Sugar bowl challenge:MEN!

This is my attempt at the latest Sugar Bowl challenge. This challenge is all about 'MEN'. I'm rather limited in Sugar Nellie stamps featuring boys so this is the best I can do. As usual the picture is VERY iffy (I'll try and re-do it should we get any more sun) but in reality I'm pleased with the card.

It's turned out exactly as I hoped it would-all the ideas worked out really well, although I'm rather uncertain about the glitter. I do feel it needed glitter -I just struggled as to where to put it! I did have alot of fun making this card though-I've never made a card like this-I specialise in pretty, girlie card so this is very much 'out of my comfort range', Nonetheless I had a great time-I just sort of felt that 'anything goes' and hopefully it works in other people's eyes and not just mine?

This card has so many 'blasts from the past'!

On this card I used something I never, ever thought I'd use-a......peeloff! I really wanted a star for on my bunnies top but didn't have a small enough punch or chipboard piece. Whilst rifling through my stash I came across a sheet containing a few gold holographic stars. I used a red Sharpie pen to match the colours used on my card.

I also found some Sizzix balloons which I bought in my early cardmaking days from ebay I think! The paper and red and blue pearlescent card are also things I never thought I'd ever use-ideal for these credit crunch times!

Even the ink pad is an old Brilliance 3 colours in one pad so I had to fiddle about trying to ink my stamp with the blue and red inks and not the green which was tedious! I don't think I've ever used this ink pad-again it's a 'new to crafting' purchase a long time ago! Finally the Sharpie pens are only in my possession as UKS used to talk about them ALL the time. I bought a few and only use them for parcels and freezer bags! I don't have a red Copic as yet so my red Sharpie saved the day on the bunny's top as well as the star. I'm utterly amazed how many bits and pieces I've used on this card which I never normally would. It's all very 'Ashes to Ashes'!!!

Being a hoarder has it's uses you know!

Ingredients:
Sugar Nellie Little Cotton Rabbits bunny stamp
Hero Arts ticket stamp
Star stamp from Kars
Copics
Stampin Up Real Red cardstock
Star paper from stash
Red & blue pearlescent card from stash
Sizzix balloons
Memento black ink
Brilliance inkpad-3 colours
Sharpie red pen
Star punch
Coloured staples from stash
Peeloff star from stash
Two toned cord from local craft shop
Stickles

Sugar bowl challenge 8

Oh goodness me-this has been a challenge. Nope, not a challenge, an ordeal! Marlene drew an amazing sketch for this week's challenge which I initially thought I'd love doing. I have really, really, really struggled with this right from the start. I kept losing track of all the layers-couldn't draw the sketch for the life of me so had to repeatedly refer back to the Sugar Bowl blog, and it just has been so hard trying to work out the dimensions of each of the pieces! I've used another Little Cotton Rabbit stamp-gosh I really do LOVE these! I just hope I've got the sketch right! I'm sure I've messed it up somewhere!

This evening as I've desperately been trying to put it all together and embellish it etc, my cat Tom has been the cat from hell! He is demanding at the best of times-Maria Carey (reportedly an absolute horror in the world of the demanding) has nothing on Tom. Tom suffers from an extreme form of 'cat indecisiveness'. This indecisiveness is well known to cat carers. Cats cannot make their minds up and Tom is the dictionary definition of this condition.

This is bad enough if you consider that it manifests itself in an inability to decide whether to be in or out, whether he wants to eat of not, whether he likes the food or not, whether he wants to sit her, or stand there or go anyway at all (all this whilst standing in a doorway or the narrowest part of the house or garden) so it's a case of having to climb over him (following an emergency stop to avoid trampling on him!).

This evening he has been at his most indecisive.

Despite FIVE bowls of different food, Tom remains dissatisfied in the food department, he has been in and out the house so many times I literally am in a daze and has been doing his 'cat staring' to the point at which I am a nervous wreck and exhausted by him! I have a headache as a result of trying to use my non existent psychic powers to deduce what on earth is wants! Tom has a cat flap which he used for goodness knows how many years. Now, he has arthritis and when I'm in a kindly mood I put his refusal to use the catflap down to it possibly aggravating his arthritis.

