Funky Easel

I'm entering this card into two challenges. The monthly one over on Funky Hand - where this month the theme is 'Just a Number' and Crafty Ann's challenge which is to make an easel card. My papers are from the Papercraft Factory CD - Dreams Come True and the numbers are Crafter's Companion stamps - coloured with Promarkers to match the bp. The Happy Birthday strip was done using my design runner - just a little balloon embellishment from my stash and a name plate finish off this 8 x 8 card.
Thanks very much for visiting today.
I'm off out dancing ceroc tonight so only just had time to finish the card and get it posted.
Thanks for visiting.
Beryl xx

A Victorian Gentleman?

The current challenge from Crafty Ann is called Memories are Made of this. I would love to have memories of this man but as he - and all my other grandparents departed before I was born - I never knew him. Until last year I didn't even know what he looked like until a long lost cousin of mine sent the photo to me. It is the only photo I have of any of my grandparents but I'm hoping to put that right soon. I'm off to Cambridgeshire in a week or so to a family gathering - family I haven't seen in 50 years - and some I've not yet met of course. I'm hoping someone there will be able to fill me in on the grandparents a little.
The page was done in Craft Artist and the I've not gone overboard on the embellishments as I don't think the background calls for it.
Thank you for visiting today.
Beryl xx

Look Inside

The challenge from Crafty Ann this fortnight is 'Hide and Seek'. My 'hide' is on the inside. I've used and 8 x 8 card and part of another one to make a second page (the insert will go behind this. I wanted to make a bookmark for an avid reader but it was too big to go in a pocket on the outside - so I started from the inside and work my way backwards with this one. The image on the tag is a Clarity stamp and the moon and branches Stampscapes. The papers are from a Graphicus Guild pack and fortunately I had two the same so I had enough for inside and the front.
The image of the front is an EI image which I had inked some time ago - so can't remember the colour combination but it seemed to go with this bp.The swirls are from a Sissix die. Not sure if I'll be putting a sentiment of the front somewhere - it's a BIG birthday (80) so it might be just as well to keep that greeting for the insert.
Thanks very much for visiting today.Hope you're all enjoying the warm weather.
Beryl xx

Wobbly Stitching

I'm entering this card into two challenges. The CD Sunday challenge which this week is a colour challenge - Chocolate, Cream and one other. For my other colour I have chosen turquoise. The papers and dress form are from the Decadent Brocade cd, the flower, buttons and raffia from my stash and the tag made from the paper I printed the dress forms onto, stamped with some Inkadinkadoo swirls and inked with Distress Old Paper and Brushed Corduroy. I then backed the tag with some brown card to strengthen it and paper pieced another form over the original. I distressed the edge of the bp (as well as you can with a craft knife) and did some faux stitching with a fine marker pen. It's probably about as neat as it would have been had I done it with a needle and thread! That's where the other challenge comes in. I'm entering it into Crafty Ann's challenge - Stitching or Faux Stitching.

Thanks very much for visiting today.

Beryl xx

Crafty Ann's Challenge #63

Crafty Ann's challenge this week is 'It's a Man thing!'. I don't get to make many 'man' cards. This one is for a friend's birthday and I've used my new (ish) Sprocket Wizard dies, heat embossed several times in gold. The bp is from Artylicious, the distressed embossed piece at the back is some co-ordinations card put through a Cuttlebug folder and the stamp is by Crafty Individuals.

Thanks very much for visiting today.

Beryl xx

Christmas All Sewn Up? - I think not...

 This card meets two challenges I think. The first is The CD Sunday Challenge - 'All Sewn Up' and the second is Crafty Ann's Challenge - Christmas in March (April even for me).

The background I did in Craft Artist using the Haberdashery Christmas digikit. The sentiment on the green label I did with my Xyron design runner. (I'm still finding things that haven't seen the light of day since the move.) and the Christmas tree is an EI stamp - coloured with brush markers. A couple of buttons and a bit of gold stretchy thread to finish it off. I wish I could get the knack of adding lots of extras but never seem to be able to manage it. Chicken I think is the phrase - or is it lack of imagination. Either way it's not got a lot stuck on it but it will go through the 5mm post thingy.

Off to Zumba shortly with my daughter. Wish me luck!

Thanks very much for visiting.

Beryl xx

For My Lovely Daughter

I made this card for my youngest daughter who will be 40 this year. Where have all those years gone?

