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Thursday, 31 December 2009

Last Card of 2009

Well this is the last card I have made this year for the challenge for today Day 306 at 365 Cards which was to delve into your stash and use something that you've had for a long while.

The wire word is from a Papermania pack that I have had for about 18 months or so. It comes with small silver brads and I have swopped them for some Queen & Co spotty brads that I have also hoarded and not used.

The base card is pale pink and I used an offcut of metallic pink card that I had previously cut a Nestabilities mat from so made it like a frame for the card. The cake is a glittered diecut, the flowers are various Primas with a sequin flower, K& Co self adhesive pearl and a Papermani glittered brad. Last but not least I have finished the corners off with a little glue and glitter.

The use of glitter and bling entitles me to enter it into challenge #48 for Crafty Creations too :)

I would like to take this opportunity to wish all my followers and all my blog friends a wonderful New Year. I hope it will bring you all you wish for and more.

As for me, 2009 has had more than it's fair share of troubles, but I am grateful to have a wonderful man by my side and we are stronger than ever. With the help of some very special friends I have got through it all and I am looking forward to a much brighter 2010.

Wednesday, 30 December 2009

Crafty Cardmakers 11th Challenge

Boohoo, I'm suffering from a lousy cold/flu bug and have felt awful since Boxing Day and was struggling to be able to do my DT card for Crafty Cardmakers this week so asked Vix if she would like to post this card which is one I made earlier in the year.

The theme for the last challenge this year is to use your favourite items on your card.

The papers I have used are from Clare Curd's Papermania pack. The pack was huge so I gifted half of it to my crafty buddy Sarn who I made this birthday card for. In what has been a tremendously difficult year for me on many levels Sarn has been a wonderful friend and I wanted to make a special card for her birthday.

The other favourite item I used is the Cuttlebug butterflies, especially the dotty textured one used here. I had wanted this set for a long time and earlier in the year had the opportunity to do a crafty session at The Glitterpot with some forum buddies and had saved up some money to be able to have a bit of a spend up so they were a must buy puchase :)

The central panel on the card was made using a scoreboard to make a grid design and then I sewed small black beads at each intersection.

With the help of challenges and sketches my card making has really come on a long way in the last year and I have made a lot of improvements, but this is one of the cards I am most proud of and it is quite befitting that it uses some of my favourite items of this year.

I'm looking forward to seeing all the cards that are uploaded for this challenge. It is always interesting to see what people's favourite crafty items are, who knows they could become my new favourites next year LOL

Happy New Year to you all, I wish 2010 to be a happy, healthy and prosperous one for you all.


Tuesday, 29 December 2009

Last Christmas Card

This is the last Christmas Card I made for our very good friends Garry and Hazel. I used a Kanban concept sheet from a QVC kit and the majority of it was punch out decoupage shapes what have been layered with 3D foam. It's all glittered and lovely, really am impressed with these sheets :)

The card base is an A4 sheet of shimmer cardstock and I have used various snowflake peel offs from Docrafts/Anitas/Papermania. The sentiment panel is also from the sheet.

I have been able to link this up to the challenge for 365 Cards for Day 259 which was to make a card featuring or inspired by snow. Quite apt considering it is snowing in Birmingham at the moment.

Happy Birthday CJ

Wow, where did December go? One minute it was the 1st December, then it was Paul's birthday (10th) and then it was our Christmas do and before you know it, it's Christmas Day. The whole month has flown by in a blur. Thank goodness I started to make Christmas cards early this year or else they would not have been posted (albeit in the very last posting day.....)

Anyhoo, Christmas has come and gone and I am now full of a snotty, headachey cold so it seems like the perfect end to what has been a pretty crappy year.

Christmas day however is also our nephew's birthday and this one was special as he was 13. He is the only child I have seen from being in his mummy's tummy to actually being born and we've watched him grow up. He's had his trials and tribulations like a lot of kids, but he is growing up into a young man and it is really weird to see. Not having children ourselves was a conscious decision and one I still stand by, but I am happy to see what was a troubled kid turn out into a really good kid who still loves his huggles with Aunty Mandy. I hope he doesn't grow out of that too soon.

I adapted a card I had made earlier in the year and personalised it with his age. Papers are Dovecraft, stars are from my stash and the peel off letters and chipboard numbers are from Brenda Pinnick kits from QVC


Monday, 14 December 2009

Crafty Cardmakers 10th Challenge

It's a sketch challenge over at Crafty Cardmakers and as I didn't have a lot of free crafting time on my hands I decided to use it to make my husband Paul's birthday card.

I used the sketch as a layout inspiration for an A5 card. The base was made from an A4 sheet chocolate coloured cardstock with papers from Basic Grey Cupcake pack.

The matted layers were cut using Nestabilities dies. The stamped image is from Lili of the Valley and is the perfect image for my car game mad hubbie's birthday card. I have coloured the image with Promarkers and Sakura pens

The gift parcel in the top corner is a cardstock sticker from the paperpack. The sentiment in the bottom corner is a Letraset rub on and I have added Stickles glue to add some highlights to the patterned paper.

Paul loved his card as he thought the image was perfect for him, it's the little things like that that makes me so happy when I make personal cards.

I've also been able to complete an older 365 Cards challenge for Day 154 which was to incorporate a mode of transportation in your card.

Monday, 30 November 2009

Crafty Cardmakers 9th Challenge

It's the 9th Challenge over at Crafty Cardmakers and Vix set the DT a great challenge to either use a non-traditional stamp and colour it using red and green or use non-traditional colours on a Christmas image. Well I think it is easy to see which one I opted for :)

The base of card is an A4 sheet folded in half. The patterned paper is from the DCWV Rose Tinted Christmas stack.

Stamped image is Penny Black coloured in with Promarkers, fur trims are Woodware fluffy stuff covered with glitter and heat embossed so it puffs up. Image has been cut out using my new Nestabilities die set and matted onto metallic card. The whole image is mounted onto 3D foam.

A second strip of card was punched using the Fiskars scallop edge border punch and the bobble trim is from Doodlebug. Added embellishments are Craftime glittered snowflakes and pink gems from Paperchase.

