Handmade by Tillymint

Cards at last!...

2011-11-14T11:41:00.001Z

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...

2011-09-26T08:00:00.000+01:00

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...

2011-09-12T08:00:00.001+01:00

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...

2011-09-02T09:54:00.000+01:00

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...

2011-08-29T08:00:00.002+01:00

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...

2011-08-23T10:26:00.000+01:00

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...

2011-08-22T11:10:00.000+01:00

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...

2011-08-21T23:23:00.000+01:00

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!...

2011-08-17T21:04:00.000+01:00

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...

2011-08-17T19:11:00.000+01:00

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...

2011-08-15T16:44:00.001+01:00

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...

2011-08-15T08:00:00.001+01:00

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!...

2011-08-14T22:19:00.000+01:00

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...

2011-08-11T13:31:00.000+01:00

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?...

2011-08-07T16:50:00.000+01:00

...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...

2011-08-06T13:21:00.000+01:00

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???..

2011-08-05T14:42:00.000+01:00

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...

2011-08-05T11:51:00.000+01:00

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!...

2011-08-03T11:38:00.000+01:00

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...

2011-08-01T08:00:00.001+01:00

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...

2011-07-22T22:47:00.000+01:00

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...

2011-07-22T22:44:00.000+01:00

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...

2011-07-22T16:53:00.001+01:00

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...

2011-07-22T15:25:00.000+01:00

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...

2011-07-21T15:28:00.000+01:00

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...

2011-07-21T10:39:00.000+01:00

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...

2011-07-21T09:53:00.001+01:00

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!

Get Well...

2011-07-19T08:00:00.001+01:00

I have been trying to make a few cards for my stash lately and decided to use these cute girl and boy images from MelonHeadz to make a couple of get well cards.
The girl's card is made with freebie papers from Summer Driggs called 'A little spring in your step'. I made the little corner using two Sizzlet dies. I love using dies to make my own embellishments but it does encourage me to keep ever more minute pieces of card!

The boy's card is made with digi-scrap papers by Christy at Stuff to Scrap called 'Play Ball'. I ran the plain paper through the Christmas Stars Cuttlebug folder, but otherwise kept the design quite simple.

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

Charisma- It's in the stars (boy card)
Cute card Thursday- Going round in circles (girl card)
Totally Papercrafts- girly girls (girl card!)
Allsorts- free and easy
Totally Gorjuss- cards for men/ boys (boy card!)

Cards for Men challenge 15 and a freebie sentiment...

2011-07-18T08:00:00.002+01:00

Welcome to our new challenge at Cards for Men. This time we would like you to 'Use a key' on your men's or boy's card. This challenge opens up all sorts of possibilities- new home, first car/test passed, 18th/21st birthday, Valentines or, like me, anniversary.

I've had this Prairy Fairy image called 'With all my heart' for ages and thought he would be perfect for my card. He has been coloured with Promarkers and the heart and his nose have been glazed with Glossy Accents.
The papers are a digiscrap set called 'Heart Attack' by The Latest Scoop, Too. I loved the fresh, slightly retro colours. I only posess 3 border punches- because I usually mat on card which they often won't go through- but I used printed red paper from the kit for this so I used my Fiskars heart punch to add a decorative border.
It's typical isn't it? When I don't need one I'm sure I saw key charms on the racks of £1 craft packs but when I want one- they don't! However after much searching and visiting 3 shops I found these little toppers and pulled off the tiny, metal key and padlock to make my own sentiment.

This is another of my own sentiments- I know it isn't perfect but I was experimenting with adding borders. If you would like to snag it as a freebie please do.

We are sponsored by Prairie Fairy for this challenge and if you haven't already come across their designs you are in for a treat. Pop over to the store to take a look. Please pop over to the Cards for Men site for details of the prize.

The rest of the wonderful Cards for Men DT have also used Prairie Fairy designs for their cards so do take a look at all the inspiration there. You have until 31st July to take part.

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

Allsorts- free and easy
Stamptacular- animal antics
Ellephantastic- Celebrations

Teacher thanks...

2011-07-17T13:03:00.000+01:00

School finishes on Tuesday so I have been busy with sorting out thank you cards for Matthew to give his teachers. He wanted 4:- one for his class teacher and one for the class support assistant, one for the PPA teacher who teaches him French and one for Mademoiselle Rollet who is a teacher from France who has been working with some of the schools in our area this school year and is now returning to France.
I used this cute little mouse with a pencil from Meljens for all the cards and made the personal sentiments on my computer.
Matthew chose the papers and he wanted blue, white and red to give a French look- these papers were a freebie from Shabby Princess called 'Celebrating'.

He chose 'Festival', also by Shabby Princess, for his teacher.

Finally he chose 'Happy Mother's Day' by Summer Driggs for the classroom support.

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

Allsorts- free and easy
Sisterhood- give thanks
Simon Says- anything goes

At last! You're going to need your sunglasses for this one...

2011-07-15T16:48:00.000+01:00

I started working on bits of this card last Sunday but have only just been able to finish it! The layout is taken from the great sketch at Sketch Saturday but I have moved the panel to the bottom. Both One Stop Craft and Totally Gorjuss have 'summertime' as their theme and I just loved this image of the children playing in the sprinkler by MelonHeadz. The sentiment was a freebie from TLC and the bright papers come from the digiscrap kit that Rainamoon Scraps added to the Stuff to Scrap 'Bouncing Beachballs' bloghop.

The colours fitted perfectly with the picture at Cupcake Inspirations this week.
Finally I would like to make this my last entry in Allsorts free and easy challenge.

'Hippy' Birthday...

2011-07-14T11:12:00.000+01:00

I love Cherry Kisses by Pollycraft and when I saw that the rainbow on her top matched so perfectly with the gorgeous rainbow paper from the 'A little spring in your step' set which is a freebie from Summer Driggs I had to have her! The flowers are die cut with a Joy Craft die and the centers are Card Candi.

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

Allsorts- Free and easy
Little Red Wagon- lime, pink and white
Simon says- anything goes

Footballer...

2011-07-11T22:21:00.000+01:00

I made this for Matthew to give to his friend who plays for Metham Athletic FC and coloured my v.old favourite Jolly Nation football stamp in the team colours with my Promarkers. The papers are from a freebie set by Summer Driggs called 'Fangs for the memories' which is really for Halloween but is so useful for other things too. Card Candi and a computer generated sentiment to finish off.

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

Gem of a challenge- Let's hear it for the boys
Here come the boys- Sporty
Cupcake- your fave. from the last 150 challenges- 146 Boy, oh boy

Thank you cards...

2011-07-09T14:38:00.000+01:00

I needed a couple of thank you cards for my stash so I printed out a couple of these gorgeous bears from Meljens and decided to use the same layout with different papers. Both the papers are freebies from Shabby Princess...

...this one is called 'Sweet Sprinkles'...

...and this one is called 'Festival'.

The flowers have been cut with Joy Craft dies and the leaves are Crealies dies.

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

Charisma Cardz- all about flowers
Allsorts- free and easy

Made by Matthew age 9 (again!) plus a freebie sentiment...

2011-07-07T17:35:00.000+01:00

This is the card Matthew made for his Dad's birthday. When I asked him what image he would like he asked what fishing ones I had and immediately chose this dad and son fishing one from MelonHeadz. Matthew coloured the image with my Promarkers. He wanted to make an easel card and I suggested he could do an easel topper using my new Spellbinder die which he liked the idea of. He chose the fishy DP from the 'fishers of men' blogtrain and we picked some other papers to go with it. The lovely blue card used for the mats is from my stash. This is what the front looks like when it is closed-

I created the sentiment on the computer for him and if you would like to have it, please help yourself by clicking on it to open it at full size then right clicking and saving it to your computer.

He would like to enter his card in the following challenges:

Allsorts- Free and easy
Papertake Weekly- anything goes
Penny's paper-crafty- Happy Birthday
Ruby's rainbow- Happy Birthday
Bearly Mine- Anything goes

A birthday card for my husband...

2011-07-07T16:43:00.001+01:00

Yes, more of the scrummy papers from the LDS blogtrain 'Fishers of men'! Also another Pollycraft image- this time I have used 'Relaxing Ronnie' which is perfect for my other half! Remote in hand, cup of tea and biscuits within reach! Finally, I have used some of the bakers twine that I bought weeks ago.

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

Allsorts- Free and easy!
Papertake Weekly- anything goes
Do it with digis- Spots or stripes or both

Feel better soon (freebie sentiment)...

2011-07-06T21:20:00.000+01:00

I made this to send to my Godfather who is in hospital following a heart attack. The cute little Chester the monkey is from Pollycraft and coloured with my Promarkers. The papers are from the latest LDS Blogtrain called 'Fishers of men'. (If you're quick you should still be able to get them.) They are such a beautiful colour pallet that I have planned a few cards with them- so you will be seeing more of them soon! I embossed a Cuttlebug button border on the plain blue as it reminded me of pyjamas- lol.
The sentiment is another of my own ones as I wanted 'feel better' rather than 'get well'. I have been picking my husband's brain and experimenting more so I think I'm figuring out how to do what I want now. I'm offering this as a freebie- so if you can use it, please help yourself!

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

Paper Sundaes- stitching
A spoon full of sugar- Sewing- real or faux
Papertake Weekly- anything goes
Simon Says- stitching- real or faux

Cards for Men challenge 14 and a FREEBIE sentiment...

2011-07-04T08:00:00.001+01:00

This time at Cards for Men we have a theme for you- 'Wild West'. So dig out your cowboy inspired images, make a card for a guy and join in!

