Anything Christmas - Last challenge at MilkCoffee

Hello all,

It's with great regret that I have to be a bearer of sad tidings... MilkCoffee are closing their challenge blog at the end of this challenge, two weeks from today.
It wasn't an easy decision to make, but Nana and Esme are both very busy and simply can't keep up with everything. It's not all bad news though, as their Etsy shop will remain open, so you'll still be able to buy their gorgeous digis!

For my card I decided to use the first Christmas digi of theirs I got to play with last year, Charlotte and Candy Cane. I went with a pink and turquoise colour scheme last year, so decided on something a little richer this time.

The papers and sentiment are both LOTV.

So there it is, my contribution to the final challenge. For now... You never know... The girls may decide to re-open the blog in the future. I for one certainly hope so!

So I hope you'll all come along and give this amazing challenge a great send off. And if you use a MilkCoffee image, even better!

Have a fabulous day!

Sammy-x

Christmas in non traditional colours - MilkCoffee DT

Morning all!

Apologies for my absence... Not feeling at all well, so computer time is just about non-existent right now...

But I managed to set up this post for the new challenge at MilkCoffee this fortnight! The theme is Christmas in non traditional colours, and I decided to go with purple, and this really fab new digi:

That's it from me, short but sweet today... Back to bed I go... I do hope you'll all play along with the challenge though!

Have an awesome day!

Sammy-x

Lots of embellishments - MilkCoffee DT

Morning all!

So sorry I've not really been around this past week... I volunteered for a couple of extra shifts at the charity shop, and have had errands to run, orders to fill and my son's birthday to prepare for! Not used to being quite so busy, lol.

Anyways, it's new challenge time at MilkCoffee, and the theme this fortnight is to use Lots of Embellishments. easy peasy for those of us that love to keep adding bits, but possibly quite a challenge for you CAS creators!

I decided to use Luna for this theme, as her 18th century get-up seemed perfect for a shabby kind of creation with lots of flowers and pretties.
Like so:

I couldn't resist adding one of the shabby bark hearts from Live & Love Crafts. I LOVE them so much and am on my third lot of them already, lol.
Again the papers are from the Docrafts Wild Rose capsule collection pack... I'm nearly out now, lol.
Flowers are WOC, the bling heart I believe from The Ribbon Girl (?) and I haven't the faintest idea where I got the ribbon bows, lol. Lace, pearls and a Frantaged corner die-cut finish off the embellishments.

I hope you'll all come and play along!

Have a brilliant day!

Sammy-x

Use a hand coloured image - MilkCoffee DT

Hi all,

First of all, Just thought I'd let you all know I've set up a FB page... It's still under construction, but I figured it was about time, as it's a lot easier to send people there than here if they're trying to commission something.
If anyone fancies stopping by, I'll be very happy to see you :-)

It's time for another challenge at MilkCoffee, and it's one that people either love or hate... We're simply asking you to use a hand coloured image on your project. So no pre-made toppers or pre-coloured digis please!

I decided to use another Tiffany image for mine. This time, she is dressed up as Alice, and judging by the fact that she has hold of the watch, I'd say she's already gone down the rabbit hole!

Apologies for the terrible lighting in the photo. It's been so dull and miserable here that try as I might, I couldn't get a decent colour to anything (even trying to fix it with software after... believe me when I say this is sooo much better than what it started off as, lol).

I figured that with the watch in her hand, this would be the perfect image for a belated birthday card, so I created the sentiment on my computer and printed it out. The papers are LOTV.
Believe it or not, but that gem in the bottom corner is supposed to be the same blue as the others!

Now it's your turn.  We'd love to see your colouring skills!

Have a fantastic day!

Sammy-x

Halloween - MilkCoffee DT

Hi all,

It's time for another challenge over at MilkCoffee! And the theme is one of the two biggies this month ; Halloween.

Now unfortunately getting one's hands on Halloween crafting supplies here in the UK isn't quite as easy as I'd like it to be, but I didn't let that stop me!
I started with the utterly gorgeous Little Witch Charlotte, and then looked through my paper stash to see which papers I could make work in a Halloween setting. I saw the gorgeous deep blue in the "father knows best" pad from LOTV, and knew that was the one!
I used the leftover snippets from my father's day card, in fact, and made this:

This was actually my first attempt at colouring using the Promarker fine nibs, which I decided to try after watching some of Sam K's fab tutorials. I have to say I was very pleased with the result!

