disappointed, they are stunning.

Don't forget to add your card in the Magnolia "Chasing Butterflies" competition on the Simon Says Stamp Blog and not only will your card be shown in the gallery but you will also be in with a chance to win a $100 spending spree !! You may have to scroll down a couple of threads to find it but it is there and doesn't end until 31st May - Good Luck !

Thank you for stopping by and for any comments you leave. I do love to read them all and appreciate any you leave.

Calling ALL Magnolia Lovers !

On the Simon Says Stamp Blog today :

If you love the new Magnolia "Chasing Butterflies" set and you would like to win a shopping spree worth $100 then carry on reading ! SIMON SAYS ........

"*BLOG CANDY ALERT!

OK Folks, our idea gallery is SERIOUSLY lacking for these new AWESOME stamps! I just know some of you have already made beautiful cards and projects with the Chasing Butterflies Magnolias from above. ..and some of you already have ideas on what you are going to create with these ever so cute designs!Would you enter your work in our blog candy contest? All you have to do is copy and paste the http address into the mr linky below from your work, enter your name, and leave a comment in the comments section stating which stamp(s) you used in your creation. You will be entered to win $100 shopping spree to Simon Says Stamp from your blog post!! The random drawing will be held May 31! Don't have the stamps yet...?? Just click on one of the links above and you will be taken to our store where you can purchase them! Or CLICK HERE and you will see them all in our Simon Says Stamp store.YES, THAT IS RIGHT! $100 SHOPPING SPREE TO SIMON SAYS STAMP!

To enter this fabby competition you need to go to the Simon Says Stamp Blog and follow the instructions below :

*Use Mr. Linky to showcase your work!
*Comment at this blog entry to let us know which stamp(s) you used
*We will draw a random winner May 31 for $100 shopping spree! YAHOO!

Please note that if you enter this blog candy, we might showcase you and your work on our blog and store in the future.

Sound good?

Luv, Heidi"

So, what are you waiting for ? I know how you all love those cute little Tilda's so get entering and GOOD LUCK !

Colour Create Challenge # 16

Good morning everyone and a very wet one it is too.

Wow, what an amazing amount of entries we had last week at Colour Create. You obviously like the colour combo of blue and green ! Let's hope you like this week's combo just as much.

This week, our amazingly talented Kim has chosen the colour combo of sky blue, tan and ecru (or blue, brown and cream !!) with the optional extra of gloss, glitter or glaze (or all three if you want to !).

I would like to pass on my huge, huge congrats to Kim who has just made it onto THE Magnolia DT !! How fantastic is that ? Well done Kim ! The chaps at Magnolia will not be disappointed.

So here are the colours for you this week :

Here is my card for this week's challenge.

The base card is some cream Bazzill.

The patterned papers are by The Paper Salon and I have had these for ages. I stamped a border stamp around the edge of the blue paper in Versacolor Smoky Blue but it doesn't show up on the photo very well.

The image is a Leanne Ellis stamp from Funky Kits and she has been coloured with ProMarkers. I added some crackle accents to the hearts, some glossy accents to the flowers and some liquid pearls to the strings on the hearts.

The flowers are a mixture of Hero Arts and Prima and I have sprayed these with glimmer mist. The brads are by BasicGrey.

The lace and ribbon are from my stash. The brown ribbon is beautiful as it is one of those two-tone ones that shines both blue and brown - gorgeous.

The sentiment is by Craftwork Cards.

I also added some shimmer dots from Papermania.

You must hop over and look at the DT's creations this week, they are amazing !

We hope you enjoy this week's challenge as much as we did.

Thank you for visiting and for any comments which you may leave. I do appreciate all of them. Have a great week and see you soon.

I would also like to say a huge thank you to Kimmi who passed these awards onto me a little while ago. Thank you darlin ! If you haven't visited Kimmi's blog, you must. She makes the most fantastic cards and she has the most adorable little girl called Poppy and she is a very brave lady herself. Go on over and meet her and leave her some lovely comments, I know she will appreciate them.

BasicGrey Challenge #35

On the BasicGrey Challenge Blog this week.....


"This weeks challenge is a really tasty one :), as its nearly summer what better way to celebrate than to have a challenge inspired by a hot summers day favourite treat , that's right Ice cream :), this weeks challenge we would like you to be inspired by your favourite ice cream flavour, you can be inspired many ways by your favourite ice cream (as you will see by our DT creations), so let your imaginations run wild, and we cant wait to see your tasty creations and just for fun here is a mouth watering picture of a Knickerbocker glory to inspire you :) (please note that this picture is not the challenge, there are no rules against using this picture to inspire you though :) )"




My favourite ice cream is vanilla clotted cream ice cream with honeycomb - yum yum and I also love vanilla clotted cream ice cream with a scoop of clotted cream and strawberries - even yummier !!! I really do think that Cornish clotted cream ice cream is THE best.

So, for my card I chose the colours cream, brown/beige and red/pink.



The base card is swiss dotted Bazzill.

