B is for ....

Blue, Bear … oh and a new Baby!

Good evening crafty friends and welcome to the latest post from Casa Mia. I hope that you are keeping safe and well …

With it being the 15th of the month, it's time for our new challenge at All Dressed Up Challenges . As usual, our challenge is Anything Goes with an All Dressed Up Image. Not got any All Dressed Up images? Wendy has plenty of gorgeous images available in the All Dressed Up Etsy Store and has also very generously provided some freebies here - please send your friends over to ADU for the freebies though, to make sure they're available for other crafters to share!

Fortunately, Papa Mia returned to his normal workplace (with social distancing in place) at the beginning of this month and, although I'm still working from home 2 days each week, I am at least able to access my crafty stash and my day off can be spent how I want 😉 ! So here is my latest creation, made for a one of my work colleagues who will be leaving our team soon to start her Maternity Leave before she welcomes a little blue bundle of joy to her family!

My card recipe is as follows:

• Card base - is a pre-made 6 inch square white card blank
• Design Papers - all come from a Collab Kit at Pixel Scrapper Digital Scrapbooking called Oh Baby, Baby and there is so much in this bundle I was seriously spoilt for choice! I eventually chose a selection by Sheila Reid and used Solid Blue Paper as my background onto which I digitally placed Colourful Stars Paper and I included a dropped shadow on this layer, just to add some depth. I then used Stitches Border to add some faux stitching and a little additional detail.
  
• Image - is by the incredibly talented Wendy Burns at All Dressed Up Digital Stamps and is called Love my Teddy. These toys do come with their own sentiment but unfortunately my largest circle die wasn't big enough to include it. I used some extra Solid Blue Paper and used a craft knife to cut around the outside edge of the die to give a bit of border. I coloured the image using my (rather limited selection of) Copic Alcohol Markers.
• Sentiment - is from a Mixed Circular Sentiment Set (this is the link to the current digi set, but mine is a clear stamp - I've had a little while!) by Lisa at Lili of the Valley (LotV) which I stamped using Black Memento Ink, before using one of my smaller circle dies to cut it out. again, I used a craft knife around the edge of this die and some extra Solid Blue Paper to give a border to the sentiment.
• Silver Gems - are from my stash.

I hope that I have inspired you to come along to All Dressed Up Challenges and join in with this challenge. But if you're in need of further inspiration, please head over to the blog and check out the gorgeous creations by my very talented teamies. Don't forget to then come back and show us your creations which must be Anything Goes with an All Dressed Up Image. Our challenge ends on the evening of 14th June, UK time.

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

• Sketches 184 -185 with Bugaboo at Sweet Sketch Wednesday 2 - I have followed Sketch 185
• Tic-Tac-Toe Challenge ~ J1020 at The House that Stamps Built - I have followed the bottom row of Pink or Blue, Stitching (real or faux) and Babies or Children.

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

• Challenge #202 - Circles at The Paper Girls Challenge
• Challenge #133 - R is for Round at Ike's World Challenges
• Make it Masculine at Dragonfly Dreams Challenge

Hope you have a good and crafty week!

Hugs, Helen x

Way down deep in the middle of the Jungle ...

... I discovered some these friends having great fun!

Good evening crafty friends and it's All Dressed Up New Release Inspiration day! Wendy has again produced 4 stunning images, and us Dressy Girls have been falling over each other to use them!

I'm delighted to share with you Bon Voyage (top left), Jungle Friends (top right), Sea View (bottom left) and Strawberry Patch (bottom right) all available in the All Dressed Store now!

I have been playing with Jungle Friends and here's my project for you, a fun new baby card:

My card recipe is as follows:

• Card base -  is Centura Pearl Ivory made into a "wonky circle rocker" card using the largest rosette from the "nest" on the Ultimate Pro Embossing Board Springtime Sweets and Cupcake Treats which I used as a die, embossing, cutting, scoring, and folding the rosette.
  
• Image - is Jungle Friends by Wendy at All Dressed Up Digital Stamps. I have coloured these cuties using my Spectrum Noir Pens in the listed colours, before die cutting them using an "out of the box" techniques using my largest Die'sire Essentials Circles die.
• Tree and Leaves -CG4, LG5, CG3, TN3, TN7
• Elephant - HB2, HB2, HB3, IB2
• Birds - IB1, IB2, PP6
• Giraffe - CT1, CT3, OR1
• Flowers - PP4, PP6
• Sentiment - is by Debbie at The Crafty Pad (available at Card Making Downloads) and is called Handle with Care which I've cut out and added to the back step of the card.

