? Well I dont quite know how this happened..........

Okay my last post had a lot of hits, and I would like to thank all of you who have been kind enough to leave messages. If you do know any of my family, please dont mention that post will you, as I made the mistake of admitting to FG that I had posted it, and ended up giving her a full explanation, which ended up  with me crying for quite some time, not because she was mean, but she asked questions that I didnt want to particularly look at! Its not something I have explained to family members as I dont feel they need to know, basically. Leave them in peace, without worry. Oh and the lady with 4 EDS children? Well lets put it this way........NOW School is listening!!!
While I was posting, and since, I have again been honoured by some lovely Ladies.  One is by a Lady I respect and admire, who has a cracking sense of humour, and if you have been to Craft shows here in the UK, you probably have seen her.........Well its very hard to miss her really!! She dresses as a Bee!
Deb  of  Debbees Cds, and Debbees Crafting Corner has awarded me the..............

 Which is rather Amazing really!!!

I like Debbees Cds anyway, and was lucky enough to win the Challenge for January, if you fancy a monthly challenge with everything provided for you, then I would suggest popping over Here. I won a CD of my choice which is what I have been Making my Easter cards from recently.
So to the Liebster Blog award has rules..........Easy ones, and nice ones!!
The rules say: "I must pass on the award to five other people, who's blogs have inspired me. 
It also needs to be someone who has less than 200 followers.
Put a comment on their blog, so that they know about it.
Link back to the person who gave me the award and thank them.
Post the award on my blog."

So now came the hard part.......who to pass the award onto? Some people whose blogs I like have tons of followers so that ruled them out. Only half the list to go, so how do you decide? After much umming and Ahing, I have chosen:

Sue at http://applejackcardsbysue.blogspot.com/

Crafty Womble at http://craftywomble.blogspot.com/

Irene at http://mycraftycorner-irene.blogspot.com/

Sam at http://hettiecraftcz.blogspot.com/

and finally but not last, Jo at http://jofirthyoung.blogspot.com/

Each of these ladies is very individual, and as you look through their blogs they have diverse Talents and abilities, truly inspirational, if I ever get round to coming out of my comfort zone! Ladies you do deserve this award, xxx

Another surprise which Gob smacked me was this award.....

Versatile Blogger Award

From the ever wonderful Linda Simpson, a very Talented lady who's work you will have unknowingly seen on Create and Craft, and at the Craft Shows.

This award comes with its own set of rules, and its own page, here are the rules:

"If you are nominated, you’ve been awarded the Versatile Blogger award.

•  Thank the person who gave you this award. That’s common courtesy.
•  Include a link to their blog. That’s also common courtesy — if you can figure out how to do it.
•  Next, select 15 blogs/bloggers that you’ve recently discovered or follow regularly. ( I would add, pick blogs or bloggers that are excellent!)
•  Nominate those 15 bloggers for the Versatile Blogger Award — you might include a link to this site.
•  Finally, tell the person who nominated you 7 things about yourself."

Okay, so this was easier to do, as this award isnt limited  by size. Although looking through the list, I am surprised that I didnt pick some of them for the Liebster award!

So in no particular order, drum roll please......................................

Julia Dunnit: http://stamping-ground.blogspot.com/
Sue Wilson: http://particraft.blogspot.com/
Patsy: http://patsypat.blogspot.com/
Lady Jasmine: http://ljscrafts.blogspot.com/
Glenda: http://glendabrooks.blogspot.com/
Wendy : http://wickdyscreations.blogspot.com
Wendy: http://wendydychecreations.blogspot.com/
Elizabeth: http://silverscrappers.blogspot.com/
Cindy: http://thecraftyfrugalista.blogspot.com/
Kenzi: http://kraftyhugzz.blogspot.com/
Shendi and Jude: http://ditzy-craftymesschallengeblog.blogspot.com/
Maria: http://inkymits.blogspot.com/
Sue: http://craftinsuzie.blogspot.com/
Kate: http://downrightcrafty.blogspot.com/
Lee: http://craftyloops.blogspot.com/

So big round of applause for all these versatile inspirational crafters please.  Ladies I would like to thank each and everyone of you for your inspiration, and kindness.

Ok I have to go tell these 20 ladies what I have done, oops, but I really look forward to learning 7 things about each of them!!!

