Ugly Bug Ball

Today, this is my DT card for The Male Room, where our theme is NATURE
and I'll also be entering it in three challenges.

The sketch is from Clean and Simple,

the colours from CAS Colours and Sketches

and Addicted to CAS are looking for something TRANSPARENT

                                                           

Here it is

This is what the card looks like without the acetate overlay that bares the Dragonfly, Bumblebee, and Ladybird. I didn't mind stamping all the insects, but when it came to the spider, it freaked me out! I hate them! Thank goodness it was only a small one. 

Supplies :

All from Stampin' Up unless stated otherwise

Card = Whisper White, Early Espresso, and white base FMS

Stamps = Stippled Blossoms, Simply Sketched, and Inkadinkado Insects

Inks = Blushing Bride, Strawberry Slush, and Adirondack Espresso

Tools = Stamp-a-ma-jig, 

Extras = Acetate

I had a terrible start to my day. I plugged my laptop in to see what challenges were out there, so I could prepare an idea, and pack the relevant supplies, as I was off to my friends for a crafting/coffee morning. After about five minutes, I realised that the TV and my alarm clock had gone off, so thought I had a power cut. Then, I saw that lights were on in my neighbours house, so I rang her (on my mobile, as the house phone was also out) and her house was fine. I made a mercy call to my Step Dad, who turned up an hour later. He discovered that the electrical fuse box kept tripping out, so we had to check every wall socket in the house. Sounds easy, but with me in the house plugging something in, I was then having to get to the top of the stairs to shout down to Dave in the garage, who would try the trip switch again. Eventually, we found that a wall socket had fallen off the wall that was hidden by my desk (it had never had a metal wall bracket set into the wall, and I've been here for almost 13 years!!). Then we found out that the garden pond pump had also fused ( what were the odds that this would blow at the exact minute that I plugged my laptop in!!!!! Anyway, with electric back on, I was in no mood to craft so didn't go out, but made this card later.   

I'm in hospital again today for my treatment ( I cant believe how quickly four weeks pass by ), so I'll be resting for a couple of days. I hope you have a good week, and an even better weekend.

Pink Diamond

Hi All!

Today was our Club workshop where we were making Diamond fold cards.

I decided to make mine as an early Mothers Day card and combine it with a new challenge blog I've found over at The Play Date Cafe where they have this colour palette for us.

 Cranberry . . . Raspberry . . . Petal



This is my card. Cherry Cobbler ( Cranberry ), Melon Mambo (Raspberry), and Pretty in Pink (Petal)

                          and here is a side view 

This is the card inside a box I've made with an acetate wrap, and with ribbons across opposite corners topped with a bow to keep the box from sliding out of the wrap.

            Here is a photo of the side of the box

First I scored some white card to create the central diamond, and then I decorated the ends with cards that had been border punched, and added ribbon. I used Jacqueline's SU dies for the layered central panel, which I then decorated with flowers that I'd stamped onto white card and cut out, and arranged with the middle flower raised on 3D pads and a bow, all under the MUM sentiment. I made the box bottom in white card, and scored some acetate to make the wrap.

Recipe :

Card = Cherry Cobbler, Pretty in Pink, and Whisper White

Stamps = Ornate Flowers and Papermania sentiment

Inks = Melon Mambo, Pretty in Pink, and Certain Celery

Tools = Cuttelbug ( Jacqueline's ), SU Dies, and Martha Stewart punch

Extras = Acetate and Ribbons

As I mentioned the other day, I'd helped Nathan make a valentine card for his friend Adelaide. He did all the designing and stamping himself, even though I was there to help him, he told me that he wanted it done "his way, or no way!!", the little Diva.

What do you think of his talents? I wonder where he got them from?

  

He even decorated the inside.

The inks and majority of the stamps are SU, but there are a few toppers and unknown stamps that Boris the Elf had sent him!!

