Guest Designer for Di Hickman

YAY! it is almost April and for the whole month I am a guest designer on Di Hickman's site.

I have 5 templates to work on and need to submit 1 card for each a couple of days before the sketch is due to be released in Di's website.

I have sent my first card to her and can reveal it on Wednesday 2nd April.

I am just so blooming excited and cannot wait to see my card on her site and will be a DESIGNER !!!! (can you tell I am a we bit excited ?)

Anyway the lucky recipient of said card will be my friend and work colleague Andy who is 30 tomorrow and honestly believes it will be the end of his life !

Sobia's Birthday

It was my friend Sobia's Birthday yesterday and I made a tag card so that a number of people at work could sign it too as she has left recently and we miss her.

She's a proper girly girl so I used some images from Pink Petticoat and the patterned paper is a mixture of Dovecraft and Paperchase wrapping papers. The tags were made from DCVW Peeking Posies cardstock and embellished with ribbons which were stapled on.



The openings are edged with Do Crafts ribbon from a TSV from QVC.

The lettering for her name is die cute using Sizzix Curlie Girlie set and self adhesive textured film. She has contacted me today and loves her card. She said it is very special and loves that people had spaces to put their sentiments on it too.

Easter Cards

Here are some cards I made for Easter.

I think it is probably the first time I have made Easter cards for many years as it is not normally something I would card make for.

However, I just loved these images from Pink Petticoat and purchased them for a friend as a thankyou for being just fab! If you read this you know who you are.

All cards were made using blanks from Let's Make Cards, I have a number of these now and have put them in a box on my desk to use them 1st. The paper used on the 1st one was from a magazine freebie paper pack. I embellished the card with Primas and gems from Papermania.
The other 2 cards were for members of my family.

The patterned paper I had forgotten I bought it last year. It is a double sided wrapping paper from Paperchase. I love how bright it is and thought it went perfectly with the fun images from Pink Petticoat.

The ribbon is from Docrafts/Papermania.

Back from Amsterdam .......

But we have brought back a nasty bug !

We were travelling home on Friday night and I was really, really thirsty which is unusual for me. Bought a bottle of water at the station and got back home about midnight. Within an hour I had uncontrollable diorhea with a really painful stomach. Over the next few days I was vomitting, sleeping and visiting the loo more times than I could wish to mention. I couldn't even keep water in! I completely lost my weekend to it

To make matters worse Paul has woke up with it today and he is worse than I was!

It seems to be the same thing that caused an epidemic at Christmas but we cannot work out why we have it now. I am guessing we picked it up from someone in Amsterdam. Fortunately both Garry and Hazel are okay but Paul was round at our neighbours last night for an hour and I hope he hasn't given it to them.

Oh well, at least he can't complain about constipation now !

Off to Amsterdam !!!

So tomorrow morning we are off to Amsterdam to meet our unsuspecting friend Garry !

We have been plotting behind his back with the lovely Hazel to celebrate his 40th Birthday.

We don't arrive until after lunch so he will never guess what we are up to. I cannot wait to see his face when he sees us tomorrow !

We get back on Friday night and then back to normal over the weekend. Looking forward to the 1st Grand Prix of the season too.

Happy Birthday Mom

It's Paul's Mom's birthday on the 13th and we will miss it as we will be in Amsterdam. Paul asked her if she minded if we didn't see her on the day and she said she didn't. We will make it up to her at the weekend but Paul popped in to see her today and she will have her card to open on the day itself and we'll call or text her whilst we are away.

I made this card using supplies and inspiration from an issue of Making Cards magazine. This was on the from cover and was perfect for Mom. The paper, flower and sentiment square all came from the material pack which came with the mag. The brad flower centre is a HOTP big brad with a rub on, the ribbon is Papermania, as is the green Happy birthday sentiment. the Mom lettering is from my stash, manufacturer unknown.

This card is so pretty and bright and perfect for cheering Mum up with the awful weather we are having at the moment.

Happy 40th Birthday Gaz

This is the card I made for our bestest friend who is 40 on the 12th.

I made a shaped card using a template I produced in Xara. Paul has been trying to get me to use this programme for a long time as it does a lot of great manipulations and with his help my confidence is growing.

The shaped card is covered with papers from the Dovecraft male pack (again) I am so glad I bought that as it has proven to be very useful lately! The star paper has been embellished with lots of star shaped gems from Papermania.

The dotty paper has vinyl embelishments from a HOTP pack, a banner, rub-on lettering, brad and a clear sticker from a QVC TSV pack.

