Fab new stamps from Premium Craft Brands

Good morning, today's the day our lovely Nikky Hall is on Create and Craft at 1pm demonstrating lots of scrummy goodies including fabby embellies from Dutch Doobadoo and some amazing stamps from Premium Craft Brands. Nikky has designed the stamps and they are fab-u-lous, great for all sorts of projects from vintage to quirky and just the job for mixed media projects too!

These quirky flowers are one of my favourite stamps from the set, you've got to love those ink blots too lol. I stamped the flowers on some linen card that I'd coloured with silver PanPastel. I also stamped the ink blots and the sentiment and then got to work coloured the flowers with Graph'It markers, giving them a bit of sparkle with a Graph'It shake pen

I've dusted off my corner punch and rounded off all the corners and matted on some black card. To finish off I've added some red pompom trim, black seam binding and a polke dot button.

I'm entering this in the following challenges:

Crafters Cafe: glitter

Creative knockouts: anything goes

Glitter and sparkle: ribbon

Stamping Sensations: dies/punches

Sweet Stampin: No designer papers

That's Crafty: black and white with a splash of colour

Thanks for popping by today

Claire xx

Fairyland from Chocolate Baroque

Good morning folks, its back to work for me this morning so I'm feeling a bit grumpy but although I'm not looking forward to catching up with loads of work it will be nice to catch up with my lovely friends. Anyway before I go, today's card features the gorgeous Spring Fairies and Fantasy Castles from Chocolate Baroque

I began by stamping and masking the large fairy and the castle and then set to with my PanPastels to create the background. I removed the masks and coloured the images with Graph'It markers

The sentiment is also from Chocolate Baroque, embossed with gold EP. I added a purple seam binding bow and some pretty spring coloured flowers.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

Challenges 4 Everybody: anything goes

Chocolate Coffee and Cards: spring 

Come and get it: spring flowers

Crazy 4 Challenges: april showers bring may flowers

Creative Moments: anything goes/Spring

Dream Valley: say it with words

Sisterhood of Crafters: things with wings

Sweet Stamps: embossing

Well I'd better scoot off to work now, booo hoooo.
Have a great day, thanks for popping by and hope to see you again soon
Claire xx

Hills and Mountains at Craft a Scene

Hi folks, hope you're having a lovely Sunday. Its the fourth week of our 'Hills and Mountains' Challenge over at Craft a Scene so you've still got time to enter! My first DT project for this theme was a wintery scene so I decided to create a sunny Spring scene for this project using stamps from Lavinia Stamps.

Using my PanPastels I began by creating the sun, sky and hills using paper masks. I hardly ever use my brayer these days as PanPastels are soooooo much easier and a lot more forgiving when it comes to creating this style of scene. I used a pencil eraser to rub some colour out to create the cloud, quite a few people have asked me a for a tutorial for this technique so I'll do one as soon as I get a minute, its a really quick and easy technique

 Once i'd got my background in position I stamped the fairy, masked her and stamped the rocks and bridge. I added colour to the foreground with more green PanPastels and stamped in the trees and fence using brown Memento ink. I love these trees as you can stamp in the foliage using different inks for different seasons, for this card I used Bamboo Leaves and Pear Tart Memento inks. Next I stamped in the silhouette fairies and birds.

I removed the masks and coloured the bridge, rocks and fairy with Graph'it Markers. I've added some sparkle to the wings with Graph'It glitter shake pens in gold and silver and used my white Graph'It shake pen to add detail to the water.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

Addicted to Stamps: things with wings

Craftitude: Anything goes Easter/Spring

Cute Card Thursday: Blue and green

Left of Centre: Spring Fling

Sunflower Fields: Easter or Spring

Thanks for visiting today, 

Claire xx

Go Grungy inspiration at PanPastel UK

Good morning my lovelies, how's your weekend going? Awful weather here so I've been having a play in my craft room and trying to pretend I don't have to go back to work tomorrow lol. I've sooooo enjoyed my week off but at least we've got another long weekend coming up next week so I've got something to look forward to. My project today is for our 'Go Grungy' challenge at PanPastel UK, you've still got a week to enter and our lucky winner will receive a fab prize of goodies from Premium Craft Brands.