Crafty hugs guys, xxx

A different kind of Post

This is a different kind of post. Mainly as I have just popped over to a fellow sufferer's blog, and her pain has bought mine to the fore as it were.
This is MY story, and MY blog.
I am nearly 44, I have a rare genetic condition, and I am now a Disabled Blogger Crafter.
I used to play Hockey, at one point for 3 teams at the same time.
I used to be a Police officer.
I used to be a Supervisor.
I used to be an IT Specialist.
I used to run my own business.
I used to be able bodied.
It was hard being able bodied, and I didn't realise that for a lot of you reading this post, that being able bodied means you DON'T have pain 24hrs a day.
I have always had pain.
You go over on your ankle, you go to the doctors and rest.
I go over on my ankle, I keep on going, I don't rest. Going over on your ankle is Normal for me.
I suppose the reason that I am writing about this now is the fact that I have re-connected with a lot of my old school girls. And I wonder how they will see me. I went to Convent schools all my life, and I went to Boarding School, and Finishing School. A lot of my school friends will have and are having very successful Careers. What do I have? A broken body, 3 lovely children, and a wonderful Grandson.
When I go to the re-union in May, I will go in on a stick, with splints on my hands, arms and fingers, and a belt holding my ribs together. How will they see me? Will they see the me they went to school with who was Games Captain, who played Hockey for 3 teams at the same time? Or will they see a broken woman and wont know how to talk to me?
Physically I don't look too bad, I suppose. Slim, a bit grey, but no major wrinkles. I look well. But I'm not.
I have Ehlers-Danlos type III. I have ALWAYS had Ehlers-Danlos type III. When I played Hockey my back hurt, my ankles hurt, I even played nearly a full Hockey match on a badly sprained ankle with a Green stick fracture to my toe. ( I stuck my foot in a rabbit hole). Hurt is normal.
For years I have fought to find out why I seem to hurt and injure myself more than other people. I have been listed as a Hypochondriac, attention seeking, psychosomatic mother. By People who SHOULD know what they are seeing.
Because I look okay, I am dismissed. Ehlers-Danlos is an Invisible condition. Its not going to kill me, as a direct result, and there's no cure for it, so just ignore it and it'll go away.
When I was 38, I went to see a rheumatologist. The Rheumatologist.......hmmn, that's an Old peoples doctor isn't it? The Rheumatologist Diagnosed me as Hypermobile. No more information, other than I would pull and sprain more easily than most. What I didn't realise at the time was that she had marked me 9/9 for bendyness. 9/9? Its a scale used to diagnose the condition Ehlers-Danlos. 4/9 and upwards is Ehlers-Danlos.
I carried on, I knew no different. My son was diagnosed Hypermobile, but as he is also Dyspraxic, we didn't think any more about it. My Daughter was diagnosed Hypermobile. She isn't Dyspraxic.
Hold on a minute.......... 2 kids diagnosed with being Hypermobile like me?
How come?
I looked up Hypermobility. Its genetic. Its a deformation of the Collagen producing Gene. It means that your muscles, skin, ligaments and tendons are too stretchy. And that your Cartilage is too Fragile.
I pushed to see a specialist. I went to see one in Leeds. I was diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos type III. Hypermobility is now thought to be a mild form of Ehlers-Danlos.
But how did I get it? It turns out that my Dad is Hypermobile, he was a champion Hurdler, and my Mum, who died before we knew all this, had Ehlers-Danlos.
By the time we realised all this my Daughter had nearly died giving birth to her son, because of Ehlers-Danlos. Now she's pregnant again, and petrified.  Tomorrow I have to accompany the mother of 4 Ehlers-Danlos children to the school, to force them to Statement her Ehlers-Danlos children. Then I have to hurtle up the Motorway to be with my daughter, while we fight to be put into Consultant led care for her pregnancy, to try to prevent her death during Childbirth.
The lady who started this post off, has got to go to Hospital to have her trachea stapled into position, to try to stop it collapsing even further next week. I know how she feels. I have a specially written note downstairs by the phone for any poor ambulance man who comes out to me. I have dislocating Vocal chords, and if both dislocate at the same time, I am in danger of drowning myself in my own saliva. There is nothing they can do for me, no last ditch attempts, nothing. If they try to operate and pin things in position, as my cartilage is so fragile, its just going to tear right out at the first swallow. My ribs are now in 6 pieces, as the cartilage between the ribs has torn, and cant be repaired as its too fragile.
I cant be intubated. In case it tears the cartilage. I can only undergo a tracheotomy to preserve my life, provided it doesn't tear straight out, as the cartilage is too fragile. If I can make myself heard on the phone with dislocated vocal chords, before I drown in my own saliva.
So what do I do?
I make cards. I make cards to pass the time, to forget the pain, to not think about it. I make cards when I cant sleep. I make cards when I hurt, to forget.
I am still me, and will always be me, but sometimes I wish I wasn't. I know there will be one particular lady who will read this and understand, and maybe phone to talk to me, to come to terms with this herself. I know there will be friends who will read this and feel saddened by what they read.
Don't feel sorry for me.
Feel sorry for those who know there's something wrong but cant get the help they need.
Feel sorry for those who have Ehlers-Danlos but don't have a Doctor that knows enough about it to recognise what they are seeing.
Feel sorry for the children who inherit this condition. Like my three children and my Grandson.


So what will my old school friends see?

This is going to be hard to push the publish button, I have read and re-read it over and over again.
Its the truth, not a plea for sympathy.
Its who I am. Its who others are.
I am not publishing this for Sympathy, I am publishing this for those who need to know there are others who understand.
Who need YOU to understand.

I have been really busy.........

You know when things just need to be done? So you do them, then your Camera packs up, as the batteries are flat because Middlest has taken the charger to College with him for 2 weeks, gggrrrrrrr! I was not a happy Bunny I can tell you!!
I have done LOADS of cards, but most of it is either for Challenges, or TOP SECRET Squirrel stuff, so cant be shown.....................but the Camera is home now so I have a couple of cards I can show.....

 These are from the Debbees Cd 26 Crosses, and again are Easter Cards. This one is using images and Backing paper from the Crosses 10 folder. I used the sheet of toppers, and backing paper to create a simple Waterfall card. The only Embellishments were some Yellow and Green Glitter on some red DST top and Bottom, and a piece of Yellow Organza ribbon  for the tag.












Another card from the same folder, and papers, but this time decoupaged, from the decoupage sheet.............

 I decided to use an Octagonal Easel shape for this card, and trimmed the papers to fit the top and base. The two papers are slightly different, the same design, but one is Kaleidoscoped, and one isnt. I decoupaged the Cross, from the sheet, and then mounted it onto some yellow base card to match the card Blank I had created. I added some tiny silver peel offs in each corner, in place of brads. I crossed some Yellow organza ribbon in an X shape, and then mounted the topper onto the card.I used a Large white Lily from a collection by The Glitter Girls, a couple of long leaves from some My Craft Studio Paper Flowers, and some Larger Cream Organza Ribbon for a bow, just peeking out under the Flower.

The base I again covered, and then mounted a small Plaque from the  remains of the Waterfall above onto some yellow card, and raised it with some foam tape. I placed some of the tiny peel offs in the corners of the Plaque so it co-ordinates perfectly with the Topper.. The banner across the cross has been glazed with Anita's 3D clear Gloss.

So you can see I havent Given up crafting lol, but I just can post what I have been up to just yet.......xxxx
While I'm on about Debbees Cds why not pop over to her Blog, and download the papers she puts up for every challenge and create a card of your own. The CD I have used for my Easter cards, was my choice of CD's for winning the January Challenge, such a generous lady, Thanks Deb, xxx

Happy Cut Update, and they are soon to be in stock!

