Feeling Grouchy

Well, it was lovely to get crafting again yesterday, but things didn't all go according to plan. Fist of all, I opened a bottle of Starlight paint and found that I'd not screwed the cap on tightly enough, so there was a crusted skin over the top of the paint and I had to chip it away before I could use it. I ended up absolutely covered in paint - and doesn't it go a long way?

Then I wanted to make an enamelled embellishment for a card, using ultra thick embossing enamel.  I did everything as usual, and finished off the very last of my green UTEE, but used a stamp I'd not used before, and after it had cooled I tried to remove the stamp.... and instead, the enamel came free from the base card, leaving the motif embedded in the stamp. It took me about an hour of careful picking to extract all the bits from the stamp, and none of the bits were usable. I think the stamp is going to be OK but I still don't know what went wrong - could it simply be that I'd used a grey rubber stamp instead of a red rubber one? Is the grey rubber somehow different from the red in the way it behaves? Or had my (admittedly rather old) UTEE gone off?

So all in all I was feeling rather grouchy. Oscar the Grouch-y! Yep, I cheered myself up by rummaging through my snippets box and having a really good play around, and came up with this:

Yes, it's my tribute to Oscar the Grouch, the bad-tempered dustbin dweller from Sesame Street. His head is a die cut scalloped circle, with hand cut eyebrows, googly eyes, and a mouth made by cutting the smallest circle and oval from my Nesties in black and red, sticking them together and cutting in half.

For the bin I cut a rectangle of silver pearl card and put it though the Ribbler, then edged it top and bottom with narrow smooth strips. The lid is a sliver from the edge of a die cut circle, also edged with a narrow strip and with a hand cut handle added. Finally, I stamped a sentiment - I did consider adding one of my snarkier Dylusions sentiment, but I thought this would be a fun card for a child and they might not appreciate the snark!

As this is made entirely from snippets, naturally I'm going to head straight to the Snippets Playground.

I'm also sharing this with Sweet Stampin - Humour : I know the only stamping is the sentiment, but Oscar always makes me laugh!
And with Addicted to CAS - Grunge.  I'm sure this isn't the kind of grunge that Jaydee was thinking of when she set the challenge, it was the grunge style, but what could be grungier than a dustbin? So I've taken a sideways look at the challenge prompt!

Back to the Fuchsia

Hello again all my long lost friends. You've probably not been missing me - I left you lots of posts to keep you occupied while I was away - but I've been missing you! I've been away to spend a few days with my Mum. It's hard work and very frustrating these days - she's almost 91 and very infirm, yet still insists on living alone in her home which really isn't suitable for a frail, disabled old lady. She wasn't up to being taken out anywhere this time, but at least we managed to get her to eat some decent meals instead of her usual diet of Fanta, Hobnobs, Cadbury's Mini Eggs and cigarettes.

Anyway, I now am home for a couple of days and delighted to be reunited with all my crafting kit, and my first task was to make Mum's birthday card, as her birthday is two weeks away. I bought this fuchsia stamp, part of a set from Clearly Besotted, a couple of years ago, specifically to make a card for Mum as fuchsias are her favourite flowers, yet it's never actually seen ink until today as I've kept having other ideas for her cards.

I stamped it with Stazon ink to make sure the ink didn't bleed, and then did all the colouring using Wink of Stella pens. It's a good thing I only needed clear, pink, green and yellow as they are the only ones I have. As usual, the sheen doesn't show in the photo but the image has a gorgeous pearlescent sheen.

I am sharing this with
Addicted to Stamps and More - CAS 
Always Fun Challenges - CAS

Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers - Y is for Yippee!

Y is for Yippee! this fortnight at the Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers. Or to put it another way, we want to see a Congratulations card.

I couldn't really think of a snarky way to say Congratulations - not without it sounding jealous or nasty - but I'm sure some of the sistahs will have found a way.

I coloured the background with distress inks and the very lightest scattering of orange brushos,  then stamped a few random bits from an old Linda Luckin texture stamp set here and there in grey, followed by a couple of sentiment stamps I bought in the days when I used to produce my comping magazine and run occasional comps, stamped in black and highlighted with white gel pen.

The die cut word was supposed to be going directly on top of the background,  but it just merged in and looked lost, so I added a white strip to make it pop.

I am sharing this with
Crafty Creations Challenges - Anything Goes
Inkspirational - Graffiti 
Crafty Gals Corner - Anything Goes

Inspired by a book at C.R.A.F.T. Challenge

Today sees my final week as guest designer at C.R.A.F.T. challenge and it's been lots of fun! This week our theme is Inspired by a Book and our sponsor is Bugaboo Stamps.



