CAS Christmas

When checking my blog favourites yesterday, I saw that Christmas Stampin' All Year Long wanted CAS creations for their latest challenge.

Coincidentally, I've been adding pictures to my CAS Christmas album on Pinterest so plenty of inspiration there to choose from.  I recognised the stamp used on one of the cards as being very similar to one from a Viva Decor My Paper World set I got at Buddly Crafts, here. In fact, it's on several of the cards in my album although it appears to be a SU! Santa Sleigh stamp instead. The difference is the sleigh is blocked out and you get an extra reindeer on the SU! set, as far as I can tell.

Anyway, using my Paper World set, I've stamped the sleigh then added the starry background and the text along the bottom of my base card.  I was inspired to use the layered star idea and cut mine from Marianne Design Craftable die set CR1226 in a soft blue textured card to match the blue Momento ink I've stamped with. I fixed the star to the card with 1mm foam tape so it's only slightly raised, and I couldn't resist adding a couple tiny gems to the line of text - well what's Christmas without a touch of sparkle!

Christmas at Sweet Stampin' theme for July is 'Oh deer' so anything with a deer on it means I can enter my card with them too.

I'm quite pleased how this card turned out, and how quick it was to make .. .. it took me longer to get a decent photo and to tweak it so you could make out the details.

Thank you for stopping by, I'm off to enjoy the garden while the sun is shining, although I'm drawing a line at cutting the grass even if it is ankle high in places.  How is it some areas are lush and green and other areas hardly grown at all, and that's not because Izzy pees on them, well not all of them anyway!  Perhaps it's something to do with the patches of tarmac I find when digging the borders, it was an old WW2 air base after all! Whatever you are doing this weekend, I hope you have fun and the sun shines on you.

Boy or Girl?

I am back again .. .. sorry to miss out with a DT card for this week's Cute Card Thursday floral theme - should be an easy one for everyone to join in.

I spent Monday and Tuesday pottering in the garden, digging up and splitting some of the clumps of ornamental grass I'd planted in the new garden last summer. They had really gotten big and I had to take a saw to cut them in half!  They look good now in the rose bed out the front being blown about in the wind!  I did suffer though with dreadful head and neck ache and consequently dosed myself with paracetamol and ibruprofen just to stay upright!  I really don't want to have to give up gardening, it keeps me sane and gets me out of the house.

The second half of the week I felt I was coming down with something .. .. a lot of it about so they said in the local shop. Thankfully I've had the flu jab otherwise it could be worse .. .. Izzy still needed to be walked though and this morning despite the dreadful weather I felt more like my old self, so hopefully whatever bug it was has given up!

Enough wittering on! I have a couple of simple baby cards to share with you today, they are the tiny 4" square cards I'm making for St Francis Animal shelter, but I might need one myself as I'm still waiting for my decorator to get back to me .. .. baby was due on 2nd Feb and there had been lots of false alarms but still nothing happening by the 10th. I've not seen or heard anything from him since but hope that all went well. This first card is a Marianne Design creation using scraps of paper from the Sweet Baby pack, a little lace trim and some die cut pieces.  I've finished off with pearls and an organza bow.

Now had I been on the ball and up with my DT work, I could have shown this one for the latest Marianne Design Divas challenge, to use ribbons and/or pearls.  Fabulous prizes on offer as always from both Marianne Design and Bunny Zoe. Some fabulous inspiration from the lovely DT ladies and stunning entries too! I always like to take a look and add some to my Pinterest boards.

And this is the baby girl card.  I'd already got the stork coloured and cut out, it's a My Paper World stamp. I found the scraps of Nitwits paper then simple embossed the stitch edge and added the pearls.  There is some sparkle pen on the image but it's not showing up.

So that's my news to date.  Still nothing happening on the house sell and buy front, but I'm in no immediate hurry. Mum seems to have got her memories sorted out now, thankfully, I just have to be careful to look out for wee infections in the future, plus she is now bordering diabetic too but no treatment for it at this stage.  I've just told her she will have to cut back on the chocolate and sweets! Not fair when you are stuck in one room and nearly 90 years old.


