A warm penguin?

It was touch and go whether I'd get a card made for the Less is More challenge today but then hubby announced he was making dinner! So, after collecting a variety of boys from a party I snuck a quick one in... There's a fab sketch at LiM today which I've combined with the Emboss-Resist challenge at 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown. Come and see:

Both the penguin and the polar bear from Zoo Review are fabulous for Christmas cards and they lend themselves well to emboss-resist scenes. I used two stamps from Gorgeous Grunge for the background, stamping with versamark and heat-embossing with clear embossing powder. The penguin was stamped and I masked off the ground and inked around it with Pool Party ink. Once the excess ink was wiped off, it gave a very snowy effect.

The penguin was coloured with markers and I used my new chalk marker to add subtle detail to his front and to the ground. The scene was cut out using my 2 1/2" circle punch and I pierced a border round it for added detail. I wanted the penguin to be looking at the sentiment so I flipped the sketch, adding a banner with one of the fabulous candy dots.

Here's Jen's sketch from LiM that I used today - you can see that I turned it upside down.

Here's what you'll need to make this card
Stamps: Zoo Review, Gorgeous Grunge, Remember Christmas (sentiment)
Ink: Pool Party, Sahara Sand, Pumpkin Pie
Card stock: Whisper White
Other: Markers, candy dots, versamark, clear embossing powder, heat tool, Essentials piercing kit Chalk marker, stamp-a-majig

You can order from my online shop any time, day or night, but if you have any queries, or prefer to speak to me, I'm always happy to help. You can contact me by email or phone on 01280 820593.

And as a special thank you for shopping with me, you'll get a free gift and a handmade card when you place your first online order with me during September.

While other couples enjoyed their Friday evening eating out perhaps or enjoying drinks and nibbles with friends, my hubby and I went to Ikea! As we entered the shop via the escalator, we saw an artistic display of children's toy cookers which had been attached one above another up a wall. "Bit dangerous for the kiddies," remarked my husband.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend and I'll be back on Monday.

Three Minute musical ice

I'd been wondering what to make for my Three Minute Thursday card this week and then I saw the gorgeous ColourQ swatch with all those beautiful blues and an idea that had been lurking about in the back of my head came to the front and started jumping up and down. The idea was to make an icy background for my Zoo Review polar bear using the direct-to-card technique and my music wheel. I didn't know how it would turn out but in the end I was quite pleased with the result - and it was a lot of fun and REALLY fast!

Come and have a look:

I wouldn't have been able to make this in minutes if I hadn't already had a mask made for my polar bear, so that's one tip for quick cards: when you use a mask, don't throw it away - keep it with your stamps! All the animals in my Zoo Review set have post-it note masks stuck on their wooden blocks and stored in their case.

I stamped my bear in Pacific Point and covered him with a mask and then came all the fun! I took the blue ink pads and swiped them over and around the mask. I went very easy on the Midnight Muse, saving that mostly for the Music Notes wheel which I wheeled randomly over and around the bear too. When I peeled the mask away, my polar bear was romping about in a musical ice background! I cut him out with my new 2 1/2" circle punch and sponged the edges with Midnight Muse ink.

Do let me know if you try this - I'd love to see!

Here's what you'll need to make this card
Stamps: Zoo Review, Music Notes wheel, Petite Pairs (sentiment)
Ink: Midnight Muse, Pacific Point, Tempting Turquoise, Pool Party
Card stock: Whisper White
Other: 2 1/2" circle punch, stamp-a-majig
I'd be delighted to order any of these items for you and have them delivered straight to your address in the UK. I'm committed to providing excellent customer service and am always happy to offer help and advice. To place your order, just send me an email or give me a call on +44 (0) 1280 820593. Check out current special offers here.

Yesterday, when I was photographing my card, I caught a movement out of the corner of my eye. When I looked up, this is what I saw:

It's Tuppence, our cat, peering over the cushions to see what I was doing. It's obvious that she's less than impressed isn't it - did you ever see a more contemptuous face?! 

