Blowing the dust ....

... off my blog after almost a year!  No idea why, just fell out of the habit (which, let's face it, was an infrequent habit at the best of times!!).  Anyway, I was just sorting my 2017 photos into files and decided to take the plunge back in, so here I am!

I've gone in a slightly different direction with my card-making over the past year .  I've been using much less patterned paper, have been stamping and making backgrounds and using a much more clean and graphic style.  Looking back over the cards I've made, I think my daughter's birthday card illustrates the "new look" quite well.  Here's what I did for her:

I'm entering the following challenges: Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and Crafty Creations("Anything Goes"), Creative Inspirations ("Something New" - mine is the yellow ink) and Crafty Cardmakers ("Get Inky/Messy").  I made the background by inking a large acrylic block, spritzing with water and then stamping directly on the paper.  I made star stencils and cut out the stars and also made the white letters.  I used black backing cardstock so the negative images of the stars would pop.

Thanks for looking!

They're finished, and ....

.... it's only the 4th of December!!

I finished the last batch of Christmas cards last night, here's what this year's offering looks like:

I'm entering the following challenges: Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge ("O Christmas Tree"), ABC Challenge ("U for Unconventional" - Christmas card with no red or green), Crafty Creations, Moving Along with the Times, Creative Inspirations, Fab n Funky ("Christmas") and Brown Sugar ("Anything Goes").

I made a little scene with heat embossed Neat and Tangled stamps, watercoloured the background, added more heat embossed stars and did edges in gold.  I twisted thin gold thread round hairy string to give and extra little twinkle.  I made up a sentiment and printed onto the card blanks, as I didn't really like the sentiments that came with the stamp set.  Here's a side view:

And here they are all together, before I have to split them up and send them to people!!

Recipe:

Stamps: Neat and Tangled "Winter Wishes"

Font: "KG Sorry Not Sorry Chub" - dafont.com

Other: Black e.p., gold e.p., distress inks, hairy string, gold thread

Thanks for looking!

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!

Construction ....

.... time again!

I haven't made our Christmas cards for three years, twice because Jed designed a card in school and last year because I .... gulp, whisper .... bought them!  So I was quite excited by the prospect of making them again.  Had a design in my head and went about ordering the supplies back at the end of October, they arrived, I put them in a pile in the craftroom and they sat there for a few weeks until last Monday week ago, when I made the first one.  Very nice, very pleased - had a craft club meeting on the Saturday so I figured I would make all the components and make up kits to bring along and I'd get the whole lot put together in one go.  Oh Lord, what a palaver.  I spent the whole week making the kits, then went to the club and got only 20 .... TWENTY .... out of 50 done in the day.

But the story has a happy ending - I got most of the rest done on the Sunday and finished up on the Monday.  The second big job of writing the flippin' things is now also done (yay!).  Here's the product of all that sweat and tears:

The light is terrible, we've been having biblical quantities of rain here in Ireland lately.  The cards are white, not blue!!

I'm entering this into the following challenges: Our Creative Corner ("Wish upon a Star"), Creative Knockouts ("Winter Wonderland"), Moving Along with the Times ("To a Special Someone at Christmas" - all my relatives and friends are special!), ABC Challenge ("W is for Warm Winter Wishes"), Crafty Creations ("Happy Holidays") and Little Red Wagon ("Snow Much Fun").

Here's a side-shot of the card, showing all the layers:

And here are all fifty cards finished.  I always think at this point "Isn't it a shame to split them up"!!!

  Recipe:

Stamp: Hero Arts/Basic Grey "Nordic Holiday"

Dies: MFT "Stitched Mountain Range" and Mama Elephant "Lots of Stars"

Stencil: Simon Says Stamp "Falling Snow"

Font: YorkWhiteLetter dafont.com

Other: Bakers' Twine, texture paste, glossy accents.

Thanks for looking!

A first for me ....

.... I've made a card for Daisy's boyfriend's birthday!  He's not her first boyfriend by any means, but none of the others was around long enough to get to the giving-a-birthday-card stage!!

So I faffed around with bits of cardstock and stamps and made this:

I used the sketch from this week's Mojo Monday and I'm also entering the following challenges: ABC Challenge ("T is for Two" - I've got two sprockets, and the number 22!!), Crafty Creations ("Don't be Blue"), Creative Inspirations ("Anything Goes") and Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge ("Wrap it Up").

I wanted to have some white pops on this card to lift the dark blacks and greens - so I white embossed the edges of the patterned paper and the holes that I had punched, and I attached the large sprocket to the card by sewing it on with white thread.  Here's a closer look:

Recipe:

Paper: Basic Grey "Oxford"

Stamp: Kaisercraft "chevron"

Dies: Spellbinders "Sprightly Sprockets"

Font: Arial Black

Other: White e.p., dymo label maker, white thread

Thanks for looking!

