Card Making Nut Jo

Tilda Card

2011-04-08T06:59:00.012+01:00

It's been a while since I last made a Tilda card, so I dug out this image that I have had for a while, and not previously used. Please ignore my messy piece of white cardboard, it's what I put over my craft mat when I am colouring in :D
Also please excuse the darkness on the pics, I did have the flash on, but the light was poor this morning.

I would like to enter this card in to the following challenges please:

A Gem of a Challenge: Sketch
A Spoonful of Sugar: At least 2 types of textures {Sequins, Ribbon, textured papers}
Creative Card Crew: April Showers
Paper Sundaes: Spring Blossoms {Used yellow flowers which are a spring colour}
The Crazy Challenge: Just add Flowers {My 2nd entry}
DYSU: Yellow
Crafty Card Makers: Recipe - Use Yellow as your main colour, Add Ribbon, Use faux/real stitching and add Rhinestones/gems. {Yellow is my main colour, blue ribbon added, real sitching used to tie the sequins together and on the slanted dp and faux stitching used on the sentiment dp, flat back self adhesive pearls used as my gems}

Altered Note Book

2011-04-06T23:23:00.019+01:00

Good evening everyone.

At the moment my PC is broke :( so I have had to use my OH's PC to upload photos etc. It's really annoying not being able to do this on my own PC, but it looks like this might be the only solution until we can get me a new PC. I do have a laptop, but I really don't like working on it!
So until then, this will have to do!

Anyways, I couldn't find my old notebook that I kept details in, on challenges, so I decided to turn a tatty old note book, that I found stuffed away somewhere, in to a brand spanking new 'Challenges' notebook. I know I do have all the challenges listed in my sidebar, but I like to have something by the side of me whist I actually craft.

You will notice that I don't have a watermark on these images, that is because that is stored in PSP on MY computer lol

Note: I really hope entering this notebook in to the listed challenges are okay, but I couldn't find anything in the rules that said it was for cards only. If not, then that is absolutely fine :)

PS. Please ignore the grubby white card on the photos, that is what I use on top of my craft mat when I am colouring in lol

The before picture. Yucky! As always, click on the images to view in full.

Front.

Back.

Inside. Not the most perfect, but it will do! As you can see I removed the old ribbon marker and made a matching spotty one.

And below a few extra photos, juct click on them to enlarge :)

I would like to enter my altered note book in to the following challenges please:

Magnolia Stamp Lovers: Use Ribbon
One Stitch at a Time: 3D
Stamptacular: Buttons, Bling & Blooms {4 white buttons, stickles on sheep's hair and tail, and flowers, prima flowers & 1 wild orchid flower}
Delightful Challenges: Flowers
Just Magnolia: Anything Goes with Optional use of buttons {4 buttons & magnolia image}
The Crafty Pad: Flowers
One Stop Craft: Spots & Dots {spots on the ribbon}
Craft Your Passion: Anything Goes
Pollycraft: Use old or neglected stamp or image {I've had this image in my stash for ages and never used it previously!}
The Crazy Challenge: Just add flowers
Papertake: Anything Goes with Optional use of something new {my spotty ribbon was brand spanking new}
Passion for ProMarkers: Yellow and Pink {The sheep is pink with yellow hair, also pink ribbon, prima flower and wild orchid flower. Yellow prima flower also. ProMarkers used, see recipe below for colours.}
ABC Challenge: R is for Ribbon
Allsorts: Blooming Blossoms {2 prima flowers and 1 wild orchid flower}
Craft Your Days Away: Spots and Stripes {spotted ribbon and striped designer paper}
Stamp, Scrap & Doodle: Glitz {stickles on sheep's hair and tail}
Crafts and Me: Glitter {stickles on sheep's hair and tail}

Wow, I didn't realise it was eligable for so many! Hopefully is IS eligable anyways, if not I will have to have a re-think!

Recipe:

One dirty tatty old notebook
Striped designer paper is Smirk
Magnolia sheep and trees images
Prima flowers
Wild Orchid flower
Pink spotty ribbon
White florists ribbon
To Do {or not to do... that is the question}, Do This ---->, This item belongs to:, and Designed by: Stamps from Basic Grey
White buttons
Stickles
Flat back self adhesive Pearls
Calendar tab
ProMarkers {Cinnamon, Cool Aqua, Mint Green, Grass, Ivory, Rose Pink, Tulip Yellow and Blush}
White card stock

Update on the Scarf I was Knitting

2011-03-30T23:26:00.010+01:00

Before I went on my little hiatus, I posted pics of a couple of scarves I was knitting.
I managed to finish the second one fairly quickly, so here are the pics.
The scarf now has a nice new home with my Aunt, and I am currently working on another as requested from my Mum, so I will get the first update pic of that up soon.

Anyways, here is the blog post with the last knitting update. And here is the post with the first pics, just in case you wanted to have a looksie :)

You will have to excuse the first bunch of pics as at the time I hadn't got my new camera!

20/08/10 - Day 6. - Project 2

21/08/10 - Day 7. - Project 2

24/08/10 - Day 8. - Project 2

28/08/10 - Day 9. - Project 2 - Had to unpick LOADS due to a mistake!

29/08/10 - Day 10. - Project 2 - Managed to do some serious catching up! After this, I didn't take any more update pics lol I don't know why I stopped but you can see the finished scarf below, it measure about 6ft in length when it was complete :)

31/01/11 - Project 2 Complete!

And modelled by my son.

Birthday Card and Candle Made to Order

2011-03-29T11:36:00.006+01:00

This was a card that was made to order for a friend's Dad's 60th. And of course all net proceeds went in to my charity pot!
Thank you for your order Claire!

She also ordered a candle too, which is why I have included it in this post!

As always, click on them to view in full. I totally <3 my new camera!

The finished card.

Inside with matching panelling, with the candle.

And a super close up of the candle.

I would like to enter the card in to the following challenges please:

Stamptacular Sunday: No Kids Allowed... Birthday
Crafty Cardmakers: Special Birthdays

Card Recipe:

Really thick blue card stock
Flippin' Men Stamp
Blue sticky ribbon
Gold mirror card
Plain white super smooth card stock
Tiny self-adhesive Gems from 'The Snowman' collection
6, 0, D, A, D silver stickers, coloured with Peel Off Pens
ProMarkers {will edit colours in later as I need to check some of them)

Candle Recipe:

Candle
D, A, D alphabet stamps
ProMarkers
Gold elasticated twine type-stuff, instead of ribbon to make it more masculin.
Tissue Paper

Will be back laters with more!

Major Catch Up & Why I Haven't Posted in a While {Sad Story}

2011-03-28T04:25:00.007+01:00

Hi everyone, it's been almost 8 months since I last posted!
Gosh, it's a wonder I still have any followers left!

When I last posted in August, I knew that the next time I post would be in September, as I had a lot of birthdays that month, I guess I just never got around to it, and figured, 'oh I will post the pics at Christmas when I so my Christmas cards', however, my Christmas cards didn't photograph very well at all! So I though, 'ahhh screw it, not posting these pics'. On a better note, I got an awesome camera for Christmas!

Then in January, I got some news that would change my life forever.
At the time, I had taken up cross stitching again, which is another reason why I hadn't posted here, but I digress, (I will keep the story short and skip out a lot of details)...

In the early hours of 16th January, my younger brother went missing after a night out in the town with a friend.

At around 00:30, he became seperated from his friend, at this point he must have decided to make his way home. He was last seen about an hour later by a policeman, but because he wasn't aggressive he wasn't taken in, and because he wasn't paralytic no ambulance was called.
Yes, Steven had had a drink or two, but he wasn't a big drinker, so alcohol probably affected him quicker than some people.

The next two days there was an extensive police search including the force helicopter, dogs, police divers and boat, policemen on foot and horses. And of course all his friends and other people who knew Steven, and even people who didn't.

Sadly, on the 19th January Steven was found by a member of the public walking their dog, floating in the river.
When the ambulance arrived he was pronounced dead.

He had accidentally drowned.

Just one night and my baby brother was gone.

We had his funeral on the 2nd February, and we are trying to get back to normal now, though life without Steven will never be normal.

Steven, 08/03/88 - 19/01/11 - Aged 22

And this is why I am back. Steven always liked getting my handmade cards, (probably mostly for the money included in them though lol), and he wouldn't want me to stop doing something that I love, plus I have decided to start selling my cards for charity, one of which will be RASS riverandseasense.com which I have recently become involved in.

Anyways over the next few days you might see some changes to my blog, I thought it was time for a new layout. I am happy with this one, but I want to change this white part to a pink colour, but I can't see in the code where it is, so I will have to have a play with that.

Also, as I mentioned earlier, I got an awesome camera for Christmas (I also got a Robo Lite!!!), so I have re-taken pictures of cards that I still had in my possession, so I will re-post those over the next few days.

Anyways, first up is a card I made for my Mum for Mother's Day. Which came as a complete card kit in a magazine, though I chose to omit the card it came with, and used my own.

Remember you can click on the image to view in full detail, and now that I have a new camera, the full versions won't be all crappy and blurry lol

I made a bit of a mistake in the top left corner, so I covered it over with a prima flower lol

I would like to enter this card in to the following challenges:

One Stitch at a time: Mother's Day/Babies
Creative Inspirations: Mother's Day/Mum
Alota Rubber Stamps: Use Green on card (Only just about managed this I think!}
The Crafty Pad: Mother's Day
Ooh La La Creations: Mother's Day/Special Friend
Craft Your Days Away: For Mum or Special Lady
Aly's: Spring {Nice Spring flowers! And Mother's Day is in Spring!}

And that is all for now.
I will be back with more posts later!

PS. I am having a hard time trying to follow blogs at the moment, but I will keep trying!

My First ATC

2010-08-16T08:03:00.005+01:00

Well, I finally got around to making my very first ATC at last.
I bought a pack of blank pre-cut ATC cards about 2 years ago, and never opened them!

But after a little playing this morning I came up with my first ATC.
Obviously it's not as good as a lot of the pro ATC'rs out there but it's a start right?

Oh yes, and because I needed my ATC cards, I couldn't find them LOL Typical huh.
So I just built it up on some plain white card, then went searching AGAIN for my ATC's and finally found them in the first place that I looked lol

Obviously it looks so much better and vibrant in real life, and my camera is playing up again grrrr.

I would like to enter this in to the following challenges:

One Stop Craft Challenge: Oriental
Creative Inspiration: Recycle Element {I made chopsticks out of a toothpick that I was about to throw away!}
Craft Your Passion: Anything Goes

Another Tilda Card

2010-08-16T04:17:00.005+01:00

Just finished another Tilda card :)

I would like to enter this card in to the following challenges:

Dutch Dare: Sketch
The Secret Crafter: Girlie
Cowgirl Up: Inspiration Picture plus buttons and ribbons {The picture was of a strawberry cheesecake, which reminded me of the pink panel I used alongside some nice lace ribbon}
Stamptacular: Buttons & Bows {2 white buttons and a nice purple glittery bow}
Aly's: Dots {Pink panel has dots}
Crafty Cardmakers: Birthdays
A Pocket Full of Posies: All that Glitters {The purple bow is totally loaded with embedded glitter! Plus the required flower as per norm.}
Sweet Stampin: Use Favourite Stamp {So many Magnolia's to choose from! I opted for this lovely Tilda stamp!}

MSE Badges

2010-08-15T18:27:00.006+01:00

I made a couple of badges for my fellow MSE'rs to display on their blogs to link back to our card making thread so other crafters could find us if they wished!

Anyways, I thought I best put them in a post on my blog incase the posts on the threads got lost or deleted or whatever lol

Just right click to take them and upload them to your own photo storage, and put one on your sidebar and use the following code to link back to the MSE card making thread {you will need to upload to your own photo storage account, so you will just need to change the last bit of code}:

{Click to enlarge image}

If you have any problems with the code or just need help feel free to leave me a comment with your e-mail address or your MSE name and I will PM you, or feel free to PM me on MSE, my name there is Soulie

Green Card

2010-08-15T03:18:00.009+01:00

Another new card today.
I've used a Penny Black stamp set that I won earlier in the year and have only just got around to using! And I will be using it again as I loved colouring it in!
And after playing around in PSP I managed to get my photos to not look so blurry, so much better quality pics today lol

Isn't that little hedgehog so cute!?!
And even though I do say so, I like the way I coloured in the bird, who is attached to some acetate so that he hovers above the tree. I did take a video of me flicking him but it is sooooo dark, so I will try again tomorrow in daylight lol
Also to add more dimension I snipped away at the little hedgehog to give him bristles, but you can't really tell on the photo :(

A side shot, to show the acetate.

