Finally some new cards!

Hi everyone!!!

Happy Christmas to you all! It has been an awfully long time since I have managed to craft and indeed write a blog as we have had a very difficult month or so with my father in law being in hospital, and the general stress of life!!! But fingers crossed I have had a quiet few days so have been able to get back to my hobby! For Christmas I got some new Spectrum Noirs and I have been determined to have a play.

For this card I used a Sylvia Zet digi stamp that you have probably seen on my blog before.  I love it, it is so cute and you can colour it in so many different ways. (Which you can see below) 

I went with the first image which I coloured using TN2,3,4 (fur) and PP3,4 and 5 (flowers).
The pink paper is Centura Pearl from Crafter's Companion and the spotty paper, ribbon and buttons are all new Papermania Capsule Collection which I bought yesterday.  It's lovely stuff, think I will be stocking up again!

So hopefully I will be getting on here a little more often over the coming weeks! Thank you for dropping by and for all the blogs you may have looked at this year! Crafty hugs! xxx

SWALK taking a little time out....

Ahhhhh who doesn't like taking a little time for themselves enjoying a long hot soak in the bath?! I got this image off the SWALK digi stamps CD rom (which is a must have for any SWALK fan - so many designs, so little time!)

I bought some spectrum noirs at the weekend and played around with them to see what effect I could get.  I need to expand my collection a little further (I have left a list for Father Chirstmas!) 

The plan was then to turn this image into a card....

.....which I duly did! I die cut the image using a sizzix die and then backed that onto a matching embossed template (the blue card)
I then used the pink paper and border from the Bird Song paper pad and the blue paper is papermania. I simply finished it off with a bow and a few gems as well as bright pink peel offs. xxx

From Birmingham... with love xxx

Hi everyone! What miserable weather we are having today, not impressed! Although have still had a really lovely day with my other half doing some crafty shopping and looking at Christmas decorations! He is good!

A recent order I had was probably one of the most challenging I have had so far. A card to send to Australia for Christmas with a Birmingham theme. The recipient is a Brummie and has not long left for sunnier climates.  How I did it and what was on it was up to me.  Hmmmmmmmm.

It is so difficult to capture a city in a card.  You have to think about landmarks and things that are relevant to local people of that place.  As a Brummie myself who left 2 years ago I was thinking what I would want to see on a card to do with my hometown.

I used silver as the backing paper to get a bit of a festive feel going, then I found an amazing picture of the Selfridges building at night time that I felt was perfect for the main backing image. 

Everyone, Brummie or no Brummie is familiar with the Bull Ring and the iconic bull that stands outside. So he definitely had to go on the card!  

On the left hand side where the ribbon is I used my epiphany tools to make this embellishment.   I got a picture of the BT tower which is the centrepiece of the Birmingham skyline. Infact until I moved to Sutton Coldfield at 7 years old I could see it from my bedroom window!!

Finally in the bottom right hand corner is another epiphany embellishment of the floozie in the jacuuzi. Probably the most iconic water feature in the city, it seems to look even nicer when it is surrounded by all the amazing stalls at the German Market! 

Then it was a simple case of a Christmas die through the GC and a bit of lettering popped on.  Hopefully the recipient will be pleased with it and it will remind them of their original home. 

I love my new life in Derbyshire and love the more chilled way of life, but at the heart of it I will always be proud to be from Birmingham xxx

Simple can sometimes be best

Good morning everyone! Hope you are all well. I'm up nice and early for a Sunday, we are throwing a little bash for my Grandpa's 80th Birthday so lots to be done and a journey back to Birmingham for it as well! 

Managed to have a play around with my GC yesterday.

 For this card, I used some white centura pearl card stock and ran it through the GC with an m-bossibilities folder. I love those embossing folders because they are double sided and they go through perfectly (as long as you have the raspberry plate). 

I then used a sizzix shape and die cut the middle of the embossed card out. 

 I used the expandable lattice die on silver mirror card and stuck it behind the centura pearl so that it filled that space nicely! 

