Pink Elephant 12 & Chocoholic Forum Challenges

Whilst I was rifling through the floral box to make the last card I came across this tulip die cut and thought I ought to use it with the paper pack that came with an issue of Making Cards magazine. It seemed such a perfect match it would be a shame not to.

I have used the sketch from challenge 12 over at The Pink Elephant for the layout. 

The main card is white and I have matted the tulip paper onto it leaving a border. I have used my Martha Stewart punch on some thin white card and layered another of the papers from the pack. I cut a small panel of white card and doodled around the edges with a Sakura clear glitter pen. The floral embellishment is glittered and came from Lets Make Cards. the sentiment panel is from the Making Cards paper pack.

I didn't get chance to make a card for a forum challenge that my friend Sarn ran a few weeks ago so will be adding this there too.

365 Day 61 & Di Hickman April # 5

Day 61 at 365 Cards and the challenge today is to incorporate at least one leaf into your card.

I used the latest sketch from Di Hickman and I was rifling through a box of various floral elements and came across these glittered daisy die cuts which I am sure are from a Lets Make Cards pack. I added some clear alpha stickers by MAMBI to the panel and dug out my favourite Tim Coffey Daisy papers from K & Co. I covered the card with the yellow plaid and cut out square panels to mount the flowers to. I edged these with a little ink as they blended into the paper too much. 

I do love daisies and this is such a cheerful card, a perfect antidote to the horrible wet weather we have had all day in Birmingham today. 

CPS 113 & Papertake Weekly

I made this card using sketch 113 over at CPS as I already had the supplies out on my desk having just made my last card. All the papers are elements from the Papermania Sweet Nothings collection with the exception of the pink that I matted the sentiment panel on. I used a corner rounder to finish off the mat and sentiment.

I inked the edges of the spotted paper to take the harshness away from it.

I wanted to add a bit of dimension to it as it is quite a flat card (cheaper to post, I'm not good at thinking about that....) I used stickles glitter glue and followed the letters and it is very twinkly as a result)

This card also follows the guidelines of using spots and stripes which is this week's challenge at Papertake Weekly.

365 Cards Day 60 & Sketches! by Tamara # 92

Day 60 over at 365 Cards and I am trying so hard to keep up with the challenges each day. Today has not been so easy as I'm coming down with a cold and have spent a lot of it asleep. That's teach me to get soaking wet on a hospital visit last week...... Hey at least it's not swine flu, that is quite scary isn't it as it's spreading all over the world.

Anyways, the challenge today is to use the word 'WHAT' as the sentiment for your card.

I needed to make a card for a 40th birthday so this was quite timely. I used his weeks sketch #92 over at Sketches! by Tamara for the layout.

The spotty & striped papers are from the Sweet Nothings paper pack by Papermania. All other papers are scraps. I used my Martha Stewart punch for the central layers as I though it would look like a frilly edge on a cake. I added some flower sequins and gems as the decoration at the bottom of the cake. Finally the lettering is some self adhesive felted ones I got from Poundland some time ago and the number was written by hand.

Thanks 365 for getting me so organised with my card making!!

Forever Friends, Stampin Chic & 365 Challenges

The Day 59 over at 365 Cards and the challenge is to make a card with a specific sentiment on it - I Miss You. Well lo and behold, what should happen to pop up in my in box today but an email from Bethany Harty at Elegant Word Art and the freebie she is giving away today is for that exact wording. Serendipity or what ? If you have never visited Bethany's blog, you seriously NEED to !! She is just so blooming clever and produces some fabby word arts. I {heart} Bethany Harty....and she got me wanting to read the Twilight books which I am currently on the second one New Moon.

Anyhoo, the wordart I printed onto white card and used as the main backing of my card. The cardblank is Papermania and really nice quality. I incorporated this week's challenge at Forever Friends which is a sketch and to top it all off I used the colour challenge of Turquoise and Yellow over at Clare Curd's blog Stampin' Chic. I am the queen of combining challenges !!! LOL

The backing papers are from Clare's Papermania pad 'The Big One' and I coloured in the white dots yellow with a Marvy le Plume pen and also used it for topical colouring in the floral paper. Quite pleased with how they turned out, they certainly don't look like I've been colouring in for ages, I was a bit worried they would TBH. I stamped the flowers using the matching doodle stamps from the range and highlighted the centres with assorted gems.

The Forever Friends image is a rubber stamp. I have coloured the bear and the vase with watercolour pencils and the flowers are metallic Sakura pens with a little bit of Glamour Dust in the flower centres. I don't think I am very good at watercolouring, can't seem to do it right like so many talented people do but I am quite pleased with this one. I did some when I went camping at Easter and tried to practice getting the shading right. It's hard as I only have a pack of 10 pencils, I would love to have one of those lovely tins with loads of colours to choose from as I am no good at mixing them. 

Pennies are tight though and that will have to be on my wish list for when I get a job. Having been made redundant twice in the last 6 months the money we had saved up is dwindling. Paul can't get any work in IT and my Blood Pressure is sky high at the moment and the drugs don't seem to be helping to get it down. Crafting is my sanctuary at the moment and my blog is my contact with the outside world (except for hospital visits to Paul's Grandad).

