SSS card,

Firstly, I had finally get round to posting one of last months cards that never made it to the screen with the hard drive failure! Ooops!

Admittedly, there's a lot in SSS and most of what you see is fairy, or Goth based, BUT there's a lot more to SSS than it first appears, so I would suggest a good rummage through the store,  to see what you can find.
This one is a real Gem. It did take me a while to figure out that the bit running through the middle of the car windscreen was a Keyboard, okay, okay, yes I know you can see it now, but in plain black and white, when you're not expecting it, its a bit confusing!
Anyway I didnt want this in black and white, I wanted sepia, once I had figured out the keyboard bit, so I adjusted the digi image to a sepia tone in MCS, better, now to colour.
Well I am somewhat old fashioned, I admit it, so for me a Keyboard is the Ebony and Ivory of a Piano, (please dont break into song here! Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder have a lot to answer for, and I am finding it hard enough to shift the song from my mind as it is! I wouldn't mind, but I didnt particularly like it at the time!)
The car is done in brown tones of promarkers, keeping on the sepia theme, the clouds are a yellowy colour, if you have looked at clouds in a Sepia photo, they aren't white, the greens are from the yellowy side of the spectrum as well, and the tarmac is a browny grey. So that all came together nicely, in real life the keyboard has been highlighted with some crystal Accents, but its hard to see on a photo.
So I raided the stash for the base, a couple of sheets of small, sepia yellow card, I have no idea who its by, but its a lovely assorted pack, some vellum, pre-embossed from MCS, and some paper that was just lying around, again I have no idea who its by, as this was a use some stash day! You know, the bits that are years old, have been there seemingly forever, and as to where they came from, or what you bought them for, well that's buried in the mists of time, sort of stash!
A bit of Tan Satin ribbon, and a stamp, Flittered with a greeting, some gems, and the jobs a good 'un!
So the digi is By Morgan Fitzsimons, Car 1 and I think its perfect for any man, old or young, just change the colours!
hope you like it, I do its different!

Hugs,

Lou

Well thats a bit different! I am entering this in the http://craftycardmakers.blogspot.co.uk/ Challenge 67, for the boys, first time I have been told to link, BEFORE I have posted my link!!!
http://ooh-la-la-creationschallenges.blogspot.co.uk/ Challenge 104

A quick short post

well its gone midnight, so just time for a very quick short post about some play today, then bed for me!

It must be a good 2 yrs since I last did a DL card!
I was purely playing, I took some card, and used  Papermania and Hampstead stamps by Papermania, and stamped with Flitter randomly all over it. then once I had gilded it, I decided to change the colour of the background, using Tim Holtz's Milled Lavender distress ink, on a DTP, okay I thought, what can I do next? So out came the stamps again and I used a violet pigment ink to stamp, then poured the clear embossing powder all over it, big Mistake!
The distress ink wasnt dry!! there were bits of embossing powder all over it, but undaunted I heated it up! Which gave me a rather attractive mottled effect, and the flittered areas were embossed al well! How that happened I have no idea, but I thought it looked pretty good, so I decided to make a card with it.I cut it into 3 strips, as I thought that if the pieces were any bigger it would be too much, and then I had a bit of a brainwave, so I have all sorts of texture going on all ready, and then I went and Crimped it with my Westcott crimper. I made a DL base, added some milled lavender to the edges, and stuck the strip down the middle of the card. I made a rosette from so paper in my stash, its old and loose and I cant honestly tell you who its by, sorry, and then Flittered the sentiment. I decided to add the Violet to the edges of the rosette and sentiment, to bring it more into keeping with the rest of the card, added some pearl gems, and a butterfly and trail.
The insert is made using one of the stamps from the background, and a sentiment from the Hampstead collection.
Right tomorrow I'll find something to enter it into, but I have just eaten a crispy Bacon Buttie with tomato sauce, and now I am feeling really sleepy, so its off to bye bye's for me,
sleep well everyone!

Hugs,

Lou

Debbees Monthly Challenge and Microsoft issue

Well I completely missed last month, due to the Hard drive disaster! And poor Debbee didnt have many entries last month, which makes me feel even worse!
So I dashed over there this morning and grabbed my sheets, and got creating!

