Thursday 22 December 2016

I Love Christmas!

Good afternoon my crafty friends - hope you are well and are nearly prepared for the Big Day on Sunday. No? Nor me, having been thrown a flanker by some of the stores I thought would be open for late night shopping last night and they in fact closed earlier than I had thought. So here we are on 22nd December, and I still have a few presents to buy - eeeeeek!


It's the second half of the blog team's turn to showcase this month's New Release images at All Dressed Up and this time Wendy has some fabulous wintery images perfect for your December crafting! I've been lucky enough to have a go with Merry and Bright and here's my card for you:


My card recipe is as follows:
  • Card base - is Centura Pearl Ivory which I have cut, scored and folded to make a 14 x 15 cm card base
  • Paper - is from the CD-Rom which came with the Winter 2015 issue of Crafter's Inspiration magazine. It's a shaped card from the Romany Christmas part of the CD and I've given it a bit of a digital "makeover" to have the hessian background on the right hand side of the tree and less on the left
  • Image - is Merry and Bright by Wendy, the artist behind All Dressed Up Digital Stamps. I have brought this girl enjoying a Christmassy evening to life using my Spectrum Noir Pens in the listed colours, before die cutting her using my largest Sizzix Oval Die and working out which bit of the tree to cut so I could layer it on top of my die cut. Once adhered in place, I then trimmed the bottom and side edges of the die cut to match the edge of the paper.
    • Skin - FS2, FS3, FS4, TN4, FS8 (Blush)
    • Hair - CT1, CT4, GB3, GB7
    • Hairband - CR9, CT4, TN3, TN8
    • T-shirt - IG1, IG2, CR9
    • Trousers - BG1, BG3, BG5, Blender Pen
    • Glass - GB2
    • Presents - EB1, EB2, PL1, PL2, PL4, PL5
    • Grounding - IG1
    • Outline - BT1
  • Gems - from my stash completed the garlands on the tree
I hope I have inspired you to treat yourself to a new image or two, but if you are need of further inspiration, please head over to the Challenge Blog and see what the other Dressy Girls have done with these fab images.

Don't forget that we have a new Blog Challenge running until 15th January 2017 and it's always Anything Goes with an All Dressed Up Image, and the Facebook Dressy's have their Challenge running until 31st December and their topic is Sparkle!


I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Hope you find some time to join us over the festive period!

Hugs, Helen


Friday 2 December 2016

The Christmas Tree Fairy

Good afternoon my crafty buddies and we're into our first December weekend - eeeek!!!!!



I must confess that I shared this cutie on Facebook yesterday, but didn't get a chance to blog her as I was on transportation duties for the Bambinos. 

The gorgeous girlie on this card was "behind" the first door in the Kit and Clowder Facebook Group Annual Advent Calendar and our very own "Dressy Artist" Wendy Burns was sponsoring this door and this cutie was the freebie on offer for Day 1. The Dressy Girls were asked to share their inspiration using her with the K&C Facebook Group and also the All Dressed Up Facebook Group.



My card recipe is as follows:
Here's a closer look:

I hope that you'll head over to the All Dressed Up Store and treat yourself to this cutie, even though she is no longer free. Don't forget to the share your creations using her over at All Dressed Up Challenges where it's always Anything Goes with an All Dressed Up Image (our current challenge ends on 14th December) and/or the All Dressed Up Monthly Facebook Challenge with an All Dressed Up image and the new theme for the month of December is "Sparkle".


I would like to enter this card into the following challenge:


Hope you have a fabulous weekend!

Hugs, Helen x



Thursday 1 December 2016

Stars and Stripes

Good morning crafty friends and hope that this post finds you well.

It's 1st December which means Christmas is this month - yikes !!!!!!!! I'll be putting the decorations up in the office tomorrow as we've only got a couple of weeks left at school now and had also better get a wriggle on with our family preparations, although the majority of the present buying has been done - just need to wrap them now 😂 !



