Happy Birthday Holly!

Good morning everyone!

And a beautiful morning it is too - the sun is shining and the sky is blue.  It's cold but that's ok - only 1 month to Christmas so it's not going to be warm!  I wonder how long the sun will stay?
On another bright note, my face is a lot better - movement wise, I can now smile!  It's still a bit awkward with eating and drinking but it's getting there!  The only thing is that it's very painful, from my cheekbone, down in front of my ear and along my jawline.  But if that means it's getting better then I don't care!
My back is still not great, but I'm still going to physio so at least it's getting worked on.  So hopefully it won't be too long til I'm back to being myself again!

But, today is Sunday and you know what that means???  Yep, it's time for another challenge at Eclectic Ellapu - and it's the Pink team's turn this week and the lovely Laurian's turn to host the challenge!  The theme Laurian chose for this weeks challenge is....

Celebrate with sparkle!

What a fun challenge!

So my card was made for my gorgeous wee niece Holly who had her 4th birthday last week and she goes to the local playschool.  At playschool, each child is allocated a symbol and Holly's symbol is an igloo.  So this is my card for her winter birthday:

The image is from MayzyArt and is called Adeline with Penguins.  I coloured her with the following promarkers: Skin;Sunkissed pinnk, Oatmeal, Blush, Pastel pink. Dress;Midnight blue, Cornflower, Denim blue.  Fur;Pink lobster, Fuchsia pink, Rose pink.  Hair;Umber, Burnt sienna, Caramel. Penguin;Black, Coolgrey 5 & 4.  I used a glue pen to add glamour dust to the fur on her coat and boots.

For the igloo I used a Large circle die from Go Kreate and left part of the circle with none of the blue card in it.  I then used spellbinders petite ovals in large to cut the door - a larger one and a smaller one for the light blue and just a large one for the navy blue card.  I attached the light blue ring to the navy blue oval with foam pads.
I used a pencil to draw lines on the large part-circle and then went over them with Light Cerulean Blue Prisma pencil and then highlighted the blocks with a White Prisma pencil,  I then went over the blue pencil with my glue pen and covered with glamour dust and did the same with the door.  I lined the door up where I wanted and stuck it onto the igloo and trimmed off the excess.  The snowflakes are peel-offs and the sparkly 4 is one I bought in Birmingham which I attached to a Papermania mini card spring.  I had to trim some of the card off the spring and I coloured the base with a promarker.
I printed the sentiment off the computer and cut a flag shape out by hand.  I attached it to the card on a wooden skewer.  Adeline was attached with foam pads.

For the inside I had to cut out a small card and attach with foam pads to allow for the skewer at the top!  More peel-offs were used and a Wild Rose Studio sentiment stamped with Lilac Posies Memento ink.

So pop over to Eclectic Ellapu to see some fab inspiration from the rest of the team!

I'd like to enter this card in the following challenges:

Allsorts Challenge Blog; Bring on the bling
Bearly Mine Challenge Blog; Snowflakes
CRAFT Challenge; Colour combo
Crazy Amigos Challenge; Colours of winter
Cute Card Thursday; Girls only
DYSU Challenge Blog; Numbers
Fussy And Fancy; Feeling blue
Joanna Sheen Challenge Blog; Anything goes excluding Christmas
Ladybug Crafts Ink Challenge Blog; Snowflakes
Ruby's Rainbow Challenges; Shaped cards
Stamptacular Sunday Challenge; Winter Bliss
The Crafty Pad Challenge Blog; Add some glitter
Top Tip Tuesday; Kids and teens
Totally Gorjuss; Don't be square

Thanks for looking!  I'm off to watch the last Formula One Grand Prix of the year - it's so exciting!  Who's gonna win..Alonso or Vettel?  I hope Alonso gets it, but it's gonna be difficult for him - there's not much longer to wait to find out!!
 

The Big One!

Good morning everyone!

Another Tuesday is upon us and can you believe there are only 5 weeks to Christmas!!  Eeek!!!  I thought I was gonna be organised this year, but surprise surprise it's not going that way!
I shall have to really get down to business with it - it would be much easier though if I wasn't in pain from my back and the Bells Palsy and if my eye would stop running and make it easier to see!