Thanks again for stopping by to take a peek, as always I'll add to my Pinterest boards shortly.  I might even get time to finish off a couple more simple little cards if Izzy doesn't want to play ball all afternoon!

CAS Christmas

I hate computers!  I have some free time so have been trying to leave comments but more times than not nothing happens when I click on a 'leave comment' box and a message pops up that the blog doesn't exist - excuse me! what then am I looking at!

Anyway, deep breath, and when I checked my blog post listings I saw Charisma Cardz are looking for CAS designs this week.  This card I made a while back and is just a plain ivory base, the red you see behind it is the envelope. I've cut out the fancy red layer from red card then added a stamped and fussy cut oval layer with 3d tape.  It's one of the stamps on a My Paper World Christmas set and I've coloured with Copics then added touches of sparkle.  The text in the middle is, I think, from LOTV stamped in red - clean and simple!

And over on the Christmas Card challenge blog it's anything goes so I can enter with them too.

I have to clear away my craft stash from the dining table and sideboard as the family are descending for Mother's Day.  I commented to my eldest that although it's lovely to see them all I didn't fancy slaving in the kitchen to feed 8 people a roast dinner - so he said he'd cook it!  That will be something to look forward to, perhaps someone might even bring me breakfast in bed .. .. but I'd better not hold my breath!

Shabby Chic Butterfly

It was a miserable afternoon yesterday and impossible to do anything in the garden, so I thought I'd have a bit of a play.  The cover of the March issue of Cardmaking & Papercraft magazine caught my eye recently, with cards created by Fleur using two sets of the Viva Decor My Paperworld stamps that I have, so I got it to see what she had made - some beautiful cards for inspiration.

I dug out my heat gun and some old white embossing powder (I must try the Frantage stuff some day) and got to inking and heating .. .. this is my first effort with white embossing powder on kraft card:

The finished card, another of the off cut bases and a pretty piece of paper from a Maja Design pack called Life in the Country that I recently won from Live & Love Crafts. I've added snowcap dabber to the image oval and the kraft scallop oval and the edge of the patterned paper, although it is not to clear in the picture.  I've also added Picket Fence Distress Stickles around the edge of the image and to some of the flower, again not showing up!  My embellishments are Marianne Design die cut leaves and swirls, punched flowers from the same paper with the edges inked with Pumice Stone DI, and little pearl stamens also from the same prize win. I've added pearls to the centres of my flowers with a Waco pearl pen, I see some have spread a bit, ah well perhaps it adds to the shabby chic style!

I saw this morning that the Fussy and Fancy Friday challenge is for Shabby Chic this week - perfect!

I have to go on the drug run this afternoon for all Mum's pills so will do a bit of shopping at the same time, although Tesco in Padstow is small and doesn't have everything I need but at least I can stock up on fruit and veg.  One side of the fence is painted blue now, I managed to get out between showers this morning, apart from the bottom piece that still has to be put on.  There wont be enough paint to do both sides, but I'm not totally convinced about the colour anyway .. .. still it might grow on me!

Christmas Shopping

Where does the time go!  I have been busy in the garden, digging and lugging buckets of gravel from front to back to create a mud free area by the shed and water butt, then trying to dig over the compacted clay that is the rose bed.  Oh my! I think I'm getting muscles!

Anyway, this card was started last week for the Crafty Little Fairies challenge 'shopping'.  I got the cute LOTV lass and her spaniel stamped, then blanked her out to add the background from a My Paper World Christmas set, I rather like the result.  I've coloured the image with my Copics and added lots of sparkle with Stardust glitter.

And here is the card that I've finally managed to finish decorating this morning, the Stickles on the flower is still wet!  The papers, stamped text and die cuts are all by Marianne Design and I simply finished off with more glitter on the poinsettia and the blue pearls.  Here's the list of MD dies I used:
Poinsettia - LR0122
red doily snowflake - LR0185
blue snowflakes - LR0123 & LR0124
red twigs - LR0286

I had better be quick and link up to the Crafty Little Fairies blog as the challenge finishes in a few hours!  I can also enter the ABC challenge that is G for girls, Crafty Catz where it's anything goes, and Stampin' for the Weekend where it's sparkle and shine.

