Red and Green...must be seen!

Today, I am back with a card featuring the Penny Black image 'Best Christmas Tree'. I coloured it in earlier this month with my Promarkers and then forgot to add it to my blog and link it to the challenges!

Anyhow, the papers were from the Forever Friends Gift Wrapped collection from a previous year which I matted onto gold holographic cardstock. I felt it needed something extra so I cut the bow image from the packaging and popped it on my card to make it look like a present - as this bow was only printed on thin paper I added Glossy Accents to make it more substantial.

I love this little image and enjoyed colouring her in traditional colours before adding Diamond Stickles as accents and as snow. The Card Candi and the sentiment 'Just for You' is from Craftwork Cards.

I hope you like my card and would like to enter it into the Passion for Promarkers challenge which this month is to 'Add a Sentiment', and the Penny Black Saturday challenge which is 'Christmas'.

Thanks for popping by and I wish you all a really Happy New Year!
Best wishes
Karen x

Jalapeno Mice

Hi All!
Back today with another card I created using a fab House Mouse image coloured with my Spectrum Noir pens. I'm starting to get to grips with these pens that I had for Christmas and really love them - I had such fun colouring this comical image.

 For the mice I used mainly GB10, GB8 and EB 2 for their bodies along with TN2 for the fleshy areas. The jalapeno peppers were coloured with a mix of the DR - red pens. This is my second card for the Spectrum Noir challenge which this month is 'All About Food' - I double checked with the rules and I cannot find any instructions to say that you cannot enter more than once so I hope it is ok.

Anyhow...hope you like my card. The papers are from Forever Friends, the punch is an Xcut one and the sentiment and Candi is from Craftwork Cards.
Thanks for looking and I'll be back soon with more creations!
Karen x

Z is for Zany!

Morning All!
Over on the ABC Christmas blog the challenge for the next two weeks is 'Z is for Zany' so I decided to join in with my card featuring Mim the little Elf from Mo Manning.

I coloured her in using my Promarkers before cutting her out and layering her up on a scalloped circle mat made with my XL punches. In an effort to use up some of my old stash I dug out some ancient xmas papers and went with a traditional red, gold and green theme, using the verse on one of the papers as my sentiment inside and outside of the card.
I finished off  with Stickles, Card Candi and what seems like a million little gems! LOL! and decorated the inside to match.

Anyway, hope you like it!
Best wishes and bye for now
Karen x

Grrrr..uffies and Food

Hi All!
Two posts in one day! I love my colouring and for Christmas received some packs of Spectrum Noir markers by Crafter's Companion... so whilst I was getting to know them better I decided to colour an image to join in with the Spectrum Noir challenge which this month is 'All About Food'.

I really like the House Mouse and friends images so I picked out one of the Gruffies eating honey (for my food element) and used my packs of brown, yellows, pale hues and warm grey markers to colour the image. I then cut out the image and gave him a bit of dimension using silicone gel.

As I was making the card for a man I decided to keep things fairly simple, but my New Year's resolution in card making is to be more adventurous with my card layouts so I created a circular mat using my Spellbinders dies, and layered this up onto mats of Paper Cellar and Fancy Pants papers that were off set at an angle for interest. The negative of the Spellbinders diecut I used as a frame inside the card giving me an area to stamp - or write- my message.

Finally, I added a sentiment to the front of the card along with Card Candi, Perfect Pearls and Cinnamon Stickles.

Hope you like my card. I loved making it and look forward to creating more cards using my Spectrum Noir markers - I'm already eyeing up the other colours in the range!
Thanks for looking...why not head over to the Spectrum Noir challenge site and join in!
Best wishes
Karen x

One for the Boys

Afternoon All!

Hope you've all had a fantastic Christmas and are not suffering too badly from these awful wind and rain storms we are having!
Today, I'm popping by to join in with the Mo Manning challenge which this week is to choose your most favourite card/challenge from 2013 and re enter it into this new 2 wk challenge.
I have decided to go with the October Challenge which was 'For the Boys'. I used the fab 'Engineer' digi stamp for this one and thoroughly enjoyed colouring him in.

