Holly Jolly - Snowmen

Baby, it's starting to get cold outside. If not cold, then at least dark. After the clocks going back this weekend, I won't manage to see daylight while at home during the week. It's dark when I leave and dark when I come back. Let's hope there will be some snow at some point, at least it makes everything seem a bit lighter!  With days cold and dark, theres no distractions like enjoying the great outdoors. So what better than barricading yourself into your craft room with a huge mug of hot chocolate and finish those last Christmas cards you need (because playing along with us over at Holly Jolly all year has obviously helped you finish most already!)

Our new challenge over at Holly Jolly is Snowmen. What a perfect theme to get into the Christmas card creating spirit! Or Christmas tags, or any other Christmas related crafting. Pop over to Holly Jolly to see what the other ladies of the DT have created to inspire you. Our generous sponsors this time are Stitchy Bear, All Dressed Up Stamps and Crafty Sentiments Designs. 

For my card I used a Crafty Sentiments Designs digi called Snowman Frame, which I coloured with Copics. I created the background by stamping snowflakes from the Stampin' Up Endless Wishes stamp set in Versamark and embossed in clear powder. I used multiple blue Tim Holtz distress inks to ink the background. I die cut the Merry Christmas using a Lawn Fawn die, and heat embossed a sentiment from the Penny Black All Is Bright set in white onto dark blue card. Then all that was needed was to assemble it all, matting on blue card and adhering onto a square white card.

I would like to link up with the following challenges:
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra - Anything Goes
Christmas Card Challenges - Anything Goes
52 Christmas Card Throwdown - Emboss Resist
Hiding In My Craft Room - Any Holiday
Brown Sugar - Anything Goes
Crafting With Friends - Anything Goes
Simply Create Too - Baby It's Cold Outside
Crafty Girls Creations - Anything Goes
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Throwback (pick any previous challenge; I picked two, December 2014 Holiday cards and January 2014 Blues)

Card: 300 gsm white card, Vanguard VA020 Marine Blue, Hobbycraft 160 gsm white card, coloured 240 gsm card navy
Stamps: Crafty Sentiments Designs digi Snowman Frame, Stampin' Up Endless Wishes, Penny Black All Is Bright
Colouring: Copics
Ink: Versamark, Tim Holtz Distress inks Broken China, Mermaid Lagoon, Blueprint Sketch, Chipped Sapphire
Other: Ranger clear embossing powder, Papermania Seafoam White embossing powder, Lawn Fawn Stitched Rectangles dies, Merry Christmas boder die

Pink Christmas

Do you know that feeling when you just finished chopping chillies, washed your hands and then administered eye drops to yourself, naively thinking washing those hands has removed all of that fiery burning stuff? If you don't, consider yourself lucky! It did take my mind off the itching in my eyes, that's fore sure. 

After recovering from my brush with chilli-induced blindness, I wanted to play along with the current ColourQ challenge, having planned to do so all week, but just not quite getting around to do it. I decided to CASE my earlier small and cute Christmas cards to make a larger version. I really love how the card turned out! So quick and easy, and one layer is the cheapest option for posting as well. I'm also linking up over at Crimbo Crackers where the theme is Pink and ABC Christmas Challenge where the theme is U for Unusual Christmas Colours. I'm also linking up with The Unicorn Challenge where the theme is Think Pink. Last but not least I'm linking up with Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge where the theme is Throwback, you can pick any of their previous challenges. I picked "In the clouds" from January 2015, as I love the snow clouds and those small, unique snowflakes just drifting down, like the clouds breaking up into minuscule pieces. 

I started by creating a mask by die cutting a Lawn Fawn Stitched rectangle die, and used the mask to ink using distress inks. Then I used a watercolour brush to flick some water drops onto the inked background to create the splashes. I used a silver Sharpie to draw the border. The next step is really crucial, I used my embossing buddy liberally to make sure the embossing powder would only stick to the ink. I stamped the snowflakes in Versamark and embossed in silver powder. Last, I stamped the sentiment in black and added a few adhesive gems of that final touch. 

