Nutshells #26 - Stripes

When I was at the Port Sunlight show on Saturday I visited the Nutcrafters stand to use the £10 gift voucher I won in one of the challenges on the Nutshells challenge blog a few weeks back. This is one of the stamps I chose - the image is called 'Harriet and Patch' and is available on their website here.

I made this card with the stamp today for the latest challenge on the blog which is to use stripes on your card. I've used pink striped paper (there's no company name on it unfortunately) flowers coloured with my Promarkers and some little gems.

Keep It Simple Challenge 7 - Seeing Stars

Here's my card for this week's challenge on Keep It Simple - the challenge is 'Seeing Stars'. You might wonder how the card fits in with the challenge but it you look very carefully, the background paper has tiny white stars all over it!

My image is from the SWALK range by Crafters Companion, the paper from Dovecraft and I've added some black paper and a peel off to finish it all off.

Dancing Bear

This is one of my favourite stamps from Elzybells - a very cute ballet dancing bear! I've coloured her with Promarkers and layered her on to pink Dovecraft paper and card with some black added by way of contrast. I've put pink gems around her waist and some larger sized pink gems in the four corners of the card.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

I Love Promarkers - challenge 35 'Think Pink'

Pollycraft Monday - challenge 64 'Anything Goes'

WOYWW Week 70 and Port Sunlight

Here's my photo for this week's What's On Your Workdesk? Wednesday week 70. You can see a selection of the ATCs that I've made to swap at the stamping show at Port Sunlight on Saturday as well as my punches, pile of tape, embossing powder, my little sanding block, trimmer etc.

If you're coming to the Port Sunlight show please look out for me - I'll have my HSNW badge on and will be working on the card competition table at the end of the day.

Another Card Featuring Halloween Chloe

Here's another card made with Halloween Chloe from Pink Gem (coloured with Promarkers) - this time I've made an easel card using the circle and scalloped circle Amazing Frame dies from Little Claire Designs. I've used orange dotty embossed card and black paper again and this time used my two flower punches on the base.

I'm entering this one in the following challenges:

One Stitch at a Time - spooky Halloween

By the Cute and Girly - spooky

Anything Goes Challenge Blog - going round in circles

New from Little Claire Designs - Owlgate

The new October club stamp from Little Claire Designs is now on their website here - it's called Owlgate and as you can see, shows three cute owls sitting on a gate complete with their Christmas hats and scarves.

This is my first card made with the stamp. It's been coloured with Promarkers, matted on to gold paper and then on to Craft Creations paper. The peel off greeting is also from Little Claire Designs.

Owlgate - Part 2

Here's another card made with the new Owlgate stamp - I've used the little footprints on this one too.

My base card was made using the circle and scalloped circle Amazing Frames from Little Claire Designs available here and here with pale blue card and Craft Creations paper.

Owlgate - Part 3

Here is another card made with the new Owlgate stamp.

I stamped the image twice for this one, cut out the owls and decoupaged them onto the base image. The stamped design was then cut into a tag shape using one of the dies from the "3 Tags" pack also from Little Claire available here. The tag has been matted on to green card with narrow strips of ribbon down each side and then on to red card.

Halloween Chloe

And this is my last card for today - made with the very cute Halloween Chloe stamp from Pink Gem Designs.

I've matted the design on to a scalloped black circle and then orange card embossed with a raised dot design. To finish I've added some black and white spotty ribbon and some black punched dots.

I'm entering this one in the following challenges:

Totally Papercrafts - It's a Kind of Magic

One Stitch at a Time - Anything Goes

A Spoonful of Sugar - Anything Goes

Keep It Simple - Gold Dust

The theme this week on Keep It Simple is 'gold dust' so I've made a Christmas card using a gold and white colour scheme.

The image is from a Paper Mania set and I've also used a gold peel off word underneath the tree.

Anyone for Anya? Sketch Challenge

And this is my entry for the Anyone for Anya? challenge blog sketch challenge.

My image is, of course, an Anya one from The Greeting Farm and she's been layered onto papers from Dovecraft with a sentiment from Craftwork Cards. I've added white paper flowers and little black gems to finish the card.

