Crafts 4 Eternity Sketch #47 - Buttons

Wow it's Sunday again. Another week gone & C4E time once more! Michele as created another wonderful sketch & this week's optional theme is to use buttons on your card. I've gone for a bit of in your face colour this week. I'm hanging on to the summer with these shades. Whatever happened to the BBQ summer we were promised. It never really happened up here in Manchester. I live in Sale, & if you ever hear someone call it 'Sunny Sale', rest assured they are being ironic!!

Not much to tell you about my card. Gorjuss Girl is coloured with Distress Inks & the DPs are Fancy Pants. I created the border with the Martha Stewart flourish punch & the arcs in the top corners are embroidered. Wish I'd done it in all 4 corners now. The yummy bright buttons are available at Bizzy Becs & the tulle is from CraftsULove.

Hope you are enjoying the Bank Holiday weekend & will join us at Crafts 4 Eternity this week. Pop over & see the fabulous creations of my fellow DT members. There is an opportunity to win a fabulous set of sentiment stamps, designed by our very own Suzette. I should be able to finish painting my kitchen over the next couple of days. Then you better watch out! I'm going to be catching up on all the crafting I've been missing out on while I've been busy!

Hope life is treating you all well.

Hugs,

Andie xx

Crafts 4 Eternity Sketch #46 - G for ...

At Crafts 4 Eternity this week, Michele has designed another fabulous sketch you can really get your teeth into! The optional theme for this weeks challenge is to use something beginning with the letter G. I did not think very hard about this & chose G for Girl! Almost everything I used this week was generously gifted to me by my awesomely talented stamping buddy, Dena. She sent me the Sugar Nellie Manga Girl (I just love her!) & the beautiful My Mind's Eye Laundry Line DPs. What you can't see in the photo so well is how shimmery & glittery they are. They're just so lush!! I made the background shape with a Martha Stewart Flourish punch & a corner rounder punch. I can see me getting so much use out of those! The swirls were made with another punch, as is the flower. I added a metallic gold dew drop from Stampeezee to the centre of the flower for extra bling! The border on the DPs was made with a thickish piece of card stock that I screwed up a lot, till it became quite soft & then carefully knotted it. I quite like how it turned out looking a bit leathery. Less keen however, on the doodling I did on it. It looks like I wrote 'S' on it, rather than the scroll effect I was hoping for! The rose ribbon is from my stash & the love locket stamp was sent to me by lovely Dee, aka Sprytebyrd. Hope you now might feel inspired to have a go at the sketch yourself & go & admire the fantastic creations of my fellow DT members, here.

Hope you are having a good weekend. I am hoping to be a better blogger next week as our kitchen is almost finished & my life will not be so chaotic!

Big hugs to you all,

Andie xx

Crafts 4 Eternity - Challenge # 45

It's digi release time at C4E this week & Michele has let us have a play with them in advance. This is one of the new Lexi & Mike wedding images. They are available to download here & just so sweet! I'm still working out how to use digi images with my Distress Inks, I don't have the right type of printer it appears. So in the absence of Copics (Dear Santa...!) I used pencils to colour my image, not my strength! I threaded paper flowers through jute to echo the border of the image. Otherwise I kept my card quite simple, I would have added 'Happily Ever After' as that is my favourite sentiment for a wedding card, but there was not really room. I hope you are feeling inspired to join us at C4E this week. Please check out the wonderful work of my fellow DT members here. Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Hugs,

Andie xx

Creatalicious Challenges - Challenge #1

It does not seem two minutes ago I was sharing my big news with you, about the launch of Bizzy Bec's Creatalicious Challenges, a new monthly challenge blog. Well launch day is here already & the first project has been set. As it's Father's Day in Australia next month we want you to make something for Dad! Anything goes, but you must include the colour brown & use some metal in your creation.

I know what you are thinking, Yikes a masculine card! Well, this is a challenge after all! As Father's Day has already been & gone here in England, I chose to make a holder for the Lee Mack (an English comedian) tickets I got for my Dad's birthday. I love the look on this duck's face, though perhaps he looks a little glum for comedy! More suitable perhaps for a Jack Dee show! (not sure how international this reference is sorry!). The holder itself was simple enough to make. I folded a length of card into 3 sections & concertinaed 2 further smaller pieces at the sides for depth. The butterfly is a Martha Stewart punch out, which my good buddy Dena sent me. I saturated it with distress ink, then added spots of other colour & allowed them to blend naturally. I then sprayed it with glimmer mist. The charm spells the word love & is the metal contribution to the card. It's weight also helps keep the card closed when it's upright.

