Oh I seem to be Blogging alot!!

Oh dear yet another post from me..........
I do seem to be busy dont i?


well this one is for a challenge, at Creations By Gill M, with a Christmas theme, and the colours Blue and Lilac.

This was a Challenge and a half, Gill did supply a design which I have tried to stick to, and you can find the details Here .




So, Lilac, and Blue, and Christmas.....hmmn, so route out the Lilac Card Stock, route through my huge K&Co paper collection, courtesy of Steph at My Craft Studio, at the Doncaster Summer Crafting Workshop earlier this year, then into MCS Pro Program and as I have spotted the design earlier, and used it,  NSR Snowflakes and Sparkles, adjusted to a Lilac shade to match the card stock, but the design itself has turned blue, which is one of the advantages to using the MCS program. While I was playing in MCS I also printed Happy New Year in the Goudy Stout font onto acetate on my Laser printer, and then Foiled the wording in Pale Blue with my Foil-it Machine, available here a worthwhile addition to any craft room, and very addictive!!


Next up was the creation of a christmas thing...............hmmn Parchment, and this is parchment not vellum, I used one of the designs that I picked up from the NEC in November, Friskars Themed winter Stencil, which I them embossed, and coloured on the back with my Promarkers, and perforated the edges for the finishing touch.


so now to put it all together, so Lilac cardstock trimmed to fit the piece of patterned paper, as my printer messed up and didnt print in landscape like it was supposed to, A piece of Snowflake peel off, from my stash, covered with a circle of Plain White Cardstock, edged with Ultra fine Glitter, cut by my Sizzix die, then mount the patterned K&Co paper, which was cut using the Spellbinders Tear drop Circles die. Mount my poor Little Snowman with some Pinflair on the white bits so the glue doesnt show,
The Acetate was mounted at the Back of the first layer, on a strip of Acetate to give loads of movement and dimension.

And Finally added loads of Clear Gems, which I coloured blue with theIndigo Blue Promarker, and a quick ruled line of silver Decoroller to frame the base layer, and hey presto done!


I am entering this in the last CBGM Challenge.

My Favorite Creation this year?

Hmmn, now this is a hard choice.............


Over at The Stamp Man Challenges blog  Its time to chose a favorite Creation from the past 12 months.

So what to Choose? First I thought of this.......

This is a Quad twisted easel, my own creation, and I will create a tutorial on this for those who are interested, later, lol
But I then had a re-think...........and I think my favorite has to be.............

This is a really BAD photo of it, but it was my first successful attempt at using a brayer, and as my Dad was a Deer stalker, and well known Shot in the UK, I saved it for him for Christmas. A Foggy Winters Morning!


I love this card, and for me this is my favorite from the past 12 months, even though I only started Blogging at the end of October this year, and have missed taking pictures of some of my other creations, This one is still my favorite out of all of the paper craft I have produced this year..........


Mind you there was the Tea Set....

And I know that this is on display in a certain C&C presenters dressing room.


So how to choose? Do I choose based on how I feel, or based on how much pleasure it gives to some one else?


Ok Minds finally made up, it has to be Dads Card, as I remember how I felt, as I was creating it, the Joy that what I had envisioned in my mind was taking shape exactly on the card. So Dads card is the Winner!


Happy New Year everyone, My your troubles be left behind with the departing year, and the new year bring loads of opportunity for progressing in your chosen direction, xxx

The New Year.........

Well the Chinese one any way! Apparently its the year of the Dragon, so in the spirit.........

I had an Oriental Kit from My Craft Studio, before Christmas, , of Stamps papers, and Little tiles, and then in another kit, I got some Chinese Medallions from MCS, so...........
Stamped the image using a black Pigment ink, on some white card, (Big Mistake that one!) and proceeded to colour it in with my promarkers, I even used the Gold Metallic Promarker, which rather confusingly, is a water based pen!
That done, now what to do with the rest of the card? Ok dragon, can "Burst" through the paper, and carry a medallion with a dragon on, so raided the papers that came in the kit, but they had pictures all over, so I had to cut a piece out of the middle of one sheet, (will incorporate it into something later).
Earlier in the year I had bought a pack of Holographic card from Create and Craft, and I must admit, the tv, and a camera do NOT do justice to how some of it looks, I have, and forgive me FG but you did say it was the year of the Water Dragon, so I CUT a piece from my treasured Bubble card, for the backing. In real life it is very disconcerting, as it seems that you can pick the Bubbles off the card, very 3D, even hubby was trying to pick them off, and he needs Glasses!!
So behind the paper which I have cut and torn, and curled, is the Water Bubble card, with the dragon mounted on top, and BOY was he a Pain to cut out, now I remember why I dont do "proper" decoupage!!! I put some jump rings together and dangled the medallion from his claws. I chose the tile to match the paper, as its the Chinese Blossom design, versa marked and embossed it, then dusted it with some Gold Mica Powder. I added some Ribbon from my stash, ( daughters bridesmaid flowers ribbon, please dont tell her!)
and stuck it to the card with some DST, then chopped the end off some very long Hat pins, and popped them on some Pinflair, then placed the embossed tile over the top,, This card will make its way to the Chinese Take-away in the hope that it will persuade them to stay open until hubby has decided that he doesnt want any spring rolls tonight, (You have no Idea how much he can complain because its past 9.30 and he wants a Spring Roll and the Chinese is shut!!!!).


