New Nesties.

I've spent the last couple of days making Wedding cards but can't show them yet as the Wedding isn't until next week and my Blog feed goes straight to facebook where it could be seen by the recipients.



Instead I thought I would show the embellishments I made with my new nesties. I bought the snowflake set of dies and had fun using just 2 colours of paper and a few gold star shaped brads.

I can see i'm going to have fun with colour combinations when I finally get around to using them properly. I'm thinking purple/silver, blue/silver at the moment.

Crafter's Companion #10

This week on Crafter's Companion challenge blog we have another sketch as well as some items to be used.

These are: the colours Red/White/Gold, Ribbon, Gems and Embossing.

I made mine into a square card and used an image of Popcorn Bear along with a paper strip from the Christmas Cd. The main colour of my card is red with mats of red, gold and white. The embossing on the white mat is done with Swiss dots on the Cuttlebug. The ribbon is white spotty organza and the gems are in the corners of the gold mat. A lousy photo i'm afraid but it has been raining most of the day and the light is just awful.

Crafter's Companion #9

Over on the Crafter's Companion challenge blog this week it is Yvonne's turn to set the sketch.
This is what she has come up with, something quite different to the usual I think and a bit more challenging because of the shapes.

My new Cds arrived yesterday, they are the Hobby and Occupations from Crafter's Companion. I found the perfect image on them for my nephew's 9th birthday.
I hope Yvonne doesn't mind but I messed around with her sketch a bit by rotating it and flipping it to fit the decoupage on.I've used the comuter games decoupage from the Hobbies Cd printed onto card and layered up using a mixture of DST, foam pads and silicone glue to give different dimensions to the pieces.
The base card is white size A5 onto which i've put blue holographic card.
The stars have been printed onto a slightly smaller paper and the shape cut out to make a window through which to show the holographic card.
The ribbon has been fastened around the base layer and an oval of blue pearlescent card added. This has a peel-off greeting and message decorated with a pale blue brad.

Birthday and Good Luck

A couple of cards to show.

Firstly my brother's birthday card, which I made last week, using a free template from Simply Cards & papercraft magazine.

I used the template to cut out cut out and ink the different parts of the cupcakes and then assembled the pieces onto dark paper, raising the icing up on foam pads. The base card is pale blue and i've used a couple of mats in silver and dark blue.

The greeting is a peel-off.

This next one is a Good Luck card made for my husband to give to a colleague who is leaving work.
What should have been a simple card to make actually took me most of the day due to said husband being at home and constantly interrupting me and generally putting me off.

In the end I am quite pleased with the colouring, done with Promarkers onto an stamped image from Lili of the Valley. It's been cut out, a necessity since I was distracted and marked the card it was stamped onto, then layered up onto gold and red mats cut with Nesties. Half the card is covered with a pale green paper, from my stash, cut with a scalloped edge. The greeting is a peel-off.

Crafter's Companion #8

The sketch this time on Crafter's Companion blog challenge is from Rachel.
Here is my card using an image of Popcorn Bear printed from the Christmas cd. I've used bright blue and silver on white backing papers from Crafter's Companion with an added piece of pale blue pearlescent cardstock.

The embellishments are a piece of white lace with a silver detail, a couple of holographic snowflakes and some silver peel-off stars.

Don't look Sallie!!

You'd better not be looking at this Sallie!

This is a desk calendar I have just finished for Sallie to keep at work with her. She's not going to get it until Christmas. I've used a photo of Evie on the cover. Evie is the cat who had kittens last year. She gave her and the kittens up as she was not supposed to have a pet in the house she is renting.

I used a single sheet of card, folded into a 'V' shape to make a stand. The front cover is acetate to protect the top photograph which is printed onto glossy photo paper.

All the pictures of kittens and cats are from clipart on the computer and have been printed onto 6 x 4 matt photo paper. The calendars are from a free download from My Craft Studio resized to fit. The whole thing was bound using my BIA.

Crafter's Companion #7

This is the latest sketch on the Crafter's Companion challenge.

I am rather last minute with this as a new one comes out on Monday.

I decide to turn the sketch on it's side.

I had a play with some new Promarker pens which I bought last week and coloured in this cute Forever Friends stamped image. I am rather pleased with my first attempt at shading but unfortunately it doesn't show up too well on this picture.

The grey and blue backing papers are both from a pad by Crafter's Companion and the holly strip is from the Popcorn christmas Cd.

The image has been layered up onto the same grey backing paper, both shapes being cut cut with Nesties.

Holographic silver snowflakes and 3 tiny blue self adhesive gems complete the card.

ichf workshops

Sallie and I went to the International Craft & Hobby Fair in Cardiff on Friday.

We didn't do any of the free 15 minute workshops this year but did 2 workshops lasting 45 minutes with a lovely lady from FINDINGBEADS4U. They cost £2 each but were well worth it for the handbag charm and bungee bracelet we both made.

The metal charms on each are on lobster clasps so can be removed if not required.
The fair was very quiet this year, we got there about 15 minutes after opening and the place was virtually empty! It was so nice though to be able to wander round without getting squashed and lovely to sit down for a couple of hours for the workshops.
I managed to spend a bit of money, of course, but mainly on items which were already on my shopping list.

