Christmas is coming....

Hi Susan here....

I have a few more Christmas cards to show you that I have been working on...hope you like them.

I have tried to use a few different shapes for my cards this time, as I usually make my cards square, but couldn't resist having a change. So for this particular card I have used a 5x7 inch size which I think best suited the images and layout.

I have used a set of stamps from Chocolate Baroque for this one. I inked around the edges of the squares after trimming them with Tim Holtz distressing inks in sage green and then slightly inked the birds breasts.

The beautiful swirls are a die from Marianne Designs. 

I have used base card from Paper Mill Direct.

The flowers in this most gorgeous deep red colour are from Hobby Craft.

The magical sentiment is a stamp from Prima, I love this text stamp.

My backing paper is from my stash, it is originally from a 12x12 scrapbooking pad.

I have grouped a few cards for you to see on this post, so for my second card I have used a 4x8 inch size of card and set it up in a traditional tent style.

My backing paper was from an 8x10 scrapbooking/cardmaking pad from Papermania, it already had a fabulous design of baubles, snowflakes and the sentiment so I didn't want to cover this too much.

The flowers and berries matched my colour scheme really well, these are from Hobby Craft. I didn't want to use a solid block of colour for the flowers this time with the backing paper being really strong, these flowers matched perfectly and seemed to lighten the whole thing.

I have used an old favourite punch, for my snowflakes I have had this little punch for such a long time and use it such a lot that if it had a name on it well it isn't there now, so sorry I can't tell you who the maker is, I have used Tim Holtz distressing inks called china blue and then added some stickles and a tiny blue gem in the centre.

The beautiful china house button I bought on a trip to USA, I treasure these little china gems, I love them so much, I have tied some silk ribbon into the buttonholes.

This stamp is so adorable, it is from and I love it.

I have used chalks to colour it, then I added stickles to the dress shoes and wand, well you can't have a Christmas card without glitter can you.

The little gems falling from her wand are from my local market. I bought a little box of them, all different colours, they are a pain to work with because of their size but well worth the effort.

My next and last card for this particular post is again using this rectangular shape.

I had a lot of fun making this one, I have used several dies.

The backing paper is from a set of papers that was free on a magazine and the sad thing about this is I only have a small amount of this left over, I love the way it looks like traditional tartan fabric with stitches going through it, I have used a base Kraft card from Paper Mill Direct.

The snowman is from Tim Holtz, I used his distressing inks all around the edges using sage green and tea dye,  I stamped all over the die cut shape using tea dye distressing ink and one of my favourite text stamps.

The flowers are from Hobby Craft.

The beautiful ivy leaves are an embossing die from Marianne Designs, I have added glitter to the veins to give a bit of sparkle.

The snowflakes are a beautiful die from Memory Box, after cutting this out I glittered the whole thing using stickles.

I recently bought some small wooden embellishments and this little house was one of them, I painted it using white acrylic paints and distressed the edges with a tea dye distressing ink, then added stickles here and there.

The fence is a die from Marianne Designs I cut two of these out of Kraft card and joined them in the centre, using white acrylic paint I painted 'snow' onto the fence then added stickles to make snow glitter.

Well that's it, I hope you have enjoyed looking at my cards as much as I had making them. Funny thing about making Christmas cards, once I start I can't seem to stop, I think it has something to do with it being one of my favourite times of the year and I love to give everyone I know a card to celebrate. Now you know why I have to make so many!!

Anyway thank you so much for taking this time to look and if you would like to leave any comments I appreciate it very much.

Love and hugs

Susan xxx

Thanks/Thanksgiving at LC's....

Hi Susan here...

We have started a new challenge today at Lexi's Creations and in keeping with the time of year our theme is...
'Thanks/Thanksgiving'
For full details of this challenge and our sponsor please call across to LC's Challenge Blog and join in with us, there is some absolutely fabulous inspiration from my design team to check out.

Now for my card...

I started off by using some Kraft card as the base for the card and then used some oddments of backing papers in the colours of golden yellow and burgundy, these papers have been in my bit box for ages and were originally from 12x12 and 6x6 scrapbooking pads.

