Golden Wedding Card

I was asked by one of my travelling companions if i would create something for her parents who were celebrating their Golden Wedding Anniversary early April. I saw this Recessed Window card on a blog and one that my forum friend Carol had made & decided this was for me. Sadly when my computer died I lost a couple of the pictures but I have this front shot.

I also got these two shots of the inside of the card & the multiple pages I created. I'm having a few problems with this blog post, blogger won't let me select & edit the text! Looks like i will have to upgrade to the new version they have mentioned!!!! Papers are Prima Pixie Glen. Photo is of Claire's parents on their wedding day printed onto canvas.

Stampman Challenge "Bingo Card"

I am extremely late with this challenge but as you will see from my post below, my computer developed problems on my birthday (19th March) and after it being in for repairs it became obvious the damage was irreparable. I have lost a hold bunch of great software but all my files are entact! Phew, big sigh of relief because to lose 7 years of photos & artwork would be devestating.

The http://thestampmanchallenges.blogspot.co.uk/bingo card challenge was to pick a line from a set of choices & I chose Green, Flowers & Swirls. The swirl I inked with clear embossing ink & used table salt to give a distressed look (see craft Stamper February 2011). I kept the scheme clean by using just green & white & left off a greeting until i need a card & then I can add something suitable to it either computer generated or stamped.

Materials used, Secret Garden Embossing folder, Xcut Ornate square frame die, Birdsong paper, Chipboard swirl die, paper flowers.

MIA

Sorry I've been away so long. My home computer died on my birthday last week (how rude). It can't be repaired. I have got a new one but it will be a few days before I am up and running. Thankfully I'm a sensible pixie & all my work is backed up on an external hard drive. All I have lost is software, my address book, blog feeds & links to all my favourite places. The problem began when my Norton Internet Security malfunctioned & let in 5 trojans :-(:-(
I have lots of creations to share & I had completed The Stampman challenge.

Past Makes

This was a birthday card I made in January for Galina's birthday in February. Papers Birdsong, Stamp CI320. Stampin' Up Greeting and Xcut doily border punch. Below are 3 pictures of a set of mini drawers I purchased from The Range and decorated with my most favourite shade of blue paint. Lots of stamped images & some postage stamps. They started off life plain kraft brown but I stupidly forgot to take a "before" shot, so keen was I to get that blue paint out!! I keep all my Tim Holtz Ideaology bits 'n' pieces in them on my desktop.

I had great fun with them and wouldn't mind another set. They were priced at £2.99 so I thought they were a bargain. I just love that colour.....

The Stampman Challenge - Vintage

Here is my entry for this Vintage challenge at The Stampman. Below are two close up photos.

This was extremely hard to photograph. As you can see the red roses along the bottom are the wrong shade. I hope you can see the brown floral trim they are glued ontop of.

Materials used; TH Tag shape diecut twice, one with heart cut out. Both painted with chocolate emulsion paint & sprayed with Coffee Shop Glimmer Mist before embossing with Papermania Secret Garden & the back tag embossed with TH Notebook. Image is Stampsmith and stamped in Onyx Black Versafine. Felt leaf trim, large rose & ribbon all from my ex Scrapbook DT kits. Mini red roses, Papermania. Brown floral trim, Crafts U Love. Tim Holtz foliage. Gold Smooch & pink paint in cut out heart. I really enjoyed this challenge!!!

Happy Birthday, Dad!!!!

He is 70 years old today & still practically working full time!!!

Here is the card I made for him. I used Papermania Union Jack Emobossing folder for the background but before embossing I stamped the Papermania Portobello Road Urban Vintage "Big Ben" image. I then stamped the CI- 077 image onto white cardstock & cut out to layer over the top. The fantastic bunting stamps were from Stamposarus. I resisted the urge to colour them in because I wanted a black & white card.

We do not celebrate Dad's birthday until Easter when we celebrate along with mine when we go up and spend time with my sister, Tracy & BIL Martin.

