As You Like It Challenge (DT) Autumn or Winter

 Brace yourselves, I'm on time this week!  It's another new challenge from the

AS YOU LIKE IT CHALLENGE team and this one is

Your Favourite - Autumn or Winter (and why)

With the exception of wasps, I love everything about autumn, the soft light, the gorgeous colours, sunny days but (in theory) cooler nights.  I don't even mind it getting darker earlier because I can be cosied up indoors!

This little foxy is from Lili Of The Valley

painted with Distress Inks (ReInkers)

Sentiment from My Favorite Things

and a mixture of papers from MFT and Honey Bee

Our sponsor (with a gorgeous range of autumn animals to choose from)

Lee Holland

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As You Like It Challenge (DT) Favourite Animal

 Oh my goodness me, there is late, and then there is my style of late, so let's pretend

it is still Thursday shall we.

The new challenge theme from As You Like It Challenge is

Your  Favourite Animal (and why)

I love all animals so this was a difficult choice, but in the end I went down the fantasy

route and chose a dragon.  I'm particularly partial to cute dragons, especially this sort.

The joy of them being fantasy is that you can use whatever colour you fancy!

Isn't he just super cute all covered in sugar frosting?!

The things I used for this make are:

Whimsy Stamps DP1052 Birfday Dragons, and

CWSD354 Simple Sentiment Strips

HoneyBee papers HBPA039 Giddy For Gingham

Taylored Expressions papers TEPP120 Playful Patterns Sweet

MFT papers Petite Plaid

and lots of Distress Inks (ReInkers) as water colours

The sponsor of this challenge is

Lawn Fawn

I do hope you will find time to join in the animal fun!

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Addicted To Stamps And More Challenge #453 - Birthdays

As You Like It Challenge (DT) Plain or Patterned Papers

 Yes, I know, I'm late - sorry chaps, should have been here Thursday but was feeling a

bit under the weather, so our Beloved Leader was very kind and didn't shout at me when I

promised I would catch up!

So, if you haven't already seen it, the AS YOU LIKE IT CHALLENGE

this time is Plain or Patterned Papers (explain your choice please)

I'm a complete and absolute sucker for patterned papers, they can add so much to a card, they can be subtle or in-your-face, but add instant interest.  I love it when manufacturers coordinate colours throughout their range so you can choose papers from any pad they've made and know they will still work together nicely.  I've gone for contrast in this one, spots and stripes, with complementary yellow and purple, and coloured up my image to pick out those colours

I've used these cute meecies from the CC Designs "Celebrate" clear stamps set

Painted with Distress Inks (ReInkers)

Used a tiny birthday sentiment

and teamed them up with delicious Lawn Fawn papers

The winner of this challenge will receive a digi prize from:

Amanda Jayne Designs

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Birthday Witches

 Three days in a row, whoop whoop, don't worry, it won't last and will soon

revert to the usual chaos.

A friend and work colleague has a Halloween birthday.  She is also addicted to coffee, you rarely see

her around the office without a mug of java in her hands, usually in a takeaway cup.

Told you there would be another witch from the

Clearly Whimsy Stamps So Witchy set

Sentiment made up from an older Honey Bee set that I can't find a link for any more

Papers from Honey Bee 6x6 Fresh Brewed

Image painted as watercolour in Distress Inks (ReInkers)

Will I make it back for another posting this week, or will I make you wait until the weekend...guess it'll be a surprise!

Speaking of surprises, a few years ago I bought a Halloween themed bowl from a local discount store.

I'm going to fill it with Toad's "favourite" things for this evening ..... heheheh.

Hugs all

As You Like It Challenge (DT) Favourite Colouring Medium

Hey everyone, it's time for another challenge from the
AS YOU LIKE IT CHALLENGE
and this time our theme is (my personal favourite) Your Favourite Colouring Medium (tell us why!)

