"IT'S A FRAME UP" AT SIR STAMPALOT, AND MY GUEST DT SPOT !

Hello peeps! Hope you are having a fabulous week. 

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Several weeks ago, I was lucky enough to win the Sir Stampalot  "Magical Worlds" challenge,  and as well as receiving a parcel of crafting gorgeousness, I was thrilled to be asked to join the Team for a one-off  GDT spot as part of my prize.  
So peeps, here I am with my GDT card for September's  Stampalot challenge, and the theme is "IT'S A FRAME UP". 
Do pop over for all the details, and some fabulous DT inspiration.
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My Card Recipe:-

White and Black cardstock - Stampin' Up.

Backing paper -  Springtime Vintage from SU.

Stamp - "New York Diva" from Hampton Art, softly coloured with Copics and Distress Inks.

The rectangular FRAME was created by cutting, and joining together, two Nestie Lacy Squares. 

The "brads" on the frame are made from black card, punched with a Woodware

small circle punch, shaped with an embossing tool and spritzed with Perfect Pearls Mist - Heirloom Gold.

Postcard stamp - Crafty Individuals, distressed with scissors and inks. 

Flower - TH Tattered Florals die.

Circular sentiment - HOTP.

All edges inked with Versafine Smokey Gray.
Black lace - from my ribbon box.
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So lovely bloggers - start thinking about FRAMES (whatever your interpretation of that might be), and join in the fun!
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I would like to enter my card into the following Challenge:
Fashionable Stamping - Ribbon or Lace.


Love to all, 
and a warm welcome to my newest followers - Hazel, Tracy and Suze.  

TAKE THREE CHALLENGES AT LESS IS MORE!

Hi lovely blogging friends - hope you are enjoying your weekend?

This week the Challenge is A Recipe at Less is More - Chrissie and Mandi would like you to CHOOSE 3 CHALLENGES FROM THE PREVIOUS 29, and combine them on your card.  

I have chosen "Pink Black and White", "3 Squares" and "Use Ink".

Do pop over for all the details and fab. inspiration from the Delicious Divas - Mandi and Chrissie.

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 My card Recipe:-

The three squares are from a set by Crafty Individuals, stamped in Onyx Black Versafine.

 For the pink inking technique I have used a brayer with Worn Lipstick and Spun Sugar Distress Inks applied between two roughly torn masks.

After applying the Worn Lipstick I moved the masks slightly, then brayered the lighter shade of Spun Sugar to give a lighter edging.

The sentiment is from my stamp stash, found in the darkest, deepest corner of my craft room. Goodness knows where it came from!

The white element is my SU Whisper White cardstock.

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Have a happy week - love to all, and a very warm welcome to my newest Followers  ~ Thelma, Sally, Lisa, Celeste and Katina. 

COLOURFUL FINGERS AT THE SIR STAMPALOT BLOG GIRL DAY - FAB!

Just popping by to share one of the cards I made yesterday at the Blog Girl class with the lovely Brenda at Sir Stampalot.  

There was a crafting heaven of  inky fingers, superb brayering techniques, stamping,  good food, great company and loads of fun!

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Methinks I  need to improve my scenic brayering skills before sharing with the nation, so I decided to show you my personal favourite card of the day, created with collage stamping, Distress Inks, embossing and TH hinges. (Love Brenda's  choice of colours).

~ Have a wonderful week ~ 

A POSH PENGUIN - ALWAYS WITH A HEART!

Hi lovely blogging friends - this is just a quick post tonight as I want to make sure I don't miss entering Jules' snippets this week (Week 32).   If you haven't joined in the fun yet , you can find Jules' lovely blog at Always with a Heart HERE. If you have lots of leftover crafting snippets, then why not try it out!

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I seem to be in a blue mood recently - no idea why as I have always been more of a "pink" girl!  I think this little Penguin looks very posh in his (or maybe it's a her) ornate frame and pink woollies!!

Anyhoooo here is my card recipe:-

White cardstock - SU Whisper White

Pink layer - SU Pink Pirouette

Found this piece of blue and white dotty paper in my leftover box - it's a digi but I don't know where it came from - sorry!

Pink ribbon leftovers.

Nestie Fancy Tags 2  - I've been longing to use this and it was perfect for 

the gorgeous Penguin stamp from Hero Arts - bought him last year and I love him!

I paper-pieced the hat and scarf with a tiny leftover of dotty pink paper from the Prima Sweet Fairy paper stack, and attached them with silicone glue.

Sentiment from LOTV.

