Sarah Kay Card for Papertake Weekly

The challenge, which got me kick started into crafting again, over on Papertake Weekly challenges was to use polka dots and stripes. Now I just happen to have bought a huge pack of paper all stripes and spots in different colour collections (Paper Studio). This image, coloured with copics, really, really reminds me of Kiki, so I enjoyed the challenge. I stuck some black fibres behind the flowers for a bit of a punch (idea pinched from my mega talented friend Phyllis, thanks Phyllis)

Two days, two cards......

Time to share the very unproductive results of a two day swarm (cricut crop) that I went to in Ocala at the weekend. Two cards in two days, and I had taken enough stuff with me to make a card for the entire population of the UK, well the world probably. It was fun of course, so who's counting...... . Anyway, here is my first card, Tilda sitting on her swing (the swing was stamped for me by my lovely pal DawnyP). I used the MS hearts border on the edge. Normally I would have machine stitched around the white panel, but the sewing machine was about the only bit of kit I didn't take with me.

The second card is the result of a challenge that I found really hard, we were presented with an envelope containing random papers, diecuts, brads, ribbon and so on. We had to use them ALL on our card, which even for me, who likes to throw a lot of stuff at a card, was a stretch too far. Anyway, Tilda came to the rescue again and I managed to use everything in my bag, plus Tilda. I added some glitter to the stars, and glossy accents to the balloons and popped everything up off the card. I chopped the metal rim tags in half and added some tiny sticker letters.

I think I left my mojo behind in Ocala though, (I may have lost it on the way there come to think of it), and have had a totally useless day today, there are about 5 torn up projects in the trash can, and you may be able to see the blue cloud above my house from where you are............

Saturday is national scrapbook day, and I am going to another all day crop, may as well take advantage of these things while I am here, when I am back in the UK I am a very lonely little crafter.

Doodlecharms Dragonflies for BBTB

We were asked to use any cut from the doodlecharms cartridge this week, using the border feature. I chose the dragonflies - I was in the mood for 'pretty' when I made the card. I cut twice at 2 1/2", once on plain white cardstock, then again on white vellum, which I ran through the cuttlebug using swiss dots. I added dots of liquid pearls and a huge ribbon bow. The 'top note' cut was done with my die from go-kreate, love this die. I used the leafy embossing folder for this, and distressed all the edges in pale pink chalk ink.

This week we are having a bit of a blog hop, for everyone of you who leaves a comment on this post, you will be in with a chance to win.............................................................

two packs of yummy ribbons from Fancy Pants and Making Memories, and an SEI 'Friend' word book, which would make a fabulous birthday card for a special friend. The ribbons are a variety of chenille, velvet, rickrack................ooh, I do love ribbon. So leave a comment, making sure you leave your name so that I can identify you when I draw the winner next sunday. Then hop over to Carole's blog and see what she is offering, then follow her links to the next BBTB DT member who is offering candy. If you hop around to all the blogs you will have a good chance of winning yummy candy. Be patient today though, as we all live in different time zones and it may take a while for us all to get on board with this
All the designs can be seen on the Bitten by the Bug site

Design Team Cards - Cute Daisy May and Whimsy Stamps

All the design teams I am on seem to publish their challenges on the same day, so a little gaggle of cards to show you today. Firstly, this little sweetie is a downloadable image from Cute Daisy May, where the challenge this week is GEMS.
All the papers are K & Co, the colouring was done with copics, scalloped card and sentiment circle is by Craftwork Cards. Why don't you have a go at this challenge - Linnie on CDM doesn't even insist on CDM images for the challenge, and there are downloads to be won each week

The challenge on Whimsy stamps is monochromatic, so I used browns and cream for this little owl card. Here is the inside..................................

All the papers are Martha Stewart, and the letters are puffy stickers by Making Memories.

An award to pass on......

Rose very kindly sent me this little award, I am supposed to pass it on to ten people, but as usual time is of the essence here in crafting chaos land, so I hope I will be forgiven if I pass it on to just 5, some of them are new bloggers and this award will brighten up their blogs, all visit me very regularly and leave sweet comments, so here you are -
Lisa, Diana, Jamers, Max and Shelley - this is for you. Pass it on to 10 bloggers, or if you are like me, cheat and pass it on to five :)
I have been helping a couple of these blog pals with setting up their blogs, if my kids are reading this, can you pick yourselves up off the floor and stop laughing please, you look ridiculous. I DO know a bit about computers, well I can switch it off and on, that's a start................ If you can find a minute to click onto their blogs to encourage them that would be really appreciated.

