Page Plans

Another fab card template and me playing catch up (again)!!

Papers used are Basic Grey and English Paper Company. tag is embossed using a Cuttlebug folder, suit is Quickutz and I think the baby is a Bosscut die but not 100% sure. Brads and ric rac from my stash.

One down, three to go (so far)..........challenges that is. I'm also trying to get stuff together for two wedding fayres on Sunday, I have appointments all week and I organising a 30th birthday too. :) Good job I work well under pressure and another good thing is that it leaves me no time for household chores ;) so if you come to visit..........bring a duster!! :)

Back soon, thanks for looking.

Blog Candy

Have a look at Kath's blog for some fab candy she is giving away to celebrate 5000 hits on the blog. I like the look of the Brenda Pinnick kit :)

Papercraft Essentials

I've been published in the new edition of Papercraft Essentials. Not just any old article but an EIGHT page feature on wedding stationery. There are also six pages of templates to supplement the article. I think I'm going to burst with pride so I just had to share. I am so pleased with it, the photos are fab. See for yourself

This is me!!!

I'm also mentioned in Cardmaking and Papercraft this month (just my name) but my card can be seen on their web site If you scroll down to the English Paper Company section, my card won second prize. :)

Gosh, I am one happy bunny today.

Cute Card Thursday

I only came across this blog at the end of last week and have managed both challenges since. So this week's challenge is Challenge 7 Girls Just Wanna Have Fun. As we had male cards last week, this week we would like you to make a card with a female theme.The image and greeting are from Pink Cat Studio. The image is coloured with pearlescent paint in lilac and pink with the addition of a small Prima flower and a couple of crystals. The lilac card has been Cuttlebugged using the Bloom Dots folder. Pale pink organza ribbon is from Ribbon Oasis . The greeting has been finished with a couple of Quicklets.
Thanks for looking and for all the lovely comments. :)

More blog candy

http://funkyhand.blogspot.com/

http://www.marking-the-occasion.blogspot.com/

http://www.pinkangel-traciejane.blogspot.com/

http://going-buggy.blogspot.com/

http://stempelchaotin.wordpress.com/2008/04/22/das-etwas-andere-blog-candythe-other-blog-candy/

A challenge a day.........

..........is what I keep trying to make time for. I don't always manage it but haven't done badly this last couple of weeks. I'm just a bit late today as I was late deciding to make a card!

Anyway, this is for Di Hickman's template

and here is my cardThe papers are all by My Minds Eye and I think they are just beautiful. I'm nearly out of it though so I will have to have a look to see if I can still get it. The card also fits a competition (I think) on the Crafts By Carolyn forum so will go and post it on there.

Wish me luck!

Copper top!

I've just finished my card for the DCM Little Extra and.......................I love it!!! It's not very often I say that, but I'm really pleased with this one. The remit today is We are introducing a new series to our little mid week dares, based around traditional and anniversary gift themes to inspire a design. We are not necessarily looking for an anniversary card (although obviously that’s allowed :) the card can be for any occasion but it should be inspired by the gift theme of the chosen year.Now, we could start with 1st Anniversary, but that would mean you'd be able to guess the next dare in the series, and that would be too easy eh? :) So we've decided to pick the dare year randomly and we are starting off with'The 7th Anniversary'We’d like you to make a card inspired by the Traditional or Modern gift themefor a 7th Anniversary, which is……'Wool or Copper'
The papers are from the Sugared pad by Basic Grey and K & Co mat stacks. The sentiment was printed straight onto a piece of co-ordinating paper, using a selection of fonts, which was then cut up and edged with copper ink. The key was cut by hand from a template which was a freebie from PaperCraft Inspirations and the copper heart is from my stash. I can't remember where it came from as I bought it about four years ago! I've left the greeting off as I think it could be used for lots of different occasions.

I've done really well now and remembered to photograph these bookmarks before I've wrapped them in tissue (I usually have to unwrap them :))

They are both made using AB Swarovski crystals and Czech beads and sterling silver charms.

