365 Cards Day 22

So this is another card that I made on Saturday. I was trying to get some of the older 365 challenges completed and this is from a sketch on Day 22.

The base card is DL size and I rounded the corners with a punch and followed suit on the paper which is a gorgeous glittered DCWV one from the Butterflies & Blossoms stack. The blue cardstock strips are scraps with large blue gems from Paperchase. The glittered chipboard sentiment is from Poundland and the teeny brads are from HOTP.

Still got loads of the older challenges to complete but feel happier that I can tick SOME of them off the list :)

365 Cards Day 47

What a fun card this is, I really enjoyed making it.

Day 47's challenge on 365 Cards was to make a pop-up card. I have made pop-up's before but not like this, I was immediately taken with the sample provided. The wonderful Amy Tsurutu provided us with a link to some instructions on the scor-it site and they were very earsy to follow. If you are interested in making a card like this click on Amy's name here and it will take you directly to the post on her blog with the link. Whilst you are there take a look at the wonderful cards she creates, she is one talented Momma and her daughter looks like she will be following in her talented footsteps. 

Anyway the deets..... the base card is made from a strip of DCWV card, wasn't sure if it would be sturdy enough but it worked just great. The patterned papers are from the freebie pack with Cardmaking & Papercraft magazine. The bottoms of the strawberries were cut off in the book which I thought was a bit strange... but you get the idea and they match the strawberries in the rubber stamped image. I coloured it in the watercolour pencils and added Sakura glitter pens. This was matted onto paper from the pack and then mounted to white card which provides the pop-up mechanism to the card. The back of the card is also covered with more of the paper and thus provides somewhere to write. The glittered chipboard sentiment is again from a Poundland pack.

The card folds up to pop in an envelope, I am REALLY impressed with this style of card and will be making more in the future.

Inspirational Card Sketches 15 & 365 Cards Day 68

This is another card I made on Saturday at the crafty meet up. I have used sketch 15 from Inspirational Card Sketches for the layout and Day 68's challenge at 365 Cards to make a card including or inspired by candy.

In the UK candy is referred to as a sweet, but also a dessert is often called a sweet too so I have incorporated both into this card.

The papers are from the freebie book of papers that came with Cardmaking & Papercraft magazine. The image of the icecream sundae was part of a page that I have cut this design from. I have matted it onto some scrap red card.

The swirls are by Doodlebug. The glittered chipboard sentiment came from a craft pack at Poundland and has tiny HOTP brads. The glittered candy shape is DCWV and looks just like the strawberry sauce swirled around the icecream. Since taking this photo I have also added dimensional glaze to the sauce and the cherry which makes it glisten a bit more. 

Just Christmas & Birthdays & 365 Cards Day 25

I made this card using this week's sketch from Just Christmas & Birthday Cards. It was for a square card but I had adapted it to fit an A5 rectangular card to suit the butterfly image. The colour scheme is to fit in with an old challenge, day 25 on 365 Cards

The backing paper is from Clare Curd's The Big One by Papermania.

The butterfly image is recycled from an old card I had received. It is stamped in a pearlescent ink and has glitter on it. I have added a little Sakura glitter pen onto it as well. This is matted onto HOTP shimmer paper and then on white card. The sentiment panel is from HOTP and has a card candy on a 3D foam where the printed brad is on the tag. I've added glitter pen to the lettering.

The brown grosgrain ribbons are from Ebay and the patterned green paper is from a book that came free with Cardmaking & Papercraft magazine.

2 Sketches 4 You - Laura # 25

This is one of the cards I made at our crafty session. I decided I was going to be organised and mad a bag up for each card sketch or challenge with the items I was making the card with. This was much more productive than me taking a whole bunch of stuff and meandering along.... I made 7 cards in 5 hours so not too bad considering we were have a good old natter as well.

This card was made using Laura's current sketch at 2 Sketches 4 You. The floral paper is a vellum which has been treated with my Martha Stewart Punch. I have stuck some Docrafts ribbon on the top.

