Friday 30 September 2016

Easel Angels

I've got another couple of cards from my Papercraft Essentials magazine feature using two sweet angel images from Lili of the Valley. They each use easel shaped bases but I've varied them slightly. I kept the colours light, with a bit of red accent on each, because the images were pale and I didn't want them to be overpowered by strong coloured backing papers.







Card Recipe:
I've been inspired by:
Happy crafting
Annette
xx



Thursday 29 September 2016

Dropping the Shopping

I'm sharing another card from my featured set of Lili of the Valley for Papercraft Essentials.  This one is a gorgeously sweet image called Dropping the Shopping and I am pleased with how it turned out. I added some pink mesh ribbon as an accent as well as some stitched snowflake dies and a little sentiment tag.



Here's a close up of the image:




Card Recipe:
I've been inspired by:
Happy crafting
Annette
xx



Wednesday 28 September 2016

Stuffie Gang

I've been playing with my Stamping Bella images again today and have used Stuffie Gang on today's CAS card. I've tried to use (sort of) autumnal colours with the browns and golden browns (although I did sneak in a touch of pinky purple in the accents).  I think this is probably my favourite Stamping Bella image, closely followed by Honey Bears.



Card Recipe:
I've been inspired by:
Happy crafting
Annette
xx




Monday 26 September 2016

Sending Birthday Wishes

Today's card is one I made for my FIL's birthday, and although it was slightly peachy in colour, hubby concluded that it was sufficiently masculine enough despite the cute image!  The bear is James from Lili of the Valley and he's one of the new digi images they've recently released.



Card Recipe:
I've been inspired by:
Happy crafting
Annette
xx




Sunday 25 September 2016

Splashing Around Baggie

There's another new release at Crafty Sentiment Designs, and my project today features one of them, called 'Splashing Around'.  I've made a little baggie Simoand decorated it with a tag using the image. The handles are lace and there's a little closure which I've made using a mini magnet.





Project Recipe:
I've been inspired by:
  • Simon's Wednesday Challenge - Gift
Happy crafting
Annette
xx



Saturday 24 September 2016

Skating Along

I must admit that I was rather pleased with this card, and it's featured in the Papercraft Essentials issue 138 which was published earlier this week.  It features Skating Along from Lili of the Valley and I've used a die to cut the shape which is one of my favourites.

I hope you like it and I'll have a couple more of the cards from the magazine feature to share with you in the next few days too.



Here's a close up of the image, painted with DI reinkers.





Card Recipe:
I've been inspired by:
Happy crafting
Annette
xx



Friday 23 September 2016

Mariposa

I am not sure what possessed me to think that the no-lines colouring would be a good idea, because it took me 4 times longer to paint this image than it does normally, but I was quite pleased with the outcome.

The papers are actually from a winter set, but I use them a fair bit for non-Christmas cards because they're so pretty and you can hardly see the snowflakes!  Plus the florals on the paper matched the blossom in the image so I thought it would be perfect.



Card Recipe:
I've been inspired by:
Happy crafting
Annette
xx




Thursday 22 September 2016

Hello Friend

I'm sharing a card using my favourite colour combo today, pink and blue, on an image that I've had for a while but I don't think I've used her before.  I'm supporting the 'favourite colour combo' challenge at As You Like It Challenge and I've kept the design CAS (that seems to be the returning theme for me at the moment and I'm kinda liking it!).  The card was for a lovely friend who, when she's not keeping me sane, she at least keeps me company on the naughty step.



Card Recipe:
I've been inspired by:
Happy crafting
Annette
xx




Wednesday 21 September 2016

Jasmine Music

I'm back on the girlies after yesterday's boyish frenzy, but it's still a CAS design. I managed to find a musical note charm to match my musical image and papers!



Card Recipe:
I've been inspired by:
Happy crafting
Annette
xx



Tuesday 20 September 2016

Oliver - Footie Fan and Born to Skate

There's not one, but two CAS quickies from me today and they're both cards for a guy (which is a topic I find difficult!).  I added some interest to the designs with some chalked clouds and some die cut stars and clouds.






There's also a new set of Halloween images coming out from Lili of the Valley, in digi format tomorrow and in rubber next week.  Take a sneaky peek at the images below and check the online shop out to grab yourself the new images. :0)


Card Recipe:
I've been inspired by:
  • Simon's Wednesday Challenge - CAS
Happy crafting
Annette
xx



Monday 19 September 2016

Splashing Around

This is the same image that I used on my clock a couple of days ago, but this time she's on a CAS card.   In contrast to yesterday's CAS layout, I've used a stitched speech die and 'hello' script die for the panel at the top.



Card Recipe:
I've been inspired by:
  • Simon's Wednesday Challenge - CAS
  • Copic Marker Europe - Skin
Happy crafting
Annette
xx



Sunday 18 September 2016

Jasmine Laptop

A simple card from me today as I've forgotten to do the write up for this one and it's now a bit later than I'd hoped to get around to posting it!  I'm quite fond of this simple layout, and instead of using ribbon, I've used twine for the accent on the strip at the top.  I must admit I get a bit obsessive about the tails on the bow though, because they have to curl inwards, not up or out, which can be very tricky as the twine seems to have a mind of its own when it comes to curling! :0)



Card Recipe:
I've been inspired by:
Happy crafting
Annette
xx



Saturday 17 September 2016

Believe in You

This is a card that I made for one of my colleagues who had just had a promotion to take charge of our company's IT function.  It was previously something that had officially fallen under my remit (along with my normal day-job), but despite dabbling in programming when I was in my early 20s and having an active interest in technology since then, I have no formal training in IT.  My IT role was really a liaison between the technical IT team, which he managed, and the company's managing board.  I was therefore more than happy to relinquish that responsibility to someone who could actually push the right buttons (so to speak!) when needed. Since IT underpins almost everything that we do, I appreciated it was a daunting responsibility for him to take on, so the sentiment I used made us both smile!