Do head over to the All Dressed Up Store and treat yourself to one of these beautiful new images and don't forget to check in on the Blog and Facebook Page for more inspiration from the Dressy Girls using these fab images. Our challenges are still running too: on the All Dressed Up Blog we've got our Anything Goes with an All Dressed Up Image challenge and our teamies on the Facebook Page have got their own challenge running until the end of the month and their theme is A World in Bloom. Hope you'll be able to join us!

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

• Challenge #2 - Anything Goes at Crafty Animals
• Tic-Tac-Toe at Whoopsi Daisy - I'm claiming the top row of Digi, Sentiment, Embossing
• Challenge #2 - Anything Goes with a Critter at 2 Crafty Critter Crazies
• Challenge #88 - Include an Animal at Creative Craft Cottage
• Challenge #73 - Shaped Cards/Projects at Dies R Us Challenge
• Challenge #92 - Four or More Legs at Sparkles Monthly Challenge
• Challenge #81 - Animals at Crafting with Dragonflies Challenge
• Challenge #122 - Fun Folds at Cut It Up! Challenge
• Challenge #95 - Animals at Aloha Friday Challenge - Kitty Bee Designs

Have a great week!

Hugs, Helen x

Sheep Dreams!

Well, howdy folks ... hope you are well today!

It's been a rather busy week here at Casa Mia, and this will probably be my last post of the week, and apologies for this one being overdue too!

In my Monday post, I let you know about the new challenge at Incy Wincy Designs - well the challenge of Old MacDonald Had a Farm is still active, and I'm finally able to share my DT make with you. Just to recap, we're looking for your creations which feature animals and/or objects you would find on a farm!

We're being sponsored this week by the lovely Laurie from Doodle Pantry who is kindly offering this week's prize winner a great prize package. Laurie also kindly offered each member of the DT their choice of image to use for this challenge.

Regular readers will know that some of my creations come with a "back story" and this project is no exception. 14 years ago, we first started camping in southern Brittany with Bambino (now eldest Bambino!) and we used one of the companies who have a tent permanently pitched on a site so all you have to do is "move in". All went well with this holiday, the campsite was full of either very young families or grannies and grandpas, however persuading Bambino to sleep in the evenings when it was light and she could hear people moving around, eating outside etc. was proving slightly difficult. We had a cassette with us which we used to play in the car which was called (if memory serves me correctly) Lavender Lamb on Blossom Farm and there was a different song about each of the animals on the farm (I can only remember Dillon Donkey, but there were quite a few other animals too) as well as songs about the fun the animals had on the farm. Well we played this tape to death I think, because Bambino would only fall asleep with this tape playing in the background - thank goodness for auto-reverse tape players! Anyway, as soon as I saw this image I knew exactly what I was creating ... even though there are no babies in sight at Casa Mia!

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 used a die from the Die'sire Essentials Circles to make an opening
• Papers - are from a kit by Janet Scott at Pixel Scrapper Digital Scrapbooking called Tiny, but Mighty Solid Papers. I have used the Dark Pink Fabric and Light Green Fabric Papers and digitally sized and layered these before adding the sentiment 
  
• Image - is by Laurie at Doodle Pantry and is called Sheep Dreams. In this gorgeous set you get 2 versions of the lamb and also 3 different sentiments. I have brought my lamb to life using my Spectrum Noir Pens in the following colours before cutting it out:
• Lamb - PP1, PP3, PP5, PP6
• Grass - CG1, CG2, CG3
• Sentiment - is computer generated using the word art facility in my word processing package and I digitally layered this over the papers before printing

Please come on over to Incy Wincy Designs and see the lovely farm creations made by talented team mates. Then come back and show us your creations which feature things you would find on Old MacDonald's Farm - this challenge ends on Sunday 13th June.

Hope you have a fab day!

Hugs, Helen x

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

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

Flying High!

Hi,

Well, it's another exciting day for me as I'm proudly Guest Designing at Jellypark Challenges this week! Thanks for having me girls!

The theme for this week's challenge is Little Bunny Foo Foo and we're asking that you use a bunny or rabbit on your project. As well as using one of Claire's gorgeous images that's available from her store, I've also been allowed to use a brand new release. So, without further ado, here is my card ....

My inspiration for this layout has come from the current sketch at Come and Get It Challenges - it's another CAS sketch which, as you know, is right up my street!

