December Stamp of the Month

While everyone is unwinding after the Christmas celebrations and getting ready to welcome in a New Year, I thought it was a good time to remind you that there is only 5 days left to purchase the December Stamp of the Month from Close To My Heart. If you are paper crafting over the holiday break you might want this stamp set?! - it can only be ordered this month and won't be available again!!....place your order today in my online shop - you won't want to miss out!

I have seen some gorgeous projects made with this stamp set....tags for gift boxes of luxury soaps, cute scrapbook pages with children enjoying delicious little treats and cards expressing love and thinking of you sentiments. It is such a versatile stamp set with options for lots of different themes...and as such I decided to use the sentiments for some Get Well cards that I hope will put a smile on the face of the recipients!

The cute Nurse images were coloured in with my Copic Markers - the first card uses "Nurse Nora" from C.C.Designs and the second is "Sparkle Nurse" by Saturated Canary - I love how well my Sparkle & Shine Paper Pack co-ordinated with the coloured image it certainly proves you should never limit the use of any product to the theme it was intended for!! If you have favourite papers in the Close To My Heart product collection be sure to check out the Retiring Items listed in my Online Store. Many will no longer be available in the coming weeks and I certainly would not like you disappointed to find your "favourites" end up sold out!

There is also only a few days left to leave a comment on my blog post from the 3rd December or send your friends to "like" my Facebook page to be in the running for some fun stamping prizes.

I hope you continue to enjoy the Festive Season and I look forward to sharing more paper craft projects with you in 2014!
 

Creating Monsters

I've been admiring the work of my friend Andrea over at www.stampinmoments.com while there, I fell in love with the Lil Monster by Annabelle Stamps and all the beautiful cards Andrea had created with him.......and I just had to add him to my collection of toys. The first card I created with him was very much inspired by Andrea - I took her fabulous idea of replacing the balloon in his hand with a flower.


Copics Used:
Monster - E31, E33, E35
Jumper - B93, B95, B97
Crown - YG63, YG67
I also coloured a white paper flower with B95 - the patterened paper is from my old Stampin'Up stash, the sentiment is also from Stampin'Up - Oval All set.

I've actually done lots of blog hopping lately and as always, it sparks another addiction LOL! - my newest being Hanglar Stanglar Stamps -
how cute are these little Scandinavian images?? - I so NEEDED to add these little beauties to my collection.....there was a slight problem though, they are only available in Sweden, Finland and Norway...but I am grateful for student exchange programs and friends in just the right places... 'cos this allowed my new addiction to become a reality!! - lucky me!! - so without further ado, I introduce my first Hanglar Stanglar cutie to you. This is Sommartjej ( Summer Girl ) from the 2008 collection.


to colour her I used RV10, RV13, RV21, B93, B95, B97 - the blue patterned paper is from the Kaisercraft - Lovestruck range
( very apt!! ) and the pink paper from EK Success is called Pollyanna - the large pink rosebuds are from Prima's fairytale collection.

While on the subject of creating monsters and finding new addictions - my eldest daughter has decided to try her hand at some Copic Colouring and card making - these are her first ever creations and now I am a little frightened that I may have to share my toys - not sure how I am going to handle that LOL!! - but it was fun to "play" with her and she did a fabulous job.

A Touch of Purple...

..paper lace and lots of flowers!! If I had to pick my least favourite colour it would have to be purple, as a stand alone colour, I am not it's greatest fan. However, co-ordinate it with green, lemon and a splash of blue and I can be tempted to change my mind LOL!! My latest card creations are all made up of shades of purple and despite it not being a favourite colour, I'm happy with the results....even though I went a little overboard with my flower embellishments!!
I'm not sure of the correct name of this little Miss Tilda from Magnolia Stamps. I stamped the image when I borrowed my friend Judy's collection - thanks Judy!
I coloured her in using my Copics - BV00, BV02, BV04, BO2 and BO3 as I did on all three of these cards. However, I used my Lavender Spica Marker to add some glittery highlights to her dress. The patterned paper is from the Kaisercraft Utopia Collection - called Idyllic and it is don't you think???



This card is another of Judy's images - yes, she is a good friend!! and is called Rainy Day Emma from C.C. Designs - very apt for the wet weather we are experiencing at the moment. The yellow printed paper is from the "Count Me In" collection from Sassafras and the lilac is from a stash of Stampin Up paper I found in my cupboards ;)



...and my final card from this weekend's playtime is a Swiss Miss from C.C.Designs - Heidi Among the Flowers - I used lots of clear kiddy glitz on this card and again used some of the Utopia Collection of papers from Kaisercraft - this one is called Paradise. I also used my white gel pen to add lots of highlights to her dress and the flowers.



On my craft show travels (over many years!) I have collected all sorts of "odds & sods" that I might one day use. My latest find, amongst these treasures was some adhesive lace I purchased many moons ago!! I used it on all these cards and am sadly getting to the end of what I have...so, if any of you lovely blog readers of mine come across some in your own craft travels could you let me know?? - I would be forever grateful. xx

All that Glitters & Shines...

..yes my latest card creations are all about glitter, gold and all that sparkles! My parents celebrate their 5oth Wedding Anniversary next weekend and I wanted to make a card that highlights how special a Golden Wedding Anniversary is. I used the "only" wedding stamp I own - Tilda & Edward the Loving Couple from Magnolia's Wedding Collection 2010 and combined it with lots of metallic gold paper and some fairytale rosebuds to which I added a little Crystalina Kindyglitz - I'm actually pretty pleased with the finished product ;)- what do you think??


I usually use my warm gray copics for background shading but this time I used them to colour the brides dress and they worked a treat... came up with the antique "off white" look I wanted to create


I also splashed around a lot of KindyGlitz on this card too! - this stamp is a new one, added to my collection a couple of weeks ago - she is Brigitta on a Tree Stump a Swiss Pixie from C.C. Designs - the white card I made from Quill's Galaxy Board in Galactic White it has a glitter finish to it. It is a little hard to see in the photograph but it does glisten & shine in the light - I love it!
The copic colours I used were inspired by some other examples I have seen using this stamp and the bright coloured Prima flowers sitting on my shelf. The Thankyou Stamp is from Stampin' Up's Oval All collection and I used a scallop punch to cut it out. I added rhinestones to my flower embellishments, then coated with a bit more Kindyglitz - maybe I over did it with the glitter?? - LOL!! but whenever I think of fairies - I think glitter!!

...a few cards to share..

yes! - I'm still playing with my copics and making cards. Here are my favourites from this weekend's "playtime".



This stamp is Rosalie with Roses a Swiss Miss from C.C.Designs - the sweet papers were chosen from the Porcelain range from BasicGrey enhanced with Baby Pink Fairytale Roses from Prima



This is "Sitting Tilda"
from the Magnolia Summer Collection 2010
Her Denim Overalls = Copics B93, B95, B97



...and this is Midsummer Tilda from the Fairytale Collection - the rainbow background is also a Magnolia Stamp - I got a bit carried away with the glitter but we all like a bit of bling don't we?!! ;)