Hedgy and Bee

Good afternoon to all my crafty friends followers and visitors, hope you are having a lovely week so far. I'm having a really mad week-working in a school at this time of year is just full on crazy (wait a minute, every term is full on crazy!!!)
I'm sitting with a nice cup of coffee catching my breath before doing all the normal 'home' jobs and then its off out for a meal with all the family. We helped my daughter sort out her garden a few weeks ago and as a thank you she's taking us all out so I'm really looking forward to it and it will be lovely to all be together.
Well, onto my card for today and I've coloured up a gorgeous image I won recently in the Pink Gem challenge-I can't resist a hedgehog!
I've used my Promarkers to colour him and die cut him with an X cut die and made a faux nestie. I used papers from Lili of the Valley and punched out some flowers, leaves and some corners.
I die cut a butterfly and added gems, glitter and glossy accents (to the wellington boot flowers). I used a Martha Stewart edger punch along the left side too. The sentiment is another from Netty's Cards:

I'd like to enter my card into the following challenges:

Butterfly Challenge #33 -'f'' for flowers
Inspiration Destination#38 -anything goes
Inky Impressions #214 -summertime
Penny's Paper Crafty challenge #232-anything goes
Craft your Passion #266 -anything goes
Crafty Sentiments -anything goes
Create & Inspire #24 -anything goes
Creative Ladybirds -anything goes

Thank you so much for stopping by today-I really appreciate you visiting.
Until next time.
Aloha
Andree x

Rory at the beach

Good afternoon to all my lovely friends followers and visitors today. I hope you are all well and enjoying your weekend.
Our weather today isn't as good as it should be so we decided to go for a little drive out into the country. We found a lovely little farm shop in the middle of nowhere which sold the most delicious looking cakes-well, it would've been rude not to stop and try one with a nice cup of coffee wouldn't it!!
Before we went out I managed to finish this card using a new image bought from Lacy Sunshine.
I used my trusty old cuttlebug to cut her out with an oval die and coloured her with my Promarkers and had another go at sky-this time with my pens instead of the distress inks. It was a bit better than my last attempt but still needs more practice -as does my distressing edges-I do keep trying lol!!
I used papers from a large pack bought at The Works and added a die cut swirl and some leafy shapes (which I thought looked a bit like seaweed) using a Marianne Designs die set . I punched a couple of star shaped flowers and used a sentiment which I got from Netty's card blog-she has some fab freebies available.  I love these sentiments as they fit perfectly in my round punch. I punched out a corner of the paper with a large scalloped circle punch as I thought it resembled a scallop shell but now I'm not so sure it was as effective as I thought it would be-sometimes things seem better in my head than they do on paper!
I added some little blue pearls to finish off:

I'd like to enter my card into the following challenges:

Lacy Sunshine -anything goes
Glitter n Sparkle # 141 -include a die cut
Chocolate Coffee Cards #93 -pearls
Pennys Paper Crafty challenge - favourite embellishment (pearls)
Cuttlebug mania -sunny
Ooh la la #182-here comes summer
Stamping Sensations -dies/punches
I Love Promarkers #273- -anything goes
Addicted to Stamps #148-holiday

Thank you so much for stopping by my blog today and also for any comments you may wish to leave.
I hope you all have a wonderful week and until next time.
Aloha
Andree x

Best Dad

Hello all,
I hope you are having a wonderful week so far.
I have been spending a little time lately at my craft table as I have four male cards to make which I must admit, aren't really a favourite of mine-they seem to take me lots  longer to put less on somehow!!
This one is for my Dad for Fathers Day. I got these fab clear Docrafts stamps on an issue of Creativity magazine just recently and put them safely away ready to use for Dads card.  I was originally going to make it in green as that's his favourite colour but the paper I chose just didn't seem to work right so it ended  up being brown, I'm sure he won't mind!!
I stamped the image onto Kraft card and again onto the patterned paper and paper pieced the image, then set it on a die cut oval. The paper is a pack from The Works (which sadly has burnt down this week in Maidstone, very sad as I love having a wander round there).
I separated the sentiment so that half went at the top of the card and half at the bottom and then I added a couple of stars to finish. I wanted to keep this one with a bit more white space, I wasn't too sure about it when it was made and had decided to make a different one but it's kind of grown on me so I think I will use it after all.

