The Wedding invitations - Bazzill Bling - Black Tie, Stardream silver cardstock, and stardream silver sentiment, cream cardstock, organza ribbon, and silver embossing aluminium which has been embossed with Dreamweaver Heart stencil. The Wedding invitation for the day guests has been done as a pocket so it holds the menu and RSVP card along with an envelope. The Evening invitations are lined inside with mint green mulberry paper and the invitation printed on transparent vellum.

This is my first post for December and first for a while. I have now finished the wedding invitation order which included RSVP cards and Menu's. A big congratulations to Nichola and Andrew on their forthcoming Nuptials and a big thank you to you both for being so patient - the days and days of waiting for the invitations to be finished......they are mostly handcut and so 95% handmade - I have even hand embossed every single heart (all 65 of them). Now to sort the pictures to post....

I made this card for last weeks Cupcake Crafts Challenge but just didnt get around to posting it. The background papers are from Papermania - Roses and Champayne, along with some of the Bazzill dots cardstock. The beautiful topper came in the Sugar Nellie Topper swap - I love how she's coloured and layered onto the background cardstock. The sentiment is from Craftwork cards.....now onto this week's challenges - will I be able to fit them in......christmas cards.....wedding invitations.....cakes........it's all happening!

I know these are n't the best of pictures.....I thought I would take them on a dark brown background, which looked nice at the time of taking the photos, but looks awful now that I have uploaded them. Still I wanted to show you these (particularly those in the UK and near Poundland)! I bought these 3d self adhesive decorations from Poundland on the weekend. They are well decorated and made of chipboard. In 5 minutes flat I had made the two cards below, using some bazzill dots cardstock and one of these decorations. I did add some more doublesided tape behind them as I didnt think they had quite the best adhesive on them......but aren't they brilliant.....now I wish I had bought more!

I have been spending every waking moment I can snatch to complete a wedding invitation order I have, and christmas card orders....so not much spare time for other crafting at the moment.....I haven't even had the time to do any blog hopping. Still I thought I would do this one quickly for the Cute Card Thursday Challenge which is Snow and Snowflakes.

The image is from Magnolia, the background paper from Diecuts with a View, Bazzill cardstock, ribbon from my stash, embossed snowflake panel, snowflakes from my stash, and some Deco Art Glamour Dust.

This weeks challenge from A Spoon Full of Sugar is Blooming Marvellous - this weeks creations should use flowers or floral paper somewhere on the card.

I would love to take the credit for this beautifully coloured and assembled image, but I received it in the Sugar Nellie topper swap. It is absolutley stunning. I have layered her onto some bright pink cardstock which I was given as a sample at the NEC on saturday. I then layered this onto some green bazzill dots cardstock. The torn paper in the corner has come from my stash and the sentiment is from Designer Digitals.

Which Die-cutting and embossing Machine do you have and why?

I went to the Hobbycrafts fair at the Birmingham NEC at the weekend. It was really crowded and overly busy, so it was impossible to get to see a lot at each of the stalls. I saw some of the famous TV faces though - Wendie Rhodes, Stephanie Weightman, Sara from Crafters Companion, and many others featured on the crafting channels. There were some great deals going for Die-cutting and embossing machines - one thing I dont have but would like to have. I saw demonstrations for The wizard, Cuttlebug, and the Sizzix Big Shot and even though I was impressed with what each of them could do, I couldn't decide which one would give the most all round use and most of all use all the various dies and embossing plates that are available.....so I left with none.....but I need to make up my mind which one is most certainly the best (so I can put it on Santa's list).....what do you think??

This weeks challenge 25 over on A Spoon Full of Sugar is a child's card. I actually made this card a few days ago, but havent been able to get around to posting it. Now the image (isn't it gorgeous) came in my pack of toppers from the recent Sugar Nellie Birthday topper swap. I love the way Hamish is coloured and his kilt is paper pieced with tartan. I dont know where the other pieces that make up the topper comes from though. The background is bazzill cardstock - a piece of green which had a hole punched in it from some time ago, and the scalloped circle too which I had lying around. The stitches are made using a white gel pen.