Melissa at Meljen's Designs has some beautiful wild west images and the DT were lucky enough to be given some to make their cards with. I totally fell in love with the 'Get along little doggie' image and just had to use him for my card. I used digiscrap papers by Rainamoon Scraps called 'Stampedin'' from Stuff to Scrap. As well as using them for my DP, I paper pieced his little necker and cowboy hat using papers from the kit and printed my sentiment onto some more of the paper.

Lately I have been experimenting with making my own sentiments. They are still quite basic and I know there are far more impressive ones out there but I thought I would share the one I made for this card with you if you would like it. I thought the font looked sort of wild west- like a 'Wanted- dead or alive' sign!
Just click on the image below to enlarge it then right click and save it to your computer. Hope you can use it- I'd love to see some cards in the challenge with it!

I finished my sentiment off by matting it onto a nestie shape and adding a gold star that I thought looked rather like a sheriff's badge. I added a die cut fancy corner and some jute twine from Wilkinsons that I usually use for stringing up my peas in the garden! I learned how to do the 'looped figure of eight knot' by borrowing my son's Scouting Handbook- it gives a nice chunky but flat knot that would look even better on a smoother string.

Our sponsor, Meljen's Designs, is offering 4 digis for our lucky winner. Do visit her store and have a look at her beautiful digis- and don't blame me if you 'have to' have some! The DT have made some fantastic cards for inspiration, so make sure you pop over to Cards for Men to take a look at their work. You have until 17th July to join in with the challenge so why not give it a go?

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

ABC- X for crossing ribbons (hope my rustic string counts!)
Digi Doodle- anything goes
Allsorts- free and easy July
Here come the boys- spots and stripes

Little boys...

2011-06-24T22:34:00.000+01:00

When I chose the checked paper for this card I decided it would also look really cute paper pieced on the shirt. The digiscrap papers are from a Stuff to Scrap blog train called 'Sunny Daffodils'. The image is from the beautiful 'Swings and slides' collection by Pollycraft. The blue has been embossed with the Swiss Dots folder by Cuttlebug and the buttons were removed from a really old shirt of my husbands!

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

Stamptacular Sunday- fun in the sun
Papertake Weekly- Here comes the sun
I love Promarkers- anything goes
Stampin' for the weekend- My favourite things (checked DPs, this layout, paper piecing)
Daring cardmakers- Old, New (borrowed and blue) (The buttons must be 20 years old! The image is new. Lots of blue. Couldn't get borrowed in.)

Pollycraft DT call...

2011-06-24T17:58:00.000+01:00

I have been waiting for the sun to come out so I can get a brighter picture but I think this is the best I'm going to get today!
Paula at Pollycraft is having a DT call and has been generous enough to provide 2 freebies for us to choose from to make a card to enter. I love Sonny Honeycloud so I just had to use her.She has been coloured with Promarkers, cut out and mounted on 3D pads. I am loving these digi papers from Shabby Princess at the moment- they are a freebie called 'Festival' and they just scream summer to me! The calico background for my image is also one of the papers as I did not want anything too stark and white. The sentiment was a freebie from Scrap-a licious Times, again printed onto the DP. The flower in the middle was coloured with my Promarkers to match the papers and the pearl brad and tiny pearls are from my stash. finished off with a couple of die cut swirls.
I am very fond of Pollycraft images so have them as a label if you want to see any more cards made with them. If you click on any of the pictures they will open up larger.

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

Papertake Weekly- here comes the sun!
I love Promarkers- anything goes
Totally Papercrafts- spots and stripes

Cards for Men challenge 13...

2011-06-20T08:00:00.001+01:00

This time at Cards for Men we would like to see your male cards featuring 'stars'.

We are sponsored by Stamping Boutique and, although we were given some images, I chose to use one I already had from them. If you follow the Stamping Boutique Blog Tracey posts occasional 24 hour freebies and I got this one a little while ago- you can now pick it up with a few others in her Birthday Set. I hope she will forgive me for using Photoshop to remove a flower from the heart shaped balloon to make it suit guys better! I find it really hard to colour balloons so they look light and transparent so I was challenging myself here- I think I got it with all of them except the red ones as I didn't have a shade of Promarker to fade to.

The papers are from The June Blog Train Blog 'Monkey-ing around'- they do blogtrains alternate months. The sentiment is a freebie from Scrap-a-licious Times and says 'Birthdays are good for you- the more you have- the longer you live'! The little layered star in the midle has been cut with a Crealies die.

Tracey from Stamping Boutique is kindly offering 5 digis for our lucky winner! The Cards for Men DT have made some great cards to inspire you- so why not pop over and see their work and join in the challenge? You have until 3rd July to take part.

I would like to enter the following chalenges:

Made by Matthew (age 9)...

2011-06-18T16:31:00.000+01:00

Matthew asked if he could make a card for his Dad with me. We went to town last weekend and he picked out a mug and cuddly monster, which he paid for out of his own money. He knew I had a monster stamp set (Woodware clear) and wanted the card to match the present.

He was very clear about what he wanted and chose the style and papers, which I then cut for him. The papers are from a digiscrap blogtrain called 'Spring Picnic' from Stuff to Scrap. He stamped and coloured the images and sentiments himself. The word 'MONSTER' and the feet are also from the Woodware set and the rest of the words came from my Elzybells clear sets.

He even went through my list of challenges to see which he could enter!...

Cupcake- Boy, oh boy- men or boys
My time to craft- extra images
Papertake weekly- Dads or lads
Little red wagon- for Dad
My Mum's craft shop- seeing spots
Dutch dare- for the boys
Catch the bug- It's a man's world

More Vintage Ronnie...

2011-06-17T13:31:00.000+01:00

I hit a real mental block when it came to making Dad's Fathers' Day card- I couldn't find an image. Usually I don't have a problem with guys' cards, but Dad is tricky. I thought I would use an Elzy gardening bear but then I had this sudden doubt because I think I have used it for him before! I was too tired to think about it as I have been fighting a cold, then when I came back to it, feeling better- It all came together in my mind perfectly!
When I was making Chris' Birthday card I printed off the 'Vintage Ronnie' image from Pollycraft twice- just incase! It was also perfect for Dad and the right proportions for the center stepper card that I wanted to make. I used an old favourite digiscrap paper set called 'French Tulips' from a Stuff to Scrap blogtrain, because it is a favourite I knew exactly which papers I wanted! The sentiment was a freebie from Bird's Blog. The little stars have been cut with my Crealies Die from the same paper as the one behind the image which I resized in Photoshop to get a co-ordinated look. Quick trip to the postbox and I was done!

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

Sentimental Sunday- Fathers' Day
Cupcake- Boy, oh boy- men or boys
Papertake Weekly- Dads or lads
Little red wagon- for Dad
My Mum's craft shop- seeing spots
Do you stack up?- use a star
Dutch Dare- for the boys
Totally Papercrafts- die cuts or punches

Girly Girl...

2011-06-13T13:41:00.000+01:00

I used the 'Felicity Homegirl' image from Pollycraft for this card and took my colours from the gorgeous freebie papers by Summertime Designs called 'A Little Spring in your Step'. The sentiment was computer generated. The faux stitching was hand doodled.

The flower has been die cut from felt with a Sizzix Bigz die called Daisies. I thought it really mirrored the shape of the flowers on the pannel when layered up like this.

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

Stamp something- Punched or die cut
Totally Gorjuss- flower power
Paper Sundaes- girly girl

Vintage Ronnie...

2011-06-13T13:12:00.000+01:00

I made this card for our friend Chris. The image is Vintage Ronnie by Pollycraft, which is sold as a fundraiser for Yorkshire Air Ambulance, coloured with Promarkers. The sentiment was a freebie by Scrap-a-licious Times which says 'Birthdays are good for you- the more you have- the longer you live'- love it! The papers are a digi-scrap set called 'It's about time' from Scraps by Andrea. I have chalked around the image to take the stark white off the paper as the papers are more beige and it looked wrong.

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

Paperplay- Fathers' Day or man's card
Secret Crafter- male card
Crafty Emmas- Inspired by a movie (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang)
Sentimental Sunday- Fathers' Day or masculine
Cupcake- 'Boy oh boy'- men or boys

Summer in the garden...

2011-06-10T09:56:00.000+01:00

I made a card very similar to this a while ago, but used cool blues and greens with dark brown- You can see it here. I was so pleased with it that I decided to remake it but in these warm, summery colours.
The papers are a freebie from Shabby Princess called 'Festival' and had just the colours I was looking for. The image is from Elzybells (now closed down). The sentiment is a freebie from Scrap-a-licious Times which I have printed onto one of the papers from the set. Finished off with a flower which was white but coloured with promarkers to match the papers and a little swirl topped with a couple of tiny pearls.

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

Corrosive- summer colours
Cupcake- Things with tails- the little bird
Spoon Full of Sugar- Here comes Summer
My time to craft- Wildlife
Do you stack up?- Birthdays
Totally Papercrafts- Summer

A watering can of roses...

2011-06-08T21:29:00.000+01:00

Here's another card made with my Pink Petticoat gingham papers. This time I have gone for a soft, feminine combination of rose pink and green. The image is from Bugaboo and I have stamped the sentiment, from Elzybells, straight on to the paper for a cleaner look. I couldn't resist some more bunting cut with my MTF pennant die- I love how you can scale digi paper so that the gingham on the bunting is really small.

