Tuesday 24 December 2013

Christmas Greetings .....

I've had no time for card making over the last couple of weeks.  I blame it on Christmas and the need to get everything sorted and wrapped.  It's all done now which is probably as well as the shops are now closed anything I've forgotten we'll just have to manage without!!

Thanks for all the kind comments that you have left on my blog this year and for joining me.  I would like to wish you all:

A very Merry Christmas

and a 

Happy New Year!

Monday 9 December 2013

Diamond Anniversary ...

I've had a very, very hectic weekend - no time for card making.  I was busy on Saturday selling my crafts at a school Christmas Fair which was really successful.  It doesn't mean that I can give up my day job but it does mean that I can keep crafting!!!  Sunday I had a great day out in London with my daughter - great fun but exhausting.

This week we will be celebrating my parents Diamond Wedding Anniversary (that's 60 years of marriage!) a real achievement for all!  The whole family will be gathering for dinner on Saturday evening and hopefully it will be fun for all!

Every celebration requires a card and this is no exception.  It's a card that I've been thinking about for quite sometime - I knew I wanted to incorporate a photograph but I wasn't sure how.  I also wanted to keep it clean and simple in design....... this is the finished card.


Cake cutting in December 1953
My mum's bouquet was deep red roses hence my choice of accent colour.



I'm hoping that the card fits this weeks challenge at "Less is More" for Metallic (the gold sentiment) and one colour (the red accent).  I'm not sure if it qualifies because of the black - apologies if it doesn't!

Enjoy!

Wednesday 4 December 2013

Cushion love ...

Tonight has been all about textiles!  I have a stall at a craft fair this Saturday and I needed some more stock.  

Here's what I've made tonight:



The pictures are not brilliant as the colours have come out very dark - they are a lot brighter in real life.  I hope they prove popular!

I've also knitted 20 small snowmen, stitched 15 Father Christmas and 15 reindeer - not just tonight though!!

Enjoy!

Sunday 1 December 2013

A little bit of sparkle ....

It's been another busy week - not much time for card making!

Great week on my blog lots for visitors, some wonderful comments on my cards and some new followers.  Thank you, thank you and thank you.  All your wonderful comments inspire me to continue to craft!

This is my entry into this week's challenge at "Less is More" where the theme is SPARKLE.  I'm not too good with things that sparkle so I heat embossed some card with silver embossing powder from which I then die cut 3 snowflakes, used some sparkling ribbon down the side and a silver sentiment sticker.  Having embossed the front of the card with my snowflake embossing folder I then put the whole card together.

Here it is:


It's difficult to show sparkle in a photograph but hopefully you get the idea!!


The photographs are taken with my mobile phone as my camera is currently on a weekend break in Belgium with my daughter!!

Enjoy!

Monday 25 November 2013

Parcel Post ......

I had an idea just before going to sleep last night but it was too late to do anything about however much to my surprise I remembered when I woke up this morning!  I was convinced that I had a sentiment stamp that was laid out like a name and address on a parcel or envelope.  To my delight I do have such a stamp so I was able to try out my idea - now it is down to you all to decide whether the idea was worth it.   I'm not going to try to explain where I was coming from but will let you see:

This really is a card and not a parcel!



I'm quite happy with the card - it does look exactly as I thought it would!

As the stamp features a robin I think I will enter it into the "Less is More" challenge to feature a bird on a Christmas card.  Hopefully the design is clean and simple to fit the rest of the criteria.

Thanks again to all that visit and leave a comment - I really appreciate all the feedback.

Enjoy!

Sunday 24 November 2013

Postage stamp card ....

I've had a hectic 10 days with no time to make cards and no time to post on my blog.  I've had stalls at two craft fairs - one last weekend with my Mum in Welton (just north of Lincoln) and one today in Hagbourne (just south of Didcot) - in between I've been trying to make sure that I have enough stock.  I've a couple more coming up early in December so the sewing machine and knitting needles are going to be busy!

