The Pink Elephant Challenge #21

Happy Monday to you all!

For our challenge this week at TPE, we have a nice easy one.............
'Favourite Colours'

You make make absolutely anything your heart desires.........just use your favourite colours!

All the girls on the DT were sent some lovely stamps by our sponsor this week to use on our sample cards for the colour challenge. Be sure to check out DRS Designs.......you may be as excited as i was to find they have Dustin Pike images in their catalogue and also tons more fabulous stamps........i'm sure you will find something to tempt you! :)

Image & Sentiment.... DRS Designs
Cardstock.... K&Co & Bazzill
Colour.... Promarkers
Cuttlebug & Distressed Stripes folder
EK Success border punch
Cricut machine & Home Accents cartridge (leaves)
Artoz flowers and brads from stash

My favourite colours are brights or earthy tones and i think i've covered both with this card! There are some colours i don't use too often i.e. purple or blue.....it's not that i dislike those colours, i just tend not to go for them so much :)
I hope you will have fun playing with our colour challenge this week, and don't forget you may be lucky enough to win the prize from DRS Designs!!

Hugs
Carol x

Blog Candy ~ 30,000 Hits!

Hi Folks! My hit counter has recently passed 30,000, so as a token of thanks to you all for being such great bloggy pals i am offering up some Candy...............I am thankful that so many of you visit and take the time to leave me such lovely comments, i really do appreciate them all and if i'm feeling down they cheer me up no end!

Several of you have joined me over at my new challenge blog Carol's Sketch Fun........ Thanks for your support with that as well and for those that have not joined in yet, maybe you can play along in the future.............there is fabby prize each fortnight and i am hoping to secure some sponsors for future prizes too!

Now onto the Candy.......................A little Brown theme going on here! which consists of..............

One 12 x 12 K&Co re-make cardstock pad in brown tones
12 8 x 8 DCWV papers
One packet of DCWV adhesive ribbons
One pack of Kanban Diamonds & Pearls
One bunch of paper roses

To enter the draw for this candy, just leave a comment here at this post and post a picture of my candy on your blog with a link back here to me......if you would like to become a follower that would be lovely too but not a requirement of entry!

I will post worldwide and a winner will be drawn using a random number generator. The candy will close at 9pm GMT on Saturday 18th July and the winner will be announced in a new posting on Sunday 19th July at 8pm GMT............................. this candy is open to active craft bloggers and blogs that depict candy only will not be counted in the draw......sorry to be so strict, but them's the rules!!

Good Luck Everyone ;-D

Hugs
Carol x

Our Creative Corner ~ Sketch Challenge

Had a good day yesterday.....got my DT work finished and a couple of cards made! one of which was another Christmas Card following the current sketch over at OCC. Such a simple elegant sketch which allows for many possibilities with the design..............just the sort of sketch i like :)
If like me you enjoy sketch challenges, you may wish to try my current sketch over at Carol's Sketch Fun.........................

I've kept my card very simple to allow the beauty of the image to shine through, i adore this stamp and use it each year for many of my Christmas cards.

Image.... Paper Inspirations 'Santa & Baby portrait'
inked with Versafine 'onyx black'
Papers.... Basic Grey 'Wassail'
Sentiment.... HOTP
Circle brads.... Basic Grey
satin ribbon & tree brad from stash

It is a wonderful sunny warm day here in Bedford, so i will be spending the rest of the day relaxing and enjoying the warmth...................although my gorgeous Granddaughter is here today so i really don't get to sit still for many minutes!! but it's all good fun :)

I will be posting some Blog Candy this evening for passing 30,000 hits so you may wish to check back to leave your entry! ............... Have a great Sunday ;-D

Hugs
Carol x

Inspirational Card Sketches #22

I'm sure everyone knows by now that i can't resist a good sketch! I have used the current sketch over at ICS to create my card today.............. fab little sketch but with the little window element it just makes it a bit different!
It's been very warm here of late but it felt really good to look out all my Christmas stash ready to create lots of samples for my 'Christmas in July' workshop!........... I apologise in advance for the abundance of seasonal cards you may be seeing over the next three weeks or so!!.........i will try to slot in the occasional 'normal' card..........after all it is summer! :)

Image.... DeNami Designs trifles set
Papers.... Basic Grey 'Figgy'
Colour.... Promarkers
Cuttlebug & Snowflakes folder
Brads, Rub-on and Ric-Rac from stash

I'm off out today to stock up on a few more supplies :)....................and also to purchase some goodies for my next Blog Candy!...........................watch this space!!! I may be back later with a picture, but if not i will see you tomorrow! ;-D

Hugs
Carol x

Allsorts Challenge 6

WINGS

Morning everyone :)
The challenge this week at Allsorts had me in a bit of a quandry.............I have several stamps featuring winged things, but in the end I decided to go with this one from my Inkadinkado set......
..................'Patterned Birds & Bugs' 99120.

