Hey Girl...Happy Birthday...

Hey,

Recently my desk has been a bit of a hot mess..

So I decided to give it a tidy up and gather a few of the items together to make a card or two.

I actually ended up with 3 cards with the one I am showing you being my fave.

I had a big stack of Heidi Swapp journaling items that I got on sale - that is the white, lined and tabbed item. The doily is actually only half of one. The pink tag is glittery and I had it out for a baby shower card and changed my plan. The Hey Girl die-cut (die is by Studio Calico) was also cut for something else but was languishing on my desk.

I layered it all together and added pop dots to the 'Hey Girl' and stamped Happy Birthday and ended up with this super fun girly card.

Love it when my slob like behaviour turns into something good.

Cx

Belated Easter Bunnies...

Hey,

Sadly no WOYWW for me today, it's super busy at work because I am off for 2 days from tomorrow.

I didn't think I'd have time to comment on desks, so didn't want people to come and say hi, when I couldn't return the hello!

Randomly I am showing the Easter cards I made for my cleaning lady and my cat sitter :)

I didn't get a chance to post them last week.

As I made them in a blind panic before we left for Tampa, everything was a scrap!

The card in the main photo took about 2 mins to put together LOL.

I only had to colour the bunny. Everything else was ready to go, the beautiful egg paper is a digital freebie I found online and I had pre-cut and corner rounded it for something else. And I love mini doilies for dressing up something.

The next card I took a die-cut tag and stamped bunnies all over it, for a bit of interest. I've been doing this a lot lately and I like how it looks -

Again another card that shows you don't have to use the stamps for their 'intended' occasion. The bunny stamps are by Stampin' Up and the mini bunny I used on the tag is by Simon Says Stamp.

Cx

Retro Rubber #8....Eyelet Fun...............

Hey,

It's Team A's turn to show you our makes for the latest Retro Rubber challenge time - Eyelets..

Don't forget to use a stamp that is over a year old on your project.

At one point in my craft adventure I was head over heels in love with eyelets and my Crop-a-Dile..then I just neglected them..

But now they are back in action and starring alongside some fun up to date touches.

The fox stamp is a fave, I've had it approx 3 years, it was free with a magazine - Get Stamping, I don't think they publish it anymore. The thing I love about this stamp is the flaw, so you get a bit of a mark on the fox's body.

I stamped the fox along with the sentiment onto a tag. I wanted to layer the card, so I used a scrap of leopard print paper and a brown Papermania doily. I used a silver eyelet to secure it all to the backing paper.

It felt a bit bare, so I added teeny tiny eyelets to 2 corners of the card.

A fun way to use eyelets and rediscover a tool.

The challenge runs until February 27th.

Join in the fun over at Retro Rubber and get inspired by the fun creations from my lovely teammates.

Cx

Friends Forever...

Hi,

Hope you had a nice weekend.

My post is very late today, as I normally post from the bus, so all my posts are pre-written and ready to go..but this morning there was no image in my post - DOH!

Anyway, I am starting the week, with a double challenge card :)

Simon Says Stamp - You Gotta Have Friends and I Love Promarkers  - Use a Doily

Over at SSS, they are using Art Impressions stamps..perfect! I recently bought myself Picture Perfect by AI, I love their stamps..wish they were not quite so pricey...

The sentiment is by Hero Arts and I kind of botched the heat embossing of it, but I like the patchy result! The doily is by Papermania, paper and heart are by MME and from my June SSS card kit. I had fun colouring in the ladies, I got to use some Promarkers that are underused.

Promarkers used -
Camera - Ice Grey 3
Hair - Cool Grey 1, Buttercup, Pastel Yellow, Cinnamon and Spice
Skin - Oatmeal and Tan
Lips - Peach, Dusky Rose and Poppy
Bangle & Earrings - Heatwave, Fresh Meadow and Poppy
Tops - Denim Blue, Heatwave, Fresh Meadow, Apple Cider and Red Sweater
Trousers - Denim Blue, Apple Cider and Black
Shoes - Heatwave, Azure, Fresh Meadow and Poppy

I'm putting this card in the stack with some others that I am making for my Ma.

