Back to normal...

It's that strange time between Christmas and New Year when you can never remember what day it is and all you do is eat and watch TV! I've had a lovely trip to Hobbycraft this week where I invested in some label nesties, a couple of embossing folders for the Cuttlebug and some bits for next year's Christmas cards! I will start earlier next year.




Here's a very simple card I've made today to add to my collection. The very cute house image is from the Digi Boutique and I've coloured it with promarkers - took all of about half an hour to make.

I've entered it in the following challenges:

Let's Craft and Create New Beginnings

I Love Promarkers Anything Goes

ABC Challenge Keep It Simple


Finally, to everyone who bothers to read my little area of blogland.... hope you have a Happy New Year and best wishes for 2011

Sharon

xx

Scottish Piper

Now this is the sort of request that gets me excited! I was asked for 'something with a Scottish Piper on it for my dad's 80th birthday!" My main worry was where on earth I would find such an image but once again the internet was my friend. I googled images of pipers and found this fab image which is actually a colouring sheet for a child.



I used my trusty promarkers (Forest Green, Cornflower and Cool Grey3 ) for the colouring and I paper pieced the kilt and shawl with rather fetching tartan paper - this is the first time I have tried this technique and I am dead pleased with the result. I decoupaged the bagpipes which nicely covered up the raw edges of the tartan paper.

I've decided to enter this card into the following challenges...

Digital Tuesday Let's Celebrate (must include digi image)

Papertake Weekly Challenge Anything Goes

Passion For Promarkers Anything Goes (using promarkers)

Birthday Shoe

I found this wonderful image of a wedding shoe while flicking through blogs - I believe it's by Jim Harker, the man who draws the La Pashe series - I'm sorry but I can't remember exactly where I found it - it may have been via Jak Heath's wonderful blog - she always has loads of gorgeous freebies. If you ever have the time to trawl the interwebby you can find loads of lovely free images like this - though do be a bit more organised than me and make a note of where you get them!

It's not the best photo - I took it with the card on the window sill at work - but it's coloured with promarkers and the matting is embossed with swirls. I couldn't resist finishing it with lilac diamantes and ribbon - I'm starting to use these in every card I make!

Last of The Christmas Cards

That's it for another year...next year I really will try to start earlier as it has been quite stressful getting all the cards finished! Before we know it it will be Mother's Day!

Everything on this first card has been recycled - the lovely purple card started life as file dividers which were going to be thrown away at work. The ribbons were cut from clothing and the big silver snowflake was pulled from one of last year's cards.

I cut the baubles using two small nestie circles and embossed two of then with dots and swirls - to highlight the embossing I've coloured them with silver paint - very effective. I love the challenge of making cards like this from nothing.



This second card was actually a nightmare to make - it took ages to thread the ribbon through the holes in the Nellies die. The image is once again Ice Pop - the cutest snowman on the block. It's hard to see on the pic but the background is embossed withthe swiss dot embossing folder.



I love this final card - it's so touchy feely. The tree is made from a long triangle of card with grooves cut up each side then wound with fluffy wool. The baubles are big pink diamantes and it's finished off with a silver star and a ribbed silver pot. Very girly.

I'm now looking forward to making normal cards again!

2 Weeks To Go!

I'm frantically trying to get my Christmas cards finish - I'm getting sick of the sight of trees and snowman etc!



I love this quirky snowman image from the Digi Stamp Boutique. He's called Ice Pop and I've tried to make him frostier by using shades of ice blue. I've entered it in the following challenges:

Paper Cutz Challenge - digitally stamped snowman

A few more Christmas cards...

Back to the Christmas cards again - next year I am definately going to start making them in August!!


This card was very easy - all I used was a holly punch and some red diamantes. I made a circular base using two different size nesties then just stuck the punched holly shapes on top. The diamantes were used for the berries and a red bow finishes it off. I'm pleased with this - it has a very traditional feel to it.



I like the feel of wintery iciness in this card. The spotty paper is acually tiny baubles - it came free with a magazine a couple of years ago. The image is an Alex and felicity digi from DigiStamp Boutique, my current fave place for digis.

A Break From Christmas Cards......

I had a welcome break from Christmas cards this week when a work colleague asked for a 60th birthday card for her mam.


