WORLD CARD MAKING DAY 2nd - 6th OCTOBER 2011

Hello crafters and welcome to The World Cardmaking day blog hop on this the 2nd October.

This is a 5 day blog hop with 10 different participants each day hosted by Gill of CBGM

As it is World Cardmaking Day the participants of the hop are donating cards to Gill McCall for charity. Plus in the line up each day you will find a UK crafting celebrity taking part among us mere mortal crafters !!!

Ok then on with the hop - if you have arrived here in blogger land from  Becky  and want to hop along then you're on the right track and I hope you enjoy what you are about to see, not only from me but from all the participants - each day remember to leave  comments as there will be  BIG blog candy from Gill and from sponsors of the hop, for what Gill thinks is the most interesting comment and she will announce the winner 2 days after the hop closes.

                                                                    For this hop I have made 4 cards

For the first one I have used a pearlised cream base card,  added some spotty paper to the bottom half and covered the join with white glittered ribbon. The flower was punched twice and joined with a pink brad. The flourish was cut with my Silhouette and sponged with Tattered Rose DI. The sentiment is an old cd stamp.

My 2nd card is a download that took my fancy from Craftsuprint. I have decoupaged it and added an organza bow to the shoe. 

The 3rd card is has been printed out from a Joanna Sheen RHS cd and then decoupaged. I matted on to green mirri card and added a vintage ribbon bow. The sentiment was printed on the computer and bowed out to cover the stems.

My last card uses free digi leaf paper from TLC and a stamp from Forever Friends which I coloured with promarkers. The bow is vintage ribbon and the sentiment is an old cd one.

Well I hope you like what I have come up with. Now your next hop stop is http://lilodesigns.blogspot.com/ where you will find another wonderful creation from Alethea

Dont forget to come back for day 2 in this 5 day hop.  Thanks for hopping and see you tomorrow:)

Rak card

Just a quick post to show the beautiful card that I received this morning from Alethea in Australia. Thanks Alethea:)
We came back yesterday from a fabulous trip to Loch Lomond and we are off again to Portsmouth for the weekend and to a Greek island next Sunday:)
I've missed out on a couple of challenges but am all scheduled for the World Cardmaking blog hop on Sunday. Hope you will join us for the ride.

Scrapbox challenge

Apologies first  for the photo quality but the light was poor and some of the scraps were shiny!!
Anyway this week's challenge at CBGM is

to create a project using scraps or elements from your scrapbox - the topper can be new but everything else needs to be from the scrapbox. For this challenge you need to take a before and after photo.
My base card is white A5 and I distressed the edges with Antique Linen. The backing paper is similar to brown parcel paper and was the insert on a pack of parchment paper, I punched the corners with MS daisy punch and matted it to the base and wrapped a length of brown vintage ribbon around the middle. The yellow layer was mottled card stock with a torn edge and I used the waste from the punched corner to create the negative daisy shape. The top piece on the left picture was left over from a print out of a BP from a cd and I tore it and positioned it on top of the yellow card stock and using a small tonic punch, punched out flowers from the yellow card for embellishments. The flower was also punched out of the remaining scraps and a gem brad used to hold them together. The topper is a bookmark that is from a series of art pictures, this being Klimt, that I found in The Works. I matted it on to a strip of gold mirri card that I cut with decorative scissors. The sentiment is stamped on an SU label stamp.


Good luck with the challenge and please remember that to enter you must be a follower of Gill's blog and link your post directly to the challenge and mention Creations by Gill McCall in your posting.
Thanks for looking and please let me know if you have visited so that I can visit you:)

Och aye the noo!

Flying up to Loch Lomond to stay with friends tomorrow and hoping for good weather, haha! I'm hoping for some internet access just to keep up with blogland but forgive me if I don't get to visit you:)
Wonder what the challenge will be tomorrow from the South coast Divas?
This is where we are staying!
Have a good weekend everyone :)

MMM - Challenge 16 - Metal Steampunk

This week over at MMM the criteria is:


This week continuing our STEAMPUNK theme we would like to see someMETAL on your cards or projects.

I am really enjoying the Steampunk theme, never having tried it before and so delighted to have been chosen in the top 3 two weeks running:)


The only real metal I used on my card was a coiled wire, some staples and a few cogs. 
The BP is from GRaphic 45 and I cut out the image of the debutante and ran it through a Tim Holtz EF and highlighted parts with gold paste. On the background I added some gloss to the flowers and the dressmaking model and alphabet bubbles to the words.
I embossed a strip of gold mirri with the TH EF and coloured with alcohol inks. I cut some cogs with my Silhouette and coloured them in the same way. I raised this part on foam dots and the dress form image came from BTFC and I distressed with Mustard Seed and Spiced Marmalade and added the watch parts and a small bow. I finished off with some green staples and a coiled wire. The base card was white A5 and the edges distressed with the same DI's.

