RSS Challenge 3

Here is my card for the latest Ready Steady Stamp challenge. The ingredients this week were:


Monument
Blue
Metal Embellishment
Cuttlewax technique
Cork

At first I thought I was going to have to give this one a miss as I was pretty sure I wouldn't have any cork. Then I remembered the old cork coaster on my bedside table....managed to punch a little heart from it! I had to think about the wax paper, had a good look through my kitchen cupboard and voila! I knew the wax paper discs which came with an ancient burger press I never use would come in useful one day (well, no, didn't really think that, but come in useful they did!).

Anyway, back to the card itself....I used various Cuttlebug folders (about 10!!!!!) to make the wax patterns and once ready I inked the papers with various red and blue inks before stamping the Paper Artsy Eiffel Tower several times, cutting out and layering the images. I have no idea where the can-can girls stamp is from but the wings behind the clock face hanging from the Tim H idea-ology chain are part of an angel stamp and the lace stamp is by Kodomo (I used red spray inks on the paper first before stamping with black Versafine).


The red cardstock shape with the tower image was die cut with a Nesabilities label in the Cuttlebug. The swirly bird stamp in the background is by Stampin Up and I used a Castaway inkpad on plain red cardstock to create the bleached image. You can just about spot the cork heart on the layered label bottom left. I used an white gel ink pen to make the dots on the red labels. That's about it really, just finished it off by threading some red grossgrain ribbon through punched holes down the inner right hand side of my blue card base and added a dotty bow, or is it a butterfly?

Neglected Stash!

I don't make childrens' cards very often but on Tuesday, whilst looking for some cardstock I came across a huge stash of 12 x 12 papers I bought a few years ago and decided I really should actually use some of them. I went through a phase when I started making cards of buying any pack of paper that caught my eye but never got around to using it. The large card blank was another impulse buy consigned to the back of a drawer! This all fits in very nicely with this week's My Time To Craft challenge (neglected or forgotten stash). Although the hills/grass were just cut from some pieces of thin card and coloured with various shades of green ink, the sky is ready made, as it's a sheet from a large DCWV photo stack and the pink dotty paper is by Doodlebug. I went a bit mad with the Cuttlebug when I bought some Nestabilities circle and scalloped circle dies a year or so ago and ended up with enough diecuts to last a lifetime. The happy birthday circle was embossed using a folder I bought at the same time as my Cuttlebug machine. I even dug out my first ever cardmaking purchase ....peel off stickers for the name and age, something else I bought quite a few of, then wondered why, as they got dog eared and stuck together every time I peeled one off the sheet and tried to cram them back into the storage box.

Tyger Tyger......

Here is my latest card for the first Ready Steady Stamp challenge. Hopefully this will work....not been able to use the PC much due to hard drive failure and it is currently working via an ancient spare hard drive. We cannot use Windows XP either so we are temporarily on Linux with Firefox as the web browser and I am so used to Microsoft I am struggling!!!!! Anyway, back to the card.....The tiger stamp (Tanda) is on a book page background coloured with black/gold spray ink. The textile background was made with silk fibres and fusible fibres, coloured with spray inks. This was a technique I learned from Patricia Cosgriff...thanks Paddy! Thanks also to Chris for the demo (ages ago!) which enabled me to stamp the jigsaw pieces imprinted with raffia after heating the foam to make the impression. I have used Brilliance Galaxy Gold to stamp directly onto my black backing sheet and the top peice was stamped with Adirondack green and various shades of brown and amber inks.

Bunny, Buttons & Bows

Here is my entry for The Next Level's latest challenge (Buttons & Bows). The stamped image has been coloured with Pro Markers. The buttons are by PaperMania. The orange flower ribbon and backing paper are both craft mag freebies. The grossgrain and sparkly ribbons are from my stash.

Simon Says Stamp Challenge Card

I liked the sound of the latest Simon Says Stamp Challenge as I haven't used paper piecing in conjuction with stamping for a while. I spent ages trying to decide which stamps to use and finally settled on this little bird by Imaginisce, plus strawberry and birthday stamps which were free with Craft Stamper magazine. The papers and cardstock are all leftover pieces from my bits box. No matter how many times I get that box out the contents never seem to go down! I did enjoy making the card as it was a change from colouring in with markers, though some of the cutting out was a bit fiddly.