Card: 300 gsm white card
Ink: Tsukineko Versamark, Memento Tuxedo Black, Tim Holtz distress inks Spun Sugar, Picked Raspberry, Worn Lipstick
Stamps: Stampin' Up Endless Wishes
Other: Silver Sharpie, Papermania Silver embossing powder, adhesive gems from my stash

Fall Flowers

Finally a gorgeous sunny autumn day! I have been waiting to take a bikeride with my camera in my backpack and shoot some autumn colours. I spent a nice two hours leisurely cycling around, stopping for photos, with the Culinary Consultant patiently waiting and holding my bag. In less good news, it's probably a good idea to charge the camera battery before heading off for a morning of shooting. Yes, I only managed about halfway and then the battery gave up. Oh well, hopefully I won't make that mistake again anytime soon!

Some autumn colours from today's cycle ride.

I also enjoyed hopping along with the STAMPlorations October Stamp release blog hop which featured some amazing flower stamps and stunning inspiration from the DT. And along with the hop, there is a flower themed challenge as well, and of course I couldn't resist playing along using one of STAMPloration's stunning flower stamps. I was inspired by this card by Shirley in the STAMPlorations CASE playground. I was also inspired by the sketch over at RetroSketches, and I was hell bent on using some washi tape for the three stripes at the bottom of the sketch. Alas, I just couldn't make it work, so I had to pursue another idea, which luckily worked a bit better. I'm also linking up with the STAMPlorations Anything Goes challenge. 

The card was rather easy to create, I stamped the flower in Versamark and heat embossed using white powder. I watercoloured the flower using Tim Holtz distress inks in Fossilized Amber, Mustard Seed, Abandoned Coral, Spiced Marmalade and Fired Brick. Then I masked the flower, and inked up part of the Stampin' Up Brushstrokes stamp with markers and stamped the stripes for the background. Then I flicked some ink on the top of the card, and last I stamped and heat embossed the sentiment from STAMPlorations Floral Bliss. 

Card: kraft card
Stamps: STAMPlorations Large Marigold, Floral Bliss, Stampin' Up Brushstrokes
Ink: Versamark, Tim Holtz Fossilized Amber, Mustard Seed, Abandoned Coral, Spiced Marmalade, Mowed Lawn, Twisted Citron, Aged Mahogany and Fired Brick
Other: Papermania Seafoam White embossing powder

Sweet treat

I usually start my Saturdays with a crafting session, but today I thought I will just quickly clean my craft room before making more of a mess. Ok, to be perfectly honest, I couldn't push the stuff on my crafting desk any further towards the edges of the desk to make even the tiniest little space, so it wasn't so much of a choice as a requirement. However, it turned out I also sorted through that huge pile of papers that contain all those "I will deal with these any day now" things, found a document I had been looking for for ages, and even kept on cleaning and went through a few of my clothes cupboards. Yes, plural... I managed to gather two large bags of clothes I am taking to a charity shop. I keep dreaming of that simple, 48-piece capsule wardrobe, but when you are a person who has been anything between a size 10 and a size 20 in the last 5 years, it's not so easy, I will tell you. I have formal and less formal dresses in various sizes, and I refuse to get rid of them as I never know what size I will be when I next need one...

I did finally make it to the actual fun part. I was inspired by the Tempting Treats challenge over at Daring Cardmakers, inspired by making cards with sweet things on them after my donut card rocked the Friday mashup. So I turned again to my trusty Sugar Rush stamp set from STAMPlorations. I know I said it before, and I will say it again, but I just love love love love love this set!!! It always makes my mouth water when I take it out for a play. I was also inspired by a card by Maria F. over in the STAMPlorations CASE playground. The funny thing is, I had also decided to play along with the colour challenge over at The Card Concept, which is partly why I was drawn to Maria's gorgeous card. Funnily enough, she also played along with the challenge over at The Card Concept, so I'm not sure if this counts as cheating... In my defence, all I can say is that it wasn't intentional, and at least I'm giving credit where credit is due. I'm also linking up with the STAMPlorations Anything Goes challenge. For the layout, I was also inspired by the sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches, and last but not least I'm playing along over at If You Give a Crafter a Cookie where the inspiration pic was pink and red cookies.

