Fingers crossed

Keep your fingers crossed for me everyone!!!

 

 I have just entered a card for my very FIRST design team challenge over at the Dandy Doodlers FB group.

 

Very nervous and excited about the whole idea of possibly being a member of a DT!!

 

The picture will follow once the winners have been announced so that it is fair for all that enter, only got to wait a couple more days till we find out................

Not sure if my nerves will withold the wait though lol!!!!

 

This is a big challenge for me as I am very self critical and never feel my crafting is at a good enough standard for DTs, so here's hoping xx

Good Luck

A little project arose when I was told that a recently gained friend was going to be leaving our slimming group (she was the consultant too) also that would mean that our fab weigh in girl would be leaving too as the new consultant would be bringing in her own team. :(

Well I couldn't let them leave with out a little something for them to remember me by even though we hadn't known each other for that long. Any excuse to get crafting lol!!!

I knew Sarah was a cat lover so I based her good luck card on a cat image I had and thought black and orange / yellow would be the best colours to use. Also it would give me a chance to use a few new skills I had seen at a Papercraft fair in our local area.

These were to use my new toy, the Woodware Craft Edger and to make my own roses out of card and a flower punch.

 

The roses were made using 7 flower shapes using the flower punch and giving them dimension with an embossing tool. Then pinch the end over with your tweezers and then layer the first five petals and stick with some good glue. The next to last petal needs to be scrunched slightly and the last petal needs to be scrunched tightly and then stuck in place.

Finished off with some gingham ribbon and a heart die cut and some burgundy stickles to make the sentiment to wish her good luck on the next step of her life journey.

 

 

For the 2nd card I decided on pinks and purples. Also found a fizzy moon decoupage image that I thought would be just perfect.

For the background I cut out the flower design from some Katie Knight paperstack I have had for a while.

 

 

Finished off with some silver rose glitter paper and black ribbon, with a pink flower attached with a brad and then 3 black jewels for the final touches.

Again the sentiment was written with lime green glitter stickles.

 

Had great fun making them and the girls absolutely loved them too xx

 

Canvas Project

Well while I was on a roll of trying out new things I decided to have a go at a canvas that I had got at the bottom of a craft drawer that I had purchased months ago.

My favourite crafty colour at the time is pinks and purples so decided that would be the base colour for the canvas so took about distress inking the whole canvas with 'spun sugar' and then used a corner flower mask and the 'aged mahogany' distress ink over the mask and in the centre to leave the pattern showing in the 'spun sugar' shade.

Then die cut two scalloped edged squares of different sizes in a pink and silver shiny rose paper. Stamped a 'Lily of the Valley' image on white card and coloured with Promarker and then backed on black card. Placed the papers at angles and then added the image on the top with the imaged butterflies flying above the image as though flying away.

The canvas was beginning to take shape but I did feel that it still needed something. So i dug feep into my craft stash and found the gold butterflies and added them where felt the gaps were. At this point I thought I was done.

 

Oh how wrong I was. Decided the bottom of the image needed something so added a mixture of colours of paper flowers to compliment the background colour.

Surely I was finished now................

 

Well left it over night and went back to look at it and still wasn't happy so decided to add a little sparke to the canvas and to leave a trail from each butterfly. Decided on 'silver glitter stickles' for the blue butterflies trail and 'gold glitter stickles' for the gold butterflies.

 

 

Now it is finished..................................................

Well the day after, came in from work and was looking at the canvas and thought to myself that it was still missing something especially around the corners. So after some long thought and worry about spoiling what I had already created I took my 'burgundy glitter stickles' and made small dots in the centres of the flowers in each corner of the canvas.

Took a step back and HOORAY happy and finished xx

 

 

Just goes to show that even when you think you are finished you never can tell and don't be afraid of adding to something you have made.

 

Bye for now xx

 

 

I'm Back

Hi again folks!

Well I'm back from hollibobs, and what a brilliant time it was, with LOTS of sunshine and relaxing.
Can't really say I'm glad to back home as the weather here is flipping AWFUL and it is giving me severe post holiday blues lol!!!!

The weather is just typical bank holiday rain, rain and more rain so back to the craft room it has sent me.

Decided to just tinker around with a few different things and techniques. Got my Tim Holtz book out for some inspiration and decided to do some distress inking and eventually came up with a small tag sample.

