Beautiful Mermaid

It's team B's turn to host the challenge over at The Paper Shelter for the next two weeks and the theme is...

Use your Ribbons

 We would love to see your fabulous creations and you could win a great prize.

I have two cards for you today using the same image, the reason I have two is that I was having terrible trouble with the easel card, I printed the image too big, cut papers too small, it was just one disaster after another, I ended up chucking the half made version across my desk and giving up. I had a bit of a re-think and came up with the over the edge card idea, so next morning while looking after my grandson I put my card together in Photoshop and printed everything out, while I was waiting for him to drop off to sleep I resized the original image and printed the paper again and as soon as he was asleep I went into the craft room and made the new card, when it was finished and he was still sleeping I managed to get the easel card finished too, without any problems this time.

Image - Beautiful Mermaid - The Paper Shelter

Digital Papers - Coconut Grove - Melissa Bennett at Sweet Shoppe Designs

Shells - Marianne Creatables - LR0230

Bunting - Pennant - Penny Black Creative dies

Scalloped circle - Tonic layering dies

Ribbons and gems - Meiflower

Image as above

Digital Papers - Beach Girls - lliella at Sweet Shoppe Designs

Shells - as above

X cut corner rounder large

Ribbon and gems as above

Pop over to the Paper Shelter challenge blog and check out the fabulous inspiration from the rest of my teamies.

Thanks for stopping by,
hugs,
Colette xx

Fashion Diva

Here's a card I made last week, it's a bow fronted card with acetate. I wouldn't normally make this style of card because you can't get it in an envelope and I prefer cards that you can pop into a post box, but a friend wanted to know how to make them so we did it together so that she could see how it's done.

I used the Debbi Moore Fashion Diva CD to print out the topper and decoupage, papers, flowers and sentiment then added ribbon and pearls from Meiflower to finish it off.

Thanks for dropping in,

hugs,

Colette xx

Wedding invitation sample #9

Here's number 9 of my wedding invitation samples, this time I went with a peachy orange colour.

I alternated peach and white squares, finishing off with a piece of ribbon and a heart diamante topper, the whole thing was layered onto peach and white card, tied up with the same colour ribbon as I used on the topper.

Ribbon and Diamante slider - Meiflower

Thanks for dropping by and taking a look,

hugs,

Colette xx

Daisies and Diamonds!

It's time for another Paper Creator challenge and this time the theme chosen by me is

Daisies and Diamonds

now the daisies could be actual daisies, a picture of daisies, or a daisy paper pattern and the diamonds could be a diamond shape or actual diamonds! (crystal gems will do LOL!).

You don't have to use Paper Creator products to play along, but if you do you get a second entry into the draw for a £10 voucher to spend in the store.

Now I bet you're wondering why on earth I put those two things together aren't you , well the reason is that Diamond is the birthstone for April and Daisies and Sweet peas are the flowers, and I thought that daisies would be easier to do than sweet peas LOL!

I have two cards for you today made using a couple of the new kits in store, both the card kits come with matching envelopes and boxes.

I must apologise for the fact that squares looks pale blue, and the daisy oval background is very washed out,  I printed it just before my printer ran out of yellow ink and hadn't realised that it had printed the wrong colours until I was linking up the product, it should look like this.

Just Daisies card kit - Paper Creator

La La Land die 8008 filigree corner

Ribbon and "diamonds" - Meiflower

Simple Daisies card kit - Paper Creator

X-cut palm punch - large daisy

Ribbon, charm and "diamonds" - Meiflower

Don't forget to pop over to the Paper Creator challenge blog and check out the fabulous inspiration from the rest of my teamies.

Thanks for stopping by and taking a look,

have a lovely weekend,

hugs,

Colette xx

Wedding Invitation sample #8

I've gone with a more fun invite today, I just loved the quirky image.

