Does My Bum Look Big In This?!

Meet Primrose! She a bit of a departure from the other cuties I usually ink up. The last time The Craft Barn sponsored Sketch Saturday I was the lucky winner. There is so much fab stuff to chose from I had a tough time deciding what to get with my voucher. Believe you me I could easily have spent 10 times the amount. This lovely lady caught my eye straight off. She is from the Kadoodle range. I have used this weeks lovely, simple sketch at Sketch Saturday & combined it with A Spoonfull of Sugar where they are asking to see cards with swirls.

FYI the DPs are Wild Asparagus by MME & Primrose was coloured with my trusty Distress Inks. The sentiment is a rub on. I can not remember where from.

Hope everyone has had a good weekend. Not so good in our household. Both my boys have got swine flu:-( But they are dosed up on Calpol &, as children always do, they are making the best of it. After the first day their symptoms appear to have been quite mild, thankfully. Poor Jack though, his school holidays have not exactly gotten off to a flyer! Anyway, hope this post finds everyone in good health.

Regards,

Andie xx

My Big News!!

I'm so excited! I have been invited to join the design team over at Crafts 4 Eternity. It is the first time I have been on a DT & I have been dying to tell you all since I found out on Friday. Michelle announced it officially this morning over on the C4E blog, so now I can tell the world! Yippee!! I hope you will pop over & join us from time to time & play along. Michelle creates fabulous sketches & each week there is a theme to incorporate, which this week is vintage. There are also some really cute digi images & yummy DPs available in the shop among lots of other goodies!
Please pop over there now & check it out!

Regards,
Andie xx

Edwin does Just Magnolia - Tab's Sketch

Hey check me out! I've completed a card for a challenge within 48 hrs of the challenge being posted! I might even be in the first thirty if I am quick. It has been ages since I managed to enter a Just Magnolia challenge, but I just had to have a go at Tab's fab sketch. Or should that be fab Tab's sketch!! Not much to tell about the card. The DPs are Blue Awning by K & Co, & Edwin was coloured with my DIs. No matter how many photos I took I could not get the dew drops on the swirls & in the top right hand corner to show up very well. I really must improve my photography skills! I also used a glitter pen on the lizard thingy. My husband asked what Edwin was wearing round his neck. Just shows how much attention he really pays when I show him my cards! He's been found out!! One of the problems I have with male cards is finding or making appropriate embellishments. DIY ones are irrelevant to the men in my life. My husband does not know one end of a hammer from the other! Though to be fair he did fix the flush on the toilet last week. But that has to go down as his biggest DIY achievement in 8 years of marriage! Anyway I think male cards should automatically come with an embellishment stamp too. I need a little baby lizard to go with this.

Any ideas?!

Please come back tomorrow as I hope to have some big news to share with you!

Hope you are all having a good weekend.

Regards,

Andie xx

Crafts 4 Eternity Sketch 41 & An Award

I don't enter the Crafts 4 Eternity challenges nearly enough. I find their sketches really challenging (yes I know that's the point!) & I am often put off by the shapes. Take for example the bracket shape on this week's sketch. I do not have anything suitable & did not think I could draw a presentable freehand one. But then I had a stroke of genius (well I say genius! I'm sure I'm not the first person to think of this, but I felt rather pleased with myself at the time!). I folded a piece of card in half & drew half a freehand bracket, cut it out while the paper was still folded and voila! a template. (OK, so 'genius' was a slight exaggeration!). After that there was no stopping me, though in retrospect I would have used a bigger card for this as the image is quite big. I love this Annie & Ted image from Charmed Delectable stamps from Charmed Cards & Crafts. She is such a cutie. As usual I used my DIs & the DPs are Cherry Arte, from Silly Monkey Crafts I think.

This is my fab award that the wonderful Cheryl was kind enough to bestow on me. Thank you so much Cheryl. It means a lot to me to know that someone as super talented as you saw fit to pass it on to me, amongst others. See her beautiful work here. I in turn would like to pass it on to three lovely ladies whose work I think is awesome. They are Dena, Sarah & Jenny. Go take a look at their fab creations.

