Cowgirl's are Up n Hoppin' !!!

This post will remain here til September 4th. Please scroll down for newer posts.
Woohoo!!!! Welcome to the "New Release" Blog Hop :D I have been dying to show off CJ's new images all week!!!! This is the image she sent me to work with called "Cottage" and I LOVE IT. I have sunflowers in my garden and a yellow rose by my gate (all I need now is the cottage hahaha!) If your following the trail you should have arrived here from the lovely Emma's. If not(and you want to join in) just pOp Over to Cowgirl's Up Sunday Challenge Blog for the start. You need to visit all the stops along the trail (in order) to collect the hidden letters that make up the sentence you need to email in to be included in the Blog Hop Candy draw :D
The Challenge this week is to use "Handmade Flowers" on your creation. I kept mine small, and stamped flowers on my base card, because I didn't want to overwhelm the detail in the image.

The Winner of the challenge will be recieving this gorgeous collection of floral ribbons from our Sponsor "CRAFTY RIBBONS"( who sell the most fabulous assortment of ribbon packs),

as well as "THREE" images of their choice from CJ's store, COWGIRLS-UP DESIGNS, and a "Winners" badge for their blog :D
Three runners up will each recieve "TWO" images of choice from CJ's collection, and a "TOP3" badge to display on their blogs.
You DO NOT have to take part in the hop to win the Ribbons or Top3, that is for the Candy, and any "younger" crafter's out there are more than welcome to join in the fun :D And please remember that if you are taking part in the hop, to leave a comment at each stop (so we know you've been by)
For this week only, CJ is cutting the prices on the images in her flower collection by 25%, so why not swing by her store and check them out?
Thank you for stOpping by:D and dOn't fOrget tO write dOwn my secret letter befOre yOu leave.
Now you need to pop over to Kim ,who will have another gorgeous image to show you, and the next letter for your sentence XXX
As an added extra, I have a little "Flowery Candy" to send to one random commenter, so don't forget to leave some love before you hop along
I am entering this card in the following challenges;
Stamping Vacation: No No Brads or eyelets
Alphabet Challenge Blog "R is for Roses"(all around the cottage and on door glass)
Totally Papercrafts Challenge#31 "Let's keep it clean n simple"
Allsorts Challenge wk67 "Park/Garden Inspiration"
Have fun!!! XXX

Glitterbabe's Challenge#9 Asian theme

The theme this week at Glitterbabe's Challenge#9 is "Asian". I so love this happy little lady called "Asia" from The Glitterbabe :D Her smile is so infectious :D I've stuck to the classic "oriental" colour combi of red/black/gold, and stamped some words of inspiration around her using my Anna Griffin stamp collection(which I don't use often enough!!)
I am entering her in the follwing challenges;
Critter Sketch Challenge#28 "Red striped Paper"
Sentimental Sundays#17 "Words to inspire"
Inspiration Avenue Challenge "Words"
And don't forget, The Glitterbabe has a dt call out til September, so why not pop over to the challenge blog n take a look?
Enjoy :D XXX

Aloha!!

This card is for 3 challenges; Tuesday Morning Sketches#56, Digital Tuesdays#73"cool it"(use water/beach/tropical digi) and Flutter By Wednesday#119 "open theme"
I have used the sketch by Melissa Craig and turned it on end. The dp's are from DCWV Vacation, and the image used is "Hula Girl" from Cowgirl-Up Designs.
A quick reminder that the Cowgirls are Hopping this weekend (Sunday 29th) to show off CJ's new images, which will be available with a 25% discount for the week of the hop :D And there is still time to join in this weeks challenge "Summertime Feeling"
Enjoy :D XXX

Gosh Another award!

Yesterday I recieved another blog award, this time from the lovely Babs aka Day Dream Stamper. Thank you so much Babs!!! I'm supposed to pass it on to 7 people, but I struggled on choosing 5 yesterday cos I always feel so guilty at not giving them to everyone else. So I hope no one minds if I just keep this one for myself today :D XXX

Thank you for the awards !!

