Crafts 4 Eternity Recipe Challenge #14

Happy New Year Everyone!!

Sunday once more, & another fab Crafts 4 Eternity Challenge for you to get your teeth into. This week, the ingredients are to:-

1. Use Michele's sketch,

2.Use stitching- real or faux,

3. Use a blue & white colour scheme.

I'm so fed up of making Xmas cards & anything wintery I thought I'd use one of the new Miss Anyas. This one was the least summery of the three, but it's nice to look ahead to Spring. Especially as it's so cold here & everything is white with snow, with more forecast!! I used DP from my Basic Grey Wisteria pad. The dark blue paper is stamped with a swirl with white Staz On ink. I really like how that looks.



In the close up you can see my faux stitching. I had intended to do some for real, but I didn't have time. I added Stickles to the daisies too. There are some Xmassy things I'm not ready to give up yet!! She's coloured with Promarkers, the flowers are from Hobbycraft & the leaf punch is by McGill. I hope you are now feeling inspired to pop on over to the C4E blog to see the gorgeous creations of my DT colleagues, here. Michele is offering another goody bag as a prize & we are looking for a Guest DT member for February. Two fantastic reasons for entering this week!

I've been staying at my parents mostly over the last fortnight & have not had much chance to get any crafting or much visiting done. My New Years resolution is to do more of both! Me & the boys are going home today, I'm soooo looking forward to getting some quality crafting time in, once the boys are all tucked up in bed. For now though, I have more mundane concerns, like going to Sainsburys - Big Yawn!!

Hope Everyone in Blogland is happy & well. I'm feeling a bit lonely. My hubbie has gone to Australia for a friends wedding. I should have been going too, but when it became apparent we could not afford to take the boys as well. I decided to stay behind as I could not bear the thought of being so far away from them for a whole fortnight. So in lieu of violins, any comments you leave would be greatly appreciated!!

Big Happy 2010 Hugs for you all!!
Andie xx

Crafts 4 Eternity Recipe Challenge #13

OMG, I'm so late with this. I got totally lost with the days over Xmas, & forgot that it was Sunday today! This week we have a fab challenge for you. There's Michele's great sketch, plus we want you to use a tag & incorporate a song title!

Had I been thinking straight I would have made another Xmas card. Instead I racked my brains for ages for a song title that wasn't 'Happy Birthday', but would still be appropriate on a card. Finally I came up with the theme tune from 'Friends' - 'I'll be There for You!' This two little fellas look like great pals!






There's not much else to tell you about the card. The cute image is from Lili of the Valley, coloured with Distress Inks. My DPs are Basic Grey, Skate Shoppe I think. Hop on over to the Crafts 4 Eternity blog to see the gorgeous creations of my fellow DT colleagues. Michele is offering a fab goody bag of crafting stash for this week's winner.

So I hope everyone has had a fabulous Xmas. Did Santa bring everything you hoped for? Whatever you are up to I hope you enjoy your New Year festivities!

Big Hugs
Andie xx

Crafts 4 Eternity Recipe Challenge #12

Challenge time again at Crafts 4 Eternity. Here's this weeks fab sketch, designed by marvellous Michele. The additional ingredients to use in the recipe are to use net & a journaling spot.

I've used the, oh so sweet, Daisy image from the gorgeous collection of stamps created by my lovely DT colleague Suzette. She runs her own stamp company, Crafty Sentiments, & is generously sponsoring this week's challenge.

I love this little lady & will give this card to my little niece, Emma for Xmas. I coloured her with my Promarkers & used Basic Grey - Blitzen, DPs. I'm not too keen on my handwriting on the journaling spot, but it adds a more personal touch! The 'netting' is actually raffia lace, with ribbon threaded through. I got busy with the glitter again. It shows up nicely in the photos, for a change!

So there you go. Please pop over to the C4E blog to see the beautiful creations of my fellow DT colleagues, here.

I've got to run. I still need to get some pressies! I thought I was done, but then decided not to get what I had originally planned. If I don't get it sorted soon, I'm going to start panicking!

Hope everyone is having a lovely weekend & is more organised for Xmas than me.

