Pretty Flamingo for Polkadoodles

Hello lovely peeps

It's time for a new challenge at Polkadoodles, and in case you missed the announcement last time, they are now Anything Goes, but there is an optional theme, which this time is

'F for ....'

Well, they're so pretty (and apparently all the rage at the moment), so it had to be F for Flamingo. The digi stamp is from the Winnie in Wonderland CD and I've coloured it in with pink and purple sparkle pens. The gorgeous backing paper is from the same CD and for the greeting I used one of the stamps from the Daisydays set.

I would like to enter this in the following challenges:-
Crafting from the Heart #124 Anything Goes
Through The Craft Room Door - Always Anything Goes
Deep Ocean Challenge #136: "Things with Wings"   
In The Pink #101 Make It Sparkle (flamingo coloured with sparkle pens)

Thanks for stopping by,

Katrina x

Last Hurrah for Sugar Nellie Challenge

Hello lovely peeps, I hope you are well.

I had my first physiotherapy session this morning which went very well. No new exercises for my elbow but I have to do the two I've already got a lot more often. He also said I can start using my hand to do little things, so I might have a go at finger painting :D

Sadly the title of my blog post today is not the title of my card, but is due to the fact that the Sugar Nellie blog challenge is ending.

Today would have been the start of a new challenge but the co-ordinator has taken the hard decision to close it down. The closing date of the current challenge is a week later than normal to allow people one last chance to get an entry in (now closes 1/9/2016 just before midnight).

The prizes have been doubled so dig out your beloved Gorjuss/Sugar Nellie stamps and ink them up. You can use any stamp/image from Funky Kits -  the home of Sugar Nellie.

For my no-longer-needed inspiration card I've coloured in 'I gave you my heart' with a mix of Promarkers and Graph'Its, and layered it on papers from the 'Vintage Charm' 12x12 pad from My Minds Eye. I also die-cut some flowers from the papers using Leonie's Floral Bursts mixed media dies. The sentiment is from the Handwritten Phrases set by Lili of the Valley and I've tinted the edges of the papers with Vintage Photo distress ink.

I would like to enter this in the following challenges:-
Crafty Sentiment Designs - Anything Goes
Simon Says Stamp (Wed) It’s Hip To Be Square
Crafty Friends Challenge #38 Anything Goes
Chocolate Baroque Challenge Blog  #26 colour

Thanks for stopping by,

Katrina x

Peaceful Poinsettias for Leonie

Hello lovely peeps

Today I've got a simple to make card, using Leonie's Entwined Cross dies.

First I cut the Cross Circle Heart out of olive green card then covered another piece of card with double-sided adhesive before cutting out the Cross Base and the 'Peace' die (from the Tree Frost set).

After removing the top carrier sheet I sprinkled on Gold Tinsel embossing powder (Docrafts). However I did not melt it as it looks fab just out of the tub

 I used the same technique on my Snow card - the embossing powder on the wording is unmelted chunky white from Stampendous

I entwined the glittered base with the circle cross

and glued it onto my card (which was covered with some First Edition paper)

I made white poinsettias with a Marianne die and green/white card, finished off with Creative Expressions dazzlers for the centres.

I would like to enter this in the following challenges:-
Noor! Designs UK #21 Christmas
   Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas #295 Cute/AG
The 12 Months of Christmas Link Up #20 Optional Theme Christmas Confectionery

Thank you for stopping by,
 Katrina x

Texture Teacher for Polkadoodles

Hello lovely peeps, I hope you are well.

The operation on my elbow went smoothly on Monday, I was in and out within 4 hours and the staff were brilliant. My favourite part (apart from the pain relief afterwards, lol) was where the surgeon drew on my arm so that everyone knew which arm they were supposed to be working on. What a brilliant idea :)

The swelling has gone down now but it's still early days so I'm taking it easy. Thank you to everyone for your get well wishes, they are really appreciated.

So, onto my card for today - it's for the challenge reminder at Polkadoodles. The challenges are all 'Anything Goes' now but there is an optional theme - this fortnight it is 'Add Texture'.
 

As the start of the new term is only a few weeks away I've made a back to school card. 

I've added texture with a Cuttlebug embossing folder that has an alphabet design, to fit in with the school/college theme.

I've used the pre-coloured version of the teacher image from the Work and Play 3 CD for the focal point, and for the greeting I've used a stamp from the Sensational Sentiments set.

I would like to enter this in the following challenges:-
Craft Your Passion #325 Anything Goes
Crafting from the Heart #123 Anything Goes
Glitter n Sparkle #201 Anything Goes 

Thanks for stopping by,

Katrina x

Blog Candy Winner

Hello lovely peeps

It's time to announce the lucky winner of the candy to celebrate my 200th blog post.

I had 69 comments and used Random.org to pick a number for me.

Comment number 60 was from......

 Marjeta

Congratulations! You have 2 weeks to contact me, if I do not hear from you I will draw another number.

