PaperPlay Challenge – Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

This week’s PaperPlay challenge is “Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow”. So I’m looking forward to seeing lots of snowy projects this week! Craft Brulee is kindly sponsoring the challenge and the lucky winner will receive a $10 voucher to spend on some wonderful goodies in the store here.

I ended up making a luminaria and a card.


Stamps (Hero Arts) – Starry Night & Stunning Snowflakes

I love soft candlelight (great for hiding the wrinkles lol!) and for a while I’ve wanted to make a luminaria. So I finally got around to making one this week. To start with I scored a piece of white vellum into a box shape and white embossed the sides using the Starry Night and Stunning Snowflakes stamps. After I made up the box I applied diamond stickles to all parts of the trees and to the stars. I added diamond gems to the centres of some of the snowflakes.

With the candle flickering inside the luminaria there is such a lovely twinkling sparkle on the trees and snowflakes – just a pity I couldn’t fully capture it in a photo.


Stamps used (Hero Arts) – Share the Joy & Stunning Snowflakes

A little while ago I was lucky to have won some gorgeous blog candy on Fika’s blog and the cutie snowman stamp was part of the prize - thanks again Fika for the wonderful goodies you sent me!

The card is pretty much made up with scraps I had left over from other projects – pink pieces (white card white embossed with the Stunning Snowflakes, worn lipstick applied and spritzed with water), white pieces embossed with snowflakes in the Cuttlebug and some blue patterned paper which I've had for ages with “let it snow” text on it. I like the thoughts of snuggling up in a quilt when it’s cold and snowy outside so for the background I made an Ohio star quilt block with the scraps and added some machine stitching. I paper pieced the snowman using my scraps, added a little pompom to his hat and silver beads to his jacket.

I can’t wait to see all the entries for this week’s challenge!

I'm submitting these projects to:

Hero Arts Challenge - Gift tags and handmade gifts.

The Crafty Calendar Challenge - Winter Snowflakes

ABC Challenge Blog - H is for Holidays

Scrappy Frogs Challenge Blog - Merry Christmas

Simon Says Stamp! Challenge Blog - Sparkle

PaperPlay Challenge - Circles

It’s time for a new challenge on PaperPlay. This week Evonne came up with the challenge of using lots of circles on a project. Stitchy Bear Stamps is kindly sponsoring this week's challenge and the prize is 4 Stitchy Bear images.



I wanted to use this cute Stitchy Bear image called Butterscotch Cupcake Fairy as I’m going to give the card and some cupcakes to a friend. Every time I try to photograph anything I’ve made that’s glittery, I say never again. This time I went to town on glittery stuff (silver card, sequins, glitter and stickles) - I really don’t know what I was thinking! So apologies for the terrible photo.

For the background I used a scrap of velvet fabric which has lots of silver sequins on it. I coloured the fairy with ProMarkers, covered her clothes with red glitter, added diamond stickles to the wings (which have been layered and are on foam pads) and liquid pearls for the icing on the cupcake.

I hope you’ll join in on the fun on PaperPlay!

PaperPlay Challenge - Colour Combo

Vera came up with the great colour combination of orange, blue and olive green for this week's PaperPlay Challenge. Whiff of Joy Stamps is kindly sponsoring the challenge and the prize is this adorable Christmas stamp.



A little while ago when Hero Arts was hosting the OWH Virtual Card Making Weekend, Sue came up with a couple of fun games to add even more enjoyment to the weekend. I was lucky to have been randomly picked as one of the winners and Sue very generously sent me the gorgeous butterfly set as well as a host of other wonderful goodies. She also sent me this absolutely stunning card which I love so much! Thanks again Sue for everything!


Stamps (Hero Arts) - Butterflies (3 images), Birthday Messages & Old Letter Writing.

I applied spiced marmalade distress ink to the butterflies and using the same ink stamped them with the Old Letter Writing stamp. Then I applied Crackle Accents (love this stuff!) to parts of the butterflies' wings and added blue gems to the bodies. I applied broken china and faded jeans distress inks onto some watercolour paper for the sky. For the ground, I lightly applied shabby shutters distress ink on watercolour paper, clear embossed a lot of sentiments from the Birthday Messages set and applied more shabby shutters. The twine was originally white and I coloured it with broken china distress ink.