I know i've gone a bit mad with the colours on the bird but i'm still playing around with my Promarkers! He looks very tropical don't you think :)

The papers are all from Anice's brilliant CD 'Funky Daze' which you can find here I've also used a Maya Road journaling sheer and a couple of my EK Success border punches(love them!)
The gems ribbon and flower are from my stash and the scalloped card blank was purchased from Craftwork Cards.

I noticed earlier this evening that my hit counter has passed the 30,000 mark!................so watch out for some Blog Candy coming soon!! I would like to thank everyone of you that pops in to 'see' me and for all the lovely comments you leave, I appreciate them all :-D

Have a fab Friday!

Hugs
Carol x

Penny Black Challenge ~ Week 54

Hi everyone! At last i'm back with a card!! This one is for the current challenge at PBSC.............

Embossing

I have actually done something on this card that i haven't done for a long time...............i've used embossing powder on the image..... to keep in with the challenge and also because i don't have any Memento ink yet and i wanted to use my new Promarkers. Not sure why i thought this would work................. in fact it hasn't!! it's still a bit smudgy round the edges, but it's all a bit trial and error with them at the moment :)
I embossed the image with the Swiss Dots folder after i had coloured it.......i quite like the effect it gives...................

Image.... PB 'Snow Cuddle'

Colour.... Promarkers
Cuttlebug & Swiss Dots
Papers.... 3 Bugs in a Rug (i think!)
Rub -on.... Stemma
Lg Snowflake.... Cricut
Small snowflakes.... punch with no name!
Glamour Dust

I used my current sketch from my new challenge blog for the layout.........it's a bi-weekly sketch challenge and you have until next Tuesday evening if you would like to join in :) Hope to see you over there!

Have a great Thursday.......

Hugs
Carol x

Our Baby Hedgehogs 2009!

I am so in love with these little guys!!! Thought you might like to see some more pictures of our gorgeous Hedgehog babies.......................beware!!!! cuteness overload :)

Aren't they adorable..............funniest thing was, i got a bit worried about them starting to come out as they are really tiny still.....so i said to them 'you best get back into your nest because your Mum will be back soon'..............and they both went back into the house!!.......so cute :)

And of course not wanting to miss a photo opportunity here is Pepsi doing her 'posing'!

She's such a little show- off!

I hope you've enjoyed the photo's today.........hope to be back tomorrow with a card to show you!

Thanks for popping in..... ;-D

Hugs
Carol x

The Pink Elephant ~ Challenge 20

I'm very pleased to introduce you to our challenge this week at The Pink Elephant! It's another of my sketches .........................and we also have a fabulous sponsor for this weeks prize giveaway....

UNITY STAMP COMPANY

All the DT girls were sent some fabulous stamps to work with this week, i really enjoyed creating with them :)

Here is my sketch.................i hand drew this sketch back in February! and then Robin works her magic on them to make them look so professional ..............Thanks Robin :)I decided to make two sample cards this week simply to show how the stamps i received could be used as a focal point but also are good for backgrounds too........................

It took me FOREVER!! to add all the stickles to the flower heads...........i've tried to capture them in the photo.......hope you can see them! I haven't given a list of materials for today's cards, so if you have any questions, or if i can help in any way just leave it on the comment form and i will get back to you with the answer :0)

I hope you have enjoyed my cards today and i hope you will enjoy having a go at my sketch!.......................do check out the lovely projects from the rest of the girls and make sure you pop over to Unity and see all the fabulous goodies they have for you to drool over!! :)

Hugs
Carol x


*** I just wanted to leave an apology here to say sorry for not getting around to all the entries last week..........i have been feeling under the weather for several days now, but i hope to get back up to speed really soon!.......I hope you'll forgive me........ ***

Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge

My card today is for the current challenge over at Secret Crafter...............'In the Jungle' i haven't played for a while, but couldn't resist this week :)