It was a simple of case of die cutting a matching shape for the sentiment and popping some letters on before finishing with organza ribbon and a bow.  

Sometimes simple can be more effective than having loads going on. I'm pleased with how it turned out! 

Hope you all have a lovely day! xxx

Who's behind the window?!

Good evening everyone!
Hope it hasn't been too bad a start to the week for you all.  My playtime with the spellbinders continued yesterday with my new d-lite window die.  I went with a festive image, but this is so versatile it can be used for anything.

I first used Stocking FIller paper for the backing and then centura pearl pastel blue and purple which I embossed using the GC. I then used the window die and placed it on top of a Mulberry Wood topper.
The best thing about this die is that it can be opened, just to give your card that extra dimension! Love it!
Lots more play time to be had with these dies but sadly that will have to wait now until next weekend as teaching has to be the focus through the week!

Have a great rest of the week one and all! Hugs! xxx

New dies = lots of fun!

Hi everyone!
Wow, what a weekend! Spent yesterday at the NEC grabbing lots of crafty bargains.  Clearly the market is all dies this year as I felt that's what the bulk of the crafty stalls had really. But that's good for me as that is my latest obsession anyway!
I got 4 of the d-lite dies for £30, as well as another 4 normal sized ones. Also picked up an embossing folder and lots of paper and peel offs that always come in handy.

For this card I used my new lattice die on top of silver glitter paper and then put a border of the same silver paper around the outside. I then added little peel off borders around the inside of the silver border. I cut and embossed the D-lite medallion one die for the sentiment and used liquid pearls around the outside of the flower to give it a bit more sparkle. 

I then used the D-litle whimsical tree die and stuck little gems on (not sure if they show up in the pic though!)

I finished it all off with some silver organza ribbon from Joanna sheen and some more gems. Really beautiful dies, I wasn't really sure about the d-lites at first as I didn't know if they would be very useful but I'm really happy I went for them now I've had a play! 

Right, there is still time for crafting! Hope everyone else has managed to squeeze some in today! Hugs! xxx

Mulberry Wood festivities

Hi everyone,

hope it has been a good week and weekend! I still have the dreaded germs which have stayed with me for my whole week off which is so infuriating!

 I spent today playing with the Mulberry Wood CD Rom, as I had bought a gorgeous paper pad last week and thought it would be be perfect with the colours of Mulberry Wood. 

This is one of my faves on the Cd, I have the stamp as well and it is adorable. I have teamed it with the First Edition Stocking Fillers paper pad and a few odds and ends, one of those quick cards you can put together and still looks sweet. 

I used the same Christmas m-bossibilities folder for the next 3 cards. I ran it through on ivory pearlescent card stock from Crafter's Companion which I love using!

I would strongly recommend people get the epiphany tools and decorations as they add a really nice touch to a card.  The great thing about this Cd rom is that they give you the images for inside the epiphany bubbles - job done! :-) 

Finally, how can you not love this little elephant?! Ohhhhhhh so lovely! 

Anyway, time is ticking, work in the morning so best go and get ready! Have a lovely week everyone! xxx

Pro-marker challenge!

Good afternoon everyone! I cannot believe how dark it is outside and it is only 4:15! Winter is definitely coming now! Had to defrost the car for the first time yesterday too! 

I am in the very lucky position of having a week off now so can afford myself some time to craft.  Being a teacher I get no time at all really during term time, as it's all taken up with marking, planning or management admin, and unfortunately that has to be done at home. So I value the odd day in the holidays (when I'm not working that is!) that I can really chill and do what I enjoy!

I downloaded this 'Hang in there' digi stamp from Wee Stamps yesterday and it is very cute and also very versatile.  I decided to have a bit of fun and challenge myself to only use certain colours.  If you have seen my blog before you will know I have had a go with the greys before and it worked quite well!

For this I only used Cool Greys 1-5.  I'm really pleased with how it turned out.  The backing papers are all Papermania and the ribbon is from Joanna Sheen's online store, beautiful organza ribbon that comes in lots of colours. 

