A Life of Continuous Small Treats

Adoption card and verse

2012-02-29T18:46:00.000Z

I was asked to make a card for a friend to give to a couple who are adopting a little boy. I couldn't find a suitable verse for it, so decided to write my own. I've removed the name from the poem.
I was badly needing some inspiration, and came across a beautiful card on a blog called Indigo Wings, and you can see the card that inspired mine, as well as more very pretty cards, by clicking here.

Food bag toppers

2012-02-24T18:52:00.027Z

I made some chocolate brownies to give to the two Saturday girls I've been working with for the last five years. Unfortunately my pharmacy locum job came to an end on Saturday, and I wanted to say thank you to them for being such a great support to me over the years. They are both complete chocoholics so I'm hoping they'll like my home cooking. The thing about chocolate home bakes is that even when they are bad they are good!
I used the already rather decorative Ikea Food bags for the brownies, then added a simple folded piece of card to staple over the top.

I'm entering this project in to the following challenges:
Allsorts Challenge Blog: anything goes
Our Creative Corner: over the edge
Penny's Paper-Crafty Challenge Blog: anything goes

Pink Petticoat perfect pear card

2012-02-12T12:48:00.001Z

Here's my DH's Valentine's card. Hope he likes it. I've used another fabulous Pink Petticoat image for this one, coloured with Promarkers. The paper I used wasn't the best for Promarkers so there is a little bit of a mottled look to the colouring, but since pears can have a mottled skin, I decided that it was fine!

I'm entering this card in to the following challenges:
Allsorts Challenge Blog; free and easy February
CES Challenge Blog: lots of layers
Craft and Me Challenges: use a new image
I love Promarkers: love is in the air
My Mum's Craft Shop Challenge: it must be love
Paperplay Challenges: love letters
Papertake Weekly Challenge: anything goes
Creative Inspirations: lots of love

70th birthday bookmark card

2012-02-06T18:01:00.001Z

I was asked to make a 70th birthday card for my friend's mum, to include a bible verse that they had chosen. I've made this card using a My Mind's Eye stack, and a couple of my favourite Sizzix dies 656560 and 656640 . To prevent the front of the card becoming overly cluttered, I decided to make the bible verse in to a bookmark by using my perforated cutter to section off a strip on the back of the card. When the card is no longer being displayed, the bookmark can be easily separated from the rest of the card and act as a nice keepsake for her to use every day. I used my Hougie board to create the embossed square on the front of the card. The writing, including the very fine sentiment, is cut with my Craft Robo using the Wendy Medium font, which I really like for the Robo as it is easy to fuse the letters together.

I'm entering this card in to the following challenges:
Allsorts Challenge Blog: free and easy February
Crafts and Me Challenges: time to brighten up your day
Crafty Catz Weekly Challenge: pink and white
Stamp, Scrap & Doodle Saturdays: die cut or punches

Hero Arts A Real Daisy less is more card

2012-02-05T16:18:00.001Z

I had this card floating around my head for a few days and was keen to put my idea in to practice. I've used three Hero Arts stamps-one of my all time favourites C2624 A Real Daisy, S4878 Old Letter Writing and C2655 Thank You Very Much. The writing stamp is quite large, so I stamped it through an aperture made in copy paper using a Nestability die.

I'm entering this card in to the following challenge:
Less is More: aqua

Hero Arts Delicate Blossoms CL449 sympathy card

2012-02-03T08:00:00.001Z

Here's a quick sympathy card, using one of my favourite Hero Arts stamps, coloured with Promarkers and mounted in a very simple and unfussy way.

Another Pink Petticoat Valentine's Card

2012-02-02T13:11:00.001Z

I made this for my DS so it has been left pretty clean and simple as I don't think he'd appreciate many embellishments (and in fact generally rolls his eyes and and makes over-the-top 'ooh I wonder who this card can be from?' type comments when he receives a Valentine's card that has mysteriously landed on the mat on the morning of 14th February and is written in my cunningly disguised handwriting!) But hey ho, it is tradition and I'm not stopping now! As before, I've tinkered with the sentiment and the size of the image.

I'm entering this card in to the following challenge:
Penny's Paper-crafting Challenge Blog: love is in the air

Pink Petticoat Valentine's card

2012-01-31T22:48:00.000Z

I've made this Valentine's card to give to my DD. I used a Pink Petticoat image, coloured with Promarkers, and mounted on papers from a very old card kit I used to get. I've challenged myself to start using up some of these old kits to make way for new stuff! The paper colours match the Promarkers better in real life than they appear to in the photo. I've played with the image in Serif Craft Artist to isolate it from the rest of the images on the sheet and to enlarge it, then added my own sentiment.

I'm entering this card in to the following challenges:
Allsorts Challenge Blog: one or more hearts
Charisma Cardz Challenges: pretty in pink
Crafty Catz Challenge: things with wings
The Crafty Pad: show some Valentine/anniversary love

I've won!!

2012-01-24T22:20:00.002Z

Whooohoooo! I've just spotted that I've won an absolutely fantastic prize from The Ribbon Girl over at Papertake Weekly for my paper pieced shoe card. I'm so pleased as I love The Ribbon Girl and the prize is very generous.

Thanks ladies x

Pink Petticoat paper pieced shoe

2012-01-17T17:24:00.000Z

I really love these Pink Petticoat digi images. This one has been manipulated a bit in Serif Craft Artist, to enlarge it and rotate it, so that it is suitable for an A5 card, and it gave me more space to paper piece the image.The text was also done in Craft Artist. I did a little colouring with Promarkers too.