I hope you'll join us on PaperPlay this week!

I'm sorry I haven't been around much lately but I have a lot of things going on at the moment. Hopefully everything will settle down soon!

PaperPlay Challenge - Sketch

It’s Thursday so it's time for another challenge at PaperPlay. Stitchy Bear Stamps is kindly sponsoring the challenge this week and the prize is 4 wonderful images. Vera has come up with this brilliant sketch for us to play with.


I was delighted to have a chance to use this great image called Alexandria (on sale at 99c) from Stitchy Bear Stamps. When we go out trick or treating with the kids at Halloween, my friend and I get dressed up as witches - but somehow we never end up looking like this witch!



Stamps - Alexandria (Stitchy Bear Stamps), Lace Background (Hero Arts) & Jeepers Creepers (The Paper Company).

I coloured Alexandria with watercolour pencils and applied diamond stickles to her hat and the black part of her dress. Every time I use stickles or glitter on a card I find it really hard to photograph. So in real life the image is much more sparkly than it looks here. At her feet are some scraps of red tulle and the black card is clear embossed with the Lace Background. Last weekend one of my friends surprised me with a pressie of the Jeepers Creepers stamp set. I was thrilled with it and it turned out to be perfect timing for this card as until then I didn't have any Halloween stamps. The spider and sentiment are from that set.

I hope you'll join us for the sketch challenge on PaperPlay this week!

PaperPlay Challenge – Coffee and Cream

The challenge on PaperPlay this week is to use browns and creams only on your card/project. Phindy’s Place is kindly sponsoring the challenge and the lucky winner will receive a $15 gift certificate and can choose from the wonderful range available here.



When I was about seven I went to ballet lessons but after a short time moved on to do something else. I still remember how much I loved twirling around in my pink tutu and flouncing up all the layers of tulle! So I was delighted to get a chance to use this adorable image, Twick or Tweet from Phindy’s Place, of a little girl trick or treating in her tutu and wings. I coloured the image with watercolour pencils and added diamond stickles to the wings and copper stickles to the tiara.


Stamps: Twick or Tweet (Phindy's Place) & Flourish Background (Hero Arts).

On a piece of cream pearlescent card I masked a circle for the moon, clear embossed the Flourish Background and then applied some antique linen distress ink. The ground is a scrap of card left over from another project, which has water stamping (Flourish Background) and splashing on walnut stain distress ink. I just added some tulle and a button to finish.

I hope you will join us for coffee and cream this week at PaperPlay!

PaperPlay Challenge – Autumn is a Comin’

Julie set the challenge on PaperPlay this week and it is to use an autumnal colour scheme on your card\project. I love all the glorious colours of autumn so I can’t wait to see what everyone comes up with!

Simon Says Stamp is kindly sponsoring this week's challenge and the lucky winner will receive $15 to spend in the store. There are so many wonderful goodies to choose from here.



Stamps used (Hero Arts) – Antique Engravings, Scattered Leaves & Flourish Background

I used distress inks (worn lipstick & spiced marmalade) for the sky and stamped the wheat using two brown chalk inks. The dragonflies are stamped on acetate and I added copper stickles to the wings for some sparkle.



I stamped the leaves with shabby shutters distress ink and an orange chalk ink. Then I raided the garden shed for the raffia and snipped some berries off a wreath I have around a candle. For a bit of sheen I covered the berries with glossy accents. I clear embossed the Flourish Background on the cream card and added machine stitching using a dull gold thread.



I’m submitting the card into the current Hero Arts challenge – Everything Autumn.

PaperPlay Challenge – Sketch and Stash.

The challenge on PaperPlay this week is “Sketch and Stash”. Sandie has provided the great sketch below for you to try this week.

An added option to the challenge is to use some of your new stash. I have to put my hand up and admit to being guilty of buying goodies and then not using them for ages or even worse, ever! The mottled pink card is my something new from my stash.



Wink, Wink, Ink is kindly sponsoring this week’s challenge and the lucky winner will receive 3 digi images from the store here. I had such a hard time deciding which Wink, Wink, Ink image to use on my card as there are so many cute and gorgeous images to choose from. In the end I opted for this cutie called Pearl. I love the adorable images in this set and the fact that they are in both b&w and colour. The coloured version would be so handy for printing out and whipping up a quick card. The sentiments to go with the images are great too.