I've made an 8x8 card, distressing the edges with Raw Umber shade panpastel and stamping a fabric texture stamp from Indigo Blu here and there. I used a sheet of copier to create a heart shaped stencil and popped that over my card blank before applying Maimeri Light Modelling Paste through a Pronty Stencil.  The LMP is coloured with a touch of Magenta PanPastel. Once dry I went around the edges with Raw Umber PanPastel

The little lady is a stamp from Crafty Individual stamped with versamark and then I applied more Raw Umber PanPastel and layered it up with a tattered angels butterfly. The ginormous sentiment is from Indigo Blu, stamped with Potting Soil Archival Ink, and then distressed with PanPastel.

I've added faux pearls, a seam binding bow, a little rose made from Light Modelling Paste in a silicone mould, the clay heart was left over from another project.

I'm entering this in the following challenges:

Brown Sugar: anything goes

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Big stamps

Sister Act: anything goes

Sweet Stampin: No designer paper

Through the craftroom door: anything goes

Thanks so much for visiting today, have a great day and hope to see you again soon
Claire xx

Go Grey at Graph'It Colouring Challenge

Good morning, my third post today so I hope you're not getting fed up lol. This is my DT project for our 'Go Grey' challenge at Graph'It Colouring Challenge. Hmmmm I hear you thinking, doesn't look grey to me!! You can get some fab effects by using your greys with other colours in the Graph'It range - you can create different shades and tones by either mixing on your Mix'It palette or by laying down a layer of grey before your main colour. I've used green greys and blue greys to add depth and shade to the greens and turquoises on this image

For a full list of the colours I've used pop over to the challenge blog.

The image is by Aurora Wings, she's called Elven Princess and she's fab to colour.

The background was made with distress inks and I've added some flowers made with Britannia rose die, green lace and turquoise ribbon. To finish off i've added a couple of gorgeous little laser cut butterflies from Dutch Doobadoo.

I'm entering this project in the following challenges:

Card Mania: Fairies

Creative Card Crew: girly

Cute Card Thursday: blue and green

Digi Galore: flowers

Little Miss Muffet: anything goes

I'm hoping to spend the day in my craft room today and making the most of my week off work. Have a fabby day whatever you're up to. Thanks for popping by and hope to see you again soon

Claire xx

Spring/Easter Inspiration from Polkadoodles

Good morning, I'm really enjoying my week of work but its whizzing by far too quickly. I love this time of year, after the long dark days of winter its great to get outside and potter in the garden. That was the inspiration for this card, my DT project for our Spring/Easter challenge over at Polkadoodles where you've still got a week to enter to be in with a fabby prize!

I've made a Spring themed easel card using a digistamp coloured with Graph'It Markers, papers and lots of embellishments from Sudio 12 Picknix Collection 1 Cd.

I'm no expert at digital crafting at all but I managed to do lots of printing and cutting out lol, I even layered the letters up over one of the gorgeous backing papers in MS Publisher. I've added some wooden buttons, gingham ribbon, twine and one of my bargain poundshop birds nests. I took the eggs out and coloured them with my Graph'It markers

Here's a pic of the main image and all the embellies from the CD. Love those little birds, clouds and fence and how cute are those polkadot flowers? The bunny is a die cut that I had in my stash

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

ABC Challenge: J is for just as you like

A Little bit crafty: The birds and the bees

Animal Friends: Spring/Easter

Bearly Mine: Spring

Creative Moments: Spring/anything goes

Digistamps 4 Joy: Easter/Spring

Sisterhood of Crafters: Things with Wings

Thanks so much for visiting today, if you've got a minute pop over to the Polkadoodles blog and check out my teamies gorgeous projects

Claire xx

New stamps at Chocolate Baroque!

Good morning folks, I've been a bit quiet on the blogging front for a couple of days as I've been busy in the garden getting lots of jobs done, everything takes twice as long with the help of our puppy Barney who constantly runs off with tools, plant pots lol. After all that hard work I'm itching to get in my craft room and play. Before I go, my first card of the day features this months new stamps from Chocolate Baroque they are called Fabulous Flappers and you can find them here. I've had a wonderful time with them as they are such versatile stamps, great for lots of different techniques from colouring to paper piecing to dusting off the angelina fibres to create outfits for these lovely ladies.

I've coloured this glamorous lady with my Graph'It markers and added some faux pearls to her collar and her hair. I've lightly distressed the edges with Black Soot distress ink.

The background was made using Ladybug memento ink and one of the stamps from Fancy Flourishes, these are clear stamps which are perfect for pattern building. Again I've distressed the edges with a little black soot. I've added some black lace, red ribbon and a little resin flower. the sentiment is from Mackintosh sentiments. 

