White plus One at Sweet Stampin'

It's time for our last challenge before Christmas at Sweet Stampin' and this week's theme is White plus one other colour.  We are being sponsored by the Stamp Fairy ( there's a sale on over there, too) who are giving away a $10 voucher to our randomly chosen winner.

Here's my DT make

Yes, I know, red and white - again! I used a Martha Stewart PATP to create the border around the card.  The stamp fairy image was coloured with Copics and I used a Magnolia die to cut the swirls.  A quick make out of necessity as it's been a mad-busy few weeks at school.

The high winds here seemed to have dropped a little so I'll be venturing out later to do the big supermarket shop.  Then it's cleaning and more cleaning as the house (like the crafting) has been rather neglected lately. 

Hope to visit you all over the next couple of days or so.

Hugs

Tracey xx

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow (but not where I live!)

First of all I must apologise for not visiting as often as I should over the past few weeks.  It's been a super-busy term, with lots of staff off sick or on maternity leave and it's left me with very little spare time for crafting or blogging.

However, it's only a week and a bit until we finish school for the Christmas break and I'm more than ready for it. 

Our last challenge for 2013 over at Christmas at Sweet Stampin' started today and we've chosen "Let It Snow" as our theme.  I went for CAS(ish) this time but once again, couldn't stop myself from using my favourite red and white!

I coloured this sweet Tilda with Copics, adding some Glamour Dust to her hat and to the little snowflakes around her.  The snowflakes were cut with a Joy Crafts border die and I sprayed the little WOC flowers with Glimmer Mist before sticking them to the snowflake centres.  Just a ribbon border was all that was needed to complete my card, so it was relatively quick to make.

As ever, my wonderful teamies (our Lesley calls us the CaSSettes!) have made the most beautiful inspiration projects, so I hope you'll be able to check them out here.  This month we're being sponsored by Flat Friends who have 4 digis to give away to one lucky winner, so why not enter those last minute Christmas cards?

Challenges I'd like to enter:

Midweek Magnolias - White Christmas
Without Words - Nearest and Dearest (my darling pal, who is rather poorly right now)


Mum and Dad are coming over at the weekend but I hope to get around to visit everyone on Sunday.

Enjoy your evening!

Tracey xx

Winter Wonderland

Hello! I'm running late today; we had a powercut earlier, so all of the usual Sunday morning jobs, like the ironing, had to wait until the power came back on :0(     I can't complain too much, though, as my friend just a couple of miles up the road had been without power for 50 hours!  I don't know how they managed, but they did - I think I'd have been leaving the country if it were me.

Anyway, I'm here to tell you about our last challenge for 2013 over at Lovely hAnglar or Sweet Magnolia.  We've chosen the theme of Winter Wonderland, so anything Christmassy or wintry will do, although you must use either a hAnglar & StAnglar or Magnolia stamp.

I made another flat card for posting:

 

 



I layered up Maja Design papers and kept the whole thing really clean so that I could concentrate on the colouring.  I masked the two Tildas with the church stamp from last year's Magnolia Christmas collection.  Colouring has been done with Copics.  I added die cut corners from La La Land and a Magnolia picket fence die cut, which I edged with Weathered Wood DI and sprinkled with Diamond Dust.  In fact, there's plenty of sparkle on my card - I went a bit loopy with the Glamour Dust and Stickles as well, although it doesn't perhaps show up too well in the photo!

We are sponsored by

If the words vintage and shabby chic makes your heart beat faster, you will find your haven at Live & Love Crafts!
Live & Love Crafts is a UK based online store that ships WORLDWIDE. The store is owned and operated by Sandra Mathis, a crafter who is as passionate about the vintage style as she is about customer service and providing a good shopping experience. Live & Love Crafts prides itself on having a website that is easy to navigate with excellent product images. Orders are dispatched fast; usually on the same day received.

Live & Love Crafts stocks a wide range of products from well-loved vintage brands such as Maja Design, Pion Design, Magnolia, Wild Orchid Crafts, Kort & Godt, Prima, Melissa Frances, Maya Road, and the Tim Holtz/Ranger product lines.

The store has a vast selection of laces, ribbons and trims, an assortment of over 200 charms and metal decorations, as well as many other unique embellishments that you can't find elsewhere. To help you save on costs, the charms/metal decos can be purchased singularly and all trims and ribbons are sold by the yard/meter. If you’re looking for products that will inspire and a one stop paper & embellishment shop, look no further than Live & Love Crafts!

 

with this fab prize

 

Do check out the gorgeous DT inspiration here - my teamies at LhoSM are a very talented lot!

 

Will keep this short and sweet as the lights keep flickering - in fact, I think I'll suggest to the Boy Wonder that we have dinner early in case the power goes again.

 

Enjoy the rest of your weekend and stay cosy!

 

 

Challenges I'd like to enter:

 

Midweek Magnolias - I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas

Tilda's Town #82 - Winter Wonderland

 

Tracey xx

Ribbon at Sweet Stampin'

Hello everyone!  This week has just flown by and this weekend I really must finish my Christmas shopping and start writing my cards.  However, before I do any of that, I need to tell you about this week's challenge at Sweet Stampin' which has the theme of Ribbons.

I used a Bildmalarna stamp and coloured my image with Copcis.  The papers are all Maja Design and they have been layered onto a Bazzill base which has a Martha Stewart PATP border.  The ribbon is from my stash and I added a chipboard corner painted with Crackle Paint and a wooden heart.  I've added some sparkle in the form of Glamour Dust on the wee girl's clothes, a flat-backed pearl in the centre of the ribbon and a little sprinkle of Shabby White frantage.