I'm now going to parcel them up and get them in the post.

BFN :)

Pop up card

I decided to clear my desk in order to make the bookmarks and start the wedding album but got ever so slightly sidetracked!! Whilst I was putting some stuff in a drawer, I found my pop up template and thought I would do the challenge that Jo has on her blog :) I already had the 'Hamish' image coloured and the car cut so it was really just a case of putting it together. I hope she likes it!I don't know where the papers came from, I found those in the drawer too. LOL I think I have enough pieces of left over paper to last me until about 2014! The brads and birthday tag were from Crafts by Carolyn ages ago.
That's it for today, I really must do the bookmark order but as I still have a couple of cards ordered, I will be back tomorrow hopefully with the DCM Little Extra.

Blog Candy

There are various people offering blog candy at the moment, so as I find them I will add them to this post.

http://funkyhand.blogspot.com/

http://www.marking-the-occasion.blogspot.com/

http://www.pinkangel-traciejane.blogspot.com/

http://going-buggy.blogspot.com/

http://stempelchaotin.wordpress.com/2008/04/22/das-etwas-andere-blog-candythe-other-blog-candy/

Cutie Pie!

I think I must be a couple of years behind everyone else. I've had a few cards ordered this weekend and found a couple of templates/challenges that I've never tried before, the first being Cute Card Thursday who state This week we would like to see your cards made for the men and boys in your lives!

One of my cards is a 'boy' card so I think this one fits their remit :) I also used a template from a challenge but unfortunately I saved the template but forgot to save the link so I don't know where it came from! *blush* If anyone recognises it could you please let me know so that I can credit the person who came up with it? TIA Sorted now, thanks Jo http://artfullyila.blogspot.com/2008/04/i-have-3-high-hopes-stamps-to-offer-as.html

I've used more paper from my left over box so the only paper I recognise is the green one which is from the sheet of Funky Hand paper which I printed off the other day. The stamp, which I have coloured using my cheapy paints from The Works, is from the Stamp Boutique on ebay and everything else is from my stash.


My second card is also from a template challenge but I know where this one is from :) I came across Page Plans via Jennifer's blog and thought I would give the challenge a go.
This is another stamps from The Stamp Boutique, again coloured with the paints. The backing paper is from one of the old K & Co 6x6 pads and the offcuts are from my bit box. The greeting and crystals were on my desk.
I now need to try and clear my desk as I have two bookmarks to make and and a duplicate wedding stationery album. I've been asked to do two wedding fayres, on the same day in two weeks time, so have roped my Mum and Dad in to do one for me. My Dad has done a couple as he was a Relief Manager with Greenwoods, (the mens clothing and wedding suit and kilt chain). My Mum has never done one though but they both like talking to people so I thought it might keep them out of mischief for a few hours ;))
Thanks for reading.

Hi Maggie!

Yesterday saw the release of the new DCM dare and the brief was

"This week's Dare theme is a team effort rather than a challenge just thought up by just one of us. We'd like you to take the phrase"Hot and Spicy" and make of it what you will.
It could be colour themed, food themed or maybe have just a hint of saucy spicy-ness"

so I decided to use my Maggie stamp (hence the title!) and here she is

The papers are from The Funky One by Anice and they are lovely. As you can see, I used pale pink and green together and decided that my accent colour would be hot pink. Maggie was watercoloured using Marvys and a water brush (colouring isn't my strong point but I think it is passable :)) Flower, ribbon and eyelets are from the Papermania embellishment kit and the greeting was generated on the computer. The front was cut off the card because i decided to be clever and stamp straight onto it..............but it went wrong LOL so rather than waste the card, I 'trimmed' it!!

The rest of my week, apart from the cards I've already blogged, was taken up with a wedding order. The colour of these is lovely. It's almost like Cadbury's purple........

but the colour doesn't show up too well in the picture.

