vintage is best

So I've been playing with a new kit released yesterday at twopeasinabucket.com.  It's called Garden Party by Brandy Buffington.  LOVE this gorgeous vintage newspaper.  So I combined it with an image from Hero Arts Vintage Lifestyle kit and added a cheeky sentiment. :)

And this card is for my sister's birthday next month (no peeking Em) - she's really into bunting at the moment, so I combined some of the digi paper from Brandy's kit with a sweet stamp from THIS set by My Cute Stamps and my favourite Thickers.

And finally - just to share my new studio mascot... saw this over the weekend and thought of Lisa Spangler and HAD to have it. :)

I am in love...
x

Family...

I love my family.

Just back from a wonderful long weekend with my lovely sister and parents.  Oh, and my gorgeous husband of course.  Here are a few photos from an early evening walk we took on the beach last night.  We had a lot of laughs. (Oh and the crazy is hair is due to the CRAZY wind.)

Just wish my brother could have been there... but he was at Glastonbury Festival.
And just to show you that I haven't forgotten that the purpose of this blog is cards, here's a quick card I made a few days ago. I used THIS digikit - the sand footprint made me think of a baby's foot straight away. :)  The paper is, of course, from THIS kit ;)

Happy Monday.

x

hoppy birthday

So I've been playing with Hero Arts Summer Memories digikit.  This frog is just too cute.  I mixed him with some paper from THIS digikit - you may have noticed that I use it a LOT.  I adore it.

And of course I HAD to cover him in Glossy Accents.

Hope you have a fab weekend - I am off away with my family - my sister is over from Canada.  HOORAY.
See you Tuesday.

Play Date Cafe

Hello.

The Play Date Cafe asked me to be their guest designer this week - how very kind and nice.  Can you believe it, I discovered after submitting my card, that one of their senior designers, Sarah Anderson, lives just 5 minutes drive from my house.  It's SUCH a small world.  Hoping we get to meet one day soon, and play together. :)

So here are this week's colours:

And here is my card.

I used Kathy Martin's cute Home Sweet Home image with more of Shelley Castillo's Home is Where the Heart Is papers.  Such a yummy kit.  Had to add a shiny front door... :)

Hope you get a chance to play along.  Click HERE for the details :)
P.S. Just noticed I am almost at 500 followers.  Giveaway on the horizon. :)

Birthday Girl

I'm back... with a card!!!

I've not had much time to create over the past few days - but tonight after the joy of seeing the USA and England go through into the quarter finals of the World Cup, I had to get upstairs and make something glittery.

This CAS card uses a cupcake image from THIS digikit, and a simple typed sentiment.  Love pink and kraft together.

Lots of Doodlebug glitter on this one.

Have a great Wednesday.

My dream...

My dream has always been to have enough flowers in my garden to pick some... and today I picked my first EVER bunch.  It had to be small, as my plants are all still establishing, but I am so happy that I had to share it with you. :)

Can you see my flowering potatoes in the background - almost ready to dig.. and my gorgeous blue hydrangea.

I am so happy.

Enjoy your Sunday.

x

'Smile'

So I made a couple of 'Smile' cards today - playing with some new digikits.  'Sugar and Spice' by Brandy Buffington has the lovely ledger paper in from both the cards, as well as the pretty paper I printed the butterflies on to.  'Earthsong' by Rocco Baviera has the lovely ladybird and green paper.  I layered over Hero Arts 'Long Handwriting' before printing.  The sentiments are from THIS HA set - my new favourite.

Hope you are enjoying your weekend as much as me. :)

Paper Crafts Publication!

I am so excited as I have a couple of cards published in the new edition of Paper Crafts!!!

Love this fun front cover. :)

Here is one of the cards that was picked.

Thanks Papercrafts!!! I am HONOURED.

Soooooooo happy it's finally the weekend.  This week has nearly killed me...

Have a happy one.  Enjoy the football if you are watching it.

Here is a very simple card I made for Embellish Magazine's current challenge.  Such pretty colours, but such a challenge using a label...  Love a good challenge. :)
The pale yellow ribbon looks cream here... but it definitely pale yellow.  I promise :)

I had an email from someone saying she appreciated the instructions I gave on a card a few days ago, so am going to try and include instructions with my cards whenever I have time :)

1. Stamp the Antique Writing onto Punch Layering Paper using Punch Ink. 
2. Add the label sticker (from October Afternoon's Fly a Kite range) and stamp sentiment (from Hero Arts Just Find Me set)
3. Adhere ribbon (S.E.I) to sides.  I used a very thin line of Glossy Accents - my favourite glue.
4. Adhere panel to a Hero Arts Chocolate Notecard.

Best wishes to you all.  So happy it's nearly the weekend. :)

Dad, no peeking.

So here is my Father's Day card for my dad.  Dad, if you visit, look away NOW.

I used some yummy digi products for this card.  First, the car, which is from THIS fab Hero Arts digikit.

Then the background paper, from THIS amazing Vinnie Pearce kit, perfect for manly cards.

I coated the car in Glossy Accents so it's really shiny, as a classic car should be.  And although its a manly card, I had to add some stitching.  :)

Have a great Tuesday. The sun is shining here.  Hooray.

birthday fishes...

OK, so I needed a QUICK masculine card... so I went digi (so quick).
THIS new kit by Kerry Stewart is adorable, and I just love this fishy paper.  It looks so like real kraft paper don't you think?  I just added a typed sentiment, some yummy Thickers (on sale HERE) and a bit of stitching, then stuck it to a Hero Arts notecard.  Easy Peasy.