I would like to enter this card in to the following challenges:

Ooh La La: Spots & Dots {spots on the panels}
I Love ProMarkers: Use Acetate {I used acetate to make the birdie hover - I hope this counts!}
Penny's: Anything Goes
Delightful Challenges: Animals or Insects using Dots and Stripes {I have two animals, dots on the panels and stripes on the backing paper phew!}
Cute Card Thursdays: Trees or Leaves {I have used a tree lol and the flower to the left of the tree has a little leaf}

Recipe:

Penny Black Stamp Set
PaperMania's Creative Tones backing paper {the stripes} 'Olivine Essence'
Claire Curd's 'Big One' paper {dots} which I coloured over in a Mint ProMarker to darken it a little as it was far too light.
Prima Flower
Self Adhesive Pearl in the centre of the flower
Silver Mirror Board
Green Card stock
Sentiment which was also coloured with my Mint ProMarker
ProMarker colours used: Mint, Grass, Pine, China Blue, Azure, Cool Aqua, Cocoa, Cinnamon, Lilac, Rose Pink, Peach, Blush, Gold and Cool Grey 3

Thank You Card

2010-08-13T18:27:00.002+01:00

A thank you card, that I am not 100% happy with... again lol

Even though I am not happy with it, or the photograph it's self {I am still playing with my camera settings}, I would like to enter this card in to the following challenges:

Cowgirl Up: Sketch
Paper Sundaes: Use Metal {Small Metal Brad in Flower, and used Silver Mirror Board which gives off a metal effect}
Wild Orchid: One for the Girls {Umm, it's pink and have used lovely Wild Orchid Flowers on it!}
Ooh-La-La Creations: Spots & Dots {Spotty paper on one of the panels}

My Knitting Project Update

2010-08-13T18:19:00.004+01:00

Just an update on how my scarf is coming along.
I set myself a challenge to knit a further 10 inches in August.

07/08/10 - Day 2. - Project 2

08/08/10 - Day 3. - Project 2

09/08/10 - Day 4. - Project 2

10/08/10 - Day 5. - Project 2 - Reached my goal!

September Blog Candy!

2010-08-08T05:52:00.004+01:00

A new month and lotsa new blog candy out there being offered by all these amazingly generous bloggers!
Check them all out and get your name down for a chance to win!

Amy is giving away a shed load of goodies, not just papers but a buncha stamps too! Go check them out at A Thousand Sheets of Paper. Ends 3rd September.

Two Cards

2010-08-08T03:33:00.007+01:00

I've been a busy bee again.
Two new cards :)

Here is the first one, Tilda, and as you can see, I am really loving my new Nellie Snellen dies :D
Though I really need to see if I can do anything with my camera settings to make the pictures not so blurry.

I would like to enter this card in to the following challenges:

I Love ProMarkers: Follow the sketch and no more than 3 colours {My three colours were Rose Pink, Cinnamon and Cool Grey 1, and of course I followed the sketch}
Cupcake Craft Challenges: Distressing {I distressed the edges of the rectangular panel going down the centre}
Delightful Challenges: Distressing {see above}
Alota Rubber Stamps: Distressing {see above}
Alphabet Challenge: Ovals {I used my Oval Nellie Snellen Frame Dies}
Creative Inspiration: Anything Goes
Sweet Stampin: Pretty In Pink

And finally, an Edwin card, though I am not 100% sure about this one, it feels like something is missing from it?
Ah well, can't get 'em all to be how we wanted them to be I suppose lol

I would like to enter this card in to the following challenges:

Cards for Men: Go on an Adventure {Edwin has his cases packed and is off on a little adventure!}
Magnolia Stamp Lovers: Use Edwin
Craft Your Days Away: Favourites {I used my new favourite Nellie Snellen Frame Die, along with my favourite mulberry paper flowers, and of course Edwin was coloured in using my favourite medium; ProMarkers!}
The Secret Crafter: It's A Man's World
Cute Card Thursday - Whateva

Tilda Card, Bracelet & Altered Jar

2010-08-04T01:41:00.022+01:00

I am very proud of myself today, not only have I completed a new card, I have also made a 'tester' bracelet and an altered jar.

First up is a Tilda card that I made for my friend in the US' birthday.
I coloured her in a couple of days ago with me new ProMarkers.
I had to order some new ones as I didn't have any 'pastel' coloured ones, and as they were under £5 a pack, I figured why not!

I would like to enter this card in to the following challenges:

One Stitch At A Time: Follow the sketch or use Pink {I used Pink}
The Crafty Pad: Ribbons & Flowers {Ribbon in her hair & Mulberry paper flowers}
Crafty Angels: Something Old, Something New {Old = All the papers used on this were old. New = Flowers, Pin, Pearls and the die to cut the ovals}
Ooh-La-La Creations: Birthday {Though it doesn't say on the front, but this card is intended for my friend's birthday.}
Creative Card Crew: Cute & Girlie {my card is umm cute & girlie lol}
Dutch Dare: Anything Goes
One Stop Craft: Patterns {Papers are patterned}

Recipe:

Tilda pre-stamped image {from eBay}
ProMarkers
Stickles
Anita's Glossy Accents
Pin
Self Adhesive Flat Pearls
Mulberry Paper Flowers
Leaf
Laura Ashley Paper {deep purple}
Papermania Papers {pink & lighter purple}
3D Foam pads to lift Tilda off the card

Next up is a little bracelet that I quikcly put together, more of a tester, to see whether I would enjoy making more before I bought all the tools and lots of beads.
And I found some wire and basic beads in my stash, so I gave it a go, and I did enjoy it, so I will be investing in some better beads and tools etc. soon!

Recipe:

Wire
Beads

And lastly is an old pasta sauce jar that I altered to put my new mulberry paper flowers in.
As the lid was green all over I decided to keep the green theme.
I didn't have any green ribbon though, so I recycled an old piece of green ribbon I had laying around.

As you can see, the paper didn't go all the way around, but you can see all those yummy flowers and delishious colours!

Recipe:

Empty glass pasta sauce jar
Papermania paper
Ribbon
Prima Flower
Lovely mulberry paper flowers to fill jar

I almost forgot....
I got new toys a few days ago, a sealing wax gun, wax, and a 'J' sealing coin, and I totally *heart* it!
I can easily see how addictive this might become!

August Blog Candy!

2010-08-02T04:07:00.020+01:00

Here is some awesome blog candy I have found for August.
So feel free to go ahead and visit the blogs and out your name down on some of the amazing candy that is up for grabs!
Don't forget to check out the candy in my side bar under my 'to do ' and 'challenges' lists also!

Debbie is offering up this yummy candy! Just visit her blog for more info. Ends 16th August.

Kellie is offering up some amazing candy! Look at all those yummy stamps!! Visit her blog on how to enter, here. Ends 16th August.

Deb is giving away all this lovely candy, go here to find out how you could be in with a chance of winning it! Ends August 20th.

Gini is offering this yummy candy for her blogoversary! Visit her blog here to find out how to enter! Ends August 21st.

Some awesome summer candy being offered by JLJ Designs. Ends 31st August. Free digi-image each day throughout August also!

I Really Should be a Better Blogger!

2010-07-31T01:36:00.011+01:00

OMG I haven't updated since April!
Then again, I really haven't done all that much crafting since then.
I promise I will do more crafting and update my blog more often from here-on in!! I promise!

Anyways, here are the few makes I have done since then, including a couple of kitting projects I am working on. Be nice, I am a first-time-self-taught-knitter!

Oh yes, and I have had a birthday recently too and got some new crafty pressies, including more ProMarkers, Jewellery making stuff and a few other bits and pieces.

Large Marilyn Twisted Découpage. Needs a sentiment putting on it.

Smaller Marilyn Twisted Découpage. Needs a sentiment putting on it.

Large Audrey Découpage. Needs a sentiment.

Father's Day card for my Step-Dad.

Owl Card #1 from the C&C POTW in July, which I got for my birthday.

Owl Card #2, which my son and I made for his school teachers.

Knitting Project #1 - Day 1 - I totally *heart* this funky furry wool!

Knitting Project #1 - Day 2

Knitting Project #1 - Day 3

Knitting Project #1 - Days 4 & 5 - Not much done as I was hunting out a loose thread lol

Knitting Project #1 - Day 6

Knitting Project #1 - Day 7 - Againg not much done as I was chasing another loose thread lol

Knitting Project #1 - Day 8

Knitting Project #2 - Day 1 - For some reason this seems a lot softer than the other blue project, yet it is the same type of wool?

Anyways, that is all for now.
And I WILL stick to my promise, as I don't want to keep lumbering you all with these long rambling posts and lots of pics in them lol

Major BIG Catch Up Part III

2010-04-01T05:33:00.014+01:00

Part 3 of my update.

A nice Audrey Hepburn twisted decoupage card. I could have split up the layers but I wanted to go all out on this one. Used card stock, gold mirror board, prima flower and gem, and I can't remember what designer paper I used as the backing paper.

A side view so you can see the layers.

A single layed Audrey Hepburn mounted on a different style of card {which name escapes me right now}. Again, gold mirror board was used, excuse the reflection from the camera lol

A miniture version of the twisted decoupage featured on the first card.

A nice big 3 way fold {again the proper name of the fold has eluded me} card of James Dean, I believe. Once again, this one is twisted decoupage, mounted on gold mirror board.

Side view.

Inside, with the magnetic bookmark I made to go with it, and as you can see from the picture below, the magnets are pretty strong.

The card on it's side, showing that the magnetic bookmark does not slip off.

The other side of the bookmark, with me holding it up and giving it a little shake, still doesn't slide off!

The inside of the magnetic bookmark.

And finally, the King! Though this pic does the card no justice at all! And the silver mirror board doesn't help much either! There is a space at the bottom to allow for personalisation, or for one of the generic tags to go on it that came with the set.

A side view to see the layers.

Major BIG Catch Up Part II {incl. WOYWDW}

2010-04-01T04:53:00.019+01:00

Part 2 of my major big update lol

Here's the card I made for my Mum for Mother's day. I decoupaged Tilda on to the background, she and the grass and flowers were coloured with promarkers, the cloud was dusted with chalks and the grass also had a light dusting of chalks to make the grass and cloud appear softer blended together. Adhered prima flower and stickers. I forget which designer paper I used, will look it up later, I think it is basic grey??

A flower soft card I made a while back, it has since been sent to one of my Aunt's for her birthday in April.

Cheque Holder made with a Forever Friends Bear, which I slightly over-coloured lol

Inside.

With the cheque attached.

Now, this is a kinda holder-thingie-me-jig lol that I made to put some used stamps in to send to an animal charity that I collect for. I think I manged to get about 160 stamps in this one. If you want to know more about the charity or how to send me your used stamps {UK and foreign} just leave a message on this post with your e-mail addy and I will be more than happy to e-mail you.

The main image is dufex, so it doesn't photograph very well, but this pic came out pretty okies!

And this is what was on my workdesk last Wednesday LOL
I like to sit in front of the TV to craft, esp. now all my favourite shows are back on air, so I have this little table that I use, but the majority of my 'workspace' is either in a box on the floor or/and on the sofa next to me lol
So here we have a dovecraft scoringboard with scorer, scissors, tweezers, magnetic tape roll, pencil and all the bookmarks that I made that day and the day before!

I kinda altered the dalek bookmark, by putting it on to a piece of blue double sided card and made it in to a magnetic bookmark.

The back of the bookmark with a dalek and some star glow in the dark stickers!

I have LOADS more magnetic bookmarks, which I will post later.

Major BIG Catch Up Part I

2010-04-01T03:53:00.013+01:00

I have been meaning to do a post for a while now, but I have just been far too busy, so when a friend wanted to see some makes, I got my ass in to gear and downloaded all the pics from my camera, and here I am!

First up, a buncha cards I made a while back, for my Charity Card blog, with all proceeds going to St. Michael's Hospice in Harrogate.

Baby Girl card, available in different styles. Used BuzzCraft papers and emellishments, pink card stock, stock feathers and gems, 3 fabric flowers and pink brad. Inside and back NOT decorated but can be as per ordered via my Charity blog. £1.50

Flower Card 001 - SOLD

Flower Card 005 - From £1.80 via my Charity blog.

Flower Card 003 - SOLD

Flower Card 006 - From £1.75 via my Charity blog.

Flower Card 004 - From £1.80 via my Charity blog.

Flower Card 002 - From £1.80 via my Charity blog.

