In the Garden at Allsorts

Hello friends and visitors it's time for a new challenge at 

Allsorts where the optional theme, chosen by Gail, is

In the Garden (anything goes is also very welcome)

Two prizes of Lavinia stamps 

Here is my contribution to the inspiration

I used a grey rubber LOTV stamp (and sentiment) for this little card. It's another very old set that I had shamefully forgotten all about. It was lovely to colour and I chose a favourite colour combo blue and Kraft. The papers are old and the cover missing but I think they might be Bo Bunny and Doodlebug Designs. For an added gardeny extra I added some bakers twine.

I have been on annual leave the past week and, my word, we've had ALL the weather. Frost, icy winds, rain and 23 degree sunshine too. We took a trip to the coast on Wednesday and it was glorious to enjoy an ice cream in shirt sleeves. We bought a new rambling rose, clematis and some shrubs to go in the borders, it was so good to get in the garden again. Speaking of which we would LOVE to see your garden themed cards/projects so hope that you will play along.

See you soon xx

NOTE TO SELF, PUBLISH YOUR POST WHEN YOU EDIT, NOT UPDATE!!

Simple or Fussy at AYLI

 Hello and welcome. I have a man card to share with you today.

It's James the Bear and he is my DT make for the new theme at

where the theme is

Simple or Fussy

You will know by now that I have enough paper pads to last me several lifetimes so I like to include them on my cards wherever possible. That said I don't usually use frills, gems, ribbon or the like and keep my designs fairly simple to showcase the papers. Simple cards are also slimmer and therefore less costly to post. 

He never fails to make me smile and is always a joy to colour. He is grey rubber and one of the early Lili of the Valley stamps. He was coloured with Promarkers to match the backing papers, the check from a My Favourite Things pad and the spot from a Bo Bunny pad. I "glassed" up his lager with glossy accents. The postmark sentiment was also a LOTV  stamp set, clear this time, but, again, fairly old.

Man cards aren't my favourite to make but I made an exception with this special card, made for our eldest Son who had his Birthday on Easter Monday. I surely can't be old enough to have a 36 year old!!

Anyway, we have had some super weather here for two whole days, the jumper and wellies came off and we even took a trip to the coast yesterday where it was actually too blooming hot!! A good excuse for an ice cream though!!

Wherever you are in the world I hope the weather is being kind.

See you soon xx

WLS Spring TIme

Happy April everyone!! A new month and a new challenge at

WE LOVE STAMPING where it's SPRING!! Anything goes is also welcome as long as there is a stamped feature on your card/project.

Two prizes of Lavinia stamps

I have been a little bit naughty and purchased a new digi stamp, Tulip jug from  Lili of the Valley, well at half price it would have been rude not to!!

I did, however, redeem myself by using an old MME paper pad, Fine and Dandy Girl. I picked out Promarkers to match colours in the papers and really enjoyed colouring the tulips.

 The sentiment is from a Craftwork Cards die cut set, goodness knows how old they are and I only have a handful of these oval ones left now, so useful. 

I am pleased to report that I am getting the hang of the pesky laptop and it made me smile to read some comments on my previous post from the vigilant visitors who noticed I hadn't posted my DT piece for Allsorts. 

With Easter a hop, skip and a jump away I will wish you a blessed weekend. I think the Easter Bunny might get a little bit soggy here in rural Dorset while laying out the clues for the egg hunt, but I am reliably informed that she gets any leftovers!!

Toodle pip for now xx

Springtime at Allsorts

 Holy moly, I am going to be sacked!! In my plight with my new laptop I forgot to schedule my post for Allsorts...better late than never.

Hello friends and visitors

It's Springtime at Allsorts Challenge this time (Anything Goes is also welcome though)

Two Penny Black Stamps available from Buddly Crafts

I haven't entered challenges for a very long time but the stamp I am using was a prize from We Love Stamping and it's perfect for this theme. Julie Hickey Designs Peter's daffodils.

I used papers from a Doodlebug Designs pad, the cover is long gone I'm afraid but there was definitely spring in the title. I coloured the gorgeous daffs with my Promarkers, added some ribbon and cotton lace and used the companion tag/sentiment set from Mama Elephant. 

We have had some spring like weather but my word it's been bitterly cold and windy too. Hopefully it will warm up quite soon.

See you next week xx

AYLI Embellishment

Hello everyone thank you for paying a visit.

I am here with my inspiration for the new challenge at

the theme is "Favourite Embellishment"

I love enamel dots. They come in pretty much every colour under the sun and are flatter than pearls so don't leave a dent in the envelope.