I can't begin to thank you all enough for leaving comments for me and I appreciate each and every one for the validation I receive for my projects.

365 Card Day 58 & Di Hickman April # 4

 It's day 58 at 365 Cards and the challenge today is to incorporate something fishy into your card.

I have used the latest sketch over on Di Hickman's blog for the layout. It is perfect as I wanted something quite simple.

The starting point was the chipboard shape, the fish was red so I coloured it black with a permanent Sharpie pen and highlighted it with a bit of Sakura clear glitter pen and a Papermania gem for it's eye.

The shimmering panel at the back is a piece of illusion film which is a sheet of textured plastic which moves when you tilt the card, it's like those ruler's with moving scenes on that we all had as kids. I liked that it looks like waves and always saw me using it for this type of fishy card. However, it has been in my stash for years and unused up till now. Sound familiar anyone ?

The sentiment strip and panel are from a Making Cards Male Special issue and the card has been finshed off with some blue gems from Poundland.

Cuttlebug # 28 & 365 Cards Day 57

It's Day 57 Super Sketchy Sunday over at 365 Cards today and I have used the sketch as the layout for the Cuttlebug Challenge to make a 'home' orientated card.

The papers are from a free booklet that came with Simply Cards & Papercrafts magazine. I very rarely work with these sort of colours bur really liked how summery they were. The turquoise paper was embossed using the Cuttlebug Devine Swirls folder and then sanded to reveal the white core of the paper.

The 'house' is a Colorbok chipboard shape that  distressed. The sentiment is from a paper pack from Creative Cardmaking which I matted a few times on the backing papers and a scrap of navy blue card. This is nounted onto 3D foam.

The flowers are Prima Daisies and the brads are HOTP.

365 Cards Day 50

Woohoo, this is the last 365 Cards for this week so I have managed to do them all this week, only the 2nd time I have been able to do it since the blog started.

Day 50's challenge was a sketch. I have used a white card blank and the pink papers are a double sided one from a paper pack with Simply Cards & Papercraft magazine. There are some really nice designs in this one for a change and the quality of the paper is really good.

The central band is a HOTP shimmer paper which has been cut with my trusty Martha Stewart doily punch - however did I live without it?

The ribbon in the centre is a Brenda Pinnick one from a QVC TSV. I have added a Cuttlebug butterfly and the purple gems are from a sheet I got of various sizes at Poundland.

I've missed a lot of 365 challenges over the last few weeks but I intend to catch them up. I really want to be able to say I have made 365 cards with them by the end of the challenges and I know I speak for many people when I say how much all the hard work is appreciated from Pam and the DT.

CPS 112 & 365 Cards Day 51

It is absolutely ages since I have played with a CPS sketch and I didn't think I would get chance to this week but have managed to incorporate Sketch 112 with the Day 51 challenge at 365 Cards.

We were given a photo of some red flowers and were to make a card inspired by it.

The flowers are quite vibrant but against a black background so quite bold colouring - just how I like it !!

I used an A4 sheet of black cardstock for the base and used a sophisticated patterned paper from Issue 3 of Creative Cardmaking magazine which is a relatively new mag in the UK that has a really good selection of papers and embellishments with each issue. I have bought the last 2 and I am very impressed with the quality of them.

The rest of the papers and the sentiment panel are from a HOTP Classic Creative cardmakers pack and the lettering is from MAMBI. The roses are embossed stickers from Docraft from a TSV I had from QVC last year. They are a very heavy weight of paper and the embossing is very defined, mush like the K & Co stickers. I finished the panel off with a couple of ladybirds from the same sheet.

I have a particular recipient in mind for this card and shall be popping it in the post very soon to tell her that I am thinking about her.  

365 Cards Day 53

Day 53's challenge at 365 Cards was to make a fruity card.

This gave me the perfect opportunity to use some papers that were in the DCWV Summer drawer set from QVC. I have to admit that when I first saw them I didn't know whether I would ever use them but they are perfect for this card.

I started off with an A4 sheet of green card as the base and cut strips out of one of the papers for the top, bottom and centre of the card. The 'glass' is vellum with a piece of yellow card sandwiched inside for the lemonade. I used a glue tape gun to run lines around the edges and to create stripes on the glass. I used Glamour Dust on these so it really sparkles. This is similar to something I saw in a magazine where it was used for an ice cream sundae. That might have to be another project at a later date now I've made a template for a glass :)

The glass is further embellished with an orange slice that I cut from the co-ordinating paper and decoupaged, also adding a bit of glitter with a Zig glue pen around the segments. I used a real lime green straw to match the one on the DCWV cardstock sticker. This has been matted on a scrap of orange card and mounted using 3D foam.

I am really pleased with this card. I never for a million years could have forseen me making such a thing but I think it's turned out really well. I am loving how the 365 challenges are making me more creative and I think the results speak for themselves.

365 Cards Day 54

Woohoo, another 365 Cards challenge done!

Day 54 was to make a card using recycled elements. The last card I made also used recycled acetate but I wanted to make one especially for this challenge.

This card was inspired by one in a magazine where they used those little bee stamps that are all the rage and the card was hexagonal shaped. I remembered I had some free papers come last month with a magazine which was like a honeycomb and the idea for the card was born.

