Playing With Paper - Andrea's Blog

Playing with paper pieces ...

2012-01-29T12:30:00.005Z

Over at The Ribbon Girl blog we have a fabulous joint giveaway from the Ribbon Girl shop and my lovely friend Jacque Larsen. Jacque creates fabulous paper pieces for digital scrapbooking, cardmaking and crafting. I spent a very happy couple of years on Jacque's Creative Team and I had fun this last few weeks playing with some of her newer stuff. Jacque is looking for new cardmakers and crafters to join her Creative Team so check out the Ribbon Girl blog to find out more and enter the giveaway to win $20 giftcard to spend in Jacque's online store and a huge pile of ribbons, trims and embellishments from the Ribbon Girl online shop simply by leaving a comment

I had fun playing with paper:

10 Things number doodles by Jacque

Sunday Morning paper pack by Jacque

Copics, sentiment stamp and kraft cardstock

Sunday Morning element pack by Jacque

Sunday Morning paper pack by Jacque

Saddlestitch ribbon, charms and pins from Ribbon Girl

My Stick Family doodle pack by Jacque

Sunday Morning paper pack by Jacque

Ribbon, twine and star charm from Ribbon Girl

My Stick Family doodle pack by Jacque

Sunday Morning paper pack by Jacque

Ribbon and charm from Ribbon Girl

Buttons, Bows, Bling and Blooms ...

2012-01-17T11:30:00.002Z

The new challenge over at Papertake Weekly is: Buttons, Bows, Bling and Blooms and it's sponsored by The Ribbon Girl. The design team have created some wonderful projects so pop over to the Papertake Weekly blog to check them all out.

I used one of my favourite Magnolia stamps for my card

Ribbon, button, twine and pins from Ribbon Girl

I created another of my little packets to house the card and finished that with a tiny tag cut with a Papertrey Ink die, grosgrain ribbon and a pretty blossom flower from the Ribbon Girl

Ribbon Girl Pink and Blue Colour Challenge ...

2012-01-15T09:37:00.001Z

Over at the Ribbon Girl blog there is a new colour challenge of Pink and Blue

We are sponsored as usual by the lovely girls at Lili Of The Valley

... and with a gorgeous prize from the Ribbon Girl

This is the card I created for the challenge, it's another of my mini cards and will be 'winging' its way (ha ha!) to a special friend for their birthday this week

Wool felt, pins, cluny lace, twine and Zva crystal swirl all from Ribbon Girl

Paper - Cosmo Cricket

Dies - Sizzix and Papertrey

Sentiment stamp - Papertrey

Embossing folder - Cuttlebug

Kraft cardstock, sewing machine and ink

I'm Lovin' It ...

2012-01-12T18:31:00.000Z

I have been so excited today because I am one of the Guest Designers at Lili's Little Fairies challenge blog today and my Mam is the other Guest Designer! The Ribbon Girl is sponsoring the challenge as we do every month and the lovely girls at LLF asked us both to create a card for their challenge. The new challenge that went live this morning is nice and easy - use your favourite Lili Of The Valley stamp.

I knew straight away which stamp I would use for my card, I love to use it as it always makes my cards look happy and cheerful, her hair reminds me of mine and that cutie patootie doggie looks just like my Haggis!

Those gorgeous papers are October Afternoon Sidewalk (a birthday present from my lovely friend) and I used ribbon, button and pins from the Ribbon Girl, tag and sentiment stamp from Papertrey Ink and dies from Spellbinders and MFT

2012-01-10T11:55:00.002Z

How cute is this little bear? He is a digital stamp from The Stamp Fairy and I just adore him! He is my design team entry for Papertake Weekly this week which is sponsored by The Stamp Fairy, a new stamp store for me but I'll definitley be shopping more as there are tons of stamps that I fell in love with :)

The challenge at Papertake Weekly is Die Cute and I used my new spellbinders frame die as well as October Afternoon papers and a ribbon, pins and bee charm from Ribbon Girl

Happy New Year

2012-01-03T17:19:00.000Z

Happy New Year to everyone, I hope you all had a marvellous Christmas and New Year. I had a great time but can't believe I had to go back to work already! The first day back after Christmas is always difficult but actually I was so busy that it was hometime before I knew it and now I'm back home snuggling with my little doggie on the sofa and listening to the horrible wind outside that is blowing a gale.

A new year means a new challenge at Papertake Weekly and also a whole new site design at Sweet Shoppe Designs with lots of lovely new kits to choose from :)

This is my card for the anything goes with the option of a new theme (new baby, new house, new stash etc.) challenge and I used a fabulous new kit from Zoe Pearn for my New Baby card

I used:

Papers - One For The Boys digital kit from Sweet Shoppe Designs

Cardstock - Papermania

Glass glitter - 3D Jean

Lace, ricrac and pins - Ribbon Girl

Sentiment - Pink Petticoat

This card is a didi 4 inches square and instead of making it a box I used one of these fab glassine bags to create a little packet for it to go into. I used another sentiment from Pink Pettocoat (printed onto Safmat) as well as trimming the top with pinking shears and adding a few lengths of lace a ricrac and tying up with a ribbon bow (all from Ribbon Girl). The tiny tag and sentiment stamp is from Papertrey Ink and the safety pin is an ancient Making Memories pin that I've had for years and years

All in all I was really happy with how this turned out, shame the lighting here has been so poor even through the day - very grey and gloomy

I am entering this card into:

Paper Sundaes Challenge - Out with the old, in with the new (I used old sentiment stamp and new papers)

Allsorts Challenge - New Beginnings

Simon Says Stamp - Anything Goes

Creative Inspirations - Anything Goes

Sweet Baby ...

2011-12-29T13:38:00.003Z

The challenge for Just Magnolia and Hanglar challenge is to create a card using white plus one colour and I chose Lilac for my accent colour.

Papers are Melissa Francis, seam binding, lace and crystal swirl are from Ribbon Girl, tag die and sentiment stamp is from Papertrey and I attached the tag with a tiny safety pin that I've had in my supplies for years and years. Little Hanglar is coloured with Copics and extra sparkle on her wings is stickles.

Hopefully my post published when it was meant to as I am out celebrating my birthday with my crafty friends :)

A Birthday Card ...

2011-12-28T10:38:00.000Z

The final challenge of the year for Papertake Weekly is a sketch and this is my interpretation

I used my newest paper flower die from MFT to make the roses and the leaves are punched from my Mam's MS punch. Lace, button twine and pompom trim are all from the Ribbon Girl and the sentiment and number stamps are Papertrey. I added a few Kaiser pearls to the centres of the roses and that sparkly/fibery paper stuff was something I picked up from the florists wholesalers last week (not sure what a florist would do with it but I liked it behind the paper roses)

Ribbon Girl Colour Challenge ...

2011-12-18T08:12:00.000Z

The new colour challenge at the Ribbon Girl blog is red, black and cream as chosen by Vicky.

This is the card and box that I made, it's another tiny 4 inch card

I used:

Digital Papers - Joy To The World by Kristin Cronin Barrow at Sweet Shoppe Designs

German Glass Glitter - 3DJean

Laces, ribbons, pins, Zva crystal swirl and button twine - Ribbon Girl

Sentiment, kraft cardstock and tag die - Papertrey Ink

Distress Ink - Ranger

The challenge is sponsored by Lili Of The Valley and Ribbon Girl so well worth entering

Little Angels ...

