Luvvy Duvvy Birthday card

Whilst in the middle of a very busy week commission wise one for my work colleagues asked me to make a card for his wife's birthday and I had one day's notice !! My goodness did I give him stick about that. He said he din't think I would be that busy !!

I used a rubber stamped image by Penny Black which was coloured in with Marvy le Plume pens and a clear Sakura glitter pen. The brad is from a Dovecraft assorted embellishment pack.

The paper at the bottom is from Paperchase and the red hearts are flocked so feel lovely. Paperchase do some lovely wrapping papers and I find they can transfer very well to being used for cards. The sentiment at the bottom is recycled from an old birthday card. I have a few friends who give me their old cards to use anything I can from them. It's a great way to get some nice little bits and also recycling is good fot the environment isn't it ?

The ribbon is from Anita's and ribbon brad is Papermania. The card banner is from my stash.

3 Year Old's Birthday

This card was made for the son of a friend at work.

He is mad about Teletubbies at the moment so I found a picture on the internet and decoupage layered it. The name banner was made using stickers mounted on card and then 3d foam.

The backing card is from a DCWV glitter stack, I thought the bright colours were perfect for this image. The sentiment is from LMC

His family loved the card and I must admit I am quite chuffed with how it turned out

A Smile in an Envelope

One of the biggest reasons I like to make cards is that I am making a smile in an envelope, and you can't get much more smiley than this !

A forum buddy is going through a rough time at the moment and I made this as a RAK card for her.

The cardblank is LMC (got fed up of typing Let's Make Cards!) the paper is a magazine freebie that's not a bad thickness for a change LOL! Why do the magazines insist on us having free papers printed on magazine paper ? They are rubbish and usually double sided and see through. Sorry..... rant over!

The main panel is made from a sticky template that I bought from Hobbycraft a gazillion years ago which I chalked through. The flowers are Primas and sticky gems from Papermania.

Di Hickman Sketch June # 2

This is the card I made for the 2nd June sketch from Di Hickman.

The card blank is a coloured one from Let's Make Cards, the patterned paper is Dovecraft's Laura Ashley Contemporary pack mounted onto black panels.

The stamped image in the centre is from a forum swap and I believe it is from Elzybels. It is coloured in using Twinkling H20's and mouted onto 3d foam.

This card is currently on it's way to a forum friend in Australia.

Graduation Card

My work collegue Andy asked me to make a card for his Girlfriend to celebrate her completeing her degree.

I found this quote that Bethany did on Elegant Word Art. Please do go over to her blog as she has some wonderful word art she creates and even does requests. I love crafters as they are the most giving of people and are genuinely nice.


The mortar board is a 3D decoupage that I printed off onto photo paper (I have no idea where I got that from) The tassel was recycled from a Christmas card and is held on with a small Papermania brad. The background paper is from a K & Co embossed paper pad I have had for a mighty long time and never used. The scroll was made from some parchment effect card I had which I have torn and inked the edges to age.

As Andy's writing is awful I thought I would do something a bit special for the insert too so I made it look like a diploma and used some HOTP unmounted rubber stamps for the scroll edges. I bought these from QVC in a TSV last year and it is the first time I have used them. I was very impressed with how clear an impression I got from it.

Helena absolutely loved her card which makes me happy :)

I've been driving for a Year !!

I was talking to an ex-work colleague on the phone yesterday and he was asking how thngs were going etc. I said I'd passed a huge exam and that I had been driving for about a year when it suddenly dawned on me that I passed my test a year ago yesterday !!!

My goodness but how quickly the time has gone ! Some friends and work colleagues were as gobsmacked as me at how it doesn't seem that long ago.

Well that good news is that in a year of driving I haven't had any speeding fines or any bumps. I've done some silly things but no damage (well maybe to my pride) so I am really happy about that. I can't be as bad a driver as my overly critical non-driving husband thinks I am anyway ! (he is getting better now though LOL)

Well I need to pop to an art shop tomorrow in Walsall so think I NEED to buy something crafty to celebrate :)

Driving Test Congratulations

The daughter of my friend next door has just passed her driving test so I made a card to congratulate her.

The backing paper is from DCWV. The car is cut using a plastic template from Papercrafts Inspirations magazine. It is cut from one of my many card scraps. The wheels are Do crafts button brads from a recent QVC TSV.

The sentiment is from Let's Make Cards which I mounted onto black card and cut corners with a south west punch. I always forget I have this and really like the results it gives. The L plate is just a simple scrap of card cut through with deckle edge scissors.