The patterned papers are BasicGrey "Bittersweet".

The cream card is from The Papermillshop.

I used an X-Cut corner rounding punch for all the rounded corners.

The image is a Sugar Nellie stamp called "Summer Ice Cream" and is available at Funky Kits and has been painted with distress inks.

The flowers have been punched with a large and medium EK Success Retro Flower punch. The pink brads are by BasicGrey. I also sprayed these with some gold glimmer mist.

The ribbon is from my stash.

You must hop over to the blog and check out the rest of the DT's fabulous creations - they are sooo yummy and you won't be disappointed.

Just in case you did not see the NEWS FLASH last week on the blog.......

"Changes are happening here on BasicGrey challenges :), On the 29th of May the BasicGrey Challenges blog will close its doors for a few weeks in June while we make some changes to the blog, we here at BasicGrey challenges are excited about the changes and we will be working away behind the scenes to bring you a new and fabulously improved place to be, we hope that you will enjoy the changes too and when we finally open our doors again we hope that you will join us for the fabulous Re - Launch which we hope will go off with a bang :) and of course we will be having some fabulous candy to celebrate ;)"

I am looking forward to seeing your fantastic creations this week.

Simon Says Challenge !

Simon says ...... one for the boys !

It was my turn to think of a challenge and you know me, I chose "one for the boys" again ! Sorry !

Now, there is a great incentive for joining our challenge this week. Not only is Heidi offering another $25 spending spree in the Simon Says Stamp Store but Donna of Bearly Mine Crafts is giving away a fabulous CD Designer Extreme Vol.1 as a prize ! What better incentive is there to make something for our lads ?

Here is my creation :

The base card is brown Bazzill.

The patterned papers are by KaiserCraft "Elegance" P119 Elizabeth.

The tag was cut from a concertina tag card which I haven't used and distressed with distress inks and then stamped with a Prima "Dance" stamp in Walnut Stain distress ink. The ribbon is some twill which I bought from my local market and sprayed with some gold glimmer mist and stapled to the tag.

The main image is by Paper Artsy and has been matted onto copper coloured card and stamped in Brilliance Cosmic Copper and Coffee Bean. I also distressed this with distress inks.

The brads are from my stash.

The rest of the DT's male creations are out of this World and such an inspiration if you are struggling. You can use anything you like on your creations, they don't have to have been bought from the Simon Says Store to enter :-)

Simon Says Challenge is now going weekly so we will be with you every Wednesday now instead of fortnightly !

We look forward to seeing you !

Sketch Saturday

When I saw this sketch on Sketch Saturday, I was dying to have a play !

The DT's cards are such and inspiration and all so different too.

Here is my take on the sketch.

The base card is white card from The Papermillshop

The patterned papers are Imaginisce, Fairest of Them All, Enchanted Garden. They are just sooo pretty.

The pink card is from The Papermillshop.

The image (Fairy Chloe from The Greeting Farm) came from my most kindest, gorgeous friend Tara and it went perfectly with this paper. Chloe has been coloured with ProMarkers, mustard, sandstone and cinnamon (hair), ivory and blush (skin), blossom and rose pink (dress), pastel green (wings), aqua (outline). I have put some crystal stickles on her wings and they shine the most gorgeous pale green colour.

I found the ribbon punch in the bottom of my punch drawer (bought as a bargain when Lakeland stopped selling craft items) and it had never been opened so I gave it a whirl on this card and I'm really pleased with the result. The ribbon is from my stash.

The flowers and spacers are from my stash. The spacers are actually too small for a brad to be inserted so I glued them on and filled the centre with liquid pearls.

The sentiment is from Clare Curds sentiments stamps.

Now I had better start thinking about the DT cards I have to make.

See you back here tomorrow morning for the new challenge on Simon Says Challenge. Hope you can join me !

Colour Create Challenge # 15

Good morning ! A bright and sunny one it is too ! I'm a little late this morning because I was allowed to have a lovely lie in and it did feel good.

This week on the Colour Create Challenge Blog my extremely talented teamie Heather chose us the most fantastic colour combo of blue and green and the optional extra is paper piecing. Well, I adore these colours together and also love paper piecing so making this card was such a delight.

The base card is white Bazzill.

The patterned papers are DCWV "Sweet". I used the checked paper to piece her dress and flower in her hair.

The image is by Leanne Ellis and is available from Funky Kits. I have coloured the unpieced parts with ProMarkers. Her star I stamped twice and attacked the second star with bright yellow glimmer mist ! Wow, this is fun stuff ! The background has been coloured with broken china and peeled paint distress ink. I have cut the image out with oval nesties.

The flowers started off as Prima cream paper flowers until I again attacked them with green and blue glimmer mists. The centres are cream paper roses from Hobbycraft.

The leaves have been punched from a Leone Em leaf punch from the same PP as the image was matted onto.

The sentiment is by Penny Black.

Have fun with this challenge won't you ?! We look forward to seeing your creations.

