WOYWW #256....using that new haul....

Hey there WOYWWers..

Hope you are all good - can't believe how quickly this week has gone, partly because my Bestie Lemon arrives tomorrow to celebrate her 40th birthday with Hubby and I :) Atlantic City here we come!! It seems like we have been planning it for ages and now it's time already!

Before we move on to my desk - which is busy this week. Let's talk about WOYWW shall we? For those of you still in the dark, join Julia our wonderful hostess over at her blog Stamping Ground for the weekly chance to coo and fuss over other lovely desks from all around the world.

My desk is busy, obviously because I don't have enough to do I took 20 orders for Mother's Day cards from my work colleagues (11th May here in the US) and now I am racing to get them done before the arrival of Lemon. You can see one standing up, some more on top of a box of cards that I was too lazy to move! Another one in progress, my ATG, foam tape, buttons for the cards, paper twine, pencil, scissors, mouse, tweezers and my coffee cup.

Last week I had a big haul of new stuff on my desk, so I thought I'd show you the 2 cards I have manged to make so far with some of this booty -

Hippo Birdie to you

Ha ha love the sentiment and my friend Kerry will love it too, so it will be heading her way very soon. The stamps and dies are by Lawn Fawn, coloured with Promarkers and I used my new distressed chevron stamp by Bo Bunny. I also used new Simon Says STAMP! inks..which are yummy.

This card is actually for OWH, hence the lack of bling :)

You Tickle my Fancy

The stamp and sentiment are by Technique Tuesday and the spotty card base is by DCWV..I recently realised that the DCWV boxes of patterned cards work wonderfully for OWH.

Sorry for the long post..but if you knew me, you'd know chatting is something I could get a gold medal at :)

Cx

p.s Hubby and I went to our first Baseball game last night..it was good fun.

Fun with friends...

Hi,

As you know Hubby and I spent the weekend with the Nixon Seniors - who just happen to be JT's folks...so of course they are a bundle of fun!

It was a hoot we went to ShadFest - essentially the celebration of the spawning of the Shad!

Today's main photo is a montage of pics from the weekend..Mr Nixon seems to have eluded my camera..

I got a new Shad pin / brooch, which you can see in one of the photos. The mustache came from a beer mat and we all had a turn wearing it. The scenery shot is of the beautiful Delaware river.

Today is my beautiful friend Nkem's 40th Birthday...I have sent her a little package of goodies - including these little beauties which totally look like her!

Personal Thank You Cards

I am hoping she will love them - I sent her 8 in a variety of colours. The stamp is by Penny Black.

Happy Birthday Nkem!

Cx

Rain & Shine...

Hi,

Hope you all had a good a weekend. Hubby and I had a great weekend with the Nixon seniors, always fun when we hang out with them..

For the last couple of weeks, I have really wanted to enter the Card Concept #8 use an Umbrella.

So when I got home last night I decided to make a card for the challenge.

I decided that I would go with Clean & Graphic as my style..

The image is a free digital stamp. I put it all together on my computer, I created the sentiment and added a frame, to create the clean / graphic style.

I liked the idea of using 3 colours, as I already had black and white I opted for red. The umbrella was coloured using Promarkers, I added a little bit of glitter glue to the rain drops, to add a little shimmer.

I really like the way my card has come out. It's pretty sharp..now for a recipient!

Cx

Moving Along With The Times...Transportation

Hi,

Yes, it is time for Team B over at Moving Along With The Times...

Our hostess this week is Tammy and she has chosen Transportation as our theme.

I was pretty pleased when I saw the theme for this week, as I love the Stamping Bella stamp I have used and it felt like a perfect opportunity to bring it out.

I coloured it using Promarkers and glitter glue. I added some sequins for fun, the sentiment came with the image stamp - which is Vienna and her Vespa. I took a leaf out of JT's book and made my own backing paper, using a vespa stamp I have, I stamped it in a shade very close to the paper, so it looks like a watermark.

Overall I am very pleased with this card and as ever I have a recipient in mind.

