CCT Little Bugs and butterflies

I know it's been a while, and I'm still not creating any new cards these days.  I made this one last year out of oddments of paper and a pretty Penny Black stamp from my stash, coloured with Copic pens.  When I saw the CCT challenge was for bugs and butterflies it jogged my memory and so, I decided to share it with you.  It's one that went into a charity box, so hopefully someone, somewhere, has it and likes it!

Now that summer has finally decided to make an appearance, my spare time is in the garden, and should it be raining I'm picking up my crochet hook. My son gave me a bamboo hook as a pressie, so I tried it out making flowers:

I did try out a flower with 3ply baby wool that I put onto a project - when it is finished I will share, and you cant see my crochet mistakes as I've managed to hide them under a die cut and some other flowers!

 This square is from a pattern called Faded Painted Roses, I'm hoping to make a few more for a blanket.

And the picture below is the centre square from the Demelza blanket designed by Catherine Bligh.  I have finished the main sections, just need to join up the pieces and work on the border, it's stunning, even if I do say so myself. The picture is the square unblocked - I still have to learn how to do that, but for now I've gone ahead and stitched the pieces together in the hope that a gentle wash and warm tumble dry will even things out.

I am so chuffed that Catherine asked me to pattern test the centre square from her next new design, it's going to be called Ross and is beautiful too - but for now it's still a secret!  The designs are inspired by the Poldark tv series and the colours in the landscapes here in Cornwall, I can hint that there is more of the granite greys and masculine shades in Ross.  It will be lovely to snuggle under them and watch the Ross and Demelza characters on tv when the new series comes out, that's if I can get them finished in time!

Thank you for stopping by and for staying with me.  I hope one day to get back to card making, or at least projects with my stamps and die collection.  It might not be for a while though as Mum is needing a lot of care and attention, and that is not a situation that is going to get any easier with the passage of time.

CAS at CCT

Another wonky picture! I blame my poor neck that is leaning to starboard all the time at the moment .. .. mind you after a combination of 2 different painkillers and a double malt whisky I did have quite a good night!

So, on to the next challenge at Cute Card Thursday where we want to see your CAS creations.  Our sponsor for this challenge is Pinky Dolls and some of the DT have used images from the sponsor for their creations, please stop by the blog to read all about it and see what we all made for the CAS theme.

For my card I inked up one of my old style Penny Black stamps called Garden Spot then coloured with my Copics and added a little text.  Keeping with the CAS theme I just embossed a scrap of paper from my bit box with the Marianne Design DF3404 chicken wire, added the embossed stitching, and ta dah!

The Allsorts challenge is for quick and simple cards this time, well it did take me a little while to colour the image but putting the card together was certainly quick and easy!

Little Hedgies

Now where did the weekend go to?  Ah yes, I cut all the grass on Friday with the new lightweight mower and didn't get a 3 day migraine afterwards - so was able to go plant shopping with my friend on both Saturday and Sunday. Although Sunday turned more into a girly shop with some lovely new candles and a desire for a new wardrobe, if I ever come into a few hundred pounds spare cash! The revamped Trelawny Garden Centre is looking good and I'll need to visit again soon .. .. for candles as well as plants.

So, wondering what I could share with you before my next DT card on Thursday, I found these pictures of cards I'd made for charity and not shown you.  They are the little 4" cards that suit the small Penny Black transparent critter stamp sets and I've used up more bits from my paper and odds and ends boxes.  Here's a better look at the first one:

This I made as a little pocket card so a gift voucher or tag could be slid in behind the hedgie image.  The background paper was plain pink so I over-stamped it with a little rose and coloured with Copics to match the hedgie.  A die cut flower from the Marianne Design set CR1204 cut from hand made paper then died with inks and a few die cut leaves and swirls and a little bow finish things off. Swirls cut with die in set LR0116 and the bow from set LR0328.

This hedgie makes me smile, and I did add extra stamped flowers.  The scrap of paper was inspiration for the colouring and to finish I just added the flower embellishment cut from red hand-made paper and die cut leaf sprays.

