Some Very Fab Free Papers!

The Cupcake Challenge this week is a sketch:

And I really was not sure what I was going to do. And then I had a quick look at Kirsty Wiseman's new blog for her new Patti Picklicious Range (Jozza is a member of her design team - how fab is that?!) When lo and behold, there was a time limited freebie on offer! And what very fab colours! So I downloaded and printed both of the papers off and this is what I created that very night!

Everything - with exception to the three black gems at the bottom are all from the papers. And see what a good job I did with cutting around the circle sentiment?! Although could have tried harder when making sure the centre bit was straight and not slightly off.....

All edges have been inked with bright pink and then running out black and I've lightly doodled a border around the card. Its lightly as the pen is on its way out and I must remember to buy another.

I am very pleased with the papers and I can feel some more cards coming on. And I can't wait for the cd to be released as from what I've already seen, the papers will knock me socks off!

• Backing papers and sentiment: Kirsty Wiseman Patti Picklicious Freebie download
• Black gems: Club Green
  
  
  

Fovever Friends - Black and White

The Forever Friends Challenge this week is:

Black and White

And because I wanted not to do it all in black and white, the bear has been coloured with watercolour pencils in a bear type colouring and the heart is red glitter glue. So I've kept the white as the cardstock plus the big wide white satin ribbon and the black is the scalloped oval frame and very fab black flower lacy ribbon. I've added clear gems to the flower centres and also on the frame scallops, and a bit of black organza ribbon behind the bear, finishes it all off!

• Image: Forever Friends bear coloured with watercolour pencils and red glitter glue
• Ribbons: All from my stash
• Gems: All from my stash
  
  

Penny Black - Get Well Soon

The Penny Black Challenge this week is:

Get Well Soon

I've had this stamped image a while and I wanted to do something manly rather than girly, plus I have these lovely Dovecraft papers (Masculine 6 x 6) and have rarely used them. So, I coloured the image with watercolour paints and then worked the layout etc around that.


The image curled a little so it was not going to stick to the card without some severe persuasion, so decided to use some lovely brass eyelets to do the job for me. Plus they fitted in with the colour scheme! All the edges of everything have been inked with Whispers Chestnut ink and the sentiment stamp is on loan from Lynsey (thank you!)

So there you have it - a quick male get well card!

• Backing papers: Dovecraft Masculine collection 6 x 6
• Image: Penny Black coloured with watercolour paints
• Eyelets: Dovecraft
• Sentiment: Stamp on loan from Lynsey

Pink Elephant Challenge # 3

The Pink Elephant challenge this week is a very fab sketch (by my fellow Funky Hand DT mate Carol):

I've had a bit of trouble trying to do flourishes and swirls and it, to be honest, was just not happening, so it ended up being two flowers folded in half with a Queen & Co brad to hold it all together. Plus, as I look at the card again, it goes well with the image! The image was sent to me by Lythan in a recent Funky Hand image swop and I've coloured it with watercolour pencils.

Originally, the background of the card was in a solid colour but it just didn't look right, so to keep to the sketch, I made a frame from rose pearlescent card - the image is layered onto raspberry (which I always thought would be pink but this is purple!) pearlescent card - both cut from huge sheets from The Range.

Fancy edge punch is a Martha Stewart one and I've added some pink grosgrain ribbon just to hide the dodgy edge that I managed not to cut very well!

I hand wrote the sentiment with watercolour pencils as I now need to get cracking on Mothers Day cards!

• Image: From Lythan
• Card: Huge pearlescent sheets from The Range - I think they are 99p each - bargain!
• Ribbon: From my stash
• Flowers: From Jozza
• Brad: Queen & Co
  
  
  

Slurrruuup!! Guess What I Have?!

OMG! Could it be that I am now the very proud owner of some BASIC GREY papers?! And yes, it had to be in capitals!! How I have managed to resist all this time is beyond me, but I think it was Jozza's offer to let me have some of her papers in a stash swop that finally did it for me. And I know what you are thinking - I did not have to plead with her, she freely gave them to me! How very fab is that?!

