Two's Company

Good morning! Where did the weekend go? I can't believe how fast this year is flying by... we're already mid-November (and I still haven't started my Christmas shopping yikes)! 

Seeing as it's Monday again, then it's time for another Cupcake so you might want to put the kettle on and get comfy with a nice cuppa! Yup, Cupcake Craft Challenge that is... this week it's Delphine who has chosen the theme which is Two's Company! Basically we'd like to see you using two or more characters on your creations (two boys, two girls, two fairies etc but animals DON'T count as a character, only people characters). They can be from the same stamp or from several stamps, as I've done on my card.

I thought it'd be nice to use some of my older stamps that don't often see the light of day... so I've used two of the lovely Gorgeous Girls from Funky Kits. I stamped the little girl on the right with her cat, then masked over the cat with a Post-it Note before I stamped the sitting character. They're coloured using Promarkers. The papers are Basic Grey.

We are sponsored this week at Cupcake by Sassy Studio Designs, who are giving away 4 digital stamps to the lucky winner! Our monthly sponsor is Crafts U Love who are offering up a super £15 Gift Voucher for November's random winner. For all the details, and a chance to see the beautiful creations the other DT girls have made, pop over to the Cupcake Craft Challenge blog, and if you have time leave some love!

Well, thanks a lot for taking the time to visit today. Have a lovely week!

Shelly x

Happy 3rd Birthday Cupcake!

This week at Cupcake Craft Challenges we're celebrating our 3rd Birthday!!! Yep, Cupcake has been going for three years now! Although I haven't been on the DT since the beginning, I definately joined in the challenges in the early days! So to celebrate our Birthday, we're having a sketch challenge (by the fabby Faye) AND a treasure hunt! There are three lots of treasure hidden on the DT blogs, where you must leave a comment, but you must also join in with our sketch challenge to be able to win either the weekly prize or the treasure!

For my card I've used a cute dinosaur image from Digi Stamp Boutique, coloured with Promarkers. The papers are Basic Grey Archaic. Text done on pc and to finish a few pearls and buttons. If you want to see the actual sketch I've based my card on then check out the Cupcake blog! I'm entering my card for the following challenges:

A Spoonfull of Sugar - Happy Birthday

DigiStamp Boutique Monthly Challenge

Now seeing as it's our Birthday, there are LOADS of surprises on offer this week from our generous sponsors who include: Crafty Emma's Store, Cupcake Cards and Crafts, Digi's with attitude, Inky Impressions, The Stamping Boutique and Tickled Pink Stamps! We also have our three monthly sponsors, Crafts U Love, Mo's Digital Pencil and Sew Sweet! Phew!

To be in with a chance to win one of the fab prizes, and to be inspired by the other DT girls, pop over to Cupcake! Thanks for dropping by today!

Nappies and Four Legged & Furry

Funny thing happened yesterday, we (my dear o/h and me) were babysitting for our friends little baby girl, who I have to say is a real little treasure and as good as gold. Anyway, cut a long story short my o/h put the nappy on and said "there's no things at the side to attach it" so I told him maybe he'd put it on the wrong way... "no no" he replied... "the teddy is at the front"... so I looked at the nappy, yeah the teddy was at the front, but it was the back of his head... the front of his head was under the baby's bottom, at the back... so I was right, he had the nappy the wrong way around! Duh! Maybe I should buy a doll for him to practise on lol?!

Well, today at Cupcake Craft Challenges we're celebrating our 150th challenge so we've decided to let you Choose your Favourite Challenge from the last 150! The challenges have all been compiled on the Cupcake blog, so you have a look HERE! I've chosen Challenge #64 Four Legged & Furry for my card... I do love me little animals! There's a fab prize of a £10 Gift Voucher from Lili of the Valley up for grabs, and the monthly Icing on the Cupcake sponsor is Polka Doodles, who are also offering a fab prize of some stamps! Pop over to the Cupcake blog to check out the challenges and all the other fabby DT creations!

My card details:

Horse Image - L'Escargot Friends Stamp, A Scrap Affair

Colouring - Promarkers

Papers - Basic Grey

Sentiment - Stampin Up

Flowers - Nellie Snellen Punches, Craftwork Cards Card Candy

Ribbon, Charm from stash

Well that's it for today! Have a fab week!

