Oriental Miss

I love this real pretty image from Mo Manning. I think her facial expression is beautiful!

I coloured her using promarkers and am going to add a teeny amount of stickles onto the flower in her hair. I haven't yet decided if I shall leave this card as it is or put a greeting on it.

The background papers are from My Minds Eye and the oval frame was done using Coredinations paper, a Nellie die then the frame put through the cuttlebug using one of the Asian folders set and sanded.

I didn't have any flowers matching the kimono colour in my stash, so opted to colour the flowers with the promarkers.

I am entering this card into the following challenges -

Cupcake Crafts #81 - Flowers

Crafty Cardmakers - A Feminine Celebration (where you had to use a female form somewhere on your card)

Shamrocks

Another card made for my charity stash.

Image was a digi freebie from Tiffany's Garden.

I printed it out onto inkjet watercolour paper for texture (which doesn't show up very well in the pic!) and coloured with promarkers, then just used a corner punch to give the edge a bit of decoration.

I think although this is a plain card, it's quite a nice one! (Even if I do say so myself!!LOL)

Card submitted into these challenges -

Shirleys 2 Girls

Tuesday Taggers

Cute Card Thursday

Tellens Place

which all have a 'green' theme and the challenge over at One Powerful Hour is Luck.

Birthday Card 2

Another man's card for last night!
Don't they look 'something missing'????? I have to really resist the urge to add some embellies, like flowers, organza frothy ribbons etc to cards! Having said that, I was reasonably happy that this was a suitable manly type card when it was finished!
The stamps are from Elusive Images done in Timber Brown Stazon and the background sponged lightly and randomly with Antique Linen distress ink. The main image matted onto brown then moss green card from the DCWV Neutrals stack (well it was out on my desk from the previous card!!). The striped paper came from Maureen again (thank you Maureen!) and this time I used MY new Martha Stewart punch for the lattice border!
The card fits a couple of challenges -
Quixotic Challenge - Leaves
Allsorts Challenge Wk 42 - Cards for Men

Birthday Card 1

Card made for one of the men at the Bowls Club who celebrated his birthday yesterday. I cannot get by the struggle to find themes for men's cards!

I printed the tiger image onto inkjet watercolour paper. This is the first time I've used this paper which is quite substantial and gives a lovely textured finish just like a watercolour painting. I sponged distress inks Dried marigold and Spiced Marmalade across the paper, then matted it onto black card.

The background paper is from DCWV Neutrals stack matted onto black card and the black fancy border was sent to me by Maureen who as you can see has recently acquired a Martha Stewart punch set (amongst other things!). I added a couple of sparkly squares to the back border.

This is my second submission to Pollycrafts 'Distressing' challenge.

A girl can never have too many!

I have been desperate to try and make one of these shoes after seeing so many beautiful examples on other blogs. Have to say though I didn't find this easy to do... think mainly because of the quality of the card/paper I used. My first attempt (which ended up in the bin) was done using quite heavy cardstock. This was real difficult to work with as I found it not pliable enough. Then I went to the other extreme and used ordinary scrapbook paper - too flimsy, no body at all and that too was consigned to the increasing large pile of paper accumulated from the attempts in the bin!

With increasing frustration, I resorted to basic white card and covered it with paper from the Papermania Regency range. As I started to assemble the shoe I remembered I had some slightly thicker pink card which had a lovely sheen and was covered in a rose design - I used this for the sole of the shoe which made it more substantial. I had a small round piece of foam about 1/2 inch high so I covered it with some stripey pink ribbon to make a heel!

The rose motif on the front was bought at the NEC - think it's one of those that you're supposed to iron on to something but it fitted well and I added a small pearl heart shaped button. The ribbons and lace were in my stash. I put together a small bundle of pretty lace, ribbon and fabric a pearl heart button and a pearl spray and tied it with an organza bow and slipped it inside the shoe as a small present. I finished the shoe off with an antigued and distressed tag with a French theme.

Close inspection shows that perhaps I could have been a bit tidier with some of the edges of the sole but overall I am happy with how this project turned out eventually.

If you want to see close ups of the front and the heel of the shoe they can be viewed on my Flickr account here.

Creative Inspirations is predominantly a card making blog but does allow other projects to be submitted, and their challenge this week is Lace, Pins and Pearls so have entered this. and over at Paper Sundaes the challenge is to use the colours Hollyhock, Crystal Blue and Sweet Leaf (or as near as you can!) - the rose decoration has 3 similar colours and there's also some ribbon in the pressie stash containing those colours so I'm hoping my entry will be accepted and finally Ooh La La's theme this week is open!

The Writing Desk

It's been such a long time since I've made anything using a vintage theme - so this week with some spare time I made this card. I think this much under used Inkadinkadoo stamp was one of the very first I bought - it's quite big so if you want to use the whole stamp the card or project has to be large too - which probably explains why I haven't used it much! But to me, it conjures up the elegance of a bygone era, when ladies sat at the writing desk and scribbled in their diaries about everyday things like love and life!

