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Tuesday 30 September 2008

Card Sketch A Day # 5

I made this card for my hubby Paul to celebrate our 7th wedding anniversary, also on my birthday.

The card base was a deep toned red card with black marbling. The black textured cardstock is from DCWV. The heart images are Pink Petticoat images coloured with Sakura glitter pens and it is really twinkly.

I was really, really dissappointed with the rub ons. They are from Papermania and most of the design would not rub off an stayed on the backing. This made them much more muted than they should have been and very nearly ruined my card!

I used sketch #5 from Card Sketch a Day to mke the card. I always encorporate hearts on my cards to Paul and this was the perfect layout for these images.

Susie Sketch # 2

This card was made for a friend's birthday who we went out for a curry with on Friday night.

The layout of the card was inspired by Susie's Sketch #2. This is a really versatile sketch and I could see me using it a lot.

The card blank was covered with Dovecraft Birthday paper and the central strip is a scrap of card embossed with a cuttlebug folder (he loved the texture and kept playing with it all night, it was sooo funny to see a guy do that!)

The centre panels were cut with a Nestabilites die set. The cake is a Pink Petticoat printable image coloured in with permanent pens. The gems are from Paperchase and the sentiment is Dufex.

He was so enthusiastic about this card, amazing for a guy really!

Celebrating My Birthday

Sorry for not posting recently. Bad Blogger!

I have just been really busy learning stuff on my new job, it's been hectic but I am enjoying it so far!

I have just had the most wonderful weekend celebrating my birthday, 2 friends birthdays and our 7th wedding anniversary :)

I had loads of cards from my forum buddies and it was a lovely day.

Wednesday 17 September 2008

Susie Sketch # 1

I wanted to make a Thank You card for Kieran who is going to be my new manager as from tomorrow. I just wanted to thank him for having faith in me and giving me the job.

I have used the first sketch from a new card sketch site Susie Sketch!! which Susie from White Ribbon Cards has just started up. Pop over there if you get chance to and support Susie's new venture.

The card base was covered in a pastel paper from Papermania and I added a small amount of glitter using a Sakura pen. The corners are from a mahoosive TSV I got from QVC some time ago, edged with black marker and embellished with star shaped gems from Lakeland.

The chipboard sentiment is from a massive Colorbok chipboard kit from TSV and is matted onto a scrap of glitter paper which had the corners rounded off using my ever faithful punch.

Tuesday 16 September 2008

Card Sketch A Day # 14

No one but 2 cards for Sketch 14 over at Card Sketch a Day!

The 1st card I made is a direct sketch, the second was using the leftovers.

As soon as I saw the design I thought it would be perfect for using freebie magazine teabag squares. I picked out the 3 yellow/orange ones and played with them and the card was born. All papers used are from magazine freebies. I embellished with Papermania gems and dots of Perfect Pearls.


The second card was made using the spare tiles. I added mats of red and gold cards scraps and used all the same papers as above. Used a lot more spots of Perfect Pearls, gold glitter glue, Anita's glossy orange paint and tiny spots of stickles glue on the centre flower.

Both cards are very colourful and cheery reflecting my much happier mood of late. I made these last night feeling pleased as punch that I had a job interview arranged for today.

I have been to said interview and have just had a phonecall to tell me I have got the job so I am soooo pleased at the moment :) I start on Thursday.

Woohoo, I am doing a happy dance....

Card Sketch A Day # 2

If you read my blog, you will know how much I LURVE card sketches and through bloghopping on the very talented Deanne Burton's site I happened upon a new sketch site called Card Sketch A Day. I does exactly what it says on the tin! It only started at them beginning of September so it feels like I just missed the birth of a new baby. Like all small children it needs nurturing and loving so head on over there. There are some card sketches by Susan just crying out for talented card designers to do their beauty on. I have a couple of sketches that have been emailed to me which I am working on at the moment.

I have until recently subscribed to many of the UK cardmaking magazines and quite a lot have freebie papers which I have mainly not done anything with. I have however made a concerted effort to start using them. Some are on really thin magazine paper and will probably be useless, but others are a nice weight and a shame to go to waste.

The papers on this card are from Simply Cards & Papercraft. Some were patterned background papers, others are decoupage images all based on fairies. Not exactly my favourite subject but I do like the playfulness of these images.

I have used organza ribbon from stash and a liberal sprinkling of Sakura glitter pens. The stars are fom Papermania. The sentiment is from K & Co rub on lettering, apologies for not being very straight!

Friday 12 September 2008

2 Sketches 4 You - Ashild Bonus Sketch

Over on 2 Sketches 4 You one of the regular DT members Ashild has posted a bonus sketch this week and this was the inspiration for another birthday card for Uncle Roy's on Sunday.

The PP is again from the Dovecraft Birthday pack. The image is another Pink Petticoat which I have layered onto a back mat cut using a Nestabilities die. I used a white gel pen to dot the scallops. I ran a scrap of red card through the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder and embellished with Papermania spotty brads. The sentiment is recycled from an old greetings card and matted onto red card.





The tag is a QVC chipboard one that started life with a lime green edge. One chisel tipped permanent marker edge and it is now black! The text is Papermania rub ons and the ribbon is Doodlebug.

