A lovely hAnglar card and some VERY exciting news from the Sweeties!

How I've managed to contain meself over the last few days I will never know. The wonderful Abi and Fi over at Sweet Stampin' have been working hard behind the scenes and there is a new look to the Sweet Stampin' Challenge blog - in more ways than one!  Now I'm going to keep you in suspense because the big reveal isn't until tomorrow, so hop on over here on Wednesday to see what I'm talking about.  You're going to like it!!

Now, I've actually managed to make a card (steps back in amazement!). Yes, I have been organised enough over the past couple of days to get my arty act together and make something and boy do I feel better for it!  I knew what I was going to do the minute I got this cute hAnglar stamp. He was such a dream to colour with the old Copics and I added liberal sprinklings of Glamour Dust to the moon and star. 

The papers are by K& Co - I thought the dark blue with gold dots would look a bit like stars and I'm quite happy with the way it turned out.  The ribbon was part of some candy sent to me by the lovely Jacque.



As well as the dotty paper I put some gold adhesive dots from Wild Orchid Crafts (no flowers in the sky, sadly!) onto a Marianne die.  Here's a little peak at the inside which I decorated with more K&Co paper and a die cut jotting space.

I'm entering this card in the Lovely hAnglar Only Challenge, which is "Dots".

Don't forget to visit Sweet Stampin' tomorrow - let us know what you think!

Hugs,

Tracey xx

Ooh La La No. 2

As promised here is the second card that I made for the Sweet Stampin' Challenge DT.  As a barking mad French teacher I just had to go for "Ooh La La" as our theme this week and I got quite carried away with ideas.  I would have made a cheeky/naughty card as well if I'd had time and if I had been able to get my chosen stamp to print properly.

Anyway, here is the second card I made ...

I've only tried the mono look a couple of times before (Christmas using a Lili of the Valley stamp and Christmas with a Tilda stamp) so I'm not actually very confident with it yet.  I love the idea but found the shades of grey more difficult than straight black and white.  The Paris background stamp is an old favourite from Rubber Romance and the shopping cutie is Whiff of Joy.  Everything was coloured (if you can call it that) with Copics and the pearls and flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts, as always.

Hop on over and play with us at Sweet Stampin' - we'd love to see what you do with our French theme!

Hugs

Tracey xx

Ooh La La!

Yet another week has gone by without having the chance to post any cards - actually, apart from my DT cards, I haven't done anything vaguely arty at all.  That can't be good, can it?

Well, to make up for this frightening lack of creative output I've made two cards for our new challenge over at Sweet Stampin' this week.  Can you tell that it was my turn to choose the challenge theme?  I went for "Ooh La La!" so you can make something with a French theme or something that's a bit cheeky or naughty. 

So here is card number 1...

I used an older Tilda and coloured her with Copics.  I cut her out with a Nestie and distress the background and edges with Antique Linen ink.  The DP is Prima (I think) and it has been distressed with my Timmy Thingy and ink.  The stickers are from a fairly old Penny Blank Sheet and the flowers are, as ever, from Wild Orchid Crafts.

I'll put the other card on later but in the meantime, if you're starting a Bank Holiday weekend, think of us in Scotland - no Monday off for us!  Whatever you're doing, have a great one and don't forget to hop over to Sweet Stampin' to see the lush creations my teamies have made!

Hugs

Tracey xx

Sweet Stampin' Challenge - Sketch/In the Garden

I don't know what has happened to the time this week, but I don't seem to have had 5 minutes to do anything other than school work!  Plus I'm late getting this post done as I thought I'd get my Spanish homework done when I got up (I'm learning Spanish and it's all done online).  I have to do a mini exam every other week and I was on the last page when I pressed the wrong button and ... yep, I had to start it all over again!

