30 August 2014

Week 187 Lucky Dip

As this is a five Saturday month, we have an extra challenge for you which is always a Lucky Dip, which basically means that we choose whatever we want!!!!!

We have another song theme which this time is... 
I do like to be beside the seaside!
Anything with a reference to the sea or the beach or things nautical will be fine as long as your creation is Clean and Simple!

We are also lucky enough to have a Guest Designer with us this week and I know that this person will be hugely popular with you all... it is the inimitable
Her work is fab, she makes such happy and pertinent comments and her posts are such fun. If you have never visited her, you don't know what you're missing, so hop on over and see for yourself. 
Here is her creation for this challenge!
What cute birds!

Here is a little digi image which I had coloured quite some time ago with Copics and popped into a drawer... to be used later!!! 
It's so much later I don't remember where the image came from but I thought it suitable for this week's challenge! He's a cutie anyway. If anyone know the source of this image I should be glad to know! The sentiment is computer generated!

For this one it's a very random collection of equipment from my stash 
to make this 'nautical/seaside' themed card:
with Cutting Dies from: Papersmooches, MFT Die-namics & Mama Elephant
Embossing Folder: from Cuttlebug, Wave stencil from Memory Box
Distress inks, sentiment from Uniko Studio and to finish some 
Doodlebug sprinkles and a piece of bakers twine.
 Digi and paper are both from Pink Petticoat, I think the ric-rac makes good waves for the boat
We hope that if you had chance to get to the seaside over the past summer that the weather was kind to you. Here in the UK, the past summer has been one of our better ones on the whole.
Have fun with this one and please do try to visit the DT blogs... we all try to add additional examples for the challenges and we really appreciate your comments!
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29 August 2014

Animal ShowCASe

ShowCASe Week 185

We had a lot of really cute submissions to our Animal challenge and our showcase this week is quite varied!
We certainly loved looking at them all!

Here are our choices!

Klik op de afbeelding om de link te volgen
This is a lovely background for these creatures!

What a fun image, terrific design too!

What a truly spectacular treatment of this amazing image!

These are all so different, yet all wonderful.
We would like to thank everyone for their fabulous contributions this time!

Here is our Showcase badge for those selected. Please take it for your blogs with our thanks.
We have a Lucky Dip Challenge next week which means another Guest Designer... we have a really popular lady this time... join us tomorrow to see who it is!

23 August 2014

Week 186 Sketch

We haven't had a 
SKETCH
for quite some time so here's a simple one for you to have a play with!
After drawing it, it took ages to find out how to transform an image drawn in Word into a format which could be published on the blog. I do this so infrequently that it's not a process which readily comes to mind but I got there in the end.

Here's how we interpreted it!

Inkydoodles stamps inked with Stampin Up Pear Pizazz and Bashful Blue, more ink brushed over .  The white space was, well, too big and too white so I scored some lines across it.
I have seen so many Christmas Cards floating around Blogland recently that I thought it about time  that I got started too!
This is an Artemio holly sprig, stamped and clear embossed, then coloured with Distress Inks and clear embossed between each application of  colour. The background was sponged with ink using a sponge dauber and over stamped with Gorgeous Grunge dots in the same shade of ink as the background (Stormy Sky) stamping always produces a deeper shade than inking.
Finally the whole panel was die cut and then clear embossed with two layers of powder.
The sentient was computer generated.

Still on with the exam celebration cards and this one is for my daughter's boyfriend. 
Looking at it closely it's perhaps more of a 'passing your driving test' one
but I wanted to experiment with a new set from Paper Smooches (Metropolis).

I've stamped various images onto midnight blue cardstock using Versamark ink
 then heat embossed with WOW sparkling silver EP.
The sentiment is from the same set with the panel die-cut 
using MFT Die-namics Blueprints 15.To finish I've fussy-cut
 the little car for added dimension and some sparkly gems for that bit of 'dazzle'

There are some slight variations on the sketch on our personal blogs so do take a look over there to see them. Just click on the name above the cards to take you directly to our blogs.

Do try to visit at least a few of your fellow entrants to our challenges, everyone loves to receive a cheery word!
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22 August 2014

Showcase Week 184

Anything to do with leaves or trees really appeals and so choosing the showcase this week was a real pleasure... so many lovely cards to choose from too!
Here are the choices for this week!

