DP giveaway as a bit of a celebration

Good Afternoon peeps, are you all ready for Christmas?

I think things are sorted at this end, although I would really love this lingering flu and cold to take a hike, it's on my chest now, all the benefits of that missing immune system, never mind, hopefully it will be on it's way shortly.

That all means not a lot of crafting has been happening these last few days, so a share of another one I made a couple of weeks ago for Stampalot using the Andy Skinner stamp set, along with some Glimmer Mists and stickles.

And I have another rather special share, this is what's on the shoulders of our eldest son following his promotion earlier this month to Chief Superintendent. It's a tad scary really as he seems so young to have reached these dizzy heights in just a few short years since he joined as a regular bobby on the beat. And it seems he's set to go further as they are sending him off to Cambridge to do his Masters in Criminology..........are we proud, you bet we are ! We are so blessed as all the children have done so well for themselves, been through Uni and into great jobs and every one makes us mega proud in their own way.

So a little blogland celebration, I have a collection of 12x12 DP's to give away, they include October Afternoon, Kaiser, Bo Bunny and a few pretty ribbons. All you need do to be in with a chance of winning them is leave a comment on this post and I will ask Mr Random Org., to draw a winner in a couple of days time.

Have a good day and thank you for popping by.

Anything but a card

Good morning one and all, it's time for a new challenge at Allsorts and this week Debs would like us to create 'Anything but a card', but before my DT work a few bits and pieces of news.

First off, a huge thank you to everyone who has joined in at Stampalot Challenge this month despite the little 'problem' earlier this week. And a little heads up that that there is a very special weekend coming up at Stampalot shortly, more details further down this post.

And lots of you have been so kind and asked about the post holiday saga so just to update you, no joy with my jewellery I'm sad to say. The concierge from the ship got back to me to say they had done a thorough search of our cabin just to make sure the box hadn't got pushed under the bed or something like that, but nothing turned up. Our cabin steward was a lovely lad from Mauritius and was so thrilled to have just been promoted to being a suit steward and their jobs are so precious to them that honesty is second nature and I have no doubt if found he would have handed it in. So I can only conclude it was stolen from my case in Paris at some point.

Fridges and freezers still empty but sparkling clean...........at least it forced a well needed job to be done............. as I've just not had time to shop since we got back as work and files up to the ceiling sort of took over, but it's high on my agenda for the weekend. And after all the indulgence on holiday a lean diet won't hurt us for a few days.

On to my DT piece for this week and I have come up with a Christmas tag book which I cut on the Big Shot Pro (thanks for the loan Stampalot), distressed each page with TH fired brick and sage, then spritzed with Glimmer Mist pearl. I stamped round the edges of the pages with Inkadinkado 98396 and the birds on two of the page are from the same Christmas set. The sentiment on the middle page is Art Impression J1674.

Finally, I added red Stickles, some punched poinsettias and tied the spine with ribbons.

I am off to Stampalot tomorrow, new Hero Arts and Le Blanch stamps beckon, so all going to plan I should have a few shares shortly as I need to get cracking with samples for the big Christmas launch weekend starting on Saturday 27th August. Some of the goodies are already available and can be found here.

Thanks for visiting and hope you have a good weekend.

Marks and Spencer gets crafty

Hope everyone had a good long weekend, despite the typical UK bank holiday weather which left a lot to be desired. Nothing too exciting happened here, but I did manage to get well ahead with sample cards for Sir Stampalot and DT work which is mega important with the wedding now less than three weeks away.

I have two very quick cards to share with you, the first is for this weeks weeks Everybody Art challenge which would like to see Pastel Colours and the second for Tuesday Taggers which is Recycling.

So what did I do, well as I said both were fairly simple and quick cards. The first is a Stampalot sample using one of the new release Hero stamps K5373 Flower Trio which I stamped with versafine black and embossed with detail clear, coloured with Tim Holtz mustard seed and tumbled glass adding Diamond Glaze then Stickles to the centres whilst still wet. I created a narrow border round the edge of the main piece of card by masking over the stamped image and stamping with Hero H3317 woven fabric and Hero F5042 leafy swirl with the same TH inks. The sentiment is Penny Black 3940F Life.

