Under the Sea with Melia!

Couldn't wait to show you this beauty from Mo Manning - I just love her.  It's Melia on her Shell Phone  just calling to say hi! 

The paper background is Kaiser Crafts Utopia and as it's so dramatic I didn't use any other papers. I also thought the flowers were a little shell-like. I hope I've created an underwater scene with Melia surrounded by lots of seaweed.  The large leaves are Tim Holtz Tattered Leaves, there's a Memory Box Chloe Die, a Cheery Lyn Vine die and also used a Fir Cone die which sort of looked like smaller seaweed plants!

I've dotted some dew drops around the netting  and also added some Spica glitter pen to the conch shell and star fish in her hair. 

Finally I added a little border at the bottom - it's of an upside down Martha Stewart Icicle punch!  The sentiment is from the Cupcake Party Set by Crafty Secrests and the little cabouchon flower was from Ebay!

That's me done then - have a fab weekend everyone!

Boxes!!

No card tonight but just thought I'd show you a couple of  memory boxes that I decorated for wedding shower presents for my nieces.  This first one was made this year for my niece who is getting married on Friday the 13th!!!  

I've covered it with distress inked Portabello Road 12x12 papers from Papermania. 

 I've also lined the inside with some advertising 12x12 papers.  It's rather nice with the glass lid so that you can keep treasures and keepsakes in it, wedding day or otherwise.

The flowers were made with a Spellbinder die and then I've added some lace and some Tim Holtz metal corners and label plate on the front. 

The next box, I made in 2010 but have just realised that I'd not blogged it - think it may be because the pics are  not so great. 

It started out as a plain brown gift box, which I covered with white acrylic paint and then crackled and distressed it up a bit.  The large corner flourishes are Viva stamps and I made the metal C and A plate from metal sheets,as I did the hinges which wer cut with a Tim Holtz die.

You can just see the fake eschuteon on the front, again cut with a Tim Holz, and although it doesn't unlock (no hole!) I blacked out the centre to make it more realistic.

You can just see the Tim Holtz corners here (same as used on the first box) and also a bit of the edging on the centre plate - I love metal working like this and don't do nearly enough (despite doing a class a couple of years ago at the Craft Barn!). The lace that I've used is also vintage for that final finishing touch.

Thank goodness it's Friday tomorrow, and the weekend is nearly here!!  Yayyhhh!

It's a Cupcake Kind of Day!

Yes, it's time to abandon your diets and throw out the scales, we have a yummy theme of Ice Cream and Cupcakes for you this week at a Passion for Promarkers, as chosen by our fabby Heidi! 

I've gone with this brilliant image from Mo's Digital Pencil called The Cupcake Thief which you can find here, I love the sense of movement she has and her facial expression!!

My papers are Basic Grey Nook and Pantry - I've  distressed the edges for a bit of texture.  The stamps are cut with some ancient Provocraft dies and I coloured the edges with my PMs to get the exact colour match I needed.  The little cupcake stamp has been in my stash an age too - probably a bargain bin purchase.  The sentiment is by Cat's Life Press.  I do have a sentiment that says  It's a Cupcake Kind of Day but couldn't remember where it was - I have now, too late, but it was a Kraftin Kimmie one which would have been perfect!!

Our sponsor this week is the fabulous Joanna Sheen and there's a very yummy £10 voucher on offer for one lucky PFP challenge entry!

 

For more yumminess, check out the mouthwatering cards made by my fellow teamies at PFP!  Enjoy!!

Favourite Colour Combo at Basic Grey

Oops - a bit late this morning - it was just too cosy in bed and I don't very often get a chance for a lie-in!  My hair looks a bit like this bed-head beauty's tresses!

This is my card for the new challenge at Basic Grey Challenges and our theme is your

Favourite Colour Combo.  What to choose, what to choose, so many favourites, and so little time!!  In the end I was drawn by the papers in my new PB&J and What's Up pads and went for Red and Duck Egg Blue - I do absolutely love these colours together and the pads are fabulous! 

The image is a A Day for Daisies from the Birds in my Hair collection.  Colouring looks a bit top heavy though - she looks like she's got the wrong colour foundation on!!

I've used a couple of Tim Holtz dies to go with the bird theme - Bird Cage and the Twiggy Tree die.  I've added some blossoms cut with a Stampin Up punch and a few centre pearls.

I've seen a few people in blog world using this torn edge technique for their sentiments and so thought I'd try it out! 

Now on to the business end - we're being sponsored, as always, by the fabulous Simon Says Stamp and we have a $25 voucher on offer for the lucky winner. 

 PLEASE, please remember that you have to use a Basic Grey product on  your card to be eligible!

My fabbie BG DT maties have made some gorgeous cards in some wonderful colour combos to share with you, so check them out here.

Off to get dressed now! 

It's hopping time with Mo's Dream Team!!



