Here Comes Christmas with Polkadoodles

Well it is anything but cold and  frosty where I live today.....we woke up to a complete downpour and we have had nothing but pouring rain and darkness al day so far.....not at all my vision of Christmas!

This card is much more like Christmas time to me, and it's made using a gorgeous digi image and background papers from my Polkadoodles Here Comes Christmas CD.

As you can see, I have used a couple of my favourite techniques here.....colouring with alcohol markers and a little it of decoupage for some lift.

The digi is quite detailed so it took a while to colour, but well worth it I think, and I have gone with a slightly different colour scheme than usual, to complement the lovely Christmas tree backing paper and the tartan one which I have used as a faux ribbon.

I hope you like my little offering for today, and wish you all a relaxing weekend.

Before I go.....some lovely challenges to enter:

http://mymumscraftshop.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/challenge-12-winter-christmas.html
http://lovetocreatechallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/challenge-96-anything-goes.html
http://papertakeweekly.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/last-christmas-card-of-year.html
http://polkadoodle.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/wk-51anything-goeschristmas-birthday.html
http://polkadoodle.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/digi-choosday-wk-9-anything-goes.html
http://nutcrafters.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/challenge-58final-challenge-of-2013.html
http://christmasatsweetstampinchallengeblog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/let-it-snow.html
http://stamp-n-doodle.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/stamp-n-doodle-challenge-18th-december.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+Stamp-n-doodle+(Stamp-n-doodle)
http://pennyschallenges.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/welcome-to-pennys-challenge-158-and-dt.html
http://sisteractcardchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/challenge-38.html
http://stampinfortheweekend.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/last-challenge-of-year-anything-goes.html
http://craftycalendarchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/crafty-calendar-challenge-cold-and.html

Sharon x

Drink and be Merry with Bearly Mine

It's my final challenge of this Year at Bearly Mine so, although I am not a drinker myself, I thought it would be a good time to raise a toast!

For this card I have delved back in to the Steampunk sets from Bearly Mine and paired them with a GIANT wine bottle stamp from Stamp Addicts. This card is actually  8 x8, so that gives you some idea of the size of the wine bottle.

I wanted a very vintage effect for this card, so I think the the steampunk papers work really well for this and go very nicely with the muted tones that you get from the distress ink pads which I used to  stamp the bottle.

So, the next time you see me on a Bearly Mine challenge, I fully expect to be back in to the Spring Pastels again!

In te meantime, a great Christmas and New Year to you all and I look forward to seeing your crafty creations over on the Bearly Mine challenge site.

Sharon x

The final challenge at Crafty Little Fairies this year - Anything Goes

I can hardly believe it's time for the final challenge of 2013 at Crafty Little Fairies and this time, it is everyone's favourite - Anything Goes.

We started the year as Lili's Little Fairies, so in homage to that, I have decided to go back to a beautiful LOTV image for this challenge.

I'm also looking ahead to the New Year......as you can see, this is a Father's Day Card......well the challenge does say 'Anything!'

I have used an unusual colour combination for me....lovely earthy greens and browns, as I thought this would be a bit more manly, but I have to say I am really liking how this colour combination turned out and I happened to have just the right colours in my Promarker challenge to achieve it too.

So I hope you like my card for today and hope to see you over at Crafty Little Fairies for our final crafty fling on 2013!

Have a wonderful Christmas everyone!

Sharon x

Let it snow.....

 I bet you are all humming that famous Christmas song right now!

Let it snow is also the subject of our latest challenge over at Crafty Little Fairies and I thought I would rake the opportunity to crack out some of my lovely Christmassy Mulberry Wood stamps for the occasion.

So how do you like this one with all those cute little mice sitting in a Christmas hat....I think it is just so sweet and really enjoyable to colour.

I decided to follow a sketch (a little loosely I must admit!) from Sketch Saturday and the papers are all printed from the Barkley Christmas CD.....a little mix and match can be a very good thing I reckon.

And here's a close up of those cute little mousey faces.....adorable wouldn't  you agree?

Finally, here are the lovely challenges that I would like to enter:

http://craftycalendarchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/crafty-calendar-challenge-cold-and.html
http://mymumscraftshop.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/challenge-12-winter-christmas.html
http://createdwithlovechallenges.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/cwlc-70-anything-goes.html
http://challenges4everybody.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/challenge-32-anything-goes.html
http://toptiptuesday.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/challenge-116-snowflakes.html
http://papertakeweekly.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/christmas-creatures.html
http://stamp-n-doodle.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/stamp-n-doodle-challenge-11th-december.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+Stamp-n-doodle+(Stamp-n-doodle)
http://nutcrafters.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/challenge-58final-challenge-of-2013.html
http://fabnfunkychallenges.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/fabnfunky-challenge-197-snowflakes.html
http://christmasatsweetstampinchallengeblog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/let-it-snow.html
http://inkychicks.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/challenge-19-christmas.html
http://cutecardthursday.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/challenge-299-christmas-catch-up.html
http://ppp-makeitmonday.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/mim-170-with-pink-paper-paradise.html

Well that's all from me for today....don't forget to come and join us at CLF....not much more time to get those snowy creations in!

