Mummies To Be..

A couple of work colleagues have left work in the past week to have their babies and as we already knew what they are having (1 boy 1 girl) it made it very easy to make these cards.


The image is Alexa - Just Chill I'm Having A Baby from the Digistamp Boutique. I coloured each Alexa with appropriate promarkers for the baby the mummy is having and added the greeting using X-Cut die-cut lettering. Each Alexa is on a lightly chalked background which didn't photograph very well but makes the image stand out in real life. I wasn't sure the images would work well this size but it made them a lot easier to colour and cut out. These cards proved so popular I'm going to make a batch for my box to sell!

Simple Anniversary Card

I was totally inspired by a new challeng blog I found this weekend - Lucy's Lovely Lines Challenge over at the Lily Pad Cards blog. It's not often I copy from a sketch but this one was perfect for the anniversary card I needed to make.


As soon as I saw this I knew it would work using hearts instead of stars.



I die cut 5 Cuttlebug hearts and stuck them in a line but the 4th heart is raised using a sticky pad to give some dimension. I resisted over embellishing and just used a single diamante to highlight the raised heart. The greeting was printed directly onto the base card. This is probably card making at it's simplest but I'm really pleased with the classy look of this card.

The Gruffalo

A special request today from a friend whose little boy is almost one and loves the gruffalo character .


Both the Gruffalo and the balloon were found using Google images. I chalked the background to prevent it looking too plain and added a computer greeting. Not the most technical card I have ever made but I am sure Oscar will be impressed.

I've put this card forward for a couple of challenges:

Saturday Challenge - Use a number
Corrosive Challenge - Cards for Kids

Glam Mam

I had a last minute request for a card this week for a card for a glamourous Mam who's about to turn 50!


This gorgeous digi stamp was drawn by a very talented crafter called Sylvie. Check out her blog - she has some wonderful freebies.

I paper pieced the digi using some very old Papermania spotty patterned paper. The hanger is coloured with a silver ball pen and I've finished off with some ribbon and purple diamantes. The 'thing' in the middle of the belt is a peel-off squiggle.

Very glamourous - I would love to fit into a dress like this!

I've entered this card into the following challenge:

Do It With Digis - Use Spots or stripes or Both

Less Is More - Blue Anniversary Hearts

I was inspired by this week's Less Is More challenge to make this card. The theme is 'shades of blue' and this gave me the ideal excuse to move away from the pink colours I would normally use for this type of card. I've cut the hearts using a cuttlebug die and added diamantes for a bit of bling. The basket weave background done in white and bluey white paper adds some texture.
As a lover of lots of white space on cards I'm really enjoying these Less Is More challenges - very inspiring!

Finding Nemo...

Here's a strange little card I was asked to make... a birthday card for someone who loves the Finding Nemo film. Thanks to the internet, I've never had any trouble finding images of famous characters and this one came from a children's colouring pages website.


I've coloured the image with promarkers and added the greeting 'just keep swimming' which I'm told is a song from the film. The embossed background is a cuttlebug folder. I have issues about these folders - the pattern isn't continuous at the edge so that you can emboss larger sheets of paper and I had great difficulty embossing the turquoise paper which is 13cm x 13cm in size. You can see the 'join' which is very annoying!!

I've entered this card in the following challenge:
The Corrosive Challenge Blog - Slippery when wet (something relating to water)

More For Father's Day

Yay! At last I've made my first easel card and now I can't stop. I've liked the look of them for a while and thought I understood the principal of making one but needed to practise first! No need - the first one I made looked fine and everyone I showed thought it was ever so clever so there's no stopping me now.

I'd seen something similar to this but using circles on a recent challenge blog but I can't remember who made it. I was so impressed I had a go. The cute footballer image is Justin from Digi Boutique, coloured with promarkers. The greeting was made in Microsoft publisher using a basic shape (banners) and inserting a text box. The football used as the stopper is just a peel-off on card. Now that I have these sussed I need to start experimenting with different shapes and sizes.

My second attempt is using Drinking Jim again. The stopper this time is a clipart picture of a beer glass. The paper is very old - from the stash I must use up before I am allowed to buy any more.

