Colour Create Challenge

Don't forget to enter my BasicGrey blog candy. To enter, all you have to do is click here !

A huge thank you to all those brave crafters who undertook last week's challenge at Colour Create ! It was a hard colour combo last week, wasn't it ? Never mind ! We have an easier one for you this week.

Our very talented DT member Chris has chosen the colour combo of ruby, cream and gold with the optional extra of gems.

The very first thing that sprang into my mind when I saw this colour combo was of course Christmas and I really, really wanted to to do something other than Christmas. I already had my Christmas box down from doing another DT card that had the theme "Christmas" and opening that box again after a year was like opening a new Christmas pressie ! The pull to use all those scrummy goodies was too much so here is my Christmas card !!!!

The base card is cream 12x12 from the Papermillshop.

The DP's are BasicGrey "Wassail".

The image is Anya and she has been coloured with ProMarkers. I also added some pearls for her buttons.

Colours : Skin - Ivory, blush and E01 Copic. Hair - sandstone, cinnamon and henna. Clothes - ruby.

If you click on the picture you will see an enlargement and you will see that for the background of the image, I masked Anya and stamped some Studio G snowflakes in watermark Versafine and then clear embossed them. I then rubbed over some Brilliance gold ink. I did the same with the label which is actually cream card with embossing and gold ink.

The sentiment is a Melissa Frances transfer.

Anya has been layered and matted on Core'dinations red card and gold card from my stash.

The gold braid and red ribbon is from my stash.

The diamond gems are also from my stash.

The other fantastically talented ladies that I work with have done a marvellous job again this week (when do they ever not ?!) and you would be crazy not to admire their work.

Simon Says Challenge

Don't forget to enter my BasicGrey blog candy ! To enter all you have to do is click here !

It was great to see so many of you joining us in our Christmas challenge last week and just think, you have at least one thing made already for this year !!

This week's challenge is more in keeping with the time of year - it's Back to School.

The DP's are scrummy October Afternoon "Cherry Hill"

The images are of course Tilda and the school desk. These have been coloured with Prisma's. Both the apple and Tilda's shoes have been covered with glossy accents.

Tilda is available to purchase in the Simon Says Stamp store just here Heidi has in stock a huge range of Magnolia stamps and some of the more unusual ones too.

The "blackboard" I made myself and wrote out the alphabet and numbers with a white Inkssentials pen.

The ribbon is from my stash.

The label was computer generated and the epoxy brad is a BasicGrey "Wassail" brad.

Heidi is very generously offering a $25 P&P free shopping spree in the Simon Says Stamp store.

Please pop over and have a look at the DT's creations, they are very inspiring.

Looking forward to seeing what you come up with for this week's challenge !

MY BLOG CANDY # 2

THIS BLOG CANDY IS NOW CLOSED. THANK YOU FOR ENTERING.

The winner of my first blog candy has just been drawn. Please see the post below for the winner.

Welcome to my second offering of BasicGrey Blog Candy very generously given by Simon Says Stamp


This fortnight I have for you :




A selection of BasicGrey "Indian Summer" papers. As with the "Eerie" papers, these are not yet in stock in any store (as far as I am aware), they have been generously given by Amber of Simon Says Stamp who received them from BasicGrey at the recent CHA show !


A Memento ink pad in "Paris Dusk".


A selection of gorgeous Flower Soft golden stickers.


How do you enter for this blog candy ? Well, there are no strict rules and the comments I make below are not compulsory to enter this draw but it would be nice if :

You could give your support to Simon Says Stamp, BasicGrey Challenges and myself by becoming a follower if you are not already.

Add my blog candy to your sidebar and please feel free to "take away" my blinkie !

Join in with us at BasicGrey Challenges and also Simon Says Stamp's challenge blog, Simon Says Challenge ! You can combine challenges with both of these challenge blogs which is great news !

This blog candy will be open to everyone Worldwide (including all DT members of both challenge blogs) until Saturday 5th September when I shall draw a winner with a random number generator and post a new fabby blog candy for you to enter.


Good luck !

First Blog Candy - WINNER !

