A few more Christmas Cards

This one is doing my head in - it's not this way up on my computer but blogger wants it to be sideways!

I just want to record all my cards so I can remember what I've made.

Next raft of cards

Bah Humbug

Every year in January I make the sensible decision to make about 8 to 10 Christmas cards each month and then have a stress-free Christmas. And do I? Do I humbug-gery! So consequently I am running round like a blue-bottomed elf trying to get it all done. I bought the Christmas puds and robin cutouts from The Glitterpot and was quite pleased with how they turned out. I pinched the idea of "colouring" the Christmas pud with glitter from the example on display in the shop. I did plan to do the same with the robin but didn't like the way the red glitter I bought turned out. It was called burgundy and had a black undertone that didn't look very jolly.I then tried embossing the robin with Cranberry embossing powder but that looked a bit ropey too so in the end I just coloured him in with a sakura pen.

The sentiment is from Elzybells

'No One Puts Baby in a Corner'

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Remember, Remember

the fifth of November. Gunpowder, Treason and plot!

Miss Shoe

I have made loads of cards recently but they have all been rather last gasp so have gone straight into the envelope and straight into the pillar box. Although I wanted to get this one off quickly too I did find time to take a snap or two in the afternoon sun. It's for my daughter who started at University last week and the Pink Petticoat papers match the decorating scheme she has chosen for her room, black, white and fuschia pink.The main image (Also PP) was coloured with a gelly roll sakura pen for lots of gloss.

Ally Pally

Photo taken from AP Website
I went to the Rubber Stamping and Scrapbooking fair at Ally Pally yesterday. Although I went on my own (I prefer to go solo when shopping so I can sit down when I want, have a cuppa when I want without cramping anyone else’s style) I felt excited as soon as I got on the train to London as there was a weekend vibe of people chattering and laughing that you just don’t get during the week. At Victoria I queued up to get a tube ticket to Wood Green, and realised why I normally wouldn’t go to London at the weekend – it was heaving. I haven’t been on the tube since a few days before the July 7th bombings preferring to go on the bus instead (which makes no sense at all but there you are) but it was fine, in no time at all I was emerging into the sunshine at Wood Green. It had said on the website that there was a free shuttle bus from the station to Ally Pally but it wasn’t immediately apparent where it went from but I quickly spotted two women who I felt sure were crafters and asked them. Sure enough they were on their way there too and pointed me towards the correct bus stop. I felt quite nostalgic as the coach wound its way up the hill towards the Palace. The last time I’d been here was aged 16 to go to a concert with my best friend at the time, Margaret Baines. I can’t even remember who were playing (I want to say Wishbone Ash but I’m really not sure!) What I do remember was that we missed the last bus home to South London where we were staying with her Nan and had to walk through the night (I can see us now dressed in maxi skirts and cheesecloth tops , love beads wrapped around our necks), but that’s a whole nother story!
I met a lady on the coach from Hampshire. I asked her if she knew the Crafty Cow and it turns out she lived about three miles away from it (Ange this piece of information is for your benefit if you’re reading this) As soon as I got inside, the first stall I came across was the Rubbernecker stall which was the one thing I had specifically wanted to look at. I recognised one of the exhibitors on that stall from Create and Craft TV when she demonstrated Scene-velopes (I think that’s what they’re called)
I really enjoyed looking around not so much for the scrapbooking stuff but for the rubber stamps – I really didn’t “get” rubberstamping before but now I am obsessed by it. They had some great stuff – as well as the Rubbernecker stamps I bought (11 of them plus a freebie – which was actually a free bee!), I got a Pink cat studio beach set and dickered for ages over the Hannah stamps. At £13.50 I felt I could only afford one of them but couldn’t decide and in the end decided not to get any. I also bought four more sets of nestabilities as they had them at four for £60. I didn’t really buy a lot compared to most of the people there (credit crunch, what credit crunch?) and everyone seemed to have wheelie suitcase things to carry their mounds of stash home in. I also saw that Stephanie doo dah from Ideal World demonstrating her workstation thingy. She was prettier in real life – I know people always say that about people on the telly but it’s true – what can possibly be happening with those camera lenses? There were a lot of people demonstrating mica powders and although they looked amazing I wasn’t sucked in, I am still too frightened to try the twinkling H2Os I bought several years ago. I thought the food in the restaurant was a bit pricey and the girl behind the till didn’t have a clue. The two people in front of me were having problems with their bills so I kept a very close eye on what she was ringing up for my food. As I looked round the restaurant area the rather uncharitable thought crossed my mind that there was a certain element of the clientele that could have done with spending less on crafting materials and a bit more on getting their hair done. There was a tremendous atmosphere in the hall though with everyone happy and having a good time, although boy it got hot in there. I came over a bit faint in SirStampalot and had to sit down and administer half a kitkat I had squirreled away in my handbag for just such an occasion. By about 3 o’clock I’d had enough and got on the shuttle bus back to the station. I shall be back with bells on next year.
P.S. Scuse the lack of photos - I only took photos of card samples which aren't really appropriate to post. I did take a photo of the inside conservatory bit but now realise the foreground was filled with a huge "Toilets" sign!