I'm entering the second card in the following challenges:

Terrifcally Thrilling Thursday Challenge Card for a boy/man
Pear Tree Designs Father's Day
Sparkles Forum Challenges Father's Day

Some Father's Day cards...

A couple of last minute Father's Day cards here - both made with a great character called Jim from the Digi Boutique and some lovely Argyle paper from an old issue of Making Cards magazine. Although the same materials have been used on each card I think I prefer the card with the buttons on - I'm not 100% sure about the 3 stars on the first one...


Both Jims are coloured with Promarkers



I've entered the second card into the following challenges...

C.R.A.F.T Challenge Father's Day
Saturday Challenge A Male card

New Babies...

I've had a few requests for new baby cards recently. I sometimes struggle with these cards - I want to make them really cute with ribbons etc but I'm never satisfied with the results. I suppose as long as the people I make them for like them there's no problem but they often leave me very unsatisfied! I know the effect I am striving for but can't seem to get there!

I got the sticker for this first card a few years ago in a pack labelled 'Crystal Stickers' but no brand name! In my recent efforts to use up old stash I 'found' them and thought this cute giraffe image was ideal for a baby boy. The blue spotty paper came with and old edition of Creative cardmaking and the embossing folder is my favourite Swiss Dots. Cute but no wow factor.


The second one is for a baby due this weekend. I felt a bit uncomfortable doing a card for a baby not yet born but maybe that's just me. The image is a freebie by one of my favourite card designers, Katina Killey and the backing paper is Pink Petticoat. Maybe the layout is a bit basic but I wanted to show off the delicate colour of the paper.

Wedding Cards

Last month's Papercraft Inspirations magazine had some cards made with wonderful downloads available from the mag's website that I've been itching to copy. I've kept to a very simple layout and used the minimum of embellishments.




It's the first time I've copied a card directly from a magazine because I loved it so much. The images printed really well and once I had 'sliced' the bride's bun, the ribbon veil was easy to position. I threaded some beads onto wire and used these to cover where the ribbon goes through the card.

Same Sketch - very different cards!

Sometimes I am just totally lacking any inspiration and end up making cards using the same design over and over again. This is a favourite layout - I made these cards about a week apart and didn't realise they were the same until I uploaded them ...


The first one is something I often get asked to make - football related cards. It's always Newcastle, Sunderland or Manchester United. I was actually thinking of making some 'England' ones for Father's Day but gave up on that idea cos they are so crap at the moment! The card is a simple decoupaged image with co-ordinating home made striped paper down the sides.



The second card is even simpler - a crucifix blinged up with ribbon and a bright blue diamante, with speckled blue edging down the sides. There's not really much else I can think of for a Christening - when I looked in the card shops the offerings were very boring so at least this card might stand out a bit.

Mum To Be

A quick card today then back to the Father's Day cards...


I've never made a congratulations card before for a mummy to be and I spent a happy hour going through all my digital images to find something suitable. I bought this super cute image last month from the Alexis range at The Digi Boutique and it fits the occasion perfectly. It's coloured in pastel Promarkers to match the checked paper that came free with a magazine a couple of years ago. The greeting is done with alphabet dies from X-Cut. Sweet and simple but I'm pleased with the overall effect.

I've entered this card into the following challenges:

Try It On Tuesday - Use something old and something new
Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes

Cards for Men...

With father's day looming I thought I'd better get in the mindset for making men's cards so I started off with something that needs no thinking about - a big number card.


Plain and simple but very effective. The striped paper is from an old set by Papermania called 'For Him' and I love the colours in it.

I've entered this card in the following challenges ...

Bunny Zoe's Crafts - One for the boys
The Paper Variety - Use a number

Name Cards

After the success of the Mother's Day cards, a few friends at work have asked for similar cards for little girls with their names on them...

This first one is for a child with a very unusual name - I've never come across this one before. The striped paper is an old one from Doodlebug and the big butterfly is made with my new favourite die from Marianne designs. I've also added some punched butterflies and flowers and a few diamante trails coming from the butterflies. I've entered this card in the following challenge:

Flutterby Wednesdays - OPEN (include butterfly, fairy or angel)



I'm not as pleased with this second card. I don't know whether I have made the letters too big or used the wrong patterned paper but I don't feel it is as pleasing on the eye as the first one is.

