WOW!

Hey!

Hope your weekend has been a good one! I have to say I'm a little down that Murray just couldn't get enough points past the King of Tennis aka Federer but boy, what a final! I'm convinced that his time will come...

...but apart from that I've been kinda happy. Some of you may know already but the grin on my face is a result of winning PTI's Guest Star Stamper contest for January!!! I won the category for use of a previous stamp set with my scraptastic card.

The prize is a stamp set of my choice but the fact that the queen of cards herself, Nicole Heady stated: "Amy's concept revolutionized the way I look at my background sets!" is the total icing on the cake for me! Nicole is one of my stamping idols so I really am on Cloud 9! Thanks so much to all you lovely people who have commented, emailed and even facebooked me to congratulate me and let me know! I was in the dark until Saturday - that'll teach me for being too busy to check out the Internet! Much love and inky hugs to you all *MWAH!*

So what to share with you today/tonight.....well I haven't had a chance to get inky this weekend so I'm going to share a card that I made for one of my bestest ever bloggin' buddies, Kate. This card was for her birthday:


I was still on my masking kick using Friends 'til the End, and knowing Kate is a HUGE fan of Aqua Mist, this card kinda made itself LOL!


I used a Versamark pen to add some subtle shading to the flowers - I love the effect of this!

Card Recipe
(All PTI supplies)
Stamps: Friends 'til the End
Ink: Dark Chocolate/Fresh Snow
Cardstock: Aqua Mist/Stamper's Select White/Dark Chocolate
Accessories: White Vintage Buttons/Cream Button Twine/White Gel Pen/Versamark Pen

OK apologies for the quick post but tea is on the table (Mmmm, curry!) so I'm gonna go gobble that up and hope to catch up around Blogland and see what wonderful inspiration I can get from you all!

Catch ya later!
Aimes
x

P.S Just a little shout-out to my bloggin buddy, Alex who has some delicious Blog Candy up for grabs! Hurry though, it ends on Wednesday!

Inspired by Nature...

Hey!

Happy Friday Eve! LOL! How's your week been so far? Mine has been busy, busy though if you've not noticed already, I've found some time to decorate the blog a little...I was wanting a fresher look so what d'ya think? I'd love to get three columns sorted on here but my HTML skills aren't so hot after long days at work so that'll be work-in-progress I guess and will involve some major sucking up to my super geek guy ;D

Anyways, I thought I'd share a card with you that I made for our current challenge on our PTI blog!


The idea is to be inspired by nature. I'd love to say I've got these beautiful blooms outside my window but that would be fibbing. I can't wait for spring to come around now, I have to say I'm bored of winter now!

I've never been a huge fan of Melon Berry but I was determined to throw myself outta my comfort zone and get stamping!


I used a masking technique to stamp my blooms and leaves so they overlap nicely without the images merging into one another. I've also kept the masks I've made and already used them on another card that I'm really kinda excited about - though I'm saving that card for another day ;D

As the card base is Dark Chocolate, I decided to stick a nestie shape cut from vintage cream inside and stamp an additional bloom.


That border was soooooo easy to do - simply decided to draw around the acutal nestie with a white gel pen. I like the effect of that border. Now I only wish I had a gel pen filled with Vintage Cream ink....

Card Recipe
Stamps: Friends til the End
Ink: Dark Chocolate
Cardstock: Dark Chocolate/Melon Berry/Vintage Cream
Accessories: Cuttlebug/Nestabilities/Cream Vintage Buttons/Vintage Cream Satin Ribbon/Cream Ribbon Twine/White Gel Pen

Full deets of our challenge are on the PTI Blog. We had a fabulous turn out for our last challenge with plenty of inspiration so I'm hoping the same will be true for this challenge! Obviously I would love for you to play along, you need only use one PTI product on your creation to qualify!

Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you have a fabulous FRIDAY!

Catch ya later!
Aimes
x

Look Inside...

Hey!

Happy Monday (well, it's only just still Monday on this side of the Atlantic!) and a big hello if you've hopped on here from the PTI Blog Hop! I hope you've all had a fabulous weekend and like me, counting down the days until the next one LOL!

Today I'm sharing my entry for the PTI Blog Hop for January and for this 'hop' we were challenged to create the total package when it comes to our cards. I'm talking the inside, outside, back of and packaging of a card!

I'm going to confess that I cheated slightly; I decided to decorate the inside of a card that I'd already made. Seeing as I spent so much time on the outside of it previously, it felt good to spend just as much time making the inside nice too!