Debbee provides all the sheets and its up to you what you do with them, so for me it is a double K card in A4 size, in a box.
I printed the decoupage and topper onto photo paper, and mounted it onto some Purple pearlescent card stock. I used the remains of the purple to punch blossoms using the Tonic petite petal pairs punch, but cant remember which one it is, as they do confuse me. There's so many of them!
Next I printed off the backing sheets onto card, and created the double K card. I duplicated, and then flipped some of the decoupage for the K card apertures, and used the 8x8" matt for the base for the verse, and to trim the inside of the card front.
I created a box using some A3 Pearlescent cream card, and embossed it with some decorative scrolls from the Crafters Companion Ultimate pro, and used the waste from the apertures in the K for some flowers to decorate the box. I used a small piece of Purple ribbon for the bow.
The card front itself, is decorated with Punched flowers, with silver pearlescent Cosmic Shimmers PVA centres, and some ruffled Purple ribbon. the centres of the blossom on the main image also have pearlescent glue centres.
Now I ask a favour.........
Debbee does some wonderful CD's and papers, and hers is a NEW CHALLENGE Blog, please, pop over there and give her some support, download the free papers, and create a card from them. You never know, you could win one of the challenges!

As an addition here, I would just like to raise something you may NOT be aware of.............If you use a windows based graphics program to craft and print out from you may be experiencing difficulties. Microsoft released an update to Net.4.0 a few weeks ago, this has caused problems with many windows based graphic printing programs. Sometimes the colours arent right, and your printer may not be holding the settings to print from. Which is possibly what happened to poor old Debbee, as she couldnt get her printer to play nice AT ALL this month!
If you are struggling, its not your printer!! Its the update released at the beginning of April, a critical security update! To get your printer to take the settings you need to use the main control panel, from your start/menu button, and make the changes there. They will then hold until you change them or you turn the machine off!!! Microsoft are working on a fix, they are working with one of our British companies, and are determined to get it right this time, before they try to send out an update to fix it!

Right off to play, and let Debbee know I played as well!
So this is entered in the following challenges:
http://debbeescdsblogspot.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/may-day-already.html Debbees site,
http://crafts4eternity.blogspot.co.uk/ R#70 Maypole Ribbons
http://prairiefairyfridays.blogspot.co.uk/ Challenge #78 photo Inspiration
http://reasonableribbon.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/challenges RRR47
http://www.catchthebugblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/time-for-mays-anything-goes.html Anything Goes



Hugs

Lou

Important Information on the Happycut by Artemio, A4 die cutting Machine.

Hi guys,

Well 2 things to talk about in this post................
1. Using the new Spellbinders M-Bossibilities folders
2. Make sure you are using the right plates for the ordinary Folders, Artemio's Information Booklet is WRONG!
1. I knew the new M-Boss folders were going to cause a bit of a problem, when Spellbinders had to release a new plate just for it! Then people started receiving them, and were asking me what plates to use, so I gave them 2 answers..........either a Cuttlebug B plate, or a piece of board, like some mount board.
Well I know I got one of the answers right as I received my M-boss folder today from MCS, and I used the Cuttlebug B plate, and it worked, yippee!
so sandwich for the M-boss is: Cuttlebug B plate, if you already have one, or they are only about £6.00 on the web for a pair, and one of the following plates:
A Plate, white, or
B Plate Black or
SP Plate Clear.
I have listed three plates, although I use the white A plate and the bug plate. This is because your machine might be a touch different to mine, due to the pressures in each machine. I work my Happy hard, you might not, mine goes through all sorts of trials, lol, you may take more care of yours, lol.





2. Sharon from Glitter Perfect has been in touch as well and would like me to make the Following REALLY CLEAR TO ANYONE OWNING A HAPPY CUT:
The information in the Box with your Happy Cut is WRONG!
Please watch the other videos I have done on the Happy, my pride and Joy, and pay attention to the sandwiches that I say you should use for the Embossing Folders and why! Information from Sharon suggests that my Embossing Folders Video is WRONG, in all but the last Part.
If you continue to use the information from Artemio, on how to use Embossing folders with your machine, you could damage your machine!
http://youtu.be/1Ck0cgSej-k

The correct sandwich is: Black B Plate and Clear SP plate, not the white A Plate and Clear SP Plate! Please switch to the black and clear plates instead.
Sharon wrote: " I love my machine too and only decided to stock it after I had my machine several months.  The documentation for the HappyCut is wrong however.  When using embossing folders, you should only use the Black Embossing plate and the SP Adapter Plate.  Continued use with the A Plate and the Black Embossing plate can strain the machine."


