Oh My!

Hello my crafty friends ... hope this post finds you all well.

This is another "for me"  project. Regular readers may recall that last week I 'fessed up and said that I've started on the Skin class at Kit and Clowder. Well, I've also joined their Facebook group too, and this image is one that Linda (a member of the group) commissioned from the artist Yampuff (who also does some of the class images) and then posted up on the group pages as a challenge for anyone who wishes to take part. Well you know me .... I'm usually up for a challenge!

This image is of Alyce Keegan (the founder and lovely leader of Kit and Clowder) and her persian cat Lila Bear, and here's the card that I created with the image:

I've kept this card really clean and simple and my card recipe is as follows:

• Card Base - is a piece of kraft cardstock which I have cut, scored and folded to make a 13.5 x 10.5cm card
• Image - is called Alyce and Lila Bear and it's available from the Kit and Clowder Facebook Group (for a limited time) or from Yampuff's site here. I have brought Alyce and her grumpy looking cat to life using my Spectrum Noir Pens in the listed colours before tool distressing the edge of my white Neenah card:
  
• Skin - FS2, FS4, FS9, FS3, TN4, FS8, CR6 
• Hair - TN2, EB2, EB6
• Eyes - TB1, TB3, TB9
• Dress - CT1, CT2, CT3, CT4, BP2, BP4, BP7, GB8, GB11, GB10
• Shoes - GB8, GB11, GB10
• Lila Bear - EB1, EB2, Blender
• Grounding - IG1, IG2, IG3
• Sentiment - is a freebie which came with Crafter's Inspiration Magazine Issue 7 and I have stamped this directly onto the Neenah card using  black Memento Ink

If you'd like to play along with this challenge you'll have to be quick as it closes at 2359hrs EST tonight, Monday 25th January. Head over to the Kit and Clowder Facebook Group for the full details!

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

• Alyce and Lila Challenge at Kit and Clowder Facebook Group
• Challenge #157 - Colours (Rose Red, Saffron, Soft Suede) at CAS Colours and Sketches
• Challenge #232 - Rough It Up at The Paper Shelter

That's it from me for this evening - I hear the washing up and lunch boxes a-calling! Whatever you're doing this evening, I hope you have fun! Take care!

Hugs, Helen

Bebunni Baby

Good evening friends and hope this post finds you well. Before I go any further, I would like to warmly welcome Judy (who is our newest teamie at Incy Wincy Designs) to my crafty musings ... hope you enjoy the journey! I can't believe it's May 1st already - where is the year disappearing too!

I'm sharing a non-DT card this evening as I know it's reached it's recipient! On Tuesday I found some fab news in my FB feed that one of our teachers from school had given birth to a beautiful baby girl. The teacher and I are both in the Staff Band (no, we can't come up with a more inspirational name!) and as Tuesday afternoons are when we practice, I thought it would be nice if we all signed a card to the new "family". So, I set to work creating and this was the result:

My card recipe is as follows:

• Card base - is a pre-made 14.7cm square base in white
• Paper - is from a retired set from Bearly Mine Designs called "Plain and Simple" - I've used this gorgeous lavender colourway (called Plain 18) to tone in with Bebunni's balloons. The paper is already distressed, but I added some tool distressing too, just to give a bit of texture. This was matted and layered onto dark purple Core'dinations Cardstock
  
• Image - is the gorgeous Bebunni, and this topper comes from the Crafter's Inspiration Magazine 4 (Spring 2014) CD-Rom. I've die cut the topper using the second largest Die'sire Essentials Circles Die and this is matted and layered onto the dark purple Core'dinations Cardstock, cut with the largest Die'sire Essentials Scalloped Circles Die
• Sentiment - is from a stamp set Special Occasion Stamps which was a cover freebie with Cardmaking & Papercraft magazine. Again this was matted and layered onto the dark purple Core'dinations Cardstock, cut with the ticket shaped die from the Die'sire Just the Ticket set.
• Cord - is from a bargain bag which I bought from Hobbycraft, heaven only knows when! It was a thicker and silky cord which I unravelled, and this is just one strand of it.
• Banners - are from another retired Bearly Mine Designs set called "Mixed Media" and this is one corner of paper MM026. I love the extra "texture" it lends to the project in tonal colours. I topped these banners with pearls.

