My Year

I have had a great crafting year.  I have met many amazing people all over the world, fell head over heels in love with a certain bear and joined some amazing DT's.

This time last year my wish for the coming year was to make it onto a DT, either as a guest or even better as a full time member.

This year I have been a guest on 3 or 4 design teams and joined the Magical Monday's DT for about 5 months.

I have also joined and then become sponsorship co-ordinator for the Cutie Pie DT, under the leadership of the wonderful Woo.

In October I was blown away when Suzanne J Dean asked me to join her copic DT.  Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine I would be good enough to make her team.  Suzanne your faith in me has been so reassuring.

And finally......................

I joined the maddest, chatty-ist, fun DT that I think there is.  I am of course I talking of my beloved Teddy Bo DT.

Not only do I love Teddy Bo and Bea, but they are also a dream to colour. Every member of the design team brings something special and unique to the table and I am honoured to work alongside you all.

 Gayle asked us the other day to pick our favourite Teddy Bo card's and it wasn't until I started looking thru my file's that I realised just how many Teddy Bo cards I have made.

These are just a few of my favourites :

I hope you have enjoyed looking at just some of my favourite Teddy Bo card's and let's hope there's lot's more just around the corner.

Happy New Year Everyone,

Hugs

H xx

Thankyou from Herman

I think this time of year having some thank you cards in stock is always worth it.  My thank you card uses the ever so cute Herman, who is drawn by the ever talented Gayle of Teddy Bo.

I have added just a light coat of copic warm greys.  I added some clear glitter gel pen to his flower for that touch of sparkle.

The papers are from the Bo Bunny Enchanted collection.the raffia lace down the centre is by the paper cellar in lemon.  The yellow square brads have a coating of clear glitter pen on.  The yellow star button is tied with grey devine twine.  I have also gone over the sentiment with the clear glitter pen too.

 I would like to enter it into the following challenges ;

Sweet Sketch Wednesday - great sketch used

Charisma cards - anything goes

Little Miss Muffet - anything goes

Simon says stamp - anything goes

Top tip tuesday - anything goes

Hugs

H xx

A new girl on the block

I am so excited about my card today.  It's made with a BRAND NEW character from the pencil of Gayle from Teddy Bo.  These stamps will be part of the D'Arcy's Diaries website and if you want to see more previews then please join us on our facebook page. Over the next couple of week's I will be tempting you with more from D'Arcy's Diaries.

They will be available to buy them from 

Thursday the 12th January.

I have chosen FAIRYD_TB_GIRL_02

I've coloured her with copic's and added clear glitter pen on her heart and a touch of glamour dust on her wings.

The banner is from TEDDYBOBEA_091_SWAG. A little bit of glamour dust was added to the swag.

The trellis punch is by Martha Stewart, papers by Bo Bunny Enchanted collection, and card candi by Craftwork cards.

The inside of the card read's

"with love from your little angel"

Not sure I was ever a little angel, but it just fitted the image perfectly.  I simply love stripy clothes so its as if this image was made just for me.

Here is the preview of the last new releases from Teddy Bo this week.

Here are the copic colour's I used to colour my girl.  She is coloured to match my birthstone which is amethyst, ready for the Teddy Bo Challenge.

Wings - V01

Tights - V12, 15, 17

Skirt - V05, 06, 09

Heart - R32, 35, 37

Heart - E33, 35, 37

Don't forget we still have a challenge running over at Color Me Copic.  Our theme is Holiday Joy in golds creams and whites.  There are a HUGE amount of prizes on offer so quick get over there and find out how you too can win.

I would like to enter it into the following challenges ;

icopic - last minute holiday cards

Paper Sundae's - Celebrate

Crafty Emma's - Party

Hugs

H xx

Sorry I am a little late showing you

I am so annoyed.  I scheduled a blog post for the other day but for some reason it's disappeared and so I am now having to write it all over again, stupid blogger.

 NEW CHALLENGE #33 will run until January 5th!

SO THIS RUNS FOR 1 MONTH!