Our sponsors, Stamp and Create, are giving away a $20 voucher for their online store and we have the Ribbon Girl sponsoring our monthly prize draw.  My wonderful teamies have made the most gorgeous cards to inspire you, so do hop over to take a peek.

Challenges I'd like to enter:

The Ribbon Girl - Christmas

Have a great day!

Tracey xx

Christmas is Coming at LhSM!

It's that time of year when making Christmas cards seems to be top of the crafty to-do list for all but the most organised of us.  I wish I could say that I'm on schedule, but I never am, and this year is no different.  However, I've been able add one more to the "done" box as our challenge over at Lovely hAnglar or Sweet Magnolia is Christmas is Coming!

I used one of the much older Magnolia stamps for this card.  I love the quirkiness of them and they're very easy to colour. I put Crackle Accents on the bauble and a tiny bit of glitter; Tilda's wings have also had the sparkle treatment with some Glamour Dust.

The ribbons are from the Ribbon Girl (our lovely sponsors this fortnight) and the flowers were in my stash. The papers are Basic Grey and the snowflake borders were made with a Joy Crafts die.  I've been making more flat Christmas cards this year to save on postage costs, so it was great to be able to add my usual flowers and embellies on this one!

As I mentioned, we are being sponsored this fortnight by The Ribbon Girl

 

Lifelong crafters Mother and Daughter, Mary and Andrea were tired of having to buy full rolls of ribbon and lace when they only needed one metre.  Because they love ribbons and all things pretty, they decided to open their own online shop in 2010 and make small quantities of beautiful products easily available to all crafters. Mary owns the shop and runs it on a day to day basis as well as keeping the website updated while Andrea looks after the social side,  The Ribbon Girl Blog and the Design Team. They specialise in supplying small (or large) quantities of ribbon, twine, gorgeous vintage style lace and seam binding ribbon, tiny pom-pom and ric-rac trim, all sorts of buttons, fancy pins, a multitude of charms, pearl and crystal flourishes, wool felt squares, seasonal and unusual embellishments, mulberry flowers, sticky tape and accessories to card makers, crafters, scrapbookers and cake decorators. They stock only the best quality products and only offer for sale goods that they would personally buy and use themselves.

 

I hope you can join in this challenge with us.  Do hop over to LhSM to check out the fabulous designs my teamies have made to inspire you.

 

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

 

Hugs,

 

Tracey xx

Happy Birthday to Us!

Yay! Sweet Stampin' is celebrating its 4th birthday and we're inviting you to join in the fun!  We have host of fabulous prizes on offer this week and our challenge theme is an easy one: Cause for Celebration!

The Sweeties from both Team Abi and Team Fi have made inspiration projects this week, so there are plenty of gorgeous ideas to help you get started here.  Here's what I made:

I used my fabulous Cheery Lynn stepper card die to make the card base. The paper is Basic Grey Green at Heart, my favourite design in that particular collection.  Sadly this my last sheet :(  but it's worth it for such a special birthday!

The stamp is from Sugar Nellie and has been coloured with Copics.  I've added quite a lot of Glamour Dust for some birthday sparkle.  The sentiment is from Lili of the Valley and the pearls are from Wild Orchid Crafts.

We have not one, not two but THREE prizes up for grabs this week, plus all eligible entries go into the monthly prize draw.  Our monthly sponsor is our good friend the Ribbon Girl and the weekly prizes are as follows:

£10 voucher from Wild Orchid Crafts

£10 voucher from Crafters Companion

£10 voucher from Bunny Zoe Crafts

Plenty of reasons to play along, don't you think?  Remember to stamp, though!

Hugs,

Tracey xx

W-O-W!

Can you believe that another month has gone by?  Christmas is just a few weeks away - good job that Christmas at Sweet Stampin' is doing its bit to help you get those Christmas cards made!

We have a new challenge for you this month: White on White.  You can opt for an all-white card or a white background with a coloured image.  You'll see examples of both over at CaSS as my lovely teamies have made some stunning projects to inspire you.

Here's what I did (apologies for the dodgy photo)

I went for the all-white option and boy, did it take me out of my comfort zone!  I used various Magnolia dies to cut poinsettias, mistletoe and leaves and I added some glittery stamens from my stash for extra berries.  The poinsettia centres are glittered brads.  I punched a lacy layer using a Martha Stewart PATP and stamped a Lili of the Valley sentiment directly on the card in Versamark, then embossed it in silver.  I added a few clear rhinestones for a bit of bling and gave a big sigh of relief when it was done - this one really made me think!

We'd love to see your White on White creations and we've got a special goodie bag waiting for our winner, so come on over to CaSS and join in the fun!

Hugs

Tracey xx

Christmas Cutie

I managed to finish another Christmas card over the weekend so I though I'd share it with you.

 

This Tilda wasn't in the Stampclub set but I as soon as I saw her I knew that I needed to have her in my collection.  She was a joy to colour with my Distress Markers as she suits the soft tones you can create with them.  I simply added some Picket Fence Distress Stickles to the pompom on her hat and just sprinkled the lightest touch of Frantage around her to look like it is snowing (OK, so some of the snow is gold, but you can call it artistic license).

I used Basic Grey Piccadilly papers which I sewed and distressed with the Timmy Thingy and some Walnut Stain ink. The ribbon, flowers and lace were in my stash and the corner (complete with Frantage) was bought from Live and Love Crafts.