Pretty birds and ....

.... flowers.

I had a sympathy card to make for a funeral this morning.  I had bits and pieces of a card that I'd started months ago but never finished and it came together nicely.  Here's how it ended up:

Update 02/07 - this card was Featured on Little Red Wagon - thank you.

I'm entering this into the following challenges: Craft Your Passion ("Ribbons"), Crafty Creations ("Things with Wings"), Little Red Wagon ("Animal Antics"), Crafts and Me ("Add Wings") and Dragonfly Dreams ("Anything with Wings").

I've used an old Hero Arts cling set to make the cherry blossom branch and the individual blossoms, which added a little something to a very plain sentiment.  Here's a close-up of the detail:

Recipe:

Papers: Basic Grey "Oxford"

Stamps: Hero Arts Sparkle Clear "From our Home"

Other: Bird cut from wrapping paper, ribbon recycled

Thanks for looking!

Giveaway reminder - and a card ....

.... for a very old birthday girl!

My husband's grandmother was 94 yesterday.  She still lives by herself in her own house, about an hour's drive down the country from us, and we headed down with family on Saturday to bring her out for a birthday lunch.  I had only a little time to make a card for her (and frankly, she's always more interested in what's inside the card, she opens the envelope, takes out the card and shakes it to see what falls out!!!) - here's what I ended up with:

I used the sketch from this week's Deconstructed Sketches, although I didn't have time to incorporate all the elements, and I'm also entering this into the following challenges:  Creative Card Crew ("Shabby Chic/Vintage"), Crafty Creations ("S" - my word is Summer), Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and Crafty Girls ("Anything Goes"), Brown Sugar ("Birthday") and The Shabby Tearoom ("Vintage Love").

As I was so short for time, rather than print or stamp and colour an image, I printed off this sweet vintage image from Pinterest on photo paper.  I love the tinting and big floppy pink bow in her hair, which I echoed by tying a crumpled seam binding bow at the bottom of the panel.  Here's a close-up of the image.

Recipe:

Papers: Crate Paper "Emma's Shoppe"

Other: Seam binding

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

Inch by inch ....

.... I haven't made an inchie card in a very long time - before I had my blog I think.  I like the fiddlyness of them - the precision of stamping on the little grid of squares, adding colour, splatter or whatever, then separating them, inking, backing them and finally ever so carefully mounting them with a little, hopefully perfect, bit of a gap between each one.  Here's the finished inchie card:

I'm entering this in the following challenges: Stampin' for the Weekend and Crafty Girls ("Anything Goes"), Little Red Wagon ("Truly Dimensional"), Creative Inspirations ("Favourite Colour Combination" - I love blue and brown), Crafty Creations ("Happy Birthday") and Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenges ("D is for Distress").

The map stamp is from a Tim Holtz set, which also has an airplane that I could have used, but as this card is for a Mini friend, I stamped a Mini instead - and combined with the awful punning sentiment!!  Here's a side-shot of the dimension of the card:

Recipe:

Papers: Authentique "Abroad"

Stamps: Tim Holtz "Warehouse District", Mini

Colouring Medium: Watercolour paints and distress inks
Font: Cheddar Jack - dafont.com

Other: Clear embossing powder, baker's twine, Doodlebug brads

Thanks for looking!

A Bird in the ....

house, or rather 13 birds in 13 houses!!  My monthly crafting group were given little plain cardboard birdhouses, in varying shapes, at our January meet-up - we had to decorate them, bring them along to the February meet, and then we would swap them amongst each other.  Here's how mine turned out:

 

I painted it white using plain old housepaint, and then added distressed wood effect papers for the body of the house.  I had some wrapping paper with pretty birds on it, I stuck one on a couple of layers of card then cut it out, wrapped wire around the perch, painted it and then impaled the bird on it!!  I spent a while thinking about the roof, I don't have any big scallop punches or straight dies, I didn't want to do individual tiles, too much faffing about.  Then I hit on a idea which worked better than I could have hoped - I used the inside edge of a postage stamp die - carefully adhering strips of paper in two different sequences and die-cutting, then distressing and overlapping the strips and finally making a ridge tile to finish it off.  I am really pleased with the result.  Here's a closer look:

 

I'm entering this house into the following challenges: Crafty Creations ("For the Birds") and Papertake Weekly ("Anything Goes").

Here's a pic of everybody's birdhouses together - aren't they fab?!

And here's the house I received in the swap - from Svetlana.  I love the woodgrain embossed paper she's covered it with.

 

My birdhouse recipe:

Papers: October Afternoon "Seaside"

Die: Nestabilities "Postage Stamps"

Other: Wrapping paper bird

Thanks for looking and thanks to Isobel for the idea to do this swap (and for providing the houses).