I am entering this card in to the following challenges:
Papertake Weekly Challenge: buttons, bows, bling and blooms
Our Creative Corner: paper piecing with a twist

My first Pink Petticoat card

2012-01-12T15:53:00.000Z

I'm continuing to dip my toes in the digital waters, and after seeing Katina's wonderful cards on her blog, and finding out that Pink Petticoat had a sale on, I immediately rushed on over and bought a few bits and pieces. I've made three cards so far, two like this and another I'll share at a later date. I used Serif Craft Artist to rub out the 'for my' part of the sentiment and replaced it with 'for our'.
The sets I used from Pink Petticoat are the Mini Diva Doodles and Perfect Papers. My absolute favourite paper from this set has to be the white polka dot on a distressed black background. I can see me using this a lot. I love pink and black together. I also used seam binding from The Ribbon Girl which I ruffled, and my favourite scalloped edged cards from Craftwork Cards, which I must have used hundreds of times now, but keep going back to because they are just so good for girly cards. I've added lots and lots of glitter as these images are made to be blinged.

I'm entering this card in to the following challenges:
CES Challenge Blog: anything goes
Charisma Cardz Challenges: Happy birthday
Craft and Me Challenges: anything goes
Crafty Cardmakers: no floral embellishments
Ladybug Crafts Ink: use our new stash
My Mum's Craft Shop Challenges: here come the girls

Christmas card 2011

2011-12-20T14:59:00.001Z

This is one of two designs I made for my Christmas cards this year, but I forgot to photograph the first design even though I made about 35 of them. I used the same stamp for both designs, which is made by Art Impressions F-1121. I used a Martha Stewart punch along the bottom of a small square card blank from Craftwork Cards. I embossed two lines with my Hougie board then added a strip of Christmas text paper between them.

I am entering this card in to the following challenges:
Whoopsi Daisy Challenge: sparkle and shine
Ruby's Rainbow Challenges: monochrome
Penny's Paper-Crafty Challenge: Merry Christmas
Papertake Weekly Challenge: last Christmas card of the year
Paperplay Challenges: Christmas
Papercrafting Journey: Christmas
One Stop Craft Challenge: Christmas sparkle

50th card for a cook

2011-12-20T14:31:00.001Z

I can't believe it has been so long since I last posted. What a bad, bad blogger I am. However, I haven't been idle, and have made lots of cards over the last few weeks, some of which I've actually remembered to photograph!
I was asked to make a card to be given to a lady who is a keen cook, and to accompany the card, I made a separate fancy invitation to the posh restaurant her friends are taking her to for her birthday present, so a cooking themed card seemed appropriate.
I used DCWV Nana's Kitchen papers to make this stepper card. I absolutely love the little metal knife, fork and spoon charm which I'll need to buy more of next time I'm at a craft show. The apron is made using an old Woodware clear stamp from a garden themed set. I paper-pieced the pocket and you may just about be able to make out the tiny fork and spoon in the pocket.

I am entering this card in to the following challenges:

Craft Creations Challenges: embossing and glitter

The Crafty Pad: anything but Christmas

Hybrid card for a 17 year old

2011-11-10T13:01:00.001Z

It's one of life's big mile-stones isn't it? The age when you can get your provisional licence and go behind the wheel of a car for the first time. My DD has just turned seventeen and is really excited to be having her first driving lesson. I made this card using Craft Artist and all the digi elements are ones that came with the Platinum edition of the software, except the L-plate which I created using various tools within the program. I've decoupaged the balloons, added some baker's twine for the strings, added buttons to the wheels and done a little doodling around the card edge. It is a big 8x8" card from Craftwork cards. I love this size and you can't miss it on the mantelpiece!

Baby boy card

2011-11-10T12:17:00.003Z

There have been lots of babies born to friends and family over the last few weeks, so I've been busy making cards for them. Here's the first of the boy cards.

This image is coloured with Prisma pencils and Sansodor for blending. The grass was doodled in.

I'm entering this in to the following challenges:

CES Challenges: inspired by a song or film (Beautiful Boy - Celine Dion)

Charisma Cardz Challenges: cutesy

Crafty Catz Weekly Challenge: anything goes
Stampalot Challenge: blue and green

Me to You birthday card

2011-10-31T10:31:00.001Z

Another card made using my new Docraft Me to You CD. I created my own decoupage by printing multiple images on to an A4 sheet, and designed the card layout using various elements on the discs. Easy peasy!

I am entering this card in to the following challenges:
Charisma Cardz Challenges: anything goes
Paper Crafting Journey: use a digi

Football/Soccer card

2011-10-01T12:24:00.001+01:00

I was playing about with Craft Artist Platinum and came up with this card for my friend's son. I've made use of the Sport's digikit which comes with the program, and built up a grassy border with lots of individual tufts of grass from another kit.

I'm entering this card in to the following challenge:
Cards for Men: sports
One Stop Craft Challenge: just for men

Me to You digital card

2011-09-30T15:16:00.001+01:00

My latest purchase, the Docraft Digital Designer Me to You Especially For You CD Roms arrived yesterday and I started playing as soon as I could. I'm really pleased with the content, and the program is pretty easy to navigate although it could do with some more features. I can't find a way to align an element relative to another element which would be handy for centring a greeting on a tag for example. There also doesn't seem to be a way of creating custom size pages, which would be handy for making inserts, but there is a work-around which I used for this card.

My method to create an insert 28cm x 13.2 cm for the inside of a Craftwork Cards scallop card blank, was to open an A4 landscape page, add a patterned paper, then use the rectangle punch to cut out a rectangle the same size as my insert (using the rulers to get the right size) with this insert space right up in the top left hand corner. I then used the punch again to cut away some more of the patterned paper at the bottom of the A4 sheet to leave only a thin border of patterned paper round the bottom and RHS of the insert to act as a cutting guide. I reduced the transparency right down too, to save wasting ink. It was then easy to position my insert elements in to this blank insert space.

Having thought I wouldn't be the least bit interested making Christmas cards from this CD, and only really bought it to get more all occasions papers and sentiments to add to my other Me to You decoupage kit, look what I ended up making first! I've made this for my friend and her family as I know they'll love the image. I designed the layout using digital elements from the kit, and created my own decoupage by printing several copies of the same image. It is covered in glitter which doesn't really show up on camera.

