I'm back!...

Sheesh where did September go?  Well, I suppose I spent most of it on holiday and I must admit I had an absolutely wonderful in time in the Dominican Republic - sigh - so missing the sunshine and palm trees.  The rest of the month was taken up with washing, packing and work and it just flew by.  Thank goodness my super buddy Max was able to keep Bah! Humbug! running single handed.  I owe her big time!

Anyway, I'm back now and ready to be challenged by our weekly Christmas theme at Humbug Hall.  This week sees us thinking about the 'Navity'.  My card uses an image from a sheet I printed years ago when I was on the Design Team at Ooh la la Creations.  See if you keep your print outs long enough they do eventually get used!  The card I made at that time using the largest image on the sheet can be seen here.  For my new card I used one of the smaller images and matted it on to an embossed layer made using the Swiss Dots folder.  To get the size I had to feed the card through the machine 4 times -eeeeeeeeek!  The sentiment was printed on to one of the scraps of green card left over using my Xyron Design Runner.

Do pop over to Bah! Humbug! to both join in and check out the fabulous work by my team mates.

My card is also for the challenges at...

• Simon Says Stamp - Anything Goes
• The Sisterhood of Crafters - Love that silhouette
• Celebrate the Occasion - any occasion - must use ribbon
• Shopping our Stash Weekly - Black and White plus one other colour.

Have a great weekend everyone.  I'm going to be making some Halloween cards with the ladies at work using some fabulous plastic skeletons I found at Poundland - so cool and 24 in the pack so quite a bargain.  Fingers crossed that the idea I have for using them works - if it does watch this space.

Ann xxx

Happy Mother's Day to all...

Had a lovely meal at Shelley's yesterday and really looking forward to spending the day with Laura today.  I strongly suspect that a package that arrived the other day with her name on had stamps in it.  Wonder if it was and what they are!!!  oh so exciting!

Today's cards are the last of my Mother's day ones.  The shoe card is the one I've made Laura to give her Gran.  Laura loves shoes and Gran loves flowers so it seemed like a great combination on a card.  The image is a free one available at Ooh-la-la Creations and is a sample from the CD 'Shoes in Bloom'.  There were two images on the free sheet and unfortunately I worked with the one with the sentiment on it and it was only when I'd completed the card that I noticed the spelling error, but not to worry Gran won't notice.  The side panel with the smaller shoes was made in my Serif Home Office programme.  

Challenges...

• Sweet Sketch Wednesday - love their sketches - this weeks was tweaked a little, but I think the basic layout is still there.
• Cupcake Craft Challenge - Flower Power
• Alphabet Challenge - tag (mine may be small but it's an important one with 'Gran' on it)
• Secret Crafter - Anything Goes

My last Mother's Day card is mine to my Mum.  It's a style of card I've done before for someone's birthday, but as I already had the vellum fan blades in my box already cut out (and I was running really short of time - what's new?) I decided to put the card together to give mum.

The fan blades were stamped using the large fan blade stamp by Dimension Fourth.  Love that stamp - turned upside down it makes a fabulous dress skirt too.  Must give that a go next week - maybe for Shelley's birthday card.

Challenges...

• Rainbow Lady - Mother's Day

Both cards are for the challenges at ...

• Creative Card Crew - Celebrate
• Cute Card Thursday - Celebrations

Have a lovely Mother's Day everyone and see you tomorrow for the new challenge at The Pink Elephant. 

Update on the package - it was a House Mouse stamp - yeah - loads of very fat mice who have been over indulging on water melon.  Really cute.  How lucky am I?

Back but shaky!!!

Had a fabulous holiday but the journey home was just horrendous! Never again will I book a holiday involving so much coach travel - 3 days to get home is just oh!!! Croatia was beautiful though and there maybe photos later when I feel human - we'll see.

Meanwhile there is still time for anyone who hasn't already to enter the challenge at ooh-la-la-creations which involves using black and white plus one other colour.