Anyway, so, I had a little look on the Basic Grey Challenge blog to see if I could have a go. I could, and I have!

This week, the challenge is:

.... a colour combo, we would like you to pick one of the following colour combos for your creations (Skin and white card colours are allowed too),

Pink and Green

Pink and Brown

Blue and Brown

I went for Pink and Brown. The papers are 6 x 6 Sultry which I have trimmed ever so little off the sides (how can I waste such lush papers?!) and if you look closely, I have reused them under the ribbon flower. However, I forgot to ink them so they are not that easy to see. Edges of the cardstock and backing paper have been inked in bright pink and then Chestnut Whispers.

The flower is made from scraps of chocolate satin ribbon and the centre is another of the buttons I bought from Helen recently. And that's it! Very simple.

I am actually quite mad as I've brought the bunch of papers to work with me every day and sat and looked at them from time to time. Well, its better than picking my nose or trumping....

• Backing papers: Basic Grey - Sultry 6 x 6 (very generously donated by Jozza)
• Ribbon: From my stash (Ribbon Oasis)
• Button: From Helen
  

Big thanks to Jozza'll-Fix-It for the opportunity!

Feeling Croaky?

The Daring Cardmakers Challenge this week is a bit different! It is:

"I want to see a fish or a frog on your cards"

I went for the frog option in the end after deciding that I couldn't draw reasonable fish, or anything remotely resembling a fish. The frog is a Sizzix die cut which I have chalked to give it definition and have added wobbly eyes. The papers are all from Funky Daze and have been printed at B5 setting to give smaller detail.

The edges of the papers have been inked and the sentiment is a Studio G mini alphabet set which I can't stop using!

Notice the new photo styling - decided to use the kitchen lighting but from a work top point of view. So to take the photos it now involves me kneeling on a hard floor wishing I'd been bothered to use a cushion....

• Backing paper: Funky Daze
• Sentiment: Studio G mini wooden alphabet stamp set
• Die cut: Sizzix frog from my stash
  

Sketch & Stash Challenge # 4

The fourth Sketch and Stash challenge is the following sketch:
I have used Funky Daze papers which is the newest Funky Hand cd (so hope it qualifies!) and also my very new Holly and Madison image downloads from Charmed Cards and Crafts - this is the first time I've used this particular image.

The larger of the flowers are from a recent stash swop with Jozza, the yellow flowers are my rarely used Prima Esprit.

• Backing papers: Funky Daze from Funky Hand
• Image: Holly and Madison from Charmed Cards and Crafts
• Sentiment: Studio G wooden alphabet stamp
• Flowers: Large from Jozza, smaller Prima Esprit
  
  
  

Signs of Spring

The Cute Card Thursday challenge this week is:

Signs of Spring

This could be interpreted through your image, an embellishment or even your colour-scheme

I found these scraps of backing paper on the table (I'm not sure why there were quite a few all the same size!) and only trimmed about a centimetre off the end so they would fit on the cardstock. All have had their edges inked. The ribbon stuff is actually raffia. For a change.

The flower is made from a scrap of fabric (I bought some fat quarters many moons ago and never used them) and I drew round the outside of a sellotape roll to get a 8cm circle then sewed a running stitch around the edge of the circle and pulled the thread together so it all bunched up (inspiration came from the recent Crafts Beautiful magazine but I must be a bit gormless as the instructions didn't seem to be particularly clear, so in my usual style, I made it up as I went along!) The lovely button is a recent purchase from Peggycrafts - I think I may have bought a fair bit of her stock (sorry Helen!) as I had a difficult time choosing which designs to buy!

Again, dodgy lighting courtesy of the kitchen lights.

