Sunday 1 December 2013

Christmas cards

I have a few friends who view my blog in general and for them and anyone else who may be interested here are a few more of the cards I made from my inky block backgrounds.


I used much more subtle colours on this card.  Not everyone likes bright colours...  I do.  It is of course brighter in reality, the photo has subdued it a lot. I might put some gems on the baubles to bling it up a bit. The embossing powder was a mixture of purple and silver so that the deer had a bit of sparkle on it, but of course it did make the image a lot paler



This is the same deer stamp but on the bright background and I did put gems on the baubles this time.




This is my favourite one I think.  I just love this leaping deer and the colours are my favourite too.  This one has come out well.




This is another soft one using the loopy tree embossed with purple.
The sentiment I have used on all the cards is from the Stampin' Up set Sassy Salutations
All the cards were mounted on textured silver card as I have lots of it so I thought I would use it instead of plain white card as its Christmas!!

I have really enjoyed the challenges this week, but I might not be able to enter any more for a bit as I must now concentrate on Christmas.  I want to make a mini album for a friend, and I promised my daughter a Christmas cake.  I expect all of you are flat out now. Good luck with your Christmas preparations.   Will be in touch again soon.  Viji. xx



Saturday 30 November 2013

Loopy Tree

Another rush today to get this card on the Make My Monday Challenge blog, Contemporary Christmas.  I finished it yesterday and thought I had till Sunday to get it submitted. Only just found out it is today. The card has been made using the coloured block method I used for  the 52CCT challenge but I decided to use softer colours. So this background has been made using Worn Lipstick and Shaded Lilac inks. The Loopy Tree stamp was stamped and heat embossed using white and the again in purple.  Hope you like it.




I was going to submit another one, but time is limited.  I had such fun making inky block backgrounds that  I ended up with 10 not 8 backgrounds which I made into cards last night. I will put some of them on another post so you can see them if you would like to.  It was really good fun making them all.  Thank you for this challenge.








Friday 29 November 2013

Leaping Reindeer

Two more challenges to enter this week, then I may have to take a little break, so much to do and I'm out a lot next week.  I'll get there I hope.  I just had to enter the  52 Christmas Card Throwdown this week as the challenge is making a background using a block and spritzing it after inking it.  I learnt this technique a long time ago from a demonstration by Ali of Stamps Away.  I just love this technique as it is so quick and effective and I have used it a lot.  I had such fun making the backgrounds using different colours and layouts and ended up with at least 8 backgrounds. I decided to do very bright colours this time, so used Distress inks picked raspberry and peacock feathers, lovely colours. I then stamped different images on them, my favourite leaping deer, another little deer and a funky christmas tree.  I eventually chose a leaping deer.  I love him. I stamped the image with Versamark and heat embossed it using black sparkle embossing powder. Well it is Christmas!!
It has been a rush getting it all done as I only started this afternoon, so I hope I have chosen the right one.



I shall be entering a similar card for the Make My Monday Contemporary Christmas challenge. Once I have this card on the 52 CCT blog I can relax a bit and mount up the other cards and I will have another 8 cards for my Christmas stash. Great!







Thursday 28 November 2013

Winter Tree

This card I made for the Technique Time Tuesday  -  Faux Frame challenge.  I use this quite often although I don't quite make the frame the same way, but I did do it this time just as the video demonstration and I will use this technique again, especially as I now have my Cuttlebug out all the time!!! So thank you for showing us this way of making a frame.



I made the frame as instructions and sponged the background using Big and Juicy inks.  The tree is a stamp from the Stamps Away Tree collection, lovely tree stamps  I use them often.  I stamped it first in black and then again in versamark and heat embossed it using white embossing powder, slightly off centre so the black looks like a shadow. I sprinkled embossing powder in the sky and round the tree to look like snow and it is quite effective,(does not show up too much in photo.) I embossed some white card using a snowflake embossing folder and it came out really well. Pristine white it was and then the inevitable happened!! I turned the card over to put the tape on the back and when I turned it back it was all smudged with blue ink!!! How did that happen?!!! I was not pleased!!   I had to cut the smudges off and so the card became smaller, but it is still all right I think.  That always happens to me. I am afraid I am a bit of a messy worker! Silver bow and some gems were added for a bit of Christmas bling and there is another card for Christmas made.
I have suddenly realised how close Christmas is now, and so I am in a bit of a panic this morning as I am very behind this year and  have so much to do before then.  But I expect I am not the only one!!!  Hope your Christmas preparations are well ahead.


Wednesday 27 November 2013

Winter Season

I was hoping to enter last weeks sketch challenge on Colours and Sketches but at the last minute I had to go to my daughters to look after my Granddaughter who was poorly.  It was lovely to see her again and as she wasn't too bad we had a lot of fun.  So this week I decided to enter the colour challenge and use last weeks sketch.  I have had the Stampin' Up set Four Seasons for a while now and have been dying to use it, so this was a good excuse.  It also made me get out my Cuttlebug, which I hardly ever use, because I cant be bothered to get it all out.  I'm so lazy!!! I got all my dies out too and had a good time playing with it.  I have left it out now so I can use it more often. Here's the card...