Autumnal Blessings

Well I may have missed sending cards for "International Talk like a Pirate Day" but I have managed to get a couple in the post for the first day of Autumn. Loving these Milly Images from Spiral Whisper Core-dinations papers are cuttlebugged with swiss dots and pumpkin harvest. Misc embellishments from who knows where?

Feline Groovy!

I said I had some more Elzybells stamps lurking in the wings but I seem to be stuck on this one design at the moment .I have been colouring away like mad but not actually making any cards but I had to get my finger out to make a birthday card this week and here is the result.The colouring doesn't seem a very good match for the (much loved) flocked doodlebug papers but it doesn't look so bad irl.I need to expand the colour range of my markers, but until then I'm just enjoying the colouring in.

Halloween

I have used an original template designed by Linda to make my card today - I *heart* this layout so much, and thought it was perfect to make a non-scary Halloween card using my new "Broomstick Milly" from Spiral Whispers Dotty background from PP (Lola's Boudoir Rainbow) bats, zig-zag square and corners are Cuttlebug and Sizzix shapes.I used a silky black ribbon to start with but had to change it to a chiffon one as it looked too heavy. I've got some more Millies to come - I love them so much.

Purple Rain

I seem to be having colour blocks lately. This image was stamped for me by a kind friend - I didn't know what high hopes were, so she sent me one so I could see. I have used some doodlebug flocked brads - I'm flocking mad - and the paper was bought at the Glitterpot and was just in a plain wrapper so can't say who made it (it was jolly expensive though, not at all my normal type of purchase but I was looking for some paper with a Japanese feel and this fitted the bill).
The main image stamp on the one to the right was also stamped by a dear friend, with doodlebug flocked backing paper and sentiment by Cuddly Buddly. Both cards show my rather cavalier attitude to colouring between the lines, I think it's because my eyes are getting worse as I get older. Perhaps I should invest in a magnifying glass of some sort. As a complete aside when I washed my hair this morning I got out my rarely used hair dryer (I'd rather let it dry naturally as my hair is quite coarse and I worry that it will look like straw if I use much in the way of heating implements) Anyway I noticed it was called a "Big Shot" - obviously a bit of subconscious crafting crept in when I bought this, so now I have two Big Shots!

The Green, Green Grass of Hove

I'm in a bit of a green phase at the moment and still loving the Doodlebug flock paper. The image is a Sugar Nellie, the sentiment Cuddly Buddly and I learnt the stay put bow technique from here The other card is using a stamp from Elzybells. I went a bit mad and bought loads of them, mostly dog images, but a couple of girl ones and a couple of cat ones so you will be seeing quite a few of those in the coming weeks.I don't seem to have got the hang of colouring between the lines but that's no big deal.I am having such fun colouring so now, that the end result is immaterial, I enjoy the journey.

Wedding Bells

I wanted to make a wedding card for a friend who's getting married (duh!) but had no inspiration so I decided to CASE a card from Heart's Prints but in fact the end result looks nothing like the one I had my eye on. I wanted to incorporate some lush plum velvet ribbon as her outfit will have plum accents and it just developed a life of its own. Plain but not unpleasing. I've got some little pearl sticky-on things that would look cute on the clangers, but I can't find them underneath all the debris - I need to organise my stash, because I can never find what I need.

Hmmm! Not a happy bunny!

When I matched up the brown of the Bazzill Bling card to the background of the Bon Bon Daydream Glittered Cardstock in the shop the seemed to match beautifully but of course as soon as I got it home it didn't match at all. But that's not really what I'm unhappy about - I've made this card for a girl at work who's just had an operation and she loves owls - but I can't give it to her because the blessed brown card that I've cuttlebugged won't stay stuck on to the Glitter card. I've noticed before with things that I've embossed with the cuttlebug folders didn't stay stuck but I thought it was because I was using cheap Asda roller strip sticky stuff and this time I used my 3 times the price, scrapbook adhesives permanent E-Z runner but still it keeps falling off. I don't know what to do. Anyway here is my stash from Saturday when I went to the Glitterpot with Linda, George, Other Linda and Donna. What a wonderful bunch they are - I had the best time.

