Love You a Latte, Foxy

How many adulting points to I get for defrosting the freezer and descaling the kettle? I'd say at least enough to not do anything but eat cake and craft for the rest of the weekend!

I can't believe I almost missed out on the current Lawn Fawnatics challenge where the theme is Create a Scene. And what better than a fall scene with a little bit of coffee for the Fall Coffee Lovers Blog Hop as well! Last, but not least I'm also linking up with Daring Cardmakers, where the theme is 4 Of Something (4 trees and 4 leaves). 

Card: 250 gsm white card, Neenah Solar White card, scrap of dark brown card
Patterned Paper: Lawn Fawn Perfectly Plaid Fall, Let's Polka, Let's Polka in the Dark, Watercolour Wishes
Stamps: Lawn Fawn Party Animal and matching dies, Holiday Party Animal, Love You A Latte
Ink and Colouring: Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black, Copics
Dies: Lawn Fawn Stitched Tree Border Dies, Scalloped Rectangle Stackables, Stitched Rectangle Stackables, Grassy Border, Stitched Hillside Border, Spring Showers, Stitched Leaves

Unicorn Watercolour Hugs

I have been amassing a serious mountain of NBUS and have made a bit of an effort to work my way through some of it. I was super-inspired by the Watercolour theme over at Lawn Fawnatics - the DT are amazing and there is always such amazing inspiration, but for some reason I haven't managed to play along all that often. I wanted to try out my new Starry Skies die and thought it would go great with a watercoloured night sky. And a unicorn. No starry sky scene is complete without a unicorn, right? I was also inspired by the colourful umbrellas (blue, green, pink and yellow) in the inspiration image over at Inspired By All The Little Things and last, but not least I'm also linking up over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge where Anything Goes. 

I started by painting a night sky and some grass using my Gansai Tambi watercolours and die cut the pieces using Stitched Rectangles, Stitched Hillside Borders and Grassy Border dies. Next I stamped the Winter Unicorn and the flowers from Gleeful Garden onto watercolour paper and coloured them with watercolours too, and die cut with the matching dies. Then I cut the sentiment using Scripty Hugs from pink and yellow card, and cut a piece of yellow Watercolour Wishes paper using the Scalloped Borders for the background. Lastly I assembled the card, using some 3D foam tape for the grass, unicorn and one of the flowers for some dimension before attaching everything onto a card base.

Card: 300 gsm white card, 350 gsm Daler&Rowney Watercolour card, scraps of pink and yellow card
Stamps: Lawn Fawn Winter Unicorn, Gleeful Garden and matching dies
Dies: Lawn Fawn Scalloped Rectangles, Stitched Rectangles, Starry Skies, Stitched Hillside Border, Grassy Border, Scripty Hugs
Ink and Colouring: Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black, Gansai Tambi watercolours
Other: Lawn Fawn Watercolour Wishes paper

Inspired By Your Bedding

When I saw this week's challenge over at Shopping Our Stash I knew I had to play along. The theme is Get Inspired By Your Bedding. Let me start by showing a picture of the bedding. And before you judge me, there is a story behind why that pile of ugliness is on our bed...

We don't fight. As in ever. I sometimes fight. And my first fight was about those sheets. I really wasn't sure I could move in with a man who has elephant sheets. But as the Culinary Consultant really loves these sheets, do not ask me why, I just couldn't throw them away, no matter how much I dislike them. So I came to a compromise where we bring out the elephants every second time we change sheets, and every second time I get to pick a more... how should I put this... aesthetically pleasing set of bedding. 

Anyhow, I decided to take the challenge and create a card based on sheets. I was inspired by the elephants and the colour scheme. I was also inspired by the triangle shapes which looked like mountains - and gave me a great excuse to use my new Stitched Mountain Border dies. And I'll bet you can guess who will get this card!

I started by stamping the elephants from Critters in the Jungle and coloured them with Copics. Then I used various Lawn Fawn dies to create the scene using coloured card. I think it's definitely nicer than the sheets! I also stamped a sentiment inside the card and added one more oliphant. 