But, we have a new challenge at the Creative Card Crew and we have a fab new sponsor!  Extra kudos to them for stepping up at short notice after our previous sponsor was unable to do the job.  And who is this fab new sponsor I hear you all cry.... Only the fabulous Marianne Designs!!

And their fantastic prize for this challenge is this gorgeous stamp and die set!

So to be in with a chance to win this gorgeous prize we've set you a really difficult challenge.  Oh yes, we don't make things too easy for you, we know you can step up and take a challenge when we set one.  So this fortnight our challenge is...

 Anything goes!!

Ok, maybe we do make things easy for you!! lol!  Easy peasy lemon squeezy!  So it's gonna be a busy week!

Here's what I did:

I cheated this week cos the challenge just wasn't easy enough and I used a pre-coloured image!  It's a digi from The Paper Shelter and is from the Giraffes set.  I thought my runny eye would make it difficult to colour so went for the easy option (saying as the option was there!) and in my wisdom decided to 3D it up and printed out a second copy of the image.  So it's not cut out brilliantly as it was a little blurry!  I also blinged it up with some glamour dust on the dummy/pacifier.

The papers are also digi and are from Summertime Designs from the Easton Papers 1 set.  I cut some circles with Spellbinder std lg circle and classic scalloped lg circle dies and I used one of my purchases from the NEC last week - this fab Baby die from our fab sponsors Marianne Designs!  I also had to bling it up a bit and added loads of blue Swarovski crystals to it.  The other sentiments are computer generated and punched out with a Stampin' Up! punch.  The ribbon and flocked brads are from my stash.

And finally the inside compliments the front with a Wild Rose Studio sentiment stamped with Bahama Blue Memento ink.

So go have a look at what the rest of the design team came up with for this fortnight at the Creative Card Crew!

I'd like to enter this card in the following challenges:

Crafty Catz Challenge Blog; Lets have sparkle
Divas By Design; Anything goes
Dream Valley Challenges; Anything goes
My Heart Pieces; Anything cute
My Time To Craft; New baby
Oldie But A Goodie; Anything but Christmas
One Stitch At A Time; Use a digi
The Squirrel And The Fox; Anything goes
Whoopsidaisy Challenges; Die cuts and punches

Thanks for looking!
 

Flowers Always Make You Feel Better!

Morning!

Hasn't it been very mild over the past few days?  I was roasting at work yesterday, but I'm sure it won't last too long - we'll be shivering before you know it!

I was back at the physio yesterday and had another session of acupuncture.   It hurt a bit more this time but it really worked wonders last week for my trip to Birmingham so fingers crossed that it will keep working!  I also asked her if there was anything I/she could do about the Bells Palsy.  She said I could keep on doing funny faces - I wasn't aware I was doing funny faces before that! lol!  Apart from that I just need to ride it out.  So I can only hope that it won't last too long.

Anyway, it's time for a new challenge at the Alphabet Challenge Blog and this fortnight the challenge we have for you is...

U for Under the weather!

So it's that time of year again for sniffles and coughs or even any other ailments (like whiplash and Bells Palsy!) so we want to see plenty of cards that make people feel better!

Here's what I did:

My image is Teddy with Bouquet by LOTV which I coloured with the following Copics: Bear;E37,35,33,29. Flowers;R39,37,59,RV34,32,10,E41,40,YR02,YG67,45,41,W7,5. And Dark brown and Black Prisma pencils.

The papers are MME Indie Chic and the sentiment is from Waltzing Mouse.  I used Spellbinder dies to cut all the shapes including the pretty corners which are made by quartering a die cut and inversing the shapes.  I then used a corner rounder punch on the corners.
A few Swarovski's and two different ribbons from my stash finish it off.

The inside mirrors the front and the sentiment verse is by LOTV.

So let us see what you make by entering the Alphabet Challenge Blog and you'll be able to see loads more fab inspiration over there too!

