Cats or Dogs (DT) As You Like It Challenge

Hello peeps, I hope this Thursday finds you well and that life is being kind to you.  We all need a little kindess.

There is a new themed challenge at AS YOU LIKE IT today, and that theme is Cats or Dogs (your favourite, but please tell us why).

I've had cats in my life since I was born, literally - Sam, the farm tabby, used to sleep under my pram in the garden and wouldn't let anyone near, he was a fierce guard cat!  I can't imagine being without one now, with their cuteness (when they want), their calming purrs, their antics, scheming, mischief, all in all life would be dull without a furry feline buddy.

For this bundle of fuzz, I have used:

MFT Birdie Brown - Cat-Astrophe stamps MFT-BB-104

and the matching dies

a mixture of MFT and Honey Bee papers

a Whimsy ribbon slider die

Two sentiments - one from the cat stamp set, the other from Personal Impressions

and, shockingly, a beautiful piece of rainbow organza ribbon from Fantastic Ribbons

Kittens all coloured up using Zig Clean Colour Pens

Our sponsor for this challenge is

POLKADOODLES

Looking forward to meeting all your furry friends!

Hugs

The Gnome And The Bird (DT) Dies To Die For

Morning all.  What's it like where you are?  It's a bit dingy here, I think we might be in for some much needed rain today.  I only hope it lets my towels get dry first!

There have been a lot of gnomes about on the crafting scene for a while now, and many of them are super cute.  However, when Stamping Bella released their new batch of Gnome stamps I am sure

you will have heard my squeal about 500 miles away.  The only thing about them that scares me are the beards!

Stamping Bella - The Gnome and The Bird

Memory Box - Nottingham Border die

MFT 6x6 papers - Buffalo Brights

Sentiment comes with the Gnome stamp.

Sparkly yellow dots from stash.

Image coloured with Zig Clean Colour pens and a Derwent grey ink drawing pen.

Hugs

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All The Cupcakes (DT) Dies To Die For

Morning all, here I am, on time for a change, and officially another year older than I was last week!

Let's face it, it doesn't matter how old you are, there is no better way to celebrate a birthday than with a great big cake (or lots of  smaller cakes).

And the lovely things used for this are:

MFT Clear Stamps - All The Cupcakes stamps MFT-CS-489

MFT DieNamics - All The Cupcakes dies MFT-1781

MFT Clear Stamps - Big Birthday Sentiments stamps MFT-CS-133

MFT DieNamics - Stitched CU Comp Vertical MFT-767

(I used the cover up die cut as a stencil for my background inking)

Vertical die has gone from website now, but the Horizonal one MFT-768 is still available

As mentioned above, I used the die cut as my stencil, and then inked up with Distress Inks and my Picket Fence brushes to get that soft marbled effect.

All the cakes were watercoloured with the Zig Clean Colour Pens.

We didn't do much for my birthday on the day, but we did take a trip to the seaside yesterday, got a fish and chip takeaway and sat down on the seafront to scoff it.  On the way back to the car, I caved in and got my first Costa Flat White in four months, it was like nectar!

Anyhoo, that's me for today, see you soon.

Hugs

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Summer or Autumn (DT) As You Like It

Here we are again, another alternate Thursday which brings a challenge from AS YOU LIKE IT.

This time our theme is Summer or Autumn (your choice, but please explain)

I'm not a huge fan of summer (surprising really as I was born slap bang in the middle of it, today in fact) as I struggle with the intense heat.  I much prefer the more mellow days of autumn, the warmth is kinder, the light is softer, and I love the rich tones of the foliage changing from green to gold.  I don't even mind the evenings getting shorter, it's nice to be able to close the curtains on the world and be safe and snug indoors.

I have used Playful Henry from CC Designs.  The stamp is no longer available but you can get him as a digi.

I stamped Henry and his leaves onto kraft card and coloured the leaves with Polychromos pencils.  I stamped Henry again onto watercolour paper, colouring him with Distress Inks (ReInkers) and Zig Clean Colour Pens, fussy cut him, and laid him over the previously stamped outline.