So I started with this card that some of you may already have seen:

Then, I got started with decorating the inside...

I wanted to keep it pretty clean and simple, but I think one day I may try creating a whole living room inside a card...I'm thinking I could use my Remember set to design some wallpaper to match that cute picture on the wall!

If you can't tell already, the chair and table pop-up. This was simply done by cutting two lines on my card insert and reverse folding them to create a tab to stick my chair and table on to!

Oh how I wish I owned a chair covered in this design!


OK so I think you get the idea, right?! Now I did decorate an envelope too, stamping the same chair on it as I used for the card but in my dippy state I forgot to include it in the pic - D'oh! Oh well, I hope you can forgive me and just trust me on that one!

Card Recipe
Stamps: Polka Dot Basics II/On My Couch/On My Couch Additions/Vintage Labels
Ink: Versamark/Pure Poppy/Dark Chocolate/Ripe Avocado/Fresh Snow
Card: Enchanted Evening/Pure Poppy/Stamper's Select White
Accessories: Cuttlebug/Nestabilities/White Detail EP/Ripe Avocado Grosgrain Ribbon/White Gel Pen/Promarkers

Decorating the inside of my cards is definitely something I'm going to try and do more and more!

Thank you so much for stopping by! I hope to catch up on the Blog Hop at a reasonable hour in my own time-zone so I can't wait to see what inspirational creations I'll find!

Catch ya later!
Aimes
x

Spotlight? Me? No way!

Hey!

I'm still here just in case you're wondering! Can't you just tell that I'm back at work now; the snow has thawed and I'm back into the swing of working hard and finding hardly any time to get inky *sob*

I've still managed to have a little surf around Blogland only to find some news that really put a smile on my face. I've been selected for In The Spotlight by the one and only Miss Dawn McVey for the RSCC #21 with my Potato Optional card! I feel so honoured!

Anyways, I'll spare you with the long soppy speech about just how thrilled I am and get on with a card, I'm guessing that's what you're here for after all ;D

This card was for my mum's birthday which happened to be on Boxing Day so you can tell how long this pic has been waiting to be uploaded LOL! My mum's a sucker for pink and flowers too so it just seemed so appropriate to go with this idea ;D

Card Recipe
(PTI Supplies Unless Stated!)
Stamps: Polka Dot Basics II/Around & About Sentiments
Ink: Sweet Blush/Dark Chocolate
Card: Hibiscus Burst/Sweet Blush/Dark Chocolate Bitty Dot Basics
Accessories: Flower/Dark Chocolate Vintage Button/Cream Button Twine

I know work is super busy but my aim will be to post twice a week (at least!) and I'm sooooo looking forward to the weekend to find some time to chillax and get creative!

Wishing you all fabulous Friday and a wonderful weekend!

Catch ya later!
Aimes
x

More Couch Love!

Hey!

Happy Monday (Do they exist?!)! Hope your weekend was fabby and you're into the swing of the working week (only 4 more working days until the next weekend!)

Over the weekend I gave my On My Couch set some more inky love and also got busy with my heat gun. It's been waaaaay too long since I've heat embossed, I forgot how much fun it was to watch that powder melt!

This has to be one of my favourite PTI Colour Combos! The embossed bits, if you can't tell, are my background panel of Polka Dots and the Sentiment; both stamped with Versamark and covered with Detail White EP. I ♥ detail embossing powder, means the finest of lines can be embossed without any blobby bits!

Card Recipe
Stamps: Polka Dot Basics II/On My Couch/On My Couch Additions/Vintage Labels
Ink: Versamark/Pure Poppy/Dark Chocolate/Ripe Avocado/Fresh Snow
Card: Enchanted Evening/Pure Poppy/Stamper's Select White
Accessories: Cuttlebug/Nestabilities/White Detail EP/Ripe Avocado Grosgrain Ribbon/White Gel Pen

This card is for our new challenge over on our PTI Blog! All you've gotta do is feature embossing on your creations and it doesn't have to be the heat gun kind! Think about embossing Nestabilities, using Embossing Folders or your traditional stencil and ball tool!

Well still snowing here - beginning to wonder if it will ever stop?! The scariest thing is that Sheffield council think they've run out of grit after today - eek! Could be a slippery few days!

Catch ya later!
Aimes
x

Edited to add: My Lil' Clippie card & Potato Optional card made the CAS Faves over on SCS this week! Whoop! I'm really chuffed!

