Anyone for Anya and Friends? - A Sketch for You

Morning!! It's another beautiful crisp day out.. so 'crisp' that the dogs eyebrows froze over while out with hubby for a walk this morning, lol. We're at -4.5C at the moment so I'm sensing another crafty day.. or it could be another "stop the kids from killing one another out of boredom" day!!

There are some changes afoot over on the Anyone for Anya? challenge blog, all will be revealed later .. but for now the new challenge is up and we have a great sketch for you to follow. 

My papers are Cosmo Cricket "Mitten Weather" - aren't they just gorgeous??!! I'm really enjoying all the christmas papers this year. I coloured Anya with copic sketch markers and used my trustee star dust stickles for the fur on her clothes. All of my flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts and they have been inked with Antique Linen - they've also been stickled to death, just how I like them :D

Copics:

Coat/Boots: BG13, 15, 18

Scarf/Tights: R24, 27, 19

Hair: E44, 43, 42

Skin: E51, 21, 00, 000 & E02{cheeks}

Shading: W1, 3

We are sponsored this week by Harlekino and the prize is this beautiful stamp

Well that's it from me for now. I may be back later with a late Music Saves My Soul choice - if we're going ahead with it this week ;) 

Have a wonderful Sunday

Stay warm!!

Sandie

xXx

Wild Rose Studio Blog Hop

Uuuuber quick post as I'm skirting in on the dying hour of the Wild Rose Studio Blog Hop. (seems I missed it anyway, lol. Inlinkz collection was closed early.. only me, eh?!! )

There is a great sketch by Dawny P to follow. I do have a couple of sweet Wild Rose stamps but I really didnt' have time to look for them so I used this WOJ stamp instead. She's another favourite from last year. 

The papers are My Mind's Eye "I believe" and my flowers are all from Wild Orchid Crafts. I used MS embossed snowflake punch for the border

Copics used:
Reindeer: E45, 43, 42
Reds: R29, 27, 24
Greens: G85, 42, 21
Skin: E51, 52, 00, 000 & 02{blush}

Have a wonderful day!!

Sandie

CES Challenges - Vintage Christmas

Good morning. We have SNOW!! Well it's only a sprinkling but we still have some :D It's so pretty to look at but man is it cold. The kids asked me to light the fire as downstairs is so much cooler than upstairs in this house, lol. I'm thinking it's a movie & crafty day :D

  This week's challenge on CES Challenges, as chosen by Jen, is

Vintage Christmas

Vintage really used to take me out of my comfort zone but I am slowly learning to LOVE it. 

I used a mix of papers - My Mind's Eye "I Believe" and Pink Paislee "Father Christmas". All of my papers have been distressed with my scissors and inked with Antique Linen .

The beautiful ribbon is by East of India. I just adore their ribbon, the quality is second to none. Unfortunately I'm almost out and the store I used to get it from no longer carries it :( So I you know of somewhere that does carry it AND ships to Ireland please do let me know!!

I also made this card to enter into Cardz n Scrapz forum challenge, which ended yesterday. They wanted to see Lace, Paper Pleating and Distressing. I think I got them covered, lol. And I'm entering the Simon Says Stamp challenge - "Let it Snow"

The prize for this challenge is a set of ''Father Christmas'' 6x6 papers by Pink Paislee.

Have a wonderful Saturday!!

Sandie

xXx

Lili of the Valley Challenge - Glitter and Glitz

Hi! I have a really quick post today - I made another card for this week's Lili of the Valley's  "Glitter and Glitz" challenge which ends in a couple of hours ..

Very recently I was asked by the lovely Jayne, from Crafty Feeling if I would like to have a play around with one of her kits. Of course one can never have too many embellishments or flowers so I was delighted!! When the kit arrived I was pleasantly surprised by just how much was in it. Loads of flowers with co-ordinating buttons, brads, ribbons, ribbon sliders & dew drops. This kit is called Vintage Delights and is available HERE

 I used Balloon Bunny and coloured him/her? with copic markers {which I will list below}. I then cut it out and mounted it on 3D pop dots. I applied glossy accents to the ballon to give it loads of dimension.

Copics Used:

Fur: C1, 3, 5

Plate: G000, 00

Cupcake: R81, 83

Cupcake paper: E50, 53

Balloon: R32, 35, 37

Papers by Kaisercraft {Gypsy Sisters}

Sentiment and image by Lili of the Valley

Embellishments from Crafty Feeling

Thanks for popping in. 