As you can probably tell, I also have a new favourite hair colour... It's actually my favourite in real life too! lol.

Now, we hope you'll come and play along this fortnight!

And I had so much fun at the playground last week, I shall be running off now to join the fun in again!

See you in a few hours with another card!

Sammy-x

Layer it up - MilkCoffee DT

Hello folks!

A big thank you to everyone that joined us for the birthday celebrations at MilkCoffee these past couple of weeks. We all had lots of fun with the festivities, and hope you did too!

And today we have a new challenge for you all, and the theme is Layer it up.

I decided to use the very lovely Fairy Queen, and paired her up with several papers from the DCWV  Preppy Princess stack.

Of course the card called for buttons and bows and lots of liquid pearls too!
Also, I have decided that that is the colour I want my hair to be!

One card. LOTS of layers! And now it's your turn. Why not take a peek at my fellow teamies' gorgeous makes, and come and play with us this challenge. You know you want to! ;-)

Have an awesomesauce day!

Sammy-x

MilkCoffee Blog Hop - MC is 3 years old!

Hey everyone.

It's a really speacial month over at MilkCoffee, because we're having a blog hop to celebrate MilkCoffee's 3rd birthday!

So our bloghop theme is THREE. There are so many ways to interpret this theme, as you will see if you come join in with the hop! I used this lovely new image and three different designer papers.

As you can see, I also added a "3" embellishment (which I triple embossed) and some lovely lace, as well as one of the gorgeous lace butterflies from The Ribbon Girl.

Now then, a little blog hop info:

The order of the hop is as follows:

Shirl

Sammy (you be here)

Rita

Corrine

Valou
Andreja

The rules of the hop are as follows :

1. Visit each of our DT members blogs in turn and leave a comment on their Birthday Blog Hop post.

2. Return  to the main blog & add your name into the linky.

Simples!!!

The winner of the blog hop will receive 5 DIGI IMAGES and  request ONE CUSTOM IMAGE from us :) and will be drawn at random on 2nd of October

* please note - we will be checking that the randomly drawn winner has left a comment on each of our DT's post 

And that is not all!!! Each of the DT have a freebie image available on their blogs, so all you have to do to get them is hop along.

Here's mine:

So what are you all waiting for?

Have a fabulous day!

Sammy-x

Autumn colours - MilkCoffee DT

Good morning everyone!

There's a new challenge happening at MilkCoffee, and this fortnight we're looking for creations in autumn Colours.

For my card I choose the lovely "Lisbeth at the tree", and I coloured the tree to make it look like it was autumn.

The paper is Docrafts and I kept the embellishments to a simple gingham ribbon and bow.

Now it's your turn! We'd love to see your creations using autumn colours!

I'd like to enter this into the Ribbon Girl "add ribbon" challenge and I would really like to play along in Darnell's NBUS challenge too! In fact, everything except the three colours of cardstock is NBUS on this card.

Have a great day!

Sammy-x

Back to school - MilkCoffee DT

Good morning bloggers!

I did a rather silly thing over the weekend... I went and sprained my wrist! It appears to be a grade 2 sprain, and should hopefully clear up on it's own some time in the near future, but in the meantime, I'm somewhat helpless, as I can't use the hand at all, and it's my right hand... The one I use.

What terribly dangerous activity was I performing when I injured myself in this way? Well, I was stamping! Such a vicious and dangerous hobby we all have!

Anyways, enough of that, it's time for a new challenge at MilkCoffee, and the theme is Back to School.
Rather apt, as my kids go back next week. In fact, my baby will be starting high school! Oh boy do I feel old!

Instead of a card, I opted to decorate a notebook. I took a lot of inspiration from the fabulous Lou, who recently posted up a rather stunning notebook of her own. I strongly suggest you go take a peek!

I decided to use the lovely "Alicia goes to School" for mine.

