Oh the weather outside is frightful but the fire is so delightful........

Actually it's not frightful outside....... just very cold still.  It's lovely and cosy inside though with a bowlful of nuts and a glass of ginger wine, oh and some chocolates and some mince pies too.  Yum.

Happy Christmas everybody! X

A quick Christmas card

This is one of some quick cards I made last week for Andy to take to work.
Card and paper is Stampin' Up!, the December panel in the background is a Tim Holtz texture fade tinged with Forest Fern and Barn Door distress inks.
The words are from the Cricut Christmas Cheer cartridge with some glitter glue and a ribbon added.

Sorry the photo's a bit odd - better if you click on it. X

A little play with Inka Gold

When we were at our Artsycrafts weekend there was a beautiful little sample on display done with an Inka Gold painted background, so I thought I would give it a go.  It's a little bit dark, and I might gesso it to make it a blank canvas and start again, but here it is in its current state:

Stamps used are Paperartsy, Lavinia, Clarity and Judikins.

I think I'll have a go with a white gel pen and do a bit of highlighting before I erase it.

Think (hope) we are having a little thaw outside - time to stock up and batten down the hatches for the next Arctic winds!

Thank you for all my beautiful birthday cards and facebook messages for yesterday my lovely friends. XXX

Vintage Christmas

Just a quick post today of some gorgeous vintage gifts I have received this week.  Above is a beautiful Victorian advent calendar that Andy brought me back from Covent Garden.

These are lovely Christmas tree decorations that my sister sent me. I love traditional Christmas decorations - I have to stop myself buying some new ones every year, there are some beauties out there.
Hope you are all keeping warm and safe. X

Surprise Birthday Party

Just a quick post to show the cards that I made for our neighbours'  (Angela & Eric) joint surprise birthday party last Saturday.

This was for Angela.  Background paper is Tim Holtz, inked with Victorian Velvet distress ink on the edge. Flower is inked with pink spray ink and then fruit punch stickles was added.  The plaque and the 50 were cut on my Cricut machine then covered with pink metal, purple ink added to numbers and a little ivy leaf stamped with green Stazon ink.

Eric's card was a variation on my previous stamped shirt cards. Background and tie paper is by Tim Holtz.

We all had a great time at the party.  There was a Ceilidh band, so lots of dancing took place.  DH and I even danced the Gay Gordons!  I say!   I haven't danced that since wet playtimes at school. James danced lots too.  It was a lovely party for a fantastic birthday couple.

Must dash - time for J's juijitsu class.  X

Warrington Frame

Here is my finished frame, started at ArtsyCrafts in Warrington. The colour scheme was citrus burst. This is a joint effort - I had ripped my cardboard, painted it and painted my canvas before I had to go home.  Lynne very kindly stamped and put embossing powder on my pieces, painted the frame and stuck the pieces in to the frame. She embossed the metal strips for the top and bottom of the frame for me too.

Lynne also made those fabulous flowers with metal, card and tissue paper.  I only had to finish off a couple of them, so THANK YOU Lynne, thank you Leandra for suggesting that I leave my frame so it could have some more work done to it, and thank you Lin for posting it to me so promptly.

So......... I had to decide how to arrange my flowers and then make some stems and leaves:

I painted some grungepaper with distress ink and glimmer mist and then stamped some script on to it using the same distress ink.  Then I put the grungepaper through a ribbler to make it slightly corrugated - blimey that was hard work, I almost broke my wrist! LOL!
Then I just had to cut some strips for stems, cut a few leaves out and glue them on to the frame.

The moth was die cut from metal and stamped with a stamp from Paperartsy using Stazon ink.

ArtsyCrafts Warrington - First 2 Projects.

Lin and Leandra were fantastic teachers, the classes were so well organised, the supplies were plentiful, the colour choices were fabulous, Lynne was a great helper, the company was brilliant, the food and snacks were delicious....................can you tell that I enjoyed myself?

First of all we made a wisdom book containing a metal owl in a niche.  This was done in the "Peacock Feathers" colour scheme, but I didn't make the colours strong, so it's a bit more of a "Jade" in hue.

On Saturday afternoon a change of tables was called for so this time it was "Apple Blossom".  We made this gorgeous dimensional picture.  I love the curtain effect - those girls are such clever designers.