She asked for something with flowers so I used an old favourite - a lovely floral image I got with a Complete Cardmaking ages ago. The image was coloured with promarkers and decoupaged. I matched the image with a couple of patterned papers from the Dovecraft Happy Holidays pack, a contemporary red and green geometric pattern and a subtle two tone green pattern. It's finished off with some red diamante gems and a red ribbon. another happy customer!

It is also suitable for the following challenges...

Paper Cutz Challenge - Two patterned papers

Still Snowing #2

I spent an hour earlier this morning clearing about 10 inches of snow off the car that had been building up since Friday - I just wish it would go away now as it is seriously annoying me. I dread to think what the car park will be like tomorrow at work!




I made this simple card with a free embossing folder that came with a recent issue of Creativity magazine. I wanted something classic looking so I used a deep aubergine coloured card with gold paper and highlighted the edges of the tree with lilac ink. Purple diamantes and aubergine and gold ribbons were added to finish the look.

I've entered this card into a new challenge site I found called GingerloftChallenge - the criteria being to add a bow to your card.

Still Snowing!

It's STILL snowing here and I'm still making Christmas cards. If this continues I don't think I'll be leaving the house this weekend - the cupboards are full of food so I don't think we'll starve!

Even with all the wonderful stash you can get to make Christmas cards with I still have trouble making them for men...


I found this cute digi stamp on a wonderful site called Crafters Digital Art Center which I stumbled upon while jumping from blog to blog. There are loads of free images there but I would advise to download them as soon as you see them because the site is so vast you'll never find them again!! I printed a couple of these images, coloured them and decoupaged them and added some gorgeous starry paper from Dovecraft's Jolly Happy Christmas pack. I guess the result is quite masculine.

Snow Is Falling....

Like many in the North East of England, I woke up this morning in a winter wonderland. I reckon we had abou 4-5 inches through the night. The roads are treacherous - I took my other half to work this morning and even at 7.00 am traffic was travelling at about 15 mph.

So here I am, snug at home after doing the shopping, about to have a pleasant afternoon making Christmas cards - which I really should have started to make in September!

To get my creative juices flowing, here's a couple I've made, greatly inspired by the gallery on the DigiStamp Boutique website. I love these cute Christmas images.


This first card was inspired by Kerry Cox's lovely card featuring Francis the penguin - I love the contrast of the cerise and white and just to add a bit of dimension I decoupaged Francis' scarf. The snow flake punch was from Hobbycraft and I finished them off with diamantes.


The second card was inspired by a lovely card by Susan Baxter of a cute little girl called Chloe. The big snowflake is recycled from one of last year's christmas cards - I always pull off the useful bits! Pale blue diamantes were added and a tiny pom pom used as the snowballl.

Now to see what I can come up with myself!

Where has this year gone to?? I can't believe it's the middle of November and I am up to my eyes in glitter and snowflakes making Christmas cards...

Here's a couple of age birthday cards I made recently as an escape from all thing festive...


This first card was a commision from a work colleague who wanted something pink and girly. I love the combination of pink and black polka dots and the gosgrain ribbon finishes the card off nicely. As with all 'age' cards I use Word Art to make the number templates and then trace on to patterned paper. The paper was a freebie with a magazine - I always keep stuff that comes free with mags - you never know when it'll come in handy.

Same method used here but with a bigger number. The stripy paper is from a baby girl scrapbooking set I got from Poundland a couple of years ago - proof that crafting needn't cost a fortune. I'm not totally satisfied with this card - it seems very 'flat'. I've tried to lift it with some doodled stitches around the number but this isn't one of my favourite cards - hopefully the recipient won't be too bothered!

Caravan of Love!

A friend asked for an anniversary card for her parents who are avid caravan fans and I knew the ideal image to use. I've always loved these Jolly Nation decoupage figures - I just wish that they would bring out some new designs! The company seems to have died a death.

I'm off to Hobby Craft today with my mam. She has recently won £300 (yes - three hundred quid!!!) worth of vouchers so I am hoping to help her spend them - share the love and all that! She loves knitting and crocheting rather than cardmaking but surely she can't be spending that much on wool!

Some for the boys..

I didn't realise I had been away for so long!! I haven't stopped making cards - it's just getting the time to post them! Here's a couple of special requests I've recently had for little boys.