I'm still having computer problems so not using it much - think I will have to get a new one or convince Jason to let me have use of his as he's no longer living here .. .. but I will need to get a new tv/monitor to go with it, and I guess a printer too. I keep putting it off and trying to muddle by but am finding anything to do with Yahoo (my email) is dreadfully slow and half the time doesn't load, and blogger is also a bit of a slow coach especially if I'm trying to add comments to an already picture heavy blog.  So, yet again apologies for not commenting, but I do still stop by to visit my favourites and friends!

Springtime

This week on Cute Card Thursday we are celebrating Spring .. .. wishful thinking for some perhaps, but I have crocus, snowdrops and daffs all in flower in my garden - and lots of other things popping up .. .. I'm frightened to weed in case I inadvertently get rid of a real treasure!

For my card I've taken scraps of paper and bits I'd coloured for fun a while ago, and somehow it all came together.  The egg and bunny are from the My Paper World springtime set and his yellow bow is from the Easter set, coloured with my Copic pens then fussy cut out.  The flowers are a very old stamp (same one I used for a condolence card last week) and I just cut them out too.  Here's the card:

The base is the bit that gets cut off when I'm creating my little 5" square cards from a sheet of A4 cardstock, the idea being that I can hang things off the edge and the finished article will still fit the envelope.  Unfortunately I forgot which edge with the text so that's going to be a bit of a problem .. .. never mind, I think it will fit in a C6 envie instead.  The papers are from last year's spring pack and I remembered I had a set of egg dies so cut one out to fit over the pink gingham layer, the rest is Marianne Design die cut bits and pieces - blue mat behind bunny from LR0180, green swirls LR0271, and white lacy border CR1250.  Inside there's a smaller bunny facing the other way and I've coloured him to match, without the bow though.  I am very pleased with the Viva 'Magic Transparent' Perle Pen that I got from Cuddly Buddly a while back - I've used it in the centre of the yellow flowers and they have dried clear (goes on milky) and rock hard.  The pearls I've made in the past with my Wacco pearl pens can flatten even with the slightest weight on top of them, but these Viva dots are staying perfectly round - I will have to get more colours!

The challenge at Totally Papercrafts has been for Spring, so I can just about squeeze in with my card.

Valentine Scrapling

I didn't think I had a card ready to share with you today, but when checking my blog reader list I noticed that Creative Inspirations challenge is for boy/man things this week.  It reminded me that I hadn't shown you the scrapling/bookmark I made for DH as a valentine gift.  We don't do cards, but he is an avid reader so I knew that 'a little something' would be useful!

A scrapling is the piece of card that get's cut off when you are 'squaring up' and in this case is just a bit short of 2" wide by 10" long strip folded in half for a tent fold.  My image is the ship from the clear My Paper World sheet, stamped with dark blue chalk ink (works best on the acrylic stamps) then coloured with my Copics and fussy cut out. Everything except the ship is stuck down flat so it wont make the pages of the book bulge out too much, I did add a 1mm foam tape behind the ship just so it looked a bit nicer.

And here is my scrapling bookmark.  I've stuck the top together and created a tag opening with one of my MD label dies, it reinforces things a bit and gave me an opening to push the shank of the heart button through.  The grey patterned papers are Cuddly Buddly digi scraps from my basket, and I've added the faux stitching around the first layer then inked the edges with a black chalk ink.  The ship I stuck to a circle die cut layer, with embossed hearts on the white layer, then finished off with a couple of the corner MD dies from LR0285, inking the raised embossed areas.  I threaded fine rick-rack through the shank of the button before sticking it down.  Inside I found a pretty heart stamp and text to finish things off but I cant show you as it's embarrassingly lovey dovey!

Well the sun is shining in Cornwall, although it is still breezy, so I might wrap up and try to tidy a bit more of the garden.  Later I have a couple of bananas that have gone past it so will turn them into the banana and walnut cup cakes I made once before - I have my lacto free 'butter' already out on the counter softening up!  Enjoy your day, thank you for visiting me and come back soon!

