KISS TOADS!

One of the new ranges from Imaginisce we have over at Nutcrafters, include The Fairest Of Them All. These are Fairytale and Princess inspired craft items and from that range is this super cute Snag'em Frog stamp. I'm sure he would turn into any ones dream Prince ... hmmmm!
I love his cheeky little face, and thought he would go well with the Kiss Toads sentiment from High Hopes. I have chosen to create a vintage style card with a distressed feel, using brown ink to age the edges of the image and sentiment, and glazing the frog with Crackle Accents (I love this stuff, first time I have used it and think it is ace!)
I used my large Nestie heart to cut the card base, and added two smaller hearts for decoration, along with a Chocolate Bling blossom (also from Imaginisce).
Thanks for looking, Katie.

WHAT A WEEK!

Well, my optimism paid off and we had a lovely sunny bank holiday weekend, and a few (much needed) days off in sunshine! I say we had 'day's off' but myself and Colette have had quite a week, and been busy working on a few new projects. I'm so excited I could burst! Hopefully we will have more to say next week, and maybe a few sneaky peeks!

On to today's card.

It's another April Birthday Boy, and I have chosen to make a cowboy card. Stamps used are all from High Hopes: Cowboy Kenny, Rustic fence, Watering trough, Giddy up and Howdy Parder! The images have been water coloured and layered onto DP. I thought that they suited a distressed/muddy look, and sponged the word and main image background's with brown ink. I used a few scraps and spare images to decorate inside.

This was a quick card made for a work colleague, I definitely find male cards more difficult,but I think it looks OK! Roll on May and some Girly birthday cards-lol!

Thanks for looking, Katie.

YO-HO-YO-HO!

April is a Month of male birthdays for my family, and I normally find it difficult to come up with a suitable card (why are men so awkward!), not this time however!
I have made this Pirate card for my cousins little boy using the super cute Pirate stamps from High Hopes. The stamps on the front of the card are 'Peg Leg Pete', 'Thundering Rouge' and 'Birthday Caarrghd' sentiment. I also found some DP in my stash which was perfect - decorated with a map of the world and used inside and out.

The stamps used inside were the 'Yo-Ho-Yo-Ho' sentiment and treasure map (both have been stamped and distressed with brown ink) and the Treasure Chest, to which I added extra sparkle with gold and candy cane Stickles.


Thanks for looking, Katie.

HOW TIME FLIES!

Today's post is a quicky! Tomorrow my friends eldest Daughter will be 7, and I really don't know where the time has gone. I started my full time job as a cake Decorator just over seven years ago, when my friend Steph went on Maternity leave and now her tiny baby is a gorgeous seven year old!

Phoebe's card has been made using Tilda with Lilacs and Tilda's swing (both from Magnolia). I have also added a 'Happy Birthday', which is a High Hopes stamp, and a number seven, stamped using the Penny black number set. I finished the card with a couple of Prima Obsession flowers and a Dragonfly charm.

Have to dash, we have a stall a the 'Max Paper Craft' show, in Sunderland tomorrow and there is plenty still to be done, hopefully ending with a hot bath and an early night, but I think I will just have to dream on that one, lol!

Thanks for looking, Katie.

CHEER UP!

You know how people always say how wet it is in Manchester, well at the moment its living up to that comment! The past few days here have been dark and dreary, I just cant wait for spring and a little bit of sunshine -fingers crossed ;) ! With that in mind I have made a couple of cards with a uplifting vibe!

My first card is a get well soon card, with such miserable weather I'm sure we all know someone with a bad case of the sniffles!

I have used High Hopes 'Nurse Elizabeth Jo' and the matching 'Get well Wishes' sentiment. She is a real cutie and I'm sure she would bring a smile to any face! The card has been layered with Prima decorative papers in 'Urban Cosmos', and a large paper flower with a 'Urban Cosmos Chipboard Button' for the centre.

My second card I cant help but grin when I see.

It just his face, he is the cutest Lion I ever saw, less 'Predator' more 'Push-over'! His name is 'Leo', and is another wonderful stamp from High Hopes. I think with his cheeky grin and the addition of the High Hopes 'Large Sunny Face' stamp, this card just beams SMILE!

I hope they make you smile too, Thanks for looking, Katie :)

FROGGY GIFT

I don't think I've ever sent my Husband a regular Valentine, and this year will be no exception!

Cute and cuddly with a touch of quirky is the way I normally go, so a good contender will be High Hopes 'Froggy Gift'. Although not necessarily designed for a Valentines theme, he is so adorable and teamed with the High Hopes 'Kiss Toads' sentiment, he seems the ideal choice for my off-beat Valentine!

This card has been made with a 6x6 red card blank, and layered with Prima decorative paper and a spare piece of plain card which i embossed.

Froggy gift has been coloured with water colour pencils and the card finished with a few prima flowers.

I'm sure he would make excellent cards for other occasions, especially boys birthdays (slugs and snails and puppy dogs tails...)- just a touch of imagination and your off!

Thanks for looking, Katie.

A SPOON FULL OF SUGAR CHALLENGE

YE-HAW! We are once again sponsoring the fantastic Spoon full of Sugar challenge.
This week the challenge is to design a card following this great sketch by Tina.

