Shake It For Autumn

Hello Autumn. My favourite time of year.
Now I can get out my fluffy bed socks, my big coat, and indulge in some pumpkin spice lattes.

Here's a little, autumn shaker card.

I stamped and coloured my autumn wreath onto a card panel. Then, looking at it, I though it was a bit plain. So I ended up fussy cutting the middle out, and turning it into a shaker card.
Then I added the squizzer, popped up with foam tape, and went a little crazy with a white gel pen.

Usually I have a plan for where my cards are going, someone's birthday or anniversary, etc but I have no plans for this one yet. So I've left the sentiment off for now.
It could end up as a 'thank you', and 'autumn birthday', or just a 'hello' card.

Challenge

AAA Colourful

• clearly besotted - ring around autumn
• copic markers and white gel pen
• pinkfresh studio - diagonal stitch rectangle

Sweet Birthday Wishes

Hello.
It's July, and it's pouring down, so that must mean it's Yorkshire Show week!
Time to stay indoors and craft, and keep away from all that show traffic.

On the plus side, a new ice cream parlour has opened nearby and I can't wait to try their Mochaccino, and their Rum & Raisin, and their Pistachio, and...

This was a simple card. I smooshed some blue ink onto a card panel, splattered it with water, and then added my ice cream hippos with foam tape.

Challenge

AAA Cards

• clearly besotted - cooling off
• sentiment from mama elephant - birthday messages
• distress ink - tumbled glass
• copic markers and white gel pen

Marching On Together

Eek! It's a big day today.
We're all excited, scared, feeling sick  - it's the Championship play off final at Wembley. 

Come on Leeds  

I've used these cute pups from Clearly Besotted. (No masking needed, this is one stamp)
They are a Christmas stamp, but I think they work just as well here, in their Leeds Utd colours :o)

Challenge

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge

Fur Or Feathers

• clearly besotted - howl it's christmas
• copic markers
• sentiment - mft strike up the band / babysaurus
• lawn fawn - stitched rectangle
• copics. white gel pen

Shine Bright Like A Rainbow

Hello. Today I've made a custom card for my great niece. And yes, I did have to google 'great niece' -  it sounds like something out of Downton :o)

I adore these letters from Clearly Besotted. They are just the cutest for creating personalised cards.
Today I coloured them with a rainbow of copics and fussy cut them. Then they were popped up onto an inky background.
I went a bit crazy with the white gel pen, but I was having fun. It seems, using rainbow colours really does cheer you up!

AAA Birthday Challenge

• clearly besotted - as cute as abc
• my favorite things - stitched scallop edge die
• distress ink - tumbled glass
• copic markers, white gel pen

Fa La La La La, La La La Woof

Hello.
I'm so behind on my Christmas cards this year! This is my first. Eek!
How are you getting on with yours?
I usually make all mine different, but I can see that this year I might have to pick one design and get a production line going.

This was a simple make though. The dogs (all one stamp) were stamped onto a card panel and coloured with Copics. There is a faint little, blue dot background around them, but the camera hasn't really picked it up. I was too scared to make it more bold, in case I totally messed up after all that colouring.

Did you know that the 1st class postage has gone up? £1.25 now! So, I will also be cutting back on the layers and embellies for those that have to be sent out.

Challenge

Less Is More

• clearly besotted - howl it's christmas
• copics
• lawn fawn stitched rectangle die

It's the Little Things

Thank you to everyone here and on Insta, that sent their ideas for getting back into the craft room. The general consensus seemed to be, just relax, go with the flow, don't put yourself under any pressure and do what you love.

I love die cutting and creating simple scenes, with little critters. So, that had me reaching for my Clearly Besotted stash.

I fussy cut these cute critters, and popped them up with foam pads against some die cut pumpkins.

I almost added an inky background, but, as this is for the Less Is More Challenge, I stopped myself just in time ;o)

Challenge

Less Is  More #492  Celebrate

• clearly besotted - ring around autumn
• spellbinders pumpkin from holiday haul
• lawn fawn - stitched rectangle
• copics

Welcome to The World

Hello.