Card Recipe:
I've been inspired by:
  • Simon's Wednesday Challenge - CAS
Happy crafting
Annette
xx



Friday 16 September 2016

Splashing Clock

It's been a while since I shared one of my clocks and today's creation features a cute digi from Crafty Sentiment Designs.  I used my trusty clock template (see my freebies page if you want to grab it) and mountboard for the base.  I think this is the last of my clock mechanisms too so it may be my last clock for a while :0(




Card Recipe:
I've been inspired by:
Happy crafting
Annette
xx



Thursday 15 September 2016

Ombre

Today is the start of a new challenge at In The Pink and it's a photo inspiration with lots of lovely ribbon, pearls, flowers and lace.  I've included all of these on my card as well as a pretty pink fairy. I've attempted some ombre colouring on the fairy's skirt and wings, but I'm not sure I've quite got the hang of it yet!


Here's the photo to give you some inspiration:


Card Recipe:

Created for:



Sponsored by:


I've been inspired by:
Happy crafting
Annette
xx




Wednesday 14 September 2016

Robins on Branch

I've been playing with another one of the new WRS images, this time it's robins.  I'm pleased with how this one turned out so decided to make the image the center of attention with a stitched border and a pop of designer paper which complemented the colours used on the image.  I hope you like these little guys.



Card Recipe:
I've been inspired by:
Happy crafting
Annette
xx




Tuesday 13 September 2016

At the Movies

I've used Oliver Film Night again for my Movie inspired card today.  The image has been coloured with DI reinkers and I've used a stitched wave border die on the DP at the top.  The twine has been bunched with a tiny bronze brad to keep it as masculine as I can muster!



Card Recipe:
I've been inspired by:
Happy crafting
Annette
xx



Monday 12 September 2016

Willow the Witch

As a certain observant pal reminded me yesterday, for someone who doesn't 'do' Halloween, I'm spending a fair amount of effort on it!

Today's card is a 'challenging' image (for me) of Willow the Witch. She was challenging because I usually manage to freak out at this amount of fuss on an image (both the hat and the dress made me twitch) but I persevered and this is the result!  I even added a bit of sparkle to the frilly bits.

I used a Simon Says Stamp Die (Stars Parade) as a stencil and used various shades of purple chalk to create the starry backdrop.  I then stitched around the image before mounting it onto a simple black base card.




Here is the die cut with my chalky outlines!  I kept the outside of the die intact as much as possible to stop excess chalk getting on my base card, but it was easy to remove any little smudges with a tiny pencil eraser.



Card Recipe:
I've been inspired by:
Happy crafting
Annette
xx




Sunday 11 September 2016

Winter Wishes

I've been in Christmas mode recently and have another cute winter themed card to share with you today.  It features some cute squirrels playing in a pine tree and I've kept the design really clean and simple so they take center stage.



Card Recipe:
I've been inspired by:
Happy crafting
Annette
xx




Thursday 8 September 2016

Jasmine Phone

There's a new challenge over at As You Like It Challenge today and the theme is to create something that represents your favourite song or film.

I've had a teeny tiny (ok pretty major) crush on Keanu Reeves for as long as I can remember (apart from being pretty easy on the eye he also seems a really down to earth and genuinely 'nice guy' untainted by celebrity status and a few hundred million dollars in the bank).  One of his most well known films is The Matrix trilogy and if you've not watched the films, the concept they suggest is that our minds are all hard wired into a machine 'Matrix' which simulates the world as we know it.

Sometimes when I see people unable to take their eyes off their mobile phones as they're walking along the street or sitting in cafes it makes me wonder how far off we actually are from a closer connection with technology that we already have (and I'm not sure it's made life any less stressful as it is with email and the internet making everything (including expectations) instantaneous).

The films also use phone lines to drag people back from the simulated world of The Matrix into reality and therefore it seemed logical for me to use Jasmine Phone for my image, which pretty much sums up every other person you now see on the street, addicted to their mobiles and hooked up to the Web!



Card Recipe:
I've been inspired by:
Happy crafting
Annette
xx



Sunday 4 September 2016

Bunny snuggles

I think my favourite critters from the Lili of the Valley family are the bunnies and today I've made a card for the September "Animals" challenge featuring a couple of my favourite bunnies snuggled under a Christmas tree.

The card design is really simple, with some snowflake papers on the card base, and some stitching around the image panel.



Card Recipe:
I've been inspired by:
Happy crafting
Annette
xx




Saturday 3 September 2016

"Hello"

This card looked completely different in my head, and it's certainly different from my usual 'cuties'. I followed a sketch and used a script die as the focal point.  I created the circles by die cutting a circle in a post-it sticky note and using that as a mask to ink circles onto my base card.  After letting the ink dry I embossed the complete panel before adding my 'hello' die cut.



Card Recipe:
I've been inspired by:
  • Seven Hills Craft - Sketch (Hello die and circle die from store)
  • Simon's Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes
Happy crafting
Annette
xx