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

Daring Cardmakers- roses or honeysuckle
Catch the bug- anything goes
Papertake weekly- anything goes
Scrapbook sisters- an English country garden

Cards for the Cubs and Beavers...

2011-06-06T22:59:00.001+01:00

I haven't posted much over the last week or so, partly because we have been away to Wales to visit my folks over the half term holiday and partly because I haven't had time for other crafting because I have been busy with this little lot!

Beaver cards for boys. (The youngest group in the Scouting organisation.)

Beaver girl's cards.

Cub boy's cards.

Cub girl's cards.

Matthew's group are planning on going on an amazing trip to Switzerland in 2013, when he will be a Scout, and his group have to raise lots of funds to susidise this so I made these cards for them to sell. I used the Lily and Billy dress up sets of rubber stamps from Pink Cat Studio, which meant lots of cutting and piecing as the clothes come as separate images for you to mix and match and they are tiny! Here is one of the Beaver cards for girls in more detail:

I used papers from the Stuff to Scrap blogtrain 'Spring Picnic' for the Beavers as the colours are lovely and sunny and the blue is a perfect match for the Beaver's sweatshirts.

The Cubs have dark green sweatshirts so they were harder to find papers for but eventually I settled on these papers by Shery K Designs which are from three colour matched paper sets. I think they work because they are a lighter tone of the green and are in sort of outdoorsy woodland colours which work well for them because they are always off camping!

I hope they like them and that they help raise some money for the trip. I also hope that Melissa from Pink Cat Studio conciders my e-mail suggestion of making a digi of these images which would certainly help with any future sets if they go well!

Update: I delivered the cards to the Cub group tonight and the leaders were thrilled with them.
Melissa from Pink cat has been amazing and has sent me digis of Lily and Billy as Scouts- Thank you so much Melissa- hugs!

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

Stamp Man- boys and men (the 10 boys cards!)
Sentimental Sunday- it has to be the extended scouts version of the Fast Food Rockers 'Fast Food song' that they sing at campfires at Bradley Woods Scout Camp with extra made up verses including the rather cheeky one about Brownies and Guides- you have to be there! It is so funny!
Corrosive- Summer colours (the Beavers cards)
Scrappy Frog- birthdays (most of these are birthday)
Drunken Stampers- birthdays
Paper crafting journey- anything goes
Samuel Taylors- males (the 10 boy cards!)

Cards for Men- challenge 12...

2011-06-06T08:00:00.001+01:00

Wow, that was a busy half-term holiday! I'm looking forward to getting back into the usual routine.
So here we are at challenge 12 and this time we would like to see your creations in blue and black. They must be for a male of course!

Sorry about the photo- it was taken in the last of the light to get it on the post in time! The DT were kindly given images for our cards by our sponsor, Heart Song Designs, and I have used this dreamy hot air balloon and teamed it with this lovely freebie sentiment from Scrap-a-licious Times. The papers were from a digiscrap kit called 'Little Spring Flowers' by Getting Scrappy with Britt.

Heart Song Designs are kindly offering 3 digi images, of your choice, for our lucky winner. The challenge will run until 19th June so there is plenty of time for you to pop over to Cards for Men and join in. While you're there, do have a look at the inspiration from the rest of the DT- lots of us have used the same image and it's interesting to see what we've all done with it!

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

Charisma- something that flies
Stamp Man- boys and men
Stamp Something- digi day
Paper Sundaes- lets get sentimental
Cupcake Inspirations- I took- the blues, the domed shapes, the spirals reminded me of the Fleur de Lis and the plane linked with flight.

Good Luck Meltham Footballers- at Old Trafford!..

2011-05-28T10:22:00.001+01:00

I made this card for the staff of the school where I teach to all sign for the Year 6 football team. They have had an amazing season. They are now the National Champions for school teams after winning in our area, then region and finally in a regional tournament last weekend. This weekend they will play on the hallowed turf of Old Trafford in the Community Cup Final before the play off finals which could see Huddersfield Town playing in the Champion's League next season. Go Meltham! Go Town!

Update:
Meltham CE School football team won 2-0!
Pity Town couldn't match their success!

The card is a bit larger than my usual square as we all needed space to sign. (A4 folded) They will be playing in Town kit tomorrow, as the Community Cup sees schools represent local teams, so the card has been done in blue and white. In my mind, they're stars already for getting this far, so I used my Crealies Die to cut stars for the card. The image is Papermania, the background stamp is Funstamps and the sentiment was computer generated.

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

Charisma- Boy oh boy
Digi Doodle- Anything goes
Do it with Digis- It's all about the boys

An Anniversary card for my husband...

2011-05-23T13:40:00.000+01:00

On Wednesday it will be our 15th Wedding Anniversary and we have been together for 20 years! (We are not as old as Stella and Gus in the image! We met at university. The image may be things to come though!) I love that sentiment, which actually came with a different Stella and Gus image, it is very us! We aren't big on lovey dovey- a favourite at the start of our relationship was, "Do you love me?", reply "I'm still here aren't I!" Well we are still here- and to think some of our friends said we would drive eachother mad and it wouldn't last!
The image and sentiment are from Bugaboo. The papers were a blogtrain download but I can't remember whose train! The little hearts are cut with my Crealies die and the top layer of the larger one has been glazed with Glossy Accents.

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

Catch the bug- Dads, grads and other celebrations
Secret Crafter- anniversary

Cards for Men challenge 11- no design papers..

2011-05-23T08:00:00.002+01:00

It's time for another challenge at Cards for Men and this time we would like to see your guy's cards made without any design papers. Arrg! I was officially freaked when I saw this! I love my digi DPs and, after my image, they are where I start designing from.

Once I got over my panic I looked through my stash and found some amazing holographic card that I would usually consider too 'lairy', but had the perfect disco feel! Then I came across the midnight blue pearl card and my design started to come together.
The DT were lucky enough to be given images from our sponsor, Kenny K, and I have used 'Lets Party', which I have coloured with my Promarkers. The glitterball has been coloured with my Sakura Stardust pen to make it shine. I found the perfect sentiment to go with this as a freebie from Tracey Brossart, available here.
I decided to make a double stepped card to frame the image and to add interest as there are no DP. The back panels have been embossed with the Cuttlebug Christmas Stars folder, which is one of my favourites, and the stars at the bottom have been cut with a Crealies die.

As I mentioned earlier we are sponsored by Kenny K for this challenge and they have been super-generous and are giving 3 prizes!
1st prize- 3 digis, 2nd prize- 2 digis and 3rd prize- 1 digi. Wow!!
So with all these chances to win, as well as our usual top 3, why not pop over to Cards for Men and join in?
(I know I said 'no design papers' freaked me out but the rest of the DT have some fabulous inspiration for you!)

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

ABC- unusual fold (ok, not that unusual but not the usual square)
Digi doodle- embossing
Totally Papercrafts- Don't be square
Craft your days away- white + one (the purply blue)
Mark's finest paper- tone on tone with the image popped up
Paper sundaes- pop it up

Rockpool Fun...

2011-05-22T20:21:00.000+01:00

I really enjoyed making this today! I bought the gingham papers from Pink Petticoat a week ago as I just love their fresh, clean look. The download includes plain papers to so I didn't have to search for matching card for the mats. The image is an old one from Sugar Nellie, which I think they have retired now. I have been admiring the bunting trend for a while now and have finally got myself a die. This is the Banner die from MTF Die-namics which I got from my friend Kitty's shop, My Mum's Craft Shop. I used this layout a few weeks ago for my dinosaur cards and liked it so much I decided to use it again for this. I decided to frame the image and sentiment with faux stitching rather than mat it to keep the look simpler. The card has been finished off with a couple of Card Candi.

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

CRAFT- Happy Birthday
Allsorts- photo inspiration of children on the beach
Totally Gorjuss- water
Challenge up your life- recycling (the narrow white ribbon that I have used to string the bunting was off the label on my new pyjamas!)

'Cupcake Inspiration' and lots of other challenges!...

2011-05-19T12:13:00.000+01:00

As soon as I saw the photo at Cupcake Inspiration this week a card design appeared in my head and I have now found an evening to put it together!

The colours made me think of the 'Relax' papers from Summertime Designs and the birds reminded me of the bird stamps I got from the Elzybells closing down sale but had not inked up yet! - I know I'm bad!

The sentiment is a freebie from Scrap-a-licious Times and I printed it onto some of the DP by running it through my printer again. (Only do this on inkjets- my husband has warned me that it will do bad things to laser printers!) I coloured a white fabric flower with my Promarkers to match the papers and used a Papermania pearl brad in the center. I wanted this to be really feminine so have also added tiny pearls to the centers of the flowers on the image and 3 at the bottom of the card. The dark brown mats looked a bit too much on their own but when they are put with the other colours I think they work well.

This card also fits the following challenges:

Daring Cardmakers- The Darling BUGS of May! (the bees)
Paper Sundaes- Birthdays
Corrosive- Birthdays
Cupcake- In the Garden
Spoon full of Sugar- Anything Goes
Papertake Weekly- Bloom and Grow
Truly Scrumptious- anything goes
Do you stack up?- colour- celery, white and sea grass blue

Rainy days...

2011-05-15T23:03:00.000+01:00

These 'Sonny Honeycloud' images from Pollycraft are so trendy! She is quite detailed so was rather fiddly to colour- but I like colouring so that was ok. The papers are a freebie from Shabby Princess called 'Sweet Sprinkles'. I recently 'rediscovered' this set, after going through a phase of using it loads a little while ago! The flowers are die cut with a Joy craft die and the swirl is a Marianne die.

