Free Pollycraft Sentiments!

Hello!  Happy Tuesday!

This is just a quick one... 

I wanted to stop by and tell you all that Paula is offering free digi sentiments on her blog today as a special Tuesday treat.  Head on over and check them out.  These will go perfectly with some of the new release stamps that are available in the shop now!

Ciao!

Arabella Chickie in Lavrio, Greece

Pollycraft Monday Challenge #108

Is it really Monday again already?! Well we have just had a lovely relaxing weekend off with a visit to the very pretty towns of Monemvasia and Nafplion.  This week hopefully some of the real estate agents we have contacted will get back to us and we will find our dream apartment somewhere in Voula or Glyfada (fingers crossed).  

Anyway, Monday means a new challenge at Pollycraft Monday... But before I tell you all about that, my husband has randomly selected a commenter from the blog hop comments to win Luna Bitterfrost -  Dare to be Different -  Science Rocks... and that lucky person is commenter number 24: Louise who said:

"what a fab image- I can think of someone who this image would be perfect for since they are doing a PhD in microbiology and spend all day in the lab. Love Luna's big glasses and the lab coat. Brill card and love the papers. Thanks for the blog hop x" 

Congratulations Louise! Send me an email (chickiechirps@gmail.com) and we will get your new digi sent to you!

This week's challenge theme was chosen by Jane and I think it's a fun one... it is to use felt on your creation!  Our sponsor this week is The Crimson Cloud and the prize is 3 packets of die cuts!

For my felt creation I decided to use one of the new Dexter images:

The blue penguin paper is a new delivery for me from Crafty Emma's Store and the Wish List stamp is from Whimsy Doodles (I think).  I purchased the felt from Blooming Felt and the twine from The Ribbon Girl.  The pearls were white, but I coloured them to match the sun with copics.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:
Card Mad Fairy's Challenge #15: Buttons
Crafts 4 Eternity Challenge #34: Christmas
Digis with Attitude Challlenge #32: Anything Goes
The Poodles Parlour: Anything Goes

Here are the copics I used for Dexter:

And here's a close-up of Dexter:

Happy Monday!

Arabella Chickie in Nafplion, Greece

New Releases at Little Miss Muffet Stamps!

For the Pollycraft Blog Hop, click here.

It's Thursday again!  Boy are the weeks flying past fast at the moment!  August is usually our busiest month at work, so I am very relieved to be getting to the end of it!  It has been soooo hot here, I am looking forward to the slightly cooler months ahead.

Barbara has been busy again and this week we have three gorgeous new images to show you from Little Miss Muffet Stamps!  Head on over to the Little Miss Muffet Challenge blog to have a look at the beautiful creations from the DT!

I decided to use School Turtle from the Snuggly Giftables collection... what do you think?

I think he's pretty cute!  The papers are from October Afternoon and the Apple Card is from My Mind's Eye.  I have coloured School Turtle with copics (see details below).  The ribbon is from The Ribbon Girl and the tag is from Maya Rd.  The charm just arrived in the mail from Ana Perles at Da Wanda.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:
Party Time Tuesdays # 30: Back to School
Use it Tuesday #14: Back to School and stash (my stash - the October Afternoon papers and the Apple card)
The Crazy Challenge #81: Back to School
Creative Stamp Friends #32: School

Here is a close up:

These are the copics I used:

I hope you love the new images as much as we do!  You still have time to enter the current challenge at Little Miss Muffet stamps too... the theme is Use Multiple Stamps (not including sentiment) or if you use a Little Miss Muffet stamps image the theme is Anything Goes.

Ciao!

Arabella Chickie in Lavrio, Greece

It's blog hop day at Pollycraft!!!

Hello!  It's blog hop day at Pollycraft!!!  We are all super excited today to show you the awesome new images Paula has created... she has been very busy! If you came here from Emma's blog then you are on the right track.  If you have you no idea what I am talking about then head over to Cazza's blog to start at the very beginning!  You don't want to miss out on these prizes and you've GOT to see all these cool images!  