Bart Simpson is a favourite character for big and little kids and I had no problem finding plenty of images of him on the internet. What was good luck was finding an image with the name of the recipient next to it! I printed a couple of the same image and decoupaged it. I over-coloured with pro-markers to intensify the colours.

I've been experimenting with making my own backing papers by repeating an image in a table in Word then removing the lines giving the effect of a repeated pattern. I used an image of Bart's head and I'm really pleased with the result...


I used the same method for making the skull and crossbones paper on this card and enlarged the image slightly to make the three accents. The decoupaged image was a freebie with a magazine - Papercraft Essentials I think.

Happy Anniversary

Summertime is such a popular time to get married which is why I seem to have been inundated with requests for anniversary cards lately.

This first card is a very simple decoupage by Craft Creations, found very cheaply (no pun intended) in my local craft shop in Sunderland. The flowers and birds were so easy to cut and it was finished off by matting the image on red card and adding a computer printed greeting.


In this second card I totally left my comfort zone by using coloured card for the base card - usually everything I do is on cream or white card. The image is from the Lovebirds collection from the Digi Stamp Boutique and is coloured with pro markers which perfectly match the Papermania patterned paper. Couldn't resist the ribbon even though it is a bit naff.

Finally, the one I'm most chuffed with is this Golden anniversary card for a friend's parents. I used a mixture of Bazzill and Bazzill Bling white textured card. The embossing is done with a Cuttlebug embossing folder and the heart dies are also Cuttlebug The flower is from Dainty Supplies in Washington who do loads of lush wedding accessories and I finished it off with a pearl headed pin. I was inspired to make this card by one of my favourite bloggers, Michelle at The Card Grotto, whose cards are simply gorgeous.

Some for the Boys

Lordy, I didn't realise I have been away for so long - I guess life and work just took over a bit! I've still been making plenty of cards though!

Here's a couple of special requests I've had recently, both of which were for 40th birthdays. The club badges were found pretty easily on the interwebby. I printed several copies of each badge on to heavy paper rather than card (easier to cut out) and just decoupaged the image to make the badge stand out. The Liverpool card is the most successful as the badge is long rather than square and I feel the card is more balanced because of this.



The Manchester United badge is more of a square shape and I couldn't make it it any longer or it wouldn't have fit widthways. Still it was very easy to decoupage. Both recipients have apparently framed their cards and it does give me a little tingle to think of my 'artwork' being on someone's wall.

Christenings..

It must be the season for people to get their babies christened because I've had requests for quite a few lately... and all girls!

The first one was very simply made with a peel off crucifix which I triple mounted on white and pink card. The personalised greeting makes it extra special for the recipient and I finished it off with a pale pink ribbon down the right hand side.

Another crucifix but this time it was hand cut from white card, mounted on pink and silver paper then decorated with pink ribbon and gems. I added further spangly stars and mounted the greeting in the same way as the cross.


This one is my fave. I cut the 'dress' from white card (I drew the outline myself - hence the very basic style) and decorated it with a piece of old net curtain. some pink ribbon and some tiny pink pearl things which I got as part of a nail decorating kit! It looks so delicate but in reality was just made from scraps.

These are the cards I like making best - made from leftovers and scraps and costing very little. Cards don't have to have expensive embellishments on them to make them look good and if I ever do see an embellisment in a shop that I really like I examine it closely to see how it was made and try to copy it myself at home.

I Like Driving in my Car!

I love driving and I can't imagine being without my car! I had a trip out today to the new Range superstore that has recently opened in Stockton. I was impressed at the craft supplies they had there - quite a large selection, everything from Dandelion and Daisy stuff to punches and beads.

I treated myself to a new large daisy punch, some Papermania It's A Man's World decoupage sheets for Father's Day and some gorgeous embossed 8x8 card blanks to make some BIG cards!


I haven't actually made many cards lately. Like a lot of crafters I get just as much enjoyment out of buying stuff rather than sitting down and making stuff! Here's a card I recently made for someone who has just passed their driving test. The patterned paper is actually a map of the north east that I printed from the PC and the tiny road signs were also lifted from the internet and scaled down to size.

Another day.... Another Mother's Day Card (or 3)

The last lot of Mother's Day cards were finished last night to take into work this morning - I'm off tomorrow yay!!