Allsorts Week 71 - Plain and Simple

This week's theme on the Allsorts Challenge Blog is 'plain and simple' so I've uploaded this card that I made last week as a 'get well' card for a friend.

The image is an Elzybells one and I've layered it on to Craft Creations gingham blue paper and blue card and then finished it with peel off dots and a greeting.

Oldie But a Goodie Challenge 2

This is my card for the second challenge on the Oldie But a Goodie Blog where the theme is 'pink and girly'. The stamped image on your card has to be at least six months old - mine is from The Greetings Farm and is from one of the first sets I bought called 'Me Time Anya'. The words 'pamper yourself' come from the same set.

I've die cut circles and scalloped circles to make my card and then added a paper flower coloured to match my image and some backing paper from Craft Creations.

Keep It Simple - Bling It!

This is my card for the current challenge on Keep It Simple! which is 'bling it'. I've used a stamp from Wild Rose Studio and backed it onto lilac card and then added some purple nail head gems in the four corners and down each side of the image.

What's on Your Workdesk? Wednesday 68

Here's a photo of my desk today for this week's WOYWW. I've been off work today so have made some sample cards for Little Claire Designs with their new Christmas Giraffe stamp - you can see all three in the photo and I've also uploaded one earlier today for a challenge.

The photo also shows my trusty Yellow Pages which I use for stamping on, my Fiskars paper trimmer which I use all the time, all my punches and my other essentials - DST, glue, scissors, tweezers, ATC bags, anti-static bag etc.

Moving Along With the Times #64 - Christmas

Just about made it in time for the Christmas theme on Moving Along With the Times using a new stamp from Little Claire Designs called the Christmas Giraffe which is available here. The backing papers I've used are from a Dovecraft pack called Jolly Happy Christmas which is also available on the Little Claire website here.

As always, I've coloured my image with Promarkers and then die cut it into a circle and added a scalloped circle behind. I've punched red dots to add to the corner of the green paper and then added a peel off greeting from Little Claire Designs to finish it.

Allsorts Week 70 - At Least 3 Punches

The challenge this weeks on the Allsorts Challenge Blog is to use at least three punches on your card. On my card I've used a Martha Stewart border punch on the edge of the base of the card and then different flower punches and a dot punch to make the flowers.

My image is a Penny Black stamp and the pink background paper is from Craft Creations. The 'stopper' on the card is from Craftwork Cards.

I'm also entering the card into the September challenge on Penny Black at Allsorts where the challenge is Punch Away.

Anyone for Anya? Monochromatic

And finally for today, here's my card for this week's challenge on Anyone for Anya? where the theme is monochromatic.

This is one of the first Anya images I bought (she comes in a set with a summer and winter version) and still one of my favourites. She is coloured with Promarkers and layered onto a scalloped then plain oval and I've added some punched flowers at the side.

Corrosive Challenge Blog #82 - Clean Up the Dust!

This card is for the current challenge on the Corrosive Challenge Blog which is to use something that you've had for a while but not got round to using!

The stamp I used on my card is from C&C Designs and is one that I've for quite a while - I really like the design but just hadn't got round to using it. And the backing paper is from a DCWV pad that I bought a while back but can never bring myself to use because the papers are so gorgeous!

Cute Card Thursday Challenge 130 - Tweet and a Flutter!

The theme this week on Cute Card Thursday is "Tweet and a Flutter" - your card either has to incorporate a bird or a butterfly.

I've chosen an Elzybells image which I've coloured with Promarkers and then layered onto brown card and pink gingham Craft Creations paper - I've added some brown punched dots in the corners to finish it off.

Totally Papercrafts Challenge #34 - Happy Birthday

The theme this week at Totally Papercrafts Challenge is "Happy Birthday" so I've chosen this card that I made recently for a friend's birthday.

My base card was made using the Amazing Frames circle and scalloped circle dies from Little Claire Designs and the paper is from Dovecraft. My image is from Pink Gem Designs and the 'stopper' on the base of my easel is from Craftwork Cards.

I Love Promarkers - Challenge 31

The theme on the I Love Promarkers Challenge Blog this week is transport. My card is made with an Elzybells stamp die cut into a oval shape and coloured, of course, with Promarkers. The backing paper is from Dovecraft and I've layered it on to black paper and then a white card and added some black punched dots and a peel off greeting.