I'd like to enter this into the following challenges:

Scrapbook Stamp Society #68-anything goes (fathers day)
Crafty Boots -fathers day
Dream Valley #108 -fathers day
Digi Sketch -all about men
Come and get it -paper piecing
My Time to Craft#295 -male
Simply Create Too#87 -masculine
Creative Corner -just for dad
Crafty Sentiments -for a man

Thank you so much for stopping by today and for any comments you may wish to leave, I really appreciate every one of them.
Until next time.
Aloha
Andree x

Eleanor & Pickles hula dancer

Hello all,
I hope this finds you all well this weekend. It's so nice to finally see some lovely sunshine here in the UK too.
My post was originally meant for tomorrow but I've just found out we will be going out for the day tomorrow with my son who has a very rare day off so it's a day at the beach followed by a cream tea in Hythe! I thought I should get this done now in case we are late back tomorrow.
I've managed to fit in some lovely crafting time this weekend and have thoroughly enjoyed myself!
This card was made for the current Lacy Sunshine facebook challenge. I just love this image-(very close to my heart what with my blog name too!!)  and she was such a joy to colour . I just can't resist these gorgeous images lately and added another two to my collection this week-I really must hide that bank statement!!
For my card I chose some gorgeous Nitwit papers (Promises) to go with her and coloured her up with my Promarkers. I cut her out with an oval die and made a faux nestie using some deckled edge scissors.
I die cut a leafy shape with a Marianne die and the lettering was cut using an Xcut die. I added a paper flower, lots of glitter and some gems too:

I'd like to enter her into the following challenges;

One Sweet Challenge -dies /punches
Crafty Time -girls, girls, girls
Digi Designs -die cuts
That's Crafty -all that glitters
Aud Sentiments -bingo(markers, digi, die)
Sassy Studio #284-summer lovin
Crafty Gals Corner #22-summer fun
Lacy Sunshine # 59-tic tac toe (die cuts, lacy sunshine image, gems)
Sister Act #109 -anything goes
Cuttlebug Mania -bling

Well that's about it for me for today, I'm off to watch a film and enjoy a nice glass of wine-cheers!!
Thank you so much for stopping by today, until next time.
Aloha
Andree x

Summer Bluebirds

Hello to all my friends and followers today, I hope you are having a good week so far, finally it looks like we may get to see some sunshine in the next couple of days-woohoo!!
I've been having a little play with a freebie stamp set which came with my magazine last month-I'd completely forgotten about them until the other day so as soon as I found them I wanted to make a card.
I cut the image with a scalloped circle die and made a faux nestie and coloured the image with my promarkers. The papers are a mix -the back paper is First Edition and the front one is from my stash.  I added a strip which I punched with a Martha Stewart doily punch (I do love this punch!) and added some paper flowers, a punched heart and a die cut corner cut with a docrafts freebie die. I also die cut a leafy flourish and I added some blue gems and some glitter to finish off. I had intended to colour all of the die cut elements in blue but decided that I quite liked the soft effect of leaving them all white!

I'd like to enter my card into the following challenges:

Dies R Us # 26- love birds
One Crazy Stamper - anything goes June
Crafting Musketeers #26 - summer
CCC digi creations #26 -layer it up
Ruby's Rainbow-may blossom & butterflies
One Stitch at a Time #238-anything goes with flowers
One Sweet Challenge -dies/punches
Fab n Funky # 262-check it out
Crafty Gals Corner #22-summer fun

Well I'm off to catch up with some comments now so will wish you all a good evening. Thank you so much for stopping by, until next time.
Aloha
Andree x

Golfing Pawpaw

A very good afternoon to all my friends and followers today, I hope you are all having a lovely weekend.
Well its my last day before going back to school tomorrow and I have really had a lovely break. I finished off a full week by going out for a gorgeous afternoon tea with my daughter and Mum and Dad yesterday and it was so nice to spend time with them, we had a good old natter and some wonderful sandwiches and cream cakes-you can't go wrong can you??
My card today is for my lovely Dad, there's no sentiment yet as I couldn't decide whether it's for his birthday or for Father's day! I won this image in a challenge at Inky Impressions and loved it straight away. My dad had an interest in golf many years ago and I remember him taking me to the driving range a couple of times.
I coloured it with Promarkers and layered him with some Kraft card and papers from a really old pack from Paper Cellar. I punched a strip from Kraft card for the side and added a little score sheet and a golf bag button which I've had for ages.

