Susie Sketch # 1

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

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

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

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

Card Sketch A Day # 14

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

Card Sketch A Day # 2

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

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

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

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

2 Sketches 4 You - Ashild Bonus Sketch

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

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





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

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

2 Sketches 4 You - Laura # 8

Another sketch, another birthday card done!

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

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

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

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

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

Sketches by Tamara # 60

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

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

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

2S4U Christine Bonus Sketch

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

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

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

This is ideal for a RAK card.

Kazan's Sketch #8 - Birthday Card

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

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

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

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

Going to pop it round to her a bit later.

I've Been Tagged

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I've Got an Award

My wonderful friend Jenny has sent me an award.









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

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

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

So, in no particular order the winners are:-

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

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

Laura's Sketch #7

This card is for My Father in Law's birthday on the 7th September. The lucky so and so is flying off to Mauritius on Friday so I am popping it in the post to him tomorrow.

I used Monday's sketch at 2 Sketches 4 You. Both Laura & Kazan design some great sketches and they get well over 100 people taking part every week. I've not seen any other sketch site that gets as many as that so they are obviously very well regarded by the crafty community. I am just ovwerwhelmed by how many great cards are uploaded, they are very inspirational. I'm a bit late this week so won't be added to the list, serves me right for my tardyness.

The card is a textured one from Papermill, love filling those boxes. When I first started making cards I went to the Liverpool one on the train a couple of times. I managed to get the train tickets so cheap it was worth the travel and I have still got loads of the card left.

The papers are from Dovecrafts Masculine pack, HOTP cardmakers Earth tones and the speckled one is from the recent Making Cards for Men special edition as is the sentiment. The golf embellishment is from LMC and the ric rac was from Ebay some time ago.

As he is a very keen golfer I am sure he will love this but I bet he likes his holiday better !

That's me finally finished!

This week has been so awful. You know you are going but you don't know when...... I was officially told at 11am but had to wait a couple of hours to fill the paperwork in as they had sent it by DHL and it was late, typical carriers !

I'm glad it is all over with now as it has been a horrible few days. Paul has been told his services will be required for a bit longer so at least we will have his wage for a while longer. Again they don't know how long but it won't be as long as a month.

In the meantime some of the agency contacts I have are circulating my CV so I am hoping something will come of that and I guess I'm signing on Monday morning.

I am hoping better things will come of it but it was awful to say goodbye to so many people that have become such a big part of your life.

Going up the pub now to celebrate so will probably be a bit pickled later :)

Martha Stewart Doily Punch

One of the very talented ladies who makes cards using the 2 Sketches 4 You sketches is Dawny P. Whilst looking at samples made for the relevant sketch I happened upon this card and thought the border punch was lovely.

I asked Dawn where I could get one and she sent me a lovely email with some links. I was fortunate to get one from a USA seller on Ebay but was really worried as I'd asked for it to be despatched to my work address and of course they have gone bump. It had been despatched on the 21st so there was nothing the seller could do to intercept it or change the address or anything.

So, imagine my surprise when I got home from work and it was poking through my letterbox. I was amazed it was still there to be honest as we live on a main road and I would have thought it would have been stolen. I have never been so happy to have an item sent to the wrong address !

I have had a little play with it tonight and it punches beautifully. I can't wait to use it properly.

Thank you Dawny P

Definitely Lost Our Jobs :(

Well, we have been told we have not had a buyer and have definitely lost our jobs

They are keeping staff on to clear everything down. Some people have been formally told they are redundant today and finished straight away, others are being kept on to cover a specific job. In my case there are parcels in the network that are to be delivered. Business Post have taken all the ones at the hub so far, we have about 10 trailers of freight to be collected from London tomorrow and there are various bits at the depots to be brought in. I think once all the drivers have gone that will probably mean I will be going too.

Paul is very involved in the reporting processes for accounts etc so he thinks he might be working for the next couple of weeks. We have been told we have all been paid up to the end of the month anyway so won't get paid any more unless it is worked beyond the end of the week. Redundancy money will have to be claimed back from the government.

I have got a really good reference from my immediate boss and will be getting another from the Head of Transport.

It has been a really weird atmosphere today so I'll be glad when it's all over. There are a lot of very bitter people at our place and I can't blame them but all the same it's not nice to be around.

I had a phone call from one of the agencies as they had seen my CV on Monster so that's good news. I said I will call them as soon as I know for definite I am released.

Ingrid's Bonus Sketch

Another birthday card and this time I used Ingrid's bonus sketch at 2 Sketches 4 You.

It'e our neighbours lad Dale's Birthday tomorrow and he is 17.

I used hammered card as the base and a slightly textured glimmer paper for the dark blue square. The circle paper is from a huge Rob & Bob pack that I had from QVC some time ago. There are some really funky papers in it and this is a piece that I had left from another project some time ago.