Thank you all so much for entering my first ever BasicGrey blog candy very generously given by Simon Says Stamp. I asked you to tell me what you loved about BasicGrey and boy, you didn't hold back ! It seems that those crafters who love BasicGrey love it with a passion and couldn't stop writing about it in some cases !!!!

Anyway, you don't want me waffling, you want to find out who the winner is well........

Many congratulations to .......

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers: 34 - The Wife

Timestamp: 2009-08-22 20:08:19 UTC

Many, many congratulations ! Could you please email me with your home address so that I can ask Heidi to send you the blog candy.

Don't forget that there will be lots of other chances to win more candy. I will be posting my new blog candy shortly.

Have a great weekend and thank you so much for entering and for all your lovely kind comments.

Hugs,

BasicGrey Challenges

Don't forget to enter my BasicGrey Blog Candy. To enter all you have to do is click here !!!

My "Eerie" blog candy will be closing later this evening when a winner will be drawn. Please pop back later to see if it is you and also to see the NEW blog candy I will be offering for the next 2 weeks very generously given to me by Simon Says Stamp !


Wow, what an amazing response we had to our first challenge after re-launch. It was so good to see so many of you wanting come back and play ! We were all so excited on the DT to be back and seeing both our and your creations. Having the blog back up and running was like climbing back into your own bed after being away on holiday - so good to be back !!

This week, we have a colour combo for you




Ooooh such yummy colours !



The DP's are BasicGrey "Sugared".

The image is of course Anya and she has been coloured with ProMarkers and the edges inked with tattered rose and brushed corduroy distress inks.

Colours : Skin - ivory, blush and E01 Copic. Hair - mustard, sandstone and cinnamon. Clothes - cinnamon and blossom.

The flowers are hand cut and the centres are Craftwork Cards chocolate drops.

The ribbon is from Crafty Feeling.

The sentiment is by Hero Arts.

The pearls are from my stash.

You must pop over and have a look at the rest of the DT's creations, they are amazing and such an inspiration.

Martine is also drawing the winner of our launch blog candy - I wonder if it's you ?!!

Have a great weekend and thank you so much for your visit and for any comments you leave me - I do appreciate each and every one of them.

Hugs to all,

Ski's Card !

Don't forget to enter my BasicGrey Blog Candy. To enter all you have to do is click here !!!

My little girl, Ski who is aged 7 wanted to make a card yesterday and so made a card for Simon Says Challenge whose challenge of course this week is "Christmas in August". Looks like I have competition ! hehehe Just look how she has coloured her hair !!!

The DP's are last year's My Minds Eye Christmas papers "Be Merry".

The image is of course Anya and she has been coloured with ordinary felt tip pens.

The flowers and ribbons are from my stash.

See you back here tomorrow for the new challenge on BasicGrey Challenges and of course, the winner of the blog candies !!!

Simon Says Challenge

Don't forget to enter my BasicGrey Blog Candy. To enter all you have to do is click here !!!

Good morning and a lovely, bright and sunny one it is too !

Here we are again with another Simon Says Challenge - don't the week's just fly by ? We had an amazing response to last week's challenge of "anything but a card" and I tried to visit as many blogs as I could and all your creations were fabulous and very inspiring.

This week our challenge is Christmas in August so time to get all the glitter and sparklies back out again ! Did you know it is only about 128 days to Christmas ?!!

Heidi of Simon Says Stamp is very generously giving away a $25 shopping spree in store and we also have a guest designer who has a little surprise for you on her blog and also some of the DT are offering blog candy too - what more could you ask for ?!!

The base card is Bazzil kraft (just love this card)

The DP's are BasicGrey "Wassail" and I have inked the edges with brown distress ink.

The image is an Inkadinkado stamp but the poor chap wasn't given a name :o( but the number on it is 97347.LL. I bought this stamp to make last year's Christmas cards. I stamped the image in Versafine black ink and painted the snowman with distress inks before embossing the image with UTEE and putting it in the freezer for about 20 mins before cracking the UTEE to create a cracked glass effect. I think there is a tutorial for this on Splitcoasters if you have never done it before. After cracking the UTEE is rubbed some brown distress ink into the cracks.

