Yet another Baby Girl is born! :o)

Hello Everyone,

Hope you're all keeping well. The weekend is just around the corner! AND I can see sunshine through the window again today, after a few really gloomy days - that's a big reason to celebrate! 

Today I am sharing with you a baby girl card I made for a friend of mine who recently had a little bundle of joy. I can't wait to send it to her. Of course, what other stamp to use if not the Lili of the Valley Ballon Basket? :o) I have so many baby related stamps, yet in the end I most often seem to be going back to this one... I guess it must be love! 

For a change from my usual marker colouring of images, I decided to give watercolouring with Distress Inks a go. I stamped the image with Versafine Onyx Black ink and quickly sprinkled it with some clear embossing powder - the embossing really helps with watercolouring! 

I am quite pleased with the result, especially with the way the sky looks. You can't really see it in the pictures, but the sky is quite sparkly thanks to Perfect Pearls mixed in the water. I also love the unevenness of it - exactly how I wanted it! And the look was quite easy to achieve when watercolouring. 

I kept the card design quite simple - partially because it has to be mailed, and partially because I followed a LOTV challenge sketch. 

I hope you like it!

I am entering the card into the following challenges:

LOTV facebook challenge - Sketch

SSS Monday Challenge - Emboss it

Seven Hills Crafts - Embossing

A Gem of a challenge - Favourite colour combo (pink and aqua/teal)

Have a great day,

M.

SUPPLY LIST (please see affiliate disclaimer & essential supplies info here):

Stamp: LOTV Balloon Basket

Crafter's Companion: printable vellum
Sentiment: Whiff of Joy (no longer for sale)

Babies are all of our dreams rolled into one...

Hi Everyone,

Happy spring! Well, the last day or two in Dublin were rather manky and rainy, but that's part of spring, too, isn't it? We had some amazing sunny days here over the last week, though, and it made me believe that spring and summer are really on their way, finally! 

Today I am sharing with you a baby girl card (one of my favourite type of cards, really!) that I was asked to make for a colleague in work. I think that the aqua/pink combo is truly lovely, and so decided to give it a go on this creation, not to make the card only in pinks. Honestly, I think it's a perfect combination for a little baby girl (yup, my own baba wears a lot of aqua/teals as well and I'm loving it! As a matter of fact, I just looked at her now, and she's wearing a pink vest with an aqua babygro, haha, great timing!). 

The card is quite a bit bigger than the usual size (it's close to an A5 size, so half of an A4 sheet), so very unusual for my creations, but since it was meant to be given to the new mammy from a group of work colleagues, we needed a lot of space for wishes. :o)

I used one of my very favourite stamps for baby cards - Balloon Basket by Lili of the Valley. I think it's simply adorable! The image was coloured wih a combination of ProMarkers and Copics, and of course I couldn't resist some Wink of Stella and Glossy Accents! The two shapes cut out with my Spellbinders dies were inked with some Peacock Feathers Distress Ink, and the embellies are all from my stash. The sentiment was printed by me. I'm terribly sorry, but I have no clue where the polka dot patterned paper comes from - quite possibly it was a freebie from a crafty magazine! I inked up the edges of the paper, and also the flower, with some Picked Raspberry Distress Ink.

I am entering the card into the following challenges:

A Gem of  a challenge - Don't be square

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes
I Love ProMarkers - Swirls and Pearls

Have a great Sunday and a lovely week!

M.

SUPPLY LIST (please see affiliate disclaimer & essential supplies info here):

Stamp: Lili of the Valley Balloon Basket

Let's do some baking with Lili of the valley

Hi Everyone,

A super quick post today cause I can hear my Little Munchkin stirring in her cot already, she's probably going to wake up any minute now!

Today I'm sharing a quick and easy birthday card with you, with the use of the super cute Lili of the Valley "Mix it and make it" stamp. Aren't these mice simply adorable? Since time for crafting is not something I have plenty of recently, the card is really super simple. But hey, it's the thought that counts, right? :o)

I am entering the card into the following challenges:

I love ProMarkers - Food and drink

Inky Impressions - Our fury friends

Hope you have a great week!

M.

