My little pumpkin...

Hey!

Happy Monday!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Back-to-work-after-a-week-off! OK, maybe that last one doesn't apply to you but it does to me :)

Now I've already spooked ya for Halloween with my Retro Ghouls but what's Halloween without an expected spook on the actual day, right?

I've rustled up a super quick tag that I put on some yummy treats for my little pumpkin guy (who is a total kid at heart!) and tucked it away in his lunchbox this morning for a nice treat today:

Oooh and there was another treat for him in there too:

This li'l dude is magnetic! Sweet! After my guy's request to make him his own pac-man inspired ghostie, I figured that he'd get more use from one that could keep him company on his desk and make him smile all year around whilst he works :)

So that's Halloween wrapped up for us here! Chocolate and retro-ghosts - I can't complain but there's always time for a trick to be played yet....*wink*

Thanks so much for stopping by and if you're celebrating Halloween, have fun and stay safe!

Catch ya later!






Tag Deets
{My little Pumpkin}
Stamps: Tiny Treats Halloween (Papertrey Ink)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Cardstock: Stamper's Select White, Orange Zest, True Black (Papertrey Ink)
Accessories: Promarkers/Orange Zest Grosgrain Ribbon, True Black Button, Cream Button Twine, Mat Stack 4 Die, Limitless Layers Die (Papertrey Ink)

A retro-style spooking!

***WARNING: Picture heavy post!***

Hey!

Well I'm popping by today to give you pre-Halloween spooking.....


...retro styleeeeeeee!

Introducing:

Mr Orange

Mr Green



Ms Purple (who's such a poser that she insisted on two pics!)

Recognise these cuties at all?

I confess. I let my inner retro-gaming-geekness dictate this year's Halloween treats for my little monsters nieces and nephews *grin* These ghosts are totally inspired by that retro-classic, Pac-Man!

And what's inside? A trick or a treat...?

A treat of course! C'mon I'm not that mean *wink*

These treat holders were so easy to whip up once I'd drawn a template of a ghost and used hardly any of my supplies (bonus!) Googly eyes add so much character to these ghouls. I had to make 7 in total, but here's three of 'em lined up (I couldn't fit any more on one pic!)

Now take a closer peek. Can't you tell that Ms Purple is oh-so-mature and those boys, Mr Orange and Mr Green are up to no good as usual...

Tee-hee!

I did wonder if my eldest niece was too old to celebrate Halloween this way at age 13, but after the reaction I got from my guy when I showed him these I've now been commissioned to make him one LOL!!! I think the gaming nostalgia was evoked in him when he saw these - not quite sure my nieces and nephews will get it but I figure they're waaaaaay more interested in the contents than the packaging anyways!

So I'm signing off to make another one of these cuties...in green of course! ;D

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Catch ya later!






Treat Deets
{Boo!}
Cardstock: True Black, Simply Chartreuse, Plum Pudding, Orange Zest (Papertrey Ink)
Ink: Fresh Snow (Papertrey Ink)
Accessories: Halloween Die - 'BOO!', Cuttlebug (Provocraft)/Orange Dotty Ribbon, Simply Chartreuse Ribbon, Lavender Moon Ribbon (Papertrey Ink)

Making my one inky session count...

Hey!

Friday-Eve already?! Where has my week flown by to? Even when surrounded by hot honey and lemon and my blanket, time still seems to fly (typical that I get ill for half-term, eh?!)

Fear not though. Through the sniffles and the shivers I've managed to whip up a card for our CASE study this week:


It's Niki's last week with us as our muse :( I've loved having her inspire me and kicking me into gear with my Christmas cards! Let's check out this week's card of hers up for CASEing:

Check out the original post of this card here!

Isn't it a beauty? Well after many hours curled up on the sofa with my laptop, I put together the energy to create a card. I was desperate to play along with a couple of other challenges too this week and so my card is inspired by not only one, but three sources (I'll explain the other two sources in a sec!)

Firstly - my card:

The brown, circular frame is cut from felt btw - the pic doesn't show its warm, fuzzy goodness :)

You were totally expecting a Christmas card, right? Well I'm not wanting to skip out autumn altogether now; after all it's my favourite season of the year and this card sums up why: The colours, the falling leaves, the time to pull out those warm, cosy knitted garments to wear on the chilly days - ahhh I love it sooooooo much :)

Hopefully you can tell that I was inspired to use Niki's layout for my card this week, as well as loosely interpreting the use of leaves!

However this card was also inspired by the Moxie Fab Tuesday Trigger (determined to play along - cold or no cold!) I was inspired by the square shapes, the woodgrain and *gorgeous* colours :)

AND

Seeing as I've dabbled with some felt on my card, as well as some jute-mesh-stuff I found in my stash, I'm hoping this will qualify for the Moxie Fab Textured to Perfection Challenge.