For the second time I decided I would only use skin tones and accents to colour, I keep changing my mind as to which is my favourite but think at the minute this one wins! Again I have used Papermania backing papers and a few odds and ends from my crafty stash.

Hope everyone is having a good Sunday and not working too hard! Crafty hugs! xxx

Christmas and card party prep!

Hi everyone!

Not been on here for a while! Finally got some crafting time over the weekend and it was sooo therapeutic, great to get back to it! Hoping for some more time this weekend! I have had a request for another card party so tried to get some stuff together for that!  

Been playing with the spellbinders again, this time some new dies and m-bossibilities. I went for a more stylish type of card with just basic bits and bobs on it. 

For this one, after embossing the baubles and cutting them, I inked them with distress ink. I love this backing paper, Dovecraft from The Range, it's so good for so many things! The silver from the same range was used on the above card. 

Now back to my fave sort of crafting! Stamping! And I love it even more with Strawberry Kisses! This was one of the new festive stamps, coloured using promarkers. The snowflake is a spellbinders shapeability 2012 Christmas die which is lovely, very versatile.

This stamp is possibly the cutest I have seen! I have again used promarkers to colour and have embossed the red paper with an m-bossibilities folder. 

So that's a little glimpse into my weekend activities! Hope you have all had a good Monday! Only 4 days until it's the weekend again! :-) Have a good week everyone! xxx

getting braver with the GC!

It's Sunday night! How did that happen again?! Oh well, pennies to be earned tomorrow, and only 20 work days till a week off! I played a little more with the Grand Calibur today, wanted to get a few more cards done as I am supposed to be having another card part in a couple of weeks!

 Decided to brave embossing with the GC today,  I don't know why, but the idea terrified me, but actually it was quite painless! ;- )

As you can see from this one, I just did another die cut with the holiday tree 2012, I love how festive this is, it's like being out in the snow on a dark evening! 

This time I just decided to emboss the tree and add red and green stickles to look like baubles. I used some green papermania cardstock and my favourite glitter card from the range, it's so good and versatile. The sentiment is a docraft one that are on 3 for 2 at the Range at the min! 

For this one, I used Asian Accents dies for the border, a shapeability frame for the centre and then I cut and embossed (yes, both!) the butterflies (les pappilions dies). Was very pleased with the results! 

So sadly, that's probably me done with crafting for another fortnight now! :-( Never mind, will have to make time in the holiday for some more! You never know, I may get a spare 5 minutes at some point! 

Have a great week everyone! xxx

My newest toy... the Grand Calibur!!!

Hello everyone! Hope you are having a good weekend!!! Well, the postman arrived today and bought me my latest plaything, my Grand Calibur! I am most excited as it means I can use the bigger dies! That's not to say the Big shot is now redundant, it's still being put to good use for specific dies and embossing folders!

As you can see (thanks to all the mess around the machine!) I have been having a play.  I ordered some new sets of dies, the Christmas tree, dresses, butterflies and asian accents. I found these on various websites where the prices are much better than Create and Craft, Oyster Stamps and Crafty World.  They are really good sites, take a look!

Here's some of the cards that I have made today, just getting used to the machine! Hopefully the more I play, the better I will get! :-)

So as you can see, I have been a busy bee.  It has been so nice not to do any work today and just to have a day relaxing! Bliss! Have a good rest of the weekend one and all! Hugs and love!!!! :-) xxx

Finally, a crafty weekend!

Hello everyone!!! Oh it's been a long time! Too long in fact! I have not really managed to do any crafting since I went back to work, as always, the Autumn term is probably the busiest!

So I have ordered a few crafty bits over the last couple of weeks, first off I joined the Docrafts Creativity club which got me some fab bargains, I ordered the Bobbin the Bear Christmas CD, The Joanna Sheen Fay Whittaker CD rom and have the pick of the day (all the cd roms) on its way to me! Phew!!!!

Well having finally had the opportunity to investigate the Joanna Sheen cd, I am hooked!!! The images are so beautiful!!! I wouldn't mind having a few of them framed and on my walls!
Here's a few that I have made so far.....

