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Welcome to Squirrel's slightly nutty world of rubber stamping, papercraft, cats, Formula 1 and a variety of other off-the-wall topics. It's fabulous to see you and I hope you enjoy your time here. Please do pop back and visit me again soon!


Thursday 30 June 2016

AYLI (DT) Favourite Markers Inks or Pencils

Morning all, and happy Thursday.  It's another new challenge over as AS YOU LIKE IT today, and it's a fun one.

We would like to know about your Favourite Markers, Inks or Pencils and why.

I've tried various types markers (personally, I like Copics the best) but when I discovered the Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Inks ReInkers for watercolouring I knew I had found MY happy medium.  Occasionally supplemented with pencils for fine detail because I'm not that clever, or patient, with a brush.





Love these little guys!  Stamping Bella Honeybear Stuffies
Watercoloured with DI ReInkers
Background papers are a mixture of Basic Grey and Doodlebug
Sentiment is Lili of The Valley
Not sure what has happened to my formatting today, text alignment and font choice are all over the place.



The sponsor of this challenge is

Prize - £10.00 Voucher



OK, you have two weeks to get colourful, just remember that you need to tell us why you used what you did.

Hugs to all
Squirrel xx

Monday 27 June 2016

You dig it?

There was some debate here at Squirrel Towers earlier in the Spring about what to put in the little bit of flowerbed we have by the shed.

Last year, we filled everything with flowers, which was very pretty, and Toad wanted to do the same again this year, but I dug my paws in (dug, geddit?) and suggested we grow a few veggies.  So, our tiny little bit of this earth is currently hosting a crop of sweetheart cabbages and patio peas.  

In fact, with a bit of luck, there might be some peas edible soon.  We're not picking them too early, I don't want green freckles on my dinner, but don't want to leave it too late either.

Anyway, this rambling leads me to this:


This dinky little card was made using one of the Vegetable Patch bunnies from Clearly Besotted
The sentiment is from an older CB set called Garden Fresh which I can't find on the website now so it looks like it's been retired
Papers are scraps of Nitwits
and yes, it's that MFT double stitched rectangle die again
Image painted with Distress Inks (ReInkers) and a small brush!

Hugs to all
Squirrel xx


Sunday 26 June 2016

Just Saying ........

I had been wanting to use this little girl by Mo Manning (stamp from Stamping Bella) again for quite some time, and I happened to locate her during a rummage yesterday.

I think this speaks for itself.


Stamping Bella (Mo Manning) image Big Girl Pants
Sentiment came with the image
Forever Friends Best of Britain papers
Poppystamps simple bunting die
Image painted with Distress Inks (ReInker) and Polychromos Pencils for her hair

Just saying.......

Hugs to all
Squirrel xx

Saturday 25 June 2016

Sweet Treats

I have a sweet tooth, it's well known and definitely evidenced by my waistline.  However, there was one sweet treat recently that is not edible (unless you are REALLY hungry), and has no calorie content


I couldn't resist this release from Clearly Besotted!
Sweet Treats

Sweet Treats can be found here
and there is a matching die set if you're interested

I coloured my little hamster/doughnut with Distress Inks (ReInkers)
and used a sentiment from the set
The paper is Dovecraft Back to Basics and I have edged it with a Lawn Farm
Stitched Scallop Edge die
Darker matting layer to bring the image panel forward

and that's it, simple but sweet

Hugs to all
Squirrel xx




Tuesday 21 June 2016

Wild Things WINNER

Yoo-hoo!
A big thank you to all you wild crafters who entered the
SRC Wild Things challenge

Now it's time to choose the winner from all the FABULOUS entries
OK, to be fair, it was too difficult to choose just one so we enlisted the help of
Mr Random, and after cranking up the generator, he chose....


So No 13 is very lucky and the winner is
this stunning card


and that's you LUCY WOODS

Congratulations hunny - could you email me please and we'll get your prize organised.

Thanks to everyone who entered - brace yourselves as there will be a new and more
regular version of Squirrel's Random Challenge coming soon.  Watch this space for updates.