Flower Card 007 - From £1.70 via my Charity blog.

Flower Card 008 - SOLD

Flower Card 001 after it was personalised.

Mini Post

2010-02-19T18:23:00.007Z

Just a quickie as I'm in a rush, so I'm just gonna post the picture of the card and I'll post the details of what I used later :)

Anyways I am entering this card in the Cards for Men Challenge #4, where the theme was to use mostly green.

Okay, I am editing this part in as I was in a rush earlier as I was getting ready to watch the LIVE episode of EasEnders. How awesome was it!?!?!?

For this card I used a sheet of A4 stock card cut down to size as the base card. The backing card was embossed with the swiss dots cuttlebug folder, which I then chalked in various shades of greens.
The wall was coloured in with Cinnamon and the grass with umm Grass {ProMarkers}
Edwin was coloured in in the following colours: Blush, Dusky Pink, Gold, Grass, Cinnamon, Cyan and Black {ProMarkers} Any shading you see was done with the same colours. {Please note that by clicking on the image to enlarge it just makes it all blurred. So I will see if I can edit it somewhat in PSP later to make it a bit clearer by making the large version of the image smaller}.
Finally the sentiment is from a sticker sheet of sentiments by Dandelion and Daisy.

Simple card which will be winging it's way to my brother in March for his birthday :)

Catch Up

2010-01-05T04:14:00.024Z

You might notice that in yesterday's post, I said it was going to be a catch up post, well, after all the waffling I did I though that I would keep yesterday's post to just the card for the Cards for Men 2nd Challenge, so here is the rest of the stuff I made over Christmas.
As always, click on the images to enlarge.

Firstly is a cheque/money holder I made for our nephew, James.

The front.

Inside, complete with moolah.

And the back.
See the recipe at the bottom of the post.

Two tags that I made using one of 'The Snowman' stamps that I got for Christmas (early).

A faerie christmas tag. I made a few of these for my own pressies lol
There was loads more tags, and a really nice one using another 'The Snowman' stamp and sentiment, but I forgot to take a picture of it lol I'll have a look through my scrap box later to see if I remembered to save them!

And finally, a cheque/money holder that I made for my brother, which I haven't even mailed out yet!! Sorry Steven, it will be in the post soon, I promise!

The front. Love this digital stamp!

The middle, complete with cheque.

And the back.

Recipes:

Money Holder:

Pale Blue Card Stock
White Card Stock
Christmas Paper from Papermania {front}
Claire Curd's Signiture Range, The Big One {inside & back}
Stamp Letters from See-D's
Embellishments from stash
Sentiment computer generated
Christmas Tree and Pressie Stamp from a papermania's duo set
Whispers Brush Marker Pen {Black}
ProMarkers
Embossing Powder
£20 ;)

Tags:

White Card Stock
The Snowman Wooden Rubber Stamps: Joyful
Fairy Stamp {Create & Craft I THINK!}
ProMarkers
Embossing Powder
Silver Twine

Cheque Holder:

Red Card Stock
White Card Stock
All papers from PaperMania
Simples Christmas Digital Stamps {details in an earlier post}
Christmas Tree and Pressie Stamp from a papermania's duo set
ProMarkers
Stickles
White Gel Pen
Anita's 3D Gloss Finish
1 Cheque ;)

A New Addition to the Family

2010-01-04T06:26:00.009Z

Hi all, I hope you had a great Christmas! We certainly did!
I've only just managed to find the time to start posting on my blog again, it sure is good to be back!

Right time for a mega catch up then...

Firstly is a card that I made for my cousin and her partner who welcomed their first and long awaited baby into the world and the family, on 28th December 2009, a whole 2 weeks late and weighing in at a whopping 9lb 8oz!!!

A HUGE congratulations to Paula and Damian. I'm chuffed to bits for you both!
I have only just got around to finishing off your card and it will be in the post shortly!
In the meantime, I am entering it into the 2nd Cards for Men contest, which challenged us to use the theme 'new'. Perfect!

Here is my entry :)
As always, click on the image to enlarge and view details.

The card front. You might not be able to tell, but the layer that the toppers are on are up on foam pads, then again the toppers themselves are up on foam pads too, to add more dimension :)

The inside, totally fully loaded!

And the back, along with the handmade envelope.

Card Recipe:

Pale Blue Card Stock
Backing Papers, Toppers and sentiment from Buzz Craft
Blue Feathers from Stash
Buttons and thread from Stash
Bows from Stash
White Gel Pen
Double Sided Tape
Envelope made from plain white stock paper

It's Christmas. Simples!

2009-12-14T03:51:00.005Z

Here is the card I have just finished making, and I thoroughly enjoyed colouring him in with my new ProMarkers!

This card will be intended for my son this year, and it also fits the bill for the first Challenge at Cards for Men.

As always, click on the image to enlarge and view in better detail.
You might not be able to tell but that little lighter colour on his nose is dusky pink! Also I coloured him in twice and popped him up onto foam pads to make him stand out some more!
It looks a lot better in real life!

Recipe:

Red Cardstock
Christmas Simples Digital Stamp from Sandra Dry
ProMarkers (I will edit the colours in later)
La Pashe Acetate & Peel-off pens
Laura Ashley Designer Paper
S O N silver stickers (coloured in green La Pashe pens)
Whispers Brush Pens
Diamond Stickles
Scrap Card
Computer Generated Sentiments
Double sided sticky tape

Personalised Blog Candy!

2009-12-12T07:30:00.003Z

How amazing is this blog candy!
I would certainly love to win this!
Click the image to take you direct to the blog candy where you can try to win it for yourself too!

Calendars, Stockings and Trees

2009-12-08T00:58:00.011Z

Well, here are the other items I finished making a few days ago, but I didn't want to post them just incase any of the recipients saw them here first!
All have been sent out now, and most of them got them today, so it should be safe to post them!
As always, click on the images to view in better detail!

I bought the calendar tabs in March or April and since then I was struggling to decide how to use them, at first I thought maybe my son could make Christmas cards with them, then I saw the easel card and the lightbulb went off, perfect for desk calendars!
It wasn't until a few days ago that I saw quite a few other people have made them too!
Great minds think alike huh!

On the left is the first one I made ages ago, it wasn't until I got around to finishing them all off that I added the handmade flower. My son has claimed this one as 'that thing in the middle is cool!'
The middle one, maybe went to my brother and his girlfriend?
The one on the right went to William's teacher.

I think the one on the left went off to the states, and I *think* the middle one went to another Aunt. I know for certain that the one on the right was sent to my Mum.

I think the left one was reserved for my sister-in-law, and i know for certain that the one on the right was sent to my Uncle, and in his words 'they are great!'

Once again I am not 100% sure who got the one on the left, maybe my Aunt.
And the other one is sat on my desk as a spare!

I will post each one individually over the next few days with what goodies I used on each one, otherwise this post would be really huge!

All of the calendars together, laid down flat.
I think the first three on the bottom row are my favourites! But then again, I like the Smirk ones also!

My son was given this at school, to decorate at home. He had a whole week to do it, but we only managed to get it finished on Saturday night.
And here is the end result.....

I'll post the details in later as I have to go and finish off making a very special card right now!

Ooops, almost forgot.....

The tree was put up at the end of November! It is a new tree, (well, we got it in January when the sales were on), as out last tree would have been 12 this year (older than our son!), and was starting to look a bit threadbare. This tree is full of (fake) life and is nice and bushy and has no unsightly gaps between the three sections!
It is not fully decorated yet, but I will post a pic as soon as it is done and there is a little story surrounding the lights!

"It's Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas.....

2009-12-05T01:53:00.008Z

On every blog you looooooooooook"

If any of my family or friends are reading this, please look away now, as there might be a card that is on here that will be in the post to you shortly!

Every year I choose a theme/style of Christmas card that I am going to send to my family and friends.
Earlier this year I bought some waterfall cards in Christmas colours.
They were LOTS of fun to make and really easier too! So much so, I will probably have a go at make my own in the future.

I have already decided what next year's Christmas cards theme/style will be too, so I will start work on then in January, as I hope to have more time to craft and to be able to join in with more blogs and challenges!

As always, click on the images to enlarge and view in further detail.

The first four cards.

And the final 4 cards! I guess I am lucky that I don't have make 20 or 30 cards lol As I choose to only send hand made ones to close family and friends. Plus I have 8 green and 8 white waterfall cards left over for another year ;)

A close up of one of the cards.

A side view with the waterfall effect in place.

And again from a different angle.

Whilst we are on the subject of cards, here are the ones my son made for family and friends also. These were bought as kits. The funny thing is, you see the green ones? Well today we received a Christmas card from my Aunt, and it is from the same kit LOL But in red! What are the odds of that?

William's cards. He made 5 of each design, though he did mess 1 of each up as he put the stuff on upside down lol

I am going to leave it there for now, I have some other stuff to show but will post them in a new post as I don't want to clutter this post up too much!

Recipe for Waterfall Cards:

Kit from local store
Mini Christmas stamps from 2 different sets and both from different places
Gel pens
Glitter Pen
ProMarkers
Pieces of scrap card
Red stock paper
Designer paper is 'Tis the Season' by Dove Craft
Double sided tape
Gold Snowflake Outline Stickers
Gold Border Sticker
Black Ink

MAJOR Update Part II - Son's Birthday

2009-11-26T01:36:00.009Z

Okay, a major even happened whilst I was away.
My wonderful son turned 11 at the end of September, so here are a few piccies, along with some other pics of cards I made for other September birthdays!

William's Card. Details can be found at the bottom of the page. As always, click on the image to enlarge and view in better detail.

Tags I made for his birthday pressies.

Opening one of his pressies.

William's cake, which was yummy BTW. And YES I did save that ribbon and add it to my stash! I DARE you to tell me that you don't do that!!

I have just realised that I already posted the other cards here lol, so no need for me to post them!

Recipe for William's Card:

Plain white card, pre-folded with matching envelope from a local craft store.
'Tyler and Piper - Rock Stars' (set of 2 images) Digital Image from Pollycraft.co.uk
'Birthday' Wire Word by Papermania from madaboutcards.co.uk
Backing Paper is 'Looney Tunes Hop n Bop' from madaboutcards.co.uk
Self-Adhesive Foam Numbers from stamps.co.uk
Music Metal Charms from madaboutcards.co.uk (just £1 for a pack of 9 different charms).
Daisy and Dandelion Stick on Sentiment from madaboutcards.co.uk (just 50p for a pack of different sentiments, at the time of writing this)
Various papers from Claire Curd's signature range on the inside of the card (Not Shown)
Whisper Brush Markers used to colour in the image
Double sided sticky tape
Anita's Tacky Glue
3D Foam Pads (you might not be able to tell but I stamped and coloured the image several times and découpage'd it)

Recipe for the Tags:

White card stock
'William - Where's the Party' Clear Stamp from PollyCraft.co.uk (This is to be retired as soon as it is sold out)
Whispers Brush Markers
Double sided sticky tape

MAJOR Update Part I

2009-11-26T01:10:00.005Z

WOW it has been a really long time since I did an update, so I might have to post 2 or 3 entries just to keep everything nice and tidy!

Firstly I want to say a HUGE thank you to Sarah, I am pretty sure she must be thinking I am some kind of ungrateful cow after winning some awesome ProMarkers from her a while back! But not long after I received them in the post my PC had to be wiped clean, and I am only just starting to get things back on to it, and have just this minute installed the software for my camera!
So once again, a HUGE thank you Sarah, and because I got to try ProMarkers for the first time, thanks to you, I even went out and bought more, well I say I went out, I didn't I ordered them online LOL Still waiting for the 3rd set to arrive though! OMG they are freaking awesome!

The 5 pack of Greys (Set 5) that I won from Sarah. Along with me 'testing' them out for the first time on a scrap image. (As always click on the image to enlarge).

And being able to 'test' them out, I splashed out on 3 packs. Shown here is Brights (Set 1), and Hues (Set 2). Plus I ordered a Skins set also, which I am still waiting for.

I am going to leave this post as it is now, as I don't want to make it too long and want to keep everything nice and tidy :)

Even more amazing Blog Candy!!!

2009-09-14T01:14:00.024+01:00

Post removed now all candies are closed :)

Catch Up

2009-08-31T22:32:00.010+01:00

Time for a bit of a catch up, firstly a card that I just finished making, I did make a matching envelope too but I forgot to take pics before I put it inside the envelope to be posted lol
I used my own sketch for the layout.
The card itself is for my younger brother who has just moved out of home and into his own flat with his girlfriend.

