Papertake Weekly...and Copics!

Just a quick one today so that I can post this card in time for the Papertake Challenge sketch. Ali is waiting to get on the PC so I had better be swift!

I made this card using a gorgeous Hangler and Stanglar image that my friend Kirsty sent to me. Isn't it the cutest?! I coloured with..... Copics. I'm afraid that I have sidelined my ProMarkers at present as I cannot seem to get any depth to my colouring, to the point that I just gave up in the end and purposefully coloured everything flat. So, I decided Copics were for me. They arrived in force yesterday and I LOVE them. Although, my pinks seem a little bright..... I'm wondering....what are everyone's favourite pink Copic combos?

So anyway, back to the card. The papers are Bo Bunny 'Smitten' which are gorgeous as they have a wonderful shimmer to them. The oval sentiment tag comes courtesy of a Cuttlebug die and the sentiment itself is made of Doodlebug rub-ons.

As you can see, I had to change the sketch slightly as it just didn't look right all on one side.....hope it still counts in the challenge!

So..... what do you think of the colouring?! An improvement? I really hope so as I was getting so fed up with it being so flat :o( Ooh, by the way, I must say a massive thank you to Rach as I have been obsessively stalking her blog recently, looking at her Copic selections for each and every card! Thanks so much for being so inspirational Rach!

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I Made 'Him' a 'Her'!

Hope you all had a good weekend. I had a really good one - lunch with my lovely Mum and a spot of shopping on Saturday, and a really lazy crafty day on Sunday. The only downside is that I got a tiny cold. It is so pathetic though, I'm not really noticing it. Actually, it's kinda what I think man-flu would be like ;o)

So without further ado, I present to you a card I made on Sunday using the cutey CC Design bear. I'm loving the fact that all the CC Designs stamps have now been released in Digi form... can't wait til payday on Friday!

I made the bulk of the card by layering up DCWV card stock with pink and green Basic Grey papers (Sultry and Offbeat I think but I could be wrong!) I coloured my CC bear with ProMarkers and Copics and highlighted with white gel pen. To make my 'he' a 'she', I added a little hibiscus flower from the CC scenery set - how cute does she look?! My bear was then plopped onto white card using lots of 3D pads. I tied everything together with pink and green Poppicrafts ribbon and some sparkly bling gems.

By the way, check out my scalloped edge! I don't yet have a punch and I didn't cut it by hand... I used my Nesties! Apologies if you have all already figured out how to do this but I am super excited by this discovery as it means I don't have to buy a bulky punch - woohoo! Check out this blog for all the deets.

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Pink Cat Studio Contest - Lily the Fairy

Hey everybody! Apologies for the delay in posting recently, it's exam time at work so I've been a bit up against it. I've still been crafting in the evenings but I've just been really bad at getting things online!

I made this card a couple of weeks ago for the Pink Cat Studio 'Lily the Fairy' contest. You'll be pleased to hear that whilst I am late in sharing it with you, I did manage to enter it on time!

For this card, I used up some Pink Petticoat scraps that I had kicking around from a series of cards I made a few weeks ago. I love these Pretty Doodle papers! I used the positive and negative versions and layered them up with a solid darker pink paper. I'd love to tell you the exact shades, but I cannot for the life of me remember. Could be Sassy..... maybe Orchid.....! I coloured the gorgeous Lily image with ProMarkers and Copics and highlighted her wings with a clear Sakura Stardust pen and a waterbrush.

Although this is a pretty basic layout, I really like the card because it is so bold and colourful!

Only 1 more day to go 'til the weekend! Woo-hoo! Can't wait as I am meeting up with my Mum and we are going to be 'Ladies Wot Lunch'!

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Am I a Scrap Addict #10

Hi everyone, just a quick post tonight as I'm away this weekend and still have lots to prepare! Had to drop a quick post tonight though as it is 'Am I a Scrap Addict?' time again! This week, Deanne gave us a tricky sketch but I have to admit, I had a great time with it!

Following the sketch, I added Doodlebug DP onto a blank covered with chocolate coloured card. There was a lot of measuring and slicing involved, let me tell you! On to this crazy backdrop, I added a Nestie circle and a cutie patootie CC Designs bear. I love him! I coloured 'Bear' with ProMarkers and highlighted with white gel pen. Hot pink organza was wrapped round the card and a MFT sentiment added, complete with a faux stitch/doodle border.

Have a great weekend folks!

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My Favorite Things - Sketch 62

As you will know from my last post, I got some scrummy yummy My Favorite Things stamps for Christmas. I've been after them FOREVER so I was ridiculously excited on Christmas morning and couldn't wait to ink those babies up!

