Best boy

Today's card is dedicated to all of the pet owners amongst the crafting community, we lost one of our pets yesterday and I'm feeling a bit sad today. RIP Sophie.

Image is from Mo's Digital Pencil, banner from Cardmadfairy, paper from Basic Grey.

Entering the following:

Karens Doodles - Cute and cuddly 

Lollipop Crafts - Anything goes  

Make it Monday - Always anything goes

Paper Pretties - Love 

Stamps & Fun = Creativity - Animals + blue

Corrosive Challenges - I {heart} you 

Dream Valley Challenges - Animals

Allsorts - One or More Heart

Just Some Lines - Its a Dogs Life

Stamp, Scrap and Doodle - Anything Goes

A little love

Today's card features yet another of my new digi stamps, this time I have used one of Two Hearts - find them here - I printed out the heart 3 times, then cut them out and coloured them with gold ink. When the ink had dried I covered them with versamark ink and sprinkled them with ultra thick embossing powder and melted it with my heat gun, repeating the process three times before letting the hearts cool. When they had cooled completely I bent them a bit until the UTEE cracked a little. Finally I added some black distress ink to define the edges and the cracks.

To complete my card I cut some black cardstock, covered it with some embossed metallic paper from Southfield Stationers leaving a narrow border, then stamped some old handwriting on to a piece of kraft card, distressed the edges using white ink and then scuffing them with my scissors. I added a length of gold lace sticking a bow at one side and an old metal button at the other. I stuck down my three hearts then stamped a frame in black ink and then a sentiment inside it, these are both from the Lost & Found set by My Mind's Eye. Finally I added a couple of mini brads to finish the whole thing off :o)

 

Entering these challenges:

Crafty Purple Frog - Valentine's day/show us some love

Craft Us Crazy - Valentine/love

DRS Designs - Hearts

Inky Impressions - Heart you

Whimsical Wednesdays - Love

Anything Goes Challenge - To the one I love 

Craft Room Challenge - Valentines

Oldie But Goodie Challenge - Have a heart - Had backing paper for well over a year!

Sweet Stamps -  Love 

Cupcake Craft - All you need is love

Paper Creations Ink - Love/romance

Paper Pretties - Create a Valentine’s day project

Meet Faye

My newest digi stamp design is Faye, she can be found - for the time being - at Cardmadfairy's Creations. I say for the time being because Neil has finally started building a new home for all my digi downloads - so watch this space for more news on the launch of my new website!

So this is the first card I've made using Faye, I'm sure there will be many more though. The backing paper is from Papermania, the sentiment from Stampin Up and the image was coloured with Promarkers.

I'm entering the following challenges:

Digi Doodle Shop's Best - Anything Goes

Moving Along With The Times - Blooming Marvellous

My Mum's Craft shop -  Flowers

Simon Says Stamp- Anything Goes

The Stamping Boutique - Die Cuts

Daisy Doodles Creative Challenge- Anything Goes 

Hooked on Crafts - Something Bright 

Make it Monday - Anything Goes

Truly Madly Crafty Challenges - Anything Goes

Victorine Originals- Anything Goes

The Hybrid Chick Card Caravan - Punches/Dies

Marks Finest Papers - Birthday Card

Rocking Teddy Bo

Well if you popped by yesterday and noticed my post about the snow here in Scotland, it was very short lived and has disappeared completely now and is now just grey and miserable - I think on the whole I'd rather have the snow! 

My youngest son Evan has just come home from school and gone straight upstairs - not even pausing to take his jacket off, plugged in his guitar and started playing loud enough to rock the whole street! I'm guessing this morning's prelim wasn't a good one :o(

So today's card is in his honour - Teddy Bo strutting his stuff, coloured with Promarkers, papers by DCWV and 2 sentiments from Studio G.

 

Challenges entered:

Celebrate the Occasion - Masculine birthday 

Crafty Bloggers Network - Distressing

Cards For Men - Boys and their toys 

Make it Monday - Always anything goes

My Craft Spot - Let's hear it for the boys

The Crafty Pad - Let's see something for the boys! 