Being the 1st of the month, means it's also new challenge time at Feeling Sketchy and this time, Cathy has gone nice and simple for everyone - it's Keep Calm because Anything Goes! As usual we have a sponsor and prize pack for this challenge, so do come over and play along with us!


Now I had a, OK another "senior moment" when creating this card because I made it when we were still debating what we were doing for this challenge. So I have created using a past sketch for inspiration - I have gone back to Challenge #122 back in June 2015 here at Feeling Sketchy and used the following sketch:


And here is my card for you:


I needed a male birthday card for my B-i-L and this seems to have done the job perfectly 😉


My card recipe is as follows:
  • Card base - is Kraft card which I cut, scored and folded to make an A5 card with the fold at the top
  • Papers - are part of the great Just For Men Signature Collection by Sara Davies at Crafter's Companion, however you can try out these papers and some of the elements for free by getting the Rock Star - June 2016 Download of the Month. I've used 3 of the 4 papers in the download (wide stripes, ledger paper and stars for one of my stars!)
  • File Tab - comes from the Die'sire Essentials Just the Ticket die set and I have cut this out of Kraft card and then popped it under the ledger paper. Although it doesn't show very well, I used some foam pads under the tab to lift it off the card.
  • Circles - were created using (and please don't spill your tea/coffee etc. here) an upturned glass tealight holder which was just the right size for my ledger paper 😂. I inked the rim with Memento Tuxedo Black Ink and used it to stamp the 4 circles
  • Sentiment - comes from a Sheena Douglass Perfect Partners Victorian Floral - Poppy stamp set which came with my Crafter's Inspiration Magazine Issue 7. I again used Memento Tuxedo Black Ink to ink up the sentiment, which fitted inside my circles perfectly!
  • Stars - were created from Kraft card and the star paper from the Rock Star Download and my Die'sire Essentials Stars dies in several sizes before being attached to the card, both flat and raised up a bit.

I hope I've inspired you to come along and join in with our Keep Calm because Anything Goes! challenge at Feeling Sketchy, but if you're in need of further inspiration (both seasonal and general) then do head over to the challenge blog and check out the great creations by my wonderful team mates. Then come back and show us your creations. We'll be back with our final challenge of 2016 on 15th December.


I would like to enter this card into the following challenge:
  • Challenge #148 - Something Beginning with T at Cardz4Guyz - My "T" is for tab

Whatever you're up to today, I hope you have fun!

Hugs, Helen x

Tuesday 22 November 2016

And Now For Something Completely Different !

And readers of a certain age may well, like me, be humming the theme tune to Monty Python's Flying Circus at this point!

Good evening my crafty friends and hope that this post finds you well.

It's the second showcase of this month's New Release images at All Dressed Up and this time Wendy has outdone herself with 4 fantastic images just begging to go on your Christmas projects! If you missed the first DT showcase of the new images then click here to see the wonderful inspiration we have lined up for you.


I'm thrilled to share Christmas Snow Globe (top left), Christmas Tree Fairy (top right), My First Christmas (bottom left) and the sensational Party Season (bottom right) and just click on the image name to be taken straight to it in the shop. I can tell you that a high number of the DT girls were falling over themselves to play with the gorgeous party girlies first 😉 !!!!!!

I was asked to showcase Christmas Snow Globe and I thought I could do a shaker card but I didn't want to detract from the pretty card Nancy did. Then I thought I could do a rocker card but that didn't look like it was going to work out properly. So then Mr Mojo went into complete overdrive and I found myself unwittingly heading towards my Shrinkles Plastic and this Tree Ornament was the result:



