Cards at last!...

Firstly I would like to thank my followers who have hung in there during my prolonged absence! It has been so long since I have made a card- two and a half months to be exact- but however much I enjoy cardmaking, I think I needed the break. Bryn, our puppy, is starting to calm down- although as he grows the crafting stuff that I thought was safely out of reach is now within reach leading to several chases around the house to rescue chewed stash!
On the subject of Bryn, he is the reason I have made these cards. I want to send some photos of him to a couple of people so I made these to send them in. The image and sentiment are both from Elzybells (now closed down) and I stamped the sentiment to fit within the die with the image. Bryn's markings were quite tricky to draw onto the image but I think I have got it as close as I can. Judge for yourselves...

... here he was a few weeks back. The top two cards have been made with digi papers from a Stuff to Scrap blogtrain called 'French Tulips' and the bottom one uses papers from Summer Driggs called 'Thanks for Giving'. All have some Card Candi and the fibers on the botton one are wool from the £1 bin in the market!
My son was desperate to get Bryn but the reality of a puppy in the house and the extra work it entails lead to him getting rather fed up with him, although he wouldn't admit it. He got a shock at the weekend- he was walking him with a friend and paying more attention to chatting with his friend than what Bryn was doing. Bryn pulled the lead out of his hand and ran off at a rate of knots and Matthew thought he would never see him again! He gave chase and then arrived back at our house, only to find Bryn waiting there for him in the front garden! He came in saying " It's alright, I found the dog!" to a very surprised us, who had been unaware until then that he had been missing! It obviously made him realize how much he loves him as Matthew got really upset in the evening about what could have happened if he had not found him or if he had got to the main road. I think the bonds of friendship grew stronger this weekend! (I was also pretty impressed and relieved that our 4 month old puppy can find his own way home!)

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:

• Charisma- Cutesy
• CRAFT- Cute
• DYSU- inspired by a song (How much is that doggie in the window?- we saw the advert for Bryn in the coffee shop window!)
• Challenge up your life- friendship
• Pollycraft- friendship
• Make it Monday- always anything goes
• Hooked on craft- punched or die cut (nestie 8 for mat)

Peaceful puppy allowing crafting! After he did battle with his bed to turn it upside down as he is incapable of sleeping in it normally!

Cards for Men challenge 20...

Well the last 2 weeks seemed to fly by! Our puppy, Bryn, is still keeping us really busy- especially when he got a upset stomach from eating clematis leaves in the garden! Sorry I didn't get around to visiting our entries until yesterday, but better late than never! For our new challenge at Cards for Men we are looking for your men or boy's cards on a Sport theme, so that should be a nice easy one!

My cousin is a mad, keen Liverpool fan so this is the card I made for him. I used the footballer from the Papermania 'Man's World' clear set, coloured with my Promarkers. The word stamp in the background is a wood mounted one from Funstamps. I have overstamped the red card with some mini football images but they don't really show up on the photo. Finally I used a personalised sentiment which I made on the computer and 3 tiny die cut stars.

Our sponsor is Peachy Keen Stamps. Check out the Cards for Men blog for details of the prize and to see the great cards made by the rest of the DT.


I would also like to enter this card in the following challenges:

• I love Promarkers- include a number
• Southern Girls- anything goes
• Fairy Tale Challenge- sports
• Annabelle stamps- for a man
• Our Creative Corner- Numbers!

No Cards for Men card from me this time...

It's time for a new challenge at Cards for Men but I haven't had time to make my DT card for it! Hope you can find the time to play along with our 'anything but square' challenge as it is sponsored by the wonderful Pixie Dust Studio and the rest of the DT have made some great cards with their digis for inspiration.

As I don't have a card to show you I thought I'd share some photos of the reason why!! This is our Welsh Sheepdog puppy, Bryn, looking angelic- but it won't last! (He hasn't worked out how to sit on the steps so looks rather uncomfortable!)

Here he is eating the chives!

...and chewing on a dead stump that had not made it to the tip yet- but it has now!

Running off with lumps of soil is a great game and now he can jump up on the raised bed too!

And finally, drinking water out of a tray of plants- anyone would think he didn't have a lovely fresh bowl of water in the house!

While I was typing this post he started off asleep but then woke up and tried to chew the lead for my camera then when foiled on that one he turned to the lead for the printer! And I wonder why I'm not getting any cardmaking done at the moment!!!

We have our hands full at the moment...

