Wednesday, 9 January 2013

A Spoonful of Sugar ...

... makes life a lot sweeter, especially as this is the first "Bit of Sugar" I own!!!!! :o)


Hello my crafty friends and a warm welcome to Nikki, my Incy Wincy teamie and newest follower!


I hope you're sitting comfortably because, yes, this is a mid-week post from me. I made a few crafty New Year Resolutions to myself; one was to use up some of the stash I've got hoarded (mainly in digi form on my computer) and another was to make cards for fun and not just to meet my DT commitments. So here goes, my first "resolution" card of 2013!






Isn't she just divine? I've used the current sketch challenge over at The Sugar Bowl for this layout, and it's such a great sketch I'm saving the layout for those days when Mr Mojo refuses to come out from under the duvet!



My card recipe is as follows:
  • Base Card - Black card from my stash (bought for the first card I ever made before I started blogging!), which I have cut, scored and folded to make a 15cm square card
  • Design Papers - are from several places, because I wanted to achieve a vintage look.
    • Bottom layer - called My Garden Papers 4 by Paulette from Create with TLC, and I've these stashed since February last year when they were a freebie on Paulette's blog!
    • Middle and Top layers - both by Debbie at Crafty Pad Designs; although the store is now closed, you can still get Debbie's gorgeous images and papers by going to Card Making Downloads and searching for The Crafty Pad Designs. The middle layer is Paper 5  from the Chocolate Chip & Cream Delight Papers  and the top layer is the Red Paper from the Vintage Grunge Baroque Collection.
  • Mat Layer - Well I've kind of cheated a bit here, as I layered all my papers and image together digitally. Once I had decided on the size and shape for each section, I selected the option to format the shape, and then went to "Colour and Line". I chose quite a heavyweight line (6 points) and then a colour option that suited my image. This gives the effect of there being 8 layers on the card, when (as you can see) it is in fact flat ... apart from my sentiment and base card layer!
  • Image -is of course by Sugar Nellie and she was the freebie that Karen very kindly gave away on the blog last week. She came ready coloured, so I didn't need to wield my colours! I have simply outlined her using my Spectrum Noir Pen in GG1 and then I put clouds around her using my Chalk in Light Blue. I tried to make it look like she is sitting on a dry stone wall but using my Chalk in Grey, but I don't think I managed this at all - back to the drawing board.
  • Sentiment - is by the wonderful Annette at Netty's Cards.  Annette has some lovely freebie sentiments on her blog - if you go over there, be sure to tell her that I sent you! Annette is also currently running a Sentiment Candy competition, where she's asking her followers to come up with ideas for sentiments. When I was making this card last night, I could have done with one that said "Belated Birthday Wishes", so I left Annette a comment on her blog post. Guess what I found in my Inbox when I logged on this morning ... ? So, I replaced the sentiment on my card to this brand new one that Annette has created. I have edged the design with my Versamark Pen and Holographic Embossing Powder ... just to add some Birthday sparkle! Click on the photo to supersize it and see that sparkle! Thank you soooooooooo much Annette. Lots of hugs winging their way down to you ... Mwah ...








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


Resolution kept for this week, it's now back to DT projects! Have a great day!

Hugs, Helen x

13 comments:

  1. Hi Helen fantastic card she's beautiful, lovely design and layout.

    Hope your well.

    Hugs Julie xx

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  2. WOW, I'm so pleased that it was useful to you Helen. I always like to help out my blogging pals and regular visitors. I love your card, and I'm sure that your sister-in-law will be delighted to receive your card, late or otherwise as it's divine. I love the pink and the gorgeous cloudy background. I also could have sworn that I was already a follower, but I definitely am now. Thanks again honey for the credit, and pop back anytime if you want anything else. I'm usually happy to have a try! This one will be useful to other peeps too, so it can be one that I share shortly.
    Hugs
    Annette

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  3. Helen this is beautiful. Love the colours.
    Hugs Desíre {Doing Life}

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  4. Hi Helen love your Sugar! She is adorable and so beautifully coloured a brilliant card x

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  5. This looks wonderful and thanks for the warm welcome :)
    Your card is just amazing I'm sure your sister-in-law will fall in love with it soo cute

    Hugs Nikki

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  6. gorgeous card Helen - soo glad you're keeping to your resolution - I hope to see many more! Love the clouds in the background - gorgeous xx

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  7. As sweet as sugar....fab card Helen!
    Hugs Jo x

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  8. Great design and coloring of the image, Helen. Thanks for joining the Sweet 'n Sassy Digi Challenge this week!

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  9. Helen this is wonderful, great image and design, love the clouds in the background!
    hugs
    Glenda

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  10. Very cute, and nicely colored! Thanks for playing in this week's Sweet 'n Sassy Digi Challenge!

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  11. This is really adorable! Great coloring!
    Thanks for sharing at 365cards
    ~Michelle

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  12. This is a lovely card Helen, it's so nice to make a card just for fun sometimes isn't it - sounds like we have similar resolutions!
    Pauline
    x

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  13. Lovely card, thanks for joining us at CFAS!
    Jani x

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