New Year's Resolutions

This year I am going to.....

1. Keep all my stash in some sort of order so that I know where everything is (yeah.. right!)
2. Try to use up some of my 'old' stuff.
3. Try to stretch myself by entering some competitions and challenges.
4. Make things in advance rather than crafting at midnight!

Here's wishing anyone who is reading this a happy and prosperous 2010

Happy New Year!

Sharon
x

Some recent cards...

Aswell as making loads of Christmas cards, I've still been getting plenty of normal card orders.

I found the girly topper in a card making pack I bought from Home Bargains - dunno if this shop is available all over the country but it's certainly popular in the North East - it's full of reduced toiletries, toys, food items etc and I often find really useful crafty items. The flower is from a pack of 'Hawaiian' table flowers from Birthdays and the paper is papermania. The result is a very girly card.I made this Anniversary card very quickly and it's based around the lovely piece of olive green ribbon. The hearts are diecuts and the floral paper is good old Papermania again .

The roses on this birthday card came from the wedding section of Dainty Supplies - a wonderful craft emporium on an industrial estate in Washington. It really is like my mothership! The pink rose paper was bought ages ago from Hobbycarft. I love cards like this that have 3D toppers but you must remember to use an envelope bigger than the card so that the extra bit fits in!


This is my favourite card of the moment. I saw the card sketch in a magazine and knew it would be so easy to make using my square nesties. The papers and butterflies came with an issue of Creative Cardmaking and I just added my usual diamantes for the butterfly trails.

Aarrgh - another man's card. I get so chewed having to make cards for men because I love adding ribbons and bling to my cards. My imagination really struggles with all things masculine so I just printed and decoupaged this image from Clip-art. I'm pleased with the result but would rather make girly cards any day.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

I've been such a bad blogger lately - Christmas has just taken over everything and really I should have started making christmas cards in April rather than wait until November! Maybe next year! Here's some of the results of my absence...



This grandad card was made using a very cute dowload from the DigiStamp Boutique. I love these cute designs - I think this one is by Sally-Ann Hancock. It was coloured in with normal felt-tip pens from WHSmith but now santa has brought me some pro-markers I am going to have a lot of fun experimenting.

I made this quick card with some lovely papers that I got with Making Cards magazine last year. Lovely christmassy colours and an extra bit of bling with a diamante on the bauble.


More digital downloads - this time the curly trees from Pink Petticoat. So easy to colour and very girly. I decoupaged the hearts and made extra to stick down the side.


This furry Christmas Tree card was made for a work colleague's daughter who wanted something purple and bling! The tree is simply a triangle of card wound with fluffy wool and purple diamantes added as baubles.

This bauble card is my fave - I got a card making kit from The Works and just added diamantes to the ready cut baubles. I added very thin ribbons and peel-off stars and the result looks much better than this picture!

Here's wishing anyone who cares to read my crafting adventures a very Merry Christmas and best wishes and lots of crafting in 2010!

Pirates and Pink Frocks

I've had a lovely afternoon.... finished work early and popped to Chester-le-Street to see what crafty goodies I could find in Boyes. I wasn't disappointed - got loads of ribbons for Christmas cards and some gorgeous A4 Daisy and Dandelion Christmas papers. Had a sneaky box of chips aswell before I came home (when did 'boxes' of chips appear??)

No more work now til Monday so I got the weekend off to a cracking start with some cardmaking..


I made this for an 8 year old boy - got the papers a few months ago in Papercraft Essentials but I never thought of using them until now. Very simple decoupage.


This frock card was made using up the leftover papers from the flower card in my previous post - I hate waste and have a box full of scraps - every cardmaker should have one! The frock sticker was from a scrapbook set I have had for years. I added a few diamantes to freshen it up but the light is so poor today that you can't see them!

Right - back to the Chrimbo cards!!

Pink Appeal

Each year, my office has various events during October to raise money for Breast Cancer. This year was no exception and over the past weeks we have raised over £2000. One of our events was a Bake sale and to thank various mums and grans who helped us produce so many yummy pies and cakes, I made these cute thankyou cards.


I've also had requests for various birthday cards and these are a couple of my faves...

Orange can be such a difficult colour to use but it really makes this card stand out. The spotty paper was a magazine freebie and the flower is one of my rare attempts at stamping - it's a Build a Flower stamp set from Clear Expressions (Hampton Arts) and I must admit it is very easy to use for someone like myself who has two left hands when it comes to stamping. It's decoupaged but you can't see this very well.


So... all bouyed up after the orange card, I had a go with one of my wooden stamps and was surprised with the result - no smudging! I was so pleased I stamped it twice and decoupaged the flower head. The pretty paper was from a sample book given away with Cardmaking and papercraft a few moths ago.

Flippin' Teenagers

Had a lovely morning shopping in Sunderland - new boots, new shoes, a new top for tonight and a visit to my favourite craft shop. Bought some silver peel-off borders, Making Cards magazine (cos I love the freebie papers you get with this mag) and loads of plain card to make my Christmas cards. A successful morning.

