WLS May#1 - All creatures great and small

 

            Good Morning all

Its the first Sunday of May so time for a new challenge over at We Love Stamping where the theme is 

ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL

So lots of choice there but you can always go with our anything goes option as long as you use stamping

Having hundreds of stamps suitable for the theme I decided to go literal and use some of the smallest and largest animal stamps I have and to lessen my choice even more I decided to use old stamps not seen for a while, this made choosing much easier for me, so to start with we have a little happy mouse

                              Card approx 5x6" Made from black card.  I decided to use this very old paper pad as the camera paper went with the mouse perfectly, so everything is from the paper pad apart from black and white cardstock.  

I stamped the mouse onto yellow paper from the pad and cut out.  I stamped the nose and camera again onto different colours and paper pieced onto the main image.  I used a pink alcohol marker to add colour to the tail and ears and a white gel pen for his teeth and eyes.  I then die cut the polaroid frame from white and the inner section from a blue paper, on this blue paper i once again stamped the mouse so that i had his whiskers in place, over this i adhered the yellow mouse.  Matted onto black cardstock.

I matted and layered various papers from the pad and added to the base card, adding the polaroid on top with foam pads at a jolly angle.  I cut the sentiments/speech bubbles and arrows from another paper in the pad.  

                                               

Just a close up on Mr Mouse.  Sadly Katzelkraft stamps are another stamp company that is no more.  

A Jolly bright happy card for either children or those young at heart cheerful adults and I smiled all the time while making it so its win win😁🐭

Items Used:

Katzelkraft stamps SOLO179 'La Souris photographe'

Echo park 6x6 paper pad  'Here&now' by Lori Whitlock (very old)

Sizzix polaroid die set (old)

Black and white card

Pink alcohol marker

White gel pen

Hop over to We Love Stamping to join in where we have these fabulous stamps from aall&create for the lucky winner

                             

                                                  

My blog is like buses at the moment, nothing for weeks and then 3 posts all at once😀 Im still waiting on the next appointment to fix my eyes and my mojo gone on a round the world cruise I think - luckily I was ahead on my DT makes but hopefully mojo comes back soon!

Thank you all for stopping by once again.  I hope you all have a good month of May. Big hugs Emmax

Id love to enter the following:

https://creativeknockouts.blogspot.com/2026/04/569-april-16-2-or-more-pattern-papers.html

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https://fabnfunkychallenges.blogspot.com/2026/04/challenge-636-use-colours-pink-blue-or.html

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https://2craftycrittercrazies.blogspot.com/2026/05/critter-crazy-challenges-110-anything.html

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https://pinspirationalchallenges.blogspot.com/2026/03/pinspirational-challenge-337-may.html

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https://lovethoseprettypapers.blogspot.com/2026/05/atg-love-those-pretty-papers-may-2026.html

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WLS April #1 - Wakey Wakey spring is here

Happy Easter to you all.

Welcome to April and our theme over at We Love Stamping this month is 

SPRING

Or you can always go with the anything goes option as long as you use stamping

Ive gone a bit outside the box this time and not used a spring designed stamp or my usual spring florals and instead had the idea to use this bear stamp who is waking up and drinking his coffee after coming out of hibernation.  I was also on a mission to use some very old paper pads which had spring colours in them.

Sorry for the bit blurry photos, my camera just kept focusing on the bear as the focal point and not the whole card....after nearly 50 attempts I had to accept defeat and the camera won😒

Approx size 6x6"  I used 300gsm A4 cream linen card, I folded in half and cut to 6" tall, on the right hand side of the front panel I die cut the tulip edge die - just to add interest and also use the die again! 

I took one of the papers from the 6x6 pad to line the inside which peeks through the tulip, i kept it a plain paper so can be written on.  I then cut another paper to fit the front, using the tulip die to get the right curve on the right hand side and also cut a smaller panel of cream card and embossed with a leaf embossing folder - I matted these and adhered to the card front.

I stamped the bear onto more of the cream card used for the base and one of the patterned papers, i coloured the bear with alcohol markers, cut out his pj's and pieced onto the base image.  I die cut this into an oval and matted onto another oval and added to the card front.

Computer printed sentiment 'wakey wakey' & 'spring is here' as the bear comes out of hibernation.

Showing it stood up and the lovely tulip edge 

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I made a few versions so made a little dent in some papers!

