Let Them Eat Cake at Ooh La La creations

Good morning and thanks to everyone who entered the male themed / Fathers' Day challenge last time. There were some gorgeous entries and you can see the top three over on the challenge blog by clicking the link http://ooh-la-la-creationschallenges.blogspot.co.uk/

This time it is my choice for the theme and the photograph of my grandson Brandan, taken just after he had clearly wrestled with a tricky bit of chocolate cake gave me the inspiration for the theme. so without further ado the theme is

Let Them Eat Cake 

We are looking for cake themed projects, any type or size of cake will do as long it is cake and lets be honest it is a good way to enjoy calorie free cake using it in crafting so here is that photo and my project .

I chose a lovely rich cream card as my base for this 12x12 page and then used papers and a trimmed down topper from the Shaun Jenkins Collection CD this is great for scrapbooking and card making alike as there  are some wonderfully versatile designs included.

The titles are felt adhesive letters picked up in my local Hobbycraft shop.

I layered several papers behind the photo and added a paper doily and three cupcakes made from Martha Stewart paper clay.

I typed some little phrases onto white card and trimmed these and added them around the layout. I used 'undercurrent' font and colour matched them to the colours in the papers using MCS elite.

I trimmed the Happy Birthday off the topper and added the image to the bottom of the page to mirror the three little cupcake embellishments. 

Oh and if you think the chocolate cake is messy wait till you see what he did with a chocolate pudding and a spoon.

It's all about the Men at Ooh La La

Good Morning and once again huge thanks to all who entered our 'Bear it all' Challenge last time. we had some wonderful entries and the top three can be found over on the challenge blog by clicking the link http://ooh-la-la-creationschallenges.blogspot.co.uk/

This time we are looking for your Male themed creations and with Father's Day looming on the horizon I came up with this card fro my Dad.

I used papers from the bonus papers folder on the new 'Say it With Words' CD and that's where the sentiment tag came from too it is on there as a  blank tag in a variety of colours and you can add your own greeting. Don't forget to watch the launch of the CD on create and craft TV at 15:00 hrs BST on 9th June. The other CD I used was for the image and the border which are both from the 'Boys to Men CD' you can get yours from the Ooh La La Website.

I kept the design simple my Dad is 88 now and he doesn't do fussy.

Inside teh card I printed off a section of teh topper image at 8x8 and reduced the opacity. I added a die cut oval in my graphics programme and added a greeting that was in keeping with the image.

Bear it All at Ooh La La Creations

Firstly thank you to everyone who entered our 'Quotations' challenge last time pop over to the Ooh La La creations Challenge blog to see if you are a winner.

This fortnight we want to see you bear it all so bears in all shapes, sizes colours and hues are the order of the day.

I used a quick card  and paper from the Boys to Men CD to create a scrapbook page about a Teddy Bears picnic some of us participated in. It all started when we found some old photos of us on a 'George Harrison' tour of Liverpool to mark his birthday. It had been pouring down in teh morning and whilst we waited for the tour bus we took refuge in the Beatles story and they had just taken a delivery of Beatle Bears so we all bought one of course the George Bears were very popular considering it was mainly George fans assembled and we took photos of the Bears at various landmarks in Liverpool which were related in some way to George. when we came across the photos we were remembering all the fun we had with our bears and our tour guide from that day Jackie Spencer came up with teh idea of the Teddy Bears picnic. We all met at Sefton Park Palm House a building that George donated money to restore to its former glory. So here we are with our bears on the day.

I included a copy of the lyrics to 'Teddy Bears' Picnic' and that's where I took the title from. 

Behind the picture of Jackie I have used the lovely Teddy Bear weave paper from the family picnic folder - I also included one of the quick cards from the same folder to show the Teddy's setting off on their picnic or they could be going home as 'tired little teddy bears'

We caused quite a stir on the day when visitors to the palm house rounded a corner to find us sitting on my Beatle blanket and partaking of such delights as veggie sausage rolls, home made scones (reference to the film Backbeat) Chocolate brownies (reference to George's appearance on The Simpsons') and of course Jelly Babies (because George once told a reported that John had eaten all his Jelly Babies and ever after fans used to throw Jelly Babies at the band when they played). It prompted may questions from visitors and of course we told them how George had donated a substantial amount of money to the restoration of the palm house to save it when it looked as if it would have to be demolished because he remembered visiting there as a child with his older brother Peter.