The second card is where my friend Mark Spencer lent a helping hand. When I took the packaging off some lemon sole fillets a couple of weeks ago and saw the reverse of the packing with news print I stashed it away and today it got an airing. I distressed it with Tim Holtz worn lipstick, rounded the edges and used it as my background. I made three punched flowers from the offcuts, shaded them with the same ink and spritzed with Glimmer mist vintage pink and dazzling diamonds. The main image is from a Magenta set CS043.

That's about it, other to remind you all about the new Stampalot Challenge where there are oodles of Tim Holtz products up for grabs.

Penny Black Challenge

Wooo Hoo, I won at the Penny Black's Challenge blog hop. Never entered one before so you can imagine how surprised and excited I was to see I was one of the winners. I get to choose $25 Simon Says products, so a shopping spree awaits.

And this week they have a great sketch to follow. It's not unlike one I quite often use so feel really at home with this one. I have used Daisy Bucket DP's on the base card and inked a mat using my very watery swish and swoosh inky technique with Tim Holtz Frayed Burlap, Peeled Pain and Broken China. The main image is Penny Black 3822K which I stamped with versafie sepia and embossed with detail clear and highlighted with stickles. The sentiment is Stamp by Judith SK-LG-207 and the border and corner punched with Fiskars Threading Water.

Rosie Dees challenge

Another scheduled post, this time for Sunday afternoon and a new challenge theme at Rosie Dees with a fab prize on offer from The Cutting Cafe, so do go check it out. Also the reveal of my card from this week.........and apologies to everyone and especially my teamies at Rosie Dees for their understanding as I have been unable to create anything for this weeks challenge due to ill health. But I am on the mend and will be back next week !

The theme for this card was Stars and Stripes. My stripes are in the form of DP from Daisy Bucket, two Christmas trees simply cut from brown cardstock and a pale blue pearlescent and run through the Bug using a swirly folder. A border punched with Martha Steward Embossed Zigzag, some velvet ribbon, a pearl ribbon slide and some star gems on the trees. Two stars atop the trees are from a punch and glittered with Stickles. The greeting is Penny Black 3995F.

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.

Rosie Deeds challenge 46

Today's post comes courtesy of Mr (schedule) Blogger all the way from Florence........the wonders of modern technology.......just hope all of this technology is actually working.

There has been a great sketch to follow at Rosie Dees challenge this week and today the DT can share their cards with you all. For mine I decided to go monochrome using some of my favourite My Minds Eye DP's. My main image is - wait for it ........yes - drum roll - it's Agapanthus Cluster, Stampendous P107 !!

Honest, I do have hundreds of stamps, I just love this one, it lends itself to so many styles. This time I have stamped in versafine back and embossed with detail clear and highlighted the agapanthus heads with crystal Stickles. The mats have been cut with Nesties on the Bug and the raised flower cut on Cricut storybook.

New Penny Black part 2

Here's the next one from these gorgeous new pre release Christmas Penny Black stamps just arrived at Sir Stampalot (see previous post).

This one is 3982K Golden Leaves and although it's in the Christmas range, it really is too lovely to use just once a year and I can see no end of uses for it. On this card I have used a Glimmer Misted background of Key Lime, Gold and the slightest touch of patina, then repeat stamped with Stayzon citrus green and Versafine black. The greeting is from from Penny Black 30-304 and the butterfly good old PB 3819D stamped on to vellum with versamark and lightly coloured with Brilliance thyme.

After tearing the edges I distressed with Tim Holtz shabby shutters and also stamped the base card with the main image using versamark and detail clear, although that doesn't show up too well on my picture. I tied a piece of gingham ribbon and added a pin and a couple of beads. Oh and especially for Jules I'd better say that I added some stickles to the butterflies thorax's.

New Penny Black Christmas preview

Afternoon all ........ guess what ........ I'm soooooo excited ........ I know little things and all that ........ Christmas has arrived in the Fens. Andy and Janice at Sir Stampalot were up till the early hours unpacking and uploading to their web site the newly arrived Penny Black Christmas stamps. And I've got some sample to try out so of course I am going to share.
It's been driving me crazy because I had an appointment for routine eye checks this morning and they put those horrid drops in so you can't see properly for hours and here's me itching to get stuck in to these stamps. Well managed to see enough to get one done, it's pretty simple until the eyes clear properly........ but you can't wait forever can you. Have ideas galore going round so I'll be back with more later.

