Snowflakes - how appropriate!

Given the weather that some parts of the UK are having right now it seems more than appropriate to make a card with one or two snowflakes.  I must admit that I haven't had much time to spend on my cards this week as we're now well and truly into the exam period (72 papers to mark this weekend - what a pleasure!).  However, I wanted to do something for the Lovely hAnglar Only Challenge, which is "Snowflakes".

I haven't actually had to do too much to make this card as the gorgeous Fancy Pants paper did most of the work for me.  I used red Bazzill for my base, then matted the Fancy Pants paper onto cream cardstock, adding a little Basic Grey border along the bottom.

The snowflakes were cut from acetate using a Nestie die and a Martha Stewart punch.  I covered them with Stickles and while this was still wet added some Twinklets.  Hope you can see them clearly!  The little silver centres were from Quixotic Paperie (I think).

My hAnglar stamp has been coloured with Copics - I use this one a lot as it's from one of my favourite collections.

So, not rocket science, but at least I've got something to enter in the challenge.  I was hoping to get some crafting done this weekend but it looks now like work is going to take over ...

It's freezing here, but fortunately no snow (yet).  Gregor's school was closed today because their boiler was broken, so thanks are due to my lovely pal Marianne who looked after him for me - I don't know where I'd be without my mates!

Whatever you're doing this weekend, stay warm, cosy and safe!  Maybe this will finally be the weekend we say goodbye to Wagner - I'll be so sad if another talented youngster has to go instead. 

Thanks for stopping by,

Tracey T x

Not Exactly Traditional Colours

I do like making black and white cards so I was really pleased when I saw that the latest challenge from Just Magnolia was "White plus 1 colour". 

I used black Bazzill for my base and covered this with Doodlebug paper.  I added a doily from Joanna Sheen and topped this with a large plain circle Nestie.  I cut out my Tilda image with another Nestie and colour her with Copics, Promarkers and a black Prisma pencil for the shading.  I gave Tilda a good dollop of bling with some Glamour dust and Stickles on her clothes.  I covered the baubles with a drop of Glossy Accents and added a little bit of Glamour Dust while this was still wet.

The ticket is a Magnolia stamp which I cut out and edged with distress ink. The flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts, as are the pearls in the corners of the card.  Simples!

This card is going to be entered in the Just Magnolia - White plus 1 Colour - Challenge and in Totally Gorjuss' Challenge, Not so Traditional Christmas.

Hope you're managing to stay warm and cosy.  I couldn't let my chickens out this morning because the door of one of the coops had frozen solid.  Had to go back to the house of a kettle of hot water!  Glad I'm not a hen!

Enjoy the rest of your evening.

Hugs,

Tracey x

Glitter, Glitz and Lace

My new Lili of the Valley stamps have arrived and they are so cute!  I bought a couple of the new girlie stamps and the calendar set, which I think will be really useful.  I thought I would use one of the new stamps for the Lili of the Valley challenge, which this week is "Glitter and Glitz". 

I coloured the stamped image with Copics and added pretty pale blue glitter and Icicle Stickles (well, they asked for glitter!) to the clothes and around the edges of the card.  Even the presents got the bling treatment with a good coat of Glamour Dust.

I used Bazzill for the card base and covered the front with Basic Grey Eskimo Kisses paper. On top of this went a Magnolia die cut doily and a Magnolia die cut lace strip.  I'm still not getting on with the doily very well, but I recommend the lace dies - they cut superbly. Around the image I put some roses from Wild Orchid Crafts ( I love the turquoise colour) and I added a 3D sentiment which I believe is K & Co from some years back. 

I thought I'd also enter this card in the Papertake Weekly Challenge (Cut It Out) and the CES Challenge (Lovely Lace) as well as the Lili of the Valley Glitter and Glitz Challenge.

Thanks so much for stopping by.  I do hope you're keeping warm (the temperature is dropping rapidly here).  I'm hoping we don't get snow - we had a terrible time here in SW Scotland last year as the snow lasted for weeks and our road was almost impossible to get down.  I'm quite happy to have snow for a couple of days over Christmas but that's it!  Sorry!

Hugs

Tracey T x

Bev's Tilda Candy

Bev has a lovely Tilda stamp up for grabs, courtesy of Simon Says Stamp.  Hop over the Bev's blog to enter. 

Good luck!

Tracey T x

I almost forgot...

I was just about to go off to bed when I realised I'd forgotten to post this card!  I made this for the Magnolia Stamp Lovers challenge, which was to follow a sketch, and this is what I did.

I used my new MME Christmas Glitter Stack papers again - you can see the glitter in this photo but IRL it doesn't look so snail-traily!  The image is a new Tilda and Edwin stamp which has been coloured with Copics. I did the edges with Walnut Stain distress ink and added some Frosted Lace stickles to Tilda's dress.  The lace and flowers are all from Wild Orchid Crafts and the gems are from the Glitter Pot but I can't remember the make.

Hope you're not flooded, wherever you are.  It's pretty windy here and it's rained all day, but so far things aren't as bad as they were last week, when we had lots of flooded roads. 

Night night!

