Gold Tones for Tilda and Bev's Million Hits Candy!

Have you had this dilemma?  You buy a paper you absolutely adore.  You can't wait to use it.  Then you cut into it and start to worry that you might not be able to get any more!  Or is it just me?  I'm afraid I'm the sort of person who gets a kick from just looking at my DP stash ... it's a shame, isn't it, poor old soul!

Well I have had one of those moments.  I love, love, love Melissa Frances papers but can't get them from that many places.  My last lots were from the Craftz Boutique (highly recommended, fast delivery, beautifullly wrapped in lovely leopard print tissue paper!) and I want to use them but dread not being able to replace them.  I knew when I saw the latest challenge at Stamp Something that I had to use this lovely MF gold-toned paper, particularly as I still have a couple of gorgeous deep gold open roses from Wild Orchid Crafts which match perfectly.  If only I didn't feel so sad about using up my favourite stuff!

So, the Stamp Something challenge is Autumn colours and as a change from the usual orange and brown I went for this lovely gold.  I used the sketch from Sketch Saturday and inked up a sitting Tilda, which I painted with distress inks. The card base and matting is Bazzill and the contrast paper is Sassafrass Lass.  I added gold stickles to Tilda's bow and to the left hand border.  I stamped a Magnolia tag onto watercolour card distressed with Antique Linen and added Doodlebug rub ons for the wee message.  Finally, the lace, flowers and pearls are from Wild Orchid Crafts.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

Stamp Something - Autumn Colours
Sketch Saturday
Stampin' for the Weekend - Tag

Now on to Bev's candy.  The lovely Bev from All the Things I Love has had over a million hits on her blog!!!  And quite right too - I read her blog every day and there is always something new to admire there.  Anyway, Bev is giving away loads of candy to celebrate her success - just look at what's on offer!

And there's more!  So hop over to All the Things I Love  - good luck!

Hugs,

Tracey x

Back again with a Tilda Card

I've been very lucky this weekend to have had some time to make a couple of cards.  This one follows a fab sketch by the oh so clever Dawny P for the Just Magnolia blog.  I think I'll also enter it into the Oldie but A Goodie challenge, which is Pink and Girlie.

I used Bazzill for my base card and Prima double sided paper for the main panels and Nellie die cut.  This is such pretty paper - I'm not sure that my photography skills do it justice, though.

The sentiment is from Craftwork Cards - my goodness, these are useful - and the flowers are, of course, from Wild Orchid Crafts.  This ribbon is by American Crafts and the wee heart buttons are Doodlebug - they're my last pale pink ones so I must try to find some more from somewhere.

I coloured Tilda with Copics and I must say that I agree with Bev over at All the Things I Love - I can't find a pink Copic that I like ... they seem so harsh.  Anyway, after several attempts, I opted for this one although I would have prefered a softer colour.  I added quite a lot of Glamour Dust to Tilda's bow and her top and popped the image onto the die cut, which was then mounted on sticky pads.

And there we have it.  I've done my school work, done the ironing, been for a lovely walk in Kirroughtree Forest with my beautiful boy (gorgeous weather here today!), watched a bit of the Grand Prix with the boy, put some lovely local beef in the oven and am now going to make up some potted shrimps to put in the fridge.  I sometimes wonder how I find the time to go to work ... I'm cream-crackered now though!  At least now that the nights are drawing in a bit it means that the sun is over the yard-arm a little earlier and I can feel a wee glass of red calling me!

Enjoy your evening and have a great week, whatever you are planning to do!

Big hugs,

Tracey x

An Untraditional Christmas!

The challenge at Lili of the Valley this week is to make a Christmas card using "alternative" colours.  At first I thought of yellow, but then I remembered a black and white card that I made years ago and how much I had enjoyed putting it together.

I had just the image in mind for a black and white colour scheme, bearing in mind that I'm not great with distress inks.  If you want to see black and white images beautifully painted, just hop over to Jane's Lovely Cards.  Jane Johnson is a very gifted crafter whose blog never fails to inspire me and she is second to none when it comes to painting in black and white using distress inks.

Anyway, here's the old card.

I made an easel card (again) and used black Bazzill for the base, the Nestie die cuts and for the white mat.  The papers are Doodlebug, the sentiment is from Craftwork Cards and the self-adhesive pearls, chandelier and white flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts.  The flowers were part of a spray which I cut up so that I could use the blooms individually.

