Mother's Day

Here in the UK we are fast approaching Mother's Day - 03 April. Myself and my tribe will be away in search of more warm sunny skies for a week. However, I wanted to get this little gift to my Mum before we head off. I made a card to go with it picking out the pink and green from the set.

On Friday the children here break up for their Easter holidays, which strangely do not include Easter weekend! They go back to school for 4 days before having the long weekend for Easter itself. Add in a day off for the Royal wedding at the end of April and the numbers add up to the children being in school in April for the grand total of 7 days! So my apologies if my visits here are a bit sporadic. My days will be filled with our time in the sun, followed no doubt by copious amounts of washing with 3 youngsters to entertain too. We have some canoeing, rugby, horse riding, fishing and swimming already in the diary. That should keep them all busy!

Debby

Play Date Cafe Challenge

I couldn't resist this weeks colours for the Play Date Cafe. I often use just touches of colours from a challenge, but this week i went for a bolder approach!

I did look to dress up the flowers in some way, but preferred them as they were so went with that.

Sorry I'm keeping posts short at the moment, but I need to keep on with the preparations for our trip away.

Debby

Supplies:

Stamps - PTI friends till the end,  Hero Arts thank you messages
Ink - American Crafts lavender, Versafine onyx black
Card - SU pacific point
Paper - SU brights
Ribbon - PTI royal velvet
Buttons
Twine - Ribbon Girl

I'm back!

Wow, I've had a wonderful weekend. I was one of 4 adults who took 20 Brownies on pack holiday for 2 nights. For some girls this was the first time they had been away from parents overnight. I have to say that the girls were fabulous - one or two had "a moment" but our equally fabulous Brown Owl jollied them along and before they knew it the weekend flew by and their Mum's and Dad's arrived to take them home. The theme of the holiday was the four nations (England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales). They baked their own treats to eat over the weekend - Welsh cakes, Scottish shortbread, Irish 15s and cupcakes decorated with English icing roses. They tossed cabers, threw wellies, had a tug of war, woodland walks, made cute stuffed haggii, and welsh love spoons and finished the last evening with a campfire ceilidh. The girls went home exhausted but with memories to treasure for a lifetime. I will certainly treasure my own memories. I have to say that our Brown Owl, otherwise known as Judy, worked tirelessly for weeks beforehand to make the weekend what it was. She is our Irish treasure.

As for me, I'm delaying as long as I can before collapsing in to bed for an early night. A mountain of washing and unpacking faces me this week before I pack it all up again for my own family to leave the snow capped mountains of Scotland for more warm and sunny skies on Saturday. I will drop by as and when I can over the next couple of weeks.

Debby

Papertrey Ink March Blog Hop

Yep, it's that time of the month - Papertrey Blog Hop time! This month the brief was:

"... to use embroidery floss in a fun and inventive way on your project. This could include stitching, wrapping it around and tying it like ribbon, braiding, accenting tags, embroidered patterns or anything else you can dream up!"

I had great fun and a total blast from my past with this project. I made embroidery floss pom poms! As a child I used to make wool pom poms - winding a ball of wool around two hoops of card until eventually the crucial moment came where you cut the edges and tied it all together. Well after seeing lots of home decor projects on the web, it appears pom poms are definitely an "in thing". 


I was heavily influenced by this project on craftaholics anonymous where they made adorable pom poms from t-shirts. Anyway, enough rambling, here's my take on embroidery floss:

I kept the tag simply stamped so you get the full effect of those pom poms! I attached the tag to a reusable gift bag I found which just so happens to match simply chartreuse perfectly! Now how did that happen!

I hope you have a fabulous time as you hop along - don't get tangled in the floss!

Debby

Supplies:

Stamps - PTI big birthday wishes
Ink - PTI raspberry fizz, SU early espresso
Ribbon - PTI simply chartreuse, dark chocolate
Twine - PTI
Embroidery floss
Dies - PTI mat stack 5

Apologies

My apologies to those of you who got a sneak peek of my Papertrey Ink blog hop post. I was trying to schedule a post for tomorrow as I should be off on Brownie pack holiday by then, however I adjusted the time but forgot to adjust the date! I've deleted the post for now and it will hopefully appear properly tomorrow.

Debby

Birthday bird

I know, yet another one of this type of card! However, there's a birthday party this weekend and I threw this together really quickly this morning. I must admit to not liking the colours and cuteness factor on this one as much as the others, but time is very short round here. Tomorrow my good and crafty friend Judy along with myself and 2 other adults are taking 20 Brownies on pack holiday for two nights! Help!

I usually do a matching tag for the present (which isn't wrapped yet!). Just something simple to dress up the packaging.

Must dash. To do list is calling! Also as I look at these pictures I think the card is just screaming out for some bling. Off to dig out some sparkles.

Debby

Birthday robot

I needed a quick birthday card for today. I decided that there wasn't enough time to reinvent the wheel and did a robot version of this card.

I chose the colours from the current Embellish challenge - they just so suit fun boy cards! Quick, simple and boyishly cute. However, in my opinion, nothing can beat the worm for cuteness!