Thanks for looking.
Big Festive Hugs!
Andie xx

Friday Sketchers for my Boss!

I must apologise for the quality of this of this photo. I made it the other night for me & my colleagues at work to give to our line manager for Xmas. Trouble was I had to leave early the next day & the light was terrible, so the colours do not show through properly. Trust me, IRL it is much nicer!

I based it on the fab layout at Friday Sketchers this week. The image is Antoinette from Kraftin Kimmie. I chose it because she looks a little bit like my curly haired boss. But the day after I finished it, she only arrived at work with straightened hair, LOL!!

I got the distressing tool out on this one, coloured her with Distress Inks & a Xmas card isn't a Xmas card without a touch of glitter! The sentiment is from Anna Griffin on a snowflake nestie background. The DP is MME.

Well got to dash. It's my last day at work tomorrow - YAY!! - & I've got loads of cards to make still - EEEK!!

Thanks for looking,

Big Hugs,

Andie xx

Creatalicious Challenges - Challenge #5

It's the 15th again which means time for Bizzy Bec's Creatalicious Challenge once more. This month we want to see you use, something old, something new, something torn & something blue! As you will see from mine, & the gorgeous creations of my lovely DT colleagues, this does not have to mean a wedding card.

I decided to make a step card. I had been wanting to make one since I saw one on the blog of the wonderful Jacqui at Cats Whiskers. Her designs are a constant source of inspiration. Pop on over & see what I mean for yourself. So something old is the DP from last Xmas Imaginisce Snowy Jo Collection. Something new are the cute Xmas Gnomes from Whiff of Joy. Something torn is the Papermania vellum that is supposd to look like snow! Finally I used blue Bazzill Bling card stock for the card base & made a blue snowflake with a Nestie die from MME DP.

Sadly the weather has been so dull here I've really struggled to get a decent picture of this card. You'll have to take my word for the fact the colours look much better IRL. The card itself is much simpler to make than it looks, but cutting out those images sure took a while!

Now it's time to pop on over to the Creatalicious website to see the absolutely stunning creations of my DT colleagues. See them here.

Anyway, I hope you like it. Thanks for looking.

Hope everyone is having a great week!

Big Xmas Hugs,

Andie xx

Stamp With Fun - Guest DT

It is my great honour & privilege to have been chosen as a guest designer this week over at Stamp with Fun. The challenge this week is 'Little Presents'

I opted to do a Joy Fold card & chose a couple of images, from Sugar Nellie, with little presents. So please indulge me with various views! I added a ribbon to the front to echo the bows on the pressies & hung a little Xmas charm from, because that is where presents go, under the tree.

Here is the inside. I made the snowflakes with a Nestabilities Create a Flake & glittered it to within an inch of it's life! The DPs are Flair Designs again.



The images were coloured with Distress Inks & are also glittered for a bit more Xmas magic! The children are just so cute!

I must apologise for being so late with this post. But I don't work Mondays & after a dull start in Tesco, today hads been busy, but lovely. I took Ben to a soft play centre & met up with a friend. Then we went to watch Jack in his Nativity play. He was just fantastic. He only had two lines, but I nearly cried, I was so proud! Finally Ben & I went swimming while Jack did his Tae Kwon Do. Then home for tea & finally 5 minutes to post this card. Phew!!

It's getting scarily close to Xmas now. So I hope everybody's preparations are well underway. I still have a heap of Xmas card to make, before I break up from work on Fri. Yikes, best get cracking!! Hope your all having a fab week!

Big Hugs,

Andie xx

Crafts 4 Eternity Recipe Challenge #10

Crafts 4 Eternity time again. Here's this weeks fab sketch created by Michele.

And here's this weeks prize, a pair of cute little digis - Santa's Helpers, again from the pen of the talented Michele!

The recipe this week is to follow the sketch, of course, but the additional ingredients are to use green & red, & use a stamp that is at least one year old. My image is from last year's Whiff of Joy winter collection. I just love the expression on his face! He's coloured with Promarkers.