I don't think I am a very good photographer as this has come out quite pale. The colours are darker really. I stamped the image in Real Red as I don't have Cherry cobbler and then heat embossed it with clear embossing powder.  I coloured a background paper with Crumb Cake and had some Old Olive card.  I cut out the circles using my Cuttlebug and had a fancy edging die which I used on the strip of Old Olive card.  It has all been mounted on Natural White Stampin' Up card. The  snowflake stamp is part of the Four Seasons set.  This card is not as pretty as others on show but at least it is another one for my Christmas Card stash.  I am a bit behind with them this year.

Monday 18 November 2013

It's Been a long time.

Its been a long time since I did any blogging!  I have done an awful lot since the last time.  I went away in my Romahome to Tenby and had a lovely time catching up with old friends and making new.  The weather was a bit dull but it could have been worse. When I got back I did the usual catching up with chores, seeing friends and family and getting my Romahome ready for winter.  Mainly dealing with lots of rust spots.  A very messy job.  Also my daughter was moving again so I went down to see her three weekends running to look after my Granddaughter whilst she packed loads of boxes.  I had a lovely time with Elsie.  She is such fun.  Now I think things will get back to normal and perhaps I can start crafting again.  I started with making the Remembrance card for the The Male Room Challenge and then made a birthday card for my ex. Here is the card I made for him.....



The stamp is from Stamps Away and is a lovely picture.  I did colour it all in with water colour pencils, but the colours dont photograph well.  All the hills and fields are coloured green, honest. I just sponged the background using inks from Stampin' Up and Distress Stormy Sky and various masks to form the background.  I love sponging the backgrounds.  It can be so effective.  I will put Happy Birthday on the inside as I didnt want to spoil the picture by adding it to the front.
I hope to enter more challenges now I up and running again, but I must concentrate on making Christmas cards and presents, then in the New Year I will be focusing on making things for my Daughters wedding, she is getting married in June and I will be very busy making the stationery, table decorations etc. I call myself the Artistic Director of the Maiden/Kirk wedding.!!!!   Should be fun though.  Cant wait.
I have been following your blogs and I must say all your cards are fantastic.  Wish I had your ideas.
Its good to be back. Thanks to everyone for their support, especially my friends Sue and Jacqueline.


Remembrance

I cant believe its 3 months since I last put something on my blog.  Such a lot has happened, but more of that later.  I managed to start crafting again this weekend and it was lovely.  I bought from Stamps Away, some months ago, two Spitfire stamps.  I thought they would be useful for Men cards!  I particularly had in mind my ex husband (yes - we are still friends) as his birthday is in November and he loves planes and plane spotting.  He used to be in the Royal Observer Corps when he was young, as was his Father before him, although of course his Father was in the Observer Corps during the war.  Anyway I decided it was time to make his card, but before I started I just had a quick look through the various challenge blogs and saw the Remembrance challenge on The Male Room, so I thought I would have a go at that.  Here is the card....




I coloured in the spitfire and sky etc using water colour pencils, I dont have much success with Promarkers,
but I have discovered they dont photograph well, the colours dont show up.  I will have to in future paint using Distress inks or paints or persevere with the Promarkers. I first mounted the image on pale blue card and then on to a plain white card, but I didnt like that so I took it off and sponged the cloudy background using Stormy Sky Distress ink and a cloud mask. The sentiment is from Sheena Douglas and the poppy was made using a Stampin' Up stamp and coloured with a red Promarker.





Tuesday 20 August 2013

Summer Silhouettes 2.

I had great difficulty deciding which card I was going to submit to the Colours and Sketches challenge.  So I thought I would send this one too.  It is very similar of course, but with a bit more red in it.


I have mounted this one on to Red Card for a change. Again the technique is the same as the last one.

This might be my last post for some time, or at least the last challenge I will do.  I am away again in my Romahome tomorrow for 10 days or so and then I will be home for two weeks and off again in it at the end of September.  I am determined to use it as much as possible this year as last year was such a disaster weather wise.  When I get back I want to focus on making Memory Books as I have been promising myself I would make some of my Granddaughter for two years now ever since she was born. It will take sometime as I have hundreds of photos I have got to sort out first!! I might do the odd challenge and I will of course post progress of the books on this blog. I hope you enjoy the rest of the summer.  I will of course continue to follow your blogs, because I love them.  Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to post comments on my blog. They really are much appreciated and keep my spirits up especially when I am having a bit of a card design block and think 'my cards are rubbish.'  So thank you to you all   Love Viji. x



Summer Silhouettes

Here is another clean and simple card ( I cant do fancy) for the Colours and Sketches colour challenge this week.



