Maureen's Mixture

'Shabby Chic'

2012-02-01T16:19:00.002Z

This card is made using Just Rite stamps - Shabby Chic Labels Four - that can be cut out with spellbinder dies, the inspiration for this card was taken from one I saw in the Just Rite gallery, not sure about it but it will go as a sample in the shop.

Something for me.....

2012-01-29T17:51:00.002Z

Yes, it's that stamp again (from Crafty Individuals) but I did say I hadn't finished with it! this time it's stamped onto fabric and surrounded with lots of vintage lace with a couple of more modern bits and it's staying with me for once, I just have to put a ribbon or something on it and it will hang over my sewing machine - raw edges and all!!

It's a Handbag.............

2012-01-25T17:09:00.003Z

I took a sample chipboard kit from the shop before christmas and have only just managed to make it up,I covered the boards with a scrapbooking paper inside and out then decorated with roses made of grunge paper coloured with Barndoor distress inks, the butterfly is a Wendy Vecchi stamp also on grunge paper. It's a bit rough around the edges and it would have been easier to paint it but 'who wants easy'!!

Gift bag with a difference..............

2012-01-21T17:39:00.003Z

I was inspired to make this gift bag by some that I've seen on the blogs over the christmas period, they were made completely of paper and collaged but I decided to make a fabric bag and recycled an old 'antimacassar, or chair back to put it simply.
Quite a few rough edges and uneven lines , I think It works, but I don't think my Mum would approve if she was still with us and some years back neither would I but now I love the shabby vintage effect.

Fabric at last.

2012-01-18T20:30:00.002Z

This is what I've been trying to upload since sunday - must have had the gremlins as it worked ok today, there is another piece to show but didn't want to push my luck, anyway this is a lavender bag/pillow and it was lovely to work with fabric for a change, I'd hoped to do more today but we had a 2am phone call to tell us that Roy's mum had passed away peacefully in her sleep - one week after her 98th birthday - so all plans were changed, we were beginning to think that she would reach her 100th birthday but it was not to be.

A foggy night.........

2012-01-17T16:28:00.003Z

This isn't actually the post I intended as my fabric pictures won't upload for some reason, I tried this one and it worked. The background picture of this card is a Rob Adams christmas scene that I gently steampunked - succesfully I think. The picture actually reminded me of the song - A foggy night in london town..... - that shows my age doesn't it!!!

Featured!!

2012-01-15T09:12:00.002Z

What an eventful week!! I was so thrilled to be featured HERE by Jean Hardy on the Crafty Individuals blog, what was featured?? - well would you believe my favourite CI elegant lady cards, how great is that! The card I'm posting is the last one using the lady, very similiar to one a couple of posts back but there are diffences, I have a piece of fabric stamped up but yet to start work on it.
It's been a very busy past week with more visits to the shop ( not a hardship) and also helping to make cards for Rob Adams create and craft shows monday and tuesday, another milestone - will I see some of my cards on TV?
I have managed to do some stitching but in the middle of that I got a jam in my printer with my printable fabric, the first jam ever, and I pulled - wrong!!! - I pulled a part from the machine so yesterday was spent choosing another printer - not an easy job, just hope I picked well. So that's it my week! no it's not - we had our 41st wedding anniversary - now that was our week!

Man card!

2012-01-08T12:00:00.004Z

This is one of the 'man' cards I've just made, I had the sizzix clock die for christmas and wanted to use it and I think it works well with this type of card, I have used the train stamp a few times but it is a great stamp!!
I'm entering this card into the Crazy 4 challenges - New year - use something new.

A Bookmark!

2012-01-03T16:57:00.004Z

This time it's a bookmark but still the same stamp for which I make no apologies, (how often do we buy a stamp and use it once) I'm determined to get more use out of my stamps this year -( well I hope that decision lasts the year ) This stamp can only be vintage style but I want to get as many different looks as possible, there will be one more card and hopefully a fabric ' quiltie' if my plan works - at least that will get me into my new sewing room.
I'm entering this into the Artistic stamper challenge which is Vintage and must use a stamp.

Love this stamp !!

2012-01-01T17:38:00.002Z

You may gather that I really love this Crafty Individuals stamp and am using it in as many different ways as possible, of course they all have a vintage look to them, this is card no 2 with a sepia monochrome look and I've recycled some of my mother in laws piano music for the flower.
I'm entering this card for the Stampalot Monochrome challenge.

I made a clock!!

2011-12-31T09:10:00.002Z

Wow, something different for me , making a clock, I'd taken a Tando chipboard clock face from the shop to have a play with and using a deep canvas ended up with a mildly steampunk finished project, I couldn't use the chipboard clock hands as they were too thick and the mechanism ones are a bit long but they're ok.It's now hanging in the shop, sorry about the sun reflection on the picture, hard to take a decent photo at this time of year.

Christmas crafting

2011-12-28T16:42:00.002Z

I hope you all had a lovely christmas, ours was quiet but nice, with good food (too much) and plenty of relaxation, since the day I have done a bit of crafting and this card was one of the things I made, I'd been asked what I could do with these Claudine Helmuth 'Domestic' clear and foam stamps and this is my take on them.

indulgence and seasons greetings

2011-12-23T20:14:00.002Z

I'm having a really indulgent evening, sitting with the lap top on my knee blog hopping and not feeling at all guilty, I'm also looking forward to not having to leave the house for the next four days unless I really want to - what luxury!! after the four days I'm sure i'll be ready to go out and about again hopefully after having produced some of the crafty things I have whirling around my brain. Before I do all this I must wish all my blogging friends a wonderful christmas and a very happy and crafty new year.