I'd like to enter this into the following challenges:

Jo's Scrap shack#90-anything goes
Alphabet challenge -H (hats and handbags)
Sister Act #108-anything goes
CRAFT #313-fathers day/male
Crafters Cafe #118-one for the boys
Penny's #229-anything goes
Tuesday Throwdown #246-anything goes
Sweet Stampin -fathers day/special man
Inspiration Destination #35 -anything goes

Well thank you so much for stopping by today and for any comments you may wish to leave.
I hope you all have a wonderful week.
Until next time.
Aloha
Andree x

A little distressed

A very good evening to my friends and followers today I hope you are all well.
I am having a very busy half term and so far have been out every single day-so far I've done days out in London and Folkestone, and yesterday was a 6 mile walk around the coutryside at Faversham which was very lovely but also extremely tiring. Today we went to Ramsgate and Broadstairs and had a lovely sunny day with clear blue skies. A lovely long sit on the beach and dinner in a pub before heading home. Please forgive me if I don't manage to get round to leave comments so much this week as I'm finding it really difficult to keep up with everything while hubby's on holiday-he's one of these that just wants to be out and about ALL the time!!
I haven't had any time at all for crafting which I am missing but also think it's important to take a little break sometimes so am not beating myself up too much.
This card today was made for a friend at work's birthday and was my first attempt at using distress inks. I've seen them used so beautifully on a blogging friends page (Doreens Dream) and was so inspired to have a little go myself. I'm not sure it quite worked as planned but I was quite happy with my first attempt. I just think I need a lot more practice!!
I started out using Broken China and Dusty Concord inks by Tim Holz, blending them together over the front of the card. I then sprayed the front with water droplets and dabbed it dry which gave the circled effect on the front. I made a little tag and blended the two colours together again. I punched a few butterflies on the tag adding glitter and a gem to the front. The sentiment and corner image were from a freebie magazine set:

I'd like to enter this into the following challenges:

Creative Inspirations #315 -pastels
Tuesday Throwdown challenge #246-anything goes
Craft your Passion #263 -anything goes
Robyns Fetish #265-anything goes

Well thank you so much for stopping by today and for any comments you may wish to leave, I am going to try and visit everyone now!
Until next time.
Aloha
Andree x

Paris Emma

Hello all, I hope this finds you all well -wishing all my UK friends a lovely Bank Holiday weekend.
I had such a fab day yesterday, for my sisters birthday I bought her a ticket for the London Eye so we spent the day in London. The weather could've been better but it didn't stop us having loads of fun. We also went to the top floor of the Walkie Talkie building so had lots of lovely photo opportunities. We had lunch in a lovely pub and a walk round Borough Market (and a brownie or two!!) We didn't stop talking all day and laughed till we cried trying to take some selfie pictures!! As usual, these kind of days go all too quickly.
Well, after all that excitement its time for a quiet day of crafting so my post today is to share a card I made with a Pink Gem image called Coffee Time Emma. I bought some Dovecraft papers recently called Sweet Paris so I thought they'd match Emma perfectly.
I coloured Emma with Promarkers and added some punched and embossed hearts. I added some glossy accents to Emma's coffee and a few paper flowers and pink gems:

I'd like to enter my card into the following challenges:

Simply Papercraft #5-anything goes
Create & Inspire -anything goes
Inspiration Destination #34 - anything goes
Papertake Weekly -with a heart
Glitter n Sparkle#138-one for the ladies
Come & get it -tic tac toe (gems, 2+layers, flowers)
Robyns Fetish #265 -anything goes
Open Minded Challenges #37-song (Paris in spring)
Sister Act #107 -anything goes
Passion for Promarkers # 297-special anniversary challenge

Well that's all from me for now, I'm off to pop round to visit everyone's blogs.
Enjoy your week and until next time.
Aloha
Andree x

Lacy Sunshine Veronica

Hello to all my friends and followers today, hope you're all well and having a good week so far.
It's my last week at work again before the half term, time really does fly when you work in a school. I am really looking forward to some lovely days out-first I'm off to London on Saturday as I bought my sister a ticket for the London Eye as neither of us has done that yet and then we're off to the top of the Walkie Talkie building for a look at the view -so I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a sunny day!! Then I'm visiting Mum and Dad which will no doubt involve a trip out for a coffee and on Friday my daughter's taking me to Lakeside for a girly shopping day and lunch by the lake! In amongst all that I'm planning lots of craft time too!
On to my card then, this is made with a new image I bought from Lacy Sunshine called Veronica Pinup Girl and I knew straight away which colours I wanted to use. I coloured her with Promarkers and used my freebie paper pack from Lili of the Valley again-I can't seem to put this one down!!. I double die cut a butterfly and added some pearls and glitter and a punched strip with my Martha Stewart punch. I also die cut a corner with the freebie die which came free with the Docrafts magazine. My trusty paper flowers finished it off:

I'd like to enter my card into the following challenges:

Creatalicious #75-butterfly
Oddball Art -butterfly or dragonfly
Polkadoodles #19 -things with wings
I love Promarkers #269 -flowers
Crafty Gals Corner #19 -may flowers
Crafting Musketeers # 25-die cut
Die Cuttin Divas #216-water a flower
Passion for Promarkers #297 -no sentiment
Crafty Sentiments -anything goes

