Monday, 31 August 2009

Here's all 6


I thought it would be good to take a photo of all 6 cards together (see previous posts this week) and here they are. I think I met my personal challenge to make all 6 cards different.

Last Forever Friends today


Well here it is the final card which is for 2 challenges. The great sketch is from Our Creative Corner and cute and cuddly is the challenge at One Stop Craft. The leaves are Sizzix and the flowers are Prima with Shimmerz. The butterfly is K & Co with doodles in pink glitter pen. The papers are mainly Papermania Rich Red which are actually deep pink.

And again


See previous posts this week for Forever Friends for an explanation. This one is from the great sketch at Friday Sketchers. The optional challenge was blue and orange. Well offering an optional challenge means that of course I have to try it. They aren't colours I would normally put together but I am really pleased with the combo. Corners and swirl are Sizzix and the stars are Cuttlebug.

Forever Friends Again


Hope you all had a good bank holiday weekend. The weather here has been lovely so have been out and about. Saturday night we went out for a meal and to the theatre to see the musical Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, which was fantastic. When the car flew above the stage it was really magical.

We bought Adobe Photoshop yesterday so my photos should be looking better now although we have to learn how to use the program so I have just used the autocorrect.

For those of you who have been following me this last week you will know I had 6 A5 Forever Friends cards to make all with the same image. I challenged myself to make them all different and managed to make the last 3 last night. That's all the crafting I have had time for this weekend. The first one is from a sketch from Dutch Dare. The papers are Papermania Sweet Nothings and the lovely flowers are K & Co. I added Shimmerz and some star stickers to the green card to soften down the colour.

Saturday, 29 August 2009

Florida scrapbok


We love to holiday in America and have been to Florida several times starting in 2001. Mostly we visit at Christmas when the weather is lovely but not humid. I started my first scrapbook last year and work on it whenever I have time from all the cardmaking. The challenge at Charisma is scrap it so I felt inspired to scrap. I found the transition from cards to scrapbooking very challenging to begin with as the page seemed so big compared to a card but the more I have done the more confident I have become. However I feel I am still very much a novice in this area but plan to start using some of the sketches to help me to improve. A few of the first pages are a bit busy for my liking now but we all have to learn don't we. My next scrapbook will be other places we have visited in the US. The second challenge is C for Circles at ABC.

Friday, 28 August 2009

Christmas by candlelight




When I saw the challenge at Winter Wonderland I just knew it was the perfect opportunity to use one of my new Whiff of Joy stamps. Isn't she gorgeous? The colour scheme of ruby, gold and cream came from Colour Create and the fab sketch from Papertake Weekly. She is coloured with Promarkers and as the optional challenge for Colour Create was to add gems I punched the top corners with an X cut corner and border punch and added some gems to the stars. Her hem is coloured with my new Sakura clear star pen. I love this pen as it gives such a sparkly raised finish. The ribbon and papers are from last Christmas's stash. The holly leaves are cut using a small X cut punch on white card and then coloured with Promarkers. I managed to make a Christmas card without snowflakes for a change. I'm sure they'll be back for the next card.

Anyone for Anya


A couple of quick posts tonight. The first is a lovely Anya image sent to me by Jenny. The very first challenge at Anyone for Anya is sugar and spice and all things nice. Well what could be nicer than shopping if it is for craft stash, of course. She is in my favourite colour for the challenge at Passion for Promarkers. I used all 4 purples and can't wait to get my hands on the new ones that are coming out. You can never have too many purples. The fab sketch is from Crafts 4 eternity. Although it doesn't show up too well on the photo I used my lovely Shimmerz on the flowers for added bling. The zigzag sparkle is Paper Cellar.