I started off with some lined paper that was already old and yellowing so perfect to use. I added some faux stitching, and then layered a large piece of Hessian on top, followed by some Prima papers and TH ticket.  I finished off with some tape measure ribbon from Hobbycraft, and a vintage button-type embellishment I found in The Works.
Some inking here and there with Scattered Straw distress ink, and some more faux stitching, and finally the MilkCoffee image, coloured with Promarkers.

I'm really enjoying the new way of colouring I've been playing with recently, as I think the effects are subtler than before.

And there she is! And now it's your turn. I know you want to come play! ;-)

Have a great day everyone, and if you're planning on doing any stamping, be careful! lol.

I'd also like to enter the following challenges:

Sparkles Monthly - Back to School
Oldie but a goodie: Anything but a card (the lined paper is probably about a decade old, most of the other stuff around a year!)

Sammy-x

Add Stripes - MilkCoffee DT

Hello all!

It's once again time for a new challenge at MilkCoffee, and this coming fortnight we'd like to see projects featuring Stripes. Easy peasy!

For my projects I decided to decorate a chipboard photo frame (from Every Craft's a Pound. It cost - oddly enough - a pound, lol).
Because the frame is slightly smaller than A4, an A4 piece of backing paper seemed ideal, so I browsed through my stack of magazine freebies (which often come in A4 size), looking for a stripy design to inspire me. I soon found it in the form of this brightly coloured beauty, which made me think of sweets (or candy, for those of you across the pond).
And because it was sweet, a sweet MilkCoffee character was required also. so this time I went with the adorable Soya, and I used 3 out of the 4 digis available featuring this cutie.

(I must apologise for the rather bleak photo... We've been having the most dreary weather recently, and try as I might, all the pictures seem to come out grey :-(  )

I didn't want to over-embellish the frame, so I dug around in my stash for sweet buttons in matching colours, and dotted them around the frame in three groupings, to mirror the three digis.

Finally, I added the "Soya" inside the frame, in lieu of a photo, but it's easily removable and replaced with a proper photo.

And that's my stripy creation. I'm sure you can all find some stripes somewhere in your stash, so when you do, don't forget to enter your makes over at MilkCoffee! And if you need some more inspiration, my fellow DT have some gorgeous creations ready for your perusal.

Have a fabby day everyone! (I certainly intend to... I have a trip to Hobbycraft planned! lol)

Sammy-x

2 Or more die-cuts - MilkCoffee DT

Good morning everyone!

Don't forget to enter my Blogoversary candy here!


The next few posts should be coming to you on auto pilot, as I shall be in Aberdeenshire visiting family... Fingers crossed all goes according to plan, lol.

And to kick it all off, I'm going to tell you about the new challenge at MilkCoffee, for which the theme is 2 or more die-cuts.
Now, I know there's a few of you die-cutters out there, so why not join in the fun?

I thought I'd take the opportunity to have a play with the utterly gorgeous "Fairy Princess" image. I teamed her up with some First Edition papers (which were a birthday pressie from my son back in Feb! Can't believe it took me this long to get round to them!) and then went to town with my dies!

As you can see, I used a few more than 2!! I also decided to round the corners on the image panel, as I thought that the rounded corners worked far better with the scalloped circles underneath.

So, your turn, grab your dies and have fun! And don't forget to see what my fellow DT have been up to.

Have a great day!

Sammy-x

Birthdays - MilkCoffee DT

Howdo folks?

I've been collecting some goodies for a candy, so keep an eye out for that some time over the weekend!

Until then, I have for you some inspiration for the new challenge over at MilkCoffee, where the theme is Birthdays. Easy peasy, no? :-)

I chose a brand new digi, featuring the adorable Charlotte as a ballerina and teamed her up with papers from the equally new LOTV paper pad "On a High Note". I am so very, very in love with this pad!

Other than some lace, gems and shabby pink Frantage, I kept the embellishments to a minimum, as I wanted as much of the gorgeous paper to show as possible, and Charlotte is pretty enough to not need loads of bling to shine!

I did end up having a slight problem with my Magenta Promarker, which for some reason seem excessively wet and leaky. Oddly, it isn't really noticeable in real life, but the photo seems to have picked up on the bleeding :-(

Now then, I'm sure you'll all be wanting to make a birthday card to join in with, right? And don't forget to take a peek at what my fellow DT have been up to, as they have some gorgeous creations waiting for you.