As it's got the word 'Love' on it I thought I'd enter it into a couple of challenges. I don't 'do' Valetine cards so this is the closest I'll get to the theme. Rainbow Lady's challenge this week is 'It's All About Love' and I am also entering Crafty Ann's challenge 'Love is in the Air'. I haven't managed to enter Crafty Ann's challenge for ages so she'll probably get a bit of a surprise.

It's an 8 x 8 card and the image is one on Sheena Douglass' Sketchy stamps - coloured with watercolour pencils. The matt behind it is made with a Martha Stewart punch - the swirl a Marianne die and the sentiment plate Nesties.

The bp is Funky Fairy distressed swirls and the flower is made from scrunched up circles of mulberry paper. The butterfly is actually a filigree silver brooch that belonged to my mother. As I've never worn it I have decided to pass it on to my daughter before it gets mislaid somewhere. The white organza ribbon was coloured with a Pro marker and the navy circles/card candy where punched from a small part of a Wizard die.

As you can see by the shadows on the card - the sun is shining, but it's not turned out as warm as I thought it would this morning.

Thanks very much for visiting today. Have a good weekend.

Beryl xx



Crafty Ann's Challenge #18

Well it's time for challenge #18 already at Crafty Ann's. I just don't know where the time is going. This time the challenge is to make an easel card - any shape except plain square or oblong. So, I thought I'd try an octagonal card using my Easyscore box board and as you'll see when you visit the challenge blog - I'm not the only one to use that shape. The image is a WOJ stamp and she's seated on Crafty Ann's Easy Chair stamp which I have resized in MCS. I also used MCS to combine the stamp with one of Crafty Ann's polished stone effect bp's. A very easy way to colour in and giving the easy chair a slightly textured look - which doesn't show up in the piccie. I've used one from a sheet of birthday tickets for the greeting and some punched flowers to finish off. The bp on the base and behind the easy chair are from my stash.

I do hope you'll join in, and remember, goodies from Crafty Ann's digi store for one lucky entry.

Thanks very much for visiting today.

Beryl xx

Crafty Ann's Challenge #17

Well it's challenge #17 from Crafty Ann already and this time the theme is 'embossing'. It can be dry or heat embossing or both. For my card I used a pre-coloured flower sheet from Crafty Ann and mounted each flower onto a Nestie shape in the opposite colour to the background. Both have been made using a Spellbinders Impressability plate - the top one I just inked the raised area with a chalk inkpad and for the bottom I put Versamark onto the Impressability, embossed and then coloured with Cosmic Shimmer powder onto the sticky bit. I inked the edge of the scallop border with the same chalk ink and coloured the ribbon with a Promarker. The butterfly is from an MS punch - which I really must get - and has been coloured with copper Moon Shadow Mist.

Blog hopping is suffering again as there seems so much else to do here at the moment - so - apologies in advance if I don't get round as regularly as I would like.

I do appreciate your visits and will catch up when I can.

Beryl xx

Crafty Ann's Challenge #16

It's a colour challenge from Crafty Ann this time. With the world cup coming up Ann thought using the colours of your national flag would be a good theme. I chose to go with Wales as that's where I'm living now and I thought red, green and white a better choice than red, white and blue.

I've made a little hanging to go inside the cupboard where the Kit Kats etc are kept. I don't know if it will work - but it's worth a try.

I've used Crafty Ann's jeans digi stamp, resized and coloured in MCS except for the midrif - which is Promarkers. The swirly stamp on the white is a Rollergraph stamp and the sentiment was computer generated.

And the winner of the two coloured sheets offered on here for those who left a comment - and drawn from the proverbial hat (well, my sunhat) by my soon to be ex hubby  is:- Darling Ho

Please e mail Ann on the address that's on the challenge blog so she can send you your prize.

Thanks very much for visiting today and I hope you can join us in this latest challenge.

Beryl xx

Crafty Ann's challenge #15 and Blog Hop

It's already time for challenge #15 at Crafty Ann's and we're having our very first BLOG HOP! We're celebrating the launch of the Flower Collection of pre-coloured images. If you have come to me from seeing Ann's gorgeous work you are on the right lines but if not, you need to start at the beginning which is the challenge blog. To be in with a chance of winning these two sheets from the new collection, just leave me a comment. The theme this time is to use lots of colour.
   

Don't forget to collect the two words you need from me which are: AND,MORE. When you leave here, your next stop will be Kym who has some wonderful inspiration for you and two more sheets and two more words. When you have visited all the blogs you need to end up back at the challenge blog and follow the instructions on there to find out what to do to be in with a chance of winning the final 5 sheets.

