To doodle or not to doodle?

This week's inspiration over at La-La Land Crafts is "oodles of doodles" - I rarely doodle as I like symmetry and neatness too much!  Still, I had a go and ended up with this...

Yeah, I know I didn't get my dashes evenly sized nor in perfectly lines!  It's driving me nuts looking at it, lol!!  But I love the stamp which is the very sweet Christmas Bell Marci.  I also used the Snowflake Banner die (I used DCWV glitter cardstock with it), Christmas Hill Border die die and the fishtail banner die from the Stitched Elements die set.  The papers are by DoCrafts (I totally love these papers!).

Copics used:

Face: E000, E00, E21, R20

Hair: C03, C05, C09

Outfit: R00, R02, R05, R08, C03, C05, C09

Bell: Y21, YR23, YR27, B000, B01, B02

You can see the rest of the gorgeous design team inspiration over at the blog here.  I'll be back this weekend with my SugarPea Designs and Lili of the Valley DT posts.  TTFN!

Day 2 of the Lil' Inker Designs new release hop!

It's day two of the new Lil' Inker Designs release showcasing new stamp sets and matching dies over a three day blog hop!  And make sure you comment as you hop long - the more you comment, the better your chance of winning!  We'll be giving away prizes for two $10 store credits!
 
So here is my card using the new Notebook stamp set that works with the matching Notebook die...

This is such a cool set - I think it's perfect for guys and teenagers and I made this card for my 20 year old nephew who I think is super cool!

I used My Minds Eye Alphabet Soup papers and a touch of twine.   I even did some doodling with my Sakura white gel pen which I haven't done for ages!

So back to the hop!  You should have come here from sweet Jen Carter and you now need to hop off to the lovely Sarah Jay.  You'll then want to pop off to the store here to see all of the new goodies!


See you tomorrow with day 3 of our hop!

 

 

Even big girls need bedtime stories!

Hi there - it's Mary J here to show you a card I made using Susana Loves Stamps one of the new recent releases available in the Quixotic Paperie store...

Isn't she beautiful?  This is Courageous Eyes who I stamped on to my favourite Make It Colour Blending Card and coloured in with my Copic Markers.  For interest I used Make It Crafty Butterfly Leaves and Fancy Ribbon Sliders laser cut chipboard and also the flourish die cut using my MFT Die-Namics Vintage Flourish. 

I coloured the elements in using a combination of Tim Holtz Distress Markers in Crushed Olive, Worn Lipstick and Black Soot.  I also used these pens to colour the seam binding ribbon and scrunched it up for more texture.  If you look carefully, you can just about see in the photo below that I gave the elements some sheen by colouring on and then rubbing in Sakura Gelly Roll Clear Stardust Pen...

I hope you all have a great weekend planned.  Today I will be swimming in dolphins so I know I'll be having a great time!  ttfn!

*** Latest Arrivals ***

• Some Odd Girl Stamps NEW RELEASE
• NEW Susana Loves Stamps "Eyes" release IN STOCK
• NEW Make it Crafty Rubber Stamp Release!
• NEW The Greeting Farm release including Big Anyas!
• Carta Bella Christmas 6x6 Paper Pads
• Prima Firefly 6x6 paper pad
• NEW MFT Die-Namics Dies

Hello wabbit! And award time!

Hi all and I hope you are all having a lovely weekend!  I just wanted to pop in to share an Easter card with you...

This is sweet Carat the Bunny from the Down the Rabbit Hole by Pixie Dust Studios and I matched this cutie with the My Minds Eye Happier papers.  I just intended to frame the bunny but it looks like he's in some posh rabbit hutch!!

I also received two awards yestrerday - lucky me!  So firstly a big thanks to Shirl for this lovely award...

You can participate by doing the following.

• Link back to the person who gave it to you (done!)
• Share 10 random facts about yourself (done below!)
• Pass on the award onto 7 other people (done below!)
• Follow the person that gave you the award (already stalking her!)

10 random facts:

1. I have a fetish for dresses - I haven't counted but I must own over 15 work dresses, around 10 cocktail/evening ones and over 30 casual ones!
2. I wish I didn't own a blackberry as it's hard for me not to read my work emails on my time off
3. my favourite food is lobster, lightly steamed or grilled
4. my favorite colour is orange although I wouldn't wear it clothing-wise!!
5. I start my day off with a large mug of Douwe Egberts coffee - no other coffee will do!
6. my favorite author is Terry Pratchett, but my favorite book is Lord Of The Rings
7. I just got a new camer and it is FAB!
8. my cousin just got engaged - congrats sweet Gemma!
9. I am in the process of converting a spare bedroom into my very own tailored craft room - will share piccies soon!!
10. I love my convertible and driving around with the top down when it's sunny (like I did first thing this morning!)