Cx

Moving Along With The Times....Snow Cute

Hi,

Yes it is that time again...Team B are up over at Moving Along With The Times...this week it is the turn of    Anne to be our hostess and she has chosen a theme of Snow Cute.

I bought a great Pink Petticoat Christmas set in the sale and decided that the text and the imagery would work really well for this challenge.

I did a bit of retouching and combined the text from 2 of the images, to get the sentiment exactly right. The snowflake paper is also by Pink Petticoat. I coloured the Donkey and the text using Promarkers and Martha Stewart glitter glue. I added the green doily and it works! I normally dislike coloured doilies :)

Go on over to MAWTT and check out the awesomely inspirational gallery by the rest of the DT and join in the early Christmas fun.

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

Fabulous friend...

I have a lot of fabulous friends, but this gorgeous card is for one in particular :)

I am feeling all pleased with myself, as I made this card for the Card Concept challenge this week -

Why am I so pleased..well I stepped WAY out of my comfort zone and had a go at 'Freestyle Collage'..now I am not entirely 100% sure if my card does fit the bill..I think it does and I love it whatever!

It was fun to work entirely in pink, I didn't realise how much pink stuff I had!

The base for my card was the recoloured Pink Petticoat image and from there I looked for things to complement it - the sparkly square, card base and doily are all by Papermania, the 3 hearts were punched using my fave Woodware punches. The pink flag, is actually a Vogue Weddings cake topper?! That I saw on sale in TJMaxx and thought one day they will be useful. For a final touch I glittered up the image and voila! Card.

Once again it was nice to step out of my comfort zone and do something a bit different. Not too different, just a bit.

Have a Happy Saturday, I am off to call my Ma, who is hopefully on the road to recovery following a couple of very difficult months.

Cx

Shabby Chic...

Hello,

Hope you are having a nice weekend.

I have just got back from a Dim Sum lunch with Hubby and the neighbours -YUMS!!

Following my failed attempt at entering the Shabby Tea Room challenge, I thought I'd have another try :) This week it is a great sketch -

#201 Fun with Sketches

I had quite an extensive play this morning before lunch as I couldn't find the right central element...Then I remembered I had a little stash of Teresa Collins Fabrications tags and sentiment banners...

I love how my card has turned out, once again it is a bit of a departure from my normal style, but it's good to make different things, keeps the mind fresh!

Here's a detail shot for you..

My card - close-up

I used free papers for the backing and the little strips you can see, the Teresa Collins tags, Recollections flowers (a gift from JT), a doily and pearls from my stash and I punched the bunting using my Stampin' up punch.

I especially love the flowers, they have all different prints on them.

A fun Saturday morning project.

Cx

Love..

Hey there,

Well only 3 more days before I am back at work!

So I am trying to make the most of the time. I had a fun weekend with Hubby, both here in NYC and in Atlantic City.

Before I left, I stayed up late on Saturday evening making stuff :) Among the things I made was my entry for
Pals Paper Arts - I love their challenges and the entire DT make me swoon...this week's challenge (#187) just screamed love at me!!

My card went through many, many changes..right at the last minute I decided to chop the doily in half and I am feeling pretty pleased with that decision!

I love the Thickers foam glitter stickers..I need more, but I bought them on offer and I am now being mean about paying full price...it's my 2014 strategy for not adding things to my ever expanding stash!

The textured sky blue paper is very old and bought when I first started crafting and it is rationed, as Kaiserkraft have never made it in this colour again :(

I punched the hearts using Woodware punches..I love heart punches I have one that is even teenier than the smallest heart on this card..

I'm thinking that I will use this card as an Anniversary card..what do you think?

Cx

Hello Dear Friend...

Hey,

Before I leave for Atlantic City today, I wanted to post this card.