The beautiful tree is a die from Arboscello Designs, I have enhanced it by using Tim Holtz distressing inks and adding some tiny gems on the leaves.

The fence was made using a die from Marianne Designs and using the same Kraft card as the base card and edged with Tim Holtz distressing inks. The flowers are from Hobby Craft and the leaves are a punch I then shaped the leaves with a ball tool.

The sentiment is my own generated on the computer, the die for the topper is from Marianne Designs.

The bird is a favourite of mine, I made it using a mould and some white fimo, once the bird had gone cold I used some distressing inks to bring out the embossing.

Thank you for taking the time to look and for all your fabulous comments

Love and hugs

Susan 

xxx

A Special Birthday at Lexi's Creations...

Hi Susan here...

This is the start of a special challenge at Lexi's Creations, we are three years old this month and with that in mind we having a special challenge to celebrate this.
We have two great sponsors for this challenge and instead of the usual two winners we will be having three!
For full details of this amazing challenge call across to Lexi's Creations Challenge Blog and join in the fun with us.

The theme for our challenge is....

'Special Birthday'

now for my card....

I made this with my youngest daughter in mind, who will be thirty this year. This is one of her favourite colours I hope she likes it!!

The backing papers are all left over bits and pieces from 12x12 scrapbooking pads, I have used an edge punch for the pale pink background piece and a gorgeous die for the hearts from Marianne Designs, which I cut out of white card and then used Tim Holtz Distress Inks over the top of the embossing to bring out the details.

Some of the background pieces I have sewn around the edges for extra detail and because I know my daughter loves sewing on her cards.

The ribbon has come from our local market.

This is to give you a close up of one of my favourite images designed by Lexi Lee and available from her store Fairy Dust Crafts, it is called Christmas Shopping Phoebe.

I have used chalks to colour and shade the image.

The sentiment is my own but set into one of Lexi's tickets, I have coloured and stickled the edges of the ticket. The flowers are from Hobby Craft I really love the colour of these flowers just right for my colour scheme, the leaves are a punch I then shaped them using a ball tool, the heart pins are from Hobby Craft.

Thank you for taking the time to look at my card and for all your wonderful comments

Love and hugs

Susan xxx

A Fairy Merry Christmas...

Hi Susan here...

I am making Christmas cards like mad now....I sit in my craftroom and say I'll not make any more...but then I see a stamp and there you go I start on another card....

I have used a base red card from Paper Mill Direct and then put a piece of vellum on the top.

My flowers are from Hobby Craft, I have used stickles on the edges of the petals.

I have used some new die cut wooden leaves with my flowers for a change and a beautiful tree behind my sentiment. They come in a little tray, I am sure you will all have seen these in your craft shops.

The ribbon is East of India, this is beautiful ribbon such fabulous quality, it spoils you for any other.

My sentiment is an old wooden stamp that I have had in my stash for years, it's such a versatile stamp and I use it often. I have used a die for the backer of my sentiment, this was designed by Ann Vento for her ticket sentiments, I coloured the edges with distressing inks and then added stickles.

This gorgeous fairy is from Sugar Nellie, I have used chalks to colour the image very delicately and then added stickles to her wings and wand etc....

I have used a beautiful die cut backer in a pale pink slightly shiny card from Paper Mill Direct, this card is gorgeous, it has a beautiful sheen to it and even embosses absolutely fabulous, I have used Tim Holtz distressing inks to colour around the edges.

I hope you have enjoyed looking and thank you for your comments.

Love and hugs

Susan xxx

Lexi's Creations.....Pink

Hi Susan here....

Time is passing by so quickly can hardly believe it but here we are at the beginning of October and the start of a new challenge at Lexi's Creations.

The new challenge theme is 'Pink', based on the fact that October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. Full details of the challenge and our special sponsor this time can be found on the LC's Challenge Blog. I hope you will call across and join in our challenge, the inspiration from my design team is amazing I do hope you will take the time to take a look at their work.

Now onto my card for this challenge...

The backing paper is from my stash, the flowers and buds are from Hobby Craft, the leaves I made myself. The butterflies are made using a punch and coloured with some Tim Holtz distressing inks and stickles.

