Happy Anniversary Dear Mum and Dad

Last Monday was my Mum and Dad's 63rd Wedding Anniversary, I KNOW... 63 years!!!!!
Anyway, I made them a card (of course!) and even though I have loads in my drafts to blog I thought I'd let this one queue jump, lol.

 Just as I was about to start this card, I received my (latest, me bad) parcel with some embossing folders in it from Scrapyland... this is Embossalicious Floral Frenzy and I thought it was perfect for my folks' card; I embossed both the front and back and because the folder is 6" square it did it in one pass - excellent!  Paper Crafting Journey and 2 Sisters Challenge have embossing challenges so I'm entering there.
The cute Tiddly Inks image is "Emma and Jake Love Fully", coloured with Copics with a bit of extra detail in Prismacolor pencils.  Cuttlebug Mania wants to see a touch of red and Allsorts Challenges wants to see colours beginning with B (I have Blue and Brown, as well as Beige and Burnt orange - I know, a bit of a stretch, lol) so I'm entering there.  Totally Papercrafts want to see cute, so I'm in there too :-)
I finished the inside to match the front, as usual. I had used the last of my orange card for matting so the inside circle is a different shade to the rest, but I think it still looks okay.  I used Nestabilities Lacey Circles and Standard Circles to, I got a Big Shot from Hubby for Christmas (misunderstood the Grand Calibur hints, sigh) and I'm not sure that I prefer it to my trusty Cuttlebug; it is a little wider so perhaps for these wider embossing folders it is a bit better. Which reminds me, I'm entering  Divas by Design's Die Cuts challenge and now (thanks for the tip, Brenda!) I'll be entering Brenda's Spellbinder challenge as my favourite tools are definitely my Cuttlebug and my Copics.
I used an old sketch from Papertake Weekly -challenge long gone, but they have a great range of easy to find sketches so I thought I'd link :-)  The floral paper is from Kaisercrafts Peachy Keen pad, the hearts are from a Merci pad, the matting is from my stash.  Simon Says Challenge, Addicted to Stamps, Papertake Weekly and Bunny Zoes Crafts have Hearts themes so I'm entering there, while Crafts 4 Eternity, Little Red Wagon, Corrosive Challenge, Catch The Bug, Crafty Calendar, Tiddly Tuesdays, Gem of a Challenge, Cute Card Thursday, The Crazy Challenge and Crafty Little Fairies all have "Love" themes so I'm entering there too.
Craft Your Passion has a pretty open theme this time around; they want us to use any of their challenge themes from the past year - I'm going with the last one (#199), you guessed it... LOVE :-)
I cut the flowers from some Peachy Keen scraps using a Carl punch, coloured some pearls from my stash with Copics to match as centres and added some teal leafy fronds from another (I think) Carl punch cut and more scraps.  Delightful Challenges and Through the Craftroom Door have Anything Goes challenges, so I'm entering them.
Well that's about it for today's card, I know I've been MIA visiting your blogs... well not strictly true; I've been popping in to my faves over breakfast but I just don't seem to get the time to leave comments on all of them... I am aiming for a bit of a catch up tomorrow - wish me luck, lol.
I'll be back soon, hopefully with a card out of my drafts pile, which is still growing.  Until then, happy crafting, Donna

Box for Bugs....?

I have something a little bit different today;  I have used an empty chocolate box for my Cuttlebug plates and dies since I got my 'bug.  Recently I decided to make it a bit more attractive (even though it lives in a cupboard!) Coincidentally we're showcasing projects "other than cards" over at the All That Scaps Blog 
***Warning: There's a lot of photos in this post.. even for me :-) 

I decided to give my CC Designs Sweetheart Birgitta image (available here) an outing... being a digi meant it was easy to scale her up a bit to suit the size of the box.  