The front, I used all new goodies (see below), on this card.

The inside with one of the new papers I got :)

A side view (before I put the flowers on it, because I only just remembered about them after I took this picture lol
As you can see I printed out the digital stamp 4 times (it has 1 dog and the house, but as it was for a couple I thought it would be a nice touch to add a second dog). I popped up the original dog and the ladybird then I also popped up the second dog along with the sentiment, which I hand-wrote and then I finally popped up the whole image from the card. I also drew a little bow for the second dog
I coloured with Whispers brush markers and chalked the sky and added a little chalk to the grass also, so it blended a little above the 'grass lines' and around the flower heads.

The sketch I made and used for this card.

And finally, some more goodies that arrived in the post a few days ago all from madaboutcards.co.uk
6x6 'Secret Garden' papers by Papermania (£1), 4x Fabric Flowers (40 per pack @ 50p each!), 4x Duo Snag 'Em stamps (50p each!), 3x Sticky Ribbons, 1x Black Ink, x2 ATC Backgrounds, Kimono Decoupage sheet, 2x Double sided tape, 2x Music Embellishments, Miniture Oriental Postcard embellishments

What a bargain too, everything was either 50p or £1 and the sale is still on so get yourself over there!

Card Recipe:

Card Stock
6x6 'Secret Garden' paper pack by Papermania
'Welcome to my Home' digital stamp by Elizabeth, available here from Softpencil on Etsy
Butterflies & Flowers Sticky Ribbon by Papermania from stamps.co.uk
Fabric Flowers
3d Foam Squares
Whispers Brush Markers
Faber-Castell Chalks for the sky, grass and her cheeks. Colours used were; 146 (sky blue), 101 (white), 141 (delft blue), 171 (light green), 280 (burnt umber), 188 (sanguine) and 182 (brown ochre)
Double sided tape
Scoreboard
Bone folder

Thank You Card made by my Son :)

2009-08-20T19:52:00.007+01:00

I thought I would share this card that I helped my 10 year old son to make for his Great-Auntie Sandra, to say 'Thank You' for the watch she gave him, which belonged to my Uncle Steve before he died last month.

As always click on the images to enlarge :)

The card along with the matching envelope that I made.

Close up of the card.

A better shot?

And the envelope.

Recipe:

White card stock
White paper stock
'Girl with Flowers' digital stamp by Elizabeth Pujalka from Softpencil on Etsy
Papers including the paper to make the envelope from The Big One by Clare Curd available from Stamps.co.uk
Tags from Papermania's Designer Shapes from madaboutcards.co.uk
Brown Ribbon from the Papermania Couture Brown Ribbon pack
Green Ribbon from the 'Naughty but Nice' Smirk Embellishment Tote from madaboutcards.co.uk
Butterflies from a 'Butterflies and Hearts' pack I picked up from a local craft store
Standard colouring pencils
Faber-Castell Chalks for the sky and her cheeks. Colours used were; 152 (middle phthalo blue), 146 (sky blue) and 119 (magenta hell)
Diamond Stickles from madaboutcards.co.uk from edirectory.co.uk

Also I received my latest bacth of goodies that I ordered a few days ago, which I can't wait to get using :)

A5 Watercolour Pad (from artdiscount.co.uk), Reeves Watercolour Tube Set (Just £4.49 from artdiscount.co.uk) and a Fiskars Paper Crimper from (Amazon.co.uk) which I specifically got for next years birthday cards after seeing this tutorial from splitcoaststampers.com

Altered Notebook

2009-08-17T19:09:00.014+01:00

I altered this notebook before I went to Leeds to visit family last week.
It was kind of a rush job, which is why it isn't as pretty as it should be ;)
Anyways, I just kinda made it up as I went along, but I did take photographs along the way so I thought I would share it with you.
As you can see I made it to take notes in about my family tree as I have been researching it for a while now.

I used an A6 £1.49 spiral notebook from Sainsburys.

Flip to the back of the notebook and take the back cover off.

Then go to the front and take the front cover off. (You have to take the back cover off first to be able to get the front off).

Ribbon is optional.

Adhere ribbon to the inside of the front cover. I used double sided tape.

Do the same to the back cover, then hide messy part by adhering white card over the whole covers. I used a regular hole punch to punch out the holes.

Pick out your papers and adhere to the outside covers, you can also adhere to the inside covers too like I did. I used papers from the Laura Ashley Traditional collection designer pack.
Then when you are done with adhering the papers onto your covers, put the front cover on first, swivel the spiral around then put the back cover back on.

Embellish as you wish. I used the scallop border of this Fiskars shape template on another Laura Ashley Traditional sheet of paper.

I then stamped a pattern on to some card stock along with some papershapes from Papermania and wrote 'family tree notes' and inked around the edge of the panel.

As I said, it's not the prettiest of notebooks, but it serves a purpose.

Recipe:

A6 Spiral Notebook from Sainsburys.co.uk
Laura Ashley's Traditional papers from ArtyMiss.co.uk
Ribbon from a box of Thornton's chocolates lol
Floral Foam Stamp from Papermania
Paper shapes from Papermania
Whispers ink (Will look up the exact colour later) from madaboutcards.co.uk
Whispers Brush Marker Pens from ArtyMiss.co.uk
White card stock
Double sided tape
Fiskars Shapes Template from Amazon.co.uk

A Forgotton Card

2009-08-08T20:17:00.004+01:00

Argh! I can't believe that I forgot to post this card!
I think it's because I made it a long time ago for my buddy in America, and sent it to her at Christmas, along with her Christmas card, for her birthday this year which was in March!

I applied the backing paper to the card and left it to dry while I drew out the dress shape on card before adhering paper to the dress along with the band and strip with another sheet of paper. I then added Glittering yarn on the trim and band, then I used some designer chipboard to create the flowery thing embellishment. I used foam pads to mount the dress on to the card.

A side view.

Recipe:

Card stock
Black and White paper is from the Hint of Pink Collection by Kate Knight (Dovecraft) from craftingdirect.co.uk
Pink dress paper is from the Raspberry pad from Creative Tones Collection by Papermania.
Band and trim is also from the Hint of Pink Collection by Kate Knight
The 'flower' embellishment was made up from several pieces of chipboard from the Hint of Pink Embellishment tin by Kate Knight
Glittering yarn (white/clear) from madaboutcards.co.uk (just £1!)
Foam pads
Anita's Tacky Glue from madaboutcards.co.uk

2 New Cards

2009-08-07T22:48:00.009+01:00

Finally after not being able to access blogger for several hours (blogger's fault, not mine!), here are a couple of cards I finished making yesterday.
As always, click to enlarge :)

Both are Jolly Nation kits.
The female one is for my Mum and the male one is for my Step-Dad, when their birthdays come around that is ;)

You can probably just make out that they are découpage kits.
I also felt that the female was lacking a little something, so I dug out my newly acquired Smirk fibres pack, knowing I had seen something that could add that little something. So I wrapped this pink fluffy boa type around her and adhered a little glue to her hand to hold it wrapped in place around her wrist.

Sorry about the glare :(

The kits came with an A4 sheet of backing paper, so there was loads left over, which I decorated the insides with, along with a piece of scrap card left over from the découpage kit which I inked on the blank sides and adhered with Anita's Tacky Glue.

I also had enough left over to entirely cover the front of the envelope and there was enough scrap pieces left to cut out and apply to the back too, also there was quite a big ink mark on the female envelope that I needed to cover ;)
I forgot to take a pic of the backs so I will do that later and edit it in here ;)

I have also altered a notebook I recently purchased for taking notes in when I go visit my family next week, as I am currently researching the family tree :)
I will post pics later as it is still not 100% finished!

Recipe for both cards:

Plain white card, pre-folded with matching envelope from a local craft store.
Jolly Nation Kits both from madaboutcards.co.uk; Movie Star Man and Movie Star Lady (which I couldn't find again when I went to get the link, I'm sure it will be available again soon)
Pink 'Boa' from Naughty but Nice Smirk Embellishment Tote from madaboutcards.co.uk
'Especially for You' and 'Happy Birthday' Tags from a Daisy & Dandelion collection from madaboutcards.co.uk
Anita's Tacky Glue from madaboutcards.co.uk
Scrap Card for the inside
Scrap Paper for the tag ont he front of the envelope
Whispers Inks Used: Port Wine (female card), Straw Mat and Whisper Vanilla (male card)
3D Foam Pads

Recipes for Previous Cards

2009-08-06T01:12:00.006+01:00

Here are the recipies for the cards I posted on 29th July.
Most links link directly to the product.

Card One (Brother Card):

Card was a free sample from stamps.co.uk
Dark blue stock paper
White card stock
See D's So Big Alphabet stamps
Rainbow Sparkle Embossing Powder (No longer available from where I got it from)
Self-Adhesive Foam Numbers from stamps.co.uk
Diamond Stickles from stamps.co.uk
Small gem embellishments from 5mm Round Coloured Gems pack from madaboutcards.co.uk (Often out of stock, gotta be quick to get these!)
Anita's Narrow Blue Organza Ribbon from madaboutcards.co.uk
Papermania Foam Stamps from ???
'Hand Stamped by....' stamp from madaboutcards.co.uk pound shop
Gluegun
Black ink
Whispers Black pen
Silver pen
Craft Knife
Anita's Tacky Glue Glue from madaboutcards.co.uk

Card Two (Balloon):

White card stock
Red paper stock
Balloon Template FREE download from timeforcrafting.co.uk (I scaled it up quite a bit and my son didn't use it as a card shape, instead *he* rounded off the flat edge)
Printable 'Happy Birthday' backing paper from madaboutcards.co.uk
Self-Adhesive Foam Numbers from stamps.co.uk
See D's Birthday Words Collection? (It came in a set)
See D's Birthday Collection? (It came in a set)
Anita's Narrow Blue Organza Ribbon from madaboutcards.co.uk
Diamond Stickles from stamps.co.uk
Scrap piece of red ribbon
Stock silver glitter
Black Ink
Red Ink
Whispers brush pens
Funky Scissors to create the jagged edge effects from madaboutcards.co.uk
Anita's Tacky Glue Glue from madaboutcards.co.uk

Mini Box Project:

White card stock
Black paper stock
Blue paper stock
Inner backing paper all from a 2x12 Colossal Border Strip pack from madaboutcards.co.uk
See D's So Big Alphabet stamps
Powder Blue Sparkle embossing powder
Star Embellishments from a local craft store
Diamond Stickles from stamps.co.uk
Photograph printed from PC
Small gem embellishments from 5mm Round Coloured Gems pack from madaboutcards.co.uk (Often out of stock, gotta be quick to get these!)
UR 21 Plastic Number Plate embellishment from madaboutcards.co.uk
Anita's Sticky Ribbon - Check/Tartan from stamps.co.uk
Self-Adhesive WhiteSticker
Happy Birthday Stamp from a See D's collection
Red Foam sheet from madaboutcards.co.uk
Anita's Tacky Glue Glue from madaboutcards.co.uk
Heatgun
Metal Paperclip
Blue Ink
Red Ink
Black Whispers brush pen
Red Whispers brush pen
Scoreboard and bamboo folder
Silver tag (source unknown)
And a cheque ;)

Card Three (Mother's Day):

Part of a kit that is no longer available. I have the same card available for sale for just £2.90 including P&P (UK only) leave a message if you are interested with your e-mail address.

Card Four: (Get Well Soon):

Green pre-folded card from local craft store
Red paper stock
Petals made from various papers from the Creative Tones pack and the 'Love' pack from the Colossal Paper Pack collection from Papermania. The packs my son used from the Creative Tones collection were; 'Amethyst Infusion', 'Antique Cream', and Venetian Skies'
'Pot' made from a sheet of paper from the Simply Elegant Colossal Paper Pack from Papermania
Impress Machine
Impress Upper Case Italics die cuts
Anita's Tacky Glue Glue from madaboutcards.co.uk
Diamond Stickles from stamps.co.uk

Birthday Goodies

2009-07-29T23:24:00.011+01:00

It was my birthday on Monday (27th), so I thought I would share some of the awesome handmade cards I got!

Since I started making my own cards, it seems all of my family have followed suit!
Which is a great thing, not only does it mean that people get great homemade cards, it means that we are saving money and the environment too!

My awesome Uncle has tonnes of crafting stuff though he tends to stick to PC CD Rom programs to make his cards, which is cool too!

As always click the images to view in full size.