I'd like to enter this card in the following challenges:

Tilda's Town - Christmas
Simply Magnolia - Anything Goes
Deep Ocean Challenge - Winter
Live and Love Crafts - Christmas photo inspiration (Christmas and the gnomes' hats!)

Hugs

Tracey xx

Shabby Chic or Vintage at LhoSM

It's been a beautiful day here today: bright sunshine until about an hour ago, but bitterly cold - the car is still covered with frost from last night.  I've been hurling logs into the log-store this afternoon (it's way too cold to stack them neatly!) so I feel quite virtuous. Plus the house always feels more cosy when you come in from the cold, doesn't it?

We've got a new challenge starting over at Lovely hAnglar or Sweet Magnolia.  This fortnight our theme is

Shabby Chic or Vintage

 

I went for my hAnglar stamps for my DT card:

 

 

 

 

I also broke out the DIs again and really enjoyed painting these two cuties. The papers are from my stash but I think they're from a Glitz paper pad.  I stitched them around the edges in my usual fashion (ie. never knowing stitiched in a straight line!) and I used a mixture of flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts.  The sentiment is by Magnolia and is stamped using Weathered Wood DI.   I've added Glamour Dust, Stickles and Frantage for sparkle and more sparkle.  The corners, from Live and Love Crafts, were also given the Frantage treatment.

 

 

I do hope you can join in at LhoSM this fortnight. We are being sponsored by the fantastic

If the words vintage and shabby chic makes your heart beat faster, you will find your haven at Live & Love Crafts!
Live & Love Crafts is a UK based online store that ships WORLDWIDE. The store is owned and operated by Sandra Mathis, a crafter who is as passionate about the vintage style as she is about customer service and providing a good shopping experience. Live & Love Crafts prides itself on having a website that is easy to navigate with excellent product images. Orders are dispatched fast; usually on the same day received.

Live & Love Crafts stocks a wide range of products from well-loved vintage brands such as Maja Design, Pion Design, Magnolia, Wild Orchid Crafts, Kort & Godt, Prima, Melissa Frances, Maya Road, and the Tim Holtz/Ranger product lines.

The store has a vast selection of laces, ribbons and trims, an assortment of over 200 charms and metal decorations, as well as many other unique embellishments that you can't find elsewhere. To help you save on costs, the charms/metal decos can be purchased singularly and all trims and ribbons are sold by the yard/meter. If you’re looking for products that will inspire and a one stop paper & embellishment shop, look no further than Live & Love Crafts!

and look what you can win

 

I wouldn't mind that prize myself!

 

Hugs

 

Tracey x

A Quick Christmas Post

Back again! I've got a really busy week at work coming up, so I thought I'd better get a wiggle on with my Christmas cards/posts as I won't have much in the way of free time before next weekend.

I coloured up this little Tilda from last year's Christmas collection using my Copics and added some postmark and ivy stamps, also by Magnolia.  The papers are Maja Design and I've layered them up with white Bazzill, adding some silver Liquid Pearls here and there.  Some flowers from WOC  and a sprinkling of Glamour Dust and there you have it - reasonably quick and not too bulky for the Post Office.

I'd like to enter this card in the following challenges:

Totally Tilda - Going Postal
Ribbon Girl - Stripes (Tilda's Tights!)

Hugs

Tracey xx

Christmas is Coming!

Just in case you hadn't noticed, Christmas isn't too far away.  Living where I do, away from department stores and busy high streets, we don't get the sense that Christmas is around the corner until a couple of weeks before the big event.  But I love Christmas preparations and, of course, making Christmas cards!  Our latest challenge at Sweet Stampin' - Christmas is Coming - is one of my favourites.

Here's my DT card:

It's getting harder to photograph my cards now that there isn't so much daylight, but this is essentially a white-plus-brown/taupe colour scheme.  A bit different for Christmas, but I kinda like it.

I used two Magnolia stamps; the Edwin stamp is actually quite a bit smaller that the Tilda one, so a stamped Tilda first, masked her off and stamped Edwin so that he looks like he's standing ever so slightly behind her.  They have been coloured with Copics and I've added Stickles for some Christmas sparkle.  The sentiment is from a Lili of the Valley set - I love the font as it's pretty while still being easy to read.

The papers are all by Maja and I've used a square doily (behind the image) and a punched lacy square made with a Martha Stewart PATP.  The flowers are pearls are a mixture from my stash - some from Wild Orchid Crafts, some from the Ribbon Girl.

This week's Sweet Stampin' challenge is being sponsored by Cuddly Buddly, who are giving away a £10 voucher to one lucky winner.  The Ribbon Girl continue to sponsor our monthly prize draw, so every has 2 chances to win, as all entries are automatically entered into the monthly competition.

Do grab a cuppa and check out what my teamies have made to inspire you here - they are such a talented and lovely bunch!

Have a great Saturday!

Tracey xx

Sparkle!

On a grey day like today we could all use a little sparkle, so lucky for us that this is the theme of our latest challenge at Lovely hAnglar or Sweet Magnolia.

For my DT card I used a Magnolia stamp which came free with their magazine.  I coloured this with Copics and added lots of sparkle with a good sprinkling of Glamour Dust.

The papers are Piccadilly by Basic Grey and I added a large doily plus flowers and ribbon from my stash.