Flowers are Marianne Design die COL1323, smallest die, with centres cut from the small poinsettia set LR0142 and leaves from the bird on a branch die LR0137 (same die used on card above).

A very simple card to finish off.  Oddments of Nitwit papers, a strip of fancy raffia I've had forever and a day, and the little hedgie image matted and 3d mounted to the card with a couple little pearls to finish things off.

I just saw that the Crafty Cardmakers new challenge is for dots, so with my dotty gift and dotty paper I'm going to enter with this card.

It's been a mish-mash day today, cleaning, baking and waiting for a visitor that never turned up.  I've been tidying in the garden and need to get motivated to dig in the composted horse manure around the roses and to finish off digging the final end of the rose bed that never got done last year .. .. will have to tell myself "no more plant shopping 'till it's done!"

Thanks for stopping by .. .. I seem to be able to leave comments on some blogs, but not the new style blogger connect ones?  Hopefully, if you leave me a comment I'll be able to get back to you too.

It's a dog's life!

Here are some more little 4" square cards I've been making for St Francis Dog Rescue, and this time I thought I'd use my cute Penny Black puppy stamps.

I've been using up scraps of paper from the magazine box and the digi scrap box, along with odds and ends of embellishments.

Here are the individual cards:

This one is my favourite, although the colours aren't true as it should be a soft peachy pink - ah well! The ribbon is a rust, as are the leaves, you can make out the true colour in the flower centre. I wonder why that came out ok but the rest didn't?

Flower and skeleton leaves are Marianne Design dies, the fancy border is a piece from my bit box, I think a Nellie Snellen die, and the corners are old dies from the hand gadget that looked like a lever .. .. I still have it and a few dies, at the back of the cupboard!

This is quite a small stamp from one of the translucent sets, sorry can't get off my backside and go to the other end of the house to my craft stash and find out the name .. .. being a lazy bones this late in the day.  Izzy is flat out on my bed behind me, obviously an afternoon in the garden 'helping' me has worn him out!

The scallop piece across the join in the patterned papers is cut with my new Marianne Design die set LR0343.  I've been using this set a lot over the past couple of days .. .. playing!

My least favourite of the three cards.  I think because I stamped onto a smooth cream card that doesn't take Copics quite as well and then just coloured in shades of warm grey .. .. it looks dull to me.

Anyway, hopefully someone will like it and to brighten the card up I've added a smattering of diamante bling! The papers are Nitwits that came with a magazine, the ric rac strip was with it and a pain to cut out! the ivy die cut is a Marianne Design die and the flowers are made with Nellie Snellen punch and emboss sets of punches.

The Corrosive Challenge blog theme is 'our animal friends' so I can enter my cards with them.

Happy Easter

A couple more Penny Black cuties for St Francis .. .. weather permitting I'll need to take the stash over to them this week. These two are also from the spring Garden Friends transparent set and the stamped images are coloured with Copics.  Oddments of paper with the embossed faux stitches then the stamped text that came free with a magazine a year or so back, and a smattering of tiny punched flowers, oh and a bow on the little chick card that I happened to have already coloured and tied in my bit box.  I started buying a reel of white organza then using my Copic pens to colour the ribbon so it matches my image, it does make the ribbon a bit stiffer, although that's not always a bad thing.

The pretty mats are cut with the small frilly Marianne Design die from CR1241 and the plain scallop oval behind is from my first ever Spellbinders set called classic ovals.  Not sure if it's still available, if so I need to get the second size .. .. they used to do two of each set so they would mat and layer but I only got one scallop and one plain. I forget to use them as old stuff tends to sit at the back of the die box .. .. I need to be better organised!

The Stampavie and More blog challenge is for Easter creations so I'll join in with them and my couple of Easter cuties.

Thanks for stopping by! I'm eagerly awaiting the postman for a little parcel of crafty stash I ordered at the weekend .. .. it's been dispatched so fingers crossed I can play later today!

