I do have an excuse...!

I am so sorry (again) that it has been far too long since I updated my blog. I have really missed my craft things in the last few weeks and I have several new Magnolia stamps to play with too! I shall share my excuse with you in a minute, but first I have one more card to share from April.

I made this card for my Mum and Dads Anniversary. It was a bit rushed so I kept it quite simple. The stamped image is a Penny Black rubber stamp called Good Cheer that I bought from The Glitter Pot. I coloured the image with Lyra Pencils and blended the pencil with Zest-it. The lilac and blue cardstock mats are Core'dinations card, the hearts edge was made by a Martha Stewart border punch called Valentine Lace, and the purple dots in the corners are Craftwork Cards Card Candy. The patterned paper is unknown I'm afraid as it came with a scrapbook kit. Finally, the sentiment stamp is also a Penny Black one.

Now, here is my reason for being so busy lately...

Meet Harry, our 11 week old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Puppy! He is wonderful but it's like having a toddler, we have to watch what he's up to all of the time! This photo is him eating grass in the garden, usually he tries to eat stones in the garden or dirt. I am from a family of cat lovers so owning a dog is a new experience for me. We looked into different breeds of dogs that could be a companion for our children and were amazed once we found out about Cavaliers, they are so friendly and were bred to be companion dogs so they are perfect!

Valentines!

I made this card yesterday but added a touch more colour to the image today as it looked a bit lost on such a bright card! It is a Valentines card, but the "Happy Valentines Day" sentiment is on the inside as I had to use the sentiment on the front that worked well with the image.

The Stamps are all Penny Black. The main image is from a new Penny Black clear set called "Piece of My Heart" from The Glitter Pot and is coloured in with Lyra Polycolour Pencils. I used a 6x6" card and used a mat of black smooth cardstock with some Karen Foster "My Heart" 12x12" paper from Whoops a Daisy. I then used some more Bazzill 12x12" smooth card in red and black which was just 35p, again from my local craft shop called Whoops a daisy.

The mat for the image was cut with a circle Nellies Multi-Frame Die and the heart borders were cut with a Martha Stewart Valentine Lace Border Punch. I added Prima e.line pearls in red and black and a heart pin from my blog friend Jane (thank you Jane!) that is threaded through hearts which are cut with a Martha Stewart Scalloped Heart Punch.

This card hopefully qualifies for two blog challenges this week (I am on a roll for me!!)... First of all, the challenge this week on Penny Black Saturday Challenge is to use "Pins and Pearls". Secondly, on the Lily of the Valley Challenge Blog, the theme is Valentines, unfortunately I didn't own a LOTV stamp that was suitable for my husbands Valentines card, but luckily it's not essential.

Birthday card for a 3 year old...

Tomorrow is my nieces 3rd birthday so yesterday I made her card. I decided to use the Penny Black fairy to make it girly. Of course, it had to be pink and glittery too and I had fun putting on the glitter. I then decided to use a Martha Stewart punch (I am so impressed with how well they work on card!) called Valentine Lace and I put Cassies name on the card too, rather than a sentiment. The alphabet was a Quickutz 4x8" die called Storybook and I like it, although I have found the "C" looks a bit like a "G" so it looks like the card says "Gassie"!!!

I coloured the image with some Lyra Rembrandt Polycolour Pencils. I saw them being demonstrated at Stamperama in Stevenage so I bought a few loose ones to try. They are lovely to work with as they are alot finer than Coloursoft pencils so my husband bought the set for my birthday.

I have just realised that I forgot to put any extras on the card (like adhesive stones). I think I was in such a hurry to finish last night as it was really hot in my small room. I will go and add those finishing touches now!!

Penny Black Frolic

I don't know what to think about this card. I enjoyed colouring the picture but I'm not sure about the background paper. I was trying to come up with something different, which it is, but I'm not 100% happy with it. The Rubber Stamped image is Penny Black "Frolic" and it was coloured in with Coloursoft pencils. The paper was from a Papermania 6x6" pack and the flowers are Prima.

Wish Big!

This card I made when trying to think of ideas for a male birthday card. I started with the image as I thought it is really suitable for men and cute but not too cute. I think this image came from my box of "Images ready" so this is coloured with chalk pencils (my old way of colouring) with Sakura glaze pens for the candles. The stamps used are all Penny Black.

More cards coming...

My blog is still looking pretty empty so I have now added my name to several cards and I'm about to add them to my blog! I have hundreds of stamped images already stamped and waiting to be used. I also have hundreds that have been coloured in and are ready to use. A few weeks ago my Grandad asked me to make some cards for him so I grabbed my box of images and started a marathon of card making. It was quite a challenge actually as I tried to make some not-so-cute cards and some male ones too. This card is made with the following: Penny Black rubber stamp "Spotty", Stampendous window box stamp, WHSmith 5"x5" white card blank, Papermania cardstock and red organza ribbon.

Another card!

As I have now worked out how to post with a photo, I now have a lot of catching up to do so here is another card. The picture isn't perfect as I scanned the card and because of the bow, it didn't sit flat on the scanner. This is all a learning curve though and I have now learnt it is best to take a photo! The stamp is by Penny Black and is called "Wind Caressed". I bought it from The Glitter Pot after seeing their gorgeous example in the shop... I wouldn't have bought it otherwise! I coloured the image with coloursoft pencils and used a pale pink pearlised card for the background which I stamped with the Penny Black "Portraits" stamp in a pink ink and embossed with clear powder. I cut the scallop edge on the pink card with the Woodware trimmer and scallop blade. The flowers are Prima.

Penny Black Acrobat

Here is my first uploaded card to my blog. This is with a Penny Black rubber stamp called "Acrobat". I had the idea for the layout when I was making it but I'm not totally happy with it, I can't see how I can change it now though! The image was coloured in with coloursoft pencils and the flowers are Prima flowers.