50th Birthday Roses

I have just made this 50th birthday card using the sketch from this week's Mojo Monday Challenge. I tend to shy away from sketch challenges but felt like a change and this is the result. I have decided I really must use up some of the many papers and embellishments I have bought over the years but never used. These papers and decoupaged roses are all by Anna Griffin. The colours match the bottom right floral embellishment very well but I am not sure if that is Anna G or Kay & Company. I used a rose punch on the green mat and threaded a length of pearl string through it, then attached a strip of cream paper behind the cut outs. The paper lace is left over from a pack I bought at Lakeland Ltd many moons ago. The white organza ribbon is from The Mulberry Bush and the Celebrate stamp is by Stampin Up.

Thank You Teddy

Here is my latest card using one of my favourite teddy bear stamps. It also happens to be my entry for the latest Cute Card Thursday Challenge (Thank You Miss!). The words were stamped with Versamark and heat embossed in gold using a Stampin Up sentiment stamp. The bear was stamped with Imperial Purple Versafine ink on plain card then mounted onto a nestabilities scalloped gold mirri card circle. The felt ribbon is from Anna Griffin's Sierra range.

V is for Vellum

As I am off work and the weather is nothing like it was last week (typical!!!), breezy, dark and about to rain, I have spent the day making cards and ironing, not at the same time obviously! Here is my entry for the latest ABC Challenge, which is V is for Vellum. I can't remember where I bought the pale green vellum with gold butterflies but I have had it a long time and seem to recall having it in various pastel colours. Tilda is stamped in Versafine ink and coloured with Pro Marker pens. The gold sentiment was made with my Cuttlebug and matted onto a piece of card cut with stamp edge scissors. The petals were left over from Cuttlebug flowers I cut from papers stamped with a background pattern stamp and I finished the card off with eyelets to attach the vellum to the card blank.

Make A Child Smile

Here is a card I made today for this week's Daring Cardmakers challenge. Sue came up with a wonderful and very special dare....create a card to make a sick child smile and send it to one of the children listed on the Post Pals home page. Post Pals is a great idea and it was set up to create smiles for children with long term or life threatening illnesses. I will be posting my card off soon and hopefully it might raise a smile. I stamped the pixie image with black versafine and coloured her with shimmer paints. The corrugated card base was sprayed with various shades of pink Glimmer mist. The circles and scalloped mats were cut with Nestabilities in my Cuttlebug and I used rub on sentiments which I have had lying around for ages. The striped paper is a leftover strip and the ribbon is by Doodlebug. Finally I added a lilac Floradoodle secured with a daisy brad.

Bruce Springsteen Live at Glastonbury

Absolutely nothing to do with craft but just a note to say how amazing Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band were last night at Glastonbury, brilliant as ever. I have seen them live many times but this time I watched courtesy of the BBC.

Eastern Treasures

Just made this last minute birthday card using Joanna Sheen's new Eastern Treasures CD which contains stunning artwork by a contemporary Chinese artist. Not much else I can say about the card really, just a very simple one!

Summer Tilda

I haven't had much time to post but have actually manged to get online this weekend as well as make a card or two! I have also given my blog a makeover, though may switch to Wordpress, I haven't decided yet. Anyway, back to the card...Tilda in a sunhat picking flowers which is for the latest Just Magonolia Challenge #10 Summer. Tilda is coloured with Promarkers and as you can see I have used a scallop punch to cut round the image and for the card mats. I just added floral embellishments and a little hat I have had since I started making cards, just never got around to using it! I don't recall where the bright and colourful backing paper is from. The sentiment was made using a small Cuttlebug embossing folder on gold mirri.

Honey

Here are some photos of the beautiful Honey....not mine unfortunately....I wish!!!!!!!!! We recently looked after Honey whilst her very lucky owners were on holiday and I enjoyed every minute of it. She is a lovely friendly and funny dog who likes to fetch (everything in sight!). It's hard to believe she is a middle aged lady, she is rarely still. The graphics are courtesy of Scrapbook Flair by the way.

The Sugar Bowl Challenge 11

I have just made this birthday card which I am entering for The Sugar Bowl Challenge 11 (Kathy's Sketch + pearls). The Sugar Nellie stamp is 'Poise' by Leanne Ellis, coloured with Letraset markers. The patterned papers are all HOTP and the green and brown card shapes were cut with Nestabilities label dies. I used a rose punch on the corners and added a string of pearls tied into a bow, dried flowers and a couple of gems to finish off my card.

The Next Level

I am looking forward to finding out what the new challenge blog 'The Next Level' is all

about....not long to go now as it launches on Monday 1st June. All I need now is more spare time!