Like all my teamies, I've played with so many different colouring medium over the years.  My first love was watercolours, then I veered off course for a short affairs with Copics and ProMarkers, and then came the discovery of Distress Inks (ReInkers).  All the full of watercolour painting but with inks - I was like a pig in s....... very happy indeed.  I have lost count of the number of years I have been inking now but it is a lot.

I've raided my old Lili of The Valley stash and used this fabulous rubber stamp (remember those?) and collection of NitWit papers.

Oval dies are from Crealies XXL range

Sentiment is from Clearly Besotted

and corner die is an old unlabelled one

I do hope you will pop over and share with us your happiest way to colour.

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Round or Straight (Circles or Squares) (DT) As You Like It Challenge

 Morning all, just popping by with my DT make for the

AS YOU LIKE IT CHALLENGE

The theme for this fortnight is Round or Straight (Circles or Squares)

and please remember to tell us about your choice

I have nothing against circles, don't get me wrong, but I do prefer the nice symmetry and straightness of a square.  In fact I have used lots of squares here.  Can you count how many there are?

Wild Rose Studio - Milton With Gifts

MFT 6x6 papers

Impression Obsession Happy Birthday die

Milton was painted with Distress Inks (ReInkers)

and the matting layer and Happy Birthday were Copic coloured

Our sponsor for this challenge is

CRAFTY RIBBONS

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Mice Day

 Oh me oh my, what is the world coming to .... since Himself lost his job last year, I seem to have had even less time to do things, even though he is here and I'm at work, so to find time to actually make a card to enter a challenge, well, it was a challenge in itself.

Except I have missed the closing time.  Aargh!!

Anyhoo, here it is

My Favorite Things Wednesday Sketch Challenge

#wsc549

MFT Birdie Brown Mice Day stamps & dies

MFT DieNamics Double Stitched Circle Stax

MFT 6x6 papers - Dots and Stripes Sorbet

Distress Inks (ReInkers)

Hugs all

Housecats (DT) Dies To Die For

  Morning all (just), I'm popping in today with a CAS card.

A card doesn't need to be overflowing with detail to have impact.

MFT Clear Stamps : Housecats - MFT-CS-554 stamps

MFT DieNamics : Housecats - MFT-1962 dies

MFT 6x6 paper : Party Plaid MFT-EP-67

I used two pieces of the Party Plaid (same pattern, different colours) and pattern matched to get the blue top border lined up with the yellow statement piece

Images painted with Distress Inks (ReInkers)

And that's really all.

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As You Like It Challenge (DT) Stencils or Embossing

 Yoo-hoo!  Happy Thursday chaps, hope you are all ok.  I was supposed to be taking my Oldies for their second vaccine this coming weekend, but mum took a call on Monday to say that the vaccines had arrived so would they like to attend on Tuesday.  As I was working, Mr Toad became their Uber driver for the afternoon - he was gone an absolute age.  Looks like everyone who was booked in for the weekend was called in for today, he said he had never seen so many pensioners in one place!  Anyhoo, the relief is that they are done for now, let's just see what happens about boosters in the autumn.

Right then, it is AS YOU LIKE IT CHALLENGE day, and we have a new theme over there for you of Stencil or Embossing (your favourite, but please explain why)

I haven't used an embossing folder for aaaaaages, in fact I think my collection is suffocating under cobwebs.  I do seem to have developed a fascination for stencils though, I love that you can add depth and interest without adding too many layers or papers.