I hope you can join us at LhoSM this fortnight. We are joined by our lovely regular sponsors

Lifelong crafters Mother and Daughter, Mary and Andrea were tired of having to buy full rolls of ribbon and lace when they only needed one metre.  Because they love ribbons and all things pretty, they decided to open their own online shop in 2010 and make small quantities of beautiful products easily available to all crafters. Mary owns the shop and runs it on a day to day basis as well as keeping the website updated while Andrea looks after the social side,  The Ribbon Girl Blog and the Design Team. They specialise in supplying small (or large) quantities of ribbon, twine, gorgeous vintage style lace and seam binding ribbon, tiny pom-pom and ric-rac trim, all sorts of buttons, fancy pins, a multitude of charms, pearl and crystal flourishes, wool felt squares, seasonal and unusual embellishments, mulberry flowers, sticky tape and accessories to card makers, crafters, scrapbookers and cake decorators. They stock only the best quality products and only offer for sale goods that they would personally buy and use themselves.

with this fab prize

 

 

Have a great week!

 

Hugs,

 

Tracey xx

Trees or Leaves

It's an autumnal theme at Sweet Stampin' this week.  We'd like to see trees or leaves on your projects this time.  Hopefully the storms that are forecast for the southern half of the UK won't materialise and the trees and leaves will stay safely where they are meant to be.

I tried something really different (for me) for my DT card and went for one layer, no embellies and no colouring!  Here it is...

I masked off a rectangular shape using post-it notes and used Distress Inks to colour the panel before stamping the Memory Box trees in brown Staz-On.  The sentiment is a rub on.  It sounds simple enough, but it took me a few practice attempts, not to mention one or two card blanks, to get this right.  I think I'm quite pleased with it and it's yet another flat card for posting.

Our sponsor at Sweet Stampin' this week is the fabulous Hobbycutz and all eligible entries each month are automatically included in the monthly prize draw sponsored by the Ribbon Girl, so everyone basically has 2 chances to win.

Hope you can play along with us this week!


I'd like to enter this card in the Treemendous challenge over at Allsorts Challenge Blog.

Hugs

Tracey xx

Spots or Stripes

Another fortnight has flown by and it's already time for a new challenge at Lovely hAnglar or Sweet Magnolia!  Our theme this fortnight is Spots or Stripes, so a nice, easy one for you.

I got this fabulous Edwin stamp in the post recently and couldn't wait to ink him up for our challenge.

I used American Crafts and Simple Stories papers with Bazzill cardstock in blue and white.  As I wanted to keep the layout fairly simple I just used a couple of buttons from my stash as embellies.  Edwin has been coloured with Copics and I put a wee touch of silver Liquid Pearls on his buttons and the tiny little cufflink.

We are being sponsored by Live and Love Crafts this time:

If the words vintage and shabby chic makes your heart beat faster, you will find your haven at Live & Love Crafts!
Live & Love Crafts is a UK based online store that ships WORLDWIDE. The store is owned and operated by Sandra Mathis, a crafter who is as passionate about the vintage style as she is about customer service and providing a good shopping experience. Live & Love Crafts prides itself on having a website that is easy to navigate with excellent product images. Orders are dispatched fast; usually on the same day received.

Live & Love Crafts stocks a wide range of products from well-loved vintage brands such as Maja Design, Pion Design, Magnolia, Wild Orchid Crafts, Kort & Godt, Prima, Melissa Frances, Maya Road, and the Tim Holtz/Ranger product lines.

The store has a vast selection of laces, ribbons and trims, an assortment of over 200 charms and metal decorations, as well as many other unique embellishments that you can't find elsewhere. To help you save on costs, the charms/metal decos can be purchased singularly and all trims and ribbons are sold by the yard/meter. If you’re looking for products that will inspire and a one stop paper & embellishment shop, look no further than Live & Love Crafts!

 

 

Hope you can join in with us here this week!

Tracey xx

Halloween!

We have a new challenge at Sweet Stampin' - Halloween!  We've been sponsored by the Stamp Fairy who kindly gave the Sweeties some images to play with.  Here's what I did with mine:

Barry was coloured with Copics (pdq as he's wearing a sheet!). The papers are by Echo Park and I added a Memory Box die cut spider's web and a Sizzix spider cut from Doodlebug velvet cardstock.

Hope you can join in the fun with us this week!

Hugs

Tracey x

Male-y Christmas!

I can't believe it's time for another challenge over at Christmas at Sweet Stampin'.  The weeks are just flying by and the festive season will be upon us before we know it.

This month we'd like to see your festive creations for a male - yes, it's the thing I usually dread, cards for men or boys!

I opted for one of my hAnglar images for this challenge.  He is part of a couple and so lovely to colour.  I used Copics this time and stamped some snowflakes very lightly in Weathered Wood ink.  The ribbon was in my stash - no need for flowers on this project.

I do hope you can join in the fun with us over at Christmas at Sweet Stampin' this month. We're being sponsored by My Mum's Craft Shop who have a £10 voucher to give away to our lucky winner.

I'll be back over the weekend with my hAnglar DT card and hope to get some crafting time next week, as it will be the school holiday here in SW Scotland. 

In the meantime, enjoy the rest of your week!

Hugs

Tracey xx

Charming!

Hello again! I'm back with a card for the latest challenge at Lovely hAnglar or Sweet Magnolia and this fortnight we'd like to see a charm on your projects.

I brought out my go-to Autumn papers, the gorgeous "Shall We Have Coffee" collection from Maja Designs.  I coloured Tilda with DIs and sploshed a bit of Frantage here and there. I put some Crackle Glaze on the teapot and lots of glitter on the biscuits to look like icing sugar.  The cotton lace and velvet ribbon were left over from another card I made using these papers and as they go together so well, I decided to use this combination again.