I'm entering this card in to the following challenge:

Paperplay Challenges: white plus one

My first Me to You card

2011-09-27T16:26:00.002+01:00

I bought this very good value Me to You card kit from Daisy Jewel's and Crafts. As I've said before (usually just before I show you a cute card lol), I don't really 'do' cute, but I do quite like Tatty Bear, and when I asked my teenage daughter, she said she has a few pals that like the 'Me to You' range too, so she'd make cards with the kit, so I bought it. It really is incredible value and very good quality. I'm now hooked on this little bear, and have just bought a CD of images too, so there will probably be a lot more of these cards on my blog in the coming months. I've made this card to give to my friend's wee girl as she loves baking.

I'm not too keen on all the white around the decoupage image, so I used the bottom layer to add to a Karen Burniston pop up Sizzix die, and added the rest of the decoupage layers to one of the toppers in the kit, which fortunately is sized the same.

I'm entering this card in to the following challenges:
The Sweet Stop: sketch (rotated)

My Mum's Craft Shop: Girls and boys (card for a girl)

Tattered florals birthday card

2011-09-26T10:21:00.001+01:00

This was a quick card to make. I used some papers from a MME paper stack, and the Sizzix Tattered Florals and Flourish dies. I also used my favourite embossing folder. The flower centre looks like a mini fruit pastille. It was made by sprinkling tiny beads on to Pinflair glue.

I'm entering this card in to the following challenges:
Less is More: sketch
Allsorts Challenge Blog: keep it simple
Whoopsi Daisy Challenge: make your own embellishment

60th birthday card

2011-09-23T13:39:00.002+01:00

I've made this card for a very young-at-heart 60 year old. Hope she likes it. I've used an old Self-addressed kit from March 2008. I used to love these kits, but they are sadly no more. I still turn to them when I'm making smaller cards as the papers are all 6x6, and they came with lots of fun embellishments and Purple Onion stamps, which are still in constant use.

I'm entering this card in to the following challenges:
Sketch 'N' Stash: any previous sketch (sketch 42)

Creatalicious challenges: anything goes

Creative Inspirations : let's celebrate

Doodled 20th birthday card

2011-09-18T16:35:00.002+01:00

I've made this card for a friend's daughter. I wanted to make something that looked fun and bright, so after gaining more inspiration from the latest great sketch over at The Sweet Stop blog, I came up with this. It looks better and brighter in real life, and it's very dimensional as it has been Pinflair glued to the max. I used the cheap stack of WRMK spring papers I bought from TK Maax a while ago, distressing all the edges with a pair of scissors. I then doodled round all the edges with a black Letraset pen.

I'm entering this card in to the following challenges:
The Sweet Stop: sketch and stars
CES Challenges: embellish me more
Stamp, Scrap and Doodle Saturday: birthday card
Creatalicious Challenges: anything goes
One Stop Craft Challenge: Girlie
By the Cute and Girly Challenges: all things bright and beautiful
Ruby's Rainbow Challenges: for the girls

50th birthday card with ranunculus stamp

2011-09-17T12:57:00.003+01:00

Long time, no see. I've been a very bad blogger. After being away from my craft room for a few weeks because of holidays and various other general busyness, I then discovered that my mojo had flow away and left me. However, I had a card to make for a friend, and decided to use a fab card sketch site called Sweet Stop Sketches I have recently discovered, to get me back in the swing of things.
I had a play earlier in the week with this beautiful Stampendous ranunculus stamp, colouring it with Artquest mica paints, distressing with Distress ink, and over stamping the image again then heat embossing with gold (as the mica paints are fairly thick and covered the detail of the original stamping). Having made this rectangular focal point. I then needed to find a way to display it on a card, and here's where Sweet Stop Sketches came in. I was quickly able to find an older sketch for my card, which uses a square card-my favourite shape-as a base.
The ribbon is seam binding, dyed with Distress ink to match the image.

I'm entering this card in to the following challenges:
Ladybug Crafts Ink: flowers
My Mum's Craft Shop Challenges: happy birthday

Wire work engagement card

2011-08-19T09:45:00.001+01:00

I've been AWOL for a few weeks. I haven't been completely inactive on the crafting front, but have mainly done a little scrapbooking and I don't often post my pages here, mainly because I find them quite hard to photograph well. However, I have made this very LIM card by twisting wire around Sizzix hearts which have been embossed with a Swiss dots folder. A few little beads have been added along the way.

I am entering this card in to the following challenges:
Charisma Cardz Challenges: negative space
Lothian Crafts Online: anything goes
Paper Crafting Journey: anything goes
Whoopsi Daisy Challenge: anything goes

Pink 50th birthday card

2011-07-26T14:03:00.002+01:00

I've made this bright 50th card for a friend. I used my sewing machine to stitch the panels on to the card, and cut the '50' with my Craft Robo, adding a little pink glitter for a bit of bling. The card base is a large 20cm card blank from Craftwork Cards.

I'm entering this card in to the following challenges:
Charisma Cards Challenge: sunshine colours
Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge: numbers
The Crafty Pad: embossing
Ladybug Crafts Ink Challenge Blog: summer birthdays

Buttons galore

2011-07-24T17:33:00.001+01:00

Here's a card I made this afternoon, using the sketch at Clean and Simple Stamping.
The background is embossed with a Sizzix plate, the sentiment is Hero Arts and the border punch is Martha Stewart.

I'm entering this card in to the following challenges:
Clean and Simple Stamping: sketch
Allsorts Challenge Blog: free n easy
Less is More: buttons or ribbon
Craft Your Passion Challenges: text it
Frosted Designs: buttons

DS's 14th birthday thank you card

2011-07-23T13:14:00.002+01:00

I've made multiple copies of this card for my DS to send off as thank you cards for his recent 14th birthday.
I've used the Comic Book digi kit from Craft Artist, which is absolutely perfect for teenage boys. Click on the photo for a better look.

