9th December 2011

I hope that you have all managed to weather the storms. We had to rescue our garden swing which had been blown down a two foot drop from the patio and quite a few meters down the lawn. It wouldn't have been quite so bad had it not been for the fact that the wind was blowing a hooly and the rain was horizontal.
That doesn't matter now because I am tucked up in my warm craft room trying my best to finish my Christmas cards. It was whilst I was doing them that I realized that this one  will fit into one of the categories for Crafty Ann's Challenge so that is what I am entering it for

The image has been stamped using a LOV stamp and coloured with Promarkers. It is mounted on card cut with a Nestibility die Then matted with white card that has been embossed with a cuttlebug embossing folder, red card and gold Miri card. The background paper is a free download that I acquired many years ago and it is matted onto gold Miri card. The sentiment is computer generated.

1st December 2011

Ohhhh, on the last lap and maybe too late but I will try anyway. I made this card for Rainbow Lady's challenge "Men's Cards" but I have had so much trouble photographing it because of the reflection of the gilding  flake. Thank to Cynthia I have now scanned it and it is much better although it still doesn't show up the rich red/gold gold flake so it is quite disappointing

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I have used a black background. The image has been done using gilding flakes in red/gold and a Dream weaver stencil. It has been matted onto gold card and oriental coins and tassells added. The sentiment has been done using the Zyron design runner

Tuesday 29th November 2011

Well I finished most of my Christmas shopping yesterday and it is a good job because it is raining stair rods at the moment. I have printed the lists off for my Christmas cards and highlighting the ones that I need a special card for, I may even start writing them this evening. I may sound very prepared but i'm not really, I still have loads of cards to make.

This card I am entering for CD Sunday and the CD that I have used is "A Walk on the Wildside"

I have used an A4 sheet of black card and scored and folded at 1/3 of the width. I covered the inside surface with leopard print with a contrast paper on the outer 1/3 and a border down the joining. I matted and layered the outer front piece with gold, black and leopard print. I then printed the lion image and the sentiment onto photographic paper after adjusting them in MCS. I then matted and layered with black and gold and adhered them with foam pads, The rings at the bottom were from a bead belt that I found in a charity bucket for 50p, after dismantling it I had hundreds  of ethnic looking wooden beads of all shapes and sizes - bargain :-) Lastly the bow was made from string from my greenhouse

Saturday 26th November 2911

It's been a funny old week weatherwise, sunshine, wind, rain, fog, the only thing that we haven't had so far is snow. I have been toiling away in my craft room trying to push on with my Christmas cards but things keep getting in my way.
Todays card is the one I am entering for the CD Sunday challenge (although I am on the last lap). The topic this week is "Trees"

For the base I used plain green card. The background I printed from The My  Craft Studio CD "A Walk in Wonderland". I stamped over it using Lavinia stamps. Lastly I adhered ribbon from my stash down the side and threaded it across the bottom. I must admit that I have had this CD for ages and I have never used any of the backgrounds but I think that they lend themselves well to stamping

22nd November 2011

Well, it has been a few days since I posted or added anything for you to look at. Having entered my first challenge I thought that it was time for my second one , for this I have of course chosen my friend Cynthia's  as it was at her insistence that I started my blog (thank you Cynthia, I am enjoying it much more that I thought that I would)
This months topic is "Thanksgiving"

I have chosen a plain brown card as background. The leaf edge mat has been cut on the Silhouette, the centre of it has been covered in a bronze oil on water type card from my stash. The leaves were stamped using stamps from a Creative Expression set, they were embossed in gold and coloured with Promarkers. The leaves were then curled and mounted with silicone glue. The sentiment which doesn't show up very clearly says "One touch of nature makes the whole world kin", this was embossed with gold and mounted onto gold miri card. The "Thanksgiving " sentiment was cut using the Silhouette and gold embossed. The ribbon was from my stash.

Wednesday 16th November

I have done it at last - I have made a card for a challenge (i've got to do it one at a time so that I don't get confused ). The Challenge that I have chosen for my first effort is CD Sunday and the topic is "Paisley"All I have to do now is find out how to post it on the challenge website Eeeeekkkkk.

I have used an 8x8 square card. The backing paper is from a free Docraft CD that came with a magazine a few years ago. It is black and white but I printed it on pearlescent card to give it a silvery effect.