Spring Bunnies

The MAWTT blog challenge is to show your bunnies! And as I had just finished up these two cuties I'd thought I'd share and join in.  They are from the Penny Black transparent Spring set and are a couple more of the little 4" square cards for St Francis Animal shelter. I've used up oddments of Nitwits papers, embossing the edges with the faux stitching, then decorating with lace flowers on the first one, and a sprinkling of blooms and pearls on the second.

The Allsorts challenge blog theme is Spring is in the Air, so I'll enter my spring bunnies with them too.

Well yes, I am back to entering challenges again .. .. fingers crossed! I can only add pics and leave comments with my old main computer but it does seem to be working much better now.  I've switched the wifi cable to one I had in a drawer .. .. and maybe now the holiday season is approaching the internet is working again?  I do wonder at times if they slow us down out of season as they think there's no one about .. .. Anyway, I hope you like my couple of cuties, I'll be putting them up on my Pinterest board in just a wee while.

A Micey Nice Day!

I've been making more of the little 4" square cards for St Francis Animal charity in Newquay.  I didn't get around to taking any in for Valentine's but hopefully will make it in time for Mother's Day and Easter .. .. although these have a stamped greeting that isn't specific so could be used for any occasion, except the birthday one that is.  It's been a good exercise in using up some of my paper stash, and I found another A4 box in the cupboard full of papers from craft magazines - I really shouldn't have to buy any more paper .. .. ever!

First up, from the clear Transparent Penny Black set called 'Micey Day' is this little card. There are actually 3 mice on the stamp, I carefully cut the small one at the end off so the stamped image would fit in my circle.  Magazine paper with embossed faux stitching and Marianne Design die cut flower and butterflies, together with an oddment of pink ric rac braid finish this card.

From the 'Critter Party' translucent set I've stamped the cupcake design, and the text is also from this set.  All my images are coloured with my Copic pens.  The papers are oddments of Nitwits, two designs with a length of little flower lace to hide the join. More of the embossed faux stitching and then a little butterfly I already had made up in my bit box to finish things off.

From the same set I've stamped this little mouse and one of the butterflies onto an oval lacy base die cut with Marianne Design CR1241.  The papers are from the old magazine box and I've simply embellished with the ivy die cut corners from CR1253.

The next two are from the 'Hugs' transparent set.  This is the first time I've stamped up this particular image, so cute and easy to colour.  The papers are Nitwits and again have the embossed faux stitching around the edge.  The text stamp is one from my stash and to embellish I simply added little gem hearts and a double organza bow.

The last one is also from the 'Hugs' transparent set. I've used a piece of Nitwits paper and found the small piece of raffia stuff in another oddment box .. .. it has a sparkle thread in it but that doesn't show up too well.  Because of the raffia I've had to use silicone glue to fix my image, but squashed it down so it would still be a flattish card.  Mind you, those pearls probably knock that idea for six!

Well that's it for today.  I managed a walk with Izzy this morning in the sunshine, although it's windy here, but then it's rarely not blowing from one direction or another this close to the Atlantic coast.  Now though it's pissing it down so he will have to make do with pissing in the garden! I think I will see what else I can make with my little PB transparent sets - it's getting me back into crafting again although my mojo for embellishing is still away, thankfully these tiny creations don't need too much thought for the St Francis Animal charity. Enjoy the rest of your day and thank you again for stopping by my blog to take a peek.  As usual, I'll be adding these to my new Penny Black Cute Critters folder on Pinterest if you'd like to see them there, and some of my older creations too.

CCT Anything Goes!

Merry Christmas!

Today it's anything goes at Cute Card Thursday, as I expect everyone is supper busy .. .. so here's a chance to share those last minute makes or anything else new you have created.  Stop by the CCT blog to read all about the prize and catch up with the rest of the DT's creations.  My last minute make is the cute LOTV little boy sleding with his dog and ooops! they come across Rudolph hiding in the woods .. .. the scenery stamps are from the Don and Daisy Winter set by Marianne Design.  I've added plenty of sparkle but then just mated in red and kept it CAS.