My ornament recipe is as follows:
  • Base - is a sheet of Shrinkles Plastic cut to around 13 x 14 cm which I had calculated using my Shrinkles Magic Ruler (my tutorial is here which gives some tips on how to make and use it) would leave me with a finished project size of 4.5 x 5 cm once the plastic had shrunk in the oven
  • Image - is Christmas Snow Globe by Wendy at All Dressed Up Digital Stamps which I printed out at about 12cm and then I used masking tape to fasten my square of plastic over the printed image. I then used my Spectrum Noir Pens in the listed colours to bring this fawn and her clearing to life, using several techniques in the November 2016 Monthly Markers Colouring Class at Kit and Clowder. I cut a narrow border around the snowglobe, punched a hole in the top to hang it and then "cooked" my plastic in the oven to shrink it as per the manufacturer's instructions
    • Fawn - EB2, EB3, EB5, True Black
    • Flower Spray - CR8, CR11, DG4
    • Trees - DG2, CG4, DG3, DG4, TN4, TN7, TN9 
    • Snow - IG1, TB1, TB4
    • Snowflakes - TB1 and Glitter Embossing Powder
    • Star - LY3
    • Outlines - True Black
  • Ribbon - is from my stash
I hope I have inspired by to head over to the shop and treat yourself to a new Christmas-y image. Don't forget that once you've coloured your image up you can enter it into the Celebrations with an All Dressed Up Image Challenge over on the All Dressed Up Facebook Page (until 30th November 2016) and/or enter it into the current Blog challenge, Anything Goes with an All Dressed Up Image (running until 14th December 2016).

Can't wait to see your creations with these fabulous foursome!



I would like to enter this decoration into the following challenges:

Hope you have a great week.

Hugs, Helen x


Tuesday 15 November 2016

Snow fun!

Well, hello again friends! As promised earlier, here's another missive from me!


This time I'm bringing you the newest challenge from All Dressed Up and, as usual, our theme is Anything Goes with an All Dressed Up Image


Don't have any ADU images? Don't panic, you can find plenty in Wendy's Esty Shop and there are even a few freebies over on the Blog so you can "try before you buy" 😉!!!! Our Random Winner of this challenge gets 3 of Wendy's gorgeous images to play with, the DT will be choosing their Top 3 and you could even be in the running to be a future Guest Designer with us!


Wendy has once again let all the DT girls loose in the shop and choose their own image to play with, and here's my inspiration card for you:


I wanted to create a Christmas card for one of my brothers and his family, but good old Mr Mojo pulled a flanker on me and decided to throw a sickie at creation time. I really was unsure as to how this card would turn out, but I'm actually pretty chuffed with it!


My card recipe is as follows:
  • Card base - is black card stock which has been cut, scored and folded to make a 19cm x 10cm card base
  • Image - is of course by Wendy at All Dressed Up Stamps and these cuties are called Christmas Penguins (this link will take you straight to them in the store 😊!). I have brought this slipping, sliding trio to life using my Spectrum Noir Markers in the listed colours before cutting my card to an 18cm x 9cm rectangle and doodling a border around the edge with my silver gel pen.
    • Fur - IG3, IG5, IG7, IG9
    • Beaks & Flippers - FS5, CR1, OR3, TN4, TN8
    • Large Penguin's Hat & Scarf - TB2, TB3, Silver Gel Pen
    • Middle Penguin's Hat & Scarf - GT1, GT2
    • Small Penguin's Ear Muffs & Scarf - HB1, HB2, Silver Gel Pen
    • Snow - IG1, IG2, Spectrum Noir Clear Sparkle Pen


I hope I've inspired you to come over to the All Dressed Up Blog and play along with us in our Anything Goes with an All Dressed Up Image this month, but if you're in need of further inspiration please go over there and check out the other wonderful creations by my very talented teamies! This challenge will end on 14th December 2016.


Don't forget the Facebook Dressy Girls have their own challenge of Celebrations running until 30th November 2016. So have a look at Wendy's New Release as any of these images would be perfect to use  - why not combine your entries to both challenges for more chances of winning 😉!!!!!!


I would like to enter this card into the following challenge:


I hope you have a wonderful evening - take care!

Hugs, Helen x

A Frosty Noel!

Good morning crafty friends and I hope this post finds you well. I'd like to welcome Darcy who is my newest follower - hope you find some inspiration here! 


