Uptown Girls cards

 Hello again! well after a lovely sunny day yesterday, today here on the north coast of Cornwall we are enveloped in 'fizzle' that's fog and drizzle all mixed together, and although the plants in the garden love it, I don't!

I have a couple of cards made with the Stamping Bella Uptown girls to share with you, this one brand new, the second a reworking of an earlier make.

This first one is Opal the Optimist and the text comes with the stamp.  I made it for my eldest son's partner for her birthday and hopefully she has received it by now as I will probably add to my Facebook page via Pinterest, and she will get to see that .. ..

I printed off a piece of Nitwits paper and because a couple of my inks are getting low the shades are quite different but I liked it and it worked with the red mats and the sandy coloured card I used for the base and for the die cut swirl and punched layer.  I don't actually own that MS punch, it's a piece I've had in my bit box a very long time from before I moved here when I was still able to meet up for crafty Monday afternoons with friends - not sure which friend the punch belongs to though.  I've added the roses and little buds, a tiny red bow, red lace and the die cut butterflies then embellished with gems.  Simple as it had to go in the post - I hope it arrived safely.

And here is my reworked Maybelline card.  I've added the pretty lavender mat and fixed to a bigger card base, looks much better now I think.

Well that's it from me for today.  I have to clean up the mess from under the craft table plus the bits from Izzy's annihilation of a pine cone .. .. but it did keep him quiet whilst I was trying to craft!

Thanks for stopping by, enjoy your Sunday and hopefully you have better weather where you are.  Still, it means I can't spend time in the garden so maybe after the tidy up I shall craft and make it all messy again .. .. ..

CCT Lovely Lace

Sorry I'm late! It's been one of those days/weeks and I've just not had enough free time to sit and write up my post for this week's Cute Card Thursday challenge, to show us some lace.  Our sponsor this time around is Katharina from Whiff of Joy, please pop over to the CCT blog to read all about it, and keep an eye open for our DT call coming very soon.  I'm guessing we have all been under a bit of pressure this week so having some lovely ladies, or gentlemen, join us will be a great help!

This is the card I made for my granddaughter Lauren's 15th birthday last month, so it's safe to share it with you now.  I've used another of my new Stamping Bella Uptown Girls stamps, this is Paisley has a pressie, and the text is part of the package.  I've coloured with my usual Copic pens, found a scrap of digi patterned paper in my bit box that matched, and of course the lace too.  Lauren doesn't do pink, but I do, so there's just the touch in the bow and pressie.  I have gone slightly overboard on the Stickles though .. .. and those big blooms I made with inking, spritzing and scrunching up some of my MD flower dies, I hope she likes them, perhaps they might come off the card and fix onto something else .. ..?  Oh, and my touch of lace is from my stash, the pretty lace flower border.

The MD dies I used to create the flower sprays were LR0111 and the small die from CR1204.  The leaves were from LR0162 and LR0192.

I have to dash away again now, so no extra challenges for this one.  I do hope you will come and play with us at Cute Card Thursday this week, it will be lovely to see you touches of lace!

CCT Add a brad

It's Thursday again so time for a new challenge on the CCT blog.  This week all you have to do is add a brad, or two, or lots, to your creation.  Our sponsor for this challenge is Nikki from Bunny Zoe crafts.  You will see from the CCT blog that we are a wee bit thin on DT cards this week, so there is going to be a DT call coming soon - keep an eye on the blog if you are interested in joining the most laid back design team out there!

To my card then: I have inked up another of my new Stamping Bella Uptown Girls, this is Brynn has a baby shower, and I've coloured with my Copic pens then added touches of Stickles and a white pen on the polka dot trim on her dress.  Papers are from my scrap box and to decorate I've added the flowers with mini sparkle brads in the centres.  Die cuts are all by Marianne Design, of course!  Here's the list:

nappy pins from LR0217
lace edge (plus same die used to create my faux stitching) LR0161
swirls LR0271
centres of flowers from LR0105
flowers from COL1323

The My Time To Craft blog theme is new baby, perhaps a little premature but certainly expecting a special delivery!

CCT Add a Sentiment

So sorry I am late sharing today's CCT card with you - oh my am I tired!  Despite the new bed arriving and Mat being here to kindly put it all together for me (and dismantle the old beds for storing in the loft), the effort of rearranging furniture, cleaning once, twice and then there's still more fluff .. .. well, the early night saw me turning and fidgeting still at 1.30am and even after that I kept waking up hot!  Tonight I will be taking steps, large malt steps me thinks!

This week at Cute Card Thursday it's an easy peasy challenge, we just want you to add a sentiment to your creation.  We have a new sponsor, Great Impressions, please stop by the CCT blog to read all about the prize and see what the rest of the DT have made.

For my card I've inked up another of my new Stamping Bella Uptown Girls, this is Catherine Nibbling Chocolate, and the sentiment is from another Uptown Girl set.  I've coloured with my Copic pens and kept things simple with a piece of pink digi paper by Cuddly Buddly and a die cut floral embellishment made with various Marianne Design dies.

The In The Pink blog challenge is for either fussy and fancy or clean and simple, plus lots of pink of course.  I hope my card fits the CAS category, even though I do have a floral corner embellishment.