We have been keeping an eye out for a new puppy for a couple of months now and while visiting Mum and Dad we found this little beauty who we have called Bryn. Dad likes to go to the same cafe for a latte every morning and we saw a poster with pictures of a beautiful litter of puppies ready for new homes. I immediately got on the phone and we went to visit that afternoon. To save Mum and Dad from puddles on their carpets the lady said it was no problem to hang on to him for us until we were going home.
He is now settling in nicely with us here and we love him to bits but it is like having a baby all over again! Toilet training is still a bit hit and miss, he crys and howls a few times a night and if I had a pound for every time I have said, "What are you eating  now Bryn?!" I would be very rich!
My craft stuff has had to be whisked out of the way to save it from chewing and my time is rather taken up at the moment so I may go a bit quiet in blogland. I will have to become a nap-time crafter and blogger again for a little while!

Cards for Men challenge 18 and a freebie sentiment...

Well, here we are, almost at the end of August. This time at Cards for Men we have 'G is for...' as our challenge. This one had me thinking to start with, but I eventually thought of green, grey, golf, Grandad, gnome, gardening and the one I finally used- guitar!

I dug out a wood mounted rubber stamp from Jolly Nation that I haven't used for ages for this one! Jolly Nation was my first stamping addiction, but not my last! My son plays electric guitar so I bought this to make a card for him. I coloured him with my Promarkers.
The papers were a freebie download  from No Reimer Reason called 'Americana'. I carried on the star theme by die cutting a star to mount the button on.
I made the sentiment myself and used a PNG file this time which allowed me to print it directly onto the paper. If you would like it, please help yourself!

We are sponsored by Letraset for this challenge and you know how I love my Promarkers! Pop over to the Cards for Men site for details of the prize and to see the rest of the fabulous DT cards. You have until 11th September to play along.



I would also like to enter this card in the following challenges:

• Totally Gorjuss- Anything goes
• Challenge Up Your Life- For a man

Indulge...

I thought this image by MelonHeadz was just gorgeous and decided to use it to make a really girly card. The papers are from Summer Driggs 'A little spring in your step' freebie kit which I use so much. The sentiment is also a freebie from Scrap-a-licious Times. The flower was cut from DP with a joy crafts die and the swirl was a Marianne die.

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:

• Corrosive- girlie
• My time to craft- here come the girls
• Papertake Weekly- dies to die for

Smile! and a freebie sentiment...

I am loving Maurice from Pollycraft at the moment! I coloured him with my promarkers and did a 'dotty' ground for him. I haven't made a sentiment for a while so I decided to make my own sentiment to go with this image- although I think it could work with other images as well- I'm thinking Bugaboo's Gus?! I have made this one as a PNG so it has a transparent background which makes it easier to put DP under it. If you can use it, please help yourself- enjoy!

The papers are from a digiscrap set called 'Snips, Snails, Puppy Tails' by Scrappin' Serenity and a few Card Candi to finish off.

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:

• Make it Monday- always anything goes
• Make it Colourful- ground your image

Bright, bold cupcakes...

Not sure I like this now it's finished! I think the cupcake should be smaller. Anyway, the image and sentiment border were both freebies from Bird's Cards. The papers are all printed from Summer Driggs digiscrap kit- Sweet Cakes and I printed the sentiment onto a plain DP and also the cake so I could paper piece it. I didn't plan on making the flower when I started out but it needed something more and I had just enough offcuts of DP left to make 3 little ones!

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:

• Allsorts- you've been framed
• One stop crafts- bold and bright
• Craft your days away- cupcakes

You're going to need your sunglasses!...

I'm really hoping my brother-in-law doesn't look at my blog as his birthday isn't until Friday! This card may need some explanation for those who are not as old as me or not in the UK!

 This is Brian the snail from Magic Roundabout. I checked with my husband that he doesn't mind the nickname and that it isn't one of those things that brothers call eachother because they know it annoys the other one! He said It wasn't so I went ahead and made the card.

The image is from MelonHeadz and it had been decoupaged to add dimension. The bright papers are from the Stuff to Scrap blogtrain 'Bouncing Beachballs'. I made the sentiment myself. I followed the sketch at Cupcake Craft for the layout and added faux stitching to all the edges to highlight the layout and mirror the border of the sentiment.

I would also like to enter this card in the following challenges:

• Pink Elephant- stitching, real or faux
• Spoon Full of Sugar- Happy Birthday

G is for gardener...