Many of my favourite digis are from Bugaboo, and here I've used the cute little dragon called Clyde - but today he's actually being Toothless from the "How to Train Your Dragon" Books, because the book that inspired me is book two in the series, "How to be a Pirate"

I used an old map style backing paper and cut the pirate ship using the now-discontinued X Cut pirate ship die set that I won ages ago in the Playground.

I am sharing this with Craft Rocket Challenge - Inspired by a book or movie.

The Great Outdoors at Cardz 4 Guyz

It's time for a new challenge at Cardz 4 Guyz and this time our theme is The Great Outdoors.

The main image I have used is from the CD "The Best of La Pashe 2014". It is a decoupage design but with only a couple of layers, just to give it a subtle hint of dimension. The scene reminds me a lot of the Lake District, so for a background I decided to use an old fellwalking map.

This is where it all went wrong - I didn't want creases in the map. So I decided to iron it. Luckily I put it between two sheets of paper to avid transferring ink to the iron plate or ironing board. VERY luckily - because it turned out not to be made of paper at all, but of a crisp, thin plastic which melted and shrank into a tiny little mess under the heat of the iron!

Luckily I had another map, and after all any fellwalker would expect to have creases in their map, so I used the second one complete with creases. Finally I added a sentiment that seems perfect for this image, a free download from the wonderful Gingers House.

Get Well Wishes at Ooh La la Creations

Our new challenge is ready at Ooh La La Creations and this time the theme is Get Well Wishes.

I've used toppers and papers from the Yesterday's Memories CD, available here,  and added a stamped sentiment, paper roses and die cuts leaves to make an easel card.

A sketch at CD Sundays

For our latest challenge at CD Sundays, we have a sketch for you. A lovely and versatile sketch designed by Carol, who has chosen this challenge.

For my take on the sketch. I have used the Creative Crafting World CD  "Through The Year With Seraphina" and with May Day only a week away I picked this pretty Maypole dancing scene.

The image, backing paper and flower are all from the CD and the sentiment is a pre-printed one from Craftwork Cards.

It always fascinated me to see what very different ideas the same sketch can produce,  and I'm sure you'll agree with me that the DT have come up with a very varied selection of cards - so now let's see what YOU can do with it, remembering, of course, that there MUST be something from a CD somewhere on your work.

CAS and Classy

I'm rather surprised by how classy this card had turned out looking, considering that  once I'd actually visualised what I was doing it only took a few minutes to make (plus drying time).

I used a brass stencil with Sparkle Medium from Imagination Crafts, and when it was dry, simply added a die cut heart and some gems.

I am sharing this with
CAS on Sunday - Use a Stencil 
AAA Cards - Stencil

Christmas at C.R.A.F.T. challenge

Today sees my third week as guest designer at C.R.A.F.T. Challenge  and this week our theme is Christmas.

Our sponsor is D.R.S. designs and our winner will receive a $10 store credit.

I have used the beautiful Giant Poinsettia image.

|I die cut it and coloured it with Promarkers,  then layered it onto a scalloped die cut circle and some pre-embossed white Bazzill card, with corners of gold mirri cut with an old Cuttlebug die. Finally I stuck a strip of pearls around the image.

I would like to share this with
Christmas Cards All Year Round - Flowers
Holly and Ivy - Anything Goes
Addicted to Stamps and More - Holiday 

Shakin' Penguins

Last weekend I had a dream about a shaker card. It was a snowglobe card, with an iris folded snowglobe behind an acetate aperture, with glitter and snowflake confetti between the two. I was determined to make it - until I assembled all the bits and bobs and realised that the glitter and confetti would simply get stuck in the iris folding and not shake at all.

Anyhoo, I'd dug out my glitter, confetti and acetate so I decided to press on with a shaker card, but using elements from a kit that was a magazine freebie a few years ago.

Eek! I can see from the photo that some of the peel off borders have come adrift, I promised I'll fix that good and proper before it goes into my Christmas card box!

This seems to be a problem prone card - as well as that, I originally stuck the snow globe down at a very wonky angle. Not the kind of angle where trimming the edge of the card would put it right, this was a full on, so wonky those penguins would slide off  their ice floe kind of wonky. It was firmly stuck down so I had to cut the entire front panel off the card, trim it so the globe sat squarely and then attach it to a new card. I really think this is the card that didn't want to be made!