Sandie

xXx

Anyone for Anya? is having Girlie Fun :)

Morning!! It's another white, crisp morning here  - love it!! I am going to a crop today and I am soooooooo looking forward it to it, it's been such a busy week - I need a little time away :D 

Anyway, over on Anyone for Anya this week there is a girlie fun challenge. So break out that pink paper, surround yourself in shiny things and girlify your project!! 

The image I used for this card is from the Grandparents set that I snagged @ 50% off from The Greeting Farm. Cute, cute, cute!! 

My uber Pinky papers are Annalee by Prima and I slipped a doily, which I inked with Fired Brick, in behind.  The flowers are from Wild Orchid crafts and the butterfly is puched out from my MS Classic Butterfly punch.

The prize this week is being sponsored by Hellen Hobby Groothandel- and that prize is a set of Nestabilites :D :D I would love to win these myself!! 

Copics Used:

Pinks: R85, 83, 81

Greens: G00, 000

Skin: E51, 21, 02,00, 000

Hair: E44, 43, 42, 

I've entered this into the Sparkly Birthday Challenge over on Splendid Stamping. 

Thanks for stopping by, have a great Sunday!!

Sandie

xXx

Lili of the Valley & a do-over ;)

Hi everyone. I hope you're all having a wonderful Saturday. Mine has been busy busy busy as always but I somehow managed to squeeze in a little crafty time ;) 

Well after my little blunder on Thursday with my snow-less card for PaperPlay's Let it Snow challenge I just HAD to make another, lol. I broke out one of the super sweet LOTV stamps that I bought at the NEC - James Bear in the Snow - perfect!! I also opened AND cut... wait for it... my Figgy Pudding!!! This paper line still makes me warm and fuzzy inside :D

so here is my do-over, lol - and it's got snow!!!

I followed the sketch on Friday Sketchers and Lili of the Valley Challenges asked for Glitter and Glitz this week so I used "Crystal Ice" ice stickles to make my card sparkle like you would not believe - I almost had to wear sunglasses to finish it off ;) To embellish I used a selection of Wild Orchid Craft flowers and I did not hold back on the pearls... lol.

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I also made a card this week for the Whiff of Joy bi-monthly Guest DT Call. Every 2mths, on the 16th, Katharina holds a guest call for one week. I really love these stamps and figured I'd give it a shot... Nothing ventured, eh?

The image I used is one I bought last Christmas and it's called Henry Mouse Holding Christmas Wreath. Such a cheeky looking fella :) I coloured him using copic sketch markers. For a change I didn't put ANY stickles on my card, the papers, which are My Mind's Eye "I Believe", have a touch of glitter in them and I think it's all it needed. To cut out and matt the image I used octagon and scalloped octagon nestabilities.

I cut the banner out with WOJ's Pennants die and used Waltzing Mouse's Victorian Alphabet stamps with Bundled Sage distress ink to do the JOY. The flowers are a mix of Prima and Wild Orchid. The little piece of lace peeking out at the bottom is from my stash.

Copics used: 
E35, 33, 31, 30
R29, 27, 24
G85, 82, 24
Y11, 02
R30

Well that's it from me for today. I'm off now to start dinner. Then it's bath time for the kiddos - oh the joys.. lol.

Have a great Saturday :)
Sandie

PaperPlay Challenges - Let it Snow!!

Good afternoon!! Well if you read the title of this post you'll see that our challenge on PaperPlay this week is LET IT SNOW.. no explanation needed, right??! Well you'd think that anyway ... but if you can find snow on my card you've got great sight.. or a wonderful imagination, lol. I totally lost the run of myself and just made a CHRISTMAS card, not a flake of snow in sight.. is it too late to change the challenge??? ha!!

My image is called Angel Delivering Christmas Tree and I've coloured her with copic sketch markers, then I cut her out and mounted her on 3D pop dots. Once I had her stuck down I stickled her wings.  The sentiment is by Lili of the Valley.

My papers are Cosmo Cricket 'Mitten Weather' and are just gorgeous IRL. I've inked them all with Antique Linen distress inks and added a cream doily to place my image on. I've also added some fabulous lace :)

The large flat flowers are Prima Craftables and I've coloured them using Patina Glimmer mist. Just a couple of spritzes so that it didn't cover the whole flower, I wanted the splashes look. I added Wild Orchid Crafts Rose and pearls to the centres. I used the Whiff of Joy 'Leaves' die to cut out my leaf and placed it behind the flowers. For a bit of extra bling I used some Prima e-line pearl swirl

Challenges:

Whiff of Joy - Sketch by Tara

Wild Orchid Challenges - Blue Christmas

Simon Says Challenges - Sparkle

ABC Christmas - X for Xmas

Thanks for popping in!! Have a great day

Sandie

xXx

Waltzing Mouse November Blog Waltz time!!