Your challenge this time is all about

 ** HOLIDAY JOY--in Golds. Creams & Whites**

Show your holiday joy with sparkling colors of GOLD, CREAM & WHITE!

(yes you can use some other colors like hair/skin/etc but the majority of colors should be Gold, Cream &  Whites)

We want to see you use YOUR COPICS, COPIC REFILLS OR COPIC AIRBRUSH SYSTEM (Or ProMarkers if you have them)

Use Inspiration Pictures Below as well!

CHALLENGE RULES

-Use any image you want BUT MAKE SURE YOU LINK BACK TO THE CMC CHALLENGE in your blog post!!

-ALL PROJECTS MUST BE NEW & NOT BACK-LINKED!!

-Image MUST be colored with Copics or ProMarkers or Colored Pencils!

UPLOAD YOUR ENTRIES to the Photo Gallery and TAG them with the word "SPARKLE" so they can be seen easily!

**IF you post your project in your blog MAKE SURE TO LINK BACK TO THE CMC CHALLENGE **

Entries MUST be tagged and uploaded to the photo gallery by Jan. 5that 8:00 pm EST!

PLEASE ALSO PUT YOUR PROJECT IN THE LINK SYSTEM BELOW THE PRIZE INFO AS WELL SO WE CAN SEE THEM ALL!

********************************

For this Challenge we have LOTS OF PRIZES!!

AND A WAY TO DONATE TO A WONDERFUL CHARITY!!

WHAT YOU CAN WIN:

-1 person will win a NEW Provocraft CRICUT MINI machine

-1 person will win a NEW KINDLE E-READER

-1 person will win a $50 Gift Cert. to SCACD

-1 person will win a $25 Gift Cert. to the Paper Temptress

-1 person will win 5 digis from Tiffany Doodles and a $15 Gift Cert to 7 Kids College Fund and a Gilli Gift Bag

HOW TO PLAY:

4 different ways to enter

-Enter up to (2) TWO projects into the link system below by Jan. 5th

-Enter (1) one project into the BookEndz Challenge

-Donate a $3-5 donation to the Charity below for 1 entry

-Donate anything over $10 to the Charity and get 2 entries

OUR CHARITY:

Reading is Fundamental is the charity I have chosen to sponsor this season.  As you all know I am an avid reader and it amongst my very favorite things to do in my spare time.  I truly believe that literacy and reading opens up many doors in life for everyone.  Not only can you find joy in books but it opens your eyes to other cultures, places and people that is so worthwhile.  And just the fact that a huge part of life involves being able to read--to get through school, get a great job and navigate through life.  For me teaching children to read early on in life is a MUST yet so many children are not provided with the basic materials to learn to read.  So this charity is a non-profit that provides books to children and opportunities to bring literacy into areas that need it!

** CLICK HERE to DONATE **

thru a secure First Giving Site (make sure to enter your name if you are entering for a prize)

And so onto my card.  I have chosen to make a Book card for a wonderful friend of my Mother In Law, who gives us little gifts at Christmas.  She has been doing it since my Hubby was a baby and he's now 34!!

The ferrero Rocher were placed inside the book card once it was complete.  She was thrilled when she got so I'm glad she liked it.

These's are the colour's of copic's I have used for the image.

Hair - E50, 51, 53, 55

Skin - E00, 13

Shoe's and coat - Y2, 35, 28

Skirt - Y21, 00

Tights - Y21

I hope you like my book card and please come and join us for our challenge, we would love to see you there.

I would like to enter my card into the following challenges :

Dream valley - christmas

Stampin for the weekend - Christmas

Crafting for all seasons - christmas

hugs

H xx

Merry Christmas Suzanne

Today see's my turn to wish my Color Me Copic boss a Very Merry Christmas.  This is the card I have made for Suzanne.

If you are one of the lucky one's that live in the USA or Canada then you need to check out when she will be teaching her wonderful copic classes.  Not only are they a brilliant way to learn how versatile and wonderful the copic pens are but you will have a blast during the whole class and come away with not only new copic colouring skills but also with a new friend or two.Click here to find out when she will be teaching near you.

