Pixie Dust Challenge #68 - Fluttering Wings

Our challenge to you this week at Pixie Dust Challenge is - "Fluttering Wings" - create a card/project featuring butterflies, pixies, bugs, etc. Anything with wings!


I have probably pushed the boundaries a bit with this card - but my excuse is that I have decided that these are little birds that are sitting on this guardsman's bearskin and shoes and they must have wings!!

This cute image is Tweet Guardsman from the brand new British Invasion release and isn't he just perfect for getting in the mood for celebrating the upcoming Royal Wedding here in the UK.

The papers that I have used are by doodlebug and the Union Jack was a free digi download. The ribbon was the last little bit that I had left of my gorgeous Kath Kidson stash - must get some more of that as it is just the most wonderful ribbon.

I have followed the sketch this week at Sketch Saturday

I do hope that you get some time to join us this week in the challenge - you can real all about it and see the gorgeous cards from the DT this week Here.

Have fun

Karen x

Pixie Dust Studio Pixie Challenge #28 Seeing 2

Here we go with a new challenge at Pixie Dust Studio Challenges and this time we are looking for all your creations using at least 2 images on them. Most of the DT have used the additional optional theme of using Twilight images, but as I no nothing about Twilight (shock, horror!!!) I have used this cute mermaid from The Pearl collection along with a few Glub the fish images which were a freebie from Pixie Dust a little while ago.


The papers that I have used are a combination of Doodlebug and also Stampin up and the little flowers in the corner were a bargain buy pack at Poundland which I have added a little colour to at the edges with a little chalk ink pad.

The sketch that I have follwed is the current one at The Pixie Cottage - they always have such great sketches there.

I do hope that manage to join us this week and please do pop on over to the challenge blog Here to perhaps get some inspiration from the fabulous samples from the DT this week - and especially if you are a Twilight fan.

Karen x

Sneek Peek of New Nutshells stamps

I have a sneek peek today for you of a couple of stamps from the soon to be released I Scream for Ice Cream stamps at Nutcrafters.

I have used the Ice cream parlour background stamps and also the cute little nut sitting eating her ice-cream sundae.

The papers are all by Doodlebug and the flowers are by prima.


I have followed the sketch this week at Papertake Weekly another great one from the girls over there - thanks. I have also just found a new challenge at Mami Doodles and they are looking for summer cards. They also have some fab images that I am just about to purchase so look out for these soon!!

I sill have some more sneek peeks of this range and also another fab collection from Nutcrafters over the next week or so.

Karen x

Dare U 2 Digi Stamp - challenge 34 - Easter

Once again we have a great challenge for you at Dare U 2 Digi Stamp and this time around we are looking for all those Easter creations. The only thing that we would ask is that you make sure that you use a digi image somewhere on your card or project.

We have some gorgeous samples from the DT for you to feast your eyes on Here and these will hopefully give you some inspiration.


The papers that I have used for my card are all by doodlebug as are the flower stickers. The image is from Digital Delights and I have done the sentiment on the computer.

I am also entering this card at Everybody Art Challenge where the theme is Easter.

This will be my last Easter card for this year as I am heading off on holiday tomorrow for a week. I have scheduled a few posts while I am away and hopefully I will get some internet access to keep up with what you are all up to.

Have a lovely Easter.

Karen x

A Spoon Full of Sugar Challenge 78

Our Challenge this week was picked by our very own Jacqui and she asked us to make something for a Babys First Christmas/Pre-Schooler.

This week our sponsor is Nikki of Bunny Zoe's Crafts. One lucky player this week will win the new The Greeting Farm stamp - Flapper Anya. You can check out this prize and see the beautiful cards this week from the DT Here.


I have used one of the fabulous new images from CC Designs which I think would be just perfect for a little girl at Christmas Time. The papers are all by doodlebug and the sentiment by imaginsce. The flowers are from my stash and the small centre flowers were cut with an X-cut punch.

I hope you have a great week and this challenge will give you an excuse to get another of thoses christmas cards out of the way.

Karen x

Dare U 2 Digi Stamp - challenge 25 - sketch by Larissa

Our new dare is a great sketch designed by our very talented Larissa and which all of us on the design team enjoyed working with, thank you Larissa! We're looking forward to seeing how you interpret Larissa's sketch and of course your creation must also include a digital image.


This is one of the new digi images that CC designs launched earlier this week and I just know that I will be using this one on a few kids cards this year. The papers are last year's doodlebug Christmas range and ribbon from my stash.


I have my 3 grandchildren coming to stay for the weekend and we will all be heading out to the bonfire and fireworks display on Saturday night, so hopefully the weather will be good to us.