Hugs to all
Squirrel & The Little Acorns
xx



Monday 20 June 2016

Last Day of Spring

Well, that's it, today is the last day of Spring, so tomorrow will be Hello Summer!  No, really, summer.  Days of endless blue skies, hot sun, ice-creams, school holidays, Wimbledon, strawberries and cream, wasps ....... honestly, Summer.

Anyhoo, to celebrate the final day of 2016's Spring, I'm bringing you this:



So, we have Spring Medley stamp from A Random Fan
Painted with Distress Inks (ReInkers)
The birthday words collage is from Hobby Arts
and the rubbish doodling is all mine
I was going to mask this little lady to stamp the words but in the end I fussy cut her
and laid her over the top to get the positioning how I wanted it

So, that's me for now,  I'm about to head outside into glorious sunshine.  Just where did I leave my umbrella, shower jacket and wellies .......

Hugs to all
Squirrel xx


Sunday 19 June 2016

Ahoy Matey!

It's Father's Day in the UK, and I had been wondering for quite some time what I would do for my darlin' dad this year.

After a rummage through my stamps, I came across this one and thought that it would make him laugh, and it did.


Stamp is Pirate Boy by one of my favourite Whimsy artists, Krista Heij-Barber
Painted with Distress Inks (ReInkers)
Whimsy corner dies
Gingham paper from Create & Craft
Red cardstock is Bazzil
Custom made gatefold card base

Right then, it's European Grand Prix day and it's a new circuit which could be a bit
of a challenge - I'm off to get the inks out and watch the race!

Hugs to all
Squirrel xx



Thursday 16 June 2016

AYLI (DT) Favourite Die

Hello everyone, hope this finds you well and itching to get crafty.  So, it is a new challenge day over at AS YOU LIKE IT and the theme this time is rather tricky......... we would like you to use your FAVOURITE DIE.

I think they should have renamed this challenge as Mission Impossible.  I started off with a huge pile of "favourite" dies on my desk, and gradually whittled them down by the number of times they have been used, and practicality.  They I got some back from the discarded pile, threw out (not literally) some others, started all over again, and I still couldn't narrow it down to just one favourite.  So, this is what you are getting


So, for this I have used
CC Designs Nancy With Sunflowers stamp
painted with Distress Inks (ReInkers) with a few Polychromos for her hair
I have used two Crealies stitched rectangle dies
I believe the word die is an Impression Obsession word edger die
and as for the top border .......... hmmmmm (missing packaging)
Matting layer is First Edition cardstock

I made this for a very special friend who has been having a tough time lately
but she has received it so it is now safe to post here.

Our sponsor for this challenge is


£10.00

gif maker



So now you can go and give yourselves the same kind of headache I had, but don't forget to enter the challenge to show us what you made!

Hugs to all
Squirrel xx


Monday 13 June 2016

And more elephants

There's a bit of a joke with a certain friend over a customer who wanted an elephant card.  Said customer is, fair enough, quite particular but not very forthcoming with information, so for her daughter in law's birthday I ended up with a surplus of elephant cards.......it took a few makes for her to choose one she really liked (which was nothing like the original brief!).

So when said certain friend's husband emailed me asked me to make his anniversary card to said friend, and he mentioned the elephants, it was a challenge I could not refuse.



I used the MFT Adorable Elephants stamp set, aren't they just the cutest?
The little twiddly heart between them is in the set too
Coloured with Distress Inks (ReInkers)
Sentiment from Paper Smooches
Martha Stewart border punches, top and bottom
Purple papers are Nitwits and the pink is Dovecraft I think (but might not be)

I think said friend was happy, her husband certainly was

Hugs to all
Squirrel xx



Sunday 12 June 2016

Sports - LOTV reminder

Hi all, just dropping by with my second design team inspiration card for the Lili of The Valley June Facebook Challenge - not many days left now to enter so you need to get your skates on!