I'm going to head up not one but two apologies! Firstly, today is going to be complete and utter "post fest" as I'm going to be bringing you THREE cards all on the same day! Two of my DTs have new challenges launching today but, and here's the second apology, I'm running more than a tad late with this post .... 😔blushes wildly! We've been madly helping eldest visiting universities and doing her application form (which is a challenge in itself 😉!) but, as her college deadline is the end of this week, she's completed everything and we just need to review her application to make sure there are no glaring errors and then we'll be keeping fingers, toes and everything else crossed that her favoured institutions like her enough to offer her a place!


Last Monday the new challenge launched at Incy Wincy Designs and this time it's a Sketch Challenge.




We've got 2 awesome sponsors lined up this week. Firstly it's the lovely Wendy from All Dressed Up Digital Stamps who is offering our first lucky prizewinner 2 digis from the store.

Our second sponsor is the equally lovely Jodie from Bugaboo Digital Stamps who is
offering our second lucky prizewinner 7 digis from the store.

And even if you aren't lucky enough to win either of these prize packs, don't forget that Wendy has very kindly shared some freebies over at the All Dressed Up Blog and that Jodie has a Friday Freebie each week, as well as discounts on her new releases.


So, back to the challenge - here's the sketch we'd like you to follow this week please ...


... and here's my take on it, using an image from Bugaboo Digital Stamps ...


My card recipe is as follows:

I hope that I have inspired you to play along with our Sketch Challenge, but if you're in need of further inspiration please head over to Incy Wincy Designs and check out the other fabby creations by my talented (and long suffering!) teamies. Then come back and show us your take on our sketch - don't forget you can flip or rotate our sketch, just make sure that we can see that you've been inspired by our projects! This challenge will end on Saturday night and we'll be back with our new challenge on Monday 21st November 2016.

I'll be back to link up to some challenges later - I've got 2 more posts to write and schedule 😊

See you soon,

Hugs, Helen x

Tuesday 1 November 2016

We Wish You a Merry Christmas!

Good morning my crafty buddies! I would like to warmly welcome my newest followers Carole, Helen and Liz to my madcap world - hope you enjoy my creations ladies!

Wow! Can you believe that it's the 1st of November already? That's means Christmas is next month .... eeeeek!!!!!! In the last couple of weeks, I've reached 100 followers and over 60,000 page views ... double eeeeek!!!!! Sooooo, I thought I might offer a little bit of candy to at least one of my lucky followers. Watch this space, as I'll have a dig through my stash and see what goodies I have to share ;o)

Back to this morning though, and it's new challenge time over at Feeling Sketchy.


Our new challenge is being sponsored by the lovely Jodie at Bugaboo Digital Stamps who is offering the lucky winner of this challenge a prize pack. And don't forget that even if you're not picked as our winner, everyone's a winner thanks to Jodie's generosity on Freebie Friday's and she also has regular sales and discounts on New Release Tuesday's. Please head over to Bugaboo Digital Stamps, take a peek at the wide variety of digis on offer, and why not let one or two drop into your virtual basket ;o)!

Here's the sketch we'd like you to take inspiration from, courtesy of our designer Michelle:


and here's my "take" on it:



I think this is a great sketch for making quick and easy cards, particularly if you need a card in a hurry or "batch making" Christmas cards - two squares of papers cut down, one sentiment and "ta daa", you've got a nice card! Or, of course, you can dress the sketch up to make a very special card.

