Surprise!!!

Welcome to our Super Suprise Blog Hop in honour of our soon-to-be "Mom"
... Rita Wright ...

Hi Rita ... just wanted to create a little "surprise" for you!  We've all come together to wish you a huge Congratulations and many many happy moments in the upcoming months and years.  The times ahead are going to be precious and filled with treasured moments and joyous wonder.  Wishing you all the very best for your upcoming birth and new life as a family ... xxx

I hope you like my card Rita ... I'm sorry I kinda missed the point of this hop and instead of making a baby card, I made a card for you ... cos "I'm so happy for you!"

This is the pic that inspired me ...

Aren't these sweet lil shoes just the cutest!!! (click here to view Rita's post)

Welcome once again ... as you can see, a special surprise blog hop was created in honour of our fellow team mate, Rita Wright. This week happens to be Rita's final week at Freshly Made Sketches as she will be on Maternity Leave to prepare for the birth of her new baby girl "Laila".  And, it just so happens that this week Rita is the hostess for our sketch challenge ... oh, the timing is so perfect!

Rita's photo sketch above is this weeks sketch at Freshly Made Sketches, So please join in .... we'd love to see you on the blog hop and in our gallery!

 If you arrived here from Nance Leedy's blog ... please continue onto Tara Murphy Bourgoin's blog

 

Or:

You may start at the beginning from Freshly Made Sketches; 

Or:

You may just prefer to hop around to any of the blogs below:

Anne Marie Hile

Ann Schach

Cindy Hall

Erna Logtenberg

Jen Mitchell

Jennifer Timko

Kathy Tanner

LeAnne Pugliese

Lesley Croghan

Linda Callahan

Nance Leedy

Tui Nathan - Your here

Tara Murphy Bourgoin

Please be sure to head on over to Rita's blog and leave her some love ... she'll appreciate you popping in!

Thanks for stopping by ... I hope you enjoy the rest of the bog hop!

Shabby Chic at Our Creative Corner

We've got a great theme for you this week, especially if you want to stretch yourself into regions unknown.

Susan Butler of Scrumplescrunch is our fabulous hostess at Our Creative Corner, and she is challenging us to go "Shabby Chic"....  this is what Sue has to say:

"The theme this week is unequivocally 'Shabby Chic'. This means the shabby part of Vintage! The challenge requires you to pull elements together, the more old/worn and distressed the elements/images the better; think of muted colours, layers, roses, burlap and pearls. You do not have to use all of these elements. The effect you are aiming for is a soft warm palette"

This is such an unknown territory for me but I dug deep and took up the challenge:

I have used Antique Linen around the edges of all the cardstock - the lacey/doily die cut was within a birthday card I received from Sue ("Thank You Sue!) and this became a feature of my card - isn't it pretty?  From there I added the MFT flourish dies, some seam binding, twine, roses, sentiment die cuts, a bit of fringey ribbon, pearls and stitching ... whew!!!

I had a great time with this challenge, and I must say .... that having stretched myself a little, I think I have a new fondness for this styling and my admiration has grown tenfold to all you talented and creative ladies that do this so easily and beautifully!

So why not join along with us this week at Our Creative Corner, head into a new and foreign land or simply create the wonderful beauties that you do so effortlessly ... either way, I cant wait to see your project in our gallery!

In the meantime head on over and check out what our inspirational DT have in store for, you'll love all of their creations!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week!

A Freshly Made Sketch

It's that time again for another Freshly Made Sketch to kick start your creative muse!  This week I am hosting and I have a fun sketch for you .... use it anyway you choose - showcase some pretty patterned paper, create a scene, maybe even colour an image .... I'd love to see how you interpret this sketch! 
 

 

I have used another stamp from Annabelle Stamps and have coloured it with prismacolour pencils - I just love this pretty flower!  I have used both Poppy Parade and Calypso Coral for the 3 panels, to match with the colours of the flower - such pretty vibrant colours!

I hope you join along in the fun with us ... but in the meantime, check out the inspiration from our fabulous DT at Freshly Made Sketches!!!

Have a great week, and thanks for stopping by!