I am passing this award onto the my new MilkCoffee Stamps teamies, who are:

• Our MCS bosses!
• Audrey
• Yoshira
• Carrie
• Jennifer
• Lyndsey
• Ria

I haven't included Shirl cos she gave this award to me in the first place!

And now to the award Nikki forwarded to me...

Here are the terms and conditions of this award:
1. This award is for any co-blogging friend who has helped you develop your blog in any and all ways.
2. This award is for any co-blogging friend who has cheered you along in your blog building, craft advancing career.
3. This award is for any co-blogging friend who always stops by and is kind to you. You can count on them to always be one of the great comments at the end of your post.
4. This award is to be given to 3 to 5 Blends whom you feel meet the listed requirements.
5. Create a post with the terms of use and publish your Blends of choice.
6. Blend of choice may copy the award from your blog and proudly post it on theirs.
7. Blend of choice may continue the kindness by issuing this award to keep the circle forever growing.

I have actually received this award before and fowarded it on so instead I'd just like to award to anyone who has taken the trouble to read this post and left me a sweet comment - thank you all!

Okay, that's it from me today.  For those in the UK, don't forget to move your clocks forward tomorrow!  Enjoy the rest of your weekend and thanks again to all of you lovelies that come and visit me - I read every single one of your sweet comments!  {MWAH}

I am entering my card into the following challenges:

• Sundays with Crissy - animals
• Sassy Cheryl's - think Spring
• Little Darlings - Spring is in the air
• Whimsy Stamps - anything goes
• Crafts and Me - light and airy Spring colours
• Papertake Weekly - bingo (gems, die cuts, flowers)
• Cute Card Thursday - anything goes
• Crafty Sentiments - Easter
• Pretty Little Ribbons - Spring colours
• St Luke's Charity - Spring into Spring
• Sweet 'n Sassy - celebrate Spring
• Phindy's Place - animal planet

  

Let's see your fave things over at Pollycrafts Monday!

Please scroll down for my Make It Monday DT post!

A new challenge has opened over at Pollycraft Mondays and this week the lovely Lou wants to see us use your favourite things!  Well, there was no hesitation on this one for me - Chester is my all time favourite Pollycraft character!

So, my all time fave Chester is Call Me Chester as I love to make "hello, hope you haven't forgotten me" cards!  Some of my other favourite things are to use kraft cardstock and to use my Sakura white gel pen to doodle with.  Now I don't do a lot of doodling because I'm not any good at it, but I like to try!!  And as you can see from the photo, I'm even worse at drawing straight lines! 

Okay, so another of my faves is buttons - my all time fave embellishment so had to pop a few on.  Orange is my all time favourite so elements of those had to be added too.  And lastly, I also love to use a mix of patterned papers and then do something a little quirky - hence the paperclip!

I have a lot more fave things to do with a card, but I think I did pretty well sticking all that on to one!  You can see more lovely DT creations over at the challenge blog here!


I am entering my card into the following challenges:

• Simon Says Stamp - anything goes
• Fussy and Fancy - polka dots
• Coffee, Chocolate and Cards - thinking of you
• Crazy 4 Challenges - lots of layers
• Sweet Stampin' - animals
• Crafty Emma's - check it out

 

It's always time for tea!

Yay, it is FRIDAY!!!!  Work is so busy at the moment that my weekends have become even more precious!  I hope you all have lovely plans for the weekend.  I am gonna CHILL OUT!!!

Okay, so now I've got that off my chest!  I'm here today with a card using some more yummy goodies from Quixotic Paperie...

Adorable, huh?  This is Dormouse from the Moonlight Whispers Alice range and the sentiment comes with it!  I used papers from the Cosmo Cricket Joy Ride pad (50% off at the moment!!) and my fave card base using Bazzill Basics kraft cardstock. 

That's it from me today - hope to see you next Thursday with another make using gorgeous Quixotic Paperie goodies!  Before you go, don't forget to check out the new stash in store!

* KRAFTIN' KIMMIE STAMPS JAN RELEASE *
* NEW SOME ODD GIRL STAMPS RELEASE *
* NEW THE GREETING FARM RELEASE *
* KRAFTIN' KIMMIE STAMPS DEC RELEASE *
* SIMPLY GORJUSS - NEW RUBBER & A6 CLEAR SETS *

 I am entering my card into the following challenges:

• Made Especially For You - friendship card
• The Stamping Boutique - die cuts
• Penny's Paper Crafty challenge - ribbons and buttons (does the ribbon on the mouse count?!!)
• Simon Says Stamp - anything goes

 

Bring out the animal in you over at Take The Pixie challenge!