Here's the card:

And here's another quick CAS card I made with that naughty little PB puppy! a touch of colour from my Copic pens and some sparkle and snow, then a slivery mat and matching bow - simples!

Red and Green at CCT

I do apologise for the dreadful photograph! This week on Cute Card Thursday our theme is red and green, so perfect for your festive creations.  Please stop by the blog to read about the sponsor and prizes .. .. I'm writing this a day early as it's taking an age to load any pictures with my iffy internet!

I'm not getting a lot of time to myself these days but have managed to do a little colouring and used up some old magazine freebie papers by Nitwits to create a collection of cards for the St Francis Rescue centre.  Fingers crossed you might be able to see better in the individual pictures.  The images are Penny Black, all except Santa holding the puppy, I think that one is from High Hopes but as it's just naked rubber in my Christmas stamp box, I couldn't swear to it!

I tried to get the two xmas treat designs side by side, but couldn't .. ..

So, this one has the Marianne Design bells and holly die cut added for decoration, they are from die set COL1363. The berries and hearts are from my bit jar and are waste or left over pieces from other MD dies I've cut in the past.









 On this one I've die cut the greeting text from LR0225 and added the waste stars with a couple of gems.  On all the cards I've added the faux embossed stitching and inked with chalk ink, mostly a brown but once I used green.

This stamp is called Xmas Pilgrims.  The cute puppies stamp only the outline so it's up to you to decide where the markings go, thankfully the wood block mount does give you an idea!

I've added glaze to the balloon and the little waste green stars along the top, and of course glitter to the hats and for the icy snow they are skitting along!

The text across the bottom is from a Viva Decor clear stamp set, available from Cuddly Buddly.

On this card I've used a cute little stamp from one of my clear Penny Black sets, cant remember which one and with a puppy asleep on my feet I can't go and find out!

For decoration I added the waste hearts and die cut a mini poinsettia and spray of holly using Marianne Design dies.

Finally, here is Santa! I fussy cut him out then added the Lace Stickles to the trims on his suit before 3d fixing him to the card.  The little stars are more waste (feels good to use up the bits from the jar) and the tree behind santa is die cut from Marianne Design LR0136.

Well that's it. The internet packed up on me yesterday so it's been a rush to load the individual pictures this morning.  I've not taken Izzy for a walk yet, the wind is blowing a gale here so I keep putting it off, thankfully he is happy to do his business in the garden! Unfortunately he sneaked a drink of water from the can in the garden just a while ago and now is coughing a lot, I live in constant fear of aspiration pneumonia which is a common side effect for dogs with ME (mega eosophagus).  We seem to be doing so much better on the food front with no regurgitation and not always necessary to feed him upright anymore either, just slowly so still by hand.  The drinking still scares me although I notice that when he laps a few sips from puddles on our walks and then carry on, he doesn't have the cough or water regurgitation.  I also noticed that he needs to be completely relaxed during feeding, any stress is disastrous but the problem is he's scared of his own shadow half the time!  We are getting better though, and I'm having to tell him off for barking at people when we are out. The first time he cowered as though expecting to be hit, my heart nearly broke and I had to be firm with myself not to pick him up and cuddle him there and then.  He learns quickly though so hopefully a few more sessions and he will understand that there's no need to bark at people we pass - he does it to try and scare them away as he expects to be hurt .. .. so sad.

Jingle Bells

Just the one picture today, and not a frill in sight!  When I saw that the Winter Wonderland challenge was for bells, I immediately thought of this cutie on the Penny Black clear set Jolly Follies, and the text is from a very old little clear set. My base is a dark green card from my stash in a tent fold with an inner to match the outer - I need several simple designs like this for DH to give out to his friends and clients so I might repeat this one.