Here's a fun card I made using La Pashe's Flippin' Teenagers. There's some fab images in this range for both teenagers and those who still think they are!


The music notes are from a Doodlebug set and the border is made with waste collected in my hole punch! Matches the dancer's skirt and made me think of disco lights.

Card Frenzy!

I've been so busy this week........so many birthdays, so little time. And I really must start making christmas cards!!


This first card is one that I often do for 'big birthdays'. It's so easy to make the outline of the letters in wordart then trace the image onto patterned paper. I'm dead pleased with the scallopped effects as well - the ones above and below 'sixty' were made with my nesties, cut into strips then carefully taped on so you can't see the joins. The scallops round the greeting were make by punching loads of small circles with my hole punch and arranging them aroung the edge of the cut out greeting. You really don't need loads of expensive equipment to get the effect you want.


Same papers used here for the girl's 7th birthday card - the 7 is also done in WordArt. Background is just stars punched in toning colours and a few spangle star confetti bits to add a bit of bling. Even 7 year olds are partial to a bit of bling!


This lady bathing card is made with one of my fave products - Jolly Nation decoupage. I tried to get the effect of wallpaper and a border behind the bath using checked paper and a spotty ribbon and I think it works well.

Finally, a 40th card for a bike mad bloke. Made with lazy crafters' decoupage - the sort that is pre cut for you! Still, everyone needs to make shortcuts every now and then and no-one knows any different! It was only when I took the picture that I realised that the 40 today sign looks a bit like a speed road sign. Total accident but left me feeling dead clever!.

Back In the Swing of Things.....

I've just had a lovely break in Turkey despite being deprived of all things crafty for a couple of weeks and I've come back raring to make cards!


I made this Hello Kitty card in about 20 minutes flat - I make so many cards for other people that I often leave it to the very last minute to make them for myself and this was made in a panic before I went to work one morning last week! I bought a great Hello Kitty colouring and sticker book in the Poundland shop which will supply me with enough images and stickers to make about 20 cards - total bargain!

I got the template for this glamourpuss in Papercraft Inspirations a few years ago and I just love the diamante collar on it - very girly. It goes great with the 'purr-fect birthday' greeting. I missed my ginger fur baby so much when I was away that I think I have cats on the brain at the moment!



I made this final one for a special work friend Stephen who has just married his lovely girlfriend Ashley in Cyprus. The image is one of my faves from Pink Petticoat and I got some wonderful embossed heart wallpaper as a sample from my local decorating shop. I'm dead brazen - I just ask for loads of samples so I 'can match the furninshings' and no-one ever bats an eyelid!

Busy Week of Cardmaking...

I got the inspiration for this anniversary card from a cardmaker I greatly admire called Michelle at The Card Grotto. She makes fabulous cards and I hope she doesn't mind my interpretation of her card. I love blog hopping and can spends hours admiring other people's creations. It's also nice to know that other people appreciate what I do - a lovely lady called Sandra has left a really nice message on my blog and has started following it so a big thankyou to her!


Next up are two very quick baby cards - I used the same basic sketch for each one but added a pink ribbon to the baby girl card. I find sketches really useful for inspiration and whenever I see a card layout that I like I do a quick sketch of it in my card ideas book.


Finally, a card that I'm really quite chuffed with. My heart sank when I got a request for a Power Rangers birthday card for a 7 year old boy. After googling 'power rangers' I found a wonderful site full of images of popular characters for children to colour - Colouring Book Pages. It has loads of characters from Disney Princesses to Wallace and Gromit. I just copied one of the pictures into a word document, resized it and coloured it with normal kids felt-tip pens. I did this a couple of times to make a decoupaged effect and just used a couple of die-cut coloured circles for the background. It reminds me a bit of one of Roy Liechenstein's pop-art pictures. Roll on the next strange request!

Lots of Birthdays...

Loads of birthdays coming up....


I got the decoupage butterfly as a freebie with a magazine and knew it would be perfect for a girlie birthday card for my other half's mam! As usual he tells me the night before that he needs a card making cos he hasn't had time to buy one and expects me to make it in minutes. Actually it only took about half an hour but I hate being put on the spot cos my imagination just turns to jelly!

I do love making footie shirt cards and often get requests for both Sunderland and Newcastle cards - what one must do for one's art! This is the current away shirt for my friend's little lad who is Sunderland daft. It's often difficult to get a good picture of the back of a shirt to copy from so I have often gone into sports shop changing rooms to 'try on' a shirt armed with my digital camera!
My old faithful - the glam frock card. Everyone who gets one of these always says 'I would love to fit into a dress like that! I saw a similar card to this in a magazine a couple of years ago and must have made it over 20 times since - sometimes the simplest ideas are the best.

An unproductive break....

