Mother's Day Gift

Just a quick note with some pictures of the Box I have painted for my mum for Mother's Day.  I will just post a few pictures as there are more here . 

I painted a small box as practice first and then did the larger one for mum.  I used the paint fusion technique with the rose stamps that you can get here .  I know that roses and rosehips actually come out at different times of the year but like the effect of roses growing up the box and the rose hips hanging down - so artistic license here LOL. 

I have lined the box with some flocked sticky back paper.  Not sure what mum will use it for but thought it would look nice in her bedroom and nice for keeping scarves and things in.  I hope she likes it!!

xxx

Craft US Crazy #5

This weeks challenge is HAPPY EASTER and/or SPRING!!!! We would love to see your projects using an EASTER or SPRING theme! We want all crafters to feel welcome, so if your crafting medium fits our challenge, then we welcome you to join! Whether it be sewing, scrapbooking, altering, cardmaking, candle making, whatever!! We hope you'll be joining us!!

Our sponsor for this challenge is......

 For Peggy's Etsy Shop...

For her ebay shop:

A little about Peggy Loves Vintage....

My husband and I have shared 36 years together and we have 2 sons and a daughter and 2 glorious grandkids ages 3 and 6.

I started collecting vintage cards quite by accident. I was helping with my aunts estate sale and ran across her collection. The cards were so wonderful that I fell in love with them and have been collecting them ever since.

I love to get a new vintage scrapbook and read all about the lives and times of the individual. Some of their stories are truly inspiring.

Be sure and visit my blog where you'll find some great inspiration, tips, tricks and some free vintage images for you to use.

I'm really excited about being an sponsor for Craft Us Crazy and sharing these beautiful vintage images with you. I hope that you come to love them as much as I do.

Peggy Loves Vintage is offering 5 different cut outs to our winner, that's a $17.50 Value...what an awesome prize for a lucky winner!!! Thanks Peggy for sponsoring our challenge and for donating some awesome images for our DT to work with!! We appreciate everything!

Also we have a brand new monthly sponsor for the month of April..and that would be the one and only..... 

 and the prize that's up for grabs, for a lucky Top 3 winner at the end of the month is a....

 

I have gone with the Spring part of the theme and done something a little different;

So I have made a notebook using my Cinch.  I took two chipboard pieces for the front and the back and then painted them in dark acrylic paint.  I let this dry completely then painted with PVA glue.  Then before this dried totally I painted a layer of lighter coloured acrylic paint (although normal emulsion works just as well) then dried it all with my heat gun which resulted in the lovely crackle background.  I then stamped the butterfly and the roses in pale stazon ink.  I then painted with acrylic paints.  When this was dry I re-stamped over the top of the butterfly with Perfect medium and used some gold sparkle embossing powder to get the outline.  I then stamped and embossed the words.  I punched the holes in it with my cinch along with some notepaper and threaded it onto my wire. 

I'm really pleased with how this turned out and I am in love with the paint fusion technique!

I hope you like my notebook and that you will join in at our challenge too.

xxx

 

Butterfly paint fusion card

Hello - how is everyone?  I hope the weather with you is as nice as it is here!  I am having a rest this afternoon as i had a busy morning as I had to go for a scan and then went food shopping with my mum so I'm worn out now as I suffer from terrible exhaustion due to my fibro.  However, I must get going tomorrow on my mother's day present for mum - I am decorating a lovely large heart shaped box which I am going to paint with roses.  Once I have done it I will post pictures.
Anyway I thought I would share with you my very first attempt at paint fusion, which is the new technique developed by Sheena Douglass.  You can see the stamps and DVD etc here .
So here is the card I made;

 So I used a piece of mount board which I painted with a dark acrylic paint, then, when dry, I painted a layer of PVA glue and then a layer of paler acrylic paint.  I then dried it with my heat gun which makes the crackle effect for the base.


The card base is a Kraft card covered with white wash core'dinations card which was embossed through the Cuttlebug and then sanded and punched.


I then stamped the butterfly and the wild roses onto the mount board.  I painted them up with Plaid paints.  When dry I stamped over the butterfly again with perfect medium and embossed with WOW powders . 

I finished by stamping and embossing the words and then all around the edge of the board too.  I matted and layered onto some pastel card and the front was done ;o)

I popped some more embossed whitewash card inside topped with a couple of nestie shapes and aa little sentiment which I had in my box.
My mum has had this card for a neighbour, whose birthday is this weekend - she's in her eighties and she loves anything handmade ;o)

Hope you like it too.

xxx



Card inspired by Sue Wilson

Hello again  -I'm getting better at more regular posting, just hope it lasts LOL.  Anyway thought I would share a card I have made that is inspired by a similar card made by Sue Wilson on Creat and Craft TV.  I saw her do this ages ago so couldn't remmeber exactly how she did it so I did my version as I just loved the card!