Last week's challenge from Cute Card Thursday was Fairies and Angels.

I have coloured Tilda with water colour pencils and layered her onto a embossed panel and the fence. Sentiment stamp from Studio G clear stamps.

This is my second post for today (amazingly), but I just had to show you this. Recently
Sugar Nellie opened a forum to celebrate their first birthday. During the birthday week, they had various contests and giveaways etc, including a topper swap. Having made a topper and taken part in the swap, today the postman arrived with my envelope from Sugar Nellie. Having only expected to get the toppers (which are truely fabulous - puts mine to shame), I was surprised to recieve in the envelope, not one, not two, but three stamps from Sugar Nellie......what a great sugar fix that is. The colouring on some of the toppers is brilliant, I have been looking at the blogs of those that were marked with the "designers" name, to see what they used and how they coloured.......I am off to Google Sansador and I am now even more convinced I should be investing in some Promarkers (I think I will be writing a note to Santa A.K.A - Hubby take note).

This is my take on this weeks sketch challenge 27 on Friday Sketchers. I have used a Sarah Kay image, which I have water coloured with pencils. I have layered the image onto pale blue glitter cardstock and fastened them together with brads. The background papers have come from Diecuts with a View Christmas stacks. The ribbon has come from Poppicrafts and the flowers have been made using papers from my stash and the woodware daisy punches. The sentiment is a stamp from Studio G, Designer clear stamps.

Last week's challenge from A Spoon Full of Sugar was a sketch by Trina. Talk about lost my mojo last week. I wasnt feeling great and was in no mood for crafting. Anway here is my take on the sketch using Diecuts with a view background paper, bazzill cardstock, sentiment from Craftwork cards, peel off flowers and gems, hot pink ribbon from my stash, Sugar Nellie Stamp.

A couple of quick cards made today. Sarah Kay and Sugar Nellie is my absolute favourite stamps. Both images have been watercoloured.

Sarah Kay - Paper from my stash, sentiment from Designer Digitals, Ribbon from Poppicrafts.

Sugar Nellie - Paper from Diecuts with a View Christmas stack, Bazzill cardstock, ribbon from Poppicrafts and white peel off sentiment and dots.

Time for change......I've given my blog a make over - a facelift. Simply Chic has lots of free backgrounds which are easy to upload and easy to use. Now I need to make myself a great header...will have to work on this over the next day or two.....now I'm off to work on my cards.

I have had the most awful week - I haven't felt so ill in ages - so its definitely time to book an appointment with the doctor. I haven't made any cards or done any postings, but today I back....and feeling so much better.......so I am now going to pop to the gym and then I will be catching up on all the challenges and visiting some of my favourite blogs

The Sarah Kay Challenge Blog and Magnolia Challenge Blog has now been combined so they have a new blog up and running - Magnolia Vs Stampavie. They will still run a weekly challenge using stamps which they have listed on the blog. The first challenge for the new blog is a sketch. I have used papers from Diecuts with a View, Traditonal Christmas colours, ribbon from my stash, daisy punches to create the flowers and I have coloured the image using watercolour pencils. I didnt do a good job today with the colouring and went out of the lines a few times with the red, which was hard to take off so I shadowed the image with blue (it works wonders for the little mistakes). I have also used a white gel pen to highlight areas of her dress and hair bow. The sentiment comes from Craftwork cards.

This weeks Challenge from A Spoon Full of Sugar is Sparkle and Bling.

It's a new month already and even more closer to Christmas. It is starting to become a nightmare to shop - lots of people and no where to park the car, and it takes twice as long to do the shopping......there is almost a need for traffic lights in the aisles of the supermarkets!! I'm behind this week with everything....Half term so it means the boys come first and we try to fit in as much as we possibly can.
The background papers for this card is from Dovecrafts Christmas range. The Sugar Nellie snow family image I have watered coloured some areas, and then painted the snow peoples (there is a woman in there so I can't call them snowmen) bodies with transparent glitter glue for the sparkle. The stones for bling and the navy cardstock, have come from my stash, the stamped sentiment is from Studio G.