Could have been a disaster!!!

2011-12-21T08:57:00.002Z

Well at last my craft room is a workable space again, still lots to be sorted thro' and discarded to various good causes or the recycle bins but otherwise ok, I didn't manage to get my sewing room up and running but perhaps will over christmas. One word of warning, if you have an old plastic bottle of glue, be careful how you handle it, I picked one out of a box and a fountain of glue shot across the room as the side of the bottle cracked - I now need a new rug and my punches etc have all had a wash! how lucky that it didn't go in the direction of the computer, now that would have been a disaster!!

Christmas Card Book

2011-12-14T17:25:00.002Z

I saw, on the TV, how to make a concertina book out of 12x12 papers and had to have a go - this christmas card is the result and certainly different to my usual cards.

Vintage birthday

2011-12-11T12:22:00.003Z

I suddenly realised I had three christmas birthday cards to make so here is what I made this morning amid the craft room chaos, I used my new Crafty Individuals stamp with some of their backing paper and added embelishments to give it a vintage look.

Apologies and pictures!

2011-12-05T17:40:00.002Z

Apologies for not visiting blogs as I normally do but I feel like the white rabbit just now, running hither and thither not getting anywhere, as I mentioned before we've been helping our friend Barry get his craft shop up and running ,it was opened last thursday, thankfully plenty of people turned out and he had a full shop, I'm posting a couple of pictures of outside and inside the shop. Now that is all over I'm clearing the craft room as I really can't work in the mess it's in at the moment and at the same time I'm turning our spare bedroom into a sewing room, how lucky am I?? I'm also posting a 'vintage' style christmas card I managed to make amid the chaos.

'Days 'Til Christmas'

2011-11-28T19:45:00.005Z

The Days 'Til canvas ( 12 x 12) was put together using a Tando chipboard kit with a few additions from me,including the board, paper and letters etc - I think I enjoyed making it even tho'I felt covered in paint,glue and glitter - I much prefer 'dry crafting' even so I love the canvas and it is in the shop as a sample as is the little Edwardian (or Victorian) boot, this was less messy to work on as I used a suede type adhesive paper and only painted the toe and heel.

Kraft core.

2011-11-24T18:07:00.006Z

These cards I made as samples for my friend Barry's shop to show case the coredinations card, the two colours that I used have a Kraft card core, the brown just had to be made up into a mild steampunk /vintage style and the pink a more feminine card, I'm afraid I rushed the photo's so they aren't too good. The shop in Newbold Verdon, about twelve miles from Leicester, will open next thursday so we are all getting excited waiting for the big day and seeing the shop fill up with lovely stock!!!
The 'card' with the bicycle and watch on is actually an ATC I made to use up scraps, unfortunately it looks the same size as the cards but is actually 3 1/2 x 2 1/2 inches.

Back to Vintage

2011-11-20T12:45:00.004Z

I felt the need to get a bit grungy in the vintage style and this card was the result, I stamped, punched and used the cricut then added lace and and a 'hat pin' embellishment. Thankfully I've finished my christmas cards (I think) so can do other things without feeling guilty.

Same stamp, same colours!!

2011-11-17T09:03:00.002Z

Still making the odd christmas card in between samples and this is the latest, making sure I get use of this stamp this year, often we buy a stamp and use it once then put it away to forget for a good while. I was thinking what flowers to embelish with when I spotted these wooden flowers that I hadn't used so I glittered one and was pleased with the result.

Christmas tag

2011-11-13T11:54:00.003Z

The latest Art n Soul challenge is for a bookmark to be accompanied by a christmas tag - here is my tag - the book mark is made but 'misplaced' at the moment, if it stays 'misplaced' I may have to make another!!! so fingers crossed I find it, that must tell you the state of my craft room!! I have used a fabric printed image that i've used many times over the last few years because it is a favourite.

Calender Cards

2011-11-08T08:53:00.003Z

I'm still making samples for the shop and the odd christmas card so nothing much to share at the moment, the cards I'm posting are ones I made some weeks ago when I got the idea of making a calender card - I think they came out ok and are workable, I want to try again and add a vintage or even 'grunge' touch to one.

Pretty???

2011-11-03T07:54:00.003Z

These are two boxes that I decorated for Barry to use as samples in his Craft shop (which will hopefully open towards the end of the month), the boxes are made from a Sissix die and I used punches for the flowers, I think the white one would make a lovely wedding gift box.

An empty jam jar.

2011-10-28T08:47:00.001+01:00

At our last crafty natter, Julia gave us a really difficult challenge in the form of two stamped,empty,jam jars and a mask for them, when I went into the craft room after my holiday there they where sitting on the desk waiting...........so here's what I did - I put a digi stamp fairy into the jar and made a sort of easel shaker card without the shaky bits!!

Venetian Views!

2011-10-25T20:33:00.002+01:00

We really loved Venice so just a few more pics!!, St Marks Basillica which was so beautiful, a view of St Marks Square from the water and - another Gondola!

Feels like a Laundry!!

