Playing With Poppies...

Hey!

Well what a gorgeous weekend it's been - I hope this lovely weather lasts into the working week. Sunshine is the best motivation to get me outta bed and into work!

I was determined today to finally get a moment to play with my new Papertrey Ink goodies. I've had them in my possession since Friday and have been itching to play with them since I ordered them!

My new stamp set (Remember) fitted in perfectly with the current Inspirations and Themes challenge over at ILWS set as always by my lovely bloggin' buddy Kate. In fact, as I was playing along, I began to wonder if Kate had some kinda psychic powers because my new PTI goodies just seemed to belong to this challenge! To get inspiration from this pictures was easy for me this time LOL!
Though I still needed a little kick-start with the layout so played along with Jen Del Muro's Saturday Sketch - a nice simple but fun layout:
So after some fun stamping, cutting, and sticking I came up with this:

I felt that I needed a focal point on my card so I stamped a bold poppy in pure poppy ink and embossed with clear embossing powder. This way, I could stamp over this poppy and wipe away the ink that settled on top of it. It also makes the poppy nice and shiny - I promise it is IRL but my camera (or should that be my photography skills..) couldn't pick it up well!
Just for fun (and an excuse to stamp more!) I decorated inside the card too. It was the perfect justification for bodging up my bitty paper (I had measured it wrong - I do this on nearly EVERY card I make LOL!)

I'm just loving my new set - the sentiments are just gorgeous as well as the poppies and there's soooooo many different designs I could create with just this one stamp set, it's so versatile! Just one of the many reasons I love PTI products...

Card Recipe
(All PTI Products Unless Stated)
Stamps: Remember
Ink: Pure Poppy, Memento Black
Card: White (from stash!), Pure Poppy, True Black, Black Bitty Dot Basics
Accessories: Pure Poppy Ribbon, White Vintage Button, Detail Clear Embossing Powder, Cuttlebug, Nestabilities,

Have a fab week and I'll catch ya later for some more crafting fun!

Aimes
x

Back Down To Earth!

Hey!

Wow what a scorcher of a Saturday! I hope you managed to enjoy the sun (safely!) wherever you are today!

OK so firstly can I just say THANK YOU for your really sweet comments not only here, but over on the SASI blog too. *Hugs* to you all! It made me feel so blessed to have such lovely comments from such lovely people as yourselves! I really was smiling from ear to ear reading them!

But enough of the slushfest, let's get down to business! LOL! So after my little excitement yesterday, life was back to normal today. My niece, Ruby, is 2 tomorrow - she's such a cutie! Therefore, I had the exact image I wanted to play with for her card. For once, I didn't follow any sketches - I had this one ready in my head to make!
I hope you like it! I know it's a continuation of the cupcake theme but note that it doesn't contain a speck of green or a birdie in sight! The image is from my lovely friend Kate from an image swap. I'm not fortunate enough to own all the Taylored Expressions sets but I would love to add a couple more sets to my collection!

But do you want to know the coolest thing about this card?!?! The cake is FLUFFY! That's right - FLUFFY! How cool is that!?! I was busy colouring away with my Promarkers and had a brainwave - sponge cake should be fluffy and light so I applied my quickie glue pen and sprinkled some yellow Doodlebug Crushed Velvet Flock. The pic doesn't do it justice but it's so cute and fluffy to touch! I had the same expression on my face as the cuppie whilst stroking it! LOL! I could almost eat it - yummy!

I'm going to enter this for the first challenge over on the Passsion for Promarkers blog. For their first challenge all you gotta do is use any Promarkers on a card - easy huh?! It's by no means the best (have you checked out the talent over there!?!) but it's certainly cute!

Promarkers Recipe
Cupcake: Blossom, Rose Pink, Carmine, Pastel Blue, Cornflower, Berry Red
Cake: Blossom, Lavender, Berry Red
Shadowing: Ice Grey 2, Ice Grey 4

Card Recipe
Stamps: Taylored Expressions - Sweet Celebration
Paper: Doodlebug Bazzill - Posie Pink, Doodlebug Stripes DP
Accessories: Cuttlebug, Nestabilities, Velvet Ribbon (Paperchase), Doodlebug Crushed Velvet Flock - Yellow & Pink, Transfer Letters (Scrapworks Color Rubz - Upper West Side Font) Promarkers, White Gel Pen

Thanks so much for stopping by! Hope you all have a super sunny Sunday!