This weeks challenge 11 from Cupcake Craft Challenge is "Theres a hole in my bucket". This weeks criteria is make a card, atc or whatever with a hole in it - it could be an aperture card, a shaker card, anything that has a hole in it!!!

It's half term this week, so time for crafting is short, so anything I make needs to be quick and simple. The background paper for this card is from Diecuts with a view, Rose tinted Christmas stack, some bazzill cardstock, Sarah Kay image coloured with watercolours, and sentiment from Designer Digitals. I used a circle hole punch to punch the aperture in the card. The scalloped border around the aperture was supposed to have been centred, however it didnt quite work cutting it with the compass circle cutter and the scallop scissors....but I used it as I thought it still looked pretty. I also used a white gel pen to make doodle dots on the aperture border. I can't remember where I got the ribbon from , I have a reel with 5 metres on which I bought in a sale a while ago.

I found another challenge blog while blog hopping, so here is this weeks card for Sketch Saturday. I have used papers from Diecuts with a View the Rose Tinted Christmas 6 x 6 stack. The image is a new christmas one from Sarah Kay. I have used scallop scissors for the scallop edges on the circle and border. The image has been coloured with watercolour pencils with some highlighting with a silver glitter gel pen.

My guys love Carrot Cake. I have tried various recipes over time, some we good, some not so good, some light, and some ever so heavy and stodgy, but this is most definitely the quickest and best one I have tried and tested after a few attempts at twigging the ingredients. It produces a really moist light cake and it can be made in the microwave in approximately 12 minutes (5 or 6 minutes for each layer) and will stay moist for at least two days if kept in the refrigerator.

2 cups finely grated carrots, 1 1/4 cups soft brown sugar, 1 cup sunflower oil, 1/4 cup orange juice, 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda, 3 eggs, 1 1/2 cups self raising flour, 2 teaspoons cinnamon, 300g tub of philidelphia cream cheese, 3 tablespoons sifted icing sugar

Grease a straight sided oven proof dish - I use a souffle dish. Line the base with a circle of kitchen towel, or serviette, or paper napkin etc. This will absorb some of the dampness and help the cake to cook.

Whisk together the eggs, oil and sugar until light and fluffy. Fold in the sifted flour, cinnamon and baking soda. Fold in the carrots and the orange juice.
Spoon half of the mixture into the prepared dish. Microwave on high for 5 minutes. The cake should be springy when touched. If it still feels wet, cook for a further minute. Allow to cool for a few minutes and remove from the dish. Remove the paper towel from the base of the cake. Repeat the process for the other cake layer.

When both cakes are cooled, split each cake so you will have four layers. Sandwich each layer together with the cream cheese filling....hmmm enjoy. Refrigerate any left over cake.

As you can see I didnt split my layers evenly but it was still yummy!

This is my entry for the challenge over on Friday Sketchers. The papers are from Diecuts with a View christmas range and I have also used some bazzill cardstock. The red text piece is covered in gold coloured writing with words describing merry, joy and delight etc with no mention of christmas so it means I can use it on my other cards too. The image is one from Sugar Nellie, which I have coloured in water colour pencils but added a touch of paper piecing to the flower. The sentiment is from craftwork cards - I have used the circle cutter compass and scallop edge fiskars scissors to create the border. Speaking of Sugar Nellie they have new stamps available - gorgeous Sweet Art Ebony's for general use and for Christmas as well as a new animal range which is so cute!

