Happy Birthday Gerda & a Surprise Blog Hop!

I am so lucky to be part of the StampFairy DT & able to use lots of Gerda's fabulous images.  As today is Gerda's birthday Jackie our DT leader has organised a *Surprise* blog hop to celebrate.  So "Happy Birthday Gerda, have a fabulous day & I hope you like our virtual birthday party!".  My image is "Lenny Cupcakes" as I (amongst many are providing the cake & you can never have too much cake!).  I did lots of paper piecing & it took ages (but you're worth it Gerda hun), used my cupcake border punch & finished off with a flower, gems, charm & greeting.

I hope you will join in the celebrations with us & one lucky commenter on my blog who sends birthday wishes to Gerda will win the gorgeous image that I used (please also include your email address when you comment so your image can be sent to you if you win).  How fab is that!  I you are joining in the Hop you should have arrived here from the  very talented Annette's blog & the next stop on the Hop is the wonderful Chrissy (you will get lots on inspiration on her great blog).

The Hop will run from 12.00 est today until Monday 1st of August, so you gotta be quick :)

The challenges:

Ellephantastic - Celebrations

Bling It On - Anything Goes

Dutch Dare - Birthday Time

Card Makin' Mamas - Food & Drink

Craft Us Crazy - Anything Goes

I Love ProMarkers - Anything Goes
Fuzzy Wuzzy - Get Punchy (with an animal)

It's Time...

For the 2nd Jellypark Friends challenge which this time is photo inspiration. The image I used is one of the 2 new releases today which is called Princess & Flowers (I had a tough time with this image & had to cut her out in the end & I've just realised I forgot to put her crown on lol - so my version is little girl & flowers hehe).  I did lots of random stitching on the card & ribbon & finished off with some gems, padded embellishments & a greeting.  It was great to see so many of you joining in for our 1st challenge & we hope you will be able to join us again (or for the 1st time).

The challenges:

Crafts & Me - Ribbon

Totally Gorjuss - Punch & Die

The Crazy Challenge - Ribbons

I Love ProMarkers - Anything Goes

Digi Doodles - Anything Goes

Stamps R Us - Happy Birthday

Anything Goes - Pick of the Bunch

Deep Ocean - Ribbons

Kaboodle Doodles - Stitching
4 Crafty Chicks - Get Your Bling On
Shopping Our Stash - Buttons, Blooms & Bananas
Dutch Dare - Birthday Time
Scrapbook Sisters - Happy Birthday
The Stamp Man - Stitching

I can't believe it is Friday already - this week has flown by & I've really had a lovely time away (DIL not had baby yet though, it was due last Saturday) & I'm still playing catch-up with my crafting lol.  Have a great weekend what ever your up to (we have a BBQ tomorrow & hubby at 6-a-side footy competition Sunday so hopefully can do some more catching up then).

Meet Barry Winter :)

This week's StampFairy new release is "Barry Winter", isn't he fun & I got to make another Christmas card so it's all good lol.  I coloured him with ProMarkers & added some Glamour Dust.  The papers are digi & I finished off with a greeting, a couple of gems, padded tree & ribbon.  Don't forget there is 50 % off all StampFairy digital images (even the new releases!) so you can stock up on all your favourite images :)  

I'm entering my card for these challenges:

Really Reasonable Ribbon - Cool It!

Creative Belli - Christmas in July

Pollycraft - Christmas in July

Passion For ProMarkers - Animal Crackers

Crafty Creations - Christmas in July 

Charisma Cardz - 4 Legged Friends

Kraft Outlet - Christmas in July

Amber's Craft & Stuff - Patterned Paper

Papercraft Star - Anything Goes
Sassy Studio - Christmas in July
Party Time Tuesdays - Anything Goes
Crafty Catz - Christmas In July
Fussy & Fancy - Christmas in July

Focus on the Sentiment

This week's Sentimental Sundays challenge is "Focus on the Sentiment". I've made another coaster ( I have a matching pair now :)  ).  I used an old coaster, covered it with a couple of scraps of paper & added a lovely sentiment which is from Raindrop Echo.  I finished off with some peel off borders & 2 stamped, punched & glitter butterflies.  I made it waterproof by covering with clear sticky back plastic.  Don't forget to check out the other DT members creations for lots of inspiration & also the freebie (there's a new one every week).