The sentiment is a Melissa Frances transfer.

The post stamp image is a PaperArtsy stamp which I have stamped in Versafine vintage sepia.

The two little brads on the card are BasicGrey Wassail brads and they are actually pinning down two acetate snowflakes which I covered in Twinklets diamond dust. Unfortunately these do not show very well in the photo but are very pretty in real life !

The ribbon is from my stash.

The Poinsettia came from a Christmas garland I bought from Tesco last year and I cut the flowers off !

I hope that you can join us in our challenge this week and I look forward to seeing all your fabulous creations.

Thank you so much for your visit and for any comments you leave !

Manga Girl

Don't forget to enter my BasicGrey Blog Candy. To enter all you have to do is click here !!!

I've had the time to make a card for the Simon Says Stamp contest which is being held on Papercraft Planet the only problem is, I have made it by the skin of my teeth as it actually closes tomorrow, 18th August. If you are from the West of the World you have more time to join in (unless of course you like to burn the midnight oil !!!). You can find details of the contest at the Simon Says Stamp Group on Papercraft Planet. Would be lovely if you could become one of our friends and stop by for a chat.

The contest is to make a creation with the following colour combo. Close to Cocoa, Certainly Celery and Blush Blossom. The optional colours are Cameo Coral and White. The prize is a $25 shopping spree in the Simon Says Stamp Store !

I do not have any SU products so I had to improvise so the colour combo was brown, green and pink !

The scalloped card is from a card pack by Papermania

The DP's are BasicGrey "Euphoria" and together with the card tick all the boxes for the colours.

The image is of course that gorgeous little Manga Girl by Sugar Nellie and she has been coloured with ProMarkers.

Colours : Skin - ivory, blush and E01 Copic. Hair - gold, mustard and cinnamon. Top, socks, boots and bows - rose pink, cinnamon, marsh green. Outline - warm grey 2.

The ribbon is from my stash.

The flowers have been punched with two EK Success Retro Flower punches and pearls added from my stash.

The sentiment is a Melissa Frances transfer and these can be bought in the Simon Says Stamp Store.

Keeping my fingers crossed 'cause a girl can never have too many shopping sprees, can she ?!!!

Thank you for your visit and for any comments you leave - they all mean so much to me.

Take care,

So many challenges ! and an Award

Don't forget to enter my BasicGrey Blog Candy. To enter all you have to do is click here !!!

What a dreary old morning we have here today. I hope the sun comes out because I've promised the girls we will go to the beach party down at the local park this morning but with thick cloud and drizzle in the air, it doesn't look like beach party weather !

The school uniform shopping was a success, I was amazed at how quiet it was everywhere so no queuing in tropical heat for hours on end while trying things on and waiting for the decision on whether the shoes do actually fit or not !! Why when you ask the question "how do those feel" do you always get in return "I don't know" ? and why do their shoes cost twice the amount I would pay for a pair of shoes for myself ? I know its always been the same. I can remember doing it myself and I can remember my Mum and Dad moaning on for days about how much everything costs !

I've been very naughty and bought myself some new stamps and papers and, and ..... (as if I really need them !!) and so off to my "favourites" I went to see what the challenge blogs had on offer this week.

I have managed to tick all the boxes (I hope) for these challenges.....

Get Sketchy - I have used their fabby sketch for my card and the bonus challenge was to use patterned paper (which mine is but not overly patterned).

Stamp Something - Something from Summer vacation. The image I have used reminds me of my two girls, never the right way up and always full of the joys of Spring (or Summer !)

Passion for ProMarkers - colour combo of Cocoa and Rose Pink

Stamp With Fun - Birthdays. It's my friend's birthday next week so I shall give her this card





The DP's are K&Company "Roam".

The image is a Sugar Nellie, Diane Duda image called "Upside Down" and she has been coloured with ProMarkers.

Colours : Skin - ivory and blush. Hair - cocoa and blending pen. Dress - rose pink and cocoa. Tights and shoes - rose pink and cocoa. Grass - grass and forest green. Flowers - canary and turquoise. Butterfly - turquoise, rose pink and blending pen. Outline - pastel blue and blending pen.