Skater Boy!

Hey!

So how's your weekend been?! I spent most of mine trying to persuade Chris to leave the apartment - I'm starting to feel a little cornered having spent a whole week here! But alas, the car wasn't going to drive nicely so a long walk sufficed instead!

During the chaotic weather, I managed to miss my nephew's birthday. I felt kinda guilty but luckily the presents had been posted to my parents (who live around the corner from him) so he got the one thing he probably desired the most on his special day anyways!

Today I'm sharing the card that I made for his birthday, he's not seen it yet but I'm doubting that at age 5, he'll surf here to my little corner of Blogland!

This card is based on the Mojo Sketch #120 - totally worth entering if you haven't already as there's some goodies up for grabs with it being the first Mojo Monday of the month!

I know it's very different from my Clean & Simple, (CAS) cards, but this year I'm aiming to just go with the flow and try some different styles with my cardmaking. I think this style suits my nephew more than my CAS creations! That skater boy looks just like him!


Dunno if you can tell that I paper pierced a row underneath the sentiment, it doesn't show up too well and I'm now wishing I'd used a few brads instead!

Card Recipe
Stamps: The Greetings Farm - Skater Ian
Card: Various DCWV Papers
Accessories: Promarkers, Cuttlebug, Swiss Dot Embossing Folder, Nestabilities, Doodlebug Transfer Letters, EK Success Border Punch, Paper Piercer

Right, gotta go sort myself out for work tomorrow. Surely I'll be able to get to work this week!

Catch ya later!
Aimes
x

Potato Optional...

Hey!

Well I seriously can't ever remember snow hanging around so long or the severe low temperatures and ice around here! I just can't get to the main road without being petrified that my car is skating towards solid objects -eeek!

I'm starting to get kinda bored on my own and being given a long list of chores that need doing, though one bonus is that I have quite a few cards to share with ya!

Today's card is for the current Raspberry Suite Colour Challenge which features these gorgeous colours:I already had a very CAS layout in my head and knew I owed my On My Couch set some inky love so playing along was easier than expected; just a case of changing the colours I'd originally thought of playing with:


Do you think I need to add more?! My main problem with CAS is knowing when to stop - if I stop too soon it looks kinda bare and if I don't stop soon enough I end up with a new in-between-kinda-goin-nowhere style of card LOL!

This again is one of those cute little cards (2.5" x 4.25") and I went a step further and created cute mini envies this time:

♥So sweet♥!

I think you'll be seeing a few more of these from me soon... What I love the most is that I get double the amount of envies for my dollar and get to use my scraps making these sweet little cards! It's almost like a bonus/freebie card! Poor Chris, he'll be sick of them popping up everywhere in his day to day life LOL!

Card Recipe
Stamps: On My Couch/On My Couch Additions
Ink: Aqua Mist/Dark Chocolate
Card: Vintage Cream/Lemon Tart
Others: Envelope and Sewing Machine!

Hope y'all have a fabulous weekend - if you're in the snow/ice, stay safe!

Catch ya later!
Aimes
x

Hooray for Snow Day!

Hey!

Well the snow's still here and I'll admit that although I love my job, this morning the voice saying, "It's Wednesday the 6th of January, school is closed today due to snow," was music to my ears LOL!

So time to get inky! I'm becoming quite a fan of the CAS cards, mainly because they're so easy and quick to make ;D


Card Recipe
Stamps: Taylored Expresions - Doctor's Orders
Ink: Memento Black/Distress Inks - Vintage Photo & Antique Linen
Card: PTI White/Kraft from scraps/Cosmo Cricket - The Boyfriend
Accessories: Fine Black Pen/Little Clippie!/Corner Punch

This card popped into my head as I was drifting to sleep last night as I need to make one for Chris' mum. She was due to go in for an operation (nothing serious, don't worry!) but it's now been postponed due to the snow! Well at least we have the card ready. For once I am organised!

This card also qualifies for today's challenge, Metal Mania over on 365 cards - pure coincidence I promise!

I'm also dedicating this card to my buddy Emma (I know she's a huge fan of those little clippies!) who I've missed around Blogland recently! Big healing hugs to you and your family sweetie!

Would you believe that I've actually got a backlog of creations to upload?!?! Oh how I wish I could stay home everyday and play! Don't get used to me posting everyday, it'll only end in tears LOL!

