April's Crafty Escape

What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday???

2012-02-29T09:55:00.000Z

Hello All! well this week finds me finishing off my Mum's Mothersday card, it's taken me an age, but it's now almost done :o) There's oodles of glamour dust on it but you can't see that in the photo.

You will see I have finally crumbled and given into the tempation of 'Distress Ink', my lovely Mum has treated me to an ink pad and tool which I have been umming and ahhring over buying for a while, I have got one for now just to have a try, vintage photo, as I will use that colour most for aging papers but I'm sure I will end up with more :o)

The cards I was working on last week are propped up at the back, they really need to go in the post pronto!

That's about all this week, I'll be hopping over to Julia's later to see some desks, have a lovely day x

Masculine "Get Well" Card

2012-02-24T11:17:00.001Z

My Mum was hunting for a nice Get Well card for a friend of hers but was struggling to find one that wasn't too girly! It was for a man who is ex-RAF so I instantly thought of this digi stamp which I was lucky enough to win from Stitchy Bear some time ago.

It had to be a quick one, so I cut 3 strips of co-ordinating papers from the DCWV Latte stack, using a corner punch to take off the 2 opposite corners and layered everything up, I then stamped the Get Well sentiment using Brilliance Starlight Black ink.

I'm quite happy with the result for a quick male card. Hope it cheers the recipient up a little :o)

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Cute Card Thursday - Winged Things

Penny's - Anything Goes

Creative Card Crew - Masculine

The Paper Shelter - Add a Sentiment

Simons Says Stamp - 3 Different Papers
Dream Valley - Just for Men
Allsorts - Anything Goes
One Stitch at a Time - Digi or Don't

What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday? WOYWW??

2012-02-22T09:36:00.000Z

Here we are at Wednesday again! I have mainly been working on my Mum's Mothersday card this week, but that's over on the side with glue etc drying, so I'm currently finishing off a couple of Birthday cards for my Boyfriends brother and his partner. They are both cards I started months ago and then put away while I concentrated on Xmas cards etc so thought I'd better get them finished and make use of them.

You will also see a lovely First Edition paper pad over to the left, I treated myself to this at the weekend :o) Last week I was messing about scoring envo-box things, well I got fed up with those so made some little folder type card holders instead, much easier and I think a little prettier too, there's one propped up at the back of my desk.

I'll be heading over to Julia's later to take a peek at some desks, bye for now x

What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday?? WOYWW??!!!!

2012-02-15T09:40:00.001Z

Hello all, I'm sure last Wednesday was only yesterday.... anyway, here is my desk today.

I've nearly finished the puppy card that was in the making last week, it's just sat there with the glue drying on the rosette. I've made a quick Get Well card as my Mum needed one for a friend and she was finding it hard to find a suitable one for a man, he is ex RAF so I thought a spitfire would work well.

As you can see I'm trying to make an envo-box type thing.... I've made 2 now the first was too small and the second was too big!!! Grrrr it's the measurements for scoring the diagonal lines that I just can't get my head around for some reason! I ran out of time to have another go so hopefully my next attempt will be right!

I'll be heading over to Julia's a little later to take a peek at a few desks, have a good day :o) x

Valentine's Card :o) x

2012-02-14T10:38:00.002Z

Here is the Valentine's card I have made for my wonderful Boyfriend. For the background I used glittered cardstock from DCWV Alphabet Stack. I used X-Cut nesting heart dies to cut the hearts from various card stock. I stamped and embossed the sentiment on the red heart, I used a swiss dots embossing folder to give the silver heart some additional texture and covered the small black heart with glossy accents, just so each one had a different finish.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Truly Scrumptious - Love & Hearts

Creative Inspirations - Lots of Love

C.R.A.F.T Challenge - Valentine's Day

Penny's - Love is in the Air

Crafty Catz - Valentine's
Allsorts - Free & Easy
Cute & Girly - Love is in the Air
Dream Valley - Valentine
Totally Gorjuss - Lurve!
Joanna Sheen - Love is in the Air

Liebster Blog Award :o)

2012-02-09T14:37:00.000Z

Thanks soooooo much to Sandee who nominated me for the Liebster Blog Award! What a lovely suprise!

The Liebster Award is given to smaller bloggers who have 200 or less followers in the hope it will bring them new followers and friends. The tradition is that it is then passed on to five other blogs to help them too. If you want to accept the award the steps are:

1. Link back to the persons blog who gave you the award and thank them.
2. Post the award on your blog.
3. Give the award to five fellow bloggers who inspire you.
4. Leave a comment on their blogs to let them know.

So now it falls to me to nominate 5 fellow bloggers who have inspired me, now that's the tough part... can I really narrow it down to just 5??!!!! Well here goes..... the following people have all inspired me in one way or another over the past 10 months that I have been blogging, so thanks so much to you all.

Anne ~ Copper Beech Crafts

Anne ~ The Scrapbook Garden

Lisa ~ Crafting Belle

Susan ~ Craftin Suzie

Fuchsia (Lynn) ~ Fuchsia's Crafty Notions

WHAT'S ON YOUR WORKDESK WEDNESDAY?? WoYWW??

2012-02-08T09:35:00.000Z

Another Wednesday?? Really!! and this wednesday finds my desk a little messy... again!! just making a start on a couple of cards, I'm having a little think about the layouts before I go any further with them. I've also been looking through some stamped images to decide on what to use, but then I remembered this cute puppy digi stamp which I coloured ages ago and think that will go nicely on one of them. I'm just holding off on cutting out the ovals for the puppys to go on as I have a set of scalloped oval dies on the way so I may want to use one of those. Not much else to say really.... not entirely sure how many different glues and adhesives I really need but after looking back at this piccie I really ought to cut down!!

Thanks for stopping by, there are many more desks to see over at Julia's where I will be heading later to take a peek. Have a lovely day x

Horse Birthday Card

2012-02-02T10:04:00.005Z

Here is a card I made using a lovely image from Stitchy Bear Stamps. I love horses and really enjoyed colouring this image, I used promarkers for this. The papers are some gorgeous printables from Stamping All Day (link to the right) I really love these papers and they work so well with blue or pink.

I stamped the sentiment using Versamark and embossed in silver. The lovely Horse charm was in some goodies I got for Xmas :o) Pink and Brown is always a fave combo for me but after doing this card I love the Blue and Brown combo too :o) x

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Secret Crafters Saturday Challenge - Ribbons

One Stitch at a Time - Use a Digi
Dream Valley - Animals
Sparkles - New Craft Goodies (New Horse Charms)
Kaboodledoodles - All About the Girls
Simon Says Stamp - Animal Antics
Fab n Funky - Use a Digi
Crafty Sentiments - Punches & Dies
Do You Stack Up - Anything Goes
Stamptacular Sunday - Diamonds or Pearls*
*I preferred to use pearls on this particular card as they seemed to fit with the style best

WOYWW?? What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday??!!

2012-02-01T09:30:00.000Z

Hello all, well the wednesday's are comming around even quicker this year!!!

This week you find me "having a go" at a Vintage style card, it's not a style I've tried much as I'm lacking in the distress style products, but I finally got around to making my own glimmer mists using food colouring, acrylic paint and some gold pigment that I already had and I think they turned out pretty good, so I used them on the flowers that I made using some old book pages, think it's comming together quite well so it will probably end up being a Mothersday card for my boyfriends Mum.

Pop over to Julia's to see what everyone else is up to! Thanks for stopping by, have a lovely day.

What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday?? WOYWW??

2012-01-25T09:35:00.000Z

Hello all, here we are at Wednesday again. Well I did have a tidy up once I finished the card I was working on last week, so I have included a photo of my tidy desk, taken on Sunday, to prove it was tidy :o) and also of my desk today, this is me trying to get inspiration for a Wedding card! and if you hadn't guessed by all the stuff on my desk I'm struggling a little :o)
I am a little better organised now, my Mum was throwing away an old coffee table so I have put it under the drawers that I have by my desk, it makes it much easier for me to get in the lower drawers and also gives a little storage area underneath. I picked up some little drawers in the pound shop just after Xmas and have just got around to putting all my gems, pearls and charms in them which has free'd up one of my larger drawers for other "stuff". I also swapped my chair for a stool which was at Mum's house, it's much more comfy as it's padded rather than my wooden chair and also I can reach the floor behind me more easily!! why would I need to reach the floor behind me you may well ask..... well, it's because when my desk is in it's less tidy state, paper pads etc end up on the floor behind me :o)

Thanks for stopping by, I'll be taking a look at the list of desks at Julia's later on. Have a great day x

Pretty in Pink, Cupcake Birthday Card

2012-01-20T10:13:00.005Z

Here is my first Birthday Card creation of 2012 :o)

I've had the digi stamp a long time, but I'm sure it's from Designed2Delight. I coloured the image using promarkers and for a change I dug out my watercolour pencils (that I'd almost forgotten about) to edge around the image rather than the chalks I usually like to use, I'm happy with the result but think I'll probably stick to chalks. I added glitter to the flowers and candle flame and to the flower in the centre of the ribbon, just for a bit of sparkle!

I layered up various pretty pink papers, added ribbon and pearls and here it is....

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

One Stop - Spots & Ribbon

The Crafty Pad - Sparkle

Dream Valley - Anything Goes

Papertake Weekly - Button's, Bling, Bows & Blooms

Pollycraft - Bingo! (my line is ribbon, sparkle, flowers)

I love Promarkers - Anything Goes

Joanna Sheen - Celebrations

ABC - H is for Happy Birthday

Creative Inspirations - Favorite Colour (Pink) & White

Paper Pretties - Use Glitter

WHAT'S ON YOUR WORKDESK WEDNESDAY?? ~ WOYWW???

2012-01-18T11:23:00.000Z

Wow is it really Wednesday again??!!

This week you will see I am only just getting round to finishing the card that was on my desk last week!! In my defence I did spend the weekend working on another project which is actually still all over the kitchen worktop! however that is a pressie for someone who visits my blog so can't reveal anything yet, but let's just say it will keep me busy for some time to come :o) I have also started another card which is hidden under that piece of scrap paper behind my chalks, but that's also a secret for now too! so I'm just adding chalk to the verse and sentiment ready to stick on the card and it will be complete, so almost done. My desk is a mess this week, I'm hoping to have a bit of a tidy up after I finish this card so I have a bit more room to work in again!

Thanks for stopping by, I'll be heading over to Julia's later to take a peek at some desks, have a great day! x

What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday??? WOYWW??

2012-01-11T10:27:00.000Z

Hi, hope everyone is well!

Another Wednesday sneeks up on us :o) This week you find me mid way through an 80th Birthday card. It was my birthday last week and you can see some of my lovely gifts over to the left hand side, some dies and an embossing folder, you can see I am making good use of some of those dies already! Towards the very top left there's a couple of little thank you cards, they're all done they're just waiting for me to make envelopes for them, which I plan to do tonight. Towards the back is a couple of Christmas bargains which were just 50p in the pound shop sale! I picked them up to use on a project later in the year. Don't think there's much else, thanks for stopping by, I will be heading over to Julia's later to take a peek at some more desks. Have a great day x

WOYWW?? What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday and THE BOOK!

2012-01-04T12:42:00.001Z

Hi and Happy New Year to all! Well here we are at the first WOYWW of 2012. Hope everyone had a great Christmas and managed to get all of their projects finished in time :o) I did finally complete "The Book" I had been working on in the run up to Christmas, you can see photo's of that if you would like after my desk pic.

Here is my desk, you will see a card I finished at the weekend (better photo's in my previous post) There's some Xcut dies and Rose Colored Glasses papers which were Xmas gifts which I couldn't wait to get playing with.

And here are the photo's of the book I was working on in the run up to Christmas, would love hear what you think of it. My Mum loved it so all the hard work was worth it :o)

I would like to enter this book into the following challenges:

Sparkles - 1st Birthday Challenge - Anything NOT a Christmas Card

Sentimental Sundays - Anything

Paper Sundaes - Something Old & New*

*(Old = Photo's & New = Sweet Owl Paper Pad)

Papertake Weekly - Anything

Top Tip Tuesday - Anything

Simon Says Stamp - New Something**

**(New = Stash - Sweet Owl Paper Pad)

Crafts & Me - Anything

Emerald Faeries - Flourishes / Swirls (see pic 5 of book)

My Mum's Craft Shop - Something New (Stash - Sweet Owl Paper)

Pollycraft - Punch It (see pic's 1, 3, 10 & 11 of Book)

The Paper Shelter - Anything

CUTE LITTLE BIRDIE "THANK YOU" CARD for PENNY'S "BIRDS" CHALLENGE

2012-01-01T13:57:00.004Z

Hello all and a Happy New Year to everyone!

Before Christmas I was lucky enough to have my entry into Penny's "Merry Christmas" challenge picked out at random, this also gave me the opportunity to be a Guest DT on their next challenge which is "Birds"

After receiving some lovely X-Cut Dies for Christmas along with some Rose Colored Glasses patterned paper I was itching to have a play with them, so here is my take on the Bird's theme. I coloured the little birdie using Promarkers and added buttons and pearls to finish off. The inside is stamped with a Thank You sentiment.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Charisma Cardz - Anything Goes

Crafty Creations - Thanks

Creative Inspirations - Anything Goes

Scrapbook Sisters - Anything Goes

Crafts and Me - Anything Goes

One Stitch at a Time - Use a Digi

WHAT'S ON YOUR WORKDESK WEDNESDAY??? WOYWW?? - The Book.... Finally!