I've coloured the stamped image with my Copic pens then cut out with Marianne Design die CR1202.   The patterned paper is also from Marianne Design and has the look of layers, but isn't - so a quick and easy card.

I am feeling rather tired again - a few ups and downs recently and lack of sleep has got to me.  I was hoping for a good night last night, but the b**** car alarm went off at 4.45 this morning!  I suspect my neighbours cats were dancing on the bonnet again - I'll give 'em dancing if I get my hands on 'em!

Anyway - I am best left in the grumpy corner today so will catch up with you all later - although the postman might cheer me up as I've had email notification that my new Marianne dies are on their way, and also a couple of new Copic pens for my collection  .. .. I might just be tempted to do a little light colouring then!

And, one last thing, the Marianne Design Challenge blog have candy!

look at that beautiful collection of crafty loveliness!  I'm entering - are you?

A very frilly Frilly Christmas card!

Well I didn't get to press the button yesterday for this card, and Mat spent time with my machine in bits to try and see what was slowing thing down .. .. he will be getting a few extra 'bits and bobs' for it then fingers crossed I will be speeding along nicely.  Unlike the car .. .. but that's another story!

So, here is my next Frilly creation, and I went to town rather on the decoration taking my inspiration from Neline Plaisier's Christmas designs in the Marianne Design the Collection brochure #7 on page 6.  I've used my new ivy, snowflake and flower dies - will give you the list of numbers at the end. My base card is again cut with the Go Kreate large frame Filly #10 and the paper on the top is from my scrap box - I think it was probably a magazine freebie some time ago.  I am trying very hard to use up the paper stash .. .. The image is cut out with a Nestie circle and matted with a couple of scallop circles, then behind that I have a Marianne Design circle with the embossed areas inked with dark blue chalk ink.

The image is a little mouse from the Penny Black clear set Holly Day Critters, coloured with Copics, with a pearl pen to create the snowflakes and stardust Stickles over the ice patch.  I've also added a blob of stardust Stickles to the centre of my snowflakes too and used a pearl pen to add the white pearls to the centre of the flowers.  I've inked the ivy sprays, some more than others, and the flowers with the dark blue chalk ink and found just enough dark blue paper to cut the snowflakes, although I think they would have looked better if not quite so dark.

Here's the list of Marianne Design dies I used on this card:

large circle from LRO141
ivy corners CR1253
flowers from CR1251
snowflake from COL1330

The Totally Gorjuss blog challenge is Christmas in July, Addicted to Stamps would like to see lots of layers, and over at Charisma Cardz they want you to make your own embellishments, well I nearly always do!

Beside the Sea

It's time again for our next challenge over at Cute Card Thursday, and with memories of the summer we have just had (as it's now raining), the theme is beside the sea.  Our sponsor for this challenge is Heather's Hobbie Heaven, pop on over to the CCT blog to read about the prize and see the rest of the DT seaside inspiration.

I have scrambled over boxes and retrieved my Copic pens .. .. I've given up waiting for the new furniture to arrive and with Jason off on holiday next week it can stay put in the warehouse until he comes back.  The image is one of my older Penny Black stamps, as is the postcard tucked in behind it, and I've coloured with my Copics - but I am out of practice and haven't got the shading quite the way I wanted.  The little shells are all stamped from various collections of clear and rubber I have accumulated over the years, and again coloured with my Copics.  The paper and that swirly wave are freebie magazine papers by Nitwits, and finally I've added the diecut leaf sprays and shimmery pearls, although the ones by the shells aren't showing up in the picture.

The Kreative Stamping Friends blog challenge is for summer holiday creations, and Crafty Creations are also looking for summer cards so I will enter my card with both of them.

Lost Christmas

Well it could be Last Christmas, because that is when I coloured up this cute little Penny Black mouse, but then he got lost .. .. .. but when tidying up I found him again and put this little card together for the Totally Papercrafts challenge set by me, to use 3 or more different punches or dies.  As I've not be around much lately, and that situation, although improving, is still unchanged, Carol is hosting the challenge for me - Thank You dear! Our sponsor for this challenge is Meljen - so plenty to inspire you on the TPC blog.

