Coffee and friends

A couple of simple cards to show today. This is an old Stampin' Up set, but it's so useful! 

I went for a simple watercolouring on the coffee cups, I like making the steam.

I added some washi tape to one of them, kinda wish I'd done it on both now. Ah hindsight!

Thanks for looking!

Turf

A layout made at my recent crop attendance. I love this photo. It was an impulse take at an American football GB trials day my son was attending. It was a day of waiting around, watching and standing on astro turf. I love the green.

I went for black and white with green to make it pop. I like using one colour with black and white, it makes the photo stand out. I won the little tassel in a pass the parcel game at the crop. Perfect timing!

The doily stamp is from Sstampin Up and the French script is an old favourite stamp, I've probably used it more than any other stamp ever.

I cut a small glassine envelope in two to make it stretch- the grid stamp is Stampin' Up too.

I'm happy with this one. Favourite boots and a favoutie layout.

Hello, you. A card

No fainting now, I made a card. For a very special person. I wanted something that said happy, cheerful, smiles :)

I made a scrapbook layout with gorgeous coloured splodges on it the other day- this one...

Sooooo, whilst I was at it, I created a few more splodges pieces of card to use on other projects. Hence, project 1- a card!

I stamped a lot of little Stampin Up flowers onto the dribbles, in matching colours.

Hello, You is from Stampin up as well, highlighted with black and white pens.

Then I added some pearls and sparkly gems to match the colour blocks. A spot of mounting onto punched card, and voila, a happy kinda card!

I'm entering this into the Craft Stamper challenge- click here to see more!

Thanks for looking!

It's all good

You know that moment when you have the idea? The really, really good idea. The good idea that won't let go. well, that's what happened with this layout.

I adore this photo of my son helping my daughter across a rope bridge. It felt like it needed something of a nature theme, so I thought I'd go for a ring of flowers. Sounds simple...

Cue me stamping and cutting out about a zillion flowers. Fussy cutting is time consuming, but there are a couple of top tips.

1. Get some comfortable, sharp scissors, not too big. Mine are by X-cut, I've had them years and they have generous holes with some rubber for grip and comfort.

2. Move the paper, not the scissors. Sounds weird but it totally works.

3. If you're cutting lots of little things out, actually whatever you're cutting, cut off any big bits of excess paper first, and cut into individual pieces, they'll be much easier to handle.

I stamped out some of the flowers and leaves onto patterned paper (from Mind the Scrap's January kit), and others onto lined white paper and plain white card. I used a mix of Stampin up stamps, an old Craft Stamper freebie, and flowers from an Innovative Stamp Creations plate called Friendship.

 I layered all the flowers and leaves in a ring, then added a doily and my photo. The journaling was printed out, and tucked slightly behind the photo.

And the final touch was a title sticker from the Mind the Scrap kit. Its all good!

Good luck!

A card this week for a colleague who's leaving at work. It's a big one- 8x8, so there's room for everyone to sign it.

She's a real coffee lover, so this Stampin' Up coffee cup seemed appropriate! 

I added diamante steam swirls for a spot of sparkle. The paper is quite summery and girly so the sparkle seemed to work.

I'm entering this into the Crafting Musketeers challenge- summer colours.

Birds and the bees for A Little Bit Crafty

Happy April Fools' Day. Did anyone getcha?

Well, if they did, cheer yourself up with a smashing new challenge at A Little Bit Crafty.

Birds and Bees

Here's mine. A lot more bird than bee.

Oh he's a fine looking puffin, isn't he? Washi tape and a really simple background. I likes it!

The puffin is from Crafty Individuals and the grid and hello are Stampin' Up.

Freakin' awesome!

I'm typing with inky fingers, yay! Always a sign of a day well spent. 

I wanted to enter the colour challenge at a sprinkle of imagination, I really fancied stamping onto grey card, just for a change you know.....

This little ATC makes me smile! The Stampin' Up flower is heat embossed in a lush green powder that I'd forgotten all about until today. Great on the black isn't it? 

Hunk is stamped onto pale grey card, but I have washed his ace with a touch of green to give him that proper Igor glow......

I used ink black, vivid green, slate blue and pale grey from the suggested colour palette.

Gilded butterfly

So....a Saturday or two ago I took my Mom to a demo at Crafty Bunch in Telford (great shop, full of so many pretties......), where Kay from Indigo Blu was showing lots of fab techniques and stamps and all sorts of gorgeousness.

Well, inspired to get my gilding flakes and flitter glue out, I made this.....

OK, the gilding isn't showing up on that photo.... how about this one?

