Spring colours Mothers day

I have used one of my old favourite stamps, the lovely Isabella from visible image for the focal point of my mothers day card.

I coloured her using gorgeous spring colours of distress markers, then matted her on a papermania doily. The background paper is Prima and I diecut a tag using a joy die which i accented with bakers twine and a bit of colouring with distress markers Im ashamed to say it is my own shabby handwriting for the sentiment as I was too lazy to print or stamp anything! I finished with a couple of velvet flowers from my dusty old stash and a few dots of pearly cosmic shimmer for a bit of dimension

I would like to enter my wee card in the following competitions-

Visible Image Spring http://visibleimage.blogspot.ie/2013/03/visible-image-march-challenge-spring.html
Fashionista pink challenge http://fashionistachallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/fashionista-challenge-13-pink.html
Dream valley challenges Mothers day http://dreamvalleychallenges.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/challenge-52-mothers-day.html
Glitter n sparkle Spring colours http://glitternsparklechallengeblog.blogspot.co.uk/
Panpasteluk Touch of green http://panpasteluk.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/challenge-11-touch-of-green.html

I will end my post this week on a sad note. This mothers day was a sad one for me as my old gent of a cat Jake passed away. He just slipped away in his sleep with no suffering but it all happened so quickly. He was not the most attractive or agile cat there ever was and his hygiene was questionable (who needs a litter tray when a pair of slippers will do!) and I miss him every day. I hope theres lots of sunny spots and overflowing bowls in cat heaven Jakey, you deserve them, RIP old man x

Edgars Ruined City Notepad

Something a wee bit different this week, I spotted a pack of little pads in my local pound shop and thought they might be fun to decorate.
My first attempt is using my favourite stamp at the moment Edgar from Visible Image.

I must admit I am quite obsessed with Edgar!  I find my imagination runs wild when  stamp him.  I imagine he lives in a city once opulent and decadent but now ruined and rusted yet still sadly beautiful.  This is what I was hoping to convey in my decoration of my notebook. Sigh, Im getting carried away again....
I coloured Edgar with distress markers, using them on watercolour paper is wonderful, you can dilute them, layer them and blend them with ease.  My backing paper is K and co, I cut strips out and used them to make "patches" tying in hopefully with my ruined city theme.

I coloured a Tim Holtz bird cage diecut using my markers to try to create a rusted, mossy feel. I used some vintage buttons to three corners. I inherited my great aunt Margarets button box when she passed away a few years ago. I have decided to start using them but only in projects I am keeping, I hope she would approve.

You will notice here the chubby fingers of my "craft assistant" my one year old who decided to assist me here by nicking and flinging across the room my notebook just as I was taking a photo of the buttons! I finished off with an uneven border of cosmic shimmer black pearl hopefully looking like rivets.

I should probably use my notebook for something glamorous or arty as I spent so long making it but I will most likely use it for shopping lists at least I will look arty as I go round Lidl!

I will enter my wee book in the following challenges

Cards by Lady anything goes using a stamphttp://www.ladyanneschallenges.com/stamp-challenge.html
Natalie and Amy challenge diecuts http://natalieandamy.blogspot.co.uk/
One crazy stamper anything goes http://onecrazystampercom.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/march-anything-goes-challenge.html
Crafty embelies wings challengehttp://crafty-emblies.blogspot.co.uk/p/cardatcscrapbooking-challenge.html
Stampin with the dragon anything goes challenge http://stampingwithdragon.blogspot.co.uk
Rhedd and rosie anything goes challenge
http://rheddandrosies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/welcome-to-our-very-first-challenge.html