Ok, so Spring has Sprung ....

.... and spronged, and I haven't been blogging.  Again!  We've been travelling a bit over the last few months - end of April went to Italy to stay with friends.  As always, wonderful - I love Italy.  Here's a picture of me on the approach to the Umbrian hilltop town where our friends live.

Two weeks later, we went to Belgium for an International Mini Meeting - we flew into Eindhoven in the Netherlands and stayed there the first night, then on to the campsite.  Brilliant weekend, lots of fun with friendly Mini people from all over Europe and beyond. 

I've made a few cards over the past few months - will post them as challenges dictate over the next few weeks or so.  The most recent was made for my husband's grandmother - 96 years old this week!  Here's what I made:

I'm entering the following challenges: CAS-ual Fridays ("Florals"), Creative Inspirations and Lemon Shortbread ("Anything Goes"), ABC Challenge ("I is for Important" - 96 is fairly important, not to mention impressive!), Shopping our Stash ("4 elements" - mine is "earth" for flowers - and maybe "fire" too, as they are sunflowers!) and CAS-ology ("CAS").

I used an old Papertrey Ink stamp set that my friend, Anne, got for me in America a few years ago, and popped the flowers up for dimension against a sponged background.  Here's a side-shot:

Recipe:

Stamps: Papertrey Ink "Simple Sunflower"

Font: "Bringshoot" - dafont.com

Stencil: Simon Says Stamp "Falling Snow"

Other: Distress Inks, bakers' twine, white e.p.

Thanks for looking!

See ya ....

.... January.  It's February, and that means the reveal of the January Card Chain Challenge on Deborah's blog.

I made and sent a card to Christy in California, using the theme of "friendship".  Here's what I made:

I'm going to enter the following challenges: Craft your Passion and Brown Sugar ("Anything Goes"), Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge ("Ray of Sunshine"), City Crafter ("Plastic Fantastic") and Shopping our Stash ("Dreaming of Something Warm").

I made some home-made enamel dots, out of plastic hama beads, having seen them on pinterest.  I made one batch of varying colours and burnt them, then turned the oven down and left another batch in for ages and ages, they came out ok but not perfect.  Will have to fiddle with temperature and timing to get the next lot right!!  Here's a side-shot:

Recipe:

Stamp: Hero Arts "Floating Leaves" and Kaisercraft "Chevron Texture"

Font: "Joe Hand 2" dafont.com

Other: White e,p., home-made enamel dots, baker's twine

And here's the lovely card I got from Toni - all the way from the west coast of the U.S.  Thank you, Toni!

The February sign-up is open until 6th February - if you'd like to join up, head over to Deborah's blog and see all the details.

Thanks for looking!

Little House in ....

.... the Big Woods!  Friends of ours in Sweden have moved house as they're getting married this year.  She used to live in a city and he lived in a town.  They've relocated to the countryside mid-way between the two.  I looked up their new place on googleearth - it is literally in the middle of a forest, no street view - there isn't even a street!!  They've been posting pictures of the trees, lakes and snow - it's very beautiful, and very Swedish!!  I made a card to send them, inspired by red Swedish cabins and conifer trees.  Here it is:

I'm entering the following challenges: Craft your Passion, Creative Inspirations and Creative Card Crew ("Anything Goes"), Cutie Pie Challenge ("Krafty Cuties") and Shopping our Stash ("Inspired by a Book" - see the title of this post!).

I stamped the little house, cut it out and then popped up for dimension.  I hand-drew the trees, with fear and trepidation in case I messed them up, but all was well.  The stars are white glitter paper, but you can't really see in the picture.  Here's a closer look at the little scene.

Recipe:

Stamp: Basic Grey "Nordic Holiday"

Font: "Shorelines Script" dafont.com

Die: Mama Elephant "Lots of Stars"

Other: Ribbon from stash, hand-drawn trees

Thanks for looking!

Happy 2016 ....

.... to one and all!

Hope you had a lovely Christmas - ours was lovely, mostly relaxing with a bit of nice socialising thrown in for good measure.  Back to school on the 6th - boo - and the time since has been a bit frantic.

