Sketch & Stash DT

Good Morning one & All! Are you ready to face a new week? Here's something to brighten your day. It's time for another new sketch at Sketch N Stash.

 

Apologies for the quality of these photos. Can't wait for the clock to go forward & I'll be less dependent on artificial light. Somehow, I missed this gorgeous Tilda in the Christmas release & I just had to get her. She's coloured with Prismas & is such a cutie. My papers are K & Co - Julianne & the slightly wonky sentiment is by Tina Wenke for Stampavie.

So here's our fab sketch, designed, for your delectation, by the marvellous, Michelle.

Michelle is also, very generously, sponsoring our challenge this week so I hope you'll play along with us to be in with a chance of winning this fab prize.




I am also entering this at Just Magnolia where the theme is Blue & White.

At Simon Says Stamp, they want to see Mother's Day/Special Girl cards.

Well, that's all from me. Thanks so much for looking. Have a great week.

Big Hugs,
Andie xx

Secret Crafter's Saturday Challenge - Photo Inspiration

It always feels good to make it to the weekend! This one is no exception, not least beacause it's time for another challenge at Secret Crafter's Saturday Challenge. It my wonderful D-Teamie, Kate's turn to choose our theme. She wants you to be inspired by a photo this week, which you can find here.

I'm afraid you'll have to indulge me here. I was quite pleased with how this turned out so I took several photos! This is Tilda with Heart-shaped snowball, with Magnolia winter forest & winter scene. I coloured it all with Distress Inks. The papers are MME.

I love this little cutie, she's just adorable. I used silicone glue to 3D to make her stand off the page.

I used Polar White Flower Soft on the snow for a bit of fun & the snowflake is a Marianne Design die.

Now I have to give credit where credit is due. I never set out to case the card on the front of the last Magnolia magazine. But after I finished it I noticed a big similarity. So I should credit Tab with a lot of the inspiration for this card. Her work is just awesome & you should check it out.

I hope you'll now check out the fabulous creations of my fellow D-Teamies at the Secret Crafter's blog.

I also want to enter this card at several challenges this week. At Just Magnolia & hAnglar & sTanglar, 'Anything Goes' with a touch of sparkle. 'Anything Goes' at Simon Says Stamp.

At Stamptacular Sunday, the theme is 'Anything Christmas'.

At Deep Ocean Challenge, they want to see cards inspired by the letter 'C'. Mine is C for Christmas of course!

My this has been a long one today. If you've stuck with me this long, thanks so much for bearinf with me. I'm off to the cinema this morning with the boys. Then I hope to get lots of crafting done later. Hope you all have a great weekend, whatever you are up to.

Thanks so much for looking.

Big Hugs,

Andie xx

Passion For Promarkers - Sketch

Good Morning & a Happy Tuesday one & all. Time for another fab challenge at Passion for Promarkers, where this week, marvellous Michele has created a wonderful sketch for you to follow.

I have to apologise for the quality of my photos. Due to the fact our summer has gone AWOL again! Despite taking them in front of the window they look a bit dull!

I've been playing with my Pion papers again & used 'Hello Little Butterfly' from the Butterfly Dreams collection. I thought I'd fallen out with Tilda a bit, just a few weeks ago, but now I'm feeling firmly back in love with her. What was I thinking?!! The romantic lace die & the swirl are both Doo Hickeys & the flowers were cut from a Memory Box die.

This is Michele's fab sketch. You should hop on over to the PFP blog to see the delights my awesome D-Teamies have created for your inspiration.

I'm delighted to tell you that our sponsor this week is Some Odd Girl who are offering our lucky winner 3 digi stamps of their choice. So what are you waiting for?!

I am also entering this at this week's Just Magnolia & hAnglar & sTanglar challenge, where the theme is 'pink, purple & pearls'.

Allsorts Challenge is still hanging 'Free & Easy'

So there you go. Thanks so much for looking.

Big Hugs,

Andie xx

Passion For Promarkers - Tie a Yellow Ribbon!

