Hey,

Happy Friday!

So first full week off completed. I have been the vision of housewifery!! Cooking, laundry, meal planning. Honestly this is more exhausting than working!

I've also managed a fair amount of gym time and yesterday Wendel decided to torture me by making me do Bulgarian split squats WHILST I was doing rope slams. There were tears.

Bulgarian Split Squat

I am just posting this in time, so I can play along with the first Bugaboo challenge of 2018, it is Anything Goes. I thought it would be only fitting to play along as JT gave me the awesome stamp on my card by Bugaboo as part of our annual $20 challenge.

Unusually for me, I used the sentiment that came with the stamp, it is too perfect to replace and why don't real coffee cups come in this size?

As you can see I kept my card simple, just coloured the stamp using Promarkers and die-cut the panel out. I decided that the sentiment needed a little border to make it pop a bit. The backing paper is ancient, I have had it for about 7 years, it is the last piece (sob) and it worked so well here.

Have a great weekend. I'll be having a cooking break (I'm all housewifed out) and watching NFL.

Cx

Hey,

This week's cue card over at CASology is an interesting one...


I bet Glisten means a lot of different things to everyone!

I have this amazing glittery paperstack by DCWV that I have had for years, I use it very sparingly. It is so glittery that to me it glistens. Whenever I use it, people say that it looks like I went over it with glossy accents.

So for my card today, I dug out a small bronze piece to use. I have been making lots of thank you cards whilst I have been off, to thank people for all the kind things they have done for me following my surgery.

I decided to use a Docrafts stamp at the top of my white panel and I stamped it in gold and heat embossed it with Ranger Gold Sparkle embossing powder, to add a little extra glisten.

Here is a close-up -


Final touch was a couple of pieces of co-ordinating bling.

I really liked using the top 1/3 of my 'space' felt very CAS and was something I don't do that often, I am totally a middle, bottom or bottom right kinda girl - I wonder why that is?

Cx

Hi,

No WOYWW for me this week - I got in from Yoga at 10.30pm last night and was just too tired to write my post..

I haven't really been doing that many challenges lately..although you wouldn't believe that as I am entering 4 this week.

Since March, I have made myself only do the ones that I simply can't resist.

Retro Sketches is one of my fave challenge blogs and the current sketch #118 sparked an idea.


I am so pleased with my card, it feels really CAS - which I am a big fan of, but can't always manage..

The washi tape was a gift from JT as part of our $20 challenge last Thanksgiving. The hello die is new and by Technique Tuesday, it was part of the bonus shopping spree. I punched the stars from the same paper as the hello, using a EK Success mini punch.

I thought I should share something that made me smile whilst making this card. The white background paper is actually an old notecard. I had personalised stationery when we lived in London and as I am a paper fiend, I realised that the stock I'd chosen was perfect for cardmaking..waste not want not! I have been using them for months now and they are starting to run low..

I think I am going to send this card to my friend Steph, she is due a little note from me and the colours remind me of her.

Cx

Today is my Dad's birthday..I buy him the same thing every year (which he wants) so no surprises there. This means that I usually go to town on his card!

This year's card came about because I saw 'The Best Dad Ever' cutting file in the Silhouette store and fell in love with it.

I spent ages trying to find the right background paper and then remembered about the cool sheets of American Crafts Happy Birthday music paper.

It's all worked out quite nicely I think, especially with the addition of a Candi!

Happy Birthday Daddy, hope you have a good one.

Cx

Hello!

Team B are back this week over at MAWTT with a fun challenge from Sue...no design papers..which is challenging, but lots of fun, as you have to explore all other aspects of your kit.

I am very happy with my card, it's so cheerful! And I got to use lots of different parts of my kit.

I die cut a polaroid style frame using my Silhouette, paper doilies, a strip of blue paper, some buttons and twine. The image is a digital stamp by Pink Petticoat and part of the Beach Cottage image set..I love this set and it has beautiful papers.. I coloured the image using Faber Castell Gelatos and an aquabrush.

