Warm & Snug

Hello there my crafty friends! 

Another post from me and so far I'm keeping up with my New Year Goal of making at least one card each week. This week I have exceeded my goal as there are a plethora of birthdays this month, both family and work. I made this card for my Sis-in-Law whose birthday was earlier this week, so I reckon I'm OK in posting it now!

My card recipe is as follows:

• Card base -  is a pre-made A5 white card blank 
• Design Paper - is from the Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady Twin CD-Rom which I treated myself to in October, but have only just "cracked" the cellophane! :o) I love these bare trees, and it's just right for a winter birthday! I imported the paper into my word processing programme, resized it to suit the card, and  put a brown border around the paper as a faux mat.
• Image - This beautiful lady out for a stroll is called Winter Emily (Emily Winter Wonderland) and she comes from the art desk of Heather at Lacy Sunshine. I die cut an oval using the 3rd smallest oval in my Sizzix Framelits Ovals die set before bringing brought Emily to life using my Spectrum Noir Pens in the following colours:
• Skin - FS2, FS3, BGR3, 
• Hair - TN2, TN3, TN5, TN7, TN9
• Cape, Muffler & Umbrella - BGR1, BGR2, BGR3, BGR4, BGR5, White Glitter, Silver Gel Pen
• Dress - EB1, EB2, EB3
• Snow & Outline - IG1, White Glitter
• Sentiment - is by Paulette at Create with TLC and I have recoloured the sentiment in my word processing programme so it fits with my blue and brown themed card. 
• Gemstones - on the top right hand corner of the card and on Emily's muffler, but I've just realised they're not showing terribly well in the photo .... ooops!

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

• Bling it up at Jellypark Challenges
• Winter Walks at CD Sunday Challenge
• Winter Birthday at The Stamping Boutique
• Challenge #49 - Sparkly and New at Lacy Sunshine Challenge  - the glitter and gems are sparkly and the CD-Rom I used is new
• Challenge #121 - Baby It's Cold Outside at QKR Stampede Challenge
• Tic Tac Toe at Polkadoodles Challenge -  I'm claiming the top horizontal line of  Sentiment, Image, Die Cut

Hope you have a great weekend!

Hugs, Helen x

Smart Shoes!

Morning friends! How are you are today? I'm running a little late with this post (think the sun at the weekend must have gone to my head!) .... but I'm here now and there's still plenty of time to play with us! I'd like to warmly welcome Gloria who is my newest follower and is joining us on the madcap journey through my crafting; hope you get some inspiration from my creations.

Anyway, Monday saw the launch of this week's challenge at Incy Wincy Designs and this one should be fun. We're looking for you to link up your creations that are Black and White, plus One other Colour. Skin tones or a little grey for shading are OK, but that's it!

This challenge is being sponsored by the lovely Jodie at Bugaboo Stamps who is offering this week's lucky prize winner their choice of 7 digital stamps from her store. And even if you're not our lucky winner, don't forget that Jodie has a Friday Freebie available at her store. 

Jodie has also kindly supplied the DT each with their choice of image to use for this challenge, and here is my card for you:

I don't think I've ever used orange on a card before ... don't know why not because I really like it!

My card recipe is as follows:

• Card Base - is made from Centura Pearl in Snow White Silver which I have cut, scored and folded to make a 15cm card.
• Design Papers - come from a kit called Dreamsicle by Summer at Summertime Designs. I've used White and Black Paisley for the bottom layer, with Orange Dots on the left hand side and Dots Paper on the right hand side.
  
• Image - this very girly shoe is called Heels - Polka Dot and it comes from the pen of Jodie at Bugaboo Stamps. I flipped the image before printing it and then brought it life using my Spectrum Noir Pens in the following colours and fussy cut it:
• Polka Dots, Shoe Lining, Bow and Ribbon - OR1, OR2, OR3
• Heel - Silver Gel Pen
• Outline - BT1 (OK so I cheated just a little bit here in using a pale turquoise instead of pale grey for this!)
• Sentiment - is a freebie by my lovely blogging friend Annette. If you head over there, please be sure to tell her that you came from my blog.
• Lace - from my stash (originally from a local haberdashery store) and is nearly 2 years old!
• Gems - from my stash (originally from a French Hypermarket) and are nearly 3 years old!

