The Last resort

Just a little test

2011-09-28T15:21:00.003+01:00

It doesn't seem easy to insert an audio clip in to Blogger without having your own webspace to upload the clip too. So am trying a "still life" video to see if it works.

Cards

2011-03-20T12:01:00.007Z

Digi Paper & Digi Image by Pink Petticoat, Buttons from the Fabric shop, Thimble Embellishment from Dunhelm Mill, Magnolia DooHickey Tilda Doily Die Cut purchased at The Glitterpot.

Animal Crackers!

2010-03-20T20:21:00.003Z

Blimey! It's been a fortnight since I last posted. Our whole house is in an uproar as DH has decided to decorate the stairs & hallway while I have been very busy in my own modest way running two farms and a cafe (On Facebook!) We have been to the cinema twice (The Blind Side - Very good, Happy Ever afters _ Meh!* ) And the theatre once to see Dave Gorman doing "SIT DOWN, PEDAL, PEDAL, STOP AND STAND UP (ONLY WITHOUT THE PEDAL, PEDAL BIT)" I laughed my socks off, husband somewhat more restrained. Other than that it's been the usual domestic trivia of going to work, coming back from work, making bunting, doing the bare minimum of housework to keep the house beyond the interest of Kim & Aggie. So to the Animal Crackers of the title - which will have to wait for another day or I'll never publish this post and visit anyone else's blog - I have spent a bit too much time on Farmville and too little on other stuff.

Crufts, and trivets and other stuff

2010-03-04T18:05:00.004Z

I notice that Crufts is sponsored this year by DFS sofas. Also a little while ago I read that DFS are the most frequent and highest spending TV advertiser. Who the heck is buying all these sofas to warrant all this expenditure? We bought our sofas more than 10 years ago (From M&S) and they are still in pretty good nick even though the covers are a bit tatty(Nothing that a new set from Plumbs wouldn't fix) Are we a nation of sofa buying maniacs? On the topic of sponsorship I noticed that "The Vampire Diaries" on TV is sponsored by Mentos which raised a smile :)

In the category of "Shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted" today I bought some pink silicon trivets from Dunhelm Mills - two for 50p, I was well pleased although I would have been more pleased if I'd bought them BEFORE burning the kitchen counter by putting a hot pan down on it. Still, pink eh?

Dydd Gwyl Dewi Sant hapus

2010-03-01T11:25:00.003Z

It's funny how two completely different things seem to gel in your mind. Recently I mentioned to Nikki how much I was enjoying the trend for mashing two names together like Jedward. I told her that two of my daughter's housemates, a couple called James and Anne-Marie are known to one and all as Jam-Marie, which cracks me up every time I hear it. Me and my DH would be Derrkie which I'm not sure about :) Back in the day (the early sixties) when my cousin Angela got married, she and her husband Trevor followed the trend at the time and ran their names together to make their house name "Trevange" At this time my father was stationed in Chepstow (this being St.David's Day put me in mind of this) and we lived in Married Quarters in Wyvern Road which was stuck out on a piece of land within a whisker of the Severn Bridge, between where the Wye river enters the Severn estuary and the Severn estuary itself. My parents always maintained that Wyvern was a mash-up (although I doubt they used this term) of Wye and Severn to take into account its unique position. I have subsequently discovered however that Wyvern is the Welsh word for Dragon but I am still fond of the mashing theory.

Of course there is also the mashing of Christian and Surnames such as Subo. I wonder how Amanda Holden would feel about being dubbed A Man Hole (or God forbid, A Hole!)

Toothbrushes and Brides

2010-02-28T22:22:00.002Z

DD came home for a fleeting visit on Thursday to attend an interview for a Summer job and forgot to bring a toothbrush with her. In her normal insouciant way she didn't announce this until gone ten o'clock at night resulting in a madcap jaunt around the local late night shops searching for one. Before we left I looked on the internet to check what time Sainsburys shut and discovered that there was a Sainsburys Local that I didn't know about marginally closer so we set off to visit that. When we got there all the lights were ablaze and staff in uniforms were scurrying about within but the door wouldn't open. A lady Sainsburian mouthed at me through the glass "We're not open, come back at 7 O'clock tomorrow morning" "Not likely" I thought, my dander well and truly up "We're here NOW, what could possibly prevent us from purchasing a toothbrush" I pointed at the sign that declared "Open 7 a.m. t0 11 p.m." "It's only half past ten" I mouthed sternly through the glass. "Yes tomorrow is our first day" she mouthed back "It's a brand new shop" I felt a bit of a fool then and started to giggle. Luckily our little part of the world, despite not being renown for its 24 hour retail experience does have a few places open so we were able to find a toothbrush for the girl!
On Friday we went out to eat at the Cock Inn, our favourite place to go for a spur of the moment meal out. Although the restaurant is a modern addition and quite spacious the actual bar in the original old building although quite charming is very small and it was full to the gunwales with people dressed to the nines. Men in tailcoats, ladies in smart dresses and as we went in I took my place at the bar next to a young lady in a full length white satin gown, her hair adorned with flowers. As I looked around there were wrapped presents and bunches of white balloons tied with satin ribbons. We placed our drinks orders and after we'd been served DH observed "I think this must be a wedding" Well, he has had a lot on his mind lately :) We all enjoyed the meal and DH went to the bar to settle up - DD and I went straight out to stand beside the car and watched as a photographer seemed to be taking candid shots of the smokers stood around outside. He then stood at the pub door and snapped a few of the inside. The wind was bitingly cold in the car park and I said to DD "I hope Dad won't be long" "You don't think he's posing for photographs do you?" She said :)