I know the recipient loves this card and I have to say that I was pretty pleased with it too - not bad for a couple of hours work, eh?

I was inspired by and would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

• Special "Purple Crazy" challenge at CD Sunday
• Sketch #298 at Tuesday Morning Sketches
• Challenge #139 at {PIN}spirational Challenges - I've been inspired by the balloons and pastel colours

Hope you have a great weekend, and enjoy the Bank Holiday if you're in the UK!

Hugs, Helen x

Wish me luck .....

.... because I'm entering the Delicious Doodles DT Call!

Teri and her team are asking all entrants to make a new post featuring three samples of work which reflect the applicants preferred style and personality, and to share a little more about the projects. Soooooooooo (very deep breath here!), here goes .........


The first card I'd like to showcase is one I made for my Dad for Father's Day last year - you can read all about it on my post here.

I know that male cards are notoriously difficult "makes", but as my preferred crafting style is clean and quite uncluttered (not necessarily simple though!) I didn't find this too difficult to do. This image is one of Teri's and it's called In The Harbour. I coloured it using my Versamark Pen and Craf-T Chalks using the pen to go over the areas with most shading. This meant it then picked up more chalk, giving a greater depth of colour to those areas. Most of the papers I use come from digital sets and this one is no exception! This set is called She Sells Seashells (in keeping with the nautical theme!) and they were designed by Summer at Summertime Designs. The sentiments were computer generated. I tool distressed the edges of the image and the sentiment tags, just for a little more interest.

The second card I'm sharing is a "just for fun" card. This one came about as I'd had an idea floating around in my mind for this project, and then one day some challenges popped into my blog reader and this card was born!

Here is another unfussy card this time featuring an image by The Alley Way Stamps. This cute coffee cup was a digital freebie and I was able to "play" with it in my word processing programme in order to paper piece the three layers onto the mug. The spotty cup base and red heart were paper pieced using another digital paper set by Summer at Summertime Designs, this time called The Comforts of Home. The band around the middle of the mug reminded me of a 'take out' coffee mug, and so I paper pieced this using some Kraft card. The button is handmade using 4 layers of circles punched from Kraft Card which were glued together before I punched some small holes (to thread the ribbon through) and gave it a slick of Glossy Accents. The digital sentiment is by Create with TLC which I superimposed onto a digital speech bubble by Squigglefly. The two backing papers are also from The Comforts of Home kit and some faux stitching with a gel pen completed this design.

The final card I'm featuring is one of my most recent creations. I was lucky enough to be a random winner at Delicious Doodles last year, and this gorgeous image (Steampunk Fairy) was one of the ones I chose as my winners 'package' and it became a card for my niece's birthday, which was yesterday! 

This was a DT creation for a photo inspiration challenge and I have gone with not only the shape in the photo but also the colours - you can find my full post here. This is the first time I have made a handbag card which wasn't difficult now I've done it once, but very clever and it looks good (even though I do say so myself!). The coloured blocks at the bottom of the bag were put together from another digital paper kit, this one is called At The Beach Distressed Chipboard by DigiTee Designs at Best Free Scrapbooks. I copied and pasted the blocks a couple of times before printing them out onto A4 paper, fussy cutting and adhering to my handbag card base. I added some embossed scrolls from my Ultimate Pro (the shape reflects the fairy's amulet) and I popped some gems in the ones on the handbag's flap. A couple of punched holes in the top of the flap and some recycled ribbon completed this card.

So there we go, three cards which I feel accurately represent my style and personality, as well as my technical abilities to manipulate digital images. Thank you to Teri and her team for considering my application, and I've got my fingers, toes and everything else crossed!!!!

Have a good Friday!

Hugs, Helen x

PS: If you'd like to try out for the DT call, you'll have to get your skates on as it closes at midday (GMT) today, 21st February! Good luck to everyone who applies!

A Quick Card

Hello friends and hope you're well this afternoon! A very swift post from me.

After the heat of yesterday, today is somewhat cooler here. It keeps threatening to rain, but not the thunderstorms we were forecast!

I made this card in about 20 minutes this morning - I was up early, so filled in my extra time usefully .... !!!!!

