Daisy Elephant

I'm not very reliable at popping sentiments on my cards, so when I do it is often a simple 'happy birthday'. However, I do like creating my own sentiments with fancy fonts, so I've created this one in 2 different fonts and overlaid them so they fit together for added interest.

Designed for:
As You Like It Challenge

Card Recipe:

• Elephant digi image by Lili of the Valley
• Water-coloured on Ecoline Watercolour Card with Ranger Distress Ink Reinkers
• Nitwit Collections Papers
• The Paper Boutique Thanks Daisy Frame die

Happy crafting
Annette
xx

Koala Cuddles

Pastels are my favourite colours, and in particular pinks, blues and purples. I think they're easier on the eye and pretty.  I've used lots of pinks on today's card, even for the little koala critter for a bit of fun.

Designed for:
As You Like It Challenge

Card Recipe:

• Koala on a Branch digi image by Lee Holland
• Water-coloured on Ecoline Watercolour Card with Ranger Distress Ink Reinkers
• 6mm Satin Ribbon
• Nitwit Collections Papers
• Crealies Crea-Nest-Lies XXL34 Double Stitched Squares

Happy crafting
Annette
xx

Moo-velously Simple

Although I often add a lot of fancy embellishments to my cards, I do actually enjoy making clean and simple cards which keep the focus on the image, especially if it's a cutie!  

Designed for:
As You Like It Challenge

Card Recipe:

• Cow digi image by Lili of the Valley
• Water-coloured on Ecoline Watercolour Card with Ranger Distress Ink Reinkers
• Nitwit Collections Papers
• Enamel dots from Hobbycraft

Happy crafting
Annette
xx

Kingfisher Blue

Pastels are my favourites, as I find them calming on the eye.  In particular I like blue, pink and purple.  I've chosen this pretty pastel blue because the card and papers are some of my favourites.  I believe the image might be a robin, but I've chosen to colour him as a chubby kingfisher to continue the blue theme.

Designed for:
As You Like It Challenge

Card Recipe:

• Digi image by Lee Holland on Etsy
• Water-coloured on Ecoline Watercolour Card with Ranger Distress Ink Reinkers
• Nitwit Collections Papers
• Crealies Crea-Nest-Lies XXL65 Double Stitched Circles

Happy crafting
Annette
xx

Birthday Gnome

Today's card is for one of my lovely As You Like It Challenge teamies.  My gnome image is watercoloured on Ecoline Watercolour Card with Ranger Distress Ink Reinkers. I've framed him with some pretty papers and added a personalised typed sentiment.

Card Recipe:

• Gnome image by Lee Holland Digis
• Bubblegum Pink Card 170gsm
• Nitwit Collections Papers
• Personalised typed sentiment

Happy crafting
Annette
xx

Birthday Bear

Today's card is for my Mother-in-Law's birthday. As usual, watercoloured on Ecoline Watercolour Card with Ranger Distress Ink Reinkers. I've added a personalised sentiement to make it a little more special.

Card Recipe:

• Image by Amanda Jayne Designs on Etsy
• Typed Sentiment
• Violet Plain Card 290gsm
• Nitwit Collections Papers

Happy crafting
Annette
xx

Flower Umbrella Bear

I've made this beary-sweet card for one of my As You Like It Challenge teamies.  I've watercoloured him on Ecoline Watercolour Card with Ranger Distress Ink Reinkers.  I've inked around him by creating a mask and added a personalised typed sentiment.

Card Recipe:

• Image (retired?) from Amanda Jayne Designs
• Typed sentiment

Happy crafting
Annette
xx

Pirate Bear

Square cards are my favourite standard shape cardbase. I caveat that by saying I still love a fancy shaped card, like an apron shape for a food related image, or snowflake shaped cards for Christmas, but for my go-to cards, it's always a 6" square. Maybe it's the symmetry of them, but there's plenty of space for an image, pretty papers, and some fancy bits.  Today's card is for my Brother-in-Law, so I've kept the fancy bits limited to some fonts with a personalised typed sentiment.

