Lucky Mouse

There's a new release at Lili of the Valley today and hot off the press is my sample featuring one of the new images.  This one's called Lucky Mouse and he's really cute.  I managed to find a clover charm too that's been looking for a home for a while.

Card Recipe:

• Lucky Mouse from Lili of the Valley
• Button Twine
• Frantic Stamper Stitched Scene Builder Edges
• Watercoloured with Ranger Distress Ink Reinkers
• The Langton Watercolour paper
• Clover silver charm

I've been inspired by:

• Simon's Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes
• Allsorts - Metal Charms
• Country View Crafts - 30 Minute Challenge

Happy crafting
Annette
xx

Mousey Mousey (and an ickle tutorial)

I've used one of the new cute mice images from Lili of the Valley called Three Kind Mice. I've water-coloured him with reinkers and added lots of lovely embellishments from The Ribbon Girl including this gorgeous textured Hessian ribbon.

I've done a mini photo tutorial of how I've coloured some of the flowers to match the colour theme of the card.

I've used plain white lily flowers and coloured the ends of each petal with a Zig Real Brush watercolour pen. I'd just got half way around the final petal before remembering to take a photo, but hopefully you can see what I was doing.  I'd already gone around with a pale pink underneath the lilac to give it a bit of depth so you may be able to see a bit of pink under the lilac if you look closely.

It looked quite 'harsh' so I then dabbed a small wet paintbrush onto the colour to blend it a bit.  When it was dry, this was what it looked like:

I also colour some of the mini rose buds. The one below was coloured pink using the same Zig markers technique as above, but instead of using a paintbrush to blend the colour, this time I dunked the tip of the rosebud into water for a fraction of a second, (literally in and straight out again, even quicker than dunking a digestive biscuit in your cuppa so it doesn't disintegrate and end up as mush at the bottom of your mug!).  The colour blended perfectly into all the detail of the rose bud.  

The photo below was taken just after I'd dunked the pink one, so it's still wet and a bit dark. The white one had not been coloured at this point. Of course, it would have been a better idea to colour them before I'd inter-twined them, but again, I was not thinking logically and only decided to do the tutorial half way through the process!  Next time I'll plan it better! (famous last words!)

Copics can work too, but I find that water colour inks are perfect as the water moves the ink into all the creases of the flower, where you could never get the marker tip to reach.




Card Recipe:

From Lili of the Valley:

• Three Kind Mice

From The Ribbon Girl:

• 25mm Faux Hessian Ribbon
• Cherry Blossom
• Small Lily
• Hip Roses Lilac
• 15mm Purple Open Roses
• 10mm Cream Open Roses
• White Pearl String
• 5mm Lilac Crystals

From Dies To Die For:

• MFT Dienamics Stitched Oval Stax
• WRS Antique Library Paper Pad

Other:

• Watercoloured with Ranger Distress Ink Reinkers
• Flowers coloured with Zig Real Brush Waterbased Markers
• The Langton Watercolour paper
• Spellbinders Floral Oval Nesties

I've been inspired by:

• Simon's Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes
• Creative Inspirations - Petals and Pearls

Happy crafting
Annette
xx

Horace the Hedgehog

There's a new challenge at As You Like It Challenge where we want to see what you like making other than cards.  I have a bit of a fondness for boxes (making, buying and generally hoarding!) so I've made a little scalloped treat box using a Lawn Fawn die and decorated it using one of my new stamps from Gerda Steiner.

Here's a close up of Horace, as I've named him

Project Recipe:

From Dies To Die For:

• Versafine Ink Pad
• Gerda Steiner Designs Hedgehog with Sign
• Lawn Fawn Scalloped Treat Box
• MFT Dienamics Stitched Circle Stax

Other:

• Watercoloured with Ranger Distress Ink Reinkers
• The Langton Watercolour paper
• Brown seam binding

I've been inspired by:

• Country View Crafts - 30mins or less
• Simon's Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes

Happy crafting
Annette
xx

Smarty Cat

It's my midweek post for Dies to Die For and today I'm sharing a CAS creation using Smarty Cat from Stamping Bella.