2011-12-21T08:51:00.001Z

Hi all! The last WOYWW before Christmas :o) Hope everyone is getting organised and ready for the day! that's right THE day!!! It's amazing how much preparation is needed for just ONE DAY!! I love it though, and am feeling much happier about it's rapid approach now I have finished the gift for my Mum, "the book" which has been ongoing for many months now!! as my regular visitors will know I have been breaking off from it to make Christmas cards, Birthday cards etc etc so never really had a good run at it so it ended up taking months!

I'm afraid it's only the front cover on show today, as I only had time for a quick photo before work, but I will definitely take photo's of it all and post in the next WOYWW for anyone who wants a peek inside, it's filled with old photo's, some nice verses and sentiments. All I need to do now is make a box for it and add the little tag I have made which I will do over the next couple of days. I will also be tidying up the huge mess that has been created throughout the completion of the book! My desk is an absolute tip and I cannot wait to tidy it up, I know getting crafty creates a mess but I'm at that stage where I can't find anything!!!!

Anyway, thanks for stopping by! Have a great Christmas! I will be popping over to Julia's a little later to visit some desks. x

WHAT'S ON YOUR WORKDESK WEDNESDAY? WOYWW?? - And some Fantabulous Bunting :o)

2011-12-14T09:23:00.000Z

Hi All,

Oh my gosh!!! another week closer to Christmas! My regular visitors will know that I gave up making Christmas cards last week as I had managed to make enough for Family and closest Friends so I drew the line there to make time to finish the book I am making for my Mum as a Christmas gift, the doings of which are (at last) all over my desk this week! I have made quite a bit of progress however I don't think I'm quite half way yet so really need to get a move on now. I am loving trying something new, this is my first project that is not a card but as I am kind of finding my way with it I feel it is taking longer than it would for most people. Alot of time seems to be taken up on the computer too deciding on which photo's and verses to use, but it's starting to come together now.

Scroll down past my desk photo to see the gorgeous bunting that Lunch Lady Jan sent to me, it's great! it's actually bigger than I imagined but I think it fits nicely across my blinds. There's 2 piccies as my camera was struggling to take a good picture with the lights of my tree, to be honest none of the photo's I could take did the bunting (or my tree) justice! my camera just couldn't cope with the different lighting!

Thanks for stopping by, I will be popping over to Julia's later on today to have a peek at some of your desks, bye for now x

MODERN STYLE CHRISTMAS CARD

2011-12-09T12:06:00.000Z

I wanted to have a go at a few modern styled Christmas cards this year, here is one of them. This one is now winging it's way over to my Uncle in Australia so hope the glitter doesn't all fall off on the way :o)

I used a DL sized card blank but trimmed it down a little so it had a slimmer appearance. For the trees I cut varied sized triangles from coloured card stock. For the Black and White trees I embossed them with a dotty embossing folder then coloured over the raised dots with a glue pen and covered with glamour dust just to give them a little bling! The sentiment is embossed using white powder, the lovely stamp I used is from Stamping All Day, link to the right if you'd like to take a look. I really love the style of this stamp!

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Cute Card Thursday - Anything Goes

ABC Challenge - E for Embossing

Moving Along with the Times - Last Minute Christmas

Crafty Creations - Card with a Sentiment

Sarah Hurley - Christmas

Penny's - Merry Christmas

Emerald Faeries - Christmas (Non Traditional Colours)

A SNOWY CHRISTMAS CARD FOR MY MUM :O)

2011-12-08T14:38:00.002Z

Here is the card I've made for my Mum, she LOVES snowmen so when I found the lovely glittery snowman paper in a Dovecraft Let it Snow pack I knew I had to use them in a creation for my Mum. I was also itching to use my Marianne Creatables snowflakes dies and a super cute snowman digi stamp I won a while back from Robyns Fetish.... so I set to work and after more than a couple changes in direction, this is what came together.

The glittery snowflakes were made by die cutting plain white snowflakes, adding a little colour to the centres using promarkers, I then completely covered each snowflake with Glossy Accents and then coated with Glamour dust, bit messy and fiddly but the final result was worth it. I also glitzed up the little white mulberry poinsettias by dismantling them and coating the layers with glossy accents and glamour dust, I then reassembled them and added some silver spacers and pearls for the centres. The cute "With love to you at Christmas" stamp is from Stamping All Day, there's a link in my sidebar if you fancy a look.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Totally Papercrafts - Let it Snow

One Stop - Let it Snow

Cute & Girly - Let it Snow

Dream Valley - Sparkle
Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes
Pollycraft - Christmas Fun
Simon Says Stamp - Christmas Photomontage Inspiration
Top Tip Tuesday - Let it Snow
Creatalicious - For Christmas + Sparkle
Crafts and Me - Snow / Snowflakes

WHAT'S ON YOUR WORKDESK WEDNESDAY??? WOYWW??!!!

2011-12-07T10:33:00.001Z

Wednesday again!!!Arrggggggg the weeks are flying by with ever increasing momentum now!

This week finds me doing my last couple of Xmas cards, haven't made as many as I'd hoped but I've done enough for family and close friends so any others that I send will have to be from my bought stash! Regular visitors will notice the memories book that I am hoping to have done for an xmas pressie is still sat to the left of shot having not moved since last week!!! I decided I should concentrate on getting cards finished as they need to be sent quite soon then I'm going to finish the book, so hopefully come next week you will see me in full book production... time will tell on that one, I'm putting the xmas decs up at the weekend so how much crafting time I will get is hanging in the balance!

Last week Julia asked if there was a box of pineapple chunks on my desk??!! healthy food in my little crafty heaven?? I think not! :o) it's actually a tub of my sponges that I used for inking edges etc, this week it is open as I've just been using them!

Oooh I almost forgot, I have a new lamp too :o) top right of shot, well I shouldn't have it yet really, it's my xmas pressie off my lovely Mum, she ordered me a daylight lamp online but when it arrived the box was badly damaged so she was worried the lamp may be damaged so she gave me it early to test it works ok, and yes it does :o) it's great!!! it gives much better light than my old lamp!

Hope you are all well this week, thanks for stopping by, I'll be heading over to Julia's later for a peek at some desks, bye for now x

WHAT'S ON YOUR WORDESK WEDNESDAY??!! WOYWW??

2011-11-30T09:17:00.000Z

Oh My! is it me or are these wednesday's coming round faster and faster as the festive season approaches???

Comparing my desk from last week to this you would think I've not done much crafting! But I have... I promise :o) you will see I am a little further on with my Mum's xmas card, I have decided to make it an easel card so I'm just getting the base together, I broke off from this card at the weekend though to do my Boyfriend's birthday card and I also made a start on his Xmas card too, he was out most of the weekend so thought I'd better do his while he wasn't around to see it :o) so I'm afraid for now those are hidden away.

To the left of the piccie you will see some of the pages for the book I am trying to make for my Mum for xmas, I have put them there as they had been sidelined whilst I made Xmas cards but I now really need to get on with it else I'm not going to have it ready in time! I'm hoping to get a good bit of crafting time in this weekend so hopefully the book will have progressed by next week :o)

Thanks for stopping by, have a great day. I'll be heading over to Julia's later to see what others have been up to! x

WHAT'S ON YOUR WORKDESK WEDNESDAY??? WOYWW??

2011-11-23T10:37:00.000Z

Hello all, another week has flown by and Wednesday has snook up on me and caught me in a complete mess!!!! I had two lovely free evenings for some crafting time and this is the aftermath :o) You will see I am halfway through my Mum's xmas card, which I had been trying to decide what I wanted to do for weeks, I made a start a couple of weeks ago then changed my mind but have finally managed to settle on a design and it's now starting to come together. I finished the couple of cards that were on my desk last week, think you can just about see those on the left hand side of the first piccie. I'm definitely going to have to have at least a bit of a tidy up before I try and do any more crafting as my little space to work in is now getting very tight :o)

Thanks for stopping by, head over to Julia's to see what everyone else has been up to. Have a great day x

What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday?? WOYWW??

2011-11-16T10:17:00.000Z

Hi All! here we are at another WOYWW! the weeks are flying by faster than ever now. You will see I haven't got much further than last week with the penguin and santa cards, I really need to get my embossing stuff out to do the sentiments to finish them off but I'm kind of waiting 'til I have a few bits of embossing to do before I get it all out! I've been colouring a couple of digi stamps ready to use on xmas cards and I'm just adding some glamour dust accents to give them a bit of xmas sparkle :o) Not had much time to craft this past week but am hoping to have some more time this weekend to get further with my memories book which is in progress but not on my desk this week and some more xmas cards too.

Thanks for stopping by, I will be hopping over to Julia's later to see what everyone has been up to. Have a great day. x

What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday?? WOYWW??

2011-11-09T09:27:00.000Z

Hi all, this week finds me finishing off some Xmas cards I started a couple of weeks ago. My regular visitors will already know I am spending my crafting time switching between Xmas cards and a Memories Book depending on how my mood takes me :o) (see last weeks post) You can just about see some bits and pieces for the book under the ribbon and card to the left. Most of the "stuff" to the back of my desk is still there from last week. There are 2 of the tartan patern bows as I couldn't decided between a double or a single bow, as you can see I picked the single one! The double one just looked too much, but I'm sure it will get used on something else, obviousley I will be trimming the ribbon down :o) then I just need to add a sentiment to that one and it will be done. I've cut some layers to make a snowflake themed card but am undecided on an image to use so thats kind of on hold for now, something will spring to mind soon enough. The Santa card is nearly done, will probably just pop a Mulberry Poinsettia on there and a sentiment to finish it off. Think thats about it for this week, will hop over to Julia's later to have a peek at some more desks, thanks for stopping by and have a great day! x

Smiley Snowman Christmas Card

2011-11-08T13:09:00.004Z

For this card I used some lovely glittery snowflake paper from a Penelope and Percy christmas paper pack, I also embossed snowflakes onto the card blank to give a glistening finish. I cut the various circles using a Martha Stewart Circle Cutter. I coloured the image using promarkers and used Diamond Stickles for edging and accents on the snowman.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

The Paper Shelter - Christmas Fun

Creative Inspirations - Lashings of Sparkle

Allsorts - Anything But Square

Gem of a Challenge - Cold & Frosty

Crafty Catz - Anything Goes

Papertake Weekly - Christmas Card

Top Tip Tuesday - Anything Christmas Goes

Charisma Cardz - Cutesy

Dream Valley - Anything Goes

What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday?? WOYWW??!!!

2011-11-02T09:42:00.000Z

Hello again, here we are another week closer to xmas! this week you find me working on a book I'm making as a gift for my Mum (hopefully in time for xmas!!) I was inspired back in July by our fellow WOYWW'er Anne, she made a beautiful book for her friend and I just loved it! Now, I've had to take some gearing up for this one as I only "do" cards, but last week I finally made a start on a similar creation, not a cascade style like Anne's but in general along the same lines, mine is for my Mum and is going to have a combination of piccies of me, Mum and my Grandma, along with some nice verses and sentiments along the way. I have chosen the Sweet Owl paper collection from First Edition as I wanted to go with a pink and brown theme and it also has some lovely glittery sheets. You could see in last weeks post that I had covered all of my chipboard pages ready to embellish and I have now made a start on a couple of the page layouts, one of the ones in progress has been inspired by a post on The Scrapbook Garden's Blog. Nothing is stuck down yet, I need to find some nice verses and sentiments to use along with the photo's so don't want to adhere anything until I can see how they will work together. I'm switching between working on this book and xmas cards at the moment, so you may well come back next week to find my desk full of festivities again like last week! We'll see :o)

Thanks for stopping by, I'll be popping over to Julia's later to have a snoop at some desks, have a great day. x

Birthday Card for a Special Friend

2011-11-01T11:25:00.003Z

Here is a card I made for my friends birthday, I really like making cards in the pink, brown and cream colour combo they always look nice.

The digi stamp is from Designed 2 Delight and the papers and sentiment stamp are from Stamping All Day. I coloured the digi using promarkers, I also added glamour dust glitter to the flowers and flame of the candle although it's not showing up too well in the piccies.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Charisma Cards - "Anything Goes"

Scrapbook Sisters - "Anything Goes"

Paper Pretties - "Use a Sentiment"

Totally Papercrafts - "Glitter it"

The Crafty Pad - "Friendship"

Dream Valley - "Anything Goes"

Die Cut Dreams - "So Charming"

Crafty Cardmakers - "Colour Combo - Pink, Brown, Cream)

What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday??!! WOYWW?

2011-10-26T14:32:00.000+01:00

Oh dear... oh dear.... it's a mess!!!! But in my defence I have been busy making a start on Xmas cards, I feel much better now I have made a start on them, you will see I am currently working on a couple of tall skinny Xmas cards. I am also working on a chipboard album / memories book, which you can just see over to the left, I have covered all of the pages and sanded and inked all the edges so now they're ready to be decorated, this is something I'm hoping to have done for an Xmas gift but we'll see how that goes :o) I have finally got around to using some of the twine that the lovely Jo sent me a few months back, if you look closely on the 2nd piccie I used it on one of the Xmas cards that is on my side table, I'm also thinking of using some on the red and green tall card. The 4 Xmas cards on my side table are done but just awaiting sentiments as I ordered some cute stamps from Stamping All Day and the lovely Nicky posted them out same day but the post office unfortunately let me down and took longer to deliver them so I didn't get them for the weekend when I was crafting :o( . I have almost finished the football themed card that I had started last week, sticking those letters on evenly ended up being a pain but it does look quite effective! Will post better photo's of that soon. There's also a few other Xmas cards that I have started over the other side on top of my scoring board.