Nevertheless it's made now (and I've just broken off and sorted out those peel offs) so I am sharing it with
Christmas Card Throwdown - Shaker Card
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge - Anything goes (without the optional theme)
Winter Wonderland - Cute

Shades of Brown at Cardz 4 Guyz.

This week at Cardz 4 Guyz our theme is Shades of Brown.

I wasn't really sure what angle to take (a problem I always have with colour challenges!) until we went to a party held at a friend's house, and as the sun was shining we all went out into the garden, where they had just had a purpose built bike shed erected. One of the other guests and I were discussing how much we would like something similar to use as a craft room  - and then I had a lightbulb moment. Standing there, next to the beautiful brown timber shed, I knew exactly what to make for this challenge!

So here you have it, my very own "bike shed", using elements that make me think of sheds like the wood effect paper, the dry embossed "galvanised metal" and the hessian sacking. I'd still love a craft shed though!

I am sharing this with Make my Mondays - Embossing, heat or dry

Walking the dog

This week the challenge at Less is More is Spring Walk. Now I've made a fair few spring themed cards already this year and was feeling a bit stale, so I've spent several days racking my brains for a way to work the "walk" aspect into it. Then I was rummaging through some peel offs looking for what I needed for another project and came across these pretty spring green borders and a sheet of the fairly new (in peel off terms!) Little Claire outline stickers.

So here we have it - a sweet little dachsy off for a walk among the spring flowers. Some of the sections of the peel off are very tiny, so to colour them in I used watercolour pencils with my very finest paintbrush.

A last minute dinner

Yes, I do still eat (all the time, unfortunately!) but I hardly ever seem to post about it these days. But for a change I've come up with something post-worthy and it all came about as the result of a bit of a disaster.

We're having a bit of a freezer clearout at the moment but when it came to preparing the meat we'd defrosted for last night, it was obviously off. I don't know whether it had been bad when we bought it, or had been in leaky packaging, but there was no way we wanted to risk eating it, so it was time to raid the fridge and cupboard.

I came up with:
one skinless chicken breast
a bowl of cooked rice
a stub of cucumber
a small chunk of a head of Chinese leaves
a couple of carrots
one banana
the heart of a little gem lettuce
half a lime
a small pot of peanut sauce - I'd made a double batch when we had satay
a box of eggs

The addition of a few store cupboard basics produced this:

which is Chicken  Sort-Of Nasi Goreng

and this

Which for the sake of argument I'll call Fridge Raid Gado Gado
I cooked a few prawn crackers to serve with it too, and we feasted - we ended up with full tummies and an empty fridge.

So, how to make this? First of all the salad - you will need
Chinese leaves
carrots
cucumber
eggs
peanut sauce (there are some excellent ones in the shops if you don't make your own - or for an almost-instant one put 3 tbs peanut butter, 1 tbs soy sauce and half a cup of water in a small pan, bring to the boil stirring like mad and then allow to cool)

Boil the eggs until hard, crack the shells all over then plunge into cold water and allow to cool. Cracking the shells while hot helps to make them easer to peel.
Meanwhile shred the cabbage and cut the carrots into short batons. Bring a pan of water to the boil. Add the carrots and cook for 3 minutes then the cabbage and cook for one minute. Drain, rinse with cold water and set aside to cool.

When the eggs and veg are cool, cut the cucumber into short batons and mix with the other veg. Top with the quartered eggs and drizzle with the peanut sauce.

Now on to the Nasi Goreng. You need COLD cooked rice for this - freshly cooked rice will go mushy when you fry it. But do make sure you get that rice cool as fast as possible after cooking and then make the cold rice piping hot before serving it - as rice cools, a bacterium can grow rapidly in it, and serving badly reheated rice can cause nasty tummy upsets (In Mark's army days, I knew a Catering Corps chef who managed to poison 600 people at a stroke by leaving his rice to cool in a hot kitchen for too long).

Dire Warnings over, here's how you make it. You need:

one skinless boneless chicken breast (or a pork chop, or some prawns, or a mixture of these)
1 tbs sunflower oil
enough cold cooked rice for 2
2 cloves of garlic
1 red chilli, plus an optional extra one for garnish. You could use chilli paste, hot sauce or dried chilli flakes if you have no fresh chillis. We always have a huge bag of them in the freezer.
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 tablespoon Ketjap Manis (sweet soy sauce) - or use normal soy, dark for preference, and add a teaspoon of black treacle, golden syrup or honey

to garnish:
shredded lettuce
roasted salted cashews (or fry raw cashews in a little oil, toss with salt and leave to cool)
a shredded red chilli
lime wedges
crispy fried onion flakes if you have them (often sold as a salad topper)
1 banana, quartered and fried in a little oil

Dice the chicken into small pieces (about the size of a cashew nut).
Finely chop the chilli and crush the garlic.