Good Morning one & all, happy Tuesday! We've got another fab challenge for you at Passion For Promarkers, chosen by my awesome D-Teamie, Julie. Her choice of theme is,

TIE A YELLOW RIBBON

WARNING! You might want put some sunglasses on before proceeding with this post!

I have to say, the yellows are a very under used colour pallette in my Promarker collection, but I love how this sweet little Tilda turned out. I teamed her with Basic Grey Curio papers & the overall effect has turned out a little too yellow I think! The sentiment is also from Magnolia & the little flowers were created with a Memory Box die cut from Dies to Die For. The yellow ribbon isn't glaringly obvious, but is there!

I also have to say how good the new fine nib attachments are. I was able to do much finer detail than I have ever been able to do before with my Promakers. Unfortunately I only have three & it was a pain keep switching them from pen to pen, so I'm definitely going to be getting more. Having said that I did create some interesting new shades along the way as the inks mixed in the nib, but sadly they were only fleeting!

I hope you'll hop on over to the PFP blog & check out the wonderful creations of my fabulous D-Teamies. Play along this week & you could win a fab £10 voucher to spend with our wonderful sponsor, Joanna Sheen

I would also like to enter this at Just Magnolia & hAnglar & STanglar where this week, Anything Goes.

I also used the fab sketch at Totally Gorjuss for my layout.

So there you go for now. Thanks so much for looking.

Big Hugs,

Andie xx

Secret Crafters - Dust off Your Neglected Stash!

Big Yay for Saturday!! This week fab Secret Crafter's challenge has been chosen by the lovely Helen, who is asking us to use some of our older, more neglected stash. You should pop by her blog as she has a lot going on there today!

You might be thinking that this Magnolia stamp is not that old. I have to admit that after a while a lot of them start to look the same. I was shocked & ashamed to find I've had this one in my collection since it came out with the wedding collection last year & she's been lying lonely & uninked all this time! Shame on me!

Tilda is coloured with Distress Inks with the tiniest amount of Gold Liquid Pearls added to the flower, both available at the Secret Crafter shop. The papers are Prima - Fairy Flora. I've fallen in love with these papers. I need to find somewhere that still has them in stock! The flower embellishment was created with EK Success retro flower punches, available here, topped off with a cute little flower button also from Secret Crafters. Flat back pearls finish it all off. I held off from adding anything more as I didn't want to cover up the papers!

Time to hop on over now to see the fabulous creations of my lovely D-Teamies.

I would also like to enter my card at Just Magnolia & hAnglar & sTanglar where the challenge is 'Anything Goes' (I forgot about the stitching bit!)

The sketch I used is an old one from Sketch & Stash, number 19 I believe. This week you can chose your own from their wonderful catalogue.

So there you go. Whatever you are up to, have a fabulous weekend!

Big Hugs,

Andie xx

My Favourite Things!

It's been a while in the making, but I had to ink up these gorgeous cuties for this week's Just Magnolia & hAnglar & sTanglar Challenge. I got some lovely presents this Christmas, but this is by far my favourite! A huge 'Thank You' to my awesome, totally fabulous, wonderful friend who spotted a gap in my stamp collection & knew I would give a very loving home to these treasures!

The images are coloured with Distress Inks & the papers are Basic Grey - Curio. I cut them out & stuck them against a Magnolia love heart stamp, though you can't really really see the shape of it. The layout is based on the fab sketch at this week's Sketch Saturday, but I took a few liberties, so I jope it still qualifies.

There are a couple of other challenges I created this to enter into.

At Secret Crafters the theme is 'With Love'.

'Love is in the Air' is also the theme at this month's Bunny Zoe's challenge. 

Finally, 'Anything Goes' at Stamp Something, so I am entering it there too.

WOW! 5 challenges in one card, that's a record for me! Thanks so much for looking. Hope you're having a good week!

Big Hugs,

Andie xx

Fairy Lights Edwin!

I've been dying to ink up this little cutie. It's the Xmas card I made for my youngest son Ben. He is so clumsy, the idea of him getting tangled up in fairy lights is not a huge stretch of the imagination!!