Well I have posted anything since Tuesday. I was working flat out trying to get all my cards done along with lots of Halloween things for kids for a craft show I had been invited to take part in yesterday. Now those of you who have kids, will know that life with children is never straight forward no matter how much you plan or what you have planned, nine times out of ten something will always come up. Low and behold, Friday morning my youngest woke up with a suspect spot on his left arm.......could it be chicken pox??? Well he has been vaccinated against them - being born in the Middle East he was vaccinated at 15 months for chicken pox, but there was still a 3 % change he could still get a mild dose of them - hmm was he in the three percent?? As Friday wore on no more spots appeared - poor child, I spent the day proding and poking at him, making him lift his shirt so I could check for more spots....but none. Then friday night, one more appeared on his arm and one on his leg.....I rang the craft fair organiser and told her I might have to cancel. Saturday morning, two more on his back and one on his side.......I rang the craft fair organiser to cancel and off we went to the doctor. Baffled she was, one spot looking like chicken pox, but the others well......maybe he is having a mild dose as they said might happen....by saturday night several spots on the legs, one on chin, one on forehead....Today same as yesterday. Well apart from moaning a little last night the one on his leg was starting to itch, we have had a normal bouncy boy, getting on as normal........and me stacks of cards and halloween goodies, stored in my kitchen waiting to be sold. All the fun of being a parent.

ok so enough rambling.....this card for the Cupcake craft challenges blog, I made a few days ago, but didnt get around to posting. This weeks challenge was a sketch. The papers from Trimcrafts christmas Pink set, the image from Pink Petticoat, the flower from Poppicrafts, which I have stamped over with a studio G scroll stamp in white brilliance ink. The sentiment is one from craftwork cards and the button are from my stash. The photo isn't good, I am blaming it on bad Autumn light xxx

The days are flying by far too quickly. I havent been crafting today - well my youngest was poorly so was off from Pre-school, and then I have wrapping presents for our family in St Helena. Yes I know it's eight or nine weeks until christmas, but they have to be with the shipping agent for Thursday in order for them to make it to the island sometime mid December!
I have also been making up these little bags of treats for Halloween - Small zip lock bags, filled with scary wrapped chocolates. I have scored some black card and trimmed with the scallop edge scissors. The images are clipart which I have printed on orange cardstock and cut out with a circle punch. I have cut circles our in purple with a compass cutter and then edged them with the scallop scissors too. The black cardstock has been stapled to the bags under the orange and purple topper - quick, simple and easy.

Christmas is just around the corner and as usual I am behind. However these fabric cards are so quick and easy to make. Each one takes about 5 minutes to make, so I can churn out a whole pile of these in no time at all and because they are different to the norm, they are well received. They have been made using fabric squares entitled Christmas Dogs which is available from Craft Fabrics. A piece of fabric measuring 12x44 inches costs £2.95 ($6.00) with 30+ individual squares, which means a lot of cards - you dont get many toppers around for that price! Postage is really cheap and they will ship internationally as well. The squares I have cut out with a 1cm border all around, and glued them to cardstock which is the same size as the picture area. The edges of the fabric is behind the card. It makes them stiffer to use and also it hides the cut edges. They are then mounted them onto gold cardstock. The stamped sentiment is one from Studio G designer stamps.

This is my entry for this week's challenge over at Friday Sketchers. I really do adore this stamp from Sugar Nellie. It is great for making quick cards too. The papers are from dovecraft Christmas (had these free from Sugar Nellie). The sentiment is a stamp from Studio G designer stamps and the snowflakes are from my stash. I have used a white gel pen to add dots to the scallop backing of the image.

This week's challenge 40, from Tilda and Co Challenge Blog is a Tabbed Sketch.

The background paper came free with Papercraft Essentials magazine, and matched perfectly the embossed snowflake rectangle. Tilda has been coloured with watercolour pencils and mounted onto a scalloped circle which has been made using a circle cutter compass and scallop edge scissors. The sentiment on the tab, is from Studio G. I have also used a few white snowflake embellishments mounted on foam pads.

Week 15* Doodles - Sarah Kay Weekly Challenges

This week we would love to see your Sarah Kay cards/projects decorated with hand drawn elements or *doodles* as we like to call them.