Happy Birthday, Val

Today is one of my SSG Forum friends birthdays. So I made this.

My background is made using Distress inks; Victorian Velvet, Chipped Sapphire and edged with Stormy Sky. The image is Crafty Individuals.

Colours of Spring - Stampman challenge

This is my entry for The Stampman challenge - Colours of Spring/ Easter.

I got my inspiration for this piece from some paint I bought. I made a painted background using Green, Turquoise, Rose Pink and White paint & swirled them around the cardstock with a plastic store card. The colours remind me of bright blue sky, spring blossom and all the new fresh green growth. I overstamped the background with Stampers Anonymous Collage & a free HOTP stamp from the cover of a magazine. I silver emboss two leaves from PaperArtsy Wings Plate 2. I stamped the words from the same plate in black. On seperate card I stamped the bird in a manger & cut out. I glued dark blue & turquoise beads along the bottom for added texture.

"Thinking of You" Card

This card was made to send to one of my SSG forum friends, Ang who has been ill and had to spend a short time in hospital. She is home now & thankfully feeling better.

Materials used;

Blank Kraft card, die cut with X cut dies

Blue crepe paper

Memory Box die - Butterfly - Darla

Embossing folder Kassie's Brocade

Stamp- Prima - Documentary

Perfect Pearls; Biscotti & Cappuccino (not clear in this picture)

Happy Birthday, Chris!

Yesterday was the turn of Chris from the Chrysalis forum to have her birthday. I made this hanging canvas for her using some of my favourite images courtesy of Rein (top image) and Art-e-zine.

The background took me 2 days to complete as I did not have acrylic paint in my chosen colours and had to use several layers of distress ink re - inkers; Shabby Shutters, Broken China, Chipped Sapphire. Once I had the depth of colour I required, I set about stamping paint circles in white with a bottle top & through sequin waste. Gold highlights were added with Smooch. The stars (Jo Capper-Sandon image & free cover stamp with Craft Stamper October 2011) were stamped onto tissue & glued on with Golden matt gel medium. The vintage children were printed first onto copy paper. I then cut small squares of canvas from a roll & adhered over the images with double sided tape before running back through my printer. This eliminate wastage of the canvas & helped stop it curling in the printer. I had no sticky backed left! Once dry I cut them with a nestability die.

The ribbon charm was made folding 3 colours of 3mm ribbon & adding an end fastener. I made a bead dangle by threading co-ordinating beads onto a siver head pin. The words were found on the internet & computer generated onto white strips of copy paper. I used my Big Bite to punch holes through the canvas top and the hanging wired was bent round the holes.

I am very proud of this & it was hard to keep it quiet as I made it last month.

Hayley's Birthday/Stampman Challenge

I have made this card this weekend quite quickly because it is my beautician, Hayley's birthday tomorrow and I have been so busy at work I didn't realise it had got to that time already. We work 21 days in advance at work which helps matters even less! I also noticed that my design fitted the current theme of Texture at The Stampman so hope they like it too.

The papers are Birdsong & I have embossed using the new tri boss folder by Papermania Heart Attack. It looks much better in real life than the picture depicts giving subtle texture to a gorgeous piece of paper. The image is by PaperArtsy. Label is die cut using new Die-licious labels dies from Papermania. To give a touch more texture I punched black card with Xcut Flower Doily. I am slightly obsessed with texture at the moment & use embossing folders where ever I can!!! You might have noticed looking at all the designs I made this year so far!!! The image is cut with the Nestabilities Lacey circle die. Edges of paper inked with Victorian Velvet Distress ink.

New Job Card

As I said in my post on 27th January, Pauline has got herself a new job. So I made this card to send my Congratulations. It is just a kraft blank with script inked down the side. I inked some white card with Pumice Stone & Victorian Velvet distress inks which I mixed into bottles & sprayed. Once dry I stamped with various Urban stamps & punched out squares.