Well that's about all for now, thank you so much for stopping by today-I'm off to play a while in my craft room as I have the house all to myself for a few hours!
Enjoy the rest of your week and until next time.
Aloha
Andree x

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends challenge 10

Good evening friends, followers and visitors,  I hope this finds you all well.
This post is to let you know that a brand new challenge has begun today over at Lil Patch of Crafty Friends. Our challenges are posted every two weeks and are always Anything Goes.
Our lovely sponsors this time, who deserve our thanks are:

http://www.thestampingboutique.com/

Prize:  2 Images but 3 Images if use TSB

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https://www.etsy.com/au/shop/FaeryInk

Prize: 3 Images 

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http://www.makeitcrafty.com/

Prize: $10 Gift Certificate

For my card I got to play with this fab image from Faery Ink called Prom Queen which I just LOVE. I coloured her with Promarkers and cut her out with an X cut oval die. I used papers from Michele R designs, inking the edges of the layers with gold and added some paper flowers, some punched embossed hearts and some punched balloons. Some pearls were added to finish, along with her little Prom ticket:

I would like to enter my card into the following challenges:

Creative Card Crew #87-embossing
Creative Moments #68 -teentastic
Crafters Cafe #116 -feminine
Inspiration Destination #33 -anything goes
Alphabet challenge - G, Glitz & Glamour
QKR #139 -balloons
Ladybug Crafts-may challenge favourite colour
Art Impressions #159-lovely ladies
Sister Act #106 -anything goes


I do hope you find the time to pop on over to the Lil Patch to join in with our challenge and take a look at the gorgeous inspiration cards made by the rest of the DT ladies.

Thank you so much for stopping by today and for any comments you may wish to leave.
Until next time.

Inky Impressions new challenge

Hello to all my friends, followers and visitors today.
Well, it's not often I do a post on two days running but todays post is to tell you about the new challenge that is beginning today at Inky Impressions which you can find here. I was lucky enough to win a Guest Design spot in one of their recent challenges and Shell asked me if I would like to take part. I felt really honoured and couldn't wait to join in.
The theme for this challenge is 'More than one Fold' so I had to get my thinking cap on!!
I chose this gorgeous image from Inky Impressions called Balloon Lili to use on my card and came up with this design-I wanted to give it the feel of a present opening up??
I coloured the image with my Promarkers and used some papers from DCWV which I got from the Range a little while ago. I added some punched balloon shapes and some little 3D embellishments to the open flaps. I also decoupaged the middle orange balloon. The sentiments are a mix of computer generated and stamped.
Some glitter and little punched stars finished it all off:

The lovely  DT ladies at Inky Impressions have been super busy making some gorgeous inspiration cards for you to look at so I hope you can find a minute to pop on over and take a peek and enter the challenge too which runs till the 19th May.
I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Shell and the DT very much for asking me to take part in their challenge and I had lots of fun making my card!!

I'd like to enter the following fab challenges;

Melonheadz -all about kids
A Gem of a Challenge #144 - more than one fold
The Cutie Pie challenge #87 -layer it up
Crafting from the Heart #59 -anything goes
Scrap Creations -anything goes
Sassy Studio #280-Happy Birthday
Penny's Paper Crafty challenge #227 -more than one fold
Scribble & Scrap #44 -anything goes
Craft your Passion # 261-anything goes

Thank you so much for stopping by today, enjoy the rest of your week and until next time.
Aloha
Andree x

Party Time Tuesdays new challenge

Hello to all my friends, followers and visitors today.
This post is to let you all know that a new challenge has begun today over at Party Time Tuesdays
which is as always an 'Anything Goes' theme.
Our lovely sponsor this month is Really Reasonable Ribbon with a $15 gift credit.

For my card I chose to use a gorgeous new image I bought from Lacy Sunshine called Rory's Tender Loving Care. She's coloured with Promarkers, cut with an Xcut oval die and layered with some Dovecraft papers. I added a die cut flourish and butterfly, some paper flowers, gems and a computer generated sentiment.

The rest of the lovely Party Time Tuesdays DT have been busy creating some stunning inspirational projects so I do hope you can find some time to pop on over and take a look. Don't forget to join us in our challenge while you're there too. The challenge runs until the end of the month so plenty of time to get crafting.


I'd like to enter my card into the following challenges:

Dream Valley #106 -things with wings
Stamping Boutique-die cut or or punches
Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper -May anything goes
Crafty Time #1-something new (image)
Allsorts -2 or more dies
One Sweet Challenge -May challenge things with wings
Robyns Fetish #263 -lots of layers
Little Miss Muffet -layers
Creative Fingers -anything goes

Well that's all from me for today, thank you so much for stopping by and for any comments you may wish to leave, I do love reading them all.
Enjoy the rest of your week and until next time.
Aloha
Andree x