Pretty in Pink.

It seems I'm really in need of coffee these days as I've just finished another card with the same theme: coffee!

This card is for a challenge and we were given a recipe (1 color + 3 buttons) but not a theme and I chose COFFEE!

This is the card:

This lovely digi is called Perfect Blend and it's from the new collection Coffee Time at Bugaboo Stamps.

I chose a hot pink color to make this card which I colored with watercolor pencils and some paint for the dots.

The ribbon is again from my local haberdashery, they have a wonderful range of these ribbons!

This card is for Bugaboo Catch the Bug Challenge which wants a monochromatic card with 3 buttons.

Well, time to go out and... have coffee!

I Need Coffee Today...

Last night I didn't sleep well - or maybe I didn't sleep at all - and today I feel a bit tired and I long for coffee, a lot of coffee...

The weather is ugly, it rains and it is dark, it seems to be back in the worst winter days and this doesn't help my mood.

Moreover, I spent the morning cleaning the house.

You can understand how I feel today.

BUT

I had some time to make a card and color some digis! And this makes me smile and be happy!

A coffee -themed card was perfect today:

This card is made using another Hambo stamp - Coffee Girl - we were given as participants in last week challenge.

We also had a sketch to follow:

I colored the digi with watercolor pencils as usual and used some paper from an old Sizzix paper pad. I glued some parts with 3D dots for added dimension.

This card will be entered in Hambo Hoedown Challenge # 8 Can Anyone Say more please?

I can, I can...

Crafty Sunday

Strange enough, I have a free Sunday.

And, of course, I'm crafting.

Custom orders shipped, mom healthy at her home, daughter ready to go to the park with her dad, I can dedicate some time to make cards and enter a few challenges.

 Actually, I'm not listening to wardrobes asking for some care after this long winter, washing machine ready to be loaded, dry laundry ready to be folded...

The first card ready to be entered in challenges this week is this one:

I found this lovely digi image at Amber Ink a while ago and I loved the engagement theme with these two simple yet adorable rabbits.

I colored them with watercolor pencils, added lots of papers from the Linen Closet Collection by DCWV, added a luxurious ribbon I found in the haberdashery near my home and two small paper roses bought at Wild Orchid Crafts.

Even if I prefer candy or pastel colors, I love the way it has turned out: elegant and simple.

I followed this sketch:

This card will be entered in the following challenges:

Sweet Sketch Wednesday Challenge # 94: they gave us the sketch

A Spoonful of Sugar Challenge # 144: they asks for ribbon, pearls/rhinestones and flowers

Cupcake Crafts Challenge # 134: they ask for monochromatic cards

Well, I still have time to make another card... if I pretend not to see what else I should be doing...

Relax...

One of my recent passions are stamps from Lili of the Valley. In particular, I love their bears and I treated myself with two stamps just before Christmas.

They are ADORABLE, the image is perfect once stamped, with many details, big enough for a card...

And I couldn't help but treating myself with another couple of stamps...

In particular, the one I'm about to show you has a long story.

I first saw it on a lovely card sold by an Etsy seller: I loved the little bear and how the card was made and I decided to buy it (well, yes, strange enough for someone who makes cards... but I love to send cards to my mom and I often buy them around the world).

Several months later, I decided that I had to have that stamp and here's my card:

Of course, I'm entering this card in the Lili of the Valley Challenge # 88.

They gave us this sketch to follow:

I'd really love to have time to sit down and relax like this bear is doing...

Another Sweet Sketch.

This week challenge at Sweet Sketch Wednesday was lovely and it was easy to make a card using a digi I painted a while ago.

The sketch is:

and this is my card:

The sponsor this week is DigiStamp Boutique so it was perfect to use this lovely girl, which I colored with watercolor pencils as usual. Papers are: the dotted one was free on a magazine, the daisy one was from one of those very old Sizzix pads I discovered tucked away in a box.

This card will be entered in the following challenges:

Sweet Sketch Challenge # 93

and

DigiStamp Boutique March Challenge

I'm so sorry I always have little time to dedicate to my post but at least I can have a bit more time to make cards!



Kona Kid Krafter's Challenge

(2nd post today...)

I have a few minutes and I'm happy to dedicate this post to one of my daughter's creations.

A couple of weeks ago I found out a card challenge just for kids: Kona Kid Krafter's Challenge # 19 and asked my daughter if she wanted to enter a card.

I let her choose one of my digis, folded a piece of paper for her and she made her card.

Here's what she created:

I let her choose amongst some of my cut shapes and embellishments, she added one of her stickers and made her own sentiment "Solo per Te" (Just for You). The digi is colored with pencils and embellished with some glitter (well, yes, I let her use MY glitters...).