Please email your address to
 kernewekkat @ gmail . com

(you need to remove the spaces)

Thank you to everyone that entered, I really appreciated all your lovely comments.

Now, a little bit of news. The reason I had my candy ending today is that tomorrow I will be having an operation on my right elbow (yes, I'm right-handed). I will be recuperating for probably 4 weeks and unable to craft, which is going to drive me totally bananas.

I have several blog posts prepared in advance though, so I will still be posting once or twice a week. Please stick around, hopefully normal service will be resumed as soon as possible :)

Catch up with you all soon,

Katrina x

200th post blog candy

Hello lovely peeps and welcome to my 200th blog post :)

That means it's candy time  !!

Well, I've been busy in the 7 months since my 100th post.  I have:

• been one of the runners up in the Card Designer of the Year competition in Simply Cards & Papercraft magazine (coincidentally, the advent calendar on my 100th post was part of my competition entry)
• joined the lovely (and slightly mad) ladies on the Polkadoodles Design Team, thank you girls for making me so welcome
• seen my very first Design Team (Lili of the Valley Design Collective) disbanded which was obviously a sad occasion for me but I'm so grateful to have been on the team and made so many wonderful crafty friends (EDIT - the Design Collective is still going, but with reduced involvement as there is a new core Design Team)  
• been chosen as a member of Leonie Pujol's very first Design Team - I was (and am) chuffed to bits as I have been a fan of Leonie since her QVC days.
• joined the Sugar Nellie Blog Challenge team for a 4-month stint, as well as having Guest Designer spots at Crafting By Designs, All Dressed Up and Color Throwdown

Wow, no wonder the year is going by so quickly :D

And through all this I've had support from you, my fabulous followers. It means so much to have you visit little ol' me, and your wonderful comments really make my day. As a thank you I'm having a huge giveaway worth over £80.

The dies:

Thank you to Craftasmic in Taunton for donating the Cottage Cutz Ice Cream die, and Crafters Companion for the Leonie Pujol dies, two of which are from her latest launch. The heart is especially useful as you can roll up the spiral parts to make 3D flowers.

The Stamps:

There is no packaging included with the 'Off She Flew' stamps but this is a picture of it

The Paper:

This is a full 8x8 paper pad from Lili of the Valley which has been discontinued and includes one of my favourite wood effect paper designs.

The rest:

A few embellishments, including 100 dew drops and a .005 black fineliner pen which I use on practically everything (yours is new and unused!)
I will also include a £5 Polkadoodles gift certificate for the winner

To be in with a chance of winning all you need to do is

1. be a follower of my blog (either a Google follower or an email subscriber),  and 
2. leave me a comment below*
3. IF you add a picture of my candy with a link to this post on your own blog you can add a second comment below to get an extra chance of winning

*If you do not have a Google profile you will not be able to leave a comment directly, so please email your comment to me at 

kernewekkat @ gmail . com 

and I will post your comment in myself - make sure to remove the spaces from the address above when you are typing this in the 'To' section of your email

The draw will close on Sunday 14th August at 9pm BST

Good luck everyone,

Katrina x

Entwined Cross for Leonie

Hello lovely peeps

I'm back with another card using Leonie's Entwined dies. For this one I have used the Cross Base and the Cross Swirls.

 To start off I dabbed some pumice stone and aged mahogany distress inks onto my craft mat, then spritzed with water and dragged some watercolour card through it.
I cut an aperture out of this with the Cross Base die.

I scored a line down the left hand side, leaving a flap to fold over. I glued this to another square of card to make my own card base.

To make a frosty window pane I sponged some white gesso over a piece of acetate, then glued this inside my aperture.

I cut the Cross Base again with dark grey card and glued the small outline on top of the 'frosted glass'

I inked another panel of watercolour card the same as above and stamped several snowflakes on with pumice stone ink. I flicked a little diluted aged mahogany ink on with my fingers.

This went on the inside of the card to hide the join and I stamped a greeting in the corner.

I coloured some white cord with a grey alcohol marker and wrapped it around the spine of the card then added the Cross Swirls die-cut from dark grey card, entwined with the larger outline from the Cross Base cut in silver mirri card.

I cut a Snowflake Base from stamping card and coloured it using the same technique as Iused for the background.

This was entwined around the cord on the front of the card

I would like to enter this in the following challenges:-
Noor! Designs UK #21 Christmas
Winter Wonderland Show us your gold/silver and or an embossed background
Penny's Paper-Crafty Challenge Blog #290 AG
Happy Little Stampers Anything Goes with Dies Challenge August
Happy Little Stampers (Christmas) Snowflakes
   Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas #292 Vintage/AG
The Glory of Christmas #90: use Kraft paper/Anything Christmas Goes
Sparkles Forum Challenges # 82 Christmas in July
The 12 Months of Christmas Link Up #20 Optional Theme Christmas Confectionery

I will be back tomorrow evening to announce the winner of my giveaway. Good luck everyone!

Katrina x