I'd like to enter this card in the following challenges:

Divas By Design; Anything goes
Dream Valley Challenges; Anything goes
Fab N Funky Challenges; Lets see those bears
My Heart Pieces; Anything cute
Oldie But A Goodie; Anything but Christmas
One Stop Craft Challenge; Anything goes
Papertake Weekly; Flower Power
Sweet Stampin'; Anything goes
The Pink Elephant; Punches/dies

Thanks for looking!

Two Days Late & Too Many Dollars (or pounds!) Short!

Hi everyone!

Phew, what an eventful weekend I've had!  Very enjoyable and a lot of fun!
It was the weekend I've been planning and saving up for for ages!  I flew over to Birmingham to meet up with my forum friends who I've known for most of 5 years but had never actually met face-to-face so I was very excited about it!  They are all such lovely, talented and funny ladies - as were all their travelling partners!  I think I've met some friends for life there!  I think it's time to start organising the next meet! lol!
We took the opportunity to go to the NEC for the big craft show which I thoroughly enjoyed!  I spent far too much money and filled the empty suitcase that I brought with me!  So it looks like my fun is gonna last a bit longer when I get to play with all my goodies!
Unfortunately I had one thing that put a dampener on my trip as I developed Bells Palsy over the weekend.  It occurs when something happens the facial nerve on one side which stops working and therefore causes the muscles in your face to stop working.  My right side is affected so I couldn't smile or talk properly (there's a great impression for my friends first time seeing me!) it's also a challenge to eat and my eyelid won't close properly so it's watery and a bit inflamed.  I went to the doctor this morning (as I only arrived home last night) so she gave me some medication which should hopefully speed up recovery which could still take a couple of months :(  I think it happened because in the six weeks since my accident I have been so busy and have hardly had a chance to relax and recuperate, and have gotten a bit run down, so I need to settle myself down!

Anyway, back to something I should've had scheduled before I went away for the weekend and that is the (not-so) new challenge at Eclectic Ellapu from the Pink team!

The challenge for the next week chosen and hosted by the lovely Berni is...

Pink & Cream!

How fab is that colour combo?!

Here's what I did:

I used two Magnolias - Tilda with a small gift and the mini one is Birthday Tilda.  I coloured them with the following copics: Skin;E21,13,00,0000,R20. Hair;E37,35,33. Dress;RV13,11,10,YG07,05,03. Accessories;R11,02,00,24,27,29,E41

It's a bit of a Maggie overload (if there is such a thing!) as the papers and sentiment are also from Magnolia.  The cute wee frame and corner are from Melissa Francis.  The ribbon rose is from my stash.  The Dies I used are Spellbinders Wonky Rectangles for the image and a Crafty Sentiments Designs "Fancy Hearts" border die.

The inside also used the Maggie papers and the same mini Tilda as the front.  Oh and another Magnolia Sentiment!

So pop over to Eclectic Ellapu to see the fantastic selection of inspiration from the rest of the DT and there is still time to take part!

I'd like to enter this card in the following challenges:

Crafty Catz Challenge Blog; Anything goes
Crafty Amigo Challenge; Stripes
Diva's By Design; Lets get cute
Dream Valley Challenge; Anything goes
Incy Wincy Designs Challenge; Girl power
Love To Create Challenge Blog; Fancy edges
One Stop Craft Challenge; Anything goes
Stamptacular Sunday Challenge; For the love of Tilda
The Pink Elephant; Punches/Dies
Totally Papercrafts; Cute & Girly

Thanks for looking!

Just Chill

Morning all!

I've scheduled this post as it's a little too early for me (I'm probably not too long in bed!) and I want to try to get back on track.
I had my second bit of physio at the end of last week and I'm still not the better for it!  She really worked hard on my back and shoulders.  I hope it's not as bad this week as I have an exciting weekend ahead! ;)

Anyway, It's time for a new challenge at the Creative Card Crew and this fortnight we are being sponsored by the ever fabulous Simon Says Stamp

who are offering the lucky winner $20 to spend in their shop!

So in order to be in with a chance of winning this fabby prize, the challenge is..

Silver & Blue!

What a fab colour combo, especially for this time of year!

