It's Christmaaaaas!

Sorry about that but I could resist lol! We received a new Christmas kit from Kanban late last week and it is fab. It's a Nordic theme in shades of red and blue and all the backgrounds and toppers etc work so well together. I wasn't very keen on it when I first opened my DT kit and don't think I would have bought it, but after playing with it over the weekend I just totally fell in love with it! I would be more than happy to make my own Christmas cards from it, that's how much I fell for it :) 

So, you need to make yourselves a nice hot drink and lock up the kids as the kit is being premiered on the Kanban Christmas Show on Create and Craft at 5.00 pm and 8.00 pm this evening with Keith, Denise and Dave Bradford.

One of my cards made for the show

Thanks for dropping by. xx

June Sketch: a panel & a pennant

I thought I would pinch (borrow, nick, steal) Kathy's title for this post to make my job of blogging a bit easier lol :) as it's time for the new sketch over on the Kathy's Waffle Sketch File.

You are really going to love this sketch......I got really carried away with it last week and plan to use it for some more cards, thanks Kathy 

Supplies: 6x6 card blank, Kanban In The Garden paper pad 901377, Kanban Happy Hour toppers 900824, brown card, brown organza ribbon and a die cut shape

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There you are, clean and simple! If you are looking for a bit of inspiration then hop over to Kathy's Waffle Sketch File and take a look at the DT cards.

Thanks for dropping by and I hope you will play along with us.

Crafting Muskateers Challenge #14

Hi, crikey I can't believe we are on Challenge #14 already! Thanks to everyone who played along with us on the last challenge and congratulations to the winner and top 3, there were some amazing entries as always.

Sad news again in this post, we have said bye to Avril and Kathy-Jo who have both decided to step down from the team, we're going to miss you girls.

We have a couple of new ladies joining our team though and they are Nichola Welham and Cheremane Smith.. Cheremane is our GDT for this challenge and then joins us permanently in July. 

The theme for this month is "Stamped Image" (this can include a digi stamp) and it has been sponsored by the wonderful  www.polkadoodles.com The prize on offer is 4 Digi Images from the sponsor which the DT have used for their projects.

As well as the Polkadoodles image I have used backing paper from the "Words For Him" A4 paper pad #20846 by Aspire Crafts train and image are from the wonderful Clearly Besotted Stamps

If you don't have your own blog , you can join us on our Facebook page

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Crafting-Musketeers-Challenge-BLOG/320703981385124

Thanks for dropping by

Fabulous Fuchsias

I missed this set of stamps and dies from Clearly Besotted when they were released in March but managed to get them last week and boy, were they worth the wait, I absolutely love them!

It took me about 15 minutes to make this card as for my daughter as she was going to a birthday party on Saturday evening

 and I liked it so much that I decided to make a thank you card for a lovely lady (who helped my daughter and her boyfriend with some very useful advice) and it took me blooming ages as I couldn't get the dies lined up with the stamps. In the end I decided to use the simple uncoloured stamps and was really pleased with it again.

I then decided to make another birthday card to pop in the box in the nail boutique/hairdressers who stock my cards. This was a quick make too as the dies lined up with the stamps straight away! This time hubby snaffled it for his aunt whose birthday is at the end of the month. 

 I think I might just make another birthday card when everyone is out of the house and smuggle it into the shop in among a pile of other cards waiting to go to the shop lol.

Thanks for dropping by and I hope you are having a lovely bank holiday weekend.

Happy Birthday....

Crafting Muskateers. Another month has passed us by in a flash and it's May already! It's also time for the Crafting Muskateers new challenge and we are celebrating our first birthday....where has the last year gone!?!.So onto the challenge which this month is sponsored by Katie Sue Designs.
This is their prize for the winner 

For our birthday celebration , we will be doing our usual prize for the winner, but also there will be small mystery prizes for the top 3. 

The top 3 will also have the chance to be guest designers with us, with us along with the winner.

So, the challenge for this month is "anything but a square" and this is my card

 I used a Nestabilities Grand Decorative Oval die #1 for the card blank, Mr & Mrs stamps by Woodware, hand rolled flowers, silver mirri card and white satin ribbon. My card was part of an order and this is the matching keepsake box I made....

using the same hand rolled roses, die cut leaves and white satin ribbon. My client loved it. :)

I hope you are enjoying the lovely sunshine we are having in the UK at the moment. 