 I am still using my stash and found this lovely Woodware birdy and sentiment (Its so old I couldn't find it but there is a similar set here). I knew the kind of colours I wanted to use so found some enamel dots and cardstock scraps first, trimmed them to fit the A5 card and then embossed them using one of my many embossing folders. Then I found the right colour Promarkers and coloured the sweet little bird.

It's a wonder I am here at all. My blogging has been seriously curtailed as my poor old laptop died. I have welcomed a new one into my life but found that I couldn't comment using my blogspot profile, had changed my password and didn't save it...oh my life, what a nightmare!! I am not clever enough to do it on my phone nor was I able to on my tablet. Thankfully (family) IT support helped out so I am playing catch up now and getting to know my new tech.

Thank you for allowing me to let off steam!! I hope that you are all well and that you are tempted to join us with you favourite embellishment.

See you soon xx

Wildlife at We Love Stamping

There is still  time at We Love Stamping so I am here with a reminder to come and join in. 

I have had such a fab time not spending money and using my forgotten stash and this make is just one of the products.

It fits the bill but doesn't look very "wild" though, more like wildly cute!!

 Remember Wild Rose Studio?!! Well, this is one of their elephants that I coloured with alcohol markers that I found in Aldi, and they are blooming fabulous too!! The paperpad is a Trimcraft one and the pretty die cut flower is made with the first floral die set I ever bought, it's a My Favorite things set.

There's ample time to make something to share with us, you'd be made most welcome xx

Things with Wings at Allsorts

Happy weekend everyone. 

At Allsorts this time Lynne has chosen the optional theme and we would love to see your projects featuring 

Things with Wings (anything goes also welcome too)

Prize of $30 gift card from Taylored Expressions and extra prize of an A4 stamp set.

 Oce more I have had a good old rummage and found a really sweet Little Claire Designs clear stamp. I also found another very old My Minds Eye paper pad that had just the right sized designs that I was looking for so the little hen and her comfy cushion were coloured to match. The doily was made using an equally old Joy Crafts die and the sweet flowers were from a shop whose name has escaped my ageing brain. I want to say Wild Orchid Crafts but I might be wrong!! Finished off with a lovely Craftwork Cards sentiment badge. Wow, that really has been a trip down memory lane using all those old products!!

If you've made it this far with all my waffling I hope that you have a lovely weekend, wherever and whatever you are doing. It's Mothers Day here in the UK on Sunday so it would be nice to see a little bit of sunshine.

See you soon xx

Favourite person to craft for at AYLI

 It's a lovely theme for you at

As You Like It Challenge 

Your favourite person to craft for

I have many favourites that I like to create handmade gifts/cards for. Over the last couple of years I have dabbled in journal making so really enjoy the process of sitting quietly and fussy cutting while listening to a book or watching a good crime box set on TV. This kit is from Angela Kerr Designs and is perfect for this time of year. There are lots of tags, labels and general ephemera within the kit and she does fabulous tutorials too.

I have added cotton lace to the edges of some pages too.

Thank you for stopping by and I hope that you will be inspired to join us at AYLI.

See you soon xx

World Wildlife at We Love Stamping

It's World Wildlife day on March 3rd so we've used that as our optional theme at

We Love Stamping

  Of course you can share anything just as long as there is a stamped image on your project.

Here's what I made

The wildlife and words are from a Clearly Besotted stamp set called Wild Thing. It's not on the website so, I suspect, retired now as it is an old set. I stamped the characters coloured them with Promarkers and fussy cut them. The sky was made with an inked Dutch Dubadoo cloud stencil and tumbled glass DI. The "savannah" was created using a very old Memory Box grass die ( I can't find it anywhere, it's that old!!). I doodled a border for a bit of interest to finish it off.

 Two prizes of AALL and Create stamps and stencil (photos not to scale)

  

Thank you for your visit. See you soon xx

Ribbons and Bows at Allsorts

 Hello friends and visitors, it's my turn to host at 

Allsorts Challenge this week and my optional theme is 

Ribbons and Bows

I am a hoarder, I make no apology, but I have mountains full of ribbons, many that I won in days gone by when I entered lots of challenges, and others that were absolutely necessary purchase (much like the embossing folders!!). So, with that in mind I am using a little bit of ribbon on my makes.

Here I used an Impression Obsession rubber stamp on parchment using Rich Cocoa Memento ink, tore the edges and stuck to some criss crossed organza and grosgrain ribbon that matched the paper. 