Thursday, 27 August 2009

New baby


I love the Whiff of Joy stamps but have only rcently bought some. I am really pleased with the way this card turned out. I wanted to make a card for a new baby boy and decided to use lilac and blue as I had outlined the image in lilac with my trusty Promarkers. The papers are all Papermania, the blue I have had for ages and the lilac are from the Amethyst Infusion pack. I love sketches with slanted papers and this one from Creative Card Crew was so lovely to use. The flowers are Hero Arts to which I added some some shiny blue flowers and silver brads. The silver bow was the last one from this pack. Don't you just hate using the last one of something? I have no idea where I bought them which is a shame as they are so lovely and shiny. I used a Sakura clear star pen for some added shine to the frills on her dress and white glitter corner cut with my Sizzix. At Whiff of Joy the challenge is bling and atWhimsy it's a touch of sparkle so I think I have those challenges covered. At Cute Card Thursday the challenge is New Beginnings.

Wednesday, 26 August 2009

Willow Sketchie and some exciting news.


A lovely lady at work is retiring tomorrow so this card is for her. I followed the sketch at Willow Sketchie. I love these cute little owls. I didn't want to add another circle to the image so inked the edges. The bottom flower was white but I coloured it with a Promarker and added lots of Angel Wings Shimmerz. The papers are papermania Sweet Nothings.

And my exciting news is that I have been invited to be a guest DT for the last 2 weeks of the Winter Wonderland Challenge and the first guest DT for September for the new challenge at Squiggle Stamps. The site launches on 1 September and there will be candy. So don't delay get on over there and become a follower.

Tuesday, 25 August 2009

Little brown bears


A card for 3 challenges. The lovely sketch is from The Pink Elephant, the colour challenge is turquoise and brown at Secret Crafter and Lazy Dayz at Cute Card Thursday. I stamped the Garden Bears, a Rachelle Anne Miller Stamp, and cut out the bears, coloured with PMs of course. I inked the edges of the floral paper for a change. I usually think that would be a good idea when I have finished the card. Must do this more often.

Forever Friends in Purple


This is the 3rd of my FF cards I have to make by next Monday, see earlier postings. I just had to use this fab sketch at Forever Friends. I really love this sketch and resolve to use more diamond shapes on my cards. We don't use this shape enough. I used my X Cut shape cutter and added some purple glitter leaves and a flower made from 3 Primas and a flower brad. The second challenge is cheers me dear at My Time to Craft where you have to use a beverage on your card. Well I have a whole bottle of champagne here.

Monday, 24 August 2009

Card for a Liverpool FC fan


This is the 4th of my orders. The great sketch is from Allsorts who also want at least one torn edge. Now I'm not a fan of torn edges but I gave it a go with the football paper at the bottom. The challenge at ABC is B for Buttons so I thought I would enter again. The image is one I bought yesterday and is part of a digi set of sports images from Charmed Cards. The football is cut from some card I bought about 3 years ago and have no idea where I got it from. The image at the bottom is from a set of Personal Impressions stamps. All coloured with Promarkers.

Ruby Wedding


This is number 3 of the 8 orders I have to make. Luckily I don't have to make them all today. I'm really pleased with the way this one turned out. I ordered a couple of items from the lovely Quixotic paperie shop which arrived today. Isn't it exciting when the postie delivers something you are desperate to try out. I immediately got my brush into the angel wings Shimmerz and used it on the 2 smaller red flowers on this card. It dried really quickly and gives a lovely silvery shine to the flowers. The sketch is from Friday Sketchers and at Die Cut Dreams the challenge is hearts and flowers. I used various flowers with red heart brads in the centre. The die cut is from Twiddleys and the red patterned card is K&Co.

Sugar Bowl


Well for once I'm not making this card at the last minute for The Sugar Bowl. As well as their sketch the challenge was to make your own flowers. I used this lovely image sent to me by Jenny after I admired her cards with this stamp. I cut her out and mounted her on an oval cut with one of my faithful nesties. The flowers are made with a ix of punches and Sizzix die with added gems. It hasn't worked as well as I had hoped. I liked the papers together when I chose them but once I had finished sticking them wasn't so happy with my choice. Not my best Sugar Bowl entry.

Another Forever Friends card


Here's the second card which is 3D for the challenge at Stamptacular Sunday Challenge. I decoupaged the stamped image of the bear's arms, bottle and cork and flowers are also raised. The leaves are made from a Sizzix die. Must get on, more cards to make.