This one is using Penny Black 3997K - Majestic which I simply inked with Versamark and embossed with detail gold, added some gold Stickles here and there and shaded with Tim Holtz antique linen. The frame is cut on the Cuttlebug from a Nestie frame and the holly Cricut Christmas solutions, which I also inked with versafine and embossed with detail gold. Added a cord bow, a greeting using Art Impression G3152 and a couple of baubles which came off of a cracker last Christmas ......... who said I wasn't a thrifty crafter ? Everything used is available from Stampalot including the new PB stamps, so if you want to get hold of yous, give them a call and chances are they'll be with you tomorrow, or at last Thursday - no pressure here Janice and Andy.

Penny Black and Cupcake challenges

Well first off I have news to share, just discovered that I made the Cupcake challenge Top 5 again this week, so thank you to all the team for selecting my card for their Black and White theme, it's a style I always enjoy.

I am combining two together with this card, Penny Black challenge which is "Swirls" and Cupcake this week is "Blossoms and Butterflies" which to me follow similar genres.
Lots of stamps used and of course some messy elements. The background was sprayed with Glimmer Mists lavender fields, lemon zest and honey dew mist, with a mask put in place before I sprayed to create a moon........I have some lovely coloured grass in my garden as I tend to do my spraying in the garden when it's dry.......doesn't everyone ?

The castle in the distance is Artstamps F0047M inked with Tim Holtz dusky concord, stamped off a couple of times before stamping onto my GM's piece of cardstock to give a faded effect. Flowers across the bottom are Penny Black 3948K inked with brilliance, lilac, thyme and gold and some stickles added at the end to highlight the flower heads. Penny Black swirl 2642 K has been stamped here and there again with Brilliance lilac and the little fairy is Rubberdubberdoo (it's wood mounted but there is no number), stamped both onto the main card and onto vellum, glittered and decoupaged.

The butterflies are Penny Black 3819D, stamped onto vellum and shrink plastic, which were coloured with sakura pens before shrinking. Leaves across the top are stamped with Art Impression F2055 using Brilliance thyme and the main card was stamped with swirly background Penny Black 3878F using Versafine purple and iridescent embossing powder.

Allsorts challenge week 8

Good monring everyone, week eight at Allsorts already, this time it's Amandas turn to select a theme and she has selected a SHAPED card. There is also some super candy on offer from Pink Petticoat.

My card is using the very pretty template from Cricut Wild Card. My DP's are Doodlebug and the butterfly image is JudiKins 2696K - Cloth Butterfly which I stamped onto vellum three times and cut out to obtain the graduated wings. I coloured the back of the vellum with Marvy pens, layerd it up with silicone, addded stickles and pearls for the throax and wire for the antenna. Cirles were all cut on the Cuttlebug using nesties.

Friday Sketchers

Another nice sketch from Friday Sketchers this week by Claudia, a bit different and I wasn't sure how I could work it at first, but relatively happy with the finished article returning to my safety zone of botanical......well I have done two cutise this week so don't want to go OTT.

DP's are a new double sided one I picked up last week from My Minds Eye and I used the reverse for the diagonal strip with an edging using MS arch lattice punch. The background for my image has been Glimmer Misted with tiger lily, pineapple and gold, my main image is Penny Black3939K stamped with a Kaleidoscope green rainbow pad and embossed with detail clear. Then I randomly stamped diamonds using Hero G3316 with Brilliance rocket red gold which I also embossed with detail clear. Crystal stickes have been added to the two flower heads and ribbon and buttons down the side and........ I'm gonna give away a secret here ........ I over inked my image and got a shadow down the stems, hence the ribbon across the image as well !

Allsorts challenge4

Again we are thrilled that so many of you joined in our challenge last week, a huge thank you everyone.

The theme this week is "Pink and White" and has been set by Lisa. Although I love pink and use it a lot and was pleased when Lisa chose her theme, this card is so not me, yet seems right. My cards are usually nice and symmetrical and defiantly not set at a "jaunty" angle, but the image somehow seems right that way so I went with it.

I had this idea to make a flower by gathered up some lace so the rest of my card was planned around that and I added a flower shaped button to the middle which I had been saving for ages for the right card .........well at least that's a half credible excuse for never using it before. The image is a Penny Black favorite 3817K, stamped with Brilliance orchid, heat embossed with detail clear and lightly painted with the same inkpad and stickles added to the stamens. The DP is Doddlebug designs and the scallops punched with my Fiskars punch. More of the same lace as the flower across the card and some pins and a gem to finish.

