Cold Hands, Warm Heart

Hello lovely peeps

 Here's my second Design Collective card for October. 

Nothing like leaving it until last minute, eh? Gosh, that month went quickly.

I've used the LOTV stamp 'Cold Hands, Warm Heart'. 

I love this one, it reminds me of the wonderful John Lewis advert that was on 3 years ago.

I coloured the stamped image in with Graph'Its and Promarkers.

His scarf: 9101 and 9102

Her scarf: 5255 and 5280, satin and march hare

Twigs arms: umber

Carrot noses: 3110

Snow: 9500, 9501 amd 9502

The sentiment is from the LOTV Christmas Sentiment Tags set and the patterned papers are from Nitwit (Woodland Wishes Too) .

The dies I've used are Sizzix Original die 'Tree, Pine', Cheery Lynn fence, and Marianne poinsetta.

I've added Fluffy Stuff to the trees and fence and sprinkled with fine glitter before heating.

I would lke to enter this in the following challenges:-

Allsorts Challenge Blog #335 - Christmas

Cute Card Thursday #397 - Sparkles

Crafty Catz #299 Lets Tag it...

Winter Wonderland - Anything Goes

Clear It Out Theme: Halloween or Christmas cards, Stash: Die cuts

A Snowflake's Promise #9 Winter/ Christmas

Holly Jolly - Snowman

Little Miss Muffet #123 - Tags

Simply Create Too #97-Baby It's Cold Outside

Whimsy Stamp Challenge #87 Fall Colours or Christmas

Natalie and Amy #38 'Winter Scenes'

Graph It Colour Challenge #43 Autumn/Christmas Colours

I'll be back tomorrow with a sneak peek of one of the Lili of the Valley stamps being launched at the NEC next week. They are all adorable, start saving your pennies :)

Thanks for stopping by,

Katrina x

It's raining leaves

Hello peeps. Hope you are all well.

This is my first Design Collective card for October.  

I love this time of year -  there are piles of leaves lying around everywhere and the child in me just cannot resist kicking up a few :D

The stamp is 'April' from the LOTV Fairy Calendar range, which was released in the summer. As you can see from my teamie Karen Oliver's lovely card, she's usually playing in the puddles after some April showers.

To prepare her for a bit of leaf-kicking I have given her sleeves and coloured her in Autumnal colours (mostly with Graph'Its)

Skin: 4115, 4155, 4170 and 4145
Hair: 3255 and 3280
Dress: 3210 and Ivory Promarker
Boots: 2150, 2180, 3130
Wings: 9500, 9501 (and glitter)

I've covered up the puddles with some tiny leaves which I cut from some paper scraps using my CraftRobo. The sentiment was stamped with one of the stamps in the Pretty Grungy - Good Times set, also LOTV.
I've inked the edges of the main panel with Pumice Stone Distress Ink and roughened the edges of my layers with scissors, to give the card a slightly grungy look.

I made a second version of this card to send to my lovely crafty buddy Sue.
This tags on this one were stamped with the Everyday Sentiment Tags stamp set from LOTV.
I can't make up my mind which version I like best. What do you think?

I would like to enter the top card in the following challenges:-
DRS Designs #197 Fall-ing for You!
Suzy Bee's Bloomin' Challenge #103: anything goes with a twist ... use some leaves
Crafty Cardmakers #150 Autumn Colours
Creative Inspirations #332 - Anything Goes + Option of a Sketch!
Mod Squad Challenge  - FLIP FLOP
Addicted to Stamps #112 THINGS WITH WINGS 

Polka Doodles Add Sparkle, Bling or Glitter
Penny Black - Autumn colours
Stamping Sensations - Colours of autumn
Whimsy Stamp Challenge #87 Fall Colours or Christmas 
Crafty Boots - Autumn and Halloween
Crafting From The Heart - #83 Anything Goes
Craft your passion - #285 Anything Goes

Well, that's all from me for now.
Except to say go and kick up some leaves if you can, it's one of life's little pleasures.