Summer babies

Hello Everyone,

Hope you're having a lovely Sunday. The summer is finally here, how amazing is that?! Even with my growing bump, I am delighted! Thankfully, "summer" in Ireland mostly doesn't go in line with huge heat waves or anything, so all the pregnant ladies out there, myself included, can enjoy a lovely sunny weather without too much suffering :o)

It seems like "summer babies" is a bit of a common phenomenon as I have been asked for quite a few cards for newborn babies - love making pink and blue cuties! 

Today I am sharing a card for a little Lady made with a cute LOTV stamp (Baby Blanket). Some paper piecing, colouring, glossy accents & Wink of Stella later - this is what the card looks like. And, since it's summer, I decided to add some flowers, bling and butterflies, cause who doesn't love these?! :o)

I am entering the card into the following challenges:

A Gem of a challenge - Summertime

Inky Impressions - Summertime

Passion for Promarkers - No squares allowed

Inky Chicks - Butterflies

MAWTT - Inspired by a song (Security/ Don't wash my blanket)

Hope you are enjoying your summer, too!

Hugs,

M.

Father's Day Card

Hello Everyone,

I had a few moments to spare, so I thought I should pop over here! We're starting some home renovations this week, and I need to pack away most of my craftroom (eek!), therefore crafty times might be a bit limited in the next 2-3 weeks or so... Wish us luck! :o)

Today I am sharing a quick Father's Day creation that I made for a friend (well, the friend's dad ultimately!). She wanted something with bears, and I thought that this Lili of the Valley stamp would be perfect (sorry, I think the stamp is discontinued by now)! I decided to paper-piece the armchair, and colour the rest of the image. 

It's the usual style of mine - simple, but hopefully nice. The blending around the sentiment somehow looks really awful in the photos, but it looks much better and more even in reality! The friend was very happy, so that's the most important bit for me. Now let's just hope that the daddy will like it, too!

I am entering the card into the following challenges:

LMMC -  Round in Circles

MAWTT -  Let's get reading

QKR stampede - Guy cards

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday and have a great week afterwards!

M.

Another Christmassy Bear - in red...

Hello Everyone,

I can't believe it's been almost a month since my last post! A lot was happening - both good and bad - and I really had no time to post. I did craft a little, not as much as I would like to taking into consideration the Christmas season, but I did finish a few cards here and there... All in all - here's to hoping that the beginning of 2015 will be more crafty and blog-related! I feel quite sad that I had to reject so many commission requests this year, but on the other hand - I feel blessed & delighted that there were many people who wanted to order cards from me! :o) Once again (and I guess I will never learn that lesson!), I will need to try making more Christmas cards throughout the year, to have enough towards the end of the year! 

Today I am sharing another of my LOTV bear cards (sorry, that stamp has unfortunately recently retired!) - I just love this bear, and I think you will see plenty of cards with him in the future (I *might* have also purchased another stamp featuring the bear recently, wink wink)! The card was made for the DT challenge over at Divas - we want to see red this week! Hope you will join us! :o)

I am entering the card into the following challenges:

Inky Chicks - Winter Wonderland

Passion for ProMarkers - Mega Christmas Challenge (Diecut-Free-Glitter)

A Gem of a challenge - Anything Christmas
Runway Inspired Challenge - Balmain

I will be back before Christmas (I hope!), but just in case - I already want to take this opportunity and wish you a Merry Christmas and a fantastic New Year! 

M.

Photo inspiration

Hello Everyone,

Eeeek! Where is this time going, and why is it rushing so...?! ;o) I cannot believe it's almost mid-November, and my Christmas projects are still in VERY early stages! As usual, it appears that I am going to have lots of lastminute.com projects made for family and friends... Uh oh... I really need to have more discipline next year (and yes, I say it every December or so, LOL)! The good news is, however, that at least I have quite a few Christmas pressies sorted, and not many more to go, yippee! 

Today's card is a DT project, and this week we were asked to use the below photo as our inspiration. And boy did that picture make me feel all Christmassy! 

I took the golds, the reds, the green branches and the shimmer/lights out of the picture, and - hey presto - the below card got created! I am quite happy with the result. I love that LOTV angel image, pity that it appears to have retired already!

I am entering the card into the following challenges:

LOTV - Merry Christmas 

Love to Create - Anything goes

QKR - Let's talk Christmas

MAWTT - Sparkle and/or shine

Hope you join us over at Divas and share your creations inspired by this gorgeous photo. Our sponsor is the fabulous Dies to Die for, so it's certainly worth the try!

Hugs and stay warm (it's freezing in Dublin!),

M.