I hope by now you are feeling inspired to join us for this month's challenge. If you still need more persuading, check out the fabulous creations of my fellow DT members here. And if you still need an extra push, how about this?

These are this months amazing prizes for 4 (yes four!) winners, donated by the lovely Bec herself. Check out her fabulous online store here, it's packed with yummy stamps & stash! So what are you waiting for, ink up those stamps, delve into your stash & get those creative juices flowing. You've got till midnight (Aussie time) September 14th, so no excuses!! Look forward to seeing what you make with this challenge.

Thanks for Looking!

Andie xx

Recipe:Stamps:Whimsey Designs. Sentiment, Stamps Away.

Papers:Melissa Frances

Tools:Distress Inks. Martha Stewart Butterfly punch. Iridescent Gold Glimmer Mist

Other:Ribbon by Cosmo Cricket. Charm from Quixotic Paperie.

Big News & an Award

I have just spent the last 2 hours steaming the wall paper off in my kitchen! This is not big news I hear you cry. Well I was able to sail through it with a spring in my step & a song in my heart for I learned this morning that those lovely ladies Becs & Cheryl have chosen me & 3 others to be on the design team of their new monthly blog, Bizzy Becs Creatalicious Challenges! It is a new monthly challenge blog, so no excuses for not joining in! Pop over there now, because if you haven't seen it already there is a superb blog candy giveaway to launch the blog. Check it out.

Who would not want to win all this scrummy stash. What are you waiting for? Get over there now!!

I also want to say a big THANK YOU to my fab blogging pal, Sarah, aka Lil-Paper-Pixie. She has been a big source of support & encouragement to me since I started my blog. On top of this she is an all round lovely lady! Here is the fab 3 in 1 award she sent me.

I in turn, would like to pass this on to another lovely lady, Dena. She too has become a great friend & a wonderful inspiration. Please go & see their beautiful work on their own blogs, then you will understand why I hold them both in the highest regard. Big hugs to you both!

Well, like me, I hope your weekend has turned out to be all you hoped it could be & more.

Regards,

Andie xx

Crafts 4 Eternity Sketch #44 - Wedding/Anniversary

It's challenge time again at C4E & here is the fabulous sketch lovely Michele has created for us to use this week. Plenty to get your teeth into here! The optional theme is to make a wedding or anniversary card.

With my wedding anniversary coming up next month, this was a perfect opportunity for me to get ahead of the game! Eight years of marital bliss (mostly!!). As it's for my husband I gave the sketch a more masculine twist in my choice of colours. I concertinaed the border round the oval to compensate for the fact I do not have an oval shaped cutter. It also adds more texture. I created the swirl with a punch & cut & glued pieces together, hope you can't see the joins! I followed the direction of the swirls with a gold pen to make it pop more. After trawling the internet for a suitable heart shape, I printed off a template. (Another gap that needs filling in my cafting arsenal!) I then smothered it in glaze to make it shiny. As it's for my hubby, I resisted the temptation to go for glitter, he's not keen! It's strange, I feel like I've thrown the kitchen sink at my card, but reigned myself in at the same time! There are so many elements to this sketch you can let you imagination run riot! I hope lots of you will have a go for yourself & share your creations with us at C4E. Can't wait to see what you come up with. Please look here to see all the other fantastic cards my fellow DT members have made.

I should apologise to Sprytebird. I could have kicked myself when I realised I had forgotten to use the stamps she sent me, despite having them out ready, lying in front of me, Duh! I promised I would on this card. But I have plenty of ideas for them so watch this space to see them soon!

Hope you are all having a great weekend, enjoy what's left of it!

Regards,

Andie xx

Recipe:

Stamps:Stampavie, My Prince Charming, Dimension Fourth Swirl Stamp

Papers:MME, Wild Asparagus

Tools:Distress Inks, EK Success Swirl Punch, Metallic Gold Promarker, thread from stash

Creatalicious DT Sketch Challenge

At last its here!! A challenge blog where you need never miss a challenge. The uber-talented crafting babes Bizzy Becs & Cheryl are setting up their own challenge blog. But as it will be a monthly challenge you will have heaps of time to perfect your entries! Sounds just my cup of tea. I try & stay loyal to the challenge blogs I enter, but there are so many, I never have time to do all the challenges I want. And the name of this new blog, Creatalicious Challenges. Doesn't it sound yummy!! So here's my entry for the DT challenge. The girls have provided a lovely simple sketch which I would definitely use again. I used one of the latest Gorjuss Girls from Sugar Nellie. I tried to echo the flowers in the image with the lollipop flowers I love making. She is coloured with distress inks & the DPs are Everafter by Cosmo Cricket (am loving these). Must go as it is time for work, but it's Friday, Hurrah!! Plus I am off next week, Yippeee!!

