Paper Smooches Sparks challenge 23rd - 7th March

This week Paper Smooches Sparks challenge has a real ocean feel to it. i know the picture for inspiration is a clock but i love the seaside feel to the pic.
Here is the picture.

and here is my card.

To create this card i first made the background by wetting a piece of white cardstock then with a blending tool striped broken china and iced spruce distress ink on the wet card, then dried it with my heat gun.
I cut and trimmed it them placed on my blank card. I then stamped and coloured with copic markers the pelican and log from Paper smooches surf and turf stamp set.
Next i got some cardstock inked it with broken china and iced spruce distress ink, then with a Fiskars boundary waters border punch, punched out the waves,cut and layered them.
I glued on the pelican and log, and fish in his mouth. them with distress inks i dyed some silk ribbon to make a seaweed effect on the side of the card.
so head on over to the paper smooches sparks challenge and have a go!

Tara:)

kissing stamps....

There is a great challenge over at lily pad cards at the moment. It is all about kissing stamps.
Whats this you ask? well it is when you ink up a largely block stamp (a stamp with a lot of area you can ink) and then get a finer image stamp and ink that too. once both inked you press the finer lined inked image into the stamp with the blocky image. stamp on card and both images appear on the stamp. you can google this technique and there are a few videos about. Anyway i thought i would have a go and enter the challenge. It took a few goes but i finally got a balance of colours and stamping images to make a stamped kissing image.

here is my card.

I used a Hero arts stamp called poppy background and inked up with  mustard seed distress ink. i then used a script stamp and inked up with festive berries distress ink. i used these inks as they stay wet for longer and this makes it easier to stamp.you have more time!
I then created the patterned background behind the pic by using a A5 piece of white card, blended mustard seed,wild honey,festive berries,and fired brick distress inks on to it with my blending tool. once blended i flicked water onto it then some biscotti perfect pearl spray mists on to it to get a watermarked effect. boy oh boy does the perfect pearls mist smell!Yuck! but worth the effect!
i used a fiskars border punch-kaleidoscope  for the border added some ribbon and then stamped the sentiment. which was from lawn fawn.
and done.
i love the effect i got, except i totally forgot that the script is backward!!! never mind. you cannot really tell as it is so swirly anyway!
Tara:)

It's Virginia's View challenge #2

This is the second challenge in the lily pad cards Virginia's View. and i just love the colours in the pic.

and if you need some more inspiration there was an optional sketch too. but i did not use this.

Here is my card.

I used my favorite things flower die, Fiskars bubbles border punch, Paper Smooches sentiment sampler, and some gems
it turned out quite nice!

Tara:)

CAS-ual Fridays #41- just for the pun of it!

 When you were a kid did you ever changes the words of a rhyme to giggle at? I remember my favorite one was to sing happy birthday and replace the end with you look like a monkey and smell like one too"i use to laugh so much when i sung that an mum would get SO mad at me!!! it was so much fun.

This weeks challenge Just for the Pun of it reminded me of doing this as a kid, so i thought i would use a stamp set i had to create a card for this challenge.

I thought a 1 layers card would be perfect. i did not want to take away from the pun on the card. That is the whole point!
Here is my card.

 I used a stamp set called monkey business by stampin stuff. and the top part of the sentiment is a mixture of several sentiment stamps from Paper smooches. I coloured with copics and added the ribbon.
simple but effective i think!
the challenge is up till Wednesday so click on the top link and have a go!

Tara :)

Zoes entry for lawnscaping challenge

ok for some reason i need 2 posts for mine and zoes entry so here is zoes card again. check out the previous post for all the info.

Lawnscaping Challenge #28- Distress mania....and i seem to have my groove back...

After a not so great day yesterday crafting, my mojo seems to have come back! maybe it must have been me using Lawn Fawn stamps!  I always seem to smile when i take them out, and you can guarantee that Zoe is not far behind wanting to make a card too!
so  this challenge is Distress mania!