Hi guys,

Well was a bit perturbed by a comment on my Blog, from a lady who also loves her Happy Cut. She was under the impression that Samuel Taylors had stopped stocking the Happy Cut, as it had been removed from the website at http://www.clickoncrafts.co.uk/, Samuel Taylors online branch.
I was that upset by the idea that Samuel Taylors had stopped selling it that I phoned them up! I got the very nice Manageress who explained that it had been removed from the site due to the fact that they had none left in stock BUT they are due to arrive at any moment!!
20 of them!! I know that 2 ladies are currently waiting for them to arrive, so if you want one I would suggest phoning to see wether they are in yet, I will be phoning her tomorrow to tell her to put the info UP on the Website, and order more!!!
29th Feb Update: Okay they are in stock currently, the website is a bit glitchy, and I was told earlier on that someone had purchased then it showed out of stock, as soon as she paid for it. I have queried Samuel Taylors, its just a glitch, there are some left as of today 29th feb, so dont hang around if you want one. If in doubt you can always give the ladies a ring, they are very helpful

Easter Card

Well my camera has given up the ghost and died on me, as eldest son has not bought the charger home for 3 weeks, so now the cards are going to pile up on me again....... Okay Okay, I know I havent blogged for a few days and they were starting to pile up anyway, but I can still blame him cant I?

oooh, look at Blogger being fancy!!
This is from the CD I won from Debbees CDs Blog for my January entry to her competition. Its really easy to enter, as Debbee provides you with all the papers, and you just make a card from it, easy peasy, so pop over and have a go, you never know, you could be lucky and win one of her lovely CD's.
So I took the 26 Crosses CD, which is such a wonderful resource, for all occasions, but particularly those sympathy ones, and found a couple of Easter ones. This one I think is particularly lovely, greens and silvery white. I did one last week in a similar style from one of Debbees CD's and I like the effect it creates, and I have enough left to do a Waterfall card with as well. The backing paper is already Kaleidoscoped for you, you dont have to do anything other than click and print with these, and it was just a case of matting and layering the images onto some white card, which I edged with my new Fresh Meadow Promarker. I coloured some white organza ribbon with the same pen, and then crossed it in the bottom Left corner of the card.
I used the same pen to colour some supersmooth paper, before putting it into my Craft Robo, and cutting the fern leaves from it. I added a touch of Bundled Sage distress ink with a stippling brush for a bit of definition.
I made an Organza rose, Sue Wilson style, from a creamy white stripped satin/organza ribbon, and I like the whole composition.
One for church I think, and its not that far away either, Shrove Tuesday is next week, so only 42 days until the kids across the land are either off their heads on sugar rush, or throwing up from eating too much chocolate, Thank goodness I only have 2 left at home now-a-days!!!
But I think that means that I will have to get a shift on with making some cards for church..............

Til next time,

Oh and dont forget there's a Blog hop over at Addicted to Stamps, with loads of goodies up for grabs, xxx

Lou

WHIMSICAL and FAIRIES Scrapbook Stamp Society BLOG HOP

WHIMSICAL and FAIRIES Scrapbook Stamp Society BLOG HOP

There are fairies everywhere......
In your garden, flying in the air, singing and giggling throughout their day.
So take moment to look and listen...
Hear a leaf rustle, or a soft happy whisper...
Watch and you might just see a glimpse of a fairy wing.

We're paying homage to the World of Whimsical and Fairies today with our blog hop!
So grab your beverage of choice, put your fairy wings on and sprinkle some fairy dust and away you go on a fun and fanciful journey.

*Each stop will pick a lucky commenter to win a digi stamp from Scrapbook Stamp Society. YOU MUST leave a comment and sign up to follow each blog including our Scrapbook Stamp Society Blog. We also invite you to become a member of our Scrapbook Stamp Society.

*Grand Prize!- 1 lucky commenter will win $10.00 gift certificate to be used at the Scrapbook Stamp Society's Digital Stamp Store.

Winners will be selected by Random draw on Feb 23, 2012 and will be announced at our next Blog Hop on Feb. 24, 2012. be sure to come back to see if you are a lucky winner.


1.Addicted-to-Stamps Blog -http://addicted/-to-stamps.blogspot.com/ 2.Sherri - http://sherribaldy.blogspot.com/
3.Heather - http://purimagination.blogspot.com/
4.Jamie - http://myamusinglife.blogspot.com/
5. Sher- www.patternsbysher.blogspot.com
6. Holley - http://holleybarnhartsblog.blogspot.com/
7. Nataliya - http://lovecraftsforever.blogspot.com/
8 Debbie http://debbiesstampingadventures.blogspot.com/
9.Kim-http://theartisansattic.blogspot.com/
10.Fabiola www.mrssassycrafter.com
11.Nina http://nina-hotpinkscrapper.blogspot.com/
12.Lynn - http://keikolynn777.blogspot.com/
13.Shirley- www.craftersretreat.blogspot.com
14. Jessica-http://kawaiislandgurl72.blogspot.com/ 15. Scrapbook Stamp Society Blog-http://scrapbookstampsocietychallengeblog.blogspot.com/

When you arrive at our Scrapbook Stamp Society Challenge Blog we invite you to check out our Movie Starlet Challenge, which starts Feb 16th - March 1, 2012. The challenge winner will receive a $15. gift certificate which can be used at our Scrapbook Stamp Society Digital Store. Challenge winners will be announced at our upcoming Colors of Spring Blog Hop on March 2, 2012.

We have a great line-up for you today ... so spread your wings and let the fairy inside of you take flight. Thank you for visiting and enjoy our magical hop.

Scrapbook Stamp Society

addicted-to-stamps.blogspot.com

Mel Heatons Spring card

Okay well apparently Mel Heaton is away until the end of Feb, and I cant wait that long!! I watched her Demo with Leonie the other night, on Create and Craft and managed to figure it out, so without further ado................ Big Drum roll Please......