Quotations at Ooh La La

Well we had some wonderful entries into our Faithful friends challenge the winners can be found on the Ooh La La Creations challenge blog.

This fortnight out theme is 'Quotations' so we want you to include a quotation on your card.

We on the DT have been really excited about this challenge as it has given us the perfect excuse for giving you a sneak peak of the New Ooh La La Creations CD 'Say it with words' which will be launched on Monday 9th of June at 3pm BST on Create and Craft.

It has something for everyone and is very versatile.However you'll need to tune in to see the show if you want to know more and see even more of the samples the DT have made for the show.

I have chosen to make a Gift and a card with matching tag and mini envelope from a folder on the CD called

'Believe in magic' it is based on a Roald Dahl quotation

'Those who don't believe in magic will never find it'

apart from some mirror card for the die cutting, a piece of acetate, some gold washi tape and cosmic shimmer pearlised glue everything else is from the CD.

The candle is a plain white pillar candle from a local pound store and I printed one of the topper images onto tissue paper then applied this to the candle with a heat gun.

The box is made from A3 card with a cut away section lined with acetate that has little gold dandelion clocks on it. 

I printed off three of the patterned papers from the folder on teh CD onto thin card and then cut these to line nd cover the outside of the box. I don't have an A3 printer so couldn't just print straight onto the card for the box. I reinforced the lid and bottom of the box with gold washi tape to give a neater edge.

I finished off the box front with 2 die cut dandelions and two sentiments and then added some single dandelion clocks to the front of the lid.

I used one of the tag shapes from the tags and sentiments folder and then added a 'ribbon' border from the embellishments folder and added the word Believe. The image I added using a digital punch feature in my graphics programme. The bow is also from the embellishments folder and I added more of the single dandelion clocks to the image and some dots of pearlised glue on the border.

The envelope just prints off from the 'believe in Magic' and is so easy to fold I added another Dandelion clock and sentiment to the front. The design on the front of the envelope is the same as that on the front of the box but with less opacity, the reverse is the same design but with full opacity so the design can be seen.

For the card I printed off the same 3 backing papers I used for the box. I kept the lovely yellow and orange paper as the main piece and matted it onto gold mirror card then gave it a spritz with gold mica pigment to give a really subtle sparkle.

I punched a fancy edge into the green paper to make a border and added a strip of the pretty floral pattern that reminds me so much of dandelion clocks - speaking of which I added a further clock to teh front with some singles working their way up the card, and added a sentiment.

I finished the card off by adding the printed insert from the folder.

So there you have it a sneak peak at the new Ooh La La CD.

Faithful Friends at Ooh La La Creations

Good Morning, what a gorgeous selection of Easter/spring themed projects we were treated to last time to find out if you are winner you can go to the bolg at Ooh La La Creations Challenges.

Our theme this time is .......

Faithful Friends

I have returned to scrapbooking again for this one and used papers from the 'Faithful Friends' CD by Ooh La La you can get a copy from the on line shop 

Chester belonged to my Mother-in-Law and every year in late spring he would go with my hubby and myself to 'help' us get the caravan she owned ready for her to stay there for the whole summer. Chester loved being at the caravan.

These pictures were taken when he decided to help me plant up the hanging baskets for her little garden. Well I thought he was helping until I realised where I had put the table and chairs on the patio was the sunniest position in the garden. 

I cam up with the idea of the title bar having watched Mel Heaton put together a page about her dog on Sunday Scrappers on Create and Craft. I don't have a Cricut so I made a paper template in the shape of a bone and cut the bone shape from this paper from the CD before matting it onto pink and then green card. The letters are wooden and I coated each one with a Sakura glaze pen in green and once that had dried I added the paw prints in black glaze pen. 