Stamps used:- Pearl (Wink, Wink, Ink) & Clouds Background (Hero Arts)

I coloured the image with watercolour pencils, popped up the sunhat and a couple of the little ruffles on the back of the swimsuit and added a pearl to the shell. The sentiment inside the card is one of the ones provided with Pearl – “Finding a friend like you is a rare and unexpected blessing!”

My 10 month old computer decided to stop working completely on Monday and I really thought it was gone beyond repair. Thankfully, it’s back in action again at half speed at the moment, but with a replacement part it should be back to normal later today. I have a lot of catching up to do! I missed the computer so much I even resorted to using my sons' PlayStation 3 to access the internet for a few things! But it’s so much better and quicker to be using a keyboard again. Luckily I haven’t lost anything (especially photos) but my motto from now on is backup, backup, backup.

PaperPlay Challenge – Pink It Up.

The challenge on PaperPlay this week is “Pink It Up”. So it’s time for you all to have fun and go crazy with pink!

Bunny Zoe’s Crafts is kindly sponsoring this week’s challenge and I know the lucky winner will have a great time shopping here.

I love using pink, white and black together and decided to “pink up” my card with the background, gems, flower and beads.

Vellum Starburst, originally uploaded by heather maria.

Stamps used (Hero Arts):- Starburst Lace, Scallop Borders, Lace Background & Messages.

I clear embossed the pink background with the Lace Background stamp and white embossed the Starburst Lace and scallops on vellum. To add another layer to the Starburst, I embossed the flower centre of the Starburst Lace again on vellum, snipped towards the centre and curled the petals a bit. Sue (Stampersuzz) sent me lots of gorgeous goodies recently, including a beautiful ribbon of velvet flowers so I snipped off one of the flowers and added a pearl to the centre. Thanks again Sue! To finish I added pink gems and a sprinkling of beads with a pinkish tinge.



I’m submitting the card into Jenny’s Challenge # 18 which is to use buttons, brads or bling on a card and am also submitting it into Hero Arts’ Keeping in Touch and Back to School Challenge.

I’m looking forward to seeing lots of gorgeous pink creations this week!

PaperPlay Challenge - Bon Voyage

Bon Voyage is the title of this week’s challenge on PaperPlay. So your card can be for a vacation, moving house etc.

Simon Says Stamp has kindly sponsored this week’s challenge and I’m sure the lucky winner will have a great time picking out yummy new goodies to the tune of $15 from the store.



Stamps used: - House with Plant & Cloud Background (Hero Arts) & New Home (Anita’s).

I love this house stamp from Hero Arts so I’ve stamped off lots of images and have had fun colouring them using different colour combinations. The house here is coloured with watercolour pencils and for the background I sponged distress inks (shabby shutters, broken china & faded jeans) onto white card. I love looking at all the creative cards/layouts that Trinh comes up with and I absolutely loved the way she embossed the Cloud Background in white on one of her gorgeous cards here. It made such a beautiful, soft background so I decided to use her idea on my card.

I’ve been buying bits and pieces of ribbon since I started making cards and hardly ever use them, so I think it’s time to start digging into my stash. I find it hard to make nice looking bows and spend ages fiddling around with ribbons trying to get it right. It's too late now for this card but next time I must try this make your own bow maker that I just came across - I have the jar, the pegs and I certainly have the ribbon!

I’m looking forward to seeing what you come up with for the challenge!

PaperPlay Challenge - Recipe

The challenge this week on PaperPlay has been set by Jan and it is to use the following recipe for your card - 2 design papers, 3 flowers , 1 ribbon and 1 charm.

Stitchy Bear Stamps is kindly sponsoring this week’s challenge. The lucky winner will receive four images from Stitchy Bear Stamps.


Stamps used:- Bunny Blu (Stitchy Bear Stamps) & Messages (Hero Arts)

I decided to use this cute bunny digi image from Stitchy Bear Stamps called Bunny Blu and coloured it with watercolour pencils. I’ve never used a charm on a card before but as I was rummaging through my bits and pieces, I came across this handbag charm which was from one of last year’s Christmas crackers. The card is for a friend who loves her handbags so I’m delighted that my hoarding paid off this time! To complete the recipe I used 2 design papers for the background, 3 punched flowers and some pink velvet ribbon.

