Wednesday 27 February 2013

CAS Get Well Card

Hello, and welcome!

We've had a very spring-like day today......white fluffy clouds in  a beautiful blue sky, bright sunshine and a warm (ish) breeze.  The temperatures have bottomed again,  now it's after dark, but it was a very pleasant day, all the same.......might be able to hang out some washing if this keeps up, lol.

It's another Challenge day at Perfect Sentiments so here are the deets......

PSC68: CAS Get Well
Create a clean and simple get well card. Don't forget to include your sentiment on the front. 

Our Sponsor

will award one lucky random winner a $10 Gift Voucher to their store!

This was definitely a challenge for  me!  I love to pile on the layers and the fripperies, so making a CAS creation does not come naturally......but, I girded my loins, took a few deep breaths and........
here's my result........
I used a Docrafts scalloped card base and placed a piece of freebie paper as the background......

The image (Framed Flowers) is coloured up with Promarkers and mounted onto a piece of lime green Bazzil Textures card which I'd cut with a scalloped rectangle Spellbinder's  die......I added some sparkle to the flowers with a Sakura clear sparkle pen.....I typed the sentiment on the ol' 'puter and added it to the image before printing off.....

I punched the sweet butterfly with a really old hand punch....the paper is a scrap from "the scrap mountain", and I added more sparkle.....popped it up with a pop-dot.......


Love a bit of sparkle!

Very Clean and Simple,  methinks......
Not really that hard for me to do, and actually seemed to take as much time as my usual more over-the-top tastefully embellished offerings...hahaa!

Your turn!....pop over to see what the fabby Design Team has been doing.....lots of very lovely creations to get your creating mojos up 'n' running!

hugs,
Anne-Marie x

Challenges:
http://flutterbywednesdays.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/flutter-by-wednesday-229.html  3 or more layers (paper/scalloped label/image)....hope this counts :)
http://craftybootschallenges.blogspot.co.uk/  Out of your comfort zone (Definitely is!)


Tuesday 26 February 2013

A Stitch in Time......

Hello, and welcome!

Woke up this morning thinking it was Thursday.....big time panic for a full minute.....then, it slowly dawned and I had a little titter to meself.....a lovely day with two of my favourite girlies, Yvie-Grace and Millie to look forward to....both 2 years old.....Yvie is actually goin' on 14 with that attitude, and Millie is really more of a little ol' grandma than I am, hahaaa!
They have the same argument, every time they get together (cousins will do that).......
"It mine Ganma, not urs!" (Millie)
"Nooo, it ma's Gandma, not it urs!" (Yvie)
And, they push and pull each other to climb onto my lap.....never have one without the other......and I LOVE it!

Well, having established that it is, indeed, Tuesday....here's the details of this week's challenge at TWIST OF FAITH........

We are excited to welcome our sponsor for this week, Robyn's Fetish! Our randomly drawn winner will receive their choice of five (5) digital images from  Robyn's Fetish ... and we thank our sponsor for their generous prize.



This week our challenge theme is:

STITCHING!
and a scripture, or uplifting verse or positive words of healing, encouragement, or support.

You may remember that I quite often use a little hand-stitching on my cards, so this theme is right up my street, lol.
It helps when you get something really nice to play with, too......this week I chose Primitive Doll because she is sooooo flippin' cute!

The card base is white and I used peach card as the bottom layer, then a piece of DP that came in a freebie pad.  I then used another piece from the same pad and layered it in the same way....both pieces were hand-stitched around the edges.....so soothing to do, lol......a length of red ric-rac "grounds" the image.....

I'm becoming very fond of this little lady....she's coloured up with Promarkers, and I used the blender pen to put the dots onto her dress......a little red pearl to show off her lovin' heart......

This sweet tag was attached to something I recently bought from The Handcrafted Home....I added the lovely sentiment and changed the butterfly to match the paper on my card, then added the red pearl....the ribbon came with the tag....thanks, Mel!
I have a little collection of quotes from Helen Keller.....she was an amazing woman who "saw" life so clearly, even though she was born sightless, and this is one of my favourites.......quite profound.

Can you see that I beat up distressed the paper edges?  Love a bit of distressin'......de-stresses me, ha!  I used my Quikcutz dies to punch the red hearts and stuck them onto a length of string......

I really love the font on the teeny sentiment....it's a sticker, backed with a bit of the peach card......

A bit of frippery on the inside, and we'll call  it done!

Okey-dokey, it's time for you to get out your needles and threads and create something lovely....and don't forget the "twist"....a scripture, an uplifting quote, a poem....anything that is encouraging.
Get some sweet inspiration from  the rest of our wonderful Design Team....they'll jut out their bottom lips if ya don't....heehee!

hugs,
Anne-Marie x
p.s. I've actually got a brand new watermark and signature that's been professionally made for me, and I haven't had the time to put them on my blog..........