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

Addicted to Stamps and more: colouring

Fan-Tastic Tuesday: anything goes

Flat Friends: include a sentiment

Love to Create: Monochromatic plus ribbon

Milk Coffee: bright colours

Ruby's Rainbow: ladies

Have you visited the Chocolate Baroque DT blog lately, do pop over if you have a minute as my lovely teamies have some gorgeous projects to share with new posts every day

Thanks so much for visiting today, 

Claire xx

Magic Happens at Chocolate Baroque

 Good morning folks, I've got a sunny scene to share this morning made with the new Springtime Edges stamps from Chocolate Baroque.   I've used them with one of the beautiful Spring Fairies for this card, she is from the March set

I began by stamping the fairy with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and masked her with Masking Tissue to stamp the lovely primrose edge in the background (this time I used Memento Bamboo leaves). I left the mask in place while I created the background. Using PanPastels I added some shades of green to the foreground of the scene and then took shades of Yellow to create a sunny effect behind the image. I sealed the PanPastels with hairspray and used distress inks through the Lucious Leaves Dylusions stencil. I removed the mask and coloured the fairy and the primrose edges with Graph'It Markers. To finish off I added some tiny die cut flowers and stamped the sentiment which is from Fairyland Words and embossed with gold EP.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Created with Love: in the garden
Glitter and Sparkle: Easter or Spring colours
Hiding in my Craftroom: flowers
Ooh La La: Easter/Spring
Penny Black and More: Blossoms and blooms
Stamp and Create: Spring flowers
Whoopsi Daisy: Embossing

Thanks for visiting today

Claire xx

Waterlily mermaid from Sweet Pea Stamps

Good morning folks, how's your long weekend going? Awful weather here, but I suppose its a bank holiday so what else can we expect? The cold winds and grey skies are a good excuse to leave the gardening and play in my craft room (not that I need much of an excuse lol). Today's card features Waterlily Mermaid , a digistamp by Elaine Cox from Sweet Pea Stamps. I couldn't resist colouring her up for the challenge over at Sweet Pea Stampers where the theme is Mermaids and there's a special prize up for grabs

The background was made with distress inks (mowed lawn, picked raspberry and broken china) and i've coloured the image with Graph'It  Markers and added some lime green stickles.

I've layered her up on a spellbinders die cut and made some little rolled roses from scraps of the inky background. I used a white Graph'It shake pen to create the faux stitching and added some little pearls to the corners. To finish off I've added ribbon, lace and one of my treasured sparkly buttons.

I'm entering this in the following challenges:

As you like it: favourite stitching style

(faux stitching for me, I love to see proper stitching but haven't got the patience to dust my sewing machine off lol)

Colour me Creative: anything goes

Digi Galore: flowers

Fussy and Fancy: pearls and lace

Pumpkin Spice: Colouring

Totally Gorjuss: die cuts/punches

Thanks for visiting, have a great day and hope to see you again soon

Claire xx

Go Grungy at PanPastel UK

Good morning and a very happy Easter to you all. We haven't got anything exciting planned, just a scrummy lunch and then eating lots of chocolate - sounds like a good plan to me lol. Anyway back to business and we've got a new challenge starting over at PanPastel UK and this time our theme is 'Go Grungy'. You don't have to use our products to enter and our lucky winner will receive a fab prize of goodies from Premium Craft Brands!

I've altered a littel canvas using Maimeri Gesso, Light Modelling Paste with a Dutch Doobadoo stencil. I've added some colour with PanPastels in shades of brown with a little copper and gold here and there. The stamps are from Indigo Blu, coloured and distressed with PanPastels and then layered up and attached with a memo pin.

I've made a flower using a stamp from Chocolate Baroque, stamped on to card painted with Maimeri Bronze acrylic paint (my absolute favourite colours, its gorgeous). I've popped a glass cabochon in the centre. I've added paper flowers, a seam binding bow, some die cuts, pearls and a pen nib to finish off.

I'm entering this project in the following challenges:

Addicted to stamps and more: anything goes

Artistic Stamper: embossing and texture

Craftitude: anything goes or Spring

Crafty Cardmakers: floral profusion

Everybody Art: anything goes

Little Miss Muffet: distressed

Love to Create: Vintage romance

Stamplorations: Stamps plus your favourite technique 

Tuesday Throwdown: vintage/shabby chic

(I think using stencils for texture is one of my all time favourite techniques)

Thanks so much for visiting today, hope to see you again soon

Claire xx

Flying things at Fashionable Stamping Challenges

Hello my lovelies and a very Happy Easter to you, I hope you're having a good weekend. We've got a new challenge at Fashionable Stamping Challenges and this time around our theme is Flying Things, chosen by my lovely teamie Laura. Don't forget that we're a stamping challenge so make sure you follow the theme and that stamping is the focal point of your project. As always we've got a fab prize for our lucky winner -  a $20 voucher from our generous sponsor  Flonzcraft!