I've just taken delivery of a new stamp and found another template challenge so will have a go at that shortly. We haven't got anything planned for today as DH is working this evening and tomorrow we are popping over to have a look at my parents new house. They are moving back to the place where they met 52 years ago. It's an ex RAF camp, dad was stationed there and mum worked for NAAFI, and they are moving into an ex married quarter! I think it's so romantic..............but I'm like that :))

Whatever you are up to, have a good weekend.

Take care.

Blog Candy

I've just been having a bit of a blog hop and came across this lovely blog.........Pink Angel Tracie Jane is offering some fab blog candy as she celebrates her birthday next week.

Di Hickman's Card sketch

I do love card sketches, they make my life so easy but I've never actually thought of doing my own. I just decide what I'm using on a card and shuffle it till it looks right LOL (Note to self-start using one of my millions of note books and making my own sketches). I do like Di's though and here is this weeks.The blue paper is from an old Sizzix pad and I'm not sure what the stripey paper is as it was in a kit I bought a while ago. The stamped image is by Stamps Away and the charm is from my stash.

My next card is another one from Lythan's tutorial, this time on yellow card :)

The card is actually yellow Bazzill Bling although it looks orange here. The paper is again from the card kit. The house and clouds are again from Marieke's blog I love the colours in this one.

And now back to my left overs! Here are a couple more that I did this morning.

Patterned paper used is from one of the K & Co mat stacks. Not sure where the lilac card is from but I ran it throught the Swiss Dots folder by Cuttlebug. The stamp is one of the Maggie stamps from Sugar Nellies and the ribbon and heart are from my room full of goodies. :)

Paper is by the English Paper Company (part of my prize from a comp last year in Cardmaking and Papercraft) and the stamps again is by Stamps Away. The rest is from my stash.
The stamp is City Divine by Penny Black. The backing card has again been Cuttlebugged and the flower and brad are from a Papermania mini embellishment kit.

Right outside of my box!!!

Crikey talk about tough! Today it is Lythan's turn to set the little extra over on the Daring Cardmaker's blog and she has come up with a fantastic tutorial which can be seen here and here is the starter :)
Hello there, it is Lythan here with the second in our occasional tutorials. I'm going to share something I absolutely love doing - adding a little extra to patterned paper.To do this you need to chose paper with quite a bold pattern. Papers such as those by American Crafts; the more modern K and Co; Sassafrass Lass and Scenic Route are good places to start. I am using Piggy Tales in these examples. I love these papers as they are so bright and colourful and also have a matching plain colour on the back. This technique works well for cards using punches and loads of white space. They often solve my problem of what to put on men's cards!
Here is my card and it is so not me!

The house and cloud images were downloads from Marieke's blog last year and all I did was to 'glaze' the windows and door with Glossy Accents. The flower is a silk one, not sure where from and the journalling circle is from Cherry Arte. It was in a cardmaking kit from the Scrummy Stash Cafe Again, this was bought last year! Not sure what the paper is as it was from a kit from Sarah's Cards I doodled around all the flowers with a black journalling pen and a white gel pen.This is what the paper looked like to begin with

Not much difference is there? I also doodled faux stitching on the Doodlebug page frill and the yellow Bazzill Bling square with a white gel pen. It doesn't show up very well though. I actually made this card for parents as they move house next Wednesday...............I shall let you know what the reaction is. LOL

My second card was made for a challenge by Nickynoo over at the JB blog and she says "Here we go with a nice 'n' easy card challenge for you.......... Make a card with a number on, any number! It doesn't have to be an age card, I'm thinking maybe 'text-speak', or some kind of play on words - in fact, I'd love to see what you can come up with that isn't an age card! Here's mine - ok, I went for the easy option."
And here is my creation again

This card was way out of my comfort zone too, thanks Nicky :) The papers and birds are from a Kate Hadfield download which I bought a few weeks ago. The letter U and the bookplate are both covered with the same paper and it has all been inked with a pink chalk ink pad. The greeting and number 2 are computer generated.

I finished a wedding order this morning too and that has been collected by the couple this evening. It has been mad here all day so I am going to bed shortly. I hope you are having a good one whatever you are up to.

Take care.

Who dares wins!!