Still I now have orders for loads of name cards so I'm off to the shops this weekend to treat myself to some new scissors with very fine points!

Anniversary Quilling

I got a quilling set for Christmas a couple of years ago and as part of my quest to start using some of the stash packed into my spare bedroom, I decided I would have a go at using it. This coincided with a request from David, a work colleague, for a 'very special' card for his wife on their Ruby Wedding Anniversary. I trawled the internet for inspiration found some great ideas so this is my first attempt.


The greeting is made from large peel-off letters and the flowers are a mixture of punched, quilled and silk flowers. The leaves are also punched and I finished off with some random bling and peel-off hearts. The card itself is A5 size.

I am so pleased with this card and now Mother's day is out the way I'm going to have a bit more play with different quilled shapes.

And more importantly, David and his wife loved it!

I've entered this into the following challenge:

Charisma Cardz - Weddings and Anniversaries

Mother's Day #2

Wow - two posts in one day! Here's another card for Mother's Day. The image is a from the Digi Stamp Boutique, where I get most of my digi stamps. The image is coloured with promarkers and matted using scallopped nesties. The paper came with a scrapbooking set from Pound World!


I'm loving this butterfly punch from X-Cut - I've used it on loads of my Mother's Day cards and everybody thinks it's very cute.

I've entered this into the following challenges:

The Crafty Pad - For the Mums
Cupcake Craft Challenges - Flowers for Mum

Mother's Day

I'm back after a lovely break in Tenerife - a week of sun, gorgeous food and relaxing by the pool has done me the world of good!

Here's a couple of the Mother's Day cards I made before I went...


This first card is something I often do when I'm struggling for inspiration - take a word or number and enlarge it in WordArt or a similar programme then print it on patterned paper. I've found that striped paper usually produces the best results. Then I mount the letters on plain paper and carefully cut around, leaving a rim of colour around each letter. I've finished this card off with a punched butterfly (X-Cut) and some bling.

I've entered this card in the following challenges:

Less Is More - A Touch of Red
Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge - Butterflies


This next card is also of the clean and simple variety. The gorgeous 3D flower sticker is from Anita's Dimensions range -they are so pretty and have a lovely sheen to them. The spotted paper is a from a pad that came free with a card mag.

I've entered this card in the following challenges:

Allsorts Challenge Blog - Bloomin' Blossoms
One Stop Craft Challenge - Spots and Dots

Mother's Day

I've been frantically making Mother's day cards all this week - I have a dozen or so ordered by various people and I want to get them finished before I jet off to foreign shores! I really enjoyed making this one - who would have thought that cerise and orange would go so well together.

I found the image somewhere on the internet - I wish that when you download stuff to your computer there would be something attached telling you where the image came from. May be there is and I'm just not computer savvy enough to know how!

The image is coloured with promarkers, the flowery backing paper is Doodlebug and the ribbon came from a box of Christmas chocs - recyling at it's best! If anyone is interested, the font used is Curlz - I often see cards and love the greetings on them but no one ever tells you the font they have used! It's one of life's little niggles.

A Load of Best Wishes.......

Today's card is a bit corny... it's for someone into pick up trucks and the message inside reads 'loads of best wishes on your birthday'. The back of the truck is loaded with lots of 'best wishes' slips of paper. Ah well - it made me snigger!


The papers came free many moons ago with Making Cards magazine and the digi image is a freebie I found here via the Free Digital Stamps website, a source of hundreds of freebies.

Pretty Pastels

I got some lovely Pink Petticoat papers free with Quick Cards Made Easy magazine this month and as I wanted to make a pastel coloured anniversary card they came in very handy. The image is one of my favourites from the Digi Stamp Boutique - it's ideal for all sorts of 'love' occasions. The photo does not really do justice to the paper - it's a lot prettier in real life!



I've entered this into the following challenges...

Happy Mondays Challenge - Pretty Pastels

Less is More - Pastel Colours