Love to all, and a warm welcome to my new followers - Debby and Gail - thank you so much.

USE YOUR INKS AT LESS IS MORE!

Hi lovely blogging friends. Wow - we have had sunshine here in West Yorkshire today (hope you have too), and my washing dried outside for a change - just have to do the ironing now!

Anyway, enough about the chores - Chrissy and Mandi, the Delightful Divas from LESS IS MORE have set a great challenge this week - to USE INK! (maybe in a way you haven't tried before).  Do pop over for all the details and some fabulous inspiration.

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 I decided to do a bit of "splattering" with my inks - it's probably one of the oldest inking techniques in the world, and one I remember doing as a child at school, back in the Dark Ages, with an old toothbrush and some paint.  If you flicked the toothbrush in the wrong direction you came home with a lovely patterned dress.  OK peeps -  who else remembers doing this at school ??!!

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Recipe:-

I swirled a SU Brocade Blue ink pad onto an acrylic block, added a drop of water and then used a stiff bristle paintbrush, and a finger, (one of my own fingers of course)  to do the splattering - great fun!

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Before starting to splatter (ooh I love that word) , I cut a curved mask from paper, placed it at the bottom of the card and lightly splattered the ink over the top section. To create the darker curve I placed the leftover piece of cut paper at the top of the card, leaving a gap between the two masks, then splattered more ink across the curved gap. (Sounds complicated, but it's not)!! 

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The fairy stamp and tiny stars are from Lavinia, inked with SU Night of Navy.

Sentiment from HOTP, inked with both shades of blue.

Stickles Stardust on the wings, stars, and moon. (You probably have to click on the pic. a couple of times to see the glitter)!! 

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I would also like to enter the following challenges:
Make My Monday - Fairies or Angels.
Challenge Up Your Life - No Patterned Paper.
Crafts and Me - Blues or Blue-Green.
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Have a great week everyone, and a warm welcome to my newest Followers - Sheilagh, Marita, Harry, Sylvia, Valerie, Minasverden, Catherine and Caroline.  ~

WHITE ON WHITE AT BAH! HUMBUG!

Hi peeps - hope you are having sunshine today?

Are we all determined  to start making our Christmas cards before December??!  OK - if you need a kick-start (like me), why not join the girls at Bah! Humbug! as they come up with the most fabulous Christmas challenges, and this time it's WHITE ON WHITE ! (OK - so my card may look blue, but it really is white - honest)!!

And here it is:-

Recipe:-

Cardstock - Whisper White from Stampin' Up

Fabulous stamp - "A Christmas Carol" from Papermania

Embossing Powder - Personal Impressions Opaque White

Glitter around the main image, and a little here and there on the ornaments - Dazzling Diamonds from SU

Lacy Squares Nestability Die - I die-cut two of the largest squares then chopped them down to create one large rectangle frame. 

Tiny Holly punch - a really really old one from All night Media (you can just see the holly leaves along the base of the frame).

Pearls from my craft box.

That's it folks - one less card to make in December!!
I would like to enter the following Challenges:-
Ooh-La-La Creations - Christmas.
Pink Gem Designs - White on White.
Craft Room - White on White.

Lots of love to all ~

CRAFTY SNIPPET CHALLENGE WEEK #30, AND A FIRST FOR ME!

Hi peeps - I am just popping by to share my very first "Crafty Snippet" ! 

In case you're wondering what that is - do take a peek at Jules' beautiful challenge blog Always With a Heart which I discovered recently. The challenges involve using up snippets of paper, ribbon, or whatever you have in your mountain of leftover stash - well, we crafters can never throw anything away - right?!

It was a bit scary, not using colouring pens, but I enjoyed the challenge and the re-discovery of long-forgotten bits and pieces! So, here is my (very simple) card!

The Hydrangea was part of an Anna Griffin die-cut decoupage sheet which is about 8 or 9 years old. I curved the layers slightly and applied silicone glue, to give a bit of depth.

The vintage text paper is a leftover from a very old 12x12" pad - name unknown! Torn and distressed around the edges with Vintage Photo DI.

Sentiment - Hot off the Press, inked with Timber Brown Staz-on.

Two pieces of blue ribbon leftovers.

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~ Love to all ~

BUTTON OR RIBBON AT LESS IS MORE THIS WEEK

Hi peeps!

At last - another card, and it's for this week's LESS IS MORE CHALLENGE - BUTTON or RIBBON - how fab. is that! I love ribbon, so thanks Chrissie and Mandi!! 

For anyone new to this Challenge, all the details can be found by clicking the link above.

