Bit of a ....

.... mad scramble here yesterday!  I haven't been crafting much this summer - partly because we've been redesigning our back garden, much gnashing of teeth and pulling of hair as we tried to work all our "must-have" requirements into a pretty small space.  And the other thing is I've taken my stiff neck/shoulder to a physiotherapist after rather a long time (4 to 5 years!!!) of ignoring.  My entire lifestyle from working as a secretary to hobbies of reading, crafting, etc. has conspired to create a perfect little storm of seized muscles, joints and nerves!  Oh well, will all be sorted eventually.  And the garden landscaping is underway - hooray - I'll post some before and after pics when it's done.

But .... yesterday was my little godson's 4th birthday, so a card had to be made.  My son's football match went over time, my step-mother called in for coffee unexpectedly, and the traffic was appalling as I raced to buy a present (ok, I left that very late!), so the card happened in between all that.  Here's what I made:

I'm entering the following challenges: Craft Your Passion, ABC Challenge and Simon Says Stamp("Anything Goes"), City Crafter ("Birthday Wishes"), Try it on Tuesdays ("Children") and Crafty Creations ("Use a Number").

I drew a little template for the balloons and cut out four in bright colours.  I printed out the numbers and letters onto white card and cut them out.  Had I had time, I would have glossy accented either the balloons or numbers or both, but that didn't happen!!  Here's a side-shot of the balloons:

Recipe

Paper: October Afternoon "Weathervane"

Fonts: "Bringshoot" and "Impact" - dafont.com

Other: Sharpie marker

Thanks for looking!

See ya ....

.... January.  It's February, and that means the reveal of the January Card Chain Challenge on Deborah's blog.

I made and sent a card to Christy in California, using the theme of "friendship".  Here's what I made:

I'm going to enter the following challenges: Craft your Passion and Brown Sugar ("Anything Goes"), Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge ("Ray of Sunshine"), City Crafter ("Plastic Fantastic") and Shopping our Stash ("Dreaming of Something Warm").

I made some home-made enamel dots, out of plastic hama beads, having seen them on pinterest.  I made one batch of varying colours and burnt them, then turned the oven down and left another batch in for ages and ages, they came out ok but not perfect.  Will have to fiddle with temperature and timing to get the next lot right!!  Here's a side-shot:

Recipe:

Stamp: Hero Arts "Floating Leaves" and Kaisercraft "Chevron Texture"

Font: "Joe Hand 2" dafont.com

Other: White e,p., home-made enamel dots, baker's twine

And here's the lovely card I got from Toni - all the way from the west coast of the U.S.  Thank you, Toni!

The February sign-up is open until 6th February - if you'd like to join up, head over to Deborah's blog and see all the details.

Thanks for looking!

So close to ....

.... Christmas now - and I've just posted the card to my friend's son with the right up to Christmas birthday.  Put a non-Christmas stamp on the envelope and didn't use any Christmassy colours - don't think he'll care either way but I do!!!  Here's what I made:

I used the sketch from Mojo Monday and I'm also entering the following challenges: Craft your Passion ("Anything Goes"), Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge ("Just a Pinch" - of e.p.), City Crafter ("The Heat is On"), Papertake Weekly ("Winter Birthday"), ABC Challenge ("X is for Xtreme" bold and bright colours) and Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge ("Die Crazy").

I used three dies on this card - the tag, the spikey circle and the stars - but the number 9 is hand cut from cork that was just too thick to work with any die (and anyway, I don't have any number dies!).  Here's a side-shot of the layers:

Recipe:

Stamp: Kaisercraft "Chevron"

Dies: Mama Elephant "Lots of Stars", Nestabilities "Pinking Circles", Magnolia Doohickeys "Tea Label Tags"

Embossing Folder: Cuttlebug "Tiny Bubbles"

Fonts: "Ariel Black" and "Throw my Hands up in the Air" - dafont.com

Other: Recycled corrugated card, cork, Prima brad, white e.p.

Thanks for looking!

Something quick ....

.... for Christmas.  For my last craft club of the year, we had to make a Christmas decoration and card to swap between each other.  Inspired by something I saw on Pinterest, I made what turned out to be a quick, fun but really effective looking ornament.  Here's what I made, with card to match:

Those are drawing pins stuck all over a Styrofoam ball, I love the finished effect - I think it looks like an armadillo.  It's amazing how heavy it is too, and it will look fab on a tree with other gold and red decorations.  I made the card in red and gold to match too, with gold jingle bells I recycled from around the necks of Lindt chocolate rabbits or bears or something!  Here's a little side-shot:

I'm entering these into the following challenges: Crafty Cardmakers ("Christmas"), Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and Creative Inspirations ("Anything Goes"), City Crafter ("Glittering Snowflakes"), Shopping our Stash ("Favourite Technique" - mine is distressing), Little Red Wagon ("So flaky") and Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge ("Bling it On").