I tried taking a picture from another angle ...

The image is one of the new Lili of the Valley stamps and I coloured her with Promarkers. I used a dark grey on her coat which I then shaded with a black Prisma pencil.  I used Glamour Dust for a bit of sparkle on her hat and scarf and Flowersoft Polar White mixed with some Art Glitter White Gala Glitz for the snow.  That Art Glitter stuff is quite good for bigger bits of bling when you need them but it contains some tiny wee balls that roll onto the floor if you're not really careful - watch out for the feet of your kids and your pets if they go on the floor!

 

I'm entering this card in the Lili of the Valley Challenge - Untraditional Christmas and A Spoonfull of Sugar's Anything Goes.

Hope your Sunday is going well - I'll be back in a bit with another card!

Tracey x



Bev's Weekend Candy

Bev over at All The Things I Love has another cute Tilda stamp up for grabs today!  Sponsored by Simon Says Stamp, this little cutie will be given away on Sunday, so hop on over to Bev's blog here.

Good luck!

Tracey x

Amazing Tilda Candy at Paper, Ink, Colour!

I cannot believe the Magnolia candy on offer on this lovely blog.  Do pop over here to have a look at the gorgeous stamps which are up for grabs.

Amazing or what?

Have a lovely Saturday!

Tracey x

Lace It Up - Just Magnolia Challenge

Another quick post and yet another last minute challenge entry.  I don't know where my days go at the moment and things are so busy at school that the time goes by in a blink!

This week's challenge at Just Magnolia is to use lace on your card.  I chose Tilda unwrapping her present and coloured her with Prisma pencils for a change after distressing the background with some Antique Linen ink.



All of the matting is Bazzill card and the gorgeous paper is from an old Basic Grey Christmas pad.  I used two layers of contrasting lace on the card to give it a bit of depth and mounted the Tilda image on sticky pads over the top of Magnolia's Silent Night, which I stamped in brown ink and distressed a little.

The lace, beautiful flowers and pearls (I don't know if they show up too well in this piccie) are all from the wonderful Wild Orchid Crafts.  I can't imagine making a card now without using something from WOC!

Sorry this is so quick - I need to throw something on the table for dinner now and then get on with some marking ... still, it'll soon be the weekend and hopefully it will stop raining by then!

Take care,

Tracey x

Stamp Something Digi Challenge

A very quick post this evening.  Talk about multi-tasking - posting this card which I did for the Stamp Something Challenge, marking essays, getting my son organised for bath and bed, washing up and wrapping up a present for my friend's new baby! 

Anyway, here is my card for the challenge - this week the theme was to use a digital image and I just had to make a card featuring Mo Manning's gorgeous girlie - she always reminds of little orphan Annie!

I use Bazzill for the card base, Nestie die cut and for the matting.  The glittery paper is from my stash but I am pretty sure it is by Imaginisce and called Pretty Maids in a Row.  The gingham ribbon is from my odds and ends box and the glittery dots are from a Doodlebug alphabet set.  I used a Sizzix die to cut the star from glitter card and attached the "superstar" metal embellie with a glue dot.  The embellie is years old but was from a Pebbles Inc. pack. 

I coloured Mo's image with Copics and Promarkers, using the Promarker blender pen to get some shading on the dress, which you may not quite be able to see.  I put some Glossy Accents on her shoes and covered the trim on her dress with white flock.  I think this card might be destined for my god daughter who is big into amateur dramatics!

Have a lovely evening!

Tracey x

Lili of the Valley Challenge - Sketch

We were given a super sketch to follow this week on the LotV Challange.  I've gone for much brighter colours than I would normally go for, but I was inspired by the lovely warm scarf this cute little lady is wearing.



I made a 6"x6" base from Bazzill card and cut plain and scalloped rectangles with some Nesties dies.  I coloured the LotV image with Promarkers and added some shading on her jumper and hat with a black Prisma pencil.  I used gold Stickles on the star and Twinklets on the tree, pompoms and on the ground.

The Merry Christmas circle is from Craftwork Cards and the glittery shapes and dots are from Doodlebug.  I took the stamens out of the Wild Orchid Crafts poinsettias and layered them up with snowflakes which were cut from acetate with a Martha punch, then covered in Twinklets.  I pinned them together with  a Doodlebug brad.  Finally, the holly has been cut with a Sizzix Sizzlit die from Doodlebug glitter card and topped with some Doodlebug glittery dots from an alphabet set.