So, no card from me for now but hopefully I'll be back over the weekend with something or other.  However, you could go over and see the gorgeousness that is the work of my teamies at Sweet Stampin'.  It's team Fi's turn this week and they have another challenge with a choice - you can follow Val's sketch

 (which I'll definitely be using, it's fab) or you can do something on the theme of "in the garden". OR you could combine the two.  As usual, there are some brilliant prizes up for grabs - Mr Random will choose one weekly winner who will be able to choose 3 digis from the amazing Heather Ellis.  Our monthly sponsor is Joanna Sheen, who has donated a £10 voucher for her online store.

Right, time to throw something on the table for lunch!  Hope you're having better weather where you are - it's absolutely freezing here.

Hugs

Tracey

Sweet Stampin' Sketch

I'm sure it wasn't just me who was totally lost without Blogger!  Even though I'm often too busy to do much crafting during the week I still need my fix of blog hopping.  Hopefully all the problems have been fixed now - fingers crossed!

It's time for a new challenge over at Sweet Stampin' and this week we have a FAB sketch for you to follow. 

However, this challenge has an added dimension.  For those entrants who do not wish to use the sketch we have provided an additional option of using Spots, Stripes & Sparkle. And, if you can combine the lot, even better!

I managed to follow the sketch, although I turned it upside down and managed spots and stripes in my DP.  And speaking of DP, I am totally in love with this Girls Paperie paper, which I got online from the Craft Emporium.  The spotty rectangle is a Bo Bunny die cut and the colour seemed to tone so well with the other paper. 

I added a couple of strips of cream lace and a Marianne die cut which I threaded with pale blue ribbon. Tilda is coloured with Copics and cut out with a Nestie which I edged and lightly distressed with Pumice Stone ink.  Finally, the sentiment is a Penny Black sticker which I've had for ages and ages.

Do come on over to Sweet Stampin' and take a look at what the Sweeties have done with this challenge. We'd love to see your take on the sketch but remember, if sketches aren't your thing, you can just go with spots, stripes and sparkle!

I've just watched "An Education" on BBC2 - what a lovely film, no wonder Carey Mulligan got nominated for so many awards.  And my boy is home tonight after 4 days away on a school trip.  He's very tired and was pretty mucky as apparently he didn't have a shower once while he was away! Well, we've soon remedied that!  He spent all of his spending money on sweets and fizzy drinks so the only souvenir he brought back was a revolting rubber frog.  Evidently I have some work to do in the parenting department!

Have a lovely weekend everyone and thanks for stopping by.

Hugs,

Tracey xx

How do you choose a favourite hAnglar & stAnglar stamp?

What a dilemma!  I felt quite mean choosing a favourite hAnglar for the Lovely hAnglar Only challenge - I love them all!  In the end I chose one of my most recent purchases (the Sailor kit) and coloured her with Copics.  I cut her out with a Nestie and distressed the edges and background with some Pumice Stone ink.

The delicious DP is from the Girls Paperie (Kitch) - I love, love, love this and will absolutely have to get some more.  I used my Doohickey dies to cut the lace borders around the card and the (silly) half-doily die, which in my view is only any good if you make it look like the missing half is hidden! 

The ribbon was a joy to use although I've no idea what make it is as I won it in a candy from the loveliness that is Jacque in the USA. It's got a bit of sparkle and a slightly distressed feel, not to mention that it made a bow with the minimum of fiddling and tweaking! The flowers are, of course, from Wild Orchid Crafts.

It's my mum's birthday in 2 weeks and although I have already made her a card, I'm now tempted to send her this one instead.  It took a while for me to get it as I wanted, but I'm quite pleased with the end result. Hope you like it.

I'm going to put this card in for the following challenges:-

Lovely hAnglar Only - Use Your Favourite Stamp

Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes (+ option of something round)

Just Magnolia and hAnglar & stAnglar - Anything Goes (+ optional stitching)

I'm really hoping to catch up on some sleep this weekend - I'm so tired that 2 nights on the trot I've nodded off at the computer when I've been doing my school work.  Ridiculous when you think that we've hardly been at school over the last 4 weeks!

Whatever you're doing this weekend, enjoy!

Hugs,

Tracey xx