When I showed the card to my daughter Stacy, she said this would be the perfect invitation for her and her partner Neill as the only way she would get him down the aisle would be by dragging him there LOL! (they have been together for 13 years and have two children, got engaged about four years ago, but no plans for a wedding as yet)

Image - Sergio Hayashi  at 123rf

Paper- Some Birdy loves you - Crazy 4 monograms

X-cut Scalloped border punch

Ribbon, gems and diamante ribbon slider - Meiflower

Thanks for dropping in,

hugs,

Colette xx

Boy and Girl Holy Communion

Last year I coloured up a couple of images to make First Holy Communion cards for some of my friends children, only to find out that there wouldn't be any taking place in Liverpool because things were changing around the way it was being done, not being Catholic myself I don't know all the ins and outs, but I do know they are definitely taking place this year, so I have finally made my images up into cards.

The layout for both cards is exactly the same, but I have used satin ribbon, gems, glitter and a fancier border punch on the girl card and grosgrain ribbon, pearls and a plain scallop border punch on the boys.

Digital stamps - Communion Prayer boy and girl - Di's digistamps

Digital Papers - Boys and Girls First communion - Gabz Design shop Etsy

Lifestyle nesting Scalloped circle dies

Lifestyle nesting circle dies

X cut scallop border punch

EK Success slim edger  punch - Arch Scallop

Ribbons, gems, pearls - Meiflower

Thanks for stopping by,

hugs,

Colette xx

Wedding Invitation sample #7

Quite a few of the wedding invitations I have seen recently have been made using Kraft card and paper, so I decided I would give it a go.

I have once again used the Tonic Intrica deep edge butterfly punch and punched on both sides of a strip of Kraft card, I've also die cut names from the card. The flower is made with Kraft paper - I die cut lots of scalloped circles in three different sizes, put a brad through the middle then scrunched all the layers up, before opening out.

I added a large AB crystal to the centre of the flower and smaller ones down the ribbon and on the first letter of each name along with a heart shaped dazzle between the names.

Kraft card - Anna Marie Designs

Tonic Intrica Butterfly deep edge border punch

Die-versions - Little Lizzie font

Ribbon, gems and heart shaped dazzle - Meiflower

Thanks for stopping by

hugs,

Colette xx

Backpack Max Acetate front card

I seem to have a thing for acetate at the moment and find myself using it quite a lot in my card making, including today's card which has an acetate front.

I've used the fab new Ultimate kit from Paper Creator - Backpack Max - the kit contains the Sassy Cheryl image, a ready to print 6 x 6 card, a build a topper set, the stack of books image, tags, an ultimate graphic for layering and 12 papers. The build a topper is made to go with spellbinders dies and tells you which dies to use, but if like me you don't have the dies, it can be easily cut with scissors.

For my acetate front tent card I have used the small build a topper set, the ultimate graphic for layering, the stack of books and papers from the kit, I have also used one of the tags on the back of the card for writing a greeting on.

Image, Papers, shaped topper, books - Backpack Max Ultimate Kit

Tonic Layering dies scalloped circles

X-cut border punch - Dots and Diamonds

Spellbinders Borderabilities - scalloped borders one

Acetate

Ribbon, button and waxed cord - Meiflower

Thanks for stopping by,

have a lovely Easter,

hugs,

Colette xx

Wedding invitation #6

Today we have something a little different, it is not an opening card, it's just a decorated square of card with all the details printed on it, ready to pop into an envelope, I have matted and layered cream, pink and navy card and decorated with pink ribbon and a diamante ribbon slider.

Navy and cream linen card - Papermill Direct

Pink pearl card - stash

Ribbon and diamante slider - Meiflower

Thanks for stopping by,

hugs,

Colette xx

Spring!

Spring has sprung over on The Paper Shelter challenge blog, so team B have decided to have a 

Spring is Here

theme for our next challenge and we would love to see your Spring cards. If you play along using a Paper Shelter image then you could win a $30 voucher for the store, if you play along using any other image you get to choose 3 digital images.

I have used a recently released image called Spring Attitude for my card

Image - Spring Attitude - The Paper Shelter

Papers and butterflies - Tea for Two - Just So Scrappy

Sweet Dixie Dotted Doily Circle Frame

X-cut palm punch - small daisy

Ribbon, gems and diamante ribbon slider - Meiflower

Pop over to The Paper Shelter challenge blog and check out the fabulous inspiration from the rest of my teamies.