Challenges:




Friday 22 February 2013

Teddy Bears!

Hi, and welcome!

We had s few snow flurries today....very pretty and very cold!

What could be nicer than snugglin' up with a quilt and a teddy bear....lol...I wish!

I have actually been playing with a cute teddy.....stick around and I'll introduce you.......

This week at Card Crafter's Circle we invite you to create cards on the theme of:

Teddy Bears

Our sponsor is STAMP ART DESIGN BY KATHRYNE! These images are sure to delight you! Kathryne creates images covering so many themes, and they are so very cute too! You can find SADK designs here in the Whimsy Shop...


Our random prize winner will receive a selection of 4 images, of their choice ... yummy!

Here's my little fella......Little Bear Ducky.........

The card base is white scalloped from Docrafts with a piece of Nitwits paper as the background.......there's a strip of blue burlap  ribbon across the centre....love that stuff!  I used a scalloped Nestie to cut the yellow paper (scrap mountain) and a different one to cut out the image......

Everything is coloured with Promarkers and I chalked the sky....added a little white gel pen to the waves.....got a bit sea-sick for a while....hahaaa.......

Love the colours of these buttons....added some button twine to them (Ribbon Girls)......

I generated the sentiment on the ol' computer and cut out with a circle punch, edged with blue ink and finished with the teeny bow......

A sweet little card, destined for a sweet little man!

It's been great to see some of  you entering the challenges......woohoo!......and I'd love to  pop by your crafty place to see your ikkle teddy creations......pop over to the Challenge Blog to feast on what my Teamies have created....super-duper stuff!

hugs,
Anne-Marie x

Challenges:







Wednesday 20 February 2013

Floral Fantasia at The Perfect Sentiment

Hello, and welcome!

We're definitely back to winter.....bbrrrrrr!  Freezing wind coming from Europe.....doesn't  go around you....it blasts straight through your bones!

Can't be too long until the Forsythia bushes start to bloom....that's always the first indication of Spring in these parts......and we already have daffodils and a few tulips, so our garden is looking cheerier than it has done for a while, lol.

Speaking of flowers......we have a really lovely challenge starting today, over at 


and the theme is 

FLORAL FANTASIA


Create a card for the occasion of your choice. Make sure your sentiment is on the front of the card. Use flowers somewhere on your card. It can be in your main image or your embellishment but, it must be clear that you used flowers. Floral patterned paper does NOT count. 

Our Sponsor



will award one lucky random winner 3 free digis!

When I saw the adorable Holly Fairy I.....of course....had to make a Christmas card.....lol......

I layered up some Papermania papers and card stock from the Basics Christmas range and did some hand-sewing around the edges......

Just look at that ikkle face....adorable!  Her dress is paper-pieced with some of the Christmas paper and I used a Sakura glitter pen on her hat and collar......she also has some glitter on her cute holly-style wings, and the rest of the image is coloured with Promarkers.........she was cut out and mounted onto the K & Co. frame......

I love these poinsettia leaves.....not strictly a flower, but my Christmas wouldn't be complete without the brightness they bring to my kitchen windowsill.  This one was printed from an old CD that I bought, years ago, and I added a little inking around the edges........

This one is a small button from  my mahoooooosive button stash.........I also cut a tiny snowflake to add to the white one which was already printed on the frame....love a bit of glitter!

This sentiment strip is actually a sticker.....the poor ikkle thing was all alone, its friends used up long ago....hahaa.......

All done!

You'll find a veritable garden of flowery inspiration from the rest of the Design Team.......I'd love to see your creation entered into the challenge, this week!

hugs,
Anne-Marie x

Challenges:
http://www.craftyourpassionchallenges.blogspot.co.uk/  All that glitters (image has glitter on)
I used this lovely sketch






Tuesday 19 February 2013

Spring Colours Challenge

Hi, and welcome!

We've had beautiful spring-like weather for the past two days, but it still gets mighty cold at night........that's when my hand-made quilts come into  their own....lovely-snuggley!

This week, at Twist of Faith we have a colour challenge.....

SPRING COLOURS
and a scripture, or uplifting verse or positive words of healing, encouragement, or support

We are so happy to have From the Heart Stamps joining us with their sponsorship for you! You may remember them as Designed 2 Delight.   



So many delights are waiting in this lovely store!

I'm always on the look-out for images that I can use on masculine cards, so I was excited to be using the lovely LIGHTHOUSE image for my DT card this week........

