Sunday 30 January 2011

Hot Chocolate Love

Another little Penny Black creation today, in a chocolate coloured theme (*mmmm chocolate*) sorry I got a bit side tracked there for a minute!  Here is the little hedgy blowing heart bubbles.  For a change I've used my twinkling H20 water colours, added some pretty latte coloured flowers and a ribbon bow.  The ribbon for the bow actually came from a box of panettone (*mmmm panettone*) sorry, side tracked again!

Anyhoo! Here's my card for this morning. The vertical strip with the distressed circles on it looks a bit wonky in the photo, but I've checked the card, and it is on straight, so it must just be me holding the camera at an angle!  Overall I think it has a bit of a shabby chic feel to it because of the colours and the distressed papers.

Suddenly I'm getting an urge for a frothy coffee, can't think why!

I've been inspired by the following:
Happy crafting

Saturday 29 January 2011

Blue Fairy Lights

It's been a lovely day today, although it is just below zero outside, it's been dry and we had a lovely walk into town for lunch this afternoon after which my lovely hubby bought me some pretty USB powered fairy lights for my laptop (so what if he got them in Poundland - it's the thought that counts).  Besides, I love them, so I'm happily typing away with little blue sparkling stars around my screen. (I can be so girlie sometimes!).

Anyway, back to business!  To match my "new blue fairy" lights, I've got a "new blue fairy" card to share.  I've made this lovely little round card with my newest and cutest LOTV pom pom image. Isn't she a sweetie! I've added some glitter to her wings, skirt and pom poms, and stamped & layered her.  The main paper is also distressed around the edge. The ribbon I've used in the middle of the card is a two tone one I've had for years from a gift wrapped present and just had a scrap left so I thought I'd recycle it here.  My circle cutter has been working overtime with the card shape as well as the image and sentiment. So it is circles all round (circles all round, get it!!!)


I've been inspired by the following:
Happy crafting

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

The theme this week at 2 Sisters Challenge Blog is 'Girls just want to have fun', and this girl certainly seems to fit the bill.  She's a fab digi image from Sassy Studios who are sponsoring our challenge this week. Check out their store as they've got some uber sassy images.  I've opted for a blue theme for my girlie, with blue digi papers, blue cherry blossom from Wild Orchid, and blue paper roses, with punched green leaves.  The sentiment was a fancy computer font printed onto the patterned paper.


I've been inspired by the following:
Happy crafting

Friday 28 January 2011

"Bee" Happy, it's your Bear-thday !!!

OMG how cute is this little guy. I love the digi image from the Stamp Fairy and I've used one of my favourite colour themes too which is lilac and my special purple shimmer paper which I'm running out of. I went to the Craft Room shop that I buy it from but she's not got any more in so I'll have to use my remaining supplies with care. Anyway, I think this little fella was well worth it! He's adorable.  I've added a circular sentiment which I've also coloured in the same tones to create the monochromatic colour scheme.


I've been inspired by the following:
Happy crafting

Thursday 27 January 2011

Hedgy Heart

Another little Penny Black card tonight. I seem to be on a roll with these this week!  This one is quite a small image, but I've put loads of stuff on to make an easel card. I've used some handmade pink & silver papers, pink circles digi papers, pink ribbon and a pink circular sentiment.  For the base part, I've made a huge bow and layered it onto pink papers.

I've been inspired by the following:
Happy crafting.

Monday 24 January 2011

Snuggle Mice

Another Penny Black image tonight, this time the cheesecake mice are out to play. They're sitting under a daisy cuddling, so another great theme for Valentines Day. I've used my flock paper again, wide dusky pink ribbon, some digi papers, lots of punched hearts and some pink flowers.

I've been inspired by the following:
Happy crafting

Hedgy Kisses

I've been using a lot of my new LOTV stamps lately, so I thought that I'd get out an old romantic Penny Black hedgy stamp for a Valentines card. I've cut around the edges and used the strings to 'attatch' some punched heart balloons. I've used a sketch that I really like from Friday Sketches and kept a pink theme throughout.

I've been inspired by the following:
Happy crafting

Sunday 23 January 2011

Freebie

I spent ages making this sentiment in MS Word.  I knew what I wanted it to look like in my head, but it just took a bit longer than I anticipated to get that image down on paper!  To be honest, I did enjoy fiddling around with the shapes and texts, and I know that I'll get lots of use out of it, so I don't really mind investing the time. 

Anyway, as it turned out Ok, I'm going to have a go at sharing it with you.  This is the first time that I've included a digi giveaway on my blog so I hope that it goes well, but please bear with me!