I am entering this card into the following challenges

Creative Card Crew - #59 Spring 

{Pin}spirational Photo Inspiration* #103

My Craft Creations - Always Anything Goes

Through the Purple Haze - Anything Goes

Ditzie Digi Designs  - Anything Goes

Thanks for dropping in,

have a good day,

hugs,

Colette xx

Wedding Invitation #5

Today's offering is another black and white card, quite simple to make, it's just a punched border across the middle to which I added some of Meiflower's Dazzles and gems to give a bit of sparkle.

Tonic Intrica Butterfly border deep edge punch - punched down one edge, turned and punched down the other edge.

Off to see Gary Barlow tonight at Liverpool Echo Arena with my daughter and grandson, soooo looking forward to it.

Thanks for dropping in and taking a look,

hugs,

Colette xx

Wedding Invitation #4

It's actually a Save the Date card, but could also be used as an invitation.

Stardream silver card - Craft Creations

Calendar template freebie - Google search

Glitter card - The Range

Ribbon Heart Corner - La La Land die

Ribbons, diamante ribbon sliders and pearl heart - Meiflower.

Thanks for dropping in,

hugs,

Colette xx

Pigtail Gabby!

Yesterday I decided to make a cascade card, at least that's what they were called when I first started  making cards  many years ago, I decided to Google the name before doing this blog post just to make sure I had it right, only to find that the cascade card has moved on a bit since my day, they mostly seem to be two cascade cards joined together to make a more intricate design, but dotted amongst them were a couple of my kind of cascade cards so I have decided to stick with the name, otherwise I would have to call it a diagonally cut, concertina, trifold card, which is a bit of a mouthful LOL!

Anyway, here it is!

Image - Pigtail Gabby illustration - Sassy Cheryl at Paper Creator

Papers  - Little Lady Digital Scrap Kit - Just so Scrappy

Go Kreate scalloped circles die

Lifestyle nesting circles die

Tonic geared border punch - Diamond border

Die-namics Upsey Daisies die

Ribbon - Meiflower

Thanks for stopping by,

Hugs,

Colette xx

Wedding invitation sample #3

We are going with a black, white and silver combo today, I don't know why but I ended up with a few black and white samples, I think it's probably because it's such a classic look.

Lifestyle nesting rectangle dies

Lifestyle nesting circle dies.

Silver peel-off wording - Craft Creations

Buttons, ribbons and black metallic cord - Meiflower

Thanks for stopping by,

hugs,

Colette xx

Just Ducky!

We have a thing about ducks in my house, started by my hubby when the kids were young, they have to be yellow and fluffy and are usually called Billy (don't ask me why), it's carried on through to the grandchildren as well. You may have noticed that my watermark has a duck in it, I also have a Links bracelet and one of the charms is a little yellow duck, so when I saw the super cute Quacky images over at Digistamp Boutique I just had to have them and am already planning hubby's birthday card with the one holding the gift.

In the meantime I have coloured up this little cutie called For You Quacky and made quite a simple card, although I did go a bit wild with the ribbon as I am always trying to find different things to do with it and after playing around a bit came up with this idea. I think it looks OK, although if I do it again I think I would use a coloured piece of card rather than white, I'm thinking that a nice Spring green would have worked well with the yellow and orange combo.

Digital stamp - For You Quacky - Digistamp Boutique

Ribbons and gems - Meiflower

I am entering these challenges with this card.

Fan-Tastic Tuesday -  Must Be Square #30 Anything Goes

Sweet Stamps  - # 164 Easter

Top Tip Tuesday  - #124 Cute

Artistic Inspirations - Anything Goes / Easter Animal

Craft Your Passion - No Designer Papers

Digi Makeover Challenge - must use digi - Anything Goes + DT Call
DigiStamp boutique - April customer competition

Thanks for stopping by and taking a look,

hugs,

Colette xx

Wedding Invite sample #2

Here's the second of this years Wedding Invitation samples and today's is a bit more traditional than yesterday's.