Birgitta is coloured with Copics and I'm really happy with how her dress came out, I added Stickles to her wings then cut her out and added her to a couple of Fleur De Lis Nesties die cuts - one black and one from a piece of DCWV Mariposa paper.  I wrote the label on a Standard Circle Nestie, backed up with a Scalloped Circle Nestie (I would have much preferred to print my label, but my printer died, aaahhhh!!!)  The little butterflies are from a Martha Stewart punch.  My Time to Craft has A for Adorable as its theme this time, Birgitta's pretty adorable, I'm in!
I started with a choccie box similar to but not this one (this one's left over from Christmas, and no I didn't eat them all; they went into hampers (well MOST of them went into hampers, lol) 
I covered the outside of the lid with paper from DCWV Mariposa collection, all the lovely butterflies were glittered up already...bonus!  
As the paper is quite heavy I just stuck it straight on to the box (I have made one before with lightweight paper and it's a good idea to "line" the top first so that the box colours and embossing don't show through)  
I added a strip to one side - the 12" paper covered the rest in one go.  I then decided to give my new MFT Zig Zag die a run around the side of the lid, it wasn't "enough" on its own so I added a strip of plain black at the bottom and covered the join with some gold braid I've had since my egg decorating days. I used the same paper to cover the outside of the box.

The inside of the box and lid are covered with Grace Tyler paper. See, the plates and shims fit perfectly!
Cutie Pie Challenge has Anything But a Card as their theme, so I'm entering there. Charisma Cardz has "Thing With Wings" as does Crafty Emma's Store, so I'm in there too, and Paper Crafting Journey and the Gem of a Challenge both have Fairies; technically Birgitta is a Swiss Pixie, but I'm sure she qualifies :-) Allsorts Challenges Free and Easy theme is a nice easy one!
Do pop over to the All That Scraps Blog and check out the "other than cards" projects my teamies have come up with to inspire you.  I'll be back very soon with the card I've been threatening to post all week! Until then Happy Crafting, Donna

Little Boy Blue

My card of the day is....this one!

Well, the last card I made was Clean and Simple and this one is....not, though it was in the end easier to get to a level I was happy with, in fact I like it, which isn't always the case :-) It looks so much nicer in real life, you'll just have to trust me, lol.  The Whoopsi Daisy Challenge this time is Shabby Chic, I think this qualifies so I'm entering there.
I made this card for my son (at his less than subtle request) to give to his new-parent friends.  He wanted a multilayered card, I'm sure this is  multilayered enough...lots of layers here!  The super cute image is Tiny Baby from Some Odd Girl, I love it! Stampin' for the Weekend  has What a Cutie as its theme, you don't get much cuter than this so I'm in! 
I coloured the image with Copics, adding Royal Coat Gloss to his eyes, and some Sparkly Fluff to his nappy, hard to see in the photo, but it adds a great texture.  Lexis Creations has Card for a child and Digital Tuesday has People images; this little chap is both so  I'm in and in, lol.
I made up some more little pins, I'm loving these things. I used some beads I've had kicking around for years, including the little blue butterfly and some Swarovski bicones. it really catches the light IRL, but of course I can't capture that in these pics!  There's even sparkle on the white feathery foliage (part of my birthday gift from my lovely Chris, funny to be sending some of it back to him, lol) Creative Craft Challenges has  Buttons and Bling as their challenge, this definitely qualifies!
I didn't follow a sketch this time, well only the one in my head! I've used more of the goodies I got from Poppys Cabin; the square mat (which I embossed with Cuttlebugs Swiss Dots embossing folder for extra texture) and the border strip across the centre, which I glued ricrac to.  The image mat was cut using Nestabilities Classic Ovals backed up with a Scalloped Oval nestie in blue.  Inside the card I punched the edges of the jotting panel with Martha Stewarts Around the Page Modern Garland punch.  Simon Says Challenge has Use Dies and/ or punches as its challenge theme...I've used 'em in spades!
I've used papers from Kaisercrafts Lullaby collection, the top one is flocked - more lovely texture. The sentiment tag's from the same pad.  The "oh boy" paper is from my stash...and I'm coming to the end of it, nooooooo... it's so useful!
The little bear inside is a button from one of those mega packs you get in Spotlight, I distressed him with a bit of the blue Kaisercraft ink I used on the edges of all the white elements as he was a bit bland. Buttons, Card Candi (also inked up for extra depth) and the flower are all from my stash.
Moving Along With The Times has a recipe challenge: 3 Designer Papers,  2 Types of Embellishments and 1 Image ... I'm hoping that means at least two types of embellishments , 'coz I've got about five!  No problem deciding if my little blue wonder fits in Digi Stamps 4 Joy, Sweet Stampin' and Creatalicious Challenges; they've all got "Anything Goes"