Heat the oil in a wok or deep frying pan and stir fry the chicken for about 4 minutes until cooked. Lift out with a slotted spoon and set aside. Add the onion to the pan and stir fry until soft, then stir in the chilli, garlic and ground coriander and cook for another minute.

Mix in the rice, Ketjap  Manis and chicken and continue cooking until piping hot.

Garnish with the suggested ingredients scattered over the rice and serve with the bananas and lime wedges to squeeze over while eating.

I am sharing this with Kitchen Clearout at Madhouse Family Reviews

Quirky Challenge mid month inspiration

We're half way through this month's challenge at Quirky Challenges, where the theme is Quirky Pets and our sponsor is The Cutting Café. Here's my mid-month inspiration card for you, once again made with an image and frame from the Animal and Bug Love Set.

This time I've chosen the turtle. I used masking tape to create a panel within the frame and sponged it with distress inks, then coloured and die cut the turtle to layer on to it. I added several layers of card to match the colouring, finishing each one in a different way - deckle edge scissors, a plain straight edge and a punched border. Heart shaped gems to match the heart on the turtle's shell are the finishing touch.

I am sharing this with  Digi Choosday - Anything Goes

PIN-spired

So, the other day I was wasting a few hours getting some inspiration browsing through Pinterst, as you do, when I spotted ever such a pretty card here  which, I've found by following a rather twisted trail, originally came from a blog called Handmade by Sarah.  Oh, do take a look at that blog! What a pity it's not been updated for over 3 years, because she's shared some lovely things there including some great quilling ideas and a very novel use for peel offs. (No, not that novel, you filthy girl, go and stand at the back of the class!)

Anyway, I decided to CASE it, and here is my take on it.

I've used strips cut from snippets of pink, peach and lemon card, each embossed using a different folder, and used a Spellbinders die from the Jewelled Flowers set to cut a matching butterfly for each.

As I was using dies rather than punches, I decided to cut the bottoms of the strips at a straight angle instead of shaping them to fit the butterflies.  A simple stamped sentiment (from *that* magazine freebie with the embossing folder we all love)  and the card is finished.

Before I move on to the list - and I'm afraid it IS a list - of challenges I'm entering, I must apologise for the fact that over the next couple of months it's going to be a bit feast-and-famine on here. I've spent the last few days making and scheduling my DT makes right through to the middle of June, and when I'm around I'll need to either combine lots of challenges or completely miss out on playing along. I'll be visiting your blogs when I have wifi/data but actually posting anything to Blogger when  I'm not at a computer is just too difficult, so I'll need to schedule things when I can. It's going to be the same for the whole of August too, so I'm going to need to be VERY well organised!

Right, I'm playing along with

Pixie's Snippets Playground Weeks 287/288
Naughty or Nice - 3 of something
Shopping our Stash - Use punches and/or Dies
Cut it Up - CASE it  
Just Us Girls - Peach, Lemon and Pink

Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers #82 E for Elegant

Isn't Edna looking gorgeous today?

That's because our new challenge at Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers is E is for Elegant, so we would like to see your elegant creations - and don't forget the snark!

The image on my card is printed our from the Ooh La La creations CD "Yesterday's memories" and I generated the sentiment on the computer. The Glasgow Roses are stamped using a lovely set of stamps that was a covermount on Creative Stamping magazine a year or two back, coloured in with Promarkers.

The layering is actually done in deep burgundy card, exactly the colour of the crossover-back bodice of the front lady's very elegant dress, but it's come out looking black - I'm sure my camera is a Rolling Stones fan as it seems to want to paint everything black.

I am sharing this with
Rubber Dance - Black and White plus 1 colour
A Bit More Time To Craft - Anything Goes
Mix it Up - Anything Goes
  

White and one other colour at C.R.A.F.T. Challenge

I'm back for my second week as guest designer at C.R.A.F.T. Challenge and this week our theme is White and One Other Colour.

Our sponsor is Eureka Stamps and the winner will receive three images.

I have used the beautiful Shell Border image, sized to make a large panel on a DL card.  I cut three panels of white card and embossed them with the Cuttlebug Elegant Swirls folder, then layered them with sand coloured card. The background of the image is coloured using a sand coloured watercolour pencil around all the edges of the "sand" area, blended outwards with a waterbrush.  