I have been given this award by two lovely ladies this week, 1st by Sarah, who is a wonderful "busy" mum who somehow manages to find time to make gorgeous crafty projects, and then today by Claire, who is an amazing crafter, using so many different styles n techniques. Please visit them and leave some love, cos they both work really hard and deserve great praise :D

Now i
I have to tell you 3 things about myself, mmmmm.... where to start?
1. I can't drive or ride a bike! Couldn't stop to look at the flowers on the roadside if I did :D
2. I have recently started attending a "Spiritualist Meeting" (Very interesting!!)
3. I nearly died last year, they told hubby to sleep by the phone and wait for "the call", but they forgot to tell me so I didn't bother :D

Now I have to show you one of my fav photo's. This was the 1st proper day out after the hospital incident. It was the Spring equinox, and the light was absolutley amazing!!! There we photographers everywhere! The pic is of Hubby, Shorty and Chunky Monkey all walking ahead of me in our fav family haunt (the trees have been farmed)

Now I have to choose 5 people to pass this award on to.
1: Stef aka Glitterbabe, for having a "wickeder" sense of humour than I have :D
2: Barb at Haunted Design House, for her awesome Macabre Mondays challenge(well creepy):D
3: June at Dezinaworld, for all the freebies she gives us to work with :D
4:Rachel aka Queen La Rubba for working so hard to make everyone else happy:D
5: The Team at Something Completely Different, for giving us just that :D
All of these ladies are real troopers who work hard to entertain us and are just lovely people!!
Keep spreading the love XXX

You wanted yellow!!!

The new rubberstamping challenge blog "Let's Ink It Up" has finally arrived, woohoo!!!
Their 1st challenge is "Anything Goes, with a twist", the twist being to use some yellow. Well I thought, in for a penny... I have used one of my fav rubber stamp images "Buttercup" from Crafter's Companions Flower Fairies collection. The inspiration for the background came from Scrappy's Sketch Sunday(the circle in a square), but it's too far removed to go in that challenge. I have used 2 shades of green and 2 shades of yellow ink(from various manufacturers). I lightly coloured the base card using a piece of "cut n dry",the yellows and lightest green, then edged with deeper green. I used a circle stencil to mask the square and deepend the colour inside the circle, then I overstamped using the darker green. I built up the colours on the images with the same 4 inks and a water brush. Finally I added glossy accents to the flowers, and a piece of yellow gingham ribbon/bow. The sentiment stamp is by Anna Grifffin.
Enough "yellow" for you? :D XXX

"That Summertime Feeling"

Howdy folks! And welcome to the new challenge at Cowgirl's Sunday Stampen Challenge!!
Now I know the weather isn't necessarily helping the mood lately, so what's giving you that "Summertime Feeling" ? I'm relying on my garden, it's full of butterflies at the moment. I planted some dwarf sunflowers, which have full size heads but only grow to about 3 and a half feet(so they don't get battered by the wind). Makes me feel like a little fairy when I walk passed them :D, so I've chosen to use "Bella" from Cowgirls-Up Designs on my card!
Our challenge is being sponsored this week by The Character Cafe

The Character Cafe specializes in digital stamps offering a variety of designs with card making in mind, but images could be used for much more given the versatility of digital stamps. The Cafe is an angel company geared towards crafters of all kinds, allowing use for small business as well as personal. The owners, Kendra and Kelly hope to provide a wide variety of unique characters suitable for many uses. Being crafters/consumers themselves, they strive to have customer service and quality second to none and look forward to serving you for years to come. From The Café, happy crafting!

The winner of this weeks challenge will recieve a $10:00 gift certificate for the Character Cafe's Shop, plus an image of their choice from CJ at Cowgirls-Up Designs, woohoo!! And don't forget, at the Cowgirls Sunday Stampen Challenge, 3 runners up also recieve an image of their choice from CJ at Cowgirls-Up Designs, and a badge to put on their blog!!!

So why not hop over there and checkout what you would choose if you're a lucky winner :D

Have fun :D XXX

I am entering this card in;

Dezinaworld Spot Prize challenge#3 "Fairies"

Aud Sentiments Challenge #9 "Anything Goes"

Craft Your Days Away#2 "With Wings"

Stamping Vacation "Pick 3" for August (light green paper/anything with a bit of blue on it/glitter)

YEEHA!!! The Girls are Hoppin' Again!!!

This post will remain at the top of my page til the hop :D Please scroll down for newer posts XXX

On the 29th August CJ is having a new image release, and to celebrate all her hard work the girls of the posse are having a blog hop!!! There will be Candy and prizes, and the lovely Crafty Ribbons is going to sponsor us that week, and the winner also gets to choose 4 Cowgirl Up images. Double YEEHA!!!
The "Top3" that week will each recieve their choice of 2 Cowgirl Up images!!, and a badge to put on their blog.
If you would like to spread the word, there will be an extra prezzie for 0ne lucky "Hopvertiser". Just grab the hop invite button, post it on your blog and in your sidebar(linking to Cowgirls Sunday Challenge blog) and leave a comment with a link so we can hop over and see your blog :D
Already got my fabby new image for the hop card and all I can tell you is it's Awesome!!!
There will also be a 25% off sale on all the new images that week.
So make a note in your diary and join us in spreading the love XXX

"In the lane snow is glistening....."