I've teamed it with an Avery Elle text die that I've had for some time which I think is perfect for this CAS design.

Card Recipe:

From Dies To Die For:

• Stamping Bella Smarty Cat
• Maja Design Vintage Romance Paper Pad
• Versafine Ink Pad
• WRS Everyday Sentiment Stamp set
• Avery Elle Simply Said Amazing Elle-ments Die
• Frantic Stamper Stitched Scene Builder Edges
• MFT Dienamcis Stitched Square Stax
• Glossy Accents

Other:

• Watercoloured with Ranger Distress Ink Reinkers
• The Langton Watercolour paper
• Clouds - Dovecraft chalks and Freebie Cloud Template

I've been inspired by:

• Allsorts - Anything Goes
• Country Vew Challenge - 30mins or less
• Simon's Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes

Happy crafting
Annette
xx

Squirrel with Flower

It's officially my first challenge post with The Ribbon Girl Challenge and the theme is 'Use Any Image'.  I've opted for one of the cute Squirrel Trios from Lili of the Valley and added lots of my favourite goodies from The Ribbon Girl store.

And I have a little extra today using the same image, but this time he's fussy cut.  It's a lot bigger than it looks in the photo too! The letter 'S' at the start is MDF and means that the whole thing stands up.  The papers are the same I've used above and I've cut the letters out with CCD Jumbo letter dies.

Project Recipe:

From The Ribbon Girl:

• Pion Violet Field Paper
• 15mm Grape Satin Ribbon
• Ivory Jute Mesh Ribbon
• 16mm Velvet Ribbon
• Cherry Blossom
• 15mm Purple Open Rose
• 10mm Cream Open Rose
• Acorn Silver Charm

From Lili of the Valley:

• Squirrel Trio Flowers

From Dies To Die For:

• MFT Dienamics Stitched Circle Stax
• CCD Jumbo Alphabet dies

Other:

• Watercoloured with Ranger Distress Ink Reinkers
• The Langton Watercolour paper
• Flat Backed Pearls
• MDF Letter
• Tim Holtz Stitched Oval dies

I've been inspired by:

• Simon's Monday Challenge - Favourite Tool (Big Shot)
• Allsorts - Anything Goes

Happy crafting
Annette
xx

Moody Unicorns

It's another challenge at In The Pink today and I've used a sweet image from a set called Moody Unicorns by Gerda Steiner. I've got a couple of her sets now but this is the first one which has made it onto a card so far!  I loved his cute little expression!  There are a few sentiments in the stamp set, but as usual I've opted for no sentiment. I really should make more effort with the sentiment, but I like the focus on the image! :0)

Card Recipe:

From The Ribbon Girl:

• 15mm Grape Satin Ribbon
• Pink Carnation
• Cherry Blossom
• Small Lily
• Open Roses
• Hip Rose Buds
• Mini Rose Buds (coloured pink - see tutorial)
• Trinket Pin
• 5mm Pink Crystals

From Dies To Die For:

• Gerda Steiner Moody Unicorns
• Versafine Ink Pad
• Maja Design Vintage Romance Paper pad
• MFT Dienamics Stitched Circle Stax
• Glossy Accents

Other:

• Watercoloured with Ranger Distress Ink Reinkers
• The Langton Watercolour paper
• Marianne Design Circle & Flower Stitch die

Created for:

Sponsored by:

I've been inspired by:

• Simon's Monday Challenge - Favourite Tool (Big Shot)
• Simon's Wednesday Challenge - Florals

Happy crafting
Annette
xx

Koala

Today's card is a Roberto's Rascals Koala bear from the CC Designs 'Celebrate' clear stamp set. I've had him a while but this is his first inking.  