I was sorting out photos and came across a few cards that I'd made whilst I wasn't blogging this time last year.  The first was for my mother-in-law's 70th birthday last February.  Here's what I made for her:

I'm entering this into the following challenges: Brown Sugar ("Movie Madness" - how about either "Pretty in Pink" or "There's Something about Mary"!!), Moving Along with the Times ("Spots and Dots" - just a few round the sentiment) and Shopping our Stash ("Something New" - most of this card uses old stash, but the gems were off a new pair of gloves that my daughter got for Christmas!).  I'd like to add my sympathies to the friends and family of Leslie Hanna of Shopping our Stash, who sadly passed away in December.  Her blogging friends are carrying on the blog as she would wish.

Here's a closer view of the main detail of the card - lots of layers and texture:

Recipe:

Paper: Basic Grey "Bittersweet"

Stamp: Kaisercraft "Chevron Texture"

Font: "Hanshand" da.font.com

Other: White e.p,, tangled thread, hand-drawn heart and hand-made numbers.

Thanks for looking!

The one that almost ....

.... got away.  I've just realised I never blogged this make, that's because I finished it last Christmas Eve morning in a mad rush!!  It was a commissioned piece that I wasn't even sure I'd have time to make, for my daughter's friend.  He wanted it for his boyfriend, he had organised a surprise holiday as a Christmas present, and asked for a card.  I suggested a gift-box with slider card incorporated into the lid instead.  Here it is all closed up:

And with the slider opened - the gold card is for a secret greeting:

I'm entering the following challenges: Crafty Cardmakers ("Snow"), Shopping our Stash ("Let it Snow"), Creative Inspirations ("Merry Christmas"), Brown Sugar ("Anything Goes") and Daring Cardmakers ("All Wrapped Up").

And here are two further views of the top of the box with the slider closed and the inside with "surprise" tags for writing details of the gifts on, or whatever:

Recipe:

Stamps: Hero Arts "Stunning Snowflakes" background stamp,

Paper: Basic Grey "Granola" 

Other: gold e.p., gold stickles, gold ribbon from stash, navy house paint

Thanks for looking!

Something quick ....

.... for Christmas.  For my last craft club of the year, we had to make a Christmas decoration and card to swap between each other.  Inspired by something I saw on Pinterest, I made what turned out to be a quick, fun but really effective looking ornament.  Here's what I made, with card to match:

Those are drawing pins stuck all over a Styrofoam ball, I love the finished effect - I think it looks like an armadillo.  It's amazing how heavy it is too, and it will look fab on a tree with other gold and red decorations.  I made the card in red and gold to match too, with gold jingle bells I recycled from around the necks of Lindt chocolate rabbits or bears or something!  Here's a little side-shot:

I'm entering these into the following challenges: Crafty Cardmakers ("Christmas"), Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and Creative Inspirations ("Anything Goes"), City Crafter ("Glittering Snowflakes"), Shopping our Stash ("Favourite Technique" - mine is distressing), Little Red Wagon ("So flaky") and Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge ("Bling it On").

Ornament Recipe:

Styrofoam ball, drawing pins, ribbon from stash

Card Recipe:

Paper: Basic Grey "Ambrosia"

Stamp: Hero Arts "Stunning Snowflakes" background

Font: "Apex Lake" - dafont.com

Other: Ribbon from stash, Lindt bells, gold e.p.

Thanks for looking!

Ruby, Ruby, Ruby ....

.... such a lovely name, had my son been a girl that would have been his name.  So one of the teachers in school has just had a baby girl and called her Ruby - I approve!!!  I made a clean and simple (for me!) card for her.  Here's what I ended up with:

I'm entering the following challenges Shopping our Stash ("Free is Good", the stars were free with a magazine years ago) and Papertake Weekly ("Anything Goes").

Here's a little side-shot of the detail of the card - the embossing paste, confetti and swinging banner with glittery gold letters:

Recipe:

Stencil: Tim Holtz Layering Stencil "Bubble"

Other: Handcut glittery letters, banners, hearts from punch, stars from stash

Thanks for looking!

