Saturday 19th May

Another rainy day so another day in the craft room :-) At least this awful weather means that I get some challenges done, I am on quite a roll at the moment

The following card II would like to enter for -

• Rainbow Lady's challenge - Lets get inky
• Crafty Ann's challenge - Hide and seek

 I must admit Cynthia, my fingers and nails certainly did get inky with this one, in fact they were filthy :-)

 

For this card I used 2 5x5 card blanks. I folded the first one to make the easel and the second one to make the front opening card. I then took a 5x5 base card matted onto gold textured card and stamped it with stamps from Creative Expressions . I re stamped the label and the Bottle label  and distressed them using "old paper" and placed them using foam pads. The images were coloured with promarkers and the card was then distressed .The front panels were cut to size and matted onto gold textured card then stamped and gold embossed with stamps from Clarity. The images were coloured with Promarkers and the panels distresses. The base of the easel has gold ribbon in a criss cross pattern (it looks like silver in the picture) The label is from a Spelbinder die and the lettering done on the Cuttlebug

Thursday 17th May 2012

Well what a rush today has been, weight watchers this morning, out for lunch and garden centre with hubby and then called to number one son's to pick up their two budgies that we are looking after while they are on holiday. I am just having a quick coffee and then  am going out again. Oh what it is to be retired :-)

This card I am entering for CD Sunday challenge - Reflections

The base card is blue card matted with spotted backing card from the Seraphina and Friends CD . The backing paper in the frame and the frame are also from the Seraphina and friends CD. Both images are stamps from a Cupcake Crafting Range and they have been coloured with Promarkers. The butterfly has been cut with the Silhouette, the flowers and the plaque are cut using Spellbinder dies. The frame, plaque, butterfly and flowers have been distressed with Adirondak egg plant.

Monday 14th May

Yippee, that sun is shining but on the minus side the weather forecast is once more for rain (I wonder if I could build an ark in my craft room :-/ ) On the plus side it means that I can hide myself away this afternoon  with my Promarkers and do some colouring - very therapeutic :-)
Today's card I am entering for the Rainbow Lady challenge "age" - Decoupage
, Crafty Blogger Challenge - Decoupage and Oh la la Challenge - Ribbons and twine

I have used an 8x8 base card, white with a scalloped edge. I have matted it with dark green miri card and again with mint green linen look card. The background image and the decoupage are from Cupcake Crafting "Petals". The flourish is cut from the same mint green linen look card using  Cheery Lyn die and finished off with a satin bow. The bow on the flowers is made from mesh ribon

Tuesday 8th May 2012

Wow, I must be on a roll, two postings in three days has got to be a record for me, I am not sure that I can keep up this pace but I will try.
I hope that everyone has had a good bank holiday. I think that there have been mixed fortunes as far as the weather goes, we don't appear to have fared too badly, we have had a lot of sunshine mixed in with the showers but I know that some areas have had floods.
My hubby has had a nasty tooth abscess so we haven't been anywhere, I think that being housebound may be the reason that I have spent more time in my craft room :-)
This card I am entering in the CD Sunday challenge "Shrubs and Trees"

The light wasn't very good when I took this picture, perhaps I should have waited or scanned it but it is too late now.

The base card is cream and the backing card I got from Kanban a long time ago. The topper is from Joanna Sheen's Oriental Dreams. I have printed it onto canvas and made it into a scroll using bamboo skewers. The mat behind the scroll is a piece of silk brocade that I bought in a pack the very first time I went to the NEC, it is matted onto gold card. The three Chinese images are from a set of stamps that I have had for a long time, I have stamped and gold embosses then matted onto gold card. The coin and tassel are from my stash

5th May 2012

Hello again fellow bloggers. Well we are now into May and the April showers are still with us. On the plus side I have just booked two weeks on the Isle of Wight where we will visit my brother and his lovely family.
I haven't managed to get as much crafting done as I would have liked because we have had a lot of hospital visiting but I did manage to creep in there yesterday and make this card.