For my first MFT card, I decided to take part in a sketch challenge posted on the MFT forum section of SCS. It was a fab sketch and I had a great time working with it.

I started off by layering some red Core'dinations cardstock onto my square card blank. Onto this I added Basic Grey 'Cupcake' paper, into which I handcut a scalloped edge (I really need a scalloped punch....!). I coloured the MFT image using a mixture of Promarkers and Copics and added this panel on to a 'doctored' rectangular Nestie. I finished the card with Poppicrafts ribbon, adhesive gems and a MFT sentiment. I'm really pleased with how everything turned out as I love all the bright colours!

I'm off to do some blog hopping now, I need to pull my socks up as I've been a useless blogger of late!

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Am I a Scrap Addict? - Sketch #9

Happy New Year everyone! Hope you all had a lovely Christmas and a fun New Year. I have a nice quiet one with year but it was so lovely, I'm gutted all the fun is now over!

Unfortunately, as things got a bit hectic here, I has to miss sketch 8 of Am I a Scrap Addict. I felt really bad so I was very relieved that I was able to join in with sketch 9..... even though it was a real tricky one! As the 2nd January (today!) is my Dad's birthday, I decided to make a card for him to the sketch that Deanne provided....

I inked the edges of some Basic Grey 'Offbeat' paper (an absolute STEAL from The Glitter Pot at the mo!) and mounted this on to a side opening A6 card. I mounted on to this a Nestie circle and an owl coloured with Promarkers. I embellished the card using Poppicrafts ribbon and Hobbycraft adhesive gems. Finally, I used Doodlebug Simply Sweet rub-ons to create the sentiment which, as Dad turned 65 this year, seemed very appropriate! I'm dead chuffed with this card actually as, for the first time ever, I managed not to get in a horrible inky mess whilst distressing my papers! I'm hoping this means that I have 'cracked' this technique!

Right, I'm off to go play with the new stash I got for Christmas - you can expect to see some 'My Favorite Things' inspired cards shortly!

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On My First Christmas......

Hi everyone! So....are you all ready for Christmas?! I think I am nearly finished with all of the preparations now. All presents bought, family visited, food order placed, tree bought and decorated. All that's left is to wrap the presents and write my cards. Phew! For some reason, this years prep seemed 1000% more hectic that usual - I barely feel I've spent anytime at home the last couple of weeks! Anyone else feel like that or is it just me being a drama queen?!

I have managed to make a few things though. I made some gorgeous little gift bags and also some nice pieces of jewellery to give to friends and family for Christmas. Unfortunately, I forgot to take any pictures..... Silly Stacey!

However, I did manage to snap a few pics of these cards which I was asked to make by the daughter of one of my colleages. She wanted cards for her little baby boy to give to his grandparents for Christmas. For both of the cards, I adapted one of the Pink Petticoat 'Sweet Cheeks' images simply by adding 'on my' in Paint Shop Pro.

I layered up some plain New Leaf Pink Petticoat paper onto a square card blank and matted onto this some Olive 'O Christmas Tree' paper. I coloured some white ribbon with Promarkers so that it coordinated and wrapped this around the card. The main image was altered slight in Paint Shop Pro and then coloured with Prismacolor pencils and Sansodor. I highlighted with Stickles, mounted onto a Nestie rectangle and added the panel to the card with 3D pads. I finished the card with adhesive gems in each of the corners.

This second card is {secretly!} my favourite! I matted Duck Egg Blue solid paper onto a card blank and then followed this with smaller coordinating layers of 'O Christmas Tree' papers in Merry Christmas and Snowflake designs. I tied white satin ribbon around the central panel and added my Sweet Cheeks image to the card using 3D foam pads. Once again, the finished card was embellished with adhesive gems.

I'm planning to do a little bit of blog hopping today as it is dead at work {naughty I know!}, so don't be surprised if you all get inundated with lots of comments from me as I try my bestest to catch up on all of the beautiful projects you have made over the last couple of weeks!

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What a bad blogger I am.......

I just want to apologise for being such an awful blogger of late. I've barely made it around your blogs and I haven't been posting all that much either. I think it is mostly down to work and Christmas prep distractions but I really just haven't had the will to blog lately. I don't think it helps that the computer is in the spare room and it is blinking freezing in there at the moment! Anyway, I'm sorry for being naughty and for neglecting you all! I will try harder in the new year I promise!

Well, I'm still on the christmas card mission..... and getting nowhere fast really! I've been playing with the CC Design downloads again. Can't leave them alone, they are so cute! I've fancied having a go at a round card for ages so now seemed like as good a time as any!

