My New hAnglar Girlie

I haven't had much time to myself lately but over the weekend I managed to make something with my newest hAnglar acquisition.  I used the little boy last time and so it's only right and proper that the little girl gets an outing.

I'm the first to admit that I've gone slightly OTT with the flowers, but the card was made with the latest Lovely hAnglar Only challenge theme in mind, which is "For a Girl".  And this is definitely girlie, I think!

I've stuck with the usual suspects - I know what I like!  The papers are my favourites from The Girls Paperie, the border is a Magnolia die (worth every penny) and the flowers are all from Wild Orchid Crafts.  I even used the Magnolia doily die (sadly, not worth every penny).  I still can't match up the two halves of this doily to make a decent whole, but have found that a bit of judicious placing of your image can hide a multitude of sins!  Little hAnglar is coloured with Copics and believe me, she is just lovely to colour.  I added a couple of self adhesive pearls, again from WOC to the buckles of her shoes.

All of the edges were distressed with Lord Timmy's distressy-thingy and were then inked and Stickled to within an inch of their little lives.

Here's a little look at the inside. I just cut a Nestie shape and distressed it with the Timmy thingy before adding some Antique Linen ink to the edges.

Having a mad rush to get organised for my school trip which starts on Sunday.  If I can be back with a card, I will!

Have a lovely rest-of-the-week!

Tracey xx

Blog Candy Winner - At Last!

I have been snowed under trying to get everything done ready for my school trip to France so I'm a week late in announcing the winner of my birthday blog candy.

I asked the Boy Wonder to pick a name from a hat and he chose ...Chrissy!  Many congratulations, Chrissy.  A box of goodie will be on it's way to you in lovely Napier, NZ. 

Hope everyone is having a good week.

Hugs,
Tracey xx

Sweet Stampin' - Something Old, Something New!

Over at Sweet Stampin' Towers this week we've got a fabulous challenge for you!  We'd like to see what you can do using something old and something new on your arty creations!  Remember, it doesn't have to be a card, as long as it's stamped.

We are being sponsored this week by Bugaboo, who have some lovely digi images. I used this lovely frame for my little hAnglar butterfly boy to sit on.

I coloured the hAnglar with Copics and gave his wings - and the flowers on the frame - a good doing with some Stickles.  The border around the card was made with my new Martha Stewart PATP punch - I love this and will use it loads!  The stripey DP is Basic Grey and the brown paper is from my K&Co Madeleine pad, which is still one of the best sets of papers ever, imho!

The flowers and stamens are all from Wild Orchid Crafts as usual. And, by the way, my "something(s) old" are my hAnglar stamp and the papers and my "something new(s)" are the Bugaboo digi and the PATP punch set.

I'm off for another Lemsip.  On the plus side at least this cold should be over and done with by the time I head off to Paris with school in a few days time.  Can't wait!

Have a lovely Saturday - hopefully there'll be some tennis on, as I haven't seen any yet!

Hugs,
Tracey xx

Lovely hAnglar Only Challenge - A Sketch

My little mermaids arrived from hAnglar and StAnglar a little while ago and I've been desparate to use them!  The sketch challenge at Lovely hAnglar Only seemed the perfect excuse to ink them up.

I opted for some green toned paper from Prima and layered this with some Coredinations whitewash card, putting faux stitching around the edges (not sure that it shows in the photos) using a white gel pen.  I stamped the main image and then masked it so that I could stamp over the top of it.  I used the seaweed stamp from the same set and stamped using Versamark ink.  I then went over the background with some green chalk so make the seaweed show up. 

I coloured with my little mermaid with Copics before giving her tail, top and headband a good sprinkling of Glamour Dust. I then made some bubbles by dotting Glossy Accents around the background.

For the finishing embellies I added tiny pearls, roses and a crystal spray, all from Wild Orchid Crafts.  The crystal embellie is instead of a sentiment, as I don't know who is going to get this card yet! (Hope this is OK.)

I really enjoyed putting this card together and the stamp was a joy to colour.

Hope you're all having a good week!

Tracey xx

A Boy's Card? I don't believe it!

I'm facing my fears! I've actually made a boy's card and although it's not my finest attempt, I don't mind it on the whole. 



I wanted to use my new Martha Stewart PATP and as I've got Fathers Day and one or two male birthdays coming up, I thought I'd try it out with some blue Bazzill and some DP I've had for ages (can't remember whether it's MME or Bo Bunny).  The gingham is definitely Pink Petticoat, tho'!

I stamped Edwin and coloured him with Copics before sticking him to a Nestie diecut.  The gingham ribbon is Doodlebug, the other was from a box of chocolates, I think!  The sentiment is a hAnglar stamp which I dabbed with blue ink.

This is going into the following challenges:

Papertake Weekly - Dads and Lads

Stamp Something - Something Punched

Magnolia Stamp Lovers - Anything Goes

Hope to see you tomorrow! Have a great day. Oh, and today I was asked if you can take a hamster on holiday with you ... on  a plane ... in your suitcase ... answers on a postcard please..!