I've made a little wall hanging for my DT project. I began by painting some mountboard with black gesso and once that was dry I used a Dutch Doobadoo stencil with Maimeri Glassy gel to add some texture. I then brushed on some gold PanPastel and edged the board with Treasure Gold.

I made a background using a Clarity stencil and distress inks in Picked Raspberry, Mowed Lawn and Broken China, tore it to shape and distressed with Black soot. 

The focal image is from Indigo Blu, stamped with flitter glu and gilded. I coloured the image with Graph'It markers and distressed with PanPastel before giving the birdie a coat of glossy accents.

The sentiment is also from Indigo Blu but I replaced the word fly with letters from one of the fabby Flonzcraft alphabet stamp sets, this one is Fonteroy and you can find it here. I stamped the letters on some scraps of my background and attached the Idea-ology charms with glossy accents. Once dry I cut out and embossed around the edges with gold EP. I saw this faux soldering technique in Craft Stamper and I love it!!

I assembled all my layers, adding some recycled black netting for a bit more texture and to finish off I added some AB gems, a paper flower and some die cut leaves.

I'm entering this project in the following challenges:

A Little Bit Crafty: birds and bees

Creative Knockouts: Furry or feathery friends

Get Inky: Die cuts
Natalie and Amy's: embossing
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: things with wings
Sweet Stamps: anything goes/embossing
Tuesday Throwdown: vintage/shabby chic
Wags'n'Whiskers: lots of layers

thanks so much for popping by, have a great Easter and eat lots of chocolate!
Claire xx

Embellish it at We do Doobadoo

Good morning folks, its time for a new challenge at We Do Doobadoo and this fortnight our theme is 'Embellish it' so you can really go to town! You don't have to use Dutch Doobadoo products to enter and our lucky winner will receive some gorgeous Dutch Doobadoo goodies so don't forget to link up your entry!! We also have some super exciting news as Nikky will be on C&C demonstrating Dutch Doobadoo products (and some fabulous other new goodies too!) on 29th April! 

I've made a bottle label  using a Dutch Doobadoo template, an envelope template and lots of other gorgeous goodies from Dutch Doobadoo including:  A5 brick stencil, Laser Art Feathers, Swirls, Butterflies, Keys and Locks, Kraftboard Arrows and Stars and Softboard Honeycomb (my absolute favourite!). Some of the embellies are coloured with Graph'It markers and others are embossed for a bit of texture.

The sentiment in the envelope is from Polkadoodles, Cherryblossom Lane Cd 

 I've added ribbon and  lace from The Ribbon Girl,  paper flowers and pearls from my stash to finish off

I'm entering this in the following challenges:

4 Crafty Chicks: Sentiment Only

Fussy and Fancy: pearls and lace

Lexi's Creations: focus on the sentiment

Mema's Challenge: anything goes

Miriams Crafting Blog: Texture

Scrappers Delights: Flowers

Thanks for visiting today

Claire xx

Happy Birthday to us!!!!

Can you believe its coming up to our first birthday at Graph'It Colouring Challenge??

We're celebrating in style with a fabulous prize for one lucky crafter, wouldn't you like to get your paws on this little lot? 

You can find out how to enter here

Good luck everyone!!

Claire xx

GDT at Scrapping for Fun

Good morning my lovelies, the sun is shining and I'm a very happy bunny today as on only is this the first of ten days off work but i'm also one of the Guest Designers over at Scrapping 4 Fun! How exciting, I was over the moon when the lovely Rachelle invited me to join them for their new challenge and as the theme is Use a stamp or a digi  was a great opportunity to have a play! The DT and guest designers have come up with some stunning projects so do pop over and have a look.

I've altered an MDF hear using Dutch Doobadoo Brick stencil, Maimeri Light Modelling Paste and a honeycomb stamp from Indigo Blu. Once all the texure was dry I painted with acrylic paint in a creamy yellow shade. The focal image is also by Indigo Blu and I coloured it with Graph'It markers and Inkense pencils.

