Saturday, 31 December 2011

Favourites from 2011

Well, what a year 2011 has been.

It has been my first "full" year of blogging, and my first experience of working on design teams.  I have learned so much, tried different techniques, attempted to take better pictures and use photo-editing software to add proper watermarks and remove distracting backgrounds.

I have made some lovely friends along the way too, something that has enriched my life.  On top of that, I'm also especially grateful for the opportunities given to me by the co-ordinators of the lovely teams I've worked with, especially:
Plus I was honoured to be asked to guest design for Papertake, Gingerloft and Creative Craft in 2011.  Thank you all for the opportunities.

To round off the year, I've followed the trend that I've seen on a few blogs I visit regularly, and I've picked some of my favourite creations fo 2011; one(ish) from each month.  I had such a hard time choosing just one from some months.  I can also see that my creations have grown more adventurous since the early days!

I hope you like my highlights of 2011.  If you want to see more detail of any of the projects I've chosen below, just click on the image to be shown the original posting, which will include details of the image and crafty stash used.  Prepare yourself for a serious overdose of pink, oh dear, I really do need to try new colours occasionally methinks !!!

Happy New Year !!!


January
Penny Black images were the reason I started stamping!

February
Then I found LOTV and I was hooked !


March
This Dustin Pike image was fab for a baby card (yup, more pink)

April
Oh dear, more pink and an addiction to LOTV cuties

May
Then I started an addiction to Stampfairy digi stamps!!

June
I started to try something new techniques, like stamping on fabric

July
Then I ventured into making shaped cards.  This shaped
Stampfairy card ended up being one of my favourites of the year

August
More experimentation with shaped cards,
and practised photo editing to remove backgrounds

September
Experimenting with transferring images onto fabric

Whoops, a second project seems to have sneaked in for Sept.
How did that happen?
I just couldn't resist this Toby bear with all the texture!!

October
I loved this box so much; the image, the shape of the box,
and my first attempts at colouring with pencils and sansodor.
Whoops it's happened again, another one's slipped into Oct (sorry!)
I couldn't resist this lovely image and was rather proud it wasn't pink.

November
Loved the combination of images, glitter and layers of trees & snow
(you can't see the layers very well in the pic though!)

December
The calendar project for Stampfairy was so enjoyable. This is my fave page.



Hope to see you all in 2012 !!!

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Winter Colours and another sad farewell...

Another sad day today as this is my last week as a member of the Design Team for  2 Sisters Challenges.   I've had an enjoyable time since joining the team exactly one year ago on 1 January 2011, and made some great friends.  Unfortunately I'm struggling to find the time to be as creative as I like.  Something had to 'give', and sadly I've had to cut down on my design team work.

I want to thank Stacy, Mary and all my wonderful teamies so my card today is a thank you card.   I know that all the new girls who are just joining the team from the next challenge will have a great time on the team.  I'll still pop along to play the challenges from time to time.

The theme for my final challenge is Winter Colours - Blue, Purple, Silver and White.

We're sponsored by The Stamping Boutique who have kindly supplied some digi images for the design team to showcase.



Card Recipe:
Please pop on over to the 2 Sisters Challenge Blog to see the other creations by the talented design team, and to enter our challenge.  Thank you to all who have played along during the time I've been on the team, and I look forward to seeing your creations for my final week.

I've been inspired by:
Happy crafting.
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Thursday, 29 December 2011

Angelic Barry & StampFairy sale final few days

I've got another last minute Christmas card to share with you today.   This cute bear image is so versatile, it would be great for a baby card, but is also cute as a cute angelic Christmas card.



Don't forget to pop over to the Stamp Fairy shop, where you can browse the cute images created by the wonderfully talented Gerda.  The sale is still on, but these are the last few days as it ends tomorrow, 31 December, so be quick.




Card Recipe:
I've been inspired by:
Happy crafting.
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Tuesday, 27 December 2011

Snow Bear

There is a new challenge today at Top Tip Tuesday, and the theme to play along with this week is Anything Goes which is nice and easy for the last challenge of the year.   Our 2012 challenges will start on 3 January, and we will then be a fortnightly challenge.