Another Birthday for January...

but this one was for Penny from 3 weeks ago. Given her love of all things Alice, I decided another card featuring him was required. (I made one last year using a postcard that I happened to pick up in my local HMV store)

This card was made with a distress inked background, which was first stamped & masked. I stamped the guitar & rockstar images (Inkadinkado, kindly given to me by Chrysalis friend Galina) I then maksed them both & overstamped with the Happy definition plate by Hero Arts.

I coloured the background with Scattered Straw, Rusty Hinge and then over coloured all the edges deeply in each corner with Seedless Preserves all TH Ranger Distress Inks. The Image was printed & mounted at an angle to look like a poster.

It's Raining Birthdays!!!

Today, it is the turn of another of my SSG forum friends' birthdays, Rachel (aka Taniwha). I made the same card as our mutual friend Pauline but with a bolder palette. Papers are all offcuts from Sassafrass Lass. Rachel is currently back home in New Zealand and I can't believe I posted this card to her on Monday & it arrived today or yesterday as it will be over there now!

I added texture to the front panel with Secret Garden Papermania embossing folder.

Huge shout out to Pauline, the birthday girl in the previous post because she got a really special birthday present of a new job :0) She can kiss goodbye to 70 mile round trips each day soon!!

Happy Birthday, Pauline!

Today it is my SSG Forum friend, Pauline's birthday!

Card was made based on a gorgeous idea by Jo Kill in a cardmaking magazine. Papers is Birdsong. Ledger paper is BG Basics.

Creating for the Sake of it

between two pieces of art I can't share yet and loving every minute of the creative process!!!

This piece was created using Parenthesis dies, free stamps from a magazine, a leaf die and patterened paper called Bird Song. I LOVE it!!!

A Birthday & A Thank You

First up I have a birthday card to show you which I made for Carol, my Chrysalis forum buddy.

First week of the year and Im already feeling fresh & ready so it was reflected in the colour scheme of this card. Papers are BG Sultry. I used Xcut shape cutters & Papermania Urban stamps teamed with zesty bright colours and naturally a clock image along with my favourite best friend the Secret Garden embossing folder to give a girly edge. Clcok is Heidi Swapp black embossed over the stamped image which was stamped in Bundled Sage distress ink.

Next is a Thank You card for my sister for all the lovely presents she gave me for Christmas.

This was made with the same girly theme but Stormy Sky distress ink for the big label. My sister is very fond of wildlife & feeds the birds so I thought this blue tit image perfect.
Other news, I am going back to France with my sister this year :0) :0)
Back to La Marchaderie, St Mathieu for a whole week in September! :0)

Happy Birthday, Colette!

Today is my friend, Colette's birthday. I have made this panel card for her in delicate shades. The photograph makes the card look more purple than it is IRL.

I white embossed the butterflies (Websters Pages) the inked with Spun Sugar & Dusty Concord Distress Inks. I cut part of the front from a square card, embossed the vine swirl down one side & Swiss Dot embossed the overall piece before punching the Papermania Butterfly border.

Happy New Year & Happy Birthday!

First things first, today is my Brother in Law, Martin's birthday! I was poorly, but determind the card would go in the post and I forgot to take a photo of it (oops!) Happy Birthday, Bro!!!xxxx

Hope you like the beer from High House Farm Brewery!

To my blog friends new and old, Happy Creative 2012. May we all find the time in our hectic lives to steal some precious "me" time & create something beautiful. Even if it is just to give to someone else.

This photo was taken by my sister while I was in France in September. It was the highlight of 2011! Fitting picture for toasting my BIL & for New Year, I thought!!

I had not been abroad since I was 5 years old nor had I ever flown, we went by Hovercraft back then. Pretty soon (March) I will be 45 so I'm glad I finally made it back there. It changed me greatly. I came back far more relaxed and very creative. Massive thanks go to our dear Dad for funding more than half the trip & to my darling sister, Tracy for helping me make the brave step.

