I am so so excited to have been asked to join the Polka Doodles design team!!! Huge thanks to Enfys for recommending me!!! I cannot wait to get started!!!

Over at Die Cuts R Us the challenge is to use up any leftover valentines papers!!! Sound easy but . . . the card is not to be a valentines card!!! Thinking caps on this morning and this is what I came up with. The base of this card is actually waste cardboard that was supporting something I had sent through the post ( keeping in with the no waste theme ) I cut the cardboard to fit on the cover of a square card blank, then to make it a bit prettier I stamped the edges with some foam stamps that I had in my stash from QVC a while back! The leftover valentines paper comes from the new Bo Bunny love bandit collection ( so so cut ) I have stamped around the edges with fake stitches ( as I have no sewing machine or knowledge of how to use one ) again using stamps from QVC they are by HOTP. Onto the pattern paper I have mounted a die cut tag that I had free in a cardmaking magazine!!! The bird is a stamp from Imaginisce and I have stamped him firstly on more left over Bo Bunny paper, I have then die cut it with my scallop nesties. This is them adhered to the tag with 3D faom pads. The next layer is stamped onto DCWV texture cardstock then the final layer is a blue spotty card that I had free from a card magazine! The little tree/flower ( I can't decide which it is ) is made up from a scrap of blue card and some teardrop sequins that I had ( yes you guessed it ) free with a cardmaking magazine! The whole thing is finished off with a thank you rub on from letraset. So in a effort to use up leftover I have managed to use up lots of free bits I have been refusing to throw away!!! Thanks for looking!!!

I am very happy as Joanna over at scrap - making http://scrap-making.blogspot.com/ has given me this very pretty award, so huge thank you Joanna. Pop over to her blog as there is just lots and lots of pretty things to look at!!! I have to now pass it on to 6 of my followers so here we go!

http://lakulcards.blogspot.com/
http://huxtershouse.blogspot.com/
http://myinkyhands-jennifer.blogspot.com/
http://wilky-clare.blogspot.com/
http://d-swat.blogspot.com/
http://msmerrymak.blogspot.com/

right I hope I have done this right!!!

I have been experimenting this morning with some ideas for invitations to a fancy party! As always I like to put a Stacey twist on things! I love how this has turned out and I think I will be using this design quite a bit! It is a small version of what the actula invit will be, The cupcake is cut at 5" in shadow and welded together in DS ( I flipped the one image so they would match up when folded ) Then I have cut just one more shadow layer to stick over the top. Next I have cut it in the black out feature and stuck this on with foam pads, I added a silver border peel off sticker to the bottom then added some gems! I have used white card for the icing which i have then embossed with the big shot. To top the icing I have glued the embossed swirls then added fine glitter! I could not resis the opportunity to make this even more sparkly so I added more gems!!!

I have been looking at challenge blogs today so I have decide to enter this in the Die Cuts R Us Challenge!!! wish me luck!!!

This is my last card for today! I have seen alot of paper flowers about and I think they are so fab so I thought I would have a go but they were a bit too big for flowers so I turned them into a tree! The base of the card is Imaginisce, I cut it down to 6x6" and I have put a slightly smaller heavy weight cream card inside as it was a bit flimsy so now it has some support! I have embellished the bottom of the card with some self adhesive lace ribbon that I had in my craft stash and then topped that with a sort of ric rak scallop ribbon! I have attached 2 tiny charms to the card using american crafts ribbon. The toadstool charm I have recently bought from ebay and the leaf is from a bracelet that I have pulled apart as it had so many cute bits on it!!! The tress trunk is cut from SYI but I have chopped away until I had the shape I was after! The main body of the tree was really fun to do, I just cut up co ordinating circles form scraps of paper ( Clare Curd, DCWV & Bo Bunny ) you then scrumple them up and rip them until they look like they are ready for the bin, then unsrew them and ink them up ( good for rage ) I loved that will be doing it again after a bad day!!! Finally I have cut a sun using Doodle Charms fron DCWV card from the blossoms and butterflies stack!!!

I have never entered a challenge on the Do Crafts site but I thought why not??? This weeks challenge was to take inspiration from a picture, we could take to colours the shapes anything that inspired us so this is what I did! I created a shape card using DS and SYI. The black base is 5" in shadow, I then cut 5 other layers reducing then by 1/4" each time. To give the layers added dimension I curled the edges of the petals. The centre is cut from sweet treats and enbossed with swiss dots using my big shot. Finally my little lady bug is cut from doodle charms, the black spots are filled in with glossy accents for a bit of shine and He has some googly eyes so he can see x x

This card is inspired from a card that I have seen on the cricut forum, I forget who it was by but she deserves the credit! As soon as i saw it I knew that I wanted to have a go so here is my version! The alien is cut from the Paper Dolls cart, he is cut from Bo Bunny paper ( surprise ) and he has a big googly eye glued on! The card base is pearl blue square card with DCWV background paper. I have punced a border on some textures pink cardstock then added that to the background and I have finished the whole card off with a hand written sentiment!

