How to make a happy boy...

I couldn't resist adding this photo of my son today. I simply ironed on a printed image he chose from the 'Happy Haunting' kit by Pink Petticoat onto a t-shirt, and... voila!

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Image: Pink Petticoat; hp iron-on transfer paper (readily available from stationary shops); and the cute bat toy is from Thorntons!

Happy Birthday Dad

It's my Dad's birthday on Monday, and this is the card I've made for him. A little flowery, but in Autumnal colours so I think he'll like it. I used sticky foam pads to raise various parts of the foliage to give a 3d feel to it - and added seed beads too. I love using them as accents - I only have clear, black, blue and pink ones and to date they have sufficed for all my creations, but my collection will increase I have no doubt!

I've almost survived half-term, though my son is being a bit of a pain. Its been harder work than the summer holidays for some reason. Its good job he's so cute....

I received a wonderful pick-me-up in the post yesterday. I had ordered the mini blooms from Poppicrafts, and oh my, the pictures just didn't do these lovely creations justice! You must indulge when Michelle is back from holiday on Monday!

Finally - and please excuse my appalling photography - a small taste of the cards I recently made for Poppicrafts. They will be appearing in full on Michelle's web site in the near future:

Happy Haunting for tomorrow!

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Paper: Amber Clegg Designs at The Lilypad; Flowers & leaves: Kate Hadfield Designs, Font: Rebecca's Birthday; Seed beads, black card & paper: local craft shop

This Thursday challenge

This will be my first entry into my first on-line weekly challenge blog! So: ta-da!

As you may have guessed, I'm a big Pink Petticoat fan and regularly check out the site's blog. A posting earlier in the week by Liz (the lovely founder/ creator of all things Pink Petticoat-ish) mentioned a challenge she's sponsoring with This Thursday, and I thought I'd give it a go!

All papers are (no surprises) by Pink Petticoat. I added seed beads and punched holes as additional embellishment; the font is Rebecca's Birthday. I tried to make the loopy arrow look 3-D by chalking in the appropriate places, and mounting with foam pads - I think it's worked (?).

My cousin and her family have just emigrated to Australia, hence the sentiment.

I'd love to know what you think...

I'm going to have a go at other weekly challenges - the incredibly generous and helpful Dawny suggested it too. I'm hoping it will give my often sluggish creativity a workout. All I have to do now is remember the dead-lines!

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Amazing cakes...

Take a look at Pink Cake Box's web site. They are US-based cake designers, so please don't get your hopes up for ordering one of their creations, but please do take the time to browse.

The teams ideas and colour combinations are spectacular and inspirational.

You never know from where your next card's colour palate may come from!

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Christmas card ideas

A couple of easy Christmas cards for you today - the type you can do multiples of but still have some fun creating by playing with the colours:

• The first uses the random snowflake paper and cupcake image from Pink Petticoat, coloured with pens. The ribbon is fixed so that the 'decoration' will actually swing.


• The second card uses paper by Zoe Pearn (available from Sweet Shoppe Designs), which inspired the felt tree embellishment - Christmas doesn't always have to be red & green!

Sweet Shoppe Designs is well worth a look, especially on a Saturday when their new kits etc are added and are usually 20% off for the day!

I love the digital world: it brings new designers to our PC's from all over the world, without having to pay P&P! (though whether my Visa bill agrees with me is another matter... so many pretty things and so little time).

More Christmassy ideas to follow - watch this space!

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Christmas Treat: Paper & image by Pink Petticoat; ribbon by Poppicrafts; card by Bazzill, image coloured with pens from Woolworths; Jewels from local craft shop

Fa la la la la: Paper by Zoe Pearn ("Silly Season" kit from Sweet Shoppe Designs), zig zag trims and rub-ons by Doodlebug Design; felt, stars and seed beads from local craft shop.

Inspirational and pink!

Aren't these taster pictures simply gorgeous? How can you resist popping over to Poppicrafts to have a proper look at these designs (and more) by Sarah and Hannah - you'll find them in the gallery.