That, as they say, is the end of my story for today.  Feeling a bit flat at the moment, for a number of reasons, our footy team getting belted out of the finals today didn't help (you know how it goes, my hubby's feeling a bit flat so, little emotional sponge that I am I've soaked that up as well!)

I'll be back in a day or so with more craft...when I've made some! 

Until then, Happy Crafting, Dee

First My Mother, Forever My Friend

This is the card I made for my lovely Mum for Mothers Day (which we just had on Sunday, here in Australia)

There is no stamped image on this card, as with my Mother-in-law's card......the sentiment takes its place (and the paper is so pretty it just didn't need a stamped image, I think).  The sentiment is from Kaisercrafts Chanteuse 12"collection, one of the so-called specialty sheets, the other patterned papers are from the same collection but the 6" version.
I followed this fabulous sketch from Crafting Life's Pieces, changing the centrepiece to an oval using my lovely Nestabilities (Scalloped Oval and Classic Oval) I added the green swirls (more paper from the same pad) using the Marianne D Creatables Frames and Swirls Die - well the swirls part anyway!!
The corrugated card is a lovely pearly pink, punched with Martha Stewarts Doily Lace Border punch and the cream panel behind the flowers is pearl cream embossed with Cuttlebugs Textile embossing folder (then inked lightly around the edge with green pigment ink)  The ribbon is a sort of reinforced cotton that I've had in my stash for ages, this is the first time I've used it, and I'm surprised how easy it is to use (it didn't fray and it "creased" nicely at the edges of the card making it sit nice and flat), if I can remember where I got it, and can get some more, I will.  The Secret Crafter has "Dust Off Your Stash as it's challenge theme this time, so I'm entering there.
The roses were white, I coloured them with Copics; they match the card much better in real life than on the photo, and they match that lovely twine which is still more of the super blog candy I won from Tracy :-)  
Totally Papercrafts has a recipe challenge this time "1 image, 2 papers and 3 embellishments" I have the sentiment as my image, two patterned papers and flowers, pearls and the silver heart charm as embellishments. I added half pearls to the card to "fill out" the arrangement, the sprays of pearls looked a little sparse on their own!  

Crazy 4 Challenges has "Lots of Flowers" and Sundays With Crissy has "Flowers", so I've entered this card there. 

Papertake Weekly has "Anything Goes" as its challenge theme this week so I'm entering there and finally Delightful Challenges has Mothers Day or Someone Special as its challenge theme; this is a card for my Mum on Mothers Day and she is Someone Special so I'm definitely entering there.  

I finished the inside of the card with yet another panel from that one Kaisercraft sheet - excellent value as I've done two cards and have plenty left for at least two more!! The corrugations on the pink card shows better on this photo, half pearls give a bit of a lift.

As it says, (which is where I got the title for my post today, no I'm not that inventive!) my Mum is my friend, one of my best friends in fact! So I wish her love and thank her for showing me how to be a "good mum" which is what my lovely lads tell me I am :-)

Thanks for looking at my Mothers Day card, I'll be back in a day or so with a cute birthday card I've done for a friend, until then Happy Crafting, Dee

Happy Birthday to My Darling

Today is my Darling Husband Stefan's  Birthday; 57 today - or is that telling?!!  I've known him since he was 20, where oh where did all those years go?  Here's the card I made for his "special day".