I used the card sketch for Day 274 at 365 Cards as the inspiration for the main layout of the card, adding the extra strip at the bottom because Iove the bobble trim so much, I mean who can resist a row of perfect little snowballs. I have th4e perfect recipient in mind for this sassy likkle card and she will love it.

Really looking forward to seeing the cards submitted for this challenge and hoping to see so interesting colour combinations. Come on over and join the fun at Crafty Cardmakers

Saturday, 28 November 2009

365 Cards Day 273

OMG, I have just realised that this is my 501st post, that's a lot of cards and waffle from little old me LOL

In a very rare move for me I have actually made a card for the challenge at 365 Cards on the day it has been set. OMG !!

The challenge for today, Day 273 is to use a damask pattern on your card. The papers used are from the new Chatsworth collection from Papermania. This range is not my usual style in the least but I really like the soft colour pallete in the range and the paper has a linen effect texture too. It's very classy.

The square card as been covered in the spotty paper in the chocolate and duck egg colourway and I used the Damask paper to mat on the top. I used a 1" wide chocolate ribbon to wrap around the paper. The central oval is one of the rubber stamp sets in the matching range with a sentiment from the pack inside. I used a Marvy le Plume pen in a similar shade to highlight the frame and added Sakura clear glitter pen which is very sparkly but you can't see it very well in the scan. I cut out the frame and matted it onto an oval cut from the spotty paper. This is mounted on thin foam pads to raise it from the card a little.

The pack offers designs in chandaliers and birdcages and I have the matching rubber stamps too so I'm sure these papers will be popping up in more projects soon.

Friday, 27 November 2009

365 Cards Day 266

The challenge at 365 Cards for day 266 was to make a card with a stamped image that had been coloured in with something other than markers.

The stamp from this one came in a forum swap and I have no idea what make it is. I coloured it in ages ago with Twinkling H20's and a little bit of Sakura glitter pens for the finer details.

The paper I used is from the Lime Rickey collection by Basic Grey. I love how bright the colours are and it matches the bright colour of the towel perfectly. I used my new Fiskars punch on the edge of the paper and cut a border from thin white card to go underneath.

365 Cards Day 258

Another Christmas Card down and the challenge for Day 258 at 365 Cards which was to incorporate a hat of some sort into your card.

The image is a digi download from Dustin Pike and has been coloured in with my ever faithful Promarkers. The backing paper is a left over piece of a giftbag which has got flocked snowflakes on it.

The ribbon was a wider one that I cut in half and has cool metallic stars on it. The snow is a bag of fluffy glitter stuff that I found in my stash, haven't got a clue where I bought it from but it looks a lot like the Flowersoft that is all the rage at the moment but I know it was a fraction of the price and was a big bag too. Needless to say I was covered in the stuff when I finished the card :)

Sunday, 22 November 2009

365 Cards Day 251

The challenge for 365 Cards Day 251 was to use only 2 colours to make your card.

The main starting point for this card was a giftbag that I recycled. The text was at the bottom of the bag and the white snowflakes are flocked, obviously as a crafter I NEEDED to recyle this and make it into a card.

I trimmed the panel and added it to a darker blue DL letter sized card blank. The added gems are Papermania and Paperchase and the blue metallic snowflake is from a Poundland christmas decoration. Keeping it simple I added a little glitterglue to the card and left it at that.

Crafty Cardmakers 8th Challenge

Sorry for being a little late uploading my latest challenge card, I am sure you will understand when you read my last post.

Anyhoo, the latest challenge at Crafty Cardmakers is to use something clear in your design.

I have really enjoyed using acetate this year to replace a card front. Of course, the Cuttlebug folders make it so easy to add an embossed design to your card and I have made some nice cards using this technique.

To make this card I trimmed a card blank down leaving a 2cm strip at the front. I used a Fiskars punch to make a decorative edge. I ran a piece of acetate through a snowflake Cuttlebug embossing folder and used double sided tape stuck it to the inside of the overlapped front edge.

The paper on the inside of the card is a piece of wrapping paper from Paperchase. They do some fantastic metallic and flocked designs and around £1 to £2 for a massive sheet they are very good value too.

The large snowflake is a 2 step Cuttlebug die that punches and then embosses the shape. It is cut from Doodlebug flocked cardstock so feels like Fuzzy Felt :) The ribbon is a self adhesive one from Papermania, the gem is Paperchase and the sentiment is from Kanban.

I have also been able to incorporate an older challenge from 365 Cards for Day 122 which was to use a piece of wrapping paper in your design.

Saturday, 21 November 2009

Few Days Away :)

It was Mum's funeral on Monday the 16th so to say goodbye to her in my own way Paul and I went to Whitby for a few days.

We set off last Saturday at about lunchtime and there had been accidents on the M42 and the M1, Paul had checked on his Iphone, good job he did. We re-routed but it was going to take us another 1.5 hours, going via Manchester, Leeds and then York. It was really strange to be driving around all the places I went to as a child being a Yorkshire lass born and bred. The view over the Pennines was spectacular, to be honest I wished I wasn't driving so I could enjoy it better! The rain was absolutely appalling and I kept driving in and out of it, it was so heavy at time the motorway was flooding and you were driving through puddles. I've driven in wet weather before but this was the absolute heaviest I have known it and the spray from the lorries was nearly as high as my likkle car. We pulled into some services for a rest and a spot of lunch and the car park was like a pond.

As we reached the Yorkshire Moors it was getting much darker, I mean with all the rain it was really murky all day but it starting getting dark and I was driving on really windy roads with steep banks and you could have easily toppled off the edge as there were no barriers, but the views were amazing and I kept wanting to pull over and stop, but was starting to get tired and just wanted to get there. There were some really steep roads getting down into Whitby with gradients of 20% and the roads were so windy and remote it was like driving in a Top Gear segment, Paul loved it.

The rain had stopped when we got to Whitby, but it was extremely windy. Our B&B was only 2 streets away from the seafront and we ended up parking there, the sea was so rough and I could see the Abbey and the whalebone arch and was so excited to be there. Last time I went I was 13 and it really hadn't changed very much which was lovely to see.