Apologies for the dodgy photo, though - irl the image isn't shiny!

Have a great evening,

Tracey x

Halloween and Autumn Colours

Now that I've calmed down a bit since my hAnglar news, I can post my entries for the Magnolia Stamp Lovers Challenge - Halloween - and A Spoonfull of Sugar's Autumn Colours Challenge.

My family and I don't do Halloween and I certainly don't send cards, but there is something about the Tilda Halloween images which I just love.  I bought this Tilda stamp ages ago and she's been sitting in the drawer ever since.  I knew when I bought her that she wouldn't get used much, but she's so sweet and lovely to colour.

I made a tri-fold card which I covered in Basic Grey paper. I stamped a Penny Black spider and web directly onto the orange paper and cut out some foliage from Doodlebug black glittery card with a Sizzix Sizzlit die.  The bat is a Magnolia stamp which I cut out and stuck to a strip of acetate.  The acetate just slotted in between the DP and the card before I stuck it down.

I coloured Tilda with Copics and added some shading with a black Prisma pencil.  I added some Papermania tiny black self-adhesive gems and there we have it.  The hardest part was taking a photo of the darn thing - I just couldn't get it right, no matter what I did.

Anyway, time to get ready for work tomorrow.  I don't know where the weekend has gone!

Have a great week!

Tracey x

hAnglar Challenge No. 7

Oh my word!  I've just been onto the Lovely Hanglar Only Blog to see what the next challenge is and guess what - I've come 3rd in their "layers" challenge!!!  I'm so thrilled!  This was the card.

I managed to get a new hAnglar kit earlier this week. I check Ebay regularly to see if hAnglar are selling any kits and I snapped up Kit no. 11.  It only took 3 days to arrive, so I'm dying to play with it. 

I'll be proudly showing off my hAnglar blinkie when it arrives!

Hope to be back later with a card but in the meantime enjoy the rest of your Sunday!

Tracey x









Bev's Magnolia Candy

Bev has a Magnolia Stamp up for grabs courtesy of Simon Says Stamp.  You can go over to Bev's blog, All the Things I Love, here.

Magnolia Christmas Easel

Here I am again, slightly earlier than planned but the boy is watching the football and I now have a meeting after school tomorrow, so now seems as good a time as any to post this latest card.

Now this is something I really enjoyed putting together.  I have to say that I'm really into using these soft, muted colours at the moment - so much so that I've bought further supplies of my favourite Basic Grey Capella range, as I'm always worried that my faves will be discontinued!

Anyway, I wanted to follow the amazing Dawny P's brilliant sketch for the Just Magnolia Challenge and I also noticed that the CES Challenge was asking for Christmas Easel cards this week.  Perfect, says I, I'll combine the two.

So here we have one of my favourite Tildas getting ready for a spot of Christmas decorating.  I've used Magnolia papers which have been distressed with a combination of Frayed Burlap ink and Coffee Shop Glimmer mist (accidentally used the same sponge for both) and I've then glittered all of the edges with Stickles Frosted Lace. The lace die cut is from a Marianne D die threaded with some cream ribbon which I cut out from the inside of a cardigan (those things are really irritating in your clothes but a great way to add to your stash!).  That's a sign of middle age for you - I do like a nice cardigan!

Tilda has been painted with distress inks and I've used Pumice Stone - I love this colour - for her dress and tights.  The tinsel has been given a good coat of gold stickles to make it stand out.

The Magnolia sentiment has been stamped onto Magnolia paper cut with a Nellies die.  Last, but by no means least, the beautiful roses are from Wild Orchid Crafts - I have to have more of these - the colour is Ivory and they are stunning.  I gave them a bit of Christmas bling treatment with some glimmer mist before I stuck them on.  The pearls are from WOC too.

Well, that's me card.  Have a lovely rest of the evening.

Tracey x

Lili of the Valley Challenge - One for the Boys!

Kids often say to me "Miss, I can't do it!" and I always say "Of course you can.  We can all do things if we try".

And now those words have come back to bite me because I just can't do cards for boys!  It's even more frustrating because I have a son and I would love to be able to make "cool" cards for him, but I fear it is not to be.