The most exciting things about Gaz's birthday is that he has been in Amsterdam since Monday with Hazel and he has no idea that we have been plotting behind his back to meet him there ! It will be the most personal way to deliver his birthday card !

Captain Scarlet themed card

My friend Hazel commissioned me to make a card for Gaz based on Captain Scarlet. She had been unable to get a card featuring his favourite superhero so I came to the rescue !

I gathered some images from the tinterweb and placed them collage style using a programme called Xara. The symbol I wanted to use for the '0' in his age and placed everything else around it.

The whole collage is printed onto A5 size glossy photo paaper and then matted onto a black card blank.

Hazel absolutely loves it and I am sure Garry will too. It was nice to be able to do something so special for them both as they are very dear to both Paul and I and a wonderful couple.

Sobia's Parents Anniversary

A good friend who loves my cards asked me to make one for her Mum and Dad's wedding anniversary.

She provided an old photo of them and I wanted to use gold and cream as the colours as they are quite tradiotional Indian colours.

The photo was printed onto glossy paper and double matted on thin black and thicker gold with punched heart corners.

The heart paper at the bottom is a wrapping paper from PaperChase. The ribbon is Anita's/Papermania. The heart is a handmade paper topper which I trimmed slightly so the proportion would be better. The sentiment was from existing stash.

Sobia loves the card and she will be giving it to her parents at the weekend. I hope they like it too.

Pwetty Butterfly & Just Bex Challenge

This card was made for a challenge on Just Bex where you had to pick a letter and use 3 things starting with it.

I chose B and the components were butterfly, brad and buckle. The colours blue and black would have also counted at a push!

The butterfly is a stamped image coloured in using Marvy Le Plume pens and Sakura Glaze pens for the little flowers. The flower in the centre is tiny brad from a pack I got at Lakeland. The ribbon is Papermania and the buckle was bought from Ebay a while ago. The card blank is from Let's Make Cards.

Not put a sentiment on the card yet, I need to start making more cards for my own stash as I only seem to make them for commissions at the moment. My box at work badly needs sorting out and some new vibrant stock filling it up.

Happy Birthday Grandad

The last card for Katie was to be from her small son to his Grandad.

I used HOTP papers and my favorite Penny Black teddy stamps to spell the letters of Grandad.

The tag and ribbon are also HOTP, the brad and all peel offs are Papermania.

These teddies are one of by best stamping purchases and people always seem to love the results.

Happy 65th Birthday

Katie's Dad's card was to have a horse racing an domino theme.

The papers are again from the Dovecraft male pack, the leather ribbon is Papermania as are the cork 'Scrabble' letters. The chipboard letters and numbers are from a QVC TSV. The image was snaffled off the internet and printed onto photo paper and the dominoes were purchased some time ago from Poundland.

Really pleased with how this turned out and so was Katie.

Liverpool Supporters 30th Card

This card was given by Katie to her husband who as you can tell supports Liverpool.

The backing paper is from a forum buddy who makes her own papers using one of the graphics programs. I printed this onto hammer textured paper with 50% opacity so it looked more muted. The main image is printed onto photo paper and mounted onto red card to give it more oomph. I added a strip of red to the centre to provide an area to add the sentiment and the age using peel off, a banner and rub ons.

I am really pleased with how this card came out, I am sure any Liverpool supported would be delighted to receive it.

30th Birthday Card Football

My work colleague Katie gave me a commission for 4 cards for her husband and father.

This card was made for her husband from their small son.

The papers are from the Dovecraft Male themed pack.

The trophy, ball and banner are Sizzix die cuts that I bought some time ago from Ebay. I have since purchased the ball die and have a trophy but it is much smaller than this one. The Dad sticker is from a QVC TSV kit and the sentiment is a Papermania rub on. I used curling ribbon to embellish the trophy but this got squashed in the scanner!

Happy Birthday Harrison's Nanny

The cardI made from Harrison to his Nanny was made using an image from Pink Petticoat which I printed onto glossy photo paper. This was mounted onto some more of the metallic cardstock from Craftwork Cards. This was real bargain in their sale as I got 50 sheets for £5.

The base card is from a Let's Make Cards pack. The quality of them isn't too bad although I do find that sometimes the way they are packaged actually damages the cards which is a shame.

The image was embellished with a Crayola permanent metallic marker and a bit of Stickles glitter glue. The patterned paper, ribbon and peel offs are all Papermania.

Both cards were made to be flatter than I would normally do so he could post them both in the same envelope, so no 3d foam on these designs !

