Crafting for all Seasons #88 "Buttons and Bows"

Good morning all.

Yesterday I got some crafty post...aquatints and a selection of dies and stamps from Clearly Besotted. Then along came a migraine which put paid to having much of a play...hopefully today..

Today it's time for our next challenge at CFAS and this time the theme is "Buttons and Bows". We're  looking forward to seeing all your makes. Our sponsor this time is The Paper Shelter who gave the DT images to work with.

Another treat bag from me!

My gorgeous image is called Fly Pumpkin Fly and I've coloured with promarkers. Dies from Spellbinders. Bag is made from an A4 piece of paper printed on both sides with contrasting papers from Bearly Mine. Ribbons and button from my stash.

Do pop over to the challenge blog to see the rest of the girls inspiration, you won't be disappointed.

Challenges entered:

Digi Choosday - Halloween

Craft-dee Bowz - anything goes with a handmade bow

Dream Valley - anything but a card

Love to Create - black, orange, lime/purple

Not Just Cards - anything goes

The Corrosive Challenge - Halloween

Bloggers - Halloween

Cut it Up - anything but a card

Fairytale - happy Halloween

Simply Create Too - Halloween

The Paper Shelter - monsters or mythicals

Crafting for all Seasons #81 "Tic Tac Toe"

Good morning all. Sorry again that I've not been around much lately. 

I'm waiting at the moment for test results to find out whether I have coeliac disease or just a gluten intolerance....at least I now know why I've been suffering random ailments on and off for several months.

Well wedding no three has been put to bed and now all that's left to do is enjoy the day tomorrow! We're off down to the hotel later today so we don't have to rush tomorrow as hubby is chauffeuring the bride and the service is at 1.30pm. Unfortunately the weather forecast is dismal tomorrow so I don't think we'll be having tea on the terrace but I'm sure the day will be no less enjoyable.

It's time for a new challenge at CFAS and this time the theme is "Tic Tac Toe". We're  looking forward to seeing all your makes. We're being sponsored by The Paper Shelter who gave the DT images to work with. I've chosen to use an image and papers from Rose.

It's the bride to be's birthday on Friday and this is the card I have made her. I've printed the backing paper twice and mounted them onto kraft card. The pre-coloured image has been die cut and mounted onto kraft also; dies from Spellbinders. The twine flower was made on my flower loom which I've had since I was a child! The wooden button is one left over from the wedding stationery and the sentiment stamp was a magazine freebie.

Here is the Tic Tac Toe square for you to use, I've used the diagonal Pink, Purple and Blue....there is some purple on the image and button though it's not very obvious on the photos.

Do pop over to the challenge blog to see the rest of the girls inspiration, you won't be disappointed.

Challenges entered:

Craftyhazelnuts's Patterned Paper - anything goes

The Paper Shelter - birthday card with sentiment

Crafting for all Seasons #74 "Dies and Punches"

Good afternoon all.

Well I don't know what I did to deserve it but I came home from the funeral on Friday with a flu bug...I'm only just beginning to feel human again!

A little later than promised, here is my card for our current challenge at CFAS and this time the theme is "Dies and Punches". We're  looking forward to seeing all your makes. We're being sponsored by The Paper Shelter who gave the DT images to work with.

Last week my Aunt and Uncle were lucky enough to celebrate their Diamond Wedding Anniversary, this is the card I made them.

I've used Vintage Floral Frame, pre coloured  and decoupaged, which I bought recently with a GC I'd won. Backing paper is from the Vintage Flower for You paper pack which I also bought with my GC. Heart die is from Tattered Lace, butterfly from Marianne Designs, wording is computer generated and gems are from my stash.

Inside and showing all the layers.

Challenges entered:

Craftyhazelnuts's Patterned Paper - anything goes

Seemacrafts - vintage

Penny's Paper-Crafty - flower power

Crafty Bloggers - die cuts or embossing

Crafty Cardmakers - you've been framed

Crafting for all Seasons #68 "All Things Bright and Beautiful"

Good morning all.

Today it's time for our first challenge of 2014 at CFAS and this time the theme is "All Things Bright and Beautiful". We're  looking forward to seeing all your makes. We're being sponsored by The Paper Shelter who gave the DT images to work with.