When I look inside corrugated card it always reminds me of a honeycomb so I used a piece of a carton as the base of the card and added some Tim Holtz walnut inkpad to the edges. I cut the honeycomb paper to the rough shape and followed the hexagons around the edges. I then cut an old sunflower calendar picture into the same shape (more recycling!) and matted onto a scrap of brown card.

The sentiment is a yellow vellum one that I stuck to white card and then matted on more of the brown cardstock. The bees are Stickopotamus stickers that I have made into 3D by sticking 3 together and the grossgrain ribbon is an Ebay purchase a long long time ago.

I am really chuffed with how this card turned out. The hexagons took a while to do as I had no template and couldn't find my compass to work out the size of the shape. I don't think it's turned out too badly and I thought it would make a nice card to cheer someone up.

Forever Friends, 365 Cards & Pink Elephant

In England we have just celebrated St George's Day who is our patron saint. The challenge this week over at Forever Friends is to use the colours red and white which are the colours of our flag.

It's day 56 at 365 Cards and the challenge today is to make a clear card, either the whole card or just the front or back could be see through.

This is only the 2nd card I have made using acetate. This was the packaging from a Sizzix folder which I have recycled and embossed using the Paisley Cuttlebug folder which I am currently in love with. As the theme for the Pink Elephant Challenge this week is 'Don't Throw That Away' I am also going to enter this card as I like to recycle items as much as possible.

 I cut a scalloped border using the edge of a Fiskars Shapecutter template and adhered the acetate to the underside of the flap this created. I have used HOTP brads to provide decoration and a more secure anchor for the acetate.

The inside of the card is lined with a HOTP paper I have had in my stash for many years. The ribbon is from Docrafts and the Forever Friends image is a clear Papermania sticker that I have stuck to card and cut around. I have left the card without a sentiment just yet so I can use it for a suitable occasion at a later date.

Chocoholics Challenge & 365 Cards Day 55

On our cardmaking forum the challenge this week is to make a Thankyou card. It is something that I rarely have ready to go, I have general cards without a message but not usually Thank you cards. This is something I think I should remedy and will endeavour to make more of in the future. Thanks for the kick up the cardmaking bum Sarn :)

I utilised Day 55's recipe challenge on 365 Cards to use the following

5x5 card (solid colored card stock - may be smooth or textured)

4x4 patterned paper (you may alter the edges if you'd like)
1 shape (circle, square, star, heart, etc.) - must be solid color
3 jewels
alpha stickers

I embossed the base card using the paisley Cuttlebug folder and added a little pink ink to highlight the design. The paper is from a Diary of an Edwardian Lady pack from a magazine. The solid shape is a glitter butterfly which I have decorated with the 3 gems and the alpha stickers are by MAMBI.

This is the first card that I have used this Cuttlebug folder on. I am not a fan of traditional paisley designs but I do like the more modern ones and love the really crisp embossed results this has produced.

Happy Birthday Sarn :)

This very special card was made for a very special friend's birthday today.

I spent ages on it doing the beading and made it in the colouring she likes the best, I REALLY hope she likes it.

I have wanted the Cuttlebug butterflies FOREVER and they were on my wish list of items to purchase from the Glitterpot. I am absolutely delighted with them and can see me using them loads. I added a little Papermania bling to finish it off.

The card uses Clare Curd papers from Papermania. I am loving using these papers  especially the black and white ones.

I used the latest sketch from Jen Del Muro over Sketch for You to Try (SFYTT) for the layout. There are so many intricate layers I felt it would showcase the papers well and allow me to use lots of texture.

The challenge at 365 Cards day 48 was to score a grid on a card using a Score It board as they were sponsoring a week of challenges. Inspired by a technique I had seen on Mel Stampz blog I scored a diamond grid and at each intersection I sewed a black bead. It took a while but the results are worth it I think.

The challenge on the Cuttlebug blog was to utilize numbers in your card. I used my numbers embossing folder (for the first time!) on black card and sanded it down to reveal the white core, thus adding more texture and continuing with the the same colourscheme.

The sentiment is from my stash with a little white gel pen added to define the edges.

Happy Birthday Sarn !!!

Lemonade Stand Award

Woohoo, I have another award from a very talented crafter Bex who takes part in the 365 challenges too. She has a great style to her cards and also has the same problems with not wanting to cut her paper up as I do. LOL

I have also been given the same award by Pam from Mackenzie Mae Designs who is the creator of the 365 Cards blog. What a great bunch of people we are in the blogging world :)

This award is for being a blogger who shows great attitude and gratitude, and that definitely applies to Bex who is lovely :)

To pick up the Lemonade Stand Award:

- Comment on this blog. - Cut and paste the award logo and use it in your own blog. - Nominate 5 to 10 blogs you feel show great attitude and gratitude. - Link to your nominees within your blog post. - Comment on their blogs to let them know they've received the award. - Link back to the person who gave you the award to show your appreciation.

I would like to nominate the following awesome bloggers for this award:

TBA - Will need to thinik of who to give it to as have just sent out my other award !!

Karma Award

What a wonderful surprise I have had this morning. 