I would like to enter it for Crafty Anns challenge "Stitching real or faux" and Rainbow Lady's challenge "Memories"
The base card is cream and it is matted with lace type printed card from Kanban . The image is a LOTV stamp which I have coloured using promarkers, it has been cut using a Cheery Lynn  die. The topper has been mounted onto faux wood card which in turn has been matted onto bronze pearlescent card (this is not very visible in the picture) The sentiment has been done with a stamp that I have had for ages and the flower is from my stash

Tuesday 24th April

Well, still the April showers come so roll on May. I am getting more crafting time so that is one good thing, the only problem is that while I am snug in my craft room the garden is getting sorely neglected.
This card I have done using Seriff Craft Artist.  I would like to enter this for the Rainbow Lady challenge "Patriotic British"

 The picture of Queen Elizabeth is from a royalty free site that I googled

Sunday 22nd April

Twice on one week, this must be a record, well it is for me. The April showers continue so as  can't get out into my greenhouse and garden it gives me chance to play in my craft room.
This card I am entering for Crafty Anns Challenge "It's a man thing" and Sparkles Monthly Challenge "Men Only"

I have used white card, The backgroud paper is from a Joanna Sheen "William Morris" pad and it is matted onto matt gold card. The images are Jayne Netley Meyhue stamps coloured with Promarkers and the small ones glazed. The sentiment is done with the Xyron design runner, the frame is from a Cheery Lynn Die

Wednesday 18th April

Well once more it is ages since I updated my blog, message to self "You must do better". I have again been making samples so I am behind with everything. I can't add them to my blog yet as the CD has yet to be released.
After all the lovely weather we had in March, today is absolutely miserable today, it is cold windy and raining stair rods as my gran used to say, so what better excuse to I need to disappear to my craft room.
This card  am entering for Rainbow Lady "A touch of vintage" and CD Sunday "Ring a roses"

I used an 8x8 base card. The background paper was from MCS Quintessential CD as was te sentiment and topper. The edges of the card and the bottom mat were distressed with Adirondak salmon. The rose was made using a Dimensionfourth flower stamp . The flourish was made with a Cheery Lynn die.

The flower was cut from the same design as the backing paper. I decoupaged the topper and the flowers were glazed, the flowers on the cherry blossom were also glazed although unfortunately none of it shows up in the picture. The card was finished off with a lace bow.

15th March 2012

Goodness me, I am not very good at this blogging lark am I. I don't seem to be very consistent because other things keep getting in the way.The lovely weather that we have had recently means gardening and walking are very appealing. I am going to try to get down to doing some challenges starting with the Rainbow Lady one.I have been kindly asked to be a guest designer for this one and I must admit that I struggled with the topic but it isn't called a challenge for nothing. When I had finished it I got loads of ideas (isn't that always the case) but it was too late then

I used a white base card and  a lime green pearlescent mat (which doesn't show very well in the photograph) then a dark green top mat. The leprechaun was a free google image which I printed a few times and decoupaged. I fitted it onto a mat cut with a nestie. I put an edging down the spine cut with a MS punch and edged with green satin ribbon. I threaded the same ribbon down the opposite side of the dark green mat. I finished the decoration with shamrocks cut from a free download. In reality the shamrocks have been painted with lovely mica paint and show up in lovely pearlescent shades of green but unfortunately this doesn't show up in the picture

16th February 2012

Well it is quite a while since I did any posting.The weather has been very cold but thankfully we have had very little snow (perhaps I shouldn't be tempting fate :-) ). It is lovely to see the snowdrops peeping through and the shoots of the daffodils. perhaps spring isn't too far away.

 The last few weeks have been very busy for me as I have had such a lot of family birthdays to make cards for and a great number of the were "big" ones that needed special cards.  I have also been making samples for a new CD that is being launched on the Create and Craft TV channel. It is called " Imagine" and it is being releases by Elegant Inspirations. Below are some of the samples that I have made

30th January 2012

Well, here I am again, two days latter with another challenge, am I doing well or not ? lol I have some samples to make now so I may be a bit slow on the challenge front for a while but I hope to be able to show them when allowed.
 I had a very lazy day yesterday, I was going to do so much but ended up reading and watching TV all day then feeling guilty. I don't intend repeating that today so I must get my skates on.
This card I would like to enter for Crafty Ann's challenge "What's new pussycat". The stencil that I have used I have had for a few months but I have never used it. Unfortunately, as usual, the lovely sparkle and colour of the glitter don't show up in the photograph even with scanning.

I have used plain black card for the base. For the image I have used a Dreamweaver stencil, stencilling paste and Pee Wee glitters onto black card. I have matted and layered with Mauve card to pick out the colour of  the fuchsia and  matted that onto silver card. The sentiment is a stamp that I have had for ages and can't remember the designer. I have stamped and embossed it with mauve embossing powder and matted and layered with mauve and silver card. The image and the sentiment have been mounted using foam pads and I have finished the card with a ribbon from my stash.