Tonight I had an idea for a card that I wanted to try that will also fit the criteria for this week's challenge at "Less is More"  - the challenge is to create a Christmas card that features a bird.  It is possibly the most simple card that I have made.  The design is simple and the card is tiny (approximately 10cm square about 4").

First class stamp and not a lot more!!

My brother is an avid stamp collector and always saves the Christmas ones for me - they are a pain to get off the envelopes but I think they are so pretty it is worth the effort. 

I made a second one - same design different postage stamp!



If you are very lucky the postmark can be useful!

Enjoy

Wednesday 13 November 2013

My Dad's birthday ....

It's my Dad's 85th Birthday this week so I just had to make a card!  I had a bit of crafter's block as I didn't really know where to start.  However I began with the numbers and decided to zentangle them - you'd think it couldn't be that difficult but after five or six goes I actually ended up with an 8 and a 5 that I was quite happy with.  But the card was going to be a little boring with just a number on it!!  So here's what I did:



The papers are from Stampin Up, the sentiment stamp is from Clearly Besotted and the ribbon is from who knows where.

I am entering this in the Seize the Birthday Challenge and the anything goes challenge at Make it Monday.

Enjoy.

Black, white and grey take 2 ....

Thanks for all the comments on my first attempt at a black, white and grey card.  Below is my second attempt - this time I've included stamped snowflakes using white pigment ink onto a slightly shimmery black paper which I've then layered onto some grey card.  I've decided that when I'm looking for silver paper it all looks grey and when I'm looking for grey card it all looks silver!!!

I've taken inspiration for the card from Kristina Werner I love her style.



I'm still obsessed with polka dot card so have used it again for the punched snowflakes and for the sentiment. 

I'm going to enter this into the challenge on 52 {Christmas} Card Throwndown.

Enjoy!

Tuesday 12 November 2013

Black, white and grey ...

When I started blogging I thought that I would only publish cards and crafts that I really liked or at least was reasonably pleased with!  But I've decided that every rule deserves an exception (just like English grammar!!) so this is the second post that I've published that centres around a card that I'm not particularly happy with.  

The card doesn't look like I imagined it would!  It involves sparkle (Frosted Lace Stickles) which I never use and a few gems which I also never use.  You could say that it is a bit of a departure from my usual style!  I was inspired by this weeks challenge on 52 {Christmas} Card Countdown which is a colour challenge - Black, White and Grey.  I've made black and white cards before (which you can see here) but the addition of grey seems to have sent me into a bit of a frenzy until I remembered my polka dots.  

So take a peek 


I die cut the sentiment out of the white card and replaced it with a sparkly black version. The snowflakes are a combination of embossed polka dot ones hand cut and the smaller ones are punched out of the same paper.  Neither of the photographs show the sparkle very well but you can just about spot the gems in the middle of the larger snowflakes.  I've given the card  some dimension by setting some snowflakes on foam pads and the topper onto the black card also using foam pads.

Enjoy!

Saturday 9 November 2013

Thanks again ...

Just a quick post - I made another one layer Thank you card.  It's a style that I've used before - a different image last time but I quite like the effect and its simplicity.





I think I will enter it into the "Less is More" challenge.

One card, two challenges .....

It's back to Christmas cards with this post - I've nearly made enough to send this year but just in case I keep making!

This card uses the sketch from CAS(E) this Sketch! 


I've also used embossing so will enter it in the challenge on CAS-UAL Fridays

Have a look and see what you think.



The photograph doesn't show the sparkle of the stamped snowflakes.  They are stamped with Versamark and then heat embossed with some holographic embossing powder.  The sentiment is from Little Claire Designs.

Thank you!!......

This card is a BIG thank you to all my blog visitors - Thank you!  Thank you for dropping by and especially for leaving such kind comments I really do appreciate the time you take to comment.

