The Memory Nest - Make It Monday #81

Here we go today with the first Memory Nest sketch for February.

Are you like me with Christmas photos still to be scrapped? I spend a lot of time during December creating my December Daily album and then after Christmas go back through the photos to pick out some favourites to give them the full 12x12 treatment.  And it's not that often I get a photo of all three grandsons together, so this was one that definitely needed revisting.

I was also able to include a card and some elements sent by my Australian Pocket Letter Pal Helen and these bits totally influenced my choice of colours and papers.

I've added  a trio of sparkly enamel dots to highlight the gorgeous tag she sent me.

And another trio round the die cut.

Supplies:
Ppaers: Jenni Boelin, Red Black Extension IV; Chatterbox, Scrapbook Walls; scraps from my stash
PL tag & card: MME, Comfort & Joy
Stickers: Simple Stories, 25 Days of Christmas
Embellishments: Simple Stories, Mistletoe Kisses enamel dots

So now it's your turn to get busy with the sketch. Remember you can use it for a card if that's your preferred genre. Check out the rest of tMN team's creations here.

Thanks for looking today, come back again soon.  And keep crafting!

AAA Cards - #83 Shape Your Love

So much love going on in blogland at the moment! And AAA Cards is not one to buck a trend, so our new challenge is all themed round love with the optional twist of making your card a different shape from your usual go to.

I like to challenge myself so I put my thinking cap on and came up with this idea to embrace the optional twist:

Not only a different shape to my usual square card, but with a projecting heart to boot! So simple to make too - right up my street then! Two stacked die cut hearts, a stamped tiny heart and a love sentiment are the main components of this card.

As a final touch I punched the bottom corners to reflect the curved top of the hearts.

Supplies:
Stamps: HLS, Rainy Days
Inks: Memento, tuxedo black
Paper: SU, Candy Cane Lane
Die: Xcut, homespun heart
Punch: crafts too

Loads more inspiration can be found here on the AAA Cards blog. We not only have Sharon from frommycraftdesk Guest Designing but our sponsor Kylie from Happy Little Stampers is joining in too. Just brimming with ideas!!

Thanks for looking today, it's been so great having you visit.  And keep crafting!

Happy Little Stampers - February Christmas Challenge

It's time for another out of season dose of Christmas spirit as a new challenge begins at Happy Little Stampers today.  The theme is once again Anything Goes with an optional twist of HOLLY.

Here's my card:

I started by stamping the sentiment - quite an unusual way to start for me, but I needed to place the sentiment before I could add the holly stamps. Next I stamped and heat embossed both the holly and the border stamps with rose gold glittery powder.

The final touch was to add some colour with my trusty promarkers.

Supplies:
Stamps: HLS, Christmas Joy, Mixed Media Fun
Inks: Memento, tuxedo black; Versamark
Embossing powder, Honey Doo Crafts, rose gold
Promarkers: rose pink, cardinal red, mint green, soft green, pine

Remember this is your big chance to get ahead with your Christmas card stash for 2017.  You've got nothing to loose by entering the HLS Christmas Challenge and who knows you could even be the winner of the $15 discount to the shop!

Thanks for dropping by today, I'm so pleased that you spent some time looking at my blog.  And keep crafting!

Saturday Slot

Today I'm here to share a card I made for the Stamplorations February CAS Challenge.

Mmmm, love hot pink!

I used watercolour cardstock because of its grainy texture and to get the bright intense colour I wanted I applied the ink pad straight to it. Then I die cut the heart cluster and reinserted it back into the aperture.

I stamped the sentiment and then added the three complete hearts from the die cut.

Supplies:
Stamps: Stamplorations, Fond Expressions 2 
Inks: Memento, tuxedo black; Ranger distress, picked raspberry
Die: Cutplorations, clustered hearts

Thanks so much for visiting my blog today, hope you'll come back again soon.  And keep crafting!

Uniko Challenge #39 Reminder

Today I'm here to remind you about the current challenge going on over at Uniko. It's a really easy theme - Anything Goes with the optional twist of LOVE.

Here's a card I made to encourage you to play along:

I added the ink colours to an acrylic block, spritzed them with water and then applied watercolour cardstock straight to the block. Love how the colours all merge into one another. Once the inks were dry I stamped the Uniko heart and sentiment on top.

The whole panel was die cut with a stitched border and then matted onto a coloured card base.

Supplies:
Stamps: Uniko, Always & Forever, All Occasion Sentiments #5
Inks: Adirondack, purple twilight, watermelon, red pepper, cranberry, raspberry
Die: Lil'inker, stitched mats rectangles

Here's hoping I may have inspired you to play along and I'm looking forward to seeing your cards pop up in the Uniko gallery.

Thanks for your time today, I really appreciate your visit to my blog.  And keep crafting!

Time Out Guest Designer Challenge #76

WOW! I'm absolutely delighted to be joining the talented ladies at Time Out as their Guest Designer today.

The new challenge is an Inspired by Words theme and here are those words:

'Friends are connected heart to heart, distance and time can't break them apart'

And here's what they inspired me to create:

I placed an ink colour in each corner of an acrylic block, spritzed it with water and applied it to water colour paper to make my inky background.

Once the inks were all dry I stamped a large sentiment and a small heart using Uniko stamps. So simple, just a little patience and water magic required!

Supplies:
Stamps: Uniko, All Occasion Sentiments #3. heart from I Love Tea
Inks: Ranger distress, peacock feathers, cracked pistachio, blueprint sketch, mermaid lagoon

Thanks for spending some time looking at my blog today and be sure to check out Time Out's DT cards for some amazing inspiration - here.  And keep crafting!

The Male Room #53 Numbers

Hi there! Today I'm here to share my DT card for the new challenge at The Male Room. 

A lovely simple theme with a huge potential for different interpretations. Here's mine:

I was still in scrapbooking mode when I created this card and thought it would be a useful addition to either a page or a Project Life insert - and I include both genres in my yearly albums.

I also thought the simple colour scheme would make it suitable for most of my pages which are nearly all male themed anyway.

Supplies:
Papers: Kaisercraft, A Touch of Gold; ep, Times & Seasons; AC, Nightfall
Punch: Woodware, inverse corner
Die: Spellbinders, small labels
Embellishments: Freckled Fawn enamel dots

Not a scrapbooker? Well then you need to go check out the rest of The Male Room's DT creations - here - there's sure to be something there that will spark your imagination.

Thanks so much for your visit today, I'm so glad to have had your company.  And keep crafting!