I gave the shells a sea-slicked look by covering them with glossy accents.

And I've just realised you can see the edge of the camera reflected in the shell.

I am sharing this with
Addicted to Stamps and More - Make your Mark
Crafty Creations - Anything Goes

Made by Lara

You may remember that a few weeks ago I had a lovely day at the Make It Show with my 7 year old granddaughter Lara.

One of the things she made was this beautiful stencilled panel thanks to tuition from the lovely Jean at BJ Crafts.

Last weekend the grandchildren came to stay and I was delighted to see that Lara had combined the panel with some of the other goodies she bought at the show to make us a very special Easter Card.

Just look at all that bling! And on the inside, she matched the colours of her pearls to coloured markers to write the greeting.

I really think Lara's lovely work deserves to be shared, so I'm entering her card into the Allsorts Challenge where the theme is Bring on the Bling.

Peg stamps again

Now I've dug out all my old peg stamps - some of them must be over 20 years old - I've got very keen on using them again.

You have no idea how many false starts I've had at making a card for the current Less is More challenge, a one layer card with the theme Curve. Just as I was starting to make my first card, I realised it was more than one layer. I made a replacement - and realised there was nothing curved on it. The part-made cards have been set aside to complete some other time, and I finally settled on this.

I used an arch template to cut a curved mask and placed it asymmetrically on the card, then stamped various flowers and leaves using my Rubberstamp Tapestry peg stamps. I used a fine marker pen to emphasise the edge of the curve and then stamped the sentiment, a recent Making Cards mag freebie, in the "dip" of the curve.

I am also sharing this with Use Your Stuff - Flowers

I found the missing stencil!

I mentioned yesterday that I'd not yet made the card I really wanted to for the current Butterfly challenge, Windows and/or The Colour Rose because I couldn't find my window stencil. Well, I found it - in the folder where I keep my old glass painting templates, so hee's my card.

I sponged through the window panes with Brilliance ink in "Wild Orchid" although I've never seen an orchid that colour, not a wild one anyway, the wild ones all seem to be yellows and purples.

The butterfly and sentiment are Indigo Blu stamps, part of a lovely magazine freebie set, and I added a mixture of pearls and gems which, in real life, are a perfect match for the stencilling.

Animal Antics at Cardz 4 Guyz

This week at Cardz 4 Guyz the theme is Animal Antics. And when I think of animal antics, the first thing I think of is Monkeys.

For this card I stamped the image and sentiment from the Woodware Jungle Pals stamp set, an old favourite of mine, several times and then coloured it, layering up the monkey's paws and face to give a 3d effect. I stamped and heat embossed the bananas onto yellow card. The ribbon is from Crafty Ribbons and the background paper from the freebies in the March issue of Making Cards magazine.

I am sharing this with
Crazy 4 Challenges - Animals
Always Fun Challenges - Anything Goes
A Bit More Time to Craft - Anything Goes
Addicted to Stamps and More - Anything Goes  
 

Ooh La La Creations #226 Birthday

Today the new challenge at Ooh La La Creations is a nice easy one for everybody - Birthday.

I have used a topper and background from the Shawn Jenkins Collection CD, available here.

The embossed panel I have added uses a magazine freebie embossing folder and some lovely ombré grey card that has been sitting in my stash for many, many years  - I can remember exactly where and when I bought it, it was on Earlestown Market near Warrington, the day before my Dad's funeral when Mum and I went shopping to take our minds off things. So it, and the other lovely colours on the pad, have been sitting untouched in my stash for all that time! The pink organza ribbon really isn't such an acid pink in real life, it is just about identical to the pink of the lettering.

I am sharing this with Mrs A's Butterfly Challenge - Windows and/or the colour Rose - although if I can find the stencil that I really want to use but appear to have put in a "safe place" I'll be back with a window themed card soon!

Spring Colours at CD Sundays.

It's time for our new challenge at CD Sundays and this time we would like you to use Spring Colours, the theme chosen by Pauline.

Our 7th Birthday is on 18th April – almost exactly between two challenges – Pauline’s today and Carol’s on 23rd.

Please help us celebrate our 7th Birthday with 'Spring Colours' chosen by Pauline.
These birthday celebrations could become a permanent thing because when we had one last year and you supported us so well we decided to add a special gift for the winner of this our 7th Birthday and hope you will all support us again.
So……
Please make something with ‘Spring Colours’ and the winner of the Top 3 will become the proud owner of the following additional prize - donated by a team member.