I inked the base tag with distress inks 'vintage photo' and 'rusty hinge'. The centre piece was inked with 'spiced marmalade' and 'wild honey'. The very small label tag was inked with 'crushed olive'. I then just added some paper flowerd and gold glitter brads and a mustard coloured bow at the top. Oh yeah and I mustn't forget the small wire heart I made under the bottom flower.

Hope you like it.

 

Back to some more experimenting and practising. Speak to you all again soon, bye for now xx

Hi all,

Just wanted to let you all know I won't be doing much blogging for the next 2 weeks as I won't be near a computer as I'm off my hollibobs HOORAY!!!!!
Would love to take all my crafting gear with me but there just wouldn't be enough room in the car and hopefully the weather will be that nice I won't be moving too far from the beach, lol!!!!! Well one can dream anyway!
Keep on crafting and blogging folks and I will be back blogging after my lovely holiday full of inspiration and motivation.

Enjoy folks xx

Studio 12 Monthly Giveaway

Hi everyone,

Just wanted you all to know that Studio 12 are having a Monthly Giveaway!! It's really easy to enter, I Have Entered! Why don't you all pop on over there and have a try yourself. You could be the lucky winner of some fabulous Polka Doodles / Studio 12 goodies.

Good Luck Everyone xx

Polka Doodles August Challenge Card No 3

Hi everyone. I've been busy crafting for the last 2 nights as I have got a special birthday coming up. My best friends twin daughters are 18 on Wednesday so wanted to make them a special card each. Perfect inspirational timing when Nikki at Polka Doodle Dandies announced a blog challenge. Well I decided to take up that challenge. I added two new cards (below) at long last to my blog, which has been neglected for quite a while, and I have now completed the final part of the challenge to use the Emma Canning digi image.
Well here are the 2 designs I came up with. Hope you like them.x

Come back soon and I will share some other craft projects I have been completing this last month.

Bye for now!!!

Polkadoodles August Challenge No 2

This card was created in June for my work colleague and friend who had just engaged. Thought it quite fitting for the Polkadooles August Challenge, celebrations all round for a great idea to get us all blogging and sharing are great creations and having pride in what we do.

Here it is, hope you like it as much as the recipient did.

Polkadoodles August Challenge

Well I am back!! Its been a long time since I blogged. I have been making and creating but never seem to get the time to update my blog.
Then along came the kick up the bum I needed. A challenge from Nikky Hall at the Polka Doodles FB page.
The challenge is to put 3 cards on to our blogs and one has to be using the Emma Canning Image from the team.
So here goes here is the first card, it was made in May for a work colleague of my husband who had just successfully got the job as the new headteacher at his school.

Hope you get the little twist............

New Arrival

Here is this afternoons creation. Inspired by the new arrival for a fellow football friend, I set to work to create a card to welcome the new born to their family.
Again there is a little heat embossing involved as I am getting quite obsessed about using this technique in my craft work now.
First I chose a blue card blank and the blue accessories I was going to use and to round scalloped paper doilies, 1 large and 1 small. The two paper doilies were then embossed using a silver embossing powder.
Two pieces of patterned paperstock were then chosen. I chose a blue paper with white spots and a blue and white check paper. The blues are a pale blue. The dotty paper was placed to the left going to just over the centre and then the check paper was placed as a diamond to the right of the dotty paper. Then the embossed doilies were placed next to each other, large to the right and the small to the left and slightly lower.
In the centre of the large doily I placed an image which was taken from the 'fizzy moon' decoupage collection and fixed using foam pads to give it depth.

On the smaller embossed doily I stamped an image of a baby on a pillow using just black ink.

Down the lefthand side of the card I placed a strip of blue flowered ribbon and added 3 blue ribbons using sticky dots. Then in the space above the small doily I made a flower from pre-cut large petal shapes and used a large brad.

In the space below the doilies I added to small baby handprint embellishments and then completed the card with the peel off sentiments 'congratulations' above the large doily and 'a baby boy' under the large doily' and finally a collection of sparkly stars in the top righthand corner of the card.

The final card

It took quite a long time to make but I am quite pleased with the final product. Hope you are too.







Well trying to keep up with this blogging is a bit of a nightmare. I make a card and take the pictures, then it takes ages for me to remember to upload the pictures and then add them to my blog. I could really do with a computer permanently in the craft room, but think thats a bit of wishful thinking really.

I made this birthday card a few nights ago and I am only just getting round to putting on this blog, oh well better late than never I suppose.