I started by die cutting a piece of watercolour card using a Lawn Fawn Stitched Rectangle die, and stamped the sundae in Staz-on Jet Black ink. I also stamped the image onto a piece of scrap paper and cut it out to use as a mask. I have been trying to find low tack masking paper, I have seen it used in crafty videos but can't find any. Can anyone help me? In the meantime, I use teeny tiny dabs of Tombow glue, if you let it dry it becomes non-permanent, so it works well for masking.  Just make sure you use absolutely tiny little drops, I like to make them a bit less sticky with my finger before adhering to the card, just to make sure it won't stick too tightly. After masking off the image, I used a watercolour brush to wet the paper, and then created the ombre background using Tim Holtz distress inks in Aged Mahogany, Barn Door, Worn Lipstick and Spun Sugar. I then dried the background using a heat gun, and painted the sundae using the same inks, adding some Ground Espresso for the chocolate sauce. Then I stamped sentiments from the stamp set around the edges, inspired by the layout Maria used for her card. I added a few adhesive rhinestones and sequins, and added Glossy Accents to the glass to make it look a bit more... well, glassy and glossy. I die cut a piece of vellum using a larger stitched rectangle die and adhered it onto the white card base, it doesn't show very well in the image, but it gives a nice finish to the white card. The sun was already setting when I finished the card, so the images are unfortunately a bit on the dark side.

Card: white 300 gsm card, 300 gsm watercolour card, Dovecraft 110 gsm premium vellum
Stamps: STAMPlorations Sugar Rush
Ink: Tsukineko Staz-on Jet Black, Memento Tuxedo Black, Tim Holtz distress inks Aged Mahogany, Barn Door, Ground Espresso, Spun Sugar, Worn Lipstick
Other: Lawn Fawn Stitched Rectangle dies, Stampin' Up Glossy Accents, adhesive gems and sequins from my stash

Happy Crazy Halloween

Boy am I glad it's Friday. I'm suffering from a worklife related existential crisis. All I do is try to get through the weeks and make it to the weekend, sometimes it even feels like I'm only fully alive from Friday evening to Sunday afternoon, the rest of the time I'm walking around in a zombie-like stupor. I know I'm supposed to be all excited and positive, but all I want to do is bury myself under my duvet and eat a ton of chocolate. I know it's just the darkness and this time of the year, and it will eventually pass. It's funny how some people just embrace autumn and talk about wrapping up in huge sweaters and having hot beverages. I'm trying to see their side of the argument, but I'm finding it very hard, especially as my toes are freezing despite doubling up with fluffy wool socks. Grumble, grumble...

Talking about zombie-like stupor, it's almost Halloween! I can't wait for next weekend, as I will be spending it with alpacas, the coolest animals ever! Pop back next weekend to hear what it's all about... Anyhow, back to Halloween. I grew up not even knowing what Halloween was, so it's never featured on my list of interests. I mean nowadays it's all been imported from the US, but back in my childhood, we didn't know about trick-or-treating. We do have an All Saints night around the same time of the year, but it's all about lighting candles and remembering those who have passed. No pumpkins or candies though.

Despite my general lack of interest towards Halloween, I had to have a little play with the gorgeous Crazy Things Halloween-y bits and bobs, just for one card. I have no idea what to do with it as I really don't know anyone who is into Halloween to send it to, but at least I had lots of fun making it! My colour inspiration for this card was this week's Colour Me...! with some quite Halloween-ish colours. The layout was inspired by the sketch over at Mojo Monday, it's been a while since I played along over there. It's also been waaay to long since I played along with the Snarky Sisters, so here is my long overdue contribution to the most recent challenge which is Halloween with some pink. Boy, I've missed good old Edna! I'm also linking up over at 4 Crafty Chicks, The Friday Mashup, Deep Ocean Challenges and Inky Chicks where the theme is Halloween

Card: 300 gsm black card, 250 gsm white card, Hobbycraft 160 gsm white card

Stamps: Tim Holtz Stamper's Anonymous Bird Crazy and Crazy Things with matching dies, Lawn Fawn Hats Off

Ink: Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black, Versamark, Tim Holtz distress inks Black Soot, Wilted Violet