I cut the blank from pearlescent cardstock, using the largest of my circular Nesties and my trusty cuttlebug. I then cut two further circles of of MME Be Merry papers, trimming one down so that it formed a band across the centre of the card. I coloured my CC angel with Promarkers and added Stickles to her wings for a little bit of sparkle. Once dry, I added her to the centre of the card with 3D pads. Finally, I tidied up the top of the card with a piece of ribbon which was originally a hanging hook inside one of my jumpers!

I hope all of your christmas preparations are going well and that you aren't finding your gift buying too stressful! Take care, wrap up warm and I promise I will be visiting you all soon!

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Cutie Rudie!

Although I have plenty more of the CC angel cards to share with you, I decided to give you a little bit of a break for the time being. Instead, here is an image from the PC Crafter set "Santa's Helpers".

Firstly, I distressed some My Minds Eye paper with a metal ruler, faux stitched around the edges and mounted on to a brown side-fold rectangular card blank. As I mentionned before, the image is from the PC Crafter "Santa's Helpers" set. I've coloured Rudolph with my Promarkers and layered him onto a scalloped Nestie rectangle. I punched 2 holes either side of the image and threaded through some ribbon, highlighting with adhesive gems. I then mounted the whole panel onto the card blank using 3D foam pads. I'm really pleased with the whole thing.

Hope everyone is well and enjoying the weekend! I'm feeling slightly smug as mine is a slightly longer one as Ali and I are off for an overnight jolly to Bath tomorrow!

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See, I told you that I love these images.....!

Yep, as promised, here is yet another Christmas card that I have made with my fab CC Designs angels. But aren't they adorable?!

This one was pretty simple....as are most of my cards! I took some gorgeous My Minds Eye Christmas papers, inked the edges and layered them onto coordinating Bazzill Smoothie cardstock. I studded the corners with silver brads and added a strip of stripy MME paper across the centre of the card. The central CC Designs image is mounted onto a Nestie circle and coloured with Promarkers. I finished my little cutie off with a touch of Stickles on her wings and halo.

Do you know what? There are yet more of these angels to come.....I just love them so much!

I've got 2 awards in the last couple of days from Sandra, Beth & Sally-Ann - thanks ladies!
Sandra and Beth passed on this little beauty....
"This blog invests and believes the PROXIMITY - nearness in space, time and relationships!These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind blogger's aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers! Deliver this award to eight blogger's who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award."

I think my 8 lucky ladies are going to be...

Beth & Sandra (I know they gave it to me but I still feel this sentiment applies to them!), Sally-Ann, Dawn, Vicky, Nikki, Amy and Terrie. The reason that I have chosen these ladies is because, no matter how ropey a card I post, this lovely lot are always the first to "ooh and aah" and leave gorgeous little comments. Thank you so much, I appreciate you more than you know!

The second award came from Sally-Ann......

"Pick 5 bloggers that you consider as your best blogging buddies and deserve this award for their contribution towards the blogging community, no matter what language.State the name of the author of each blog as well as a link to each one's blogs.Each blogger (upon acceptance) of this award should do a post and show the award on their blog and put the name and link to the blog that has given her/him the award."

Umm, who shall I go for this time..... Well, I actually think all of the people I named for the Proximity award also deserve this award so consider yourselves awarded twice you lot!

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I'm Getting Addicted to CC Angels.....

Blimey it's cold....brrr! It has {finally} got me in the mood to make Christmas cards though! I've made quite a few over the last couple of days which I will gradually upload throughout the week. Don't want to bombard you do I?!

I made this card using my gorgeous My Minds Eye papers. I have virtually the whole set of these and I love this one in particular as my Mum used to read me this poem every single Christmas Eve when I was little. The image is from the CC Designs 'Angel' download which I am utterly in love with. All I can say is, you will be seeing these designs ALOT over the coming days ;o) Anyway, I coloured my little angel with ProMarkers and Stickles and mounted her onto a couple of Nestie circles. As always, I finished my card with ribbon and adhesive gems.

Thanks for all your kind wishes re: the Flutterby design team - what lovely peeps you are?!
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A Spoon Full of Sugar - Pink & Green

Sorry for not posting a card since last week - I've been too busy colouring up images with my new Pro Markers! Oh, how I love them! Such great colours and so easy to work with.

After several days of play, I finally decided that I had done far too much colouring and that I really did need to start turning the images into cards! So, without further ado, I present to you my entry into this weeks A Spoon Full of Sugar challenge - Pink & Green........