Unfortunately it has photographed very pale again and is distorted.  I can assure you the card is straight edged not wavy!!
I did not have Bashful Blue or Crumb Cake ( I thought I had) so I used Ballet Blue and Creamy Caramel.  I did have Real Red.  I inked up a block with the blue and caramel and spritzed it with water and stamped it onto the card.  This is a technique I saw demonstrated by Ali Reeve of Stamps Away on Create and Craft some months ago and fell in love with the technique and immediately set about making a lot of cards using it.  It was great fun as you just stamp an image over the top and you have a great, simple, quick card. I took the cards along to my craft group to show them, but it was a bit messy for some of them to use.  I dont mind messy, in fact when I am trying to be clean, it still can be messy!!!  I have used this technique often since.
Technique Time Tuesday challenge this month is Smackin' Acetate and it is a very similar technique, so of course I had a lovely time with that challenge too.  For the rest of the card I used Stampin' Up Summer Silhouettes which is a lovely set.  The sentiment is an odd one I had. The card is mounted on Real Red card stock.  I again made quite a few for my stash, but with different layouts.  I had a great time.  Hope you like it.



Thursday 8 August 2013

Green dragonfly.

I thought I might enter this card too in the  Make My Monday challenge.  It is very different to the last one, being very bold instead of soft.  It uses the Clarity Dragonfly and the Stampin' Up Just Believe grasses stamp.  I used Big and Juicy Mountain Meadow inks to sponge the colours through the apertures.  The stamps where also inked up in it using the different shades.  It has a different feel to the last one doesn't it?




I am going to try and have ago at the latest CAS sketch challenge, if I have time, otherwise this will be my last post again for a while.  I am going to my daughter's for the weekend and off in the Romahome again at the end of next week. Might go to Anglesey or mid Wales. Enjoy the rest of August.  See you soon.  Viji. x

Aliums

 Make My Monday challenge this week is silhouettes. I love silhouette stamps and I have quite a few of them, so it was difficult to make up my mind which ones to use.  In the end I chose  a Clarity stamp Aliums. I haven't used this stamp much so thought this would be a good opportunity.  I also thought of Clarity's dragonfly, so made a card using that stamp too.  Technique Time Tuesday  have a technique challenge making backgrounds (Smackin' Acetate) and this was right up my street so I thought I would combine the two challenges.
I have only got one set of Stampin' Up write markers, the New In Colour set.  These colours are very soft so I used those just as the video showed.  I made quite a few trial backgrounds and chose the one I liked the best.  However they where all quite nice so I ended up stamping silhouettes on all of them so now have 6 extra cards to add to my stash.  When it came to stamping the image I decided that as the colours where so soft, black would be too harsh, so I used a Distress ink in Tumbling Glass to stamp the faded image in the background and Stampin' Up's Pacific Point for the main images.  I really like that colour, it is a lovely blue.
Assembling the card gave me some problems as I looked at the DT cards and cards that had been already been submitted and they were stunning, all beautifully mounted using ribbons and embellishments and shapes and imaginative layouts.  I don't seem to be able to do this.  My cards on the whole are just very simply mounted with nothing too fancy on them and I did feel that this stamp needed a simple setting.  So here it is.



  I did put a little bit of bling on it, by adding a gem in the centre of the blooms.  I hope you like it.

Just for interest I am showing the dragonfly one I made, but wont be submitting this one in either of the challenges


Actually this doesn't look too bad in the photo, but I don't think it is as good a the Aliums. I am looking forward to your comments...thank you.  Viji x


Tuesday 6 August 2013

Pink Butterfly

Space is very limited in the Romahome so crafting is difficult, but this time when I went away I did some Zentangle, as it doesn't take up much space or equipment and so is easy to do.   I used to do it as a child, but then it didn't have a fancy name, it was just doodling!  I haven't done any for years, in fact I think the last time was when I was at college, a very long time ago!  I love doing it, so I looked at this weeks Colours and Sketches blog and saw the colour challenge so thought I would have a go and feature one of my Zentangle panels.  It took me as long time to get round to doing the card because I have been away from it for so long and I needed to get my head back into crafting mode. I did enjoy it although I am not very happy with the result, but thought I would submit it anyway.  Just to get back in there!.   So here it is.....




Again it hasn't photographed too well.  The butterfly is a Sheena Douglas stamp and I coloured it with Melon Mambo ink painted on and I can assure you that it was symmetrical, The left wing is the same as the right.  I then coloured the body grey using a grey water colour pencil as I don't have the Grey ink and I also coloured two panels in grey  the top left hand one and the bottom right with bubbles. The rest of the panel I sponged in Old Olive, again it has come out in the photo very pale.  the whole panel is mounted on Melon Mambo card.  I love this colour combination.  I have looked at the design team and the entries and there are some stunning cards entered.  Oh well at least I am back on the horse, for a while anyway.  Must have a go at some of the other challenges now.  Make My Monday silhouettes looks good, but which stamp set to use... decisions, decisions.
See you again soon.  Viji. x

I'm back (for the moment)

Its nearly six weeks since my last post and since I did any crafting (except for a little bit while away, more about that later) I hope I can remember what I have to do.  I have had two trips away in my Romahome, I had a wonderful time.  The first trip was to Suffolk, a part of the country I have not visited before. I have always wanted to go to Southwold, so I made my way across country to there.  It is a lovely little seaside town and lived up to my expectations.  I shall certainly go there again.  I met some lovely, interesting people and visited some very interesting places and the weather was fantastic.  My second trip was much quieter, just to the Welsh Borders and it was very quiet, on one site I was on my own!! Something I did not expect at this time of year. I needed the quiet as the week before I had had a lot of problems at home with things going wrong, the worst one being water pouring down into my airing cupboard!!  All my sheets etc were soaked and all had to be washed again, but at least I got to sort all the cupboard out. A very good neighbour came and sorted it out for me.  I dont know what I would have done without him.  I really do have some lovely neighbours, so I sent him one of my thank you cards that I made just after Christmas, plus a present because I was so grateful to him.  Here is the card I sent.