Image stamped onto cream card and then distressed used Antique Line, Tea Dye and Tattered Rose inks. French script stamp used on other bot of cream card, then both torn and edges distressed using Antique Linen. Those who know me are aware my sewing skills are not the best but practice makes perfect (or so they tell me!) so I attempted to stitch! I matted the main image onto dark red card and stitched it into place, then stitched the K and Co background paper (albeit not very straight!) onto the card before adding the main image and script paper. I'm hoping that the less than perfect stitching adds to the cards overall 'shabby' look? The vintage lace, ribbon, flowers and buttons are all from my stash.

I have submitted this card for a few challenges

Allsorts - Card for Mothers Day or someone like a Mum to you

Pollycraft - Distressing

Totally Papercraft - Mothers Day

Stamp Something - Designer paper, Ribbons and Buttons

Stamptacular Sunday - Back In Time

Gingersnap Creations Spicy Supply 42 - Lace and fibres

Secret Crafters - Stitching

My Time to Craft - Something for Mum

Flowers.

This card is for my Mum to send to a relative. I used Kay and Co papers, the Sarah Kay image was a freebie from a crafty friend and I coloured it with promarkers. The greeting is an Inkadinkadoo stamp which I stamped once onto white card then onto pink and cut out the pink and stuck it onto the white base. The lacy edges were done with a Martha Stewart punch.

The card fits in with a couple of challenges -

The Pink Elephant - add Green to your colour combo

Digital Tuesday - Use scallops (hope the greeting is scalloped enough!)

Cute Card Thursday - Use Ribbon

OSCC - Optimistically Pink

Simon Says Stamp - Girly

Floral Circle

Quite enjoyed doing this although cutting out the floral circle needed me to exercise patience which is not one of my strogest points!

The image was a freebie from Bugaboo and I thought it would be perfect for a lot of occasions like get well, sympathy or even just to drop a note to someone.

I coloured the image with watercolours, and then ran a black promarker round the edges to make sure none of the base white card was showing after I'd cut it out and I used 3d pads to raise it from the background.

The good old swiss dots folder used again and mounted onto lemon cardstock before placing onto a white deckle edged card.

Queen of the Screen - But no crown.......

Have had a small break from card making for a couple of days and caught up with other things (not housework...lol).

The next challenge at the Art'n Soul flickr group was to alter a jigsaw piece using monochrome colours. Although the closing date for this challenge isn't until 3rd April, I thought I'd better get this done whilst I had the chance otherwise as usual I shall be dashing about at the last minute!

The jigsaw piece measures 5" x 3" and was sent to me by Maureen some time ago. Poor old Thomas the Tank Engine was unceremoniously ripped off the front and I painted the piece with white acrylic paint to get rid of the grey card back and sides. On reflection I could have left these cos the theme was monochrcome..... doh!

I covered the front with random alphabet paper ( have no idea where this came from... found 2 sheets of it at the back of a drawer!). Used black and silver embossing powder on the edges and stamped the Paperartsy image onto white card with black stazon. I mounted the image and words onto silver mirri card and glued in place. The camera and film strip are a black and white photocopy of K and Co scrapbook paper suitably reduced in size to fit the piece and I finished with a silver star and heart. I then took what I thought was a metal crown charm from my stash - it was curved and wouldn't sit flat so I decided to flatten it............. this was NOT a good idea as the charm was plastic and promptly shattered into about a million tiny pieces when I pressed down on it with the edge of the hammer........................ so my 'Queen of the Screen' is currently crownless until I can get some flat crowns!

Despite the monochrome theme, I couldn't resist giving her a teeny touch of red lipstick!

Creative Inspirations is predominantly a card site but does permit other projects to be submitted for challenges. Their theme this week is also Monochrome so have linked this and Fab n Funky's challenge is black and white and fotunately for me so was Little Red Wagon's!

Coffee Time

An apt card I think for the challenge at 'Play Date Cafe'!

This week it's a colour challenge and the colours given are Red, Brown and Linen. This image is a digi freebie and I wanted to make a basic card which would be suitable for anyone to receive or send, be it just to drop someone a note or for any other occasion.

Cream base card, layered with red card and then the brown houndstooth patterned paper (which i have had in my stash for ever!). I coloured the image with promarkers using the 'Ivory' one to colour in the sentiment and the 'wall' behind the coffee pot as I foolishly printed them out onto white card!

I added another 'daisy' from the new punch (getting my money's worth!) and some cream ribbon.

I think this is an 'OK' card - not spectacularly pretty or adorned with embellishments, but hopefully one that the recipent might appreciate.

Distressed .....

no, not me! The challenge at Paper Sundaes is to use some form of distressing on your card so carrying on with making cards for the charity box I made this boy card.

The image was a freebie from Dustin Pike. I don't have a lot of experience with kids stuff, particularly for boys so hope this is a suitable card!

I coloured 'Sir Knight' with promarkers, sponged the white base card around him with 'Shabby Shutters' distress ink (doesn't show up too well on this pic, but trust me, it's on there!) and punched out 'half a daisy' with the newly acquired Martha Stewart punch and glued it onto the top right hand side.