I still have to finish my 3rd project - I left it behind when I came home early on Sunday and Lynne very kindly did some work on it for me and Lin has posted it to me so that I can complete it.  How's that for absolutely brilliant service?  Thank you ladies!
I'll post pics when I've finished it.

Thanks for looking. X

A few more cards .

Had a fabulous weekend at Artsycrafts in Warrington with great classes and fabulous company but very VERY busy and the time just flew by.   I'll post some pics next time.
Well I had almost a weekend as I had to leave just before lunch on Sunday because my little boy was a bit off it and wanted his Mummy, poor little soul.  I'm glad to report that he's feeling much better today and almost back to his normal self.

Here are some more cards for my stall this month:

Craftwork Cards image and paper and SU buttons.

Craftwork Cards images and SU buttons

Rubberneck stamps and SU cardstock and buttons. Coloured with copics.

Rubberneck stamps, SU cardstock. Coloured with copics.

K & Co Paper, Elusive Images stamp, Craftwork Cards sentiment and SU cardstock and punch.

 

Normal Service will be resumed.....

as soon as possible!  Have had dreadful problems with my internet connection and e-mail recently, so that's why I have been silent!  Fortunately it SEEMS to be working OK now, so I will be able to blog again and use my internet again - Hurray!  I've been so lost without it, it's been driving me mad.  I really, really LOVE the internet.

No time to post any pictures today though - I'm getting ready to go to the Artsycrafts weekend, so catching up on my domestic duties ( pardon??? Lol! You don't catch me saying THAT very often, ha ha) so that the three of us are all ready for Monday again.  Almost finished - yay.

Hope everybody has a great weekend, and looking forward to blogging properly soon.

X

Well..........

...... how time flies!!!!  I did my class with my 14 ladies, had a great evening and we all enjoyed ourselves.  On the same evening I found out that I had the chance to have a table to sell handmade cards at a Christmas Fayre in November.  This was good news - or it would have been IF I had any cards already made to sell! - LOL!  So ALL my spare time on weekday evenings has been spent frantically making cards- I've not looked at any challenges or my blog.

Weekends have been busy as always - we've been to the Lakes, visited family in Leicester and had visitors too, so wouldn't dream of cardmaking (and besides I normally indulge in a drink or two or three or four at weekends so not a good idea to try and stick down anything in a straight fashion).

So I haven't got anything to show at the moment except some of my cards:

The first two use mostly Craftwork Cards products

The 6 above use Whiff of Joy stamps and K & Co and  SU papers.

These are copies of one of my PDCC entries

Prima stamp, Tim Holtz papers and rosette die, Wendy Vecchi stamp, SU stamp,
SU oval punch, Martha Stewart punch and Prima flower

These 4 use a lovely Barbara Grey stamp and 7 Gypsies flocked paper.

I'd better get cracking on some Mens' cards and some Baby cards I think.  When I've done some I'll try to pop some photos on here.

Thanks for looking X

Navy, Lime and Silver PDCC 48

I need a rest!  Had a great but very busy weekend - lots of lovely food and eating (and drinking) out, lots of shopping ( I am a lucky girl-  had a beautiful bracelet and some fabulous shoes bought for me by hubby) and lots of games played with James.  In between all that there was the usual homework and domestic stuff to sort out for this week, so no time for playing in my craft room until today.

The playdate cafe has these colours this week:

Here is my card:

Patterned paper is K & Co. Ribbon is American crafts.  Edge of card is inked with blue ink.
I made the "navyish" background with spray inks, and the foliage is embossed in silver (stamp by SU).

The bird is die cut from metal using a Paperartsy die, then I embossed it with an embossing folder in my cuttlebug.  The next step was to ink it with green alcohol ink.
The eye is a gem coloured with a copic pen, and I outlined the metal bird with the same copic pen.

I am doing a card class for 14 ladies tonight, and then it will be the weekend again! Eeeeeek!

Have a good one!

X

Joy

Beautiful colours at the Playdate Cafe this week:

 I think the colours are gorgeous, but I wasn't sure how to put them together.  I had a look in my tin of ATC "blanks" and found some tri-fold cards that I had never used, so I decided to give it a whirl:

The background is coloured with a combination of Distress Inks and Adirondack Ink, then overstamped with stamps from Clarity, Lavinia and My Mind's Eye.
I painted some card with Claudine Hellmuth paints and punched out my flowers, then added some inked old book page strips for the border.
The sentiment is by Elusive Images.
I love this combo ( did I mention that before? Lol!), it's really bright and cheerful.

