CRAFT Challenge Blogaversary

I'm so excited that as part of my Guest Design spot at CRAFT Challenge, I get to be part of their 2nd Blogaversary with big giveaways:

This week at CRAFT Challenge  we are celebrating our 2nd Blogaversary in style. Our challenge this week is Happy Birthday! (to Us) to fit in with this celebration. Please link your project to InLinkz as per usual.
Here's the card that I've made to join in with the celebrations.  Don't you just love this little birdie from Robyns fetish digital stamps and more

Supplies used:
Digi stamp - a little birdie told me, Robyns fetish digital stamps and more
Cardstock - Core'dinations and Neenah Solar Crest Card
Patterned paper - Kaisercraft Hippy Girl 6 x 6 pad
Ribbon - Papertrey Ink
Stamp - Papertrey Ink, daily design sentiments
Button & twine - Papertrey Ink
Copics used:
Tree - E71, E77
Bird - BG01, BG05, BG10
Flowers - YR04, YR20
Grass - YG03, YG11

To celebrate we will also will be doing a Blogaversary Blog Hop with many sponsors and prizes on the way. To be in with having a chance of winning these prizes, you will need to leave a comment on our (G)DT's blogs, a winner will be chosen randomly at each stop.

We will also leave a word at each stop, with which we would like you to form a sentence. So, don't forget to collect a word on each stop as well! After you have collected all these words, form a sentence with them and enter your sentence in a comment on our CRAFT Challenge blog. We will obviously not allow comments to be posted during this week to stop any cheating, lol!

You should have started at CRAFT Challenge and come from Carol's Blog. If you did not, please go back to the stops before you have so far not passed.

My word is: Bash

My sponsor for the blog hop is Jo aka Trimgym, and the prize you can win on my stop is a choice of 1 paper pack or 3 digi's from her blog.

Just as a reminder, here is your route to follow. You should start and end at the CRAFT challenge blog.

Jo's digistamp blog

Carol

Claire (GDT) (you're here!)

Gemma

Jacky

Jo

Karen

Kerry

Kevin

Kim

Nikki (GDT) 
Sharon

Tigerlover (junior DT)

CRAFT Challenge Blog 

So, join in with us this week to be in with a chance of many prizes and we hope you enjoy the journey!
Your next stop is Gemma
Don't forget to leave a comment if you want to have a chance of winning the prize on my stop!!

SWALK 3 Sneak Peek

Wow, who stole the rest of January!  I'm super busy at work what with a trip to Paperword in Frankfurt and getting ready for CHSI (Stitches) - the UK craft trade show.  This Friday I'm at Inspirations by Cardcraft Plus in Preston, so I'm busy getting ready for that too.

We've also got a brand new launch this Saturday, it's 6 more gorgeous SWALK stamps and I'm so excited as one of the stamps is the iconic SWALK kissing couple and that's the one I've used in my Sneak Peek.

I've also been inspired by challenges at:

Papertake Weekly - have a heart

A Spoonful of Sugar - let's see some love

Try it on a Tusday - Hearts & Flowers

Supplies used:

All items available from Crafter's Companion

SWALK stamp - a little kiss

Cardstock - Cored'inations Ebony & Ivory pack

Embossong folder - Cuttlebug script

Flower & scroll die - Marianne

Copic Ciao's

Faces & skin - E00, E21, RV10

Hair girl - Y00, Y21, TR31

Hair boy - E50, E31, E33

Girls clothes - RV29, R46, C1

Boys clothes - C1, C3, C5, C7

Gingham ribbon

I'm so in love with Cored'inations cardstock.  As you can see on the card above I haven't even used any patterned paper!

I'd better make a couple more samples.

xxx

Snow Angel

I think cabin fever has hit today!  The furthest I've been since getting back from the NE on Saturday night is the Post Office!  I donned my skiing stuff that meant I kept dry, it also made me smile as it's not long until we hit the slopes - woo hoo!!

So today I decided to spend my lunch break clearing the drive.  I think its time to invest something bigger and more substantial than a coal shovel!! 

But with all that snow in front of the car laying untouched I couldn't stop myself from making my very first snow angel!!  Not bad for my first attempt - why it's taken me 40 years to get to do that is a mystery!