The lettering was tricky, because every time I tried a solid colour it fought with the blue strip..so I got creative and cut it out in white and then using a stencil I coloured it using 3 different shades of blue and a bit of white..complicated?! Maybe :)

Do pop over to the Moving Along With The Times blog and get inspired by the fabulous creations by the rest of the DT.

One more thing before I go...I just wanted to say Happy Anniversary to my Hubby..now I can finally give him his prize winning card :)

Cx

No I am not stealing ideas...but yesterday I did see a cool challenge on JT's blog and thought I'd enter too :)

JT's card is really awesome, I love the stamp on her card and suspect she's kept that away from my sticky paws!

The challenge at Addicted To Stamps this week is 'Anything Goes' and as I used a KennyK stamp (Fashionista) I thought I'd enter their challenge again :) Which is also 'Anything Goes'

This card is for my friend Karen and as she is pretty stylish I thought the Fashionista stamp would be perfect for her. I coloured the card using Promarkers with a touch of glitterglue here and there. I wanted a striped background - not sure why, but I am happy with the paper I chose in the end, which is by Studio Calico. I added Candi's that match the paper perfectly - score. And a little punched sentiment to finish it off.

A fun card for a fun friend :)

I've had a little play on the new sewing machine...more on that later in the week.

Hubby is cooking dinner and Dr Kevin is coming to join us - Happy Sunday!

Cx

My main photo today is of a birthday card I made for my friend Jade, we share the same birthday and the KennyK Blonde Bombshell stamp really reminded me of her.

I hadn't posted the card before, as I didn't want Jade to see it before it arrived. But I think it should be with her in Australia by now!

I am using it as my entry to the current KennyK challenge - #157 Anything Goes.

The background paper is from Michael's and part of a multicoloured set, the stamp was coloured using Promarkers and I chose Blue Lagoon for the dress, as I thought it was quite close in tonal values to Jade (the colour). The sentiment was made using my EK Success tag punch.

I love this card, it was such fun to colour and it really pops against the background.

WOYWW was fun yesterday, unfortunately I have to go to back to the hospital today for a bit of surgery...nothing major.

We said goodbye to Nkem this morning, so that's us back to normal for a little while...

Cx

Well not quite, but I did get Spotlight of the Week over on the KennyK Challenge blog!! Once again I won something with a card I made for Hubby..I think he might be a lucky charm. I got 1 KennyK digi and I chose Fashionista, can't wait to use her!

My main photo today is another card that was made during my remote playdate with JT on Sunday..

I am using it as my entry for the Designed to Color Challenge #19 - Anything Goes. Rules are simple you have to use a coloured image to enter.

I used a Flower Jar stamp by Bugaboo Stamps. I used the following Promarkers to colour the image -
Moss = leaves
Frosted Leaf = stems
Grey Squirrel = centre of the flowers
Pink Mittens, Tropical Orchid and Pink Carnation = flowers
Tropical Orchid and Morning Mist = jar label

JT and I used the recipe idea so - x3 papers, x3 embellishments, x1 sentiment and x1 coloured image. It is really easy and makes for fun cards.

I like the mix of papers I used here and I think the little bit of ribbon across the middle helps.

You will notice that I am watermarking my images now...I am trying to remember to do this every time, but I do forget. I have been fortunate enough to have a lot of repins of my work on Pinterest and I really wanted to discourage people from just randomly using my imagery, so have been attempting to watermark them so people know that it belongs to someone!

This makes me sound a bit mean! It's more to discourage the people that use my image and don't credit me! I always credit my sources, suppliers, blogs I use as inspiration etc and think it's only fair that others do the same.

Cx

Today is Ma and Amy's last day here, we are off to Coney Island..weather permitting.

On Friday a friend asked me to make a card to accompany her Thank You gift for her Cousin. Whilst playing in my new improved craft area (more about that later in the week) last night I stumbled across this great blog - Passion For Promarkers.

They have a challenge and their current challenge is a recipe - x3 papers, x1 image, x3 embellishments and x1 sentiment.

My main photo is my entry - using a Bugaboo Flower Mouse stamp as my image - coloured using Caramel, Tan, Pink Carnation, Moss, Honeycomb and Cocoa Promarkers, a Pink Petticoat sentiment, x3 papers - the x2 patterned ones are new and by DCWV and Crate Paper, my x3 embellishments are x2 brads and x1 button from my stash. I added a bit of twine for fun.