The bottom left corner I stamped and embossed leaves using a Creative Expression stamp , this doesn't show up very well on the photograph

The centre mat is a Cuttlebug embossing folder matted with silver Miri board. The sentiment is a Clarity stamp . As the Challenge was launched on Armistice Sunday I decided to add poppies, the stamped image has been done using Lavinia stamps and coloured with mica paint which unfortunately doesn't show up very well on the photograph. The sentiment and the image have been matted with red textured paper. The poppy was made by me using the same red paper and sprayed with Crafters Companion silver glitter spray. The card is finished with a red ribbon

Sunday 13th November

It is Armistice Sunday and I have just watched the parade past the Cenotaph in Whitehall. I am now going to browse through some CDs to see if I can find anything that resembles "paisley" for the CD Sunday challenge.
I managed to finish my 4th Christmas card yesterday so I am feeling quite smug. This one is a little more cutesy.

The base card is white. The backing paper is a free download that I acquired many years ago and I like it so much that I resurrect it every year. The snowflakes have been lightly glittered but unfortunately it doesn't show up in the picture. I have tied dark green ribbon round a length of white pearlecent card which has been embossed with the Cuttlebug. the card has then been fixed in the centre of the card. The image is a LOTV one and I love it, I have coloured it using Promarkers. The frame is cut with a Spellbinder die from green and white mottled glitter paper. I have lined the frame with green ribbon to give the picture definition. I have then raised the frame from the image with foam pads to give depth and then fixed it off centre. The sentiment has been stamped with a greeting stamp that I have had for many years so I can't remember the make

Thursday 10th November

It is very cold and damp outside so what better time to push on with my Christmas cards. At this rate, bearing in mind there are six weeks to go, I might even have them finished (then again, I may be on the last lap as usual)
This is yesterdays card

This card was made on a dark green base card. The matting layer has a gold sheen to it which unfortunately doesn't show up very well in the photograph, this was from my stash. The wall was done using an embossing folder in the Cuttlebug and then distressed with pumace it was then mounted with foam squares. The tag was stamped with another Michelle Marsden stamp from the same sheet as the previous card. It was coloured with Promarkers and the edges distressed with peeled paint and pine needles 

8th November

It's a few days now since I last posted. It has been a busy few days mainly because we went to the NEC for 2 days. It was fantastic, we met up with a lot old friends and I managed to spend a fortune. I have however managed to get Christmas card number 2 finished.

The back ground has been done using distressed inks, lightly glittered and stamped with Lavinia stamps. The wall is an embossing folder done in the Cuttlebug and the stamp is one I have had for quite a while,  I think it was a Michelle Marsden one. The stamped image has been coloured using Promarkers

2nd November 2011

This is the first time this week that I have been able to finish a card that I can show. As it happens it is a dreadful photograph so it is not a very good start to my blogging career ha ha. The front of the card is acetate and to get it into a position where it doesn't completely reflect the light, it makes the colour of the card look really flat but here goes

I have used a design from My Craft Studio and printed it onto pearlecent card. I have printed the topper and inserted it into an acetate folder that is pre foiled with gold daisies.I fastened a ribbon round the back of the acetate and then attached the folder to the front of the card. Instead of decoupaging the topper, I have put the decoupage over the corresponding flowers on top of the acetate. I then put gold peel offs round the edge of the acetate. The sentiment is computer generated. Once more I apologise for the quality of the picture. 

30th October 2011

Happy Halloween everyone.
Well I am still plodding away with my blog, I hope that I can keep it up ha ha.

Today's card is a really quick male card. I always struggle with men's cards as do a lot of people.
For the card base I have used a beige heavy wood grain.  I have used a downloaded print which I have decoupaged and have decorated it with string from my greenhouse because I wanted a rugged appearance, I must say that I think it works quite well to say that it only took me a very short time to make xx.

29th October 2011

Well, three days have passed and I am still here. I have just realized that there is very little time before Christmas and I will as usual be struggling the week before to get all my cards done, I have therefore made a concerted effort and produced my first card this morning.

I have used cream  for the base card although it looks white in the picture. For the topper I have used the same cream card and stamped and embossed in gold and matted it onto gold miri card. The Christmas tree stamp is a Clarity one. Thee background card I stamped with an ivy corner and snowflakes from the Sheena Douglas collection.

Right, now I am on my way.  

My New Blog 26th October 2011

I have at last succumbed and decided to start a blog. I haven't a clue what I am doing but I am sure that you will be patient with me.
The first card that I have made since starting the blog is a stepped Halloween card. The body of the card is plain black card and the steps are covered with black glitter card. The witch images are digi stamps from the Cute Daisy May collection from Linnie Pink and they were coloured using Pro Markers. The rest of the images and sentiments are free downloads from Crafters Companion.

27th October

Well this is the second day, I was up until well past midnight last night getting this far and I was quite surprised to see that the blog is still here this morning. The only thing is that I can't remember how to post my web address as a live link but if you are reading this you must have found it so some kind person must have pointed me in the right direction. It's hard work this blogging lark Ha ha ha