Celebrate


Wow what beautiful weather we had this weekend and today is lovely too. Don't like to complain but the gardens so badly need some rain. We've only had the odd shower over the last 2 weeks or so. Went to a retirement party yesterday at somebody's house in the country which was lovely and today I have the day off work, hooray, so plan to spend it mainly making cards. I have 8 A5 cards ordered, 6 of them using this image so my challenge to myself is to make all 6 different. This is the first one using the sketch at MAWTT. I die cut the image and layered up using my nesties and added some bling to fit the sketch, scrolls and stars using Sizzix and Cuttlebug dies.

Friday, 21 August 2009

I'm dreaming of a pink Christmas!


Now this card is much more detailed. I followed the lovely sketch at I love promarkers and used pink and black for One Stop Craft. The Christmas theme is for Our Creative Corner and Creative Card Crew. At Pollycraft the challenge is my favourite things. My favourite things on this card are the image, Promarkers, snowflakes, pink and black and glitter. The papers are from the new Rose Tinted Christmas pack from DCWV which I couldn't resist buying the other day as I am very short of pink Christmas paper. I cut out, coloured and glittered the image and layered her onto white card embossed with the Cuttlebug snowflakes and layered that onto black glitter card. The pink snowflakes were part of the bling I won on the CRAFT challenge the other week. and the gems and swirls were from stash.

Home for the holidays


Home for the Holidays is the theme this week at Winter Wonderland. I love to do their challenges and it is boosting my stock of Christmas cards but couldn't think of a suitable image. I sorted through my stash and found this topper so I made this really simple card. Picking up on the colours on the topper I found some grey and lilac snowflake paper and punched some snowflakes out of purple glitter card. A very simple card.

Thursday, 20 August 2009

Here be dragons


This cute little fella was a Friday freebie from Pollycraft. Thanks Paula for these weekly freebies. It's the first time I have used him and I thought he would be perfect for a little boy's birthday so I used nice bright primary colours. He is coloured with my beloved Promarkers of course and some gold pen added to his tail and body. The sketch is from Sunday Sketch and Stamp, the challenge at Rainbow Lady is dragon, at ABC B is for buttons and at Pile it on a male card is needed for Oh Boy.

Third Thank You


This is the last of my simple thank you cards. I was asked if I could make a card with a teapot on it! Luckily I bought some assorted die cuts a couple of years ago and remembered I had a couple of teapots so here is my card. I added a flower sticker to the teapot, some pretty papers, a butterfly sentiment from Craftwork Cards and some Prima flowers and brads. It felt strange to make a card nowadays without a stamped image. This is for another Papertake Challenge of take your pick. This one is To Die For from 2 June 2008.

Another Thank You


This is the second of my thank you card which I made last night. The sketch is from Crafts 4 eternity. I decided to use the same image as before but in purple this time. Again I was asked to keep it simple but had to add some sparkly flowers from stash and some white and silver Crafty Bitz flowers. Not my most exciting card but the customer is always right.

Wednesday, 19 August 2009

Jane's blog candy

Check out Jane's mystery blog candy,which closes on 21 August. You can find it here .

Footballing bear


Another simple card for the challenge at Stamptacular Sunday Challenge which is beary special. The challenge is to use a bear stamp and as I was asked to make this card I used one of the Personal Impressions stamps.

A simple thank you


I have been asked to make 3 simple thank you cards so here is the first one. The lovely simple sketch is from The Fresh Batch. Over at Papertake the challenge is Take Your Pick. It is their 100th challenge and you can choose any of their previous 99 challenges. Their is some fab blog candy up for grabs so I chose a challenge from Jan 2008 which was Thanks a Bunch. The weather here is really hot but I need to get 2 more thank you cards made tonight.

Monday, 17 August 2009

Blowing in the wind


This gorgeous image was one of those I received in my blog candy and i thought she was perfect for the Whiff of Joy Challenge of brown and pink. Cocoa and rose pink are also the promarkers I had to use for the challenge at Passion for Promarkers. I found it quite hard to only use those 2 colours plus skin and hair but managed it by using one coat of Rose Pink on the dress and 3 coats on the pinafore. The flowers are highlighted with glitter pens. The papers are Papermania Simply Elegant and the pink striped paper is Craftwork Cards. The lovely sketch is from Papertake. The corners are a Sizzix die cut for Secret Crafter. The punched flowers bring the whole thing together for Allsorts In a English Country Garden. I really love the way this card turned out so I will save it for a friend's birthday next month who loves pink, no not you Lynsey, can't post your card on here, lol!