Stencilled Leaves Heather Telford
Heather is a source of inspiration to so many crafters and many owe so much to her unceasing talent and willingness to share her expertise with others.
Look at this fabulous creation!

Another Heather, another fabulous card. What amazing colouring and a perfect CAS design

Tara
It seems that Tara and Heather T were on the same wavelength...here's another stunning autumn leafy card!
Magic!
showCASed
Here's the Showcase badge for you ladies with our thanks and congratulations!
Tomorrow there'll be another fun challenge for you all to get your creative juices around... do join us!

16 August 2014

Week 185 Theme

For your theme this week we have chosen
ANIMAL
Anything in the animal kingdom will do, it doesn't have to be a one layer this time but we still want to see that Clean and Simple style. 

Jen
Jen has had lots of changes going on in her life recently, the latest being a new job which she starts this week. This has taken lots of her time, leaving little for crafting and still less for commenting on LIM participants, so she will be taking a hiatus until things have become a little less frenetic. We are sure that you will all join us in wishing her well in her new role.


From Paper Smooches Chubby Chums set, this card is 'finger-crossed' for next week
when our daughter and friends find out their GCSE results! Hedging my bets a little but
 I imagine I'll need a few celebratory cards for them.

Memory Box sunburst meets Impression Obsession dog.  The rustic twine looks suitably hairy for a canine card!
I found this digi image from Jane's Doodles, ready coloured in my drawer. SOmething I must have coloured quite some time ago and not used, so I thought it was about time I used it. The sentiment is from Walter and Winnie.
I made the rainbow from Spellbinder circles, coloured with Mirage pens. I believe the clouds are from Die-Namics.

Each week, we try to post additional examples of cards for the LIM challenges on our personal blogs. Many of you visit our blogs to leave a comment, for which we thank you most warmly. If you haven't yet managed to pop around to our blogs we would be delighted if you could, the names above our cards will link you directly to them. 
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15 August 2014

Showcase Week 183

What fabulous designs appeared for our colour challenge this month.
Here are our showcase choices this time!

Margaret has made the colours look so fresh and vibrant!

Jane had  a similar take on the challenge this time... what a gorgeous butterfly.
(I am assured by Bev at Uniko that the sentiment Jane used will be revised on the next production batch!) Can you spot the error?

Pauline's card is so superbly Clean and Simple.. she has used the colours brilliantly!

What inspirational work. If you have not already paid these blogs a visit, it would be great if you could drop by to leave a friendly word of congratulation!
showCASed
Please take our badge for your blogs ladies... and thank you so much!
Swing by tomorrow for our new challenge! We'll see you then!

09 August 2014

One Layer time again!

Week 184
It's time for another One Layer Challenge and this time the focus is

FOLIAGE
foliage
   [lē ij]
noun
  1. Foliage is defined as plant or tree leaves.
Any kind of leafy image will suffice, but please remember that all important white space and keep any embellishments minimal.
If anyone is uncertain of our interpretation/expectations of a One Layer Card, please see the Guidelines on our sidebar.

Chrissie







For this card, I began with a black base card and used a Sweet Poppy Stamps stencil and Gold Embossing Paste. I sprinkled a little Glamour Dust over it whist it was still wet.
To make the sentiment, I die-cut the word 'Thanks' from a piece of card with a Cuttlebug die, using the waste as my stencil. The fact that the 'a' was open made the spreading of the paste easier as I didn't have to include a tiny piece for the space in the centre of the letter.
This was also sprinkled with Glamour Dust.
I was quite pleased with how this sentiment turned out!



For this weeks card I have also done a little Christmas card using the cute Christmas Icons from LOTV a long with one of the newest sentiments. 
It's simply stamped in truffle memento onto crumb cake card stock and then coloured with promarkers.  I have finished off with a little liquid pearls for the holly berries.



I've used a standalone die from Clearly Besotted as a mask for some distress inking
which I've stamped over with a Uniko Studio set - Nature's Treasures. 
The sentiment is Clearly Besotted - Sweet Little Sentiments 
which I've curved around the image and
to finish off a wrap-around of some gold organza ribbon.

