Commissioned Birthday Card

I put some finishing touches to a male birthday card for a customer today.  I had finished it a few days ago but you know what it's like when something just doesn't sit right so a few tweaks and I am more happy with it now.  I have used backing papers/embellishments from a Hot off the Press book that I got for my birthday.  The lighthouse image is from Digi Doodles which I have coloured with Promarkers and chalk pencils.  The sentiment is from my computer.

This card fits the following challenges:

Cards for Men - Anything goes
A Spoon Full of Sugar - let's get punchy
Top Tip Tuesday - Anything goes
Paper Pretties - Square card/project
Simons Says - Punch em'
Digi Doodles - Anything goes
Paper Sundaes - Card for a boy or man.

Commissioned Birthday Card

I was asked to make a card for a boy who likes motorbikes and sports - so I thought these kanban images I was given would be perfect.  I have kept the card quite plain and simple and used up various scraps of paper/card, cut some die-cuts with my Nestabilities, added a peel-off and a charm and hey presto the card has been made.

This card fits the following challenges:

Cards for Men - Anything goes
Paper Pretties - Square card or project
Raise the Bar - Go-go-go
Paper Sundaes - Card for a boy or man.

Autumn Birthday Card

I was asked to make another autumn-style card for a customer who has a friend who loves teddy bears.  I thought this cute image from Digital delights would be perfect.  Again I have used some K&Co paper and stamped over with leaf stamps in green and brown Versafine and also stamped a few leaf images around the digital image to tie it all in.  All the papers I have distressed the edges with Tim Holtz's Brushed Corduroy ink pad and the images has been distressed with Tim Holtz's Mustard Seed and Spiced Marmalade ink pads.  The cards is simply finished off with some material leaves which I've had for some years, some gorgeous orange card candy and a die-cut greeting I was given by a friend.

This card fits the following challenges:

Sentimental Sunday - Distressing
One Stitch at a Time - Any celebration
I Did it Creations - Anything goes
My Partner in Crime - It's material - my fabric leaves - it's amazing how I've had the stash for some years now and because of two challenges this week four have been used up!!
Flourishes - Anything goes but button and bows
Top Tip Tuesday - Anything goes
Crafty Creations - Halloween or autumn.

Commissioned Birthday Card

A customer wanted a card for her nephew who loves animals so I turned to Joanna Sheen's Jayne Netley Mayhew CD.  I decided to go for this German Shepherd image and have simply distressed the matching backing paper and mounted it up onto various layers of different hues of brown (yes they are all brown - no matter how hard I tried I couldn't get the mucky brown coloured one to photograph with the camera) and added a sentiment so it could fit in with the CD Sunday Challenge of no embellishments - yikes that certainly was a challenge!!!

This card also fits the following challenges:

Cards for Men - Anything goes
Top Tip Tuesday - Anything goes
Fab n Funky - Keep it clean and simple
CRAFT - Monotone 
Crafty Emma - Chocolate Caramel - I decided to go for the colour tones that these two words imply.

Aud Sentiments Challenge Blog Monthly Blog Candy

Over at the Aud Sentiments Challenge Blog they have some monthly blog candy to be given away. Click here to go and have a look - but you'll have to be quick as it ends tomorrow!!!

Another Halloween card

Yes, I know, I know I said I wouldn't make anymore but I couldn't resist using this new stamp I bought from a blogging friend.  It's a Sweet Pea stamp and she's beautiful.  I have stamped her with Tim Holtz's Rusty Hinge distress ink pad and left it overnight and then bleeded out some of the colour and used my Lyra Aquacolours to add just a tiny bit of colour.  The image I then distressed the edge of the image with my Tim Holtz distressing - I love this tool - and then inked the edges with the brown chalk ink pad.  I have used some K & Co papers that I thought were Okish for what I wanted but then I stamped various different leaf stamps around the edge in Versafine green and brown.  I used one of my new star die-cuts and inked the edges with a chalk ink pad.  The card is then finished off with some flowers with brads in the centre and a Happy Halloween sticker.

This card fits the following challenges:

The Corrosive Challenge - Halloween
I Did it Creations - Anything goes
Paper Playtime - Halloween
Simon Says Stamp and Show - Something spooky
Pear Tree Designs - Halloween
The Cuttlebug Spot - Welcome fall
Ooh-la-la Creations - Scary Stuff
A Spoon Full of Sugar - Let's get punchy - punches or die-cuts
Top Tip Tuesday - Anything goes
Little Red Wagon - Halloween
In a Sweet Pea Dream - Things with Wings
Crafty Creations - Halloween or autumn
Simon Says - Punch 'em - Punches or die-cuts
Paper Play - a Haunting we will go
Shirley's Girls - Trick or treat
Sarah Hurley - Halloween
Rainbow Lady's - Spooky and scary
Pixie Dust - Happy Halloween
Crafty Catz - Halloween
Daring Cardmakers - Trick or treat
Shelly's Images - Tic-tac-toe - Flowers, brads and distressing.

