Floral gift box

Good morning- hope you're feeling refreshed and revived after the weekend. It was very wet here on Saturday but much better yesterday- I spent time in my craftroom and time in the garden reading so a quiet and peaceful couple of days. I was thinking of booking a cottage for a week somewhere in the countryside or near the sea but I'm worried that it's still a bit too early- would be lovely to get away for a few days though. 

 Today is 'Anything But a Card ' day at Catch the Bug- I made a little gift box featuring the lovely Floral Border digi- I do love colouring Jodie's gorgeous floral images. This is quite small- just 61/2 inches tall, ideal for a small gift or some chocs. The ribbon band keeps the lid flap closed and easily slides on and off.

Thanks for visiting

Have a great week.

Chris

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Challenge entries:
notjustcards july challenge
thecraftingchallenge bright colours
aplacetostart flowers

Snowman Hugs

Good evening- I've had  some time to play this weekend- finished some projects that have been lying around for a while and then decided to make a Christmas card using one of the digis I was lucky enough to win recently. This little cutie is Blizzy Snowman from Digi Doodle Studios.

I used my copics to colour the image, inked the background and gave him Snowtex snow to sit in (Snowmen don't mind getting cold damp bottoms...in fact they quite like it!) then sprinkled chunky white embossing powder and heated. 

I made a circle side step base, covered it with throbi DP  and added the image and die cut trees and a little Snowtex along the 'step'. The sentiment is from a PB stamp set. I'm pleased with this as not only does it stand up nice and straight (never a given when I create my own card bases) it also rocks gently side to side when pushed. 

Thanks for visiting,

have a lovely evening

Chris

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Challenge entries:
digidoodlestudios #29
Rudolph Days July Challenge
polkadoodle #29
watercooler #281
CCAYR -Cool it
worldwideopendesignteam #7

Christmas in July at Catch the Bug- Day 7

It's the final day of  of our Christmas in July week at Catch the Bug.

Today's challenge is a colour inspiration photo- and there's another great freebie too! So hop on over  HERE to grab yours!

I made a Z fold card featuring the cute freebie and the colours from the photo.

We hope you have enjoyed the fun challenges this week, thanks and well done to all those who took part.

Thank you for visiting today- 

Have a great weekend

Chris

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Challenge entries:

cutecardthursday #644

crimbo-crackers #211

/stinkininkers.- spots

Crafty Catz # 516 -ATG or Funny

Good morning,  the weekend is almost upon us (again!) so that means it's time for an new challenge at Crafty Catz, this week we are sponsored by the fabulous 

BUGABOO STAMPS

our lovely host, Billie, has picked the optional twist of  'make it Funny' - which is perfect for these brilliant digis.

I used the cute Ava Latte to make make my card, she's coloured up with copics and I paper pieced the mug,  layered the image onto coffee coloured papers from stash,  the sentiment is computer generated. 

My husband asked what was funny about the sentiment- he said it's just the simple truth in my case!  

This is the last Crafty Catz challenge before our summer break, so don't miss the chance to play along this week.

Thanks for visiting

Chris

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Challenge entries:

lilredwagon #559

thepapershelter.- ATG

unicorn #56

It's Goodbye from the Southern Girls!

Sadly all good things come to an end and Southern Girls Challenges is closing its doors.

I have always had a place in my heart for this challenge blog, the lovely ladies who ran it and the talented designers. It was my very first DT back in 2012 I was quite new to card-making and very new to blogging and they were so kind and supportive.

I was delighted to be asked to join in with a final goodbye card, so thank you Lou and Trace!

Here's the card I made- 

I used a sweet fairy image by Dts Art,  think this company no longer exists, but it was the digi given to me to use in my very first post for the team.

I based my card design here  on that first card- click HERE if you want to see it!

There are some beautiful cards created by present and past DT members over at Southern Girls, just click HERE to hop over and say goodbye.

So I'll finish this post by wishing, Lou, Trace and the team good luck in the future and thanks for all the wonderful challenges over the years.

hugs

Chris

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Christmas in July at Catch the Bug -Day 5

Day Five- the week is going fast! Today at Catch the Bug we challenge you to make us laugh!

Stella always makes me laugh so it was easy to decide what to use on my card-

The image I chose is Stella Santa Died Laughing, this great digi comes with it's own sentiment  but the one I used here is computer generated.

Now it's your turn to make us laugh- you're doing really well if you've managed to keep up so far- only 2 more days to go now!

Chris

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Challenge entries:

sheepski #40

ikesworld Christmas

thepapergirls #204

CRAFT  #564

Here for the Party!

Good morning, it's my turn to host and choose the theme at Fab'n' Funky this week - I picked- use a 'proper 'stamp - no digis allowed this week.