Polite requests :
  • I would really love for you to become a follower if you're not already (then you will see any more freebies that I put on my blog),
  • I would really appreciate a comment on this post if you do download the image, to let me know you've taken it.
  • Finally, please don't share my freebie, but I'd be delighted if you point others to my blog to collect it for themselves.
If you comply with the above, at least I will know whether it is worth me doing any more of these.  If I don't get any new followers or comments, then I will assume no-one is interested!

Tips :


Please feel free to download the image (right-click and use the Save As option to save it onto your computer). Once you've downloaded, if you have MS Word, you should be able to insert the picture into a document where you can resize it, and also recolour it using Format, Colour to any colour you wish. If you don't have MS Word, then you should be able to use your usual picture editor to resize and print.

Hope you find it useful !
Happy Crafting
Annette

Valentine Bunny

I've used a pale coffee brown digi paper background on this card, with chocolate brown accents.  (Mmmm coffee and chocolate !!!)  The papers are distressed although it is not really clear in the piccy as the colours are quite pale, but if you look closely at the checked paper above the bow and also the bottom right of the main card you can just make out the distressing marks.  The bunny is a QuicKuts die that I've had for years, but just remembered that stamping is not the only craft (managed to get my new "love you" stamp in there though!!!).  The bunny and heart is cut in funky foam, which was not easy to work with in the QuicKuts machine, but with a bit of trimming with the craft knife, he turned out Ok. 


I've been inspired by the following:
Happy Crafting

You're such a "mice" couple

I made this as a Valentine's day card, but it could also be a great for an anniversary too. The flock backing paper is actually some wrapping paper from Paperchase that I bought several years ago, but a single sheet has lasted ages. I've added a panel of handmade fibre pink paper, some pink heart gems, pink ribbon, pink flowers and a pink 'love' sentiment. Do you think I managed to get enough pink on this card ! (at least I punched the leaves in green!)

I've been inspired by the following:
Happy crafting

One kind word can warm three winter months!

This adorable little girl wrapped up for winter is from Digital Doodling (a blog that has unfortunately shut down, but had some great images and backing papers).  I've used my Promarkers and used a pink colour theme, layered her twice and used shimmer chalks around the base image to create a shaddow.  The papers are digis as is the sentiment, and I've added some pink flowers, ribbons and liquid pearls as embellies.

I've been inspired by the following
Happy crafting

Saturday 22 January 2011

A Fairy Happy Birthday

This is another of my new LOTV stamps called Pom Pom and it is just gorgeous. I've already stamped it several times and coloured it in various colour themes with my Promarkers, just because it is so adorable!  This one is in a lilac colour theme, and I've added some glitter to her dress, wings and pom poms.  I've added some WIld Orchid Craft flowers and some punched hearts with mini gems stuck on them.  The papers are all digis (distressed around the edge) and go together wonderfully in the lilac theme, and finally I've added 2 ribbons and some lilac liquid pearls.  I just love her, so I think she'll be out to play again soon!

I've been inspired by the following:
Happy craftinghttp://simonsaysstampschallenge.blogspot.com/

A" Tweet" Winter Thank You Card

I've created this card for the 2 Sisters Challenge where this week's theme is a Sketch by our talented DT co-ordinator Mary.  Our sponsor this week is Hodge Podge who have provided this sweet little digi image of a bird on a winter branch for me to use.  I've used a wintery blue colour theme throughout, but added lilac accessories of flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts, and hearts which are punched in purple glimmer paper.


I've been inspired by the following:
Happy crafting

Thursday 20 January 2011

Romeo Bear

I am so in love with this new Lili of the Valley stamp. It was a pleasure to colour.  I used my Promarkers on the bear and rose, and I used chalks for the shadowing on the stones.  I stamped it twice and cut the second one out and stuck it over the top on foam pads. The papers are digis and I've added some wide red ribbon, red flowers, a bow and some die cut flourishes and punched hearts in glossy red card.  I made the sentiment in Wordart, but I'm not really that happy with it, I think it is a bit big for the amount of text, and I don't like the white space on it, but perhaps I'll fiddle with it (or just get used to it!). 


I've been inspired by the following
Happy crafting

Tuesday 18 January 2011

Calendar Girl

I've made this Valentine themed easel card in non-traditional orange and green. I found some old beads that I'd had for ages that spelt out "I love you", wrote up a calendar for the month of February on the computer and stuck it on, and then drew a heart around the 14th for Valentines. 

The flowers are from a ribbon which I cut into individuals and topped off with punched hearts. I also drew fake stitching in white gel pen around the hearts and also around the orange oval.  The brads on the base part only just keep the top from sliding down, but they were part of the recipe that I was working to, and along with all the gems and buttons, I thought there was enough without adding anything else!