It's nearly the end of the week again - and Christmas looms ever closer! See you tomorrow.

Zoo Review Christmas snow

I am always delighted to see new challenges for clean and simple stampers and the latest is Addicted to CAS which kicks off this week with the codeword Snow. I've combined the theme with the sketch from another of my favourite clean and simple challenge sites, Case this Sketch. Come and see what I've come up with:

When I first saw Zoo Review in the catalogue back in September, I immediately thought of the Christmas card possibilities. Well, here's the penguin looking perfectly at home in a sponged background of ice and snow, with drifts created with a torn paper mask. The scene is mounted onto a card base decorated with scored lines.

I stamped my penguin onto Very Vanilla card stock and watercoloured him with inks and an aquapainter before cutting him out and mounting him onto the background. The sentiment is from Merry and Type and I thought it was a very apt wish for these incredible creatures who survive in the most challenging climate on Earth.

Here's what you'll need to make this card
Stamps: Zoo Review, Merry and Type
Ink: Sahara Sand, Pool Party, Midnight Muse, Tangerine Tango classic inks, Whisper White craft ink
Card stock: Whisper White, scrap of Very Vanilla
Other: Simply Scored, Basic Black and Tangerine Tango markers, stamp-a-majig
I'd be delighted to order any of these items for you and have them delivered straight to your address in the UK, France, Deutschland, Nederland or Osterreich. I'm committed to providing excellent customer service and am always happy to offer help and advice. To place your order, just send me an email or give me a call on +44 (0) 1280 820593. Check out current special offers here.

We have said farewell to our lovely French Exchange student. It was my daughter's birthday during his visit and I didn't want him to feel left out of the celebrations so I suggested he made a card for her. He entered into this project with great enthusiasm, enlisting my youngest son's help, and on the day itself sang happy birthday with gusto. This was his first trip away from France and I hope he will carry back fond memories of his time with us.

Now... I've got some catching up to do! See you tomorrow,

Lion-taming with Zoo Review

It's my great honour to be guesting for the wonderful CASology challenge today! The cue word this week is 'Wild' and I love the way these single words really get you thinking. I reached for my Zoo Review set to make my card which I thought might make a fun anniversary card. Come and see:

CAS cards can sometimes take minutes but this one was definitely not in that category! I stamped and coloured the lion using Watercolour Wonder crayons and markers, scored a double frame around it with my Simply Scored, cut it out and mounted it on my card base. Now it was ready for the comedy touch!

I thought it was time this wild fellow was tamed a little bit so I gave him a red rose to hold between his jaws and I'm sure we'll see him up and tangoing any time now! The rose is from my Apothecary Art set, stamped, coloured and added with a glue dot. The stem was doodled in with a marker.

I stamped the word 'thing' using a sentiment stamp from my Beautiful Season and added a computer generated 'wild' which I cut out with my paper snips. This card makes me giggle and I hope it might have turned up the corners of your mouth too!

Here's what you'll need to make this card
Stamps: Zoo Review, Apothecary Art, Beautiful Season (sentiment)
Ink: Watercolour Wonder crayons and markers
Card stock: Whisper White, Naturals White
Other: Simply Scored, paper snips, stamp-a-majig
I'd be delighted to order any of these items for you and have them delivered straight to your address in the UK, France, Deutschland, Nederland or Osterreich. I'm committed to providing excellent customer service and am always happy to offer help and advice. To place your order, just send me an email or give me a call on +44 (0) 1280 820593.

Lions always remind me of the first board book my daughter had as a baby. It had pictures of lots of animals in it and I'd make the appropiate noises for her entertainment as we looked at it together. I didn't realise the impact it made on her though until one day I used the phrase 'I'd draw the line at that' while talking to my husband about something and my baby daughter made a little roaring noise!