The thing I am most proud of is the key which I made from just playing about with shapes. The metal edge was cut with deckle scissors until it looked like a key. This was then stuck to a scrap of card with the edges cut off. The letter D was attached with a jump ring and is a Quickutz Olivia letter.

I am really pleased with how it came out and will probably make it again in the future.

Jill's Birthday

This card was made for my Sister in Laws birthday and heralds a years worth of blogging as I started when I did her card last year.



I made it on the same principles as the chipboard book templates by Colour My World.

I bought the baby one for an upcoming project and thought it would make a great birthday card idea for people with short names. I set to making a paper template first to see if it would work and was really pleased that it did.



I then needed to choose the papers and wanted each page to contrast so the letters would stand out.

I had just purchased the DCWV 2 drawer TSV from QVC and it arrived on the day I started making it. Some of the papers were ideal as my SIL is mad about shoes !



Page 1 papers are Dovecraft Glamour pack + DCWV Peeking Posies. The heart chipboard is from the DCWV TSV.

Page 2 paper is DCWV TSV and the sentiment is a vellum one from a DCWV scrap stack.

Page 3 paper is Dovecraft. Happy Birthday cardstock sticker from Docrafts, candles sticker from DCWV TSV


Page 4 paper is DCWV TSV. Vellum sentiment from DCWV scrap stack, cardstock stickers Docrafts.

Ribbons to tie are scraps from stash.

Jill loved it and said she had never seen anything like it before.

Another Baby Box

This is the last baby box for a while and a little bit different. My colleague Sue wanted one for her Sister who lives in France (I'm spreading into Europe now LOL)

Not knowing the sex of the baby she said she liked mint, chocolate and cream together, so thinking mint choccy chip ice cream I set to work.

On the lids of these boxes I have been using little kits from inside a TSV that I got from QVC, but no longer had any neutral coloured ones left. I had purchased the large 'B' Sizzix die previously and had a go at doing it myself. I used tags from my stash and a brass charm and think it has come out really well. I used chocolate brown velvet ribbon for the edge and it has a touch of luxury to it.

Sue wanted to encorporate the other children in the project, welcoming the new baby into the family hence the photos of brother and sister.

Embellishments used were from the following - Prima flower, Sizzix Die, Let's Make Cards, Papermania brads & peel offs, rubber stamps, printables off the tinterweb, & Sizzlits teddy die.

The slideshow below has all the images from this project.

Exploding box for New Baby

My exploding boxes have become very popular at work as a special keepsake. Jemma wanted one for her sister who was having a baby boy.

His parents had chosen his name already so I made it and was just waiting for him to arrive to make the final pages complete. Jemma had posted pictures on Facebook of the new arrival and I put one of the pictures in the box as a surprise. She had not expected that so I was really pleased.

It was nice to know the sex of the baby so I could gather together all my blue bits :)

Embellishments used were from Papermania (ribbons & peeloffs), QVC, Prima flowers, Poundland (felt stickers, 3D embellishments), printable off the tinterweb, Let's Make Cards die cuts, Cuttlebug embossing folders, rubber stamps.

All images are shown in greater detail on the slideshow below.

Baby Ladder

One of my colleagues was leaving to have her second baby and I was asked to make a special 'card' for her. When she had her first I made a special frame for her which was to be hung in the baby's room and I wanted to do something totally different for her.

Somewhere on my travels I had seen something like this where you lifted a lid and this whole stream of stuff came out hanging on a ribbon. I decided I wanted to do something like this so it would give plenty of areas for people to write their messages on. Our Head Office is getting so much larger we need as much space as possible now !

I have created a slideshow below with all the images on it.

In used many embellishments from my stash. There are peel offs, rubber stamping, the smaller Cuttlebug embossing folders, assorted stickers and die cuts from Poundland, freebie printable off the tinterweb, items from Let's Make Cards, Sizzlit dies and ribbon.

It was very long bythe time I finished with ten cards in total, decorated on both sides. Katie's colleagues loved it and I got many comments from people saying how unusual it was and something to treasure.

3D Wedding Card

Oops just recently found these photos lurking on a digital camera. Completely forgot I took them !

One of my work colleagues commissioned me to make a wedding card for her friends who were getting married in Jamaica and having a reception when they got back.

The bridesmaids were wearing dark green so I made a dress using a folding template from a magazine and used photos from the website of the hotel they were marrying in.