I love this card, it came out so well and I love the idea of a 'recipe' for a challenge, might have to do this remotely with JT.

Hope my friend's Cousin loves it too.

Cx

Retro Sketches - 78

Ha ha not really, but given the main photo today, I decided a bad pun was in order :)

I have been rummaging around looking for different challenges to enter, no real reason behind this search, I just fancied a change from my usual places.

I found a great site - The Alley Way Stamps - because they have superb freebies on their site. They also do a fun challenge and I decided to enter using one of their freebie stamps - the fishes in the main pic.

The inspiration for the challenge this time is -

TAWS #34 - Stripy Mug

As you can see from my card, I got lucky and had paper (by Crate Paper) that fitted the inspiration piece perfectly. I decided for a bit of fun to colour the fishes using colours from the mug. I added some bright Candi's to anchor my slightly wonky stamped piece - it's all a bit weird, but I like it and now have to find a home for him..

I have been up to all kinds of craft goodness this weekend, more about that later in the week.

Today I am doing what feels like a bejillion chores...mainly because I think I might be going back to work tomorrow, so would prefer to not have to do boring chores after work and have free time to craft and go out and play!

Cx

WOYWW was fun this week - despite my lack of 'stuff' to show, I enjoyed looking at what all my online buddies have been up to.

JT entered a fun challenge this week  on the Designed to Colour blog and I thought I'd be a bit of a copycat and enter it too.

This week's challenge (#17) is based on a colour theme -


The challenge requires you to use a coloured image and to use 3 or more of the colours shown above.

I've had this Stamping Bella luggage stamp that I hadn't used yet and I thought it would be perfect for this challenge. I like to scan in stamps - mainly because then I can adjust the size of them.

The tricky part of making this card was getting the yellow in. Eventually I settled for using it for subtle accents on the cases. I decided I didn't really like the Stamping Bella 'Bon Voyage' greeting and so made my own - using the word window punch - big fave right now!

The Chevron washi tape is not actually tape, but sheets of washi tape paper by We R Memory Keepers - it's very useful and works really well on this card. The green grid paper is by American Crafts.

I'm happy with the how the card came out, it's kind of quirky!

Cx

Hello!

Hope you had a nice weekend, ours was quiet after last week's extreme partying...

I have been making a few cards for sale (a local shop wants to stock my stuff) based on this idea - which I have modified to suit my tools.

It came to me that the ones I have been making would work perfectly for the CAS-ual Friday challenge this week - #111 Buttons and if I chose the sentiment carefully it would work as a card for a good friend.

So the main photo is my entry. I am really pleased with the end result and hope my friend will be too.

I used scrap paper for both the patterned paper (My Minds Eye) and the white spotty embossed paper. The butterfly is the teeniest die from an Xcut set I have. The sentiment was punched using my shiny new word window punch by Stampin' Up. The button and the twine are from my stash.

Here are the cards I had made before, which sparked the idea, you can see I switched out the Candi for a button -


Here is one on it's own, so you can see it in detail.

Cutout Heart - With Love

I love these cards - not just because they are super simple. but because I can use all the scraps I have kicking around.

Cx

As you can gather from the title of my post it is Hubby's birthday today...

We have been having fun celebrating his birthday, starting with an amazing dinner at Tommy Lasagna, which does 8 types of Lasagna and as Hubby can eat Lasagna like Garfield he loved it..

The main card is his card and I believe it's an uber glam version of me - LOL..well not really it's Mae West by Kenny K and I just coloured her to match my skin tone and hair (if I had any..) I really like the blue and black Zebra paper, I think it makes it feel quite edgy.. It says Happy Birthday Baby, because I always call him baby..soppy I know :)

We are going to have a nice relaxing brunch today and I have a stack of cards from the UK for him and the odd gift or two.

Hope you all have a lovely Sunday too.

Cx

So I finished the first page of my new 2013 journal.

I am very pleased with the result. It's the first time that I have attempted a photo style journal and I like it!

