MORNING FLOWERS

 Morning Everyone,

I have bought a few Altenew products from a lady on Facebook and this is my first attempt at these flowers called Morning Flowers.  

This is a layering stamp set which takes quite a bit of getting used to so there were a few attempts in the bin before I was finally happy.  The dies also come with the set which I have used to cut them out.  The oranges and green are from Altenew mini ink cubes.  They are very useful for this type of stamping with them being in varying shades of the colours you need.  I have used an Altenew watercolour stripe die for the background and extended it sideways for a square card as it wasn't big enough for my normal 5"x7".  The sentiment has been heat embossed in gold and is from a Yvonne Pascal set which I think came free with a magazine years ago.

I would like to enter:

Altenew June Inspiration challenge 

Beautiful Blossoms - Anything floral goes

Simon Says Stamp - Flowers

Thank you for your visit and have a good day.

Lynne x

SENTIMENT OR NOT AT AYLI

Good Morning Everyone,

I hope everyone is well. We have a new challenge starting over at As You Like It and we are asking whether you prefer to have a sentiment on your cards or not (and don't forget to say why please). 

I always put a sentiment on my cards.  I think it finishes them off and it's also the first thing the recipient reads.

I have used these cute dies from Honey Bee stamps again called Bundle of Joy, but this time for a boy. I've just had a look at my last one and can't believe it's 2 years since I made it! Where does the time go to.  I've used the same layout as before, but with snippets of more boyish papers.  The Congrats die is from Creative Expressions and the strip underneath made on the pc.

                                                          The sponsor for the challenge is:

I would like to enter:

Crafty Calendar - Add a Sentiment

Crafty Catz - Anything Goes

Penny's Paper Crafty - Anything Goes

Snippets Playground - Baby clothes and hangers are snippets, but no photo, sorry

Paper Funday Challenge - Anything Goes

I look forward to seeing your entries, have a good day.  I am cat sitting this week while the daughter is away and go twice a day to feed him so that's what I will be doing next.

See you soon,

Lynne x

WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY?

 Morning Everyone,

A new challenge starts today at Allsorts and the theme is "What Makes You Happy?" and there's always "Anything Goes" as well.

There are a lot of things that make me happy but I have gone for colouring, flowers and die cutting.  Colouring can make me happy when it turns out right, but it can also be quite frustrating when it doesn't and I do love to see all the lovely flowers at this time of year.

For my card I have used two Penny Black products.  The stamp is an old wooden one, but you can buy a more modern clear version now from Buddly Crafts. I have coloured with copics and cut them out with a double stitched square and cut the top off with a Penny Black happy edger die and coloured that with various shades of pink.  The floral DP is from a BoBunny pad.

There are two prizes this week from Buddly Crafts, a Penny Black stamp and a die set:

                                                   

I would like to enter:

PIP Challenge 2522 - Anything Goes

Classic Design Challenge - Anything Goes

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - Anything Goes

Stamping Sensations - Our Furry Friends

We Love Stamping - Nature

Paper Funday Challenge - Anything Goes

Penny Black Saturday - AG/Stitching

Thank you for yur visit and I will be back soon.

Lynne x

EMBOSSING AT AYLI

 Morning Everyone,

Today is te start of a new challenge over at As You Like It and we are asking for a project showing your favourite way to emboss (wet/dry).

I use heat embossing more, especially for sentiments, as I think it makes them look a bit more special.  For this card I have heat embossed the sentiment, which is from Simon Says Stamp, in silver, used a Stampin Up Blooming Heart die and a double stitched square die to cut it all out. Pearls and clear gems, which look like little black dots in the photo, have finished it off.

The sponsor for the challenge is:

You can pop over here to see the inspiration from the rest of the team. Thank you for your visit and I will be back soon.

Lynne x

FLOWERS IN BLOOM

 Morning Everyone,

I hope you are having a good Bank Holiday (here in UK).  We're going to a wedding on Wednesday and also have the son and his girlfriend moving in very soon while they wait for their new build to be finished so I've been quite busy getting rooms ready etc., but this is a card I managed to make over the weekend.