Recipe:- 

The "20's" Lady is a clear acrylic stamp I bought several years ago on e-bay, and I'm sorry I don't know the name of it.

I masked the lady (and her rather large hat), then stamped the La Blanche swirls. 

Soft colouring on the hat - Copics. 

The Amour stamp is part of a beautiful theme plate from Elusive Images (still available at Chocolate Baroque) called Fleur et Parfum de Paris.

Ink used - Versafine Vintage Sepia.

Blue satin ribbon from the local Boyes store in Ilkley.

White base card - SU. 
(Please can anyone tell me how to photograph white card so that it LOOKS white?!!

Have a happy week everyone ~

YOUR FAVOURITE THINGS AT MAWTT !

Hi peeps - hope you are all happy and having sunshine wherever you are.

Just popping by with this week's Challenge at Moving Along With The Times -

the theme has been chosen by the lovely Laurie who would like to see "Favourite Things" on your projects this week, and I'm sure we all have lots of those!!
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This will be my last DT project for MAWTT - thanks to Hazel and Teamies for your friendship over the last few months. 
Hope you like the card - I'm not too sure about it myself! (You know when you have one of those days when nothing seems to work out as planned)!!

However, I do LOVE this stamp which was a birthday gift from a good friend of mine - it's called  "Sunrise" by Rachel Anderson, at Sweet Pea Stamps.
I have loads of "favourite things" but on my card I have used just a few of them -  Copics, Fairy, Glitter, Swirls!

Recipe:-
The background for the fairy was brayered over the masked image with Kaleidacolor "Desert Heat" ink. The mask was then removed, and the stamped image coloured with Copics, and cut out with a Nestabilities Labels 4 die.  
The layer of black SU card, and the TH Flourish diecut were spritzed with Ranger Perfect Pearls Mist - Heirloom Gold.  
Corner punch - Anna Griffin.
The black and white paper is Rhonna Farrer  Urban Junque, the green base card is Amy Butler Sola by K and Co.
All edges inked with Brilliance "Lightening Black".
Sentiment - Crafty Individuals.
Glamour Dust on the large Butterfly wings.
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Our lovely Sponsor this week is
My Mums Craft Shop
and the lucky winner will receive a £10 voucher to spend in their fabulous craft store.

Huge thanks to everyone who took part in last week's Christmas challenge - your projects were amazing. Do pop over to MAWTT to see who the winners are!
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I am entering my card into the following Challenges:-
The Craft Room - Butterflies.
Simon Says - Anything Goes.
Papertake Weekly - Hot Hot Hot Colours!
Paper Play - Things with Wings.
The Stamp Man - Anything by T!M.


Love to all ~

IT'S CHRISTMAS (AT MOVING ALONG WITH THE TIMES)!

Hi lovely peeps - have you noticed the Christmas goodies in the craft shops, and "Christmas in July" on the TV shopping channels?  Well, it's Christmas in Blogland this week too, at the MAWTT Challenge. 

Our lovely Shell has chosen the theme of CHRISTMAS which is great for someone like me who usually makes their Xmas cards in December - I will have at least ONE Xmas card prepared now - and here it is!

I love this fabulous  Mo Manning "Christmas Fairy Holly" image, and the Christmas theme gave me the chance to use lots of glitter - yaaay. (Though it doesn't show up very well on the photo - sorry)!!  

As we are still in Summer, I went for a kind of "alternative" colour scheme - hence the addition of PINK!! (Any excuse)!

Recipe:-

Image coloured with Copics and layered onto a Nestie Lacy Square diecut. Edges of image inked with Weathered Wood DI.

Backing paper is Craft Creations - "Small White Dots on Pink" - no surprise there then! 

White machine stitching. 

Moss Green seam binding from Wild Orchid Crafts.

Sentiment - Lili of the Valley, punched out with the SU Scallop Oval punch, edged with glitter.

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Do pop over to MAWTT to see what the DT have created, and find out who last week's lucky winners are.

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Our Sponsor this week is

http://stitchybearstamps.com/shop and the winner's prize is a $10 voucher to spend in their digi store.

Huge thanks to everyone who entered our Summer challenge last week - you projects were awesome.

Hope you will make the leap from Summer to Christmas, and join us again this week!

~ Love to all ~

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I would like to enter the following Challenges:-

By The Cute and Girly - Things With Wings

Simon Says - A Stitch in Time.

Paper Sundaes - Stitching.

Celebrate the Occasion - Christmas in July (NO RED)!

A Spoonfull of Sugar - Sewing.