Ooh I love the third Thursday in the month when Mo's Dream Team all come together and have a little hop to show you a selection of the fab Mo Manning's images.

This month, the theme has been chosen by our awesome Debbie P, and she's chosen

ETHNIC SKIN TONES

Hopefully, if you're hopping, you should have arrived here from the uber-fab Jane's blog, if not, and you want to start at the beginning, hop back here to the lovely

 Debbie P's blog.

Yikes - ethnic skin colouring is a  first for me, but so great to have a go and here is my little beauty, called Waiting for the Parade which you can find here.  She looks a little blotchy in my pics but overall  I was quite pleased with the result!!

The papers are a bit of mix from a new 12x12 pad  by Grace Taylor called Vintage, I think there's some Echo Park  scraps in there too!

The sentiment is from Whimsy stamps, the corner dies are Memory Box and the Pom Poms, hhm not sure but the fab flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts. 

Next stop on the hop is the ever awesome, Heidy - I bet she has a stunner of a card to share with you!!  Don't forget to leave a comment on each of the DT's posts as there are a couple of $5 dollar vouchers hidden somewhere for a couple of lovely peeps!!

Have fun and thanks so much for playing along with us!!

Get stepping at Whiff of Joy Challenges!

We have a new challenge for you today at Whiff of Joy Challenges and the challenge is to make a stair-step card!  I rather like these types of cards as you can get so much depth to your design

I used the fabulous A Boy and His Star, and look, at his tiny little friend!

My papers are a mix of Authentic and some sheets that I bought years ago that are a bit shabby chic but I have no idea of the name!

The stars and clouds are again Tando Creative wooden shapes that I used as a template and then I've added some Distress Ink and some faux stitching round the edges. I thought this little half moon charm was a perfect extra.

The little wooden letter tiles were a fairly recent purchase but I can't for the life of me think where from!  Old I tell you, I'm getting old!!

We have a wonderful regular sponsor this challenge and that is Whiff of Joy themselves, and the fabulous Katharina is offering the lucky winner a 15% discount on their next order!!

I just know that my awesome DT maties have made so awesome cards to inspire you, so nip on over here to take look see!!

Must dry my hair now or I'll miss my train!!

All the nice girls love a Sailor!

I love little boys in sailor suits - in fact, my two page boys were dressed in little sailor suits many moons ago, and they were both little blonde cuties!! Well and truly grown up now but they looked so sweet on the day!! 

This little sweetie is one of the new sailor boy images by Mo Manning from the multi-stamp set, Sailor Boys - you get two other gorgeous little guys and some toy soldiers and a dog image!!

I've used some Stampin Up papers, a Martha Stewart Bubble punch round the page set, a Whiff of Joy corner punch and some buttons and ribbons from stash.  You may just see that I was so eager to take my pics that the button glue wasn't quite dry and is slowly slipping off!!

That's it  - just wanted to share this cutie!!

Good morning - it's time for a new challenge at Sketch N Stash and this fortnight we have a free sketch choice for you.  Nip on over to the SNS  Challenge blog and take a peek a the back catalogue - loads of fabulous sketches to choose from.

I've actually picked a very recent sketch, number 88, as I enjoyed using it so much.

Another male card from me - using this fab Super hero digi  image from Kenny K - which I sent to my Pa for Father's Day here in the UK yesterday.

I used Basic Grey Wander papers which have been in my stash awhile and a Tim Holtz On the Edge Die, Townscape, for the houses. 

For the clouds, I drew round some wooden Tando clouds that I bought more recently but have decided to keep them to use as templates rather that use them up!! I also curled them at the edges and added some Stormy Sky Distress Ink for a slightly more moody look!  

This challenge is being sponsored by the fab Di at Di's Digi Downloads with an amazing 5 digi images of the winner's choice to the lucky person!!

You can see the fabulous makes by my teamies at SNS here, if you like some inspiration to join in with us!

It's raining here in London this morning (again!) which is just what you want for the journey into work - hope you have a better start to your week!

I needed a girly fix!!!

While the hubster was watching the footie tonight ( is any one else sick of it already!!) I decided to have a girly fix after making so many male cards!!  What better way to do that than use a gorgeous Saturated Canary Image - this is Cerridwen, what a beauty!.  I've used the current sketch from Sketch Saturday and also the photo inspiration from the new Simon Says stamp challenge!.

 

We actually had our first bit of sun for ages here in the  UK today, so hope that wasn't our summer over!!

I've coloured her with my Flexmarkers and used some new K&Co papers from the Craft Barn, Memory Box dies for the large butterfly and flourishes, PTI die and stamp for the flower sentiment and then loads of flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts and stash!!  Glittered the flowers and smaller butterflies for some extra girliness - ooohh I feel much better now!! 

I'm entering my card into the following challenges:

Saturated Canary Challenge - Anything Goes

Simon Says Stamp - Photo Inspiration

Sketch Saturday - Sketch

Nightie night!