Katrina x

Near the Sea

Hello lovely peeps, hope you are all well.

This is the third and final competition card that I wanted to show you (I saved my favourite until last!)

Hubby and I fortunate enough to live 5 minutes walk from the coast and I love going down to watch the sea (even if I sometimes need binoculars!). I've wanted to do a boat shaped card for ages and I'm chuffed with how this one turned out. It's a shame they couldn't return it to me, I might have to make another one to go on my mantelpiece :)

To make the base I cut a circle of white card and folded it in half, then glued my mast (a stick from the garden) to the centre of the front half. The sails were cut by hand from linen textured card and I inked the edges with Antique Linen Distress Ink. I put holes in the corners with my pokey tool and threaded through some paper twine to attach them to the mast & hull. The sentiment on the right-hand sail is from the By the Sea set by Hobby Art, stamped in Rich Cocoa Memento ink.

For the front of the card I die-cut half a circle from some corrugated card*, dabbed on a bit of texture paste and then glued some mesh along the top.

* I made my own - it's easy peasy. Take some old cardboard and paint water liberally all over one side of it. After a few minutes the top layer should peel away, leaving all those lovely ridges.
 
I attached some tiny shells along the top of the mesh with silicone glue.  The anchor was die-cut from kraft card using a die in the IO Nautical set. I inked it up with Versamark and sprinkled on embossing powder before heating (I think this one was pewter)

The bottom needed some decorating so I added a wave and some fish.

You probably won't recognise the die I used for the wave - it's actually one of the waste parts from the Brenda Walton Bird Scroll Bigz die.  I used some decorative paper, inked the edges with DI and then sprinkled on Shabby White frantage powder and some chunky glitter.

To get the fish shapes I stamped onto the back of some scrapbooking card with an old fish stamp from Papermania and cut them out before flipping over and inking the edges. They are covered with Glossy Accents.

I would like to enter this in the following challenges:-

Papertake Weekly - All About The Base
We Love 2 Create - #21 Anything Mixed Media/Creative Goes
Country View #32 - ADD some texture
Retarte #63 Anything Goes
Crafting by designs - Anything Goes in October
TTCRD - Anything Goes
Penny's Paper-Crafty Challenge Blog #250 Anything Goes
Polka Doodles Add Sparkle, Bling or Glitter

 Not Just Cards #25 Anything Goes

World Wide Open Design Team Challenge -Anything Goes

Hope you have a great weekend,

Katrina

Happy BirdDay Popup

Hello lovely peeps, hope you are all well.

 This is the second of my competition cards that I'm showing this week. I love these pop up boxes, they look really different but still fold flat to go in an envelope.

The papers I've used are all Nitwit's and the bird/birdhouse stamps are by Inkydoodles.

The tiny flowers were made with Papermania punches, shaped on a foam mat before adding adhesive pearls.

The tree was cut with a Sizzix Bigz die from cardboard and covered with paper and the grass was cut with a Die'sire Icicles die (which I have yet to use for doing icicles!)

I would like to enter this in the following challenges:-

Allsorts Challenge Blog 333 - All sentimental
Papertake Weekly - All About The Base
The Ribbon Girl - Pastels
Digi Choosday #42 Birthday Celebrations
Little Red Wagon #312 - Home is where the heart is
Penny's Paper-Crafty Challenge Blog #250 Anything Goes
Crafty Friends#16 Use Gems and/or Pearls
The Sisterhood of Crafters - Die-lirious and Punchy
Not Just Cards #25 Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by,

Katrina

Pots of love

Hello lovely peeps.

As promised, I am showing you some competition entries this week.

For my first card I used the Pots of Love stamp from Lili of the Valley, coloured in with Promarkers and GraphIts. The sentiment comes with it, and I've used this to make a plant label. You may recognise the leaves from my previous post, though these don't have so much ink on them. 

The watering can was made by cutting grey pearlescent card with a Sizzix die and edging it with orange gilding wax to make it look rusty. I've finished off with cord, buttons and ribbons from my stash.

