We love shopping!

Hiya!

I've been spending a lot of my time over the past few days looking after family as they've been suffering from a nasty bug :-( However, they all seem to be on the mend today so I took the opportunity to get back to my crafting :-) I'm always hoping to get just that little bit ahead of all the cards I need to make when something comes along and sets me behind again!

Anyway, the main thing I wanted to achieve with this card was the embossing... I've had several attempts at it but they never seem to come out quite right and you can barely see it. This one, however, has come out perfectly!!! I've used one of the new papermania embossing folders (this one is Victorian Fleur) in my bigshot. Love it! So much better than my previous attempts!

The image is We Love Shopping from Stamposaurus stamps and I've coloured it with my promarkers. The sentiment is from the Daisy and Dandelion birthday set. The papers are Cupcakes from Crafts House and the card is some leftover from my scraps bag (pat on the back!).

I'm entering it into the following challenges:
The ABC Challenge - Y is for You and me
The Crafty Pad - Yellow, orange and holes
Pollycraft Monday Challenge - Bold and bright
Paperplay Challenges - Sketch
Craftalicious Challenges - Birthdays

Hope you like it!

Love 'n' hugs,
Mel xx

Happy 40th Birthday - Party Animal!

Hiya! Hope everyone's enjoying the slightly cooler weather now. I know I am!

This card is for my sister's Husband who's 40 this weekend. Happy birthday, Ty! The image is another one from Clare Curd's "It's a man's world" range and I love it! I've paper-pieced his t-shirt and coloured the rest using my promarkers. The papers are from the rich green collection from papermania which was the first pad of papers I ever bought - yeeeeears ago! I'm entering it into a challenge at Creative inspirations challenge blog which is to use the oldest thing in your stash :-) It's also being entered into Paperplay challenges: Your number's up and Creative inspirations: On the move, cos I think the chappie here is quite a nifty little mover!

I also had a go at decorating the inside of the card. This is the first time I've tried it so you'll have to let me know what you think.

I also just want to thank everyone for all the lovely comments I've received just lately. You're all so kind. I really do appreciate them. Thankyou!

Love 'n' hugs,

Mel xx

Happy birthday, Alyssa!

My youngest son, Charlie, goes to a baby club every Friday and lots of his friends are turning 1 about now. This card is for Alyssa who is one in a couple of weeks. The image is bunny with balloon by Lilli of the Valley and I've coloured it with promarkers. Isn't it cute??? :-) The papers I've used are from the Forever Friends baby collection (I forget the proper name!). I bought some little alphabet stamps ages ago for a bargain 99p and I've used those to stamp her name - a pain in the bum to line up but worth the effort! I'm entering it into a number of challenges:

A Spoon Full of Sugar - Animal Crackers
Passion for Promarkers - Think of a number
Creative Inspirations - Sketch
Paperplay Challenges - Card for a child
Craftalicious Challenges - Cute
The Crafty Pad - Animal Fun

Phew! I think that's it! Hope you like it.

Love 'n' hugs,
Mel xx

Happy birthday, Auntie Nic!

Some of you will know that my eldest son, Marc, has had a go at creating his own cards. This, however, has been made by my middle son, George. George is 4 and doesn't usually enjoy any sort of colouring in or drawing. However, when I suggested he make a card for his auntie's birthday he was quite excited. He managed to keep his concentration for 20 minutes (big oooo!), just long enough to put this together. I'm really proud of him so I thought I'd enter it into a challenge: A Spoon Full of Sugar have the challenge "Animal Crackers" with the option to include one by your child. I'm sure he'll be thrilled to see this when he gets home from nursery! Well done, George!

Love 'n' hugs,

Mel xx

Is it pink enough???

When I saw that the Pollycraft Monday Challenge this week was Pinkalicious, I decided it was right up my street and set to work on my sister's birthday card for this weekend. I bought this Forever Friends sticker with her in mind ages ago. She loves tootling aroung in her little car and going shopping so this is perfect! I'm also entering it into the Forever Friends challenge (stitching) and the Crafty Cardmakers challenge (inky fingers).

I've used my Pink Parfait papers (well, what else?), scalloped circle nestabilities, X cut lace heart punch, a daisy punch I got for my birthday, Relations text stamp from Papermania and a few other bits and bobs from my stash. I've used a sponge to ink the background for the bear and used my brush markers for the faux stitching.

I think that about covers it! Except to say "Happy Birthday, Nic!" Hope you have a fab day.

Love 'n' hugs,

Mel xx

Especially for you - butterflies...

Well this is a first for me... I've never been asked by someone else to do a card before! It's my sister's friend's 50th birthday soon and she loves butterflies so my sister asked me to make a card especially for her. I'm really chuffed :-)

The image is Miss Anya Dressy and I've coloured her with my promarkers. The papers are all Papermania Henbury Lane (absoloutely gooorgeous!) and so are the felt butterflies - I've layered one on top of the other. The pink card was embossed using Sizzix texturz Polka Daisies and I cut out the 50 using the Bang! Zoom! alphabet and number set - both using my Big Shot. The ribbon and gems are all from my stash.

I've entered this into two challenges:

Cupcake Craft Challenges - Sketch

The Crafty Pad - Embossing

Took me aaaages but I think it was worth it!

Love 'n' hugs,

Mel xx

Special wishes

Hiya! I've finally done all my Father's Day cards and I was in desperate need of a pink 'n' girly project :-) My pal Clare has been encouraging me to take part in the ABC Challenge, which is X for Xtra Dimension so I straight away though of my Daisy and Dandelion decoupage pack which has been a little neglected just lately (blame my promarkers!). So this is my entry... It's also for Penni over at The Crafty RAK Club cos it's her birthday soon - Happy birthday, Penni! I've dug out my Bigshot and my nestabilities for the scalloped circles and sponged over some bright pink ink while it was still in the die to leave a white edge. I've also used some pretty little ribbon flowers which I bought for a specific little project I've been working on for aaages (be on here soon, I hope...) and then, of course, my Forever Friends Pink Parfait papers - an essential for all pink 'n' girly cards!

Anyway, gotta go - kids screaming the house down and OH needs rescuing!

Love 'n' hugs,

Mel xx