A blog award, and a card for a friend

Hello bloggers! I want to say 'Welcome' to my newest followers, it means a lot to me that anyone would want to drop by my little blog and I very much appreciate your support.  It's also great to follow your blogs too, I never tire of looking at cards and projects that people have made.

One recent follower has very kindly tagged me with an award, so a very big thank you to Sylvie of Gibmiss. She has a lovely blog which is worth checking out.

This means I get to pass the award on too. Well, I obviously admire all the blogs that I follow, so I'd give the award to everyone if I could, but as I can't I'll stick to the aim of this award which is to bring unknown good blogs to light rather than ones with a lot of followers, so with that in mind I definitely want to award this to:

Bron of Bron's Creations,

Shree of Shree's Crafting,

Sue of Craftymoone.

Girls, if you want to accept the award then you get to pass this on to 3 to 5 other blogs, and you need to make a blog post with links to the awarding blog (mine!) and all the ones you pass it on to, then let them know you've tagged them.

So, on to my card, which is one that I made for a friend to send her some love and let her know I am thinking of her. I spent a lot of time on this card and put lots of love and attention into it and tried out a few new things too to fit in with some challenges.

The image I coloured in pencils rather than my usual copics, and I distressed and aged the papers with a distressing tool and some distress ink.  I paper-pricked and hand-stitched around the edges of the papers, and the text at the bottom is part of a DP and I added a doily punched border.  The flowers are from my stash and the leaves were made using a punch.  A computer-printed sentiment and a bit of glitter finish it off. 

It's ages since I did any distressing, and after scuffing up the edges of these beautiful Prima Annalee papers that I'd been hoarding I was very distressed indeed! Gulp, it just felt WRONG to do this to such gorgeous designer paper, but I'm quite pleased with the results.

I realised I'd been too wimpy with my distressing tool in the past and not had much effect, but I just went for it this time and really tore those edges up.  I'll definitely use this technique again now that I've found out how to do it properly.

(Sorry about the photos, they look a bit cloudy to me.....must have changed something on my camera!)

Image: Joy from Sugar Nellie's Simply Adorable range

DP: Prima Annalee

Colouring: Polychromo pencils

Others: Tim Holtz Brushed Corduroy distress ink, TH stickles, Martha Steward doily punch, Woodware leaf punch, flowers from stash.

I'm entering my card in the following challenges:

Crafty Cardmakers - Spotlight on Pencils

Crafty Cardmakers - Florals
Top Tip Tuesday - Fabulous Flowers (sorry, had to re-submit my entry as I accidentally deleted my first one!)
Tuesday Throwdown - Distressing
Crafty Purple Frog - Distressing
City Crafter - Sewing
Paper Pretties - Sewing

Enjoy your weekend and happy crafting!

Carole x

First Tilda of the year

Hello all, hope everyone is well today.  Well, it couldn't be long before I had to make a Magnolia card and here she is: this is the debut for a recent acquisition, this cute little Tilda, so my first go at colouring her. The card grew from the pink and blue DP , and I cut a frame from a cream scalloped mat for Tilda to sit in.  The panel behind the frame is just some white card embossed in my Cuttlebug, then coloured with a copic marker and glittered up.  The ribbon is white organza which I coloured using a copic marker to make a grey ribbon, and I added gems from my stash.

I imagine Tilda is sitting with her flower playing "He loves me, he loves me not..." and wishing that he DOES love her. Maybe she's thinking of Edwin..........

The ticket sentiment was a freebie from the very talented Jami of Stamp Happy - check out her blog for some some freebie images as well as a whole sheet of tickets.  Have a look at her cards while you're there, she's a great colourist as well as a fab cardmaker.

I'm entering this in these challenges:

Colour Create: Pink, blue, grey, cream

Cute Card Thursday: Recipe 1,2,3 (1 paper, 2 flowers [silk flower and one in image], 3 gems)

Let's Ink It Up: Anything Goes

Simon Says Stamp: Bingo (Gems, glitter, ribbon)

Pollycraft: Sweet Pastel Colours

Belli Challenge: The letter P (pink, paisley patterned paper, paper pricking for the handstitching, pearl, the old forgotten embellishments are the flowers which I recently found when tidying up my stash and the pearl on the ticket which I found lurking in a storage box when looking for the gems)

Hope you like the card.

Happy crafting!