Bye for now.

Sharon x

A lIttle Bit of Christmas Victoriana

Those of you who are regular visitors to my blog will no doubt have noticed that I am very much drawn to the Cutie side of life and this is very much reflected in my card making.

However 'cute' isn't everyone's cup of tea and sometimes it does us good to do something a little different, so I couldn't help but be drawn to the Thomas Kinkade decoupage book and CD.

I think I have made 7 cards so far from this CD so it has really paid for itself and I love that traditional look that you can achieve with this style.

The decoupage is very big and very detailed so, as you can see on these A5 cards, you really don't need to add too much else...in my case a bit of ribbon and some glitter!

You can't  really se the 3d effect too well on this card, but the time spent cutting was really worth all the effort when you see the real thing.

Here are some lovely challenges that I would like to enter today:

http://thesquirrelandthefox.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/challenge-58-summer-or-winter.html
http://abc-challenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/a-for-almost-christmas.html
http://joannasheenchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/make-it-sparkle-christmas-challenge.html
http://christmascardchallenges.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/christmas-card-challenges-1-no-stamping.html
http://polkadoodle.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/digi-choosdaywk-7-christmas-cheer.html
http://createdwithlovechallenges.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/cwlc-69-christmas.html
http://fabnfunkychallenges.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/challenge-196-touch-of-frost.html
http://cardmakinmamas.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/cmm77-merry-christmas-sponsored-by.html
http://craftycalendarchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/crafty-calendar-challenge-cold-and.html
http://mymumscraftshop.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/challenge-12-winter-christmas.html
http://ppp-makeitmonday.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/mim-169-with-lotv.html
http://sisteractcardchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/challenge-36.html

Thanks for stopping by today.

Sharon x

Winter is upon us but Spring will soon be here

Well aren't there just tonnes of lovely Christmas around to admire at the moment?

I thought I would break the mould and give my pastel colours a bit of a work out with a more Spring like card.....and here it is using a lovely Lacy Sunshine digi that I printed off a while back and never quite got around to colouring.

I think these characters are so sweet and I particularly love the little frog with his flower bonnet....it's really nice to be able to colour him in with zesty yellows and greens at this time of year too!

As you can see I have kept my card layout very simple with small strips of patterned paper, cupeled with some punched flowers. I can't help thinking though, that this kind of layout would have had more impact with more contrasting backing papers...maybe red or green....but of course then we are back to Christmas again!

There are a few challenges that I would like to enter with this card, so here they are:

http://lacysunshinechallengeblog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/lacy-sunshine-challenge-22-anything-goes.html
http://thesquirrelandthefox.blogspot.co.uk
http://ilovepromarkers.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/challenge-197-for-child.html
http://papertakeweekly.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/anything-goes.html
http://ppp-makeitmonday.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/mim-169-with-lotv.html
http://sisteractcardchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/challenge-35.html

Thanks for stopping by today.

Sharon x

The Crafty Little Fairies have gone a bit Christmassy

Over at CLF this week I am getting the opportunity to indulge in one of my favourite Crafty pursuits....namely a bit of Christmas cuteness and this little chap called Barkley really fits the bill as far as I am concerned.

He is so cute and I love the fact that, because he is a white / gray character, the red of his hat and the green in the background really pop.

The challenge this week is traditional red and green so I matched this little guy with some lovely backing papers for the Barkley Christmas CD and here is the result:

As you can see it's a fairly CAS design but I quite like how it turned out and, if you look closely at the green paper you can see that little Barkley makes an appearance on there too.

I hope you will come and join us at Crafty Little Fairies this week and also give a warm welcome to our four new fairies....I am sure you will be seeing and enjoying a lot of their gorgeous creations in the future.

Finally, here are the other challenges that I would like to enter:

http://sirstampalotchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/november-challenge.html
http://cutiepiechallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/challenge-58-cute-scenes-and-backgrounds.html
http://ppp-makeitmonday.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/mim-168-with-cc-designs.html
http://fabnfunkychallenges.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/cute-critters-challenge-195.html
http://cinspirations.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/challenge-242-anything-goes-option-of.html
http://ilovepromarkers.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/196-anything-goes.html

Well that's about it for me today. I hope you all have a great day and I look forward to visiting all your blogs.

Sharon xx

Everything digital...until my computer broke ;-(

Today I am showcasing a card made completely from digital sources....printed pre- computer melt down but more of that later!

The lovely image is from Sherri Baldy...aren't these girls just the cutest? I just love their little hats and those stripy tights too.

The backing papers, sentiments and even the bow are all from a Crafters Companion CD.....the Toreads one, and I particularly love this colour combi of  pastel blues and yellows. It was really easy to match my promarker colouring to these and throwing the card together was a breeze as everything went together so well.