The sentiment says "For Your Birthday I thought you'd like something HOT..." and the inside of the card has as it's punchline a sachet of Wasabi paste and  "you don't get much HOTTER"
The hot babe is Bodacious Bev from Kenny K Downloads, and she fits the bill for their challenge #40 which is "Spice it Up".  
I used this great sketch from Card Patterns, I do like a nice crisp sketch!  The sentiment is computer generated, I got the fonts "Boomerang Italic" and "Flames" online Urban Fonts, I used word art for the formatting.
Bev is coloured with Copics, my Favourite media; Copic Creations has "Use your favourite technique" as it's challenge theme, so I'll be entering there as using them for shading is just that - my favourite!  
The fabulous red textured paper is one of my new favourites, I have used it in different colours for a few cards here and here I got it in Starfish Lane and there are still a few colours I haven't got yet (hint, family, birthday coming up!!) The black and silver pp is from DCWV.

Papertake Weekly has "Truly Dimensional" as it's challenge theme this week, the paper alone has dimension to burn, and then there's the fact that everything is matted on silver mirror board and popped up on foam dots (yes, I love my foam dots, lol) not to mention that FAB rhinestone "lace"....bought in Malaysia by my lovely Mum and Dad on their last holiday, isn't it gorgeous?!  Pixie Dust Studios has "Lace it Up as it's theme this week, so I'll enter my Malaysian lace there.
The black mat is cut and embossed using Classic Scalloped Oval Nestabilites and the silver oval mat is cut using Classic Oval Nestabilities, embossed with Cuttlebugs D'vine Swirls folder....Stamptacular Sunday has Girls and Swirls as it's challenge theme this time, and here we have both, so in it goes!
I used the same Nesties to create a panel to write on inside the card, using silver and red.  Stamp Something has "Sassy Circle Somethings" - how Sassy is this little chicky?... and there are always those little circles on the ribbon!
Digistamps 4 Joy and Lexis Creations both have "Monochromatic" as their challenge theme this time around, I think I can safely say this is the most monochromatic card I've ever made.  
It is hard to see in the photos, but I added a good coat of Royal Coat Gloss on Bev's boots, to give that leather-look, also on her lipGLOSS and some red sparkles and gloss on her necklace.
Well, that's about it for Bodacious Bev and the Birthday Boy....hope you have a lovely birthday, Stefan, and many more.
Until next time, Happy Crafting, Dee

Not so Young Love

This is my last card as Guest DT for Cute Card Thursday, :-( this weeks theme is to have a couple on your card. Pop over and have a look at the other inspiration, why not enter while you're at it!   I've made this for my Aunty and Uncles Anniversary, we're going out to dinner with them tomorrow evening and I'm sure they'll get a chuckle out of it.  

It so suits them: They are always in their garden and, while my Aunty doesn't knit that much she does needlecraft, almost as relentlessly as I do "other" craft.  My Uncle looks (quite a!) bit like the gentleman in the image, which is "Flirty Seniors" from Make it Colourful, I love their images, so quirky!  
The background is from this (Aussie) site too, it's called Daffodil Dell, I'm entering their challenge; this time around the theme is to Colour a Background, this is the first time I've really done a background!  I used Prismacolor pencils to colour the "sky" and shadows, but chickened out and went with my lovely Copics for the rest!  You don't have to use Make it Colourful images, but c'mon, why wouldn't you....digis of course so readily and immediately available to all!  And, just so you know, I DON"T have any affiliation with MiC, I just like 'em!
I cut the image out, and popped it up on foam dots - my favourite way to get extra dimension, I used thicker-than-usual foam dots....it really stands out from the background.
The background paper is Fairie Florals by Prima, The lemon panel, which I embossed with Cuttlebugs Textile folder, the green panel and the stripy paper are from Kaisercraft's Lilac Avenue collection. I used Martha Stewart's Doily Lace border punch on the green panel.
The purple card for matting is from American Crafts Weave range. 
Lexis Creations has "Ribbon but no bows or knots" as it's theme this time around, my lovely orange polka dot ribbon, which has been "hanging around" - literally - my studio for months gets me entered there.