I'm also linking up with Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge where the theme is Flora and Fauna and Time Out where the challenge is to be inspired by the phrase "Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine". I was inspired by the sunshine part. 

Card: white 300 gsm card, Neenah Solar white smooth card, scraps of coloured card
Stamps: Lawn Fawn Critters in the Jungle, Claire's ABCs, Violet's ABCs
Ink and colouring: Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black, Copics C3, C5, C7
Dies: Lawn Fawn Stitched Rectangle Frames dies, Stitched Hillside Borders, Spring Showers, Stitched Mountain Borders, Scripty Congrats 

Welcome James!

Greetings from underneath the covers. Let's just say I'm not feeling very well right now. My manager sent me home from work (I have the best manager!), that must mean I looked and sounded quite terrible. I really need to get well soon again as I'm going back home for Easter, so I'm focusing on rest and healing. Can you will yourself to heal from a cold?

Anyhow, today's card is for my former manager who just got a little dog named James. I thought I would get little James a welcome card. He is sure to be a very happy dog, my former manager is such a great lady.

I'm linking up with the following challenges:
Curtain Call - Rainbow
Make My Monday - Something Fluffy
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Cute and Cuddly
PDE Linky Party - Anything Goes
Cards For Galz - Cute and Cuddly

Card: white 300 gsm card, Dovecraft 110 gsm premium vellum
Stamps: Lawn Fawn Critters at the Dog Park and matching dies, STAMPlorations Sketchy Alphabet
Paper: Lawn Fawn Let's Polka, Let's Polka in the Dark and Let's Bokeh in the Snow
Ink and colouring: Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black, Copics, Tim Holtz Distress Markers Fossilized Amber, Mermaid Lagoon, Wilted Violet, Mowed Lawn, Festive Berries
Other: Lawn Fawn Puffy Cloud Border, Stitched Hillside border, Grassy Border die and Stitched Journal card die

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

Alpaca my scarf

I am so excited my selected bits and bobs from the Lawn Fawn Christmas release arrived just in time for some weekend crafting. I am trying very hard not to fill my craft room too much, but every time Lawn Fawn comes out with a new release I just want every single bit of it. Sigh. Talk about first world problems. But this time they really outdid themselves. There is an alpaca stamp!! Alpacas are so awesome, they are my favourites. A while ago the Culinary Consultant arranged for me to have a day out at an alpaca farm, and I got to see hundreds of alpacas, including a baby that had been born that day. It was amazing, I put a few pictures from my day on my photo blog here. So I put in my pre-order for the alpaca stamp as soon as I saw it, and was very excited to get to play with it.

This card was inspired by a few challenges. First of all, the layout was inspired by the Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge and the colours were inspired by Cupcake Inspirations. I'm also linking up with Crimbo Crackers where the theme is Small and Cute, and also with Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge where the theme is 'twas the night before Christmas. Last but not least I'm linking up with the Anything Goes challenge over at Christmas Stampin' All Year Long.

I created the background for my card using Stampin' Up Irresistibly Yours DSP and Tim Hotlz distress inks in Blueprint Sketch, Chipped Sapphire and Black Soot. I created the snowy hills from hammered white paper using Lawn Fawn Stitched Hillside Dies. I stamped the alpaca and coloured him with Copics and paper pieced his scarf from the new Lawn Fawn Let's Polka In the Dark paper. I stamped the cute sentiment from the stamp set onto green card and heat embossed it in white. Last, I used the new small snowflake dies from Lawn Fawn to create a few ornaments for the corner. Last, I added a band of the same green paper for the background that I used for the alpaca scarf. It's a small card, only 10x10 cm but I think it's a perfect for this wintery scene. And I just love the funny sentiment that comes with this set, and the alpaca is so unbelievably cute in his little scarf. 