The photos on the page are of - Mexican night! My leaving do, the snow and my new nail colour! Here is a close-up.

Jan Journal page - Close-up

I've realised that I probably need to plan my space better...

Here's a sneak preview of the layout for February. I changed the layout, as I felt that with the delay to the big move, there would be more use of 2 pages in Feb. I have lots planned this month, so I should be able to fill it :)

Feb Journal Pages

I like the look of the Feb layout, it's got some of the new Grace Taylor Journaling tags that I got on sale and a bit of bling!

Cx

So it's my last day at work today. It's been hard work for 7 months, but I've met some nice people. So to say thank you, I decided to give people a calendar.

I wanted to wrap them nicely and write a little note.

The main photo is of the calendars with a note, wrapped and embellished.

I am very pleased with these. I used plain kraft paper sheets from Paperchase, and wrapped them around the calendar and secured with tape, making a kind of pouch. I then cut out these journaling cards to use for writing notes.


But I felt they didn't stand out against the paper enough so, I mounted them onto slightly bigger pieces of paper and I used scraps from the Amy Tangerine paper set..again! Here's a photo, but I had to mask it off, so you can't see the journaling cards, as I was dumbo and wrote on them before taking the photos - doh!

The butterflies, were cut using my shiny new Xcut butterfly dies - yes lots of new treats for me, but with the move, no clothes, no bags, no nothing..but the craft boxes have space, so if it can fit in then I can buy it!! Whoo hoo!! I used scraps of paper and co-ordinating Candi's, I think it all looks a bit shabby chic?

Here is one last close-up photo of the blue butterflies, you can just see some of the journaling paper peeking out.


So I guess this is me saying goodbye and thanks..

Cx

Whoo hoo! It's Wednesday, so it's time for WOYWW, hosted by the wonderful Julia over at Stamping Ground.

If you are new to WOYWW, it's the time of the week where you get to look at craft desks from around the world - whatever state they are in.

As you can see my desk is a bit equipment heavy this week and seriously untidy!! I hardly ever leave my desk like this, but with the snow, the epic journey to work and the cold, I just haven't felt like tidying...don't judge me...

I decided to follow Julia's twofer post from WOYWW 189 and give you bonus desk pictures. The main photo is of my entire desk and I thought you might not be able to see the detail (this is the best bit of WOYWW for me - the nosing at the detail..), so here are 3 more photos.

Left Side -

Some boxes full of odd bits and bobs - papers, embellishments, etc, on top of the boxes are some anniversary cards that I thought I'd finished, but now think they should have a greeting - advice please. You can also see some paper twine (which I love and it's from Poundland!), Sizzix die cut flowers and Scottie Dog die cuts, the flower punches from last week and a small selection of pro-markers, tape, stamps - aaaaaaargh!! Why is there so much and this is ONE side of my desk....

Middle -

The Big Shot, the new journal layout - just peeking out behind that is my set of Xcut tag dies, my stack of ribbon, in the background propped against the glue pots is a little New Baby gift I am playing with - you can just see the blue felt 'Y' against the patterned paper. On top of the big shot to the right are some magnetic shims I am trying out (£2 on sale) - so far so good I really like them.

Right Side -

Good old ATG + glasses on top, Sizzix packaging....more new stuff (oops), scissors, my desktop recycling bin that needs emptying, my paper trimmer, various punches and inks and just poking out from under the Sizzix packaging is my beloved Versamark black ink pad - what on earth would I do without you?

How on earth did my desk get so messy?! To reward you for your patience and to prove I do not just buy new goodies and that I do actually craft :) I took a photo showing of the Scottie Dog card I am planning for a boy birthday.

Cute right? I'm also hoping to make a few of these for sale on the website...which needs updating with the Valentine's Day stuff...this weekend for sure.
Happy WOYWW and thanks for your patience today.

Cx

We are not discussing the snow! I had to wfh yesterday, which is nice and a pain all at once. Today seems better but they are now running a reduced service on the trains...

Anyway, yesterday I told you about my new project - a Journal for 2013. I wondered if I could make a journal without having to purchase anything new? Also this year is a big one for me, with the move to NYC and turning 40, so a journal seems like a good idea.