Growl or meow or woof!?  Whatever takes your fancy, this week we just wanna see animals over at Take The Pixie challenge!  One of my all time faves from Pixie Dust Studios is the cute Wink, Pixie's best pal....

This is Wink Pretends and I kept the papers quite fresh and basic for a little boy's birthdaym but actually I think it would have been better as a new baby card!  I don't know what brand these papers are as the lovely blog buddy Michelle sent them to me - not a lot left now so I'll have to be frugal with the rest!

I hope you can join us again this week - check out more gorgeous DT inspiration over at the challenge blog here!


I am entering my card into the following challenges:

• Crazy 4 Challenges - a birthday card for a child
• Birthday Sundaes - a birthday card with sentiment on front
• Cards for Men - boys and their toys
• Simon Says Stamp - anything goes

That's a big one! Oohh err missus!

LOL!  Sorry, that is a horrid title but it popped into my head because of the size of this ornament!!  So without further ado, let me introduce you to this gorgeously sweet Holiday Peekers - Where On The Tree by Elisabeth Bell for SCACD...

 

Isn't she SWEET?!  I used papers from My Minds Eye 12 Days of Christmas pad and I paper pieced the bauble and then used my Copics to shade it for depth.  I also added a glitter pen to highlight the snowflakes on the patterned paper and the mini bauble to make them pop more.  Here's a close up...

I used my sketch again for this month's Quixotic Inspiration challenge - I love it, even if I say so myself!!  Go to this post here to join in for a chance to win your own gorgeous Quixotic Paperie goodies!

I am entering this into the following challenges:

• The Paper Shelter - anything goes
• Simon Says Stamp - anything goes
• Sparkles Christmas challenge card

Freestyle time time over at Sparkle Creations Rubber Stamps!

It's time for the Sparkles Creations Rubber Stamps challenge #59 and this week we are challenging you to case one of the DT makes...

And here is my card using Karber for SCRS Soda Jenny... 

 

 

I hope you get a chance to play along!  Our challenge is open to all players. Each week a random winner will be chosen to win their very own SCRS rubber stamp!  In order to qualify for a prize, you must use a Sparkle Creations image on your creation.  You can see more gorgeous DT inspiration here...

Sparkle Creations Rubber Stamps Store

Sparkle Creations Rubber Stamps Blog

Alice Wertz

Amber Hight

Elena Joldersma

Jessica Diedrich

Kadie Ensley

Kim Yu

Mary Johnson

Piali Biswas

Shaela Odd

Jessica Diedrich

Simonne Clay

Sparkle Smith

Stephanie Kraft

And don't forget this month's featured chatacter is Emily stamps with 15% off!

I am entering my card into the following challenges:

• Desert Islands Crafters challenge - at least 3 from list (kraft, sentiment, dimension, flowers, a little green)
• Crafty Creations - anything but square
• C.R.A.F.T. challenge - for children
• Some Odd Girl - stitching (mine is faux!)

Paper/cardstock: Bazzill cardstock, Crate Paper Paper Doll paper collection

Stamps: Karber for SCRS Soda Jenny

Mediums: Copics, Sakura medium white gel pen
Accents: ric rac ribbon from stash, Dew Drop

Tools: Quickutz label dies, My Favorite Things flower and leaf dies

New Karber stamps for SCRS September preview - part 1!

It's preview time again over at Sparkle Creations today for the new Karber rubber stamps September release!  This is showcasing the first new stamp that will be available from Saturday - this cutie isWitch Millie!

The happiest witch ever obviously!  She is so much fun - I thought she needed a friend to giggle with so I matched her up with some papers from the My Minds Eye Mischievous paper pad!  You also get the sentiment with this image to make putting it together as easy as possible!


Be sure to visit all rest of the SCRS designers for more peeks of Witch Millie. Sparkle will be giving away a Witch Millie to one lucky person! For a chance to win, you need to comment on all of the designer's blogs (list below). Then head on over to the SCRS blog and comment on the Witch Millie post. You have until midnight EST each day to comment. The lucky winner will be announced the following day!

Here is the blog hop list...

Sparkle Creations Rubber Stamps Store

Sparkle Creations Rubber Stamps Blog

Elena Joldersma

Kadie Ensley

Mary Johnson

Peggy Toole, Sponsorship Coordinator

Piali Biswas

Suzanne Bier, Newsletter Coordinator

And just to let you know that Our featured character is Emily... Emily stamps will be 15% off for a period of time during the month and you can see them all here!