Not a very good picture I'm afraid. I used a selection of Stampin' Up stamps and of course the usual triple layer technique.
In between trips in the Romahome, (called Matilda) I spent my birthday weekend with my daughter Beth, her partner Andy and lovely little granddaughter Elsie.  I was treated to a pedicure, a lunch out and then in the evening a wonderful Proms in the Park concert at Blenheim Palace, it was fantastic, complete with cannons. muskets, and fireworks which were spectacular!! It was also very very hot!!!! We practically melted.  Here is the thank you card I sent Beth, again from my stash.  I shall have to make some more, my stash is getting low.



This stamp set is Vintage Vogue from   Stampin' Up.  Its one of my favourites and I use it a lot.
So it has been a wonderful summer so far and it isnt over yet.  In between all these trips I caught up with jobs round the house and garden, getting up at 6 a.m. to do a couple of hours in the garden before it got too hot.  So I had no time to craft, but I did keep in touch with the blogs and have missed some lovely challenges.  I am going to try a do a couple before I go off again, which I hope to do soon, not sure where yet.
Thanks for visiting my blog.
  

Thursday 27 June 2013

News update

I cant believe it is over a month since I have done any craft challenges.  I have been away a lot and when home very busy with catching up.  Its a shame really as I have missed some lovely challenges that I would love to have had a go at.   At the end of May  I went away in my Romahome for a weekend and we had lovely weather, I was home for 3 days during which I had a tummy upset so did not feel like doing anything. Then on Friday the 7th June I drove down to Dartmouth for the weekend to look after my little Granddaughter Elsie whilst her Mum and Dad went to a wedding.  She was adorable, SO good for me, did everything I told her too and we had a lot of fun together, she was an angel.  I drove home on the Sunday, and on the Tuesday I had a phone call from my daughter saying Elsie had 'bounced'  out of her cot and landed on her head.  Luckily she did not damage her head, but she dislocated and broke her elbow.  Poor love, she had to have her arm in plaster and I went down to her home to help look after her for a few days whilst her Mum and Dad worked. She was very good, but not very comfortable at first and then she got used to it.  Since I have been back I have been catching up with chores as I am off again tomorrow to Suffolk in the Romahome for 10 days.  I was meant to go today, but I have a bad cold and do not feel like driving all that way.  Hope I'm ok tomorrow!
I gave Elsie for her birthday a doll's pram but there weren't any pretty covers for it, so I asked my good friend Sue, who makes the most beautiful quilts as well as cards, if she could make a little quilt and pillow for Elsie's dolls pram.  I collected it this week, it is lovely, pink, embroidered and has a frill all round it and I am sure Elsie will love it. Thanks Sue for all your lovely work.  Here is the card I quickly made for her to say 'Thank You'.



I love these triple layer cards they are quick and easy to make. The stamp is a Sheena Douglas stamp and I used the wet stamping technique where you spritz the stamp with water after you have applied the ink and then you get this nice water colour effect. It is all very simple and effective.
That's all for now.  I wont be crafting again now until the middle of July as I am away until then. Bye for now. Thanks for dropping by.  Viji. x

Thursday 23 May 2013

Rain or Shine

I'm so pleased!!!! I got Honourable Mention on the 52 Christmas Card Throwdown  challenge, red and white. Thank you so much DT. That's great!!
I have not had much time this week to make cards. It has been so busy again, but I have managed to make one today and I will enter it into two challenges, the Colours and Sketches sketch challenge for this week and the Make My Monday greens and yellows challenge.



I used the Rain or Shine stamp set and inks from Stampin' Up. The background is a design paper from stash in a pale green, the umbrella and sentiment have been stamped in Handsome Hunter and the handle and rain in Daffodil Yellow. It has been mounted  on pale yellow card and yellow ribbon and bow, made using fork method, added.  I coloured in the flowers on the umbrella using a promarker. Its made quite a nice little card I think. I have made a small card this time, it is only 5x5" usually my cards are a lot bigger.
I dont know whether I will be able to do anything next week.  I am off to see my Granddaughter tomorrow and when I get back on Saturday, I have got a lot of clearing up to do in the garden, as I have had a 'nice young man' in to repair and paint my fences and there is a lot to tidy up.  I am hoping to go away again for a few days next week too, in my Romahome, but it depends on how I get on and the weather of course.  I hope you all have a lovely bank holiday weekend.



Thursday 16 May 2013

Jane Eyre

I love this weeks  Make My Monday challenge - Literary Inspirations - Jane Eyre.  I just had to have a go at this challenge. It has really got my old brain going, in fact I love these challenges because they really get me thinking.  I had two or three ideas for this one, but so far have only had time to make one card. I was inspired by the story not the book cover.  I don't have any Victorian Ladies or Gentlemen stamps in fact I don't have any people stamps, I'm more into nature and scenic stamps.  So I thought about the location for the story, the bleak moors, the remote house and remote master, after all Rochester wasn't very warm was he and I thought of poor Jane, who must have been so lonely at first, miles from anywhere, living in a huge hall with a little girl and a man who was quite unemotional and aloof.  Here is my card.  I hope it is suitably atmospheric.