Eek! It's been over a month since I last posted. Finding time to craft seems to be getting harder these days. Also, I don't want to jinx it, but we may have just sold our house. So it won't be long before I start to box up my craft room.

In the meantime, here is a baby card I made for my daughter's friend. Isn't this just the cutest name ?

I used the sweet, animal alpha set from clearly besotted, and fussy cut them, so I could overlap them a little and pop them up with foam tape.

I didn't want to use a girlie pink, so instead I went for a more rose pink and red combo with my copic markers.

Challenge

Allsorts     w772/773

Anything Goes with option of  "In The Spring Garden"

(This time I'm just playing along with the anything goes theme)

clearly besotted - as cute as abc
sentiment from mft stamps
pinkfresh studio - diagonal stitched rectangle die

Merry Christmoose

Hello.

Nancy has chosen a chocolate and mint duo, for the Color Hues Challenge. Now, that's definitely a combo I can get behind. I love chocolate chip ice-cream and I can't pass a box of matchmakers!

I've used the combo here for a Christmas card.

 

I offset the mint letters onto the gold glitter ones, to create a kind of shadow effect. I hope the gold is allowed for the challenge - I'm calling it a Christmas neutral  :o)
Then, I stamped and die-cut my moose, coloured them with copics and  another touch of gold stickles glitter and popped them up with foam tape.

Challenge

Color Hues the Color Challenge

Chocolate & Mint

mft - stitched alpha in salvaged patina distress ink
clearly besotted - merry christmoose, coloured with copics
gold glitter card, gold stickles glitter

pinkfresh studio - diagonal stitch rectangle

Everybody Conga

Hello.
Isn't this the cutest conga line?
I'm not sure what those critters are - hamsters? guinea pigs?  - whatever they are, it looks like they're all having a blast. I want to be at their party.

Once my conga line was stamped I added in all the balloons with distress inks. Then I want back and coloured the image. This is easier to colour than you might think, with the back of the stamp packet giving you a little guidance. 
Then I die cut a sentiment and popped it up with foam tape, and layered my panel onto a pink base.

 ***check out my Instagram reel to see the whole process***

Challenge

AAA Birthday 

colorado craft company - conga line, coloured with copics
balloon - clearly besotted make a wish
pinkfresh studio - perfect sentiments
distress ink - pickled rasp / mustard seed / twisted citron / salv. patina / kitsch flamingo

Cocktails And Rainbows

Hello.
Rainbows are EVERYWHERE!
Pictures in windows, chalk on the pavement, on t-shirts and jumpers, tea towels and mugs...
so, how come I don't own a single rainbow stamp?
As usual, I'm late to the party, but I'm now on the lookout for a cute, rainbow set.

I did find a mini, rainbow stencil in my stash, that I used with zig markers - masking off that cute hippo and his cocktail. Using my zigs like this was not quite as neat, but it was way faster and less fiddly than getting my inks out.
I coloured my hippo with copics and added a sentiment. Then layered this onto a piece of pale grey paper. Minimum layers, and no embellies to fit the Less is More ethos.

Challenge

Less Is More

clearly besotted - cooling off / raise a glass
creative expressions mini stencil
copics      zig clean color real brush markers

As Cute As ABC

 Hello.
Today I'm sharing a card I made for my new grandson.
Eek! He's a month old now, and so damn cute.

I started with a background in my favourite distress ink colour - salvaged patina - splattered with some white paint and gel pen stars. These stars were a bit more successful than  my last attempt here,  so I might be getting the hang of them.

Then I popped up my letters, that were stamped, coloured with copics and fussy cut. (Don't let the fussy cutting put you off, it definitely gets easier with practice)

Challenge
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday
Anything Goes

Snippets Playground

These little alphabet stamps are a great way to use up
some of my huge pile of white card snippets.

clearly besotted - as cute as abc coloured with copics
avery elle - postage stamp die
distress ink - slavaged patina
mft sentiment - hello little one

Let's Run Away And Live In The Woods

Hello.
We've just had a lovely few days away in our caravan. The weather was gorgeous and we found a great new way to get to the beach, along a golf course and through some woods. So, when I saw the 'vacation' theme at 
Time Out this was the scene that popped into my head. 