I'm finding that the challenges are great fun and provide that bit of inspiration I need to get making.  Sometimes I find it difficult to know where to start when faced with lots of paper, stamps, inks and embellishments - I just need someone to give me a clue and that's what the challenges do!

So here is my contribution to this week's "Less is More" challenge to produce a one layer Thank you card.

Simple and one layer



As always I like to provide a close up to show some of the detail.  I'm not sure where the stamp came from as all identifying features have been removed from the packaging but I used Stampin Up Ink Riding Hood Red.  

Enjoy!

Tuesday 5 November 2013

One day, three cards, five challenges .....

This will be my last post for the day.  I couldn't resist using my favourite angel stamp one more time - this time I've coloured it with Pro Markers.

I've used the sketch from this week's challenge on 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown and as it's anything goes on Penny Black and More Challenge I am going to enter this card into both these challenges.



I'm not sure about the sentiment, wrong style, wrong place and wrong colour!

As you can see from the close up I used a very simple approach to the colouring - single colours so no dimension, I think it suits the image.

A change of direction ....

I am not a very cute kind of person (as anyone who knows me will agree!) but I would like to master the art of colouring stamps with alcohol markers. This Forever Friends stamp was free with a magazine -  that's the only reason that I own it as it is not something that I would go out and buy - so I thought I would give it a go.  I understand the principles behind using markers and in my imagination I am very good at it but in reality I believe there is clearly room for improvement!

So here it is 


I even thought I'd put in a close up of the image so that you can see the colouring in detail - warts and all!!  For the observant among you I made a mess of the bear's crown (possibly the easiest bit to colour) but managed to save the situation by paper piecing an alternative!!

I have used the sketch from this weeks challenge at Sketch Saturday so I'm going to enter it there.  They are having an Anything Goes challenge at Penny Black and More Challenge so I thought I'd give that a go as well.

If you've popped over to have a look at my blog and have any useful tips on colouring with markers I surely would appreciate hearing them.

A bit of zentangle .....



I created this owl using the zentangle approach (the outline owl was from a free colouring picture online - I guess it could be called a digital stamp!!).  I have used this image previously but then I paper pieced it which gave a totally different look which you can see in an earlier post here.

Today I thought I would create a card for the challenge over at clean&simple using their sketch:-


I used a couple of peel off's from Little Claire Designs of the sentiment and small owl - I've had these in my stash for quite sometime!  I finished with some faux stitching around the circles.


A close up of the zentangle element
The card looks very flat in this photograph put I have used dimensional foam pads to raise the white card but I cannot seem to get that to show in the photograph.  Although not a brilliant card it does look better in real life!

I thought I would also enter this into the challenge over at Make it Monday the challenge for the week is 'Anything Goes' so I guess this fits the bill there too.  I've already spied some lovely cards entered so I'm going to pop back and have another look.

Saturday 2 November 2013

Snowflakes variations on a theme .....

I've had quite a productive afternoon and increased my stash of Christmas cards - I think I have enough made to see me through this year.

Once again I have used my new snowflake die but with a different design - I'm still not sure that they really work but I find the process very therapeutic!

The first card I am also going to submit to the challenge on Winter Wonderland where this week's theme is Blue and White.  So here is the first:

I've used a navy card in the spaces of the snowflake

I flipped the colours for the second card and introduced red into the third and slightly changed the layout.


     

A splash of colour .....

Good afternoon, I'm coming to the end of a week off work - unfortunately the week is almost over before all the work is done!  Depressingly I've had an ear infection for the whole of the week and it still doesn't seem to want to clear up! The worst thing about it is that I can hardly hear anything.  

The challenge at "Less is More" this week is to use a dark background with a splash of colour.  I bought a new set of dies this  week which included a snowflake so I thought I would give it a go.  I die cut the snowflake out of the dark background and out of the red card stock then I pieced them back together - a very fiddly activity because some of the pieces are so small! The sentiment has also been set into the dark background.  