Catch ya later!

Aimes
x

My 15 Minutes of Fame! LOL!

Hey!

Well it’s the end of another week – I hear you cheer “Woo Hoo!” but for me, it means it’s the end of my holiday from work :o( I’m certainly not down in the dumps though, as I have some REALLY exciting news to share with you all! Y’see although I haven’t posted much this week, I have been a busy bee but had to keep it hush hush until now…

Earlier this week I received an email from Jami Sibley who is a part of Taylored Expressions – y’know the company that make the cute cupcake stamps!? Jami spotted my card in the Splitcoaststampers gallery and asked me to be ‘Our Friday Friend’ the over on theStamp a Sweet Impression blog! Well as you can imagine I had to email straight back to see where the stitch up was LOL! However, to my amazement it was all genuine! WOW! I was soooooo excited that I wanted to tell the world there and then! I had (and still have) the biggest Cheshire Cat grin stuck to my face!

So over the last couple of days I was asked to create a card based on today’s Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge # 70 designed by Taylor Van Bruggen. I felt so privileged to have had a sneak peek at the sketch! As well as this I had answer a few questions about myself for an interview – not that I think I’m that interesting but it goes with the job!

So no pressure then eh? LOL! After a sleepless night trying to rack my brains I finally came up with my card. Here’s a sneak peek of it but if you wanna check it out in full (along with my interview) you’ll have to visit the SASI blog. I really hope you do because I’d love you to not only check out my little piece of fame, but also the work of the others (much more talented in my opinion) stampers – I’m in awe at their work!

Card Recipe

(Just in the hope it might encourage you to pop across to check it out LOL!)

Stamps: Taylored Expressions, Doctors Orders

Ink: Memento – Tuxedo Black

Papers: K and Co Belle Matt Pad by Amy Butler

Others: Promarkers, Cuttlebug, Nestabilities, Cuttlebug Embosing Folder Spots and Dots, White Gel Pen, Pink Bling (Hero Arts), Dimensional sticker from Papermania, Green Ribbon (from my collected stash!)

I will post my card up in full sometime over the weekend - I just wanted to be able to say it 'premiered' over on the SASI blog LOL! What am I like? Next thing I know I'll be demanding a red carpet to get outta bed LOL!

Oh and if you’re wondering, those sweet cupcake stamps are a dream to work with. Not only are they made from the cutest pink rubber but they stamp very clear lines and clean beautifully! Mine have been used quite a bit and yet they're still the sweetest shade of pink!

I’ve also been busy creating a few other bits n bobs this week that I’m just dying to share with you but you’ll just have wait as I’m afraid of the intended recipients sneaking a peek and spoiling a surprise!

Happy Cupcake Friday and have super duper weekend!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Cupcake Hugs!

Aimes

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Getting The Mojo Going!

Hey!

I hope you all had a fab bank holiday weekend - we had a scorcher! The weather took a typical turn for the worse on Monday evening (in true bank holiday style!) but it was still lovely!

So today is officially my first day of half term - woo hoo! (yesterday didn't count as everyone else was off too!) So I made a bee-line for my crafting corner this morning. I'm surprised that I haven't even managed to stamp a single image over the weekend - been soooooo busy!

To get my mojo into gear I decided to play along with the Mojo Monday sketch (week 88). Here's the sketch:To add to this, I decided to play along with Dawn McVey's Raspberry Suite colour challenge #7.
Such scrummy colours! That raspberry was screaming out Raspberry Fizz so I decided to play using my Papertrey Ink stash (which is depleting rapidly LOL!)

Here's what I came up with:
I hope you like it! The only thing not PTI on here is the white card and brads (which I had to paint with white acrylic paint as I had no white brads at all!)
I attempted to stamp on the ribbon - I'm not sure if I like it but as I'd stamped it I thought 'Hey, I might as well use it!' LOL!

Card Recipe
(All Papertrey Ink Unless Stated)
Stamps: Around & About Sentiments
Ink: Raspberry Fizz, Ripe Avocado
Card: Raspberry Fizz, Ripe Avocado, Spring Moss, Ripe Avocado Bitty Dot Basics, White (from my stash)
Accessories: Ripe Avocado Ribbon, Cuttlebug, Nestabilities, Cuttlebug Swirls Embossing Folder, Pink Jewel (from stash), Brads (from stash), White Acrylic Paint (to alter the brads!)

