Vintage Bear

Hello All! Well, it's typical Bank Holiday weather here in North Wales - raining one minute then sunny the next! I've been having a little play with my crafty stash and decided to work on a pack of Forever Friend's Decoupage that I bought a couple of weeks ago - I thought that the images would be ideal for baby cards as I know a few people who will be having babies shortly. In the pack was an image of a bear in a car so I set myself the challenge of making it more 'manly' if that is possible and although I'm not sure if Forever Friends has ever 'gone vintage' I decided to give it a whirl and enter it in the monthly challenge over at Bunny Zoes Monthly Craft Challenge - if you fancy taking part in the vintage challenge you have until the 12th Sept to enter.

I used a cream DL card and distressed the edges with Scattered Straw. I then took a piece of paper that was in the pack and gave that the Scattered Straw and Walnut Stain treatment too! before layering it on some inked card. On a piece of red card I lightly stamped some images of vintage cars (unfortunately you can't see these as much on the picture as you can in real life) and edged that in Walnut Stain too. I layered up my papers and image and added some cream ribbon - again Walnut Stained - and distressed a little sentiment before adding some Distress Crackle Accents Rock Candy for an aged look. I couldn't help adding a few brown gems for a bit of vinatge bling. This is what I would call 'gentle distressing' as I could have done a lot more 'roughing up' of the edges but I know the person I am sending this too would appreciate it this way.

Anyway, hope you like my take on these Forever Friend's decoupage. I would also like to enter it into Dutch Dare Card Challenges which is for 'Vintage Summer'.

Enjoy the rest of the Bank Holiday!

Karen x

Xmas Hedgies

Hi Everyone. This is my last minute entry for the Penny Black Challenge which this week is a sketch which I have rotated. The hedgies are, of course, PB, the paper is Dovecraft and coloured mirri board and I have used my new Kars snowflake punch. I've also added ribbon, gems and a charm - I do like blue themed Christmas cards - they instantly look wintery!

Bye for now

Karen x

Penny Black Saturday Challenge - Sketch

Papertake Weekly Challenge - 321 - three snowflakes, two ribbons, one designer paper.

Creative Inspirations - Christmas in August

101 Possibilities!

Hi - this is my second post of the day to show you this simple decoupage card featuring some of the 101 Dalmations. I stamped blue swirls to make my own background paper and then embellished with blue ribbon and gems. I have not yet added a sentiment as I thought that this card would be perfect for a few occasions - birthday, thank you - even get well soon...

I'd like to enter this in the ABC Challenge which is for Blue cards.

Winter Wonderland

Hello all! This is a dinky little card that I made using the pack of six box cards in the Docraft's Christmas Creativity Goodie Bag. I covered the front with DCWV blue snow flake paper and added Stickles for snow. On the inside I added blue ink with a sponge to give a stippled effect, added cut out trees from Bo Bunny paper and a red peel off greeting. I then decorated the outside with more cut out trees. You could make this into a shaker card with punched snowflakes or beads inside. This was my intention but I was so eager to get my greeting centred that I stuck up the card without adding my shaker bits! Typical - oh well - you live and learn and I'll know better when I make the others!! ha! ha!

I'd like to enter this in the following challenges:
Winter Wonderland - Walking in Wonderland

Cute Card Thursday - No Dies or Punches

Bah Humbug - Winter Wonderland

Creative Inspirations - Christmas in August

Hedgie Notes

Hi Everyone!

This is my latest little creation - a notebook made using record cards, mount board and my Bind It All. I actually made a couple of these as I thought they would be handy to slip in with Birthday presents. I kept to a simple black and white theme, stamped a Penny Black hedgie and added some Stickles...then it topped off with a bit of bling and a silvery ribbon. Hope you like it. I'm going to enter it into the Simon Says Stamp Challenge which this week is to 'Make a Gift'. I'm afraid my bow moved a bit when I took this pic but I've sorted it now so that you can't see the little foam pad underneath! Bye for now x

I would also like to enter this into Stampin' for the Weekend - Anything Goes

Design Team Call!

Ever fancied joing a Design Team? Simply Create, Alford have a Design Team call to join their new and exciting venture so pop over to their website and send in some samples of your work. All the rules are simple to follow so why not give this fab opportunity a go! The closing date is the 31st of August.

Glitzy Hedgies

Hi Everyone! Today I thought I'd dig out my Penny Black Hedgies to create a card for the Allsorts Penny Black Monthy Challenge which is Glitter and Glitz. This is a new challenge which is looking for Design Team members at present so why not pop over and enter.