The stamp is from MFT called Flowers in Bloom and I stamped in black and heat embossed in clear embossing powder.  I have coloured with my zig watercolour markers and added the embossed sentiment, also from MFT, in white.  The papers are oddments from my paper mountain.

I would like to enter:

Passion for Markers - Anything Goes

Simon Says Weds - Bright & Cheerful

Beautiful Blossoms - Anything Floral

Colorful Options May - Orange and yellow used

On with the preparations and also have a couple of plants to put in the garden too.

See you soon,

Lynne x

16TH BIRTHDAY AT ALLSORTS

Morning Everyone,

Today is the start of a special 16th Birthday challenge at Allsorts where the theme is Anything Goes.  This is my card to help celebrate.

Although I've had these for a while, it is the first outing for my pinwheels which is a stencil set from The Greetery.  They were really easy to colour with the help of the stencils and various shades of ink.  I don't have the die set so I cut them out with circle dies and then fussy cut round the little pointy bits.  They were then placed on a double stitched rectangle.  Enamel dots were added to the centres and I made more little dots in the same colours and added glossy accents.  The sentiment is also from The Greetery. 

Because it's a special challenge there are many prizes to be won:

Four prizes of products from AALL and Create

                                               

and Three prizes just for our US based entrants:

A $25 store voucher from Lawn Fawn

Three stamps from Colorado Craft Company

A $25 store voucher from Gina K Designs (Worldwide)

I would like to enter:

Classic Design - Anything Goes

Colourful Options - Green, Orange and Yellow used from the colour palette

Simon Says Weds - Bright and Cheerful

Creative Knockouts - Real or Faux stitching

Crazy is our fame - Stencils are our game - Pinwheel stencils used

I look forward to seeing all your lovely entries. Have a good weekend.

Lynne x

FAVOURITE SKETCH?

 Morning Everyone,

A new challenge starts today over at As You Like It and we are asking for your favourite sketch.

When the image allows I do like this sketch.  I think it's simple and effective, but it doesn't suit all images.

For my bright card I have used a Penny Black stamp, Golden Dance, coloured with copics and cut out with a Sizzix oval die.  I've added 3 strips of dotty paper from a Doodlebug pad, pearls and a LOTV sentiment.

I would like to enter:

Beautiful Blossoms - Anything Floral Goes

Colorful Options - Using Orange and Green from the mood board

Penny Black Saturday - Anything Goes

Penny's Paper Crafty - Anything Goes

The Crafting Challenge - Flowers

Word Art Wednesday - Anything Goes

Thank you for taking the time to visit and I will see you soon.

Lynne x

ROSE GARDEN

Morning Everyone,

I hope you've had a good weekend.  I've been potting up plants in the greenhouse but when it got too warm for me I had a play in the craft room and this is the card I came up with.

It is a stamp from MFT call Rose Garden which I have coloured with copics. I've added a sentiment from a Simon Says Stamp set and the butterfly is from Hero Arts.  A fairly quick (apart from the colouring) and straight forward card. I'm not sure about the blue on the butterfly, but I have coloured blue around the image so it ties in with that.

I would like to enter:

Passion for Markers - Make It Bloom

Simon Says Weds - Beautiful Blooms

Word Art Wednesday - Anything Goes

Beautiful Blossoms - Anything Floral Goes

PIP Challenge 2519 - Anything Goes

Thank you for your visit and I will be back later in the week.

Lynne x

PAPER PIECING

Morning Everyone,

A new challenge starts at Allsorts today and as well as Anything Goes the optional theme, which I have chosen, is paper piecing.

I have used my Woodware sneakers stamp for this and paper pieced the sneakers with the spotty paper from a Maja Design pad called Denim & Friends.  

The other two papers used are from the same pad and I've backed them with kraft cardstock and inked gently around the edges of the stitched square.  The sneakers have been shaded lightly with copics and the sentiments are from LOTV,

Our prize this fortnight is a £25 store voucher from Personal Impressions (inc pps, winner meets costs of any additional spend).  PI are proud to represent over 70 brands from global, recognisable brands to small, niche and new.

Also just to give you some advance notice it is the 16th birthday of Allsorts coming up and there will be a special birthday challenge on 24th May.

Thank you for taking the time to visit and I will be back later in the week.