The ribbon, rik rak and lace is from our local market.

One of my favourite of Lexi's Lees designs, Christmas Shopping Phoebe, available from Fairy Dust Crafts Store. Coloured using chalks, I then cut out the image really close and slightly shaped it with my bone folder and glued it onto a topper of textured card from Paper Mill Direct.

I hope you liked my creation and thank you for taking the time to look and for your fabulous comments.

Love and hugs

Susan xxx

Santa Claus Post Office...

Hi Susan here...

Busy, busy, busy making Christmas cards, but I love making these and sometimes once I get started I find it hard to stop!!

The backing papers are from my stash....I cut a strip for the base and folded it into a frill then added the ribbon to it.

The ribbon is from East of India, love this really great quality ribbon.

The flowers are from Hobby Craft, the leaves have been made using a punch.

The gorgeous sentiment stamp is from Lili of the Valley set 17 Grunge Christmas Postmarks.

The image is Crafters Companions Mulberry Wood, I have used chalks to colour the image and then added stickles to the snow and glossy accents to the fairy lights.

I hope you have enjoyed looking and many thanks for your comments

Love and hugs

Susan xxx

A Christmas Card ....

Hi Susan here..

I have started early this year with my Christmas cards and I am now well on the way to having a full box to choose from to give to family and friends, I will definitely be doing this again, there has been no stress and I have really enjoyed designing my cards.

We recently bought some new stamps and this one was no exception, really got me started with the inspiration flowing....

I have had the backing papers for ages and do not know the name of company all I can say is that it is from a 6x6 scrap pack.

The ribbon is East of India...love this ribbon, I know its more expensive than my usual stuff from our market but the quality is amazing I really love it.

My flowers were a new find from Hobby Crafts, the leaves I made using card and inks.

The gorgeous sentiment is from Whimsy and has been designed by Ann Vento.

This is a close up of that gorgeous new stamp from Crafters Companion from the Mulberry Wood Collection. I used chalks to gently colour the image and then added stickles to the snow and glossy accents to the little fairy lights.

This little 'inchy' tile was made using fimo and then gluing a piece of paper to it I used a scrap of backing paper that was just lying around, you then have to rub the edges with a piece of sandpaper and add ink to the edges. These are really simple to make but look so effective on your cards and scrapbook pages.

Hope you have enjoyed looking and many thanks for your comments

Love and hugs

Susan xxx

Fussy and Fancy....Be Thankful...feature a sentiment

Hi Susan here....

We are half way through our challenge over at Fussy and Fancy, the on-going challenge is 

'Be Thankful - Feature a Sentiment'.

I love this type of challenge, my favourite kind of card is one that features a beautiful sentiment on the front.

For the full details of the challenge, our sponsor, and to get some further inspiration from the rest of the design team call across to the Fussy and Fancy Challenge Blog.

Now onto my card....

My favourite two colours are brown and pink and this card incorporates both of those colours.

My backing papers are from my stash, I cannot remember where they had come from originally just that I liked them together. I have distressed all the edges with Tim Holtz Distressing Ink.

My cute little butterflies have been made using a punch, then colouring them with inks and adding stickles and pearls.

The ribbon and pearls as usual are from our local market.

The doily is made using an embossing die then adding ink to the raised areas.

The frame and sentiment has been designed by Ann Vento and is available from Raindrop Echo Designs. I printed this out on kraft card then inked the edges with distressing ink.

This is a close up of my flowers, I have used some feathers and real leaves that I pressed from my garden. The large flower in the centre I made using a die some inks and pearls, the rest of the flowers are from Hobby Craft.

Thank you so much for taking the time to look and for all your wonderful comments.

Love and hugs

Susan

xxx

Challenges entering

Catch the Bug - Anything goes

Creative Card Crew - Thankful

Digital Tuesday - Anything goes

Sisterhood of Crafters - Giving Thanks

Aud Sentiments - Thank you/Thanks giving

Card Making Mamas - Be thankful

 

Tickled Pink Stamps Birthday Blog Hop.....

Hey everyone, Emma here....