The challenges:

Flutterby - Open (with a fairy, butterfly or angel)

Stampalot - Anything Goes

Crafty Catz - No Pink or Blue Allowed

Digi Doodle - Clean & Simple

& here's the 2 together

I hope you're having a fab weekend we're on holiday at the moment visiting relatives :) (so hopefully this post has appeared lol)

Say Hello to Lionel

Lionel is this Friday's new StampFairy release & isn't he adorable :) I coloured him with ProMarkers & the papers are Alphabet Soup for Boys from the Sweet Shoppe (these are some of my favs & by one of my fav designers Zoe Pearn).  I just added some gems to his crown & finished off with a lion brad.  As I like the papers soo much I thought I'd decorate the inside of the card too :) Don't forget the freebie every Friday too!

The challenges:

Die Cut Dreams - Animals (with 4 legs)

Sweet Stampin - One for the Boys

I Did It - Animals

Fab 'n' Funky - Animal Magic

Creative Card Crew - Animal Antics

Create4fun - Sketch

Charisma - Sunshine Colours
Totally Papercrafts - One for the Boys
Cute Card Thursday - For his Eyes Only
Freshly Brewed - Get Wild

As I said in my previous post I'm going to be AWOL for a few days so won't be doing any commenting/blogging but will try & catch up when I get back :)  Take Care xxx

Paws For Thought...

The new challenge at Stampin' for the Weekend is "Paws for Thought" (animals: cats, dogs - anything with 4 legs).  I used this cute image called "Birthday Rascal" from Di's Digi Downloads & coloured it with ProMarkers, I added some embroidered flowers & cupcake, tag, ribbon & gems.  The prize on offer is a goody bag & the design team have come up trumps (as always) so why not check them out for LOTs of inspiration. 

I'm going to be away for a few days - we're off to Kent to see our grandchildren Ryan & Abigail & son Craig & it is extra exciting cos DIL Zoe is expecting their 3rd child any time now! (another little girl).  So I won't be doing any blogging/commenting for a while but I will be enjoying myself ;) Have a fab weekend everyone!

Get Masculine at Sentimental Sundays...

Yes the challenge at Sentimental Sundays this week is to create a masculine project (with a sentiment), those of you who know me (or even just pop by occasionally) will probably realise that masculine cards are not my favourite to make (I think it is because I find them hard to embellish) but this card was fine (perhaps because it is not exactly the MOST masculine card you will ever see lol).  I used this fab "Seaside Ted" image from Di's Digi Downloads & coloured it with ProMarkers.  I finished off with 3 gems, 2 punched crabs, net, 2 gingham ribbons, ticket sentiment & a metal clip. 

The challenges:

Bunny Zoe - Fun in the Sun

Really Reasonable Ribbon - Cool It!

Fairy Fun - On Holidays

Crafts & Me - Summertime

Secret Crafter - Holidays

Passion for ProMarkers - Gingham (ribbon)

PaperTake - Hot, Hot, Hot

Fussy & Fancy - Summer

Fab 'n' Funky - Food

Crafty Purple Frog - Summer Fun

Fuzzy Wuzzy - Get Punchy
The Craft Garden - Use a Bird on Your Project

New Releases at Jellypark :)

As well as the start of the new Jellypark Friends Friday challenges today there are 2 new releases: "Princess for a Day" & "Rabbit & Balloon". I made a card with the Princess & coloured her with ProMarkers & some liquid pearls.  The papers are digi & I have been making some beaded butterfly necklaces lately & thought one would look nice on a card :) I finished off with Glamour Dust, ribbon & a charm.  There is also a Jellypark online magazine which I only saw today which looks fab (how proud am I to be in it!).  

The challenges:

Creative Belli - Custom Made Bellies (butterfly)

Totally Papercrafts - Girly Girl

Pixie Dust - Girly Girl

PaperPlay - Things With Wings

C.R.A.F.T - Butterflies

AiFactory - Stripes & Spots

Creative Craft - Pretty Blossoms
My Mum's Craft Shop - Pearls & Swirls
Clear it Out - Wings
By the Cute & Girly - Things With Wings
 

Have a fabulous weekend :)

*A Brand New Challenge Blog & A Fabulous Freebie*

Jellypark Friends Friday Challenges start today & to celebrate Claire (the v talented Jellypark designer) is giving away a fabulous snowman freebie & as the 1st challenge is Christmas in July you have no excuse not to enter (unless you haven't got enough time of course lol) but you don't have to use a Jellypark image & can enter any Christmas paper craft project that you wish.  I used the freebie snowman & altered the size to make a family (oh & I flipped the image of Mum so they looked better together).  I coloured them with ProMarkers & finished off with some Glamour Dust, gems, ribbon & chipboard letters & snowballs.  I hope you can join us for our 1st challenge & we're looking forward to seeing all your wonderful creations.