Good Luck Card

I have just made this card to wish a friend well in finding a new job after she was made redundant recently. I am also entering this into Papertake's latest challenge which is to use scraps, as I have had the blue card circle in my bits box since I got my Cuttlebug, when I sat down and cut out lots of different sized circles, so it must be 2 years now! The bit of blue card I stamped the words onto has also been hanging around for a couple of years and was part of a double sided sheet by Crafty Secrets.

New Job Card

I have just made this card for a friend about to start a new job after being made redundant recently, so it fits in nicely with the Secret Crafter Saturday 'New Beginnings' challenge. The embellishments are all from the Anna Griffin Sierra collection and the cat and dog stamp is by Inca.

Happy Birthday - A Spoon Full of Sugar

Here is my card for the latest challenge over at 'A Spoon Full of Sugar' who are celebrating their first birthday. My Tilda image is coloured with Promarker & Sakura Sparkle pens and cut out with a scallop punch. It is matted onto a piece of green card cut out with a Nestabilities label die and a piece of green patterned paper from my bits box. I don't remember where the sentiment stamp was from but the flowers are Flora Doodles.

Good Luck Card

My latest card is a good luck card in the shape of a handbag. The template and paper is by Pink Petticoat. I am still tempted to put more bling on the front but suspect the single gem, flower and padlock charm are more than enough. The inside is decorated with more clear gems clear embossed stamped butterflies (Elusive Images). These were stamped onto glossy cardstock coloured with blue ink. The sentiment labels are Nestabilities labels.

Graphicus April Challenge Card

Here is my card for the Graphicus April Challenge (theme - blossom, colour palette - pink & green). I have used stamps from 3 different Elusive Images themeplates for this card. The leaves (square image in centre of card) and the small blossoms cut out and stuck onto the leafy image are both stamps from the Texture Blocks themeplate. They are stamped onto glossy cardstock with Graphite Black Brilliance ink . The cardstock was first coloured with various pink and green inks (Stazon, Brilliance, ColorBox). The flowers in top left and bottom right hand corners are from the Funky Doodles Fresh themeplate. I used pink and green inks to stamp the flowers, cut them out, and misted them with pink and green spray inks from the Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist Fairy Blossom set. The torn paper on the right of my card is from the Graphicus Guild paper pack. I finished off my card by highlighting the small blossoms with some dimensional glaze and a little bit of pink glitter and sticking on small pink and green seed beads to form a stem for the Funky Doodle flowers and added a small pink bow.

Favourite Things

My latest card fits in well with the Dutch Dare Challenge (Favourite Things), which in my case happen to be rubber stamps and ribbon. I have used one of my favourite stamps here, 'Sybil' from Chapel Road Art Stamps, with Versafine Sepia ink, mounted onto a frame made with spray inks. The paper and matching ribbon is by Laura Ashley, not sure where the green organza ribbon is from, as I have had it for ages. I rubbed some of the Versafine ink onto a piece of green card, cut a shape out using a Nestabilities label die and stamped the swirls and sentiment onto it (HOTP words and magazine freebie swirl stamp).

Pink & Green

Here is my latest simple (but still took ages to make because I am so out of practice) card for this week's Dare U 2 Digi Stamp Challenge, where theme is pink and green. The image is Cute Daisy May, coloured with a variety of pens including Promarkers and Sakura Sparkle. The shape mat was made with a Nestabilities label die and the pink & green patterned paper is by K & Company. The base card has been sprited with Garden Fairy & Cherry Blossom Glimmer Mists. The flowers are from Poppicrafts and the green sequin ribbon was the last piece of ribbon I bought at a craft fair ages ago.

Hungry Garden Visitor

I am hoping to do some crafting this weekend but in the meantime I thought I would share this photo of a beautiful song thrush enjoying a tasty worm in our garden yesterday.

Chocolate, Coffee & Cream

Here is my card for the latest Colour Create Challenge, not a very good photo I'm afraid but it was the best of a bad bunch! No idea where I go wrong but I do not get any better at photography. The papers are Pink Petticoat, the cardstock is from The Papermill Shop. I used a free template from a craft magazine for the cupcake shapes and just doodled the stitches and corners.

Charmed Delectable Blog Candy

To be in with a chance of winning this lovely candy, which is on offer at Charmed Delectable Stamps, to celebrate the launch of a new stamp range, all you have to do is leave a comment on your blog...simple!

Crafty Goings On Blog Candy Card

Karen of Charmed Cards & Crafts fame is offering an amazing pack of 72 copic markers over on her Crafty Goings On Blog. To be in with a chance of winning you have to link to a project on your blog which uses a download or stamped image you have coloured in and if it is a Charmed download you can enter twice!