Card: White 300 gsm hammered card, white 300 gsm card
Paper: Lawn Fawn Let's Polka In the Dark
Stamps: Lawn Fawn Winter Alpaca
Ink and colouring: Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black, Versamark, Tim Holtz distress inks Blueprint Sketch, Chipped Sapphire, Black Soot, Copics
Other: Lawn Fawn Stitched Hillside borders die, Mini Snowflakes die, Papermania Seafoam White

Holly Jolly - Use a die

*This is my second post today, if you are looking for the Crafts Galore Encore post, please scroll down*

As usual, the last two weeks have flown by, and it's time for a new Holly Jolly Christmas challenge. Don't forget we are already in September, and Christmas is getting closer and closer, three and a half months to go anymore! Thank you to everybody for linking up your gorgeous Snowflake and Sparkle inspired cards, we loved seeing them. Don't forget to hop over and see if you are one of our winners. This time we are challenging you with the theme "Die cuts". This gives so much scope, so let your imagination fly. All we ask for is that your crafting has to be Christmas (or winter) themed. 

Our wonderful sponsors this time are Dr Digi, A Day for Daisies and Di's Digis. Hop over to Holly Jolly to see how the DT have used images from our sponsors to inspire you. Our sponsors are also giving away prizes to our randomly selected winners. You've got to be in it to win it!

I got to play with the super fun Dr Digi's Rescue Squad. I coloured the image with Copics and fussy cut it. I cut the snowy landscape using Lawn Fawn Stitched Rectangle dies in hammered white card. The sky is actually some recycled glittery blue card that used to be the wallet that held the certificate for my Master's degree! I cut it with the Lawn Fawn Stitched Rectangle dies. I used a Fiskars punch to cut the snowflakes from silver mirri card. The sentiment is from the Stampin' Up set Endless wishes, and the snowflake is from the Lawn Fawn set Critters in the Arctic. I mounted everything onto some Stampin' Up DSP and a white card base. I just love how that dark wintery sky looks agains the snowy white rolling hills.

I would like to link up with the following challenges:

Glory of Christmas Challenge - Humorous/fun

Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra - Anything Goes

Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge - Use some silver

Christmas Card Challenges - Anything Goes

Chocolate, Coffee and Cards - Use a sentiment

Crafts for Eternity - Weather

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes

Winter Wonderland - Create a scene

Card: White 300 gsm card, white 300 gsm hammered card, Hobbycraft 160 gsm white card, recycled dark blue shimmery card, silver mirri card

Stamps: Dr Digi Rescue Squad, Stampin' Up Endless Wishes, Lawn Fawn Critters in the Arctic

Ink and colouring: Copics, Tim Holtz distress ink Chipped Sapphire

DSP: Stampin' Up Santa&Co

Other: Lawn Fawn Stitched Hillside and Stitched rectangles dies, Fiskars snowflake corner punch

Narwhal at sunset

After doing the art journal thing I kind of stayed in a watercolour frame of mind. And what could be better than the fact that the challenge over at Lawnscaping is Watercolour. I took my Tim Holtz distress inks out and together with the sketch over at STAMPlorations it turned out to be a sunset over the ocean. And as I only have one Lawnfawn stamp with an ocean dwelling creature, it was time for the narwhal to come out. I think he is really enjoying the sunset. I added some Perfect Pearls to the sky, which gives it a lovely shimmer, although it doesn't show very well on the photos. Last I stamped the sentiment from Critters Ever After along with a few stars, and heat embossed everything in silver, in line with the Let's Get Sentimental challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge. 

Card: Coloured 240 gsm grey kraft card, Daler&Rowney 300 gsm Aquafine watercolour paper, Scraps of Tim Holtz Core'dinations cardstock Chipped Sapphire and Faded Jeans
Ink: Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black, Versamark, Tim Holtz Distress inks Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmaleade, Worn Lipstick, Picked Raspberry, Dusty Concord, Rich Razzleberry, Black Soot
Stamps: Lawn Fawn Critters in the Arctic and matching dies, Critters Ever After
Colouring: Copics C1, C3, C5, E34, E39
Other: Lawn Fawn Stitched Rectangle Dies, Stitched Hillside dies, Perfect Pearls, Dovecraft silver embossing powder