Colouring: Copics YR02, YR04, YR07, R20, R43, V04, V09, E37

Other: Lawn Fawn Happy Birthday border die, Tag You're It die and Let's Polka in the dark paper pad, Stampin' Up Glossy Accents

Reindeer tags

Are you guys using your virtual assistants on your phones? I got a new phone very recently, as my age old assistant-less phone was giving up the ghost totally. And I just love the fact that my new phone has an assistant that I can just call out to whenever. It's so convenient in the kitchen to just set a timer without having to clean all the dough off your hands. And I love it that when something pops into my head in the evening right before I fall asleep I can just ask my assistant to make a note for the next day, or add something to my shopping list without even having to turn on the light. I'm a bit slow to catch on, but I'm catching up real quick!

I was completely fed up with the traffic around here, it has been such a nightmare lately. I have been going through audiobooks like no-ones business. At least it gave me the opportunity to plan these tags in my head while sitting still in traffic, going nowhere fast. There was a slight adjustment to the plan when I saw the new sketch over at CAS(E) This Sketch. I'm assuming I'm allowed to use it on a non-card item too? I was also inspired by the great colours over at Color Throwdown (and who can resist those glittery shoes, I had a pair similar to those back in the days...) and the Wrap It theme over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge. I'm also linking up over at the STAMPlorations Anything Goes challenge, Crimbo Crackers where the theme is Pink and Christmas Stampin' All Year Long where the theme is Pair of Tags.

I started by die cutting the tag from watercolour paper. Then painted the whole tag with lots of water, and dropped two drops of Picked Raspberry ink directly onto the card, adding more water and just swooshing it around (yes that's a technical term). Then I used a tissue to just dab around and soak up some of the colour. Next, I added some Festive Berries ink using a watercolour brush around the edges, and smudged with paper some more. After drying with a heat tool I sponged a bit more Festive Berries around the edges. I used the gorgeous Christmas Reindeer stencil from STAMPlorations to ink the reindeers in Black Soot, and flicked some water drops to create some splotches. For one card, I dies cut the sentiment from sparkly pink card, and for the other I stamped the sentiment in Versamark and heat embossed in red. Last, I die cut a few Mini Snowflakes from white sparkly paper and added an adhesive gem as a finishing touch along with some twine and ribbon from my stash. Unfortunately we are now into the depressing time of the year when the only option is flash photography, and the cards look a bit more dynamic in real life, the colours came out a bit muted in the picture.

Card: 300 gsm watercolour paper, sparkly pink card, white sparkly card
Ink: Tim Holtz Distress inks Picked Raspberry, Festive Berries, Black Soot, Versamark
Stamps: Stampin' Up Endless Wishes
Dies: Lawn Fawn Tag You're It, Merry Christmas Border and Mini Snowflakes dies
Other: STAMPlorations Christmas Reindeer stencil, adhesive gems, twine and ribbon from my stash, red embossing powder

Quick and Easy One Layer Christmas Cards

Oh wow, I am on the highest of sugar highs. Today I spent the afternoon with a distinguished group of fantastic ladies making the most delicious chocolates. As in proper handmade artisan chocolate, none of that Cadburys "I've never seen a cocoa been but I'm pretending to be chocolate" stuff. Chilli chocolate, strawberry and poppy seed, limegrass and cocoa chocolates and the most amazing basil chocolate. I know, it sounds crazy. But it's aaah-maaa-zing. And combined with a good merlot. Again, I know it sounds crazy, but it's just the most gorgeous flavour combination. If you are somewhere in Cambridgeshire and need delicious chocolates, take a look at Boutique Mama Bombon, run by the lovely Gloria. 

 

Before I went off galavanting on my chocolate adventure, I finally tackled my Christmas card dilemma. I needed a quick and easy design to make Christmas cards for my colleagues. I spent a bit of time Pinteresting (yes, it's a verb, I have decided so) and found two lovely (the red card over here and this one here) cards which I combined in my mind into an easy and quick design, which I made in four colours. 