I made a birthday card featuring one of the 'oldies' from AI stamps- I do love these they really appeal to my sense of humour! I've coloured this beauty up with my copics and paper pieced her dress. The paper was a magazine freebie and the same pattern came in 2sizes- so I used the one with the bigger print for my background square. I wanted to tie in the colours on her hat and balloon so I added the dots- tiny diecut circles, coloured and glossy accents added.. The sentiment is one of many that came with the stamp set.

Got to admit this made a nice change from making Christmas cards this week!

Thanks for stopping by-, it would be great if you have time to join us at Fab'n' Funky- please remember- NO DIGIS!

Chris

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Challenge entries:

artsystamper #20

getcreative #93

craftyfriends #140

artimpressions #287 (Wink of Stella on hat- the dots and balloon are shiny!)

Christmas in July at Catch the Bug- Day 4- and an extra freebie!

We've reached Day 4- over half way through Catch the Bug's Christmas in July week.

Today we have a Bingo board for you

and

an extra freebie - this one is gorgeous!

I made a card featuring this lovely rocking horse

using diagonal line Ribbon and bows/ Bugaboo Image/ Die cut

Thanks for visiting- don't forget to HOP OVER and grab your freebie!

Chris

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Challenge entries:

hollyandivy #75

.dare2bartzy. July- Christmas in July

gemchallenge #week 15

colourcrazy #28

Winter Wonderland- Square

die-cut-divas Christmas in July

diesrus #149

christmas24 #104

Christmas in July at Catch the Bug -Day 3

Day 3 of our Christmas in July Challenges-

today it's anything but a card so I made a gift tag money holder, I find these really useful for my teen nephews and niece, they can be attached to a small gift and the youngsters are always happy to find the cash inside!

I used various scraps of paper and card from stash, a starry embossing folder, stamped sentiment and scrap of ribbon. The featured image is Candy Cane Elf.

For more great ideas from the team please hop over to Catch the Bug - we'd love you to join in and inspire us with your own fantastic makes!

Chris

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Christmas In July at Catch the Bug- Day 2

It's the second day of our Christmas in July week at 

Catch the Bug

and we have a sketch for you to use

Here's my card using the sketch

The featured image is Reindeer Christmas Goodies

There's still plenty of time to join in with the challenges, just hop over to Catch the Bug for details.

Thanks for visiting

Enjoy your day

Chris

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Challenge entries:
mytimetocraft #436
sendasmile4kids ~ Christmas in July
lilpatchofcraftyfriends #137

Christmas In July at Catch the Bug- Day 1

It's Day 1 of our annual Christmas In July week at 

Catch the Bug

This year we have a Santa's workshop theme.

I made a card to fit this theme  featuring christmas Kidz 01, this cute little elf is hard at work filling Santa's sack!

I printed the image twice and fussy cut the elf, popping him up with foam for a little dimension. 

Papers from stash, a couple of die cuts and some twine to finish.

During this Christmas event we will also be taking the opportunity to honour the memory of  Julie Temple who was a much valued member of the Bugaboo family from  2011 to 2020 .

Here is one of the many beautiful cards Julie designed for Bugaboo.

Hop over to Catch the Bug for more inspiration and full details of how to play along this week- there are so many chances to win some of these fabulous digis so don't miss out!

Thanks for stopping by- I'll be back tomorrow with Day 2's creation!

Chris

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Challenge entries:
jinglebelles- colourful christmas insp.  ( shapes of trees on shelf, reindeer)
qkrstampede July challenge
pearlysparkles #53 -3 buttons
craftingchallenge- July-bright colours
hollyandivy #75
christmaswiththecuties #39

CAS at Sweet Stampin'

Good morning and happy weekend- our challenge theme  this week at Sweet Stampin' is 

'Clean and Simple'

Now I love the look of CAS cards but it's not a style that comes easily to me- but this one did! I used four stamps, the 'splat' is Inkylicious and so are the trees (I think), not sure about the stag - the sentiment was a magazine freebie. 

I inked the splat stamp with Distress Oxides and spritzed lightly with water, stamped it onto my panel of cardstock then stamped the silhouettes and sentiment with black Versafine, it was very quick and easy- and nice and flat to post.

Thanks for stopping by!

Chris

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Challenge entries:

daisychain #43

kraftychicks #516

abcchristmas -No fuss

sisterhoodofcrafters ink it up

cardz4guyz.#249

Stamping Sensations- July

Christmas is coming and a Freebie

Yay! Tomorrow our much awaited Christmas in July event commences over at 

Catch the Bug

To get you started there's a cute new freebie up for grabs- just click on the link above to get yours! 

