Easter chocolates

Hope you all had a good weekend. Judging by all the news I have read about the NEC round blogland, I am thinking there is an awful lot of new stash being pushed around craft desks today.

No NEC visit for me, but I still had a crafty indulgence at Stampalot pawing over yet more new goodies.........you only have to take your eye off the ball for a couple of days and new stash has arrived. So leisurely shopping without the frenetic crowds plus a new Japanese hole punch.

I have resisted buying a new one for weeks since my old one........probably my first 'big' craft purchase many years ago.......gave up the ghost punching more than one sheet. Little did I know when I bought it that the price would come down by £10.......and that what I spent on the original one would be like a drop in the ocean compared with future crafty buys. But needs must.

I have one creation to share which you today which is for this weeks Cupcake Craft Challenge which has the theme of "Spring or Easter - with lots of chocolate" I was tempted to use brown on my card as the chocolate element, but I am still besotted with this new Kaiser Craft DP and wanted to keep my card light and bright, so the chocolate is in the form of a bag of them.

My main image is Penny Black 4076K Gift of Flowers which I stamped several times to decoupage, colouring with a mixture of Prismacolor pencils and Promarkers. The circle sentiment is Hero Arts A4981, the punched border Martha Steward doily lace trim and flowers, pearls and leaves added to embellish. The bag was simply made with a scoreboard and the same image from the card decoupaged and placed on the front.

Copics to play with, Promarkers for Sale

Copics have arrived at Sir Stampalot

Good Morning everyone, well not so sure about the 'good' the weather is atrocious, windy, wet and decidedly wintry although it has stopped raining and there is a glimmer of sun, so fingers crossed. But as it's been too miserable to go out I have had the perfect opportunity to craft........and play with these........Sir Stampalot recently started stocking the entire range of both the Ciao and Sketch pens and I have have been poring over them since they arrived.

I did not intend buying them, well not just yet anyhow, but on Thursday when I arrived home from Stampalot, there sitting on my desk was a big brown bag.......yes the full set which my lovely hubby had bought unbeknown to me.......should I be worried about his little arrangements with Janice I wonder ? They were apparently intended for Christmas but he figured I could be making good use of them now. Isn't he lovely !

Yes I know, I only got Promarkers in September, but if I am honest I have hardly used them and most have yet to be opened. It's very much me and not the pens - my dexterity is not brilliant due to my MS and I often have difficulty writing in general and found the hard tips of Promarkers difficult to guide, whereas Copics have a soft tip and after a couple of days of play I do find them much much easier to work with.

So if anyone wants to invest in the full set of 144 nearly now Promarkers, most unused, mail me as I am sure we can sort something out - edited lunchtime Sunday - sold I am afraid.

A little sneak peek of what you will see on 5th December

Oh, I nearly forgot to tell you that as lots of you have suggested I do a tutorial on the roses I make, I can confirm it's in the making and should hit a blog near you later this week. And if you want to see them made in the 'flesh' I will be showing you how at the big demo day at Stampalot on 5th December - mark it in your diaries, if last year is anything to go by it will be a fantastic day - more details and sneak peeks later in the month.

Allsorts challenge 27

Good Morning everyone, are you ready for another Allsorts challenge ?

We were blown away by all your entries last week for Jules 'Bring out your Bling' theme and if the record number of entries is anything to go by, you certainly loved this one. This weeks challenge has been set by our teamie Emma who has chosen the theme "For a Child", so many possibilities here that we are sure you will come up with some fantastic projects.

My card is a Christmas card and as the sentiment says, it's for a very special granddaughter - she loves all things sweet and girly, so this one should be right up her street. The image Noel Joy from Sarah Kay is yet another from my NEC stash and I absolutely love her. Stamped with versafine black and embossed with detail clear, I have coloured her with Promarkers and given her coat liberal sprinklings of glitter. I also added snow using JudiKins snow glitter. My DP's are My Minds Eye and Prima and the scalloped edge Martha Stewart Embossed Scallop. Sorry if the roses are becoming monotonous, but I so enjoy making them and they seem to lend themselves to these cute cards .........I know, I don't do cute, but it's growing on me. I embossed the edges of the roses and holly with iridescent glitter and punched the leaves from glitter cardstock. The greeting was computer generated.