Cupcake Craft Challenge 127 - Old MacDonald Had A Farm

Old MacDonald had a farm, eee eye eee eye ohhhh... and on that farm he had a tractor (a Case one) eee eye eee eye ohhhh... do you get the idea? At Cupcake Craft Challenge this week Faye has chosen a super theme for you all, where your card must include something you'd find on a farm! So I've gone for the obvious, not often I do cards with tractors on them but this one was for my Dad as he's a tractor fan! I've used a stamp set from Joanna Sheen, and coloured with Promarkers. The papers are from Basic Grey and the embossing is done using my Cuttlebug (script embossing folder) . Here's a little close-up of the tractor with the farm buildings in the background...

We're sponsored this week at Cupcake by Crafty Emma's Store who are offering some sentiments and ribbon to one lucky winner! Don't forget our monthly Icing on the Cupcake sponsors too...

Blue Jelly Stampin

Polkadoodles

The Paper Shelter

Have a little peek at the cards the other DT girls have come up with, there's a moo moo here and a bah bahhh there... sure to give you lots of inspiration!

Cupcake Craft Challenge 119 - Light It Up

Good morning Cupcake lovers! I hope you're all surviving the snow and cold weather! Well, get yourself a nice, hot cuppa and sit back and relax... it's time for another cupcake!

The theme at Cupcake Craft Challenge this week has been chosen by the talented Kathrin... she'd like us all to 'Light It Up'... in other words there has to be a candle on your card/project! I've interpreted this into a birthday card for my friend... we always have a cupcake with a cup of tea when we get together so I thought I'd stick with cupcakes as the basis of my card. I've followed the recipe at Basic Grey Challenges - 4 embellishments (Pearls, ribbon, spiral clip & candle button), 3 papers (from the BG Sugared Pad) and 2 images... my cupcakes (coloured with Promarkers) and at Mark's Finest Papers you have to 'Add a Bow'.

Our sponsor this week at Cupcake is The Character Cafe, and our monthly sponsor for Cupcake Madness is Some Odd Girl! There are some fab prizes up for grabs so get crafting! Don't forget to take a peek at the other DT projects... fab as always girls!

Cupcake Craft Challenge 106 Let's Get Digital!

Good morning peeps! Firstly, for those in the UK... hope you enjoy the Bank Holiday (I am soooo jealous)! Secondly, thank you to everyone who joined in my chosen challenge theme last week at Cupcake Craft Challenge... wow you're such a talented bunch... I had real trouble picking my Top 5!!! Pop over to Cupcake to see if you've won a prize, don't forget to check the Cupcake Lovers Candy prize too!

Now, onto this week's challenge which has been chosen by our Victoria Jelly, who wants us all to 'Get Digital'! So that means digi images, sentiments, papers, embellishments... I have only managed the image as my printer was spluttering (urm maybe it was telling me it needed ink?). Anyway, here's my DT card...

The image is another Heather Ellis one (Pure Innocence range), I'm so glad I found these! I've coloured her with my Promarkers. I've used Basic Grey paper, so I will enter the Basic Grey Challenge who want to see fabric on your cards (my fabric is the white cotton in the middle of the card... I cut up my hubby's shirt... oops don't tell him!). I've also followed the recipe challenge at A Spoon Full of Sugar (3 flowers, 2 buttons, 1 ribbon).

We've got some more yummy prizes this week from our lovely sponsors, so why not have a go at the challenge this week? The girls at Cupcake have come up trumps again with some gorgeous cards to help inspire you, why not pop by and say hi, we really do appreciate all your comments!

Well, that's enough from me, that's for your visit today, enjoy your day!

Distressed Kitty

Evening Peeps! Oh, don't worry about the distressed kitty, it's not a real one! The nearest my cat is to being distressed is from the noise of the heatgun... he's flaked out in my craftroom on HIS sofa! Talk about easy life!

Just wanted to share this little card with you... and nope it's not done with Promarkers! Yup, I've resisted THE pens and have tried my hand with Distress Inks (seeing as I had some new colours I'd never used)... it's been ages since I've used inks to colour! The stamp is a Sarah Kay from Stampavie, just so so cute! I've used Bev's lovely sketch from the Stampavie challenge. The little kitty is a hommage to my cat Réglisse... not easy to colour a black cat! I've used paper from my Basic Grey 'Sugared' pack, it fits with the distressed feel. The challenge over at Basic Grey Challenges is to use pearls on your card, so I'm entering mine.