Right I'm off to bed, have fun guys, xxx


This is entered in the 

So Artful Challenge: Year of Dragon/New Year

Saffron

Oh dear, what a delight full shock!! Saffron landed in my inbox!!


She really is the loveliest young lady, and had to be worked with immediately! So off to my favourite Graphics program I trot, My Craft Studio, and have a look at this little treasure!
Hmmn.....what to do? She just looks as though she's on her way to something, so into the folders of artwork on my Pc...........and routing around looking for a background.........NSR Snowflakes and Sparkles to the rescue! I adjusted the colour to blue, instead of purple, then thought hmmn, wonder what this would look like on acetate?
So Saffon, plus background on a sheet of printable acetate, quickly grab my tub of MCS Meltdust, Blue pearl liberally applied! Then heat it all up, so it goes all pearly blue, then flip it over and Promarkers to the fore.....Ruby and red for the coat, ruby, red, and primrose for the hat, scarf and Muff, Prussian for the coat, Walnut, Henna and Primrose for the hair, Sunkissed Pink, Rose Pink, and Almond for the face with Red for the lips. and finally, Black, Primrose, and Red for the shoes. I used Cosmic Shimmer, Silver Pearl PVA for the buttons.

I coloured a couple of the explosions in red, for a bit of Wow, added 2 strips of dark blue, and one strip of white holographic ribbon, made a small bow, and added 2 sewing pins, in Prussian blue, and one white pearl hat pin, and mounted it on some angled Pillar of Light card, by the Glitter girls.
As the back of the acetate has been embossed with a pearlised powder, it is slightly "cracked" allowing the sparkle of the Pillar of light card to show, while muting the effect of the pillar of light, as it can be a bit too much in large pieces, and it does change quite considerably, as you look at the card.........

I love her!!
And if you like her, and want her for yourself, well for a limited time you can get her from Little Miss Muffet Stamps, available here ,


In the meantime, I am off to enter this in the Little Miss Muffet Challenge, as I can!!!
And Also I am entering this in the little darlings challenge
Have fun guys, xxx

Those Craft Challenges entries are to blame!!!

Oh Dear! I really shouldnt look at Challenges!!
I just had to do this one, sorry ladies I do apologize in advance for swearing!

Not my fault!!!  Its theirs!! They shouldnt ask if people want to put a Christmas spin on a challenge this soon after Christmas!!!


Ok, firstly, I am somewhat limited in the way of every day stamps, Christmas- shed loads, digi's- thousands, but I did think that to fulfill this challenge I should Stamp it. So, look though my Tub of "everyday" stamps.....
Hmmn, not much there that came under the heading of  Sweet Treats, apart from a dress, some shoes, and handbags.
Ok Dress won, Its actually from a set of 50 Stamps I ordered from Aston Trading, on Amazon, and I have no idea who the designer was, but they came in a lovely wooden chest.
So Dress, pastels, and treats...........ok.......... Born to Shop papers 6x6 by Docrafts to the rescue! some lovely pastel designs, which I could mangle into a changing room! One formed the background, and one of the yellow designs was chopped up to make some "swing changing room doors". The the same set of papers were used to Stamp the dress design in Brilliance Lightning Black, and I cut the dress out. I formed a coat hanger from a piece of Florists wire, and stuck the dress to it using a Glue dot.
Half the door was stuck down on one side using a tape pen, the other half was mounted along the hinge edge with some Foam Tape, for depth and dimension, then I stuck the dress to the mounted door making sure the top of the coat hanger was just behind the top of the door. A bit of ribbon, 2 pink pins, and a yellow pin, and the "sentiment", Which I printed of, cut using Spellbinders Labels 23, on some colour fade card, and edged with Promarker Rose Pink. Sorry but you really shouldnt allow me to be quite so free!!

This is entered into :
 Sweet treats in Pastels Challenge at That Craft Place
Anything Goes at Little Miss Muffet

For those that despair...........

....................I do sometimes have a nice clean desk!!!


See?