The cards my Uncle made from himself and my Aunt. Thank you!! xxx

My Mum also started off card making using PC CD Roms, maybe a year or so after I started making my own. She has since progressed to making her own using various media and quite recently she has purchased some stamps and inks, though I do not think she has used them yet.
She doesn't often buy kits, as it is more cost effective not to, but she saw a set of kits on QVC and thought one of them would be perfect for my birthday!

The middle one is an awesome Elvis card that my Mum made from her and my Step-Dad. I am a total Elvis fan, so I was very pleased to receive this. It is a découpage card :)
The card on the right is from my little brother, which, I believe was his first time at making his own card! Usually my Mum makes his lol (The same brother who features in the post previous to this.)
The card of the left is from one of my other Aunt's. She started making her own cards 2 or 3 years ago!
Thank you to all!! xxx

Close up of Elvis!

I did get mostly money for my birthday, which I don't mind at all!
After using some of it to buy a subscription to genesreunited.co.uk as I have recently picked up my other newish hobby of family research again, I bought some craft goodies, as I hadn't bough any since about March (ain't I good???) and as there was a sale on, it would have been rude not to ;)

I got; The Big One by Clare Curd (200 sheets of awesome papers), Paper Shapes (which I thought would be great for my son also), Couture Ribbons, 4x different Clangers backing papers, 4x different Looney Tunes backing papers, 2x different Scooby Doo backing papers, 2x Sets of Clangers découpage kits (4 in total), Masking Tape, Oriental Spice, Colossal Strips (only bought them as a tester really, to see if it was nice enough to buy a large pack, and for 50p you can't really complain, and yes, they are quite nice really!), 2x Message Tags, 2x Jolly Nation découpage kits (Movie Star Lady and Movie Star Man), 3D Birthday Stickers, Anita's Calendar Tabs for 2010 (which I plan for my son to make into New Year Cards for family - any tipos on how to use them are most welcomed!), Assorted Craft Wire, White and Clear Beads, See-D's Magical Christmas stamps (£1!!!!), See-D's Personal Labels stamps (£1!!!!), Marie Curie Daffodil Stamp (50p COME ON!), and 2x Vintage Bauble Ribbon Stickers (1 blue, 1 red).

My next purchase will be a paper crimper, as I really want to make some of these cool Crimped Envelope Pocket Cards (Tutorial available here) for maybe next years birthday cards!

Also for my birthday I got this tiny but cute plant! After some research I found that there are several different ones to collect and take care of. You only need to water them (by dipping the bottom into a bowl of water for a few minutes), every four weeks or so. Then when it is fully grown (after 4 - 6 months), you can tranfere it into a bigger pot, though I haven't quite figured out how to get it out of the casing yet, though I have plenty of time to find out still! You can read all about Pet Plants here. The one I have is Xing, which means Happiness and is symbolised by the Finger Plant.

And finally, I seriously need to have a sort out with my craft stuff and the boxes I keep them all in! I have a couple of spare boxes to put my goodies in, I just haven't got around to doing it yet lol
I think I will have a sort out in the next week or so after I have made all of September's birthday cards, which I will be starting very soon!

It's Been a While........

2009-07-29T01:11:00.015+01:00

Well, it's certainly been a while since I last posted anything!
And I feel so guilty about it as my new obsession is only FACEBOOK!
So yes, I broke one of my new year's resolutions, which was to blog every day!
I'm bad I know, but this time I promise to blog more often!

Anyways with a bunch of birthdays and Christmas just around the corner, what better time to pick up my blog to showcase my makings!

And as I haven't posted in a while, and some birthdays have been and gone, I best post them here to get up to date!

As always, click the images to enlarge :)

Firstly, it was my brother's 21st birthday in March, and my first attempt at using stamps only to create a card. I stamped 'BROTHER' using letters from a See D's collection. I then embossed it using 'Midnight' from create n craft. I then gentle inked my black inkpad all over the front and around the edge. I glued some blue stock paper to the card before attaching 'BROTHER' ata slight angle and roughly drawing the black border. I then attached a 2 and 1 foam shape along with 10 gem embellishments. Using a craft knife I created two slits for the ribbon to pass by. Finally I used Stickles to create another border, let it dry then wrote ' To a Special' and 'Happy Birthday'.
For the back, I used a foam shape to create the flower on to some card, inked and embossed it, and inked around the edge. Then I stamped 'Hand Stamped By', which unintentionally left a funky-rough edge around it, so I decided to keep that, then I embossed that too. Finally I inked a foam smaller 3 flower stamp, inked the edge and embossed that too before signing my name.

This card was made by my son, for my brother's 21st.
He used some card stock for the main card, with some 'Happy Birthday' backing paper.
He then used a balloon template to create the errr balloon with some red stock paper then inked the edge. He attached some scrap ribbon to create the whole balloon effect. He used a multi 'Happy Birthday' stamp from a See D's collection and used some funky scissors to cut it out before inking the edge. The same applies to the Birthday Cake. He coloured it in with Whispers Brush Pens. He also attached foam numbers then using the Impress Machine and dies he cut out 'STEVEN' before spreading glitter all over the place lol.
He created the inside tag the same way as the two on the front, and the same goes for the tags on the back.

For his birthday I got him an experience day, to go visit a football ground, as I was sending it early and was kinda rushing it, I did not have any wrapping paper in the house, so I dug out an AIRMAIL kit I bought years ago, as I knew it had some plain brown paper in there, plus it was nice and thick and looked good. I jazzed it up a bit with a handmade tag, from said brown paper. I inked the edge with brown ink, cut out STEVEN with my Impress Machine and dies and used a pen to outline the letters, I attached some ribbon top the tag, and used some (christmas) gold curling ribbon to tie it all together as I used flimsy tape on it so the paper could be re-used again!

This mini project was a pain in my backside!
I thought it would be nice for my brother to have as I had sent his birthda pressie early.
I started making it long before his birthday, as I knew it would take forever to make!
The first image shows 'BRO' stamped with stamps from a See D's collection. Image is inked slightly, with a couple of star embellishments and Stickles to highlight some of the lines on the backing paper. Sticky Ribbon attched to the top.
The second image shows a photo of my 'baby' brother, and you can just about see my arm, as I was holding him. This was attached to card, with Stickles used to fill in the white gap, and an inked edge. 4 gem embellishments were added. Sticky Ribbon attached to the top.

The 3rd image shows a plastic 'U R 21' plate embellishment along with some star embellishments and some Stickles applied to several of the dots on the backing paper. Sticky Ribbon attached to the top.
The 4th image shows a cheque holder that I made. 'Happy Birthday' is stamped on to card using a stamp from a See D's Collection. Edge is then inked and bottom is glued on to the inside of the box then using a metal paperclip the cheque is attached. 'Pull Out' is written on to a sticker. Sticky Ribbon is attached at the top.

The 5th image shows an overview where you can see the football shirt that I made from 2 pieces of foam and 2 pieces of card. I drew out the shape on some scrap card, then drew it on to 2 pieces of red foam, cut them out and stuck together (to make it more bulky), then I did the same for the card pieces, but slightly larger. I coloured the card in our team colour. Then added xxx as stitches around the edges, then I wrote his surname, and '21 today'. Added Stickle squiggles.
The 6th image shows the lid and the outer box. I applied the same backing paper to the box. I then inked the top and sides of the card and embossed it with 'Midnight' from create n craft and applied the Sticky ribbon around the top. I drew an 'S' on to some card and embossed that also, before applying it to another embossed circle card.

The 7th image shows the bottom of the box with a small 'Handmade by...' tag, along with the ribbon. I forgot to take a pic of the inside of the lid, but I used black stock paper in it, with a stamped 'Happy Birthday' then I drew tiny stars in gold pen around it.
The 8th image shows the final product with the ribbon and tag. I can't remember if I made the tag or if it's a pre-cut one. I THINK it might be a pre-cut one.
It's a good job I started making it early too, so it had time to be played with, as the lid fit was VERY tight!

My Mother's Day card for this year, and as it is very close to my brother's birthday, I didn't have time to make a new card, so I delved in to my 'previous makes box' and added a few stickers to it, so that I could post it along with my brother's cards.
I have quite a few of these cards, so if anyone wants to buy one, please contact me by leaving me your e-mail address in a comment. (Cards are £3 each, includes P&P) I will e-mail you back details on how to pay. I will post dimensions later.

Goodiesssssssss. I adore getting new goodies! I did get these a while back though when there was a HUGE sale on, and quite a lot of the stuff was only 50p each! Plus I got a buncha Smirk stuff too as I have been dying to get my hands on some since they came out!
Here you can see; two doCrafts magazines with free stickers (25p each!!!!), 3 12x12 funky card -not shown, a pack of 40 mini christmas stamps (for just £5!), Anita's Tacky Glue, 4 pairs of funky scissors (50p each!), 4 packs of Dovecraft Christmas Rose Tinted Shaker embellishments, 5 packs of Christmas backing paper, a wonderful fairy stamp, 2 packs of glue-gun glue, pack of forever friends decoupage card kits, darts and football decoupage card kits, 2x Smirk Ribbon Stickers, 2 Smirk Stamps, 2 Smirk packs of ribbon, Smirk Glitter tags, Smirk embellishment tote and a pack of 12x12 Smirk papers.
Oops almost forgot to mention, all from www.madaboutcards.co.uk and their sister site, craftpoundshop which can be accessed from MAC, you can also purchase items from both places with the same shopping cart.

Finally, a card made by my son for my Uncle, who was in hospital at the time.
He used a green pre-folded card. First he cut a strip of dark green stock paper and glued it in to place then he cut out four petal shapes from different paper stocks, using my hand drawn template. He then attached a dot in the centre of the petals.
Then he used my Impress machine and dies to cut out 'GET WELL SOON' then glued them in to place. Finally he cut out a 'pot' from some stock paper and applied some stickles to give it more definition, then I applied some swirly stickles to the card so it wasn't so plain (he is only 10, he couldn't do that part himself! On the inside, he attached a wallet sized (very recent) school photograph using some easy on, easy off tack, so my Uncle could take it off and put in his wallet later!
My uncle loved the card, and is now recovering well and back at home after 6 weeks in hospital!

I will post recipes for all the projects later, as I will need to rumage in my boxes for some of the items.

*insert siggy here later as it is not working at the moment!*

Tagged, Snow, Lumpy & More New Goodies!

2009-02-02T19:42:00.006Z

Hi all, I've got lots to post today so let's get right to it.

Firstly, I was tagged a couple of days ago by SemSee.

The rules are:

1. Go to the 6th folder, in your picture folder and select the 6th picture.
2. Post the Picture and an explanation on your blog about it.
3. Select 6 others to do the same and let them know.

Well, I only have one folder, so it will have to be the 6th picture from that folder which is:

This is my wonderful 10 year old son with some Wax Lips that were sent to him from a friend of mine in the States. I don't think you can get them over here in the UK, if you can, I have never come across them! Amazingly I was surprised that they tasted so good! Very nice to chew on too!
I would pick 6 others to tag but I know that this is a kinda old and well known tag and I do not have the time to go through all the blogs I follow lol, so if you are reading this concider yourself tagged if you haven't already been tagged :)

Secondly, we had lots of snow all day today. We do tend to get a few flakes here and there once a year in the UK but apparently today was the heaviest fall of snow in the last 20 years. It makes me laugh though because they are never prepared for when we do have snow. No gritter on the roads, and those that are, only concentrate on the major roads, Airports are closed, buses ain't running (again a lack of gritters). Which of course means people cannot get to work, so some work places are closed or severely short staffed etc. etc.

Also, because we get little snow we don't have snow ploughs like they do in the States and other countries, just because we don't get this much snow very often, the government think it is not worth it!

But when I was little, the snow was much deeper and heavier, yet we never complained, there had to be 6 foot of snow before we were kept home and we loved it!

No picture I'm afraid. It's 8pm* and the snow is turning to mush. Maybe I will post one or two tomorrow if it continues to snow overnight.

Thirdly, as I stated in a previous post, I finished cross-stitching Lumpy, but I just got around to ironing and mounting him into his little frame. So here he is, Lumpy, from Winnie the Pooh, and January's finished mini kit.

Isn't he cute? I haven't decided which mini kit to finish for February yet, still there's plenty of time left right?

And finally the first bunch of my last lot of goodies arrived today (no more spending on craft stuff 'till next month!!) I still have a few bits and pieces to come yet but here is what came today (I have done it in two pictures because I did not want you to see that I still have my Christmas Penguins tablecloth still on the table lol):

Here you can see: Corrugated Card, 4x Co-ordinating Dovecraft Papers, 2x Hot Melt Glue Sticks, Tweezers, Craft Knife, Large Orange Scissors, Small Purple Decoupage Scissors, Mini Angel Stamp Set and a U R 21 Embellishment. You can also just see the right hand side view.