Why not pop over to Mo's Digital Pencil Challenge blog and look at all the other great cards submitted during 2013!
Best wishes and bye for now
Karen x

Snowman Celebrations!

Hi All!
Wow...where has the last six weeks gone? I have been busy cardmaking but somehow my blogging has fell short so now I'll have to remedy that!
Anyhoo, here is a card that I made using images and papers from The Snowman and Snowdog CD from Crafter's Companion.  I decided to use a DL card for a change and punched the images out of the papers using my circle punch to create embellishments.

The border was created using an EK Success punch and I added matching blue and silver ribbon to tie in with the challenge over on the Crafter's Companion blog - which this month is to use ribbons or twine. The little oval sentiment is from Craftwork Cards.
I enjoyed using these iconic images so much that I even made a matching tag, adding ribbon and a circle punched image. I didn't want to add flowers or too much bling as I have made these to go with my Grandad's Christmas present - hope he likes them!

Anyway, will be back soon with more of my 'creations' - until then..

Thanks for looking!

Karen x

Tag Time!

Morning All!
Back with a quick project today that I would like to enter into the Allsorts Challenge which this week is 'Christmas Cheer'.

I decided to make some gift tags in readiness for labelling my Chrismas prezzies and found this old magazine download image on my computer of a little elf that I thought I'd use. I made sure the tags were very festive using red holographic card, snowflake papers, ribbons, flowers, glitter and bling, and used my Martha Stewart punches to add pretty borders and edges.

Anyway, hope you like these quick projects - they are addictive to make once you start!
Best wishes
Karen x

Happy Hauntings Pop Up Card

Hi All!
With Halloween just around the corner there are naturally a lot of themed challenges this week. I love the Steampunk Spells collection from Graphic 45, but for a more cute themed version I dug out my Happy Hauntings papers to make another pop up box card. As you can see from recent posts - I'm a bit addicted to these cards which fold down to fit in a 6x6 inch envelope!

Anyway, I covered the box panels in the lovely vibrant coloured papers and to inject a bit of 'Spooky purple', I inked two of the panels of paper with Dusty Concord Distress Ink to give a night time feel to this 'Witching Hour' card.

This shows how the card starts to fold down.

I also decorated the back - a great place to write your message.

All the little images and characters are cut from the papers with the owl, the 'Totally Wicked' and 'Witching Hour' sentiments from the Steampunk Spells collection. Finally, I added gold and crystal Stickles and Glossy Accents to highlight the clock face.

Hope you like this fun card! I'd like to enter it into the following challenges:

Simon Says Monday Challenge - Spooky
Creative Card Crew - Sun, Moon or Stars - (I've used a moon and stars)
Try It On Tuesday - Halloween
Simon Says Wed Challenge - Halloween or Halloween Colours
Crafty Creations - Halloween Characters
Cute Card Thursday - Spooktackular


If you'd like to have a go at making these pop up cards, please see my videos below for inspiration and the link to the mechanism tutorial.





Enjoy the rest of your weekend!
Best wishes
Karen x

Romeo, Romeo, Wherefore Art Thou...

Hi All!
Just thought I'd share a card I made for the ABC Challenge which this week is 'X for Xtra Special'. My card is for a wedding anniversary and I thought I'd use the lovely Ragged Romeo image from Mo Manning.

I coloured the couple in with my Promarkers and Flexi Markers and layered them up onto a gold mat with a lattice pattern which I cut with my Spellbinders die.

I love Webster's Pages papers but sometimes hoard them as I don't want to use them (LOL! Don't we all!) but I thought that this beautiful rose patterned paper was perfect for this card. I also layered this onto a gold lattice mat before adding matching ribbon and a sentiment and pearls.