• 1st Prize ALL of the new release images
• 2nd prize the 6 Luna Bitterfrost images
• 3rd prize the new Swings and Slides images 
• 4th prize the 2 Casper images

So, what do you need to do to win?  Well... just visit all the DT blogs on the hop, leave us some lovely comments and add this logo:

to your blog sidebar with a link to the Pollycraft website.  Simples!!!

So here's my card:

This is Luna Bitterfrost - Science Rocks from the new Luna Bitterfrost Dare to be Different collection.   She is just perfect for a whole load of my friends who are all scientists!  I followed the sketch from Sketch Saturday challenge #169.  

The papers are mainly from My Mind's Eye Lost and Found that just arrived on my doorstep from Crafty Emma's Store.  Thanks again Emma!  The ric rac, button and brad are from my stash and I made the felt flower by cutting circles out of felt.  The Tim Holtz bulldog clip also just arrived in the mail from Quixotic Paperie.

So, do you like Luna Science Rocks?  Well if you leave me a comment, you could win her!  I am going to get my husband to the be the random comment selector.  The draw will close Sunday night 10pm GMT and I will announce the winner on Monday morning with the weekly challenge post, so don't forget to check back then! 

Are you loving these new digis as much as we are?  Well, if you don't win them in this blog hop, they will all be available in the store from Monday 29th August.  

It's time to take the jump to the next blog on the hop... the lovely Sheena!

Ciao!

Arabella Chickie in Lavrio, Greece

Another wee fairy...

Happy Tuesday!  I hope everyone is having a lovely week!  Yesterday I had a day off, so I decided to make a card with a wee Pergamano fairy that I had coloured up a while ago, but didn't have a chance to make into a card.  I followed the August sketch from I{heart}2Stamp (phew just getting in on time!).

Here's the sketch:

And here's my card:

So I finished the card and I was looking at it and I thought she looked a little bit strange just sitting on nothing in the middle of nowhere, so I went back to my craft table (read dining room table) and drew in a tree branch and coloured it up and I think it looks heaps better that way.  Before she kind of looked like she was about to sit on a toilet!

The papers are from Crate Paper and I have added Stickles to her wings.  I coloured her with copics (see details below) and the ribbon is from The Ribbon Girl.  The chipboard embellies are from Make it Crafty.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

I{heart}2stamp: August SFYTT

Happileigh Scrappin Challenge #36: Girly

Hooked on Craft Challenge #6: Things with Wings

Here are the copics I used:

Happy Tuesday!  Don't forget tomorrow is the big blog hop day at Pollycraft!

Arabella Chickie in Lavrio, Greece

A thousand sheets of paper blog candy!

Hellooo!  I'm just stopping in to tell you about the fabulous Amy's amazing blog candy!  If you haven't visited Amy's blog, you must do so ASAP!  She makes the cutest cards and her colouring is amazing aaaannnd she is also the designer behind the supercute Sweet November stamps!  Anyway, Amy has blog candy!  Check it out:

Got it? Okay, so head over to A Thousand Sheets of Paper and get your entry in!

Arabella Chickie in Lavrio, Greece

Pollycraft Monday Challenge #107 Autumn Colours

It's Monday and isn't it a lovely one this week?!  Well it is for us, our trip finished early and we got back home last night instead of still being busy working today!  

It's time for a new challenge at Pollycraft Monday and the challenge this week chosen by Sheena is to use Autumn Colours!  The sponsor this week is Bunny Zoe Crafts and the prize is a £10 voucher to spend!  So head on over to the Challenge blog and get some inspiration from the fabulous creations from the design team!

Now I must admit that this one had me totally stumped for a while as I'm not a very autumny colour sort of person, but then my order from Crafty Emma's Store arrived and I found I had ordered these delicious papers from Crate Paper called School Spirit Collection that fit the theme perfectly!

Here's my card:

I have been dying to colour up this sweet fairy from the Swings and Slides Enchant and Explore set for ages but hadn't had time until now.  I coloured her up with copics (see details below) and was inspired to try something different with the wings from Barbara's stunning fairy wings here, but I couldn't find the pic to copy at the time so I had to do it from memory.  Hhhmmm maybe better next time.