Card Recipe:

From Dies To Die For:

• CC Designs Celebrate
• Versafine Ink Pad
• Maja Design Coffee in the Arbour Papers
• MFT Dienamics Stitched Oval Stax
• Glossy Accents

From The Ribbon Girl:

• 15mm Grape Satin Ribbon
• Cherry Blossom
• Small Lily
• Open Roses
• Mini Rose Buds
• 5mm Pink Crystals

Other:

• Watercoloured with Ranger Distress Ink Reinkers
• The Langton Watercolour paper

I've been inspired by:

• Simon's Monday Challenge - Favourite tool (Big Shot)

Happy crafting
Annette
xx

Baby Bunny

I've got another sneaky peek sample of one of the new trio images due out soon from Lili of the Valley, also featuring some beautiful satin ribbon from The Ribbon Girl.

Card Recipe:

From Lili of the Valley:

• Baby Bunny Trios

From The Ribbon Girl:

• Pion Spring Meadow Paper
• 15mm Dusky Blue Satin Ribbon
• 5mm Aqua Crystals

From Dies To Die For:

• MFT Dienamics Stitched Circle Stax
• Glossy Accents

Other:

• Watercoloured with Ranger Distress Ink Reinkers
• The Langton Watercolour paper
• 15mm Blue Open Roses
• 10mm Blue Open Roses
• Cosmos Daisy Flower
• Mini Rose Buds

I've been inspired by:

• Simon's Wednesday Challenge - Cute

Happy crafting
Annette
xx

Sweet Pea

Today's card was made for a colleague whose birthday is today. I hope it's sufficiently masculine so I kept it quite simple.  It features Sweet Pea from Lili of the Valley and some matching garden themed papers.

Card Recipe:

From Lili of the Valley:

• Sweet Pea

Other:

• Watercoloured with Ranger Distress Ink Reinkers
• The Langton Watercolour paper
• Graphic 45 Secret Garden Paper pad

I've been inspired by:

• Fab 'n' Funky - Wild About You
• Simon's Wednesday Challenge - Cute

Happy crafting
Annette
xx

Daffodil Bunny

There's a new release at Lili of the Valley featuring some of my favourite bunnies, so I've made a Spring-like card using one of the new images.  It's doubling up as my As You Like It Challenge sample too because the theme this week is ribbons or lace.  My choice is easily ribbon, and my most used ribbon is the 15mm satin ribbon which is what I've used on this card. I think I have this style of ribbon in every colour and shade possible (although always manage to find one more shade I need!). I also like making the double bows that I've added here too.

Card Recipe:

From Lili of the Valley:

• Easter Trio

From Dies To Die For:

• MFT Dienamics Stitched Circle Stax
• Glossy Accents

Other:

• Watercoloured with Ranger Distress Ink Reinkers
• The Langton Watercolour paper
• 15mm Lemon Satin Ribbon
• White Cherry Blossom
• 25mm Open Rose
• 15mm Open Roses
• 10mm Open Roses
• Mini Rose Buds
• Flat Backed Pearls
• Nitwit Collections Papers

I've been inspired by:

• Fab 'n' Funky - Wild About You
• Simon's Wednesday Challenge - Cute

Happy crafting
Annette
xx

Tiny Dancers (Twice)

Well, today is my first day designing for Dies to Die For and I've got not one, but two samples. This wasn't originally intentional, but I spent so long on the no-lines version of the Tiny Dancers image that when I'd finished it I decided to make a 'normal' lines version to compare how long it had taken.  And my empirical study concluded that it took at least 3 times longer to colour the no-lines version.  That's just to colour it, not to make up the whole card!  Hence I kept the second version CAS while there are lots of embellies on my first version!

I also 'outlined' the no-lines version with Tumbled Glass before I started to colour the main image.

And now here's the 'normal' version....

Card Recipe:

From Dies To Die For:

• Stamping Bella Tiny Dancers
• Frantic Stamper Stitched Scene Builder Edges
• Lawn Fawn Stitched Square Stackables
• Oval Nesting Dies
• Magnolia DooHickey Die Leaf & Swirl
• Versafine Ink Pad

Other:

• Watercoloured with Ranger Distress Ink Reinkers
• Typed Sentiment (hugs)
• Nitwit Collections Papers
• Pion Violet Field Paper
• Small Lily
• Open Roses
• Mini Rose Buds
• Flat Backed Pearls
• Button Twine
• White Lace
• The Langton Watercolour paper
• Simon Says Stamp Sending die
• Whiff of Joy Banner Die
• Gem brad

Created for:

I've been inspired by:

• Penny Black & More - Favourite Stamp (It grew on me so I've used it twice!)