My card is one I did before I went away and is such a cheat because it is made using one of the 'quick card' images on the CD Silhouette Magic. They are just a simple click and print although I did print the central image out twice so that I could raise it up from the main card slightly and I added a bit of bling too. Still very easy though and ideal when you want a card in a hurry.

Off to Croatia....

But before I go just wanted to let you know that the challenge on Ooh-la-la-Creations starting from tomorrow is 'Singing in the Rain!' The image and backing paper I have used are from the CD 'Kiddiwinks'.

We all have times in our lifes when we need something to cheer us up and what can be better than receiving a card from a good friend. So if you have time make a card to make someone happy and join in our challenge.

I will be back on the 26th September with pictures of the island of Kirk and maybe some new ideas for cards - oh I am so going to miss crafting and blogging!!!

Be good while I'm away and seeing as I'm not going to be around next week the challenge is going to be...

Black and white plus one other colour! But shhhhhhhhh don't tell anyone that I told you early. LOL!!!

Weddings...

Our challenge at http://ooh-la-la-creationschallenges.blogspot.com/ this week is weddings. For my card I used a beautiful image of a bride from the 'Passion for Fashion' CD and popped it into a matching frame.

As you can see I was still obcessed with my corner punch when creating this card. I can't believe I have had this punch so long and just not realised its full potential.

Materials used:

• vellum
• pink pearlescent card
• image from 'Passion for Fashion'
• corner punch by EK success
• patterned paper from stash
• silver peel offs - corner and sentiment
• pink organza ribbon

Words of Wisdom...

Our challenge at http://ooh-la-la-creationschallenges.blogspot.com/ this week is to use a quote in your work.

I used an image from the CD 'Silhouette Magic' and a quote from the Quote Garden to complete my card.

My quote reads...

'There is a garden in every childhood, an enchanted place where colours are brighter, the air softer and the morning more fragrant than ever again by Elizabeth Lawrence'.

Do visit our challenge blog and take part if you have time. It would be great to have lots of entries.

I'm back...

and have had the best time ever - Sunderland is brilliant - and especially so when staying with a good friend.

I haven't made this card today - it's one I made before I went away as I knew our challenge at http://ooh-la-la-creationschallenges.blogspot.com/ was going to be Christmas this week. I hope that everyone who wants to get a head start on their Christmas cards will join in and leave a message on our challenge blog so that we can look at everyone's stunning work.

I made this card using one of the images from Ooh-la-la-Creation's new CD which is crammed full of really stunning silhouette images. Silhouettes are one of my favourite type of image. I love Joanna Sheen's Dancing With Shadows CD - I love silhouette stamps and I love this CD. There are just so many possibilities when using silhouettes.

Tags...

Our challenge this week at Ooh-la-la-Creations is tags and there is a whole host of tags as a blog candy prize for one lucky person who enters the challenge. Do pop over over there and have a look.

There is also a few notes (I won't call it a tutorial cause I'm not that professional) and pictures showing how to create a tag folder card like the ones above.

All the images and rose background paper I used are from the 'Passion for Fashion' CD by Ooh-la-la-Creations.

Christmas at My time to craft...

Lots of challenge blogs are encouraging us to start early on our Christmas cards and I just think this is such a good idea. Like many other crafters, last year I got myself into a real panic trying to make my own cards and special commissioned ones for other people.

Thanks to various challenges Christmas this year will be a doddle (famous last words!). My card for the challenge at http://www.mytimetocraftchallenge.blogspot.com/ has a tartan theme. The image is one from the Passion for Fashion CD by Ooh-la-la-Creations and the tartan backing paper and tag are by Kanban. The red vellum is also by Kanban - I love the effect of vellum over a pattern so that you can see the pattern but it's not as 'in your face'.

Vintage...

