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Monday, 13 December 2010

Forever Friends Candle


Now for something completely different (for me anyway)!!

I was out shopping last week and came across some battery operated candles. My Mother In Law would never have a lit candle but I thought she would like one of these because they are completely safe and she adores the Forever Friends bears. It has a little flashing LED and it flickers like a real candle. I have taken a picture both lit and unlit so you can see how different it looks with the soft glow. I think it is amazing as it feels like it has a thin wax coating and smells like vanilla too.

I cut a piece of card with the lacy heart Martha Stewart border punch and stuck it on with some extra strong tape. The organza ribbon is green with slight gold trim. I only had a tiny bit left so use it to make a mock bow and added a red satin one for the tails. I took the legs off the Dovecraft brad and stuck it on with a large glue dot.

The Forever Friends image is a clear sticker. I had intended to use a textures embossed transfer but it didn't like the wax coating so thought better of it.

It was nice to do something a bit different and I am really pleased with the result.

I would like to enter it into the following challenges:-
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Friday, 10 December 2010

AI Factory Challenge #59 Winner


Woohoo, I have discovered today that I won the challenge at AI factory for my Let It Snow card. The lovely Tammy has contacted me and I am now the proud owner of 3 digi stamps and a blinkie for my blog :)

This has been a great confidence boost and I do hope my newly returned crafty mojo stops around for a while.
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Thursday, 9 December 2010

Happy Birthday Paul




It is my hubbie's birthday on Friday and this is the card I have made him.

I was having a mooch around my digi collection and found this adorable little poochie from the Character Cafe. I have coloured him in with Promarkers and textured his fur using my blender pen which is a fab technique I have seen whilst hopping around blogland. I was amazed how different the effect is just by randomly blobbing the coloured are with the blender pen.

The papers are all from the Wild Asparagus range by My Minds Eye. I used a Martha Stewart punch on the edge following the latest sketch #93 over at Card Patterns. The cupcake and sentiment are both freebie's by Pattie's Creations. I have used loads of Crystal Effects on the balloons and on the eyes, nose and pads on the doggie's feet. Last but not least I have added some Stickles glue and Sakura pen to the cupcake to add a bit of bling.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:-
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Tuesday, 7 December 2010

Merry Christmas Puddykat

I made a card to match the tag I did for the Crafty Cardmakers Challenge on Monday. I had printed the image a few times and had coloured it at the same time so I just need to make it up into a card. I added a green patterned paper from Bo Bunny and the sentiment is Craftwork Cards, both were magazine freebies. I added a Papermania snowflake brad to anchor the gold thread and the bow is from my long forgotten stash.

I would like to enter this card into the following Challenges :-
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Sparkle

I made this card using another of the Christmas decorations I bought from ASDA a few weeks ago. It is so glittery and has silver sequins on it too, definitely blinged up :)

I used the last of the Bo Bunny paper from my last card and added clear irridescent snowflakes with a spot of silver Stickles in the centre and some fabric holographic snowflakes from Ebay with large Paperchase gems in the centre.

I would like to enter his into the following challenges:-
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Let It Snow


Well blooming hell, the sentiment on this card is apt at the moment isn't it? We have had loads of snow in the UK and poor old Scotland especially has been very badly hit. It has been really funny seeing my buddies on Facebook uploading some gorgeous photos of snow and icicles and someone said 'oh is it snowing, I'll just check Facebook'. I thought that was great as even when the weather were saying an area would be clear of snow, you could rely on your mates telling you otherwise. These last few days we have had freezing fog and the last of the snow we have had is lingering but everything is completely white with frost. Looks like everything has had a sprinkle of Glamour Dust and looks quite beautiful. Trouble is it is also combined with very, very low temperatures LOL

This card has been made using the wordart made by Bethany at Elegant Word Art. She is so blooming talented and so very generous with her freebies. I luvs Bethany soo much and follow her blog every day, laugh with her and even cry with her.