The flowers, button and string are from my stash.

The flourish stamp is a Kelly Panacci border stamp stamped in Versafine "Vintage Sepia".

The sentiment is by Hero Arts also stamped in Vintage Sepia.

All the edges have been inked with brown distress ink (no particular colour - just off my brown sponge !).

I really now need to crack on with my DT work to cover the time when we are away on our hols so if I go AWOL for a few days - you know where I am !!!!

Thank you so much for your visit and for any lovely comment you may leave for me - it always means so much.


I received this lovely award from my blogging friend Simonne (SemSee)




If you have never come across Sem's blog, you must hop over and have a look as she is a very, very talented laydee indeed and her blog is an absolute pleasure to read.

Now I am supposed to nominate 5 people for this award but to be quite honest, I wouldn't know who to choose so I nominate this award to all the fabulous and talented laydees I work with on the BasicGrey Challenge Blog, the Colour Create Challenge Blog and also everyone at Simon Says Stamp and also to previous DT members who I have remained good friends with. Hope that is OK ?!!!

Sorry for the long post this morning. I will let you get on now !!!! Have a great weekend !

Colour Create Challenge

Don't forget to enter my BasicGrey Blog Candy. To enter all you have to do is click here !!!

We had a fabulous response to last week's colour combo at Colour Create and its so good to see so many of you playing along with us.

This week we have some fantastic news for you. We have a new team member. Welcome Deanne to the team everyone ! Deanne is an amazingly talented lady and would you believe it, she only ever uses stamps or stamped images under duress ! What an inspiration Deanne will be to us all !

This week's colour combo is Blue, Sand, Silver and Black. Our optional extra , if you'd like to play along with that, is Summertime. But please remember that it is optional.

Here is my card for this week's challenge :

The DP's have been downloaded from Nitwit Collections and is called "Sandcastles"

The image is a Pink Gem image which was perfect and give to me by my friend and fellow SSS DT member Lorraine - thank's hun ! This has been coloured with ProMarkers and matted and layered on black and silver card.

Colours : Hair - cinnamon and cocoa. Skin - ivory, blush and E01 copic. Top - lime and forest green. Jeans - french navy and indigo blue. Sand - lemon, gold and pumpkin. Water - cool aqua and cornflower. Crab - coral, spice and terracotta. Shell - coral. Spade and flag - lipstick red Copic. Silver metallic pen for highlights and shimmer on the water.

The ribbon, button and fish charm are from my stash.

The rest of the DT's cards are outstanding this week (as usual). Please hop over and have a look and leave them some lovely kind comments.

We look forward to seeing your fabby creations again this week.

I'm off out to Bristol school uniform shopping today - not the best experience in the World but it has to be done.

Ski and I went to the cinema in Bath yesterday, a lovely girly afternoon out together. We went to see Aliens in the Attic and it was a very good film and had lots of very funny bits in it which made is laugh out loud. Well worth seeing if you get the chance.

Thank you for your visit and for any comments you leave me !

Simon Says Challenge

Don't forget to enter my BasicGrey Blog Candy. To enter all you have to do is click here !!!

Before I tell you about this week's Simon Says Challenge can I just shout from the rooftops that MY BABY IS HOME ! Yes, Ski arrived home from Brownie camp yesterday lunchtime, very tired but excited and full of stories about her time away. She had a fantastic time and was only a tiny bit homesick. I am so pleased to have her back. I've had a very empty feeling for the last 5 days and as soon as I saw her yesterday walk off the coach it all disappeared.

Anyway, enough of my gushing !

This week on Simon Says Challenge the challenge is ANYTHING BUT A CARD !

Yes, we want to see what you can come up with that isn't a card so it can be a box, tag, layout, bookmark, notebook, photo album, journal, altered tin or other item. There, that's a few ideas to get the juices flowing.

I decided to go for a bookmark as I have a book ready and waiting to be read when we go on our hols. Whether it will actually get read is another question but the willingness is there !!!