I hope you'll come over to Incy Wincy Designs and look at the other wonderful creations by my teamies. Don't forget to then come back and show us your projects featuring Black and White, plus One other Colour - this challenge will end on Sunday 16th March 2014.


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

• First Challenge - Make it Girly at Hobbybook Designer Challenge
• Challenge #27 - Girlz Rule at Creative Knockouts
• Bingo at Papertake Weekly - I'm claiming the diagonal from top right to bottom left of Gems, Free, Lace
• Challenge #134 at Sketch 'n' Stash - the stash I've used are the gems (nearly 3 years old!), Lace (nearly 2 years old) and DPs (downloaded nearly 2 years ago and never used ......!)

Hope you have a great week - I'm off to choose some images following a candy win last week at Crafting Vicky's blog!

Hugs, Helen x

Handbags and Gladrags

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

Hello again friends,

It's new challenge time at Incy Wincy Designs and this one definitely challenged us on the DT. Chris chose this lovely bag as our Photo Inspiration. 

Our wonderful sponsor for this challenge is Teri at Delicious Doodles who is very kindly offering this week's lucky winner 4 digital images of their choice, and with such a varied range of images on her site there is definitely something for everyone! Teri has also kindly given the DT some of her gorgeous images to showcase this week, although I'm using an image which I chose as part of my winning package at the Delicious Doodles Challenge Blog in May last year.



Mr Mojo exercised his over-active imagination (once again!) and here is my card for you featuring one of Teri's "delicious" images:

My card recipe is as follows:

• Card Base - is Centura Pearl in Ivory. I used my Ultimate Pro (and the instructions on The Ultimate Pro DVD!) to cut, score and fold the cardstock to make a 21cm x 10cm handbag card, before using one of the wavy shapes built into the Ultimate Pro to emboss borders (which look similar to the fairy's amulet) onto the card. This handbag card is a new fold for me, and it went together so well, I'm sure I'll be making more!
• Design Papers - are from a set called At the Beach - Distressed Chipboard Styles by DigiTee Designs (available from Best Free Digital Scrapbook - thanks to my Incy Wincy Teamie Jenny for her tip-off about this site!). I have used them in the brown, orange, tan and teal colourways and, with the help of my word processing programme, turned them into blocks, to resemble the blocks on the bag in the photo. I copied and pasted the block design twice, before printing it, fussy cutting it and adding it to the bottom of the card.
  
• Image - is called Steampunk Fairy and she comes from the pen of Teri at Delicious Doodles. I've not tried steampunk before, and I'm not sure if I've got it quite right, but this gorgeous girl was brought to life (with the assistance of Teri's wonderful shading as a guide) using my Spectrum Noir Pens in the following colours before I tool distressed the edges:
• Skin - FS7, FS9, CR5
• Hair - EB6, EB7, EB8
• Dress - TN5, TN6, TN7
• Wings - BT5, BT6, Bronze & Gold Gel Pens
• Jewellery - Bronze & Gold Gel Pens
• Outline - BT1
• Ribbon - recycled from a box of toiletries I received at Christmas, and nearly a perfect match!
• Gems - from my stash

If you'd like more inspiration, head over to Incy Wincy Designs and check out how the rest of the DT girls have been inspired by this photo. Don't forget to come back and show us your wonderful Photo Inspired creations - this challenge will end on Sunday 23rd February 2014.


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

• Challenge #75 - Ribbon and Bling at Delicious Doodles Challenge
• Challenge #5 - Embossing at Scrappy Hands
• Challenge 17 - More than One Fold at Flat Friends Challenge
• February Challenge - Embossing at The Crafting Cafe
• Challenge #200 - Use a Digi at One Stitch at a Time

Hope you have a great week!
Hugs, Helen x

Mmmmmm ... Chocolate and Cream

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

Hello friends,

It's half term here at Casa Mia ... whoo hoo!!!! We've got a week of not-a-lot planned, well I'm hoping to get in a fair bit of crafting but we'll see what the minor folk at Casa Mia have planned for me :o) Hope you're all staying safe in the wind and rain. I'd also like to welcome my newest follower - thanks for joining the rest of us on our journey through my crafting.