Image and backing paper are Cute Dressmaker which I already had in my stash. Dies are from Spellbinders. Bobbin reel is from Anna Marie Designs. Sentiment stamps are from Wild Rose Studio. Ribbon and button are from Crafty Ribbons.

Do pop over to the challenge blog to see the rest of the girls inspiration, you won't be disappointed.

Challenges entered:
Creative Craft Challenges - anything goes
Fan-Tastic Tuesday - anything square goes
LEJ Designs - anything goes
Papertake Weekly - anything goes
Through the Craft Room Door - anything goes
Cheerful Stamp Pad - ribbon
Crafting from the Heart - anything goes with pearls/buttons
Lexi's Creations - anything goes
Victorine Originals - layers

Carol x

Crafting for all Seasons #65 "Stitching - Real/Faux"

Good morning all.

Today it's time for a new challenge at CFAS and this time the theme is "Stitching - Real/Faux". We're  looking forward to seeing all your makes. We're being sponsored by The Paper Shelter and the DT were given images to work with.

I've used Enchanted Dream and printed out the combination image and backing paper several times so I could decoupage the image. The paper already had lots of faux stitching on it which was a bonus! To finish I've added a Signature banner die from Joanna Sheen then used the waste heart and a gem in the bottom corner. Stamped sentiment is from Wild Rose Studio.

Do pop over to the challenge blog to see the rest of the girls inspiration, you won't be disappointed.

Challenges entered:

Ladybug Crafts Ink TLT - use kraft cardstock

Lady Anne's Challenge - more than one layer

Oh La La Creations - stitching

The Paper Girls - cut it out

Polka Doodles - celebrations

Carol x

Christmas Card Club - Snowman/Snowmen

I can't believe it's Christmas Card Club time again and only one more challenge until Christmas - eek! This week Margaret chose the theme Snowman or Snowmen.

Pre-coloured image from The Paper Shelter, die cut with a square nestie, highlighted with stickles and dusted with fire brick DI. Papers are from a magazine freebie called Cozy Christmas. Snowflake and sentiment from my stash.

You'll find the links to the other girls in my sidebar if you'd like to pop over and see their creations.

Challenges entered:

2 Sisters - Christmas sparkle

Crazy 4 Challenges - card with a snowman

My Time to Craft - snowmen

Totally Gorjuss - anything goes with glitter

Crafting 4 Eternity - Christmas chaos

Fussy and Fancy - I love Christmas

Jingle Belles - anything goes

Wags n Whiskers - Christmas

Crimbo Crackers - anything holiday

Cute Card Thursday - snowflakes

Willow Sketchie - Merry Christmas

Divas by Design - glitter and sparkle

Paper Shelter - Christmas

Ladybug Crafts Ink - snowflakes

Carol x

Aud Sentiments #68 Bingo

The Theme of our new challenge over at Aud Sentiments is Bingo - use a line horizontally, vertically or diagonally.  We're being sponsored by The Paper Shelter who gave the Design Team images to work with. 

Bothe the backing paper and pre-coloured image are from The Paper Shelter. I've decoupaged the image then added lots of bling to finish the card - using the middle line of the bingo board 3D, Bling and Happy.

Do pop over to the challenge blog to see my team mates take on this challenge, you won't be disappointed.

Challenges entered:

Holly Jolly Christmas - the three R's (Rudolph, rhinestones, red)

Our Daily Bread - winter holiday

Cards for Men - Christmas

Crafty Bloggers - Christmas anything goes

Carol x

Crafting for all Seasons #38 Spooky

Time for a new challenge at CFAS and this time the theme is Spooky so let's see all those Halloween creations. We're  looking forward to seeing all your makes. We're being sponsored by The Paper Shelter and Tiddly Inks. I've used an image from The Paper Shelter for my project.

I've made a ceiling hanger although I haven't yet decided how I'm going to hang it!!

The image was pre-coloured and came with the backing paper - I took them into Publisher and resized to fit my circle then mounted the image 3d. Backing paper is from Bearly Mine. Dies are from Spellbinders. Flowers were from another Halloween download and sparkly spiders were from Asda.

This is the reverse side.

Purple paper from Bearly Mine, other elements from various free kits, ribbon from stash and another sparkly spider!

Do pop over to the challenge blog to see the rest of the girls inspiration, you won't be disappointed. 