Debby

Supplies:

Stamps - PTI big birthday wishes

Ink - Versafine onyx black

Card - PTI simply chartreuse, SU night of navy, bashful blue, real red

Paper - PTI bitty dots basic
Dies - PTI numbers
Cricut and robotz cartridge
Border punches
googly eyes

Enjoy

When I saw the colours for this weeks cr84fn challenge I just had to have a go!

I also used this weeks Sweet Sunday sketch,

but I did rotate the sketch and fiddle with it somewhat. However, the sketch was my starting off point while wondering what to do with the delicious colours.

I'm thinking of using this card for one of the Mum's on Mothers' Day.

Debby

Supplies:

Stamps - PTI tags for spring, beautiful blooms II, Hero Arts antique brocade
Ink - American Crafts lavender, SU early espresso
Card - PTI simply chartreuse, SU elegant eggplant
Dies - Spellbinders circles, lacey circles, Sizzix branch w/leaves
Ribbon - PTI royal velvet
Buttons - PTI simply chartreuse
Twine - SU

Thank You

I was in need of another boyish thank you card for a belated present given for my son's birthday. So I rustled up a couple of challenges and got to work. I used the colours and theme of the current embellish challenge, along with the layout and design ideas from this weeks CASE study challenge.

The family this card is going to are learning to sail so I thought it an appropriate theme!

Debby

Supplies:

Stamps - Hero Arts thank you messages

Ink - Versafine onyx black

Card - PTI simply chartreuse, SU bashful blue, real red, night of navy

Paper - PTI bitty dots basic

Dies - PTI clouds, scallops

Cricut and new arrival cartridge

Ribbon - PTI pure poppy

Button - PTI simply chartreuse

Twine - PTI pure poppy

4 You

Once again I have to thank the fabulous Mailes Belles for her amazing inspiration. One of the cards in this post went straight in to my favourites folder and when I picked out the colours for the current Play Date Cafe Challenge I knew straight away what I wanted to do. Here's the colours:

And here's my card:

I really, really love these colours together.

Debby

Supplies:

Stamps - PTI beautiful blooms (leaf), everyday button bits (polka dot bird wing), SU tiny tags
Inks - SU more mustard, rich razzleberry
Card - SU more mustard, rich razzleberry
Dies - PTI jar label, Spellbinders labels 14, circles
Ribbon - PTI royal velvet
Button
Cotton thread

Hope your day is fabulous

Today is all about Papertrey Ink! First up is the Make it Monday challenge for this week which is to use an impression plate on only part of a piece of cardstock. Second is the latest challenge from A Passion For Papertrey which is to use paper piecing.

I also used a lot of inspiration from this weeks Tuesday Trigger on Moxie Fab as I did for this card. So the same basic design but mixing up the colours and elements a little.

It was so bright and sunny (happy sigh) when I was taking these photos that it's hard to see the lovely details of the impression plate. So here's a close up:

Debby

Supplies:

Stamps - PTI friends till the end, signature greetings
Ink - PTI ocean tides, SU early espresso
Card - PTI simply chartreuse, kraft, ocean tides
Paper - PTI pretty pastels
Impression Plate - PTI book print
Twine - SU
Button - PTI
Dies - PTI tag sale #3, Sizzix branch with leaves

House keeping

Please excuse the mess while I play with blog layouts. This is not being helped by my preview function not working since forever!

Debby

All the best

I have a very simple little card today. It uses this weeks colour thowdown challenge. Here's the colours to work with:

And here's my card:

I said it was simple!

Mustard - mat layer,
green - paper strip and leaves,
purple - flower (which photographed much darker than it actually is),
brown - sentiment.

So all the colours are there, just in minimal quantities! I felt the whimsical style of the stamps suited lots of white space and nothing to overcrowd them.

Debby

Supplies:

Stamps - PTI tags for spring, SU sweet summer
Ink - Versacolor grape, bamboo, SU early espresso
Card - SU elegant eggplant, more mustard, pear pizzazz
Die - PTI beautiful blooms, Spellbinders squares
Stickles glitter glue

Happy anniversary

My card today is for this weeks Tuesday Trigger over on Moxie Fab. Here's the inspiration photo.

Look at all that yummy crisp white! From the photo I took that lovely white linen with the pierced edge as my card base. Then used white ink on a kraft tag to resemble the button card. I used blue and brown accent colours taken from the ribbons. I used repeating butterflies in place of the buttons but did throw one button in there for good measure!

Debby

Supplies:

Stamps - Hero Arts antique brocade, SU bliss, WMS say it with style
Ink - PTI fresh snow, SU marina mist, early espresso
Card - SU crumb cake, soft suede
Ribbon - PTI fine linen
Twine - SU
Button

Friends

Have you seen the latest PTI release? Mailes Belles has a lovely new set called Modern Basics. However, it takes about 2 weeks for a new release to get to me in the UK, so I played around with a square nestability and a corner rounder! I used the wonderful monochromatic colours from CR84FN19 to create this CAS notelet for a friend.