It's new challenge time at Lexi's Creations and this one may challenge Mr Mojo as it's Monochrome. It doesn't have to be just black and white though; you can choose any colour scheme you like, as long as you only use shades of that colour.

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! This is the last time that Joanna and her team will be sponsoring us for a while :o( - thanks for all your support ladies!


The lovely Lexi has once again let the DT loose in Fairy Dust Crafts (thanks Lexi!) and by the way, there's a sale on there so do go and have a look! Here is my card for you featuring one of Lexi's sweet images:

My card recipe is as follows:

• Card Base - is Centura Pearl Ivory which I have cut, scored and folded to make a 15cm square card
• Design Papers - are from a collection called Chocolate Chip and Cream Delight by Debbie at The
  
  Crafty Pad Designs (available from Card Making Downloads). I have used 2 different papers from the set which I sized in my word processing programme and then put a chocolate brown border around them to give a faux mat.
• Image - is called Hot Chocolate Scruffles and he comes from the pen of Lexi at Fairy Dust Crafts. This cute, and messy!, dog was die cut using the largest Framelits Fancy Labels die, before being brought to life using my Spectrum Noir Pens (thank goodness my collection was completed with the arrival of my Darks pack last week!) in the following colours:
• Fur - EB3, EB4, EB5
• Marshmallows - EB1, EB2
• Cream - EB1, Colourless Blender
• Cup & Saucer - EB6 which I dotted to make a pattern, EB7, EB8
• Sentiment - is by Paulette at Create with TLC and this was a blog freebie in November 2011. I took this into my word processing package and put the same chocolate coloured border around it to make a faux mat
• Ribbon - a recent "grab bag" purchase (15 different ribbons, each 3 metres in length for £5) from Hobbycraft which I can't find, unfortunately, on their website :o(
• Gems - from my stash

If you're short of inspiration on this challenge, do come over to Lexi's Creations and see the other wonderful creations by my teamies, our regular Guest Designer Silvi and this week's special Guest Designer Janny. Don't forget to come back and show us your wonderful Monochromatic creations - this challenge will end on Saturday 1st March 2014.


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

• C is for Chocolate Creams at ABC Christmas Challenge I've gone for a cream & chocolate colour scheme AND a creamy hot chocolate image!!!!
• Challenge #194 - Marie's Sketch at Sunday Sketch and Stamp
• Challenge #25 - Dies and/or Punches at Feeling Crafty Challenge
• DPDC 43 - Any Digi Goes at Doodle Pantry

Hope you have a great week!
Hugs, Helen x

Winter Wishes

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

Hello again friends!

It's new challenge time at Lexi's Creations and this one will ease you into the New Year gently as it is Anything Goes! Our sponsor this fortnight is Priyanka from My Heart Pieces and our lucky winner for this challenge will get to choose some of Priyanka's sweet digis!

The lovely Lexi has opened the 'doors' to Fairy Dust Crafts and allowed us in (thanks Lexi!), and here is my card for you featuring one of Lexi's gorgeous images:

My card recipe is as follows:

• Card Base - is Centura Pearl Snow White with hint of Silver which I have cut, scored and folded to make a 15cm square card
• Design Papers - are from a kit called All Is Calm by Summer at Summertime Designs. My base layer
  
  is called Branches and Berries Paper, the next layer is called Blue Snowflake Paper and the top layer is Blue Brown Checkered Paper. I sized the papers using my word processing programme so that I was able to put a dark brown border around them to make a faux mat. Then I cut each layer out and mounted them onto each other. To add an extra bit of sparkle I highlighted all the visible red berries to make them a bit glossy and frosty by popping a blob of glue onto each one and then giving them a liberal dusting of White Glitter! You can just catch the glittery bits in the photo, and I think it makes the paper look like shop bought glittered papers.
• Image - is called Kiri and she comes from the pen of Lexi at Fairy Dust Crafts. This gorgeously glamourous girl was die cut using my second largest Framelits Fancy Labels die, before being brought to life using my Spectrum Noir Pens and Cra-T Chalks in the following colours before I gave all the "fur trims" a liberal coating of White Glitter:
• Skin - FS2, FS3, TB2, PP5
• Hair - GB8, GB10
• Parka - TB2, TB3, TN7
• Jeans - TB5, TB6
• Boots - TN7, TN8
• Background - Craf-T Chalk in Light Blue which I dotted with a cotton bud/q-tip
• Sentiment - is by Paulette at Create with TLC and this was a blog freebie in November 2013. I took this into my word processing package and recoloured it blue so it tied in with the rest of my card
• Gems - from my stash