This weeks Color Throwdown #274 colour palette was lovely, it reminds me of their header banner and fits my stash really well..

The Silhouette store offers free shapes every week and my sentiment was one of these freebies - awesome right?

I decided to cut the words in different sizes in different colours and I like the effect..maybe I should have made 'Hello' one of the blues?

The peachy papers are by American Crafts and work together well I think. I heeded Craft Buddy's advice and dug out another doily (she said I should use them more!) and added a bit of sequinny bling!

This card will be going in the post when I get back, to a Dear Friend..along with a little gift.

Happy Sunday everyone.

Cx

Missed the boat...

Hello!

Hope you all had a nice weekend..I had a very relaxed one. I made lots of fun things. Including the beautiful card you see in the main photo for The Shabby Tea Room challenge this week..

Challenge #199 - Colour Challenge

It was a colour challenge, using black, kraft, cream/white.

I didn't read the details properly and my card had to be posted before the end of the day Sunday, so I missed that deadline. But because my card is so gorgeous, I thought I'd post it anyway.

I am super pleased with my card, the idea popped in to my head on Saturday night and once I had finished making Hubby's pig apron (more about that later in the week), I got cracking.

I broke out some new and some old stash items for this card and it was fun rooting around the craft room looking for all the things I wanted....I happened upon some items I'd forgotten about :) I also broke out the Big Shot because whilst I love the new Silhouette, some things just need to be done by hand!

So my ingredients are -
Kraft Graph Paper - Recollections by Michaels (a gift from JT)
Doily - eBay
White Paper Roses - The Range
Tag Die - Spellbinders (sentiment printed on white card stock)
Butterfly Dies - xCut
Bling - AC Moore
Black and white card stock - from my stash

I stumbled across the Shabby Tea Rooms blog when I was reviewing some of the entries for MAWTT this week and I am so glad that I did..I'll be back again..but on time next time!

Cx

Moving Along With The Time...no design papers

Hello!

Team B are back this week over at MAWTT with a fun challenge from Sue...no design papers..which is challenging, but lots of fun, as you have to explore all other aspects of your kit.

I am very happy with my card, it's so cheerful! And I got to use lots of different parts of my kit.

I die cut a polaroid style frame using my Silhouette, paper doilies, a strip of blue paper, some buttons and twine. The image is a digital stamp by Pink Petticoat and part of the Beach Cottage image set..I love this set and it has beautiful papers.. I coloured the image using Faber Castell Gelatos and an aquabrush.

The lettering was tricky, because every time I tried a solid colour it fought with the blue strip..so I got creative and cut it out in white and then using a stencil I coloured it using 3 different shades of blue and a bit of white..complicated?! Maybe :)

Do pop over to the Moving Along With The Times blog and get inspired by the fabulous creations by the rest of the DT.

One more thing before I go...I just wanted to say Happy Anniversary to my Hubby..now I can finally give him his prize winning card :)

Cx

WOYWW #229...It's getting colder...

Brrr! Having had an extended Summer (or Fummer as Hubby is calling it - Fake Summer) the cooler Autumn weather has come as a bit of a shock.

I am sure that across the WOYWW community, you have been experiencing the same shock.

WOYWW for those of you that do not know is hosted by the lovely Julia on her blog Stamping Ground, we have a weekly global desk nose - why not join us?

My desk is a hive of activity this week - DT makes kicking around, 40 for 40 remnants, fabric squares - for Lavender sachets I am making, a card for a friend and another half coloured version, my automatic pencil (LOVE automatic pencils), some scanned in and printed out stamps and my glasses.

I thought I'd give you a sneak preview of one of the 40 for 40 cards -

Live, Love and Laugh

I love the paper on this card, it is from Michael's and I've used it several times - most notably for my Father's Day card last year. I used a Tim Holz stencil for the spotty / grid background, one of my beloved Range flowers and you can just see a teeny bit of doily poking out! I think he needs something else, so be warned wherever he ends up, he might look slightly different :)

I have also been wracking my brain for a way to decide who gets what..So I have decided to write out all the envelopes and turn them upside down and lay a card on top of them, that way it is completely random.