Tracey T x

Just Another Manic ... Sunday?!?

I'm not going to type up a list of the things I've done so far today but, suffice to say, I'm about half-way through the things I was supposed to do and the light's already fading here in Bonnie Scotland at 3.30 pm!  However, my kitchen smells very Christmassy, as I've managed to get the cake in the oven and the puds are steaming away on the stove.  I wasted about an hour looking for my Christmas Pudding bowl (still haven't found it) and have ended up making several smaller puds - note to self: "Tidy up more!".  Sorry, I did say I wasn't going to list the things I've done today!

My card today is a Christmassy one and features one of the prettiest Tilda's, I think - she's certainly a joy to colour.   I decided to use my until-now neglected Craftwork Cards papers from a year or two ago and I followed the sketch by Donalda on the Just Magnolia Challenge.

I coloured Tilda with Copics and used a silver Promarker on the stars, which I then covered with Glamour Dust. Tilda has been cut out with a scalloped oval Nestie and I added Diamond stickles around the edge.  You can just about see the snowflakes here but I took some other photos as the light was so bad:-

Hope you can see them now!  I cut them from acetate - two are a Martha Stewart punch and one is a Nestie - and covered them with Twinklets.  The pearls are from Wild Orchid Crafts.

I'm going to enter this card in these challenges:

A Spoonfull of Sugar - Snowflakes

Just Magnolia - Donalda's Sketch

Cute Card Thursday - Anything Goes

 

Enjoy the rest of the weekend (please, please Wagner - go home!) and have a good week.

Tracey T x

Candy from Jacque ...

The wonderful Jacque in the US of A has some FAB candy for us.  Take a look and join in by following the link here.

Jacque is a truly inspirational lady in more ways than one - definitely on my "would like to meet" list!

See you later

Tracey T x

Some Blogaversary Candy from Jacilynn ...

Jacilynn Dashwood is celebrating her birthday and Blogaversary by offering some lovely card-making candy. 

Hop on over to Jacilynn's blog here to join in - if you leave a joke as a comment you'll get an extra chance of winning!

Back later with a card, hopefully.

Tracey T x

Another hAnglar Cutie ...

I bought this hAnglar and stAnglar stamp as part of a set on ebay and I think she is so sweet.  I thought I'd make another card with darker colours - to see if I can get more used to it! - and opted for more papers from the Basic Grey Wassail pack.  I know this has been around for a while but the designs in this pack really are beautiful.

I followed the sketch on the Basic Grey Challenges blog and used both papers from the pack and a scalloped border from the co-ordinating sticker sheet.  Behind the image and contrast papers is a die cut Magnolia doily; what a pain this is, I'm so disappointed with the "half a die" thing but if you're going to put it behind something you can at least cover the bits which don't match up exactly!

I coloured my hAnglar image with Copics and added a Pebbles Inc rub on for the sentiment.  The flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts and the little crystal hearts were a freebie with an order from the FAB Quixotic Paperie.  I also added some Sizzlit die cut leaves just underneath the flowers.

I'm going to enter this in the Lovely hAnglar Only challenge (punched and die cut shapes) as well as the Basic Grey challenge (sketch). 

Friday tomorrow, folks ... hoping for a quiet weekend with more warmth and less rain.  My poor chickens will turn into ducks at this rate!

Hugs,

Tracey T x

Rachel has hAnglar Candy!

Rachel has some hAnglar stamps up for grabs, so hop on over to her blog here.  While you're there, admire her colouring with Copics - it's AMAZING.

Tracey T

One for the Girls

This card is for the Lili of the Valley Challenge, which this week is "One for the Girls".  I've kept the layout very simple as the paper is quite busy.

The colours aren't perhaps the most girlie I could have chosen, but irl the wee girl's coat looks like suede or sheepskin!  The background papers are Basic Grey and I stamped the Magnolia "Silent Night" stamp onto watercolour paper and distressed it to within an inch of its life.  This is just peeping out behind my LotV stamp, which also got the distress ink treatment.  I coloured it with Copics and added a shed load of Glamour Dust to her hood and scarf and also to some dots of glue to make it look like it's snowing.  The flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts and the pearls are from the Glitter Pot.

Just a quickie tonight as I've got loads to do before the last of Spooks.  Can't believe Wagner is still in - maybe I should start my own Facebook campaign, or maybe I should just get out more!

Enjoy your evening!

Hugs

Tracey T x

An Autumn Thank You

Now for the slushy bit...  while I was making this card I thought about the people who, in the short time I have had my blog, have been so kind as to leave a comment. You have given advice and words of encouragement, made me laugh and made me think. There is even someone who has gone way beyond the call of duty and made the most adorable card for my son's birthday (thank you, you are a star)! 

I've always known that crafters are a special breed but through my blog I've made new friends - how fab is that?

So, this little offering is dedicated to you, my lovelies!  She's going into the CES Challenge which this week is Forever Autumn, A Spoonfull of Sugar's "Relish to Embellish" and last but by no means least, the Cupcake Challenge of an "Autumn Thank You".

