***Exciting Promarker News***

Just HAD to tell you before I burst .................... from next week I will have Promarkers and Tria markers available to buy from my website!!

To start with there will be a minimum order of £10 but U may well remove this in the future once I start getting regular orders. Standard P&P charge should be £1.50 for up to 5 pens and £2.50 over that.

Single Promarkers will be £1.50 and the 5 pen packs will be £7 - other sets and prices are available on request.

It's a bit like buses ......

Can't be bothered making a card for ages and then two come along at once lol!

After making the Passion for Promarkers challenge card with the Penny Black image I decided I NEEDED to use the Moss Green on this lovely Willow stamp from Whiff of Joy so I included a smattering of Poppy on the image as well and I'm really pleased with the result. It's the first time I've tried shading blue jeans and I'm quite happy with the way they've turned out.



I used
layers of Moss Green for Willow's jumper,
Poppy for the mug of hot chocolate, her socks and the decorations on her jeans
Royal Blue with Indigo Blue shading for her jeans
Ivory with Blush shading for the skin tones
and Gold, Yellow and Canary for her hair

Another challenge card

Today is the first day in a while that I've FELT like crafting, the weather has freshened a bit and I'm feeling altogether more human. The sunburn I got from the school fete on Friday is finally feeling better (tho I still look like I have leperosy or something coz I'm peeling SOOOOOOO much) and I'm on a high after I found out that the fete raised over £1500!!!

Anyway, I digress ...... I have made this card for the Papertake Weekly Challenge sketch and the Passion for Promarkers Challenge colour combination of Poppy and Moss Green.



I used a Penny Black image, and used the Moss Green and Poppy promarkers for the girls clothes, satin, cinnamon and dusky pink for the cake, cinnamon, cocoa and henna for the hair and ivory and blush for the skin. The paper and vellum came from my old stash and the ribbons were from my christmas wrappings box.

Summery Tilda card

I tried to post this card on my blog on Thursday to tie in with both the Just Magnolia challenge and the Passion for Promarkers challenge. Unfortunately t'interweb was misbehaving so I couldn't do it and now I'm too late for the Just Magnolia challenge anyway.

I used Lemon with Gold for the shading on Tilda's butterfly wings and trousers and Meadow Green with Apple shading for her dress and headband. I used Cinnamon, Cocoa and Henna for her hair and Lemon for the edging of the scallopped Nestability.

Get Well Soon Chloe!

One of the little girls at my sons' school has been very poorly so I offered to make a card for the class to send to her in hospital.

I used my computer to generate a Word Art sentiment which I printed directly onto the card. I used some lovely spotty and stripey ribbons from Anita's and tied knots in it to add some textured detail and two images of Dexter the Bear from Sugar Nellie (I got him in a "Lucky Bag" from Funky Kits)

To tie in with this week's challenge at Passion for Promarkers I coloured Dexter using Cinnamon and Pumpkin Promarkers.



Bear - Cinnamon with Henna shading and Blush ears
Jumper - Pumpkin with bright orange shading on the stripes and cuffs

Candles for Camelford

Today is the big medieval banquet in Camelford and I'm ALMOST ready for it ..... got soaking wet hair but that's a minor point!

Here are some of the candles that I have made to take with me:


This one is coloured for the Passion for Promarkers challenge - I used
Cool Grey 2 and 3 for the stonework,
Pastel Blue for the window,
Cinnamon with Cocoa shading for the table
Cinnamon and Pumpkin with Bright Orange shading for Princess Poppy's Gown and Wimple,
Ivory and Blush for the skin tones
Yellow and Gold for the hair




For these candles I used the tissue paper method, I stamped the Poppy and Paddy images from my designs using Ink It Up Black Dye Ink Pad onto tissue paper and then carefully coloured them with my promarks before attaching them to the candles by placing the tissue paper in position, covering with greaseproof paper and then heating with my heat gun before buffing to a nice finish.