2011-12-14T21:22:00.000Z

A few weeks ago a lovely friend gave me the link to this blog post and I was smitten :) So last week me, my Mum and my Auntie spent a happy evening cutting, knotting, gluing and drawing faces onto wooden beads and hey presto! this is what we made ~

16 smiling, happy Angels with super sparkly wings (gold lame ribbon from the Ribbon Girl) which I took to work yesterday to sell as part of my fundraising to buy a bubble tube for my classroom at the special school where I teach (the one we want costs £900 so we need to do a lot of fundraising!!).

All the Angels sold within 15 minutes so last night Mum and I made another 20 which I took to school today, they've been really popular and so quick and easy to make - always a bonus :)

Sparkle, bling and even more sparkle ...

2011-12-12T22:45:00.000Z

I am entering this super sparkly card into the Cupcake Craft Challenge which is to creat e asparkly card - I think I got that one spot on :)

Papers - Glorious digital kit from Sweet Shoppe Designs

German glass glitter (oh my goodness this stuff is divine!) 3D Jean

Pins, lace, seam binding, twine, sparkly button and a Zva crystal swirl all from Ribbon Girl

Sentiment and tag die from Papertrey Ink

Star die by Sizzix

Another little card ...

2011-12-10T23:11:00.000Z

Following on from the pink baby card that I made the other day I've got another little 4 inch card to share today. I'm really loving using the smaller size and using softer colours - and sparkle and bling of course :o)

All the papers are from my newest Nitwit Collections digital kit , Holiday Charm and the ribbons, lace, felt, Zva crystal swirls, buttons, twine and pins are from Ribbon Girl

Today I spent a happy afternoon listening to Christmas songs, crafting with my Mum under the lights of our lovely Christmas tree and making more cards!

Baby ...

2011-12-09T23:44:00.000Z

This week our lovely friend had a sweet baby girl and this is the card that I made for her to celebrate the new arrival. Those gorgeous papers are from a Krystal Hartley digital kit from Sweet Shoppe Designs that I totally love (I've already made another two cards using the same papers!)

All of the ribbon, buttons, pompom, pins, lace and the crystal swirl are from Ribbon Girl

The dinky little tag dies are from Papertrey

A lot to catch up on ...

2011-12-05T16:47:00.000Z

Goodness, it is almost a month since I last blogged! Life has been pretty busy here, lots of decisions to be made about my new house but in the 4 weeks since we got the key we've had a new heating system installed throughout, the windows have all been replaced, a few walls have been knocked down, moved and rebuilt to make the kitchen a little larger, the kitchen has been ordered and 3 rooms have been plastered and painted throughout. This weekend my brother put down the flooring in one of the bedrooms and he's there at the moment laying the floor in the other bedroom. Phew, lots of hard work :)

I've had a little time to spend making cards but I gave up on the idea of making all my Christmas cards and have bought some for the regular people and I'm keeping my hand crafted cards for the extra special people.

Amongst all the busy-ness of making the house look fabulous I squeezed in a weekend away with 7 other crafty friends. We completed several projects and this is the card that I taught to the group on the Friday night, it had a coordinating box to go with it but I forgot to take a photograph of that

Paper, sentiment and reindeer image - Pink Petticoat

Twine, ribbon and jinglebell - Ribbon Girl

Star die - Spellbinders

Whilst at the cottage we had a bit of a Molly Bloom fest - I love Molly Bloom stamps which is handy because so does Jane, Gail and Jean so we played swaps with our stamps for a little while and I cane home with several stamped images all ready to colour in

Stamp - Molly Blooms

Papers - Sweet Shoppe Designs

Ribbons and twine - Ribbon Girl

I've made a few of these little giftbags too, the die is a Papertrey Ink die and they are perfect for adding a giftcard or small items such as earrings and jewellery

Papers and font - Sweet Shoppe Designs

Die - Papertrey Ink

Papers, snowman element and wordart - Sweet Shoppe Designs

Ribbon, twine and charm - Ribbon Girl

The kit I used for the gift bag and this card is Fa-La-La by Dani Mogstad at Sweet Shoppe Designs and whilst I was creating these projects I thought I would use it to make a festive header for my blog, I'm hoping we get some snow this holiday time!

Not Exactly Playing With Paper ...

2011-11-09T21:59:00.002Z

It seems like a long time since I updated my blog but I have been very busy - buying a house! My first house :) There is a lot of work to do - new kitchen, new bathroom, new doors and windows, knock walls down, build walls up, move walls, new fire and fireplace, plaster all the walls and ceilings, paint everything, new flooring. That's where I've been then - not exactly playing with paper but playing at being a builder :) I have made a few cards though:

This was the card that I made for last weeks Papertake Weekly challenge which was to add a touch of bling.

I added stacks of bling to this card! The mermaid stamp is a Hanglar Stanglar stamp, coloured with Copics and her tail is covered with Stardust Stickles - my absolute favourite type of glittery sparklyness! The papers are all Cosmo Cricket and I've embossed the pieces with a couple of different Cuttlebug embossing folders, distressed and stiched the edges and then applied more generous amounts of Stickles. The pearl swirl has been coloured with a Copic marker to change it's colour - I love to do this with pearls and crystals - before I stuck it to the card. Even my ribbons are sparkly. I've used wide silver lame that I coloured with the same Copic marker as the pearls and over the top of this I've used gold glitter mesh which also got the Copic treatment. To finish I added a couple of metal embellishments from Stampin Up and a starfish charm and knot of button twine

Oops too late ...

2011-11-02T21:12:00.000Z

Does anyone else always manage to forget to post their challenge cards until after the challenges have closed? So, today I am sharing the card I made for this weeks challenge at Lili Of The Vallery but I missed the challenge and now it's closed. Nevermind though as I enjoyed making the card and now I have another Christmas card to add to my growing pile - the cloud does have a silver lining :)

Papers - Mr & Mrs Collection by Nitwit Collections

Cardstock - Papermania

Image - Lili Of The Valley

Dies - Spellbinders

Ribbon - Ribbon Girl

I've left the sentiment off as I'm not sure who will be recieving this yet and I may want to add their name. The gorgeous papers are the newest release from Nitwit Collections called Mr & Mrs Collection and it features the sweetest Santa Claus and Mrs Claus so I just had to use them both and some more of the papers in another Christmas card

Papers and image - Mr & Mrs Collection at Nitwit Collections

Sentiment - Pink Petticoat

Lace - Ribbon Girl

Cardstock - Papermania

Dies - Spellbinders

Glitter spray - Crafters Companion

A Happy, Happy Birthday Card ...

2011-10-27T09:40:00.000+01:00

Oops, almost forgot to share my Papertake Weekly card! I love this card, it's been sat on the shelf above my craft desk for ages because I din't want to put it in the card box

The challenge this week is to use a sketch

I used:

Stamps (Image and sentiment) - Lili of The Valley (cloured with Copics)

Papers - The Sweetest Thing digital kit by Zoe Pearn at Sweet Shoppe Designs

Dies - Spellbinders

Pom Pom trim and heart pins - Ribbon Girl

Other - distress inks and sewing machine

Jingle All The Way To Christmas ...

2011-10-25T11:22:00.001+01:00

It's the 25th of the month so we have a new Christmas challenge over at the Ribbon Girl blog. I made two projects for this challenge

The first is a card using a Crafters Companion Christmas Humphrey stamp, I love this little elephant and it stamps so nicely. I coloured him with Copics and then sprayed it with Spray & Sparkle to make him glittery and shimmery. I added a nice big bow made with spotty organza, ricrac and a polka dot button from the Ribbon Girl and those papers are a recent purchase from Pink Petticoat - love them!

