Mmmmmmmmm ....

.... choooccccoolaaaaaaattttte!!!

Yup, Easter is nearly here - so this week's challenge on PaperPlay is exactly that (Easter, not chocolate!!!).

I made a little basket/box thingie, using a tutorial from the Spring Magnolia Magazine, and filled it with chocolate eggs:

I'm also entering it on Stampin for the Weekend (Easter),  Simon Says Stamp (Easter),  Totally Gorjuss (ribbon - my second entry this week), and Fussy and Fancy Friday (Easter).

I used one of Elisa's cute digistamps from her site, Mamidoodles, for my image.  Have discovered that my printer is not digi-stamp friendly, I tried colouring with promarkers, then prismas with sansodor, then finally prismas on their own and this was by far the best way (until I get a laser printer some day!!!).  Here's a not-so-close up!!!

Recipe:

Stamp: Mamidoodles

Colouring Medium: Prismas

Papers: Basic Grey Sultry

Other: MS Border Punch, Distress Ink, Shimmerz, ribbons from stash, chocolate eggs from Sainsburys!

I finished the horse card last night and gave it to the customer today - she loved it, thank goodness.  Will post a pic tomorrow.

Thanks for looking!

This year's obsession ....

.... yup, it's my son's birthday again.  He is one of those boys who gets completely obsessed with things, so each year, I make a card relevant to his current craze!!  Last year, it was James Bond, the year before it was Nightmare before Christmas.  We've had Mister Men, Countdown, etc. down the years.  But, to give him credit, these are no flash in the pan fixations - we usually get a good 6 to 18 months before he moves on to the next big thing!!!

This year, he is madly into Lego PowerMiners.  So having dithered about with large shapes and got nowhere, I decided to use Sandie's sketch for this week's PaperPlay Challenges, and here's what I made for him (his name has been blurred out):

I layered up pieces of the image (it's a Rock Monster, should anyone wish to know!!!), here's a side shot:

And I printed out lettering from the computer, transferred it to black card for the number and yellow for the lettering.  I've used Rock Candy Stickles to highlight his tusks and the number 8 - that stuff is fabulous, here's a little close-up - see how chunky it dries.  And since this fortnight's Fussy and Fancy Friday challenge is called "Dazzle Us", I'm entering it in - bit different from the usual entries, but there's a lot of shimmer and shine on this card, with the Rock Candy, also I stamped the background in metallic silver, and have used glitter buttons.  Bling!!

Recipe:

Papers: BG Ambrosia

Stamp: Hero Arts Grid

Ink: Brilliance Silver

Other: Rock Candy Distress Stickles, Doodlebug Buttons, needle + thread

I also made party bags for his friends, using the Rock Monster's face and more letters for their names:

Lots of cutting out!!!

And when DS opened his card, he said "Oh. My. Gosh.  That.  Is.  So.  Cool!!". 

Result!!!!

One card a week ....

.... oh, this is just too bad. I'm so thankful for my DT position, it makes me make time to craft once a week even when things are crazy busy. I'm about to off-load a voluntary secretary job that I've been doing for the past 5 years, it takes up a lot of my time on a sporadic basis, especially at this time of year. It's the AGM at the weekend, so all I have left to do is take the minutes, transcribe them and then hand over to my "lucky" successor. That will surely leave more time for crafting!!!

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Anyhoo, this week's challenge on PaperPlay Challenges is called "Love Notes", given the time of year and all that!!!

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Here's my DT sample, it's my card for my husband, who would recoil in horror if I made something pink and frilly with hearts on, so I made black (and red and green and gold) with hearts on!!!

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I'm also entering this card in Fussy and Fancy Friday, their challenge this fortnight is "Hearts" and Simon Says Stamp,who this week have a photo challenge of red roses on a green background (I've taken the colour scheme and shabbied it up a lot) and Double Dutch, their challenge is "Be my Valentine".

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I used the divine BG Scarlet's Letter papers, they are the first BG I saw and I still love them. Great for manly Valentines cards!!! And I've put a little joke on DH on the card - he is NOT a fan of MS punches, I won't tell what he says about them, it's not repeatable. See those little black hearts, they are the throwaway bits from the middle when you punch using the Valentine's Lace punch. I got them out of the bin and put Crackle Accents on them. He'll never know there's MS punchwork on his card!!!

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Here's a little close-up:

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Recipe:

Papers: BG Scarlet's Letter

Stamps: Hero Arts stamped in Gold with Gold E.P.

Inks: Tim Holtz Distress Inks - Old Paper, Fired Brick, Black Soot

Other: MS Valentine Lace Punch, Crackle Accents, needle and thread

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Thanks for looking!!

Baby ....

.... Who?

I've been waiting to make my DT entry for this week's PaperPlay Challenges all week. Elisa set the challenge, it's called "Furry Friends" - make something dedicated to our friends that bark, squeak, meow, roar, moo or neigh.

I knew I was going to make a baby card, and I knew I would be using a PB cat stamp, but the parents of the baby (who was born on New Year's Day), have not given her a name yet. So far, in the fortnight since she was born, she has been temporarily called Sammie, Maisie, Tara and Chloe, and now .... who knows? So yesterday afternoon, I gave up waiting, made the card and used temporary adhesive on the nameplate!!!!

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I've used a sketch from this week's Totally Gorjuss challenge, and am also entering it on Simon Says Stamp, whose challenge this week is "Shabby Chic" - ooh I love to distress!!! - and SFTW (just in time) and Fussy and Fancy Friday (even more just in time), who both wanted projects with the theme of "new". Baby!

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Here's a wee side view of the card.

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Recipe:

Papers: BG Sugared

Stamp: Penny Black Cat & Moon (I think that's what it's called)

Colouring Medium: Prismas

Other: Nesties, Ribbon from Stash, needle and thread, Stardust stickles

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Thanks for looking!!