When I'm feeling less charitable (usually after opening and shutting the door 1000 times in the space of 30 seconds, so every day!) I put it down to Tom being a Diva and the fact that he sees the situation as something in the order of why should he demean himself by wriggling through a hole in the door when there's Mum to open it whenever I want?

Good point-you've got to hand it to him-he's got brains.

So, this card isn't right-I've tried and tried but am waving a white flag of defeat. I haven't been defeated by the card-nope, I've been defeated by Tom and I'm going to have to go and see if I can work out why he remains extremely dissatisfied with life!

On a more humorous note, I've mentioned Tom's amazing toes before now. He has many more toes that cats normally do, which happily means there's even more of him! Our last vet used to say 'there's toes everywhere' when he saw Tom and he's been found surrounded by people with one of the neighbours pointing out knowingly his many toes and 'boxing glove' shaped paws.

We had to go to the vet yesterday for Tom to have his cortisone injection he has to reduce the arthritis pain. The vet mentioned Tom's toes as we finished the consultation. He said that he's seen cats with extra toes before but never anywhere near as many as Tom has. He said Tom has the most incredible number of toes and it's very rare indeed to have so many.

That's reminded me, I must trim his nails. I don't need to do all of them but some of Tom's toes are hidden and so the claws if left untrimmed would simply grow into Tom's feet. If you look on your hand at the gap between your thumb and first finger. In that gap, Tom has a small toe. Cutting that nail isn't easy believe me. I have to single handed, hold Tom (who does not consent to this procedure), open the toes up, find the toe, find the nail and clip it carefully not cutting into Tom at all. Phew. What a job and lucky me-I'm the lucky girl who's got to do it! I have to keep a close eye on how these nails grown and regularly trim them. So instead of cardmaking, I'm going to be savaged by a yowling cat who I know is saying very bad things to me!

Wish me luck!

Ingredients:

Card blank from stash

Little Cotton Rabbit stamp by Sugar Nellie

Jenni Bowlin paper

The English Paper Company paper

Karen Marie Klip paper

White hammered card from stash

Whisper White card by Stampin Up

Happy day stamp by Stampin Up

Bashful Blue ink by Stampin Up

Watercolour pencils by Faber Castell and Derwent

Queen & co felt ribbon

Felt flowers from stash

Lace from stash

Pearls from Kanban

Gorgeous bunnies

Being an avid bunny fan I simply HAD to have the set of Little Cotton Rabbit rubber stamps from Sugar Nellie in my collection. This is my first card made with them and I've been playing with Copics-trying to learn how to blend them etc. I still need more colours so I'm rather limited now. Currently, I have got mainly browns and pinks-browns for bunnies and pussy cats and pinks because I'm a pink fan! I really hope I'll get the hang of Copics as I've been in awe of some of the photos of cards on blogs I've seen. Even without the blending, I still adore them, they're gorgeous colours and the lack of brush strokes is something that for me makes them worth every penny. I did try the Stampin Up markers and though the colours are gorgeous, brush strokes are a real issue. It's so disappointing to try really hard with a card and then all you can see are brush strokes all over the image.

I've done a few fussy cards recently so thought I'd keep this one fresh and simple. I've wanted to use one of the Jenni Bowlin journalling pieces on a card forever; one of the pink ones seemed perfect for this card. I received a card from someone which had a little piece of the new Stampin Up pink striped ribbon. It's from the new mini and after I had tried with goodness knows how many bits of ribbon of various colours, I spotted the card and couldn't believe how perfect the ribbon was for this card! So, it's cannibalised ribbon I suppose but for me it just matches the stripes on the Jennie Bowlin journalling card perfectly!

Ingredients:

Square card blank from stash

Little Cotton Rabbits stamps from Sugar Nellie

Copics

Barely banana card from Stampin Up

Pretty in Pink card from Stampin Up

Scalloped border punch from Stampin Up

Anna Griffin paper

Anna Griffin rub on sentiment

Jennie Bowlin journalling card

Stampin Up striped grosgrain ribbon

Gems from stash