#59 What's Cooking?

Theme at I ♥ Promarkers - embossing

Prize this week - 3 digis from our sponsor  - Secret Crafter

For my DT card featuring some embossing I have done a little of both - dry & heat and the image I chose to colour for today's card I am sure most of you will recognise as the $1 digi from Mo Manning to raise money for those in Japan suffering so terribly at this present time. The image is still available but is no longer $1 as the fund raising using this particular image has finished - she is now $3 I believe from the new shop. I think she is an adorable image. I did a lot of baking with my mum & sister when I was a girl. I remember when I was 7 every birthday card I received had a little girl baking on it! LOL. So as you can tell, I have a soft spot for this image.

Her gloopy embossed mixture shows up better larger size that it does on the page here, but you get the jist. LOL. 

I coloured her with Promarkers but got out my embossing pen & clear embossing powder to add a shining top to the gloop in her pan and dripping from her wooden spoon. The dry embossing on one of the horizontal mats behind image was done with a Cuttlebug embossing folder and this along with most of the layers was treated to inked up edges and in this case, extended over the pattern to pick out the design further. I was hoping to achieve a 'County Kitchen' look. Hope you all like it!

Tine :)

Challenges I would like to enter this card for:

Stamp Challenges - anything 'Tim' (Distress Inks)

Paperplay - distressing

Paper Arts - embossing

Rubber Cafe - embossing

Sugar Creek Hollow - stitching
Crafty Creations - in stitches
Creative Belli - sewing
Pixie Cottage - sketch or/& stitching
Pixie Dust - let's go to the movies (Cooking With Stella)

Mo's Digital - attitude (Can't you just hear her say, "Well you said I could help!" as she leaves a trail of destruction throughout the kitchen. LOL).
Digital Tuesday - for the kids
Pile It On - cutie patootie (well, I think she is cute!).

Oranges & Lemons

Prairie Fairy GDT - theme 'Inspired by a Nursery Rhyme'

Hi and part two of my double posting for today, and this card, in case you couldn't tell, was inspired by the nursery rhyme Oranges & Lemons. The colours, obviously, rather than the fact that these ever so sweet children could be playing the accompanying 'game' to the song - for starters they would need a few more to play! LOL.

The image is a adorable, isn't it? It is called 'A Helping Hand' from Roberta's Store. I have coloured the image with Promarkers and paper-pieced their outfits. The totally gorgeous ribbons are from Fantastic Ribbons and the orange coloured one started life as white and I coloured it with my Promarkers to match the layout.

I created an insert for the card too, and whilst sadly, my own mother is no longer with us, she would have loved this particular verse. To her, a card was not a card unless it included heartfelt words and really appreciated a long poem. To accompany this particularly beautiful message, I added a lighter copy of the image, setting it behind the text. I really recommend making the picture bigger to read the text as I for one, find it very moving. I think that my mother would also have appreciated the sandy-haired boy who looks just like my son did at that age - my daughter wasn't blonde though! LOL.
I hope Roberta & the team over at Prairie Fairy are pleased with the result and I would like to thank them for asking me to play along with them this week.

Tine :)

Challenges I would like to enter this card into:
Crafty Emma - favourite song or inspired by a song (Oranges & Lemons!)
Crafty Pad - use a digi
Simply Create - monochrome (I am hoping the orange counts as the deepest tonal value of that colour palette)
Cupcake - monochrome
Ladybug - monochrome
Catch The Bug - baby/child
Bearly Mine - Mother's Day (what Mother's heart would not melt at that cute twosome)
Ooh-la-la - Mother's Day
ECP - Mother's Day
Simon Says - Mother's Day
Stamping for the Weekend - for Mum/Mother's Day
Craft Your Days Away - mum or special lady.

Phindy's #48 Tequila Sunrise

At Phindy's Place this week the challenge theme is 'All About Animals', and I am sure that somewhere amongst your digis and rubber you will have an image to play along with us. Better still, if you use one of Phindy's own images for your card or project you can enter your card for a second time, so doubling your chances of winning.

The image I have chosen to use is called 'Join The Party!', and I have given the recumbent mouse a Tequila Sunrise' to bathe in (so he is probably getting slowly if not quickly, sozzled), LOL. I have drawn my own digi orange slice to adorn the top corner, colouring it, along with the main image, with Promarkers. For the orange slice I added a bit of Glossy Accents to make it all the more juicy! The sentiment is from TLC.

Hope you will join us this week!