Hope this helps you, you can find links to my videos on the Happy in the top of the bar that runs down the <<<< Left of this page. over in the direction the arrows are pointing, <<<<
If you need help or have a question, then either leave a comment or you can find my Address on the contact me tab!


xxx




Lou

I'm on a roll!!

Well this has to be a first for me!!! 4 posts in less than 24hrs?
The first 2 are DT cards, for LEJ Designs and Scrapbook Stamp Society. These last 2 are ME TIME! Tonight!

 This is using the frame that was left from making the Matt for the Communion card, and was just sitting there staring at me accusingly!
So okay I gave in, I obviously had to use it. It was a perfect circle, cut with my Martha Stewart Circle cutter, on Pearlised Cream Card! I wasn't throwing that away!!! Be serious!

So I had an aperture, now something to put in it? Okay so a floral arrangement? Off I went hunting through my stamps.......... rummage, rummage, crash.."You Okay?" came the shout from downstairs, "Fine, sorry!" was my response, trying not to bang my head on the underside of my table, while I rescued the stamps from the floor.....

 I found some stamps in my stash, that I bought last month from the Docafts site, a Hampstead collection, of papers and stamps, and it was un-opened and perfect!
hmmn..........okay Flitter! Now if you have NO IDEA what I am on about, then you don't know what you have been missing! And you need to head here to get yours!

So stamp with Flitter, then off to the sink to wash it, come back, Talc my hands to make sure that the gilding flakes dont stick to my hands, and dab them onto the dried glue. Rub off the excess, which for me NORMALLY goes EVERYWHERE! But this time it went back into it tub, Yippee!!!
Aqua Markers Orange, Red, Spring Green and Citrus, and a water Brush. Then Polish it with a piece of tissue.
Then run the frame through my Happy with a spellbinders Butterfly Garden Embossibilities mask.
Next was to find some card, now I do have quite a bit of card, but normally not just the right colour, but BOY was I on a roll tonight! Perfect!
I made a rectangular base, by joining 2 pieces of the light green pearlised card, at the spine, which I then punched and threaded some ribbon through. I heated the Organza ribbon with my heat gun, so it shrank and crinkled for me, added the main image and frame, then finished it with some perfect match gems.
This just flowed together, my favourite type of card, for me that means its a "Gud 'un."
So the job for tomorrow is to find Challenges for these 4 cards, Not that I ever win, but its just the luck of the draw, and some of the other entries are so seriously Good that it's no wonder they win, as they are FAB!
Right I have to go to bed, playtime is now over!

well maybe ,

I'll see

Let me think about it a bit more

I mean.....

Do I really need that much sleep?

an hour a day should suffice shouldn't it?

LOL

Take care guys and girls, thanks for Visiting, xxx

Okay challenges entered:
http://papertakeweekly.blogspot.co.uk/ Anything goes, sorry no lace on this one, it wouldnt suit!
http://partytimetuesdays.blogspot.co.uk/ 2 or more ribbons, just, phew!
http://dancinginpajamas.blogspot.co.uk/ Colour theme Gold, Lime green and Red! yes got them all!! TCPTUES208
http://mytimetocraftchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/challenge-178-gardening-gems.html Gardening Gems
http://creativecardcrew.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/challenge-9-ribbon.html?showComment=1336258696489#c631150932678431199 Ribbon Embellishments
http://digitaltuesdaychallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/challengfe-158-bugs-and-blooms.html?showComment=1336258800181#c4802027333907126311 Bugs and/or Blooms

Lou

Pure Pleasure

Well something purely for me!
I have been frustrated with the lack of crafting going on due to trying to re-load the flaming new drive, , and yesterday, sorry for swearing ladies, I did some tidying up in here, just putting things back after the chaos of Kids invading this little corner of heaven. And I came across a load of scraps!
So I sat there tonight, as I had finally finished the putting away, and thought, lets use those scraps for something!
I was leafing though my folders of dies, and came across one of the Ironwork Motif dies, from spellbinders. And I thought, I'll make a Cross with that!
As its nearly First Holy Communion Time in the Catholic Church, it had to be a First Holy Communion Card.

