Dragonfly dreams...

Hey guys!

How are we all?  I had such good intentions this week with regards to crafting - I was going to get caught up on all of the birthday cards, Mother's day cards and all the other cards I have to make...but alas, life never goes that way does it!  It turned into a super hectic week with another few on the way...but that's what keeps things interesting hey?!  :)

I did manage to get in before the deadline for The Paper Players sketch - which is a lovely CAS one so how could I resist :) and another go at the Catered Crop Recipe Swap - Good Birthdays.

I've gone monochrome with a touch of glittery embossing powder and a silver embossed sentiment...

This guy is pretty self-explanatory, so you'll be pleased to know that this is a super short, ramble free post today!  I'll try harder tomorrow if I can get a few more cards made!  ;)  Like I mentioned, the dragonfly was heat embossed using WOW's Clear Hologram Sparkle powder and so in real life he's super sparkly and looks like he might float away!  ;)

Here's The Paper Players sketch...

and Catered Crop...

Thanks so much for stopping by, and a great big thank you for all being so kind with your commenting...it really makes my day and I really appreciate you all taking the time to leave your thoughts ;)

Supplies
Card:      Paper Mill Direct - White, White Hammered, Pale Turquoise, Teal
Stamps: Verve - Hope Blooms; Clear Impressions - Wild & Free
Ink:        VersaColor - Silver; Papermania - Turquoise
Other:    WOW! - Silver Super Fine, Clear Hologram Sparkle e/p; rhinestones

Purple pots...

Hello there peeps!

And welcome to more new followers - it was a nice start to my Monday to find some more of you have joined me!  ;)  

I hope you all had a good weekend?!  Mine went from having no plans to being jam-packed full!!  I had a wee bit of a headache on Saturday (it was ENORMOUS!), so suffice to say that the impromptu night out on Friday was enjoyable  ;)  Sunday was then filled with laughter and the company of good friends...friends who were responsible for my fragility the previous day I might add!  I also saw my friends' little boy who is just the most gorgeous 3 year old you have ever seen, and he's so polite...I am going to convince him to live with me one day!  Too cute!

Anyway, back to business!

I have recently had an influx of commissions - when I say influx, it's not on the scale of Carol's Valentine-A-Thon, but a lot for me considering I only get requests from my Mum usually!  So, I am having to be a bit proactive rather than leave cards to the last minute like I normally do!!  I think I must have an issue as I only seem to be able to produce under pressure when there's no time for procrastination!?  

Today's card is a Mother's Day card...here in the UK it falls on 30th March so I thought I'd get a head start by using the sketch from CAS(E) This Sketch.  It's quite a detailed one for the CTS team this time around and I have to admit to not straying from it in the slightest!  That's a rarity for me as you well know...I don't like playing by the rules ;)

This is for my friends' Mum and I know that she likes purple...guess what I went with?!...

It's not often I go for landscape card...I much prefer a portrait orientation, I'm not sure why?!  Maybe it's because I'm short!!  ;)

That's a pretty literal interpretation, eh?!!  I heat embossed the pots/vases in WOW! Grape embossing powder and cut them out with my trusty scissors...they could do with a sharpen actually...  Then I stamped the snowdrops in black and attacked them with a few watercolour pencils!  I do realise that snowdrops are meant to be white, but they looked a bit bland so I coloured them in!  I think it's called artistic license?!  The sentiment is hand written, as I can see is glaringly obvious now that I'm looking at it in the photograph...maybe should've let myself wake up a bit more before I attempted the writing - might change that later if it's imperfections continue to bug me!  

This is another card that I'm not quite sure about...hmmm...maybe another grower?!

I'm also hoping that this counts as a floral for The Card Concept's challenge...you got it, the theme is floral!  There are lickle flowers on the pots/vases and obviously the dyed snowdrops are flowers too!  I'm not sure what style this is...I would hazard a guess that it would come under Clean and Layered as there's a crap-load of foam adhesive hiding under there!!  I do not know what I'd do without foam adhesive...I'd never be able to make another card again I don't think!!?  ;)

How pretty is that picture?!  I'll definitely be back for another stab at this one!  

ETA:  Thank you Ardyth for pointing out that my card is very similar to the Muse inspiration this week too!  It's even purple!  I'll be popping this in over there too  ;)

Thank you for stopping by guys, I hope this week treats you all well ;)

Supplies
Card:      Paper Mill Direct - White, Grape, Lilac
Stamps: Clear Impressions - Wild & Free, Cherry Blossom
Ink:        Ranger - Perfect Medium; Windsor & Newton - Violet
Other:    WOW! - Grape e/p; rhinestones; watercolour pencils

Retro rainbow...

