We wish you a merry christmas!

This is the first card that I had done in ages that has not had to be a DT card and at long last I have managed to do one that fits the challenge at the The Sugar Bowl where they have a great sketch to follow and the other option was to try something different - the difference for me was that I have completely coloured in the image, including the background - never done this before.


The stamp is a Sugar Nellie one from Funky Kits called Festive Friends and the papers are all just scraps that I had left in my box - I think the striped one may be last years My Mind's Eye.

Well it looks like we may be enjoying the calm before the storm here today in the Highlands of Scotland as we have yet more gales and snow forecast. I only hope that it is a bit better by the beginning of next week as we need to get to Edinburgh on Monday evening to catch a flight to Spain first thing on Tuesday morning, and after the disaster that we had on the 17th December last year when we landed up spening a week at Heathrow airport, I can only hope and pray that this year will be a little less stressful!!

Have a great week.

Karen x

A Spoon Full of Sugar Challenge #162 - Birthdays

We have a new challenge for you today at A Spoon Full of Sugar and this time around we are looking for Birthday cards. We are slowing down a bit over the summer holiday time and this challenge will be running until Monday 29th August with a new one starting on 30th August and then back to our weekly slot on Tuesday 6th September.

For my card I have used one of the cute new stamps from Sugar Nellie and I think that she is really cute, a bit bigger stamp than I ahd expected it to be and perhaps a bigger card would have been better but cute nevertheless I think. The sketch is the current one at The Sweet Stop.


I hope that you have fun with this challenge.

Karen x

A Spoon Full of Sugar - Challenge #148 - Let's Celebrate

We have a new challenge for you today at A Spoon Full of Sugar and this time it is a real easy one - let's celebrate - so Birthdays, Anniversaries, Weddings etc.

We are sponsored this week by Whimsy Stamps and as usual Denise has been very generous in offering a $15 gift certificate to one lucky winner.


I have used one of my most favourite Sugar Nellie stamps on my card for today Daisy, I had forgotten just how gorgeous she is and I really must use her more often. The celebration that I have chosen is Birthday, the from says Thinking of You and in the inside of the card I have stamped "On Your Birthday". The sketch that I have followed is the current one at Sweet Sketch Wednesday.

I hope that you have fun with this challenge.

Karen x

Another Birthday Card for my Box

Just a really quick card to show you today as I am just heading out - and am already late!!

I was having a tidy out of some of my craft drawers last night and came across a pile of images that I had coloured in probably about a year ago, so I thought that I may as well try to use these up and get a few quick cards done to put in my box.


I just love the pose of this little gorjuss girl and she is just perfect for a little birthday card. The papers are by papermania and this card fits in well with the challenge at Stamp Something where they are looking for celebration cards.

The sun is shining here today - after all the rain that we had yesterday - so I am off out to enjoy it for a bit.

Have a great weekend.

Karen x

A Spoon Full of Sugar - Challenge 116 - Sketch by Sonia

We are back at A Spoon Full of Sugar after our summer break and we have a fabulous sketch for you to follow by our own Sonia and also a fabulous prize up for grabs which you can read all about Here as well having a look at the gorgeous cards from the girls on the DT this week.



I have dusted off one of my Sugar Nellie stamps for this week's card. This is my favourite by the artist Dianne Duda and I have teamed her up with some K&Co papers and just a couple of flowers and a tiny butterfly to finish off.



I am also entering this card at Dutch Dare challenges where the theme is anything goes.

I hope you have all had a lovely time over the summer break and are ready to play along with us again at A Spoon Full of Sugar.

Karen x

A Spoon Full of Sugar - Challenge 89 - Lets get Sketchy

Time for a new challenge at A Spoon Full of Sugar and this week Sonja has designed us a lovely sketch to work with. With the hearts as part of the sketch this is perfect for those valentine's cards which we'll all be needing very soon!!


This image is Elise and she is a Sugar Nellie stamp. Not sure if she is specifically for Valentines Day, but as she is carrying a heart she certainly could be used for this. I have cut the heart shapes on the cricut and then embossed them with cuttlebug folders - if you look closely you will see that the pink heart has been put in the folder the wrong way around and now is debossed - looks OK though I think. The border strip which is only just visable under the image is cut using a Martha Stewart Punch.