Inspiration at Our Creative Corner

It's inspiration time at Our Creative Corner with the talented Meihsia Liu of Simply Paper Crafts as our hostess.

This is what Meihsia has to say:

"We would love to see a colour combination of orange and blue, with tones from white, cream to a bit of brown"

I have gone for a CAS creation using the bed cover as my inspiration:

We would love to see you in our gallery, but in the meantime head on over to Our Creative Corner and check out the inspiration from our Design Team!

Have a great weekend and thanks for stopping by!

A Freshly Made Sketch by Jenn

We've got a great sketch for you to have a play with this week at Freshly Made Sketches .... Jennifer Timko is our hostess this week, and I have used my card to showcase this really pretty paper (Twitterpated) from Stampin Up.

 I have been using these gorgeous wee flowers quite a bit too, they are the simplest of embellishments to add and they really pack a punch ... I love the deep red against the blue and white.

Anyway, check out this sketch and come have a play with us:

 

I can't wait to see your creation in our gallery, but in the meantime head on over to Freshly Made Sketches and have a look-see at what our amazing DT have come up with!

 Thanks for stopping by and have a great week!

A Sketch at Our Creative Corner

It's been a little while since we have had a sketch challenge at Our Creative Corner, and this is the week that we have one for you. 

Our hostess is the talented Meihsia Liu of Simply Paper Crafts.  Check out our sketch .... but be sure to include in your design a ribbon bow.  Fun, easy .... have a go and join in the fun with us!

I have used the Sizzix/Hero Arts stamp and die combo for the flowers and the stamped border is from Mendi Medallions by WPlus9.

In the meantime, be sure to pop by at Our Creative Corner, cos our fabulous DT have some incredible creations for your viewing pleasure!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!

A Freshly Made Sketch by Lesley

Good Morning and thanks for stopping by!

We have got a great sketch for you this week at Freshly Made Sketches, created by the fabulous Lesley.  It's great cos' it's layers ... so pull out your pretty papers and start layering with this awesome sketch.

I have used the Domestic Goddess DSP by SU, Calyspo Coral, Pool Party and Daffodil Delight.  After completion and photographing of the card, I realised that I had missed the 3 tiny embellishments - so these went in in the way of punched tiny circles and smothered in glossy accents - now of course my flowers looked extremely dull and lacking .... so as a final touch and to complement the card, pearl centres were added to the wee roses!

Care to join us this week?  Head on over the Freshly Made Sketches, be wowed by our fab DT and submit your creation in our gallery!

Celebrating You

There's a brand spanking new challenge site that has just started, by the incredible Lesley Croghan., creator of Paper Players, Freshly Made Sketches and now .... Dynamic Duo's!  It's a colour challenge using two colours, plus a neutral is welcome ... interested?  Curios? ... you gotta check it out here.

So, of course I had to commemorate the occasion by creating a card utilising the challenge colours of:
Pool Party and Lucky Limeade ... mmmm, these colours are scrumptious ....

On my PP panel, I dry embossed, on the LL panel I heat embossed (clear) using the Hero Arts Large Fabric Design stamp and finally the sentiment was white embossed using a Nina B Design by Crafts Meow.

And I put this together using the sketch from Retro Sketches:

Oh, and Simon Says is having an "Anything Birthday Goes ....", so I have it in at Simon Says!

Whew ...I had great fun using these colours and this sketch, why not join in the fun too!!!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week!

Colour Trifecta at Our Creative Corner

We've got a great colour challenge for you this week at Our Creative Corner!  Anne Marie Hile is our fabulous hostess and she is challenging us to work with these colours "Yellow - Kraft - White/Ivory" .... I really like this colour pallette, and once you work with it, I am sure you will too:

For my card, I used the stamp set Daisy Delight by Annabelle Stamps.  I masked the daisies and I also masked the sentiment panel and added some scored lines.  In the centre of the daisies I added some liquid pearls (love these ....), and a few real pearls in the sentiment (from Bloom by Papertrey Ink).

I would love to see your creation in our gallery ... come and join in the fun with us, and be inspired by our fabulous OCC DT ...

I am also entering this into the Annabelle Stamps colour challenge ...

Thanks for stopping by ... and have a great week!