I'm not fond of the sea, which is a bit of bind when I live on an island, lol.......I like to have a view that includes lots of green....trees, grass, bushes......but I can certainly appreciate the sheer beauty of an ocean.  Lighthouses are still to be seen, dotted along our shorelines, and one can't help but be impressed with not only their purpose, but also their symbolism.......a strong and powerful light that, if followed, will guide the traveller to a safe harbour.
In creating this little card, I started with a white card base and used a piece of DCWV lilac paper as the background (it looks lighter IRL).......the dotty paper layer was from  my scrap mountain.......

I used Promarkers to colour the lighthouse and the surrounding scenery, and dotted some red to represent spring flowers........isn't the frame a lovely touch.... quite a few of the images in the store have a cute frame around them....I like that!

This beautiful verse from Isaiah (and several others!) comes with the image......perfect for this card......

A circular sentiment (Craftwork Cards....I used a green marker around the edge)and a little decoration inside, and it's finished.......ta-daaaaa!  A simple card, but I like it, lol.

As usual, the rest of the Design Team have some lovely inspiration for your creation for this lovely challenge.......go see!

hugs,
Anne-Marie x

Challenges:
craftascene.blogspot.com  Let your light shine/Use a Lighthouse image

Friday 15 February 2013

Paint the Town Red!

Hello, and welcome!

Have you had a good week?  Doing anything nice over the weekend?
Ooooo.....I sound like a hairdresser.....hahaaa!
My friend once confessed that she made things up, specifically for her visits to the hair salon, because she felt her life was too boring to add any interest to the hairdresser's attempts at conversation......now, that's funny!

There's a challenge up at  Card Crafter's Circle and it's one  that you can really "go to town" on........oh, I'm good, hahaaa!

This week at Card Crafter's Circle we invite you to:

PAINT THE TOWN RED!

... with a RED colour challenge! We ask that your creations be predominantly red, or all red! We are excited to introduce a new this week, Digi Darlas Designs!!



One randomly drawn winner will receive their choice of five (5) digital images from  Digi Darlas Designs! ... thank you for such a generous prize!

Just about any kind of image could be  treated to a red colour palette, so it was a hard task to choose something from our fabby sponsor.....so many great images!......oh, life is just soooo hard, at times....hahaaaa!

My final choice was this little delight......Colorful Sailboat........

 I love sailboats.....to look at......from far away.......but I don't like the sea, so you'll never get me on one, lol.......
Sandy coloured paper (K & Co) was used as the background, and I embossed two strips of red card with a Cuttlebug Swirl folder.  The oh-so-pretty boat (ship?) was coloured with a mix of Promarkers and Spectrum Noirs and cut out with a Spellbinder's die........

The sweet sentiment is from Lilli of the Valley and was placed onto a  small Nestie label.....two pieces of Card Candi helped to frame it...........and there you have it.......clean and  simple!

See?  That wasn't hard, was it?  Pop over to the challenge blog to have a peek at what the Design Team came up with.....wonderful stuff!

hugs,
Anne-Marie x

Challenges:


Tuesday 12 February 2013

Love....always!

Hello, and welcome!

We've got  SNOW forecast for tonight and tomorrow.......now, where did I put me sled?
Er.....it's probably in storage with me ballet shoes...hahaaaa!

You can't have failed to have noticed all the Valentine's schtuff that's been knockin' around......since Christmas, here, actually, lol......so I hope you've managed to produce something romantic for at least one loved one.  'Twud be rude not to, after all........ha!

Talking about luuuuurve.........this week's challenge at


is all about 

LOVE
plus
a scripture, or uplifting verse or positive words of healing, encouragement, or support


We are so happy to have the Michelle Perkett Studio joining us with their sponsorship for you! Our random prize winner will receive their choice of one of the images we have showcased for you!


For my DT card, I used the very pretty

It made a nice change to use a sentiment block instead of colouring in something "cute"....not that I don't thoroughly enjoy my little cuties.....but focusing on the sentiment really helped in planning the layout of this card.
I started with a dark cream card base and mounted just one piece of this lovely paper onto it.  I treated my self to this gorgeous paper pad.....Walking in the Forest by Maja Designs.....I got mine from Tracy at Dies to Die For.......

I printed the sentiment block onto some lined and ruled paper, then used Spectrum Noir markers to colour it up.  I cut around the pretty frame, then mounted it onto red card that had been cut with an X-Cut die.
I've talked about friendship, here, several times, and about how much the friendships that I have mean to me.....I find that the above scripture is very apt when it comes to real and abiding friendships, don't you?
It never ceases to amaze me that there is a truth, a comfort, a solution that speaks to every human condition.