My DPs are rather old too, from Flair Design. I used my nesties & a punch to create the snowflakes. I recently bought a glue pen & since then I've not been able to stop glittering everything as it makes it so much easier & less messy.



So there you go. Please have a look at the gorgeous creations of my fellow DT colleagues at the C4E blog & why not have a go yourself. Thanks for looking & enjoy what's left of the weekend!

Big Hugs,
Andie xx

Not a Xmas Card!

Just fancied a change from making Xmas cards. I think you might struggle to find a less Xmassy card than this. She's quite a change of style for me. I saw a similar card a while back on the blog of my lovely blogging pal, Cheryl. I'd been thinking of getting this stamp for ages, but her inspiration finally sealed the deal. I have used her before now, but never put her on my blog. She's from That's Crafty.

I made her for this weeks challenge at A Spoonfull of Sugar, where the challenge this week is to make a monochrome card. I'm not sure just how sweet she is though, LOL!! I coloured her with Distress Inks & paper pieced her swimsuit. I wanted her to wear a rose in her hair. I think they overdid on the plant food though, as this rose is nearly as big as her head!! I hope she's got a strong neck, LOL! I think the DPs are 7 Gypsies.

There's not much else to say about this card. Having recently shown stamps stamps that look like my son & my sister, I wish I could say this one looks like me. I did give her brown hair, but the rest is wishful thinking!! I need to work a lot harder down at the gym!

Well, thanks for looking. I hope everyone is having a good weekend.

Big Hugs for Everyone!

Andie xx

Crafts 4 Eternity Recipe Challenge #9

Isn't nice when you picture something in your head & things turn out more or less as you'd hoped! Maybe you know the feeling well, but for me, it's more of a trial & error process. Rather more error than I'd really want, truth be told!! Anyway, I'm really pleased with my card for this weeks recipe challenge at Crafts for Eternity. This week, we would like you to follow the sketch, include an image of Santa & use brads on your card.

My Santa imageis by Personal Impressions & is one of the first stamps I bought, a few years ago. He scrubs up quite nicely with Promarkers! The sentiment is from last Xmas' Magnolia collection. It quotes one of my favourite Xmas songs! The DPs are Basic Grey, Wassail - again! Getting bored of these now, but I bought too much. I have to keep plugging away at them. To create the circle I used brads & I wrapped embroidery thread round each one.

Well there you go. Sorry I'm a bit late with this, but it's been quite a busy day. We took the boys to see Planet 51 this morning. I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought after I read a one star review of it yesterday! I'd give it 3. But the boys really enjoyed it which is the main thing! Then I had to go to Jack's school Xmas fair. By the time we got there, there was not much left, so I hope that means they made loads of money!! I've just found 5 minutes for a cup of tea, before I tackle the European ironing mountain!!

Thanks for looking. Please pop over to the C4E blog to see the sketch & the fabulous creations of my fellow DT colleagues. Michele is also offering another set of her cute digi images as a prize. What more incentive do you need to knock another Xmas card off your list!!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Big Hugs!

Andie xx

Antoinette Does SOS & Papertake Weekly!

I've had this Kraftin Kimmie stamp for a couple of weeks now & I've been just itching to get her inked up. The fab sketch at Papertake Weekly this week provided the perfect opportunity.

I just love the look on her face. She just looks so happy, oblivious & really pleased with herself all at the same time! The whole card actually looks a bit busy, but it just about works with the size of the image, (I hope!). The DPs are Basic Grey Eskimo Kisses, both they & the stamp were from Bunny Zoe's. It made a change to use non-traditional colours for a change, so I'm also entering her at A Spoonfull of Sugar, where the challenge is exactly that!

There's not much else to tell you about this. I had intended to make a snowflake embellishment with my nesties. But it actually looks more like a flower, which makes me think I will be able to use this die all year round! However, for the purposes of this card it is definitely a snowflake, Stickled to within an inch of it's life!! The swirls were made with an EK Success punch.

There you go then for now. I'll be back tomorrow with my card for the next Crafts 4 Eternity Challenge. Hope everyone is having a good weekend.

Thanks for looking.

Big Hugs to you all!