What a difference a day makes!

2010-02-21T17:22:00.001Z

Things sure have changed here on Walton's Mountain. There's going to be some belt tightening on the horizon.

New Chairs for Old

2010-02-15T15:39:00.004Z

We've had our dining room table and chairs for ever and they were 2nd hand when we got them, cast-offs from the in-laws. Over the years the regency striped fabric on the seat pads became grubby and threadbare and we talked of recovering them but never seemed to get round to it. About a year ago I bought some nice Cath Kitson fabric that went with the slub green walls in the dining room, but in my usual apathetic way, just left it to one side with the thought that I'd do it "one day" - Well "one day" last week my husband came into the computer room waving a seat pad covered in the aforementioned fabric and said "What do you think?" Well I thought "Hurrah!" and over the course of the weekend he covered them all. They look fabulous, I'm so pleased with them. In fact he was so enthusiastic I barely got a chance to take a before photo, he had whipped off all the grotty fabric but there is the mock up of before at the top and here is after.

Delia Smith

2010-02-13T20:50:00.007Z

I was watching "Delia Through the Decades" the other day and various celebrities got out their Delia Cookery Books and proudly showed how shabby and covered in gravy and chocolate they were from constant use. I thought I was the only one! As my other cookbooks sit on the shelf gathering dust only dear Delia is coverless and dog-eared and loved to death.And before you ask, I am NOT constantly making Pheasant with cream and apples, but the recipe above that starts on the previous page "Pork Chops baked with mushrooms, in a cream and lemon sauce" it's rich but it's the easiest recipe in the world and the one that most impresses. I have made it so many times (No wonder I'm so chubby!)Delia is my hero, you can keep your Nigellas and F*cking Gordon Ramseys! Delia will always have a place in my heart.

Paper Bunting

2009-09-06T15:37:00.008+01:00

My daughter came home after being in America all summer (3 whole months) and I quickly ran up this welcome home banner on my craft robo. I don't know why I have done this before - it was soooo easy peasy lemon squeezy. I am now plotting my Christmas Dekkies in a similar vein.(Excuse the scruffiness of our hallway - it is next on the list for decoration)The blue paper is Cosmo Cricket girl Friday - Sunday and the pink paper is My Mind's Eye - Garden party - Lush blooms Daisy chain

Thanks

2009-08-01T14:03:00.002+01:00

Rubber Stamp by Pink Gem, Paper by Doodlebug from the Glitterpot. I wish I'd embossed the blue band across now - I did think about it before and spent so much time faffing about with it that I forgot!

Easter Stuff

2009-04-10T11:25:00.006+01:00

I haven't been crafting lately for various reasons but had to make some little containers for the Bath fizzy bombs I bought for ladies for Easter (I decided against chocolate) and chose this Splitcoast tutorial. I made mine simpler than the tut as I had seven to make but I'm still quite pleased with the way it turned out and they were quick and easy.
My love affair with bunting continues - I bought this one from Paperchase although I think given a bit more time I could have made it myself. Happy Easter!

Pyramid Boxes

2009-02-15T17:41:00.003Z

My cousin Angela sent me a fabulous Pyramid Box made using the free template from Pink Petticoat filled with some yummy chocolates and I was inspired to do the same and give them to my husband for a Valentine's Day gift. Here are my versions made with Pretty Doodles and Little Big dots papers from PP and filled with heart shaped chocolates from M&S. Speaking of M&S, did you hear that they are taking over Poundstretcher?
They're going to be called StretchMarks !!! Boom, Boom!

No harm, no fowl.......

2009-02-08T14:26:00.007Z

Last time I went to the craft Fair at the Brighton centre I bought the template for a Chicken basket and this yearI just bought a plain chicken. It has absolutely no purpose at all but I love it and have made five so far. I love the Cathie Shuttleworth templates, as they are so cute but well within the range of my limited abilities. Mind you just as I was standing at the Cathie Shuttleworth stall to buy this and another template (for a running rabbit - only £1 each - what a bargain!)some dozy tart stabbed me in the side with a walking stick folded up and sticking out horizontially from her bag. It wasn't one with a rubber stopper on the end but a sharp pint like on a shooting stick. She wasn't that concerned, commenting mildly that "Perhaps I should keep my hand over the end" Perhaps? It was an offensive weapon and it bloody well hurt. I was in shock at the time but I now wished I'd kicked off about it. People are so arrogant! The title of my post in no way indicates my well being or state of mind about this incident!