My second Christmas project is this fab wooden reindeer from Kaisercraft that I have covered with papers from Nitwit Collections. I added a jingle bell garland made from bells and bakers twine from the Ribbon Girl and cut out a saddle using one of the Spellbinders labels dies. I covered his antlers with Stickles to make them super sparkly. I bought my reindeer from Merly Impressions

Winter Wishes ...

2011-10-24T11:40:00.000+01:00

Last week the postman brought us some gorgeous fairy stamps from Sugar Nellie so today I have made a card to enter into the Sugar Bowl Challenge which is a sketch.

Stamp - Titania from Sugar Nellie (coloured with Copics)

Papers - All I Want For Christmas from Echo Park

Sentiment stamp - Papertrey Ink

Ribbon and lace - Ribbon Girl

Cardstock - Papermania

Glitter spray - Spray and Sparkle from Crafters Companion

In the pink ...

2011-10-23T22:53:00.000+01:00

I love everything pink so guess how pleased I was that this weeks Just Magnolia/Hanglar challenge was to make a pink card!

Hanglar stamp

Ribbon Girl pins and ribbon

Pink Petticoat sentiment

Papermania (I think) paper and cardstock

Martha Stewart border punch

Papertrey Ink scalloped border die

Spellbinders star border die

Cuttlebug embossing folder

Stickles

Crafters Companion Spray & Sparkle (I have no idea how I've lived without this for so long)

... and down came a spider

2011-10-18T11:13:00.002+01:00

The challenge over at Papertake Weekly this week is to use spooky hues so I made the cute spider card.

I added black dewdrops to his feet to make them look a bit like shoes!

Papers and that cute spider - Jeepers Creepers digi kit

Ribbon and dewdrops - Ribbon Girl

Computer sentiment - Leftovers font

Getting Distressed ...

2011-10-17T21:33:00.000+01:00

... well sanded and roughed up paper edges are about the most distressed I get with my cards but I think it fits the bill for the Just Magnolia/Hanglar Stanglar challenge this week.

I used all of my favourites (and new favourites!) on this card

Hanglar stamp

Coloured with Copics

Martha Stewart border punch

Ribbon Girl ruffle edge sheer ribbon (love this!) and fancy pins

Pink Petticoat Vintage Stars, Sprinkled with Twinkles papers and NewBaby sentiments

Lots of machine stitching and roughed up paper edges :)

Ribbon Girl Colour Challenge

2011-10-16T09:00:00.002+01:00

The colour challenge over the Ribbon Girl blog is lilac and green and we have a great prize of a £10 voucher to spend at Lili Of The Valley and either a green or a lilac ribbon mini kit from Ribbon Girl

This is the card I made using the lilac and green colour theme

My Minds Eye paper

Tiddlyinks digital stamp

Satin ribbon

Seam binding

Crystal swirl (recoloured with a Copic marker)

Stickles

Copic Markers

Martha Stewart paper punch

Pink Petticoat sentiment

Safmat

I love how you can recolour the crystal swirls to coordinate with any project by simply running a Copic marker over them

Okay, I'm off to get on with the mountain of school work that needs to be done before Monday morning - only 1 week to go until half term and a week off though. Yippeeeee!

Calling All Nitwit Fans ...

2011-10-15T16:12:00.000+01:00

Just sayin' ...

It's new in the shop :)

A baby card ...

2011-10-13T22:37:00.000+01:00

I made this card for my friend who has a new baby boy, it was perfect for this weeks Papertake Weekly challenge which is to use 3 shapes - I've used a square, rectangle and star shape

Papers and alphabet - Baby Boy by Lliella Designs at Sweet Shoppe Designs

Lace, twine and baby charms - Ribbon Girl

Martha Stewart border punch

Lots of machine sewing and white cardstock

Happy Birthday Papertake Weekly...

2011-10-04T12:01:00.002+01:00

We're celebrating our birthday over at Papertake Weekly this week and we're doing it in style with a prize filled blog hop. We have prizes from Dies to Die For, Sir Stampalot, Lili Of The Valley and Ribbon Girl as well as a few other prizes hidden around our blogs so you'll just have to hop around leaving comments and see if you are a winner!

This is the card I made for this weeks anything goes (with the option of adding something punched) challenge, a step card that I made with a lot of help from my friend Jan. I wasn't a very good student and making the card was accompanied by several swear words and raised eyebrows. Jan - I think I'll go back to ordinary square cards!

Paper - October Afternoon

Robot - Kate Hadfield Digital

Punch - Stampin Up

Button - Ribbon Girl

Font - Leftovers

Now you need to hop onto Angie's blog and then add your card to the Papertake Weekly challenge

Catching up and a new challenge ...

2011-09-25T11:09:00.001+01:00

Hello, hello did you think I'd fallen into a big hole and was gone forever? Just super busy at work which is leaving little time for crafting and blogging. But, it's Sunday and I have cards to share and news of a new challenge at The Ribbon Girl blog.

The Ribbon Girl is having a Christmas Challenge on the 25th of every month during the run up to Christmas with a fab Christmas ribbon and embellishment prize

For my card I used the new Crafters Companion Humphrey's Corner Crafting CD. I love Humphrey and was thrilled to see the new Christmas designs, the latest CD and stamps dropped through our letterbox this week so watch out for lots of Christmas Humphrey-ness going on around here :)

See the diamante snowflake stick pin? *swoon* these are beautiful and new in the Ribbon Girl shop this week so I had to add one of those in as well

It's not all Christmas around here though, some people have had birthdays so I needed a suitable card for an owl loving friend and Nitwits came up trumps again with their Summers End collection. I made a shaped card with the owl element and resized the leaves to make them small enough to make him a little garland of Autumn leaves to hold

Bzzzzzzzzzzzz...

2011-09-17T09:42:00.000+01:00

The current challenge over at Papertake Weekly is to use something with wings and this is my card

Hanglar stamp coloured with Copics

Echo Park dots and stripes paper from 3DJean

Magnolia swirl

Ribbon and charm from Ribbon Girl

Pirate Bear ...

2011-09-05T20:30:00.000+01:00

I just love this sweet little pirate bear stamp from Lili Of The Valley and I've used it on this card for the current LOTV challenge, it's based on the sketch for the challenge

Stamp - LOTV

Papers - My Minds Eye

Ribbon, twine and charm - Ribbon Girl

Colour medium - Copics

Sentiment - Pink Petticoat

I made this card at the weekend and now I am back at work I'll have to get back into my weekend only crafting routine. I've been off 6 weeks and today was the first day back. I had a lovely day catching up with all my work pals and getting our classroom ready for the children who will fill it tomorrow.

Yeehaw Cowgirl! ...

2011-09-03T23:35:00.000+01:00

This week the challenge at Just Magnolia and Hanglar Stanglar is to create an 'anything goes' card with the option of adding circles. I spent a loveoy afternoon crafting in our conservatory in the rain with my Mum and made this card (it might just be my favourite of all my summer creations). I did try to get a few circles on it but they just weren't working and I have no idea where the image came from, I found it in my drawer of stamped images ready to colour.

Digital papers - Proud 2B American by Melissa Bennett at Sweet Shoppe Designs

Ribbon, twine and charm - Ribbon Girl

Cardstock - Papertrey

Sentiment - Pink Petticoat printed on Safmat

Sewing Machine and corner chomper

I'm entering this card into the Just Magnolia/Hanglar Stanglar challenge

Autumn Sale at Nitwit Collections ...

2011-09-01T17:27:00.000+01:00

I'm just sayin' ...