A Christmas Birthday

On Christmas Day it was my SSG forum friend, Anne's birthday. This is the card I made for her. I wanted something simple against all the colour in her room from the Christmas cards and decorations.

I have been frantically creating last minute things for people and completely fogot to blog the card below, which I made for Karin back in November.

Hoping you all have peace & happiness over the Christmas holiday & you all get something nice from Santa to play with in 2012!

Penny's ATC Swap

If you can remember this post about the Swap hosted by Penny, well we all received our completed books this week and now it is time to share. Go here for a tutorial on how Penny made the book. I am so pleased with my finished collection.

Don't they look fabulous!

Happy Birthday, Audrey!

I made this for Audrey. She has not been around on the Chrysalis forum for a while, but I had to make this for her, after the success with Katie's card, which was really girly & pretty.

I used Papermania Exquisite Collection papers and matching patterened vellum for the background of this card. I like this set because they are really feminine & romantic & match perfectly. I ran the script vellum through the Big Shot with the Papermania Secret Garden Embossing folder. The image was a blog freebie and I can not remember who it came from but the name Nancy rings a few bells! I cut some wired Xmas ribbon (£ shop) in half & glued top & bottom to the image & then onto the WHSmith cream luggage tag. I punched a scalloped oval of white card & inked over a piece of waste wired ribbon using Victorian Velvet Distress ink to give a trellis look for my floral arrangement & greeting. Flowers are Prima. Foliage - Marianne Designs die. Stickles - Frosted Lace, was applied to flower centres & leaves as it is a Christmassy birthday. I attached the tag to the background using a Karen Fosters Jewelled Brad then glued the whole piece to a square card blank and inked the edges with Victorian Velvet DI. Greeting is also Papermania stamp.

More "Movember" News

The charity (see my side bar entitled Movember) grew from strength to strength in our office this month. The boys grew the moustaches and instead of them raising sponsor money, the ladies in each department took it in turns to bake or buy cakes & pastry goods. The staff upstairs held a raffle & a name card. I'm not sure on the total raised but I'm certain we did reach £200!!!

This week was the turn of PIU, my department (Personal Insurance Unit). I did 30 homemade sausage rolls and was very proud of my efforts. Here are two photos. Can you tell I'm proud! ;0) Katie made a chocolate cake and lots of lovely butterfly buns. Andy (one of the tash growers) even made some chocolate buns which were tasty!!

I really enjoyed baking them, but the eating was far more enjoyable lol!!!

Happy Birthday, Katie!

Today, it is my friend (and work colleague's) birthday. She loves butterflies & birds, so I tried to combine both as girly and pretty as possible!

Materials Used;

Large scalloped card blank

Websters Pages Postcards from Paris Paper
TH Birdcage die cut (using Big Shot)

Bird & Butterfly stamps, Urban Papermania.

Flat Backed Pearls, Prima Marketing

Small Rose & Pink Vellum, Papermania

frosted lace Stickles (on petals of rose)

Large Pink Brad, Basic Grey

Birthday Greeting, Stampin' Up

scrap acetate from office

I layered up 3 butterflies using silicone glue & added the final vellum one for movement.

Carrie's Birthday Card

I made this card for Carrie, back in October, for her birthday.

I had forgotten that I had not shared it!

The background is a photograph I had taken while visiting the beautiful French market town of Piegut-Pluviers. I had never seen so many huge Hydrangea blooms & just had to lean over the wall to take a picture. I printed this picture onto a piece of canvas. The butterflies are stamped onto a scrap piece of the canvas & inked with Chipped Sapphire & Seedless Preserves (limited edition fall 2011) distress inks. The butterfly stamp is on the Friendship plate by ISC. I added silicone glue behind the wings so they would look as if they were in flight. It has become a favourite technique of mine lately as I love using butterflies in my work.

Carrie is very much into tactile pieces, which is why I used the canvas.