I am usually a real CAS card maker though i do love anything by Tim holtz! which is like polar opposites! but for some reason i end up using Tim;s range in CAS cards.
So i made my card today with a LOT of distressing,sanding inking and paper piecing!
here is my card.

 I used Lawn Fawns critters in the woods and critters in the burbs for my card. I used core'dinations card-stock for all the paper piecing and sanded and tore the paper to give the distress look. i also used coordinating Tim Holtz Distress inks to colour. I used rock candy Distress paint to make the trees and log crackly, the clouds paper is by kaisercraft and the sun was a hello kitty sizzix die.
The card went really well together! also i did layer the dragonfly and clouds with 3D foam but you cannot really see it well in the pic....sorry!

Zoe decided to create a card for the challenge too so she used Lawn Fawns critters in the seas. Zoe cut and glued the fish and then stamped a sentiment on the card. she did have a go with the sandpaper ,but now i have a patch on my dining room table with no varnish! i think i may just put a vase over it and not tell rob!, then if i colour the mark with copics no one will be the wiser!shhhhhhhhh don't tell ok!

I hope you like both our cards. Then lawnscaping challenge is on till march 1st here.

Tara :)

Jay Gee's Nook Challenge #16

I do not know what it was today, maybe the weather but my brain was on a creative holiday today! i must have coloured in maybe 10 images before i decided on what i would do for this challenge over at Jay Gee's Nook and i still after making the card have to be honest with myself.... am not 100% happy with the card but with new submissions due for the papercrafts mag i totally need to do a few cards for that while Poppy is quiet!

So to get on the challenge.....
Here is the inspiration. god knows why i had brain freeze the colour array is great!!!

and here is the card i made.

I used a fiskars set of cling stamps, and various paper smooches stamp sets to find the correct letters.
The paper was from echo park and jillibean soup. and i coloured with copics.

Tara:)

Colouring with R's and RV's challenge part 2

Hello everyone!
Today i am going to share with you a cute little birthday card i made using the Balloon Kaylee stamp from Some odd girl,and as it is Mad 4 Markers birthday this month its perfect timing!

If you like the stamp you can purchase it at Mad 4 Markers.

I wanted to also use my new Fiskars Border punch with this card as i got the punch hot from USA and is not getting released here in Australia (so i was REALLY excited when it arrived.) The punch went well with the birthday theme and as we are all celebrating Mad 4 Markers 2nd birthday why not use it!

So i coloured Kaylee as you can see above used an array of different RV'S and other colours.
These is the Copics i used.

Then i created a background with my Border punch and some patterned paper. If you would like to see how i made the background you can by going to the Fiskars blog.
Then i used some My Favorite Things die-namic dies for the pink label and word 'party'  and adhered it all together.
The combo of bright RV's work really well together with the paper and really do make Kaylee pop!

So why not grab a few copic markers and a stamp and have a go at our challenge this month, on the right sidebar. If you do not have many RV's never fear, Mad 4 Markers have got you covered just click on the link to purchase what you need!
And do not forget all the great prizes and challenges that will be on the blog all month celebrating our 2nd birthday!

Tara:)

Happy Birthday to you.........

Happy birthday to you....

Happy birthday to you....

Happy birthday dear Mad 4 Markers.....

Happy birthday to you......

It is time for celebrations over at the Mad 4 Markers blog and Facebook page.

It is Mad 4 Markers 2nd Birthday today, and for the WHOLE month there will be prizes, challenges and a special Blog hop on the 22nd March.

So head on over to the Mad 4 markers blog and join in the celebrations!

Tara:)

My beautiful (but silly) girls!

I had just emptied a box out this afternoon, and no sooner as i put it on the ground the girls were in the box! Zoe and Poppy were both fighting for supremacy in the box, Poppy trying to bite Zoe so she would get out! Zoe really is a bit big to play in boxes now i mean she is 10! but she was having so much fun with poppy, i just let her play.
I managed to get some pic's of them.

