Heartfelt Thanks

I was greatly inspired today by the current challenge at AAA Cards Challenge - I just love this colour combination!

It's always useful to have a supply of thank you cards.

What I used:

Flower dies - Mariane Designs

Leaf dies - Crafter's Companion

Background hexagon die - unbranded

Pearls - The Range

Greeting stamp - free with Papercraft Essentials

I'm also playing along with the challenges at:

Crafty Catz #693 - May Flowers

Cardz 4 Gals - Flowers

Simply Clean and Simple - CAS Flowers

613 Avenue Create

Just Us Girls #773

Thanks for visiting

Sharon

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Happy Birthday

 It's Monday which means there is a new challenge at Dream Valley Challenges ...

This week's challenge is just for fun. The theme we are following is:

SPRING COLOURS

As always the design team have come up with some inspiration to get your creative juices flowing - here's my card:

What I used:

Birthday/floral Dies - SCP Magazine No 255

Happy Die - The Range

Papers - Papermania

Pearls - The Range

I was very impressed with this birthday die given away with this month's Simply Cards and Papercraft magazine. It's a very versatile die - I've kept the negative letter to use on a future card.

I'm entering this card into the challenges at:

Seize The Birthday #280 - Spring florals

Cardz 4 Galz #221 - Spring flowers/dies

My Time To Craft #530 - multi coloured florals

Cut It Up Challenge #300 - Happy Birthday

Allsorts Challenge #773/4 - keep it simple/AG

So have a pop over at the Dream Valley Challenge Blog to see some more lovely inspiration from my teamies on the design team and have a chance at winning a prize.

Thanks for visiting

Sharon

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Smell The Roses

It's Monday which means there is a new challenge at Dream Valley Challenges ...

This week we are being sponsored by:

Ching Chou Kuik

the prize is

2 Digital stamps

and

Hetty Clare

the prize is 

3 Digital Stamps

 As always the design team have come up with some inspiration to get your creative juices flowing - here's my card:

What I used:

Image - provided by Sponsors

Coloured with - Spectrum Noir pens

Rose Paper - The Range

Striped paper - hand made

Greeting - Dancing Script font

I'm entering this card into the 'ANYTHING GOES' challenges at:

Creations In Pink #62

Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2337

Crafty Catz

Crafty Calendar - September

So have a pop over at the Dream Valley Challenge Blog to see some more lovely inspiration from my teamies on the design team and have a chance at winning a prize.

Thanks for visiting

Sharon

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Free As A Bird

Today's card is for a lovely lady I work with who is retiring - I will miss her so much! I've gone with a tropical bird theme using a lovely stamp I got with a magazine and pretty patterned backing papers. The flowers were very carefully fussy-cut!

The inside message reads... 'Spread your wings, fly high, and enjoy a long and happy retirement'.

What I used:

Flower and bird stamps - both free with SC&P magazine

Coloured with - Spectrum Noir pens

Greeting - created with 'Splendid' font

Coloured pearls - The Range

I'm playing along with the challenges at:

Creative Inspiration Challenge #2 - AG

Fab N Funky Challenge #572 - things with wings

Creative Fingers #254 - AG

Triple B Challenge (May) - Birds Butterflies and Blooms 

Critter Crazy Challenges #74 - AG (with a critter)

Krafty Chicks #662 - stamping

thanks for popping in!

Sharon

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Pink Tulips

Once again I have been glued to the TV screen watching curling so the style of today's card was always going to be very clean and simple...

What I used:

Digi image - Digistamp Boutique (now closed)

Coloured with - Spectrum Noir 

Greeting - Pumpkin Cheesecake font

I printed the image twice and fussy cut some of the flower heads and used a tiny foam pad to create depth and interest as the layout was very simple and basic.

 I'm playing along with the challenges at:

CAS on Friday - spring flowers

Crafty Catz #583 - anything goes

Krafty Chicks #599 - CAS

Simon Says Stamp (Wed) - slimline cards

Polkadoodles # 8 - anything goes

Sisterhood of Crafters - feminine including flowers

As You Like It #268 - a favourite technique. One of my favourite things to do with a stamped image is to stamp the image twice and use parts of the second image to highlight/decoupage areas of the first image using foam pads

Thanks for visiting

Sharon

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Pink Posy

Today's card is another birthday card but just to add to my 'box' - not for any special purpose...

 

I used some grey and white polka dot patterned  paper to add some interest to the background. The stem and leaves are part of a Memory Box die. I cut the original flowers off and instead used some flowers created from a set of Marianne dies. I used dull silver brads for the centre of the flowers and I also added a tiny die cut butterfly with a pearl 'body'. The greeting is hand-stamped with a stamp that came free with a magazine,

I've playing along with the challenges at:

Die Cut Divas - flowers

Watercooler Wednesday #332 - feminine

QKR Stampede #435 - AG

Dies R Us Challenge #184 - AG using a DRU brand

Fab N Funky Challenge #542 - keep it simple

Thanks for popping in!