Sunday, 16 August 2009

Late posting


Well this post is rather late for these three challenges. Hope I'm not too late but if I am well c'est la vie. I've had a busy weekend and only had time to make this card tonight. Had almost finished it when I heard some tinkling in the drawer of my unit where I keep some of my stash. When I checked the drawer I found one of my button containers didn't have the lid screwed on properly and all of the buttons had fallen out to the bottom of the drawer. As the drawer is made of basket and some of the buttons are the smallest buttons in the world they were also falling onto the floor and getting stuck in the wicker. Being a compulsively tidy person I had to clear them all up before I could finish the card. They are now stored in a wooden drawer at the bottom of the unit. So onto the card. The Forever Friends image has been coloured with Promarkers, cut out and framed with a nestie embossed with the swiss dots Cuttlebug folder and is for the Forever Friends Challenge of Lazy Days of Summer. Summer makes me think of flowers and butterflies so I added lots of butterflies to this card. I rotated the sketch from Cupcake who also wanted blue, brown and cream. The colour challenge at The Pink Elephant is brown, turquoise and neutral. As it is now dark I had to use the flash on the camera which has bounced back a bit on one of the butterflies, unfortunately. Hope you all had a good weekend. Back to work tomorrow.

Friday, 14 August 2009

7 challenge card


Hooray it's Friday. This cute penguin may be small but he is for 7 challenges. The fab sketch is from Inspirational Card Sketches. I used black glitter flocking on the penguin,blue and silver glitter card, silver card, shiny snowflake confetti and a sparkly greeting reading sparkle and glitz for the theme of twinkle and sparkle at Winter Wonderland. The colours of blue, sand, black and silver are for Colour Create. Both My Time to Craft and Dutch Dare want a Christmas card. Whimsy Stamps theme is animal magic and ABC is a for anything goes with the option of animals.

Thursday, 13 August 2009

How charming


A quick post and no time for blog hopping at the moment. A pile of ironing awaits and unfortunately the ironing fairy hasn't been whilst I have been at work. Another A5 card order for an elderly mum who loves flowers. I love making these larger cards, though they are more time consuming. The larger area gives so much more scope. I coloured this lovely Pollycraft image with Promarkers and used a glitter pen on the stems and leaves. I then added a few white highlights. The papers are Papermania Boutique again. I love this set of papers, they are so elegant. The cream flowers are Hero Arts and the purple ones are Prima. The leaves were cut using a Sizzix die and the sentiment was done on the computer. It's the first time I have used a charm on a card, which I got from Quixotic Paperie. Check out Elaine's fab shop. Other products are from stash. The sketch is from Sketch Saturday and the other 2 challenges both require a charm this week. They are Lili of the Valley who have some gorgeous new stamps available to pre-order, and Stamp Something.

Wednesday, 12 August 2009

Fabulous Sixty



I was asked to make a card using an elegant card for a 60th Birthday. I decided to go with the vintage theme as my mum had been having a sort out and gave me some lace and ribbon. It's the first time I have ever used lace on a card and as the lace had holes in it thought I would thread through some ribbon. I am really pleased with the result and shall definitely use this idea again. I added some white glitter to the fur on her outfit for a bit of sparkle. You're never too old for some sparkle. Now to the challenges. The sketch is from Friday Sketchers, the theme is vintage at Allsorts lace is required for Dutch Dare and S is for Sixty at Rainbow Lady, a new challenge for me, this one.
Image - Debbi Moore
Coloured with Letraset Promarkers
Paper - Papermania Boutique
Die cuts - Nestabilities
Flowers - Prima
Sentiment - Craftwork Cards
Number - Poundland
Gems and ribbon from stash
Lace from my mum