I wanted a dark brown background as that colour always reminds me of Ches and whenever I see it I refer to it as Chester Brown. I also wanted to reflect the brightness of the day so used bright pink and green card from American crafts to make my mats an layers and to make the photo's pop.

The green plaid and paw prints papers are also from the Faithful friends CD.

I added a pleated strip from Bazzil basics across the centre of the brown page then added the various panels before embellishing the project.

The pink roses and the journalling tag are from Tilda and I made the hanging basket and the planter (Stephen's Mum had one just like it at the Caravan) using Jonna Sheen dies and off cuts of card. The flowers are cut using the mini blooms die from tattered lace as was the Ivy in eh hanging basket. I just used off cuts from other projects and then used a ball tool to shape the flowers. I added contrasting pearl centres. A picket fence runs across the bottom of one of the panels and I finished off with a smaller bone to match the tittle bar at the bottom corner. 

Sadly Ches is no longer with us but he will never be forgotten. 

It's time to Spring into Easter at Ooh La La Creations

Firstly thank you all for your entries into our 'For a Child' challenge last time there were some fantastic entries and it was great fun looking through and commenting. To see if you are a winner go to the blog at  Ooh La La Creations.

Whilst you're there take a look at our new challenge for the next fortnight which is ....

Easter or Spring 

This time I chose to work with an image from the 'Yesterday's Memories' CD and went for spring rather than Easter. I always know when spring is on the way when I see the snowdrops pushing their heads through the soil in my garden. I needed a birthday card for a dear lady who lives near my dad. She is a chef and often pops along to see him to take him  pies, soups or desserts she has made. He in turn keeps her supplied with fresh vegetables he grows in his garden, 

I went with the fresh blue as the main colour and as I hadn't done any decoupage in a while decided to use one f the decoupage images for the centre piece. I surrounded it with a silver frame I had cut from mirror card using a Tattered lace die. rather than popping all the cut out shapes out of the frame I taped them in t give it an embossed feel.

I die cut the flourishes and the words from a bright sky blue paper. the backing paper is from the same CD and I matted this onto silver mirror card and the sky blue card. 

It was a really quick and easy card to make but makes me feel that winter is over and we have spring and summer to look forward to.

For a Child at Ooh La La Creations.

Good Morning everyone, firstly thank you for all your projects last week for a special lady. there were some cgorgeous makes to find out who the winner is check out the blog at Ooh La La Creations.

This week our challenge is

For a Child 

I chose to use the Ooh La La CD 'Nursery Times' for this one

 you can get a copy from teh Ooh La La Creations Shop 

I used a 6x6 card blank to create a simple easel card. The base was covered using a piece of 'page curl' paper from the CD, I love using these style papers from the Ooh La La CDs as the inside of easel cards. I used another paper to cover the front and back of the card from the same CD.

Keeping with the Purple and Yellow of the backing paper inside the card I cut two clock faces one with roman numerals and one with actual numbers from yellow card and then stuck these onto Purple pearlised card. I cut the hands from the purple card and stuck them to the clock face with brads so that the hands will move,

Having printed out the lines from the nursery rhyme I stuck the larger of the clock faces to the front of the card and set the hands to One o'clock. I then added the image topper and used the lines from the nursery rhyme as a stopper for the easel and added the smaller clock face to the base of the card.

To a Special lady at Ooh La La Creations

Good Morning, Firstly thank you for all your wonderful entries in our Happy Anniversary challenge it was actually my turn to pick the winner and it was a really difficult job I have to tell you. To see if it was you check out the Challenge Blog over at Ooh La La Creations. Whilst you're there why not have a go at our latest Challenge which is .......

To a special Lady 

Having had a dalliance with scrapbooking over the past two challenges I am back to Cards for this one as I needed a card for a dear friends birthday 

I used papers and images from the 'Yesterday's Memories' CD 

You can get your copy from the Ooh La La Creations shop.

One of my favourite things on the Ooh La La CDs is the woven effect paper and I knew I wanted to use it on this card. However because I wanted the soft grey of the American Crafts card I was using to show through I spent around an hour cutting all the little black squares away to leave just the patterned weave. This also had the effect of adding texture to the background of the card. The image is called 'Lady with Roses' and I just know my friend will love the soft pastel tones. I added some tiny pearls to the line of her dress her bow and her earrings, and added three pearls at the top of the image. I matted her onto grey card stock from American Crafts and also matted another piece of patterned paper from the  same design set onto the card to make a further layer. 