More new goodies

Am I having fun with all these new goodies from the NEC and needless to say I have used one of the new stamps for this weeks Passion for Promarkers which has an open colour theme but with a sketch. I have also combined it with Everybody Art Challenges which would like to see "Distressing" this week.......yippee you hear me say, I so love getting a bit messy and Tuesday Taggers which has the theme "No Patterned Papers".

So my stamp...... code VA-1M-14 is from the Unmounted Stamp Company........ I have to confess the company is new to me but I am so glad I found them at the NEC as they have some absolutely wonderful images which stamp beautifully. I will certainly be visiting their on line store as I have my eye on some more which they had run out of on Sunday, no surprise really.

I have stamped my image with versafine sepia, embossed with detail clear, coloured with Promarkers then cut the mats with Nesties through the Bug. The background has been created by stamping JudiKins 6762I repeatedly with vesamark and embossing, again with detail clear. I then coloured and distressed with Tim Holtz Dried Marigold and Spiced Marmalade. The sentiment is a section of Penny Black 2695J. The swirls were cut with Cricut Home Accents and stippled with Adirondack Acrylic Dabbers Gold and Copper. I made the roses with some copy paper, glittering the edges with iridescent embossing powder.

Allsorts challenge 26

It's very much in the lap of the Gods when this post will appear on my blog........we have been having a new server installed which seems to taking far longer then they said we have had no Internet communication since lunchtime Thursday, so please do not think I am ignoring you all, I just can't get there.

This weeks challenge at Allsorts has been set my my teamie Jules who wants to see you "bring out the bling" and says "I would like to see lots of sparkle on whatever you create".........well how easy is that, we all like a bit of bling and glitz.

And this week our sponsors are Digistamp Boutique who have also provided the Design Team with images to create their projects. I chose this cute little robin image which I coloured with Promarkers, glittered his breast liberally with red glitter and added snowflakes cut on Cricut Accent Essentials using glittery cardstock. The large letters were cut on Cricut Plantin Schoolbook and the smaller letters computer generated. DP is My Minds Eye, border Martha Stewart Embossed Snowflakes, decoupaged the holly to give a bit of dimension and added gems for a bit more bling factor.

Passion for Promarkes

Morning Peeps, wet and windy - again, so hope lots of you are using the excuse for some serious crafting activity.......or are you all counting your pennies out ready for the NEC ?

Over at Sir Stampalot central (stand H05) it's a hive of activity packing and loading ready for the big event, as it is at Stamp Addicts (stand H30) and I'm sure lots of other locations around the UK. And come next week those of us lucky enough to go to the NEC will be bursting with inspiration all rushing to show off our new goodies on our makes........but with empty purses what else will we be able to do ?

Three challenges here, a great sketch from Tina at Everybody Art Challenges, and Passion for Pormarkers who have the colour theme of 'Grass and Canary' and wow do these two colours look great together and Creative Card Crew who want to see 'Ribbons and Gems'.

On to my card, a bit of a busy one for me, but it's sort of growing on me. My image is Sarah Kay Rose Garden, stamped with versafine black and embossed with detail clear and coloured with the two required Promarkers. The DP is Doodlebug and Basic Grey and the border punch Fiskars Threading Water. I made the three roses from the same DP and for a change I added some pearl stamens which I think works quite well. Leaves are punched from my new L-Em Ashe Tree Family 2 punch which I told you about yesterday. The little birdie and butterfly are from Penny Black 30- 034 and the flowers next to the image are from the Tilda range but afraid I have no idea of the code.

