Christmas Guinea pig

Hello today to all my friends and followers, hoping this finds you all well.
So, another weekend has flown by and Christmas is just around the corner-decorations went up yesterday. I always love this time of year as it reminds me of when my Nan used to come and stay for the holidays when we were little. My sister and I used to spend the journey to collect her counting houses with decorations up-happy memories!
I am so behind though with everything and am beginning to feel a little bit under pressure now-I haven't even made it to my craft table for days and have slipped very far behind with all my blog visits and comments so I hope everyone forgives me and bears with me for now as I will get myself back on track I promise!
My card today is for a guinea pig keeper and I just thought this image was so cute-I found it on a kids colouring website and coloured it in with Promarkers, adding some glossy accents to his nose and glitter to the box. The papers are from Nitwit and the little wooden star is from Hobbycraft. I punched out four corners from Kraft card with a hobbycraft punch and reversed them to put into each corner and added a die cut Christmas tree using a metal die I received from a magazine. I added a couple of red gems to finish off:

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

Passion for Promarkers # 325  -christmas tree
Cute Card Thursday #402-festive
Robyns Fetish #293-christmas cards
My Time to Craft#310-christmas animals
Crafty Friends #20 -christmas
Jo's Scrapshack#117-christmas joy
That's Crafty-seasons greetings
Simply Papercraft #19-anything goes
Come and Get It -anything goes christmas

Well thank you so much for stopping by my blog today and for any comments you may wish to leave. Off now to catch up on the dreaded ironing.
Have a fab week and until next time.
Aloha
Andree x

A Bit More Time to Craft- My 1st DT post

Hello to all my friends and followers today.
I have some exciting news to share with you all- a little while back I did a GDT spot over at A Bit More Time to Craft and shortly after, I received an email from Lozzy asking if I would like to join the team permanently. Well I was so honoured to be asked and was thrilled to accept Lozzy's kind offer.
So, this is to let you all know that a new challenge has begun today and this is my first DT post!
The challenges are always 'Anything Goes' so lots of scope to get creative and there's a chance to win some beautiful papers which are created by Lozzy too!
For my card I decided to use this digi image from Morgan's Artworld that I won in a challenge recently and coloured it with my Promarkers. I thought it would team perfectly with some of Lozzy's papers so the Navy strip is from the Reach the Stars set and the light blue is from the Micro Dots set. I punched the corners with my new punch from Hobbycraft and added some punched snowflakes and gems to finish off. The sentiment is from a magazine freebie set:

I'd like to enter my card into the following challenges:
(this is a scheduled post so I will link later)

The Crafters Cafe -use dies/punches
Unicorn challenge #4-winter
Time Out #45-snowflakes are winters butterflies
One Stitch at a Time  #251-winter
Crafting from the Heart #88-anything goes
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas challenge#257-dies & punches
Come and Get It-anything goes with a sentiment
Crafting with Friends #11 -anything goes
Star in my Pocket-lots of layers

Well thank you so much for stopping by today and for any comments you wish to leave. Don't forget to pop along and take a peek at the gorgeous cards made by the lovely ladies on the Design Team for this challenge and if you're feeling inspired then why not join in with the challenge too- we'd love to see you.
Huge thanks to Lozzy and ladies for making me feel so welcome.
Enjoy your week and until next time.
Andree

Sugar Skull

Hello all, hope you are well today.
I've had to have a day off work today as I seem to have done something to my back and am having real trouble in doing anything. As I have quite a physical job there was no way I was going to be able to spend a day running round. I'm hoping that a full day resting it will make things much better tomorrow.
I'm sharing a card today that I made last week for my niece's birthday. She's a no frills kind of girl and she loves all sorts of crazy and odd things. When we were on holiday last year she bought one of these skulls as an ornament so I thought I'd incorporate one on her card. Her favourite colour is green so hopefully she'll like this.
I used an image that I found on the internet and die cut a fancy corner, adding a computer generated sentiment at the bottom and that's it-nice and simple.