The roses are from WOC and I added a teapot charm which I'm pretty sure I got from our fabby sponsor, the Ribbon Girl:

Lifelong crafters Mother and Daughter, Mary and Andrea were tired of having to buy full rolls of ribbon and lace when they only needed one metre.  Because they love ribbons and all things pretty, they decided to open their own online shop in 2010 and make small quantities of beautiful products easily available to all crafters. Mary owns the shop and runs it on a day to day basis as well as keeping the website updated while Andrea looks after the social side,  The Ribbon Girl Blog and the Design Team. They specialise in supplying small (or large) quantities of ribbon, twine, gorgeous vintage style lace and seam binding ribbon, tiny pom-pom and ric-rac trim, all sorts of buttons, fancy pins, a multitude of charms, pearl and crystal flourishes, wool felt squares, seasonal and unusual embellishments, mulberry flowers, sticky tape and accessories to card makers, crafters, scrapbookers and cake decorators. They stock only the best quality products and only offer for sale goods that they would personally buy and use themselves.

 

I do hope you can play along with us at LhoSM.  Do grab and cuppa and check out the cards my teamies have made - they are completely gorgeous!

 

Hugs,

 

Tracey xx

Things with Wings!

It's Saturday and that means a new challenge at Sweet Stampin'!  This week we're looking for Things with Wings.  Lili of the Valley are our sponsor with a £10 voucher to give away to one randomly chosen winner, so why not get those stamps out and play along?

Here's my take on our theme:

There are quite a few Autumn themed challenges out there at the moment and so I was drawn to my MME Indie Chic papers in tones of orange and brown.  The image is by hAnglar and Stanglar and I coloured her with my DIs for a change.  The mesh die cut was made using a Cheery Lynn die and I added flowers from WOC and ribbon & gems from my stash.

I'd like to enter this card in the following challenges:

Crafty Little Fairies - Autumn Colours
Wild Orchid Crafts - Inspired by Autumn

Will be back tomorrow with another card for LhoSM!

Hugs

Tracey xx

Wishful Thinking

We've got a really big jungle garden.  I spend quite a bit of time planning how beautiful it will look when all of the borders are weed-free, when I can persuade the rabbits and deer to eat the weeds and not my plants and when large parts of the garden aren't under water due to flooding.  Well, a girl can dream...

They are cutting a sizeable portion of the forest near my house and whereas I wouldn't normally see many deer until later in the year, we've noticed quite a few in the field looking a little lost.  My dear dad gave me a huge pot of Japanese Anemones to put into one of my borders but I think I'll be finding it a sheltered position near the house instead - those deer love to eat anything in flower!  My friend has even had them at her front door eating the flowers in a hanging basket!

So why am I going on about my garden?  Because Totally Tilda would like to see Tilda Gardening for their current challenge. 

One of my favourite things to do in the garden is plant up the baskets and pots, so I had to include a terracotta pot on my card!  I've had the button pot and tools in my stash for so long that I really can't remember where it came from.  The papers, however, are by Pion and I cut out some of the seed packet images from one of the double sided papers. 

Tilda was stamped onto watercolour card and has been coloured using Distress Markers. The border was made with a Martha Stewart PATP punch and the doily was cut from K & Co paper with a Cheery Lynn Doily die. 

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Totally Tilda - Tilda Gardening (must include seed packets/garden tools)

Enjoy your evening.

Hugs

Tracey xx

Just because

I'm just popping in quickly to show you a "Just because..." card I made at the weekend.  School is pretty full-on at the moment so it was lovely just to do some colouring and not have to think about co-ordinating papers and embellies.  Maybe I should do this more often!

What can I say?  I coloured Tilda with Copics, cut a square of deep purple Bazzill for the mat and adhered this to my card blank.  No flowers, no pearls, no frantage and I don't even feel remotely tempted to add anything! 

I'm going to enter this card in the following challenges:

Time for Magnolia  - No Design Paper
Marvelous Magnolia - Anything Goes

Hugs

Tracey

Favourite Embellies at LhoSM

What are your favourite embellies?  That's what we'd like to know over at Lovely hAnglar or Sweet Magnolia this fortnight.  We'd like to see creations which feature your favourite way to decorate your designs, which must of course feature either a Magnolia or a hAnglar & StAnglar stamp.

No prizes for guessing that my favourite embellies are flowers!  Here's what I made:

I've gone for an autumnal theme as it's apparent that summer has left the building in SW Scotland! I coloured this cute wee hAnglar stamp with Copics and added some Glossy Accents to the puddle and raindrops.  The papers are Basic Grey and I chose a selection of WOC roses in shades of green.  I gave the old Martha Stewart PATP another outing to make a border around my Bazzill base and having contemplated adding some gems, decided that the card was busy enough!

Hop on over to LhoSM and check out the lovely creations my teamies have made to inspire you.  There's a GDT slot for one lucky winner, chosen by the LhoSM team!

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday!

Hugs

Tracey xx

Fancy Folds

There's a new challenge at Sweet Stampin': we'd like to see Fancy Folds in your designs this week, please!

I made a pocket card; I like to have a stock of these as they are so useful now that my son's friends and my friends' kids are in their teens and twenties - you can just pop in a voucher for iTunes or whatever and the job is done.

 

You can just about see the pocket where the tag is sticking out.  I've done a quick tutorial to show you how I made the card base which you can find here. 

Tilda has been coloured with Copics and I've added some Liquid Pearls in white around the image.  The tag was cut with a Sizzix die.