My card recipe is as follows:

• Base Card - C6 card blank in cream card
• Design Papers - both from the Strawberry Kisses CD-Rom. I used the built in colouriser to tweak the yellow spotty paper, to make it a bit brighter
• Images - all by the very talented Claire at  Jellypark. My main image is Rabbit with Balloon (fussy cut and mounted onto plain cream card, which had a coating of Spray and Sparkle) and she came to life courtesy of my Spectrum Noir Pens in the following colours:
• Rabbit's Fur - GG1, GG2
• Jumper - CT1, CT2
• Dress -  LG3, LG4, CR11
• Balloon - CR11
• The sentiment (I coloured the heart with CR11 and coated it with glitter spray)  and heart-shaped faux buttons are from the new release Baby Tags by Claire at  Jellypark. I printed the heart shapes onto my yellow DP and, following a tutorial by Leesa (I substituted Spray and Sparkle for embossing powder) made the shapes into sweet little buttons that are perfectly coordinated with my card, although I think I need more practice!
• I used some rafia to tie through my faux buttons, and also the string for my rabbit's balloon.

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

• Challenge #53 - Favourite Song/Movie at My Mum's Craft Shop - Defying Gravity from the show Wicked ... quite apt I feel!!! :o)
• Going Around in Circles at Poodles Parlour
• Challenge 23 - Four Legged Friends at Crafter's Companion Monthly Challenge
• Sketch at Come and Get It Challenges
• Challenge #166 - Bounty of Buttons at The Crafty Pad
• R#68 - Something New at Crafts 4 Eternity
• Challenge #74 - Spotty Dotty at Top Tip Tuesday
• Challenge #20 - Doing the Rounds at Little Claire's Designs

Please hop (pun definitely intended!) on over to Jellypark Challenges and show us your Bunny and Rabbit creations. Look forward to seeing you there.

Hope you have a great weekend!
Hugs, Helen x

From Rupert, with Love ....

Hi,

This is my second week as a GDT at Incy Wincy Designs. Thanks for sharing all your Easter and Pastel Colours with us last week. This week the challenge is Cute Critters and we have been sponsored by Stamping Dragon Designs. A friend had already asked me to make a baby boy card for her son and daughter-in-law, and I knew that Rupert with Heart was just the thing! So here's the card I made:

My card recipe is as follows:

• Base Card - 300gsm Centura Pearl Card in Ivory - I love this card for its weight and sheen which just catches the light beautifully. (This is why I didn't use any papers on the front of the card!) The card was cut, scored and folded to make a 6 inch square Joy-fold card. 
• Design Papers - Both from the Paintbox Poppets CD Rom, by Crafter's Companion
• Sentiment - a freebie offered by the lovely (and former Incy Wincy DT member) Annette on her Blog. I recoloured it using my word processing package so that it toned with my card.
• This lovely little fella is called Rupert with Heart by Stamping Dragon Designs - you should visit the store as there are plenty of other dragons (as well as other goodies) there to tempt you! I brought Rupert to life in non-typical dragon colours using my Spectrum Noir Pens in the following shades (old numbering system):
• Heart - 11
• Dragon - 171, 68, 65, 64
• Outline - WG0.5, WG1
• Insert - the coloured square is from the Paintbox Poppets CD Rom which I've then put through my printer again to include this perfect sentiment by Create with TLC

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

• Challenge #51 - Easter Creations / Animals at My Mum's Craft Shop
• Going Dotty at The Poodles Parlour
• Challenge #73 - Easter and/or Animals at Top Tip Tuesday
• Challenge #110 - Critters at Critter Challenge

Looking forward to seeing your Cute Critters over at Incy Wincy this week. Have a great week!

Hugs, Helen x

A Baby Girl ...

Hi,

Another swift post from me this evening ... the lunchboxes are calling! :o) I've had this image for a couple of weeks now from the latest round of the Crafter's Digital Art Center Progressive Challenge. So here's the card I made, quite CAS, but I love it's simplicity!

My card recipe is as follows:

• Base Card - White embossed card 250gsm
• Design Paper - Paintbox Poppets CD Rom, also by Crafter's Companion
• Sentiment - a freebie offered by the lovely Annette on her Blog
• This really cute image is called Girl Bunny Stamp and she is by Stamping Dragon Designs and to bring her to life I used my Spectrum Noir Pens in the following shades (old numbering system):
• Fur - 169, 104, 100
• Hearts - 11
• Dress - 137, 8

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

• Progressive Challenge 14 - cdacpc14, sdd at Crafter's Digital Art Center

Hope you're having a great week, and enjoying the wonderful warm weather!

Hugs, Helen x