I'm entering this card in to the following challenge:
My Mum's Craft Shop Challenges: for a teen
CES Challenges: humour/funny

New home digi card

2011-07-23T11:24:00.000+01:00

I made this card using the rather fab Serif Craft Artist program. I made the wee house digitally, basing it around a design already in the program as a guide (although the house is actually very similar to paper pieced houses I've been making for years). The hearts from the design on the program have these hearts coming from the chimney and I was able to use them by rubbing the rest of the house away, just leaving the hearts. I love this program as it is so easy to use.
The printing paper you use makes a huge difference to the finished result. After a few trial runs, I liked the Polaroid A4 photo paper best (a snip at £1 for 12 sheets from Poundlands). It was the only one that showed the texture of the digi paper used to make the house, and the colours were true what was on the computer screen.
You can download a free trial version of Craft Artist here

I'm entering this card in to the following challenge:
Charisma Cardz Challenges: sunshine colours
Crafty Creations Challenge Blog: seeing double (double hearts and double house image inside and outside card)

Orange rose card

2011-07-18T15:58:00.000+01:00

I've made this card for my friend who is anxiously awaiting an operation. The flower was made from orange MME paper, coloured on the underside with Distress ink, and cut with the Sizzix tattered florals die. I love the leaf trim , which was part of a pack I bought some time ago. I hope I can find more to replace it. I made a simple box from one sheet of A4 for it to go in as it was too deep to fit in to an envelope.

I'm entering this card in to the following challenge:
Papertake Weekly Challenge: hot, hot, hot

Under the weather

2011-07-14T20:29:00.001+01:00

I've had this card dirling round my head ever since I bought these metal charms in The Works for an absolute snip. The Works has a huge selection of metal charms, and I picked up all sorts, including really cute gardening and seaside themed charms, as well as these umbrellas. I think they were a pound a pack, and there were between six and nine charms in a packet.

You can just about make out that the circle behind the umbrella has been embossed with rain drops, using a Fiskars embossing plate.

I'm entering this card in to the following challenges:
Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge: get well soon
Whoopsidaisy Challenge: we love pink

Birthday card for my boy

2011-07-14T13:39:00.003+01:00

This was a fun card to make, and I was able to make immediate use of the WRMK Teen Angst papers I bought from TK Maxx just yesterday. What a bargain! The pack included eight die cut, foiled or double sided papers, 6 yards of ribbon and a pack of arrow stamps, all for a pound.
The '14' was saved from a bought card my DD was given a couple of years ago. The stars were cut with my Craft Robo, and the guitar has been cut with an Ellison die, and then paper pieced. I used black Enamel Accents to add a bit of detail round a star and to make a shiny button on the guitar.

I'm entering this card in to the following challenges:
Crafty Creations Challenge Blog: boyz to men
Allsorts Challenge Blog: free and easy July
Paper Crafting Journey: for him
Charisma Cardz Challenges: it's in the stars
Crafter's Companions Monthly Challenge Blog : one for the boys

Silver wedding easel card

2011-07-13T20:23:00.001+01:00

I fiddled about with this card for ages. Originally, it was going to be a traditional square card, and I had a sketch I was working from. I made all the elements, but somehow, whatever way I placed them just didn't look right. I then tried it as an easel card, and preferred the less cluttered look of it. Funny how sometimes a project goes off in a completely different direction.

I used my Mandala board, nesties and some embossing folders. The numbers are cut with my Craft Robo.

I'm entering this card in to the following challenges:
Card Cupids Blog: monochromatic card
Creative Inspirations Wednesday Challenge Blog: no flowers allowed
Lothian Crafts Online: die cutting
Stampalot Challenge: anything goes

The Ribbon Girl Christmas giveaway

2011-07-11T23:12:00.000+01:00

The Ribbon Girl is having another giveaway, and this time it is a Christmas ribbon mini kit. You can read the details here.

103rd birthday card

2011-07-10T17:04:00.000+01:00

It is my dear granny's 103rd birthday, so I needed to make a card for her, but how I struggled!

My mojo has flown off and left me floundering alone and uninspired in my craft room, both yesterday and this afternoon. However, I remembered seeing some fab Craft Robo cutting files on UK Scrappers that I thought might do the job. They were created and kindly made available to the Craft Robo forum users (you need to apply through UK Scrappers) by Erika P. I had trouble cutting the intricate top layer until I started using a new cutting mat and that really made a difference.

Thanks Erika, for your beautiful file.

A birthday card for DH

2011-06-21T18:54:00.001+01:00

I've made this card for my husband's birthday, using papers from my favourite MME Complete Boy paper stack. I used a Sizzix embossing plate for the 'happy birthday' background, and sanded the paper to add a bit of distressing. I like these embossing plates as they are a little bigger than the Cuttlebug ones so it makes them more versatile. The letters are cut with my Craft Robo.

I'm entering it in to the following challenges:
Cards for Men: stars
Sketch n Stash Challenge Blog: sketch 64

Born to shop birthday card for a chocolate lover

2011-06-12T13:26:00.000+01:00

I made this card for my friend who has a bit of a sweet tooth. I used Kanban patterned card stock as the base and a Docrafts Born to Shop stamp and patterned paper from the B2S A5 pad.

Baptism card

2011-06-05T09:37:00.001+01:00

I have made eight of these cards, as this Sunday eight members of our congregation are being baptised. It is a first for our church to have so many baptised in one go. What a wonderful reason to batch card make!

The writing was computer generated and the other elements were cut with my Craft Robo, then the top cross embossed with a Cuttlebug folder. The crosses are raised up with some pinflair glue to give a bit of dimension. The water paper is from an ancient, enormous variety pack from DCWV.
If you are ever looking for verses to go in to Christian cards, I found this wonderful site, Heavens Inspirations, and used the following verse inside these cards.

I pray you'd have a real sense
Of God's hand upon your life
As you go through the baptismal waters
And follow after Christ
I pray that you may go from here
Changed and made brand-new
Walking hand in hand with God
Into all He's called you to.

© By M.S.Lowndes

I am entering this card in to the following challenge:
Crafty Catz Weekly Challenge: lots of circles

A brief note

2011-06-04T18:43:00.000+01:00

It has been a hectic week or so with me finally managing to spend some time in my craft room today, but it has been a productive few hours, with me finishing thirteen cards.

