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.

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.

Spots or Stripes at Fab and Funky

Goo morning every one it's time for a new challenge over at Fab n Funky

Firstly  thanks to everyone who joined in with us last week, so many fabulous entries. Please check out the  blog to see if you were a winner.

For this week the challenges is 

Spots or Stripes
......or even both!

Here is my card

I have used Mr Bunny's Eggs from StampArt Design by Kathryne. 

I am so fed up of looking out of my window at the gloomy weather I chose a fresh spring colour palette for the card. I coloured the image using promarkers. The bunny was coloured with cool grey 1 and 3. I added blush and pastel pink inside his ears. His bow is duck egg and china blue. For the eggs I I used the following, Pear, Mos,Mint, dusky pink, lilac, sunflower, poppy, canary bright orange and fuschia.

The papers are from My Craft Studio's essentials range and I matted these onto pale green card stock from American Crafts. The flowers were cut using a tattered lace mini flowers die and I used white paper and coloured these with promarkers in blush, blossom, and vanilla. The finishing touches are the computer generated sentiment and the pink pearls using Cosmic Shimmers pearlised PVA glue.

Our Fabulous Sponsors this week are...

Colour Me Creative Classroom



Prize: Copic Class by Suzanne

And

StampArt Design by Kathryne

with a prize of 5 digis of the winner's choice
and the chance of a GDT spot here at Fab'n'Funky Challenges

So go on give it a go and good luck.

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

A digi and a die at Through the Purple Haze

This weeks challenge at through the Purple Haze asks us to combine two of my favourite card making elements digi stamps and die cuts. I took their title literally and used one digi and one die to create my card.

The digi is Nicolosia Venice City Girl from Lacy Sunshine she was coloured using both Spectrum Noirs and Pro-markers with just a touch of Sakura glaze pens.

Hair - Pro markers - Cocoa, Henna, Spice and Maroon
Skin Pro Markers Ivory, Vanilla, Satin, Blush
Lips - Spectrum Noir CR9
Dress Spectrum Noir - GB4, GB5, GB7 JG1, JG2, JG5
I added glaze pen in green and gold to the mask and her necklace.

Having coloured her I fussy ct round her and then rubbed the edges with a graphite stick to cover teh white. I used two papers from the Debbi Moore Gltter Girls Deco Glamour Bookatrix CD and mounted these onto gold and black mirror card.

The die cut is a Tattered Lace die and I used black mirror card adding green feathers, and gold pearls from my stash. The green pearls are actually white ones coloured using Spetrum Noir JG5 and teh ribbons were coloured to match teh dress using SPectrum Noir JG5 and GB7.

I finished the card off by using the 'waste' from the die cut to make the corner flourishes and the black flowers in the feathers in Nicolosia's hair.

I am entering this into the following challenges.
http://throughthepurplehazechallenges.blogspot.co.uk  - A digi and a Die
http://incywincydesigns.blogspot.co.uk - Ribbons and Pearls
http://www.4craftychicks.blogspot.co.uk - Anything goes
http://4kraftygirlzchallenges.blogspot.co.uk - Anything Goes

All About the Words at Fab n Funky

Hello well another Wednesday it's another challenge at Fab n Funky 

Last week we had some amazing entries for our Recipe challenge, congratulations to our Winner and TOP 3.

Thank you all so much for participating in the challenges each week, it is because of you that we have reached our 200th challenge this week.

This Challenge is 

 'ALL ABOUT THE WORDS' 

We would like to see some words on your project, they can be a simple sentiment or the main focus of your project.

We have two sponsors this week so double the chance of getting a great prize!

Digi Darla

Who are giving 5 images to the winner

and 

StampArt Design by Kathryne

who are also giving 5 images

I used Dance, Love, Sing Live from Stampart by Kathryne

I kept the design really simple and printed off this pretty backing paper from the music and dreams CD from their recent Anniversary Collection. I mounted this onto black mirror card and then  I used Tattered Lace dies to cut the oval frame, the flowers and the tiny butterflies from teh left over black mirror card. I added a Pearl Swirl, and pearl centres to the flowers.

I am entering this into the following challenge
http://throughthepurplehazechallenges.blogspot.co.uk/ - pick your favourite colour I chose Pink 

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.