Have a lovely evening, thanks for popping by!

The Shortest Distance Between Hearts

Today I've had a go at doing something a little different (for me anyway)... a card with no image. I bought a pack of clear sentiment stamps from Hero Arts a little while ago and have never had them out of the pack, so I thought why not try making a card with the sentiment as the focal point. I'm fairly pleased with the result :) I've also used the Photo Inspiration over at Basic Grey Challenges, it's where I got the fab idea for the string of hearts. I made the template for the hearts and drew around it a few times then cut out the shapes. All the stitching is faux... I'm too lazy to go to the trouble of getting my sewing machine out etc! All the papers are Basic Grey (Cupcake & Sugared), and I've added a few pearls, roses and rafia to embellish. Fairly simple but I like it, just have to decide who to send it to now :)

Lazy Autumn Sunday Afternoon

Good afternoon everyone! You know those days when you can't be bothered to do a thing and basically sit about watching TV, snacking, and doing nothing in general, well that's me today! I'm making the most of it as I have to go to work tonight, so I've got a couple of hours left before I need to motivate myself :) I have got a card to share with you today, although I made it yesterday...


This card is for my BIL, it reads "Happy Birthday Brother". I followed the sketch over at Basic Grey Challenges, it was nice to work with. So the paper is Basic Grey Archaic. The image is a Lelo Design from Stampavie, coloured with Promarkers. As I've used autumn colours, this card also fits the "Autumn Glory" challenge over at the new blog By The Cute And Girly.

Well that's all for today, hope you all have a lovely Sunday, whatever you do (or don't do as in my case lol).

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.

Bonne Fête des Mères!

Hello! Firstly, it's Mother's Day in France today so "Bonne Fête" to all the "mamans" lol! Shame the sun isn't shining, it's a bit miserable here today!

Well I've made three cards (I know I surprised myself too)! The first I love, it's with my new Gorjuss (I know she's been around a few months but I just got her...


My Gorjuss Girl is coloured with brush pens, then layered onto a rectangular frame which I then cut the corners off with a round punch, I really like the shape it gives. The paper is Basic Grey and the sentiment is Cuddly Buddly. The flowers were a rak from Katy (thanks hun), I added buttons and cotton to them. I've also put some glossy accents on her hair, not easy to see on the photo. I made this card for Colour Create Challenge, where you have to use all colours of the rainbow. I have to say I'm really pleased with it, not often I use so much colour!

The next card is for the new Stampin for the Weekend Challenge, the first challenge is called "Dawn to Dusk" and the colours to use are purple and yellow...


The image is a Penny Black (RAK from Louby, thanks hun) and I think it's just adorable! It reminds me of a little cat I used to have. I've coloured him with Promarkers and chalks, notice the "glow" around the moon etc. I used Nesties to cut out the frame, then added some ribbon, star brads and gems. The sentiment is again from Cuddly Buddly, which I think goes perfectly with the little cat image! I also decorated the inside but have been too lazy to photograph it! Well, the weather is bad outside so that's my excuse. Nonetheless, another card I like!

Third and final card, this'll be short and sweet. It's was supposed to be for The Next Level challenge, which is a super new blog challenge, with tips and ideas aswell. The challenge is to make an aperture card, and include a lollipop flower (which I forgot duh)! I've struggled with this one and in the end I'm not at all happy with the card, here it is anyway...


The only thing I like about it is the image, which is a Sugar Nellie and is called "How time flies" by Leanne Ellis. The less said about the rest the better!

Have a lovely Sunday evening, thanks ever so much for taking the time to visit, and for enduring this post, it's rather long!

Fête des Pères

Good evening everyone! Thanks for all the lovely comments and encouragement you've sent me regarding my new DT post over at the Stamp Something Challenge, please pop by and show your support on Friday when the new challenge will be set!

Well I've just had a little bit of crafting time so thought I'd do a card for Father's Day (or Fête des Pères as it's called over here). I've used the lovely sketch by Domi over at the Penny Black Saturday Challenge, I turned the sketch on it's side...