That said, this may be my last foray in to the digi world for a while due to the afore mentioned computer 'wobbler'.

I innocently logged on yesterday and I had a message to go to the windows store and load up version 8.1 which is supposed to cure a number of ills. I thought I would get it out of the way first as I thought it wouldn't take too long..........One hour later the down load finished , but, when I restarted all I got was a flashing screen and I couldn't do anything with it.

I call to the support desk and another hour later, it became apparent that something hadn't gone quite right with the download so I was taken through the process of 'refreshing' my computer, which basically meant that it would go back to how it was when I bought it.

Another hour passes by and, although my PC is now working, I lost the ability to connect ot he tinternet, plus everything I ever had on the - printer, microsoft office, adobe, Serif to name but a few had all gone. I then spent another two hours with a fabulous support lady sorting out new drivers, reloading my antivirus and cloud etc, before spending a further 4 hours waiting for my PC to re-back up all the files.

By the time I was finished to was 12.15am and I had lost the will to go on!

So - today it's onto the next challenge - getting my printer back on, and getting in touch with Microsoft so they can give me a new product key so I can get my beloved spreadsheets back!!

No wonder I am a bit computer phobic!!

What I have learned from this though is that the money I paid for support centre help was worth every penny.....they are blooming excellent and so patient.

Next lesson.....next time I see an upgrade to 8.1 from Windows.....I'll just stick to what I've got (although the support people reckon it would be fine if I tried it again.....no thanks - life's too short!!)

So after the testing challenges of yesterday, here are the infinitely nicer crafty challenges I am entering today:

http://createdwithlovechallenges.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/cwlc-67-anything-goes.html
http://mybestiesuk.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/my-besties-uk-challenge-dots-and-stripes.html
http://bestieschallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/use-ribbon-twine-or-any-other-viber-or.html
http://polkadoodle.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/digi-choosday-wk-5-all-about-craft.html
http://deepoceanchallengeblog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/challenge-65-favourite-colour-combo.html
http://fabnfunkychallenges.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/194-fabnfunky-birthday-celebrations.html
http://pennyschallenges.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/welcome-to-pennys-challenge-154.html
http://ppp-makeitmonday.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/mim-167-with-bugaboo-stamps.html
http://sisteractcardchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/challenge-34.html

Thanks for stopping by and listening to my sorry tales!

Sharon x

Bearly Mine Red and Green

 It's time for another challenge over at Bearly Mine and this time the theme is a very festive Red and Green. There are oodles of lovely Christmas papers to choose from on tne Bearly Mine website but this time I have chosen Christmas Frolics to work with which has lots of lovely papers in Red, Green and Brown (perfect to coordinate with Kraft paper if that's your thing) and also a bunch of inserts which you can use just as they are or adapt on Serif.

 I made an envelope card using  and used a gorgeous Makey Bakey Mouse as the centre piece on the front. The pull out greetings card is made of one of the inserts that I mentioned. I have tested this on Serif and you can put a custom sentiment in to the scroll area if you want, or just leave it blank for your hand written greeting as I have.

And here is my cutie pie little mouse which I have coloured with my 'Speccies' using a blender pen to dot on at the end to give a little bit of a furry feel. I struck me that this technique and colour pallet would work well  on a reindeer.....must give that a try some time.

I had best not forget the other great challenges that are out there too, so here they are:

http://littleclairesdesigns.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/little-claire-monthly-challenge-39.html
http://creataliciouschallenges.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/challenge-57-christmas-time.html
http://totallygorjuss.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/challenge-210-3-patterned-papers.html
http://sirstampalotchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/november-challenge.html
http://www.spectrumnoir.com
http://createdwithlovechallenges.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/cwlc-67-anything-goes.html
http://ppp-makeitmonday.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/mim-167-with-bugaboo-stamps.html
http://sisteractcardchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/challenge-33.html

Well that's all from me for now. I do hope you will come and join us over at Bearly Mine as I would love to see your creations.

Bye for now.

Sharon x

Lots of snow and a little (Lacy) Sunshine...

There's a very icy feel in the air today and the threat of snow next week in our area, so there seems no better time to start creating 'icy' Christmas cards.

Today I have used a beautiful digi image from Lacy Sunshine and combined it with some equally lovely papers from the Bearly Mine Christmas Wishes set which happens to be one of my favourite sets of the moment.

I have to say that I printed this image a little on the small side and was wishing I had some fine tips for my promarkers to get in to all those details, but I had lots of love colouring it just the same and I couldn't wait to get going on the little frog!

How do you like the glittery embellishments? This was a tip that I picked up from Leanne on a C&C show. You die cut your shapes, spray them with crafters companion permanent spray glue and then press them face down in to a tub of glitter. The result is these super glittery dies which are the perfect enhancement to an icy scene.