The background papers are from a Christmas stack from HOTP and I used 3 small green mosaic tiles on the left hand side.

I have also submitted this for the challenge over at Cards for Men, which this week had set the theme of 'green'. I'm hoping that 'jolly green dragon' is green enough!

Spring

Once our Valentine theme had finished over at Hugz from the Heart, I had to think up another challenge. The Hugz group is an additional group to my 2 main groups on Flickr and was designed to sporadically celebrate certain dates in the year. So with all the terrible weather both here and across the pond (where 50% of the members are from) I decided we needed to spread some sunshine amongst us and decided to mark the official first day of Spring on 21st March.

Everyone has to work from the same template but can interpret the theme onto the template any way they want using any medium they want.

I used the same technique that I'd done on my Butterfly Note Holder with the idea taken from Craft Stamper magazine. The flowers however were a bit more difficult to do as they were so much smaller than the butterfly, each flower measures just 3 inches across! The mountboard was sponged using Antique Linen distress ink to form a muted base colour. I then stamped the other images using Mustard Seed, Dried Marigold and Shabby Shutters Distress Ink. The saying is an Elusive Images stamp - 'Can words describe the fragrance of the very breath of Spring?'. I attched the two flowers together using some bright orange cord. The main butterfly is attached using 3d pads and to finish the piece off I layered some flower s and used some bright orange fibres, a tag, a butterflycharm, heart button and flower charm all from my stash.

Challenge 43 at Gingersnap Creations is '3 colours I love'. This was a really difficult challenge for me as I love all colours and have no favourites for one more than the other. I like colours that blend well together and are pleasing to the eye so I hope the orange, yellow and green which remind me that warmer weather is on the way will be acceptable to the team at Gingersnap! Stamp Something's theme is Spring which is very apt for my flowers!

Sailing

Just trying to make a few men's cards for the fund raising - everybody I know says they have trouble making cards for men, so thought I should at least try and include a couple in the box.

This stamp is one of a series of collage stamps called Clear-2-Collage from a company called Butterfly Kisses which I bought specifically cos I thought it'd make men's cards. I have a 'thing' about collage stamps - my collection keeps growing but I hardly ever use them!

I used Azure Stazon ink on glossy white card and layered it onto a blue backing paper from HOTP Cardmakers Pack which has the map of the world imprinted onto it. The problem I have with men's cards is I am reluctant to use too much in the way of embellishments - my OH would be less than impressed with ribbons and flowers so consequently I end up agonising about what to put on a card to 'finish' it off! I found 'Jonathan Livingston Seagull' nesting in my stash... have no idea where he came from but feel he goes a little way to solving the 'bare' problem, although I still think this card could do with something else. What? I haven't a clue!!!! But..... fortunately for me the challenge this week at Cupcake Crafts is 'Keep it Simple', so I hope this qualifies!

Puppy Love!

One Stop Crafts has a sketch challenge this week and the theme over at Simon Says Stamp is 'What's Love got to do with it', whilst the theme at One Powerful Hour is not surprisingly, Love, and finally Tuesday Taggers also has a theme of ... yes, you've guessed, Love is All Around!

This is a Lili of the Valley stamp. Think it says everything about friendship and the unconditional love you get from a dog.

I remember a saying - 'happiness is a warm puppy' - and whoever said it got it right!

Image coloured with promarkers and edges inked with Tattered Rose Distress Ink, all papers from K and Co and the greeting is a stamp from Inkadinkadoo.

Visions of Tomorrow

Finally I managed to find some free time yesterday to use my newly acquired Cuttlebug Asian Folders. I ordered them ages ago and they finally arrived on Saturday morning which irritated me immensely as I had to go out on Saturday and couldn't play with them!

I bought them from the USA cos as usual they get all the good stuff before we do!! (It's so unfair.....LOL) and as I'm not known for my patience, I wasn't prepared to wait until they're released here!

Decided to do just a simple card using the bamboo folder on Coredinations paper. The first two lines of the quote are a chinese proverb, I made the last line up to finish the greeting!! Printed it out on DCWV Oriental theme paper and mounted it onto chipboard.

I bought these huge oriental coins at Manchester at the end of last month and have been waiting for the folders to arive so I could use them!

Kitty Love

Had a real good blog hop this morning and found lots of challenges on a 'love' theme!

The love of my life and I don't do Valentines as we have another occasion to celebrate on 14th Feb so it is very rarely I make a 'love' card - but this image from mygrafico I think could be used for a whole range of occasions from get well to birthdays or just to let someone know you're thinking about them - as well as being suitable for 'love'!!! I think the expression on kitty's face is brilliant!

The background hearts paper is from K and Co and I coloured the pic in with promarkers. The 'big hugs' greeting was done using GCF onto a downloaded frame from a company that sadly is no longer trading. The happy cat embellishment was in my stash and thanks to Maureen for the gingham ribbon!

