Autumn Colours

Hi! My card today is on the theme of autumn, although due to the sun we're having here I've used my new Stampavie stamp with a sunflower...


The image is from Stampavie, it was one of my birthday pressies, coloured with my new Promarkers and the paper is Basic Grey. The flower is layered using several Prima flowers. I've also added buttons (for a change), jute string and a little butterfly charm to finish off. The card is for two challenges, Stampavie Design Team Blog challenge (Autumn theme) and also Cupcake Craft Challenges (the theme is Cute As A Bug).

Well the sun is shining here, despite the fact that I've been doing the Rain Dance! I know, it's lovely to see the sun but we haven't had rain since the beginning of July (unless you count one little shower we had about a month back). Everything in the garden is looking really dry, and to save the trees from dying we're having to water them too! I dreading my next water bill! Hopefully with the start of autumn we'll get some of the precious wet stuff (if only we could do a swap with the UK, a bit of sun for a bit of rain).

Well, better go and tidy my craftroom, looks like a bomb's dropped on it!!!

The Creative Cottage - Fairy Wishes

Hi everyone! Just wanted to let you know that there's a new kit available over at The Creative Cottage called Fairy Wishes! Here's one of the cards I made with just some of the elements from this kit...

This is a gorgeous kit containing four of the cutest fairy's in jpeg and png,
three birds again in jpeg and png, 15 A4 papers, borders, greeting and printables.

As an introductory offer the kit will be available for £1.99 for a limited time
then the kit will be available for £2.99.

The colours in this kit are just gorgeous, you really won't be disappointed! Pretty pinks, lovely lilacs and mint greens, and all for a steal at the fab price! The kit would suit any girl, young or old! You've got to get over to The Creative Cottage to find out more and download your copy of this gorgeous kit!

On another note, I just noticed I made the Top 5 on Cupcake Craft Challenges, how fab is that!? I'm really chuffed, it was the first time I took part in this challenge, and so I shall definately be taking part again! Thanks to the team for choosing my card!

Stamp Something - Favourite Layout

SORRY THIS IS LATE! Just a really quick post as I have my parents here for the weekend (they've drove through the night 15 hours to be here)! The challenge at Stamp Something this week is favourite layouts/sketches so here is my DT card...



Sorry this post is short and sweet, but do pop over to Stamp Something to see the other DT cards and there's a fab prize to be won, Gina from Your Special Delivery is giving away 5 digi stamps to the winner!

I'm entering this card into the Simon Say's Stamp challenge, this week's theme is "Stitch it Up". I've added faux stitching to the image and there's also stitching on the ribbon.

Christmas Carolers

Good morning to all my blogging friends out there! Just a quick post today to share with you a little card I did over the weekend (with my new Promarkers). I just love this image of the carol singing cats!


I'm entering this for two challenges, Penny Black Saturday Challenge which is "Pearls and Lace" and Cupcake Craft Challenges which is "Distressing".

I used:
- Penny Black image (RAK so I don't know what it's called)
- Various Promarkers to colour image
- Paper is Dovecraft (from 2 years ago, I've got a couple of sheets left)
- Snowflakes (Punch - Woodware, spacers - The Hobby House, brads - Papermania)
- Glitter glue added to snowflakes and snow for a bit of bling
- Lace and sentiment from stash

It's starting to get a bit more chilly here so I've decided I need to get a move on with some Christmas cards, I don't want a repeat of last years panic!

Just a reminder. Hope you've all found The Creative Cottage by now and have downloaded the freebie, if not don't miss out!

I've been SPOILT and a couple of cards!

Well, guess what my lovely hubby presented to me today... it was a total surprise...but he said he knew I'd appreciate it... only the 56 new Promarkers!!! Wow!!! How spoilt am I? He's only gone and spent a fortune on me again! Oh but they're sooooooo yummy, I just had to do a card with them straight away...


The card is for the Just Magnolia challenge, which is a great sketch by Bev!

I used:
- Tilda with Rose stamp (Magnolia)
- Promarkers (New colours - Tea Green, Grey Green, Burgandy, Dusky Rose, Pale Pink)
- Paper Wild Asparagus (My Minds Eye)
- Cuttlebug Embossing folders (Script, Swiss Dots)
- Cardstock & Pearl Brads (Papermania)
- Charm (The Hobby House)

I've also done a card for the Truly Scrumptious challenge, which was a sketch by Heather and to use only 3 stamps...