The awful light meant that I had to take this photo in my kitchen, so apologies for that.  However, I make no apology for using my beloved Queen Bee (Pink Paislee) papers again.  These colours may not be the usual orangey-browns but here in Scotland we seem to go very quickly from deep green to  yellow and then dark brown as the light fades. 

I used one of my favourite hAnglars, paper-pieced her hat and skirt and coloured the rest of her with Copics.  I added a bit of Glamour Dust just because and then put her on a Nestie scalloped rectangle mounted on sticky pads.  The sentiment is a Pebbles Inc rub on (I love these).  For my embellies I used various flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts and some pins from Quixotic Paperie.

The beef is about to come out of the oven, the fire is lit and Mark Webber is still in with a shout at winning the F1World Championship.  All I need now is for Wagner to go out tonight so that we can all move on and my weekend will have been pretty perfect.

Enjoy your evening!

Hugs

Tracey T xx

A little hAnglar for Autumn

I thought I 'd have a go at the Bunny Zoe's Challenge which is called "Autumn Love".  I've had this little hAnglar boy for quite some time but I don't often get the chance to use him, so this seemed like the ideal opportunity.

I used October Afternoon papers for the background and matting - I really like these papers (there's a Christmas one as well with snow-covered houses) and the fact that they are double-sided makes matting easy.  This one is obviously Autumn - if you look really closely you might see the falling leaves blowing about.

I stamped my hAnglar boy onto watercolour card and cut him out with a Nestie. He's been coloured with Copics and the background and edges of the card have been given a thorough doing with some distress ink.  I put some Glossy Accents on the hearts but I don't know how well they show up in the photo. 

I also added a little "love" sticker (from a Doodlebug sheet) and some gold/brown gems; the brown velvet ribbon is from my stash - I've only got about two inches of it left so I can feel a ribbon shopping trip coming on!

Might be back a bit later depending on how the day goes.  I had a card idea in my head last night after Gregor's birthday party so I stayed up pretty late getting paper cut out and stamps stamped.  The grim reality of ironing/school work/Gregor's homework/mucking out chickens (oh the glamourous life I lead)/nagging about thank you letters  may just about take up most of the day but if I can squeeze another card in, I will!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Hugs

Tracey T xx

Candy over at Jacque's Joie de Vivre

The adorable, inspiring Jacque has some "sweet stuff" on offer. Hop over to her blog here to see this amazing lady's amazing creations!

Tracey T x

Still a bit spooky ...

A quick post today to show you my card for the Totally Gorjuss Halloween Challenge and Magnolia Stamp Lovers' Black and Purple Challenge.

I used my only Tilda Halloween stamps (don't do Halloween so not a lot of point in buying loads of stamps, even though some of them are really cute) - Tilda with her spider and the mad bat (err... who said "I thought that was you?"!)

I used Magnolia paper and added the spooky house which has been embossed onto Coredinations card and cut out - I think the embossing folder might be a Cuttlebug one, or it could be Sizzix. I then gave the house a good scrub to get a ghostly light of the moon effect.  The moon is from a die cut sheet by Bo Bunny, I think, and I turned some beautiful lace from Wild Orchid Crafts upside down to look like railings.  Behind Tilda, just peeking out, is a black glittery branch which I cut out with a Sizzlits die.  I stamped the Magnolia bat twice, coloured them with Dark Grey Promarkers and a black Prisma pencil and then mounted them on bits of acetate so that they bob about.

Tilda has been coloured with Copics and a black Prisma pencil for the shading.  And there we are.

Hope you have a lovely bonfire night - stay safe!

Hugs

Tracey T x

Multi-tasking Mum (and a card)!

It's Gregor's birthday tomorrow and I'm doing so many things at once tonight I'll probably meet myself coming back.

I am 1) making chocolate fudge brownies (son's request); 2) doing school work (making up as near to an authentic Italian menu as I can for a joint teacher/pupil class I run at lunchtime);  3) preparing a Gordon Ramsay curry for tomorrow's dinner (son's request) - may possibly have chocolate fudge brownie in it; 4) typing this as fast as I can before I get son to bed so that I can watch Spooks.

So, my card probably smells a bit of curry and chocolate fudge brownie - either way, the colour is right for the CES Challenge this week, which is Chocolate Caramel.  And here it is:



I had already thought of using these stamps (my new hAnglars, aren't they cute) for the Lovely Hanglar Only Challenge but I was too late on Sunday to get anything finished, plus I keep forgetting about the time difference.  However, I knew that I wanted to do the CES Challenge because I love using chocolatey colours (anything to do with chocolate, actually) so I came up with this easel card cut using my Go Kreate dies and Pink Petticoat papers.  The Hanglars (one stamped, masked and then the other stamped right beside it) were partly paper pieced and partly oloured with Copics. Of course, I then gave them the usual  Glamour Dust treatement and added various Wild Orchid Crafts flowers.  The sentiment is a sticker from a 12" x 12" sheet - might be Bo Bunny, but it's lovely, very olde worlde.

And that's it really.  Better go now because Spooks is starting and I don't want to accidentally marinade my Brownies!

Take care

Tracey T x