Wedding Card

I haven't been in the mood for card making lately.....I blame the heat! I have finally got around to making this wedding card, just finished it off. The cute owls are a Pink Petticoat image stamp coloured with Stickles and mounted on a silver mirri scalloped circle embossed with CB swiss dots. There is a mini version on the back of the card (Tapestry cardstock from Joanna Sheen).

I threaded a silver sequin heart and open pearl heart on the silver chain and threaded it through the punched corner. The crystal slider embellishment, white heart organza ribbon and little white flower with the tiny feather and pearl are from The Mullberry Bush.

I made a red vellum envelope for the card and really hope it sticks together as I used mainly vellum tape with a little bit of ultra clear DS where it doesn't show!

Wylde Women Awards

I am touched and amazed to have received this new award seven times over the past week and would like to thank the following blogging friends for thinking of me......Chrissie, Edna, Cazz, Sue, Cynthia, Carol and Ann. The rules for this award are as follows:

1. You can give it to one or one hundred or any number in between - it's up to you. Make sure you link to their site in your post.

2. Link back to this blogsite (http://http://www.tammyvitale.com//) so Tammy can go visit all these wonderful women, and, remember the Purpose of the Award: To send love and acknowledgment to women who brighten your day, teach you new things and live their lives fully with generosity and joy.

The lovely ladies who gave me this award certainly fit the criteria, they have inspired me and taught me new things (lots of tips, inspiration and even tutorials) and definitely brighten my day with their encouraging comments on my cards, as do all the people whose blogs I have listed on this page.

I have decided to pass this award on to the following ladies who do not appear to have received a Wylde Women award yet:

Jane who has been visiting my blog since the start which I do appreciate. Jane makes lovely unique cards and amazes me with her creative use of the Keepsake boards.

Wendy whose stamping talents know no bounds.

Sandy who creates wonderful altered art masterpieces.

Suzanne a new blogger and also a member of Joanna Sheen's very talented design team. I have admired Suzanne's stunning creations for such a long time after seeing them on Joanna's forum and on Create and Craft. I am so pleased she has started a blog.

Sweet Nothings Card - Joanna Sheen Forum Challenge

I made this simple birthday card with a cupcake stamp, paper and sticky ribbon from the Papermania Sweet Nothings range. The clear stamps are excellent especially considering the price. The sentiment was made with a HOTP stamp and Glossy Accents. I must go and make the insert now and get this card in the post or it will arrive late! This card is also for the latest card challenge on Joanna Sheen's forum, which was to make a card using a new stamp so I thought it was high time I opened the packet on this set!

Cards & Chat Blog Candy

Please visit Janette's blog. It's worth it alone to see her beautiful cards but if you leave a comment on her blog candy birthday post then you may just win a surprise, plus there is a pic of her cute little dog Leo :)

New Award - Blogging Friends Forever

I was really touched to receive this new award from two of my very talented and artistic blogging buddies.....Cynthia and Ann. Thanks so much, it is an honour.

It's almost a year since I started my blog and the reason for doing so was that I wanted to link to my cards for challenges and also because I wanted a record of what I had made. I was thrilled when people started to leave comments on my cards and by clicking the link to their names I discovered so many wonderful crafty blogs to visit.

Here are the rules for this award:

1. Only 5 people allowed.

2. 4 have to be dedicated followers of your blog

3. one has to be someone new or recently new to your blog and live in another part of the world.

4. you must link back to whoever gave you the award.

Quite simple - it is a way of saying thank you to those who take time out for wonderful comments to boost your day.

It has been so difficult to chose 5 people to pass this award on to but I am pleased to nominate:

Wendy - it was Wendy who introduced me to Blogger and explained all about it. She has continued to leave kind comments on my cards. Thanks for the help and inspiration Wendy.

Jane, who was one of the first to leave comments on my cards and she has continued to do so ever since. Thanks Jane, your comments always make my day.

Sandy is another regular visitor to my blog whose posts have encouraged me since I started posting, thanks Sandy!

Andrea has continued to visit my blog and leave comments since I started, thanks, I do appreciate it!

Anesha - last but not least, a new visitor to my blog. Andrea lives in The Netherlands and is a member of the same Sisterhood of Blogging Stampers group as me (Group 20).

It's a bug's life new home card

Here is my latest card, a new home card for this week's Tilda & Co challenge. I used my Cuttlebug to make the butterflies then stuck a punched flower on each so I could write on them. The main image of the Magnolia house has been coloured with Stickles glitter glue in black diamond and magenta shades. The dotty paper is by DCWV.

Blue Monotone Card

Here is my card for Rainbow Lady's challenge 22 to use one rainbow colour and as you can see I chose blue. I am not sure of the make of the daisy stamp (think it may be Anita's) but the image has been coloured with Twinking H20 paints and the centre is a HOTP brad with a square gem.