When I'm tired I always fall back on simple lay-outs like this one. The pink flower is decoupaged usung some sheets I got from my local craft store in Sunderland for just 10p each. I am really loving decoupage at the moment.


More decoupage here but not as traditional! I have used loads of these La Pashe images from the 'Flippin' range and this one is just ideal for Mother's Day. The patterned paper on the front made me think of bathroom wallpaper anyway so it fitted perfectly.


My final effort with the Complete Cardmaking CD image, this time in delicate lilac shades. It really is a pleasure to colour and cut out.

I've had rather a strange request for a card that has got me thinking hard - someone wants a card for a 60 year old Cliff Richard fan - where on earth do I go with that theme??? Hopefully I'll have a dream about it and wake up tomorrow totally inspired!

More For Mother's Day...

I've become really attached to this image from the Complete Cardmaking CD - it is just so lovely and dead easy to colour


I've done this version in blue and lemon and decoupaged the butterflies as well as the flowers. It looked a bit bare until I added the peeloff borders which I normally avoid like the plague. I'm still not 100% sure about it but I'm a bit like a production line at the moment so it will have to do!!


I love this decoupaged flower - it was pre-cut so took just minutes to put together. The patterned paper came free with Creative Cardmaking some time ago. I always keep the freebie papers that come with magazines - you just don't know when you'll need them.

Flowers for Mum

Two weeks to Mother's Day and I'm up to my eyes with orders for cards. This is a quick card I made for this week's Allsorts Challenge using an image from the free CD that came with this month's Complete Cardmaking. I've coloured it with promarkers and done a bit of decoupage on the flowers. The patterned paper is from a collection by Nancy Watt that was also a freebie with a magazine. I usually use 'mam' rather than 'mum' cos that's what we say up here!

Just For Men

Whilst browsing the Sunday card challenges on a fab blog called The Daily Dare I came across a fortnightly challenge which actually started last Sunday on Rosie-D's Challenge Blog. Needing a card for a 50 year old Newcastle United football fan, as a lifelong Sunderland supporter I asked for forgiveness and came up with the following effort:



I had a template for a man's shirt which I just adapted by adding the black stripes and for the name and numbers, I coloured some peel-offs with a black permanent marker. I used the colours of Newcastle's away strip for the layering. The footballs are also peel-offs.

Cute As A Button...

Another baby, another card! It must be the season for having babies - everyone is at it! I got this cute image from the Digi Boutique which is my current fave online shop. It's coloured in with promarkers and finished off with aqua ribbon. The patterned paper is a freebie from a magazine. The photo has a bit of a pink glow caused by the sunrise this morning!



I am spending this evening sorting out my 12x12 papers into some very useful flat boxes that were being thrown out at work. I'm a total skip rat! I walk round constantly thinking to myself "what could I use that for??" but I think this is a habit most crafters have.

Challenge - Dare U 2 Digi Stamp

This chanllenge is from yesterday but I wanted to make something bright to cheer myself up - I am so sick of the snow which has returned overnight. I got these gorgeous papers free with this month's Simply Cards and Papercraft and the digi image is from the Digi Boutique.

White on White - Charisma Cardz Thursday Challenge

This challenge got me dead excited - I just love the look of cards using all one colour and the possibilities with white are endless. I made this card using a tiny daisy punch, some ribbon and some corregated white card. The middle of the flowers is peel-off waste - I save absolutely everything! The greeting is a E-Z Rub on transfer. This challenge business is great!

Cute Baby Boy - Sunday Challenge

Here's my first attempt at a challenge - I have followed the sketch from Sunday Sketch and Stamp blog for this card. The pram stamp is from the Clear Choice Baby Toys set and is coloured with my new pro-markers that Santa brought me. The paper is from the Imag-e-nation store in Washington - a bargain at only 35p for a 12x12 sheet

A Little Shopping ..... and the return of the lost mojo!

Totally lost my mojo over Christmas - must have had a bit of a glitter overdose with all those Christmas cards! A bit of crafty shopping has helped - had a lovely morning at Dainty Supplies and Imag-e-nation in Washington. Got some oval scallopped nesties that I can't wait to use and loads of little 'bits' - ribbons and gems and stuff like that.

Eased myself in gently by making a quick engagement card for a party we are off to tonight using my fave Papermania patterned paper and a Digi Boutique image