I used a lot more ribbon on my next example using a tutorial that I found on You Tube

I simply stamped Good Luck to finish it off.

Prize of A5 stamp set, stencil and ribbons and £10 digital download from Polkadoodles

I hope that you have a good weekend and manage to find some crafty time. We are hoping for some dry weather as Mollie and Jackson both had "bikes" for their Birthdays earlier in the year and want to ride them around the stable yard, until now it's been far too wet so we are hoping for a dry...ish weekend!!

See you soon xx

Colour at AYLI

 Hello everyone it's the start of the new challenge at 

As You like It

where Brenda is hosting and the theme is 

Colour (and why)

Blue is not my favourite colour but it is my Sister's favourite so I challenged myself and made a blue card for her Birthday.

I used a grey LOTV stamp and coloured it with Promarkers. My Sis has three Cavaliers so I coloured the pup to look like one of them. My paper pad is an old Joy Crafts one that had heaps of different blue patterns so I layered those. The die cut Sister is from Crafters Companion.

Thank you for calling in and I hope you will be inspired to join in.

See you soon xx

WLS half way Hearts

 Hello friends and visitors, it's half time at

We Love Stamping where Faith's theme is still going strong.

My inspiration this time is a pretty heart laden tag that I hand cut from Kraft card.

Another old set, this time from Marianne Designs Collectables COL1307 which included stamps and dies. So, I first stamped and heat embossed the pink scripty hearts, then filled the gaps  using the same stamp and purple ink. The mat for the heart is purple too as is the stamped "Big Kiss". I had great fun going through my ribbons, yarns and twine and decorated with a heart charm.

There is still time to join us, you'd be most welcome,

Sending you all love today xx

Embossing at Allsorts

 Happy Weekend Friends, we are paying with textures at Allsorts Challenge this week where the optional theme is Embossing (Dry or Wet) otherwise Anything Goes is most welcome.

I am a shocker, I have lots of embossing folders that were "must haves" back in the day but shamefully have had little use. So to put that right I searched through my heaps of folders and chose spots, flowers and a linen texture. I had a plan in mind and tried the design in plain colours first but didn't like it so that went in the bin!! Dug out an old Trimcraft pad instead and made this...

...still using my idea and it worked. The embossed floral layer was inked and heat embossed with clear powder and I inked the other layers so that the embossed detail would show up. My banner is wonky but what the heck!! An artistic whoopsie always adds to the charm I think!!

The lovely prize is this...

Lisa Horton Rambling Woodgrain Rose embossing folder and coordinating stencils.

Looking forward to seeing you there xx

Cute or Elegant At As You Like It Challenge

Hello friends I am back in my comfort zone today with my DT piece for

 where Elaine is hosting and the theme is

Cute or Elegant.

It will come as no surprise to my followers that I have gone with cute. I just love the cute genre, people, animals, and houses. You name it, if it's cute I will love colouring it!! Not to mention I can always find a patterned paper that fits!!

Here's what I made this time

a cute card for our Grandson, Jackson, who was 3 years old at the beginning of the month.

This time I hooked out a memory stick to find a cute digital image, this one fit the bill and I coloured him with Promarkers. The papers are also digital. I can't find the provenance of either I'm afraid. 

I hope that you will go and share some love with the team and take inspiration and join us.

See you soon xx

Hearts at We Love Stamping

 Love is all around at We Love Stamping this month where Faith has chosen 

💕Hearts💕

or Anything Goes

I used a very old Woodware stamp FRS170 Love that I coloured with Promarkers to match the pretty heart paper that was from First Edition "Sweet Nothings" paper pad. It really was a joy to colour and give some love to an old stamp and die too.

Looks like February is going to be just as wet as January was. I must confess that this winter I have seriously questioned my life choices when mucking out on cold, wet and dark mornings but then I get a lovely kiss from my boy and remember why!! I mean the pony not the Husband!!

Fingers crossed for an early spring. Our daffs are coming out and the snowdrops have been out for a little while now so it's on it's way!!

This was before Storm Chandra when we had a bit of blue sky!!

That's all for now. See you soon xx

Make your own Background at Allsorts

 Donna has chosen the optional theme at Allsorts this time (Anything Goes also welcome).

I've said it many times but I LOVE this DT because the themes encourage me out of my comfort zone to try different techniques and that's what I did with this card.

