Let the shellebration begin!

I am so ready for the warmer weather to show up now. I think this little mermaid is feeling the same. She was part of the last digi Christmas release over at Sweet November Stamps last year but she definitely works for any season.

She is part of the Griswold and Bethany digi set and because she is a digi you could grab her right now. No waiting for or paying for postage. It doesn't get much better than that :D  

I have coloured her up with the following copics:

Hair: W10, W8, W6, W4

Skin: V17, E35, E13

Tail: R85, R83, R81

Clam shell: E42, E41

Sand: E43, E42

Water: B00

I am entering this card for the following challenges:

I am entering this card for the following challenges:

Crafting Happiness - A is for all kinds of weather. I went for a summer feel

Jan's digi stamps - Anything Goes

Lil' patch of crafty friends - Anything Goes

Crafty Calendar - Anything Goes

 Thank you so much for taking the time to visit my blog.

Huge hugs

Amy xx

Sweet November stamps summer release instagram hop

Summer is here and this year Sweet November Stamps is riding the heat wave with a fun and carefree clear stamp release. There are eight new sets that range from summer celebrations to fairytale magic as well as the new exclusive coordinating sequin mixes. To celebrate we are back hosting a sizzling summer Insta-Hop featuring both the Sweet November design team and the team from Crafty Purple Frog, our exclusive UK stockist. As always, one lucky crafter will walk away with the entire release! All you have to do is visit each designer’s account provided below, follow them, and leave a comment on their SNS post. You have Saturday, Sunday and Monday, June 17th, 18th and 19th to participate in the hop. Tuesday, we will announce the random winner on the Sweet November Instagram page.

Allison Cope @i_card_so_hard

Amanda Garrett @thelittlepinkcaboose

Amy Gould @craftypurplefrog

Amy Young @amyyoungforever

Caitlin Anthony @caitlinannaleecards

Claire Harrison @mrs_h_crafty_corner

Cline Passio @clinepassio

Danielle Dunlop @danielledunlop21

Faye Wynn-Jones @fayewynnjones

Jasmin Oliver @jasmincraftymakes

Jeannean Marshall @jeanneanmarshall

Lisa Jannaway @craftytrain1

Lucy Dyer @owlwayscrafty

Sweet November Stamps @sweetnovemberstamps

This giveaway is sponsored by Sweet November Stamps.

For my card I used the adorable Paisley stamp.

I coloured her with the following copics:

Skin: V17, E35, E13

Hair: W9, W7, W5

Dress: B18, B16, B12

Shoes, hair band and belt: RV66, RV55, RV63

For her balloons I used a few layers of Wow! Turkish nights after colouring in the balloons with a wow! embossing pen. The back ground I started by inking the background with Kitsch flamingo and a bit of picked raspberry distress oxide. Then I added some stencilling using Heffy Doodles confetti heart stencil before doing some ink splattering with Picket fence spray stain and Cocktail party distress mica stain.

If you like this little girl there are 2 chances to win her and the entire June Sweet November Stamps release by joining a hop over on Instagram CLICK HERE.

And another hop on YouTube CLICK HERE

There is a load of inspiration on the way for everything from the new release.

I am entering this card for the following challenges:

Leigh SB Designs Inspirational Challenges - Anything Goes

Pattie's Creations - Anything Goes

Creative Inspirations Challenge - Anything Goes

Thank you for taking the time to look at my blog.

Huge hugs

Amy xx

Rediscovery hop - Birthday

Hello everyone! With every new month brings rediscovery. Today I am participating in an Instagram Hop highlighting rediscovery. The premise of this hop is to dig through that drawer, route through that hidden pile, or open those bins and find what has been forgotten about. I encourage you to try this and instead of buying new product, take a look at the treasures you already have. This is a monthly hop so if you are interested in joining us, message @craftwithme101 to get all of the information. 🙂

The theme for this months hop is Birthdays. I have had this super cute little fairy from Stamping Bella coloured up for a while now and just knew I had to get her on this card. I have used a beautiful paper from the First Edition "Let's Celebrate" 6x6 pack that you can get for a bargain price of just £1.50 right now over are DRK crafts. I love how this paper has little bits of gold foiling on it so it really adds a nice shine to my card. The pink card is from the Dove craft summer pack and I used it to mat behind my patterned paper and then also used another old craft item the white orbs stencil from Lavinia stamps to emboss those spots onto it. 

For the sentiment I used Dove craft A4 smooth metallic card and the happy and birthday dies from Heffy doodle. I think they work well with the touches of gold foil in the patterned paper and add even more shine.

I am entering this card for the following challenges:

Patties creations - Anything goes

Sweet Stampin' - Things with wings

My time to craft - Dry embossing

The fairy and the unicorn - Anything Fantasy goes

Thank you so much for taking the time to look at my blog.

Huge hugs

Amy xx

Beautiful Details

I am so happy to be able to say that I have made it through Level 1 of the Altenew AECP and so now am moving onto level 2. There are so many amazing classes to work through for this level 2 certificate I wasn't sure where I wanted to start so I have gone in alphabetical order :D 

So my first creation for you is from all my learning in the brilliant Beautiful Details class. If you have not seen Altenew have a whole range of great online craft classes where you can learn so many tips and techniques to use in your crafting. You can find them all HERE and there are some free ones if you want to see what the classes are like so what have you got to lose??