Our card has been created with the stamps we are offering for the prize: High Hopes 'Cowgirl Candice' and 'Howdy Pardner' sentiment.




This is such a fun stamp and suitable for Children and Adults alike.
Candice has been coloured with water colour pencils as has the other stamp used: High Hopes 'Watering trough'. To follow the sketch, she has been mounted onto Prima double sided card stock in 'Angelique - Angel Breathe' and 'Whisper 2 - Adored'.







To add an extra bit of Cowgirl splendor, we have attached a Cow boot charm onto a strip of ribbon for a final decorative touch!




The winner of the challenge will be announced next Tuesday, so Keep checking and good luck to everyone who enters!

Thanks for looking, Katie.

JANUARY SALE

The Nutcrafters January sale is under way and we have just added even more!

Already including Magnolia and High Hopes stamps, we've just added the excellent Ladybug and friends designs by Rachelle Anne Miller to our online sale. These stamps are made from amazing quality rubber and are so detailed, they are absolutely beautiful.

Image: Ladybug and friends 'Under the Blanket'

Card stock: Prima 'Cavalier -Inamorato', 'Harmony - Lil Melody'

Embellishments: Prima 'Paper Rose leaves', 'Bucket of Blooms', 'Got Flowers'.

Happy shopping, and thanks for looking, Katie.

Sundays Best

Congratulations to Kim who won the spoonful of sugar challenge we sponsored a few weeks ago.
Hopefully her prize will have arrived by now and she will be crafting to her hearts content!

This card features one of the stamps included in Kim’s prize: High Hopes ‘Sundays Best’. It is a concertina style card, with details on each fold to give a layered effect.

Back layer: Round die cut stamped with High Hopes ‘Large Sunny Face’.
Middle layer: High Hopes ‘Garden Gate’.
Front layer: High Hopes ‘Sundays Best’, Prima ‘Sandies Favourites’ in Jealoussea, Prima ‘Centre Kisses’ in Aqua.

Because there is no exact centre to the card, the back fold is the best place for a sentiment and message.

Thanks for looking, Katie.

MISS MARISSA

This card was made specially for my Husbands Gran, who celebrated her birthday on the 2nd January.

I chose High Hopes 'Miss Marissa' because she is just so smiley, a definite reminder of the cards recipient!

The image was stamped in black ink and coloured with shimmer paints. I then cut the image into an oval and mounted it on a thick piece of lilac card, also cut into a scalloped oval.

I used a thicker piece of base card for the mount. This is because it is a kick stand style card and needed some strength to prop it up. I have used decorative card stock from Prima for the backing and embellished the front with Prima 'Heavenly' flowers and pale pink Centre Kisses. The top of the card has been finished with a ribbon bow, heart charm, and die cut letters.

Thanks for looking, Katie.

WEE THREE KINGS.

As always I am late starting my Christmas cards and since I have over 50 to do, I thought I'd better get a move on! I had a flash of inspiration over weekend and decided it would be a fab idea to do a card and cake 'combo' as a great Christmas gift.

High Hopes Wee Three Kings was an obvious choice as the stamp is the perfect size for both the card and cake, and looks wonderful inked up and coloured.

The cake is a 6" marzipan and iced fruit cake which i left to set up for a few days to ensure a smooth firm surface to apply the stamp to. The image was used as you would normally but painted with black food colouring instead of ink, and then coloured in with food colours , making everything edible. The great thing about it is that any mistakes can be easily wiped off ready to start again! I piped the sentiment to match the card (Wise Men Still Seek Him) and finished with a sprinkle of edible glitter and decorative ribbon.

The card is made from an A6 card blank, with decorative papers, ribbon and bow. The image was stamped in black, coloured with shimmer paints and watercolours and finished with Stickles. The sentiment 'Wise Men Still Seek Him' was stamped in back and cut out with decorative scissors. I added a Prima Definitions Pebble to finish with the word 'Adore' on it.

The Pebbles will be available soon at nutcrafters.com.

Image: High Hopes 'Wee Three Kings'

Sentiment: High Hopes ' Wise Men Border'

Thanks for looking, Katie.

Stamp of the Month

Better late than never as the saying goes...


Fall Joy was September's 'Stamp of the Month' over on the Nutcrafters web shop, and although we are already into October, we thought it was just too cute to miss out on a blog spot! Not only is this my favourite High Hopes stamp but I think the image best sums up mine and Colette's expressions when we got Nutcrafters.com up and running, lol!

Image: High Hopes Fall Joy, coloured with Le Plumme II Markers and watercolour paints.

Sentiment: High Hopes Friendship Grows, Stamped in Versa Mark Sepia.

Embellishments: Prima Mulberry paper leaves in Grape and Holly.

April & Mr. Waddles

As the weather has definitely taken a turn towards winter, we thought that this was just the card to cheer up those wet weekends. We love High Hopes' April and Mr. Waddles stamp, as it brings a smile to any rainy day.

I coloured this with Le Plume II markers, distressing the edges of the image with blue ink and adding stickles in the raindrops. The image is backed on some Prima card stock and decorated with some flowers from Essentials 4 range.

It would definitely take more than a little bit of rain to dampen our crafting spirits!

Katie