ATC'S and Cupcakes

 I am busy today making cards for a craft fair we are having at school in a couple of weeks ,so I have nothing to post of my own today.  Instead I thought you would like to see the fabulous ATC's I received in the post from Sue (grammysue) for the ATC swap organised by Heather over at the Hero Arts flickr group.
We decided between us to swap 5 ATC's and these are the 5 gorgeous examples Sue sent.

They are all so different but all stunning in their own way, just miniature works of art, Thanks Sue!!!

 I also thought I would show you these amazing cupcakes made by my cousins daughter Rachel, she has come to stay with us for the weekend and made these cupcakes especially for us.  These are designed for my DD as she has recently found out that she has got onto her teacher training course.

The pink ones are for me as I love pink and anything with flowers or butterflies.

 This one is for my DS because as you all know he is a really keep musician and guitar player!!

She is such a clever girl and is starting to make lots of cakes to order, if these are anything to go by she will be in great demand!!!

Digital stamping!

Recently I have been trying to improve my skills with digital images, I found this pretty Petunia image over at Tiffany Doodles and it was perfect to play around with. I have opened the image in word and added a background to it before printing it out and colouring with copics.  I have also added a bit if shimmer to the flower centers before adding a copic coloured pearl.  I also decided to cut the flower image slightly larger than the card for a bit more interest.  

 Here is a more traditional card that I have made for the Hero Arts challenge this month. I decided to have a go at the monochromatic look with just the white and some Old Paper distress ink.

 I am looking forward to next week as its half term, hopefully time for lots of crafting. Have a great Bank Holiday weekend.

CR84FN 29

 Sorry but this is another quick post as I am having a really busy week!  I just wanted to post my card for this weeks colour challenge at CR84FN , I found these colours quite hard to work with and am not entirely happy with my card but have posted it anyway.

Hope you are all having a great week,  I am looking forward to half term next week and perhaps a bit more crafting time!

PDCC# 82

Just a quick post tonight with my entry for the current Play Date Cafe colour challenge.  This is a fairly simple card all made around the pretty blue flower I had in my stash.  The Kraft card has been stamped with the Hero Arts Birthday definition stamp, the PP's are from My Mind Eye and and Prima. I have just added some machine stitching and distressing to the edges of the papers.

This is the inspiration photograph set by Ruby, such a great photo.

Lucys Sketch Challenge

 I have just got this new stamp set from Basic Grey and Hero Arts and I couldn't wait to have a play.  I have made this card for the current Sketch challenge over at The Lily Pad and the Hero Arts Challenge for the month.  The background is a piece of Journal ling card sent to me by my crafty friend Linda I have just stamped and masked the flowers using Colorbox inks.  The central flower has been embossed in clear to add some shine.

I am really busy at the moment preparing for a craft fair at school and I also have a secret project on the go, more later ........................

Cas Friday challenge "Bling"

 Look at this gorgeous butterfly stamp that I received in the mail this morning from my friend Heather she knows that I love butterflies and flowers so when this arrived I couldn't wait to ink it up. 

The perfect stamp for this weeks challenge at CAS-ual Fridays, I am getting used to CAS now and am enjoying the challenge, this one was ideal for me as I love a bit of bling.  I stamped the butterfly straight on to the white card in three colours and embossed with clear powder.  I then stamped a further image onto some vellum and cut it out. I then glued it to the middle butterfly and added matching bling to the images. The background card is a deep shimmery purple colour and quite difficult to photograph, its not as dark as the photo suggests.

I just thought I would add these photographs to show you, we have had alot of nests in our garden this year, Blue Tits, Great Tits, Robin and Collared Doves.  This little adult Blue Tit has been rushing backwards and forwards for days feeding her young on insects, you can see by her ruffled feathers that she has had a very busy time!!

And these cheeky chicks are peering from behind our satellite dish, there are actually two chicks in the tiny nest and as you can see they have out grown the nest.  They actually flew the next day!

 I just wanted to thank you all for the lovely messages I received on my Wedding Anniversary, we had a fabulous day and hubby took me to my favourite Italian restaurant.  Sorry I have not had time to visit all your blogs this week, I hope to catch up soon.

Lily Pad Embossing Challenge.

 Tomorrow is my 29th Wedding Anniversary and I always find making an Anniversary card for my DH quite hard, I didn't want anything too sloppy as we have been married along time now and male anniversary cards are always a challenge.  I always associate red with romance so that's how I started this card (Also red is one of hubbys favourite colours!)  The heart embossing folder for the cuttlebug is one I use quite a bit for wedding cards and it looks lovely embossed in red!

Here is a closer view, as you can see I have used my favourite cling fabric design stamp for the background, that stamp is so versatile.
I am entering this into The Lily Pads monthly challenge, which is embossing, either heat embossing or dry embossing, check out their blog the DT have done an amzing job with their inspiration cards.
Have a great week!