Now I do tidy up, just not normally when I am getting ready to post for WOYWW, as I am generally busy creating at that point!!!
So now we can see the wood for the trees, a quick run around what is normally hiding from view: Glitter station, Box of Bloxs and pre stamped images, craft box with things like stapler and hole punches inside, tin of pens, for jotting down things like FG's phone number, yep she's back, and is somewhat disbelieving of people s comments about her card, 3 jars of assorted wooden embellishments, tub of scissors, in the corner is my "sometimes" storage space- parchment mats aqua markers, paints, that sort of thing, My Bathroom cupboard decorated with a ribbon of mini pegs, and not so mini pegs lol, and some paperclips, various tape runners, candles, and the tubs and boxes of gems, beads, embellishments, the big lactol tin has loads of shaped sequins in waiting to be sorted and my paper shredder, perfect for doing quilling strips, a jar of glass beads, candles, embossing powders, mini drawers, and my CR 300-20, which is a very limited edition CR, as its also the forerunner for the SD Silhouette, and is SD capable, but I havent used that facility yet lol.
So it can and does get tidied, just not normally in time for the WOYWW!


And Breaking news!!!
For those who were somewhat outraged by hubbys lack of appreciation for the last "Bauble" I made, well here's one he said was "Alright, I suppose", while wearing a big fat grin across his chops!

A Christmas Tissue Paper Pom Pom.
I think I will be making more of these as they are ridiculously easy to do, This one is quite large, about 6 1/2 inches across, so the next lot will be smaller I think, as my poor ceilings cant take much more in the way of decorations..............

See what I mean?
Right off to mess up my nice tidy desk!!


Have fun guys and girls, xx

The final WOYWW of the year....

OH Dear this means that it really is the end...........of the year. Its time for the big reveal of my workdesk, as per Lady Julias instructions, and its still a mess!

If you are a crafting Voyeur, like myself and many others, and love to have a nosey at what others are doing, wether they are as messy as you, or just to gain inspiration, then you need to head over to the Stamping Ground, and leave your link, then hop along as many desks as you can squeeze in.......that can take a lot of time, as its all so interesting!!
so Off we go....

Ouch!! Now see I did think about tidying it all back up again, but got distracted by things I found, and thought off!
So lets see what have we got, top Left the card board box that is my spray booth, my little bathroom cabinet which houses my Distress inks, the blue boxes hold a variety of sequins, syringes, gems, My Clear case of every day stamps, which I was cataloging before I got distracted, my Ottlite, my metal tin of odd pens, my Glitter station is far left near the bottom, some tissue paper I rescued from my helpful NOT pup, some images I was colouring in, my heatgun, and a finished project thats now completely dry so It can be put away for next Christmas ( see previous post). On the window sill are some baskets holding my Alcohol inks, and sticky pads. Under my table you can just see a big black box which is my laser printer, my Hougie, my tray of stamping blocks, and Brayer, and various tubs that hold a few of my treasures.
And here's my colouring in!!

Four of the images are from Flowersoft, and one is from Lili of the valley, there is a stack which you can just see waiting for colouring. I was not able to colour in as a child, but I reckon that anyone given some promarkers can achieve the desired result, may be I will start a campaign to get only promarkers used in school!! Just need to add to my colours!! Now that is going to be expensive!!
Right apparantly I am heading to SiL's today to see MiL for our yearly Christmas get together! so I had better hurry up an post!!

Hope Everyone of you has  a lovely, but safe New Year celebration, and that next year is better than this one for all of us, xxx

Take care, and thanks for popping by, xxx

Still at it!!

Oh well, at least I'll be finished by June this year!!
Yesterday I decided to use all this crop of Christmas papers, lying around in the craft room, making things for NEXT Christmas, so I can clear the way for some new Christmas stash later on in the year.
No I'm not mad, well I dont think so anyway, and as some of the papers in here are quite some age, its about time I used them, and replaced with new, see method to the madness! Which means I can justify buying new Christmas stock!!
So Todays offering is a Christmas Mini Hamper.........

Which brings me to the end of the Dovecrafts Pepper and Friends 12x12 papers! Yes! One down, loads more to go!!