Lets Celebrate at Fab n Funky

Hello it's time for the first DT card for Fab n Funky Challenges for 2014 and the theme for this weeks challenge is Let's Celebrate. We are sponsored by this week by

I used their Friends don't let Friends wine alone 2 stamp which you can purchase here 

I coloured the stamp using spectrum Noir markers. The background was in my stash and I added a large gold 50 to this which I had embossed  one of my work colleagues turns 50 in march so this will be a fun card for her as I have already been asked to make the card from our group to her. I die cut the bunting using Tattered Lace Bunting Alphabet cutting it from black card then sticking it to gold card and trimming each piece individually before adding to the top 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.

Snowflakes at Fab n Funky

Good morning, we had some marvellous entries for our Touch of Frost theme last week and the winners can be found over at the Fab n Funky blog.

This week we are keeping with the Winterey  theme  and it is .....

Snowflakes

Our lovely sponsor this week is StampArt Design by Kathryne

Prize: 5 Digis

As always we were given some wonderful digis to work with and I have used Using Alannah by  StampArt Design by Kathryne

This card is destined for our gorgeous grand daughter Chloe Ann and whilst she is a bit of a tomboy she also loves pink and glittery.

I used an 8x8 card blank and covered this with a piece of centura pearl card stock which had been wrapped in ribbon - it doesn't show up too well in the photograph but the ribbon is silver with little snowflakes printed on it. 

I coloured the image using Spectrum Noirs and Promarkers 

Hair Specturm Noir  FS2, TN1, GB,2, GB3, GB6

Skin  Spectrum Noir FS1, FS2,TN1 FS8

Eyes - Pro marker Cyan

Coat and trousers - Spectrum Noir PP1, PP2, PP3

Boots and Fur Promarkers Cool Grey 1, Cool Grey2, Cool Grey3 

I added clear rock candy dry stickles to the fur to add some sparkle.

I added a panel embossed using an embosilicious folder on Centura Pearl and then cut the snowflake wreath twice stuck one on top of the other and added white glitter. 

I fussy cut around Alannah leaving a very narrow white border and stuck her on to p of the wreath before adding more glittered snowflakes cut using a Tattered Lace snowflake die. Finally teh sentiment was cut from white card using Tattered Lace dies and I coloured them pink before sticking to the ribbons 

Twenty Two Down only One more to go.

This week at Through the Purple Haze Challenges we are being asked to use our favourite Christmas colours and being a bit of a traditionalist I have chosen Red and Green. More importantly this is my husband's Christmas card this year and eh is even more of a traditionalist when it comes to Christmas colours - he really doesn't get the blues and pinks and will always gravitate to red and green given teh choice.

Here is the card I have made for him .....

I started off with an A5 card blank and cut a piece of 'red velvet' card from pink pig crafts to fit leaving a narrow border. The card is a rich deep red and although foiled has a mat finish so it really does look like velvet. The only disadvantage is that it is quite expensive so knowing I wanted to add a white panel on top I gutted the centre of teh card and used what was removed to make the flowers. 

I embossed a piece of white centura pearl card in a 'honeysuckle' folder from Crafter's Companion and then turned this upside down as I thought the flowers had an appearance of mistletoe leaves when viewed upside down.

I cut two large ivy leaf sprays using green mirror card and a tattered Lace die and stuck these on the front of the white panel to trail down. 

The hearts are chipboard shapes that I painted with white gesso and then coloured with a berry red pro marker. Once coloured I coated them with a thin layer of glossy accents and allowed it to dry slightly but whilst still tacky added white stickles distress glitter in rock candy to give a sparkly effect once completely dry I added the gingham ribbons. 

The poinsettias were cut using Britannia dies and Green mirror card and the red velvet card gutted from the base layer. The centres are cut using a tattered lace winter florals die from off cuts of the Centura Pearl as were the pine cones and some of the pine branches and coloured with a 'Sunflower' 'Cocoa' and 'Holly Green' promarkers respectively. The Holly leaves were cut from Green Mirror card using another die from the Tattered Lace winter florals set. 

I placed the hearts on the card where I wanted them and then used a chain effect border peel off to make them look as if they were hanging down the card before sticking them down with glue gel. I added the Flowers branches and leaves and added red gems for Holly Berries. The finishing touch was the wooden sentiment tag with a scrap of gingham ribbon threaded through. 

Whilst flowers may not seem the obvious choice for a male card I know hubby will love this as his mum sadly no longer with us loved the bright poinsettia plant and would have several in the house every Christmas, we have kept the tradition alive and always have at least one in the house over the Christmas period, so they have a bit of special meaning for us which I know he will appreciate.

