Shoe Friends

Hi Everyone!

Hope you're having a great Bank Holiday Monday. This week over at the House Mouse and Friends Monday Challenge, the task is 'Way To Go' - a theme using anything that gets you from one place to another. I chose the little mice in the shoe - although I doubt they'd get very far snuggled up like they are!! - and coloured them with Pro markers. The papers used were from My Minds Eye 'Pretty Please' spring collection which I layered up and decorated with a few pink gems, a pearly flower, some die cut swirls and crystal Stickles. I purposely didn't add a greeting as I'm not sure yet what occasion I'm going to use this for so I thought I would also enter this in Cute Card Thursday's 'No Text' challenge and the I Love Promarkers 'Anything Goes' challenge.

Thanks for stopping by!

Best wishes

Karen x

Dancing Dolphins

Happy Easter Everyone!

I'm not sure where the last week has disappeared to but I'm back with a little card I made that I'd like to enter into the Simon Says Stamp challenge which, this week, is to use wet or dry embossing techniques on your work. I used a dolphin stamp from the Tales of the Ocean stamp set which I stamped in black ink onto three little panels of card which I'd coloured first with blue Tumbled Glass Distress Ink. I then triple embossed each panel to make them look enamelled and used a variety of mats to layer them up onto a tall card. The turquoise mirri card mats are from American Crafts and the little sentiment was printed from my computer. I think this type of card is great for both men and women and would suit a number of occasions - handy to have in your greetings card stash - especially when you need a card in a hurry...or you've forgot!

I would also like to enter this card into Creative Inspirations 'Pets/Animals' challenge and Cupcake Craft Challenge which this week is to use lots of layers.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Bye for now

Karen x

Back To Nature

Back again! I thought it was time I posted another of my scrapbook layouts. This one uses the lovely Prima Reflections papers which are all rich, rustic colours and ideal for vintage layouts...and of course, a little distressing. The photo was one of my late mum, looking cute , as a young girl. The photo was already coloured tinted and the colours matched perfectly with the papers. I added a bit of vintage lace under the areas where I'd torn the papers, spritzed some areas with Cosmic Shimmer sprays in copper and distressed the edges of the layers either with my scissors to show the white core beneath or with Walnut Stain Distress Ink. After a little bit of fussy cutting, I layered up the flowers, butterflies and little bird, and created a frame using a Martha Stewart lattice style punch to show case the lovely pic of my mum. The background Core'dinations cardstock was creased slightly to give it a crumpled effect - the look I was going for was as though someone had just pulled this page from an old journal - well that was the idea anyway ha! ha! I hope to enter the layout in the Simon Says Stamp and Show challenge which this week is to 'show some distressing'.

Hope you like this as much as I enjoyed creating it!

Thanks for looking.

Best wishes

Karen x

Trinkets and Trim

Afternoon Everyone!

After a lovely weekend where the sun was literally crackling the flags - today it's drizzly and wet and back to our normal springtime weather! To brighten things up a little I decided to take part in the Bo Bunny Tuesday Challenge and make a card using their vibrant Vicky B collection of papers which is full of oranges, greens, pinks and earthy tones. The challenge this week was to use trinkets and trim. The trinket I made the focal point of my flower by popping it up on foam dots and the trim I dyed with alcohol inks to match the colour scheme of my card. I used a Martha Stewart punch to add a decorative border and plenty of Copper coloured Stickles. I would also like to enter this card in the Papertake Weekly challenge which this week is 'Truely Dimensional' - ideal for my multi layered flower!

I hope you like my spring time card and hope it encourages the sun to come back again!

Bye for now

Karen x

Nuffin Like a Puffin!

Hi Everyone!

Well, its nearly the weekend and it promises to be a lovely, sunny one! Thought I'd just like to show you another of the cards I made for Joanna Sheen's Design Team using the Tales of the Ocean stamps sheets. This one has a black and white image of some Puffins - which I embossed - and created into an easel card. The sentiment - 'There's Nuffin Like a Puffin' was also included on the sheet. The colours I chose for matting and layering were to mimic the puffins and their brightly coloured beaks. The black and white dotty ribbon really helped to finish it off.

I'd like to enter this in ABC Challenge which this week is 'R for Ribbon'.