Anyhoo, I printed the Wordart quite big and matted it onto dark blue shimmer card to match the base of the card. The patterned paper is a Bo Bunny one that came free with a magazine. The silver holographic snowflakes are from Ebay and have a large Paperchase blue gem on them. The clear irridescent snowflakes are from a christmas garland decoration that I took apart to use for cards and have a spot of Stickles silver glitter glue in the centre and on the letter i. I have also added stardust Stickles to pick out lots of the stars in the 'snow' word.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:-
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Monday, 6 December 2010

Crafty Cardmakers Spotlight on Tags


Over at Crafty Cardmakers we have a new spotlight on tags. We all need a tag to go with a gift and it is so much more special to give a handmade one than a shop bought one, especially if you have also given a handmade card.

My tag is quite large at 12cm square and is made using a digi stamp from our sponsor Prairie Fairy Designs called Decorating The Tree. I just love the cute fluffy slippers, just like mine except mine unfortunately don't have glitter on them (unless I've had an accident with the Glamour Dust of course LOL)

The layout of the tag follows sketch #51 at Papertake Weekly. The image is coloured with Promarkers with Sakura clear glitter pen added to the baubles and parcel ribbon, Gold Stickles on the star and Star Dust on the fur trim. I cut the image layer and the gold mat with a Nellie Snellen die. I added a similar corner to the snowflake paper and matted all these layers onto the base paper which has been edged with a metallic gold pen. The papers are DCWV and the ribbons and eyelet are from my stash.

Please pop over to the blog at Crafty Cardmakers to see the gorgeous tags the DT have entered and give them some love. We'd love to see your entries for this challenge and I look forward to visiting your blogs.

I would like to enter this tag into the following challenges :-


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Thursday, 2 December 2010

2 Sketches 4 You Kazan #67

Over at 2 Sketches 4 You it is the last sketch of the year. I haven't been able to participate much this year and I am hoping to be able to rectify that in 2011. In the meantime I have used Kazan's Sketch # 67 to make a tag, but I have then mounted that onto a card. It is however removeable so that the recipient can recycle it onto a gift once Christmas is over. How neat is that?

I have used all papers from Papermania Honey & Hugs Festive frolics Collection. The sentiment is DCWV and the ribbon and eyelet is from my stash.

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

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Creative Inspirations #48



My fellow Crafty Cardmakers DT sisters Jenni & Corry are on the DT over at Creative Inspirations Challenges and they have a great challenge at the moment which is to make a Christmas Gift. We had a similar challenge a couple of weeks back and my fellow teamie Melly had a fab link to a tutorial on this post for a card box.

I had seen one like this a long time ago and thought it looked like a great gift, but having seen Melly's recent one it spurred me on to have a go.

The instructions were quite good and it was a case of measuring and cutting all the individual pieces and then deciding how to decorate it. I used making Memories Cosmopolitan papers and some flowers from stash with a bead cap and a posh Papermania brad for decoration.

Inside I made a little book which is bound together with a thin ribbon. This is attached with a velcro tab so it can be removed. I have added some cards from my stash which all fit in okay, but the envelopes were a bit too big so I have folded them up. I have also added various die cut tags from my stash. Just need to pop some stamps in and it is the perfect gift.

I'd like to have a go at another one using A3 card and adapt the measurements so you could get wider cards in there. It would be a shame to have to keep folding the envelopes up just because they are a tad too big. Overall though, for a 1st attempt I am quite pleased with it.

Also entering into the following challenges :-
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Featured on Paper Issues

Oh wow, I am sooo excited. I've just found out that my likkle owl card is a featured card on Paper Issues.

Check out this post :)

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Creative Sketches #9

I've finally dug out all my Christmas cardmaking bits and have used some rather old papers and embellishments to make this one.

I have used the sketch from Creative Sketches as my layout. The paper and ribbon is DCWV, the sentiment is from a magazine freebie and the wooden painted Santas are years and years old. I think they may have come from Lakeland.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:-
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Wednesday, 1 December 2010

CPS # 195

OMG, can you believe it is the 1st December already? I have absolutely no idea where this year has disappeared to. I know I have been amazingly busy at work for a lot of it but that is about to change so there will be new possibilities for me in the New Year. Not sure what path I will go down at the moment but going to have some time off to R & R and think about what I want to do with myself. In the meantime I am grateful for this year being sooooo much better than 2009 that I know together Paul and I can survive anything!

