Um, hello ....

.... 2015!!  Well, it's been a while since I posted (major understatement!), mostly because I haven't been making anything - I even bought two cards back in May, first time in about 8 years, to my shame!  I thought I'd get to it over the summer, but we ended up travelling quite a lot and all I achieved was a fairly big tidy-up of the craftroom.  I did make my children's birthday cards in Feb and Aug, but haven't photographed them, they'll do for the next post!

This is a friend's 50th birthday card, from this past weekend, I really enjoyed making it:

I'm entering the following challenges: Craft your Passion ("Anything Goes"), Simon Says Stamp ("Love this technique" - as always, distressing!), The Kraft Journal ("Take your Pick" - patterned paper, embossing, die cut), Creative Inspirations ("Vintage") and Our Creative Corner ("Shades of Autumn").

I stamped the classic Mini and popped it up on some tangled hairy string.  Stamped some background numbers and then used the lid of a marker to make some shabby prints, then added some little white blobs of acrylic paint here and there.  Here's a side-shot of the main detail:

Recipe:

Paper: Basic Grey "Granola"

Stamps: KaiserKraft "Numbers"

Stencil: Tim Holtz "Bubbles"

Other: Hairy String, Washi Tape

Thanks for looking!

Quick and clean ....

.... and simple.  I've been making some relatively quick cards over the last week.  I've got thank yous to send to some of the kids at school that gave me presents at the end of term, those cards are in progress at the moment and will hopefully be ready tomorrow.

But this card is a sort of get well card.  I visited my friend's wife in hospital last week - she's been in for over 6 months and ended up having a heart transplant.  She finally got to go home on Friday, I popped in to visit on Thursday afternoon having thrown together a quick card - it ended up being a bit over-symbolic, I think, but she loved it.  Here's what I made:

I'm entering this into the following challenges: CAS-ology ("Glow") and CAS-ual Fridays ("Hearts in Summer Colours").

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!

Inch by inch ....

.... I haven't made an inchie card in a very long time - before I had my blog I think.  I like the fiddlyness of them - the precision of stamping on the little grid of squares, adding colour, splatter or whatever, then separating them, inking, backing them and finally ever so carefully mounting them with a little, hopefully perfect, bit of a gap between each one.  Here's the finished inchie card:

I'm entering this in the following challenges: Stampin' for the Weekend and Crafty Girls ("Anything Goes"), Little Red Wagon ("Truly Dimensional"), Creative Inspirations ("Favourite Colour Combination" - I love blue and brown), Crafty Creations ("Happy Birthday") and Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenges ("D is for Distress").

The map stamp is from a Tim Holtz set, which also has an airplane that I could have used, but as this card is for a Mini friend, I stamped a Mini instead - and combined with the awful punning sentiment!!  Here's a side-shot of the dimension of the card:

Recipe:

Papers: Authentique "Abroad"

Stamps: Tim Holtz "Warehouse District", Mini

Colouring Medium: Watercolour paints and distress inks
Font: Cheddar Jack - dafont.com

Other: Clear embossing powder, baker's twine, Doodlebug brads

Thanks for looking!

Wuv, Wuv, Wuv ....

.... as my son used to say in those long-ago toddler days when he couldn't pronounce his Ls!!!  Valentine's Day has been and gone and I was only a day late making my husband's card - oops!!  Here's this year's offering:

Update 18/02 - this card was chosen as Top 3 on The Kraft Journal - many thanks!

I'm entering this in the following challenges: Less is More ("Masculine"), Totally Papercrafts, Creative Inspirations, The Kraft Journal ("Valentine/Love"), Papertake Weekly ("With a Heart"), City Crafter ("Love Bug") and Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge ("Get Krafty").

I got some new crafting goodies during the week - first time in ages and ages - and I was itching to use the embossing paste.  I've seen it all over blogland in the last while and I knew I'd like it.  The Tim Holtz hearts stencil was out of stock, as was the plain white paste, so I got the stars stencil and the pearlescent paste and I'm glad - more hearts would have been overkill and the pearlescent sheen is just lovely.  I hand-drew the red heart, slathered it in a thick layer of glossy accents, and then cut it out when it was dry.  Here's a side shot of the card:

Recipe:

Stencil: Tim Holtz "Stars" stencil

Font: joeHand 2 - www.dafont.com

Other: Pearlescent embossing paste, glossy accents

Thanks for looking!