The theme this month is "Anything Goes" and so she could choose something she liked.

She is very proud of her card and I think it's lovely!

A very quick post.

Good morning!

I've not been a good blogger in this period but my family still has health issues and I have Custom orders to prepare so I have little time to dedicate to cards and posts.

Anyway, yesterday I manage to prepare a little tag for a challenge.

The original idea was to make a card as usual. I was printing some digis and I had a little space in the page for another one so I decided to fit in a lovely little elephant from Hambo Stamps. Once printed I realized it was a bit too small for a card so I turned it into a tag.

Here's my tag:

The Hambo Hoedown Challenge this week was all about this little elephant they gave us for free (as participants in last week challenge) and sparkle.

I used a metallic blue tag and added sparkle in the elephant hat, in the lollipops made from glitter card and in the rhinestones.

Well, I have many cards almost ready and some stamps already colored waiting to be turned into cards, I hope I have time to finish something!

Have a nice week!

St. Patrick's Day.

In Italy, we do not celebrate St. Patrick's Day, we know it because we are shown images from Ireland or the US of the St. Patty's parade on March 17 by the TV.

I don't know if I like all that green, green is a difficult color so it took a while to make this card.

But we do believe that shamrocks mean good luck and we all need good luck these days so I followed this theme.

This is the card:

This funny image is from Hambo Stamps and it was free as I entered a card in last week challenge.

The theme for the challenge was to use this St. Pat Hamster digi stamp together with gold. I used gold glitter for the coins and a yellow/gold/light green paper from an old Sizzix stack as background. I also put some gold paper behind the sentiment.

Of course, this card will be entered in Hambo Hoedown Challenge.

But it's perfect for some other challenges:
Meljen Design Challenge # 49 which asks for GREEN
Crafty Hos Challenge which asks for GREEN, GOLD and WHITE

Good luck to everybody!

Simply Chic.

Looking through my list of challenges, I found three that could be entered with the same card and they all gave me some inspiration to make it.

I started with the sketch from Sweet Sketch Wednesday:

Then, I had to choose the image and the inspiration came from Whimsie Doodles: in their challenge they ask for glitter and one of their images was perfect to be glittered up. And you know how much I love glitter...

Finally, Paper Sundaes says: "Keep it Simple" and I tried to keep my card as simple as possible.

Here's my card:

The sketch has been followed, there's glitter all over the pretty shoe and I think the look is simple and elegant. The lovely papers were digi downloads from Pink Petticoat.

This card will be entered in:

Sweet Sketch Wednesday Challenge # 92 - sketch

Whimsie Doodles Challenge - glitter (and image)

Paper Sundaes Challenge # 60- simple

Although I've never worn such high heels )and never will) I love this card, it's so feminine and girly...

Accidents...

Stupid accidents are sometimes very helpful!

The other day I was reaching for my ribbon box which is tucked away on a high shelf behind a couple of small containers full of drawers.

As usual, I was carefully removing the first container when four drawers fell down: thousands of tiny, medium and large colored star sequins got out of them towards me and down on the floor.

It was not the first time, hence my being extremely careful while moving it but maybe I was not careful enough and all of a sudden I found myself covered with colorful stars.

Luckily enough my daughter still has fun helping mom when she does these "disasters" so she helped a lot. All the stars were collected in a temporary plastic container before going each in its drawer (I'm considering to put them all in one drawer...).

Yesterday I was finishing a card with a Moon theme and I was using a paper full of stars behind my digi. I was thinking about putting some star rhinestones on this paper to embellish it when I realized I could use the fallen stars. They were there, on my table, easy to reach and perfect for my card! I'm sure I would have never thought about using them if they hadn't fallen on the floor...

Here's my card:

The digi stamp is from Pollycraft and it's colored with watercolor pencils and glitter for the wings. The star paper is a VERY VERY old paper from Sizzix and then, my little stars.

This card is meant for a dear friend and for a challenge: Pollycraft Challenge # 83. The theme is "Fly Me to the Moon" and I really wish I could fly my friend to the moon in such a delicate period of her life.

That's all for this rainy Sunday!

Sun is Shining and...

... I've just finished a Christmas card!

I've had this card on my desk for a while. I started it for a challenge but then I thought it was not right and I put it aside.

Then I started to assemble it again but I needed something to finish it: I wanted some flowers and I was waiting for an order I made in the UK to arrive. So the card was put on hold for a second time.

Finally, yesterday my paper roses arrived but no, they were not right (except for the little green rose I put on the sentiment) and I decided to opt for a ribbon.