So for this happy little chap I have used:

MFT Birdie Brown stamps - Mice Day to Celebrate : MFT-BB-120

MFT Die-Namics - Mice Day to Celebrate : MFT-1938

Scrap of MFT 6x6 paper Tiny Check Brights

A sentiment from an unpackaged old set that could be Hero Arts

Magazine freebie stencil

and lots of happy coloured Distress Inks (ReInkers)

Our fabby sponsor for this challenge is

LEE HOLLAND ART

Looking forward to seeing you at the challenge

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As You Like It Challenge (DT) Fussy Cut, Dies, or Machine

So yet another two weeks has whizzed past and it is time for another new theme over at the

As You Like It Challenge

 And if you hadn't already twigged, our theme this time is

Fussy Cut, Dies, or Machine

I do a little bit of mix and match with fussy cutting and dies, it depends on how intricate the shape is.  My poor old hands can't cope with the ultra tricky fiddly stuff these days, so that's where I will use dies, but for simpler shapes I can manage to do with scissors then I will fussy cut.  I used to use a craft knife all the time, but I changed to a much thicker watercolour paper that makes a knife a real white-knuckle-ride.

So, the die in the centre is

MFT Die-Namics Birthday Centrepiece MFT-1924

and the fussy cutting is the little bear in the centre

Cleary Besotted Pawly Plushies

Papers are from an old set of Echo Park

and our fab sponsor for this theme is

DIES TO DIE FOR ONLINE STORE

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Lucky Ducky (DT) Dies To Die For

  Hello m'darlin's, a very excited little Squirrel here this morning, I'm off to have my first vaccine today!  After a normal flu jab my arm usually feels like it is about to fall off, so if that is the only side effect of today's jabbing I shall be happy.

Spring is almost in the air, and that means lots of babies arriving, bunnies, chicks, lambs and ducklings.

Not many ingredients for this little quacker

Whimsy Stamps - Lucky Ducky stamp set - WS-DP1059

Whimsy 6x6 papers - Cosmic - WSDP19

MFT A2 Circle Stax - MFT-1790

Image and background all coloured with Distress Inks (ReInkers) as watercolours.

Sweet and simple but with impact

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Mice Day To Celebrate (DT) Dies To Die For

  Hello everyone, happy Saturday to you, I hope you are all well.

The husband got his Covid vaccine on the 18th, and I have been muttering ever since about not being notified about mine.  Yesterday at work, there was an incoming text ping from my phone, and yay, there is was.  I'm now booked in for my first one next Saturday.  Phew!

If there is one thing guaranteed to make me squeal, other than needles, it is something cute from Birdie Brown, and she has done it again with an absolutely gorgeous set of celebrating mice.

MFT Birdie Brown stamp set : Mice Day To Celebrate  MFT-BB-120

and the matching dies MFT-1938

MFT 6x6 papers - Road Trippin' MFT-EP-71

Images inked up with Distress Inks (ReInkers) as watercolours.

These mousies have gone straight into my list of favourite sets, so be prepared to see these regularly!

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Rubber, Clear, or Digi (DT) As You Like It Challenge

Oh gosh, sorry I'm late chaps, I've been so disorganised this week!  Right then,  AS YOU LIKE IT CHALLENGE and the theme is Stamps - Rubber, Clear, or Digi.

Well, if you could see how MANY stamps I have in my collection (both rubber and clear) you wouldn't need me to explain, lol, but it is stamps every time for me.  I just love the feel of them, the whole process of inking, stamping, cleaning (yes, I even enjoy that bit).  Somehow, for me, digis feel a bit, well, soul-less.  And I can stamp on anything, paper, card, wood, fabric .... I can't imagine trying to feed a canvas bag through a printer somehow.

And this little sweetheart is an old Clearly Besotted mini set called Cupid Cuties, when matching dies were available.

Sentiment is from MFT stamps, and the paper is from a pad from The Words, full of soft pink and peach tones.

Image painted with Distress Inks (ReInkers)

And so to our sponsor for this challenge

FANTASTIC RIBBONS

Marvellous, take care peeps.

Birfday Dragons (DT) Dies To Die For

  Hello peeps, hope you are ok today.