 I have had to adjust the brightness on these two photos, and the reason can be seen below!!

This is the actual colour, but it is reflecting a bit, so its a bit bright and hard to see the details.
3 Ironwork motif die cuts, on white Pearlised paper layered to form a cross. Cream Pearlised card, scored at .5mm intervals, for the host. Gold Mirri textured card stock, for the backing matt, more Pearlised cream card stock.
a Piece of scrap that was a 12x12" gold embossed paper, punched with a Martha Stewart punch. Some yellow card stock, and some red Card stock.

The Verse is a bible verse, and was printed in MCS using a nested shape, and flourish downloaded from the MCS Platinum Club.

Right this is for a young man I know who will be due soon to make his First Holy Communion....




Lou

New Design team Post for SSS

Well it the first of the month, and heres, the first of this months offerings, though I have just remembered I havent posted on of last months yet, I'll do that after this one, oops sorry Heather and Sherri!
This is a fabulous Image!! And in all honesty I have sat and looked at this card again and again for a long time, and each time, I have put it down, having done NOTHING else to it.
What I hear you cry! Lou hasnt added anything to the card?
NOPE! And for me that is a rarity! Normally I add a bit here, add a bit there, etc, but I haven't on this. Admittedly I keep looking at it thinking, is there anything else I want to do with it, as it seems such a simple card for me. A bit of Glaze, a bit of Bling, a bit of ribbon?
And I have not done anything else Card base, Backing paper, and digi. That's all. Zero Zilch Zip and Nada!
Here she is............................Voodoo Priestess!

And I didn't realise until now, and really I should have realised, as I asked the artist to choose this months digi's for me as I was having PC issues, whos work it was lol. Voodoo Priestess is by Heather Valentin!
Now what YOU need to do is click on the photo's and have a proper look! And perhaps you will understand why I have resisted doing anything else to this stunner!
So a DL card base, a backing paper from My Craft Studio Quintessential Country Garden, and the Voodoo Priestess Digi.
Promarkers, and a Gold Gel pen for the fine detail, and that's all folks!
And this one isn't being given away either, I have now stuck her to my wall!!! You cant have her!
Okay well you can, you just have to pop to the shop and buy her for yourself, and if you hurry you might just get there in time to qualify for the Big Sizzix Texture Boutique giveaway!! But you'll have to hurry there's only an hour or so to go!!!!

LEJ is Up and Running!

Wey-Hey!! LEJ designs is a brand new challenge site, set up by a lovely couple of Ladies, they put out their first DT request last month, and I got picked to be on it!! woohoo!!

So here's the details, and the card, which is just a little bit different!
Okay firstly the Elephants........... When I was a kid, my Mum and Dad had 2 wooden Elephants, and I used to play with them, and ALWAYS ended up in trouble if I didnt put them back EXACTLY as I had found them! Elephants are an old superstition, they have to be facing a certain way to prevent bad luck entering the home! But I didnt know that back then I was only little! But thats what sprang to mind when I saw LEJ Designs Elephants, and as my Daughter is moving house AGAIN very soon, I just had to do it!

I used my Craft Robo for the whole of this card, except the printing.!!!
Digi's dont just have to be printed off and coloured in! Play with them, try something different!
The photos are at a funny angle as the card and paper are all Pearlised, and you have to catch it just right with the cameras, to be able to see anything lol, so it doesn't actually look as good as it does in real life!
I created a house shape in Silhouette studio, and added some windows and a door. Then I used the draw tool to use the Silhouette to draw the digi and sentiment for me, before I set it to cut it out. I used the digi faded into the background a bit for the verse on the back, but it does fade on printed Pearlescent paper, when you print, as it mutes the print slightly, so be aware if you have never tried it before, make your image darker than normal, as it will fade on pearlescent paper!

Right pop over to the NEW CHALLENGE site, and see what my cohorts have been up to, and then pop to the shop and grab some yummy images for yourself, while I go off and get tortured by my physio!!!