Here's my card featuring this free digi

Thanks for visiting today

Chris

x

Challenge entries:

sweetstampers #46

audsentiments #255

shoppingourstash. #424

tuesdaythrowdown #461

christmaswiththecuties #39

Crafty Catz #515 ATG or fairies

Good morning, there's a new challenge starting today at Crafty Catz, Zora is hosting this week which means she gets to choose the optional theme - she chose 'Fairy'

our sponsor for this is 

COLOUR OF LOVE

PRIZE...3 IMAGES FROM SHOP

I used a pretty sponsor image- Foxglove, which I've coloured with copics and matted onto green cardstock and an embossed panel of white card.  I added a piece of pink twine, a few pearls and a stamped sentiment.

As Always, my lovely team mates have been busy producing some beautiful cards so please do hop over and take a look, we'd be delighted to have you join us this week.

Thanks for visiting

Chris

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Challenge entries:

daisychain #43

leannsworld101 #28

papercraft #60

lilredwagon. #558

housethatstampsbuilt. #JL1520

Green fairy

Good morning and happy weekend.

It's been a bit of a mixed bag weatherwise here this week- quite a lot of rain and not too warm most days so I've spent a bit of time in the craft room and took the opportunity to colour up this gorgeous Morgan's Artworld image. I made a twisted easel base, covered it with a beautiful swirly green DP, added my flowers, die cuts lace and pearls. The flowers are stamped onto vellum and embossed with white EP, fussy cut and layered together. The die cut sentiment is from Tonic Studios, it's actually a Christmas one but I cut off the 'Christmas' bit!

This week at Sweet Stampin' 

Team Wends have a lovely 'Fairies and Fantasy' challenge for you- so I gatecrashed with this card.

As always, there are some beautiful creations from Team Wends to enjoy so please do hop on over and take a look.

I hope you'll be tempted to play along but please remember to include some stamping.

Thanks for visiting 

enjoy the weekend.

Chris

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Challenge entries:

polkadoodle #27

craftygalscorner #209

artydivas #25

aperfecttimetocraft #7

creativecraftcottage #131

morgansartworld #7

thefairyandtheunicorn  July Challenge

craftinghappiness #56

Crafty Catz Challenge # 514- ATG or Christmas

Good morning, another week has come and gone and now it's time once again for a new challenge at Crafty Catz.

This week it's our lovely Aunty Sue's turn to host and the theme she has picked for us is Christmas, as always this theme is optional.

We're sponsored this time by the fabulous

Di's Digi Stamps

and

StarJamLines

The DT were given some adorable  sponsor images to play with,

I used

Christmas Snowman- so cute and lovely to colour with my trusty Copics.

I added some tiny gems to the string of lights for a little extra sparkle. I intended to add some to the snowflakes on the DP but I forgot! 

There are some beautiful cards created by the rest of the team to enjoy over at The Challenge Blog

so do hop over and take a look, we'd love to have you play along this week.

Thanks for stopping by,

have a lovely day

Chris

x

Challenge entries

audsentiments #255

kraftychicks #515

christmas-craft-creations July Challenge

fezziwigsfestivefrolics - 1/7 Challenge

CCAYR- July- Cool it

sheepski #40

christmaskickstart #33

alphabetchallenge G- glitter and gems

Level Up!

Good morning, I hope your week is going well so far, mine is! 

Monday- got a haircut!!!

Tuesday- went for a walk by the sea- first visit to the coast this year :) It was wonderful to breathe in all that lovely fresh air! (Fish and chips were great too!)

Local libraries are re-opening for borrowing books next week- click and collect, no browsing but better safe than sorry!

Today is food shopping day- can't win 'em all!

This week's challenge theme at Fab'n'Funky is 'for a man or boy'. I made a very simple card featuring a cutie from Mo Manning, it was a Patreon freebie last month, don't think it's in the shop yet!

Thanks for visiting

Chris

x

Challenge entries:

mmmchallenge #126

jansdigistamps July Challenge

craftrocket #72

pearlysparkles #53 (3 banners, 3 stars)

mosdigitalchallenge #293

Bugaboo New Release Day

Good morning, Tuesday again and time for another new release at Catch the Bug, this week it's a real little sweetie Sign It Kids Polka Dots. I made a little tent fold card, added an embossed panel then placed my image and frame on top - quick and easy! I used my copics to colour, added the sentiment and a few extra polka dots.

Sale now on at Bugaboo Stamps!

Yesterday I had a haircut, I am so not missing that mop on my head and it's lovely being able to see without peering through hair!