OK - I know it's very, very, very CAS - but I like it!

My card recipe is as follows:

• Base Card - pre-folded Kraft card base in A5
  
• Images - this cute little bird was a freebie in May from The Alley Way Stamps. I set 3 birds into 3 corners of a square format and then I paper-pieced the birds' bodies with these 3 gorgeous, different coloured, spotty papers from the 14 Days of Valentines kit by Summer at Summertime Designs. I drew over their tail feathers in gold gel pen before tool distressing the edges of the square. I finished the square by doodling round the edges with my gold gel pen. I've never been happy with my doodling before, but this doesn't look tooooooo bad!
• Sentiment - is also a freebie from The Alley Way Stamps and goes with the bird image. I've simply put this into the fourth corner of the square before printing.

Told you this one was quick and simple!

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

• Be Inspired Challenge #30 - Photo Inspiration at The Alley Way Stamps
• Day 169 - White Space at 365 Cards I'm hoping that blank Kraft card counts for this challenge!
• 9th Challenge - Take Flight - Rhedd and Rosie Challenge
• June Challenge - Wings at Bunny Zoe's Crafts
• Challenge #67 - Anything with Wings at Tammy's Scrapin' Corner
• Distressing at Divas by Design

Hope you have a great rest of the afternoon and evening!

Hugs, Helen x

A Safe Haven

Here we go with another "post fest" - I got soooooo behind with my "makes" last week, that I'm all behind with my posts too. Sorry folks! I'd like to extend a very warm welcome to Heather, my newest follower - hope you enjoy my "makes"!

It's new challenge time at Lexi's Creations and this one is very topical for us in the UK as we'd like to see your creations for Father's Day or a Special Male Birthday.

Our wonderful sponsors for this challenge are the fabby team over at Joanna Sheen who are offering our lucky winner a £10 Gift Voucher to their on-line store. And with postage and packing free if you spend over £9 everyone's a winner if you buy in this Aladdin's cave!

Usually I would use one of Lexi's (Fairy Dust Crafts) beautiful images, but this time I thought I would give one of the images I recently won an airing! So here is a card for my Dad for Father's Day:

My card recipe is as follows:

• Base Card - is Centura Pearl in Ivory which I cut, scored and folded to make a 15cm square card.
• Design Papers - are by Summer at Summertime Designs and (in keeping with the nautical theme!) are both from her kit She Sells Seashells. The bottom paper is called "Striped" and the top paper is called "Cream Dots".
  
• Image - this lovely scene has been drawn by Teri over at Delicious Doodles and it is called In The Harbour. I have brought this idyll to life quite simply, using my Versamark Pen (which I used on the heavily shaded areas to give more definition) and my Craf-T Decorating Chalks in the following colours:
• Boat on Left - Ruddy Red, Burnt Sienna, Black
• Boat on Right - Turquoise, Burnt Sienna, Black, Light Blue
• Sand - Tan
• Harbour Wall - Dark Brown
• Sky - Light Blue
• Sentiments -  are computer generated using my word processing package and a font called Goudy Handtooled. 

Do come over to Lexi's Creations and see the other wonderfully inspirational male cards which have been designed by the other DT members and our Guest Designer Silvi. Don't forget to come back and link up the creations you've made for Father's Day or a Special Male Birthday. This challenge ends on Saturday 22nd June 2013.

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

• Father's Day at Going Grey with Scrap Creations
• Spots and Stripes at Joanna Sheen Second Entry
• Masculine / Father's Day at Simon Says Stamp!
• Challenge 17 - Father's or For a Male at The Crafter's Cafe Challenge
• Challenge #103 - Masculine at Top Tip Tuesday
• Card for a Male at Crafty Sentiments Designs
• Challenge 12 - We Love You Dad at Creative Craft Challenge

Phew - that's me caught up now! Off to work on next week's DT projects.

Have a great week!

Hugs, Helen x

Fluttering around

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

Hello again friends! As you're reading this, I'll be back at work dealing with the absences, accidents and illnesses at our local high school. I'm hoping that the students will be rested after their half term break, and I'll get an easy day today!

Anyway, it's time to introduce this week's challenge Incy Wincy Designs. This time we are asking you to showcase a project which thinks outside the box, as our challenge topic is Anything But A Card. 