Paper Crafting Journey DT card

Well its that time of the week! Another challenge from Paper Crafting Journey! And the Sponsor this week, Is.........
Elizabeth Bell . Elizabeth is an Internationally recognized Illustrator, specializing in Children's images , and did I pick a wonderful image to play with this week.
Okay just lately it has been a bit hard, especially as my hard drive crashed with all my artwork on it, so getting things done was a nightmare, I'm still not up to sped, but, I am getting there! S L O W L Y !
As soon as I saw this little chap I knew exactly what I wanted to do, and for me this is a proper amalgamation of traditional and contemporary card making, so lets see if you can guess exactly what happened:

Come on! List what I used!


















Figured it out yet?

Stamps, Crafters Companions Adorable winter Range, the Tree from Waiting, the Bannister from Sharing, Bell Horses Lil Cowboy, were the stamps, an amalgamation of rubber and digital stamps! I knew it was going to work the second I saw the image!
so Inks, Ink it up Kelly Green, and Dovecrafts Cocoa Brown, with clear embossing powder.
Promarkers for Lil Cowboy
Aqua markers and Whispers pens for the Stairs and tree.
Tim Holtz Vintage Photo Distress Ink for the distressing, der!
a piece of First Edition Papers, Festive Treats.
Some Navy organza Ribbon, the bow was crinkled using a heat gun.
Oh and a Gold star gem for the top of the tree!
Actually it does look miles different in real life, I think all the goings on have confused the camera a little, as the Lil Cowboy is much more prominent than this photo suggests!
Hope you like it, I do as for me that's what this crafting business is about, bringing everything together, and working with it all, not just splitting it into sections, and not allowing them to mix.
Now pop over to the Challenge Site see what my Teamies have been up to, there's some yummy stuff going on, and have a go yourself. The theme this fortnight is Vintage...............

enjoy,

Lou
xxx

Scrapbook Stamp Society Candy Entry

Well over at Addicted to Stamps The Mahoosive Blog Candy is nearly up, so as there's only a few entries, hehehe, I thought I'd have a go! I haven't got a Texture Boutique :(.....Yet, lol.
So My Card first, the important bit, then the rules, okay?

I bought this image from the Scrapbook Stamp Society, and she has sat on my desktop, quietly waiting until the kerfuffle with the PC died down to a dull roar, and she could make herself heard.
Well today it quietened down a bit, well okay today I have had enough of messing with the PC if truth be told, and some me time was in order!
So Digi by Nina Bolen, Water Fairy On Moon.
Promarkers, Pine, Forest Green, Lime Green, March Hare, Red, Ruby, Ginger, Pale Blue.
Gold and Red Imagination Sparkle Medium.
Pearlescent Navy Card stock.
Acetate.
Clear Gems.
Crafts Concepts Funky Poinsettia embossing folder.
I coloured the digi first, and used a second copy as a stencil for the Imagination Sparkle Medium to do the moon.
I used some acetate and traced the wings with a black Promarker, as it is Alcohol based, it wont rub off Acetate when its dry.
then turned it over and coated the back with the red Sparkle medium, and set it aside to dry for a bit.
In the meantime, I cut two 5 1/2" circles in Pearlescent Navy card stock, and embossed one piece with the Funky Poinsettia folder on my Happy Cut. I scored 1.5cms in from one edge of the other circle, to create a score and stick line so the card blank, was ready to go. But I did trim the lower edge, otherwise it would have been a rolling card, and a very dizzy Fairy!
Then I simply removed her arm, from the background and slipped the wings in behind, over her real ones, fixing them in place with some Silicon Glue.
Then as its a pearlescent card, I used more silicon to mount her and the tiny dragon to the front of the Card. Next up was the finishing touch of adding tiny gems for stars, in the centre of each Poinsettia.

Now to the rules:

*Win a Brand New Sizzix Texture Boutique!* 

Only 2 Rules

1. Follow our Blog (make sure that you do, we check) Addicted to Stamps

2. Use any of our digis or clear stamps found at www.scrapbookstampsociety.com to make a card or project and post it to your blog linking back up to ours.

 For extra chances to win

3. Post our Blinkie on your blog, leave a comment that tells us that you did. 

4. Make more cards. For every card or project you make with a differentScrapbook Stamp Society...Digi or Rubber stamp, you have an extra chance to win.

5. Have your friends come follow our blog and let us know who sent them in a comment. 

Now I'm off to post my card, and I hope some of you will have a go.................erm no actually I dont 'coz the less of you who enter the better my chances are!!!