What's on Your Workdesk? Wednesday - 66

I've remembered to take and upload a photo this week - by the time I remembered the past couple of weeks it was already Thursday!

This photo shows the main part of my desk with my cutting mat, draining board holder (with all my gems, pearls etc) and my Promarkers at the right hand side of the picture. You can also see (again far right) the set of tag cutting dies I bought from Little Claire Designs at the weekend and my collectio of punches on the other side. On my desk I've got a Penny Black stamp, a coloured image from the stamp and some patterned and plain card - I'm part way through making another card using this image. I've already made one card with it and liked it so much, I'm making another one which is virtually the same! The blue spotted card was another bargain from G-Mex at the weekend - ten A4 sheets in a pack for £1. They are supposed to be seconds but I can't see anything wrong with them!

By the Cute and Girly - Indian Summer

I've had this stamp from Penny Black for a few weeks now and finally got round to using it today - isn't she a little cutie?!

The background is some more of the cut price seconds card I bought on Saturday and I've added some ribbon and some blue card to finish it off.

I'm entering this in the current challenge on By the Cute and Girly which is 'Indian Summer'.

Bear and Bubbles!

I've made this card today to fit several different challenges. The image is from Elzybells and he's been coloured with Promarkers and then die cut and mounted onto a scalloped circle shape. The background is from a pack of seconds card I bought on Saturday at the G-Mex show and I've finished the card with a ribbon and some punched flowers. I'm entering this into the following challenges:

Pear Tree Designs - animals

Just Cute Bears - let's go dotty

Allsorts Challenge Blog - new beginnings (I think he looks a bit like a baby bear!)

Passion for Promarkers - where they want to see a bear on your card

Pollycraft Monday Challenge 60

This week's challenge on the Pollycraft challenge blog is to make a Christmas card without using red or green.

My card is made with the Christmas peel offs from Little Claire Designs and I've used a black sheet and white sheet in the "Christmas Pals" design. I used the black outline and then inlaid the white sections inside the outline to make the picture, leaving some of the scarf blank so my polar bear has got a stripey scarf.

I used the oval and scallop oval "Amazing Frames" die cuts also from Little Claire Designs to make my base card and some pale blue and silver card and paper to layer it up. The greeting and snow flakes are from the same peel off sheet.

All Set Up for Christmas - Part 2

Here's my second card from this month's club set of stamps at Little Claire Designs - a very quick and easy one made with the cute little penguin stamp.

He's been stamped and coloured with Promarkers and then I die cut a circle round him, added a circle of red card in the next size up and put that on to some Craft Creations green gingham paper. I've finished it with red dots of card.

The base card is from Craftwork Cards.

All Set Up for Christmas

The latest club stamps from Little Claire Designs are now on their website here - a lovely set of different Christmas designs including some great word stamps.

This is one of the cards I made using the set and is the club card for members this month. I've used red and green Swiss dot Bazzill card, a large and small scallop and circle die and then a small strip of card and punched dot to make the little faux fastening.

Another Blog Award

A big thank you to Heike for giving me another blog award - very much appreciated and a lovely surprise after a stressful day at work!

I have to say why I started my blog and then pass the award on to ten other people.

I started my blog as a way of sharing my cards and also entering all the great blog challenges that are out there. It's also a great way to get inspiration and ideas as there are many wonderful card makers and crafters out there with blogs.

Now to pass the award on to ten other people:

Mary's Card World

Sharon - The Little Stamper

Missy B

Susie's Cardmaking Adventures

Yone - Artes da Yone

Cockney Blonde

Cazro's Crafty Corner

Ali's Art Factory

Purple Murtle

Wishcraft

One Stitch at a Time - Challenge 28

The theme at One Stitch at a Time this week is "something girlie" so I'm uploading a card featuring shopping!

The stamp is from Little Claire Designs and is called "Lydia Goes Shopping" as is my backing paper which is from Imaginisce and is called "Tweet Talk" - it's double sided and you can see one side on the easel panel and one on the base panel.

The card itself is made with the Amazing Frames - oval and oval scallop - die cuts which again are from Little Claire Designs.

Blog Award from Mary

A big thank you to Mary for a lovely blog award - the first one that I've received!