Designed for:
As You Like It Challenge

Water-coloured on Ecoline Watercolour Card with Ranger Distress Ink Reinkers

Card Recipe:

• James Pirate image by Lili of the Valley
• Nitwit Collections Papers
• MFT Stitched Border Die
• Typed sentiment

Happy crafting
Annette
xx

Bunny Birthday

We're asking for your favourite colouring medium at As You Like It Challenge this fortnight.  I've been trying my hand at colouring pencils recently (more art drawings than cards) but my favourite go-to medium for cardmaking has been Ranger Distress Reinkers, which I use as watercolouring inks with a dinky brush.  Watercolouring feels like relaxing therapy!  I've watercoloured this sweet bunny image by Emma Punktchen on a clean and simple card.

Designed for:
As You Like It Challenge

Water-coloured on Ecoline Watercolour Card with Ranger Distress Ink Reinkers

Card Recipe:

• Digi image by Emma Punktchen
• Typed Sentiment

Happy crafting
Annette
xx

Flower Mouse

We're asking for your favourite season at As You Like It Challenge this week, and although I love Christmas crafting, I'm not a fan of winter and cold weather, so my favourite season is the summer with the long sunny days and warm weather.

Designed for:
As You Like It Challenge

Water-coloured on Ecoline Watercolour Card with Ranger Distress Ink Reinkers

Card Recipe:

• Mouse with Daisy from Lili of the Valley
• Nitwit Collections Papers

Happy crafting
Annette
xx

Pinks and Blues (with a touch of purple)

This week at As You Like It Challenge we want to know what your favourite 2 colour combos are.  For me, I prefer soft pastel pink and blue, but I also like purple, so I admit there's a touch of purple in my card too!  These are my go-to colours, and feel prettier than bold colours, although I have surprised myself and used a few bold citrus colours this year for summer vibes!  Anyway, today I'm focused on my pinks and blues (with a touch of purple!, but what's wrong with an extra colour beween friends!).  The gnome image stamp is from Lee Holland (Esty). I've watercoloured my image using Distress Ink Reinkers on Ecoline Watercolour card and added a typed sentiment in some fancy fonts.

Designed for:
As You Like It Challenge

Happy crafting
Annette
xx

Kingfisher

My husband likes kingfishers, so I've watercoloured this sweet anniversary card for him using this image.

Water-coloured on Ecoline Watercolour Card with Ranger Distress Ink Reinkers:

Card Recipe: 

• Little Kingfisher digi image by Lee Holland
• MFT Stitched Basic Edges
• Nitwit Collections Papers
• Typed Sentiment

Happy crafting
Annette
xx

Easter Chickie

I know Easter has gone, but I forgot to post this sweet chickie Easter card so better late than never!

Card Recipe:

• Chickie by Lili of the Valley
• Typed Sentiment
• Water-coloured on Ecoline Watercolour Card with Ranger Distress Ink Reinkers.

Happy crafting
Annette
xx

Easter Egg Galore

Happy Easter Everyone

Water-coloured on Ecoline Watercolour Card with Ranger Distress Ink Reinkers

Card Recipe:

• Easter Cuties Easter Tree image by Lili of the Valley (retired?)
• Bubblegum Pink Card 170gsm
• Nitwit Collections Papers

Happy crafting
Annette
xx

50th Birthday Boy

This fortnight's challenge at As You Like It Challenge is to decide whether you prefer clean & simple, or fussy & fancy in your crafting.  I do tend to swap between styles, with some of my more feminine cards being festooned with flowers, ribbons, pearls etc, but I also find it satisfying when a beautifully coloured image takes the centre stage.  Today's fuss-free creation is a special birthday card for someone who's been a good friend during the past 30 years.  He's recently discovered the joys of dog-walking, albeit his sister's dog, but this image felt right when I was picking one for his card.

Designed for:
As You Like It Challenge

Water-coloured on Ecoline Watercolour Card with Ranger Distress Ink Reinkers:

• Fur/Hair: Antique Linen, Brushed Corduroy, Vintage Photo, Gathered Twigs
• Skin: Tattered Rose, Tea Dye, Worn Lipstick
• Grass: Twisted Citron, Mowed Lawn, Rustic Wilderness, Peeled Paint, Forest Moss
• Fence: Antique Linen, Frayed Burlap, Walnut Stain
• Sky: Tumbled Glass
• Blues: Stormy Sky, Faded Jeans, Chipped Sapphire
• Wall: Hickory Smoke, Black Soot

Card Recipe:

• In The Country by Lili of the Valley Stamps
• MFT Stitched Basic Edges
• MFT Stitched Basic Edges 2
• Smooth White Card 160gsm
• Nitwit Collections Papers
• Typed Sentiment

Happy crafting
Annette
xx

Easter Bunny

I'm hopping towards the long Easter Bank Holiday weekend with this little fella!