Debby

Supplies:

Stamps - SU tiny tags
Ink - PTI enchanted evening
Card - PTI enchanted evening, SU bashful blue, marina mist, basic grey
Paper - SU
Dies - Spellbinders squares, blossom
Punch - SU window punch
Twine - SU
Button - The Ribbon Girl

Totally Hues

I've loved seeing the gorgeous colour combos of Heather Pulvirenti's Totally Hues challenges and I was so glad I got the chance to put a card together for this weeks lovely colours

Also I saw a great card design on Julie Ebersole's blog the other day and basically CASEd the design for my card today.

I know, another Cricut critter, but there seems to be a mass of children's birthdays around this time! This kitty is really chunky, being made of four layers. Brown for the nose and whiskers, dark orange for his stripes, yellow for his tummy and a mid orange for the main part of his body.

That's me for today. Have fun!

Debby

Supplies:

Stamps - PTI tiny treats birthday
Ink - PTI aqua mist, SU early espresso
Card - PTI orange zest, summer sunrise, lemon tart, SU early espresso
Paper - PTI bitty dots basic
Ribbon - PTI orange zest
Die - PTI scallop
Cricut create a critter
Button
Embroidery floss
Stickles glitter

I officially name 2011 the year of ....

.... The Worm! Yep another (and my last) update on the wormy birthday. This is the card I made for my son.

I took elements from this lovely card by Jessica Witty - the cut out number and border strips along the bottom. Then added a slightly bigger version of Mr Worm with a party hat sat jauntily on his head!

Simple, colourful, cute and well received. I don't know about you, but I agonise over cards for my own family; wanting them to be perfect for the recipient. The knots we tie ourselves in for our children!

Oh and the one advantage of snow - it gives a lovely diffuse light for taking photos!

Debby

Supplies:

Stamps - PTI big birthday wishes
Inks - Versafine onyx black
Card - PTI simply chartreuse, SU real red, pumpkin pie, tempting turquoise
Paper - PTI bitty dots basic
Cricut create a critter
Dies - PTI by the numbers, banner builder (hat and trim), Spellbinders create a flake (turquoise on hat)
Stickles glitter
Googly eyes
Adhesive stones

Look who's turning ....

8! This is the card I made for a good friend's daughter. Using the bright colours and same basic as my recent cards here and here, but this time a few more little touches, glitter and bling to girly it up a bit.

As much as all these bright colours have made me feel like spring is on it's way, when I look outside I see the snow that fell today and with more due tonight and tomorrow. Oh well, spring will come (eventually)!

Debby

Supplies:

Stamps - PTI big birthday wishes
Ink - Versafine onyx black
Card - PTI harvest gold, SU tempting turquoise, melon mambo
Paper - SU
Dies - PTI numbers, scallop,  Spellbinders circles
Martha Stewart butterfly punch
Ribbon - PTI sweet blush
Glitter
Adhesive stones

Happy birthday

While my bright colours were still on my desk from yesterday's thank you cards, I made a quick and cheery CAS birthday card.

I bought the PTI stamp set just for those cute leaves! I haven't yet got the matching die, so instead used my beautiful blooms stamps and die.

Debby

Supplies:

Stamps - PTI flower fusion #1, beautiful blooms II, big birthday wishes
Inks - PTI orange zest, American Crafts leaf, Versafine onyx black
Card - PTI simply chartreuse, SU tempting turquoise, pumpkin pie
Paper - SU
Dies - PTI beautiful blooms, scallop

Many, many thank yous

We all know that for a young lad a birthday hopefully means lots of presents, which also, in my book at any rate, means lots of thank you notes! So here's the first batch which are intended for family and friends.

I kept it simple and bright with a bit of cuteness thrown in! I do love PTI's tiny treats line of stamps. This little guy is from "tiny treats birthday".

I made a bunch up.

Then there are the thank yous for the "Animal Man" party guests. In keeping with the wormy theme, I made more tags and switched out the sentiment to say "many thanks" and then popped the tags on to a bunch of cards so that the ribbons stood proud of the top of the card - they look really cute!

Here's this bunch all ready.

Put all the cards together in a basket and I'm hoping my little guy has a sharp pencil to write all these notes!

Off to find the pencil sharpener!

Debby

Supplies turtle card:

Stamps - PTI tiny treats birthday, teachers apple
Inks - Memento tuxedo black, Versamark
Card - PTI simply chartreuse, SU! tempting turquoise, pumpkin pie, real red
Paper - SU!
Dies - PTI mat stack 5, scallop, Spellbinders circles, pinked circles
Clear embossing powder
Copics

Supplies worm card:

Stamps - PTI tiny treats birthday, WMS frame it
Inks - SU! early espresso, Versamark
Card - PTI kraft, simply chartreuse, SU! tempting turquoise, early espresso, pumpkin pie, real red
Dies - PTI tag, mat stack 5, Spellbinders circles, pinked circles
Cricut cartridge - cute critters
Ribbon - SU!
Stickles glitter glue
Clear embossing powder