So, of course I am going to enter a few challenges now and here they are for you.......
http://lacysunshinechallengeblog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/lacy-sunshine-challenge-21-its-bling.html
http://sirstampalotchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/november-challenge.html
http://challenges4everybody.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/challenge-33-anything-goes.html
http://papertakeweekly.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/snow-ice.html
http://nutcrafters.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/challenge-55winners-and-top-3.html
http://fabnfunkychallenges.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/challenge-193-its-our-birthday-whoop.html
http://paulaholifieldcrafts.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/albc-sparkle-and-shine.html
http://creataliciouschallenges.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/challenge-57-christmas-time.html
http://ppp-makeitmonday.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/mim-166-with-little-miss-muffet-stamps.html
http://sisteractcardchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/challenge-33.html

That's all for me now, I going to go and enjoy a bit more crafting time as I have a card to get ready for the next Bearly Mine Challenge.

Have a great evening everyone.

Sharon x

Top of the Pops at Crafty Little Fairies

 Well it's an interesting challenge over at Crafty Little Fairies this week, in the form of Top of the Pops. The idea is that you make a card based on a song. Well I was slightly dumbstruck at first....initially I thought of Singing in the Rain, but couldn't seem to lay my hands on any of my Character stamps with umbrellas. Then I thought of Robbie Williams Angels and had a very particular stamp in mind from LOTV......but guess what....when I got the stamp out.....three very cute little girls.....BUT NO WINGS!!!!!!!GRRRRRRRR!!!!

Finally and I thought of Alison Moyet's Love Letter (one of my favourites) and this is what I came up with using a beautiful Mulberry wood stamp.

I the end this card came very easily to me and I just love making it, especially colouring in the lovely little image.

I have used my Spectrum Noirs for colouring on this project and mounted on to some Forever Friends papers from Do Crafts, finally finishing off with some of my holly die cuts (don't do Christmas without them!) some stickles pearls and a sprinkling of glitter.

Last but not least, here are some other lovely challenges that I would like to enter:

http://sweetstampinchallengeblog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/christmas-is-coming.html
http://sirstampalotchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/november-challenge.html
http://www.spectrumnoir.com/challenge/
http://challenges4everybody.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/challenge-33-anything-goes.html
http://fabnfunkychallenges.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/challenge-193-its-our-birthday-whoop.html
http://ppp-makeitmonday.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/mim-166-with-little-miss-muffet-stamps.html
http://sisteractcardchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/challenge-32.html

I hope you like my card today and don't forget to join in with us at Crafty Little Fairies this week too.

Sharon x

Playing with the Racoons of Mulberry Wood

I have had this stamp since the Mulberry Wood Xmas range first came out and it is one of my favourites........BUT....... I have put off colouring it until now because I was always a bit worried about the tree...that I would get it wrong and ruin the image. I know the pro's always say, if you get it wrong you can just throw it away, but it can be very disheartening when you have spent ages colouring a lovely image and then go and ruin it at the eleventh hour!

I decided to bit the bullet one evening recently and, to cover my bases I did the tree first. Luckily there is a colour picture on the stamp packaging so I tried to follow that and I used my Spectrum Noirs so that I could replicate the colours. Once I had got the tree out of the way,  the rest of it was much more within my comfort zone and this was  the result.

I then used some lovely papers from the Mulberry Wood CD to make the base card, following a sketch from a challenge, although unfortunately I did not finish the card in time to enter the challenge.

I am also in to pearls a bit at the moment and I created the pearls on this card using Stickles Pearl paint....I think you will be seeing this particular detail a lot more on my cards in the near future.

So that's my card for today and here are the great challenges that I would like to enter....

http://www.spectrumnoir.com/november-challenge-christmaswinter/
http://createdwithlovechallenges.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/cwlc-65-christmas-reds-and-greens.html
http://papertakeweekly.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/anything-goes.html
http://thepapershelter.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/challenge-136-winter-fun.html
http://fabnfunkychallenges.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/challenge-192-traditional-christmas.html
http://deepoceanchallengeblog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/challenge-64-winter.html
http://cutecardthursday.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/challenge-294-animal-magic.html
http://graphitmarkers.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/fri-8th-novteam-b-wk-20-furry-friends.html
http://sweetstampinchallengeblog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/christmas-is-coming.html
http://sirstampalotchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/november-challenge.html
http://sisteractcardchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/challenge-32.html
http://ppp-makeitmonday.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/mim-165-with-saturated-canary.html

Thanks for visiting today. :-)

Sharon

The latest challenge at Bearly Mine

It's time for another challenge over at Bearly Mine and this week I  thought I would crack out the Christmas papers in the form of Christmas Glee, which has a lovely set of papers in traditional reds and greens.

I have teamed them up with sweet little digi from Lacy Sunshine coloured up in coordinating colours.

To finish my card I've added a stopper made from ribbon and two cute little bells and I've added a border of faux pearls using my stickles pearl paint.