I’m looking forward to seeing what you cook up with the recipe!

PaperPlay Challenge - Anything Goes

It’s time for another new challenge on PaperPlay. This week the challenge has been set by Julie and is titled "Anything Goes". So basically the choice is totally yours this week. You can make a card\project for any occasion, using any design, colours etc.

Waltzing Mouse Stamps is kindly sponsored the prize this week. Claire has so many wonderful products in her store and is offering the lucky winner a full set of stamps.

Sparkling Thank You, originally uploaded by heather maria.

Stamps used:- Hero Arts Large Flower & Dolls

It’s been a while (all of 30 days but who’s counting!) since I last used the Large Flower stamp. The flower, which has two layers, is embossed in white on vellum. Using an embossing pen, I embossed parts of the petals with stardust embossing powder. I machine stitched some meandering lines on the card and added beads and gems to finish.



I’m submitting the card to the Card Style Classy and Elegant Challenge in the Moxie Fab World.

I hope you will join us for our “Anything Goes” week on PaperPlay!

PaperPlay Challenge - Blue & Cream + 1 other colour

This week just seems to be flying by and as it’s Thursday already, it’s time for another new challenge on PaperPlay.

The challenge this week is to use a set colour combination - blue & cream + 1 other colour of your choice. I decided to use green as my extra colour.


Stamp: - Hero Arts (Birthday Messages)

Craft Brulee has kindly sponsored the prize this week. The lucky winner will receive a $10 voucher from Craft Brulee, so here's a chance to go shopping for some wonderful embellishments, stamps etc.


I was delighted to get a chance to play with some gorgeous embellishments from Craft Brulee. When I saw the exquisite layered satin flower with the fun feather, beads and flower centre I just had to use it. I also loved the pretty cream lace.


For the background I used some paper and a die cut from a paper pad by Kaiser Craft (Devonshire Collection) – thanks again Paula and Dawn! The sentiment, which is embossed, is from the Birthday Messages set by Hero Arts. I lightly applied some broken china distress ink to white card for the punched butterflies and machine stitched the lace and a pale blue ribbon to the card.

I’m looking forward to seeing your creations for the challenge and finding out what colour you decide to put with the blue and cream colour combination!

I've never tried making a shabby chic vintage card before and I'm not exactly sure if this card fits the bill. But I'm submitting it to the Card Style Shabby Chic and Vintage Challenge in the Moxie Fab World.

PaperPlay Challenge - Sandie's Sketch

This week the challenge at PaperPlay is to make a card using this great sketch designed by Sandie.



The prize this week has kindly been sponsored by Meljen’s Designs.

I made a new home card using one of Meljen’s Designs' adorable digital images called Garden Bird House. Now this is the kind of birdhouse I’d love to have in my garden, little love birds and vines included!



Stamps:- Meljen’s Designs (Garden Bird House), Hero Arts (Flourish Background & Clouds)

I coloured the image with pencils, added glossy accents to the ladybird, gems to the flowers, a heart pearl to "HOME" and touches of diamond stickles here and there. The “tweet home” is a Word font – Comic Sans MS. The Flourish Background is embossed in white on the white background.



I printed off the Garden Bird House image in a few different sizes and for my first attempt at making a little mini book used one on the cover. Instructions on Japanese bookbinding can be found in Lisa's video here on the Hero Arts blog. It’s fun making these little mini books and hopefully next time I won’t have to keep starting and stopping the video as I go along!


Stamp:- Meljen’s Designs (Garden Bird House)


I'm using the book to house information on our home. It contains\will contain information on each room (floor size, window size, amount and colours of paints used etc) so instead of having to measure up and estimate quantities any time we decorate, the info will always be there in this book.

I’m sure you’ll have fun with Sandie’s sketch and am looking forward to seeing your creations!

PaperPlay Challenge - Your Number's Up

It’s Thursday so it’s time for a new challenge at PaperPlay. The challenge this week is titled “Your Number’s Up”. So you can make a card for any occasion as long as a number features prominently on it. The prize this week is sponsored by Simon Says Stamp! and the winner will receive a $15 voucher for the store. I hope you’ll join in!