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

Charisma- under the weather
Papertake Weekly- punches or die cuts
Passion for Promarkers- for a teenager

Another dragon card...

2011-05-14T18:37:00.000+01:00

When I printed off 'Clyde' from Bugaboo last time I ran off 2, so decided to use him again, but for a different card. The papers are from Summer Driggs Store and are called 'Fresh Start'. I have used quite a few of them but as they are all in the same colours I think it works?! The charcoal grey pearl card and the other scraps were in my stash. The fern leaves have been cut with a Crealies foliage die.

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

Catch the Bug- Polka Dots and Stripes
Stamp Something- anything goes

Cards For Men challenge 10- For someone special...

2011-05-09T08:00:00.002+01:00

Time for our new challenge at Cards for Men, this time we would like to see a male card for someone special.

The DT were lucky enough to be given images by our sponsor, Digital Delights. You don't get more special than a new baby so I decided to use 'little dumpling' for my card.
I used a very soft colour scheme with yellowy cream and powder blue. The papers were a freebie download from Raspberry Road that I have had for ages. I picked up on the stitching detail from the bib and booties in the image and used a gel pen to border all the edges to give the design more definition as it is all so pastel.
The image has been mounted on 2 mats cut with a Nellies die and offset to give a lacy border.
The sentiment is a freebie, which can be found here. They come as PNG files so I was able to print it onto some of the DP using Photoshop. I cut the ribbon shape freehand and added a button.

Digital Delights are offering 3 digi stamps of your choice for our lucky winner.
The rest of the DT have done an amazing job with their cards so please pop over to Cards for Men and take a look at all the inspiration.
The challenge runs until 23rd May so you have plenty of time to join in.

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

Stamp something- use a digi
Stampavie and more- baby
Crafty Catz- quote or sentiment

A question for you...

2011-05-08T18:17:00.000+01:00

I really like the Whimsey Stamps pennants die but as far as I can tell I can only get it from them in the United States. I have always bought my crafting stuff from UK companies and only bought digi stuff from abroad before.
I have heard horror stories about import taxes being charged in the UK and the Post Office adding another admin. charge for collecting them. This is putting me off a bit- has anybody got any experience of ordering from the US?

Tunes...

2011-05-05T22:27:00.000+01:00

As my son is getting older I am trying to make more cool cards, as cute doesn't cut it anymore! So, when I saw this 'Jerry Tunes' image at Pollycraft I had to have it. The papers are a digi set called 'Play Ball' by Christi at Stuff to Scrap and the star embellishments are that Crealies die, yet again!
I tried something new for the sentiment. I printed the letters on my computer with spaces between them then cut them out so they were slightly uneven shapes. They have been attached to double sided tape behind the mat of the image before it was put on the card with 3D foam.

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

Craft your days away- Music and dance
Pollycraft- anything goes
Paper Play- show us your style (male cards, colours from DPs, minimal embellishment)
Papertake Weekly- anything goes

A dragon card...

2011-05-04T21:52:00.000+01:00

I made this card for one of the men in my church housegroup. I usually have no problems making men's cards, in fact I probably make more guy cards than girl's cards, but this was a tricky one- I could not think which image to use for him. I then remembered that there are quite a few fantasy ornaments and pictures at his house so decided to use this cute dragon from Bugaboo which I coloured with my promarkers. The papers are a download from Summer Driggs called Easton and the tag was a freebie from Mudmaven Designs, printed onto the DP. I made the stacked star embellishment with a Crealies die that I have just bought.

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

Stamp Something- things with wings
Papertake Weekly- anything goes
I love promarkers- song title- "Puff the magic Dragon"

Old style Walkman!..

2011-04-30T22:57:00.000+01:00

I love this cute little monkey with his Walkman playing cassette tapes from Pollycraft. I loved my Walkman so much when I was a teenager, although I love my iPhone more! As it is quite a funky, retro image and the card is for a man I used papers from the 'For Him' stack by Papermania which I thought fitted the bill perfectly. Finished off with a computer generated sentiment and some Card Candy.

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

Craft your days away- Music/ dance
Simon says- anything goes
Digi Doodle- anything goes
Paper Cutz- anything goes

A quartet of dinosaur cards!...

2011-04-29T17:20:00.000+01:00

Passion for Promarkers have 'prehistoric' as their theme this week and I immediately thought of these images from Melon Headz. They are freebies and can be found here and here. Do pop over and have a look at the Melon Headz site as Nikki has loads of great images and nearly all of them are freebies!
As you will see I got rather carried away!

This one uses papers from a Stuff to Scrap bloghop called 'Great Outdoors' and follows sketch 42 from Sketch and Stash- their challenge is to use any of their past sketches. The star embellishments are cut with my new Crealies die that came yesterday.

This one uses papers from the same bloghop but has a lighter, fresher look. It also follows sketch 42 from Sketch and Stash.

This one uses papers from another Stuff to Scrap bloghop called 'French tulips'. I made a matching gift tag for this one using my large scalloped tag Sizzix originals die. It also follows sketch 42 from Sketch and Stash.

The final card in my set uses papers from yet another Stuff to Scrap bloghop called 'To the Zoo'. This time I have followed the sketch at Papertake Weekly. I have also made a tag to match this card.

So, which one do you like best?

I would also like to enter some or all these cards in the following challenges:

Simon Says- anything goes
Cute Card Thursday- use a sketch from anywhere (you must list where it is from)
Digi Doodle- anything goes
Bunny Zoes- one for the boys
Paper cutz- anything goes

Cards for Men challenge 9- circles...

2011-04-25T08:00:00.001+01:00

I haven't been around much lately because we have been away to visit my parents in Wales. The weather was fabulous and it was great to see them.
Our new challenge at Cards for Men is to make a card for a male using circles. My DT teamie Kitty set this challenge and it is a great open one for making any card you need. You could use a DP with circles, circle cutters, circular embellishments like brads or buttons or anything else you can think of!

The DT were lucky to be given images from our sponsor Fresh Brewed Designs. I used 'latte party' for my card and coloured it with a limited pallette of promarkers to match my papers. It has been double matted with a red pearlised card then a very pale, textured silver, both from my stash, which have been cut with nesties. The papers are from a blog train called 'Pirates not allowed' and I have used a spotted paper in both a light and dark colourway. I went back to my Fiskars circle cutter for the big circle- more fiddly than dies but it gets there in the end! The circle sentiment is a freebie which can be found here.

Heather from Fresh Brewed Designs is offering 3 digi images of your choice for our lucky winner and the challenge runs until the 8th May. Our new DT members are with us for this challenge and there is a great variety of cards for inspiration on the Cards for Men challenge site.

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

Stamptacular Sunday- use 5 layers
Sugar Creek Hollow- circles
Polkadoodles- 3 patterned papers
Meljens- Masculine
The Rubber Cafe- polka dots

Cards for Men challenge 8- Easter...

2011-04-11T08:00:00.002+01:00

We had some great entries for our embossing challenge and I tried to get around to all of you. For this challenge we are moving on to making Easter cards for guys- and I know some of the team found it quite challenging but there are some lovely DT cards so do take a look if you are in need of inspiration!

I used this cute bunny in an egg which was a freebie from Prairy Fairy for my card. My papers are from a purchased set from Summer Driggs store called 'Sit a spell'. I took my colours from the papers and kept everything quite natural- even though I have used dark brown for the mats I think it still manages to look quite springy. The sentiment is on a nestie ribbon slider and I drew around the inside of the die and cut out the oval freehand. I found some natural cotton tape that I had salvaged from some packaging in my stash and this was just perfect to thread the slider on. The corner is cut with a Sizzlet die from the offcut that the circle came from- waste not want not!

We are sponsored by Peachy Keen Stamps and they are kindly offering 2 stamp sets for our lucky winner. Do pop over to Cards for Men to check out these sets as they have loads of stamps in each and while you're at it why not join in? The challenge closes on 24th April.

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

Craft your days away- spots and stripes
Papertake weekly- anything goes
Simon says- Easter
CRAFT- animals/pets
I love Promarkers- Easter
Paper play- critters galore
Paper cutz- image of a bunny. lamb,chick or egg
Stampin' for the weekend- Easter
Totally gorjuss- Something fluffy!

Same but different...

2011-04-02T14:03:00.000+01:00

When I was making my Cards for Men DT card last week I printed the image twice so I decided to make a card with the same image and layout but a different colour scheme. (My other card is HERE if you want to compare!)

The image is 'Go, go Gordon' from Paper Pretties and the papers are a free digi download from Shabby Princess called Moody Blues. I used a patterned panel instead of an embossed panel on for this card but I still used Core'dinations card and embossed it with a new border folder I got from Papermania called 'Tasty Trims' before sanding it back to bring out the core for the band. The border on the edge is doodled with a gel pen. The ticket sentiment was a free digi from Mudmaven Designs printed on to pale blue.

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

I love Promarkers- emboss it
Totally Papercrafts- One for the boys
Stamp Something- Digi Day
One stop crafts- Spots and dots

Cards for Men challenge 7- Embossing...

2011-03-28T08:25:00.000+01:00

We had so many gorgeous entries for the sketch challenge and it's great to see that so many of you want to join us on the DT! We are now visiting all your blogs and Donna will announce the new team members on the CFM site as soon as we can decide!
Anyway, on to our new challenge- Embossing, which I'm proud to say I was asked to set so I hope you like it! I actually set it to challenge myself too because I often neglect my embossing folders but am always pleased with the results when I use them- lol. It doesn't have to be embossing folders, you can also do heat embossing with powders or hand embossing with brass stencils and a stylus. Don't forget- your card must be for a man or boy.