Oh and before I go, check out my shiny new Featured Stamper badge...isn't he gorgeous :) It's all thanks to JT.

Cx

Layer it up

Hope you all had a nice Easter.

Hubby and I have been slobbing about, hanging with family and friends - in amongst some packing!

As you know, I have been talking about wanting to experiment using different patterns and colours together. I've seen a lot of cards around lately that are using this idea, they are also layering up using different shapes. They are all so nice and you need time, which I have...so here are my attempts!

The main photo today is my interpretation of an idea I saw. I thought that if I kept all the tonal values the same that this would prevent the card being seriously busy.

Thank You Butterflies Close-up

I think it's a really great example of what I have been trying to achieve. Using cream as the main colour, has toned the card down a bit. I matched the ink to one of the colours in the patterned papers. The backing paper was a freebie, the stripy paper is American Crafts, the butterflies were die cut, then embossed with a small dots folder.

The next cards are actually the finished versions of the layouts that were on my desk during WOYWW last week.

Layered Birthday - Blue

I pretty much stuck to the layout that was on my desk during WOYWW. I made 2 changes - I embossed a pattern into the cream card background, to lift it a bit and added x2 more label die cuts, so there was a place for a sentiment.

Layered Birthday - Pink

I hate to have favourites :) but the one with the pink & purple tones is my fave - I think the patterns work much better. I am glad that I got to use the chipboard flowers, they are from the Range and come in a strip of x5 flowers for £1 - bargain!

Along with layering and playing with patterns, I am also currently obsessed by birdcages?! I have no idea why. I remembered that I have a Lettering Delights set that has a birdcage, so I dug it out and the card below shows you how I used it.

Happy Birthday birdcage

The birdcage stamp and the bird were separate and colour, so I converted them to b&w, then merged them together, so you can see the bird without me having to cut out teeny little white boxes (NO). I hand coloured and glittered the leaves. The backing paper and the stripy paper are by American Crafts and the yellow spotty paper is by Pink Petticoat. The little green dot is from a random sheet of weird bling from Paperchase.  I am very pleased with this card, I think the colours and the patterns all work really well together. Ma has her eye on this card :)

My final card is one I made ages ago, that has been hanging on my drying rack! I saw a similar idea, using a bingo card. I have a bingo card digital stamp, so I modified it so I can have a month instead of bingo at the top.

Bingo Baby Girl

Once I had the background and the bingo card in place, I was at a bit of a loss over the sentiment. After many different options, I settled on the one you see and it works well, as it's not too busy. I have just noticed that this card might have some subconscious message..my SIL is expecting her second child, it is due in May....do you think I want a Niece?

I really enjoyed making these cards, it's also a great way to use scraps.

So ladies, what do you think? Do you think I've finally got the hang of this pattern / colour / shape layering thing? All advice welcome :)

I am most excited about tomorrow - JT and I are spending 2 days together, we are going to have our last London playdate and pack my shoes (gulp), go and play bingo and get really drunk so we can say farewell for now. Hurrah!

Cx

Project Doily

Hi! Bit of a radio silence from me, I've spending QT with my family, hubby and some friends. It's been fun

Doilies have been everywhere I have been lately. They have also been residing on my desk mainly unused, due to fear and lack of inspiration.

A quick nose around Pinterest and here we are a few days later with Project Doily.

I wanted to make some cards that were a bit of a departure for me. I made 5 - one of which you have already seen. I really don't like the Mother's Day card, but thought I'd share and get some feedback...

First up is today's main photo. I love this card, but it wasn't simple, it was mighty time consuming and I will need to leave it on the drying rack for sometime, so I can look at it LOTS before I use it.
I used a Papermania doily, a kraft card, DCWV Latte 6x4 paper stack, random buttons, JT's butterfly punch, a tag punch and 'hello' stamp.
Why was it so time consuming...well the punching of the 3 butterflies and layering them to create the desired effect was a pain...the ACTUAL stitching of buttons (jeez I need to go back to work) to the paper and making sure everthing stuck down right and didn't bulge wasn't fun either..but it is beautiful...