Andie xx

Crafts 4 Eternity Recipe Challenge #9

Sunday again & time for another fab C4E Challenge. It is scary how time flies this close to Xmas. So many cards to make, so little time, LOL!! This week the challenge is to follow Michele's gorgeous sketch & include something that flies & a scalloped edge.

I changed my card shape to accommodate this one & made a gatefold card. The DPs are Basic Grey, Wassail. The tree is from the Egg & Nog plate by Squiggly Ink. I'm a sucker for gorgeous trees at Xmas. This one I stamped in crimson ink, embossed & distressed a little with Distress Inks. The baubles are Papermania adhesive stones. My birds are from Hero Arts & are so cute, I love them. I glimmer misted them for a little extra magic! The scalloped edge is done with a Martha Stewart Doily Punch.

Not much to tell you about the inside. The sentiment is from Anna Griffin. The swirly bits are from Imaginisce.

Now it's time to see the fabulous creations of my fellow DT collegues at the Crafts 4 Eternity blog. Michele is offering another lovely goody bag as a prize for this weeks winner. Hop on over & join us, we would love to see what you come up with.

Thanks for looking. Hope everyone is having a great weekend.

Big Hugs,

Andie xx

Now meet my Sister!

I introduced you to my youngest son, Ben, in my last post. Next week it's my sister's birthday & this Shopaholic stamp from Sugar Nellie just fits her to a T. Not only is she a keen shopper, but she exudes the same style & grace as the girl in the image. She's from Clitheroe in Lancashire, but now lives in Paris, where these qualities enable her to fit right in!

I have used the fab sketch at Friday Sketchers for my layout. The DPs & the ribbon are all from Cosmo Cricket, Everafter. She's coloured with my trusty Distress Inks.

I hope you like her, but more importantly, I hope my sister does. She & my adorable little niece, Emma, are coming over this weekend. I'm so excited! Me & my Mum are taking her Trollbead bracelet shopping for birthday & Xmas.

Hope everyone is having a good week. Thanks for looking!

Big Hugs,

Andie xx

Max/Ben does Papertake Weekly

Just a quickie from me, I'm not feeling so good. If anyone read my post from a week last Sunday, all I will say is, now the boot is on the other foot! Anyway, at least it is not stopping me from cardmaking, so here's my entry for this weeks lovely sketch over at Papertake Weekly.

There is not much to tell you about the card. You'll see in a minute why I just had to get this image when I saw him & why I think he would be better named Ben. He is one of the new Twinkle Tots from the Greeting Farm. The papers are Oh Baby! Boy from Basic Grey. I've had them some time!! The corners are made with those fake brad thingies. I still can't remember what they are called. He's coloured with Promarkers. Couldn't be simpler!

Now, you're about to see why, I think the stamp should be called Ben. I have to say, I took this picture this morning & it is not staged in any way!

What do you think? Ben is 4 next month & I made this card for his birthday. I could use it for my other son, Jack, who is also completely mad for video games. It drives me to despair, I wish they would read more & play with their other toys. Lord knows they have enough!! They take after their Dad in this respect!

Anyway, better go, I need to go to the supermarket. Food shopping, the last thing I feel like doing right now! Hope you are all in better shape than me!

Thanks for looking,

Big Hugs,

Andie xx

Crafts 4 Eternity Recipe Challenge #8

Yay! It's challenge time at C4E again. This week along with Michele's marvellous sketch, we would like you to use flowers & add some glitter to your cards.

I've used my all time favourite Father Christmas stamp. He's a few years old from Rubber Stampede, but he is the perfect embodiment, in my mind of what Santa really looks like! My papers are from Melissa Frances. I may have to stock up on these!

You can see the glitter better in this photo, I smeared glitter glue through Santas beard & the snowflakes, & even gave his eyes an extra twinkle! The poinsettas I made, following a fab little tutorial at the new Whiff of Joy Tutorials & Inspiration blog, here . There is loads of fab ideas on there, it's well worth a look.

So now it's time to hop on over to the Crafts 4 Eternity blog to see the wonderful creations of my fellow teammates. See the sketch & their cards here. I hope you will join us this week, especialy as you are in with a chance of winning a set of Michele, oh so cute, Christmas Cupcake digital stamps.

