Birthday at Allsorts

Morning one and all. Donna is hosting at Allsorts this week and given an optional theme of 

BIRTHDAY

Here is my card.

 I do love a fun fold and always find inspiration at Sam Calcotts, Made to Surprise You Tube channel. this particular one is a napkin fold, looks really impressive but is so simple to make. I used spots and stripes from an old Craft Creations paper pack and dug out an equally aged Wild Rose Studio stamp, coloured with Promarkers.

Two prizes of two stamp sets

That's me for today. I hope the weekend has good things in store.

See you soon xx

Allsorts I Spy B

 It's all about B at Allsorts this time and I have gone with buzzy bees!!

I made an arch shaped card using a Daisy Mae nested die set (that I cannot find a link for). The bees and hive are courtesy of a little used My Favorite Things set called Meant to bee that I coloured with Promarkers. The little buzzy bees themselves are layered and I gave them a little sprinkle of glamour dust too. The spotty paper was in my bits and pieces basket but I've a feeling it was from a First Edition pad. I went "all out" with this one and added layers to the inside too but forgot to photgraph it before posting!! It's the heat!! 

2 prizes of coordinating stamps and dies

It's been relatively quiet Chez Wills, the fields are brown and the pony shouts at me regularly throughout the day asking for carrots, apples and a hay top up as he has no grass!! I am sure Mother Nature will provide some rain at some point and when she does, won't be able to stop it!!

Thankyou for your time and I'll see you again soon xx

Beside the seaside, beside the sea

 Happy Weekend!!

The Allsorts gang are off to the seaside this time (your Anything Goes entries are also welcome!!). A lovely seasonal option chosen by Christine.

Two prizes each of two Sentimentally Yours stamps from Grafton Crafts, a well stocked bricks and mortar and on line shop offering fee p&p on all orders over £15

I have used some old 12 x 12 scrapbook papers to make my cards. The first was cut with an Aall and Create die to make the collage frame effect. The stamp set is probably an antique one from Marianne Designs that was all things nautical. I stamped each of the little plates with various stamps from the set in different colours of ink.

I had a fancy to used kraft for these to continue the vintage/olde worlde look. The toppers on the second card were on the reverse of the papers and I simply added some twine to the tag for a little extra. 

We are having a bit of a heatwave here in the UK at the moment so a perfect time for a trip to the coast, hope you will join us!!

See you next time xx

Allsorts Challenge Sweet 16!!!

 There is much excitement at Allsorts as we are celebrating our 16th Birthday and there are four, yes four prizes from Aall & Create up for grabs PLUS for US entrants

A $25 store voucher from Lawn Fawn

Three stamps from Colorado Craft Company

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

I have Aall and Create dies in my stash but, feeling the need, just had to invest in a few other bits so  made this...

using these accicental purchases

A7 Stamp set #360 Wish, Ephemera #13 Stems & Pods, and Washi #22 Flower Dancing

I had a little canvas that had been shifted from place to place over the years so thought it was about time that it got used. A lovely blogging buddy gifted me some duplicate Distress inks so now that I have quite a range of colours, I thought it was time to play. I am not confident with inking so literally splodged rainbow colours on my craft mat, gave a teeny spritz and squished the canvas down. I am really pleased with the result as the colours stayed true and didn't go muddy, which was my concern. I also had a can of spray and shine lurking so sprayed the inked canvas and sprinkled matching coloured glitters on certain areas and it actually stuck. I coloured the adorable little girl with Promarkers and had a think about her wings. I remembered Jayne Nestorenko on crafting telly years ago with the mandala stamps that she did on acetate and then added glitter on the back so that's what I did with the wings. Sadly my Stazon had gone dry so I used black Versafine which took a day to dry but nevertheless it worked and she has glittery acetate wings!! Finally I stuck some stems and pods down together with a strip of acetate, stamped wish and die cut Birthday and that's that!!

Please come and see us and participate in the Birthday celebrations. I really want to say an ENORMOUS thank you to Brenda who works tirelessly to keep this and other challenges running so beautifully xx

Allsorts Mask or Stencil

Val has chosen our optional theme at Allsorts this time and it's 

Stencil or Mask 

I had a ball with this theme, once again stepping out of my comfort zone and I embraced BOTH!!

Started off with a very old stamp from Tracey Hey when her stamps were available at Mama Makes. I love this cute fox so stamped him twice, once on the marker card and then one on a sticky sheet. 

Masked him up and stuck the funky fossil stencil over the top and got inky!! 

A super prize from from Lisa Horton Crafts, Pansy Corner layering stencils with coordinating die and embossing folder. Plus an extra prize of two stencils....

I hope you all have a lovely weekend. I have to say it's been glorious in my part of the world, everything is looking greener and spring colour is everywhere.

See you soon xx

Make it Feminine at Allsorts

 We've gone all girly this week at 

and Lynn has chosen Make it Feminine as the optional theme.