This week our sponsor is Melissa from Meljen's Designs, who is offering our lucky winner 4 non-coloured digis of their choice. That is a super prize, and I can guarantee you'll be hard pressed to choose just 4 images! The DT were given the choice of which four digis we would like to showcase this week - I can't begin to tell you how many e-mails were flying around before we settled on the four images we're using! :o)

Without further ado here is my project, a door hanger, for your inspiration:

My door hanger recipe is as follows:

• Base Card - made from Centura Pearl in Snow White, which is made from one panel of A4 tri-fold. I found the centre of my panel, judged how high I wanted my door handle 'hole' to be and then embossed the smallest circle shape from the "nest" on the Ultimate Pro Embossing Board Springtime Sweets and Cupcake Treats which I then cut out. I used the corner punch on my Clevercut to round the corners.
• Design Papers - are from a set by Summer at Summertime Designs called "Energy".  Once again, I have digitally put the layout together. The base layer is called Butterflies and the top layer is called Plaid. Because these papers are digitally put together, the corner punch on my Clevercut could only round the corners on the base layer of paper! I also didn't put a border around the layers to give a faux mat, and I think (in hindsight) these papers need that definition.
• Image - is Daisy Butterflies by Melissa from Meljen's Designs. I love the whimsy of this image and it would look just at home on a girl's birthday card. I tool distressed the edges of this layer. I then brought this scene to life using my Versamark Pen and Craf-T chalks (which I applied and blended using a cotton bud, and re-blended using the Versamark Pen to get a soft pastel image) and Spectrum Noir Pens in the following colours:



• Butterflies - CR8, CR10, CR11, CT3, Silver Gel Pen
• Flowers - CT4, GB4
• Hearts - Craf-T chalks in Magenta and Pink
• Dots - CG4
• Outline - TB2
• Sky - Craf-T chalk in Light Blue
• Sentiment - is computer generated using my word processing package and layering this digitally over the papers.

Do head over to the Incy Wincy Designs blog, and check out the Anything But a Card creations from my teamies and this month's Guest Designer Trudy - sadly, this is team-mate Bettina's last week, so please go over to her blog and leave some love for all the fab inspiration she has shared with us all. Don't forget to come back and show us your projects - you've got until Sunday 3rd March 2013 to link your creations up.

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

• Challenge #48 - In the Garden at Ruby's Rainbow
• Challenge #159 - Flower Power at Fab 'n' Funky Challenges
• February Monthly Challenge - Anything Goes at Chalk 'n' Stock
• Challenge #143 - Flowers, Flowers and more Flowers at Sentimental Sundays
• Challenge #24 - Flowers for Spring at Delicious Doodles
• Challenge #15 - Anything But A Card at Hotshot Craft

Whatever you're doing this week, I hope you have a good one!

Hugs, Helen x

Moon Baby

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



Good Morning again my crafty friends!

It's time for the first challenge of 2013 over at Lexi's Creations and Susan is really easing us into the New Year gently as our challenge topic this week is Anything Goes ... so there can be NO excuses for not coming over and sharing your projects with us this fortnight!!!

Our wonderful sponsor for this challenge is our very own Lexi from Fairy Dust Crafts  - your one-stop shop for all of Lexi's gorgeous digital images and a growing choice of delicious crafting goodies. With postage and packing at just £1.50 and Free if you spend over £10, make sure you check out those goodies!  The prize for this week's lucky winner is 5 of Lexi's lovely digital images from the On-line Store. 


As usual, the DT has also been let loose in there (thanks Lexi!) and this is the card I have made to show to you today using one of Lexi's wonderful sentiments:

I'm sorry but it's another grey day, and it's playing havoc with my ability to take better photos.