I made the inside of the card with a pop out heart and put some green paper in the background with peel of gold hearts on it.

The rubber stamp on the box is an Anita's one as are the peel offs used throughout the card.

The bride was amazed when she opened it as she couldn't work out how we had got the photos. Oh the power of the internet.

Photo Session

On Thursday I went to one of those Makeover and Photo shoot experiences which my hubby bought me as a present last year. I kept leaving it as I was a bit nervous about doing it and also wanted to look as good as possible with losing weight.

I had my hair cut, and my nails done and full make-up and then onto the photo shoot. At all points they are trying to get you to buy what they are using on you. The makeup alone would have cost over £200 . The whole process took about 4 hours.

I had photos taken with and without my glasses and changed into 3 different outfits. The photographer was great and put me at ease, getting me to do allsorts of different poses with different backgrounds. I was bricking it at first but soon got into it and my smiles became more natural.

You look at the photos on a monitor afterwards and we had 55, we whittled these down to 20 I was happy with. I'd asked about putting them onto a disc but you are paying for the copyright of the images and 20 cost £1400, obviously no way I was going to pay that much. I'd prepaid £100 which gives you £200 on the day and got a free 7" x 5" photo with the session anyway. This would have meant I could have 5 photos without paying any more money.

We were more ruthless with cutting it back and brought it down to 9. I'd paid a £25 refundable deposit to make sure I kept to the appointment so she said if I paid another £75 she would do me another 4 photos. I thought this was quite good as she was matching what it would have been if I had prepaid.

The bad news is I have to wait about 5 weeks for the photos and they are sent in the post by recorded delivery thankfully!

They will be worth it though as I looked so pretty. I honestly never thought it would be possible for me to look as nice as I did. Most are with my glasses off and it has made me more determined to move over to contacts with the ultimate goal to have laser treatment done in the future.

All in all it was a great experience and I want my photos NOW !!!

Building Work + Fridge Freezer

We've got builders in at home at the moment and there is dust everywhere. Having to be very careful with electrical items making sure they are covered up and doors closed.

We have a small extension at the back of the house and it was literally breaking away from the main house. When it initially happened we had to pay for a survey and the chap said he thought it was a problem with the foundations due to drains. This report was submitted to the insurance company and they got their own engineers involved. For over a year they have been monitoring the movement and said it is subsidence caused by insubstantial foundations on the affected section.

Well work finally commenced last week and guess what ? The sewage pipes were cracked and that is what was causing the problem. We are hoping this now means we do not have to pay the £1000 policy excess and they will re-assess the claim.

We have just had the fridge freezer repaired after being without it for over 2 months, the novelty has not worn off yet that we have proper refrigeration after such a long time without it.

VERY bad blogger

To be honest, this last month has been a bit of a bummer.

There has been good, but there has also been bad.

I went to see The Ting Tings on concert and they were absolutely brilliant. Small intimate gig 2 days after their single went to number 1 in the charts and they were fantastic. Love their album, really upbeat pop with catchy tunes.

Unfortunately the bad is that I have had another Sciatica attack. Fortunately I could tell the warning signs so was able to get to the doctors and do something about it before I completely seized up. I am very grateful that it is something that I do not suffer with all the time, how people with chronic back pain put up with it every day I really do not know.

At it's worst I was not getting very much relief from the painkillers, very little sleep maybe 1 - 2 hours per night for over a week. That was a killer, I just cannot function very well without at least 6 hours a night as it makes me really cranky (sorry to my darling husband ) The painkillers also made my digestive habits go off kilter and I was having trouble with certain painful side effects. I even blistered the small of my back with a hot water bottle (how dumb was that?)

Mobility was affected and I couldn't get comfortable a lot of the time in whatever position I was in. Constant cramping, numbness & pins and needles in my right leg were an unwelcome companion. I had tickets to see Chubby Brown and I had to send Paul with our friend as there was no way I could have sat still all that time. I was gutted as I'd booked the tickets before Christmas and really wanted to see him.

So anyway, I'm almost back to normal. Have took myself off the painkillers and some days I am in a lot of discomfort, but it is definitely easing up. I can't wait to start going back to the gym :)

The worst of it was when I am not feeling well I just lose my mojo completely. I think it is because I put a little bit of me in everything that I make and I only want to pass on the good things.

So expect lots of updates as I have some nice projects I've made to upload, plus lots to tell you.