The simplest of toys...

I love this image of the little boy with his net from Pollycraft, it reminds me of one of my favourite photos of my son rockpooling in Wales on a holiday when he was little.
The papers are from a freebie digi set called 'extraordinary' but I'm afraid I can't remember who designed them, sorry. I ran the plain blue through the Cuttlebug Christmas stars embossing folder. The sentiment was a freebie from Scrap-a-licious and I found just the perfect button in my stash :-)

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

• Here come the boys- boys toys
• Corrosive- they say it's your birthday
• DYSY?- 4 legged friends

Bright bear...

Wow, managed to get a bit of bright sunshine to photograph this card before the sky turned grey and it threw it down!
I was really inspired to follow the sketch on Sketch Saturday- such great shapes! My papers are from a digi-scrap blogtrain from STS called 'Bicycle Blues' and my image is by Bugaboo. He is coloured with promarkers and his nose is glazed. The sentiment is from Sentiments4you and I ran it through the printer twice to have it on some of the plain DP. The stars have been cut with a sizzlet die. A few Candi to finish.

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

• Papertake- Cute
• Dutch Dare- birthday fun
• Totally Papercrafts- no pesky girls!
• Allsorts- for a man or boy
• CES- anything goes
• Craft your days away- all creatures great and small
• Pink Ele- polka dots and stripes

On the mend- freebie sentiment...

I printed off 2 of this image from MelonHeadz ages ago, one which my son made into a card for his friend and another which went 'in the box'- so, in keeping with my mission to use up printed images, I used it for this card! He is coloured with Promarkers to match the digi-scrap papers from an LDS Blogtrain called 'choose the right'.  I know- I need help for the 'check addiction'!! (and I still have another check card that I will post later!) The blue paper has been run through a folder called 'Christmas stars' but I flipped it to use the de-bossed side. Green card has been cut with MTF Large Ric-Rac die and faux stitching added. The star is a Sizzlett die and the button and baker's twine are from my stash.

I made the sentiment as I wanted it to say 'on the mend' and if you would like it please feel free to grab it. (Click to bring up full size then right click and 'save as'.)

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

• Cute card Thursday- one for the boys
• My time to craft- happy healing (get well)
• Craft-room challenge- emboss it
• creative craft challenges- anything goes
• Oldie but goodie- die cuts
• The perfect sentiment- get well, without saying 'Get Well'!

More baby cards...

Well it has been a few weeks since I last posted because I have been in hospital for an operation and am just beginning to feel up to sitting at the computer. I made these cards at the same time as the last two I posted and, like before, I decided the image would work for boy and girl versions. The image is from Bugaboo and the sentiment was a freebie from Create with TLC. The papers are all by Pink Petticoat.

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

• Totally Papercrafts- Things with wings
• Prairie Fairy- anything goes
• Paper Sundaes- anything goes
• Stamptacular- anything goes
• Here come the boys- cards for tiddly peeps
• Make it Monday- always anything goes

I'm hoping to feel up to making a card or two this week so should be back later in the week with more to show you.

Cards at last!...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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



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

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

Deja vu?...

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

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

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

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

Cards for Men challenge 16...

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

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

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

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

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

Good Luck...

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

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

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

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

Get Well...

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!)

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

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.

Footballer...

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

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

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...

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.)

Cards for the Cubs and Beavers...

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!)

Good Luck Meltham Footballers- at Old Trafford!..

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

Another dragon card...

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

Tunes...

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 quartet of dinosaur cards!...

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

Same but different...

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