And here is the card.  I've taken a piece of freebie magazine paper that is a Marianne Design with the look of more than one layer, but of course is not, matted with red card and fixed to my white base.  The little mouse has a red scallop circle mat then is fixed to a white textured card cut with Marianne Design die LR0129.  Beneath that the larger scallops in red and white and the little corner trims are all from die LR0180.  I've just added the little pearls to the corner trims to finish things off.  Keeping it simple and unadorned so the image pops out of the fancy die cut shapes, plus it will go through the post!

The ABC Christmas challenge is up to the letter K = kept safe - I could argue that the little mouse was kept safe from last year - so safe I'd forgotten where I'd put him!  The Charisma Cardz challenge is for tons of layers, well some of mine might be faked (the paper) but the die cuts total 4 plus the image = 5, then the paper and mat brings it up to 7 - hopefully that's enough!

Easter Greetings!

The theme on the Stampavie and More challenge is for Easter creations, and for my DT card I've chosen a little stamp by Penny Black from one of the clear sets - the Easter bunny with a lovely Easter bonnet!  I've stamped with brown Momento and coloured with my Copic pens.  The patterned papers are from Nitwits Thimbles Too collection matted with the now discontinued Close to Cocoa card from SU!

I've inked the edges of my layers with Sahara Sand Versamagic chalk ink then decorated with ribbon, pearls and a mix of punched and diecut flowers and butterflies. The pretty lacy circle behind the image is cut with Marianne Craftable CR1201, the swirls and pink open flower are from LR0112, the blue flower from LR0130 and the centres from LR0105.

The Penny Black Saturday March challenge is for Spring creations, and a new challenge to me over at the Visible Image blog where the March monthly theme is also for Spring.  The Allsorts, One Stop Craft, Addicted to Stamps and The Squirrel and the Fox challenges are also for Springtime - I just wish the weather would catch on and give us Spring as well!

Thank you again for your kind words of support for me as my life changes direction .. .. yes, I will keep crafting!  I am trying to keep positive, but sensible .. .. I need to go shopping for clothes, get a hair cut, maybe try an exercise class .. .. ok, I said maybe!  I've made a start though .. .. I'm buying a new car, or rather Mum is - the old banger that Dad left me has so many niggly problems that would cost a fair bit to fix in a garage so we decided it was time to say goodbye, although it wont be going too far as Jason's girlfriend is going to see what she can do with it - after all she teaches car mechanics!  So by this evening I should have a nice new car - another black Smart Brabus but not the sporty number Jason drives, rather the more sedate 5 door hatch back version.  It's not new but I am sure once Jason has worked his magic with the polishing disks it will look amazing, and it'll make me feel good when I park up to hit those shops!

Lots of Layers!

I've been waiting all morning to post my DT card for the challenge at Stampavie and More, this time around is for lots of layers - on my card there are 5 layers between the base and the image making seven in all! It seems there is a delay but I'm not sure what's up and my internet gets worse as the day goes on, so here's my card. I have stamped up one of my old vintage wooden Penny Black stamps called Beau Tied and coloured with my Copic pens then sat and carefully fussy cut it out - phew it took a while!

Here's a close up of my colouring and cutting .. .. but don't look to closely!

And here is my card.  I've used the pretty Spring Chic papers again along with pastel blue card for the base mat and my corners.  The central layers are all from the Marianne die LR0180, two layers with the scallop edge and one embossed cut out layer.  With so much going on in the image and all those layers, plus the embossed corners (LR0143) I didn't think I needed to add anything else!

There are lots of 'loved up' challenges out there just now, so here's a few I've picked out to link up my card:
Daring Card Makers, One Stop Crafts and Crafty Catz all with Love is in the Air.

Diamonds are Forever

This week on Cute Card Thursday we want to see a little diamond sparkle on your creations, so bling it up! Our sponsor is Whimsy Stamps with a choice of 5 digi stamps as the prize.