Now then ... onto the challenges-

Cupcake Crafts - Four Legged and Furry

Pile it On - To the One I Love

The Pink Elephant - All About Pink

Stamp Something - Love Somethings

Papertake Weekly - Love Actually

Lili of the Valley - Valentines

Stampin for the Weekend - Valentine Themed

Wrinkly Indulgence!

Well if you spend long enough laying in the tub your skin DOES go wrinkly doesn't it!! So this little lovely must have looked like a prune when she finally emerged from those bubbles!

I love this stamp! It makes me smile......

As the stamp is quite big and I'm not really into making large A4 size cards I used the biggest sqaure card I had in my stock.. consequently once the image was put on there wasn't a lot of room for anything else! So contented myself with just using a punched border with some ribbon and flowers. Background papers are from DCWV, and the little silver charm from my stash.

Cute Card Thursday's theme is spots and dots so this is my entry.

Hope

I was real pleased to see the fabulous Pink Petticoat had a 'Think Pink' kit. Although it took ages to download (over an hour) it was well worth it.

This card obviously is for my stash to sell for Breast Cancer Campaign. I have made a few of these in different sizes and was thinking I could have done with an alphabet die for the letters as they were real fiddly to cut out properly. Maybe if these type of cards prove popular I shall invest in one.

As the sewing machine was still out (from the fabric postcard attempts) I decided to stitch the paper onto the card ( a first for me!) and I was happy with the result (eventually!).

I then had a thought that if I make more, I should attach the pink ribbon with a safety pin so it can be removed from the card - am considering?

Fabric Postcard 1

Well here it is...... (drum roll please - lol).... here is my first postcard for the 3 way swap with Jan and Maureen. Maureen has received hers so can safely post it without spoiling the surprise - hope Jan also has hers by now....

I received Maureen's this morning and it is truly beautiful - so have a lot to learn about making these but don't suppose this one of mine is too bad for a novice.

Had major trouble with the edges.... my sewing machine doesn't do neat!

Will post Jan's once I know she's received it.

Colour Combo

Play Date Cafe's challenge this week was to use colours that are amongst one of my favourite colour combinations so I couldn't resist any excuse to use some more of those lovely K and Co papers!

That said, I DID struggle a bit with the layout of this card, mainly because I couldn't decide where to put the greeting and worse, couldn't even decide on what greeting to use!

I have found that the problem with making cards for charity and selling to a limited audience is that you never know what kind of greeting they want on what type of card - So I always try in the main to leave the inside blank and put on a lot of cards an 'all purpose' greeting in the hope that I will please somebody and tempt them to put their hands in their purses/pockets!!

White was not in the four colour challenge but I hope I'll be forgiven for the use of the spotty flower as I did manage to incorporate the other shades of blue, teal, spice and dark brown!

Other things.....

It was a bit of a surprise when I was uploading the little Washi project to see that it's been nearly a week since I last posted anything... I have not been uncreative, but have been unable to show them publicly! I don't mean that they're not fit for public viewing, just that the recipients have not yet received them therefore can't show them!

In between cursing the sewing machine (fabric postcards for a 3 way swap) and cursing Maureen (who came up with this daft idea in the first place - I mean - me- sewing?????), I have made a couple of cards, stamped up some images and played about with embossing folders -

I won this 'Stampendous' stamp in a free 'give- away' last year and really like it! I used a mixture of promarkers and watercolours to colour it, papers are from DCWV and the blue 'dots' embossed base paper is from Coredinations. The little boat charm was sent to me by a friend.

The Rainbow Lady's Challenge this week is the Four Seasons.

Washi

I have had a sulk this morning as my Cuttlebug Asian folders ordered from the USA have not yet arrived! Poor postie is getting used to being accosted each morning!

So whilst I am on a bit of an oriental type kick I thought I would show you this post it note holder made from Washi paper.

I just love Washi paper.... the designs and colours are rich and vibrant and it's definitely one of the most 'strokable' papers around!! (Anyone who is not a crafter/mixed media junkie will think I've completely lost my marbles talking about stroking paper, but we all do it..... and we've all got paper that's 'too nice to use'....)

So although it was a great wrench to use this beautiful fan design, I steeled myself and made this little object. The template is actually for a mirror compact but it's just the right size for post it notes!

Key to the Heart

I am hosting a Valentine Challenge over on one of my Flickr groups.

Quite simple really, all you have to do is decorate a heart in any way you want from the template provided. The group is an International one so whenever you make something you have to be careful that it isn't too thick, heavy or bulky otherwise it costs a fortune to post and you spend days panicking in case it doesn't arrive at your partner's in one piece! But please click on the link and go and have a look at the diverse range of hearts produced from the same template.

Here is my heart! Thick maroon card, cut with deckle edge scissors, red and cream paper from Hunkydory rubbed over with 'Tea Dye' distress ink, small heart cut from same maroon card with some script paper and then a piece of Coredinations card embossed with the script folder matted on top. Small heart attached with 3d pads to give some depth.