I would never in a million years thought to do a design layout like this so the sketches are definitely helping me to 'think outside the box' and I'm not scared of leaving white spaces anymore. Di Hickman will be proud of me :)

2 Sketches 4 You - Laura # 8

Another sketch, another birthday card done!

I have used the latest sketch from Laura at 2 Sketches 4 You as the basis for this card.

The PP's are from the Dovecraft Birthday pack which I bought ages ago specifically because I had received a card made with the birthday writing background paper used here and loved the bold colours.

The cake image is from Pink Petticoat. I have recently sorted out my downloads and printed a load out in the effort to ACTUALLY USE THEM (faints in shock!) I used some applique paint, applied some glamour dust and puffed it up with a heat gun. Still amazes me how cool that is!

I used some ric rak from my stash to hide the join and did a bit more doodling around the edges to tie the elements together.

This card is for my old boss' birthday on Sunday so I hope he likes it.

Sunday 7 September 2008

Sketches by Tamara # 60

This birthday card was made using the latest sketch from Tamara.

This is only the 2nd time I have done one of these sketches and this time I will have made the deadline to get it featured on the blog - woohoo!

The papers use are from a magazine freebie the same as the last card. The grossgrain ribbon is from my stash, the Colorbok/QVC chipboard shape was coloured using Perfect Pearls and has a gorgeous lustre to it. The sentiment was recycled from an old greetings card. Liberal amounts of matting and layering were courtesy of my scraps bag!

2S4U Christine Bonus Sketch

Over at 2 Sketches 4 You a DT member Christine of Creative Journey has designed a bonus sketch. I didn't think I would be able to meet the deadline on both cards to get onto the list - and I didn't. The trouble with feeling down is that I don't want to pass it on to anyone else so I don't like to make cards when I am in that frame of mind. I HAVE still done crafty stuff been it's been cutting images out or sorting stuff out, just not the creative stuff. I need to get a job soon, one week of waiting on jobs I've applied for is making me go stir crazy

The papers on this card are from a magazine freebie. It is very rare that I use these at all, let alone within a week of pulling them out of the magazine! Mind you I love Autumn so they are right up my street.

The base card is LMC, the leaf is a chipboard shape that I have coloured dark brown with my trusty Tim Holtz Walnut Distressing pad. The sentiment is simply 2 circles punchies with Papermania rub ons.

This is ideal for a RAK card.

Kazan's Sketch #8 - Birthday Card

It's our neighbour Donna's 22nd Birthday today so I have made this card using Kazan's latest sketch over at 2 Sketches 4 You.

I am absolutely loving these sketches! It makes it so much easier to put a card together. A lot of the time I know what I want to use on a card, but know know the best way to lay it out and sketches make it sooooo much easier for design challenged people like moi. Thanks Kazan & Laura!

The starting point for this card was the dress die cut which was recycled from an old greetings card. It is really sparkly as all the flowers are glittered and was way too nice to throw away in the recycled paper box, so I recycled it myself! Love freebies :) I just dressed it up with a little bit of ribbon and a tiny bow. Gok Wan would be proud of me!

The backing card is a glossy pink, the PP is from a DCWV drawer set from QVC. The black ribbon is Doodlebug, the buckle from Ebay and the sentiment is recyled from an old card and matted a couple of times to make it pop.

Going to pop it round to her a bit later.

Monday 1 September 2008

I've Been Tagged

I've been tagged by my good friend Jenny and need to provide answers to the following questions:-

What was happening 10 years ago? - I was living with Paul and we were at his Mom's trying to build up some saving to buy our 1st home. I was working at Allied Carpets and was running their most succesful curtain department in the country. At the time I was a Supervisor responsible for 5 staff and loved my job so much, it never felt like work.

Crafty wise I was mad on Cross stitch especially Piglet from Winnie th Pooh and loved going to the shows at the Nec.

5 things to do today - Have just been made redundant on Friday so I am looking for a job in earnest, making a curry for tea, watch tv for a bit with hubby, cuts some bits from old Christmas cards and post a card off for father in Law's birthday

Snacks I like -Trying ever so hard to lose weight so tend not to buy things to snack on. When I do get the munchies I pop some low calorie popcorn in the microwave and I love grapes (really nice when frozen!)

When I am being bad love all the bad things like chocolate, ice cream, nuts, cheese & biscuits

What I would do if I was a millionaire - Look after a certain few people moneywise, Buy a bigger house and have the most well stocked craft room you have everseen!

Places I have lived - Leeds (too many places) Birmingham (quite a few places)

I now have to tag 5 people so I'm going to think about who to pass it on to and will update later.......

I've Got an Award

My wonderful friend Jenny has sent me an award.









Jenny is a truly lovely person who is always there to help and I am proud to have her as a friend.

There certain rules to be followed when receiving this award and they are:-

1: The winner can put the logo on her blog.
2: Link the person you received your award from.
3: Nominate at least 7 other blogs.
4: Put links of those blogs on yours.
5: Leave a message on the blogs of the girls you've nominated.

So, in no particular order the winners are:-

Di Hickman
2 Sketches 4 You
Dawny P
Cens Loft
Valita's Fresh Folds
Elegant Word Art
Mel Stampz
Asia Wu

All these fantastic blogs are so inspirational and each one has helped me in one way or another although they may not know I exist :)