Sir Stampalot June Challenge - Punch It - use those punches

Good morning,

It's time for the June Sir Stampalot challenge Punch It!

With all the gorgeous punches available now we are sure you will have great fun with this one and we are really looking forward to seeing how you use your punches on your projects, be it borders, flowers, or something completely new. As usual your project can be anything you have created yourself and for any occasion, the only requirement is that we see some punched elements on your work. Visit the Sir Stampalot challenge blog for more information.

I've used a selection of border punches on my DT card. I have to admit that this is not my own idea, I cased it from Julia Stainton and you can see her card here. I have used ivory and beige pearlescent card and the wording is made using Martha Stewart alphabet punches - it would probably have looked better stamped but as the idea was to use punches I thought I would stick with the punched letters.

We have a very apt prize this month, this amazing array of all things punchy - ** Two Martha Stewart Around the Page sets ** Three of the fabulous EK Success Paper Shaper sets which have not only the punch but matching stamps and ink pads all included ** A fabby Provo Craft tool set........and it's pink ** Plus a whole load of corner, stitchy and other punches. This lot adds up to £201, so a pretty amazing prize.

We do hope you can join us this month.

Clare xx

Edward and Emily

Good afternoon.

Hello, I thought I would share the card I started yesterday evening.

I've used a digi image, sentiment and papers all from Cuddly Buddly. The digi is called "Edward and Emily" and the papers are from the new "A Portfolio of Papers" range.

The flower I have made using my fabby new Tim Holtz/Sizzix "Tattered Florals" die - I just love this die!

I am entering this into the current challenge at Charisma Cardz where the theme is "3D" - I hope my flower qualifies.

The weather is much cooler today, in my view, it's just right! I hope you are having a good day.

Best wishes, Clare x

Cute and Girly

Good afternoon!

I am still busy making sample cards for Cuddly Buddly using the adorable new digi images by artist Kim Sponaugle.

The image I have used on this card is called "Girl Skipping" and the pretty papers are "Cottage Florals".

I am entering this card into the current challenge at "A Spoonful of Sugar" where the theme is "Cute and Girly".

I hope you are having a good start to your week.

Best wishes, Clare xx

Furry Friends

Good afternoon!

The challenge at One Stitch at a Time is "Furry Friends". I thought this was a great reason to ink up one of my two new Lili of the Valley stamps.

I am also entering this into the challenge at Papertake Weekly which is "Say it with Flowers".

I think this teddy is adorable!

I hope you are having a happy day!

Hugs, Clare xx

Edited 24 May:- Thank you Irene for letting me know that this card also fits the current challenge at Flutter By Wednesday.

A bit of a mess - oh well!

Good evening to you.

The current theme at Allsorts Challenge is Tag/Label.

I'm not altogether happy with this tag, but I did enjoy the process. I always have fun when I get my TH Distress Inks out.

I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend.

Best wishes, Clare xx

ABC Challenge "Unused Stash"

Good evening,

I'm still busy making up sample cards for Cuddly Buddly. For this card I have used a digi image by artist Kim Sponaugle called "Singing in the Rain". I have paper pieced these happy boys using digi papers from Cuddly Buddly called "A Patchwork of Papers - Yellow".

I am entering this card into the ABC challenge where they are currently on "U for unused stash".

My unused stash is the lovely sparkly blue cardstock. This comes from a Die Cuts With a View "Spring" matt stack which I bought over two years ago and have kept for stroking purposes. I thought it was high time I actually started using it and thought it was perfect to go with this image.

Many thanks for visiting my blog today and for any comment you may leave, I love to read them and to come back and visit you.

Hugs, Clare x

WOYWW

Hi Folks!

It's time for What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday, the brainchild of Julia at Stamping Ground. If you want know more why not visit her blog and find out what it's all about.

I am cheating this week. What you see here is my desk on Tuesday evening. If I had waited until this morning to take my picture, then you would have nothing to look at but an empty desk!

Can you guess what Mrs Postie delivered to me? I know, too easy! I am a very happy bunny to be in possession of these lovely Tim Holtz Alterations dies. The flower you can see is made by simply layering the tattered florals which I first swiped with Victoria Velvet and Spun Sugar Distress Inks. The only extra is a Leonne Em punched stamen in the middle.

You can also see on my desk a work in progress sample card for Cuddly Buddly and a Christening card I have been asked to make. Last week I asked OH to take some of my cards into work with him to see if anyone wanted to buy any. I've sold three so far and am really chuffed! I'm donating 50% of the sale price to charity and keeping the other 50% to go towards replenishing materials.

