Easter's Arrived at Di's Digi Designs

A new challenge starts today over at Di's Digi Designs Challenge Blog, the theme is Spring or Easter.  I've used one of Di's gorgeous Easter images for my card, it's Easter Bunnies Plantpot.

See what I mean, cute, huh?  Deep Ocean Challenge has Cute and Cuddly for their challenge, I'm in for sure!  Crafty Calendar, Bearly Mine Challenges, Creatalicious Challenges, Sweet Stampin' and The Paper Shelter have Easter themes, I'm in there too ;)  Anything Goes Challenge theme is Double Up - my two sweet bunnies are in.

I've used Copics and mainly Prismacolor pencils for this card, I like the soft "hand coloured" look they give... well when I use them they do, at least; a more expert hand may have a different end result!  Craft Your Passion want you to use two and only two colours, I think Pink and Green pretty much cover the palette on this card so I'm in, Divas by Design have Put on Some Pink, Fashionista Challenge have  Make it Pink Stampin' for the Weekend For a Child and Aud Sentiments For a Girl  so I'm in there too.

 Colour Me Copic has Spring Colours and this fabby inspiration picture, so I'm entering there too.
I've used the sketch from Sketch and Stash this time around, it was the perfect layout for a gatefold card, which is what I wanted to make, bonus! The only thing I changed was I put the sentiment (which is a fabby freebie from The Stamp Fairy) on the "second" panel.. hope that's still okay :|
Papertake Weekly has 1 2 3  for their challenge; I've used one image, two colours (or two flourish dies) and three of each flower so I'm entering there.

I've decorated the inside of the card to suit the outside.

I cut the image and sentiment panels using Nestabilities Labels Eight and the flourishes are from Marianne D while the border punch is Martha Stewart's Doily Lace.  Stamptacular Sunday Challenge has To Die For as their theme so I'm entering there.  
The fabulously floral papers are from Kaisercrafts Chanteuse pad, it's so old I don't even know if you can still get it (?) Totally Gorjuss has something old for its' challenge; this paper the pink card and green card from American Crafts, the ribbon and card candy are all from my stash so I'm entering! 
The flowers are from Mulberry Crafts and The Ribbon Girl.  I coloured ivory rosebuds with dark pink Copics to match the ribbon, I added some dark pink headed pins to the arrangement to spread the colour out a bit. 2 Sisters Challenge theme is Flowers for Spring - I'm in!
There are a stack of challenges at the moment with a Spring theme, I'm entering Moving Along With The Times,  Oozak, My Mums Craft Shop and  Addicted to Stamps.   Stamping Sensations has The Great Outdoors; I think this counts so I'm entering there too.
That Craft Place and Cute Card Thursday have Anything Goes challenges running... I KNOW this counts there, so I'm in :-)
Well that's it for today's card.  I hope you like it, I do, which is surprising as it has more embellishments on than I would usually use.
I'll be back tomorrow with my card with my card for the new Here Come The Boys challenge , until then Happy Crafting, Donna 

Bella, Blossoms, Butterflies and Bling

The card I have today came about when I was showing my sister how I colour my images... she used to come to my Decorative Painting classes, and still paints up a storm but has never used Copics or Prismacolor pencils and was interested to see how it works ;)   

I had this cute image printed and ready to go, it's Bella's Flower from Sassy Cheryl, Fab'n'funky Challenges has Cute and Cuddly so I'm entering there 'coz Bella is Cute AND Cuddly. As I said I coloured with Copics and Prismacolor pencils, then fussy cut Bella and her cute little bug friend.
I made my favourite kind of card; an easel!  The papers are from a pack I got in Spotlight called Gelati.  Simon Says Challenge is to use a Bit o' Green and Crafty Creations has Show us some Green - plenty of green here, I'm in ;)  
I cut the image panel with Standard Circle Nestabilities and the mat with an Mpress Scalloped Flower Die. Totally Papercrafts has Punch It (Use Punches or Dies) as their theme so I'm entering there and The Paper Shelter has the same, so in there too. 
I made the larger flowers using a Nellie Snellen punch, and the smaller ones using a punch from my LSS shaping and  colouring them with some light yellow ink before heat embossing them with iridescent sparkle EP (those tiny flowers were FIDDLY!) I then added centres with pearls from my stash that I coloured to suit with Copics.  
Sassy Cheryls Tuesday Challenge theme is Flowers Flowers Everywhere, Addicted to Stamps has Bring on Spring (lots of flowers), My Mums Craft Shop has Spring has Sprung, Allsorts Challenges has Springtime, One Stop Craft Challenge has Spring and Oozak has Anything Goes with Spring; so I'm entering all those.