Have a good day

Chris

x

Challenge entries

tuesdaythrowdown #461 Polka dots

abitmoretimetocraft #119

cccdigicreations #116

getcreative #93

dragonflydreams - no patterned paper

Feet

 

It's time for a new Stella Says Sketch Challenge at Catch the Bug, during the summer months they run for 4 weeks instead of the normal 2.

Here's the sketch

Here's my card featuring Season's Greetings Feet.

Thanks for visiting

Chris

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Challenge entries:

craftyhazelnutschristmaschallenge  #497

MLCCB #24

fezziwigsfestivefrolics- anything festive

thehousethatstampsbuilt # DCCJL120 Christmas in July

A day at the beach

Hi, back again with my second card for today. This is for Sweet Stampin' Challenge , our theme this week is 'holiday'- interpret  how you wish, it could be a holiday you would like, somewhere you've been or what you might do instead of going away this year.

I'm not planning to go anywhere soon, maybe if things improve we might rent a cottage somewhere in the countryside or near the sea, where we can take our Mathilda and have a change of scene, but I'm in no hurry. When we go on holiday the thing I enjoy the most is walking on the beach with our dog, preferably a very quiet beach that she can run on and not disturb anyone else! She loves the beach the sea is a different matter- she's not at all keen on getting wet! She watches other dogs running in and out of the waves but isn't even slightly tempted to join in, she obviously thinks they're crazy!

My card shows the kind of beach I like- empty! 

I used water colours to paint the background then stamped the birds. 

I added the diecut and stamped the sentiment.

Why not pop over to Sweet Stampin', there's plenty to inspire you from my team, we'd love to see your take on this challenge too

Thanks for taking the time to visit today,

enjoy your weekend.

Chris

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Challenge entries:

allsorts #579

audsentiments #254

MAWTT #120

PB Challenge #31

modsquad silhouette

paperfunday #19

paperminutes #647

TIOT  Create a scene

Smile!

Good morning, I will definitely be smiling today as I'm expecting my son to visit with my 2 youngest granddaughters- they're allowed to come indoors from today which will please Emily (6) as she'll be able to access all of the toys not just the ones I put in the garden for her! It will also please my son- visiting in the garden is all very well but not a lot of fun if it's raining or the ground is too wet to put the baby down on- not a lot of fun trying to hold a lively wriggling not-quite- one-year -old little girl in your arms for any length of time.

I have 2 cards to share today, this one is for our July Challenge at Crafty Calendar sponsored by the fabulous 

Crafty Ribbons

The theme is a simple one-Add a Ribbon.

I used a cute stamp that I ought online recently- it was a sale bargain and I couldn't resist. I stamped it onto a die cut kraft tag and coloured- with pencils for a change! I doodled around the edge with a white gel pen and stamped and embossed the sentiment. I used a very old punch for the flowers and added some buttons. The pretty ribbon is from Crafty Ribbons.

Thanks for stopping by,

Chris

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Challenge entries:

mytimetocraft #435

colourcrazy #26

kraftychicks #514

LTCCB  #48

worldwideopendesignteam #6

intaas. #86

Time to relax

Good morning- what a difference a week makes- this time last week it was sweltering here  since then it's at least 10 degrees cooler and often wet and windy- that's British summertime for you! 

It's been quite a quiet week here, I did get to the dentist on Monday, broke a tooth during lockdown and no treatment to be had then, fortunately for me I wasn't in pain and it's all fixed now, thankfully. I feel really sorry for people who were/are in pain because it was only possible to get any treatment if it  was  a real emergency- apparently being in agony was not necessarily considered an emergency!

Anyway, enough waffling and onto today's card.

This week's challenge at Crafty Catz is sponsored by the wonderful 

Sheepski Designs

 

It's Nick's turn to host , her chosen theme for the DT is 'Time To Relax'

I used a gorgeous sponsor image to make my card, Morpheus,  he's just the sweetest baby dragon

nestling inside a flower.

I have some design paper (Polkadoodles) that I thought went perfectly with the flower on the image, so I coloured my image to match the colours on the paper (very rarely do this- usually spend ages trying to find papers that match my colours!) then fussy cut the image, shaped it and used foam & Pinflair glue to add a little dimension.

The top layer is embossed,  I diecut a circular aperture and placed the image underneath., adding the diecut sentiment and a few sequins.

I photographed the card outside- the dark patch on the right hand side is a shadow, not an inky print!

I hope you have time to join us this week-the theme is optional, just use it if you want to.

If you're looking for more inspiration then just hop on over to Crafty Catz to see what my lovely teamies have created.

Thanks for visiting  and have a lovely day

Chris

x

Challenge entries:

aperfecttimetocraft #7

2craftycrittercrazies #40

crafterscafe #246

craftycreations #411

digichoosday. #26

craftinghappiness #55