The B&B was lovely. All the rooms were en-suite and were individually decorated. Ours was cream walls and carpet with everything else black and turquoise and was really nice. We unpacked our stuff, had a cup of tea and a lie down to rest for a bit and then went out in search of fish and chips. Obviously this time of year is out of season for most places but a lot of the B & B's were full and many of the shops and restaurants were open. We had a lovely meal of fish and chips in a restaurant, the haddock was so fresh and tasty and Paul's plaice was yummy too. I love the fish at the seaside :)

I'd intended that on Sunday we should go to Flamborough head and Bridlington but realised we could go there on the way back home so decided to go to York instead. I researched where the Papermill shop was of course, got to have a bit of crafty goodies LOL

York was just magical. It took me a while to get my bearings as I hadn't been for so long. Paul's Iphone was invaluable. I know I tease him about being welded to it but the apps were so useful and the GPS maps were fairly accurate so we could search for places and get around quite well. The river was very swollen, almost right to the top and we were glad it didn't rain as our car was parked underground not far from the river, it could have been messy......

We went to the Minster and went inside. I'm not religious but I did light a candle for Mum and wrote a little prayer on a card which they read out at daily services. I had a little cry outside and Paul was fantastic and comforted me. We went to a street called The Shambles where all the houses are wonky and the upper floor juts out into the the street so opposite houses are close enough that people could shake hands. It was still as fascinating as it was when I was a child. Paul loved seeing the castle walls everywhere too. I am so glad he liked it as it is one of my most favourite places and I would like to take him there for a few days next time so we can see more.

We went back to Whitby and I started writing my letter to Mum. I thought it it would have been easier to do, it really took some getting out of me. I opened a bottle of wine, that helped :) I was emotionally drained and had a nap afterwards. We ended up not having an evening meal so was starving the next morning.

The day of the funeral the weather was awful, really windy and rainy and I was very concerned that I wouldn't be able to execute my plan of setting light to the letter at the end of the pier and scattering the ashes into the sea. The weather was just so relentless and I was getting more upset the closer the time got. At about 11am the rain turned to spitting so we took our chance. When we got the end I read the words I had written the night before and it made me cry, it surprised me how much more emotional I felt than when I had written it the night before. We went down some steps to a concreted fishing area underneath the pier and set alight to it and then put the ashes into the sea. Paul was comforting me and just holding me, he has been the most amazingly supportive person and very sensitive.

Then the most amazing thing happened, almost like in a movie it was so strange. There was faint rainbow over the sea and the sun was trying to poke out of the clouds and it just got brighter and the dark clouds blew out to sea and the blue sky was getting bluer and it was like all the bad stuff had gone and I could look forward to a brighter future. It honestly was weird how it happened and the timing was amazing. The rainbow to me capped it off because when I had my nervous breakdown and had art therapy with a psychiatrist I'd drawn a rainbow then and she said to me it was a symbol of hope and happiness after sorrow, completely befitting for how I felt on Monday.

The rest of Monday was spent mooching around Whitby. We went to a great outdoors shop and I got a coat for camping and some breathable t-shirts and zip-off trousers. The prices were brilliant. I had my new favourite sandwich, bacon and brie panini, absolutely yummy. We went into the arcade and played on the 2p machines. Paul won me 2 little teddy bear figurines holding purple hearts and then we had a lovely meal at the world famous Magpie Cafe. Paul had a gorgeous fish pie and I had fish and chips with the most gorgeous knicker bocker glory for dessert. It was made with loads of fresh fruit in a coulis and just was so tasty. It is honestly worth driving all that way just for that I promise you! And they serve proper Yorkshire Tea in a teapot, with tea leaves and a tea strainer. The water up north definetely makes tea taste better :)

We had intended to light a chinese lantern but it was just too windy. The lantern was almost ripping whilst we were trying to light it and the fuel block wouldn't light so we gave up. Paul seemed more bothered than I was. It would have been nice to light it there and watch it float up but we can do that at home when the bad weather has settled down so it's not the end of the world.

The following morning after breakfast we headed off towards the lighthouse at Flamborough head and stopped off in Scarborough on the way. We drove right up to the castle and then into the bay at the other side. Paul took some photos on his Iphone and it puts a pin in a map when you do. so his new obsession is to collect map pins now..... guess who's driving? When we got to Flamborough head we seemed to be driving for ages until we got to the lighthouse. As soon as I saw it I was smiling so much. I just love being there. As it is on a peninsular the coastline is amazing all around you and there are lots of little paths that I went scuttling along to get to the edges. Paul said it was amazing to watch me running around like an excite mad thing. The lighthouse itself you couldn't go to the top as it is out of season and was probably too windy and dangerous. I have always loved lighthouses and I'm sure a lot of that is because of going to Flamborough so many times as a kid. We used to stop at the Haven Primrose Valley holiday camp or in a B & B in Bridlington and there are coastal paths from both of these that we used to walk along with Mum and Dad. They were some of my happiest family times. Holidays were always good as they spent more time with us and everyone is happier on holiday aren't they?

We popped into Bridlington as our last stop and had a pub meal. I wasn't very hungry and just had a tuna melt baguette. It was awful...... the bread was stale, couldn't make my mind up if it was a part baked one that hadn't been baked again or if it was just stale and then to top it all off I found a long blond hair in it....... needless to say I didn't enjoy it. Paul's scampi was much nicer :)

The journey home was pretty good, managed to do it without stopping as I had college at 6pm and didn't want to be late. Had enough time for a cup of tea and a sit down before I went. It was the last practice before the exam next week so it was important not to miss it.

Had a brilliant 4 days. It has been very emotional, but very uplifting at the same time. I feel I have been able to say goodbye to Mum, but also create some happy memories with Paul.

Have been very tired since coming back, not been on my computer and have got 245 emails to trawl through..... I may be some time LOL

Monday, 9 November 2009

An Award

The lovely Vicky at Kip's Cards has given me this award and I've got a whole heap of questions to answer in one word. OMG, only one !!! Anyone who knows me can tell you I'll use five rather than one LOL

Anyhoo, here goes.....