Pirates!

Ahoy! and shiver me timbers!  Today's card is another of my little square creations kept simple for the charity box.  My inspiration came from the Charisma Cardz challenge blog and the movie, Pirates of the Caribbean - well the challenge was to be inspired by film.  My little pirates are Nellie's Choice stamps I've inked, coloured with my Copic pens then fussy cut out to fix with smelly glue (silicone) on my card.  Here it is:

Another base with SU! card and a scrap of printed out digi paper in blue.  I've added the embossed faux stitches as usual before inking over the edge with a brown chalk ink.  I've used the same ink to add the little starfish and stamp and cut out the anchor.  They are from a My Paper World set, as is the map in the background - that's stamped in blue chalk ink then I've torn the edges and inked to give it an old map look.  A final little circular greeting I found already stamped (LOTV) out and a scrap of soft blue gross grain, and job done!

The sun is shining today, and hardly any wind so I feel the call of the garden.  I have to go into the village to post a card for Mum so will get the car out .. .. perhaps I can do that before lunch then have the afternoon to potter.  Catch you all later on when the sun goes down over the yard arm!

With Love

It's Thursday, and it's not raining or windy here in Cornwall - yet!  And, the internet is chugging along quite nicely (not like yesterday afternoon/evening) so time to share my DT creation for Cute Card Thursday's 'lots of love' theme.  Our sponsor for this challenge is Nikki from Bunny Zoe's Crafts, stop by the CCT blog to read about the prize and see inspiration from the rest of the DT.

For my card I've inked up another of the LOTV mice stamps and coloured with Copics and my Stardust pen, such a shame it doesn't show up in pictures.

I've cut my base card from more SU! card in my stash and found a plainish piece of digi paper in a neutral pale pink to put behind my image with a white mat between it and the base.  Again I've gone around the edges with my Marianne Design die LR0161 to give the embossed stitch line.  I thought the paper was rather plain so used a pretty design from a Viva Decor My Paper World Wedding stamp set to ink over with ginger chalk ink then added a touch of red to some of the hearts.  I've used the same design on my text too, you can see it a little better here, with a text from a Papermania word set.  As my mojo still hasn't blown back, I was stuck for embellishments so just punched out the butterflies, added the gems and found a little piece of coral red gross-grain ribbon to tie around the top corner.  I'll admit to liking the image but not perhaps the card .. .. I'm missing my MD die cuts!

Crafty Little Fairies have a love theme this week, the Corrosive Challenge want to feel the love,  and Totally Gorjuss want to see sunny colours, so I'll enter my card with each of them.

I'll be back with another micey card tomorrow, until then, stay warm and dry!

Best Wishes for Easter!

Another flattish card to share with you today, I think I am getting the hang of adding interest without depth, but it is a challenge not to go overboard with the embellishments!

This hare (bigger ears than a bunny) stamp is on the Easter set from Viva Decor My Paper World, and I've used the beautiful Easter script and a corner stamp on the inside (but left them uncoloured).  I've stamped with the Versamagic chalk ink Jumbo Java again as it's giving me the best impression and fine line detail with these acrylic stamps.  As long as I put them aside for 5 mins or so to make sure the ink is dry (or you could waft with a heat gun), I can colour with my Copic pens.  Not much colouring required as there is quite a lot of line detail and the images are small, but I am liking the challenge of creating with something a bit different.

What you can't see in my picture is the subtle shimmer I've added to the flowers with my clear Stardust pen, and the glaze on the pink bow - just for added texture.

Here's the card, a small 5" square created from coloured card to fit the stash of envies I need to use up. Creating coloured card bases does mean I have to add an insert though, but as long as it's not got too much layering on it I should still be ok with the narrow slot at the post office.  Again I've been using up scraps of printed digi papers and adding the embossed faux stitching for added effect.  I die cut the image with one of the fancy labels 8 dies and added the stamped and fussy cut flowers from the same Easter set.  The fussy cut feathers are from the Nautical set - still have to create something with the main images on this one.  I've used a couple of Marianne dies, the curved tag from COL1325 and the lacy edge for my white mat layer cut with CR1250.  The embossed faux stitching I created by lining up the paper and running a ball tool down the edge of LR0161. Everything is glued down flat, except for the little flower spray on the image and the top spray by the text that I fixed with a 1mm foam square - so it will squash down.  An addition of tiny pearls to the top of the card and I was done!  Mum sends out half a dozen Easter cards so this one will be ready for her.