Tine :)

Challenges I would also like to enter this card into:
Crafty Emma - favourite song or inspired by a song (Tequila Sunrise - The Eagles)
Crafty Pad - use a digi
Card Makin' Mamas - animals
Southern Girls - add an animal
2Sisters - furry friends
Wee Memories - cute & cuddly
CritterChallenge- inspirational photo - (hey, to lie on a beach with a drink in your hand!.....)
Dutch Dare - celebration
Crafts & Me - anything goes.

#58 Go Dotty! - Take It or Leave It!

Theme at I ♥ Promarkers - Go Dotty!
Prize Sponsor this week - Digi Doodle Shops Best

Hi all and it is another Wednesday and another challenge for all Promarker aficionados and we are asking you go get some spots 'n' dots onto your card or project this week.  I have chosen to use the perhaps appropriately named, 'Pig Out' digi from Digi Doodle - and come on, my spots just had to reflect that luscious cherry on top didn't they. LOL. Having coloured my porcine projectile with Promarkers, of course, I then decoupaged the cupcake - firstly creating the concertinaed cake casing, colouring the icing, and then the shining cherry on the top (to which a drop of Glossy Accents was added).

The sentiment on the circular image is from Elegant WordArt but the additional sentiment on the strip I created myself on the PC.  The dotty dp is a recoloured digi from MCS and additional embossed spots on the white card were done by hand. As I didn't have circles the diameter I wanted to emboss with, I punched out a couple of sizes into card and then used these as templates to emboss through.  Not sure they are showing up very well on the photo though. The large brads (for additional spots/cherries), are from We Are Memory Keepers and the whole of this embossed layer was attached to the main card using foam pads.

As you can see I made a coordinating insert, just placing the spotty paper at the opposite corner to the one on the front and another quick few words, again just created on the PC.

I am sure you can dig out a few spotty papers from your stash & we hope that you will play along with our dotty challenge this week.

Tine :)

Challenges I would like to enter with this card:
Paperplay - embossing
Paper Sundaes - embossing
Incy Wincy - embossing
Stamp Challenges - something sweet
Crafty Sentiments - animals
Crafty Pad - use a digi
Everybody Art - happy birthday
Crafty Emma - favourite song/inspired by a song (Icing on the Cake - Anthony Hamilton).

Phindy's #47 Hot Summer Garden

It's Friday once more and that means yet another great challenge over at Phindy's Place. This week the theme is 'Hot Stuff or Warm Colours or Sunshine', so there is a lot to go at there & you can interpret this how you like. Don't forget, if you use one of Phindy's fab images you can enter your card twice to double your chances of winning.

For my DT card I went for a hot summer's day using the image 'Love Flutterby' to show a young girl in amongst the flowers of her garden. I hope you are picking up an outdoors-y vibe with this one! LOL.  I coloured the whole image with Promarkers. Yes, I tried out another twisted easel card, this time using a different colour top to the base (I am not always conventional, LOL) and I am sure you will agree, there is no way I could enter this particular card into a CAS challenge!!!

For the upper element of the card I used a very 'hectic' flower print as the main dp, then following the lovely sketch over at CLP I added her a couple of green card 'lawns' (one with embossed grass which I think you should be able to just see) and also an embossed 'flower bed' of yellow card. For the circular element of the sketch I used a Fiskars punch, cutting out the centre and then added a selection of different sized flowers from my new Woodware floral punch, some cut simply from coloured card though others were punched from white card and coloured with Promarkers for variation. To add further variety, I added glossy accents to the centre of some whilst tiny punched centres to the rest. The Cabbage White Butterfly, (or as near as I could make him colourwise), is one of Martha Stewart's of course but I gave him a red beaded body and wire antenna and a good spritz of sparkle.

For the lower element of the easel I saw a mainly 'lawned' area with another yellow flower bed, this time with a scattering trail of flowers to the sentiment, another of Paulettes's over at TLC.

I hope you will be able to play along with us at Phindy's Place this week and we look forward to seeing your creations.

Tine :)

Challenges I would like to enter this card for:

CLP - design layout
Creative Inspirations - easel cards
Gingerloft - use those flowers
Paper Crafting Journey - up in the air (butterflies)
Creative Cottage - spring has sprung
Wags 'n' Whiskers - Spring inspired (colours/image/flowers)
Stampman - Mother's Day or floral (plenty of flowers on this one!)
My Partner In Crafting Crime - retro cool (this young miss looks to have stepped right out of the 1950's with her 'Doris Day' outfit! LOL)
Simon Says - happy birthday.

