First Digi Stamp!!

Happy Thursday everyone!

Well today I finished my very first digi stamp "Super dragon" by the very talented artist Dustin Pike, and I have to admit, this is not my usual style but I love it!! This card was so much fun to make and whilst coloring it I kept laughing to myself coz it just reminded me of Thijs....he flies around the house sometimes with the cheekiest grin on his face.....it makes you wonder what he is thinking, what's really going on inside that mind of his!!! I will definately make more of these cards as they are just fun and this one made me feel like a child again! I sponged the background clouds, colored super dragon in copics, made him 3D, then added the banner and ribbons. Let me know what you think.

Card Recipe
Paper - DCWV Boys stack
Image - Dustin Pike digi stamps
Clouds - Martha Stewart ink - sky blue
ribbons and gems - Michael's
star stickers - were a gift

Have a good evening!
Hugs,
Charlotte

Our thoughts and prayers!

Today was supposed to be such a happy day for many in the Netherlands who were celebrating Koninginnedag (Queens day), who gathered in the town of Apeldoorn to await the royal families arrival. What started out as a great celebration ended ubruptly when a speeding car went into the crowd and killed 4 people. There were also 13 people injured, some of them seriously.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families and all those who were affected by this senseless act, and of course to all the Dutch people whose celebrations were cut short or cancelled. Our celebration here in Miami will still go on but I'm sure the mood will be totally different after this tragic news.

Hugs,
Charlotte

Sugar Nellie's "Windswept"

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Well we are half way through the week and today I looked at the weather and thought what a perfect day to make my windswept card!!! Yes it's windy here, still hot but at least you get a little refreshment with the breeze. I spent most of my morning trying to locate my way through the splitcoast stampers site....I think I navigated through it ok, I just have to split my time (no pun intended!!) between the computer, designing and housework, otherwise my eyes will be sore by the end of the day.

I'm really happy with how this card turned out and think the colors work well together, don't you think?? The brightness of the orange paper actually brings out the color of the aqua paper. I colored the stamp in copics (I only have a few so my choices are limited!!), made the image 3D, added the stamped florishes from stampology using Marth Stewarts blue sky ink. I machine stitched both the inside and outside of the card and put the flower embellishment together using a pearl brad.

Card recipe
Stamp - Sugar Nellie's designer Elisabeth Bell "Windswept"
Aqua cardstock by Best Occasions
Orange paper by Making Memories - orange gingham
Ribbons - basic narrows from Michael's
Gems - Martha Stewart - blue ombre
florishes - Stampology
Ink - Martha Stewart - blue sky
flowers - prima

Enjoy the rest of the day, and happy crafting!
Hugs,
Charlotte

WOJ Willow

Happy Tuesday everyone!

Well today I must say I'm quite pleased with myself.... Last night my eyes were burning so bad after spending way too much time in front of the computer screen...that will teach me!! So today I concentrated on completing a couple of cards and they worked out really well. The card I have here is WOJ Willow and I'm delighted with the results, I love the combination of chocolate and pale pink....did I say chocolate.....hmm it's been a while since I've had some Cadbury's chocolate....note to self....stop by the store on the way home!!!!

Sorry I got a little distracted there!! Anyway, I made this card using the WOJ stamp and couldn't quite decide what color to put Willow in, she went from purple to blue and finally to pink. I think the latter was just perfect for her!! The striped paper is from Making Memories, the flowers are prima (I think!!), and the gems are from Micheal's. I also have some prima flowers on the inside too. Willow is colored in copics and made 3D to give some dimension.

Hope you have all had a nice day, and I look forward to checking out some blogs later.
Take care,
Hugs,
Charlotte

Mojo Monday challenge

Here is my card for the Mojo Monday challenge. No surprise that I chose a Sugar Nellie stamp!!! The designer paper is by S.E.I. and is gorgeous, brown and pale pink embossed with butterflies and flowers. I colored the image with copics and raised her up on pop dots, added some 3D butterflies, a paper flower from Michael's and blue gems by Martha Stewart. I love the color combo on this one...let me know what you think.


Have a good evening!

Hugs,
Charlotte

My First Two Awards!!!

I am so chuffed to receive these awards....I don't think my smile can get much bigger!!!

The Karma Award: from Sassy!