Quite a collection

Morning folks. I have a day of 'proper' work today to try and break the back of a wedding invitation order I have been trying to get finished for weeks. It's been a bit of a nightmare as the ribbon I used on the original samples seems to have been discontinued in the width I need so have spent days searching the Internet to see who has any in stock and hey presto, Monday I found three 25m reels at Athena crafts. And I have to say I was impressed with their service, I was in contact with them lunchtime Monday and the ribbon was with me yesterday, now that's service.

But before I make a start on those invitations a quick share of my card that covers a multitude. Following the sketch at this weeks Cupcake challenge, I have combined Passion for Promarkers where there is an 'Open' colour theme but the requirement to include an 'Animal' on your project, Creative Card Crew would like to see 'Snowflakes' this week and Tuesday Taggers have a penchant for a 'Burst of Colour', so all in all very easy to combine in one card.

My main image is Penny Black 4015K Christmas Tree Ted coloured with Promarkers who is a bit in touch with his feminine side in order to blend in with this really pretty My Minds Eye DP. His boots and hat have been diamond glazed and snow added using JudiKins snow glitter - added to dries clear glue this really is great for snow as it is quire chunky and give good dimension. Border are all punched with Fiskars Threading Water.

Addedndum: Been reminded that I forgot to say how I made the snowflakes - a new - did I say new, oh dear yep new Martha Stewart punch that I really really 'needed' and the brad snowflake is in a pack of six I found at Stamplaot but afraid already thrown the packing so no name.

A Halloween Trio

Morning peeps, cold wet and windy this Sunday morning here in the Fens.......typical the rain had to appear before they get through with the beet harvesting. And to match the weather I have a cold coming out so will be keeping it brief.

Mind you, before I can curl up and forget the world I must dash to Cambridge to pick up my coffee beans.......the worse possible thing happened yesterday I realised I was almost out and had forgotten to order my supply.......I have 2kg about every four weeks. Those that know me will realise the implications if I can't kick start my morning with the odd Espresso or four and my beans from Limonchello, my most favourite Italian delicatessen are my greatest indulgence at £50 a time, well apart from crafting 'essentials' that is. I know what you are saying, that's expensive, you can get them half the price, but believe me they produce the most wonderful flavour and crema.

So my card after all the babble that I was going to keep to a minimum. There is a lot of Halloween going round at the Moment.......might be something to do with 31st October, but as I don't have very much at all in the way of Halloween stamps, in fact just the one, plus a few tinies, I am combining three challenges here. The first is Penny Black where the theme is 'Halloween', Stamping for the Weekend who have the theme of 'Fangtastic Halloween' and I am using the nice sketch from this weeks Friday Sketchers. And finally this fits with Tuesday Taggers challenge, a new one for me but I have been prompted by Pat so here goes.

The main image is Penny Black 3716K stamped with versafine black, embossed with detail clear and coloured in with Promarkers. I used the three small stubby stamps I have with a pumpkin, spider and bat to stamp the hessian ribbon and also added a couple of bats to the main image. The spooky three is cut on the Cricut Stretch Your Imagination, the DP is a double sided one from Bo Bunny and the border my new Martha Stewart Checker Border.......this was another of those mystery purchases when I was at Stampalot Thursday. The sentiment is computer generates and I added gems to embellish the corners round the image.

Allsorts challenge 24

Good morning everyone and as it's Saturday this means it's Allsorts challenge day again and this weeks theme is set by Debs who has chosen "Furry Friends". The DT have all been treated to an image to use from this weeks sponsors Wild Rose Studio.

It is so good to see so many of you joining in with us every week and the inspirational team really enjoy visiting all your projects and of course as well as a prize every week, there is also the Top 5 who get to display our special blinkie on their blogs.