The cute Snowman is called "Happy & Cool" from Penny Black. The other two stamps are the Ponsettias (stamps from an old See D's set).

My final card today is for The Sugar Bowl challenge, which is another fab sketch, this one is by Marlene. You also have to use the colours pink and brown on your card...


Well, that's all for today, off for a little play with my new pens before I head off to bed! Good Night!

My Birthday Blog Candy Winner is...

Ok, it's time to announce the winner of my Birthday Blog Candy...firstly just wanted to say thanks to everyone who joined in and spread the word. So without further ado the winner is...

True Random Number Generator

Min:
Max:
Result:
13
Powered by RANDOM.ORG

That's Fifi!

Fifi wrote...

Hi Shelly!
What's a candy! I've linked your candy on my sidebar under the section "Blog Candy". http://fifishobby.blogspot.com
Thanks for a chance to win!
Hugs Fifi.

Congratulations Fifi! Please email me (my email address is on my sidebar) before Wednesday 23rd September so I can get you prize posted out to you. If I don't hear from Fifi, I shall redraw the candy on Thursday 24th September.
Hugs!

My Birthday Blog Candy

CANDY WILL REMAIN AT THE TOP UNTIL DRAWN ON SUNDAY 20TH SEPTEMBER 2009

Please scroll down for new posts

To celebrate my birthday on the 11th September, and also the fact that my blog counter has gone over 10 000 hits I'm offering a little candy...

• 1 Sugar Nellie Stamp (Nellie with Birthday Cake)


• 1 Autumn Leaves Flower Stems Clear Stamp


• 1 Pack of Three Bugs in a Rug brads


• 1 Pack of Star shaped brads


• 1 Pack of Tags Mania letters with ribbons, cord and buttons


• 1 Pack of PM Mulberry Paper Words


• 1 Pack of 3D Nature themed stickers
• 1 Pack of 3D Floral embellishments


• 4 Packs of assorted rub-ons


• 1 Promarker (Pastel Pink)


• 1 Roll of Dovecraft ribbon
• An assortment of satin ribbon
  
• An assortment of flowers
• A Selection of stamped images (not shown)

For a chance to win please leave a comment and link this candy on your blog, and if you would like to become a follower of my blog that would be great (but if you don't that's ok, the blog candy is open to non-followers too). I'm happy to post worldwide. The candy will be drawn on Sunday 20th September.

Thanks for taking part and Good Luck!

NEWS FLASH...The Creative Cottage has arrived!

I have some fabulous news to share with you all, I am so excited to be part of a brand new blog called "The Creative Cottage"!!! This exciting new blog is the result of lots of hard work by my very dear friend Tracy, who has come up with some very special kits for us crafters! To celebrate the launch of the blog, Tracy is very generously giving away a super downloadable kit called "Home Sweet Home"...


Just click HERE to visit the new blog and download the kit! This was the very first time I've used a digi download kit, and I can't tell you how easy it was! The card just came together in no time (thanks to the super designs by Tracy). Here is the card I made using some of the elements from the kit...


I was so pleased that Tracy asked me to be on her Design Team, along with 3 other talented ladies: Becky, Linda and Paula! To find out what all this is about, pop over to The Creative Cottage now!

Almost Forgot

Hello, hello! Oh dear, silly me, I almost forgot the card I did for the Penny Black Saturday Challenge, the fabby sketch by Domi...


I'm cutting it fine I know, but I did the card earlier this week and just never posted it! I had fun with this one, it's a tiny card (4" square) but I think small is cute so I'll have to do a few more of this size! Stamp is Penny Black, sentiment is Artemio and papers are K & Co.

Thanks for stopping by, good luck to everyone who has entered my candy, I shall be announcing the winner on Sunday!

Stamp Something Favourites

Good afternoon to all my blogging friends, it's Friday again and time for another Stamp Something challenge. September's theme is "Favourites", and this week we'd like to see you using your favourite colours or paper. As I'm really not organised for Christmas (just a slight understatement there) I've chosen to do a festive card, using my favourite Christmas colours red and green...


The stamp is one I got for my Birthday, don't you think this little FF bear is just so cute! I think I'll be using him a few times for my cards this year!