A few more Christmas Cards

2008-12-23T18:25:00.004Z

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

2008-12-15T22:02:00.005Z

Bah Humbug

2008-12-12T16:40:00.005Z

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'

2008-12-02T22:29:00.001Z

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Remember, Remember

2008-11-02T23:01:00.001Z

the fifth of November. Gunpowder, Treason and plot!

Miss Shoe

2008-10-10T18:03:00.004+01:00

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

2008-09-28T12:18:00.007+01:00

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

2008-09-20T09:46:00.006+01:00

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!

2008-09-12T17:26:00.004+01:00

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

2008-09-11T21:38:00.003+01:00

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

2008-08-20T20:25:00.002+01:00

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

2008-08-17T11:50:00.004+01:00

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

2008-08-13T21:21:00.004+01:00

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!

2008-08-05T21:41:00.004+01:00

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

2008-07-20T22:15:00.005+01:00

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

2008-07-13T07:00:00.002+01:00

Details as per previous entry.

Birthday Cards

2008-07-12T12:58:00.003+01:00

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

2008-07-06T17:49:00.003+01:00

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

2008-07-02T18:35:00.005+01:00

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.

2008-07-02T18:22:00.003+01:00

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"

2008-06-28T11:23:00.005+01:00

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

2008-06-24T18:53:00.004+01:00

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

2008-06-21T09:00:00.001+01:00

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

2008-06-20T09:00:00.000+01:00

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 :(

2008-06-19T09:00:00.001+01:00

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!

2008-06-18T09:00:00.002+01:00

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

2008-06-17T09:00:00.001+01:00

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

2008-06-16T09:00:00.001+01:00

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

2008-06-15T09:00:00.000+01:00

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

2008-06-14T09:10:00.001+01:00

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!

2008-06-10T22:34:00.004+01:00

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!

2008-05-18T09:17:00.005+01:00

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

2008-03-24T21:59:00.003Z

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

Birthday Bubbly

2008-03-21T12:12:00.006Z

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

2008-03-06T22:10:00.003Z

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

2008-03-01T11:57:00.005Z

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

2008-02-22T16:27:00.009Z

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.

Learning from my mistakes!

2008-01-25T19:06:00.000Z

I made a series of Thank You cards for myself too, and although they didn't turn out quite how I'd envisaged them, I am rather pleased with the outcome. As you can tell I love Pink Petticoat papers and normally if I was making A6 cards I would print off an A4 sheet, cut in two and fold to make two cards out of one pattern sheet. The pattern sheet I chose however was designed in such a way that I thought it would be a shame to cut it in two as it would spoil the flow of the design, so I decided to cut my card to A5 size first and print the whole design, just smaller. It wasn't until I had cut all my card and loaded in the printer that I discovered that printing at A5 wasn't an option so I had to choose the nearest size to it, which left a bare stripe down the right hand side of the card, which when folded would be at the bottom. I thought about cutting the white bit off but then I thought it would look nice with the "Thanks" sentiment rubber stamped there in black ink, it was just perfect. Each card had a different PP Christmas image stamp punched out, matted on a larger circle of turquise pearlised card and finally matted onto a white scallop which I edged with matching turquoise ink. It was very quick to churn out half a dozen cards, much quicker than it took me to write this convoluted explanation.

Thank You Cards

2008-01-21T19:18:00.000Z

I whipped up these cards on Boxing day for my daughter to write her Christmas Thank Yous. They are all variations in a theme using the Lola's Bodoir collection from Pink Petticoat . I was rather pleased with them I have to say.

Here's a better look at my favourite one of the series

Super - Doopah Light show

2008-01-20T15:41:00.000Z

You might have to click the button twice to get the video going

Last Wednesday I met my friend Ailsa in town so we could have a mooch round the new Cath Kidson shop that has opened there. It's all lovely stuff but bit too pricey for my liking. For example they had hot wheat bags at £18 - I have been pricing them because I had a slight accident with mine recently (I had gone to bed and was feeling a bit chilly so called down to my husband who was still downstairs to ask him to pop it in the microwave for me, and just lobbed it over the bannisters. The bag split, there was wheat all over the shop and the subsequent vacuuming warmed me up sufficiently that I no longer required the hot wheat bag) Anyway hot wheat bags anywhere else are about £6, so I maintain my position that CK are a bit pricey.