These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind of bloggers
aim to find and be friends. They are not interested
in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons
of these prizes are cut even more friendships are propagated.
Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award
to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this
cleverly written text into the body of their award.

I feel so blessed to have these two awards, and from such a lovely lady too!! Now I need to pass this forward to other deserving and talented designers!

Thank you so much Sassy, I will wear them with pride! You have become a good friend and I look forward to keeping in touch and blogging along with you!

If you haven't done so already you really should check out Sassy's blog, as she is so talented and has a fantastic sense of humor!!

Thank you from the bottom of my heart!!

Hugs,

Charlotte

A different kind of challenge!

Our decorated bikes!

Happy Sunday everyone!

This weekend I had a different kind of challenge, it was for the Dutch clubs orange bike parade in Coconut Grove! The challenge was to decorate a bike in orange, be creative and think orange (as in think about Holland)!! Well that was so much fun to do. I went looking around the house with Thijs for all things Dutch and we gathered together quite a few items, flags, windmills, an orange lion, wooden shoes (clogs), a crazy hat, fuzzy orange pen, and orange bells. Then we went out to Michael's to buy some ribbon and flowers. Last night we decorated the bikes and today we went to the parade.

The parade was to celebrate the Queen of Holland's day (Koninginnedag) and to encourage people to forgoe their cars and ride bikes for the day. When we arrived it was like a sea of orange and when we got our free orange t-shirts it was even more orange!!! There were lots of different types of bikes and we all set out on our ride around the grove. After the ride there was a contest for the best decorated bike...and guess what I won!!!!!!! I won a new bike!!!!! Whooohoooo!! I don't win things and I think this is the first time I've ever won anything!!!

The winning bike is the one in the middle!

I still can't believe I won it, I keep going to the garage to check it's real!!!!

Needless to say, no cards this weekend but I hope to post more tomorrow!!
Have a fabulous week.

Hugs,
Charlotte

Sugar Nellie Box and Card set

Happy Friday everyone!!! Yay, it's almost the weekend. I hope everyone has had a good week and ready to enjoy the weekend. I'm excited because Arjan has a day off tomorrow so perhaps we can do something fun together as a family. He works so hard and so many hours so we really appreciate the time when he is not working!! The weather is gorgeous again here with an awesome breeze which of course is very welcome, as it helps to cool you down a bit!! As I'm looking out my window I see the palm tree fraunds blowing nicely, oh to be out on the boat on the ocean......maybe next weekend!!!

Ok enough about the weather, yesterday I told you I was inspired with my Sugar Nellie stamps, so I decided to make a little gift box to go along with the card I posted yesterday. I covered the box with the DCWV whimsy paper and used the same embellishments to match the card. Inside the box I lined it with paper and around the sides I glued some lace and ribbon to finish it off nicely. I love how it turned out and think it would make a nice gift for someone special. What do you think?

If I don't get the chance to go blog hopping later, I wish you all a wonderful weekend!

Hugs,
Charlotte

Sugar Nellie Stamp - Fingers Crossed

Photo above taken without flash, below with flash!


Good Morning everyone, or Good Afternoon depending on what part of the world you are in!!!

Yesterday I was inspired by my Sugar Nellie stamps and decided to go ahead and put a card together. I love how this one turned out and it's got me eager to make the others now!! Woohoo! This stamp is called "Fingers crossed" and I colored her in copics and raised her up to give a little dimension. The pretty background paper is DCWV Whimsy, very delicate shades which I love. I stamped the florishes and embellished her with paper flowers and butterfly gems. So what do you think???

I look foward to making more of these Sugar Nellie cards in the coming days, I may even post some of my previously made ones.....just coz I love them so much!!!

Recipe:
Stamp by Sugar Nellie - designer Elizabeth Bell
Background paper by DCWV Whimsy
Florish stamp by Stampology
Green ink by Martha Stewart in stem green
Ribbon Basic Narrows from Michael's
Butterfly gems from Michael's

How's the weather in your neck of the woods?
Today here in Miami it is sunny with not a cloud to be seen in the sky, it was around 70 degrees when I took Thijs to school but by this afternoon I'm sure it will be back in the 80's again!! Feels like summer already! In another month Thijs will be off from school for the summer, a whole 12 weeks so we need to decide what we are going to do. We have checked out a few summer camps but not decided completely if we want to send him because he's still so young. I would like to find somewhere that he could go perhaps just for a few hours in the mornings and then be home to do fun stuff together in the afternoons. That way Thijs would still have the opportunity to be around other children and I would still get the chance to work on some designs myself....some mommy/mummy time!!! I will keep you posted as to what we decide!