However, I have tried to come up with something for the LotV challenge this week.  I know it's not my finest hour, but I had a go.

I inked/distressed my Bazzill and Magnolia card/paper to make it look dirty (as I say, I have a son!) and coloured the cute Lili of the Valley stamp with Copics.  The ric-rac was in my stash and is supposed to look like waves to go with the boat in the picture.  The little wooden compass is from a rather old Pebbles Inc. travel themed set and the mini tags are Doodlebug.

Hope to be back tomorrow with a Tilda card.

Have a lovely evening.

Tracey x

Hanglar Kits on Ebay!

There are gorgeous hAnglar stamps on Ebay right now!  They are direct from the company in Sweden (I only ever buy my hAnglars from here) and feature 3 cute characters.  Hurry - they're sure to go really quickly!

Tracey x

Bev's Delicious Candy

Bev Rochester is giving us the chance to win some totally gorgeous candy, including Promarkers, Aquamarkers (haven't tried those yet), a Lili of the Valley stamp and some flowers and ribbon from Wild Orchid Crafts. 

You can check out Bev's blog here. 

Hope to be back later with a card.

Tracey x

Cupcake Craft Challenge - Books and Stories

Hi there - hope you're having a good weekend!

I've had this little Mo Manning chap for a while but wasn't quite sure what to do with him.  I mean, where do you put the flowers on a boy's card?  But as soon as I saw the theme for the latest Cupcake Craft Challenge I knew I had to use the wee man carrying his books to school.

I coloured him with Copics and cut him out with  a Nestie die.  I then distressed the background and edges a little with some Frayed Burlap distress ink.  I used red and white Bazzill card for my base and mat, with Magnolia paper to finish.  The ribbon and brads are from a (probably now discontinued) pack by Making Memories - such good colours for a boy, don't you think?

The pencils around the image were a real find!  I got them in an art shop near where we live - I bought them ages ago but knew they'd come in useful - and so they have!  Finally I used some Doodlebug sticky tags to fill the bottom right-hand corner and there he is, with not a flower or lacy border in sight!

Take care,

Tracey x

Just Magnolia/Totally Tilda Challenges

I seem to have so much on at the moment and I really don't like not having the time to make cards.  Hopefully if I can get myself organised over the next couple of weeks I can aim for a couple of challenges a week during term time.

I thought I would make a card for the Totally Tilda Challenge, whose theme is Lilac and Lace.  It then occurred to me that the Just Magnolia First Friday of the month challenge is now "Anything Goes", so I'm going to enter this card for that as well.

Anyway, today's card has been made with Bazzill as a base and covered with Lili of the Valley papers.  I used my Martha Stewart Punch around the Page to make a lacy border around some Bazzill Dotted Swiss paper. I cut another layer of patterned paper with a Nestie and sat Tilda on top of ths. I coloured her with Copics, Promarkers and Prismas for shading and added a bit of glamour dust to her parcel.  The roses are from Wild Orchid Crafts and the lace is from my stash.

Nearly the weekend!

Tracey x

Lili of the Valley Challenge - Bev's Sketch

I only really got into following sketches over the recent summer holidays and now I'm hooked!  So I thoroughly enjoyed following Bev's sketch for the latest Lili of the Valley challenge.  I adapted the sketch ever so slightly so that I could make (another) easel card.

I used one of the beautiful die cut images for the main focus of my card and mounted this onto a scalloped circle/doily cut from a Marianne D die.  Actually I'm not having a huge amount of luck with these dies - cutting is OK but embossing using my Bigshot is very hit and miss.  I'd really appreciate any tips if you have them!

I covered the easel card with Basic Grey paper and used Wild Orchid Crafts Gardenias edged with Coffee Shop Glimmer Mist as accents.

Unfortunately the photo isn't the greatest so you can't really see the ribbons very well, but they are from American Crafts - I mounted a velvet ric-rac style ribbon on top of a brown sheer ribbon for some dimension.  I put the sentiment on top of that using a plain and scalloped Nestie with a Pebbles Inc. rub on.

Simple, I know, but still pretty - hope you agree!

Take care,

Tracey x

Magnolia Stamp Lovers Challenge - Autumn Colours

I love this time of year.  Here in Scotland the leaves have already started falling and there is no doubt that we are heading into autumn.  I like the colours all around me now as well as being able to go for long walks without getting soaked or frozen!  I don't even mind being back at school as the terms this side of Christmas are all fairly short and there is always lots going on.

