Inkspirational - Green and Orange

Our challenge at Inkspirational is Orange and Green.

For my DT card I used a stamp from Stamping Bella, Promarkers and an embossing folder.

I hope you'll visit us at Inkspirational , see the work of our DT and guest designer Chriss , and enter your own green and orange creation.

I'd like to enter:
Chocolate,coffee and cards fancy and feminine
Fantastic Tuesday feminine

Gorgeous Gown

The challenge at CD Sunday  is 'gorgeous gowns' and for me this is a great chance to use one of my favourite techniques - paper piecing. This lovely poppy paper was in a magazine freebie paper pack.

The fairy is a digi from Daisy Trail Fantasy Digistamp collection for Serif Craft Artist. I coloured her with Promarkers and added Wink of Stella to her wings. For about a day I thought about embellishments and concluded that I just liked it left plain. I have many beautiful embellishments but I very often feel they are not quite right!

As well as CD Sunday, I'd like to enter:
Unicorn Challenge mythical and magical
 Little Red Wagon digi
Chocolate Coffee and cards fancy and feminine
Seize the Birthday  anything goes

Happy Birthday Yvonne (and Empty Box Project #26)

It's my lovely Inkspirational team-mate, Yvonne's   birthday and I hope she has received this through the post (if not, it's on its way). As it had to cross the Atlantic, I kept it light by making a one-layer-card.

This girl stamp was languishing in my Empty Box Project box, waiting for the right person and occasion , and I felt that Yvonne was the right person, as she likes vintage images . I also used a Hero Arts birthday text stamp (very faint in background), a sentiment (I think it may also be Hero) , Judikins stamp (the diamonds)  and Distress Ink spray in Antique Linen (which I bought after seeing Yvonne use it on her cards).

Happy Birthday Yvonne.

I'd like to enter:
Fantasy Stampers  the colour purple
Alphabet Challenge  one layer
Pinspirational  picture
Craft Barn  stamping

City Crafter - Feeling Flat

This week at City Crafter , Kirsty has chosen 'Feeling Flat ' - create a card that is as flat as possible, in another word, envelope friendly, easy to put in a regular envelop to mail without extra postage cost.

I did think I'd go for a One- Layer Card but in the end I chose die- cutting - keeping the layers light ( cutting away bottom layers where it does not show) and sticking everything right down flat. 

This turned out to be the right decision as I had made this card for my neighbours who were moving away - I had intended to hand it to them before they left but as we came back from holiday we found the new neighbours unpacking! So we had to send it on to their new address and yes, no extra postage required. 

Please come and join in at City Crafter and see the work of the DT and our guest designer Buffy Burnside. 

I'd like to enter:

Let's Craft and Create use dies or punches 

Love to Scrap double take

Get Creative  include a tag - I hope you can spot it top right with the word 'happiness' on it!

Tuesday Throwdown anything goes 

Make My Monday - Something beginning with F (and Empty Box Project #25)

Make My Monday is back after our summer break! We have four great new DT members, and I hope you will visit their blogs.

Our challenge is 'something beginning with F' and you can see I used fox, forest and fall.....yes, I know I'm British , so it should be autumn but it just fitted in so nicely!

The fox is from Stampin Up In the Forest set and is from my Empty Box Project box.

Just to recap:

On New Year's day I revealed my stamping shame - a big box of unused stamps - and started my Empty Box project. My aim is to work through the box , one stamp/ stamp set at a time and see if I can use them. If I can't use them, I will dispose of them. The aim is to finish with an empty box.

I bet you're surprised I haven't previously used this lovely ( and not inexpensive !) set. I think it's because the stamps are quite small so the obvious thing is to use several together. But I don't feel the proportions go together very well - the mouse is almost as tall as the fox . In the end I have used the biggest stamp - the fox  but I do have other fox stamps so that is probably why I haven't rushed to use it. 

(A little note: I've nipped back to say that, after I'd scheduled this post, I actually used two more of the stamps in this set . Due to the magic of scheduling , I posted them yesterday, even though I made this card first!) 
I'd like to enter: 
Animal Friends forest animals 
Aud Sentiments  fall fun 
4 Crafty Chicks  fall
Cute Card Thursday autumn leaves
Ooh La la  signs of autumn 

Little Mouse Says " Yay! "

I'm going for cute here. And CAS.

The mouse and the toadstool are from Stampin Up 'Life in the Forest' set, the balloons are from Stampin Up 'Pedal Presents' and the sentiment is (I think) Hero Arts. I used Promarkers to colour.

I'd like to enter:
Little Red Wagon clean and simple
Addicted to Stamps photo
Fantastic Tuesday cute
Moving Along with the Times  cute animal
Time Out make your mark - thanks for prodding me Sandie

 

Pear-shaped Christmas

Here I've used an Inky Doodles stamp, Promarkers, a Sizzix heart die and magazine freebie papers.

I wish I could enter this to the challenge at City Crafter  - but I can't, as I'm on the DT there and the current (fruit or jam jar) challenge was my choice!

I'd like to enter:
Christmas Cards All Year Round a country Christmas
ABC Challenge hearts
Polkadoodle wings
Holly Jolly  use a die
Creative Card Crew Christmas

Alphabird

Had a play and tried to combine some of my favourite challenges : Paper Artsy (Circles), Shopping Our Stash  (bird) and That's Crafty  (alphabet soup).

I used dies, (circles and bird), spray inks, a sentiment stamp and an alphabet stencil.

Little Mermaid

This card is for my grandson...yes, that's right ...he loves mermaids and anything pretty and sparkly, so let's let him enjoy it before the world (almost inevitably) tells him that those things are not for boys.

The mermaid is an image from Digistamp Atelier - I would say this is not a regular digistamp, in that it is very heavily (although beautifully) sketched - and I found I needed a light touch on the colouring to make it work. I used seaweed cutting files from Miss Kate Cuttables, shell cutting files from Creative Pointe , a birthday sentiment stamp, liquid pearl, Promarkers, Distress Inks and Wink of Stella. I also (daringly I think, given my history of wrecking cards when adding a final touch!) added a dot of white gel pen to each eye - I've seen others do this to add light, so I hope it worked.

I'd like to enter:
Unicorn Challenge  mythical and magical.
Dream Factory  little mermaid
Crafting with Dragonflies under the sea
Time Out Make your Mark (This came up in my blog feed as I was about to post this - and it fitted perfectly!) 

City Crafter - In a Jam

I chose this week's theme at City Crafter Challenge Blog  so I hope you like it and join in. The theme is - 'In a Jam - feature a fruit or a jam jar (mason jar) or both'.

For my DT card I used a Stampin-up jam jar stamp, a digi of a straw that I made into a cutting file, and a Lettering Delights citrus fruit SVG cutting file.

I've recently discovered that one of my favourite alcoholic drinks - Limoncello- can be made at home using vodka, lemons and patience. It's a twist on the saying 'when life hands you lemons,make lemonade' and I thought it'd be fun to send to someone who is unwell or has had a difficult time (and obviously doesn't have a drink problem , of course!).

I hope you will visit us at City Crafter , see the creations from our DT and guest Katarzyna, and enter the challenge.

I'd like to enter:
Come and Get it  Get Well
Crafty Catz old stamp (jam jar)
Shabby Tearoom inspired by photo colours.
Retro Rubber anything goes