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