I've been inspired by the following:
Happy crafting

Monday 17 January 2011

Hippie Girl

I've put together this girlie card for a friend using a sketch from Simon Says Stamp Blog but shaped the card so it is not a normal square.  I used my circle cutter on its largest setting, and I quite like the new shape so may try it out again on other cards.  I have a stock of square cards, so this seems like a great way to vary them a bit.  I've used a digi image from Sassy Studio and gone for a pink and green colour theme which I thought was quite apt for the image.

I've been inspired by the following:
Happy crafting

Saturday 15 January 2011

Valentine Balloon Bear

Ok, I've cheated again slightly as I wanted this to be a Valentine bear so I've used this lovely LOTV stamp and cut off the 'Mum' shaped balloons at the top and replaced them with punched hearts instead with a touch of white gell pen to create some highlight.  I've used a completely pink theme suitable for Valentines day, adding some pink coloured butterflies, pink cherry blossom from Wild Orchid Crafts, 2 sizes of roses, and some pink ribbon.


I've been inspired by the following:
Happy crafting

Baby Boy Giraffe

This week at the 2 Sisters Challenge Blog the theme is "Flowers", so you need to include flowers either in your image, or as an embellishment.  My gorgeous baby giraffe image is from our lovely sponsor this week, Digi Doodle Shop.  I've coloured the cute little fella using my fave Promarkers, and chalked around the image with gold shimmer chalk. I've then printed and coloured it again and decoupaged it using stick foam pads. 

The 3 backing papers are old digi papers that I found on my laptop, and I've created the sentiment in Microsoft Word (with a lot of fiddling in WordArt) but it now means I can print it out in different coloured versions (I also made a baby girl one in pink, and a Happy Birthday in Black while I was in the mood!).  It took me a whole evening of playing, but I'm a bit of a perfectionist and kept tinkering with it until it looked as I'd imagined it in my head!  I've seen other crafters using circular sentiments before and I really liked the idea as I don't really like peel offs, so thought I'd have a go at creating my own with some fancy fonts. In case you want to have a go, the 'Congratulations' font is Gabriola, and the 'Beautiful Baby Boy' font is Kunstler Script.  The flowers are Wingdings font.

I've used my new oval cutter, and cut the edges with scalloped scissors. For my floral additions, I've used a floral backing paper, and added a blue cherry blossom from Wild Orchid Crafts, two 15mm and two 10mm baby blue roses. I've also tucked in two die cut leaves from a QuicKutz die. Finally I've added part of a sizzix flourish, some blue ribbon, tied on a bow, and added some blue liquid pearls. 


Please pop on over to the 2 Sisters Challenge blog to enter this week's Floral challenge, and don't forget to leave me a comment to let me know that you've been here.

As well as being my sample for the design team, I've also been inspired by the following:
Happy crafting

Thursday 13 January 2011

Caffine Addict

One of my cards recently won a challenge, and the prize was my choice of a free stamp from Simon Says Stamp.  It is my bosses birthday next month, and when I saw this image I just knew it was ideal for him.  It is quite a masculine image and I'm not usually motivated to design cards for men so I thought this may give me some inspiration.  I love the slumped bear with all his coffee cups and over-flowing waste bin.  I've used an warm orange colour theme and added some silver liquid pearls.  However, for a man's card, I found it hard to know what other embellies to use as flowers and ribbons didn't seem appropriate.  Any suggestions gratefully received (please leave a comment) !!!


I've been inspired by the following:
Happy crafting

Tuesday 11 January 2011

All you need is Love

This is a romantic Tilda to use on a Love themed card, and I've used green and orange.  The Love sentiment was a digi download as were the papers. I've used Promarkers for the main part of the image, but wanted a really pale colour on the parasol so I've chalked it with green shimmer chalks, and used a peach shimmer chalk to shadow the image and tag shape.  I've used some lace ribbon over the green panel and two shades of orange ribbon held on with a brad on the tag.  I don't usually like orange or green, but these pastel colours are lovely and overall I'm quite pleased with how she turned out.  Hope you think so too!

I've been inspired by the following:
Happy crafting

Sunday 9 January 2011

Poorly Teddy

I've had a go at decoupage on my stamped image today, which I don't usually do, but I saw some beautiful cards using this technique and I thought I'd give it a go!  I've used a Lili of the Valley image, and a orange theme (to make a change from my usual pinks and lilacs!).  I've used a circle theme backing paper, with a bit of distressing around the edges and some rusty orange coloured card to matt everything to bring it all together.  I've used my new oval cutter to cut around the image, but there are only 6 sizes that it can cut, and I don't like the large gaps between the sizes (it creates too much of a border) so I end up hand cutting the larger size with scalloped scissors using the smaller as a guide.  I'm quite pleased with my steady hand overall considering I'd had a Bacardi & coke beforehand !