The tag is also off the CD and I matted this onto the same grey card stock.

I added a doily, some grey sating ribbon, a pearl flourish - also from the Ooh La La craft shop.

I finished off with three die cut flowers coloured with Promarkers, Vanilla and Blossom. and added pearl centres.

My friend is a very special lady and since we first started writing to each other as pen pals in 1998 she has always been there to share the good and bad times with me. We live on opposite sides of the country and both work so we don't see each other very often, but every time we meet up we just carry on the conversation as if we have not spent months apart.

I am entering this into the following challenge
http://throughthepurplehazechallenges.blogspot.co.uk/ - Anything goes with optional use that bling

Happy Anniversary at Ooh La La

Good Morning and firstly thank you for all your wonderful entries into the Fashionista challenge as always you can find the winners by going over to http://ooh-la-la-creationschallenges.blogspot.co.uk/. This time it is my turn to choose a theme and as the challenge runs for a fortnight and encompasses what would have been my Mum and Dad's Wedding Anniversary, I have chosen ....

Happy Anniversary

I lost my Mum in 2009 and so don't get to make an anniversary card for both of them any more so I decided that I would again do a scrapbook page of photographs from their wedding and their golden wedding. 

 

I used a plain linen card as the base and chose papers from Yesterday's memories the flowers in the golden vases and from the Sean Jenkins collection the swirl patterned paper, you can buy both these CDs here.

When Mum passed away Dad gave me an old box full of photos including their original wedding album and my favourite picture from that is one of them cutting the cake because it just shows how much in love they were and why they were married for fifty eight years at the time of Mum's passing, I used that as the main focus of the first page and printed off two smaller images also of them cutting the cake. I wanted to try hidden Journalling for this project so used a deep cream card stock which I embossed and then added black pearls to, As a child my  Mum showed me a piece of icing she had saved from her wedding cake I can remember with perfect clarity that it was cream rather than white and had a lovely lattice design piped into it and black pearls studding the edges - quite trendsetting for 1951 when it was made. I don't know what happened to that piece of icing but I can still see it so clearly, which is why I spent hours colouring white pearls with a black marker pen for this project. I stuck the embossed panel down on three sides and was then able to slot the journalling card inside with a tassel to remove it to be read.

I wanted a golden theme as it is after all about their golden wedding anniversary but I also happen to know my Mum carried gold coloured roses on her wedding day so it fitted wonderfully especially as the bouquet is on the table in front of their Wedding cake in this picture. I used a real mix of flowers some were made from heavy weight papers that had been spritzed with twinkling H2O in gold, some from white card that were coloured using various shaded of Golden Brown from the Spectrum Noir range, I also used the same pens to colour some organza flowers in my stash, and added some metal flowers which I got from a wonderful beading site. I added black rhinestone swirls from Ooh La La and these can be bought here.

For the title of the page I cut letters from gold card stock and stuck it on black card before giving it a spritz with the twinkling H2Os. I added two pictures of Mum and Dad cutting their Golden Wedding cake and they look just as much in love as they did fifty years earlier. I made a frame from Martha Stewart paper clay which I coloured using gilding wax and I used this to frame the date. More flowers and swirls of rhinestones were added to finish off. 

It was a wonderful night and Mum and Dad loved it surrounded by family and friends.

Fashionista at Ooh La La

Once again a huge thank you to everyone who entered the use a heart challenge last time you can check out the winners at http://ooh-la-la-creationschallenges.blogspot.co.uk/. This time we want to see your projects with a Fashionista theme.

Again I have gone down the Scrapbook route with this project.

These pictures of my mum were taken at the house where I grew up, She was entering an Easter Bonnet competition and covered an old sun-hat in fabric t match her dress before decorating with flowers and fluffy chicks. She was so proud she had these photographs taken and sent them t me as I no longer lived at home and was some 200 miles away in London.