The striped paper is a magazine freebie one. I have a huge amount of these as I am determined to start using some of the better quality ones.

The cupcake is a chipboard one from a Colorbok pack from QVC. I added stickles to the frosted top and candle. I used Tulip paint to add little dots to the outside edge. This is mounted on the dark blue paper and then a Kanban die cut frame. The gifts are from LMC packs and the sentiment is recycled from a birthday card.

Kazan's Sketch #7 - Engagement card

It IS now looking very likely that both Paul and I will lose our jobs (see my last post) One of the senior managers is on Facebook and there are a lot of people from our company desperate to know what is happening. He has basically indicated that we will all be redundant and will have to claim redundancy from the Government. As we are a next day carrier and all freight was either parked up or not collected at all on Friday nothing will be delivered and the result will be that our customer's will go elsewhere. He has also confirmed there are no buyers for us soit seems like it is a done deal and over 900 people will be confirmed jobless on Tuesday. I have already updated my CV but need to find out who will give me a job reference from my company.

Anyhoo, amidst all the doom & gloom lately a wonderful thing has happened.

Paul's sister Jill went on holiday with her boyfriend Steve and whilst they were away he propsed to her - in the sea!

We are so absolutely delighted for them both and they are coming over tomorrow so I thought I'd better make a card quick.

I used Kazan's sketch #7 over on 2 Sketches 4 You and this is the result. Apologies for the bad scan. There is a lot of metallic and it hasn't shown the layers very well and I couldn't get a nice photo of it at all.

The black card was edged in a metallic gold pen. The patterned paper is a touchy feely flocked wrapping paper from Paperchase which I punched small hearts into the handcut scalloped edge. The main embellishment is Papermania metal shapes layered on black, gold and patterned paper. The sentiment is from my stash.

The base card is a textured cardstock from the Papermill. It looked a little stark so I ran a fairly dry inkpad around the edges and distressed it a bit. I'm not sure that I like it, I don't seem to have the subtle touch and think I tend to overdo it but it's too late now!

I am sure they will like it and I'm probably being overly critical. Probably indicative of the slighly narky mood I am in at the moment.

Roll on Tuesday..........lmost wish it wasn't a bank holiday tomorrow.

Might be losing my job :(

Paul and I work for the same parcel delivery company and just as we were leaving work yesterday we were told the company has gone into administration!

It is a huge shock as nobody saw it coming. The whole parcel sector is not as busy as it had been but we there was no warning that we were as bad as that ! When we went bust in January last year there was a long lead up to it and we knew the company was in financial difficulties for a long time before it finally went under, but this time it was truly sudden.

We have been told to go into work as normal on Tuesday and we will have to go from there.

In the meantime I have updated my CV in preparation for things to come. I love working for the company and truly hope that I will still be able to for some time to come.

Please keep your fingers crossed for me :)

Di Hickman August #2

I have a lot of family birthdays coming up so rather unlike me I am trying to get ahead of myself and not leave them to the last minute.

I was going through some bits and found the spotty border which is a funky foam one I have had for ages. When I saw the latest Di Hickman sketch I thought of this and immediately knew it would make a good design for a card for the little girl next door. She is a proper girly girl and likes anything pink.

The main pink paper and floral paper are from a Inspire Me pack I won from a draw on their website. The central panel is from a Dovecrafts Retro Floral pack, the sentiment is from my stash. The princess word is from recycled plastic packaging and the likkle girl is from a kids hair scrunchie. For definition I have used ink edging, loads of sakura clear glitter pen and layered using 3D foam.

Well that's one down and about 10 more to go !

Christening Bookatrix

I had been commissioned to make a card by a work colleague for a baby's Christening. I presented a number of different design options and the one she chose was a bookatrix design.



The patterned paper is a freebie one from a magazine. The mini bible I made myself from chipboard covered with pearlescent paper, thin card pages and ribbon. The cross is a peel off. The ribbon is from my stash and the likkle baby is wearing a ribbon nappy.


The box is edged in the same blue ribbon. The frame is from a sticker pack from Poundland. This is laid over a piece of card 2which has been run through a Cuttlebug embossing folder. The chipboard sentiment is from a DCWV baby chiboard sticker pack and the sentiment is a Kanban kit ftom QVC.

Laura's Sketch #6

I needed to make a New Home card for my friend who has just moved in on Thursday and I used Laura's latest sketch over on 2 Sketches 4 You.

I used Doodlebug paper for the background along with some Cuttlebugged swiss dots card which I ran an inkpad over. The leather effect ribbon is from Docrafts, the sentiment a QVC kit and the house is a Doodlebug designs Sizzix die cut with a brad for a door knob.

The top section is layers of handmade paper and 7 Gypsies paper from a Zanzibar pad (1st time I have used it!) the little houses are cut out using a punch I bought ages ago from Art of Craft.

The new home sentiment is metallic and hasn't scanned very well unfortunately :(