My card recipe is as follows:
  • Card base - is a pre-made 12.5cm square base in cream card
  • Design Papers - are both from the Nordic Christmas CD-Rom, now sadly retired :o( There are a few other items still available in the Nordic Christmas Collection ....
  • Sentiment and Image - are a cling stamp which was a cover freebie on the Christmas 2016 Cardmaking and Papercraft magazine ... perfect timing! I stamped this using Memento Ink in Tuxedo Black then brought the poinsettia to life using my Spectrum Noir Markers in the listed colours before fussy cutting it out and adhering it to my card.
    • Poinsettia Bracts - DR6, DR7, Silver Gel Pen
    • Leaves - DG2, DG3, DG4
    • Swirls - Silver Gel Pen
    • Outline - IG1
I hope I've inspired you to come along and join in with this sketch but if you're in need of further inspiration, please head over to Feeling Sketchy and check out the other wonderful creations by my very talented teamies. Don't forget to then come back and share your creation with us! We'll be back with our new challenge on 15th November 2016.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Whatever you're up to this week, I hope you have fun!

Hugs, Helen x

Saturday 22 October 2016

There's Magic in the Air!

Good evening crafty friends!

Hope everyone is well. Phew, we've made it - half term beckons, so it's a week off from the alarm clock! :oD If you've already had half term in your area, sorry :o( !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's New Release Inspiration time at All Dressed Up and Wendy has drawn 4 super-cute digis that are perfect for October crafting - you may have already seen the first New Release Inspiration post (click here if you haven't as you don't want to miss the wonderful creations by half the Blog DT!) and now it's time for the other half of the Blog DT to have fun with these images:

Top left is Double the Trouble, top right is Have a Magical Evening, bottom left is Little Birdie and bottom right is Monsterific and if you click on each image name you will taken straight to that image in the shop!

I've been working with Have a Magical Evening and here's my card:


My card recipe is as follows:
  • Card base - is black cardstock which has been cut, scored and folded to make a DL cardbase
  • Design Paper - is by Summer at the now closed Summertime Designs. This paper comes from Summer's digital kit Happy Halloween and is called Web Paper
  • Image - is the super cute witch Have a Magical Evening drawn by Wendy at All Dressed Up Digital Stamps. I've brought this swinging witch to life using my Spectrum Noir Pens in the listed colours before adding a dash of white glitter to the moon and stars:
    • Skin - FS2, FS3, FS4, TN4, FS8 (Blush)
    • Hair - IG1, IG2, IG3, CR1, OR3, TN4
    • Hat - FS5, CR1, OR3, TN4, TN8, IG3, IG5, IG7, IG9
    • Dress and Boots - IG3, IG5, IG7, IG9
    • Underskirt and Stockings - FS5, CR1, OR3, TN4, TN8
    • Moon - IG1, IG2, IG3
    • Outline - IG1, IG2
  • Black Ribbon - from my stash



I hope I've inspired you to head over to the Esty Store and pop this cutie in your basket, but if you're in need of further inspiration please head over to the Blog and check out the other beautiful creations by my clever teamies.

Don't forget that we have our Anything Goes with an All Dressed Up Image Challenge on the blog until 14th November 2016 and the Facebook Dressie Girls are hosting their Halloween/Autumn challenge until 31st October 2016.

I've been inspired by and would like to enter the following challenge:


I would also like to enter the following challenges:

Hope you have a great weekend!

Hugs, Helen x

Tuesday 18 October 2016

Love Hearts

Hi crafty friends!

Apologies as I'm a wee bit late with this DT inspiration post - time kind of just ran away with me last week!

Anyway, we've launched our new challenge at Incy Wincy Designs and this one should be really fun ... we would like to see your creations which have been Inspired by Candy/Sweets! Sorry, but we can't be held responsible should you choose to eat plenty of sweets to get your inspiration :oD !!!!!!!

We've got two great sponsors lined up this time, so there'll be 2 Random winners who will each get one of our prize packages.


First up is the lovely Nikki and her team from Polkadoodles and they are offering our first lucky prize winner 3 digital images from the store.




Our second sponsor is (to me) a new company, and it's Magda from Magda Polakow Studios and she is offering our second lucky prize winner this pack of 3 digital images as showcase by the DT over on our challenge blog:
















This is another project that has also been inspired following a TV programme I've recently watched ;o) ! In August this year, the BBC screened an episode of Inside the Factory which followed the production processes right through the Swizzel's Matlow factory including making these Love Hearts sweets (although I thought that multicoloured hearts might look a bit too much on this project  LOL!!! so I stuck to the lavender shades) and I've been inspired by the shape of these sweets plus the "Love" messages ...