It also gave me the perfect opportunity to use this cute giraffe digi download from the very talented Dawn..............i 'met' Dawn when she won some of my blog candy a while back, but boy has she 'been hiding her light under a bushel' ........i didn't know she could draw like this!!!!.............This cute giraffe, which i've nicknamed 'Georgina' is one of many free downloads on Dawn's blog, you must pop over and have a look.......there is a really cute bird with attitude................so funny, i can't wait to use him :)

Image.... free digi from Dawn
Colour.... Promarkers
Papers.... Basic Grey 'Marrakech'
Chipboard.... Brenda Pinnick
Sentiment stamp.... Stamps Away
Leaf Punch.... Woodware
Inkssentials Pen

I just received my new Promarkers yesterday and i have to thank Amanda for pointing me in the right direction for some colouring & shading tips..............as you will see till i get used to them it will be very basic, but i am loving the way they don't bleed on the digi images that i've printed out...........that has to be a bonus!!!

********************************************

Sketches! {by Tamara}

This is my last design for Sketches! i would like to thank Tamara for having me on the team for so long and to wish her and the other girls every success for the future :) Tamara will be having a new DT call at the beginning of August........................

Thanks for popping in today ;-D

Hugs
Carol x

Hoglets, a Tortoise and ProMarkers!!

Hi Everyone! as promised here are some pictures of the Hedgehog babies that have been born again this year in our Tortoise house! Good job our Tortoise is tolerant and doesn't mind sleeping elsewhere!...........................

The first two are from 11th June.........

The following photo's were all taken earlier this evening.............
Hereis our lovely tolerant Tortoise enjoying some red pepper.....................
And last but by no means least....................look what arrived for me today!...............

My lovely husband Andy got these for me for helping him out with some typing for the business, and for minding the phones all day on Saturday! I have been looking at these and Copics for ages, just couldn't decide.......................but i've bitten the bullet and gone for ProMarkers.........i just hope i can do them justice!

I shall have to look for some tutorials on line with regards to the best way to use them, but i guess that they are like most things crafty...............just play about with them until you get the desired result......................watch this space!! :)
I hope you have enjoyed the pictures today, i'll be back with some cards soon and don't forget to check Carol's Sketch Fun tomorrow to see the winner of CSF #7 and of course the reveal of CSF #8............Happy Crafting! ;-D

Hugs
Carol x

The Pink Elephant

It's the start of a new week and a brand new challenge for you at The Pink Elephant................

"WEDDINGS"

We would love to see your projects with a Wedding Theme.......it can be anything you wish...a card, scrapbook page, altered item.....we love to see all your beautiful things week after week......thanks so much for playing along with us :)

I love Weddings but unfortunately i don't get to go to that many! and i didn't think i had anything in my stash that i could make a card with, until i remembered the lovely doves on the 'Joys of the Season' cartridge for my Cricut machine!This second view is to show the layering..............i think it just gives the card a bit more interest :)

Image.... Turtle Doves from 'Joys of the Season' 3.5"
Colour.... Pebbles pearlescent chalks
Heart Corner Punch.... Make Me
Cuttlebug & embossing folders Heart Blocks/Swiss Dot
Crystals.... Heidi Swapp
Rub-down.... Letraset
Border Punch.... EK Success

ribbons from stash

Thanks for popping in today....... see you soon :-D
Hugs
Carol x

Penny Black Saturday Challenge

It's Birthday time over at Penny Black Saturday Challenge and boy are they celebrating in style!!!!

'HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY LADIES'

I can hardly believe that a year has gone by since they started!!.........just shows how time flies when you're having fun! Penny Black keep producing such fabulous stamps to work with and having a dedicated blog to use them is just perfect.................and of course like many of my fellow bloggy friends, i love to join in the fun :) So....................from me and 'the girls'..................................

Aren't they just so cute all trooping along to the party!! I've nicknamed this stamp 'the girls' because it reminds me so much of our own hens that we rescued from the battery farm.......they do actually look like this now, much different to when they first came home!! Mind you......the cake and the flowers would never make it to the party.........they would just eat them before they arrived!!!!

Image.... PB 'Cluck,Cluck,Cluck' 2347K
Colour.... Adirondack Inks
Papers.... Basic Grey 'Sultry' & 'Sugared'
Sentiment.... Stamps Away HB Circle 1107
Nestabilities Mega Curved Rectangles
Pom Pom Trim.... Bazzill
brown grossgrain scrap from stash

I am so looking forward to the next year of PBSC and to all the fabulous inspiration from the Design Team...........I know how much hard work goes into all the samples and i love looking at them each week :)

I know this is a ridiculous hour to be posting this card but Danielle is here with Grandma all day tomorrow(Andy & Darren are working in St Albans! Justine will be at work too!!) and Chloe and Alan are up from Rayleigh, so i will be kept very busy doing other things......................Have a fab Sunday and i'll see you on Monday with The Pink Elephant!!