Finally - a card ...

2011-08-23T22:26:00.000+01:00

Good grief, considering that I am on holiday there is a lack of craftyness going on in this house but here I am with a card to share, I might even share two!

My first card us made with my new favourite Nitwit kit, From The Sea and is for the current Papertake Weekly challenge - to use dies. Last week I spent ages sorting out all of my nestabilities and other dies, some I had forgotten about and some that had ended up in the wrong drawer but now they are all neat, tidy and organised. On this card I used MFT and Papertrey border dies

My second card was made for The Ribbon Girl using the new super sparkly and gorgeous glitter organza as well as a Lori Boyd digi stamp and a few other Ribbon Girl goodies

2011-08-16T12:20:00.002+01:00

It's Tuesday so it's Papertake day again and this week the challenge is to play 3-in-a-row from the gameboard Dawny had created. I chose to play on the diagnol and picked lace, ribbon and a free square which I turned into charm. All my papery stuff came from a gorgeous Nitwit Collections kit called Thimbles n' Threads. I love all things Nitwit and have done for a long time, Mary Fran is so creative and always comes up with ideas that are just perfect for cards and hybrid papercrafts

The silk ribbon, pompom trim, cluny lace, pin and charm all came from Ribbon Girl

Exciting, exciting news ...

2011-08-13T10:55:00.000+01:00

Today I was up bright and early because I was so excited. A few weeks ago I was asked by Darcy Baldwin who designs for Sweet Shoppe Designs, to work with her to create a set of card and alphabet templates. She loves my doodles that I often put on the edges of my cards so I created two different doodled alphabets and Darcy turned my scribbly doodles in to two sets of fantastic alphabet templates. She also worked her magic and used my cards in the Sweet Shoppe gallery to create 6 card templates. This is what I saw when I went into the Sweet Shoppe store this morning - my stuff on the front page!

And these are what Darcy created, I am so excited to see my name on them

I managed to spend some time this week playing with the card templates and a few other Sweet Shoppe goodies

This card is a flat digital card using one of the templates, simply printed and adhered to a card blank ...

(Love Me Some Andrea Templates, Rule The School digital kit, DJB Geordie Girl font)

... and for this card I printed all the layers seperatley and reassembled, adding cardstock, machine stitching, bakers twine and an owl charm

(Love Me Some Andrea templates, Rule The School digital kit, DJB Geordie Girl font, Bakers Twine, owl charm, cardstock)

This is another flat digital card using the templates and doodled alphabet ...

(Love Me Some Andrea templates, Bake Me A Cake digital kit)

... and this is the same template but again printed seperately and layered with cardstock, dimensional foam pads and a ribbon bow

(Love Me Some Andrea templates, Bake Me A Cake digital kit, cardstock, saddlestitch ribbon)

I LOVE what Darcy did with my stuff and they can all be bought here!

Blog Hop Winner ...

2011-08-07T22:24:00.000+01:00

The winner of my prize for the Ribbon Girl Birthday Blog Hop is ...

Sid

Sid, email the Ribbon Girl and give them your address so we can send out your prize :)

Baby Box ...

2011-08-03T10:09:00.000+01:00

... No, not a box of babies - how sweet would that be? - but the gift box I made for the friend whose card I showed yesterday. It is becoming a bit of a tradition at the school where I work for me to make a pretty gift box for the presents I give. It started last Christmas with our staff Secret Santa, mine wasn't so secret because everyone guessed that it was from me hee-hee! and now it's becoming expected - which is nice but something to live up to.

Anyway, this is the box I decorated, it started out life as a yucky floral pastel box but I just changed it by adding papers and embellishments - and sparkle of course :)

Papers from this gorgeous digital kit

Ribbon, lace, twine, sparkly button and crystals from Ribbon Girl

Stickles glitter glue

Font from here

Tag die from Papertrey

Baby cards ...

2011-08-02T13:05:00.000+01:00

My lovely work colleague left us to have a baby last week and this is the card I made her - I need to make another card now as I had a text from her this moring to say she'd had a baby boy today so I will be getting the blue ribbons out :) This is also my Papertake Weekly challenge for this week which is an anything goes challenge with the option of using something metal on your cards - I use pretty pins and baby charms

Papers are from this pretty digital kit

Ribbon, charms and pins from The Ribbon Girl

Fonts from here

... did you join in with the Ribbon Girl birthday blog hop - there is still time to leave a comment on this post to win a prize :)

Ribbon Girl Birthday Blog Hop

2011-08-01T08:59:00.003+01:00

Today the Ribbon Girl is celebrating it's birthday with a fantastic prize filled blog hop!

There is a prize to be won on each blog simply by leaving a comment on every blog that you visit, each prize has a rainbow selection of ribbons, pins, buttons and charms. All the blog hop giveaways will end on the 7th August

If you joined the blop hop at the start you should be visiting me from The Ribbon Girl blog and after you've left me a comment then hop on to Nicole and her wonderful blog, leave her a comment and continue on your journey.

If you get lost off here is the full list of all the Ribbon Girl DT members who are joining in with the blog hop

Andrea - that's me!

Thanks for joining in with the Ribbon Girl birthday celebrations, keep checking on the Ribbon Girl blog this month for lots of giveaways and prizes as we continue to celebrate for the whole of August!!

Cute Cards at Papertake Weekly Challenge

2011-07-19T18:13:00.000+01:00

The challenge this week at Papertake Weekly is to create a cute card and this is mine :)

I used one of my favourite little Hanglar boy stamps from my huge stamped image pile, the papers are some of the new My Minds Eye 6x6 paper pads from 3D Jean and the button twine and polka dot button are from the Ribbon Girl. The sentiment was in my latest Hanglar kit but I wanted to use a different font so printed it on my computer onto Safmat

I am also entering my card into:

Simon Says Stamp - Anything Goes

Allsorts - Free and Easy

Ribbon Girl Colour Challenge ...

2011-07-17T09:56:00.000+01:00

Today sees the start of the latest colour challenge over at the Ribbon Girl blog and this month the colour is shades of aqua.

I made two cards for this challenge

Sheer ruffle ribbon, Zva crystal swirl, small heart charm and fancy pins all from Ribbon Girl

Stickles glitter glue from 3DJean

Papers from this digital kit at Sweet Shoppe Designs

Martha Stewart border punch

PomPom trim, spotty organza ribbon, fancy pins all from Ribbon Girl

Digital crown image from this digital kit at Sweet Shoppe Designs

There are two fabulous prizes for this challenge, an Aqua Mini Kit from Ribbon Girl

and a £10 voucher to spend in the Lili Of The Valley online shop

Friends ...

2011-07-05T22:43:00.000+01:00

There is a new Papertake Weekly challenge today and it's an easy-peasy challenge of Anything Goes with the option of using buttons. I used a new Lili Of The Valley stamp for my card, lovely red polka dot buttons from Ribbon Girl and my new Prismacolor pencils :)

A Molly Bloom Challenge ...

2011-07-03T23:02:00.000+01:00

There is a new challenge blog and their first challenge is 'anything but a square' and you must use a Molly Bloom image. Well that bit is easy as I love my Molly's and have ~~a few~~ ~~quite a lot~~ okay I have a lot of them!

I used 3 new stamps on this card, I've never made a step card and it was so fiddly I'll be going straight back to my square cards!! Anyway, there it is. Now it's finished I'm not sure about it but one thing I do love - those beach huts :)

Molly Bloom Stamps

Copics

Papertrey kraft card

I am entering this card into The Paperlane Challenge

Papertake Weekly Challenge ...