Ok, so I am not much of a doodler - I made several attepts but it just didnt look right, so in the end, I just did a doodled border around the edge of the stamped images and used a white gel pen to add some spots to the black scalloped circle. The stamps in the corners are from Studio G, the background is bazzill cardstock in red (not quite sure of the proper colour name). I thought I would go with a simple theme for this card, so only watercoloured the little girls coat.

This Weeks Challenge on A Spoon Full of Sugar is a fabulous sketch by Lim

Now a couple of weeks back, Sugar Nellie were celebrating their first birthday with a special forum and prizes etc. I was one of those lucky people to win a prize, which came in the post today - The snow family stamp and some sheets of Dovecraft Christmas papers in Blue which coincidentally fits in so well with this weeks challenge sketch.

I have used the snow family stamp from Sugar Nellie, to which I have added watercolours to the hats and scarfs, circle cutter compass to cut a blue bazzill circle which I scalloped with scissors, some blue bazzill cardstock for the background, Dovecraft papers, gems and snowflakes from my stash, and a white gel pen to add highlights. The Merry Christmas sentiment is from Studio G clear stamps.

When blog hopping I came across the challenge blog from Friday Sketchers. As If I dont have enough hours in the day already, I thought I would do this one too - I love the sketches and the design teams work is brilliant. I have used here my favourite stamp - Billy from Pink Cat Studio. The background paper is Doodlebug Whimsical Winter Stripes, the semi circles are from Hot of the Press (forgotten what its name is), the blue ribbon I have recycled - think it was on a piece of clothing at one time, the sentiment is from Craft work cards. I have coloured Billy with water colour pencils and used a wet teabag and paint brush to stain the outer edges of the image background.

When blog hopping, I came across this Challenge site - Cupcake Craft Challenges. The challenges are brilliant and the design teams work is amazing....so I'm throwing in the towel and joining this challenge blog too. This weeks challenge is a sketch which can be found on the cupcake craft challenges blog. I have used papers which came free with Papercraft Essentials magazine, a dry embossed snowflake piece which was gifted to me, some snowflake embellishments, an a thin scalloped border strip which I made using the Keepsake Romance board. The sentiment comes from Studio G, designer clear stamps. Tilda has been coloured with watercolour pencils and highlighted with a glitter gel pen.

Challenge 39, Arts Apart Metal - Tilda and Co Challenge Blog

Every now and then we see a little metal being used, but a lot of people don't use metal on there works of art, as they think its too "arty"
Nothing can never be too "arty" so get your metal ready and get creating
You can use anything on your work as long as it includes metal somewhere & at least one Magnolia Stamp.

I have used some sheet Aluminium which is gold coloured and the Keepsake Majestic Board to create the metal square and the inner shape. I then used a Dreamweaver embossed heart stencil to create the swirly embossing in the centre. The papers came free with Papercraft Essentials Magazine. Tilda has been coloured with water colour pencils, and I used a glitter pen to colour the "fluffy" parts of her outfit. A few snowflake embellishments mounted on foam pads, add extra decoration and also covered a few scratches on the aluminium.

Challenge 20 ~ Pink and Green colour scheme - A Spoon Full of Sugar

Criteria for this week - we would like to see you use the colour scheme of pink and green, any shades of these colours are fine.( you can also use face and hair colours).

I love this stamp from Sugar Nellie, although I dont play with it much. I was in a state of confusion at one time if it was a boy or a girl, but I've decided it's a girl and I'm going to keep it that way for now (do correct me if I'm wrong). I have coloured her using watercolour pencils - lime green trousers and a pink shirt. I have mounted the image onto a cream circle which I then punched holes in using a single hole punch. The ribbon which is from Poppicrafts have been threaded through the punched holes. The background papers have all come from my stash - they are in fact all pieces which I had left over - so I have pieced them together to form a background - now if I had a sewing machine (Hubby take note - this is a big hint) I would have done a nice zigzag stitch along the joins. I have one of those small machines but it only does a straight stitch. (New machine is featuring really high on my christmas wish list). Oops sorry was rambling on there a bit. The thin pink scallop bazzill border I made using the Keepsake Romance board. The pink bazzill in the corner I has been stamped with the Billy background plate from Pink Cat Studio. I hadnt planned to do this, but as I was inking the sentiment, I dropped the stamp, which landed on the card in the corner, so I need to cover the ink! (But I like how it looks). The birthday girl sentiment is a Debbie Moore stamp.

