The Mad Hatter's Tea Party

Good afternoon, peeps!
That's what happened yesterday at my son's house - the tea party, I mean! Number two granddaughter is 11 years old tomorrow and yesterday she had a few friends home for an Alice in Wonderland themed party - hence the reason I chose this fantastic Mo Manning image for her card. The image is called 'Hatter' and you can buy him here. There are other Alice in Wonderlad character images as well, all with Mo's unique touch!



Isn't he a picture of sartorial elegance in his multi-coloured outfit? I'm sorry I don't have the Copic colours for you because this is another image that I coloured whilst on hols recently. The DP is Basic Grey Kioshi, the pearls are from The Hobby House and the sentiment is another from Pink Petticoat Girly Curly Sentiments Collection, which was one of my better investments, I feel. The flowers are, of course, from Wild Orchid Crafts and the leaves were punched with a McGill punch. The ribbon is from my stash and here is the inside of the card:


The tags were punched with a Sizzix punch, edged with Adirondack Dabbers in Cool Peri and Purple Twilight and I think you can see that the one on the left is just for the greeting (a Clarity Stamp) but the one on the right is my homemade attempt at a voucher providing funds for the birthday girl to spend at the craft show at Harrogate in March. She's following Granny and Mummy and becoming a crafter - way to go, Lucy!
Well I'm just about to follow the Mad Hatter and have a cup of tea that my darling hubby is presntly making for me.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend and I'll see you again soon!
Thank you for looking at my blog today and I hope you enjoy what you see!

Another tissue box cover

Good afternoon, peeps!
I was teaching a workshop yesterday at my local craft shop (Samuel Taylor in Brighouse) on how to make a tissue box and the original sample is here further back on my blog. I made this sample because I wanted to show that you don't have to have the flowers to make the box look pretty. The images are, of course, from Lili of the Valley and I really do love their images.
Here's the first close up of one of the little poppets:


The little butterfies are all punched from a multi-colur DP with a Martha Stewart punch and the pearls on their bodies are from The Hobby House:


This one is everyone's favourite, I think:


All of these images are coloured with Copics and Prismas:


Well, that's it for today, peeps. I'll be back tomorrow with this week's Digi Doodle Shop Challenge. Have a great afternoon!

Pink and Green - Clean and Simple!

Good morning, peeps!
Yes, that's the title of the challenge this week at Digi Doodle Shop's Best and, as you can see, I most certainly stayed with that theme!

I've used the lovely 'Spring Gathering' image,which you can find in the store here. I really had great fun colouring all the folds in her lovely dress!
The whole card design is very much a change for me in that it doesn't look like a florist's shop window! It's simply finished with ribbon and DP from my stash (I think the DP may be Anna Griffin but really not sure) and pearls from the Hobby House. I distressed all the edges with Frayed Burlap Distress ink. Of course my DH asked me if it was meant to be ripped! The corners are cut with a Cuttlebug die.
Copics used:
Skin: E000/00/21, R11/20
Hair: E50/51/53/33
Dress: R11/20/21/22, C1
Flowers: YG11, Y00/13, BG11/13
Grass/leaves: G20/24, YG67, G82
I hope you ike this one, peeps and that you'll join us for this week's challenge because pink and green are such a wonderful colour combo.
See you again soon with another challenge but, in the meantime, take care of yourselves!

Birds' nest tea?

Good morning,peeps!
Well, you've heard of birds' nest soup I expect, but on my card today the birds are making a nest in a teapot!!

I made it for the new challenge on Digi Doodle Shop's Best, which is to use buttons on your project - a nice easy one so I hope you'll all come and join us!
I think this is a great image that can be used for anything from birthday to anniversary and new home, a truly versatile one that can be used over and over again and you can find it here and while you're in the store, have a look around because the 50% off offer has been extended for another 2 weeks!
I coloured this image with Copics and Prismas and I'll leave the Copic numbers at the bottom of this post. The DP's can hardly be seen on the outside of the card but I have used the lovely Basic Grey Kioshi collection again. You can see them better on the inside of the card:

The ribbon and button are from my stash and the lace is cut from a Magnolia Doo Hickey die. The leaves are from a Marianne D die that I bought just before Christmas and was very glad for the opportunity to use because I just love the shape of these leaves! The flowers are from Prima and the pearl brad and spacer bead that form the centre are from The Hobby House. On the left side of the inside of the card, I used a MS Around the Page punch that I think is called 'Cherish' that I got from Oyster Stamps. The butterflies are also MS punches and the circular sentiment is from LOTV.
The 'purple haze' around the image and on the greeting tag inside was created with VersaMagic 'Spring Pansy' and a make-up sponge.
I'm also entering this card in the Papertake Weekly Challenge, which is Anything Goes with the option of adding lace to your work.
Copics used:
Main part of teapot: E40/41/42/43
Base and front of teapot: YR21/23/24
Flowers: V01/12/15/17
Leaves: YG93/95/97
Roof: R11/21/22
Birds: B12/21/23/24
Flower centres and birds' beaks: Y13/15
Well, that's all from me for today....loads of stuff to get on with and might also have to do some work in between - bummer!