Ok What I used:
A Kim Sutton B-C-E Hamper Template from here traced twice onto some Linen textured Cream Card, as I have loads of it, and it needs using. Some Red Satin 1.5 cm Ribbon, from the stash, some Hearts lace from the stash, Joanna Sheen and Giordano Love this Christmas Studio Stamps, Pepper and Friends Christmas party 12x12 papers, Promarkers, a red ink pad, and a Spellbinders Fancy Tags 2 die.
So cut the template out twice, and cut the bridge once, and a handle as long as you want, and as wide as the top of the bridge. So you end up with 4 pieces.
Assemble as per Kims instructions, ( I was lucky enough to sit and watch Kim do this at the Inspirations shop, (Hunkydory HQ for those who have never heard of it) back in September I believe, and for once, as there were only a few of us I was able to sit and absorb, so I didn't even read the instructions, but remembered how she did it and what she said.
Then I proceeded to cover it with the remaining sheets of 12x12, and bits from yesterdays assembly.
I stamped the Father Christmas from the Joanna Sheen Giordano Stamp with a black pigment ink pad, twice, and then coloured it with some promarkers: Red, Almond, Sunkissed pink, Primrose, Pine, and Cool Grey 4. I used a Decoroller in gold for the button and belt fastener, liberally applied My Craft Studio Ultra Fine Crystal Glitter  with a Quickie Glue Pen, and allowed it to dry.
The Handle I then added 3 strips of Red DST to it, and affixed that Hearts lace on the outer 2 strips, and placed the red satin ribbon to cover the cut ends, and it was done. I used the same technique on the flaps for the hampers, again covering the cut end of lace with the ribbon, which was then folded over behind the flap.
I Stamped the greeting from the Joanna Sheen stamp in Rocket Red Brilliance pigment ink twice, and then used the Happy Cut and Spellbinders Fancy labels 2, die number 3 to cut them out,. A bit of DST saw the Basket/Hamper finished, ready to be put away for next Christmas.


I have entered this in the
Delicious Doodles Anything Goes Challenge
My Mums Craft Shop Challenge Anything Goes
Stampin' For The Weekend Anything Goes Challenge
Everybody Art Challenge Anything goes
Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge Anything goes
Charisma Cardz Challenges Anything Goes

Why is it I always Blog at night?

Firstly, I would like to wish each and everyone of you a very Merry Christmas, and hope that Father Christmas bought lots of Crafting goodies for you.......
Me I got lots, but have only been able to play today, so have had my nose to the grindstone, and am now wondering why I only Blog at night? As it takes me quite sometime to write everything that pops into my head! Firstly I got some new toys for Christmas, one of which hubby was very nearly hit over the head for, if he had waved the wrapped package in front of my face one more time, I swear I would have given in, Whalloped him one, and run off treasure in hand!
This is an example.........

I now know for certain that I need a new printer/Scanner, as the Feathers and flower embellishments are WHITE not GREY!!!
This is from the My Craft Studio 2 disk set, Floriography. A combination of digital Stamps, Toppers and Papers, and all sorts of stationary. This was one of the first sets I came to on the disk, and as I have yet another 70th Commission, well, it seems to work........
So This was using the matching Topper, and Backing Paper. On the Backing paper, because of the way My Craft Studio works, I was able to tile the phrase," Happy Birthday And many more to come", and pick the colour of the text from the background itself, so it isn't too glaringly obvious. The ribbon is Printable Ribbon........yes printable.....so I put some text over an area that I selected, ran it through my printer, and then used some DST to attach a length of "Ribbon" to where the text had appeared on the sheet, then printed it off again, and hey presto personalized printed ribbon which ties in exactly with the design. I do have the design Runner, but the choices are limited, as I really need the gizmo that attaches to the PC to be able to personalize things properly with it, and its rather limited with colours, only black and green inks.....So back to Gold Mirri and then to the card blank, a wooden heart embellishment, again courtesy of My Craft Studio, and as it is naked lasered wood, I used a white pigment inkpad, and some clear embossing Powder to glaze it. The Flowers and Feathers are from the Glitter Girls, while the pins were one of only 3 I received from My Craft Studio recently.
The Topper I lasered on Supersmooth Card, Matted onto some more Gold mirri, and then trimmed with some Lace edging, then I pinflaired some clear crystal gems into position and done and dusted! I can see this becoming a staple in the crafting repertoire, and tomorrow will have to do some of the digital stamps on the disk, and relax with some colouring!

Next up for your delectation, for those that watch C&C I am Lou from Oldham, a regular emailer, I did say that I was busy playing with my new Boxer Board, another Christmas pressie, and making Boxes for NEXT Christmas.
Ok, ok, I haven't gone mad, but firstly I did want to play around with it, and secondly, a wonderful excuse to use up some old Christmas papers I have in my stash, so I can get some new stuff next year, see method in the madness!!
I made up the boxes in 3", 4", 5", and 6" sixes, made the matching lids, and learnt an invaluable lesson, well 2 actually........ALWAYS check your maths, and secondly, always make sure you are working on the correct edge of the board!!
Umpteen sheets of 12x12 later, I have 4 finished boxes, which have then been covered using some old, Pepper and Friends Christmas Party 12x12 sheets. I edged the lids and sides with a silver paint pen.