I dug out some of my wood mounted rubber stamps today- I'm sorry to say I hardly ever do that nowadays. I wanted this gardener image by Jolly Nation for My Time to Craft's 'G is for..' challenge and another stamp for a card that I can't show you yet!
I used digiscrap papers by Scrapping Sisters called 'one year older' and decided to make a center stepper card. The little pot is part of the image but as I cut them out I decided to use it as a separate element. I made the 'plant label' sentiment from some textured cardstock from my stash. I rounded the top corners with a small corner rounder punch abd cut the other end to a point. I stamped the sentiment then darkened the edges a little with some chalk.

I would also like to enter this card in:

• Stamptacular Sunday- Fancy folds
• Anything goes- Birthday/celebration
• Oldie but a goodie- great outdoors

Note cards...

I wanted some little cards to send to a couple of people from our church to let them know we are keeping them in our prayers.

They are all A6 in size but on their side. As I was making lots I kept them very simple, using Summer Driggs kits for all of them. The toppers are all embellishments from the kits and I have added the sentiment from TLC in Photoshop. The tags just have a couple of little bits of ribbon from my stash in and other cards have had the topper printed out twice so I could layer them.

I would like to enter these cards in the Paper Sundaes challenge 'just saying hi'. I know these aren't quite 'hi' but they are about keeping in touch and letting people know they are remembered, so I hope they will still count.
I would also like to enter these cards in the following challenges:

• Shabby tea room- polkadots ( 3 of these cards are dotty)
• Paper playtime- anything goes
• Make it Monday- always anything goes

Cards for Men challenge 17...

Well we are halfway through the school summer holidays here in England so we thought you might appreciate a nice easy one this time! So, we are having an 'Anything Goes' challenge at Cards for Men this time, but don't forget it must be for a man or boy!

The DT were lucky enough to have some Hope Jacare images to play with so I chose to use Trevor Turtle for this card and team him up with the brilliant sentiment from TLC. The papers are from an LDS Blogtrain called 'Fishers of Men'. I loved all the soft water and sand colours. After colouring Trevor with my Promarkers I cut him out and matted him on a circle of DP which I also used to print my sentiment onto. I made the little starfish 'candy' with a Sizzlet die and drew on the dots with a gelpen.

We are sponsored by Claire who draws the amazing digis at Hope Jacare for this challenge. Details of the prize can be found at Cards for Men. The rest of the DT have also used Claire's images so do pop over and take a look at the wonderful inspiration there and join in our challenge- you have until 28th August to take part.

I would also like to enter this card in the following challenges:

• Ellephantastic- August- add some layers
• One Stop- at the beach
• Here come the boys- critters

More Meljen's mice!...

Don't say I didn't warn you about these cute little mice! There are quite a few of them in my box just waiting to pop onto cards!
The image is another of the super-cute Meljen's mice. (I have been on the Whimsey Stamps website looking for more!) The papers are from the Blogtrain Blog's August train. The sentiment is from Scrap-a-licious Times and the flower which embellishes it was a white one which I coloured with my Promarkers.

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:

• Spoon Full of sugar- Happy Birthday
• Totally Gorjuss- Round and round

Inspired by India...

When I saw the inspiration photo at Cupcake Inspirations it immediately made me think of the bright colours and lavish prints of sari fabric.

I remembered that I had a really interesting pack of 'papers' that I had had for absolutely ages. They are not actually paper- they are made in India from cloth recycled from the garment manufacturers, but I had never had the right project for them until now. I found matching cardstocks from my stash and followed the sketch at I love Promarkers.

The image of the lady in a sari is from Melonheadz and I thought she was so perfect for this card. She has been coloured with Promarkers which give lovely strong colours.

I made the flower and swirl with Marianne dies. I gave the flower lots of dimension by curling it and using 3D foam between the layers. Papertake Weekly are looking for homemade flowers for their challenge this week. A few silver mirri Candi and a couple of gems complete the look.

This is really different from my usual style but I really enjoyed making it. However I put off doing some cards that I really need to get on with now!

Deja vu?...

...not quite! If you pop by regularly you may think you saw this card yesterday. When I was printing out the papers for yesterday's card I ran them off twice, as I love the design and this layout so much. Today I decided to make it up again with a different image and slight change to the layout.

The image is from Pollycraft and I thought it went perfectly with these papers from the 'French Tulips' bloghop from Stuff to Scrap. The sentiment was a freebie from Scrapalicious Times and is quite a favourite of mine.

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:

• Dutch Dare- one for the kids
• Craft Your Days Away- birthday celebrations
• Paper Sundaes- sketch (I moved the sentiment and brads around a little)

Happy day...