I started by cutting out 20x10 cm (4x8 in) pieces of kraft cardstock and folding them into 10x10 cm (4x4 in) cards. I made a 10x10 cm (4x4 in) stencil with a 5x5 cm (2x2 in) square opening to ink through (note to self, for mass production, make the stencil out of acetate and not paper as the colours start eventually bleeding through the paper). I did multiple copies of each colour and found that the best way was to ink all cards in one colour before proceeding to the other stages, as that gave the ink a bit of time to dry before the embossing. After inking, I drew the white frames around the inked area with my gel pen, and used a watercolour brush to splash water droplets onto the ink to create the bokeh look. I wiped the water droplets with a piece of paper. Next the crucial step to avoid getting the embossing powder stuck all over the inked square - dab vigorously with your embossing buddy (anti-static bag). If you don't have one, I would suggest either leaving to dry until the next day, or drying with a heat tool. 

After finishing the background, I stamped the snowflakes in Versamark and heat embossed in white powder. Again, I stamped all cards I had made in one colour and added the embossing powder, and then heat set them all in one go, it's so much quicker once the heat tool gets properly hot. Last, I stamped the sentiment in black ink, and added the adhesive gem. I also stamped a sentiment inside the card. I kept all the stamps mounted to clear blocks all the time (I don't have that many blocks so I mounted the sentiments on each side of one block, just quickly ink up one side, stamp on the front of the card, swap the block around, ink up and stamp the inside). All in all, it took about 3-4 minutes per card, and I have made 15 so  far with another 15 or so to go. I might even create a few more colour combos just to keep it interesting! 

I would like to link up with the following challenges:
One Layer Christmas Cards - Anything goes (I chose not to play with the optional twist of using silver)
ABC Christmas challenges - Unusual Christmas colours (the purple, orange and turquoise cards)
As You Like It - Monochrome or colour (obviously monochrome for me this time, for the convenience of mass production)
C.R.A.F.T Challenge - Christmas 
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra - Anything Goes
One Crazy Stamper - Christmas/Halloween/Fall

Card: kraft card
Inks: Versamark, Memento Tuxedo Black, Tim Holtz distress inks in (for the blue card) Broken China, Blueprint Sketch and Chipped Sapphire; (for the yellow card) Fossilized Amber, Spiced Marmalade, Festive Berries; (for the purple card) Victorian Velvet, Dusty Concord, Seedless Preserves; (for the turquoise card) Iced Spruce, Cracked Pistachio and Peacock Feathers
Stamps: Stampin' Up Endless Wishes
Other: Papermania Seafoam White embossing powder, Signo white gel pen, clear adhesive gems from my stash

Sweet friend

Wow, it's been one of those weeks. There are no words to describe how happy I am to wake up to a peaceful Saturday morning. I've had car trouble, way too much work and just generally one of those weeks where nothing goes right. I'm hoping the car should be sorted out in the next hour and a half or so, but then I will have to dedicate the rest of the weekend to cleaning. I don't know who makes such a mess in this house, but it looks horrible! At least I have a chocolate making course to look forward to tomorrow, can't wait for that.

In my anticipated sugar high tomorrow, I was thrilled to see that the theme for The Friday Mashup was to feature Donuts or other baked goods. What a perfect excuse to ink up my Sugar Rush stamps from STAMPlorations. I love this set, and it was one of the first ones that made me interested in STAMPlorations back when. I was also inspired by the sketch over at STAMPlorations October challenge and the colours over at Color Throwdown. I'm also linking up over at the STAMPlorations Anything Goes challenge and Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge where the theme is Wonderful Watercolour.

I die cut watercolour paper using a Lawn Fawn Stitched Rectangle die and stamped the doughnuts in Staz-on ink. I coloured them with Distress inks and a watercolour brush. I then stamped the sentiment in Memento black. To deal with all that white space, I flicked some watercolour spots off my brush for a grunge-y look and finished with a few adhesive gems. I created the background by inking up the card in Tim Holtz inks and flicking some water onto it to create that lovely waterdrop effect.

Card: 300 gsm white card, 300 gsm watercolour paper

Ink: Staz-on Jet Black, Memento Tuexedo Black, Tim Holtz Distress inks Mermaid Lagoon, Twisted Citron and Spun Sugar, Tea Dye, Vintage Photo

Stamps: STAMPlorations Sugar Rush

Other: Lawn Fawn Stitched Rectangles dies, adhesive gems from my stash

Holly Jolly - Teddy Bears

Have you started thinking about Christmas presents yet? This year we are staying in the UK for Christmas, so I have to sort out the Christmas presents for back home so I have them in time to have them shipped over. Christmas is one of those times when I am reminded how far away I am from my family and friends. 