The background was not brayered as I was going to do, but sponged using Distress inks and cut and dry foam.  The middle panel, was brayered and the grasses stamp is from Stampin' Up, Just Believe set. The wistful face of Jane (?) is a freebie from a craft mag. The face was originally white of course, but I thought it was a bit stark, so I toned it down a bit by gently sponging a very pale blue on it. I hope you like it.
I am busy gardening today, but I might have another go tonight, making a card using another of my ideas, a bit more ordinary this time.  I might put in on my blog and I might not.  It depends how it turns out. I hope you are enjoying the sunshine, rain supposed to be coming later.

Tuesday 14 May 2013

Red and White Christmas.

This is the card for the 52CCT colour challenge.  I love red, my favourite colour, but I had to do a lot of thinking which stamp to use. I love this Tim Holtz stamp, it is a set of four and I haven't used it before, so I thought I would use it in this challenge as its a little bit different. The ink is Poppy Parade, a lovely red.  I have kept is simple as the DT seem to like simple, so I didn't put any bling on it although I could have put a little bit perhaps, just a red gem on a circle perhaps, but left it in the end.  The top image is mounted on foam pads just to lift it up a bit.  I also did the same layout but mounted it on white card instead of red.  Which one do you like best?


White on red


Red on White




Grubby Oak Tree Card

Here is the card I have made for the  Colours and Sketches sketch challenge this week.  I don't like it very much, it has not turned out how I wanted it to.  I had the idea of using the Oak tree from Stampin' Up's Lovely as a tree stamp set and I wanted to do torn edges because I like the torn paper effect.  I thought I would sponge the edges with a dark brown ink, I used Creamy Caramel, but once I had done it I didn't like it.  I thought it just looked grubby.  I mounted it all on a background paper I had made using Tea Dye Distress inks, so I think the whole effect is quite dull. I sprayed gold mica on to the background but that hasn't shown up at all.  I think I should have used a different colour for the edges.  Any ideas?  I did think of colouring in the tree, but that meant I should have coloured in the bee and leaves as well and you can sometimes make it worse trying to make  it better, so I left it.  I haven't got time at the moment to try again, so I am submitting it to the challenge.  You never know, someone might quite like it.




I'm back!!

I'm back!! I have been away in my Romahome, had a lovely time, weather dry but cold, but lots of good company and loads of laughs.  Then I went and visited my daughter and granddaughter and had a super time, the weather was gorgeous, those two hot days we had last week.  (Hope that wasn't our summer) We explored Oxford, its a very interesting town and I cant wait to explore more of it. Later we played with the sand and water in the garden with Elsie.  I bought her a doll's pram and she loved it.  She is such a lovely little girl and quite the little Mother looking after her dolly.  Cant wait to see her again.  The rest of the time I have been catching up on things, but I'm back crafting now.  I sent Beth a Thank You card for the lovely  time I had and the presents she bought me.  After Christmas I discovered I had no Thank You cards to send people so I set to and made ten so I now have a stash of them.  I had great fun making them.  I used the triple layer technique and was able to use lots of stamps I haven't used before or not used often.  Here is the one I sent to Beth.



I like this technique because it is simple and quite quick and you can produce some lovely cards. The stamps I used were Everything Eleanor from Stampin' Up.
I was very pleased to discover just before I went away that I had achieved Top Three in the Make My Monday One Layer Challenge with my Little Bit of Sunshine.  I was thrilled and it was lovely to go away on a high.  Made my day.
 I have missed some lovely challenges whilst I have been away, some I would really have loved to have a go at, but never mind, perhaps I'll try the ideas sometime.  Yesterday I made two cards, one for the Colours and Sketches challenge and one for 52 Christmas Card Throwdown..

Thursday 11 April 2013

A Barn Swallow.

I thought I would send another entry to the Make My Monday background challenge. Again it is a simple background.


I stamped some Distress inks in Barn Door and Spiced Marmalade on to a glass block, spritzed it with water and then stamped it on to card.  When it was dry I stamped the Barn Swallow from Stamps Away Wildlife set in black. It gives a very interesting background I think and I have used this technique many times using different colours.  The red mat is pearlised card from stock, but the yellow mat was made by me.  I used white Centura pearl card, sponged on a Scattered Straw Distress ink and then spritzed it with a mica spray.  Again, simple but effective.
There are some fabulous backgrounds produced by the DT on MMM and also by other crafters. I'd love to have a go at them as they are just stunning. I wish I could leave comments on a lot of them as they are so lovely, but sorry ladies I am very pushed for time at the moment so have not done any comments yet.  In fact this may be my last post for a while as I am going away  next week for a few days and am busy trying to get my Romahome (a mini motorhome) ready.  Lots to do.  However I have just seen the new CAS sketch challenge, oh dear, I would love to have a go at that one, so you never know!!