Happy Hallowe'en ....

.... to everyone.  I'm posting a very quick post - Jed and I are about to go and carve pumpkins (I'll put up pictures of them tomorrow), bit under time pressure, so I'll get to my card.  It's a Hallowe'en birthday card for Jed's friend - his party was last night.  Again, I was under time pressure, then the crackle glazed bat didn't dry properly, then it was too dark to get good pictures (and so the excuses roll on!).  Here's what I made:

 

I used the sketch from last week's Deconstructed Sketches and I'm entering the following challenges too: Daring Cardmakers ("Spooky Birthdays"), Simon Says Stamp ("Anything Goes"), Crafty Creations ("Make it Yourself"), Card Crafters Circle ("Autumn Splendour") and Totally Gorjuss ("Spooky").  I made the letters from the birthday boy's name, and I also made a spring-loaded bat!  I glued several layers of black cardstock together, drew and cut out the bat shape, then liberally coated it with crackle accents.  Then I swanned off for lunch with some friends, confident that when I came back, the bat would be both dry and crackled. BUT, it wasn't!  Eeeek - what to do?  So I put it in the hotpress for another hour.  No difference.  Then I took a heat gun to it.  Eeeek - dry but blistered.  So, as time had run out, I stuck two googly eyes over the worst blisters, attached the spring (from an old notebook spine) and called it a day!!  Here's a terribly lighted side-shot of the bat:



Recipe:

Papers: Cosmo Cricket "Matilda" and Rusty Pickle "Costume Party"

Other: Computer generated font, googly eyes and spring from stash

Thanks for looking - for those who enjoy Hallowe'en - have a fun evening!!

Oops, guess I've ....

.... been having too many lovely days!!  Haven't had time to craft, it's been nicely busy around here. 

We went camping with the Mini Club last weekend, the weather forecast was pretty bad, but luckily, it didn't turn out so bad after all.  We got the tents up in the dry on Friday, some rain and wind on Friday night but nobody's tent leaked!  Saturday was dry, some heavy rain at about 2am, and then Sunday was a lovely day. 

I keep meaning to take a picture of just how much stuff you can pack into a Mini (or two, as we took two cars).  We had five people, two tents, airbeds, bedrolls, lots of sleeping bags, picnic table, fold up chairs for five people, stove, eating and cooking utensils, food, five pairs of wellies, coats and raingear, plus clothes and other assorted camping gear.  A miracle of organisation!

I made this card for the family of an Mini friend who died recently.  He was in his mid 80s, an absolute gentleman, who had restored a beautiful 1960s Mini and drove it like a rally car!  I've stamped a Mini on the inside of the card, but here's the outside:

I used a sketch from a few week's ago from Deconstructing sketches, and I'm also entering this into the following challenges: Crafty Creations ("Shabby Chic"), Papertake Weekly ("Flower Power") and Craft your Passion ("Summer Flowers").

Here's a little close-up of the image - I distress inked the background watercolour paper first and splattered water on it, then dried it.  Then I heat-embossed the image with clear e.p. and added some more distress ink on the sides and edge.

Recipe:

Papers: Basic Grey "Hipster" and "Wisteria"

Stamp: Hero Arts "Dandelion"

Other: Distress inks, ribbon from stash, hairy string, Basic Grey button

Thanks for looking!

Only 13 days ....

.... late with my brother's card - I'm very lucky he's so laid-back!!  I hope I made up for it by inviting him round to dinner, making him a cake, and piling on some grovelling apologies!!  I made this card for him:

I used the sketch from this week's Deconstructed Sketch, and I'm also entering this into the following challenges: Simon Says Stamp ("Masculine"), Creative Inspirations (Colour challenges), Crafty Creations ("One for the Boys"), ABC Challenge ("Open" - Anything Goes), Make it Monday and Papertake Weekly ("Anything Goes").

I used a stamp from a Verve set that I won a while back - have printed the centre on the computer and popped it up for dimension.  Here's a close-up of the stamp, followed by a side-shot of the dimension:

Update 12th June: This card was picked as the weekly winner on Creative Inspirations.  Thank you!

Recipe:

Papers: Echo Park "Times + Seasons"

Stamps: Verve "Sweet Treats"

Other: Buttons from stash, hairy string

Thanks for looking!

No stitching ....

.... on a card?  Haven't done that in a long, long time.  I've been really inspired lately by some new challenges and some new blogs.  One crafter whose work I'm absolutely loving is Amy Sheffer - I adore her shabby, layered yet not over-embellished style.  I was sitting down to make my husband's birthday card, and I was inspired by the layout on one of Amy's recent creations.  Here's what I ended up with:

I'm entering this into the following challenges: Papertake Weekly and Basic Grey Challenges both have "Anything Goes", Shopping our Stash ("Best Deal Ever" - mine is the hairy string, my husband "rescued" a huge ball of it from his work - it was being thrown out - I reckon free has to be the best deal of all!), Crafts and Me ("Reds"), Crafty Creations ("No flowers"), Cupcake Craft Challenges ("Get Krafty") and Cutie Pie Challenge ("Distress your cards").