Think that's about all for this week, thanks for stopping by, I will be popping over to Julia's later to see what you have all been up to. Have a lovely day x

Christening Card

2011-10-25T11:20:00.000+01:00

I was asked to make a Christening card for a baby girl with a theme of Purple and no "frills". This began as quite a challenge for me as I struggle to see past pink and frilly for a baby girl! So this is what I came up with, I am actually pleased with how it turned out in the end :o)

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Creative Inspirations - "Monochromatic"

Crafty Sentiments - "No Designer Paper"

One Stop Craft - "No Designer Paper"

By the Cute & Girly - "Anything Goes"

What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday?? WOYWW??

2011-10-19T09:38:00.002+01:00

Hi all! Well I missed last week, so I had to make double the mess this week to make up for it :o)

Truth is, my boyfriend is away on a fishing trip this week so I didn't have any time to craft last week with all the preparations for him going, but this week I'm having a good old craft while he's away (around work of course!!) The main mess is from a chipboard book / album I have started, this is not in view as I have cleared it away to do a card for my friend, I have only got as far as covering the pages but that in itself made quite a mess! I have also been doing a christening card also requested by a friend, which you can see over to the left, not the style I would usually create for a christening, but the request was purple, silver and no frills! and this is for a girl! so this is what I came up with, I still think it's quite pretty and I'm actually pleased with how it turned out in the end. Centre of my desk is the card I have just started for my friend to give to her son on his 13th birthday, he's a Man City fan hence the pale blue theme, it looks a bit wishy washy at the moment, but I've got lots to add on yet. In the end it will be an easel card. Don't worry... all of those letters aren't stuck on yet, I know they're wonky :o) I was just having a quick check to see if they would all fit in :o) I have made a start on Xmas cards too I promise, but again these have been cleared off my desk for now but I really really need to get on with them now, the clock is ticking!!!

Thanks for stopping by, I'll be snooping round at Julia's later to see what you've all be up to. Have a great day x

Halloween Card

2011-10-18T11:31:00.001+01:00

Well here is my one and only Halloween card for this year, I always make one for my Mum as she puts up lovely Halloween decorations etc and generally enjoys the whole thing. So here it is:

I used Promarkers to colour the images in Pastel Yellow, Gold, Pumpkin, Purple, Black, Cool Greys 1, 3 and 5. I used Cuttlebug Typewriter dies to cut the text and also coloured the letters using promarkers. I added a black border cut with a scalloped edge punch, ribbon and a button to finish.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

One Stop - "Halloween"

Dream Valley - "Halloween"

Sparkles - "Halloween"

Paper Sundaes - "Halloween of Fall"

Craft Your Day's Away - "Halloween Colours"

ABC - "B is for Boo / Halloween"

Fussy & Fancy - "Fall / Halloween"

Papertake Weekly - "Spooooooky Hues"

Creative Card Crew - "Spooky Fun"

Crafty Card Makers - "Cute with a Dark Twist"

WOYWW ~ What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday??

2011-10-05T09:31:00.000+01:00

Hope everyone is well today. Just a quickie post from me as I've not done any crafting since last week, but since the snowflakes and poinsettias that I was working on last week are now dry and are still on my desk I thought i'd post them so you can see them a little better, although they're still alot nicer in the flesh! I don't think I would bother using acetate for the blue ones again as you don't really get the efect that they're transparent, but will definitely be doing some more of the ones with Glamour Dust. I need to re-assemble the poinsettias now, I have layered a couple up just to see how they're looking but they need some pearl centres adding to finish them off. You will also see a couple of mini ink pads and a sanding block which I have bought for a new project I'm hoping to start soon.

That's it from me, thanks for stopping by, I will be heading over to Julia's later on today to check some desks out. Bye for now x

Cute Chihuaua Birthday Card!

2011-10-04T13:19:00.003+01:00

I made this card for my Mum's birthday. She loves Chihuaua's and her fave colours are yellows and oranges so this is what I came up with. This is my first attempt at a side step card, but I was pleased with how it turned out.

Main items used:

Dovecraft Back to Basics Design Paper

DCWV Citrus Stack Card

Nellie Snellen Border Die

Nellie Snellen Die - smallest one from Circle Frames set

Nesties Label Die

Crafts Too small Tag punch

Cuttlebug Typewriter Number Die

Sentiment Stamps from Stamping All Day along with Versamark & detail silver embossing powder

Mulberry Paper Roses, Carnations, Aster Daisies & Cherry Blossoms

Promarkers - Caramel, Satin, Gold, Buttercup, Ivory, Poppy Red, Pale Pink

Other embellishments from my stash

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Cute Card Thursday - Animal Crackers

Crafty Sentiments - Pearls, Flowers & Pins

Emerald Faeries - Punches / Dies

Allsorts - Flowers

Fussy & Fancy - Try a New Technique (1st time I tried a side step card)

Sparkles - Something That Sparkles
Paper Sundaes - Lots of Layers
Craft Your Passion - Anything plus Ribbon
Craft Your Days Away - Tag it!
Pennys - "Anything Goes"

WOYWW? What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday... & Sunday :o)

2011-09-28T09:24:00.001+01:00

Yay!!! I finally managed to finish off my re-organising :o) so here is a piccie of my desk and crafty corner on Sunday evening after I finished all nice and tidy. And even the spare bed behind me is tidy too!

And here it is now on Wednesday, not so tidy but you can't get creative without making a mess :o) I'm getting a few embellishments ready for making xmas cards, I've dismantled some white poinsettias and am covering them with Glamour Dust ready to reassemble and use, very fiddly but they're looking good so far. I've also been die cutting some snowflakes from Acetate with limited success! the few I have managed to cut are also being covered with Glamour Dust and I am particularly pleased with how they are turning out, they're a bit hard to see in this piccy I'm afraid as I have left them to dry on some white paper! Can't wait to get on with some xmas cards now to use them!

I'll be popping over to Julia's later today to visit a few desks, thanks for stopping by, have a great day x

Tilda in Autumn Colours

2011-09-27T09:15:00.002+01:00

Well it's not often I get around to doing an easel card so here we go! My friend asked me to make this for her Mum's birthday. I chose to use browns, creams and gold since autumn is gradually sneaking up on us. I coloured Tilda using Promarkers. The gorgeous papers are from Stamping All Day's download shop. I applied brown and copper ink to Mulberry roses and Cherry Blossom's, added lace with ribbon, butterflies and pearls to finish off.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Creative Inspirations - "Let's Celebrate"

Scrapbook Sisters - "Autumn Colours"

Sarah Hurley - "Vintage"

Paper Pretties - "Fall Inspired"

Just Magnolia - "Fall Inspired"

Crafty Catz - "Autumn"

Crafts 4 Eternity - "Autumn Theme"

Southern Girls - "Anything Goes"

One Stop Craft - "Easel Cards"

Paper Sundaes - "Anything Goes"

WOYWW? What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday??

2011-09-21T10:52:00.000+01:00

Well.... I'm no further along than last wednesday with my re-organising :o) it was my Mum's birthday on Monday so had some last preparations for that last week and am now just finishing off a card for my Aunty. So I'm hoping to get a little further with sorting things out now I have got my September cards all done.

On my desk this week is the card for my Aunty, just about to have it's ribbon trimmed up and it's about done, she's a horse lover so I'm hoping she likes this card. You will also see some new ribbons I picked up from my local market, 50p for 3metres, a good price I think! There are a couple of plastic cups at the back of my desk... they did have mini cheesecakes in them but they just looked so handy for something :o) so we'll see if I end up using them or binning them! Nothing much else really, just bits and bobs from the cards I've been finishing this past week.

Hope to havesome piccies of my re-organised corner to show next week, but we'll see how that goes!! I really need to get it done as my spare room is such a mess it's driving me mad!! I'm just glad that when I sit crafting my back is to the mess :o) I'll be popping over to Julia's later to see what you're up to, have a great day! x

Birthday Card in Pink and Black

2011-09-16T09:46:00.001+01:00

I made this card for my Boyfriend's Mum, I used papers from DCWV Black & White stack and printable papers from Stitchy Bear's Love Bloom's II selection. To create the flowers I used a set of Joy Crafts flower dies, I cut them all from white card then used chalks, inks and glamour dust to decorate them, I then adhered them using varying thicknesses of foam pads to create a nice layered arrangement although you can't really tell in the photo's :o)

To create the "Birthday Wishes" sentiment I used 2 cute stamps from Stamping All Day, I stamped using Versamark then embossed using a detail silver powder. I also created a tiny "Mum" tag in the same way. I added ribbon, a charm and pearls to finish off. I always like how pink and black turn out but don't seem to use the combo that much.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Cute Card Thursday - "Anything Goes"

Fab n Funky - "Bingo" - my 3 in a row are Embellishment, Ribbon, Die Cuts

Moving Along with the Times - "Sparkle"

Creative Inspirations - "Anything Goes"

Emerald Faeries - "Pearls"

Craft Your Passion - "Use the "F" Word" - mine is Flowers

Top Tip Tuesday - "Birthday Time"

Die Cut Dreams - "Flower Power"

Tuesday Throwdown - "Pearls"

WOYWW??? What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday??

2011-09-14T09:47:00.000+01:00

Hi all, well this week's WOYWW has snuck round to find me half way through my sort out!! I was doing quite well with organising my stuff into my new drawers but time got away from me and I had to stop re-organising and get crafting as it's my Mum's birthday on monday, my friends birthday next thursday and my Aunt's next Sunday so I really want to get their cards done!! I knew I should have done things the other way round and done the cards first.... oh well.

I have removed most evidence of the cards in progress as my Mum and Friend often take a peak at my Blog so don't want to spoil any surprises :o)

You may notice from my piccie that a few things have moved from last week, and I can assure you at one point over the weekend my desk itself was looking quite tidy! although we'll not mention the state of the spare bed :o) I've been busy embossing sentiments for my cards in progress hence the versamark etc in prime position. You'll see a small crafts too tag punch, I picked this up quite recently however I really struggle with it to get a good clean cut, I've tried sharpening it with foil which has helped a bit but it's still very temperamental!! Hiding under my nesties labels at the front left hand side are my Cuttlebug alphabet dies, they DID finally get a home I promise, but they promptly came back out again to be used for the first time! Not much more to tell you really, I don't even think I will have finished my sort out to show you next week as I will now be finishing the 3 cards off in all of my spare time so I don't think I will have much time for carrying on with my reorganisation, but at least I've made a start and I'll definately have some piccies to show you once I have finished! I'm popping over to Julia's now to see what everyone else is up to, have a great day, thanks for stopping by. x

Rugby Themed Card

2011-09-12T11:07:00.002+01:00

I was asked by a friend to make a rugby themed card for her Dad, this was a bit of a challenge for me as I had nothing rugby themed in my stash and also find male cards a challenge at the best of times :o)

This is what I came up with, I found a digi stamp of an old fashioned rugby ball, I coloured it using Promakers in Cocoa, Caramel and Satin. For the background I tore some sections from an old book and used chalk and ink to distress the edges. I cut the frame from some thick gold card using a Nellie Snellen frame die. I used parcel twine and an old brass coloured button from my stash to finish off.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

The Crafty Pad - "Goodbye Summer"

One Stitch at a Time - "Anything Goes"

Totally Stampalicious - "Anything Goes"

Catch the Bug - "Let's get Punchy"

Totally Gorgeous - "It's a Man Thing"

Emerald Faeries - "Buttons"

Cute Card Thursday - "At The Office" I used parcel twine

Sarah Hurley's - "Recycle" I used parcel twine, old book pages & an old button

What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday?? WOYWW??

2011-09-07T11:10:00.002+01:00

Well not much change from last week really :o( not had much time for crafting this week. I have however ordered some more storage so am hoping to finally find some time to have a sort out when it arrives! Just thought I'd add a little note after getting a couple of comments about my organisation plans.... the "storage" I have on order is just another set of plastic drawers, would love to say it was a bit more exciting than that but it should do the job :o) didn't want you all expecting a huge trasformation by next week :o) x

This is my desk this week, just been adding the finishing touches to my boyfriends Mum's card.

Also, here is a piccy of my little crafty corner! In comparison to many crafters I don't have alot of "stuff" but my collection is growing and some re-organisation is now needed! hopefully I will have an "after" piccie for you next week.... but if not maybe the week after :o)

That's all this week, I'm off over to Julia's to see what everyone else has been up to. Have a great day! x

WOYWW - What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday?? I'm back!

2011-08-31T09:55:00.000+01:00

Hello All! I'm back from my holiday, had a great time, although missed my desk a little towards the end so am glad to be back and able to craft although not so glad to be back at work :o(

My desk is quite messy, I was keen to get crafting when I arrived home as I have quite a few birthday's in September that I need to make cards for, my desk had been left in a bit of a mess when I went away and in my haste to get crafting I didn't have my usual tidy before starting a new card and boy I wish I had, I've spent more time hunting for things that I need than crafting! oh well!

You will see I am part way through a card which is for my Boyfriend's Mum, there's not really much else I can say other that have a nosey over all of the other "stuff" that is piled up on my desk :o) I really need to have a good tidy up!! I think I may have a big re-organise once I have completed all of the cards for September birthday's! we'll see though ;o)

Thanks for stopping by, I'll be popping over to Julia's later today to have a nose round everyone else's desks! It's nice to be back.

