Welcome back with a cup of coffee!

OK so don't die of shock, but I'm back posting after a brief (2-and-a-half-year) hiatus.

I have been doing a little crafting on the side, mostly as an excuse to go away for weekends with the girls and chat and catch up, and throw a little paint and wine around on the side lol.

A bit of a shock to realise how many of the stamping companies and challenges I used to frequent are no longer with us!

Here's my offering for this week's combined Masculine and Coffee Christmas Challenges with the fabulous Stephanie & Lauren at Jingle Belles and the Caffeinated Christmas Card Challenge (which I missed thedeadline for!) and playing along with Less is More CAS Challenge.

This little beauty of a stamp set from Stamping Bella, coloured using Born markers (from Kaisercraft I think!) with patterned papers from Kaisercraft and die cuts from Avery Elle.

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Very Nice MFT Sketch...

Joining in the fun at My Favorite Things sketch this week and I thought I'd try my hand at colouring with Copics. Featuring MFTs BB Jingle All the Way stamps and sentiment, paired with diecut stars from Lil Inkers. Also playing along with the Muse Christmas Challenge incorporating Santa and his reindeer, and The Merry Christmas Challenge.

MFT Sketch Challenge

Muse Christmas Challenge and

The Merry Christmas Challenge

 

Paper Smooches Guest Designer - Bear Hugs!

I just LOVE this super cute Paper Smooches bear, coloured with Copics, he looks like he's just woken up from hibernation! With this month's new release at Paper Smooches, now he has his very own die cut, so he can stand out even more! Created using Paper Smooches Happy Camper stamps and die cuts, together with this fabulous new Paper Smooches Hugs & Kisses sentiment die cut. The super gorgeous Tag Stitched and Hearts Dies die cuts are Paper Smooches too! 

Remember you still have time to hop on over to the Paper Smooches blog and enter to be a Paper Smooches Guest Designer too!

Inspired by this fabulous CAS(E) this Sketch!

 

Keep It Simple with Ombre...

I can't wait to see what you create for this fortnights Keep It Simple Ombre Challenge. I broke out my Gelatos again to create this watercoloured ombre background. The cute little owl and friend from Hero Arts Operation Write Home Lil Hoot, was stamped in Versamark Watermark and Zing Copper embossing powder and coloured with Copics (N0, N3, E00, E03, E37, YG03, YG17, B95, and BG11). The Hero Arts Find Joy sentiment, was also stamped in Versamark Watermark and Zing Copper embossing powder.

You can catch some more FABULOUS DT Ombre inspiration over at Keep It Simple.

Playing along with A Blog Named Hero Ombre Challenge and Crazy for CAS Watercolour too!

TAWS Sneak Peek Day 2... Your Chance to Win Stamps!!!

I can't believe it's almost September already, and that means Sneak Peek time for TAWS!  Don't forget to drop by the The Alley Way Stamps blog for your chance to win one of the September sets!

Frankly I just {heart} this little monster!  I love that stamped stitching too!!  Just to show the versatility of these sets I have created a Valentine's Day card using two The Alley Way Stamps new September release sets - Ghoul-Friend and Touchdown. inspired by this gorgeous Retro Sketch by Danielle.  The hearts were created using Heidi Swapp chipboard hearts as a template.  Franky is coloured using Copics YG03 Yellow Green, YG17 Grass Green, YG67 Moss, Neutral Greys N0. N3 and N5 and R59 Cardinal.

We are delaying this transmission due to technical difficulties...

I managed to create and photograph my card for this weeks Play Date Cafe Challenge in time, but as hubby is upgrading our computer system at the moment and we keep experiencing "technical difficulties" I had to post it here a bit later than expected LOL! Lucky for me the Allsorts Challenge this week is In Bloom, so I joined in there too :)

I went with something a bit different this week and stamped (I think this was a Carolee's Creations stamp) and coloured with Copics, the sentiment is from Technique Tuesday, paper from Echo Park and a couple of little Kaisercraft gemstones for finishing touches.