Thanks for visiting today:

Less is More 33 x2

First of all I'd just like to welcome my new followers, Ikgra and Vicki who joined during our pirate blog hop. Thanks for following me:)
This week everyone is doing their best to try and reach a 1000 entries for the Less is More challenge , especially Viv, who is doing sterling work having posted 16 cards already!!!
I have made a Christmas card using my very early Christmas/Birthday present from my OH! I finally decided on a Silhouette and have been having great fun playing with it:) I cut this card out and the labels for the sentiment with it. I added green card behind the cut image and edged the labels with a green PM.
Thanks for looking and don't forget to leave a comment so I can visit you:)

Talk like a Pirate Day blog hop

Welcome me 'earties to our Talk like a Pirate blog hop hosted by Gill  If you have just been wondering through blog land and landed on my beach then you are very welcome, but if you have arrived from Alethea  http://lilodesigns.blogspot.com/  then you are hopping the correct plank! For my first offering I have made a card using Craft Artist that I am going to send to one of my nephews. I started with a desert island background and added the characters and necessary  accessories for a pirate! The photos show the front, back and inside of the card I added gems to the treasure chest! For my second project I have made an easel card. For the front of the card I printed an old map from the internet, distressed the edges with ink and tore and curled some of it. I cut out an image of a galleon and raised it up with foam pads. The pirate is a digi image that I printed out a couple of times and decoupaged.  The inside scene was created on Craft Artist and I used the treasure trunk as the stopper. Hope you have enjoyed looking at my projects  and you can catch the next pirate here by visiting  Jacki -  http://cardsbyjacki.blogspot.com/ http://creationsbygillm.blogspot.com/2011/09/international-talk-like-pirate-day-blog.html

Less is More Week 33 - 1000 Challenge - Anything CAS Goes

The challenge this week is:

Now we are going for the 1000 submissions.

so 

Anything CAS Goes

I have made a card and am entering it in 3 challenges:

LIM, OLW and CAS-ual Friday . The OLW challenge is to stamp an image and colour it and the CAS-ual friday one is to make a small card no bigger than 4" x 4" and state the size. The LIM challenge is anything CAS goes!
I stamped one of the images from the Docrafts Forever Friends Black and Gold stamp set and coloured with PM's. The sentiment is an old cd one which I stamped in versamark and embossed with copper EP. I added glitter to the centre of the flowers.
Welcome to Sandra, a new follower and thanks to everyone who visits and comments:)

MMM - Challenge 15 - Steampunk Monochrome.

The steampunk theme continues at Make my Monday but this week they would still like to see STEAMPUNK creations with a MONOTONE theme . Create a new project only using ONE colour and the various tones of that colour.
For the BP I downloaded an image from the internet, changed the colour to blue and matted it onto blue card. The base card is white but smudged with stormy sky DI. The airship is from BTFC as is the penny farthing and sundial. I applied plastic domes for highlights,  punched two holes  with eyelets and hung a steampunk heart from a chain. I thought it was a good idea to add the plastic bubbles but it affected the colour in the photo because the PM's I used were all shades of blue but they appear grey and brown!!






thanks for visiting I love to read your comments:)

Make a Tag

Having seen the beautiful tag that Meggymay posted I checked out the challenge called Fashionable Stamping and the DT have made some amazing tags! I  have only ever used tags for sentiments on cards and not as a creation in it's own right. I enjoyed making the ATC's so a tag is just a bit bigger, right?
Firstly I coloured the tag with Bundled Sage and Victorian Velvet and then spritzed a flourish stamp from Creative Expressions with water and stamped randomly across the tag before blotting with tissue. I then used the same stamp and inked with the same inks for more definition. The glamorous lady  is stamped with SU Pretty in Pink and then again in Wild Wasabi and the hat cut out and decoupaged with foam pads. I added pearls and feathers and some glitter. The bag and fan are old stamps from a vintage cd set. The lace strip at the bottom is an old one from Glenda Waterworth and I used my Xyron to print the sentiment and martini glass. Leaves were stamped and added to a fabric flower. The tassel is attached with a fabric polka dot brad.

Sorry about the poor photo quality :(
Love to read your comments so please let me know you passed by:)

Less is More Week 32 - One Layer - Seeing Double

Wow it's Saturday again and time for all the Limettes to get creative for this week's challenge at
Less is More! I'm always surprised at how early some of them appear!!!

now we're on to the second week of the month, which is a....

                      ONE LAYER CARDentitledSEEING DOUBLE 
                           So on your entry this week, we'd like to see TWO of something.


 I loved Mandi and Chrissie's cards, such great techniques and thought this would be a fairly easy theme but guess what, my reject box is full:)
Finally I decided on a mix of digi images and ink.
I'm not sure who drew the stamps but it was someone called Celia!! My first card I printed out the cats and the sentiment (TLC) using Craft Artist, as it's easy to position everything. I masked off a square and also the cats and used a chalk ink to colour the centre. I shadow stamped the corner using grey ink with a strange little stamp that has various sizes of toadstools on it. Not sure where I got it from but I think it was a 50p bin at Ally Pally! I embossed a frame around the square and added a glitter collar to the cats.

My second card was generated on Craft Artist. I downloaded a drawing of a chaise longue  and arranged the cats to sit on it. Again I added glitter for the collars. I showed it to my OH and he thought it was an old boot!!