Stampin for the Weekend - Wings and Things.

FEELING BLUE AT LESS IS MORE!

Hi everyone - hope you are all enjoying the fabulous weather. 

Mandi and Chrissi at Less is More have set a fabulous challenge this week for all 

blogging Limettes out there - SHADES OF BLUE. 

I have missed the last couple of challenges, but am pleased to be able to join in this week, and use 

my brand new La Blanche Roses stamp - a birthday gift from one of my lovely Followers.

The ink colours used are - 

Text stamp (Crafty Individuals) - Adirondack Stonewashed in the centre and Versacolor Lapis Lazuli around the edges.

Roses Stamp - SU Night of Navy

Sentiment (HOTP) - Versafine Majestic Blue
The images have been swirled with pale blue craft chalk (which you can barely see)!!

The pale blue thread is some really ancient Anchor Pearl Cotton (used for embroidery I think)? All things come in useful eventually!!

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Have a fabulous week wherever you are and whatever you are doing.  

I am going to see my 11 year old Grandson in his last Junior School concert tomorrow - he is The Artful Dodger in "Oliver", and will be making the huge leap into "big school" in September.

Love to all ~

HERE COMES SUMMER AT MOVING ALONG WITH THE TIMES!

Hi lovely blogging friends!  It's great to be back home after a few days away for my birthday.  Had a brilliant time - the architecture, the galleries, the shops, the hot weather, the food - all of it fabulous, so why is it so good to be back home?!!

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So peeps, onto this week's challenge at MAWTT - "HERE COMES SUMMER", chosen by the lovely Lisa. The winner's prize is 4 digis of your own choice from our talented sponsor, Beth at Squidgi Digi.

This is Beth's fab. Beach Huts image.

Recipe:-
Base card - white Bazzill (I know - it doesn't look white does it)!
I printed the Beach Huts twice, cut out and decoupaged the roof section to create dimension.
Image lightly coloured with Copics
White ric-rac, coloured with Copics
Cuttlebug heart cut from Nitwit paper, edges inked with Broken China DI
Sentiment - Hero arts
Shell and twine from stash
I would like to enter the following Challenge - Take Time For You - Summer, Sun, Beach and Sea.
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As always, a huge thank you to all you talented crafters out there who entered last week's Challenge - hope to see you again this week!

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~ And finally, 3 of the 200  photos taken in Venice ~

Love to all ~ have a happy day

CLEAN AND SIMPLE AT MOVING ALONG WITH THE TIMES!

A very good morning to you all - if Mr Blogger is behaving himself today you will be reading this, if not - well, you won't!! This post was scheduled for 10.00am today, by which time I shall probably be eating ice cream, and singing "O Sole Mio"  (not both at the same time though - I never sing with my mouth full) - can you guess where I am peeps??!!!

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This week at MAWTT the challenge theme is "Clean and Simple",  chosen by the lovely Hazel
(A card with clean lines, minimal elements, areas of white space, and few or no embellishments).

My DT card Recipe:-
Ink - Kaleidacolour Creole Spice, applied with a brayer onto a rectangle of white card. 4 holes punched down one edge.
The images were stamped with black Staz-on onto a Stampbord rectangle after brayering with Creole Spice. Some of the coloured ink was removed with a scratch pen to let the white surface show through. The stamps are by Leigh Hannan, available from Impression Obsession.
Stampbord edges inked with Gold Krylon, then layered onto black card and mounted.
Sentiment from Hero Arts.

There is a fabulous £10 gift voucher for this week's winner, from our lovely Sponsor - Crafty Emma.

 See you all soon ~

ANNIVERSARY CANDY WINNERS!

Good morning lovely Bloggers - I hope you are all having a happy weekend.

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I am just popping by to announce the winners of my Two Year Anniversary Blog Candy.  The entries were printed out, folded up and put into a bowl, and Hubby's Hairy Hand picked out two of them. 

 And the winners are:-

First out of the bowl was

 SHIRLEY - Nannieflash

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Second out of the bowl was

 PAMI- Pami's Crafty Creations

Congratulations Shirley and Pami - Please e-mail me your address ladies, so I can  send your £10 Joanna Sheen vouchers. (My e-mail is on my Profile page).
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Thank you to all my lovely followers and visitors for your kind comments and fabulous inspiration over the last two years.
Love to all ~

INSPIRED BY A SONG AT THE MAWTT CHALLENGE!