I started off by layering some pink Core'dinations cardstock onto my card blank. Onto this, I layered more Core'dinations pink card and three strips of DCWV Spring papers. I tied a bow around this panel and added a 'Thanks' metal tag from the Eyelet Outlet. I coloured my Alota image with Pro Markers (mmm, yummy!) and outlined the image to make it 'pop'. The image was then layered onto a Nestie rectangle (which I hacked a bit out of to make it shorter!) and mounted onto the card with 3D pads. The whole thing was finished off with some Primas and a silver brad.

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The Secret Crafter - Saturday Challenge #1

Hey everyone, hope you are all having a good weekend despite the 'orrible weather. This morning, I decided that, as Christmas really isn't all that far away, I really need to get cracking with some Christmas cards. The only problem is, as I only started crafting in February, I don't actually have any specific Christmas stamps yet!

After faffing around online for a while, I discovered Dinky Dots Crafts. Not only do they have the most adorable designs, they also offer their images in downloadable PDF versions as well as in stamp form. I was won over instantly by their cuteness and so downloaded 'Eskimo Kisses'.

For this card, I followed this week's sketch on The Secret Crafter challenge blog. I coloured my Eskimo Kisses download with my new Promarkers (I LOVE THEM!) and layered onto Nestie circles with 3D pads. The papers are freebies from a magazine and the sentiment is from a Stampin' Up! set called Circle of Friendship.

Going back to my earlier comment, I'm hoping some of you can offer me some advice. As funds are a bit tight, I can't really afford to go out on a massive splurge for loads of different Christmas themed stamps. So I need to find a handful which are lovely, easy to work with and yet really good value for money. So.......What do you reckon? What are your fave Xmas stamps? I could really do with your help on this one girlies!

Have a good week!

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Am I a Scrap Addict? - Sketch 3

Well, after my hols, I've had no choice but to get right back into it. Why?! Well, I had my 3rd Am I a Scrap Addict DT card to make didn't I?!

I found this weeks sketch a little tricky so I rotated it 90 degrees and, all of a sudden, it became a lot easier to manage!

I matted Bazzill Bon Bon card onto a square card blank and added a strip of Doodlebug 'All a Flutter' paper, layered on Bazzill Bubblegum cardstock. On top of this, I added an embossed panel of Bazzill Swimming Pool card. The image is Elzybells 'Shopaholic' and is coloured with Prismacolor pencils and Sansodor. The whole card is finished with a Rubber Romance stamped sentiment, ribbon and some adhesive gems.

I so loved this Elzybells image that I used her again to make a little image wallet for a RAK I sent to my friend Sheila. The image and sentiment are completely appropriate for Sheila as she really is a complete (self-confessed!) shopaholic!

Thanks for popping by!

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I'm Back.... and Struggling!

Hi Guys! Well I got back last Saturday morning, completely exhausted after being up for about 30 hours. We had a great holiday, despite the horrendous thunderstorms in the first few days! Unfortunately, I went straight back to work on Monday and things are so busy, I don't feel as if I've been away!

Since returning, I've also decided that I really do think that holidays should be banned as they steal Mojo's! I knew I would struggle to get back into things a little bit but I never realised that it would be this bad! The will is there, but the ideas have vanished. Not only that, after cruising around all of your blogs, you've all made such gorgeous things that I am now having a major confidence dip as you are all so talented and I feel totally inadequate! It's so infuriating and I'm annoyed at myself for feeling like that. So, this weekend, I am throwing myself back in to it. Rahr! Mojo, you will be back soon!

I have however made one card since my return to Blighty. Do you remember that I mentioned that my friend was having a baby which was due whilst I was in Corfu? I made a boy card as I was convinced it was going to be a boy. Typically, Christie gave birth on her due date to a gorgeous baby......GIRL! So, after several botched attempts and much wasted card, I resorted back to a tried and tested 'favourite' layout!


I made a top fold A5 card and added a Cuttlebugged Swiss Dots scalloped border to the bottom edge using pink Coredinations cardstock. I then made holes around the edge of the card using a paper piercer and a plastic cross stitch canvas to keep them in line. A couple more Swiss Dotted panels were added to the centre of the card and I mounted a scalloped circle onto these using 3D foam pads. The image is called 'Ellie' and is from Stampendous and I've coloured her with Prisma's and Sandsodor and then highlighted with a clear Sakura Stardust pen and a waterbrush. The whole thing was finished with a little bit of coordinating pink ribbon.

Hopefully I shall be back soon with some more creations. Wish me luck!

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Just Checkin' In...!