The countdown ....

.... is on - only two and a half weeks left until school starts again.  We're just back from our holidays in England, we spent most of our time in Kent, but spent one night in the Cotswolds and another in Telford on the way to and from the ferry.  We had a smashing time, loved Kent - the beautiful countryside, villages, architecture and, of course, the White Cliffs of Dover.  I will post some photos on my next post.

While we were away, our daughter turned 20 (that's the end of the teenage years, until next Spring, when Jed will be 13 - what were we thinking?!!!).  I made Daisy's card beforehand and brought it with us - we were camping on the morning of her birthday and gave her a surprise awakening, complete with a bunch of helium balloons outside her tent and a noisy bunch of people with party blowers!

Here's her card:

Update 23/08/14 - this card was voted Top 3 at Shopping our Stash - thank you!!

I'm entering the following challenges: Crafty Girls Challenges ("Anything Goes"),  Little Red Wagon ("Happy Birthday"), Shopping our Stash ("Back in the Day" - no fancy cutting machine for me, just scissors!) and Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge ("Scratched Up").

I was inspired by a card I saw on Pinterest, with big black thicker letters as a focal point.  I don't have any thickers like that, or a cutting machine that would do them for me, so I made my own big black chipboard letters, painted them with acrylic paint, and finished with a top coat of Mod-podge.  I also painted the button with acrylic paint and then distressed it with sandpaper.  Here's a closer look:

Recipe:

Papers: Basic Grey "Clippings", "Carte Postale" and "Basics Kraft"

Fonts: "Mom's Typewriter" and "Bambi Bold" - www.dafont.com

Punch: EK Success "Binding Edge"

Stencil: Tim Holtz "Stars"

Other: Staples, buttons from stash, hairy string

Thanks for looking!

An interesting ....

.... angle, a graduation and a winner!

June has flown by, it was a very, very busy time in work - but as of Thursday at 12 noon - we are now on holidays!!  Yippee!!

It was my son's last year in primary school.  In September he will head off to secondary and I will be going to school "on my own" for the first time in the 14 years I've worked there.  Copying an idea of my friend, Jackie's, I took a pic of Jed on the first day of 6th Class and another on the last.  Here they are - even allowing for slightly different angles, he has grown a fair bit, I think.

 

I made this thank you card for his teacher.  I was working on the distressed and stamped panel for a good while, then I laid it squarely on the plain card base, and it was just ... boring.  What to do?  I didn't want to start from scratch, hate doing that.  So I turned it at an angle.  Better.  Then I stencilled and inked the card base.  Better still.  Finally, I added ribbon, metal findings and tag.  That'll do!!  Here's what I ended up with:

I'm entering this into the following challenges: Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge ("I ought to use this more" - the metal findings, I love them but usually just hoard them!), Shopping our Stash ("Colour My World" - I have too many favourite colours, but one of my favourite colour combinations is blue and brown), Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and Crafty Girls("Anything Goes") and Sentimental Sundays ("Summer" - what could be more summer than a thank you teacher card?!!).  Here's a closer look at the lovely metal flowers:

Recipe:

Stamps: IndigoBlu "Grand Tour 1", Kaisercraft "Numbers",

Stencil: Tim Holtz "Bubble"

Other: Ribbon from stash, Prima Finnabair "Vintage Trinkets", brad - recycled packaging

Finally, a couple of weeks late, the winner of my giveaway is .... the only one who entered:

Grá 

Thank you for entering and congratulations, Grá - email your address to me and I'll get your prize package to you asap.

Thanks for looking!

Forgot all about ....

.... this one.  I started making this card well over a year ago, at a crop I think.  Then bits of it sat on my desk for months and months until eventually I finished it at another crop.  Then it sat on the desk again for a while, then I put it in a storage box, and when I took it out to write for a friend's birthday today, I realised I'd never photographed or uploaded it!!  Here's the slow card:

I'm entering this in the following challenges: Crafty Cardmakers ("Slap it On"), Papertake Weekly ("Anything Goes") and Shopping our Stash ("3-2-1" - I have 3 banners, 2 flowers, 1 brad).