I've had a break from blogging this past month... a mixture of being busy at home and work and a bit of a deflated mojo! I've only made two or three cards in the past month and those were only for my special customers. To try to get back in the swing of things I bought some downloads from the Pink Petticoat site with a wedding theme and have been busy manipulating the images and just having a good play with sizes and colours. However, sometimes simple is best and I'm pleased with the overall look of this next card...


The image been coloured with pro-markers and the flowers have been decoupaged. I then painted over the flowers and heart with some pearlescent glue to add some sparkle.

The next card I made is just plain odd - a King Charles cavalier spaniel theme for a 50 year old lady! Hmmm... I knew that paw paper I got free with Papercraft Essentials would come in handy one day! My favourite bit on this card is the paws up the side where I tried to echo the pattern on the paper - apart from that it's a bit naff!

Fathers Day...

Making cards for blokes always fills me with dread though the products now available is starting to make the task easier


I used a cup template that came free with Papercraft Inspirations and just enlarged it on the photocopier to make this. I'm pleased with the look that the peel-offs give to the trophy - I knew I would find a use for them one day!


I think 'tie' cards for men are the equivelant of handbag cards for women! This was made with lovely Dovecraft 'male' papers and I just added buttens to the 'shirt'. I've made this card on a number of occasions in different colourways and I'm always pleased with the result.



I got this grandad decoupage from my local craft shop in Sunderland - I think the range is 'Old Codgers'. The patterned paper is from a sports scrapbooking kit and I couldn't resist adding a little Sunderland badge to it.

More Shoes... and a cute Baby Boy

I had a bit more experimentation with colours on the shoe card...

I love making these - they are just so cute. The spotty papers are all freebies from various magazines and I got a huge pack of the textured paper from my local The Works. Like most crafters I have a hoard of ribbons which finishes off the tag. In fact, these would be great to use as gift tags for girly presents.

I think that with baby cards, less is more. I don't like them to be too fussy and patterned. I made the next two cards with just stickers and ribbon - most of my stickers come from pound/trashy shops but can look great when used with the right accessories.

Betty Boop and lots of Weddings

I've had loads of requests for Wedding cards and as my cake card is a bit old hat now I've been working with some new ideas.


I got this pink cake cut out with a recent issue of Creative Carmaking which is one of my favourite magazines at the moment. There were matching papers to go with it but I wanted to keep it simple so I just used some co-ordinating cerise plain paper and added some punched hearts and a greeting.
I got this felt wedding car embellishment on a market stall in Sunderland but before I used it I photocopied it so that I have a template to make more from card. The pink heart paper was from the same place - it's amazing what you can find in markets!


I had this song going through my head when I was making the other two cards and I thought it would make a cute greeting. The 'chapel' was a rub-on I had from a wedding scrapbook kit. I finished it off with one of my trademark ribbons and I'm pleased with the result.

I loved making this card! I got a picture of Betty from google images and I just traced and paper pieced it. I carefully drew in the face with a black fineliner pen. It was really simple to make but did require some careful cutting around the hair. After people see this I have a bad feeling I am going to get requests for all sorts of weird and wonderful cartoon characters!

Three Birthdays and a Retirement!

The first card today was a request for a card for a colleague who was retiring...but without the word retirement on it. Crazy eh? I was stumped for a while then just gave up and resorted to my favourite trick of just cutting out patterned letters and spelling the appropriate word. I was even able to cheat doing this as I had loads of random letters left over from a cheapo scrapbooking kit. Not the best card I have ever made but it serves a purpose.


I got the idea for the shoe card from a recent edition of Complete Cardmaking. In the mag, the 'Kick up your heels...' greeting was stamped but that's why we have computers isn't it! The template for the shoe was a free gift in a pack of designer templates that came with Simply Cards & Papercraft a couple of issues ago. The spotty paper was also a freebie so this card was dead cheap to make and I'm really pleased with the result.



Another number card. I love these Papermania papers - the colours just make me think of Raspberry Ruffle chocolate bars.


Finally another request for a 'Dress' card - this time in pink for a 50th birthday. These are so easy to make and people love them. I was so pleased to be able to match the spotty paper with the ribbon - both freebies with various magazines.

Love is in the Air

Three cards on the theme of love... and all made with the same basic layout. The first is a Wedding card made from wallpaper (very expensive wallpaper) and ribbon. This card is just so easy to make - three oblongs of paper with ribbon along the bottom, a punched heart on the top and punched flowers with diamantes arranged around the cake. With the right papers this could also be made to look like a birthday cake.

The second is for an engagement. I found some Cuttlebug ring shapes in a bargain bucket at my local craft store and knew straight away I would end up making an engagement ring with them. The 'diamonds' are from the Pound Shop which is a great place for crafty bargains.


The third one took a bit of thinking about. It's for a 20th Wedding Anniversary and the traditional gift for this anniversary is china. I came across the tea-pot in some free papers I got with Making Cards magazine some time ago and with the addition of a small punched heart, this seemed the ideal embellishment for this occasion.