Hello guys!

It's Friday - yaay!!  I hope you all have some lovely plans for the weekend ahead, may it be jam-packed full of things to do or a nice, peaceful rest  :)  I'm not sure what I'm doing with mine yet...I'm sure I'll figure it out as I go along!  My DOH has the day off today (yipee!!  I feel like I haven't seen him for ages as he's been working 7 days a week :( ) and the sun has actually made an appearance!  It may not be warm, but at least the rain has ceased for a while which is a good thing.  My thoughts are with all those who have been adversely affected by the terrible weather we've had, not only here but in the US too...I hope you're all ok :)

Before I get onto my card...welcome to my new followers!  Thank you so much for joining me here - I hope you enjoy your stay!  ;)

So anyway, the card...that's why we're all here!

This one is for Retro Sketches, Catered Crop AND A Blog Named Hero - whoop!

This card came to me seemingly out of nowhere!  I woke up the other morning and the idea was just in my head - who knows what I must've been dreaming about?!  I actually quite like how this turned out!!

There's not really a great deal to say abut this card - it's pretty obvious how it was made - no super duper techniques or skill!  Just some concertina'd card made by using my little score board (I only got this a few weeks ago - can you believe how far behind I am!), an embossed sentiment and some sparkly bits...c'est voila! 

Here's the view through the zig-zags...I couldn't help myself, it looked too pretty!!

So, for the challenges...

Retro Sketches, sketch obviously!...

Catered Crop - Birthday...

and last, but by no means least...A Blog Named Hero - Roy G. Biv...who doesn't love a rainbow?!!...

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you all have a fabulous weekend whatever you're doing and I may see you before it's through!!  ;)

Supplies
Card:      Paper Mill Direct - White, Black, Bright Red, Citrus, Daffodil, Spring green, Ocean Blue, Grape,
                      Lilac
Stamps: Stamping All Day - Art Deco Happy Birthday
Ink:        VersaColor - Black
Other:    WOW! - Ebony e/p; rhinestones

Frame it...

Hey, hey!

I hope this Wednesday morning finds you all well ;)  Can you believe we're half way to the weekend again?!  I mean seriously...I know time flies as you get older, but this is ridiculous!  Over half way through February too...how did that happen?!  The good thing about the weeks passing quickly however is that the new challenges come around sooner!  There's a silver lining to every cloud  ;)

Speaking of new challenges, I've noticed a (nother!) new one has cropped up and it's super cool!  It's called 'Cure For The Monday Blues' - how perfect is that!  Another challenge to look forward to on a Monday morning!  Taheerah is the mastermind behind this inspiration challenge (sorry, I categorise challenges...sketch, inspiration etc... it helps me when I'm stumped!) and it is now in its fifth week.  I became aware of it on week 3 but have only now had a chance to participate  :)

This week's inspiration image has the title 'Frame It'.  Now this is kinda spooky because I was in one of those arty-farty bar/cafe places over the weekend (my brother is as arty-farty as I am, else I don't normally get to go to these places!) and they had a wall decorated solely with mirrors of all different sizes and different styles of frames and I thought at the time...'that would be a cool idea for a card.'  Yes, I am that sad...  So anyway, I did a quick sketch when I got home so I didn't forget my idea and thought...'I'll get round to that at some point'.  Well, after seeing the inspiration image for this week I couldn't put it off any longer!!!

Here is my card...

I'm not gonna lie...this isn't exactly how I had envisioned this card...I'm fairly happy with the outcome though.  I have pushed myself a bit with this one too...it's leaning towards the freestyle collage style that I'm so jealous of and am desperate to be able to pull off without it looking like a disparate mess when the idea is to coordinate all of the elements beautifully!  Also, I have SKEWED nearly every element on this card which caused my OCD to go into overdrive I can tell you!!!  I'm still twitching now!  I have to keep looking at it to get myself used to it!  ;)  (Yeh, yeh, I know I'm bonkers...!)

What I am happy with though, are the colours.  It's a very muted palette for me and I'm pleased that they all work together quite well despite not being colours that I would normally use.  I'm definitely going to need a glass of wine this evening just to get over all this change!

And just because this will probably be the first and last time you see anything like this on my blog, here's a close up of the layers...

Now, here is the inspiration that has pushed me and caused me to get into such a tizz (in a good way you understand!)...

See, it's so pretty!!