1. Where is your cell phone? Handbag
2. Your hair? Brown
3. Your mother? Dead :(
4. Your father? Abusive
5. Your favourite food? Indian
6. Your dream last night? Scary
7. Your favourite drink? Tea
8. Your dream/goal? Happiness
9. What room are you in? Computer
10. Your hobby? Cardmaking
11. Your fear? Misery
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Happy
13. Where were you last night? Home
14. Something that you aren't? Egotistical
15. Muffins? Cranberry
16. Wish list items? Lot's
17. Where did you grow up? Leeds
18. Last thing you did? Cook
19. What are you wearing? Slipper's
20. Your tv? Lounge
21. Your pets? None
22. Your friends? Lots
23. Your life? Changeable
24. Your mood? Sad
25. Missing somone? Yes
26. Vehicle? Peugeot
27. Something you're not wearing? Earring's
28. Your favourite store? Crafty
29. Your favourite colour? Purple
30. When was the last time you laughed? Yesterday
31. Last time you cried? Today
32. Your best friend? Paul
33. One place I go to over and over? Butterfly Farm
34. Facebook? Yes
35. Favourite place to eat? Regards

Unfortunately my answers are peppered with sadness at the moment over the death of my Mum. It's her funeral next Monday and I won't be going because I cannot see my Step Dad so will be going to Whitby at the weekend to say my own goodbyes to her. My family is very complicated but I don't think that will be a problem for much longer as I am hoping I will be able to put some ghosts to rest once and for all next week.

Thankyou for this award Vicky and your lovely words of support :)

Sunday, 8 November 2009

365 Cards Day 148

The challenge at 365 Cards for day 148 was a sketch.

I used a mixture of free papers from card magazines and the circle panel is a piece of patterned backing card from some packaging which I thought was too pretty to throw away.

The snowflake square is a chipboard shape from Brenda Pinnick's QVC kit matted onto a scrap of blue card with the edges rounded off. I have added a smattering of Stickles glitter glue to it.

The holographic snowflakes are from Christmas garlands at Poundland with a Craftime die cut shape mounted on top. The sentiment is from Kanban which I trimmed down a little and punched the corners off. Last but not least I added a bit of doodling with a fine tipped black pen to enhance the edges of the lighter panels.

365 Cards Day 8

This is a card for one of the oldest challenges for Day 8 at 365 Cards that I hadn't completed which was a sketch by Kazan Clarke from 2 Sketches 4 You.

I decided to make an easel card and used a patterned paper by Imaginisce which has got snowflakes and glitter trails on it. The snowflake is a Cuttlebug die and I have used Doodlebug flocked velvet paper. The gold ribbon is Papermania. The die cut circle and snowflake chipboard is from a QVC Brenda Pinnick kit. The silver snowflake from Craftime and the sentiment panel is from Kanban.

It's only a 4'" square card but the easel style makes it more special and it is very tactile due to the materials used. More importantly it's another Christmas card done and another 365 Cards challenge off the list!

365 Cards Day 34

The challenge for day 34 at 365 Cards was to make the dominant shape on the card an oval.

Now, I am ashamed to admit this but the central teddy bear image is a freebie digital image I printed out 2 years ago with the intention of making into a card for my Mother In Law. I'd cut it out and put a border of glitter glue all around the edge and then hadn't actually used it on a card as I'd not got round to making it !

I was determined to use it for her card this year, she loves teddy bears and I know she'll really like it.

The base card is an A4 sheet of dark green textured card. The patterned paper is from K & Co. The image is mounted on 3d foam. The ribbon is from my stash and I am so proud of my bow, it is one of the most perfect I have ever tied :) The sentiment is a sticker from a DCWV QVC 3 sets of drawers kit and was matted onto gold card and raised up on 3D foam.

365 Cards Day 85

The challenge for Day 85 at 365 Cards was a sketch.

I have used a C6 base card and rounded the corners off. The holly paper is a magazine freebie. The santa image and the sentiment are both die cuts from a Brenda Pinnick kit from QVC. The centre metallic strip is from Kanban and the red oval is a scrap of cardstock.

365 Cards Day 115

365 Cards day 115's challenge was to use paper piecing on your card.

The layered tree in the centre was made using a segment of a digital image from Pink Petticoat. I printed it 5 times onto green paper and cut each layer smaller than the other and mounted them all on 3d foam pads. I added some gems and a star at the top for a bit of bling. The trunk is just a scrap of brown card

The card was made using a folded sheet of A4 navy blue glimmer card with the last of the freebie magazine images as the paper. I again added Stickles glue to the smoke and stars and the sentiment is a clear sticker from a QVC Brenda Pinnick kit.

365 Cards Day 231

Day 231's challenge at 365 Cards was to make a card inspired by the sky.

I love a completely clear night when you can see all the stars twinkling. When we go camping in Wales we are in a farmer's field, set in a valley with the Black Mountains all around us with no street lights. When you have a clear night all you can see is millions of stars, it is a majestic sight.

The main image is another of the free papers and is mounted onto a folded sheet of white A4 card. I added a spare penguin image on 3 foam from my last card, another of the sentiments and loads of Stickles glitter glue on the stars, the smoke from the likkle houses chimleys, the trim on the hat and the twinkly footprints

Quite a quick card as the cutting out had already been done, just needed to leave the glue to dry.

365 Cards Day 224

I had some free papers recently that came with a magazine and I was inspired to get back in my craft room. Following Mum's death my emotions have been all over the place and at one point I sat at my desk and just couldn't make a card. I was surrounded by lots of lovely things and just had no enthusiasm for anything. I took the bull by the horns when I saw these little penguins, they are so cute how can one resist? I was also very lucky that there were 2 sets of the papers in my magazine so have got more to play with :)

Day 224's challenge at 365 Cards was to use fussy cutting to create a foreground and background. I find cutting out and decoupage very therapeutic as you have to concentrate. The paper pack had 4 images the same. The back layer is the whole image. This is mounted onto blue card, then a lovely pearlescent paper from Imaginisce then onto the card blank leaving a small border of the blue colour. The next layer of the image is just the penguins, the next layer is the larger penguin and the last layer is the hats and scarves. The image was layered using 3d foam pads for dimension. I added Stickles glitter glue to the trim on the hats and to the stars in the sky. The sentiment was cut from the collection name on the paper pack, mounted onto blue card and layered on 3d foam.

Monday, 2 November 2009

Crafty Cardmakers 7th Challenge

Today there is a new challenge at Crafty Cardmakers and it is an introduction to stamping.

I am not the world's best rubber stamper, I love the designs and fact you can make some fabulous cards using them but would not describe myself as a 'stamper'.