Whatever happens I am pretty sure that the R & R is responsible for my mojo coming back and actually WANTING to get into my crafty room and create. I find if I am in a bad place I just cannot make cards and I am soooo happy that is changing. I've found myself wanting to get back into the challenge blogs and that is something I haven't done since January.

Anyhoo, this card has been made using the current sketch # 195 over at CPS. It's a pretty simple layout which showcases the Papermania Honey & Hugs papers and embellishments really well. The die cut frame and likkle owl were matted onto a scrap of red card and mounted on 3d foam. The sentiment is a cardstock sticker from DCVW and I used a Fiskars punch on the spotty paper.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:-
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Tuesday, 30 November 2010

Cards for Men #24

Well the time is upon us for me to procrastinate no longer and make a concerted attempt to get my Christmas cards done!!

I have so many Christmas supplies I was determined not to buy any more this year but succumbed in a small way when I saw the extremely cute pack from Papermania from the Honey & Hugs range 'Festive Frolics'. There were 6 sheets of paper, some chipboard, die cuts, epoxy stickers and I also bought a twinpack of cardstock stickers as I loved the cute little owls and wanted to make a card for Paul from this.

The colours are bright, just how I like them :) I started with an 8" square scalloped edge blank and alternated the red and green card candy around the edges. The larger panel of paper is edged in ink to provide a contrast on the blank card. The stripey paper was edged with one of my new Martha Stewart punches. The red strip is part of a cardstock sticker which is glittered and glazed. The cute likkle owls on the branch is all one sticker and it is just so glittery, I luvs it soooo much...... The sentiments are both from the cardstock stickers.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:-
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Monday, 29 November 2010

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge # 35



Its a new challenge at Crafty Cardmakers and we have been set the theme of White with a hint of colour.

Now I like a lot of colour, normally quite bright so a subtle card like this is outside of my comfort zone. It is of course full of bling and twinkle so that is definitely more like me LOL

The card is quite large at 8" square but that is perfect for special cards. The scalloped edge is already on the blank so I thought it would be perfect for a Julie Hickey stylee card with loads of Craftwork Cards card candy. I know they are only like discs of cardboard but that is exactly why I like to use them. You would be very hard pressed to use this many gems or brads on just one card wouldn't you?

Anyhoo, the starting point for this card is the word 'snow' which is a Christmas Tree decoration from ASDA. It's got a snow type texture to it, a bit like artex paint and had plain white sequins on it. Of course, this was not sparkly enough so I immediately covered them with bling from my stash.

I opted for the icy colour of pale blue and punched a border in an offcut and wrapped it with some white organza ribbon with metallic stars on. Last but not least I added some posh pre-made stars from a Craftime pack from QVC.


We are sponsored for this challenge by the fabulous Joanna Sheen who is offering a prize to the winner of a £10 gift voucher so we would love to see lots of entries and I look forward to visiting your blogs.

I'd like to enter my card into the following challenges:-
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Sunday, 28 November 2010

Christmas Card Poinsettia

I've been making a start on the family Christmas cards as time is getting short until the big day. Every year I say I'm going to get more organised but this year has been particularly bad as work has been extremely demanding with a lot more downs than ups. Until the last week my time has been very tight with little or no time for crafting. I've just been getting more and more tired and it resulted in me being in floods of tears at work and I am currently off sick.

I am sleeping 14 hours a day some days, then literally can't sleep on others because I am getting worked up about stuff at work. I went to the doctors and have been given anti-depressants again suffering from work related stress, panic attacks and really high blood pressure which is causing me to have headaches and nose bleeds. I'm trying to get as much sleep as I can and chilling out catching up on TV series that I have missed and doing some cross stitch. I am not depressed, just absolutely exhausted and I am really proud that I asked for help before it got any worse. I am being referred to a councillor to see if they can help me with my issues.