I'm entering my card for these challenges:

Simon Says - Anything Goes

Gingerloft - Make it Sparkle

Stampin with the Dragon - Christmas in July

Craft Us Crazy - Christmas in July &/or Distressed Vintage

Pollycraft - The Great Outdoors

Digistamps4Joy - Christmas in July

Divas by Design - Pastels

Catch the Bug - Clean & Simple
Stamp Something - Christmas in July

I will be back later with my post for Jellypark's new releases :)

StampFairy Friday Releases

This week's Friday release is these cute "Lenny Music" images, the DT had Lenny with his cello to play with but check out all the other fab musical images too :)  I coloured him blue only because the cello is brown & I thought if he was brown too it would be too much lol.  The papers are various digi from my stash & I finished off with a (huge) chipboard note, buttons & a ticket.  StampFairy have a challenge too which this week is to "Try a New Technique" so if you fancy having a go at that please join us (you do need to use a StampFairy image but there are so many wonderful ones to choose from AND there is a freebie every Friday!).

My challenges:

Creative Inspirations - No Flowers Allowed

Crafty Creations - Boyz to Men

KB - Cute

Scrapalicious USA - Use a Bear in Your Project

Paper Pretties - Animals

Freshly Brewed - 3 of Anything (buttons)

Crafting for all Seasons - Furry Friends
Use it Tuesday - Animals (hoarded supplies: buttons & chipboard)

Hope you've had a good week & the weather has been better than it is here! (Winter has arrived already on the east coast of England).

Monday's Exciting News...

Is that I've been chosen for The Paper Shelter design team, how cool is that!  They have fantastic digital images & papers (& anyone who knows me or reads my blog knows that I LOVE using digis they are so versatile).  I hope you will check out their fabulous images if you haven't seen them before & they also have a challenge blog with the latest challenge being "Lots of Dots" & you can use any image too :)

How cute is this badge :)

I needed a quick thank you card for the GP Registrar, Tamer who has just finished his training with our surgery & bought he us all a bottle of wine & an Egyptian bookmark (he is from Egypt) & when I saw this "Dr Pepe L'Souris" image I thought it was perfect! Even better is that you get coloured & black & white images, much as I love colouring I didn't have much time yesterday so I used the coloured image & just tweaked it a tiny bit :) 

I'd like to enter my card for these challenges:

A Gem of a Challenge - Let's Hear it For The Boys

Lollipop - Anything Goes

Deep Ocean - Cards

Catch The Bug - Clean & Simple

Bearly Mine - Anything Goes

Have a great Monday everyone & let's hope it's going to be a good week.

Inky Fingers at Sentimental Sundays

Hope you're all having a lovely weekend :)  Today's challenge at Sentimental Sundays is "Inky Fingers" (unconventional stamping, materials or techniques - with a sentiment).  Well this really got me thinking, I was going to do some distressed sort of vintage creation but as you can see that didn't happen lol (I just can't stop making pretty & girly cards at the mo lol).  

So I decided to try the "Spotlight" technique which (I believe) is where you stamp an image twice, leave part (or most) of the first image uncoloured & cut out a section (any shape) of the second image, colour it & line it up with the first image (or I guess you could do it the other way round) - anyway that's what I did.  I love this cute stamp from LOTV & I coloured part with ProMarkers, the papers are Papermania "Sweet Nothings".  I did some machine stitching & used my cupcake border punch for the first time, finishing off with lace, flowers, pearls & a greeting.  I hope you will get your thinking caps on & give this challenge a go.  Don't forget fab free sentiments every week.

The challenges:

Stamps R Us - There Was a Little Girl...

Creative Craft - Pretty Blossoms

Simon Says - A Stitch in Time

Pollycraft - Celebrations

Papertake -Anything Goes

Cute Card Thursday - Lace

A Spoon Full of Sugar - Sewing

Wags 'n' Wiskers - Birthdays

Charisma Cardz - All About Flowers

Penny's - Birthdays

Ladybug - Summer Birthdays

Stampin' For The Weekend Challenge

This fortnight's SFTW challenge is "Wings & Things".  I love butterflies & fairies so this is a great one for me :D & in fact my image is really a combination of the 2!  I used this gorgeous image from Jellypark of a cute lil girl with butterfly wings that I coloured with ProMarkers & added Glamour Dust around the outside.  The papers are for Designer Digitals & I did some machine stitching, finishing off with ribbon, punched butterflies & flowers, a button, brad & gems (greeting from Craftwork Cards).

I hope you'll be able to join us & that you'll check out the other DT members creations if you're looking for more inspiration (& even if you're not why not check them out anyway).  I would like to enter my card into the Sir Stampalot challenge this month which is "Anything Goes".