I added a third snowflake but this time set it on top using a foam pad to add some dimension to the card.










I had another go this time with turquoise and a very dark green.  This time I pieced just one snowflake and added another on top to add some dimension.





Thursday 31 October 2013

Faith in nature .....

Second card of the day.

I borrowed the stamp for this card from my Mum unfortunately we don't live very near to each other (it's a 300 mile round trip!) so sharing isn't very easy!!!

The stamp is from the 'Faith in Nature' set by Stampin Up.  I also used Stampin Up Inks - Not Quite Navy and Lucky Lemonade.  The twine for the frame also came from my Mum but I've no idea where she got it from.



I'm going to enter this into the challenge on "Less is More".  I think it fits the criteria better than the cute elephants.

Two Cute elephants .....

I've had a busy week so far - not a great deal of card making but an awful lot of craft shopping and card design chatting with my Mum! But now down to business I need to get crafting. 

My first card of the week is using the cute elephant digi stamp from Little Claire Designs (see my previous post for details) I flipped the design so that the elephants would look at each other and hold onto the sentiment banner.  The elephants are paper pieced with free paper from a magazine (but I can't remember which magazine or when.



I used some bakers twine to attached the sentiment to the elephants!

I am going to enter this into three challenges:

Seize the Birthday where anything goes, as long as it's Birthday; Little Claire's Designs where the challenge is to create a Child's Birthday Card; and "Less is More" where the challenge is to use string or twine.

Friday 25 October 2013

Little cute elephant ...

This is the first evening of the half term holidays and as I work in a school office that means a week off work!!  Will it be a week of housework, tidying and washing or will it be a week of fun .... we'll just have to wait and see.

After mentioning Little Claire Designs in my previous blog I popped along last night to see what was new.  I discovered that they have a blog too! and they run challenges!  So you know what's coming next .. I decided to have a go.  The theme is a 'child's birthday' you can find all the information here.

I downloaded from Little Claire Designs a cute elephant digi stamp and paper pieced it using some free paper from a magazine.  I've used very gentle colours (except for the background layer)  I may have another go and maybe next time I'll try it with bright cheery colours.




I had to show the cute elephant in close up

Thursday 24 October 2013

Birthday flowers ....

My friend is celebrating her 50th Birthday this weekend so I thought I would make her a special card that made no direct mention of the number 50!! 

I have a stamp sentiment from Little Claire Designs that I think is ideal for a 50th - it says "Don't think about the candles it's the memories that count".  I love Little Claire designs and have quite a number of their stamps especially the sentiments.

I took inspiration for  the layout from one of the sketches from the clean&simple challenge - it's a good job that they give you two weeks to enter otherwise I would be too late.  Here's the sketch:


And here is my card:


I had to include a close up of the cute sentiment.
When I've been wandering around and looking a other craft blogs it's been really useful to see what supplies they've used to complete their designs.  I though I would give it a go although the list will not include everything because all my supplies don't have the original packaging!!

The card stock and the paper came from my stash - the pink striped paper was a freebie from a magazine.  The circles were created using a selection of small flower stamps from different sets and stamped with the following inks from Stampin Up - Lucky Limeade, Regal Rose, Riding Hood Red - and Distress Inks - Tea Dye and Pine Needles.

The only thing left to do is upload it to clean&simple!

Sunday 20 October 2013

A Tree Trio.....

With the amount of rain we've had this afternoon I think I should have been building a boat instead of making cards!

This week's challenge at "Less is More" is based on the theme of TREES.  I've made quite a number of cards for Christmas that feature trees but the rules of the challenge don't allow for linking back (this is a great idea) so I had to think of something else.  This is what I came up with - back to black and white with the merest hint of sparkle!



This is a die that came free with a magazine - it's very fiddly to use but with the help of some waxed paper I managed to do it.  You'll have to look real close to spot the sparkle!!