2011-10-24T20:46:00.002+01:00

A lovely holiday but back to the washing etc, I think I've brought mine and someone elses - did we really take all those clothes?? This cruise was quite eventful in that having had a smooth crossing of the Bay of Biscay we hit the Mediterranean in a force 9 gale with waves that broke some of the windows on deck 5 of the ship,it also meant that we could not go to Malta as the sea was too rough for the ship to go into Valetta harbour, the upside of this was having an overnight stay in Venice -the photo's show a very rough sea, a Venetian Gondola and one of the lovely shop windows in a street off St. Marks square.
I must get all the clothes etc sorted, the housework done and my craft room tidied before I start on a project or even christmas cards - that's my promise to myself - will I keep to it??

Steampunk story book.

2011-09-27T21:37:00.003+01:00

At our last craft and natter our friend Barry gave each of us three die cut pages to decorate so after a brief panic I decided on steampunk and used printed images,stamps and diecuts to decorate the pages,I thought a dictionary definition of Steampunk was a good centrepiece for the front page. At the moment I'm not doing too much in the craft line as I'm getting ready for my upcoming holiday,and when we get home the first job is to TIDY the craft room!! hopefully.

A 'Girly' Christmas

2011-09-18T08:42:00.004+01:00

Another christmas card for my stash, this one to fit in with the Winter Wonderland challenge with the theme 'Girly', well this LOTV stamp is definitely my favourite girly for this christmas even tho' I've only used her once before.

Anything CAS goes !!

2011-09-17T13:06:00.002+01:00

This is the theme for week 33 of the Less is More challenge so I'm hoping that my embossed and diecut embellished chrismas card will fit the bill, it does have plenty of white space!

The Inventor!

2011-09-16T16:31:00.003+01:00

Another 'mild' steampunk card, made for a crafting friend, I was worried that she would think it too masculine so before I sent it ( and after i'd taken the photo) I added some bling to the cogs in the form of gems and I think it feminised it a little.

Man Cards!!

2011-09-10T14:28:00.003+01:00

I'm off to what looks like being the windy and wet north west for a few days and I've packed a few cards for Viv's charity box, she is always short of 'man cards' so I've made a couple using my steampunk stamps and papers, they aren't as dark as they look in the photo's, and yes you can see 'peel offs' they are HOTP steampunk dazzles that came in the paper kit - waste not want not!!

Mellow Yellow

2011-09-08T16:04:00.003+01:00

We were given a choice of items to make this months St Lukes charity card challenge, I chose - patterned paper,punches/diecuts, ribbon and gems.My colour scheme of yellow with a touch of grey isn't seen very often but I'd recently bought some backing papers that colour so was 'inspired'.

Steampunk card !

2011-09-06T20:26:00.004+01:00

Well fairly mild steampunk I think, I didn't like it at all when I first saw it but lately, with the more feminine papers and things, I've quite taken to it and enjoy mixing the masculine and feminine.This card is made using the Tim Holtz bodyform die, the wings and crown are also Tim's. The flower was made from regular brown paper stamped with a paper Artsy flower stamp and crumpled to give it the grungey look.
I'm entering the card into cr84fn color challenge - lt blue, turquoise and nuetral.
gettingcricky challenge - winged things.
Craft your days away - make your own flowers.

Travel Journal

2011-09-05T09:03:00.003+01:00

This is what Jan and I sidetracked onto on our recent holiday, we'd seen the papers, and what had been made with them, when we visited the local craft store and decided to have a go - this is my Journal made with my next holiday in mind. I added pockets using the papers and extra pages using Kraft card.

Altered Box

2011-08-30T21:22:00.005+01:00

I recently found this round box tucked away out of sight and decided to alter it as part of Jan's birthday present, I covered it with paper and made the flowers to decorate it, added an image and some distress ink coloured lace then filled it with chocolates, there is lace around the lid that was originally green and I changed it to brown with a combination of coffe, walnut stain and distress ink,quite a strange cocktail but it worked!
I'm entering this into ToptipTuesday challenge - Shabby Chic and TryitonTuesday - Alter anything

Digital Scrapping

2011-08-24T12:46:00.002+01:00

I treated myself to a digital scrapbooking programme to use alongside my paper scrapbooking - apparently the mix of both is called Hybrid scrapping! I was worried I wouldn't be able to figure it all out but it is really easy and I've done a few layouts so far, this one is to go into a cruise ship shaped album I had for my birthday, I haven't added any shadowing to it but I'm happy with it and can add text as I go.The page has been cut short by the scanner but you get the idea.

By the Seaside

2011-08-23T20:22:00.004+01:00

I made this card for the St Lukes challenge, I knew just what I wanted for the 'seaside' theme and spent three hours getting it totally wrong, why is it when you don't need a thing you get it right, any way this was plan b using my scene it stamps and watercolours, should have done this in the first place!

Christmas decoupage!!

2011-08-20T21:47:00.006+01:00

This certainly is a bit different for me but I liked the image on this Papermania christmas decoupage and decided to give it a go, I haven't applied all the layers as if I have to post it it'll be way to thick, it's an A5 size and I've kept the background simple. I'm entering it into the Winter Wonderland challenge, the theme is cards for men/boys.Sorry about the picture, I scanned it and it is showing shadows.

Vintage Lavender....

2011-08-19T15:46:00.004+01:00

This is a lavender bag I made for Jan's birthday using a fabric print and vintage lace decoration, there is also a piece of old crochet included and the odd piece of more modern lace.

Crafty break over....