My card recipe is as follows:

•  Base Card - made from Centura Pearl in Snow White, which I cut, scored and folded (using my Clevercut) to make a 15cm square card
•  Design Papers - are from the Strawberry Kisses CD-Rom and I have tweaked them using the in-built 'Colouriser' to get the shades of lemon and lilac that I wanted.
• Image - is by Stef H (Glitterbabe) and is called Asleep on the Moon - this is the first time I've printed out this "oh so cute small one", even though I won it in the 2011-12 Holiday Open House at The Crafter's Cafe! Unfortunately this digi has now been retired, although you can find some of Stef's other creations at Floppy Latte Digital Designs. I brought this little sleepy head to life using my Spectrum Noir Pens in the following colours:
  

  • Skin - FS2, FS3
  • Hair - EB1, EB2
  • BabyGro - LV1, LV2
  • Moon - GB3, GB4, GB5
  • Outline - IG1
  • Clouds - Chalk in Royal Blue
• Stars & a bit of sparkle added to Moon - Versamark Pen and Holographic Embossing Powder
• Sentiments - the large one is called "Sugar 'n' Spice" and it is by Lexi of Fairy Dust Crafts - just perfect for a card for a new baby girl!!! I exported the image into my word processing package and then resized it so it fitted a shape I was happy with.  The "New Baby" tape is one I've used before and it comes from the Baby Tags Set by Claire Keay of Jellypark - I got this when I was a GDT with the Jellypark Challenge Team in April.. I then tool distressed the edges of them both, and colour distressed them using Chalk in Violet.

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

• Day 1 - New Beginnings at 365 Cards
• Something New (Image & New Baby) at Going Grey with Scrap Creations - Second Entry
• Old and New (Old - DPs from an old CD-Rom & New Baby Tape and New - Image) at Jellypark Friends - Second Entry
• Challenge 250 - Something New at Cute Card Thursday
• Use a 2012 Sponsor's Product at Oldie but a Goodie (Something old is the CD-Rom I used for my DPs and also the "New Baby" tape which I first used here when I GDT'd with Jellypark in April)
• Something New at Simon Says Stamps - Second Entry
• All About The New! (New Baby) at My Time To Craft 
• Challenge #26 - Something New with Chalk (New Baby) at Chalk Ah Lot - Second Entry
• Challenge 62 - New Beginnings and DT Call at A Gem of a Challenge - wish me luck as I've put my name forward in the DT Call 

Hope you have a good day!
Hugs, Helen x

Old and Distressed!

No, not me ... although I have had a rather busy week at work and a stinking cold to boot!!!!

Morning friends!

It's time for a new challenge at The Crafty Pad  and I've been asked to pick the challenge this week. I have chosen Distress It! for our topic. So, Ink it, Rip it, Sand it, Scrunch it ... whatever it takes to get your project looking distressed.

Our wonderful Sponsor for this challenge are the kind folks at Crafty Individuals who are offering this week's lucky winner this fabby prize of 1 set of rubber Christmas themed stamps and 1 A4 sheet of Angel Toppers ... perfect for Christmas crafting!

As usual, the Design Team are showcasing the delightful images that have come from the pen of Debbie at Crafty Pad Designs, and here is my card for your inspiration:

My card recipe is as follows:

• Base Card - Black card from my stash, cut, scored and folded to make a 15cm square card
• Design Papers - are both by Debbie at Crafty Pad Designs and are quite new to the store. They are , Vintage Postcard Papers and Vintage Baroque Papers. I've distressed both of these using a seam ripper tool, before adding faux stitching in a gold gel pen around the edges.
• Images and Sentiment - from the Butterflies with Verse set at Crafty Pad Designs, these are just some of the elements available and perfect for distressing. I printed the sentiment onto white card and then ink distressed the edge using gold Versamark ink. I brought the butterflies to life using my Spectrum Noir Pens in the following colours:
• Wings - DR1, DR3, DR5, DR7, GB4, GB5, EB7 and Gold Gel Pen
• Outline - CG1

Do head over to The Crafty Pad and see the gorgeous creations by the rest of Team A. Then come back and show us your Distressed creations! You've got until 8pm (BST) on Saturday 20th October 2012 to link your cards up.

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

• Challenge #142 - Vintage at Fab 'n' Funky Challenges
• Inspired by Autumn at Visible Image
• Autumn Breeze at Joanna Sheen
• Challenge #3 - Photo Inspiration at Don & Daisy
• Photo Inspiration Challenge at Catch the Bug
• CIC61 Challenge #61 - Sentimental at Clearly I Stamp
• October Challenge - Butterflies, Birds and Bees at The Stamp Man

I hope you have a great Sunday!