The very last Christmas card for 2010 and an announcement

Good morning, peeps! Well, it's New Year's Eve and tomorrow we'll all be starting a brand New Year, which is an exciting thought - I wonder what it will hold for us all? One thing I know that it holds for me is the opportunity to work with the fantastic DT over at the Fussy and Fancy Friday Challenge Blog so how good is that? I've been so excited about it and have been bursting to tell you all for ages! We've got some really great challenges coming up over the next few months so I do hope you'll join us. The first project you'll see from me as a member of the DT will be on Friday 14 January but I have a project on my desk at the moment that I shall enter in the challenge starting today, which is to make a celebration card and a 3D item to go with it so I'd best get busy and get it finished! Before I go, I thought I'd show you this card that I made for my wonderful hubby for Christmas - the picture looks a bit blurry so I'm sorry for that: It's the Christmas Hottie image from the wonderful Kenny K. I know her hair is longer but don't you think she looks just like me (not!)? Anyway, I don't think he's been taking much notice of the card because he went down with 'flu' on Christmas Eve - not just man 'flu' but the real aching, burning proper 'flu'! What good timing is that and my wonderful hubby turned into a bear with a sore head! As you can guess, it's been a very quiet Christmas but, thankfully, he's better now and I can stick my head out of my craft room without getting it bitten off! Here's the inside of the card: The wonderful sentiment on the front of the card is from the talented Lynne at Sentiments 4 You and it was a freebie so, thanks Lynne, it was perfect for this card. The grey DP is from Papermania and the red is an anonymous sheet from my stash. The rest of the ingredients are fairly standard and came from my stash and the colouring was done with Copics. All in all, a really simple card to make. This post seems to have become much longer than I intended so thank you for staying with me this far and a wonderfully happy and fulfilling New Year to all of you and to those you love and I'll see you next year!

Papertake Weekly GDT spot

Well, hello again! I said I'd be back and I don't think I've ever posted twice in one day before but how lucky am I to have two GDT spots this week? Woo hoo!! Anyhoo, this card is for the Papertake Weekly Challenge, which this week is 'Be thankful' and, at this time of year, we all have thank you cards to send. Here is my offering that uses an image from Lili of the Valley. I'm afraid that I don't have the Copic colours for you on this one because it's been coloured for a while. I just finished it off with some Prismas to create depth and hand wrote the thank you message on the tag on the flowers. I cut the image out with Nesties and distressed the shape with Antique Linen Distress Ink. The flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts and the DPs are fro the Prima 'Annalee' paper pad. The little sentiment is another from the Pink Petticoat Girly Curly Sentiment Collection of endlessly useful digital sentiments. The pink pearls are from The Hobby House. I'm also entering this card in Phindy's Place Challenge. I should be back before the New Year is with us so I'll see you then and thank you for visiting with me today!

Digi Doodle Shop Challenge #39 - Anything Goes

Good afternoon, peeps!
Well, it hasn't got any warmer here in the North of England and my card for this challenge is looking pretty frosty, too!

This is the fabulous 'Christmas Door' image and you can download it here from the Digi Doodle Shop Store. In fact, why not get yourself some more Christmas images ready for next year while they're on at half price. You can get some inspiration from my teamies at DDS Challenge site. This challenge is an 'Anything Goes' one so not all the images are Christmas ones but that's OK because all the images are half price at the moment!
Anyhoo, back to the card. It's coloured with Copics and Prismas and here are the colours:
Blue bows and glass: BG18/72/75
Wood: E15/25/27/29
Leaves: G24/29/99 & YG67
Door & bows: R22/24/27/29
Bells & baubles: YR21/23/24
Glass: C1/3
Shadows: W1/3/5
The DP I downloaded from Websters Pages and the small sentiment is a Stampington one. The snow/frost is created with Glamour Dust and the brads are from my stash.
I'm entering this card in the Fussy and Fancy Friday Challenge, which is to show some snow and in the Papertake Weekly Challenge, whcih is another 'Anything Goes'.
I'd like to thank you all for visiting me and for your wonderful comments over the past year - please come back again soon. I wish you and those you love a very peaceful and joyous Christmas and a New Year full of happiness!