Anne




I will never forget the first year I made my own cards at Christmas time and had to all the surplus postage thanks to all the embellishments and extras I had put on!  With that in mind, this is a one layer card that will just need a standard stamp.  Stamp is MFT, one of the arty brushstrokes that are so popular at present, with some Stickles added and a Stampin' Up sentiment

We really hope that you will pop by the blogs of the Designers as you will find some more examples to inspire you!
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08 August 2014

Showcase Week 182

What a fabulous array of cards we had for our Anything Goes Challenge and we have some wonderful choices for 
Chrissie's birthday week showcase!
So without further ado here they are!
Deepti
This creation is simply stunning! Dee has such talent!

The clean cut lines of Ankie's card are simply beautiful!

What terrific use of Inktense pencils to colour this little guy!
P1000196 watermerk-30
This is such an amazing creation with terrific inky effects!

showCASed
Here is our showcase badge for you!
Congratulations and thank you!
We hope you'll display it on your blogs with pride!
Don't forget to come back for our new challenge tomorrow morning!

07 August 2014

July Winner & August Sponsors

What a happy post this is!
We have our winner for July and TWO Sponsors for August, both of whom are returning to sponsor our challenges once more!
My Mum's Craft Shop
We aim to bring you the best stamping products we can find. Along with stamps we also offer essential stamping products like inks, copics, papers, embellishments & more. We are always receiving lots of new deliveries every week so make sure you check back often so see what yummy new stash we have available!
If there are any particular designs that you can't see on our website, please contact us & we will be happy to order them in for you.
Don't forget to visit our 
Shop Blog which has all the latest releases, info, inspiration & more!
&
      WOW! Embossing Powder, UK
Everything needed for fantastic results with heat embossing!
Ideas and more!

We are really grateful for their on-going support!

Now our winner for July for the fantastic goodies from 
Mary has supported our challenges for many years both by sponsoring challenges and contributing cards to our celebratory challenges...we are most grateful, thank you Mary!
We're sure the choice this time will be a popular one as this person has not only contributed to our challenges each week, but has visited nearly everyone else who has contributed too and left a cheery comment!
It's
of

Congratulations Sid, please take your winner's badge and contact us with your details so that we can arrange for you to receive your prize!
Winner....

02 August 2014

Week 183 Colour Challenge

For our
Colour Challenge 
this month we have chosen to use one of the Colour Seeds inspiration pictures.

It reminds us of a mojito!

Today is Sarah's birthday!
CHEERS SARAH!
color sip

It's not necessary to include every colour from the picture but we would like you to include a representative number of the colours, to give the feel of the palette.
Anne


Scraps of textured card stock cut with a Simon Says Stamp die, a couple of All Occasion birds added...  totally in love with this die!
Chrissie
For this card I assembled a few pieces of card and inks and ended up using a two step set from Stampin' Up (Hostess set, now retired). I used my Duplo corner as a stamp positioner in order to align the stamps. It works really well with a piece of clear packaging cut into a square.
I should be back from Spain later today and so hope to try to visit a few more people this week, sorry that I didn't get around to everyone this last week.

Jen



Sorry for my absence over last couple of weeks... A holiday to egypt then a weekend in holland for a friends birthday have taken me away from normality again!
My card this week uses doodlebug washi tape to give the striped back ground.  It's finished off with a die from Whimsy Stamps.
Sorry about the photos, I moved my studio earlier in the week and after having the fireplace fitted there is soot everywhere so can't use my normal photo area!

Sarah

I felt that my 'Adapt a Finger print' cards
from a few weeks ago were a bit boring and I hadn't even considered
adding pen drawings to the inky prints ...
... so I decided to get myself all inked up AGAIN! 
Combining these great summery colours.
The sentiment is computer generated using 'Another Night out' 
and 'AR Bonnie' fonts.


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01 August 2014

Singing in the rain ShowCASe

The submissions for our Song themed challenge were select but super and here is our ShowCASe to applaud this week's star crafters.
This is subtlety personified!
A superb study in monochrome shades.
Gorgeous card.

The dimension that Margaret has achieved on this creation is wonderful! The umbrella really pops!

Another Laurie!
The colour choice and the super design really make this card something special!

Please take our Showcase badge for your blogs!
showCASed
We are so fortunate to have such accomplished crafters inspiring us each week!
Thank you all!
Do come back tomorrow for an other fun challenge!