So there you have it. One card, three sources of inspiration! Now if that's not making my one inky session I've managed this week count, I don't know what is!

Be sure to check out what the rest of the CASE study DT whipped up for ya:

Iwona Palamountain (Chupa)
Andrea Ewen
Clare Buswell
Debby Hughes
Teresa Kline
Cristina Kowalczyk
Jean Martin
Julie Smith (taking a break but feel free to leave some love!)
Teneale Williams
Niki Estes (October's Muse)

and then get inky and join in the fun!

OK I'm signing off now - time to kick this cold's butt before work next week. Wish me luck!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Catch ya later!






Card Deets
{Thanks}
Stamps: Maple Leaf (Clarity Stamps)/Thanks from Frame-It (Waltzingmouse Stamps)
Ink: Autumn Sky (Adirondack)/Rich Cocoa (Memento)
Cardstock: Vintage Cream, Scarlet Jewel, Kraft (Papertrey Ink)
Accessories: Dark Chocolate Button and Felt (Papertrey Ink)/Nestabilities & Grand Calibur (Spellbinders)/Jute Mesh (Craft Supply)/Embossing Folder & Cuttlebug (Provocraft)

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Is it a silhouette?

Hey!

Hooray for the weekend! Hoooooooooooray for half-term! Whoop! :)

Did today's title of my post have you raising an eyebrow? Well it comes from a card I've made for a new challenge on A Passion for Papertrey:

Our new challenge - Sensational Silhouettes - is to incorporate a silhouette (or silhouettes) on your project. Silhouettes are all the trend right now and we're jumping on the bandwagon with 'em *wink*

Once I'd made this card I then questioned whether the bird counts as a silhouette seeing as it has fine detailed lines and isn't a solid image. So...um.....well....I decided that it's stayin' that way - ha! If, however, you'd like to show us what you can do with a real silhouette then we'd love for you to join in our challenge and share the inspiration!

Wishing you all a super duper weekend :)

Thank you so much for stopping by!

Catch ya later!







Card Deets
{A Bird...}
Stamps: Happy Trails (Papertrey Ink)
Ink: Pure Poppy (Papertrey Ink)/Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Cardstock: Stamper's Select White (Papertrey Ink)
Accessories: Pure Poppy Grosgrain Ribbon, Happy Trails Bird Die, Text Impression Plate (Papertrey Ink)/Cuttlebug/Gem (Stash!)

New tyre or new stamps...?

Hey!

Oh what a week! It's not only been super busy with our last week of school before half-term but it's been a bloomin' expensive one too: yesterday I had the joy of finding I had a flat tyre that needed to be replaced as I set off for work - eek! Oh the trauma of having to get my priorities in order with my pennies! As much as I was saving for some new crafty goodies with those pennies, the silver lining of this boo-boo is that I'll be getting my money's worth with my current crafty supplies when it comes to my Christmas cards this year!

Speaking of which, I have a prime of example of this to celebrate our new CASE study with on this fine Friday-Eve :)


Niki Estes is proving to be a very inspiring muse and has already achieved the impossible: inspiring me to create a Christmas card in October! Can she do it once again with this beauty of hers?

Check out the original post of this card, here!

Of course she can! :D

It's hard to tell on the pic (daylight hours are fading so quickly now!) but there's a musical background stamped on my card base. I was inspired by Niki's stamped background, layout and colours to come up with this card. I wanted that bow to look like this card had been wrapped up just like a Christmas gift.

Now I went down the Christmas route with this week's CASE study but be sure to check out the route the rest of the CASE study DT went on for your viewing pleasure this week!

Iwona Palamountain (Chupa)
Andrea Ewen
Clare Buswell
Debby Hughes
Teresa Kline
Cristina Kowalczyk
Jean Martin
Julie Smith
Teneale Williams
Niki Estes (October's Muse)

And then be sure to ink up and play along with us!

OK so I've gotta do some serious thinking now my Christmas crafting budget is in the form of a rear, near-side tyre! I'm gonna need some serious inspiration so I'll be stalking Blogland as soon as I can :)

Thanks so much for stopping by today - your visits and comments are appreciated so much! (yes, even you lurking on Google Reader *wink*)

Catch ya later!






Card Deets {Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year}
Stamps: Holiday Signature Greetings (Papertrey Ink)/Musical Background (Kaisercraft)
Ink: Versamark/Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Cardstock: Stamper's Select White, Hunter's Green (Papertrey Ink)
Accessories: Pure Poppy Saddle-Stitch Ribbon (Papertrey Ink)/Gems (Zva)/Promarker (to colour gem!)

Par-tay!

Hey!

Well I may be sooooooooo busy right now but I've always got time for a party....!