Well seems as though the guys at Blogger have sort of got it, but not all the way there yet guys!

Its not fair of me to go into details on how this was done, as the idea is I believe Mel Heaton's. But basically its a cube that springs into shape when its removed from its packaging. Its really simple, once you have it straight in your head, and incredibly effective. This one I used Jem's Designs Elegant Beauties CD, and its elegant Beauties 6 for the images and backing papers. I just highlighted with glitter and gems, and I think its a corker!!!

Hope you like it as well, and Mel's blog can be found Here

xx

Lou

DT card for Black Pumpkins Messy Studio.

Some times you just find things that should go together, and this was one of those Times. This was the combination of 2 sets of Digi stamps from Black Pumpkins Messy Studio, Whimsy Sky and Birdeens.
I mean what do you find in the sky? Birds, clouds, the occasional aeroplane, and the even more rare and sought after,(Well if you live in the UK its rare and sought after) Sun.
So a combination then, which was what I had in mind when I received them. The problem was, how do I make this different?.................So it sat there for a while in the back of my head, and when Inspiration struck yesterday on something else, it also struck this one, that was hiding away lest I notice it! So out it came today, its construction is in 3 parts, Images, background, and dimension.

The images were easy enough, but getting the printer to accept a heavy weight card stock wasnt :( ! (If anyone knows of a decent printer that doesnt cost the earth, that is reliable, and will take everything I ask it to take, and preferably will run on a CISS, (as I refuse to pay ridiculous prices for ink Cartridges, when the printer companies should be more environmentally aware, and provide CISS systems for every printer) then please let me know!!) Finally I got the images printed out, but had to swap to a less dense card stock to do it, ggrr. Then I had to create a background for all this up in the air stuff, so off I trot to my graphics program, and root out and build a sky scene using My Craft Studio, setting the Scene CD.
So cut out and colour in the images I wanted. I have a set of the new limited edition Promarkers, the Spring set, and they really are good for this sort of thing. Okay now to create dimension.....I used a piece of acetate in the previous post, and this time I did it slightly different. I used a strip of good solid acetate, not breakable mind, just solid, and cut off a strip, then I folded it to form a zigzag.  I cut it into 2 short lengths, and mounted the 2 biggest birds on to them. I glittered the sun, and clouds, and mounted them with foam pads, and I also cut around the wing of the smallest bird, and curled it slightly, before mounting it with foam pads. All that then remained was to sick the ends of the Acetate into position, so that the birds stand free of the background, as if they really are flying.
xxx

Lou

Some Bunny wurves you!!

You know how some times you can have an image for some time, then inspiration hits you in the face and keeps you up all night?
Well that's what happened this time, and I haven't finished yet, as I suddenly have ideas for another project, so I'll post this one, then crack on with the next! So Scrapbook Stamp Society, thanks for keeping me up all night AGAIN!!!

WOW!! How did that happen? Normally it wont let me do photos side by side!!! Thing is wether they will still be side by side when it posts.......................?
This is another image by Morgan Fitzsimons You can get it Here Rabbit Valentine, Look I know its past Valentines day!! But as hubby only remembered late last night, and dashed out to the corner shop to buy me 2 bars of chocolate, then I think I am entitled to still consider it Valentines OK!!!! And anyway it could be a Get well soon card, or a well done card, or just an I love you card.
So I started with the image, and printed it out on super smooth paper, and coloured it with my ProMarkers. But I wanted it to be something of a surprise, so I stuck a strip of Acetate on the back, so that I could make it bounce when the card is opened, and the image released.
So now I needed backing papers and card...........into my favoured Graphics program I went AGAIN! MCS, Garden of Romance seemed apt, so I grabbed some backing paper, and an extra topper, and set to work chopping and trimming with the old guillotine, paper, mirri board, base card, until it was all just the right size. Then I started layering it all up, I started with the inside, always easiest to start inside the card when its a gatefold, that way you get the meet of the 2 front sections right, and the border/width right at the fold lines.
The Topper is quite plain, as I wanted the inside image to be the focal point of the card, but it was too plain, so I grabbed some white organza ribbon, coloured it with my Red Promarker, and made a rosette type bow for the front. The front topper over hangs the right hand side, so that you use the topper to open the card.
The end of the acetate is stuck to the back of the inside Mirri Board. so that the topper can bounce freely. A bit of glitter, and some Crystal Accent, and the card is finished.
Do pop to the Shop and grab this for your self. These arent just digi artists, these are published artists with a wealth of experience in their Art. Many of them have been shown in Galleries since the 1980's, wow does that sound a long time ago (worse, I remember the 70's!), but these artists are converting their work so that we card and scrapbookers can use the images as we see fit. You dont get that from many artists!! Guys if your reading this, can you get Boris on Board?

Right off to create see you all later, and thanks for popping by, and leaving comments, It really does mean alot to me, xxx

Lou

Paper Crafting Journeys Pink Cat Studio

Well its time for a fresh challenge over at Paper Crafting Journey, and what a treat was in store for the design Team!!
I was hard pressed to choose from the images available, so I took the easy way out! I used both! Pink Cat Studio Digis are so cute and that's the Challenge for this fortnight over at Paper Crafting Journey, Make it Cute.
I used both images available, the Sunshine Fairy, and the Lily Butterfly, and merged them in my Graphics program of choice, My Craft Studio.

So I had Lily, sprinkling Sunshine on the Flowers behind the Butterfly fairy. Next I went to work with my promarkers. In My Craft studio I had also added a frame to the image, from the store of Digi Images I have by My Craft Studio, and bought the Butterfly Fairy outside the frame slightly.