Well that's all for now, I'm hopefully having my hospital treatment tomorrow, so I'll be back soon.

Have a great weekend whatever you're doing

Mouse Pop Up Birthday card

Hi everyone, thank you so much for your patience while I've been sorting my health out, and I hope to be back regularly again soon.

I've had my hospital treatments, my neighbours funeral ( Bless him ), and just got over Conjunctivitis, so as soon as my hands start to ease I can do more crafting. Yaaaaaaaay!!

Meanwhile, It has taken me several weeks to make a card for my niece's first birthday on 16th April, but I thought I'd share it with you before I seal it in its envelope.

Sophie's favourite toy is her Molly Mouse, so with that in mind I made this pop up card 

The mice on the front were stamped onto patterned papers for their clothes and coloured in with pencils and Promarkers. The butterflies are stamped onto tracing paper and coloured with Promarkers and stuck down so their wings are dimensional.The grass was sponged and tufts of grass drawn with SU Write markers. I made the bunting out of scraps of card with letters printed from a CD.                                                                                         Inside, the little mouse in the blue blazer has his paws outstretched to catch the falling mouse in the red coat ( he is attached to acetate so he moves when the card is knocked ), and the little mouse in the corner is signing a card.

Here is a side view of the mouse on the acetate.





I hope she will like it?

Recipe :

Card =  Daffodil Delight and white card from my stash

Stamps = Crafter's Companion, and Daisy and Dandelion

Inks = SU Certainly Celery, Bashful Blue, and Basic Black. Promarkers, pencils, and SU Write markers

Extras = Acetate and tracing paper

Tomorrow we're off to my sisters for an egg hunt so I hope the rain stops long enough for us to find them all!!

I am hoping to get some more projects made very soon, so please call back again if you can.

Happy Easter to you all, and what ever your plans I hope the weather is good, and don't eat too much chocolate !!!!!! ( I cant believe I've just said that!!  You can never have too much!! )

Glitter Christmas

Hello my blogging friends, I'm back in the crafting saddle but I'm not firing on all cylinders yet, so please bear with me.

Today I went to Jacqueline's, and as her challenge blog ( Make My Monday) is looking for a Seasonal project with Added Glitter, I decided to have a go at a technique I'd seen on TV done by Barbara Gray from Clarity Stamps. She uses some sticky paper ( designed and sold by her company )to create glittery scenes that then get stuck on acetate.

Here is the finished card, and then I'll try to explain how I made it!!

If I'd thought about it properly, I would have taken photos of the various stages, but I didn't think of it till the picture was complete!!!! 

Anyway, I placed 2 strips of 1.5" double sided tape side by side, sticky side face up, and stamped the reindeer silhouette directly onto the sticky side with Black Archival ink.                                 The tape was then placed onto the rougher side of a piece of acetate. With a craft knife I carefully cut into the tape backing paper to make a thin wavy strip under the deer, and peeled off the yellow backing ( too much pressure on the knife and it will cut the acetate as well, so carefully does it)

I then sprinkled blue glitter onto the exposed sticky tape. Either side of the deer I cut 2 Christmas trees, but the first parts of the backing to be peeled off were the stripes of tinsel and baubles ( glittered with red ), then the larger trees ( pale green glitter) and lastly the smaller trees ( darker green). I then cut a wavy strip across the background and sprinkled it with silver glitter, and finally the remaining yellow backing paper was peeled off and sprinkled with white glitter.  

Now, to stick this glittery scene down, I stuck 2 strips of the tape onto white card and peeled off the backing tape. The glittery side of the acetate was stuck onto the tape to leave the shiny side of the acetate face up ( so the glitter is sandwiched between acetate and white card) and the scene was then trimmed and layered on some red and green cards. The sentiment was stamped in Versamark and heat embossed with white powder on the red card, and finished off with 3 white pearls.

