Last Challenge of the Year and A Christmas Wish

I like to start by wishing each and every one of you a

 Very Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year.

I have enjoyed this year enormously - I feel as if I've made so many friends in this cyber world.  I've loved doing the blogs rounds and appreciated your visits to my little bit of web space. I look forward to more of the same in 2010 and hope you do too.

Now for my last challenge entry of the year. It's for the Sketch and Stash challenge and the new element is the stamp - which is a Hobby Art clear stamp. The sentiment is from the same set. I've been dying to try it out but got it just before the rush of Christmas card making started. The bp is from Sharon Duncan's Embossabilities cd and the panel down the side has been Cuttlebugged. The flowers were made using the same yellow card - edged with chalk ink and the scalloped border is white paper lace coloured with a Promarker (as is the image). The leaf punch is by Woodware.

Thank you very much for visiting and all your kind comments throughout the year.

Beryl xx

Last Christmas Card for This Year???

At least I think this will be the last one. It's for my other half who isn't into glitter and ribbons. I'm entering it into two challenge the Tanda Teaser #128 - It's Cool to be Square (my favourite shape of card) and Rainbow Lady's challenge #83 - to include a Deer if you have one or a Large Animal. My deer is a U-Mount stamp, the tree a Creative Expressions wood mounted one, the branches up the side are Stampscape and the moon is A Stamp in the Hand. The ground is a mixture of a Stampscape's grass stamp and a Versamark embossing pen scribbled about a bit. All stamped in white brilliance and embossed with detail white powder. The background is black card sprayed with white mica spray. Oh, and the stars came from the centres of some Wizard snowflakes
Thanks very much for visiting and I hope you all manage to keep warm and dry this weekend.
Beryl xx

Crafty Ann's Challenge #4

Today see's the start of a new challenge from Crafty Ann. This time to use any colour except red or green. As usual, there's a prize (picked by the random number thingy) of 2 digi stamps and one backing paper collection. I do hope you'll join in.

My card for this theme uses one of Ann's guitar digi stamps (there are two different ones). It's been coloured with Promarkers, a few peel off notes added and then has been oversprayed with Crafters Companion Silver Glitter spray. The main backing paper is from my stash and the strips of stars are cut from a sheet of paper from Crafty Ann's Embossed Stars collection.

I'm still not finding enough time at the moment to do the usual rounds - I did start last night but got side tracked again I'm afraid. I'll have another go tonight but meanwhile.....

Thanks very much for visiting me.

Beryl xx

Two More for By the Cute and Girly challenge #3

Apologies in advance for not visiting any of you over the weekend as we are off to deliver the pressies to the folks in East Anglia. This week has been a mad rush trying to get organised and yesterday was a busy day wrapping all the said pressies. I've posted two more of the cards I made for challenge #3 at By the Cute and Girly - Let's Go to the Movies.

The first card with the film 'The Birds' in mind has Crafty Individuals stamps for the image. The bp is from my Graphicus Guild pack and the green bit down the side is Glimmer misted over a feather that one of my parrots gave me (well, I found it in the bottom of the cage so finders keepers.) It wasn't as tatty as it looks but I splayed it out a bit to make it so.

The second card 'Out of Africa' is a pre-coloured image from Charmed Crafts and the bp again from my Graphicus Guild pack. I bid a sad farewell to every piece I use but have decided I must use them to make room in the box for the next lot. (Just hope they send me the right ones to replace the ones I've used. The sentiment is computer generated.

Thanks very much for visiting.

Beryl xx

We Three Kings

For this card I've followed the Sketch for the Sketch and Stash challenge #24 - although I've rotated it. I've used my new Clarity stamp for the image on a brayered background. The bp is Dovecraft and the elastic silver trim is from my stash. I've tried to take a decent photo of this several times but in each one the text is less than clear. I'm also entering this into Rainbow Lady's challenge this week - which is to have a Christmas carol as the topic and to use a black base card.

Thanks very much for visiting.

Beryl xx

Crafty Ann's Challenge #3

It's challenge # 3 already from Crafty Ann. This time she wants to see some touchy, feely texture. My cards uses her green Polished Stone paper behind the white cuttlebugged piece. The frame is also one of Ann's digis which I have painted with pearlescent glue (the gold) and have used Crystal Laquers for the flower. The greeting is made from a set of Woodware clear word stamps. The ribbon across the corners is velvet and is from my stash. Plain and simple but it will go through the 5 mm gap for postage - always something we have to think abnout these days. I do hope you'll come and join in this time.

