Passion For Promarkers - flexible!

I'm in bit of a rush today - tried to schedule my post last night because my blood tests were first thing this morning, but we lost internet connection so I couldn't do it.  So I've been and had my blood taken, which went ok - just need to wait for the results now.  Hubby's now cooking breakfast for us (couldn't have any before my test) and then we're off to York for the day... we're going on the train and visiting the Railway Museum, which Dex is very excited about, he loves trains :o)

Right, onto our new challenge at Passion For Promarkers... the DT can hardly wait for the release of the new Flexmarkers, so we decided to have a 'flexible' challenge - so anything goes this week.  We're sponsored by Letraset and our very lucky winner will receive 2 packs of 6 flexmarkers... ooh I wish I could win!

I love this Gorjuss Girl stamp, she's so cute :o)  I've coloured her with promarkers, flexmarkers and koh-i-noor pencils.  The papers are First Edition, and the ribbon, buttons and pearls are from my stash.  Sentiment is CC Designs.

I'm entering my card for the following challenges:

• Sunday Sketch & Stamp - Claire's fab sketch
• Totally Gorjuss - as you like it

Apologies for the rush - will catch up with you all later, hope you all have a lovely day!

Sparkly gift box

I've got quite into making boxes lately, and my mum asked me to make one for a gift she bought for a friend.

I just wish I was better at taking photos of boxes!  I've used a Penny Black sentiment stamp and some sparkly patterned card I found in my stash, the flowers are all glittery too - not that you can tell from the pic.  The sentiment was cut out using a die from Little Claire and the scalloped border is a new MFT dienamics die.

I'm entering my card for the following challenges:

• Charisma Cardz - glitter it
• Creative Inspirations - text me
• Die Cut Dreams - make a gift box or bag
• Papertake Weekly - dies to die for
• Creative Craft - anything but a card

Got the dreaded blood tests tomorrow - I HATE having blood taken, they never seem to be able to get a vein first (or 2nd or 3rd!) time and it hurts while they prod and poke me.  I'm such a wuss!

Snippet owls...

I'm not feeling too good again today, but I really wanted to get some crafting done.  I sat in my room for a while but couldn't seem to make anything that really 'needed' to be made, so I got out my unused Stampin' Up owl punch and attacked some scraps instead :o)

I got quite carried away assembling owls lol, so I've got some ready to make some more cards with.  Cardstock and paper from my scraps, flourish stamp is from an Eco Green set, sentiments are from the Penny Black 'salutations' set.  I'm entering them both for Jules Crafty Snippets Challenge and my first card is for the Sweet Sunday Sketch.

Off to try and catch up with you all... I never quite manage it though, you're all too productive!

Less is More wk30 - recipe

Hubby took Dex to his mum's this morning, so I've had some quiet time in the craft room and made a card for the new challenge at Less is More.  This week it's a recipe challenge - to take 3 of the previous challenges and combine them to make a card.

Apologies for the dodgy photo... think I'll have to start taking my pics in the kitchen again, it's so hard to get the lighting right in the craft room.  The weeks I chose were - 16 - butterflies, 23 - something with legs, and 25 - button or ribbon, but there's a few more it would fit too (embossing, off centre, things that move).

I've used a stamp set called A Girl and Her Cake by The Cats Pajamas and some nameless gingham card from my stash.  The butterfly was cut with a Stampin' Up embosslits die, button is from my stash.

I'm also entering my card for the 'strawberry, chocolate and cream' challenge at Sweet Stampin.

Thanks for all your lovely comments yesterday, I'm slowly catching up with you all!

Stamp Something - back to school!

Sorry to have dropped out of blogland for the last few days... I've not been feeling all that well so I needed a bit of a rest from it all.  Having some blood tests next week, so fingers crossed I'll be sorted soon.

Our theme at Stamp Something for this week is 'back to school' (doing a little dance because it's not long now lol!!) and we're sponsored by Simon Says Stamp so one lucky person will win a $20 gift certificate to spend in their fab online store :o)

I've made this for Morgan, although I'm not sure he'll be quite this happy about returning to school!  This is Off to school Ben from DigiStamp Boutique, and he's coloured with promarkers and koh-i-noor pencils - in Morgan's school colours.  Papers are K&Co with cardstock from Papermill Direct, computer generated sentiment and buttons from my stash.  Not the best card really, but the mojo's ailing along with the rest of me.