Back soon, take care xx

Kumihimo bracelets

For some reason I woke up at 6.45 this morning and couldn't get back to sleep so I thought I would get up  and sort out some photos for my blog and web site as they are both getting an update this morning. It's a while since we have done any work on the web site so as it's a long weekend we thought we would spend a bit of time on it. I uploaded the photos for this post on Wednesday so that I could sit and write a post and here it is now Sunday, and I'm sat here writing this post!! Not very good is it?

I find making these bracelets so relaxing and always take beads etc with me on holiday. I've made them on trains and planes, and it the car and people are fascinated by what I'm doing and will often stand and watch me lol. I made quite a few on holiday last year too and didn't come back with any (although I did give a couple away as prezzies :)). I have my DD1's bracelet on my desk so I can take it to pieces and remake it for her. Hers was the first Kumihimo bracelet I ever made a couple of years ago and she has never taken it off until now. I made it in pale pink and silver and it's so pretty but she's a hairdresser and it has different dies etc on it and the cord has stretched too. I'll use the same beads but new cord.....in fact, I may just do it this afternoon.

I've had quite a run on these bracelets so far this year and I really love making them. I don't like making them all identical and like messing about with the way I string them and by not using the same beads all the time. Although I have made quite a few white and silver ones...they are really pretty. I will be adding the bracelets to my web site later today :) 

The first one is silver lined gold and matt gold  beads

 2.  This one is mine and is silver lined rainbow and dark grey beads

 3. Silver lined clear and matt white beads

 4. Silver lined clear and matt white beads

 5. Silver lined clear and matt white

Thanks for dropping by, till next time....Happy Easter and don't make yourself sick on chocolate ;).

Oblong layers

It's time for an update over on Kathy's Waffle Sketch File challenge and boy do Kathy's sketches challenge you :) Take a look at these.....

The second sketch works perfectly with the C6 card I used for my sample. All the papers and image on this card are available on the Funky Hand web site. Why not have a go yourself and show us what you have done?

Take care, back soon xx

Allsorts challenge

I haven't taken part in any challenges for absolutely ages so I thought I would try some of the ones I used to visit. If anyone know of any good ones then please let me know :)

Well, it's a beautiful day, if not a little nippy, here in Scruff's Corner and I feel I should be out in the garden. However, I have wedding work to do so it will have to wait. I'm hoping for some nice weather over the long weekend so I can get out then. Monday has been reserved for shopping by DD2 as her and her boyfriend move into a flat on 3rd May and they are starting from scratch, but the rest of the weekend is free.

So the challenge I have chosen to start with is the Allsorts Challenge as it was always one of my favourites :) Their theme for this week is Spring Blossoms and I have used one of my new stamps from Clearly Besotted Designs, isn't it lovely. Stephanie is just so talented, I love her stamps and dies.

I've stamped the image onto ivory card and coloured it with Promarkers, I then embossed a piece of ivory pearlescent card and mounted them onto cream card. The label is actually stamped onto one of the labels I use for my jewellery, I added a pink bow and pink gems and hey presto a very quick and easy card but I like it a lot!

Thanks for dropping by, back soon :) xx

Art Deco ladies

Did you see the Create and Craft shows last weekend where the kit was made of Art Deco Ladies and associated backing papers, card etc? Well, the kit was absolutely fantastic and the girls on the Kanban/Aspire Crafts design team were lucky enough to be given a kit each to make samples with.....and we all fell in love with it :) There are some of the sheets in the kit available on the Aspire Crafts web site.

These are the samples I made for the show

I altered a white paper carrier bag

 

Leonie and Keith both liked my exploding box and gave my name out on the programme :))

There will be a lot more cards coming from this kit in the not too distant future as it's a stunning kit and I have loads left. 

Thanks for dropping by xx

Baby basket

I am so pleased with this, I could burst. I've always remembered someone making or buying my mum a basket similar to this when she had my brother a long time ago. We lived in Belgium at the time so I don't know if it was just something they used on the continent but no-one in the UK seemed to know what I was on about whenever I mentioned it lol I thought it would be handy to keep here when #1 Grandson arrives that way we don't have to lug great bags full of stuff about when he comes to stay and it keeps it all in one place. 

