With love at Christmas ......

There is a new sketch/free for all challenge over at Papertake Weekly starting today - great inspiration from the design team so please pop over for a look and we'd love to see your projects!

Not only do you get the option to use the new Sketch  No 96 or one of the oldies but you don't even need to use one to join in! If sketches aren't your thing then you have the choice of THREE yes THREE other themes to play along with!    You can choose between using a Blue & Green Colour Scheme / Masking / Ribbon & Lace or you could even use them all!

I followed sketch number number 96 and used blue, green and ribbon

I coloured up this lovely image of The Nativity from Wild Rose Studios with Inktense pencils - can you see where I went over the line on Joseph's head covering :-(  I really like Inktense pencils which are easy to use, but once you've laid down the colour you can't take it off or rub it out.  

I know that many of you will have little ones in the family who are currently practising keeping their tea towels on their heads and learning their lines ready to perform in their school nativity in December :-)

My background papers are from LOTV and I distressed the edges with ink then added  5mm clear gems, a flower from a pack of white cotton paper dahlias,  some silver twine and an oyster Princess Pin all from

The Ribbon Girl

I hope you are able to join in with this fun challenge at Papertake Weekly

see you soon

Mary x

Annabelle with her Christmas Tree .....

It's the November Colour Challenge over on the Ribbon Girl Blog and we'd like to see RED on your projects - so that should be easy as we approach Christmas!!  

I coloured up this Wild Rose Studio image 'Annabelle with Tree'  with inktense pencils and added Stardust Stickles and some snowflakes with a white gel pen.  The papers are from the Lili of the Valley Classic Christmas pad - I made the front a little narrower than the back of the card, and used a different paper for the inside - all edges were distressed with ink

I added white 'Laila' vintage style lace and 7mm Scarlet Berry satin ribbon 

I added 15mm red paper roses, Kort and Godt chrysanth, white sweetheart blossom and a tiny pearl cluster stem finished off with a little bow made from silver twine

Lastly I tucked a green Princess pin into the bow and added an oval shape Marriane die cut on the inside for the message to be written

Mariane Designs are our new regular sponsors for the Colour Challenge and this month you can win this fabulous set of dies PLUS a £10 voucher towards a spending spree in the Ribbon Girl store!

We look forward to seeing your creations over on the Ribbon Girl blog

Mary x

2 or 4 legs .......

I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the title of this weeks Papertake Weekly Challenge - two or four legs  -  well, I pondered for ages until I had a look through my little used stash of special Pion papers which I keep in a separate box  - I finally decided on this lovely image which has two (human) and four (doggy) legs - just the ticket!

I die cut around the image then distressed with Gathered Twigs distress ink.  I added some champagne 32mm pure silk ribbon - it ties the most beautiful bows - and added a couple of the new Princess Pearl & Diamante pins.

My flower arrangement includes a brown 30mm wild rose, cream 20mm open rose, Kort & Godt ivory beaded berries, a cream sweetheart blossom and some ivory beaded gypsophalia

The guipure lace trim is 38mm ivory 'Grace' 

Flowers, pins, ribbon, lace and Stardust Stickles are all from

The Ribbon Girl

I decorated a box to go with the card (it's not Pion paper), added some 16mm satin ribbon to tone with the colour of the silk and some gold colour washi tape which I pinched off Andrea :-)

I hope you can join us for this weeks challenge - the Papertake Weekly design team have come up with some marvellous cards to inspire you so please pop over for a look!

see you soon, Mary x

Christmas at Lovely Lili ....

This is my DT card for today's Lovely Lili challenge 'Christmas' over on the Ribbon Girl blog

I used a traditional image from the LOTV XL Christmas Artpad on some 'Frosty Christmas' paper 

I added some medium white pom pom trim, white seam binding, a silver poinsettia with the leaves removed, 15mm white diamond guipure lace, lots and lots of Stardust Stickles 

 all from The Ribbon Girl

Do you like the gorgeous Blue Princess Pin  - they will be available soon at The Ribbon Girl in lots of colours!!

I hope you will be able to pop over for some inspiration - there are two great prizes to win, a stamp of your choice from the lovely ladies at Lili of the Valley and a £10 voucher towards a spending spree in The Ribbon Girl online store

see you soon

Mary x

Ho Ho Ho ....

A very simple small card - we've had this image for years, possibly from Tim Holtz?? I know we used to colour it with inks which we got when we met him at the NEC many years ago.

I coloured this one with Inktense pencils and matted it onto red card to represent his coat, then added a tiny piece of 7mm black satin and a tiny square diamante buckle slide

Ho Ho Ho

I'm going to enter this into Without Words challenge

Christmas Cottage ....

A clean and simple Christmas Card today - the image is Christmas Cottage from Stampendous - I saw a card using this image by the talented Kath Stewart and I thought it was perfect for Christmas cards,  so I bought one straight way.  I coloured it up at the weekend with inktense pencils and added plenty of Stardust Stickles to make it sparkle.  I added some silver twine and a small holly leaf charm

This is my DT card for this week's Papertake Weekly - the challenge is 'anything goes' and we are sponsored by Lili of the Valley - so why not pop over and be inspired by the fabulous creations by the team and we'd love to see what you make!

see you soon, Mary x

He's making a list .............

Hard to believe we're into November and it's Christmas next month!!

I love this jolly Santa Claus - 'Letter to Santa' by Papermania  - I coloured him with inktense pencils then added some black fine liner to bring out the details. The papers are from LOTV Classic Christmas - perfect match for the red Inktense pencils.

 I added some white daisy guipure lace, white ruffle edge sheer, a stem of white pearl loop twisted in the centre, white sweetheart blossoms, white/ivory beaded berries, fabric holly leaves with tiny red berries, small pine cones and a white flower from the 'colour it yourself' collection of recycled cotton paper dahlias.

This is my DT card for today's Card Challenge over on the Ribbon Girl blog - great prizes and wonderful projects to inspire you - we'd love to see your Christmas creations!

Lace, ribbon, pearl loop, flowers, leaves, cones are all from