The thing I love about these images is how traditional they are. The coral coloured backing paper is from dovecraft, the striped one is a backing paper on the CD rom. Sentiments and embellishments were from the stash. 

This one is probably my favourite so far! As my partner just said to me, 'this is you and me when we visited London!' And yeah that's why I like it! I made a double bow with my bow maker and stuck it on the inside of the car rather than the outside. The frame is a spellbinders shapeabilities with some papermania flowers popped on for good measure. 

This would be a good card for a little boy's birthday,again the pictures just make you want to jump into them (bit like Mary Poppins when they jump into the chalk paintings!) 

The backing paper was from the CD rom, Anita's blue peel offs, papermania ribbon and some embelishments off the CD rom.  The sentiment is off the disc as well.  The great thing about it is that you can personalise the sentiments yourself which is such a handy tool. 

Well, all in all I am quite pleased with my wee self! ;-) The sun is shining, I am going to a wedding reception tonight so all in all it's pretty damn good! :-) 

Have a fab rest of the weekend! And hopefully will get to post a bit more often once the madness of the start of term calms down! xxx

It's September - officially ok to feel festive!

Good morning everyone!
Hope you are all well on this September Sunday!
I am back to work tomorrow, yep the 6 week holiday is done with and I now have to transform myself back into 'Miss' for the next 8 weeks! So sadly I probably won't get much crafting done, although there is a lot of demand for more Christmas cards so I need to squeeze in some time.

I ordered a Hunkydory kit off ebay last week (the Christmas Classics one) and got it for £9.50! Bargain! And I've managed to make a whole heap of cards already. They are not my usual style as I like cutesy cards but I'm really pleased with how they have turned out.
I have to admit that a bit of Diagnosis Murder got me feeling festive! Hmmmm, I know what you're thinking, grizzly murders and hospitals??!!!! Nooooo, Good old Dick Van Dyke (got to love him!) sang Christmas songs at the end of the episode, I was in my element! This programme was a must in my uni days!!!! Anyway, I digress!

This candle one is one of my favourites from the kit and I would never have expected that! It's just really traditional and festive!

Thought I would go for a gate fold card as this topper made me want to knock on a door, go and have a mince pie and some mulled wine!!!

I am so pleased with how the glitter came out on this card! I swear by Stickles which I have mentioned before. I just think it adds a little touch for extra dimension and can really bring a card to life. I think I have Stickles in about 8 colours so I am never short if it! Will no doubt be stocking up at the NEC show in November.

And this card makes me want to go walking in the snow! I was going to say takes me back to my childhood but I don't think this is meant to depict the 80's and 90's is it?! Christmas was just so magical and exciting back then! Which is why it's still my favourite time of year.

So on that note, I think there is more crafting to be done today! I am having a good chill out before tomorrow, but.... shhhh.... it's a secret, I am actually looking forward to going back!!! I love my job! Lucky me! 

Happy crafting everyone, enjoy your Sunday! xxx

Pretty in pink Just Magnolia challenge

Hi everyone!
Hope you are having a happy Friday!
This is my entry for the pretty in pink challenge for the Just Magnolia challenge.  http://justmagnolia.blogspot.co.uk/

I adore these images, especially when you can make them nice and girly!!! She was coloured using promarkers, and popped in a Sizzlit frame to show her off a little more. Then lots of girly embellishments to finish off with.  Ahhhh I do love pink! :-)

Have a fab weekend one and all! xxx

Card Party - the people get what the people want!

Hey everyone! Hope you are all having a fab weekend so far!
Last night I hosted my first card party, and it was a great success! The cards went down really well and sold lots , I even surprised myself!
I took with me a whole host of stuff for different occasions and for different prices so there was something for everyone.  It was really interesting to see at the end of the night what was popular with customers.
As you would expect, well known characters such as the Snowman, Tatty Teddy, Boofle and Forever Friends were popular.
It was interesting to see though what 'non crafters' liked that they hadn't seen before or weren't familiar with.  Mulberry Wood was a big success, people loved the images and we sold all of those. They are crazy cute though, definitely need to play some more with my CD Rom!