Green Brown and Orange for Colour Creat

I bought this magnolia 'scene' stamp with the clouds, bench and grass, and when I had stamped it thought I would cut the front of the card totally away around the stamped image. I put some wild asparagus green spotty paper on the inside of the card, and perched Tilda on the bench. The scallop border is Martha Stewart doily lace. The sentiment circle was from Craftwork Cards.

I coloured Tilda in greens and orange to fit in with this week's challenge over on colour create which was to use these colours. Funnily enough, the plainer I left this card, the better it looked, I tried adding flowers and bling and it just didn't work. Sometimes, less is best.

I had a great time at the swarm, although, all I managed to produce in two days was two cards and the base of two word books. We did do a LOT of shopping though. There was a 'bring and buy' table, and someone had bought along a Zutter bind-it-all, which I have been looking for for ages at a good price, so now, that is my new passion, expect to see a lot of books on here anyday soon.

Funky Fabric

here's another card made with my ebay find, fabric by Loralie called 'gone shopping'. I used the same method as before, swipe the back of the fabric with a glue stick, stick to white cardstock and smooth with a bone folder. Dry overnight then cut out. The border punch is lattice arch by Martha Stewart, and the flowers are Poppicraft.

I have everything ready to go to my crop, how clever of me to condense it into about 10 bags, by the time I unload, it will be time to come home again :) I fell asleep in the sun yesterday by the pool, having applied super high factor sunscreen all over me first - well all over except for my forehead, which I missed, I have a fringe, Big mistake, massive....... I look like a biker chick wearing a bright red bandanna on my head, except it's just my glowing forehead. They could stand me on top of a cliff in an emergency and I would make a very good temporary lighthouse.

Tilda

Here is Tilda sitting on a toadstool! I wanted to keep the card layout simple on this one, and just let Tilda shine. Papers are my Making Memories.

I am getting ready to go to Ocala tomorrow for a 'swarm' (a crop for Cricut fanatics). I find packing for these things almost impossible, and run around like a headless chicken......I MUST take this paper with me, I MUST have at least 20 spools of ribbon 'just in case', oh, I need ALL my buttons, ...... I do this, arrive laden to the place and discover that I have left something totally vital like my cutter at home. Whatever, it will be fun, I met a lot of the ladies who are going at a similar crop in Orlando last year, so will be renewing friendships made then also.

Mum Card for Pink Elephant and Colour Create

I used a word topper from the Cutting Cafe for this one, I cut the MUM word out and popped it on with dimensional foam, adding a shadow in the pink. The black mesh is leftover screen netting from when we got our 'bug cage' put on our lanai, and you will recognise the flowers, they are recycled from my blog header. The black bobble trim was left over from a halloween project.

So Pink Elephant ask for a Mum card/and or recycled stuff. Colour create specify a combo of black, white and pink, preferably with polka dots. So I am dead chuffed I managed to combine ALL the elements for two challenges into a single little card.

Happy Birthday to my Purr-fect Friend

Another fabric card, I am loving these and having fun coming up with sentiments as well. All the how to do it instructions are under the label fabric cards. The paper is by making memories and the sentiment was done on the computer.

Speaking of purr-fect friends, my BFF Anne has a milestone birthday today back in the UK. Happy happy birthday Anne xxx

What's this? shhhh, it's a secret, all will be revealed on Create and Craft TV in the UK on April 27th. Yes, it's the release date for the new Funky Hand CD, and let me tell you, the papers are just gorgeous.

Peggy Loves Vintage - for Bitten By The Bug

This week the design team on BBTB were given a choice of vintage images from Peggy Loves Vintage to play with. I fell for this cute circus image and printed the main image three times, and decoupaged it. I printed it out smaller to make a tag, added a pompom to his hat, and some glaze to the balloons and added a handle to the inch bag from tags, bags, boxes and more, which was cut using the fit to page option on the expression. There is a contest to win these images over on BBTB this week, pop over and have a go
Now for the craziest thing...............I was chatting to someone who told me they had been invited to a wedding, not only do they have to fly from the East to West coast of the USA, pay for a hotel and of course a wedding gift, but also, wait for it, the bride has specified that all the guests should be dressed in lime or lemon colours (I think that applies only to the female guests) so that they look coordinated in her photos.
I was quite outraged by this, quite apart from the fact that I look like a sick canary in those colours, if I had been invited I think I would have dressed from head to foot in scarlet and claimed to be colour blind 'this gown isn't lime green? Oh my, I could have sworn it was.........................' Then I suppose I would have looked like a parrot in the photos. Whatever next.