Challenges entered:

Anything but a Card - halloween

Catered Crop - circles

Dream Valley Challenges - halloween

No Matter Which - halloween

Scrappers Delights - halloween

Scrappy Frogs - halloween

That Craft Place - halloween

Allsorts - too cute to spook

Challenge up your Life - halloween

Crafty Calendar - all things spooky

Di's Digis - too cute to spook

Just Some Lines - too cute to spook

Victorine Originals - halloween

Sparkles Forum - halloween

Craft my Life - anything but card or layout

Carol x

Happy Birthday Daughter

Good morning all,is it Friday 13th again...........blogger decided to upgrade me overnight and I'm not in the mood to tackle this new layout this morning!!

It's rather dreich here at the moment. I hope it fairs up over the weekend as eldest and his friends are doing a 26 mile sponsored skate-a-thon on Sunday to raise money for his Mongolian trip and hopefully I'm off to a craft show at Edinburgh tomorrow too.

Today's share is the card I made Lora for her birthday in December and forgot to post.

As she isn't a girly girl she's quite difficult to make for, however she does like dragons so this pre-coloured digi from The Paper Shelter was perfect. I printed the image several times and decoupaged it up before matting onto a nestie scalloped oval. The papers are from a very old HOTP stack which I bought from QVC many moons ago. Card is finished with some Bakers Twine, gems and a button which I recycled from one of Lora's socks.

Challenges entered:

Crafty Catz - stripes or checks

Totally Papercraft - all buttoned up

Joanna Sheen - someone special

Cuties Pies - circles

Kaboodle Doodles - recipe

Creative Mondays - yellow

Ribbon Carousel - bright colours

Top Tip Tuesday - spotty dotty

My Mum's Craft Shop - favourite song/movie (Puff the Magic Dragon)

Paper Pretties - card for girls

Tuesday Throwdown - recycling

Paper Shelter - wings and things

The Crazy Challenge - inspired by a movie (Dragonheart)

Crafter's Companion - four legged friends

Carol x

Warm in the Winter....

is the name of this gorgeous image from The Paper Shelter. 

The backing paper is also from The Paper Shelter and I've digitally applied the sentiment and image before printing out. I've printed the image a second time and coloured with promarkers then fussy cut and attached with silicone gel. The backing mat is punched with a snowflake PATP from Martha Stewart. The snowflake is a Spellbinders die. Card is finished with a polka dot ribbon bow, a brad, snowflake button, punch waste and stickles.

Challenges entered:

The Paper Shelter - DT call

Celebrate the occasion - any occasion + polka dots (ribbon)

Squigglefly - button it up

Deep Ocean Challenge - sparkle/glitter

Paper Pretties - use glitter (used stickles)

Penny's Paper Crafty - ribbons and buttons

Chocolate, Coffee and Cards - glitter latte

Christmas Card Challenges - flourishes

Sentimental Sunday - ribbon

The Ribbon Girls - blue and pink
Sassy Studio Designs - frosty winter colours

Carol x

Snow

Been to the opticians to have contact lenses fitted today, this is my third attempt - twice I've had to abort my plans due to outside factors. I've opted for monthly lenses this time instead of dailies and must say they are a tad more uncomfortable but I'm sure I'll get used to them and if I don't I can always swap to dailies.

Another layout to share with you tonight, I managed to do this one last night in My Memories Suite.

This is Lora aged 3 (she was 14 last month!) - told you I had a lot of photos to sort! The papers and most of the elements came from a digi kit called Christmas Around the World which I downloaded free a few years ago. The text and some of the snowflakes were added from MMS and the snowman is a digi image from the Paper Shelter. Love being able to combine all my digi stash with the functions of MMS.

To receive $10 off the price of My Memories Suite software copy and paste this code STMMMS57827 at checkout. You'll also receive a $10 gift certificate for the online store.

Challenges entered:

House of Gilli - winter

Kaboodle Doodles - baby it's cold outside

My Craft Spot - snow much fun

Always Something Creative - ice and snow

Carol x

Crafting for all Seasons #18 Snowmen/Snowflakes

Time for the first challenge of the New Year at CFAS and we'd like to see snowmen or snowflakes on your projects or both! We're being sponsored by Bugaboo, Some Odd Girl and The Stamping Boutique. Trying to keep to my New Year's Resolutions I've done a layout using some photos from last winter.