Well, this was the card I mentioned yesterday and I'm pretty sure it will now have arrived so it's safe to put it up!
It follows the lovely sketch by Paula at Pollycraft again- I can see me using this layout quite a lot. The image is also Pollycraft and is called 'Blue's branch'- so sweet!
The papers are from the August Blog Train Blog- there are some really gorgeous papers in the kits this time and it should still be up if you want to follow it. It takes a while though as there are lots of stops and quite a few use 4shared and we all know how long that takes!
I printed the sentiment from TLC straight onto the DP and this was a particularly useful one for this card as it will be arriving a good few days after the birthday! I love the clean look you get when the sentiment is part of the DP. Finally, I finished it off with a few little pink gems.

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:

• Pollycraft- sketch
• I love Promarkers- things with wings

How Old???..

I've been waiting to use this sentiment from Sentiments 4 You for ages and have finally got around to it. I used 'Maurice' from Pollycraft as my image and coloured him quite simply with my Promarkers. The papers are an old favourite of mine from the 'French Tulips' blogtrain from Stuff to Scrap.

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:

• Corrosive- Manly
• Cupcake- How old?

Cute little mouse...

I am really loving Meljen's little mice at the moment- there are a few more on the table waiting to be made up too!

I followed the great sketch by Paula at Pollycraft for this card. It is such a simple design yet it works so well- I have another card, also made with the same sketch, but I'm just hanging on before posting that as it is in the post!
The papers are from a digiscrap kit which is called 'Ouch' by Scraps N Pieces. I really liked the colours and the slightly faded/shabby chic look. If my friend Helen is reading this- This is the card that I stuck the strip down by mistake when we were on the phone! I had intended to have the sentiment on a tab coming out from under the middle strip but because I was chatting I stuck it down and realised too late that I had not done the tag! Oh well, I quite like the sentiment where it is now!
The flowers were die cut with a Joy Craft die from some of the DP that I had reduced in size with Photoshop. I was having trouble deciding what to use for centers as none of the brads I tried was right then I tried the cream Card Candi- It was perfect for the larger flower but I can't decide if I like it in the smaller ones.

I would like to enter this card for:

• Allsorts- free and easy
• Pollycraft- sketch
• Papertake Weekly- anything goes
• Stampin' for the weekend- spots and dots

I'm a bad crafter!...

I made this for my friend because I missed her birthday- I knew when it was and sent her a text but the card was a couple of days late. You'd expect crafters to be more on the ball!
The sentiment and image are both from MelonHeadz. Love that sentiment so much! Incase you can't read it on the card, it says 'My bestfriend- I keep her around 'cause she knows too much!' The papers are a freebie from Summer Driggs called 'A little spring in your step'. Finished off with a few Card Candi.

To go with it I made this little tag/sign. Again the wordy is from MelonHeads and I thought it was so true! I tried to do the cat black and white like her one and decoupaged up the images for more interest.

I would like to enter these in the following challenges:

• Allsorts- free and easy
• Stamptacular Sunday- 'Friends are heaven sent'
• Sentimental Sunday- In the garden + a sentiment
• Spoon full of sugar- create a tag
• Papertake Weekly- Anything goes

Cards for Men challenge 16...

This time at Cards for Men we would like to see 'Clean and Simple' cards for men or boys.

I haven't really caught on to the trend for CAS cards, although I don't go mad with layers or embellishments normally either. I used 'Deacon bugs' from Bugaboo as my image and printed him out quite large, keeping some space around him when I cut him out. I coloured him with Promarkers, keeping to a limited pallette of mainly greens and browns. The small piece of DP is from the Stuff to Scrap 'Great Outdoors' blogtrain. I have also printed the sentiment on some plain DP from the same set. The sentiment is a freebie from Scrap-a-licious Times, finished off with a button from my stash which has been tied with baker's twine. Everything has been matted on some brown card from my stash.

We are sponsored by the wonderful One Stop Card Crafts website who are offering a £10 voucher for our lucky winner. The rest of our talented DT have made some fabulous cards so do pop over to Cards for Men for some more inspiration and to take part in our challenge.

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:

• Delightful challenges- dog days of summer
• Stamp something- summer fun
• Polka Doodles- in an English country garden
• If the shoe fits- summer
• Fairytale challenge- summer
• Crafty Anns- summertime

Bugaboo week of mini challenges- Friday...

Friday's challenge at Bugaboo is a nice easy one to end the week- anything Christmas goes!