Water-coloured on Ecoline Watercolour Card with Ranger Distress Ink Reinkers:

• Fur: Antique Linen, Brushed Corduroy, Vintage Photo, Gathered Twigs, Tea Dye, Tattered Rose
• Grass: Twisted Citron, Mowed Lawn, Rustic Wilderness, Peeled Paint, Forest Moss
• Sky: Tumbled Glass
• Purples: Milled Lavender, Wilted Violet, Dusty Concord
• Pinks: Spun Sugar, Picked Raspberry, Kitsch Flamingo

Card Recipe:

• Easter Cuties Spring Rabbit by Lili of the Valley (I think he's retired)
• Smooth White Card 160gsm
• Bubblegum Pink Card 170gsm
• Nitwit Collections Papers

Happy crafting
Annette
xx

Easter Egg Trees

I can't remember using this sweet Easter image before, but I decided to have a play with it and enjoyed it so much I've made a couple of clean & simple Easter cards in different colour combinations.

Water-coloured on Ecoline Watercolour Card with Ranger Distress Ink Reinkers:

• Bunny: Antique Linen, Brushed Corduroy, Vintage Photo, Tea Dye, Tattered Rose
• Chick: Scattered Straw, Squeezed Lemonade, Mustard Seed
• Pot: Antique Linen, Brushed Corduroy, Vintage Photo, Gathered Twigs
• Grass: Twisted Citron, Mowed Lawn, Rustic Wilderness, Peeled Paint, Forest Moss
• Eggs: Various!

Card Recipe:

• Easter Cuties Easter Tree image by Lili of the Valley (I think it might be retired now)
• Smooth White Card 160gsm
• Violet Plain Card 290gsm
• Nitwit Collections Papers

Happy crafting
Annette
xx

Mousie Tea Time

This week at As You Like It Challenge we want to know if you prefer monochrome or colourful creations.  I do like to stick to just a couple of colours in my cards, but I can never seem to restrict myself to just one by using different shades and depth for variety.  I prefer to co-ordinate a few colours through into embellishments or, in this case, pulling a the dark purple from the image through into the cardstock matting layer.

Designed for:
As You Like It Challenge

Water-coloured on Ecoline Watercolour Card with Ranger Distress Ink Reinkers:

• Mouse: Hickory Smoke, Black Soot, Tea Dye, Tattered Rose, Ground Espresso
• Sky: Tumbled Glass
• Green Cup: Twisted Citron, Mowed Lawn, Rustic Wilderness, Peeled Paint, Forest Moss
• Purple cup: Milled Lavender, Dusty Concord, Villainous Potion
• Orange cup: Scattered Straw, Squeezed Lemonade, Wild Honey, Rusty Hinge

Card Recipe:

• Pipsqueak Coffee Flowers by Last Minute Manda
• Violet Plain Card 290gsm
• Typed sentiment

Happy crafting
Annette
xx

Happy New Year

Well it feels like the last few months have been a blur.  I'm sharing the first card that I've made since August and I am feeling a little rusty to say the least!  To get my mojo flowing I decided to use one of my favourite characters (James the bear) and some of my favourite papers from Nitwit Collections.  I've loved their papers since LOTV created some printed versions, but sadly most of my pads are used and I'm reliant on the digital versions.  Their papers are so beautiful and there are so many pretty papers (I must have hundreds of them) and they're my go-to papers when I need some creative motivation.  I've even paper-pieced the heart in James' arms to match the background.

Designed for:
As You Like It Challenge

Water-coloured on Ecoline Watercolour Card with Ranger Distress Ink Reinkers:

• Fur: Antique Linen, Brushed Corduroy, Vintage Photo, Gathered Twigs
• Sky: Tumbled Glass
• Purples: Milled Lavender, Dusty Concord

Card Recipe:

• James Big Heart by LOTV
• Smooth White Card 160gsm
• Nitwit Collections Papers

Happy crafting
Annette
xx

Cosy Penguin

Penguins are my favourite Christmas Critter!  

Card Recipe:

• Cosy Penguin by Lili of the Valley Digi Shop
• Smooth White Card 160gsm
• Plain Red Card 290gsm
• Typed sentiment
• Glamour Dust
• Glossy Accents
• Water coloured using Ranger Distress Ink Reinkers

Happy crafting
Annette
xx