For my card I've used the lovely daisies from the pre-coloured flower collection, cut out and decoupaged and then matted onto a black frame and some black lace. The backing paper is from Crafty Ann's Mottled Stone collection - printed onto glossy paper. Great if you want the effect of alcohol inks but without the mess.

Thanks very much for visiting.
Beryl xx

Crafty Ann's Challenge #14 and News of a Special Event

The them for Crafty Ann's challenge this time is 'Anything Goes'. This means you can enter the challenge with a project you have made using your own ideas, colours, techniques - anything goes in fact.
I do hope you join in for this challenge and also read to the bottom of this post to find out about the next challenge which will be a little different.
For my card this time I've used Crafty Ann's Armchair stamp, printed and coloured with Promarkers and used a Cuddly Buddly image (also coloured with Promarkers) to sit upon it. Behind the image is a piece which has been Cuttlebugged and lightly inked then matted onto a Nestie shape. The bp is from my stash and the MS punched border courtesy of my friend Martha who lives in the states. The flowers in the corner are from Crafty Ann's Blossom sheet and the sentiment is computer generated.
As usual Ann will be giving away a prize to one lucky entrant.

Don't forget to join us for the next challenge on 21st of May because we have our very first BLOG HOP to celebrate the launch of something new at Crafty Ann's but you'll have to wait until the 21st for that bit - but there are prizes to be won on every blog so don't forget to put the date in your diary!"

Thanks for visiting today.
Beryl xx

Crafty Ann's Challenge #13

It's a recipe this time on Crafty Ann's challenge.

One main digi image,

A maximum of 3 colours (although you can use less),

One ribbon

 Three flowers (these can be digi too if you wish).

There will be a prize of two digi stamps and one backing paper of choice for the lucky winner. To be in with a chance make sure that you have linked your entry – via Mr Linky if possible – by 6pm on thursday 6th May GMT.
I have used Ann's squirrel stamp for my card. I've used pencils and chalks to colour him and found some bp that matches the green in the image. The ribbon is from my stash and the 3 flowers are mixtire of Prima and punched layers. So - my 3 colours are green, blue and orange. I do hope you'll check out the other DT cards and join in if you can.
Thanks very much for visiting.
Beryl xx

Crafty Ann's Challenge #12

Welcome to Crafty Ann's 12th challenge. This time the subject is 'Let the sun shine in'. This can be interpreted however you like. I've chosen to use Crafty Ann's Chimenea digi stamp -with summers like the ones we've been getting lately I think every house (with a garden) should have one. I've coloured the image with pastel pencils and stamped a frame with tapestry stamps. The bp is from my stash and the peach cuttlebugged piece is from Crafty Ann's Abstract Pastels collection of papers. The flower is a mixture of punched and bought layers and the sentiment is computer generated.

I hope you'll be able to join in and don't forget - there's a chance to win some of Crafty Ann's goodies.

Thanks very much for visiting today.

Beryl xx

Crafty Ann's Challenge #11

As I'll be in Stoke on Trent staying with my daughter when Crafty Ann's challenge #11 starts I've scheduled this post. I'm leaving for Stoke on Thursday, visiting the NEC on Saturday and heading home on Sunday - a nice little break methinks.

This latest challenge is to make a card, gift or memento for a someone special to you. The card above was made for my daughter's birthday this week. The cupcake image is from Crafty Ann - coloured with Promarkers and the pink bp is actually from Crafty Ann's Embossed hearts paper collection but the sun was shining full on the card and in the piccie the embossing doesn't show up. By the time I realised it was too late as the card had already gone in the post. The border across the bottom was made using a Martha Stewart border punch and the flowers are a mixture of Prima and Nellie Snellen punched. The corners are a Cuttlebug corner die and the hearts a small heart punch (make unknown). The sentiment is a clear stamp by DewDrop Craftz. I hope you'll come and join in the challenge. As usual Ann will be giving away some of her digis as a prize. 

Thanks very much for visiting.