I made four of these as they are so quick and easy to do and I needed a few thank you cards. I used an Ellison swimsuit die for the briefs, and did a little doodling round the edges. the words are computer generated with the LB Ali font.

I'm entering it in to the following challenge:
Less is More: monochrome

A new dry embossing technique

2011-05-24T22:07:00.004+01:00

I'm quite chuffed with these cards, not because they are anything fantastic, but because I've come up with a new way of dry embossing. I doubt I'm the first to think of it as there isn't much new under the sun, but I haven't seen it done anywhere else.
I used two tools -the Mandala board and the Hougie board to create a defined decorative border to embossed lines. Firstly, I created a decorative border directly on to the card front by embossing with the Mandala board. With the second card, I also embossed a central sentiment panel, again using the Mandala board. I then transferred the cards to the Hougie board and embossed inside the border of the first card, and outside the border of the second, at 1cm intervals, rotating the card and embossing the other way until I had a diamond grid design.
My head is buzzing with lots of ways of using this technique. I think it will be good using decorative nesties instead of the Mandala board as a guide to creating a decorative edge to the Hougie embossed lines too.
Apologies for the truly awful photos. I find it so hard to photograph white card so it looks white, but hopefully you can see what I was doing in enough detail to get the idea.

I'm entering the first card in to the following challenges:
Less is More challenge blog: butterfly/butterflies
Crafty Cardmakers: embossing
Joanna Sheen Forum: flutterby magic

Anna Griffin birthday card

2011-05-20T08:00:00.002+01:00

I've made this card with an Anna Griffin stamp from the set I bought the other week, and my current favourite flourish die and Hero Arts stamps (details in this post).
I didn't have any purple seam binding, so I coloured some white binding by puddling it about on a craft mat in some Distress ink and a squirt or two of water.
I absolutely love Pinflair glue gel to provide dimension on cards. If you haven't tried it yet, please do, as you'll never go back to foam pads or stinky old silicone glue again.

I am entering this card in to the following challenges:
Papertake weekly: bloom and grow
Crafty Catz Weekly Challenge: anything goes
The Ribbon Girl: colour challenge - pink and lilacs

Hero Arts digital wedding card

2011-05-19T12:28:00.003+01:00

This is something a little different from me. I have only very rarely made hybrid cards, and only since I bought Serif's Digital Scrapbook Artist, a fab program, which has since been superseded by Craft Artist. DSA is the only program I've been able to understand, as it is so intuitive and packed with features, with pop-up idiot assistance throughout.
I needed to make a wedding card, and having been inspired to go digi by Katina and her wonderful digi cards, I found a great value digikit over at Two Peas called HA Wedded Bliss. It is one of many real rubber stamp images Hero Arts are now producing as digital images. At £2.41, I reckon it was an absolute bargain. I had a lot of fun messing about with various designs, but eventually settled on this one. I made the tiny roses after having a rare flash of inspiration. These rolled roses are so easy to do, but I needed really teeny tiny ones. Having faffed about trying to hand cut some small enough spirals I remembered I had this long forgotten Woodware spiral punch and it was perfect for the job. I added some pearls, small black beads for buttons and a bit of glitter. The inside has a pop-up centre (created with a Karen Burniston Sizzix spinning 3D platform die) with another of the digi images from the kit, which forms a pocket for a cheque for the happy couple. The champagne glasses have glossy accents on them.

I am entering this card in to the following challenges:

PaperPlay Challenges: sparkle galore
Penny's Paper-craft Challenge Blog: anything goes
Creative Inspirations Challenge Blog: glitzy and bling

In my thoughts

2011-05-17T16:40:00.003+01:00

I've made this card for a friend who lost her dad a year ago today. I wanted an unfussy, plain card so turned to my embossing folders. I rolled the top of a piece of card through so far, then reversed back. Then embossed the bottom of the card with another folder. I embossed a couple of lines to edge the embossed sections, a trick I learned at Ikki's Cuttlebug Cupboard. The top section didn't emboss crisply at the lower edge where I stopped the rollers, so I put the card back in to the folder, lined up the pattern and hand embossed the shallower embossed bits to deepen them. The sentiment is Hero Arts.

I'm entering this card in to the following challenges:
Incy Wincy Designs: clean and simple
Card Cupids Blog: no patterned papers
Lily Pad Cards: embossing

and just for fun, I've linked my card at Clean and Simple Stamping

50th birthday card

2011-05-14T10:11:00.001+01:00

I've made this card for a few of us to sign, as we are taking our friend and neighbour out for her 50th birthday. I've used an 8"x8" Craftwork Cards card blank as the base. This is a great size for working with, and gives plenty of space for lots of names inside.
I've used DCWV Nana's Kitchen papers, one of my favourite Sizzlet dies for the leaves, a butterfly die, retro flower punches and Craftwork Cards card candy. Some edges are inked with Distress ink to make them stand out better from the background. The '50' was cut on my Craft Robo.

I am entering this card in to the following challenges:
Crafts and Me Challenges: punches
Crafty Creations Challenge Blog: anything goes
Incy Wincy Designs: Mother's day/ girlie
My Mum's Craft Shop Challenges: dies
Papertake Weekly : punches
Penny's Paper-crafty Challenge Blog: anything goes

Hero Arts orange poppies sympathy card

2011-05-05T17:05:00.003+01:00

I had a sympathy card to make this week and they are always such difficult cards to make. These lovely poppies seemed appropriate, and I've kept the card simple. It is stamped with Versamark then coloured with Prismacolor pencils. The blue background is the only part that has been blended with Sansodor. The oranges blended well just by going over the same areas repeatedly till smooth. Shari Carroll has a great tutorial on using coloured pencils here on the Hero Arts website.

I'm entering this card in to the following challenge:

Papertake weekly: anything goes

A giveaway at Lucy's Cards

2011-04-27T21:24:00.001+01:00

I was a little late in the day spotting this one, but have a look here for some wonderful giveaways. Be quick though, as you need leave comments by 29th April 2011.