This card covers the change in style of my card-making - see, I was still spending ages and ages stitching when I started it (the background paper and the circle base for the flower) and then the other layers aren't stitched at all!!  Here's a little side-shot of the dimension on this card:

Recipe:

Papers: Basic Grey "Ambrosia" and MME "Stella Rose Hattie" - I think!!

Stamp: Hero Arts "Doodle Leaf Flower"

Colouring Medium: Prismacolor Pencils

Die: Nestabilities "Eyelet Circles"

Other: Hero Arts pearls, Julie Frog's washi tape, Basic Grey "Sugared" brad

Thanks for looking!

Shaking ....

.... all over.  Eeek, my baby has just turned 12 - this time next year there'll be another teenager in the house.  I don't think I'm ready!!  My daughter's teen years have been very turbulent and, at times, traumatic, although we now know why, so I have no reason to believe that his will be as bad, but still, I'm shaking in my boots more than a bit!!

Last year's card was a football one, and Jed is still super-keen on the sport, so I did another one - it's my first shaker card.  And here is it:

 

Update 01/03 - this card was chosen as Top 3 on Shopping our Stash - thank you!!

I used the sketch from this week's Deconstructed Sketch and I'm also entering the following challenges: Papertake Weekly ("Lovely Layers"), Shopping our Stash ("Embellish Me"), Cute Card Thursday ("Clever Cutting"), Moving Along with the Times ("Fantasy" - Fantasy Football?!!), Brown Sugar ("Use a Die Cut or Punch") and Sentimental Sundays ("Pack a Punch")

Jed's main present was tickets to a Premier League match, which his poor sports-hatin' Dad will be bringing him to!!  But we haven't told him which team yet, so the map background on this card is my way of a "where in the world" joke.  Lots of fiddly, fiddly details on this card - I printed the little footballs in rows, added glossy accents, cut them out and sandwiched them two by two and they are the shaker elements.  I hand-cut those little cardstock chevrons and the numbers.  I don't have circle die-cuts, so I used the inner bit of a large sprocket die to make circles, traced around a lid for the centre of the circles and cut out to make those skinny rings that make up the shaker body.  I also made the rosette by hand.  Here's a closer look at some of the details:

Recipe:

Papers: Basic Grey "Wander"

Fonts: Impact and Sport Relief - www.dafont.com

Die-Cutting: Nestabilities "Sprightly Sprokets"

Other: Glossy accents, black enamel accents

Thanks for looking!

Shopping Our Stash

Glad to see ....

.... the back of 2013!!  Happy New Year to everyone - hoping 2014 is good to you all.  We had a lovely Christmas, restful and relaxing, a nice finish to what was a thoroughly and utterly crappy year.  Oh well, don't look back is what I say!!

I had intentions of doing lots of crafting, but we made a snap decision to decorate Jed's bedroom. It hadn't been painted since before he was born, and although it wasn't terribly babyish, it did need to be done now he's almost 12 and nearly finished primary school. Daisy was away for a week so that meant he could sleep in her room.  We are super-slow and pernickety decorators, so to have a deadline of a week was quite a challenge.  But we did it!!!  Then back to work this Monday.  Sigh!

My husband wanted a thank you card for a very nice and generous customer, he said "Oh something quick and simple will do".  What???  Quick and simple???  Do you know me at all???  Two days (!) later, I had this:

Update 21/01- this card was picked as Top 3 on Creative Colors - thank you!

I used the sketch from this week's Mojo Monday and I'm also entering the following challenges: Craft your Passion ("Fancy Borders/Edges" - the little tab is a die-cut), Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge ("Blues"), Creative Card Crew and Papertake Weekly ("Anything Goes"), Shopping our Stash ("Use something new" - I've used the buttons which came in a big jar that my Secret Santa gave me just before Christmas), ABC Challenge ("C is for Colourful"), Creative Colours and Moving along with the Times ("Thank you").