2011-08-17T17:56:00.004+01:00

Back home this afternoon after a week caravanning and crafting with Jan and her husband. We had a plan of what we would be working on but after a visit to a local craft store ( funny how it just happens to be near where we stay) we changed plans to something entirely different so I'm sorry Viv, but the Gothic Arches never got finished (or even started) The pictures are of a wooden box that I had taken with me,one for each of to alter, it's covered with a(very expensive) paper napkin (from Norway), collaged with printed images and mod podged, distress ink was added around the edges and a gold line to finish off.
The other picture is Jan and I taken this morning just before we left for home.

A great day!!

2011-08-09T09:25:00.003+01:00

On saturday, at the fifth, loughborough, Do Crafters 'reunion we raised £1055.95p for the local Breathe Easy group, this was in memory of our friend and host's wife who passed away earlier this year. It was a lovely day, a mini garden party, with stalls and games etc and lovely food (of course) hard work but thoroughly enjoyable!! There are photos around but not mine as ,would you believe, out of three cameras I picked the one that had its memory card left in the pc!! hopefully someone will take pity on me and send the odd picture.
The picture here is a lavender bag that I made last week.

A vintage trio

2011-08-04T17:39:00.003+01:00

That's it for now, three bookmarks for the sale table on saturday, I hope they sell but if not I'm sure I can find homes for them. Back to some papercrafting and packing my crafty bits for next week when Jan and I have our yearly caravan craftathon in deepest Cambridgeshire while our longsuffering husbands talk among themselves!!, actually 'bits' isn't the right word as we usually take most of the craft room!

Just tagged on!

2011-08-01T08:53:00.003+01:00

This Lace Tag is the last part of the set for a raffle prize, originally I thought just a lavender bag and bookmark but the tag just adds a finishing touch, have I got time to make a couple of bookmarks for the sales table? we'll have to see!

A tidying morning and an atc!

2011-07-29T12:23:00.002+01:00

No I haven't tidied my craft room , I tidied my computer or rather all my pictures, they are now nicely tucked away in relevant folders and quite a few were recycled after that I put together this fabric atc, the last one I think.

Fabric ATCs

2011-07-27T10:44:00.002+01:00

My 'interactive' computer crafting started a few years ago on the Do Crafts forum with Artists Trading Cards that we swapped between us and often the cards went to the four corners of our crafting world.I don't make atcs now but here in Leicestershire we have a dc reunion every year and of course I need to have some to swap so I've made these in fabric which is the medium I prefer for these tiny cards these days, I have to admit that it is really hard to work in the 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 area after making 6x6 and 8x8 cards. Going back to the dc forum, I made some lovely friends who I'm still in contact with now and I do check up on the forum craft talk on a regular basis just in case I miss something.

Bookmark

2011-07-25T20:59:00.005+01:00

Here's the bookmark I've just finished i'll put it with the lavender bag for a raffle prize. Just a quick post as OH tells me that New Tricks is about to start on the TV and that is one programme I enjoy!!

Stitching Again

2011-07-23T16:52:00.002+01:00

My motivation to work with fabrics has at last returned and I've made a lavender bag using vintage laces and a fabric printed image, I'm now working on a bookmark and both together will be used as a raffle prize at a charity fundraiser i'll be going to in a couple of weeks.

Birthday Treat

2011-07-21T14:32:00.003+01:00

My, last minute, birthday treat was a 7 day cruise to the beautiful Norwegian Fiords, (we had been there 40 years before on our Honeymoon) we were so lucky with the weather and with seeing wild reindeer on top of a mountain and pilot whales in one of the fiords, the only little downside was the prices being as high as the mountains - Pro markers £4 each and a cup of coffee anything from £5 onwards and upwards, we have some beautiful photo's to look at now but I'm not going to bore you with more than a couple, one is the reindeer and the other the ship moored in Geiranger Fiord many many feet below us, I've added one more that is a photo of a hairdressing salon with a very strange name!

Flower Power

2011-07-07T20:34:00.003+01:00

I just finished this card using a pre printed LOTV image and embellished with rolled and lightly glittered roses, I see that the Tuesday Taggers theme for this week is for 'Flower Power so I'm entering the card into their challenge.

Scenic Stamping

2011-07-07T15:59:00.002+01:00

I had a lovely day yesterday stamping with Janet, we had planned on doing some scenic stamping using our Hobby Arts stamps but I diverted slightly and used Janet's new Woodland Scenes stamps, which could loosely be called 'scenic', as they had a lovely rabbit on and a mouse which could be built into theeir own scenes. I thought I'd done 4 images but could only find these three coloured and three just stamped.I must add that as soon as I got home I ordered my own set of the 'Woodland' stamps!!

In the air again

2011-07-05T16:54:00.003+01:00

This is another card made using the Fly Past stamps from Hobby Arts with that lovely verse, I just love the black images of the planes which really do look like the Battle of Britain flight - the central Lancaster and the Hurricane and Spitfire on either side.

Christmas Buffet

2011-07-03T15:01:00.003+01:00

The last week has seemed really busy with a crafty natter session where we used the melting pot and my monthly scrapbook crop yesterday and all the other day to day things that make the week go so quickly any way I took time out this afternoon to make another xmas card for the Christmas Challenge blog, we had to choose from the buffet list of things to use and I chose patterned paper, ribbon and snowflakes to go with my stamped snowman.Now after a cup of tea I'm determined to play with my Cricut machine!! - I hope!