WOYWW ~ What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday???

2011-08-03T09:57:00.000+01:00

Hi all, well this will be my last post for a few weeks, got a bit of time booked off work :o) which I am looking forward to but this has also led to more workload to make up for the time off! so I've decided to put my blog on the back burner for a few weeks! Will be back late August though!

This week there's not too much going on on my desk, there's certainly not much crafting going on at the moment, there's a finished Tilda card in that white box, but not showing that until the recipient has it so the surprise isn't spoiled! There's a few tasty treats that I won in the Scrapbooking Sisters giveaway, and also some yummy bakers twine courtesy of the lovely Jo, can't wait to use that! My nesties lables dies are still out from using them on the Tilda card and you may notice the charms and Cuttlebug dies are still out on my desk having not found a home for them yet! I am on the hunt for some more storage so I can have a proper sort out, don't want to spend much though... the more I spend on storage, the less I can spend on crafty goodies so I'm on the hunt for some bargains!!

That's about it from me this week, I'm off over to Julia's now to see what everyone else is up to.... Thanks for stopping by, will see you in a few weeks!

WOYWW ~ What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday??

2011-07-27T10:35:00.000+01:00

Not tooooo much of a mess this week.... I'm on with 2 cards at the moment, one for my boss who is having surgery soon and a good luck one that my Mum has asked for for a friend.

You will see a few bits that haven't moved (yet again) since last week, or the week before for that matter! There's my Latte cardstock stack, I often dig this out for "male" cards, my tub of mini ink pads which I've been using on both of the cards and generally a load of "stuff" just hanging around. Really need to find a home for the Cuttlebug alphabet dies and the little silver charms, they've been on my desk a few weeks now!

Thanks for stopping by, I'll be heading off to Julia's to have a nose around some desks now.... Bye for now x

Birthday Card for a Teacher

2011-07-26T10:38:00.002+01:00

I was asked to make this card by a family friend, a friend of hers has been a teacher all of her life so wanted to give her a teacher themed card for her 60th birthday. That was a bit of a head scratcher.... many of my ideas for teacher cards were more suited to be from a child to their teacher. Anyway this is what I came up with.

To create the blackboard section I used some black card stock, I stamped the sentiment using some Dovecraft individual alphabet stamps to give a handwritten effect, for this I used Versamark then embossed with white embossing powder. I then used a white gel pen to add some "Math's" I hate maths!! I applied some white chalk so the black wasn't quite so stark and made the black board look used. I then mounted the board on a brown frame created using a Nellie Snellen Frame Die.

For the layers I used some cuttings from an old book which I added chalk and ink to the edges to make them a little more aged, then adhered them to some brown card stock, I used pink chalk to colour the card blank as I felt there wasn't going to be quite enough colour on the card. To pretty it up a little I added some lace and ribbon and some Mulberry Roses and Cherry Blossoms, I added a little brown ink the to the Roses and some Diamond Stickles to the Cherry Blossoms to add a bit of sparkle, then just 3 pearls top and bottom to finish it off.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Papercutz - "Anything Goes"

Emerald Faeries - "All Thngs Nice (Girly)"

Allsorts - "Free and Easy"

Secret Crafter - "Numbers"

Crafty Pad - "Embossing"

Totally Gorjuss - "Punch or Die"

Crazy - "Ribbons"

Sparkles - "Elegance & Lace"

Cupcake - "Shabby Sparkle"

Top Tip Tuesday - "Make it Girly"

Christmas in July??!!

2011-07-22T11:13:00.001+01:00

Oh yes, gotta make a start nice and early! :o)

For this card I layered up various patterned papers, which I believe were some magazine freebies last year, however I can't remember which one. Then for the main image used my favorite "Snow" stamp (you will probably see this a few times on my xmas creations!) I stamped using versamark then embossed with Silver Glitter embossing powder. I coloured the letters using Promarkers and added the sentiment using Peel Off's which I haven't used for a while! I added a few dots of Liquid Pearls to one section of patterned paper and some Diamond Stickles around the edge of the sentiment panel just for a bit of Christmassy sparkle :o)

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Allsorts - "Free and Easy July"

The Crafty Pad - "Christmas in July"

Creative Inspirations - "Xmas in July"

Paper Sundaes - "Christmas in July"

I Love Promarkers - "Christmas in July"

Paper Pretties - "Embossing"

Emerald Faeries - "All Things Nice (Girly)"

WOYWW What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday??

2011-07-20T10:03:00.000+01:00

Hi All,

Another weekly snap of my desk for you. This week I am on with a card which I have been asked to make, the request was a card that is teacher themed, for a lady who will be 60 and has been a teacher all of her working life, I decided to try and go with a blackboard theme for the message, it's been a bit of a head scratcher but I think it's coming together now.

Anyone who stopped by last week may recall I was part way through a football card which I wasn't too happy with, well I ended up changing the design on that one, there's photo's of the finished card in my last post if you want to take a peek to see how it turned out.

There's a few little bits and pieces towards the left hand side of my desk that I picked up at the Summer Crafting Show at Doncaster Racecourse on Saturday, some buttons, a little tag punch and some binding rings, I also picked up some Crafts Too Mister bottles and a snowflakes embossing folder and also a 12 x 12 cardstock stack but that's on the floor out of the way! Didn't spend any where near as much as I expected at the show, £23.75 to be precise! what a poor effort that was!!! it was so busy though you could hardly get to see any of the stalls! Bit of a shame really. there's still a few bits hanging around on my desk from last week that haven't moved or been used, such as the Cuttlebug alphabet dies and my silver charms, need to find a home for those!

Think that's about it for this week, I'll be over at Julia's later to visit some desks. Thanks for stopping by.

Football Birthday Card

2011-07-18T10:57:00.003+01:00

This card has been made for an Everton football fan, so having to work with the bold blue colour was a bit of a challenge for me, but it's turned out well in the end.

Eagle eyed viewers may notice I had got half way with this card then changed my mind on the design, see my previous "What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday" post, I just wasn't happy with how it was turning out. Thankfully Dude Time Doodles posted a fantastic digi stamp just in time for me to use and enabled me to change my design!

I layered up some blue, yellow and white cardstock to create the base of the card, I used a Crafts Too embossing folder to create the dotty pattern on the strip for the bottom then used an X-Cut Border Punch to create the strip in the centre and added the blue ribbon, at this point there were going to be some footballs along the top section, however I didn't feel they looked right so after much deliberation I luckily fell upon the forementioned Digi Stamp so I coloured the digi using Promarkers (Royal Blue, Azure, Blender Pen, Buttercup, Satin, Caramel, Cocoa, Ivory, Blush, Cool Grey 3 & 5 and Black) and shaded around the player using chalks, I then added this to the card along with another embossed circle with sentiment. The image, football and sentiment were all attached using foam pads, although you can't see that they are raised in the piccies. To finish off I just added a few bright blue and yellow pearls and it was done. I'm glad I changed the design half way through as I'm happy with how it turned out.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Cute Card Thursday - "Going Round in Circles"

Crafty Creations - "Boyz to Men"

Penny's - "Happy Birthday"

Southern Girls - "Happy Birthday"
Allsorts - "Free and Easy July"
Totally Gorjuss - "All About Boys"
Gem of a Challenge - "Lets Hear it for the Boys"
Sentimental Sunday's - "For the Men in Your Life"
Craft Your Passion - "Text It"
Wags n Whiskers - "Birthday"
Kaboodle Doodles - "Embossing"

WOYWW - What's on your Workdesk Wednesday?? Ooops a Mess!!!

2011-07-13T10:38:00.000+01:00

Oh dear, well this week you are here to see a mess I'm afraid! I've been doing a bit of crafting downstairs so this is literally how it all got carried back up, I've just had no time to tidy :o(

There is a set of Cuttlebug alphabet dies which I bought the other day, only had chance to try one die out of those but they seem ideal for what I need, there are a few bags of charms which finally turned up from Hong Kong courtesy of ebay, they didn't actually take all that long (about 2 weeks) but it just feels like an age once you want something! I'm currently working on a card for an Everton Fan, been finding this one very tough going, I always struggle with male cards and then to have to stick to such a bold colour scheme, I'm finding it tough going, I think it will be one of those cards I'm never really happy with, hopefully the person I am making it for will like it!! I'm just a little worried it's for an adult and I feel because of the bold colours it just looks a little child like??!! hmmm we'll see how it turns out.

Anyway, for far more interesting desks than mine pop over to Julia's. Bye for now.

CAS "I Love You" Card

2011-07-11T15:42:00.001+01:00

For this card I used patterned papers from the Daisy & Dandelion Picnic Patch pack to create the layers and to cut the hearts from, I used a Martha Stewart Circle Cutter to cut the circle for the hearts and to create the cut out in the front layer. After cutting the layers I adhered them to the card using foam pads, I used a Tea Green promarker for the dots around the circle and stamped the "I Love You" sentiment using Brilliance pearlescent ink.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Papertake Weekly - "Anything Goes"

Allsorts - "Free and Easy July"

Catch The Bug - "Clean and Simple"

Craft Your Passion - "Just for You"

18th Birthday in Pink, Black and Bling!

2011-07-08T10:07:00.001+01:00

I was asked by a family friend to make a card for her to give to her Daughter, this is what I came up with...

I started by colouring the Gorjuss stamped image with Promarkers (Pastel Pink, Antique Pink, Black, Cool Greys 1, 3 & 5 & the Blender Pen) I used some papers from DCWV Black & White Prints and Dovecraft's Charcoal Prints for the backing along with some printable papers which I punched circles from. The verse was cut using a Nesties Label die and I used Nellie Snellen dies to punch the frames from thick silver miri card, I think the silver really sets it off. It's really hard to show in the piccies but I coloured the "18", the word "Daughter" and the flower in her hair using a quickie glue pen and added some glamour dust, it looks really pretty and sparkly, just to give it some extra sparkle. I added lots of little diamantes to bling it up as I'm sure every 18 year old girl likes bling (well I hope so, it's a while since I was 18!)

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Allsorts - "Free and Easy"

The Crafty Pad - "Particular Style of Card"

Catch The Bug - "July Anything Goes"

Dream Valley - "Ribbons"

Sentimental Sundays - "Anything Goes"

Craft Your Passion - "Anything Goes"

Kaboodle Doodles - "Celebrations"

Pollycraft - "Celebrations"
Penny's - "Happy Birthday"
Emerald Faerie Garden - "Sugar & Spice, All Things Girly"

WOYWW ~ What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday???

2011-07-06T09:20:00.000+01:00

Ok... this week for a change I will try not to make reference to how quick the week has gone, oh dam it I did it already.... seem to start my WOYWW post that way every week, most predictable, must try harder next week :o)

Anyway... hope you are all well, this week I've started to have a bit of a tidy so my little patch of workspace is tidy this week, now I really need to make a start on sorting out my drawers and arranging some more storage, only thing is I just know this will mean my tidy little work patch will end up piled high in "stuff" as I try to reorganise, oh dear, may put it off a little longer!!

You will see I've treated myself to a set of Marianne Creatables Snowflake Dies in the hope they bring me inspiration for starting some Christmas creativity!! I know it's early, but it always sneaks up on me, I am determined to get lots done nice and early this year! There is also a pot of gold artists pigment powder, this has been kicking around for years, I have no idea where it came from and I never knew what to do with it but thank god I'm a hoarder as now I realise I can use it to have a go at making some home made glimmer mists.... erm well in theory anyway so we'll just see how that works out :o) If you look very closely you'll see a couple of little bags with some fine chain and jump rings in which I have just bought to attach charms to my cards, however my charms are winging their way over from Hong Kong courtesy of ebay as we speak so I think it may be a little while 'til I get to have a go with those! There's a card still on my desk which I posted better pictures of on Monday if you fancy a look back, and some cute pieces of blue ribbon which my Mum salvaged from somewhere for me :o) Think that's about it for this week, I'm off to take a peek at what everyone else is up to over at Julia's

Cute Bear Birthday Card Card

2011-07-04T11:50:00.004+01:00

For this card I used a super cute digi stamp from Stampfairy, I coloured it using Promarkers (Satin, Caramel, Pale Pink & Pastel Yellow) I cut and layered the various sections of printable patterned paper and edged all of them using Brilliance Pearlescent Inks in Orchid and Purple to give them a lovely shimmery finish. I used the centre die from Nellie Snellen's Circle Frames set to cut out the Happy Birthday sentiment then I stamped the 18 using Versamark and embossed in Silver. I added some embroidery thread and a button just to have a bit of a change from ribbon, then just added a couple of pearls here and there to finish off. I love this bear he's soooooo cute :o)

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Top Tip Tuesday - "T is For..." (Thread... of the Embroidery variety :o) )

The Emerald Faerie Garden - "Sugar & Spice - All Things Girly"

Crafts & Me - "Birthdays"

Allsorts - "Free and Easy July"

One Stitch at a Time - "Use a Digi"

Stamp Something - "July Digi Day"

Craft Your Passion - "Anything Goes"

Totally Papercrafts - "Lets Play Bingo!" - Button, Flowers (patterned paper), Glimmer (Pearlescent Ink)

I Love Promarkers - "Include Flowers" (Flowery Patterned Paper & Teddy is holding one :o) )

My Mum's Craft Shop Challenge - "Something Old, Something New"

(Old = Button from Grandma's Button Tin - New = Nellie Snellen Die Cutter.