I've used another Indigo Blu stamp for the sentiment which I've stamped in soft green ink, torn up and added to the background. Next came lots of paper flowers and die cut leaves and a butterfly charm that I painted with gesso and distressed with sandpaper before applying treasure gold. To finish off I've topped the heart with a seam binding bow and another little rose.

I'm entering this project in the following challenges:

All crafts: anything but a card

Crafting from the Heart: anything goes/use yellow

Crafty Ribbons: anything goes with ribbon

Fab'n'Funky: flowers

Its all about the vintage: Shabby chic

Loves rubber stamps: Easter or spring

Red Rubber Inspirationals: back to nature

Rhedd and Rosie's: Anything goes

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: winged things

Tuesday Throwdown: vintage/shabby chic

As its my first day off work I'm planning a nice lazy day pottering around in my craft room.
Thanks so much for visiting today, have a lovely day and hope to see you again soon
Claire xx

Spring with Lavinia stamps

Good morning folks, we're having some beautiful spring weather this week I do hope it lasts for the Easter weekend as its no fun watching the sunshine from my office window lol. Today's card is my entry for this month's challenge at Lavinia Stamps where the theme is Spring Colours

I've used Garden Spirit, one of  my favourite Lavinia stamps for the focal point of my card and then created a floral wreath frame using the small Zen flower stamps.  

I began by drawing around a plate very lightly with a pencil to give me a guide for stamping the flowers. I set to stamping,  masking the flowers as I went along. Next I stamped the leaves using Bamboo Leaves and Tuxedo Black memento inks (ok I confess I picked the wrong inkpad up and panicked cos I'd stamped black leaves so I had to go all the way round adding black leaves here and there lol) Lastly I stamped in the little flowers and stars around the images using some of the lovely little mini Lavinia stamps.

I've coloured the image with Graph'It markers and added dots of cosmic shimmer glue to the flower centres, sprinkling on some yellow glitter for a little sparkle.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

A Gem of a Challenge: spring s in the air

Corrosive Challenges: pretty pastels

Open Minded: easter or pastel colours

Thats Crafty: you spin me round

Stamp and Create: spring flowers

Thanks so much for visiting today, hope to see you again soon
Claire xx

Journey to Paris

Good morning folks and big warm welcome to my new followers, it's always lovely to 'meet' new friends! Today's card was made for the challenge at A Vintage Journey where the theme is 'A little bit French'. This project was actually inspired by the alley way next to my work, not as glamorous as Paris, in fact its a very scruffy and rundown little street in the town centre but among all the weeds, muddy parking bays and old wooden doors with peeling paint there are pretty forget-me-nots, little wild birds looking for nesting materials and bees and butterflies. You really can find beauty everywhere.

I'd made this background a few weeks ago using a mask from Clarity, Stampers Anonymous stamps, Crafters Workshop harlequin and squares masks and distress inks (tumbled glass, broken china, old paper, vintage photo and walnut stain). Once all the ink was dry I applied Maimeri Glassy gel over the squares through the stencil and then sprinkled with micro beads, I love this effect its so pretty when the beads catch the light.

The images are two of my favourite stamps from Crafty Individuals, coloured with Graph'It markers and distressed with Old Paper and Vintage photo distress inks, I added some pretty blue lace and bead trim to the bottom of the images.

I've added some crinoline flowers, an Ideology facet layered over a sentiment from the Gecko Galz. I've stamped some butterflies, fussy cut them and layered them over the card and to finish off I've added a seam binding bow and a gorgeous mother of pearl button topped with a twine bow.

I'm also entering this card in the following challenges:

Crafty Individuals: Nature's Beauty 

Docerela Creations: anything goes

Fussy and Fancy: all about travel

Its all about the vintage: shabby chic

Penny Black and More: blossoms and blooms

Well I'd better scoot off to work now so thanks for popping by today, 

Claire xx

Make it, take it

Good morning folks, I managed to grab a few hours me time at the weekend and had loads of messy fun creating this altered bottle which is my entry for the Craft Stamper Make it, Take it challenge where the theme is 'bottles'. I love to alter bottles and my son and his friends kindly make sure I've always got a good supply to alter lol. This one originally contained mango flavoured vodka but the lads made short work of that.