#57 Barbecue King

I ♥ Promarkers theme - Men's Cards
This week's sponsor - Stampeezee

Well, another week has gone by. Where does the time go to? Another week means another challenge and this week we would like to see you make a men's card. I know, I know, they are not the easiest thing to do, but they are a necessity!  I have used this great image from Just Inklined which I think sums up most men when it comes to doing a barbecue. Fortunately, I have made sure that this one has not burned the bangers. LOL. I gave him paper pieced 'chef's trousers', after all, they are all experts (aren't they!!!), and of course, coloured him, including his messy apron, with Promarkers.  I created the sentiment on the PC, adding a metal gromlet from We Are Memory Keepers into the centre once I had inked with Faded Jeans Distress Ink.

I did a matching centre panel for the insert as you can see and I am just about to write inside it too as it is going to my nephew.

I hope you can join in with our challenge this week and I look forward to leaving you a comment if you do. I hope you feel suitably inspired with my card today and I thank you for all your kind comments as they are very much appreciated.

Tine :)

Challenges I wish to enter my card for:
Ooh-la-la - it's a man thing
Crafty Emma - men only
Incy Wincy - for the boys
Paper Pretties - masculine
Kaboodle Doodles - happy birthday
Simon Says - happy birthday
Prairie Fairy - it's my party.

Phindy's #46 Get Well

Hi, and the challenge over at Phindy's Place this week is to create a card or project using the theme of Get Well or Thinking of You and for my DT card I chose to use this cute mouse with the sniffles called 'Not So Hot'. I know, I can read your mind....you think it's 'Man 'Flu',  LOL. I coloured my image with Promarkers, paper piecing his chair and footstool and also his comforting blanket. I kept the colour range rather 'manly' but  tried to get across that he, (well, I am assuming it is a he, though maybe the cup & saucer is 'girly', LOL), is rather subdued and sorry for himself.

I have been meaning to try out a twisted easel style of card for a few weeks and as you can see, today was the day one escaped from my craft room though I used the lovely sketch over at Fuzzy Wuzzy to create the top element. I tore the edge of some of the papers, whilst I cut others though each layer was inked at the edges. For the lower half of the card I just matted a few matching layers but I made a tiny tissue box to retain the top part and I made the simple sentiment on the PC.

Hope you like it!

Tine :)

Challenges I am entering this card for:

Fuzzy Wuzzy - design layout (+animal)
Ooh-la-la - it's a man thing
Wags 'n' Whiskers - more than one fold
Sparkles Forum - pink, brown & blue
Dutch Dare - (photo insp.- browns & blues)
A Spoonful of Sugar - vintage or shabby
Passion for Promarkers - food & drink (now I am not sure this mouse counts - but he does have a drink, so I hope he does!!! If he doesn't then I am sure you ladies at PfP will let me know).

#56 It's Twins!

Card in it's box

Yep, you 'got it in one', the theme of this week's challenge at I ♥ Promarkers is 'Baby' and the DT are all using images from Di's Digis. The image I have used is called 'Cute Slumber' and as you can see, I used it twice!! My niece (& God daughter) is expecting twins so this has given me the perfect opportunity to make a card in anticipation of the happy event.

The image on the right (as you view it), is the digi as it comes to you, but for the other side I reversed the image. Having printed both off, I then got out my Open Hearts & Tall Stories board from the Glitter Girls and  embossed the heart surrounding the infants making sure each was centralised. I then coloured them in with my trusty Promarkers choosing to err on the side of caution colour wise as we don't know the gender of the babies other than they are both the same sex. I then embossed the next layer, the mats behind the images in this fabulous glitter card. It is a different kind of glitter card though as it is only flecked with golden glitter and seems so sophisticated looking. Well, I think so anyway! LOL. For the actual card base itself I used a white with texture on both sides so it can stand up to scrutiny on the reverse too. Having embossed the outer heart shape I added dots of pearlescent gloss and once dry, did the same on the reverse. The flowers & small white bows were from my stash but the scrummy long ribbon down the centre of the card is from Fantastic Ribbons. The sentiments on the back of the card I made on the PC, leaving room for me to add the 'to' & 'from' at a later date.

I then made a box for it to go in - adding an acetate window to the top, edging with a narrow peel-off and a popping on a floral embellishment. The 2 roses cut from the same glittering card as the main card's mats were created using a Marianne Designs die and I also punched a couple of Martha Stewart frond branches from white card colouring them with Promarkers and added them to the bouquet. For the banner across the top I printed the words on the PC, drew myself a banner around them & cut it out, colouring the outlined words with a gold gel pen.