Hugs, Helen x

Snoozin' on a lazy afternoon!

Hi,

Welcome to my newest follower, Rachel - glad to have you aboard for this crafting journey!

It's Team A's turn to set this week's challenge time at The Crafty Pad and the lovely Dawn is obviously mindful that next weekend will see us celebrating Father's Day in the UK. The challenge she has set is Let's Hear it for the Boys! So, we'd like you to show us your creations which celebrate Father's Day or A Special Man in your Life. 

There will be 2 lucky prize winners this week as we have two wonderful sponsors for this challenge:





The lovely team at Letraset are offering our first winner a set of Promarkers in Pastel Tones.

AND

The lovely Emma at Crafty Emma's Store is offering our second winner a £10 Voucher to spend in her Online store.

Debbie, Owner and Creator of The Crafty Pad Designs has (once again) let the DT loose in her online store, and this is the card I have made to show you, using one of her great images for men:

My card recipe is as follows:

• Base Card - made from  Centura Pearl in Chocolate (I got mine in a Darks pack from Crafter's Companion but they don't seem to stock this any more) onto which I embossed the largest rosette shape from the "nest" on the Ultimate Pro Embossing Board Springtime Sweets and Cupcake Treats. I folded the card so there is a hinge at the top, and 2 "feet" at the bottom and then cut round the embossed shape.
• Design Paper - is called One for the Dads, and it is this month's Members Download at Crafter's Companion. Ensuring that the "Happy Father's Day" border was in place, I used the largest circle from the "nest" on the Ultimate Pro Embossing Board Springtime Sweets and Cupcake Treats  to emboss the circle, and then cut it to shape. When mounting it on my card, I deliberately set it off-centre so that the lovely border can be seen!
• Image - Albert Snoozin' is just one of the many fantastic images by Debbie at The Crafty Pad Designs and you can get your own copy of this idyllic scene by clicking here! Included with the image, is a great piece of word art, although I didn't have room for it on my card - sorry Debbie! I used my corner punch to round off the corners, and then distressed the edges of the cardstock before mounting it on my DP and base card. Albert came to life courtesy of my Spectrum Noir Pens in the following colours:
• Waders - DR3, JG6
• Jacket & Hat - EB2, GB10
• Shirt - EB1
• Skin - FS2, FS3
• Hair - BG1, BG2
• Tackle Box - CR2, TN3, TN4
• Fishing Rod - TN5
• Tree - TN7, TN8, Colourless Blender
• Grass - DG2, DG3, DG4, Colourless Blender
• Water - BT1, BT2
• Outline - IG1
• Sky - light blue chalk, having made a "mask" using the clip art on my computer to make the right sized cloud shape, which I then printed onto a sticky note and cut round. I then stuck the cloud mask at various places in the sky and simply dabbed my chalk around, leaving white fluffy clouds in a pale blue sky!

So, that's my Dad's card sorted for next weekend ... and I'm very safe in posting it as I don't think he knows about my blog! Head on over to The Crafty Pad and see what this week's awesome Guest Designers and my "Talented Teamies" have made for this challenge - don't forget to pop round their blogs and leave some love; yes, we like reading your comments as much as we like leaving them for you! Don't forget to come back and then show us your creations celebrating Father's Day or The Special Man in Your Life! You've got until 8pm (BST) on Saturday 16th June 2012 to link your cards up. If you use a Crafty Pad Designs image on your card, Debbie will give you another image for free! (The small print for this offer is on the challenge blog.) Looking forward to seeing your cards.

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

• Challenge #118 - All About Dads and Grads at Sassy Cheryl's
• Fun in the Sun at Delightful Challenges
• Challenge 220 - Water, water everywhere at Cute Card Thursday
• Challenge #12 - Father's Day at Cards for Men
• Challenge #68 - For Dad at Sweet Stamps
• Challenge #166 - Card for a Male at Creative Inspirations
• Challenge 111 - Male Card at Digi Doodle Shop
• Challenge #36 - Rainbows, Clouds or Wings at Little Miss Muffet
• First Monthly Challenge - Anything Goes at Chalk N Stock
• Challenge #189 - Happy Father's Day at Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge

Have a great week!

Hugs, Helen x