I would like to enter this in the following challenges:-

Suzy Bee's Bloomin' Challenge 102: anything goes with a twist ... autumn colours

My Time To Craft #306 autumnal colours

Pile It On  #91 Fabric, Lace or Ribbon

 Passion for Promarkers #319 Lots of layers

Allsorts Challenge Blog 333 - All sentimental

TTCRD - Anything Goes

Crafty Catz #297 Anything Goes

Graph It Colour Challenge #41 Autumn/Christmas colours

Stamping Sensations - Colours of autumn

ABC Challenge - T is for Two (2 cats, 2 papers)

Thank you for stopping by today,

Katrina

Autumn Owl

Hello lovely peeps, hope you are enjoying your weekend.

Today's card features no stamps whatsoever (I know, I was stunned too).

First I covered the front of a 7x7 card with wood patterned paper and die cut a large circle in the middle. 

The owl was cut using the Sizzix Bigz Owl#2 die, from various scraps of paper that I've been hoarding. The heart and wings were red card that I embossed with a dotty embossing folder.

 The leaves were die cut from an old book* using a Cuttlebug die and then swooshed through inks that I had dabbed onto my craft mat and spritzed with water. I've also added some Antique Linen Distress Stickles on them for a bit of sparkle & texture. 

The clear gems are from Inklylicious and the buttons and ribbon are from my stash.

*Cutting up books really goes against the grain for me as I would rather leave them for someone to read, so for this purpose I buy books from charity shops that no-one else would buy (eg. biographies of Z list celebrities, tourist guides that are 30 years out of date, etc. )
 

I haven't done much on the inside, but he did need something to sit on so I cut a branch from Kraft card using an Anna Marie Christmas robin template. Also, because there's not much room left to write anything inside, I have hand-written my greeting along the bottom of the branch (verrrrry slooowly :D )

I would like to enter this in the following Challenges:-
Crafting From The Heart - #81 Anything Goes

Craftin Desert Divas Photo Inspiration (Autumn)

My Time To Craft #306 autumnal colours

 Fan-Tastic Tuesday - #107 anything goes with a twist ... Autumn colours

Crafty Friends#16 Use Gems and/or Pearls (clear gems)

Creative Card Crew 98 Ribbon

Fab'n'Funky challenge #277 ~ Make it Square

Scrap & Craft Inspiration #14 Colours of Autumn

The Sisterhood of Crafters - Die-lirious and Punchy

Crafts Galore - Halloween or make a card for October

Catch The Bug - Bingo (Border, Ribbon, Fall theme)
Hiding In My Craft Room #221 - Favorite Cutting Tool! (eBosser from Craftwell)
Alphabet Challenge Blog - R for Ribbon 
Lil Patch of Crafty Friends #20 Anything Goes
Crafting With Friends #8 - Anything Goes

As you like it - Monochrome or Colour (& why)! -
 I love colour, and Autumn colours are my absolute favourite (as a quick look in my wardrobe will attest!)

Always Playing With Paper #46 The colours of Autumn

I'm off to the bat cave now to tidy/craft (mostly the latter)

Thanks for stopping by today,

Katrina x

Going batty

Hello peeps, hope you are well.

Next week I'll be blogging some competition entries that I've made recently, but first I wanted to show you one I made for a competition last year since it's 'Halloweeny'.

It's three panels of card with arches cut out of two of them to create an old underground basement look. I didn't have an arch shaped die so I cut circles and then cut out the bottom half of the arches manually. To get the texture I ran the card through my ebosser with a brick stencil and then inked over the top with brown Distress Ink

The mad scientist character is from a Personal Impressions stamp set called Time Travel, designed by Lindsay Mason. This was coloured with Promarkers and then fussy cut.

The sentiment is by IndigoBlu and was stamped onto white shrink plastic with Stazon and then shrunk.

 It's a bit hard to make out, but I put some wisps of cotton wool dressing (unused!) behind one of the arches for cobwebs. The bats were cut with a Sizzix die and attached with strips of acetate.