Blog hopping!
I had the opportunity to do a little blog hopping yesterday and I have to say there are some amazingly talented people out there. It's great to be able to leave comments on other's blogs don't you think? I was lucky this week to connect with two other fellow English ladies and check out their blogs.....very talented ladies too!

Thank you to those of you who have taken the time out of your very busy days to leave me a message. All messages are very much appreciated!! Keep them coming, it makes my day!!

Have a fabulous day!
Hugs,
Charlotte

Mojo Monday Challenge.....on Wednesday!!!!

Here's my first challenge card ever!!! I made this one for Mojo Monday and yes it's a little bit simpler than I usually make but I wanted to get it made before the end of the week!!! I used a Penny Black stamp called "Rainin Daisies" and colored it in copics. The patterned paper is by DCWV Whimsy, which I love because there are so many pretty patterns and some of them are embossed. I love the colors in this card, very soft and springlike don't you think?? Let me know what you think.
It's fun to play so come along too!!

Hugs and Happy Earth Day to everyone!!!

Charlotte

Special Request Boxed Card

Happy Tuesday everyone!! I can't believe another week is over so fast, where does the time fly??? My cardmaking has taken a back seat to some doctors visits with Thijs last week, but now those are over it's time to get cracking again.

I have been working on this card for a while and it has been a bit of a labor of love, nothing went easy on this one but now that it's complete I have to say I really like it. This is the 3rd card I have made like this with six panels all being different and although they are very time consuming they can be a lot of fun to make. The request from a lovely lady was for pinks and lavender colors and pansy flowers. I have included some pansies but also some other flowers too. The tin box I got from Joann's and covered it with DCWV embossed paper, pink and lavender ribbons, flowers, Swarovski crystals and gems from Michael's. The card has 6 panels all machine stitched and decorated with lots of goodies.

The pansy stamp is from Hero Arts
brushed silver oval bookplate from JoAnnCraft Essentials
Small flower stamp is from All Night Media
vintage metal button is from LA Mode
Swarovski crystal beads (hanging from the button), and ribbons are from Michael's
Swarovski crystal gems on tin also from Michael's
Epoxy butterfly is from K&Co - Brenda Walton
Gems are from Say it in Crystals

I just noticed I took the photo before I added the last sign....Oh well!!, On the left side underneath the pansy is "Just For You". It looks a bit bare on the photo but looks complete in real life!!!!

Let me know what you think!!

Now I need to get to work on my other cards and do my first Mojo Monday card.....a bit late!!!

Have a great week and I look forward to posting something else soon.
Hugs,
Charlotte

Blue Tulips from Amsterdam!!

Hello again!! Well today was a more relaxing day for me, I had a lovely lunch date with some wonderful ladies from the Dutch club here in Miami. I am not Dutch but my husband Arjan is, so we try to keep the heritage going by attending some of the exciting events the Dutch club has to offer. We went to a terrific Japanese restaurant called "Kyojin" that has the most delicious food!! Buffet style with anything from sushi to curry, soups, salads, seaweed salads (for those who are adventurous!!) and yummy desserts. Thijs....my little sushi boy also loves this restaurant... but today he was at school so I was unable to take him with me, next time I most certainly will!!

Now to my card! In keeping with the Dutch theme of the day I decided to make blue tulips!!
This card is a little simpler than I usually make my cards but I actually was really happy with how it turned out. The card is double thick with two layers, one coffee colored the other light blue textured cardstock. The tulips and vase are two small stamps from a set that I have, they are colored with pencils and copics and then layered to give them some depth. The tulip heads have been embossed to give them a little sparkle. The tiny tulip punch I have had for such a long time but not used much, but I think they fit perfectly on this card. The edges I cut with a pair of fancy scissors....it's not that easy to get a really straight line with them though!! Anyway, let me know what you think of this card.