Craft Your Days Away  - Distressing 

Creative Inspirations - Anything goes 

 

We are all special

Morning all - well I don't know what it's like where you are but we have snow here just south of Edinburgh, the sky is looking a bit ominous and I think there is more to come. Oh well, I suppose it is January in Scotland and we've got off pretty lightly so far this winter - we'll just have to grin and bear it :o) I actually quite like the snow as long as I don't have to travel in it and today's my day off!

This stamp is an old favourite by Diane Duda (Sugar Nellie), I love the rebellious princess attitude!! Unused for ages, I thought I'd dust it off and colour it up to make a card for a friend with relationship issues :o) The backing papers are Crate Paper and the sentiment is from Lili of the Valley. The banner was die cut with a Whimsy Shapeology die and I coloured my image and Card Candy with Promarkers.

Entering these challenges:

Cutie Pies - Favourite song (I'm not a Princess - Taylor Swift)

Crafty Boots - Something inspired by a song title - as above

Make it Monday - always Anything Goes

Truly Madly Crafty Challenges - Anything Goes 

Victorine Originals - Anything Goes

Let’s Ink It Up - Anything Goes 

Sentimental Sundays - Die Cuts

Stamptacular Sunday - Seeing Spots

The Hybrid Chick Card Caravan - Punches/Dies

The Squirrel & the Fox - Critters 

Crafty Purple Frog - Anything Goes  

Pixie Dust Studio - We're going Dotty

A new baby

I was lucky, recently, to win a challenge sponsored by A Day for Daisies and the image I have used on today's card is one of the ones I chose as my prize. Isn't it lovely? Unfortunately I can't remember where the quote/sentiment came from - maybe someone out there can enlighten me so that I can credit the designer. 

The digi stamp was coloured with Tria Markers and I wanted to keep the design fairly simple to show off the sweet image so instead of adding a whole bunch of embellishments I decided to make a bit of a statement bow with some gingham ribbon which has been in my stash forever! Hope you like it :o)

Entering the following:

Crafty Purple Frog - Anything Goes  

Paper Play - Ribbon Every Which Way

Divas by Design - New beginnings or thanks 

Bling It On - New Beginnings 

By the Cute & Girly - New Beginnings 

Creatalicious Challenges - Love 

Crafters Companion - Love is in the Air 

Just Tracys Crafts Challenge - Love is in the Air

Crafty Boots - New Beginnings

Ooh La La Creations - New Beginnings 

Ribbons & Bows

The new theme over at Cardmadfairy's Digi Days is Ribbons & Bows and this is my dt offering for the challenge:

I've used the digi image Lily - available here - which I printed on to Basic Grey papers and paperpieced, bending the petals to give a 3d effect. The ribbon is from Hobbycraft and I made the sentiment up from Basic Grey stickers and a rub down. The butterfly is a Stampin Up die cut.

I'm entering the card for the following challenges: 

4 Crafty Chicks - Summer in January 

Moving Along With The Times - Things with wings

Paper Crafting Journey - Floral 

Paper Play - Ribbon Every Which Way

Some Odd Girl - Bling It Up

Flutterby Wednesdays - Open

Creative Card Crew - Seeing Red

Ladybug Crafts Ink TLT Challenge - Bows 

Seeing Stars

The new challenge this week at Charisma Cardz has a Clean & Simple theme - not always the easiest one to do if you're used to adding loads of embellishments - I had to reign myself in with this one - I had die cut quite a few more more stars! The image and the sentiment were kindly supplied by this week's sponsor Stamp Fairy, the papers are 7Gypsies and the die was a Sizzlit from Sizzix.