The flower border stamp is by Clare Curd and part of the Papermania collection.I have coloured this in with Sakura glitter pens and Marvy Le Plume to match the colours in the vellum.

The flower is a petal from a bunch of silk flowers. It has been cut in half and layered and looks very full. The big brad is a HOTP with a rub on sentiment on top.

Crafty Session in Warrington

Had a great day in Warrington today with new friends and old. We made loads of cards and chatted for England. In the main photo there is Lisa, Tabitha, Helen, her daughter Hannah, Christine, Elizabeth and moi (please note much smaller stomach than on previous outing, this GI diet is amazing!!)

Got no more crafty meetings booked up at the moment (boo hoo) hopefully that will be remedied soon if Lisa can book one in Gloucestershire and Helen is looking at when we can have the hall in Warrington again. We know we can't have the Welwyn Bowling Club until about October, I mean can you imagine they actually want to use it for themselves, the cheek :)

At least that is one good thing about living in Birmingham, I'm pretty central to most places and can get around better than if I was far south or far north. 

I made 7 cards so need to update my blog. I'll probably be doing that tomorrow now as I am a little tired but have had a brilliant day.

Had my hair chopped off !!!

Will take a picture later if possible but I have been to the hardressers and had a lot of the length of my hair cut off. **** edited to add pictures ****

When I went last time I had it shorter and I've gone even shorter still. It had however grown back to mid shoulder length and I've gone a lot shorter as you can see! I've had it cut into the nape of my neck at the back and it is longer at the front in a bob stylee. Paul was a bit shocked as I'd had so much cut off. I fancied a change abd I think part of it is because I am losing weight and feel better about myself.

Going for a craft meet up with friends in Warrington tomorrow so need to get my things together for that. I always take more than I need to and I want to try and take things for specific projects tomorrow if possible. But before that, we have a 3 - 4 hour appointment at the hospital with  Grandad. He's being transported from one hospital to another for some tests and will be there for a long time so we didn't want him to be in a  wheelchair there all alone. His eyesight is failing and these tests will hopefully find out why.

I don't think there will be any crafting for me today but I should hopefully be making up for that tomorrow :)

Until then, toodle pip !

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. 

Cuttlebug Spa Weekend Winner !!!!

Wow, I have some fantastic news to share.

Over on the Cuttlebug Challenge blog last weekend they held a Spa Weekend with loads of inspiring projects and a blog hop with loads of prizes. Many of the individual designers had prizes too and I have won one!!

The goodies above were from the very talented Karen Maldonado and of all the lovelies offered this is honestly the one I REALLY wanted and I actually only blooming won it. I am doing a massive happy dance.

I need to go to bed now but I think I'm too excited to sleep :)

365 Cards Day 67 & Di Hickman May # 1

It's Day 67 at 365 Cards and the challenge today is to 'Think Pink' and make a card where the predominant colour is pink.

Been to the hospital to visit Grandad so I was late getting back, by the time we'd had something to eat and do some washing I couldn't hit my craft room until 10:30pm so needed to do something quite quick. As soon as I saw Di Hickmans sketch which she revealed this evening I knew what I was going to do.

I pulled out my DCWV Blossoms & Butterflies pad and the backing paper is an offcut from another card I had made previously. The paper has silver metallic swirls on it (which have scanned in black, sorry) I absolutely adore it and I'm glad I could use the offcut as I only have 1 sheet left - 1 to use , 1 to stroke LOL

The scalloped 'ribbon' is a scrap piece of card that I cut a scalloped border from using a Fiskars Shapecutter template. The stitched ribbon is a self adhesive DCWV. The butterfly is a Cuttlebug die and emboss combi with a small amount of pink ink on the edges. I have folded the wings up and only stuck it down in the centre. The scanner has squashed it but it springs straight back up. The pink gems are Paperchase and I used a tiny bit of silver gel pen on the ends of the antennae.

I have left the card without a sentiment but may add something at a later point in time. 