... to make this favour that a bride might carry together with her bouquet:



And here's a close up of the favour itself:



My project recipe is as follows:
  • Heart Base - is made from Centura Pearl Snow White Silver and I have die cut this using my largest and second largest Die'sire Essentials Hearts dies which I nested together to create a heart shaped frame.
  • Image - is the flower which is part of this 3 Gacek Set by Magda at Magda Polakow Studios. I
    have printed several of these flowers and coloured them using my Spectrum Noir Pens in shades HB1, HB2, HB3, LV2, IG7 before fussy cutting them, shaping them and mounting them on my heart frame using 3D Glue Gel.
  • Cord - is from my stash and I think it came from a Hobbycraft "grab bag"



As I'm writing this, I've just realised that I could have chosen Parma Violets, but I really wasn't that keen on them so could not claim them as one of my favourite sweets! Anyway, I hope I've inspired you to create something that has been Inspired by Candy/Sweets, but if you're in need of any further ideas please head over to Incy Wincy Designs where my fellow Design Teamies have created with all manner of yummy goodness! Then come back and show us your creations. We'll be back with our next challenge on 7th November 2016.

I would like to share this project with the following challenges:

Hope you have a great week!

Hugs, Helen x

Saturday 15 October 2016

Fairy Magic

This is my second post of the day - please scroll down to see my first post

Good evening blogging buddies, and here's my second post of the day as promised earlier!




It's new challenge time at All Dressed Up and as usual our theme is Anything Goes with an All Dressed Up Image. Don't have any ADU images? Don't panic, you can find plenty in Wendy's Esty Shop and there are even a few freebies over on the Blog so you can "try before you buy" ;o) Our Random Winner of this challenge gets 3 of Wendy's gorgeous images to play with, and the DT will be choosing their Top 3!






Wendy has very kindly let all the DT girls choose their own image to play with, so here's my inspiration card for you:




I've deliberately kept this card very CAS as it's for my Great Niece who will be 4 next week - I didn't want to chance any small embellishments falling off!


My card recipe is as follows:
  • Card Base - is a pre-made 12.5cm square card base in cream
  • Design Paper & Ribbon Slider - come from the long since retired Strawberry Kisses Papercrafting CD-Rom by Crafter's Companion. They are part of a "card companion" design where you get co-ordinating papers, tags, embellishments etc. All you need to do is cut them out and assemble :o)! I rescaled these in my word processing programme, so they fitted onto my card base nicely.
  • Image - is the gorgeous Fairy Magic by Wendy at All Dressed Up Digital Stamps and she comes with this pretty scene of butterflies and sentiment around her. All I had to do was bring her life using my Spectrum Noir Pens in the listed colours, before cutting her out and mounting her onto my card.
    • Skin - FS2, FS3, FS4, TN4, FS8 (Blush)
    • Hair - CT1, CT4, GB3, GB7
    • Dress & Hair Band - TB1, TB2, TB3
    • Wings - TB1, TB3, Clear Spectrum Noir Sparkle Overlay
    • Butterflies - CR7 applied to acetate and picked up with Blender Pen which was used like a brush to give a "watercolour" effect
    • Outline- IG1
    • Grounding - IG1, IG2

I hope I've inspired you to come over to the All Dressed Up Blog and play along with us this month, but if you're in need of further inspiration please go over there and check out the other wonderful creations by my very talented teamies! This challenge will end on 14th November 2016.


Don't forget the Facebook Dressy Girls have their own challenge of Autumn/Halloween running until 31st October 2016 - why not combine your entries for more chances of winning some of Wendy's pretty digis? Some of the newly released images would be perfect to create with ;o) !!!!!!!!