I made this card about 4 weeks ago, scanned it in and forgot to blog it so here we are. I used a Crafts U Print decoupage design that was a freebie with a magazine. I covered a blank with a traditional text paper from DCWV and layered strips of paper 'ribbon' in a gift package style.

The poinsettia has been glittered with stickles and I curled the leaves and petals adding foam pads at strategic points to raise certain parts of the petals. I added pearl gems to the centre for an opulent feel. This card is going to be for Grandma as she loves flowers and it has quite a traditional look to it.
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Monday, 15 November 2010

Crafty Cardmakers # 34





The challenge at Crafty Cardmakers this week is to make a gift with a matching card. My crafty mojo unfortunately has been taking a back seat lately, however after a trip to the Hobbycrafts show at the NEC I came away with lots of enthusiasm and determined to get back into my crafty room as it makes me happy :) My hubby is a lot happier too as he thought I wasn't going to make cards anymore and was threatening to get rid of my stuff !!

I'd had an idea to make a couple of different things but I really wanted to make a clock. After perusing one fabulous stand I came away with bits to make not only one, but two clocks ! It was only £2 to buy the mechanism and they had a few different shaped chipboard backs. I saw the scallops in this shape and having counted there were 12 I could immediately see a flower and numbers around the edge. I had picked up a pad of papers from the new Papermania Woodland Folks set and wanted to make my set around these papers.

I used a Promarker to colour the edge of the clock and covered it in brown card. I then used a sheet of paper from the pad but it was slightly too small so used an ink pad to distress the edges and knock the colour back a little. I selected 12 Prima daisies to pop into the scallops and using a punch cut out 12 card circles. I used rub ons for the numbers and mounted them on foam pads in the flower centres.

The hedgehog is a character from one of the papers sheets which I painstakingly cut out. I can tell you the bristles were a bugger, but it is so cute it was worth it. I then poked a hole through the little hedgie and fixed the clock mechanism through it. I am so proud of how it turned out and can announce that it even works too (it has quite a loud tick though so would drive me bonkers LOL)


For the matching card I used a sheet of A4 textured card and used a large panel of a brown dotty paper from the pad. I used the left over strip of leaves paper and applied one of my new Martha Stewart punches to the edge. I added a strip of brown card underneath to provide a contrast and offset the holes so it lookes slightly different.

The centre panel was cut from a scrap of textured card which was edged with 2 colours of brown inks. I added the same image as on the clock but raised it on 3d foam pads. I added a little bit of gold stickles to the centre.

The ribbon is a gorgeous embroidered one that I picked up shopping on the cruise holiday we went on in May/June. I think it came from Funchal in Madeira. I pleated it and stitched with some hidden stitches and then used double sided tape to stick to the card. Finally I added lots of Prima flowers and some Paperchase gems to add the final touch of bling.


This is going to be a gift for a very special person. I am really pleased with how it turned out and she will appreciate the love that has gone into it.

The rest of the DT have made some fabulous projects, there are some great ideas for pressies there and I hope you will pop to their blogs and give them some love :)

We are again sponsored by
for this challenge and they are offering a great prize to the winner of this challenge. I'd love to see loads of entries for this one and look forward to visiting your blogs.
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Saturday, 13 November 2010

2 Sketches 4 You Laura #65


After my crafty mojo taking a bit of a sabbatical lately I was gobsmacked to find that I was inspired to make a card using a freebie paper pack that came with Creative Cardmaking magazine on Thursday. It is a pack of papers and stickers by Bo Bunny and I just love how bright they are.

I used a sheet of A4 card for the base and covered it with the red swirly paper. Using Laura's latest sketch #65 over at 2 Sketches 4 You I cut some strips of the matching papers using my new Martha Stewart punch. The sentiment is a sticker that I mounted on card and matted onto black card mat and some of the green paper. This is raised up on 3d foam.

