Balloon Dog!

Makes a change from all these cats, finally a dog themed card!  Made a set of these and they were really fun to make. I printed out the text and balloon placement directly onto kraft cardstock. I then printed out the balloon shape on coloured papers and cut them out. The little dog is an old stamp from Woodware, the set is called "A Dog's Life" (FRCL032) and I've got a lot of use out of it already. Really enjoyed colouring him in with polychromo pencils directly onto the kraft card, my top tip would be to use lots of white! I mounted my 14x14cm topper onto a 15x15cm kraft blank just to add a bit of a modern twist :) I think it works great as a man's card but equally well as a card for a female friend. I added him some collar bling regardless of the recipient ;)

Summer Holiday - Dr Digi House of Stamps

Made a card for my FIL using this great image from Dr Digi. They have a really good selection of images suitable for slightly older recipients, nothing naff, nothing cutesy, actually quite funny and well observed. Shall defo be returning to them when I want something different, particularly for male cards.

So the digi is "Summer Holiday" by Dr. Digi.(Coloured with Copics)
The greeting stamp was from a magazine freebie set called "Teeny Boppers" (Creative Stamping Magazine)
"Dad" wording and little campervan images were upcycled from another card.
I used the freebie stamp from last months Craft Stamper Mag to personalise the envelope.

Entered for the Crafty Addicts Challenge for August - Anything Goes or Summer Fun

Lobster Love

My friend asked me to draw her a pair of lobsters holding hands for her anniversary. Which is normal ;)

I used some beautiful paper my friend Helen gave me, specifically for polychromo pencils and it was lovely to work with. (Daler Rowney Mixed Media) No burnishing or major blending, I kind of liked the chunky look.

Not sure what she wanted it for but I think it would make a nice tattoo... though I couldn't escape how they are kinda like badass prawns. :) Badass-prawn-tattoo anyone?

Paint Swatch Cards

Had to break away from the Knitty Kitty Digi Launch and work on some card orders! I've wanted to try a "Paint Swatch" card for a bit and my friend (Thanks - Susan!) picked me up some paint chips from the DIY store. ( Paint swatch/chip? I'm not sure, but if you want to Pinterest for ideas, either term seems to bring up the projects using them.)

Here are the finished cards, I'm not sure I've done the ombré effect justice with this design? Might try another one of the suggestions for how to use them to create cards. It's a very frugal design though, using punches that rarely see the light of day, free swatches, part of the sequin hoard and some stamps I already had in the stash. (Also free DL card blanks my friend Helen gave me!) I tried it with free hand scrolls but wasn't happy with the result. What do you think?

"Happy Birthday" Stamp from Set 345 Fairy Doodles by Buzzcraft.

Scrolls are "Fantastic Flourishes" by Hero Arts, CL106

The Launching of Knitty Kitty Digis!

Am very happy to announce the launch of Knitty Kitty Digis! The first collection of hand drawn images (digistamps) featuring the Knitty Kitties and friends.

Digistamp images are available for purchase from my shop on Etsy and you can download them to your computer to colour or use creatively!

Our design team member Helen Haines has kindly coloured all ten of the images and they are shown on each listing as inspiration and are also available to look at on our new Facebook Page -

Click Here for Knitty Kitty Digis on Facebook

Feel free to join up and get updates, news and offers!

I'm designing some cards using the Knitty Kitty Digi designs that will hopefully show an easy way to use them and create something any catty loving friend would adore! ( Or owl loving friend on occasions...)  More updates on that soon!

I value all feedback, so if you've got an opinion voice it! If you download some of the images and want help or to chat about your work then join us on our facebook page.

Exploding Box Cupcake Card

Had in a customer request for an exploding box cupcake card. After  a search about for ideas, I found two great blog posts for inspiration -

http://dianebarnes.blogspot.com.au/2014/03/cupcake-pop-up-card-in-box-with-template.html

and

http://monicas-passions.blogspot.com.au/2013/09/my-third-and-fourth-paperietreats.html

Which also links to an excellent tutorial video on youtube. 

The card I created - front view once popped.

I mentally combined both tutorials and The Cupcakes Stamp Set (CL158) from Hero Arts to make my pop up box! (And tailored it to a fiftieth birthday and included some white chocolate frosting, which was an important bit.)

Side view so you can see how the construction works.

One of the flat views for sending. You can also put all the flaps up so the inside is a complete surprise until they open it, but I like this alternative with two flaps down too.

The paper set was a freebie from Simply Cards and Papercraft Magazine called The Funky Hand Collection.
Die cut Happy Birthday letters were a metal die from Die'sire Classiques.

Exciting News.

I haven't been around for a bit because I am working on a new project! I am extremely excited about it and it's in the final stages before it goes live! I shall include a sneaky peek but please stand by for more news soon! :)

Thank you to my friends for supporting me through the process! :D