Sharon

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Fancy Die-cut Floral 70th Birthday Card

Yesterday was my Mam's 70th Birthday so I can now share the card I made for her - I went for a sunny shade of yellow to brighten up a day with very dull and dreary weather...

What I used:

The fancy dies - very old set from Spellbinders

Number/circle dies - unbranded

Linen card - The Range

Pearls - The Range

Greeting - Paper Flowers font

The yellow was much brighter in daylight - it looks almost a mustard shade in the photo. My Mam loved it and it really stood out!

I'm playing along with the following challenges

613 Avenue Create - AG (January)

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends #173 - AG

Unicorn Challenge #72 - lots of layers

Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2202 - AG

Cut It Up Challenge #242 - birthday cards

A Perfect Time To Craft #1-2022 - AG

Thanks for visiting - stay safe

Sharon

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Blue Flowers

 Today's card combines a couple of colours I wouldn't normally put together but I think it works...

What I used:

Olive coloured Core'dinations card

Sparkly Embossed backing card - First Edition

Blue polka dot paper - Craft Sensations

Stamp - part of a free kit with SC&P # 176 - coloured with Pro-markers

Pearls - The Range

Greeting - computer generated using Paper Flowers font

This is so sparkly in the right light! Hopefully it will bring a smile to the face of my friend's Mam who is poorly at the moment. She used to make cards herself so I hope she'll like this one.

I'm playing along with the challenges at:

Crafting Happiness Challenge #109 - anything goes

Cardz 4 Gals #153 - texture TOP 3

Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2133 - anything goes

Allsorts Challenge #637/8 - add some sparkle

Gem of a Challenge #17 - anything goes

Thanks for stopping by

Sharon

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Boot-iful Day

 It's Monday which means there is a new challenge at Dream Valley Challenges ...

There's no sponsor for this challenge but the blog owner Marlene is kindly providing a prize for a randomly selected entrant.  

As always the design team have come up with some inspiration to get your creative juices flowing - here's my card:

What I used:

Digi - Bugaboo

Coloured with Spectrum Noir markers

Dies - nestie rectangles - Spellbinder

Flower Die - The Range

Papers - craft Sensations Basic Fine Art block

Greeting - Reklame Script Regular

I'm entering this card into the challenges at:

Crafter's Castle #40 - Spring

Inkspirational Challenge #236 - grow

613 Avenue Create #4 - in the garden

Chocolate Baroque - Springtime

The Paper Players - Springtime flowers

So have a pop over at the Dream Valley Challenge Blog to see some more lovely inspiration from my teamies on the design team and have a chance at winning Marlene's prize.

Thanks for visiting

Sharon

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Spring Tulips

Nothing says Spring has arrived more than seeing tulips everywhere! Now that the weather has improved I've been out walking and there's some lovely bursts of colour in local gardens - I wish I had green fingers!

Today's card uses some lovely tulip themed toppers and papers that came with Making Cards Magazine a couple of years ago...

I do like the net effect of these toppers - so pretty.

What I've used:

Toppers and papers - Making Cards Magazine

Circle Nesties dies - Spellbinders

Teal coloured linen card - Core-dinations

Flat-backed pearls - The Range

Computer generated greeting - Paper flowers font

I'm playing along with the challenges at:

Crafty Sentiments #16 - anything goes 

Daisy Chain Challenge #50 - flowers

Daring Cardmakers - plant a flower

Always Fun Challenge #205 - Spring

Through The Craft Room Door (16/3) - anything goes

Thanks for visiting

Sharon

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Krafty Floral Wreath

 I was greatly inspired for today's card by the sketch at AAA Cards...

What a very clean sketch - I love it!

I used an old wreath image from Digistamp Boutique which I coloured with Spectrum Noir blendable pencils. These are lovely to use - the colour really pops on the kraft card. I mounted the image on a white stitched edge die cut square and added a die cut greeting.

I'm also playing along with the challenges at:

Crafty Catz #539 - anything goes/in the garden

Krafty Chicks #547 - clean and simple

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends #152 - anything goes

Colour Crazy Challenge wk 7 - anything goes

Thanks for visiting

Sharon 

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Daisy Daisy

One of my favourite challenges over the years has been the clean and simple Less Is More who are celebrating their 10th Birthday - where has the last 10 years gone???

It is also one layer week which I always find a challenge as I'm not a stamper - thankfully I have files full of digi images. I've used and old image from Digistamp Boutique to create this quick card...

I've elongated the image and printed it on bright white card. The greeting was created using the appropriately named Paper Flowers font. I used a black fineliner to colour the frame and spectrum noir pens to colour the delicate daisy image.

I've cut the base card to create a long thin card for a change - most of my cards are square or A5.

