Could Not Resist!

Could not resist making one last card before going on my hols tomorrow! No matter I have not finished packing yet as a result, but it is important to prioritise. I will not get chance to craft over the next 12 days, & thought it more important to make sure I had one final fix, LOL! I have used a Penny Black image kindly sent by the lovely ladies over at Creative Inspirations after I won their challenge the the week before last. Thank you so much! I am entering this in 2 challenges this week. On Colour Create the combo is yellow, pink sorbet & chocolate. It reminds me of the Neopolitan ice cream I used to love as a kid. Nowadays, I like to think my taste is a little more sophisticated, Haagen Daaz Baileys is my favourite. I have used the fab sketch at Sketch Saturday to create the layout. Icoloured the image with watercolour pencils & glazed the icing on the cakes to make them stand out a bit more. The DPs are my Melissa Francis & the engraved paper by Artsy.licious.
Hope everyone had a good Bank Holiday; we had great weather for a change! I am taking my laptop on holiday & will try & get some visiting done, (if not any cards), depending on WiFi availability. In the meantime,

Regards,
Andie xx

Creative Inspirations meets Stamptacular Sunday

A big Thank You to to the lovely & fabulously talented Dena who sent me this Gorjuss image all the way from Texas. These girls sure are well travelled! I love the sketch over at Creative Inspirations this week. It is one of those you would turn to again & again. I have combined it with Stamptacular Sunday who are running a colour combo challenge this week where the palette is brown, green & pink. Hope you are all enjoying you weekend so far, looks like it could be BBQ time! I am off to visit my Mum & Dad, & see my sister & beautiful niece Emma, who are over from France, & whom I do not see nearly enough.
Whatever you are doing this weekend I hope you have loads of fun!

Regards,
Andrea xx

Just Magnolia meets Colour Create

Just a quickie this morning. Woke up too early, so thought I would just get this posted before work. Naoul has provided a fantastic sketch at Just Magnolia this week, which I will definitely use again. I wish I had made this card a bit smaller though, as there is too much background & not enough Tilda! The flowers look a bit squashed up too! A big Thank You to the lovely Sarah, better known as Lil Paper Pixie, who sent me this image. She is multi talented as demonstrated by the diverse range of cards she produces. I am hoping Spring is nearly over, so I thought I better get this image used now, before it's too late. What colour are lambs if not ecru?So it also lends itself perfectly to the Colour Create combo this week which is Tan, Ecru & Duck Egg Blue. I love colour combo challenges, they give me so much inspiration & often enable me to use up old papers I had almost given up on! The DP on this card is by All My Memories that I must have had at least 2 years without it ever being touched. Well must go I can hear the boys stirring. Hope you are having a good week, it will soon be the weekend!!

Regards,
Andie xx

Sugar Bowl Challenge #10, Marlene's Sketch

What a fab sketch Marlene conjured up for the current Sugar Bowl challenge. I will definitely be using this one again. I like the new format to the blog too. Following sketches is always fun, but I also enjoy trying to incorporate the optional extra. Though in this case, since I use buttons on nearly every other card, so it was not too much of a stretch! Ther is not much to tell about this card, other than the DPs are by KI Memories & the image is coloured with my trusty Distress Inks.
Hope you are all having a good week so far. I am off on my hols next week , so for me it is not going fast enough!

Regards,
Andrea xx

I DID IT!!

This is me when I got home today after completing the Great Manchester 10K Run, (not my most flattering look, LOL!). It was really hard work, but great fun. Last year I did it, for the first time, in 75minutes. Paula Radcliffe I am not! I think I was a couple of minutes faster this year, but I have not got my official time yet. I ache like mad & given the opportunity would be going to bed right now. However, I may be back later with a card. Thanks to those of you kind enough to leave a message of support. I was running for the British Heart Foundation. But if anyone wants to show their support, please make a donation to a charity of your choosing. Sorry I have not done much visiting recently, I hope to leave some messages soon. Enjoy what is left of your weekend!

Regards,
Andrea xx

Happy Anniversary Friday Sketchers!

Could not let the week pass without having a go at the fabulous sketch provided over at Friday Sketchers this week. It is their first anniversary & I also wanted to offer not only my Congratulations, but say a big Thank You to all the organisers, the DT & all the participants for the wonderful inspiration they have provided over the past 12 months. I have used Geisha Anya

I got from the wonderful Dies to Die For. I love Greeting Farm stamps, they are so easy to colour & so cute! I am also using Basic Grey, Wisteria papers. I have seen them on other blogs & really love them, mine are from Stampeezee. The swirls were made with an EK punch from the Hobby House. Yes I have been spending, but I do not feel guilty. I am doing my bit to help Britain out of the recession!!

Hope you are having a good week, the weekend is nearly here!

Regards,

Andrea xx

Just Magnolia - In Stitches with Sketch Saturday #50

A big Thank You to Sarah, aka Lil Paper Pixie for sending me this super cute Tilda image from the Butterfly Collection. I just used pencils to colour her. I don't think I would ever get bored if I only ever had Magnolia stamps to colour! The challenge at Just Magnolia this week is to use stitching on your card. It might not be obvious where I have done this. I sewed a blanket stitch around paper flower to make it more interesting & used cross stitch as to add highlights. I love sewing & used to do loads before I found cardmaking. It was fun to combine 2 of my addictions & I will try to do it more often. The sketch at Sketch Saturday this week is nice & simple, the kind that would offset any image just right.
FYI the dp are Blush by Basic Grey & the sentiment is WOJ.