I used a really eclectic mix of papers on this project the pink flowery paper is from shoes in bloom and the lovely subtle yellow check is from the bonus papers folder on Passion for Fashion. I printed off the images of ladies in hats from the waterfall folder on Passion for Fashion. The plain green paper was also from the passion for fashion CD, you can buy the CDs here

I did lots of matting and layering on this page and used pale pastels to give it a spring time feel. I added lacy borders to the papers using a Martha Stewart punch. I added a computer generated title, and printed out two panels with lyrics from the song 'Where did you get that hat'  I fussy cut one of the photos of mum because the background left a lot to be desired (dad's compost heap and garden incinerator don't ask!) I also fussy cut a close up picture of the hat which is more an embellishment to the page. The gorgeous pearly swirls are also from Ooh La La creations check out their bling section of the website here .

I used some glittered flowers from my stash using neutral colours so as not to detract from the pictures and finally keeping with the neutral theme I added 3 wooden butterflies, because when I first started paper crafting mum always seemed to be drawn to butterflies when I used them.

So there you have it a page about my mum and her hat sadly she passed away in 2009 but she will always be a true fashionista in my memories.

Use a heart at Ooh La La

Well it's time for another fortnightly challenge at Ooh La La creations. Firstly thanks to everyone who entered our Men's cards challenge last time there were some wonderfully inspirational designs entered into the challenge and you can find the winners as well as our latest challenge over on the blog at http://ooh-la-la-creationschallenges.blogspot.co.uk/.

As the title suggests we are loved up for the next fortnight and we want to see you using hearts in your creations. I have been on the DT with Ooh La La for two years now and wanted to try something a bit different for this challenge. Ooh La LA have a reputation for producing fabulous CDs for card making but when I received the latest CD The Shawn Jenkins Collection I was so enamoured with the designs and the artwork I wanted to use them in some different projects so having finally got round to sorting through the hundreds of family photographs we have decided to use them in some scrapbook projects. So here is the first of several I have now created using Ooh La La papers in the layouts.

I chose three photographs I came across in a box that we inherited from my husband's Mum when she passed away. They were taken at our wedding, because Stephen was divorced our local vicar was not allowed to marry us in church because the Bishop did not approve so, we married at a registry office and had a wonderful blessing in our local church 5 days later. These photographs are from the registry office.

I wore a silver grey suit and I chose a lovely grey and white striped card from my stash as the background. Because my mum wore a beautiful raspberry colour I wanted to pick this out in my choice of papers and used the Love folder on the Shawn Jenkins CD, I also printed out the card topper from that folder as well to incorporate in my design. I think the sentiment running across the bottom fits the subject of the photographs so well 'All because two people fell in love'. I wanted a contrast to the Love paper and printed out a backing paper from the 'Elegant Rooster' folder on the same CD.

I used a journalling card from my stash and mounted that and the photographs on light grey card. I die cut the heart from a Tattered Lace folder that includes text but I removed the text and replaced it with single word cut using a Lili of the Valley die. The flowers were again cut with Tattered Lace dies the marguritte and daisy dies. Some of the flowers were cut from plain white card and coloured with a selection of pink and grey promarkers, finishing the centre with crystals and pearls. I also used theplain dies that come in the sets to cut flowers from the left over backing papers and layered these up adding pearls to the centres.

The title was made using wooden letters that had been coloured using promarkers and the coated with glossy accents.

I also added the topper from the CD into the second page and used bright pink gems as flower centres on some of the flowers to pick out the bright pink of the butterfly. I also added two intertwined hearts to the corner of the smallest photograph.

the addition of some die cut flourishes and pearl swirls completed the page. I have now found several photographs that Stephen's Mum had of out Church Blessing taken by a family friend whilst the official photographer was busy arranging us all our friend just clicked away and got some pictures that are far better than the official ones. They are next on my list to scrapbook. If you would like to get the Shawn Jenkins CD and see what I mean about the wonderful artwork you can get one from the Ooh La La Website.