I tried to be artistic this time in my photo taking ! but just in case you can't see the bookmark very well, here is a larger, close up piccie. If you need to see even more detail you can click on the piccie itself and it can be humonguous !!!!

The DP's are Making Memories "Chloe's Closet".

Tilda is from last year's Summer Stamp Club and she has been coloured with Promarkers.

Colours : Hair - mustard, sandstone and cinnamon. skin - ivory, blush and Copic E01. Top - Lemon and primrose. Jeans - cornflower and china blue. Socks - pastel beige, sandstone and blender pen.

The button and orange ribbons came from my lovely friend Judy when I won her blog candy a little while back.

The green ribbon is from my stash.

The jute is from the greenhouse !

The sentiment is a Melissa Frances rub on which can be bought in the Simon Says Stamp store.

Don't forget there is a $25 shopping spree in Simon Says Stamp up for grabs and some of the DT (including myself !) are offering blog candy so go and find the rest now you have found mine !

I hope you all have a great day. I am going to be spending the day cuddling my babies - it feel like I have a newborn in the house again and yes, I am the soppiest Mummy around !!

Thank you for your visit and for any comments you leave - they mean the World !

Hugs to you all,

BLOG CANDY !

THIS BLOG CANDY IS NOW CLOSED. Please check to see if you are a winner. If not, don't be sad, I've just posted a new Candy to enter !

This is sooo exciting - my very first, fortnightly BasicGrey Blog Candy and I've been itching to show it to you !

I have to give a huge, huge thank you to Heidi of Simon Says Stamp for giving me this opportunity to offer you all blog candy of BasicGrey products every fortnight alongside the BasicGrey Challenge Blog. Amber of SSS has been working so hard to pick the best of BasicGrey to send to you in the form of "kits" so that you can try a range of coordinated products all at the same time - just how fabby is that ? Want to see what you will be getting ? Well, here is this week's prize !!!

The next exciting piece of news is that you will be one of the first people to try the new BasicGrey papers that were launched at the recent CHA Show in Florida. The papers you are seeing in the photograph are called "Eeerie" and Amber has so generously given up a selection of these brand new papers that were given to her at the show by BasicGrey ! These papers haven't even been shipped to any stores yet (as far as I am aware) so you could be one of the first people to show these beauties off just by entering my blog candy draw !!! You will also receive the other items show in the photograph, it all comes as a kit.

How do you enter for this blog candy ? Well, there are no strict rules and the comments I make below are not compulsory to enter this draw but it would be nice if :

You could give your support to Simon Says Stamp, BasicGrey Challenges and myself by becoming a follower if you are not already.

Leave a comment under this post telling me why you love BasicGrey.

Add my blog candy to your sidebar

Join in with us at BasicGrey Challenges and also Simon Says Stamp's challenge blog, Simon Says Challenge ! You can combine challenges with both of these challenge blogs which is great news !

This blog candy will be open to everyone Worldwide (including all DT members of both challenge blogs) until Saturday 22nd August when I shall draw a winner with a random number generator and post a new fabby blog candy for you to enter.

Good luck !

BasicGrey Challenges First Challenge !

Whooo hooo the BasicGrey Challenge Blog is now officially with our first challenge after re-launch - just how fantastic is that ? We have missed you all sooo much and today has been a long time coming. Without further ado, here is our first challenge and we hope you can come and play along with us.

This week, we have a fabulous sketch for you designed by none other than the super talented, warm, friendly and humerous Tara G !

Here is my card :

The base card is Bazzill kraft.

The DP's are BasicGrey Mellow.

The orange and green card are Core'dinations.

The grid paper is Scenic Route which I have inked with distress ink.

The branch stamp is by Hero Arts from their set called "Scattered Leaves" and this have been stamped in Brushed Corduroy distress ink.

The birds have been stamped onto DP's, one is unknown but the other is BasicGrey Archaic. The stamps are BasicGrey Gamma Stamps and so are the sentiments.

The label is a small label which I glimmer misted with several glimmer mists, stamped with a Hero Arts sentiment and bird from their Birds and Messages set and embossed with UTEE and tied with jute string.

The ribbon is from my stash.

