Bonnie

I've used a sweet little image featuring a Wee Stamp bunny called Bonnie today.  She's sat in a basket wearing her floral bonnet (I love her ears poking through it!).  This is my final outing as guest designer with the The Ribbon Girl Challenge (*sniff, sob*) but I've had such fun playing along (thank you Mary).  The theme this fortnight, as usual for the mid month challenge, is to use any image, so there's no excuse not to play along. :0)

Card Recipe:

From The Ribbon Girl:

• Maja Design Spring Basics Papers
• Ivory Jute Mesh Ribbon
• Ivory White Carnation
• Lily Flowers Small Pale Pink
• Hip Rose Bud Pink Two Tone
• Beaded Twirl White
• 15mm Dusky Pink Berrisford Satin Ribbon
• 10mm Pale Pink Open Roses
• Cherry Blossom Baby Pink
• Tiny White Rosebuds
• 5mm Pink Crystals
• Glossy Accents

From Dies To Die For:

• Whimsy Bonnie Stamp
• Versafine Ink Pad

Other:

• Watercoloured with Ranger Distress Ink Reinkers
• The Langton Watercolour paper
• Viva Pearl Pen - Green
• Crealies Crea-Nest-Lies XXL #41

Created for:

I've been inspired by:

• Simon's Monday Challenge - Hip Hop
• Creatalicious - Anything Goes with Flowers
• Stamping Sensations - Anything Goes
• Penny Black & More - Spring

Happy crafting
Annette
xx

Dandelion Clock

We are looking for pearls at In The Pink Challenge this fortnight and I've gone a little overboard with my pearl embellies.  I've added a white pearl string, a trinket pin featuring pearls and some flat backed pearls for good measure.  All the pearl embellies, flowers and the shocking pink ribbon are all from The Ribbon Girl and my image is Lili of the Valley.  My card also fits the theme for the 'girilie' themed challenge at Lili of the Valley's Facebook page which you still have a couple of days to enter with a card featuring a female character.

Card Recipe:

From Lili of the Valley:

• Dandelion Clock

From The Ribbon Girl:

• 15mm Shocking Pink Berrisford Satin Ribbon
• Cosmos Daisy Flower
• Lily Flowers Small Pale Pink
• 10mm Pale Pink Open Roses
• Cream Open Rose
• Hip Rose Bud Pink Two Tone
• Carnation Pale Pink
• 5mm Pink Pearls
• 3mm White Pearl Bead String
• Ivory Trinkey Pin

From Dies To Die For:

• Versafine Ink Pad
• MFT Dienamics Stitched Circle Stax
• Glossy Accents

Other:

• Watercoloured with Ranger Distress Ink Reinkers
• The Langton Watercolour paper
• Nitwit Collections Papers - Always and Forever
• Viva Pearl Pen - Ice White
• Crystal Glamour Dust

Created for:

Sponsored by:

I've been inspired by:

• Creatalicious - Anything Goes with Flowers
• Simon's Wednesday Challenge - Colour Inspiration
• Fab 'n' Funky - Fantasy

Happy crafting
Annette
xx

Spring Panda

Today's image is one I've actually had for a while but, like much of my rubber, he's been neglected while I play with new stash!  But today he's having an outing in a Springtime themed Mother's Day card.  I've stamped him in pale grey ink and watercoloured him.

Here's a bit more of a close up of my little panda...

... and although I've shown you this before, I've also included a mini-tutorial on how I've coloured some of the orange flowers using some a drops of DI reinker in a few drops of water.  I dip the flower tip into the diluted ink, just for a few seconds, and let them dry (or if you're impatient like me, dry them with a hairdryer!)

Card Recipe:

From Dies To Die For:

• Wild Rose Studio Panda with Flowers
• MFT Dienamics Stitched Circle Stax
• Maja Design Coffee in the Arbour Paper pad

From The Ribbon Girl:

• 15mm Berrisford Lemon Satin Ribbon
• Cosmos Daisy
• 15mm Yellow Gold Open Roses
• 10mm Cream Open Roses (coloured - see pictures above)
• Mini Rose Buds (coloured - see pictures above)
• Peaches & Cream flat backed pearls

Other:

• Watercoloured with Ranger Distress Ink Reinkers
• The Langton Watercolour paper
• Typed Sentiment (Wendy Medium font)
• Vellum

I've been inspired by:

• Craty Calendar - Mother's Day
• Country View Crafts - Tim Holtz (Tim Holtz reinkers to watercolour image and flowers)
• Noor Design - Spring
• Simon's Monday Challenge - Layer it up (layered colours esp on the flowers!)
• Seven Hills - Animals, Watercolour, Bold Shades
• Inky Chicks - Flowers

Happy crafting
Annette
xx

Bunny with Flower

There's a new challenge at The Ribbon Girl Challenge starting today and I've used some gorgeous goodies from The Ribbon Girl and a cute bunny image from Lili of the Valley.