It's a long time since I had my sewing machine out to do something other than repairs. I used to make loads when I was younger but I haven't actually made anything for years.I thought the fabric was just gorgeous, it's pale blue with tiny white stars on and I bought it in Dunelm. I'm thinking of making a couple and filling them as baby gifts to sell on my web site.

I would love to know what you think, thanks for looking.

Spring.....

is the theme for the Clearly Besotted challenge this month, you will find the details on their blog, Stamping and Sharing if you would like to take part.

I decided to use the You Are stamp and die set for my card

I coloured the flowers and leaves with Promarkers and added gold flat back pearls and green and white gingham ribbon from Ribbon Oasis.

I love that stamp set but have trouble lining the die up for it, not to worry though, it's easy to cut with a knife :) I have watched Michelle Shorts videos time and again and I still have trouble with this set...I'm ok with the other sets though and I might have the odd few sets now....oh alright  then, I have lots lol

Thanks for dropping by and I'll be back soon xx

Nappy / Diaper cake

A quick project that I made for my daughter, boyfriend and bump a couple of weeks ago. I love making these but I cram loads into them and they end up costing me a small fortune!! I might, at some point, try sourcing some decent quality products and see if I can make some to sell but at the moment I'll stick to what I do best :)

Anyway, this is my desk when I laid everything out to see if i 

 and this is the finished project

 I will try to remember to photograph it in it's wrapping tomorrow as it's still sat in my craft room as it's so big there is nowhere else to put it till they move out lol

Back tomorrow, take care xx

Kathy's Waffle

As it was the beginning of the month last week the new challenge, Oblong Layers, over on Kathy's Waffle Sketch Challenge went live. Although there looks to be two different sketches it is actually just on, the second has been rotated :)

          

Hubby has run out of wedding cards so I decided to use these sketches to start making him some more for his box so these are only C6 cards. This is not a size that I like using they are perfect for these sketches. I've made three so far but I will just show you my first card this week

Papers are remnants of some old, free Crafter's Companion papers which I got in a magazine some time ago, the butterfly is from the Botanical Odyssey stamp set by Kaisercraft (these were a gift from my Secret Santa), the sentiment is a clear stamp from the Make A Wish set by Clearly Besotted Stamps, the flowers were hand cut from odd pieces of left over paper, hence the difference in size lol I do have a couple of dies to cut these but one of them is too small and the other one is too big!

Just a thought, you could use this sketch when you make your "Monochrome" card for the Crafting Muskateers challenge :)

Thanks for dropping by, back soon. xx

Challenge cards and DT call

I know I've been absent for a while so without going into too much detail, I'm back. My story involves bad backs and crappy lap tops but I won't bore you with the details, I just hope I can get some posts done and get caught up with challenges etc before the lap top packs in again! :)

I have loads to catch up with so I will start at the beginning of this month with any news, challenges etc and once I'm up to speed with April I will start on March (assuming I don't get stuck again!)

So the new challenge for April from the Crafting Muskateers is a good one. The theme is "Monochrome" and the sponsor is Anice McNamee from Funky Hand who has very kindly donated a £10 download voucher which can be spent on the Funky Hand web site. Here is an overview about FH..... 

"Funky Hand started with the launch of our first backing paper CD 'The Funky One'. Things have certainly moved on since then and I would like to thank all of our wonderful customers for making our time in the craft business such fun!

There are a lot of exciting things ahead for Funky Hand so keep popping back to see what we are up to. Anything that I want to let you know about will be added to my blog Funky Hand Thoughts as soon as it happens. I update it regularly with new card designs to inspire you, exciting news that I want to share and just general day to day chat. I look forward to you visiting me there! Don’t forget to leave me a comment so I can drop by your blog if you have one.
If this is the first time you have visited Funky Hand or if you are a Funky Hand customer and friend I am sure you will find something to inspire your paper crafting projects amongst our CD-Roms, downloads, stamps and stash. Don’t forget to take a look at the examples of cards, scrapbook pages and word-books for each CD or Download collection, new ones are added regularly. My thanks to my design team members Kathy, Jackie, Amanda, Jenny, Lou, Allison, Debs, Ni, Belinda, Debbie, Samantha and Ruth for all their hard work creating fab new card designs to add to the ones I pull together when I have a spare moment! As well as making cards for this website and my TV appearances, the Funkettes also run a monthly challenge blog - Get Funky! where there are Funky Hand goodies to be won. Why not have a go yourself?"