A "Get Well" Card in Warm Summer Sun Colours

2011-07-01T09:46:00.004+01:00

For this Get Well card I used some gorgeous warm sunny cardstock from the DCWV Citrus Stack. I cut 4 equal sections from the co-ordinating patterned card, I then used a 1 1/2" circle punch to create a cut out on two of the sections. I edged all of the sections with Brilliance Galaxy Gold ink then adhered them to the card. I used a Marianne Creatables butterfly die to cut the butterfly which I then coloured using Promarkers in Gold and Pastel Yellow. I covered the butterfly with Diamond Stickles (which you unfortunately can barely see in the photos but it looks so pretty) then added some pearls to finish. I adhered the butterfly directly to the card within the cut out space then finished with the "Get Well" sentiment stamped with the Brilliance Galaxy Gold ink. Those warm summery colours are bound to make anyone feel better!

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

One Stop Craft Challenge - "Get Well Soon"

Creative Inspirations - "Summer Colours"

Top Tip Tuesday - "T is for..." (a Trio of pearls)

The Paper Shelter - "Anything Goes"

Crafty Catz - "Colours of Summer)

Kaboodle Doodles - "Going in Circles" (my cardstock has circles and dots on and for my circle cut out)

CHANCE TO WIN SOME DIGI'S...

CLICK HERE

for your chance to win some digi stamps from Limited Runs.

WOYWW - What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday & my Prize from JoZart :o)

2011-06-29T09:42:00.000+01:00

Hi All,

Another week has been and gone and we're back here at Wednesday!

This week I'm showing you my desk and my 4th place price from JoZart, yes 4th place! I was lucky to squeak in with a prize from her Blog Candy draw, ooh sooooo exciting my first every candy prize :o)

First my desk, I'm on with an 18th Birthday card at the moment which a friend of the family has asked me to make for her to give to her daughter, this is my first go at an 18th card so am hoping I'm getting the theme right for an 18 year old girl / women??!! You can also see some other verses and sentiments I have been die cutting and preparing for some other cards. My ever useful Nesties Labels dies, there's also my storage wheel of 2mm gems which I am painstakingly adhering to the 18th card to give it lots of Bling along with some Glamour Dust. Oh and there's my new Bow Maker which I bought on ebay for less than £2 inc P&P bargain! very handy little thing that has turned out to be :o) Think that's about it for my desk this week, for everyone else's desks pop over to Julia's and take a look.

Now for my prize from JoZart as I said I was very lucky that Jo went as far as drawing a 4th place prize otherwise I would have missed out! She very kindly sent me lots of lovely items. Some stamps and various stickers and embellishments which you can see below (not on my desk for this shot as there wasn't room on my little desk) however they are now on the side waiting to be put to good use! I was so glad to receive some wedding themed items as this is something my crafty stash was seriously lacking, but not any more! Thanks so much Jo.

Summery "New Home" Card

2011-06-28T09:51:00.002+01:00

For this card I used a lovely "Bird House" digi stamp from Beccy's Place and a cute little birdie from Bouts'd'Papiers.

After colouring the cute images using Promarkers (Satin, Caramel, Cocoa, Pale Pink. Antique Pink, Pastel Yellow & Ivory) I layered up some lovely patterned papers from Stamping All Day's Download Site, Added the ribbon, then using Nesties Label dies I cut out the image and little sentiment tag and adhered them to the card, I then added a few pearls just to finish off.

I think the pink ribbon and trims give the card a pretty summery feel, love the cute little birdie too!

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Fab N Funky - "Summer Lovin"

Scrapbook Sisters - "Anything Goes"

I Love Promarkers - "Anything Goes"

Crafty Pad - "Bold & Bright / Soft Pastels"

Dream Valley - "Ribbon"

Wags n Whiskers - "Summertime"

Top Tip Tuesday - "T is for...." (Tied Bow & Three in a Row Pearls)

Daring Cardmakers - "Something Old, Something New"

(Old = Ribbon from Stash, New = New Digi Image used for 1st time)

Happy Birthday in Pinks & Browns

2011-06-24T09:42:00.001+01:00

For this card I have used glittered card stock from DCWV Glitter Stack along with co-ordinating papers from Dovecrafts designer paper selection. I cut the main section from the glitter card stock and punched a hole using a 1 1/2" circle punch, I then cut 2 strips of paper giving one a scalloped edge. I adhered the pink paper strip directly to the card blank, and the brown border to the back of the cardstock, I then adhered the glittery panel to the card using foam pads.

To finish the card I layered up some Prima flowers and added a pearl and placed the flower inside the cut out space, I then stamped the Happy Birthday sentiment using Brilliance pearlescent ink.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

The Emerald Faerie Garden - "Petals"

Moving Along with The Times - "Clean and Simple"

Crafty Creations - "Let it Shine" (My Card Stock is super glittery I promise, just hard to show in piccy)

WOYWW - What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday??

2011-06-22T10:51:00.004+01:00

Hi all,

Hope you are all well, well I am having some kind of problem uploading photo's today.... have looked on the Blogger help forum and some other people seem to be having the same problem, so I'll try and leave you a link below so you can see my desk.... and i'll keep trying throughout the day to upload it properly.

It's a bit of a mess this week, a few dies are still out as I've been having a bit of a die cutting frenzy, a close family friend has a daughter who turns 18 soon so this has lead to quite a few cards required for the special occasion so have been busy doing those. The card out on my desk at the moment is from an older post, I had it stashed away and my Mum decided she would like it for her Friends birthday so I'm just trying to squeeze a "Friend" sentiment on there, think it will fit somewhere! If you look closely there's a little bag of clear stamps that I got from Stamping All Day can't wait to get using them all! I have used one already to create the "Friend Sentiment" mentioned above. Oh yes I bought one of those "Quickie Glue Pens" thought i'd give it a go for fine glitter accents etc so we'll see how I get on with that!

Time to hop over to Julia's to see what everyone else is up to!

[EDIT: you should now be able to see a piccy of my desk at the bottom of this post, if not please use the link below Thanks x]

See My Desk Here

Hope the link works.... will keep trying to upload the piccy properly, sorry guys I know it's a bit of a pain having to click through to view then back to comment, but I'm greatfull for you taking the time to look and comment. Thanks all x

Aha! been given a tip that draft blogger works, so i'll try that....

Yay! It does work :o)

For anyone who is struggling to upload photo's today if you open http://draft.blogger.com/ you can blog as normal and the pictures facility is working there too! This was the advice from one of the Help Forum posts.

70th Birthday Card

2011-06-20T11:30:00.005+01:00

For this card I used a digi stamp from Stitchy Bear Stamps I coloured the image using Promarkers (Satin, Caramel & Cocoa) I cut the image out using a Nellie Snellen Circle Frame Die, and chalked the edges to soften the white a bit. The backing papers I have used are from Stamping All Day's download site, with the addition of a cutting from an old book page which I chalked and inked the edges for added "age". The paper lace edging was cut using a Nellie Snellen Boarder Die.

To create the rosette I made four equal loops of ribbon, fastened in the middle and added the 70 which I punched out using my old Sizzix paddle punch as it was just the right size! I then added the Birthday Wishes sentiment which was cut using a Nesties Labels Fourteen Die. A couple of pearls to finish off and it's done!

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Just Add Ink - "Add Colouring In"

Top Tip Tuesday - "Open Challenge"

Tuesday Throwdown - "Coose any of Past 3" (I chose Animals)

The Paper Shelter - "Punches & Dies"

Simon Says Stamp - "Lets Play Bingo" (My Line is Shape / Ribbon / Sentiment)

Stamp Something - "Pretty Papers"

Totally Papercrafts - "Die Cuts & Punches"

Totally Stampalicious - "Something Old, Something New" (old book cutting, new ribbon & digi stamp)

Catch The Bug - "It's a Man's World"

Cupcake Craft Challenges - "Sketcharoony!"

Crafts 4 Eternity - "Embellishments Beginning with R" (my Ribbon Rosette!)

Wags N Whiskers - "Masculine Card"

Best Wishes Card

2011-06-17T09:16:00.001+01:00

For this card I used paterened cardstock from the DCWV Latte Stack. I cut a broad strip from the spotty design and adhered to the bottom of the card, I then punched 2 circles from co-ordinating coloured card and attached to the card using foam pads. I layered up some blooms using Prima flowers and added some all important "bling" to some of the petals using Diamond Stickles and finished them off with pearls. I added these to the card then finished it off by stamping the "Best Wishes" sentiment using Brilliance Pearlecent ink. Simple but effective I think.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

The Crafty Pad - "Just Because You Can"

Top Tip Tuesday - "Open Challenge"

My Mum's Craft Shop Challenges - "Seeing Spots"

Emerald Faerie Garden - "Petals"

What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday? (WOYWW)

2011-06-15T09:40:00.000+01:00

Hi All,

A last minute dash from me this week, I took a day off work on Monday and I've got all my days mixed up this week so when I woke up this morning I didn't realise it was Wednesday! until I saw all the neighbours bins were out then I suddenly remembered it was WOYWW!! and that I should also put my bin out too! so took a very quick snap before work....

A couple of early stages of cards on the go, I'm in the process of colouring a digi stamp which was part of a challenge prize from Stitchy Bear Stamps which I am planning on using with those Strawberry patterned papers I have cut ready to use, you may recognise those from my Strawberry card in an earlier post. Also to the bottom left of the pic is a card I've made a start on using old book pages as backing paper, fancied trying this for a while and finally got round to having a go!

Right got to dash, thanks for popping by... if you're wondering what all this is about take a look at the other desks on Julia's Blog. Have a great day!

Pretty, Summer Flowers Birthday Card

2011-06-14T12:33:00.001+01:00

My friend asked me to make a Birthday card for her Mum, she wanted something quite modern and pink floral....... I had just ordered a set of Joy! Crafts flower dies and just knew they would be the perfect card to use them on!

I set to work die cutting all of those flowers, I also embossed the smallest flowers, I used pearlescent chalk, Brilliance pearlescent ink and Diamond Stickles for a bit of sparkle to decorate the flowers, then layered them up (some as a 3 layer flower some with just 2 layers) I finished each one off with a pearl ready to adhere to the card. I had decided I wanted to create the card using the easel design so I layered up some card to form the front panel. I used the cut out of the large flower as a stencil and using pearlescent chalk created a silhouette where I was going to adhere each flower, I then set to adhering all of the flowers, the ribbon and "Mum" letters.

I printed the verse then cut it out using a Nestie Label die and finished it off with chalks to co-ordinate with the card, I added this to the base along with some more ribbon, another flower and a few pearls to finish it off. I'm really happy with how it turned out, I think it has a lovely fresh summery look.

I would like to enter this into the following challenges:

My Mum's Craft Shop Challenges - "Punch It"

Truly Scumptious - "Summer Sparkle"

Crafty Sentiments - "Add Some Sparkle"

Paper Pretties - "Summer"

Do You Stack Up - "Birthday"

Totally Papercrafts - "Summer"

Totally Gorjuss - "Flower Power"

Crazy Challenge - "Monochromatic"

Top Tip Tuesday - "Open Challenge"

Craft Your Days Away - "Monochrome"

Kaboodle Doodles - "Floral Showcase"

Pollycraft - "Ribbon & Flowers"

Fruity Strawberry Card

2011-06-09T09:37:00.002+01:00

I was asked to make a 60th Birthday card which was "Strawberry" orientated.... hmm that made me get my thinking cap on! Luckily I had a fab basket of strawberries digi stamp from Beccy's Place. Also thankfully whilst rummaging I also found some strawberry printed papers, so I was ready to go!

I coloured the image using Promarkers, Poppy and the Blender pen for the fruits, Leaf, Forest and Pine for the leaves, and Satin, Caramel and Cocoa for the Basket. I then went around the image with chalks to finish it off and cut the image out using a Nellie Snellen Circle Frame die.

Inspiration for the layout came from A Gem of a Challenge, so I set to work cutting the various layers of the strawberry patterned paper and plain cream paper. I cut a circle from the cream paper to layer the image up and used the center die from the Nellie's Circle Frame's to cut the Birthday sentiment which I had printed.
I stamped the "60" within the Birthday sentiment using Versamark then embossed in Gold. I also used a Nellie's Border die on the cream sections for added interest and all important prettyness! I edged all of the layers, backing circle and sentiment tag using Brilliance Galaxy Gold Pearlescent Ink.

To complete the card I adhered all of the layers together adding ribbon from my stash, a couple of Butterflies which were cut using Marianne Creatables dies and finished using the Galaxy Gold Ink, pearls and Diamond Stickles for added sparkle, a few pearls top and bottom and I attached the sentiment tag using foam pads.

Think you'll be seeing those strawberry papers on a Tilda card at some point, I think they would go really well!

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Totally Papercrafts - "Get Fruity"

By the Cute & Girly - "In the Garden"

A Gem of a Challenge - "Sketch"

Stamp Something - "Digi Day"

Papertake Weekly - "Anything Goes"

A Spoon Full of Sugar - "Here Comes Summer"

Pear Tree Designs - "Summer Delights"

Emerald Faeries - "Lots of Bling"

The Paper Shelter - "Celebrate"

Simon Says Stamp - "Lets Get Fruity"

Catch the Bug - "Anything Goes"

WOYWW - What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday!

2011-06-08T09:38:00.000+01:00

Hi All,

Hope you are all well. This week you may look at my desk think I've not been up to much at all as the card that was in mid flow last week is still in the process of being completed! BUT actually I have been quite busy crafting, I have made 2 cards since last WOYWW which is quite alot for me :o) one is the Father's Day card in my previous post and the other a Strawberry one, which I will be posting tomorrow. I had got a bit stuck on this "Mum" one as we couldn't settle on a verse that really stood out to my friend for her Mum and you know these Mum cards have to be just right, however now we have found the perfect one and it's under way again and will be finished very soon, will post when it's done.