3 challenges in 1 card today! Winterwonderland and Bah! Humbug!#32 both chose the same inspiration this week "Walking in a Winter Wonderland". While Sew Many Challenges#23 is "Christmas in August" :DI've taken my inspiration from the verse"in the meadow we can build a snowman". I have this gorgeous DRS Designs stamp that was given to me by Melissa at Tuesday Morning Sketches, which I've stamped straight onto a piece of pale blue damask printed paper, then coloured with sympathetic shades of promarkers. I made the little words with a set of alphabet rubberstamps and tore them out so that they would show up on the background. A lovely layer of snow white glitter paper, mounted on ice blue pearlescent card, and I'm really pleased with this one :D XXX

The Cat's Meow!!

I'm just lovin' these little critters from CJ at Cowgirl-Up Designs :D This one is called "Tabby".The background papers are from Brenda Pinnock's Sucerie collection and DCWV Vacation. The sentiment is my own:D I have used Tabby to front a card for the following challenges;
Bee Crafty Downloads#36 Ribbons and Bows
Sentimental Sundays#16 Ribbons and/or lace
Prairie Fairy Fridays#32 Photo inspiration(I chose colours)
Anything Goes Challenge Blog#12 "3 layers "
Flutter By Wednesday#118" Recipe " (1 sparkle,2dps,3button/gems)
Enjoy XXX

Glitterbabe's Challenge#8"At least 2 Flowers"

This week at Glitterbabe's Challenge, we are being sponsored by the very wonderful Robyn's Fetish.
The Challenge is to use "just 2 flowers"(and sparkle of course). I have chosen to use this image from Robyn called "Daisy Days", which is loaded with flowers before I even started haha! The background paper is fromBrenda Pinnocks Sucerie collection, the flowery ribbon is from Cosmo Cricket, and the sentiment is by our very own Vicki !!
Loads of glitter card stock(3 different colours on the punched flowers), and job done :D
I know it sounds conceited, but I really like this card, it makes me feel all happy n smiley :D
Enjoy XXX

I am entering this card in Digital Tuesday's Challenge#72"Use your scraps" (cos everything except the image came from my scrap box) and MAWTT's Challenge#60 "Glitter"

Christmas Fairy Tag

Bah! Humbug!'s Challenge#31 this week is to use "Angels or Fairies", so straight away I went for "Jessica" from CJ at Cowgirl Up Designs(she is just so pretty). I've framed the tag by stamping ivy and mistletoe images around the edge and then glazing the leaves with Glossy Accents. The berries on the mistletoe are pearly stuff. I then stamped the sentiment and stitched around it with organza ribbon.
I have also taken inspiration from Winterwonderland#"Tag It", Crafty Ann's#21"Christmas in August", and Sew Many Challenges#20"Sew Stitchy"
And don't forget, if you like the "jessica" image, you could win a chance to get free images from Cowgirl-Up Designs by entering our challenge on Sundays. Not only the winner gets prizes, 3 runners up also get to choose an image from CJ's shop and a badge to put on their blog:D
Enjoy XXX

Candy, and what you can do with it!!!

First, a huge thank you to Melissa Craig at Tuesday Morning Sketches(christmas set), and Joanne Elliot at Craft Your Days Away(box of bling) for these Gorgeous items.

Couldn't wait to use that heart-shaped box! I've distressed it with inks, overstamped with My Minds eye stamps(from the Wild Asparagus collection), added this pretty girl image(I printed out ages ago and can't remember where from), then added bronze foiling around the edge of the lid.

I'm entering it for the following challenges:

Dezinaworld Spotprize Challenge #1 "Bronze"

Anything Goes Challenge Blog#11 "A" (altered art)

Cute Card Thursday#125 "Tree-mendous" (though it's not a card so might noyt be eligible their challenge inspired my choice of stamp)

Enjoy XXX

Glitterbabe's Challenge#7 Sketch

This week at Glitterbabe's Challenge we have sketch for you to follow :D . Our sponsor this week is Stamping Dragon Designs, who very kindly gave the dt some of their imags to play with. I chose "Rupert's Bathtime" cos I thought that the bubbles would look great with some sparkle on :D

You can check out the rest of Stamping Dragon's Designs here:


And a big thankyou to all the lovely people who joined in last weeks challenge :D XXX

Foxy-licious!!!