'Come Fly With Me'

2011-06-26T17:20:00.003+01:00

This is the theme for this month's St Lukes charity card challenge, I've used the Hobby Arts ' Fly Past' stamps with images of the Spitfire and Hurricane, and the verse which is part of a poem written by an American WW11 pilot, he penned the poem on an envelope to his mother, sadly he was killed a couple of months later.

Pink Christmas

2011-06-25T15:15:00.003+01:00

I'm still making cards that I don't need in a hurry instead of the one I do need!! I just bought these two Marianne dies for christmas so had to try them out and as one of the christmas challenges called for a pink card they were perfect to use.
I've used Nestie die cuts, a cuttlebug folder, marianne dies, spun sugar distress ink and printed off a papermania snowflake backing sheet, nearly forgot the bling and glitter!!
I'm entering the card into - Christmas blog challenge, abc christmas challenge, Crafty Hazelnuts christmas challenge.

flowers and wings.

2011-06-23T12:20:00.003+01:00

I'm late working on my St Luke's charity card this month and am hoping to get it finished today so have posted this card to be going on with. I've used Marianne dies for the butterfly and flowers and the leaves are cut on the cricut machine.

All Wrapped Up!

2011-06-20T09:45:00.007+01:00

Back home after a week in Yorkshire with both good and bad weather, the really good day we chose to go to Whitby, a favourite place of mine, we actually climbed the 199 steps (so I'm told) up to the church and abbey. ( a family story is that my Aunt marched her ATS platoon up those steps during the war after an evening spent in a local hostelry). I took my promarkers and some stamped images to work on in the evenings but only completed about five pieces as I was reading my latest Terry Pratchett for most of the week plus the odd craft magazine. The card here is a LOTV image called 'All Wrapped up', I think she is so lovely and just had to get her, I was not sure about adding the flowers to a christmas image but I do like the final result, a bit of glitter gives that christmassy feel it think.
I am entering this card into two challenges....
Christmas Flowers
Christmas In June

Stamp and natter!

2011-06-09T12:50:00.002+01:00

I had a lovely afternoon yesterday with a small group of friends stamping as we nattered!! lots of laughs as well.My end result is this 'altered' notebook, I used the shaving brush method with distress inks to lay down the colour then added little images to build up the scene, not a perfect result but not bad, those seagulls and grasses are really useful for covering thoses odd blobs that appear from nowhere!!

Easel Box card

2011-06-08T09:01:00.004+01:00

I had to try this project once I got the template, it's easy to put together and decorate,The flowers and butterfly are from a creative expressions stamp set and the sentiment is from Hobby Arts. I filled the little drawer with note paper so it's a card/gift then I decided it would be great in it's own box - disaster, so far I have one lid and two bases and a pile of card cut to all the wrong sizes, the lid's fine and that's it folks, I'm useless at working out the right size to make the boxes if they are outside the normal - see I just don't do numbers very well at all and even tho' I have a board for making boxes (two actually) they are only as good as my numbers, and they obviously are not good, oh well i'll just keep trying - trouble is I could run out of card before I get it right!!

Shades of...........

2011-06-06T10:18:00.003+01:00

I got up this morning knowing exactly what I was going to do for the LIM challenge this week, the theme is monochrome, needless to say it wouldn't work so this is plan B, crazy when last week my card came together without thinking,in fact I wasn't even making the challenge card at the time. Anyway I'm happy with this which must be 'shades of sepia' using sepia versafine, watercolours , matching cardstock and a lovely sentiment from Hobby Arts.

House Mouse Bunny

2011-06-04T17:29:00.003+01:00

I love these House Mouse Rabbits and this is one that I bought at the NEC in march-because I loved it - and now I have a chance to use it on a baby card that will soon be winging it's way to Canada, just have the box to make and it's finished!

Pick a square!

2011-06-02T16:26:00.002+01:00

As I was making up my watercolour scenes into cards I realised that the last one I had put together would be just right for the LIM challenge this week, the recipe was to pick a square and I had put the small matted and layered picture into the centre of my card after using a nestie to emboss the actual base card.This has to be the first week that I haven't struggled to come up with a challenge card - in fact I didn't even realise I'd done it until later.

'Scene It' scenes and comment Poblems!

2011-06-01T11:09:00.004+01:00

I took my water colour kit and stamped out bits to take with me to work on this last weekend while we were away in the caravan, just in case the weather actually was as bad as they promised - it wasn't too bad but I still found time to colour. I had bought the Hobby Arts 'scene it' stamps some time ago and not really used them, same with the watercolour paints and pencils. I am wary of building a scene with the stamps in case I get the things out of perspective but I think I got this one ok and am pleased with the final card.
I'm still having trouble commenting on some blogs but Jan has just told me a possible way to sort it so I'm keeping everything crossed it works!!

Gone Fishin'

2011-05-27T08:58:00.003+01:00

I think we are all guilty of making pretty feminine cards and forgetting the 'man cards' which we all agree are not easy, I found some 'Forever Friends' man stamps at a local store recently, bought them and here is the first card I made using one of the stamps.
I'm still unable to comment on lots of the blogs and apparently I'm not alone with this problem.

Any Ideas Please or HELP!

2011-05-25T12:45:00.002+01:00

Everytime I try to comment on a post the sign in box comes up, I sign in, go back to the blog, click comment and back again to the sign in box, haven't managed to comment on a post for two days - any ideas please??