We're sponsored by Pink Gem Designs, Fred She Said, Ooh La La Creations and Dew Drop Crafts


Photobucket


Card Recipe:
  • Image - Toby Snow from Stamp Fairy
  • Nesties - Go Kreate Scalloped Circles
  • Embossing folder - Cuttlebug Snowflakes
  • From my stash - Stickles, brown ink pad, Fluffy stuff
Please pop on over to the Top Tip Tuesday Challenge Blog to see the other creations by the talented design team, and to enter our challenge.  I look forward to seeing your creations this week.

I've been inspired by:
Happy crafting.
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Monday, 26 December 2011

Cosy Winter Owl

Sadly, this is my last card as a member of the Incy Wincy design team.  I've had a fabulous time since I joined in February, and made some great friends.  But life has gotten busier for me in the last couple of months, and is going to get even busier with changes in my day job (the one that gets in the way of my crafting) in the new year.  I'm struggling to find the time to be as creative as I like, and I need to ensure that I'm not taking on more than I can cope with.  Something had to 'give', and sadly I've had to cut down on my design team work.

I want to thank all my wonderful teamies, and I just know that all the new girls who are just joining the team from Jan 2012 will have a great time.  I'll still pop along to play the challenges from time to time, and the wonderful Chris has asked me to come back and guest design occasionally.  How could I say no!!!

For my last challenge the theme is Winter Wonderland.  We're sponsored by Meljens who have kindly supplied some digi images for the design team to showcase.  I've used frosty sparkle papers, and added fluffy stuff for the snow on the branch.  This was a really simple card to make, especially as I've not added too much in the way of fuss.  I love the focus to be on the shape, and so didn't want to detract from the card by adding lots of embellishments.



Card Recipe:
Please pop on over to the Incy Wincy challenge blog to see the other creations by the talented design team, and to enter our challenge.  I look forward to seeing your creations this week.

I've been inspired by:
Happy crafting.
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Sunday, 25 December 2011

Merry Christmas Everyone


Merry Christmas




Card Recipe:
Don't forget to pop over to the Stamp Fairy shop, where you can browse the cute images created by the wonderful Gerda.  Don't forget the sale is still on.


I've been inspired by:
Happy crafting.
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Saturday, 24 December 2011

Snowflakes & Mrs Claus

There is a new challenge today at 2 Sisters Challenges, and the theme to play along with this week is Snowflakes.  We're sponsored by KennyK who has kindly supplied some digi images for the design team to showcase.  I added sparkle to her hat, boots and dress, and also there is lots of Stickles on the snowflakes too.


Card Recipe:
Please pop on over to the 2 Sisters Challenge Blog to see the other creations by the talented design team, and to enter our challenge.  I look forward to seeing your creations this week.

I've been inspired by:
Happy crafting.
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Tuesday, 20 December 2011

Not a creature was stirring .......

There is a new challenge today at Top Tip Tuesday, and the theme to play along with this week is Anything Christmas.  Easy huh?


We're sponsored by Stash Books who are offering our featured tipper a book,
celebrate handmade

and Karen's Doodles, who have kindly offered 3 digis to our random winner.

Card Recipe:
Please pop on over to the Top Tip Tuesday Challenge Blog to see the other creations by the talented design team, and to enter our challenge.  I look forward to seeing your creations this week.

I've been inspired by:
Happy crafting.
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Monday, 19 December 2011

George Cocoa in Pink, erm, well it is Green actually

It's the second week of the Stamp Fairy Challenge Blog's Celebrate the Holiday challenge.  So I've got another Christmas card to share with you today.

I decided I was going to make a pink and brown card (cos I really like that colour combo).  And this card is the result.

If you want to know why it is green, instead of pink, then read here.

I'm giving this card to one of my friends who I assume must like green as (I think) it is the colour of his football team's shirts.  Since that is about all I know about football, I'll leave it there and get on with the card.


Card Recipe:
Don't forget to pop over to the Stamp Fairy shop, where you can browse the cute images created by the wonderful Gerda.  Don't forget the sale is still on.




Please pop on over to the Stamp Fairy Challenge Blog to see the other creations by the talented design team, and to enter our challenge.  I look forward to seeing your creations this week.



I've been inspired by:
Happy crafting.
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Shape up for Christmas

There is a new challenge today at Incy Wincy, and the theme to play along with this week is Circle Cards.  We're sponsored by A Day For Daisies who have kindly supplied some digi images for the design team to showcase.