I am also entering this card in the challenge over at Catered Crop - it has been WAAAY too long since I joined in over there!!  The Recipe Swap for this fortnight is 'Good Birthdays'.

Ok, so that's all for now  :)  Thank you for stopping by ;)

Supplies
Card:      Paper Mill Direct - White, Black, Grey, Sky Blue, Pink Sorbet; Tracing paper
Stamps: Clear Impressions - Wild & Free; Verve - Notebook Paper Plain Jane; Flourishes - Berry Sweet 
Ink:        Ranger - Perfect Medium; VersaColor - Charcoal; Distress Ink - Victorian Velvet, Dusty Concord
Other:    WOW! - Platinum, Clear, Bright White Opaque Super Fine e/p; rhinestones

Starburst!...

Hello!

No, I'm not talking about the tasty sweets...my card is a rainbow starburst!!  

I'll be honest, I'm not sure about this card yet.  When I started I thought it was going to look 'awesome'...of course I did, why would I bother making it otherwise?!  Well, I'm not sure awesome is the right word for it now, more 'hmmm, maybe?!'  I'll leave it up to you to make up your own minds...

This card was inspired by the sketch challenge at STAMPlorations.  I was a little bit liberal with the sketch, I turned it on its side and extended the starburst all the way round rather than the controlled rays of the sketch...I hope it still counts!!

So, here's the card...

I got this lotus flower stamp (set!) yesterday (sshhhh, don't tell him!!  I don't think he can hear me from here?!  He he!) and I couldn't wait to use it!!  Isn't it pretty?!!  I'm sure there are much better applications for it than this, but it's a start!  ;)

It took a little while to work out where I wanted my 'rays' to go and I made little template using tracing paper to make sure the lines fell between the lotus petals.  Once I'd cut them all out though it didn't take long to stick them all down and then heat emboss the lotus flower on top.  A few rhinestones later (thank you to my lovely sister for the sparkly Christmas present - my family know me too well!) and I was done!

Here's the sketch...

As you can see, I also omitted the sentiment part too...it wasn't going to fit anywhere without ruining it so I left it out  :)  Thank you to Cornelia for pointing me in the direction of STAMPlorations - I hadn't come across this fabulous blog before!  Another one to add to the list...I'm never going to keep up with all the challenges I want to partake in!!!  ;)


ETA:  Thank you to Carol for pointing out that my little card would also be eligible for A Blog Named Hero's Roy G. Biv challenge - woohoo!  (I did have a look at the Just Us Girls challenge, however that was to choose three colours and a neutral - I have used a few more than that!!)

Thank you, as always guys, for stopping by my little blog...I hope you know I appreciate it ;)

Supplies
Card:      Paper Mill Direct - White, Black, Bright Red, Citrus Orange, Daffodil Yellow, Spring Green, 
                       Ocean Blue, Grape, Lilac
Stamps: Clear Impressions - Cherry Blossom
Ink:        VersaColor - Black
Other:    WOW! - Ebony e/p; rhinestones

Baubles!...

Hi guys!

Happy Valentine's Day to you all!!  I hope you all have some wonderful plans for this evening - whether that be spending time with those you love or sitting with a glass of wine and a box of chocolates at your desk getting your craft on!!  ;)

It's nearly the weekend - whoop!  My brother and his partner are coming to visit for belated birthday celebrations - it was my brother's birthday yesterday.  Yep, he was nearly a little baby cupid, but instead was born on Friday 13th - you can't win 'em all!  ;)

Today I made a card for the Festive Friday challenge and CAS(E) This Sketch.  I thought it only fitting as the sketch had a Christmas theme to go with it :)  I missed the first Festive Friday challenge of the year, but I am aiming to participate in the rest of them...I could do without the December card rush and it'll keep the spirit of Christmas alive all year long :)  The inspiration image for this fortnight is GORGEOUS!!

Ok, less blathering, more pictures...

I got my needle and thread (and patience!) out again for this one.  I used the Spellbinders Labels 24 dies to get the nice round shape to these baubles by cutting the 'corners' off and sticking two of them together to make this shape.  Not a very good explanation that is it, but I can't think of another way to describe it!?  

Do you see what I'm getting at?!

Those little red rhinestones were a Christmas present from my sister and it's the first time I've used them - they're gorgeous!  Super sparkly, which is what Christmas is all about as!  ;)

Here's the CAS(E) This Sketch sketch...

...and the Festive Friday inspiration...