Digi images dont really look very much until you have coloured them to bring them to life, a bit like Rubber stamps., But there's 2 differences with digi as opposed to Rubber stamping, Firstly, you ALWAYS get a perfect Image at the SIZE YOU want with a digi, secondly, you cant drag the ink into position, as you can with a Stamped image or emboss it.
Next for me was to mount the image, which is always a tough decision.........Do you do an ordinary card, a shaped card, and easle, Pop up.. the list seems endless now a days. So I settled for a Twisted easel card. I used a 5x5" square base, and added some foiled card as the mount for the image. I used a piece of paper from a mega pack of K&Co papers, for the base, positioning it so that the butterfly was in the right place. I used some Spellbinders dies to the flowers and leaves, from the Hexagon Petal Grand die, and Rose creations die set. A few small Brads to hold the flowers together, and Pinflaired into position, to hold the easle up for display. A touch of Gold Glitter gel, and you have a pretty, Light card, for late spring early summer.

Hope you like it, do pop over to Paper Crafting Journey and join in the Challenge, as there are 5 digi's of your choice on offer by Pink Cat Studios, so its worth a go!!!

enjoy ladies and possibly gents, xx

Lou

Up Cycling....

Well In the past I have "upcycled" cards, and I got given a load of cards from Church a few weeks ago, as some of you may recall. So I sat there the other night, going through and chopping cards up to re-use this year. Here's one such example....

I had two copies of this card, and thought I would make it into a Wall hanging. I removed the central Image with an X-cut circle template, and discarded the rest of the card. I used a versa mark pen around the edge of the circle, pressing the card INTO the nib, so that I got a decent border, then embossed it with an antique gold Embossing powder.
I used My Craft Studio to print some text onto a patterned piece of paper, and then Printed the wording with my laser printer. I also created a frame in my Craft Studio, and printed that off on a Plain paper. I have a foil-it Machine, by Patsy-May, so I warmed it up, and placed creased Foil onto the lasered image, for a distressed look. Then I applied Vintage Photo distress stain to the patterned background for a more aged look, then mounted the distressed foiled frame over the main image. I mounted the edged circle over the main image so that it over hangs the frame for added emphasis. I then mounted the wording and frame onto some burgundy foiled cardstock. aand added a ribbon handle for displaying it with.

XXX

Lou

Oh I am a BAD Blogger!

I've done it AGAIN!!! I do have excises, like the dog ran off with my Homework, My Brother ran over it with his bike, The wind blew it away..........but I got so wrapped up in family matters I didn't up date my blog AGAIN! So now I have 3 to blog!!

So I had better get started...........
This was for the Scrapbook Stamp Society DT, the theme of Once Upon a Time. So I took an image I had previously used, Morgan Fitsimons Arum and Arache, and made a princess Carriage with it. I was inspired by memories of Disney's Robin Hood cartoon film, where they kiss at the end in the back of the Carriage, and as one of the figures is an Elf, and the other a human it just seemed to suit the theme for this month.

I have a Craft Robo, and electronic Cutting machine, and I downloaded the Princess Carriage design, and cut it out on Pearlised White Paper, glued the Arum and Arache design to the back of the aperture, and backed it onto a Mat of Pearlised Cream Paper. I then mounted it onto a base of Gold textured Mirri Card.
I punched some butterflies and hearts from Red and Gold card, and glued them around the frame. I took the theme of  "Once upon a time", and changed it to " A long Time ago" and added " In a Place not too Far away", so that I could convert it from a wedding card to an anniversary card.
I printed them out in an Olde English Font, and then distressed and curled the edges so that it appears scroll like, a couple of yellow gems for the wheel hubs, and the card front was finished.

I have recently been on the Joanna sheen Forum page, Here, and the values for metallic colours of Print is given in the printing tips section, so I used the values to change the text colour, and flourishes to a Gold, effect, and printed off the insert.

Blog post part 6 the finale!!

Woo Hoo!! last one.....Note to self, dont leave them alone and unattended for a while, they tend to mount up!!!

Ok this last one is an image I was colouring in last night while chatting to FG over Skype, I think she's having another of her bouts of Gall Bladder issues as she hasn't been online tonight, or answering her texts!! Am a bit concerned if I dont get a response tomorrow will resort to ringing, and insisting that she calls the GP!!!
I like my Bargains, and shows always have some type of bargains going! So I am assuming that I collected some LOTV pre printed images in a goody Bag at the NEC show in November, as its not something I would buy on its own!

I got some new Promarkers the other day, the limited edition Spring set, and I used a couple of them in this image, see if you can guess which ones? In all honesty I cant  remember and I'm not going hunting right now!
So I coloured them in, then used a SpellBinders Blossom Tags and Accents die to cut it out. so the next challenge was to do something with this scalloped circle. So I took a doily and coloured it with a blue promarker I had used in the design. Then ruffled the doily behind the back of the circle. Next I needed a card base to mount it on. I had a lilac A3 sheet, as the doily made it wider than would fit on an A4 card, and a lid off one of the kids sweet tubs, yes it was an empty one!! I use it for storing my fancy blade scissors in!! I allowed the lid to over hang on the folded A3 and at the base, so I ended up with a circular card base, which would stand still rather than rolling all over the place.
I mounted the Doillied image in the centre and added some blue and purple gems. Right that's it I've had enough, I am posting, relaxing by reading some Terry Pratchett for a while, then going to BED!!!

Good night all,  and thanks for popping by, xxx

Lou

Blog post part 5...boy am I getting bored now!!!

Okay just one more after this then I am up to date!!

This is again on a 5x5" base card, sorry I have some I'm trying to use up. The backing paper is from the A6 pad of Midnight fairy-tale Papers, and I stamped the biggest castle onto it. I think Flitter seems to work best on a coated paper or card stock, but I did lave to leave it to cure for longer than on uncoated, as in the previous post. And in the set of stamps are 3 Minuscule faeries, so I stamped them on one side, then changed the order and stamped again on the other. Then off to wash the stamps!

The flitter glue isnt like Versa Mark! Or PVA, it reminds me of something we used to use at school by smell, and the fact that it doesnt like to come off stuff, think it was something we used to use in Art class or something like that, as I cant see them letting me loose with glue at any other time!