The rose was cut from a large embellishment I bought at the NEC last year and the padlock and key from my stash!

The challenge at 'Created By Hand' is to make something that's not a sqaure or rectangle, so the heart shape fits in perfectly!

Still card making -

in between a couple of other projects... will post a pic of one later (waiting for glue to dry!)

These two cards are further additions to my stock for my Breast Cancer Charity - both made using digi images.... (see - am still practising colouring!)

Ok, first one is Gus. Gus is a relative of Ruby and the other ladies over at Bugaboo... he's a real grumpy old man and reminds me of someone I know.... (not OH I hasten to add, who is never grumpy!). I'm sure we all know a 'Victor Meldrew' grump like Gus! I coloured him in using promarkers and the backing papers are from K and Co. The cute boxer shorts charm was from my stash and looking at those legs think Gus would have been better advised by the fashion guru to wear something a little bit longer to cover those bony legs!

I always struggle making men's cards and obviously so do the gang over at 'Digital Tuesday' who set the theme this week of 'Make Those Men Laugh'.

The second card is made using a digi freebie and I can't for the life of me remember which company it was from, but I know it made me smile when I saw it. I used Coredinations Whitewash paper for the background and added a scrap of DCWV card left over from another project. Coloured the image with a mix of watercolours and promarkers and added a bit of sparkle to the bug's wings. The ribbon and buttons from my stash.

Mellow Yellow?

I am not a yellow person - I mean I like custard and don't consider myself cowardly but although I can honestly say I don't actively dislike the colour it was quite a surprise to realise after a quick look in my wardrobe I only possess one item of yellow clothing.......

So it was definitely a challenge for me to make a yellow themed card. I'm not sure if I've completely overdone it here too... maybe all the years of not using it means I've gone completely OTT?!

Have submitted this for Quixotic Challenge which was to ink up an old stamp.. (that was a difficult choice LOL - am beginning to think I could open my own shop with 'bought and never used' stamps), and the Saturday Spotlight challenge was to 'Let in the Sunshine' and Stamp, Scrap and Doodle's theme was 'Spring'..

On the Wings of Love.....

... know it was a song... know the next line.. (only the 2 of us together flying high) and the darn music has just been going round and round in my head the entire time I have been making this - but can't for the life of me remember who sang it.... will have to google it! (Wouldn't mind but I wasn't fussed on the song when it was released, so will someone please tell me why I remember it????!!)

Anyway - spent some time today finishing this - I decided a couple of weeks ago that I needed to practice more with metal so I suppose this might have been a bit ambitious - but - 14th Feb is fast approaching and although OH and I don't celebrate Valentines, it is OH's birthday! And this year is a huge milestone.... massive milestone.... gi-normous milestone... LOL

So to show him that I still think he is the best thing since sliced bread despite the fact that come the 14th he will be officially 'middle aged' - I thought I should practice my metalwork on this little frame to mark the momentous occasion!

Frame painted with Prussian Blue acylic paint. Blue metal put through the Sissix with the Swiss dots folder then sanded for the silver to show through and attached to frame, script printed onto pale grey paper. I didn't have any red metal to use for the heart so instead just embossed some thick card and coloured it with a red promarker and ran some black paint over it with my fingertip to tone it down a bit. I then edged it with a silver Krylon pen. The wings (a paperartsy stamp) were stamped onto the metal, the edges embossed with the herringbone tool and then shaped to mimic flight. The metal 'Love' charm I have had in my stash for ever and I just added some metal hearts into the corners of the frame.

Not bad, but more practice needed!

The Gingersnap Creations team has a challenge on a metallic theme this month so this is duly submitted!

Ruby

If you've not already become acquainted with this lady before I would like to introduce you to Ruby! Isn't she the coollest?? LOL

Ruby is one of several 'ladies with attitude' that are available from a brand new company called Bugaboo. I have acquired quite a few 'digi stamps' over the last couple of months but don't use them very much - I am not very good at 'colouring in' and struggle unmercifully with shading and trying to give the image 'depth'.

But I liked Ruby (and the other ladies from Bugaboo) and I wanted to try and make a card using her! That was easier said than done too............. I have agonised for almost two days fiddling with bits of different papers to try and get a layout! In the end, I gave up and opted for a simple basic layout, (and as I had printed Ruby and her friends onto cream card) using a cream card as the base.

On the base card, I used burgundy card stock, another layer of cream and then a layer of burgundy card that had tiny pink stars on it. Ruby was coloured with promarkers (blush for her face, a combo of red/henna for her hair, cool grey for her dress and purple for her boots) and I tried to add some shading. Not the best but at least I had a go!

I added some bling and some cream velvet ribbon. I don't normally scan my cards preferring to take a pic instead, but no matter how hard I tried the colour repro in the photo was not right. The cream card came out rather washed out white and grey looking, so a scan it is!

Overall I am reasonably happy with this card, I'm hoping that Ruby will detract from my less than perfect colouring/shading!