Crafty Ann's Challenge #10

Challenge #10 from Crafty Ann is a colour challenge. Your project must include lemon, link and lilac. You can use other colours too but must include these three. I have used the Rosebud Posy from Crafty Ann's digi shop and have printed it in MCS with a background of paper from the Pastel Polished Stone Collection. I printed the rosebud out again and after colouring with Inktense pencils and Cosmic Shimmer (for the bow) - decoupaged it onto the main piece. The striped background is from a Graphicus Guild paper pack and the border across the centre is some lemon card punched with a Martha Stewart punch. The flowers were punched from my Nellie Snellen flower punches and then spritzed with glimmer mist. The little punched butterfly was part of a loads of punched shapes sent to me by my friend Martha - who lives in the States.
Sentiment - computer generated and both mats were cut from Nestie dies.
I do hope you'll come and join in this time - as usual Ann will be giving away some of her digis as a prize to some lucky entrant.
Thank you for visiting today. I did have one evening this week playing catch up on the latest on the blogs but sadly didn't get all the way round. Will try to do better this week.
Beryl xx

Crafty Ann's Challenge #9

Sorry I'm still not getting round visiting - I'm sure it won't be long. I did however want to post this card which is for Crafty Ann's Challenge #9 - 'Celebrate You Creativity'- something that takes you out of your comfort zone! Try a technique or product or fold/design that you've been shying away from or haven't done/used as often as you would like.

I've gone for an easel card as I haven't made one to date and thought I'd better before they go out of fashion. The flower image is from Crafty Ann's shop and is coloured with Promarkers and has some seed beads to make the flower centre. The sentiment is computer generated the the ribbon from my stash. The bp is from Crafty Ann's Abstract collection and I have used one of my new MS punches to make the mat and the border. I've edged them with ink to define them a little.
The bp on the base is Funky Fairies and the stamped image is a freebie from Craft Stamper magazine - again coloured with Promarkers. Corners and scalloped mat cut with my Cuttlebug.
Thanks very much for visiting and the kind words I've had since my last post. I'm fine but not letting on yet until I've spoken to some of my family (don't want them to find out on here - that includes you Terrie - I'll call soon.)
Beryl xx

Crafty Ann's challenge #8

This time the theme on Crafty Ann's challenge blog is 'If music be the food of love.....'. You can interpret this your own way - going with food  or love or both. I think this is the first time I've used hearts on a card but the paper, which is one of generous Jak's freebies seemed just what was needed to go with the image. I have used the Classical Guitar from Ann's digi shop and the Rosebud  and have resized them both (hopefully more or less to scale.) I've coloured them with Promarkers and then gone over the front of the guitar and parts of the rosebuds with Anita's High Gloss (similar to Glossy Accents). The spotty background was done with a stamp in the Hand stamp and then I edge it with Black soot Distress ink.The ribbon is from my stash.

As usual, Ann will be giving a prize of some of her digis to one lucky entrant so I do hope you can come and join in.

Thanks very much for visiting today.

Beryl xx

Crafty Ann's Challenge #7

Another challenge from Crafty Ann and this time it's 'metal'. It can  be metallic colours, card, paper, metallic embellishments even altered metallic items. As usual Ann will be giving away a prize from her shop to one lucky winner. I do hope you'll join in.
For my card I've used Ann's digi stamp Rosebud and Posy - using just the posy. I coloured it with Inktense pencils and backed it onto a paper from the Abstract Earth Tones collection in Ann's shop.
For the metal element I have used some cheap silver card - put it through the Cuttlebug and distressed it with black acrylic paint. It's the first time I've tried this technique which was in the Craft Stamper magazine a couple of months ago. I also made the corners from the same piece of card. The swirly paper is from Sharon Duncan's embossibilites cd and the ribbon is from my stash. The embellishment was made from a Cuttlebug die and a flower using my new Nellie Snellen punches.
Thanks very much for visiting.
Beryl xx

Crafty Ann's Challenge #6 - Embossing

This time the challenge from Crafty Ann is to use embossing on your creation - wet or dry - it's up to you. As usual, there will be a prize of some digi papers and images from Crafty Ann's Shop.

For my card I have used Ann's lovely digi  - duck in umbrella - the bp is also from Ann's shop and is from the Abstract pastel range - I have used a pale yellow which is a little stronger in real life.The flower, which is also from Ann's blossom sheet and the main image have been coloured with Promarkers. The sentiment is a clear stamp from Hobby Art. My embossed piece is some Co-ordinations card - put through the Cuttlebug and sanded lightly.

My second card is another piece that I did for this month's By the Cute and Girly challenge for something new.

Both the image, which has been stamped and coloured with Distress inks, is a Joanna Sheen stamp and the bp if from Joanna's Baby Love cd.

Thanks very much for visiting.

Beryl xx