Wednesday 10 April 2013

Christmas Star

After I came home I thought I might as well make another card and if I do one using the 52 CCT sketch and also make my own background I could enter the Make My Monday challenge too.
Here is Christmas Star.  It is a Clarity stamp and I have been dying to use it, so I think I will be making quite a lot of Christmas cards using this stamp.  I love it.


Like a lot of crafters I make lots of my own backgrounds.  This is nothing exceptional, it is quite a common and simple technique.  I used Clarity Silk card, and stamped snowflakes and baubles in Versamark all over it.  I then used the brayer to go over the whole card.  I used Big and Juicy Waterfall and Stampin' Up Brilliant Blue.  It gave quite a variation of blues, but it isnt very clear in the photo.  The star is heat embossed using silver tinsel embossing powder and  looks very shiny with some glitter in it.  Again not obvious in the photo.  I then brayered all over it, so the background is very plain and simple.I added some ribbon down the side so that the white frame of the star showed up.


Folded Frame Card

I didn't think I would have time this week to make any cards, but kept wanting to have a go.  The first one was the Colours And Sketches colour challenge, Raspberry Ripple, Daffodil Delight and Bashful Blue.  I have to confess that for some reason I just couldn't get an idea what to do although I gave it a lot of thought.  I thought of all sorts of designs but none really felt right.  Then yesterday I went to a workshop at Jacqueline's where we made a folded frame card and I thought if I make it in the CAS colours I could send it to the challenge. So here it is.


I chose a design paper from Bo Bunny that was pale blue one side and pale yellow/cream on the other.  After folding it I stamped some little flowers round the edge in Daffodil Delight and stamped some Stampin' Up butterflies in Raspberry.  I added a few gems to give it a little bit of bling.  At first I thought I wouldn't make this design again as there was the usual measuring and folding which as you know I don't like, but in the end it wasn't too bad and it does give you the chance to use some of those beautiful double sided design papers, that you just keep and don't want to use because they are so beautiful. I never know which side to use.  At least you can see both sides with this design so I think I will make some more cards using this technique.  Thanks Jacqueline for showing us how to do this.





Tuesday 9 April 2013

Elsie's birthday

Yesterday was my Granddaughter's 2nd birthday.  Where has the two years gone?  She is of course absolutely beautiful and such fun to be with. (I know all Grandmothers say that.)  She smiles all the time and is such a busy little person, into everything, and wants to know how everything works, pulls apart, goes together etc and is fiercely independent wanting to do it all herself.  We had a little party for her on Sunday and she had some lovely presents, her favourite being a cooker and lots of things to go with it, all made of wood.  She loves 'cooking' and putting her teddy to bed in a little carrycot she had and he has to be tucked in 'just so'!  Here is Elsie Rose trying to do up Merlin's (my little dog's) collar and she has done it!! The smile says it all.


This photo was taken at Christmas.  I haven't got any photos of her birthday on my computer yet.

Here is the card I made for her.

It is a Sheena Douglas stamp and I bought it because it reminded me of Elsie, she has a little bike and tousled hair and she was going to wear a fairy dress with wings, but when the day came for her party she wouldn't put it on!  The image is coloured using water colour pencils.  It isn't a very clear image because there is quite a lot of glitter on the wings, stars and dress and the sentiment is mounted on glitter card.  The camera didn't pick it up.  I hope she liked it and I hope she had lots of fun on the day.  I am sure she did.

Thursday 4 April 2013

A Little Bit of Sunshine

On Easter Monday when the weather was so dull and so cold I cheered myself up by making a card for the CAS circles challenge.  Then I had the bit between my teeth so I thought I would make a couple of cards for the Make My Monday one layer challenge.  I had loads of ideas for this.  I like the idea of not matting and layering because I can never get them straight!  It is also a quick way of making a card and will certainly do this again to add to my stash. I thought I would introduce a little bit of sunshine to the dull day.  I have used this stamp set from Clarity stamps.  I just love the sentiment, I think it is a lovely idea to send sunshine to someone, especially if they are feeling a bit down.  The image of the children playing in the meadow is such a happy scene and hopefully a promise of lovely sunny days to come.



It is such a simple card to make.  I made a scalloped edge aperture and mask and sponged Daffodil Yellow and Pumpkin Pie through the aperture.  I have used this technique quite a few times in the past using different shaped apertures. I think it might have worked as we have just had two days of lovely sunshine!  Dull again today unfortunately.

                                                         


Tuesday 2 April 2013

Blue Circles

It was a miserable day yesterday, dull and absolutely freezing, so I thought I would cheer myself up by making a card for the Colours and Sketches sketch challenge, circles. So here it is.


I used Stampin' Up stamps.  The blue circles are from a set I have but I don't know the name of, I don't think it is available any more, and the pink circles are from the Madison Avenue set. I used Distress inks Chipped Saphire and Picked Raspberry, and Stampin' Up's Tempting Turquoise.  As I have so many lovely backing papers I thought I would use one from my stash instead of making one this time.