And of course my post wouldn't be complete without entering some other great challenges, so here they are:

http://ilovepromarkers.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/challenge-192-anything-goes.html
http://polkadoodle.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/polkadoodles-and-studio-12-week-44.html
http://cardcrafterscircle.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/challenge-99-cute-cards.html
http://allsortschallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/week-231-christmas-cheer.html
http://pinkgemchallengeblog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/challenge-104-christmas-is-coming.html
http://sweetstampinchallengeblog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/spotlight-weekly-and-monthly-winners.html
http://craftycalendarchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/crafty-calendar-challenge-all-things.html
http://catchthebugblog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/november-anything-goes.html
http://hobbyhousechallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/challenge-6-pearls.html
http://lacysunshinechallengeblog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/lacy-sunshine-challenge-20-anything-goes.html
http://createdwithlovechallenges.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/cwlc-65-christmas-reds-and-greens.html
http://papertakeweekly.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/anything-goes.html
http://ppp-makeitmonday.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/mim-165-with-saturated-canary.html
http://sisteractcardchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/challenge-31.html


Well that's all from me today. Don't forget to hop on over to the Bearly Mine Challenge to join in with us - we love to see what you create.

Thanks for visiting today.

Sharon x

I'm late for a very important date!

Oh dear - I lost track of time this week and forgot to post my challenge card for the lovely Crafty Little Fairies Challenge. So.......better late than never.....here is my card which is based on this week's theme - 'For the one you love'.

I have picked the most gorgeous little stamp from the Mulberry Wood Christmas range and had such a lot of fun colouring it it.

Are those robins red or  what? I coloured them with my Graph Its this time round and boy do they give you some strong colour. I also wanted to try out variegated holly leaves and they came out lovely and bright too.

Finally a bit of dotty background practice was in order for the moon and the sky.

The lovely papers that you see are also from the Mulberry Wood CD (although these particular ons were in a free set from a magazine, which saved me the bother of switching on my printer - lol!) They are not exactly traditional Christmas, but I have to admit that I just love these papers more and more every time I look at them - they will definitely be appearing on more of my cards in the future.

Before I go, here are some other lovely challenges that I would like to enter:

http://createdwithlovechallenges.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/cwlc-64-anything-goes.html
http://flutterbywednesdays.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/flutter-by-wednesday-259.html
http://polkadoodle.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/polkadoodles-and-studio-12-week-44.html
http://graphitmarkers.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/fri-1st-novteam-wk-19-tic-tac-toe.html
http://cardcrafterscircle.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/challenge-99-cute-cards.html
http://ppp-makeitmonday.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/mim-164-with-meljens-designs.html
http://sisteractcardchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/challenge-31.html

So that's my slightly tardy card for you. I do hope that you will find the time to hop over  to Crafty Little Fairies over the weekend  and join in the fun.

Thanks for visiting today.

Sharon x

A Less than Traditional Christmas

Today I'm showing a card which I made following the Saturday Sketch challenge and a stamp from the PolkaDoodles PAB range.

As you can see I have coloured her to match the background papers but she is looking a bit like she is floating so I will have to figure out how to ground her some how!!

I have given her a bit of sparkle on her fluffy fur collar and I have added to glitter to the blue snowflake paper too - and not forgeting the little tree of course!

Here are some challenges that I would like to enter today:

http://emeraldfaeries.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/challenge-48-sparkle.html

http://papertakeweekly.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/oh-christmas-tree.html

http://polkadoodle.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/digi-choosday-digital-challenge-week.html

http://graphitmarkers.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/week-18alternative-xmas-colours-using.html

http://allsortschallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/week-230-treemendous.html

http://ppp-makeitmonday.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/mim-164-with-meljens-designs.html

http://sisteractcardchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/challenge-30.html

http://sketchsaturday.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/week-282-with-stamp-fairy.html

Thanks for stopping by today.

Sharon x

Tiddly Inks Box with BM Christmas Wishes Papers

I got the urge to do a bit of colouring practice on Friday night, so out came my supply of Graph Its and this gorgeous digi from Tiddly Inks. When I printed this it was fairly large and, for some reason it said two things to me - decoupage and box.

This is the result. :o) I coloured my image to match this gorgeous paper form the Bearly Mine Christmas wishes paper set which I  REALLY love! There is something about creme, pale blue and brown that really does it for me and I think it is perfect for 'snowy' images.

I printed my image twice so I could decoupage in to two layers and make the little girl stand proud from her snowman......but then I had a last minute decision to make a decoupaged snowman's hat too.

I put my box together using Centura pearl card and my trusty box board from Crafters Companion, and ended up with something that I am really pleased with.