Here are some close-ups of the butterflies and the buttons.

Next is this simple beauty - done with the time consuming part of this little project...

I used a white mini doily from eBay, a Papermania paper flower, a Sizzix die cut flower, a button and a 'hello' stamp.
Nice and straightforward, not a lot of work and it's really effective.  I like using kraft card blanks, as I feel you don't really need a background paper.

This card is a little bit unusual and I made it because I really wanted to figure out a way to use the beautiful paper. I got it free with a magazine ages ago and thought that with the doily, a flower and a sentiment it might just work. I think it's a tad fussy, but I kind of like it.

Finally is this Mother's Day card....I don't like it, I followed a Pinterest idea and I think there is too much going on..

What do you think about it? I think I don't like coloured doilies so much...

Cx

Mother's Day..already?!

Well, not quite, but as a card maker and seller it is the next UK event on my craft calendar. So I've been playing with some ideas.

I've been working on simple, easy to reproduce ideas for the website and more complex ideas for my Ma's card - as I might not be here this Mother's Day, I wanted her card to be special.

First up is the main photo, which has no sentiment, as I am not sure if this is 'the one' for Ma yet and also, I don't always add a sentiment, I like to think about who the card is for and if it's right for the occasion. Here is a close-up.

So what did I use -
Blue cardstock - pale blue - for the backing and butterfly and metallic teal for the die cut
DCWV Blue glitter cardstock - for the decorative strip and butterflies
Sizzix spotty embossing folder
Spellbinders Nestabilities frame die
Candi
Adhesive pearls.

I really like this card, but I'm not sure the blue is Ma. Maybe I'll try it in another colour.

Next up is a photo of some pretty little cards I've made for sale using a Bugaboo Stamp (mini flowers set). I've used 2 of the stamps and coloured them simply and added glitter. I have also added a Candi on one and a Pearl on another, not sure which I like best?

Yellow with pearl

Orange with Candi

I like the simplicity of these and I am going to try other colours. Oh and the ladybug needs to be finished off - oops!

My final card is the one below, it follows the same idea as the Valentine's Day cards, but instead of hearts I've used contrasting butterflies and pearls. Simple, easy and looks really pretty.

Finally before I finish, I have to wish my Craft Buddy (and Friend) JT - HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! I am hoping she reveals my gift to her on her blog, because I can't yet, as I'm not sure if it has arrived..

Happy Weekend everyone.

Cx

WOYWW 191 - First day of leisure

Happy WOYWW!

It's my first day of leisure or packing - I prefer leisure, packing can wait ;)

I'm actually writing this in my pj's for the first time ever!! YAY!! I have had a great week and I am happy for it to be that time of the week already!! Join me and many others over at Stamping Ground with Julia, for our weekly desk viewing. Go to Julia's blog to find out more.

My desk is looking considerably tidier than last week!

So what's on my desk!
My new doilies, I've got some Pinterest inspiration printed out, which you can see. The doilies are really sweet, they are quite small and I bought them on eBay. There are bows, my glasses, some flowers for a project that is in my head, left over butterflies, my fave stack of Martha Stewart inks and a couple of glue rollers. Next week I have set aside a day to play with the air dry clay I bought last year...I bought these plunger moulds that you can see and I am going to make pendants and brooches, but I was also thinking they would be cute framed?

Here is a close of of one of the flower moulds -

I've also had a successful week selling Valentine's cards and other things on the website - yay! This is great news and random, who knew how popular Valentine's Day was?!

I'm going into town to the most amazing Paperchase ever, it's on Tottenham Court Road and if you are ever in London, go there!! Yay! It's treat time :)

Oh and WOYWW'ers - go to Monday's post to see the finished Scottie and Anniversary cards :)

Cx