There is quite a bit of heat embossing again as I am enjoying playing around with this technique at the minute. So first I embossed some chipboard flower shapes, using gold and burgundy embossing powders.

Then I embossed a paper doily with the burgundy embossong powder, let it dry, then embossed on top of this with the gold embossing powder.

Next I cut two scalloped square borders using the sizzix big shot. The large border is white paperstock and the smaller frame is with pink paperstock. Then the image was added. The image is taken from the 'fizzy moon' decoupage collection. The white frame is placed and then the small pink frame is placed inside the white one but ofset diagonally, with the image in the middle if this. To look like below







You can see the depth of the decoupage image in this next picture.

The last parts to make were the sentiment and the flowers. The sentiment was backed onto card the same colour as the card blank and cut out the same shape. Then I made three flowers using pre-cut petal shapes and glitter brads for the centres.

All that was left was to then put all the elements of the card together on burgandy card blank. Half the card blank was then covered with a gold patterned paper and edged with gold glitter peel off edging. The embossed paper doily was then placed on top of this paper, slightly overhanging the righthand edge. The scalloped frames were then arranged to the right of the doily. Then in the left hand corner place the 'happy bithday' sentiment and arrange the three flowers underneath the sentiment in a cureve. The finished card is as below.

Hope you like it!!!





Mothers Day card (NAN)

Well it has been another productive afternoon in the small confinements of my craft space. Still practising with the embossing and after some lovely comments about my previous card I have kept the design very similar and just changed some small elements. Here is what it turned out like.

How did I do it I hear you ask lol!!!!

Well firstly I heat embossed 2 paper butterfly outlines. One with Candy Green powder and the other with Enchanted Gold powder. The Candy Green powder didn't take as well as the Gold but it gave it a crackled effect so  decided to stick with it.

I then cut the scalloped oval shape out of the leather effect green card stock with my Big Shot and then heat embossed embossed the edges of the shape with the Enchanted Gold. Next I stamped the panda image on the scalloped shape and again heat embossed it with the Enchanted Gold powder. Used some foam pads to lift it from the rest of the card and to give the card depth.

The rest of the card comprises of a piece of Laura Ashley paper, gold sparkly peel off edging strips, green gems and green / cream flower shapes and cream glitter brads. The letters of NAN were made with Bloom & Grow, My Mind's Eye chipboard letter shapes.

I arranged the letters and the image onto the packing paper first, and edged the backing paper with the peel off edging strips. I then used black ink to stamp the words 'WITH LOVE' underneath the raised image.

Lastly to complete the card, arranged the butterflies to the left of the card and finished the bottom corner with three flowers and the top corner with the green gems.

Hope you like the completed card.

Mothers Day

So now I have got the inspiration and the crafting bug back I went on to make another Mothers Day card, after a small trip to hobbycraft for some extra inspiration and bits. Here is what I came up with.

After been inspired by my previous heat embossing card I gave it another go. First I embossed two heart shaped doilies, one in a glitter red embossing powder and the other with a pink distressing powder.

Next from a piece of black cardstock, cut a scalloped edged oval and then print on it the image taken from Woodland Folk clear stamp. Heat emboss the image with silver embossing powder.

Punch the edeges of the card blank with the heart edging. Arrange the elements on the card blank and on top of the pink patterned paperstock. Add the finishing touches of red gems, Mum and with Love stamped in black ink and then make the flowers using felt red and pink flower shapes and pink glittered brads.

Final product which I am quite proud of







Trying something new

Well I have been struggling for inspiration for a while now, but finally I have produced 2 new cards ready for Mothers Day. Tried some embossing which I don't use often. It has been a struggle but hopeful you will like the final outcomes.

Firstly I made the sentiment using a free Mum stamp, on green leather effect cardstock and then heat embossed the image with purple aurora cosmic powder and a Tim Holtz distressing powder. I also embossed the edge with the cosmic powder too.

Next

I embossed a piece of black cardstock with an embossing folder and then heat embossed it with the Tim Holtz distressing powder to enhance the pattern.

Then

I made three flowers using small glitter brads to finish the corner.

Then I put it all together with the other elements, printed paper, self adhesive edging in green and brown and glitter edging peel offs and lastly some flower and butterfly toppers.

The finished product







Oh and I nearly forgot the four buttons too LOL!!!

Leaving Card