I hope that this all makes sense to you, but I can thoroughly recommend this technique if you fancy getting glitter absolutely everywhere!!! I think poor Jacqueline will be finding it for weeks to come ( especially as Louise seemed to like lying on it!! ) , Sorry Jacqueline.  

Recipe :    

Card = Green Galore, Real Red, and Whisper White

Stamps = Clarity and Dovecraft

Inks = Black Archival and Versamark

Tools = Martha Stewart border punch, Heat gun, craft knife and wide double sided tape  

Extras = Blue, red, pale green, dark green, silver and white glitters, White embossing powder, and White flat backed pearls

Thanks for dropping by today, and I hope my rambling instructions haven't scrambled your minds too much.

             

  

Enjoy your Day

Well I didnt have any dream or thoughts on the lottery numbers, so I'm still here crafting........mind you, even if I DID win the lottery I would still be crafting as I've have more time to do it, and be able to pay people do all the other stuff..............no harm in dreaming I suppose!

In the short time I've been awake today I've made a card to enter in to the Clean and Simple challenge # FTL156 where they have this sketch.

My trusty Big Shot is still on the table from yesterday so it was my influence on the makings for the card.

I started with a white card and stamped the sentiment on the left hand side in green. Then through the BS I put some brown card and a pendant die, some green card and a border die, yellow card and a flower die (twice), and some  bright green card with 2 leaf shapeabilities. All these bits were layered on the border which was placed on the right hand side. The finishing touch was the bumble bee which had been stamped on some acetate and was left over from a project a few days ago.

Here is the end result, have a look and see what you think?

I hope you liked it.

Recipe : Card = SU Pumpkin Pie, Garden Green, Green Galore, Yo Yo Yellow, and white card from my stash

Inks = Handsome Hunter, Adirondack Black, Butterscotch and Espresso

Tools = Big Shot, SB Border, Pendant, and Shapeabilities

Stamps = Verve sentiment and Inkadinkado Bee

Thanks for dropping by, and I'd love it if you could leave me a comment if you have the time.

Hope to be crafting again soon so I'll see you then

Whimsical Wings

Yaaaaaaaaayyyyy, I'm Top 3 at Make My Monday again, Thank you DT!!

Hi everyone, Hope you've all had a good Bank Holiday and are enjoying the last few days of the summer with the children before they start the new school term...........can you believe that tomorrow is officially the first day of Autumn??? Scary isn't it??

Also, I must tell you all that the Gremlins are still interfering with my blog, and I cannot leave any comments, so I apologise now and hope that Blogger can sort it out for me soon. Thanks for your understanding, and although I'm silent ( some might hope!!), I'm still looking at all the wonderful projects you are creating.


Anyway, I've not had much chance for crafting myself, but I started a card on Tuesday afternoon at my friends, and have finally managed to finish it so I could enter it in Make My Monday's last challenge on the theme of Things with Wings.

This week we had this photo as inspiration



I started with a white square card, rounded the corners and sponged the edges before layering it with green card with a torn corner, and then a cream card also torn and sponged. I then stamped the foliage and bird from Whimsical Wings using my Stamp-a-ma-jig. The bird cage was stamped and heat embossed on the cream card, and a second cage stamped and embossed on acetate so I could cut out a section to create a cage door so as to suggest that the bird has escaped. The roses were again stamped and placed with the Stamp-a-ma-jig, with 3 being raised on 3D pads for added dimension. The finishing touch was the gem for the birds eye, the cream bow on the cage, and the Verve stamped sentiment.

Here it is. I adore this bird and love to use the whispy feathers stamp for his tail. I hope you like it

and here is a close up of the cage door

Recipe : card = SU Green Galore, Whisper White, and Very Vanilla

Stamps = Whimsical Wings, Baby Blossoms, Papermania, and Verve.

Inks = Regal Rose, Melon Mambo, Certainly Celery, and Versamark

Tools = Heat Gun, and Stamp-a-ma-jig

Extras = Gold embossisng powder, acetate, cream ribbon, and green gem from my stash.