The sketch is from Friday Sketchers this week, I really liked it, and I got the colour inspiration from Cupcake Inspirations, so I'm entering their challenge too, how bright and cheery are those cute little cuppies?!  They have such a spring feeling to them.  I'm entering my card in the challenge at Stamp Something and Totally Gorjuss this week which both have Spring as their theme.  

Delicious Doodles has Floral Fantasy as it's theme, not only are there flowers aplenty in the background, there are flowers on the corners of the image panel, so my Flirty pair would have been going there, but one of the other challenges I'm entering limits you to entering six and that would be seven, so I'll give it a miss this time, but next time I'll only enter challenges without restrictions!!  
I just couldn't find the "right" flowers for these corners, in the end I cut up some that came as a sort of ribbon and coloured them with Copics.  I left the one at the top right without a centre: I thought it looked like the sun and the corner piece on the opposite side looks like a sun umbrella for my Oldies to sit under!  
Sweet Stampin' has "Weather" as it's challenge theme, so I'm entering there.
I finished the inside of the card really simply, using elements from the front.
I hope you liked my card, and I hope my Aunty likes it too....by the by, this Aunty is my mothers sister; my mum is unwell at the moment, she has just had Bronchial Pneumonia and now is suffering from two broken ribs - from coughing!! My Aunty, to go out in sympathy I'm sure, fell over a dog while out walking and has broken her wrist!!  Mmmm, yes it is a bit hereditary, my husband reckons I could trip over a leaf!
My niece (finally) had her baby, 9lbs 4oz - not bad for a first!  I'm off to visit, I've seen his picture and he is GORGEOUS!
 Hope you enjoyed this rather longwinded, not like me I know lol, post.  Until next time Happy Crafting, Dee

Sitting on the Dock of the Bay

"Sitting on the Dock of the Bay, watching the tide roll away....."  That's what this young lady is doing, or is she just thinking?

This is another of the digistamps in CC Designs February release, due in All That Scraps store on Feb 25th, isn't she just adorable?  This is Emma, one of the Sugarplums from CC Designs that I love so much, the Feb release has Emma as a Sailor, the Dock she is sitting on is another one of the stamps in the release.  My first post for the day here is also from the current release.
I used this sketch from Tuesday Morning Sketches for this card, I wanted a simple layout to showcase the darling image.  The background paper is from Creative imaginations (I think, I got it in my LSS and was so excited to get something to match up to the Life Preserver that I chopped and pasted without taking note!)
The mat that Emma is sitting on is from Kaisercrafts Peachy Keen collection, it was just the right shade of blue/green, I cut and embossed it using my Nestabilities Labels Twelve.
After colouring my images with Copics I cut them out, then popped them up on foam dots - it's my favourite way of using images - I love the extra dimension and "fussy cutting" really doesn't take that long.
The stripes on the coffee coloured paper are a lovely brown shiny foil - it doesn't show in the photos, it never does, does it?  It is from Kaisercrafts Made With Love collection.  The red is actually a file cover I got in my local Officeworks store, it's got a lovely texture. I cut the edge with my Fiskars Apron Lace border punch, as Digital Tuesday Challenge this week has "Use a punch" I'll be entering there.  
The anchor (which I've used to replace the bow in the sketch) looks metal but is plastic - it means it's nice and lightweight to stick on (sometimes I have "droop" issues with the heavy stuff 'coz I'm always in a rush and don't leave the glue long enough to dry!!) Me bad!
My Time To Craft has "hats" as it's theme this time, so I'll be entering there, Simon Says Stamp has "coffee and cream" that's definitely how I'd describe the basic colour of my papers (the Kaisercrafts Made With Love collection is FULL of papers in this colour range - and I love 'em all so I could be making a few more entries for Simon at this stage, lol) 
Totally Papercrafts has "Do it with Digis", yay, one of my favourite challenges (I do love my digis) so I'm entering there and Crazy 4 Challenges has "Use a Die", again NOT a problem.  Actually, I was thinking about that the other day, I bought a Texture Boutique because I only ever wanted to emboss, then I invested in a Cuttlebug and now I use Dies on just about every card, anybody want a barely used Texture Boutique - going cheap, lol? 
Thanks for having a look at Emma on the Dock.  If you look here you'll see her in another pose with her little friend Trevor, I think it's just as cute - go and see what you think!
Until then, Happy Crafting, Dee