Good morning!! It's that time of the month again when we dance along with the Waltzingmouse Blog Waltz. Details of how the waltz works can found by clicking the image above.  This month our theme is CHRISTMAS!! To participate in the Waltz you must leave a link to your blog on the forum HERE. If you're not already registered it only takes a minute to do so. We are also playing the Watermark game and there will be prizes!!

I found a great tutorial on making Beanie Hat gift card holders so I decided to give them a go. These are the coolest gift card holders ever, lol. I couldn't decide which way I wanted to use the papers so I made two!! 

 

My little gingerbread boy is from the Oven Fresh Gingerbread Joy set, as is the 'For You' on the 2nd beanie hat.

How it works....

I used a background stamp from the Pic-Nic set, stamped with TH Fired Brick distress ink

using the same stamp and TH Antique Linen distress ink...

Hope you like :) Have a great day

Sandie

xXx

PaperPlay Challenges - Lace, Ribbon & Flowers

Hi!! It's an AWFUL day out there today. I am spending the afternoon crafting, not putting one foot outside the door for fear of being blown away!! Hubster has been delegated the school runs :D 

I made this card & paper cone set for PaperPlay Challenges - Lace, Ribbon & Flowers, Whiff of Joy Challenges  -  Christmas card, Cute Card Thursday - Anything Goes and Basic Grey Challenges which is a sketch by the very lovely Heather.

  

I just adore this sweet WOJ image and love how versatile it is - I knew it would be perfect for a Mother/Daughter Christmas card. I coloured it using Copic sketch markers, cut it out with Labels 14 Nesties and sponged the background with distress ink.

My papers are BG Jovial - I am LOVING them!! I've distessed them with Antique Linen ink. The border work is done using Martha Stewart's deep edge trellis punch. I'm not 100% certain but I *think* the lace is from Prima. I bought the charm and flower centres from The Hobby House at the NEC :D

Then I made a paper cone to using the BG Jovial, ribbon & lace and filled it with candies. It has already been claimed by a certain 4yr old diva... 

... and I just know that a certain 6yr old little man is going to hissy fit until I make him one also, LOL!! 

Thanks for popping in!! Don't forget to leave my PaperPlay teamies a little love and be sure to read the post this week - we are having a DT call!

Galway Extravaganza - Nov 12th, 13th & 14th

Hi everyone.. just a quick post with a few sneaky peeks of my card class this Sunday, the 14th Nov, in Galway. We will be using some fabby Stampin' Bella images, some very lush card and stickles galore. 

Supplies required:

Craft Mat

Paper trimmers

Paper distresser or scissors

Border punch - if you have one

Colouring medium - for images

Bone folder

Adhesives

Optional:

Distress Inks

Stickles

This class starts at 13.00 on Sunday. If you want the full list of classes for the weekend you can find it HERE. 

It's Release Day at Waltzing Mouse Stamps!!

Hi!! Today is release day for Waltzing Mouse Stamps and we are Waltzing!! If you've come here from Bonnie's blog then you are on the right track, if not, you need to shimmy back over to Claire's blog to begin your waltz from the start.

The 4 new sets being released are Vintage Ornaments, Twas the Night Before..., Around Christmastime and Festive Foliage and, as always, these stamp sets are out of this world.  The store will re-open @ 7.15pm GMT once the new items have been added.

  

Today I have used Around Christmastime on my samples. I am just LOVING this set, it's so perfect for gifts and tags as well as cards. Dare I say it's my favourite.... ???

I found these cute bags at the NEC. All of the background stamps and the tags are from the Around Christmastime set. So easy to make and the kids LOVE them filled with yummy Christmas candies.

Don't forget -  there are prizes!! 2 lucky waltzers could each win a stamp set of their choice!! One winner will be randomly chosen from the comments left on one of the DT members blogs, the other will be chosen from the comments left on the Waltzingmouse Stamps Blog.

Now you need to hop over to the final stop on this waltz - Julia's blog!! I do hope you've had fun.

Sandie
xXx

Anyone for Anya - and the one that *almost* got away ;)

Good morning!! I have 2 DT cards to share today. This week on Anyone for Anya we would like you to use Kraft card on your project. 

For my card I used a Kraft journalling ticket, tucked in behind my patterned papers. I used another image from the Sisters set I bought recently - these are just too cute for words.

