Tuesday Throwdown #205: Handmade Flowers

Hello again, my crafter friend. Are you ready for another week-long Tuesday Throwdown? Our theme for this challenge is "Handmade Flowers". We are in the midst of summer  -  the sun is blazing, it's scorching hot, and the flowers are in full bloom. So why not channel that floral beauty onto a paper-crafting project.

We have a special sponsor this week - Flourish with a Bling, an Australian company that has their own range of beautiful flourishes, vines, pearls, gems AND their own range of gorgeous flowers. Head on over to their online store for a peek.

Here's my card for this week:

No patterned papers. I just inked up some white CS with TH Tumbled Glass.
The flowers: CBS Fancy Florals. The leaves: CBS Leafy Accents.
The butterflies and swirls: CBS Butterfly Wishes.
The greeting: CBS Say It In Style.
And I've used all the coordinating dies to cut out and foam tape to pop up!

Here's the inside. The greeting is from CBS It's Your Birthday.

Now it's your turn to create a project based on this week's theme: "Handmade Flower". For ideas and inspiration, take a peek at what the rest of the DT members have made. Remember to link up your project at the Tuesday Throwdown Challenge Blog by 3pm PST / 11pm GMT by Monday, July 28th. And the most important requirement: Have Fun!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Beijinhos!

Eclectic Ellapu: Anything Goes.

Talk about being late! This post should have gone out 12 hours ago! Luckily Elaine, our Boss Lady over at Eclectic Ellapu has a gentle forgiving heart. So let me tell you about the  2 new challenges that have started over at the Eclectic Ellapu Blog.

As always, the 2 teams - Pinks and Purples - are playing together in perfect harmony, each with its very own theme. The Pinkies are charting "Countries, Travel & Holidays" while the Purplies are taking it easy with "Anything Goes". The two challenges will run for 3 weeks and you can enter one or both as many times as you like.

This week, I'm gate-crashing Team Purple's party to show off Chocolate Baroque's new Christmas stamps. For my project, I'm using Snowy Scenes, Turtle Doves and Christmas Magic. All three stamps sets are currently on sale at a super special introductory price.

No patterned papers. Instead, I stamped little snow flakes from Snowy Scenes
with Versamark onto green CS for a tone on tone look. The tree and turtle doves
are from the Turtle Doves set. The sentiment is from the Christmas Magic set.
To make the background for the tree, I blended several TH Distress Inks:
Aged Mahogany, Festive Berries and Spun Sugar.

Here's a close-up of the tree. I coloured it with Promarkers:
Moss Green, Pear Green, Apple Cider, Pine,Forrest Green and Leaf.
The turtle doves got the Graph'It treatment. To finish, I added a few
tiny bling.

On the inside, another sentiment from the fabulous Christmas Magic set.  

A few challenges for this card:

CHNC Extra July: AG Christmas
Christmas Card Challenges #34: Inspiration Photo - colours, star
Word Art Wednesday #141: AG - Uplifting / Positive
Hiding In My Craft Room #158: Christmas In July
My Sheri Crafts #138: Christmas In July
Chocolate Coffee Cards #69: For The Birds

Now it's your turn to create and link up your labour of love over at the Eclectic Ellapu Challenge Blog. Remember, we have 2 concurrent challenges: "Countries, Travel, Holidays" for the Pink Team and "Anything Goes" for the Purple Team. You can enter both as many times as you wish. These challenge will run for 3 weeks and you have until 11:59pm GMT on August 10th 2014 to link up your entries.

Rosie's Update:

Rosie has had a few setback these past weeks. Doxorubicin isn't enough and after much discussion, her oncologist has decided to add Palladia to the mix. This one comes with a looooong list of side effects. Loss of appetite, tummy upsets, hair loss, nausea, extreme fatigue are some of the external issues. On the inside, kidneys, liver and blood are at risk. She's being closely monitored by the vet with weekly tests and check-ups. At home we're keeping a very close eye on her. Meal times are the worst because some days she just refuses to eat. She's given up on the kibbles entirely and is only on specially prepared food. So sad ... she used to enjoy her meals, always eager for treats, with a keen eye for crumbs that might fall her way. But she's strong and I know she's not ready to give up... neither are we. But I could do with a few more hours in a day though!

