News....

Hey!

We're at the half-way mark! How's ya week been so far?! I'm shattered but I always get that on my first week back at work...roll on the weekend!

However, that's enough babble about work, I do have more interesting news to share with y'all...

During half term I noticed that over on Splitcoast Stampers they were looking for a new DT for their Clean-and-Simple (CAS) challenges for spring, Olympics style! Well seeing as I'd made a few CAS cards recently I thought, 'why not?'. I didn't make it past round one, but that's just the nature of competition, right? I was watching from the sidelines from then on when I received a PM asking if I'd like to be a guest designer for a week in March! Well needless to say I grabbed the opportunity and I'll be the guest designer for the CAS challenges over at SCS on Monday March 15th!

The official DT are to be revealed tonight sometime (well past our bedtime this side of the pond!) and the competition is tough; there are some AMAZING stampers out there. I'm secretly rooting for Sally (aka ApricotRose) who is flying the flag for Team GB - good luck, Sally!

I was asked to make a card based on a sketch for the closing ceremonies of the DT search tonight to introduce myself as a guest designer and this is what I've come up with:

Oh I know it's one of my fave colour combos, but when you feel a kinda pressure to do well I tend to stick to my comfort colours!

Card Recipe
Stamps: BasicGrey Delta Series - Design 7
Ink: Versamark
Cardstock: All PTI Enchanted Evening/Pure Poppy/Stamper's Select White/Pure Poppy Bitty Dot Basics
Accessories: PTI Fresh Snow Twill Ribbon/PTI Vintage Buttons/White Gel Pen/Martha Stewart Border Punch

Don't worry - I'll remind you of when my little DT moment arrives...kinda nervous but can't wait!

Thanks so much for stopping by and letting me share my news!

Catch ya later!
Aimes
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Black and White

Hey!

Happy Monday! Definitely happy for me, (even though I had to drive through ice and snow this morning with more snow predicted later this week), because I received my prize from PTI for the GSS Contest! Turning a New Leaf is in my possession and just begging to be inked up so expect to see it featured on a card sometime soon!

The card I'm sharing with you today was created for our shiny new challenge on our PTI Blog; to create a black and white card. I love the elegance and style sticking to a black and white combo gives a card:


Can you tell I'm still loving using the masking technique with my Friends 'til the End flower?! I wanted to keep things pretty simple so just mounted the image onto some foam pads and drew a border around it with my trusty white gel pen. Nothing too fancy but simply and classic methinks!Card Recipe
Stamps: Friend 'til the End
Ink: Versamark
Cardstock: True Black
Accessories: White Detail Embossing Powder/3D Foam Pads/White Gel Pen

Why not join in our challenge and think black and white next time you're having an inky session? I'd love to see your take on the challenge!

Before I leave I'd just like to say thanks to those who have shared their first creations with me for my Blog Candy! I've loved what I've seen so far and seeing how far some of you have come on your creative journeys - there's hope for me yet LOL! Though I have to say that you all had fabulous cardmaking style from the start of course ;D

Catch ya later!
Aimes
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Rainbow Birthday!

Hey!

Well to some of you TGIF! For myself, I'm having to make the most of my last day off *sob*!

Today's card was made to celebrate the birthday of Carol who is a fellow Papertrey Peep! She's a fan of all the colours of the rainbow so I found myself surrounded by lots of different coloured inks for this card:

Card Recipe
Stamps: Star Prints/Daily Designs Sentiments
Inks: Pure Poppy/Summer Sunrise/Lemon Tart/Spring Moss/Aqua Mist/Raspberry Fizz/Memento Black
Cardstock: Stamper's Select White
Accessories: PTI Vintage Buttons/White Button Twine/Fine Black Pen/Corner Rounder/3D Foam Pads

Happy Birthday Carol! I hope you have a fabulous day!