I hope you'll come over to Lexi's Creations and see the other wonderful creations by my teamies, our regular Guest Silvi and our Special Guest Designer Caroline. Don't forget to come back and show us your wonderful creations - remember it's Anything Goes! This challenge will end on Saturday 18th January 2014.

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

• Challenge #76 - Sketch at Little Miss Muffet Challenge - I've added a row of gems just to give my design a bit more sparkle!:o)
• Challenge #18 - All that Glitters at Creative Knockouts
• Challenge 18 - Your Favourite Colour and Why at As You Like It Challenge - this cool blue colour is perfect for Winter Birthdays as it alludes to snowy and frosty weather ... quite unlike the wet and windy we're experiencing in the UK at the moment!
• Challenge #97 - Blue with Bling (Winter) at Love to Create Challenge
• Make It Girly at Whoopsi Daisy
• Challenge #69 - Layer Up! at Delicious Doodles

Whatever you're doing this week, have fun - if you're in the UK or in the weather affected parts of the US and Canada, please stay safe.

Catch you soon!

Hugs, Helen x

Boo .......... !!!!!

I hope I didn't scare you, with something from me suddenly appearing in your blog feed! After 3½ months of being AWOL in Blogland, I'm back! How are you all?

Sorry that I disappeared on you all, however life distinctly got in the way of crafting and (to cap it all) Mr. Mojo cleared off on a very long vacation. Anway, I'm back crafting now and I will be bringing you regular blog posts ... fingers crossed!

Here's a little taster; a card which I produced last week for my youngest's birthday. She saw me making an identical card the week before (which I put into a box of cards to be raffled at my friend Karen's 50 Shades of Pink fundraising Grand Ball - I'll blog these another time!) and asked me if she could have one for her birthday. Well, of course I had to oblige (didn't I?), and here is the result:

Sorry the photo isn't too bright - it's another grey and dreary day here, and this was the best I could do!

My card recipe is follows:

• Base Card - is Centura Pearl in Ivory which I cut, scored and folded to make a 15 x 10.5 cm simple Z-fold card.
  
• Design Paper - is from a set called Candy Hearts by Goblinmarket.
• Image -  is Nail Polish by Melissa at MelJens Designs and I chose this image following a win earlier in the year at Tuesday Morning Sketches - shame on me that I haven't used it until now!!! I flipped this digital image in my word processing package before cutting it using my new toy (I've treated myself to a Big Shot!!!!) and my second largest Framelits Oval Die. I've used the "Out of the Box" technique just to add a bit of interest to the design, and then brought the image to life using my Spectrum Noir Pens in the following colours:
• Nail Varnish - PL1, PL2
• Bottle and Lid - IG1, IG2
• Charm & "Sparkles" - Silver Gel Pen
• Gem - from my stash
• Sentiment - comes from a set called You're So Sweet (which was a magazine freebie last year), which I stamped onto an additional die cut oval using Memento Ink in Tuxedo Black. I fixed this oval into the middle of the bottom layer of the card, before superimposing my main image over it.

There you have it ... easing myself back into Blogland gently! 

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges (with a little help from the girls at Paper Playful - thanks girls!):

• Day 295 - This and That Stamping at 365 Cards
• Challenge # 237 - Anything Goes with the Option of a Sketch at Creative Inspirations
• Anything Goes at Ladybug Crafts Ink
• Challenge #185 - Think Pink at Craft your Passion Challenges
• Colour Pink at That Craft Place
• Challenge #55 - Pink for Breast Cancer Awareness at The Squirrel and The Fox

Hope you have a great day ... I'm off for a quick run and studio class, followed by crafting this afternoon!