 My papers are BG Jovial and I've used the MS Garden Trellis punch on the top and bottom of my top layer.  To embellish I used some Prima e.line crystal swirls, sheer & grosgrain ribbon, pearl spray & self adhesive pearls. The sentiment is by Lili of the Valley.

Our sponsor this week is Hobbystempels

And the prize is a set of sentiment stamps from The Greeting Farm!

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Stampin' for the Weekend

I was so tired after my trip to the NEC that I totally forgot to do my blog post last Friday... ooops!! Better late than never?? lol.

 

For this fortnight's challenge on Stampin' for the Weekend we have a sketch with a twist, and the twist is that you need to use a butterfly somewhere on your card/layout/altered item. 

 

We are being sponsored by our regular monthly sponsor

 

and the prize is a $25 voucher to spend in their store.

 

Again, I used BG Jovial. My sentiment is from Waltzing Mouse Stamps and I stamped it using Fired Brick distress inks. This set is compatible with the heart nestabilities.  I distressed all the edges of my papers with my scissors and lightly inked them. My butterfly is punched out from the MS Glassene punch and the lace is from Craft Brulee. 

Thanks for popping in this morning. Please do pay my teamies a visit, they work so hard to create inspirational projects for you all. 

 

I will be back a little later today for the Waltzing Mouse release day festivities - don't forget 7PM GMT the new sets will be revealed :)

Until then - have a great Sunday!! 

Sandie

xXx

 

Waltzing Mouse November Pre-Release Day 3

Hi!! Today is the final day of Waltzing Mouse Stamps previews before four the new stamp sets are being released. Mark your calendar for 7pm GMT tomorrow, which will see the shop doors open and the blog waltz begin!!

Today, I am showcasing projects using Around Christmastime. This is a wonderfully verstatile set with so many possibilites. 

Don't you just LOVE that Santa moon??!! I stamped him out using fired brick distress ink, then I layered up clear embossing powder over the whole image. I wasn't going for the cracked glass effect but more the wrinkles effect, lol, so I didn't put it in the freezer. I let it cool naturally and then bent it back and forth to get the tiny cracks. Then I rubbed brushed cordoroy ink over it and wiped it off, which left the ink just in the cracks. 

My papers are BG Jovial. The lace, ribbon and roses are from my stash and the cute reindeer charm is one I picked up from the Hobby House stand at the NEC. 

To compliment my card I made a couple of co-ordinating pillow boxes, as you do ;)

I hope my samples today provide a little inspiration for you all. Don't forget to pay a visit to the other ladies blogs for their previews.

Claire

Lisa

Julia

Anya

Mona

Jennifer

Lynn

Belinda

Joan

Laurie

Bonnie

Waltzing Mouse November Pre-Release Day 2

Hi! I hope you all enjoyed yesterday's fantastic reveals from the Waltzing Mouse DT :)

Today I am showcasing Vintage Ornaments. I made another home decor item using Ornaments Nestabilities to make a pennant banner. 

Along with the Vintage Ornaments set I used the Victorian Alphabet & Beaded Ovals nesties to make "NOEL".

The other ladies previewing today are... 

Claire 

Lisa

Lynn

Belinda

Jennifer

Bonnie

Joan

Julia

Laurie

Anya

Mona

Waltzing Mouse November Pre-Release - Day 1

Good morning!! Welcome to day 1 of the Waltzing Mouse pre-release. 

Today I am showcasing Festive Foliage. A wonderful set comprising of all you need to make cards, layout and ornaments for the Christmas season. I made this cute little wreath just using the Festive Foliage stamps, red ribbon, some glossy accents, a ribbon spool and a single pearl. 

I layered up the Fir leaves and inked them with topiary ink. Then I added the ribbon, the holly leaves and acorns. Finally I added the berries using 3D pop dots for dimention. I added glossy accents to all of the berries.

I'll be making a few more of these for my Christmas tree :D 

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Mwah!! :D 

I just love this stamp - again from Festive Foliage. This set is so much fun!! I used copics to colour the mistletoe and added glossy accents to the berries. I used a tall/long card and layered it using white card and white vellum that I embossed using a cuttlebug folder. All of my edges have been inked using Bundled Sage distress ink. I cut out my image using Labels 2 nesties and sponged the background - again with Bundled Sage. To finish off I used some fabby grosgrain ribbon and some self adhesive pearls. 

Well I hope you like my samples for today. Here's who else is previewing.. 

Claire 

Lisa

Lynn

Belinda

Jennifer

Bonnie

Joan

Julia

Laurie

Anya

Mona