2011-06-25T07:59:00.000+01:00

Better late than never I say - so here is my Papertake Weekly challenge card. This week the challenge is 'Here Comes The Sun' basically a card that reminds you of the sunny summer or has a summery feel to it.

I made my card using papers and images from Crafters Companion and the ribbons and starfish charm came from Ribbon Girl who just happen to be sponsoring the PTW challenge this week with a choice of a ribbon kit

The challenge runs until Tuesday

Glug Glug Glug ...

2011-06-15T22:58:00.000+01:00

I love this little submarine. It's an element from Traci Reed's Rub A Dub digital kit and the paper is fab too! I think I will be using this kit a lot for boy cards

(Papers and submarine from this digital kit, ribbon, crystals and dewdrops from Ribbon Girl)

(Submarine from this digital kit, crystals, dewdrops, twine ande button from Ribbon Girl)

Happy Birthday Hannah ...

2011-06-11T22:09:00.000+01:00

It was my friend and fellow pink lover Hannah's birthday last week. I couldn't go to her party so sent her present and card through the post. I decorated a square gift box to house her birthday gift as well as the coordinating birthday card so that it didn't get squashed whilst in the post. As well as the overload of pinkness the card even had a flamingo on it because Hannah loves flamingo's, it took me a while to track down the perfect pink flamingo but I eventually found it :)

I used papers from this digital kit and the flamingo from this digital kit and of course all the ribbons and lace were from the Ribbon Girl

A Boy Card ...

2011-06-02T22:44:00.000+01:00

I love these Teddy Bo stamps that look like pencil sketches - makes shading an absolute doddle!

Stamp - Teddy Bo

Colour medium - Copics

Paper - My Minds Eye

Ribbon - Ribbon Girl

Sentiment - LOTV

I am entering this card into the following challenges:

Teddy Bo Challenge - shaped card

St Lukes Hospice Charity Cards Challenge - things that fly

Simon Says Stamp - masculine

Hanglar Stanglar Alert ...

2011-05-30T21:49:00.000+01:00

Have you seen these?

Can't wait for them to arrive through my letterbox :)

Pretty Pastels ...

2011-05-28T22:59:00.000+01:00

The prompt over at Papertake weekly is pretty pastels so I seized the opportunity to use this beautiful digital kit by Zoe Pearn at Sweet Shoppe Designs.

Hanglar stamp, lace, ribbon and pearl swirl from Ribbon Girl, digital papers from this kit

Dinosaur Rawr...

2011-05-23T20:48:00.000+01:00

I love this little dinosaur from Melissa Bennett's Rawr 2.0 digital kit and he was just calling out to be turned into a shaped card. It's ages since I made a digi shape card but I do love them and this one will make a fab boy card. I added the star from the same kit and the little bone charm just seemed to go perfectly. I added glossy accents to all the green spots to make them super shiny and then I took him out in the garden to have his photograph taken :)

Bloom and Grow

2011-05-17T17:55:00.000+01:00

Goodness me I seem to have forgotten how to blog these days. I've just been so busy with work and some other stuff but I only have 1 week left at the day job then I am on holiday for a whole week and surely things might get caught up with then.

Today it is the new Papertake Weekly challenge and it is sponsored by the Ribbon Girl. The challenge is 'bloom and grow' which fits in really well with the Molly Blooms stamps that the Ribbon Girl sells. This is my card

Lots of Ribbon Girl goodies on this, October Afternoon papers and sweet little flowers from Wild Orchid

Happy Birthday ...

2011-05-10T22:54:00.000+01:00

I have a Happy Birthday card to share today and it is my DT card for Papertake Weekly challenge. I used a Heather Ellis digital stamp, October Afternoon papers, LOTV sentiment stamp and of course lovely ribbons and a spotty button from Ribbon Girl

The challenge is to use punches and I used my favourite Martha Stewart border punch and Stampin Up star and circle punches

News ...

2011-05-05T10:38:00.000+01:00

I am back at school now after the Easter holiday and it feels like I have been gone for months because of all the bank holidays we had here in the UK as well as the royal wedding of course. So with being a busy bee trying to get all my school work done I completely forgot to share my news ...

I have joined the Design Team over at Papertake Weekly Challenge! The lovely Dawny invited me and I took all of about 3 seconds to say yes please. This is my first card for the challenge as a DT member which this week is an 'anything goes' challenge with the option of adding circles.

All of the ribbon, lace, pins, buttons, charms, dewdrops and of course Molly came from the Ribbon Girl shop and I added Stickles glitter to the puddle and water splashes and gave her welly boots a glaze of glossy accents to make them shine. The papers were October Afternoon. I made a coordinating box to keep the card safe as by the time I added all the prettiness on it was quite bulky.

If you love the Molly Blooms stamps you might like to wander over to the Ribbon Girl blog as there is a fabulous giveaway going on over there

Keep Calm ...

2011-04-29T14:34:00.000+01:00

We're having such a lovely day here watching the royal wedding on the television, I made cupcakes, biscuits and cheese scones and we decorated Haggis for his walk

Here he is setting off for his walk (he knows what a camera does and always turns away!!)

I made a card too, whilst watching the television, with a diamond encrusted crown :)

Digital papers from this kit

Crown from this font

I am entering this card into the DCM challenge which is to create a royal or patriotic project

Whooo Loves You ...

2011-04-25T13:40:00.000+01:00

Twit-Whoo! Hello, I had a lovely day last week spent with friends. Crafting all day with a break for tea at the pub then back for more crafting. Shame I had to drive back home in the fog again which was a bit scary but I had a little friend to keep me company

I used the gorgeous Wool Felt from the Ribbon Girl, as well as spotty buttons, ricrac and an owl charm and the pattern I used came from here

Birthday Wishes ...

2011-04-24T19:53:00.000+01:00

I used another of my new Hanglar stamps to make this card, it's based on the sketch for the Just Magnolia/Hanglar challenge for this week.

Papers - Graphic 45

Ribbon, button and twine - Ribbon Girl

Stamp - hAnglar

Colour - Copics

Glitter - Stickles

Die - Spellbinders

I had a lovely day yesterday, my Mam and I spent most of the afternoon making cards together which was nice.

A Happy Birthday Card ...

2011-04-19T22:44:00.000+01:00

Today was my brothers birthday. I should have been making his boy themed birthday card this morning but instead I spent the time playing with my new Hanglar stamps and making a girly themed birthday card :)

(Digital papers from this kit at Sweet Shoppe Designs, Hanglar stamp, sentiment stamp from LOTV, Lace, ribbon, twine, charm, button, dewdrops and stickles all from Ribbon Girl)

I am entering my card into the Just Magnolia & Hanglar challenge as well as the LOTV challenge as they both asked for birthday cards

My brother did get a card by the way, I found one in my drawer and his present was easy - he wanted a massive pile of sand and cement so that he can build his new patio so I just put money into his bank account. Copics and ribbons and pretty things I know where to buy, sand and cement I have no idea :lol:

Ribbon Girl Colour Challenge ...

2011-04-17T20:41:00.000+01:00

There is a new colour challenge over at the Ribbon Girl blog and the colours are red, white and blue.

... and of course there is a fab prize from the Ribbon Girl

... and also from Lili Of The Valley who have offered a great £10 voucher for the winner

I made this sweet little sailor Hanglar card for my DT card

The challenge runs for 2 weeks so go get busy and make something :)

This card is in my Etsy shop and if you like Hanglar stamps you might be interested in the ones that I am selling on Ebay

Craft Room Project ...