Butterflies No 2

2011-05-24T15:00:00.003+01:00

Another blast from the past with this card as I've had a go at parchment craft, I used to do this some years ago and thought I'd give it a go for a change but keep it simple. I realise that the card is just on the edge of the 'Less is More' style but I'm entering it into the Butterfly LIM challenge anyway.I used a black card as the base for the parchment and stamped 'Birthday wishes' in white on the card, it doesn't show very well on the photo.

Butterflies No 1

2011-05-24T14:53:00.003+01:00

Butterflies are the theme of LIM challenge this week, I'm sure Im not the only one who has the problem of getting an idea then seeing that someone has beaten you to it, I don't suppose it matters but it is nice to do something different. My first card is simple in that it is just using punched,pearlescent, butterflies decorated with pearls.

A garden day

2011-05-22T16:33:00.003+01:00

I had promised to have a day planting out in the garden so we braved the winds and managed to plant all that was ready to go in, May and June are my favourite times in the garden as all the lovely perenials are at their best,in my garden that means lots of Poppies and foxgloves altho they are a bit few on the ground at the moment. I took some photo's when the wind lessened and amazingly I had some good unblurred pictures, this makes me laugh as I'd taken a photo of a card i'd made and it's all blurry - strange!!

Rambling Rose.

2011-05-18T20:03:00.006+01:00

I'm late with this weeks LIM challenge card which is to use embossing (dry or heat embossing)I finally decided on a new stamp I just got, the Rambling Rose set from Creative Expressions. It took ages to get the right card to heat emboss on after stamping with versamark, I then watercoloured the Rose lightly and finally put in two dry embossed lines either side of the rose.I forgot to add that this is a one layer card. I really love this rose set and plan to use the other parts of it asap.

Two for Tea

2011-05-18T16:10:00.005+01:00

I thought I'd better get some cards made with all the stamped images I have ready to go so here is this lovely LOTV image mixed with Desert Blooms backing papers, I have distressed the edges of the paper and card and added distress ink around the image, I stitched the layers together to add to the 'distressed' look and yes I've entered it into a challenge that requires 'Vintage and/or Distressed projects. The corner piece is cut out on the cricut machine as is the flower.

Another blast from the past!

2011-05-17T09:08:00.003+01:00

Last week it was 'Teabag' folding and this week a card made using decoupage, all cut out by hand, not todays die cut sort! I took it from a Joanna Sheen cd of the work of english artist Josephine WAll, one of those things you wonder why you started, and then what to do when it's all cut out, but somehow it came together and will be a birthday card for a non crafty friend, will I do another?? we'll see.
I've also been making magnetic bookmarks to go into the charity box, they are rather addictive, i'll post a pic of them soon.

White Addiction

2011-05-12T20:36:00.000+01:00

I think I could get addicted to these white on white cards, there are so many lovey ones on the LIM site and they all give you ideas for another one!! I've seen a new spellbinders flower die and before I send for it I've tried out some small Marianne flower dies to try the rose effect, there are some good tutorials on Youtube, anyway rather than waste the flower I've made another entry for the challenge.Well that's my excuse!!

Poppy Challenge

2011-05-11T10:40:00.003+01:00

Over on The Stampman challenge blog the theme is Poppies and you can send your cards off to The Stampman ,if you wish,to raise money at a special British Legion event to be held in Skipton during October, I had already promised Janet a card when this was first advertised so what better than to include it in the challenge as well. I watercoloured my image, which is from Elusive Images, and layered it onto backing paper that I printed from a Joanna Sheen cd using both draft and normal settings to get the different effects.

Pick a Pattern

2011-05-09T20:11:00.002+01:00

The St Lukes hospice charity card challenge wants to see checks,spots,stripes and gingham etc on this months card, I've added all that topped with a promarkered Digi stamp and even found some spotted flowers in my stash, oh and I forgot the spotted ribbon.

Mini Workshop

2011-05-09T18:01:00.003+01:00

Mini in that it was made up of four friends plus me, I set up three cards and a bookmark for them to make and they completed them all. The first was a card decorated with a teabag folded topper,i'd been asked to do this and had to get out the old books for instructions as it must be 7 years since i'd done any folding but we managed, I don't think I'll keep on doing them tho'. I've posted a photo of the girls enjoyng the day with a cup of coffee on hand.

Punches and Pearls

2011-05-08T13:19:00.003+01:00

This weeks Less is more challenge is - White on White - my base is a cut and embossed card, using a new Marianne embossing/cutting die, the sentiment is stamped in grey and then the whole is decorated with punched flowers plus a butterfly - all in white, I've used tiny flat back pearls and liquid pearls for the flower centres. I seem to have had a week of punched flowers with all those that went on my 'magic box', I find it a great way to use up scraps of card.

Inside the box

2011-05-07T16:32:00.002+01:00

Finished the inside at last, all the little punched flowers took a long time to shape and put together but I'm pleased with the results, I used the same digi image as in the 'shell' card and similiar colours, I really love the way the acetate stands up with the flowers attached, the inspiration for this came from the magic box blog and there is also a tutorial on the LOTV inspiration blog as well as on the magic box blog.
Today I'm putting together a card workshop for a few friends on monday, I've chosen what I hope are easy cards for them to make, we'll have to see.

