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Sunday, 19 December 2010

Candle Box


This is the gift Box I have made for the candle for My MIL. I have stuck with the Forever Friends theme and decorated an old Mini Cheddars canister with some gorgeous snowflake paper by K & Co I had in a smashing bargain pack from the NEC last November!!! It was just slightly too small to go all around the canister so I covered the join with blue ribbon and incorporated it as a decorative feature :)

I used a thin velvet ribbon to trim the bottom and some lovely pompom trim for the top. The centre image is a FF sticker added to a piece of card I cut from an old gift card. I used a Promarker to add a coloured edge and it bled into the card with a kind of mottled effect that I quite liked. I added a bit of stickles twinkles for good measure.

For the top I covered the date up (Christmas 2006, I've obviously had the canister for a long while....) with a scrap of card, added another FF sticker with some stars and splodged some stickles snowflakes inbetween. I added a tag to match the backing paper and Voila

I used some scrunched up tissue paper inside to cushion the bottom, wrapped the candle up with another sheet and then another scrunchie on the top so it is well protected.

All in all, a lovely gift which has cost next to nothing to make. I've even included the batteries :)

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

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Friday, 17 December 2010

Happileigh Scrappin HLSC02


This is the card I have made using the current freebie at Leigh's challenge blog Happileigh Scrappin' challenge. I have used layout #43 from Sunday Sketch & Stamp and have rotated it to fit the digi image better.

I printed it out twice and decoupaged the flower head and leaves and the cutie litle ladybird. It was by far the tiniest thing I have cut out and layered but so blooming cute. I added some crystal effects to make it raised and shiny. The butterfly was raised using 3dfoam in the centre only and the wings were bent up to make it look like it was flying. I have added stickles to the wings and body, you've got to have a bit of bling don't you :)

The papers used are from Bloom & Grow by My Minds Eye. As soon as I saw this image I immediately saw a sunflower in oranges and yellows and knew this paper would be perfect for it. I did a pool of crystal effects in the centre of the flower and added brown and gold beads. I was going to use my Accent Beads but do you think I could find them anywhere? I think they are in a tin at the back of a cupboard but I would have had to have a major move in my tiny little craft room so used what I had to hand instead. Never the less I am very pleased with it, it is so tactile.


Also please note my shading on the flower, It is so much better now I have been practicing. The colour changes are a lot more subtle and I now look like I am doing grown up colouring. The leaves are on thinner 3d pads so there is a lot of different levels in this card.

The ribbons are by Docrafts/Papermania and the flower & and accents are from a MME calendar that came as a magazine freebie recently and has lots of useable bits in as well as being a quite beautiful to look at calendar :) I have also added a but more twinkle for good measure

It made a nice break from making Christmas Cards. I promise I am going to endeavour to make them during the course of the year next year and not right at the last minute like usual.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges :-
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Thursday, 16 December 2010

Moving Along With The Times Top 3


I'm just having a mooch around the challenge blogs to update my spreadsheet and have had the wonderful news that Moving Along with the Times have awarded me a top 3 place for the birthday card I made for Paul.

Yippee, it's been a great crafty week for me and to top it all I have ordered all my missing Promarkers for my Christmas present off Paul :)
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Wednesday, 15 December 2010

I'm on the DT for Happileigh Scrappin' Challenges


Woohoo, I've got some fantastic news. I am on the Design Team for a fairly new challenge site over at Happileigh Scrappin' Challenges

After joining up to the Crafters Digital Art Centre I came across so many crafters and new digital designers. They are so generous and give away loads of freebies and it is a fabulous way to dip your toes into a range of different styles. Anyhoo, I happened across Leigh's challenge blog, saw the DT Call and sent an email and am now on the DT with submissions starting in January.

Currently there are 2 other very talented cardmakers Hippie Aud and Scrappin Chris confirmed on the DT and they both make some fabulous creations.