Passion for Promarkers and Just Magnolia Challenges

Here is my entry for the sketch challenge on Just Magnolia combined with the Pastel Pink and Apple challenge on Passion for Promarkers



I used coredinations cardstock for the pink backgrounds, the strip of green and the the scalloped circle (which was cut on my robo) were cut from white card and coloured with the Pastel Pink and Apple Promarkers. The wings and the sentiment were highlighted and written with my black Sakura Stardust pen.

I coloured the clothes on the Magnolia image with Apple and Pastel Pink Promarkers. I used Ivory, Blush and Dusky Pink Promarkers for the flesh-tones and Cinnamon, Cocoa and Henna Promarkers for the hair.

Got it in the bag .......

Mum has given me her old sewing machine on extended loan and it had been sat in the back of the car since she gave it to me on Sunday so today while hubby was out at work and the kids were playing on the trampoline I decided to pull out the big piece of circus animal material that I've had since I was pregnant the second time (I intended to make a patchwork quilt but never got round to it and that "bump" is now nearly 6!) and have an experiment. The result as you can see is a sort of shopping bag ..... it's sized for a 4 year old to take books to nursery etc or keep teddies in. I'd intended it to go into my "Christmas Box" of presents made ready for the festive season but Rhiannon took a real liking to it so she's got the prototype and the second version is in the Christmas Box instead ...... good job really coz the second one is miles neater than the first.

This is a (woolly) mammoth task

After making Little Miss's cardi my mum asked if she could have one ...... yeah of course she can ........... except the pattern I have only goes up to 3-4 years and lets just say mum's needs to be a little larger than that! So now I'm winging it really, adapting the pattern to fit a UK size 20-22 and hoping for the best. So far I've finished the back panel and made a start on one of the front pieces but I'm gonna need some serious PMA to get this to work. That said, I'm going to be soooooooo smug if it works out in the end ..... watch this space!

Passion for Promarkers Challenge #1

To celebrate the new challenge blog at Passion for Promarkers there are some amazing prizes on offer for this week's first challenge (INCLUDING A FULL SET OF PROMARKERS!!!!!) which is an "Anything Goes" Challenge - well, anything as long as it involves at least one promarker!

I had been asked to make a personalised new baby card for my son's T.A. who is now a very proud aunt to a lovely baby girl. She had seen the simple Forever Friends baby cards that I made but wanted personalisation added to the design so I made this ......


The image is a Forever Friends Baby Bear from DoCrafts, the matting and layering is done with rose and lilac coredinations cardstock and the wording is all computer generated.

I coloured the image with:
Layered Satin Promarker for the bear
Blush Promarker for the bear highlights
Layered Rose Promarker for the nappy and the bear's ears
Lilac Promarker for the dummy and nappy pin
and
Pastel Blue Promarker for the outline of the image

Launceston Medieval day

Kernow Levy

Last Saturday was a GLORIOUS day - beautiful sunshine (nobody told the weather it was a bank holiday weekend!) made for a great day at Launceston Castle for the medieval day.

I got there with the kids just before 10am in time for the procession of the re-enacters Kernow Levy through the town and because we had gone in our medieval costumes to promote the Camelford events we were invited to join in the procession! The boys were thrilled as the Town Crier announced them as "Knights in Training" to the whole town.

Once we got to the castle the kids had an absolute ball running around the grounds, climbing over the walls and having their own battle re-enactments to challenge the more official displays from Kernow Levy.

My latest creation ........ complete!

Beautifully modelled by my little princess :o)

I used a pattern from the free selection over on Lion Brand which is called "Short and Sweet". It is made in DK yarn using half treble stitch and it was so quick and easy to make I think she may well end up with a selection in various colours. This one was made specifically to go over her medieval dress (she wanted a cape like mine but she's 3 and would NEVER have kept a cape in place) but since it only took 1 1/2 balls of wool and a few evenings to make I'm planning on making a few more....... once I've found another pattern to make something for the boys so they don't feel left out!

I am so pleased with the result so I'm sorry if I go on about it but I've not been doing crochet for very long and getting a decent result is quite an achievement for me ......and Rhiannon loves it too, so much so that she's insisted on wearing it to nursery today!