This my card for the challenge at http://artygirlzchallengeblog.blogspot.com/. I love the image I used for this card - there are some wonderful vintage bathing beauty images around, but I particularly like this one. In my opinion it has a real charm to it. The image also has it's own very striking border and elaborate black corner pieces, which I have embellished with self adhesive gems. It broke my heart using so many on one card, especially as there are 3 under the tag too -didn't decide on tag till after they were attached. I do think it was worth it in the end as it gives (in my opinion) a touch of opulance!

To mirror the blue of the frame on the image I used a rippled dark blue paper wrap around the card - having this wrap also meant that I was able to use my border punch to create an ornate border down the side of the card.

90th Birthday - card 2

As the card maker in the family I also needed to make a card for Mum to give my Auntie today. I decided to use the last of the silhouette images I printed last week. This one is a lovely image of some children playing with a flower garland and like the other silhouette images I have been using it is from the CD 'Silhouette Magic' CD by Ooh-la-la-Creations.

Sorry for the poor quality of the picture - it is really hard to take photos of acetate cards. I think it's actually possible to see the reflection of the camera on this one!!

Our challenge at http://ooh-la-la-creationschallenges.blogspot.com/ this week is to create a card using acetate. Quite a few people have said they would like to try this so alongside our card examples there is a write up of how my card was made. So do pop along there and give a acetate a try out.

90th birthday...

Not a challenge this time but a card for my Auntie who will be 90 tomorrow!! Why do I always leave things till the last minute? Anyway as I needed a card quickly I decided to do a card similar (almost the same really) to a christmas card I did a while ago.

I printed an image from the CD 'Silhouette Magic' by Ooh-la-la-creations on to ink jet acetate and then matted this on to gold card using black brads. This was then matted on to black to make the image stand out more.

The base card has a vellum wrap around it to soften the look. Gold peel offs and tag help to pull the design together.

Powder Blues...

The image and backing papers I used for this card are called Powder Blues and although I made this card a few weeks ago it seemed perfect for the challenge at http://artygirlzchallengeblog.blogspot.com/ where the challenge is to have the colour BLUE as a main feature.

I love the soft tones of blue in the image of these ladies in their blue dresses and wanted to keep that softness in the make up of the card. I used vellum to soften the edges and pearls as accents that may possibly echo the kind of jewellry they would add to complete their outfits.

The image and backing papers are from the 'Passion for Fashion' CD from Ooh-la-la-Creations.

Friends...

This silhouette image of two children sat on a wall with a bowl of bubbles is one of my favourites from the new CD of silhouettes from Ooh-la-la-creations. I printed the image on to acetate and used blue jewelled brads to attach it to some amazing blue and white shaded glitter card from Kanban. I love this card as when you place it behind a silhouette it looks like a cloudy sky and the glitter (although hard to see in the photo) makes it extra special.

I matted the glitter card on to black and then silver - the silver is actually fastened to the other side of the acetate - that way there is no evidence of nasty DST tape

.

I think this card is perfect for the challenge at http://lotstodocallenges.blogspot.com/ which has the theme of friends.

Things that grow...

The challenge at http://cutecardthursday.blogspot.com/ this week is to be creative using the theme of things that grow. Thinking about growth made me remember a wonderful blog I looked at last summer where a talented crafter called Katy kindly shared her ideas, instructions and templates to make seed packets.

You can visit her blog at http://katydidcreations.typepad.com/my_weblog/2007/07/seed-packets-ev.html.

Her cards are beautiful and the templates she provides are great as a starting point for your own ideas. Thank you Katy!

I used the template for the Snowman Seed packet and fastened the packet to acetate with ribbon to give movement and also allow both sides of the seed packet to show.

The card at the top of this posting was made using a stamped image on the seed packet and the one on the right has a very cute snowman sticker from my craft stash on it.

Inside the seed packets I put metal snowflakes - ready to be planted, but obviously not suitable for giving to very young children.

On the back of the seed packet I attached planting instructions - hence the very good reason for being able to see both sides of the packet.