Edwin/Ben is coloured with Distress Inks & the papers are Memory Box Tinsel. The sentiment is from the fab Xmas selection by LOTV.

I thought I'd enter this little cutie for a few challenges.

At Just Magnolia this week 'Anything Goes with Sparkle'. I made the fairy lights twinkle by using Art  Institute Glitter.

At Secret Crafters the theme is Christmas. Nice & simple just like me!!

Papertake Weekly provided the fab sketch upon which I based my layout.

So there you go. That's all for now. Hope everyone has had a good start to the week. One down, four days to go to the weekend!!

Thanks for looking,

Big Hugs,

Andie xx

Passion For Promarkers - Old Photo Colours

Tuesday brings another fab Passion for Promarkers challenge chosen by my, oh so lovely, DT colleague Julie (waving!) I had the great pleasure of meeting her at the NEC at the weekend & can I just say she's wonderful! She chose the theme of colours of old photos, namely sepia tones or black, grey & white.

Our fabulous sponsor this week is Secret Crafter, & our lucky winner will receive a £10 voucher to spend there.

I've used a Magnolia image I got at the NEC this weekend. I think she will be useful all year long, though I think she is from the latest Xmas collection, I'm not sure.

I've used Basic Grey Cappella papers & the flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts. The sentiment is from one of the new sets from Lili of the Valley. These are going to be soooooo useful. I met lovely Lisa & Laila from LOTV too at the weekend, along with wonderful Bev & awesome Jacqui whose amazing cards made me want to buy every single one!. In my opinion, they had the best stand there.

I want to give a big shout out to all the other amazing crafty ladies I met at the NEC. 'Hello!' Lesley, Jo, Heather, Tab, Kim, Kim, Tara &not forgetting '15 minute Mina'. I'm so sorry if I missed anyone off there. Of course, there was also the wonderful Dena, with whom I went. We had a blast! She was such great company, & my boys absolutely adored her. They cried when she left!

I hope you'll join us for this week's challenge. Please pop on over to the PFP blog to see the amazing creations of my D- Teamies. I would also like to enter this into a couple of other challenges. At Just Magnolia this week, 'Anything Goes' & my layout is based on the sketch at Totally Gorjuss this week.

For now though, thanks for looking. Have a great week.

Big Hugs,

Andie xx

Passion For Promarkers - Pink/Purple & White Christmas

Happy Tuesday One & All! My lovely D-Teamie Anja has chosen a great theme for this weeks Passion For Promarkers challenge. She wants to see Xmas cards with a pink & white, or purple & white colour scheme.

Furthermore we are delighted to have Whiff of Joy as our fabulous sponsor, who are offering our lucky winner a choice of any stamp from their wonderful range.

I used Tilda Unwrapping Presents from the 2009 Xmas collection & coloured her with Aqua Markers. I also used the Wedding Swirl for the background. The pink DP is Ocober Afternoon - Very Merry. The sentiment is Catslife Press from lovely Crafty Emma's Store & I used a variety of punches & dies for the snowflakes.

 

Quite a simple card all in all, but I'm going to enter in several other challenges. The layout uses Dawny's fab sketch at Just Magnolia this week. At the new monthly Quixotic Paperie challenge, the theme is Christmas is Coming. Totally Gorjuss are celebrating their first birthday & revisiting their first challenge, which is Pink!

Please hop on over to the PFP blog to see the stunning creations of my wonderful D-Teamies.

Hope everyone is having a great week.

Big Hugs,

Andie xx

Passion For Promarkers - Distressed!

Happy Tuesday one & all! Time for another fab challenge at Passion for Promarkers. This week my lovely & uber talented D-Teamie, Sue has chosen the theme. She wants your creations to be distressed  or have a shabby chic look. This week's lucky winner will win a £10 gift voucher to spend on the fab goodies available at our sponsor, Joanna Sheen.