The DT were lucky enough to be able to choose images from our sponsors- Paper Pretties. I used the 'Go, go Gordon' digi image, which I have coloured with my promarkers. I quite often use the dotty technique that I have used here for grounding the image but this is the first time I have used it this much to make a background- I think it works?!
My papers are from a digi scrapping bloghop by Stuff to Scrap called 'March of the Animals'. I embossed a plain, distressed effect piece of the DP with the 'Christmas Stars' embossing folder by Cuttlebug (silly title- I use it far more during the year!). I then matched a piece of Core'dinations card to the greens and embossed it with a new border folder I got from Papermania called 'Tasty Trims' before sanding it back to bring out the core.
The ticket sentiment was a free digi from Mudmaven Designs.

The challenge runs until 11th April so why not pop over to Cards for Men to check out the rest of the great DT cards and enter for yourself?
Paper Pretties are offering a super-cute pirate clear stamp with loads of sentiments for our winner, details on the CFM site.

Did you notice my new watermark? Sarah, aka Rainmac, from our DT was kind enough to send me a voucher for Whimsey Stamps when it was my birthday and I used it to get this and a lovely shaped border digi that I'm hoping to get the chance to play with soon. Thank You!

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

I love Promarkers- go dotty (DP plus dotty colouring technique)
Sisterhood of crafters- let's hear it for the boys

A box card for Easter...

2011-03-26T16:05:00.000Z

I made this card to give to my son for Easter after getting the mini eggs the other day. The image is from Bugaboo and all the DP came from a digi scrap blogtrain called 'scripture heros'. Here is the inside:

There is space to write and a box full of eggs, which opens with a flap at the top. Here's a close up of the box (and eggs!).

The box has an acetate front. I used Labels 3 and the circles for all the shapes. If you would like to make one of these yourself, there is a tutorial here.

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

Totally Papercrafts- cuddly and cute
Stamp Something- spring somethings
Gorjuss- spring is sprung
CES challenges- Die cut crazy

I just had to make this!..

2011-03-18T14:02:00.000Z

How unseasonable can you get? The weather finally starts to get better, it's gorgeous here today- and I make a snow card!!
In my defence it was just one of those cards that fell together. Dutch Dare had an inspirational photo with turquoises and browns and I knew I had some digi paper somewhere in those colours- when I found it it was Summertime Designs 'Winter Wonderland' freebie- so the rest of the card went from there! The image is by Pollycraft and is a bargain at 49p at the moment. I coloured him with Promarkers and glittered the snow on the ground and some dots for falling snow. I also glittered the edges of the sentiment which was a freebie from Raindrop Echo at Sentimental Sundays from a while ago but they have a new set here each week. (I love that sentiment- I need to be more like that when it snows, I got grumpy with it this year and shovelled in a mood!) I gave in to my 'want it' for some Marianne snowflake dies and have used them to make the two unconventionally coloured snowflakes, which I finished with a gem each.
However, I have been really busy this week doing extra hours at work and only just got a photo, plus I had forgotten they are now weekly- which means that, after all that, I missed Dutch Dare! Never mind, because I would like to enter my card in the following challenges:-

ABC- Q for quote
Charisma- to 'die' for- diecuts
Digi Doodle- anything goes
Do it with digis- girls and boys come out to play
Paper Cutz- your choice

Cards for Men challenge 6- a sketch...

2011-03-14T08:00:00.002Z

Our challenge at Cards for Men this fortnight is a great sketch by our DT member, Mandy. We are sponsored by Letraset, who are offering a set of 12 Promarkers for our lucky winner. The challenge runs until 27th March so why not pop over to CFM for the rest of the details and to see the great cards the rest of the team have made.
Edited to add: We're having a DT call at CFM- details on the challenge blog.

So here's my offering-

I used this lovely little gardening teddy from Elzybells (now closed down) and coloured him with my promarkers. I printed this design paper ages ago then didn't use it so was glad to find the perfect card for it. The paper is from a Stuff to Scrap blogtrain called 'great outdoors' and I found matching cardstock in my stash. I was so chuffed when I remembered I had these brads- my husband got me them for Christmas years ago!

I would also like to enter this card for:-

Paper Play- shades of green
Colour Create- Green, brown, cream and black with an option of leaves
Stamp Something- green and cream
Allsorts- 'the luck o' the irish'- lots of green is fine

A pink, polka dot Easter card !...

2011-03-13T09:25:00.000Z

I wasn't going to use this paper set again as I have made 2 other cards with it lately, but then I saw that Cupcake Craft have 'pink polka dots' as their challenge- so what could I do?!

The papers are from a digi set called 'Think Pink' by Just so Scrappy and I do love them so! The layout is from the great sketch at Sketch Saturday this week. This sketch had quite a few layers so I would also like to enter my card for Do You Stack Up's challenge of 'layers'. I confess to buying the digi stamp from Bugaboo especially for this card, but I'm sure I will use it plenty more times. Catch the Bug have 'scallops' as their challenge so I took this opportunity to use one of the scalloped card cutting dies I bought from Go Kreate a little while back to cut the card base, a Nellies die for the image and a Nestie for the sentiment. I finished off with a piece of organza ribbon from my stash and some card candy.

I finally made a tealight box card...

2011-02-28T23:20:00.000Z

I first saw one of these on Sarah's blog- Rainmac's Place- and I thought it was just beautiful. She included a link to the tutorial she had followed so I immediately bookmarked it and I have finally made my first one.

As you can see, it is a square card with a spine and a box inside that holds 4 tealights.

I started off by trying the instructions out on some scrap card and I was glad I did because I only had a Crafter's Companion Top Score board which is great for all sorts of standard card sizes but I was having to measure, mark and line up on one of the scoring lines for each fold and the box just didn't turn out crisp enough and it was too large so the candles moved about. I decided to invest in a board with measurements on as I would like to have a go at more of this sort of thing. I have now got a Hougie Board which is 12 by 12 and double sided, with half centimeter apart lines on one side and half inch apart lines on the other. It was great and as it has such fine lines I was able to make the box fit the candles perfectly.

For the front I used a sweet little mouse by Meljen's coloured with promarkers and added the dot and dash border with a gel pen to frame it and to link with the dots and squiggles used on the image. I am so in love with these digi papers by Just so Scrappy called 'Think Pink' at the moment.

I used my Tattered Florals die by Tim Holtz for Sizzix to cut out the smallest flower twice. One from Core'dinations and one from the check DP. I scrunched each petal up a bit with my nails and lightly sanded the Core'dinations before putting it together with a card candy center and die cut leaves. I recently tried to bring some order to my ribbon by sorting it into tubs of the same colours so it was easy to find the lovely organza ribbon. Here are a couple more photos of the inside.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:-

Little Red Wagon- animals
Paper Cutz- spring
Allsorts- make your own flowers
One Stop Crafts- spring flowers
Crafty Emma's- flowers and flutterbys

Cards for Men challenge 5- Water...

2011-02-28T08:00:00.002Z

I can't believe we're up to challenge 5 this year- where's the time going?! This time we have a 'Water' theme at Cards for Men and the challenge runs until 13th March so why not pop over and join in?

I was inspired by the image from Hope Jacare to go all curvacious with my card! Claire's images always strike me as 'curly, swirly' and are a joy for those of us who love colouring in. I had this wonderful digi paper set in a download from Mommy Me Time Scrapper called To The Sea and added the sentiment to the tag in Photoshop.
This card gave me a chance to have a first play with my new card cutting die from Go Kreate, available exclusively from Click on Crafts. It is designed to cut through a folded card to give you a shaped card but I had a little trouble at first- I think I cut my bases from quite sturdy card (which in the end the die had no problem cutting) but my Big Shot felt tight with all tabs and too loose with tab 2 off so I used an old slim calendar to act as a shim. It was perfect because I could adjust how many pages to put through until it felt just right. I used it on top of tab 1 on the multipurpose platform and under the cutting plate sandwich. As this is an easel card the brown front was one layer so this went through fine with all tabs then just needed a little hand trimming where the fold would be. I drew around the inside of the card die to shape my papers perfectly then cut them out by hand. The shape matched nicely with nesties Labels 8 which I used for the image.
The swirl is cut from an oddment of glitter card that I rescued from a card my son got ages ago. It matched so well- now I have justification for all the bits I keep! The easel is supported on card candy. I kept the embelishment simple because of all the curvy shapes- the only straight line on this card is the fold at the back of the easel!

We are sponsored by Claire from Hope Jacare and she is offering 3 digi images to our lucky winner. The rest of the DT have made fabulous cards with her images too, so do pop over to Cards for Men to see their work and for the rest of the challenge details.

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

Shannon's Sentiments- fussy cutting
Card Creations and More- sparkle
Stamp, Scrap and Doodle- easel card
The Stampman- curls and swirls
Stampin' for the Weekend- monochrome
Do you stack up? - anything goes

A girly karate card...

2011-02-27T12:48:00.000Z

I was making some male karate cards for a friend a few weeks ago and I stamped a few extra images from this cute Elzybell stamp (now closed down). As I was colouring them I thought they could work just as well for a girl as a boy and there are loads of girls doing karate so here it is! I followed the sketch at Sketch Saturday but simplified it slightly. Spoon Full of Sugar have 'Birthday wishes' as their challenge. I Love Promarkers have 'stitching- real or faux' - I started off with just the stitching around the image but then added it to the layers because I think it helps to unify them and adds some more black. Charisma have 'black, white and one other' and Totally Gorjuss have 'black plus one'.