I chose this cute little mouse who definitely looks to be in Christmas mode. I coloured him with Promarkers and added diamond glazed. The DP's are from K&Co's Winter Wonderland 12 x 12 Christmas pad. I ran one panel through the Cuttlebug using the snowflake folder and mounted it onto a red mat edges with my Fiskars threading water punch. The snowflakes are also cur with a punch and red pearls added to the centres. The sentiment is from Woodware FRCL128.

Three into one

Good day all and what a wonderful sunny day it is here in the Fens, hope you are all having a bit of the same. Beet harvesting is well under way now and this weather is ideal for them, always hate it when it's wet this time of year as our single track roads........oh yes, it's pretty rural where we live......become a mass of mud. So I always get black looks from the Polish car wash team at Tesco when I take my mud laden baby in for her wash.......being a sporty number it sits pretty close to the road so the mud just piles up.

Anyway, enough jabber, this is just a quick post in my lunch break with a card combining this weeks Passion for Promarkers where Gina has provided a brill sketch and you can use any colours on your project, Everybody Art Challenge who would like to see punches and shapes on your card ans Creative Card Crew who's theme is scallops.

My image is Sarah Kay stamped in versafine black and embossed with detail clear and coloured with Promarkers. I have stamped her hat again onto my DP which is from Best Creation and decoupaged it and also made three roses from the same paper. The scalloped border is using Fiskars threading water punch and the leaves are also punched with a new McGill punch. The sentiment is one of four on a skinny cube SK-LG-207 from Stamps by Judith. Not the best picture I am afraid as despite the bright day seemed to get shadow in every direction.

Passion for Promarkers

Over at Passion for Promarkers Denise has set the theme were you can use any colours on your project but with a recipe of "3 different shapes, 2 papers and 1 ribbon". This one I made at the weekend fits the bill perfectly.


The image is one I found as a free download here, I fell in love with it immediately, it is so cute. Inger's work is wonderful, do go check her out.


I coloured the image with Promarkers lush green, meadow green, berry red and sandstone plus ivory and pale pink for skin and cool greys for the hair. The border is using Martha Stewart embossed scallop and the DP's K & Co peppermint twist pad. Large snowflake was cut on Cricut Accent Essential and the small ones from a punch. The ribbon is from my stash and added Diamond Glaze to the flowers on the little girls dress and holly wreath and the shading round the image is Tim Holtz peeled paint.


In case it is not clear my three shapes are snowflakes, circle brad and tiny red stars in the centre of the small snowflakes.

Spoonful of Sugar

At the risk of sounding monotonous, "here's one I made earlier" for this weeks Spoonful of Sugar challenge which is 'Christmas'. Thank goodness I got all my work done early for this Thursdays launch of By the Short and Girly. The DT have come up with some fantastic inspirational work - and not just cards either, a whole range of talents and crafts. And loads of prizes on offer from some of our best loved crafty outlets. So mark it in your diary - Thursday 1st October.

Mr Mojo is back I think, well at least the ideas are there but I feel just too spaced to concentrate or sit for long. Hopefully when all these medications are finished normality might return........one can only hope. So am keeping it short. The angel image is from Penny Black 30-036 and coloured with Promarkers. The swirl and greeting are also PB 3892K and 3995F. DP's are My Minds Eye and the border punched with Martha Stewart Embossed Scallop.

A little gift

Goodness me, I don't know where the last two days have gone, sort of always been busy but not much to show, especially craft wise.

So I am going to share something I made a couple of weeks ago as a little gift for my DIL. I would take forever to give instructions how I made the folder if I could even make it understandable which I doubt, so all I shall say is I used my scoreboard and made lots of folds ! If somebody really wants some guidelines, please PM me and I will see what I can explain.

The DP is my minds eye, the tree stamp on the front is from Inkadinkado 97513 and the one on the notelets is also Inkadinkado 98702-DC........in case it's not been obvious the last couple of weeks, I really love the new Autumn releses from this company. I added a small punched flower to each notelet and coloured the leaves with Promarkerts to match. I also ran each notelet though the Cuttlebug using different folders so each is individual.