Hugs, Helen x

Watching the Flowers Grow ...

Good morning friends - I hope you are well. I'm not sure what has happened to the UK weather this last week, but it seems as though Spring has turned her back on us!!!

It's new challenge time at Whoopsi Daisy and this week we're really hoping that Spring has sprung as we'd like to see your May Flowers ... just in time for the first RHS Show of the season, Chelsea Flower Show! Those of you who are so talented at embellishing your projects with beautiful flowers will love this challenge ... for me this was more than a slight challenge!

As usual, Linnie is offering our lucky prize winner one sheet of images from the Whoopsi Daisy Store, unless you've used a Whoopsi Daisy Image for your project in which case you can choose two sheets of images. Linnie invited the DT to peruse the store again, but I chose to use this sweet image which was a freebie on the store blog, I think last summer (although if anyone knows better, please let me know!)

My project recipe is as follows:

• Base Card - made from Centura Pearl in Snow White which I cut and scored to make a 15cm square card
  
• Design Papers - are both from a collection called Emma's Garden which was a magazine freebie. I've edged this with a deep raspberry coloured border which I've tool distressed
• Image - as I've said, this beautiful image was a freebie last year, and it's called Girl and Butterflies. I brought this idyllic scene to life using my Spectrum Noir Pens and chalks in the following colours:
• Skin - FS2, FS3
• Hair - GB7, GB8
• Top -  BP1, BP2
• Trousers - EB2, IB1, IB2, IB3
• Hat - EB1, EB2
• Butterflies - IB2, GB1
• Flowers - CG3, GB4, BP5, BP7
• Background - Craf-T Chalk in Light Blue, Dark Brown, Light Brown, Dark Green and Green 
• Sentiment - is by Paulette at Create with TLC and I think this Happy Birthday Flag has to be one of the sentiments I use most regularly. I changed the colour of the sentiment by taking in into my word processing programme and recolouring it to one of the shades of blue so it fitted in with the card.
• Flowers - were made by taking a floral patterned sheet from  Emma's Garden Collection and punching the flower shapes with my flower punch. Once the shapes were adhered to the card, I then stuck Gems from stash onto them to "bling" them up a bit!
• Ribbon - is a thin pink organdie ribbon from my stash (originally from a local haberdashery store). I used 2 strands which I twisted together a couple of times in the middle to give the unusual style.

I do hope you'll come over to Whoopsi Daisy Challenge and have a look at the wonderful floral creations made by the Divas. Then come back and show us your projects featuring May Flowers. Don't forget that if you're using a Whoopsi Daisy image then you don't have to follow this week's theme!!! This challenge closes on Sunday 26th May 2012.

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

• Day 134 - Overlapped at 365 Cards
• Challenge #54 - Squares at Ruby's Rainbow
• Challenge #217 - Recipe (1 Image, 1, Sentiment, 2 Patterned Papers, 3 Embellishments) at Dutch Dare Card Challenges - my embellishments are the flower punch shapes, gems and ribbon twist
• Girls, Girls, Girls at Joanna Sheen
• Feminine at The Stamp Spot - Second Entry
• CMM69 - Punches at Card Makin' Mamas

I'll be back later this week with some more DT projects. In the meantime, have a good day!

Hugs, Helen x

I'm Fairy Excited!

Good morning friends and hope you are well.

This morning is very exciting for me as I am very pleased to be able to tell you the secret that I've been bursting to say for the last 2 weeks! I've been asked to join the Divas at Whoopsi Daisy, and I've said yes!!!!! So today is my first challenge, and the theme this week is For A Child. 