There are some fabulous cards from the DT for you to see Here and you can also read all about the fab prize from this week's sponsor Stretch n Bubbles.

Have a great Tuesday.

Karen x

Copics Colour Challenge - #49

Here are the colours for this week's challenge over at Copics Colour Challenge.


Now, we know this doesn't look like a massively exciting combo, but we thought that it should actually be a nice easy one for you as you have a skin tone, blush and hair colour just sat there, waiting to be called upon! Add whatever colours you like and you are good to go!

Please remember though that if you are missing some of the colours, we still want you to join in with us. Just have a rifle through your Copics and pull out something similar. As long as the overall effect is the same, you are more than welcome to play along.


I have challenged myself this week to try something a bit different and to use darker coloured papers. I have had this pad from K&Co for ages and just love the papers in it, but have really struggled to put a card together with them in the past and have played around with them many times. I hope you like what I have come up with - it is growing on me!! The image is from Sugar Nellie and the flowers are by prima. I have followed the square version of the sketch on offer this week from Mojo Monday.


Please check out the copic colour challenge blog Here to see what the rest of the DT have created this week and also to read all about the fab stamp that Janet from Pink Gem Designs is offering as our prize this week.

Karen x

New Baby Card with this week's Copics Colour Challange colours

We have some fabulous colours this week for you to follow at Copics Colour challenge and we have a brilliant prize on offer from our sponsors - Simon Says Stamp this week of a $25 store voucher - what a fab prize at the start of the year!


I thought that these colours really were perfect for a baby card - I have a friend whose baby is due next week and I have a feeling that it will be a girl - she think's it is a boy, so I guess we will just have to wait a bit longer to see who is right.


The stamp is by Sugar Nellie and the papers are by Flair Designs from a pack that I bought ages ago. Ribbon and charms from my stash. The sketch that I have used is the fab one over at the Sugar Bowl at the moment - unfortunately I can't enter it there as I had forgotten when I used it for my DT card that you cannot combine challenges at the Sugar Bowl - never mind it is a brilliant sketch anyhow - thanks Lilian.

I am having a day at home today as the trains are not running properly here. I went to get an early train home at 2.30 yesterday only to get as far as Forres which is only 10 miles from where I live - the points were frozen there and by the time that Network Rail came out to see to them an hour and a half later the weather had got worse and the track was closed. I eventually got home just after 6pm - It is usually a 40 minute train journey!!. I got to the station this morning to find that the trains were already running around 45 minutes late and no guarantee that they would be running at all from Inverness in the afternoon - so I am now at home trying to pick up my work emails and do as much as I can.

I will also enter this card into the challenge over at Cupcake craft challenges where the challenge is to make a baby card.

Keep warm and I hope you are managing to get around if you really need to.

Karen x

Basic Grey Challenge - Sketch by Tara

It is ages since I have had time to enter a Basic Grey Challenge, but this week the fab sketch by Tara looked just like it was made for this Sugar Nellie image that I coloured in a couple of weeks ago. I have been pushing around papers with it for the past week or so, but just could not get anything that looked right. When I saw the sketch today I had a hunt in my old papers from last Christmas and found a Wassail pad - I so loved these last year and had completely forgotten that I still had some left. The flowers are by prima and the sentiment by making memories.


I had an order for christmas cards from one of my workmates on Friday, so this will be just perfect as one of them I think.

Karen x

A Spoon Full of Sugar - Challenge 79 - A Colour Challenge

Our challenge at A Spoon Full of Sugar was picked by our own Camilla and it is a colour combo with a twist,you need to use brown as your nain colour and then you can add either pink or blue.

Our sponsor this week is Denise from Whimsy stamps and you can read all about the generous prize that she has given us this week and also about a 10% off coupon over on the blog. While you are there you will just love the cards that the rest of the DT have come up with this week.


I haven't inked up these Gorjuss girls stamps for ages, but I think that this little beauty goes so well with these gorgeous papers from Webster's Pages. I bought a 6x6 pad of these when I was at the Hobbycrafts Show in Glasgow a few weeks ago and have been gazing at them ever since - they are just too beautiful to cut into - I only wish that I had bought more of them. The flowers are by Bo-Bunny and I have given them a light spray of glimmer mist. The swirls were cut using a Quickutz die.