A BIG hello to all my newest (and older lol!) followers.  You make me smile!

Less Is More... It's Easy Being Green

I saw so many gorgeous creations over at the Less is More Three Shades of Green Challenge this week that I had to join in!  Being an all green theme, I couldn't help but use this gorgeous froggy stamp from Skipping Stones Design (minus his usual crown).  I created my "new pad" lily pad with a few helpful hints from the "How to draw a cartoon frog" lessons I found on the How to Draw and Paint Smart site.  The frog and lily pad are coloured using Copics Yellow Green (YG03), Grass Green (YG17) and Moss (YG67).  All pop-dotted for depth.  The sentiment is created using Paper Smooches Alphadots and Party Posse.

Hope you have a fantastic weekend!

CAS-ual Paper Players Skipping Stones...

This card was inspired by CAS-ual Fridays Name That Tune, The Paper Players Tickle Your Funnybone, and this gorgeous sketch from Skipping Stones Design.  I loved that the sketch offered the opportunity to create two arrows heading in opposite directions - perfect for the theme of this hilarious stamp set from Skipping Stones Design.  I chose purple for its royal connections and the frog prince is coloured using Copics Yellow Green (YG03) and Grass Green (YG17), and his crown is coloured using a Uni-ball Signo Gold pen. And of course the Name That Tune is none other than "Prince Charming", an 80s song by Adam and the Ants.

Get Krafty and Smooch...

Inside front of card

Paper Smooches March Inspiration

Inspired by this gorgeous floral wreath hanging from this fortnight at Paper Smooches Sparks Challenge, I created this cloud wreath card, featuring Paper Smooches March free digi download squirrel and the clouds, kite and sentiment stamps from Paper Smooches Sunny Side Up set.  There is a lot of pop-dotting in the cloud wreath!  I cut out the centre of the wreath from the card so that when you open the card, the back of the kite reads "Thanks for the Lift". I was tempted to change the Hi to High, but decided to leave it ;)  The images, apart from the digi-download were stamped in black Momento ink, and coloured to highlight the pinks and greens from the inspiration photo using Copics Rose Mist (R83), Yellow Green (YG03), Sepia (E37), Sand (E33), and Barley Beige (E11).  With all this kraft this card is perfect for this weeks "Get Krafty" Challenge over at The Pink Elephant too.

Hope your spirits soar today :) 

5 o'clock? Must be Gnome Time...

I couldn't help it, this gorgeous guy arrived in the post yesterday afternoon (I was lucky enough to win Jerome and Whimsy from Paper Smooches latest release give-away) and he was just itching to be played with!!!  I have once again used the gorgeous colour, textures and time theme from this fortnights Paper Smooches Sparks Challenge.  The timely sentiment is stamped using Paper Smooches :)  Jerome is paper pieced using papers from My Minds Eye On The Bright Side - Two, and copics E11 (Barely Beige), E33 (Sand), N3 (Neutral Gray #3), BG15 (Aqua) and R83 (Rose Mist).

Hope it's almost gnome time for you :)

There She Goes, Out of This World...

I don't know about you, but I never seem to have enough male-themed cards in my collection.  My very first There She Goes Stamps arrived this week, so it was a perfect time to break them out and make boy card perfect for the There She Goes Sketch Challenge.

My very first copic coloured card too - chose an easy image to start me on my copic way, this gorgeous astronaut and moonscape, with matching sentiment from There She Goes Out of this World.  I die-cut a series of stars using My Favourite Thing Stacking Stars, and punched the star border with a Martha Stewart border punch.  I pierced a hole in the astronauts space suit and threaded some Sew Easy Fancy Floss through the space suit and tethered it to a star.  Papers are a combination of MME Lime Twist, Echo Park Dots & Stripes and SEI Happy Day.  The astronaut was pop dotted so he looks like he is floating away.

Judging from the look on DS face when he saw this, I can tell this is going to become a well-used stamp set :)

PS. My hubby started reading this post over my shoulder and exclaimed in disappointment..."Aren't I enough of a male-themed card for you!" LOL