I did used to have difficulty getting a clear image when I did my stamping but have recently unmounted all my wooden block ones. This has saved me a lot of space but also allowed me to stamp using the Crafters Companion Rocker Blocks and I haven't had a dodgy image since!

There are so many techniques you can use with your rubber stamps and there are so many extremely talented people who do so and could not even begin to put myself in the same category. One of my favourite ranges of rubber stamps is the Forever Friends Bears. I just love their cute little faces. The FF bears have always been popular in cards and I am just so pleased they have been licensed for crafting now.

I have made an easel card which I think could be my new favourite design. It looks really amazing but is so easy to do. In a row of cards on a shelf it would easily stand out from the others. You can see from the side view how the front of the card is propped up behind the heart so it 'displays' the card.

The size of this card is 5.5" square and it folds down to fit into a normal envelope.

To make one is very easy indeed. Just decide how big you want your finished card to be, for instance a 4" square, cut one piece of card this size for the front of the card and decorate as normal.

For the back of the card you need it to be the same width and twice as long (so 4" x 8" in this example)

Score lines at the quarterway point (2") and halfway (4") and valley fold towards you. The longest section is the base of the card and the 2 folds will come towards you.

Attach the front of the card to the 1st 2" section, you can then 'close' the card by laying it flat.

To create the easel all you need to to is attach a 3d element to the inside of the card to tuck the front behind. I used die cuts mounted on 3d foam, but it works just as well with a button or a brad.

The rubber stamp image has been coloured in using watercolour pencils with a small amount of metallic gold pen for accents on the image.

Materials used are Rubber stamp & heart brad - Papermania, Paper & White flower - HOTP, Red flower - Prima, Die cut hearts and glasses - Let's Make Cards, ribbon from my stash.

The sentiment was made on the computer using a freebie digital frame which I manipulated to fit around the text.

I have also been able to tick an older 365 Cards challenge off the list for day 88 which was to make an anniversary or engagement card

Saturday, 31 October 2009

Bad News

Unfortunately I had the bad news on Thursday night that my Mum had passed away during the early hours of the morning and it has made me very upset.

I am having difficulties dealing with my emotions at the moment. Sometimes I am very down and feel tears pricking, feel very confused and over emotional. I have a lot to process and my relationship with my family was complicated which isn't helping matters.

I have had some marvellous love and support from some very special people. I want to thank each and every one of you. I have a feeling the next couple of weeks are going to be very up and down whilst I deal with it and hope I will be able to get some closure and get back to normal.

2009 has been an awful year for me in many respects but I am hoping I will be able to rise from it all like a phoenix from the ashes.

Crafts U Print Competition

This is the card that I have made using a free printable from Crafts U Print for their competition.

I printed it on glossy photo paper and it is supposed to be red, but it has printed out more like a magenta pink. I quite liked the colouring and decided to use it anyway, but to alter the background papers to non-traditional colours.

The design is printed onto glossy photo paper and the sections are mounted onto 3D foam.

The papers are from a DCWV Christmas stack and the 'ribbon' was cut from one of the papers. The sentiment was already printed on the paper.

There is no way this card is good enough to win in the competition but I didn't want to waste the freebie as it would have been unfair to have selected it for me to use and then not to use it at all.

It's also another Christmas Card off my list and I can enter it into the challenge for Day 227 at 365 Cards which was to depict something in motion on your card. I think the snow in the snowglobe fits that bill :)

Monday, 19 October 2009

Crafty Cardmakers 6th Challenge

It's a new challenge today at Crafty Cardmakers and it's all about Autumn, either the colours or the season itself.

I love Autumn, it is my most favourite season. I love the warmth of the sun on a crisp morning and the beautiful colours of the leaves on the trees. I love walking in the park, wrapped up warm against the chill in the air but with the warm sun shining on your face. I love kicking up the leaves with your feet and looking for conkers and squirrels. Days like these make you glad to be alive an be able to appreciate the beauty all around us.

The starting point for my DT card was a paper piecing pattern I found on a challenge blog called 365 Cards. The challenge for Day 213 is to use the pattern provided to make a traditional carved pumpkin for Halloween but I wanted to make it more like a Harvest festival idea as I don't DO Halloween. I printed the pattern onto thin card and coloured it with various shades of Promarkers from Joanna Sheen adding stripes and lines to create depth and shadows. I used 3D foam pads to raise the design off the backing and also raise the leaf.

The backing papers are from a HOTP Creative Cardmakers pack. The glittered chipboard shapes are from Let's Make Cards and the sentiment is a great digital scrapbooking freebie I picked up recently from Vicki's blog, A Work In Progress

I hope we will see lots of people taking part in our challenge and look forward to seeing your creations.

Sunday, 18 October 2009

Forum Card Kit 3

This is the last of the card kits that I had from the forum swap and features the gorgeous Forever Friends bear from Papermania.

The base card is embossed and I highlighted the bottom section with a red chalk. I have added a little clear Sakura glitter pen to accent some of the snowflakes. I cut slits into the border between to thread the ribbon through.

The red card panel was cut and I rounded the corners to follow the contours of the embossed panel in the centre. This whole panel is mounted onto 3D foam. The FF bear, the mistletoe, flower and sentiment were from an elements pack which is already decoupaged glittered and blinged ready for you to stick on your card. The extra red and clear gems were added by Natalie. I added gems to the snowflakes and red ones to the corner panel, with glittered brads in the opposite corner panel to balance the design.

I love this card so much and it will be given to someone who will appreciate it :)

Forum Card Kit 2

This is the second card I made for the Forum Card Kit swap.

Again there were many materials provided, the majority of which were from the Papermania Daisy & Dandelion range.

The decoupage image had 2 full flowers so I used one of them as a decoration on it's own. I used ribbon provided to make a rosette for the centre and pinned it together using a brad.

The card had a deckled edge so I started off covering most of it with the stripy paper and used the ribbon as a border. I punched holes with my Cropodile Big Bite and set the eyelets provided. It looks like a big stalk on the ribbon.

The embossed paper was then added to the card with a spotty panel on the top. The decoupage was laid on the top of these and I added the 3 other brads to help balance the corners which didn't have the flower on them.