My card this week, coincidentally fits in with this weeks Colour Create Challenge, where the colour scheme is green, red & white. Nice traditional Xmas colours!

Well, that's it for now. I hope everyone is having a great weekend.

Big Hugs to You All,

Andie xx

Whiff of Joy Challenge #55

Just a quickie as this is rather late. It has been a while since I last entered the Whiff of Joy challenge & could not let this fab colour scheme go by without having a go. It's not the most Xmassy set of colours, brown, orange & ivory, so I decided to make a card that could cover Xmas or just winter in general. Sadly, I'm too late to enter it, but I thought I would post it anyway!

Apologies for the quality of the photos. I coloured Charlie with Promarkers & used plain & MME Bloom papers. The snowflake was cut with a Nestie & I added Dew Drops & ribbon from Crafty Feeling

There's not much else to tell you about this, but Thanks for looking. Hope you are having a good week.

Big Hugs,

Andie xx

Crafts 4 Eternity Recipe Challenge #7

I'm a bit late with this today. Had I known how little time I would have had, I would have scheduled this post. This week at C4E we have another fab sketch for you. Additionally, we would like to see you use a snowman & use some cotton wool.

There's not much to say about this. I coloured the Whiff of Joy image with my Promarkers. The DPs are Imaginisce, Snowy Jo. I think I overdid the snowflakes a bit, but I had to cover up yet another mistake, duh!! The two halves of my circle looked rather uneven. I've forgotten what the red circles are called. but they are those fake bradlike thingies!

Now it's time to hop on over to see the fabulous cards of cards of my wonderful DT teamies at Crafts 4 Eternity. Lovely Michele is offering a goody bag from her own C4E store as a prize, but you must use the full recipe. Good luck. This sketch is fun, have a go!

I'm off to bed now. It's been a long day. It did not quite go to plan when Ben woke up at 5am this morning with the Squits, (sorry, hope you are not eating!). Three changes of pants later, (Ben's, not mine!) we decided to get up at 7. It was my hubbies birthday today. We had planned to go out for lunch. I went to Sansburys instead! Then friends came round, as we could not go out to meet them. After tea we put the boys to bed & cleared up. It's been good though. Ben's bottom may have been poorly, but fortunately, the rest of him wasn't, so I think Paul has had a good day, all in all. Family days are always the best!

Hope you are all well, & have had a good weekend.

Big Hugs for you all,

Andie xx

Creatalicious Challenges #4

For this months challenge at Bizzy Bec's Creatalicious Challenges we want to see cards with a Christmas theme, that include snowflakes, with lots of sparkle &/or glitter!

I made a Joy Fold card. So please indulge me with the length of this post, so I can show you my photos. I could have taken more, LOL! My images are some of the new Whiff of Joy Xmas Gnomes. They're just so cute!

It is hard to see all the sparkle & glitter I used. It was so dull when I took the photos! You'll have to look closely to see it. I did not go overboard with the snowflakes. I made mine with a Woodware punch, a Cuttlebug die & a gorgeous silver spacer from Bec's shop.

The DPs are Melissa Frances & are a fab mix of cute & classy!

Finally, here's a close up of those adorable gnomes. I coloured them with my distress inks & added stickles & glitter to bling them up a bit! The green card stock I used came pre-glittered & looks even better IRL.

I hope you'll now hop on over to the Creatalicious Challenges blog to see the fabulous creations of my fellow DT members. No excuses for not joining in, you have a whole month to enter & you are bound to be making an Xmas card or too over the coming month, so why not enter the challenge & maybe even win a fab prize! See you there!!

Thanks for looking & perserving through this mammoth post! Hope you are having a great weekend.

Big Hugs,

Andie xx

I Love it when a plan comes together!

In the immortal words of Hannibal Smith, "I love it when a plan comes together!" Did anyone else watch the A-Team? Who was your fave? Definitely Face for me! Sorry, I digress & I haven't even started!! I really love the way this card turned out. So much so, I might even give it to my hubbie to give to me for Xmas, LOL!