Sorry about the rubbish photo- I was rushing to get this one done in time and had to take it at night with a daylight bulb spotlight! I used the super cute freebie Deacon Candy-cane which you can get HERE until next Friday. I teamed him with vintage style papers from a blogtrain called 'Countdown to Christmas' which, I think, was from Stuff to Scrap. I toned down the white around the image with chalk to blend it better with the papers and finished off with a couple of dark red Card Candi.

Well, that's it! I have entered all 5 daily challenges and the weekly challenge. It is unheard of for me to have any Christmas cards done by now and now I have 6! I'm off to follow the Bloghop now and then I will be keeping my fingers crossed that I win something :-)

Catch the bug- weekly challenge...

Bugaboo are celebrating Christmas in July this week so here is my entry.

Sorry about the rubbish photo- I was rushing to get this one done in time and had to take it at night with a daylight bulb spotlight! At least it shows the shine on the pearlised card I used to mount! I made a border o my computer for the gorgeous robins from Bugaboo before printing and colouring with promarkers. The swirls have been die cut with a Marianne D swirl and the end of each swirl has been embellished with a little pearl. The papers are from a digiscrap blogtrain called 'Countdown to Christmas' which, I think, was from Stuff to Scrap.

Bugaboo week of mini challenges- Thursday...

Thursday's challenge at Bugaboo is to make a card with snow.

I used this beautiful snowman from Bugaboo and some papers that I bought when I first began papercrafting from the stationary shop, Partners! All the card came from my stash and I did one of my favourite things, which is to make my own embellishments with dies- so satisfying to turn scraps into embellishments! I used the Finnish Ice Star dies from Marianne D for these and a couple of crystal gems to finish off.

I would also like to enter this card in:

• Stamp Something- Your fave embellishment (making my own with scraps and dies)
• Clear it out challenge- Anything goes (paper that I have had forever!)

Good Luck...

Continuing with my mission to add to my stash, I used a couple more MelonHeadz images to make these two Good Luck cards.
The girl's one is made with freebie papers from Summer Driggs called 'Happy mother's day'. I ran the plain pink through the Daisy Pattern Cuttlebug folder.

The boy's one uses papers from the Stuff to Scrap 'French Tulips' blogtrain. I kept it really simple and bright.

I would like to enter these cards in the following challenges:

• Totally Papercrafts- one for the boys
• Totally Gorjuss- cards for men/ boys
• Paper Cutz- anything goes

Bugaboo week of mini challenges- Wednesday...

Wednesday's challenge at Bugaboo is to make a card following the sketch given.

I thought this cute baby image from Bugaboo would make a lovely 'first Christmas' card for either a boy or girl. I created the sentiment around the image on my computer then cut it out with a Nestie, before colouring with my Promarkers. The papers are a freebie from Shabby Princess. I am rubbish at doing bows for cards but I thought I would have a go with this grosgrain ribbon as it went so well with the papers. I used a bow maker and, for once, it has come out quite well!

I would also like to enter this card in:

• I love Promarkers- Christmas in July

Bugaboo week of mini challenges- Tuesday...

Tuesday's challenge at Bugaboo is to make a card using the freebie image provided HERE.

I decided to make a center stepper card. The papers are another download from Papercraft Inspirations mag that I've had for ages. The sentiment is a freebie from Scrap-a-licious. The flower in the middle was white and I coloured it with my promarkers.

I would also like to enter this card in the following challenges:

• I love Promarkers- Christmas in July
• Anything goes Challenge- more than one fold

Bugaboo week of mini challenges- Monday...

I don't normally do Christmas cards as early as this- we've only just broken up for the summer holidays!- but I couldn't resist playing along with this week of challenges at Bugaboo as they have some fab prizes and I love Jodie's stamps.

Monday's challenge is to make a Christmas card using non traditional colours. I decided to use this ornament ted image from Bugaboo but to colour him blue. I teamed him up with a paper that I downloaded from Papercraft Inspirations mag ages ago, some bright pink card from my stash and a sparkly blue ribbon. The scalloped card was cut with a Go-Kreate card cutting die. I also decided to make a matching tag using the bear tag image and my Sizzix scallop die.

I would also like to enter this card and tag in the following challenges:

• Spoon full of sugar- create a tag
• Papertake weekly- getting cute
• I love Promarkers- Christmas in July
• Die cuttin' divas- shaped die cut cards. (Go Kreate scalloped card cutting die)
• Oh la la- tag it!