 The stamps are from Creative Exprexxion U Mount range - I just love this gecko!!  They are all embossed with Cosmic Shimmer Arctic Black Aurora and Viola Black Aurora.  It doesn't show very well on the photos but they have a real sheen of colour in them!

The shapes are from a Spellbinders nestie set using Kraft card and black card.  The sentiment is from Lili of the Valey.

I added some raffia at the bottom.

I did the inside of the card to match.

Hope you lke it.

If you pop over to my shop blog you will find a card sample made with the new Sheena Douglass paint fusion range.  One of my first attempts but still pretty nice!

xxx

Mother's day card and a challenge!

Back again!!  Thought I would share the card I've made for my mum for Mother's day which I am also going to enter into the Just Magnolia and hAnglar and sTanglar challenge.  This week it is favourite colour combo and I am loving these colours so thought it would qualify ;o)

 The colours don't show brilliantly in these photos but the reds and browns go really nicely together and I am loving this colour combination.

 So this card isn't just a card but a little box with drawers with an easel card on the top.  The image is an H & S from the new attitude kit which I coloured with Pro markers.  The sentiment is a Lili of the Valley. 

The papers are from K & Company but I can't remember which range as they are from a huge pad I've had for ages but the front sheet is missing so I am clueless as to what's what!!

 The image is set on nestie shapes and the ribbon is seam binding that has been lightly distressed (like me) with Vintage Photo distress ink.  There are 2 little heart charms hanging from the bow.

The flowers are made from 6 small nestie shapes sprayed with water, crumpled up with a brad through the middle and then fiddled with to make them look like peonies.  I set them on a couple of die cut flowers from the Magnolia Doo Hickey range.

 I added some lace to the easel bar from my stash.

 The drawers are lined with some mirri type card and the drawer 'handles' are hitch fasteners from Tim Holtz's idea-ology range. 

For the actual box/drawers I looked at lots of tutorials online and then adjusted measurements to fit my score buddy.
The base card has been punched around the page with a Martha Stewart lace punch.

To finish off I added a Doo Hickey tag with a bit of ribbon.

Sorry this has been a long post but thought it was worth the explanation.
Hope my mum likes it!!

xxx

Easter cards

Hello - I thought I'd post a few pictures of some cards I've made over the last few days.  So the first lot are a few simple Easter cards;

 They are all of a similar pattern made with Kraft cards stock and core'dinations card put through an embossing folder and sanded back.

The stamps are from Anna Griffin inked up with Brilliance inkpads.  The littel flowers are mad out of little torn squares of core'dinations card that was left over. 

I thought these were pretty cute and ideal for Easter/Spring cards.

I hope you like them too.

I'll be back soon with some other makes.

xxx

Craft US Crazy - challenge 4!!

First apologies for the late post  -I tried to schedule it buit it didn't work so not sure what went wrong there! 
Anyhoo - This weeks challenge is CUPCAKES AND/OR CELEBRATION!!!! Over at Craft US Crazy this week we would love to see your projects using CUPCAKES and/or a celebration theme! We want all crafters to feel welcome, so if your crafting medium fits our challenge, then we welcome you to join! Whether it be sewing, scrapbooking, altering, cardmaking, candle making, whatever!! We hope you'll be joining us!!

Our sponsor for this challenge is......

 

 Limited Runs is offering 3 Digital Images to our winner and an image EACH to our TOP 3..How awesome is that!!! Thanks Nikki for sponsoring our challenge, playing along with us this week and for donating some awesome images for some of our DT to work with!! We appreciate everything!

Don't forget to check out our wonderful monthly sponsor for the month of March..and that would be the one and only..... 

So onto my card for this challenge;

The image is a Limited Runs digistamp - Ladybug swirl.  It is sooo cute I just love ladybugs ;o)
I coloured it with Pro markers.  The papers are from Papermania - they're from my stash so I have no idea what they're called.
The sentiment is from Lili of the Valley embossed in pearlescent purple powder.
The shapes are all cut with Spellbinders nesties.

The ribbon is actually seam binding that started out as cream but I distressed it with worn lipstick to match in with the pastel theme.   And the cute ladybug charm is one I've had for ages and where I began with this card actually as it was pale pastel blue so I did the colour scheme to tie in with the charm!

 

Finally I cut a couple of nestie shapes to pop on the inside of the card as I hate to leave the inside blank.

 

So I hope you like this card - another different one for me because of the colours but I think it's quite a cute one!

 

Back soon

xxx

A card from one of Craft US Crazy's monthly sponsor

Hello everyone - I'm having another busy week, I just don't know where the time goes.  Anyway I have made a card with papers from Panda Bear designs - a range from Stitchy bear stamps.

The papers are from the garden fairies range and this one is called mauve with flowers - the picture doesn't do it justice as it reall is very pretty.

Inside I have used a Magnolia Doo hickey tag die along with the 'make a wish' sentiment as the easel stopper.