Thank you for visiting my desk today, I look forward to popping by and visiting yours.

Hugs, Clare xx

I Love Digi Challenge - Charming!

Good afternoon to you all!

I am falling asleep over my computer today. I love the longer days, but my son likes to get up at sunrise which is exhausting me!!

The challenge at I Love Digi this week is to use a charm or charms on your card. I've used a charm which says "hand made with love".

This cute digi image is called "Sing Out Loud" and is available from Cuddly Buddly as is the "Kids" digi paper set.

I coloured the image with copics and paper pieced her dress.

Thank you for visiting my blog. I hope you have a fab weekend.

Hugs, Clare xx

Make a Wish!

Good morning from sunny Warwickshire!

Doesn't the sunshine make you feel good?

My card uses another digi image by Kim Sponaugle which is available at Cuddly Buddly, this image is called "Make a Wish".

If you struggle with the outlines running when you use digi images, try printing them out in a paler colour, e.g. gray or lilac (not too pale that you can't see it). Then if the colours do run it is hardly noticeable - unlike black!

I am entering this card into the current challenge at Charisma Cardz, where the theme is "Sweet Treats!", and Rosie-D's where the theme is Sooo Yummy!

Thank you for visiting my blog and have a great day, whatever you are doing.

Hugs, Clare xx

Best Buddies thank you card

Good morning,

It's a bit dull here today, oh well, I had better stay indoors and craft!!!

I have used another digi stamp from the "Boys and Girls" range at Cuddly Buddly. The sentiment and papers are also from Cuddly Buddly. I love this spotty, dotty paper and can see myself using it over and over again. The round sentiment is now available as a digi (here), it comes on a sheet of 12 different sentiments.

I coloured the image with Copic Ciaos and the corners are made using a Martha Stewart Deep Edger Garden Trellis punch.

I am entering this into the current I Love Digi Challenge where the theme is "Thank You".

Thank you for visiting my blog. Enjoy your day whatever you do.

Clare xx

Superheroes

Good afternoon to you!

Cuddly Buddly have released some cute new "boys and girls" digi images by artist Kim Sponaugle. I have used "Superheroes" for this card. Don't they look like they are about to have some fun?

The digi papers I have used are "A Patchwork of Papers - Red" from Cuddly Buddly and the sentiment is computer generated.

I am entering this into the current challenge at One Stitch at a Time where the theme is "Going Dotty".

Enjoy your day!

Clare xx

Bird Card

Good afternoon.

I hope you've all enjoyed your weekend.

I can't get enough of Inkadinkado clear stamp sets. I love them! For this card I have used "Birds Galore" and "Garden Flower"

The bird in the main image has been stamped with black ink and heat embossed with holographic embossing powder. As usual, the sparkle doesn't show in the picture. I always find this such a shame as I love a bit of sparkle on my cards!

I have used Tim Holtz distress inks "Bundled Sage" and "Tumbled Glass" to add the colour.

The border at the top of the card and the Happy Birthday sentiment have been stamped in versamark ink and heat embossed using detail white embossing powder.

I'm really pleased with how this card has turned out and I hope the recipient likes it to.

I am entering it into the following:-

Stamp Something Challenge - "Birthday Somethings"
Stampin' for the Weekend - "Card for a Male"
Cute Card Thursday - "Boyz to Men!"

Thank you for visiting my blog.

Hugs, Clare xx

Dare U 2 Digistamp Challenge

Good morning!

The challenge at Dare U 2 Digistamp this week is "Anything Goes".

I've used an adorable digistamp from Cuddly Buddly called Fairy Fun Family Summer Girl.

I used Prismacolor pencils and sansador to colour the image, to make a change from Copics. I love the pencils but struggle wtih the tiny areas as my paper stumps always seem to be too blunt!

It's nearly the weekend! Have a great time, whatever you do.

Clare xx

Little Miss Daisy

What a busy day!

Our little boy was extremely happy when he came home today (see last post). He parked his car in the garage and ate his tea in the house. He then cooked us dinner on his cooker in the kitchen. When he went to bed he was telling his stuffed animals all about his new house. I don't know who is happier, him or me!

Anyhow, on to my card.

This is another Cuddly Buddly sample card I have made using an image, sentiment and papers from the Little Miss Daisy range. The image is available both as a rubber stamp and in digi format if you prefer.

I am entering this into:-

Stamptacular Sunday Challenge - Celebration for Moms (they want to see a lady/woman on your card)

I still haven't got round to everyone's desks for WOYWW so I am off blog hopping again before bed.