Our sponsor this week is Iva Nova Chest.  Why not hop over to Sweet Stampin' and check out the DT's projects - the Sweeties have surpassed themselves this week!

Hugs

Tracey xx

Santa Claus is Comin' to Town!

Here we go again with another challenge at Christmas at Sweet Stampin'!  This month we'd like to see Santa feature somewhere on your projects. It can be a jolly Santa, a vintage Santa, a stamped Santa, a pre-coloured Santa... the possibilities are limitless as long as the big guy in the red suit can be clearly seen!

Here's what I did

I was having a mooch around the Funky Kits website and somehow this Sugar Nellie digi stamp happened to fall into my shopping basket ;)  The image has been coloured with Copics and I've added two different colours of Glamour Dust for a bit of Christmas sparkle.

I've kept the rest of the card clutter-free as there's a lot going on in the image.  The papers are Basic Grey Aspen Frost and the sentiment was bought from Lakeland a LONG time ago.  I cut a corner shape from red Bazzill to fill some of the white space in the top left of the image.

Once again my fabby teamies have made the most gorgeous Christmas creations to inspire you, so do hop over here to take a look.  We're being sponsored by Funky Kits so there's a lovely prize awaiting the lucky winner.

Don't know about you, but I could fancy a sherry and a mince pie now!

I'd like to enter this card in the following challenges:

Basic Grey - Anything Goes (DP is Aspen Frost)
The Sugar Bowl - Anything Goes


Hugs

Tracey xx

Multi-tasking - as you do

I'm making dinner, plus doing a bit of housework and posting a card which I made earlier in the week but didn't get around to putting on the blog.  How long is it to the next school holiday?

Sorry that it's not the best photo but it's already almost dark here - it seems only a couple of days ago that it was still light at 10pm!  Anyhoo, Tilda has been coloured with Copics, then liberally sprinkled with Frantage and Glamour Dust.  The papers are Maja Design and some have been cut with my Spellbinders wavy borders.

There's lace, ribbon from my stash, some Make It Crafty (I think) chipboard corners which I painted with Crackle Paint in Picket Fence. The sentiment is a rub-on and the doily and flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts.

I'd like to enter this card in the following challenges:

Simply Magnolia - Birthday and Glitter
Magnolia Down Under - Lovely Lace
Midweek Magnolias - Once Upon A Time

Hope to be back over the weekend.  Next job, fix the toilet (don't ask).

Hugs

Tracey xx

Spots and Stripes

It's time for a new challenge at Sweet Stampin'.  This week we're looking for "Spots and Stripes".  We're being sponsored by SK Digis who have given the DT some images to play with.

 Here's what I did with mine

I used papers by My Minds Eye and added a Cheery Lynn bee, some Dienamics die cut corners and ribbon, a button and a brad from my stash.

I do hope you can join in the fun with us at Sweet Stampin' this week - hop on over and check out the fab cards my lovely teamies have made.

Have a great day!

Tracey xx

Fun in the Sun

Well, it's already our second week back at school and I'm trying to work out where the summer holidays went!  Only seven weeks to go and it will be the October break and shortly after that the Boy Wonder will turn fourteen... I'm sure time speeds up as you get older.

I've got a whole collection of half-finished cards waiting for some attention but I did manage to get this one done - probably because I've kept it fairly "clean".

I masked Tilda with the ice cream stand stamp and coloured the image with Copics. I put Crackle Glaze on Tilda's bucket and Glossy Accents on the shelf of ice cream stand to make it look like glass.

The papers are both by Echo Park and I joined them with some contrasting stripy ribbon.  With so much colour I decided not to clutter things up with embellies and I'm quite pleased with the way this turned out.  I'm also happy that I've managed to add another flat card for posting to my collection!

I'd like to enter this in the following challenges:

Without Words - Beach Holiday/At the Seaside
Totally Tilda -  At the Seaside/BBQ

Have a great week!

Tracey xx

LhoSM - Punches or Dies

I can't believe how quickly the weeks are flying by - it's already time for a new challenge over at Lovely hAnglar or Sweet Magnolia!

Our theme this fortnight is Punches and/or Dies, so we'd like you to use these on your creations for this challenge.  I seem to be in Christmas mode at the moment, so I used this cute hAnglar & StAnglar image for my DT card:

I coloured this cute couple with my Copics and used some blue DI to stamp around them.  I put Glossy Accents on the kettle, Crackle Accents on the mugs and some Glamour Dust on the doughnuts.  I also got the Frantage out again - today a mixture of Shabby White and Aqua.  The DP is by Magnolia and is layered up with white Bazzill, on which I've used my Martha Stewart PATP to create a wavy border.  The mistletoe and leaves were cut with Doohickey dies.  Can you believe the rosette is also a die cut?  I've used the Dienamics rosette die on some felt, then rolled it up to make the flower. 

We're very lucky to be sponsored by Live and Love Crafts this fortnight.

 

If the words vintage and shabby chic makes your heart beat faster, you will find your haven at Live & Love Crafts!
Live & Love Crafts is a UK based online store that ships WORLDWIDE. The store is owned and operated by Sandra Mathis, a crafter who is as passionate about the vintage style as she is about customer service and providing a good shopping experience. Live & Love Crafts prides itself on having a website that is easy to navigate with excellent product images. Orders are dispatched fast; usually on the same day received.

Live & Love Crafts stocks a wide range of products from well-loved vintage brands such as Maja Design, Pion Design, Magnolia, Wild Orchid Crafts, Kort & Godt, Prima, Melissa Frances, Maya Road, and the Tim Holtz/Ranger product lines.