Angel Dottie

I'm a bit clueless about card layouts and generally prefer something very simple but for this card I decided to use a template I saw on a blog I surfed onto called "I heart 2 Stamp" I think the overall effect is still quite simple because I've left the cardbase blank but I like the quirkiness of the little bits and bobs on it and it was good to try something other than my normal "image in the middle" approach. The central image is a Dottie Christmas Image from Charmed Cards coloured by me in PSP, and the rest was little bits of leftovers (couldn't throw out the scraps of flock paper - that would be sacrilege).The blues actually all match far better than the photo would suggest

Twinkie the kitten

Details as per previous entry.

Birthday Cards

This is a birthday card for my husband - not what I intended to create at all - I had a little A*muse golf cart rubber stamp in pole position on my craft table, but somehow this evolved instead. I bought this doodlebug flock paper a while ago, with no clue what I would do with it but I couldn't resist it's lovely touchable texture. The main image is a rubber stamp from Cuddly Buddly and comes with a cute kitten image as well (I've done another card with that which I will share tomorrow)It was coloured with Whisper marker pens and an aqua painter. The colouring looks better in real life and I'm quite pleased with this technique.The flower doesn't really add to the male-ness of the card but I got ink on my fingers and smudged it on the white card so it had to be covered up somehow :) It's attached with a gromlet (I don't like that word at all) that came with my Crop-o-dile Big Bite.

Diamond Fold Card

Here's my first attempt at a Diamond Fold card which folds up and fits into a 4" square envelope. I have left it quite plain just decorating the side panels with my new cuttlebug embossing strips and the centre with a small stamped image from Lakeland that I have had forever. I think if you wanted to add a sentiment it would have to be a small one tucked under the stamped image.

Old Cards

I was looking for a photo of a card I made in May and knew I hadn't uploaded when I came across this one and realised I hadn't shared this either. Just as well really as it now appears I didn't take a photo of the other card. Anyway cuttlebugged background (Thank You and Swiss Dots), central image by PP "Just for Ewe" and I cut the scallops out on my craft robo, but they don't "nestle" as well as I would have hoped. Still practice makes perfect. Ribbon from a remnant material shop that has been has been having a retirement sale for longer than I care to remember - I bet I'll be retired before it is! This one features anothe c*ck-up, but I forged ahead regardless. You can't really see it in the small photo but I put the card in upside down and de-bossed the swiss dots instead of em-bossing them.

Oooh! Look what I've got.

Linda nominated me for this award which is so nice :)
The rules for this are as follows :-
1. The winner can put the logo on his/her blog.
2. Link the person you received your award from.
3. Nominate at 7 other blogs.
4. Put links of those blogs on yours.
5. Leave a message on the blogs of the boys/girls you've nominated.
As ever I am going to go my own sweet way because the only person on my blogroll is Linda (Just call me Billy One Card blogging Mate!) so I'm not going to be nominating forward.

Valentine "Make & Take"

As mentioned in my last post I was given a Valentine Box "Make and Take" template to do at home by Cathie Shuttleworth . I actually traced the one she gave me and resized it to be a bit bigger, but on reflection I think the smaller size was better suited to it. I have made up the original now but haven't got a photograph as I haven't got round to embellishing it yet. Regardless, it is rather cute isn't it?

Chick, Chick, Chick, Chick, Chicken

I'd forgotten all about these. When I went to the Craft Show at the Brighton Centre in February I bought some fabulous Cathie Shuttleworth templates and I thought I'd just run one up to see how it looked. To start with I was a bit nervous that it would be too difficult (although this Chicken basket is a beginners level project)but it turned out really well and was very easy to assemble. As you can see it is big enough for an egg to fit in,
so at Easter a Cadbury's Creme Egg or similar would be perfect in this as an Easter gift. Cathie was doing a "Make and Take" Valentine's box at the Craft Fair and although I couldn't manage to get to the head of the queue to have a go, she kindly gave me a blank to try at home, so I'll try to blog about that in the next few days.