Hello, me again! I'm still in Corfu but wanted to share this colourful creation with you, just so you don't go forgetting all about me.... sob sob sniff sniff!

I began by layering up Papermania striped paper and chocolate Bazzill onto a square blank, snipping the corners with those funny scissors which are a complete nightmare if, like me, you are left-handed! I coloured one of my new Elzybells with Prismas and Sansodor and matted her onto Bazzill and DCWV cardstock. This panel was then layered onto the cardbase using 3D foam pads. I finished with gems and a Hero Arts sentiment.

I have mixed feelings towards this card - I love the colour scheme and the image but not the corners!

Well, I'm back tomorrow so no doubt the blog addiction will once again take hold and I shall be flying round all of your blogs, leaving millions of comments before you know it!


P.S. This card is my entry into Cammie's incredible candy which is worth over $1000 and is for a very good cause. All you need to do is to make a card for the carer of someone with Alzheimers. I have seen first hand the devastating effects of this illness so was really happy to support this cause. Pin It

Am I a Scrap Addict - Sketch #2 - DT Card

Greetings from sunny Corfu! Well, in reality, it should actually be greetings from rainy Southampton as I am actually writing this on a miserable Sunday afternoon, several weeks before I'm due to go on my holidays!

Anyway, I thought you might like to see my DT card for Sketch #2 on the Am I a Scrap Addict? sketch blog. It was a nice simple sketch this week and I used it as an excuse to make a baby card for my friend who is due to pop whilst we are in Corfu. Nobody knows whether it is going to be a boy or a girl yet but I figured that this gives me a 50:50 chance of not having to rush a card on my return from holidays when my mojo is sure to have gone walkies!

For this one, I layered up Core'dinations cardstock on to a square card blank. To this, I added a Swiss Dots panel and a Hero Arts elephant from the 'Playful Animals' set. I coloured the flump with Prismacolor pencils, blending with Sansodor and mounting on to a Nestie scalloped circle. The card with finished with a sentiment from a £1 set and of course, some adhesive gems!

I hope you are all having a great week, I know I'm sure to be having a good time!

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A Very, Very Late Mojo Monday Card!

Hi all! I'm back with a late Mojo Monday card from last week.... I think! I really liked the sketch but wanted to wait until my Nesties arrived. But, now they are here.......whoo-hoo!

This one is a bit of a Doodlebug fest with Doodlebug papers and Doodlebug Bazzill card. I've embossed the Bubblegum card base with Swiss Dots and have matted the papers with Swimming Pool card. The image is one I received from Beth ages ago and I have coloured with Prismas and Sansodor, highlighting with Stardust pens. The sentiment is from a clear £1 set.

Well, I think there is definitely one thing we can all say about it - it's definitely bright and colourful!

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A Monochrome Baby Boy!

This week, I was asked to make a baby card for my colleague whose daughter is just about ready to pop! She's a week overdue so time really wasn't on my side as I knew I'd need to make the card a bit sharpish. So, because of the time factor, I went for another pretty simple card.

Oh by the way, I should point out that she already knows she is having a boy - I promise I didn't just make a 50/50 stab at it!

I made the base from layered shades of blue paper and card and then added a plain white section which I stabbed repeatedly with a fondue fork! I then added some DCWV text paper which had been matted onto a scissor-cut scalloped border. I coloured the Stampendous image (Ellie!) with Prismacolors and Sansodor and mounted on to the card using 3D pads. The card was completed with the addition of a Hero Arts stamped sentiment and the obligatory gems and ribbon.

The card unfortunately looks a little distorted as it is a top folder. With all the rubbish weather, the light has been terrible so the picture also has a funny tinge. I'm sure you get the general idea though!

Hope you are all enjoying the Bank Holiday - even if the weather is a bit iffy!

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That's More Like It!

I don't think I really need to explain what I did as it is so simple, you can see straight away! The stamp is from Stamps Away and he is coloured with my Prismas and Sansodor. The flashes of colour have been embossed with the CB Swiss Dots folder.

I cannot wait until the end of the month as I will be getting a small bonus from work and so am finally going to treat myself to some circular Nestabilities. I am sick of cutting scalloped circles by hand as no matter how hard you try, you always get a little bit left over where the scissors don't quite meet up.....did you spot it?! I wish they were a little bit cheaper, then I could buy them all straight away! I would get them from the US but as they are just over the free limit, fear the import tax won't make them such a bargain :o(

I know it is a bit rough round the edges, but I seriously love this simple card and think I am going to use the basic layout for all my 'bulk' christmas cards. Obviously I'll make sure the stamp is a bit more christmas-y though!

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