Have a great evening and I look forward to posting more cards soon.
Hugs,
Charlotte

Another Mother's Day card

OK, so this has to be one of my favorites!! I love the navy and pale pink combination, they just go perfectly together, don't you think? This is the first time I have tried to make an envelope jacket like this and I have to say, it was a little fiddly to make, but I'm really happy with how it turned out! The card itself has the Happy Mother's Day greeting on one side and an area to write your own message on the second side. The pink and white stripe paper is by Making Memories, the flowers with stems from Jolees, and of course I had to add some gems to add a little sparkle. The flower corner punch was sent to me from my sister in England and I love the way it softens the edges.

Hopefully by the end of the week I can post some more cards for you to look at. Until then, enjoy the rest of the week.
Hugs,
Charlotte

Mother's Day Cards

Here is one of my Mother's Day cards I made using my rose stamp. I colored the rose in pencils and made it pop out with pop dots, and added some embossing powder to give it a little sparkle. The paper I used is metallic pink textured cardstock and the pretty rose embossed paper is from Sandylion and is called Lollia by Margot Elena. I machine stitched the card, added ribbon and a flower with some pearl gems to complete the look. The inside of the card is also finished on both sides.

Never a dull moment!!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter full of all the things which make this time of year special. I am not completely over the flu but it's getting better, now I'm just left with a nagging cough!! My son Thijs has been fighting an infection in his throat for a couple of weeks now and last week a lump appeared in his glands around his neck.....needless to say we were back to the pediatricians office on Saturday morning and he was prescribed an antibiotic which he has had before. Everything seemed to be going well until I picked him up from school yesterday, he was scratching under his arm and when I took a look he had a small rash. In half an hour it went from a tiny rash to one which covered his whole body. So today, guess where we went?....back to the pediatrician....three times in three weeks!! Let's hope he doesn't have a reaction to this new antibiotic. There's just never a dull moment in our house that's for sure.

Anyway, back to my cards...it's been a while since I have put any new pickies on my blog so today I'm going to post a couple of Mother's day cards I made. I hope you like them!

Hugs,
Charlotte

Happy Easter!

Just wanted to wish everyone a very Happy Easter.
Sorry I haven't posted anything over the last few days but the flu finally got the better of me and my son is sick too!! So many people have had it so it was bound to happen!! Anyway, hopefully next week I will post some more cards when I am feeling better....until then, enjoy the rest of the weekend and enjoy your Easter Sunday. Hugs, Charlotte

Here are three cards I made over the last couple of days which I am delighted with. I love the colors on each card and the embossed paper on the lower two cards which is from DCWV. The flower basket stamp I have had for ages and never used...now I'm glad I did because I'm really happy with how it turned out. The cherry blossom one was inspired by a friend whom I made one for. The kitties, well I just love kitty stamps and enjoyed making this card and in person the colors are so delicate and springlike...perfect for this time of year. Another day over and I must get some sleep otherwise tomorrow I'll be too tired to do anything!!

Springtime and Easter cards

Here are some springtime cards I made recently using my bunny stamps. I just love bunnies!! All of these were hand stamped and colored with pencils and markers. On the bottom two cards I used a new corner stamp so the paper with the picture is actually inserted behind the corner edges, which gives a picture frame look to it, and finishes it off nicely...don't you think?

Next on my list are Mother's day cards which I'm really excited about. I have a few ideas for them and will post them up here as soon as they are completed. As I am pretty new to making and selling cards I'm not as fast as I'd like to be but I guess that will come with practice!!

Well it's almost time to call it a night, I've had a pretty busy weekend out of the house and have an even busier week with my son at home for Spring break!! There just aren't enough hours in a day!!! I wish you a wonderful week ahead and look forward to entering more posts soon.

Sugar Nellie Stamps

Hello and welcome to my blog. This is something totally new for me so please be patient while I try to figure all this blogging out!!

Above are some cards I made recently using the beautiful Sugar Nellie Stamps...I love the stamps by designer Elizabeth Bell as you can create such pretty cards with them. From the top they are called scattering love, peek a bunny, Daisy and chickadee. They are all colored in pencils and/or markers and raised on pop dots. The background papers are from DCWV and Making Memories. Most of my cards I like to machine stitch and add ribbons and gems to give them a little sparkle, and I love flowers. I hope you like them as much as I do!