I am entering this card into the following challenges 

http://throughthepurplehazechallenges.blogspot.co.uk/ - Use your favourite Christmas Colours I chose red and green 

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

http://craftyhazelnutschristmaschallenge.blogspot.co.uk/ - For Someone Special

http://craftyhazelnutschristmaschallenge2.blogspot.co.uk - Anything Goes so long as it's Christmas 

http://pennyschallenges.blogspot.co.uk/ Tic Tac Toe I chose Flowers glitter and ribbon

Twenty One down Only Two more to go

This week at Through The Purple Haze challenges it's all about Christmas which is useful as it means I don't have to clear all my Christmas crafting goodies off the desk to work on something completely different. Hers is my entry for this weeks challenge as I need to post this card and postage is so expensive these days I used a few tricks to minimize the weight and bulk of the card.

I used My Craft Studio's Winter Wishes CD for the image and backing papers. The beauty of MCS is that whilst there are some pre designed image toppers on the disc there is also huge scope to create your own. I chose the basic background topper and then added the fairy of choice to it. I also incorporated the sentiment into the topper and there is a faux layering effect going on - not obvious in the photo but there is a mulberry paper effect in the centre of the white topper. The flowers can be added as required from the CD. I added some sparkle to her dress and to some of the flowers and foliage using stickles dry distress glitter in rock candy.

I used two backing papers from the CD and the smaller panel I used strips of washi tape with gold script on it, rather than ribbon round it so that the surface of the card is flat. I added to the faux layering effect using gold peel off borders and then added teh snowflakes cut from centura pearl card and glittered using the same glitter as on the topper.

Inside the card I used two pieces of the same backing paper as the small panel on the front minus the washi tape. I also printed the same plain topper onto the right hand page and used some extra flower imaged to make a frame round it.

I am entering this into the following challenges.
http://throughthepurplehazechallenges.blogspot.co.uk/  - Christmas

Playing Tag

I recently visited the NEC for the Hobbycraft show and picked up some marvellous goodies for my crafting stash. I decided to have play with some of the new Tattered Lace dies and having cut various bits of card decided I needed to do something with the results. the colour challenge of use red or purple or pink at Through the Purple haze challenges this week inspired me and I decided to use all three together.

I used a large chipboard tag I had bought at the show and painted it in white gesso before coating with cosmic shimmer in purple mixed with white acrylic and then adding some pink glitter I got free with a magazine ages ago and it has been languishing in a drawer ever since.


The mask was cut from the most sumptuous 'Red velvet' card that I got from Pink Pig crafts whilst at the show. The ribbons and feathers were from my stash and the flowers are the daisy and Marguritte dies from tattered lace. I coloured the solid underneath layers using Sakura glaze markers and coloured the lacy bit with a Sakura twinkling marker these were also purchased at the show and I love the finish they give.

I'm not sure what I'll do with the tag yet but considering my step daughter is both into Purple and into masks (she has quite a collection including a couple of quite rare ones) then it may end up attached to her Birthday present next year as I pained the back white so a message can be added.

I am entering this into the following challenges

http://throughthepurplehazechallenges.blogspot.co.uk/ use pink/red/purple
http://delightfulsketches.blogspot.co.uk/ - Anything but a card
http://pennyschallenges.blogspot.co.uk/ - Anything Goes

Nineteen Down Five to go

This week at Through the Purple Haze challenges the theme is to use red or pink or purple in our creations.

Here is what I have come up with.

The image is from Mo Manning and be purchased here. I decided to have a go at something new so actually used watercolour paints to colour her, I have never used them before but I picked up a tin of watercolours at a local supermarket ages ago and they have been sat in a drawer ever since so I decided to give it a go.

I had off cuts of the polka dot and striped papers from another project so used them to create a background I wrapped a strip of broad seam binding and lace around the centre to cover the join as they weren't quite big enough to cover the 8x8 card blank and then I matted the whole lot onto pink card stock. The corners were cut using a Tattered lace die as were the letters to form the word 'Yummy Mummy' I cut the image out using a spellbinders labels die and cut a larger mat from pink Centura Pearl card stock. The flowers were from one of the many freebies I have from various magazines and I cut them up and layered them up adding glitter and sparkly pink centres.

I am entering this card into the following challenges,
http://throughthepurplehazechallenges.blogspot.co.uk/ - use pink or red or purple

Eighteen Down Six to go

This week at Through the Purple Haze the challenge is to include winter scene with an option of including animals or people.