Loving the autumnal ...

... colours around at the moment - it's my second favourite season after winter - and I got to use lovely autumn colours for my DT entry this week on Sentimental Sundays - we're celebrating Calypso's birthday all this month, with oodles of sponsors, and this week, our challenge is "Happy Birthday - Sentiments Only". 

I had a lot of fun with this challenge.  I made a 50th birthday card for one of my colleagues in school - we were at his fancy dress party (70s theme!) last night - almost all the guests dressed up, going to great effort to do so - a great night was had by all!  This is what I made for the birthday boy:

Update 21/11/13 - Jen has picked this card as one of her favourites on Deconstructing Jen - thanks so much, Jen!

I used the sketch from this week's Deconstructed Sketches, and I'm also entering this into the following challenges: ABC Challenges ("W is for words"), Papertake Weekly ("Two by Two" - I've got two numbers and two banners"), Daring Cardmakers ("Birthday Banners and Bunting") and City Crafter ("Trick or Treat or use Orange as main colour").

I made up the sentiment on the computer and printed it onto kraft paper.  Printed the name once more, glossy accented it and popped it up for dimension.  Here's a side-shot.

Recipe:

Papers: Basic Grey "Carte Postale" and Tim Holtz "Destinations"

Other: Cuttlebug "Tiny Bubbles" embossing folder, Doodlebug brads, glossy accents

Thanks for looking!

It's been ....

.... a while.  Almost a month since my last post, can't really account for all that time, bit of illness, bit of Easter Holidays, bit of family stuff, and here we are in mid-April, just like that!!

It's Sunday and that means a challenge from Sentimental Sundays - we are sponsored this week by

Dilly Beans Digi Stamps

Our challenge is called "Tags".  I chose to make a card with tags on it and it's for my nephew's 18th birthday.  Here's what I made:

I'm also entering the following challenges: Moving Along with the Times ("Inspired by a Song or Film" - mine is "Night of the Living Dead"!), Charisma Cardz ("Tags"), City Crafter ("Birthday") and Creative Inspirations ("Anything Goes + Heart").

I made the numbers from chipboard - embossed with a cuttlebug folder and then heat embosed with a mixture of distress e.p. sprinkled with a bit of normal black e.p. - I think I meant to end up with this grungy look!!!  Here's a side-shot:

Recipe:

Papers: Tim Holtz "Destinations"

Stamp: Dilly Beans "Monster Boy 2"

Colouring Medium: Prisma Pencils

Other: Distress e.p., black e.p., glossy accents, ballchain, needle + thread

Thanks for looking!

Top o' the Morning ....

.... to you!  It's St. Patrick's Day, or Paddy's Day, whichever you prefer, here today.  And of course, the weather is horrendous - cold, windy, rain and sleet - classic St. Patrick's Day weather!  We are not going into town to the parade, not my favourite thing at the best of times and in this weather, no thank you!

It's time for another Sentimental Sundays challenge, and this week, it's "Anything Goes".  Our prize sponsor is Redonkulus Designs and our lovely Calypso and her husband, Patrick, have also contributed prizes.  One of the prizes will be for a randomly-picked commenter, what a nice idea.

My card has, again thanks to the yukky weather, photographed really darkly.  Here's what I made:

I used a sketch from Deconstructed Sketch and I'm also entering this into the following challenges: Crafty Cardmakers ("Masculine Birthday featuring technology or a gadget"), Simon Says Stamp and Show ("Shabby Chic"), and Totally Gorjuss ("Something Old" - mine is the Mini stamp, it was one of the first stamps I bought back in about 2005).

I went all Tim Holtz-y on this card, using Destinations papers, and the tag was coloured by spritzing water onto swipes of distress ink and then mashing the blank tag about in the ink.  I repeated a few times, between drying sessions, and it came out really shabby which is what I hoped for!  The gears and sprockets have been copper heat-embossed.  Here's a side-shot of the dimension:

Recipe:

Papers: Tim Holtz "Destinations"

Stamp: "Mini" by Blade Rubber Stamps

Die-Cuts: Nestabilities "Sprightly Sprockets" and "Labels 21"

Other: Copper embossing powder, Doodlebug brads, twine

Thanks for looking!