Have a great day,

Regards,

Andie xx

A Big Thank You to Sprytebyrd!

I have made this card especially to dedicate to a lovely lady called Dee, alias Sprytebyrd! See her wonderful blog here. The other week, on the Stamptacular Sunday Create-a-Card blog hop, I was lucky enough to win her blog candy. This is my way of saying a big THANK YOU to her! I won a fab set of Inkadinkadoo love stamps, which I will be definitely be using on my next C4E card. You will have to come back on Sunday to see it!

Of course, I could not make a card without entering into a challenge as well. In this case two. The sketch is Caryn's lovely design from this weeks Spoonfull of Sugar Challenge. Also over at Just Magnolia, they are looking for cards with distressing on them. I always do a little distressing around every image, as it adds extra definition to the frame.This time however, I got the sandpaper out & softened the edges of all the papers. However, on this photo you can barely see it, so you will just have to take my word for it. Perhaps I might invest in one of those Tim Holtz paper distresser tools. Is it worth it? I know Sarah @ Lil-Paper-Pixie has one & I love the effects she produces. I do like the distessed effect, but I hardly ever do it!

Anyway, my main concern is that Dee likes the card. I certainly hope so. Hope you all had a great weekend, already counting down to the next one, LOL!!

Regards,

Andie xx

Recipe:-

Stamp - Tilda with Lilacs, Sentiment from Whiff of Joy

Papers - Basic Grey, Wisteria

Tools - Distress Inks, ribbon flowers from Hobbycraft, other flowers from stash, Papermania adhesive stones.

Crafts 4 Eternity Sketch #43 - Holiday!

This is a big moment in my blogging career! I am thrilled & honoured to have been asked by Michele to join the Crafts 4 Eternity Design Team. Here's the sketch I have been working with for this weeks challenge. The optional theme this week is holidays.

How I wish I hadn't already had my holiday this year. This miserable weather we've been having lately (at least here in Manchester), has made me long to get away. I inked up this adorable Sugar Nellie image, as it reminds me of the holidays of my childhood, poking about in rock pools & being scared of the seaweed, LOL!

I rotated the sketch to fit my image. You can just about see the glaze I used on the water to give a bit of reflection. I also used glitter pens on the water, seaweed & starfish to make them glisten, but that does not show up so well in the photo. I glued 2 strands of twisted embroidery thread round the edge of the bracket shape, to add a bit more definition, & the florishes were punched, & then doodled to make them pop a bit more.

Recipe: Stamps - Sugar Nellie - Maggie & Hamish, Rock Pool Fun, High Hopes - Starla Starfish.

Papers - GCD Studios - Carnival Ride

Tools - Distress Inks, Sakura glitter pens, EK Success Florish Punch, Martha Stewart Doily Punch.

I hope you like my card, but even more, I hope you will come & join in the Crafts 4 Eternity & show us your wonderful interpretations of Michele's fab sketch. Your can visit the C4E blog here to see all the fabulous cards my fellow DT members have created.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend,

Regards,

Andie xx

Heidi does Sketch & Stash

A big Thank You to my blogging buddie, Sarah, aka Lil' Paper Pixie who stamped me this image of Heidi the Swiss Pixie. Do Pixies from other countries look much different?!! I followed this weeks sketch over at Sketch & Stash. I will definitely use this one again. I don't know if punches count as stash, but I treated myself to a retro flower punch from Crafts U Love. I love how they look on other peoples cards & took the plunge to get myself a couple of sizes. This is the first card on which I have used one. There is so much other equipment I need/want right now! That lottery win needs to happen really soon, LOL!

Not much else to tell you about the card, except the DPs are by Crate Paper. These ones are amongst my favourites & I've nearly run out. :-( But not to worry, I'm quite fickle, I will soon find another favourite :-)! She coloured as usual with my Distress Inks.

Hope you are having a good weekend. Please check back tomorrow. I'll have my first DT card for Crafts 4 Eternity to show you. I hope you'll want to join in the challenge too!

Thanks for looking,

Regards,

Andie xx