I'm glad Pam gave us an easier challenge today as I don't think I would have been able to complete the challenge this evening otherwise.

365 Cards Day 66 & The Pink Elephant 13

The challenge for Day 66 at 365 Cards is to incorporate a specificsentiment into your card. The sentiment was 'You are there, and I am here'. Obviously a bit of a challenge. I'd been mulling it over for a bit and whilst I was in Asda doing the shopping I suddenly thought it would be perfect for a 'let's get together for a coffee' type of card.

Whilst bloghopping yesterday I found a link to a Splitcoast Stampers Tutorial for making flowers out of circles by folding them. Within the tutorial it said you could use scalloped circles to make a carnation type flower and I wanted to have a go at it. I have lots of paper, but not much of it is double sided so the hardest part was trying to get the papers together to do them. I have a pack of papers that came from Costco last year which is where these came from but they are a bit darker than I would have liked them to be. Nevertheless I am quite pleased with how they turned out.

I covered the front of the card with the light green side and cut a scalloped circle with my largest Nestability die. I offset the edges off the card and trimmed to fit. The flowers are made from cutting the 2 smallest nestie dies and folding as per the linked tutorial. The stem and leaves was drawn freehand with a pencil then I drew over it with a Sakura Quickie glue pen and added fine grade glitter to the swirls. This is something I've never had the confidence to do before as I was always worried I would muck it up but I'm pleased with the outcome. 

The sentiment for the front and inside was printed onto paper and I then mounted the front onto card. I used a Craftwork Cards sentiment message that my friend Sarn gave me to make a template for the shape and drew around the edges. I have pierced the edges of the shape and mounted onto 3D foam.

The message inside was stuck on with double sided tape. I cut a frame with the nesties out of the green paper and stuck to bottom. The birdie is one of my new Hero Arts stamps that I bought at the Glitterpot. I coloured it in with Marvy le Plume pens and a silver gel pen.

The use of circles and scallops on this card has enabled me to enter it into the Pink Elephant Challenge this week.

I'm pleased with how this card turned out. I have learnt new techniques and done something different. Woohoo !!!

Stampin Chic, Forever Friends & 365 Cards

Lucky me, I have made this card and managed to get it to tie up with 3 different challenges.

The challenge this week at Forever Friends was to make a card of a different than normal shape. I decided I wanted to make a flower shaped card as I haven't done one before. I used a template from Mel Stampz blog to cut the card shape from a Papermania blank and then resized it to make the 2 smaller outlines.

The challenge at Stampin' Chic this week was to include stitching of some sort, whether real or faux. I used one of the outlines to add faux stitching with a gel pen. The spotted paper is from the Papermania Clare Curd Signature range.  I used rubber stamps from the same range to make the flowers. I just stamped onto some offcuts of card and shaped the smaller flowers to add dimension. The FF bear is a clear sticker mounted onto white card which came free with a magazine. The with love sentiment has been matted onto white card and I have put little dots around the edge to add definition. The flower is from the same sticker sheet. The sister sentiment is cut from a FF decoupage sheet by Papermania.  I have added stickles glue to the flower centres and random dots on the paper. 

The challenge for day 65 at 365 Cards was to make a Mothers Day Card or to make a card to honour a woman in your life. I had intended this card to be sent to my secret sister (she doesn't ead my blog, I'm safe !!) hence the sister heading. However, when I showed it to my hubby he asked if it was for his sister's birthday later this month !!! How organised am I getting, making a card so many weeks in advance. 

365 Cards Day 64 & Forum Challenge

Day 64 at 365 Cards is a sketch to work from.

Sarn had set our forum challenge to use chickens on your card. I had a look through my stamped images folder and this is my only chicken image from a swap we did on the forum. Fortunately one of them was coloured in already using Twinkling H20's so it made it much quicker to put the card together.

I used a sheet of A4 card for the base and cut it down to a square. The patterned paper is from a DCWV glitterstack, love how colourful it is. I used a stitched Docrafts ribbon across the join to mimic the stitches in the sketch.

