Birthday Bear

I made this card last year and I used one of the delightful images from Amanda Jane Designs, I love colouring these digi stamps, the rest of the design was fairly simple as I wanted the image to be the star of the show. I do think I will recreating this layout again as I really enjoyed making this one.

Something Sweet

Sometimes you just want to colour and this is one of those occasions, I had seen a card on the design team blog and thought it was perfect so if it ain’t broke don’t fix it lol.

Platypus Dreams

I am not sure what I was thinking when I started this card and it went a completely different way than I was expecting but sometimes that is just how it is meant to be.

Ingredients

Image: Platypus from Clearly Besotted

Sentiment: Crafters Companion

Dies: blueprints 20 from MFT and circle circle die from Avery Elle

Santa Jaws

Here comes santa jaws, here comes santa jaws..... I now have that stuck in my head and can hear myself humming the song as I am typing this lol. 

I had an idea for the background and one I used earlier in the year, however I could not find the alcohol ink paper in my disaster of a craftroom so I used good old fashioned glossy photo paper and I love how it turned out. Sometimes a disaster turns into a revelation lol.

I am writing this post at the end of November and I am hoping by the time it publishes that the virus numbers have started to fall and the tiers have been lowered and we can spread some christmas cheer.

Edited : as this published I was surprised by the optimism of my post and realised hindsight is a wonderful thing, sending big hugs to everyone affected by the situation here in the UK and the rest of the world too 

Ingredients

Image: santa jaws from Avery Elle

Dies: mft blueprints

Inks: peacock feathers, blueprint sketch, salty ocean, tumbled glass

Later Skater

I was challenged by a few of my friends to make a card in an hour and this was the result, to be honest even with finding all the elements it didn't take anywhere near as long as I thought it would.

I kind of followed the last card I made with this set way back in 2016 but I included a different stencil and I was inspired by the orange of the baby cards I recently made and went with a combo that is very unusual for me but I must say I like it a lot.

Ingredients
Image: "stoked" Avery Elle
Sentiment: "cheeky sentiments"  Whimsy Stamps, speech bubbles from stoked from Avery Elle
Dies: basic edges set 1, a2 stitched rectangle and a2 rectangle staxs all MFT
Stencil: Concentric circles from mft with summer sunrise, orange zest and canyon clay inks from Papertrey Ink
Card: basic gray from Stampin Up

Copics
Skin - E13, 11, 50
Hair - E59, 37, 35
Trousers - N5, 3
Shirt - YR04, Y38, 13, N2, blender
Board - N6, 5, YR09, 07, 04, Y38

Rockabilly Girls

This post was supposed to be scheduled for October but for some strange reason it didn't post and as the cards are cute I thought it should get seen.

There are four images in this set of Digistamps from CC Designs and I printed and coloured all four but only three have made it onto cards so far. The fourth was already to go but I dropped my inked on the background so that one will have to wait.

I have used the same layout on each one, very basic but I think it works.

Ingredients
Image: "rockabilly girls" Roberto's Rascals at CC Designs
Sentiment: "party animal" Avery Elle
Dies: "say it" Clearly Besotted and "a2 stitched rectangle" from MFT
Stencil: "brick wall" from MFT
Ink: "hickory smoke" and 'black soot" Distress Oxides
Card: "dark charcoal" from recollections at Michaels

Copics
Skin - E04, 11, 00, 000, 93
Shoes - N9, 7, 5
Jeans - B99, 97, 95
Red - R89, 39, 37, 35
Pink - RV17, 14, 13, 11
Brunette - E79, 77, 74, 49
Blonde - E35, 34, 33, 31, 30

MMMM Coffee

I need to apologise for the fact that I can't remember which magazine this free gift came with, I do remember it had stamps, dies and a stencil though. I have also had the image coloured for about three months but in order to kick start my mojo I am trying to use previously coloured images and make them into cards.

Of course this process may take some time and I am peppering that with new colouring and cards I need lol.