We then went and had tea and cakes in "The Mock Turtle" which is a wonderful old fashioned teashop with homemade cakes, proper tea in a brown betty teapot (tea leaves, strainer,the lot) It is a wonderful experience but not to be repeated too frequently as it is hazardous to the waistline.
We then trotted a long to the new(ish) library because Ailsa hadn't ever seen it which is where this post becomes relevant to my card blog. I bought the card in the video for my niece who has her 6th birthday tomorrow. I was going to make her one but thought that this looked far more fun - a bit pricey at £4.50 bt worth it for the novelty I think. I did make a card withmy craft robo using a pattern from the Just Cutters CD, for my daughter to give her but the photo doesn't show it off to its best advantage, and it has been posted now so no time to re-shoot. Please excuse the background noise to the vid, I had the telly blaring away watching "Grand Designs" and the strange noise at the end is a creaking floorboard as I walked across to turn off the camera!

Snowmen

2008-01-20T08:47:00.000Z

I was fortunate enough to receive several handmade cards this past Christmas although I didn't manage to make that many myself despite my best intentions. These two arrived on the same day and both feature a snowman image and the same ice blue colour palette. The one above is from Angela and the one below from Linda.They are both fabulous - I wish I could come up with such beautiful cards.

Cheque Mate!

2008-01-19T16:52:00.000Z

I needed to make the rather boring cheque we gave to our 16 year old niece for Christmas look a bit more glamorous , so I printed a Pink Petticoat design on one side of a piece of card (not shown here) and a Christmas Lola image stamp(also by PP) on the other side that I had coloured in PSP and "glittered up" a bit with some stickles. I folded the card into three and cut out a scallop shape with a punch so that Lola could peep through, and doodled around the edge of the cut-out. After popping the cheque inside with a greeting, I wrapped ribbon around the outside to fasten and added yet another little PP image stamp, again coloured in PSP. Et voilà - a gift!

It's three chuffing weeks till Christmas.....

2007-12-04T23:54:00.000Z

.....and I am making cards like it's going out of fashion but I haven't got time to photograph or upload any of them so I will bid my loyal (but silent) following "A Merry Christmas and a Happy New year" and see you in 2008 xxxx

100 not out!

2007-11-14T21:05:00.000Z

I work in an Old Folks home and one of our residents will be 100 years old tomorrow so I've made him this card - I had some blue ribbon that would have gone a treat with the blue pearlescent card but I wanted it to be quite plain. Despite its simple look it's taken me *$%!!@# ages to do it, hours and hours. I was going to make a few more Pudsey cards but I can't be bothered now, I'm knackered (I'm only 50, I don't think I'll have the energy to reach 100)

Children in need

2007-11-10T16:11:00.001Z

I am enjoying making cards for non traditional occassions and this one is no exception. It will be "Children in Need" day next Friday and I couldn't resist making a Pudsey Card. All cut out on the craft robo, the bandage is using Pink Petticoat Lola's Boudoir paper and the white highlights are a sakura souffle pen. Not sure if the googly eye gives him the right expression or not but it's all glued down now!

Merry Wishes

2007-11-04T20:12:00.000Z

The spring card seems to be popular at the moment so I thought I'd have a go at one. I used a craft robo template from Patricia at UKS cut out on Pink Petticoat doodle-iscious Christmas and Christmas Rainbow papers in Poppy and Gold, with the central image stamp from the same collection. I have used a scallop punch and also craft robo shapes from Cuddly Buddly to make the scalloped layers. I also pierced small holes in the gold scallop using my pokie tool, but it doesn't really show up in the photo that well. I rather like the way this has turned out.

Fall Back

2007-10-27T17:21:00.000+01:00

The clocks go back this weekend in the UK so winter draws on. I was inspired to make an autumnal card using the free Pink Petticoat papers that you can get when you subscribe to the newletter. The main focus of my card is actually a web graphic (a linkware gift celebrating Halloween) from Mulberry Street Graphics but I sought the permission of the artist, Sadie, to use it as a printable. The main image and the brown mat have been cut out in a square scalloped shape on my Craft Robo using designs purchased from Cuddly Buddly

October Octogons

2007-10-25T23:03:00.001+01:00

Here's a couple of cards I ran up on my craft robo using a template from UK Scrappers designed by Etui. The cutout is surprisingly robust despite looking so delicate, but even so, being an incompentant fumble fingered fool, I managed to rip a part of the design when pushing out the waste on the turquoise card. But as they say , nothing is wasted in card making so I snipped out the centre and hid the gap with these enormous petal shapes, which despite what the photo shows, match the card colour perfectly. On the yellow one I have succumbed again and used a gold peel-off "Happy Birthday" Even though I am a bit snooty about peel-offs, I am beginning to warm to them and think that maybe they do have a role to play :)The inserts are cut from Pink Petticoat doodle-iscious papers. You will be able to see the cut out design far better if you click on the photo for a super-duper enlarged version.