Now to decide what to put in to it - I would love to make some felt Christmas decorations to go in it (always on my 'to do' list!) but time will tell...failing that it will be chocolates  :o)

Next there are some lovely challenges that I would like to enter today:

http://polkadoodle.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/week-43-christmas-anything-but-card.html
http://polkadoodle.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/digi-choosday-digital-challenge-week.html
http://deepoceanchallengeblog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/challenge-63-button-it-up.html
http://pennyschallenges.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/welcome-to-pennys-challenge-150-our.html
http://graphitmarkers.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/week-18alternative-xmas-colours-using.html
http://sisteractcardchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/challenge-30.html
http://cinspirations.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/challenge-237-anything-goes-option-of.html
http://ppp-makeitmonday.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/mim-163-with-bugaboo-stamps.html

Thank you so much for visiting today.

Sharon x

Bearly Mine Sketch Challenge

 It's time for another challenge over at Bearly Mine and this week it is time to follow a sketch.

I decided to make the most of the Halloween season, and use the lovely Halloween Hauntings paper set which is full of gorgeous greens, oranges and purples which I  love.

For this card I have moved away from the traditional Halloween colours just a bit going for green and purple with just a spash of red.

How do you like this cute little witch? She's from Tiddly Inks and she was a freebie at the time but I think she is still available to buy from the Tiddlyinks shop.

I have added a bit of lift by decoupaging her hat and dress, plus I took the opportunity to practice my linen folds technique along with giving the impression of black (hat and boots) without actually using black. Still much to learn on both counts I fear!

I hope that you will come over and join us at Bearly Mine for our challenge this week. Look forward to seeing you there!

Finally, here are the other lovely challenges that I would like to enter.

http://totallypapercrafts.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/ch189-too-cute-to-spook.html
http://deliciousdoodleschallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/challenge-58-non-scary-halloween.html
http://disdigidesignschallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/colors-of-halloween-challenge.html
http://pinkgemchallengeblog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/challenge-102-spooky-halloween-etc.html
http://eclecticellapu.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/it-is-halloween-week.html
http://polkadoodle.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/digi-choosday-digital-challenge-week.html
http://ppp-makeitmonday.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/mim-163-with-bugaboo-stamps.html
http://sisteractcardchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/challenge-29.html

Thanks for visiting today :o)

Sharon x

A chill in the air

How do you like the Stamps by Judith Dorky Bird?

I think he is really funny and so easy to colour, plus I love all the little accessories you can get to dress him.

For this card I dragged out his woolly hat, scarf and boots, ready for the cold days ahead.

Everything that you see has been coloured with promarkers and his clothes have all been cut out and decoupaged to give a bit of a 3d effect.

My matted layers have also been stamped with Stubbies and sponged for some extra gesture, plus a little bit of doodling to finish off.

I hope you like my card today,

Here are some lovely challenges that I would like to enter:

http://ilovepromarkers.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/190-snowflakes.html
http://ppp-makeitmonday.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/mim-162-with-nicecrane-designs.html
http://sisteractcardchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/challenge-29.html
http://stamp-n-doodle.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/stamp-n-doodle-challenge-16th-october.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+Stamp-n-doodle+(Stamp-n-doodle)

Thanks for stopping by.

Sharon x

Christmas is coming at CLF

It's time for another challenge over at Crafty Little Fairies and this week the theme is Christmas in October........hooray! ....a good excuse to crack out some of my Christmas stuff!

Goodness me - colouring this image was a bit of a labour of love but so worth it. I can honestly say I love every minute of it and I was really pleased with ow it came out.

The image is quite large and a whole scene in itself, so it didn't need much else to make up the card, but I tried to carry on the holly theme with a gorgeous backing paper from Bearly Mine which is part of a set called Christmas Glee.

The die cut holly is one of my old Mariannes Designs dies, topped of with some pearl stickles for the berries, and I have stuck with the pearls rather than glitter this time by adding lots of dinky little stickles pearls around the edge using opal white which I  LOVE!!!!

So I hope you will hop on over to the Crafty Little Fairies Challenge to see the other gorgeous Christmassy creations (the really are beautiful) and send us a little picture of your own Christmas cards - we love to see what you have made.

And last but not least, here are some other lovely challenges that I would like to enter:

http://stampinfortheweekend.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/anything-goes.html
http://christmascardsallyearround.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/october-challenge.html
http://sisteractcardchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/challenge-28.html
http://stamp-n-doodle.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/stamp-n-doodle-challenge-16th-october.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+Stamp-n-doodle+(Stamp-n-doodle)
http://pennyschallenges.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/welcome-to-pennys-challenge-149.html
http://delightfulsketches.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/weekly-challenge-frame-it_16.html
http://ppp-makeitmonday.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/mim-162-with-nicecrane-designs.html
http://bestieschallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/baby-or-kids-card-with-bestie.html

Well that's all from me today, so until next time....happy crafting!

Sharon x

Spooky Days are Coming!!

The air has gotten a bit colder these last few days and the nights a little darker........there's definitely a taste of Halloween in the air.

My local Tescos have already got a load of pumpkins in, and shed loads of mini sweets.......something which a will be buying in plenty over the next couple of weeks as we get a LOT of little visitors where I live!!

