AYLI - Favourite Paper Brand

Hello peeps, I hope this week is being kind to you.

It's time to kick off a year of Challenges from

and I am hosting the first one. It's a theme very close to my heart....PAPER!!

My long time followers will know that I have a longstanding obsession with paper pads. Wherever I go, if there is a 6 x 6 pad of gorgeousness it will find it's way home with me!!

Back at the start of my crafty journey my very first paper pad was from My Minds Eye and I seem to have many from that brand that really ought to be used up.

This one is So Sophie, Graceful and has such a lovely deep but soft colour palette.

I used one of Jules' new rectangular sketches, it's #1 of her ever growing rectangle series. (Thank you x)

The Inkylicious stamp (A Good Life) was heat embossed in black on to one of the papers.

 You can see the lovely glossy finish below.

I hope you will feel inspired and rediscover a long lost paper pad that's just crying out to be used.

See you on Saturday xx 

The Cutie Pies Birthday

 It's our Birthday month at

and our fabulous Boss Lady Lisa has put together a bumper birthday present for the winner of this new challenge.

Birthdays and/or bears.

I used the lovely James and a sentiment from LOTV and teamed him with some old MME papers.

Super cute !!

We very much look forward to you joining in the celebrations and sharing your cute Birthday cards and/or bears.

See you there!! xx

A Loaded Pocket

 Hello everyone. I am super excited to share my make with you today which is is my DT piece for

It's an Anything Goes Challenge this time with the option of Anything But a Card. 

I have been doing a bit of junk journal making and have been intrigued by

 "Loaded Pockets" so I did this...

I used the cute pre-coloured Holly Hedgehog from our sponsor, Polkadoodles, and a tutorial from Septeria 18 here  (honestly I can lose hours watching her making fabulous paper creations). The pocket itself uses only one piece of 6x6 paper (of which I have loads and settled on a very old My Minds Eye pad) then using papers from the same collection made a little note book, adorned with a tassel, a windmill and some tags. I fancied up some tiny pegs, and in doing so managed to pop the springs off of both so that caused a bit of swearing I can tell you!! There is also a heavy acetate tag around which I wrapped several lengths of co-ordinating washi tape. Oh and I finished the edge with some red pom pom trim that I found. LOVED making this and hope you will be inspired enough to take part over at 

The Cutie Pies challenge blog.

That's all for now, I hope that you are all keeping well.

Toodle pip for now xx

A Cutie Birthday Party!!

 Hello friends. My word aren't we galloping through September already and as it is the second Monday I am here to share my DT piece for

It is a special post this time as we are eleven years old and are having a right old shindig with lots of sponsors for our BIRTHDAY PARTY theme.

Here is my card

Once again I sorted through my paper mountain and came upon this lovely MME pad that was the starting point for this easel card. I coloured Spring Bloom, with Promarkers, to compliment the papers and added some touches of glitter. I borrowed an idea from my lovely buddy Annette and used a Crafters Companion Circle Sentiments die for the curved sentiment, it is amazing how PVA glue can make card bendy!!

I know it really doesn't scream PARTY, but due to the Covid-19 restrictions the little bunny is off to a socially distanced gathering for two without the bells, whistles and pom poms!!  If, on the other hand you do want an all out PARTY then please do come along and join us, all the details are here!!

See you soon xx

Under the Rain

Hello and welcome, it's me again, with yet another Sasayaki Glitter image for you.

It is New Release day today and this little lady is one of them. I do hope I am not tempting fate with the umbrella, as it has been positively gorgeous here in the UK for the past week. I hope it stays that way because I am not quite ready yet for muddy ponies and dogs on a daily basis!!

Anyway less babble...here she is...Under the rain

i used some old My Mind's Eye papers as the starting point here, mainly because of the perfect sentiment cut from the pad. She was coloured with Promarkers (I am not entirely happy with the umbrella, my Royal blue was quite dry and I didn't achieve a very smooth blend) and the sweetheart blossom balances the card quite well, I thought.

Well that's me for now. I don't think I will be troubling you, with any waffle, tomorrow. So until next time stay well and have a good weekend  xx

Bird Watching

Hello folks, hope that everyone is enjoying a good weekend. It is positively bucketing  down with rain here, long overdue actually. What a strange week its been here in the UK, freezing cold nights and hard frosts, one morning the gates were frozen and I had to boil the kettle to defrost the stable yard tap!! 

 Anyway my card shows anything but rain or frost, it's my inspiration piece for Sasayaki Glitter and is called Bird Watching.

I used some old MME papers and set about creating a little scene for the sweet image.

It's not actually the card that I am showcasing on the inspiration blog, I somehow deleted the photograph from my DT folder and cannot get a copy as I have already sent the card, so all in all a disaster!! Never mind, worse things happen at sea and all that, however, if you are interested you can see the other card here.

Thank you for your visit and continued support, it is much appreciated xx

Some challenges

Creative fingers #129 - Anything Goes
Kitty Bee Designs #93 - In the garden
I Love Promarkers #333 - Anything Goes
Cardz 4 Guyz #167 - Theme great outdoors

Bunny Mother's Day

Hello friends. It is my turn to inspire you with more cuteness from Naz.

This sweet image is Bunny Mother's Day.

I found another yummy My Mind's Eye paper pad in my stash and coloured the image with Promarkers to  match. I was lacking inspiration for a layout so visited Jule's Sketch Library and used #15.

Hope to see you soon xx

Some Challenges

Lemon Shortbread #36 - Anything goes
Digi Choosday week 9 - Anything Goes
The Ribbon Girl February - Use any image

Oliver

I have chap type card today to share with you, it's my DT card for

where the new fortnightly challenge starts today.