I'm all baked out ..........

DD (aged 3) had a friend to come and play after nursery yesterday so I had spent a HUGE amount of time trying to make the place look respectable for the little girl's gran (Is it just me who does that?) and the plan was that the girls would get to play out on the trampoline and tire themselves out in the process. UNFORTUNATELY, the great British weather decided to step in and the torrential rain meant that they couldn't even manage one bounce for fear of getting webbed feet :o)

Plan B ...... oh heck why hadn't I planned a Plan B???? In the end we had a baking session and they made chocolate fairy cakes with glace icing and sprinkles on top and a big tray of shortbread. I never realised how much mess two giggling pre-schoolers could make ................. but BOY did they have fun! By the time gran came to pick our visitor up they were both COVERED in sticky icing and cake mix where they had been licking the bowl :o) Makes you wonder why I bothered tidying in the first place!

Once normality had been resumed (ie once the kids had eaten tea and were engrossed in a Dr Who episode), I set to work on finishing a card for my friend's sister who had her first baby yesterday (*Congratulations Cathryn*) and ended up almost as sticky as the girls had been! By then end of it my fingers were covered in Sky Blue and Cyan Promarker and PVA glue *BLEURGH* ----- The resulting card is a double decorated gatefold A5 creation using a Robo'd pram template from UKScrappers. I hope you like it.

AND THE WINNER IS ..........

Apologies for being late in announcing the winner of my blog candy challenge ...... sometimes real life just gets in the way.

Anyway, the winner is Julie

Congratulations Julie, can you contact me with your address and let me know which set of Paddy and Poppy toPPPers you would like .... you can choose any of the original series or one of the new designs.

MayDay MayDay MayDay

Unite and unite and let us all unite,
For summer is acome unto day,
And whither we are going we will all unite,
In the merry morning of May.
Padstow May Day Song

Don't know about you, but somehow May means Summer whereas April is still Spring. So Spring has Sprung and now it's time for some Summer Fun!

So to start the summer fun I am setting a blog challenge with the chance to win some candy!

All I am asking you to do to be in with a chance of winning is to make a card or other craft project using PINK, BLUE and CREAM as the colour theme (coz those colours make me think of summer weddings and flouncy summer dresses! You can use any products or designs that you like but if you use one of the Poppy, Paddy or Pipkin designs from Foxcraft Cards then you will get an extra chance to win as a little thank you from me for the support you have given in setting up the range.

When you have made your entry, leave a comment here and a link on your blog (if you don't have a blog you can e-mail a picture of your entry to me and I will add it for you). A winner will be chosen at 8pm BST on May 14th.

I can't take a picture of the prize candy yet (because some of it is still in transit) but it will include ............
A set of Poppy, Paddy and Pipkin ToPPPers of your choice
Some pretty ribbon and buttons
1 pack of luscious fibres
1 pack of metallic adhesive crochet strips
2 packs of card blanks (8 x silver, 8 x gold)
1 small bag of teeny gems

To give you some ideas, here are some cards that I have made using the colour theme.





If lots of people join in with this I will try to make it a regular event. I can't wait to see what you come up with ....... Happy Crafting

Sorry I've been AWOL for a couple of days!

I've been busy trying to complete the crochet shawls that I need to make for the medieval costumes and that means that apparently I'm not supposed to be sitting on Blogger - PAH!

Well, I'm bored of the crochet hook now so I've made a couple more cards. This one
was made for this week's Creative Inspirations and Colour Create challenges where the themes were blue and green and blue, red and green.

This next card is for this week's Papertake Weekly Challenge which is to make a card featuring animals. My little girl is OBSESSED with BeeMovie at the moment (I think I can recite the script now!) so the bee card is a big hit with her :o)


Finally here is my entry for this week's Just Magnolia challenge which is to use stitching in your card ...... I used hand drawn faux stitching all around the card, on the jean's pocket and for the sentiment which reads "Happy Birthday To You" and I used brads to connect the pocket and the tags to the card to tie in with the brads and eyelets challenge over on The Secret Crafter
- the top of the pocket is actually open so the tags can spin round and slot into the pocket.