Lynne x

SOFT OR BOLD COLOURS?

Morning Everyone,

I hope you are enjoying the lovely sunny weather we are having here in the UK at the moment.  I think today is going to be the hottest day of the week.

A new challenge starts today over at As You Like It and we are asking whether you prefer to use soft or bold colours on your projects. 

I do like using both but when it comes to making children's cards I prefer to use bolder colours. I think they stand out and grab their attention more than soft colours.

For my card I have used a cute monkey image from Last Minute Manda and coloured him with copics.  I have used a MFT cloud stencil for the background and the green starry paper is from a LOTV pad. The sentiment is from Lawn Fawn.

The sponsor for the challenge is:

with a voucher for the lucky winner

I would like to enter:

Simon Says Weds - Anything Goes

Passion for Markers - Birthdays

Critter Crazy - AG featuring a critter

Thank you for visiting and I look forward to seeing your entries.

Lynne x

JAPANESE ANEMONE

Hello Everyone,

I hope you are well and have had a good weekend.  I have a card to share which has been in the making for at least a week.  This is mainly due to lack of mojo and being busy elsewhere, but I did want to get it finished for a few challenges I've seen.

I've used a set from Altenew called Japanese Anemone Layering Die and inked them up with a few different pinks.  I say a few I mean three as the first two were a bit too pale.  The stems and leaves were die cut in green and then shaded with a green copic.  I arranged them onto a Spellbinders arch die and heat embossed the sentiment, also from an Altenew set, in white.  The backing paper is a random sheet I found in my drawer.

I would like to enter:

Altenew April Inspiration Challenge

Beautiful Blossoms - Anything Floral

Die Cut Divas - Flowers

I will probably go out and do a bit more gardening now.  I did some this morning until it got too warm for me.  I can't work in the heat.  Thank you for visiting and I will be back later in the week.

Lynne x

INSPIRED BY A SONG

Morning Everyone,

It's the start of a new challenge over at Allsorts where the theme, as chosen by Sarah, is 'Inspired by a Song' and there's always 'Anything Goes' too.

My song is Flowers by Miley Cyrus.  I'm not a fan of hers but I do like the song and I have plenty of flower images to chose from.  I decided to use my Concord & 9th set again called Hello Lovely.  I've coloured with copics and used a MFT scalloped border and a snippet of lilac paper from a LOTV paper pad.  The sentiment which has been heat embossed in white is also from MFT.

There are three prizes of die sets from In2Craft

I would like to enter:

Digi Choosday - Anything Goes

Beautiful Blossoms - Anything Floral

Crafty Catz - Feminine Birthday

Simon Says Weds - Make It Girly

Penny's Paper Crafty - Anything Goes

I hope you can join us, two weeks to enter, and have a lovely weekend.

Lynne x

CLEAN OR FUSSY?

 Mornng Everyone,

A new challenge starts over at As You Like It this morning and we are asking whether you prefer your projects to be clearn or fussy.

Most of my cards nowadays are on the clean side, mainly due to postage, but when I get the chance to make a special card I do love a bit of fussiness.  

This card was for an aunt who loves to receive my cards so I went all out with the flowers etc.  The papers are from Pion Design and the numbers are from a Stampin Up set with the sentiment from LOTV.  I've had the flowers for a very long time and they are from Wild Orchid Crafts.

The sponsor for the challenge is:

with a voucher for the lucky winner

Have a lovely day.  It looks as though it's going to be a sunny one here. 

Lynne x

STENCILS AND/OR MASKS

Morning Everyone,

I hope everyone is well.  I've been poorly all week with a chest infection and haven't had the enrgy or felt well enough to do anything.  Such a shame as it was such beautiful weather too.  

We have a new challenge starting over at Allsorts where, as well as Anything Goes, we have the option of Stencils/masks as chosen by Val.

For my card I have used a Waffle Flower Butterfly which has it's own co-ordinating stencil and I've used this with Altenew inks.  I die cut a second layer of the butterfly in green glitter card, but you can't see it in the pitcture.  The background stencil is from a company called CrafTreat.   The stencil was cut out with a double stitched square and layered onto green card.  The sentiment has been heat embossed in gold and is from an old Penny Black set.