Here is your quest

Embossed or Patterned Paper

A no brainer for me as I am Sarah and I am a patterned paper addict and I DO NOT want to be cured!!

This is Oliver - Kicking About, the second of my recent LOTV purchases and he was coloured to match the MME Lost and Found Oliver papers...spooky!!

Some Challenges

Creative Inspirations #250 - For the boys or something sporty
Craft Your Passion #310 - Anything Goes
Penny's Papercrafty Challenge #276 - Anything Goes
Crafting From The Heart #110 - Anything Goes
Inspiration Destination #84 - Anything Goes
Penny Black and More - Anything Goes with stamping

Whatever type of paper you are addicted to it will be most welcome...hope you will come along!!

Until next time xx

Testing...Testing!!

Hello friends, hope you are well today. 

I've been having a test run with my new pencils. I decided that I had been drooling long enough over Jane's fabulous pencil work so bit the bullet and ordered some Lyra Rembrandt Polycolour Coloured Pencils. I got them from HERE.

Anyway this was my first attempt (there are three more in the pipeline, they were that good!!)

I didn't use blending solution on this occasion although I did give it a rub with the splender pencil!!

The sweet image is a digi from the now closed Pollycraft. She was coloured to match more very old MME papers which, I think, were called "Happier". Check out the colourful snail, done in scraps of the same paper together with the tag.

I'm off to play here

Allsorts Challenge #361 - A cherry on top (fruit or berries)

Sunny Day Crafting #6 - A colourful project or a project with fruit

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends #33 - Anything Goes

Pile it on #107 - Garden Creatures (die cut snail and various insects on the paper)

The Crafty Addicts #7 - Anything Goes +/- ribbon

Better go and get Surprise in before she starts shouting at the window...it's drizzling and the poor old soul doesn't like getting wet!! It's not that she owns me or anything...much!!!

Enjoy the rest of the weekend xx

Happy Birthday with a Sketch

It's Cutie Pie Challenge time again and it's

Birthday with a sketch...this one here by our very own lovely Lisa...

...great isn't it? Here is what I made of it

I used an image by one of our sponsors and teamed her with MME A Mother's Love papers (another pad sneakily hiding from me!!) and used my Lawn Fawn Stitched Scalloped border die set for the prettiness. The label was created using a Joy die set.

I am playing here

Crafty Gals Corner #36 - Bingo (bottom left to top right)

Crafting with friends #6 - Anything Goes
Create and Inspire #29 - Anything Goes
Crafts Galore Encore  - Anything Goes

That's me for now. thanks for visiting xx

Coffee with odd dog

I know, it's an unusual time for me to be here but I forgot to mention in my Cutie Pie DT post yesterday that we are having a CUTIE PIE DT CALL as we have recently lost a couple of our friendly little team. All the details are on the main challenge blog here.

Anyway while I am here it would be rude not to share a card so here goes!!
I bought this cute Odd Dog stamp at the  launch and have only just got around to completing a card...so much to do, so little time!!

I also decided that I must dig out, and actually use, some older paper pads and rediscovered MME Unforgettable. I used another of Jules' sketches (thank you lovely lady!!) and coloured little Odd Dog with Promarkers.

I would like to enter these challenges

Sweet Stampin' - Anything But a Birthday
Craft Your Passion #274 - Anything Goes
Crafting From The Heart #72 - Anything Goes
Sweet Stamps #234 - Anything Goes

See you soon xx

Antiques

Hello everyone. In case you didn't know Squirrel is holding another of her fabulous Challenges and this time it's Antique Roadshow.

 Like all of us I have long forgotten gems hidden beneath all the latest dies, stamp collections and assorted paraphernalia that we really don't need (cough splutter)!! So here is what I made using one of the very first stamps and die sets I ever bought together with a card design that I haven't crafted for absolutely ages.  

The stamp is Bild Malarna Mimosa Chicken ( not sure why but feathered friends seem to be featuring a lot lately!!) I coloured her with pencils to compliment the  MME Fine and Dandy Girl paper. She was die cut using SB Labels 18. 

The side shot shows how the label holds the card up. 

The white leaves were cut using Marianne LR0226. The pretty flowers are by Petaloo, the tag from an IO set and the sentiment from a Clearly Besotted sentiment set.
See, not a new item in sight!!

While on the subject of Ornithology, we had a super lunch out last Saturday and as we were waiting for our main course to arrive spotted a seagull furtively casing the joint, the cheeky devil then hopped onto the bench and devoured the crisps that had been left behind!!

Oh and while Surprise and I were out on Sunday morning I heard the cuckoo for the very first time, which always pleases me enormously as I know summer is on the way. Not so pleasing though is that I shall have to remember to keep the garage door closed so that the naughty cuckoo doesn't throw out another nest of house martin babies...nature can be cruel :0( ...actually so can I...bear with I am in a bit of a chatty mood today!! We used to have hanging baskets at the front door, however, several summers ago unbeknownst to me Mr & Mrs Blue Tit built a nest among the bedding plants and it was only by chance that I discovered it, one morning as I was watering, complete with seven eggs !! I was so worried that I had saturated them and that they wouldn't hatch but lo and behold they did, all seven. I had to let the flowers die though because I was terrified I would drown the babies!!  Needless to say we now have plants in troughs and the baskets are redundant!!

I'm off to link up at Squirrel's World and a few others!!
Addicted to Stamps #104 - Spring with Birds/Eggs
Allsorts #310 - More than two die cuts
Through the purple haze - Spring Colours

Hope Wednesday is good to you xx