I matted the stamped image on orange card and raised it using 3D foam pads. The sentiment ribbon slide is a glittered chipboard from a craft pack at Poundland.

Right got to go wake my hubby from his lie in as we are going out to lunch with friends in Birmingham. This is the 1st time we have eaten out since starting the GI diet so it will be a challenge to eat as heathily and GI friendly as possible. Wish me luck !!

365 Cards Day 63 & Savitri's Bonus Sketch

Woohoo, managed to make the last 365 Card before the end of the week.

Challenge for today, day 63 was to make a card with 8 flowers on it.

I wanted to use Savitri's Bonus sketch over at 2 Sketches 4 You as I really liked the layout. It's the last time the current DT will have submitted cards and although it's a shame to see them go, there will be a new DT next week and it's always great to see who has been picked. They have so many talented card makers and it really is a very inspirational blog. I think my cards are very basic compared to some of the luscious designs that are showcased on there, hopefuly some of it will rub off onto me :)

I started off by using a 3D floral element that came from a sticker pack at Poundland. I bought absolutely loads of them when they came out as they were fabulous value for what you got, but haven't used many of them at all. I plan to remedy that as to make some Christmas presents this year I want to make a personal calendar and card box for members of the family and need to make lots and lots of cards. That's where 365 Cards is helping me to use my stash one card at a time.

Anyway, I digress. The embellishment only had 7 flowers so I nicked one off another pack and made it 8. I added a bit of Paparmania bling to the centre. I cut an oval from a scrap of Dovecraft Laura Ashley paper and matted this on a scrap of soft gold.

The paper is from Creative Cardmaking magazine. The sentiment is from there too and matted onto some scrap black card. I added a couple of tiny butterflies to the panel to finish it off.

I am quite pleased with it as it is a pretty card and suitable for many occasions.

Going to end my day now and start reading Eclipse which is the 3rd book in the Twilight series. I have yet to see the film but have really enjoyed the first 2 books. I'll probably end up dreaming of vampires again.......

Kazan 25 & 365 Cards Day 62

The challenge yesterday, day 62 at 365 Cards was to make a card where a number needed to signify the importance of the event. Having just made an age card only a few days ago I couldn't think of an event I needed one for so soon. Then it dawned on me that our neighbours lad is 18 this year and a card was born.....

I have used Kazans latest sketch 25 over at 2 Sketches 4 You as the layout as it seemed perfect for an 18 year old male.

The papers are from Papermania and Dovecraft. The gold star is from a miscellanous pack of paper & card I had from Home Bargains. It came in an A4 red tray with tons of papers in it and was an absolute bargain. It was supposed to be a kids scrap play pack, well at 37 I can still be a kid right?

The white star is glittered and I have no idea where I got that one from. The lettering is self adhesive die cuts from a QVC TSV that Brenda Pinnick did last year.

Well it's not his birthday until late August so I've REALLY excelled myself making this one in advance....

Just one more 365 card to go and I've completed this week's challenges. 

Card Patterns 12 & 365 Cards Day 41

I am endeavouring to catch up on the challenges I have missed at 365 Cards and this is for Day 41 which was to make a Get Well Card with at least 5 flowers on it.

I have used this weeks sketch 12 over at Card Patterns for the layout. Materials used are pretty much all DCWV. I love the paisley paper as it is a more modern style and I love the bright colours oranges/reds/yellows are such cheery colours.

The die cut flowers are from the Peeking Posies range. I have added gold embossed circles from Lets Make Cards along with a few gold peel offs.

The sentiment is made from glittered stickers from the DCWV drawer set I had from QVC last year. I Love DCWV, the patterns are funky, the colours all work well together across different ranges and they do great TSV's that are fabulous value for money.

Fortunately I have no one in need of this card at the moment so this will go in my box ready for a poorly person who needs a bright card to cheer them up :)

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 !!