The Squirrel and Fox challenge is to show off your new stuff - that's what I've been doing with my new Paper World stamp sets.

Baby Girl Arrival

What is it with computers? Yesterday I was plodding through at a snails pace, stopping to make a cuppa while a picture loaded and as for trying to leave comments on anyone's blog - well forget that!  And then on top of it all the new ink cartridges for the printer aren't being recognised and it still says there's no ink .. .. argh!  I was so looking forward to printing off pretty papers and adorable Wee digi images to play with today .. .. but no go. So I'm at a loose end, the pc is loading pdq and already I've gotten through all the new pictures on Pinterest, checked my emails and even managed to comment on a couple of blogs .. .. long may it last, but I have my doubts!

I do have a card to share with you - a flat baby design, not that the baby is flat .. .. the card is, so it's postage friendly.  The image is another from the baby sheet by Viva Decor My Paper World that came from Cuddly Buddly, and the papers I've used to put the card together are also scraps of CB digi designs - I am being frightfully good using up my scraps! And, as I took the picture under the light you can see the sparkly areas I went over with my Sakura Stardust pen.

Here's the card, a small square scallop from my stash with two layers of paper stuck down flat.  I dragged a pale green ink pad around the edge of the bottom layer as there's green in the pattern, then added faux blanket stitch with a white pen on the pink dotty layer.  The text is an old one from my stash and the little fussy cut bow is from another MPW set.  The buttons are cut from Marianne Design set LRO188 glued on top of each other and finished with a tiny satin ribbon knot so they are flat on the back and easy to stick down flat on the card - should go through the narrow slot at the post office, I hope.  I haven't decorated the inside yet as I need to print off more paper, if I can ever get the machine to work, but will probably add the bottom layer inside with a white oval to write on - keep it simple and flat!

Now for challenges I can enter with my baby card: Oldie but a Goodie and Moving Along With The Times both have a new beginnings theme, perfect!

Pink Baby Pram

I am rather struggling to get back into crafting and after the Festive Holiday break I seem to have lost my mojo.  I was hoping that a play with some new stamps might do the trick, and I have enjoyed colouring in the images, but putting a card together - oh no way!  When to stop embellishing .. .. and how many layers to include baring in mind it might have to go through the post and these days that costs more than making the card!

Anyway, this is my first attempt with the Viva Decor My Paper World Baby set of acrylic stamps I got from Mum for Chistmas, via Cuddly Buddly.  Being acrylic they don't like Momento ink very much, especially when new, but I found that a juicy Versamagic Jumbo Java chalk ink pad worked to give me a nice stamped line, and once the ink is dry it works well with the Copic pens and doesn't bleed as long as I'm careful and don't saturate ink over the stamped areas.  Anyhow, here's the card .. .. ..

The images are quite small so ideal for using up my stash of smaller cards - I have to reduce my stash this year and felt quite pleased with myself for creating this card from odds and ends.  The spotty paper is from my printed out digi basket but I can't remember who it was by, but thought it matched the pram nicely and in real life is more pink.  The thin ivory card is my last piece, which is a shame as it worked well as a mat for the paper without adding too much weight as well as for the embossed heart layer and to cut the doily.  I even managed to fiddle about with the scraps and cut the button flowers and leaves too.  The pretty pearl hearts are more from my stash from a craft fair several years ago, and to finish I've added little liquid pearls to the image to lighten things up a little   What you can't see is that I've gone over the swirl stamped lines and butterflies with a clear Stardust pen to add a touch of shimmer too.  The pink bow is from another set (Easter) Mum got for me .. .. not sure I like it in the corner up there but too late now as it's well and truly stuck down.