Tuesday 26 March 2013

Believe

I was snowed in all weekend.  I couldn't even get the car off the drive because there was a huge pile of snow behind it.  I thought it would be a good opportunity to make some cards, but I couldn't get motivated.  I think it was because I was fed up because I couldn't go anywhere.  I was also anxious for my daughter who was moving house in that terrible weather.  I felt so sorry for her.  They are safely in their new home now, but now have the unenviable task of all the unpacking!  I hope they will be happy in their new home, I cant wait to go and see them all.  However, yesterday I decided to dig my car out.  Armed with shovels and a broom, and ice grippers on my shoes I went out and did it. The snow was frozen solid, but I just cut it into blocks and threw them on to the garden out of the way.  I quite enjoyed it in the end and it was good exercise. Hooray, I can now get off the drive, so I am going out with friends today.
When I came in I felt like making a card.  So I decided to have a go at the CAS colour challenge of  real red, soft suede and river rock.  I only had the real red ink pad and I couldn't find any other inks that were near the other two colours, but I did have the Neutrals card pack, so I thought I would use the soft suede and river rock card, get my Cuttlebug and punches out and make a card using them.  Here it is.


Everything is from Stampin' Up.  I have used the Language of Love stamp set for the bird and the flowers and the Bird Builder and Boho Blossoms punches to punch them out.  The greeting is from the Just Believe set and the background is a Spellbinder die. The base card is Naturals Ivory, which is an off white colour with little flecks in it. Its lovely card.
I hope you all have a nice day even if you are snowed in.  Surely it will get warmer soon!!!!




Thursday 21 March 2013

I dont believe it!!

I am so thrilled, I have got in the Top Three with my Kingfisher card I entered in the Make My Monday
 -Inspired by Nature challenge.  I was really surprised as there were so many beautiful entries that week, Check them out over on the Make My Monday blog. They are stunning. Then yesterday evening I discovered I had got an Honorable Mention for Rudolph Blacknose in the 52CCT, black, gold and white colour challenge AND  in the Top Three with Love in Pink on the Colours and Sketches colour challenge.  This is all so exciting.  Thank you so much to the DT judges and thank you too to everyone who has posted such lovely comments. I really am overwhelmed.  I am loving making these cards and when I have made them it is so lovely to be able to share them with someone.
I cant believe that a month ago I had absolutley no intention of having a blog or entering any challenges.
Then at one of Jacqueline's workshops Louise and other group members were talking about their blogs.  I came home and decided to spend the afternoon looking at them.  They were fascinating.  I saw the 52CCT challenge of a Christmas card in brown, yellow and white and decided to have a go at making a card in those colours. I was just going to use the challenges for ideas, but not intending to do anything about it.  When I had made my Leaping Deer card I took it to Jacqueline to show her and she kindly entered it on the blog via email for me.  Well you could have knocked me down with a feather  when it won Top Honour.!!!  The next thing I knew Jacqueline had designed a blog for me and the rest is history.  I'm now well and truly hooked.  It is such fun.  I have Jacqueline to thank for all this, in fact for keeping me crafting.  If it wasn't for her workshops, encouragement and inspiration I might have given up card making a long time ago. Do go to Jacqueline's blog deezinesart and have a look at her cards they are wonderful designs and from there you will be able to  go to other peoples blogs and look at their cards.  There are so many talented people out there. I have made some lovely friends through crafting and Jacqueline's group, they are all lovely ladies, very kind and helped me a lot when I was recovering from a hip replacement op. In fact thanks to all my friends who helped me at that time.
I think I will now spend a little time adding to my blog and looking at other peoples blogs and adding some comments to their wonderful designs. That is of course until another stimulating challenge comes along.

Blue Butterfly

Well I couldnt stop at just the 52CCT challenge could I, so I had to have a go at the Make My Monday Monochrome challenge.  I had lots of ideas for this, but eventually decided to make this tiled card. We made one similar at one of Jacqueline's workshops, only this is as new edition as the one I made in the workshop was not very good.  I kept it Clean and Simple.  The butterfly stamp is one from Stamps Away, Pilkington Butterflies and I stamped it in Distress ink - Chipped Sapphire.  The background paper is made using Chipped Sapphire and Tumbled Glass inks.  The border is made using a Martha Stewart punch. I decided not to put a greeting on the front as I wanted to keep the focus on the image.  There simples!  Hope you like it.

   

Christmas Cat

I said in my last post that I wasn't going to make any more cards this week or enter any more challenges as I wanted to work on updating my blog. There are do many things  that I have not discovered how to do. How to get the winners badges on my blog for a start off.  But I just had to have a go at the 52 Christmas Card Throwdown -  Christmas Animals challenge. I had this little stamp of a cat for ages now and never used it so I tried to think of a way I could use it in this challenge.  I wanted to put her sitting in front of a fire, but decided making the fire would be very time consuming and it might look rubbish at the end, so I just stamped and embossed her, masked her off and then sponged a background in fire colours, I used Stampin' Up's Real Red, Pumpkin Pie and Daffodil delight.  The tree is from Stampin' Up's Lovely as a tree.  This is a lovely set and I use it often. I added a little red glitter and a bow and there we are.  Quite a cheerful little card I think and the little cat looks very pleased with herself, so perhaps it is nice and warm by the 'fire'!