Thanks very much for visiting.

Beryl xx

By the Cute and Girly Challenge #

Around the World in Eighty Days

The Italian Job

The Big Country

Here we are on the third challenge already for By the Cute and Girly. The theme this month is 'Let's Go to The Movies' and we have made our projects with film titles in mind. There are lots of prizes again this month - details on the challenge site - so I do hope you'll join us on this last challenge for 2009.

My first card was made using stamps by Stampscapes and various inks - the ballon is a Clarity stamp - stamped once full size and coloured with Crystal Laquers and the second onto shrink plastic.

The second card was made using an image from Digi Sparkle who are one of our sponsors this month. I know it's not a mini but close enough I think. I coloured the image in my photo programme, positioned the cars and printed them out in My Craft Studio and drew the 'steps' effect by hand.

The scrap book page was made in the Daisy Trail scrapbook programme. I finally made it to the top of Snowdon this year (I cheated and went on the train) but having been there I definitely want to go again. Next time I'll just go up on the train and then walk down. Using the train both ways only gives you a quarter of an hour at the top and it's not long enough. It wasn't the clearest of days for photos but hopefully next time I'll get some better ones.

Thanks very much for visiting.

Beryl xx

Tanda Teaser #125

This week's challenge from the Tanda Teaser Team is 'Musical Christmas'. I completely missed last week's challenge somehow - how time flies. The Christmas tree is a Creative Expressions stamp smothered in light green Stickles. The music (freebie from the internet) was printed onto parchment paper and then distressed with Walnut Distress ink. The red bp is from my stash and it's been edged with sticky tape and glittered. The ribbon is also from my stash.

Thanks very much for visiting.

Beryl xx

Rainbow Lady's Challenge # 80

It's challenge number 80 with Rainbow Lady already - and this time she wants to see some beads on our work - and feathers as an extra if we choose to.

The main image is from A Debbie Moore cd that I bought at the NEC earlier this month. It's printed onto acetate but the image wasn't as strong as I would have liked so I flipped it and then printed is again onto pink pearl card then fixed the two together with brads. It's mounted onto some fancy mirror card and then onto an A5 card. The pattern on the left was made with a rollergraph stamp and the ribbon and flowers are from my stash. The flowers have beads at the centre. She has feathers in her head dress so I hope that will count for them. I haven't decided yet whether or not to add glitter to the trailing bits on her dress. That was my original intention and I forgot. I may do it later.

Thanks very much for visiting.

Beryl xx

Sketch and Stash Challenge # 23

The image I have used for this card is a freebie kindly given by Wendy . Her digital doodling site has lots of lovely images and this one was given free once she had reached 200 followers. It's called Mrs Tilly Claus and I think it's gorgeous. I've used the sketch from Sketch and Stash challenge 23. I've coloured her with Promarkers and then glittered her cuffs and hem. The swirly piece is another of my backgrounds made with pearlescent glue and then Cuttlebugged. The bp is Graphicus and the peach coloured bit is from a set of coloured cards that I thought I would never use - so I decided to cut them up and use them as matting and layering bits. The flower/snowflake is made using my new Wizard snowflake die.

Thanks very much for calling by

Beryl xx

Crafty Ann's Challenge #2

 Thank you to all of you who joined in Crafty Ann's first challenge. The second one starts today so I do hope you'll either join us again or join us for the first time. This challenge is to use black, white and one other colour.

I have used Ann's bauble stamps, printed onto acetate and then glittered on the back. This was then mounted over a piece of copy paper which had been embossed with my swiss dots folder. In turn, this was mounted onto some turquoise pearl paper and then black. The black corners were cut with some fancy scissors and the cords for the baubles are some black peel offs from my stash.

Thanks very much for visiting and I look forward to seeing loads of entries on this theme.

Beryl xx

Keeping Dry?