Card Recipe:

From The Ribbon Girl:

• Pion Spring Meadow Paper
• 15mm Dusky Blue Satin Ribbon
• Cherry Blossom
• Cosmos Daisy Flower
• Cream Open Roses
• Pale Pink Open Roses
• 10mm Blue Open Roses
• Hip Rose Buds
• Mini Rose Buds
• Red Tiny Berries
• 3mm Ivory Pearl String
• Hessian
• 5mm Aqua Crystals
• Glossy Accents

From Lili of the Valley:

• Bunny Trio Flower

From Dies To Die For:

• MFT Dienamics Stitched Circle Stax

Other:

• Watercoloured with Ranger Distress Ink Reinkers
• The Langton Watercolour paper
• Momento Stamp Pad Ink

Created for:

I've been inspired by:

• The Cutie Pie Challenge - Digis and Dies
• Noor Deisgn - Spring (the papers are from Pion's "Spring" collection)

Happy crafting
Annette
xx

Wedding Couple Hanger

A the In The Pink Challenge there is an inspirational photo designed to get you in the pink and lacy mood! I've chosen to focus on the wood, cream and pink lace, romantic theme of the image for my sample and I've made a wooden wedding hanger using a cute Wedding Couple image from Lili of the Valley.

Project Recipe:

From Lili of the Valley:

• Wedding Couple (available in rubber or digi)

From The Ribbon Girl:

• Small Lily
• 30mm Ivory Open Rose
• Hip Rose Buds
• 4mm Pearl Ivory Trim
• Pink Beaded Berries
• Trinket Pin

From Dies To Die For:

• Versafine Ink Pad
• Maja Design Vintage Romance Paper pad
• Memory Box Precious Hearts
• MFT Dienamics Stitched Circle Stax

Other:

• Wooden MDF Square
• Watercoloured with Ranger Distress Ink Reinkers
• The Langton Watercolour paper
• Viva Pearl Pen - Ice White
• Whiff of Joy Heart Banner
• Pink lace
• Cream lace
• Beaded Twirl
• Pink Tulips
• Small Self Adhesive Flat Backed Pearls

Created for:

I've been inspired by:

• Country View Crafts - Tim Holtz (Reinkers from CVC)
• Penny Black & More - Anything Goes
• Seven Hills Craft - Patterned Paper, Pastel. Die cutting (using Stitched Circle Stax)
• Inky Chicks - Flowers

Happy crafting
Annette
xx

Meant to be

At As You Like It this week we are asking what your favourite stamp brand is. I must admit I go through phases of preference; I started off stamping with Penny Black and still love them despite not using them much.  I have also fallen in love with lots of others including Stamping Bella and Purple Onion Designs. But when I look at my hoard of stamps, my LOTV collection is by far the largest.  I've used a sweet romantic image called 'meant to be' today and added lots of goodies from The Ribbon Girl in a cream and lilac colour combo.  

Card Recipe:

From Lili of the Valley:

• Meant to Be

From The Ribbon Girl:

• Pion Violet Field Paper
• Ivory Carnation
• Small Lily
• Mini Rose Buds
• 10mm Ivory Open Roses
• 15mm Purple Open Roses
• White Pearl String
• 4mm Pearl Ivory Trim
• 48mm Vintage Ivory Fluted Ribbon
• 16mm Lilac Velvet Ribbon
• Ivory Trinket Pin

Other:

• Watercoloured with Ranger Distress Ink Reinkers
• The Langton Watercolour paper
• Tim Holtz Stitched Ovals Nesting Die

I've been inspired by:

• Country View Crafts - Inspired by Tim Holtz (watercoloured with Distress Ink reinkers)

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

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

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

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

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

Hearts & Flowers

I am SUPER excited to be a guest designer at The Ribbon Girl for 3 months and this is the first card I'm sharing since joining Mary's team!   As well as using lots of lovely goodies from the shop, I'm also showcasing a new image from Lili of the Valley called Hearts & Flowers which is due to be released on Saturday.

And finally, (yes there's more!) there's a new challenge starting at As You Like It Challenge today, where we want to know what your favourite flowers are.  After a bit of thought, I decided mine were roses and so I'm counting the rose that the little mouse is holding as well as the rose bud and open rose embellishments  I use these roses a lot, and I also love using the chrysanths and lilies that also feature on my card.  

Card Recipe:

From Lili of the Valley:

• Hearts & Flowers Digi Stamp
• Sentiment Tags

From The Ribbon Girl:

• Pion Violet Field Paper
• 15mm Grape Satin Ribbon
• Mushroom Charm
• Small Lily
• Open Roses
• Hip Rose Buds
• Mini Rose Buds
• White Pearl String
• Flat Backed Pearls

Other:

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

I've been inspired by:

• Simon's Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes
• Inky Chicks - Anything Goes

Happy crafting
Annette
xx