A more pink version.  Im quite pleased as managed to use really busy patterned papers that get left in paper pads and by having them as the matt layer behind my embossed panel its not too overwhelming

A more blue and green version, again behind the embossed panel I used a paper which is lovely but the pattern made my eyes go funny....these are double sided papers so I actually die cut the oval heart out of the middle of the patterned paper mat layer as i knew it would be hidden behind the embossed panel - thus making those luxury papers go further

Items Used:

aall&create stamp set #253 'Morning'

Technique Tuesday Tulip edge die

Sizzix leaf embossing folder (very old)

crafters companion 3d lace embossing folder

Paper pads - all very old and some loose left over pages

Ivory linen 300gsm card

Alcohol markers

white gel pen

We have lovely prizes from Lavinia for the lucky winner this month so hop over to We Love Stamping to join in and in with a chance of winning

I hope you all have a wonderful month of April.  Big hugs Emmaxx

Id love to enter card #1 into the following:

https://allsortschallenge.blogspot.com/2026/03/challenge-846.html

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https://fabnfunkychallenges.blogspot.com/2026/04/challenge-634-easterspring.html

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https://daranddiane.blogspot.com/2026/04/double-d-humor-challenge-2026.html - I think my card is humous and tongue in cheek😁

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https://creativeknockouts.blogspot.com/2026/04/568-april-2-embossing-delight-rachelle.html

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https://paper-rocks-scissors.blogspot.com/2026/04/april-15-challenge.html - used paper for the background & bears PJ's and scissors to cut out the bear

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https://sweetstampinchallengeblog.blogspot.com/2026/03/sweet-stampin-spring-or-easter-creations.html

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WLS March - wildlife

Good Morning everyone

This is a scheduled post as Im still away with the fairies so hopefully if I did it correctly this is Sunday morning, the 1st of March😊

Today is the start of a new challenge over at We love stamping where the theme this month is 

WILDLIFE

I was given this fabulous hedgehog stamp set for my birthday last year so made a couple of cards using them and an ombre ink pad.  I am very lucky to have lots of hedgehogs around, always a pleasure to see them each night eating in the porch.

Card size approx 7x5.5"  I made my base card from dark brown card and this lovely nesting die set. I also used cream cardstock for stamping on instead of white.  I first stamped the topper with the 2 hedgehogs, using fallen leaves versa clair ink for the outline and then ombre ink for the solid body filler stamp.  I then stamped the fab sentiment underneath in the brown ink and then die cut this panel.  I wanted a dark brown mat layer but the next size nesting die was too big and would have hidden too much of the background so I drew around the die I used for the topper and cut it out with scissors.

I die cut more cream card size smaller than the base card and randomly stamped the hedgehogs all over it, rotating and turning them as i went.  Any gaps that were slightly too big i used a little heart stamp from the set to fill in with amber oxide ink.  

I cut a strip of copper pearl cardstock and embossed with a knit effect embossing folder, added this to the front and mounted the topper with foam tape.  The pearl embossed strip just adds a little interest and breaks up the background, sadly the photos don't pick up how shimmery it is.

Just a close up on the topper, with my eyes the line art and filler stamps aren't 100% lined up but I think it still works well and stamping onto linen card you rarely get a clean solid fill but it adds a lovely texture which sadly you can't see in the photos.

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and a 2nd version

5x7" white card blank.  This time instead of the stamped background I used a foliage embossing folder onto copper pearl cardstock - its only an A6 folder so where the join was i added a small strip of hedgehog patterned paper which i picked up in france a couple of years ago.

Sadly the photos don't pick up the pearlescence of the copper when the light hits it and the embossing it really dances. 

Items Used:

Sizzix stamp set 665830 'Hedgehugs'

Sizzix leaf embossing folder (very old)

Crafters companion purl/knit embossing folder (old)

Hedgehog printed paper - picked up in france years ago

Centura pearl card

Brown card

Craftuk ltd cream linen card

Versafine Clair 'fallen leaves'

Kaleidacolor inkpad 'cappuccino delight'

We have these fabulous nature themed prizes from aall&create for the lucky winner this month 

So hop over to We love stamping to join in with your stamped creations - if the wildlife theme isn't for you we always have the anything goes option.

Wishing you all a happy March, spring is well underway in Cornwall with all the spring bulbs well in bloom and the primroses brightening up the hedgerows, the birds are singing and beginning to nest build so hopefully we actually get some days without rain now. Emmax

 

Cherry Blossom

Good Morning everyone

Today Im sharing a little gift I made for a friend, its a wooden book shaped box which I decided to turn into a kind of shadow box which can be displayed stood up and open.  I used a beautiful paper set I got back in the black friday sales with a spring theme. I used a mix of the 12x12 and 6x6 papers and found the images work well together for creating my little scenes.  It is unusual for me not to add anything else other than the chat stickers but was nice and relaxing when I was feeling a bit rough over Christmas time to not think too much about matching things and just use what was in the sets.

I forgot to measure the box before I posted it, but it isn't very big, if i remember correctly its about 5x3" and 1" deep

I painted the box with matt acrylic paints in shades to match the papers, so ive picked out the blue, pink and soft yellow, I painted the outside blue, the inside pink and the sides yellow.  I then cut one of the papers to fit the front and decoupaged with matt mod podge.  I then cut out the little girl catching a cherry blossom, some branches and little bird.  I tore a couple of pieces of paper to add as some ground for her to stand on and a couple of smaller flowers and sealed it all with more mod podge.