I've seen lots of 'umbrella' cards over the last few days for the My Time to Craft Challenge 'Under My Umbrella'. I love this Whiff of Joy stamp so though I'd give her another outing with a cobbles stamp from Sir Stampalot. Coloured with Promarkers and backed onto some red card and spotty paper from my stash. My usual text (computer generated) for a get well card.
Thanks very much for visiting.
Beryl xx

Two colours - two challenges

The challenge from the Tander Teaser team this week is to use lilac and lemon. Following the sketch from Truly Scrumptious I've used a lilac paper from my Graphicus Guild pack and a lemon paper printed out from my Funky Fairies papers. I've overstamped the papers with an Elusive Images background stamp and layered onto the card. The image is a butterfly from the same set of Elusive Images stamps. The ribbon, flower and stick on pearls are all from my stash.

Thanks very much for visiting.

Beryl xx

Cute and Girly Reminder

Well it's halfway through the month already - where does the time go? - so I'm posting the other two bits I made for the Cute and Girly challenge, which runs for the whole of November on the theme of  'Winter Wonderland'.

The background for the card was made by splodging blue and white pearlescent glue about and then overstamping with a snowflake stamp when it was dry. The image of the skaters on the pond is a Sheena Douglass U Mount stamp and the trees and house in the background are Hobby Art clear stamps. The whole scene was oversprayed with Crafters Companion glitter spray.

The scrapbook page is something I've never done before. I did the whole thing in the Serif Daisy Trail scrapbook programme and the photos are some of the many I took of our last garden in Cambridgeshire.

Thanks very much for visiting.

Beryl xx

A Challenge and an Apology

I'm afraid life has been getting in the way a bit this last week or so which means I have had the chance to visit my usual haunts (blogwise). I hope to rectify this some time today (it's raining so I don't think I'll be in the garden digging or pruning). I'm well behind on my Christmas cards too so this card for the Tander Teaser this week is one more of the list. The challenge is to use metal of some sort and this snowflake (Wizard die) has been made using Debi Moore metal magic in silver and in gold. The background black card has been spritzed with a lovely white mica mist. All these ingredients were bought at the NEC last week. (There was quite a lot more in my bag too I confess.) The cross hatches in the corner were cut from a Cuttlebug alphabet set and the gold mesh at the top I've had for yonks and not got round to using before this.The ribbon was from my stash.
Thanks very much for visiting.
Beryl xx

Brand New Challenge From Crafty Ann

Well, today's the day. I'm sure most of you know Crafty Ann, (spiritofcreativity). Well, today is the launch of her very own challenge and I feel so privileged to have been asked to join the design team. It's going to be a fortnightly challenge so I do hope you will come and join in.

To celebrate our first challenge there will be a prize for one lucky person. The winner will receive any 5 digi stamps and and 5 backing paper collections of their choice. Currently there are 12 backing paper collections and 18 digi stamps – although there will most likely be more to choose from by the time the winner is announced. You can check out what you might win on the pages at the top of the blog, and they are available to purchase at Crafty Ann’s now. As a separate thing, we’ll have a new Guest Designer each month and if you would like to be considered for the January GDT spot, remember to put GDT in the title of your post for your challenge entry.

Ann has a lovely range of backing papers and digi stamps which we (the design team) will be showcasing in our challenge designs. For this first challenge - 'Celebrations' -I have used Ann's Circle frame digi stamp with flowers and two of her lovely backing papers - the red one from the Abstract collection and the green one from the Polished stone collection. My robin is a Crafter's Companion stamp and the pine cone and leaves are Tapestry stamps. The corner is made from the green bp and has been cut with a Cuttlebug corner die. I have also used a Martha Stewart doily punch and some ribbon from my stash.

I do hope you'll visit the challenge site and decide to join in.

Would you note that at the moment the links to the papers and stamps are not working (but I am working on it) but the challenge site link is and you will be able to go on from there.

Thank you for visiting today.

Beryl xx

DewDrop Craftz' Challenge

DewDrop Craftz have come back to Blogger so I hope some of you will pop across and hopefully join in with the current challenge :-

You are challenged to create a Christmas Gift..Your colour pallete this month must include a shade of BLUE..Your creation must also include a ribbon..Your creation must include a DewDrop Craftz image from either the clear stamps or Digiz ranges.

I've been lucky enough to win on this challenge - twice - so why not join in and try your luck. It's a monthly challange and this particular one is running till 10th November - so there's still time.

My 'gift' is a Xmas word book - MCS and the other bits and pieces are from my stash. The DewDrop Craftz element is the pixie stamp on the S.

