Card Sketch a Day 250 & 365 Cards Day 37

Today I have 2 of my cards featured as Designer cards on sketch 250 at Card Sketch a Day. 

The first card was made as a wedding card for one of my forum friends who is getting married on Saturday. The papers and elements are all from the latest issue of Creative Cardmaking. I am so pleasantly surprised by the quality of the papers in this mag, they really seem to have taken notice of the complaints many of us consumers have had about the quality of free papers being rubbish in most cases. The sentiment is an epoxy sticker from a craft pack at Poundland, the paper rose and ribbon were recycled from another card I'd made but didn't like.

The second card was submitted in our forum challenge to make a purple card. The top paper is a vellum from a Making Cards Magazine, the bottom paper is HOTP, the middle paper is a Fiskars punch embellished piece of stardust paper also from HOTP. The central strip is a peel off sticker that started off being pink but I coloured in using a purple permanent pen. This is placed onto a strip of white card. The sentiment is from my stash.

The butterfly is a plain chipboard shape that I coloured in  with a Brilliance inkpad and added stickles glitter glue to the centre. This makes the 2nd card admissable for an old challenge at 365 Cards. Day 37 was to embellish a piece of plain chipboard. That's one old challenge laid to rest, only got another 24 old ones to go. 

CSAD # 218 My Designer Card

Today I have a card on the Card Sketch a Day blog. It is Birthday week this week and we all need to make birthday cards don't we?

I used my trusty Cuttlebug folder in Swiss Dots for the white background, it has to be my most used folder as it is so versatile. The 2 pieces of card were in my scraps folder. I have foubd since I have soerted them by colour group it is so much easier for me to find what I want to use in a project. The lighter purple had a white core so I sanded it down to highlight the Divine Swirls embossing.

The tag is from a Brenda Pinnick QVC kit with a K & Co rub on sentiment from an Amy Butler card kit. The ribbon is Docrafts, the flower is a Prima from one of those purple assorted bags. The brad is from DCVW and the present and balloons embellishment is an old one from about 4 years ago. It's one of those special ones that you hoard and never use, hence still being in my stash after all these years..... LOL 

CSAD #194 & 365 Cards Day 14

It's Friday Friends over at Card Sketch a Day and this is the card I have submitted for sketch # 194. I have also submitted this for 365 Cards Day 14 where the challenge was to make DIY flower embellishments from paper.

The rose paper is a vellum that is very richly coloured by Folia. The oval is a K & Co Brenda Walton embossed cardstock. I particularly liked that it has little hearts embossing and felt it would be a nice touch with the sentiment which is clear DCWV sticker mounted onto white and then burgundy cardstock. The flowers are HOTP swirls using rose HOTP paper in pinks and reds to pick up the colours used. I have accented the centres with clear gems. The ribbon is recycled from a boxof Thorntons choccies (yum yum)

CSAD #187 & 365 Cards Day 6

Had a really busy week this week getting bsck to normal after having the Lounge, Dining Room and HSL carpets fitted. Have become obsessed with vacuuming the excess bits up and that is just not me! Have put back items and have been giving everything a good clean before it gets put away. It's been 7 weeks since we have watched TV and Paul was desperate to play on his PS3. 

I also needed relaxing time and I have today made a card for the 1st time in over a week! Just not had the chance to and I have missed it so much. I checked out Card Sketch a Day's Friday Friends challenge. Can you believe they are upto sketch 187? It honestly only seems like a few months since Susan started this blog, how on earth she keeps producing such good sketches is beyond me, but I thank her for it. I have also incorporated todays Challenge over at 365 Cards which is a new blog which only started this week. This challenge was to include some bling on your card, well that was an easy one for moi as I love a bit of sparkle me.

Anyhoo, the papers are from the Laura Ashley Contemporary collection from Dovecraft. I used my homemade Nestability style templates to cut the shapes out and inked the edges. The spotty paper was attacked on the corners by the rounder punch and then the hearts, to which I added some Papermania heart gems. The butterflies are punched out using a Anna Griffin punch to which more bling has been added. The sentiment is a DCWV Chipboard sticker and the beaded braid was £1 a metre from Birmingham Rag Market. 

CSAD # 173 Friday Friends & Forever Friends Challenges

Over at Card Sketch a Day it is Friday Friends Challenge. At present there is only one card on there so I should be in luck this week :)

I have used sketch #173 for the layout and also incorporated the challenge at Forever Friends to make a general birthday card.

The backing paper is from Reminisce and was a 15p bargain from the last Capture the Magic sale. I have highlighted some of the flowers with a clear Sakura glitter pen.

The birthday pressie border is from a Forever Friends Papermania kit which had a couple of rubber stamps, stickers, paper etc, the sentiment panel is from a Dovecraft Birthdays pack paper.