Music to my ears!! I used an Anna Marie Designs paper pad as my starting point, with a shabby, design in mind. I fancied a bit of paper piecing and found that this super cute Crafters companion grey rubber stamp was perfect (Angelica & Friends - Phoebe). She actually takes me back to my childhood when I used to dress up in my Mum's navy blue patent dancing sling backs!! Nylon nighties were very en vogue in the 70's too and I seem to recall a layered peach number that was a favourite!! I wonder what happened to that nightdress of my Mums!!?

I coloured her with Promarkers and gave her a spotty T shirt and a string of pearls too. The sentiments were from the same set. I made a little "cluster" for the top left corner and cut the tags with a Whimsy Label die. Given that Mothers Day is coming up I will probably give this to my Mum and see if it jogs her memory about the little girl that used to totter around in her nightie and sandals!!

If you have stayed with me this long I should say that there are

Two prizes from Stamp Addicts, stamps and stencils

so well worth an entry or two. 

Whatever you are up to I hope you have a good weekend.

See you soon xx

CAS at Allsorts

 It's Saturday and time for a new challenge at

where our optional theme, chosen by Helen, is

Clean and Simple

I don't mind admitting that I would normally run for the hills BUT my lovely blogging buddy Lisa gave me some lovely stamps for Christmas that just cried out to be used on a CAS card...so here it is!!

The stamp set I used is from MFT named Geometric Greenery and I coloured the leaves ombre style with Promarkers. Sorry to the die hard CAS fans but I had to add a sequin or three!!

I hope that you have a lovely weekend and that you will find some time to join in

Three prizes from Oakwood Direct, A5 stamp set, coordinating stamp and die and stencils

As this goes live I am planning to be walking on the beach at Weymouth. It's been a dire week, weatherwise, so promised a fine and crisp day we are going to make the most of it. I hope the sun is shining on you, wherever you are.

Until next time, take care xx

Food and/or Drink at Allsorts

Hello friends. I am inviting you to join me for a beverage this morning. Gail has chosen the optional theme at Allsorts this week and it's

Food and/or Drink

I have kept my resolution to use old stash this year and while having a rummage, as you do, I found a lovely coffe cup stamp set. I know I have mentioned my exploration of other papercrafts this year  and in doing so found a lovely lady called Amanda Charlesworth on You Tube (Create with Scrimping Mommy). She shares so much inspiration that I used one of her Journal Slide and Reveal techniques on my card.

Closed

Open

It's a really easy technique using a folded "slider". 

 

Christmas at Allsorts

 We are feeling festive at

Allsorts Challenge

the alternative theme is Christmas this week and the prize is from Lavinia Stamps

I have been pretty good this year keeping up with the festive makes but I realised that I had way too many cute cards in my pile so made some more grown up models. I am always in awe of inky backgrounds so had another go making these two featuring Card-io stamps. The pretty papers are from Craft Creations.

I added some super sparkly glitter glue that really packs a punch!!

We are looking forward to seeing your Christmassy makes xx

Anything Cute at Allsorts

Another Saturday and another new challenge at Allsorts.

The optional theme this time is CUTE.

That was no problem at all for me with my love of cuteness.

I still had some scraps left over from my Simple Stories pad that I used for my folio for last weeks' challenge so I used a piece as my inspiration. I printed a Digistamp Boutique image (I still miss that lovely range of images!!) that I coloured with Flexmarkers to match the stripey paper.

 I framed the paper with a couple of scraps that, I think, really makes the striped paper "pop". Liquid pearls were perfect for the mistletoe berries and Stardust Stickles, as usual, for the snow.

I am looking forward to seeing your cute makes this week xx

Falling Leaves

 Hello everyone. Lynn has chosen the alternative to anything Goes theme at Allsorts this week

🍂Falling Leaves 🍂

My quest to use unloved stuff continues and this time I unearthed a Spellbinders die set and a Dutch Dubadoo cloud stencil.

I stencilled the linen effect card blank using tumbled glass DI. Used all the dies in the set and cut them out in good quality white card and then coloured them all with Promarkers. The Best Wishes stamp is from a Clearly Besotted sentiment set.

Out of my comfort zone but I really enjoyed making this.

2 prizes from AALL and Create of A5 stamp sets

 

Thank you for your company today xx

Anything Goes

 It's the 800th Challenge at Allsorts this week so it's a free for all with Anything Goes!!

I made a new baby card for a change. Once again I dipped into my stamp arsenal and found a lovely Hunkydory stamp set that I used to make this,

I stamped the boots on different coloured dotty paper, added a little bit of shade and cut them out. The sentiment is part of the set too. So effective yet really quick and simple. 

Prizes from  AALL and Create.

See you soon xx

Autumn Colours

The mornings are chillier and darker so I guess Autumn must be on it's way in the northern hemisphere. That leads me nicely to the optional theme at Allsorts Challenge this week

AUTUMN COLOURS, Anything Goes is welcome too.

I made hidden paperclips using a kit from My Porch Prints. I'd forgotten how relaxing fussy cutting can be and it was lovely to faff about with them to arrange on the little sleeves. These will probably be added to journals and/or greeting cards. The paperclip is, as the name suggests, hidden between the layers of paper so can be attached anywhere. They would actually make a rather fancy bookmark.

There are Lavinia stamps as prizes for the next couple of challenges so well worth an entry or two.