Have a good weekend.  We're going treat shopping in a minute - woo hoo!

Thank you Playdate Cafe, and thanks for looking.  X

Black & White and splash of pink for PDCC

Another Coloursplash this week over at the Playdate Cafe Challenge.

The coloursplash choice was between pink, gold and copper , and I chose pink.

Dress stamp is by Inkadinkadoo, stamped on white card, then embossed in cuttlebug.  I used paper piecing by stamping the same image on a piece of SU patterned paper and cutting around the "dress" part and attaching it over the stamped image.  I added stickles to the dots on the paper, and to the dress straps.  Then I just added 3 black gems and layered it with pink and black card.

I'm so glad it's the weekend - hope everyone has a great one! X

Let's Ink it up Challenge No 2. Two posts in one morning!

This time at Let's Ink It Up the challenge is to make a tag with a Vintage feel.

The larger tag has a background made with distress re-inkers and pearl pigments. The smaller tag background is Peeled Paint and Bundled Sage ink stamped with a Crafty Individuals swirl stamp and some tissue tape has been added.
The Post Card stamp is Crafty Individuals, and Take Flight is a Paperartsy stamp.
I'm much happier with this than with my pears. Lol.
Thanks for looking. X

Very quick go at PDCC 45

Well we are  back from a lovely relaxing holiday and I thought I just had time to have a play with this week's Play Date Cafe Challenge.

Mmmmmm - it was one of those times when I just could not create the image that was in my head - still, never mind, that's how it goes sometimes. 
Here is my feeble attempt - if I had the time I would throw it in the bin and start again! LOL! - but I promised myself that if I did any challenges I would post the result whether I liked it or not and use it for future reference of what NOT to do.

Here's to the next one! X

Believe it or not - Navy, Hot Pink and Mustard?????

These are the colours for the Playdate Cafe Challenge this week!

Not colours that you would immediately think of combining.

Anyway, I had a go and made a tag:

Inks used are Faded Jeans and Wild Honey Distress Inks and Raspberry Adirondak.
Stamps are Lavinia, Elusive Images and Cavallini.
Martha Stewart butterfly punch and background is a Tim's texture fade.
I like how the mustard and blue inks have blended to a matching green (as you would expect really! LOL!)
Must dash now as I have some holiday packing to do.
X

Let's Ink It Up Challenge

The challenge on Let's Ink It Up is "Anything goes - with a twist". So we can create anything as long as it has yellow on it somewhere.  I'm not a yellow "lover" but it's great to add as a highlight or accent, and I've made this ATC.

I stamped my background using the resist technique and Peeled Paint and Broken China Distress Inks, but I stamped my sun first and masked it.  Then I just added some Mustard Seed and Spiced Marmalade Distress Ink to the sun, added my German Scrap Moon and some words from an old book, outlined with inktense pencils.
I inked the edges with Faded Jeans Distress Ink.
My little moon came from Pollock's Toy Shop in Covent Garden in London.  I bought some fabulous massive wings at the same time but I'm waiting for the right project to use those on.
Thanks for looking X

Back from hols with a PDCC and step away from the macaroons!Take 2.

We are just home from a great week in London, so time to give my feet a rest and have a go at another Play Date Cafe Challenge!

Two greens and a blue.

This was more difficult than I first thought, and I did struggle. I'm still not happy with the arrangement of the embellishments, but sometimes things just won't fall in to place. This is my second attempt, which I like better than the original, but I'm still not thrilled with. LOL!

All paper used is Ideology.

The flower is made using a PaperArtsy die, and I sprayed the top layer with Glimmer Mist and went round the edge with a Martha Stewart Punch and some apple green ink. There are two more "plain" layers underneath, but they don't really show here. It's finished off with felt leaves and a brad.

The background leaves are Wendy Vecchi and the bird on acetate is by Elusive Images.

The tag has some script in the background stamped with apple green ink and the bird image is by Cavallini. I put another layer of Martha Stewart punched paper under the green ribbon and again inked the edge.