Thinking of You (both)

My sister, Tracy was involved in a car accident on Monday evening so I needed to make a quick card to let her know I was thinking about her & her poor baby car. My regular readers will remember the car got hit back in July while parked outside my flat when she came to visit. The driver was both drunk and uninsured & the car had to have £2,500 worth of repairs done on it.

This time it has been hit in the rear from a motorist whilst Tracy was at the wheel. She is hurt (whiplash) but thankfully not seriously injured and the other driver is okay too. The car will need a new back end again, that is two in 3 months.

It is Tracy's pride & joy so you can imagine how gutted she is. But metal can easily mend.

I made two cards because I smudged this first one but then I wasn't at all happy with the background of the second so decided to go with my original choice. My background is made simply by scribbling soft pastels & blending lightly with gesso. Image is Sent With Love -Gorjuss. Butterfly, bird & grasses, Papermania. Word stamps also Papermania.

It was luck I made the two cards because when I saw my friend Kate who I travel on the train with, she was sad because her pet cat had passed away. So this card fitted just right for her. I was just a little too heavy handed with the gesso towards the centre and it dried all wrong , but she loved it. Her mother was a fabulous artist using soft pastels a lot in her work so she appreciated the fact I had used them on her card.

I brought home the rest of the birthday cards I made to sell at work so that I could take the Christmas cards in their place and Claire, another train friend bought 9 of the 11 left so I was well chuffed. It was good to see them finally go!!

Christmas Cards to Share

These cards went on sale at work on 1st November. I'm hoping they sell well. I made 10 or 12 of each design (there are 9 other designs) making a total of 76 cards. I made them all during the month of October to get them out of the way. I'm hoping to get my special cards done next.

Funky Star made with patterned papers.

Large Swirl (the scalloped circle was cut, stamped & inked by me before placing on the cards)

The stars were cut from fine corrugated card. Swirl is TH die.

Gold Star. I made the stars in the same way as the scalloped circles.

I cut the "noel" using a die.

Ribbon bow & Baubles. The baubles were circles of white card stamped, embossed & coloured with distress ink. The tops have eyelets.

MOVEMBER - Moustache Month.....

Ladies (and Gentlemen) please take a moment to read the details below.

MEN'S HEALTH

I am helping my male colleagues to raise money for awareness of Prostrate and Testicular Cancer.

Please take a moment to sponsor my team. Any donation is gratefully received no matter how small. You can also gift aid your dontation.

It is going to be an interesting month, watching these blokes try to grow a moustache to be proud of!! But, it is all in a very god cause. We ladies are helping raise funds by making cupcakes, etc... right through the month. A link is in my sidebar.

You can find my page here.

It is all too easy to overlook these two deadly cancers so I urge you all to get your man to check himself carefully in the bath or shower, just as we do and seek medical advise if there are any concerns. They will not consider you a time waster.

It might be nothing but it is always better to know one way or the other as early as possible.

A Commission

I was asked by Kate, a friend who I travel daily with on the train, if I could make a card for her daughter Sammy who loved all things theatrical. I was a little stumped until she went on to tell me that Sammy & her friend once starred as Laurel & Hardy. Rummaging through my files of purchased images, I came upon these and made a card out of them.

The background is a sheet of newspaper (the daily Metro free on the train), I chose the theatre page. Glued it to the card with matt gel medium then colour washed it first with Cadmium Yellow Deep Acrylic paint. Once dry I glazed a wash of Red Ochre Acrylic paint over the top. The I simply glued all the images with matt gel medium.

Happy Anniversary

to my sister, Tracy and brother in law, Martin.

By the time this card was finished, the light had gone & the next two days that followed were black and full of rain. I didn't think I would ever get a photo of the card before it had to be posted off. What you will not be able to see is that the 3 butterflies are glued on with silicone so their wings are raised in flight. This had to be taken under artificial lights & I'm lucky the colour came out right!!