Have fun, and do give it a go, there's some YUMMY stamps in the shop,

xxx

Lou

I am entering this in the Following Challenges:
http://tuesdaythrowdown.blogspot.co.uk/  Use some Sparkle
http://shoppingourstash.blogspot.co.uk/ Starts with a  B, Blue and Bling!! Challenge 49
http://scrap-creations1.blogspot.co.uk/ It's a Girl Thing
http://digitaltuesdaychallenge.blogspot.co.uk/ Winter Blues, Blue base card. Oh and wings behind the glittered acetate!

La Fee Verte by Mitzi Sato-Wiuff

Another Scrapbook Stamp Society DT card from me, as I have loads in the pipeline so to speak, lol. This one's a beautiful Image by Mitzi Sato-Wiuff La Fee Verte, though I have no idea what that exactly means in french, verte is definitely green, Fee I suppose is a Fairy, but I'm not sure lol, but anyway, it is a stunner, and a lovely complex design, that you can loose yourself in for quite some time.
Which is exactly what I did! This card has been in the making for about 2 weeks, not because it was hard to do, but I did take my time over it as there were things I wanted to try, and then of course I lost my hard drive, so now I have a crate of disks sitting here waiting to be loaded onto a new hard drive, I lost 850GB in the crash, so its going to be a long time getting everything back on!!
But back to the card.

Base card I made 8x8" in Centura pearl.
Butterflies were cut on the Happy Cut, using the Butterfly die that came with the machine, from a mega pack of 12x12" papers by K&Co,
Base paper is a design by William Morris, Rabbit something. I cant tell you which one  it is as the name is on the back of the paper, lol.
Base Matt is a Cloud design by Kanban.
Dark green paper as a top Matt.
Digi Stamp by Mitzi Sato-Wiuff.

I duplicated the fairy figure in My Craft Studio, as I knew exactly what I was intending to do with it.
But this design was a bit of a step into unknown territory for me..........my thinking: Butterflies have brown or black bodies.........so the body for the wings ..........lets try a darker skin tone than I am used to........
I dont know if I got the skin tone right, I think I have. But I'm not definite, as its the first time, I have tried it.
The main base image and the duplicated fairy were all coloured with the same promarkers...
Pine, Forest Green, Lime green, Fresh Meadow, Indgio Blue, Sky Blue, Cobalt Blue, Arctic Blue, Amythyst, Orchid, Fuchia Pink, Dusky Rose, Rose Pink, Antique Pink, Ruby, Sunkissed Pink, Pale Pink, Sandstone, Cocoa, Cinamon, Chestnut.
Then I used a silver Sakura Pen for the decoration on the dress, and used versamark and clear embossing powder to glaze the fairy. I fixed her on top of the original with some clear glue. I deliberately left some of the edge of her dress trailing outside the main Image, to draw the veiwer in.
I hope you like it, xxx

Lou

I am entering this in the following Challenges:
http://thepapershelter.blogspot.co.uk/ Wings and things
http://onestitchatatimechallenge.blogspot.co.uk/ AnYthing Goes
http://stamptacularsundaychallenge.blogspot.co.uk/ 3 Layers or More
http://lovetocreatechallenge.blogspot.co.uk/ Anything Goes
http://www.vostamps.blogspot.co.uk/ Anything Goes
http://promarkerchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/week-146-theme.html Cut it out week 146

Beautiful Sister crad

Oh wow!! I LOVE how this one turned out!! Its another Morgan Fitzsimons digi stamp, Rowan, which you can get from the Scrapbook Stamp Society Shop. Do read to the bottom, as there is a scrummy give-away running.......................

I Loved doing this one, and its just one of those cards that just slipped together, with little thinking time. You know its one of those "sweet spot" moments that footballers talk about, the perfect goal, and you knew it was going to hit the back of the net the second your boot touched it type of thing. This just flowed together!
Promarkers as always and I must admit, that I didn't use the conventional skin tone colours, I used the March Hare Limited Edition, Spring Set, which I think makes for a better skin tone for the paler skins.
I wanted Rowan to be more of the pale and interesting, with dark hair and a pale complexion, and the colours were chosen to highlight the main Image of Rowan.
Glitter, Glaze and Gold Sakura pens finished the main design, and I used the Crop-a-dile for the corners. I used the Brilliance Lightning Black ink to roughly edge the picture, but didn't emboss it, merely heated the pigment ink til it bubbled, so its a very distressed gold colour.
I then layered it onto some gold Matt Mirri, and then onto some Black card stock. As it would have looked wrong trying to squeeze it onto the front of an A5 card, and it would have been lost on an A4 card, I created a 7 1/2x 8 1/4 card, by using 2 sheets of Black card, glued at the side, and scored. I punched a couple of holes to thread some purple ribbon through, and added some purple gems. and for me its a stunner!
Hope you like it to?
But in the meantime, don't forget that I mentioned a give-away.......................