The centre flower is Prima with a HOTP button brad and the other floral embelishments I have had for ages, also the blue craft wire....I was beginning to think I would never use that! I just added a tiny punched butterfly coloured with blue Stickles glue to the flower on the right, a few gems and a ric rac bow. The card front has been covered with lovely blue Artylicious paper from one of the Graphicus Guild sets and the blue card stock I mounted the flowers on has been stamped with Versafine using a small stamp from the same set as the scribble daisy. The darker blue strip is a piece of blue vellum put through the paper crimper.

Midsummer Night's Dream

Tonight I have made 2 cards as my migraine has finally gone.....thank goodness!!!!! I can't post a pic of one of the cards but this one is for Joanna Sheen's forum challenge this week and I used one of Joanna's lovely fairy stamps, stamped onto silver mirri card and embossed with black Sparkle N Sprinkle embossing powder from Joanna's store. The backing paper is DCWV.

Rainbow Lady's Challenge 20

I finally found the daisy stamp I wanted to use for Rainbow Lady's favourite flower challenge chosen by Tiina! It's a lovely stamp by Elusive Images which I have stamped and embossed in black onto a piece of card coloured with yellow and blue Versacolor inks. I really wish I hadn't used eyelets now as I have dropped the whole container for the second time in a week. I am dying to see what everyone else has done for this challenge (I never look until I have made my own card) but guess that may have to wait until tomorrow as it's going to take rather a long time to clear up....doesn't rafia make a mess....ooops just noticed I have also knocked my bit box on the floor too so there are hundreds of bits of card and paper as well as eyelets, never mind I did have fun making this card :)

Cute Card Thursday Card

Here is a card I made for the latest Cute Card Thursday Challenge No. 17 'The Great Outdoors.' The Sarah Kay image has been water coloured with Lyra crayons, laminated and matted onto white cardstock which I trimmed with stamp edge scissors. I added a red gingham bow and a scrap of red and cream striped paper.

Nice Surprise!!!!!

Whilst checking my emails yesterday I spotted the Pink Petticoat newsletter which had a link to the result of Liz's Lots Of Dots competition and I was so happy to see I was one of the finalists. It was a lovely surprise and a thrill as I often enter cardmaking/papercraft competitions but this is the first time I have come close to winning :) so maybe one day, you never know!

The winning entries are fabulous so check them out as well as the other finalists. Here are my 4 entries.....the owls wedding card and bookmark were featured in the finals. I have to say they look much better on the PP site as my photographic skills are non existent!

28th Anniversary Card

Tonight I made this card for our 28th wedding anniversary tomorrow.....took longer than anticipated due to OH coming in and out of the room so I had to do it in spurts! Not sure hubby will like it as he prefers simple and modern and this has a vintage feel, plus I have distressed the brown card and paper with a sanding block. The lovely image by Comotion Rubber Stamps is stamped in Sepia Versafine and coloured with shimmer chalks, the sentiment is Stampin Up and the paper is a torn piece of rose paper (Cupcake I think) inked with Ranger Tattered Rose distress ink.

AWARD

I would like to thank Ann, Cynthia and Beryl for being kind enough to pass on this award to me and must apologise for not having been able to find the time to pass it on to any fellow bloggers as yet.

Latest Cards

Finally managed to add these latest cards after a few blogging disasters, i.e. deciding to change my blogger template, losing my list of links to other blogs, adding them all then deciding to change the template yet again and of course the same thing happened AGAIN!!!! What's that saying, if it ain't broke, don't fix it? Wise words indeed, not too keen on the new look but it's staying for now!!!!! I am definitely beginning to wish I had not got up at 5.15 this morning LOL!

SISTERHOOD OF THE BLOGGING STAMPERS - 20

I haven't had time to blog lately but when I checked my emails I found I had some unmoderated comments, including one from Rainbowlady inviting me to join The Sisterhood and I was intrigued, thanks Cynthia! It sounds like a great idea so I have (hopefully) just joined group 20. I love stamping but am not particularly adept at it and hope to be encouraged and inspired by everyone's work. Sorry this is short but I need to add everyone to my blog roll so I can go and explore :)

THIRD TIME LUCKY!

I am now way behind with cards I need to make after spending last night making a third card for the same person!!!!! This is the final (I hope) card for OH's boss. Originally she was having the large bird card I posted recently but he changed his mind and asked for roses so I made the Victorian rose card but he then asked for something simpler and here it is.

I really need to make a birthday card for my brother in law ASAP and hope history doesn't repeat itself or I will send OH to Asda to BUY a card!