To the base of the bottom of the box I added a paper liner, also a sentiment in itself. Having measured the internal sized of the base I replicated the two mirrored infants images though lightened them and sent them into the background so that I could add a verse in black over them.  I then punched an decorative edge using a Martha Stewart Punch Around The Page set, adding yet more flowers and leaves to a corner.

If I haven't bored you to tears yet, I would love it if you could leave me a comment and also join in with our challenge this week. Just remember to use your Promarkers and a baby themed image and you will be in with a chance of winning some goodies from this week's sponsor, Di's Digis.

Other Challenges I would like to enter my card for are:
Shelly's - layers (well, I would say that one is safely covered, LOL)
Fussy 'n Fancy - embossing &/or paper piecing (the edges of all the layers are hand embossed)
Stamp Challenges - digi day
Digital Tuesday - welcome little one (...or even two!! LOL)
Everybody Art - baby
Tellen's Place - embellish, embellish, embellish
Crafty Pad - use a ribbon
Creative Inspirations - templates
Gingerloft - flowers
Simply Create - power of flowers
Stamptacular Sunday - good luck, congratulations or best wishes
Incy Wincy - pastel colours.

Phindy's #45 In Need of a Cuddle

It's Friday again and that means another great challenge over at Phindy's Place. Our theme this week is to use babies or small children on your cards and projects and I have chosen this perfectly adorable image called 'Time With Teddy' which is available here.  How could anyone resist such a cherub?  I coloured her with Promarkers but kept everything relatively simple layout-wise - afterall, life for a tiny tot is relatively uncomplicated (or should be....).  I made the daisy charm to co ordinate with my pretty background from shrink plastic, drawing the daisy image myself using a fineliner, colouring with Promarkers and attaching with a split-ring once the plastic had been shrunk.

Well, I hope that you will join in with us this week and whereas you don't need to use one of Phindy's images to take part she does have an amazing range of cuties to choose from and here is a link if you have never thought of browsing over to Phindy's Place before.

Challenges I am entering with my card today:
My Partner in Crafting Crime - all about baby
Gingerloft - furry friends (her teddy is obviously a much loved fur-fabric friend- just look at his missing eye...aw)
Paper Sundaes - charms or metal embellishments (hope my shrink plastic one counts! but at least the split-ring & brads are metal...LOL)
Try It On Tuesday - inspired by a song (Baby Love - Diana Ross & the Supremes)
Tip Top - favourites (in this case Promarkers, my absolute fav medium & Phindy's images are right up there in fab images to colour)
Passion for Promarkers - 'sugar rush' (girly & pretty)
Craft Your Passion - girly girl
KB Cute - use a digi (anything goes)
2Sisters - teddy bears.

#55 Spring Purples & Greens

Theme at I ♥ Promarkers this week - purple & green
Prize sponsor - Joanna Sheen

Hi again, and for my card today I am using a gorgeous image by Mo Manning. Doesn't she just look in awe of the bird hovering over her flowers?  I coloured her with Promarkers before mounting her onto this fancy fold lilac card and adding a few spring crocuses to the elements behind her for added depth. Crocuses are a real portent of Spring aren't they, daring to show their colours before their less robust flowering sisters in a garden. Of course, this audacity brings them to the attention of at least one of my local squirrels who had the nerve to dig up my a flowering crocus and make off with it in front of me!!!! Even had the cheek to run & sit on the fence just out of my reach behind the shed to devour it!!!! Don't think he will want these paper ones though, LOL.  I made the flowers & stems entirely from white crepe paper which again I had coloured to match using my Promarkers. The leaves were also cut from card coloured with Promarkers.  The sentiment is from Paulette over at TLC.

I kept the layers relatively minimal & the image doesn't have one at all as I was hoping to create an fresh & airy feel. ...and as you can see, not a squirrel in sight. LOL. Hope you like today's card and would like to join us this week for our colour challenge.

Tine :)

Other Challenges I would like to enter my card for:
Mo's Digital - Spring colours & make your own flowers
Allsorts - make your own flowers
Rubber Cafe - fun folds
Prairie Fairy - inspired by a song (Little Bird by Annie Lennox)
Tuesday Taggers - inspired by a song (Little Bird by Annie Lennox)
Bunny Zoe - spring flowers
Crazy4Challenges - flowers
Simply Create - power of flowers
Paper Garden Projects - Spring things
Everybody Art - Spring.