This month we are celebrating Tickled Pink Stamps second Birthday...Whoooo Hooooo!!!  So we are having a special kind of Blog Hop starting today where the Pink Ladies have all made creations using one of their favourite stamps from the different releases over the last year, and all you FABBY 'Hoppers' have to do when you are on the hop is tell us which one of the stamps  is your favourite and you can be in with a chance of winning a $25 Voucher for Tickled Pink Stamps!!!  How amazing or what!!!!!!

Now if you have arrived here from the lovely Debbie you are on the right track!!!!....

....I have made another notebook, I am LOVING making these at the minute!!!  I already have quite a few all ready and gift boxed to give away for Christmas gifts!!!  The papers I have used are all from my stash, I distressed, glittered and machine stitched them all as always, the lace and ribbon are from the market...

.....I used the Bind-it-All machine as always.....Boy do I love that little machine hehehe!!!!...

......I have used the extremely sweet 'Lil Little Lolita Willow' from the 'Lil Little' collection designed by Christina Dee and available at Tickled Pink Stamps. I adore this collection!!!!  I have watercoloured her with Distress inks...

.....My flowers are a mix from Hobbycraft and the twisted rose that you can see here I made myself {Tutorial HERE on how I make them!!!}  The very cute Birdcage charm is from Crafty Emma's Store....

Now your next stop on the hop is Eulanda....have loads of fun everyone!!!!

Thanks so much for looking and for the fabby comments...

Biggest huggles

Emma

xxx

Challenges entering:

Lothian crafts-anything goes

Truly Scrumptious-distressing

Colour create-lilac, grey and white

Creatalicious-distress your edges

By the cute and girly-anything goes

Papertake weekly-3 different shapes

Bee Crafty-bling

Sweet Poppy the Circus Girl....

Hi there everyone, Emma here...

Well I had a bit of free time over the last weekend and decided to make another little Christmas gift....yes, it's another notebook!!!  These are my new favourite things to make at the minute hehehe!!!

I also could NOT resist using one of the new Saturated Canary images designed by the very sweet Krista Smith,  I am SOOOOO in love with them all....

....I thought I would join in with the sketch over at the Saturated Canary Challenge blog which I thought was fabby, so this is my take on the sketch!!!  I used some papers by Bo Bunny and My Minds Eye, all the edges have been distressed, glittered and machine stitched,  The gorgeous lace is from Hobbycraft and the delicate pink ribbon is from the fabulous Fred Aldous here in Manchester...

...the seam binding ribbon I have used on the notebook rings is from the market....

....'Poppy the Circus Girl' has been coloured with grey lead pencil....as you all know I still LOVE doing this style of colouring!!! I am so LOVING these images....I think I may get addicted to them!!!  The cute little birdhouse charm is from Crafty Emma's Store and the nobbly bobbly trim is from my stash....

...the flowers are a bit of a mix, some by Prima and Hobbycraft and I made the tiny pink twisted rose from seam binding which you can see there peeking out,  I made a tutorial HERE on how you can make these...

Thanks so much for looking and for the amazing comments you all leave me, they really do make my day...

Biggest huggles

Emma

xxx

Challenges entering:

Saturated Canary Challenge-Sketch

Creatalicious-anything goes

Fun with shapes and more-shabby/vintage

Crazy 4 Challenges-anything goes

Stamp Scrap and Doodle-anything but a card

Truly Scrumptious-distressing

Crafts and Me-use a digi

ABC-anything goes

A Fairy Christmas....

Hi Susan here.....

This year I have several Christmas cards to make that is different from my usual amount and so the last few weeks I have been using different images, dies and embellishments and making some special cards in my spare time.

I love making Christmas cards, I actually find it difficult to stop once I start....

This card is a mixture of my favourite dies, colours and embellishments.....

The border of houses at the base of the card is a die from Tim Holtz, I have used vellum for the windows and coloured the houses with Tim Holtz Distressing Inks.

The ticket sentiment is from Fairy Dust Crafts and designed by Lexi Lee.

This beautiful little fairy is one of the new images from Nellie Snellen and I love them, they are so cute and a dream to colour. I have used promarkers for this one. Added sparkle on the wings and wand using stickles.