I had so much fun making this card. I was so inspired by the idea of mixing up the media I use to colour that I went all in and for this card I have used Copics, Faber-Castell pencils and Altenew watercolours. I am not sure why I haven't combined the mediums I use before now.

I am so happy with the depth and detail that this had added to this beautiful Altenew Tulip stamp set.

I stamped my images on watercolour paper as I new I wanted to use the Altenew watercolour essentials set. I wanted to try and keep some of that watercolour lose look so I did some second generation stamping with Versafine Smokey gray ink to give a really light outline for a no line colouring look.

I started by using water colours to give a base and some depth. I followed that with using some pencils to add some more texture and detail. To finish the colouring and add even more depth I also added some copics into the mix. Lastly I added the splatters with the watercolours and then the sentiment that is in the Tulip stamp set.

I hope this helps inspire you to mix up your colouring and add in details to make your stamped images your own and give that truly handmade touch to your projects. I have no doubt that I will be using the many techniques I learnt in this class over and over again. I am totally inspired.

I am going to also enter this card for the following challenges:

Addicted to stamps - Make your mark

Penny's paper crafty challenge - Anything goes

Crafty Gals challenge - Add a flower

Huge hugs to you all 

Amy xx

Crafty Purple Frog Sneak Peek Day 4

This is the last day of the sneak peeks and the last day that you can join the Instagram hop to try and win the "All Ears" stamp set. Today we are showing off the "Party Mouse" stamp set. 

This adorable little mouse is all set to party with a cakes, candles and party hat. 

For my first make today I stamped a whole load of cakes out and coloured them up with Spectrum noir tri-blend pens before fussy cutting them out. Next I used Heffy Doodle memo tape to mask off the bottom of a piece of card so I could ink it up in Antique linen distress ink. Then I moved the same piece of memo tape so it was now covering where I had just inked and inked the top part with Tumbled glass distress ink. To finish the back ground I stamped the Happy Birthday from the new Happy Birthday Everyone stamp set across the middle and layered it on some black before sticking it all on my card blank.

I put the cakes all over it coloured my little mouse and gave him the party hat which of course I made sparkly with nuvo drops. I stuck my mouse in the middle of the card on some foam pads so he stands out a bit and then added a load of Nuvo drops to make the background really sparkle :)

 

I am entering this card for the following challenges:

The paper shelter - A birthday card

Penny's paper crafting challenge - Anything goes with paper

Crafty sentiments - Anything goes

Lemon shortbread - Anything goes

If you have been checking out my blog for the rest of the week you may have noticed that I am a little addicted to making these stamps into little charms so of course I had to make some mouse earrings :D

Again I used Kraftin' Kimmie Hybrid ink to stamp the image on the textured side of the frosted shrink plastic before colouring it with my Spectrum noir tri-blend pens. I then made a hole above the mouse and cut the whole image out going around the hole so when I used my Wow! heat gun to shrink it they have a way to attach them to the chain. 

I added a few little heart charms from my stash and I think that is enough for these. I wanted the mouse to be the main focus :)

I am entering these earrings for the following challenges:

The house that stamps built - Anything goes

Crafty creations - Anything goes

Through the craft room door - Anything goes

Unicorn challenge - Include an animal

Thank you for taking the time to look at my blog. I would love it if you would follow me and leave me a link to your blog so I can follow you back.

Huge hugs

Amy xx

White space

This is my second card that I am entering for the Altenew Educator Certification Program. This card I created thanks to one of the classes in the Clean and simple boutique cards class. This is a brilliant class. It has made me look at designs differently. This class was about white space and how important it is to give the images and stamping space. The white makes the colours of the flowers stand out more even when using soft pastel colours like these.

I used the beautiful Peony Bouquet stamp set for this card and then embellished it with some hand drawn lines rather than using the outline stamps that are in the set. This makes it more personal and unique. I also hand drew a frame around the edge of the card. I wanted to add a tiny touch of sparkle and I did that with some nuvo drops. They are the only thing that actually stands out on this card. Everything else is just on the one layer and stamped or drawn straight onto the card blank.

I used the following Altenew Crisp Dye inks:

Firefly for the leaves

Dew Drop and Aqualicious for the blue flower

Pink Diamond and Pinkalicious for the pink flower

Soft lilac and Lavender Fields for the berries

I really enjoyed making this card and how quickly and easily it came together. I am feel like after this class I am now looking at a lot of my stamps differently and trying to think if I can do a similar thing with them :)

 I am entering this card for the following challenges:

A bit more time to craft - Anything goes

Crafters cafe - Anything goes

A perfect time to craft - Anything goes

Colour it, create it, show it off - Anything goes

Crafts Galore encore - Anything goes

Daisy chain - Flowers

Thank you for taking the time to look at my blog. I would love it if you would follow me and leave me a link to your blog so I can follow you back.