Whilst at the NEC Hobby crafts show last week I picked up some new toys so wanted to give them a try and came up with this

I started by creating my snow lines on white card using a couple of bits of copier paper torn to make masks and then positioned them with a small gap between and used Versafine 'deep lagoon' to ink through the gap. I then used Versafine Majestic Blue to ink up the Stag Cliff Hanger stamp from Indigo Blu and then masked off the cliff to Leave just the stag and the tree which I stamped in position on my panel. I finished the panel off using a quickie glue pen to underline the snow lines and add rangers crystal distress glitter, and left the panel to dry.

I made the sentiment by masking off the stag and tree and just stamping the cliff part of the stamp and cutting out the greeting section which was mounted on to plain white card stock using foam pads.

I embossed a five and half inch square of white card using the embossing folder that comes free with the ebosser and then mounted this onto royal blue Centura Pearl paper and stuck it to the front of a 6x6 card blank.

The snowflakes were cut from scraps of white card using a Tattered Lace Snowflakes die and then I added more of the distress glitter using a glue pen and left them to dry.

I matted the stag panel onto royal blue Centura Pearl paper and trimmed it to leave a narrow border and stuck it to the card blank off set from the centre then added the greeting and the snowflakes. The finishing touch was a bow tied in organza ribbon and finished with a large gem stone centre. 

I am entering this card into the following challenges

http://craftyhazelnutschristmaschallenge.blogspot.co.uk/  - Outdoors 

http://craftyhazelnutschristmaschallenge2.blogspot.co.uk/ - Anything goes so long as it's Christmas

http://throughthepurplehazechallenges.blogspot.co.uk/ - Winter scenes optional animals or people in it 

http://abcchristmaschallenge.blogspot.co.uk/- V is for Vixen add a reindeer to your design

Traditional Christmas Colours at Fab N Funky

Good morning all!

This week the challenge over at Fab n Funky is traditional Christmas Colours now that doesn't mean yiou have to make a Christmas project just something in traditional Christmas Colours such as 

Red, Green, Gold, Silver  maybe some black (for Santas boots!) 

- I'm sure you get the picture

Of course at the same time we'd love to see your Christmas cards
one more card for Christmas can only be a good thing!!

We have a fabulous sponsor this week

and the great prize on offer is
5 images of the winners choice

I worked with lovely Santa Clause 2 and We wish you a Merry Christmas stamps

I think Santa has a lovely retro feel to him and kept the colouring really simple I used Promarkers and for his face I used Ivory Satin and Blush and for the hat berry red and poppy. For the Greeting I used Holly for the letters and berry red for the border. 

I used a lovley rich mat gold card from Hunky Dory and embossed it using Christmas Patchwork 6x6 folder from Crafters Companion. I then added the sentiment panel and Santa who had a bit of flower soft and some iridescent sparkles added to his hair beard and hat. The finishing touch was a poinsettia cut using Tattered Lace Winter florals dies and coloured using Berry red, Holly and Canary yellow Promarkers.

I am entering the card into the following challenges 

http://craftyhazelnutschristmaschallenge.blogspot.co.uk/ - Bling it up - the glitter on Santa

http://craftyhazelnutschristmaschallenge2.blogspot.co.uk - Anything Goes so long as it's Christmas 

Seventeen Down Seven to Go

It's Monday so its a new challenge at Through the Purple Haze. This week the challenge is Anything Goes. I was lucky enough to win the Lacy Sunshine Challenge a couple of weeks back so decided to use one of the digi stamps I chose as part of my prize for this challenge she is called Waverley and is part of the Sea Kissed Mermaids Collection.

I started off by colouring her in with Spectrun Noir Markers and Promarkers

Hair TN4,5,6,7

Skin FS2,3,4 TN1, PP2

Eyes GT1

Tail BT3,4,5,7 PP4

Rock BGR1,2,3,5

Sea - GT1,2,3

Seaweed Promarker Moss and Pear 

I had some lovely summery papers from fancy pants designs called Beach Babe and matted the pale turquoise paper onto a dark turquoise piece or core'dinations card stock, I draped a piece of green net cut from a bag that came from a local supermarket and once held tomatoes around the panel and then stuck it to a 6x6 card blank. I matted a strip of pink paper onto the dark turquoise card stock and wrapped some pretty glitter crotched lace around it before sticking it across the centre of the card. 

I cut Waverley out using an out of the box technique I placed an oval x-cut die over the image and then marked two points either side of her tail that overlapped the die. I removed the die and fussy cut round her taik between the two pencil marks and then placed the die back over her making sure that the fussy cut portion of her tail was on the non cutting side of the die before putting her through the e-bosser. I mounted the die cut image onto more of the dark turquoise card stock and cut around the oval portion to leave a narrow border but left the tail free.I then added her over the centre of the pink panel.