Our lucky winner's prize is (as usual) one sheet of images from the Whoopsi Daisy Store, unless you've used a Whoopsi Daisy Image for your project in which case you can choose two sheets of images. Linnie has also kindly let the DT loose in her store to choose an image to showcase (thanks Linnie!) and here is my card for your inspiration today:

I've used a layout from Tuesday Morning Sketches for this card - I love this sketch and it's one I've used several times now. My card recipe is as follows:

• Base Card - made from Centura Pearl in Snow White 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 to make a hinge at the side, and 2 "feet" at the bottom and then cut round the embossed shape.
• Design Papers -  came from the set Blooming by Jady Day Studio and is downloadable from Sweete Shop Designs. I love the "ice cream parlour" colours in this pack!
• Image - This gorgeous little fairy is from  Sheet 391 and she is just one of the gorgeous digis drawn by Linne at Whoopsi Daisy. To bring this little sweetie to life, I used my Spectrum Noir Pens in the following colours:
• Skin - FS2, FS3
• Hair - GB8, GB10, PP4, PP5
• Dress - GB1, GB4, PP1, PP3
• Wings - PP1, Silver Gel Pen
• Mirror - PP4,PP5, GG1
• Wand - PP5, Silver Gel Pen
• Outline - GG1
• Clouds & Shadows - Craf-T chalks in Light Blue and Grey
• Sentiment - is called Fairy Sentiment Ticket and is by Debbie from The Crafty Pad Designs. Unfotunately Debbie's online store closed earlier this month, but you can still get her digis by going to Card Making Downloads and searching for The Crafty Pad Designs. I printed the ticket onto another DP from the Blooming set before cutting it out.
• Bling - from my stash

Do come over to Whoopsi Daisy Challenge and see the other gorgeous creations the Divas have made "For a Child". Then come back and show us your creations. You've got until Sunday 3rd February to link your creations up. Don't forget if you use a Whoopsi Daisy image, then you can make any style of card or project - you don't have to follow this week's theme!

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

• Challenge 11 - Embossing Wet or Dry at Penny's Paper Crafty Challenge
• Challenge #23 - Soft Pastel Colours at QKR Stampede
• No Squares Allowed at Pixie Dust Studio
• Challenge #36 - Something New at The Squirrel and The Fox - my new DT position and a new image and new papers!
• Challenge #201 - Winged Things at Dutch Dare - I'm chancing my luck that "fairy wings" will count!
• Anything Goes For Kids at Send A Smile 4 Kids

Hugs, Helen x

Cheers!

Good evening friends!

There's now only 1 day left until Christmas, and I'm so pleased that the term has now finished. I have a list as long as both arms, and I'm rapidly running out of time to get things done and sorted!

Once again, I missed (with some style!) the start of this week's new challenge at Incy Wincy Designs ... sorry girls! But I'm here now to share my belated card with you. But firstly, you'll want to know both the theme of the challenge, which this week is Christmas - Mistletoe or Holly.

Our lovely sponsor this week is the team from Bugaboo Stamps, who have kindly provided some images for the DT to work with. Thanks guys! Make sure you head over there because as well as the goodies the girls and I have been working with, there's always a "Friday Freebie" ... and who doesn't like a freebie?

And here is my card for you this week:

My card recipe is as follows:

• Base Card - made from Centura Pearl in Snow White, cut, scored and folded to make a 12cm square card
• Design Papers - are by Paulette at Create with TLC and are called Christmas Royal Snowflakes. They were a freebie on Paulette's blog a few weeks ago, and I love the rich colours she's put together
• Image -  is called JJ Christmas - Cheers. I brought this rather tipsy one to life courtesy of my Spectrum Noir Pens and my Silver Gel Pen
• Sentiment - is alo by Paulette at Create with TLC. I think it was a freebie last year, but it could have equally well been part of one of the Christmas clubs.
• Snowflakes - punched from Centura Pearl in Snow White and then I stuck a clear gem from stash to the centre of each.

Do check out the Incy Wincy Designs blog and see the other gorgeous Christmas cards featuring Holly or Mistletoe by my talented team-mates. Then come back and show us your seasonal projects - due to my total ineptitude, you've only got a few hours left to get your creations linked up. This is our last challenge for 2012 and we're taking a break for a couple of weeks - we'll be back with our first challenge of 2013 on 7th January!


I would like to wish you all a very Happy Christmas ... I hope that Santa is very kind to you!


Hugs,
Helen x

With Thanks and Love

Good morning my crafty friends and welcome to another Monday! I'm back to school today, after having the week off for half term - I can say that having a quick week's break is enough to refresh me, ready for the 7 week run-in to Christmas!

It's new challenge day at Incy Wincy Designs and today our challenge theme is Giving Thanks. We'd like to see your projects that say "Thanks" or "Thank you" on them.