I love the papers I used.  The BG "Little Black Dress" line has a great combination of lacy feminine designs and the lovely masculine patterned papers I've used on this card. 

I know there are punches and die cuts for doing pennant banners all in one go.  I don't have one, so I made the red pennant banner by chopping some cardstock into sections, using a square punch to do the pennant bits, and then sticking the hidden ends equidistant on a slim bit of cardstock.  That's me, if there's a fiddly and time-consuming way to do something, I'm there!!  I added some scrabble letters that I've had in my stash for ages, some shiny red circles and lots of BG buttons.  Here's a side-shot of the layers:

 

Recipe:



Papers: Basic Grey "Little Black Dress" and "Granola"

Sentiment: Computer-generated

Other: Basic Grey "Ambrosia", scrabble letters from stash, hairy string

 

Thanks for looking!

 

And now for something ....

.... completely different, well maybe not that different, but it feels like a slight departure from the norm to me!  I decided to make a "just because" kind of card, it's a long time since I've made something that I don't "have" to make for somebody, so I thought I'd start a stockpile.  And I also decided not to use an image and to use a more heavily layered style. 

It's also my DT sample for this week's PaperPlay.  We're sponsored by Simon Says Stamp and our challenge this week is called "Shine On" - we want to see sparkle, shine or gloss (or all three!).  Here's what I ended up with:

I went for shine, not that you can see it in the photo, but I promise, the letters are glossy accented, the leaves are crackle glazed, and there's a shiny brad in the centre of the flowers!!

I used the sketch from this week's Mojo Monday, and I'm also entering this into the following challenges: Simon Says Stamp and Show ("Leaf-spiration"), Simon Says Stamp ("Glimmer and Sparkle"), Crafty Creations ("Colours of Fall"), Papertake Weekly ("Anything Goes") and Sentimental Sundays ("3-2-1" - mine are 3 papers, 2 leaves (or flowers!) and 1 brad).

Here's a side-shot of the dimension and layers of the card.  You can sort of see the shine on the letters and leaves, too.

 

Recipe:

Papers: Basic Grey "Max + Whiskers" and "Pyrus"

Die Cuts and Punches: Nestabilities "Pinking Circles" and Woodware leaf punch.

Letters: Computer generated

Other: Prima flowers, Doodlebug brad, ribbon from stash, needle + thread.

Thanks for looking!

Not much stitching ....

.... and lots of tearing and ripping!  I set the challenge this week on PaperPlay and I decided to ramp things up a few notches from "distressing" - the challenge is called "Destruction".

I had a late card to make for a nephew - disappeared into the craftroom for a remarkably short two hours and this is what I finished with:

I'm entering this into the following challenges: Basic Grey Challenges, Simon Says Stamp + Show and Truly Scrumptious all have "Anything Goes", Creative Card Crew ("Sentiment as focal point") and Crafty Creations ("Male Birthday card").

Lots and lots of copper heat embossing, I love that effect.  I drew some letter templates and traced onto corrugated card and ordinary packaging card, then dry and heat embossed some of them.  Here's a close-up of the letter "d", which is my favourite bit:

Recipe:

Papers: Basic Grey "Oliver"

Other: Cuttlebug embossing folders, copper e.p., dymo tape, needle + thread

Thanks for looking!

Spring forward....

.... fall back!  That kind of describes my crafting these days, it's all long spells of inertia followed by manic bursts of activity, usually triggered by family birthdays!  I had two friends' birthdays this week, one female and one male, and I decided to make things easier on myself by using the same sketch for both cards.  I made one card yesterday, and then I was at a crop today and made the other (and dropped it to the birthday boy on the way home, talk about last minute!). 

The sketch is this week's Mojo Monday - I like the elements, especially the pennant shape.

So here is my lady card:

And the man card:

I've also entered them into the following challenges: Totally Gorjuss ("Anything Goes with a Button"), Craft Your Passion and Papertake Weekly ("Anything Goes"), ABC Challenge ("Kraft") and Crafty Creations ("Stripes").

Here are some side-shots of the dimension and tags on the cards:

Recipes:

Papers: MME "Miss Caroline Fiddlesticks" and "Stella Rose Hazel", BG "Jovial"

Dies: Cheery Lynn "English Tea Party Doily Die" and Nestabilities "Pinking Circles"

Punch: MS "Doily Lace"

Other: Buttons and ribbon from stash, needle + thread

Thanks for looking!