Happy Birthday Ailsa

2007-10-14T21:09:00.001+01:00

I have used another of Shirley Anne's wonderful templates (which can be found at UKS) to make a card for my friend Ailsa whose birthday it is tomorrow. However I don't think I made a good colour choice really and it doesn't suit the template. I should have made the leaves in a different colour and I've used a peel-off "Happy Birthday" which normally I wouldn't touch with a barge-pole, (I got the sheet of peel-offs free with a rubber stamp I bought) because I cut out the happy birthday that is part of the template in the same shade of blue and there wasn't enough contrast. I've no idea where I got the wooden, gold painted stars I've put in the centre of the flowers. I've got a HUGE plastic bag full of them that I seem to have had forever (possibly from before I even started cardmaking!)Still it's too late now to start re-doing it all. It is also my dog's birthday tomorrow but she isn't getting a card, I think she'd prefer a biscuit. The papers are Pink Petticoat as yesterday.

Glamorous Grannies

2007-10-13T22:43:00.001+01:00

One of my internet chums Pam has just become a Grandma for the first time last week, and another, Darylynn, expects Granny-dom to be granted any moment. The babies are both boys which gave me an excuse to use this wonderful craft robo template by Shirley Anne of UK Scrappers. The papers I've used are Pink Petticoat Doodle-iscious Rainbow in Duckegg Blue. I don't know of anyone expecting a girl (or even anyone else who is expecting) but I have got to try out the matching "Baby Girl" template by Shirley Anne really soon. It is a breeze to cut out and assemble.

Take Three!

2007-10-10T16:33:00.001+01:00

I coloured three of these stamped images from Penny Black all exactly the same, using watercolour paints and an Aqua Flo pen but decided I wanted to use them all differently. The two A5 cards feature background papers from Cinnamon Joe Studio, Ho Ho Ho range because they have the same mix of red, blue and green on them as I painted the images with. The landscape A5 card also has a lovely Christmas treeline ribbon that came from Liberty.The two portrait cards both have the cuttlebug snowflake embossing folder used on the backgrounds. On the larger card I embossed onto a blue vellum and onto the small one I used a blue glitter card
which I cut notches into to support the stamped image. I also cut notches into the base card to support the glitter card. As usual I haven't added a sentiment.

Steel Magnolias

2007-10-07T08:46:00.001+01:00

I was given a pile of stamped images by Linda featuring various Magnolia stamps. (I'd never thought of stamping up some of my images for someone else, what a brilliant way to share - my card isn't as nice quality as Linda's though so I will hold off on that until I get some like hers) This one is Tilda. I wasn't too sure about my colouring in as it is very bold and bright. I had to team it with some bright paper I found in a free digi scrappping kit here The Fuschia Pink and the pale blue in the paper were a perfect match. Anyway it has grown on me overnight and I am now quite pleased with it. I haven't added a sentiment as I'm not sure yet how I'll use it, but I'll keep a scrap of the blue mat to tie any future additions back in. I'm thinking probably I will add a file tab at the side so as not to obscure the paper. There will be more Magnolias to come.

Intermittent Posting

2007-10-06T09:17:00.001+01:00

Because I'm not a regular poster, I feel like I'm wasting the time of people who pop in to see if I've updated only to find absolutely nothing again ...... so I'd like to draw your attention to RSS (Really Simple Syndication) for those of you who aren't aware of it. All you have to do is click a few links and there's no signing up for anything. I did a tutorial here that explains it (I hope) quite well, and then you will be able to see on your own computer when I've updated. I have loads of blogs on RSS so it really cuts down on visits because I only need to visit the ones that have updated, perfect for the busy blogger about town :) RSS Tutorial

Boo!

2007-10-05T07:19:00.001+01:00

I picked up this wonderful Craft Robo template of a Halloween card by Susan F at UKS I was originally going to back the cut out with orange but the I found this amazing luminous green paper at 3p an A4 sheet in my local Art supply shop.

More Frillies!

2007-09-26T20:14:00.000+01:00

Following on from the last post I seem to have a lot of PP undies in my scraps file. I need to dig a bit deeper, but at least it feels good to be making cards again.

Oo la la!

2007-09-25T17:34:00.000+01:00

I keep thinking I haven't got time to make cards and last night was no exception, I was whining on to myself that I wanted to watch "Brothers and Sisters" and I couldn't make cards if I did that. I've tried making stuff before in front of the TV and I keep having to trot off to get this and that and it stops being enjoyable. Then I thought I could do something if I tried hard enough. So I pulled a folder out of my craft stuff cupboard with scraps of paper and various half started projects tucked away in it and thought I could try and make something (anything) using only what was in the folder. And these two cards are what I came up with, not too shabby considering the restraints I put on myself. I did half compose another two that I was quite pleased with but the images I chose for the central focus were just off slightly colour-wise and I couldn't bring myself to glue it all into place :) .What I particularly like about this little exercise is that the images and papers are quite old. In crafting (as in much of life) everyone seems obssessed with having the latest trend in everything. The newest rubber stamps, the most recent embossing folders etc. etc. I like what I like and it doesn't matter if it's last seasons (or even the season's before) Pink Petticoat image stamp or the most up-to-date ones, I am going to use it only if I like it. I think this is why I have way less stuff than most crafters I know, I'm simply not "A dedicated follower of fashion!"