My card this week uses, what may just turn out to be, my all time favourite Tilda. At least up to this point! She's Tilda in the Autumn Leaves from the new Aples & Cherries collection. I love how happy she looks & how much fun she is having! I'd like to see more happy Tildas (& Edwins!). She is coloured with Aqua Markers to go with the distressed look.

The DPs are two sides of the same sheet from the Fly a Kite range from October Afternoon. Perfect for the Autumnal feel of the image.

I've been playing about with 3D lately & used it on this image to try & give my image a bit more movement. I cut Tilda out & glued her body to the paper, but used silicone glue to raise her arms, legs & head to varying degrees. I also used it on some of the leaves. It is hard to see it in the photo, but you getter a better idea side on. IRL, I'm really pleased with the effect, but man, what a pain cutting out those little leaves!

The flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts & the leaves around the flowers were cut from a Creatables die. I added adhesive gems too for a little sparkle.

The layout is based on the fab sketch at this week's Just Magnolia challenge.

Stamp Something want to see cards with 'Fall' colours, as do Stamptacular Sunday with their 'Season's Change' challenge.

So I would also like to enter my card for these challenges.

Thanks so much for looking,

Big Hugs,

Andie xx



Hubba Hubba!!

Just wanted to share the card I made for my wonderful hubby Paul, (Hubba Hubba!). It's our wedding anniversary today, 9yrs of wedded bliss! Am I making you feel sick yet, LOL!

I just love this wedding couple from the magnolia Wedding 2010 collection. They are just leaning towards each other for a big snog, LOL!

They are coloured with Aqua Markers & the papers are MME & Fancy Pants - My Family.
I'm sorry, I can't remember where the sentiment ticket is from.

I added a little glitter for a little wedding magic, but otherwise kept it quite simple. I wanted my loved up couple to take full centre stage.

I want to enter this card at Just Magnolia, where this week 'Anything Goes!

The layout is based on the sketch at Papertake Weekly, so I'm entering it there too.

Finally, I used one of my favourite colour schemes which just happens to match the new challenge at Colour Create.


So there you go. Thanks so much for looking.
Big Hugs to One & All,
Andie xx

Crafts 4 Eternity Recipe Challenge #33

Apologies for the fact this post is a little late. I need to master scheduled posts! We have a new challenge at Crafts 4 Eternity & this week we want you to,

1. use the sketch

2. use shades of blue

3. add some beads

I rotated & flipped the sketch to suit my needs on this one, to balance the floral embellishment I added. The papers are from Magnolia too. I've resisted temptation on these for so long, it simply wasn't possible to ignore hem any longer!!

The navy paper along the bottom is stamped with a flourish in white ink & then glittered to make it all girly! There is more glitter on her crown & wand which I sprinkled over the glaze I used. The beads are on a wire stem in the flowers.

There really is not much else to tell you about this card. So now it's time to head on over to The C4E blog to see the stunning creations of my DT colleagues. And check out this gorgeous digi teddy Michele has created, which is te prize for this weeks winner.

I also want to enter this card into 2 more of my favourite challenges.

Papertake Weekly - Shiny, Sparkly & Special

Just Magnolia - One for the Girls

Thanks so much for looking. Hope you are all having a great weekend

Big Hugs,

Andie xx

3 in 1 Tilda

There is a lesson in this card. Always check you have sufficient quantity of the DPs you intend to use before you start colouring the image! Don't do what I did & imagine a gentle, pastel coloured card & then find out, once you've lovingly coloured your Tilda, that your Basic Grey Wisteria pad is mainly just scraps!! DUH!!

So Bo Bunny Marrakesh & Fancy Pants Daydreams to the rescue. Not until I coloured over the green bits with Pink! I think it turned out OK, but I'm disappointed because it isn't what I wanted.



Anyway I made this card for 3 fabulous challenges.

Just Magnolia - Bev's fab Sketch

A Spoonfull of Sugar - 3D. The oval image is on foam pads

Quixotic Paperie - Distressing. I love the distressed look


I used a crystal cake decoration on the flower centre, (it looks better IRL!) & the heart pin is also from Quixotic Paperie. And there you go. Not much else to tell you about.