Forum Card Kit 1

We've just had a swop on the card forum I am a member of and it was for card kits that had been put together by someone else. I have head dreadful problems with my post this year and the ones that had been sent to me were lost so one of the wonderful ladies Natalie put together another 3 just for me :)

This is the card I made with the first kit and all of the items used were provided for me and you had to use at least some of it in your card. Believe me when I say that there was loads in it.

The backing paper has different shades of purples in it and had a grid type design from the top left hand corner. I used this to cover the card blank and used the lines on it to place the ribbon alongside. The stamped image I coloured in with my Promarkers to match, I am really pleased with my shading on this one and think I am getting better at using my pens with practice.

I matted the image onto purple card and then onto the cream shimmer card which was cut with deckled scissors. The sentiment is a metallic purple one that says Happy Birthday (sorry it hasn't scanned in well at all!)

The large velvet flower was included and I cut the cream one from leftover card. The next one was from another sheet of paper. The metal brad is a ribbon brad with a circle of card over and a glittered brad holding it all together.

It was a challenge to use all the items as there were so many and I hope I have done them justice.

Another good thing is that I can enter this in for Day 114's Challenge at 365 Cards which was to make a card where lavender was the dominant colour. That's another old one off the list :)

Promarker Storage

I spent most of Friday evening on making up some storage for my Promarker pens. My friend Lisa, the Promarker Queen had put a post up about how she made hers and I had popped off to the Passion for Promarkers blog and they were giving you the colour chart if you emailed off for it. I spent a lovely couple of hours in front of the telly colouring in the little squares and have realised that I NEED to get 58 pens before I have the full set. I KNOW I have a lot of lovely colours but the completist in me NEEDS the other colours at some point to complete the collection.

Paul had a friend round on Friday so I set to and started making up my DVD's. Problem was, I realised that I didn't have enough space for all the pens. I had bought a DVD stand from Tesco's that had space for 20 DVD's but I hadn't realised that the one from IKEA that other peeps have used is bigger and has space for more shelves. OMG, what a numpty. I was a bit gutted and thought I had wasted my money but then got to thinking about changing the way I used it.

So, I calculated I could get 13 pens to a DVD and could have space for 130 pens. I decided that if I put the greys in a box on the top I could get all the other colours on the stand, but would need to re-do the chart as the one I had coloured in wouldn't fit. Grey isn't a very exciting colour so I'm not too unhappy about them not being on display.

I used a computer program called Xara and made a row of boxes for the colour to go in and this fits on the spine, then there is a row of boxes above that has the colour name in it and this is visible when the pen is removed. I think this is a really neat solution a makes the spines look more uniform.

I then used the pens to colour some scrap card and punched a small flower out. This is attached with UHU glue and gives me a great representation of all the colours and looks pretty too.

I am really pleased with how it turned out in the end. It hasn't taken up a lot of space and will make my colours easier to see and more accessable :)

Featured on Liz Crafts!

Just been going through my inbox and I have been featured on a list of Crafty Blogs in a new section of the site at Liz Crafts which is an online craft store but they have also got a lot more craft links on there and looks like it will get bigger over time. I have actually purchased from this store before as their Stickles glue is only £1.75. They have got loads of bargains on there and card making ideas.

What an honour to be included in something like that, lil ol me !!!

Sunday, 11 October 2009

Mojo 107 & 365 Cards Day 124

It's my best friend's birthday on Tuesday and this is the birthday card I have made for her.

I have used sketch 107 from Mojo Monday. I had already printed out the central image which was a freebie digital download from Charmed Cards & Crafts and also the 'friends' text panel which was a freebie download from Hero Arts which I got from Two Peas in a Bucket. The sketch was a perfect combination of the two.

I matted the central sentiment onto a die cut from my Nestabilities. I added little green dots to pull out the colour from the lines on it and mounted onto 3d foam pads. The friends panel I matted onto a scrap of green card. The patterned papers are from the Dovecraft birthday pack. I used a sheet of dark green card for the base and added a big panel of white card to put all the elements together. The final touch was the star gems from Papemania.

This card also fulfils one of the the older 365 Cards challenges for Day 124 which was to use your computer to make a sentiment or use digital images.

Reflex - Clubbin 80's Styleee

Had a fabulous night out last night with my best friend Julie to celebrate her 40th birthday.

We started off the night having a couple of drinks in some bars on Broad Street. I was introduced to flavoured Sambuca. We had a red one which was pomegranate flavour, it was REALLY nice. We also had a green one which was spiced apple but I wasn't so keen on that one. It tasted a bit too much like a mouthwash to me.

We went to Reflex nightclub and it only plays 80's music so we were singing and boogying all night and had a brilliant time. We both love 80's music so much, Depeche Mode is our favourite band and we are going to see them in concert together in December. We even dislike a lot of the same songs and artists. It's quite weird really how similar we are.

There were loads of people invited bit it was a shame as it clashed with a wedding and it ended up being just the 2 of us but we still had a fabulous time. I have only been there once before and I have really enjoyed going both times. My feet are killing me today though with all that dancing :)

It was nice to go out for a change but I think I must be getting old as I'm knackered today .... LOL

Monday, 5 October 2009

Crafty Cardmakers 5th Challenge

It's a new challenge today at Crafty Cardmakers and this is the DT card that I have submitted for the ribbons and fibres challenge.

I love the big decorative trees that people make using layers and layers of ribbon but they use something like 36 yards to cover a cone of polystyrene and that is a waste of yummy ribbon if you ask me.

It did however inspire me to dig out my green ribbons and make a smaller version suitable for a card.

I used a sheet of A4 card as the base and covered the front with a Christmas paper from K & Co.

I made a base for the tree from a triangle of card and basically layered loops of ribbon onto strips of double sided tape in tiers.

The star is a chipboard shape covered with Rangers Glossy Accents and sprinkled with gold glitter.

The plant pot was made from scraps of card. I added another strip of ribbon and a mulberry flower coloured red with a Promarker.

Strips of braided ribbon were added along the top and bottom edges of the card. Small parcels are under the tree courtesy of Papermania vellum stickers and the sentiment is leftover from the La Pashe decoupage sheet I used for the last challenge.

I have to admit layering the ribbon was time consuming but the results are really worth it and would be great for a special card

The use of the braid on the edges has also allowed me to enter this for a challenge at 365 Cards for Day 212 where you were to decorate at least 2 edges of the card with fringe/ribbon/braid.