• Backing papers: Funky Daze
• Raffia: From my stash
• Button embellishment: Actual covered button from Peggycrafts - I made the other bit
  
  
  

Christmas Cards All Year 'Round - February Challenge

Now pink Christmas cards I don't really 'do' - so this Christmas Cards All Year 'Round challenge really took me out of my comfort zone, but I plodded on! After I'd made the first card, I had some inspiration, and the rest, they say, is history!

So, for February the Challenge is:

... get out your PINK, RED and WHITE papers....and let's see a Christmas Card come of it.

I'd also like to see you throw in a heart or two

• Dies: Sizzix Stocking and Sizzix Primitive Hearts
• Sentiment: Studio G acrylic stamp
• Ribbon: From my stash
• Brad: From my stash
• Felt: From the scrap store

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

• Backing paper: Funky Little Christmas from Funky Hand
• Dies: Sizzix Sizzlits snowflake and Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder
• Ribbon: From my stash
• Brad: From my stash
• Charms: B & M Bargains

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

• Backing paper: Free papers from craft magazine
• Snowflake: Hobbycraft
• Beads & Gem: From my stash
• Sentiment: Free with craft papers

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

• Backing paper: Funky Little Christmas from Funky Hand
• Dies: Snowflakes Cuttlebug embossing folder
• Topper: Made from fimo by me
• Ribbon: From my stash
• Fibres: From the scrap store
• Sentiment: Computer generated
• Gems: From my stash

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

• Ribbon: From my stash (donated by Lynsey!)
• Heart embellishment: Part of a handmade button swop from Jacqui
• Holly: Dovecraft stamp coloured with watercolour pencils
• Sentiment: Studio G acrylic stamp
• Seed beads: From my stash
• Wire: From my stash

3 and 7....

Otherwise known as Maddie and Abigail! However Samuel refers to them as 3 and 7...! Spent a lovely afternoon with Jozza and her girls on Saturday. We had a mini stash swop and I swooned over the Basic Grey papers (I now have an ample handful thanks to the generousity of Jozza!)

After lunch (yum!) we had a walk to a Wacky Warehouse. You'll be relieved to know that Jozza and I did not walk hand in hand like the kids did!

On the way we fed some ducks at the pond. Jacob used his slice of bread really quickly ("Mum - it's all gone!)


Well Jacob - that's because you only tore it in two bits and chucked it at the ducks!

And almost all posing for a photo at the end but Jacob would not turn around...

Fab day had by all, and next time I shall be the hostess with the mostest!

Thanks to Jozza for a great day (and 3 and 7 too!)

All That Glitters

The Pink Elephant Challenge this week is:

All That Glitters

And I think I've just made this one by the seat of my pants!

I was asked to make a card for a little girl who is going to be a big sister in early March and her Aunty did not want her to feel left out! Grace is a very girly girl and loves pink and I decided to combine the commission with the challenge (with permission of course!) and to go all out on the sparkle too!

Sorry for the photos - again they are lit by the kitchen lights but hopefully they will show the sparkle! I've used glitter glue and very glittery card and glittery ribbons throughout. The rosette is handcut with the scalloped edge being punched hearts glued onto the reverse of the circle. Letters have been cut using a Cuttlebug Baby Face alphabet set and the little girl is all Sizzix dies with my own touches.

The vellum backing has been run through the D'vine Swirls embossing folder to give the card a little more texture.

It actually looks a lot better in real life and I hope that Grace and her Aunty are pleased with it!

• Dies: Cuttlebug Baby Face alphabet, Cuttlebug D'vine swirls embossing and various Sizzix dies for the little girl and her clothes
• Glitter Card, Pearlescent Card & Vellum: All from my stash
• Ribbons: All from my stash

Blast From The Past

How time flies! This is my last card as Guest Designer for Dotties Challenge blog (sob!) I've really enjoyed the last 4 weeks and hope that I've managed to inspire you with my creations. Thanks to Louise and her team for giving me the opportunity to work alongside some very talented ladies!