I really enjoyed making this card as for the first time for a while, it actually went right!!  And it went right first time too which makes a nice change...I love it when a plan comes together!  Hopefully this shall continue :)

ETA:  I have also been made aware of this fabulous challenge over at STAMPlorations - Stamps and Stitches so I am going to enter this card over there too - thanks for the heads up!!  ;)

Thanks so much for stopping by ;)

Supplies
Card:      Paper Mill Direct - White, Bright Red
Stamps: Penny Black - Crystalline
Ink:        VersaColor - Silver
Other:    WOW! - Silver Super Fine e/p; thread, rhinestones

Pink, pink, pink!...

This is my second post today...I would love if you'd have a little peruse of the first one too ;)

Hello, hello!

Get me, two posts in one day!!!  

I have managed to make a card to play along with two of my favourite challenges and a NEW challenge!  The new challenge is The Card Concept.  I'm pretty sure most of you have seen it around, despite the fact it's only into it's third challenge it has a MASSIVE presence already!  Well done guys!  I did mean to play along from the beginning, but we all know what happens to even the best laid plans... but anyway, I made it this time which is kinda strange as the challenge this time around is monochromatic pink.  Now, me and pink, we have a love hate relationship.  I'd love to love it, and it is growing on me, but it's definitely not a go-to colour for me.  That said, this card came to me seemingly out of nowhere whilst sat at my desk trying to make a completely different card!  I'm don't know exactly what that says about my brain, but I am sure that Freud would have had a field day!

Yes, I attacked this card with ink pads!  I thought this was going to be a real QACAS (Quick and Clean and Simple - as coined by the ever so masterful with words Darnell :) ) but it took me an AGE to decide on the sentiment!!!  It was actually ridiculous how long it took.  I went through every single sentiment stamp I own...which in fairness doesn't take that long!  I have seen you guys and your stamp collections and it makes me super jealous!  I can fit every stamp I own into a drawer 10cm x 23cm (about 4" x 8" for those of you over the pond!) I need to work on that, once I've won the lottery!

I had fun making this little chap (chapette as it's all pink?!) and it's as close to a one layer card as I think I'm ever going to get :)

The other challenges that this card is heading off to are;

CAS(E) This Sketch #83

and CAS-ology #82 - BOLD

This is the inspiration image for The Card Concept - I wish I could do that shabby chic thang!  Until then, picking out the different shades of pink will just have to do :)

Thanks for stopping by, especially if it's the second of my posts' you've been subjected to read today! ;)

Supplies
Card:      Paper Mill Direct - White, Raspberry Pink
Stamps: Clear Impressions - Wild & Free; Debbi Moore - Congratulations
Ink:        VersaColor - Peony, Magenta, Old Rose; SU! - Classic Black
Other:    None

Some mid-week Shakespeare...

Hello!

As promised, I'm back with a calligraphy based card.  It's not super fancy calligraphy, although I often find that the 'simpler' alphabets are the most difficult to master because any slight mistake throws the whole thing out, not to mention that it stick out like a sore thumb!

This card uses a font that I haven't tried before, but I think I'm hooked!

My card is for a dear friend who is feeling a bit down in the dumps after an unexpected break up.  I found this Shakespeare quote and thought it would be ideal for the situation!  I love Shakespeare...the guy was a genius!!

This alphabet is a mixture of 'fat' and 'thin'!!  I used the 'fat' letters for the beginning of each word, and 'thin' lettering for the rest.  I like the contrast, especially in the second line where each word begins and ends with the same letter however one is 'fat' and one is 'thin' :)  I edged each letter along the right hand side with silver ink and then blended the Distress Ink colours over the top.  The colour helps the highlights show up which is good as that was the idea!!  I couldn't decide whether to go red and orange or blue and green, but I chose the warmer colours for this occasion :)

Here's a close up..

I hope you can see it ok?!  The silver highlights and the matt silver mat (hmm, that sounds weird?!) are much more effective in the flesh...not so much in the picture!  I also hope my friend likes it and it goes some way towards making her feel a bit better :)

Thanks for stopping by ;)

Supplies
Card:     Paper Mill Direct - White, Black; Create & Craft - Matt Silver card; Handmade paper from stash
Stamps: None!!!
Ink:        Windsor & Newton - Black; Manuscript - Silver; Distress Ink - Barn Door, Wild Honey
Other:    None

...oops, I'm a bit late for the party!...

Hi guys!