Where's the party at? What's the occasion, you ask? Well the good news is that the party is right H.E.R.E and the occasion is to celebrate one incredibly talented and lovely peep's birthday :)

Yup! We've got a party goin' down here in Blogland to celebrate none other than Karen Baker's birthday!

So before I go on:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KAREN!
WISHING YOU THE MOST FANTASTIC BIRTHDAY, EVER!

And now for the partying :) As you hop along Blogland today you'll spot a few of us celebrating Karen's Birthday in style. The sweetest gal ever, Erin organised this whole shindig for Karen and invited me to be a part of this party blog hop. The only condition was that I had to 'bring' something....

...so I decided that I like to have a nice drink at a party (don't we all?!) and decided that we must all drink in style:

Now I'll bring whatever drink y'all fancy...you name it and it's in the glass :)

I'm hoping you can tell that I dedicated this li'l decoration to Karen with the use of a stamped dragonfly embellishment - kinda fitting seeing as her blog is titled, The Bald Dragonfly (sorry, Karen but the glimmer mists just wouldn't play nicely on this project - believe me, I tried!). It's super sparkly IRL and coloured using Sakura Stardust pens along with having clear, delicate, sparkly vellum wings:

Now not only are we drinking in style, we're celebrating the whole day in style; be sure to check out what the rest of the party-goers rustled up for us and par-tay!

Erin, http://www.homemadecardsbyerin.blogspot.com

Cristina, http://mypapersecret.blogspot.com

Kelly Marie, http://lawnfawn.blogspot.com

Christina, http://christinamaclaren.blogspot.com

Kelley Eubanks, http://myfrontporch-kelley.blogspot.com

Yvonne, http://yyam.blogspot.com/

Virginia, http://virginialusblog.blogspot.com/

Laurel, http://laurelbeard.wordpress.com/

Jen, http://jenshearsdesigns.blogspot.com/

Dana, http://kismetartlife.blogspot.com

Michele, http://studiomsg.blogspot.com/

Lynn, http://themangoboysandme.blogspot.com/

Lindsay, http://lindsayamrhein.blogspot.com/

Amy, http://tsurutadesigns.blogspot.com/

Aimes, http://craftingconfessions.blogspot.com/ (that's me!)

Jen R, http://ourchangeofart.blogspot.com/

Lisa, http://bellalistona.blogspot.com/

Lynn, http://www.millers-ink.net/

Ooh and before you get all partied-out, be sure to pop across and send your birthday wishes to the birthday gal herself :)

Thanks so much for stopping by and partying on!

Catch ya later!







Decoration Deets
{Hope it Tickles}
Stamps: 'Hope it Tickles' from Frame-It (Waltzingmouse)/Dragonfly from Happy Trails (Papertrey Ink)
Cardstock: Stamper's Select White, Vellum Cardstock (Papertrey Ink)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)/Hawaiian Shores (Papertrey Ink)
Accessories: Dragon Fly Die (Papertrey Ink)/Stardust Gel Pens (Sakura)/Clear Spica Pen (Copic)/Drinking Straw (my Kitchen!)

A CAS Christmas in October...

Hey!

Woo hoo for Friday-Eve! Let's celebrate it with a shiny new CASE study :)


Are you ready to join us in being inspired by yet another fab card from our muse, Niki Estes? Well I hope so - just take a peeky at this:

Check out Niki's original post of this card here!

I chose to be inspired by the colours, the technique of using markers (though I'll never be as amazing with markers as Niki, I still love to colour *grin*) and the use of a natural element (in Niki's case, a flower)

I know. I'm in shock too. I mean me make a Christmas card in October?! It's unheard of! I guess seeing so many yummy Christmas cards out in blogland inspired me to get a head start on my own cards, and Niki's card for CASE study this week was enough to push me to ink up a tree and decorate it *wink*

Be sure to check out the rest of the CASE study DT's creations - I promise you won't be disappointed and will be full of even more inspiration to get inked up and play along with us!

Iwona Palamountain (Chupa)
Andrea Ewen
Clare Buswell
Debby Hughes
Teresa Kline
Cristina Kowalczyk
Jean Martin
Julie Smith
Teneale Williams
Niki Estes (October's Muse)

Well I dunno about you, but this week has been B.U.S.Y.! I'll be looking forward to the weekend and hoping to do a spot of blog hoppin' along with some well deserved inky therapy :) Hope your weekend is a fab one!

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Catch ya later!







Card Deets
{Merry Christmas}
Stamps: Holiday Tree (Papertrey Ink)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Cardstock: Fine Linen (Papertrey Ink)
Accessories: Cuttlebug (Provocraft)/Linen and Canvas Impression Plate, Pure Poppy Buttons (Papertrey Ink)/Promarkers/Gem (Craft Supply)

Maple leaves (and turkey!)....

Hey!

Well it's a soggy Sunday afternoon here in Sheffield; it really feels like we're in the midst of autumn now (although it's my fave season I wish we could have it without the soggy days!)