I hope that you like what I have been up to, I'd love to hear from you with any comments.

Hands up all those PROMARKER addicts

Me Me Me Meeeee!

Well there's a new challenge blog just for us promarker fans PROMARKER CHALLENGE and to celebrate the new blog there is the chance to win some of the pens which you will need to complete the challenges over the coming weeks.

Since I seem to be using promarkers on ALMOST EVERY card I make at the moment I'm definitely joining in.

More amazing candy from blog world

Ok we all like freebies, and we all like birthdays and we all like amazing blogs ...... with me so far?

Pop over to corrosivecreationsbyjanet.blogspot.com to see Janet's fantastic blog and be in with a chance of winning this

a bunch of candy that is growing all the time!

Good luck xxxx (but please remember, I saw it first ;o)!)

A little flurry of cards from today

I've been a busy crafting bunny today but it's not all card making, I've been working on hubby's costume for the medieval celebrations as well.

However, I HAVE made a few cards to share with you ........



This is a DoCrafts Forever Friends stamped image, coloured with promarkers and layered up with a bloom dots embossed panel highlighted with sepia ink and Anita's ribbons.



I got this butterfly image in a parcel of goodies from a fellow crafter and I've layered up pastel green promarker to shade it. Again I've used the bloom dots embossing folder this time embellished with iridescent brads and acrylic stones.



Over on DoCrafts scrapbooking forum, Gina is organising us into producing Christmas projects once a fortnight to ease the crafting pressure when it gets to the festive season. I plaited some lilac, purple and white strips of card to embellish the stamped and matted image. I decided that less is more on this card and left it with lots of white space which makes it clean and simple.



I love this "Nay" stamp from Rubber Romance, it's such a lovely sized image that it needs very little doing to it, all I did was triple mat the stamped and coloured image in co-ordinating cardstock.



Finally there is my entry for this week's Whiff of Joy Challenge using Katharina's sketch. I love Whiff of Joy images and I can't wait to get my hands on some more. Having looked at my photo, I have realised that you can't see the word "Just" on the photo .... it is on the darker panel above the other part of the sentiment.

Thanks for looking

Blog Candy Chances again

Kate has a lovely selection of candy on her blog and all you have to do is tell her what your favourite TV show is. After much deliberation between The Royle Family and Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps I decided that Jim's Beer Belly is second best to Gaz's six pack lmao!

Also, my namesake Caz has some gorgeous candy to celebrate her birthday and the AMAZING blog hit count of 200000 hits - and the exciting thing is that the more people visit her and join in, the bigger the candy gets, how cool is that?

Cuttlebug Challenge #30

I found this challenge via Allison's blog - the challenge is to make something for a wedding or anniversary using your Cuttlebug.

I thought you might like to see my very simple (but I think quite elegant) card made using two different embossing folders and embellished with a luxurious ribbon. I think it could be used for any occasion but I made it with a ruby wedding anniversary in mind. (Hence the colour of the ribbon)

Well I am totally exhausted today .......

I was quite happily watching TV last night while hubby was working in his shed, oops I mean summer house, oops I mean office when the next thing I know I had a stiff neck, was freezing cold, the TV programmes had finished and the clock said 1.45am!!! What happened to those two hours? Sooooo unlike me to fall asleep in front of the telly (yeah right!)

Anyway, to get over today's lethargy I have been ...... CRAFTING! I thought I'd join in with this week's Sketch Saturday sketch and also use texture as requested by this week's challenge on A Spoon Full Of Sugar Challenge - I used an adorable Sugar Nellie stamp from Funky Kits, my paisley embossing folder for my Cuttlebug, some lacy ribbon I had laying around and an iridescent brad for good measure!




I made these two very simple new baby cards yesterday using my promarkers and a Forever Friends stamp from DoCrafts.

More blog candy offerings from my travels

Lisa has some really sweet candy available on her blog - why not pop over and have a look, it's such a fun and blingy blog you're sure to love it.