The stamped image was a gift and was coloured by my wonderful friend. Her watercoloring is fabulous and I am hoping she will teach me how she does it so subtlywhen I stop over at her house at the end of March :)

Card Sketch A Day Designer Card # 162

This is the Valentines card I will be giving my hubby on the 14th February (ssshh, don't tell him okay ?) My card is a featured designer one over on Card Sketch a Day today.

The papers are from the Scrumptious range from Papermania. I adore anything luvvy duvvy and the papers are just gorgeous. The new Papermania ranges are such good quality too. I know some people don't like them and are a bit snobby, but I love them and they are cheaper than ranges like Basic Grey so I can 2 or 3 paper packs for the cost of 1. I do however wish they would stop bringing out such lovely 'must have' packs as I have got enough paper to lat me a lifetime !!!

The hearts are from Let's Make Cards packs and the felt ric rac ribbon and the scrolly heart are from a Papermania ribbon pack. The sentiment is recycled and double matted on red metallic card and some of the heart paper.

Love these card sketches, its actually getting me to make cards before I need to use them. I've never managed to stockpile them before ! LOL

Card Sketch A Day # 159 Friday Friends

Sketch # 159 over at Card Sketch a Day is Friday Friends again. YAY !!!

Owing to the unfortunate demise of my camera I have had to take this with my mobile phone. Great camera, but is is dark and the light has cast a yellow hue over the card. This card was also made for a forum challenge to make a white card. I have also scanned it in, but you lose all the detail. I wish I was better at photography!!


The base card is white hammered to which I have matted some white card which has been embossed with the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder. The organza ribbon is from my stash. The flowers are Primas and the big brad is HOTP. The gems are from Poundland.

The vellum strip was cut using my Martha Stewart border punch and the sentiment has been cut from the Cuttlebug birthday folder.

CSAD #145 Friday Friends

I entered cards for a Love themed forum challenge and this one was made using the Friday Friends sketch #145 at Card Sketch a Day.

The idea is that Susan uploads a sketch and the first 3 people who make a card using the design has it uploaded and it becomes one of the 'designer examples'. Susan isn't sure whether to continue doing it as there may not be much interest. I hope she continues to do so as I always try to do it.

This card was made using scraps from a cardmaking pack that came free from a magazine. Some of the papers are getting really good lately and the quality of the papers is getting better. I do wish the magazines like Cardmaking & Papercraft, Papercraft Inspirations and Quick and Crafty cards would stop printing on magazine paper. They sometimes have some smashing designs but the paper quality is awful :(

I am going to try and make a concerted effort to join in more with the forum challenges and make more cards for other reasons than I normally would.

Card Sketch A Day Designer Card # 151

Today over at Card Sketch a Day I have these 2 cards which I submitted for the sketch challenge.

The first card was for a good friend to wish her luck following a knee operation.

The patterned paper used is from HOTP, as is the shimmer bronze. The terracotta ovals and strip are from a Papermania Vintage shapes caddy. The flowers are Prima baubles and the flower shaped brad is Papermania. The sentiment is recycled from an old greetings card.



The pink one is also HOTP papers. The circles are from a pastel Papermania caddy and these have been edged with a pearlescent Brilliance ink pad to add definition.

The ribbon is from a QVC Brenda Pinnick kit and the flower is a Royal Langnickel domed sticker. The sentiment is again recycled.

These are quite sophisticated for me, probably because of the more subdued colouring in the background paper I think.

Card Sketch A Day # 124 & Wedding Card

Tomorrow we are going up to the Lake Distrist as very good friends of ours from Louth are getting married on Saturday at Kendal Registry Office.

I made their card using sketch 124 from Card Sketch a Day as they wanted a 3rd card for it yesterday. However I have just gone to the site to find that I have been beaten to it ! Never mind, it was a perfect layout for the card I needed to make anyhoo.

The base cardstock was covered with a patterned paper from the Dovecraft Wedding pack. 2 tone mirrored card from Kanban was used for the central panel. The cake is a felt embellishment from a themed pack I bought from Poundland. The ribbon is the wonderful bobble trim I like to use at every opportunity. The sentiment is a rub on from DCWV.

The gift envelope is from a wonderful Linda Bernstien box that I got from QVC which has got cards that have been pre-planned for you and all the bits are in bags ready to go. I don't generally make the cards up as they are intended, but they are great for cards in a hurry. I do like to either use the embellishments another way or as in this case embellish the card a little more. I simply placed a pink sticker from MAMBI on the card as a further message and to link it with the pink on the main card.

So I've got a nice drive up th M6 to look forward to tomorrow. I have never been to the Lakes before and I'm looking forward to it very much. Then on the way back down on Sunday we are going to pop and see a friend who has moved to Lancaster and kill 2 birds with one stone.