This so-pretty die-cut was in the package from Tracy.....she ALWAYS includes some lovely extras.....and was originally lime green pearlescent.....I used one of my markers to change the colour so it would "fit" with the rest of the card.  I liked it so much that I've ordered one....should be here, tomorrow......it's called Fresh Foliage.....yummy! The light blue, sparkly flower was from Papermania, and I added a dark red brad to the centre.....

The border was an off-cut from another project.  It was white, so out came that marker again!  It's half of a Spellbinder's border (can't remember the name...sorry).......

The finished article.

My Teamies, as always, have come up with some wonderful takes on this theme of  LOVE so please pop over and take a look.
I hope you'll join us, this week!

hugs,
Anne-Marie x

Challenges:








Saturday 9 February 2013

Mother Love

Hello, and welcome!

It's been a while since I posted on a Saturday, but I've got a few creations that haven't been shown my netbook screen, yet, so thought I'd pop one on, today.

Before I show you the card, I'd just like to point you in the direction of a lovely new blog that's recently started up.....okay, it's not about papercrafts, but it is about another beautiful sort of craft....quilting and sewn bitties.....and is owned by my very own Daughter #3, Leigh-Anne......proud Mummy, walking, here....lol......

Leigh-Anne already has a very successful Facebook page at Sew Delightful, but she's now ventured into the world of Blogland and she'd really love to see you at her new place!
She's got a really clear and simple tutorial for making her popular Dolly Quilt......just the right size for your favourite little girl's dolly bed......you can find Leigh-Anne's place at


and tell her I sent you!

Now, back to our regular programme...hahaaa.......

My Mam recently celebrated her 83rd birthday......she always likes one of my cards, but this year asked for 2....gave her one last week (on her birthday), but didn't get around to taking a photo......she now says she wants to put out another one of mine, because nobody else ever sends her a handmade one,  and she prefers them.......a Lady of Taste, says I!

Here's #2.........

There are two layers of Nitwit's papers, mounted onto dark red card, with a little inking around the edges......

Both the sweet sentiments are from Dawn Bibby and I added a strip of red spotty ribbon, and the lovely BIG pink button, which has some white gossamer ribbon threaded through.......

Quite plain and simple and quick to make....hope she likes it!

hugs,
Anne-Marie x

Challenges:




Friday 8 February 2013

All you need is Love!

Hi, and welcome!

I've been very remiss in not welcoming my new Followers......sorry......but I'm so glad you're here!

What an eventful and busy week.....and the weekend is goin' to be just as busy!
Oh, well.....onwards and upwards, as they say......always wondered who "they" are, lol.

There's another great challenge over at 

This week our theme is:

LOVE IS IN THE AIR!

With February 14th approaching (or for any reason, really) we ask that your creations be themed on LOVE or VALENTINES. We are excited to welcome back our TWO sponsors for this week, Robyn's Fetish and Floppy Latte Designs! So we have two prize winners this challenge!



Floppy Lattes Digital Designs ::All Digital All The Time

One randomly drawn winner will receive their choice of five (5) digital images from  Robyn's Fetish ... and another randomly drawn winner will receive a prize of $10 to spend at the Floppy Latte Designs store.  Thank you both for your generous prizes!

The Hubster and I may have been married for almost 44 years.......I know!.......who'da thunk we'd have lasted this long...hahaaa!......and I was most definitely a child bride......but we still like to exchange Valentine cards and smoochie kisses, heehee.  The Hubster will be receiving this little creation, this year......

 Bright and cheerful, just like the Hubster!  This little fella is Elmer the Lovestruck Elephant from Floppy Latte.....cute, eh?
I cut a strip of bright yellow corrugated card and placed it with the pretty pink paper onto the card base.  A strip of green spotty paper anchors the two together, with a piece of red gingham ribbon for texture......
There is a remarkable likeness to the Hubster, here....at least in the expression...hahaa!  Elmer is coloured up with .....wait for it.....COPICS!  Yep, thought I'd buy the two pinks shown here, just to see what all the fuss was about.....Verdict?  I want/need/have to have.....please send donations to my home address, lol......The image is layered onto a piece of green, textured card stock which has been cut with a Spellbinder's scalloped rectangle die....... 

I used a small piece of the corrugated card to back this fun sticker.........

I have quite a lot of this red, textured paper (from the Paper Shop) and used a little-used Sizzix die to cut the hearts.....a flat-backed pearl finishes it off, nicely..... 

A sweet little Valentne card for my lovely fella!

I'd love you to take a look at what my Teamies have come up with.....and you'll get to meet the newest member of our team....go see!

hugs,
Anne-Marie x

Challenges:
http://polkadoodle.blogspot.co.uk/  Lots of layers + Pink+red