Somebunny Loves Honey

This cute little gal is the third of the CC Designs "Honey" images in the February digi release, ain't she cute??

 Her name is "Bunny Honey" and you grab your little digi darling, and Gymnast Honey and Hippie Honey at All That Scraps about.....NOW!  I coloured her (I call her Honey Bunny -did anybody else see Pulp Fiction?? This Honey Bunny is so not like the one in the movie!!) with Copics.  It is hard to spot in the photos, but I gave her a fluffy tail with Jo Sonja's Texture Paste.
The card itself is a luscious lipstick red, I embossed the square silver mirror board with Cuttlebugs D'vine Swirls embossing folder then matted the lilac paper (the little red hearts on it are foiled) from Kaisercraft's "Made with Love" 6" collection onto red.  The strip with the larger hearts is from the same Kaisercrafts collection, mounted on red.  The silver oval that April is pop dotted on was embossed using Cuttlebugs "Kimmie Luvs" embossing folder, cut with Classic Oval nestie, mounted on red card cut with the largest Classic Scalloped nestie.  I pricked little holes in each of the scallops - it just looked like it needed something "else", but I didn't want to make it any busier.  The flowers were white: I coloured them with Copics, the leaves are from a sprig of fern I got for about a penny, and I just use the tips, works just fine!!

The sentiment "Somebunny Loves You" is computer generated, I used a freebie downloaded font "slendergold" it is yummy.  The edge of the sentiment is inked with Fuschia ink, then mounted onto a red Classic Scalloped Oval nestie.  
Inside the card I stuck some plain pale lilac paper and a strip of the foiled hearts paper punched with EK Success "Hearts and Scrolls" border punch.  I was going to make the inside of the the card read "Somebunny is Me" but I found the little padded fabric heart which says "I Love You" in a pack from a craft store, and I just loved it.  I've got nine more, so they may figure strongly in my Valentines card repertoire for this year!
I used the Sketchy Thursday sketch from Eat Sleep Stamp, but as I had to delay this post I missed the cutoff for the challenge this time, still it was a great sketch to work with (love the simple ones).  Creative Inspirations has Valentines as it's theme, as does Crazy 4 Challenges, Stampin' for the Weekend, Do it with Digis and Digital Tuesday Challenge, so I'll be entering there too.  Crafty Creations has "Three Little Words": I have three little words on the outside and three little words on the inside, (technically six little words I suppose!) so in it goes.  Creative Craft Challenges has "Hearts and Flowers", as does My Time to Craft, this little Honey has both, so...you guessed! 
Follow the links if you'd like to see what I did with Hippie Honey and Gymnast Honey.  Well I hope you like what I've done with the Honeys for this release, this is my fave, but only just!!  Go over to the All That Scraps Blog and see what the DT have come up with, it's worth the visit!
Until next time, Happy Crafting, Dee

Fantastic Gymnastic

The card is another of the CC Designs Honey digis being released this week at All That Scraps.  This is "Gymnast Honey", though really I suppose it's "Gymnast Honeys", lol.  