Brrr Chilly

I am totally embracing this "waste not, want not" mentality after my disparaging remarks earlier in the week. When I put my first bit of pearlised card through the big shot in the sledding cuttlebug folder, it went a bit skew-whiff and couldn't be used as a complete piece so I cut out all the words I could to be used as accents. Not too shabby, I think! Dottie Skating (coloured by me in PSP) from the Dottie Christmas Collection at Charmed Cards - How cute is this? Must have got the Christmas card bug from Linda :)

Waste Not, Want Not

I always cringe when I hear people on Create and Craft or QVC saying that Crafters never waste anything, but actually I am getting a bit that way myself. I made a bit of a c*ck-up when I printed out this card, thinking I had covered over the Tangerine completely with the blue, but clearly I hadn't! I toyed with throwing it away as it didn't seem to be much use but in the end I fashioned this card. Not fabulous, but not too bad I suppose! All by PP as usual. BTW the lady I made the cards for on Monday, loved them and within 10 minutes of receiving them had already written out one, addressed and stamped the envelope and had it in the post!

My baby's sick :(

My daughter has got flu so I quickly rustled this card up to send to cheer her up in lieu of being there to mop her fevered brow. I love these Dottie Images from Charmed Cards although I think I should have printed this one a wee bit larger. I was in a hurry to get it in the post so didn't have time to re-do it. Background papers by PP (of course) from The Lola's Boudoir Rainbow collection.

Bottoms Up!

I am frittering away far too much time with these Dottie Images - I love them to bits. I think I may have to get all of the sets. As usual the background paper is from Pink Petticoat The ribbon I used to tie up the hammock on either side came from Liberty's, a present from my daughter. She knows what I love :)

Dotty about Dottie

Bit of a grotty photo but I love these little character downloads from Charmed Cards You can buy all sorts of different ones (This on is from the Dottie at Home Collection)and there is a male character too, called George. Most of them are just black & white outlines for you to colour in yourself but I've just bought the Christmas ones which come with a coloured in set too which will save a lot of time. The background papers (as ever *yawn* :) ) from Pink Petticoat I just love the versatility of printing off what I like rather than buying a slab of papers and hating half of them.

Another Graduation Card Post

Another Graduation Card this time using the Pink Petticoat Just for Ewe download and PP papers from the Doodle-iscious CD this time in Turquoise. I left it quite plain and centalised this time which I'm not sure about. With all the last four cards I've made, I printed it off enough of the background paper/images to make two or three cards. With the others I've made them all the same but I might vary this one a little bit. Reposition the image and add some brads or ribbon.

More of the Birthday gift cards

The lady I am making the cards for heard on Friday that one of her Grandaughters got a 2:1 degree so I thought I'd make a couple of Graduation cards she could use. The image is from the Turtle-y amazing download from Pink Petticoat coloured in PSP and the papers are from the Doodle-iscious CD (Also PP) in Tangerine and Mocha. I'll put up the other card tomorrow.

Bit of a flurry

I'm making a few cards to give as a gift to one of the ladies at the Rest Home I work at who has a birthday on Monday. I finally seem to have got my mojo back after months of not making much. The main reason is that I have turned my daughter's room into a craft room so it's easier to get on with things. It's a big room so there's all her stuff up one end and all mine up the other so she doesn't mind when she comes home. At the moment my desk is my husband's Black and Decker pasting table, but it's good and sturdy. The downside of course is that he won't be able to use it for the desperately needed wallpapering. Oh well!
As mentioned in my previous post I only have a small number of punches so I thought I would try pairing an oval scallop cut out with a circle. I don't dislike it. The stamp is Curly Sheep by Inca, the paper as before from the "O Christmas Tree" CD by Pink Petticoat.

Yee hah!

I love how this little card turned out - very plain and simple, but I like it. I have used this little matting combo a lot, mainly because I only have a small number of punches but I love the way it looks, so will use it a lot in the future too. The paper is a download from Pink Petticoat "O Christmas Tree" and the Cow rubber stamp is from A-muse. I have pinched the idea for the computer generated sentiment from the co-ordinating A-muse stamp which was naughty but the shop where I bought the cow only had about 6 A-muse stamps in total, so buying it wasn't an option. We are poorly served for American crafting stuff in the UK, and the prices are astronomical, despite the very favourable exchange rate :( Not sure where I got the ribbon from, but I should get some more, it's cute.

Have you got crab's legs? - No it's just the way I walk!