'Shell' card

2011-05-05T10:01:00.003+01:00

It's not really a shell but just reminds me of something like that, the inspiration for it came from Fleur, I saw the card on Fleurs blog and then when I visited Sir Stampalot there it was again - beautiful!! Any way this is my version made using my blossom nesties, tattered rose distress inks, the 'fairy flora' digi stamp I coloured with promarkers and as usual I made the flowers using my punches, all brought together with a gentle dusting of glitter. Thank you Fleur for the inspiration!! please visit her blog (link above) to see the original card and all the other lovely cards that Fleur makes. I thought this card perhaps would go to Canada for my cousin's daughter's new baby but just found out it'll be a boy so back to the drawing board!! can you have blue shells??

A winner and a magic box.

2011-05-04T16:48:00.002+01:00

I was so pleased to see that my flower card, for the St Lukes Hospice challenge,was one of the four winning cards and I have my winners badge to prove it!!
Todays picture shows the magic box I am working on, the outside is finished and I hope to get the inside done tonight, i'll put up the relevant links in the next post.

Off Centre!!

2011-04-27T15:42:00.005+01:00

This is my card for this weeks less is more challenge, the theme was 'off centre' and I used my Puccini Muse stamp from Stampington and lightly coloured it with promarkers, the sentiment is an old one with slightly oriental lettering that was originally with oriental stamps.

Butterfly Girl!!

2011-04-25T16:02:00.003+01:00

I had originally decided to make a fabric postcard for the challenge on Art and Soul but then changed my mind and settled on paper collage - the challenge is to make a collaged postcard and use metal somewhere on it. I used a serviette as the base and added collage bits from my stash, I used vintage photo distress ink to bring all the colours together on top of a coat of gloss mod podge, my metal is an alcohol inked butterfly from a (cheap shop) necklace.

Chutney and a box.

2011-04-24T15:53:00.004+01:00

After a walk around our local country park we returned home to undo all the good the walk had done by indulging in a whole easter egg, well we needed something to make up for not being able to go away in the caravan because it is on the poorly list at the moment at the 'repairers'. I set to and made some rhubarb chutney , the whole bungalow now smells of vinegar but the chutney looks good!! And I made another origami box, this one more man style with rusty grunge paper 'hinges'. I should say that the finished boxes are 3 1/4" square and the inner box is made from an 8" square of paper.

Origami Box

2011-04-23T17:37:00.004+01:00

I found this blog some weeks back and thought I would like to have a go at the various boxes Elaine shows, when I went further back I found the Origami boxes that are really quite simple to make, so this morning I had a go!! Once the box was ready to be decorated I realised that, altho in a sheet of paper it was pretty, it was a dreadful colour to match - neither pink nor mauve but I managed (with the help of white card and distress inks) and am quite pleased with my first attempt.Perhaps a couple more then I'll have a go at what Elaine calls a magic box.

The dreaded Acetate!

2011-04-19T08:46:00.003+01:00

We've just had a weekend away in the caravan and strangely it was close by a very nice stamp shop so of course a visit was a must, I bought some lovely stamps that I think will go great with the less is more challenge so was keen to check this out as soon as I got home, but not to be - this week we have to use ACETATE - that dreaded word, then I remembered the flowers I'd made a few weeks ago -- take a piece of acetate, drip a couple of colours of alcohol inks onto it, add some glossy accents and move the mix around a little, place a good tissue paper onto it nd continue to 'squidge', allow to dry and then use the result as you wish, I'd cut out flowers using my Tim Holtz die --- so I used one on the card and added a sentiment to match the colour. I do hope it's not too bright for LIM but there is still a good bit of white card showing.

Catching up.

2011-04-13T13:02:00.003+01:00

This week I've been catching making birthday cards that I need to send out so I'm just showing a special one that I made using my new embossing folders and also a couple of boxes I made for easter goodies.

Two for one!

2011-04-10T08:59:00.003+01:00

The LIM challenge this week is for a one layer card with the sentiment as the focus so for once I had two ideas and made two cards. The 'birdie card I stamped the image then lay a nestie on the back, turned it over and ran an embossing tool around all the edges, probably would have been easier to run it thro' the machine but it worked, the stamps I used are 'Pink Petticoat' freebies from a magazine.I used crayons for the colouring.The second card I lightly inked the square and the edge of the card with memento 'pear tart',stamped the sentiment part way across the coloured block and added a little bling - very simple.

Say it with flowers.

2011-04-09T12:26:00.003+01:00

This card is for the St Lukes Charity Card Challenge, a new monthly challenge where you can actually send the card you make, by freepost, to be sold for funds for the St Lukes Hospice in Sheffield, please check out the challenge as it is such a worthy cause.For the first theme they have asked for Flower cards, I decided to emboss the layers using an embossing board, I stamped a Whiff of Joy sentiment then added lots of punched flowers, I used white pearlescent card throughout and changed the flower colours with distress inks. The card is really pink and white not pink with a tinge of lilac as my camera turns it.

A Lovely Day!!

2011-04-07T09:24:00.004+01:00

Yesterday Roy and I drove north and Viv and her hubby drove south and we met at Trentham Gardens near Stoke on Trent, we had a lovely day swapping crafty goodies (most important) then walking in the gardens , eating a fine lunch then in the afternoon, which turned out so hot, Viv and I did a quick check of the shopping village and returned to the menfolk to eat icecream before another short walk by the lake, there was no rush to get home and we returned to the garden centre restaurant for a coffee before we left. I had rested my ankle on tuesday in the hope it would't be too bad for wednesday and went well strapped up and with a stock of painkillers, luckily the rest had done it good and other than the odd limp and twinge it was ok. Did feel a bit overheated ,around the feet, in my boots but they were all I could get on.