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

Inspiration Destination #61-anything goes
Craft Your Passion -anything goes
Create & Inspire #34-anything goes
Crafting from the Heart #87 -anything goes
Crafty Gals Corner #47 -anything goes

Well, thank you so much for stopping by today and for any comments you may wish to leave. Until next time.
Aloha
Andree x

The North Pole Take 2

A very good afternoon to all my blogging friends and followers today-I hope you are all having a lovely weekend. We were promised a little snow yesterday and that's exactly what we got!! It was a case of blink and you miss it!!
I am back today to share my second card made with this cute Pink Gem image but this time it's the one I coloured up and not hubbys.
This time I used some more papers from my stash -I think the stripey paper is from a Dovecraft pack and the spotty red paper is from a Wild Rose pack. I die cut a poinsetta with my Marianne die and also cut a pretty nordic heart with a magazine freebie. The little wooden heart sentiment is from Hobbycraft and I added a few red pearls and some glitter to finish off:

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

A Gem of a Challenge #158 -christmas song or carol (I believe in Father Christmas Greg Lake)
Creative Craft Cottage #52-christmas
My Time to Craft #309-snow
Spellbinding challenge-include a digi element (digi stamp)
4 Crafty Chicks #273-christmas song (I believe in Father Christmas Greg Lake)
As you like it -favourite season (christmas-snow, presents and family time)
I Love Promarkers #295 -traditional christmas
Creative Inspirations #336-festive fun
Inspiration Destination #60-anything goes

Well that's all from me for now, thank you so much for stopping by today and for any comments you may wish to leave.
Have a wonderful week and until next time.
Aloha
Andree x

The North Pole

Hello to all this dark rainy afternoon, I hope you are all well.
I am trying to get back to normal after two weeks jury service which I just loved. I really didn't want to go back to work at all. It's a game of catch up now though both at home and at work, I'm only three days into the week and I'm exhausted!
I have treated myself to a couple of evenings of crafting though this week as I had a couple of images I wanted to make into cards-well, the same image but twice actually. At the weekend I really wanted to colour this lovely image when hubby said he liked it and wanted to colour it up for me. I really loved this image and wanted to colour it too so I decided we could both do it and I'd use them both for two different cards.
This is the first one-I've been wanting to have a go at a shaker card for some time but never really got round to it. As soon as I saw this image in my folder I knew it'd make a perfect one.
This image was a freebie from Pink Gem some while ago and it is coloured with Promarkers.
I embossed the front panel with a magazine folder and cut out the hexagon shapes with an X cut die set. The little snowflakes in the corners are done with a little Xcut punch. I had an awful job trying to photograph this today as it was soooo dark outside so ended up holding my daylight lamp up in front of it-not ideal but it kind of worked!! I'll be back in a few days to show you the card I made with my image!

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

Papertake Weekly -let it snow
I love Promarkers #295 -traditional christmas
Crafty Sentiments -anything goes
Robyns Fetish #290-embossing
Glitter n Sparkle - #163-dies/punches
CRAFT #337-christmas
Pennys Paper Crafty challenge #254-anything goes
Inspiration Destination #60-anything goes
Creative Inspirations #336-festive fun

Well, thank you so much for stopping by today and for any comments you may wish to leave. Time for dinner now I think-just why do the evenings fly by so quickly??
Enjoy the rest of your week and until next time.
Aloha
Andree x

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends challenge 22

Hello friends and followers, I hope you are all well today.
This post is to let you all know that a brand new challenge begins today over at Lil Patch of Crafty Friends. The theme as always is Anything Goes and we would love for you to come on over and join in the fun with us.
Our thanks go to our fab sponsors who for this challenge are:

Faery Ink

Prize ~ 3 Images

Bugaboo Stamps

Prize ~ 7 Images

Ching-Chou Kuik

Prize ~ 1 image

For my card I chose this gorgeous image from Bugaboo Stamps called Ornaments Bear and coloured him with my Promarkers and a little gold gel pen. I used my new Nitwit Christmas papers and cut him out with my oval die, adding a couple of extra oval shapes to go round the image. I punched a large snowflake and added a couple of my new christmas flowers:

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

CRAFT #337-christmas
Inky Impressions #277 -furry friends
Crafty Hazelnuts Christmas challenge#255-red & green
A Gem of a Challenge #157-xmas critters
Cut it Up-book/movie/song (song-I wish it could be Christmas every day)
Inspiration Destination #59-anything goes
Crafting for all seasons #114-anything goes
Craft Your Passion #287-anything goes
Lemon Shortbread #2-anything goes

Don't forget to pop on over to the Lil Patch of Crafty Friends and take a peek at the gorgeous inspiration cards that the rest of the DT have been busy making.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend and until next time-