I have submitted this card for several challenges - Stamp Something's theme is 'Funny' (well I think Ruby's funny anyway!), Corrosive Challenge is to 'Go Digi', Just Us Girls set a colour challenge of Burgundy, Blush, Vanilla and Gray (am hoping the cream card qualifies!) and Passion for Promarkers has a theme of 'Girls, Girls, Girls' this week - maybe those experienced digi converts can give me some tips!

With a song in your heart......

After having had several days of card making, I decided today to tackle something a bit different. Needing some inspiration I discovered the challenge at S2g Twisted Thursday was to create 'anything but a card' and with a twist of 'Valentine's Day.

This project was made out of mountboard and I will eventually mount it onto a canvas (somthing else for the workroom wall!!!!). It was inspired by Sue Roddis and the template for the heart shape came from her 'Decorative Handmade Books' and it measures almost 12" long.Please click on the pic and enlarge it to see it better!

I covered the heart in K and Co paper, then used the Crafty Individuals bird stamp (one of my favourites). The words are from an Elusive Images set. The flourish and feather stamps are also from the same set.

I used 3 heart shaped brads mounted onto more of the script backing paper (which doesn't show very well in the photo) and them matted it onto dark brown card.

The tiny silver wire nest with the small blue 'eggs' I can take no credit for - isn't it just lovely? It was a present last year from a crafting friend and I have never had occasion to use it before now.

The little polka dot wooden heart I gave had in my stash for years - it came from a local craft shop and I secured it with some organza ribbon and added a few fibres, resisting the temptation to add feathers too.

This was a welcome change from the cards and I enjoyed doing it! Theme Thursdays challenge is 'Hearts' so this fits in with 2 challenges!

One Card - 3 challenges

In between normal life have managed to make a couple more cards the last few days.

This card fits 3 challenges this week, I based the design on the sketch provided by Mercy's Tuesday Challenge , whilst Shirley's 2 Girls Twisted Thursday challenge was to use hearts somewhere on the design and the gang over at Tuesday Taggers had set the challenge of using birds and a tag!

The papers are all from DCWV Latte Matstack. I used the free stamp from this month's Craft Stamper magazine which had been designed by the talented Glenda Waterworth .

I used the same background papers to make the tag and finished the card with some cream ribbon.

New Challenge Blog

Paper Sundaes is a brand new paper challenge blog which is currently holding a 'blog hop' for great blog candy.
Challenges start next Sunday (17th) - why don't you pop over and join in? You can get to the blog by either clicking on the link in this text or clicking on the scrummy ice cream sundae pic in the sidebar!

To greet or not to greet..........

that is the question!

Shall I leave this card as it is, or should I add a greeting on the front? And if I add a greeting, where will I put it?

Background is K and Co paper matted onto green card then mounted onto cream cardstock and the script folder was done using Coredinations Whitewash paper ( this is scrummy stuff!!) which I then sanded to bring the pale green colour through and then mounted onto the same green card backing.

I am not a big user/lover of stickers but these are from Penny Black and I like them a lot - I bought 3 sheets of these so don't be surprised if the next few cards are made from these - New Year's Rezzie.... use up some stash instead of looking at it!!!! LOL I added a tiny watering can embellishment to the main image after again layering it onto the green card.

Fortunately I am into card making mode at the mo - I'm again trying to raise some cash for Breast Cancer this year and my bowling friends are a generous lot and they buy my cards, so I need to get properly stocked up before the outdoor season begins! (I also must say a big thank you to Maureen who keeps sending/giving me masses of gorgeous cards for my charity ...trouble is , I like her cards so much I don't want to let them go! LOL)

Any suggestions as to greet or not welcome!

I have entered this into the ABC Challenge blog this week whose theme is layering.

Am a bit like a bus today... not seen for ages then 3 come at once! LOL


Have taken advantage of the weather and been in the workroom all day - haven't created much - apart from a couple of cards the only other thing I made was a mess!


Anyway here's the third post for today.


This card fits two challenges - Tuesday Taggers theme is Black and White and Gingersnap have a Once in a Blue Moon challenge of Monochromatic Clean and Simple Cards.

Background done with the Cuttlebug 'Spots' embossing folder, and I used one of my favourite stamps on black textured paper and embossed with Seafoam White embossing powder. Matted and layered onto white then black card and mounted onto the background with 3d pads to give some depth to the stamped image. Finished with some spotty ribbon!
I was going to put a greeting on this but decided to leave it blank so it can be used for any occasion.... hence the small seed heads matted and layered in the top left corner!

Enjoy the Moments

I was going through one of the stamp boxes today and when I saw this one by Paperartsy, I thought about how much pleasure I had this morning from taking some time to just enjoy the view - one of the sentiments on the stamp plate was simply 'enjoy the moments' which kind of made me grateful that I could take some time out to appreciate things that surround us.

I made this card using K and Co papers, a Martha Stewart border punch, the Paperartsy stamp and a chipboard clock from Etcetera. The clock background was white and looked too stark so I rubbed some Tattered Rose Distress Ink over it to blend it in with the background papers. I added some ribbon and was tempted to add a few more embellishments but after positioning the usual butterflies, flowers, bows etc I couldn't find anything that I liked so decided to leave well alone and let the text speak for itself. I still feel however there is something missing but can't quite work out what!