I am entering this into the following Challenges 

http://artisticinspirationschallenges.blogspot.co.uk/ - Anything Goes / Hearts 

http://www.craftyourpassionchallenges.blogspot.co.uk/ - Love 

http://www.throughthepurplehazechallenges.blogspot.co.uk/ - Love is in the Air 

http://thepapernestnorway.blogspot.no/ - Valentine or Love

Cards for Men over at Ooh La La

Hello everyone,

Firstly thanks to everyone who entered our easel card challenge last time we have been treated to some gorgeous designs. You can the the winners  at http://ooh-la-la-creationschallenges.blogspot.co.uk/

This time the challenge is to come up with a Card for a Man. My dad's birthday is in March so I decided to make his card a bit earlier than usual and use it for the challenge.

I chose the image from the pyramage folder on the Boys to Men CD you can get this at a disculnted price from http://www.ooh-la-la-creations.com/Pages/SALE.aspx at the moment.

I also chose papers from the Boys to Men CD and used a lovely mat silver paper from my stash for the matting. The greeting is made using a combination of Tattered Lace bunting alphabet dies and Joanna sheen signature bunting dies. I used promarkers to colour the letters blue and red and then stuck these t the scraps of silver paper left over from the matting and layering. To keep with the colour scheme I added bakers twine in red white and blue and two plain blue buttons.

Inside the card I made my own insert by cropping part of the image from the front reducing the opacity and enlarging it to give a 7 and half inch square this was printed for the left side of the card. I then flipped the image and added in the centre of one of the 5x5 inserts from the CD and added this to the left of the card.

Make an Easel card for Ooh La La

Good morning and a Happy New Year. Thank you for all the entries into our winter wonderland challenge. You can find the winners over on the Ooh La La Creations Challenge blog. So onto the first challenge of 2014 and its one of my favourite styles of card we want to see your ....

Easel Cards.

so it can be for any occasion so long as it's an easel card.

I used the Shawn Jenkins collection CD and used the Butterfly Garden design set from the CD. I have to say I absolutely love this CD the artwork is stunning and there is so much variety on there you can create for any occasion using it you can get your copy from the Ooh La La Creations website.

So without further ado here is my card.

It is based on a 6x6 square card blank and I cut the face of the easel using a Lattice Labels Spellbinders die (the largest size). I then used the die as a template to cut one of the backing paper from the folder to fit the centre of the label. I added the image at an angle, then added a basket of flowers to one corner.The basket is made using a Joanna Sheen signature die and the leaves were cut using a tattered lace die. The flowers are from Wild Orchid.

I punched three butterflies from vellum and coloured them using a Promarker in Pastel Pink and added pearl bodies.

The inside of the card was decorated with the basket weave paper from the folder on the CD. This basket weave effect is one of Ooh La La's signature designs and it is wonderful and looks as though you have taken hours weaving strips of paper, when in reality all you do is print it off.

I also used a printed ribbon strip from the CD but I cut slots in it and threaded it with blue ribbon to tie into the colour scheme an added the Happy birthday sentiment also from the CD. 

Before attaching the front easel panel to the base card I covered the base card with the same backing paper as the panel.

Walking in a Winter Wonderland with Ooh La La Creations

Well this will be our last challenge of 2013, over at Ooh La La Creations. Thanks to everyone who has supported us through the past 12 months. We had some really great ideas for using doilies in response to our last challenge and the winners can be found over at the challenge blog.

I know by now everyone will be finished making their Christmas cards and waiting for the big day to arrive, So when I chose my theme for this fortnights challenge, I was thinking of all those other winter occasions, birthdays, weddings, anniversaries etc. So I chose....

Winter Wonderland 

So here is my card, using papers and image from the 'Snow Scene' folder on the Yesterday's memories CD. You can buy a copy at Ooh La La Creations Website.

I started by distressing both papers and then layering them one over the other and sticking them to an 8x8 card blank. I die cut a frame from Kraft card and added white faux stitching round the edge and placed this over the image at an angle. The image had Merry Christmas in the corner but I covered this up by adding two die cut trees, these were also originally cut from Kraft card and I had added polar white flower soft to them but having added then to the card I really didn't like the effect so painted them whilst they were stuck on with white acrylic paint the flowersoft underneath gave a really nice texture and I will be trying this happy accident again. I finished off with some white die cut snowflakes that I have glittered with clear rock candy dry stickles (this has become a firm favourite since buying a jar at the NEC back in November). I finished off with a Happy Birthday tag and added a die cut pine branch and some faux stitching.