The store has a vast selection of laces, ribbons and trims, an assortment of over 200 charms and metal decorations, as well as many other unique embellishments that you can't find elsewhere. To help you save on costs, the charms/metal decos can be purchased singularly and all trims and ribbons are sold by the yard/meter. If you’re looking for products that will inspire and a one stop paper & embellishment shop, look no further than Live & Love Crafts!

 

Hope you can join in with our challenge at Lovely hAnglar or Sweet Magnolia. Why not hop on over to see what my teamies have made to inspire you?

 

Hugs

 

Tracey xx

Bold and Beautiful

Good morning! It's time to hop over to Sweet Stampin' as we've starting a new challenge this morning.  You'll need your shades on, though - our theme is Bold and Beautiful and the Team Abi Sweeties have excelled themselves this week with their DT projects.

I went for my all-time favourite Tiddly Inks image and teamed it with Basic Grey DP (from the Bittersweet pad) and a big pink bow made with ribbon from my stash. 

Hope you can play along at Sweet Stampin' this week - we've got prizes from Crafters Companion and Iva Nova Chest up for grabs, as well as our monthly prize draw sponsored by the Ribbon Girl, so it's got to be worth a shot!

Have a lovely day!

Hugs

Tracey xx

Flower Power

I bought an obscene amount of stamps this summer and I'm ashamed to say that I've hardly used any of them.  So, to make amends I inked up this wee cutie from Sugar Nellie:

This stamp was a joy to colour! I used my Copics and added plenty of Glamour Dust and some Liquid Pearls in pink and white.  The large punched border was made with a Martha Stewart PATP and the mat for the image is two Spellbinders die cut rectangles placed side by side.  The DP is Basic Grey, from the Sugared collection. 

I'd like to enter this card into the Sugarbowl challenge, which is Anything Goes.

Have a lovely evening!

Tracey xx

Looks like rain, dear

It's time for another challenge at Christmas at Sweet Stampin'! Our theme this month is "Christmas Animals" and I've gone for the most Christmassy animal of all, courtesy of a fab digi stamp from Digistamp Boutique.

I've kept the whole thing very simple, apart from a dollop or two of frontage (which frankly I wish I hadn't done, but there you go).  The paper is from an October Afternoon pad and I've coloured the image with Copics.  The holly berries and noses have had a drop of Diamond Glaze to give a 3D effect, although I don't know how well that shows up in the photo.

We've got a fab prize for our lucky winner this month - a £10 voucher for Quixotic Paperie, our sponsor for August.

Hope you can join in the fun at Christmas at Sweet Stampin' - the festive season is closer than you (may care to) think!

Hugs

Tracey xx

Feeling Festive

I'm back again with another Christmas card, which I made with the Totally Tilda challenge in mind.  I've been planning it in my head for a few days but am racing now to get this post done, as the challenge closes shortly!

Totally Tilda's challenge is based on a Christmas Bingo grid; I've chosen the middle, vertical line using ribbon, snowflake die cuts and glitter.

The Joy Crafts snowflake border is my new favourite - even though it took me several passes through my battered old Big Shot to get a clean cut.  I used a Spellbinders border die for the dark purple panel. The paper is by Magnolia, the ribbon is from my stash and the roses are from Wild Orchid Crafts.  Tilda has been coloured with Copics in greys and violets; she's also been liberally sprinkled with Glamour Dust!

Challenges entered:

Totally Tilda - Christmas Bingo
Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes

Have a lovely evening!

Tracey xx

It's beginning to look a lot like...

Christmas?  There are quite a few Christmas themed challenges on the go at the moment, although from my window this morning it definitely looks more like autumn.  The rain is lashing down and the sky is very black.  Hey ho, looks like I won't be cutting the grass today!

I've had mojo trouble recently.  Isn't it always the way when you're not at work?  Just wait until next week when we're back at school - the inspiration will no doubt return when I'm meant to be marking and preparing lesson plans!

Anyway, this card took a while to finish because I couldn't get the embellies right.

I used some non-Christmas paper from Maja Designs but I think it works quite well.  I cut the layers with my Go Kreate dies and then managed to break my Grand Calibur (like, properly break it, beyond repair).  The image is from the new Lili of the Valley Christmas release and she's absolutely my favourite.  She's been coloured with Copics and has had a good sprinkling of Glamour Dust.

I wanted to keep things fairly simple so after trying and not liking the flowers I stuck on, I picked them off (as you do) and made some poinsettias with a Doohickey die and Maja paper instead.  I'm still not convinced - maybe I should have kept the whole thing plain but I needed to hide the glue from the first lot of flowers!

I'm going to enter this in the following challenges:

Lili of the Valley Ideas to Inspire Challenge - Make It Festive
Lili's Little Fairies - Christmas in August
Deep Ocean Challenges - Christmas in July

Well, the housework calls, although I keep trying to ignore it.

Hugs

Tracey xx

Beside the seaside, beside the sea!

It's been an interesting week.  The Boy Wonder and I headed off to Edinburgh to meet up with our Sweetie pals.  In spite of getting hopelessly lost in the maze of roadworks (it took longer to find our way to the zoo than it did to get from home to Edinburgh!) we had a lovely day - it was fabulous to see everyone again.

Wednesday wasn't quite what we'd got planned: the electricity circuit board kept tripping and we couldn't find what was causing the problem - until the boiler went "pop!". After a slight panic when the boiler people said it might be next Tuesday before they could send anyone out, we were highly relieved and grateful when the boiler man arrived yesterday afternoon.  Oh, the joy of a hot shower!