Have a lovely weekend and I hope its sunny where you are too!

Bye for now

Karen x

Brotherly Love

This layout is of my Grandad and his brother back in 1911. I followed the challenge over at Once Upon a Sketch. For my interpretation I added my little corner element at the bottom rather than the top of the page as I felt it balanced the layout a bit more. The papers used were Bo Bunny's Mama Razzi with a little blue Core'dinations card stock for matting and Waterfall Stickles for a bit of sparkle - other than that I tried to keep it fairly simple. I'm really tempted to add a few more embellishments but am trying my best to 'back away from the page' and leave it. Less frilly and female and more male and manly ha! ha!

Hope you like it.

Bye for now

Karen x

PS - The word 'is' is missing from my journalling which I only noticed once I'd uploaded it but I've since added it in and it now makes sense! It should read' This old photo is of my Grandad and his brother Les taken in 1911. Holding hands yet posing sternly for the camera they model their matching jumpers and shorts and tiny leather boots'.

Many thanks for stopping by!

Best Fishes!

Hi Everyone!

Here is a card I made as part of my Design Team work using the Joanna Sheen stamps 'Tales of the Ocean'. I particularly like this little stamp which, once I'd stamped it in repeat, I then paper pieced with Bo Bunny's Mama Razzi stripy paper. I love the effect and think it makes a great man's card so I'd like to enter it into this week's 'One for the Boys' challenge over at Totally Papercrafts.

Have a good Sunday!

Bye for now

Karen x

My Core'dinations Creative Frenzy!

Hi Everyone! I love the quality and colours of Core'dinations cardstock and often use it as a background in my scrapbook pages. On cards I love the fact that just a small amount can really add to the layout if you tear it, sand it or emboss it so I've decided to enter the Core'dinations Design Team Call over at their website. I really hope you enjoy seeing the

designs I've created to show off the versatility of their card.

First up is a really Spring themed card using their Core'dinations Whitewash collection

along with the new Bo Bunny Vicky B products. I made the base of the

card from one sheet of 12x12 designer paper and then cut panels of the Whitewash paper and embossed them with a Creative Expressions flower

design embossing folder. I then sanded the flowers to enable the green of the cardstock to come through. As one side of the cardstock is full colour I also used this as a matt for the panels so that they 'co-ordinated' perfectly.

I then added the sentiment to a double matted piece of the Whitewash edged with a Martha Stewart punch and added it onto

foam tape on one side of the gatefold part of the card.

I also

trimmed one of the embossed flowers from Whitewash

cardstock, sanded it, added leaves and a matching gem in the centre.

The folding of the

designer paper enables a

pocket to be created inside so I made a matching tag using the same sanding and layering

techniques and added ribbon and a sentiment.

My second card

was made using peach and brown coloured pieces of Core'dinations cardstock which I teamed with an image from the Graphic 45 Le Romantique line.

The main background

was created by scoring the peach Core'dinations at one inch increments diagonally, sanding the lines and adding a gem at each intersection. This was layered on the brown cardstock and some gold mirri. The frame was also layered on top of the brown cardstock which had been punched with the Marth Stewart lace doily punch where I sanded the edges for a worn look

and definition. The main image was added at an angle on foam tape and lace and flowers attached

for extra decoration.

My final card was made from a piece of 6 x 12 cream Core'dinations, scored to make a pop out stand up card. I added strips of burgundy cardstock which I tore the edges to give a shabby effect and attached them to the sides and bottom of the card. A piece of Prima Botanicals paper was used for the main panel before I created a matt of burgundy Core'dinations shaped with the Martha Stewart Cherish punch - this was used to add my image and sentiment to.

Two antique brads finished off the final design.

Hope you enjoyed my cards. Thanks for looking. Best wishes Karen x PS - Click on the first three images at the top of this post to enlarge them.

Gorgeous Gabrielle!

Hi Everyone

Just thought I'd show you the latest card that I created for the Bo Bunny Tuesday Challenge. This week they provided a sketch and I followed it using the beautiful Gabrielle papers from a 6x6 pad. Not wanting to waste any of this gorgeous collection I also made a little 'scrapling' thank you card with the piece of card left over from making my 6 inch square card. I've been pretty thrifty today but think the results are really pretty.

Hope you like them.

Bye for now

Karen x