Just one card to share with you today.  I'm entering this into challenges at:

Dutch Dare Challenges - Christmas Card

Paper Cutz - anything goes



Supplies used for all :

House mouse unmounted stamps

pins

Felt holly leaves

Ribbon

Copic Ciaos

Nestabilities

Patterned cardstock - forever friends pad

Right, I'm leaving for the airport now, to go dancing in Toulouse.  See you in a few days.  Have a great weekend.

xxx

Die Cutting Madness

Well I made it to the office today, in fact I was there before 9, which means a very early start!  I felt like I was packing forever, as I'm not home until Sunday.  As well as my clothes I had to pack lots of craft bits and pieces, ready for Craftaganza :)

Talking of Craftaganza, Kamala and I sat last night and became die cutting queens.  Prepping for 80 delegates takes some arm power but we're getting there.  Why did I think it was a good idea to use so many die cuts!!

I also have to tell you about my fabulous dinner tonight, pancakes made from rice and lentils filled with potato curry - I love you Kamala.

Here's a couple of little cards I've made.  How great is this for a teenager.  It was inspired by challenges at:

A Spoonful of Sugar - Anything Goes

Fab 'n' Funky - go with the flow

Supplies used:

Stamps - clearly hand stamped

Inks - versamark, distress inks black soot and barn door.

Spray and sparkle - iridescent

This card was inspired by the challenge at:

Papertake Weekly - cut it out

Supplies used:

Stamps - clearly hand stamped

Paper-  SWALK CD2

Punch - Martha Stewart doily lace

Colouring medium - Copic Ciaos

Right I'm off to bed to rest my winding arm as there's more die cutting to be done tomorrow.

Good night.

xxx

Enjoy the ride

As you know if you've popped over to my blog before I love living life to the full and today was no exception.  So I took Miss Jean off to her dance class and as it was in Manchester I hit the shops for an hour or two.  Whilst in Boots I was drawn to their Origins section and a lovely girl called Claire told me all about their products and even did a mini facial on me.  I'll definitely be back to buy a few bits, I left feeling very looked after.

I then managed to pick up a couple of scrapbooking bits and pieces in TK Maxx, I love a bargain :)  Then I went to meet my dancing friends after their class.  They were in the earth cafe.  It's a great find and definitely worth knowing about if ever you're in Manchester.  The staff are so friendly and helpful and the food leaves you feeling all wholesome, as well as being incredibly tasty.

I got to meet some new friends and hopefully I'll get to class soon.  The weekends go so fast though and it was soon time to say goodbye to friends returning to Reading, London and Scotland, but I'll see of you in Toulouse very soon.

So once home it was time to make a couple of cards.  This one was inspired by challenges at:

Crazy 4 challenges - circles

Card Patterns - sketch #91

Supplies used:

Stamps - Clearly hand stamped (3 birds)

Paper - CD SWALK 2

Die cuts - circle and circle lattice - Nestabilities

Colouring medium - Copic Ciao

I can't share the other cards with you just yet as they're for my class at Craftaganza, but I'll share them as soon as I can.

I hope you had even half as much fun as I did this weekend, because if you did, you had a blast!

xxx

Last SWALK Sneak Peek

As tomorrow is launch day here's my last sneak peek. and I've got two cards to share with you today.  This one was inspired by challenges at:
Cardvaarks - decorated inside and out
Papertake Weekly - sketch #49
Meljen's Designs - anything goes

Here's the matching inside of my card.

Supplies used:

Patterned papers - SWALK CD volume 2

Stamp - thinking of you

Copics Ciaos:

Faces - E000, E21, RV10

Hair - Y00, Y21, Y31, E31, E33, E35, E37

Dress - YR20, YR16

Overalls - B24, B12, R37, R39

Sign - E43, E47, E49

Background - YG11, BG10

This baby card was inspired by challenges at:

Totally Gorjuss - Pink

Inspirational Card Sketches - sketch #88

Allsorts - bingo - buttons, flowers, stickles

Just inspirational - sketch #17

Supplies used:
Patterned papers and flowers - SWALK CD volume 2
Stamp - special little personCopics Ciaos:
Face - E000, E21, RV10
Hair - Y21, Y31
Basket - E51, E53, E57
Blanket and ribbon - R11, R20, R32, RV000
Stickles - stardust


Yesterday I got asked how I'd made my ribbon ruffle, so I thought I share some step by steps.
First get some ribbon and a needle and thread.  As I couldn't find my threads I actually used some twine!