 I can't believe my luck in the timing of getting this image, my son Chris's friend Tam has just spent two years coaching at the Danish Gymnastic Academy (or whatever it's proper name is, lol) and came home this week after fulfilling commitments there; we are very pleased to get her back and even though she loved it she is glad to be back - as one of our national songs says "no matter how far or how wide I roam, I still call Australia Home".  
I coloured the Honeys with Copic markers, and after cutting them out pop dotted them onto mirror card, I may be mixing my references up here, do gymnasts use a mirror, or is that only ballerinas?  No, apparently (after consultation with Tam) mirrors figure strongly in gym-world, oh and the little bit of eye shadow tickled Tam's fancy too!

The background paper is more of the lovely textured pearly card that I used on my Drummer Dave card.  The patterned paper is from Kaisercrafts Peachy Keen 6" collection, and the plain card that the mirror card is matted on and the circle (cut using Lacey Circles Nestabilites) are self adhesive (good and sticky, that textured card is quite hard to get a grip on, lol) from DCWV Brights mat collection
Pink Gem Challenge had a sketch challenge this time around.
It was in a square format, but to fit my two little Honeys on I stretched it out to a rectangle.  Does anybody else have the problem that cards folded this way don't "sit" properly, well, DON"T sit at all really, they sort of lay flat!!)?  Ha Ha.  If you know a "fix" let me know - I'd appreciate it!

The inside of this card, in complete contrast to the Hippie Honey card I did also from All That Scraps latest release, is super simple.  I just cut a strip from one of the Peachy Keen borders, mounted it on mirror card and stuck it in the middle of the card, it says "The road to a friends house is never long", though in this case of course the road for Tam to her friends house was about 20,000 km!!  Maybe it's nice that 20,000 km is not too long!  A blue flower brad each end, and some sponging around the edges of the card, "fini"!!
Stamp Challenges has it's Digi Day challenge this week, (now that really IS easy!) and Totally Papercrafts has "Friendship" as it's challenge theme so I'm entering these little fitness fans there.  
I used Hippie Honey for this card, she's a sweetie go and have a peep!
Until next time, which will be my final Honey from the release- and my fave - (Here's a link) , Happy Crafting, Dee

Hip Hippie Hooray for Honey

Today I get to share photos of the cards I've made as the February Guest Designer for the All That Scraps Digi Team.  This is my first foray into the world of Design Teams, I am really thrilled to be part of it and hope my efforts are up to the standard set by this great team in the past.
The images we got to work with this month are all Honeys, no, REALLY - they are all CC Designs Honey in various guises.  They are available in the All That Scraps store on February 11th

The first little lady is "Hippie Honey", giving us a "peace" sign.  How cool is she??!!!!  I love her little necklace too.  I coloured her with Copics, love my Copics, getting a bit obsessed with my Copics.......

I used sketch#87 from Sweet Sketch Wednesday , I love a straightforward sketch - they leave you so much more room to manoeuvre in the paper department!!  The paper I've used here is Kaisercrafts Hey Birdie 6" collection.  I thought it had a real retro feel (interesting term that "retro"; my kids use it about a lot of our stuff, it's funny how "retro" is acceptable now whereas it was just plain old fashioned a very short time ago, lol)    I used a Lacey Circles Nestie to cut out a plain cream circle to sit Honey on, embossed it with the Tiny Bubbles folder from Cuttlebug then backed it up with a plain pink circle using a, wait for it, Standard Circles Nestabilities.  The green and brown card are textured cardstock from DCWV Neutrals mat stack. I stuck tiny pink brown and green crystals in the "holes".

I wonder if you can guess which Nestabilties I used to cut the flowery circle out of, lol. The gros grain ribbon and pink foam flower were from my stash, as was the green crystal brad in the flower's centre. Loads of texture here, so I'm entering in Fab'n'Funky Challenges this week which has "Tempting Texture" as it's theme.