Ornament Recipe:

Styrofoam ball, drawing pins, ribbon from stash

Card Recipe:

Paper: Basic Grey "Ambrosia"

Stamp: Hero Arts "Stunning Snowflakes" background

Font: "Apex Lake" - dafont.com

Other: Ribbon from stash, Lindt bells, gold e.p.

Thanks for looking!

On the road ....

.... again!  Our lovely piano teacher at school has just retired, and I wanted to make a card that didn't include any of the obvious music/keyboard/piano motifs.  She and her husband head off with glee each summer holiday to travel the roads of Europe in their caravan, so I decided to base my card around that.  Here's what I made:

I used the sketch from last week's Deconstructed Sketch (flipped) and I'm also entering the following challenges: City Crafter ("Chipboard"), Creative Inspirations ("Distressing"), Fab 'n' Funky ("Feels Like Summer"), Little Red Wagon ("I need a Vacation") and Charisma Cardz ("Anything Goes").

I used some very old papers by Cosmo Cricket - my starting point was the cute car and caravan chipboard image - never thought I'd get to use it!  I highlighted the vehicles with glossy accents.  I cut the foliage from one of the patterned papers.  Here's a side-shot of the dimension on the card.

Recipe:

Papers: Cosmo Cricket "Mr. Campy"

Font: "Alexis Marie" - www.dafont.com

Die: Nestabilities "Blossom"

Other: Glossy Accents

Thanks for looking!

Giveaway reminder - and late for ....

.... my brother's birthday again, but this time, it wasn't my fault!

He was to come to us for birthday dinner on Sunday.  I scrambled around all day - went to the supermarket in the morning, came home, baked a cake, started on his card, prepped dinner and put it in the oven, back upstairs to finish the card - then the phone rang.  He was still at home and the wipers weren't working on his car.  The weather was too changeable to risk a journey sans wipers, so he had to stay home.  So, I finished the card the next day and posted it, and ate the cake!!  Here's the card (I didn't take a picture of the cake, too busy eating it!):

I used the sketch from this week's Deconstructed Sketches and I'm also entering this into the following challenges: Created with Love and ABC Challenges ("Lots of Layers"), City Crafter ("Birthday Banners"), Simon Says Wednesday Challenge and Brown Sugar ("Anything Goes").

Here's a side-shot of all the circle layers and the strip banner on the card.

Recipe:

Papers: Basic Grey "Granola"

Other: Hairy String

Thanks for looking - and don't forget my giveaway - HERE is the link to the post.

Wuv, Wuv, Wuv ....

.... as my son used to say in those long-ago toddler days when he couldn't pronounce his Ls!!!  Valentine's Day has been and gone and I was only a day late making my husband's card - oops!!  Here's this year's offering:

Update 18/02 - this card was chosen as Top 3 on The Kraft Journal - many thanks!

I'm entering this in the following challenges: Less is More ("Masculine"), Totally Papercrafts, Creative Inspirations, The Kraft Journal ("Valentine/Love"), Papertake Weekly ("With a Heart"), City Crafter ("Love Bug") and Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge ("Get Krafty").

I got some new crafting goodies during the week - first time in ages and ages - and I was itching to use the embossing paste.  I've seen it all over blogland in the last while and I knew I'd like it.  The Tim Holtz hearts stencil was out of stock, as was the plain white paste, so I got the stars stencil and the pearlescent paste and I'm glad - more hearts would have been overkill and the pearlescent sheen is just lovely.  I hand-drew the red heart, slathered it in a thick layer of glossy accents, and then cut it out when it was dry.  Here's a side shot of the card:

Recipe:

Stencil: Tim Holtz "Stars" stencil

Font: joeHand 2 - www.dafont.com

Other: Pearlescent embossing paste, glossy accents

Thanks for looking!

I'm a crazy ....

.... scavenging lady!!  At the side of most motorways and suburban roads here, there are bushes growing more or less wild that, in summer, have either red or greenish/yellow leaves, and in winter, the bare branches are also red or greenish/yellow.   I think they're called dogwood, but I am open to correction on that!!  I've been eyeballing them for years as I drive past, thinking "I bet I could make a wreath out of those".  Well this was the year. I decided to make it for my son's teacher, and here's the story!!

Last weekend, my daughter and I made a bunch of pom-poms in a few different sizes.

On Monday, I walked up to the bypass near our house, armed with a pair of secateurs and a sack.  The kids refused to come with me, wonder why!!  With the traffic whizzing past, I scrambled around in the bushes, cut a pile of suitably shaped branches and then carried them home.

Tuesday, I washed the roadside grime off them, and began twisting them into shape.  At this point, the cat joined in - those branches were whippy - and she thought this was the.best.game.ever - there were twigs, cat and claws flying through the air!!!