Sew through the ribbon, don't worry about the spacing too much.

Make sure there's still thread at one end and push the ribbon over the thread to ruffle it up.

I then attached it to the patterned panels as I would normally attach ribbon, with some double sided tape on the back of the panel.  Remember to stick down the thread as well as the ribbon as you don't want your ruffle to undo.  I then covered the ribbon with a scalloped panel to match the panel on my gatefold. 

I hope this makes sense and helps, if you have any other questions then just leave me a comment.

Other big news is that at Crafter's Companion have got the most fabulous card for stamping and colouring with your alcohol pens, such as Copics and Promarkers, it’s called Neenah Classic Crest Solar White, its 216gsm, is ultra ultra smooth, and PERFECT for seamless blending. Even better than that its only £3.99 per pack for 20 sheets – trust me, if you love your promarkers and copics – you need it!  I'm loving it and I know the rest of our design team our too.

xxx

Another SWALK sneak peek

I'm happy to share with you today another couple of SWALK sneak peeks.  I love the fact that these two cards are so different.  That's what I love about stamping, the versatility it gives you.  So first up I've gone totally minimalist, apart from the ribbon which I'm loving the ruched effect.  This card was inspired by challenges at:

Just Us Girls - black, cream and kraft

Tuesday Taggers - nursery rhymes, Little Polly Flinders

Sweet Stampin' Challenges - ribbons

Supplies used:

Stamp - SWALK with sympathy

Ink - black soot distress ink

Cardstock - white, kraft, black

Embossing folder - cuttlebug swiss dots

Ribbon - cream satin

To soften the image I just went over the stamped image with a nearly dry waterbrush.

This next card has a bit more colour in it and I have the gorgeous and immensely talented Glittery KT to thank for the colouring in of the stamped image.  Yet another reason I love going away with friends for the weekend!

This card was inspired the challenge at:

Quirky Crafts - sketch

One stitch at a time - embellish it - i chose gems

Supplies used:

Patterned paper - CD SWALK volume 2

Stamp - SWALK engaged

Copics

Thanks for popping by.  I hope you're loving this new range as much as I am.  It was also great to Sheena on TV this morning with her new range.  When I get 5 minutes I'll be having a play with her gorgeous new stamps.  In the meantime I have just one more quick card for you, with inspiration from:
Stampin' for the weekend - Halloween
Stamp something - Halloween
Chicken soup - recipe #16
Creative Inspirations - Halloween/Fall
Stamp with fun - Halloween
A Spoonful of sugar - Halloween
A Passion for Papertrey - CASE challenge - I cased a card from the lovely Dawn McVey and I'm loving it so much I'm going to make a few in different colours this weekend.

Here's Dawns' card

And here's mine

Supplies used:
Card - PTI orange zest, true black, white
Ink - PTI orange zest and true black
Punch - Stampin' Up

I must remember to buy deicer as it's a little frosty here this morning.  I'm glad I'm not going anywhere and instead will get writing a newsletter.
Have a good day.
xxx

SWALK sneak peek

I love the excitement in the build up to a launch and I love sharing with you sneak peeks of what's coming in the launch.  Today the card I'm sharing with you features the Dad stamp and it just makes me giggle.  The inspiration for the card came from the following challenges:

Just inspirational - stamped image
Card Patterns - sketch 86
Paper Cutz Challenge - anything goes
CPS - sketch #189

Supplies used:
Patterned papers - SWALK CD - volume 2
Stamp - SWALK
Ink - memento black
Copics:
Face - E00, E21, RV10
Hair - Y11, YR31, Y21 and E31, E33, E35, E37
Overalls - B23, B24, B32, B39
Dress - V00, V12, V15
Grass - YG11, G21
Sky - BG10

Please pop back tomorrow to see some sneak peeks from the new SWALK range.  Also don't forget the blog hop we've got going on this week, see my post below or pop over to The Crafter's Companion News, Views and Inspiration Blog.

As for what else is going on in my life, a trip to the supermarket is well overdue (and not happening tonight), so I'm guessing it'll be something out of a packet for dinner tonight!
xxx

Crafter's Companion Blog Hop

Hello and Welcome to the Crafter’s Companion Blog Hop to Celebrate the Release of the second SWALK collection.