Here you can see the 7x Embossing Powders, 2x Double Sided Sticky Tape, Hand Stamped By..... Stamp, Clear Away Tray, Black Pigment Ink and Silver Pigment Ink. There is also some Gold Pigment Ink, as seen in the above picture and some Clear Pigment Ink (not show).

I ripped open everything from it's packaging to show you that once all the packaging is removed it doesn't look like much at all! As you can see I have stacked almost everything in the Clear Away Tray!

Still, I do have some more items to come from two other companies, so I am looking forward to that.
Hopefully they should be here in the next few days.

Still to come: Quilling Kit, Anita's Rose Happy Birthday Border, Light Box and a few other things but I forgot what I ordered LOL

So anyway, I have 2 new and empty storage boxes and lots of loose little new goodies. Time to go fill up those boxes!

'Till next time.

* I know the time now is 11:30pm but I did write that section at 8pm lol - I have been doing other stuff in between writing this entry!

More goodies arrived + Freebies (kinda)

2009-01-28T14:23:00.007Z

YaY! The rest of my goodies arrived today.

Quilling papers (I forgot to get a quilling pen, so that is on my next 'to get' list), waterbrushes, funky foam cut out shapes and stickles. Along with a FREE Marie Curie Cancer Care Card Bag. I thought that the bag would be a pack of 5 or 10, but nope they are singular bags lol oh well, I will have to get more the next time I order *cough cough*

This was the first time I had ordered from stamps.co.uk so when I found the little card at the bottom I was surprised to find a little free embellishment attached to it. It is the cutest little ladybird ever! (See pic below). (How many 'little's did I just write there?? LOL)

The card reads:

FREE sample with next order
Put 'FREE CARD' in the box at checkout to receive a FREE Papermania Card & Envelope. Valid until January 31st 2009

PASS this on to a friend and they can try it too!

FREE Touchy Feely!
Enjoy your FREE sample Lady Bird (EMB458) ONLY £2.99p for 60!

So there you go, I have passed it along lol

Speaking of goodies.....

I have been on another spending spree (well..... there was 10% off everything!) so............
I am looking forward to receiving the following in the next few days:

Corrugated Card, Double sided tape, more Hot Melt Glue Sticks, U R 21 Embellishment ('cus I can't find where I put the last one I bought for my Brother's special card for his 21st this year), 4x sets of Papermania Paperpacks (£1 each, can't complain!), Hand Stamped By....... stamp, Child's Angel Mini Stamps (hey for 50p you wouldn't turn it down neither!), Pigment inks, Heat Gun, 7x Embossing powders, Large Scissors (so I don't ruin any more 'kitchen' pairs lol), Angled tweezers (so I don't ruin my eyebrow tweezers), Clear Away Tray (to save on paper, and glitter getting EVERYWHERE), Decoupage scissors (ya never know when ya need those little 'uns), and finally a new craft knife, as the one I have has a tarnished handle plus it's blade needs changing and I'm too scared to do it myself! Knowing my clumsiness I will chop off a finger (again. - Don't ASK!!)

So there we have it. I think that is the last of my goodies to come, crafting wise anyways!

Looking forward to that stash coming, as I need the papers to finish off this little mini box I am making for my Brother.

And finally to report, I have finished stitching Lumpy, the free mini cross-stitch, he is on the radiator drying off, as I like to wash and iron my finished cross-stitches, so I will post a pic of him dried, ironed and in his frame later!

Gotta go get the tea ready for later, we sticking with the healthy eating crap. Tonight we are having Creamy Mushroom Pappardelle!

Take Care & Happy Crafting!

My Goodies Came Today!

2009-01-24T23:15:00.003Z

Yay! Some of my goodies arrived today that I ordered. I am still awaiting my waterbrushes, Stickles, funky foam alphabet & numbers shapes and something else which I forget lol

Anyways today I got my See D's kit that came with 262 small stamps, Two lots of brush marker pens, funky foam sheets, and some other See D's sets.

As I don't have my watervrushes yet I am going to find something to improvise with so I can go and test out my colouring skills lol

A quick report on how my NYR's are going, I finished the main stitching of the cross-stitch I was working on, I just need to add in the detail! I haven't read the last tow days though, so I will catch up on that by reading some extra pages/chapters!

'Till later!

On Track...

2009-01-23T03:01:00.003Z

Well, I can happily report that I am on track with my new year resolutions.

I read a chapter of the 'current' book I am reading. I say current, because well, as I said in an earlier blog, I had gotten so far with it, about a year ago, and have not picked up a book since!
Anyways, in case you are interested the book I am reading is A Lesser Evil by Lesley Pearse, which you can find out about by clicking the link :)

I have also kept to my other promise, of doing more cross-stitching with the hope of completing one mini kit per month. And maybe if I can get a mini kit done way before the month is up then I will treat myself and work on some of the larger projects I have! Anywhow, I did a little stitching today for a couple of hours on a mini kit of Lumpy, from Pooh, which I got free with a magazine.

Also, I am about to go and print off some healthy recipes so that I can plan the next couple of weeks worth of meals. Go me!

Finally, new goodies!!!
I ordered a bunch of new goodies to help me with my quest to get in to stamping.
So over the next few days I should be expecting the following items to grace my doorstep:
A Buncha See D's Stamps & A See D's Kit, Brush Markers, A WaterBrush set, Stickles and some Quilling Papers plus some Funky Foam sheets & Letters that I needed.

I got some of these goodies from stamps.co.uk where you can get your FREE Marie Curie Create a Card for Cancer Appeal Bags 2009. So if you are planning on making any cards for this years appeal, go ahead and get your free bags to put them in by clicking on the link. There is also a neat little stamp set you can buy to use on your cards for just £4.99, which includes a £2 donation to MC Cancer Care.

I have also just this minute bought a couple of digital stamps. One was Pretty Head Lily from thegreetingfarm.com. I also got the Lola Rose kit, Twinkle kit and a Sentiment collection kit from pinkpetticoat.co.uk and as I don't have my markers yet I might go ahead and have a try with some of my chalks, and if they turn out ok I will post some piccies later!

Right I gotta go print out these recipes, catch up on some blogs and print out my new printable kits!

'Till tomorrow! (When hopefully some of my goodies will have arrived!)

Two New Cards

2009-01-22T03:45:00.005Z

Two new cards for today for two birthdays in February.

First up is this card I made for my Sister-in-Law. Excuse the glare on the first pic, which is why I included a second pic for it :)

And finally this card for my Aunt.

Recipes:

Card One:

Luxury Felt 7x5 blank card from cardmakingcrafts.co.uk
Die Cut Blue Daisies Decoupage sheet from madaboutcards.co.uk (though you can no longer buy the twin pack sheet, you can get the same flowers in a book pack with 19 other flowers and a few bits and pieces, all for £9.99 - great value!) Just click the link.
Panel was made by me with different shades of blue chalks mixed and blended together on some white stock card with a little water. I used Faber-Castell Creative Studio Soft Pastel Set
Happy Birthday, Best Wishes and Swirl Stickers from a pack of Anita's Outline Stickers, which were free with an Issue of DoCrafts (I will lookup the issue number shortly).
Ribbon Trim is from a pack of Papermania's Springtime Ribbon Stickers from firststopstationers.co.uk
Loose Ribbon threaded through the hole on the 'Happy Birthday' is Anita's Everyday Ribbon - Blue
Peel-off Stickers Borders, Straight (Silver), from madaboutcards.co.uk
Anita's Tacky Glue from madaboutcards.co.uk though they only seem to stock the smaller bottle these days.
Foam pads from local craft store.

Card Two:

Luxury Felt 7x5 blank card from cardmakingcrafts.co.uk
Die Cut Decoupage sheet from madaboutcards.co.uk (though you can no longer buy the twin pack sheet, you can get the same flowers in a book pack with 19 other flowers and a few bits and pieces, all for £9.99 - great value!) Just click the link. (I can't remember the name of the flower, sorry).
Panel was made from some red paper stock.
Birthday Embellishment is a Papermania Wire Words.
Ribbon Trim and Corner Stickers from a pack of 3D Glitter Embossed Stickers - Rose Borders & Corners from Papermania.
Birthday Wire Word is mounted on a piece of scrap card, which in turn in mounted on a sheet of Raspberry Champagne Creative Tones Border Pack from Papermania from madaboutcards.co.uk for just £1! Then I remounted the sentiment on to a piece of card stock twice, once to get the white border effect the second to hide the brad split pin fastenings from the Wire Words. Inside I stamped a 'Happy Birthday' sentiment on to an oval shaped piece of card stock. Stamp was from madaboutcards.co.uk and it is a 4-sided Happy Birthday Stamp.
Also used a floral stamp on the inside sentiment which I got from a local Ex-Catalog shop. I also mounted the sentiment on to a matching sheet of 8x8 Raspberry Champagne Creative Tones Border Pack from Papermania which you can get from firststopstationers.co.uk, also available in other sizes.
Anita's Tacky Glue from madaboutcards.co.uk though they only seem to stock the smaller bottle these days.
Foam pads from local craft store.

New Year Resolutions

2009-01-21T18:31:00.002Z

I know it is a little late to announce my New Year's Resolutions but I had never really thought about it until now.

Read more books, even it is just a page a day.

I haven't read a book in about a year, which is pretty bad for me as the year before I was reading a new book every 4-5 days (or longer depending on the length of the book). But I have one book that I am half way through and another book that I have been reading on and off for about twp years (it is a tough going book that I refuse to give up on lol). I also have a HUGE pile of unread new books stacked up next to my bed that I haven't even touched. (I found a GREAT cheap book site 4 book for £10! And I kinda went overboard in buying books). So I plan to read each day, even if it just one page!

Blog everyday.

I plan to post a blog each day, even if it just a little update. And I know this is my craft blog, but if I have no crafting updates to add I will just post an update on how my New Year's Resolutions are going!

Eat healthier food.

Most people, especially the ladies make a new year's resolution to either lose weight, diet or whatever. Mine though is to eat more healthier food. Not just for me but for my son also. So instead of eating junk food, poorly pre-packaged crap etc. we will be eating more homemade good nutritional and better quality foods.

Finish my mini cross-stitch kits.

After posting all my finished mini kits that I got free with magazines, I am itching to finish a few more. So I am determind to finish off at least one (of the many) unfinished freebie kits I have stashed away, per month. So by the end of the year I should have 12 lovely finished mini kits! And I plan to do more work on the larger cross-stitch also. Maybe if I can sit down on a Saturday or Sunday for a couple of each week, or even during a TV show that I sit down to watch then I should get quite a bit done.

That's it for now. I will be posting a couple of cards later as I have nearly finished making two that are going to be sent out shortly.

A Few More Pieces

2009-01-21T02:00:00.005Z

This should be the last post that contains *old* projects.
This time, however, here are my unfinished larger Cross-stitch projects, that I would love to get around to finishing sometime in the next 50 years or so lol

As always click on the images to enlarge them to view better details.

First up is this wonderful (half finished) piece of Tiger and Cub. This was my first big cross-stitch project and I am very dissappointed that I never finished it within two years. I was on track of getting it done within a year as by this point in the picture it had taken me eight months to get this far. This was part of the Born Free Collection.

Here is the cute Tatty Teddy offering a Flower. I probably started this around the same time as the one below. This originally started out as a gift for my Mum for Mother's day about 5 years ago lol. However, once I finished the cross-stitching, it was time to move on to all the backstitch. And there was ALOT for this little teddy, and after I did a little, as you can see on the face, ear and the patch, I got fed up with it, so it got put away *for later*.

This majestic Elephant was a real joy to stitch, and I was almost finished when I realised my mistake! HORROR - I accidentally did the background with one strand instead of two, which meant I would have to unpick a nearly completed background! *sobs* - One day! I think this was part of the Born Free collection also, but I am not sure, so I will check in a bit and ammend this part later if needed :)

Finally we have these lovely labradors. I have NO excuse for not finishing this one. I had done over half of it then nothing! I THINK it was around the same time when broadband came in to my area and it meant I could be online for longer and not just at off-peak times!

I also have a beautiful White Tiger (my favourite animal) titled White Lightning, to finish. Well, I say, finish, I need to start it first lol I think there is no more than 20 stitches in that one, and it contains about 30,000 stitches lol I think I put it down because I made a slight boo-boo and figured 'I'll un-pick it next week', that was 6 or 7 years ago! It's not worth putting up a pic cus there is nothing to see.