A final touch of Stickles added some shimmer to the image and then I decorated the inside of the card using the waste from the die cut mat as a place to write my greeting. The 'With Love' stamp is from Waltzing Mouse - the scroll type script looks great every time and I turn to these stamps again and again!

I would also like to enter this card in the Creative Inspirations 'Anything Goes' Challenge.

Anyway, I hope you like this card. Thanks for looking!
Back soon
Karen x

Steampunk Spells Pop Up Card

Morning All!
Back with another little Pop Up Box Card. In my last post I explained that I had found the fab tutorial for the mechanism here - I then went to town decorating it in my own style.

This time I decided to make a Steampunk Spells version - again with goodies from the online store Absolute Scrap. This collection is great with lovely rich colours and plenty of images to cut out. I glued my bats to wire so that I could have them flying above the other images and popped on a little brass cat charm, orange gems, Stickles and Glossy Accents.

The Halloween border around the base of the box and stripy paper is from the Happy Hauntings collection.

Again, despite all the 3D dimension, this card folds flat and fits inside a 6x6 inch envelope.

I hope you like this version and perhaps have a go at creating one yourself.

 I would like to enter it into the Ali Craft October challenge which is 'Halloween', My Mum's Craft Shop Challenge and the Cards for Men Challenge which are also Halloween, and the Papertake Weekly which is 'Happy Halloween Hues'.

Anyway, thanks for popping by! Hope you like this pop up card and have a go yourself!
Best wishes
Karen x

Typography Pop Up Box Card

Hi All!
Today I'd like to share a card that I have created for the Graphic 45 October challenge which is to make a project using the Typography collection, my latest purchase of papers and goodies from Absolute Scrap.

I decided to make a pop up card and after searching the internet for inspiration I came across a fab tutorial for the mechanism on Monica's 'My Many Passions' blog. I will link her easy to follow instructions here.

I love how you can create a really busy project with Graphic 45 papers and add lots of detail so I went to town, fussy cutting from the papers, adding a sticker from the sticker sheet, glittery ribbon, Stickles, Glossy Accents and a charm.

What is great about this card is that it actually folds down flat and fits in a 6x6 envelope!

If you fancy having a go then follow Monica's tutorial for the mechanism and then just add your images, remembering to pay a little thought to perspective, adding your larger images further back and slightly higher up.

Anyway, hope you like it everyone!
Best wishes
Karen x

Sylvia Zet - Customer Inspiration

Hi Everyone!
Woo Hoo! Sylvia Zet shared one of my cards on her fab 'Wee Stamps' blog today along with a beautiful card made by another lady called Susannah. Why not pop over and have a look at the lovely stamps and digis available and the amazing inspiration from the Design Team and customers alike!

Best wishes
Karen x

Black and White Classic

Afternoon All!

I'm back today with a monotone card I made using my Spellbinders Label 20 dies and matching stamps from Just Rite stamps. I started by stamping and embossing the stamps onto white before cutting them out with my dies. To make the background I embossed the flowery pattern using a Creative Expressions folder and mounted it on to black card. This I then added to my card base using foam pads and created a border of 'pearls' with the Cosmic Shimmer PVA.

 I then layered up my  images and added a sentiment stamped with the lovely Waltzing Mouse stamps - I turn to these sentiments time and time again as they are so pretty!

Finally, I created a double organza bow and decorated the inside to match.

Hope you like it!

The challenge over at Simon Says Stamp this week is to 'use a rubber or clear stamp' whilst the challenge at Papertake Weekly is 'Two By Two'. I have chosen to use 'two' stamps - the sentiment and inside flourishes are from Waltzing Mouse and the main image is from Just Rite stamps.

Thanks for looking!
Best wishes
Karen x

Fly Away Tag

Hi All
Back with another project...this time a tag using some of my Graphic 45 papers from the Olde Curiosity Shoppe collection (and a small image from Tropical Travelogue). I love this line as there is always so much to fussy cut. I was inspired to make a tag after visiting  Tammy Tutterow’s blog, who is the inspiration for the challenge this week over at Simon Says Stamp and Show Monday Challenge.