Week 14 from Sarah Kay challenges is another sketch. I must admit I do like the sketches, especially when I have so many papers lying around and then I am not sure what I should do with them. The background paper here is Neopolitan Stripe from Doodlebug. I had stitched this for another project but didnt like the way it turned out, but it seemed to fit nicely into this card. The pink bazill for the scallop edge has been scalloped using the Keepsake Romance board, and the trusty hole punch to create the holes in the border. The brown strip is Doodlebug Chocolate truffle. The flowers are left over wrapping paper and the pieces which had been left from punching holes in the scallop border. The Sarah Kay image has been watercoloured in Pink and Brown (it looks lilac in the picture - blame it on the Autumn sun). The sentiment is a stamp from Debbie Moore.

Now this has got to be a fabulous blog candy prize from Lim. A Martha Stewart Punch - this is definitely high on my wish list.

She will pick 1 winner on Saturday October 11th, 2008 at 8:00 PM (US Eastern Time). The prize will be:

1- The new scalloped border punch from Martha Stewart Collection

2-150 stamped images of different companies like Magnolia, HÄnglars, Whipper Snapper, Penny Black, Precious Moments, etc...

3- Some buttons, white lace and a few charms.

If you wish to participate, please leave her a comment and include a post in your own blog to let everybody know about this Candy.

Gosh, No post's since Thursday! Well I haven't exactly been doing nothing...... I discovered a bamboo tile mat which I have taken to pieces and have started to create some bamboo pendants (my next project) - they are great and I found myself looking through all my stuff for all those little bits of paper, rub on's etc that were stored to be used later.....well now they have a use. I have also been working on my cards for the Papercrafter of the year challenge in Papercraft Essentials magazine, but cant post the pictures until it's closed and the winner has been chosen. I also have the challenge blog cards to do....couldn't motivate myself today....too dark, wet and cold....tomorrow will be better!

This weeks challenge over on A Spoon Full of Sugar is a sketch by Camilla. The paper I have used for the back ground is Hot of the Press Paper Pizazz friends description. I have used the keepsake romance board to make the scallop borders from bazill cardstock. Ballet Maggie has been stamped onto white cardstock and coloured with water colour pencils. I used a circle cutter compass to draw the circle around her and the scalloped circle has been made with a scallop punch. The girls description is available from Designer Digitals. I have also added a couple of flowers made with daisy punches and some self adhesive jewels.

I dont have any pictures to post today - will get my challenge ones done for tomorrow. I have been having a look at Altered Bamboo tiles. I am so impressed with those I have seen in Google images, that I am really tempted to give it a go. Anyone had any success with these? I have an order for wedding invitations so the samples were a success. I have a craft fair this month to do as well. I am trying to think of something for the children as I found last time there was so many kids but there was nothing for them to buy.......but I cant seem to find anything which I can do to cash in on this. May be I might do something for Halloween as the craft fair is just a few days before. It is suppose to be a handmade crafts fair so I would still like to keep to this having whatever I sell largely handmade.......some cute little bags filled with spooky sweets might do the trick!

This weeks Sarah Kay Challenge is Week 13* True Blue. This week we would love to see your Sarah Kay cards and projects themed around the colour blue.

The papers I have used for this week's card is Doodlebug winter stripes, Hot of the Press - Paper Pizazz Friends Definitions, Blue Pearl cardstock from my stash, Craft work cards sentiment, Ribbon from Poppicrafts. The Sarah Kay image has been watercoloured using watercolour pencils.