Well I got a tripod, and second hand camera from one of my kids for Christmas, but at least the shake has gone, and it has a flash as well, so no more dimly lit pics from me!!
Right off to do some more crafting, while I wait for more goodies that didnt arrive in time for Christmas!!
Have fun guys and girls,
Oh and thank you so much for the lovely comments on FG's card, I did admit what I had done to her, and she is chuffed to bits!! She comes back online in 36hrs roughly, and neither of us can wait!!

Well I dont know if WOYWW is running........

........as I hope to be able to check first thing in the morning, but it depends if I oversleep before dashing up to eldests and grandsons on the pressie run, so this will be scheduled for tomorrow (Wednesday) Morning just in case. (and it is Thank you Julia, If you have no idea what WOYWW is then go HERE and all will be revealed)


Well a certain Hubby had better tread lightly at the moment..........Inspired by one of the Demo's on C&C today by the lovely Jodie, I dashed downstairs bits of glued paper in hand to show off. I was expecting praise? Bah humbug!! No I didnt get praise, or comments of "Thats lovely Babe, what is it?" which would have been acceptable, no I got ........
"Well its a bit plain! Cant you do it in some pretty papers?"..................................
Impressed eh?
NOT!!!!!!
For all my sore fingers, that is the response!

Here is the unoffending object.........

PLAAAIIIN!! Sorry Lady Gwendolen came out to play then (For those not in the know, The importance of being Ernest. Google it, get the book and read the play, then watch the film, then you will understand).
This was demonstrated in parts today by Jodie, of Tonic fame, who was demo'ing on C&C today for My Craft Studio.
This is the 3D Flower from My Craft Studio Advance Encyclopedia, Volume 3. It takes 5 folded petals per flower, and 12 Flowers in total, so a lot of paper folding went on today!!
I did it out of plain white supersmooth 180gsm decoupage paper, as it holds its shape really well, all in 3x3" squares, 60 in total for this little decoration, actually its not that little 4.5 Inches in diameter, and quite hefty really. Folded as per instructions, and glued, then each flower was glued together with My Craft Studio Everyday papercrafting Glue, as it bonds the fibers of the paper together very quickly, and I can let go without having to peg every fold!!
I sprayed it with Crafters Companion Stick and Stay aerosol glue, then quickly and liberally applied MCS Ultra fine Glitter all over it. Then I rolled it in the glitter to ensure that it was well and truly glittered! Nothing like going over the top, eh?
Some 7mm clear Gems over the remaining center holes of the Flowers, some white stripped Organza ribbon, and some large gold and amber beads from an old Christmas decoration ( Actually the decoration wasnt even in such a condition that I was going to throw it out, but I didnt have any beads big enough, and this particular set of beads had joined its brother on the one remaining Storm Lantern we have, the 10wk old Rottie (as was) and the 15yr old Border Collie had broken the other one. Not the kids or the Grandson, no a blooming Pup and a bad tempered old Madam!)
I know I know, note to self, New Years resolution.......get a decent camera and tripod and learn how to take a half decent photo will you?


Right although I started my cards MONTHS ago, I now need to rummage through my card box, find 4 cards, eldest, her boyfriend, her ex-boyfriend and Grandson all need cards for 9 am Tomorrow Morning. I need to unpack and repack my Fairy Godmothers box again, to get the decoration in it, and hope and pray I can get it delivered to her for Christmas Eve, as she can NOT not open a pressie before its due date, gggrrr!! Oh and make an Envelope on my New Enveloplus board that arrived today, yippee, now I can make a proper envelope to fit Dad's Christmas Card, and I must sent off that parcel of cards as well!! Oh dear serves me right I knew I should have started everything BEFORE JUNE!!


I did ask a certain some one if I could post a pic of the card she made for me for Christmas, Linda of http://lindasimpsoncraftypieceofheaven.blogspot.com/ step forward and take a bow please.

This is an amazing lady who has managed to get herself on quite a few DT's of late, Well done hunni, xxx


And last but not least........I would like to introduce you all to My FG! A lady who considers herself to be a "trier" but in her own opinion doesnt achieve the high standards she would like to achieve. Personally, I would beg to differ, but I am biased, as she is My FG (Sorry Fairy Godmother). Here is her offering for this Christmas, apparently card number 5 that she made, and had to stop prevaricating, as I wouldnt get a Christmas Card other wise.........

I would appreciate your comments on these cards, but especially on FG's so that when she gets back online on 28th Dec, (only 7 more days, but who's counting?) she can see what people other than me think of her creations. She has done the verse herself, apart from the Quote from Patience Strong, and I think she is quite amazing , xxx FG and dont be cross with me, as you are better than you think you are hun, xxx after all it's your fault I Blog!!