Thanks for visiting.

Berylxx

Fiftieth Anniversary Toast

As Rainbow Lady has been celebrating her wedding anniversary this week she decided to make 'Anniversary' the theme for this week's Rainbow Lady challenge. There's not a lot to say about this card except that all elements are from My Craft Studio.

Thanks for visiting.

Beryl xx

By the Cute and Girly # 2

How time Flies. We're on Challenge #2 at By the Cute and Girly already and the theme this month is 'Winter Wonderland'. We're hoping you'll join us and share your Winter makes with us. There are 4 prizes each month -

One for the team's favourite card

One for the team's favourite scrapbook page

One for the team's favourite non card item - box, garment, calender - anything you've made and

One which is drawn by Randon Number Generator.

This means you're in with a chance of winning a prize whatever you choose to enter.

My first piece is a candle that has been sitting on my bedroom windowsill for years - I put it there originally to stop the cat scratching the wallpaper. It was a novelty for her as we had painted walls in the last house. I stamped the text and holly swirl stamp (Elusive Images) onto tissue paper in Teal Blue Stazon and heat set it onto the candle.Then I added some stick on gems and put glass pebbles in the candle tray.

The second is a card made using Fee J Designs Elegant Ladies CD. I've had it for ages but this is the first time I've used it. If I made this design again I think I would shrink the base image and all the layers in MCS as it was a bit big for my base card and I had to trim the edge off the image.

Do join us if you can. We had a great response last month and it would be lovely if it continued.

Thank you for visiting.

Beryl xx

Tanda Teaser # 121

I've done it. I couldn't upload this card without it being rotated - whatever I tried. I then went to blogger help and one suggestion was to re-save the photo as a png file. I did this and it uploaded the right way up first time. I'll have to remember that. Having said that - this card is my effort the the Tander Teaser this week 'Kind Thoughts'. Unfortunately, the frog stamp isn't mine - isn't he great. He belongs to Terrie (my niece) and I stamped a few images from it while I was staying at her place for a few days. It's coloured with Promarkers with some glossy accents on the raindrops. The text is computer generated and the bp is Funky Fairies. The Cuttlebugged piece is a piece of card that has been Glimmer Misted.

Thanks very much for visiting.

Beryl xx

Sketch and Stash #22

It's hard to believe Sketch and Stash are up to challenge #22 already. Where has the year gone?

The new element are the stamps from a Hobby Art clear stamp set. I've coloured the image with Promarkers and pastels pencils and matted it onto a piece of brayered card. Behind that, a piece of pearlescent paper (Cuttlebugged) and then a piece of Funky Fairies paper. The main bp is Dovecraft. Added to that a few punched flowers and leaves and that's about it really.

I've been trying to upload a card for the Tanda Teaser this week but it's another one of those that Mr Blogger keeps turning round whichever way you have it in your photo programme. I'll keep working on it but it's such a pain. Any Tips?

Thanks very much for visiting.

Beryl xx

Halloween! Nearly over for Another Year

I'm afraid I'm not into Halloween at all. I didn't know people even sent Halloween cards until this year. So - I've had another play with my digi scrapbook programme. At least with this - if you make a mistake you can just undo it and nothing gets wasted and thrown in the bin - and it's there to print time and time again if I wish. It's still not as much fun as getting messy with inks and paints though so I won't be letting it take over. I'm entering this card/creation in the Crafts4Eternity challenge this week, which is to follow the sketch, use orange and black and a halloween image. It didn't say you couldn't use other colours so I've added some purple and brown.
Thanks for dropping by.
Beryl xx

A Card for Kim

This week's challenge on the Daring Cardmakers blog is to use at least 5 of your favourite crafting 'things'. My first is the stamp - which I bought knowing I would probably never use it - I just had to have that image - and lo and behold - my hairdresser is having a baby so I get to use it after all. The second is the swing she sits on which is from My Craft Studio - I only have a few of their CDs but I love what you can do with the programme. The third are the nestie labels - I don't think I need to explain why they are a favourite. Then we go onto the flowers, four are my Retro punches and five my large leaf punch. Six is the trim down the side which I got at a market down South earlier this year. Not seen anything like it round here so Kim is very lucky to have a little of it on her card - and last seventh - the bp which is from lovely Joanna Sheen cd set - Baby Love. Oh, how could I forget eight - my well loved Promarkers used to colour the WOJ image.