The scrubbing pad you get with gilding flakes although reasonably rough, doesnt mark the coated picture underneath, and I took the picture at a different angle so you can see the effect I wanted to achieve, quite ethereal, and not there, as the image in the background shows through the stamp.
I trimmed the base paper down slightly to fit on the card, and ran some navy blue ribbon underneath and around the back.



xx

Lou

Blog post part 4 Pegascorn

Part 4 already? Boy am I behind myself!!

Ok more experiments with Flitter.
I got some lovely fantasy stamps in the Christmas sales, from Papermania, the Midnight fairy tale set. Its all Fairies, Unicorns, fairy castles that sort of thing, and I do like my Fantasy, but I do wish people would stop confusing Pegasi with Unicorns!! Pegasi have wings and can fly, Unicorns have horns! Not both!! otherwise it would be a Pegascorn, or something like that!! Same with Elves and Fairies. Elves have pointy ears, and Fairies have wings! Dont combine them, its WRONG!!! And it annoys me!! If you are going to draw Mythological creatures, at least re-search it before you do!!
I had actually thought about chopping the horn off the Pegasus before stamping it, and the only reason I got the set was....they actually managed to do a Unicorn, not a Pegascorn in one of the stamps, otherwise I would have avoided it like Wildfire!! I really dont like it when someone cant be bothered to do a job properly! Its like writing a book about some one in real life, then not being able to differentiate between that person being a dwarf or a giant!! Erm the height tends to give that away!!
Sorry will stop ranting now! But I'm definatley adjusting those Stamps!!!

An A6 card base, and a sheet of A6 paper from the Papermania midnight Fairytale kit. The smallest castle I did floating in the clouds in the Lancashire Rose Gilding flakes from Indigo Blu, as its quite a pinky red gold colour, and the Pegascorn was done in the Ice Gilding Flakes. A couple of small feathers, and a purple gem to finish off.

xx



Lou

Blog post part 3 Flitter 1

See told you I had a lot to blog didnt I?

Okay this post is about...........Flitter!!
Some of my WOYWW visitors have been asking what Flitter is. My Response..........WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? You have NO IDEA WHAT YOU'RE MISSING!!!!

This stuff is heaven in a little pot! And brings added variety to your stamps, you can get it Here, and you REALLY NEED this, seriously its a NEED, not a want, its a necessity!!
Here is a card, my first made with Flitter........

I used the Stamps, and Papers from the Portabello Rd collection by Papermania.
This is a 5x5 base card, covered with one of the 6x6 papers. Then I took the very detailed stamp of St Mary Le Bows (The Tower that Houses Big Ben, and the Bow Bells, that you have to be born within hearing distance of to be a Cockney), and used the Flitter Glue on it.
I was rather apprehensive...would it work, how long did it take, what sort of card to put it on, etc. so a quick light press down on the stamp, and whisk it away for cleaning. Then I came back, and applied the foil flakes.
This was the result........

Its about 3 inches high, and incredibly detailed, and I think you can see how well the glue worked.................The numerals on the clock face are so small you really cant see them clearly with the naked eye,  I had to get a magnifying glass out, to see how well the Flitter coped. Its perfect!!
So of course I had to try it out on a couple of other stamps..... The Bus and the Phone box.
But I couldnt decide if I could colour the images, or wether it would detract from the image?

So FG suggested re-stamping half the bus on a separate piece of card, and then laying it over the original image once it was coloured in. Then we both agreed its better to leave it plain and let the Flitter speak for itself!
So now I am routing out stamps and ready to go, need some more gilding Flakes I think!! oh and another Tub of Flitter!


xxx

Lou

Blog post part 2

Recently I got introduced to the concept of Skype, by FG. I was not at all sure about this, but as I have recently spent 3 hrs giving her a phone lesson on how to use a graphics program, I thought it might be a good way to reduce the phone bill! and stop having to send her pics over the internet as she can then shout at me in real time........erm hold on.............maybe it wasnt such a good idea after all!!
Anyway. I digress as per usual. I have spoken to her at length about an electronic cutting machine, as I have the Craft Robo 330-20 and it does come out to play sometimes. I have been considering getting an e-crafter to run alongside the CR, instead of upgrading to the cameo. The reason being, I have the version which has the SD card slot, the print and cut feature, and since the upgrades recently is cutting slightly heavier card stock. If I upgraded to the Cameo, all I would gain is 4 inches of cutting area, so spending £300 seems a bit daft for only 4 Inches! However, if I got an e-crafter instead to work alongside, I would gain the heavier weight card stock, stackability of media, mattless cutting and a 12x12 inch cutting surface, and it uses the same files that the CR does, SVG's. Which seems more of the sensible option.
Oh and just for any WOYWW'ers popping in, see I do clean my desk, just not on the day you all come to play!! See a clean top, my Photo box, my ATG and some inserts for some slider cards I plan to make later, if I ever finish blogging today, and you can just see the mats I was making as an example, part of the reason for this post so continue reading once you've had a good nosey around.

See!!! So I had this Skype thing on and was explaining to FG the difference between a die cutting machine, and an electronic cutting machine, as I had managed to find, fit and install a Usb web cam and a mic! So I had various projects on the go, showing the noise and delicacy of the machine, in real time.
I cut the mats you can see resting on my portable mat supports, (okay okay empty video boxes are just the right height!) and then made a little basket, in real time, with Butterflies on it.........

Pretty isnt it, would be better bigger and on a heavier weight card stock, but it was just an example. And then I proceeded to cut out some ..................Vellum. Hmmn, this does actually show how good the Silhouette/ Craft Robo is, I turned the settings right down, and cut out 5 double layered butterflies from Vellum, in different sizes. I probably shouldn't have turned it down to such a low pressure (5), as there were a couple of areas that hadn't cut properly, but they were easily released with a knife, and no damage to the butterflies. Which brings me FINALLY to the reason for this post........