Ther are two prizes, the first from Lisa Horton Crafts, Pansy Corner layering stencils with coordinating die and embossing folder. 

and an extra prize of 2 stencils

I hope you will be able to join us and look forward to seeing your entries in the next two weeks.

Lynne x

PINK CHRISTMAS

Hello All,

I decided to have a play with my Simply Wonderful die and stamp set from The Greetery that I've had for ages and never used.   

I heat embossed all sentiments in silver and cut the 'wonderful' with the co-ordinating die.  I then cut flowers and foliage from Spellbinders Christmas blooms set, flowers in pink and foliage in silver cardstock.  It took me ages, on and off, to decide on the layout but got there in the end and added bling to the centres of the flowers and attached it all to more silver sheen card.

I would like to enter:

ABC Christmas - E for embossing and F for focal sentiment

Christmas Kickstart - Positively Poinsettias

Creative knockouts - Embossing Delight

NBUS  - never before used stuff

Word Power April challenge  - Sentiment as focus

Have a good weekend and lets hope the weather stays as nice as it has been today here in the UK.

Lynne x

FLORAL OR CUTE?

 Morning Everyone,

There's a new challenge starting over at As You Like It and we're asking whether you prefer to make Floral or Cute projects and don't forget to say why please.

I make a lot more floral than cute cards so for me it must be floral, although it does depend on who the card is for.  For this card I have used a Taylored Expresssions stamp heat embossed in gold onto watercolour paper and coloured with Zig clean colour brush markers.  The Hello is an old Spellbinders one cut in mirri card.

The sponsor for the challenge is:

I would like to enter:

Gem of a Craft - Anything Goes

Passion for Markers - Anything but Birthday

Thank you for your visit and I look forward to seeing your makes.

Lynne x

STITCHED BLOOMS

Afternoon Enveryone,

 I hope you've had a good weekend.  It has been a gorgeous day here for Mothering Sunday.  I would normally like to get out and do some tidying in the garden, but haven't had time today with visits from the family.

My card made over the weekend in between everything else has been made to join in with the Seven Hills Crafts challenge where the theme is to use a stencil, die and sentiment, but not from the same sets.

I haven't used my Stitched Blooms dies from MFT for ages so decided to use them, together with a Punched Pattern stencil from MFT and sentiment from The Greetery.

I inked up the stencil first in Distress Oxides, tattered rose and shaded lilac and Sunray from Altenew then die cut the flowers in papers as near as I could get to the colours.  The sentiment was stamped and die cut with the matching die from the Birthday Blooms set and a few sparkly enamel dots added to finish.

I would like to enter:

Seven Hills Crafts - Use a stencil, die and sentiment.

Beautiful Blossoms - Anything Floral

Digi Choosday - Anything Goes

Simon Says Weds - Anything Goes

Thank you for visiting and have a good week.

Lynne x

SPRING FLOWERS

Morning Everyone,

It's the start of a new challenge today over at Allsorts  where Ellie has chosen the theme of "Spring Flowers" alongside the "Anything Goes" that you can also use.

For my card I have used a Power Poppy image Tulips in Pitcher and coloured it with copics.  I have cut it out with a Spellbinders die and after a rummage through my pile of papers have chosen colours to match the flowers from an old LOTV pad.  The sentiment is from a Honey Bee stamps set.

There is a randam selection of stamps and stencils from AALL and Create for the winners

I would like to enter:

Beautiful Blossoms - Anything floral

Last Minute Manda challenge - Anything Goes coloured

Disdigidesign - 2 or more Patterned Papers

Creative Knockouts - Spring is in the air

We Love Stamping - Hello Spring

Simon Says Weds - Anything Goes

I look forward to seeing your lovely creations. Have a good weekend.

Lynne x

FUN FOLDS AT AYLI

 Morning Everyone,

There is a new challenge starting over at As You Like It and we would like you to share your favourite fun fold.

I don't make many fun folds so when I do it is usually an easier one like this z-fold. I don't think I'd have the patience for more complicated ones.

For my card I have used an image from an old art pad from LOTV and stamped with a sentiment from a Penny Black set.  I have then cut it out with a Spellbinders arch die and layered up with beige coloured card.  The flowered paper is also from an old LOTV paper pad.