And hands up who loves the Gorjuss Girls? I know I'm quite taken with them although the nasty bank manager won't let me have any at the moment so I'm hoping to be lucky on Fiona's Blog where she is offering one lucky blogger a set of these lovely stamps as candy.

Also, running til tonight is Tracy's birthday blog candy over on her blog - as a ribbon lover I was droooooooooling over the pic of the candy that she has up for grabs.

It must be birthday season as Marcea is also celebrating with some really lovely and decidedly PINK candy. I just love this whole blogging community and the generosity that goes with it.

Paddy be Nimble Paddy be Quick

Paddy jumps over the candlestick ........


This is one of my new additions to my stamp range, the fun and funky Jester Paddy - I coloured him in shades of green because every time my hubby sees a jesters costume he starts singing Marillion's Emerald Lies
"I am the harlequin, with diamonded costume dripping shades of green"

More luscious *B*L*O*G***C*A*N*D*Y*

How would you like to win this little lot? Just pop over to Cinders McPhee's blog to be in with a chance.

Two More E-mailed Entries .......

Thank you to Kate



and Carla



for taking the time to join in with my pink, blue and cream challenge and e-mail me with their entries. Good luck ladies!

Just Magnolia Challenge Card

There is a Sketch Challenge on Just Magnolia this week with the chance of winning another crafty prize.

I worked the sketch using my current favourite colour combo of pink, blue and cream and turned it into a card for an expectant mum. I know lots of people expecting babies at the moment so I'm sure it will find a good home later in the year.



Of course it would also qualify for my own blog challenge but I guess I'm not allowed to enter that one ;o)

**NEW**POPPY**AND**PADDY**DESIGNS**

I've just had a play with some of my new Poppy and Paddy stamps - Sir Paddy, Princess Poppy, Jester Paddy and Footballer Paddy are all new, fun and (imho) cute additions to my collection.

Sir Paddy, Jester Paddy and Princess Poppy have all been designed with Camelford's medieval celebrations in mind (see their website for more details of events) - I'm going to have a stall selling my cards and decorated candles and other craft items at some of the events so I thought having some themed cards would be a good idea and I thought they were adorable enough to add to my stamp range at Foxcraft Cards




I have coloured all of the images with my promarkers - I hope that you can see that I am gaining confidence with my shading as I practice more and more.

I chose the colours for my Sir Paddy card to fit the brief on Colour Create Challenge where the theme is the luscious combo of red, chocolate and cream and the additional element for this week is RIBBON! MMMMmmmmmmm!

Beautiful Blog Candy Alert

Lisa is offering some lovely candy on her blog at the moment to celebrate her 2000th hit amongst other things. Pop over and have a look at her really adorable cards.


Also, Steph has put together a HUGE candy bundle to celebrate her huge hit milestone! But please DON'T go over to peek at that one coz I WANNA WIN IT!!!!!! Oh, well, if you must go and look ........ good luck

Two e-mailed entries for my blog challenge

I thought you might like to be able to see any entries I've had e-mailed to me for my blog challenge so here goes .......

The first is from Andrea



The second is from Chrissy



Thank you for joining in ladies, you both get an extra entry into the draw at the end of the challenge since you've both used Poppy and Paddy images. Good Luck!

Papertake Weekly and DoCrafts Tilda Challenge

I was in the middle of colouring some Tilda's to match some freebie papers that I found in a pile of magazines which I was planning to use for this week's Papertake Weekly Challenge when I realised that they also matched the brief for this week's Tilda challenge on the Cardmaking forum of DoCrafts.

The brief was : lilac and lime, 3 buttons, bling and a sentiment




I hope you like what I've done :o)

Another trio of cards today - TOMORROW is the big day!

I had a few hours to myself this morning so I made some more cards ....... just for a change lol! No reason in particular, just to add to the basket that I have available in the staff room at school but it's nice to just have a chill out colouring in session. I think my favourite colouring was the Magnolia Edwin but my favourite card of the three is the wizard on where I used some of my Cuttlebug embossing folders to add details to the design.





Don't forget to come back tomorrow for details of my cunning plan!