I'm entering my card for the following challenges:

• Totally Papercrafts - back to school
• Cute Card Thursday - sketch
• PaperPlay Challenges - back to school
• DYSU - boy or man

Right, off to do some hopping around your lovely blogs, as I've missed everything you've all done in the last couple of days.

Passion For Promarkers - no patterned papers

Our new challenge at Passion For Promarkers for this week is 'no patterned papers' and we're sponsored by Whiff of Joy who are providing some lovely new stamps for our winner :o)  For some reason I struggled with this challenge - no idea why because I make loads of cards with no papers!  I kept trying different things and in the end went for something very simple...

I love this pretty Flower Girl gorjuss stamp, she's one of my favourites.  I've coloured her with promarkers, flexmarkers and koh-i-noor pencils.  I cut a border on the base card and also on some blue core'dinations using the MS scallop dot punch.  Ribbon and button from my stash, flower cut with a x-cut punch.

I've noticed something very strange over the last couple of days... you know the little feedjit 'traffic feed' thing that tells you where your visitors are coming from?  Well at the moment when I visit a blog it says I'm in Stoke-on-Trent!  Slightly confused because I'm definitely in Sheffield... and until recently feedjit always got that right - so why has it suddenly decided I've moved?!

Less is More and new DigiStamp Boutique images

I managed to squeeze in some time in the craft room today and made a card for this week's challenge at Less is More, where the theme is 'things that move'.  This could either be a moving component on the actual card, or featuring something that can move in real life.

I think my little girlie with her balloons probably qualifies lol :o)  She's one of the fab new 'Lil Pops' images from DigiStamp Boutique available here.

I rotated the image slightly and then cropped off part of the balloons so it would (hopefully!) look like she was floating away.  She's coloured with promarkers - no added pencils on this one because she's a bit little and fiddly, yay for the promarker fine nibs!  The sentiment is from a Flourishes set, ribbon from my stash and cardstock is DCWV.

I'm also entering my card at Charisma Cardz where the challenge is 'negative space'.

Dex's first cinema trip went really well - apart from constant loo breaks for both kids lol!  And the Smurfs was better than I thought it would be.  Sooo expensive for us all to go though - we ended up spending more than £50 on tickets, treats and drinks, so we won't be doing it too often!

Bit different for me!

Look, I've gone all distressed and vintage, and I wasn't forced to do it for a challenge either lol... My regular visitors will think they've come to the wrong blog!

This is a large 8" square card for my Auntie and Uncle's 25th wedding anniversary, which is tomorrow.  I knew I wanted to use this photo that my mum gave me to use, but I was struggling for ideas a bit... then I noticed Allsorts had a 'you've been framed' challenge and finally the cogs started whirring!

So... I cut a nestie circle out of the centre of a square of GCD Studio 'ella blue' paper and used that to 'frame' the photo.  Everything, including the blank card, has been well inked - very unlike me!  The flowers started off white and have been part coloured with promarkers, then sprayed with gold 'spray & sparkle' and then spritzed with bronze cosmic shimmer spray.  I curled the wires that were attached to the flowers instead of cutting them off as I usually do, added some pearl pins and a LOTV sentiment.

The inside is also decorated and I made a matching box too, but the photos are rubbish so I might add more pics tomorrow if I can get better ones!  So many of my lovely Ella Blue papers went into making this card... I think it might be the first paper pad I ever manage to fully use up lol.

I'm entering my card for the following challenges:

• Allsorts Challenge - you've been framed
• Dream Valley - distressing
• Simply Create - time to distress
• Little Claire - wedding/ anniversary (hello old teamies!!!)

We're being brave (or stupid!) and taking Dex to the cinema for the first time tomorrow, seeing the Smurfs... not convinced he'll sit still for long enough so we'll probably end up only seeing half of it.  Still, I'm not that bothered about the film so I don't suppose it matters lol.  He seems very excited about the popcorn!  Right, off to squeeze in some commenting as I'm very behind as usual...

Stamp Something - to say thank you!