Card Recipe:

Stamp - Penny Black "kickin'"
Papers - Basic Grey "Cupcake"
Card - Bazzil
Cuttlebug Embossing folders - Swirls and Swiss Dots
Promarkers - Vanilla, Pastel Pink, Poppy, Cyan, Yellow, Gold, Forest Green
Sentiment is done on the computer and the rest is from my stash.

Thanks for popping by, hope you have a lovely evening!

Hello, it's Monday!

Hi everyone! Well that's the weekend over again, time always flies when I'm not at work! I did have a tiny bit of time this weekend for crafting so I made this card for two challenges, Cute Card Thursday where the theme is "Letters & Numbers" and Penny Black Saturday Challenge, Recipe 3...2...1 (3 flowers but I used stars as the card is for a boy - hope it's ok, 2 papers and 1 brad/charm - you can see my brad better on the close up piccy...


Little brad can be seen better here...


I had to do a large card as the stamp is a big one (from Penny Black), first time I've made a card with it. Papers are Basic Grey Cupcake, used Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder to emboss, Sissix corner die, brad is from Poppicrafts, Sentiment is a stamp from Artemio. It's for my nephew's birthday, hope he likes it!

Thanks for taking the time to pop by xx

In your thoughts

Good morning and hello to all my blogging friends! I have two cards to share with you today, both with a "Thinking of You" theme. The first one is for this week's Just Magnolia challenge "In Stitches" where you have to include stitching, faux or real on your card...


The stitching around the edge is real and took ages to do, and Tilda also has some stitching on her dress. You can see better here...


I've also tried my hand at decorating the inside of the card, not sure about this one, but there is some stitching (faux) on the square message panel and also on the cherries, although it's hard to see from the pic...



Tilda has been watercoloured with brush markers, papers are Doodlebug, sentiment is Penny Black and charms etc are from The Hobby House.

My second card today is also a thinking of you card, although less cheerful. It's for my friend who has recently lost a relative. I'm not good at sympathy cards, but thought this would be ok...



Tilda is coloured with w/c paints, sentiment is Cuddly Buddly, papers are Basic Grey Sugared and ribbon is Doodlebug.

Well, no sunshine here today, hope Mr Sun comes back for the weekend as I've got the full weekend free, no WORK! I'm hoping to get lots of crafting done, and also prepare my blog candy.

Thanks ever so much for popping by, I know how time is scarce so I really appreciate it all your nice comments!

Happy Mail

Good evening! This week's challnge over at Cute Card Thursday is "Happy Mail" where you have to make a card to cheer someone up or make their day. What a great challenge! We could all do that for someone, I know I for one have just a few cards lying around which could be put to good use. I made this card with my new Cuddly Buddly stamp...


The papers I used were Basic Grey Sugared, flourish stamp is from Autumn Leaves, and the main image and sentiment is Cuddly Buddly, ribbon is Doodlebug.

There is another reason for this challenge, as Vikki who runs Post Pals contacted Cute Card Thursday and said...


Hello, I read that you do card challenges and I wondered if you would consider doing a challenge with a twist.

I run Post Pals, we feature seriously ill children (most have cancer or are going through transplants) and their siblings on our website www.postpals.co.uk and invite members of the public to log on from around the world and send a card to a child. The aim is to make the child smile, but we have found it also helps their self esteem and parents often open them with a child during a procedure to distract them.

At the moment we are helping 120 children but they aren't getting much post.

I was wondering if you would do a challenge, instead of people just scanning in their card for the theme but they actually make one for a Post Pal child and send it off.

I can't begin to tell you how much receiving a card means when your ill and isolated.

Thank you,

Vikki



ps)You can see a video about what we do here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l42sKtdPXrw

I've just been onto the Post Pals website, and read a few of the stories (although unfortunately there are lots of ill children), which brought tears to my eyes. So if you can spare a card, then it might just make someone's day!

Gardening and the Rain

Thinking of the little rhyme " Rain, rain go away...come back another day..." Can you believe it, when I lived in the UK I spent most of the time wishing it would STOP raining, and now in France I'm always wishing it WOULD rain!!! My garden is needing a good watering as it's soooo dry (and it's only April), and so my wishes have come true, it's finally RAINING! I only hope it lasts more than 10 minutes, as we usually only get a shower!