This is what I did:

The image is Winter Skating Tilda by Magnolia (the one that all the fuss was about! - not the actual one but another one! lol)  I coloured her with the following promarkers (available at Simon Says): Skin;Sunkissed pink, Oatmeal, Blush, Pastel pink. Hair;Umber, Burnt sienna, Caramel. Clothing;Midnight blue, Cornflower, Denim blue, Agean, Sky blue. Skates;Black, Cool grey 5,4,3,1. Background;Arctic blue, Pastel blue, April shower.  And a little bit of black prisma pencil.
I stamped around Tilda with a Magnolia snowflake stamp and versamark.  I didn't emboss or anything, just let it dry and it has left a lovely faint watermark effect snowflake pattern which you can't see in the pics but is nice in the flesh.

I also added some glamour dust to her cuffs, ends of scarf, bobble and the blades on her skates which really made them pop!  I think you can see it a bit better in this pic.

 The papers are from DCWV The Winter Stack.  They aren't quite big enough for my size of card so I added a bit of white card stock at the bottom which I embossed using a snowflake embossing folder by Cuttlebug.  A little bit of christmassy ribbon hides the join.
I used spellbinder circle dies and the out-of-the-box technique to cut out the image and a Spellbinder Crown Circle die for the surround - I added little crystals to each of the petals.  And I used my magnolia swirl die on silver mirri card to compliment the little silver Christmas tree that I had in my stash (possibly salvaged from some crackers?).

As it's a Christmas card the inside is fairly simple using the same dies as are on the front.  The sentiment is by magnolia, stamped with memento Bahama Blue ink and then glitzed up with a clear sakura stardust pen.  I also did the snowflake/versamark thing on the die-cut circle here too. (which you still can't see!)

So let us see your creations using our theme - I'm looking forward to seeing them!  Have a look at what the rest of the DT did over at The Creative Card Crew blog!

I'd like to enter the following challenges:

Crafts & Me; Bling it up
Crafty Catz; Add texture
Crafty Ribbons; Christmas
Divas By Design; Feeling festive
Fab & Funky; Die cuts/punches
I Love Promarkers; Cute
Sweet Stampin; All that glitters
The Pink Elephant; Favourite colouring medium
The Ribbon Girl Challenge; Add sparkle
Whimsy Stamps Inspirations Challenge; All things sparkly

Thanks for looking!
 

A Day Late & A Dollar Short!

Morning everyone,

Yes, I'm a whole day late with my Alphabet Challenge Blog DT entry!  Oops!
I was trying to get something finished to go along with my entry and then I had a call about going to something that I had completely forgotten about and had to leave!  Then I didn't get home until late last night so now I'm gonna have to post my entry late and without the extra bit. :/

So I'll just get straight to the point - and a short point it will be this week too!

The challenge for the next fortnight, chosen by the lovely Tammy, is.....

T for Tags!

A tag all on its own or one on your project.  Perfect for coming up to Christmas or even anything else!

Here's what I did;

I cut a tag shape out of kraft card and covered it with paper from the DCWV Nana's Kids stack.

I used a sentiment from the Tiny New Baby sentiment sheet from Pink Petticoat which I printed onto safmat before adhering to a wee bit of kraft card and gluing to a piece of Hodgepodge Hardware from Stampin' Up! and then attaching to the tag with the supplied brads.

The letters are Making Memories Velvet Alphabet stickers.  I added some tiny stars that I had kept from a previous project - they're the left-overs from a spellbinders die.  And I finished the tag off with a piece of string and a little tiny feet charm.

I didn't get my card made to match the tag yet, so it will have to do another day!
Go and have a look at what the rest of the DT made and have a go yourself at the Alphabet Challenge Blog!  See you there!

I'd like to enter this in the following challenges:

4 Crafty Chicks; A day to remember
Anything Goes Challenge Blog; Anything goes
By The Cute & Girly; Twinkle twinkle little star
Crafty Boots Challenge Blog; Tag or invitation
Crafty Sentiments Designs Challenge Blog; Seeing stars
Creative Inspirations; Lets celebrate
Little Claire's; New arrivals
The Paper Shelter Challenge Blog; Anything goes
Quirky Crafts Challenge Blog; Anything but a card with autumn colours
Twisted Tuesday; Free for all/anything goes

Thanks for looking!