One reason why no crafting has been done, is because we had a family day out to Gloucester Docks on Sunday to see the Tall Ships and the re-enactment of the 1801 war where the Gloucester Regiment fought off the French at Alexandra in Egypt. Here is a photo of one of the ships.                                                                                         

 

 Here Nathan and Nana ( My mum, Mary ) are talking to some of the volunteers dressed as the soldiers would have in those times.

There was a circus style show put on for the kids, but alot of the jokes and one liners were aimed at the adults ( well at least I hope the kids didn't understand what was going on!!!???) . This is the act called 'The Black Eagles', who were acrobats that did a bit of fire eating, juggling, and gyrating of hips that didn't leave alot to the imagination of what lay beneath their loin clothes!!!!                 

I wont bore you with any more photos,  but boring as it sounds, it was a lovely day out.

Now, I'm not making up excuses, but, I'm in hospital on Friday for my next RA treatment, so I may not feel well enough to do any crafting, but I'll be back as soon as I can to show you anything I do manage to create.

Thank you for dropping by, and I'd love to read any comments you have if you get time to leave them.

Back soon

Bee-autiful Garden

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaayyy!!!!!!  I've just seen that I came top 3 again over at Make My Monday so I'm really chuffed...........I feel like it's my birthday not Mum's!!!! Thanks very much to their wonderful DT for picking my card.

Hello and welcome to my new follower, Helen, I hope you like what you see.

I'm typing this with sleep still in my eyes as I've got to get this post done before I go out for the day!! I hope it all makes sense to you.

Well Tuesday at Jacqueline's was a disaster for me, I had an idea for my card for the Make My Monday challenge and it involved making a bee hive, you would have thought that it sounds quite easy, but the pointed angles on folded card completely threw me.

The challenge is still "things with wings" but must include acetate.

My idea was to make a garden scene on the card and have an acetate front cover on which the bees would be stamped so they looked like they were in flight.

After several expletives and throwing things down on the table, this is the end result.

This is a side view so you can see the dimension that the acetate gives, and I hope you see that the bees look like they are in flight??

This is what the acetate looks like on its own.

The 2 flowers and leaves were added in the bottom corners to help weigh the acetate down.

It all started with a white 6" square card that I sponged the top half with Bashful Blue and the bottom half with Certainly Celery. A SB nestabilitie label was then cut in the BS and the top half again sponged with BBlue, but with a scallop circle mask to make cloud shapes. A verve sentiment was stamped in the sky with Brilliant Blue.  I then stamped the leaf frond from Growing Green in CCelery 3 times and cut them out. Using the Greenhouse Garden set I stamped several flowers in different colours and they were also cut out. A sheet of acetate was stuck on the back of the label and then that was stuck to the card itself (so the sticky tape securing the acetate was hidden) but so that the acetate falls down over the front of the card. The flowers, leaves and hive ( concertinaed card sponged with SSand)  were stuck on the card, and some bees were stamped on the acetate and coloured with Pro markers. Two flowers and some leaves were added at the bottom to stop the acetate rolling up.

Recipe : Card = SU Whisper White and white card from my stash

Stamps = Greenhouse Garden, Growing Green, French Foliage, Verve and Inkadinkado

Inks = SU Regal Rose, Pink Passion, YoYo Yellow, Pumpkin Pie, Tempting Turquoise, Brilliant Blue, Melon Mambo, Rich Razzelberry, Crushed Curry, Dusty Durango, Lovely Lilac, Elegant Eggplant, Sahara Sand, and Black Adirondack

Tools = Big Shot and SB label and scallop circle nestabilities

Extras = Acetate and Pro markers

It's Mum's birthday today, so I'll be spending the day with the family. I'm not sure what we'll be doing but we'll do something?? so no crafting today.

Hope to do some tomorrow, so I'll get back to you then.