The papers are from Crate Paper, the tag and the gem are from Maya Rd and the corner embellishment is from Make it Crafty.  The seam binding is from The Ribbon Girl.  The sentiment is cobbled together from the Sonny Says and Critters and Cogs sentiment sets at Pollycraft.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Kenny K's Krafty Girl Challenges #57: Layers

Creations by Gill M Sketch Challenge #13: Believe in the Magic

Designed 2 Delight Saturday Challenge: Anything Goes

Annabelle Stamps: Say it with... Distressing

Crafts 4 Eternity: Flags, Tickets or Tags

Here's a close up of the gorgeous wee fairy:

And these are the copics I used:

Happy Monday!  I hope you can join us!  Oooh and did you see the button on the sidebar?  We are having a blog hop to celebrate some gorgeous new releases from Pollycraft and there will be some fabulous prizes, so be sure to check back on the 24th to join in the fun!

Arabella Chickie in Lavrio, Greece

Little Miss Muffet Stamps Challenge #16: Use Multiple Stamps

So it's Thursday again and I'm sorry I haven't been around in a while but we have been crazy busy working on the boat with 3 long trips in a row!  We are currently about halfway through our (hopefully) longest trip of the summer and it's pretty hectic on board cooking and cleaning for 10 guests and 4 crew!  Thankfully I get lots of help from the other three crew members (including my husband).

Anywho...  enough of my rambling.  Today it is time for a new challenge at Little Miss Muffet stamps.  The challenge this fortnight is to use multiple image stamps on your card (not including the sentiment).  

I decided to do a kind of digital masking and have two images overlapping.   I found the easiest way to do this was to use the .png files rather than the .jpg files as the .png files have transparent backgrounds so you can just layer them over each other easily.  I just use Microsoft Word to print my images.

Head on over to the Little Miss Muffet challenge blog and check out the super creations from the design team ladies!  And don't forget... if you use a Little Miss Muffet stamps image the challenges are always 'Anything Goes'.

I used Sage and Peppermint from the Sugar n' Spice doll collection.

Sage and Peppermint are coloured with copics (see details below) and in the absence of  my Cuttlebug I have traced around a chipboard frame and inked and pierced the edges.  I added Stickles to the rainbow on Peppermint's t-shirt and to the heart on Sage's t-shirt.  The sentiment stamp is from The Greeting Farm and the ribbon is from The Ribbon Girl.  The design papers are from October Afternoon, Cosmo Cricket and My Mind's Eye.

Here's a close up of these lovely two friends:

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Paper Playtime Challenge #53: Anything Goes

The Pink Elephant TPE112: Stitching

CES Challenges #49: Mix and Match (use DPs from at least 2 different companies)

The Craft Pad Challenge #134: Cute and Girly

Creative Inspirations Challenge # 66: Back to School

Here are the copics I used:

Have fun!

Arabella Chickie in Santorini, Greece

Pollycraft Monday Challenge # 106 Distressing

Hello!  Yes, it's Monday again and we have a new challenge for you at Pollycraft! How cool was the recycling challenge?!  It really go me thinking outside of the square and we had some awesome entries, not to mention the fabulous creations from the design team!

This week Maria has chosen the challenge theme and it is 'Distressing'!  It's an easy one right?  You just have to take a knife or some scissors and run the blade along the edge of your papers and/or crumple the papers up and/or ink the papers a bit and/or splatter them with ink or paint... so many possibilities!  Head over to the Pollycraft Monday Challenge blog and check out the fabulously distressed projects from the team!

This week's prize is 10 digis from Pollycraft!  Awesome!

So, here is my card...  