The ribbon is from DCWV and the little jingle bell is from my stash.

I can't tell you how good it is to be enjoying crafting again :), it's been a long time.......
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Monday, 1 November 2010

Crafty Cardmakers # 33


For our latest challenge at Crafty Cardmakers we are challenged to use stitching, either real or fake on our card.

I have done some real stitching on my card. The main starting point was the 'Grandma' panel which I have recycled from a shop bought card. The stitching was already on the panel and it is a very pretty starting point. I just matted it onto a darker purple card to provide contrast and this panel is attached with 3d foam for depth.

The pre glittered backing paper is Papermania Henbury Lane and I stitched 2 of the matching felt butterflies together and stitched them onto the card. The detail is so fine on these that it is very difficult to stick them to a card without glue showing so this was an ideal way of avoiding that issue. By folding the top layer wings it shows off the 2 colours of butterfly really well. I pricked a few trails onto the card and stitched using the metallic thread, adding a few gems for bling.

It is very easy to add stitching to your card, especially if it is with a pen so I hope we will see plenty of entries into this challenge. We are being sponsored this week by Joanna Sheen so if you would like a chance to win a prize so get those needles or pens out and get stitching !

I have entered this card into the following challenges:-


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Monday, 18 October 2010

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge # 32


For the latest Challenge at Crafty Cardmakers we are to a use a freebie. Now if you are anything like me you have bought loads of magazines and got sheets and sheets of papers and design packs so I a sure it will not be a challenge for most. You can of course use a freebie digital image, many many are available on the tinterweb and it is a fabulous resource for materials for thrifty crafting.

For my card I have used a Freebie decoupage sheet that has come with Issue 60 of Papercraft Essentials. There is a great pack of 16 free sheets from Crafts U Print and they are printed on decent quality paper. This image can be found at Lee Jacobs Page and is sheet reference cup88652_353. Very good value for only 80p but even better for free :)

For the base card I folded an A4 sheet of card and cut some glitter card for snow, adding a Craftime and peel off snowflakes to the sky. I have added lots of glitter to the decoupage and googly eyes. The sentiment is a Dovecraft chipboard.
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Saturday, 16 October 2010

Fancy Folds Tutorial

My fellow teamie at Crafty Cardmakers Jack has found a video tutorial for the card I made for the Spotlight Challenge.

The Youtube video can be found here

Thanks Jack, I knew it had to be about somewhere :)
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Monday, 11 October 2010

Crafty Cardmakers Fancy Folds Spotlight


It's the latest spotlight challenge at Crafty Cardmakers and the brief for the DT is Fancy Folds.

I love making unusual cards and consider myself a papercrafter so this is ideal for me. I wanted to make something different and a friend's hubby Barrie showed me an origami style card he had seen demo'd on Create & Craft. You basically use a large square of paper and by folding it create a frame. They had linked 3 together by slipping a piece of card into the slots at the side. They sat them very close together so you couldn't see the hinge, but I had an idea that if you made the card a bit wider you would be able to make a concertina card and this would give you enough depth to be able to decorate the pages with thicker items. You could probably make it into a kind of mini book as well. The pictures below show how the sections have been slotted together better.

The papers I have used are 8" x 8" from the Dovecraft birthday pack and the 'back' of the folded square provides you with lots of spaces to decorate so I used various stickers and 3d embellishments as below. The Front of the 'card' was decorated using lots of bling and Sakura clear glitter pen. Each finished square is 4" so the card below is about 2 feet long :)

This card ended up being about 2" thick so I made a box for it, thus creating a card with a lot of Wow Factor. Scott absolutely loves it and said he will be bringing it out as a birthday decoration every year!!

P.S. I have tried to find a video demonstration or some instructions on Youtube or the internet but thus far have had no success.I am going to attempt to make some sort of tutorial if anyone is interested, please let me know.
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Monday, 20 September 2010

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge #30

It's Challenge 30 at Crafty Cardmakers and we have been given a theme of Around the World

I have chosen Africa after rummaging through some stamped images I had from a forum sap some years ago. I was inspired to use the different images and some animal print items that I have had in my stash for a very long time.