A Touch of Red

2011-04-03T15:47:00.004+01:00

A touch of red is the theme of this weeks Less is More challenge, I used an Inkadinkado swirl stamp and punched some red flowers for the 'touch' and coloured the 'leaves with pastel crayons. Between starting and finishing this card we went for a walk around our local country park and I managed to twist my ankle rather badly, I know I should be sitting with said ankle raised but i'll do that later when (and if) there's something interesting on the TV.

A sucker for a Bunny!!

2011-04-01T16:37:00.004+01:00

Perhaps it's because my Dad used to keep rabbits when I was a kid but I've always loved them and OH and I have kept a couple ourselves, they even had their small hutches for when we went caravanning!!! but back to the new card - I found two bunny stamps in a local store and had to have them, this is Basil , Buttercup has yet to surface as has the House Mouse bunny stamp I bought last weekend at the NEC. I'm rather pleased with myself as I stamped onto watercolour card and used my watercolour crayons with an aqua brush to colour the image.

Finished at last!!

2011-03-30T10:46:00.003+01:00

My Fabric book has been sitting there just waiting to be put together and last week I did it, I am so pleased with the finished article despite it having taken a year to do - note to self (again) must finish the cowgirl book next!!

Not as I planned!!

2011-03-27T17:04:00.004+01:00

Well it's Sunday so it must be the Less is More card, this week I knew exactly what I wanted to do after seeing the sketch we'd been given, I picked the stamp and started then decided the stamp was too big so go one down - it wasn't there, in fact it was nowhere so onto plan b which I didn't actually have but I've done it and am quite pleased with the result,I used a Marianne ribbon flower die for the focal point, punched out the black strip and add matching ribbon,finally I embossed the lower part of the card with the Swiss Dots cuttlebug folder, I should mention we had to work on a DL card.The sentiment is from Polka Doodles.

Stitching again......

2011-03-24T08:37:00.002Z

The first time this year that I used my sewing machine, very unusual for me but just haven't felt like it so far, anyway last night I set to and made one of my vintage style bookmarks for a friend, definitely feel better for doing it!! Off to the hobbycrafts show at the NEC tomorrow, what do I need? nothing really - have I a shopping list - yes a long one, of course.

Jungle friends and a new arrival.........

2011-03-23T08:53:00.002Z

I'm really pleased how these Cricut cards turned out after staring at the die cut pieces for a while, then panicking!!! what do I do with the bits???? but in the end they were ok. The two A6 cards are for the 'soldiers' box, I thought they'd be ok to be sent back to their children and the pink one is for Viv's charity box.

Out of the Box

2011-03-20T13:28:00.002Z

I've been watching Sue Wilson demo this technique, on Create and Craft TV,She stamps her design the cuts out the part that is to be 'out of the box' or out of the nestie, so I decided to have a go for this weeks Less is More Challenge which is Masculine cards, again I rummaged thro' the old stamps and found this little used Vintage car, an ideal image to use for this method. It really has been a strugle to put the card together, I started yesterday and have only just finished.

Cricut cards!

2011-03-17T20:25:00.003Z

Thought I'd show that I do use my Cricut machine for things other than corners and flourishes, the new arrival card is going into the charity box for Viv and the Hippo card is going into the box of cards I'm making for a friend to send to the Help the Heroes organization, they apparently send them out to the camps in Afghanistan for the soldiers to send back to family and friends.I think baby and childrens cards are really out of my comfort zone but I think they're ok - some more in the making on my desk.

My digi 'magic'

2011-03-15T09:28:00.003Z

I'm so pleased with myself that for once I managed to change the colour of this Digi stamp from the original black to this lovely orange, (and other other colours as I want them),usually when I go into a graphics programme I get nowhere so I must have been having a good day. The ribbon bow is American 'seam binding' that Jan sent me a small length of, I 'dyed' it with watered down distress inks. I'm entering the card for the Gingerloft challenge as their theme is Flowers, and for once there's not a punched out one in sight.

Less is more challenge

2011-03-13T17:22:00.003Z

This weeks challenge is for a one layer card with the image going 'off the edge', I thought this old Fuschia stamp would be ideal for this as I could imagine that they are hanging down from a basket. I stamped the image with Adirondak - eggplant and coloured with Promarkers, the sentiment, also in eggplant is from Polkadoodles.I originally took a photo of my card but as usual the white looked lilac and although I tried to alter it in Picassa it wouldn't work so cleaned the scanner plate again but I can still see marks on the card close up, they aren't there in realilty - honest!!

Black and white mood.

2011-03-10T16:30:00.002Z

I just made these two cards using a digi stamp for the daisies and the butterfly is the free stamp from craft stamper magazine this month.I cleaned my scanner screen but I can still see marks on the pictures.

A Follies Fan

2011-03-09T10:33:00.003Z

The latest challenge on the flickr Art n Soul site is to make a fan with a french influence,I think mine is influenced by the 'Folies Bergere' (apologies if that isn't the right spelling but I'm sure you know what I mean) I've used my Martha Stewart punches for the flowers and branches then stamped and embossed in black halfway down the fan stick, I've attached the ribbon to the back so that it doesn't open and close, was that a mistake? - well my story is that it's to protect the flowers - and I'm sticking to that.