Leigh very generously offers a freebie each week to enable you to take part in her challenge, or alternatively you can use one that you have purchased from her store here

I'm really looking forward to having a play with the current freebie, it is such a playful image and perfect for my bright and bold style.
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Monday, 13 December 2010

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge # 36

Good Afternoon!! We're having very special challenge at Crafty Cardmakers for the next 4 weeks and its something a little bit different and a lot of fun! We've also managed to pursuade the sponsors or their representative to join in the fun :)

We'd like to see your LATEST OR GREATEST creation so anything you like or a particular favourite AND here's the important bit, we'd also like to see your FIRST or the OLDEST one you have a photo of! I can see you cringing and thinking oooooh nooooo mine's really baaaad! Don't worry, we ALL started somewhere and I hope you can see from the samples that everybody was new once and with a bit of practice you can get better and you'll also see how much you've already got better by digging out your first efforts!

We are very proud to be sponsored by a number of very kind stores for this challenge with lots of winners for this one and the prizes on offer are...

£10 voucher from Joanna Sheen

£10 voucher from The Stampman

$10 voucher for Stitchy Bear Stamps

Pack of 5 promarkers from Letraset

£10 voucher for Crafts & Me

£10 worth of stamps of your choice from Stamping all day

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

It's our last challenge for the year over at Crafty Cardmakers and we have something a little different for you.

As we are a blog with the aim of inspiring newbie and less experienced cardmakers Vix has challenged us to show you our very 1st creations so you can see that we all had humble beginnings.


I started Cross stitching in 1986 after taking a newly bought copy of Cross Stitch magazine on a coach which had a little duck on it and have been making cards ever since. I moved towards papercrafts in 2002 after visiting the Stitching show at the NEC, seeing a demonstration on cardmaking and thus began the obsession! This is the first card I made using peel offs of course! The materials were so basic that were available then it is amazing how much has changed really.

My latest creation has been made using a digi stamp Merry Christmas Santa Snowglobe by Lexi Creations which came from our sponsor Stitchy Bear Stamps. I love making different cards and wanted to make a shaped snowglobe. I had the idea to make it a shaker card but wasn't sure it would work. I am really pleased how it turned out. It's bright, colourful and got lots of twinkle, definitely one of my cards :) I'm definitely getting better with shading on my Promarkers as well. It takes longer but the images look so much better. I've only had them for a year LOL but I'm now really starting to learn to use them properly :)

Since cardmaking I have had a few cards on the reader pages of some magazines, won a £100 worth of Paper Cellar goodies from Crafts Beautiful, and won some prizes on blog challenges. I have been on the Guest DT for Di Hickman, Card Sketch a Day and Sketches by Tamara and of course the lovely Vix said yes when I asked about being on the DT for Crafty Cardmakers.

I have been blogging since May 2007 and love being a part of this amazing crafty community.

It would be great to see loads of entries and I know we as the DT love to take a look at your projects.

I love entering challenges too and would like to enter this card into the following:-
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Setting the Stars


Now this is another unusual one for me. Normally I don't 'do' fairies. I've got nothing against them it's just I'm not normally into the whole fantasy thing. I suppose it's because I'm not exactly known for being subtle with my colour choices so don't tend to go for these softer images. I was printing off some digital images last week and always like to fill up an A4 sheet so added a couple of random Christmas images and could see this pretty little girl in a floaty lilac dress.

The image is from Phindy's Place and I have coloured it in with Promarkers. I really concentrated on getting my shading right with this image and spent ages blending the colours together but I think it looks so much better than the majority of images I have coloured. Still nowhere near Vixykin's standard though LOL.

The paper is by DCWV and the sentiment was already printed on it. I used the sketch at Card Patterns #94 for the layout and flipped it on it's side as it matched the image better. I added a double mat to the picture using different shadesof purple. A strip of card was punched with a Fiskars border punch and the snowflake brads are by Papermania. I have added a Sakura glitter pen to the wings and stars to provide a bit of subtle glimmer. Well it wouldn't be me without a bit of glitter would it?

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

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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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