Anna Griffin get well soon card

2011-04-27T14:33:00.002+01:00

I made this last night with my new QVC Anna Griffin stamps, and thought I'd use a get well soon sentiment on it to have ready for whenever I might need it. I wasn't expecting that time to come quite so soon. My poor mum fell and gashed her leg very badly last night, and was at A&E until 4am this morning having it stitched. The dressings are covered in crepe bandages from ankle to thigh, and as one of the gashes is on her knee cap she needs to keep her leg completely straight for two weeks which is going to be both uncomfortable and inconvenient for her. Poor Mum.

I stamped this image with Memento brown ink and coloured it with Promarkers. The edges are distressed a little with antique linen Distress ink, and the background paper is a very pretty AG one from an old TSV.

I'm entering this card in to the following challenge:

Secret Crafter Saturday challenge: pink, cream and brown

The Ribbon Girl Easter giveaway

2011-04-26T18:53:00.000+01:00

The Ribbon Girl is giving away a fab twine filled prize. You can read the details and how to enter here.

Anna Griffin stamps

2011-04-26T15:10:00.001+01:00

I received my new Anna Griffin stamps that I bought from QVC last week ad I'm thrilled with them. I think they are great value as there are loads of floral images, a beautiful butterfly, several sentiments and lots of corners and borders included, all for £21.02 including p and p. You can see them here, item number 589591.
I've made this card with three Distress inks, my beloved Hero Arts background stamp, the gorgeous Sizzix flourish 656560 and four of the AG stamps (hyacinth, sentiment, butterfly and border).

Red, white and blue birthday card

2011-04-21T17:07:00.003+01:00

I've made this card using Hero Arts stamps and the new, gorgeous Sizzix flourish I bought the other week. Combining two of the flourishes gives this lovely long swirl. You may be able to make out that the sentiment has been double stamped - if you look at it for too long it makes you feel a bit woozy! The card has a bit of bling with a great big jewel in the flower centre, courtesy of Poundlands. I made the scallop edges with a fabulously useful Colour My World template, and used my cute wee John Lewis sewing machine to stitch around the edges.

I'm entering this card in to the following challenges:
The Ribbon Girl - red, white and blue
Papertake Weekly - spots n stripes
The Secret Crafter - stitching
My Mum's Craft Shop - all that glitters
Incy Wincy Designs - bright and bold

Easter bunny baskets and card

2011-04-19T16:49:00.002+01:00

I first saw these lovely baskets on Katina's blog, and Katina in turn has linked to instructions for making these oh-so-easy baskets on Jacqui's blog. I made two this morning. using a pad of WRMK papers I picked up for a bargain in TK Maxx a couple of months ago. As I wanted them to fit the 200g Lindt bunny, I used the whole 12" sheet as the basis for the basket. I cut a couple of different strips from a text paper in the pad to create the handles, which were attached using brads with my Cropodile. Not as fancy as Katina and Jacqui's lovely examples, but I think my DD will like hers and my DS will spend all of three seconds looking at his before grabbing the chocolate and disappearing!

Using the same paper pad, I made this Easter card. The background is white paper coloured with Distress ink. The ribbon came from the yellow ribbon kit I won the other week from The Ribbon Girl , the sentiment is computer generated and the rest of the card is a pretty simple paper piecing job.

I'm entering this card in to the following challenges:
Penny's Paper-crafty Challenge blog - Easter
Crafty Creations - paper piecing
Creative Inspirations - Easter
My Mum's Craft Shop Challenge - anything goes

A giveaway at The Ribbon Girl

2011-04-12T21:14:00.006+01:00

Just a quick post today, to mention the giveaway over at The Ribbon Girl. Have a look at the gorgeous selection of red, white and blue goodies they are giving away this month.

My Mind's Eye sketch

2011-04-09T16:01:00.007+01:00

I love the My Mind's Eye blog. There are always lots of good sketches, and the newsletter they produce each month is very inspirational. I thought I'd have a go at their sketch challenge, although my LO theme didn't fit with their April Showers theme, so I'll not be submitting it to the challenge.

Their sketch is here.

The papers I used came from the MME Simply Delightful paper stack I bought from the last clicks department at QVC. I've been on the hunt for the perfect flourish for some time now, and believe I found it this week with my latest purchase from Cutting Edge Crafts which you can see in the top right hand corner of this LO, cut from Poundland felt. It is Sizzix Bigz die Flourish & Leaf 656560 and I can see me using it a lot as it is a great size for both cards and scrapbooking.

AAAARgh...I've just spotted that I've put 2011 instead of 2010 on the LO. Off to fix it . . .

. . .{10 minutes later} Well that was easier than I thought, thanks to the journalling still being up on my computer screen all ready to print out again with the amendment. I haven't taken a new photo, just used the truly fantastic Photosuite 7 to remove the offending digit and clone in a new one. I love a happy ending. :)

Mountain bike race

2011-04-07T18:22:00.000+01:00

Here's a LO I did this afternoon of my DS at a recent mountain bike race. I love this photo as it is so difficult to get a natural photo of DS as he plays up whenever he sees the camera come out, and there are only so many photos of him pulling a stupid face that I want in my albums lol. I used this My Mind's Eye Complete Boy paper stack which I bought from Michael's with a 40% off coupon when we were in New York in October. I was so chuffed to get it as I'd seen it in Hobbycraft for a silly amount of money so I reluctantly left it on the shelf. When I saw it at Michael's, I snapped it up, not least because it justified me dragging my family off the beaten track, well away from the tourist bus route in search of the Michael's store I knew was there somewhere. I've used it so much already, and as there are 180 sheets in the stack, I've hardly made a dent in it.

Regular readers may spot some of those K & Co embellishments I bought the other week on this LO too (only 665 to go), including of all things, a wee white cow embellishment, surely included in the pack especially for this LO!

Butterfly card

2011-04-06T17:14:00.004+01:00

I had a little trip in to my local craft shop today and picked up a Big and Juicy ink pad for £9.50 and this Dovecraft decoupage punch for £5.