Love making a quick card on evenings when I am busy.  10 minutes of creating is the best therapy!!!
Love it.
x

Vintage Thank You

As soon as I saw THIS stunning card by Nichol Magouirk, I HAD to get my distress inks out and play.  Isn't her card the most gorgeous card ever???  I used many elements from her card in mine: a script stamp background, lots of pearls for the flower centres, and plenty of distress inks.  Thanks for the amazing inspiration Nichol.

I thought I'd give some instructions on how I made the card - I don't normally do this, but just felt like it today.

1. Stamp the main image, one of the cling stamps from the Two Vine Scrolls cling set, in Shabby Shutters and Faded Jeans distress inks, then cut it out.  
2. Stamp the Old French Writing text in Shabby Shutters ink.
3. Distress the edges and ink over with Tumbled Glass.  
4. Stamp a sentiment from the Just Find Me set.
5. Embellish with pearls and ribbon (I inked some cream ribbon to match: my fingers are green... I can't get it off.) 
6. Stamp the script onto a strip of Eggshell Layering Paper in Antique Linen ink then stick the panel to it.

That's it - have a lovely day.

Challenge 10 winners

I had a VERY enjoyable time browsing through the 90 or so entries to my digital challenge.  Clearly there are lots of you out there playing with digi stamps and papers.  It makes me happy.  

And here are my favourite 4 cards:

            1.  Trinh 

            2. Vicky

            3. Ashley 

            4. Savannah

And here are some more that deserve a look.

Andrea, Tracey and Linda.

Thanks again everyone - love that so many of you take the time to create for my challenges.

Click here to see my current challenge.

Beach Comber

I adore Shelley Castillo's digikits.  Her papers are perfect for cardmaking, and this new one, Beach Comber, is just beautiful.

So I made a couple of cards to showcase the papers, combining them with some digital and acrylic stamps by Hero Arts.

In this first card, I used the bird stamp from Beachy Fun, grass from Summer Memories and a sentiment from Just Find Me, a fab set that I just love.  The ribbon is from Papertrey Ink.

And with this one, I used a digital sentiment from Ah Paris and some gorgeous Daffodil Layering Paper.  The ribbon is American Crafts.

Wouldn't this paper make amazing wallpaper...
It's the WEEKEND.  Hooray!!!!

Buzzy Bees

Have you noticed that my love of glitter has returned. Having the glitter pots sitting on my desk is too tempting. :)  So today's card is very simple - I haven't done a repeated pattern like this for ages.  I used THIS stamp set from My Cute Stamps and more of THIS paper and THIS glitter.

Oh, and I thought I'd add a few links to things I have loved this week.

Check out THESE gorgeous cards by Cindy.  How CUTE???
Oh Jennifer... how do you do it.  
Love Shelley Castillo, and THIS new digikit is delicious.
Kathy's awesome - check out her giveaway.  So generous.
Scoll down and check out the butterfly photo on THIS post by Lisa.  She is an INCREDIBLE photographer...  Check out her photo tutorials too.  Very useful. HERE'S an example.
Have a great day. :)

Summer Party Invitations

I have another video over at Hero Arts today.  It's on using digital elements to create quick party invitations.  I really do love the Polky Dots digikit.  It's my "go-to" kit for any hybrid project.  And I played with THIS stamp set too - this owl is so COOL!!!

So here is the video.

Happy Wednesday. x

Lucy's Cards - Challenge 11: Colour

My 11th Challenge is inspired by this John Lewis cushion I have been coveting for some time.  Wouldn't it look pretty on a white bedspread...

So, create a card using only white, light blue and light kraft.  Black can be used for outlines and sentiments.  Bonus points available if you use birds too. :)

Link me to your blog post or photo using the inlinkz tool below.  Remember to link directly to the card.
Challenge closes: Tuesday 22nd June.

Hope you get a chance to play along.

Have fun.

Nuts about you

I am a massive squirrel fan.  Maybe it's because I've had to adopt and nurse a number of baby squirrels that have fallen out of the trees at the school where I work... maybe it's because I love all animals... but anyway, when I saw THIS die cut sheet I had to have it for the squirrel :)

So today I finally made myself use him.

I combined him with some other die cuts from the sheet, and used a digital paper from THIS fab new kit by Stacy Marks.  I recoloured it in Photoshop to get the yummy green colour.  The sentiment is a combination of THESE stamps (on sale!!!), and THESE rub-ons.

Have a good Monday everyone  See you tomorrow.

Baby Elephants

Caardvarks' new challenge is up, sponsored by DRS Designs.  They sent me this adorable elephant stamp to play with, and I decided to make a pair of baby cards.  I just think it's a perfect baby stamp :) 

The patterned paper in this background is from an old Me and My Big Ideas pad I found buried in my stash.  I got it on sale over a year ago in a tiny craft shop that was closing down... isn't it cute?
So check out the challenge HERE.  You need to create a card that uses embossing, like my baby boy card above.  Hope you get a chance to enter and good luck. :)

Little Monster

OK, so I promised a return to cards today but I did just want to quickly thank you all for the LOVELY comments about my garden.  It really made me glow. 
Anyway, today is release day at Squigglefly: check out Jane's new image.  Harry is pretty cute for a monster don't you think?

I printed Harry twice, once on a scrap of green cardstock, and once on white, then paper pieced, adding Glossy Accents for his eye and teeth.  I printed the typed sentiment onto some kraft cardstock then die cut using my Nesties Labels dies.  
Check out the other DT blogs to see what they did with Harry:
Alice
Kelly
Jane
Lysa
Mariana
And remember - leave a comment today to be in with a chance of winning your own Harry.
Hope you have a great weekend.  Think I'll be in the garden ;)