One of the things I want to do more this year is get out and about in the car so this is a good start!

CSAD Designer Cards #111

Over at Card Sketch a Day it is Christmas Tree week and I have been given a sketch to make 2 cards for.

The first card was made using a blank from a Brenda Pinnick Christmas kit I had from QVC for my birthday thanks to my lovely MIL.

The tree is a Sizzix die with little bells sewn on as the baubles. The design is finished off with Papermania peel offs.






The second design is a LMC blank with a freebie magazine tartan paper on top. The tree is a Dawn Bibby design rubber stamp which was embossed and decoupaged in 5 layers. The pot and trunk were cut from scraps of card and accented with gold pen and a heart shaped gem. Peel offs were used for the sentiment.

These sketches are sure getting me making Christmas cards earlier than I normally would.

CSAD Designer Card #107

Today I have another of my cards featured at Card Sketch A Day.

The patterned paper on this card is from a DCWV Christmas Stack. The candy canes are glittered chipboard shapes from the DCWV 3 drawer set I had from QVC. The hoographic holly leaves are from Kanban, bitton and brads are HOTP and the sentiment is from Lets Make Cards.

Loving how productive these sketches are making me and I'm getting my Christmas Cards done early for a change :)

Card Sketch A Day # 54

This card was made using sketch #54 from Card Sketch a Day

The backing papers are DCWV, the stripy one having been punched with my ever faithful Martha Stewart doily punch. The sentiment panel is a freebie scrapbook printable image on photo paper edged with white brilliant ink, the brad is Dovecraft and I have used some more of my new bobble trim that I love so much, even in the green colour!!!!

This is one of the cards I made on the forum day yesterday, proving you can craft, eat and gossip at the same time!

CSAD Designer Card #73

The current sketch at Card Sketch a Day features one of my cards in the Guest Designer slot.

I used this design to make a thankyou card for a very special friend Sandra. By the time this post is published she will have received this card, I hope you liked it sweetie!

The patterned paper is from HOTP Ultimate Floral pad, the frame is from a K & Company die cut sheet. The sentiment is from a huge Brenda Pinnick QVC kit, double mounted onto card scraps. The brads are from a Docrafts TSV.

CSAD Designer Card #61

There is another of my cards featured as a Guest Designer over at Card Sketch a Day today.

It is 'Halloween week' but as I don't in any way celebrate Halloween it seemed innapropriate to make that type of card so I made a birthday card with it instead for one of my best friends Hazel.

The patterned card is from a glitter card stack from DCWV.
The image is from Pink Petticoat and coloured in with permanent pens and lots of glitter, the ribbon is a self adhesive Docrafts one.

The sentiment was made by me! I stumbled across a 'Seal Generator' on this website and thought I might be able to make something similar to the rubber stamp designs that are so popular at the moment and this was one of the designs I came up with. I am tremendously pleased with the results.

CSAD Designer Card #11

I am really getting into the swing of making my Christmas cards this year. The last couple of years it has felt like a chore as I've left it too late but I'm amazingly ahead of myself this year.

I have some rubber stamp images from a forum swap (last year!) that are already coloured in and ready to go so I am using some of the older challenge sketches to make them up.

This is Sketch 11 over at Card Sketch a Day.

The stamped image is coloured with Twinkling H20's and I think it is an Elzybels design. It is matted onto gold card. The paper is an old HOTP one that I got from USA about 4 years ago and has never been used! The sentiment strip has been cut from a recent magazine freebie paper.

The brad is a from Dovecraft and is part of a selection that I have had recently from Mad About Cards. They had some brilliant bargains on Christmas packs so expect to see a lot of DCVW and Dovecraft items used on my cards (shhh..... Don't tell Paul!)

CSAD Designer Card #52

Over at Card Sketch a Day I have another of my cards featured as a Guest Designer today.

The main image is a magazine freebie from Simply Cards & papercraft magazine. I'm not a fairy type of person but I really like these images.

The panel which looks like it has a postal stamp edge was one of the most laborious things I have done. I punched it out
by making pencil marks along a line and using by Big Bite. I didn't think it would take as long as it did and thought it was a good idea at the time. It is an A5 card and there were about 70 holes - never again !

The ribbon is from Paperchase, the sentiment is a rub on and the rubber stamp on the corners is a clear one from the Stamps Away range at Clevercut.

CSAD Designer Card # 50

Sketch 50 over at Card Sketch a day is one of the first 2 sketches I requested to do Guest Designer cards.

The backing paper is from a DCWV drawer set that I had from QVC.

The swirls are rubber stamps from HOTP, accented with Papermania gems.

The tree has been recyled from an old christmas card and the sentiment is a long Doodlebug sticker that was cut into sections and mounted onto 3d foam.

This was quite a simple card but I think it looks really sophisticated.

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.

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....