I inked up the background and used a small, circle die as a mask, for the moon. I really love those die cut trees. They're a new purchase and I can already see they're going to get lots of use. My caravan was coloured with copics, fussy cut and popped up with foam pads, and the sentiment was heat embossed.

Then..... I blew everything at the last minute by trying to add some stars to the night sky, with a white gel pen!! Argh!  How DO you draw stars????

I tried to make it look better by adding some white spots, but by then I was just digging a deeper hole.

Challenge

Time Out 

avery elle - home sweet home, coloured with copics

altenew blue inks      mft - tall trees dies

pinkfresh studio - diagonal stitch rectangle 

sentiment - clearly besotted, time to relax

And That's A Wrap

Hello.
Today I'm sharing a simple snippets card with you, that I made for my eldest daughter.
She completed her PhD, in cardiac physiology, a while ago, but the ceremonies were cancelled, due to COVID.
A couple of weeks ago she finally got to wear the floppy hat ! :-)

Alphabet dies are great for using up even the smallest snippets of card.
Here, I layered a few pieces together, and coloured the top layer with my ecoline brush pens (great pens if you want a bold, vibrant colour).
Getting the letters in a perfect line is always tricky, so I didn't even attempt it here - and I like the more relaxed result.

Challenge

Snippets Playground

And here's a photo of my daughter in her coveted floppy hat and gown,
with my grandson, Bailey.

mft - stitched alphabet dies, coloured with ecoline brush pens
lower case 'a' sizzix bug in a rug, alphabet die

avery elle postage stamp die

star from clearly besotted

Do More Of The Things You Love

TGI Friday! It's been a long week. I've had my grandson for a couple of days - which is wonderful - but 4am starts are tough. I also got some new glasses - varifocals - do any of you have them? They are certainly taking a bit of getting used to. Things are all a bit zoomy! Minor issues though, when you look at what's going on in the world right now. My thoughts and prayers are with the people of Ukraine, and their families and friends.

Today's card is for my fabulous SIL, who retired this week. Hopefully she can now relax a little and do more of the things that she loves.

I started by inking up my background with distress inks, spritzed with a little water, and then used foam tape to add the cover up die (remembering to leave a couple of areas free, so that I could slide those animals into the frame). The 'books and coffee' critters and elements were die cut, coloured with copics and then popped up with foam tape.

Challenge
Addicted to Stamps and More

waffle flower - books and coffee
mft dienamics - tri frame cover up
sentiment from clearly besotted, time to relax
distress inks - kitsch flamingo, fossilizeed amber, squeezed lemonade, broken china

Back Of The Net

Hello.
Last year wasn't all doom and gloom - it brought us a gorgeous, new grandson. So I really need to up my game on the masculine/male card front. 
This is an old stamp from Lili of the Valley, and is perfect for the Inkspirational Challenge word prompt - GOAL

I read a tip the other day, that said stamping images just off the edge can help to create the feeling of movement, so that's what I did here with my footballer. Does it work?
For a little extra interest, I fussy cut another football, popped it up with foam tape, and added some glossy accents to it. 

Inkspirational Challenges 

lotv footballer coloured with zigs and copics   mama elephant - labeled messages   clearly besotted striped stencil with altenew turqouise ink.

Bark the Herald Angels Sing

Hello.
Red sky at night, shepherd's delight.
And I was delighted with how this rich 'festive berries' sky turned out.

The caroling pups were fussy cut, coloured with copics and added to that red background, I also squeezed in a Christmas tree behind them. For the 'snow' I usually splatter some white paint, but this time I just used my white gel pen - super quick and easy to do.

Inspired By Challenge

(I've used the red, green, brown and grey)

clearly besotted - howl it's christmas, coloured with copics
distress ink festive berries
pinkfresh studio diagonal stitch rectangle, mft - sttitch scalloped basic edges