This is one of the toppers, I made for Sugar Nellie's forum in the topper swap. (Didnt post this one as I didnt punch a clean circle). Maggie has a paper pieced dress from Pink Petticoat Papers - this one is Mocha with tiny flowers. The shoes, hair, and body have been done in water colour pencils. Oh and I just realised that in the ones I sent off to Sugar Nellie, I have placed a clear jewel in the middle of the bow. Hope those how get them will enjoy making a project with her.

This weeks challenge from A Spoon Full of Sugar is to use a charming character or charms.

I do love this Sugar Nellie stamp. I have coloured her with watercolours to match the paper and ribbon. I have used two colours of ribbons here available from Poppicrafts, basically because I didnt have enough of one colour but they both match what I was doing and I thought it looked pretty and effective. The charms have been made using a Studio G cupcake stamp and a Debbie Moore stamp on Shrinkables. The chain has been recycled from and old key chain. The sentiment is from Craftwork cards

I havent been making any cards this week but I have had two commissions which have kept me really busy. This is a picture of the 50 tags I had to do (image showing the front and back of the tag) - they are for Luxury Hampers which includes products from Laurence Llewelyn Bowen and Alessi. The wedding stationery I am still working on.......pictures will soon follow x

My Gosh where is the time going? I havent posted anything so far this week. I have been busy working on some samples for some wedding stationery I have been asked to do. Do you know that feeling when you have so many different ideas but not sure where they should all go - well that's how I am feeling right now. I have a colour scheme for the invites of dark brown and ivory with a heart/hearts - so I am working on so many ideas right now. They also have to include a menu for the afternoon guests too, so trying to get it all to fit and still look elegant has been a bit of a task, but I got it all sorted last night.

Sugar Nellie has a forum (an online birthday party) open this week - and I have won a prize in their door prize. Cant wait to see what it is..........

I am off to work on my challenges for this week......

This image stamp is from Lola Rose Occasions available as a download from Pink Petticoat. I have coloured her with water colour pencils and glamorized her with some glamour dust. The flower is from Poppicrafts, the buttons from my stash, Studio G Let's Party clear stamp and the papers came free with Simply cards and Papercraft Magazine. The 18th sentiment has been done on the computer and edges inked with black ink. The layout design is from Tiets.

This weeks Challenge over on A Spoon Full of Sugar blog is Christmas.

Well I dont have any stamps from the Sugar Nellie range with Christmas or even a winter theme, so you just know what that means...................(pound signs flashing before my eyes)......
Anyway the background paper came with Simply cards and papercraft magazine, which I must admit I really like - pink is quite unusual for a christmas theme and it has really grown on me. The sentiment also came free with the magazine. The snowflake embossed background was gifted to me, and I have enhanced it with some snowflake embellishments. Tilda has been coloured in water colours, and then she has been glamorized with white glitter. The ribbon again is from Poppicrafts.

This week's challenge from Sarah Kay Challenges is to use a Sarah Kay Stamp,and 3 Patterned/Designer Papers - No more or no Less.

These lovely papers came with Simply Cards and Papercraft Magazine. I have used some ribbon from Poppicrafts and a sentiment from Craftwork Cards. I have used the Keepsake Romance Board to scallop the edges of one of the papers and added some holes with a single hole punch.

This weeks challenge over on Tilda & Co Challenge Blog is Chocolate, Pink and White - hmmm Yummy!

The papers I have used for this weeks challenge are Doodlebug Chocolate Truffle and Neopolitian Stripe - both descriptions sounds so yummy, dont they?
Tilda and her chocolate cake have been coloured with water colour pencils. The scalloped border has been made using Keepsakes Romance board and I used a single hole punch to punch the holes in the border strip. The chocolate punch out circles have been used in the corners of the image topper. I used the trio of daisy punches to punch daisy flowers from the doodlebug papers and some scrap white paper. The button and ribbon have come from my stash. The sentiment on a stem is from craftwork cards.