Here is my challenge card

 Anice very kindly gave the CM design team a download of their choice to work with and I chose the limited edition "Mother of Mine" download kit. I used shades of pink (apart from the bits of green on the flowers ;)) from the kit.

Why not pop over to the Crafting Muskateers challenge blog and take a look at the fabulous DT cards and entries? You have plenty of time to join in as the challenge runs for a month! We are also looking for a new member to join our wonderful Design Team as Sheena has decided to step down from the team due to other commitments. 

Look forward to seeing you, good luck xx

Happy Birthday Mum

Thank you to everyone who took part in the February challenge over on the Crafting Muskateers challenge blog.

It was my lovely Mum-in Law's birthday on 23rd last month and I decided to make her birthday card for this challenge which is sponsored by Debbi Moore Designs. Debbi's was the first ever DT I was on way back and I actually designed for them for about 3 years altogether. The only reason I left was because I felt as though I was getting into a rut and needed to spread my wings a bit. I shall always be grateful to Debbi, Lynn and the team though :)

My card

I used a Pyramage topper from the Glitter & Glitz cd and added a bucket load of glitter and diamantes. The leaves are cut with a Joy Ccrafts die and the rolled flowers are from the Bebunni Love Collection from Crafters Companion

This is what is on offer to the winner this week 

Don't worry if you haven't got a blog of your own as we have a Facebook page and you can pop your card up there.

Good luck :) x

Kanban Crafts DT call

Good morning all.....if you love Kanban, you will love this :)

Fancy having a go? x

We are looking talented UK Card Makers, Stampers and Scrapbookers to join our team.

This call is for a six month term from March 2014 (This call is for UK designers only).

Here's how to be part of the team...

How to Apply:

Please email the following information to karen.smith@aspirecrafts.co.uk

1. Contact information, including name, address, email and phone number.

2. Link to your blog and/or online gallery. We'd also love to know if you are on Facebook and/or Twitter.

3. Photograph and email us at least 5 samples of your best work, including cards, layouts and other craft projects (Kanban Crafts products to be the main focus where possible).

4. Have you been published? What other Design Teams are you part of and when does their term(s) end?

5. Tell us about YOU....what you love about crafting? Why do you want to become a Kanban Crafts UK design team member?

All Design Team applications must be received by 1st March 2014 to be considered. If selected you will be notified by email.

Monthly requirements:

1. Design Team members will be required to submit projects using the latest products on a weekly basis.

2. Promoting Kanban products on your personal blog and other sites.

3. Submission of projects to magazines for publication.

4. Submission of high quality photo images of finished projects with a products used list or instructions if required.

5. Providing physical samples if requested for tradeshows and/or sales meetings.

What you will get in return:

1. A big box of Kanban Crafts goodies to work with, including new releases.

2. You will have your own album on the Kanban Crafts Facebook page where your work will be posted.

Good luck everyone and we look forward to seeing your work!

Good luck from me too :) xx

Silver and gold

This is the final part of yesterday's order for my friend. She is giving a dinner party next week for her birthday and asked me to supply her with place cards and favour bags for her guests, I did the same at Christmas in hot pink and turquoise and they looked great together. This time though she has gone for a more subdued silver and gold!

The stunning acetate butterflies on the place cards are from Kanban. I'm not sure if they are still available any more but I shall have a word in the ear of the Kanban powers that be and let you know. I would like to see them return as I love them and use them very sparingly at the moment.

Thanks for dropping by xx 

Be my love

These are the last  of the Valentine cards I made this year for a very good customer and lovely friend.

 

 The following two cards were made for another good customer. The next card was made for a lady's husband ........

(using a clear stamp from Kanban) and this one was to her and her husband from their grand children :) 

On this one I used the Love Quotes stamp set from Clearly Besotted Stamps and my first ever hand made rose (well the first one that worked any way!) using an ordinary Woodware five petal flower punch, one of the blue ones.

Thanks for dropping by, I'll be back soon :) xx