People loved the Sylvia Zet stamps and again they were a sell out, showing that fairies are very popular  at the mo! I adore the images below, they work so well with just a few colours and you really can give them for pretty much any occasion! It's a great chance to experiment with blending and also to use a bit of glitter.  What fairy doesn't come complete with glitter??!!

And I was thrilled that one of my fave cards that I have made, the black and white Sylvia Zet one went for a good price.  i think there is definitely room for more of this type of card and I have seen it highlighted in a couple of craft magazines recently.

As you would expect, Hunkydory were popular, believe it or not, one of the most popular types of card were one of the free kits with Hunkydory magazine (the Christmas Owl kit, can't remember what number!) One customer bought 2 of those cards and is sending them to Australia so we are going global! ;-) 

So, I have cleared a LOT of space in the office!!! Have made 2 more orders today with more coming in by the day and another card party lined up over the coming months. Hooray! Now to get cracking on more man cards!!! I'm hoping Wellington will help me find my way with that! 

I also have a Dymo cards stamp on it's way, because if I'm selling all these I really need to start putting my name to them!!! 

Have a fab Bank Holiday weekend one and all, hope you are up to lots of fun things! I'm spending it with family, there really is no better way! :-) Crafty hugs! xxx

Crafter's Companion Best Friends Challenge

So, this is my card for the 'Best Friends' challenge from Crafter's Companion.  http://ccmonthlychallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/challenge-27-best-friends.html I'm writing this as I actually watch Sara demo some other SWALK stamps, she mentioned if there is one stamp kit to collect this is the one, and I absolutely agree!!! there is something for everyone!! 

What  I love about this stamp is that I think it pretty much sums up a good old meet up and gossip with the ladies!!!! Who hasn't done this??!!!! It's a regular for me! Haha! (Try very Friday after work - much needed debrief of the week!!!) 

I coloured the image with promarkers, it's been a while since I did it so the collection has vastly expanded since then! Then I used papermania backing paper and a doily which I distress inked with pink to give it a bit more of a girly feel! The sentiments are also from this SWALK set and fir perfectly. This is one of the cards I will be selling tonight at my first card party so hopefully it will sell! I've had lots of interest in it so far so fingers crossed!!! :-) 

Anyway, I have already had a delivery today with more Crafters Companion goodies, and another parcel from Create and Craft. Know what I'm up to this weekend! Happy crafting! xxx

Nothing like buying new crafty bits!!!

Hey everyone!!! Hope you have all had a good weekend!
Well  I have to say mine was pretty successful, I did really well at the GB Craft festival (although I gather that many didn't which was a shame), got myself lots of bargains.  Managed to get everything on the need list aaaannnnnndddddd plenty on the want list! Haha! There is nothing better than getting lots of new bits and pieces and putting them to good use!!!

My first purchase when I got there were 3 Strawberry kisses stamps for £10. I'd wanted these for ages but didn't have any so decided to test them out as I have loved all of the other Crafters Companion stamps I have used. (You may have noticed if you are friends with me on fb! lol!) I also got myself lots of new cardstock, distress ink, dies, ribbons..... the list goes on! Hahaha!

I have also finally mastered the art of the twisted easel card, so I have spent today combining all of this to make some new cards.

For this one, I used random cardstock I had and my new Spellbinders die for the frame.  How cute is that cat in the glass??!!!! Unbelievable!! 

I have only just got my first box of Spectrums so am having to combine these with other pens at the min. 

The kitten was coloured using flexmarker Antique White, and the glass was done using cool grey 1 and the blender pen. For the contents of the glass (the most important bit! ;-) I used spectrums CR1 and CR2. The umbrella then used GB3 and GB4. I used Distress ink around the image to give it a bit more vibrancy. Really pleased with this, it's one I might actually use myself for my cousin's upcoming 21st Birthday! 

Then our little kitten again, the cat was coloured as above but using BP1 for the bow. The cake was then done with CR4 for the icing, GB1 for the sponge and TB4 and GB4 for the casing. 