Sorry about the pun but it's that time of the week again............challenge day on Daring Cardmakers blog. It's Jo's challenge this week and here is what she is looking for "I seem to like butterflies at the mo. This week therefore I would like you to put some butterflies on cards. Stitched, felt, shiny, bright, plain, paper pieced, stamped, drawn... you get the idea :) any theme of card but it must have a butterfly somewhere on the card!"

My butterflies are punched layers. The bottom layer is brown and is stuck flat onto the card and as you can see, the top layer is pink. These are just glued in the middle so I could lift the wings. The flower is Cuttlebug fastened together with a Doodlebug sugar coated brad (I just love these), the ribbon is from my PIF from Jennifer to which I have added a Papermania rub on. I'm not sure what the spotty paper is as just had an L shaped piece in my 'bit' box...............enough for 2 cards and a small piece left over. I love the pretty coloured dots on it :)

My second card is for Di Hickman's template challenge this week..........that lady is just brilliant. I don't get much time to do challenges lately but I do try to do the DCM one and Di's. Here is the templateand this is mine :)

Notice the similarities? I cut too many butterflies then decided that I liked the card, so made this lol. Ingredients as before (obviously, duh!) but without the rub on as I'm not sure what occasion to use it for yet. I have a man's card to make and an idea for it using this template but will try to do that tomorrow.

And I've got another award from my blogging bud, Jo, thank you so much and thanks too for the help with the signature too. I'm cool now like everyone else LOL.

Right, back to finish my PIFs. Till next time, thanks for looking.

Two tags and an award!

by two Jos!!

So firstly we have the tag by Jo K (I think I'm only a couple of weeks late with this one - sorry Jo. I've done it before and it has been really difficult thinking of seven more facts.)

Rules: Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules to your blog; share seven random and/or weird facts about yourself on your blog, we all want to know them; Tag seven random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs; Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

1. I'm scared of heights!

2. I have a real difficulty when it comes to walking over a bridge with any form of transport running under it, especially foot bridges at railway stations.

3. I absolutely love Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconi. I listen to them most nights and they make me laugh.

4. I have a sister and a brother, both younger than me.

5. I watch very little television.

6. I am very emotional and cry easily.

7. I just love email!!

now for this lovely award.

The award and the second tag are from Jo A

What I was doing 10 years ago: As well as running my own business I was doing a 'Helping in Schools' course which led to me being a Teaching Assistant for 7 years.

On my to-do list today: Making wedding invitations which involves punching 186 daisies (which I did!)

Snacks I enjoy: Chocolate, but I'm not really a snacky person

Things I would do if I was a billionaire: Look after my family and buy Cornwall (my passion)

Three of my bad habits: Not being able to say no x three!!!

Five places I have lived: Kirkintilloch, Scotland, Cyprus, France, Belgium, Germany

Five jobs I have had: Barmaid, selection box packer (!), housewife :), teaching assistant and best of all.............designer.

Thanks Jos LOL If you would like to play with the tags, please feel free.

I shall nominate Jo, Andrea, Jennifer, Sheila and Kathy

Right, back to work for a bit. Take care.

Pass it Forward

I hope you are sitting comfortably cos this post has the makings of a long one. :) Keep going and eventually you will find my PIF

I really loved my postie this morning cos he brought me nice parcels!!! Firstly, I got this fabby parcel and wonderful card from my new friend Jennifer

Lots of lovely Grosgrain ribbon in pink, brown and white and some pewter bookplates, buckles and clips with brads. Thank you so much Jennifer.

My next parcel was from Emma at Sassycraft (sorry Kathy and Sheila, I've fallen off the wagon!) I'm still using up my leftovers, see below but Emma has loads of lovely stuff and I couldn't resist placing an order.............not to use of course. LOL

and finally I got a new corner punch from the Glitter Pot. Mine fell to pieces in my hand and they have been gracious enough to replace it for me, excellent service :)

Now for the evidence that I've been using my bits and pieces. This is the 'before I started' picture

and this is what it looks like now, after 40 cards :)

Once I've emptied the basket, I can start on the drawer!!