Thank You Card

This is the second of the Thank You cards I have made.  Again it's using the Hot of the Press papers/images/embellishments that I got for my birthday.  The papers I have stamped the edges with various Lavinia tree stamps, in Versafine black ink on the brown backing paper and in green Versafine ink on the green backing paper.  This time I have made an autumn-style card for the dad.  The card is simply embellished with some raffia ribbon I got in Dawn Bibby's shop last year when I was on holiday, a sentiment off the computer, an insert from Joanna Sheen's Jayne Netley Mayhew CD and some fabric leaves which I've had for many years now.

This card fits the following challenges:

2 Sisters - Anything goes
One Stop Craft - Photo inspiration
Scrappy Frogs - Give thanks
My Partner in Crime - It's a material - fabric leaves for me
Cards for Men - Anything goes
Top Tip Tuesday - Anything goes
Crafty Creations - Halloween or autumn
Crafty Sentiments - Male card/project
Aud Sentiments - Thanks.

Thank You Card

Well the end is in sight for our new toilet and shower room and I have made a card each for the builder and his son.  For my birthday I got a Hot of the Press book with images/papers/embellishments to make into cards.  I am terrible and can't follow the ideas anymore so these are my designs.  For this card each layer I have distressed the edges with a chalk ink pad but two of the layers I have hacked with my Tim Holtz distressing tool before inking to give a very rough, distressed edge.  The card is then simply layered up and a sentiment added from my computer and an insert added from the Artylicious Brocade CD.

This card fits the following challenges:

2 Sisters - Anything goes
Sentimental Sunday - Distressing
Scrappy Frogs - Give thanks
Cards for Men - Anything goes
Top Tip Tuesday - Anything goes
Aud Sentiments - Thanks
One Stop Craft - Photo inspiration
Fab n Funky - Keep it clean and simple.

WOYWW - Wednesday 27 October 2010

Well what an amazing week having a look at everyone's blogs for the WOYWW.  Click here to have a look at Julia's blog who runs the weekly WOYWW event.

There are certainly some good WOYWW detectives out there.  I thought I'd only really included a picture of my craft desk but some of you realised what it was.  Earlier in the year I seriously considered giving up cardmaking altogether as I couldn't cope with craft stuff all around the dining area of the lounge/diner and stuff all over the dining room table.  We then saw details of the Workbox so we started to save.  I was concerned though as it was so expensive but as I make my cards to sell to raise funds for charity, if I gave up cardmaking the charities would lose out, it was something we as a family were prepared to do.

Thankfully we did manage to get one half price as it had been put up in the shop and had got marked/damaged in a few places.  We had to go to Oxford to have a look and after using my brother-in-law's MPV it was brought home and has been living in my house since.  Yes, it took my husband a while to put up and he put some polyfilla over a couple of marks but after spending some considerable time, I was 100% happy with the Workbox.  I am amazed how much I have used up since having it as before I did not have the "will or way" to go looking for stuff even though I knew I had it.  I haven't gotten around to labelling the shelves but seem to remember where things are and it has made things so much easier for me and the charities haven't lost out.  I am supposed to shut the Workbox down after each session but that doesn't always happen but when visitors come it just looks like a wardrobe in our front room!!!!

These are some photos from June 2010 when it became my best friend:

Well, onto WOYWW this week.  Here are some photos of my worktable taken today.  I have some preparations for some commissioned cards on there and some digital images I have printed off and some I have coloured in and some I haven't.  I collect Keel dogs and often I have a "visitor" come and sit at my desk.  This time it is Jasper the Dalmatian.

Craft Your Passion Challenge - Guest Design Team Position - Week Four

Well, the time has come for my last post as a member of the Craft Your Passion Guest Design Team for October.  The month has flown b but I have been able to use some lovely digital images and have seen some lovely creations by the Design Team and all the bloggers entering the challenges.  Thank you for this opportunity.

This week the challenge is a Technique Challenge - Add glitter and sparkles.  For me the glitter part is certainly a challenge as I hate getting messy with glitter so I have cheated somewhat and used some glitter paper I got for my birthday and put this through my Tim Holtz's embossing folder for some added texture and I have also used some Papermania Glitterations.  I love these but I don't think they can be that popular as not very many places sell them.  The image of the ballet shows is by the talented Corrine.  Click here to go and see more of her work.  I have coloured the image with Promarkers.  I did start off with the ballet shoes pink as well but they just sunk into the card so I added a very light lilac over the top and I think that this works better.  Most of the backing papers and card are scraps BUT I was naughty and started a new piece of paper.  It was one I won in some blog candy earlier in the year and is Henbury Lane and it is one of the glitter papers and is so sparkly so it was perfect to use.