Couldn't resist using another of CJ's animal images this week. This one is called "Fox"
I'm using this card for Critter Sketch Challenge #26, Digital Tuesday's#71 "Butterflies and/or lace, and Flutter By Wednesday's#117"open theme". The dp's are form K&Co's "Roam" stack(the green one has a stamped lace effect). The butterfly is chipboard inked, overstamped and then glazed with glossy accents.

Watch out for the new challenge at Cowgirl's Sunday Stamp'en Challenge on the 15th, and as this will be the 3rd challenge of the month we will be choosing a GDT. It will be an inspirational challenge(using buttons n ribbons), and our sponsor will be the fabulous Pollycraft Designs,


who are giving a £10.00 gift voucher to spend in their store, woohoo! I have bought Pollycraft images before and they are awesome!!!

You still have time to enter this weeks Challenge, which is a lovely sketch by Andrea, with a chance to win a set of cutting files from Kandrews Designs and 4 images from CJ
XXX

Yet More Candy at Let's Ink it Up!!!!

OMG!!!! The numbers are rising at Let's Ink It Up Challenge blog, and they haven't even had their 1st challenge yet !!! They have already passed their last target so Kathryn Myhre of KLM Digital and Clear Stamps has donated all 4 of these stamp sets as an added bonus to reaching 300 followers by Sept 4th. Check out the challenge blog for a chance to win :D XXX

Purple!!!

This card is for 3 challenges; Just Inspirational #6"Purple Tones with sparkle n texture". Ooh La La #60 "Spots and Dots", and Stamp+Fun=Creativity#7 Sketch by Emmi.

Unfortunately the papers are so shimmery they have masked the texture of the ribbons on the striped border. The dots on the little girls hat(image by Sarah Kay) have been stickled to add texture and sparkle.

Enjoy XXX

August ATC's

Got both sets of ATC's done already this month!!! The set of 4 is for ATC Swappers "Sporting Summer". I've used some vintage sports images from Joanna Sheens ATC Assistant cd( a very useful resource). The newsprint in the background is from the same cd.

The set of 3 is for this months The Stampman ATC swap "Time", something we crafters never have enough of :D The music paper is from Dezinaworld, and the watch face is from a collage sheet (png format) from Eligia's shop.

Dezina dazzle

June Macfarlane of Dezinaworld has started a new challenge :D This weeks theme is "Ice Maiden". Can never have too many christmas cards so I used this image from Dezinaworld and just added loads of sparkle, easy or what??
Enjoy XXX

Using a few of my favourite things...

There is a new challenge on the block called "Craft your Days Away", and for their 1st challenge they have asked us to use our "favourite things". Where to start!!! It's probably easier to do this as a list :D

This isn't a card, it is covered greyboard(1)

The board is covered with K&Co Blossomwood papers(2) adhered with double-sided tape(3)

The Butterflies(4) are chipboard di cuts(5), which I have inked(6) stamped with acrylic flower stamps(7) and adhered with pinflair glue gel(8)

The image is my all time favourite from Cowgirl Up Digital stampen Ranch "Lou"(9) who I have coloured with promarkers(10) and adhered with 1mm foam pads(11)

The edges of the papers have been gently distressed(12) and sparkle added with Stickles Stardust(13)

The whole piece is worked in my fav colour combi of Blue(14) with natural tones(15)

And last but not least I love making wall hangers(16), which is what this will become shortly :D

I am entering it in the following challenges;

Craft Your Days Away#1 "favourite Things

Flutterby Wednesdays#116 "favourite colour"

Prairie Fairy Friday's#31 "Frame it in a circle"

Sketch Saturday#115

Thank you for sticking it out to the end :D XXX

Cowgirls Sunday Challenge # Andrea's Sketch

This post will remain at the top of my blog til 13th August. Please scroll down for newer posts :D Howdy folks, it's Sunday so it must be time for another Cowgirls Stampen Challenge. Today we are asking you to use another fabulous sketch by the very talented Andrea. I've teamed her sketch with one of CJ's new animal images called "Squirrel". I coloured her grey, but the shading is a little too subtle for my scanner. The sentiment I made myself with free fonts and puter, the background papers are from K&Co's Blossomwood collection. I will be entering this card in Cute Card ThursdaysChallenge#124 "Whateva"





This week we are being sponsored by the wonderful K Andrew Designs who make digital cutting files for cricut, pazzles, robomast/sillouhette/wishblade, knk etc and the prize is a collection of cutting files!!!!