I've finally found time to upload a photo of a card, I've made a quite a few cards lately that I haven't even had time to snap (Ha! Ha! did you see what I did there?) Quite simple, the blue pearlescent card has been cuttlebug embossed with the spots and dots folder, the orange card has been run across with matching ink using the Sandy Shells wheel thingy from Stampin' Up!(Click on the photo to see the design more clearly) Mr Crab has been stamped straight onto red card using the Crab and Co set (also from SU), cut out and mounted on foam pads with added googly eyes. The sentiment is also part of Crab and co. The shells etc glued to the bottom were left over from a Lakeland cardmaking kit I bought. Quick and easy, I may make a few more in the same straight forward style. Do you see the dragon in the background? I'm just waiting to get some gold card to finish it. It is one of the many Craft Robo templates on the brilliant Just Cutters CD 2

Easter Card

Easter Card - Cut and stick decoupage from Cuddly Buddly. Nothing to add really.

Birthday Bubbly

I haven't had much time again to make any cards so as usual the best laid plans ...... (for that read "I haven't made any Easter Cards!") However it is a card making chum's birthday this Easter Weekend and so I had to stir my stirrups and make her a card. It is using Pink Petticoat Lola Rose Bubbly (Just as well the PP lady Liz keeps coming out with new one's as I lost the first lot when my computer crashed - blessed zip downloads making me want everything straight away and not backing it up!)The joy for me of using image stamps is that I can colour them on the computer using PSP which is what I have done here. Colouring with pens, paint and crayons is not my strong suit but I love that if I make a mistake in PSP I can just undo and start again. I have picked out the colours and prints to colour in the image from the Lola's Boudoir collection (thankfully I have that on CD!) and I have used the same for the background paper. I have made the bath bubbles sparkly using Icicle Stickles, although I was a bit sparing with them as my first attempt made the ink run :( The Sentiment was of course computer generated too and the ribbon came from Liberty's

More Mothering Sunday

So I made this little card for my daughter to give to MIL on Mothering Sunday - I got the fab idea and template for the shape of the card from Taylored Expressions - but as you will see if you click the link mine doesn't have the same je ne sais quois as Taylor's - still it turned out pretty good and MIL was delighted of course.The patterened Paper is Pink Petticoat. I did the doodling on the leaves with the thin end of my Whispers brush pens and then decided to go over it with the thick end - should have left it be I think! I need to practise the doodling, it adds a nice touch but I would prefer it if mine flowed a bit better.

Recycle, Re-use, Reduce

I have made this card for my Mother-in-law for Mothering Sunday which was nice and simple using an all-in-one decoupage kit from Cuddly Buddly. Everything is there so you can just print out, cut out and assemble. I see this as the "Ready Meal" of the craft world. Although I love to cook, sometimes I just want to eat something tasty without having to work too hard. Thus I have made this lovely card without too much effort, I just added some pink chiffon ribbon and a little bit of bling to make it "mine". It comes with a selection of four matching sentiments and I was wondering what to do with the surplus three (Thank You, Happy Birthday and With Love) when I remembered that my Mother-in-law had told me how she had reused my cards in the past by cutting off the front and using them as notecards so it occurred to me that I could give them to her so she could extend the life of the card. I will put a bit of double sided tape on the back of each sentiment and print off an extra insert so she can give it a new lease of life. Thrifty or what? I know she's going to like the idea. There is a new Easter Card in the same format at CB that I have got my eye on. Watch this space.

Little Boxes

I had a couple of inexpensive presents I wanted to give to people but I wanted them to look a bit more special than the contents really warranted, so I made these fabulous origami boxes following a video tutorial by Kristina. It is so clear that even a bumbling buffoon like me can make something cute. I have followed the instructions exactly for the first one (except that I used 12" x 12" paper for the lid, and not 11 1/2") The only quibble I have with the tutorial is that
I found it tricky to put the stapler in such a position to fasten the ribbon neatly so for the second box I bored a hole through the lot with my pokey tool and secured the whole lot with a pretty flower shaped brad, but as previously mentioned I am a fumble fingered fool so probably anyone else would be able to manoeuvre the stapler with aplomb! So, Marmite do you love it or hate it? I hate it but couldn't resist buying this special edition Champagne flavoured Marmite for my daughter for Valentine's Day. She loves Marmite and although we Brits generally save Valentine's cards and presents for those we love romantically, rather than bombarding all and sundry with cards and such as seems to happen in other countries, I thought it was too good a chance to show my baby girl how much I love her.

The second blue and green box was to put in some Travel sweets for a gentleman who turned 89 years old recently. He had been bemoaning the fact that you couldn't seem to get Travel sweets anymore so I set out on a mission to get some and managed to find the ones pictured
and also some Barley sugar ones for him. Not a wildly extravagant present but he was chuffed with them and that's what counts. I was pretty chuffed that I found some ribbon that matched the paper of the lid so well. These perfect crafting moments are few and far between for me.