You still have a couple of days to enter my sketch challenge! I would love it if you could play along :) there is a fab little prize too!

Hugs
Carol x

Sketches! {by Tamara}

Hi Everyone! I unfortunately cant count!!!! i mentioned last week that there would only be one more design left on Sketches! before the summer break.................in fact there are two more still to go!

Here is my first design of the remaining two..............and don't forget Tamara will be looking for her new team at the beginning of August....

Flourish Stamp.... Technique Tuesday
Papers.... Basic Grey 'Eva'
Ribbon.... American Crafts
Sentiment.... Making Memories Tiny Alpha stickers
Gem flowers.... Impex

It would be really great if you could play along with the last couple of sketch challenges.............you'll miss them when they're gone!! :)

Thanks for popping in today......back later with some more Hedgehog photo's :-D

Hugs
Carol x

Blooming Gorgeous.......

..........is the name of the current challenge over at Penny Black Saturday. I've really missed not joining in for the last couple of weeks so i couldn't let this one go....................without having a go!!
I absolutely adore Wisteria and was very lucky to find this stamp whilst on one of my many stash shopping trips.........................can't even remember where i bought it from, i just knew i had to have it!!

Image.... Wisteria Corner 626k
Sentiment.... HOTP
Colour.... Adirondack & Distress Inks
Cardstock.... Papermania & Bazzill
Leaf Punch.... Woodware
Gems,Flowers, Ribbon
and gold embellishments from stash.

There were only a handful of ladies at my workshop last night, so i was able to colour this image while they were busily working away on their projects! I have some more ideas in the pipeline for my new sketch blog but i just need a bit of time to play about with the ideas before uploading them! and of course you still have almost a week to go if you wish to try a card for my current sketch .
Off to work soon, but hey it's already Wednesday! ..................soon be the weekend again :)

Hugs
Carol x

The Pink Elephant Challenge #18

Wow! what a fabulous week we have for you at The Pink Elephant, a gorgeous Colour Challenge.............

Pink, Chocolate and White

sponsored for you by none other than The Greeting Farm the home of the fabulous Ian & Anya range and so much more!...........be sure to pop over to their site and drool over the gorgeous things they have to offer........................i am so in love with the Vintage Birds set :)

The DT were given some digi images to work with and i decided to choose '50's Sweethearts' for my card today. After several attempts to get the colouring right, even though i did heat set the ink i still had a problem with their faces...............so they look like they've made a mistake with the fake tan!!....and we have a problem with streaks!!! I do love to colour my images with Distress Inks, but was getting frustrated with the outcome, so in this instance I reverted to my watercolour pencils.

Can you see her blushing?....................He's just asked her to marry him!

Image.... Digi stamp '50's Sweethearts'
Colour.... Watercolour pencils
Papers.... Basic Grey 'Bittersweet'
Border Punch.... EK Success
Cuttlebug & Nestabilities
Ribbon.... American Crafts
Gems.... Kanban

I have to schedule this post to co-incide with the girls in the U.S. and for the timing of the challenge going live......................................i can hardly wait till i wake up to see what the other girls on the team have done with the challenge each week :)
I hope you can find time to play along with us this week, i love coming to visit you all....................you could be in with a chance of winning the fab goodies from The Greeting Farm and having your winning entry in Ella's Hall of Fame!

Have a great day and thanks for popping in! I'll see you very soon ;-D

Hugs
Carol x

p.s. Why not check out my new sketch challenge blog....Carol's Sketch Fun!

Sneaky Peeks and a Hedgehog Update!

Had a very unproductive day yesterday on the challenge front! I am kind of a last minute girl and always leave my DT projects until the day they are supposed to be e-mailed i.e. Saturday!!

Had a real nightmare trying to get the colouring right on a digi image..........kept bleeding, just wasn't happy with it and it's still not right, but in the end after about seven attempts just had to go with what i had!!

Here are a couple of sneaky peeks of the coming week......
This is the one that caused me all the problems, so when you view it in full tomorrow at TPE, don't be suprised that their faces look like a very poor case of fake tanning!!!!!! I just don't have anything that is flesh colour so i had to compromise!