I wanted a butterfly punch as I've seen some tutorials on line I want to try, where a Stampin Up butterfly punch is used to make the most beautiful sweet peas. I was given an SU butterfly punch a few years ago and gave it away to a friend's little girl as I couldn't imagine every using it. Doh! I think this punch may be a little small for the flowers, but it makes the cutest butterflies, so all is not lost. I inked the edges with the new ink pad and this card was literally made within an hour of returning home from the shops. Not bad! I used a Cuttlebug embossing folder, a sentiment from The Works and some Stickles here and there. I'm entering this card in to the Papertake Weekly anything goes challenge, Secret Crafter butterfly challenge and Shelley's Images gettin' punchy challenge.

Another win!

2011-04-05T08:00:00.001+01:00

I'm absolutely delighted to say that I have won the green and yellow colour challenge over at The Ribbon Girl with this card. What a bit of luck! The prize is a special occasion ribbon kit (I've chosen yellow), and a £10 voucher for Lili of the Valley and I already know exactly what I'm going to spend the voucher on as I've been eyeing up some very cute stamps there since they launched a few weeks ago. A huge thanks to both The Ribbon Girl and LOTV for their prizes.

20th anniversary card

2011-04-04T11:37:00.001+01:00

Twenty years ago, DH and I, and many of our friends tied the knot, so I'll have a few of these anniversary cards to make over the coming months.
I've made this one using the Sketch 'n' Stash challenge 58 sketch. I used papers from one of the fab Self-addressed monthly kits I used to get from the US but are sadly no longer on the go. I used to love getting my box of goodies each month, especially as the kits always included a great range of embellishments, and rubber stamps from Purple Onion Designs . This particular kit is years old and I'm down to the last few scraps. I've made another anniversary card from this kit which I'll post later.
I have enough paper to sink a battleship so I don't really want a paper based monthly kit, but I've stayed on the look-out for a kit that has a small amount of lots of different embellishments but have never really found one that fits the bill so if anyone can suggest one, please do.

A card for spring

2011-03-24T16:51:00.001Z

Here's a bright little card with a cute Penny Black image, coloured using Prisma pencils and Sansodor (the magic coloured pencil technique). The sentiment is Hero Arts.

I'm entering it in to the Penny Black Saturday 'Spring is Sprung' challenge, and the Stamp with Fun spring challenge.

Beginner's luck

2011-03-23T09:14:00.000Z

I was absolutely thrilled to discover that one of the first cards I'd ever entered into a challenge, won over at Papertake Weekly. I was lucky enough to win some vintage image downloads from Peggy Loves Vintage. Many thanks to Peggy and Papertake Weekly.

Yellow poppy card

2011-03-22T16:55:00.003Z

I've made this card for The Ribbon Girl green and yellow colour challenge, Lothian Crafts Online and the Sir Stampalot challenge using Hero Arts stamps and K and Co Wild Saffron papers. The poppies have been paper-pieced and decoupaged. I embellished the card with seam biding and twine from The Ribbon Girl.

Anna Griffin Mother's day card

2011-03-18T13:22:00.004Z

I've made this card using an old Anna Griffin kit I bought from QVC when it was a TSV several years ago. It has been a really handy kit, as it has a huge amount of card and paper in it, as well as several sheets of these die cuts, which have found their way on to several of the cards I've made for my Granny over the years. She is 102, and the floral style of most of this kit is perfect for birthday and Mother's day cards for her.
I'm entering this in to the Sketch n Stash challenge 57 , the Papertake Weekly trio tastic challenge, Crafty Catz Weekly challenge #74, Crafty Creations challenge #110 and this week's Paperplay challenge.

Kanban kit

2011-03-16T08:00:00.001Z

I've just made a couple of cards with this Dawn Bibby kit from QVC. I know a lot of people absolutely loathe these kind of kits, but I have mixed feelings about them. I find that many people who receive them absolutely love them, but my crafty head says they are a bit of a cheat, and look a bit naff. But a friend told me recently that a card I made from this kit was the nicest one I've ever made any of her family, and I had excelled myself! So I can distress, stitch and stamp to my heart's content, but sometimes people just don't 'get' some of the things I do, and like these cards best and I'm all for making people happy :) I'm not a cutesy crafter, but something about this Kanban kit appealed to me. Some of the cardstock is absolutely gorgeous. I love spotty patterns and there are several in this kit. You can say what you like about Kanban, but the quality of their cardstock really is good. This peach spotty card makes a really sturdy diamond pop up. I have the spotty ribbon in several colours. It's an absolute bargain at £2.99 for 25 metres from Grafton Crafts.

You're in my thoughts card

2011-03-15T17:30:00.000Z

I've made this card to send to a friend who lost her husband a year ago. All the stamps are Hero Arts. The poppies are water coloured with Whispers pens, and I used Distress inks to stamp the background and colour the image edges.

Simply Create challenge

2011-03-12T13:58:00.001Z

I thought I'd enter the Simply Create challenge for this month, with a scrapbook LO created with the WRMK White Out Tiffany scrapbook pad . The colours fitted in well with the inspiration board, although I had to add a transparency from one of the K & Co packs I blogged about yesterday, to bring in the deeper purply-pink shade. I also managed to sneak in another three of the die cuts on to this page too, plus a bit of their cut up packaging so have a bash at seeing if you can spot them.
Surely the hardest thing about blogging is taking good photos. Sorry for the horrible glare on part of this one. With snow dinging down here, the chance of getting any natural light to take photos in is zilch.

K &Co crafty loveliness

2011-03-11T10:20:00.000Z

Having spent a ridiculously small sum at the SECC the other weekend (and deliberately completely forgetting the fact that I've bought a WRMK corner chomper, and several Hero Arts stamps this month already), I decided to have a bit of a crafty splurge and buy a whole load of these K & Co ephemera packs I've had my eye on for ages. Charmed Cards & Crafts has a brilliant selection so I was spoilt for choice but managed to resist buying them all. CC&C service was excellent, with my goodies arriving a couple of days after the late night order was placed. I'm always looking for interesting wee bits and pieces to add to my scrapbook pages mostly, but also my cards so my biggest problem now will be which of the 673 pieces to use first, and how best to store them all. There are always a few designs in these sorts of collections that I struggle to use, but some of the die cuts have plain, coloured backs that can be stamped or journalled on and the Amy Butler ones are double sided with different images on the reverse. However, at about 4p a pop, if some remain unloved, it isn't a disaster.