Anyhoo... I really should tell you about the new challenge over at Sweet Stampin' which started today.  The theme is By The Sea/Ocean and here's what I made:

I thought it would make a change to use a side stepper card base.  I layered up the Maja paper with foam tape to give it some depth and used a Memory box die to cut the waves border.  The images are both Magnolia, coloured with Copics and the bow was made from the fabric used to hold together a set of tea towels I bought from the Aldi!

Do hop over to Sweet Stampin' and check out the fabby cards my teamies have made.  Sir Stampalot is our sponsor this week, with 2 stamps to give away and the Ribbon Girl are sponsoring our monthly prize draw once again.

Enjoy your weekend!

Tracey xx

A bit of brightness on a grey day

It's looking pretty stormy out there again today! I'm really hoping that we don't get a repeat of yesterday's weather and powercuts as I've got redcurrant jelly to make.  The Boy Wonder and I picked over 5lbs of redcurrants from the garden on Monday and the plan was to make the jelly yesterday, but obviously with the electricity going off it couldn't be done. 

On the theme of cooking, I thought I'd ink up this cute Tilda as I haven't really had the opportunity to use her very much.

The DP is from the Basic Grey Piccadilly collection and I love the bold colours, which I managed to match with flowers from my stash. 

Challenges entered:

Basic Grey Challenges - Flowers

Have a lovely day!

Tracey xx

Red hair and pink? Why not?

Hello from stormy Scotland! We've had the mother of all thunderstorms this morning followed by a powercut till just after 12 noon.  I'm not complaining, though, as Scottish Power have sent texts out saying that some people may not have their power restored until 6pm this evening. 

I spent the time without the internet giving my crafty stash a good sort out, namely stamps and dies.  These will be going on eBay shortly.  I had hoped to do some colouring to try to get ahead with my DT cards, but it's still way too dark.  And the ironing beckons...

However, I do have a card today - another Tilda in readiness for a girlie birthday.

I've been at the Go Kreate dies and Maja papers again - as you can see, I'm fairly smitten with these at the moment!  Tilda is coloured with Copics and after some experimenting with colours, I managed to get her hair red enough by using a combination of E31, 33, 35 and 39 with some orange from the YR numbers, including YR14, 18 and 27. 

I'm going to enter this card into the following challenges:

Totally Tilda - Titian Tilda
Bunny Zoe's Monthly Challenge - Pink and White

Hugs

Tracey xx

Another Glorious Day

It's another stunningly beautiful morning here in SW Scotland so I'm going to make the most of it before the forecast storms arrive tomorrow :(  First, though, here's a card I made for the Marvelous Magnolia challenge, which this week is Embossing + a sentiment.

I'm still completely smitten with my Maja Designs papers so have used these again with my Go Kreate dies. Tilda has been coloured with Copics and I've used Frantage for the embossing part of the challenge. 

I've gone a bit bonkers with the flowers but my logic is that I can't justify buying more if I don't use these up!

Have a lovely day!

Tracey xx

Bingo!

We're having a Bingo challenge over at Lovely hAnglar or Sweet Magnolia! My teamies have made the most adorable creations to inspire you and some have even got a "Full House" by using all of the options on the Bingo Board!  The prize this fortnight is a GDT spot, so there's everything to play for!

Here's my take: I went for the bottom line, Sparkle, Ribbon and Flowers




My lovely friend is due to have a little girl later this year, so I thought I'd get ahead and make the card while I'm on holiday.  The DP is from the fabulous Maja Design Sofiero range  and I love how pretty this is.  I stamped my hAnglar girlie onto a Nestie diecut and coloured her with Copics.  I'm really pleased with how well the Copics, paper and pinky-mauve roses match up - more by luck than by design, but that's fine by me!

The flowers are a mixture from WOC and the Ribbon Girl; the white vine/leaves is actually ribbon, too and I think it was from the Pretty Little Ribbon Shop (so sad that this has closed). The butterfly was cut with a Cheery Lynn die and I used some wired ribbon to make the big bow. There's Glamour Dust on her wings and clothes to add some sparkle.

You can get all the details over at LhoSM but I've included the bingo grid here for you to see.

Hope you can play along this fortnight!

Challenges entered:

That Craft Place - It's a Girl Thing

Hugs

Tracey xx

Christmas in July

I am SO loving this fabulous weather! The sky is picture-postcard blue, the sun is shining and there is a slight breeze to help us keep cool.  It seems stranger than usual, then, to be posting a Christmas card in July, but that's our new challenge at Sweet Stampin'!

I've been revisiting some of my older Lili of the Valley stamps as I have no doubt that I'll NEED a good number of the lovely new Christmas stamps which are due out next week. 

I've been at the Simple Stories paper pad again.  I love this collection; it goes so well with kraft card and has that lovely homespun, folk-art look.  I teamed it with a Cheery Lynn border and patterned ribbon from my stash.  I cut a Dienamics photo corner and a Doohickey bow and used the offcut hearts from the La La Land banner die to echo the hearts in the ribbon. 

Stamp and Create are sponsoring this challenge with a $20 voucher for their online store, so do hop over here to see the fabulous inspiration projects my teamies have made! Stamp and Create also have a sale on right now, if you fancy a little internet shopping!

I'll be back tomorrow with my Lovely hAnglar DT card but in the meantime have a fabulous weekend!


Challenges entered:

Lili's Little Fairies - Christmas in July

Hugs,

Tracey xx