Blast from the Past

I want you to look through your photos of your card creations from the past, choose one you really liked then make a new one following the exact same layout but use different papers and a different image. Put them both on your blog so we can compare them! Your original card doesn't need to have a Charmed download on but obviously your new one will need to.

So here is the card I've used for inspiration (a Friday Sketchers challenge from December) - when I made this card it really fitted together quickly which I always like but was not prepared for!

And this is what I made - of course using the new Holly and Madison downloads. I coloured this one myself as I am still trying to use up all my off cuts of backing paper (I have such a lot that I'm trying to be really good and not print off more!) but failed miserably with this as they were printed specifically to match my colour scheme. Ah well - better luck next time eh?! Backing papers are from Now That's Funky and a colour collection that I've not used before. Both were printed at B5 size as I wanted a smaller pattern.

Card edges cornered and then inked with pink and then black. The silver edge ribbon was salvaged from my recent handmade button swop (thanks Jacqui!) and the pink I had just lying around the place! The sentiment is computer generated, cornered, inked and layered onto the same backing paper.

The image has been coloured with watercolour pencils and I've added some sort of purpley pink glitter glue to the gown belt and her fluffy slippers. The hair drier has had the red glitter treatment. The image actually shows the flex of the drier but it was a bit of a challenge to cut round it, so I did without!

So there you have it! My last offering as Guest Designer for Dottie! Hope you've enjoyed my stay and go and check out the challenge for this week as there is a little reward if you enter!

• Backing papers: Now That's Funky
• Image: Holly and Madison download - coloured with watercolour pencils and glitter glue
• Ribbon: From my stash and also from Jacqui
• Sentiment: Computer generated
  

My Buttons

I can now reveal the buttons I made for my swop partner Jacqui as part of Phatsheeps handmade button swop!

These are the ones I made Jacqui so she can incorporate them into something she makes - all made from fimo with the blue ones having seed beads stuck into them. All lightly stitched onto an off-cut of denim.

And I also made a card with three other buttons (I was on a roll making these!) with some left over backing papers - again Mily Designs.

Jacqui said that she liked blues, the sea, glass and tactile things and I hope I've managed to achieve this!

I am quite pleased with my little self after making these, and I think, time prevailing, that I will be attempting this again as I do like the wobbliness of them and that each one is slightly different. These were actually my second attempt - the first lot were rubbish and looked odd. So you'll only see those if I sneak them onto a card at some point!

Thanks to Phatsheep for organising this - I really enjoyed it!

Forever Friends - General Birthday Card

Didn't think I'd be able to get this one done in time to enter the challenge this week! I do like the Forever Friends challenges - there is something about the little bear that I like. And possibly because I must have around 30 fridge magnets of the bear! All quite old - from the early 1990's and mostly still in one piece too!


Anyway, this week the challenge is:

General Birthday

Backing papers are from a free download (I'll edit the post later when I remember where they are from!) and the flowers are from Jozza (ta!) The centre of the flowers is card candy from Craftwork cards and the ribbon from my ever expanding stash!

I coloured the image a little bit heavy handed for my liking with watercolour pencils but I think it is just about passable!

• Backing papers: Not known at this moment in time - will edit later!
• Image: Forever Friends coloured with watercolour pencils
• Ribbon: From my stash
• Flowers: From Jozza
  
  

Spring Has Sprung - Simply!

The Secret Crafter challenge this week is:

Spring Has Sprung!

So, I got out my left over papers to see what yellows I had, and I found these - all I think are from It's Funky Too. So after a bit of faffing around with layering and when I was happy with what I had, I doodled a running stitch around the edges of the card and papers. The image is one sent to me by Anice as we did a Funky Hand DT image swop and its been coloured with watercolour pencils. I've slightly inked the edge of the image with a running out black ink pad and the wide grosgrain ribbon is from my stash.

Yeah, and the lighting is the halogen kitchen lights again....