Thanks so much for stopping by, I hope to post a bit more this week but for now I must dash as I need to get ready to go and see Counting Crows live (Sooooooooooooo excited I think I might burst! LOL!)

Catch ya later!

Aimes
x

Friday - Woo Hoo!!!

Hey!

Happy Friday everyone!!! I'm especially happy as it'll very soon officially be Half Term which means, you guessed it, more time for housework oops I mean crafting LOL!

So before I start I just thought I'd say a HUGE thanks to the ever so lovely Alison for nominating me for this blog award.

This blog award is slightly different as it requires me to reveal 10 honest things about myself - I'm not sure if you'll be back if I'm truly honest (LOL!)

Okay, so here goes:

1. I have no middle name!

2.I am a natural red-head, my hair DOES NOT come from a bottle!

3.With reference to no.2, I do and have always had one strand of white hair since I was a baby!

4. I deal with pretty much any situation with humour - I know it's inappropriate at times but I can't help it!

5. My older brother had a pet tarantula that he used to threaten me with.

6. I have a fear of Spiders (probably something to do with no.5...)

7. I drive an automatic car even though I'm qualified to drive a manual (I'm just lazy LOL!)

8.I have a degree in Law though I hardly seem to use it!

9. My fave tipple is a refreshing G&T

10. I am a night owl - I can stay up soooooo late without struggling but I hate the mornings!

Okay so are you still with me? Well if you are then I now have to pass this on to 7 people who I would like to get to know a little better....

So in alphabetical order, and apologies if you have received this already, I would like to get to know:

1. Alex
2. Debbi
3. Emma
4. Kate
5. Sarah B
6. Steph (though I know you're not bloggin' at the mo - I miss your blog honey! You can do this for your shiny new one when you come back from Florida - I'm sooooo jealous!)
7. Erm...well I sadly don't know anyone else who I think will do it...it can be yourself and if you choose to do it then leave a comment so I can come and check it out!

Thanks so much for stopping by and sorry to bore you, I promise I'll get crafty as soon as and post!

Catch ya later!

Aimes
x

Now for something completely different....

Hey!

Hope you're having a super Sunday - if a little soggy LOL!

Limited time to craft today as although I ache a little after my long walk yesterday, it hasn't proved a good enough excuse to not do any housework :o(

With the little spare time I had, I thought today I'd play along with the Inspiration and Themes Challenge over on ILWS set by the ever so lovely Kate. We had to take inspiration from this pic:WOW! What bold contrasting colours to play with eh? I was soooooo wishing I had the Damask Designs set from Papertrey Ink to play with as this set popped straight into my head when seeing this pic - typical eh?!

As I don't own Damask Designs, this challenge really did take me out of my comfort zone (unlike the last one!) but I did have a sketch from Taylored Expresions to play along with to help:
This is the final result (WARNING: You may need your sunglasses LOL!)

Okay so I know this isn't 'my style' but I enjoyed playing along nonetheless. I wasn't really sure whether to post it up or not as I still can't make my mind up about it! In fact I can't even make up my mind as to what 'my style' is LOL!!
Card Recipe
Stamps: The Stamp Barn: Sunshine Designs
Inks: Whispers Dye Ink - Green Leaf, Papertrey Ink - Raspberry Fizz
Papers: Papertrey Ink - Raspberry Fizz, Doodlebug Bazzill - Limeade, Bazzill Dotted Swiss - Pepper
Accessories: Cuttlebug, Nestabilities, Papertrey Ink Ribbon (Raspberry Fizz), Flowers, Brads, White Gel Pen

Thanks so much for stopping by - I promise to come up with something more 'my style' next time!

Aimes
x

Tired legs....

Hey!

I hope you're all having a fab weekend so far! I've been a busy gal so far...today I completed a walk (9 miles long!) to raise money for breast cancer around Carsington Reservoir - the weather was fine for most of it, but at the end we got drenched (luckily we all had waterproofs on and saw the funny side!) My legs are starting to ache a little now but I've had a soak and now want to share with you my feeble attempt at sewing my own corsage (see previous post for an explanation!)