Here is my entry. I coloured Dottie with Promakers and mounted the image onto a Nestabilities scallop circle . She appears to have got into the sort of mess I do when I attempt to bake! The colourful paper is Basic Grey and I just added some ribbon, eyelets and a strip of blue gingham vellum to finish off my card.

I have precious few Dotties left as I must have somehow deleted the folder on our PC but luckily I printed some off when I originally bought this download.

Lilac & Blue

I have been longing to have a go at the latest Colour Create Challenge all week as the colours really appealed to me....only just got around to it, so very last minute!!!!! The card was designed with the Serif Draw Plus graphics programme and I really enjoyed making it. All that remained then was to cut out my design, mat it onto a square of blue cardstock and attach it to my white scallop edge card blank and finish it off with some lilac ribbon.

Dawn Chorus Card - Graphicus March Challenge

I can hardly believe this is my first blog entry for almost 6 weeks!!!!! I haven't been crafting either, due to lack of time and/or energy, which also means I haven't been online much or reading blogs. However, I did visit one blog yesterday....Graphicus....to see what the March challenge is and I decided to make a last minute card to enter. The theme is yellow/sing which reminded me that my friend challenged me last year to make her a yellow birthday card as it is a colour I rarely opt for where cardmaking is concerned. I never did rise to that challenge I'm afraid...until now! I just had to use the Elusive Images Dawn Chorus stamp as the local bird population is in fine voice right now. The papers are all from my Graphicus Guild pack.

WORKSHOP CANVAS

Today was my first day at work (new job)...very enjoyable but bit of a culture shock after being out of work for 5 months! I may not have time to do much crafting and/or posting this week so I thought I would show a picture of the canvas I made at Sue Roddis's workshop on Saturday (at Paddy's Stamping Place). It was great fun to do as I have never worked with copper before and I love my finished canvas thanks to Sue's fabulous design ideas. I am looking forward to using the techniques I learned at the workshop in my cardmaking and maybe to make another canvas.

Good Luck Card

Today I made this card for my friend who has just got a new job and it is also my entry for the current Cute Card Thursday 'Metallica' challenge. The girl stamp is from the Kerri Jo set by Debbie Moore Designs, the word stamps are by HOTP, the small flower and frame stamps are by Papermania (Sweet Nothings set). For my base card I used Ranger Nick Bantock yellow and pink inks and Versafine black for the rest of the stamping. I coloured the girl with brush marker pens and fastened her to the frame using a Tim Holtz Ideology swivel clasp from Paddy's Stamping Place. I finished the card off with floral gems and fibres.

Blog Candy - New Elusive Images Stamps

If you pop over to the Elusive Images Design Team blog and leave a comment under the blog candy alert post you could win one of these lovely new themeplates.

Colour Create Challenge Card

I thought it was about time I made another card and here it is....not sure I like it now but it's my attempt at Colour Create's first challenge (pink, green & brown + butterflies). I made the stripey ink background with Stampin Up Sage Shadow & Close to Cocoa, plus Pearl Orchid Brilliance and Cactus Green Stazon. The tree is Paper Artsy Squiggly Ink and the cute fox is by Imaginisce and he is coloured with Promarkers. The scallop frame is made from chipboard stamped with a text print and inked with green and pinky brown. I finished my card with eyelets and ribbon.

AWARDS

It's lovely to receive awards but oh so difficult to select just a few fellow bloggers to pass them on to as my list of favourite blogs grows each day.

Thanks so much to Ann for passing on the Kreativ Blogger 2 award....your blog is a constant source of inspiration and wonder Ann. The rules for this award are to list your 7 favourite things and pass the award on to 7 people (lots of thinking involved there!) so here goes.....

1. Family & Friends
2. Crafting
3. Dogs
4. Birds & Wildlife
5. The Sea
6. My PC
7. Ice cream

I would like to pass this award on to the following people who have some stunning creations on their blogs:

1. Sandy
2. Annie
3. Chris
4. Jenny
6. Lana
7. Rubymay

I was also lucky enough to receive the Beautiful Blog award from both Cynthia and Jane. The rules for this award are to pass it on to 5 people who have inspired you and made your blog what it is. I just wish I could give it back to Cynthia and Jane as they fall into that category. However, after much thought, I would like to pass this award on to:

1. Wendy (for inspiring me to set up a blog and explaining how to do it!)
2. Phree

3. Janette

4. Anesha

5. Marlene

GRAPHICUS JANUARY CHALLENGE

Well I have finally had some time to relax and craft as the pressure is off a little since the job offer on Thursday. Hopefully I will get written confirmation soon. Here are the items I have made for the new Graphicus monthly challenge, using inks, stamps and embellishments from the Graphicus online store.