I have submitted this to the 'Time' theme at Gingersnap Creations Chestnut Challenge.

Cold pheasant for tea?

It is really cold again today and I managed to get into the workroom without falling flat on my face - the snow here is not thawing at all and the ground underfoot is treacherous.

Here are a couple of pics, one taken a couple of days ago when the snow was falling heavily - don't you feel sorry for this lonely pheasant who landed on the first lawn near the house during the heaviest snowfall I've seen for years! Bet his feet were really cold! I took this pic through the side window of the workroom and before I could adjust the camera for a closer view Mr Pheasant decided he'd had enough and flew over the fence into the field behind - obviously gone to seek refuge in an outbuilding!

The other pic is a view down the garden this morning from the far edge of the first lawn - I braved the cold long enough to fill the bird feeders and take the pic! Then it was back into the warm workroom as fast as I could go. I suppose everyone else is fed up with the snow as it appears that the entire country has ground to a halt with schools closed and roads being left ungritted - (our lane is almost impassable either on foot or by car and there's no way the cars can get up the slope to the canal crossing) - but I confess to being completely overawed by the view down the garden and also across the fields from the house to the hills - the sky was a cloudless bright blue, the moon was sharing the sky with the sun and my whole world was covered in a sparkling ethereal white blanket - beautiful!

A Gem!!

Well I am stunned...... and chuffed to little mintballs!! Can you believe it? I was one of five chosen by the team over at Gingersnap Creations to receive their first 'Ginger Gem' award - I can't believe it!
I entered the beer can wall hanging with the winter's theme into their 'Winter Wonderland' challenge and they chose me (and four others! LOL) out of all their entries.
So here on the sidebar of my blog is their award - if you click on it, it will take you right to their challenge site which has loads of varied and interesting challenges to blow away the cobwebs!
First Wednesday of the Month - Chestnut Theme Challenge
Second Wednesday - Spicy Supply Challenge
Third Wednesday - Color Challenge
Fourth Wednesday - Random Redhead Challenge
Fifth Wednesday - Once in a Blue Moon Challenge
All the challenges last for 3 weeks so there's plenty of time for you to submit something and they're open to to papercrafters and mixed media artists !

Don't look too closely.....

.......at my stitching!!!!!

Maureen decided to use me as an experiment and sent me one of her gorgeous fabric postcards (the oriental one at the front of the pic here on Maureen's blog) via Royal Mail without any protective envelope/cover - it arrived undamaged and in pristine condition (so a big thank you to our sometimes much maligned postal service)............

Being Maureen though, I was not going to be able to get away with just receiving a post card without an instruction to 'Have a go at one yourself'...................which is all very well if you're good with a sewing machine (which I'm not).

So here is a rather raggedly stitched fabric postcard which I shall give to Maureen (for her sins - and for her making me attempt something I am definitely NOT good at!!!)

Spring Butterfly?

I can now post this pic of the note holder I made for a present. I made two of these, in slightly different colours for crafting friends and I confess to shamelessly copying the idea from Craft Stamper magazine.(But the recipients seem not to have minded - lol)

The large butterfly was from a template I had saved on the PC (no idea where it came from- LOL). I cut it out in mountboard then used Distress inks to colour the background before stamping the butterflies and swirls.

The note holder is just secured with a small bulldog clip.

Doing these kept me busy in the early part of December and I enjoyed making them as they reminded me of Spring somehow.....

So Christmas is now over and 2010 is almost here. I recieved some fab presents from fellow crafters and I shall cherish each and every one - I know some real talented people!! We spent a quiet Christmas at home, the peace only broken by my squealing on opening an envelope from my darling husband which contained an extremely large sum of money gift voucher to be spent at Paperartsy!

Hope your festive season was all you wished for too!

Merry Christmas

Thank you to everyone who has visted my blog this year, commented on my work, encouraged me and given me inspiration.

I hope you and your families have a wonderful Christmas (and Santa brings all my crafting friends lots of lovely new stash!)

Best wishes from me for the holiday season and for 2010. Merry Christmas everybody. x

3 down................

After the rose (see post below!) I was spurred to try and create something pretty!

Here is another piece for my (hopefully) soon to be assembled fabric book. I now have three projects completed and need to do a couple more. Maureen (the mentor...lol) has kindly sent me some canvas to use as the pages for the book and am looking forward to finishing this project, not because I am fed up doing it, far from it(!), but because I have really enjoyed doing it and want to finish it!

I have again used as the backing fabric, more of the chinese silk. This time I used a pale blue piece which really is a beautiful colour and it seemed a pity to cover it but needs must.. so cover it I did, although you can see a small bit of it at the top and bottom!

I used some old cream and pale blue lace for the right hand side (the blue of which has not shown up too well in the pic), a piece of striped fabric from my stash which I frayed and some paper from the huge K and Co pad I recently bought.