In the meantime, I have been busy doing a few cards...all with new stamps that have seen ink for the first time. The first one is on a gardening theme, my hubby bought me the stamp for Easter and I wasn't sure at first as the impression isn't that detailed (only prints the outlines and no detail). I was a bit disappointed as he bought me three in this range, and all are the same, however after having a go colouring the image I have to say I'm fairly pleased with the result...




The stamp is from Inca Stamps, Wonderful World of Beatrix Potter. Of course this one is Peter Rabbit. I coloured it with Distress Inks and Whispers Markers. Paper is Basic Grey Boxer, also used Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder. Sentiment stamp is Papermania. The card is for the Stamptacular Challenge which is "This is for the birds" hence cute little robin.

Second card is for Friday Sketchers challenge, which is a fab sketch by Jacqueline...


Used Sugar Nellie image, Basic Grey Sugared paper, and bits 'n' bobs from stash.

Finally (phew I hear you saying) this card is for Cute Card Thursday which is "Chocolate and Marshmallows". I love the brown and pink, reminds me of eating Neopolitan ice cream when I was little lol!


The Gorjuss Girl stamp from Sugar Nellie is so cute, and I love the cat! Papers again Basic Grey, sentiment from CCSR Sentiments, rest from stash. Sorry for the naff photo but I had to take this inside as it's RAINING outside (yipee) lol!

April Showers

It's Monday, where did the weekend go? Even my laptop hates Mondays, it's so slow today! I didn't get to the Craft Show afterall, but did spend some time making a few cards over the weekend. One of them is for the Sugar Bowl challenge, where the theme is "Spring". I had the little sentiment in a pack of rub-ons and thought it would be nice to do my card based on it...



Stamp is Sugar Nellie, papers are Basic Grey Sugared, Rub-On sentiment is Royal Brush.

Thanks for dropping by today xx

Little Piggy Kisses

Hurray! It's the weekend at last! I couldn't wait to get in from work tonight so I could put my feet up, they're killing me! And it's supposed to be a lovely sunny weekend here so tomorrow I shall try to do a bit of gardening. Isn't it lovely when all the spring flowers come out, I have some gorgeous hyacinths along the side of the house which give off a wonderful scent when you walk past them. And my little pansies are blooming like troopers in their window boxes!

Anyway, back to the crafting. I've just realised that tomorrow is Saturday and I haven't yet posted my card for Sketch Saturday (last weekend), which of course is a sketch, so here it is...


And a close up on the layers...


I used:

- Piggy stamp from Penny Black
- Sentiment stamp from Stampin'Up
- Papers are Basic Grey "Sugared"
- Distress Inks to colour
- Flower punch from Woodware
- Rest from stash

Well I kinda surprised myself, I don't usually do much decoupage (not the biggest fan of cutting out) but I actually enjoyed doing this little piggy. I'm not sure yet what to write on his little scroll, depends who I'm gonna send the card to really.

There's a Craft Fair in Paris this weekend (a VERY rare occassion here in France) and I'm debating whether or not to go. I fancy it but don't want to be disappointed as a friend went to a similar type of thing last year and said it wasn't much good. It's called "Version Scrap" and is supposed to be about Scrapbooking and scrap type papercrafts etc. Does anyone have any experience of this show (maybe there are some french bloggers who can help me out on this)?

Finally, have you seen the blog candy up for grabs with Charmed Cards & Crafts? They have an amazing 72 pack of Copics markers to give away, but don't dilly dally, you only have until the 10th of April!

Well, that's it for tonight, off to lie on the sofa and watch a bit of TV. Hope you have a lovely weekend and the sunshines wherever you are!

Lovely Friends

Hello to all my lovely friends! It's Monday again, another week closer to spring! Yeah! I've done a little card to try to evoke a bit of warmth as it's bl**dy freezing here, and pouring down with rain! I've used the sketch from Tina46 (A Spoonfull of Sugar), which is fab! I have rotated the sketch though to fit in with my image, one of my new Rachelle Anne Miller stamps. I used Distress Inks to colour, paper is Basic Grey "Sugared", "I love you" sentiment is a stamp (Penny Black), rest is from my stash!


Thanks for taking a look, gotta go out and brave the ferocious weather now! xx