Michelle from Poppicrafts has added even more irresistible items to her stock... let's face it - this what the Visa card was created for.

Keep popping back to the gallery on Poppicrafts over the next few days as more inspiration and ideas will be added - including some by me! Wow - still can't believe it.... I'll add some taster pics of my cards later, as I have to pop to B&Q to look at lighting now - woohoo!

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Home-made wedding paper

Have you ever had a go at making your own paper? I wanted some wedding paper to make a card that was a little more male than female, and when I couldn't find any that appealed, I made my own! It is very simple:

• Create a new document in Word and using a font of your choice type random words & phrases relating to the subject of your card - for my card I used 'champagne', 'bride', 'something new' etc in Courier font.
• You must 'print preview' your document to check for regular space patterns in your paper as these draw the eye away from your main card focus.
• Try changing font and background colours too.

To finish the above wedding card I make a simple cake from contrasting card and stitched some seed beads on - and even though I wanted a more male than female card, I couldn't resist some blooms and alittle ribbon.

Hope you like it!

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Flowers and ribbon: Poppicrafts

Mini flowers & sugar-coated card: Doodlebug

Doodle trim: Pink Petticoat

Cake paper: lauraskathi.de

Pearls: Lakeland Ltd

Seed beads: local craft shop

Source of inspiration

For those moments when you need a birthday card in a hurry but are stuck for inspiration, you have 2 easy choices:

1. Check out PageMaps templates and cards both for ideas for cards and scrapbooking pages. The above card was made with one of their card templates.


2. Even better: have a look back through photos of your own work. It is so useful to have a photographic record of all your cards (and easy to maintain in this digital age) as they provide a fantastic source of template, colour and embellishment ideas. It will provide you with the chance to improve and develop your own designs too. The only thing is, you have to remember to take the photo before posting the card! ...been there, done that.

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Paper & large flower: Doodlebug

Ribbon: Poppicrafts

Small flower & brad: Prima

The easiest hot pudding in the world.

I am a big fan of the BBC's Good Food magazine. Their web site is a godsend when you're stuck for ideas and so simple to navigate - take a look via here.

They often include recipes that you don't need to find your inner Delia to make, and that are so easy that my six year old enjoys making them. My current favourite is for Cookie Dough Crumble:

• Tip a 500g bag of frozen fruit (I like Salisbury's dark sweet cherries) in to an oven proof dish. Top with pieces of a whole 350g packet of cookie dough (try Saxby's chocolate chip) and then pop into a preheated oven for about 25 minutes at 220C. Heaven for your children with vanilla ice cream.

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Have a look...

...at the Slider displays of my cards. I hope you like them!

The first is dedicated to cards made (almost!) exclusively with Pink Petticoat papers and images. If you haven't taken a look at Liz's wonderful web site you must do so - but be prepared to become a PP addict!

The second is of cards made with other designers papers and images including Kay Miller, Nitwits, Shabby Princess,and Doodlebug.

Should there be any papers or elements you would like further source information about, just leave a comment and I will get back to you.

Finally, I hope you like the new card above: "Time for a little indulgence"

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Bloom, ribbon & flower clip: Poppicrafts

Image: Pink Petticoat (coloured with watercolour pencils)

Charm: Local craft shop

Paper: Kelly Panacci

First posting!

Being the first post on my spanking new blog, I should announce my good news - and the primary reason for this entire blog!!

I have been asked by the lovely Michelle of Poppicrafts to be one of her creative design team! Even days later, I am still feeling incredibly proud, pleased and not a little stunned at her selection of me as one of her designers. Wow.

If you haven't done so already, I would highly recommend a visit to her on-line shop - just take a look at the lovely blooms and ribbons - its all so hard to resist, so don't!

I hope you like the first card posting too - nice and simple.

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Blooms & button from Poppicrafts

Paper and border from the wonderful Pink Petticoat

Rub-on text by Doodlebug Designs