The colour scheme challenge is plum and gold and my entry is a pendant and bracelet set made from stampbord. I have used various inks in shades of plum and gold (Black Cherry Glimmer Mist, Pearlescent Purple & Galaxy Gold Brilliance, Colorbox Cats Eye, Royal Purple Stazon) with stamps from the new Elusive Images Harlequin Rose themeplate, plus ribbon, wire and beads from my stash.

For the Celebrate challenge I decided to make a new baby card in vibrant colours as a change from the traditional pastels. The mother and child is from the Elusive Images Madonna & Trees themeplate (minus the halos!) stamped onto white card using a Kaleidacolor Baby Powder inkpad. I then rubbed Glimmer Chalks over the stamped image and mounted it onto a piece of card, which also started off white before I spritzed it with Black Cherry, Sunflower and Candy Apple Glimmer Mists, and ran it through the Cuttlebug with the D'Vine Swirl embossing folder. The stamped image and mats are fixed to the base card with foam tape to add dimension.

To make the flowers I again took white card and used Versamark ink to stamp patterns from the Elusive Images Texture Blocks themeplate and heat embossed them with clear powder. I sprayed the stamped patterns with Glimmer Mists (previously mentioned colours plus Jazz Blue and Meadow Green) and when dry I removed the clear powder with an iron to leave a flat surface on the cardstock. I then used my Cuttlebug to die cut the flowers on the right side of my card. These are layered and differ in height but it's difficult to tell from my photo.

To finish off my card I added a Creative Acrylics new baby sentiment coloured with Glimmer Chalk, threaded onto Maya Road Soho Candy ribbon together with a Candy Paisley slide.

HOUSE MOUSE ATC

Unfortunately I haven't had much time this week for crafting but I did manage to squeeze in an ATC, which I hardly ever make due to struggling with the smaller format. Luckily this House Mouse stamp is a good size for an ATC and fits in nicely of course with the latest House
Mouse challenge, which is to make an ATC!

DOTTIE'S WORLD 'AVE A LAUGH CHALLENGE CARD

Here is my card for Karen's challenge at Dottie's World, which this week is to use something funny on your card or project. Hopefully the sentiment is legible....handwriting isn't one of my talents! I used Coredinations and Papermill Shop cardstock, Poppicrafts ribbon and We R Memory Keepers eyelets. I made the stage background with a graphics programme and Dottie (downloads available from Charmed Cards & Crafts) is coloured with Promarkers. Sorry the scan isn't that great but the writing was blurred on the photos I took.

Caardvarks Sketch Challenge Card

Well this has to be a first for me....TWO posts in one day!!!!! After doing a looooooong job search online and applying for 2 more I had some time on my hands and decided to make a card. I spotted a great sketch on Caardvarks latest challenge and just had to have a go. I enjoyed making this and used Coredinations & Papermill Shop card stock, Pink Petticoat paper, a flora doodle wild rose, Doodlebug letters, Papermania & Poppicrafts ribbon. I can't remember where the round silver frame is from. It did have parchment inside but I took that out and fastened the ribbon around it. The butterfly brad is also from Poppicrafts and I think the silver flower was a magazine freebie. The button brad is from HOTP, that much I do know! The embroidered flowers were my colour inspiration for this card. I have had the embroidered swatch for ages and found it by accident when unjamming a craft drawer!

Quick Post!

I am really disappointed that I haven't been able to visit my favourite blogs and see what everyone is up to lately but I haven't been on the PC much due to hurting my back last Friday. I am really supposed to be online now applying for jobs but I couldn't resist opening another window and posting on here. It's just a quick post but when I have finished with the boring but necessary stuff I am looking forward to seeing everyone's latest creations. In the meantime here is a card I made for a friend's Christmas birthday.

I got the beautiful Stampsmith Ophelia stamp from Graphicus. She is stamped with Sepia Versafine and matted onto Artylicous butterfly paper. I just added blue organza ribbon threaded through some white paper lace which I inked to make it look more vintage.

At least I have some good news.....just got a letter confirming a job interview on 22nd January. I am really pleased as that is only the 2nd interview in spite of all the job applications I have sent out in the past 3 1/2 months since I was made redundant!

More Roses!

Here are my final 2 (for now) harlequin rose cards....this time minus the glimmer as these are coloured with various inks and paints after clear heat embossing the stamped image. I have used Coredinations cardstock again as I love it, not just for the novelty of the paler core, but the wide range of colours is excellent and they are all fabulous shades!