Just one card today and I've made a couple of wedding invitation samples, oh and done a stock take at the shop.

Papers are Pink Petticoat and the image is by Stamps Away. I keep finding stamped images so the cards are almost making themselves!

Now for my PIF.............I made this bag charm on Monday for a birthday present and if you are one of the first three people to comment on my blog and tell me what your favourite colour is, I will make you one too. *Disclaimer* the charm won't be the same as this one. I am happy to post world wide.

Good luck.

Blog Candy

Have a peep at Samm's blog. She is celebrating her blogaversary and giving away some yummy blog candy.

I will be back later with a PIF and some yummy piccies as well as a couple of cards :)

BFN xx

A template and a Dare!

My first challenge today is one of Sue's fabby templates on the Just Bex forum.

....and for this fab snowy day something to keep you busy a template you know what to do!! flip it shrink it etc etc The catch is that you must use something SHARP and some LACE.

The dress image was stamped for me about three years ago by a friend. I used so many of the images and promptly lost them and found four when I was sorting my drawers (!) the other week. The image has been mounted onto burgundy and silver pearlescent card. The paper is by Fancy Pants. My 'lace' is the broderie anglais round the greeting and my 'something sharp' is the silver brad in the middle of the Cuttlebug flower.

My next card is for the DCM Little Extra This is today's remit Now this weeks mid week dare is inspired by Rachel and is called 'Folded' ! This is not folds in the card blank itself, but rather folds ON the card- whether it be some kind of paper folding technique or folded embellishments or even just a folded over message of some type.
So here is my card

Ta Da!!! My very first waterfall card :) so lots of folds. Papers are Pink Petticoat again and the stamp was a freebie a couple of years ago from Anita's with a bit of added bling.

Back soon, thanks for visiting.

Number 10

Here you go, as promised.


Kate Hadfield's papers and chicks can be bought from here and the elusive tenth card :) Another one which was influenced by this weeks dare over on the DCM blog

I think the green paper is from an old SA kit (and I mean old cos my membership lapsed about this time last year), the bag is by Sizzix. It is on the large red dress and accessories die. The flower is Prima and I'm not sure where the flower brad is from.

Back soon. x

And then there were 10

......more cards made with left overs on my desk. The pile doesn't seem to have dwindled much but I managed 10 more cards today. I will only be sharing nine this evening as I forgot to scan one so will do it tomorrow. I've run out of the large (Dunelm) blooms, but only on my desk, I have loads in boxes! :)
Just look what the DCM challenge on Friday has started!The floral paper is Basic Grey, they yellow card is Bazzill Bling and the greeting is a minute peel off!

Paper is K & Co, car is Quickutz and greeting is a rub on by Papermania.

I think the paper on this one is another by Pink Petticoat but not 100% sure *blush* (I will check tomorrow), flowers are Prima, brads are Doodlebug with added bling and ribbon.

The daisy was hand embossed and coloured with glimmer chalk. The backing paper is from a mini scrapbook kit that I bought when I first started making cards, the rub on is Papermania again and the cord was wrapped around the neck of a bottle of bath crystals until last Thursday!! lol

Wording is computer generated, ribbon is from a wash bag gift set, charm is from stash and greeting is another small peel off.

Another hand embossed card. Blooms are from Dunelm and Prima.

More Pink Petticoat images and paper. The quote is from a pink kit from Craftwork Cards which DH bought me the Christmas before last!

The word 'sister' was cut on the Robo to put on DD1's birthday card at the beginning of March but I temporarily lost ;) a couple of the letters. Flowers are Cuttlebug, as is the tag.

Flowers again are from Dunelm and the chick image is from a downloadable kit by Kate Hadfield. I will post the link to the kit tomorrow as well.

Another Dunelm fabric flower layered with one by Bazzill, one from Brianna by Prima and a flower brad which I bought when I first started card making. The greeting is another Papermania rub on.

Well, that's the lot for this evening. I shall be back tomorrow as promised. Thanks for looking.