If you aren't lucky enough to be able to go to one of Suzanne's classes then you need to check out her online  classes.  I first found her site when I was looking for the best online copic teacher.  I have signed up for a couple of her classes and boy do you get you're money's worth!  Not only do you get brilliant informative video's but you also get lot's of pdf's to print and make into a book.  You have a whole year to complete the class at your own speed and you can also buy your class video's on DVD so you will always have them to hand.

Are you looking for a copic challege??  Well look no further than Suzanne's copic challenge.  As well as amazing inspiration from the design team Suzanne is never far away to offer you her wonderful advice and answer your questions.  There's a chatty forum further down the challenge page so please drop in a say a big hallo to us all.

May I wish you a very merry and bright Christmas and a joyful and healthy new year,

Hugs

H xx

Teddy Bo Tuesday

It's time for a brand new challenge at Teddy Bo and we want to see your Teddy Bo and Bea cards  inspired by your birthstone.  If you are not sure what you birthstone is then just check out the picture below.

I couldn't decide which of the new graphic's to use so I decided to do 2 cards for a friends twin grandchildren.  My birthstone is Amethyst and the twin's is blue zircon.

Lots of photo's but I really enjoyed making these cards as my craft mojo has been on a long holiday and has only just found it's way home.  Both cards are coloured with a mixture of copic's and prisma's.  The patterned papers are made using background stamps.  The felt snowflake was bought a few years ago as table confetti.

Thank you for joining me for Teddy Bo Tuesday and I would like to enter my cards into the following challenges:

Cutie Pie Challenge #7

Welcome to our Challenge #7 Use a Sentiment at Cutie Pie Challenge Blog.

Pop over to the Challenge blog to see the wonderful DT cards.

Our sponsors this time are Crafty Emma's Store
and
 Heather Ellis digi stamps

The challenge will be extended to 7th January 2012 and winners to be announced in the new year.
Check out  the Christmas candy on the Cutie Pie Challenge Blog.
Have a Happy Christmas and we will see you all in the new year at Cutie Pie Challenges.
We thank all of you joining us this year, looking forward to exciting new year 2012.

The papers including the sentiment is by Bo Bunny.  I also used Marianne rolled roses, and leaves.

I would like to enter my card into the following challenges:

Teddy Bo Tuesday

Another Tuesday closer to Christmas and Gayle has drawn some amazing festive  images for you.

I'm so loving Teddy Bo skiing and whose that new bear trying to hide in the bottom corner.  I know he's been a hit with the DT girls and if you pop over to the Teddy Bo blog you can see just how versatile this cute guy can be.

Sorry to say I don't have a card to share with you today as I have been helping to organise my Niece's wedding.  Not a big problem except she is living in Devon, getting married here in the north west and she has only been able to come home twice this year!!  Add to that horrendous back pain and everything becomes twice as hard to do.

I'm hoping to get some crafting in this week but as Christmas comes closer we all know how hard it is to get some crafty time in and my back is still recovering so we shall see.

Big hugs

H xx

My Teddy Bo Advent Calendar

When I applied for the Teddy Bo design team I said I wanted to make a Teddy Bo Advent Calendar and today I can finally share it with you all.

The advent calendar is by Kaiserkraft and comes in parts ready for you to assemble and decorate.

I got my advent calendar from Merly Impressions.

Once I got the sides and the boxes complete, the time had come to decide 

which of my wonderful Teddy Bo to use..

I have chosen TEDDYBO_148 and the wall is TEDDYBOBEA_087

I have coloured them with copic's and prisma pencils.

The papers are by DCWV and the numbers are coated in red glitter.

The tree I used to create the scene in the background is a clarity stamp.

The snowballs came from the range and the chocolates came from my Mum.

I would like to enter my card into the following challenges :

Twisted Easel Card Tutorial

Hi there and welcome to my first Teddy Bo tutorial.  I hope you find it easy to use.  If you follow my tutorial and make a card using our wonderful Teddy Bo images, my wonderful boss will very kindly give you a free image.  How good is that??