If you have landed here from Wendy's Blog then you are hopping in the right direction.  If not then you need to pop over to the Crafter's Companion News, Views and Inspirations Blog to begin.

 As a design team we've had a great time creating with the New SWALK Collection from Crafter’s Companion and to celebrate the Launch of this Stunning new collection on Friday 22^nd October we have decided to give you a chance to see some Sneak Peeks and also have the chance of winning a fabulous Prize:

A £50 GIFT VOUCHER FOR THE CRAFTER’S COMPANION WEBSITE

All you need to do to be in with a chance of winning this great prize is visit each blog in order and leave your link on Mr Linky on the Crafter’s Companion News Views and Inspiration Blog which is your last stop on the HOP.  Along the way you will notice that  each Blog will give you a letter make a note of these as they will make a word which we will ask you for if your number is drawn by Random.Org on Friday 22^nd October .  PLEASE DO NOT TELL US WHAT THE WORD IS ON THE CC NEWS VIEWS AND INSPIRATION BLOG , WE WILL E-MAIL YOU FOR THE ANSWER IF YOUR MR LINKY NUMBER IS DRAWN.

Here's my card:

and a matching inside too.

Here's the bits and pieces I've used:

Backing papers, border and flowers - SWALK CD collection 2, printed on to satin finish paper

SWALK stamp - sister

Nestabilities

Buttons

Copics used:

Faces - E000, E21, RV10

Hair - YR31, Y21, E04, E08

Pink outfit - RV20, RV13, RV21, RV29

Green outfit - YG11, YG23

My Letter is A and Your next port of call is Marianne.

Thanks very much for hopping by and enjoy the rest of the inspiration.

Sock Monkey

A little while ago I won some free digi stamps from Meljen Designs and one of them was the cutest little sock monkey.  So today I decided he needed an outing so here he or she is on a couple of cards.  This one was inspired by challenges at:

Card Patterns - sketch #83 (I flipped this on 90 degrees)

Stamp something - fall colours

Stamptacular - season's change

My time to craft - looks like Autumn

Tuesday taggers - here comes Autumn

Supplies used

Digi stamp - Meljens

Stamp - PTI - faux ribbon

Paper - Scrap-a-gogo greeting kit

Copic Ciaos used for sock monkey:

Monkey - E31, E33, E35, E37

Monkey face - E00, E02

Hat - BG10, BG15, E000

This card was inspired by challenged at:

Stamp with fun - sketch

Cupcake craft challenges - pink and brown

A spoonful of sugar - spots and stripes (the stripes are in the corrugated card)

Papercutz - little critter

 Supplies used

Digi stamp - Meljens

Stamp - PTI - fancy flourishes

Corrugated card - inspire me papers

Paper - October Afternoon

Sticker - Scrap-a-gogo greeting kit

Felt flowers - making memories and Marianne designs die cuts

Copic Ciaos used for sock monkey:

Monkey - E31, E33, E35, E37

Monkey face - E00, E02, RV10

Hat - RV10, RV13, RV21

Outline - W1

So on a Wednesday evening this little monkey has made me a happy monkey.  Really I should have been getting ready for some demos, but I'm waiting for a delivery from the office. This weekend I'm all over the place, demonstrating for Crafter's Companion:

Friday - The Craft Shop UK Stalybridge

Saturday - Cadbury Garden & Leisure, Nr Bristol

Sunday - Melbicks Garden & Leisure, Nr Birmingham

Monday - Inspirations by Cardcraft Plus, Nr Preston

 

If you're nearby please pop in and say hello.

xxx

It's nearly crop time

Another busy day here but I managed to find time this evening to finish the second layout for crop this Saturday.  So again I used the Sakura Park papers from Kaisercraft.  I did add some chipboard letters and extra clear gems to finish this layout.
The finishing touches were inspired by the challenge at:
Tuesday Taggers - Diamonds are Forever - well there's lot of diamond style bling on this layout.


I'm loving this pocket card, I really enjoyed decorating the outside to match the inside.  It's funny where a trigger can take you:
Moxie Fab World - Tuesday Trigger - this trigger just had me set about making a totally girly project with a bit of red thrown in.