How lucky am i to have such fun loving and beautiful children! Saying that .... ask me again when the 2 of them are running around and i am trying to get them to bed! LOL!!

Tara:)

Paper Smooches Sparks challenge 9th -22nd feb.

Ok the current paper Smooches Sparks challenge is almost over but i think i have time to enter!!!
here is the inspiration for this challenge...

And after a lot of thinking about what to create i just had to use the Healthy Vibes paper smooches stamp set.

I used the sentiment to create a background with a beige stampin up ink pad called sand and then made sure one sentiment i stamped i did with rich cocca memento ink pad.

So head on over to Paper smooches sparks challenge blog  to enter!

Tara:)

A bit of Rio inspiration!

Yesterday Zoe was off to a friend birthday party. and the little boy whose birthday it was is CRAZY for Rio the movie! so the hunt was on! i needed a pic of the bird in the movie-Blue. i managed to find a couple of coloring in pages and printed one out. i colored with copics and then decided to make a beach scene to pop the bird on to....well it is set in Rio isn't it!
I then die cut his name in the colors of the movie title and finished!
The card did not turn out too bad! and Zoe said he loved it!
Job Done!!!

Tara :)

CAS-ual Fridays #39- Love ya to pieces

It is another week and another great challenge at  CAS-ual Fridays And it is all about paper piecing.

I thought of a simple card to do with this technique.

I used a Fiskars cling stamp set called fresh fruit. and paper pieced with My Minds Eye paper range-12 days of Christmas. * i love Christmas papers for non Christmas projects!!*
I also used doodlebug doodle twine Christmas as well!
I really like this card!
if you would love to have a go at this challenge click on the above link to enter.
Tara:)

Lawnscaping challenge #27 photo inspiration

Good morning all! hear that??? no? i suppose you can't we are in blog land! but if you were here with me you would hear.........NOTHING! yep! Rob is out doing errands, Zoe is at School and Poppy is asleep having her nap! Oh how i love the peace and quiet!!!! And it also gave me enough time to whip up a card for this weeks Lawnscaping Challenge!
Here is this weeks photo inspiration.

I love that red colour range!
So i got to work. and here is my card.

I used Lawn Fawn critters on the farm for this card with the heart coming from Sophies sentiments.
I also used various words from the sentiments in critters in the farm to put together 'i love you chickadee!'
I used the NEW Fiskars interchangeable border punch system for the bottom of the card and used the X marks the spot cartridge.
* You know i did not really like this cartridge when i saw it,but i have found it one of the most versatile punch designs Fiskars have made! it is perfect to thread ribbon!*
I then got some seam binding from Mad 4 Markers and coloured it with one of my copic markers (R22)
It was great cause i got just the right colour to match my little piggy!!!
The pig and chick were also coloured with copics.
here are the colours i used.

You can order all of these copics from Mad 4 Markers also.

This challenge i really enjoyed! and do you know why??? No children annoying me!!!!

Tara:)

I'm knackered!