I would like to enter this cutie into the following challenges:


Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Hugs, Helen x

Sleigh Ride

Good morning my crafty friends, and hope you are all well. Gentle hugs winging their way round for anyone who is in need.


It's new challenge day at Feeling Sketchy so here goes with the important info you need!




Our wonderful sponsor this time is the lovely Nikki from Polkadoodles who is offering the winner of this challenge a prize pack. And even if you're not our lucky winner, do head over to the store as there's a coupon code there so everyone can save ;o) !





Here's the sketch designed by Michelle that we're working with this time:


And here's my inspiration for you:


As you can see, I've rotated the sketch clockwise by 90° to suit my DP and I've gone for circles instead of the rectangular blocks.

My card recipe is as follows:
  • Base card - is Snow White Silver Centura Pearl which I've cut, scored and folded to make a 15cm card base
  • Paper, Topper and Sentiment - all come from a set called Sleigh Ride by Hunkydory Crafts. They were in a special pack called Festive Splendour which came with the November 2016 issue of Cardmaking and Papercraft Magazine. I love the foiling on the topper and sentiment and the lovely pastel shades on the paper!

This card was super quick and super easy to put together - just not so easy to photograph in artificial light!

I hope you'll come over to Feeling Sketchy and play along with our sketch. If you're in need of further inspiration, please check out the wonderful creations by my clever teamies! Then come back and show us your take on our sketch - don't forget that you can flip and rotate the sketch to suit your stash; we just need to see that your project has been inspired by our sketch.

We'll be back with our next challenge on 1st November 2016.

I'll be back later on this afternoon with another post. In the meantime, take care.

Hugs, Helen x

Monday 3 October 2016

The Aurora Watcher

Hello friends, and a particularly warm welcome to Carole who is my newest follower and also a fellow DT member over at All Dressed Up. I hope you enjoy my crafty ramblings Carole!

Today sees the start of our new challenge at Incy Wincy Designs and this time our challenge is All That Glitters. I love a bit of sparkle, don't you?:oD !!!!!!!


Our kind sponsor for this challenge is Mi Ran who is the artist behind ArtbyMiran, and she'll is offering the lucky winner of a prize pack.


Mi Ran was also kind enough to offer the DT a choice of digi to showcase for this challenge, so here's my card featuring one of her gorgeous images:



OK, so it's time for some "Ramblings" from Casa Mia. Earlier on this summer, the BBC screened a series by Prof. Brian Cox (yes, he who "messes with my head"!) called Forces of Nature. If you've seen the programme, I guess you'll be in step with me and know exactly how this card came to life. If not, read on .... In the very last episode of the series, Prof. Brian was explaining about the Aurora Borealis and there was a segment filmed with a British family who live in the Aurora oval in Norway. The segment showed Mum, Dad and 4 children all piling into their motor home and going Aurora chasing. When they were filmed with the Aurora Borealis light show overhead, the children's faces were just filled with absolute wonder. So, when this image popped up as one we could use for this challenge, I just had to try and create my own Aurora Borealis for you.  Oh, and if you want to know more about the family in Norway, you can follow their antics on their own blog Aurora Addicts.