Something a little different for this afternoon. I have been making so many cakes over the past weeks - the summer (UK) is defintely a time for birthdays and christenings. I had my birthday in August which we celebrated with a vanilla sponge with strawberries and cream (hubby and kids were going to make it but he got called out to work, so had to do it myself). The cake below I made yesterday for my friend's daughters as they were having a birthday party today. The cake is chocolate one (recipe on my blog too), which I made in a regular round shape pan for the bottom and a pudding bowl for her gown. The white icing is Regalice Fondant icing (Ready rolled). The ruffle on the skirt has been made by moulding into shape and then placing small balls of foil under it, which I removed after the icing had fully dried. The doll is one of Woolworths own brand ones (£1) which has its legs removed and then the torso sunk into the cake. Her dress has been iced with a royal icing.

Happy Birthday to all you Princesses out there and to all you Sugar Nellie fans too!

This weeks challenge on Tilda and Co Challenge Blog is envelope art.

Well I thought I would be smart and print the background and recipe straight onto the envelope, however the printer was having none of it. After countless jams and refusing to print, I gave up and thought I had better do it the "hard" way. The background paper has come from Funky Fairy Inspirations blog (free download). I basically copied and pasted it in word and then type the recipe onto the background before printint it. Tilda and her cupcakes have been glittered and coloured with water colour pencils. The One of a Kind stamp comes from Cat's Life Press.

I was making this card for the Sarah Kay challenge, but realised that I didnt quite follow the sketch and left of a layer in the background, so I need to go and make another one before I leave a comment over at the Sarah Kay Challenge Blog.

I added a couple of peel off vines to the card (seem to have masses of them from my early cardmaking days), but I didnt like the look and I couldnt peel them of without them ruining the paper so they had to stay. All these papers have come from my stash. Isn't it amazing what we hoard or put to one side for later and then it goes to the bottom of the pile - never to be seen again. I also love this lime green bazzill cardstock. The sentiment is one from Craftwork cards

This weeks challenge from A Spoon Full of Sugar is a sketch.

I cant believe it - I've actually finished mine on a Tuesday - the same day the challenge comes out! In the past weeks I have been running so late with the challenges, but school is back - so now I have time to craft! Also isnt it crazy - the shops are filling with things for Christmas - my little one is so confused. He is starting full time school in January, so we have told him it will be after Christmas.......well as you know it.....he wants to know if Christmas is now after tomorrow as he has seen the Christmas things in the shops. I mean try explaining to a four year old that Christmas is not for another 109 days (or 109 sleeps)! Oh Well enough Rambling....

For this weeks challenge I have used background paper which comes from my stash, Doodlebug Sweater Stripe paper, blue metallic card, green bazzill, Hamish with his tractor Sugar Nellie Stamp, and Studio G clear stamp For my Friend. I have water coloured the image and used a white gel pen to give his shirt a check effect (not a good photo as too much rain so it was dull and dark) The card does look a bit plain I need to get some boy embellishments.........

This week's challenge from Cute Card Thursday is Pretty In Pink - We would like to see lots of pink on your cards.

I have used a white gel pen to highlight some of the areas on Tilda after colouring with water colouring pencils - I thought it looked quite effective, particularly on the petticoats or underskirt. The large flower and ribbons are from Poppicrafts. I disected the flower as it was too big, so only used three of the petals. The sentiment is from Studio G (found a packet of clear stamps for 99p on the weekend), which I have edged with Glamour dust. The background paper and the little butterfly have come from my stash, the dry embossing on the pearl card was done using the Keepsake Majestic score board.

This weeks Challenge from A Spoon Full of Sugar - to make anything but a card.

I have made this small gift box which measures 4 x4 inches (excluding the handles). The sides are scored at 1 1/2 inches. The background papers have come from my stash (possibly from Papercraft Essentials Magazine). I have used a circle cutter to cut out the green bazzill circles and used a scalloped scissors to edge them. Sugar Nellie Maggie has had her dresses paper pieced and the rest of her coloured with water colours. The ribbon is from Poppicrafts which I have attached to the box at the sides so I could tie a bow on the front and back of the box. I used a compass circle cutter to cut the handle shapes and then punched out the handles with a medium circle punch.