This card is made with Anita's (I think) stamped daisies, HOTP button brads, Cuttlebug embossing folders, Nestabilities scallop circle die and lovely dotty ribbon and ladybug brad from Poppicrafts.

Tagged!!!!

I have been tagged (well and truly tagged!) by Chrissie, Sue, Wendi, Beryly and Cynthia, thanks ladies! Actually I don't mind at all:



TEN YEARS AGO


I can’t actually think of anything memorable from 1998 but I am sure I had far fewer wrinkles and grey hairs than I do now as I would have been 39. It would be nice to turn back the clock to then as my parents were still with us and our lovely dog Suzy. I was in the same job as a full-time secretary, that is probably the only thing which hasn’t changed.



FIVE THINGS ON TODAY'S 'TO DO' LIST


Whatever the day brings at work
Quite a lot of ironing (yuk!)
Online grocery shop
Birthday cards
Box for the card I made last night (that’s the last time I stick large embellishments on a card…hate making boxes!)



SNACKS I ENJOY



Any kind of ice cream, Jordans Frusli bars, Green & Black’s chocolate, bananas



THINGS I WOULD DO IF I WAS A MILLIONAIRE



Buy a large house with plenty of land by the sea, open an animal sanctuary and try to build some sort of secure future for our son who has had M.E. for 13 years. I would of course give some to relatives and friends, favourite charities and maybe go on a cruise. I would also have a huge craft room of course.



PLACES I HAVE LIVED



Greater Manchester and The Wirral.



The people I am tagging in return are:



Dawn

Andrea

Rhiannon

Steph

Leann



As I don't like posts without pictures I have added a photo of Paxos which I took a few years ago, wish I was back there!!!!

Victorian Rose Card

I wanted to make at least 2 cards tonight (have so many birthdays in June & July!) and ended up making just one, which took ages as it started off very different to how it has ended up. I kept changing my mind or didn't like elements of previous versions so the only thing that remains from my original idea is the basket of roses from Joanna Sheen's Victorian Companion CD set. I am not even sure I like the final version now so think I will sleep on it! Hopefully tomorrow evening will be more productive, fingers crossed!

Jayne Netley Mayhew Cat

This is the second card I have made using the new Joanna Sheen Jayne Netley Mayhew CD set and it's a birthday card for a cat loving friend. I thought I would try printing on some matte photo paper which has been sitting around in a drawer for ages as I prefer satin or gloss so not too sure about that aspect of the card but overall I am happy with it as the cat is so cuddly and cute! This is the first time I have used one of the new Cuttlebug border embossing folders and think they are great!

Just A Quick One!

When I spotted this week's Daring Cardmakers Challenge entitled 'Just A Quick One' I had to have a go as I tend to spend hours on one card!!!! This card took me 40 minutes which is very quick for me! This is my first card made with images from Joanna Sheen's Jayne Netley Mayhew CD set which features beatiful wildlife artwork, a wonderful CD which is my favourite Joanna Sheen CD to date. I now have another challenge....to make an envelope for this very long card!

Sunshine & Flowers

Here is a card for the first Joanna Sheen Forum Challenge, the theme being 'Sunshine & Flowers.' The limage is a lovely Sugar Nellie Sweet Art Ebony stamp by Elisabeth Bell coloured with Lyra crayons & Sakura pens. The sunflower is from Cuddly Buddly and the bee brad from Poppicrafts. The 'sun' is courtesy of my Cuttlebug and the card blank has been chalked with shimmery green and blue.

A Change From Cards!

I decided to make a gift bag for a friend's birthday, thinking it would be quick and easy but being in 2 pieces which needed glueing together it took longer than I expected as I am not exactly good at cutting and glueing (so used to using DST on cards). I enjoyed decorating the bag though as that was the easy/fun part. The notebook was fun to do with the Zutter machines and it's now in the bag along with other pressies for a friend.

Dreaded Mens' Card!

I just hate making mens' cards as I know I can't use pink or lilac and pretty ribbons and sparkle! This was supposed to be a quick card as OH asked for it late last night for a work colleague but it ended up taking forever as I got a bit engrossed playing with the images and elements in My Craft Studio!!!! Just hope it's well received!

Pink Petticoat Cards

I like Pink Petticoat image stamps but have tended to use a lot of colour on them in the past either by paper piecing or watercolouring so I thought I would try just a hint of colour by using Stickles glitter glue on the images and combining them with colourful card/paper, ribbons and flowers.

First Exploding Box Card!

I have been intending to make an exploding box for over a year and have finally got around to it....here is the result! It was much easier than I expected though having a template would help I am sure, might make one to use in the furture. I thought it was high time I updated my blog too as I have been busy making cards for various card groups, friends and relatives and still quite a few to go!