Christmas Carolling

Evening all, I hope this post finds you all well.
I am struggling with trying to juggle everything at the minute and so desperately want to spend some time crafting-I have my eye on the whole weekend coming up so fingers crossed nothing changes and I get a little 'me' time that I so desperately want!
I managed to make this card just recently with a freebie stamp set that came with a magazine last year and I never got round to using it as most of my Christmas cards last year were very last minute.com.
This year I was determined to do better and I have been making them since the summer holidays.
The image is coloured with Promarkers and the papers are a new set I bought from Nitwit as I was so very short on Christmas style papers. I thought if I treated myself to some lovely new papers it would inspire me to get some more Christmas cards made.
 I fussy cut the image and layered him on an oval shape cut with a Nellie Snellen die, embossed with a freebie snowflake folder.
I added a tag bought from Poundland and some flowers bought from there too-I'm so glad I got them when I did as I've never seen them in any other store I've been in since. The little wooden snowflake was found in a shop on a weekend away in the summer. I added some glitter to his lantern and also on his hat and the sentiment is a clear stamp also from a magazine. I have been using so many digital elements just lately I really wanted to get back to using some physical stamps:

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

Inky Impressions #277-furry friends
Melonheadz-tic tac toe-(sentiment, die, bright colours)
That's Crafty-tag it
Gems of Inspiration #157-christmas critters
Crafty Catz #300-winter
Simply Papercraft #17-anything goes
Crafting with Friends #10-anything goes
Digi Choosday #45 -Christmas sparkles
Papertake Weekly -christmas critters

Well thank you so much for your visit today and for any comments you may wish to leave me, I do so love to read them.
Hope you have a good end to your week and until next time.
Aloha
Andree x

Lacy Sunshine GDT Tic Tac Toe challenge

Hello today to all my friends and followers I hope you are all keeping well.
A little while back I applied to be on the GDT for the Lacy Sunshine challenge blog-I just adore these gorgeous images and use them quite often. Well, I was thrilled to be picked, and the new challenge begins today right here.
The theme is tic tac toe and there are some fab elements to choose from-for my card I decided to go with the 'use a digi, hand coloured image and die cut' line but to be honest I threw in some of the other elements as well as I couldn't decide between them as they were all so fab.

I asked to use this gorgeous image called Sparkletini from the Happy Hour collection which can be found here and coloured her in with my Promarkers. I recently bought a great new paper pad from The Range and wanted to use it for my card so matched the colours for my image. I cut the image with my Nellie Snellen oval die and die cut a swirl flourish for behind the image. I punched a large snowflake and a couple of little ones and added some little blue gems. The sentiment is from Netty's cards and I added lots of glitter to the glass to finish (not sure that shows up too well as it was such a dark day I had trouble with photo):

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

Crafty Calendar -sparkle, bling & embellish
Digi designs -tic tac toe (die cut, digi, hand coloured image)
Creative Corner Challenge-Christmas no red or green
Craft Rocket #3 -pearls or gems
Whoopsi Daisy-lots of layers
Creative Inspirations#334-sparkle
Fab n Funky #280-dies & punches
Inspiration Destination#58-anything goes
Come and get it #94-lots of sparkle

Well thank you so much for stopping by today and for any comments you may wish to leave, don't forget to pop by the Lacy Sunshine challenge too and take a look at the gorgeous cards that the DT have been busy making. I also want to say a very big Thank You to Audrey and the team for allowing me to be a part of the DT for this challenge, I had huge fun taking part.
Have a fab week and until next time.
Aloha
Andree x

Teddy with Flowers

Hello to all today, I hope you are having a lovely week up to now.
I've started my jury service now and am really enjoying it-beats crazy days at work any day, although I am struggling with getting home later than normal.
So what with that and the big party on Saturday which went really well,  I haven't really had too much time to get any crafting done at all and I'm really missing it. I've recently bought some new papers and some new bits and pieces from Hobbycraft which I'm itching to use too!!
I made this card last week and this is the first opportunity I've had to get it posted.
I used an image from Morgan's Artworld that I recently won in a challenge, coloured up with Promarkers and layered with papers from Nitwit called In the Meadow Too. I die cut a heart shape with a tonic die and added a sentiment from Netty's cards cut out with a circle punch, a paper flower and a couple of blue gems:

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

Creative Ladybirds #9-anything goes
Glitter n Sparkle #161-anything goes
Craft Rocket -anything goes November challenge
Not just Cards#26-anything goes
Craft your Passion #286-anything goes
Crafting from the Heart#84-anything goes
Where the HeArt is #3-anything goes
Papertake Weekly-anything goes

Well thank you so much for stopping by today and for any comments you may wish to leave.
Have a fab week and until next time.
Aloha
Andree x

Be my Bridesmaid?