Huge hugs

Amy xx

You are fabulous

Honestly these digi sets from The Greeting Farm are just so much fun to play with! This one I kept nice and simple I mixed the adorable birthday girls and birthday boys sets. I kept it all on one layer and coloured it with my copics and then added sparkle with a spectrum noir clear sparkle pen.

 

In case you have missed it The Greetings farm have a DT call going on and you can find all of the details HERE. 

I am entering these cards for the following challenges:

  

Crafty Sentiments- Anything goes

Digi Choosday - Anything goes

Through the craft room door - Anything goes 

Thank you for taking the time to look at my blog. I would love it if you would follow me and leave me a link to your blog so I can follow you back.

Huge hugs

Amy xx

You're awesome fur real

I had so, so much fun creating this little fold out card for my adorable Nephew Rory who was 2 recently. I can't resist using Lions for my creations for him but I felt like I wanted to mix it up so used a few different stamp set from the brilliant Create a Smile range. The lions are from the "Fur real" set, the Lemur is from "Little Lemur" and the armadillo is from the "On a roll" set. 

For the base of this card I used some craft card from Crafters Companion and first cut it at 4 inches before then scoring it at every 4 inches so it was a little concertina of 4' x 4' squares. I stuck the two strips I got from the one piece of A4 card together and then cut one more 4' x 4' square of the craft card to cover where I stuck the two pieces together. I knew I wanted to have a square for each leter of his name and a further one for the number 2 but you could just use more or less card to fit for any name.

The card that I used for the matting and layering are all craft perfect card in various colours. I really like this card as it is not only a good thickness but also has a bit of texture to it and a great colour. I have to say that I have only just discovered this card properly and I am going to be getting it and stocking it in my store for sure so watch this space if you want to get your hands on it. For the layers I cut a range of 3 and 3/4 inch squares, 3 and 1/2 inch squares and the smallest squares are 3 and 1/4 inch. I then layered them all on angles for the inside panels and stacked for the front one.
The letters are just die cut out of the same tonic carft perfect card so the colours all matched perfectly. The happy sentiment die is from Heffy Doodle as is the little birthday stamped sentiment (from the "super dudes" set). The "you're amazing fur real" sentiment is from the "Fur real" set.

The critters are all coloured using the following Spectrum Noir tri-blends:

Lions:
Fur - Gold Brown Blend
Mane - Gold Yellow Blend
Nose - Gold Brown Shade
Ears -  Pale Pink Blend

Lemur:
Fur - Grey Brown Shade, Grey Brown Blend
Ears - Pale Pink Blend
Eyes - Ice Blue Blend
Balloon - Light Green Blend

Armadillo:
Grey Brown Shade, Grey Brown Blend and Ice Blue Blend on his eyes


I am entering this card for the following challenges:
Crafty Rocket - Happy Birthday
Brown Sugar - Anything Goes
Colour crazy challenge - Anything goes with colouring
2 Crafty Critter Crazies - Anything goes
A bit more time to craft - Anything goes
A perfect time to craft - Anything goes
Crafty Animals - Anything goes with a critter

I am so in love with Heffy Doodle

Hi everyone,

Thank you so much for taking the time to look at my little blog. I had to take a break from crafting for a bit as life got a bit manic but now I am back and ready to go again :)

I hope you are all well and enjoyed the weekend as much as I did.

I was lucky enough to get some proper crafting time this weekend. In fact my mum even came soon to join me and we crafted for most of the day. It was heaven!

I recently found this super cute company called Heffy Doodle. If you haven't seen them yet you are just about to and there will be plenty more to come on my blog as I am more than a little addicted to them already. You can get your hands on a range of their stamps, dies and stencils in my online shop so I will add links to everything I have used to make these cards in case you want to grab them.

Ok enough talking time for the cards.........

This card was the first one of this set I made using the Wingman stamp set. I am just as nutty about parrots as I am about frogs so I NEEDED this set as soon as I saw it!

I have used the Heffy doodle UnbeLEAFable stencil and shabby shutters distress ink to make the leaf print in the background. The sentiment and main stamp are from the Wingman stamp set and then I coloured him and his perch with the following spectrum noir illustrator markers:

Perch: TN7, EB2 and IG3

Beak:GY3, CT4

Body: TB4, TB3, TB1

For that extra little something I added some Lemon twist glossy accents scattered around.

I am entering this card for the following challenges:

613 avenue challenge - Anything Goes

A bit more time to craft - Anything goes

International Art and soul - Make your own background

A perfect time to craft - Anything goes

This second card I wanted to make the same stamp look a little different. So this time I used the other stamps and made a background by stamping them randomly all over it in memento tuxedo black.

Stamped the sentiment which is again also in the Wingman stamp set and layered it up on some black card. The main parrot I coloured using Lemon twist glossy accents for its beak,

and then a mix of Nuvo glitter drops to give its feathers some sparkle. I popped it up from the card using some foam pads and then coloured the perch with spectrum noir illustrators TN7 and EB2.

I am entering this card for the following challenges:

Lil patch of crafty friends - Anything goes

Pile it on - Pretty in pink

Stamping sensation - All things bright and beautiful