Ooooh, Arrrrgh Mrs.

2007-09-18T22:23:00.000+01:00

Well it's that time of year again, how quickly it rolls around. Yes tomorrow will be September 19th and of course that means it's "International Talk like a Pirate day" I shan't sleep a wink tonight, I'm so excited. Needless to say I couldn't let the day pass without making a card to mark the occasion, I'm only sorry I didn't have time to make them for all my friends and family. Next year I will plan ahead and be more organised. Anyway I used the Pirate Bear Printables set from Cuddly Buddly, scalloping the edge of the top layer with my corner rounder punch. The sentiment was printed directly onto the backing paper using Paint Shop Pro, adding a 3D drop shadow in a darker toning shade of blue.

This little piggy went home!

2007-09-12T16:08:00.000+01:00

I'm usually in such a hurry to try something out that I never seem to upload a polished finished project and this little piggy is no exception, I'd like to have embellished him a bit more. Linda recommended a site called A time for crafting where they have fab templates, and as soon as I saw this one I couldn't wait to cut him out. I have inked round his face and snout with a darker pink than the card to add a bit of definition, popped on some googley eyes and written "Hogs & Kisses" on the inside. I stuck the face on at a jaunty angle as it gave him a slightly quizzical look. Next time I use this template I will draw his trotters in as well, actually I think I will use this template over and over again, it is so adorable.

Oh Tannenbaum!

2007-09-08T09:45:00.001+01:00

I ordered the new Pink Petticoat doodle-icious Christmas and Rainbow collections in the week and I thought they were just the thing to pair with this beautiful filigree Christmas tree craft robo template from UKS. I dotted the tree with loads of Papermania adhesive gemstones so represent fairy lights (I've actually stuck on a few more - loads more! - since I took the photo) I am well pleased with how it turned out although the delicacy of the cut-out made it tricky to adhere to the card. TheCountryRose who designed the template has shared an angel and a reindeer design in the same filigree style, I think you may be seeing more in the next couple of days.

Take two.......

2007-09-04T22:15:00.000+01:00

I had forgotten about this card and just found a photo of it. It was one of the first things I made on the Craft Robo and I used Microsoft Clipart for the design. I cut out the design in card to start with put realised it wouldn't be easy to stick onto the base card as the design was so spindly. I had bought some cheap "Peel and stick" metallic paper in Wilkinsons and I tried it with that, turning the paper upside down so that the robo cut through the backing sheet first. It was so easy to just peel off the backing and stick it to the card. The letters were cut using my Sizzix alapha bars on scraps of the "peel & stick" - not really a good match for the design but it was my first attempt :)

Pumpkin Carving

2007-09-04T21:44:00.000+01:00

A few years ago, my friend Sadie sent me some white pumpkin seeds and I managed to grow two decent sized pumpkins (I'm no Alan Titchmarsh so even that was a miracle)It was round the time that the film "Wallace & Grommit - The curse of the Were Rabbit" was at the cinema and while browsing the website I found some Pumpkin Carving templates of W & G and set to, carving out the pumpkins for Halloween I was actually well pleased with my efforts, especially when the trick or treaters recognized them. It occurred to me the other day that Pumpkin Carving and silhouettes for the Craft Robo need to have similar characteristics, so I quickly rustled up the attached, just as an experiment. I think if you were going to make a card you would have to use just one character as you couldn't make the templates any smaller (This is an A4 sheet) However at this time of year there are loads of Pumkin Carving templates on the web just waiting to be plundered and used on the Craft Robo, I feel a project coming on.

Little Boxes on the hillside

2007-09-01T16:14:00.000+01:00

I haven't had much time to be crafty but I whipped these little boxes up in no time at all. Back in the dim and distant past when I first wanted to have a go at card making there was so little equipment available and I became obssessed with the idea of getting a ribbler. No, it's not something saucy you have to buy at Anne Summers or a villian from Batman, it's a little instrument with two ridged rollers that you feed a piece of card or paper between , rolling it through and as the paper emerges from the other side of the rollers it is corrugated. I had to have one, but in fact I have rarely used it so this project was a chance to dust the cobwebs off it and actually get some value out of it. I used a tutorial here which was excellent (You have to scroll down a bit to get to the right section) but wouldn't they be wonderful for putting little Wedding favours in or at the Christmas lunch table instead of crackers. They took me about five minutes to make both of them and best of all I got to use my ribbler.