Now, I can get on with making a card for my Aunt, Sister-in-Law, brother, and a few other projects I have in mind.

I might even take part in a challenge or two, as I have seen one I wouldn't mind having a go at, though I am not very good at all!

Coming up Next: New Year's Resolutions

Old Cards Part IV

2009-01-20T03:00:00.008Z

A few more old cards for you, I think this will be the last post for oldies, thankfully.
I have two birthdays coming up in February and then it is my Brother's 21st in March also and I am making him a special card!

It will also be my friend Lizzy's birthday is March. I did send her card with her Christmas card (it seemed pointless sending two lots of cards), and though I have pics of the card I am not going to post them yet because she reads this blog, and I don't want to spoil the surprise for her!

As always, click on the images to make them bigger :)

First up are my man cards. I always have trouble making cards for men, as there doesn't really seem to be that much men stuff out there. So when I found these wonderful pre-made shirt cards I knew I had to have them, plus I kept one back to use as a template for future cards! My Step-Dad and two of my uncles received one of these in 2008 for their birthday. My son also gave one to his Dad for Father's Day 2008.

Another decoupage cards. This time for my Mum's birthday 2008

I made this one for my son's 10th birthday 2008. The 7 shirt could have been used for a 7th Birthday Card, but it was an embellishment set, plus #7 is his favourite football player anyways, so it's all good!

And finally we have one of the many pains-in-my-neck Christmas Shaker Cards that I made for last years cards. I am not going to post them all, because I really do not want to look at them! They were such a pain to make! NEVER again. The brad looks a little off center because of the angle of the card. *Represses her thoughts on those cards*

Recipes:

Shirt Cards from left to right:

Shirt 1 - Backing Paper is Multi Stripes Blue from printableheaven.co.uk Inner Backing Paper and Pocket is Leatherette Aqua which is FREE from printableheaven.co.uk (first item on the page). You can also get it in the matching pack which you can buy from the same page. Tie is made from white cardstock. Stars from a Confetti - Stardust Multi pack from madaboutcards.co.uk Gems from 5mm Round Coloured Gems pack from madaboutcards.co.uk (Often out of stock, gotta be quick to get these!)
Shirt 2 - Backing Paper is from an 8x8 Flowery Papermania pad from ecreations.co.uk Inner Backing Paper, Pocket, Tie and Trim is also from the Flowery Papermania pad. Gems from the same as above.
Shirt 3 - Backing Paper is from a 12x12 Rich Red Papermania pad. I bought from a local craft store, but you can find it from many places, including themarketgallery.com though you can find it cheaper elsewhere I am sure. (It might be listed as Rich Purple). Inner Backing Paper, Pocket and Tie is made from some purple stock paper. Ribbon Trim is from a pack of Anita's Wavy Pastel Sticky Ribbon from firststopstationers.co.uk Gems from same as above.
Shirt 4 - Backing Paper is from an 8x8 Love Papermania pad from firststopstationers.co.uk Inner Backing Paper, Pocket, Tie and Trim from a different sheet also from the Love pad. Gems from same as above.
Shirt 5 - Backing Paper is Blue Swirls from printableheaven.co.uk it can be purchased as a single download or in a pack. Inner Backing Paper, Pocket and Tie is Leatherette Aqua which is FREE. See Card 1 for details. Ribbon Trim is from a pack of Papermania's Springtime Ribbon Stickers from firststopstationers.co.uk Gems from same as above.
Shirt 6 - Backing Paper is Ouline Flowers - Yellow which is FREE from printableheaven.co.uk (first item on the page). You can also get it in the matching pack which you can buy from the same page. Inner Backing Paper, Pocket, Tie and Trim is from an 8x8 Flowery Papermania pad from ecreations.co.uk Gems from same as above.
Shirt 7 - Backing Paper is from an 8x8 Flowery Papermania pad from ecreations.co.uk Inner Backing Paper, Pocket, Tie and Trim is also from the Flowery Papermania pad. Gems from the same as above.
Shirt Card Blanks I forgot where I got mine from and I cannot find any online, sorry. I am sure I have seen some free templates out there though :)
Pocket and Tie template was made by me.
Anita's Tacky Glue from madaboutcards.co.uk though they only seem to stock the smaller bottle these days.

Card Two:

Luxury Felt 7x5 blank card from cardmakingcrafts.co.uk
Die Cut Yellow Daisies from a tri-pack (with two other different flowers) decoupage Sheet, from the 'Viola' sheet from madaboutcards.co.uk
Panel was made by me with some yellow and orange chalks mixed and blended together on some white stock card. I used Faber-Castell Creative Studio Soft Pastel Set
Flower Stickers are from Anita's Mothers Day Butterflies Stickers, from madaboutcards.co.uk though they no longer stock it. You can get it from firststopstationers.co.uk
Mum wording is from a sheet of sentiment peel offs from a local craft store.
Peel-off Stickers Borders, Straight, from madaboutcards.co.uk
Anita's Tacky Glue from madaboutcards.co.uk though they only seem to stock the smaller bottle these days.
Foam pads from local craft store.

Card Three:

Blank Card, pack of 50 from a local craft store. Similar can be found at madaboutcards.co.uk
Backing Paper is Green Football Goal Netting from printableheaven.co.uk
Bright Green Paper stock for the lower part of the card.
Card Topper embellishments was a pack that is no longer available at the place I got it from and I cannot remember the name of the manufacturer. I will look in my stash later :)
Both ribbons are from a pack of Papermania's Springtime Ribbon Stickers from firststopstationers.co.uk
Anita's Tacky Glue from madaboutcards.co.uk though they only seem to stock the smaller bottle these days.
Foam pads from local craft store.

Card Four:

Shaker card kit (card blank with plastic shaker) from a local craft store.
Backing paper is from an 8x8 Dovecraft 'Tis the Season' Designer Paper Pack along with a matching brad. Paper can be bought from ArtyMiss.co.uk (Other Sizes available. I cannot find the brads to match, sorry).
Santa and Gold Christmas Trees from an embellishment pack that I bought a while ago and cannot remember where from, sorry.
The string and flower embellishments, were again, from another pack that I cannot remember where from, sorry! But you can get it from alanandbarryscrafts.com You can also get it in a Red/Green pack also. I chose the Contemporary Pack though :)
Anita's Tacky Glue from madaboutcards.co.uk though they only seem to stock the smaller bottle these days.
Foam pads from local craft store.

Freebie Cross-Stitching Kits Part IV

2009-01-20T01:29:00.006Z

Here are the last of my completed free cross-stitching kits that I got from magazines, along with a picture of all the unfinished free kits that I have.

All our Yesterdays Little Girl

All our Yesterdays Christmas Tree

And my favourite, Bluebell from the Flower Fairies collection. I absolutely love faeries, especially Cicely Mary Barker's Flower Fairies!

And lastly, my stack of unopened freebies. There are about 30 or so here. One of these days I will get around to finishing them lol

Recipe:

Double sided sticky tape to attach the aida to the frames.

Sources:

All our Yesterdays Little Girl - Free with Cross Stitch Crazy Issue #? (Month & Year Unknown)
All our Yesterdays Christmas Tree - Free with Cross Stitch Crazy Issue #? (Month & Year Unknown)
Bluebell - Free with ? Issue #? (Month & Year Unknown)

Coming up next, a few of the larger projects I have worked on in the past. Unfortunatly they all lay unfinished LOL But first I will post the remainder of my old cards.

Freebie Cross-Stitching Kits Part III

2009-01-19T23:47:00.006Z

So I just have 6 more mini kits that were free with magazines to show you, and as blogger will only let me add 5 at a time, I will post 3 in this post and 3 in the next post.

As always, click on the images to view them fully.

Kipper

Strawberry Shortcake

And the ever so cute Tom Mouse

Recipe:

Double sided sticky tape to attach the aida to the frames.

Sources:

Kipper - Free with Cross Stitch Crazy Issue #? (Month & Year Unknown)
Strawberry Shortcake - Free with Cross Stitch Crazy Issue #72 (May 2005)
Tom Mouse - Free with Cross Stitch Crazy Issue #? (Month & Year Unknown)

The other three will be posted right after this one, along with a nice little piccie of all my unfinished free kits :)

Old Cards Part III

2009-01-19T03:57:00.005Z

Here we go again with some more old cards, I did say I was on a blogging spree afterall!
You can, as per usual, click on the images to view them at full size!

I made two of these cards in the same style. One was for my brother (I think), the other for my uncle. Both for their birthdays in 2008.

I think I made this one for my Sister-in-Law's birthday in 2008.

Another one that I made for my friend Lizzy in the states. 2008.

Another one that I made for my Aunt's birthday in 2008.

And finally, another one for Mother's Day, for my Mum, obviously! 2008.

Recipes:

Card One:

Blank Card, pack of 50 from a local craft store. Similar can be found at madaboutcards.co.uk
Cupcake Topper from madaboutcards.co.uk (5 for £1 megadeal!)
Backing Paper from an 8x8 Flowery Papermania pad (though I don't know why it is called Flowery, cus they ain't all flowery, and not very girlie at all). From madaboutcards.co.uk though they do not stock it anymore. You can get it from ecreations.co.uk
Corrugated card from madaboutcards.co.uk
5mm Round Coloured Gems from madaboutcards.co.uk (Often out of stock, gotta be quick to get these!)
Happy Birthday Sticker from a sheet that I bought from a local craft store. You can pick them up from anywhere.
Other Stickers were on a sheet that I bought from my local Woolworths (RIP).
Anita's Tacky Glue from madaboutcards.co.uk though they only seem to stock the smaller bottle these days.

Card Two:

Blank Card, pack of 50 from a local craft store. Similar can be found at madaboutcards.co.uk
Die Cut Fuchsia's Decoupage sheet from madaboutcards.co.uk (though you can no longer buy the twin pack sheet, you can get the same flowers in a book pack with 19 other flowers and a few bits and pieces, all for £9.99 - great value!) Just click the link.
Happy Birthday Sticker from a sheet that I bought from a local craft store. You can pick them up from anywhere.
Two Tone Butterfly and Flower Stickers from a sheet of Anita's Mothers Day Butterflies Stickers, from madaboutcards.co.uk though they no longer stock it. You can get it from firststopstationers.co.uk
Ribbon from the Mother's Day pack by Papermania. I got it from madaboutcards.co.uk but they no longer stock it. You can get it from firststopstationers.co.uk
Anita's Tacky Glue from madaboutcards.co.uk though they only seem to stock the smaller bottle these days.
Foam pads from local craft store.

Card Three:

Blank Card, pack of 50 from a local craft store. Similar can be found at madaboutcards.co.uk
3D stickers - Dress Up (dress, shoes, bag and the 8 smaller gems) from madaboutcards.co.uk though they no longer stock it, and I searched the web for an alternate place to buy form but it must have been discontinued or something because I cannot find it. You can buy/make similar products.
Backing Paper that the shoes are on are from an 8x8 Flowery Papermania pad (though I don't know why it is called Flowery, cus they ain't all flowery, and not very girlie at all). From madaboutcards.co.uk though they do not stock it anymore. You can get it from ecreations.co.uk
'Lizzy' letters from the Papermania Glitter Embossed Stickers - Chintz Rose Alphabet sheet from madaboutcards.co.uk though they no longer stock it, you can get it from firststopstationers.co.uk
(Three Pink) 5mm Round Coloured Gems from madaboutcards.co.uk (Often out of stock, gotta be quick to get these!)
Ribbon at bottom of card from the Hearts and Swirls pack by Papermania from madaboutcards.co.uk though they no longer stock it, you can get it from firststopstationers.co.uk
Ribbon around 'Lizzy' from a pack of Anita's plain sticky ribbon from madaboutcards.co.uk though they no longer stock it. You can get it from firststopstationers.co.uk
Peel-off Stickers Borders, Straight, from madaboutcards.co.uk
Anita's Tacky Glue from madaboutcards.co.uk though they only seem to stock the smaller bottle these days.
Foam pads from local craft store.

Card Four:

Blank Card, pack of 50 from a local craft store. Similar can be found at madaboutcards.co.uk
Die Cut Viola from a tri-pack (with two other different flowers) decoupage Sheet, of the same name from madaboutcards.co.uk
Ribbon from the Funky Flowers pack by Papermania from madaboutcards.co.uk though they no longer stock it. You can get it from firststopstationers.co.uk
Two Tone Butterfly and Flowers stickers from a sheet of Anita's Contemporary Mothers Day stickers from madaboutcards but they no longer stock it, so you can get it from firststopstationers.co.uk
Butterfly embellishment from a pack that I got from a local craft store.
Anita's Tacky Glue from madaboutcards.co.uk though they only seem to stock the smaller bottle these days.
Foam pads from local craft store.