The inside of this card was "like Topsy" (is anyone else out there old enough to know that term?) - it just grew!!  I cut a frame using the Nesties I used on the outside of the card, printed a sentiment  on the computer using "Brandy" font.  It didn't look finished so I added the corner pieces in the brown polka dot paper, which helped a lot, it brought the brown over from the front (yes that plain paper at the top of the card is brown, I know, it doesn't look brown).  It still hadn't quite got there, so I added strips of the cream polka dot paper, and there it is finished!  Frankly, if I'd added much more there wouldn't have been any room left to write on, lol

Well, that's basically my first Honey for the day, Stamp Something has its Digi Day challenge on for Feb, so I'm going to enter my hip cool friend there, and the  ABC Challenge when I started this card was "N is for Nestie" - this card DEFINITELY is that: it is a multiNestie card, lol.  Unfortunately for me the challenge has moved along to "N is for Neutral" and this card is anything BUT neutral!!  Sweet Stampin' has spring flowers as it's challenge theme, and I love the springy feel that the flowers on this card have so I'm entering it there.

I'll be back later with another Honey (here), and if you're good (well, acutually, even if you're not good) I'll be back with a third one (here's a link)!!

Until then, Happy Crafting, Dee

Ivy Valentine

This is a Valentines card I made using Tickled Pink Stamps "Fashionette 20's Evie" image; I just realised I titled this post "Ivy Valentine", obviously it should have been "Evie Valentine", which brought to mind the song from childhood "Evie, Ivy Over" do you remember it?? Mmmm, not old enough?

I was under a bit of pressure to get the post up: I went to upload the photos and realised I hadn't taken any!! And I was only minutes away from a deadline!!  Does anybody else do that, or is it just me?  Oh well, I got it up in time to enter my Ivy/Evie Valentine in the Tickled Pink Challenge for this week which was "Punch it Out, use your punches". 
I've used my Labels Four Nestabilities (which may or may count as a punch) for the image and sentiment mats, I  left them in the die then distressed the edge with some pink Versa Mark ink, I've never done it that way before but I think I like it - the way it leaves the edge crisp and clean.
The lace down the sides is definitely punched:  Using Martha Stewart's Doily Lace punch to be precise, and the little heart "thought bubbles" (well that's how I visualised them to go with my sentiment, lol) were punched too.  I used an offcut of paper from the same pad that the rest of the papers on this card are from, namely the Kaisercraft Made with Love 6" collection and a small heart punch (the manufacturer of which I have no idea!!) then popped them up on foam dots for dimension.  The image was pop-dotted too!  Oh, and the corners of the card were rounded with my Carl corner rounder punch too!
I used this sketch from Pollycrafts Challenge "use the sketch and a love element", have I said before how much I love the simple sketches?  Pixie Dust Studios has "Be My Valentine and Creative Inpirations has Valentines/Love so I'll be entering there Totally Papercrafts has friendship, and as I often think of my friends with love I'm entering this card there too.  Stamp Challenges has it's "February Digi Day" happening, so as this is a digi stamp (like the vast majority of my stamps!) I'll be entering there too.  Creative Craft Challenges has "Hearts and Flowers", as does My Time to Craft: loads of hearts here, and YES a flower - on Evies dress! 

Because the card itself is really quite a dark pinky red, I've stuck some cream vellum inside it to write on.   I cut a frame out of pale lilac paper and the glittery hearts paper form the front.  Surprise, surprise the glitteryness (sort of) shows in this photo!
I made this card quite quickly, it really is a simple little thing and using die cuts and punches does speed things up a bit!!  I hope you like Ivy/Evie, and I thought I'd give you a heads up that I'll be posting my All That Scraps Guest Design Team projects later today!  I've had them made up for a while, to the point that some of the challenges I was going to enter them in have expired - oh well I'll just share them for sharing's sake!  They are really cute images, so come back and have a look later - there will be three YES THREE separate posts for them, that will be FOUR posts in one day!!  Have I got your interest piqued??
Good!  I'll see you "later" then; until then Happy Crafting, Dee