Dotty with a cupcake...

2011-02-17T22:43:00.000Z

Dotty comes from a series of digis at Bugaboo and has been coloured with Promarkers. The papers are from a digi scrapping kit called Hot Cocoa by Growing Pains Scrapped. The pearls were from a lovely little surprise in my birthday card from my Cards for Men DT buddy Sarah- thanks hun, they are fab! I even got out some decorative scissors for the edge of the brown mat and a corner punch that I have had for ages for the image.

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

Stamptacular Sunday- lovin' from the oven (food)
Truly Scrumptious- Swirls and pearls
Do you stack up?- dots
Colour Create- Chocolate, strawberries and cream (more pinky than red but I hope it still counts!)

Cards for Men challenge 4- a recipe...

2011-02-14T08:00:00.001Z

Well our Valentines and Love challenge was very popular and it was great to see all your entries. This time at Cards for Men we have a recipe for you- 1 image, 2 design papers, 3 embellishments (could be 3 different or 3 of one thing) and, as usual, it must be for a man or boy.

I used this cute Deacon image by Bugaboo for my card, but I used Photoshop to remove a little heart from the right of the boy's head when I was resizing it as I wanted the card to have more general appeal. My 2 DP are from a blog train download called French Tulips and, as you can see, I have used quite a busy check so I have teamed it with a simple tone on tone dot. I've added a tabbed sentiment and 2 die cut corners in the same card as my mats. My 3 embellishments are the card candy which seems to be cropping up on most of my cards at the moment!

We are sponsored by One Stop Card Crafts for this challenge. They stock a wide range of card making goodies- so do pop over and take a look at what they have. For more info on the challenge, the prize from One Stop Card Crafts and of course more wonderful inspiration from the rest of the DT see Cards for Men. You have plenty of time to take part because the challenge runs until 27th February.

I would also like to enter this card for:

Simply Create- 'it's bright in here'
Delightful Challenges- punches/ die cuts
Little Claire's- anything goes

Baby girl card...

2011-02-12T13:20:00.000Z

A few weeks ago I was making a baby boy card so I made the girl sentiment too and printed it at the same time, now I have finally got around to making it up. The lovely doily mat is a Nellies die which my son got me for my birthday after spotting me looking at it on Ebay! The papers are all from my stash and the die cut stars and 'baby' are Sizzlett dies.

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

Totally Papercrafts- clean and simple
Crafty Emma's- cute and cuddly
Challenge up your life- monochrome

Some sad news...

2011-02-05T15:21:00.000Z

Yesterday we had to say goodbye to our beautiful but very old dog, Teg. He was fourteen and a half and had had very few health problems until the end but we had noticed he wasn't quite himself, then last week he seemed worse so we girded our loins for a trip to the vets- Teg liked everyone except vets, who he held a particular dislike for! Blood tests showed that his kidneys had stopped working and at his age treatment would have been awful for him and would not have been a cure so we had to make the awful decision that it was his time.
We got him when he was two from Dog Helpline rescue in North Wales where my parents live. He was mainly collie and I'm not sure what else he was crossed with, but he was a one off and we fell in love with him. He has been amazing and we all love him to bits. The house does not feel right without him and so many things remind us of him. We know we did the right thing and that he had a lovely life but it does not make missing him any easier right now.

Cards for Men Challenge 3- Valentines and love...

2011-01-31T08:00:00.001Z

I know lots of people find making cards for men tricky and Valentines can be particularly hard. I know my husband would not list pink among his favourite colours! Hope you find some inspiration among the DT cards over at Cards for Men and have a go at our Valentines and Love challenge which runs until 13th February. Here's my offering...

This is for my husband but I think I should be safe posting it as he doesn't usually look at my blog unless I have computer trouble! We are sponsored by Prairie Fairy and this is one of their images- he is so cute! His nose and the heart were just crying out to be glazed with glossy accents, so who was I to argue! I have kept the rest of the design quite simple with positive and negative swirl papers from Pink Petticoat, red and black mats, pearlised black card candy and hearts cut with a Sizzlett die. The black heart is cut from Core'dinations Black Magic, embossed then sanded back to show the red core.

Prairie Fairy are offering 5 digi stamps for our lucky winner. The have lots of beautiful images so do pop over to the store for a look. See the Cards for Men site for more info about our sponsor, the rest of the DT cards and to enter the challenge.

I would also like to enter this card for:

Craft you days away- love
Charisma cardz- Valentines and love
Paper Play- layer it up (The image is on two mats and I have used the positive and negative DP)
Daring Cardmakers- Year of the rabbit
Prairie Fairy Fridays- for a sweetheart

A Valentine for my son...

2011-01-29T14:47:00.000Z

I always got a valentine as a child which I knew was from my Dad but it was lovely to be included, so now I give Matthew a valentine too. He is 9 now so I was looking for something quite 'cool'! The image is Deacon Heart from Bugaboo and it was just what I was after. (They have Deacon Swing as a freebie this week.) I was struggling to find papers until Summer Driggs released her new freebie 'Dance with Me' earlier this week and I think they are perfect. The hearts are die cut with a Sizzlett die that has seen loads of action lately, lol. The brad is silver which goes well with the greys in real life but it has reflected something in this photo so looks a bit gold, which would be all wrong!

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

A Spoon Full of Sugar- Valentine
The Sisterhood of Crafters- Anything goes
Charisma Cardz- Valentines/love
Do you stack up?- patterned paper (4 different papers used for this card)
Totally Papercrafts- one for the kiddies (this is for my son)

Karate Teddy!..

2011-01-28T13:58:00.000Z

I was asked to make a karate themed card by a friend but have got carried away and made these two and another two with a different image which I will try to post later! At least she will have a choice.

Both cards use the Karate Teddy image which was by Elzybells (now closed down). It is so long since I inked up a RUBBER stamp like this! I only got into digis after we got a laser printer, because it solved my smudging problems, but all I seem to have used lately is digi images and my rubber stamps are being neglected. The papers are from a new year themed blog train called 'Auld Lang Syne' but one of the designers chose to do Chinese New Year- the red paper says 'happiness'. The star is die cut from the same set of papers but reduced down in scale and cut out with a Sizzlett die.
I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:

Teddy Stampers- anything goes
Allsorts- for a man or boy
Daring Cardmakers- Oriental feel card

Bugaboo birthday challenges- day 2

2011-01-21T12:52:00.000Z

Well, I have done it!! I have taken part in all the Bugaboo birthday celebrations- I have followed the blog hop leaving comments, taken part in the weekly challenge and entered all 5 of the daily mini challenges. Here's keeping my fingers crossed for one of the many fantastic prizes they have on offer! xxx

This card is a little late because I had to wait until today to make it. There is a freebie image that had to be used so I couldn't work ahead over the weekend and had to wait until I was off work today! The image is a Bugaboo freebie from the Catch the Bug blog to be used for the Tuesday challenge of 'Add some bling!'. It is hard to pick out on the photo but there are tiny gems in each of the flowers on the image then the larger ones in the die cut flower embellishments. I have used promarkers for the face and hair but painted the rest of the image with pearlised paints for extra bling- hard to see in the photo, I know. The papers are from a digi-scrap blog hop from ages ago called 'Summer Surprises'.

I would also like to enter this card for:

Cute Card Thursday- 1,2,3 (I have used 1 image, 2 design papers and 3 flower embellishments)
Do it with digis- pink and girly

Bugaboo Daily Birthday Challenges, day 5...

2011-01-21T10:00:00.004Z

This card is for the final daily challenge at Catch the Bug of 'anything goes'. The papers are a freebie download from Shabby Princess called Sweet Sprinkles- again!- loving these at the moment! The image is JJ Birthday from the Tequila and Shoes Set, coloured with promarkers. I initially made this for the 'bling' challenge, before I realised a specific image was required, so I have glittered the top of her hat, the top of the cupcakes, her earrings and the edges of the sentiment then added 3 gems to the sentiment and one each to the centers of the flowers.

I would also like to enter this card for:

Ooh La La- Bling it on!
Do you stack up?- think pink
Paper Cutz- your choice

Bugaboo birthday challenges, day 4...

2011-01-20T09:05:00.000Z

Today's challenge at Catch the Bug is birthdays. The image is Golden Years from Gus Birthday, coloured with promarkers. He doesn't look like my Dad but the sentiment is perfect for him- he sometimes gets fed up with being old and says "I don't recommend getting old Ali!" to me! The papers are from a digi scrapping kit called One Year Older by Scrap Sisters. I treated myself to the card candy the other day because there is so much in a box that even I don't mind using it!

I would also like to enter this card for:

Design Dollies- something freehand (I added the dot and dash border to the image with a gel pen)
Sisterhood of Crafters- birthday

Bugaboo Birthday challenges, day 3...

2011-01-19T10:00:00.014Z

Ok, so day 2 went a little bit awry! I had a card finished and ready before I saw that you had to use a specific image, but not to fear- I can use that one for the Friday challenge of 'anything goes' (which is the one card I had not finished) and you have longer to enter the cards than I thought so I should have time to make a card with the image and add it before the Tuesday challenge closes- phew!!

I'm hoping this isn't too cheeky- the recipient is 16 and has had a serious operation on her back, she now has an infection and I hear she needs some cheering up.