The sponsor for the challenge is:

with a voucher for the lucky winner

I would like to enter:

PIP Challenge 2511 - Anything Goes

Beautiful Blossoms Anything Floral Goes

Crafts Galore - Anything Goes

Crafty Calendar - Anything Goes

DigiChoosday - Anything Goes

We look forward to seeing your fun folds. Have a good day.

Lynne x

FEMININE AT ALLSORTS

 Morning Everyone,

A new challenge starts at Allsorts this morning and the optional theme is "Feminine", alongside "Anything Goes".

This card was for my sister-in-law's birthday and I've used a 12" sheet of paper from a pad from the Works and Spellbinders dies for the edgers and fancy floral.  I have an abundance of paper flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts so dug some out to match the peachy tones of the paper and arranged them around the oval.

The 70 has been cut from gold mirri card and the sentiment, which is from an old Dreamees set,  heat embossed in gold.  A few pearls here and there finish it off.

There are two prizes on offer from Stamp Addicts, stamps and stencils

I would like to enter:

Crafty Catz - Anything Goes

Simon Says Weds - A Bit o' Green

Creative Moments - For a Special Lady

Crafts Galore - Anything Goes

Beautiful Blossoms - Anything Floral

I hope you can join us and I look forward to seeing your entries.

Have a good weekend.

Lynne x

MONOCHROME OR COLOUR?

Morning Everyone,

A new challenge starts over at As You Like It this morning and we are asking whether you prefer to make monochrome or colour projects and don't forget to say why please.

I seem to have a mental blockage with monochrome and much prefer colour on my cards, especially when they are for children.  I bought this Avery Elle stamp set and dies in a Flashback Friday sale at Seven Hills Crafts.  They don't have them every week but everything is really reasonable and I paid £5 for the stamp set and dies together.  I thought they would be good for the childrens cards I make for charity.

I coloured three of the monsters with copics and cut them out. I used a scalloped die for the three circles and added the monsters behind different coloured backgrounds.  It looked a bit plain so I added a thin circle of colour around each one by die cutting two circles together, then added their feet.  

The sponsor for the challenge is:

with a voucher for the winner

Have a good day and I look forward to seeing your entries.

Lynne x

MAKE IT CAS AT ALLSORTS

 Morning Everyone,

A new challenge starts today at Allsorts and Helen has chosen the theme 'CAS' and there is always Anything Goes too.

 I am often stumped with CAS cards, especially birthdays, so I opted for a Christmas card.  I have used a cute digi stamp from Gerda Steiner and coloured him with copics.  The sentiment is from a Woodware stamp set and I have just cut him out with a stiched rectangle and glued him to the front of a red card.  This is a small card, A6 I think.

There are three prizes from Oakwood Direct, A5 stamp set, coordinating stamp and die and stencils

I would like to enter:

ABC Christmas -  C is for cute

Word Art Wednesday - Anything Goes

Simon Says Stamp Weds - Anything Goes

CRAFT - Christmas

Gem of a Craft - Anything Goes

I look forward to seeing your entries, thank you for visiting and have a good weekend.

Lynne x

FEMININE or MASCULINE?

Morning Everyone,

It's the start of a new challenge at As You Like It and we are asking whether you prefer to make feminine or masculine projects and don't forget to say why please.

For me it's definitely feminine. I'm fine with cards for young boys but when it comes to adult I always struggle for inspiration and, if I do make a male card, I'm normally not very happy with it.  Also, I have so many flower dies/stamps and embellishments to use.

For my card  I have used a Stampin Up woodgrain embossing folder for the background, a Craft Consortium circle die, an Altenew die cut sentiment and Spellbinders Be Bold Blooms for the flowers, which were cut from snippets.  A proper variety of brands for this one!

Some of the snippets used:

The sponsor for the challenge is:

with a voucher for the lucky winner

I would like to enter:

PIP Challenge #2507  - Anything Goes

Beautiful Blossoms - Anything Floral

Crafts Galore - Anything Goes

Snippets Playground - Celebration using snippets (all flowers)

I look forward to see your entries and thank you for your visit.

Lynne x