I do hope that you enjoy these colours as much as I have done - It was a real challenge for me as these are not the colours that I would normally work with - but I certainly will be using them again as I am really pleased with the finished card.

I am also entering this card at Everybody Art Challenge where the challenge is Christmas Cards and also at Papertake Weekly where they are looking for Christmas Crackers.

Update on this card as I have had a few questions about the tree - this tree is on one of these Webster's Pages sheets of DP and I have just cut it out and glued the gorjuss girl onto it.

Karen x

Copics Colour Challenge #39

This week, we have another brilliant sponsor for you who is offering up an unmissable prize. This week, we are sponsored by none other than Stamping Bella! Emily, the Stampin' Bella herself, has offered up $20 of big fat Bella bucks to spend - what a great prize!! You can check it all out Here and also get some inspiration from the cards that the rest of the DT have made.


The colour combo this week is certainly a bold one but I think probably just perfect for those Christmas Cards.


This week I have tried something a bit different and a change from my usual pastel colours and cute images. This image is by Leanne Ellis for Sugar Nellie and is not actually a Christmas stamp but I had seen it used on a Christmas Card and have given it a try and I am just delighted with the finished result. DP is by My Minds Eye, flowers by Prima and sentiment by Papermania.

I am sure that you will have fun with these colours and I look forward to visiting your blogs to see your creations.

Karen x

Copics Colour Challenge #38

I can hardly believe that it is Wednesday already - where does the time go? We have another set of fab colours for you to work with at Copics Colour Challenge this week and remember that if you do not have these exact colours, we are more than happy for you to just use your nearest. As long as you have used similar Copic markers, you will be eligible for the prize which this week is being offered by Paper Pretties and is a whole set of stamps - how fabulous!!


This week I have chosen to make a little gift card holder - I will be needing quite a few of these at Christmas time so at least I have got one out of the way now. I can't remember where I got the tutorial for this one, but the base is made from 1 piece of card which is 11" by 4.5" and then scored at 5.5" 3" and 8", it is then folded in half to create the centre piece to hold the gift-card and the other two sided folded back to create the front and back of the little booklet. I have then used one of the labels nesties to created the opening in the centre piece for holding the card. The whole thing has been decorated with Bo Bunny papers and the image in the front is one of the Manga Christmas stamps from Sugar Nellie.






I will be back later this evening with my card for the new challenge over at Nutty Nutshells Wednesday.

Karen x

ICS Sketch# 27

Here is Dawn's new sketch for this week at ICS and as usual it is a great one.


Onto our lovely sponsor for this week is DIGIMENTS. Michelle from Digiments is offering...
(2) $20 gift certificates to Digiments.
So that means we'll have two lovely winners to chose from. How exciting! So pop on over to the ICS blog to read all about these great prizes and also check out the beautiful cards from the rest of the DT this week.
I have used one of the Gorjuss set 2 girls for my card this week and I can't believe that this is the first time that I have used this one - how cute is she? The DP is by K&Co and the sentiment from this week's sponsor Digiments.


I hope you get a chance to join in with the challenge this week and I look forward to visitng your blogs to see what you are up to.

Karen x

Copics Colour Challenge #23 using Stamp Something Sketch

This week at Copics Colour Challenge we have another great sponsor for you - Toodles and Binks. Toodles and Binks are offering a rather lovely £15 voucher to spend on their stamps, and as they are already so competitively priced, the winner of challenge 23 will get a lot of goodies for their winnings! For those of you who haven't seen their amazing stamps before, where have you been?! Make sure you check them out as their designs are simply gorgeous.


To be in with a chance of winning this great prize, you just need to create 'something' with your Copics using the above colour combo YG63, YR04 and R35. You can make anything you like to enter, however, you must use your Copics. If you haven't got the right shades, just pick one that is 'near enough'!


I have used a couple of the new Manga Stamps from Sugar Nellie and aren't these just too cute. The DP is Making Memories Cheeky Abbie , buttons Stampin Up and ribbon from my stash. The sentiments are from a CC Designs sentiments set. The sketch that I have followed is the one at Sketch Something this week which I think is a great one with this image.