So with a little bit of help from my mum I managed to create a corsage - it's nothing fab but I thought I'd share it with you for a giggle more than anything!Fortunately it's saved by the centrepiece (courtesy of mum) which is actually a piece that's broken from a necklace.
As I was attempting to sew this I was thinking - you could do the same thing with ribbon and place a button in the middle. I think it could make a cute little embellishment!

Right then before I go just a couple of pics from our walk - notice the dry start and soggy finish LOL! It really was a fab day out and raised a super amount of money for breast cancer - roll on next year!

Hoping to find some time tomorrow to craft so off to rest now!
Thanks for stopping by!

Aimes
x

Just What The Doctor Ordered

Hey!

Phew! What a crazy day at work! Soooooo much stuff going off that I'm finding it hard to remember to breathe in and out LOL!

Anyways, after my crazy day I came home to find a nice little package containing a little something to help me de-stress. I just had to have this stamp set (Doctor's Orders) from Taylored Expressions - it's sooooooo cute! (Acutally it's a belated Easter gift from my bf!)

I'm pretty sure that any doctor would order me to stamp after the day I've had LOL! So by being good and following doctor's orders, I've had a little stamp (which is a rarety during the working week!) and a play and this is just a little something I came up with:

Nothing super duper but for a 15min job I'm kinda liking it! The card was based on this sketch from the Jen Del Muro Saturday Sketch.

I'm hoping to have a proper play this weekend with this set. That is, after a 9mile walk I'm doing to raise funds for Breast Cancer! (A charity really close to my heart after losing both family and friend in the last year to the illness.) My friends have decided we all need to make a material corsage with pink in it somewhere so we feel a 'group identity'! I'm actually panicking slightly at the prospect of me trying to sew - I did consider cheating and making a paper one (after all, I do consider myself a paper-crafter!) but then if it rains it'll be all soggy! Oh well, whatever I create I'll be sure to post it here for a giggle LOL!

Card Recipe
Stamps: Taylored Expressions - Doctor's Orders, Papertrey Ink - Around & About Sentiments
Ink: Memento - Tuxedo Black
Card/Paper: K and Co - Amy Butler, Belle Matt Pad
Accessories: Promarkers, Cuttlebug, Nestabilities, Swiss Dots Embossing Folder, Button (Basic Grey), Twine (IKEA), Paper Crimper

Thanks for visiting - I really appreciate it!

Catch ya later!
Aimes
x

P.S Check the out the link in my sidebar to some scrumptious Birthday Blog Candy courtesy of Dawn! x

No Birds Allowed!

Hey!

So another weekend draws to a close but it's been a good one with fab weather (though not this morning!) Last week was so stressful and busy I was really grateful to just kick back and chill out the last couple of days!

Of course, I did manage to find some time to play in my crafty corner today and create a complete bombshell of a mess! I'd only tidied it the day before whilst sorting out some goodies for my crafty niece (I'm hoping she'll take after her Aunty Aimes! She's only 11 but already got the card making bug!)

So today I set myself a challenge - to make a card containing no birds and no green card/paper! (Which reminds me; have you checked out the sneak peek of Papertrey Ink's release this month? Such a gorgeous bird set that I'm finding increasingly hard to resist LOL!)

It's a challenge to take myself out of my creative comfort zone - you don't know how close I came to caving in and indulging myself in Papertrey's Ripe Avocado but I stayed strong and I'm glad I did because this is what I came up with:

It's based on this sketch from Our Creative Corner
My brayer was glad to be back in use again - it's been abandoned recently. I know the scene has trees which are closely connected to birds but I think I still passed my little challenge (The green ink doesn't count btw!)

Personally, I think it's gone a bit OTT with loadsa different things going off but you can't take off what you've done so it's stayin' put!

Card Recipe
Stamps: Hobby Art Tree Scene
Ink: Versamagic Chalk Ink: Jumbo Java & Hint of Pesto. Adirondack Dye Ink: Latte & Ginger. Whispers Ink: Sunshine. SU! Ink: Chocolate Chip & Pumpkin Pie. Marvy Blending Blox: Shades of Blue.
Card/Paper: Basic Grey Bittersweet Collection
Accessories: Brayer, Sponge, Cuttlebug, Nestabilities, Stitching Transfer (Creative Cafe), Button (Basic Grey), String (Ikea), Paper Piercer, White Gel Pen

I also managed to make a card for my niece to wish her tons of good luck for her SATs starting tomorrow (Eeek!), along with some cool Hannah Montana stickers & stationary of course! I was in such a hurry to give it to her I forgot to take a pic 'D'oh!' Oh well if I do get a pic I'll post it soon!