I decided that flower embellishments would look out of place with a mermaid so used sea shells that I collect from a local beach with a couple of more tropical looking shells that were in a huge selection bag of really tiny shells I bought from Hobby craft. I think they were intended for flower arranging and putting in the bottom of vases to keep the flowers in place but they work really well on cards. I made my own pink coral by mixing white and red paper clay from Martha Stewart and rolling into little balls and then snipping across the top with my decoupage snips. The Seaweed was made using Tattered Lace leaf dies which had been cut from white paper and coloured using pear and moss pro-markers.

I also added some star-fish made by pressing paper clay into a Martha Stewart Silicone mould and then pricking the top of the stars with a pin.

I finished the design off by adding some pearl sprays, pearls inside some of the shells and adding pink pearls to her hair and tail. The final touch was three clear dew drops from Inky Impressions to look like water droplets in her hair.

I am entering this card into the following challenges 

http://throughthepurplehazechallenges.blogspot.co.uk/ - Anything goes 

http://cardmaniachallenges.blogspot.co.uk/- Anything Goes 

It's Fab n Funky to get distressed

Good Morning everyone, It's Wednesday so that means it's a new challenge over at the Fab N Funky Challenge blog. Thanks to everyone who entered our Spots and Stripes challenge last week you can see the winners over on teh blog.

This week Beccy is the host and she has chosen the theme of s

DISTRESS

That could be distressing the edges or using distress inks or distress embossing powders

the choice is yours.

We have two fabulous sponsors for you this week

Flonzcraft

prize $20 shop voucher (plus free shipping)

also offering 12% discount in shop to all challenge entrants 

and

Lacy Sunshine

 

Who is offering 5 digis to the winner.

I was thrilled to be able to work with this gorgeous Lacy Sunshine Victorian Winter Emily image 

I coloured her in Sepia tones something I have never tried before. I used Spectrum Noir pens 

skin FS1,2,3, TN1, 2,

Hair EB3,4,5

Clothes TN1, 2,3,5 7,8 EB4,5

For the background I embossed a piece of Centura bronze coloured paper and then tore the edges 

I added pieces of patterned paper from my scraps box that were also torn at the edges. An oval f green embossed paper was used behind the fussy cut image and I added lace, the die cut lamp post and greeting, and the flowers made with Tattered Lace inter florals dies. I finished off with some liquid pearls along the lace, a wooden hanging ornament tied with bakes twine and three pretty stick pins.

I finished the inside of the card using patterned paper from the Papermania range, and added panels that were hand cut from white card. The finishing touches the curling ivy leaves at the edges cut using Tattered Lace oriental ivy die.

I am entering this card into the following challenges 

http://throughthepurplehazechallenges.blogspot.co.uk/ - Anything Goes 

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.

F is for..... at Ooh La La Creations

Good Morning and it's time for a new fortnightly challenge at Ooh La La Creations. We had some wonderful male themed cards for our Magnificent Men challenge and the winners can be found at Ooh La La Creations Challenge Blog.

The theme for the next fortnight is 'F is for...' so anything beginning with F on your creations whether that be Funny, Father's Day, Flowers or anything else for that matter, I think this will lead to a really diverse range of cards being entered I know the DT have come up with some wonderful interpretations so be sure to check them out.

Here's my card and I went with three different Fs for it. Far East, Fan and Frame.

The image is from the 'Waterfall Cards' section on the 'Passion for Fashion'  CD. Whilst all the Ooh La La CD's stand alone and need no special graphics programme to use them, I have chosen this time to show what can be done with a single image from one folder on CD when used in conjunction with a graphics package. I accessed the CD via My Craft Studio and from the page for the oriental waterfall card I selected a single image and cropped it. It was enlarged and printed off to use as the main topper. Then working with the same image I designed the backing paper by cropping just the area where the characters on the image form a block of four, I shrank this down and then tiled it to fill a whole page forming the backing. The pink 'rope' border was made by cropping just a tiny area of the lady's sash and again tiling this to form the rope.

I matted the backing paper onto black Centura Pearl card stock and did the same with the topper. I then wrapped the rope border around the backing panel and stuck it to a A5 card blank. I added the topper and then framed the topper using self adhesive mini mosaic tiles. 

The finishing touches were the die cut fan and the Chinese Character cut from gold mirror card using Tattered Lace dies and the character was stuck onto a scrap of black card stock I had left over. 

I am entering this card into the following challenges