Join in the fun over at MAWTT and check out the rest of the great creations by the DT.

Cx

WOYWW #255..I did a bit of shopping...

Hi,

It's Wednesday, so time for WOYWW..join in the fun over at Julia's blog Stamping Ground and show us your desk :)

I would like to start by saying a big thank you to all the visitors from WOYWW last week who gave me lots of positive feedback on my ATC's and advice. It is greatly appreciated.

I am now working on the 'real ones' for the WOYWW exchange.

So..what is on my desk..well a whole heap of goodies..as I have been feeling a bit jealous of all these fab craft fair outings you have all been going on I decided to do a bit of sale stamp shopping..it will be my last haul for several months..I have to stop!! You can also see my zebra scissors, my fitbit, some tape and other bits and bobs.

At the top left of my desk, you can see my fun stack of 6 items for $5 from the Target $1 spot. I bought some stencils, a post-it pad, some cute button magnets, a pack of notebooks, some ribbon and a pack of alpha stickers.

All over the rest of my cutting mat are my new stamps that were all on sale at Joann's for no more than $3 an item - some of them were $1 too good to resist. Right at the front is a Stampendous scene stamp that I have wanted for several years, I have a magazine article with some great ideas how to use it, but it's always been too pricey. The feather set is by Technique Tuesday and I have also wanted that for some time.

All justified in my head..time to put my wallet away and get crafting methinks!

As ever here is a little fun make for you WOYWWers..I used an aquabrush and some gelatos to get the watercolour streaks and then stamped over it with a free stamp I got from a magazine that my MIL sent me. The sentiment is by Stampin' Up.

Watercolour card

Happy WOYWW everyone..I'll visit you all after work.

Cx

Thank you for the gift...

Hi,

Hope you all had a nice Easter Weekend.

Hubby and I had a fun time, hanging out with Friends that were in town from London. We also loafed around watching films and had a skype marathon with our families.

My MIL kindly sent me Stamper Magazine, which is full of fun things this month, including the cute perfume bottle stamp that you see on my main card.

I thought I would send her a thank you card, using the stamp. I water coloured the image and heat embossed the sentiment. A quick and easy fun make.

Cx

A new craft crush...

Hi,

Happy Weekend to you all.

I recently came across the work of Marion Vagg on Pinterest and fell head over heels in love.. I really loved the chevron paper piecing she did and wanted to have a go.

Here are a couple of examples of Marion's work -

As I don't have a chevron die, I decided to enlist the Silhouette to help me cut some chevrons. I cut a bunch of them - all the same size in 4 colours.

You can see my favourite example of how I used them in the main photo. As I was limited to just a few chevron strips I tried to use them in unusual ways to maximise the white space.

It was so much fun to do and I am going to cut a few more this weekend in different sizes and maybe even patterns and see what I can make out of them.

Here are a couple more of the cards I made.

Chevron Alien

Chevron Flower

What did I use? All papers by co'redinations, card blanks from Craft UK, frame by Dovecraft, flower from the Range, Alien from the Works - all UK based craft stores or manufacturers. The Alien has a peel off sentiment, the flower uses a Woodware stamp and the frame uses a Hero Arts stamp.

A fun way to start the weekend if you ask me! I am now off to brunch :)

Finally I have already thanked Marion for inspiring me with her beautiful work, but I just want to say it again 'Thanks Marion...you are my latest crush'

Cx

Fun card for a new friend

Hi,

What a fun WOYWW we had yesterday. I adore my WOYWW buddies, so helpful and friendly!

Today my main card is a card I made for a new WOYWW buddy for her birthday, as she has now received it, I think it is safe for me to post it;)

I wanted to make Carole a nice card and send her something nice, as she always seems to find the time to swing by my blog and leave lovely and encouraging comments.