Back to London - my crafty friend Paul has raved about Laduree macaroons in the past.  Now I quite like macaroons, but can take them or leave them, but since we were in Harrods one day I thought I would try some.  OMG - they are one of the scrummiest things I have EVER tasted - good job they are quite small and that I only bought 5 - they didn't last long.  Will definitely be going back for more next time! Absolutely yummy, another addiction! Thanks Paul (I think)  X

Play Date Cafe Challenge 42. Yo Ho Ho

These are the lovely colours chosen by Sarah this week at the Playdate Cafe Challenge.

I need a birthday card for a young man in Wales who is going to be 7 soon, so I made this card for him:

The background was made using Distress Inks - Vintage Photo, Tumbled Sage and Broken China and the edge of the card was inked with Vintage Photo.  The sand was stamped with A Stamp in the Hand stamp.
The Pirate and Ship were coloured with Copics and the map was coloured with Distress Inks and then decoupaged.
The Palm tree was made using a Basic Grey Stamp and the sentiment is Hero Arts.
Oval punch and Oval Scallop punch are Stampin' Up.
There is a little bit of Stickles glitter glue on the sea but it doesn't show up on the photo.

Thanks for looking. X

Etsy Inspired Challenge

This week the inspiration comes from Cathy Walters on the Etsy Inspired Challenge which I found from Julie's Open Window - thank you Julie.

 Cathy makes beautiful pendants and the item which inspired me in her shop was this:

and this is what I made:

The large tag came from Graphicus and I embossed it in my cuttlebug using a Tim Holtz folder. Then I added Distress Inks in Pumice Stone  and Vintage Photo and sprayed it with Walnut Gold Glimmer Mist.  I punched the bottom of the tag with my threading water punch.

I added a band of 7 gypsies gaffer tape and a strip of red ribbon and then I threaded my letters through on jump rings (Ideology).
The images came from ancient Distressables paper that I had in my stash.
The Fleur de Lis and Clip are from Ideology (again!) and I don't remember where the circular metal frame came from.

The postmark stamp is by Paperartsy and the stripy ribbon is from Stampin' Up.

I went around the tag with Walnut Stain Distress Ink and then I added some highlights to some of the embossed background with gold pearl powders mixed with water. I also blobbed (good technical term there!) some of this on to some of the images too.

X

Play Date Cafe Challenge Tuscan Sun

I just love this week's colours on the Play Date Cafe Challenge - beautiful Tuscan hues.  I adore Italy and these colours just make me long to be there again.

I decided to make a tag:

Background is Distress Inks - Fired Brick, Rusty Hinge and Wild Honey used with a mask. This was then inked with a crackle stamp and some script by 7 gypsies.
The Flower is Tim Holtz die coloured with the inks and finished with an ideology flower.
The tag is My Mind's Eye, edged with distress ink, and the letters are from Adornit and edged with an Adirondak pen.
The token, pin and key are ideology.
Ribbon is Stampin' Up! and the lace was in my stash.
Mmmm think I'll go get some holiday brochures!
Thanks for looking X

Tuesday Taggers - Black

Black is the theme for Tuesday Taggers this week.
Background stamp is Paperartsy. Flower stamp is Hero Arts (VERY old stamp), with black distress stickles and stardust stickles added.
Ribbon is American Crafts and I bought the button with lots of lace bits on Saturday from a local shop.
Gems are by Kaisercrafts.
So....... lots of black and white this week.  I like it! X

I don't know when to call it a day!

 Had a lovely, busy family weekend, so I've not had chance to play with this until today. This week at the play date cafe the colours are black and white with a splash of green.

 I originally had just used the four black and one green flowerheads (Paperartsy) on this card and in hindsight that was fine......... but then I added the smaller flowerheads (Lavinia) and I think it has ended up looking too crowded, but time for posting is running out so I shall have to let it be. 
The edge "dotty" stamp is by a stamp in the hand.

I must work harder at clean and simple! LOL!  I never know when to leave things alone and have to keep adding extras.  I shall re-do this for myself using just the five large flowerheads.
X

Happy Anniversary

It's our neighbours' 25th Wedding Anniversary this week.  They are really lovely people and I have made this card for them.

I glued some glitter on to a die-cut heart and the numbers are from American Crafts.  Edge stamps are by Autumn leaves.  I sprayed some white card with pearl glimmer mist and used this for the Martha Stewart heart punched strip and for the background for the sentiment (which is Stampington).
The pearly bling is by Prima and I bought the charm in a local shop.
The black ribbon is from Paper Mill.
It's a bit simple, but it looks better in real life.
Off to make an envelope now! X