Karen x

Dare U 2 Digi Stamp - challenge 25 - punched shapes or die cuts with a Truly Scrumptious twist

For our challenge this week we dare you to use punched shapes or
die cuts on your project which must also include a digital image.

You could use punches of course, any dies, nestabilities etc., or pre-cut chipboard shapes. We hope you have fun with this one and we look forward to seeing your shapes.

We have a prize of two digi stamps from Sketching Stamper and two from Sandra Dry Digital Designs which will be drawn in two weeks time on challenge day. You can check the challenge out Here and also see the fabulous cards that the rest of the DT have created this week.



This image is the second of the Digi Set that Nutcrafters have created for Breast Cancer Awareness. The set includes two character images along with two cupcakes and a selection of cupcake toppers and sentiments and will be available in October. You can read all about it Here.

The sketch is the fabulous one over on Truly Scrumptious and I even managed to get in the extra challenge of three stamps with the cupcake, the girl and the cherry. The DP is all by Doodlebug again and is just perfect with this set. I have started to decorate the inside of this card, but unfortunately ran out of time last night. I will try to finish it over the weekend and will post it at a later date.

Have a great weekend.

Karen x

Copics Colour Challenge - # 32

This weeks combo at Copics Colour Challenge is really fresh and funky. This is the first week on the DT for our new girls Beth and Patricia so please give them a big welcome and check out their fabulous cards Here .

On my card today I wanted to give you a peek of a very special stamp set that will be coming out in October. As many of you know October is Breast Cancer Awareness in the UK and the National Breast Cancer Awareness Month in the US.
Katie and Colette over at Nutshells have been working hard to create a digi stamp set for October. The new digi stamp set is called Pink Frosting and features a new nut called Pecan Nut.
If that wasn't enough to get you excited how about this......Nutshells will be donating 50% of each set sold to support Breast Cancer Awareness.
Make sure and check out the Nutshell blog Here for more information about this digi stamp set.


The DP I have used is by Doodlebug and the flowers were also punched from the same range of DP.

I hope you all have fun with this lovely colour combo and I will be back later in the week with another card featuring these Breast Cancer awareness cuties.

Karen x

Dare U 2 Digi Stamp - Challenge 21 - Sketch

At Dare U 2 Digi Stamp we have a fabulous sketch for you to follow this week. You can check it out Here and also see tha beautiful creations from the DT this week.


I have used another of this fabulous set of digi stamps from CC designs for my card this week and this one goes so perfectly with these beautiful doodlebug papers.

Well my holiday here is Spain is almost at an end and tomorrow is cleaning and tidy up day. We have some people renting our apartment at the end of the month so this means that I will have to have a proper tidy up so as to leave a some room in the wardrobes and also the cupboards. We have had beautiful weather, but hopefully we will be able to enjoy some of the better weather that the UK appears to have been having over the past few days when we return home on Sunday.

Have a great weekend.

Karen x

A Spoon Full of Sugar - Challenge 61 - Swirls

We have a nice easy challenge for you this week over at A Spoon Full of Sugar which is to use swirls on your cards. These swirls could be swirly papers, swirl embossed paterns, swirl stamps of chipboard swirls.


I just adore this little mermaid from CC Designs. The papers are by doodlebug and the swirls were cut using a Quickutz die. I have embossed the paper just behind the mermaid with a cuttlebug swirls folder, but I do not think that the embossing is showing up very well in the photo. The little charm came from my friend Tracy - thanks Tracy.


I have used the same papers on the inside of the card and used another one of these cute mermaids.

Our sponsor this week is Tracy from Squiggle Stamps. Squiggle Stamps are a new stamp company - launched June 2009. Their premiere collection of general occasion images are available now with the arrival of the very cute Oscar & Daisy due very soon!
As well as the two cute Daisy stamps Tracy is very generously giving the lucky winner a selection of 6x6 MM Abby papers, pebble stickers, assorted ribbon, trimming, flowers & gems. Thank you Tracy for this awesome prize! - worth checking out here

Have a great week.
Karen x

It's a Boy Thing at Nutshells

Yipee, it is release day for the Nutshells Boys which are now available here.

To celebrate this launch were are having a challenge and we would like for you to create a card for a man or boy using the colours Blue and Green. You can use any stamp and the prize for one lucky winner will be the choice of any 3 Nutshells stamps from the webshop.


The stamp that I have used on this card is Cash and the DP is by doodlebug, buttons by stampin up and I used my crop-o-dile to attach the eyelets.

The DT have made some stunning cards which hopefully will inspire you and can check them out here along with all the details about the challenge.

I hope you will join us with this challenge and I look forward to seeing your cards.