This badge was designed for K Andrews by our very own CJ, who is now producing personalised avatars, as well as scrummy images for us to work with( if she promises to make me look that good I might just buy one myself :D)
The Top 3 chosen by the posse will recieve one of CJ's images of their choice! Which would you choose? You might just want to pop by the store for a look see now (just in case your a lucky winner)
Look forward to seeing your lovely creations XXX
UPDATE: CJ has decided to add a prize to this challenge of 4 Cow Girl Up Digi images for the winner!!!!

Winter Window.

This card covers 3 challenges; MAWTT#58 " Christmas", Bah Humbug#30"Through the Window" and Winterwonderland's "Easel card with sparkle n shine".

The dp's are from Joanna Sheen's Cottage Garden CD, and the image is the base picture from a decoupage sheet called "Happy Woman" from The Crafthouse Press(The Golden Age collection).

The shine is provided by acetate in the window and silver peel offs, while the sparkle is from stardust stickles on the window cills and the stitched ribbon :D

Enjoy XXX

Amy's "Crazy Clearout" Candy

Amy, at A Thousand Sheets of Paper has this amazing stuff to give away. So much stuff that she is splitting it into 5 lots of candy.

She is doing this to celebrate the fact that she has cut into 1000 different dp's since starting her blog. What an awesome crafter, but then crazy and genius are very closely realated :D. The pic on the left is what 1000 sheets of 6x6 looks like, and the other pic is of the stamps Amy is giving away as well!!! The candy is on offer through September 3rd. You'd have to be crazier than Amy not to get over there and check it out :D!!!

XXX

Glitterbabes Challenge#6 Purple/Black/Pink

Welcome to Glitterbabes Challenge#6. This weeks challenge is a colour combi Purple/Black/Pink, in any style of your choosing. I've used JLJ Designs Zen Papers collection and one of Glitterbabes soon to be released images "flowered teacup with sentiments". There are 8 downloadable papers in this set for just $2.00, 4 purple and 4 pink(guess which colour I used :D ). Why not pop over to Glitterbabes Challenge Blog and join in, and don't forget to bring your bling!! XXX

Try something different!!

That was the call at Sentimental Sundays#14 this week, which gave me the perfect opportunity to have ago at Stamp+Fun=Creativity's challenge#6 this week. SFC gave us this "box card" template to use, and I thought it looked really complicated. But you just cut out the weird shape, make 2 score lines and fold!! How easy was that? I combined it with Winter Wonderlands "No DP's"(I've stamped on red card with black ink). I am also entering this card in Anything Goes Challenge Blog#10 "Folds", cos it does haha!

Enjoy XXX

At Last!!

Finally got round to some card making this week, managed to get 3 cards done while hubby has taken kids out. This card is for 4 challenges ish. Technichally it's 3 challenges and 1 huge apology!

The 1st challenge is Bee Crafty Downloads#35 "all about the image". The 2nd is Crafty Ann's challenge#20"lazy hazy days of summer"(if I can remember where I saw it), and 3rd Prairie Fairy Fridays #30 "anything 3D"( I hope the board letters count:D).

The image is called "Bee Happy" from CJ at Cowgirl Up Digital Stamping Ranch, and that's where the huge apology is going! I am supposed to be on CJ's DT, but a few weeks ago I chucked a big mardy fit and left her and my DT colleagues while I had a big sulk. I hope you will all believe me when I say that this is not my normal behaviour, in fact I shocked myself. Can't remember the last time I stamped my foot and threw a hissy fit. I don't want to go into too much detail, but last year was a very stressful one for me, and I thought I'd coped with it very well, but obviously not as well as I'd thought. Lot's of little things that I would normally have brushed aside just built up inside me and Boom!! So I can only apologise publically to CJ and the rest of the DT for my unprofessional behaviour, and hope you will all accept my apology. So the 4th challenge is at Cowgirls Up"Bugs and Animal" cos I hadn't done my dt card (obviously NOT for the prize draw:D)

XXX

And I said I wouldn't fill my blog with candy!!!

But it's so hard to resist!! This is the latest candy to be added at Let's Ink It up, and they haven't even started the challenges yet :D These gorgeous stamps and embellies are from Andrea at Anna Belle Stamps, and have been donated to help us reach 200 followers (164 last time I looked) before the challenge start date of 5th September 2010.

Now I promise to get on with some card making :D XXX