So this rather colourful card was made using
LOTV Water Babies Little Folk stamp
Painted with Distress Inks (ReInkers)
The rather loud papers are a mixture from various Basic Grey pads
The ornate oval frame is a Spellbinders die
And the lettering done with the Memory Box alphabet soup die set
Pre-scalloped card base

The challenge closes at 6.00pm on 15 June so better get busy if you want to be in with a chance of winning the fabulous prize.

That's the happy part of this post.

The sad part is that this will be my last ever post for the LOTV design team.
I was over-the-moon when I was asked to join the Design Collective last year, but nothing stays the same forever, and there have been a lot of changes, so, after a lot of careful thought and conscience wrestling, I decided it was time for me to step down.  Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to leave comments or visit me for my Lili posts, it wasn't a decision easily made but c'est la vie.

Hugs to all
Squirrel xx




Saturday 11 June 2016

Some News, A DT Call, and a Reminder

Yoo-hoo chaps, just popping by quickly to let you know some news.

The Squirrel Random Challenge is going to be less random - we (that is, myself and my team of Little Acorns) are planning on this becoming a regular event every two months.

This really is a challenge just for fun, but there will undoubtedly be some prizes up for grabs along the way.  I will post a schedule of when the challenges will be throughout the year, so please put those dates in your diaries.

Which brings us to an important matter - the Little Acorns will be looking for a new member to join



If you feel you would like to become part of this small but perfectly formed design team, we would like you to apply.  I have added a Linky thingie for you at the end of this post.

The closing date for DT applications will be 11 July.

You would need to have a blog, or an active Facebook page, on which to promote the challenge, and be able to take reasonable quality photos of your work.

We would ask you to make something for each challenge (one every two months) with a midway reminder on rotation.

Oh, and you must like chocolate and have a stash of cake handy.

I think that's it except for the

FINAL REMINDER FOR THE SRC WILD THINGS CHALLENGE
Closing date is this coming Friday - 17 June

Hugs to all
Squirrel and the Little Acorns

Thursday 9 June 2016

In The Pink (DT) Photo Inspiration

Good morning pinkies!  How are you all today?  Feeling fine and dandy I hope.

For the new challenge over at IN THE PINK we would like you
to be inspired by a rather delicious photo


How you choose to be inspired is up to you, it could be simply cupcakes, it could be the colours (naturally we want more pink than anything else), it could be the flowers or the bows, lots to choose from

Here is my DT make
I was inspired by the cupcakes and the pink/cream colour theme



Isn't she sweet?  I was so chuffed with how she turned out.
This is CC Designs Roberto's Rascals Cupcake Twila
There are three sentiments with the image stamp, and this is one of them
Painted with Distress Inks (ReInkers) with Polychromos Pencils for her hair
Matted with a piece of pink Crafts Too paper
and finally finished off with a tiny Tapestry flower stamp dotted around the image panel

Our sponsor for this high calorie challenge is



We would love to see how the photo sparks your imagination, remember you have two weeks to enter and you must use pink!

Hugs to all
Squirrel xx



Tuesday 7 June 2016

Flower Frenzy

At the weekend I hoiked out some of my under-used flower stamps as I wanted to make a batch of small cards to keep at work for emergencies.

I used two sets of stamps from Clearly Besotted "You Are Wonderful" and "Delightful Day".

Looking at these now, whilst I am pleased with how the colouring went, especially on the tulips and roses, I think next time I shall place them slightly lower down in the vase so they don't look like they are floating.

With apologies for the poor quality photos, these were taken on my phone and had to be tweaked in PIXLR.  My old Nokia takes much better photos but I didn't have it with me at the time.




All three stamps have been painted with Distress Inks (ReInkers)
Matting layer from scraps box
Custom sized card bases

Has anyone else had really bad hay fever this year?  Normally I might snuffle for a few weeks, early on, but this time I have been sniffing and coughing for what feels like months!

Anyhoo, that's me done for today.  See you again on Thursday.