And here is a close up of my efforts at decoupaging the girl and teddy:

I've been inspired by the following:
Happy crafting

Saturday 8 January 2011

Genie's Wish

This week at 2 Sisters the challenge is Gettin' Girlie, and our sponsor is Pattie's Creations.  I've used this fab Genie Pattieboop digi image, coloured in with Promarkers in a girlie pink theme, with deep pink sparkly ribbon (recycled from a Christmas pressie wrapping), pink bow (bought in the post-Xmas sales!), pink scallopped backing and pretty pink backing papers topped off with 2 different sized roses and a pink cherry blossom.  I thought a 'make a wish' sentiment was appropriate for this image, which reminded me of the pantomine season, so more appropriate for a winter birthday?  The sentiment was just a fancy font printed on the computer.

I was so inspired by my new Genie image, that I got a bit carried away, and also made this cute little matching gift bag which follows the same layout, uses the same backing paper, but this time uses a lilac theme.

Please pop on over to the 2 Sisters Challenge blog to enter this week's Gettin' Girlie challenge. and leave me a comment to let me know that you've been here.

I've also been inspired by the following :
Happy Crafting

Thursday 6 January 2011

New Baby Girl

I made a bit of a mistake when I chose this image for a new baby card as it was the first time I'd used this Tilda and I didn't realise that she had holly in her hair until I started colouring her in.  But I put a bit of gold marker pen to give her hair some golden highlights has sufficiently hidden the christmassy holly.  I wanted to use this image as I wanted Tilda to 'hold' a banner of QuicKuts letters saying 'baby girl' which I stuck to a strip of curved cut paper bent over at the ends to look like a banner.  The strip of paper I used doesn't come out clearly in the picture, but overall it is not too bad for something that started out as a mistake!!!




I've been inspired by the following:
Happy Crafting.

Tuesday 4 January 2011

Thank You from the Farm !

Because we have pet chickens, we often get nicknamed Tom and Babs (the couple from the comedy 'The Good Life' - sorry only the Brits will probably understand this joke!) and therefore a 'thank you' card 'from the farm' seems quite appropriate!  I love this cute image of the farmyard animals and I've used 3 different textured pink papers matted onto silver card for each layer.

I added a beaded charm on a brad (the charm was meant to be one of a pair of earrings, but one of the white beads cracked when I was making the second earring, so only one got made - hence it ended up on its own as a charm!). I've also added some beautiful lace type ribbon that was given to me for Christmas by my M-I-L which I just love.

I've been inspired by the following:
Happy Crafting

Monday 3 January 2011

Double Take

I don't usually go for green, but got a lovely mint green coloured Promarker for Christmas from my lovely hubby so I've pulled out some green papers from my stash and given it a go!  I guess I did fall at the last hurdle and sneak some pink accents in there with the accessories. 

I've been inspired by the following:
Happy crafting

Tilda's Gift

I've made this blue themed card using an old sentiment that I found when I was having a Christmas tidy up of my crafting desk.  I've coloured the image using my new Christmas Promarkers in a blue and green theme, but colouring the gift boxes in lots of different colours. I've added some blue spotty buttons, 2 types of blue ribbon, and 3 different blue mulberry flowers with a couple of die cut leaves tucked in behind them.  The blue backing paper is embossed and glittered and is one of my faves, although I think this was my last piece all used now. 

I've been inspired by the following:
Happy Crafting

Saturday 1 January 2011

Thinking of You

Wooo Hooo !!!
Happy New Year !!!

Not only is this my first post of the new year, but it is also my first card as a member of the design team for 2 Sisters Challenge Blog so it is a double celebration !

The theme for 2 Sisters this week is 'Thinking of you'.  This pretty little Flower Fairy is from the Lil Diva's range of digi images, and the mauve floral and blue fairydust backing papers are both from Panda Bear's Garden Fairies 8x8 paper pack, both from Stitchy Bear Stamps.  I've coloured her using watercolour pencils and shimmer chalks with a sprinkling of fairy dust (glitter!)

I've used the following embelishments from my stash:
•Lilac pearlescent paper (to matt the fairydust papers and as a plain background for the image),
•Blue liquid pearls
•Silver peel-off coloured with blue perm marker
•Blue chiffon ribbon
•Pink mini gems on the dress
•Pink paper flower



I've really enjoyed my first project for the design team. 
Please leave me a comment to show you've been here.

This card also fits the following challenges:
Happy Crafting