Right off to rummage for cards, make the envelope and re-pack the parcels............. Merry Christmas everyone, xxx

WOYWW.............Disaster!!!

Oh dear, I have had a rough week!! Well 2 weeks to be exact. and Today was no different.


This is a photo of my desk for those that like to take a peek in into others craftyness, and gain some inspiration along the way. Its all presided over by the Mistress of Ceremonies, Ms Dunnit Here and you can pop along post a pic of your current state of desk/table/floor/bed/kitchen....... you get the idea, and then hop around the world peeking into others craft spaces.


This was my desk........

BAD even for my usual craft mess.


Why? Because I Had lost THIS!!

Nothing special, but boy was I going nuts to find it. I had hidden it away as Mr "I've never grown up and if some special occasion is coming soon I am going to snoop, and even steam open letters that may contain nice things, I have even been caught knife in hand slitting the sellotape around presents before now." was on the hunt, and I didnt want him to find it! But guess what? Yep I hid it so well I couldnt find it!!! Hence the disaster area!! I knew it was hidden under something, but could I find it? The whole room got turned upside down in a panic, and "I AM NOT GOING TO REDO THIS!" mood.
Guess where it was........ go on..........nope not under the cutting board, not in my card stash, not under tubs, or in boxes, and believe me when I say I had gone though every possible hidding place, took me all day, and I found it? Under my Keyboard! DOH!! That is also the place where I hide things like my bank card for online shopping so he cant confiscate it, so why didnt I look there first? DOH!!
Now why was I so bothered about it? I was bothered as it is our Wedding Anniversary tomorrow!! He and I both like Dragons, but he "assumed" all my dragons when we got married so the collection is now his, so he thinks!! And I suspect this will join the collection in the display cabinet, as this Dragon is rather gorgeous!
He's from Jems Designs CD Fantasy Screen Cards, and is Mounted on some Hunkydory Swirls acetate. Although this is a very simple card, it looks "Posh" due to the acetate, and I have done nothing to the image either, as I think he is quite marvelous, and I dont want to spoil him with glitter and Glitz, the acetate does that quite demurely I think!
Finally I must apologize for my absence, but unfortunately my Back is a bit hit and miss at the moment, slipping in and out of place, and the FM kicked in the other day, so 24hrs lost to sleep, and then I havent done ANY Christmas shopping, so I had to go do a bit today, and will go again on Friday, Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and then if it isnt all done it will be a case of give up!!!! And On Boxing day I wont bother getting up, but will do what I have done for the past 3 yrs, sleep for 3 days, as I give in and relax when its all done and dusted! So If C&C have some decent sales on will someone pop over and hit me with a big stick until I wake up?


Mr "I've never grown up and if some special occasion is coming soon I am going to snoop, and even steam open letters that may contain nice things, I have even been caught knife in hand slitting the sellotape around presents before now." did the classic last friday............. he came in with a lovely bunch of flowers for me "Happy Wedding Anniversary Babe" he said. I looked at him. "Thank you darling, but it isnt our Wedding Anniversary yet." "Hunh?" "No Darling tomorrow is Saturday the 10th, we didnt get married until the 15th." "No, we got married on the 10th!" "No, we got married on the 15th! One month to the day AFTER YOUR Birthday!" "Hunh?......Well atleast I remembered without needing the best man to phone and remind me this year" he said, unrepentant, as if expecting to be praised for getting it wrong!! Now how many grounds for divorce are there in that little statement?
Anyway I got my own back.......... I popped into the hardware shop, as I have been wracking my brains trying to think of something to do with tin, this years anniversary, and got him a pair of Tin Snips. He is a qualified Baker, and also a qualified Plasterer, so I said to the woman behind the counter that I wanted a pair of Tin Snips, she looked at me a bit strange, I explained that it was for our anniversary, at which she burst into peels of laughter, congratulated me and gave me a £2 discount, for being so inventive!! so they didnt cost as much as he's gong to think, haha Mr  "I've never grown up and if some special occasion is coming soon I am going to snoop, and even steam open letters that may contain nice things, I have even been caught knife in hand slitting the sellotape around presents before now."


Now just got to print off some wrapping paper, and thats me done and dusted!!


Hope you enjoyed the little saga I had to relay to you all, and hope its given you a giggle, any chance anyone wants to swap hubbies with me?     No I didnt think so , lol


Do Pop over to Julias and have a peek it is good fun.

Cards for my crafty friends.

Well another post, these are all the same design, as I do believe that this is unique to me........