I used some incredibly old SEI papers - I think they date from 2008.  I made the flower embellishment by rough-cutting it from patterned paper, glueing down onto a couple of layers of white card and then fussy cutting it.  Here's a close-up of the detail on the card:
 

 

Recipe:

Papers: SEI "Dill Blossom"

Die: Nestabilities "Labels 8"

Embossing Folder: Cuttlebug

Font: "Shelter Me" - dafont

Other: Buttons from stash

Thanks for looking!

It doesn't seem ....

.... like a year since our little godson, Matthew, was born - but we attended his first birthday celebrations yesterday afternoon.  The birthday boy revelled in all the attention, smiling for the cameras, doing all his cutest performances and generally wowing all his admirers!!!

Our challenge on Sentimental Sundays this week is "Happy Birthday", so my card for Matthew is also my DT sample. 

This week's sponsor is:

Birdie Brown Store

Birdie Brown Challenge Blog

Donating: 3 digital images, winner's choice

Here's my card:

 

I'm entering the following challenges: Mo's Digital Challenge ("Goodbye Summer"), Card Crafters' Circle and Shopping our Stash ("For the Boys"), Daring Cardmakers ("Heavy Metal"), The Ribbon Girl ("Use numbers"), Party Time Tuesdays ("Anything Goes") and Make it Monday

I used a cute Mo Manning image that looks really like Matthew - the little chubby hands and cheeks, unruly hair and nappy sticking out the top of his trousers!!  Here's a close-up:

 

Recipe:

Papers: Fancy Pants "The Daily Grind"

Image: Mo Manning "Birthday Surprise Boy"

Colouring Medium: Distress Inks

Other: Ancient brads from stash, Fancy Pants ribbon, handmade number and letters

 

Thanks for looking!

 

Screeeeeeeaaaaaaaaamm ....

.... I'm on me hollyers!!! At last, thought 12 noon today would never come!!  Now I can spend the next 9 weeks doing whatever I want (ha!).  Have had my wings slightly clipped by the fact that last week, we got a cat, and she has to stay inside for at least a month and gets a bit whingey when we leave her at home on her own.  What was I thinking?!!!  Will post a pic soon when I get a nice one of her.

Yesterday, I did a speedy-ish thank you card for my son's teacher.  Here's what I made:

Recipe:

Papers: MME "Sky's the Limit"

Image: Lili of the Valley "Lazy Afternoon"

Colouring Medium: Distress Inks

Other: Making Memories stickers

Very bad photo, taken this morning in a rush on the way out the door.  I used the sketch from last week's Deconstructed Sketch and I'm also entering this into Shopping Our Stash ("Oldest Embellishment" - min are the sparkly brads), Creative Inspirations ("Anything Goes + ribbon"), Simon Says Stamp and Stampin for the Weekend ("Anything Goes") and Lili's Little Fairies ("1 image, 2 papers, 3 types of embellie - brads, ribbon, letter stickers).

Thanks for looking!

Back briefly ....

.... hello there, I've been missing in action for almost a month.  We've been having a load of work done on our house - it was originally to happen later on in May, but then the contractor got a "window" for us - so everything, including my craft room, had to be packed away.

I couldn't get away without making a card for my husband's aunt, whose 60th birthday is this weekend, so I scrambled at the outer edges of my packed away craft stuff and used the first paper I found - bits and pieces from a line that I think dates from 2008!!!  Here's what I made:

Bright, isn't it?!!!  I used the sketch from this week's Mojo Monday and I'm also entering this into Shopping our Stash ("Scrap Attack") and Simon Says Stamp ("Flower Power").  Here's a close-up of my image, lots of sparkle on that cupcake, and a side-shot of the card, lots of dimension.

 

 

Recipe:

Papers: SEI "Ally's Wonderland"

Image: Pure Innocence "Hello Cupcake"

Colouring Media: Promarkers and Prismacolors

Other: SEI embellishments and Pink Paislee letters, white pen, glossy accents, diamond stickles

 

Thanks for looking - off to not make anything for a little while more - can't wait to get back to my room, just have to be a little bit patient!!