Robo Cop rules!

2007-08-25T09:55:00.001+01:00

I had a birthday in July with an "0" at the end and my husband bought me a Craft Robo machine which I have been slowly getting to grips with and there has been a lot of experimenting with paper and confetti strewn across the floor and very little cardmaking however I am quite pleased with these two cards made from the same template by Paula Pauscale on UKS I did make the mistake with the green one of fiddling about with it after I had stuck it down so I wasn't able to make all the changes I wanted to, and it looks a little unfinished. It was for my daughter to celebrate her successful 'A' level results and she doesn't seem to mind the "experimental" nature of it. My MIL gave her a generous cheque when she heard the news of her results so the pink card is for her and is a little bit more polished although I have stuck the inside of the "a" in Nanny upside down, but I won't dwell on that too much. I do like blogger but in order to make the photos look nice if you want to display more than one you have to have quite a lot of text and to be honest I haven't really got that much to say so I think I will tell you a story I heard on Terry Wogan the other day. Apparently this chap went into a bookshop and asked the assistant if she had "Order of the Phoenix" She tapped a few keys on the computer and finally turned to him and said "Nothing here, when did you put your order in Mr. Phoenix?" Right that should do it for balancing p the text and photos for this entry. See you next time!

Crab & Company

2007-07-30T19:19:00.000+01:00

It seems like an age since I posted on my card blog - I havn't stopped making or receiving hand-made cards but real life has got in the way of me updating these creations to the interwebbie doo dah. My friend Sandra had a knee operation last Monday (23rd July) which caught me hop (did you see what I did there, I'm sooo funny) because for some reason I thought the op was on the 23rd August so this is not as good as I wanted it to be. I saw someone use the crab & company stamp for a similar card on SCS so I pinched the caption and the idea of tying a little piece of gauze around one of his knees (Thank you Jean for raiding Boots the Chemist first aid kit to get me the little scrap I needed) Normally I would print off little bits of background paper or the sentiments using the computer but beacause I've had PC problems (again - sigh!) I had to rely on "real stuff" for a change. I'd like to re-do it and make it a bit neater but it seems a bit pointless. The chances of knowing someone else with a knee operation in the near future are slightly remote. I love this little crab character though and have used him quite a lot recently as he is very versatile and I like playing up to the fact that we live beside the seaside, beside the sea. I have made two cards for people leaving their jobs (Shore will miss you) which I forgot to take photos of, and this birthday card for my husband. There are so many ways you can use him. I have a few of cards in mind to make with Mr. Crab , a Thank you card and a "Congratulations on passing your driving test" card and a "50th Birthday" card. Also I have a sneaky suspicion he may make an appearance on my Christmas cards too!

Golf Thank You

2007-06-18T22:42:00.000+01:00

My husband was invited to a "Men's Invitational" golf match on Saturday by a friend at another club and asked me to make a thank you card. I used the Cuddly Buddly Country Gents Golfer as the main element and the Freebie trophy from the same site that I coloured silver/grey and threaded on ribbon through the handles. The golfer is stuck on with foam pads and stands proud of the card but you can't see this in my photo. It probably doesn't look like it but it took me a couple of hours to make this card, although I was trying to make dinner at the same time. Not one of my better efforts but it'll do.

Ribbons, luverly ribbons.

2007-06-13T10:10:00.000+01:00

Every time I go out to the shops I invariably come home with a yard or two of ribbon. I have started to haunt the haberdashery (notions) departments of shops with looking for something new and different to feed my craving. In the scale of things it isn't a bad addiction to have, it's cheap and it doesn't harm anyone and I know that other people have far more than me (It has never got to the stage where I have had to buy a spool - I think once you've got to this stage you need to start a 10 step programme ) The way I store it looks a bit messy but I quite like it like this because then you can dig down into the depths and discover something you have forgotten about. Even as I was writing this I remembered that I had bought some ribbon with Elephants embroidered on it and it wasn't in the box so I couldn't rest until I had found it.

Christmas ATC's

2007-06-12T00:11:00.000+01:00

I have made ten little ATC's all the same as this adorned with a Christmas Pudding. As before I am going to put them onto small (A6) cards as toppers. You can see the scale of them as this one is leaning up against my mouse. I toyed with the idea of adding a little bit of ribbon to it (I love ribbon) but decided in the end that "Less is More"

Fathers Day Card

2007-06-10T22:11:00.000+01:00

I still have a couple of cards sent to me that I need to put up but here is one made by me at last :) As Fathers Day is coming up on Sunday I made this for my daughter to give my husband. I really feel that the sentiment should have been a bit lower down but I made a bit of a hash of the scalloped edging so had to cover up the mistake with something. There are lots of tutorials telling you how to make the little origami shirt out there on the web but this is the one I used which has lots of photos and makes it really easy to follow. The papers are Basic Grey Blush 6 x 6

Rose Card by Linda

2007-06-10T07:43:00.000+01:00

This fabulous card was given to me by Linda, a friend I made through a card making forum and who subsequently turned out to live about a mile away from me :) I love it, it is so elegant and simple and looks sensational. I wanted to take a second photo to show how the gold card twinkles in the light, it's very subtle but when you see it it makes quite an impact, but it's difficult to get a picture that does it justice. In another forum I visit when someone copies someone elses idea for a card they call it CASE-ing (Copy And Selectively Edit ) I am soooo going to CASE this idea (Doesn't it sound nicer than pinch?)