A very big Hello today to all my friends and followers.
First of all I'm so sorry for not being around to comment much over the last week or so, first of all I went away on holiday to Minorca and didn't get back until late Monday night, then spent two days feeling so ill I spent the whole day in bed yesterday which isn't like me at all. I've also now got a huge engagement party to plan by Saturday for my daughter-so no pressure then. Needless to say my crafting and blogging have had to take a bit of a back seat. I'm hoping that after this weekend things might be able to get back to normal but from Monday I've been called for Jury service so goodness only knows what that'll mean time wise. Just lately my life is just one thing after another!!
My daughter asked me to make her a couple of Bridesmaid request cards ready for Saturday-apparently they are the new thing to give to your chosen bridesmaids??? The brief was, use cobalt blue and keep it as simple as possible-nothing fussy or fancy! Well I looked for ages for a suitable image and in the end I chose this one which I found on the internet. I cut it with an oval die and simply added layers in her chosen colour and a few little gems to match. The finished cards measure 9cms x 12.5 cms. I must admit I do find it hard to do such a CAS style, I kept wanting to add some pretty papers or some more embellishments but just had to stop myself. Sorry about the quality of the image but the weather was so bad I really struggled to get a clear picture:

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

Crafty Gals Corner #43-anything goes
Creative Moments #80 -anything goes
Inspiration Destination #57 -anything goes
Shopping our Stash #225 -go paperless
CCC digi creations #35 -anything goes

Well thank you so much for stopping by today and for any comments you may wish to leave. I'm going to try and get round to visit all your lovely work later tonight.
Take care and until next time.
Aloha
Andree x

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends challenge 20

Hello today friends and followers, I hope you are all well.
This post is to let you all know that a new challenge has started today over at Lil Patch of Crafty Friends. Our challenges are always Anything Goes, so why not pop on over and take a peek at the beautiful cards my fellow team mates have been busy making.
Huge thanks go as always to our fab sponsors who for this challenge are:

Karleigh Sue Digis

Prize ~ 3 Images

Lemon Shortbread 

Prize ~ 3 Images

Oddball Art Co

Prize ~ 3 Images

I got to choose this cutie called Autumn Moon from Karleigh Sue digis which unfortunately has now been retired but there are still heaps of other images to choose from.
I coloured my image with Promarkers and fussy cut her, placing her on a die cut circle which I thought looked a bit like a moon. I used some gorgeous papers which were a freebie from Art by MiRan and added some paper flowers and leaves and some little yellow gems. I also found a gorgeous image of a Dream Catcher which I thought went really well so cut out two of those and placed them on a fishtail banner which I cut myself. The strip in the middle is cut with a Martha Stewart punch and the sentiment is from Netty's cards:

I'd like to enter my card into the following challenges:
(this is a scheduled post so will link up later)

Melonheadz -halloween or harvest
Fan-Tastic Tuesday #107-autumn colours
Digi Choosday #41 -sentimental
Inky Impressions#275-make it krafty
Ruby's Rainbow #115-autumn leaves
I Love Promarkers #290-anything goes
Wags n Whiskers #164 -fall colours
Suzy Bees Bloomin Challenge #102-any thing goes with autumn Colours
Star in my Pocket -Halloween or Harvest

Well that's all from me for today, why not pay us a visit -we would love to see you join in our challenge this time too!

A Bit More Time to Craft-GDT spot

Hello today to all my friends and followers, I hope you are all well.
My post today is to let you know that a fresh new challenge has begun today over at A Bit More Time to Craft. I applied to be a guest designer a little while back and I was so thrilled when Lozzy contacted me to ask if I would like to join the team for this time around.
The challenges are always an Anything Goes theme so loads of scope to get crafty and make something so you can join in too.
For my card I got to play with this super cute image from Delicious Doodles called Pumpkin Witch.
I also got to use some of Lozzy's gorgeous papers-these are from the pack called The Classic. Why not take a peek at all the other gorgeous designs there are to choose from too-some really fab designs.
I knew how I wanted my card to be so cut across the front diagonally to make the shape.
I coloured the image with Promarkers and added some glitter to the pumpkin. I stamped and cut out some little bats to go around the top of the card, adding gems too. I found a cute black cat image and cut it out for the front of the card, adding some glitter to maker her eyes sparkle!!

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

Crafts Galore Encore -halloween
Naughty or Nice#20-feeling witchy
Crafty Calendar- halloween
Crafty Gals Corner #41-witches, ghouls, goblins
Try it on Tuesday -it's frightening/halloween
Simply Create Too#96 -halloween colours
That Craft Place -halloween
Scrap Creations  -pumpkins
Crafting by Designs -halloween

Well I do hope you manage to pop by the challenge to take a look at the fab inspiration cards made by the DT and maybe have a play along too. A very big Thank You to Lozzy and the team for allowing me to join them this month as guest designer-I had loads of fun!
Thank you so much for stopping by to visit today, enjoy the rest of the week and until next time.
Aloha
Andree x