The Marianne dies I used on this creation are:  the doily - CR1201, the leaves - LR0150, and the layered button flowers - LR0188 & LR0160.  I've also used LR0161 to create faux stitches around my layers, you can just about make it out on the ivory mat, and it ties in with the embossed stitch edge on the image (from the doily).

The Allsorts challenge blog have a free and easy theme this week, and over on the Corrosive challenge blog and the Oldie but a Goodie challenge blog the theme is new beginnings, so I'm entering my card into these challenges.

Vintage Christmas Card

I'm calling this a vintage Christmas card, but it's actually a hanging decoration that I could write a message on the back and send to a friend .. .. and I just think of it as vintage in style because of the colour scheme of soft brown and ivory and the style of the stamp.

I've been drawn to the Viva Decor My Paper World sheets of silicone stamps as a way of challenging myself to stamp in a new style without spending a fortune.  Cuddly Buddly has the best collection and I have a wish list for more!  Most of the images don't need colouring so in theory should make for quicker creations, unfortunately the stamping was rather stressful.  This image isn't a particularly good one with dimples in the silicone on the bird bodies, then there was the issue of ink and paper.  Some while ago I saw a post on Splitcoast Stampers that recommended using chalk ink with this type of stamp and I must say it was the best giving me a clear edged image, although I had to do some careful inking and pressing to get a good enough impression of the birds due to the dimples.  I used Versamagic chalk ink in gingerbread to stamp the birds, then Sahara sand to ink around the edges and also to highlight the embossed areas on my die cuts.

Here's a closer view.  I've added the pearls with my ivory Wacco pearl maker pen, and the ivory organza ribbon for the double bow and hanging loop.  Other than that everything else is just card and ink to create the layers I've fixed together with 3d foam tape.  My die cuts are by Marianne Design and the main pieces were designed by Petra van Dam:

Petra's Squares - LR0234
Petra's Large Ovals - LR0240
Holly sprays - LR0244

There's an anything goes challenge at the Die Cuttin' Divas blog so I will enter my festive decoration with them.  Crafty Creations would like to see something made by yourself so I can enter my Christmas decoration with them too.

Well, it will soon be lunch time and as Jason has laid most of the kitchen floor tiles for me, it's now my turn to get down and get dirty with the grout!  I wonder if there's a crafty use for left over grout .. .. ..?

At last a card!

I made a card, in fact I made two cards and a couple of festive tags as well - although it has taken me over a week to get them finally finished!

Today I'm sharing a simple festive creation for the ABC Christmas challenge where the theme is N for NO embellishments - that means:

No ribbon or lace

No gems or pearls 

No brads or flowers 

No charms or twine 

No beads or dew drops 

No pins or card candi

No buttons or bells!

Or anything else you can think of!

Well, that doesn't leave much does it?!  I carefully studied the DT creations and could see that die cuts were used, along with paper/card embellishments, phew something for me to work with then!

I created my tent fold base card from Gumball Green cardstock by SU! - not my favourite colour I must say, but it did more or less match the Nitwits Christmas paper;  Jason has connected me up with a printer, but it only works with colour so I still can't get any digital images printed off - I think I'm going to have to buy a new printer as I have beautiful Wee characters just waiting to get out of my pc!

Back to the card, I've embossed a piece of thick white paper with the snowflake design and added a stamped holly border from a set of stamps I recently treated myself too - they are the Christmas Borders and Frames by My Paper World and I've stamped in Tea Leaves Versamagic chalk ink then added the red berries with a marker pen.  You can just see the inside of my card in the top picture where I've stamped the border again down the left side of the insert, but what you can't see is the little holly spray I stamped in the right hand corners.

The pretty holly circle is my new Marianne Design die and the centre piece that cuts out I simply twisted, then stamped and die cut the text to fit on top, fixing the layers with 3d tape for added interest.  I've dragged a red chalk ink along the edges of the border and the embossed snowflake layer, and my printed pattern circle, as well as the insert, just to tie things together, before finishing off with the little hearts that were in my waste jar (hopefully they don't count as embellishments!)

That's all for now, I'll be back tomorrow with my other card and who knows, I might even get around to making something else this week too!