Bring me a higher love

I was so chuffed to get a Top 3 placement from Stamping Sensations for my last card, maybe I should harness my pmt grungy, messy creativity more often!

Fairies & Fantasy is not one of my favourite themes if i'm honest with you.  I don't think i'm very good at it.  Despite that i'm reasonably happy with this week's card.  I love the black & white combination & I love that I used a piece of a very old 6x6 paper pad as well as an embellishment (that wee swirly bit in the corner) that I have owned for donkey's years.  A very old donkey at that!

If you're better than me at fairies & fantasy creations, we'd love to have you playing along this week at Sweet Stampin'.  Do pop over, the girls have made fabulous inspirations for you.

While I'm around, i'll play in a challenge or two:

A bit more time to Craft - Anything Goes

Simply Papercrafts - Anything Goes

Thanks so much for popping by!

The Genius (Occasionally!) xx

I know what I know if you know what I mean

We've got a distress challenge over at Sweet Stampin' this week.  I'm not great at distressing cards, have to be in the right frame of mind....severe pmt usually (bizarrely) works well lol!  Hopefully you'll not all be suffering that while you're creating your distress masterpieces this week!

This fabulous stamp is from Inkylicious and there was sanding, inking, tearing, more sanding on this card.  I just went to town & enjoyed it...it's like therapy!

As is my habit, I'll enter a few challenges:

A Gem of a Challenge - Birthday Card

Crafty Catz 387 - Anything Goes (optional CAS)

Crafty Friends 68 - Anything Goes

Penny Black & More - Close to Nature

Stamping Sensations - Autumn Glory TOP 3!

Thanks for dropping by,

The Genius (Occasionally!) xx

You'll have to kick him out again

This week at Sweet Stampin' we want to see your cute and cuddly creations, as mentioned in my previous post, I LOVE a Penny Black stamp! While I was in the box for last week's I just couldn't resist pulling this one out too.

I paper pieced the plant pots and matched it up with some lovely papers from Stampin' Up, they're sort of sunny but Autumnal at the same time!  It's one of those rare cards that I love, in fact I've left it sitting on my desk because it just makes me smile :-)

As always, i'm entering a few fabulous challenges:

A Gem of a Challenge - Fun Outside
Crafty Calendar -Kids/Babies
Crafty Catz - Birthday - WON a Bugaboo image :-)
Fussy & Fancy - Fall Colours

Thanks for dropping in

The Genius (Occasionally!) xx

Another gear in a big machine

It's time for a new challenge over at Sweet Stampin' and even though it's not my week, I'm joining in.  Life has been very busy (in a wonderful way) and my card stash is seriously depleted so any push to get me creating is good.

So team Susan have a favourite stamp challenge & we all know it's near impossible to choose just one!  But I do LOVE Penny Black stamps & they were some of the very first I purchased and are still some of the most loved.  This one has been in my stash since 2009 and doesn't he just make you smile :-)

Entering a few challenges too:

A Gem of a Challenge - Fun Outside

Crafty Friends - Dies/Punches

Happy Little Stampers - Anything Goes with Dies

Retro Rubber - Anything Goes

Rubber Dance - Also Favourite Stamp

Thanks so much for dropping by x

The Genius (Occasionally!) xx

I can't exceed my reputation

I'm being a bit naughty, this Christmas card is suitable for the July challenge at Christmas at Sweet Stampin' as well as this week's challenge at Sweet Stampin'.  If you're going to get ahead on your Christmas cards, you might as well enter both.

This one uses up some very old paper (purple) and some very new paper (pinky/red) and a very, very old embellishment from...yes, you guessed it....Lakeland!  I know, I spent a lot of money in that shop lol!

So what's on my agenda this weekend?  I've just made 40 wedding invitations in less than a week so today is catching up on some household jobs and cooking a nice dinner.  Tomorrow I have the house entirely to myself so I am thinking of locking the doors and spending a whole day crafting maybe?