• Backing papers: It's Funky Too
• Image: Anita's Stamps and from Anice
• Ribbon: From my stash (originally Blackburn market)
  
  

Penny Black Sketch Challenge # 36

The Penny Black challenge this week is a sketch:

Which I have flipped to create this:

Apologies again for the weird shadows - halogen lights in the kitchen... The image was sent to me by Kath in a recent Funky Hand team image swop which I have coloured with watercolour pencils (and I don't think a particularly good attempt either - there is something that I'm not happy about, but don't know what..) All the papers are off-cuts from word books made with Huge Funky Love download - the taupe coloured backing paper is actually vellum whilst the rest are printed onto thick white card.

All edges have been inked with Chestnut Whispers. The card candy is from Craftwork Cards and the ribbon is from the never ending spool that I bought from Ribbon Oasis. I deliberately left a longer tie on the ribbon towards the bottom of the card, so it gives a sense of gravity. Hehehhe! You know what I mean though, don't you?!

• Backing papers: Huge Funky Love download
• Image: In a swop from Kath
• Card Candy: Craftwork Cards
• Ribbon: Ribbon Oasis
  
  

How Long Can A Wordbook Be?!

Here is a wordbook made with the new Funky Hand download - Huge Funky Love. I made this for a work colleague who was moving departments, so I didn't want to make a leaving card as such, more of a good luck in your new job card!

I had to overlap the letters more than a traditional word book with fewer letters so I could fit them all on, and I've re sized the elements as the download is in jpeg format so you are able to make them as big or small as you wish.


I've not embellished the insides of the pages as it would have been too bulky but the letters have been. I've used ribbon from my stash in pink and chocolate brown and card candy from Craftwork Cards. I've used an eyelet setting tool to make the holes at the spine and then tied chocolate brown organza ribbon through.

It actually was a fairly quick card to make, which is a good job because I've since made a further two!

• Backing paper and word book elements: Huge Funky Love download from Funky Hand
• Ribbon: From my stash
• Card Candy: Craftwork Cards
  
  

Lady Marmalade

The Cute Card Thursday challenge this week (and I've not done a CCT challenge for quite some time!) is:

Music and Dance

You'll have to excuse the poor quality photographs - its the best I can do with the halogen spotlights in the kitchen at 6:30am!

I'm really pleased with the Holly and Madison downloads from Charmed Cards and Crafts and really wanted to use this image plus it reminds me of the song 'Lady Marmalade', which is one of my favourite songs! I've just bought the backing paper - its a 12 x 12 scrap page - Far East Print by DCWV and is not something I would normally buy, but at 25p a sheet, it would be rude not to!

I added the layered ribbon and the gems and then decided it needed something else, so out came the wire and the pony beads!

A fairly simple card (yes, the image was pre coloured!) but it took me ages to make as I kept faffing around with the layout! Ah well!

• Backing paper: DCWV - Far East Print 12 x 12
• Image: Holly and Madison downloads from Charmed Cards and Crafts
• Ribbon & Gems & Embellishments: All from my stash
  

A Cheeky Little Number!

The Tag You're It Challenge this week got me thinking. The challenge is:

Love and Romance

I've done with Valentine cards for the year but still wanted to do the challenge and I wanted to use my new downloads from Charmed Cards and Crafts. So this is what I came up with!


The backing card is really lovely - its sort of grained but not really noticeable. The silver card is also from my off-cuts box and I thought it went really well with the theme. All edges have been inked and rounded. I've dabbed a bit of red glitter glue to give a bit of sparkle - cos a girl needs sparkle! The image was pre coloured not because I'm being lazy this week - I'm just busy!

The hearts are made from fimo at the same time I was making the buttons for the handmade swop (my makes will be revealed later in the week!) and I've threaded some ribbon through.

The flowers are two layered together with a brad which has been tied with ribbon. So, what do you think? Does it qualify for love and romance?!

• Card: From my stash
• Image: Pre coloured Holly and Madison download from Charmed Cards and Crafts
• Ribbon: From my stash (donated by Enfys)
• Flowers: From my stash (bought from Mad About Cards)