You will see I have been putting my chalks to good use, and my lovely Mum very kindly picked a great selection of ribbon up from her local market so that's the brown paper bag at the back of my desk, the pink ribbon I am using is from the selection. My one and only set of Nesties is out ready to cut the verse out for the card! And my ever faithful Collall glue.... on that subject if anyone knows a "cheap" place to get Collall Photo glue from I'd be interested to know, I get mine from Joanna Sheen which is a pretty good price really but I'm always on the look out for bargains!

I'm looking forward to having a snoop round some desks this week over at Julia's to see what PiF's have been arriving with participants.... I didn't have the time or inspiration to participate so I don't have one to show, but have already got my thinking cap on for next year and am determined to take part! That's all for this week. Thanks for visiting :o)

Father's Day Card

2011-06-06T14:03:00.003+01:00

This is a Father's Day card that I have made for my Boyfriends Dad. I used designer papers from DCWV Latte Stack. I firstly cut 3 strips of the papers to form the background, I used a border punch to edge the section that would be on the openening edge of the card, I then adhered the 3 strips to the card blank.

To form the sentiment section, I cut a circle using a 1 1/2" circle punch, I then stamped the "Happy Father's Day" sentiment using Versamark and embossed with detail silver embossing powder. This lovely sentiment stamps is from Stamping All Day. I then cut a larger circle from the Latte Stack papers to layer it up, for the silver backing circle I used a die from Nelly Snellens Circle Multi-Frames set. I layered all these up and fixed to the card using foam pads.

To finish off the card I added some pre-cut silver letters and some silver coloured pearls.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Craft Your Days Away - "Fathers Day"

The Paper Shelter - "Glad for Dad"

Simon Say's Stamp - "Fathers Day / for a Male"

Fab n Funky - "Wateva"

Fussy & Fancy - "Card for a Man or Boy"

Creative Inspirations - "Fathers Day / Card for Dad"

Crazy Challenge - "Fathers Day"

Sparkles - "Father's Day"

Catch the Bug - "Anything Goes"

Pretty in Pink Tilda Birthday Card

2011-06-02T09:38:00.001+01:00

To create this cutie Tilda card, I firstly coloured Tilda using Promarkers and used pearlescent chalks to give some shimmery colour and sparkle around her and a lovely warm glow around the candles, I used Brilliance Pearlescent Purple ink to edge the oval. I cut 3 pieces of designer papers from Dovercrafts Back to Basics selection along with some co-ordinating backing card. I edged the pink papers with Brilliance Pearlescent Purple ink and the purple section with Pearlescent Lavender. I mounted all of the designer paper and card backing layers along with the ribbon to form the background design.

I then cut the birthday sentiment section using a Martha Stewart Circle Cutter and the flower centre from Nellie Snellen's Circle Frames dies. I edged both cut shapes with Pearlescent Purple and stamped the "Birthday Wishes" using the same ink. I cut the flowers using a Joy! Crafts flowers dies set, edged them all using the pearlescent inks, layered up and finished off with pearl centres. The two butterflies were cut using two of the Butterflies from Marianne Creatables set of 4 butterflies, I cut them from white card and coloured them using promarkers, blinged them up with Diamond Stickles and finished with some pearls. I then added the sentiment, flowers and butterflies to the card and added a few more pearls just to finish off.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Totally Papercrafts - "Pink & Girlie"

Catch the Bug - "Bright Colours"

Dream Valley - "Stamp Something"

Top Tip Tuesday - "Wrap it up with Ribbon"

Pear Tree Designs - "Sparkle"

A Spoon Full of Sugar - "Flower Power"

The Emerald Faerie Garden - "Lots of Bling"

Tuesday Throwdown - "Make Your Own Embelishments"

I Love Promarkers - "Sparkly Bling"

ABC Challenge - "V is for Variety"

WOYWW - 2nd Anniversary

2011-06-01T09:45:00.000+01:00

Hello all WOYWW'ers and to anyone else stopping by.

Well this week it's WOYWW's 2nd anniversary, although I have only been taking part for the last couple of months. Huge thanks to Julia who's been arranging this every week now for 2 years!!! I'm afraid I haven't created a PiF gift and am a little sad not to be taking part but I simply didn't know what to do?? my mojo is pretty limited to cards rather than gifts, but I'm look forward to seeing everyone else's creations and have already got my thinking cap on for if we're still going next year :o)

Right, on to my desk this week. I am currently working on a card that my friend has asked me to make for her Mum's birthday so that's in mid-creation stage at the mo. The flowers design seemed like a great idea until I had to sit and die cut and emboss them all... but hey I got there in the end! My chalks are in view as I have been using those to colour the flowers on the card, also my Joy! Crafts flower dies, some "Smart Price" hairspray that I use to fix the chalks and my new dies tin! a super cute biscuit tin that I was given by my Aunty at Easter, she thought the tin would be usefull for my boyfriend to put some of his "fishing bits" in??!! NO CHANCE! I had my eye on that straight away! now we have eaten all the biscuits I have a lovely tin to store my dies in :o)

Think that's about it for this week. I'm going to head over to Julia's to see what everyone else is up to.

Cute Hedgie Card

2011-05-26T10:55:00.002+01:00

Hi All.

I made this cute little Hedgie card for my Mum as she LOVE's Hedgehogs! and she needed a bit of cheering up so thought this would do the trick! I used this oh so cute digi stamp and coloured it with promarkers. I layered up some natural coloured spotty and flowery papers from Daisy & Dandelion's Picnic Patch, added a chocolate coloured ribon and a few little Prima Flowers finished off with flat backed pearl centres.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

By the Cute & Girly - "Anthing Goes"

Creative Card Crew - "Anything Goes"

Fab 'n' Funky - "Lets all go Cute & Cuddly"

Truly Scrumptious - "Anything Goes"

Do You Stack Up - "Animals"

The Paper Shelter - "Anything Goes"

I Love Promarkers - "Pearls"

My Mum's Craft Shop - "Favorite Colours" as at the moment I am loving working with Browns & Creams

WOYWW - What's on Your Workdesk? Wednesday

2011-05-25T10:46:00.001+01:00

Hi all, hope everyone is well this fine WOYWW!

There's not been too much craftyness going on for me this week I'm afraid :o( so still got one of the cards that was on my desk last week to finish off, and have started a quick card which you can see to the left, that just needs a butterfly assembling and adding to finish it off. The chalks haven't moved since last week although have been used a little. You will also see some of my containers of pearls, I've been using those on the card I'm finishing off.

Not really anything else of interest this week, i'll be hopping off round the list of WOYWW'ers at Julia's later today. Bye for now.

Pink & Black Tilda Card

2011-05-23T10:32:00.002+01:00

I wanted to have a go with my new Joy! Crafts flower dies, so what better than a cute Tilda card to use them on.

First I coloured and cut out Tilda, I then cut all of the layers and die cut shapes ready to use, except the butterflies as I decided to add them at the end :o), I edged all of the pink and white card layers and die cut flowers with Brilliance Pearlescent Ink and edged the black papers using Diamond Stickles, I also added some Stickles to a couple of the flowers.

I created the ribbon rosette by making 4 loops of ribbon then adhered them together to form the rosette and finished with a button. After sticking all the layers together and arranging all the flowers I decided to add a couple of butterflies just to finish it off.

Ingredients Used:

Promarkers - Ivory, Blush, Pastel Pink, Pale Pink, Blender, Forest Green, Grass Green, Buttercup & Pastel Yellow

DCWV Black & White Paper Stack

Nellie Snellen Border & Circle Frame Dies

Marianne Creatables Butterfly Dies

Joy! Crafts Flower Die

Diamond Stickles

Brilliance Pearlescent Orchid Ink

Coloured Cardstock, Pearls, Ribbon & Button from Stash

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Charisma Cardz - "Birthday's in Pink"

Fab n Funky - "Make Your Own Blooms"

Crafty Creations - "May Flowers"

Creative Inspirations - "Lace & Pearls"

Paper Pretties - "Include Flowers"

Penny's - "Anything Goes"

Claudia & Co - "Birthday Card for a Girl"

Crafty Catz - "Anything Goes"

Simon Says Stamp - "Sparkle & Shine"

One Stitch at a Time - "Bling it On"

The Emerald Faerie Garden - "Anything Goes"

Cute Girly Bear Card

2011-05-19T11:07:00.004+01:00

I created this super cute Bear card using a digi stamp from Stamp Fairy, I coloured the image using Promarkers, then cut it out. To create the layers I used some cute pink starry paper from Dovercraft's Back to Basics selection, and embossed some white card using a Crafts Too Spots embossing folder. I created the border using a Martha Stewart Double loops Border Punch. To finish the card I layered up some Prima flowers and glitzed them up with some Diamond Stickles.

This card would make a great Girly Birthday card or a lovely Thank You card.

I would like to enter this card into the following Challenges:

Allsorts - "Teddy Bears Picnic"

Crafty Sentiments - "Child's card"

Papertake Weekly - "Bloom & Grow"

A Spoon Full of Sugar - "Anything Goes"

Creative Card Crew - "Cute & Girly"

Craft Your Days Away - "White Plus One"

I Love Promarkers - "Animals"

Crafty Cardmakers - "Embossing"

Cupcake Craft - "In The Garden" as you'll find flowers in the garden and depending on where you live you may find a Bear? ;o)

Teddy Baby Card

2011-05-18T11:05:00.004+01:00

My Mum asked me to make a card for her friends as they are expeting a Grandchild very soon. They don't know if it will be a boy or girl yet so I needed to cover both!

I saw this sketch over at Fussy & Fancy which I thought would give the ideal opportunity to use an equally split pink and blue background. I have used papers from Dovercraft's Back to Basics selection, a Nellie Snellen Circle Frame & Nesties Labels Fourteen dies, I used Brilliance pearlescent inks to edge the pink and blue papers and Lemon Peel ink from an Ancient Page Petalpoint ink set on the sentiment tag and on the cut edge of the image. The teddy is coloured with Promarkers, with a background of Pebbles chalks, I put a tiny white spot on his nose with a white gel pen and used a Sakura Stardust pen for his Nappy Pin. I made the ribbon by forming 3 loops of ribbon and sticking them together to form the rosette I then added a button from my stash to finish.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Fussy & Fancy - "Sketch"

Stamp Something - "Anything Goes"

Tuesday Throwdown - "Baby / Child"

One Stitch at a Time - "Anthing Goes"

The Emerald Faerie Garden - "Anything Goes"

Dream Valley - "Dig out the Old to use with the New"*

*The button is from Grandma's button tin :o) everything else in New!

Kaboodle Doodle - "Tic-Tac-Toe"**

**My 3 in a row are Digi Image, Die Cuts & Glitter (Sakura Glitter Pen)

WOYWW 102

2011-05-18T09:57:00.000+01:00

Hi,

Hope everyone is well this fine What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday!

This week my desk is looking pretty untidy but I assure you it's all in the name of creativity :o) got a couple of cards on the go which is never good for the organisation of my desk. I will post the cards once they are finished, the Baby one will hopefully be posted later today as it's very nearly done.

You will see some Pebbles chalks, I have just got these so am just having a little go with them, I struggle a little getting my backgrounds of stamped / digi stamp images to look right if I use my Promarkers so decided to give chalks a go for a softer finish. There are a couple of Nesties which I've been using for the Baby card sentiments, along with some inks which I've been using with the Nesties to sponge a bit of colour onto the setiment tags. the usual stuff is pushed to the back of my desk, regular viewers will notice this "stuff" rarely changes, I really need to find a place to put it!

Think that's about it for this week, have a good day, I'll be calling in at Julia's later on today to pay a few visits.

40th Birthday Card for a Man

2011-05-15T11:22:00.002+01:00

I needed to do a quick 40th Birthday Card for my Boyfriends work partner, luckily I had already started a couple of bases for male cards but had lost my inspiration so they were just hanging around waiting to be finished!

I have mainly used cardstock from the DCWV Latte Stack. I chose some co-ordinating colours and cut 3 strips to mount onto the card as backing, I used a border punch to finish the edge that would be on the opening edge of the card, I then adhered the strips of card to the card blank.

I stamped the 40 and circle border using Versamark and embossed with detail silver embossing powder. I then used a 1 1/2" Circle Punch to punch the circle out. I then cut a slightly larger circle to mount this on which I edged using Brilliance Starlight Silver ink. Using a Nellie Snellen Circle Frame die I cut a fancy circle out of thick silver cardstock to mount the "40" sentiment on, I adhered this to the card using double sided foam pads.

To finish the card I cut a small rectangle of cardstock and stamped the Happy Birthday sentiment, again using Versamark and Silver embossing powder, I then trimmed off one corner with a corner rounder and adhered to the card using foam pads.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

The Crazy Challenge - "Anything Goes"

Papertake Weekly - "Fancy a Punch? - use punches or die cuts"

Tuesday Throwdown - "use die cuts"

Crafty Creations - "Anything Goes"

Moving Along with the times - "2 B's" being my Birthday Sentiment Stamp and Border Punch

WOYWW

2011-05-11T09:38:00.000+01:00

Hi fellow WOYWW'ers and to anyone else who may be stopping by!