While contemplating presents, I'm also starting to stock up on tags to use for my Christmas presents. And our new challenge over at Holly Jolly was a great opportunity to make another tag for the stash. Our challenge this week is Teddy Bears, and it can be any type of crafting as long as it's Christmas and includes Teddy Bears in one form or another. Our sponsors who are kindly giving away prizes for our winners are QKR Stampede, Sentimental Susan and Oddball Art.

I got to play with an adorable digi from QKR Stampede called Santa Bear. I thought he would be perfect for a gift tag, so I die cut a tag using the Lawn Fawn Tag You're It die. I used my trusty Tim Holtz spritzing tool and distress markers on my snowflake stencil for the background. I coloured the teddy using Copics and fussy cut him. For a finishing touch, I die cut the sentiment in turquoise glitter paper and added a matching ring to the die and threaded some twine through it. 

I would like to link up with the following challenges:

Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra - Anything Goes

Just Us Girls - Stencils 

Suzy Bee's Bloomin' Challenge Blog - Something beginning with S (snowflakes, spritzing, sparkling paper, Santa bear)

Crafting With Friends - Anything Goes

Creative Fingers Challenge - Anything Goes

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Clean and Simple Christmas

Card: 300 gsm white card, Hobbycraft 160 gsm white card, turquoise glitter card

Stamps: QKR Stampede digi Santa Bear

Ink and colouring: Tim Holtz distress markers, Copics

Other: Lawn Fawn Tag You're It and Merry Christmas border die, Imagination Crafts Snowflake Frenzy Stencil, twine from my stash 

Autumn Alpaca

The small things in life that make me so happy - picking an apple off the tree and eating it. Even better, transforming the apples into apple crumble, and having it with vanilla ice cream and home made salted caramel sauce (in case you feel tempted, I used this recipe from Brown Eyed Baker. The thing is, when you make salted caramel, I think you have to keep tasting it every step of the way. Just to make sure. I wouldn't want to serve my Culinary Consultant sub-par caramel sauce. The downside is I only have half of the caramel sauce left after all that tasting... But it did turn out very delicious!

Today's card is inspired by several autumn themed challenges. As I love love love love looooove (I think you are getting the idea here) the Lawn Fawn alpaca stamp, and I thought he would be adorable with a little cap to go with that lovely scarf he is wearing. And I thought he would enjoy an outing in the autumnal woods. 

The layout of the card was inspired by the sketch over at Fusion card challenges and the autumn coloured inspiration pic. I'm also linking up over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge where the theme is Autumn is in the Air, Time Out challenges where the theme is Autumn... the year's last, loveliest smile, Stamping Sensations where the theme is Colours of Autumn, Cupcake Inspirations where the theme is Forest Friends and Lawnscaping where the theme is to make the sentiment your focal point.

To create the background and the hills I started by dabbing some Distress Paints in Barn Door, Festive Berries, Spiced Marmalade and Mustard Seed onto my craft mat. Then I spritzed it with plenty of water, and dabbed pieces of card in the mix of colours. Gradually, I added more water to get a lighter colour and to use up all the colours on my craft mat. I used the brighter coloured cards to die cut the rolling hills and the lighter for the background which I cut with the Lawn Fawn Stitched Journaling card die. I stamped the trees, the alpaca and the mushrooms in Memento ink and coloured them with Copics. Last, I die cut the sentiment in kraft card and inked it with Vintage Photo distress ink. I stamped the leaf (the only(!) leaf stamp I seem to own) from a Hero Arts set in Versamark and heat embossed in white. I stamped the leaf and mushrooms in Versamark onto kraft card and adhered the front panel using foam tape.