I used a Martha Stewart punch to cut the butterflies before giving them the same treatment, the leaves are from a punch I've had for yonks.   Cupcake Craft Challenges has Sparkle, Corrosive Challenge has Sparkle or Glittter Digital Tuesday Buttons or Bling - obviously I'm going for BLING ;)
I added a jotting panel to the inside of the card, the ribbon is from my stash, and the sentiment is a die cut from Craftworks Cards, the edges are embossed with the same Iridescent EP as the flowers and butterflies.  
Bearly Mine Challenges has Mother's Day or for a Special Lady, as does Creative Craft Challenges, Joanna Sheen, Totally Gorjuss and Crafts 4 Eternity so I'm entering there.  Papertake Weekly, Craft Us Crazy, Stamping With The Dragon, Colour Me Copic and That Craft Place all have Anything Goes challenges running, so I'm entering there too.
Well that's it for today's card. I'll be back soon, until then Happy Crafting, Donna

You Are The Sunshine in my Life

Today I have another "just because" card.

I loved making this card... I used another of the oh-so-yummy-to-colour images from Di's Digi Designs; this is Sunflower Ted, how cute is he?!  I've coloured with Copics,  I love my Copics for "strong" colour - and I love strong colour :) Fab'n'funky Challenges has Cute and Cuddly as their challenge theme, so I'm entering there and Joanna Sheen has Lots of Layers so I'm entering there too.  Simon Says Challenge is to use some green, I have so I'm in!

Cupcake Inspirations have a great challenge this time around; they want us to pick our favourite Inspirations Cupcake.  I've got sooo many that I love; this is one of them, it's number 172.  I've used this great sketch from Sunday Sketch and Stamp Sketch.

The sentiment was a freebie from Bizzy Becs, I cut it with a Standard Circle Nestie and inked the edges with Kaiser inks. (Apologies for the fuzzy pic)

The patterned paper is from Kaisercraft's Class Act pad - I just treated myself to half a dozen new Kaisercraft pads (they were on sale at a hard to pass up price, so I didn't "pass up", lol)  The golden yellow textured cardstock and the brown card for matting are from my stash. I cut the horizontal strip with a Dienamics Zig Zag Border die, The Paper Shelter has Punches and or Dies for their challenge, so I'm in.  

The polka dot ribbon is from my stash, Craft Your Passion wants us to use an Odd number of embellies, I've used One, which is an odd number, so I'm entering there; however I've also used One ring/button "thing" so I'm not sure if I qualify.  Not sure if I qualify for Digital Tuesday's Buttons or Bling challenge either - is my ring/thing a button; it WAS in a bag of BUTTONS so I'm thinking yes :-?

The inside of my card is finished very simply with papers the same as the front. By the Cute and Girly, That Craft Place, Catch the Bug, Stamping With The Dragon, Craft Us Crazy, Papertake Weekly and Colour Me Copic all have Anything Goes challenges running, so I'm entering them.  I think this card would make a great Mother's Day card, though it's not Mother's Day here until May and I no doubt will have made another card for my Mum by then, so I'm entering the Mother's Day themed challenges at  One Stop Craft Challenge and  Creative Craft Challenges

That's it for today's offering, I'll be back in a day or so -  until then, Happy Crafting, Donna

And Now for Something a Little Different....

A new challenge is starting today over at Here Come The Boys.... No Stamping Allowed.  Now, when I first saw this I thought it was too, well, challenging; but once I started it all came together really easily.

I made a card for my niece's little boy; he turns two on the same day my grandtwins are due :)  I'm sorry the photo isn't the best, I took it really late under my "daylamp" and haven't had a chance to re do it - I will if I can later.
The patterned paper is from DCWV, the Animal Crackers pad.  The die cut arrow, triangle and star are  from them too, I think.  
I coloured the wooden U and R with Copics, adding some silver gel pen lines.  I covered the cardboard "2" with paper then coloured it with Copics, then added Mint Ice Stickles.  I popped the arrow and the "2" up on foam dots.  Joanna Sheen has Lots of Layers as their challenge theme, loads of layers here; I'm in!
The NIC (my grand nephew's Nic name, lol) are foam, they're already coloured.
Inside the card, I've used more die cuts and some twine from my stash.  The Happy Birthday is a sticker.
The Pink Elephant, Divas by Design, Simon Says Challenge, Craft Us Crazy and Stamping With The Dragon all have Anything Goes challenges running so I'll be entering them.
That's it for my very simple No Stamping card, pop over to the Here Come The Boys Blog and check out what my teamies have done - it just goes to show that there's plenty of scope even without stamping ;-0
Until next time, Happy Crafting, Donna

Di's Digis.... New Challenge and New DT position!!

I am very pleased to tell you that I am now officially on the Design Team for Di's Digi Designs, yeehaw!!  - it's such a privilege to have been picked at the recent DT call.  There's a great range of fab digis to choose from, and the other ladies on the team are sooo talented; I only hope I can fit the bill!
The challenge starting today on the Di's Digis Designs Challenge Blog has the theme Child(ren), so we want to see those projects with either a child or children as the main image, or for a child.

I made an easel card, they are my favourite kind of card - apart from anything else it means the inside of the card gets shown off too, lol. 
I've used Hello Bunny for my card, coloured with Copics and Prismacolor pencils (had issues; refilled my E000 with E00 ink, started colouring without noticing - my little lass looked like she'd been under a sunlamp, lol - I was lucky I could salvage it with my pencils!) Moving Along With The Times has Lovely Ladies so I'm entering my little lady there ;) and The Paper Shelter has Animal Magic as their theme, so I'm entering there too.