Hugs to all
Squirrel xx


Monday 6 June 2016

Half Cat / Half Lizard

You can tell the weather has warmed up when the cat spends the whole weekend basking in the conservatory like a lizard.

OK, an upside down lizard.


And don't you believe the lies that tummy tells - that is not an invitation to fluff!

Hugs to all
Squirrel, and Rosie
xx

Sunday 5 June 2016

Man's Best Friend?

I hope I am never put in a position of having to choose between cats and dogs, it's not a choice I could probably ever make.  They both have their pro's and con's.  However, what is undisputed is that dogs are always considered to be man's best friend. Thankfully my best friend doesn't drool on my slippers, and she's not a dog either!!

Anyhoo, there is a Man's Best Friend challenge over at Fantasy Stampers so as I already had a suitable stamp out on my craft bench I shall take my chances and enter.


So, this is Harley from Whipper Snapper Designs
(available at My Mum's Craft Shop here)
Painted in Distress Inks (ReInkers)
with a Personal Impressions sentiment
and bright stripy paper from a Papermania collection
the yellow gingham is from the scraps box

Hope your Sunday is as sunny as Harley's seems to be.

Hugs to all
Squirrel xx



Saturday 4 June 2016

SRC Wild Things Challenge Reminder

There are two weeks left for you to enter the Squirrel's Random Challenge of Wild Things - there haven't been that many entries so far so anyone who does have a go is in with a very good shout of winning a fabulous prize.

As a reminder of what the challenge is about, it's anything wild - animals, plants, weather, party people - so there is plenty of scope to play with.

Here is my reminder card


That talented photographer, Squinty McSquint, has been busy again

So, a CAS layout from me
A Whimsy stamp from Krista Heij Barber called Hanging In There
Painted with Distress Inks (ReInkers)
Sentiment from Clearly Besotted
Matting layer is from a Dovecraft Christmas collection!

I go ages with hardly any postings at all, and suddenly you get two in one day, you can tell the computer has been fixed, ha ha!

Right then, off you go and have a wild weekend, but please do enter it into the challenge.

Hugs to all
Squirrel xx




Sports! Lili of The Valley FB Challenge

Hi all, if you haven't seen it already, there is a new challenge running over on the Lili of The Valley Facebook page for June, and the theme is Sports

Lots of the Lili stamps feature sports, or can be adapted to be sporty, so although this seems like a more difficult challenge than usual, it's really not that bad.

My first design team make for inspiration features a retired image......


I love this little karate kid, and I don't know why I haven't used him more often
I think I had it stuck in my head that his outfit had to be white, but I did some research and it doesn't!
The colours I have used are student colours - painted with Distress Inks (ReInkers)
Papers are leftovers from my scraps box
and white cardstock edged with a yellow Copic marker
and I really should stop removing my sentiment sets from their packaging!

So, be a sport, join in the challenge - the ball's in your court
Challenge closes at 6.00pm on 15 June

Hugs to all
Squirrel xx




Thursday 2 June 2016

AYLI (DT) Favourite Food or Drink

Hello chaps - it's another Thursday, and that means another new challenge from

This time the challenge theme is FAVOURITE FOOD OR DRINK
(and you must tell us about your choice)

Here is my DT make

Oh I do like me grubs, but I find nothing perks me up more than a delicious coffee, hot if the weather is cold, or iced if it is a really hot day.  My current addiction is a Costa Flat White (other brands are available)


So, for this I have used
Image stamps from Your Next Stamp - Hammie: Coffee and Tea
and the die word is Your Next Stamp - Fancy Coffee Die
Happiness is a good... sentiment and the coffee beans from
Sugar Pea Designs Espresso Yourself
Papers are BoBunny Double Dots
Image painted with Distress Inks (ReInkers)


Our sponsor for this challenge is



Prize - £15 voucher

I very nearly resigned my DT position so that I could enter the challenge and try and win this prize!

Right then, it's over to you to go and get delicious - looking forward to seeing your makes.

Hugs to all
Squirrel xx



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