The flower is from a Hero Arts set called "Printed Flowers" and stamped in Brushed Corduroy distress ink and the leaves are Hero Arts from the set "Scattered Leaves" and was stamped in Hero Arts Shadow Ink (Soft Leaf).

The button is from my stash.

You must hop over and see the stunning cards designed by the rest of the DT - I think you can tell just by looking at them how pleased we are to be back showing you the fabulous-ness of BasicGrey !!! We hope you can come and play along.

Don't forget there is still time to join in with the blog candy !

Our challenges are now fortnightly so you have plenty of time to join us AND you can now combine our challenge with others ! Now remember that we will no longer be offering weekly prizes, instead 5 lucky people chosen at random from this challenge will go through to the monthly prize drawing which has been sponsored by our one and only sponsor Simon Says Stamp, and believe me when i say the prize is a good one :)

I look forward to seeing your take on Tara's sketch.

Have a great weekend my crafting buddies !!!

More Snuggles and some EXCITING NEWS !

SORRY - LONG POST ALERT !!!

Whooo hooooo the sun is shining - at last ! Yesterday was supposed to be like a Summer's day so they said on the news. Well, it was - it poured and poured yesterday and they even apologised on the local news for getting the weather forecast so wrong !

Ski went off on Brownie Camp yesterday afternoon and as predicted, it was unbearable. I kept taking myself off for a little cry all morning while telling her with a huge grin on my face that she would have a wonderful time. I managed to hold it together right up until the coach started to move away and her little face up at the window looked so sad. Well, that was me, I spent all afternoon absolutely distraught ! No doubt at this moment she is having the most fabulous time and not even giving me a second thought which is the way it should be.

We have been told that we can write to our daughter's while they are away so I spent yesterday evening making a card for her which I can send to her today. I followed the fantastic sketch that is on Passion for ProMarkers this week and so decided to enter their challenge again this week. This week you can use any colour ProMarkers. Sorry its the same image again girls but Ski adores this image and as I said last time, it reminds me so much of her so please forgive the da ja vu to it all !!!!



The DP's are Imaginisce Enchanted Garden.

The image is "Snuggle" by The Greetings Farm coloured with ProMarkers.

Colours :
Hair - mustard, sandstone and cinnamon
Skin - ivory, blush
Dress and socks - rose pink and cornflower
Bow - cornflower
Rabbit - pastel green (same colour as Polly, Ski's snuggly rabbit !)

The ribbon came from Poppicrafts a long time ago.

The button, cord and heart charm are from my stash.

The sentiment is a Melissa Frances rub-on.

The flowers are Hero Arts "Share Laughter" which have been stamped with Hero Arts Shadow Ink and the little buttons are BasicGrey. These all came from Simon Says Stamp.

NOW FOR THE EXCITING NEWS !! STARTING TOMORROW .......

I am soooo excited to tell you that Heidi of Simon Says Stamp has given me the opportunity to give you all blog candy EVERY FORTNIGHT alongside the challenges on the BasicGrey Challenge Blog ! If you love BasicGrey then you will love this blog candy and if you come back tomorrow, you will see why I'm so excited, the candy is just amazing and I mean AMAZING !

There will not be any strict rules in entering for the candy or being able to win it but it would be lovely to see your support for the new BasicGrey Challenge Blog, our amazingly generous sponsor and my boss, Heidi and the crew at Simon Says Stamp and of course, myself by being a follower of our blogs and of course taking part in the challenges of the BasicGrey Challenge Blog and if you can manage it, Simon Says Challenge ! As I say, its not a strict requirement but your support for us all would be greatly appreciated !

When you see the candy, you will want to be a supporter - I am sure !!

Don't forget that the blog candy to celebrate the re-launch of the BasicGrey Challenge Blog is still open so get your name down !

Challenges on the BasicGrey Challenge Blog start tomorrow so I look forward to seeing you back here for such an exciting day !!!

I'm now off to go and busy myself for the day. Fizzy is still here to keep my on my toes and give me lots of snuggles !

Have a great day in the sunshine and thank you for your visit !

Simon Says Challenge !