Centura Pearl Mink card - Craft Creations

Pearl and diamante heart topper, ribbon and pearls - Meiflower

Thanks for calling in,

hugs,

Colette xx

Wedding Invitation Samples 2014 - #1

As some of you will know I am a member of the design team for Meiflower and as part of the team every year I make a selection of Wedding Invitation samples showcasing her products, these samples are displayed on Mei's stall at all the craft fairs she attends, they are in cellophane bags with an ingredients and suppliers list in the back, they are then attached to boards with velcro, so that if people see something that interests them the card can be taken down and details copied, because it is the best shape for the boards Mei likes all her card samples to be square, but many of my designs could easily be adapted for different shaped cards.

Over the next couple of weeks, in between my regular posts, I will be sharing these samples with you, so today we have sample no.1 which would also work well as a 'Save the Date' card.

6 x 6 deckle edge card blanks - picked up at a show, not sure what company

Pearl paper - Craft Creations

Lifestyle nesting rectangles die

Die-versions - Little Lizzie Font

X-cut palm punch - small heart

Satin ribbons, silver metallic cord and gems - Meiflower

See you tomorrow with sample 2

Thanks for popping in,

hugs,

Colette xx

Spots and Dots

Yaayyy ! it's time for our monthly challenge over at Paper Creator and this time around the theme is

Spots and Dots

You can use anybody's products to enter, but don't forget if you use a Paper Creator product you get two entries into the draw and with a chance of winning a £10 store voucher so it's definitely worth giving it a go.

Onto the challenge theme - Spots and Dots - now what exactly is the difference between a spots and a dot, I wasn't quite sure so decided to interpret it as large circles are spots and small circles are dots, so polka dot paper, ribbon and buttons have dots, but the buttons themselves are spots? still none the wiser LOL!

I decided to use a spotty dotty background paper and then die cut spots of different papers for decoration, layering them up with foam pads for dimension.

Image - Sweet Little Avery illustration - Sassy Cheryl at Paper Creator

Papers - Lovebirds digital scrap kit - Just So Scrappy

Lifestyle nesting circle dies and Tonic layering circle dies

Lin and Lene circles border die

X-cut palm punches - pointy butterfly large and medium

Off to the Sincerely Yours craft show at Leigh this morning, wonder what I'll buy? I bet a die or two will find it's way into my bag LOL! then off to visit my mum as it's her birthday today, and finally settle down and watch the Grand National.

Don't forget to pop over to the challenge blog and check out the fabulous inspiration from my teamies

Thanks for stopping by,

have a lovely weekend

hugs,

Colette xx

Come fly with me!

Well - here it is my first challenge post as a design team member over at The Paper Shelter, I'm sooooo excited to be part of the DT and be lucky enough to play with the fabulous images on offer in the store.

The challenge this week is

BUTTONS

and we would love it if you would play along with us.

If you win the challenge using a TPS image then you will win a $30 gift certificate for the store, if you win using any other image then you will win your choice of 3 digi's from the store and as there are so many beautiful images to choose from it's a win/win situation whichever way you look at it.

I actually have two cards to show you using the same image, the first one is a stepper card made from acetate, I wanted my Giraffe in his little airplane to look like he was flying above the clouds pulling his happy birthday banner behind him.

Image - Funny Giraffes - The Paper Shelter

Clouds and tag - two by two digital scrap kit - Just so Scrappy

240 Micron Acetate

Orange cord and buttons - Meiflower

I wasn't very happy with the clouds, they weren't very fluffy, so I decided to make a regular card as well - I used one of the clouds from the image, re-sized to make it bigger and coloured it in to look (I hope) fluffier.

The papers, sun and tag came from the same kit as above and I used a few dies for the extras.

Die-namics - Simply Scallops Medium ( thought they could represent little hills in the distance LOL!)

Die-versions - Little Lizzie Font

Joy Crafts - 6003/0028 Flags

Pop over to the challenge blog and check out the fabulous inspiration from the rest of my teamies.

I am entering my card into the following challenges

Fan-Tastic Tuesday -Must Be Square #29 Use A Patterned Paper

Ladybug Crafts Ink TLT Challenge  - Birthday's

Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes

Through The Craft Room Door  - Always Anything Goes

2 Cute Ink Challenge - Anything Goes

Craft Your Passion - Anything but Square

Thanks for dropping in,

hugs,

Colette xx