Happy New Year and Anything Goes.

Hello all,

Well, I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and a fabulous New Year.

Did anyone make any New Year's resolutions?  

I don't tend to do that anymore - partly because they only usually last until the middle of January!! Lol

Well, I wonder what 2019 will bring?

I always start the year full of hope that this year will be better than the last, don't you?

Only time will tell I guess.

I reckon, if we all do our little bit to make things better then maybe others will follow??  That's my plan anyway.

Right then, onto my Midway post for the current challenge which of course you all already know is the best sort of challenge to start the year with.......

ANYTHING GOES

Now you all know how much I love Mitzi's sprites right?

Well, I thought I should start the year off with one of the little darlings so I chose:

PRIMROSE SPRITE

She is available exclusively at Aurora Wings.com:

PNG AW Store

Now, I know I am getting on a bit and the weather has been a wee bit cold lately but I really didn't think that my brain was quite as addled as it obviously is.

This little birthday book was made thinking the image I was using was Buttercup Sprite but no, I used Primrose Sprite - what a twit.  

So because they are both so beautiful I am giving you the links to the gorgeous Buttercup Sprite too, just in case you would like to pop over and have a quick spending spree! Lol

PNG - AW Store 

PNG - Etsy Store

Both stores also have the JPEG image but you can do so much more with the PNG image. 😁😁😁

For this challenge, rather than make a card which I always seem to do I thought I would be a little bit more adventurous, so I made a cute little Birthday Book.

Here you go:

Basically it is one piece of A3 card cut into the relevant sized pieces and stuck together and then I added some beautiful Pion Designs paper which I have had for simply ages.

Sweet little Primrose Sprite is coloured with my Faber Castell Polychromo pencils and then I fussy cut her to add her to the front of the book.

The wording is done using the wonderful Clarity Word Chains and Word Chain Alphabet which you can find here.

Because the piece that ends up being the back of the book was a bit plain I used a Clarity Stencil, which you can find here, and some Distress ink in contrasting shades to add a bit of interest to the cover.
I wish I had taken a photo of the whole of the back of the book!! Duh.

The pages inside are printed out on to an A4 sheet of paper from a template I made in Excel, and then I put them through the printer again to add the buttercups.  Then I cut them out and stuck them in the correct places in the book.
Now obviously these would look better if they were primroses rather than buttercups given which sprite I actually used! Lol   However, I have gifted this little book to a friend so I am unable to change it now! Duh!

The closure is just some glittery gold ribbon which I had in my stash.

I really love these little books and I think I may be doing a few more of these. 

So I hope you like my project, please leave me a comment and let me know.

See you next challenge.

TTFN

xxxxx

Challenges:
2 Sisters on the blog - more than one fold
A bit more time to Craft - Anything Goes
A perfect time to craft - Anything Goes
Classic Design Team Challenge - Anything Goes
Crafts Galore Encore challenge - Anything Goes
Crafty Hazlenut's Patterned Paper Challenge - February 2019
Happy Craft Challenge - Anything Goes
Love to craft - Anything Goes
Not Just Cards - January Challenge
The Creative Crafters Challenge - Anything Goes

Exciting News - Part 2

Hi all,

Well, it certainly looks like 2019 is going to be a busy one.

Having recently told you about my fabulous news concerning my new DT post with the fabulous Lee Holland, I can now tell you all about another new DT post, this time with the wonderful ladies at 613 Avenue Create.

This fabulous blog is a monthly Just For Fun challenge blog.

The entries we get for these challenges is nothing short of phenomenal considering there are no prizes on offer.

The fact that there is no prizes is the only downside though as you will always be able to see some fabulous inspiration from my wonderful teammates.

We always choose a Top 3 that have joined in and an extra Top 3 for those that chose to add the Optional Twist.  They can then put a fabulous little badge on their blog for the world to see.

I am one of three new DT members here and I can tell you that we are joining a fantastic, friendly and talented bunch of ladies and I am so proud to be a part of their team.

So without further ado, let me tell you about this month's challenge.

Now, as I said they are Just For Fun and are always Anything Goes.

Now who doesn't like an Anything Goes challenge?

Having said that, there is always an optional twist given and this month the Optional Twist is to 

"Use a Critter" on your creation.

Well, what else could I use this month other than one of Lee Holland's fabulously cute animal images.

I chose to use Cute Monkey. If you want to have a look at Lee's other gorgeous creations then why not pop along to his Etsy store here.

He is coloured primarily with my Prismacolour Pencils and the background is done with Pan Pastels. The background paper is from a Lili of the Valley & NitWit Collection paper pad called Bonnets & Bowties.  Sadly no longer available but superb quality and I use them very sparsely I can tell you. Lol

I have to tell you that when I did the background, I sat and looked at the card and thought, Jeez that looks a mess! But then I got the colourless blender pan out and hey presto it was transformed.

The sentiment is my own, done on the computer, sized, printed and then "coloured" with Pan Pastels to match those used in the image.

So I do hope you like my inspiration and I look forward to seeing what you all submit this month.

Happy Creating!

Challenges:

Colour Crazy Craft Challenge - Anything goes

Crafting with Friends - Anything Goes

Creative Fingers - Anything goes

Jo's Scrap Shack - Anything Goes

Kitty Bee Designs - Aloha Friday Challenge - Birthday

Crafty Friends Challenge - Animals/Birds

Exciting News - Part 1

Hello crafty peeps.

Oooh I am sooo excited to be able to share this news with you all.

A while back the very talented Lee Holland put a call out for a new DT to showcase his gorgeous art work.

Well, I do love Lee's work so thought I might try and see if I could become part of this new DT.

Well, you will never guess???

Well, I suppose you will have by now, given the title of my blog post, lol.

I got accepted!!

Whoooooo Hoooooooo!!

I, along with 15, yes 15 other very talented and lovely people were chosen to represent Lee and his gorgeous art work.

So first off, you will want to know where to find his images won't you?

Well, if you follow this link it will take you straight to Lee's etsy store.

When you get there you will notice that Lee has a fabulous Love Bundle, 8 images for £8!!

(Of course Etsy have to add VAT so the checkout price will be £9.60)

This offer will run until the end of February.

Now that is what I call a bargain!

There really are some cute images in this bundle.

I know that February is traditionally all about Valentine's Day but to be honest you could use any of these images for other occasions too.

I mean, just look at them.  You could use them for weddings, anniversarys, birthdays, Easter, Baby/child birthday or even Just Because cards.  You really do have so many options to choose from.

So my card features The Love Birds, cute aren't they?

I decided to go with a Wedding Anniversary card because I think this image is perfect.

I googled images of love birds so that I could get the colours right and I am pretty pleased with how this turned out really.  I had thought about pink for one and blue for the other but maybe I will do that another day. 

The image was coloured with my Prismacolour pencils and the background is done with pan pastels through a Claritystamp heart stencil.

The background paper is from Lili of the Valley and is from a pad called Butterfly Kisses.  I don't think you can get them any more which is such a shame as the quality is superb.

Here is a piccy of the full card:

I'm really pleased with the way this has turned out and I hope you like it too.

If you want to quick link to Lee's Etsy store in the future, just pop back and click the image in my sidebar and that will take you straight to the store.

See you soon with some more fabulous images.

I shall enter this into a few challenges and keep my fingers crossed.

Aud Sentiments - Anything goes + a sentiment

C.R.A.F.T. Challenge - Anything Goes

Krafty Chicks - Anything Goes

Moving along with the times - Add a sentiment

Southern Girls Challenge - Love is in the air

Time out challenges - Photo inspiration (I went with hearts and love)