So here is what I have to do:

1. Thank the person who sent the award to me - thanks again, Mary.

2. Put the award on my blog - done.

3. List three things that I love - crafting, blogging and relaxing.

4. Post a picture I love - I took this photo in my garden and was really pleased that the butterfly stayed put long enough for me to photgraph it!

5. Tag 5 other people for the award - Dot, Yone, Jax, Barbara and Kathleen.

Anyone for Anya - Happy Birthday!

At Anyone for Anya? this week they are celebrating the first birthday of the challenge blog so this week's challenge is, of course, to create a birthday card.

I've used Maria from the Greetings Farm Role Call set for my card. I die cut an aperture in the front of my card, covered it with acetate and then put the image in the middle of the acetate circle. My backing papers are from Dovecraft and the circular greeting is from Craftwork Cards.

Just Cute Bears - Challenge 31

This week's challenge on Just Cute Bears is to use pink and brown. My entry is this set of ATCs that I made last night and which, by coincidence, fit the theme. I know the middle one doesn't quite fit it but I made them as a set of three so I've included that one too. The images and the sentiment are all from Elzybells and the paper on the middle ATC is from My Minds Eye.

Pear Tree Designs - Challenge 13

This week's challenge on Pear Tree Designs is to make a card with the words 'best wishes' on it.

I've used one of the very cute Pink Gem Chloe stamps on my card coloured with Promarkers as always. My flowers were also coloured with Promarkers to match the image and I've sewed buttons in the middle and then sewed them on to the backing paper. The paper is from My Minds Eye and the 'best wishes' is a black sticker.

I Love Promarkers - Challenge 28

This week's challenge on I Love Promarkers is "the seaside". I've made an easel card using the 'Beach Huts' set of stamps from Little Claire Designs which you can find here. As always I've coloured them with Promarkers and then added some peel off words - also from Little Claire Designs and some punched dots.

What's on Your Workdesk? Wednesday 63

This is the other side of my desk - the right hand side was in the photo I posted last Wednesday. In this photo you can see my draining board cutlery holder again with all my pearls, gems etc in it and also my handle hole punch and Dymo machine. There's also a stack of double sided tape and a sheet which has tiny black dot peel offs on it. Under the desk lamp are my two boxes of little word stamps which I use time and again and also my punches. To the side of the desk is my box of 6 by 6 papers. The ATCs on the desk are for a round robin swap - I'm doing the 'finishing touches' stage before they go back to their owner.

Now I'm off to have a look at everyone else's workdesk!!

Cute Card Thursday - Challenge 125 "Tree-mendous"

This card is for this weeks challenge on Cute Card Thursday which is "tree-mendous".

I've used the 'Cupcake Tree' stamp from Little Claire Designs coloured with Promarkers and then die cut into an oval with a pale pink scallop underneath. The backing paper is from My Mind's Eye and I've added black dots to each corner to finish it.

Introducing Odette ......

The image on this card is from The Greeting Farm's 'Roll Call' sheet and she's called Odette. I've paper pieced her dress using the pink handmade paper that I used in the background - it's made by Paper Mania. The black strip down the side of the card was made using one of my Martha Stewart punches and I added pink nailhead gems down the middle of the strip.

I'm entering this in three challenges:

One Stitch at a Time - 'pack a punch'

Allsorts Challenge Blog - paper piecing

Nutty Nutshells Challenge - anything goes

Just Cute Bears - Challenge 29

This week's challenge on Just Cute Bears is "Bear and Me". My card is made with one of the stamps from Little Claire Designs available here - you get the main image and also the little shoes that I've used as the 'stopper' in the pack.

I've also used some stripey backing paper and some white flowers together with a peel off also from Little Claire Designs.

What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday - 62

I've noticed several people uploading photos of their craft room desk for What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday so I thought I'd give it a go this week!

This photo is the right hand side of my craft room desk. You can see my Promarkers and my desk tidy (actually it's a plastic holder designed for draining cutlery!) which holds my gems, glue, scissors etc. My Cuttlebug is there too and next to it my box of Nestabilities and other die cuts plus a couple of packs of Gorjuss Girls pyramage I bought at the weekend. I also have some cardboard CD holders from Smiths which I use to store all my unmounted stamps and a pack of Elzybells stamps (bought in their sale) waiting to be put away. I'm busy working on some vintage style ATCs so I have all my 'vintage' stuff out on the desk as well as a sheet of images printed out ready to go.