What a day today has been! It all started off with me getting ready for my first weight watcher meeting. i  need to loose about 20 kgs!  here goes.......
I was checking my emails before the meeting and surprise surprise, i got an acceptance from Paper crafts that they want to use one of my cards in the next Stamp it! magazine. Whoot Whoot!!!!*(insert me hyperventilating in excitement!!!* Any way the cards and paper work needs to be in the US of A by 2nd march, and as the postmen here i think use horse and cart still i knew i had to get it in the post today. but trying to keep the kids quiet! boy what a thing to do! Being the BAD mother i am, i sat Poppy in front of the portable DVD player in her highchair to watch the Wiggles(always good to get at least an hour of silence....thanks you wiggles!!) and Zoe in front of the Big TV with another DVD. Finally got the paper work done! and posted!
by this time the kids were going a little stir crazy. Zoe had let Poppy out of the high chair and then Poppy decided that it would be fun if she kept jumping off the back of the sofa! this is a metre and a bit drop!laughing all the time. So i put a stop to that. Rob woke up for his evening shift and all settled down. then later Rob went off to work and it started all again. Poppy running around the house with ,what i think was an old lunchbox of Zoes????!!! i'm not 100% sure as it has disappeared. most likely to the same place she hides all the dummies that i for the life of me cannot find!
Anyway finally got them settled again....thank you again the wiggles! and fed Poppy dinner.
I still had to finish off the paperwork for me being a guest designer on Lily pad cards, so i have,as i type, just finished off it,emailed it and now posting this post. but where you ask are the lovely little monsters i call children?? well again not doing what you should,i have put them in both in the bath (i am only in the next room,do not worry i can see them and certainly hear them!!!!!) The bathroom looks like a Tsunami has been through, but is is a small price to pay just to get my emails etc done!!! roll on 7pm! Poppy to bed and Zoe in her room reading! Phew, those 2 just wear me out!!!!

Mad 4 Markers R and RV colour challenge.

Good morning all!
The weekend is almost upon us and as there is a great new challenge this month over at Mad 4 Markers,
I thought i would share with you a card for some inspiration for you to get out there and colour,Colour,COLOUR!!!

R's and RV's i find are not the easiest to colour with. I find they bleed a lot and if you do not get the shading right  they are not very forgiving.
I have always found though if you treat them a little different than your other colours especially the R's you can get some great results. I always try to not flood the page, i always use smaller flicks when using the R's and with that i do not get as much bleeding and they blend better.

The card i have made today is with a Spesch Digital image his name is Draggy, and boy he is SO cute! He reminded me of the Welsh Dragon that my daughter has,so i just had to colour him in red!

Supplies;Spech designer digi stamp-draggy, Copic markers-R22,24,27,29,30,32,35,Y00,08,15,26,28,38 and 0,
 Bo Bunny papers-Crush, Paper smooches stamps-sentiment sampler, Fiskars interchangeable border punch starter set, Bella! glitter card stock, bling.

I think this card would be perfect for a special someone on Valentines day or even St Davids Day (welsh national holiday) on March 1st.

I hope i have given you a little inspiration to enter the current challenge!
To enter the current challenge over at Mad 4 Markers go on over to their Challenge Blog and enter.

 And if you need a stamp to colour or a couple of Copic markers/refills do not forget that the Mad 4 Markers online shop has a great variety of stamps and markers for you to choose from.

I look forward to seeing YOUR card in the challenge!

Tara:)

CAS-ual Fridays #38 - on the red carpet!

Well this is my first go at the CAS-ual friday challenge. i usually check it out but do not enter but when i say this Challenge  i thought i would give it a go!

so you have to think of a movie theme for your card this week to inspire you.My inspiration for my card was MIB

The new movie is coming out soon and my daughter Zoe loves MIB!  Plus i have just got the new Paper Smooches Healthy Vibes stamp set and so wanted to use it!

So with this in mind i created this card!

I used some old Prima papers i had, the Paper smooches Healthy Vibe stamp set,some bobbly eyes, and copics to colour. then embossed the sentiment. I then i tried to keep the inside simple too. by repeating the pattern inside the card.

The challenge finished today but there is one every week. so click onto the link at the top of my post to have a go!!!

Tara:)

Some odd girl colour challenge

So i thought i would have a go with the some odd girl colour challenge that was on the some odd girl blog this week.
the colours were red blue and grey.

I kind of got a bit carried away with this one and the blue ended up not the exact colour of the cupcakes but close enough.
here is my card.

I used the some odd girl digi image  Alice Mae. i also used kaisercraft papers and the new fiskars interchangeable border punch banners away to make the rosette and the new fiskars bubbles punch.
if you want to enter this challenge then hop on over to the Some odd girl blog and have a go!

Tara :)