Supplies: Hero Arts Stamps CG245 Classic Fabric Design. S5507 Envelope Pattern. Fired Brick Distress ink.  Cuttlebug floder. Pearls and Patterned paper.

CAS Friday challenge #2

 The CAS-ual Friday challenge this week is "Buttons and Twine".  I had this idea in my head of a card I wanted to try and I am not sure that I really like the end result, the houses were stamped in Walnut Stain distress ink and I think they are a little dark.  I actually found it really hard to stamp straight onto the white card, it is so out of my comfort zone.  I always add my stamped images as it saves ruining a whole card blank if you make a mistake.

I like the idea of this card so I have made a second using brighter colours and also clear embossing the row of houses.

I am happier with this card, what do you think?

I am off out to the garden now to plant my peas and french beans, hope you are having a great weekend.



Supplies: Hero Arts stamps: H5328 Row of Houses, CG269 Happy Definition.

Play Date Cafe # 81 and some ATC's

This week at The Play Date Cafe Sarah Anderson has chosen the colour palette inspired by wallpaper, and my card is inspired by some ATC's I have made for the challenge at Hero Arts this month.  I made the central panel as an ATC and soon realized that it was to small and was perfect for putting on a card.

 I stamped the Art wording onto a piece of white card and then embossed, next I distressed with Milled Lavender and Bundled Sage distress inks.  The flower image is coloured with Copic Markers.  My background flowers are stamped onto a piece of grey paper and then sprayed with perfect pearls to give a slight shimmer.

 Here are my ATC's  (the right size this time) in various colour ways.

A close up of my favourite one,(pink of course!!!)

Hope you are all having a relaxing weekend, DH is glued to the television at the moment as the FA cup final is on, still its my turn later with the Eurovision Song Contest!!!#



supplies:Hero Arts Stamps. G2678 Art, CG251 Solid Flower. CG250 Open flower.LL072 Peeking Posies.  Distress inks Bundled Sage, Peeled Paint, Rusty Hinge, Dusty Concord and Milled Lavender.

Hooked on making ATC's

This new challenge over at the Hero Arts Blog has really got my mind racing and I had to have another go at making an ATC.  It is so different making things on a smaller scale.

This would be perfect for a keen gardener,  The background is made using the Musical Collage stamp and a lot of distressing.  For the main image I just used a bit of masking to stamp the background words.  The watering can and fork stamps are old ones I found in my draw and I am not sure who makes them.

One more day and its the weekend,  I am looking forward to watching the Eurovision Song Contest on Saturday , such a fun programme!!



Supplies: Hero Arts Stamps, F5407 Lets Garden, CL479 Dictionary Greetings, S5501 Musical Collage. Words from Artistic Outpost. Distress inks.

Another ATC

Just a quick post tonight with another ATC, I really love this Beetle stamp and thought it would be fun to paper piece it with some girly paper.  I have first stamped the friends words from the Dictionary Greetings set  and then added my car.  The pink banner is from some DCWV paper that I have had for ages.  I made the banner with the same paper I used for the car.

CR84FN 27

Another challenge and another fabulous colour combination to play with, I am afraid its another card with flowers but, spring has truly arrived and the gardens look fabulous in bloom and I have been inspired!!!

The photograph makes the flower look a little pale but I promise you it is very pink and vibrant, I have used my favourite Classic Fabric design stamp for the background. I have also used the technique Kathy's shows here to make my spellbinder shape a little larger.  The flower is from the Blossom Art set and I have stamped two, distressed with Worn Lipstick distress ink and the pop dotted together to give more dimension.

Here is a close up of the flower , the background swirl is by QuicKutz and has been embellished with liquid Pearls.
Enjoy your week!!!




Supplies : Hero Arts Stamps, CL495 Blossom Art. CG245 Classic Fabric.  Distress inks, Pumice Stone and Worn Lipstick.  Pearls and Lace.

PDCC# 80

Such a pretty inspiration photograph for this weeks challenge over at The Play Date Cafe, as you know I love colour challenges and these colours are just what I would choose when making  a card.

I have made this mini card, it only measures 3.25 inches by 4 inches, I haven't added a sentiment yet, I shall wait till I need a card and add it then.  This was such a simple card to make. The Large Blossom stamp has been stamped and embossed with White Pearls and the blooms are coloured with Barn Door and Wild Honey Distress inks. Added the ribbon and pearls after embossing and cutting with a spellbinders die and Voila!!

Can I just wish my friends in America and Canada a Happy Mothers Day, in the UK we celebrate Mothers Day in March so ours seems ages ago now!!



Supplies: Hero Arts Stamp CG271 Large Blossom.  White Pearls embossing powder. Barn Door and Wild Honey Distress inks. Ribbon and Pearls.  Spellbinders Die.