My card has plenty of glitz but I don't think it shows up too well in this pic. The background is a lovely piece of Kanban patterned mirri board which creates plenty of bling. I added a silver ribbon and copper Stickles on my hedgies with red and green Stickles on the flowers. The black ribbon on the prezzies is coloured with Stardust Sakura pens. I hope you like red, black and silver theme. Anyway, must dash!

Bye for now Karen x

I'd like to enter this card in the following challenges:

Allsorts Penny Black Challenge - Glitter and Glitz

Sir Stampalot - Bring on the Bling

Three Little Mices

Evening everyone!

My House Mouse unmounted stamps arrived today and when I got home I couldn't resist a little play. They stamp beautifully and this is the result of my little experiment. I just decided to stamp out the smallest of the stamps on the 'Opening Presents' sheet and each impression was perfect so I thought I'd turn my little tester sheet into a card. I used the House Mouse Monday photo inspiration challenge to come up with the colour scheme of pinks and acqu blues and found that although this particular mouse is off a christmas sheet, he can easily be adapted for birthday cards if you change the colour of his hat so he could have a lot of uses.

The pink paper is DCWV from their Spring Glitter stack, I coloured the images with Pro Markers and added plenty of glitter to their hats before adding a final touch by piercing the paper and threading ribbon along the bottom as an embellishment. Sorry the photo is a little dark - the lights not great at this time of night!

Anyway, hope you like it. Below are the challenges that I hope to enter it into.

Thanks for looking.

Karen x

House Mouse Monday Challenge - Photo inspiration

Allsorts - Paper Piercing

Creative Card Crew - Sparkle and Shine

By the Cute and Girly - Animal Antics

Quick and Easy Christmas Cards

Morning All! I decided to add a couple of cards to my Christmas stash using the ABC Christmas 'Quick and Easy' Challenge. It's a lovely and simple sketch and ideal for making cards in batches - why not pop over and give it a go? I've used Papermania Christmas paper from last year's range, a touch of holographic silver card for matting and Anita's latest range of metalic Xmas stickers. I also used Platinum pearls for my little accents. These cards are 5x5's and believe it or not _ I only used one piece of 8x8 designer paper to complete both cards AND part line the envelopes - how thrifty am I!!

Bye for now

Karen x

Squirrel's World

While you're having a nosey around blogland, why not pop over to Squirrel's World where there is some lovely Lili of the Vally candy on offer - just right to get you in the mood for your christmas card making!

Crafty Emma's Store - New Challenge

There are some fabby prizes to be won over at Crafty Emma's Store as well as a new challenge starting on the 28th August. Why not pop over and join in !

Marcea's Candy

Hi everyone! You have just over two days to win a lovely Anya Angel stamp over at Marcea's Crafting Corner so why not pop over there and add your name to be in with a chance!

Some Like It Hot

Evening All! Tonight I'd like to share with you a card I've made with a really summery feel - even if the weather isn't quite like that outside! I used a Penny Black image and coloured him in with Pro Markers. I've kept it simple as the paper (DCWV Glitter Spring Stack) is very busy - the pic does not do the glitteriness justice really - I also think it doesn't look that straight - but it is in real life - honestly! ha! ha! I added a blue holographic matt, blue gems and a fab sticker which I think fits the bill! Hope you like it.
Best wishes
Karen x

I hope to enter this card in the following challenges:
Penny Black Saturday Challenge - On the Beach
Simon Says Stamp - Summertime Blues
Papertake Weekly - Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue (I'm going for New paper, Blue theme and Oldish stamp image -3 out of 4!)
ABC Challenge - A is for August

Puss in Pink

Hello Bloggers! Sorry I've been away for so long. I've been commissioned to write a book as part of my day job so over the last few months my time has been spent solely on that but now, at last, its winging its way to the publishers in the hope that its what they were looking for, I can get back to a few crafty sessions!

The card below is one I've just made using the free My Minds Eye papers in the Cardmaker and Papercrafting magazine - which are lovely, sherbety colours. I hope to enter it in the:

• Penny Black Saturday Challenge which this week is a recipe of 1 circle, 2 papers and 3 flowers
• the Creative Card Crew's Cute and Girly theme
• Papertake Weekly's White and Bright challenge
• Cute Card Thursday's 'Whateva' challenge
• Simon Says Stamp 'Sing it Baby' challenge where my card is linked to the Alison Moyet song - Love Letters Straight From Your Heart.

The flowers are made from the same Marianne die except two of them were cut smaller to make them look different. I ran them through the cuttlebug in a script and dotty folder before I inked them with Worn Lipstick Distress ink and spritzed them with Cosmic Shimmer spray before adding a clear gem that I coloured green with my Pro Markers. Hope you like it!

Best wishes

Karen