Phew, I'm tired now, this has been a bit of a marathon post, & if you knew how slowly I type, I'm surprised I'm still awake! Hope you are having a good week. Thank Crunchie it's Friday tomorrow!

Regards,

Andie xx

Stamptacular Sunday Build-a-Card Blog Hop.

Phew, SSC promised a fun event today & they certainly delivered with a capital F U N! A big Thank You to Priscilla & her amazing DT for organising such a great challenge. Basically it was a blog hop to build a card adding elements as you went from each blog you visited. I have to admit I nearly gave up at the second hurdle as the element was to add an oval. I do not have any shape cutters that will do an oval & have you any idea how hard it is to find something ovular of the right size to draw around? Eventually I used the jug I use to fill my iron!! After this hiccup though, there was no stopping me & I believe I have incorporated all the requirements to enter my card into the challenge. It has in all honesty been quite a strain on the old grey matter to get it done so quickly. I usually complete a card over a couple of evenings at a quite leisurely pace. But I've really beavered away tonight to meet the deadline, & have to say I'm pleased with the result. You'll have to believe me though, when I tell you the card looks better in real life. I did not start till relatively late & missed the daylight to take my photo. Well it's my bedtime now, so better go. Hope you've all had a great weekend. I'll be off to the post office in the morning as I have some packages to send, wink, wink, nudge, nudge!

Regards,

Andie xx

Stamptacular Sunday & Bev's Magnolia Candy

Where has the week gone? I started this card on Tuesday, obviously I'm not the fastest crafter! This weeks sketch on Stamptacular Sunday is a lovely simple sketch that I have stuck to quite faithfully, though I could not resist creating a little flower to echo the flowers on her skirt. I also used a glitter pen on her skirt, the rose & bird to add a bit of sparkle. The orange & green papers I used for the mat & layering are also sparkly, though the photo does not pick it up very well. She is coloured with my DIs & the DPs are MME Bloom & Grow. By the way, Stamptacular Sunday are promising a special fun day tomorrow (19th). Not sure what it will entail, but should be worth stopping by to find out!
Have you seen Bev has a weekly Magnolia candy giveaway, sponsored by Simon Says Stamp. This week it is the gorgeous Tilda with Roses. Who wouldn't want to win that one?!

Hope everyone is having agood weekend.

Regards,

Andie xx

Sugar Bowl - Challenge 14, Judy's Sketch

Not too last minute with my Sugar Bowl entry for a change! I love the whistful expression on this Curtsy image. She reminds me of my ballet lessons as a child. I was always tall for my age & not the most graceful of children. At the end of each lesson we had to curtsy for the teacher. I gave up ballet shortly after she told me I had the arms, but not the feet for ballet. Sad isn't how things stay with you & scar you for life! I have always seen myself as a bit awkward & clumsy. But that might just be because I trip up & bang into things a lot! I am never without a good bruise or two, but can never remember getting them. I must be immune to the pain, LOL!

Back to the card, the DPs are Wild Asparagus by MME (love these!). Had loads of fun with this sketch & will definitely use it again. I had to move the position of the bling in the top right hand corner as I did not leave enough space for it down the side, duh!

By the way, have you seen the new Manga images on the Sugar Nellie blog. Gotta get me some of those! Hope you all had a good weekend.

Regards,

Andie xx

Sketch Saturday - Independence Day Sketch

I despair of myself, ther are so many challenges out there I just want to try them all. Sometimes I forget to do challenges too & end up doing them right on the last. Case in point! Here is my entry for this weeks Sketch Saturday. No doubt I will be last on the list again!! But I just had to do this sketch. A. It's fab, & B. It fits this Greeting Farm Batter Ian stamp so well I just had to do it .

I am really pleased with the way it turned out as it is for my Dad for his birthday. (At least I am early with this, his birthday is not till the 26th.) I made the pennant & the baseball myself. My Dad doesn't really do cute, but he loves baseball & the Minnesota Twins are his favourite team. So I hope he likes it. The DPs are Polar Bear Press. Not much else to tell you!