Saturday 28th January

It is the weekend again and I have spent most of today in my craft room but I have just realized that I am hungry so I have called it a day. I didn't get ant crafting done yesterday as I spent the whole day shopping at Meadowhall, the sum total of my purchases was one bottle of top coat nail varnish, when what I really wanted was an outfit for a party. How is it that when you are not looking for anything there are always loads of things that you like but when you are desperate you can't find a thing ?
I digress, the card that I have made this afternoon I would like to enter for Rainbow Lady's challenge -
"Scottish theme" to celebrate Burns night.

For the base card I have used an A4 sheet of tartan Kanban card. I matted Dark red card with gold and wrapped a tartan ribbon round it, I then fixed it to the centre of the base card. I fixed another length of ribbon across the top of the base card with a bow in the centre, the loose ends of the bow were fastened loosely at measured interval to the matted card. The images are two freebies from Dover Publications. I have coloured them with Promarkers and distressed the edges. I then matted and layered with deep red and gold, I have then fixed them with foam pads onto the centre of the trailing ribbons card 

Thursday 26th January 2012

Well, my good intentions of doing three challenges every week are failing miserably. I have loads of family birthdays this month and next month four of which are biggies. I have been trying to fit my birthdays in with the topics but it hasn't always worked (note to self, must do better).
The weather has been abysmal so at least I have had no desire to go out anywhere, it made my little craft room look very warm and cosy, although after three days of incessant card making it looks like a tip.
The image below I would like to enter for CD Sunday challenge "Zodiac"

I have made it from the Zodiac section on Linda Ravenscroft's "Enchanted" CD.

I have used an 8x8 card layered with the matching backing papers. The center backing paper I have edged with the edging strips on the accessories sheet. I have decoupaged the image and adhered it to the centre of the card. I wrote the sentiment using the software provided on the CD. I finished it of with another sentiment in the corner.

17th January 2012

This month is flying and although we have had a hard frost for the last few mornings, poking their little white heads through  in my garden is a patch of beautiful snowdrops. I hope that this means that spring is on it's way and not snow.
My son and Daughter in law have been sending stunning pictures to my mobile from New York where they are having a holiday, I am not in the least bit envious (I tell lies too :-) )
My latest card I have done for Rainbow Lady's challenge, the title is "The many faces of women"

I have used a cream base card which unfortunately I appear to have cut off when cropping the picture. I have matted with dark brown card. The main image is a wooden stamp that I have had for years, all the other stamped images are from a sheet from Inkilicious. All the images have been stamped and distressed with walnut and old paper distress inks. The background paper with the face is a free download that I acquired years ago, sorry I can't remember where from. The embellishments are lace from my stash and flowers made from the backing paper

9th January 2012

We have had a wonderful drive through Sherwood forest today, the sun was shining and the weather was quite mild, we stopped for lunch at a lovely restaurant and afternoon tea at a quaint little coffee shop.
 I think that spring must be on it's way, the daffodil shoots are peeping through, the primulas are in flower, I hope that I am not speaking too soon, we will probably have snow next week.
I am back on my challenge drive now. This card I would like to enter for -
Rainbow Lady's challenge - "Travel into 2012" and
Crafty Ann's challenge - "Lets think hot"

I downloaded the image and imported it into MCS where I manipulated it. I then decoupaged it using  Pinflaire silicone glue. Matted it with gold miri card and and mounted it onto Burgundy coloured card. I finished it off with red satin ribbon.  

Wednesday 4th January 2012

Well, where did the end of the year go. I have only just managed to get into my craft room, I was having real withdrawal symptoms. I have finished a couple of birthday cards so I thought that it would be a good time to start back on some challenges. It was a little difficult to do them before Christmas because my old laptop went to laptop heaven and I had to use a netbook. So now armed with brand spanking new laptop, I have done my first challenge of 2012.

This is for CD Sunday Challenge "O for Olympics"
And Rainbow Lady's Challenge "My Choice"

I have used Scrapbook Artist Cd to make the topper. I have then matted and layered with gold plus red white and blue card. The backing paper is from "Men's collection" on My Craft Studio. The whole card was made from 8x8 dark blue card and embellished with a re ribbon bow