Cute Card Thursday - Challenge 124

This week's theme on Cute Card Thursday is 'whateva!' so I decided to upload a screen card that I made recently for a swap.

The base card was cut using a piece of A4 size green cardstock with the Wendy Stenton WS Designs screen card template - I didn't cut out the little 'feet' at the bottom because I wanted to card to be nice and stable and also wanted to put the decorative border on it. The border is actually gold (doesn't show up quite right in the photo) and was punched using a Martha Stewart punch. I added a gold straight line peel off along the top to neaten it up. The two floral images are from Little Claire Designs and the sentiments from Hero Arts. They are coloured (as always!) with Promarkers and then I added some gold nail head gems at the base of each inside panel.

Moving Along With the Times Challenge 58

The theme for Challenge 58 at Moving Along With the Times is Christmas so here's one of the cards I've made with one of the new stamp sets that will be available very soon on the Little Claire Designs website here.

The wording on the stamped design is "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year". I've coloured it with Promarkers and layered the image on to silver pearl paper and then onto lilac Swiss Dot Bazzill card. The greeting on the 'stopper' is a Little Claire Designs peel off and at the front I've added some punched snow flakes and silver peel off line.

Little Claire Designs Lazy Days - More Cards

These are two more cards I made with the Little Claire Designs 'Lazy Days' stamp set which is available here.

For this first one, I stamped the hammock and then added poles at each end before die cutting the image and adding the sentiment which is also part of the set. The background paper is from My Minds Eye.

Lazy Days - Part 2

This is the final card I made from the Lazy Days set - a simple one using the washing line stamp. I stamped it once and then stamped two of the pairs of shorts again to get a longer washing line, coloured them in with Promarkers and added a peel off greeting.

Allsorts Challenge 63 - Dressing Up

And the last one for today which is for challenge 63 on the Allsorts Challenge Blog which is Dressing Up".

This stamp is from Wild Rose Studio, coloured with Promarkers and layered onto black paper. The swirl design is a Sizzlit die and I've added some black pearl gems to the corners of the card.

Christmas in July

This is a Christmas card made with one of the new Christmas peel offs from Little Claire Designs which you can find here on their website.

I've put the peel off onto white card and then coloured it with Promarkers before die cutting it into an oval shape and adding a scalloped oval red border. My background paper is from Doodlebug and the peel off greeting and snowflakes are all the from the same sheet as the main image.

I'm entering this one into two challenges:

I Love Promarkers - challenge 25 "Christmas in July"

One Stop Craft Challenge - challenge 91 "Patterns"

Little Claire Designs - Lazy Days

The August club stamp set at Little Claire Designs is called Lazy Days and is available here now.

This is one of the cards I made with the set and it's featured as the club card for this month. I've decoupaged the man's trousers, arm and beer glass and used Craft Creations blue gingham paper as well as navy blue card for the background. Both greetings are included in the set too.

Lazy Days - Part 2

This card is made from the other stamp in the Lazy Days set and I decided to turn it into a Christmas card!

I've stamped and coloured the row of underpants and then used an oval die cut and scalloped oval round them, adding a peel off greeting and also 'Santa's Laundry' printed on the computer.

This card also features in the August club pack.

Lazy Days - Part 3

And this is the third card I made from the "Lazy Days" stamp set - this one also features in the club pack being sent out to members this month.

I've stamped and coloured the design as before and used paper from Cosmo Cricket called 'Delovely' as my background - it matches well with the pattern on the hammock. Again, I've printed my own words for this card because I thought it would be ideal for a retirement card.

One Stitch at a Time - Challenge 23

I made this card for my parents' wedding anniversary this past weekend -it's a bit different for me because there's no stamping involved!

I've used black and white decoupage which has feint silver lines in it - hard to pick up on the photo but they look much better ' in the real'. I've layered the design up using black and silver pearl paper and added a peel off greeting on the base of the easel as the 'stopper'.

The theme for challenge 23 on One Stitch at a Time is black and white plus one other colour so I'm entering this card.