Right then, wishing you all have a fabby weekend! Don't stray too far though, can you believe I've hit 100 followers (well it might not be now, but believe me it hit 100 on Wednesday!) Thank you so much for your wonderful support and comments, they really are truly appreciated! To celebrate this, (and a special anniversary for me!) I can foresee some calorie free candy coming very soon......stay tuned!

Catch ya later!
Aimes
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Holiday Tree in Spring?

Hey!

Happy Wednesday! Can't believe it's Wednesday already - why do the days fly by when you're off work?!

Just had a little time to get inky this week so far and challenged myself to something that I don't really consider 'my style' (whatever that is!)

I dunno about you but I'm so ready for Spring now! I'm hoping this card will encourage the blossom on the trees to...well...um...blossom!

You can probably see that I've got even more use out of my Holiday Tree set by disguising it as blossom filled beauty using various dots from my Polka Dots II set. I'd love to say this was my original idea but it was this card by Maile Belles that got the idea started. That lady has more talent in her pinky than I could ever aspire to have!

I had to cut out the tree as in my typical clumsiness I'd dropped my acrylic block, giving me a nice big Hibiscus Burst splodge next to my tree! This then cued me to create a little pretty scene with some rolling hills and a cute cloud.

Card Recipe
Stamps: Holiday Tree/Polka Dot Basics II/Daily Designs Sentiments
Ink: Dark Chocolate/Hibiscus Burst/Sweet Blush/Raspberry Fizz
Cardstock: Stamper's Select White/Aqua Mist/Bitty Box Basics Spring Rain and Ripe Avocado
Accessories: Cream Ribbon Twine/Hibiscus Burst Button

Well I know it's kinda different but I hope you like it and that it encourages Spring to come soon!

Thanks so much for stopping by, I really do appreciate it!

Catch ya later!
Aimes
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Edited to add: just realised my love of polka dots on this tree means I can enter it into Lucy's card challenge - yay! Just in the nick of time as always LOL!

Inspired by Porridge!

Hey!

Happy Monday! And for once, it really is a happy Monday for me as it's Half Term! Cue a lazy morning hanging around in my PJs with a cuppa catching up with the world at my own pace - I love it!

Today I'm sharing a card I've made for a new challenge I've set as part of a group of ladies called the Papertrey Peeps. We're a group of PTI fans who fancied setting a few challenges and sharing the creations and inspiration!

For my challenge I decided to challenge people to use packaging as inspiration for their colour combos. Sounds kinda strange but I was totally inspired by my muesli the other day which spurred me to check out the Dorset Cereals' website and get totally inspired!

For my example I picked this scrummy porridge:



So I stuck to a colour combo of Dark Chocolate, New Leaf, Spring Moss, Pure Poppy and White for my card:


The DP was created by using the tree from my Holiday Tree set. Now who says you can only use that set for Christmas creations?! I like how it reflects the design on the packaging too!

Card Recipe
Stamps: Holiday Tree/Daily Designs/Daily Designs Sentiments
Ink: Dark Chocolate/Spring Moss/New Leaf
Card: Dark Chocolate/Pure Poppy/Spring Moss/Stamper's Select White/New Leaf
Accessories: New Leaf Twill Ribbon/Martha Stewart Border Punch/Circle Nestabilities/Cuttlebug

Feel free to play along if you fancy it and link your creation. I know that I'll be checking out a few other packages from that site for future colour combos for sure!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Catch ya later!
Aimes
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P.S I'm not affiliated to Dorset Cereals in any way what-so-ever, I just think their packaging is inspirational and their muesli is scrummy ;D!

More PTI Madness!

Hey!

TGI Friday fellow stampy peeps! Even moreso here because we get a week off for half term - woo hoo!! Cue some more inky time methinks though not before getting my car niggles fixed, my hair cut, visiting friends and family, birthday outing with friends and marking my books. Hmmm, d'ya think I'll find ANY time to get inky next week?!