Sample making

A few weeks ago I was accepted as a sample maker by Arts & Crafts Direct, the company with which Stephanie Weightman of Create & Craft fame is associated.

My first samples were made last week and were seen on tv this morning. They were to showcase a set of die-cuts.
I used the plates with embossed rims as my main item, along with other pieces included in my sample pack and images from My Craft Studio Cd's as well as bits from my stash.

These 2 have acetate fronts

I love this made to celebrate a birth with ribbon and pearlescent backer.This uses vellum lace die-cuts and a metallic dragonfly embellishment..With the addition of spirelli and a metallic stickers. This last one simply features a die-cut frame backed with pearescent paper and a swirl image from a cd. I was very excited at seeing my cards on tv especially as I got my name mentioned as well!

Crafter's Companion #6

This time on Crafter's Companion challenge the sketch is from Anne.

I have used the ATC I made for the challenge on my previous post as a topper. I simply backed it with pink paper to make it stand out from the rest of the card.

The floral backing paper and decoupaged image are both from the Popcorn Bear Floral Cd. The pearlescent pink backing paper is from a paper pack also by Crafty Companions.

I added 3 self adhesive gems, a peel-off greeting and an organza bow.

I'm very pleased as I have managed to do a card each week for this challenge blog so far, hope I can continue.

Tilda & Friends ATC Challenge

Over on the Tilda & Friends ATC challenge blog we have been asked to 'layer it up' meaning decoupage an ATC.

My image of Popcorn Bear holding a huge bunch of tulips has 4 layers and is taken from the Popcorn Floral Cd by Crafter's Companion. The backer is a matching paper taken from the same Cd.

Rosie-Dee's Challenge #52

This months theme of SHAPES continues with a recipe. So, we'd like to see 2 squares and a rectangle on your project this week please.

My card will be saved for my Brother-in-Laws birthday in November.

I used Stampin' Up cardstock in calendula which when scored on an A4 fold gives a shortfall card. The front edge was trimmed using a scalloped cutter and then inked with Cosmic Copper Brilliance inkpad.

The backing paper in a gold and cream criss cross design is from a Crafter's Companion pack, with a strip of the same being put just inside the card. It reminded me a football goal net.

The sentiment is a free download from My Craft Studio and the toppers from Teddies Friends cd by Peerless Designs.

A very apt card I think for a footie fan, Wolves in this case, which came together very quickly and easily.

Christening card

This is a card I made to celebrate the Christening of our 2 year old great niece at the weekend. The artwork is a free download from Rusty Alfrey designs and can be found here. Do take a look at this blog as there are some super designs.
I manipulated the image with a Photo program to get it the right colour and size (clever eh? It started out blue) It was then printed onto pearlescent paper and layered onto pink card.
The white card blank is A5 size and has been covered with a mat of pale pink card and white pearlescent paper the same as the topper. A double layer of different widths of pink organza ribbon have been attached across the corner of the larger matting and a pink organza bow on the corner of the topper. A simple peel-off sentiment completes the card.

2 of those!

I've spent the morning measuring and cutting to make these 2 notebooks. The 'hearts' one is a Thank You gift and the other is part of a Birthday gift for 5 year old.
I added a charm and ribbons to the adult one and lots of bright coloured pages for the childs.They were very quick and easy to make as the front covers are postcards from Ikea cut down to a 10x15 cm size with a backer and pages to fit, all bound with my BIA.
I've got to find a padded bag now to fit the thank you gift into then off to the Post Office.

My Birthday cards

These are all the lovely hand crafted cards I received for my birthday last Sunday.

Thank You so much to everyone who took the time to make a card for me, I really appreciate the effort put into them.I had to smile when I opened Keren's card as I had used the same image for her birthday which is just the day before mine. I hope none of you mind me displaying your cards for all to see but as most of you have blogs of your own I thought it ok to show your lovely creations on mine.

All of my presents from family and friends have been crafty ones so I am very lucky to have people who know my likes so well.

2 for 1

This week on Cute Card Thursday the subject is 'Back to School'

I made the toppers for these 2 cards yesterday and just finished them. They are for my 2 Grandaughters. The youngest starts 'proper' school on her 5th birthday next week and the eldest moves up to Junior school. The stamped image is from Paper Nation and has been coloured with Promarkers and cut using Nesties. The oval has been coloured on the edges with purple or red ink to match the backer which is from a pad I have had for ages, think it's a sizzix one. The other backer is card put through a Cuttlebug embossing folder, again with inked edges. The greeting is a silver peel-off.

Crafter's Companion #5

On the Crafter's Companion challenge blog this week we have been asked to use blue as the main colour while still following a sketch.
This is Tina's sketch for us to follow. This is my card using backing paper printed from the Cute Companions cd and a stamp from the Popcorn Bear Christmas collection.
Sleepy little Souffle has been stamped onto lemon card with Grey Versafine ink and coloured with watercolour pencils. The image and blue backer have been cut with tag shaped Nesties and layered up at an angle to each other.
The peel-off greeting is on an oval cut with Nesties. 5 small blue self adhesive gems finish off the card.