Carole x

One for the ABC Christmas Challenge

Hi everyone, and thanks very much for all the great comments for my (fairly) clean and simple card yesterday, I love it that you take the time to drop by and comment.

Now, I am determined to make some Christmas cards throughout the year so although it's only January, here is one for the ABC Christmas challenge, which is quite an easy theme of Anything Goes.

This is also being entered in the Top Tip Tuesday challenge, All Sentimental.

The image is coloured with Copics and the papers are Paper Cellar, Victorian Burgundy, which I thought went well with the image as the girl looks a bit Victorian.  A little lace and a sentiment from Craftwork Cards completes it. Hope you like:

Happy Crafting!

Carole x

(fairly) Clean & Simple, a Peekabo card

Hi everyone, hope you are all well.  Thanks so much for the lovely comments left for my previous card, it started out as a bit of fun but I've come to quite like the card now. 

Now, you won't often get a Clean and Simple card out of me, I just can't usually hold myself back from using several papers, mats, embellies and bits and pieces, but I occasionally manage to restrain myself and produce something uncluttered.  But only occasionally, so make the most of it!

This is a thank you card made for a non-crafting friend.  I think non-crafters prefer a Clean & Simple style, for some reason they don't oooh and ahhhh over DPs and pearls and flowers like we crafters do.  Strange creatures, eh?  (Them, not us ;) )  I've used a linen-textured white cardstock to make this Peekaboo card, the instructions for which I found in an old magazine. It was quite tricky to make! Basically, when the card is closed, you see one image in the aperture, but as you open the card a different image slides into place.  I've included photos so you can see a little of how the mechanism works.  The images are some glassy floral rub-ons, and I just attached a ribbon and rose because I simply couldn't help myself. 

(Just to point out that it's the design on the front that is the Clean and Simple part, the Peekaboo aspect was far from simple.)



When the card is closed




As it opens, you can see through the aperture




Views from above - you can see the second image sliding into place as the card is opened





Fully open, a different flower can be seen

 An interesting card to make, and quite frustrating at times, but when I managed to work it out I was quite pleased.

I'm entering this is these challenges:
C.R.A.F.T. - Moving Components
C.E.S.. - No Designer Papers
Spoonful of Sugar - Thank You cards

Happy crafting!
Carole x

First card this year - Whose Babies Are You?

Hi everyone, at last I have a card to show! My mojo went AWOL what with Christmas and the flu and everything, but a challenge set by my good crafting friend Sara (SaraBee from DoCrafts) to use a photograph on a card got the inspiration going.  I also had some fab new digi papers that I won in a blog candy that I was really eager to use and this tempted my mojo back home.

Renkata from Scrap & Stamp With Friends (don't you think that's the nicest blog title?) offered some blog candy recently which I was lucky enough to win.  She gave gift certificates from Nitwitcollections.com as candy, so I bought a bundle of papers and scrapping images which you'll see on my card - the 2 papers, the patchwork border and the hearts were all part of the bundle. They're so yummy and just beg to be used.  Thanks again, Renkata, I love the candy :)   I added a bit of bling in the form of pearls to finish it all off.

Now, can you guess who the little girl is?  You might have seen her photo in blogland already, lol.  I thought this would be a fun idea for a valentines card for the little boy, what do you think? 

I am entering this card in a few challenges.
Using the new papers I got from the blog candy:
Pollycraft Challenge - New Things
Cupcake Craft Challenge - Something New
Creative Cottage - Something New

The Love theme:
The Secret Crafter - With Love
Lexis Creations - Say It With Love
Southern Girls - Totally Loved Up

The pearls:
Ooh La La Creations Challenges - Bling It On

The sentiment:
Aud Sentiment Challenge - 2-word sentiment

Happy New Year to you all. 

Carole x

Slowly getting back on my feet

Hello blogging friends!  Oh I've missed you all, but I'm slowly getting back on my feet after being hit by a bad bout of flu.  It's left me feeling not very strong, and also very lethargic, with no urge to craft or sit at the computer at all, and I think coming on top of another illness it was just been a bit much.  But I reckon I need to get back into the swing of things, so even if I don't feel like crafting I'm going to just look at all your blogs instead. Bear with me, I'll get round to look at them all in the next few days, a bit at a time.  I bet you've all been very busy, can't wait to see what you've been up to!

I don't have a new card to show, but this is one I made last year and is a little Thank you for the lovely comments and well-wishes.

Happy crafting!

Carole x