Last night, with today's last-day-of-school deadline imminent, I grabbed my new hot glue gun and stuck down the pom-poms, some jingle bells and a ribbon and bow.  Wow, how did I ever craft so long without hot glue - it's such a doddle to use - instant drying, super stickiness - fantastic.

And this morning, before school, I hung the finished wreath on my front door and took photos - still not fully daylight and it was a "red sky in the morning, shepherd's warning" kind of sky so the light was a bit wonky, but here it is:

A closer look:

And even closer:

I'm really chuffed with how it turned out and even my daughter (my harshest critic!!!) said "It doesn't look homemade, it looks professional" - not bad for a virtually cost-free project!!

I'm going to enter the following challenges: City Crafter ("Jingle Bells"), Craft Your Passion ("Christmas Anything but a card"), Brown Sugar ("Anything Goes") and Make it Monday.

I'm so happy, we're now on holidays - two full weeks off - hallelujah!

Thanks for looking!

Loving the autumnal ...

... colours around at the moment - it's my second favourite season after winter - and I got to use lovely autumn colours for my DT entry this week on Sentimental Sundays - we're celebrating Calypso's birthday all this month, with oodles of sponsors, and this week, our challenge is "Happy Birthday - Sentiments Only". 

I had a lot of fun with this challenge.  I made a 50th birthday card for one of my colleagues in school - we were at his fancy dress party (70s theme!) last night - almost all the guests dressed up, going to great effort to do so - a great night was had by all!  This is what I made for the birthday boy:

Update 21/11/13 - Jen has picked this card as one of her favourites on Deconstructing Jen - thanks so much, Jen!

I used the sketch from this week's Deconstructed Sketches, and I'm also entering this into the following challenges: ABC Challenges ("W is for words"), Papertake Weekly ("Two by Two" - I've got two numbers and two banners"), Daring Cardmakers ("Birthday Banners and Bunting") and City Crafter ("Trick or Treat or use Orange as main colour").

I made up the sentiment on the computer and printed it onto kraft paper.  Printed the name once more, glossy accented it and popped it up for dimension.  Here's a side-shot.

Recipe:

Papers: Basic Grey "Carte Postale" and Tim Holtz "Destinations"

Other: Cuttlebug "Tiny Bubbles" embossing folder, Doodlebug brads, glossy accents

Thanks for looking!

Still scrambling ....

.... around, trying to get my mojo up and running.  Only one week and four days left of school, I am looking forward to having time to do things - have the usual ambitious (overly ambitious?!!) to-do list of people to see, projects to do, once-a-year cleaning jobs to undertake, etc., etc.!!  Let's see!!

My son is away this weekend at his friend's birthday party/sleepover - they went quad-biking yesterday (the horrors!), but friend's Mum kindly texted to let everyone know their sons were still in one piece afterwards!  Here's the card I made for the birthday boy:

Update 18th June: This card was given a Spotlight Artist Award on City Crafter - many thanks!

I used the sketch from this week's Deconstructed Sketch and I'm also entering this into the following challenges: Creative Inspirations ("Father's Day/Male Themed"), Papertake Weekly ("Hello Boys") and City Crafter ("All About Him").

I did a lot of doodling on this card - all the lettering, numbers, arrows, etc.  See the MS "Drippy Goo" border punch - remember a few years ago these were like gold-dust and everyone wanted them - I got one then and this is the first time I've used it!!  Here's a side-shot of the drips, doodles and dimension on the card:

Recipe:

Papers: Cosmo Cricket "Get Happy"

Punch: MS "Drippy Goo"

Other: Black and white gel pens

Thanks for looking!

It's been ....

.... a while.  Almost a month since my last post, can't really account for all that time, bit of illness, bit of Easter Holidays, bit of family stuff, and here we are in mid-April, just like that!!

It's Sunday and that means a challenge from Sentimental Sundays - we are sponsored this week by

Dilly Beans Digi Stamps

Our challenge is called "Tags".  I chose to make a card with tags on it and it's for my nephew's 18th birthday.  Here's what I made:

I'm also entering the following challenges: Moving Along with the Times ("Inspired by a Song or Film" - mine is "Night of the Living Dead"!), Charisma Cardz ("Tags"), City Crafter ("Birthday") and Creative Inspirations ("Anything Goes + Heart").

I made the numbers from chipboard - embossed with a cuttlebug folder and then heat embosed with a mixture of distress e.p. sprinkled with a bit of normal black e.p. - I think I meant to end up with this grungy look!!!  Here's a side-shot:

Recipe:

Papers: Tim Holtz "Destinations"

Stamp: Dilly Beans "Monster Boy 2"

Colouring Medium: Prisma Pencils

Other: Distress e.p., black e.p., glossy accents, ballchain, needle + thread

Thanks for looking!