Have a great day and have fun whatever you do. Me ? Well, the rest of the ironing pile is sat here winking at me so no doubt I shall be doing that and I did notice that the washing basket is full to the brim again - oh to be a man !!!

Hugs to all and thank you so much for visiting me and for any comments that you leave. I appreciate all of them.

Second Post of the Day ! Papertake Weekly Challenge !

I spent the entire morning (from 8.45 am til 12 noon) trying to tackle my ever growing ironing pile. I only stopped at midday to take Ski tap dancing. Would you believe I still have a huge basket to do yet !! Can you believe we have that many clothes ?!!!!

When my DH arrived home from work at lunchtime he thought he had walked into a laundry ! I asked if I had earned some time off for good behaviour this morning and he said yes ! Wooo hooo, into the dining room I go to my goodies !! With DH in bed (he was up at 3am to go to work) and the girls upstairs playing with aliens (don't ask !!), I settled down for the afternoon with a fantastic sketch by Dawny P on Papertake Weekly.

Here is my take on her great sketch :

The base card is white Bazzill.

The patterned papers are My Minds Eye "The Laundry Line". I treated myself to these scrummy beauties the other day and my goodness, do they smell ! The whole house smells and I wouldn't even say it was a nice smell - hope it goes soon otherwise I shall have to put them in the shed !!

The red card is Core'dinations.

The image and sentiment is by The Greetings Farm and is "Rock the Farm". I have paper pieced Anya's hat, dungarees and bows. The rest has been coloured with ProMarkers.

The raffia ribbon is from Hobbycraft.

The brads are from my stash.

I also managed to decorate the inside too :

The journaling stamp is by Little Yellow Bicycle. These are fantastic as they have different corners that slot into the gap (iykwim !). This has been stamped with Brilliance coffee bean and pearlescent poppy.

The dew drops are by Robins Nest.

Just a little titter ! When they all decided to come downstairs Fizzy put her arms up for a cuddle. She had this very funny smell about her and when I asked what it was I was told in unison "alien juice". I didn't ask !!!!

Enjoy the rest of your Saturday and see you back here tomorrow for Colour Create.

BasicGrey Challenge #34

This week on the BasicGrey Challenge Blog we have a sketch for you designed by our very talented DT member, Anthea. It's a fantastic sketch and we hope you enjoy it too.

Here is my take on Anthea's sketch.




Personally, I'm very disappointed in my card this week and as my teacher used to say at school "Joanna, you must do better next time !" I don't know why but it seems so dull and lifeless. I should have thrown it in the bin and started again but time has been of the essence recently and I didn't have chance to make another. Never mind, we all have those days, don't we ? Anthea's sketch was brilliant to work with so I shall have another try another day.

The base card is Bazzill swiss dotted in white.

The patterned papers are BasicGrey Wisteria which are so pretty.

For my image/sentiment, I have sprayed the card with purple, blue and gold glimmer mists. The image is by Chapel Road Artstamps.

The purple flourishes are Inkadinkado Dot Flourishes stamped in Memento sweet plum ink. I also added some sparkle with a Sakura clear gel pen to the dots but it doesn't show in the photo.

The silver ribbon is from my stash.

We hope that you enjoy this challenge and please hop over and have a look at the rest of the DT's creations - they have done an amazing job again this week.

See you back here tomorrow for Colour Create where I feel I have done better this time !!!!

Hugs,

Gorjuss

I hope you all had a good Bank Holiday Weekend. Yet again the cold and rain didn't fail to disappoint and it was back again on Monday - yuk ! In fact, it was so chilly here yesterday, we lit the fire and snuggled around it and watched TV. It was nice to have a rest but it drives the kids crazy been cooped up all day.

Last night I was itching to make a card, perhaps not an unusual feeling for us crafters but I was itching to make a card just to make a card (ever get this feeling ?). I'm always thinking about DT cards and never seem to make a card just to make a card so I did last night and this is what I came up with.

I feel that I'm not very good at all in colouring hair and so I concentrated on that part and I think it came out OK. I am thinking about adding some Copics to go with my ProMarkers so if anyone can suggest any good colours to start off with, I would be grateful. I think I could do with some good shades for hair.

The base card is white Core'dinations as I've run out of white Bazzill.

The blue card is Core'dinations.

The patterned papers are Making Memories "Chloe's Closet".

The image is of course a Gorjuss girl from Gorjuss Girls Set 2 and I have coloured her with ProMarkers. Ivory and blush (skin), mustard, sandstone and cinnamon (hair), china blue and cornflower (top and tights), lemon, canary and gold (tights), blue pearl (outline). I also used a white gel pen. Brown distress ink from a foam pad for edges.

The ovals were cut with my nesties.

The swirls, flowers and bookplate are all Sizzix dies.

Sentiment is from Clare Curd's clear stamp set.

The pearls are liquid pearls.

The pearl brads are Papermania.

Back to school again this morning so peace again reigns over the house (apart from little Fizzy running around that is !).

Have a great week and I hope to be back soon !