Challenges entered:

I Love Promarkers - Anything goes

Whimsical Wednesdays - Anything goes

Card and Scrap - Clean and Simple 

Cupcake Craftroom - Anything goes

Anything Goes Challenge - Anything Goes

Celebrate the Occasion - Any Occasion

Going Grey With Scrap-Creations - Die Cuts

Paperminutes - Party time- Anything Goes

The Stamping Boutique - Die Cuts 

Make it Monday - Always Anything Goes

Friends Forever

Today's card was made using another of my new LOTV images, I've been trying to complete this card for the last three evenings after work - the trouble is my desk is in a corner of my youngest son Evan's room and he's getting to the point where he really doesn't want me in there when he's at home - which is most of the time at the moment as he's on exam leave from school - and when he's not revising he's making recordings of himself playing guitar for You Tube. So it's a little miracle to be allowed in there at all  - I really have to try to find another corner to work in!

Anyway, I coloured the image with Promarkers then added glossy accents and extra fine glitter to the wings . The papers are Basic Grey and the sentiment came with the gorgeous image. The flowers and leaves are Marianne's die cuts and I added some beads and wire spirals to the centres although I know it's a little hard to see them in the photo!

Entering this for:
The Cutie Pie Challenge - Ribbons and lace
Truly Madly Crafty Challenges - Anythinggoes
Let’s Ink It Up - Anything goes 
One Stitch At A Time - Anything goes 
PanPastel UK Challenge - Anything goes
Stampin' Sisters in Christ - Something new 
The Crafty Pad - Sparkle

Sweet Stampin - All that glitters

Card Makin' Mamas - Use something new

Chocolate, Coffee & Cards - Glitter

Boys and their toys

Guitars are ‘toys’ I'm very familiar with in our house, between my husband Neil and our youngest, Evan, we have six of them cluttering up our (not very big) house! Fortunately I love hearing them playing their music although both have very different tastes as you might expect - no self respecting teen would admit to having too much in common with his dad!!

The image is one of my digi stamps - Zac - and is available either here at Cardmadfairy's Creations or here in the digi stamp section of my challenge blog Cardmadfairy's Digi Days.

Entering the following challenges:

Cards For Men - Boys and their toys 

Make it Monday - Always anything goes 

Creative Inspirations Paint - Birthdays

Catch The Bug - Birthday challenge

Our Craft Lounge - Numbers 

C.R.A.F.T. - Celebrations 

Dutch Dare Card Challenge - For the boys 

Paper Play - In stitches

A butterfly wish

Very quick post this morning, have enjoyed a bit of a long lie but now have not left myself much time to catch up on the dreaded housework before I have to leave for work :o(

Today's card was made with another new image from Cardmadfairy's Creations, the patterned butterfly, which I coloured with Promarkers before spritzing with a blue mica spray and finished of with stickles and glossy accents to give it a gorgeous glittery shine. So pretty!

Entering these challenges:
Bloggers - Wings and things

Chocolate, Coffee & Cards - Glitter 

Crafty Catz - Something new

Delicious Doodles - All things new

Fairy Tale - Something new

Crafty Creations - Something new

Flutterby Wednesdays - Bright colors

Another new digi stamp

I was asked this week, by my sister Gillian, for a new digi stamp design to be used to make a wedding card for a bride who enjoys making cupcakes, this image is the result and I thought I'd make a card of my own to see how the image worked out. 

I coloured the cupcakes with Promarkers and added Stickles for some sparkle and a touch of Glossy Accents to finish, I used First Edition glittered backing paper, some Wild Orchid flowers and Marianne's die cut flourishes, I then added a pink heart shaped bead and a sentiment from American Crafts to complete the card.

You'll find the digi stamp over at Cardmadfairy's Creations where there is also a freebie image which is perfect for Valentine's cards :o)

Entering this for the following challenges:

Art Impressions Stamps Challenge - “Pink, Pink and more Pink”

Crafty Ribbons - New Beginnings 

C.R.A.F.T. - Celebrations 

Do You Stack Up? - Pink

Little Miss Muffet Challenges - Something New 

Pixie Dust Studio - “Put Your Heart into It!”

Sassy Studio Designs - “Let’s Celebrate!”

