Double Fluffy Furballs

Hello crafting pals!

It's probably just as well that while I was making today's cards, my charming assistant, Eva the Golden Retriever, was having a gentle snoozle. She'd had a busy morning swooshing post it notes off the coffee table with her tail. Every time she did it, I was gripped with the giggles and that made her tail wag harder and harder until there was a snow storm of post it notes and I was helpless with laughter! Anyway, I digress - come and see my creations, which feature *mouths words silently* a pussycat:

Yes, not just one card but two! It's because I'm enthusiastically playing along with the Twofer Card Challenge in which we are asked to make two cards, each for a different occasion but using the same stamp. This month the theme is Critters so I've chosen one of the cats from a very cute stamp set called Fluffy Furball by Clearly Besotted.

The first card I made was a birthday card:

I stamped Harry (I've named him after the red-headed prince), added a doodled smile and a paw, coloured him with Spectrum Noir markers and cut him out. I gave him a paw because he had to hold this balloon which I made by colouring inside a circle mask with the markers and adding the bit you blow into.

I had to draw a cushion as I don't have a stamp for that (does ANYONE have a cushion stamp?!!) Harry was asked to sit on the cushion against a scored background which reminded me of a venetian blind - cats always sit in the window don't they! A few punched stars and a sentiment from Altenew's Birthday Greetings and the card was done!

My second card is a Christmas card and Harry has had a makeover for this one:

We'll call him Robinson (after Smokey Robinson!) I liked the idea of lots of Christmas presents coming into the house and Robinson having to make his way out from behind them.

There he is, looking a bit "What did you put these here for?!" I had great fun making the presents out of snippets of left-over Christmas papers from yesteryear. They were decorated with tiny punches and bits of washi tape.

Do come and join in at the Twofer Card Challenge! It is so much fun, coming up with two different cards to make with the same stamp!

AND IN OTHER NEWS

When Eva was a puppy, I trained her not to chase cats. Whenever we came across one, I'd say "Have you seen the pussycat?" and deliver a treat into her mouth. Eventually, she would look at me when she saw a cat because she'd know there was a nice treat coming. The instinct to chase is still there though and if she were off lead and a cat took off in front of her, all the treats in the world wouldn't stop her! She is a dog after all :)

Do you have a dog? Or a cat? Or maybe both? I'd love to hear about them in the comments below :)

See you soon,

Yellow roses for friendship

Hello crafting pals!

I've got my colouring hat on at the moment and my beautiful Wplus9 Modern Roses set is getting plenty of use! I've been experimenting with backgrounds too. Come and see:

I don't know anyone who doesn't adore red roses, like these ones I coloured a couple of days ago. But how about those gorgeous scented yellow roses, with deep amber centres, that turn paler as they open? That's what I was aiming for when I watercoloured this one.

They say yellow roses signify friendship too :) I used a fine paintbrush with Daffodil Yellow and Crushed Curry inks for the rose, and Old Olive for the leaves. The background is a vague attempt at a bokeh effect using sponge daubers!

One sponge dauber was used to stamp circles of diluted ink (So Saffron and Daffodil Delight) onto my panel and, once that had dried, circles of white craft ink stamped over the top using a clean dauber. I added some black and white striped washi for a bit of 'edge' and layered on my fussy cut roses and leaves. The card was finished with some gold sequins and a fabulous sentiment from Clearly Besotted's Blossoms in Bloom.

Oh yes, I may or may not have been shopping...! More about that tomorrow :)

I'm going to enter this card (which is as maximilist as I get!) into the Anything Goes challenge at Addicted to Stamps and More this week. (Also, SO good to see Kylie is launching an exciting new challenge called Perfectly CAS - why not pop over and take a look? This lady deserves a medal for services to CAS!)

AND IN OTHER NEWS
My son returned from Reading Festival with a bag of washing and a great tan. Once he'd transformed back into the version of my son that smells of soap and toothpaste, he enthused about the festival and impressed me by saying he'd earned enough money returning empty cups and bottles to cover the cost of eating for the whole weekend! I think he's going to do well budgeting at uni :)

So which is your favourite colour rose? Red, yellow, white, pink? Or how about those amazing delicately tinted lilac or peachy hued ones? Let me know in the comments below!

Hugs,

Feathers, sequins and A Happy Hooray from Stampin' Up!

I love the names Stampin' Up gives its products! Colours like Blackberry Bliss and Pistachio Pudding - and you know you're going to have fun with a stamp set called A Happy Hooray!

And I definitely did! I used a combination of gold and Lost Lagoon and a sprinkling of my favourite in colour sequins.

The feather is heat embossed in gold and arranged on a background of the beautiful Watercolour Wonder washi tape and a strip of Lost Lagoon card stock. I snipped out the sentiment and added it - I love the way the top of the 'h' curls up over the washi!

And because I was having so much fun, you get a bonus card today! Here's a design using different elements from the Happy Hooray set.

BUY THE SUPPLIES TO MAKE THIS CARD NOW!
(Click on each item to find it quickly in my online shop) 

A Happy Hooray Clear-Mount Stamp Set £12.95	A Happy Hooray Wood-Mount Stamp Set £17.95	Watercolor Wonder Designer Washi Tape £4.50	2013-2015 In Color Sequin Assortment £4.50
Very Vanilla A4 Card Stock £7.50	Lost Lagoon A4 Cardstock £6.25	Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder £3.95	Paper Snips £8.95

My shop is open 24/7 so you can buy Stampin' Up products any time, day or night.

If you have any queries, or prefer to speak to me, I'm happy to help.

You can contact me by email or phone on 01280 820593.

It's only a few days until my daughter moves away to university and there is a growing pile of 'essentials' that will be going with her, including a plant (named Lillian.) We stood looking at the pile yesterday. "Do you think I've got too many clothes?" she said, and then, before I had a chance to comment, "But I LIKE clothes!"

Don't forget to check in tomorrow when I'll have an exciting new technique to show you as part of the Stampin' Up Artisan Design Team blog hop! See you then,