The pics are a little bit dark, the colours are more pastel in real life. I began by giving the bottle a coat of Maimeri gesso and once that was dry I sprayed with dylusions ink in green and turquoise and blended with a baby wipe. I usually make a real pigs ear of things with dylusions but the colours turned out really pretty this time so I'm a happy bunny. Once the ink was dry I added some texture with Maimeri Light Modelling Paste, adding some blobs with my fingers and popping some through a Crafters Workshop Harlequin template. After a bit more drying time I set to with my flitter glu and applied it to highlight the texture and the edges of the bottle. My goodness that stuff is sticky, and of course I forgot to wash my paws before I got the gilding flakes out. I used winter dawn, love this colour its so pretty.

The focal image is a stamp from Stampendous, I stamped it with memento tuxedo black and coloured with Graph'It markers. I stamped it again with flitter glu and gilded with Winter Dawn, cutting out the Eiffel tower and layering it up over the image. I also decoupaged the flowers too. I die cut the image with A spellbinders die and rubbed more flitter glu around the edge so I could gild that too. 

As I wanted to tie the image on the bottle with ribbon, I die cut a basketweave shape with a spellbinders die, gilded it and cut it in half, popping half behind each side of the image. The little holes in the die cut are perfect for threading the ribbon through. The ribbon was dyed with distress inks in tumbled glass and shabby shutters.

The flowers were made with Crinoline fabric from The Funky Junkie boutique, I coloured it with a mixture of Maimeri Iridescent Paste and pink  and blue dylusions inks, sprinkling a little glitter here and there for some sparkle. Once the fabric was dry I die cut it and layered up with white net to make flowers, the centres were made with some pearly beads from my stash.

To finish off I've made some glittered acetate butterflies.

I'm also entering this project in the following challenges:

Allsorts: spring blossoms

Artistic Stamper: embossing/texture

Crafting for all seasons: dies/punches

Frilly and Funkie: Flights of Fancy

Rhedd's Creative Spirit: altered art

Suzy Bee's Blooming Challenge: anything goes

Well I'd better get ready for work, at least its a short week this week and then I've got 10 days off yipppeeeeeee!! Have a great day and thanks for popping by

Claire xx

Pretty Shabby Inspiration at PanPastel UK

Good morning folks,back again with my second post of the day - my inspiration  project for our Pretty Shabby challenge at PanPastel UK. There's still a week to enter so you've got plenty of time to play along and be in with a chance to win some gorgeous goodies!

I've altered an MDF heart. I've used Maimeri Gesso coloured with ultramarine Blue PanPastel, once that was dry I used Maimeri Light Modelling Paste through the gorgeous Dutch Doobadoo Mosiac Stencil. I used red line tape to create a border and once the LMP was dry added Gold PanPastel (loooove this stuff!!). I've coloured the image with Graph'It Markers and added Butterflies, Honeycomb and Feathers from Dutch Doobadoo

I'm entering this project in the following challenges:

Allsorts: Spring Blossoms

Crafty Ribbons: flower power

Fairy Tale: butterflies

Get Inky: spring/Easter

Rhedd and Rosie's: Anything goes

The Crazy Challenge: bling it up

Hope you're having a good day, thanks for visiting today
Claire xx

Bendy Patchwork Landscapes from Chocolate Baroque

Good morning, my first card of the day features the gorgeous new Patchwork Landscapes stamps from Chocolate Baroque. I adore creating scenic cards to these stamps are going to be a big favourite with me, they are such fun and quirky designs. For my first sample this month I decided to try and create a 'Bendy Card' as I'd seen some on my travels and loved the effect. I'm not great at creating fancy folds but this is a really nice easy one.

I used two 6" card blanks to create this and began by stamping the hills in the background on the inside right panel of one of the cards. I closed the card and stamped the little house. Next I took the other card blank, opened it and trimmed the front section off leaving a strip about 2cm to the left of the fold. On the reverse of the right hand panel I stamped the trees and fencing and then used pva glue to stick the scenes together.

I coloured the images with Graph'It markers and then trimmed around the two front images. I worked out roughly where I wanted the 'bends' to go and used my craft knife to cut slits to pop the ends through and create the card shape.

As a finishing touch I added a punched fence and some little paper flowers.

I'm entering this in the following challenges:

Bearly Mine: Spring

Crafty Hands: anything goes

Creative Card Crew: Spring

Creative Knockouts: Spring is in the air

Divas by Design: Easter/Spring

Paper Pretties: punches

Papertake Weekly: Spring has sprung

Penny's Paper Crafty: flower power

Well Spring seems to have disappeared again in my little corner of the UK, hopefully the sunshine will be back for the Easter break but in the mean time I'm going to spend the day catching up with some TV and crafting, aaaaahhh bliss :-) Have a good day and thanks for popping by today

Claire xx