15 hours to go ....

.... until summer holidays, yippee!

Made a thank you card for my son's teacher for this week's PaperPlay.  The theme this week is "It's sunny here" and the prize is a €15 gift certificate from Bunny Zoes Crafts. Here's my card:

The title of challenge may be "It's Sunny Here", but this morning when I took the photo, it wasn't!!!  So the card is a good deal more vibrant looking in real life!!

I used the sketch from this week's Sketch Saturday, and I'm also entering it on ABC Challenge (X-tra dimension - mine is the popped up sun), Cute Card Thursday (reuse, renew, recycle), and Crafty Creations (shine - again, the sun).

I really like that happy sun.  I cut it off a carrier bag from Daisy & Tom some years back and almost threw it out lots of times.  Glad I kept it now.  I cut out the round part, slathered it in glossy accents, popped it up on the card and drew the rays with black zig marker.  Here's a close-up:

Recipe:

Papers: Cosmo Cricket "Early Bird"

Stamp: Hero Arts "Row of Perky Flowers"

Colouring Medium: Distress Inks

Other: Glossy Accents, needle & thread

I've just realised I've passed 10,000 hits on my blog.  Time to organise a candy, I think.  I'll organise something next week (when I'm on my .... summer holidays!).

Thanks for looking.

Nearly there ....

.... we get our school holidays on Friday at 12 noon - only 36 and a half hours to go (who's counting?!).

Another of the cards I had to do was for another work colleague who is getting married over the summer.  She and her Mum both craft (Hi Avril and Lauren!!) - and they made the most gorgeous, elegant invitations for the wedding.  They visited my craft room a while back and both were crazy about my Hero Arts heart stamp set, so I decided it would be only right and proper to use those on this card:

I kept to roughly the same layout (flipped 90 degrees) and style as I used for the other staff wedding card I made a few weeks back, but changed the colour scheme.

I'm entering this on The Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge (wedding/anniversary) and A Spoon Full of Sugar (good luck/best wishes).

Thanks for looking!

Still working ....

.... my way through the to-do list of cards.

This one is my DT entry for PaperPlay this week.  I set the challenge - it's called "Something Old" :

"It's easy to be seduced by all the lovely new products, but this challenge is to use something very old from your stash. Could be the first papers you loved and didn't want to cut into, or what were cutting edge embellishments. Drag them out and use them!!!". 

Our prize this week is €10 credit from The Scrapbook Store.

My card is a retirement card for our school Principal (who is also my boss!), and I originally intended to make something utterly different.  I was going to colour an image in distress inks and use some very old papers, but somehow this happened:

The "old" is the postman hairy string, and also the corrugated card that I rescued from the packaging of a garden heater.  The stamps are, I suppose, getting quite old and the paper is from last year (yes, I know that's pushing it!).

I'm also entering this on the following challenges: Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge (include a quote), Totally Gorjuss (one for the boys), A Spoon Full of Sugar (enjoying the sunshine), Crafty Creations (it's a stitch-up) and Creative Inspirations (another one for the boys!).

Before I made it, I wasn't thinking of having a quote on the card, just something like "on your retirement", but when I spotted this rub-on in the paper pack, I just thought it sounded so apt for a retiring principal.  He doesn't have to worry about all the big issues that crop up while working in school anymore!  Here's a close-up of the image and sentiment:

Recipe:

Papers and rub-on: Cosmo Cricket "Earth Love"

Stamp: Hero Arts "Three Designer Leaves"

Colouring Media: Hero Arts shadow ink and colouring pencils

Other: Distress ink, string and corrugated card from stash, needle + thread

Thanks for looking!

It's Wednesday ....

.... so that means it's WOYWW again.  There is such chaos in my room today that by right it should be "What's On Your Workdesk, Windowsill and Floor Wednesday? WOYWWFW?  Catchy!!

Was making a card for our School Principal's retirement last night and it took off in a very different direction to what I'd originally intended, hence the mad scatterings on the aforementioned desk, sill and floor:

Lovely Cosmo Cricket "Earth Love" papers.

Boxes of ribbons and embellishments (and some Sugar Nellie stamps I haven't put away yet)

I think the bin needs emptying!!