Amongst my blog comments the wonderfully talented Kristie Larson has given me a Karma Award.

She makes some fabulous cards and projects and for someone like me who would like to have even just a little bit of her talent it is amazing that she would recognise my efforts in such a way.

Thank you so very much Kristie, you have made my day !!

So now, the really good bit is that I get to give this award to some other lovely people too.

The Rules

The Karma Award: These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind of bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.

I would like to pass this award onto the following friends who are very talented crafters and just lovely poeple to boot:

Sarn

Fae

Julie

Kerrie

Clare

Valerie

Jenny

Asia Wu

Now pass on the love girls :)

2 Sketches 4 You & 365 Cards

OMG, I have made a 365 Cards challenge the day that it has been posted !!! Seems like a VERY long time ago since I did that. It is also weeks and weeks since I have been able to participate in a 2S4U sketch and I love Laura's this week.

As I am sure many cardmakers do, I have a LOT of scraps just waiting for something to be done with them. I am trying REALLY hard to make use of them instead of just storing them in plastic boxes. I also subscribe to some fab UK magazines and a lot of them have free papers with them, some being much nicer than others. The main paper on this card is one of those. I love the design but the paper is so very thin which is a shame...

All the papers have come from my scraps box, the ribbon is from my stash, the glittered chipboard pieces are some a great pack I got from Poundland. I used a nestabilities die for the scalloped circle and pricked holes around the edge to mirror the holes produced by the Martha Stewart Doily punch (that are starting to be sold in the UK at long, long last!)

The flowers are Primas and the glittered brad is from Papermania.

The 365 Cards challenge for today, day 52 was to incorporate circles, flowers and brads. I think this card ticks all those boxes and it's turned out really pretty too :)

365 Cards Day 49

In an attempt to try and catch up a little on the 365 Cards challenges I have missed I have made this little card using some Flower Fairies die cuts that came with Let's Make Cards magazine recently.

This card is for Day 49's Scor It challenge to make an accordion card. There were many different
 styles of cards made and interpretations of the theme that have given me some good ideas for different cards in the future.

All the materials used have been from the LMC pack except the rub on sentiment which is from Royal & Langnickel. I have to admit Flower Fairies are not something I would normally work with but when I saw this sample on the website I knew I could adapt it to suit this challenge and I am quite pleazed with how it turned out.

Don't you just love the challenges on 365? They are so great for getting you to make projects you wouldn't normally do and also use up stash that would normally just sit gathering dust.

365 Cards Day 43 & Di Hickman Sketch

Woohoo, I've managed to do a bit of crafting at long last. It's been a while !!!!!

The good news is Grandad is getting better. He's still in hospital but due to be discharged soon soon. Then we will have an interime period where we will need to provide care and support until the Social Services has sorted his plan out, fingers crossed it won't take too long. I swear my grey hairs have doubled in number over the last 3 weeks. 

I have missed loads of 365 Cards challenges and loads of sketch challenges, worse I have still got loads of new goodies to play with that are still in their packets!!

Anyhoo, it was Score It week at 365 Cards and there have been some fabulous projects to do. I started on an easy one with day 43 which was to make a gift card holder. Fortunately whilst shopping at Asda I had to return an item and the credit was put onto a gift card, perfect for this project methinks.

I used the latest sketch from Di Hickman for the layout. The papers are from Papermania with a liberal amount of inking around the edges with an almost dry inkpad. The chipboard shape is from the same Sweet Nothings range and I added stickles glue to highlight some of the dots.

For the inside my immediate thought to hold the gift card inside was to use some metal photo anchors from HOTP with some tiny brads. I have had these in my stash for a mighty long time and never used them. I think it works well to hold the card in place.

There have been some fabulous examples made by some very talented crafters. It's great to see the 365 blog get stronger with more people taking part in the challenges as it gets more well known. Pam and the DT work really hard to bring lots of fresh challenges and I'm loving combining them with other sketches and building up a stockpile of cards to help me with a Christmas Pressies project I am working on for the family.

365 Cards, Stampin Chic & Tamara Challenges

Woohoo, I've finally made a card :) This is the first I have made since the Glitterpot weekend and I've used some of my rubber stamps I bought from there too.

This card was inspired by todays 365 Cards Challenge, Day 39 is to make a card using Purple, Green and Orange. Obviously not a combination one would normally use so I started with a sketch. Sketch 89 from Sketches! By Tamara is a nice simple one.

The card blank is from Let's Make Cards, the papers and sentiment are from Hot off The Press. I added some corner detailing using a pair of Fiskars scissors. The ribbon and the flocked brad are from Papermania.

The flower is made using my new Clare Curd Signature Collection rubber stamps. I stamped the 2 different sizes on the HOTP paper, curled slightly and used a foam paid to raise the layers. I used a Sakura Glitter pen to add a bit of sparkle to the dots. This DIY flower makes it elligible to submit for this weeks challenge at Stampin Chic too.

I received my prize yesterday from Clare for winning a challenge which was a set of Party rubber stamps. There are loads of cute images on there and I am looking forward to playing with those.