Use a Doily differently at Ooh La La Creations

Well it's Monday and time for our latest fortnightly challenge at Ooh La La Creations. Thank you to everyone who entered our last challenge and the winners can be found on the Challenge blog This time Ciska has set the challenge of using a doily in a different way. so here is my creation made using bonus papers and images from the Yesterdays Memories CD which you can purchase over on the Ooh La La Creations Website.

I used an 8x8 card blank and covered it with the pink spotty paper I then distressed the lovely subtle pink plaid paper before adding a cut out from a paper pad in my stash - I have had it so long the cover has come adrift so not sure who made it. The image was matted onto black card and I used a quickie glue pen to add dry stickles distress glitter in clear rock candy- sadly this doesn't show up that well in the photo but it does add a lovely sparkle to the card.

I used two doilies one I folded both into 4 to make quarters and then cut one quarter from the doily I then folded and tucked behind the image. The other doily I cut into 4 quarters and along with the odd one from the other doily rolled each of these into a cone shape sticking them along the join. I then stuck them side by side to form the parasol and stuck a die cut umbrella handle behind them. Before sticking to the card I flattened and pleated then to give the effect of the parasol being partially open. I finished off with a die cut sentiment, some grey pearls, small sweetheart flowers, and a bow topped with a dazzler.

A touch of Frost at Fab n Funky

Good Morning everyone, firstly thank you so much for all your marvellous entries in last weeks Cute Critters Challenge please check the Fab n Funky Challenge blog for the winners.

This week with the mornings getting colder and Christmas fast approaching I have chosen the theme 

'A Touch of Frost'

We want to see your cards showing frosty scenes with lots of sparkle or how about the frosting on a cake? 

Our  sponsor this week is the wonderful
Stitchy bears Digi outlet

The prize is $10 to spend on artists images feature here today
(Stitchy Stamps, Barbara Jensen, Reece's  Scrap Pieces)

My card has been made my card using Stitchy Stamps Backyard

The gorgeous black and white image comes with a white bench but I wanted to inject some colour so coloured it using a Sakurs Glaze pen in Christmas red.

I went to town on the image adding white glitter to the branches of teh tree and to the snow in teh foreground.

I used papers from Ooh La La creations Yesterdays Memories and distressed these using scissors. The bottom layer was edged using grey stone staz on ink ( I didn't have a grey distress ink).  The upper paper was curled in one corner. 

I added the image and a die cut Pine tree, this was cut using a Marianne die from kraft card which was then pained with acrylic and flower soft added to give dimension. Once the flower soft was dry I added stickles clear rock candy dry glitter to add a frosty sparkle. 

The poinsettia was cut from 'red velvet card' from Pink Pig crafts and green card from my stash using Britannia dies. I added more sparkle to the flower. The finishing touch was a wooden sentiment and ribbon bow added to the top corner.

I am entering this card into the following challenges 

http://throughthepurplehazechallenges.blogspot.co.uk/ - Christmas 

Happy Birthday with Ooh La La Creations

Good Morning Everyone.

Thank you so much for all your wonderful stitched creations for the last challenge you can find the winners over at the Ooh La La Challenge Blog.

This week it is all about birthday's. I have again used the fabulous Shawn Jenkins CD. I have to say this appears to have very quickly become a firm favourite with the Ooh La La design team girls. You can get your copy on the Ooh La La website

I used the Nautical folder to make this card for my Brother-in-laws birthday, although he does not  live by the sea he does have several nautical decorative elements in his house, and his bathroom has a definite seaside theme.

I printed off the topper and then matted it onto bright orange pearlised paper. I did the same with two of the backing papers and the sentiment. I layered these up as shown on an A5 landscape card and then used string to make the 'rope coils'.