5 Double layered Butterfiles, the top layer is filigree, and you can see the sizes, of the 5, as they are on an A5 card.
I tore a remaining strip of the K&Co paper I had used as the base for the Mats, but I had to trim it from 12x12 to A4 to fit in the CR, and stuck it to some Pearlised peach card stock, leaving the fibres showing, to tie the colour of the parchment in better. then I layered the butterflies up with some silicon, and added some purple gems to each to highlight the body, and tie in with the pinky purple of the pattern on the parchment. I used the remains of the layered matt I had cut, the inside bits and roughly added some purple ink to the edges of the mats, as they have sharp pointy bits on them, which catch on everything, and stamped Get well in purple ink, and embossed it with some purple detail powder.
Back to the question of the e-crafter, I am waiting for a response from Crafters companion, as to wether it will be able to utilize the 1000+ SVG files hidden in my system within the Silhouette program, which I have paid for from the silhouette online store. This has been a while, as Leann was in the States at the show, and is now at the Trafford centre, so I will have to wait a week or so more before anyone can give me an answer. If anyone does know how to access the SVG files on my PC I would appreciate knowing, as having so many in the library does slow the program down, and I would like to put them somewhere else on my pc!!! Please dont suggest saving each one elsewhere, as that will take forever and has to be done individually, and it only saves them as .studio files, which I doubt will work with the e-crafter!! And no you cant browse direct to the library of files, as I suspect its written in the DOS program, and I am NOT messing with my directories thank you!!!

Got loads to blog..part 1

Okay, I have been too busy creating and not enough blogging!! So I now have 6 that I can blog, and others that I cant just yet!
Hubby got himself 4 more cans of Lager tonight, so I now have 2 empty and cut open cans to play with later...., but in the meantime, in true Blue peter fashion....
Here's one I prepared earlier:

Okay this one looks unfinished, and to a certain extent it is, but I have had lots of bad experience in the past of people liking the card, but its for the wrong person, eg mum, when they want it for a best friend, so Now I have got into the habit, of leaving most blank, until they are needed.
This was the other half of the lager Can experiment. I tried embossing it using a mask, but it didnt take too well, so I embossed it with a Papermania embossing Folder, Silent Night, and applied some alcohol inks. Then I took some plain white flowers from my stash and coloured them Ruby red and orange with my promarkers, added a Leaf, and then proceeded to assemble the base.
I took some A4 Pearlised paper in Burgundy, and used the Pronty A4 Plastic mask Flourishes, and Embossed it in My Happy Cut. Added some Gold and Red twisted cord, that I got from a Pound shop on the run up to Christmas, and unraveled the ends to make it like down Flat so I could tape it to the base Burgundy card.
A day later I Managed to finish the card off.........

I got a Leane Creatief Die the other day, and must say I really like it. Its very delicate, and has a main frame with leaves, and various matted layers inside, down to the absolutely TINY! I took some Gold Mirri, and some Burgundy card stock, and cut a frame from each, interlinking the 2 frames, so that they swap positions on the right hand side. I used the first Mat layer created by the frame die, on the Mirri, and then Cut the next layer Mat in Cream pearlised paper. I stamped the greeting in Rocket Red Brilliance ink, and BOY is that a juicy pad!, and then embossed with some red detail powder. I slipped the sentiment Under the twisted cord, and mounted the frame over the cord, Done.

Right need to go sort out the photos for the rest that need to be blogged back soon........

xx

Lou

My disaster revealed, and explained.

Some times when I am feeling creative, I have an idea in my head, and NORMALLY it turns out exactly as I had envisioned it. NOT this time!!! And whats more disturbing, I have no idea what went wrong with the design in my head , apart from Maybe, the colours...........

here is the disaster, in all its yuckyness.......

A Lager can, courtesy of Hubby, some alcohol inks, a Crafts Concepts Winter Tree embossing folder, some burgundy Vellum, burgundy and Gold ribbons, some Skeleton Leaves, orange card stock, and embellies, oh and some red holographic  tape.
Its the first time I have played with cans, and must admit that It was Ali, from C&C that inspired me to get the scissors on it!
 Cutting it was rather nerve racking, as hubby was shouting at me to "Be Carefull!! Whaat the H*** are you doing?" etc, but I ignored him and carried on.
I grabbed the Tim Holtz alcohol inks, reds, greens orange and Gold, and daubed it all over, liked the effect, so now to emboss it. I tried with a couple of stencil/mask sheets but wasnt too impressed with the results, so decided to run it though an embossing folder, ta-dah! Result! So I collected the colours I had used in the inks, burgundy, red, orange green Gold, in the following forms....Vellum, card stock, tape, leaves and ribbon, and some embellies recycled from Christmas Crackers.
Now in all honesty It should have worked!! But it didnt.
And I have no idea where it went wrong. I know I sat there looking at it from time to time, and I cant even say that I was having a Bad day, as I created another 4 cards after that that I really liked, the Debbees CD's cards, and two I'll post in a bit. The urge to bin the thing was incredibly strong, I was that disgusted with it, but kept looking at it trying to decide what was wrong with it,.
Now I must explain here about my FG, (Fairy Godmother). She is a real person, we met through Crafting, She is a very Generous and caring Brummy, and does really exist. I tend to bounce ideas off her, and I have recently spent 3 hrs on the phone giving her a lesson in My Craft Studio crafting! (She liked the idea of CD crafting due to the space factor, but never actually got round to doing any, until last weekend, where I set her the Challenge of making 2 cards using MCS, and the Art work she has on her PC, you know all those CDs that you buy, and they just sit there. Well she got lost in MCS that day, spent 4 hrs fiddling, then I phoned her back and gave her the phone tutorial,) NOW she gets it! She has a good eye for colour and placement, but low belief in her own abilities. She did NOT believe me when I kept saying that the card above was PANTS. UNTIL I sent her a pic of it, and she then said it was PANTS!
So I am not the only person who said it was PANTS, and thank you to any WOYWW'ers visiting, for your kind comments, but honestly, this version really is PANTS!
So I then wasnt allowed to bin it, as I wanted. I had to take it apart and re-do it...........mistake telling FG I think!
So I dutifully did as I was told, a large amount of judicious cutting, and chopping later I ended up with this...