I know, I know...  I used Fluffy for last week's challenge, but somehow he was calling out to be used again for this challenge!  Fluffy is from the Critters and Cogs set at Pollycraft and I have coloured him with copics (see details below).  The papers are from Making Memories, Crate Paper and October Afternoon.  I have distressed the edges with my new (but completely unnecessary when you have a knife or scissors) Tim Holtz distressing tool, and inked the edges with Distress Ink (I think the colour is Walnut).  The tag is from Maya Road and I have splotched some acrylic paint onto it.  The sentiment is from Lili of the Valley and the ribbon is from The Ribbon Girl.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Simply Create Challenges # 50: Distress

Stampin for the Weekend # 14: Spots and Dots
Dream Valley Challenges # 13: Distressing

Here are the copics I used:

Have a lovely week!  Today is day 4 of our 10 day guest trip and I'm flat out busy with a really bad internet connection so I won't be around much.

Arabella Chickie in Rennia, Greece

New Release at Little Miss Muffet Stamps!

Happy Thursday!  It's new release day again at Little Miss Muffet stamps and Barbara has a whole new batch of cute digital stamps!  Head on over to the Little Miss Muffet Challenge blog and have a look at all the beautiful cards the DT girls have made!  All four of the new releases will be available in the store today!

This is our super busy time of year at the moment, so I only had a chance to make one card... I decided to use Isabella and Belle...

I have coloured Isabella and Belle with copics (see details below).  The papers I used are from Crate Paper, Cosmo Cricket and Making Memories.  The ribbon is from The Ribbon Girl, and I think the charm is one I purchased from Telfords Direct.  The sentiment stamp is a new one for me from Inkadinkadoo.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Anything Goes Challenge Blog # 47: Celebration (or Happy Birthday)

Shopping our Stash #12: Dogs or Digi Stamps or Denim (my stash is the Prima flocked rub ons and the bling)

Sweet Stamps # 27: Bling it up

Cupcake Craft Challenges # 154: Sew Mad

Dream Valley Challenges # 13: Distressing

I Did it Creations: Children

Here are the copics I used:

Happy Thursday!

Arabella Chickie in Lavrio, Greece

A drought...

Hi chicks,

Just wanted to send hugs and let you know I'm still here!

I LOVE seeing all the beautiful cards posted by Arabella (my, that girl is a whiz and so has her card-making mojo back!) and sharing your stories when you post.   Though, as much as I affirm I have ' all the time in the world and I gain the creative fulfillment I need', I am not in a place where I can blog right now.

The little travel blogs were aimed at keeping up my presence here with the chicks, in the absence of card-making opportunities, but I have not found the opportunity to prepare them recently.

I am so reluctant to say those words, "I don't have time" because I believe there is always enough time and it is more positive to focus on having and being abundant rather than not.

But, my little chick needs 100% of my time right now and I'm working on ways to teach him all the beautiful lessons about independence, boundaries and quiet times so I can also maintain a little wee bit for myself when the day is done.

Sending lots of love and hugs to you chicks, be back soon!

Bookie Bird in windy Lavrio, Greece  xxxxxx

Pollycraft Monday Challenge # 105: Recycle

Good morning!  It's Monday again!  Normally I hate Mondays, but this Monday is the second to last day of a 7 day guest trip, so tomorrow the guests leave and we get to get the boat cleaned and provisioned and ready for the next trip starting on Friday.  Which now that I write this, doesn't sound that appealing really, but at least we get to go home to our apartment Tues, Wed and Thursday nights!  If I'm lucky, I might even get some crafting time in!

So how did you like Paula's sketch challenge last week?  There were some fabulous entries and it was such a great sketch that I am definitely going to save it to use again.

The challenge this week at Pollycraft Monday Challenges is to use something or things recycled on your card.  That's a tough one for those of us that are Squary like me who like things to be all neat and tidy.  Luckily the Design Team girls have loads of inspiration to get you started.  And what is the prize this week you ask?  Well, it's a £10 voucher to use at My Mum's Craft Shop!

Here's my card:

This is Fluffy from the Critters and Cogs set at Pollycraft.  I think he's the reason I fell in love with Paula's images! I have coloured him with copics (see details below) and added googly eyes.  The design papers are from October Afternoon and Echo Park and the Postcard is a journalling card from October Afternoon.  I have used rub ons from Doodlebug designs for the sentiment.