Stamp Something

The theme for this weeks Stamp Something challenge is "Clean and Simple Thank Yous" and also to case one of Lurens cards. I have selected her card from Happy Friday, 8th May shown here. My image is Magents 0445 and as Laurens card has two flowers, I stamped the main flower only, masked it then stamped the whole image. I have kept the colouway as close as possible to laurens card, using a K&Co paper in soft blues and coloured the image with twinkling H2o's and added ble stickes to the flower centres. The thank you is Art Impression G463 stamped in TH weathered wood.

Distressed and glittered

It's raining, it's cold so crafting seems the only option this morning, as if I need an excuse !

This card is really quite simple but I thought the colours needed to be left to do the talking. I build up the background with TH red brick, peeled paint and mustard seed and a bit of sepia around the edges. The image is Hampton Arts 4602 stamped in versfaine black and embossed with detail clear. I bleached out the flowers and parts of the planter to add an aged look, then added stickles to the flowers, leaves and butterflies when dry.

I resisted my usual impulse to embellish and simply inked a piece of grosgrain ribbon to match and stamped it using stayzon and a butterfly stubbie from Stamp by Judith (Stamp Addicts).

Special birthday card

Been asked to make a special card for a lovely lady called Lyn who works at the nursing home which cared for my dear Dad right up till his death at Christmas.

I make them lots of cards for residents and fund raising days, my way of saying that you for all their love and care during the three years Dad lived there. Lyn loves decoupage and lilac is her favourite colour and as I want to make this a bit special thought a stick pin made up in matching beads would add that extra touch.

The main image is PB 3865K which lends itself well to decoupage, stamped and embossed simply in black and detail clear and the decoupage layer stamped onto Sandylion DP, diamond glazed and green stickes added to the centre of flowers whilst DP is still wet. The bottom section is My Minds Eye DP which I also used for the '50' cut on Cricut Storybook. I also decorated the envelope with a greeting and off stamped the floral image as well.

Three into one does go

I've eventually managed to combine three challenges into one (only because I've been shopping and have new goodies I'm desperate to get time to play with). And.... to share some of our lovely weather and garden, my main photo was taken amongst the lilacs.

The three challenges are Stamp Something where we have been asked to "CASE one of Cindy's fabulous creations as inspiration for your own card". I've opted for the one you will find here where the theme was yellow, green and blue and it is also my DT call. The second challenge is the Secret Crafter with the theme "FLOWERS" and finally the Penny Black challenge where the theme is "Shapes - include at least three different shapes, excluding card and backing paper".

I have used two PB stamps 3948K and 2695J. The first has been repeat stamped and just the last two lines of the sentiment, both with majestic blue versafine and detail clear emboss onto pale yellow bazzil. The flowers have been highlighted with green stickles, green and blue ribbon tied across and a stick pin made with blue green and yellow beads, a button and finally three Swarovski crystals - they only go on very special cards.

Please also check out this post and help me raise funds for MS.

Penny Black Challenge 44

The Penny Black Challenge this week is a bit different and really did set a challenge - a gift, but of course a Penny Black stamp must still feature on the project. I decided to do another version of the Easter basket I made earlier this week (make up details can be found in my post Good Friday) and fill it with luxury spa products. The glittery paper this time is from KandCo. The stamp is Penny Black 3949H from Sir Stampalot and has been simply stamped in versafine black onto bazzil cardstock and embossed with detail clear, coloured with Sakura pens and covered with diamond glaze with stickles in the centre. The circles were cut with nesties. I ran a double line of matching ribbon round the bottom of the basket to finish.

Friday Sketcher Week 47

This is my first card for the Friday Sketchers Challenge. I quite like the idea of having a template sketch as the thinking is done for you and all that's left to decide is what stamps and elements to use. On this one I have gone with Poppies a favourite from Penny Black 3949H (Sir Stampalot), coloured simply with Marvy pens, diamond glazed with a touch of stickles in the middle while still wet and lightly chalked. The background paper is Daisy Bucket, the corner swirl Magenta 1205C and greeting Woodware FRC128. Oval mounts are cut on the CB with Nesties.