Sunday, 4 October 2009

365 Cards Day 201

My wonderful friend Sarn sent me a card a while ago and it had some stamped images of a new set of shoes she'd had. (Thankyou VERY much sweetheart xxx)

They are bootiful and I have used them to make this card for Day 201's challenge at 365 Cards to include shoes on your card.

Now I have to admit, I can see the beauty in shoes but do not own many pairs like some people I know. The shoes I wore at my wedding are very pretty with embroidered flowers but I don't have a 'fetish' for them like lots of ladies do. I do however think the shoes in the stamped images are a bit gorgeous :)

I selected my papers 1st, (thanks for the tip Lisa) they are freebies from one of the British cardmaking magazines. I then coloured the shoes to match using my Promarkers. I added a little gem to the centre of the bow on the shoes 'cos you've got to have a bit of bling on posh shoes.

The flowers are Primas, I coloured the middle one in with a Promarker a I didn't have one the right colour and I remembered my friend Lisa telling me she colours hers in now to match.

The phrase was also a stamped image and I edges it with one of the pens too. I always wondered what to do with the flat end of a Promarker. I'm learning how to use them more. I think they will become my new obsession and I'll want to buy them all..... mooo ha ha ha (insert evil laugh !)

I have another couple of cards I made on World Card Making Day but I can't show them yet as they are for DT work on Crafty Cardmakers. One will be revealed tomorrow and I have been REALLY organised and made the one for the next challenge in a fortnight. I am not usually this organised......Wonders will never cease !!!

365 Cards Day 209

The challenge for Day 209 at 365 Cards was to use a jungle theme. I immediately decided to use this cheeky monkey digi image from Dustin Pike. It is a fabulous image that he gave away to download for free (click the link on his name and it will take you to the post on his blog)

I have coloured him in with my new Promarkers. I have a much bigger selection of greens now and I am pretty pleased with the results. I even did a pale blue line around the image to make it pop out more like my friend Lisa does. I have a hello of a long way to go to be as good at colouring in as she is but I even did some shading in the fingers, woohoo!

The background paper is a freebie from a magazine. The image has been matted onto scraps of co-ordinating card. The chipboard tag is from a Let's Make Cards pack. Ribbons are from my stash and the leaf brads are by Papermania.

Don't you just love the cheesy grin on this little monkey ? :)

Saturday, 3 October 2009

Busy Birthday Week

Sorry for being a bad blogger but I have had the most amazingly busy birthday week, a lot of it involving being taken out :)

Last Friday me and my boss went to Pizza Hut at Star City for a buffet lunch with pizza and salad, it was really nice and the 1st time I had been for the buffet. Brilliant value really. We had a friend over on Friday night and Paul suggested I pop to the chippie for tea. I had a mini fish and chips and boy was that a mistake. I reacted really badly to something and had terrible tummy trouble for the rest of the night. I went to bed at 8.30 as I felt so awful, really cold and shivery and literally all the colour drained from my face when I was on the loo. I a haven't felt so awful in a long time but fortunately felt much better on Saturday morning.

On Saturday night we went to our favourite indian restaurant with Paul's Sister and her new hubby. They had never been there before and really enjoyed the food. Steve drove so I was able to have a few drinkies and I ended up having nearly a whole bottle of Rose. I'm not used to drinking so much any more and I was a bit tipsy, but nice tipsy :)

Sunday we celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary. We got married on my 30th birthday in Las Vegas so we always celebrate our anniversary just before. We had a lovely meal at home and we lit our candle that we lit during he wedding ceremony. We have still got about another 8 years worth of wax left...... we're making it last.

On Monday, the birthday itself I had loads of handmade cards from my forum buddies. There was lots of oohing and aahing. I had gorgeous cards from my hubby and some lovely pressies. He bought me a new mouse for my computer which lovely and dinky, has lots of configurable buttons, cordless and doesn't speak the same language as Paul's so we don't end up trying to se the same cordless signal (that was so irritating!) he bought me some more Kylie Minogue Sweet Darling perfume as he loves the smell and it had just ran out. He also bought me the last of the Twilight books (I am already reading it, it's got over 700 pages!) I have a £20 voucher to spend at Amazon from Grandad and Uncle Roy and am now the proud owner of the new Promarker colours as he my fantabulous, wonderful, gorgeous scrummy hubby organised the family into putting together to buy me them. How marvellous to get a pressie I REALLY wanted and everyone was really pleased as it made it easy for them too :) I am so accomodating LOL

We went out on Monday night with Paul's Mom and Grandma as they were upset they weren't invited ton Saturday night but we didn't think they would want to go for a curry and it was nice to spend time with Jill and Steve as people we get on with rather than it being a family get together. As I was dropping Mom home the car was making an awful noise and it sounded like the exhaust so we popped in to our friends house and he had a look at it. He said I needed a clip replacing that holds the exhaust together but it wasn't urgent and I could get it done on Saturday. I was having to go to Coventry on Tuesday and Wednesday so needed to be sure the car would be OK.

Tuesday I had college. It was really frustrating as the 1st hour was just sorting out the people who sill couldn't log on t the computers. All last week's was a bit of a washout so I was a bit annoyed that so much of this week's was as well. When people have paid a lot of money for a course you expect to actually get taught something. I hope it is better next week.

On Wednesday the exhaust came apart on the motorway between Birmingham and Coventry and it made so much noise. I sounded like a boy racer and boy was I glad to get it fixed. The lovely man at Kwik Fit only charged £36.95 to replace a pipe and a clip so I was REALLY pleased and was able to drive back to Birmingham safely. I am just so glad that Paul was working with me that day and was with me in the car when it happened as I think I would have pooed my pants.

Thursday Paul woke up feeling really rough with a cold and needed lots of TLC and a home made chilli. I went to bed early to read my book :)

Friday my boss took us out for my birthday and we had a lovely meal at a steakhouse. We all really enjoyed it and it was nice to spend some time outside of work with him and his girlfriend.

So as you can see it has been a busy week, a bit up and down but lots more ups :)

Today is World Card Making day so after watching the F1 Quallies I am looking forward to having a day of crafting and just chilling. Might have to it the heating on today as it has started to get cold and it is so windy. Definitely Autumnul :)




Sunday, 27 September 2009

365 Cards Day 206

I have been so very busy over the last week and have had no time to rest let alone make cards.