Thank you for your visit, it's much appreciated xx

Seasonal Delights at Allsorts

 It's the weekend again so it can only mean one thing...a new challenge at

ALLSORTS where we welcome anything goes but also tempt you with an optional theme. This week it's

Seasonal Delights

I have gone with the beach vibe. Thumbing through my stamps I found a quite small one from Ladybug Crafts that, I think, was a challenge prize years ago and until now remained uninked. I remedied that, inked it up and coloured it with Promarkers to match a lovely paper from The Range. Perfect ice cream cornets and ice lollies to go with the beachy feel. It was too small really for a card so I made a magnetised bookmark.

The paper has a little bit of sparkle so I added some stickles to the floral decor on the flip flops too.

Here's a jaunty angle showing the shimmer.

The reverse is identical but I didn't share that because I picked up  an Aquamarker by mistake and the colouring was shocking.

I know it's not going to be beach weather for all of you but in any case I hope the sun is shining for you this weekend.

See you soon xx

Use Circles at Allsorts

Lorraine is in charge at Allsorts tody with an optional theme of 

CIRCLES (Anything Goes also very welcome!!)

I went all out and made a circle card base using a Tonic Essentials scalloped circle die. In my stash I found a bazzill paper pad that had an embroidery hoop design...more circles and I employed my neat and tangled embroidery hoop stamp and die set for the main feature. I didn't like the look of the stamped image on white so rifled through my massive collection of paper pads and used a coloured one from a Marianne Designs pad that looks far more in keeping.

Prizes from Highlight Crafts,  AALL and Create and Stampendous

I am very much looking forward to seeing what you share with us.

Bees, Butterflies and Blooms

Happy weekend everyone, I hope it's going to be full of good things wherever you are in the world.

Summer is in full swing here in the UK and the optional theme at Allsorts this week is perfect.

Bees, Blooms and Butterflies

Here is my card to tempt you.

 I found a perfect red, rubber, Whimsy Stamp in my collection and coloured it, with Promarkers, to match a ditsy print paper pad that came from The Range. I used an old Impression Obsession butterfly die set to embellish the card. The sentiment was made up from two stamp sets, both magazine freebies, back in the day. A work colleague is retiring next Friday so I made this card for her.

Prizes from Craft Stash, Highlight Crafts and AALL and Create

This was earlier in the week. A long awaited summer morning.

It's lovely to have your company. See you soon xx

Masculine at Allsorts

Hello everyone. We are all about the fellas at Allsorts this time. Brenda has chosen masculine for the optional theme.

I have been trying really hard to make more masculine cards this year and I have enjoyed hunting through my stash and on this occasion found a lovely paper pad featuring Wellington the bear.

I made a card and a tag too using images from the pad and the accompanying papers.

I even got a little bit arty and ripped and inked strips of papers and, get this, splatted the tag with my white posca pen.

Prizes from Craft Stash, Highlight Crafts and AALL and Create

I hope you have something nice planned for this weekend and wherever you are in the world that the weather stays fine. 

See you soon xx
 

Keep it Simple

Hello everyone and welcome to a new challenge at Allsorts. Its my pleasure to be offering the optional theme this week and it's Keep it Simple.  

I have made a tag.

I used a Daisy Mae arch die cut set for the tag and punched a hole, die cut a reinforcing ring too. The lovely flower die set was a Birthday present that I cut using various scraps of coloured cardstock that I inked for a bit of shading.

There...simple!! We have a lot of family birthdays up until June so it will be put to good use sooner rather than later.

I hope that you will support my theme that is actually running for two weeks.

Prizes for weeks 773/4/5 from Highlight Crafts and Stamp Addicts (£15 store voucher)

I hope you have a lovely weekend xx

Allsorts Spring

Lorraine is host and optional theme picker at Allsorts Challenge this week.

The theme is Spring, of course you can also go with Anything Goes.

I used a gorgeous Imagination Crafts stamp set that I coloured with Promarkers. 

The background was colourwashed with Creative Expressions mica shimmer powder that I made into a wash. I used a subtle green shade that is visible here.

Our daffodils are looking gorgeous in the pet garden but we don't have tulips because of the windy aspect. We have tried in the past but they just don't survive so it's lovely to be able to see them on a card.

As always, we have amazing sponsors, prizes from whom will be announced at the end of the month.

Prizes from AALL and Create and Aldridge Crafts

Have a good weekend whatever you are up to xx

Allsorts - January Blues

 I am hosting at Allsorts Challenge this week and I chose January Blues as the optional theme.

 Our sponsors are Polkadoodles and Oakwood

Blue is not a colour that I usually reach for so it was actually a challenge to myself and I really enjoyed making this card. I used another of Jules' Sketches #49 that was perfect for using up bits from my scraps pile.

The stamp set I used is Concord & 9th Winter Wear that is available here if you fancy it. I coloured her with Promarkers and used one of the accent stamps in two shades of blue as a background.

I made a bit of a boo boo and didn't die cut the circle large enough so stamped and cut out the scarf seperately and mounted it with foam pads. I like that look.

I hope that you will pay us a visit at the challenge blog and join us.

Wishing you a good weekend whatever you are up to xx