Our lovely sponsor this week is the superbly talented Krista of Saturated Canary, and she has kindly supplied each of the DT members with their choice of digi to use for this challenge. My challenge was which one of the pretty images to use. I did manage to make a decision (lol!) and here is my card for you today:

My card recipe is as follows:

• Base Card - made from Centura Pearl in Snow White, cut, scored and folded to make a 15cm square card
• Design Papers - my base paper is from the Vintage Grunge Postcard Collection by Debbie at Crafty Pad Designs. By loading the image into my word processing package, I have been able to tweak the colour to an aqua shade so that it matches the blue tones in the middle layer on my card. This middle layer is called Red Wallpaper Paper, from the Comforts of Home Kit and it has been designed by Summer at Summertime Designs. I have tool distressed the edges of these two layers
• Image - this totally gorgeous girl is Love Letters and I have brought her to life using my Spectrum Noir Pens in the following colours:
• Skin - FS2, FS3
• Eyes - DG4
• Lips - DR7
• Hair - GB1, GB8, GB10 - I've tried to get some 'shine' in her hair ... not sure if I've managed it or not?
• Top - EB1, EB2, DR7, DG2, DG3
• Trousers - TB1, TB2, TB9
• Envelope - DR7
• Outline - BGR1
• Clouds - Chalk in Light Blue, using this wonderful tutorial on making realistic clouds by Annette. I'm not sure I've got it quite right, but it beats my clip art cloud on a repositionable note hands down! ;o)
• Heart Confetti - don't tell my girls this, but I discovered a little tub of confetti shapes hidden in their 'Art 'n' Craft' box when I was looking for some clay for a school project last week. I thought the little red hearts would be totally perfect and they add a great sheen to the project .... Ssshhhhhhhh!
• Sentiment - is by Paulette from Create with TLC and was one of the goodies in the recent "In Between Club". I've added Holographic Embossing Powder to the text ... just check out that sparkle!!!!!
• Gems - from my stash, but originally came from a french hypermarket in a bumper bundle I bought last year.

 

Do check out the Incy Wincy challenge blog and see the other great cards Giving Thanks which have been created by my talented teamies and this months Guest Designer Paula. Then come back and show us your projects - you've got until Sunday 11th November 2012 to link your creations up.

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

• Challenge #47 - Patterned Paper at Card Crafter's Circle
• Monthly Challenge - Sparkle at Visible Image
• Give Thanks Challenge at Scrappy Frogs
• Challenge #45 - Make it Sparkle at Pile It On
• All That Glitters at Sweet Stampin'
• Challenge #82 - Bold and Bright at My Mum's Craft Shop
• Week 44 - Bright Colours and Sparkle at Polka Doodles

Have a great week!

Hugs, Helen x

Give it up for Pink!

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

Hi,

I'm back again with another post that is later than it should have been ... sorry! It's time for a new challenge at Lexi's Creations and this time our challenge theme is Pink, as it's Breast Cancer Awareness month. 

Our wonderful sponsor this time is Priyanka from My Heart Pieces. The prize that is up for grabs this week is 3 of Priyanka's lovely digital images. Pop over to her blog to check out her cute digis.


The lovely Lexi has let the DT loose in her on-line store again (thanks Lexi!) and this is the card I have made to show to you today:



I've gone back to a lovely CAS style, and I've used the current sketch at Annabelle Stamps Blog for my inspiration.


My card recipe is as follows:

• Base Card - made from Centura Pearl in Pastel Pink which is cut, scored and folded to around 10.5cm square.
• Image - This beautiful floaty butterfly is called "Fairy Dust Butterfly" and it is just one of the gorgeous images to have come from the pen of  Lexi at Fairy Dust Crafts. I set this image into an off-centre oval and then brought this butterfly to life using my Spectrum Noir Pens in the following colours:
• Butterfly - PP1, PP3, PP4, PP5, IG2
• Outline - IG1
• Butterfly's Abdomen, Wing Ends and "Dust Trail" - Pink Glitter and Silver Gel Pen
• Background - Chalk in Pale Pink
• Sentiment - I used my Silver Gel Pen to write the words 'Faith ... Hope ... Courage' around the top of the oval
• Gems - from my stash

Head on over to Lexi's Creations and see how Pink my talented team-mates and our awesome Guest Designer Mark have gone - don't forget to come back and share your creations with us for this worthy cause! You've got until Saturday 13th October 2012 to link your cards up.