Chocoholic's Challenge

This is the last card I made at the Glitterpot and it was a challenge set by Sarn. She had provided a choice of pink or blue and pre cut and measured all the elements to make this shaped card. There was paper included but we could substitute with our own if we wished.

The stamped image of the butterfly was in blue so I decided that I would cut into my very 1st Basic Grey paper. This is not my normal style of paper but I loved the delicate colours and swirls and thought it would be perfect to go with the stamped image which I coloured in using Sakura glitter pens. The paper also matched perfectly with the plain one that Sarn had already included so I used this to matt the stamped image.

The sentiment is another of the vellum ones that I took with me and the stamped hearts are coloured in with Marvy Le Plume pens in toning shades of pink.

I have to be honest, when I looked at the distructions I thought it was an intriguing style of card. I am so pleased this was the project Sarn chose for us as I think this is the best card I made over the weekend.

Crystallady's Challenge Card

Whilst we were at the Glitterpot one of our forum members Crystallady had brought a bad of bits for each of us and we were to make a card and try to incorporate something fom each item into it and we could also add one item from our own stash.  Now Lynn makes the most gorgeous cards and has a very unique style which is usually instantly recogniseable. She just manages to make very sophisticated designs from lots of materials. I usually have to keep it a bit more simple as I am not so clever mixing lots of different elements together. This was a real challenge as there were so many papers. It took me ages to decide what I wanted to do with them all!

I started off by adding some detail to the central motif with my south west corner punch and matted onto pink card, embellishing with tabs of ribbon and the pearls. Then it was a question of layering the papers together and my Martha Stewart punch came out to play again. Lynne absolutely loved this and I think she would have smuggled it home if she could have got away with it LOL

The sentiment at the bottom is a vellum one from Lakeland and I double matted it onto the diagonal striped paper.

It was really nice to see the different designs that we all made with the same materials though.

Mojo Monday 79

I made this card at the Glitterpot craft day using sketch 79 from Mojo Monday. The card's centrepiece is a word art from Melanie's Digital Creations. I cannot find this one on her blog but have had it since November 2007. I am going to send this card to a very special forum buddie who is now my adopted Mum. This word art is particularly relevant in this case.

The papers used are Basic Grey from my first ever paper pack of theirs. I have to say the quality is amazing, I really was surprised how thick it is. I used my Martha Stewart punch on the lower paper and 2 different ribbons for the bow (Papermania and velvet was from another project).

The word art was mounted onto pale pink card and I then mounted the whole panel onto a pale pink blank. I had printed the word art quite large so it dictated the card size as an A5.

Whilst searching for the wordart on Melanie's blog I found a post that she had dedicated to me in February which I haven't seen before now. I think it is so nice that she did this and although I didn't see it at the time, with what we have gone through looking after Grandad over the last 10 days it has given me a bit of a boost.

365 Cards Day 23

I had started this card just after the challenge had been posted on 365 Cards and took the bits to the Glitterpot with me. That was last weekend and with all that we have been through with Grandad's illness over the last 10 days seems like a lifetime ago.... I mean, I've still got lovely stash in their packets that's not been played with :0

This card was made using the printable that Pam supplied on Day 23's challenge. The backing papers are freebies from Crafts Beautiful magazine. The crossword shape was printed twice and decoupaged. I added a heart shaped gem to replace the 'o' and this was matted onto black card. The pencil is courtesy of IKEA (knew that stash would come in handy one day! LOL) and was covered in a piece of the stripy paper. My beloved Martha Stewart punch was used to pretty up the striped paper.

Not having been able to craft for some time I have loads of 365 challenges to catch up on..... Wish me luck !

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 

AWOL

Sorry I haven't been about much lately but we are very busy looking after a very poorly Grandad at the moment and cardmaking has had to take a back seat as a result.

I am hoping normal service will resume as quickly as possible - I've got new stash to play with !!

My Glitterpot Goodies

I had a fabulous weekend away. I stopped at my friend Sarn's house for 2 nights and we went to The Glitterpot on Saturday morning to have a crafty session with some fabulous friends from our cardmaking forum.

We all get on so well together it is like one big family. I have met some of the girls before but the majority were new faces.
What a great place to meet them! The shop is stacked with gorgeous stuff. More stamps than I have ever seen in one place before and loads of other items.

One of the nicest things is the shelves with tons of card samples and they  let you take photos of them, even if some blokes in the shop think you look like nutters for doing so !

These are all the items that I purchased. I had saved up money from my birthday especially for this trip and went over slightly (oops!) but was very pleased with my purchases. I had specific items that I wanted to get, most of which I did but one of them I couldn't get. I think I more than made up with it with the other items though!

I didn't have much opportunity to make cards over the weekend. We intended to do some on Friday night and there was a powercut at Sarns house for 2 1/2 hours. It was so funny as we were making a coffee and literally just as we said we were going to craft the power went. The timing was impeccable LOL. It was a nice chance to have a chat so it wasn't the end of the world. I made 4 cards at the Glitterpot which I will upload soon and then Saturday night we were going to and we were chatting, swapping stash and Sarn stamped some images from her fantastic collection for me (thanks honeybunch xx) The time just dissappeared and I was quite tired anyway and had a long drive the following day.