For this tutorial I have concentrated on how to make the twisted easel card blank and how to make the stopper so your card stay's upright.

• In advance make and decorate two 14cm square panels.  One with your Teddy Bo image on and with just the same backing paper on. 

• Cut a4 card to 29cm by 14.5cm and fold in half.  With the card blank in front of you in pencil mark the fold you need to make and then score.  See photo below.

• Your card blank should now look like this.

• You now need to attach your two square panels that you made at the start to your card blank.  Begin by glueing you plain panel onto the base of your card(the side that has no score line running diagonally across it .

• Now come's the only tricky bit.  Turn your card over so that the base panel is on the left underside and you can see the fold line as in the photo.

• Use glue or tape to attach your prepared card front to only the section shown in red (see photo above)

• You now need to decide which type of stopper you want on your card.  Either a strip of card that matches your card or some sort or round stopper, like a large button or a die cut shape like I have used below.

• Here are photo's to show you the placement of both stoppers so you decide how you would like your card to look.Your stoppers need to be on foam pads as you need it raised up so that it will stop your card falling flat.  I usually use a depth of 2 foam pads.  First the strip stopper.

• And here is the other version of a stopper.

I would like to enter my finished card into the following challenges :

The Day Has Finally Arrived

Suzanne Dean has just released Class 5 of her Copic course..

Suzanne is an amazing colourist and her classes are just brilliant.  She has 5 classes and you can choose which one matches your colouring ability.  You have a full year to complete the class.  Every class has many 30 minute video tutorial's with matching PDF's to help you along the way.  Once you sign up for a class you also have the option to buy the videos for your class so you can always look something up. 

If you are looking to improve your colouring, trust me, she is the best in the business.

What she doesn't know about copic's is just not worth knowing.

Here is Suzanne's blog.  You need to check out it blog, she is very inspiring.

Whilst you are here, did you know the Suzanne also has a Copic Challenge ?

We run bi-monthly challenges and our current one is multi coloured hair.

So grab your pens (you don't have to copic's, you can use promarkers)

and join us, there's some great prizes to be won.

Hugs

H xx

For My Wonderful Husband

On the 24th it was my wonderful Husband's birthday and this is the card I made for him.

This has got to be my most favourite Teddy Bo ever.  Its called TEDDYBOBEA_002, and can be found in the Teddy Bo shop under the bit's and bobs section.

I have coloured them with copic's.
Teddy Bo - E31, 33, 35, - B28, 29, 39
Teddy Bea - E50, 51, 53 - B000, 00, 02

The checker board paper was a gift.  I have layered it with Kanban textured blue mirri card.

The sentiment is from Lili of the Valley.  The striped ribbon is from my stash and it's finished with 4 blue gems.

I would like to enter it into the following challenges :

Pink gem - monochromatic, not Christmas plus sentiment

Crafty Emma's store - special birthdays

Card making mamas - sentiments

Here come the boys - your special man

Hugs

H xx

Funky Hair

We have a brand new challenge over at Color Me Copic  challenge we have a brand new theme.

 ** Multi-Colored Hair / Non Traditional Hair Colors **

This is a FUN CHALLENGE--use colors on hair you wouldn't normally use, mix in lots of colors but just have fun with it! 

You may use any image you like of course but NO BRUNETTES, BLONDES or BLACK Haircolors!!

Here is my image using our super sponsor's Simply Betty Stamps image.

In the image you can see she has a holographic snowflake in her hand.  When you buy the digi she actually comes with a bat on her hand.  I chose to change her into a Christmas image.  I am not happy with this card, and I'm not sure why.

These are the colours I have used.

Skin - E00,13

Hair - V12, 15, 17

Dress - BG32, 23, 34

The papers are Bo Bunny and everything else was from my scrap bit,s drawer.

I would like to enter it into the following challenges :

Creative craft - free for all

Craft your passion - tis the season

Digital Tuesday - a hint of green

Stamptacular - Anything Christmas

2 sisters - holidays

Hugs

H xx