This card follows the sketch which is today's challenge at Catch the Bug. The image is ICU from the Nursing Stella Set coloured with promarkers. The papers are from a freebie download called 'Sweet Sprinkles' from Shabby Princess. The flower is made with Joy dies and the swirl is from a Marianne die with a couple of tiny gems on the ends.

I would also like to enter this card for:

My time to craft- spots and dots
The pink elephant- pink, orange and aqua

Blue for a boy...

2011-01-17T12:34:00.000Z

Bugaboo stamps are running one day challenges all this week as part of their birthday celebrations and I'm going to try to enter them all. Today it is 'blue and white'- I know that could be for lots of things but it said baby boy to me.

I used Bugaboo's Cupie Baby stamp and made the circular greeting to fit around it. He is coloured with Promarkers. The papers are something I have had in my stash for ages and the mat has been cut with a Nellie's die. The word 'baby' and the little stars are cut with a Sizzlett die.

I would also like to enter this card for:

Passion for Promarkers- baby card
Paper Play- cutie patootie
Totally Gorjuss- cuddly

Cards for Men DT card- Challenge 2...

2011-01-17T08:00:00.003Z

There were some really great entries for our sketch challenge last time and this fortnight we have a theme for you - 'Let's Party!', so you could make a party invitation or a card for someone having a party. (As usual, it must be for a man or boy of course!) There are 4 digi images of your choice from Meljen Designs for our lucky winner.

The DT were lucky enough to be given some fantastic party digis by our lovely sponsor, Meljen's Designs, and I chose to make my card with this great party cat! It is well worth a trip over to her shop as she has lots of super cute images and loads of great freebies there like the sentiment I used here.

The papers are from the Stuff to Scrap January blog train 'Auld Lang Syne' and if you click on my card to make it larger you will see that the striped paper has silver ticker tape on it which I thought went really well with the confetti in the image! It is mainly coloured with Promarkers but I had to go back to my Whispers Brushmarkers to colour the lettering on the sentiment as they have a really fine detail end to them- my promarkers couldn't cope with that bit as I took the sentiment down to quite a small size LOL! Finished off with a couple of stars cut from silver scraps with an old Sizzlett die of mine. I love this die because it has a really tiny star and heart on it which are fabulous for making your own card candy but I am starting to have trouble with it because I have used it to cut quite thick card and that has squashed the foam so it can be a bit tricky if the star sticks in the die : (

Do please pop over to Cards for Men to have a look at what the rest of the DT girls have made and for more information about our sponsor. The challenge runs until 30th January so there's plenty of time for you to join in!

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

Craft Your Days Away- anything goes
Totally Papercrafts- Happy Birthday (also sponsored by Meljen's!)

Bugaboo birthday celebrations...

2011-01-15T23:20:00.000Z

Bugaboo Stamps is celebrating it's first birthday in style with a blog hop, a week long challenge and daily challenges starting on Monday. Of course there are lots of fabulous prizes to be won. I'm going to try to enter them all but this could be a challenge in itself, as I'm not usually that prolific in my cardmaking! This is my entry for the week long challenge on a birthday theme.

I have used this great Gus image that just makes me laugh and comes with the sentiment that I have used. The papers are from a Christmas blog train called 'The Greatest Gift'. The tiny stars are made with a Sizzlett die.

All Bugaboo Stamps are 60% off until next Saturday- I know I've added a few to my collection and I may still be tempted by more!

I would also like to enter this card for:

One Stop Craft- a card for a male
Sew many cards- birthday

A girly card for a change!...

2011-01-13T10:00:00.003Z

I love making girly cards but as I have limited crafting time and more boys and men's cards to make I don't always get the chance to do it. The image is a trendy young girl by Pollycraft called 'Codi Stylin'' who has been coloured with Promarkers to match the digi scrapping papers that I downloaded from a blogtrain called 'Morning solitude' ages ago. The large flower was a real bargain from a large, cheap bunch which I bought at Wilkinsons and dismantled!
I had one of those 'AARGH' moments making this card! - I had just attached the backing paper with double sided tape when I realised that I still needed to put the brad for the flower through! I'm really fussy and could not bear having to cover the brad inside so had to flatten it on the flower then attach it with glue gel- saved!!

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

One Stop Craft- for a child (I can see this for a 9 or 10 year old girl)
Pollycraft- new things or those that you have had a while but not used (I got this lovely digi stamp quite a while ago but this is the first time I have used it)

Cards for Men DT card, Challenge 1...

2011-01-03T08:00:00.002Z

Well, here we are starting a new year of challenges at Cards for Men. Thanks so much to everyone who took part in our blog hop and special challenges for our first birthday and congratulations to all our winners.

Our new challenge is a sketch by the super talented Shirley from our DT and this is what I did with it:

I used AJ with a sign from our sponsor, The Stamping Boutique, and added the sentiment in Photoshop. I printed him 3 times so I could decoupage him up and chalked the background to blend it better with the warm tones of the papers. The papers are from a Christmas blog train called 'The Greatest Gift' and I have used Labels 8 for all the shapes, which I have then inked to frame the shapes.

Our sponsor is The Stamping Boutique and they are kindly offering 5 digi stamps for our lucky winner.

Here's a bit about our sponsor: I'm Tracey Malnofski, the artist and owner of The Stamping Boutique. My team and I are very happy to sponsor Cards for Men. My store has been open since September 2009. I am currently a stamp artist for UnityStampCo. and I've worked for InStyleStamps, Squigglefly, and TheDigiShack in the past. I'm a professional artist and an active member of the Artist' Guild in my community. I have quite a busy household with a husband, 3 teenagers, 5 mini-dachshunds and an Appaloosa mare. It's noisy, but I love them all. I'm truly blessed. "The Stamping Boutique" is dedicated to quality products and original artwork. We not only provide wonderful digital images in our store, but also several lines of red rubber images. Our designers are chosen for their character and personality,as well as, their beautiful designs. We work hard to give you our very best. Thank you so much for having us as your sponsor this week.

The challenge runs until 16th January so don't forget to pop over to Cards for Men to see what the rest of our fantastic team have made and join in!

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

One Stop Craft- New Beginnings
Totally Gorjuss- For someone special (this is for my son)
Crafty Emma's- anything goes
Creative Inspirations- use something new (new image and new papers)

Cards for Men Blog Hop candy winner...

2010-12-21T11:08:00.000Z

I was lucky enough to be able to offer 3 fabulous digi images of your choice from Hope Jacare as candy on my blog and the lucky winner of this great prize is.....

Lindyloo

....congratulations hun and thanks for taking part in our first Blog Hop! Please email cardsformen@donnasden.co.uk to claim your prize.

If you followed the whole Blog Hop the rest of the girls are starting to post their winners or you can wait 'til later this afternoon when Donna is going to post all the winners at Cards for Men.

Have a fabulous Christmas everyone!

Hugs, Alison xx

Cards for Men is One Year Old and we have 2 challenges and a Blog Hop to celebrate!!..

2010-12-06T08:00:00.001Z

Wow, can you believe it's been a year of challenges over at Cards for Men? To celebrate we have lots going on with tons of prizes available.
There are two challenges this time, both with a Christmas theme. You can make a card or a present or both, it's up to you. We'll draw a random winner for each category and top 3 as usual. You can get all the details and lots more ideas from the rest of the DT over at the main site. Here's what I made:

Firstly my card. I kept this quite simple- the holly design is some printed card from my stash which I have used to make my base card. The red and green have been cut with Nesties and my scallop scissors. The image is a digi by Bugaboo and coloured with promarkers and I made the sentiment on the computer. It reads 'If you stop believing in Santa you get socks for Christmas!'.

The gift is my homemade Green Tomato Chutney which I made from the plants I grew last summer (seems like a lifetime ago with my garden now covered with snow!). One thing I'm loving about digis is that you can resize them, so the image is a bit smaller here.

The topper was also made on my computer and now you can see how the set comes together. (You don't have to make them match- I just wanted to!)
I made two cards and decorated jars for two of the men in my church housegroup whose birthdays I missed when I was up to my eyes writing reports earlier this year. Here they are all together.

Also, we are having an Anniversary Blog Hop. If you didn't come to me from Donna I would hate for you to miss anything so you can get the full list of blogs on the Hop over at Cards for Men. At each stop there'll be a word to collect and a candy draw. I'm so excited to have 3 fabulous digi images of your choice from Hope Jacare to give away.

Here's a bit about Claire who draws these amazing images: "I'm a SAHM with three young children. I trained in Textile Design at the Glasgow School of Art and I love all things handmade, but especially papercrafts. I love to doodle ... and my doodles are available to purchase as digital images through Stitchy Bear Stamps."

To be in with a chance of winning this great candy at my stop you just need to leave a comment at the end of this post. A random winner will be drawn on 20 December 2010.

Each stop will have more fabulous candy and a word which you should collect to make up a festive phrase. My word is 'And'. At the end of the blog hop you should have 11 words, work out the phrase and leave it in the comments back at Cards for Men to be in with a chance of winning another great prize. The blog hop will run until midnight on 19th December 2010 and a winner will be chosen on 20th December.

Your next stop is Amy. If you lose your way you can go back to Cards for Men to get the full list. Hope all this makes sense and Good Luck everyone.

Pink with a purpose...

2010-11-30T14:15:00.000Z

Thankfully I have not had to go through breast cancer myself but I have had two colleagues who have had it and, although I wanted to make a special card for them, I found it hard to find the right image and have not really been happy with what I made. A few weeks ago Bugaboo released these images as freebies and I had to have a play! I'm hoping I don't need to use these cards, but if I do, at least I am pleased with how they turned out. The papers are from a digi scrapping kit called 'Think Pink' by Just so Scrappy and the matte silver card, gems and ribbon are from my stash.