Thanks for looking!

The fruits of ....

.... last weekend's labour!!!

I think I mentioned in a previous post that it was our parish fête at the weekend - I made red onion marmalade a few weekends ago, and "proper" marmalade last Thursday.  Friday afternoon was spent baking and making decorative bits for the jam jars.  I made bands to go around the onion marmalade jars, 'cos the stuff, although it tastes really good, just doesn't look that pretty!!  But the orange marmalade was so lovely and orangey and happy looking, I just did labels.  Here's the finished batches:

And the next pictures are the first "harvest" from our garden this year.  Strawberries - yummmmm!  We've got about a dozen plants in containers and pots, and three berries were ready yesterday.

Look at this beauty - it was delicious (cut democratically into four equal-sized pieces!!!)

Nothing else is near this stage, spuds growing massive amounts of greenery, but not flowering yet, tomatoes the same, rhubarb and apples really flourishing - the peppers and chilli peppers are not doing much but most look reasonably healthy.

Back to card-making - son asked to THREE parties this week - not good for my schedule.

Thanks for looking!

One down ....

.... I'm not counting what's left to do 'cos I don't want to think about it!

I've got a deadline of the week after next to get quite a few cards done, so last night I made one of them as my DT entry for this week's PaperPlay - the theme is "home" - and it's quite a loose interpretation, e.g. new home, something from your home that inspires the project, etc.  I was thinking about this during the week while looking out at the back garden, and I saw rather a lot of dandelions on the lawn.  "Bingo - a dandelion wedding card", thought I.  I had intended to post a picture of these inspirational dandelions, but husband cut the grass in the meantime!!!  So here's the card:

 

Sorry about the abysmal lighting - another November in June day here today!!! 

I've used the sketch from this week's Sketch Saturday and I'm also entering it on Create 4 Fun  (black/white/one other colour - mine's silver).

This card is a rariety for me, because I didn't use any patterned paper - just cardstock.  And I'm really annoyed, I carefully measured up the centre section before I stuck it down - normally I just go by eye - and after all my sums and adding up on my fingers - the piggin' thing is off-centre!!   Grrrr!

The black bit down the middle is a gorgeous black velvet ribbon I've had forever, with a narrow silver ribbon on top.  I stamped the image twice, first in Tuxedo Black, then overlapped with Versamark and heat embossed with silver - might be easier to see in this close-up:

Thanks for looking!

Safely back where I belong, in ....

.... my comfort zone.  I spent several happy hours last night with distress tool, inks, needle and thread and it felt good!!!

My card is for a retiring Sunday School teacher called Rosie.  I immediately thought of using BG "Sugared" paper, with its lovely blousy roses, but am branching off in other botanical directions too by using a Mary Hall for Sugar Nellie stamp called "Miss Sweet Pea"!!

My card is for this week's challenge on The Sugar Bowl, a lovely sketch (and an option to use pink/black/white, what can I say, I'm a rebel, I only used 33.3% of that option - pink/green/cream!!).  I changed the sketch very slightly by putting the "three elements" on the left hand side, I needed the right for the tag which has quite a bit of info that the customer wanted "on the front" - I love making tags for getting all the text on, but not in a way that clutters the card.

I'm also entering this on Crafty Angels ("My favourite stamp"), A Spoon Full of Sugar ("Floral Delight"), and Creative Cottage ("Pink").

I coloured this stamp using Distress Inks, love the dusky pink and olive green colours.  I have lots of the ink pads, but only a few reinkers and I am definitely going to build that collection.  Here's a close-up of the image, it's such a sweet stamp:

Recipe:

Papers: Basic Grey Sugared

Stamp: Mary Hall "Miss Sweet Pea" for Sugar Nellie

Colouring Medium: Distress Inks

Other: BG "Sugared" brads, ribbon from stash, needle + thread.

My daughter started her exams today, talk about cool as a cucumber - I don't want her to be panicking, but I wouldn't mind if she was a teeeeny weeeeny bit less laid-back either!!!!  And the next few weeks are bonkers, parish fete, boss's retirement events, car-boot sale, it's all go - and I have a long list of cards to make too.  EEEK!

Thanks for looking!