For the leaves, I got messily inky with some Distress Inks and then die-cut with some Lawn Fawn stitched dies.

The sentiment stamps are a Whimsy set.

Finally, some matting and layering with autumn tones of plain papers.

Our sponsor for this challenge is

CRAFTY RIBBONS

I do hope you will find time to come and join us.

Hugs

Birthday Bear (DT) Dies To Die For

Morning all (just)!  Today's lateness is easily explained, I had a surprise visit from a friend who was dropping off a birthday present, and as we haven't seen each other since March we had a socially distanced catch-up in the front garden.  It must have been entertaining for the neighbours as friend has quite a distinctive laugh, bless her.  It was certainly good to see her, and the urge for hugs was huge, but we were both very well behaved.

And on the theme of birthdays, Facebook asked me if I would like to do a fundraiser for my upcoming day - a bit eager I thought, as it was then still a week away, but what the heck.  I chose to raise funds for Cats Protection and I cannot say a big enough thank you to all who have donated so far, it's only been up for two days and I am already only £11 off target.  It would be lovely to burst that target into tiny pieces and benefit all those cats and kittens who so desperately need help.

Also on the theme of birthdays....

Lovely things used

Gerda Steiner - Birthday Bear stamp set

MFT Stencil - Mini Cloud Edges MFT-ST-100

MFT 6x6 paper - Summertime Polka Dots MFT-EP-65

The bear and the bird are separate stamps in the set (don't look too closely or you'll see the join) but they work so brilliantly well together!

All painted with Distress Inks (ReInkers).  The purple matting layer is just white card edged with a Copic - it was the closest match I could get to the Wilted Violet DI used on a couple of the bunting flags.

Anyhoo, that is me done for today so I am off to fry some sausages!

Hugs

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Strike Up The Band (DT) Dies To Die For

Morning all, I am getting later and later with my posts.  I had intended to do this last night, but then I started watching Vera and before you know it, I was snoozing in the armchair.  By the time the husband woke me up, it was time for bed, and too late for sitting down with a laptop!

Anyhoo, I've been wanting to use this stamp set again for quite some time, but was getting a bit flustered because when I bought it I didn't buy the die set (oh hindsight is a wonderful thing you know) and the watercolour paper that I normally use is too thick to cut happily with a craft knife.  However, I bought a new type of Bristol Board to try, so gave it a go.  It is thinner than the watercolour paper, and much whiter, which suited the rabbits, but the ink doesn't move around as well.  It is a bit of a compromise paper if I'm brutal.  However, it did mean that I could actually fussy cut the bunnies without crippling my hands, so that is what I did.

Ingredients used for today's make are:

MFT Birdie Brown - Strike Up The Band MFT-BB-93

MFT DieNamics - Collage Cover Up MFT-1257

MFT 6x6 papers - Positively Peppy MFT-EP-63

Looks like the MFT Graphic Grid paper has now been retired (sorry)

Bunnies are all watercoloured with Distress Inks (ReInkers) and sentiment was stamped with Bahama Blue Memento ink.

Hugs

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As You Like It Challenge (DT) Farm or Jungle

Thursday again chaps!

Here we go with a new challenge theme from the

AS YOU LIKE IT team.

This time around, the theme is Farm or Jungle

(and please please please tell us why you made the choice you did)

I was born and raised in the countryside, surrounded by farms and the usual collection of farm animals, cows, horses, sheep, pigs, chickens, and the occasional goat, so having them around me all the time, and probably influenced by televisions shows like Daktari, Tarzan, and Animal Magic, I found the exotic animals to be far more interesting than a black and white milk cow!

So I went off on a tangent, and created an urban jungle!

Lovely items used are:

MFT Birdie Brown - Sweater Weather On Safari MFT-BB-79

and the matching dies MFT-1599

MFT SY Kissing Booth MFT-SY-17

(didn't use the dies for this, fussy cut instead)

Clearly Besotted Build It Stencil

and a gallon of Distress Inks and Zig Clean Color pens

The winner of this challenge will be invited to guest design with the team for August!

Looking forward to seeing all your creations.

Hugs