Ingredients
Image : "freebie"
Sentiment: "birthday balloon" Avery Elle
Card:"cocoa bean" from Papertrey Ink
Dies: Blueprints 23 and 1, slanted sentiment strip all MFT
Stencil: "freebie" and cocoa bean ink from Papertrey Ink

Greeting Card Kids

I so wish that Stampin Up still did digital stamps, there are a few of their sets that I would like but in digital form rather than rubber. The ability to resize would help a lot for the intricate details. The digital stamps weren't available in the UK, I'm not 100% sure of that though, all i know is I purchased mine from the US site. Maybe one day they will be available again, we can but hope.

I was obsessed with this die last year and I think the obsession might be returning lol. I coloured the image at playday and had no idea what papers I would use so this seemed an easy and quick option.

Ingredients
Image: "Greeting card kids - valentines" Stampin Up (digital)
Sentiment: "handwritten notes" Avery Elle
Dies: "diagonal sentiment cover-up" MFT stamps

Copics
Stripes - B63, 66, 69, 79
Hair - E34, 31, 30
Skin - E11, 00, 000
Pink - RV09, 06, 04
Blue Violet - B79, 69, 66

Birthday Bobbi

I stopped taking part in the September 30 day colouring challenge around day 12, life got busy and my mojo went missing so I decided to stop pressurising myself and just colour as and when I wanted to. I missed taking part though and have decided to be more organised next time. I know famous last words lol.

I was crafting with friends and one had used a mojo monday sketch and I thought why not try to recreate it, I used sketches a lot when my mojo was missing but since I have moved more to clean and simple cards its not something I think of using. It was fun to look through the sketches and choose one to kind of replicate, I have never been able to copy 100% but its close enough.

I was saddened to hear that Mojo Monday has stopped but with the move to CAS its not surprising. The creation of a new sketch each week can't have been easy and they should be applauded and thanked for that.

Ok enough rambling onto the card, its simple and follows (sort of) the sketch below. As i was printing hubbies image I added a few others to the sheet so as to not waste the card and this is one of those images.

Ingredients
Image: "birthday Bobbi" Digistamp Boutique
Paper: "party patterns" from MFT
Dies: blueprints 15 from MFT and XXL inside out circles from Crealies
Sentiment: "party animal" Avery Elle stamped with "winter wisteria" from Papertrey Ink

Copics
Bear - E44, 43, 42
Nose - E47
Ground - BV02, 01, 00
Balloons - Y17, 15, 13, R85, 83, 81, BV02, 01, 00
Present - Y17, 15, 13, R85, 83, 81

That Bites

These images are too funny, when i first saw this set I did my usual "who would I use it for, is it worth it" assessment and before I could decide yes, someone else bought it. And so the hunt began lol. I find I'm always the same once I've decided I want something I have to hunt for it, when its in my hand or in front of my face I'm never sure lol. 

I did discover that I had no wave stencils, I was so shocked as I am sure you are too. Of course I had to rectify that and immediately went looking. I found this stencil on Buddly Crafts, not somewhere I would have looked ordinarily but they have a large selection and reasonably priced too. Of course i couldn't just buy the one, don't be silly lol.

I am entering this card in Di's Snippet Playground as the black card was the stencil packaging and the sentiment was cut form the left over snippet too.

Ingredients
Image : "that bites" Avery Elle
Background : "wavy stripes" Double Doobadoo, Blueprint sketch, salty ocean and mermaid lagoon distress inks
Card: Tim Holtz watercolour and Packaging from stencil
Dies: Blueprints 2, 26 and 13.
Sentiment: Creative Stamping 31

Copics
Orange Fish - YR09, 07, 04, W2
Teal Fish - BG18, 15, 13, 11
Yellow/Blue Fish - Y17, 15, 13, 11, B26, 24, 23

Challenge - Snippet Playground

Stoked

I wanted this set as soon as I saw it, I love making male cards and I thought this set would be perfect but I already had a few unused sets and I was trying to be good so I didn't buy it. Then Michelle and Debbie made amazing cards with the drummer and it was getting harder to resist. I decided if I saw it whilst I was in Florida it was destined to come home with me, well I didn't see it and I was bummed so I popped it in my Seven Hills basket and decided to wait until I got home to order. Then the lovely Michelle had a sale on her blog (if you've never bought from her I highly suggest it.  I have so many sets that are just perfect) and she had the stamps and dies, I don't think I've sent an email so quick, in fact I have no idea what else she had for sale lol.