My flowers are a mixture, from Hobby Craft and Prima, the large one and the leaves are handmade by me using a die for the flowers, card, inks and patience, card, inks and deckle scissors for the leaves. I love making my own flowers I get a lot of pleasure seeing them on my cards mixed with the store bought ones.

This calendar is one of the many digi images that Emma and I are now making ourselves, we have used a frame from Raindrop Echo Designs to surround it.

Thank you so much for taking the time to look at my card, and for all your wonderful comments.

Love Susan xxx

Challenges entering

Magical Monday - Christmas in September

Flutterby Wednesday - Open theme

Southern Girls - Anything Goes

Timbroscrapmania - Angel or Devil

Little elf....

Hey everyone, Emma here...

Today I am showing you all a really gorgeous little stamp that is available from Vilda Stamps Webshop....You can also visit the Vilda Stamps Blog HERE to see all the other creations from the lovely team...

I have made a corner bookmark as a little gift....I love making these and they are great at using up those small bits of scrap paper we all have!!!  My lace is from the market and I have used the gorgeous Magnolia Angel Wing die, which I also LOVE!!!...

....I have used stamp V187 available at the Vilda Stamps Webshop.  I have used distress inks to colour this cute little Elf......I am LOVING watercolouring and I love this sepia look!!!  The flowers are from Hobbycraft.

Thanks for looking everyone, and for the fabby comments!!

Biggest huggles

Emma xxx

Challenges entering:

Papertake Weekly-anything goes

Wags 'n' Whiskers-anything but a card

Magical Mondays-anything goes

Little red Wagon-use a die

Tickled Pink Stamps Previews...Vintage Christmas Lestat....

Hey there everyone, Emma here....

Over at Tickled Pink Stamps this week we are previewing our NEW Lil Christmas Collection illustrated by Christina Dee and this collection comes with a sentiment release designed by the talented and now Pink Lady, Ann Vento. Today we are introducing you all to....

LIL VICTORIAN CHRISTMAS LAD LESTAT & VINTAGE CHRISTMAS SENTIMENTS...

Click HERE for more amazing inspiration from the other Pink Ladies and our guests....and as always there are prizes to be won!!!

I have made a tag again...I do LOVE making these!!!! I used a few more paper scraps up that I had left from last year....

.....I tried something a little different by stamping onto fabric then give it a distressed look, I actually really loved the vintage effect, the ribbon and lace are from our market....

.....My flowers and berries are all from Hobbycraft and I made my own leaves from scraps of hessian fabric....

....I have used one of the sentiments and frames from the new collection and I also used the matching die which can be found HERE at Tickled Pink Stamps.

These stamps will all be released at Tickled Pink Stamps on the 13th September.

Thanks so much for looking today and for the fabby comments...

Biggest huggles

Emma

xxx

Challenges entering:

Critter Sketch-anything but a card

Scrappy frogs-vintage

Anything goes-vintage/shabby chic

Papertake weekly-anything goes

Crafters Companion-Christmas wishes

Wags 'n' Whiskers-anything but a card

Tickled Pink Stamps Previews...Vintage Christmas Kellita...

Hey there everyone, Emma here....

Over at Tickled Pink Stamps this week we are previewing our NEW 'Lil Christmas Collection' illustrated by Christina Dee and this collection comes with a sentiment release designed by the talented and now Pink Lady, Ann Vento. Today we are introducing you all to...

LIL VICTORIAN CHRISTMAS LOLITA KELLITA & VINTAGE CHRISTMAS SENTIMENTS...

 ...and isn't she just gorgeous?!?!?!?
Click HERE for more amazing inspiration from the other Pink Ladies and our guests....and as always there are prizes to be won!!!

....I have made a tag again for todays preview as I LOVE making them!!!   I used a few more paper scraps up that I had left from last year, I distressed, glittered and machine stitched the edges, the ticket I made myself and the lace and ribbon is from our market....

......I really LOVE Kellita, she is just gorgeous!!!  I have coloured her with grey lead pencil again on kraft card....still loving the effect of this!!!....