I have no idea where the stencil came from (Probably a magazine freebie from days gone by when I subscribed to a couple of magazines). Although I rarely use them, I do have quite a selection of Distress Inks in my stash, you know what it's like, see a fab technique, buy the stuff and never use it. I digress, I have a lot of inks, some purchased and some gifted so I thought why not, do some blending and that's what I did. I took the inspiration for the rainbow from the adorable Aall & Create Washi Tape, Flower Dancing. I am SO pleased with the rainbow blend that I achieved and mounted it on shiny black cardstock. The Whimsy Birthday die also shines beautifully and the Happy is just a random stamp.

A set of four background stamps from AALL and Create

Thank you for paying me a visit. See you tomorrow xx 

Favourite Die at AYLI

 Happy Thursday everyone, the weekend is in sight and I am here with my DT piece for

where we are itching to see your favourite dies

I used this as another opportunity to have a hunt through my stash and rekindle love for an old die. In doing so I unearthed Live, Love, Laugh by Frantic Stamper. I do like a BIG die on a card as it adds such a nice feature. Look  here for another card made 10 years ago!!

The lovely stamp is a very old Mollie Blooms, and actually one of my first purchases I think. She was coloured, as usual with Promarkers and I sat her on a wall (background)  made using a couple of papers from a paper pad by Anna Marie Designs. The spotty die cut sentiment was cut from a scrap of paper and, sort of, matches her dress.

I hope those of you in the UK have managed to stay safe during storm Chandra. Our village, once again, became an island and there was widespread deep flooding so many of the roads in the county were closed.

Here is a snap of our own lakes

and  Bumble having a paddle

See you in the not too distant future xx

We Love Stamping

It's midway point at We Love Stamping so I am here to tempt you to join us with another little card featuring the optional theme 

"NEW"

This little darling is from a MFT stamp, New Best Friend, set that I LOVE and have used several times when friends have welcomed new fur babies into their families. The starting point was the little piece of gingham vellum that I found in my "green" drawer together with some spotted embossed card too. I tore the paper edges on the right to add a little texture and heat embossed both stamps, black for the image and white for the sentiment. The image was coloured with Promarkers.

That's all for now. See you soon xx

Men or Boys at Allsorts

 Ellie is holding the fort at Allsorts this time and her optional theme is

Men or Boys (anything goes also welcome)

This is a theme that I struggle with despite  Husband, two Sons and a Grandson!!

I had a little mooch through my paper pads and found a very old Craftwork Cards 8x8 pad called Coastal that inspired me. I have had a lot of fun heat embossing lately so chose a large sentiment stamp set (Mama Elephant, Make a Wish) and used Wow EP in Pepper. Matted and layered three of the papers and Bob's your Uncle...a male card!! 

Two A5 stamp sets from Sweet Poppy

    

Looking forward to seeing what you make. See you soon xx

Favourite Occasion at AYLI.

Hello friends and visitors.

It's time to kick off the first challenge of the year at

and the theme is Favourite Occasion.

In my house there are lots and lots of Birthdays during the next five or so months so I have gone with Birthday as my favourite occasion. They are always useful makes to have in your stash too.

Here is the card that I made for Mollie Rose, our Granddaughter, who turns 9 Today. It's hard to believe where the years have gone. She's a sassy little miss for sure, full of spirit and fun and is a wonderful big sister to Jackson!!

I used a very old BeBunni rubber stamp from Crafters Companion. The papers are from a doodlebug Designs Christmas pad and I cut the 9 freehand from a holographic scrap of card. I coloured the image with my Promarkers and matched the sweeties on top of the cake with the spots on the paper and then added glossy accents. The sentiment was heat embossed and is from a Clearly Besotted sentiment clear stamp set.

Thank you for your company and I hope that 2026 is being kind to you so far.

See you soon xx 

 

All Things New at We Love Stamping

Hello everyone, yes it's me again and I have HUGE news to share.

I was delighted to be invited to join the wonderful team at 

WE LOVE STAMPING

so this is my debut DT project and I am sharing inspiration for our January Challenge

 All Things New, chosen by Mervi

Here's what I made...a new baby card

I had a little tidy up back in December and found a box of Lili of the valley grey rubber stamps so she was perfect for my card. Keeping with the theme of older stash I used an old My Minds Eye paper pad called...and used Promarkers to colour the adorable image in shades to match. I even added some old cheesecloth and lace, some twine and a favourite stamp/die combo from Mama Elephant for the dinky tag.

We have two prizes of Tonic Verso dies (ones received may differ from the photo below) and a $20 Whimsy gift card for entrants Worldwide.

  

I am looking forward to my journey ahead with this talented team and taking inspiration from them all to use my rubber stamps.

See you soon