If you haven't already you really must check out Nichole Heady's blog - I just can't get over the hype and excitement with the new announcements and releases! I wish I could have played along with more challenges but this week has been manic, (it felt even more manic because I'm dosed up on medicine walking around with a constant supply of tissues still!)

One challenge I have played along with was another colour-combo based one. I picked Lisa's colour combo (I do think she's one of my faves of the PTI DT. I love her style!)Seeing as I had some spare blank 3x3 cards I'd prepped, I used them to make a couple of cards like this:

I know the black doesn't feature much on the card but it still counts when it's only the text doesn't it?! ;D

Card Recipe
(PTI Supplies)
Stamps: Damask Designs/Daily Designs Sentiments
Ink: Versamark/Memento Black
Cardstock: Vintage Cream/Kraft/Spring Moss
Accessories: Vintage Cream Luxe Satin Ribbon/Decorative Edged Scissors

On another note (pun totally intended here!), all but one of my lil' love notes sold at work within two days! Only the 'I dig you' one remains so that one is destined for Chris' lunch-box. Thank you so much for all your sweet comments about them! I'm just happy it raised some pennies for a fabulous charity - every penny counts!

Thanks so much for stopping by, I hope you have a wonderful weekend and a gorgeous Valentine's day whatever you're doing!

Catch ya later!
Aimes
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Painting by Numbers...

Hey!

Back so soon you say? Well I couldn't resist joining in with the celebrations over at Nichole Heady's Blog so played along with her 'paint by numbers' challenge last night. The deadline is pretty soon so you gotta be quick but I recommend playing along anyway as I love the colour combos she's made us stick to. Your colour combo was dependant on what the first letter of your online user name is. So no surprises that mine is 'Aimes' (imaginative, eh?!) so here's my colour combo:
and here's the sketch to follow with very strict measurements...
...and here's where I totally mixed things up a little LOL!

You're allowed to do this with a sketch, right? I just couldn't get it to work any other way! I think it was because I was sulking (and coughing and spluttering etc), I was so tempted to re-register my online user name for another delicious colour combo LOL!

Oh and the sentiment I'll admit I totally bodged up. Note to self: if I want to emboss a sentiment do that first BEFORE covering card with Versa-marked Polka Dots! Seriously, I left the dots for over an hour before adding the sentiment and that darn embossing powder still stuck to the dots like glue LOL! Cue the paintbrush to dust it all away and attempt a rescue with a white gel pen!


Card Recipe
Stamps: Polka Dot Basics II/Daily Designs Sentiments
Ink: Versamark
Cardstock: Vintage Cream/Ocean Tides/Kraft/Spring Moss Bitty Dot Basics
Accessories: Lemon Tart Grosgrain Ribbon/White Gel Pen

That's all from me today. I hope you have a super Tuesday! Thanks so much for stopping by!

Catch ya later!
Aimes
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P.S Just to add, I've realised this qualifies for a challenge over on Lucy's Cards as it features polka dots! If you haven't checked out her blog you must - her creations ROCK!

Simply Sweet!

Hey!

I'm battling a horrid cold at the mo, it's managed to steal my weekend from me and make me feel pretty 'bleurgh!' so excuse me if my sniffles result in any typos on this post - my brain just isn't working at all!!!

The only thing I could force myself to do this weekend was make the sweet little cards I'd promised myself I'd make to raise funds for the British Heart Foundation. I was so tempted to just sleep, but I'd already asked my boss if I could sell the cards so he was expecting them this morning. Best not to disappoint my boss, I got inky...


These do look much sweeter IRL, if you think that they're only 3x3 inches in size and come complete with their own Kraft Envie, with 'To' and 'From' stamped on *sigh*. I know no-one else appreciates how sweet the envelopes are but I'm hoping you'll share my strange fondness for things like that!

So here's a closer look at each card:


...and this is Chris' fave - yes, I forced him to pick one and it did take him some time LOL! I think it's the bold colour combo that he's gone for, though I'm surprised he didn't choose a green card!


