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Wednesday, 31 August 2011

School Maisie Belle


It's Wednesday and I'm a day early with my card for the Delightful Inspiration Freebie Image challenge ....OMG what is wrong with me? I'm so organised this week but it won't last LOL

The gorgeous little schoolgirl is the last offering for this month from Faith at Designed 2 Delight. I have managed to complete 2 months back to back so am very proud of myself and have got lots of goodies for my hard work so it's a win win for me :)

You may need sunglasses as it's really bright even for me! The papers were free from a magazine. I love the bright circles and dots in mainly primary colours and I felt it went well with the colours I had chosen for my image. The strip matted onto black cardstock as lots of numbers on it, perfick for a school girl.

The image was coloured in with my trusty Promarkers. I used a Nesties die to cut the shape adding faux stitching and inkpad distressing.

The ABC's are chipboard circle letters from Colorbok which I had from a QVC kit about 3 years ago. It had loads of sheets of different letters and shapes and I have oodles and oodles of it left. I used a nail file around the edges to get the little bits off and inked the bare sides.

The sentiment is a freebie from Ginger's House which has been cut out with a Nesties die and inked in black Sharpie around the edge. I felt it went well with the image as the little girl has her pockets stuffed with arty accessories, it is also very poignant to me.

As some of you know I am battling depression. I have my ups and downs, unfortunately just at this moment there are more downs and I am trying very hard to pull myself out of it. I have a fabulous therapist and together we have looked at all the trauma I have had in my life and one thing that has become very evident is that Art and Craft in it's many forms has been the thing that kept me going through it all. Whilst many children hated school I loved it, loved to learn as it was a way to better myself and get me out of some very unhappy situations at home. I was always striving to make things better both from learning and creating beautiful things . It was a way to absorb my thoughts and escape my situation. It is a realisation that has come only very recently and has helped me understand more about myself, what makes me tick and also what makes me happy. I'm sorry if this is a bit personal for some of you but I know it helps others to know you are not alone, even on those days when you REALLY feel like you are :)

Anyhoo, I hope this bright little card has brought a smile to your face because it certainly has to mine. Hope Maisie doesn't trip up with those scissors in her pocket, Heath & Safety would have a field day with that at school and how many incident reports would you have to fill in for that eh?




Materials Used in this card are as follows:-

Card Size - A5
Image - School Maisie Belle by Designed 2 Delight
Sentiment - Ginger's House
Sketch - Annabelle Stamps (can't enter challenge as too many others)
Paper - Magazine Freebie's


Embellishments - Colorbok Chipboard letters
Tools - 3D Foam & Scissors, Promarkers, Fiskars Treading Water punch and 2 sets of Nestabilities Dies
Techniques - Faux Stitching, distressing, die cuts, punches


I would like to enter this card into the following challenges (in Alphabetical Order):-


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Tuesday, 30 August 2011

CDAC Progressive Challenge DT


At long last I can share some really, REALLY exciting news. I am on the Design Team for the Progressive Challenge over at the CDAC! (please imagine me running round like a child with sheer excitement at this point LOL)

Priscilla Styles asked me some time ago if I would be interested in getting involved in a new venture as I was so totally chuffed to have been asked. I mean OMG, of course I would love to be a part of this. Since I discovered the CDAC late last year I have had the good fortune to work with so many fabulous images from a variety of designers, have been a featured artist and met some fabulous people online

Digital images have been the single most important development in the cardmaking skills. I am so much more creative as I can manipulate the images and get a great result whereas I am not a good rubber stamper at all and very rarely could get a good image. Also, let's be honest rubber stamps are soooo expensive and I find this limits my creativity as you tend to only spend money on 'safe' images that you know you would use a lot of times. Some of the nicest cards I have made over the last year have been from experimenting with images I would never have considered purchasing as a rubber stamp.

I am fortunte to be working alongside some very talented cardmakers, full team as below:-


The 2nd round of the CDAC Progressive challenge will start on 1st September. Hopefully you will have taken part in round 1 and you will be shortly receiving the 5 free images to participate in the next round. If you haven't I would strongly recommend that you buy yourself back in - it will only cost you $1 for the five images and I know what they look like, they are DEFINITELY worth it :)

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Monday, 29 August 2011

Happileigh Scrappin' #37



We have a new challenge today over at Happileigh Scrappin' Challenges which is is to make a
Birthday Card

There are so many images in the Happileigh Scrappin' store, some specifically for birthdays and others which can easily be made into a Birthday Card as showcased by the Happi Sisters :)

For my card I have used a newly released image last week called Cake & Ice cream which is in the Special Occasions section of the store.