The one thing I adore about autumn are the colours. Speaking of which, I have a li'l card which sums this up nicely:

This card is also dedicated to any Canadian peeps who'll be celebrating Thanksgiving tomorrow! Enjoy your holiday and the scrummy food that usually accompanies it *wink* It was totally worth sacrificing so many buttons for such an occasion methinks :)

Well looking outside my window it looks like I'll be spending the rest of this soggy Sunday at my desk...I guess the rainy days do have a positive element to 'em after-all!

Thanks so much for stopping by and if you're celebrating Thanksgiving, do it in style!

Catch ya later!







Card Deets
{Happy Thanksgiving}
Stamps: Frame It, Teeny Trees (Waltzingmouse Stamps)
Ink: Rich Cocoa (Memento)/Scarlet Jewel, Orange Zest (Papertrey Ink)
Cardstock: Dark Chocolate, Vintage Cream, Terracotta Tile (Papertrey Ink)
Accessories: Buttons, Linen and Canvas Impression Plate (Papertrey Ink)/Cuttlebug (Provocraft)/Apron Lace Border Punch (Fiskars)

Musical butterflies....?!

Hey!

Well I can't believe it, but it's Friday-Eve already :)


We're kickin' off the build up to the weekend on CASE Study with a new muse on board!!!! So whose fantastic creations will be up for CASEing during October you ask? Well let me introduce no other than the super Niki Estes!!!!

And without further ado, here's Niki's first card up for the CASE Study this week featuring some stamps designed by Niki herself!

Check out the original post of this card here

Butterfly Dreams is one of my favourite PTI sets...I have a thing for butterflies so it doesn't take much persuading for me to ink up this sweet set:

Tip: the butterflies on the musical background are stamped once on scrap paper before stamping on the card to keep the background subtle. It also gives you the availability of a lighter hue of any of your inks should you fancy it!

I hope you can tell that I CASEd the idea of incorporating butterflies as well as that gorgeous, bold turquoise colour and the musical notes (I then couldn't resist turning this into a 'just a note' card *grin*) I'm not sure if musical notes coordinate with butterflies for a non-birthday card but for the purpose of this card they'll have to! I used a masking technique to create my focal point which gives me the added bonus of making this a very flat card for posting: Aimes 1 Royal Mail 0 - ha!

Obviously I took a pretty CAS approach to this week's CASE Study (what else?!) but you can let Niki's card take you on any creative adventure you desire! Just be sure to share what you create with us and join in the fun!

Now before you scoot to get inked up, take a peek at what the rest of the CASE study DT created for ya:

Iwona Palamountain (Chupa)
Andrea Ewen
Clare Buswell
Debby Hughes
Teresa Kline
Cristina Kowalczyk
Jean Martin
Julie Smith
Teneale Williams
Niki Estes (October's Muse)

Thanks for stoppin' by this li'l corner of Blogland :)

Catch ya later!






Card Deets
{Just a note}
Stamps: Butterfly Dreams, Happy Trails (Papertrey Ink)/Musical Background (Kaisercraft)
Ink: London Fog, Tuxedo Black (Memento)/Hawaiian Shores (Papertrey Ink)
Cardstock: Stamper's Select White (Papertrey Ink)
Accessories: Butterfly Die (Papertrey Ink)/Cuttlebug (Provocraft)/Promarkers

Geometric Gorgeous-ness (and green!)...

Hey!

Happy Tuesday! Hope you all had a lovely weekend; did you managed to squeeze in any card making for World Card-Making Day? Although I do it all year round, the one day of the year that's dedicated to it was spent doing anything but card-making: with the mini-heatwave we've had here the past few days I couldn't pass up on making the most of the sunshine :)

However, the good news is that I have managed to squeeze in some inky therapy after work to rustle up this tiny (3x3) card:

Mmmm green and grey - what a gorgeous combo! And be sure to check out the geometric pattern on this diddy card because its for our new challenge on A Passion for Papertrey! We want to see geometric designs featured on your project. Pick whatever shape takes your fancy and let it shine! Hope you can find time to play along with us and share the inspiration :)

Well I'm dashing off again now: seeing as I spent the whole weekend making the most of the sunshine I've now got a backlog of stamping to catch up on *wink*

Thanks so much for stopping by; be sure to visit on Thursday for a new CASE study and with it, a fabulous new muse to introduce for October..!

Catch ya later!







Card Deets
{for you}
Stamps: Daily Designs, Wonderful Words Additions (Papertrey Ink)
Ink: London Fog, Memento Black (Tuxedo)
Cardstock: Stamper's Select White, Simply Chartreuse (Papertrey Ink)
Accessories: Simply Chartreuse Buttons (Papertrey Ink)/Twine (Pink Paislee)