Hope you have a lovely weekend x

The Genius (Occasionally!) xx

I got your photograph

Some days, I like to play rather than create an actual finished project.  The dreamweaver-ed stars on this panel are one such piece and having been sat there for a few weeks, I decided they would be perfect to use in this week's challenge of Stars and Stripes over at Sweet Stampin',  

They were particularly perfect because the dreamweaver pastes were sent to me from a wonderful friend of mine who moved from the U.K. to the U.S.A. a few years ago & left me missing her every single day!  Also totally unintentionally, the sentiment is one from a Hero Arts set that I purchased on a visit out to see her.  There were a number of shopping trips involved in that trip & I recall having to buy an extra suitcase to come home with!  What a card full of memories :-)

As I do on these rare occasions of blogging, i'm playing along with some challenges:

Craft Rocket - For Men/Boys

Through the purple haze 128 - Spots or Stripes

Thanks so much for dropping by,

The Genius (Occasionally!) xx

Promises? No promises....

Ever buy a stamp/die/other craft item, get it home & wonder how you're going to use it?  Then it sits looking at you for three years, making you feel terribly guilty.......Yeah, me too!

I think the basic problem is the style of the stamp is a long way away from my style.  However it's good to get out of your comfort zone, right?

This 'three years in the making' card is just to let you know we have a SHABBY CHIC challenge over at Sweet Stampin' and we'd love to see what you create.

I'd love to play along with the Retro Rubber challenge who want to see flowers.  As mentioned this stamp is at least three years old, I purchased it at a craft show & it sticks in my mind because another trader made a bitchy comment about the manufacturer after i'd bought it.  As I say, you can't like everyone in the world but you do have to co-exist & tolerate one another.

Hope you all have a lovely day,

The Genius (Occasionally!) xx

So, no-one told you life was gonna be this way

Time for another challenge over at Sweet Stampin' and this week we want to see CATS and/or DOGS.  I apparently don't have many cat stamps so I dug out this gorgeous dalmation instead.  He's from a company that makes the most wonderful realistic dog stamps of practically every breed, I'm just having a little trouble remembering the name....

I teamed him with spotty papers from Stampin' Up & this fab sketch from SSW2.

Here's me playing along with some lovely challenges:

Fussy and Fancy 186 - Anything Goes

Seize the birthday - Anything 'Birthday' Goes

 Sweet Sketch Wednesday 2 - Fab Sketch

The Male Room 59 - Many Legs

So, what's on the agenda this weekend?  Well, not much for me.  Lots of housework, a couple of cards and hopefully a nice walk if it stops raining!  Hope your weekend is a good one xx

The Genius (Occasionally!) xx

Love is a Battlefield

You'll be pleased to hear the urge to do housework has passed!  I am back to normal again ;-)

I got completely abandoned by mojo recently & asked Susan to give me a random word that I had to get inspirations from.  The second one she threw at me was...unicorn which I interpreted very literally!  Very proud here as I used up some very old paper, the backing is Brilliant Blue from Stampin' Up & the paper pieced body is a velvet paper.  Ideal for a little one as they can actually stroke the unicorn 'fur'.

So if you fancy a bit of paper piecing this week, come & join us at Sweet Stampin'.

Thought I'd join in with a few challenges too:

Come and Get it - It's a Girl Thing
Crafting when we can - One for the girls

Cupcake Inspirations -



Thanks so much for dropping by,

The Genius (Occasionally!) xx

A Galway girl and a perfect night

I need lots of cards made in a short space of time at the moment and the Freshly Made Sketches team always inspire me so I've been waiting for the new sketch to appear today!  Well I haven't been sat by the pc waiting, I actually did some housework to keep me occupied.  Alright, I was forced to do housework so as to avoid being caught in complete chaos by a house guest.  But then that weird thing happened where I actually started enjoying myself & wanted to carry on!

To add to my productiveness today, it's the first time I've used this Sheen Douglass die of a loosestrife flower.  I read something recently about all flowers having meanings & so I looked this one up.  Apparently it means 'peace'. 