I'm also playing along with the challenges at:

Alphabet Challenge - W is for woodland flora or fauna

As You Like It Challenge - digi, rubber or clear... always digi for me - I like the flexibility of being able to resize the images to suit the card I'm making, They also take up a lot less space. Plus, there's loads of freebie images out there!

Thanks for visiting

Sharon

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Happy Day

I'm trying to use up stash I have had for years including freebies that come with magazines. I have hundreds of these - I used to review magazines for publishing companies and got sent 4 or 5 magazines each month! These floral chipboard pieces came as part of a kit with a magazine many moons ago...

I kept the design simple using some pink graph paper as the background matted on some bright cheerful fuschia coloured card. The greeting also came with the kit.

I'm entering this card into the challenges at:

Fab N Funky Challenge #509 - anything goes

Watercooler Wednesday #307 - feminine twist

Through The Craft Room Door (02/02) - anything goes

Ellibelle's Crafty Wednesday (Feb) - hearts or flowers

Crafty Sentiments - anything goes

Unicorn Challenge #62 - use flowers

Thanks for visiting - stay safe

Sharon

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White Roses on Kraft

 A quick card today made with a variety of dies...

I've used a kraft card base and added a square of corrugated kraft card. For the 'roses' I've used three abstract circle dies from Wish with flat-backed pearls in the centre. The foliage dies are from the £1 dies from The Range

I've added a greeting using an arrow word die from The Works. The kraft card really makes the white dies 'pop' doesn't it.

I'm playing along with the current 'Anything Goes' challenges at:

The Creative Crafters #36

A Bit More Time To Craft

Creative Fingers #199

Crafter's Castle #37

A Gem Of A Challenge #2

Crafty Catz #534

Thanks for popping in

Sharon

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Grey Daisies

A quick card today using some pretty yellow and grey patterned papers and an old Digistamp Boutique vase of daisies digi...

The image was coloured with Pro Markers and mounted on a fancy scalloped circle die - isn't it strange how photography changes colours - in real life the vase is exactly the same colour as the yellow patterned paper!!

 I'm a bit disappointed with how the background colouring turned out - it looks a bit patchy. I've added a greeting created using KG Sorry Not Sorry font.

I'm playing along with the challenges at:

Tuesday Throwdown #460 - anything goes

The Paper Shelter #433 - going digital

Simon Says Stamp #74 - anything goes

Passion For Promarkers #548 - use a die

Crafty Sentiments #23 - anything goes

Thanks for visiting today

Sharon

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Tulips

There's some lovely tulip images and papers in the latest issue of Making Cards magazine...

I've used two of the matching papers with this lovely image, matted on red card. The layout has been kept simple and the only embellishments are 3 tiny pearls. The greeting has been created in Publisher using Formal font.

I'm playing along with the challenges at:

Incy Wincy Designs - anything goes
All Fun Challenges #8 - anything goes
Crafty Friends Challenge #135 - flowers
Lil Patch Of Crafty Friends #132 - anything goes
Allsorts Challenge #571/2 - anything goes

Thanks for visiting

Stay safe

Sharon
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Happy Birthday Flowers

Another quick card for my box - I should have a good supply by the time I get back to work...

I've used 3 different patterned papers from my stash, some dark pink card and a variety of flower and circle dies. The greeting is also die cut and I've added silver Card Candi for the centres of the flowers - I really wish  Craftwork Cards still made Candi!

I'm playing along with the challenges at:

Crafty Friends Challenge #133 - anything goes
Sisterhood of Crafters - happy birthday
Allsorts Challenge #568 - flowers or showers
Crafty Sentiments Challenge - happy birthday

thanks for visiting
stay safe

Sharon
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Lilies

I've been trying to make a card every other day during isolation to build up my stocks. Some are better than others - this is one I actually like...

I love die-cut decoupage - this image was from Create and Craft and was very quick to put together with tiny foam pads. I used delicately patterned paper in shades of green as backing and added a die-cut scallop border down one edge.  The greeting was created in Publisher and I added three flat-backed pearls as embellishments.

I'm playing along with the challenges at:

Dragonfly Dreams Challenge - flowers
Paper Girls Challenge #197 - florals
Crafty Sentiments - anything goes
Make My Monday #120 - spring flowers

Thanks for visiting

Sharon
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CAS Flowers

Today's card was made with bits from my scraps box...
 

I've used a scrap of patterned paper, a strip of corrugated paper and two die-cut flowers (Memory Box die). The greeting was created in Publisher.

Isn't it funny how colours photograph a slightly different shade! The base card and the corrugated strip are the same colour in real life!

I'm playing along with the challenges at:

QKR Stampede #391 - anything goes

Creative Knockouts #343 - anything goes

Crafty Friends #132 - anything goes

Addicted To CAS #181 - texture

Thanks for visiting

Sharon

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