I'ved used templates and elements from My Memories Suite and added a snowman from Crafty Ann's and a snowman from The Paper Shelter.

Top Tip - all your digi images and papers can be used in your scrap booking programmes.

Do pop over to the challenge blog to see the creations of the other Design Team girls. We also have a DT call going on (check here for all the details) - this is a fabulous team to be part of, everyone is very friendly and supportive and we have lots of exciting challenges planned for the year ahead.

Challenges entered:

Fresh Brewed - use something new (MMS)

Creative Card Crew - snow day

Creative Belli - snowflakes

DYSU - let it snow

Critter Sketch - baby it's cold outside

Creative Stamp Friends - winter

The Cheerful Stamp Pad - let it snow

Crazy Amigo - winter colours

Tuesday Throwdown - baby it's cold outside

Use it Tuesday - all about winter (old photos)

Ladybug Crafts Ink - anything goes using new stash (MMS)

Top Tip Tuesday - anything goes

Heidi's Hobbystuggu - winter

Crafty Creations - something new (MMS)

My Memories - winter wonderland

Carol x

Christmas Challenges (with sketches) Blog Hop

Hi and welcome to the the first Christmas Challenges {with sketches} blog hop! If you came here from Sandra's blog, you are on the right track. If not please start at Christmas Challenges {with sketches}, because you don't want to miss anything! There is a list at the CCWS Blog if you get lost! 

We have a new sketch by Janneke, especially for the blog hop. Each of the Design Team are giving a prize to a random commenter on their blog so be sure to call around to see everyone.


Managed to up-cycle a bag today so here it is:

Backing papers are all Papermania, image is a pre-coloured digi from The Paper Shelter, finished with a snowflake ornament off the Christmas tree and a recycled bow and berries arrangement.

Thank you for joining us in this bloghop, and don't forget to join us at our Bloghop sketch Challenge. You could win a lovely stamp . You can upload your card on the CCWS Blog until December 29th 18:00 PM (Dutch time) and you can find the winner on the blog the day after. When you leave a comment here too, you can win a bag of gorgeous ribbons and I will announce the winner on December 30th here on my blog. 

Now it's time to hop on over to Karin to see what wonderful creation she's made for your inspiration.


Challenges entered:
Karen's Doodles - spots and stripes
Ooh La La Creations - anything but a card
Paper Pretties - red, white + ? (green)
Bearly Mine - anything goes
Papertake Weekly - anything Christmas
Crafty Purple Frog - Happy Christmas
Crimbo Crackers - snowflakes
Digi Doodles Best - anything goes
DYSU - stripes
Pixie Dust Studio - 3 DP's
Delicious Doodles - anything goes
Stampin for the Weekend - anything goes
Stampin with the Dragon - let it snow




I'd like to take this opportunity to wish all my friends in blogland a very Merry Christmas and hope that Santa leaves lots of crafty goodies in your stockings.

Carol x

Crafting for all Seasons #13 Texture

Another two weeks have flown by and it's time for a new challenge at CFAS, this time we want to see texture on your projects. We're being sponsored by Meljens and The Paper Shelter this time.

I've used three backing papers from the Pepe l'souris in love paper pack and the pre-coloured snowman image all available from The Paper Shelter. I've used a swiss dots folder to add texture to the layers and stickles on the image. Card is finished with some punched snowflakes with added stickles and a sparkly tinsel bow.

Do pop over to the challenge blog  to see the inspiration of the other DT members.

Challenges entered:
Heart Song Inspirations - embossing and/or 3 or more layers
Incy Wincy Designs - dots and stripes (on scarf)
Lollipop Crafts - anything goes
Paper Playtime - anything goes
Pollycraft - anything goes
Digi Doodle Shop's Best - anything goes
Moving along with the Times - no girls allowed
Sew Many Cards - background paper
Totally Papercrafts - glitter it
A Gem of a Challenge - cold and frosty
One Stop Craft - no sentiments
Christmas Card Challenges - liquid applique (not sure what this is but will stickles do!)
OSAAT - Christmas
Crimbo Crackers - anything goes
Christmas Inspiration - bows
Crafters Companion - let it snow
Stamp n Doodle - embossing
The Paper Shelter - Christmas fun


Carol x