Carole's card was made using a Penny Black stamp from the J'aime Paris set - I found it in Paper Presentation on sale a couple of weeks ago, I coloured it with Promarkers and Martha Stewart glitter glues. The chevron paper is from JT, as is the Make a Wish banner, which she gave me well over 18mths ago!! I thought it would be fun to mix the patterns and added a doily and a scrap of spotty Pink Petticoat paper. Like me Carole has ALOT of Pink Petticoat papers.

I'm pleased with the card and love the stamp set, need to make more using it.

Carole sent me an email saying how much she liked everything I sent her, which is lovely and is why I make things.

Cx

WOYWW #254...Learning something new...

Hi,

Happy WOYWW!! Where did the week go?

Before we get our WOYWW on, let me explain what this acronym means...every Wednesday us crazy crafters, join our wonderful Hostess Julia over at her blog Stamping Ground and reveal our messy (or not) desks to the world. It's fun and Wednesday's have been fun fun fun for me since 2012. Join in!

I had a fun time in Montauk over the weekend..Hubby and I relaxed, which was the point and much needed.

My desk this week is still tidy, but showing signs of activity..it looks a bit staged?! I assure you it is not..I stepped back to assess the things I was working on and decided to take my photo then..So what is actually on my desk...Goo Gone is out as I needed to clean my mat before I started working last night..it was very sticky, from all the paper piecing I have been doing. I love Goo Gone, it smells odd, but who cares..it works! There are a couple of distress ink pads, a mustache stamp, craft knife, tweezers, bone folder, some hexagon punch outs, mouse, pencil, scissors and 3 cards I am playing with!

Cake card is a rough idea, I heat embossed the cake using a stamp that comprises of individual layers (meh!), the hexagon card is paper pieced together and the forty card is a replacement for the one I have already made and have now decided it's a mess.

I need some help WOYWWer's..I am keen to get involved in the WOYWW ATC swap..but I have never made an ATC before, so I am a bit bewildered and worried that I am not understanding it right! Here are my first attempts...

ATC's

Is this right? Should I be doing more? Gah! Please leave me a comment, that might help me solve this puzzle before WOYWW 260!

As usual here is a little card for you..

Cherries

I don't really like Cherries as a food stuff, but I do like using them on cards - I am especially pleased with the teeny tiny little leaf. Its a punch that I have had forever and rarely use.

Desk nosying will be coming from me after work and the gym, so apologies if I visit you late.

Cx

Its a handbag...

Yes, the loveliness you see in the main photo today is indeed a handbag - sorry about the photo, but the bag is so squishy!

So? I hear you ask..well it was made from scratch by my fair hands!!

It was supposed to be this -

But the faux leather that I started with was way too soft for this, so I modified the pattern a bit!

The tutorial came from Sew4Home and is part of their series in conjunction with Fabric.com, which is where I got my fabric from.

What did I use -
Outer - Bijoux Faux Leather Checks in black.
Lining / Pocket / False bottom - indoor/outdoor fabric in black and yellow polka dots.
Threads - by Wimsew - Lemon for the lining and pocket. Black everywhere else.

What did I change -
I added a strap
Turned one of the bag handle straps into a buttonhole holder (?!)
I didn't pinch in the top.

I love it, it's so me, I love how squashy it is and I've decided that the shape I have ended up with is much more practical for my uses and this is what I will be doing with the next one but I will be making it deeper.

Here are a couple more photos for you -

Inside my bag

Close-up - showing the gorgeous fabric

I have some stiffer faux leather in Metallic bronze (swoon), time for another pattern methinks!

I loved the tutorial, it was really easy to follow and taught me a new trick (how to accurately box corners). The tutorial also included a faux bottom for the inside of the bag. I usually ignore these, but this time I did it and I made mine using a piece of recycled plastic covered in fabric, which I can remove if I want the bag to be less rigid. I also got to try out the buttonhole function on my new machine...it rocks, as always!

I made this about 3 months ago..but haven't had the right light for taking the photos and now the weather has improved I can finally rock my bag :)

Cx

Wonderful Weekend...

Hi,

Hope you all had a great weekend.