I was running a bit tight on time this week so today's card is my traditional

CAS style - you don't always need a lot of stuff to make a card with impact, sometimes it is simply a matter of colour to create a statement

The image and the sentiments are all from the

Whimsy Stamps - Birfday Dragons stamp set WS-DP1052

I paired two of the sentiments from the set, and painted Dragon with Distress Inks (ReInkers).  The "icing" came out more red than pink, so he looks a little water-melon-y!

Paper is from a Dovecraft Back To Basics set that I fell in love with because of the cheerfulness of the designs and rainbow colours

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Birthday Bear (DT) Dies To Die For

Morning all (just)!  Today's lateness is easily explained, I had a surprise visit from a friend who was dropping off a birthday present, and as we haven't seen each other since March we had a socially distanced catch-up in the front garden.  It must have been entertaining for the neighbours as friend has quite a distinctive laugh, bless her.  It was certainly good to see her, and the urge for hugs was huge, but we were both very well behaved.

And on the theme of birthdays, Facebook asked me if I would like to do a fundraiser for my upcoming day - a bit eager I thought, as it was then still a week away, but what the heck.  I chose to raise funds for Cats Protection and I cannot say a big enough thank you to all who have donated so far, it's only been up for two days and I am already only £11 off target.  It would be lovely to burst that target into tiny pieces and benefit all those cats and kittens who so desperately need help.

Also on the theme of birthdays....

Lovely things used

Gerda Steiner - Birthday Bear stamp set

MFT Stencil - Mini Cloud Edges MFT-ST-100

MFT 6x6 paper - Summertime Polka Dots MFT-EP-65

The bear and the bird are separate stamps in the set (don't look too closely or you'll see the join) but they work so brilliantly well together!

All painted with Distress Inks (ReInkers).  The purple matting layer is just white card edged with a Copic - it was the closest match I could get to the Wilted Violet DI used on a couple of the bunting flags.

Anyhoo, that is me done for today so I am off to fry some sausages!

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Strike Up The Band (DT) Dies To Die For

Morning all, I am getting later and later with my posts.  I had intended to do this last night, but then I started watching Vera and before you know it, I was snoozing in the armchair.  By the time the husband woke me up, it was time for bed, and too late for sitting down with a laptop!

Anyhoo, I've been wanting to use this stamp set again for quite some time, but was getting a bit flustered because when I bought it I didn't buy the die set (oh hindsight is a wonderful thing you know) and the watercolour paper that I normally use is too thick to cut happily with a craft knife.  However, I bought a new type of Bristol Board to try, so gave it a go.  It is thinner than the watercolour paper, and much whiter, which suited the rabbits, but the ink doesn't move around as well.  It is a bit of a compromise paper if I'm brutal.  However, it did mean that I could actually fussy cut the bunnies without crippling my hands, so that is what I did.

Ingredients used for today's make are:

MFT Birdie Brown - Strike Up The Band MFT-BB-93

MFT DieNamics - Collage Cover Up MFT-1257

MFT 6x6 papers - Positively Peppy MFT-EP-63

Looks like the MFT Graphic Grid paper has now been retired (sorry)

Bunnies are all watercoloured with Distress Inks (ReInkers) and sentiment was stamped with Bahama Blue Memento ink.

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Early Birds (DT) Dies To Die For

Going by the time and volume of the dawn chorus recently, there are a lot of early birds out there.

Most of them seem to be shouting their beaks off right under my bedroom window - there was one little chap this week who started before 4.00am (I know, I checked the time) and continued to CHEEEP for three solid hours.  Then, to add insult to injury, he popped up again during the day while I was working, sat in a shrub, mocking me while I tried to concentrate.  I have his card marked.

I wonder how many of these early birds may be having their breakfast?

Items used:

Whimsy Clear Stamps - Early Birds

MFT Background Stamps - Bundles of Blossoms

Painted with a mixture of Distress Inks (ReInkers) and Zig pens.

No worms were harmed in the making of this card,

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(Psst.  The new Stamping Bellas are up for pre-order - check out those Gnomies!)

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