I do like the PP designs. To be honest I keep forgetting I have them and when I print onto photo paper I try to use the rest of the sheet at the same time so I am making a concerted effort to keep printing them out ready to use for future projects.

Happy Birthday Andy's Mum

My work colleague Andy asked me to make 2 cards for his Mum's Birthday - one from him and the other from his son

For his I used paper that is a sheet of giftwrap from Paperchase with loads of girly images on it.

The dress is a Papermania peeloff from a QVC TSV that was placed on velvet paper and some of the detail was coloured in using a permanent metallic marker. This was then mounted onto pink metallic card from Craftwork Cards.

The card was then accented using other Papermania peeloffs and velvet letter stickers from Poundland

Rob's Birthday + Just Bex Challenge

Our next door neighbour and very good friend Rob has just recently celebrated his birthday and this is the card I made him using this sketch from a Just Bex challenge.

The patterned papers on the card were from a Dovecraft men's pack and the blue and letters are by HOTP.

The sentiment banner is from my stash, no clue who made it !

We took him out for a meal to our favourite Indian Restaurant. We have all been there many times and the food is sublime.

Mother's Day Card + Di Hickman Sketch Feb #4

This is the card I made for Paul's Mum using this recent sketch from Di Hickman.

I used HOTP papers for the background. The lacy one was a 2 page spread and I just cut the lace edge off each and it was the perfect width. I am not very good at using 2 patterned papers together but the HOTP creative packs and Sarapapers make it so much easier for you.

The scalloped edge circle is cut using a Nestabilities die. I do love these, they add so much interest to a card in a such a simple way. They cut even the thickest card very well indeed. I added bling to the scallops using gemstones from Paperchase. They used do do great value pots of 250 to 400 gems for about £2.50 - £4 and they were a decent size pot. Shame they don't seem to do them anymore. I do like the Papermania ones but sometimes they are a little bit smaller than you would like and they only have a small number of each size on a pack.

The heart is a topper embellishment that I bought from Ebay. I bought a pack of assorted handmade paper embellishments last year with the intention of making Mother's day and Valentine cards and never got the time to do it so this is the 1st one I have used. How many crafter's have similar stories I wonder?

Bad Blogger !!!

I have been a very bad blogger recently. I've not been too clever recently as I realised that my problems couldn't be solved by going on holiday for a week.

Paul's snoring when I got back off holiday drove me round the bend and I thought I was going to lose my marbles. I had a nervous breakdown about 4 years ago and felt myself slipping back into the abyss and it really scared me. We ended up buying a single bed and although it was a difficult decision to make I started sleeping apart from Paul. This has helped me stop and think about what is REALLY wrong with me. I have realised that I was slipping back into my hate myself phase which is so terribly destructive. I give the impression I am this happy go lucky person and I am so unhappy a lot of the time because my self image is so poor. I think little of myself and cannot reconcile that someone else would not think the same. I'd totally lost my confidence and felt like I didn't matter to anyone or exist. Of course this couldn't be further from the truth, but when you feel like this there is nothing you can do and no one can tell you otherwise.

I have now come to the conclusion it is because I am so overweight and feel a bit trapped. I have decided I do not want to inhabit this fat person anymore and although I have a huge amount of weight to lose have decided to embrace it is a complete change of my life, not just a diet.

Paul and I have joined a gym 2 weeks ago and are going 4 times a week. A lot of the time we are going before work as it opens at 6.30am and I can honestly say I feel so much better and more positive. It is making me feel more bouncy and alive and for the 1st time in my life I am enjoying being active. It is costing us £55 per month each to go so I feel I need to 'get my money's worth' but also I am REALLY enjoying going - it's a weird feeling. I hope the novelty doesn't wear off !

One really good thing that has come out of it is that I have been able to sleep with Paul again all this week. If he is snoring I am sound asleep and cannot hear it. One night I couldn't sleep very much and I didn't hear him snoring. This is good news, if going to the gym will stop him snoring so bad that is worth much more than £55. If I am able to sleep with him again tonight I am going to deflate the single bed as I think that we may have solved the problem.

Also I think it is making me more tired so I am having a much better quality of sleep. I also think that mentally I am much happier with myself as I am actively doing something about my problem. Win Win all round I think.

So I have got a fair few projects that I did before I went away that haven't been blogged. My MOJO pretty much left me whilst I was so low and I couldn't even do my RAK's and felt awful about that. Thanks to some wonderful friends for being there for me and pulling me out of the black hole. I have however now found my creative side again and have started fulfilling commissions so over the next few days will be blogging them all.