The papers are from Prima,  Corrosive Challenge wants us to use our Favourite Colour combo - I love all colour so I'm in (even though I can't pick a favourite, lol) and Oozak has Anything Goes + Spring.
Paper Pretties wants us to Use a Punch, I used a Martha Stewart punch for the horizontal strip, adding a few pearls to zing it up a bit.  Joanna Sheen has a Lots of Layers challenge, never really a challenge for me to be honest, I love layers!
I used this great sketch from Papertake Weekly, they've got a Sketchie Free For All - as long as you use one of THEIR sketches of course! Why wouldn't you? there's loads to choose from, this is Sketch #55
The Pink Elephant, Bearly Mine Challenges, Divas by Design, Craft Us Crazy and Stamping With The Dragon have all got Anything Goes challenges running so I'm entering them all - I'm like that, lol.
Colour Me Copic has Anything Goes with the optional use of butterflies, I've used a couple of butterflies from my stash, so I'm in.  
The digital sentiment is one of the 3 Scalloped Valentines set from Bizzy Becs, I propped it up on some foam dots so that the butterfly looked at a more natural angle.

That's about it for this, my first card on the Di's Digi Designs Design Team.  Please hop on over and check out my teamies makes, very sweet one and all :)
Why not have a go at the challenge too - you don't even have to use a Di's Digi to enter - though why wouldn't you with so many beauties to choose from - and if you do use one you get the chance to win 2 fab images in addition to the prize on offer for the challenge; which this week is this lush collection from Crafty Ribbons.
I'll be back tomorrow with my Here Come The Boys DT card, until then Happy Crafting, Donna

My Geisha

Ages ago I bought this cute CC Designs digistamp, I've finally got around to making a card with it!

 Lucky for me All That Scraps, where I got my little Geisha (and one of her little friends) has an Anything Goes challenge, so I'm entering it.  I've coloured with Prismacolor Pencils, adding some Stickles to the centres of the flowers on her dress, I've tried the "blotchy" Copic background that I've seen and admired on quite a few cards in Blogland; I can see the comment on my report now "needs more work"!  I like it though, at least it's a bit of a change.  The whole time I was making the card up I was humming Sukiyaki, it made me think of a movie I LOVED when I was a girl; it was called My Geisha and starred Shirley McLaine - My Time to Craft wants us to be inspired by a Film or Song, I've been inspired by both!

I've used the sketch from Sweet Sketch Wednesday, always a good source of sketches :-)   I used the yummy paper from DCWV Far East mat stack and some cardstock from my stash.  Corrosive Challenge has Favourite Colour Combination as their challenge theme, I love all colour but do find I use this combo a lot - maybe it's a secret favourite, lol.  Sweet Stampin' has For a Special Lady as it's theme, I hope this card counts :-?
I cut the image panel using a Classic Oval Nestie, and the mat using Floral Ovals, popping each layer up on foam dots.  Joanna Sheen has Lots of Layers for their challenge so I'm entering there.  I finally got around to using my Cheery Lynn Fanciful Flourish die, I've had it a while but no time, no time!!

I also made up the little stick pins, I used beads from a necklace I bought at a market for peanuts, and some I got in Malaysia last year - they're very bling-y in real life.  
The ribbon is from my stash, I love this double sided stuff!  Gem of a Challenge wants us to Add a Bow, which I did, and Crazy 4 Challenges wants to see lots of Texture - there's plenty here from smooth card to glass beads and even a little bit of embossing on the flourish.
I finished the inside of the card using elements from the front, I punched the flower from some of the Far East paper (it's card weight really) rolling the petals over a stylus to give them some shape.  
The centre of the flower is made up of more of the beads used on the front.

The Pink Elephant and Bearly Mine Challenges both have Anything Goes challenges running, so I'm in!
That's it for my just for fun card (sometimes it doesn't feel like you get many of those in, lol)  I'll be back in a day or so with something - I have some news on the weekend.... hope you'll come back and check out what it is :D
On a personal note, I'd like to thank all the lovely people out there who left good wishes for my little Rocky in his recent misadventures: he is well and truly on the mend - he can go onto "real" food (his normal food) from tomorrow, though we have to reintroduce it over a few days.  He feels ready for action, in his all time favourite game he chases a laser light up and down our house; we call it "get the bug", but doesn't realise that he isn't healed enough yet so he sits gazing mournfully at the drawer we keep it in.  The sedate walking on a lead that he IS allowed just ain't cutting it, lol.  We did cave a bit yesterday and drove out to one of "our" spots so he could chase the kangaroos... there weren't any around thankfully, as he took off and if there had been any he probably would have run to the point of collapse - he hasn't worked out yet that they ALWAYS win the race :)
Anyway, that's it for now.  Until next time, Happy Crafting, Donna