Our challenge for this week at Stamp Something is 'something to say thank you' and we're sponsored by Funky Kits so there's a fab prize for our lucky winner :o)

I've used one of the adorable Sherbet Pip images Candy Pip and coloured her with a combination of promarkers, flexmarkers and koh-i-noor pencils.  Please ignore the folds in her dress!!  I still need some practise with creases and made a bit of a mess of it... I'd already drawn in the wall/ sky/ grass scene though, so I didn't want to waste what I'd done!  Gingham paper is Papermania, cardstock is from Papermill Direct.  The little flowers were cut with a Stampin' Up punch, buttons from my stash and sentiment is computer generated.

I'm entering my card for the following challenges:

• Cupcake Craft - sketch (my 2nd entry, loved Faye's sketch)
• Fussy & Fancy - 3 or more of your favourite embellishment (it's a tie between pearls and buttons but used buttons for this)
• DYSU - thank you
• My Mum's Craft Shop - summer time
• Creative Inspirations - use your favourite stamp (hard to choose one but I do love the Sherbet Pips)

We're just having a quiet day pottering around at home today, so I'll actually get some time to catch up with commenting.  There just aren't enough hours in my days at the moment... roll on 5th September when the littlies go back to school lol!

Alf the milkman!

Some of you might remember that I was looking for a milkman image to use on a retirement card - for my grandma's milkman :o)  Well the FABBY Sally-Ann at DigiStamp Boutique has kindly adapted one of the Alf images for me to use - and doesn't he look great as a milkman?!

I've coloured him with a combination of promarkers, flexmarkers and koh-i-noor pencils.  The papers are Making Memories, spotty buttons from my stash and the sentiment was computer generated.  And that's it, quite a simple one :o)

I'm entering my card for the following challenges:

• Cupcake Craft - fab sketch
• Totally Papercrafts - food and drink (he has milk, hope that's ok!)
• Simon Says Stamp - food and drink (as above lol)
• Cards For Men - anything goes (2nd entry)

Keeping it short tonight because hubby's waiting for me to finish typing so we can watch something... will be round to visit you all later!

Passion For Promarkers - a pirate's life for me!

Our challenge for this week at Passion For Promarkers is a fun one - a pirate's life for me!  We're sponsored by DigiStamp Boutique and the fab prize is 6 digis of the winner's choice.

I'd planned to go with more 'piratey' colours originally, but I had papers in front of me and the inspiration wouldn't come... so after a rummage through my papers I came up with this instead.

I've used the super cute Pirate Sammy from DigiStamp Boutique, and he's coloured with promarkers, flexmarkers and koh-i-noor pencils.  The papers are Making Memories, with core'dinations cardstock.  Zig zag border cut with a MS punch, star cut with a sizzix die, button, ribbon and twine from my stash.  The sentiment was made using a Paper Smooches alphabet set and some little alphabet stamps I've had for ages and never really used - they're a bit soft and tricky to use.

I'm entering my card for the following challenges:

• The Sweet Stop - sketch
• Cards For Men - anything goes

I'm not sure what we're doing today... I'd planned a day in the park and lunch at KFC for a bit of a treat lol.  But it's bloomin' raining so the park's probably out for today - typical!

Less is More wk28 - one layer, use ink

The challenge at Less is More this week is a one-layer card using ink... should have been easy really, but I've struggled a bit for some reason.  Well, actually the reason is almost definitely the school hols!  I know, I keep complaining... I do love my boys to bits, but they're SO loud!  I'm really struggling to create anything - tomorrow I'm just giving up and we'll go out for the day I think.

Anyway... this was the last card I made and the only one I actually like.  I inked the stamp (Hero Arts) with memento 'lulu lavender', then dabbed 'lilac posies' and 'grape jelly' on random bits of the stamp, sprayed it with water and then stamped.  I really like this effect and if I'd been more in the mood I would have made a batch in different colours - another day!  The sentiment is Penny Black, and I added a few black pearls to finish.

My first card - an attempt at resist embossing - ended up in the bin.  The resist bit worked fine but I ruined the card.  My second card ended up in the bin too.  So I gave up and splodged a distress ink pad (shabby shutters) directly onto my card and then stamped a Hero Arts stamp in 'bamboo' memento... just because I needed to do something really simple!  It's a bit boring, but I thought I'd include it seen as it didn't get binned!