Thanks so much for stopping by, I really appreciate it and the comments you leave too!

Catch ya later!
Aimes
x

Wow!

Hey again!

Just a quick note to give Steph the HUGEST HUG ever! Steph has nominated me for a blog award - yay!! Thanks so much Steph, it's truly appreciated! If you haven't already, you should definitely check out Steph's blog, loadsa fab creations combined with equally fab blog candy ;o)
So now I have to pass this on, I'll try to pass it on to people who haven't received it yet so if you've already got it I'd more than likely have passed it on to you myself (does this make sense?!?)

So in no particular order (well actually it's alphabetical LOL!) I'm passing on this award to:

1. Alex

2. Alison

3. Debbi

4. Emma


Thanks for stopping by!

Aimes
x

P.S I know I haven't nominated many - you all seem to already have the award! If you're thinking "Hey, why didn't she pick me?!" then leave me a comment and I'd be more than happy to pop by and visit and even nominate if your blog is lovely (which I'm sure it will be!)

Three Challenges in One!

Hey!

Well the Bank Holiday is nearly over :o( we had some fab weather; so fab that I couldn't justify spending too much time in my crafty corner so I've been out and about walking around the beautiful Peak District. I always feel a tinge of guilt that I have this breathtaking scenery right on my front doorstep and never seem to appreciate it enough!

So today the weather is more typical of a Bank Holiday, dull and slightly rainy LOL! Oh well, it gives me the perfect excuse to bury myself away in my crafty corner and get creative. My mojo has been lacking recently, I'm not sure why but I'm really struggling to come up with ideas! Fortunately for me though, the amazingly awe-inspiring Kate helped kick the mojo into gear with her Inspirations and Themes challenge over on the ILWS forum. I found it very easy to get inspiration from this pic:
The colours are sooooooo me and that pattern is divine! I decided to take the colours as my inspiration starting point, (I've not got any leafy/flowery stamps - a gap in my crafting stash that I 'must' fill soon!)

Next for the layout: I came across this sketch on Taylored Expressions and loved it! I knew then exactly which stamp I could christen with this sketch - yup another stamp I HAD to have but haven't used yet!

Finally over on A Passion For Paptertrey, I checked out the new challenge which was to use recycled bits n bobs on a card (as well as at least one PTI product of course!)

So with the whole card practically designed for me, that left me with the sole job of piecing it together. Here's what I came up with!I hope you like it! I know I know it's yet another bird themed stamp but I'm just loving the bird theme at the mo, I'm sure I'll change onto something else real soon! (Apologies for the dull pics, the weather just isn't complimenting my photography today LOL!)
The recycled elements involve most of the card - all of the paper/card are from cut-offs apart from the grey which I found while rooting through my paper/card file. In fact it's so recycled that the scalloped piece of card covers lots of joins as the pieces of card I had to play with weren't quite long enough! Even the ribbon was from some choccies - the choccies, needless to say, are now long gone!I don't own a scalloped edge border punch (Yet!), so I had to trim a piece of card and then, using one edge of a rectangular scalloped nestie, run it through my cuttlebug. I'm kinda impressed at the result, though I still think I need to purchase a border punch as I love scalloped edges!

Card Recipe
Stamps: Penny Black - Birds on a Wire, PTI - Around & About Sentiments
Ink: Versamagic Chalk Ink - Jumbo Java
Card: Card Designer Cropping Block - Grey, PTI - Ripe Avocado Bitty Dot Basics, Dark Chocolate
Accessories: Nestabilities, Cuttlebug, Ribbon (From Choccies), Basic Grey Buttons, Tim Holtz Brads

On a final note, if you haven't already clicked the link to the super talented Kate, why not may I ask?!? If you do you're in for a treat as she has some D.E.L.I.C.I.O.U.S Blog Candy to tempt you with! I'm not kidding, I don't normally enter blog candy giveaways as I stuggle enough to store what I have but even I couldn't resist the temptation on this giveaway LOL!

Go on, you know you want to LOL!

Thanks so much for stopping by, I really appreciate it!
Catch ya later!

Aimes
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