What I used:

Stamp: Forever Friends (Design Objectives/Hallmark)
Pens: Promarkers (Poppy, Forest, Moss, Cinnamon, Sandstone, Cool Grey 1, Blender)
Paper: Victorian Christmas (Dovecraft 2008)
Cardstock: Bazzil
Embellishments: Card Candy (Craftwork Cards), ribbon from stash

Don't Forget to check out the other DT cards, they're sure to give you some inspiration. Why not hop over to the Stamp Something blog and have a go, it's another easy peasy challenge! This week's sponsor is Doodle Palace, who will be giving away some super candy to one lucky winner!

Chocolate & Banana

Hi to all my blogging friends!

I made a very yummy Chocolate and Banana tart this week, which gave me some inspiration for a colour scheme! So here's my card, which is for two challenges..."Embossing" at Just Magnolia and "Polka Dots" at Passion for Promarkers...



* Stamp - Magnolia
* Promarkers - Cinnamon, Pastel Blue, Blush, Pastel Beige, Pastel Yellow, Forest Green
* Embossing - Cuttlebug Folders (Morrocan Screen, Swiss Dots)
* Swirl Stamp - Autumn Leaves
* Paper from old collosall pack Papermania
* Merci Stamp - Artemio
* Flowers (Prima), lace etc from stash
* Brown flower border is doodled

A little reminder, anyone who's interested don't forget to enter my blog candy before this weekend for a chance to win!

Thanks for popping by today!

Birthday Thanks & Lovely in Lilac

Happy Monday to you all! Firstly, I'd just like to say a HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who wished me a Happy Birthday, it's so nice to have blogging friends isn't it! I have to say I had a lovely day and got LOTS of lovely crafty goodies (which I haven't yet had the chance to play with) and some yummy smellies to pamper myself with. I felt like a little girl again, when you wake up on your birthday to some lovely toys! I was spoilt! But no complaints here lol!

I'd like to say a special thankyou to Tracy (ex Ella Bella) who sent me a beautiful handmade card, not to mention a super crafty pressie! You really didn't have to Tracy, but thank you very much! You are a special friend!

Now, I do have a card to share with you all today, it's for the fab sketch challenge at A Spoonfull Of Sugar...


Lots of lilac! I think this is a great sketch by Michelle O, very versatile and not too complicated.

* Stamp is Leanne Ellis for Sugar Nellie
* Promarkers to colour (lilac, cornflower, vanilla, pastel yellow, gold, blush)
* Bazill Cardstock
* DP is an old pack from Dovecraft
* Flowers are handmade using punches
* Craftwork Cards little card candies
* Sentiment from Woodware
* Corner Chomper from We R Memory Keepers (a birthday pressie)
* Ornate corner is a Sissix Die

Well that's it for today, happy crafting, back later in the week!

Favourite Embellishments

OK, firstly I'll apologise for the lateness of this post today but I have a good reason, it's MY BIRTHDAY, so I've just gotten in the house after having a lovely day out with my hubby!

Now as you all know, Friday is Stamp Something Challenge day, and this week we want to see you favourite embellishments! I have to say it was really hard for me to choose a favourite as I love flowers, charms, pearls, gems...but the two I probably use the most are buttons and ribbon...


The cute crafter image and sentiment I have used comes from my brand new Elzybells Stamp & Scrap set, I think she's just fab! I bet there's a lot of crafters out there who can relate to her, I know I can! I've coloured her with Promarkers, the paper is Pebbles Inc, ribbon is from Hobbycraft, and the buttons from my stash. You can never have too many ribbons or buttons!

The prize this week is from Quixotic Paperie, Elaine has generously offered 100 charms (and they look fab) to one lucky winner! Wow, how could you miss out on that?! Why not check out the Stamp Something blog for inspiration from the other DT cards?

Thanks for dropping by!

Early Birthday Pressie!

My hubby surprised me with an early birthday pressie on Monday, well it came through the post with an Elzybells sticker on it so he couldn't exactly say it was for him lol! Here's the card I made with it...


The present is the stamp set I used called "Scrap & Stamp", which is a brand new clear set from Elzybells and it has some cute images and quirky sayings to go with them. I've also made another card with the set, which I'll share with you later this week. I'm entering this card into the Cute Card Thursday challenge, which is "Back to School", I think it fits the challenge. I stuggled to get many layers on this card as I didn't want to cover the orchid on the background paper, so I kept it plain and simple.

Well, that's it for today, gotta dash now, off to work :(

Just Magnolia Tilda

Good Afternoon to you all! Just a very quick post today to share my card for this week's Just Magnolia challenge, which is a lovely sketch by Mina...