Cute as a cupcake

Gill's challenge this week over at CBGM is called Cute as a Cupcake! Mmmm!! I thought about making some as my creation but that would have meant eating them!
I remembered a couple of years back buying some paper templates from Anne-Marie designs during the big fair at Ally Pally, one of which was a cupcake. So a search ensued which is difficult in my crafting area as it's a 7 x 3 cupboard under the stairs! Anyway I found it and this is what I made:
Patterned paper from my stash, strawberry stamp, a freebie from Craft Stamper and the ribbon I wound round into a rose and printed Happy Birthday onto the rest.

Good luck with the challenge and don't forget to check out all the other cards from the Design Team for inspiration:)

OLW 63 Baby Card

I'd heard quite a bit about OLW and decided to check it out as they are back on the scene after a summer break.
The criteria is:

1. A one-layer card is defined as a single piece of cardstock folded in half.

2. Make a one-layer card with a baby theme.

3. Please share your creation by posting your card online and then using  Inlinkz below to link to it.

4. Please make sure you are linking directly to the relevant post – not just to your blog.

5. Most important of all…HAVE FUN!

The theme is for a baby card and I decided to use a digi from BTFC. Carmen shares fab images and some of you may have seen me use them on challenges for Less is More and Make My Monday.

I love this image it reminds me of the Princess and the Pea! I printed it out on a 5 x 5 card base and coloured it with PM's. The sentiment is also by BTFC.

I love this style of card thanks to LIM!

Love to read your comments so please let me know you have passed by:)

Steampunk #2

I now have very inky fingers having decided to have another go at the steampunk ATC challenge over at Make My Monday!! It's a strange thing with ATC's but it's almost as hard not to overload the card (I keep wanting to add more) as it is trying to create a CAS card:)
I used some lined Kraft card for the base and distressed it with Frayed Burlap and Black Soot. The stamps I used are from Paper Artsy that I received when I first subscribed to Craft Stamper and have never used them!! The compass is an image that I downloaded and printed out.
Thanks for visiting, please leave a comment so I can visit you:)

Steampunk!

I was over at Sue's blog and saw that she had made some wonderful ATC's with a steampunk theme. These were for the challenge at Make My Monday, which is not one I have participated in before, but the theme interested me. I have only made ATC's once before a couple of years ago but thought I'd have a go!
The criteria is as follows:
This is the first Monday in September and that means a brand new theme and challenges. This month they have been chosen by Cath and her theme isSTEAMPUNK.
Steampunk is based around the Victorian era and tends to incorporate elements of science fiction and fantasy with futuristic innovations such as fashion, culture, architecture and art.
So that being said your first challenge is to create a STEAMPUNK ATC.
ATCs can be any medium, stamped or collaged however they must be 2.5" x 3.5". 
I used some old map backing paper for the base and then used various images from Kldezign to create my ATC. I distressed the base and images with Victorian Velvet and Black Soot and used promarkers to colour the images. I used foam pads to lift the images and stamped a postal mark from Darkroom Door. the ticket was also from KLdezign. I attached a circle of embossed foil with a brad to one corner. I enjoyed this challenge and may have another go at it:)

Thanks for looking and I love to read your comments;)

Less is More week 31 Colour

Saturday means a new challenge from the South Coast in the shape of Less is More and as

it's the first Saturday of the month so we have a colour themed challenge once more and this time it is

METALLIC

We'd like to see CLEAN & SIMPLE cards with something that has a METALLIC finish to it... ink, embossing, card, charms, actual metal... come on people let's get creative!

There are some fabulous cards already submitted and Chrissie and Mandi's are inspirational as always!

I have not been very successful with metal as I always end up cutting myself! So I have resorted to using kitchen foil, folded several times and run through my cuttlebug. The folder is a cut and emboss frame but I just used the centre piece. The bells were also run through the cuttlebug and then embossed with silver EP and matted onto silver mirri.I added some silver cord but I may take it off again as I'm not too happy with it, what do you think?

Anyway thanks for taking the time to visit me and please leave a comment so I can visit you:)

Birthday boy and official news!

It's my eldest son's birthday today and I found an amazing card on Gill's blog which I loved and had to case! Check out her blog as she has some beautiful cards and ideas to inspire:)
The official news is that we are to become grandparents in March for the first time!! So exciting I may have to knit something:)
Dominic loves old documents and I found a map of our county, Middlesex, on the internet and used it to cover the front of the card. I distressed it with Antique Linen, Frayed Burlap and Torn Lipstick. I tore and curled the edges and stamped a man on the side and added some embellishments to the corners. The insert was matted onto brown card and stamped with some vintage images and distressed with DI. I cut the corner off using a circle punch and attached ribbon with a brad.

                                                                             

We had a birthday BBQ yesterday and luckily it stayed mainly dry! We had a gazebo to shelter under but only needed it once. This weather is getting slightly depressing, perhaps September will be an Indian summer?

Thanks for looking and you know I love to read your comments and visit your blogs:)