The Penultimate

Good afternoon, peeps! Well the snow is lying frozen outside and I'm in the warm colouring away....feels good to me! I'm just sorry for the poor people who have to go out in this freezing weather. Still, it's definitely seasonal - especially for this card, the last but one of my Christmas renderings! I'm sorry about the lighting on this one, which isn't quite right - I didn't use flash but it rather looks as though I did. This dull and gloomy weather isn't kind to our card photography is it, peeps? It's fairly unusual for me to buy a stamp soon after it's released but I quickly decided that this Tilda was my favourite from the latest Magnolia Christmas collection. I coloured her with Copics and Prismas and cut her out to mount over the Magnolia Silent Night music image, which I stamped with Versafine Vintage Sepia and distressed with Old Paper Distress Ink. When that was dry, I added Stardust Stickles to the edges for a bit of bling. I've been itching to use some of this paper from the Memory Box 'Mistletoe' paper pad and this card seemed like the perfect occasion. I kept the design simple because I think the paper does the work. I added some corners die cut from gold card with a Quikcutz (I think!) die. Well, this card is in the post now, winging its way to an old friend from my patchwork and quilting days. There's only one more Christmas card to show you now and the image is still on my desk being coloured. Needless to say, that won't be going out this year! I'm sorry I don't have the Copic numbers for this one but I'll do better next time....promise! Keep warm!

GDT on An Oldie but a Goodie Challenge

Good morning, peeps! I hope you're all full of festive spirit and storming into the Christmas season. Please do me a favour, if you find any - festive spirit that is, please send some my way because I'm struggling to find some this year for some unknown reason!
Anyhoo, let's get on to a card that's not Christmassy at all. For the month of December, I'm GDT member over at An Oldie but a Goodie Challenge Blog....woo hoo! How good is that?!!...and here's my first card in that role.

The title of the challenge is 'You're a star' and we have to have a star on our project so, just to be on the safe side, I've got 3 on mine!
Tilda is coloured with Copics (numbers at the end of this post) and Prismas and I think she's having something of a 'Harry Potter moment' because there's plenty of magic sparkle around in the form of diamonds from my jewelery box ...well...from my stash, anyway and Glamour Dust added to her star wand. Just for a bit of extra interest, I turned her purple shoes into patent ones with the addition of some Glossy Accents.
The Nestie shape is distressed with Antique Linen Distress Ink and the doily behind Tilda is cut with a Marianne D die and blinged up with some pearls from the Hobby House, which is where the star charm came from as well. The butterflies were punched with a Martha Stewart punch and the leaves were made with a McGill punch. The gorge paper is from the Prima 'Fairy Flora' pad and the flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts. The lace is cut with a Magnolia Doo Hickey die and the velvet ribbon is from my stash.
Copics:
Skin: E000, E00, E21, R11, R20
Hair: E50, E51, E53, E55
Dress: RV10, RV34, RV000 and Promarker Pink Carnation
Shoes: V17, V15, V12, V000
Star: YG03, YG11, YG25
I do hope you'll come and join us for this challenge and I'll see you again soon with a different one.

The Perfect Tree

Good morning, peeps!
The challenge over at Digi Doodle Shop's Best this week is 'Let it Snow' and we have to show snow somewhere on our project. Well I think I went a bit overboard, don't you?!! But it's entirely appropriate to the weather outside because we certainly have plenty of this white stuff!
The title of this post is also the name of the image and you can buy it from the Digi Doodle Shop here. I think this image is just lovely with the little boy looking very adult carrying his axe and almost dragging his rather reluctant looking sister off to complete the task of finding the perfect Christmas tree. I really enjoyed the colouring, which I did with Copics and various coloured pencils blended with Sansodor. I added Polar White Flower Soft to the fur trim on their clothes and Glossy Accents to the little girl's wellies and the boy's axe blade. The 'snow' is twinkling with DecoArt Glamour Dust - I love the subtle shimmer this stuff gives!
The large snowflake (top left) is created from acetate cut with a Cuttlebug die, then Glossy Accents applied around the edges and the whole thing dipped in Twinklets Diamond Dust that I got from The Hobby House. It's out of stock at the moment but I'm sure that Gill will be getting more in soon. I do love this effect but I always find it difficult to cut the shape from the acetate and end up doing fine surgery with my scalpel to extract the full shape! On top of the acetate snowflake is a second one cut from vellum with a Marianne D die and I applied Quickie Glue to it and used the Glamour Dust again. I gave the same treatment to the small snowflakes and the pine branches. The gem brad and the buttons are from my stash. The doily behind that large snowflake is cut from a Docrafts 'Penelope and Percy' DP with a Marianne D die. The other papers are from a K & Co pad. All the distressing was done with an Adirondack Aqua ink pad.