Sunday 17 March 2013

Funky Flowers

I have spent this weekend making a card for the latest Colours and Sketches challenge. I decided to go bold this time and have used one of my favourite colour combinations, black, white and red.



The stamps I have used are from the Funky Floral set by Crafters Companion.  The inks are from Stampin' Up, and the background papers are just from my stash.
I don't know if I will be making any more cards for challenges this week as I want to do more to my blog and I want to try some new techniques. I am expecting some new stamp sets and I want to play with them, If I make anything interesting I will post it, but I am still having problems with downloading photos from my camera onto my computer.  Very irritating. Hope you like my Funky Flowers card, I loved making it.  Crafting is much more fun than housework!!






Thursday 14 March 2013

Oakleaves

This is the card I have made for the Make My Monday heat embossing challenge.  I love heat embossing so it was good to do it again.  I especially like triple embossing so I put a little button in the corner, triple embossed and an acorn stamped into it. Great fun.


After Rudolph's card and all the measuring I decided to get away from straight lines, so I tore the background paper instead of cutting it.  I still stuck to square layers though as I wasn't quite sure what it would look like if I randomly cut or tore all the layers.  Will have to try it sometime. The topper was a technique called wet stamping.  I love doing this because you get a lovely impressionistic finish and every time you do it it is different.I used the oak leaf stamp from Stamps Away Foliage collection, stamped it with Aged Mahogany from Distress inks on to wet paper.  The colour then runs.  When it is dry you over stamp it again in black or another colour.  The background paper is made by me.  I make a lot of my background papers as although I have a lot of beautiful card and backing papers I never seem to have exactly what I want so I make my own to co-ordinate with my image.  I rubbed over the card with Aged Mahogany and Brushed Corduroy, then stamped the oak leaf from Stampin' Up's Gently Falling collection. I stamped some leaves first with Aged Mahogany then again with Versamark and embossed the leaves in gold.  I added the little triple embossed button and ribbon at the top.  The greeting is one I had in my drawer. I have enjoyed making all these cards this week.  Great fun.  Will have to do it again next week.  The house is a tip though.  Never mind.

Tuesday 12 March 2013

Rudolph blacknose

I have also  made today, a card for the 52 Christmas Card Throwdown. (see link at side) As I was unable to do last weeks sketch challenge, I thought I would combine the two challenges and do this weeks colours of gold, black and white and last weeks layout. So here is Rudolph, but of course I couldn't give him a red nose so he has got a black one.



The stamps are from Banana Frog and they are stamped with Versamark and heat embossed in gold.  The gold card is from my stash.  This card I found a bit more work as it involved a lot of measuring and I haven't got a very straight eye so it took a lot of fiddling to get it looking  right, but  I like the end result now.  Tomorrow I hope to make another couple of cards for more challenges. Oh dear, am I getting the bug?

Love in pink

Hooray!!!  I have spent the day crafting.  I have been unable to make cards for the last two weeks as I have been so busy and I spent a few hours at the weekend trying to put more things on my blog, like my profile, a badge from a blog I follow and a picture of my dog Merlin.  No success I'm afraid, so I am going to have to seek more help from my good friend Jacqueline or Louise.  So I decided to give up blogging for a bit and concentrate of crafting.  Here is the card I have made for the Colours and sketches challenge this week.


I have used the Everything Eleanor stamp set from Stampin' Up.  I love this set and use it a lot.  The inks are Rich Razzleberry  and Blushing Bride from Stampin' Up and a Distress ink Shabby Shutters. It was a lot of fun to make and the colours are lovely.
Thank you to everyone who has been putting comments on my blog and thank you to my followers. It is really lovely to receive all your comments and encouragement.and I will try and reply to them sometime and of course follow you.  It is so interesting seeing other peoples designs. This blogging lark is certainly a challenge in itself, but lots of fun.

Thursday 7 March 2013

Little Brown Mouse

I managed to get my kingfisher onto the Make My Monday Challenge blog, but I needed Jacqueline's help again. Thanks Jacqueline.  Just to see if I have got the idea now, and to try and cement the procedure I am going to try and submit my little brown mouse card.

Again I have used Stamps Away Wildlife series, which are lovely.  The oak leaves are Stamps Away too, which I embossed with clear embossing powder and brushed over with gold mica powder to give them a sheen. The background is coloured with Distress inks and embossed with a leaf embossing folder, gold mica powder again brushed over. The greeting is one from Stampin' Up. Hope you like it.


Kingfisher Card for Make My Monday

Well here is my first attempt at blogging on my own. My good friend Jacqueline, very kindly designed this blog for me and gave me a lot of instructions yesterday, which I wrote down and now got to try and interpret. I am very nervous in case this doesnt work.
 Here is a card I have made for Make My Monday - the challenge this week is Inspired By Nature.




I have used a stamp from Stamps Away the Pilkington Wildlife Riverside set. I used Distressed inks for the background and water colour pencils to colour in the Kingfisher. The greeting is from Stampin' Up.  
Now lets see if I can send this card to the Make My Monday challenge blog!

Tuesday 19 February 2013

52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown - Top Honor Award

This is my new blog - please bear with me while I get started! I did however enter last week's Colour Challenge at 52CCT with this card


and I got Top Honor!