I used Heidi Swapp heart stamp & Webster's Pages Butterflies. Masked them, then using Shabby Shutters, Peeled Paint, Tumbled Glass, Broken China, Victorian Velvet & Fired Brick distress inks I watercoloured over the music stamped background. I used Smokey Grey Versafine for the music. I then stamped & cut out the butterflies again, inked them & glued them on.

ATC Swap

I have agreed to take part in an ATC swap with Penny. Mine have been made & posted off to America. I know they have reached their destination safely and while I can't share them with you yet, I can show you the card I made to send them with.

I made this card using Faded Jeans, Aged Mahogany, Antique Linen & Vintage Photo Distress Inks. I stamped with Paperbag Studios Silences stamp & my other images were from the TH sets Fairytale Frenzy and Visual Artistry.I used my favourite lemon juice & bleach techniques then in some of the bleached areas I gently inked over in Victorian Velvet, Wild Honey & Tumbled Glass Distress Inks.

Forum Birthday

Over on the private forum for the SSG's, it is time for another birthday. It only seems five minutes since I last posted about her birthday, but it Ang's birthday again. Where has the year gone!! I kept the card simple black & white. Threaded black ribbon through the punched holes. Bird stamp from a set by Dovecraft. Greeting from a set by Papermania.

On The Craft Table

I have been working away since Wednesday on Christmas cards. I can't share the completed ones with you as they are designs that will be sent to my craft forum friends and family and as these people read my blog I don't want them getting a sneak preview!!

However, I have decided to make a selection to sell at work and below is a picture of my craft table. I have spent two full hours just creating all these elements to go on the cards. It might be next weekend before they are ready to be shown.

The large blank stars at the top of the picture are a suprise for a few friends.

The small stars & circles have all been die cut. I have stamped them with script & music stamps & inked with the two distress inks. The coloured swirls have been die cut from patterned paper.

I'm just taking a break with a well earned mug of tea, then its back to punching out the tiny circles for another set of cards for some other friends!!

Hope you are all having a productive weekend.

Autumn Has Arrived!

What an awful day it has been today! I don't think it has really been light, it has rained all day. So I quickly got done all the chores I needed to do & after putting fresh clean bedding on and putting up all the winter curtains, I settled down to make some more Christmas Cards :0)

I started on Wednesday and so far I have 25 made!

Now it is getting dark and I have lit all my candles.

Today is Carrie's birthday, but I am not able to share her card with you just yet.

I hope she is having a wonderful day, followed by another one tomorrow because as we all know,

it is the weekend, Whoop!!!

I hope everyone is having a warm weekend, whatever you are up to!!

A Commissioned Card

I was asked by a colleague at work to make a wedding card for his neighbours. He chose this design from some of my past creations. I first made this card on 7th September 2006 and I made it again in September 2011. But, me being me, I vamped it up a bit :0)

I honestly have to say I prefer this version far more than the original

Calendar Pages

Last year I made a perpetual calendar for my desk at the office. I realised this morning that I only ever blogged the pictures up to July/August and then promptly forgot about the last four months. So here are my pages for September and October. I love looking at this every day on my desk, it reminds me of who I am when I'm bogged down under paperwork.

Papers are Studio Calico and Bo Bunny.

Stamps are Paperbag Studios and Crafty Individuals.

Thank You Card

This card has been made to send to the lovely people my sister Tracy & I rented the Gite from during our stay in France. They were wonderful hosts & I hope to see them again one day soon.
I copied this design from the top of my layout further down the blog.
Materials Used;
Prima Documentary Stamp
Scrap of Basic Grey Basics Paper
Scrap of old book paper
Martha Stewart Edger Punch - Doily Lace
White card
Spun Sugar Distress Ink
Antique Linen Distress Ink
Big Shot with Swiss Dot Embossing Folder
Birds on Wire Stamp - CI287
Papermania white flowers overstamped with script
Papermania silver half crystal
Tim Holtz- Visual Artistry (birds in top corner)

Just a note.. stamp Papermania

All paper scraps were hand stitched together with white thread