This outside of the pocket card and was inspired by the challenge at:
Chicken Soup - recipe #10 - those handbags had me searching through my stash for the handbag charm I knew I had somewhere and started this whole card off!

The inside was inspired by

ICS - sketch #83

Stamp with fun - sketch #76

Penny Black at Allsorts - punch away

She's a Penny Black stamp - evening glow and I used my Copic Ciaos to colour her:
Skin - E00, E21, RV10
Hair - Y21, YR31
Dress - R27, R29
Stool - C3, C5, C7
Gloves and shoes - 100
Pearls - Prima
Punch Martha Stewart
I used my very last scrap of paper to make this card and was inpsired by challenges at:
2 sketches 4 You - Kazan #61
One Stop Craft Challenge - fashion throughout the years

I found some 7 Gypsies texture rub-ons and added black velvet to it.  It's that piece on the right and was so easy and not messy to do.

The stamp is an old one that really belongs to my lovely friend Anna and I "coloured" it with my Copic Ciao's and glitter:

Skin - E00, E21, RV10

Hair - E08, E11
The message stamp is Papetrey Ink from Just the Ticket set.


Thanks to all those who've wished me a speedy recovery for my neck, it's much better today and I'm going to have a hot stone massage tomorrow, just to help it on the mend.
xxx

Adorables Sneak Peek - Day 4

We're rapidly heading towards launch day and today I'm sharing with you the stamp plate Caring.  I've used 2 stamps to make this main image.  All the patterned papers are from the Adorables CD and I've just finished the card off with some snowflakes punched from the patterned paper and the plain card.

The inspiration for this card has come from the following challenges:

Totally Papercrafts - Charming

Daring Cardmakers - Sapphire

A Spoonful of Sugar - Animal crackers

Papertake Weekly - sketch #47

CREATIVE INPIRATIONS - lace and sparkle

The Copic Ciaos I used on this one were:

Face: E00, E21, RV10

Hair: Y21, YR31

Deer/Boots: E31, E33, E35, E49

Trousers/Jacket: B12,B23, B24, B29

Fur: C1, C3

Wreath: BG93, BG96

Bell: Y21, Y28. Y38

Today a lovey gift of a bar of my favourite Green & Blacks Butterscotch chocolate dropped through my letterbox.  But even better than that it was accompanied by two gorgeous handmade cards from Charlotte and Amelia, as a thank you for some craft bits I sent them.  Thank you girls and to your lovely Mummy too.

You can get your hands on those gorgeous Adorables from tomorrow - woo hoo.

Also remember to leave a comment this week to win some SWALK blog candy.

xxx

Adorables Sneak Peek - Day 3

For my sneak peek today I'm using the stamp plate Sharing.  These two girls remind me of my sister and I when we were younger.  All the backing papers are from the Adorables CD.  Our designer today over at the Crafter's Companion News, Views & Inspiration Blog is the lovely and very talented Wendy.  Pop over to see the gorgeous card she's made and also there's links to the other DT blogs so you can see more sneak peeks.

The card was inspired by challenges at:

2 sketches 4 you - Laura's sketch #60

My Time to Craft - Jewelled

 For this card the additional bits and bobs are:

Holly Leaves - Slice - Fa La La design card

Copic Ciaos used were:

Face: E00, E21, RV10

Hair: E33, E35, Y21, YR31

Wreath: G000, YG63, YG67

Dress: R11, R20, R32

Pinny: RV00, C1

Green dress: YG11, YG62

Shadow: C1, C3

I only had clear gems so I coloured them with a red Copic marker to make my holly berries.

I have one more project to share to with you today and that's a bookmark I made to go with the little card I made at the weekend.  This was inspired by challenges at:

Cupcake Crafts - books and stories

The Pink Elephant - Back to school

Tuesday Taggers - Books
Creative Inspirations - anything except square or rectangle
Papercraft Star - photo inspiration - the colours - thanks to girls from Papercraft Star for letting me about this challenge.

Apologies for the poor picture, I had a nightmare trying to get a decent shot of this one.

The supplies for this one mainly come from Papertrey Ink:

Stamps - all booked up

Ink - aqua mist and dark chocolate

Paper - library ledger

Die - bookmark die

Card - kraft

Buttons-  aqua mist

Flowers are Prima

Leave a comment this week and there's candy to be won.  Thanks for popping by.

xxx