...and here's another shot of the lil' button card. I think this one is my fave, no wait, I think the cat one is, no, ooh, I can't choose! The main reason I've featured this lil' card is because of the Papertrey Peeps' (a group of amazing PTI addicts who've got together) current challenge which is to feature a button on your card - I think this qualifies! Feel free to join in this challenge too!



Card Recipes
Stamps: Tiny Treat: Valentine/Polka Dot Basics II
Cardstock: Stamper's Select White/Various PTI Colours!
Ink: Memento Black/Various PTI Colours!
Accessories: Promarkers/White Gel Pen/Fine Black Pen/Aqua Mist Vintage Button/White Button Twine

...and last but my no means least, these cards are my example for our shiny new challenge over on our A Passion for Papertrey blog. Our challenge is to create something for Valentines - easy peasy right!? I hope you can play along!

OK I'm signing off now, the hot lemon and honey are calling me!

Catch ya later!
Aimes
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L.O.V.E

Hey!

Happy Friday Eve! I hope your week isn't going as slowly as mine feels! it doesn't help that we had another good dollop of snow again yesterday which made for fun driving this morning to work...fortunately it's all melting now so my drive back tonight was much less scary!

Speaking of snow, I'm sharing another 'mini-card' (2.5" x 4.25") today that I actually made a while back when I was stuck at home surrounded by the white stuff a few weeks ago:


I was trying to be organised about Valentine's Day approaching and now it's creeping up on me this is still all I've got to show for it so far...

I used the sample of Simple Valentine DP that you can print off for the aperture. The sample size is great for mini-cards such as this because the pattern is a similar scale to the card! Though needless to say I now own a lovely pad of the real stuff now!

Card Recipe
(Mainly PTI supplies)
Stamps: Polka Dot Basics II
Ink: Sweet Blush
Cardstock: PTI White/Sweet Blush/Pure Poppy/Sample of DP
Accessories: Pure Poppy Polka Dot Ribbon/Heart Punch/Transfer Lettering/Sewing Machine/Corner Punch/Martha Stewart Border Punch

Oooh and I've just realised that I can enter this for a challenge over on 365 cards - bonus!

I'm planning on making a number of 3x3 cards this weekend using PTI's Tiny Treats: Valentine and offering them to colleagues in return for a donation to the British Heart Foundation. D'ya get it?! Heart Foundation, Valentine's, Love, Hearts?! Tee Hee! If I can raise any pennies it's better than nothing and if no-one wants to buy them then I'll be stocked up on little love notes for Chris for the rest of the year LOL!

Before I leave you I've been nominated for a blog award by a Amy! Seriously you gotta check out Amy's style when it comes to cards - it's awesome!


OK so I gotta list 10 things that make me happy then pass this to other bloggers so are ya ready?!

1. My guy (well he has to come first because I feel incomplete without him - bleurgh! LOL!)
2. Crafting (no explanation needed there then!)
3. Friends and Family (especially my blogging buddies who share in my crazy passion for crafting!)
4. Music - I love nothing more than to sing along and bop along to a good tune!
5. My job! I feel blessed to be able to say I really enjoy my job and gain so much job satisfaction from it!
6. Nights in, snuggled on the sofa with popcorn catching a good (or in some cases awful!) movie!
7. Chocolate - it always hits the spot no matter what!
8. Saturday Mornings! I love waking up early and realising that I can go straight back to sleep!
9. My mum's macaroni cheese - delicious!
10. Surfing around Blogland and getting a good dose of inspiration!

So I'm gonna pass this award on to people who I haven't nominated before - feel free to take it or not. There's no pressure but just a bit of fun!

1. The Papertrey Peeps (a group of amazingly talented ladies who I feel honoured to be a part of!)
2. Nadine (A lady new to the bloggin' world who has some fabulous creations!)
3 Vicki (A lovely buddy who has some lovely creations to share!)

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend!

Catch ya later!
Aimes
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