Computer drawn Card from Toni

2007-06-09T09:09:00.000+01:00

Toni sent me the lovliest card adorned with her own computer drawn graphics, I love it, the figure has that Bella/Lola-Rose feel to it with the match-stick arms. The supercute thing is that as the card was a thank you note for sending Toni a copy of "Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death" the figure (Toni) is holding a copy of that exact book. Great attention to detail Toni :)

I have some more hand crafted cards that I have received from Pam, Sadie and Linda but I am in such disarray (no change there then) I need to find them and photograph them. I hope to do this over the next couple of days.

Green Flutterby

2007-05-27T11:32:00.000+01:00

I really don't seem to find the time to do much card making - I think it's because I haven't got room to spread all my stuff out. And when I do try to do something I end up perched on my bed trying to cut or colour and have to keep trotting off to get the bits I need which rather sucks the fun out of it. You can see all the squalor of crafty bits on top of my chest of drawers in the photo. Anyway I have been making some ATC's over a period of time (perched on my bed) and yesterday finally got round to finishing them. I was then stuck with the dilemma of what to do with them so I decided to mount them onto cards. They are not the best but I am quite pleased with the way they turned out.
It was a learning experience and I think I will do better next time. I quite like the idea of ATC's as toppers that you could just make and store and then pop them on a card when required.

The C's won the day

2007-05-14T20:21:00.000+01:00

Thanks for voting everyone - it was a landslide victory for card C. so it has been finished off with an insert and popped in an envelope - I shall let you know how it was received. Angela makes beautiful cards herself so it's always a bit stressful sending one of my cards to her. As you can see from the inside of the card pictured on the left, I used a slightly bigger scottie dog die cut than the one I mentioned previously (The same size as a McVities Chocolate Hobnob) Thank you for the comments regarding the problems enlarging photo B. I had the same problem and don't really know what the answer is. When I told Holly the results of the votes she was surprised that Card A didn't get one single vote - although her personal choice was C. she thought A was better than B IRL (In real life). I haven't done much card making in the last couple of days but I have tried making some ATC's (Artists trading cards) but I haven't finished them yet and I think I would be too shy to trade my paltry efforts anyway.

Angela's Birthday

2007-05-12T23:08:00.000+01:00

It's my cousin Angela's birthday on Wednesday and when I got my tiny little scottie dog die cuts from eBay this morning, that was the jumping off point for creating her card. She loves Radley handbags (who doesn't?) and I thought a card featuring a handbag and the Radley logo (a little black scottie dog) would fit the bill. Here is a photo of the die cuts. I have placed them next to a McVities chocolate hobnob to give a sense of scale.

However the best laid plans of mice and men etc. I went off at a tangent finally producing 3 cards, all with handbags but none of them using the scottie dog. I think once I've chosen which one to send, I will put the scottie dog inside with the phrase "Hope your birthday is bags of fun" Anyway If you'd like to help me choose which card to send her there is a little poll over on the side. Cast your votes now. (Voting is now over and the poll has been removed)

On Card A I have used a Happy Birthday and small mosaic cuttlebug folder to emboss and coloured in the image with a sakura glaze pen in turquoise and pebeo gloss touch in yellow.

Card B Uses Paper from Lola's Boudoir and the image stamp is coloured in with a sakura glaze pen in red and pebeo gloss touch in pink.

Card C uses pink daisy paper from the Blooming Doodles collection and the centres of the flowers are picked out with PaperMania adhesive stones in Pink.

All 3 use the Blooming Doodles handbag image stamp from Pink Petticoat.

Lola Rose

2007-05-07T19:32:00.000+01:00

I have decided to re-start my card blog using Blogger (I was fiddling about learning how to use it to help a friend who wants to start blogging) I really like it so I've decided to stick with it. Anyway my exciting card news is that I sent two of my photos to the Pink Petticoat Customer Gallery and they are on display there. Here are the two cards - Carol's Birthday Card and a Thank You card for Linda . I need to crack on with a few more card projects this week, more birthdays more thank yous. I don't know how some people find the time to make so many cards, I think they must be born organised because I know I always feel guilty and that I should be doing something else :)