I wanted to make a 25th wedding anniversary card and decided to use the opportunity to go all out with silver and sparkle (hard to tell with photos taken on a dull day)!



Stamps (Hero Arts):- Flourish Background, Heart Winged Butterfly

The background is a piece of vellum clear embossed with the Flourish Background. I printed the numbers (from a free template on the internet) onto white card, cut them out and embossed with stardust embossing powder. I repeated the embossing process twice more.



I love the Heart Winged Butterfly stamp from Hero Arts and thought it would be nice to use on an anniversary card. The butterflies are also embossed with stardust embossing powder. One layer is embossed on white card and the other is on a piece of silk fabric. To finish I added some machine stitching and trails of silver gems with a white pearl heart (Hero Arts) at the base of each one.



I’m looking forward to seeing your creations!

Trinh told me about the monochromatic challenge at the CARDS blog so I've submitted this card. Thanks Trinh for yet again alerting me to a challenge!

PaperPlay Challenge – Child/Teenager

I'm delighted to be posting my first PaperPlay DT card! This week’s challenge at PaperPlay is to make a card for a child/teenager. The prize is sponsored by Stitchy Bear Stamps and the winner will receive four images.

I thought I’d make a card aimed at a teenage boy and used a digi image from Stitchy Bear Stamps called J.T. which I think is great for teenagers\young adult guys. This was my first time going the digi route and it was a lot easier than I thought it would be!



I used colouring pencils to colour the image. Then I layered the sentiment and added a part of a snap fastener to the centre. For the orange panel, I applied spiced marmalade distress ink to white card and spritzed with water. The top part of the card is embossed with a Cuttlebug stars folder and on the bottom part I clear embossed the Raindrop Background. I cut the piece of denim from an old pair of jeans and added some machine stitching around the edges.

I'm hoping you'll join in the fun and am looking forward to seeing your creations!

Stamps:- Stitchy Bear Stamps (J.T.), Hero Arts (Birthday Messages, Raindrop Background)

Crazy Quilt Card - PaperPlay Challenge

I wanted to make a card for the current PaperPlay Challenge (Something Old). As I’ve only been making cards for a little over 18 months I don’t have any very old things in my card making stash so I decided to use some old upholstery fabrics out of my fabric stash. Thanks to Lin, I’m on a bit of a quilt card kick at the moment! When I finished the quilt card in yesterday’s post, I just had to make another one!



Stamps (Hero Arts) Lace Background, Dolls

In keeping with the something old theme, I made a crazy quilt for the central panel and cut it out using a Labels 8 die. The bigger panel is also cut out in the same way from another piece of upholstery fabric. I clear embossed the Lace Background stamp (Hero Arts) on the card and embossed the sentiment in gold.



Crazy patchwork is a great way of using up odds and ends of fabric. Last year I made this little Christmas boot from scraps. On some of the fabrics I stamped various Hero Arts images in white, silver or pink ink. The colours aren't the usual Christmas colours as I entered it in a challenge in which unexpected Christmas colours had to be used.

PaperPlay Challenges DT

I have some really exciting news to share - I am joining the PaperPlay Challenges design team! I'm really looking forward to making cards\projects and seeing all the entries for the challenges.

PaperPlay Challenges has a great weekly challenge which is set each Thursday. So if you would like to join in the fun, you can find the current challenge (Something Old) here. I'm hoping to see you there!

My desk and supplies are covered with plastic sheeting (some painting going on) so hopefully I'll get to rummage under the plastic and post a card tomorrow!

PaperPlay Challenge - Home

The challenge this week at PaperPlay Challenges is home. So I decided to use this image from Papertrey Ink's Boards and Beams set. I really love the look of these kind of houses but wouldn't like to think of all the work involved in the upkeep of all the wood in real life, so a stamped one will have to do me!

The image is coloured with watercolour pencils. For the background I cut a shape out of white card using the labels 8 set. To get a white outline, I flipped the shape over while still in the die and lightly sponged the area with distress inks (shabby shutters and broken china). The sentiment is embossed in white on vellum and I just added these little heart pearls from Hero Arts and a bead on the door.



Stamp:- Boards and Beams (Papertrey Ink) New House (Anita's)