How are you all?  I know it seems like I haven't been around for a while, but I have.  I have been trying to find time to make cards, which hasn't been too much of a problem except for Mr Mojo having gone on the missing list again; the trouble has been finding the time once my cards have been made to photograph and upload them!  This is in no small part due to the fact that my mojo has taken a nose dive and therefore the time normally allotted to making, photographing, editing and posting is now being taken up by procrastinating, procrastinating, making, procrastinating some more and then finishing a card.  This leaves no time for the getting my cards from my desk onto the world wide interweb to share with you lovely people!  I think in some cases this has been a blessing however!!  :)

One such case was this card I made for Retro Sketches 100th sketch.  It was a cool sketch and I wanted to participate in the celebration of reaching 100 challenges, that's no mean feat!  My card was completed well within the deadline but, alas, it did not make it into my camera and onto my computer in time :(  I thought I'd share it anyway though because Darnell tells me off if I don't!!  :)

and here's the sketch...

I'm not sure how I feel about this card yet...sometimes I think it looks lovely and bright and sometimes I'm sure there's something wrong with it?!  There were some seriously awesome entries for this challenge so it's not like I was a contender, I just wanted to join in :)  I did a bit of Distress Ink blending over the white embossed leaves - I love a bit of emboss resist :)  Again, there's a bit of calligraphy here, I can feel myself getting back into it and not being so lazy with it!!  I have another calligraphy based card coming tomorrow, so watch this space!!  ;)

Thanks for stopping by to see my card that didn't quite make it!  Love you all  :)

Supplies
Card:      Paper Mill Direct - White, Black
Stamps: Flourishes - Berry Sweet
Ink:        Ranger - Perfect Medium; Distress Ink - Barn Door, Spiced Marmalade, Wild Honey, Broken 
                  China, Crushed Olive, Victorian Velvet, Dusty Concord; Papermania - Yellow
Other:     WOW! - Bright White Opaque e/p; twine, rhinestones

Love, love, love...

Hello, hello!

How are you all?  I hope you all had a fabulous weekend and got a chance to get some crafting in :)

Well, all has returned to normal here.  We are both home, myself from visiting family and DOH from sunny Australia.  Bless him, at the wedding he got heat stroke and nearly passed out!  He was fine after a while though and by all accounts was well looked after by his nearest and dearest in my absence :)  He had a fantastic time and I know he wished he could've stayed longer, but that's life I suppose.  We're planning a trip over there, hopefully this year, to spend some quality time with his family :)

But now, it's that time of year again when I wish I'd bought a heart die!!  Every year I think, 'this would be easier if I had a heart die, I'll make sure I get one of those' and yet here we are, another year has passed still with no die!  Stars, that's another die set on my list...maybe one day I'll get round to it ;)

I have made two cards today (the withdrawal of being away from my desk has put me into overdrive!) both of which are for Valentines Day :)  This first one is for my DOH and is for THREE challenges!  It's rare that I make a card that is eligible for that many challenges!

This idea has been floating around my head for a little while now...I'm not entirely sure where it came from?!  I also wasn't sure how I was going to make it into a reality so I just went with it and here's how it ended up!  It really doesn't require an explanation so I'll not bore you!  The only thing I will say is that yes, the sentiment is handwritten :)  I haven't used the Gothic style font for ages...when I first started calligraphy it was absolute favourite so I thought it was time I had another go at it :)

I am entering this card into the following challenges;

Cas-ual Fridays - Over The Edge...the little heart is trying to make a bid for freedom!

Addicted To CAS - Love...that's pretty obvious I would've thought!

Paper Mill Direct - create a Valentine's card...and I used Paper Mill Direct card, as always!!

The second card I have to show you today is the same as one I made last year, in May I think?  The only difference is I swapped the lime green for red as requested by my brother as a Valentine's card for his partner and I thought I'd share it anyway :)  It has a completely different feel to it actually, I was surprised at what a difference changing one colour made!

Thank you very much for stopping by guys, I appreciate it :)  I will catch up on commenting I have missed and I shall certainly have a browse of blogland as soon as I can because I've missed y'all!!

Supplies

Card One

Card:      Paper Mill Direct - White, Grey, Black, Bright Red

Stamps: Hero Arts- Valentine Flourishes

Ink:        Ranger - Perfect Medium; Windsor & Newton - Black

Other:    Cosmic Shimmer - Berry Red Aurora e/p; rhinestones

Card Two

Card:      Paper Mill Direct - White, Grey, Black, Ruby Red

Stamps: Hero Arts - Valentine Flourishes

Ink:        Ranger - Perfect Medium

Other:    WOW! - Ebony e/p; Spellbinders - Classic Edges One, Circles; pearls