So, what is recycled?

Well, I cut some old postage stamps off a letter and used them on the postcard.  The brown paper in the background is cut from a brown paper pharmacy bag.  The string I found in the kitchen drawer.  The flowers I made from tissue paper that came in my latest order of ribbons and charms from the Ribbon Girl.

Here's a close-up of the flowers:

These flowers were so easy to make!  I just roughly cut a bunch of different sized circles out of the tissue paper, scrunched them up a bit and poked a brad through the middle!  Simples!

Here's a close-up of Fluffy just because I love him...

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Catch the Bug: August Anything Goes Challenge

Paper Creators Crafts Challenge #4: All About Flowers

Frosted Designs: Coloring

Glitter Geeks Week 9:  Furry and Feathered Friends

Raise the Bar Challenge #69: Anything Goes

Hhmm... I cannot find the list of copics I used, but I can tell you that the blues are from the B0000 to B04 range and the yellows are probably YR30 and YR31 plus some Y000 and maybe Y11.  

Have a lovely Monday!

Arabella Chickie in Kythnos, Greece

Getting in early for Christmas...

Well we are back in Mykonos with a boss's daughter and her friends on board and it is party central here!  We seem to keep collecting more people... I don't know where they are finding them!  Oh to have a bikini body!  For me the only good thing about being here is that the guests tend to eat out for dinner and sleep most of the day.  So I don't have to worry about cooking dinner... and we get to sleep in a little bit in the mornings... Yay!

Anyway, onto more crafty things... I forgot to post this card I made a little while ago from the new release Christmas images from Pollycraft.  This is one of the Swings and Slides kids from the Deck the Halls collection and it is called 'Ring out those bells'.

I have coloured this sweet wee boy with copics (see details below).  The flower is just circles of felt that I cut out, the tag is from Maya Road, and the seam binding is from The Ribbon Girl.  The argyle paper is from My Mind's Eye and the dots are from Crate Paper.  I {heart} argyle, although strangely enough I don't actually own any argyle clothing... I am always in search of the perfect argyle pattern cardi or sweater but for some reason I am never happy with the colours that are used on clothing.  *Sigh* Oh well... I will just have to make my own one day when I get back to my fabric stash in NZ.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamp: Christmas in August

Paperplay Challenges: Christmas in August

Craft Us Crazy: Anything Goes in August

Crafty Sentiments Designs: Christmas

Delightful Sketches: Stitching

Here are the copics I used:

Okay, well that's it from me for now... I'm off to make beds (the kids all had a Nanna nap this afternoon to be ready for partying all night), clean bathrooms (pretty soon they're all going to shower and beautify themselves) and make the crew some dinner!

Ciao!

Arabella Chickie in Mykonos, Greece

Little Miss Muffet Stamps Challenge #15 Outside the Diecut

It's Thursday and it's time for a new challenge at Little Miss Muffet stamps!  We had lots of great entries into the Summer challenge (it must have been too easy!).   This fortnight the challenge is a little bit more challenging... it is  'Outside the Diecut' so use a diecut but have a portion of the image spill out of the frame.  If that sounds tricky, have a look at this tutorial on how to get your image outside the diecut to get your started.    

Head on over to the Little Miss Muffet Challenge blog to check out all the fabulous inspiration from the Design Team!

Here's my card using Adela and Dida:

The papers are from October Afternoon and Cosmo Cricket and the chipboard embellishments are from Maya Road.  I painted them with white paint and then inked and Stickled them.  I have coloured Adela and Dida with copics (see below).

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Ambers Crafts and Stuff Challenge #20: Sparkle and Shine

For Fun Challenges: Anything Goes

Crafts and Me Challenges # 46:Anything Goes

The Paper Variety Challenge #45: Circles

Kelley Kid's Challenge #1: Anything Goes

Crazy Amigo Challenges: Anything Goes

Digital Tuesday Challenge #122: Doilies

There are the copics I used:

Happy Thursday!

Arabella Chickie in Kythnos, Greece