I made a DL size dark brown card and cut a leopard print paper smaller to show a border. . I wrapped funky fibres around the card and threaded with beads which I got in an assorted pack from Poundland years ago. You know, one of those 'they will come in handy' purchases that you NEVER use, well I've only gone and used them !!!

I am really pleased with how this card turned out. Initially I was going to do a French/Parisienne theme but this card almost came together all on it's own. Perhaps my crafty mojo is starting to return???

The Stampman

We're sponsored by The Stampman for this challenge so it would be great to see your entries for a chance to win a prize from our generous sponsor. Please pop over to see our Design Team cards and I look forward to seeing your entries.
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Saturday, 11 September 2010

Crafty Cardmakers # 29

It's Challenge #29 over at Crafty Cardmakers and this time we want to see Clean and Simple cards.
We are sponsored again by our regular monthly sponsor Joanna Sheen - and there is a £10 voucher prize for the winner so you know you want to enter for a chance to win some new crafty goodies.


Clean & Simple really is a challenge for me as frequently I find it difficult to know when to stop adding to a card. I stuck to a colour palette I love of Black and White and added the Martha Stewart punched heart for a spot of colour.

The base of the card is embossed with small hearts using a Crafts Too embossing folder and the ribbon is velvet for more texture. I added a small diamante heart and a sentiment to finish.

Pop over to the Crafty Cardmakers blog to see the lovely examples from the rest of the Design Team and I hope we will be seeing lots of entries.

I'd like to enter this card into a few challenges
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Monday, 23 August 2010

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge # 28


It's another new challenge at Crafty Cardmakers and for this one we have been given a Lady Ga Ga video for the song Bad Romance to use as inspiration.

There are so many different scenes with colour choices but what particularly stuck out for me were the bold red with the stark contrast of white.

I attended the wedding on Saturday of Melissa & Mike Hine and wanted to make a wedding card, fortunately for me their wedding colours were the same so it was a perfect match for the challenge too.

I started off with a base of a marbled red A4 card with a layer of white card which has been embossed with a hearts embossing folder from Crafts Too.

The stamped image is a freebie from a recent magazine which I stamped out 4 times and cut different layers from it. I mounted them onto 3d foam to decoupage and added glitter and colour with Promarkers accordingly. I added personalised colour for the recipients to make it more personal. I used my Nestabilities to cut layers for matting and added lots of stickles glue and gems to bling it up, again inspired by the video.

The spotty red ribbon with the white lace is one from my collecton, I thought it would look a bit like a garter and then I made a lace rose which I am really pleased with how that turned it, it added so much texture to it and I will definitely have a go at using it more.

Finally I added so die cut lettering from the Sizzlits Curlie Gurlie alphabet to represent the names of the Bride and Groom.

We've got a great sponsor for this challenge of Susie Sugar and she is offering a selection of die cuts to the winner of the challenge so it would be great to see lots of Haus of Ga Ga inspired cards and i look forward to seeing them if you enter our challenge this fortnight.

Prize approx £10 worth of die cuts, photo shows a selection of them



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Monday, 9 August 2010

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge #27




It's our 1st birthday over at Crafty Cardmakers and we are having a birthday celebration. I can't believe we are a year old already.

Well done Vix for all you hard work setting it up and keeping us all organised and we have a great DT who have made some fabulous cards.

My card was made using a birthday cake decoupage from Creative Cardmaking magazine. I have added glitter and lots of Glossy Accents to make many of the elements just good enough to eat. I cut the front of the card down so the cake looks like it is popping up.




The papers and the banner are from Basic Grey. The banner is a cardstock sticker that was really long so I cut it into 3 sections, mounted 3D foam on the back and added small brads to each letter. This will double up as a birthday card for Paul's Grandad who is 90 on the 10th August.

We are sponsored by Joanna Sheen who is offering a £10 voucher for the winner of this challenge so I hope we will see many entries for this one.



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