Cute Daisy May - Glitter Challenge

This is my first week on the design team for Cute Daisy May challenges, and I am loving these images. This particular one is a doodle, and it really does print out like a little hand drawn sketch. You just go to the site, choose your images, pay a very reasonable price and they are sent right to your mailbox to save in a folder on your computer. Love them.
I printed this little ballet dancer out three times. The first one was the base image which I coloured with copic markers, the second one I cut out just the arm and the skirt, which I glittered before adding to the base image with dimensional foam pads. The third image, I cut out just the skirt and glittered it all over before adding to the base image with more dimensional foam pads. So her skirt really does look like a frilly little ballet skirt. The ribbon has been hanging around here for ages, can't remember where I got that, and I used half a scalloped circle embossed with swiss dots on the base card. All in all, I really like this one.

So, what do you think of the new look blog? I have wanted to change it for ages, but was a bit afraid to try in case my blog went spinning off into a bloggy cyber black hole, then I would lose all my blog buddies and may never have found you again. In the event, even for a dummy like me, it was easy, I made the header myself. Now that I have found out how easy it is, you will be dizzy, I might be inclined to change it often, just for fun :)

Hello Sailor - for DCM, and Wedding Card

On the Cricut message board we have a UK crafters chatty thread, and this wedding card is for a challenge we set ourselves this week. The heart is from the Wedding solutions cartridge, the shaped label is a nesting die by go-kreate, and the papers are by Making Memories.

The Daring Cardmakers dare this week is Boys and their Toys, so this is mine. I cut the anchor at 4" from my new Life's a Beach cartridge, the hello stamp is a wood mounted studio G from the dollar bin, and the sailor letters are Making memories glittery alphabet. I doodled a little chain border. The blue hopsack pattern paper is by Funky Hand

I am quite proud of the way I managed to make my knot of red twine look like some amazingly complicated nautical knot. The truth of the matter is that when I have been sailing, people keep throwing ropes at me yelling incomprehensible stuff like 'tie the warp around the cleat' - WHAAT, why can't they just say 'wrap this rope around the round thingie over there', then I would jump to it, and quickly and nimbly do the job instead of standing there pathetically with a rope in my hand looking helpless. Mike and I have decided that in the interests of marital harmony it is better, much much better, if he goes sailing alone, and I stay home to play with paper.
I am messing around with my blog settings, so you may see a lot of different backgrounds until I find the one I am happy with :)

Sarah Kay Card

I had this given me by Shirley ,Tammy and Lana. Thank you all so much. I love visiting your blogs too, they make ME smile. This award is for all those of you who visit me so faithfully every day. You make me smile too :)

I love this little image by Sarah Kay, this little girl reminds me of my sweet granddaughter, she has the same sweetly rounded cheeks and hair that flies away in curls. She will have her new baby brother soon. 'What is his name going to be Kiki?' I enquired 'I don't know, I haven't decided yet' she replied. The papers are from DCWV Citrus pack, and the border punch is Martha Stewart embossed zigzag. Colouring as always with copic markers.

I had a busy day yesterday, lunch with girfriends, a snooze, trying to get ahead with design team cards and last night, Karaoke at the clubhouse. As always in Karaoke, there was the good, the bad, and the ugly, with the ridiculous hovering around for a good part of the evening. My girlfriends and I fell firmly into the latter category when we got up to 'sing' (I use the word loosely) Dancing Queen. What we lacked in technique and ability, we made up for in enthusiasm and sheer out-of- tune volume. Still, all good fun and it gave everyone a good laugh at our expense. Heritage Pines tonight, Broadway tomorrow..................

Fabric Card

I did an online search for fabrics, now that I am in the mood for using fabric on my cards and found this, again by Loralie, called Gone Shopping. It is full of the cutest girlie images, and I have had this stamp by Inkadinkadoo hanging around for ages, seemed perfect for this image - she certainly looks as if she would never have time to write a diary. As a matter of fact, I used to keep a diary, gave it up when I was about sixteen. Hmm, read the sentiment and wonder............

For a 'how to' instruction on using fabric, scroll down to labels and click on fabric cards, I tell you how to do it there.

All the Bags and Boxes

I have loads of questions from people wanting to buy the Tags, Bags Boxes and more cartridge, wondering how big the little bags cut. On the handbook, all you see is a bewildering number of strange shapes, and I have been meaning to do this exercise for ages, so last night I cut out all the shapes very roughly, and I have measured each one to give you an idea of size. This is the maximum size that they will cut on a 12 x 12 mat using the cricut expression

My scribbled writing looks like 3 1/2" on this photo. It cuts to a finished bag of 5 1/2 including the handle

With this box, cut two, one slightly smaller than the other. This makes a good size gift box, big enough to take something like a scarf.

I hope this helps some of you who may be wondering if this cartridge would be useful. Some of the boxes would make pretty wedding favours.
Oops, I've left one out, it's the inch bag, an open top bag that cuts to 6" x8"