Have a fantastic couple of days, and I'll be back with my candy post soon.

Sammy-x

White on White - MilkCoffee DT

Hello there peoples!

Another first for me today, namely, my first attempt at a White on White card for my DT piece at MilkCoffee. Coloured images are allowed, but I decided to try and keep colour to a minimum, so opted to use the gorgeous "Tiffany in Wedding Gown", as the predominant colour in that image would be white!

So I started with a piece of white cardstock, which I ran through a spotty embossing folder, and then I embossed another strip with a rose border...

I fussy-cut Tiffany, after having coloured her with Promarkers and embellished her with white liquid pearls, Stardust Stickles and my Sakura "clear star" gelly roll pen. She is super sparkly, with a shimmering veil and glittering jewellery, but taking pictures of WoW seems to be tricky enough without trying to factor in sparkle, so unfortunately it doesn't show,,,

I finally die-cut a corner, punched some flowers and stamped a LOTV sentiment to add the finishing touches. And there she is. My first try at White on White. I may play with that again some time in the future, as I certainly found it a challenge!

And now it's your turn to have a go!

Be fabulous!

Sammy-x

Summer Fun - MilkCoffee DT

Good morning peoples,

I can't believe it, but it's Thursday again... I'm certain we're on 3 day weeks or something! lol.

There's a new challenge going live over at MilkCoffee, and the theme is Summer Fun. Oh yes please! I've had enough of the rain already, summer would be loooovely!

And while I'm waiting for that to happen, I thought I'd let Tiffany help me imagine how lovely it would be to spend a sunny day at the seaside :-)

Isn't she fab? I coloured her with my Promarkers, and added lots of sparkle to her bikini with my Sakura Gelly roll pen (I LOVE that pen! I can't seem to stop using it, lol). It doesn't show on the photo, but it adds a lovely glisten and makes it look like she's really having a fun frolic in the sea.
The papers were a recent magazine freebie...

Now, I'm very much looking forward to seeing your summery creations!

Have a great day,

Sammy-x

For dad/special male - MilkCoffee DT

And another good morning to you all. You know, one of these days I'll start a post with "good evening", just to throw you all, lol.

I have a very special card to share with you all today. It's for the new challenge over at MilkCoffee, for which the theme is For Dad/Special Male. And for this card, I worked together with my very own, very special guest designer!

Most of you will know by now that my daughter dabbles in card making and other art too. But until now, my son's artistic talents have been somewhat illusive...

Well, the other day I had just printed out the adorable "I want to be like daddy" digi to use for this DT card, when Sean came up to me and told me he loved the picture and please could he colour it! I'd chosen this digi especially, because Sean really is just like his dad. We're always saying Sean's his "Mini Me", lol.
Now, Sean is 11 and has Aspergers, and although he often draws, colouring is usually limited to a few quick scribbles of colour (think average 4-year-old), as he never has the patience to colour carefully, never mind between the lines!
But I let him have the image, thinking if necessary I could always print another. We went through my papers and he chose a few nice ones that daddy would like, and he set to colouring to match. And I was so impressed with the result! He even did some shading!

Now is that brilliant, or what!?
Mum did all the cutting and sticking (happily, he has a phobia for sharp knives. This gives me peace of mind for now, lol), but the colouring and everything else was Sean. And I'm so proud!

Naturally, this card will be presented to daddy next week, and I am absolutely certain he is going to love it!

So there we go, it simply had to be my DT card for this week's challenge, and I hope you'll all go check out the rest of the DT's work too. And of course come and play along!

Have a most excellent day!

Sammy-x

Anything but a card - Milk Coffee DT

Good morning my dears,

Oh, will you look at that! another Thursday! It isn't just me, is it? Someone has hit the fast forward button, as this year is flying along at an alarming rate!
Either way, this particular Thursday sees the start of a new challenge over at MilkCoffee! And it's a super fun one this fortnight (well, I think so, anyway!), anything but a card!

IO decided to make life difficult for myself, and set to making a mini album showcasing my favourite MC character, Tiffany. I used seven, yes seven different images, and gave them a page each. I tried not to go overboard with embellishments (with varying degrees of success, lol) in order to let Tiffany take centre stage.