Addicted to Stamps

April Blog Challenge Starts April 1st ~ April 30

*Win a Brand New Sizzix Texture Boutique!* 

Only 2 Rules

1. Follow our Blog (make sure that you do, we check)

2. Use any of our digis or clear stamps found atwww.scrapbookstampsociety.com to make a card or project and post it to your blog linking back up to ours.

 For extra chances to win

3. Post our Blinkie on your blog, leave a comment that tells us that you did. 

4. Make more cards. For every card or project you make with a differentScrapbook Stamp Society...Digi or Rubber stamp, you have an extra chance to win.

5. Have your friends come follow our blog and let us know who sent them in a comment. 

Addicted to Stamps is the Challenge Blog for Scrapbook Stamp Society Shop, do pop by and say I sent you wont you, xxxx

Wonderful email....

Well I got home yesterday, after a stressful day of driving up and down the M62 all day, and bringing darling pregnant daughter, and grandson home for a few days of "Mums cooking", to a wonderful email from a fellow crafter.............
Lindsay asked me to join the design team on her new Website and Challenge blog!! Woohoo!!

http://lejdesignschallengeblog.blogspot.co.uk/

Well come on !! Honestly, did you expect me to refuse? Of course I didn't, and there's some mahoosive candy on offer as well to get things started.............

2 parts to this, one winner will get the physical goodies you can see here, and the second winner will get 5 of the brand new digi's of their choice, so come on!1 What are you waiting for? You need to go Here and follow the instructions, come on guys and girls, lets get Lindsay's challenge blog up and running!!

Morgans Elf Flowers

Okay I posted this yesterday I think, might have been the day before, but lets do it properly shall we?
I am on the international Team for Scrapbook Stamp Society, and was given this digi to use during April, and in fairness, I had used and created a card, but the hdd went and caused all sorts of problems, all my passwords were stored in here, I was attempting to use sons Laptop to get things to people, but it wouldn't let me post photo's, you know when one thing goes wrong, everything does!!!
Safe to say that as this is the second post from me in an hour, I have my pc and settings back, just not the 1TB hdd which went, though I am running recovery software on it as we speak................
So Back to Morgans Beautiful Elf Flowers Digi...............

Okay for those that like the design, if you are from outside the UK, its unlikely you will have seen this style before. This is a Kanban Inspired Shelf Stepper card, I did use one before on my Blog hop Shades of Green card, but it probably slipped by you.

This one is supersized, using a sheet of A3 Pearlescent cardstock, in cream, at 300gsm.

The digi stamp, you can find at the Scrapbook Stamp Society shop Here, and its titled Elf Flowers By Morgan Fitzsimons, a very talented artist indeed.

so I had a base design idea in mind, as the image really needs to draw you in, so I thought for a bit, before deciding how to go with it. Promarkers, Mica, Ribbon, glaze, Glitter and stick on Butterflies, oh and some pink wheat I had saved from my anniversary Bouquet of flowers, and if you recall my hubby's atrocious memory, yes the ones that turned up 5 days early and he expected praise for remembering..............Those ones!!!

So promarkers to the fore, and a-colouring I went!! Then when I had done it all deliberately leaving the butterfly in the top right bare, I attacked it with the Tim Holtz Glossy Accents, Eyes, lips, and roses in her hair, and added a touch of glitter to the stamens on the flowers.

then walk away Lou and leave it no more fiddling til its dry!!

Next day.........out came the craft knife! Carefully and using a brand new blade, I released the butterfly wings from the picture, and removed the top right corner of the whatever plant it is, Buddlea? possibly? then I slid some paper under the wing edges, and out came the Micas............careful, not too wet a brush or you just end up with a soggy mess!! Then leave it to dry.........okay easy part done.................