I have inked up one of my old style wood block Penny Black stamps, cut out with a Marianne scallop circle die and coloured with Copics plus a touch of diamond dust here and there.  I've made an easel card and always find them difficult to photograph, but here goes .. .. ..

I have had the pretty lace in my stash for ages, and the text is from a clear Papermania set that I've had a while too.  The pretty pink papers are new though (I know I said I wouldn't buy any more) and from the Me to You Spring Chic 6"x6" paper stack - all very pretty and double sided too so if you don't like one side there's always the other!  The flowers are made with pearl paper that is old and I have a stack of it so no doubt you will see lots of pearly white flowers over the next few months .. .. these are made with Marianne's die set LR0145 using the smallest, middle and largest dies then curving with a big ball tool and simply stacking one on top of another with a diamond in the middle

This is a close up of the text and some of the flowers.  I've added diamond Stickles to the swirls and leaves to keep with the challenge theme, but it is looking rather blue under certain light and hardly showing up at all in some of the pictures.

Here's the list of Marianne dies I used on this card:
large scallop circle LR0112
text cut with LR0116 and swirl from the same set
leaves LR0117
flowers LR0145

The theme on the One Stop Craft blog is 'New Beginning' - I think a wedding card is very apt for that so will enter my card with them.  Over on the Die-ing for a Challenge blog the theme is Celebrations so I can enter with them too.

Festive Pup

This little 4" square card was snapped last night under my daylight bulb, so apologies for the shadows, but, it's the only card I still have to blog and I'm not sure when I'll get around to putting another one together .. .. gotta get on with the tiling and painting this week or I'll never be able to have that bath!

I stamped the little PB pup and coloured with my Copics, not much colour, just a touch of red for his hat and the BV20 - BV29 pens for the pup.  I've used one of the Marianne dies from LRO234 to cut him out and another to cut out the plain blue mat, then I cut out a piece of red pp from Marianne's Scandinavian Winter pad to fit in the square, tiny scraps of red card behind the corners then 3d fixed over my base layer.  That's a blue piece of pp from the same pad, again matted with the blue card - I think it's SU! Baja Breeze.  To embellish I've used lots of different Marianne die cuts, the most obvious being the mini poinsettia LRO142.  I've added lots of Stardust Stickles over the white fronds, centre of the flower, the snowflake and the pups hat, then to finish I put a little red gem in the centre of the flower and snowflake.  I am hoping that the sparkle and the 'exploding' embellishment will be ok for the Papertake challenge theme of fireworks glitter and sparkle!  Jingle Belles have a creature feature challenge, and I'm just in at the last minute for the Penny Black at Allsorts monthly challenge theme of Animal Magic.

Hope to catch up with you later, but now it's grouting and painting!

Cute Mice

It's a glorious sunny afternoon here in Cornwall, so bright I didn't need to adjust the picture at all today! I made this 5" square card last week just for fun, and fortunately the Penny Black Saturday blog challenge is for this, that and the other - in other words it's an anything goes week so I can enter with it. The stamp is from the PB Hugs clear set and I coloured with my Copics, shades of warm greys for the mice, pink shades R81/83/85, plus yellow and greens I can't remember. I left the die in place after I cut out the image then inked around the coloured image with Aloe Vera Versamagic chalk ink, finishing off with Stardust Stickles around the edge.

Here's the card and it's wonky again, sorry! I've used a Marianne doily die LRO129 cut in green to mat the image then created the floral corner embellishment with bits from dies LRO106, LRO142, LRO156 & LRO112. The paper is a piece of magazine freebie from Nitwits and I used an old squeeze die to cut the corners. Now, seeing as I cut a doily for my mat I'm hoping I can also enter the Secret Crafter Saturday challenge this week too.