Well here we are on another very rainy day. I keep expecting to see Noah and the Ark floating past the window to give me a ride !!!

On a happier note, it looks like the rain has given you a good excuse to get crafting ! What an amazing response we had to last week's challenge of Distressing ! When I last looked on the Simon Says Challenge blog this morning we had 144 entries ! Obviously distressing is a very popular choice.

Let's hope that this week's challenge is just as popular ! This week our challenge for you is ribbon and buttons and we all have some of those !

Don't forget that scrummy prize of a $25 P&P free shopping spree in the Simon Says Stamp store is on offer !

I made a "kickstand card" for this week's challenge. I took the inspiration from a "new to me" challenge blog I discovered on my travels called "Creative Inspirations" as their challenge this week was to make a kickstand card and they look so lovely. I might just be able to scrape in and enter my card for their challenge which I think ends this morning !!

The DP's are Cosmo Cricket "Honeypie" and Core'dinations.

The image is a Penny Black image called "Crossing Bridges" and this has been coloured with Promarkers.

Colours :

Mouse - vanilla, gold, cinnamon, dusky pink, rose pink and blender pen

Flowers - pastel pink, rose pink, gold, blender pen, Sakura clear gel pen

Leaves and stem - meadow green, apple and blender pen

Branch - cinnamon

Outline - blue pearl and blender pen

The Flowers are American Crafts and Hero Arts and the button brads are Making Memories (I think !).

The tulle (which I think counts as ribbon) was sent to me by my lovely friend Martine.

I also decorated the inside of my card :

The grid paper is Scenic Route which I inked with distress ink.

The top has been punched with a Stampin Up notebook punch.

The sentiment is from a fabulous set of Simon Says Stamp "Exclusive" Stamps called "Simply The Best" which is a great pack of sentiments for any occasion you would wish for !

The buttons are from my stash.

The DT have made some wonderful cards for you to drool over this week - hop over and have a look. If you go on a blog hop through the DT's blogs you may also find some blog candy lurking !! Happy hunting !

Today is a busy day for me. Ski is off to Brownie camp tomorrow so I shall be packing her case for her and putting name tags into everything ! She keeps having the odd moment where she doesn't want to go and we have tears. I'm trying to be upbeat and saying she will have a wonderful time but goodness knows how I am holding back the tears ! I think I will miss her more than she will miss us !! I just have to keep it together until the coach leaves at midday tomorrow and then I can open the flood gates :o( At least I will have little Fizzy here keeping me on my toes and I am sure will we have a lovely time together too.

Thank you for your visit and for any comments that you leave.

See you soon !

Gone Fishin' !!

Good Sunday morning ! For a change its a bright sunny morning so the washing machine is spinning in the hope I might get some washing dried outside rather than using the tumber dryer again. Hopefully I can get the girls out too if I can prise them apart from fighting !!!

I have a whole string of birthday's in August and at least 4 of them are for boys aged between 5 and 8 so here is a card I knocked up earlier.

we seem to have a bit of a blue hue going on here but anyway.......

The DP's are DCWV the Green Stack.

The image is Ian from The Greeting Farm and he has been coloured with ProMarkers. Sorry, I forgot to write down the colours this time.

The ribbon was from my friend Judy and I just love it.

This fish charm was from my stash and has been tied up with a bit of jute string.

The tag was another experiment ! I have been following the "Thinking Inking" tutorials (this is a link to all the classes they have run so far and there are more to come in the next couple of weeks) on TwoPeas and the latest have been using alcohol inks. I only have two alcohol inks and are not the colours I wanted so I had a brainstorm and thought I would use my ProMarkers instead.

I coloured an acrylic tag with ProMarkers and let the ink dry before sticking a piece of white paper to the reverse of the tag with glossy accents.

I then stamped the front of the tag with the sentiment and fish in black stazon.

I'm pleased with the result but there are some things I might try differently next time like pick the colour up with the Ranger felt and apply it with the tool rather than directly from the pen. I have a feeling the colours might blend a little better then. I'll keep you posted !

Thank you for your visit. Hope you have a lovely Sunday whatever you are doing and thank you so much for any comments you leave me. I do love to read them.