Hubby and I had a very relaxing time in Montauk..the main photo today is of the beach - which you could see from our hotel room. We ate lots of yummy seafood and walked a lot, very very relaxing way to spend a sunny weekend.

We also saw Deer!

Last Thursday I was inspired by a post from Amber of Damask Love, so I decided to give it a go myself.

Watercolour Sentiment

I don't have letter dies, so cut a stencil using the Silhouette, I am really pleased with the end result. So simple, so effective..now of course I need letter dies! I want to make lots of different versions!
Check out the tutorial on Damask Love - super easy.

Cx

Seizing the sketch...

Hi,

Happy Friday to you all.

I am off to Montauk for the weekend tonight with Hubby...should be a nice relaxing weekend.

I saw the sketch this week for Seize the Sketch #17 on someone else's blog and thought it looked like a fun easy make this week...

I am really pleased with my card - simple, easy and fun..I am new to heat embossing so there is still a bit of splatter - but hey Rome wasn't built in a day :)

Have a great weekend.

Cx

Moving Along with The Times - Easter / Spring

Hi,

I can't believe it is time to start thinking about Easter but it is!

This week Team B is up over at Moving Along with The Times and we are hosted by the lovely Sue who has set the theme of Easter / Spring.

Also there is a prize for the lucky winner!!!

I have been inspired by my collection of all things Pink Petticoat and decided to make a card using one of their Easter images and some of the offcuts of their papers that I have in a box.

My card makes me smile, its so fresh and cheery!

I coloured the image using Promarkers and added glitterglue and bling for a bit of sparkle. The ribbon is by American Crafts.

I used the following Pink Petticoat Papers -
Backing paper - Daisy Chain from the Isabelline collection
Large strip - Woodgrain in Silver
Small strip - Daisy Bouquet from the Isabelline collection

I will be sending this card to my Grandma, as she is the one person I know that would love to receive an Easter card.

Please pop over to MAWTT and view the fun creations from the rest of Team B this week - including a new member of the gang - Jessie, who is one of my besties.

Cx

WOYWW #253...Tidy desk..tidy mind?

Hola!

Happy WOYWW everyone...

I am happy that it's Wednesday, means only 3 more days before I am off to Montauk for the weekend. Montauk is at the end of America...or so I think :) It is in/on Long Island past the Hamptons I believe. It reminded me of Camber and Hubby and I need a little peace.

Ok, so before we look at my desk..let's talk about WOYWW shall we? WOYWW is hosted by the amazing Julia on her blog Stamping Ground and is the weekly global desk nose..it's fun and friendly, so join in the fun.

My desk is VERY tidy this week. It got very messy over the weekend so I had a little tidy..What can you see? Watercolour palette (I'll show you the output next week), the pink thing is my FitBit - its a pedometer and is very clever - too long to explain here, a pack of Silhouette die cuts from this card that I pulled out, as I have an idea! My mouse, my glasses, my pencil and the usual desk type stuff. There is a little stack of Wobbles. These are a lot of fun. I used one on a card for JT and here is a close-up of them.

Wobbles!

They were not cheap, but I thought they were fun and they are so no guilt here!

As ever a little card for you WOYWWers - for those of you that nose around my blog on other days, you will have seen it in it's planning phase..

Ice Cream anyone?

The stamp is by Stamposaurus and I am saving it for a July birthday of an Ice-Cream mad friend!

I'll be nosying at your desks after work, after doing my tax return - ugh!

Cx

p.s sorry about all the links - but WAY better than an epic post :)

Craft Buddy Challenge...Lounging Man..

Hi,

So JT and I set ourselves a little challenge to use the Lounging Man stamp we have. We said if you could, you should use 2 papers.

I managed one paper, as he is quite a busy image and I thought it was all getting a bit fussy!

I coloured him using Promarkers and I deliberately coloured the grass in a patchy way, so it had a bit of texture to it. The backing paper is by Bo Bunny and I stamped the sentiment. Obviously there is a bit of Candi to finish him off.

It all came together really easily and I am quite pleased with him...he needs a home now!