I cut the card with the Grand nesties by spellbinders.  The stamp is Crafter's Companion Flower fairies of the Garden Rose Bay Willow Herb.  I used the smaller stamps from this plate for the little background tag.

I coloured them in with Distress inks.  The lace is from Wold Orchid Crafts and the little dragonfly charm is one I've had for ages and I thought it would look cute on this card ;o)













Sorry the photo isn't brilliant - the colours are a lot better in the flesh.  I quite like this card - bit different for me but I still think it's kinda cute !!

Be back soon with another card for Craft US Crazy - again can't believe how quick these challenges are going!  I am hoping to make a few cards over the next few days as I have some birthdays coming up and of course mother's day!
I'm also waiting for some more stock for the shop and have some paint fusion stamps to work with to post on the shop blog to show how brilliant they are.

Anyway I'll be off now but back soon

xxx

Another small change

Hello everyone - hope you are all well.  Apologies again for the lack of posts but I am definitely getting back on top of things now after being ill with that grotty bug and then being really busy trying to stock my web shop.  Anyway I am finally getting there (albeit slowly) so now onto the small change.  This blog will njow be called Ladybug Cards and will remain my personal blog where i am going to post my cards and creations a lot more regularly.  So I have a new blog called Ladybug Crafts which is my shop blog where i hope to get lots of followers so that we can have fun with challenges and giveaways etc.  There's not much on there yet but I would love it if you would follow me there too and join my journey as my little shop hopefully grows ;o)

I am hoping over the next couple of months to get 2 or 3 people to join a small design team to make sample cards for the blog to encourage people to join in some challenges to win a voucher to spend at Ladybug or some crafty items. 

I am really grateful for those of you that follow my blog already and I think that crafty folk are the friendliest people around!!
I'll be back soon to share some cards with you all.

Take care
xxx

Craft US crazy challenge 3

Hello evberyone and first of all I must apologise for being late with my post.  I have been really rather poorly with a nasty bug and then had some blood pressure problems so have been feeling quite groggy.  But I'm here now with my DT card for the Craft US Crazy challenge.
This weeks challenge is NATURE!!!! We want to see anything that reminds you of nature!! Themes are open to interpretation, so we would love to see your interpretation of what the word NATURE means to you! We want all crafters to feel welcome, so if your crafting medium fits our challenge, then we welcome you to join! Whether it be sewing, scrapbooking, altering, cardmaking, candle making, whatever!! We hope you'll be joining us!!
Our sponsor for this challenge is......

Cocodingo
 Hi my name is Corinne and my nickname is frenchie on the forums (I am orginally from France).  Lauretta's one of my best friends, and we created the Craft Your Passion challenge blog, together. My drawing artist name is CocoDingo. My blog of digital stamps is CocoDingo. You can view/purchase my images at: http://cocodingo.blogspot.com/. I am also with the design team of karmascrap. I’m a stampin’up demonstrator since last year. You can visit my personal blog

at: http://passionscorinne.blogspot.com/. Here, You will find all of my passions on this blog: scrapbooking, cards, drawings and jewelery.

and they're offering FOUR DIGI IMAGES OF WINNERS CHOICE!!! How generous is that?? Thanks Corinne for sponsoring our challenge and for donating some awesome images for some of our DT to work with!! We appreciate it! 

We also have a wonderful monthly sponsor for the month of March..and that would be the one and only..... 

Stitchy Bear Stamps

"Hi my name is Stitchy and I am Co-Owner of Stitchy Bear Stamps...we started this store April 1st, No Fooling haha..I live in upstate New York with my husband and two TEENAGE adults haha, I do say that loosely as they think they run the show here, NOT...

I been creating stamps for a little less than a year now and I am totally addicted to the craft..I started about 4 years ago making digital scraps and I knew there was much more out there, so a friend of mine introduced me to digital stamps...and the rest they say is history...I look forward to seeing all the beautiful creations come through...good luck everyone..stitchy xoxox"

Stitch will be offering a wonderful prize to our monthly winner from the drawing of our Top 3 at the end of March! What's the prize you ask??? ..>Check it out!! 

 

So now onto my card.  This time I have done a twisted easel card with stamps forom the Sheena Douglass little bit sketchy range.

 I used the poppies and the daisies and coloured them with distress inks. 
The design papers are from K & co - a pad that I have had for ages and I don't remember the name so I'm sorry about that.  I backed it all onto kraft card and distressed the edges.

 The sentiment is from a hero arts stamp set and I embossed it with the brilliant WOW embossing powder available here.  I also used a Martha Stewart lace edger punch.  Finally the flowers were made with a nestie shape - I cut six for each flower and then spritzed with water and then crumpled them up.  I then flattened them out and punched a hole in the middle.  I then put a brad through and squished it all up again.  I then gently teased the petals open and lightly squashed with the flat of my hand.  To finish I brushed a vintage photo ink pad over the flowers.

I hope you like this card and it tempts you to join in the challenge.  Once again I'm sorry the post is late.

 

xxx