The image is printed onto cotton fabric and the blue picot edging was, like all the silk, given to me by my mother in law! I put the image onto a piece of frayed muslin and hand stitched the ribbon roses and pearls.

As the theme at Created by Hand is Vintage this week, I have submitted this as my entry.

The last rose of 2009...........or the first of 2010?

In my garden I have an old pig sty - half of it is used as a storage shed for garden tools and the other half as a store for garden chairs etc. I've had no cause to go near the place over the last month because the weather has not been dry enough to do even a small amount of tidying up outside. (And anyway I'd sooner be crafting!! LOL) But over the last week I had noticed something pale coloured outside the building bending in the winds - the weather here on Friday last was freezing cold but dry so I stopped being lazy and went to take a look.............

Can you believe this rose? Does it not know its December? It didn't look this good in the middle of our so called Summer!!! Even with all the hard overnight frosts we've had since I took this pic the thing is still blooming! I was sorely tempted to cut it and pop it in a vase inside the work room but knew it would die instantly with the change in temperature so I have left it where it is and I am now checking on it every day irrespective of the weather.

It makes me smile each time I see it - and reminds me of summer days past and hopefully those to come.

Vintage Tag

I made a few tags this morning to send to some fellow crafters instead of Christmas Cards and didn't think to take pictures of all of them before I put them in the envelopes! This is an extra one I made.

I think the background paper is Graphic45 and the image is printed onto cotton fabric. The vintage lace at the top of the tag was cut from a roll that was given to me recently. I thought it looked like a star! I put a gold star brad in the centre and messed about for ages with a single bead drop which I had taken from the same piece as the beaded embellishment on the bottom. It was the fiddliest thing in the world and sorely tested my patience in trying to secure it to the centre of the lace star - but I managed it in the end - it was only afterwards I thought that I could have re strung the beads and then stitched it onto the tag.............erm......!

I attached some more lace to hang from underneath the star and used some sparkly fibres for the hanging thread.

This is my entry into Theme Thursday's challenge of 'Vintage' this week.

Egyptian Discovery

I have set the challenge on our Flickr Group - Art 'N Soul- this month. The challenge is to make a 'Circle Book'. I have made one of these before (which can be seen here) and have been wanting an excuse to do another! So my poor friends in the group were challenged to make one for our next swap!

I have used the theme of Egypt for my book as I had recently bought quite a few egyptian type stamps (they were a bargain in a sale - honest!!).

I once again have to apologise for my photography skills - not made any easier by the light or the shape of the finished project either! (Enlarging each image helps!) But if you want to see a 'step by step' account and also have the template to make one, they can be acquired on my photostream here.

Inside the book, I used some parchment type paper for the backing of each page, some vellum, a variety of the stamps, embossing some with gold onto a black background and also using some images from a variety of sources.

The front and back covers are thick gold embossed paper and some torn muslin was used for the ties which were distressed with 'Antique Linen' ink. The 'mummy' on the front is made from air dried clay using a Krafty Lady mold, then I used Mod Podge to stick the muslin on the body! The Mod Podge has given the muslin a harder feel and it is quite rough to touch now, which I am happy with - after all, if you've been stuck in the ground for thousands of years you'd expect cloth to be hardened wouldn't you???? LOL

Winter Wonderland

Another beer can! Basics are the same as the Winter Birds further down in this blog - a beer can ungrudgingly donated by the Other Half, the frame is the same Cuttlebug embossing folder. Wanting to create a 'cold' feel this time I used 'Sail Boat Blue' and 'Stream' alcohol inks with a silver mixative.

I mixed two different sets of beading along the bottom to try and represent varying shades of icicles. The snowmen image was printed onto canvas type card for texture. The greeting was in a pack of Christmas buttons and the pearly snowflake is from my stash with some fluffy snowy white fibres wrapped round it. I used the same fibres to make the hangers.

I have submitted this to Gingersnap Creation's, whose December challenge is 'Winter Wonderland' and also a very late entry into Theme Thursday's theme of 'Christmas Holiday Creations'.

More metal

Have no idea where the last week has gone..... I'd like to say I have been absent because I have been getting organised for Christmas but that is one great big fib! I have though made - a Xmas present (which I can't show you here cos it'll spoil the surprise), - another wall hanging from a beer can (which I'll post later) and - this small canvas. So I haven't been idle... just guilty of not finishing my Christmas Cards!

This was another dabble with metal (bought piece this time, not one of OH's cans!) and although I am reasonably pleased with it (and myself- LOL), there are a couple of things that need more practice. I am still struggling with getting the background completely smooth after embossing and stretching the actual design but I'm hoping that this is the case where 'practice makes perfect'!

The stamp and quote is by Elusive Images. I 'antiqued' the flower plaque by using acrylic paint, but opted to leave this (much used by me) quote bare. Both are mounted onto black card. I painted the canvas with a mixture of acrylic paints and cosmic shimmer powders. The 3 small metal 'studs' were in my stash and fortunately for me were a good colour match!