I had to make a card as soon as I got home, normally I have horrendous jet lag and although I have a bit it nowhere near as bad as normal and my mojo seems to have returned too.

Ingredients
Image and Sentiments: "stoked" from Avery Elle
Card: "pure poppy" and "enchanted evening" both Papertrey ink
Stencil: "glass" Stamposaurus with enchanted evening ink
Dies: Blueprints 15 from Mft and Simple stitched borders from Lawn Fawn
Sentiments: stamped with "crisp cherry" mft and "enchanted evening"  Papertrey ink

Copics
Skin - E13, 11, 00
Hair - E49, 47, 44
Shirt - W2, 1, 0, blender
Jeans - B97, 95, 93
Board - R29, 27, 24

Viking For You

I had been waiting for this stamp to come back into stock and I couldn't wait to stamp and colour it straight away, problem then was how to add it to a card, it was screaming for a bit of a scene so I started there. Of course I didn't have any mountain dies so I had to buy those and once they arrived I discovered I didn't have any grass dies either, but everywhere I looked they were out of stock so I improvised with the icicle border and it seems to work ok. 

I used my favourite green distress ink combo for the mountains but the one in the background needed to be a bit darker and I was unsure which one to use so I tried Pine feathers and it worked perfectly. I did think of cutting the mountains with coloured card but I think the distress inked background makes it seem more natural.

Ingredients
Image: "Viking" Avery Elle
Dies: "stitched mountain range" and "icicle border" all MFT stamps
Card: Michaels 110lb white
Sentiment: "label maker" MFT stamps, stamped with "slate" Simon Says Stamp Ink
Distress inks: "mowed lawn, pine feathers, twisted citroen, tumbled glass"

Copics
Skin - E11, 00, 000
Hair and Beard -
Hat - N4, 3, 2
Trousers - YG97, 95
Top and Boots - E79, 77, 74

Hood

This is the last of the age two cards for this year, so its only fitting that I used the last of the fairytale images for this one. I was a bit nervous to colour the red but it was a lot easier than I imagined, Ive been trying different red combos and I'm liking the results. 

I suppose I had better start looking at next years 3rd birthday cards, but I think I just want to chill a bit first lol.

Ingredients

Image: "hood" The greeting farn

Paper: "from the heart" Nit wit

Card: "real red" stamping up

Dies: blueprnts 12 and 14 and number die all MFT

Sentiment: "party animal' Avery Elle

copics

Skin - E000, 00, 21, 11, R02

Hair - E40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 47

Dress - E40, 41, YG93, 91

Cloak - R89, 39, 37, 35

Basket - E31, 34

Socks - N2, 1, 0

Shoes - T7, 5

Boy - noise with dirt on it

I have been wanting to use this sentiment since I bought this stamp set last year, I noticed the fabulous edge dies from MFT in their April release and really liked what the design team had done with them, I was about to buy them (still might) when I remembered I bought the Avery Elle "Custom Panels" and have never used them. I blame Jennifer McGuire she is a first class enabler and I had to have this die set.

Ingredients
Image and Sentiment: "all boy" Simon Says Stamp
Card: real red from stamping up and Nightshift blue from MFT
Paper: Fancy pants (May 2014 card kit SSS)
Dies: Blueprints 1 and 2 from MFT and custom panels from Avery Elle

Greeting Farm Tress

Its so long since I coloured I had kind of forgotten how to do it, my copics have been unused for a few months and I was a bit scared to pick them up again but I needn't have worried cos it was a joy to colour again even if it isn't perfect. I purchased two of the "super secret" stamp club from the greeting farm, I love that they are princesses and I have my eye on the two newly released ones.

Ingredients
Image: "tress" The greeting farm
Sentiment : "party animal" avery elle.
Dies: blueprints 3, 12 and 14
Card: Sno cone and pink lemonade both mft and Michaels 110lb white
Background : linen stamp mft and matching mft ink.

Copics:
Skin - E13, 11, 00, 000, R20
Eyes - YG95, 93
Hair - E55, 53, 51, 50
Flowers - YG95, Y32, 35, R85
Dress - R81, 83, 85, BG13, 11, 10