2011-04-15T01:10:00.000+01:00

Today I want to share this project I made for my new craft room. I've seen a few of these dry wipe boards around the blogs I visit but my inspiration came from here and here. I've used a shadowbox from IKEA for my frame and I plan to collect a few shells to add to the bottom next time I go to the seaside.

I created the background using this digital kit from Sweet Shoppe Designs

I curled the tops of the waves ...

... and added extra dimension to the sails

I used some scrunched seambinding to create the sea

I added flags to bakers twine

... and used more of the seam binding to wrap around the shadowbox insert

I reassembled the frame and added the 'today' letters to the front of the glass

... and then my frame was all ready to use as a 'things I need to do today' dry wipe board. Just write the list of things to remember with a dry wipe pen and you can easily rub it off when you've done them :)

Wedding Day ...

2011-04-08T21:04:00.000+01:00

This is my entry for the latest Teddy Bo challenge which is to use punches. I used my favourite Martha Stewart border punches again, this time the tiny scalloped hearts border.

Image - Teddy Bo, papers - Echo Park, faux silk ribbon and heart charm - Ribbon Girl

Birthday Wishes ...

2011-04-07T21:44:00.000+01:00

The new LOTV challenge is to create a card using the colours of peach and green. This is my entry to the challenge using the sweetest little LOTV stamp

stamp - LOTV, colour medium - Copic, sentiment stamp - Papertrey, papers - Prima, flowers - Wild Orchid Crafts, ribbon, stickles and diamante heart stick pin - Ribbon Girl

Pretty Giveaway ...

2011-04-06T15:51:00.000+01:00

The Ribbon Girl have a gorgeous giveaway on their blog right now, check it out here

Happy Wedding Day ...

2011-04-03T21:15:00.000+01:00

Today I am sharing a card that I made for a wedding I am going to next week. I made it with the new Lili of the Valley challenge in mind which is to create a Spring card and I used this sweet LOTV stamp that I bought at the NEC exhibition last week.

(Image and sentiment stamp from LOTV, Copics, October Afternoon papers, Ribbon Girl check ribbon, Martha Stewart and Stampin Up punches, Stickles glitter glue)

Just Magnolia/Hanglar Challenge ...

2011-04-02T23:23:00.000+01:00

The challenge this week over at the Just Magnolia and Hanglar blog is an anything goes challenge with the option of adding buttons. The girls over there are also looking out for new Design Team members so if you fancy your chances pop over and have a go, I'm playing along.

I made 2 cards for this challenge - a girly card to give to my Mum tomorrow for Mothers Day and a boy card. I recently rediscovered the little hAnglar boy riding his bike stamp in my collection and I'm having lots of fun using it :)

(MME paper, hAnglar stamp, Copics, LOTV sentiment stamp, Martha Stewart border punch, Cuttlebug embossing folder and Spellbinders pretty die. Ribbon, button and twine from the Ribbon Girl. The beautiful sparkly diamante heart pin is coming soon to the Ribbon Girl shop)

(MME paper, hAnglar stamp, Copics, Nestabilities dies and Martha Stewart border punch, Papertrey sentiment stamp, Cuttlebug embossing folder. Polka dot buttons, Divine Twine bakers twine and scooter metal charm from Ribbon Girl)

I will be popping this card into my Etsy shop tonight

Lili Of The Valley challenge ...

2011-03-29T21:14:00.000+01:00

The challenge over at Lili of the Valley this week is to use punches and this is my entry. I love my Martha Stewart border punches

October Afternoon papers, Ribbon Girl ribbon and Stickles, Lili of the Valley stamps

Hanglar Stamps For Sale ...

2011-03-28T22:19:00.000+01:00

I got lucky this week and was able to buy a gorgeous Hanglar Stanglar stamp set from Ebay. I bought a second set too so if you'd like it email me - my email address is up there on the right - and I'll get it sent off to you. All I am asking for is the £33 that I paid for it plus £2 (United Kingdom) or £2.50 (everywhere else) for postage paid via paypal

Back in Business ...

2011-03-27T22:39:00.000+01:00

I. Am. A. Useless. Blogger. Yeah, yeah, yeah you've heard it all before I know. But at least I have a post for you today with something new which has been something of a challenge because the screen on my laptop is broken and I am having to use an antique :)

My challenge card for the Ribbon Girl colour challenge

Cards made using my new Hanglar stamps

Ribbon Girl Colour Challenge

2011-03-22T22:37:00.000Z

This is my entry for the Ribbon Girl colour challenge. This month the challenge is to make a yellow and green card and I used my lovely new Papertrey stamps as well as lots of goodies from the Ribbon Girl

Princess ...

2011-03-15T22:29:00.000Z

Lots of pink and sparkle going on here :)

Digital stamp - Lori Boyd available from Claudia and Company

Ribbon, Button, Stickles and Bakers Twine from Ribbon Girl

Splashing in the Rain ...

2011-03-14T22:18:00.000Z

I just adore the Molly Blooms stamps, especially this little puddle splashing Molly and she has the most perfect spotty welly-boots! She just happened to be sitting on my desk this afternoon waiting for a few finishing touches when the postman brought a new supply of charms for the Ribbon Girl and look - umbrella charms!! They are so sweet and I love the brass colour - goes perfectly with the kraft cardstock and the distressed edges I gave to my favourite October Afternoon papers as well as the tea dyed gingham ribbon.

Ribbon, twine, spotty button, charm, Glossy Accents and Stickles - Ribbon Girl

Papers - October Afternoon

Molly Blooms stamp

Martha Stewart punch

Sentiment stamp - Papertrey

Kraft cardstock

Copics

Distress Ink

You're Sew Special ...

2011-03-12T12:28:00.000Z

Sending this off in the post to a special friend :)

Papers - Material Girl by Cosmo Cricket

Twine, lace and charm from Ribbon Girl

Digital stamp and sentiment from Pink Petticoat

By LORi Designs Blog Hop ...

2011-03-04T17:20:00.001Z

Hello, today I am joining in with the By LORi Designs March release blog hop. Here is my card, created with a new stamp available here

I coloured the little chap with Copics and added Stardust Stickles and a Papertrey Stamp. The papers are from this digital kit and the twine and baby charms are from Ribbon Girl

Here is the order for the blog hop, there are some amazing cards and projects to see and someone will be the lucky winner of a giftcard to spend at the By LORi Designs shoppe - just hop around and leave comments on the blogs. The next person to visit is Jennifer or you can start at the beginning again

Andrea that's me :)

Have fun! I'm off to spend the weekend with my crafty pals making cards, eating cakes, laughing lots and generally having a fabulous time :)

Thank You Sew Very Much ...

2011-03-01T02:47:00.002Z

This card made me so happy and it's been sat on my desk since last week just so that I can look at it :) I think it will be one of those cards that I just can't give away

Echo Park Little Girl papers, Pink Petticoat digital stamp and Ribbon Girl ribbons

Howdy Cowboy ...

2011-02-28T22:47:00.000Z

A quick card to share today made with the sweetest little Lori Boyd cowboy stamp

Get Well ...

2011-02-27T21:47:00.000Z

I made this card to enter into the Teddy Bo challenge which is to create a card using duck egg blue and brown. I loved the papers, from this digital kit and the sweet little bear is a Teddy Bo digital stamp. That gingham ribbon is brown although it looks black in this photograph and the cute little polka dot button is from the Ribbon Girl too :)

Birthday Balloons ...