Secret Slider by Tattered Lace

A really super brand new prize. So please remember to use something from a CD – and tell us which one. It would be an awful shame to do wonderful work and then not qualify for such a prize.

For my card, my first attempt at a Twist and Pop card, I have used a CD which I think was a Create and Craft freebie, some years ago. It is called Mix & Match Papercrafting Collection and is made by Creative Crafting World.

I printed three papers and a sheet of sentiments from the CD onto normal paper,  then printed the flowers onto a sheet of vellum. The instructions for folding and scoring the card came from the February issue of Quick Cards Made Easy but a Google search will probably bring up lots of online ones.

If you make one of these and are thinking of posting it, be aware that by the time it is assembled and decorated, there are a LOT of layers so the card becomes both bulky and heavy. Do check the postage with your post office, because if you rely on guesswork the recipient may end up facing a postage surcharge!

Christmas Kitties

I really have Hazel to thank for this card, because the background paper and the sweet image - Kitty's Sleigh from Di's Digis - are both from past wins over at Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge!

It almost didn't happen, though, because I caught myself about to stick the ribbon in place with the hearts upside down!

I am sharing this with
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge - Snowman or anything goes
Winter Wonderland - Christmas animals or birds
Holly and Ivy - Anything Goes  

April Showers

It's a glorious day here with no sign of any April showers, but at this time of year anything could happen! And the theme at Make My Monday is April Showers, so here is my rainy day card.

The bunny image is a digi called Flopsy in the Rain from Crafty Sentiments. I've teamed it with snippets from my bits box, and coloured it to match some of the colours in the umbrella paper.

The Magic Key

When I saw that this month's challenge at Country View Crafts is Rust, I didn't think I would be able to join in as I have nothing to create a rust effect with.

But then I thought, what is verdigris but "rusty" copper? So I've gone down the rusty copper route rather than the rusty iron one.

The stamps I have used are from a set that came from the long-defunct Stampbug Club. I stamped the image then heat embossed it with copper e.p. then while the embossing was still hot, sprinkled on some pinches of verdigris e.p. and heated again.

I coated the metal key with copper Alchemy Wax, then lightly brushed over the surface with a Versamark pen and embossed that with the verdigris too.

Spring Greens

No, this isn't a recipe for boiled  cabbage - although spring greens are among my favourite veg - but a reference to all the lovely fresh greens we see at this time of year. Here in Hampshire we've had some glorious sunny weather recently and the trees are covered in a fresh green haze as the leaf buds burst open to greet the sun.

I've made this card using a tiny Studio G stamp set. I coloured the trees and leaves with Promarkers and then gave them a shine with Glossy Accents, and layered up with a tiny snippet of pearlescent green card.

Here is a closer look at the trees to show how shiny they are

I am sharing this with
CAS on Sunday - leaves and/or trees
AAA Cards - Shiny Spring
 

Those Easter Bunnies again!

I am really loving my Easter bunny stamps and papers from Craft Consortium.

This time I've stamped a solo bunny, coloured him/her with Promarkers and cut out with Spellbinders Labels I-can-never-remember-the-number dies.  The tiny leaves are also cut with Spellbinders, I think the die was originally part of the Jewelled Flower set. The border is a Marianne Creatables die, which I have threaded with pink satin ribbon and added a matching bow.

I am sharing this with

Do-All Kreativs - Easter
Alphabet Challenge - B for Bunnies
Cuttlebugmania - Some Bunny To Love
Shopping Our Stash - Tie one on
Dies R Us - Easter
Fab n Funky - Buttons and/or Bows  
  

Watch the Birdie!

I always think this grumpy cat image, one of Katzelkraft's "Les Chats Russes" stamps,  looks a bit like a prison mugshot.

I thought I would emphasize that fact by putting him in a photo frame, but the slide mounts I had were too small. However I did have some Polaroid-style frames, but they are printed all over with pink and red lips. I was about to experiment with covering one with white paper to see if I could stop the design from showing through, when I realised I didn't need to - I simply turned the frame over and used the back.

I stamped the cat in memento ink and  coloured it with Promarkers, then added the frame and put it onto a card that had been covered all over with green paper. The sentiment is  computer generated. I think most cat lovers will understand.

I am sharing this with
The Crafters Café - Make us Laugh
Use Your Stuff - Polaroids
Addicted to CAS - Smile  
Show us your pussies - Furrything Goes
2 Crafty Critter Crazies - Challenge 1