The digger finally turned up this morning and it's bigger than I was expecting - shouldn't take the builder too long to dig out the footings with that monster! Hopefully he will be here tomorrow bright and early .. .. in the mean time I'm clearing and stacking and tidying - so no chance of doing any craft for a while yet! Saturday was a bit of a down in the dumps day, I think I was over tired and in the end went to bed at 9pm - then didn't get up for 12 hours! I felt much better yesterday and after doing a supermarket shop in St Austell, went for a lovely walk in Kings Wood with hubby and the dogs. It might have been a bit much though as I'm feeling exhausted today, or it could be that I was reading until 4am - Par market had a stall of paperbacks for a good price and I got a couple by Will Adams. I read The Lost Labyrinth last summer, that was his 3rd book in the Daniel Knox series and it was ok - a gripping archaeological yarn! Now I've just finished The Exodus Quest, his 2nd in the series, and I have The Eden Legacy, his 4th to read. I still haven't read the first book in the series, The Alexander Cipher so will have to track that one down. As it's the same characters in each book it would make sense to read them in order just so you know how the relationships have developed, but it's not essential to the plot, although I think that I had better hold fire a day or two before starting the next one so I can catch up on some sleep.

Halloween Spooks

Another Halloween card to share with you today, this one possibly for my youngest grandson as it doesn't have anything on it that could be pulled off and pushed up/in any of his bodily orifices! After a recent spell in the A&E department when he pushed a Lego brick up his nose I am not taking any chances - the brads are in fact punched dots stuck on the card. It's a simple layout with various images from a clear Penny Black set coloured with Copics and papers from Designer Digitals. I've inked the edges of the papers and the mustard card mats and risked the Platinum Stickles glitter on the edge of the image and the broom. The ribbon is in fact dark brown, not black, and has been in my stash for several years so it needs using up.

The Penny Black Saturday challenge is titled 'too cute to spook!' so hopefully my card will be ok to enter, and I won their last challenge! The Sweet Stampin' Challenge blog have a trick or treat theme while Cutie Sunday are looking for autumnal colours. Cards For Men are looking for animals, and finally Paperplay have a Halloween theme. Short and sweet today friends, I am still struggling with life and have a busy few days ahead so need to rest.

Sorry!

Sorry I'm late, and sorry is our theme on Cute Card Thursday this week. My internet connection was very iffy yesterday and I just couldn't load any pictures at all. I discovered that I don't have a 'sorry' stamp, and I'm pretty sure there isn't one boxed up in the loft either so I'll have to go shopping .. .. .. any excuse! I've used the little mouse parade stamp from a clear Penny Black set and coloured with my Copics. This is just a little 4" square card with a scrap of digi paper I've edged with Platinum Stickles to give a sparkly interest. I matted the image and text with a soft rose card and added more Stickles, then decorated with velvet scallop ribbon, punched flowers and leaves, and little pearls. The pearls in the centres of the flowers are sticky back ones, but the ones on the butterfly bodies I made with my cream Waco pearl maker pen. How come I can make nice rounded pearls with this pen, but have so much trouble with some of the others? You can see my disaster with the silver pen tomorrow!

The Penny Black Saturday challenge was to show images on the move, so my little mice should be right along there. I'm going to try and get around some of the blogs this afternoon, internet allowing that is.

And an update on the building works: the pv solar panels are on the roof, but with such miserable weather they aren't generating much electricity at the moment - yesterday was the first day and we reckoned we made £5 worth, hopefully we can equal that today but this morning was very dull and overcast and the numbers were moving very slowly. I've not managed to work out how much we got for 'free' during the day, but every little bit will help. The planning application is now tacked onto the front gate for the next 21 days, hopefully nobody will object and we will get the permissions by the end of November. I've finished painting the porch but need a man with a hammer drill to put up a knick-knack shelf and a picture before I take any pictures to show you (plus I must wash the floor and clean the windows). The electrician will have to fit the new light as the wiring is a little old and we couldn't figure out which was the live and which the neutral. And I am hoping my DH will find time to make a coat rack - I've got 3 hooks so it's only a 10 minute job - heh heh!