The finishing touches were the starfish made from Martha Stewart paper clay coloured orange and pushed into a silicone mould for different sized stars once released and before they fully dried I added texture with a pin and squeezed each leg slightly so that they looked more natural. I glued them on with Cosmic Shimmer dries clear glue. The paper clay is fabulous for moulding embellishments for cards as it is so light weight it keeps the postage costs down, but it also has the advantage of air drying so no need to heat it up. 

Stitching real or Faux at Ooh La La Creations

Good Morning everyone and thank you all so much for the fabulous food and drink entries for the last challenge You can find out the winners at Ooh La La Creations Challenge Blog.

This time we are looking for stitching in your designs whether it be real or faux. Once again I used an image set from the new Shawn Jenkins CD you can get your copy from the Ooh La La Creations Website,  

I used the Love stitch folder to produce the following card 

The design itself has lots of Faux stitching included and I added my own Faux stitching round the plain paper I used as a background mat. I have included false mats in this card as the I used My Craft Studio to put one of the toppers onto the basket weave paper and printed this off as a whole rather than as separate layers. 

I added some bunting again from the CD and the greeting from the sentiments folder having added faux stitching round the edge in white.

Finally as a twist on the Stitching theme I used crochet stitches to crochet the little flower out of bakers twine. 

The flower is really easy to make and can be adapted for use with crochet cotton, wool or even string depending on the size of hook. I used a 2.00 hook with the bakers twine. I actually adapted a shell pattern from a baby's matinee coat pattern to make the flower.

I made a chain 6 stitches long and joined this with a slip  to make a circle.

The foundation row is 4 chain 1 dc into the circle repeat until there are 5 loops work a slip stitch into the base of the first of the 4 chain at the beginning of the row.

Then work 1dc, 1htrbl,1 trbl, 1htrbl, 1dc into each of the loops until you have 5 petals finish by working one slip stitch into the base of the first dc worked and fasten off. 

Finish the flower with a button centre.

Food and Drink at Ooh La La Creations

Hello everyone, we had some wonderful entries for our things with wings challenge last time and you can see the winners at Ooh La La Creations Challenge blog.

This time our theme is Food and/or Drink and I have created this card using the Autumn window image from the new Shawn Jenkins CD. 

I love this image and can almost smell the apple pie as it cools on the window sill. I used one of the toppers and then added mats and layers of the patterned papers from the folder. I added a rosette folded from green card and then finished off with two tiny apples made using Martha Stewart Paper clay, the mould I used is actually to make cherries but made in green clay they work equally well for tiny apples. The final touch was three golden pearls added using cosmic shimmer pearl PVA glue.

Things with Wings at Ooh La La

Once again we had some marvellous entries for the 'F is for challenge' you can check out the winners at Ooh La La Creations blog

This week's challenge is about Things with Wings and I have chosen to use the latest Ooh La La creations CD 'The Shawn Jenkins' collection the images on this CD are just superb and you can buy your copy by going over to Ooh La La Creations.

I used the bright butterflies folder from the CD, and loaded it in My Craft Studio so that I could reduce the opacity of the basket weave paper and the main butterfly image. I printed tow copies of the topper one at 50% opacity and one at full opacity.

I decided to work with a landscape card and folded an A5 card to make an easel. The base is covered in the basket weave paper and a strip of Centura Pearl paper in a pretty peach colour. The stopper was cut from an off cut of the background paper on the card which was stuck to card before being die cut and the die cut happy Birthday was added. 

For the main card I cut a piece of patterned paper and stuck it to the card. I then embossed a piece of the Centura Pearl paper using an embossing board and stuck it on top to leave a narrow border, then added Gems at the intersections of the diamonds. I die cut the lighter of the two topper into an oval and added a tattered Lace die cut behind. I then cut the individual butterflies from the other topper image and stuck them over their counterparts on the lighter image to give a 3D effect. This was then stuck to the card on one side. On the  other side I made an envelope from vellum that had been printed with the same pattern as the backing paper, then added a die cut butterfly with gem body. Finally I made the bookmark from the bookmarks folder on the CD to tuck into the velum envelope and added a bow to match the ribbon on the bookmark.

I am entering this card into the following challenges.