Now to mount it, decisions, decisions! Green card or yellow card, or red card, green red yellow, wed wollie  wewwo lolly..........okay orange then green!!

Now for the card base...........A3 sheet of card, scored in at 1 1/2" at the front  and sides, then cut and fold the scorelines, first before marking the half fold lines. Then I tipped it on its side, and mounted the image in the recessed step. I used some pink velvet ribbon and went round the frame, and added some stick on butterflies with acetate wings for more dimension, and to tie the inside and outside of the card together. I used my hot glue gun to fix the wheat to the front, and added my last remaining strip of velvet of ribbon over the front of the wheat,

well that took some explaining didnt it?

okay off now as fingers hurting from typing, and processor not too happy with doing added tasks as well as trying to recover drive, oops!!

xxx

Okay time to Blog

Right I have had technological nightmares, hence the very short post when I managed to get things together enough to put my pc back inside the case!!
I am in the process of recovering my hard drive, so Loads of stuff is missing, and there's 3 cards that NEEEEEEEED to be blogged, and cards I finished whilst I was tearing my hair out with frustration.
This first post is about the Paper Crafting Journey card, that I was supposed to blog, late last Wednesday night, just as my hdd failed....you can guess I was pretty upset about it all, but luckily I managed to post the picture to PCJ before the whole thing went feet in the air, kicking up the daisies.
This was using a digi from Robyn's Fetish and you can find the stamp I used, Here, as I chose the fruity Strawberry digi for this card. In addition, we were also asked to use 3 different papers for this challenge, and as luck would have it I knew I had received a pack of 6x6" Raspberry road designs, papers, entitled Summer goodness, free with one of my craft magazines.

So 3 papers, a digi stamp, some promarkers, and some Spellbinders.........

Hmmn...............some red card, some DST, and some glitter....................okay!

The card was scored and folded to create a short front and large back, as the idea needed a lot of room, and  support. I used the Spellbinders Edgeabilities edge doily die to scallop the leading edge of the card, and then printed of the digi stamp in reduced repeating pattern and trimmed it using the same die.

I used promarkers to colour the digi and backing paper, but only did the backing paper in a rough style, not being too careful with the colouring.

I then cut the digi image using the Labels 23 die, and then distressed the edges of the stamp, and backing paper with Antique Linen, to remove the whiteness of the page. And layered them onto the front of the card.

Then I turned my attention to the inside of the card.............This was reasonably, easy as I already had the idea in my head.................The papers were needed and also a template from My Craft Studio Advanced Encyclopedia volume 4............Strawberries!!

I placed one sheet of the Raspberry Road papers inside the main Panel, folded another to form a Napkin, and then used the template for the small strawberries twice to create them. Used DST and a quickie glue pen to apply yellow glitter, then quickly printed a sentiment onto a very faded background of real strawberries, and hey presto card done, and I Love it!!!

 I used the digi twice in different forms, and 3 papers, and I think this is such a bright light happy card, problem is I am not one for repeating designs, so whoever gets this will be a very lucky person, hold on what am I saying? Strike that!! I aint giving it to NO-ONE!!!

xxx

oh dear what a night mare!!!!

Oh well I am fingers crossed NEVER going through that again!!!
one pics from me for now, as I have just managed to get my pc up and running, I have had a craft drive failure.............so I plugged the craft drive into the mother board, and it has been going for 72 hrs........I have unplugged the drive, and I am about to format a new one, then see wether I can recover the old drives contents, before I start the labourious process of re-loading all the artwork back on,

here she is a SCRAPBOOK STAMP SOCIETY Morgan Fitzsimons creatrion, I'll blog her properly later.........

Dont forget the give away over at SSS, a sizzix texture boutique, to one lucky commenter...........

Oh Pashe It!!!!!!

Oh dear, serves me right for not doing them before,
I have HAD to use some of my La Pashe sheets, which is why I have been a bit quiet for the past few days!!! Scroll to the bottom for the reasons why, very big OOOOOooooopppppps!

What I have left to do not Including Christmas ones, or what I have given away!!!

The Christmas ones I have got left to do, after giving loads away, but these can wait for quite a while yet, phew!!

Think I had better get a move on, serves me right for Keeping them to stroke!! Thank Heavens I have the Cd's lol.

Right better get a move on...........or they'll still be here this time next year!!!