Cx

Online Card Class - Stretch Your Stamps - Day 2

Hi,

Following on from last week's Day 1 post of the Online Card Class that JT and I are doing..here is Day 2.

Day 2 uses collage stamps, I don't really have a collage stamp set, so I have used 3 different stamp sets that I think fit the idea.
I have had varied results and I have only done 1/2 of the class so far, as it's a lengthy one and I think I ran of of steam..

My main card today is a bit different for me and uses a Watercolour resist technique - you create a watercolour background, clear emboss the collage stamp on it, cover it in black ink and wipe off the parts over your embossing to see the watercolour background.

I like the idea, but it does need an actual collage stamp, as the black ink is too heavy on my card!

The next card uses water embossing and colour blocking -

Water Embossing and Colour blocking

Once again I think my stamp set means that this card isn't quite what it could be, but I do like how the embossing has resisted the ink and the little splatters that I got by water embossing are great. I need to work on the colour blocking technique, it's a good one, but needs perfecting.

Final card for me of Day 2 is called collage squares -

Collage Squares

I didn't have a 1 inch square punch, so I used a hexagon punch instead. I love this card! The idea is to stamp off the edge of your squares, add a faint text background (from your collage stamp set), distress the edges and colour (I used watercolour pencils for a more subtle look). The overall technique is fiddly, but looks good. I heat embossed the sentiment and distressed the red frame a bit, so it blended in better.

I love the output from Day 1 more, but I think the techniques here are so new to me that practice makes perfect. I'll keep trying - especially the watercolour resist.

Cx

Old dog...new tricks..

Hi,

I am referring to myself in the title of my post :)

Yesterday my new Ranger heat tool arrived..

I have tried heat embossing before, very early on in my craft career, I really didn't get the hang of it and so sold the tool and all the powders.

This time, I decided that the Ranger tool might work better, as it is shaped like a hairdryer and easier to wield.

I think I have got the hang of it now and really enjoyed learning - thanks to a couple of really good tutorials on YouTube - LOVE YouTube for this.

My main card today uses glitter embossing powder and clear ink on red paper to make it all pop..I had tried a few of these lotus flowers and finally nailed it with this one! Here is a close-up of the flower.

Lotus Flower close-up

The next card uses red ink, with clear embossing powder - I love the shiny slightly raised finish you get with this technique.

Coloured ink with clear embossing powder

I'm not convinced you can see it as well as I can - but trust me it works!

Thoughout, I have used Pink Petticoat Quatrofoil papers, Dovecraft inks and Recollections embossing powders. The lotus flower stamp was a freebie and both the with Love and birthday wishes stamps are by Papermania.

I am pretty pleased that I have learnt how to do this and will continue to practice.

Cx

Freestyling butterflies..

Hi,

I am very happy it is Friday, it has been a hard week :(

To celebrate I am entering Card Concept #7 - Use a Butterfly theme -

I decided to give 'Freestyle Collage' another go - once again I hope I have interpreted it right, because I have only attempted this a couple of times..

The main photo today is my entry - I know I always say how pleased I am with things, but this little beauty really put a smile on my face!

I used the colours of the butterfly in the inspiration photo as my starting point. I decided to use a hexagon Silhouette file I have and because I wanted the hexagons that sit inside the frame to be different colours I cut 3 of the hexagon file - meaning I have 2 to play with another day - YAY!

I rooted through almost all of my paper searching for the right backing paper, the piece I have finally settled on is by Studio Calico. The butterfly was trial and error - I tried different sizes before settling on what you see now and they were cut with a xCut die. I added bling and a peel-off sentiment.

Here's an angled view for a better look at the butterflies.

Angled view

I love it - it's fun, it's bold and it's a bit different - freestyle I hope :)

Happy Friday everyone.

Cx

Shiny new stamps...

Hi,

I bought 3 new stamps from a company called Stamposaurus. I saw some of their stamps in a magazine when I was home and really liked their stuff.

The main photo is of a card on my desk, that I am putting together...I realised that I only show work in progress during WOYWW!