For extra embellishments I die cut some cogs from black shrink plastic using a Sizzix die and coloured them with Letraset metallic pens after shrinking. The goggles were from the time travel set again, coloured with Promarkers and fussy cut. I used Glossy Accents to give a shine to the lenses.

I would like to enter this in the following challenges:-

Allsorts Challenge Blog  #332 No design papers

Not Just Cards #25 Anything Goes

Sisters of Craft - Anything goes 

Just Keep on Creating - Anything Goes  

Pile It On  #90 Funky and/or Freaky

Digi Choosday #41 Feeling sentimental 

THE PENCIL CASE  #4: D= Dark Colours

Try it on Tuesday - ITS FRIGHTENING -/- HALLOWEEN

The Sisterhood of Crafters - Die-lirious and Punchy

Polka Doodles - Use a Die Cut 

Whimsy Stamp Challenge - Anything Goes/Hallowe'en
Crafty Catz #297 Anything Goes
Left of Center #100 Good Old Fashioned Horror/AG 

Thank you for stopping by,

Katrina x

Woof You

Hello lovely peeps. Hope you are all well.

There are fabulous special offers on the Lili of the Valley website from midday today (Wednesday) until Saturday. You can get 6 paper pads for £30, 6 art pads for £30 or 10 selected stamps for £30 (from a huge range). There is also free shipping!

This is another one of the stamps included in the special offer - it's called 'Woof You' and includes a sentiment. I have also used papers from the Always and Forever 8x8 paper pack, and a circle sentiment from the Pretty Grungy - Good Times clear stamp set.

The die-cuts were made using Eyelet Squares (Spellbinders) and Serafina Heart (Memory Box).

The image is coloured in with a combination of Promarkers and Graph'Its.
Fur: Putty and Cinnamon
Nose/Paws: 9205
Flowers: Budding Rose and 5280
Leaves: 8240 and 0000 (blender)
Ground: 9500 and 9502

I would like to enter this in the following challenges:-

The Ribbon Girl - Any Image Anything Goes

Glitter n Sparkle #158  Use some pink

Everybody-Art #340 Flowers

 Crafty Boots - Pink

Inky Chicks - Think Pink

 Kitty Bee Aloha Friday Animals (2 of 2)

Creative Inspirations #331 Clean and Simple or Fussy and Fancy (F&F)

Crafting From The Heart - #81 Anything Goes

Craft your passion - #283 Anything Goes

 Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - #19 Anything Goes

 Crafting With Friends #8 - Anything Goes

Thank you for stopping by,

Katrina x

Paint the Town

Happy Monday Peeps.

There will be a special offer on lots of fabulous stamps at Lili of the Valley this week (from Wednesday onwards). There will also be a Facebook competition running at the same time, so hop on over on Wednesday and join in the fun.

One of the special offer stamps is Painting Puppy. He's been running amok and dripped paint everywhere. You have to forgive him though, he's so adorable :D

This was great fun to do -  I splattered some watered down paint onto linen textured card and left it to dry for about ten minutes. The main image was coloured with my Graph'It markers and then matted onto card. Rather than spend ten minutes hunting out matching cardstock, I just coloured the edges of some white card with one of the markers I used for doing the paintbrush

For the paw prints I used two different sizes of epoxy dome stickers which have a lovely glossy finish to them. The sentiment was printed from my computer using Backtalk Serif BTN font.

Challenges:-
Allsorts Challenge Blog #332 - No design papers
Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes

Crafty Boots - Pink

Seize The Birthday - Anything Goes/Splatter 
Kitty Bee Aloha Friday Animals

Live & Love Crafts - Pink

Inky Chicks - Think Pink
Creative Fingers #95 Anything goes
Southern Girls - Let's Celebrate
Sweet Stamps - Anything Goes

Hope you all have a lovely week, thanks for stopping by.

Katrina x

Dinomite

Morning lovely peeps, I hope you are all well.