Next up we have Sketches sneaky peek............and another apology! :)I mentioned in my post last week that it was my penultimate design for the Sketches blog...........i can't count!!!! There are two more to come and this one is the first that will be up on Thursday, so sorry for the confusion!

And now for the Hedgehog update..........we have discovered that there are in fact five babies again!!!!!......Andy took some more pictures, but forgot to pop the camera on macro so they are too blurry to show!! it's peeing with rain here in Bedford this morning so not sure when we will be able to get some more photo's. As soon as i have some more that are worth showing, i will pop them on here for you all to see............it was very exciting to discover the extra two! :)

I hope to have some more challenge cards to show you soon..........in the meantime, if you like a sketch challenge why not try my brand new blog Carol's Sketch Fun............i have a sketch for you and also a free digi download too!

Have a great Sunday............see you soon ;-D

Hugs
Carol x

Sketches! {by Tamara}

A penultimate design for me today over at Sketches! I have really enjoyed being part of the team and i hope that i have managed to inspire some of you along the way :)

Tamara will be taking a break for the Summer and will be back in September........make sure that you keep an eye on the blog during the break as she will be looking out for a new DT at the beginning of August!

Onto today's sketch.........................................
A super easy card today................and more of that cardboard that i love so much!

Dragonfly image.... Inkadinkado
Cuttlebug & D'Vine Swirl
Cardstock.... Bazzill & K&Co re-make
Border Punch.... EK Success
Sentiment.... Adornit tiny etched alpha stickers
acrylic paint, glitter and gem from my stash

If you love sketches, then why not play along with us this week...................also, check out the work from the rest of the DT!...............eye candy :)

Have a wonderful day and i will see you very soon ;-D
Hugs
Carol x


I have my very own sketch challenge blog now, which you will find right

HERE

A Christmas Wish!

Just thought i would show this card made using my current sketch over at Carol's Sketch Fun!

You may be seeing several Christmas themed cards from now on as i will be preparing samples for my all day 'Christmas in July' workshop.

If you think you would like to play along with my sketch challenge over at my new blog, why not take a look? The challenge will run for two weeks, so no rush!. There is a free digi download and a template for a cute little bag too, so you may find something to tempt you other than the sketch.

Have a lovely Wednesday...........

Hugs
Carol x

Oh My Days!!!!! she's done it again!!!

I'm sitting here almost fit to burst with excitement.............................look what we found in our Tortoise house again!!!! :) :)

Little Hoppy has done it again!!

For those of my visitors that are relatively new here you won't be aware that we have several Hedgehogs that visit our garden each summer.......same ones, different ones, who knows? but what we do know is that these babies are the offsping of a particular little Hedgie that we named 'Little Hoppy' because of a badly damaged right front leg.

She gave birth in our Tortoise House last summer, you may want to read that story, which all starts here

We know there are at least three this time, but we have to wear gloves and carefully take out all the bulk of the straw before we can snap a quick photo or two......................can't let them get cold!! When we took this picture, Mum was out somewhere having some free time :)

It just amazes me how wonderful nature can be..... for her to find her way back to the garden, to the food, but i guess she just sniffs that out....... back to her little abode, which is in a completely different spot in our garden this year, but most of all to cope with life so well when she has such a disability herself.................i'm in love all over again!!!!

Hugs
Carol x

#17 at The Pink Elephant

Happy Monday Morning to you all..............can you believe we are at challenge #17 already!!! over at The Pink Elephant

Today from Ella's kitchen we have a Recipe .......................

3 Buttons, 2 Layers, and 1 Sentiment

Very, very simple card for you today..........Thankfully, i do not have cause to make Sympathy cards very often, however i thought it may be useful to have one in my 'stock box'........i guess most of you fellow card makers have one of those too!

My card literally is two layers.......the front of the card has been Cuttlebugged with the Stylised Flowers, then a fine slice was made down the fold to allow the lace to pass through and tie over the buckle at the front. The sentiment is a white rub-on, placed on to white card, i then coloured over it with Versamagic 'Niagra Mist' in a similar manner as you would do for Versamark resist.

Image.... Paper Inspirations 'watercolour rose'
Ink.... Versamagic 'Niagra Mist'
Cuttlebug & 'Stylised Flowers'
Buttons, Lace & Buckle from stash

We are all thrilled that so many of you love to join in with our challenges each week, and personally i do love visiting you all to see what you have created ............my children often say to me "Mum, you're so nosey".........................and yes, i really am!! ;-D

Hugs
Carol x