Hope everyone has had a lovely Bank Holiday weekend. Ours has been great, but OMG, so cold!
Back to work tomorrow, but another day off on Thursday as Jack's school is a Polling Station & is closed. Yippee for me, but big disappointment for Jack as he loves school!

Hope everyone out there is happy & well. Thanks for looking.

Big Hugs,
Andie xx

Magical Tilda

Just a quickie! I really enjoyed making this card. It's based on the fab sketch at Friday Sketchers this week. This is Simsalabim Tilda. Am I alone in not having any idea what that means? It sounds like a magic spell, like Abracadabra! Whatever, she is totally adorable & quite possibly my favourite from the new collection. But they are all just gorgeous.

This weeks challenge at Just Magnolia is 'Anything Goes', I have been dying to ink up this image since it popped through my letterbox. She is a dream to colour. She's coloured with Distress Inks & the DPs are MME - Ooh La La!

This is a new style of card for me, which fits in with the challenge at Papertake Weekly to Try Something Different. I very rarely decorate the inside either.

There is not much else to say about this. The frame was cut from a Nesties die & the flowers are a mixture from Hobbycraft & Bizzy Becs. I also added glitter to the flowers, her dress & the wand. The ticket was a freebie stamp from Craft Stamper magazine.

There you go then. Not such a quickie after all. I'm watching the Leaders debate at the moment & have gotten a bit sidetracked. When Simon & Garfunkel sing about going to the 'Candidates Debate' in Mrs Robinson, it sounds infinitely better than this! I'm non the wiser about who to vote for next week. I did enjoy Gordon Brown's huge gaff yesterday though!! But I feel so sorry for the lady he bad mouthed. She looked so hurt.

Anyway, this is not a politics forum! Better get crafting! Thanks so much for looking.

Big Hugs,

Andie xx

Just Magnolia - Thank you!

There is a gorgeous sketch at Just Magnolia this week, with the optional extra of making a Thank You card. It is their one year anniversary & the team are saying thank you to everyone who has participated in the challenges & to their, oh so generous, sponsors. I want to say Thank You to them for year of fabulous challenges & incredible inspiration!

This is one of my favourite Tildas that combines brilliantly with this Whiff of Joy sentiment. She is coloured with Promarkers & the DPs are Basic Grey - Blush.

I added glaze to the roses to make them look fresh as though they had just been picked & still had dew on them, but it's a bit hard to see in the photo. I also used Prima pearls to try & make the background look a bit quieter. It seems a bit strange adding more to a card to make it look less busy!

So there you go. I hope you like her. Hope everyone is having a great week!

Roll on the weekend!!

Thanks for looking,

Big Hugs,

Andie xx

Crafts 4 Eternity - Challenge #28

All change!! Well not everything, just the new posting time of the Crafts 4 Eternity Challenge. Same fab challenge, but now it's posted on a Friday evening to give you a good headstart over the weekend to get your entries in. This week we want you to use

1. Michele's great sketch

2. Some foil

3. A tag.

I think my tag is plain to see, but the (kitchen) foil is glued over 2 circles of card & is just visible peeping out behind the flowers. It is more evident & looks more effective IRL.

No prizes for guessing I've used a Magnolia image. She is from the Xmas collection, but I chose her because she is so versatile & I can use her all year round. I wonder what she got in her present? I'm not even sure it's hers. She looks like she has just been caught opening something she shouldn't have!!

I usually go for the distressed look with Magnolias, so colouring Tilda with my Promarkers is a first for me. But I like how she turned out. The papers are Basic Grey-Wisteria. The flowers are mostly from Crafty Feeling & I used a EK Success swirl punch which also qualifies her for entry into this week's Just Magnolia challenge.

So I hope you'll join us again for this week's C4E challenge. Please hop on over to check out the fabulous work of my lovely DT colleagues. This week's prize is a fab mini card kit from Michele's own Crafts 4 Eternity store. Check out all the goodies she has for sale here!

Thank you so much for looking.

Have a fantastic weekend.

Big Hugs,

Andie xx