Southern Girls - Sparkle 

Divas by Design - New beginnings or thanks

Charisma Cardz 3rd birthday

Yes it's the Charisma Cardz challenge third birthday today and we're celebrating with a Birthday themed challenge! The whole design team is playing along this week, so pop on over and check out some fantastic inspiration from the Charisma girls. There are a grand total of seven sponsors this week with some fabulous prizes on offer!

To create my card I used a Mo Manning image coloured with Promarkers, papers from K&Co, buttons from my stash, a Cheery Lynn flourish die and a tab punch from Stampin Up. I created the sentiment on my Mac.

Entering the following:
Celebrate the Occasion - Child's birthday
Paper Take Weekly - Die cute special
Lexi's Creations - Anything goes
Paper Creations Ink -  Die cuts and/or punches
Catered Crop - Buttons
Whimsy Inspiration - Happy birthday
Catch The Bug - January anything goes   
Simon Says Stamp - Spots/stripes
C.R.A.F.T - Celebration 

A new image

I made a very quick and simple card yesterday using one of my new digi stamps available now at Cardmadfairy's Creations, all I did was print the image onto card and use oval die cutters to cut the white and turquoise card stock, emboss a piece of white card then layer them all onto the base card, add a bit of sticky backed ribbon and a sentiment from Stampin Up and that's all there is to it- simples!!

Entering it for these challenges:

Cupcake Craft - Something New

Forever Friends - White on White

Paper Sundaes - "Saturated Colours" 

Stampin' Sisters in Christ - "Thinking of You"

2 Sisters - Things with Wings

Di's Digis Designs - Something New

Craft Room Challenge - Clean & Simple 

Deep Ocean Challenge - Lots Of White

Partytime Tuesdays - In Honour of Save The Eagle Day  

Wags 'n Whiskers - White on White + 1 colour

Thinking of warmer weather

This image always makes me think of summertime and looking outside today it really could be a summer's day but you certainly wouldn't think so when you open the door and feel the temperature - very chilly indeed!! 

Anyway I had this Sugar Nellie image sitting around on my desk waiting to be coloured so when I had some time for crafting last week it was one of the first things I did. I find colouring so theraputic, I don't need to be thinking about what to create, I just enjoy the process and then see where the coloured image takes me. 

In this case I used some lovely Crate papers which tied in nicely with the coloured image and also with the gorgeous new crocheted trim my sister Gillian gave me, along with a bunch of other interesting ones, as part of my Christmas present. The card just fell into place with very little help from me!!

Entering it for the following challenges:
Dream Valley Challenges - Anything goes
Fashionable Stamping Challenges - Anything goes with your new stash 
One Stitch At A Time - Use embellishments
Crafty Ann's - Let's think hot  
Birthday Sundaes - Birthday card  
Make it Monday - Always anything goes

New Beginnings

I was lucky enough, not long before Christmas, to win a voucher for one of my favourite stamp companies - Lili of the Valley - so was able to choose some lovely new stamps. The one I'm sharing today is perfect for their brand new challenge at Lili's Little Fairies where the theme is New beginnings. 

I coloured the image with Promarkers and added a little Glossy Accents on the scales, used backing papers from First Edition, die cuts from Marianne's Creatables and flowers from Hobbycraft and Wild Orchid.

Entering the following challenges:
Lili's Little Fairies - New beginnings
Card Makin' Mamas - New Year or something new
Crafty Catz - New beginning

Delicious Doodles - All things new

Fairy Tale - Something new 

Digi Doodle Shop's Best - New beginnings

My Mum's Craft shop - Something new

Ruby's Rainbow - Baby or child

Simon Says Stamp - New something

Whimsy Inspiration - New beginnings

Elke Kaart Een Feestje - Birth 

Paper Take Weekly - Anything goes with the option of new theme

Another thank you

Our first challenge of the New Year at Cardmadfairy's Digi Days is Thank You - and fortunately it's the kind of card you can never have too many of considering how many I've made lately! I've used Imogen's Puss which you can find, along with all my other digi stamps over here at Cardmadfairy's Creations.