Paying attention? Then I'll begin.........
its a quadruple twisted easel card, measuring 8x8 inches. And I do believe no one else has come up with this, but its really easy to do, and I'll soon set up a new page for my own design creations on this blog, so keep your eyes open.........
This one was done using K&Co Glittered letters, Some Papermania Christmas Henbury Lane  papers, Berry Merry Christmas 6x6 papers by Jennifer Ellory, and some paper from my stash, which is years old, but I think its again a papermania one.
I folded the Berry Merry papers using Mel Heatons paper Fold technique, inserted and glued the Papermania Henbury lane inside, and matted it onto some red textured card, followed by some holographic Mirri card which I bought quite a while ago at one of the Manchester Craft shows, this was way before it became popular and I got loads of packs of it for a pound.
The base was prepared using the old Papermania 12x12, and then scored at 4 inches, and again diagonally, to create the twisted easel. The bases were then stuck on with DST, and the glittered letters glued on and some peel offs added to edge the base. There are NO stoppers on this card at all. Its all to do with the way its assembled, so it then lies flat and slips into an ordinary 8x8 envelope for posting, with no extra charge for bulky letters!! Yet it  is a dimensional card which displays pictures all the way around.

All these images and papers came from the My Craft Studio Christmas Classics Looking Out cd, I just used a bit of gold Holographic card to mount the images on. The images for the Toppers are printed on Pearlescent paper, and then Ultra fine Crystal Glitter was liberally applied.

This one is again all My Craft Studio, but this time the Walk in Winter Wonderland Cd. I printed the Fairy Baubles onto Acetate, and liberally coated the inky side with Crafters Companion Gold Spray and Sparkle to seal it, mounted the images to some white cardstock. Then on the outside of the acetate image I used a versa mark pen, and some gold Pearlescent embossing powder to edge the baubles, and some glittered Gold embossing Powder for the bauble tops.

Again MCS Winter Wishes Cd this time, printed on supersmooth Xerox 250gsm card, I got a full ream of this wonderful card for £7.99 from everycraftsapound.co.uk, a few weeks ago, and it is superb in both my inkjet and my laser printer. I actually printed the images twice, one slightly larger than the other, and then layered the smaller image on top of the larger one using DST . I also ran round the edge of each topper with a silver paint pen, to finish the edges off nicely. Then I used glitter, Crystal Accents, Fluffy Stuff, and also some mica powder in paint form to highlight various snowflakes throughout the images.

These images and paper were taken from makinghandmadecards.com, where I am a member, and this is from the Vintage Quick Christmas Cards download. I used Whispers Dual tip Markers and a water brush to colour the images, Highlighted small areas with Cosmic Shimmer Mica inks, and then used the Spellbinders Labels 22 with the Happy Cut to cut them out.
I then mounted them onto some C&C textured Gold Cardstock, and used Cosmic Shimmer, Olympic Gold Pearlescent Glue which dies dimensional, to create pearls of gold, and used Crystal Glitter to highlight areas. The the old corner chomper by We R Memory Keepers came out to play, and I used the 1/2 inch end.

This one used Crafters Companion Christmas Humphrey's Corner images and backing papers. I cut each image out using the lattice rectangles by Spellbinders, and matted them onto some Green patterned Mirri. each image has at least one area which was brightened with Cosmic Shimmer Mica inks, then Crystal Glitter, and MCS Snow was applied. The base was brightened up using the edges of some Holographic Peel offs, you know the straight bits down the sides, well "waste not, want not" as the old saying goes.


And last but not least..

Again Humphrey's Corner Christmas CD by Crafters Companion, some red printed cardstock, some holographic silver mirri card, and Cosmic Shimmer inks, and Crystal Glitter. These were cut using Sizzix circle dies, and the base was trimmed with some silver holographic peel offs and corners for interest.


Phew that took some time to write, as unbeknownst to you lot reading this, youngest had inserted himself into my crafting chair, and was making some Christmas cards..........." Mum....how do I ? Can you help.......Can you do this bit..........can you heat this?   Can I borrow your mouse mat?  


yep think you get the idea now lol. But here's one of his cards that he has just made..........

Not too bad for a nine year old, but I need to work on his stamping a bit I think!

So what have I been up to?

Hmmn, now lets see what I can actually post!


okay...some are still waiting to go to various people who might check my blog, but I think I should be ok posting these cards, as the recipients wont know to look here, so if you're peeking Linda, neither of these are destined for you!!!