That's it from me for today .. .. I do have something to share soon, but am going to be busy with visitors this weekend so catch up with you all when I can.

Maybelline get's a letter

A close up of my colouring - eek! It looks better from a distance and those lavender blues are a pain to blend, they kept fading out completely so getting any shadow or shading was a nightmare .. .. I just hope the colours stay true. Not so bad on the flowers but I'm not happy with the dress, and should I have sparkled the frilly petticoat? I can go back and do that perhaps .. ..

The stamp is one from Stamping Bella Uptown Girls called Maybelline loves mail - and it's a big one, but with lots of detail in the flowers.  Anyway, let's quickly show you the card .. ..

Not a lot of room for adding embellishments so I decided to go CAS and just keep the image in view although I did add the 3 little domes coloured with a Copic to match the flowers, and stamped a simple text (not the one that comes with the stamp).  The papers are more from my scrap box and are bits of Cuddly Buddly digitals Spring Bouquet pack. If I can get a pack of bigger cards I might tweek things a little bit and cut off the front of the card, add a soft lavender mat behind and stick it to a bigger card, to me it needs more focus and the image could do with a mat too .. .. do you get those days when you think you are done then not happy with things the next day?

Oh well, perhaps it will grow on me .. .. and I'm going to enter it into a couple of challenges anyway.  The My Time To Craft blog challenge is for Spring Flowers, and at Moving Along With The Times the theme is 'let's get reading' - Maybelline is reading her letter although I rather think they are looking for book titles .. .. perhaps the RHS Encylopedia of Herbs would spring to mind - I have two copies, one in my bedroom and one in the conservatory, so always one to hand when I need inspiration!

Charmed at CCT

Just the one wonky picture of my card to share with you today!  It's my DT creation for Cute Card Thursday and the theme is 'Charmed, and for this challenge we are sponsored by Whimsy Stamps.  Please stop by the blog for details and to see what the rest of the DT made.

I've used one of me new Uptown Girls stamps, Perry on her laptop, and it is a big stamp with that chair likely to overwhelm, or so I thought.  Therefore, I coloured the chair in pale lavender grey Copic tones and emphasised Perry with reds - hopefully it's worked.  I couldn't help but add a touch of sparkle to the fringing on the chair with Stardust Stickles .. .. these Uptown girls cry out for a touch of bling!  I found a scrap of digi paper in my bit box and other odds and ends, adding the red organza bow and the little heart charm.  I've cut the flowers out of red handmade paper then curled up the edges, adding pearls and die cut leaves to make the corner embellishments.  I didn't use the text that came with the stamp, instead found this little clear one and stamped it up as these days we mostly keep in touch via our laptops etc .. ..

Addicted to Stamps challenge is for a girly card, but no pink (a touch on my paper but hardly any) so I'll enter with them.

The Allsorts blog challenge are playing Bingo - I have a line across the middle with ribbon, flowers and die cuts.

One of my new stamps

I spent my early birthday money on some Uptown Girls Stamping Bella stamps from Quixotic Paperie .. .. and there is still a sale on! I had a couple from craft fairs here in Cornwall but still hadn't done anything with them, so got to inking them all up .. ..so several to show you in the coming weeks.  Here is a little card I made with Sofia the Sicky, coloured with my Copic pens and a touch of sparkle.  I must say, they are big stamps and I am going to have to get bigger base cards for some of them.  I think I just about got away with her on this 6" square .. .. here's the card:

The papers are digi designs from Cuddly Buddly printed out as a full A4 sheet rather than just half a sheet as I usually do to get a smaller design, I like the pretty soft blue tones and the pink in the roses picks up the RV pinks I've used to colour and stamp the text, a Marianne Design clear stamp that's a little bigger than the rubber one that comes with her.  A few little MD flowers, twiddly bits, swirls and a die cut bow finish things off.  These are the MD dies I used:

Bow cut from CR1269
flowers COL1323 & LR0105
seed heads LR0106
leafy swirl LR0271

Not sure of any challenges I can enter - will try and look about and if I find any will come back and add in.  But, I have the grandsons arriving this afternoon to stay for the weekend so doubt I'll be able to indulge in much internet browsing .. ..

An update from the vet - Piper is finally going to be discharged this afternoon, the delay was getting him to walk on the broken leg that has now been fixed with pins and a plate.  He figured out he could get about far quicker on 3 legs .. .. he's not daft! Anyway, hopefully his healing will go well and my estranged DH has promised to keep me informed.  Izzy has been well and truly groomed and looks like a different dog! He's also been assessed after the 'incident' a few days back and accusations that he is a dangerous dog!  He is in fact a very nervous dog who in a fearful situation may, if provoked, bite.  However, I've been assured that I'm doing things right but have expected too much of him too soon.  I do need to try and socialise him with other calm and non-aggressive dogs so he can, hopefully, overcome his fear and nervousness.  I will need to be more vigilant with him and not let him go up to other dogs or people unless under strict supervision in his safe environment, i.e. home. It saddens me that in his short life before he came to live with me, he was so traumatised.  I would love for him to be able to enjoy the fun and play on the beach safely with other dogs .. .. perhaps one day?