I've done 400 miles and was really proud of myself for driving such a long way. I had the new  Prodigy Cd on repeat and was happy as larry driving and would have no hesitation to do it again.

The best thing about the weekend was meeting up with someone who I get on so very well with and has become a wonderful friend who is a fantastic person to know. I am very lucky indeed to have met someone who I get on so well with ad love to bits.

Wohoo - I've won another prize

Well thye say things happen in 3's and that is certainly the case for me.

Just as I was logging off my computer on Friday I had an email from Clare Curd to say that I had won a competition on her site Stamping Chic. for a card I submitted in a challenge. To say I was ecstatic is an understatement. I have also had one of my cards featured on her site here

So that is now 3 lovely things I have got to come, one from Di Hickman, a Whiff of Joy stamp and my goodies from Clare. I have no clue what it is but I am so happy to have won I couldn't care less!!

Going away for the weekend

Woohoo, the day I have been waiting for for months has finally arrived.

On Saturday we are having a crafty session at The Glitterpot and I am driving down to my friends house as she has very kindly offered me bed and board for 2 nights. It's at least 3 1/2 hours drive from here and I'll need to stop for a sarnie and a peepee so make that about 4.

I have packed all my stuff, need to dry my hair, have breakfast, make my packed lunch and then I'll be off.

The best bit is I will be meeting up with some lovely people who have been cyber friends for years and especially with Sarn who is a relatively new recruit but we really got on so well. The second best thing is we are going to a fabby shop and I've got pennies to spend. Woohoo!!!

Hopefully I might even get some carsd made as I have done no crafting this week at all.

See you soon Sarn

I've won a blog challenge !!!

Oh how delighted am I to have won a blog challenge with one of my cards ? I never think my cards are good enough so to win a prize is just amazing.

I submitted a card for sketch # 23 over at Just Christmas & Birthday Cards and having visited to see the new challenge this week have discovered I have won. I am so pleased and have to pinch myself a I can't believe it.

365 Cards day 12 & Stampin Chic Sketch

I am loving black and white at the moment, mainly because of the new papers from Clare Curd at Papermania. There are just so many to choose from in the big pad and there are the positive and negative too.

I have used the sketch # 2 on Clare's challenge site Stampin Chic which I have rotated to suit the word art that I had already printed. The theme is from Day 12 at 365 Cards to make a card for the big move.

The wordart is by Bethany Harty. I think this may have been one that she designed for Scrap Orchard as I can't see it on her blog. It is a fabulous resource and Bethany is always producing great WA to use. She has a great blog and a really chatty style, I subscribe to it and never miss a post. Big up respect Bethany, you are wonderful :) I did a bit of doodling around the edge as it looked a bit stark, do you like my little question marks ?

The 'ribbon' is just a scrap of paper with some penmanship around the edge. The house is a die cut that I drew around on glossy black card. I only wanted a basic outline so this was perfect for me. I added some white gel pen and a heart from my stash, if you cherish your home it should have a heart in it I think. I was in 2 minds about whether I should make this heart red or not, I wasn't sure if it would be too bright. If you leave a comment I would ne grateful to know what you would do, I'm never sure and went for the safe option I think. Maybe the red would have been a bit more daring ?

The cute little key I am most proud of. It is a little printed key with Rangers Glossy Accents on it and a little silver jump ring. I was going to add a tag but I think it would have overpowered it so left it without.

ICS, Cuttlebug & 365 Cards Challenges

I've got another 3 challenges in one card with this tag shaped beauty.

The layout is courtesy of sketch #  8 over at Inspirational Card Sketches. I have never created a tag shaped card before and thought it would make a nice change. It also game me the oportunity to punch a gromlet for the 1st time with my Cropodile Big Bite. I am pleased to say that it worked 1st time and was so easy to set. The size of the card is just under A5 so it's a nice size. I have made myself a little template so I can do this type of card again with all the measurements already worked out. All the papers used were scraps so another bonus! The patterned papers are from the Laura Ashley collection by Dovecraft and the pink card was a Brenda Walton K & Co leftover.

Cuttlebug challenge #23 is to be creative with punches. I purchased some ribbon threading punches in November 2007 and have only just used them. They are the type where you punch the paper so it's got a funny threading shape in it and then you punch the shape out, in this case a circle. I used offcuts of a rose patterned vellum used on a project a few days ago. I threaded these on a thin strip of black card and then embellished the centres with Papermania gems. Two of the papers were embossed with the Swiss Dots folder and the Divine Swirls.

365 Cards Day 21 was to make a card inspired by the song 'Lean On Me'. The sentiment is a word art download I have had for some time. I always download these things with good intentions but rarely use them. I printed a few off on a thin sheet of A4 card so I will have a few for making cards. I rally should do that more often so they are already to be used.

This is the first week that I have been able to complete ALL the 365 card challenges. I still have 4 of the earlier ones to do which I fully intend to go back to.

365 Cards Day 20 & Forum Challenges

Todays challenge, Day 20 on 365 cards was to make a card that was hardly decorated on the outside and the sentiment etc was to be inside. Sarn's challenge on the forum is to make a Baby Girl card. As ever I have combined the two challenges.