Card Five:

Blank Card, pack of 50 from a local craft store. Similar can be found at madaboutcards.co.uk
Die Cut Japanese Anemones from a tri-pack (with two other different flowers) decoupage Sheet, from the 'Viola' sheet from madaboutcards.co.uk
Ribbon from the Mother's Day pack by Papermania, which I got from madaboutcards.co.uk but they no longer stock, so you can get it from firststopstationers.co.uk
Two Tone MUM, Butterfly and Flower Stickers from a sheet of Anita's Mothers Day Butterflies Stickers, from madaboutcards.co.uk though they no longer stock it. You can get it from firststopstationers.co.uk
Anita's Tacky Glue from madaboutcards.co.uk though they only seem to stock the smaller bottle these days.
Foam pads from local craft store.

Freebie Cross-Stitching Kits Part II

2009-01-19T03:15:00.006Z

As you can tell I am on a blogging spree. I am trying to post as many as my old projects as possible so I can start blogging properly!

So, as promised here are some more free cross-stitching kits that I got with magazines and completed!
We are sticking with the Disney theme and some of my favourite cross-stitches from Pooh Bear & Friends!

As always, blogger cuts the images off a little, so click on them to see them in their entirety.

Santa Pooh

My favourite Pooh character, the wonderful Eeyore keeping warm for winter.

A very cute Roo all ready for Christmas.

The adorable Piglet, having fun in the snow. This is actually a mini card.

Pooh and Piglet in a wonderful sketch-type cross-stitch friendship hanger. I love this one.

Recipe:

Double sided sticky tape to attach the aida to the frames.

Sources:

Christmas Pooh - Cross Stitch Crazy Issue #? (Month & Year Unknown)
Christmas Eeyore - CrossStitcher Magazine Issue #? (Month & Year Unknown)
Christmas Roo - Quick&Easy CrossStitch Issue #? (Month & Year Unknown)
Christmas Piglet Card - Cross Stitch Card Shop Issue #33
Pooh and Piglet Friendship Hanger - CrossStitcher Issue #159 (April 2005)

Coming up next; more cards :)

Old Cards Part II

2009-01-19T01:18:00.007Z

As promised, here is another bunch of old cards. And as you may have noted in the previous Old Cards blog, I am not posting them in chronicle order. I am posting them in the order that my camera has named the pictures in my folder :)
However, these five cards are all from Christmas 2007. I did many of them, on the same theme, but I am only going to post four of them, plus a group shot ;)

You can, as always, click on the images to see them in their full glory.

Excuse the messy desk! LOL

Recipes:

All cards followed the same recipe:

Luxury Felt 7x5 blank card from cardmakingcrafts.co.uk
Bottle Capz from cardmakingcrafts.co.uk though no longer in stock!
Frames from cardmakingcrafts.co.uk
Die cut Merry Christmas embellishments from cardmakingcrafts.co.uk
Anita's Outline Stickers - Gold Stars from a local craft store.
I can't remember what glue I used. Sorry

I may upload the other cards, just so you can see all the different ones I made.
I really enjoyed making these cards as they were so quick and easy to do, each one took less than 5 minutes, and that is my kinda card, especially at Christmas when you have to make several of them!

Coming up next; more Cross-Stitching :)

*All links take you either to the page the product is on, or to the singular product, if the site allows clickables for more information.

Freebie Cross-Stitching Kits Part I

2009-01-18T07:36:00.019Z

My love of crafting seriously, began a few years ago, with Cross-Stitching.
Like most newbies to the art, I started with the free kits that came with magazines, (which I no longer buy), though they were free, I really enjoyed stitching them and liked how they turned out.

I did quite a few and collected more freebies than I dare to say, but anyways, here are the first five. More will be posted later, along with a piccie of all my unfinished and unopened kits lol

So let me start at the beginning, (you might want to click on them to view them properly, as blogger failed to upload them as small versions lol and the pics get cut off cussa the template);

Cinderella, the very first cross-stitch I did.

Staying with the Disney theme, here we have one of the 101 Dalmations. I enjoyed doing this one, simply because it didn't have too much complicated details and very little to stitch really lol

Again, staying with the Disney theme, here we have Bambi, this is one of my favourites because Bambi was the very first film I saw at the pictures (cinema). I think I was about 7 years old when my Mum took me. Obviously not the original black and white, as I am too young for that lol, but the re-released version in the 80's!

That's it for now, coming up will be more cards, then some Pooh related Cross-Stitching :)

Recipe:

Double sided sticky tape to attach the aida to the frames.

Sources:

Cinderella - Free with Quick&Easy CrossStitch Issue #? (Month & 2004/5?)
101 Dalmation - Free with Cross Stitch Crazy Issue #? (Month & 2004/5?)
Bambi - Free with Quick&Easy CrossStitch Issue #? (July/July 2004/5?)

Old Cards Part I

2009-01-18T02:39:00.015Z

Ok, so I thought I should at least post pics of some old cards I made.

Be warned though, the early cards are pretty dire and the quality of the pictures on the older cards isn't all that great either, I have since got a better camera though so you should notice the quality improve as the picture progress lol

I will also post some Cross-Stitching stuff soon too.

This is a Mother's Day card, obviously, that I made for my Mum, in 2007

I made this for one of my Aunt's birthday. 2007

This one was made for ? (sorry I forgot who, I thought it was my brother, Steven but that would conflict with another card lol) in 2007.

This one was made for my friend Liz, in the states. 2007

One for my brother, for his 19th birthday in 2007.

Recipes:

Card 1:

Pre-Stamped card from cardmakingcrafts.co.uk with envelope.
Small Pink Deckled Panel from cardmakingcrafts.co.uk
Pink Flower Topper from cardmakingcrafts.co.uk (cannot find the page it is on, sorry!)
Sheer Bow with Red Rose from cardmakingcrafts.co.uk
Butterfly Embellishments from a local craft store.
Red Ribbon is from a pack of Anita's Sticky Ribbon from ArtyMiss.co.uk
White Eyelet from cardmakingcrafts.co.uk (no longer available).
I cannot remember what glue I used, probably just some cheap crap.
Double sided sticky tape.
Foam pads from local craft store.

Card 2:

Blank Card, pack of 50 from a local craft store. Similar can be found at madaboutcards.co.uk
Backing paper from a 12x12 Rich Red Papermania pad. I bought from a local craft store, but you can find it from many places, including themarketgallery.com though you can find it cheaper elsewhere I am sure.
Happy Birthday Panel was a little left over wrapping paper that I had and thought would make a good crafting paper!
Stickers were on a sheet that I bought from my local Woolworths (RIP).
Peel-off Stickers Borders, Straight, from madaboutcards.co.uk
Pink Ribbon is from a pack of Anita's Sticky Ribbons from madaboutcards.co.uk
I cannot remember what glue I used, probably just some cheap crap.

Card Three:

Luxury Felt 7x5 blank card from cardmakingcrafts.co.uk
Backing Paper is a sheet from a 12x12 Rich Blue Papermania pad. I bought it from a local craft store, but you can buy it from many places, including firststopstationers.co.uk
Football Topper from cardmakingcrafts.co.uk, though I cannot find it on the site anymore.
Happy Birthday Sticker from a sheet that I bought from a local craft store. You can pick them up from anywhere.
Blue Ribbon is from a pack of Anita's Sticky Ribbon from ArtyMiss.co.uk (the same pack as the red ribbon on Card One).
I cannot remember what glue I used, probably just some cheap crap.
Double sided sticky tape.

Card Four:

Pre-Stamped card from cardmakingcrafts.co.uk with envelope.
Large Pink Deckled Panel from cardmakingcrafts.co.uk
Red Mini Roses (pack of 25) from cardmakingcrafts.co.uk
Wire Embellishment # Stars from cardmakingcrafts.co.uk (5th item listed)
Sheer Bow with Red Rose from cardmakingcrafts.co.uk
Butterfly Embellishments from a local craft store.
Red and Green Ribbon is from a pack of Anita's Sticky Ribbon from ArtyMiss.co.uk (the same pack as the ribbons on Cards One and Three).
I cannot remember what glue I used, probably just some cheap crap.
Double sided sticky tape.
Foam pads from local craft store.

Card Five:

Blank Card, pack of 50 from a local craft store. Similar can be found at madaboutcards.co.uk
Panel made from a 12x12 Rich Blue Papermania pad. I bought it from a local craft store, but you can buy it from many places, including firststopstationers.co.uk
Beer Monster Topper from madaboutcards.co.uk
Stickers were on a sheet that I bought from my local Woolworths (RIP).
Brother Sticker (at top) is from a Papermania pack (I think).
Pastel eyelets from cardmakingcrafts.co.uk (5th item from the bottom).
Peel-off Stickers Borders, Straight, from madaboutcards.co.uk
Baby Blue Ribbon is from a pack of Anita's Sticky Ribbon from ArtyMiss.co.uk (the same pack as the ribbons on Cards One, Three and Four).
I cannot remember what glue I used, probably just some cheap crap.
Double sided sticky tape.
Foam pads from local craft store.

I will post some more shortly. It takes a while to type up the recipes, especially if the card/s in question were made 2 years ago lol and I have a pretty bad memory. Thankfully I tend to buy all my crafting goodies from madaboutcards.co.uk so it does make it a little easier lol.

I might post a few of my cross-stitching in between my card makes :)

*All links take you either to the page the product is on, or to the singular product, if the site allows clickables for more information.

Found!

2009-01-17T00:03:00.005Z

Today I spent approx. two hours looking for my lost cashe of stickers. I even got my plastic storage box out and pulled everything out of it (again) then I re-checked the cardboard box where it was supposed to be, but to no avail. Nothing. Nadda.

I then took to looking in drawers, on chairs and a few other places I knew it wouldn't be.

Then an idea struck me, perhaps someone (ie. me whilst intoxicated) had put it unknowingly in my box in the kitchen where I stash padded envelopes (Yes- I save ANY padded envelopes that are sent to me, so I can re-use them!). Anyhow, the envelope was in there, and I can say without no doubt that I have no recollection of putting it there!

*happy dance*

Losing Stuff!!

2009-01-16T04:09:00.011Z

Arghhhhhhhhhhhhh I am really frustrated right now because I cannot find my stickers/ribbons envelope and I cannot for the life of me remember where the hell I put it!

I have kept them all in this large white envelope for a couple of years now, easy to remember where they all are.

But, I had a sort out of my plastic storage box where I kept all my things together, just after Christmas because I got two nice red and blue storage cases.

I am sure that I moved them into a cardboard box with a few other bits and pieces because the lid would no longer go on the plastic container, but alas, when I went to get the envelope to put some new goodies in there, it was nowhere to be found!

I have no clue how it has vanished or where to but I am seriously mad about it. If someone has thrown it out by accident all hell will break loose as I had lots of great goodies in there!

So, the question is........

Do you misplace crafting stuff, convinced that you put it in a certain place, only to find it not there?

Little Intro...

2009-01-16T03:32:00.008Z

Hi, I don't know whether anyone would even read this, but that is okay, as I have just basically created this blog for my own personal use anyway to keep track of cards I have made.

Usually I just take a few pics of them and upload them to photobucket.com to show my online buddies, however, I thought it was time to have my own little crafting blog, seeing as though I have blogs for other things!

Anyhow, my name is Joanna, though I just go by 'Jo'. I am 29 and a year old (t.h.i.r.t.y) and mother to William, who is ten.

I started crafting just a few years ago, and I started out with Cross-Stitching. After about two or three years I progressed to Cross-Stitched cards (my gawd, they are time consuming! - And a little achy on the old fingers).

Then I started to procrastinate and my cross-stitching slowly got put away to one side.

A few months later and I seemed to have gathered a few card making materials, mostly decoupage kits. And that was how it all kicked off really.

I must admit though, as much as I love to make cards, I do not have a huge cashe of 'stuff', nor do I have a dedicated room to craft in, but I have enough supplies and tools to last a good few years yet. And another thing I seem to lack in is stamping. I think I must be the only card maker in the world that has very few stamps. In fact the only ones I do have are some mini Christmas ones, some large funky foam ones and a couple of sayings stamps! I do not have any of these fancy stamps that a lot of people use as a main focus on their cards!

Maybe that will be my new venture........ stamping!

If there's anything else you want to know about me, just ask!