Passion for Promarkers and another Gray

Don't shout too loud, but the sun's shining this morning, first time since Saturday in these parts, mind you the wind is oh so cold. The horses are non to impressed either and think it's time to move indoors full time for another winter of pampering. Do you know, if us humans spent a whole season doing little more than eating and drinking apart from the odd hack out, we would take on the appearance of sumo wrestlers.......so what's so special about a horses metabolism that they don't have the same problem ?

After all the activity of the weekend, buckling down to crafting is tough.......think Jules and I talked so much that out energy levels needed to replenish, but it was a fabulous day.......and a little secret, we have another one planned for the NEC. I have never been there before, so going on a strict regime of no spending until then - as if.

On to my card, Passions for Promarkers this week wants to see 'Polka Dots with an open colour combo'.......gives those of us lucky enough to have the new colours the chance to try them out.......one major nightmare here though, guess what I discovered...... there is another gray - gray green. I am also combining this card with the recipe from the Creative Card Crew which is '2 DP's, 3 flowers, 2 brads, 1 button and 1 ribbon'.

My image is from Stampevia WDS410, coloured with a mixture of Promarkers including Tulip Yellow, Pear Green, Salmon Pink, Antique Pink and Gray Green - all new colours, along with a few of the originals. I stamped and coloured the flower three more times and glittered the centre. The DP's are My Mids Eye, the border punched with Martha Stewart Doily Lace and the leaves are also punched. I cut down one of the flowers and reassembled in the top corner as I felt it was too large. The circle greeting is Hero Arts A4981 and finally a button , ribbon and two brads - centres of two of the small flowers on my image. Considering I don't do cute too often I actually quite like this one.

Stamping for the Weekend

This post comes to you magic of Mr Blogger......I hope ! I am away today paying a surprise visit to a blogging friend.......I can't tell you who yet, otherwise there won't be any surprise if they read this will there. But I will let you in on the secret tomorrow.

I also need to tell you all that there is a brand new Stamp Addicts Christmas programme coming up on Friday 18th at 11am. I shall share some sample cards with you later in the week and tell you more, but this card does use one of the stamps I used to create samples for the show.

My card is for this weeks Stamping for the Weekend challenge and boy did I struggle with it, don't get me wrong, it's a great sketch...... I just can't do busy and with all those layers I panicked I can tell you. But I have a finished card and I sort of like it, perhaps it will grow on me.

My main image is Judikins 2084H stamped with black memento ink and coloured with Promarkers and cut out on the Bug using Nesties. DP is My Minds Eye and the swirl was cut on Cricut Storybook, inked with brilliance lime and embossed with detail clear. The border is punched with Martha Stewart embossed snowflake and the tiny snowflakes are punched. The greeting is a Hero clear set for which I have lost the code.

Inspirational Card Sketches and Passion for Promarkers

Apple time in the fens...................

Good morning one and all, what's the weather like your way ? Here in the Fens we have our normal serving up of rain and cloud, even the dogs are non too impressed today and their early morning apple hunt didn't last too long.......they love this time of year with all the windfalls........Buffy, George and Abbey are cute cookies and roll their finds to push off the wasps, poor Bernie on the other hand learnt the hard way !! Here's some pictures of the gang this morning, although not Abbey, she's feeling her age with arthritis bless her and made a quick return indoors - with her apple of course.

And not forgetting the horses who enjoy the odd apple of four, checking here to make sure ones got the same as the other...... Big Ben (on the left) is a bit of a bully when it comes to food so baby (well 15.3hh) Heskey has to bide his time and grab them when he can.

On to my card for this weeks Inspirational Card Sketches which is another of Dawn B's fantastic sketches and Passion for Promarkers which has a colour combo of Sandstone and Blue Pearl.