As the packet is attached with ribbon it can be easily undone and removed from the card so that the seeds can be used.

After completing the snowman cards I wanted to try out the other
seed packets on Katy's blog. I decided to have a go at making a friendship seed packet card.

Again I used acetate so that both sides of the seed packet could be seen. This time I printed an image on to the seed packet label and then used a matching backing paper printed on vellum to make the seed packet itself.


This card would make a lovely gift as you could add seeds appropriate to the time of year - I'm adding winter pansy seeds to mine as it's not too late to plant these this month.















This is a picture of the inside of the card showing the back of the seed packet - no instructions on this one - although you could of course add planting instructions suitable for the seeds inside (only just thought of that!!! - will have to add!).

The inner is printed with a quote I particularly like and a thank you message.

Think this is my longest post ever - I do hope it saves and works properly.

Flowers...

I love the colour of this oriental floral image and backing paper and was lucky enough to find some pearlescent blue card in my stash that was a perfect match for the flowers. The card is for the challenge at http://themethursday.wordpress.com/ which has the theme of flowers this week.

The main floral image is decoupaged and I have added a tiny amount of glitter to the centre of each of the flowers to add interest.

Hearts...

The challenge at http://themethursday.wordpress.com/ is to use 'hearts' in your artwork. I chose this heart shaped silhouette image of a small boy and girl cutting out paper hearts together. The image and backing paper are from the new CD 'Silhouette Magic' at Ooh-la-la-Creations.

The verse is one of the many free ones to be found at http://www.imag-e-nation.com/ . Something about it made me feel it was perfect to go with this image. The verse (although you can't tell from the photo) is matted onto vellum to allow the backing paper to show through.

Tea for two...

A small card to send a friend - maybe as an invite to share a coffee together. This card is for our new challenge at http://ooh-la-la-creationschallenges.blogspot.com/2008/07/challenge-8-tea-for-two.html. This week's challenge is on the theme 'Tea for two'.

My image and backing paper are taking from the 'Ooh-la-la-Creations' CD 'Passion for Fashion'.

This card is also perfect for the challenge at http://artygirlzchallengeblog.blogspot.com/2008/07/arty-girlz-weekly-challenge-44-eras.html which is to make a card inspired by any era in time. I love this challenge idea and would really love to try and make a card for each era starting with this one as my 20s/30s era card. Hope I have enough time!!!

'All creatures great and small'

Our challenge at http://ooh-la-la-creationschallenges.blogspot.com/ this week is 'all creatures great and small'. That phrase takes me straight back to my primary school days at a Church of England school where we sang our hearts out on that phrase at least once a week.

My card focusses on small creatures and is an image taken from the Floral Extravaganza CD by Ooh-la-la-creations - a lovely dreamy image. I don't really think I've done the image justice as I'm so busy unpacking, rushing to the toilet (yes tummy is still not good) and generally trying to catch up with stuff, but am showing it anyway.

Remember when...

Our challenge starting today at http://ooh-la-la-creationschallenges.blogspot.com/ is to be creative using the theme of 'Remember when'.

I wanted to create something using the section of Wendi's CD called 'Quick Cards' partly because there are some really gorgeous virtually ready made cards in there and partly because I knew the challenge on http://www.daringcardmakers.blogspot.com/ was to create a quick card. I am not a fast card maker at all and when I saw the instructions on Daring Card Makers to make a card in 30 minutes I knew I would really struggle.

However, I did it (well I did if you don't count having to go out and buy a new printer cartridge because your printer thinks purple is the new black!). My card was completed in 25 minutes including putting the kettle on for a cuppa to celebrate.

I could have printed the complete picture out and attached it to a card without adding anything at all, but I really felt that I wanted to do a little bit to personalise the card in the time allowed. I decided to print the central image out again so that it could be matt and layered on to black and attached to the card using foam pads to make it stand out a little. Then I added 3 small square brads to bottom right corner to add depth and a black peel off 'Just to say...' to finish the card.