Best wishes to everyone for a great weekend. I can't believe how fast they come round. It will soon be Xmas. OMG I haven't made a single xmas card yet! I'm going to have to try & do one a week from here on in! Yeah right, just watch me ignore that last comment! Anyway, hope you are all well.

Regards,

Andie xx

Whiff of Joy Blog Hop DT Challenge

Ummed & aahed whether to have a go at this, as the WOJ DT standard is so high, but thought why not & I certainly had fun trying!! It's based on the fab sketch provided by Katharina herself, & took me outside of my comfort zone. Usually I stick to a square card, but this made me think outside the box so to speak & I'm really pleased with how it turned out. I love this duck, she strikes me as a bit of a lush! I wonder what the appeal could be, LOL! I coloured her with my DIs, but used glaze on the glass & bottle & glitter pens on the water, but these do not show up so well in the photo. I need to get me some glimmer mist, as those flowers would have looked fab with a little extra sparkle. The DPs are Crate Paper. Nearly missed the deadline though as I had internet connection problems & it took me ages to get my post on.

Hope everyone is having a great week.

Regards,

Andie xx

Anya does Friday Sketchers

Yes, I know, my credit card has been busy. I could not resist Super Star Anya from Dies to Die For. I felt she had to be a blond, but I think I need more practice at blond hair. I usually give my images brown hair, I seem to find it a lot easier. I used the colours from last weeks Colour Create & used these delish MME DPs from Stampeezee. I have seen these around blogland a lot recently, I think because they are so gorgeous! I am entering her in the Friday Sketchers challenge this week, where there is a fab sketch by Claudia. Not much else to say about her other than she was coloured with my trusty Distress Inks.
Hope everyone is happy & well.

Regards,

Andie xx

Summertime Miss Anya

I have been trying to resist the Miss Anyas for ages. I don't usually spend so much in one go on a stamp set. I prefer to buy individual stamps as it feels like I am getting more. However, Dies to Die For had them back in stock (briefly) this week & I took the plunge! I just love The Greeting Farm stamps, they are so easy to colour & the images are such fun. I chose this little lady first as the challenge at Spoonfull of Sugar this week is summer & Anya here, looks all set for the heatwave we have been having. I coloured her, as usual, with my Distress Inks, but this time used Tea Dye for her skintone to give her a bit of a tan(I usually use Tattered Rose). My photos do not really pick this up though. I paper pieced her skirt (what there is of it! - Glad I have sons & not daughters, LOL), & used a glitter pen on her shades. I based my card on the fab sketch at Papertake Weekly. You will have to take my word for it but the rosette ribbon flowers I have had for ages in my stash, look better in real life than the photo makes out. My DPs, by the way, are MME sent to me by the wonerfully kind & gargantually talented Dena, (Hey Bud!).
Hope everyone in blogland is having a great weekend!

Regards,
Andie

Sugar Bowl - Challenge 13, Lilian's Sketch

How do I always manage to be so last minute with all the fantastic Sugar Bowl challenges when I have two weeks? So many challenges, so little time! Anyway, I have used Believe from the new Diane Duda range. she is my fave & so easy to colour, (I like that in a stamp!). I think the eyes on these look quite wierd in the drawings, but once they are coloured they are really quite beguiling. I've used K&Co DPs & the backround paper is the stuff you use to wrap brown paper packages, tied up with string, these are a few of my fav... Sorry lost myself for a moment there, LOL! Hope this is what is meant by kraft. I concertinaed (is that how you spell it?) the band across the middle to add a bit more interest & texture.

Hope everyone is coping with the weather. Those of you who live outside of the UK would probably think it's no big deal. But it has been stifling today & the air con in our office is useless! I thought I was going to melt! Don't get me wrong, I love the sun, but it does not need to be this hot! Anyway, I think I will chill with a bit of cardmaking!

Regards,

Andrea xx