Much better!!, The card base is the same as before, just chopped smaller. The metal sheet has been mounted onto some Burgundy Pearlised card, then onto some gold Mirri, I swapped the burgundy ribbon for another Gold one, you can just see then top and bottom, and a sentiment, and I am much happier with it, how I messed it up the first time round I have no idea!!
I just hope that the recipient doesnt take the card apart, they will be incredibly surprised if they look on the back of the tin sheet!!!
I say at the top in the spiel about me, that this is a record of my crafting journey, both for myself, and for the inspiration of others, and I do try to be an Honest Crafter. There is no point in me saying that I only make cards I am proud of. I make mistakes, we all do, sometimes we have ideas and they work, sometimes they dont, this is an example of an idea NOT working, but due to pressure form FG, I re did it, and I love it! I do hope you have someone like FG in your life, who is honest, but knows you can do better, when you are disappointed with how something has turned out. She made me re-do it and I am pleased she did though I will admit, I resisted at first!

Thanks FG hun, xxx


Lou

More Debbees cards

Okay you may recall, that I won the Blog Challenge for Debbees CD's for January, you can find the latest papers and Challenge Here.
This time I used one of the CD's I already have and created these 2 cards from 2 backing papers, a stacker sheet, an Insert sheet and a topper sheet. They both measure 8x8".

The first one I took a sheet of A3 white card, and cut the backing papers diagonally. then trimmed the 2 shorter sides to 8x8". to create the front base of the 8x8" card. I used 3 strips of ribbon, one runs from corner to corner, and the other 2 cross in the bottom Left hand corner, and tied with a bow. I matted the central images diagonally from Top Left to Bottom right and added a few pearls to the centre of the Flowers. I used some Periwinkle Die Cut flowers from My Craft Studio to the Top right corner, and a touch of Yellow Glitter in the centre of each flower.

This next one I really like.  I used the Scraps from the first Card, some card stock, and a couple of small stackers from the stacker sheet. I also took the Insert sheet for this set, and added a stacker to the page Using MCS and one of the MCS punch effect tools.
I placed the insert in position first, having matted it onto some Navy Blue Pearlescent Card stock. Then scored the sides and folded over. Then I took the remnants from the backing papers, and marked the angles down the front of each side, and trimmed the card. I matted the papers onto some more Pearlescent Navy Blue card, and then mounted the panels onto the fronts of the Card. I still had a couple of bits left over, triangular in shape, so I trimmed and matted those onto the fronts, making sure that I swapped the 2 papers over to create a contrast, leaving the longest line unglued. I then took the 2 smallest stacker images, and cut them out, before mounting onto white and blue card, to create tags, I added contrasting ribbon, to each and inserted the tags into the pockets.

Hope you liked them as well,


xx

Lou

woyww LETS SEE WHEN SHE PUTS IT UP!!!

Okay good start Caps lock on at the wrong time!!!
so to the crux of the matter, and Voyeurism abounds.........if you have no idea what I am on about, then you need to journey over to the mistress, of all desks, Mistress Julia's, and tell her all about it!!

My desk.............. my abiding shame is that generally I manage to take a pick of my desk when its an absolute disgrace, and people rarely believe that I ever tidy up, I do Honest, just not on a Tuesday night, when I'm in full creative flow!!

Okay, I have made 5 1/2 cards today, and am still busy, mostly FG's fault I must admit!! FG= Fairy Godmother, tiny little old lady bent double with age, no teeth, cant see, think I'd better stop now before she hits me , or goes off in a huff!
One card I just wanted to throw away, as I was so disgusted in it, however FG was adamant that it wasnt that bad, so I sent her a pic, It was that bad, and she made me take it to bits and re do it, so that was one and a half cards, the other 4 I am pleased with and I will Blog them later on, but for now to the desk..........
My experiments with my newest toy...........FLITTER!!! by Indigo Blu, its yummy!!!
a new 1 1/2 " cirle punch, glitter station, glue gun, heat gun, the remnants of the card FG made me re-do, some toppers I was playing with earlier, a tub of NO NOT ICECREAM!!! its Skeleton leaves actually!!! and the bane of my life, my scraps box, or leaning tower of Pizza. I have moved it in an attempt to start using instead of dumping, I know I know, I'll get to it, but a girl needs to play you know!!
so my shame and my triumph!!

This MONSTROSITY!!!! turned into ..........................

This!!

right enjoy you trip down Inspiration lane and pop back soon, Y'all Have a Gud Day now!! xx

Confused.com

Okay, I have no idea how this..............

Turned into this....................

Well I tell a lie, sort of, you see the tag I had intended to go with the woven matt, but as I wasnt happy with the matt, I had to create a new card which went with the tag, if you get what I mean?
Have you ever done that? Started with something, then gone somewhere completely different?
It seems to me to happen with somewhat disconcerting regularity. Yet at other times I have an idea in mind, and whoosh its a card!



Like this one....................

I knew exactly what I wanted, and ended up with exactly what I wanted!
I am going to disappoint my FG now, as I was intending to submit this to a magazine, but it's too late now, so here it is!

I am leaving the Green card sentiment free, until such time as It's needed, and the brown one is for anyone who is fed up with their anniversary being ignored or forgotten, second thoughts I might save it for my anniversary........................

The tag is from Red Hot Bed , dont know which one, the card was embossed with a Pronty A4 Butterfly Stencil, from The Art of Craft, the flowers, Ribbon and mirri from my stash.

The grumpy old lady is from Creative expressions Ethel and friends, and the background and Heart from My Craft Studio Enchanted Romance. Hope you enjoyed them, xx

Lou