Card Recipe:
Please pop on over to the Incy Wincy challenge blog to see the other creations by the talented design team, and to enter our challenge.  I look forward to seeing your creations this week.

I've been inspired by:
Happy crafting.
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Friday, 16 December 2011

I'm a little tied up at the moment ...

It is Friday so there is a brand new release at Stamp Fairy.  Today's set is Barry Countdown to Christmas 2.  Here is a card I've made using one of the digis from the newly released set.  Barry looks like he's having a little trouble untangling those fairy lights.


Please pop on over to StampFairy to see the newly released digi images.  They're also included in the sale, along with the rest of the gorgeous StampFairy digis.


Here's a preview of the full set:



Card Recipe:
I've been inspired by:
Happy Crafting
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Wednesday, 14 December 2011

Jake Poinsettias

I have another Christmas card to share with you today.  Today is one of my new favourites. I've recently 'found' Jake bear, and he is adorable.  I love his sad face. So cute.




Card Recipe:
Don't forget to pop over to the Stamp Fairy shop, where you can browse the cute images created by the wonderful Gerda.  Don't forget the sale is still on.


I've been inspired by:
Happy crafting.
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Monday, 12 December 2011

Stampfairy sponsoring Critter

Stampfairy is sponsoring the Critter Challenge for the month of December, and a couple of the Stampfairy teamies have been able to play along and create some cards to showcase with the Critter teamies.

So here's my sample creation for this week's sketch challenge featuring little Clemantine Bunny getting tied up in the fairy lights (glad it's not just me that does that !).


Here's the inside typed using a fancy snowy font, and coloured with Sakura Stardust Gel pens.


And finally here's the sketch:



Don't forget to visit the StampFairy shop to grab some fab cute digis.  There is also a 50% sale on at the moment so it is the perfect time to stock up on your favourite digi images.


Recipe:
I hope to see you all join in the Sketch Challenge at Critter, and please pop over to the challenge blog to see the other fab designs by the other DT members who are joined by some more of my Stamp Fairy teamies.

I've been inspired by :
Happy crafting
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Patience is a virtue

There is a new challenge today at Stamp Fairy Challenge Blog, and the theme to play along with this week is Celebrate the Holidays.    Nice and easy, huh?

I've been spending the weekend making more Christmas cards.  Today's card is going with hubby who is off to see his family in Sheffield, and taking all the cards and presents with him.  I had to wrap all the family gifts up on Saturday ready for him to take.  Wow, that sounds like I'm organised, but literally the in-law stuff is all I've done.  I've not sent any of my other cards or got any of the other gifts.  I'm soooo not ready for the holidays this year.

Today's card was made over the weekend, and was waiting for the stickles to dry.  But while it was drying, hubby had nabbled it for his parents, and so before I'd even gotten to photograph it, he'd written inside it.  So, I've photographed the inside so you can see that I've decorated it, but you'll also see hubby's writing in it.





Card Recipe:
Please pop on over to the Stamp Fairy Challenge Blog to see the other creations by the talented design team, and to enter our challenge.  I look forward to seeing your creations this week.

Don't forget to pop over to the Stamp Fairy shop too, where you can browse the cute images created by the wonderful Gerda.  Don't forget the sale is still on.


I've been inspired by:
Happy crafting.
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All I want for Christmas is Brad

There is a new challenge today at Incy Wincy, and the theme to play along with this week is Christmas and Brads.  We're sponsored by Nicecrane who have kindly supplied some Vintage Xmas digi images for the design team to showcase.

Card Recipe:
Please pop on over to the Incy Wincy challenge blog to see the other creations by the talented design team, and to enter our challenge.  I look forward to seeing your creations this week.

I've been inspired by:
Happy crafting.
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Saturday, 10 December 2011

Christmas with 2 Sisters

There is a new challenge today at 2 Sisters Challenges, and the theme to play along with this week is Christmas.  How easy is that !!!  We're sponsored by Patties Creations who have kindly supplied some digi images for the design team to showcase.  I've opted for a simple white theme with embossed white card, but unfortunately you can't see all the embossing in the pic very well (but it is there, I promise!)



Card Recipe:
Please pop on over to the 2 Sisters Challenge Blog to see the other creations by the talented design team, and to enter our challenge.  I look forward to seeing your creations this week.

I've been inspired by:
Happy crafting.
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