.....The calender was designed by my Mum and me!!!!  I also made the big gardenia flower, the other flowers and the berries are from Hobbycraft.

These stamps will all be released at Tickled Pink Stamps on the 13th September.

Thanks so much for looking today and for the fabby comments...

Biggest huggles

Emma

xxx

Challenges entering:

Stamptacular Sunday-the skys the limit

Papertake weekly-anything goes

Creative card crew-anything goes

Cute card Thursday-at the office {I used Staples}

Another little gift!!!

Hey everyone, Emma here......

I had a bit of free time spare again over the last week so I thought I would get ahead and make another little Christmas gift.....{yes I know I said Christmas but it's great to be ahead with making gifts for everyone!!!!}

I LOVE making notebooks and they are so useful....

....I used some gorgeous papers by My Minds Eye, all the edges have been distressed, glittered and machine stitched, my ribbons and lace and the nobbly trim are from both Hobbycraft and the market...

...Another great thing about making your own special notebooks is that when they are used up you can just open the wires again and refill....FAB!!!!....

....I have used the super cute 'Lil Little Lolita Kellita' designed by Christina Dee and available from Tickled Pink Stamps in Rubber and the Digital images are always available from the 15th-21st of every month.  You should check out the rest of the 'Lil Little' collection HERE they are just so stinkin' cute!!! Now......I have actually watercoloured my image with distress inks....and WOWWWWwww I really enjoyed it so much!!!  I am now addicted and can't stop...so I will have lots more watercoloured images coming your way soon!!! {I also really NEEEEEEEEEEED every single colour of the distress inks now too hehehehe!!!!}.....

.....The large rose I made myself from the Spellbinders Rose Creations Dies which I LOVE, I also made the small twisted fabric flower from some seam binding and the other flowers are a mix from Prima, Wild Orchid and Hobbycraft. Everything is glittered as always heehee!!!

Thanks so much for looking and for the gorgeous comments you leave me...

Biggest huggles

Emma xxx

Challenges entering:

Craft your days away-make your own flowers

Sweet Stampin-anything but birthday

Critter Sketch-anything but a card

Papertake weekly-anything goes

Colour Create-pink, brown, white/cream

The last Fuzzy Wuzzy Challenge.......

Hey everyone, Emma here...

Today is a bit sad over at The Fuzzy Wuzzy Challenges as it is our very last Challenge, it has been a wonderful experience having the opportunity to create with all the talented and very lovely girlies on this team and I will miss it heaps, thanks so much to Stephanne and Kylie for all your hard work, you have been AMAZING and thankyou for having me it has been F*A*B*U*L*O*U*S!!!!!!!

Our theme for the very last challenge is 'PINK'....my favourite colour!!!!! We would all LOVE it if you joined in with us!!! Click HERE for some fabby inspiration from the other fuzzies!!!

I decided to make another scrapbook page of my little 'Princess Izzy'....I really enjoyed myself making this page!!!  I used some paper by My Minds Eye, I distressed, glittered and machine stitched the edges....

.....The large rose I made myself with the Spellbinders Rose Creations Dies, the other flowers are a mix by Prima and Hobbycraft, the hessian fabric is from stash and the lace and fancy pink trim are from the market...

....I made the clay tile myself following the lovely Gabrielle's tutorial HERE...this lady is just amazing and so inspirational!!! I totally LOVED making these little tiles and they can be quite addictive too...I made loads!!!...

....For the gorgeous clock I used the Tim Holtz Weathered Clock die {which I LOVE LOVE LOVE} with some chipboard, I painted it white first then used some distress inks around the edges, stamped some swirls over the top and added some Tim Holtz Rock Candy Crackle Paint all over it...the effect is amazing, I really love the shabby/vintage look it gives!!!  The pins are from my stash and all I do is add a few extra beads to make them sparkle a bit more....just perfect for my little Princess don't you think?!?!?!?!?!

I hope you can join in with us for our last Fuzzy Challenge, thanks so much for looking and all the fabby comments you leave me...

Big hugs

Emma

xxx

Challenges entering:

Totally Gorjuss-anything goes

Sisterhood of crafters-use a flower

Charisma Cardz-anything goes