First I started by making a tag shape from black card, cutting the top edge with a label Spellbinders die. I added a layer of stripped paper which I sprayed with Glimmer Mist and painted between the lines of the pattern with Perfect Pearls for a bit of shimmer...I don't think this shows up that well in the photo but it is there LOL!

I then fussy cut images from the papers and layered them up on foam dots before adding ribbon, pearls and some twine to make a bow. The butterflies and other elements were highlighted with Glossy Accents and some Stickles.

Anyway, hope you like this little tag. I'd like to enter it in this week's Simon Says Monday Challenge and the Creative Card Crew Challenge which is to make a tag.

Thanks for popping by.
Best wishes
Karen x

Bright as a Berry

Hi All
Back with another card today, this time getting Christmassy with this lovely 'Wee Stamps' image called 'Berry'.

I coloured her with my Promarkers in traditional reds and greens and layered her up to add some dimension. In my mission to use up some older papers I used these from the lovely Papermania collection, cutting a border with my Martha Stewart punch and adding some velvet rick rack ribbon before finishing with a sentiment and flowers.

I really enjoyed making this card and am pleased with how it turned out. I hope to enter it in the Moving Along with the Times Challenge and the Papertake Weekly Challenge which this week is Anything Goes.

Thanks for looking!
Best wishes
Karen x

Off the Rails

Back this morning with a speedy post to show you a card I made using the Mo Manning digital stamp called 'The Engineer'.

I really enjoyed colouring this image with my Promarkers and - whilst in my mode of using up old papers from my stash - I layered him up on Papermania papers from the Persimmon collection. I decided on a portrait style card, with no frills, as its a card for a man. All I added were a few silver Card Candi's which were supposed to look a bit like rivets.
Finally I added a sentiment that came free with a crafty magazine and decorated the inside simply to match.

Anyway, hope you like it. I think I'm just in time to enter it into this week's challenge over at Mo's Digital Pencil blog which is 'For the Boys.'

Have a good day!
Karen x

Colourful Kitten

Hi All
Today I decided to be thrifty and use some free papers that came with a Scrapbooking magazine so I teamed them up with a lovely kitten image from Sylvia Zet's 'Wee Stamps'.

I layered the papers, mimicking the patchwork design, added a border punched with a Martha Stewart punch, Stickles for a bit of bling and a few pearly highlights with my Pearl Pen. The image I coloured with my Promarkers, before adding more glitter and finishing with a sentiment.

Anyway, hope you like the mix of colours. I'd like to enter this card in the Crafty Cardmaker challenge which this week is 'Cute and Furry'.
Bye for now
Karen x

Come Fly With Me...

Afternoon All!
Just back with a card I made using the 'Aeroplane' rubber stamp by Lili of the Valley.  I love bright or vintage colours but am never very good at keeping it pale - although I love the creations crafters make with pastel coloured tones. So...I thought I'd challenge myself and this is what I've come up with.

I coloured the image with my Promarkers, used papers from the My Mind's Eye 'Sweetest Thing' pad, added Card Candi, a printed sentiment and a little 'waterfall' Stickles for a bit of shimmer. I'm quite pleased with it and will be trying out a bit more 'pale' colouring in future.

Anyway, hope you like it and if like me you always choose darker colours, why not give your pastels a go! I'd like to enter this card in the Passion for Promarkers which this week is 'One for the Boys', the Simon Says Stamp 'Anything Goes' challenge and the Crafty Cardmaker's 'Winged Things' challenge.
Thanks for looking!
Karen x

A Ladies Diary Layout

Hi All!

Today I'm back with a quick post to show you a layout I made showing my friend and I on one of our trips out in the summer.

I love Graphic 45 paper and I just wanted to show that even with the most simplest of elements and a little fussy cutting, you can create a really great layout! The paper collection I used was from the Ladies Diary.

Hope you like it!
Thanks for looking!
Karen x