I am entering it into 5 challenges this week, yes 5! They all seem to fit nicely, so why not! The sketch is from this weeks Create 4 Fun. I love it & will definitely use it again. Blue, silver & white is the current colour scheme at Colour Create. It's so sophisticated! Unfortunately, in the photo, my silver, looks more grey, but IRL it looks loads better.

Just Magnolia want to see cards that have been distressed. This definitely qualifies on that score. In fact, I must do more distressing, it hides a multitude of sins!! At Secret Crafters the challenge is to make an Easel Card. I was dying to have a go at one of these, so this was the perfect opportunity.

Finally, last but not least, Stamp Something have a fab recipe challenge where they want to see you use, 1 ribbon, 2 papers & 3 embellishments. I used felt ribbon, stripey paper (I don't know where from) & MME vellum (from 2004!). Unfortunately the snowflakes on the vellum are rather spread out & I have managed to cover them all up! The embellies I've used are dew drops, buttons & the flowers, which I sprayed with glimmer mist & added Stickles. I also added Stickles to the ice.

So there you go, Tilda & Edwin all loved up! The sentiment is from Whiff of Joy. Hope everyone is having a great week. I'm enjoying reading about everyone's adventures at the NEC. I sure wish I could have gone. Never mind, maybe next year!

Big Hugs!

Andie xx

Crafts 4 Eternity #6

Good Morning, back again! Time for this weeks C4E Recipe Challenge. As usual, Michele has provided another fab sketch to follow. Additionally, we would like to see you incorporate some holly or ivy, & you need to use a punch somewhere on you card. It's the perfect excuse to get another Xmas card out of the way!

I have not actually used a Xmas image, but I think this cute little fairy from CC Designs is so versatile. Her official name is Fidget Goblinspider (what a fab name!), but I thought the circles on her skirt could look like holly berries, so I have made her more seasonal! I've also used a DP that includes holly & a little holly punch too. I did not have anything with ivy on! I've used three punches in all on the card, for the snowflakes & to thread the ribbon.

Now it's time to hop on over to see the fab work of my DT colleagues, see it here. This week to help you with your Xmas cards, my lovely teamie, Suzette is providing a great prize. It's a set of her fabulous Xmas sentiment stamps. The phrases are just perfect. Michele has also released a wonderful Xmas kit at her Crafts 4 Eternity store, full of fantastic MME papers & lots of other irrestible goodies. See it here.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend. We had a lovely time at the fireworks last night, though Ben hid behind me for much of it, as he found them a bit loud. But towards the end the expressions on his & Jack's faces were a picture as they gazed open mouthed at the terrific display. Ah, bless!

Anyway, thanks for looking!

Big Hugs to you all,

Andie xx

Recipe:

Stamps: CC Designs digi image, Sentiment by Anna Griffin

Paper: Basic Grey Fruitcake

Tools: McGill Holly punch, Woodware snowflake punch, Martha Stewart ribbon threader punch.

Embellishments:Papermania jewels, ribbon from Crafty Feeling

2 in 1 Twinkle Tot Madelynn

Could not wait to get this new little Twinkle Tot inked up. I just love the movement in this image & her outfit is gorgeous! As for attittude, she has it by the bucketload!!

I have used the wonderful sketch at Papertake Weekly for this card. Love the simplicity of it. Creative Card Crew also want to see cards with ribbon & jewels incorporated. My gorgeous sheer ribbon is from Bizzy Becs. The photo does not do justice to it's fabulous shimmer.

I coloured this little cutie with my Promarkers. I'm starting to feel a bit more confident with these. I just wish I had more colours!

Hope everyone is having a great weekend. Will be back tomorrow, with my card for the next Crafts 4 Eternity Recipe Challenge.

Till then, have fun!

Big Hugs,

Andie xx

Recipe:

Stamps : Greeting Farm - Madelynn Twinkle Tot, Sentiment from a TCP Studio sent me by my lovely blogging pal, Dena!

Papers: Crate Paper

Tools: Retro flower punch

Embellishements: Ribbon from Bizzy Becs, Jewels by Prima, flower from Hobbycraft