My new Sketch Book.

I have had this book for just over a week and had always planned to decorate it and keep drawings of card sketches in it. When I saw that High Hopes had 'think outside the card' as their challenge this week I knew it was time to get on with it, even though it was 10pm last night! (I eventually got to bed just after midnight- bad move!) I decided to use the BasicGrey sketch for this cover as I was having trouble parting with this paper and now I won't have to because this is for me! The paper is from a 12 by 12 piece of Eva paper and some of the plainer papers and the letters are theirs also. I made the felt flowers and the leaf swirl with my Sizzix. The ribbons were in my stash and I was glad I had so much because I was surprised how much it took!

Cupcake Craft have a rather tricky embellishment challenge- use 5 embellishments but flowers only count as 1 however many you use and the same goes for ribbons, brads etc. Here goes, I think I have got this,- flowers, ribbon, brads, leaves and letters?!

'Keep it Simple' baby card.

ABC challenges have 'K is for keep it simple' this week. This card is simplicity itself! Unusually for me no stamping- it is all made with Sizzlit dies. The card was already printed with the blue gingham. I cut the baby die out twice- once from the skintone card and once from the white pearlized to give the mat. The curl is coloured with a brushmarker and the cheeks with a little chalk. The silver mat was cut freehand following the lines of the die cut one. The word 'baby' was then cut from silver with another die and the star from another. Sorry fot the rubbish photo- I was trying to catch the last of the light.

Elzy Birthday Wishes.

Another of my new Elzys! This is my first go at paper piecing- it is something I have meant to try for ages and was finally prompted to have a go by the BasicGrey Challenge. All the papers on this card are from the 'Eva' paper pad and the little brads are theirs too. The sketch is from A Spoon Full Of Sugar and was a nice simple one to work with. Cute card Thursday have 'Floral Fantasy' as their theme.I sponged ink on the tips of the mulberry paper flowers to tone them in better with the flowers on the papers and give the illusion of more dimension. Both Our Creative Corner and Pink Elephant have 'recycled items' as their theme this week! I can't remember what I rescued the ribbon off but there it was is my box with the bow already in it which is a huge bonus for me because I'm rubbish at bows! Finally I decorated the inside of the card for the Elzybells Challenge- 'Inside out- co-ordinate the inside with the outside'.

Gosh! That's SIX challenges this card covers- I'm really multi-tasking this week to catch up after the Easter holidays!

Black, white and pink Anniversary card.

I love it when you read a challenge and just know what you are going to do for it! When I read that Colour Create was black, white and pink this week I immediately thought of this Pink Petticoat download that I have had for ages and this Lily and Billy Sweethearts stamp from Pink Cat Studio. I coloured the image with Whispers Brushmarkers, directly colouring some parts but mostly watercolouring with them. I matted them onto silver miri for extra glamour but also because the bag given for inspiration had a silver clasp. The optional challenge was to use polka dots so this Anita's ribbon was perfect, matted onto Core'dinations cut with scalloped scissors. I was also inspired to decorate the inside by the scraps I had left after finishing the card.

I am also entering this card for Dutch Dare 'Create a card using your favourite things'. I love this Lily and Billy stamp set- I think they are so cute and I love colouring them. The sentiment is from my trusty clear greetings set from Elzybells- this set can be used to make so many greetings and I love the size and style of the font. Finally it is a great favourite of mine to arrange the sentiment on a little tab.

Off to Wales for a few days.

Well I had hoped to get in one more project but I have been too busy packing. I'm off to Wales tomorrow with my son for Easter with my Mum and Dad (poor hubby is staying home to do some work on his business premises!). They don't have Internet at their house and it is like being without your right arm- heck, I can't even get a mobile signal without going into the town. I'm hoping I may get on once if I can find somewhere to connect but I will have to see! I look forward to reading any comments you leave when I get back but please bear with me if they don't appear my blog for a few days. Happy Easter everyone.

Elzy Thank You card.

I promised you lots of Elzy cards as I had just got new stamps! I think these two ladies are gorgeous. I think I may be getting better with my Prismas, mind you I was colouring into the wee hours last night! I followed Dawny's fabulous sketch #12 at Papertake Weekly and kept my layout quite plain because I only seem to get myself in a tangle when I try to put on too much! Saturday Challenge #26 was to use stripes. I love the colours in this paper from Partners and based my card on them.

New dog welcome card.

I used sketch #45 from Sketch Saturday for this card. Both stamps come from my new Elzys and I have been dying to ink them up! I coloured the image with my new Prismas and am quite pleased with how the dog came out, less so with the 'sky'! The background paper was a free download but I can't remember where from, sorry. Pink Elephant have a recipe challenge this week- use stamps,embossing and punches. I am entering this card because the little paw print is heat embossed to make it shiny and it has been punched out with a circle punch- a tiny detail, I know, but I didn't want to clutter the card up too much!

Bright citrus birthday.

As soon as I read that Cute Card Thursday had citrus colours as its theme this week I got straight to printing out these free download papers from Papercraft Inspirations. Had a bit of a job deciding which stamp to put with them but I think this Jolly Nation singing girl works well with these funky colours. I have coloured her with my new Prismacolor pencils, Sansodor and paper stumps- I'm still working on my technique with these and am not entirely happy with this yet. I was worried about soaking the cardstock too much and making it look oily but it seems to evaporate so I'm getting braver! I followed sketch #46 at Friday Sketchers which was perfect for this card.

Yellow and Green Easter.

It's amazing how similar lots of the challenges are this week! I made this one for:-
Dutch Dare, Easter theme. Cupcake Craft #33, a sketch. PTW, a recipe- 1 circle, 2 ribbons, 3 stamps.
The image stamp is Elzybells from the pack I have just got in the post- expect to see more Elzy cards! The sentiment stamp is from a little Studio G set. The pattern on the circle is done with a large Whispers background stamp. The ribbons are both by Anita's. I left out the extra embellishments at the top left of the sketch because I wanted to keep the card clean and simple.

Blue Easter.

I made this card for my son. It also fits with 2 challenges. Pink Elephant have 'Easter' as their theme this week. Elzybells have a recipe- 1 piece of ribbon, a circle and an embellishment. I love this Elzybells stamp that I have just bought and so did my son which is why it is on his card! The gingham and polkadot cardstock are from a Pay-per-box. The ribbon and button are both Papermania. I was so chuffed when I found the button because I was beginning to struggle over the embellishment- I find it hard to know what to put on boys' cards. Hope he likes it!

Mauve Wedding Wishes.

I had had this card in my head for a few days so I finally found time to make it! The base card has a lovely iridescence which the photo does no justice to and the silver miri board and foiled panel look rather black here- rubbish photo, you're just going to have to trust me that they are there! The image is another from the EBay shop which has now gone- wish I could find out if she was still doing stamps anywhere else. The sentiment is from my fave Elzy clear set. The ABC challenge is 'H is for hearts' so I am entering this card.

Thanks for the kind comments you have left for my son- he is now much better, back at school and looking forward to the holidays!