Another week has flown by.... This week you will see on my desk.... Buttons! Yay! I have been wanting to get some buttons for a while but have been umming and ahhring as to what to buy when I remembered from many many moons ago my Grandma having a button tin.... where may these buttons be now I wondered? Well luckily enough my Mum has kept Grandma's button tin so I had a good rummage through and took some out so hopefully now you will start to see button's appearing on my cards!

There is also a set of Nellie's Multi Frame Circles, I decided to get these as I had been looking at the Nestablities Lacey Circles but figured out I would be mainly using the biggest one out of that set so for the price I probably wouldn't get enough use out of them to justify buying them :o( as much as I love Nesties! but I realised the biggest circle in the Nellie set is only a little smaller than the biggest Nestie so giving they are less than half the price of Nesties I thought I'd give them a try, I have used one of them on the quick card I have created for my boyfriends work partner which you can see on my desk, it had to be a quick one as my boyfriend told me the night before that it was his mates 40th Birthday!! Luckily you may recall from previous WOYWW the 2 male card bases that I had started and lost inspiration, well one of them came in handy for this card!

That's about all for this week, will pop round some desks later starting at Julia's. Thanks for stopping by.

Girly Puppy Birthday Card

2011-05-09T11:01:00.002+01:00

To create this card I coloured a super cute digi stamp of 3 puppies using Promarkers Cool Grey 1, 2 and 3. I cut the image out so the puppies could peep over the ribbon I planned to use.

I then cut the various layers using coloured card and patterned paper from Dovecraft's Back to Basics Collection and DCWV Text Stack. I glitzed all of the card and paper layers using Brilliance Pearlescent Purple and Orchid inks. I stuck the top layers together and added the ribbon so I could tuck it around the back of the layers. I then mounted them all to the main backing sheet, added the puppies and a few pearls just to finish it off.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

My Mum's Craft Shop Challenge - "Cute & Girly"

Creative Inspirations - "Glitzy & Bling"

The Crafty Pad - "Spots & Dots"

One Stop Craft Challenge - "Birthdays"

Sparkles Challenges - "Recipe"

Catch The Bug - "Anything Goes"

Kaboodle Doodle - "Lots of Layers"

Pear Tree Designs - "Spring"

Secret Crafter - "Dust off Your Stash"

as I have had the DCWV Text Papers for ages and never got around to using them!

Card for a Man

2011-05-05T09:43:00.001+01:00

My friend asked me to make a Birthday card for her to give to her Fiance. I did do two designs for her to pick from and this is the one she chose.

I always struggle with male cards, but I'm quite pleased with how it turned out and my friend was really happy with it. I cut 4 equal panels from various cardstock from the DCWV Latte Stack, I used a 1 1/2" circle punch to make an opening in edges of 2 of the panels. I then adhered all 4 panels directly to the card making sure they were all evenly spaced.

To make the sentiment section I cut 2 thin strips of the cardstock and stuck them right next to each other on a strip of card so I had a single panel made up of 2 of the different coloured cardstock. I then created the sentiment on my PC and printed on white card. I trimmed the sentiment and the backing to a suitable length, I adhered the white sentiment directly onto the two strips of coloured card then adhered the entire piece to the card using foam pads.

To create the parcel embellishment, I cut a square of silver card and 4 small squares from the coloured cardstock, I adhered the small squares to the silver card then added a small bow tied from silver twine to finish it off.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

The Crazy Challenge - "Cards for Men"

Pear Tree Designs - "Free for All"

Top Tip Tuesday - "Open Challenge"

Papertake Weekly - "Anything Goes"

Paper Cutz - "Anything Goes"

WOYWW

2011-05-04T09:39:00.000+01:00

Hello all,

Round to another What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday! This week I am half way through a Birthday card which will be finished off with that adorable puppy digi stamp used on one of my recently posted creations. You will see my little "take-away" box of Brilliance inks, I have had these a while and have always used them for stamping sentiments but now can't seem to stop edging most of my papers with them! No doubt that is a little phase that will pass :o) Nothing else really of any interest, I've been using my new Marianne Creatables butterfly set, they are sooo cute! can't wait to get some more use out of those.

I'm afraid I never quite get to look around everyones desk every week, but I will be visiting some later on today over at Julia's to see what you've been up to.

Bright & Cheery Birthday Card

2011-04-28T14:25:00.001+01:00

Hi, hope everyone is well!

For this Bright and Cheery Birthday Card, I mainly used cardstock from the DCWV Citrus Stack, then just a snippet of some Dovecraft Designer Paper for the yellow scalloped trim. The main flowery panel and bottom stripey panel have a lovely glittery finish, and I just love the colours! I began by cutting all the pieces I would require, I then stamped the sentiment using Versamark and embossed with red embossing powder. I adhered the bottom panel directly to the card, I then assembled the main panel by glueing the red stripey strip straight onto the glitter cardstock, I attached the yellow scalloped trim to the back of the cardstock using foam pads and also the orange sentiment panel to the front using foam pads, I then adhered this whole panel to the card.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Pear Tree Designs - "Colourful"

My Mum's Craft Shop Challenges - "Flowers"

Chocolate & Cream, Vintage Style Tilda Card

2011-04-27T10:14:00.002+01:00

I've been waiting to get time to have a play with these lovely printable papers from Stamping All Day's download site for a while now, and I finally had time to use some of them, and I love them!

First of all I cut and punched all of the various layers I would need, I then used Brilliance Pearlescent Ink in Galaxy Gold and Cosmic Copper to lightly sponge the very edge of all of the layers. I sponged the fancy circle more heavily to give a lovely golden finish. I had already coloured Tilda in co-ordinating colours and cut her out in anticipation of using the new papers, so I then got straight on with sticking all the layers together, adding the flowers, lace, ribbon and pearls to finish. I also added the Brilliance Inks to the flowers to glitz them up a bit. You may notice I used one of my new Marianne Creatables butterfly dies too, I punched this out of white card and coloured using promarkers and again edged with Brilliance inks and added some pearls to the body.

I would like to enter my Chocolate & Cream Tilda card into the following Challenges:

Just Magnolia - "A Sketch"

One Stop Craft Challenge - "Chocolate Inspired"

Stamptacular Sunday - "Pile it On"

Totally Gorjuss - "Bling it On"

Pink Gem Challenge - "Pearls & Swirls"

Crazy Challenge - "Different Patterned Papers"

Magnolia Stamp lovers - "Flowers"

Sparkles Forum Challenge - "Anything Goes"

My Mum's Craft Shop Challenges - "Flowers"

WOYWW

2011-04-27T09:29:00.000+01:00

Hi all fellow WOYWWers.. and Hi to anyone else who might be stopping by.

Here we are, another Wednesday, this one seems to have come round super fast with the couple of days off work for Easter, so, lets see what left on my desk after having a bit of extra time for crafting this weekend...

New things :o) some Marianne Creatables butterfly dies, really pleased with these, they're soooo cute, haven't got round to using them all yet, although you will see I have cut one of each to see how they turned out and they're great! Also some Sizzix Corner Accents, I had been told these worked fine with the Cuttlebugs, but a couple don't seem to want to cut that clearly :o( Not sure if I'm using the wrong plates, I'm using 2 B plates as the dies seem a similar thickness to Cuttlebug dies, I have tried shimming with some card and this helps with the cut but I'm worried this will damage my Cuttlebug as it makes the handle really tough to turn.... someone has told me to try using my C plate but that would be really hard to crank through so daren't try that! anyone else had this problem with these?? It's a shame really I was looking forward to using them...

An almost finished Tilda card, which I will post details of later today as it is so very nearly done so I'm going to add the finishing touches as soon as I've completed this post. I've been using some lovely patterned paper from Stamping All Day's printable downloads site, have had these for a while but have just got around to printing them out and using some of them. I got the Shabby Green and Shabby Brown Beige paper packs, I've been using the brown ones on this card.

Think that's about all for this week, I'll pop over to Julia's later today to have a look what everyone else is up to.

Have a great day!

Puppy Birthday Card for Sister

2011-04-24T16:44:00.002+01:00

Hi all,

Hope everyone is enjoying their Easter weekend! I have been making the most of a bit of extra time at home and have made this cute birthday card for a friend, she asked if I could make her a birthday card for her sister which had a black puppy on it. The only digi stamp I had was this one with 3 puppies but I think it has worked well.

I coloured the puppies digi stamp using promarkers then cut it out. I then prepared 3 various sizes circles ready to layer up, the largest circle I edged with Diamond Stickles and the smallest circle I sponged the edges using Brilliance Pearlescent Orchid ink, I then layered these and various other co-ordinating papers and card to create the final layout, I am loving these Dovecraft Back to Basics papers at the moment, perfect Spring colours! I added ribbon for the puppies to be peeping over and a sentiment tag which was cut and embossed using a Nestabilities Labels 14 die, stamped using Brilliance Pearlescent Orchid ink and I added a Sister peel off. I lightly sponged the edge of the tag to finish it off and added some lemon coloured pearls.

I would like to enter this into the following challenges:

Creative Inspirations - "Pets & Animals"

Crafty Creations - "Easy as 1, 2, 3"

Pink Gem Challenge - "Pearls & Swirls"

The Crafty Pad - "Circles"

Creative Inspirations - "Digi Day"

Fussy & Fancy - "Springtime"

Sparkles - "Anything Goes"

90th Birthday Card

2011-04-21T09:21:00.001+01:00

I have made a card for my Boyfriend's Grandma's 90th Birthday. Wow 90! can you believe! so I thought I'd try and make a special card for her.

I used a Sugar Nellie image of Faith and coloured her with Promarkers. I then layered the image up on some co-ordinating cardstock. The backing paper is a printable one which I think came from the Cardmaking and Papercraft website as I couldn't find anything subtle enough in my stash. I stamped the "90" motif using Versamark and embossed in gold. I used some Vintage Seam binding ribbon and added a little butterfly from my jewelry findings. I glitzed up some Mulberry roses using Diamond Stickles and trimmed pretty much everything else up with it too. I then created some swirl flourishes using pearls to finish it off. I'm really pleased with it and hope it will make her day!

I would like to enter this into the following challenges:

Cupcake Craft Challenges - "Lots of Layers"

My Mum's Craft Shop Challenges - "All That Glitters"

A Spoonfull of Sugar - "Let's Celebrate"

A Gem of a Challenge - "Pearly & Swirly"

Top Tip Tuesday - "Open Challenge"

ABC Challenge - "S is for Sparkle"

Cute Easter Card No2

2011-04-20T11:20:00.001+01:00

Here is another Easter card I have created using the cute digi stamp from Sliekje's Digi Stamps, the card is similar to the one posted below, but I thought I'd try a grey bunny suit this time so I coloured the bunny suit by blending Cool Grey 1 and 2 Promarkers and various others for the rest of the image, I lightly shaded around the image using some Derwent water colour pencils and lightly blended them with a damp paintbrush.

The lovely pastel backing papers are from Dovercraft's Back to Basics collection. I then just used some lemon cardstock to mount the image onto which I trimmed with Diamond Stickles. I punched a border section from white card using a Martha Stewart border punch then embossed the solid section. I used a Nesties Labels 14 die to cut the sentiment which I adhered to the card using foam pads. I then added some pearls to finish it off.

I would like to enter my Cute Easter Card into the following challenges:

Daring Cardmakers - "Spring Fling"

Catch the Bug - "Easter"

Dream Valley - "Easter"

Pear Tree Designs - "Easter"

Cute Easter Card No1

2011-04-20T10:59:00.004+01:00

Here is an Easter card I have created using a cute digi stamp from Sliekje's Digi Stamps, I love this image it's soooo cute! I coloured the bunny suit by blending Ivory and Caramel Promarkers and various others for the rest of the image, I lightly shaded around the image using some Derwent water colour pencils and lightly blended them with a damp paintbrush.

The lovely pastel backing papers are from Dovercraft's Back to Basics collection. I then just used some lemon cardstock to mount the image onto which I trimmed with Diamond Stickles. I punched a border section from white card using a Martha Stewart border punch then embossed the solid section. I used a Nesties Labels 14 die to cut the sentiment which I adhered to the card using foam pads. I then added some pearls to finish it off.

I would like to enter my Cute Easter Card into the following challenges:

The Crafty Pad - "Easter"

Creative Inspirations - "Easter"

Pink Gem Challenge - "Pearls & Swirls"

Crafty Catz - "Furry Friends"

My Time to Craft - "Easter"

Die Cut Dreams - "It's Easter Time"

Paper Take Weekly - "Spots n Stripes"

WOYWW

2011-04-20T09:46:00.000+01:00

Hi everyone,

Here it is.... Wednesday again, although this week we're just 1 day closer to the weekend than normal (for those who have got a 4 day weekend to look forward to) which I am one of those lucky people so BIG SMILES!!

This week I have to admit I have had to tidy my desk a little before taking my pic for the crafty world to see as to be honest if I hadn't there wouldn't have been much for you to see at all, other than just a heap of craftyness mess! So now I have tidied up a little you will see........ a Cuttlebug, that I wasn't going to get (as hammering away with a rolling pin and my sizzix hammer did a good enough job??!!! kind of - all be it slow and unpredictable oh and very noisy!) I have in the end crumbled and got one, I've only had it a week and wonder how I lived without it :o) keen eyes may notice it's not a V2, however I got a great deal over at Dottie 4 Crafts and with free next day delivery they provide a great service.