Pink Piggy Blog Candy

Dawny is giving away a very cute Butterfly Kisses angel stamp set to celebrate 3000-4000 hits on her blog. Click Here to see for yourself and don't forget to check out her wonderful array of cards.

Christmas Angels

I haven't had much time for challenges lately but really wanted to join in with Rainbow Lady's Christmas Angel challenge and have just about made it! My card was made with the help of Adobe Photoshop and My Craft Studio, using free angel clipart I found online and Artylicious Damask Delights backing paper. I can't believe how long it took tinkering around with the graphics before I actually printed it, adjusting sizes, colours opacity etc!

LILY DECOUPAGE

I am more than happy with Rob Addams' new Flowers CD rom...the images are stunning and print out beautifully. I hate making sympathy cards but it seemed a bit easier using this lovely lily picture from the CD (plus Keepsake embossing board and Anna Griffin stamp).

Vacation ATC - Cute Card Thursday Challenge 10

Here is my ATC for the latest Cute Card Thursday Challenge (vacation theme). I really love this new stamp from Cuddly Buddly and thought it would be just right for this challenge. I have coloured Beachbabe Charley with Lyra crayons and the daisies with white Sakura pen. The backing paper is from the DCWV glitter mat stack and the little starfish and seahorse are from a pack of embellishments I have had for a while.

Dark Hair!

I recently bought this lovely unmounted stamp and thought it would be ideal for the My Time To Craft challenge which had a theme of 'Dark Hair.' I used Versafine black to stamp the lady and the tiny paisley stamps (Clearly Wordsworth) onto my ATC size card. I added a rhinestone stick on border strip over the paisleys and a couple of green Prima flowers, plus a touch of Sakura green glaze on her collar and cuffs and Sakura black stardust in her hair.

TRAVEL - INDIA/TAJ MAHAL

Today I made a card for the latest Arty Girlz challenge entitled 'Travel'Places' I knew the image I wanted to use....a lovely colourful water scene with the majestic Taj Mahal in the background, so I designed the rest of the card round the colours in the picture. The cardstock is stamped with Versamark using a paisley stamp and heat embossed with Sparkle N Sprinkle raspberry powder. The picture is framed with blue mirricard embossed with the Cuttlebug paisley folder. The other papers were created using some Indian themed freebies from Dover (I changed the colours to blue and cerise using a graphics programme). I used various fibres from Texere as embellishments, together with an assortment of gems and a metal dragonfly.

Luscious Lime & Lilac!

As I love green and purple together I really enjoyed making this card for Papertake's latest challenge (Luscious Lime & Lilac).

The image is stamped with purple Versafine with a new Third Coast stamp called Zoe from Sassy Crafts. She is coloured with Whispers markers and Sakura stardust. I doodled a dashed line border and wrote the sentiment with a Sakura Moonlight pen.

The fibres were a mixture of yarns from Texere Yarns and the lime sequin ribbon was bought from an unknown exhibitor at the last Stitch & Creative Craft show. The flower is a mixture of Flora Doodles from Joanna Sheen and a green Prima flower from Cuddly Buddly. The lovely lime cardstock is from Stampin Up and the purple was from The Works.

Rainbow Lady's Challenge # 12 Birds

Tonight I made an ATC for Rainbow Lady's latest challenge. The bird image is a stamp by Crafty Individuals and the paisleys are by Clearly Wordsworth. The cardstock is coloured with blue and pink chalks though it is hard to spot the blue in this photo. I than added pink Sakura Stardust and some tiny pink and blue gems.

Tanda Teaser Challenge Card - On The Case

I decided to join in with the latest Tanda Teaser challenge today as it sounded like fun. The challenge was to 'case' or replicate a card from Sheila's blog. I spent ages looking through all Sheila's wonderful creations and finally decided on this red and white love themed card, thinking it would be fairly simple to recreate....after all I was bound to have some red and white polka dot paper somewhere and a heart punch....errr...well as it turned out...NO!!!!!! All I had was a similar stamp from stamping up (the word love).

I was disappointed but determined to join in so I improvised by punching out lots of white paper dots and glueing them onto the red paper (something I don't ever want to do again in a hurry!!!). I found a single red foam heart and made 2 paper ones to go with it using one of the Glitter Girls' boards. The white lines and dots on the hearts are drawn with a white Sakura pen. I just added stems taken from some paper flowers I was tired with to the hearts, a white organza bow and some tiny teardrop shaped red gems.

Tilda & Friends - Bugs ATC

Today I made an ATC (something I tend to avoid)....it's for Tilda & Friends latest ATC Challenge 'Bugs.' I enjoyed the challenge of trying to fit things into such a small space and it was a treat to use 2 of my new Tilda Shabby Chic stamps, coloured with Lyra crayons & Sakura pens. The bugs were just doodled, coloured and stuck onto the finished ATC.