I really enjoyed making the card for this challenge, which was to make a card using the colours of autumn.  I inked up Tilda, masked her and added a log for her to sit on, then masked the log and stamped the swirling leaves over the top.  I then stamped Tilda and the leaves again as I wanted to add some dimension to the picture.

I painted Tilda with Distress Inks and cut her out and did the same with the second lot of stamped leaves.  I painted the log with inks too, then layered up Tilda and the leaves to give a 3D effect.

I edged with image with Frayed Burlap Distress Ink, mounted this onto Vanilla Bazzill and then matted this onto Bo Bunny paper.  This all went onto a 6" x 6" base card made from Bazzill and a Basic Grey mat.

The ribbon is from my stash and the flowers are from the wonderful Wild Orchid Crafts.  I love the amber-gold open roses which I bought as part of a multi-pack.  Next time I'll be buying more of these, that's for sure.  The cream and brown multicoloured wild rose was originally just cream, but I sprayed some Coffee Shop Glimmer Mist onto an old, torn washing up sponge (ooh, the technology!) and daubed it over the flower.  I must say that I quite like the effect.

I must apologise, though, for the lighting on the photo - it has been pretty overcast here for the past couple of days and I just couldn't find anywhere at home to get a decent shot of my cards.

I'm also going to enter this on the CES Challenge Blog which belongs to Crafty Emma.

Well, that's all for now.  Hope you've had a lovely start to your week.

Tracey x

Wild Orchid Crafts - Make It Sparkle

Once again, I'm posting my card right at the last minute.  I don't know where this weekend has gone!

The challenge at WOC was "Make It Sparkle" and I've fiddled and faffed with this project so much that there is as much glitter on me as there is on the card.

I've used Bazzill card for the base.  I couldn't find the right colour paper in my stash so I used my Martha Stewart Punch around the Page on contrasting Bazzill instead.  The swirls are from a Doodlebug set - the sticky shapes have been sprinkled with glitter.  The gems are also Doodlebug.  The flowers have been sprayed with glimmer mist and the large open rose has been stickled as well using the colour "Icicle".  The flowers are, of course, from Wild Orchid Crafts.

The Hanglar image has been painted with distress inks and Twinkling H20s and he's had a good dose of Glamour Dust and turquoise glitter.  The star is from Quixotic Paperie and the ribbon is from my stash.

If I'm quick I'll just have time to post this before 8pm!

Hope you've had a lovely weekend!

Tracey x

Crafty C's Candy

Claire over at Crafty C's Crafting Library is giving away a massive amount of candy!  Hop on over to her lovely blog here to find out more!

Bev's Tilda Candy - Simon Says Stamp Saturday Surprise

Bev is giving us the chance to win Japanese Tilda courtesy of Simon Says Stamp.  You need to be quick though as the winner will be drawn tomorrow.  You can get to Bev's blog here.

New Blog, More Candy!

I have just found out, via the PinkPuds blog, about a new blog starting on Monday 7th September which will be offering prizes for sharing your favourite tips and tutorials.  Called Top Tip Tuesday, you can find out more by following this link.  If you sign up as a follower and put a post on your blog, you could win one of 3 Magnolia stamps from the Bon Voyage range.  Hop over and have a look!

Cats Whiskers Candy!

Jacqui at Cats Whiskers has some beautiful blog candy up for grabs. Why not hop across to Cats Whiskers here to take a look!

Just Magnolia Challenge - Dawny's Sketch

The uber-talented Dawny P provided a sketch for this challenge at Just Magnolia, so I decided to use Tilda leaning on the word "noel" to make another Christmas card.  I've managed to get one or two done now, which will save me some time later on this year.

I painted Tilda with Distress Inks, added Glamour Dust to her wings and gold Stickles to her halo.  The papers are Magnolia and I punched the white borders from Bazzill card with my Martha Stewart punch, the exact name of which escapes me at the moment.  The ribbon is by Doodlebug, as are the two glitttery brads holding it in place and the sentiment was in a pack of Forever Friends embellies I acquired from somewhere as a freebie.  The roses are, as always, from Wild Orchid Crafts.

Take care,

Tracey x