 I embossed the purple paper (core'dinations pastels) and sanded it to give it more dimension. The same die was used as before but this time I inked the edges with distress ink. I think we have all felt like that after too much birthday cake!!!!

Now, I am somewhat famed at home and at work for my love of high heels.  As a teacher I am on my feet all day, running round after children (even the 10 and 11 year olds need running after!) but never do I wear flat shoes!!! My heels are still always with me. And we're not talking little heels either!!! And yes I do have pink heels that I wear to work too! They are very popular!!! So this is what I had in mind when I coloured this!  I used CR6 for the top of the shoe and then CR4 and CR5 for the heel. The ribbon was GB1. It doesn't show up so much on here bit the ribbon on the shoe and the blue streamers are all gone over with Stickles to give it a bit more of a party feel!!! We've all been there!! :-) 

A different spellbinders die used for the frame in this one and lots of various cardstock.

Soooooo, a pretty successful day, really pleased with my purchases and, getting ready now for hosting my first card party on Friday!!! Hopefully will get lots of people buying! Here's hoping! have a good week everyone! Hugs! xxx

Razzle dazzle 'em!

Good afternoon crafty friends! Hope everyone is making it over the midweek hump!
Well I have had a busy few days with orders, it's a good job I'm on holiday! I was asked this week to make an 18th card and a 21st card, both for girls (breathes a huuuuggggeeeee sigh of relief!!!).

I thought about doing a stamped image, a SWALK or Magnolia one because I actually don't think there is an age on those.  At 28, I would still love to receive one! But I figured that because they were the 'big' birthdays I'd go with something a bit razzle dazzle.  It just so happened that we were out and about yesterday and ended up in Nottingham at Hobbycraft and the Range. (Oops, you know where this is going!!!!) I bought a new framelit from Hobbycraft for £12.49 which I thought was a bargain! And then I saw the Strictly Party things in the Range, which I had been looking at for a while.  The actual decoupage and topper set was £11 so figured I could make a good few cards out of it.

So make cards out of it I did! I started with the 18th and went for a girlie image as I think this depicts many 18 year olds! I used the new framelit and everything else was from the strictly kit.  Very pleased with the results! Hopefully the customer will be as well as the recipient! Love a bit of sparkle!!!!

The 21st card from today used a more sophisticated topper with it being aimed at a slightly older  girl. (Get away with still being a girl at 21?! I think so!) Again, the paper, toppers and numbers are all from the kit. The butterfly and silver oval were from more sizzix dies.  Again, pleased with this.  Am selling them for £3.00 each, which I think is reasonably priced, in the shops they would cost a hell of a lot more!!! Bit of bling added in the corners for good measure too!

Now I am just enjoying playing with the rest of the kit, my other orders I have a little more time on, another 5 to get done in the next couple of weeks! I will keep you posted! 

So there is my razzle dazzle for the past 2 days!!! Makes me wonder when the next series of Strictly Come Dancing will be??!!!! Need something else to sink my teeth into once the olympics is done! Enjoy the good weather, you never know how long it will last! 

Crafty hugs and wishes xxx

The dreaded man card!!!

Good evening everyone! Thought I'd do a bit of a mini blog while I watch the olympics tonight, which I am still slightly addicted to!

So, I was asked to make a 40th birthday card for.... duh, duh, duh..... a man!!!! Yep, sweat began to appear from the forehead as I wondered what I could do!!!! All I knew was the man in question liked wine and golf.  Soooooo, spent a good while rifling through the crafty stash to see what I had! Then, there was good old Wellington sitting before me, surrounded by wine bottles!!! Perfect!!!! I had the image, now for building the card around it! Oooh goody, papermania browns and yellows would do nicely!

This was the result, what do you think? Defo don't think I've gone girly this time!

As you can see, my trusty Big Shot was with me the whole way, the shape behind Wellington was one of the framelits and then I used a sizzlit for the '40' frame, stamping the numbers on myself. 

Quite pleased with the days work! Will deliver it to my customer tomorrow but she loved it from the pic I sent today, so good news all round! 

Enjoy the rest of this Monday evening guys! :-) xxx