It is my 38th birthday tomorrow and also our 8th wedding anniversary so we went out last night with my sister in law and her husband. I can't believe they have been married a month and I haven't even put their card on my blog yet!

I made a quick Christmas card on Friday night using the challenge for day 206 at 365 Cards to use things in 3's (except the sentiment)

The backing card is Lets Make Cards blank. I used a green paper from my scraps box and edged it with a little ink and chalk. The vellum is from my Christmas paper stash and I ripped it against a ruler and chalked the ripped edges. The die cut trees are from a QVC kit from Kanban which has loads of different sheets in it. Brilliant value from my friend Helen's shopping trips to the QVC clearance shop in Warrington. I added a third paper in the top corner with a peel off sticker and last but not least 3 pieces of Craftwork Cards card candy on the other 3 corners to balance it out.

Craft Cardmakers Challenge #4

This is the card I have submitted for my DT card for the 4th challenge at Crafty Cardmakers.

We had all been given by the wonderfully generous Imagenation a selection of decoupage from the La Pashe range

I used a decoupage design from La Pashe's Flippin Christmas range.

There was a lot of cutting out (which I love).The designs are well thought out and it is very easy to see the order for making up the layers. There is a lot of humour in them and I just love santa's cheeky bum on the inside of the card.

I used an aperture card specially designed to go with these sheets. You sandwich the acetate between the layers and then stick the front of the image to the window.

It is very easy to line up the back of the image to the front and so unusual to have a double sided 3d image.

You also get a themed sheet for the inside of the card and this has 4 separate sentiments on it, so that's 3 extra freebies once you have finished your card:)

I finished off the card by using some red and green chalk and a cotton wool ball to add a bit of colour to the front. I also used some Papermania peel offs and some clear holly stickers from the Forever Friends range.

I really enjoyed making this card. It is the first time I have used any La Pashe products but it won't be the last as they make such special cards.

The fourth challenge at Crafty Cardmakers is to use decoupage or dimension, you don't need to use La Pashe products to enter so I hope we will see lots of entries.

Friday, 18 September 2009

Happy Birthday Boss!

I needed to make a birthday card for my boss and although I've only been working for him for 2 months I've pretty much sussed him out.

My Forum and Facebook buddy, the very talented Louise has recently started designing digi characters. I loved this footballer and originally my nephew came into mind as he is football crazy. He however does seem to have developed a love for street dance so footie seems to have taken a backseat now.

I was racking my brain of what type of card to make and I suddenly thought of this little character. I raced home last night and downloaded it from Louise's blog at Wheezy Weasle Creations . I have to say I was impressed with how quickly the email came with the download link. Fantastic service Louise and she takes Paypal too.

The boss is keen on his football and does the dream team and all that. I decided to use the company logo for the t-shirt as I can see he would like to have his own team...... I coloured it in using mainly Promarkers but he has ginger hair (gone darker as he gets older though) I have limited colours in he Promarkers so I had to use Marvy Le Plumes for the hair. You can really tell the difference in the colouring. I am REALLY hoping the birthday fairy has got the 56 new colours, I've given Paul a few hints and even a link to Joanna Sheen's website....LOL

I made a sidestep card as it looks really dramatic and this is the first of my handmade cards Andrew has seen. I used peel offs from Papermania for the sentiment, a Doodlebug cake sticker, a football from a patterned paper and Papermania Scrabble letters as he plays Scrabble on Facebook all the time.

Andrew really loved my card and I was really pleased. It gives me so much pleasure when I see people open a card I have made for them and they really like it. It's a feeling that just never gets old.

A double bonus as well is that I can submit this to satisfy an older 365 Cards challenge for day 182 which was to feature a sports ball on your card.

Sunday, 13 September 2009

365 Cards Day 185

This is the last card I can show you right now that I made on Saturday. The other one is for the next challenge at Crafty Cardmakers which is on the 21st September so you'll have to wait for that one I'm afraid.....

The challenge for 365 Cards Day 185 was to make a card using 3 different shades of blue.

The main basis of this card was the Cuttlebug embossing folder. When I visited my very good friend Carol she had this folder and I'd never seen it before. I had an idea to amalgamate a dark blue and white image together and add stickles glitter to the embossed dots to make it look like snowflakes falling from the sky.

I went one step further by using glitter paper for the snow on the ground, adding some ink to the houses to help define them and a snowman. I matted the dark blue panel onto a pale blue paper with silver snowflakes on it as the white glitter card just blended into the white card blank and didn't look right. The corded trim is an ice blue and has a silver thread running through it which I have also matched up using a silver peel off sentiment from Papermania.

I am really pleased with how this turned out and have a few more images so can replicate it again.

365 Cards Day 183

365 Cards day 183 was a sketch by Pam.

I have used some of my new Basic Grey Lemonade papers. I love the little print and the contrast of the dotty paper. I added a little glitter pen to the red dots on the ditzy print.

When I made the card on Saturday I thought the papers didn't pop as much as I had expected so I added a little outline to the paper tails and also to the edges of the patterned paper and I am a lot happier with the definition now. I didn't have my trusty almost dry inkpad with me, that would have been perfect but a bit too late when you've stuck it all down to the card......

The flowers are Flora Doodles from Joanna Sheen and a Prima daisy. The centre is a Craftwork Cards candy dot and the sentiment is a Papermania peel off sticker.

365 Cards Day 132

The challenge on 365 Cards day 132 was to make a card inspired by a photo they provided. It was of a birthday cake but the colours were VERY pale, just not me !!

I made this card using paper from the Lime Rickey pad by Basic Grey, please notice it is LIME green, my most hated colour but I LOVE how bright this card is.

The cake and the lettering are from another of the Poundland themed scrapbooks. I bought them because they had glittered chipboard die cuts and epoxy stickers, the scrapbooks were just a sheer bonus as they have loads of useable sheets. The lettering was part of a page and I cut the letters out individually and popped them onto 3d foam.

It is Uncle Roy's birthday tomorrow and I will be giving this card to him. He won't appreciate the time it took to do the letters though :( but I am really pleased with how it turned out and that is all that matters.