Thanks very much for visiting.

Beryl xx

Brand New Challenge Starts 6th November

I'm sure a lot of you already know Crafty Ann and will be delighted to know that she's starting her own challenge blog. The challenge will be fortnightly and starts on 6th November. You can find out more about it by clicking the logo and seeing what Ann has to say about the challenge herself.

I am so lucky to have been picked by Ann to be part of her design team and hope you will come and join us.

Beryl xx

Furry Friend

I've been dying to use my new Penny Black cat stamps so when I was told that the Allsorts challenge this week is 'Furry Friends' I thought I'd have a go. I coloured the image with Promarkers and matted it onto some glitter card, cut with a nesties scalloped rectangle. The greeting is from the same set, the bp another precious piece of Graphicus Guild paper, and the ribbon is from my stash. A plain and simple card but the sort my daughter will love.

Thanks for visiting.

Beryl xx

Tanda Teaser #120

Another 'man' card. That's two in a week. Unheard of for me but the challenge for the Tanda Teaser this week is 'Tick Tock'. So, a bloke type card it is using this Crafters Companion stamp which I haven't used for ages, and I made a couple on 'man' cards with it then. I've stamped and clear embossed it and coloured with Cosmic Shimmer paints. The bp is Dovecraft and the text is from Dimension Fourth.
Thank you for visiting.
Beryl xx

Santa Kitten

This kitten stamp is one of my purchases at the Port Sunlight show the other week. It's made by Beach Bums. Haven't come across them before but their stamps are lovely. I've followed the sketch for this weeks challenge from crafts4eternity. It's a recipe challenge requiring the sketch, a cat or cats and some felt. I did have to buy the little felt hat - I've never bought any toppers or embellishments (apart from brads and flowers) but I searched high and low in the house and couldn't find anything with felt on at all. The bp is from Daisy Trail except for the maroon strip down the left which is a piece of Graphicus Guild pack paper left over from another project. The Santa dancing on the nestie circle was printed from My Craft Studio. the silver ribbon and peel offs from my stash. I think that's about it.

Thanks very much for visiting.

Beryl xx

Scaredy Skellies

I hope Cynthia doesn't mind me playing this week with a digital image. I know I would never use a Halloween type card,which is the theme on the RainbowLady's challenge blog . I need to get to know my graphics programmes better anyway - that's my excuse. Nothing much to say about it really except that it was done made from an image in The Greeting Card Factory programme.
Thanks for visiting.
Beryl xx

Butterflies and Ribbon

This week Lorraine (Coldwaters2) is hosting the challenge for Digital Tuesday - so I just had to have a go. The challenge is 'Things with Wings' and I chosen to use this butterfly image which is a freebie from Patti Picklicious. I've printed it out twice, once on light card and once on vellum. I've coloured both with Copics and then sprayed with Crafters Companion glitter spray. It's a bit messy on the vellum and takes quite a while to dry. The background behind the butterfly was made by squishing two colours of pearlescent glue on the card and then putting it through a Cuttlebug embossing folder when dry. The greeting label is a Wizard die and the ribbon from my stash. The bp is from my Graphicus Guild pack and it took me quite some to to decide to actually use it. I still feel a bit faint.
Thanks very much for visiting.
Beryl xx

Acetate and Stars

I tried to upload this card yesterday but no matter which way I rotated it in my photo programme, blogger turned it on it's side. So, I gave up and took another photo of it today and 'voila'. It loaded first time. It happened to me once before so I don't know if it's a particular property in the piccie that blogger doesn't like - it's a mystery. Anyway, I made the image in Daisy Trail and printed it onto acetate. It was so faint that I decided to print it again - this time on a piece of Funky Fairies paper and then layered it up. I cut the base card back to the scalloped border and then put another piece of card (with the image on it ) inside to fold. It's finished off with some gems and ribbon. I'm entering this in the Daring Card Makers challenge which this week is titled 'I Can See Clearly Now' - the idea being to have something either 'see through' or reflective on your card.
Thanks very much for visiting.