I've tried to keep it light and summery (for a bit longer) as I wanted to used these delish papers from Stampin' Up called "Tea Party". Tilda is coloured with Promarkers and I added a touch of glitter to her wings. The embossing is done on the Cuttlebug (Perfect Paisley Folder), velvet ribbon is Papermania and the flowers etc are from stash. I've gone back to my good old Woodware sentiments for the "with love". Well that's it for today, ta ta for now...

Girly and Glittery for Paige

The theme for this week's Passion for Promarkers challenge is "Girly and Glittery", you can use any colour PMs which is great for me as I don't have all the colours. I've had this hippo image for a while, it was a RAK from a kind friend, and I just thought she looked all sad and lonely so decided to bring her to life. I'm not sure what I was thinking with the corners, but lets say it was a little experiment. Here's what I used:

*Promarkers (Cool Grey 1 & 2, Pastel Yellow, Blossom, Cornflower & Meadow Green)
*Paper - Stampin' Up "Tea Party"
*Sentiment - Cuddly Buddly
*SU Round Scallop Punch
*Rest is from my stash

I've added glitter to my cutie hippo, and also to highlight the paper. Hope you like her, I think she passes for the challenge!

I'm posting this card out to Paige, the little girl I mentioned in my last post who has lost her arm in a horrid accident. Don't forget if you can spare a card to help cheer Paige up you cand find all the info on Erin's blog HERE. Thank you :)

I was really pleased to see that I've won the prize over at Penny Black Saturday Challenge today, a lovely PB stamp will be finding a new home here soon!

Favourite Somethings - Sets or Stamps

Good Afternoon Everyone! As it's Friday there's another new Stamp Something Challenge to get you teeth into, this week you have to use your favourite stamps or sets...


I've used a Penny Black stamp, these are probably my fave stamps but I love so many I couldn't really choose a favouite. However, I have a soft spot for kitties so I went with this little angel kitty. I've also used my circle Nestabilities as these are my absolute favourite Nesties (of the ones I have). The little kitty is coloured with Pro Markers, the paper is from Doodlebug and I've used Gemstones cardstock embossed with the Cuttlebug snowflake embossing folder. I've added some glitter to his wings and the snowflake embellishments I made just to give it all a bit of bling. Sorry the photo isn't great, I'm stuggling with the camera I'm using at the mo.

We have a small request this week for this challenge, we would be grateful if you could send a card to a little girl called Paige who has been injured in an accident and has lost part of her arm. If you would like more info you can find it HERE on Erin's blog.

Pop over to the Stamp Something blog to see more about the challenge and take a look at the other DT cards! This week's sponsor is Christian Paper Crafts and there's a set of Nesties on offer for the winner of this challenge! I'm also gonna enter this card into the Penny Black Saturday Challenge as this week the theme is "Christmas"! Thanks for popping by!

Ribbons & Bows

Just time for a very quick hello! I've made this card for the Just Magnolia Challenge, which is ribbons and bows (I couldn't resist)...


This little Tilda is one of the older ones but I just think she's so adorable. I love her little teddy too! I've coloured her with Distress Inks (no Pro Markers here) and used Papermania Simply Elegant paper. I've tried to include a range of ribbons (satin, organza and gros grain for the sentiment). The circles are cut with Nesties. I'm also entering this card into the Stamptacular Sunday Challenge, where you have to add scallops to your card.

Well that's it! If anyone has little ones going back to school today, hope it all went smoothly and without too many tears!

Colour Combo

Hello, hello! Sorry I haven't been posting much lately, but I've gone back to work and just haven't had a minute! I've really been neglecting my craftroom, and have to say there's an inch of dust everywhere! I've almost forgotten how to ink a stamp up! I'm so out of touch with what's new etc, and at this rate I'll be making Christmas cards last minute as usual! I have one card to show you that I did last week, but never got the chance to put it on my blog...


The image is a Sugar Nellie from Funky Kits, coloured with Pro Markers (before I had skin tone colours so she's looking a bit yellowish)! And while I'm on the subject of yellow, the card is for the Basic Grey Challenges Colour Challenge which is Brown, Yellow and Pink. The paper I used is Basic Grey Sugared and Bazzil cardstock. I did the sentiment with Doodlebug rub-ons and the embellies and ribbon are from my stash.

I just noticed the new Pro Marker colours are out, but all are out of stock in the Joanna Sheen online shop. If you've managed to get hold of any, let me know what you think of the colours. I'm gonna have to treat myself to a few so would love any feedback, thanks.