Karen x

Inspirational Card Sketches #22

Here we are, Tuesday again and another fab sketch from Dawn to follow over at ICS. I really enjoyed this one and I think this is the first card that I have ever made with a window in it.
We have a fabulous prize on offer the week from Lily-Boo Boutique and you can read all about this Here.


For my card this week I have used an image from one of the Lily-Boo Boutique collections and I just love these girls. I have also used one on the inside of the card (sorry, forgot to take a photo of the inside, will try to update this post later). These yummy papers are by Doodlebug and the flowers are from a pack that I bought in the US probably about 2 years ago, but I have never had papers to match them until now. The round sentimment showing through the window is a free one that came along with the latest Docrafts magazine and I love it.

Have a great week at I look forward to seeing what you do with this fabulous sketch this week.
Karen x

Inspirational Card Sketches #7

Over at ICS this week we are on Sketch#7...set by the wonderful Dawn.
This week see a New Sponsor, The Cutting Cafe and Regina Easter has kindly offered the winner three downloads of your choice from the CAFE
Now thats one you wont want to miss!!!

For my card this week I have used Porridge the pig from Sugar Nellie and the DPs are doodlebug which I think go perfectly with this image. The sentiment is one from the new Claire Curd signature range and the flowers are Imaginisce, ribbon and brad from my stash.

Pop on over to the ICS blog to see the fabulous cards from the rest of the DT and I look forward to seeing all your fab creations this week with Dawn's sketch.

Karen x

A Spoonful of Sugar with Friday's Sketch

After Tracy's demo at Papercrafts in Elgin on Saturday morning I called in past Tesco to pick up some emery boards as after seeing Tracy using them when covering chipboard I decided that I REALLY NEEDED some. Unfortunately Tesco had run out, but I did manage to pick up some of these CD posting boxes which were reduced to 25p each. After decorating the notebook earlier in the week I now decided that I need to alter anything and everything.

Front of Box


To cover this box I have followed the great sketch my Murmur over on Friday sketchers and this project also fits in with the challenge at Spoonful of Sugar which is paper piecing. I have paper pieced the chair with some doodlebug flocked paper. I must admit that this project probably took a lot longer than I had intended it to as I decided to completely cover the whole box as well as decorating the front and the back, but I am really pleased with it and now have another 4 to do!

Back of Box


Blank Box


Chair stamp by Whiff of Joy, Magnolia image, papers Urban Prairie by Basic Grey and Doodlebug, flowers by prima, flourishes are Quickutz, embelishments from my stash.

Karen x

Friday Sketchers Challenge - Meet Porridge the Pig

There is a great sketch to follow over on Friday Sketchers this week designed by Claudia Rosa. I have used Porridge the Pig which is one of the new Soft Centres collection from Sugar Nellie.

DP are doodlebug and I have used promarkers for this one. Ribbon, brads and flowers from my stash. The coupon on the chocolate is a clear stamp from Hero Arts (One of a set of three) and the sentiment on the card is cut with my cricut.

I had made the card before I noticed that one of the vertical elements was missing from my design, so I have made a wrapper for a bar of chocolate and incorporated the ribbon down the side in order to fit the sketch.





Thanks for looking.

Karen x

Sketch Saturday #21

Here is my card for Sketch Saturday this week. I am just loving this image which my daughter Stephanie kindly gave to me. I think it is a whippersnapper and if you are looking at this post Stephanie can you please bring it with you when you come to visit next week. The papers are Doodlebug and I have added some stickles to the red one to give it a bit of bling. Flowers are prima as usual.

It took me ages to make this card as I have run out of double sided tape and had to use glue and wait for it to dry between each layer - and I had forgotten how messy it is working with glue!. I can't drive for 2 weeks after having had my op so will have to hope that I can persuade my husband to run me over to Papercrafts Boutique at lunch-time otherwise I think I may go crazy!.



Thanks for looking.

Karen x

Friday Sketchers - Sketch 20

This is another great sketch and another Christmas card done. I have used another of the great new Forever Friends stamps. I think this one really is a birthday one, but I think it works really well as a Christmas stamp. I have actually made half a dozen of these as they did not take long to colour in and again I have used a mixture of promarkers and copics with a bit of stickles here and there for a bit of bling. The papers are by Doodlebug and I just love these bold Christmas colours and am off to order some more of the designs they have.

Thanks for looking.

Karen x

A Spoonful of Sugar - 1st Challenge

The first challenge on A Spoonful of Sugar is to create a summery card. I think these papers look very summery - all we need now is the sun to shine!

Papers by Doodlebug, flowers by Prima, cuttlebug embossing folder.

Thanks for looking

Karen x