Card: kraft card, 160 gsm Hobbycraft white card
Stamps: Lawn Fawn Winter Alpaca and matching die, Joy to the Woods and matching dies, Critters in the Arctic and matching dies, Critters in the Forest, Hero Arts Layered Flowers
Inks and Colouring: Tim Holtz Distress Paints Barn Door, Festive Berries, Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade, Distress ink Vintage Photo, Copics, Tsukineko Versamark and Memento Tuxedo Black
Other: Lawn Fawn Forest Border, Stitched Journaling Card, Stitched Hillside Borders, Scripty Hugs dies, Papermania Seafoam White embossing powder

Cheer up, buttercup

I can't say it's been the most beautiful autumn day today, but although the skies have been grey, the rains have kept away and we spent a few hours in the garden. The results are a big bowl of apples which need to be turned into stewed apple, thee cucumbers and a huge bowl of tomatoes of various sizes and colours which I'm hoping to turn into a bit of tomato sauce. I'm so gutted that the tomato crops this year have been abysmal, last year we had enough tomatoes to keep us in tomato sauce for a year, and this year we hardly had any and all have been consumed as soon as they have been picked. But we did have an exceptional harvest of cherries, apricots and figs, so I'm not complaining. And there are plenty of apples and pears, I'm just happily picking the fruit straight from the tree and eating it standing right there in my garden. True happiness! 

I did get a chance to play in the craft room as well. Today's card is my second entry for the CAS-ology Silly challenge. I absolutely love this theme, and I have to admit I once again turned to my beloved Crazy Birds. The round sad looking is my absolute favourite of the bunch (shhh, don't tell the others!). I thought he could do with a bit of accessorising. The layout was inspired by the sketch over at My Favourite Things, and the colours are from the current ColourQ. I'm also linking up at Allsorts where the theme is No designer paper, Chocolate, Coffe and Cards where the theme is animals and Crazy 4 Challenges where the theme is costumed characters. 

There's nothing very high tech about this card, I die cut a panel of watercolour paper using Lawn Fawn Stitched Rectangles dies and stamped the sentiments and bird using Staz-On Jet black ink. The first part of the sentiment is stamped using the Stampin' Up Alphabet Rotary stamp and the second part using Lawn Fawn Violet's ABCs. I like creating my own personalised sentiments to go with the cards I make, sometimes you just don't have an appropriate sentiment in your existing sets. Which reminds me I do want to buy at least one more alphabet stamp set, I am loving the Lawn Fawn ones as they have multiple copies of most letters so you can create the whole sentiment you need in one go instead of having to stamp one letter at a time. I watercoloured the birdie and his (I don't know why the birds are all male to me, but they just are...) accessories using Stampin' Write markers in Tangerine Tango, Wisteria Wonder and Old Olive (I don't have Kiwi Kiss). I then used the same markers to colour three stripes from the Stampin' Up Brushstrokes background stamp for the background and adhered the front panel with foam adhesive. I also stamped a sentiment inside the card which I thought would go with the theme of the card.

Card: 300 gsm white card, 300 gsm watercolour card

Stamps: Tim Holtz Bird Crazy, Crazy Things and matching dies, Lawn Fawn Violet's ABCs, Stampin' Up Alphabet Rotary stamp, Brushstrokes

Ink: Staz-on Jet Black, Memento Tuxedo Black, Stampin' Up Tangerine Tango, Wisteria Wonder, Old Olive

Other: Lawn Fawn Stitched Rectangle dies

Spectacular is what you are

I'm so happy tomorrow is Friday. I have lots of plans for the weekend. Among other things I am planning to sleep in late, lay on the sofa like a vegetable, read a book, eat chocolate and maybe some cake, and sleep some more. I'm going to be very busy indeed! 

Today's card involved lots of fun stamping. I was inspired by the Silly theme over at CASology, and thought the glasses from the Crazy Things  stamp set would bring the perfect silliness together with the custom made sentiment using Lawn Fawn Violet's ABCs. The layout is inspired by this week's sketch over at CAS(E) This Sketch and the colour combo is inspired by this week's colour swatch over at Color Throwdown.

Card: 300 gsm white linen card, Vanguard VA017 Ivory card
Stamps: Tim Holtz Crazy Things, Lawn Fawn Violet's ABC
Ink: Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black, Stampin' Up So Saffron, Pistachio Pudding
Other: Lawn Fawn Stitched Rectangle dies