In terms of not decorating the front I had a massive booboo on as I had cut an aperture in the card front using the stamp Cuttlebug die and then used the swiss dots folder to emboss the card. I matched the pattern up and there was one line of dots in the middle that had been squashed so I used an embossing tool to push them back out, then promptly PUSHED the tool all the way through one of them. I was absolutely gutted! I inked over the top lightly but it still showed up and all the rest of the card had been done so I put some ribbon over the top. Pam, I am sorry I failed at this one but feel happier that I was able to rescue it. 

 A Papermania button completes the ribbon as it looked daft without anything on it.

The inside has an embossed image from the same Cuttlebug pack that the stamp die comes from and is raised on 3d pads so it pokes through the window on the front. The sentiments are rub ons from DCWV and Poundland. 

I wasn't sure about doing a card like this and was happy with it until I poked the embossing tool through the hole. I wish the Cuttlebug folders would fit an A6 sized card blank in properly and then we wouldn't have this problem.

365 Cards, Papertake & JC & B Challenges

I think I've done quite well with this card as I have combined 3 challenges together! Day 19's challenge at 365 Cards was to make what was an obvious birthday card without adding the actual sentiment. The challenge at Papertake this week was to make a card with something edible on it and I used the sketch from Just Christmas & Birthday cards.

The backing paper is from Lets Make Cards. The stamped image was from a forum buddie and is by Clevercut. I have coloured it in using a combination of Sakura pens, Whispers pens and the icing is Woodware puffy paint that you fluff up with a heat gun.

The chipboard tag, bubble stickers and black elastic are all miscellaneous from my stash.

Just heard back about my car, it is now ready for collection but I've got a bill of £600 to pay, crikey......

2 Skeches 4 You Kazan 22 & 365 Cards Day 17

This is the mother' day card I have made for my MIL for sunday. I have used Kazan's sketch 22 over at 2 Sketches 4 You for the layout and Day 17's challenge at 365 Cards to use 3 buttons and 3 bows

The bottom paper is a printed vellum by Folia which I got from a wicked little craft shop in Stratford upon Avon. The sheet was mahoosive and it has lasted forever. It is so fab as you can't see adhesive through it and the colors are so rich. The top is black card with a white core that has been embossed using a Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder and sanded back a little to highlight the dots. The black ribbon is recycled from a box of Thorntons choccies, the red 'bows' are HOTP ribbon, the heart buttons are Papermania.

The rose image has been recycled from a shop bought card, the special Mum sentiment was printed out by moi ages ago and the other sentiment was from a Lets Make Cards pack and matted onto black to make it pop more. I had a small amount of the black ribbon left so added it to the top of the card with a heart shaped gem. I was n't sure about it but Paul likes it and it's his Mom the card is for.

CPS 107 & 365 Cards Day 18

Now, I am not a lover of green. It stems back from school uniform and having to wear a bottle green jumper, but it is one of my least favourite colours. Looks good on trees and grass and that's about it. So, imagine my horror when the challenge on 365 Cards day 18 was to make a completely green card. My mojo went hiding and I couldn't coax it out! I then thought about the Peny Black stickeroos that I had with the frogs on and started from there.

I chose sketch 107 at CPS for the layout. I rarely make DL sized cards as sometime it can be hard to balance embellishments but if I have a sketch to follow I feel a lot braver. The papers are DWCW Blossoms and Butterflies pad. I love the silver foiling on these but unfortunately they don't scan in well and it looks almost black :( 

The stickeroo has been placed on white cardstock and I trimmed down a Kanban pearlescent frame to suit the shape of the sticker. The rub on sentiment is partially glittered and came from a huge sheet at Poundland. 

Even though green is for me a hard colour to work with I quite like this card.

Things are looking up :)

Well after the nightmare that was Monday I am happy to report that things are looking up.

I took my car in yesterday to have the brake problems looked at and to get serviced. Needs MOT in April so at least not everything has come at once. I won't have the car for a couple of days but at least it will be fixed and safe to drive.

I have started taking my new BP tablets and have stopped drinking coffee as I'm sure that I was drinking too much and this has probaby not helped. I think you are only supposed to have 2 a day and I was drinking waaaaay more than that. I'll still have my yummy Nespresso pods as a special treat though, I can't give them up, NO way ..... LOL

I have just found out that I have won some lovely little stamps from Di Hickman's Friday Freebie so I am dead chuffed about that. It's really cheered me up and I'll have some lovely post from the USA to look forward to now. Yippee !!!

Are You Chocolate or Vanilla ?

Just going through my email this morning and there is a little quiz that Mel Hains has stumbled across. She produces some absolutely fabulous Digital Freebies and I am an avid collector as one day I would love to get to grips with scrapbooking both digitally and in paper form.

It's only a small quiz and although I would have immediately said I would have been chocolate this summary does match my character quite well.

You Are Vanilla

You are a delightful, friendly person. You are optimistic about life and people. You are enthusiastic and energetic. You enjoy everything you do. You are cooperative and flexible. You get along with people from many walks of life. You're not a show off. Instead, you're more likely to help other people shine.

Are You Chocolate or Vanilla?