2011-02-27T21:36:00.000Z

I made this card using the newest digital kit over at Nitwit Collections. It's a circus themed kit but is just perfect for birthdays and the papers are simply gorgeous, suitable for any occasion.

(digital kit from Nitwit, ribbon and twine from Ribbon Girl, stamp from Papertrey)

Welcome Mason ...

2011-02-26T23:07:00.001Z

One of my colleagues is leaving next week as they are adopting so this card and it's own decorated box are my gift to her. I guessed that a gift card to spend on whatever she needs most would be very welcome so made a little pocket inside the card to keep it safe.

I followed the sketch at Friday Sketchers, all of the papers are Echo Park Little Boy, Ribbon Girl saddlestitch ribbon and that sweet little stamp is another of the Molly Blooms stamps. He is gorgeous, sadly not mine, but my lovely friend Jane sent me some stamped images of him so I got colouring straight away!

Hey l'il dude ...

2011-02-24T09:38:00.000Z

This is a card that I made using one of the Molly Blooms stamps. I met the lady who designs these stamps on Monday and she was so nice and her cards and projects are divine!

(Papers - My Minds Eye, Stamp - Molly Blooms, Colour medium - Copics, Ribbon, twine and charm - Ribbon Girl, spiral clip - Stampin Up, Sentiment stamp - Waltzingmouse, Kraft cardstock - Papertrey)

There are a few things to note about the supplies that I used. The black gingham ribbon has a white background but to make it tie in with the colour scheme of my card I coloured it with my Copic pen (E42). Ribbon Girl is waiting on a delivery of cream based ginghams from America, they should be with us soon. I tied on a bunch of natural button twine and added a little apple charm. The Ribbon Girl had a huge delivery of charms this week and they have all been listed and are on the website now.

Ribbon Girl colour challenge ...

2011-02-20T11:32:00.002Z

This is one of the cards that I made for the colour challenge at the Ribbon Girl blog. The colours for the challenge are pink, brown and cream and I chose to use this lovely pirate Magnolia stamp

The ribbon and lace are from the Ribbon Girl and all of the papers are from this fantastic digital kit from Sweet Shoppe Designs

This card went off through the post to a special little friend who is 11 tomorrow, I lined the envelope and added a plain printed image using the same stamp to the front of the envelope. I also made a gift box for her birthday gift using the same papers and this pillow box template from Sweet Shoppe Designs.

The lovely pink and white pencil stripe ribbon looked just too new and clean for a pirate adventure card so I made it grubby and worn looking by colouring it with a Copic pen - E42 - and fraying the edges

Just Magnolia and Hanglar Challenge ...

2011-02-20T09:28:00.000Z

The challenge this week over at the JM&H challenge blog is to create a love themed card or project. I've been wanting to colour up this little sweetie for a while and finally got around to it yesterday. My card didn't really go to plan so I changed it and made a dinky flower shaped card using my nestabilities instead

I realised when I was editing the photograph that I forgot to add her little freckles!

Pretty in Peach ...

2011-02-15T21:42:00.000Z

Now peach isn't a colour that I would normally ever admit to liking, it kind of falls into the same category as brown and mustard but ... I loved these papers by Wendy at the Clipart Fairy and when I was looking through my images that I've already coloured in I found this Lollipop digital stamp coloured in orange tones and they all seemed to go nicely with my most favourite cream satin ribbon and the pretty flower lace from the Ribbon Girl

A Pink and Green Girly Card ...

2011-02-09T09:35:00.000Z

It's Wednesday again so it must be Lollipop time again :) Today I am sharing this card created with Lori Boyd's fabulous Hannah Lollipop digi stamp

Basic Grey papers, Craftwork Cards scalloped cardbase, Papertrey (I think, or it might be MFT) die, ribbon and pins from the Ribbon Girl shop, Kaiser jewels and the image coloured with Copics

Happy Wednesday!

Little Ballerina Card ...

2011-02-08T16:35:00.000Z

Have you seen the latest Nitwit Collections digital kit? Mary Fran released this at just the right time as I needed to make a card for a special 'soon to be 5' little friend of mine - a soon to be 5 little friend who loves pink and sparklyness :)

Not only is the kit totally perfect for making any girly papercrafts but there is additional papers, little bits and even ballerina digital stamps

So, I used one of the digital stamps coloured with Copics and paper pieced with paper from the kit, together with a large star element and some papers from the additional paper kit and letters to spell out my little friends name

And of course I just had to try this gorgeous ribbon that is new into the Ribbon Girl shop together with lots and lots - and lots! of Stardust Stickles glitteryness. It's always difficult to photograph sparkleyness (especially on a dark and wet February day) but you can see how sparkly her ballet slippers are in the next photograph

Boy Cards ...

2011-02-03T17:21:00.000Z

Nothing pink and sparkly on these cards, these are BOY cards :)

The first card uses digital papers from this kit and the second card features digital papers from this kit - both by Crystal Wilkerson. Watch Crystal's blog over the next few weeks as she is opening her very own Digital Scrapbook Store!

Ballerina Card ...

2011-02-02T17:06:00.003Z

Today I want to share this pretty Ballerina card

The papers are from a Cosmo Cricket paper pad, stamp is a digital Lori Boyd Lollipop stamp, the beautiful satin ribbon and the pins come from the Ribbon Girl, star is embossed with a Cuttlebug embossing folder and cut with a nestabilities star die and I added some ballet shoe and flower charms - oh and lots of stickles :)

Pretty Shaped Cards ...

2011-02-01T17:06:00.001Z

I love my new Spellbinders Grand Caliber that Santa brought me - and the new larger sized dies that I have been treating myself to :) I used both to make this pretty card

The digital papers are from this kit from Sweet Shoppe Designs, the lacey doilie is an ebay purchase, stamp is by Magnolia coloured with Copics and the silk ribbon and lace are from the Ribbon Girl

By Lori Designs and Baby Bud Designs Blog Hop ...

2011-01-28T15:00:00.002Z

Today we have a very special surprise for our readers! A DOUBLE BLOG HOP!!! That’s right, Baby Bud Designs and By LORi Designs have teamed up to bring you a big ol' blog hop! We’ve got a fantastic line up of extremely talented designers showcasing some pretty adorable images.

Today you’ll find a ton of inspiration and of course a hop isn’t a hop without some prizes right? So be sure to leave comments on every stop! So sit back, relax and enjoy the wonderful creations that both of these wonderful Design Teams have created for you! You won’t be disappointed!

If you get lost along the way the whole list will be posted at each of the Main blogs! Have fun and thanks for joining us today!

This is my card using Lori's lovely image

This is the blog hop list so next on the list is Calypso

BY LORi Designs Blog

Baby Bud Blog

ANDREA - that's me :)

Flutter by Butterfly

2011-01-24T21:26:00.000Z

I spotted this gorgeous set of papers in the Sweet Shoppe Designs store last weekend. It is an absolutley beautiful kit and I just had to spend some time this weekend playing with it

This is the card that I made using some of papers from the kit and they went perfectly with this gorgeous blingy butterfly from the Ribbon Girl shop

By Lori Designs January Blog Hop ...

2011-01-12T17:49:00.002Z

Hello, welcome to the January blog hop for By Lori Designs. We have a brilliant prize for one lucky person who hops around and leaves a comment on all the blogs (see below) and the DT have some gorgeous cards made with the new release stamps

I have used Puddlejumper Birthday Emma and Bug & Roo Hazel for my cards today

Here is the order for the blog hop

Andrea - That's me!

and this is what you can win

By Lori Designs Challenge #1

2011-01-06T18:06:00.002Z

Today sees the beginning of a whole new adventure for By Lori Designs - the start of challenges!