I recently received a lovely set of Halloween digi papers from Bearly Mine and have been looking for an excuse to use them, so I printed up one of my old digs (from Squiggle Stamp) and got down to some spooky creations.

And here's my little Frankenstein boy. I can honestly say it's the first time I have ever coloured green skin and I have to say it was a lot of fun!!

Look at those gorgeous papers too - I just love them, and there is quite a selection in the pack, plus some more generic papers too, which could easily be used for any time of year.

I used my Serif program to scale the papers down a bit before fussy cutting my image and mounting him on sticky pads so he is a bit raised.

I hope you like my card today and thanks for visiting.

Finally, here are some challenges:

http://catchthebugblog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/winners-of-our-october-anything-goes.html
http://papertakeweekly.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/two-by-two.html
http://nutcrafters.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/challenge-53show-off-your-coloring.html
http://stampinfortheweekend.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/anything-goes.html
http://sisteractcardchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/challenge-28.html
http://polkadoodle.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/a-week-41-halloween.html
http://sweetstampinchallengeblog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/halloween.html
http://ppp-makeitmonday.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/mim-161-with-kenny-k.html

Bye for now.

Sharon x

Lacy Sunshine Faux Stitching Challenge

Have any of you ever entered the Lacy Sunshine challenge before? I really love her images and, if you enter her challenge, using one of the Lacy Sunshine image, then you can pick up a special freebie image when you enter the next challenge.

I have done this a few times now, and the lovely Heather.....the artist is always so nice when she responds to my 'please can I have' mails!!

So, this time round the challenge is stitching, real or faux and I have used one of my previous freebies to create this card, with a little inspiration from the Friday Sketchers challenge too.

I also used my snowflake border punch and a snowflake die which I punched out, sprayed with glue and covered with glitter for a bit of bling....a bit messy but very satisfying!!

So I hope you like my card today :o)

Here are the challenges that I would like to enter.

http://sisteractcardchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/challenge-27.html
http://stampinfortheweekend.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/fairies-and-fantasy.html
http://fridaysketchchallenge.blogspot.co.uk
http://catchthebugblog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/october-anything-goes-challenge.html
http://lacysunshinechallengeblog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/lacy-sunshine-challenge-18-stitching.html
http://thesquirrelandthefox.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/challenge-54-things-with-wings.html
http://ppp-makeitmonday.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/mim-161-with-kenny-k.html
http://christmascardsallyearround.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/october-challenge.html
http://papertakeweekly.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/two-by-two.html
http://nutcrafters.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/challenge-53show-off-your-coloring.html

Thanks for visiting today.

Sharon

Bearly Mine ribbons string or twine challenge

Time for another challenge at Bearly Mine  and this week it's Ribbon, String or Twine.

I'm feeling in a Halloween kind of mood at the moment, after all 'tis the season to be spooky' so I have taken the opportunity to colour up this lovely Batty Girl digi.

I wanted to show how the BM papers can be mixed and matched with other papers and I think the generic sets such as Plain and Simple (used on this example) and the dotty sets are particularly good for this.

In this case the purple paper is from the plain and simple set and I have matched with a tiny left over scrap on another digital paper that I had lying around.

I think they look really nice together!

I wanted to practice my hair colouring and background on this image and, dare I say it, I think I might be showing some signs of improvement!

One thing that I have learned is that it is easier to colour hair on a smaller image than a larger one because the flicks of the pen make more defined streaks on a smaller image (if that makes sense!)

There are some other great challenges that I would like to enter this week and here they are:

http://pennyschallenges.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/welcome-to-pennys-challenge-147.html
http://graphitmarkers.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/week-15-halloweens-scream-with-graphit.html
http://polkadoodle.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/week-40-challenge-autumn-crafting.html
http://craftycalendarchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/crafty-calendar-october-challenge.html
http://catchthebugblog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/october-anything-goes-challenge.html
http://sisteractcardchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/challenge-27.html
http://ppp-makeitmonday.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/mim-161-with-kenny-k.html
http://craftybloggersnetwork.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/october-7th-challenge-sponsored-by-rick.html

Anyway, enough waffle from me. I hope you like my offering for today and that you will come over and join us a Bearly Mine this week.

Sharon x

SWALK sledging

Apparently it is National Card Making day today......as if we need an excuse to get crafting. That said, I couldn't let the day pass me by without a blog post to celebrate.

Time to get a little bit Christmassy today, with a gorgeous SWALK stamp and some lovely NitWits papers.

I just love the excited little faces on these two characters - it almost makes me wish or snow as there is a lovely place where you can sledge just like this, only a few minutes walk from our house!

As you can see, I have coloured these two in with my promarkers , in nice bright shades of green and blue, and have used my plain circle nesties and a beautiful Memory Bpx snowflake die for my matting and embellishment.

All this is finished off with a sprinkling of glitter, particularly around the edge of my green matting, which I hope gives a bit of a frosty effect.