I am entering this card into the following challenges:

• Cute Card Thursday - use a punch (border)
• Catch The Bug - anything goes

Paper/cardstock: Bazzill cardstock, My Minds Eye Mischievous (from Quixotic Paperie here)

Stamps: SCRS Witch Millie (available this Saturday!)

Mediums: Copics, Sakura white gel pen
Accents: raffia from stash
Tools: Martha Stewart border punches, Nestabilitie die inside card

Sneak peeks of Candy Jar over at Pixie Dust Studios!

(Please scroll down for my Quixotic Inspirations DT post!)

It's sneak time over at Pixie Dust Studios and today we are showcasing the new release available on Friday called Candy Jar!  This is such a sweet, sweet collection (geddit?!!).  Here is what I made with Pixi Kiss!

 

 

Too sweet, don't you think!!  Being British we don't see a lot of American Choccies but I'm guesing this is a Hershey Kiss representation!  I matched her up with these lovely K&Company papers, a Stampin Up ribbon and that sweet Martha Stewart border punch!

You can see more inspirational sneak peeks over at the blog here and I'll be back tomorrow with my Take the Pixie Challenge tomorrow!

I am entering my card into the following challenges:

• Crafty Sentiments - punches and die cuts
• Cute Card Thursday - clean and simple
• Do It With Digis - xmas in August
• Totally Papercrafts - food and drink (well she is a Hershey Kiss!)
• Totally Gorjuss - something round on your card

Paper/cardstock: Bazzill cardstock, K&Company papers (sorry, don't know the name of this pack!)

Stamps: Pixie Dust Studios Pixi Kiss (available Friday!), Pink Petticoat sentiment, CC designs sentiment inside card

Mediums: Copics, Sakura white medium gel pen
Accents: Stampin Up ribbon
Tools: Martha Stewart border punch, Nestabilitie dies

Ho Ho Ho! Xmas fun over at the Pollycrafts Monday challenge!

(Please scroll down for my Make It Monday DT post!)

It's Pollycrafts Monday and this week is a very special challenge as we are also showcasing the new Christmas release! And of course the challenge this week just has to be...

HO HO HO, Christmas in July!

Let me introduce you to one of the uber cuties!  This is Sweet Chester...

 

 

And you can see why he's called this - I love this little guy!!!  And I hope I get a super huge candy stick for Xmas to hang my stocking on this year too!  You can see more inspiration of the rest of the Christmas collection over on the challenge blog here - they will get you in the Christmas for sure!


This week we are being sponsored by Crafty Emma's Store and the prize is a £10 voucher to spend in store (p&p not included) - so get your entries in asap!

I am entering this card into the following challenges:

• Papertake Weekly - getting cute
• Moving Along With The Times - cute and cuddly with a punch
• Winter Wonderland - holly (in the paper - you can just about see peeks of it!)
• Your Next Stamp - recipe
• Totally Gorjuss - punch/dies
• SFYTT - July sketch

Paper/cardstock: Bazzill cardstock, DCWV glitter cardstock (white snowflakes), October Afternoon Very Merry papers
Stamps: Sweet Chester

Mediums: Copics, Viva Decor White Opaque gloss gel pen (from Quixotic Paperie here), Sakura medium white gel pen
Accents: none

Tools: Corner Chomper, Martha Stewart snowflake border punch, Woodware snowflake punches, Nestabilities dies

Spotlight on BLD Summer Time Gidget & Todd!

It's another showcase of the new By LoRi Designs June release!  This week we are showcasing Summer Time Gidget and Summer Time Todd!  And Im here today to show you what I made with Summer Time Gidget!

My goodness, this just makes me want to get out to the beach RIGHT NOW!  Unfortunately, the UK summer is more like autumn so no chance!!  Still, I can dream!  I matched her up with the new Cosmo Cricket Salt Air paper pad (from Quixotic Paperie here) and I used a Quickutz die cut for that umbrella, edged with Colorbox brown chalk ink.  You can see the rest of the brilliant DT makes here!

I hope you liked my card!  Thanks for visiting me and all of your sweet comments - I love reading them all!




I am entering my card into the following challenges:

• Copic Creations - doodles
  

Paper/cardstock: Bazzill cardstock, Bazzill kraft cardstock (from Quixotic Paperie here),  Cosmo Cricket Salt Air paper pad (from Quixotic Paperie here)

Stamps: By LoRi Designs Summertime Gidget, My Favorite Things sentiment

Mediums: Copics, Sakura white gel pen, Colorbox brown chalk ink
Accents: wired organza ribbon in sunflower and natural web ribbon (from Bunny Zoe's here and here)
Tools: Fiskars border punch, Martha Stewart border punch, Quickutz beach umbrella, Nestabilities lable die inside card