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

• absc054 Sketch Challenge at Annabelle Stamps
• Challenge 42 - Go Pink at Dream Valley Challenges
• Challenge #136 - Pretty Pastels at Totally Papercrafts
• 2nd Annual Link Up For Pink Party at Link Up For Pink
• Challenge #47 at Word Art Wednesday
• Down in the Garden at Joanna Sheen
• Challenge #130 - Save the Hooters at Craft Your Passion
• Challenge 133 - Butterflies or Buttons at One Stitch at a Time
• Cupcake 212 - Think Pink at Cupcake Craft

 That's it from me for today ... think I'm off to try and catch my tail! Thank goodness tomorrow is a new day, and I might get organised :o)

Hugs, Helen x

Dawn's Special Challenge - Final week

Ooops - I wrote this post late last night and forgot to hit the publish button! So I'm very sorry but this post is landing slightly later than it should be :o)

Good morning friends, and a warm welcome to my newest follower Lindsay!

Today is the final update in Dawn's special challenge. As you may already know, Dawn launched her challenge at the beginning September to coincide with her Charity Headshave for Breakthrough Breast Cancer - you can read the full story on Dawn's blog and also use the link from there to get to Dawn's Just Giving Page where you can make a donation. Every £1/$1 would help boost Dawn's target and help Breakthrough Breast Cancer as they fight to find a cure for this awful disease.

The theme for Dawn's challenge is Breast Cancer Awareness and/or Think PINK

(not just a little bit of pink but a lot of pink!).

And yes, there are some awesome prizes on offer. Just check this list out!

Joanna Sheen - Goody Bag

Saturated Canary - $40 Gift Voucher

The Crafty Pad Designs - 8 images

Mo's Digital Pencil - $5 shop credits x2

Dude Time Doodles - $10 Gift Certificate for the store

Crafty Emblies - £10 Voucher for their shop

Fairy Dust Crafts - 5 digital images from the Online Store

Funky Hand - 1 download from the shop

Iva Nova Chest - Pink Goody Bag

Linda Westcott - Hand Made Crochet Flowers, Lace Edging & Fimo Flowers

Here is my second GDT card to support Dawn's challenge.

My card recipe is as follows:

• Base Card - a pre-made A5 Kraft card
• Design Papers - both from my Strawberry Kisses CD-Rom and colour tweaked using the colouriser function. I used the heart shape embossing plate inbuilt into my Ultimate Pro to shape the 2 hearts, which I then cut out and stuck to my main DP.
• Image - Breast Cancer Ribbon is by Debbie (Crafty Pad Designs) and was one of the freebies she gave away on The Crafty Pad Challenge Blog earlier this month. I used my Spectrum Noir Pens in BP1 and BP2 to colour the ribbon and outlined it in BG1.
• Sentiment - is just one of the talented Lexi's (Fairy Dust Crafts) creations - click the link to head over to Lexi's store and have a look at the other lovely digi images she has there! I thought it was perfect to go with my embossed hearts!!! I tool distressed this (using a dressmaking seam ripper tool!) and colour distressed the edges using Magenta chalk.
• Gems - from my stash

Please hop over to Dawn's blog and see what gorgeous creations the other Guest Designers have made to whet your appetite - don't forget to come back and show us your Breast Cancer Awareness and/or Pink creations. The challenge finishes on Saturday 29th September. And if you can help with a donation, however small, it will be very gratefully received.

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

• Challenge #204 - Distressing at Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge - Second Entry.
• Distressed at Delightful Sketches - Second Entry
• ac 087 - Say it in ... Shades of Pink & White at Annabelle Stamps
• Challenge 28 - Distressing at Bunny Zoe's Crafts
• Monthly Challenge - Sentimental Journey at Great Impressions Stamps
• Distress It at Scrapper's Delights

Hope you have a great week!

Hugs, Helen x