I think I might have something festive here tomorrow so do join me for that!
Hugs

Zoo Review for a teenage boy

Anyone with a teenage boy in the house will remember that moment when your baby boy came downstairs one morning and had turned into a man... a very hungry man! Honestly, sometimes I think they grow several inches overnight! This card was inspired by my own lovely teenage son:

The images in the Zoo Review set are ideal for males in general but I liked the idea of the giraffe for a suddenly tall teenager.

I've made post-it note masks for all five animals in the set so that I can sponge and stamp a quick background for them all. When I've finished, I just stick the mask to the stamp and pop it back in its case. The oak tree from Lovely as a Tree makes a great wooded background for the giraffe and I extended the grassy area with a River Rock marker.

The original sentiment comes from For My Family...

... which is also a great set for personalising your projects. Here I've used the 'son' stamp from the set, cut out with a square punch and popped up on dimensionals.

There's a 'nephew' in the set too as well as all sorts of other family members - many of which don't grow suddenly overnight!

This one sports a fun banner I made on the computer and printed off.

I have got completely distracted by my fabulous new Zoo Review set. It is the best fun ever and to think I almost didn't get it!

Here's what you'll need to make this card
Stamps: Zoo Review, For My Family
Ink: Soft Suede, Old Olive, Marina Mist, Cajun Craze
Card stock: Naturals White
Other: Markers, paper snips, stamp-a-majig
I'd be delighted to order any of these items for you and have them delivered straight to your address in the UK. I'm committed to providing excellent customer service and am always happy to offer help and advice. To place your order, just send me an email or give me a call on 01280 820593.

My lovely teenage son has turned into an eating machine. My daughter summed it up the other day. " "You've only got two moods haven't you?" she said to him. "Hungry and stuffed!" Talking of which I'd better get up to the supermarket! (And for all those who are wondering why I'd be visiting the supermarket at half past midnight, my blog posts are, of course, scheduled!) 

See you tomorrow,

In love with Zoo Review!

Have you ever had one of those days where everything you do goes wrong? My whole last week was like that - just little things like cutting paper skew whiff and throwing coffee dregs down the sink and having them splash up all over my new jumper! I'm looking forward to a fresh new week and am publishing Monday's post early so I don't miss the deadline for CASology's Zoo challenge (how organised am I?!) Come and see:

I'm so pleased to get my hands on the fabulous new Zoo Review stamp set - the animals are perfect for making the sponged scenes I love so much! I've used the zebra today and the new Naturals White card stock which I can report is every bit as scrumptious as the Naturals Ivory!

I stamped the zebra twice: once on my card stock and then again on a post it note. The post it note zebra was cut out, stuck over the other zebra and used as a mask while I sponged ink over it. I trimmed the panel and sponged the edges before mounting it onto my card base.

What a brilliant handwriting-style stamp this is! It's from A Word For You - a new sentiment set that is definitely worth taking a look at!

The card was made for a friend so naturally I put together a little treat for her too! I liked the way the designer paper from Patio Party coordinated well with the card and I'm loving this little 'for you' tag. If you like, I'll tell you how to make this little treat box another day.

And here are the treat and card together, all ready to go!

Here's what you'll need to make the card
Stamps: Zoo Review, A Word For You
Ink: Marina Mist, So Saffron, Summer Starfruit, Early Espresso, stazon black
Card stock: Naturals White, Whisper White
Other: Markers, paper snips, stamp-a-majig
I'd be delighted to order any of these items for you and have them delivered straight to your address in the UK. I'm committed to providing excellent customer service and am always happy to offer help and advice. To place your order, just send me an email or give me a call on 01280 820593.

When my daughter was doing her Duke of Edinburgh bronze award, she went on an orienteering exercise where she and the rest of her group were dropped at a mystery location and asked to make their way to base, recording various data including plants and animals they spotted. They were hiking along a country lane when they were startled to see a giraffe peering at them over a hedge! The children hesitated to put this on their data sheet for fear of being disbelieved but the next field was discovered to contain a small herd of zebra! They were in fact walking past a private zoo but they must have felt that they'd entered the Twilight Zone!

I'll be back tomorrow when I'll have more exciting new goodies to show you! See you then,