This week the challenge is a colour challenge and this is my card

I used my most favourite Lollipop Ella digital stamp, saddlestitch ribbon and bakers twine from the Ribbon Girl and a sentiment stamp from Lili of the Valley

Sweet Heart ...

2011-01-03T22:38:00.000Z

Christmas has gone, all the decorations have been taken down and packed away for another 11 months. Tomorrow I go back to work but today I made a Valentines card :-)

I used all of my favourites on this card to cheer me up from the 'back to work' feeling - the colours red and white, scalloped circles, bakers twine, my all time favourite Lori Boyd Lollipop stamp my new sewing machine and polka dots! That lovely red ribbon with the heart shaped edge and the extra large heart pin are both new from the Ribbon Girl

Challenges ...

2010-12-31T23:21:00.000Z

There is a lot of talk about challenges going on around this place. The Ribbon Girl are kicking off a brand new year by sponsoring the *new* Just Magnolia and Hanglar Stanglar challenge this week so of course I had to make a card for it. It's an 'Anything Goes' challenge and I have used the sketch from Friday Sketchers too

(digital papers from this kit, flowers from here and ribbon, stickles and pins from the Ribbon Girl)

News and a Design Team Call ...

2010-12-29T23:29:00.000Z

As some of you may know, you will be able to find challenges at

By LORi Designs very very soon!!

Our first challenge will be on Thursday, January 6th and the only hint I can give is that

it's our favorite kind of challenge..... a Color Challenge!!

Lori has decided to add to the BLD Design Team ...YAY!!!

The Challenges will be Bi-weekly through out January and then once we have our

Challenge Team, they will go weekly!!

We are so excited and hope you all love the challenges.

DT Requirements:

You must be willing and able to commit to a 4 month term.

You must be able to meet deadlines.

You must be willing to post a weekly card to your own blog.

You must include a link back to By LORi Designs Shop in each post you post.

DT Benefits:

You will get digi images to use on your cards.

You will receive a 50% Discount on any digis purchased from BLD.

If you would like to apply for a position on the

By LORi Designs Team

please link your name and blog to Mr. Linky
HERE

The Call Closes on Thursday January the 20th

Gift Boxes ...

2010-12-26T23:00:00.000Z

Now that the Christmas rush to make cards and wrap presents is over and all I have to do to fill my holiday days is to munch on the odd chocolate and watch festive films on the television I am getting a headstart on some birthday cards and parcels for the next month or so - I am determined to be more organised in the birthday card department this year :)

This parcel is for a friend, the pillow box is made from this template from Sweet Shoppe Designs and the papers are from this digital kit. The silk ribbon is from The Ribbon Girl and I used the new Nellie dies that I bought before Christmas and a Magnolia stamp

Photographs aren't so good, had to take them indoors again - can't wait for spring :-)

There is still time to enter The Ribbon Girl/Lili of the Valley blog giveaway here

A New Stamp Designer ...

2010-12-22T00:05:00.002Z

Today I finally got a chance to play with this delightful little stamp. She is called Maggie and is by a new designer, Bug and Roo Stamps by Hannah Boyd. Sounds familiar? She is the teenage daughter of my lovely friend Lori Boyd and you can read all about her here.

I used the digital Sweet Summertime papers by another of my talented friends, Crystal Wilkerson and a simple satin ribbon from The Ribbon Girl. I resized the banner from Crystals element pack and added button twine from the Ribbon Girl and lots of stickles of course!

If you would like your own Maggie she is here together with a few friends

My 2011 Calendar (tutorial) ...

2010-12-19T19:38:00.000Z

Hi, today I want to share my gorgeous 2011 calendar that I made - with the help of Nitwit Collections!

I used the digital calendar kit that Mary Fran designed here and supplemented it with a few pieces of patterned paper and some white cardstock. I don't know about you but we tend to use our calendars as mini filing cabinets :lol: Tickets to concerts get clipped to the appropriate month page, hospital appointment letters get paper clipped to the back etc. So really we need more than just a calendar, we need somewhere to keep all those important pieces of paper safe too. I have adapted Mary Fran's calendar slightly to incorporate some cardstock pockets on the reverse of each month to store the documents and tickets.

Download the calendar kit, unzip and print out each month - I printed at 90% so that they would fit on an A4 piece of paper - then I cut them all out

I used a sheet of A4 cardstock for each page of the calendar and scored about 4 inches from the bottom

When I folded it over it created a pocket (well at least the beginnings of a pocket) and I made the fold nice and crisp by using a bone folder to smooth along the edge

I glued my pages to the cardstock and then trimmed down one edge leaving a narrow border all around

I glued down each side of the flap and then folded it back over to secure the pocket

This is where I added some extra pieces of patterned paper to make the pockets look a little prettier (even though they won't be seen as they are on the back of each page, but pretty is good!)

I repeated the process of gluing, trimming and sticking for each calendar month

the fronts:

the backs:

To join the calendar pages together I used my Bind-It-All (but you could use bookrings and punched holes or even tie pretty ribbons through the holes)

From start to finish the calendar took less than 2 hours and it is so pretty, the pockets on the back just make it even more useful - we won't lose those important pieces of paper now!

News from By LORi Designs ...

2010-12-17T21:20:00.000Z

Christmas Special

starts right now at

By LORi Designs

Every $10 order gets this Santa Digi Free.

This special will run from now until Christmas Eve!

This is Lori's gorgeous card

And this is my card

You want another Special to chose from?

Ok, Ok...here ya go

for a Limited Time Only...
Christmas Special

Christmas Bundle I (Reg. $5)

Christmas Tree (Reg. $2)

Tanner (Reg. $3)

Puddle Jumper Nativity (Reg. $5)

You can get all you see above for $10 and the Santa Digi Free.

This sale will end Sunday Night at Midnight EST.

Click Button Below to Purchase

Many Thanks!!

A Christmas Present ...

2010-12-16T18:51:00.000Z

This year my brother has asked for an IKEA giftcard for Christmas as they just moved house and need to buy new furniture. So I had to make a giftcard holder for the card and doubled it up as his Christmas card and I'm entering it into the CPS challenge

I used more papers inside the card to make the little pocket for the giftcard

I used a new digital kit by Crystal Wilkerson called Merry and Bright as well as lovely satin ribbon from the Ribbon Girl and alphabet stickers from October Afternoon

Winter ...

2010-12-13T09:07:00.002Z

Over at The Pink Elephant blog we have a team challenge to create a Winter themed project. For my project I created this cute snowman shaped card

The snowman is from the Nitwitville digital kit from Nitwit Collections and the sentiment stamp is from Lili Of The Valley

Sunday Sketch

2010-12-12T22:47:00.001Z

There is a new Sweet Sunday Sketch challenge at Karen's blog today, fab sketch and this is my take on it.

My card is for a lovely friend who had a baby girl last week, I couldn't fit the First Christmas sentiment onto the front of the card - I just *had* to use that gorgeous rose pink silk ribbon as soon as it was delivered this morning - so the sentiment is inside

The gorgeous papers and the fairy are from this new Nitwit Collections digital kit and that beautiful silk ribbon is from the Ribbon Girl. Lots of scallops, stickles and layers to finish it all off :)

Sending You Truckloads of Love ...

2010-12-09T08:09:00.001Z

This little truck is so sweet :) and I love my new extra large Nestabilities dies too :)

From the Nitwitville digital kit by Nitwit Collections