I would like to enter these cards for:

Charisma Cardz- one for the girls
Stamp Something- thankful somethings (the second card is a 'Thanks for your support' card)
Digis with attitude- pink, black and silver (lots of pink and silver-black on the image and sentiment)
Allsorts- monochrome
Karber- sparkle (the gems)
Craft your passion- monochrome

Cards for Men DT card- Challenge 24...

2010-11-22T09:00:00.002Z

Our challenge at Cards for Men this fortnight is to make a Christmas card for a man or boy.

I love this image from the November bundle at Bugaboo- it's actually the reason I got the set! I coloured him with promarkers and even found time to use glossy accents on his nose and to suggest the ice at his feet. The papers came from an old download by Papercraft Inspirations, and the sentiment was a Freebie Friday from Sentiments4you. One thing I love about digi stuff is that it can be resized, so I played with photoshop to make this mini card too.

We are being sponsored by Bunny Zoe Crafts this time and she is offering a £10 voucher for our lucky winner.

Here's a little about our sponsor: Bunny Zoe's Crafts is a family run online Craft store who ships worldwide. We provide friendly and efficient customer service, with quick processing and dispatch of orders. We sell a great range of Rubber Stamps from around the world, Digital Images, Personalised Stamps, Designer Papers, Stamping Essentials, Copic Ciao's, Distress Inks, Dies, Flowers, Ribbons & Lace, Buttons. Charms, Flat back Pearls and many, many fabulous card making goodies.
The challenge runs until 5th December so why not join in? We have a Blog Hop starting on the 6th December with a special challenge and loads of prizes- so put the date in your diaries!

I would also like to enter this card for:

The Pink Elephant- I followed their sketch
Ooh La La- Rudolph
Digi Doodle shop- anything goes
The Crafty Pad- red and green

Snowy cards...

2010-11-19T19:54:00.000Z

I made these two cards to be similar but different to help boost my Christmas card making efforts as this is usually quicker. I have had the paper and brads for ages and have promised myself that I will start using up some of my old stuff! Both images are Bugaboo and I sized them so they would fit the same mats. I made the sentiments myself.

This one uses this cute snowman and his friend the bird so I thought it would make a good friendship card. The white pearl card was run through the snowflake embossing folder.

This cheeky little snowball man has been coloured with promarkers and glittered. This time I used the ice crystal embossing folder.

I would like to enter the cards for:

Wild Orchid- blue Christmas
Stamps R Us- sparkles and scallops
Stampavie and more- monochromatic
Delightful challenges- winter weather
Stampin' for the weekend- winter
Paper cutz- Christmas with lots of bling
Totally Papercrafts- snow and snowflakes
Paper Play- Let it Snow
Treehouse- Go Glitter
Simon says Stamp- sparkle

A nice surprise..

2010-11-14T16:26:00.000Z

I got a lovely surprise late last night when I was checking the challenges- I made the Top 3 for my HOOT! card. Thank you so much to the DT for picking my card.

Hoping to have something to show you soon- I may be able to get some crafting time in tonight or tomorrow while I wait in for a delivery. Was hoping for some yesterday but after a lovely lie in my husband and son went off to make some pancakes for breakfast and while getting out the flour managed to knock a pot of those "edible ball bearing" things out of the cupboard where they opened on the worktop and bounced everywhere in a mesmerising fashion- lol. Cue a big tidy of the cupboards because they were rather precariously placed so I could hardly be cross. I think we will be finding those for a while yet! I then let my son have a friend over in the afternoon so other than printing off a few digis that was that for crafting yesterday!

Cards for Men DT card- Challenge 23...

2010-11-08T08:00:00.002Z

Our challenge at Cards for Men this fortnight is to make an Animal card for a man or boy. Make sure you have a look at the details at the end of this post because we have a special participation only freebie for you this challenge.

The DT were lucky enough to be able to choose an image to play with by Hope Jacare and I chose to use House of Hamish. I printed him to fit in the second largest of my Labels 8 Nesties and made my mount by drawing around the outside of the nestie and cutting it out. (It is the only frustrating thing about these- that they don't increase to make their own mats.) Had fun with all my brown promarkers doing all the woodgrain! The papers are from a Stuff to Scrap blog train called Great Outdoors and I ran the plain one through my argyle embossing folder- I must get these out more often as I'm always pleased with the effect! It needed a little something else so I added a couple of brown brads.

We are being sponsored by Hope Jacare and we have one of her images as a rubber stamp for our lucky winner. Here's what Claire says about herself: "I'm a SAHM with three young children. I trained in Textile Design at the Glasgow School of Art and I love all things handmade, but especially papercrafts. I love to doodle ... and my doodles are available to purchase as digital images through Shop Handmade."
Claire has kindly given this Robin digi image to give as a freebie for everyone who takes part in the challenge. It will be e-mailed to all the participants when the challenge closes so make sure you leave your e-mail carefully with the 'blue frog' linky when you link up your card.

I would also like to enter this for:

CRAFT- dry embossing
One Stop Challenge- embossing
Challenge up your life- blue and green (hope it's ok that mine is with brown too.)
Crazy4challenges- square cards

What a HOOT!..

2010-11-07T21:15:00.000Z

The reason I have managed to be so productive this weekend is a total takeover of the dining room followed by a refusal to clear up until this evening when I was bribed with a delivery curry if we can have the table back to eat it off!

I have had this card in my head for about two weeks and have finally got around to making it! The little owl is by Pollycraft and the papers are a freebie download called Falling for Fall from Summertime Designs.

I added dimension by matting the image twice on core'dinations and using 3D foam between the layers as well as underneath. The sentiment is from Pink Cat Studio and is on one of the Spellbinders ribbon tags.

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

Digi Doodle- Autumn projects
Totally Papercrafts- Tag it
Crafty Emma's- Autumn
Alphabet- b for birds

Beer Monster!..

2010-11-07T16:16:00.001Z

This great image comes from Pollycraft and the funky papers are from a Stuff to Scrap blog train called French Tulips.

I would like to enter this card for:

Paper Play- circles
Challenge up your life- Blue and Green (hope it's ok that mine has red with it too)
Crafty Catz- spots and stripes

Cards for Men DT card- Challenge 22...

2010-10-25T08:00:00.001+01:00

Our challenge at Cards for Men this fortnight is really easy to play along with because it is 'Anything Goes' but ,of course, it must be for a man or boy!

The DT were lucky enough to be given some images to play with by Digital Delights and I chose to use Sparky the Knight for my card. My son loves how he has a worried expression! I used digi papers from Summertime Designs 'Fangs for the Memories' set which is really for Halloween, which I don't celebrate, but has come in useful for so many different cards. I wanted diamonds for a 'heraldic' sort of look and cut them out to make them look like pennants. The image has been popped up and the shield and visor are decoupaged.

We are being sponsored by Digital Delights this fortnight and they are offering a $10 gift certificate for our lucky winner.
Here's a bit about our sponsor: Welcome to Digital Delights, a magical place filled with my little digi creations from all walks of life. We have a wide range of digital stamps which are delivered straight to your email 24/7!!

You have until 7th November to enter so why not have a go? Don't forget to check out Cards for Men to have a look at the cards by the rest of the DT- they are a talented bunch!

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

Secret Crafter- Manga (I think he fits that style!)
The Stampman- Cards for men
Stamp Something- digi image
Crafty Calendar- Birthdays

Cards for Men DT card- Challenge 21...

2010-10-11T09:10:00.001+01:00

Our challenge at Cards for Men this fortnight is to make a Birthday Card and ,of course, it must be for a man or boy!

I could not choose between these two colour schemes and sets of papers so I decided to make two cards using a similar layout. I think it shows the versatility of the stamp from Fresh Brewed designs. I have decoupaged the image on both cards because, for me, it was crying out for it! The sentiment comes from a Woodware clear set called Little Monster and was just perfect- I love the font. I put my Big Shot to good use for this card- first the Nestability circles, then the Sizzlet star die cuts, the star embossing on the blue background card and the much neglected Cuttlebug circles that I re-descovered for the sentiments on this card! The DP for the top card comes from a digi set called Play Ball by Christie at Stuff to Scrap and the DP for the bottom one is also a digi set from a blog train by LDS. I was lucky enough to find card to match in my stash and the scraps of Coredinations for the stars.

Sorry about the poor photos but I don't have time to re-take them as my son has been feeling poorly.

We are being sponsored by Fresh Brewed Designs this fortnight and Heather has kindly donated a free digi stamp for people entering and is offering 3 images of your choice for our lucky winner.

Here's a bit about our sponsor: "Hi. I am Heather Dennis. I am a homeschooling mother of 2 wonderful children, the wife of 12 years to the love of my life, a Christian and the owner of Fresh Brewed Designs. I have loved to draw and create ever since I was a child. My daughter has inherited my love of art and recently inspired me to start creating again.All the images in my shop are hand drawn. I offer a wide range of images from coffee, cute and inspirational.I also love to create custom drawn images, so if you are looking for anything in particular, please feel free to drop me an email."

I would also like to enter these cards into the following challenges:

One Stitch at a Time- use your digis
Craftalicious- anything goes
Allsorts- inspired by a song- mine would have to be 'The Monster Mash'!
Crazy4challenges- birthday
Create4fun- digi stamp
Mark's finest paper- stripes
Stamp Something- punches and dies
Penny's challenges- circles