Thanks for looking. Hope you are having a fab week.
Regards,
Andie xx

Gorjuss does SOS & Creative Inspirations

It's a bit last minute, but I spent so long musing over what to put on my touchy feely card for A Spoonfull of Sugar this week I nearly missed the challenge altogether! I am also entering this card in for the Creative Inspirations challenge this week, which is red, green & blue. I used these Flower-Ful papers from Junkitz that I have had for ages. Yay, using up more stash, only I've still got loads left! It is hard to see on the photo, but the blue background paper is textured & I put Papermania Stones at each point where the splashes of colour narrow. I used my distress ink pads to colour the felt ribbon, it does look a bit more red in real life, honest! I love the paper flowers. I can't remember which blog I saw them on first, but they are really effective & really easy to make. I love these Gorjuss girls more & more. They are so easy to colour & always look fab!
I am now making another request for your support. I will be running the 10K in Manchester this weekend. While I will be running for The British Heart Foundation, I hope that some of you might show your support by making a donation to a charity of your own choosing. Many thanks to those of you that do. By the way, is anyone else doing the run? All the best if you are!

Hope you have all had a good day,
Regards,
Andrea xx

WOJ - Challenge #29

It has been a few weeks since I last completed a Whiff of Joy challenge, which is a shame as I really love these stamps & they just have not been seeing enough ink of late! So to remedy this I followed Katharina's great sketch this week. This is Willow with a plate full of freshly baked cookies. Good job I have just eaten or I would be making myself hungry!
FYI, the DP is by Crate Paper & the setiment is also WOJ.

I also have a favour to ask anyone visiting my blog this week, & I will be adding this this to each post I do, so I apologise if it gets a bit monotonous! This coming Sunday I will be running the Manchester 10K Fun Run (there's a contradiction in terms!). Obviously I can not ask you all for sponsorship, but I would like to ask those of you that want to, to donate £1 (or any amount of your choosing) to The British Heart Foundation, or any other charity of your choice. Knowing that some of you might do this will help spur me on around the course. I will let you know after the event, how I get on. I did it in 75minutes last year, (not exactly a whippet!), so I am trying to improve on that. Wish me Luck!!

Hope you have all had a nice weekend.
Regards,
Andrea xx

3 in 1 Challenge & My First Award

Two challenges this week have lent themselves perfectly to being combined. Friday Sketchers has a fab sketch presented by Beatrix. Meanwhile Stamp with Fun wants to see cards with the dimensions 8" x 4". Not content with this I have also used the gorgeous colour combination offered at Colour Create this week of red, cream & chocolate, though the photo does not show them in all their true yumminess! So I am entering my card in all three.
FYI, the little cutie in the image is by Alota, & the DP is Melissa Frances.

And now to some exciting news, I have my first award!

It came from a lovely lady named Sarah. Some of you may know her better as Lil-Paper-Pixie. Thank you so much! Click here to see the beautiful cards she creates on her fantastic blog. One of the reasons I created my own blog was in the hope of meeting lovely, like-minded people like Sarah who share my passion for card making. We spoke on the phone the other night & it was a real pleasure. I also know of two more hugely talented ladies who are equally deserving of this award, so I am passing it on to them. They are Dena & Jenny. You should check out their work too. All three have provided me with great support & inspiration since I started my blog in February & for that I am immensely grateful.

By the way, for anyone interested, Wolverine was very good, but would have been better if Hugh Jackman didn't have a beard! There you go, a critic's verdict!! Hope you are having agood week.

Regards,

Andrea xx

SOS # 49 and Sugar Bowl Challenges

Just got home from my parents this evening, & was straight on the the crafting vibe! Inked up this little fella from Sugar Nellie & coloured him with my Distress Inks (what else!). I've combined two of my favourite challenges on this card. At A Spoonfull of Sugar this week they have set a colour scheme of blue & green, & the Sugar Bowl theme is to make a card for a man. Well I often refer to my boys as 'my little men' so I think this counts! The DPs I have had for years & quite frankly I had gone off them. So this was a great excuse to cut into them. They are by Deja Views & I must have had them at least five years! In fact I have been very good on this card & used stuff I have had for ages. If I can manage that a little more, I'll soon be needing to buy new stash. Hey when did I ever need an excuse, LOL! Hope you have all have a lovely BH weekend. I'm feeling good as my husband & I are having a 'We Day' tomorrow, where we take a day off work & do all the things we used to do before the children were born, while they are at school & nursery. I'm feeling really loved up & am looking forward to it. We're hoping to see Wolverine. Anyone seen it yet? I will let you know if it is any good.
Bye for Now,

Regards,
Andrea xx

Just Magnolia #3 with Colour Create

Just a quickie today as I am at my Mum & Dad's house & my tea is nearly ready. Gosh, I feel like I am a child again, LOL! Here is my entry for this weeks Colour Create & Just Magnolia Challenges. I got to use Melissa Frances DPs I did not think I would get chance to use before Autumn! Thanks to Bev for a wonderful sketch that was nice & simple &, I think, allows the image to stand out. I fall out with my cards when they get too busy! The colour scheme for CC is orange, green & brown. I could perhaps have used a bit more green, but it did not seem to work as well, so I kept it to a minimum. Hope that's OK!
Hope everyone is having a terrific BH weekend. Hope this weather will hold!

Regards,
Andrea xx