Even though ....

.... we're back in school, I do like Autumn!  It's my second-favourite season, after Winter (yes, I am a strange person - it's not like we usually even get a proper wintery Winter!).  And, as usual, as soon as school starts up after the hols, the weather becomes beautiful!  It's been a lovely week thus far, sunny blue skies and warm dry days.

It's PaperPlay day again, and this week our seasonal challenge is "Autumnal Tags" - we want participants to either make a tag or a card with a tag on it, featuring Autumnal colours.  We're sponsored this week by Simon Says Stamp, the lucky winner will receive a storecard.

I made this for my friend's son who has just turned 21 (eek, he was almost 3 when I first met him!):

I used the sketch from this week's Sketch Saturday, and I'm also entering this into the following: Papertake Weekly ("Anything Goes"), ABC Challenge ("Wishes"), Simon Says Stamp ("Put a Stamp on it"), Cute Card Thursday ("Autumn Gold") and Card Crafters Circle ("For the Fellas").

I used a Kenny K image that is perfect for the birthday guy - he's a real boy racer.  I went to a scrapbooking class a few weeks ago - we were using these gorgeous Tim Holtz Destination papers.  We made a vintage suitcase first, which I love (boxes to put things into are a teeny compulsion of mine!), and then we started making an album to put in it - at which point I stopped, 'cos I wanted to use my papers for cards instead!!!  So glad I did that!  Here's a close-up of the image:

 

Recipe:

Image: Kenny K "Maximum Mud"

Papers: Tim Holtz "Destinations"

Colouring Medium: Promarkers

Other: Corrugated card, glossy accents, eyelets, ball chain, needle + thread

 

Thanks for looking!

Can't . stop . using ....

.... Tilda stamps!!  This addiction is taking hold of me (eek!), but looking at the other DT entries on this week's PaperPlay, I'm far from alone in this - 5 of us used Magnolia stamps on our cards!!!

We're sponsored by Simon Stays Stamp again this week, and our challenge is called "Bon Voyage".

I was scratching my head for a bit trying to work out what to make, and then I remembered I had a Tim Holtz stamp with the Eiffel Tower on it.  Yahoo, foreign travel, a starting point!!  I had laid out some old spotty Rusty Pickle papers to use, see my post yesterday, but when I looked at them in good light, I realised that what I thought was navy was actually black, so a change of papers was required, because I wanted to have a French flag colour scheme of red, white and blue.  Here's what I ended up with:

Update 18th Aug: This card was picked as a Top 5 by Sue on ABC Challenge - thank you, Sue - I love the blinkie!

I used the sketch from this fortnight's Sunday Sketch and Stamp, I rotated it 90 degrees 'cos it worked better. 

I'm also entering this into Papertake Weekly (something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue - old = Tim Holz stamp and BG Boxer papers, new = BG Oliver papers, borrowed = "love" ticket, from my friend Pam - ta!, blue = BG Boxer papers + Tilda's shoes), Simon Says Stamp (summertime blues) and ABC Challenge (A is for August - my husband is going to Paris this weekend!).  While blog-hopping this week, I came across the Etsy Inspired Challenge - they pick an Etsy store for inspiration.  This week's featured store is Cathy Walters, she makes gorgeous pendants, and I was very happy when the first one I saw was this - bingo!!

I used three stamps on my card, the background script behind the Eiffel Tower, the tower itself, which I heat embossed with clear e.p. to make it stand out.  I also inked the stamped piece with a few colours of distress ink to make it match better and look a bit grungy.  I had to re-paint Tilda's dress three or four times, my first wash of Barn Door looked pink, the second was better, eventually I mixed in a bit of Dark Soot to get the darker red I wanted.  Here's a close-up:

Recipe:

Stamps: Magnolia "Old Valentine Letter" + "Princess Tilda", Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous "Eiffel Sketch"

Papers: Basic Grey "Boxer" and "Oliver"

Colouring Medium: Distress Inks

Other: Gingham ribbon, heart crystal pin from stash, Tim Holtz Adage ticket, needle + thread

Thanks for looking!