I finished the inside with more of the K & Co paper and I used the scrap paper that was left over from cutting out the doily to create a frame on some card for a jotting panel - it seemed a shame to waste it! The photograph here looks very 'blue'...the light created from all the snow outside is really distorting the colours of the pictures and it looks much better IRL!
I do hope you'll be able to join us for the challenge this week and I'll see you again soon.
Bye for now!

A tissue Box Cover

Bless you!!! (sorry - bit of a pun.....groan!)
Good afternoon, peeps and I hope your day is going well so far. You might want to get a cup of tea and settle down because this looks like being a long post with quite a few photographs!

I've seen a few pictures lately in blogland (if only I could remember where!) for tissue box covers and I thought it might be interesting to have a go at making one for myself, so I got the method from Split Coast Stampers - what an amazing resource for us it is! Then I had the challenge of re-doing all the measurements because I think our Kleenex boxes must be a different size from the ones in the U.S. Well, we got through that one and these two piccies above show the overall result.
Then I thought I'd be adventurous and make some of the lovely flowers that the lovely Sassy has a tutorial for on Stampartic here and she's given instructions in English as well. They were pretty fiddly to make but worth it, I thought. I created the centres using a Viva Pearl Pen but that technique needs a little practise methinks!
The outer surface of the box is white card embossed with a Cuttlebug Floral Screen folder but you could use any one that has a multi directional design. I then distressed the edges and sponged over the embossing with Spun Sugar Distress Ink.

This is the first portrait of Tilda I chose to use and she's called 'Tilda with Bow Knot'. I had to choose images that were not too tall because of the limited space below the lid that you can't really see because it's disguised by the pink gingham ribbon (from my stash) and the paper lace punched with my MS Doily Lace punch and distressed with the Spun Sugar Ink again.

This one is called 'Jam Tilda' obviously for reasons best known to Magnolia! I'm sorry if she looks a little blurry but I had three separate attempts to photograph this one and it still doesn't look quite right to me!

This is a nice Summery portrait which I think is called 'Tilda with bunch of lilacs'...

....and this one is called 'Dinner Tilda' - she looks quite sophisticated don't you think?
The leaves in the corners were punched with my McGill Pine Punch and my Leonie Em Maidenhair punch but I cut these latter ones down a bit because the punch produces quite a large leaf.
All of the colouring was done with my Copics with the addition of Prismacolor pencils and Derwent Inktense pencils. I'd tell you which Copics I used but I seemed to have most of the ones I own spread over my desk by the time I'd finished so, think of a number and I probably used it!
Phew! I think that's it. I hope you like this project and I think I might try and make a few more of these for gifts - if I get time!
Thank you for staying with me until the end of this post and I'd love to read your comments!
Bye for now!

Digi Doodle Shop Challenge #33

Good morning, peeps and I hope it's not as wet where you are as it is here - I just got soaked doing a little food shopping - yuk!
Anyhoo, it's that time of the week again when we have another challenge down at Digi Doodle Shop's Best and this week it's 'Don't forget our men' - a manly project. I thought I'd bring in a touch of nostalgia with this delightful image of two boys playing 'marlies' as we used to call them. Yes, I confess I could play a mean game of 'marlies' myself and it didn't seem tomboy-ish! You can buy this image here and it was great fun to colour with my Copics and one or two Prismacolor pencils in which I've recently invested. However, the Sansodor to blend the Prismas hadn't arrived when I made this card so, hopefully, the technique will improve.
I used the Whimsy Stamps ticket sentiment because the look of concentration on the older boy's face made me feel he would certainly be making a wish as he rolled the marble! You can get the whole set of these from Bunny Zoe's Crafts. They're on pre-order at the moment but they will be back in stock week commencing 29th November.

If you've read any of my other recent posts, you'll know that I'm into carrying elements of the design on the front of the card into the inside at the moment and this picture shows what I did with this one.....

....and it carries over to the back! Nikki at Bunny Zoe's does a good range of these personalised stamps but mine came direct from Whimsy Stamps in the US and I'm delighted with it.
I'm entering this for the Sweet Stop Challenge SSS81 this week.
Here are the Copic numbers:
Skin: E000, E00, E21, R11, R20
Hair: E53, E57, E25, E47
E35, YR23, E51, Y21
Floor: W3, W1, 0
Marble ring: E40, E42, E44
Trousers and shoes: C7, C5, C3, C1
Sky: B000
Yellow shirt: YR31, Y21, Y28
Green shirt: YG03, YG11 YG25
The distressing around the edge of the image and on the tag inside is done with Weathered Wood Distress Ink. The DPs and buttons are from my stash and the Natural Raffia Lace is from Bunny Zoe's as well.
I do hope you'll join us for the challenge this week. I do find it quite challenging to make cards for the boys but I'm reasonably happy with this one and I hope you like it too.
Bye for now
Diane x