Lots of pictures coming up!

And there she is. Isn't she lovely? It was a lot of fun to make, and I immensely enjoyed colouring all the images. Also, it's impossible to tell from the pictures, but I got to break in my new Sakura Gelly roll pen, and I am so in love with it! it gives such a gorgeous shimmer to certain things (like jewellery or some of her dresses), without being overpowering or compromising the colour!

Well, I hope you'll all go see what my fellow teamies have made, and then come join in the fun. You know you want to!

Have a great day all!

Sammy-x

For mother/special lady - MilkCoffee DT

Good morning everyone! (or at least, it will be soon for some of us, lol)

Another new challenge starts today at MilkCoffee, and we're asking you to make something for a mother or special lady.

For my card, I used one of the new images, called "Tiffany and Birthday cake". Birthday cake or not, as there's no candles on it, I figured it would work beautifully for many occasions besides birthdays!

I love Tiffany! she is my favourite MilkCoffee character, and this image is just sooooo lovely! I used some Prima papers, and spent some time playing about with different die-cuts and embellishments, and went for something a little different with the flowers from my usual.
Speaking of die-cuts... I've noticed that for some reason Spellbinders dies don't seem to cut well in my GC. Other brands work fine, but the SB dies rarely cut properly, no matter how often I put them through, where I position them or how many shims I use. It's driving me batty, as I have several lovely SB dies that just aren't getting used :-(
Anyone have any other tips?

Anyways, I strongly suggest you go take a peek at the gorgeous treats my fellow DT have prepared for you, and I'll catch up with you all soon!

Have a great day!

Sammy-x

Bright Colours - MilkCoffee DT

Good (very early!) morning everyone!

It's time for a brand new challenge over at MilkCoffee, and I have to admit this was a lot of fun, as it forced me out of my comfort zone a little... The theme is Bright Colours, and as you've probably noticed by now, I often tend towards the muted colours, or if going with brights, only using one such... Well, not so much this time!

I started off by getting out a tag, and playing with my brightest inks, then using that as a jumping off point for my card...

Turquoises, pinks, a little yellow and blue... I'd say I found the theme there somewhere along the way! lol.
The image is one of the gorgeous new ones available in the shop, and is called Lisbeth plays with Sailboat toys. She's so adorable, I think, and the fun summery image really lends itself to bright colours!
I also used some more Tim Holtz chitchat stickers to make up the sentiment.

Now, we'd love to see you all play along, and show us some lovely bright colours.

And I shall be back in a couple of hours... watch this space! ;-)

Sammy-x

Easter - MilkCoffee DT

Good morning my darlings!

Just thought you might all want to know that I had a most unpleasant trip to the dentist the other day, and all sympathy will be greatly appreciated as I'm feeling super sorry for myself, lol.

Another new challenge over at MilkCoffee, and we're looking for your Easter creations this time. Now, there some gorgeous new Easter digis available in the shop, so if you're stuck for an image, why not go take a peek?

I used the adorable Lisbeth and Little Bunnies and teamed her up with some First Edition papers. These are possibly my favourite Easter papers... Such lovely colours.

As you can see, I added some organza ribbon and made a bow, with a flower button on top. And liquid pearls around the edges of the purple paper to finish it off.

Please do go see what the rest of the DT have been up to, as there's several gorgeous creations there just waiting for you to come take a peek.

Have a super day!

Sammy-x

Welcome Spring - MilkCoffee DT

Hello everyone.

It's time for another MilkCoffee challenge today! And the theme is Welcome Spring.

I don't know about you guys, but to me, spring means flowers and an end to cold, not this miserable weather we've been having this week! lol.

I used the gorgeous Fairy Tiffany for my card, and teamed her up with some First Edition paper.

As you can see, I was also extremely liberal with the Stickles! The flower ribbon (which I can promise you is now straight again, lol) was a find in a local haberdashery... Just love it!
And the light flowers have a turquoise colour Stickles on them, though they look rather darker in the picture!

Well then, we'd love it if you joined us with a Spring-themed project! And make sure you go take a looksee at what the rest of the DT have made.

I'd like to enter this into the following challenge:

STAMPlorations - Stamps and spring


Wishing you all the best of days,

Sammy-x