Thanks for stopping by and for continuing to visit me. I'm not doing so good on the catch-up game... my list of owed visits seems to be growing by the day. But I will do my very best to drop in on you. Your comments mean so much and I do read them. Bear with me ... I'll get there. Enjoy the rest of your weekend, my friends!

Beijinhos!

Polkadoodles #29: Add A Twinkle

We're continuing with the sparkly, shiny theme over at Polka Doodles: Add A Twinkle. The obvious choice would be to make a card celebrating the gliterry-est, magical season of all - Christmas! You don't have to make a festive card, just add lots of sparkle and twinkle to your project.

I'm using the brand new Festive Hollybobs Work & Play CD to make my trifold card. This CD is just jam-packed with the most lush papers, elements AND adorable characters. You are going to have so much fun with this CD!

For my project everything , expect for the sheer white ribbon, Stardust Stickles and red bling, came from the CD. Perfect for last minute makes. Here's my trifold card and I've piled each page with festive goodies from the CD :

First page: Love the elf! Adorable little guy...

"Naughty or Nice?" ... that is the ONLY question that matters! lol, 

And finally, on the inside is the jolly ol' man with a pile of  beautifully wrapped
festive smiles! What a fabulous CD!

Now it's over to you, my friends. Create a project based on the theme "Add A Twinkle" and link it up over at Polka Doodles Challenge blog by Noon (GMT) July 25th. The winner will receive a 

copy of the Rose Budd CD worth £17! Generous to a fault - that's our Nikky! The identity of the lucky winner will be announced on Friday August 1st. So hurry and get crafting!

Thank you for stopping by today. I have been absent from the blog for most of this week. My sincerest apologies for that. We've had to weather a pretty bad week. I'm lucky, we are lucky, to have a husband and furdaddy who is a monumental tower of strength. ... Still, I do wish he'd pick up his socks! :-)

Ok, enough gushing! Off you go and make that twinkly project! I'll be back tomorrow with an update on Rosie. Have a grand day, my friends.

Beijinhos!

Christmas Card Club #15: Christmas Teddy

It's time for the Christmas Card Club to come together for another festive show and tell. Our lovely hostess, Sue of Planet Susie, has the honour of setting the theme: Christmas Teddy. I have to say, I struggled with this one. My mojo took off without warning leaving me to complete the project on my own. It took me 4 days to finish this card... and I'm still not sure I like it. Hubby, for fear of not being fed said, "It's lovely, dear". What do you think?

All papers and elements are from Forever Friends Designstax Christmas Kraft Notes.
I've had this bumper pack for 2 years but never used it. There are  48 double-sides papers,
tons of die-cut elements and 3 mini clear stamps.  To dress the card I used ribbon, button,
twine, die-cut robin and tiny blue bling. There's also a Scalloped Tag die by CBS and
die cut greeting by Britannia Dies. Yep, I've got everything but the kitchen sink on this card!

A closer look at the cuddly chap. I coloured him with Graph'It and Promarkers.
Bear - GI: 1210, 1230, 1250, 3120, 3150.   Suit - GI: 5210, 5220, 5245, 5260, 5280.
Fur Trim - GI: 9100, 9102.   Sack - GI: 3140, 3150, 3160, 3180, 3190
Green - Promarker: Forrest Green, Bright Green, Leaf, Apple.
Also added some Stardust Stickles on the trim of his suit.

On the inside is a sentiment from WMS Seasons of Love and
a die-cut element from the pack.