Of course there are always a few lovely challenges to enter, and here they are:

http://catchthebugblog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/october-anything-goes-challenge.html
http://papertakeweekly.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/anything-goes.html
http://stamp-n-doodle.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/stamp-n-doodle-challenge-2nd-october.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+Stamp-n-doodle+(Stamp-n-doodle)
http://delightfulsketches.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/weekly-challenge-holiday-spirit-and-new.html
http://pennyschallenges.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/welcome-to-pennys-challenge-147.html
http://pinkgemchallengeblog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/challenge-100.html
http://ppp-makeitmonday.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/mim160-with-stampart-design-by-kathryne.html
http://sisteractcardchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/challenge-27.html
http://inkychicks.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/challenge-14-use-two-different-die-cuts.html

Thanks for stopping by today and a happy weekend to you all.

Sharon x

New website address for the Crafty Little Fairies

Hi all,

This is just a quick note to let you know that the web address for Crafty Little Fairies has changed, to complete the transformation, following our recent change of name.

You can now find us here:

http://craftylittlefairieschallenge.blogspot.com

Looking forward to seeing you there.

Sharon x

Bows and Brads (or in my case buttons) at CLF

It's time for a new challenge over at Crafty Little Fairies and this time the subject is Bows and Brads. Unfortunately my brads temporarily became 'invisible' so I had to use a bit of artistic license and drag out the buttons instead!

As you can see I have used a gorgeous Wild Rose Studio stamp and some papers from the matching paper pad, both of which I was lucky enough to receive on my birthday recently.

I thought the image might be a bit fiddly to colour but it turned out to be a complete joy with my Promarkers with the added bonus of giving me some much needed practice on my blonde hair and ginger cats!

Also......did you spot it? Yes - I managed to get a sprinkling of glitter in there on my dandelion seeds........perfect!!!

So that's my card for the challenge. My team mates have made some really beautiful cards this time round so make sure to pop on over and have a look.

Finally here are some other great challenges that I would like to enter.....

http://ppp-makeitmonday.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/mim160-with-stampart-design-by-kathryne.html
http://sisteractcardchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/challenge-26.html
http://allsortschallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/week-226-how-does-your-garden-grow.html
http://disdigidesignschallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/show-off-those-coloring-skills.html
http://papertakeweekly.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/anything-goes.html
http://promarkerchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/week-217winner-top-5-passionista.html
http://fabnfunkychallenges.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/winner-and-top-3-of-challenge-186.html
http://pennyschallenges.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/pennys-paper-crafty-winners-challenge.html


Thanks for visiting today.

Sharon x

Is it too late for Summertime Beach Huts?

Summer is more or less over and the minds of crafters have already moved on to Christmas, but is it too late to be making cards featuring Beach Huts? I do hope not as these lovely Beach Huts arrived for me in the post from Stamp Addicts this week, and they will be making an appearance on their next Create and Craft Show scheduled for 8th October.

There are three huts in a row with some summery greetings, some bunting stamps and some buckets and spades so a great little selection to get creative with.

For this card I have taken a 'snapshot' using  my nesties to cut out part of the stamp. I have gone for a bit of nautical look, using shades of blue and I have followed a sketch from Less is More this week.

a very simple card but I hope that you like it!

Here are some lovely challenges that I would like to enter today.

http://ppp-makeitmonday.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/mim160-with-stampart-design-by-kathryne.html
http://sisteractcardchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/challenge-26.html
http://cinspirations.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/challenge-233-your-favourite-stamp-brand.html
http://thepapershelter.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/challenge-no-130-stitching-real-or-faux.html
http://southerngirlschallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/challenge-78-world-in-monochrome.html
http://simplylessismoore.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/week-139-sketch-10.html

Thanks for visiting today.

Sharon x

A Lacy Sunshine Mermaid

Well after a busy day at work, how nice it is to find the time, and the energy (!) to do a quick midweek blog post. I started this card at the weekend, but with one thing and another I didn't get to finish it. I wanted to enter the Lacy Sunshine challenge and it is often the case that I just don't get round to adding the final touches to an almost complete card in time for the challenge deadline.

But that was not to be the case today....one card duly finished and photographed in daylight too (that won't be happening for too much longer in the UK with the winter nights drawing in fast!)

The focal point of my card is this beautiful mermaid, which was a freebie from Lacy Sunshine. I knew immediately the colour scheme that I wanted to  use and then it was just a case of finding the right papers, which I printed from my Polkadoodles Bon Bon Belles CD.

As for those shell beads...well I have had them for years and I have no idea where they came from but they seem to fit the bill, and finally I followed this week's sketch over at Papertake.

So finally, here are those challenges that I would like to enter today:

http://lacysunshinechallengeblog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/lacy-sunshines-under-sea-challenge-17.html
http://papertakeweekly.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/sketchie-free-for-all.html
http://ppp-makeitmonday.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/mim-159-with-rick-st-dennis.html
http://sisteractcardchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/challenge-25.html

Thanks for stopping by today.

Sharon x