Now I couldn't find my scoochy thingy to scrub off all of the excess flakes, but I really don't care, because it still looks fabulouso.

 

The butterfly is Stampin' Up and it's huuuuuuge. The finished card is a retirement card, so I kept the colours quite subtle, but then ruined the subtlety with 3/4 of a pack of blingy pearls....hey ho....not called Lisa Sparkle for nothing you know.

I'm entering this into the That's Crafty challenge, which is Anything Goes and the Papertake weekly challenge which is also Anything goes.

Monday, Monday, Monday.......

Oh Mondays are horrible things aren't they? I'm trying not to wish my life away, but Mondays are just pants!

I thought I'd cheer myself (and you) up with a bright little something I made at the weekend for a lady at work whose birthday is coming up. I've made this for everyone to sign, so it's not really so little- it's A4 sized!

She likes dogs- I found that a bit difficult to work in until I coloured them pink and green!

I'm entering this into the Totally Gorjuss challenge- to use string,

and the Stamping Sensations challenge- all creatures great and small.

Goth butterfly

Life's tough when you're the world's only goth butterfly......

The stamps on this little notebook are Mort had a pin curl and Lovely wings from Stampotique, with the beautiful big Stampin' up Sunflower in the background. The Love washi tape was a bargain buy, dontcha love a bargain? In real life his wings curl up and the yellow is verrrrry sparkly.

Well, what do you know? The challenge at my favourite challenge blog- Stampotique Designers challenge- is to use Washi tape. I've got more tape than I thought, but I particularly like the ones with words on, so easy to add a little something extra to a project....... and let's face it, this little butterfly needed a bit of love.

Ooh, and remember, if you want to buy one of these, get in touch- £2.50 plus posting :D

Coffee?

When I got back from my most excellent holidays on Friday, there was a parcel awaiting me from the lovely Carole, with my Stampin' Up order all beautifully packed inside. I didn't manage a little play until Sunday afternoon, and I went completely clean and simple.....

Coloured with watercolour pencils, I'm really pleased with the steam.

They fit perfectly into the Less is More challenge, which is to use a rubber stamp with the optional extra of watercolouring. Yippee, this fits!

A Little Bit Crafty- midway DT

Hello! Today I've got a midway reminder post for the A Little Bit Crafty challenge blog.

This month's challenge is Summer Sun. Well, as you never quite know when summer sun is going to turn into summer storms, I went for an ATC with summer flowers and wellies....

The welly is from a smashing Stampin' Up set with lots of boot stamps.

Righto, get those summer inspired projects blogged and enter the challenge, the prizes are fab, as usual!

Big butterfly! I mean really, REALLY big!

Told you it was a big butterfly- fabulous stamp from Stampin' up.....and so easy to use, I mean that couldn't be simpler, right? Stamped, spot of sparkle on the wing edges and done!

I really like that it doesn't fit on the card, it's so big! I'm entering this into the CAS-ual Fridays challenge- a clean and simple card with an element that goes off the card edge.

Budgies part 2.......Hot flowers

The second budgie project is ready to be unveiled......

First I dabbed and sprayed....

Then I stamped and cut.....

Then I stamped and glued!

Budgie-tastic. A card for a friend's birthday. Not sure if she's into budgies, but I know the colours are right up her street.

I'm entering this into the following challenges:

CASual Fridays- birthday

Craft Room challenge- so sentimental

Party chicks

New stamps = party chick cards of course....

You know how it is, once you start on a theme you may as well carry on and make a couple more.....

I'm entering this last one into the Crafts and Me challenge- dies or punches, that flower is a lovely punch I should use more often!

Heart of slate

More hearts.....

Made these for a PIF on Facebook. They're slate and come ready to hang.

I've heat embossed them with a silver pearl powder, they get reeeeeally hot and take a long time to emboss, but once dry they had this shadow round the stamping. I kinda like it.

Feeling kinda over the whole heart thing now.....I much prefer pancake day :)

February's journal calendar page

Circles, circles, circles.......

I started this off going for red, hearts, and valentines. Then it went a bit purple and dark, but I liked it so it stayed!

The swirls are from Stampin' Up, and the raven and spider are Tim Holtz.

The letters are on tissue paper, they kept ripping, but it all adds to the charm, right?

Ooh, I'd forgotten that I'd heat embossed some of the swirls, that's a fab embossing powder- Silver Pearl, really versatile.

These pages are great for using up snippets of paper for the days.

Wonder what I'll write on this month? I'm hoping for a WON THE LOTTERY scrawl in black marker across the while thing, lol.