There we have it, I'm off to lie down in a dark room until the weird housework urge disappears ;-) but I just want to join in some lovely challenges first:

Freshly Made Sketches - Sketch

Shopping our Stash - Punches and/or Dies

Have a great day folks xx

The Genius (Occasionally!) xx

Just wanna dance the night away...

Over at Sweet Stampin' this week we have a 'Mellow Yellow' challenge.  Truthfully, your yellow doesn't have to be mellow.  It can be a bright as you like !

Every time I see yellow cards, I promise myself I'll use more yellow....it's lovely & cheery but I still forget!  I think I might go make another one while it's on my mind!

I used a lovely image from Stampin' Up's Simply Soft set and some spotty paper also from S.U. 

Participating in some lovely challenges:

Come and Get It - In the Garden

Dragonfly Dreams - Anything Goes

Penny Black & More - Spring

Stamping Sensations - Anything Goes

The Genius (Occasionally!) xx

Please don't stop the music

Can you tell I got some new toys recently?  As a belated birthday gift, I got some Inkylicious ink dusters and I have to say I rather like them!  I made several cards with them in one lovely inky crafty session.  This one is for the current Sweet Stampin' challenge of Anything but Birthday.  

This was another that I forgot to make a post about although it did appear on the SS challenge blog...oops!  So just for Wends, here it is:

We're not talking about the stamp on this one.  Because I'm not buying and it isn't new.  Well, not any more!

Short & sweet from me, I have lots to do but thanks so much for dropping by,

The Genius (Occasionally!) xx

He was long gone when he met me

With a female card, if in doubt you can pop some flowers on & it works.  The nearest I can get to that for a man, are trees.  They may not drink beer, play golf, watch football or indeed have any hobbies at all but they can't take offence at a tree!

My distressed, inky, splodgy tree is for this week's challenge over at Sweet Stampin' where we're looking for masculine creations.  A fairly quick make but sometimes, that's all you can fit in!

The Genius (Occasionally!) xx

At least I can say that I've tried

Here's one of my favourite Christmas cards I've ever made.  I love it's simplicity & clean lines, honestly it's a card that totally makes me happy!

I've used a James Bear pre-coloured image from LOTV, my swiss dots embossing folder & the little mittens came from who knows where....I have the vaguest of feelings that it could possibly have been Lakeland.

He's my card for the Sweet Stampin' Christmas challenge this month.  We had a phenomenal start to the challenge in January, plenty of organised people around so come & join us in February.  We're always Anything Goes (Christmas themed of course).

Playing along with some challenges:

A Snowflakes Promise - Anything Goes

Christmas with the Cuties #2 - Christmas Carols & Songs (definitely a 'White Christmas' here, love that song!)

Merry Monday - Clean and Simple

Thanks for popping by, have a great day,

The Genius (Occasionally!) xx

You never say hey or remember my name

A quick appearance by me but an appearance nonetheless!  I've been making quite a few New Home cards recently as lots of people seem to be moving.   Either that or they're having birthdays, it's crazy busy for birthday cards too!  I'm off to a joint birthday party this weekend for 2 of them and looking forward to catching up with some good friends too.

This little card was also made for the new challenge over at Sweet Stampin' which is Spots & Dots

Some days you just want to go simple.

I've used the Good Neighbours stamp set from SU and a very old sentiment.  Still trying hard to use up the old (antique) stash!

I hope you'll take the time to play along with us & break out the spotty/dotty papers.

Also playing along with some of my favourite challenge (been a long time!)

Allsorts - Let's Celebrate

Brown Sugar - Anything Goes

Shopping our Stash - All that glitters is gold (sentiment)

Penny Black & More - Anything Goes

The Genius (Occasionally!) xx

Another night, another dream

In case you're wondering, more blogging wasn't part of my New Year resolution making. Using up my ridiculously over excessive stash collection was however. So here I am playing along with team Susan's theme of Dies & Punches. Inspired by watching Lisa Horton on Hochanda the other day when I felt proper poorly.

We'd love to see you join us at Sweet Stampin', inspiration to use our dies is always a good thing!

The Genius (Occasionally!) xx