As you know I like to scan my stamps in - I think it makes it easier when I am in a hurry and need an image..instead of rifling through my folders.

I coloured the stamp with Promarkers. Because it's an Ice Cream Van, I think it gives me licence to be creative with my colours..

The ice cream paper is by Pink Petticoat, but I blew it up, so the cones were bigger and I recoloured it, as I wanted one tone. The sentiment is printed using a freebie that matches my beloved EK Success label punch. The blue strip may or may not remain when the card is finished, but for now, it's in!

I think I will be glittering parts of the stamp, not sure which parts yet.

I quite like half making cards - generally when I come back the next day the idea completely changes!

Cx

WOYWW #252 - Loving my desk...

Hi,

It is indeed that time of the week...WOYWW time!! WOYWW is when we pop along to join Julia at her blog Stamping Ground and have a nose at all the lovely desks on show.

I have spent a lot of QT at my desk over the last 7 days and that makes me really happy..I am aiming to spend April glued to my desk, as Lemon will be here the first week in May and that will be crazy party town time!

So what can you see on my desk this week..the tall black thing is my new portable OttLite, he is AMAZING and was a bargain, my glasses, too the left is a pile of stuff being worked on, partly covered by my notebook, a tin of washi tape with dress forms on it, a card for Ma that I am working on with a new shed stamp (I am trying to decide what papers to use and the forty is for word placement only) the card in the front is an experiment..love the cherry die cut, but can't seem to get the use of it right! My mouse is there, 2 punches and a bottle of the good stuff :)

My card for you this week uses a new Sunbonnet Girl stamp by Bugaboo..I love these stamps..

Sunbonnet Girl Birthday

I used Pink Petticoat papers, Promarkers, glitter glue, a peel-off, a bow and an xCut die. She is now safely in my card book waiting to be dispatched!

I'll be nosing at your desks after work today. Oh you will be happy to hear the weather has improved a lot in NYC this week!

Cx

I love dress forms..

Hi,

I really do love dress forms and I will be eternally grateful to my Hubby for purchasing me a 'real' one as my Christmas gift.

I needed to make a quick card for a friend and decided to use a fave stamp by Kaisercraft, it is the main photo today. I'm sorry that my photo is blurry, as this card is gorgeous!

I used a sparkly black paper and a text paper scrap for the background, the ribbon around the stamp was a gift from JT. I added a bow that I felt matched the text paper - also from JT. The decorative photo corners were created with my new EK Success punch - $4 on sale on Saturday!!
I have already delivered the cardand my friend is very happy.

Making this card sparked a few ideas for a gift for a friend and so I whipped out the Silhouette and cut some dress forms. I decided to go a bit wild and use some things together that I wouldn't ordinarily.

The next 3 cards are lots of fun and I think my friend will love them.

1. Silhouette cut dress form

1. I really love this card, all the patterns are such fun and work really well together. The background is my Heidi Swapp chevron stamp, the lattice paper was from JT, the pink and black strips are washi tape. The sentiment is one I found on the floor near my recycling bin!! I added lots of little bits of bling for a bit of sparkle

2. Stenciled dress form

2. I decided I wanted to use the negative part of the Silhouette cut out and stencil it onto a card. I stamped the Kaisercraft graphic stamp and then stenciled the dress form partly over it, so it would show through. I love using the Silhouette negatives as stencils..very cost effective! I added washi tape, bling and a sentiment. You can see I used the photo corners...again!! I really like this card, it's a bit off the wall for me!

3. Negative cut dress form

3. As I was all about dress forms last night I thought I would enter Fusion Challenge #7 - 

I settled on the photo inspiration because I already had the negative piece from the Silhouette cut and the colour worked well. I dug out a piece of fancy script paper for the background and added a little black tab for the sentiment (which is a peel-off). I finally opened my pack of black blingy gems and used a WHOLE strip of them :) I decided to add a bit of bling to the black tab, as the sentiment was floating a bit. 

Cx