 Hello lovely bloggers - hope you're having a happy week, and some sunshine wherever you are in the world.
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I'm sure you  will love this week's INSPIRED BY A SONG challenge at MAWTT - chosen by the lovely Laurie.
I didn't have to think for more than a nano-second to decide on the fabulous Robbie Williams song "Angels" (I love it),  and I used the beautiful "Sending Peace" image by the super-talented Mo Manning (which I also love)!
This photo doesn't look very "sharp" - it's better when enlarged - honest!

The Angel has been softly coloured with Copics, and the background was created with
Sky Blue Versacolor ink, dabbed on with a cottonwool ball.
SU Dazzling diamonds glitter on the wings.
Sentiment created on the computer, and a spray of pearls to finish.
The die cut for the Easel card is Nesties Labels 1.
I would like to neter my card into the following challenge:-
Freshly Brewed - Put a Little Song in your Heart!
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The prize at MAWTT this week is a fabulous Kanban Music Kit .

  Thanks to everyone for the fabulous entries last week -  look forward to seeing more of your beautiful creations. 

ANYTHING BUT A CARD AT MOVING ALONG WITH THE TIMES!

Wow lovely bloggers - that's another week gone by,  and time for a new Challenge at MAWTT, - this week we would like to see "Anything But a Card", which is the lovely Pami's choice

Our fabulous Sponsor this week is

Every Crafts A Pound
 Full details can be found over at MAWTT.
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My DT project is a mini concertina folder, for recording those all-important, special occasion dates you just don't want to forget.

Recipe:-
All cardstock from Stampin' Up.
Distress Inks - Vintage Photo and Brushed Corduroy.
Front cover: - computer generated wording on small Nestie "Labels 4".
Flourish stamp - Stampin' Up
CB Corner die,  cut from Gold Japanese Washi paper.
Ribbon - had it for ages!
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Inside: -  Floral paper - Anna Griffin, over-stamped with Crafty Secrets "French Mail" set, and Text stamp from Crafty Individuals. The folds and outer edges of the pockets are machine-stitched.
Twelve large Nestie "Labels 4" diecuts (3 in each pocket), with Tim Holtz months of the year Tissue Tape on each one.
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Thanks to all the lovely crafters who entered last week's challenge - there were some amazing projects once again. Look forward to this week's entries - and don't forget peeps - NO CARDS!!
I would like to enter the following Challenges -
Dream Valley - Stamp Something.
Craft your Passion -Anything Goes


Love to all ~

MONOCHROME AT LESS IS MORE!

 Good morning lovely bloggers, hope you are having sunshine in your part of the world. 

This is week 18 for the challenges at Less is More

and the theme is  MONOCHROME.   Mandi and Chrissie, the LIM Divas,  have very kindly given a description of exactly what Monochrome is,  alongside their inspirational DT cards.

I have used one of my oldest, and most-loved stamps - Gracious Lady from Hero Arts. 

The image is stamped with Staz-on Azure, and  the shading has been added with Derwent watercolour pencils, used dry.

The sentiment is from Penny Black. An Eazi Scoreboard was used to add a couple of embossed lines.

Whisper White card from Stampin' Up.

Have a happy day ...

NO DESIGNER PAPERS AT MAWTT THIS WEEK!!!

 Hi peeps - hope you are all having a happy week.
After 5 days, my Followers have returned, no thanks to "Blogger Help". I downloaded Firefox and the followers returned immediately, so if anyone else is having problems, it may be worth trying.
I am also a very happy bunny to learn that I won the prize at last month's Magical Worlds challenge at Sir Stampalot with my MAWTT DT Mermaid card HERE
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Anyway, enough of my rambling - this week at the MAWTT Challenge it's the lovely Shell's turn to host, and she doesn't want to see any of those gorgeous Designer papers on your project (yikes)!!  So c'mon - I know you can do it!!

Our lovely Sponsor this week is Didge, (Shells' Daughter) whose images are available from Stitchy Bear Stamps . The prize is 3 of Didge's cute images, which were designed exclusively for  MAWTT - pop over there for all the details.
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  I have used a beautiful Poinsettia image, also from Didge,  and made my first Christmas card of 2011 - yayyy!!

Recipe:-
The textured Very Vanilla card is from Stampin' Up.
The Poinsettias have been re-sized, cut out and layered, then coloured with Copics.  The swirl stamp is from Crafty Individuals, and the digi sentiment is from Raindrop Echo Designs, available from Whimsy Stamps. 
Edges inked with black Staz-on to create a slightly "worn and shabby" look. Glamour Dust added to the flower centres.
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Thank you for all the wonderful entries last week, and don't forget - no designer papers!!
Love to all ~