Go On, Take the quiz. You know you want to ! LOL

365 Cards Day 15 & Cuttlebug Challenge 22 & Clare Curds Limited Supply Challenge

This card was made using the sketch from Day 15 over at 365 Cards and Challenge 22 at Cuttlebug Challenge to use glitter with a rubber stamp.

The backing paper is another of Clare Curds Signature Range by Papermania. I love the swirly ones in there and there are loads of black & white ones. The swirls are a rubber stamp which was inked with Versamark and ultrafine glitter was poured on. I am absolutely covered with glitter, oh what fun :) I have entered this card into a challenge on the blog to only use 1 sheet of patterned paper. That's 3 challenges in 1 Card, an all time world record for me!

The flowers are from shop bought silk flowers that I have dismantled, sometimes you get absolutely loads and they work out far cheaper than the craft ones. The buttons are from my stash as is the sentiment. The 'ribbon' is a piece of white core black card which has been embossed using the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder and sanded back to highlight the dots better.

365 Cards Day 16 & ICS Sketch # 7

Had a bit of a nightmare of a day today. 1st my graphics card in my computer packed up so Paul has had to take the one out of his and put in in mine :) Good job he's got his Macbook Pro now.

2nd, got a problem with the brakes on the car, had to book it into the garage tomorrow and they are going to do the service at the same time.

3rd, went to the doctors to get my blood pressure checked, admittedly I haven't had it done for a good while (my fault she adds sheepishly....) It is very, very high and doctor is extremely concerned. I had been put on tablets immediately and got to go back next week to be checked. It's taught me a lesson to put my health first and not to put things off. My ex employers made it extremely difficult to take time off for appointments but being made redundant took that problem away so I need to stop making excuses and get a handle on this now. (Don't worry, I've told myself off big time !)

Anyhoo, I visited 365 Cards this morning and challenge 16 is to incorporate sunshine in your card. The little sunflower image was recycled from an old calendar and is my favourite happy smiley sunflower picture. I posted a card a couple of days ago and said I call them happy flowers, this little image is exactly what I mean by that. I used the  sketch # 7 over at Inspirational Card Sketches. I have missed the deadline because of my computer problem, but I don't stand a cat in hell's chance of winning anything anyway so it doesn't really matter. I'm not the best card maker in the world, but I love what I do. There would be no point otherwise would there?

The card blank and sun die cut are from Let's Make Cards magazine, the patterned paper is from the new Clare Curd signature collection from Papermania. Some of the designs in this pad are just gorgeous ! The glittered chipboard letters, cardstock alpha stickers and brown textured card are all DCWV from the QVC drawer sets. In hindsight I think I should have mounted the image on a contrasting card to make it pop out from the paper a bit but I had already stuck the most sticky of 3d pads on the back and they would not budge so it will have to stay as it is I am afraid. 

2 Sketches 4 You & 365 Cards

Another double challenge card thankyou to the inspiration from 365 Cards and the wonderful sketch from Laura Davis.

Day 13's challenge at 365 Cards was to make a card using only Blue, Red & Yellow with white. I have to admit, they are colours that I would never have dreamed of putting together and I'm not entirely sure about this card. I've left it blank for the time being but it will probably look better with a sentiment , not sure?

Anyhoo I have used Laura's sketch # 21 over at 2 Sketches 4 You as the layout. The blue paper is a current freebie with a UK magazine Crafts Beautiful. The blue and red ribbons are from my stash. I love the red spotty ribbon with the pretty border, it is one of my fave's. The small flower is a Prima and the button is Papermania.

The yellow flower has been recycled from my living room. I have recently changed the colour scheme and had some bright yellow and orange flowers which came apart really easily and I now have a fabulous source of large and medium size blooms and there were loads of layers in each one. Quite a bargain really! The flower sequin was in my stash from ages ago, the spotty brad is Queen & Co. and the red gems are Papermania.

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)

365 Cards Day 3

A very good friend has asked me to make a card for a 60th Anniversary as he couldn't find anything special in the shops.

I wanted to do something with linking 2 hearts together so started by cutting 2 heart shapes with a Fiskars template and sewing lace to them. The card is a pearlescent champagne colour I used a HOTP gold lace vellum, backed it with a pink DCWV cardstock and added a strip of textured card from a QVC Dawn Bibby kit which has Happy Anniversary foiled with an oil on water effect. The sentiment mat also came from this kit and I cut it into a heart shape to match the theme.

I wanted to incorporate Pearl's name as I thought this would make it more personal so I made a layered flower with 3 assorted Primas,  a pearl headed pin, a pearl shell button and tied a tiny ribbon through the holes. This makes the card fit in with Day 3's trio challenge at 365 Cards. I am loving how much more creative this blog is making me with my card making. I love being able to combine their challenges with the card sketch sites and it is spurring me on to make more cards. Pam, thank you, you are a goddess !!

Various bling has been added to fit in with the Diamond Wedding Anniversary theme and all alphabet peel offs are courtesy of Papermania.

I love this card, I am very proud of it. It has a lot more depth than I would normally put in a card. I always feel a piece of me goes into every card I make, I call it a smile in an envelope. As a complete romantic I am honoured to have been asked to make such a special card and hope they appreciate the love that has gone into it.