Penny Black diamond spring card

2011-03-10T14:51:00.000Z

My second post of the day is a diamond spring card that I'm entering in to the Penny Black Saturday 'more than one fold' Challenge.
This is such a sweet little image, and doesn't take too long to colour. I used Whispers markers to do this one.

Bright poppy card

2011-03-10T14:24:00.000Z

I've been having a play with the stamps Kath used in her class at the Papeterie the other week and came up with this. The poppies are coloured with Spiced Marmalade Distress ink and I used Faded Jeans for the background stamps. The yellow backing paper is from the K and Co Wild Saffron pad. The black dots in the poppy centre are done with Ranger enamel accents. I'm entering this in the Papertake Weekly challenge, where they are looking for entries that have something lemon, yellow or bright and zingy.

Silver wedding card

2011-03-09T08:01:00.004Z

This is another anniversary card, similar to the ruby wedding card I posted here and as before, it is based on a sketch found at Sketch N Stash. I love adding metal charms to my cards and managed to stock up on some more while I was at the SECC Hobbycrafts fair on Saturday.

Double embossed background

2011-03-08T16:48:00.000Z

I was at the SECC Hobbycrafts fair on Saturday, and spent some time watching all the various demo's going on and chatting to some of the ladies that appear on Create and Craft TV. I was really taken with some samples Jo Channon had done that used a Crafts Too Daisy and Swirl embossing folder and Cosmic Shimmer embossing powder in Silver Lustre. Needless to say, I had to buy both. The lustre powders all have a lovely translucent quality that lets the underlying colour shine through. You can't see terribly well in the photo, but the background to this card was dry embossed, then inked with a couple of different Distress inks before being heat embossed with the Silver Lustre, giving a really pretty effect. The embossed edge to the Craftwork Cards scallop edged card was done using my Hougie board. I find the easiest way to get the lines in the right place is to use the mount for the front of the card on the reverse of the card. When it is in position with removable adhesive, use a clear ruler like this one to mark the border lightly in pencil, then use that as a scoring guide.

Sympathy card

2011-03-03T14:20:00.000Z

Who else finds sympathy cards the hardest of all to make? The only card I have bought from a shop in recent years was a sympathy card as all inspiration left me and I wasn't able to come up with anything that I felt was just right. However, this Hero Arts stamp, and other similar ones, I turn to again and again for lots of different projects, and this time I came up with something I think would be suitable to express my condolences.
After watching Sheena Douglass on Create and Craft TV, demonstrating her paint fusion technique, it made me want to get out my acrylic paints and have a go. How I painted this doesn't remotely resemble Sheena's great technique, but her idea of using rubber stamps to create an image which you totally paint over and just use as a guide, as opposed to actually colouring in, is hers. The image on this card is a negative one, ie, the starflower is uninked. I inked the stamp with blue chalk ink, then using some acrylics, I over-painted bits of the blue background, and painted the starflower.

A Sizzix baby card

2011-03-01T15:57:00.002Z

I made this card today, using the Sizzlit stuffed lamb die which I paper pieced then shaded with Promarkers. The embossed background is a Sizzix embossing plate, and the letters were cut using a decorative strip Sizzlit alphabet.

Here's a close up of the lamb. I think these Sizzlit dies need quite a bit of work with shading to make them look good, and always look a bit raggedy where the different sections get cut, if you get in too close to them, but I was quite pleased with how it ended up.

Quirky house

2011-02-28T10:30:00.001Z

I've been making these paper pieced quirky houses for years and I love them. They are a great way of using up wee paper scraps.

I found my new fine tipped glue bottle really useful for sticking down all the really fiddly bits on the house. I read about these bottles over on Helen's wonderfully inspirational and fun blog, It's all a Fiddle Fart and bought one here.

Sketch n Stash challenge #55

2011-02-27T17:43:00.004Z

I'm managing to get this one in to the challenge by the skin of my teeth today. Unfortunately the photo is just horrid. I'm not great at taking photos at the best of times, but I don't have my own camera today, and I'm working on a computer with very limited photo editing software.
I've used a couple of CB embossing folders and a Craftwork Cards scallop card blank. Sizzlit dies provided the numbers and hearts. I dusted off my Mandala embossing board for this card to provide a wavy embossed line around the inside edge of the card.

Feeling a little distressed

2011-02-22T16:42:00.002Z

My friend Pat came over to join me in a little cardmaking today, and since the great Tim Holtz is on the telly, I've come over all distressed. Kath led me badly astray on Saturday, and after returning from her class, I promptly spent a small fortune on some rubber stamps, and some seam binding from the Ribbon Girl. The stamps haven't arrived yet, but the postie delivered the ribbon today so I immediately set about using it on this card.

The swirl stamp is HOTP, all the other stamps are Hero Arts and all the inks are Distress.

I made this card too, using Hero Arts wild flower stamps I've had since I first started stamping, a good few years ago now. The butterfly is Hobby Art, and the inks are Distress. I'm entering this into my first ever card challenge, in the Ribbon Girl Colour Challenge #5 .

A citrus stitched birthday card

2011-02-21T12:08:00.002Z

I made this card using DCWV citrus papers and used my sewing machine to stitch the patterned panels. This background is a bit of a favourite design of mine just now, and I have a few examples in my gallery (see the slide show or click on the link to my card gallery in the sidebar). The stamps are Hero Arts.

Please excuse the bad photo. I need to brush up on my photography skills.

Tea for two Valentines Day card

2011-02-20T13:55:00.001Z

I made this card for DH for Valentine's Day, using the fabulous free stamp by Kim Costello that came with the January 2011 Craft Stamper magazine. It was coloured with promarkers, and mounted on MME papers. The sentiment was computer generated, and comes from the lyrics of 'Tea for Tea' by Irving Caesar.