Catch ya later!
Aimes
x

Super Quick, Super Sweet!

Hey!

Well still snowing here in Sheffield - d'ya reckon I'll get another snow day at home tomorrow?! Fingers crossed LOL!

Just a super quick card to share with you that I made today:

Card Recipe
Stamps: Hero Arts - So Sweet/PTI - Polka Dot Basics II
Ink: Memento Black/PTI Pure Poppy
Accessories: Fine black pen!

The sweetest thing about this card is its size; it's only 2.5 x 4.25 inches! I plan to cut an A2 envie in half and stitch up the side as suggested by Betsy Veldman, I was reminded of this by the lovely Mandy with her adorable take on the Scraptastic and our very own Super Stars challenge!

And on the subject of challenges, this should qualify for today's challenge over on 365 cards which is to substitute a word for an image!

I think this may be a 'surprise' card that I sneak into Chris' lunchbox sometime soon...I'm such a romantic ;D!

I'll share the envie tomorrow if I get another snow day and a chance to make one ;D

Off to make tea now!

Catch ya later!
Aimes
x

Christmas Winter Cards!

Hey!

Well today I woke up to this:

So school is completely outta the question when you've got to drive across the moors to get to work!

A snow day means school is closed; I'm snuggled up inside with my hot chocolate and I can't think of a better time to share these Christmas Winter cards with y'all!

This was when I was on my colouring roll and de-stressing from the build up to Christmas! I also fancied trying something a little different to your average card, I dunno the offical term but it's a standy-uppy-step-card job!

Also added a touch of sparkle to Tilda's wings though my camera doesn't pick it up too well!

Card Recipe
Stamps: Magnolia Standing Fall Tilda
Ink: Memento Black
Card: SU DP Merry Moments
Accessories: PTI Ripe Avocado Grosgrain Ribbon/Dark Chocolate Twill Ribbon/Promarkers/Craftwork Cards Bauble Embellishment/Stickles

This next card was made in a bid to crack open my stash of PTI's Scarlet Jewel. I'd promised myself I'd use it loads for Christmas projects but it actually only featured on this one card! Oh well, I guess I can use it throughout the year right?

My photography doesn't pick it up too well but I added some crushed velvet flock to her fluffy clothes - just to keep her warm ;D


Card Recipe
Stamps: Magnolia Chilly Tilda/PTI Holiday Tree
Ink: Memento Black/PTI Fresh Snow
Card: PTI Scarlet Jewel/Ripe Avocado/Craftwork Cards Christmas DP
Accessories: Snowflake Punches/PTI Vintage Button/PTI Scarlet Jewel Bitty Dots Satin Ribbon/Stickles/Doodlebug Crushed Velvet Flock

So that's all my Christmas cards uploaded - finally!

I do have some news that makes me grin like the Cheshire Cat...I made the top trio over on 365 Cards with my card, For You! I can now add a card of the week fabulous blinkie and blink with pride! Oh and my Scraptastic Card also made the CAS Favourites over on SCS!

Well it's still snowing heavily, it forecasts even more! Dunno how long I can craft for though, I'm running low on double-sided tape LOL!

If you are out and about in the snow, take care!

Snowball ya later!
Aimes
x

A Very CAS, Scrap-tastic Card!

Hey!

Happy Saturday! Woo Hoo! Just love my Saturdays! Not loving the thought of going back to work on Monday - I've had way too much fun away from work!

Just posted a lil' card on the PTI Blog and couldn't resist posting it here too:

I have to confess, it's not really my style but I kinda like the clean, graphic look! I think my New Year's Resolution is gonna be to throw myself into the deep when it comes to cardmaking and just go with the flow!The longest part of this card was heating up the Clear EP LOL!

Anyways, the best part about this card is that it was made from scraps! Yup, just got rooting through my bag-o-scraps for a challenge posted by Nichole Heady entitled Scrap-tastic. I just love that I used no new stash in the making of this card!

Would you believe that I still have a couple of Christmas cards to share with y'all still too?! Promise to upload them soon, that is, if you're not kinda sick of seeing Christmas cards by now!

Catch ya later!
Aimes
x

Card Recipe
(All PTI Supplies)
Stamps: Polka Dot Basics II/Friends til the End (sentiment)
Card: Stamper's Select White/Aqua Mist/Raspberry Fizz/Spring Rain
Ink: Versamark/True Black
Accessories: Cuttlebug/Nestabilities/Clear EP