So I thought I would share how I am putting mine together. Basically I don't want to embellish all of the pages. I want to try and do that closer to the month of the page, so that I can think about complimenting the photos and things that are going on the page.

The main photo today is of the papers I am using to create my pages. I've used the pretty set by American Crafts - I've been using it a lot :) I cut the papers to size, x2 of each from each paper (x4 of one kind) and round the corners. I haven't been too accurate with my cutting to size..

I realised that I would need to plan how to use the 20 pages of my album, so I did a little drawing..


As you can see I have dedicated 6 pages to Sept, which is my birthday month...I am anticipating an action packed lead up to my 40th..

The album is one of 3 that I bought at Michael's in Las Vegas in 2011 and I've had no idea what to do with them.

Album - closed

Album - open

I also cut out shapes for writing on and arrows for the month - I used a mixture of papers for these.

Framelits arrow die, used for 'Month'

Shapes and index cards for 'Text'

I wanted to show you a pre-planned page (for July), so you could see how all the elements plus embellishments will come together. Notice the bicycle that was on my desk on WOYWW 189..

A July page

Below is the finished spread.

July pages finished

You can see I've stamped the month onto the arrows, added some Candi's to the bicycle, added another tag/embellishment, but there is plenty of space for photos, notes, tickets, whatever!

Tomorrow is WOYWW so I'll be back on Thurs to show you what the album looks like now all the pages are in (some finished, some in planning..)

Cx

I have been a very efficient bunny!

I have bought all of the Christmas presents and wrapped them all. They all look very beautiful thanks to Panduro Hobby.

I saw an idea on their site (shown below) and thought with a bit of modifying it would be really nice and easy for Christmas. I liked it because you could mix and match your papers and ribbons and even though I like a bit of uniformity in my wrapping I get bored every year when I choose a theme and then have to stick with it.



The main photo today is of a little stack of presents for various people, I think they look gorgeous and I have started distributing some of the gifts already and everyone has said how much they love the wrapping. Which is nice and makes the effort worth while.

So what did I use...

Plain brown paper - available everywhere
Block colour and patterned bright wrapping paper - from Hema in Amsterdam
Various patterned ribbons - from Ikea
Gift tags - handmade by me, using x3 Woodware punches - super dupa circle, scalloped circle and snowflake.

I tackled the extensive wrapping task in x3 phases..
Phase 1 - wrap everything in brown paper, write the recipients name in pencil on the paper (in a spot where it will be covered)
Phase 2 - add the brightly coloured paper and 1st stage of ribbon
Phase 3 - make gift-tags to co-ordinate with the coloured paper and add to gift, finish the ribbon tying

Sounds like a lot of work, but honestly it was easy peasy. Here are a few more photos.

Close-up on Ma's tag...present it a bit Carrot shaped!

I tried a different technique with the ribbon here

Close-up of the tags and you can see all the beautiful ribbon in detail

Now that JT and I are post HamnMule Christmas and craft fairs, I have been enjoying all these little projects and I've taken loads of photos of what I have been up to so should have a few more posts before Christmas. One of my favourite projects was making my Christmas Thank You's - as you know I love a Thank You set and I think this years ones are the best yet!

Cx

I now have 2 heart punches, a heart embossing folder and a box full of foam and felt hearts...

I am starting to think I might have a bit of a thing for hearts!

This comes as a surprise to me, as I have always found hearts a bit twee, but I am starting to find more and more non-love ways to use them.

Today's main photo is of an anniversary card that I made (well I made 5). I have been dying to use the heart paper for ages, but it wasn't cheap and so I wanted to maximise it as it only came in 4 x 6 sheets, it's'All About Girls' by DCWV. I like the contrast of the green scalloped heart (Woodware Punch).

However I think it's only fair that I point out that the idea stemmed from the card set I made for the next craft fair - photos below are of the original idea -




I finally bought 'Happy Anniversary' peel-offs and it came to me that they would work really well with this card - so out came the green permanent marker and voila! an Anniversary card (or 2..)

Cx