I have been busy this morning, as I couldn't get to the PC as my Hubby was working from home so I put my time to good use and made some cards!!! My first card today is a new home card which I have made using the Sweet Hearts Cart which Julie has very kindly let me borrow for a few days! The car is A5 in size and the background papers are from Bo Bunny, I have hidden the join with some self adhesive ribbon from HobbyCraft and punched the bottom with my Martha Stewart Punch. The bird house is cut using SYI. I cut is from plain brown card to match the base card and then more Bo Bunny card, I have embossed the brown base using the sizzix texture plates ( they are not brilliant ) In the window I have stuck some old ribbon so it looks like curtains ( so cute ) Finally the ret is cute form sweet hearts and the papers are all Bo Bunny ( except the Love Nest - that is plain pink cardstock )

Enfys is hosting 2 blog candy give aways one for us in the UK and then one for the US, so if you fancy some goodies pop over and check out the details!!!

http://going-buggy.blogspot.com/2010/02/pagoda-anniversary-card-and-some-blog.html

Well I have decided to have a go at the competition currently running over on the Caardvarks blog, it is a chance to get a card published in the Cards Magazine!!! We sell this in the shop I work in and it is amazing! I have looked at some of the entries and they are just amazing!!! Here is my entry!!! The card base is DCWV card stock, I have cut is at just over 6" x 6", The band at the bottom of the card is cut from Bo Bunny Love Bandit paper and then punched on both edges with a Martha Stewart border punch. It is held in the centre with two tiny bows running through some cute blue eyelets. The swallow is cut form Indie Arts at 2 3/4" the shadow is DCWV texture cardstock the blackout layer is Bo Bunny Love Bandit paper ( loving that range ) and the top is a plain blue card which I have inked up! Finally the stamp is and old wedding stamp ( cannot remember who it is made by ) which has been heat embossed with holographic powder! It is not as good as some of the entries but I am very happy with how it has turned out!!! wish me luck x x x

With Valentines Day looming I have been feeling the love!!! Here is a cute little card that I have made using the cow, fence and grass from paper dolls!!! The card base is a pearl green card, the spotty background paper is actually a divider from a K & Co storage case. The cow has been inked up and I have cut patches free hand from a scrap of brown card, these too have been inked for effect!, the fence was cut at fit to page on a 12x12 mat as i will use the rest for other cards, the fence is 2". I have added some cute little hearts and a hand written message!

It is coming upto Valentine's day so I though I would get in the mood for ramance and create some valentines cards! I must admit I have seen a few versions of the bird cut on the cricut forum and on some of the blogs I have stumbled across. I was so inspired that I decided to create my own version!!! This card ( I think ) has used the most carts during its birth, but I think the hard work is reflected!!! The card is A5 in size and it is made from brown pearl card. The background papers are by Bo Bunny and they are both the reverse of christmas papers!!! I have hidden the join with some American Crafts ribbon and punched the blue card with my Martha Stewart border punch. The bird is cut from Indie Arts at approx 3", I cut the shadow, then the blackout and then the shape, they have been shaded with brown ink then layered. The clouds are cut from the Hello Kitty Greetings cart, I have run them through the big shot using the divine swirls embossing folder them inked them up again using brown ink. The little heart that the bird is carrying is cut from Doodlecharms and embossed. To finish off the card I have used my trusted pearl gems!!! The smaller card is done almost the same but using up scraps for the background!!!

Well I have been at it again with my Kanban cupcake stamps, but I have decided that I am no good at colouring them in so I have stamped them onto various scraps of pattern card or paper and layered them up!!! I really like how they have turned out!!! I have topped them with adheasive pearl gems just to make them a little bit special!!!

I have been at the skulls again! I have been using the Inkadinkadoo Rock Star stamps, they are just so amazing! The base card is a white linen card and it is and A5 card! I have stamped the corners with some stamps I bought from QVC and I have inked around all the edges of the card! The linen texture of the card makes the inking look extra aged which I love. I have then stamped a skull onto hammer texture card, I then inked a music swirl in the top left corner and more skulls along the bottom. Again I have inked around the edges of the piece of card, the card had then been monuted onto a plain black piece of card and mounted again onto DCWV RockStar cardstock. The whole card is then topped off with some purple gems!!!

I have been attempting to put together a few mothers day cards, as it is fast approaching, so here are som early attempts!

We have just had in the new Kanban cupcake stamps in Hobbycraft and I just had to buy them!!! This is my first attempt with them! I have stamped them onto smooth white card which I have die cut with my scallop nesties and coloured them in with dovecraft brush pens, I have then embellished the top with pink pearl gems. The cake is them mounted onto a Bo Bunny Paper which is also die cut with the nesties!!! The card is a small square and it is pearl blue!!! Foe the background I have used some scraps that I have kept ( see Kon I knew I would need them ) they are DCWV paper and Imaginisce cardstock, and they have been punced with my martha stewart punch which I had for my birthday from Julie at Huxters House!!!

Not one of my creations today, but I still think it is super cute. We had the new Kanban wobblers in work last so I thought I would put one together so the customers could see what they look like when finished!!! I really love this range they are so easy to put together and fab for quick cards!!!