Every one of Leigh's sets includes the coloured version as well as the digistamp so they really are great value. I ADORE colouring in so always opt to colour using my beloved Promarkers but of course the pre-coloured version is fabulous when you need to make a card quickly.

I made an easel card using some scalloped cards from my stash. The image has been matted onto various pink colours of cardstock. I printed a second layer for the cake and have added Crystal Effects to the cherries and jam layer in the cake. I made a flower ensemble by layering a Prima flower with a Wild Orchid Rose and some punched out leaves. A liberal amount of Stickles glitter glue has been added to the image and the flowers.

The base of the card has a pretty printed cardstock from Dovecraft. I have distressed the edges with a pair of scissors. The swirls are Doodlebug cardstock stickers. The sentiment is from the Icecream and Cake Digi set and I have cut this out using a Nellie die.

There are loads of fabulous images in the Happileigh Scrappin' Store and Leigh has also got some gorgeous new designs available. With every purchase you this gorgeous image and sentiment free........


Also for every 3 images you purchase you can choose an extra one absolutely free. There are loads of fab images just itching to be played with so you will find it easy to spend your pennies I promise you :)

Please pop on over to see the lovely creations my Happi Sisters have added. There are lots of lovely cards to feast your eyes upon and they are all so different.
Remember, for our challenges you don't need to use a Happileigh Scrappin' image but if you do you it will be entered into a separate draw. With freebies available here it is easy to use one of Leigh's fabulous digis.

We would love to see lots of entries in this challenge. Leigh gives away her lovely digis to the top 3 so it is well worth entering and myself and the DT love to see your creations, so come on over to


Materials Used in this card are as follows:-
Card Size - 6" square easel
Paper - patterned paper by Dovecraft
Embellishments - Prima Flower, Wild Orchid Rose, Stickles Glitter Glue, Crystal Effects, Doodlebug Cardstock stickers
Tools - 3D Foam & Scissors, Promarkers, Leaf Punch
Techniques - Shaped card

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges (in Alphabetical Order):-

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Sunday, 28 August 2011

OSAAT #77 - Autumn/Halloween Collab



There's a new challenge today at One Stitch At A Time. It is the Final week of our Pretty in Print contest and for this challenge at is Autumn or Halloween as the DT are previewing the new September Store collaboraton


Who wouldn't want the opportunity to be published ?
Please follow the rules in our post for entry and good luck!!

We have a fabulous prize up for grabs this week, one lucky winner will receive the new collab.


If you don't already subscribe to the Stitchy Bear Newsletter I would suggest that you sign up as you will always be kept up to date with the latest image news.

Pop over to the store and make sure you sign up for it. While you are there don't forget that for the Month of August we have a new store collab with the theme of Back to School & Occupations which is free with a $10 purchase.


* * * * * * * * * * *

For my card I have used the Welcome Autumn plaque by Floppy Latte Designs from the Autumn/Halloween collaboration. I thought it would look great combined with the Sunflower Floral Frame 8 also by Jess. I adore sunflowers and they just scream autumn to me with the rich colours and great big floppy heads.

I combined the frame and plaque together and have decoupaged the flower heads in 3 layers and also the sentiment. All images have been coloured with Promarkers and layered up with 3d foam. I have manipulated the petals on the flowers and bent them forward so there is real dimension to them.

The top layer of the flowers middles has been covered with Crystal laquer and I covered them with accent beads. I have had them in my stach for absolutely years and this is the first time I have used them. I think the combination of the differemt shdes of browns and the little bit of gold really looks fab and has added so much texture to the sunflowers. I really hope the photo shows them off well.

The base of the card is an embossed metallic card from Kanban, the colours are yummy and I thought the swirls really added to the swirly frame. I am really happy with how this card turned out, to me it is the perfect card to herald what to me is the best season of the year.

I look forward to seeing your creations in this challenge and wish you luck with the last week of our Pretty in Print contest.


Materials Used in this card are as follows:-
Card Size - A5
Images - Welcome Autumn & Floral Frame 8 by Floppy Latte Designs
Paper - Kanban embossed metallic card
Embellishments - Accent beads, Crystal Laquer
Tools - 3d foam, scissors, Promarkers
Techniques - Decoupage


I would like to enter this card into the following challenges (in Alphabetical Order):-


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