Have a fantastic weekend what ever you get up too & hope the weather's good (we've had rain & gale force winds the last couple of days so I'm hoping that's going to change).

Have a Wizard Day!

This week's Friday release at StampFairy is Tommy Wizard & what fab timing with the release of the last Harry Potter film this week :D  I coloured him with ProMarkers with some chalk for the background.  The papers are from Designs by Krista (apart from the Spider one which is from Summertime Designs).  I finished off with the "Have a Magical Day" greeting which is this week's fab freebie!

The challenges:

City Crafter - Birds of a Feather

Fab 'n' Funky - Purple Haze

Everybody Art - Use Shapes

Allsorts - Free & Easy

Bearly Mine - Anything Goes
I Love ProMarkers - Clean & Simple
StampInsanity - Anything Goes
PaperCrafting Journey - For Him
Aud Sentiment - At Least 2 Words
Crafter's Companion - One For The Boys

I hope you've had a great week :)

A Little Teaser & A Contest at Jellypark

Over at Jellypark  we are very excited to be getting ready for the "Jellypark Friends Friday Challenges" (that's a bit of a mouthful lol) with the very first challenge starting on 15th July & if you pop over to the Jellypark blog there is a lil contest to win the fantastic new digital image releases from the Jellypark store!

ALSO over at Paper Craft Planet, as soon as we reach 100 members Claire is going to do something VERY special for everyone! :) so be sure to become a follower over there! 

Hope you're all having a good week, I had a day off today & caught up with one of my old friends that I haven't seen for months which was lovely. Hubby's at footy training now so I'm trying to catch up with some crafting before it's time for the Apprentice :D

Anything Goes at Sentimental Sundays :o)

Nice & easy challenge this week for you at Sentimental Sundays, "Anything Goes" (with a sentiment).  I have made a coaster using digi papers from Designs by Krista & that (very true) sentiment is from Raindrop Echo Designs at Whimsy Stamps.  I finished off with peel off borders & stamped, punched & glittered (though you can't tell from the photo) butterflies & covered with some sticky back plastic (to make it waterproof).  You have no excuse for playing along this week (apart from loss of mojo & I'm sure if you check out the other DT members creations you will get lots of inspiration).  Don't forget fab free sentiments every Sunday too!

The challenges:

Allsorts - Free & Easy

PaperPlay - Anything But A Card

Clearly iStamp - Punches, Die Cuts, Cut Outs

Alphabet - I is for Insect

Sir Stampalot - Anything Goes

& here it is with my cuppa on :)

Hope you're all enjoying your weekend.

I'm Sooo Excited!

I am delighted to say I have been chosen for the Jellypark design team :o) I adore Claire's art work & am so honored to be able to use her images in my crafting (to excess lol).  If you haven't seen them before you really should  have a look HERE, you won't be disappointed.  We're also have a fortnightly challenge too which starts on 15th July (& you can use any images).  Claire is also offering a couple of freebies at the moment & one is this sweet fairy image that I've used on my card.  I only used 2 of the layers (I'm not a great fan of too much cutting out lol) & glittered her wings, added gems & some chalk clouds.  The papers are digi , the ticket is stamped & I finished off with some lace, flowers, brads, die cut corner & punched border. 

I'm entering my card for these challenges:

Truly Scruptious - Things With Wings

Flutterby - Open (include fairy, angel or butterfly)

Digital Tuesday - Flower Power

Digi Doodle - Anything Goes

2 Sisters - Fairies

Hooked on Craft - Show us Your Flowers

KB Cute - Use Flowers

Paper Shelter - Anything Goes
Nadia's - Kids (3d)
The Poodles Palour - Come Fly With Me
Totally Papercrafts - Bingo (punch, flower, gems)

I hope you've all had a good week & enjoy the weekend :o)

Another Week Nearly Over...

So that means it must be Friday & new release day at StampFairy :D  This week we have "Lenny Ice Cream" perfect for those summery cards etc.  I coloured the image with ProMarkers, the papers are digi from the Sweet Shoppe & added a stamped hat, stamped greeting & some bunting with alphabet stickers.  There is a lovely freebie ice cream image to go with Lenny & I coloured it but forgot to add it to my card ooops.

I'm entering this card for these challenges:

Sunday Sketch & Stamp - Sketch!

Kaboodle Doodles - Going in Circles

Crafts & Me - Birthdays

Pile It On - Going Round in Circles

Forever Friends - Birthday

Sisterhood of Crafters - Male Themed Birthday or Anniversary Card

Freshly Brewed - It's a Guy Thing
Aud Sentiments - Food or Drink

I'm going to be back later with some really exciting news...