Take care!

Clare xx

Non crafting post

Good afternoon,

I haven't done any crafting or any ironing, but I have been busy.

This arrived in a big box this afternoon in many, many pieces and I had to start putting it together straight away.

I am going to have one very excited little boy on my hands when he gets home from nursery today and sees this in his garden. I can't wait!

I'm off to visit some more WOYWW'ers now.

Hugs, Clare xx

WOYWW

I haven't taken part in Julia's phenomenal WOYWW for a couple of weeks now. I figured you might get bored seeing the same tidy desk week after week!!

Today I am proving to you that I do make a mess!

On the heat mat is my work-in-progress tag using some scrummy new colour TH inks.

The second photo shows what you see on the wall opposite my desk. I just have room to turn may chair between these storage units and my desk so everything is to hand without me having to get up.

I love the Really Useful Box storage unit on the lefthand side. In here I keep all my dewdrop ink pads, small punches, paper pads, SU! stamp and finished cards.

The really useful box on top of the unit in the middle holds all my 12" x 12" papers, it really is useful because the suspension files in it are slightly larger than 12" x 12".

On the very far left you can see some shirts waiting to be ironed! I wonder if they will get dealt with today.

I look foward to visiting your workspace today.

If you want to join in then visit Julia's blog by following the WOYWW link on my sidebar.

Have a great day!

Clare xx

Distressing

Good afternoon.

I noticed a couple of challenges this week with a distressing theme, so I had to get out my TH Distress Inks.

The first picture I have taken outside, because it is a beautiful day and the colours show up so well. Unfortunately the sparkle from the Enchanted Gold embossing powder didn't show at all, so I took a second photograph indoors to try and pick up a bit of the sparkle.

The images I have used are from an Inkadinkado set called "Garden Delights" and the sentiment is from a Papertray Ink set called "Mega Mixed Messages".

I stamped the dragonly in black and heat embossed with it Heat It Up Enchanted Gold powder and I stamped the foliage with versamark and used the same embossing powder.

I placed a die from the Nestabilities Labels 4 set over the image and then distressed using Tim Holtz distress inks "Dried Marigold" and "Wild Honey". I then drew around the die and cut out the shape. Looking at the card, I wish I had left part of the dragonfly wings overlapping the white border.

I am entering this into the following challenges:-

Crafty Cardmakers - Distressed!

Quixotic Challenges - How Distressing!

I thought I saw another challenge for distressing this week, but I can't find it again.

Enjoy your day!

Best wishes, Clare xx

Magical Fairy

Good afternoon.

I adore this fairy image from Fairy Colouring Pages, she is a dream to colour and is so pretty.

I am entering this card into:-

Stampin' for the Weekend - they ask you to get your inspiration from your favourite book. I have chosen my favourite childhood book, Peter Pan, for my inspiration. This fairy could be Tinkerbell herself. I adore the book as a child and used to try and stay awake at night to see if Tinkerbell would come to take me on a magical journey!

I hope you are having a great day. Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog.

Clare xx

Just Cute Bears - Buttons and Bows

Good evening.


The theme at Just Cute Bears this week is to use Buttons and Bows.

I've used the gorgeous Teddy's Patchwork Heart digi image, along with Fairy Fun digi papers from Cuddly Buddly to make this card.

I hope you are all enjoying your weekend. The weather isn't great here but I'm enjoying spending time with my family.

Clare xx

Sir Stampalot May Challenge - Butterflies & Blossoms

Happy May Day to you! Today sees the start of the second monthly Sir Stampalot Challenge. Firstly I would like to thank you all for some a wonderful response to our first challenge and to congratulations the winners.

The theme for May is BUTTERFLIES AND BLOSSOMS and you are going to be blown away by yet another fabulous prize dontated by Andy and Janice the owners of Sir Stampalot.

Look at that, the book has been signed by the King of Grunge himself, Tim Holtz!

Go and check out the challenge to see what you need to do to be in with a chance of winning this wonderful stash. Please don't forget to check out the rules to make sure your entry is eligible.

Here is my DT card for May along with a box to put it in.

Here's what I used to make my card:-

Marianne Designs Butterfly 3 - to cut out the large butterfly
Crafts Too "Daisies" embossing folder
5 petal flower punches large and medium
Woodware daisy punch
Martha Stewart butterfly trio punch
Darice flower beads
Brenda Pinnick Deisgn Papers
Silver thread, gem and pearls

I do hope you get the chance to join us this month.

Hugs, Clare xx