I've mixed Stampin Up paper with 7 Gypsies, coloured the image with Promarkers and added some stretchy lace and ribbon from my stash, the sentiment and tiny bird stamps are Stampin Up and the lovely heart shaped buttons came from Ebay :o)

I'm entering this for the following: 
C.R.A.F.T. - Thank you
I Love Promarkers - Buttons and lace
Clear It Out! - Thank you card + bonus - use up your twine or ribbon
Passion For Promarkers Challenge - Thank you cards
Inky Impressions - Anything goes
Scrapbook Sisters - Anything goes
Stampavie and More - Hearts
Creative Inspirations - With thanks 
That Craft Place - Buttons& bows
Sarah Hurley Challenges - Thanks

Wonderful Day.....

......well it's bright and sunny anyway, much better than the past few wet and wild days that we've here in Edinburgh! I've got a quick card to share this morning, I've been enjoying having a little time for crafting over the past few days and although I'm back at work now I've also managed to fit in a few cards and am also working on a new 12x12" canvas which I will share when I've got it finished.

I have used a LOTV image (have you seen their new challenge blog - I'll be joining in with that one very soon!), papers from Basic Grey and flowers from Wild Orchid.

 

Challenges entered:

Whimsical Wednesdays - Border or edge treatment

Paper Shelter Challenge - Anything goes

Anything Goes Challenge - The colour blue + 1 other colour

Craft Room Challenge - Anything goes 

365 Cards - Pretty pairs: Blue and polka dots 

Craft Your Passion - Anything goes + distressing 

House of Gilli - Anything goes 

Incy Wincy Designs - Anything Goes

Thank You

I have been crafting this morning whilst trying to ignore the scary gales which are battering us here at the moment, the room I craft in is at the front of the house and the back has been getting the worst of it, so I can craft away happily distracted from what might be going on outside :o)
I hope it's not too bad wherever you are today.

I have used an old favourite stamp from Sugar Nellie and coloured it with Tria and Promarkers, used some kraft card which I embossed with a Cuttlebug embossing folder and some trim which matched my colouring perfectly. An old heart shaped button with a raffia bow and a sentiment from Heidi Swapp finished the design off nicely. Off back to my desk now for some more blissful ignorance!

Entering the following challenges:
Make it Monday - Always anything goes 
Make it Monday with Kraft Outlet - Anything goes
Passion for Promarkers - Thank you 
Stars and Stamps Midweek Throwdown - Thank you cards
Delicious Doodles - Anything goes
Stampin for the Weekend - Anything goes
Cooking It Up With Katie - Anything goes
I Love Promarkers - Anything goes

Mini Artsy Ornaments

I've not blogged in soooo long, been a little bit too busy but now the festivities are over for another year and I've finally had the opportunity to get a little messy and creative! I signed up some weeks ago for an online workshop with Christy Tomlinson and some of her artsy friends, it was all about making handcrafted ornaments and gifts for Christmas but I was so busy working and preparing to have the family - 13 for Christmas dinner - that I didn't have time to make anything much before the holiday. Now that Gillian and her lot have gone back to Hampshire and the house is a bit quieter I've had time to watch some more of the video tutorials and a chance to try something out for myself :o)

These mini canvases are what I started with - I bought them and some new acrylic paints with a Hobbycraft voucher I got for Christmas - they are so cute, less than 3" square! They have been painted and paper-pieced with scraps of patterned papers, then scribbled on, had ribbons & bows added then finally mod-podged to seal and protect the painted surfaces. They could have ribbon or hooks added to hang them, magnets added to the back to pop on the fridge or maybe they could all be strung together to make a wall hanging - I haven't decided yet how I will use them but I wanted to share them because I love them so much!

Here is a closer look:

Entering these challenges:
Creative Inspirations Paint - Something New
Fashionable Stamping Challenges - Anything Goes with Your New Stash
Gingerloft - Winter OR Christmas 
Sparkles Forum - Anything BUT a Christmas Card
The Squirrel & the Fox - Something New 
One Stop Craft - Winter wishes
Fabulous Friday - Something New
Phindy's Place - Scraps