I have carried the same colours through to the inside of the card and this time have cut out the image.

I do hope that you get a chance to join in with us this week with these great colours.

Karen x

Duda Daze Blog Hop - Believe

You should have arrived here from Sophie's Moonlight Inker blog and if not you can reach it Here.
As my little project with this fabulous new Duda Daze stamp I have made a card and a little notebook to match. I have used copics to colour the image and finished it off with some stickles on the wings and crowns. The DP is from a PaperMania pad which I think has to be my favourite pad at the moment. Flowers are by prima sugar coated brads by Doodlebug and the adhesive glitter dots by papermaina.

I have carried the same colour theme through to the inside of the card and stamped the image again, coloured in to match the one on the front and cut out both the girl and the cat seperately. Sorry, can't tell you who the Thinking of You stamp is by, it is a clear one that I picked up the US last year and unfortunately has no name on it.

This was a little 99p notebook that I picked up from Asda. I opened up the spiral and took both the covers off to cover them and then repunched the holes with the crop-o-dile. DP again is by Papermania and flowers to match the card.



The next person on the blog hop is Summer Loving Gal and you can check out her lovely creation Here
I am now off to work my way through the blog hop to see the beautiful things that all these creative people have show-cased and try to make up my mind which stamps I need first from this fabulous new collection from Sugar Nellie
Have a great weekend and thanks for taking the time to have a look at my blog.
Karen x

A Spoon Full of Sugar - Challenge 54 - Sketch by Sonja

For our challenge this week at A Spoon Full of Sugar we have a fab sketch designed by our very own talented Sonja. Thank you Sonja!

We have a great prize this week which has been kindly donated by Regina Easter from The Cutting Cafe. The lucky winner can choose any 3 sets from the cafe site. If you have never visited The Cutting Cafe before please make sure you click on the link to pop on over and take a peep. Regina has some amazing downloads to purchase.


I have used one of the original Leanne Ellis collection of stamps from Sugar Nellie this week and the papers and buttons all came from an Autumn Leaves Scrapbooking page kit which was on sale. Ribbon and flower from my stash. These colours are not colours that I normally would work with, but I just wanted to try out something different and I am really happy with the results.
Sorry no inside to this card as yet. We had the grandchildren to stay at the weekend, which was wonderful and we had such a great time in the sunshine, but I am now running way behind with the cards for this week. I will get it done inside at some point and wil then add it to the blog.
Have a great week and check out the challenge blog Here if you are looking for a bit of inspiration as the rest of the DT have come up with some fabulous cards this week.
Karen x

Happy 1st Birthday - A Spoon Full of Sugar, with Marlene's Fab sketch at the Sugar Bowl

Woooo Hooooo!!! Today is A Spoon Full of Sugar's Birthday.. Yes, our challenge is 1 year old!!!


We want you all to join in the fun this week so our challenge is a nice easy one. We would like you to create a card for a Celebration..... any celebration will do... Birthday, Anniversary, Baby Announcement.... anything goes!

We have lots of fabulous prizes this week! Our very generous sponsors this week are: Whiff of Joy, Whimsy Stamps, Roses on Paper, Nutcrafters and Silly Monkey Crafts. Yes that's right 5 lucky people can win a prize this week! Pop on over to A Spoon Full of Sugar to read all about these prizes and also to see the wonderful cards by the design team and also the fabulous cards from the our special Guest Designers Deb and Marlou.


I have chosen to make a Birthday card (as I needed one!) and have used one of the Gorjuss Girls from set one - I really think this is my favourite out of all of them. The papers are from Kaisercraft and I have been saving these as they were almost too pretty to cut up. Flower, ribbon and buttons from my stash.
I have not finished the inside of this card yet, but hopefully will get it done tonight and will update this post when I complete it.

I have used the fabulous sketch my Marlene over at The Sugar Bowl, so I am entering this card in the challenge over there.

I do hope you all manage to join us in this bumper celebration week at A Spoon Full of Sugar and I look forward to seeing your beautiful cards.

Karen x