Also on my desk are 2 Easter Cards which I have just finished and will hopefully get chance to post pictures and info today or tomorrow. There's also the two cards you may recall I had started last week for my friend to pick from for her Fiance' birthday, they're a bit further on this week, I'm just waiting to see which one she likes the look of before finishing one off for her and whichever she doesn't choose I will finish for a general male birthday card. Quite pleased with how they're looking so far so once they're complete I will post some piccies.

Think that's about it for my rather cluttered WOYWW, hopefully next week after a nice long weekend I will have found a permanent home for my Cuttlebug as he can't live on my little desk forever and I may well have finished those male cards!

If your reading this it's likely you have come over from Julia's but if you have just happened to come across my blog and wonder why on earth I'm showing you my desk then take a look at WOYWW on Julia's blog and see what it's all about!

Spring Colours Birthday Card

2011-04-19T11:12:00.000+01:00

With the lovely sunny weather we've been having I decided to make a birthday card in some "Sunny Spring" colours.

I started by colouring in a Tilda image in using various yellow tone promarkers, I then cut her out ready to use. I chose some co-ordinating paper from my stash. The lovely glittery flower cardstock is from DCWV Cirtrus Stack. I added a With Love sentiment which was stamped using Versamark and detail silver embossing powder, the cute little stamp is from Stamping All Day. I cut the paper lace doilie and trim using a Multi-Punch and the Swirly accent was cut using a Marianne Creatables die. I added some Mulberry paper flowers, ribbon and pearls to finish it off nicely.

I would like to enter my "Spring Colours Birthday Card" into the following challenges:

Just Magnolia - "Happy Birthday"

Stamptacular Sunday - "MAGNOLIA-licious"

Total Papercrafts - "Spring Time"

Pink Gem Challenge - "Pearls & Swirls"

Easter Treat Box

2011-04-14T14:36:00.002+01:00

Hi Everyone,

Well this is a first for my blog - It's NOT a card! Thought I'd give a box a go to hide some Easter Treats inside for a lucky recipient! Although the treats have come dangerously close to being eaten by me on more than one ocassion :o)

I began by cutting out and scoring 3 box bases, starting with the largest then cutting the next slightly smaller and then one smaller again. I then cut and scored a lid to fit over the largest base. Before assembling the boxes and lid I cut various patterned paper to fit the panels and stuck them onto each panel, I also added a peel off sentiment to the front panel of the lid. Once I had covered all of the panels I stuck the 3 box bases together by their bottom panel and assembled the lid.

I then layered up some flower die cuts and attached those to then ends of some thin strips of acetate, I then attached the other ends of the acetate to the inside of the smallest box's panels using some co-ordinating border strips. I created a fan style flower for the lid using some glittery cardstock from the DCWV Glitter Stack, before scoring the card I cut one edge with a scallop border punch then scored at the inner cut of each scallop so that when folded the fan would have a rounded edge to each folded section. I then finished this off with a couple of punched circles and a 12mm Dotty Pastel Brad from Dovecraft.

At this stage I thought I had finished my box however I then realised I needed to put something in the center to hold those little treats! so I again cut and scored a box base, slightly smaller than the last but I cut it so the sides were taller than I required so i could then use my scallop border punch again to finish what would be the top edges of the box. Before assembling the little box I again added some patterned paper. Then it was finally ready for the yummy treats!

I would like to enter my Easter Treats Box into the following challenges:

Papertake Weekly - Truly Dimensional

Creative Card Crew - Spring

Creative Inspirations - Easter

The Crazy Challenge - Easter

WOYWW - 2nd One for Me!

2011-04-13T09:08:00.001+01:00

Hi everyone,

Is it really Wednesday again??!! it must be as we're all posting our WOYWW links over at Julia's Stamping Ground.

So here is my desk today. You will see this week I have broken into those new Dovecraft Charcoal Prints papers that were waiting to be opened last week, I also decided to get the DCWV Black and White Prints pack too. My friend has asked if I'd like to do her a card for her Fiance' birthday next month, so considering I always find men's cards a little tricky I have started 2 to see how I get on! So we'll see, if they turn out well i will be posting them for you to see if they don't I won't :o) so see what crops up on here over the next few weeks to see if they turned out well or not!

You may notice the 2 cards propped up at the back haven't progressed much..... erm well.... not at all infact but they're just waiting for my inspiration to come back with those and they'll get finished. Acouple of people mentioned last week about the mirror at the back of my desk being a nice idea, well, i have a little confession to make there, my desk is in the corner of our spare bedroom and is supposed to be a dressing table for guests however I have kind of taken over it with one or two of crafting essentials ;o) but it's not like we have that many guests to stay over so it won't matter too much! so that explains the mirror. That's about all for this week.

Girly Pearly Card

2011-04-12T15:07:00.001+01:00

Hi Everyone.

Back to pretty and girly after a doing few clean and simple cards posted below, I like to mix it up a bit!

I have made this card using a Sugar Naillie "Faith" Stamp which I coloured with Promarkers. Then layered up some Prima flowers and added a couple of swirl flourishes using individual flat backed pearls. The With Love sentiment is a lovely little stamp from Stamping All Day which I stamped using Versamark and embossed with a detail silver embossing powder, I surrounded the little heart sentiment with more flat backed pearls forming a trail down to the ribbon.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Stamptacular Sunday Challenge - "Girls & Swirls"

Totally Stampalicious - "Anything Goes"

Catch The Bug - "Four or More Layers"

Spring Colours

2011-04-11T11:03:00.000+01:00

Hi everyone.

I decided to create a brighter version of my "More Manly" card (see below) to enter into The Crafty Pad's "Spring" challenge.

I used glitter card stock from the DCWV Citrus Stack for the main panel and trimmed using co-ordinating blue card also from the Citrus Stack and pealescent lime green textured card from a Jewel card pack which I punched using an X-Cut border punch to finish it off. The Happy Birthday sentiment was stamped using Brilliance Galaxy Gold and Lightning Black. I layered up a couple of Prima flowers and finished with a flat backed pearl for the embellishment.

Here's how it turned out

A Bit More Manly.......

2011-04-09T14:00:00.002+01:00

Hi all.

As i've said before I tend to struggle a bit with cards for Men, but I think this one has turned out quite well. The main panel of glittery card is from my much loved DCWV Glitter Mat Stack, I punched a 1 3/4" hole towards one end ready for the embellishment. I then cut a strip of grey paper and glued directly to the card I then stamped the sentiment using Brilliance Starlight Black ink so that the "happy" went on the card and "birthday" went on the grey paper. I then cut a strip of black paper which I punched one edge using an X-Cut border punch, I then attached that to the back of the main card panel. Using double sided foam I attached the glittery panel with the black trim to the card. For the embellishment I used a silver peeloff stuck onto some white card, I cut around that and coloured it in with a poppy Promarker and coloured over that using a Clear Sakura Stardust pen. I then attached that directly to the card using double sided foam.

I have entered this into One Stop Craft Challenge this week for their "Monochrome" theme

50th Birthday Card

2011-04-07T11:30:00.002+01:00

I was asked to make a 50th Birthday card by a friend of my Mum's, the basic requirements were, bright colours, 50th and Auntie. So this is what I came up with, I had originally planned to use 2 flowers in the design but i couldn't make up my mind how to work in the "50" so I decided to make a fan type flower and stamp the figure 50 using Brilliance Galaxy Gold onto a small disc to create the center. All the card stock is from the DCWV Citrus Stack, the scallop trim was cut from Dovecraft Designer Paper using an X-Cut border punch. I glitzed the flower up with a little Diamond Stickles and finished it off with a 5mm flat back pearl.

I will enter this in the Crazy Challenge this week as it fits with their "flowers" theme!

WOYWW Newbie

2011-04-06T09:47:00.000+01:00

Hi everyone,

Since i've just set up my blog I thought I would take part in WOYWW I first learned of this weekly ritual when visiting Spyders Corner and really enjoyed reading about what she was up to. So here's some pics of my "cosy" crafty desk. It's actually in a reasonably tidy state at the moment! You'll see I'm currently working on a 90th Birthday card, this is for my boyfriends Grandma, I'll be posting detailed photos of this when it's finished, it's nearly there now!

Propped up at the back of my desk there are 2 Fathersday / Male cards that I have started but lost my way a bit so will have to get my thinking cap on with those! I always struggle with the "male" themed ones. You will also see my Martha Stewart Punch around the page "Double Loops" set, I decided to treat myself to this a couple of weeks ago, I love it! the punching around the verse for the card is the first time I have used it on a project and am so pleased I got it, think i'll be saving up for another of those sets!

On the floor you'll see my box of card and paper stock, the Dovecraft Charcoal prints that are on top are my most recent purchase, again I'm hoping they give me some inspiration for some male cards!

Think thats about it for now. Please have a browse through my earlier posts, I'd love to hear any comments about my cards, more followers are always welcome too ;) I will be updating regularly! remember if you would like to take part in WOYWW hop over to Julia's Stamping Ground

Cute Thank You Card

2011-04-05T11:43:00.004+01:00

For this super cute thank you card I used a lovely digi stamp from Stamp Fairy coloured with Promarkers. Then layered him up on some plain card which I have embossed using a Crafts Too "Spots" Embossing Folder. To cut circles I use a Martha Stewart Circle Cutter, I find this a really useful tool, however a tip from me is to use low tack tape just to fix the card that you are cutting down as I find sometimes the card can slip and you get a "wonky" circle! oh, and don't press too hard with your cutting tool as it will dig into your mat and keep getting stuck, took me a while to get used to it but once I did I loved it! I finished the card off with some further embossed card which I cut a scalloped edge using an X-Cut Scallop Border Punch and some Prima flowers, I then added the thank you sentiment using a small Peel Off. I really love this digi stamp, he's soooo cute!

I think I will enter this into The Crazy Challenge as it goes with their "flowers" theme. Over at Top Tip Tuesday their theme is "Thank You" And also at Papertake Weekly as over there it's "Anything Goes"!

Mother's Day Card No's 3 & 4

2011-04-03T11:05:00.012+01:00

Happy Mother's Day to all Mum's out there!

To finish off the Mother's Day theme for this year here are the two cards I have made for my Mum.

This one is my first attempt at an easel card, decades behind everyone else I know, but finally got round to giving one a go. The background paper is from Dovecraft's Back to Basics selection, the glittery daisy design card stock is from the DCWV Citrus Stack. I have used Mulberry paper flowers to frame the "Tilda with Big Ribbon" image and used Promarkers to colour her in. Both the Happy Mother's Day and With Love sentiment stamps are from Stamping All Day, and were stamped using Versamark and detail silver embossing powder. Almost everything has been given an extra bit of glitz using Diamond Stickles, and the little silver butterflies are from my jewelry findings stash. I have used the Marrianne Designs Creatables Swirl Circle Die for the flourish on the card front and used flat back pearls to create flourishes on the base to give it that extra special finish.

I am so pleased with how this card turned out, i know my Mum will love it! I am going to enter it into the following challenges:

The Cute & Girly for their "Cute & Girly" challenge

Allsorts Challenge for their "Blooming Blossoms" theme

Magnolia Downunder Challenges for their "Heavy Metal" challenge

The Crafty Pad for their "Flowers" challenge

This one is a colour variation to the one in my previous post..... just using some different colour options from the DCWV Citrus Stack.

Mother's Day Card No2

2011-04-02T10:00:00.005+01:00

Another Mother's Day card, this one I made for a friend to give to her Mum.

The the glittery flower and dotty card stock are from the DCWV Citrus Stack. I cut a large part circle from the corner of a piece of card then punched out several co-ordinating circles using a 1 3/4" circle punch, I attached those to the back of the part circle so I could trim them off to suit. I hadn't intended on using a flower on this card but it looked a little plain without so layered up some Prima's to finish it off, If I had used a more heavily patterned paper for the backing and perhaps a plainer paper for the part circle it wouldn't have needed the flower to finish it off, but I think it looks good. I used my Stamping all Day Happy Mother's Day stamp with Versamark and some detail silver embossing powder for the sentiment and a silver gel pen just to fininsh it off nicely. I'm really pleased with how this card turned out, think I will do another one in oranges and yellows, will post soon.

Mother's Day Card No1

2011-04-01T12:05:00.002+01:00

I have made a few Mother's Day cards this year so I will post a handfull on here for you to see.

This one is for my boyfriends Mum. I have used some gorgeous cardstock from DCWV Glitter Stack, I am a huge DCWV fan! then used some coordinating papers from a Dovercraft Designer Papers pack for the trim and sentiment panel. then layered everything up using foam pads. Added a couple of layered up prima flowers and blinged up the edges with a bit of Diamond Stickles and finished off with some flat back pearls. I stamped the sentiment using a lovely stamp from Stamping all Day with Versamark and used detail white embossing powder, I really like this stamp, it is a lovely fine text and seems to give a perfect impression every time and when used with detail embossing powder or a quality ink it gives a great finish!

Paper Flowers Thank You Card

2011-03-31T23:20:00.001+01:00

Hi everyone, I'll make my first "proper" post a quick and easy one!

I have made this Thank You card using some Prima flowers from the Wildflowers selection and paper from Daisy & Dandelion Picnic Patch paper pack. I mounted 2 of the flowers onto card discs to add a bit of contrast between them and the pink paper. The sentiment was stamped using Brilliance Starlight Silver ink. I think it's a pretty but clean looking card, think I'll be making some more in this style using different colours! Will post to show how they turn out.

Setting up my Blog

2011-03-31T00:42:00.000+01:00

I'm now in the process of setting up my blog, it may be slow progress but we'll see how it goes!