I wanted a fresh, girly look for a Christmas card, nothing traditional.

Here's my card:

This lovely little girl doing her Christmas shopping is a digi from Di's Digis colored with watercolor pencils and LOTS of glitter where she has fur on her coat and hat.

The card follows a recipe given by The ABC Christmas Challenge: E for Embossing and 3 Embellishments.

I've used a hot pink card (it's a wonderful hot pink, I probably found it as a gift on a magazine and it was the last one...) which I've embossed with snowflakes on the right side. I've added a patterned paper from Papermania and three embellisments: a ribbon bow, a metal bell and a paper flower.

I'm so happy it's now finished even if Christmas is so far away...

Spring.

Yesterday, I had another spare hour after school so I managed to make another card.

I had several digis already colored but I decided to make an Easter card, my very first Easter card this year! Luckily enough, this special holiday comes late so I still have time to prepare some for the shop and for family and friends.

After the snow last week, yesterday was a very sunny warm day and spring was really in the air. I was inspired by bright and pastel colors mixed together.

This is the card:

For this little card I used a Bugaboo Wee Ones Easter digi stamp colored with watercolor pencils and glitters for the eggs.

I added some paper flowers and some pearls.

This card fits perfectly several challenges:

Catch the Bug Challenge which says "Anything Goes"

Cute Card Thursday Challenge #154 which says "Signs of Spring"

Crafty Calendar Challenge #18 which says "Spring"

and, last but not least,

Papertake Weekly Challenge which says "Lemon Zingy"

That's all for today, I've to go back to my "daughter duties"...

Some Sweetness...

This afternoon I'm having a couple of hours "just for me" and Custom orders being in stan-by, I've decided to make a card with a sweet image I painted some time ago.

This is the card:

This lovely little bear is a stamp from Lili of the Valley: I stamped it with black ink onto ivory paper decorated with light blue dots. As usual, I colored her with watercolor pencils and - stange enough for me and for such a girly card - I did not use glitter on her.

As for the papers, the little rose paper is a digi file Ive just bought from a lovely Etsy shop: MariekeVDesign, the other papers are from DCWV (the blue one is glittered!!!) and the gingham paper is from Wild Rose Studio.

The lovely rose... well, I don't know, I've just found a box full of flowers, saved from very old projects or from... who remembers? But I love to be able to find something old, unused but useful!

Of course, this is a sketch card. Here's the sketch:

It's from my beloved Sweet Sketch Challenge # 91 and I'm so happy I've managed to enter: last week I missed it and I was really sad. Although their sketches are really challenging, I love to enter a card and I have so much fun while trying the best matches to be used on my card.

I'm also entering this card to another lovely challenge: Incy Wincy Designs Challenge # 84: they ask for pastel colors, so I think this card is just perfect!

Well, my "just for me" time is over, time to be a mom again...

I Miss You... Challenges!

I really miss you challenges and blog posts!

My mom is still recovering and I spend most of my days taking care of her but she has no computer at home so I cannot use the spare time I have there to write something on the blog. And when I come home... well, lots of things are to be done and time is never enough.

Yesterday, I took some supplies with me and managed to color some stamps and make a card for a challenge!

Here's my card:

This digi is Lion - digi from Hambo Stamps and was given for free to all participants in last week Challenge. Of course, I made this card to enter Hambo Hoedown Challenge # 5: they want to see the lion, the sentiment and some stripes.

Well, I have to go: it'll be another busy week, in addition I have Custom orders so I don't know when I'm back but I hope SOOON, there are so many interesting challenges out there...

I'd Love to Be a Guest Designer!

Pink Cat Studio is looking for two Guest Designers for their new St. Pat's release and of course I'm applying.

The only request is to show one card made with one of their digis.

I've recently bought a gnome from them and I would have loved to make a card with it but I don't manage for tomorrow, so I've chosen this one:

I've other owls from their collection of digi stamps and I find them lovely!

For the moment, I keep my fingers crossed!

Heroes...

With my mom still in bed and some Custom orders to finish, this week I have little time to have fun with Challenges.

But I've managed to make one:

I've made this card for Hambo Hoedown Challenge # 4: they gave us this BIRD HERO digi for free and the card should be made following this sketch:

It's not clear from the picture, but the card is light green. The bird is colored with watercolor pencils and I added paint dots, pearls and a button.

Isn't this bird lovely?

And this card is perfect for Father's Day: here in Italy we celebrate fathers on March 19 so it's not too far away!

Tomorrow I'll be back to show you a card I made for a lovely Etsy Customer! Stay tuned!