Beryl xx

Card for a Mountain Biker

This week's Tanda Teaser is called 'Just for Men'. I don't have many menfolk to make for but a cycling mad friend of ours has a birthday in a few weeks so I thought I'd make his card this week. As soon as I saw this image in MCS I knew who I would be using it for. It looks just like him. The original quote on the image was 'A wise man can see more from the bottom of a well than a fool can from a mountain top. ' As our friend spends a lot of his time cycling up and down mountains I thought I'd better chop that bit off. The papers are Dovecraft and the buckle made using my new Wizard buckles die.

Thanks very much for visiting.

Beryl xx

Something a bit different

I have a computer magazine each month which comes with a cover DVD. There are a lot of free prograames on it but nothing usually that interests me. Until this month. There's a free version of Serif Daisy Trail - which is a scrapbook programme. So, I loaded in onto the pc yesterday and had a play. This is my first attempt at anything like this and I did have fun. I may have to upgrade to the full verson where you get lots more tools to play with. Anyway - the main bp, the ribbon and the two square pieces were all done on the pc. I got to print out a six inch square of paper - thereby saving lots of ink.(and DS tape) I even managed to do the stitching round the edge of the pieces in the programme. Can you tell I was enjoying myself? The nesties and Tilda were done in the usual fashion and the flowers are from my stash. I used the sketch from the latest Sketch and Stash challenge - so my 'new' bit for this challenge is the scrapbook programme.
Thanks very much for visiting.
Beryl xx

Poppies

With rememberence day coming up, the challenge set by Rainbow Lady this week is to make your own poppy. I can't see me wearing this one though - it's not very robust and wouldn't be doing the Haig fund any favours. I made a card to go with it though - using the same Elusive Images stamps, coloured with a mixture of H2O's and Cosmic Shimmer paints. The bow and trim on the side of the plate is a piece of netting - originally bought as one of those circles you make into a skirt with the bodice template (I really must get round to using that.) The light backing paper is another piece of my precious Graphicus Guild paper and the green bp is rom my stash.

Thanks very much for visiting and thank you also for the lovely comments you've all been leaving.

Beryl xx

Autumn Purple

This week the challenge over at Daring Cardmakers is 'Autumn Purple'. Now anything from pale lavender right through to the darkest purple is my favourite colour range so I had to join in.

The image is Elusive Images and the piece behind it has been Glimmer Misted and a swirl stamp added. The border on the left was done using a Martha Stewart punch and the ribbon is from my stash. All done on a cream card base.

Thanks very much for visiting

Beryl xx

Tanda Teaser #118

The theme for the Tanda Teaser this week is 'Russet and Gold'. I've spent ages this afternoon trying to achieve what I had in mind and it's very messy in here. Yesterday at the Port Sunlight show I saw someone using double sided sticky to attach silk to card, then metal embossing it and colouring it with Glimmer Mists. Easy? You'd think so. I remembered I had a gimormous roll of what looked like lawn cotton, ex factory I think so thought I'd try that as I didn't have the silk. When I went to iron it flat I found out it was adhesive, like vylene. Great thinks I. The only trouble was, the wetness of the Glimmer Mists ruined the sticky. Next I tried distress inks. Better results but then had to stitch round the edges which were lifting. That means the machine's out too. The material didn't like the embossing so this image is stamped with Memento and painted with Cosmic Shimmer powders and Hi Gloss. Apart from that it was plain sailing - BP from my Graphicus Guild pack, ric rac from my stash and a punched leaf courtesy of my new punch (bought yesterday). Oh, and the stamp is by Elusive Images.This room looks like a bomb's hit it and my hands look as if I've been using henna with no gloves on. If you've got to the end of this saga - well done.

Thanks very much for visiting.

Beryl xx

They did ask for a Cherry

The current challenge over at Rosie'Dee's is 'Coffee and Cream with a Cherry on Top'. There's no denying there's a cherry on top. The paper is from Crafters Companion and both the text stamp and the cupcake stamp are from Dewdrop Craftz. The cupcake has been coloured with Promarkers and glazed over with Anita's High Gloss. The matts are Wizard Nesties. The ribbon is from my stash. Not my sort of card but I did one with a cupcake before and my daughter nabbed it. Perhaps she'd like this one too.

Thanks very much for visiting.