My image is Sarah Kay Time for Apple Pie.......how apt is that I thought......and the tree Magnolia Swirl Gran. Both stamped with Memento black and coloured with the two requisite Promarkers. The sentiment is a skinny stamp SK-LG-207 from Stamps by Judith, DP's from stash, punched edge using Martha Steward Embossed Scallop and run through the Bug using Swiss Dots folder, then lace and pearls added to embellish. Edges were shaded with Tim Holtz Brushed Corduroy.

Friday Sketchers

I'm so thrilled as I won the candy at Friday Sketchers, $30 of stamps - my choose - from Verve stamps, so a big thank you to all. And this week Heidi has given us another super sketch to follow.

The finished article is a bit busy compared with my norm, but I think it has a sort of Victoriana feel to it and it's growing on me. I used a stamp I have had for ages but rarely used, it is Great Impression H133 which I stamped with versafine back and embossed with detail clear, then coloured the butterflies with Promarkers. The DP is from Kaiser and the butterflies made using my Xcut punch using some scraps of checked vellum which seem to be made for this DP as the colours match so well. I added some lace, made wire antenna for the butterflies, layered them and added Distress Stickles for the thorax. The greeting is from a clear Hero set, but afraid I don't have the code.

Passions for Promarkers and Creative Card Crew

I got such a lovely surprise this morning when I went to look for the new challenge over at Passion for Promarkers - last week I made the Top 5 again with this card........will teach me to remember to check in future. So thank you girls for selecting my card, I will have a smile all day.

On to this weeks theme, there is an 'open' invitation on colours but with the emphasis on "Girly and Glitzy", how good is that. And at Creative Card Crew the theme is "Pink, Black and White" so I felt these two themes lend themselves to one another.

My image is the very chick Stamps Happen 80436 Paris Socialite which I stamped with versafine back and embossed with detail clear and of course coloured with Promarkers. Her fur stole is encrusted with diamonds courtesy of crystal glitter and her bag, hat and corsage have black Swarovsky crystal gems to decorate. I added lace and ribbon, a feather, hat pin and beads to embellish. The border is Martha Steward embossed scallop.

More Christmas Penny Black

Afternoon all.........now I know there are those that think I've been slacking today and rapped my knuckles for no posting.........not that I'm mentioning any names of course Dawn......................Ooooops.

I really have been so busy, I have finished the sample journal from the Tattered Angles Trunk Kit ready for classes next month........and what fun this was, yummy Glimmer Mists which come in the kit along with the journals, glimmer chips and stencils. And also a few more cards for Sir Stampalots Christmas Launch this weekend so sharing another of the cards I have created for this.

It's those little penguins again Penny Black K5260 and the greeting 3995F, all stamped with Memento black and coloured in with Promarkers. Again the DP's are My Minds Eye, the border cut with Fiskars threading water punch and the snowflakes on Cricut Christmas solutions cart, embellished with a button, string and diamond glaze on the penguins.

Passion for Promarkers & Everybody Art Challenges

OK then, Christmas done for now........all this seasonal activity gives me the heeby jeebies so early but needs must and all that. So back to my botanical comfort zone and this weeks Passions for Promarkers using lilac, lavender, amethyst and aubergine using yet another gorgeous sketch from Bea at Everybody Art Challenges.

My main image is this so oh versatile image from Magenta 14315-0 which I have stamped twice onto white linen cardstock with versafine and embossed with detail clear and a third time onto acetate using stayzon black. The flowers stamped onto the linen have been coloured with the Promarkers, one image cut with oval Nesties through the Bug, the second and acetate images have had the flowers cut out, decoupaged and fixed with pearl brads. DP is Daisy Bucket and the greeting Art Impression G3130. Ribbon, a corsage of flowers and pearl stems added to embellish.

And I need to take this opportunity to say a big thank you to Lorraine a lovely blogging buddy for giving me this awad and such a pretty one at that.