Today's post is my second as Guest Designer for Pink Gem. The challenge this fortnight is
'Spots and or Stripes'

The prize as always is 
2 Individual Digi images
(NO SETS, PERSONALIZED WATERMARKS OR SENTIMENT SETS)
of the winners choice from PINKGEM DESIGNS

This little fella is Dino Dinosaur.
Isn't he cute? I've coloured him in with Graph'It markers

The 'dinomite' die-cut was created with my Craft Robo - I typed the letters using Caslon Oldface font and welded them together with the software before cutting it out from black card. I've hand-drawn little spirals in place of the dots over the i's to match Dino's nostrils :D

I've also used:-

 'hope your birthday' sentiment from Lili of the Valley

background papers from Nitwit
buttons from my stash.

I would like to enter this in the following challenges:- 
Pile It On  #89 123 (1 image, 2 papers, 3 buttons) 
Cardz4guys #91 Button It!
Crafty Sentiments Designs - Anything Goes
Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes
Fan-Tastic Tuesday - #106 anything goes with a twist ... use two patterned papers
Die Cuttin' Diva - October Sketch (diecut dinomite)
 Polka Doodles - Use a Die Cut
Crafting by designs - Anything Goes
Creative Inspirations #330 Stars and / or Stripes!
Little Red Wagon #310 - It's All About The Boys
Digi Choosday - Use Something New (new digi stamp)
Going Grey - Birthday
Simply Papercrafts #15 Anything Goes
Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - #19 Anything Goes
 Little Miss Muffet - #122 - Anything Goes

As you like it - Monochrome or Colour (& why) - I love colour , whether it's bright or subtle. I can spend ages picking out just the right combination for a project.

Please visit A Gem of a Challenge to see the creations from the rest of the wonderful team.
Thanks for stopping by today,
Katrina x

New beginning

Hello lovely peeps.

I'm very excited today as we're starting up our Craft Club again after a looooooooooooooooooooooooooong summer break.

Just wanted to show you the tag that I made during the Club session in February, run by the lovely Kristi.

  The tag had a little colour to start with but I added more with Distress Inks and overstamped some script, swirls, etc. with grey ink. The feather stamps (Sheena Douglass) are embossed with white powder. The sentiment (Dyan Reaveley's Dylusions) was just stamped onto white card and cut out.

I would like to enter this in the following challenges:-
Allsorts Challenge Blog  #331 Nature
Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes
Penny's Paper-Crafty Challenge Blog - Anything Goes
ABC Challenge - S is for Sprinkles
Not Just Cards #25 Anything Goes
Sisters of Craft - Anything goes 

I'll be back on Saturday with my second card as Guest Designer for Pink Gem.
Thanks for stopping by,
 Katrina x

Halloween for Crafty Calendar Challenge

Hello lovely peeps, hope you are all well.

The theme for this month at Crafty Calendar Challenge is 'Halloween' and you could win a $12 voucher from our sponsor Di's Digi's.

For my DT inspiration card I have used 'the mummy the witch and the pirate' from Stamping Bella, designed by the very talented Christy Croll.

 I have stamped it onto white card and coloured it in with Graph'It markers

 (and my solitary Copic marker)

It's been matted and layered onto a 5 3/4" square card with papers from LOTV (Bonnets and Bowties Solids) and Docrafts Gorjuss (from their first launch).

The buttons and twill ribbon are from my stash and the sentiment was typed on my computer.

I would like to enter this in the following challenges:-
Tuesday Throwdown  #264 Clean and Simple
Creative Inspirations - Anything Goes + Option of a Sketch!
Cute Card Thursday #393 Masculine
 Alphabet Challenge Blog - Q for Quick & Simple
 Crafts Galore - Halloween or make a card for October 
Crafting by designs - Anything Goes in October
Sisters of Craft - Anything goes
Crafting With An Attitude  #8 Anything Goes
Sweet Stamps - Anything Goes

 Please visit the Crafty Calendar Challenge Blog for more fabulous inspiration from my teamies,
Katrina x