Hmmn so what did I use?  Oh yes! White silk art A3 card, 300gsm, Cream pearlised cardstock, 300gsm, green card stock 350gsm, white pearlised paper 120gsm, green Mirri card, Ribbon, pearlised shell button, die cut flowers, mouldable plastic leaves, gold embossing powder, green detail embossing powder, Versamark ink pad, Cosmic shimmer, Stamps away Mica mist, A4 Stamps Away leaf mask, Hunkydory Cream Holly Flourish cardstock 300gsm, bits from stash, Happy Cut, Spellbinders dies and embossibilities.


so....A3 folded in half, for card base. Green cardstock covered with diagonal strips of DST, and then alternately glittered with Gold and light green glitter. This re-inforced the base, and provided a tie in with the darker Holly Leaves on the main card.
Next I used the Spellbinders Fancy Flourish Embossabilities on one sheet of the cream pearlised cardstock, and cut it using the Grand Fancy Frames by Go Kreate. Then I used the A4 Leaf mask from Stamps Away, and embossed it, then sprayed with Stamps away Emerald Green Mica Mist, before removing the mask. Then I used the first sheet and some shaker Tape to create a shaker card topper, using Hunkydory Snowfall Acetate, and bits from the stash for the shaker elements. Cosmic Shimmer Olympic Gold PVA for the pearls round the edge of the shaker.
Cream Pearlised cardstock was then cut using the poor old Happy Cut (It really took a beating making this card!),  using the Lattice Rectangles form Spellbinders, and embossed with the Fancy Flourish embossabilities die.then I carefully used the versamark inkpad through the die and then used the green detail powder over the top and embossed it . I then distressed it using the same embossibility die and versamark, but with Gold pearlescent embossing powder. I used the sizzix fancy frames to create 2 small toppers, one of green cardstock, which I then ran a gold paint pen round the side of, and some plain white cardstock, which I tripple embossed with some antique Gold embossing powder, into which I stamped Happy Christmas.
I used the spellbinders Poinsettia dies and some emerald green Mica Mist with some square headed brass brads from my stash, and a die cut paper Flower expert Rose (My Crfat Studio). Some die cut Ivy leaves, and some Mouldable Plastic Holly (MCS), with a die cut green mirri holly leaf, again a Spellbinders die.
Some cream/gold organza flowers from my stash, some trimming from the stash (coz I cant remember what the bead things on the clear plastic are called), and some ribbon threaded through a shell button to finish  the Topper.
The Stopper on the base is made from the Grand Hexagonal Petal Envelope die, again by Spellbinders, it was again embossed with the Stamps Away Leaf Mask, and I distressed the inside of the envelope with Tim Holtz Antique Linen Distress ink before writing the greeting in the middle of the Envelope. I fixed that to the base of the card with Pinflair.
Basically, a LOT of work, lol, and its still not being sent to you Linda!! It was part of a Christmas card swap we arranged in the My Craft Studio Platinum Club, and Hubby wasn't overly impressed with what it cost to post either lol!


Next up is a commission for the Pet shop Owners Daughter.

This is a design By Debbie Moore, from the new Pick of the Week on Create and Craft, which arrived today!
I don't normally go for Debbie Moore, but this one was an interesting idea....Grotto Cards!


I wasnt happy with the colours on this, so I did import it into a pdf manipulation program, and then into My Craft Studio, who's software is so easy for me to use, I really cant get to grips with other graphics programs, too many buttons and switches for me!! So If I want to do something different I always use MCS, hence why it crops up so often in my posts.
So I wanted to do a card for a 17yr old girl for Christmas from her Father, all I have is her name and age........Ta Jimmy that helps alot!!
So this Debbie Moore CD seemed to offer possibilities. Firstly, I didn't like the original background, which was Mushrooms, and Snowdrops, so I imported an image into MCS from their Walk in Winter Wonderland CD, a snowy cottage, perfect, but it was blue. hmmn ok, then change the girls dress to blue then. I imported the template design from the DM cd into MCS, and cut out the middle so I could fit the image to the template. That done, it was a simple matter to then print and cut out the background image, which is marked with fold and score lines. I sprayed the whole creation with Crafters Companion Gold Spray and Sparkle, and cut out the decoupage. The Fairys wings, are highlighted with cosmic shimmer Midnight Blue Mica Ink, and the Blue Tit is highlighted with Denim and Sunrise Yellow Mica inks. The Snowdrops got a touch of Crystal Lacquer, and it folds VERY flat, and you can make the envelope boxes from the Debbie Moore Cd, although I do think it will be flat enough to go in a C5 envelope.


There is a box underneath to help support the whole structure, though it is very sturdy in itself, and that is where the sentiment is but you cant see it on the pictures unfortunately, and you can also make presentation boxes for the cards, which look fabulous I must admit,, but I havent done that with this one, as I'm not sure whether this will please the Pet Shop Owner , and he may want to post it, in which case, a display/presentation box will be too bulky.


Right one last thing for tonight.........a friend of mine, the infamous Linda, would love to reach 175 Followers, and is offering candy on her blog Here so please pop along and have a peek, she's doing really well, doing some DT work, and getting Blog awards.


I would really like to thank my handful of followers, you are great guys and girls, and I really appreciate your support and comments, thanks guys, mmwah!