My card recipe is as listed, following this Bendi Fold tutorial at SplitCoast Stampers to create the card:
  • Card back - is a 5½ x 4¼ inch piece of Neenah Solar Crest Card which I have coloured in a representation of the Aurora Borealis/Northern Lights following a bonus Background Tutorial with the May Monthly Class by Alyce at Kit and Clowder. The Spectrum Noir Pens I used to create this background are CG4, CG3, LY3, PP2, BP3, PL3, PL4, TB7, TB9 together with a white gel pen for the stars.
  • Snowy banks - are made from a 5½ x 2½ inch and a 5½ x 1¾ inch piece of white glitter card which I had in my stash. I cut a slanted top edge to each piece, embossed one of the wavy embossing lines on my Ultimate Pro and then cut this out to make the top edges of the snow banks.
  • Snowflake - is the middle sized snowflake from the Festive Wonder Snowflake Trio die set, part of Sara Davies' Signature Collection and sadly no longer available. I cut this from the same white glitter card as the snowy banks and then adhered it to my Aurora background.
  • Image - is the enchanted Girl wearing Hat and Scarf by Mi Ran at ArtbyMiran. I have brought this awestuck girl to life using my Spectrum Noir Pens in the listed colours, before fussy cutting her out and attaching her to a snowy bank.
    • Skin - FS2, FS3, FS4, TN4, FS8 (Blush)
    • Hair - TN3, EB3, EB8
    • Hat, Scarf & Mittens - LY3, CG3, CG4
    • Top & Tights - IG1, IG2, IG3
    • Skirt & Boots- TB1, TB4, TB8, TB9
  • Sentiment - came from a stamp set which was a freebie with Crafter's Inspiration Magazine - Issue 8 and I've stamped this in Black Memento Ink directly onto my glitter card.

So, there you have it ... my glittery card. To check out more gorgeous glitteriness, please head over to Incy Wincy Designs and take a peek at the lovely creations by my teamies. Then come back and show us your creations that are All that Glitters. We'll be back with our next challenge on Monday 17th October 2016.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:


Hugs, Helen x

Saturday 1 October 2016

Shake it up!

This is my second post of the day - please scroll down to see my earlier post

Good afternoon blogging buddies! Yup, this is a second post from me today and I am beyond excited as I've had to keep this news to myself for 2, whole weeks!!!!! 


I am super proud to announce that Wendy and her team liked my entry for their DT Call last month and asked me to join them. I can now call myself a "Dressy Girl" at All Dressed Up and I can't wait to show you my creations with Wendy's gorgeous, girly images !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 




So over at All Dressed Up we're introducing all the new "Dressy Girls" both on the blog and also on All Dressed Up Facebook page, and each new DT member has been asked to make a card to showcase. Here's mine:




Papa Mia and I celebrated our 23rd Wedding Anniversary last weekend and this gorgeous image of Wendy's seemed to be just perfect to put on my card to Papa Mia.


My card recipe is as follows:
  • Card base - is a premade card around 14.8cm square
  • Top Card - is Centura Pearl Snow White Silver cut to fit over the card base. I've die cut into the the middle of this piece of card with my largest Die'sire Essentials Hearts die.
  • Shaker Window -  I wanted the die cut heart to be the rear part of my shaker window, so I placed the top piece of card central on my base card, and stuck the heart down through the heart shaped hole! We had a corrugated cardboard box in our recycling, so I cut a smaller square from this, and die cut an aperture with my largest Die'sire Essentials Hearts die. I stuck this down to my base card over the Centura Pearl heart and then filled the hole with pale purple heart sequins and silver glitter which I discovered in the Bambinos' "arty cupboard". A square of acetate stuck over the top of the cardboard sealed the window.
  • Image - this gorgeous girlie is called Love You and she is by Wendy at All Dressed Up Stamps. I have brought this girl to life using my Spectrum Noir Pens in the listed colours before fussy cutting her and adding her to my card
    • Skin - FS2, FS3, FS4, TN4, FS8 (Blush)
    • Hair - TN3, EB3, EB8
    • Top - IG1, IG2, IG3
    • Jeans - TB2, TB3, TB4
    • Outline - BT1
  • Sentiment - is from the Swirly String Sentiments Set by Lili of the Valley which I stamped in Black Memento Ink directly onto the Centura Pearl

If you want to be blown away by some outstanding creations, please head over to the All Dressed Up Challenge Blog and check out the line up from the other new "Dressy Girls" - make sure you say "Hi" to them all as well won't you? 

And, if you're in need of a further Dressy Fix before our next blog challenge, don't forget that we also have a Facebook Group (with a new monthly challenge starting), a Pinterest Board and, of course, Wendy's  Esty Shop.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenge:


Hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Hugs, Helen x