The chit chat stickers are by aall&create on the front here I added 'admire divine blossom' as thought that worked - there is something magical about the first blossoms of spring and how they lift our spirits. 

This shows it stood up open on display, it nicely stands up by itself.  I lightly added pink cadence dora paint to the edges for a little shimmer in the light 

On the inside left I added one of the papers and cut out elements of this cherry blossom wreath which I added the little cross legged girl inside and surrounded with different sized flowers.  A little birdie sits on top of the wreath.  I added a little touch of diamond stickles glitter glue to the flower centres for just a little sparkle 

Chat stickers say 'Enjoy serenity, experience enlightenment'

Just spending quiet time in the garden or anywhere with nature, sit and listen and its very calming and healing.  A kind of meditation against the hassle of life. 

I adhered the paper girl on swing to study acetate and cut around her, thus giving her stability and strength, i then added score lines at the top of the 'ropes' to adhere to the top of the box so that she actually moves and get swing forward and back.  I then added some cherry blossoms in front of the ropes to hide the workings - these I also added on acetate so nice and strong and wont damage as the swing moves. 

Below the swinging girl we have  a blossom branch with a little birds nest and bird.  I added glossy accents to the eggs.

Chat stickers read 'Achieve happiness'

Once you have done your meditation in the garden and breathed in the scent of the blossom and listened to the birds singing its is happiness and of course who then doesn't love a go on a swing😁  These bags of chat words from aall&create contain hundreds of words so I was going boggle eyed looking for some to suit that weren't too gushy! 

and the back of the box, just the same paper as the front.  Everything was coated in mod podge to varnish and protect it as it will be handled a bit. 

Items Used:

13arts paper 'Pastel Spring' 6x6 & 12x12 

Aall&create chat stickers

Wooden box

Folk art matt paint 

Cadence Dora paint - fuchsia 

Mod podge

acetate

Ranger Stickles 'diamond'

Id love to enter the following:

https://tolanythingbutacard.blogspot.com/ - anything goes option

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https://www.simplyellibelle.com/2026/01/ellibelles-garden-party-no-11-anything.html

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https://lovethoseprettypapers.blogspot.com/2026/01/atg-using-pretty-patterned-paper.html

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https://girlzcreativefunartofscrap.blogspot.com/2026/01/challenge-18.html

 

Lots of angels

Good Morning everyone

Months ago I bought a die set in a sale from Tonic studios to build a shadow box, when it arrived it was dinky...after playing around I worked out I could glue it together in a different way and came up with this fancy fold.  The holey lacy die cut panel makes a lovely background with some patterned paper behind and I added a little die cut angel to finish.

Approx size 8x8cm (3.25x3.25")   Showing it stood up.  I used the same paper for the front and back panels.  Here I used copper mirri card for the angel and die cut sentiment and added copper stickles glitter glue dots to the front for some Christmas bling. 

This shows how i joined them together using one of the side panel dies...by having 2 panels it gave more room and a place to add a little sentiment and making it more interesting than a dinky card.

and it folds flat to go in an envelope

I used more patterned paper on the very back and stamped a greeting for a place to write our message

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Version 2 here i used copper satin card for the Angel and sentiment

Version 3 using green glitter card

and 2 more versions, one using green satin card and one pink mirri card.  A great way to use papers that are a bit too busy, by adding the white die cuts over the top its toned them down.  

Typing this up I realised I didn't know the collective name for a group of Angels -  after searching the web Im none the wiser - there is a choice of Choir, Host, Pinion, Flight or Legion..........anyway I made a dozen Angel cards - all different in colours and ideal for using up snippets of papers and luxury glitter/mirror card off cuts.

Items Used:

Tonic studios die set 'Designers Choice' 4278e (spring shadow box)

Echo Park Angel die

Sue wilson sentiment die

Spellbinders labels 4 die

Various patterned papers

Mirror, satin & glitter card scraps

CraftUk ltd white linen card

Ranger stickles glitter glues

Thank you all for stopping by once again, i hope you have a good first week of December.

Id love to enter the 1st card into

https://peaceonearthchristmas.blogspot.com/ 2nd entry

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https://secretstamper.com/2025/11/creative-creases-109-november-7-till-december-4th/

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https://cutitupchallenges.blogspot.com/2025/11/cut-it-up-challenge-344-fun-fold.html

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https://pixiessnippetsplayground.blogspot.com/2025/11/challenge-520.html - the angel & sentiment are luxury snippets - the rest normal snippets

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https://craftingacutabove.blogspot.com/2025/12/december-challenge.html