How about we send this jolly little guy to a few challenges:

Graph'It Markers Challenge #28: Christmas Colours
Winter Wonderland: Three of Three - three presents in the image
Christmas Card Challenge #33: Colour / AG Christmas
CHNC #185: Glam It Up
CHNC Extra July: AG Christmas
Completely Christmas #20: AG Christmas
Festive Friday #35: Photo Inspiration - presents, bow
Crazy 4 Challenges #244: Teddy Bears
Sweet Stampin': Christmas In July
We Do Dobadoo #10: Spotty & Dotty


Here's a list of the rest of the Christmas Card Club girls. Be amazed by their talent!

Karen P ... Maureen ... Margaret ... Carol ... Lizzie ... Hazel ... Karen B ... Sue P ... Sylvie ...
Sue J ... Zoë ... Christine ... Mary ... Lorraine ... Rita ... Rachel ... Valery ... GranMargaret ... Kate

Rosie's News:
I received several e-mails from concerned friends wondering why I haven't been posting any updates on Rosie. The truth is, she's had quite a few setback lately and I have not had the will to write about it. Her last X-rays showed minimal decrease in the tumour. Clearly the Doxorubicin isn't enough. So after much thinking and talking with her oncologist, we've added another drug to the mix - Palladia. She's taking it every 72 hours. Her appetite is bad, she's tired and spends most of her time asleep. I'm trying not to think too much about what to do next. We are very grateful for your kind thoughts and prayers.

Thank you so much for stopping by today. Have a wonderful week and I hope you're enjoying this fabulous weather!

Beijinhos!

Chocolate Baroque July Release: Harlequin Fragments

Hello, my crafty comrades!  Today I have 3 cards to share with you, featuring stamps from Chocolate Baroque's brand new Harlequin Fragments A4 sheet. You can see the original post on Chocolate Baroque's Design Team blog. Here, I will detail the inks, markers and other materials used in these projects.

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My first card is a bright and cheerful number. I started by inking the background TH Distress Inks in Mustard Seed and Squeezed Lemonade. Then I fashioned the border by repeat stamping around the card with TH Rusty Hinge. Next I stamped the feathery backdrop with TH Salty Ocean. The end result is an image in turquoise green - perfect for the fussy cut peacock from the Indian Textiles A5 sheet. I stamped the bird with Memento Tuxedo Black and coloured it with Promarkers. The greeting is from Birthday Words A5 sheet, stamped with VersaFine Black Onyx.

On the inside is another sentiment from the from Birthday Words A5 sheet.

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My second project is all about the tranquil blue waters. Here I'm using a stamp from the Harlequin Fragments A4 sheet to create bubbles and foam by stamping first in blue using VersaMagic Sea Breeze and again in white using VersaMagic Cloud White .

The supporting cast - clouds and gulls - are from Seashore Scenes A5 sheet and Seashell Collage A5 sheet respectively. I coloured the birds and wood stumps using Graph'It alcohol markers: 9400, 9401, 9402, 3160, 3180, 3245, 3250. That lovely sentiment is from Words Of Comfort And Cheer A4 sheet, stamped with VersaFine Smokey Grey.

Here's the inside ... all stamped with VersaFine Smokey Grey.

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My final project for today is an easy peasy birthday card, created with the help of the pile of fussy cut pressies from A Gift Of Christmas A4 sheet. First I prepared the background with warm pink in warm pink by blending TH Distress Inks Spun Sugar, Victorian Velvet and Tattered Rose. Next I stamped the harlequin stamp from Harlequin Fragments A4 sheet with TH Crushed Velvet. Then I coloured the presents with Graph'It alcohol markers and adhered it to the background. The sentiments is from Birthday Words A5 sheet, stamped with VersaFine Black Onyx.

On the inside - another go at the Birthday Words A5 sheet and VersaFine Black Onyx.

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Thank you for stopping by today. Hope to see you tomorrow for a little Christmas show and tell! Have a lovely weekend, my friends!

Beijinhos!