Happy crafting
Annette
xx

Wedding Couple

I'm sharing another image from the soon-to-be-released trio sets from Lili of the Valley and it's really CAS.  I printed the digi quite large, die cut it out and layered it on foam pads on a flock style backing paper embellished with a gorgeous piece of purple satin ribbon.  I layered the die cut image on a layer of purple card slightly offset so that it gave the image panel some definition. I hope you like it!

Here's a close up of my image panel.

Card Recipe:

From Lili of the Valley:

• Wedding Trio

From The Ribbon Girl:

• 15mm Satin Ribbon
• Glossy Accents

Other:

• Watercoloured with Ranger Distress Ink Reinkers
• The Langton Watercolour paper
• DCWV Solid Flock Stack Paper Pad
• Marianne Designs Craftables Circle and Flower Stitch

I've been inspired by:

• Country View Challenges - 30 mins (watercoloured using reinkers from CVC)
• Simon's Monday Challenge - Young at Heart

Happy crafting
Annette
xx

Love Petals, Thetford news and a new chapter!

I'm not sure where this week has gone! I had good intentions of writing a post mid-week after my exploits of the previous weekend, but here I am at another Sunday already!  

Anyways, as you know it was the Sincerely Yours papercraft show at Thetford last weekend.  About a week before the show, my lovely, uber talented friend Squirrel said that she was going and I was desperate to meet her in person.  My similarly adorable and talented friend Sue said she, and possibly Kat, were also going and I could go with them. But Sue thought that Thetford from Gloucester was about 2.5 hours and I'm another 2.5 hours further West than Gloucester.  The 5 hour journey was putting a bit of a dampener on the whole thing and after a bit (OK, quite a lot) of umming and ahhing with Squirrel and hubby, I decided to be realistic and listen to my head instead of my heart. 

Then I slept on the idea and changed my mind.

The amazing Sue offered to let me stop overnight at her house which meant that it didn't take me long to ignore my head and follow my heart again!  

The reality of seeing so many of my lovely crafting buddies (Sue, Kat, Faye, Debs and of course, the chance to finally meet Squirrel) was amazing and there was a lot of hugging and a fair amount of squealing.  I am so grateful to Sue for making the weekend possible for me.

And as if that wasn't enough news, I also met the lovely Tracy from Dies to Die For and I am absolutely overwhelmed to report that she's asked me if I would like to join her wonderful team of designers.  So a new chapter starts and my first DT card will be next week!  Eeeek!  Please wish me luck! :0)

Anyway, among all that excitement I need to tell you a little bit about today's card.  I've been efficient and combined one card for both my Guest spot at The Ribbon Girl and also the newly released cuties at Lili of the Valley.  The image I've used is called Love Petals.

So without further ado, here's my card.  

Card Recipe:

From Lili of the Valley:

• Love Petals
• Sentiment Tags

From The Ribbon Girl:

• Pion Violet Field Paper
• Cherry Blossom
• Open Roses
• Mini Rose Buds
• Flat Backed Pearls
• Vintage Ivory Fluted Edge Sheer Ribbon
• Hessian
• Ivory Jute Mesh Ribbon

From Dies To Die For:

• Lawn Fawn Stitched Border Dies

Other:

• Watercoloured with Ranger Distress Ink Reinkers
• The Langton Watercolour paper
• Sizzix Stitched Oval Tim Holtz Thinlet dies
• Mini silver brad
• Kort and Godt white chrysanthemum

I've been inspired by:

• Simon's Monday Challenge - Pets Corner (bunnies)
• Noor! - Have a Heart (the flower petals are hearts)

Happy crafting
Annette
xx