Beryl xx

A Recipe from Crafts4Eternity

This is the first time I've entered the Crafts4Eternity challenge - mainly because I didn't know it was there. The recipe is to use the sketch provided plus a punch and add a bow or knot to the design. I'm trying to use up some of the images on my desk - ready coloured and taking up too much space. This 'snowcouple' have been coloured ever so slightly with Promarkers and then given a shimmer with a Sakura clear Stardust pen. The glitter on the background was done by slapping on some Stickles and swooshing it around with my finger. The piece behind the image is a Glimmer misted piece which has been through the Cuttlebug snowflake folder and the bp is Crafter's Companion. The greeting is on a nestie circle and the other circles are done using a normal circle punch. The stick on snowflakes were a freebie from a magazine quite some time ago. The blue mirror card and ribbon are from my stash.

Thanks very much for visiting.

Beryl xx

Improvisation

These are the other two pieces I made for the By the Cute and Girly Challenge - Autumn Glory.

The first is a bookmark using a lovely leaf stamp which was given to me by Terrie. The second, a canvas wall hanging, is where the 'improvisation' comes in. I saw Sheena Douglass make a wonderful wall hanging with her new stamps, which I haven't managed to get - yet! I coloured the canvas with distress inks and spritzed with Glimmer Mists. As I didn't have the crackle background needed to stamp and emboss round the edges I used the edge of a tree stamp and a few squiggles with a Versamark pen. I didn't have the script stamp either - so I printed a letter which was a freebie from Craft Stamper - then tore it a bit and distressed the edges with inks. Nor did I have the pear stamp - so I used this apple digi stamp by Ann - which I think served the purpose very well. That's about it really. Apologies to Sheena for not using her idea but not her stamps but they are at the top of my wish list.

Thanks very much for visiting.

Beryl xx

A Brand New Challenge

The new By The Cute and Girly Challenge starts today. This month's theme is 'Autum Glory'. The challenge is to make anything with an Autumn theme. It doesn't have to be a card - it can be something sewn or knitted, painted or crafted. Anything that you would like to share with us. And - there will be prizes each month. I'm so lucky to have been picked for the design team - a first for me - so I hope you'll pop over to the By The Cute and Girly challenge blog - have a look at the creations of the rest of the design team - and hopefully - join in.
I've used Glimmer Mists and Elusive Images stamps to make the main image, the sentiment is by Serendipity and the leafy corners by Clarity. The die cut leaf is from a Dawn Bibby set that I bought when I first started making cards.
Thanks very much for visiting.
Beryl xx

Round Robin

I think this must be the earliest I've managed to complete the Sketch and Stash challenge. The robin stamp is by Crafter's Companion and the border round the edge are some tapestry stamps - bought a couple of years ago and never inked up before. I oversprayed the image with Crafters Companion silver glitter spray then mounted it on to a nestie circle of maroon card. The bp is Dovecraft - bought on my recent trip to Llandudno. Ribbon is from my stash.
The new By the Cute and Girly challenge is only hours away now. Do I stay up and post after midnight or get up early tomorrow and do it before I go out for the day? Decisions, decisions!
Thanks very much for visiting.
Beryl xx

The Most Amazing Blog Candy Ever

Can you believe that the folks at La Pashe have given Jak of Crafters Kitchen a Quickutz Silhouette to give away to one lucky person on her blog. She can only offer this to post out to a UK address. You've got till 29th October to entr the draw so why not pop across and join in.
Beryl xx

Walk this Way

I made this card with Rosie -Dee's challenge in mind - 'Bows and Arrows'. The arrows are tiny and there's only one bow so I hope it will be OK. The teddy stamp is a magazine freebie, the trees by A Stamp in the Hand, the deer is by Hobby Art and the sign post is by me (you'd never guess!) Image coloured with Promarkers and background splodged with Stickles. The bp is Crafters Companion - some I've had printed for ages and used at last.
Thanks very much for visiting.
Beryl xx

Tanda Teaser #117

This week the Tander Teaser is 'Text It'. There has to be some text on your creation other than the greeting. No greeting on this one either though. Christmas is looming so I've used a Christmas poem (thanks to Google) and some papers from a magazine. The poinsettias were printed from MCS NSR Snowflakes and Sparkles. The ribbon is from my stash.

Don't forget to check out the new By the Cute and Girly challenge which starts on Thursday.

Thanks for visiting.

Beryl xx