Tracey x

Sweet Stampin - Food Glorious Food!

It's Saturday, so it must be time for another Sweet Stampin' Challenge!  This week we'd like to see your creations on a foodie theme.  Our sponsor this week is Bunny Zoe's (check out the gorgeousness of this online shop here!).

Here's what I did with some cupcake downloads from our monthly sponsor Prairie Fairy.  I reduced the size of the cakes (well, it's not like I can eat them) so that they would fit on the cake stand.  I kept the card pretty simple as I didn't want to overshadow the image, so I used Copics for colouring, loads of Glamour Dust and some Glossy Accents on the cakes.  The DP is Pink Petticoat and the flowers are, of course, from Wild Orchid Crafts. The doily (appropriate, huh?) was from Joanna Sheen and is a lovely size to use on 6"x6" cards.

Apols for the dodgy photo - I just couldn't get a decent piccie I'm afraid.

Will try to be back with another card later this weekend. We're off on a hedgerow/bug hunting thing this morning (please let it be dry and not too cold) for part of a project the Boy Wonder has to do for school.

Can I  leave you with this classic from one of my classes this week? Picture the scene... we're talking about countries in Europe, trying to identify them on a map and lots of kids find this really hard, even at high school.

Me:  "I wonder whether anyone knows what this country is?" (points to place on map)

Lots of random guessing, with answers ranging from Ghana to Belfast...

Child 1: "Miss, would that be Austria?"

And just as I'm about to say "Well done"

Child 2: "Austria?  Is that no a bird?"

Me: "No, dear, that's an ostrich."

Bless.  I love my job.

Hugs,

Tracey xx

My Birthday Candy

I'm going to be even older than I am now in a couple of weeks and so I thought I should have a candy giveaway to celebrate.

Here's what's on offer:

In case you can't see from the photo here's a list of some of the goodies:

a selection of 12" x 12" papers (some Magnolia, Basic Grey, MME)
a 6" x 6" Crate paper pad
lace, tulle and ribbon
a selection of flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts
some metal charms
a pack of wooden I Kandee charms
stickers and rubons
2 x pots of Art Glitter in blues and greens
a selection of Boxalopes
3 rubber stamp sets:  1 x Prima
                                 Magnolia Flying Tilda
                                 hAnglar and StAnglar Sitting Butterflies (unmounted)

In order to enter, please leave a comment and I'll pick a winner at random on 20th June.  I would prefer it if you didn't follow me just for the candy, but you're welcome to join in if you like what's on my blog.

I've got a really busy week ahead but hope to get some time to make something at some point!

Have a great week,

Tracey xx

A New Challenge over at Sweet Stampin'

Oh, such gorgeous weather!  Yesterday it was really warm here but I was at work.  The weather forecast was for today to be at least 10 degrees cooler and cloudy.  What do they know!!!  It's beautiful here this morning - not a cloud in the clear blue sky and nicely warm.  Perfect!

Somebody must have had a word with somebody, because the weather fits so nicely with our new challenge over at Sweet Stampin'. We'd like to see what you make of "Playin' in the Summer Sun".  It's Team Fi's turn this week and they have made some fabby creations to get you inspired.  Hop over here to take a look.

I'm going to whizz through the housework this morning so that I can try to get outside later.  There are more weeds out there than you can shake a stick at so if the weather holds I'm going to see how many I can zap.  I may be some time...

Enjoy your day!

Tracey xx

Just Magnolia & hAnglar Challenge - Friends

Just doing this quickly before I put the Boy Wonder on a boil wash.  Some of his friends (I use the term advisedly) have "penned" him today.  For the uninitiated among you, this means they have drawn on him. Yes, drawn all over him.  And he has let them, apparently.  He looks like an extra from "Joseph" but without the coat.

I've had the Basic Grey Curio pad for a while and love all of the papers.  Problem is, I haven't really had much opportunity to use them.  When I decided to make this hAnglar card, though, I went straight to the Curio pad and got out these peachy papers.  I wouldn't say that peach is my colour, but I think that the peach and brown in the papers go really well together.

I haven't made an easel card for a little while and as I wanted to use this particular sentiment, I needed the extra room that an easel card gives you.  The sentiment is a rub on from a pack I've had for years and I put it onto a Nestie oval which had a good inking with Walnut Stain. 

I coloured the little hAnglar with Copics and sat her on a Magniolia die cut border and some ribbon from Crafts u Love.  Behind her is a Magnolia doily - just the half, as I've given up trying to match up the die to get a full doily die cut. 

I'm going to enter this card into the Just Magnolia and hAnglar & StAnglar Challenge, which is "Friends".

Have a lovely evening - I'm about to take a scouring pad to the Stripey One.

Hugs,

Tracey xx