This card also fits the following challenges:

Digi Doodles - Keep it simple
Moving Along With the Times - Use Promarkers and anything goes
Stamp Something - Use a digi
Pink Friday - Pink card or project
2 Sisters - Anything goes
Totally Gorjuss - Sparkle
I Did it Creations - Anything goes.

Two Challenge Wins Today

Well I certainly have been lucky today.  I see that I have won two challenges.

The first win is over at the One Stitch at a Time Challenge Blog.  I now have this image to put on my blog (well I won't get away from that witch and her teeth!!!):

The second challenge I have won is over at the I Did it Creations Challenge Blog and I have a Beary Dust image to pick - ooh it's like a child in a sweetie shop trying to pick!!!

I would just like to say a BIG thank you to everyone that runs challenges and the sponsors that donate lovely prizes.  As I make all my cards to sell to raise funds for different charities I put all my winnings to good use for that purpose.

The Crafty Purple Frog - Challenge One

This week sees the start of The Crafty Purple Frog Challenge.  I love Sweet Pea stamps but also love decoupage so The Crafty Purple Frog decoupage/pyromage sheets are perfect.  Click here to go and have a look at the wonderful creations.

For week one the topic is anything goes so I have used my new Poinsettia decoupage image.  The two main backing papers for this card were given to me by a friend from a magazine but I'm not sure which.  The other papers are Basic Grey, Crafty Ann's and some vellum.  I have decoupaged the image, adding some clear Sakura Stardust pen to highlight areas and have then distressed the edges of all the papers with Tim Holtz's distressing tool and the pink/red papers are edged with red chalk ink pad and the green papers are edged with an olive green chalk ink pad.  The card has then been finished off with some buttons, zig-zag peel-off, ornate lace, bow and a Crafty Ann's ticket sentiment.

This card fits the following challenges:

Ribbon Girl Challenge - Red and green
Corrosive Challenge - Rid of the white
One Stitch at a Time - Embellish it
I Did it Creations - Girl of my dreams
Crafty Cardmakers - Use a freebie
Bah! Humbug - Elegance
Stamp Something - Use a digi
Alphabet Challenge - Z for zig-zags
Fussy and Fancy Friday - Winter Wonderland
Crafty Emma - Button and bows
2 Sisters - Anything goes
One Stop Craft - Photo inspiration.

Christmas Card

Here is a different style of card I have made with some freebies designed by Nancy Watt for Making Cards Magazine.  I have used the backing papers and various toppers from the magazine and then used my Cricut to make the snowflake (which I put Stickles over) and also the flower from a book and a flower shape on the Cricut.  The card is then simply finished off with a gem brad and a sentiment off the computer.

This card fits the following challenges:

Totally Gorjuss - Pink as the main colour
Crafty Cardmakers - Use a freebie
Cricut Cardz - Breast Cancer Awareness eg Think Pink
Bah! Humbug - Elegance
Pink Friday - Pink card or project.

Commissioned Anniversary card

It is the wedding anniversary of one of my customers and her mum wanted a card making.  I purchased an image from Crafts U Print as I've used up all the anniversary images I already had.  The image was simply mounted and the hearts decoupaged.  The backing papers are from my stash and include some blue vellum which I've held down with some brads.  The card is simply finished off with some lace, pearl hat pin, pearls and flowers.

This card fits the following challenges:

Allsorts - Bingo - brads, lace and pearls
Little Red Wagon - Hearts
Hodge Podge - Monchromatic.

Crafty Ann's Challenge No 26

Here is the arrival of another fortnight at Crafty Ann's and a new challenge.  This fortnight the topic is an embellishment recipe:  use ribbon, gems and one or more embellishments made from paper/card.

I chose to do an 8x8 card and used two pieces of plain backing paper from my stash.  I then printed out two green-and-black papers from Crafty Ann's new green and black collection (lots of other colours and black collections in her store - go and have a look here), added these to the plain paper and then added a spotty ribbon (still not sure I like it but it's stuck down and there to stay).  Next I took Crafty Ann's pre-coloured poinsettia into My Craft Studio and just cropped the image and printed off a selection of sizes.  For the centre of the flowers I put in a deep blob of Glossy Accents and then added some yellow seed beads and left to dry overnight.    The card is then simply finished off with a sentiment off the computer, one of Crafty Ann's embellishment bows and some gems.

This card also fits the following challenges:

Ribbon Girl Challenge - Red and green
Top Tip Tuesday - Anything goes
Stamp Something - Use a digi (I have used digital papers, images and embellishments)
Bah! Humbug - Elegance.

WOYWW - Wednesday 20 October 2010

Well, this is my first go at putting a link to my workdesk for What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday aka  WOYWW.  I've looked at blogs for sometime now.  It's nice to get a sneak of things and then see them days later made into creations.  On my desk you can see the front of a commissioned card I have finished - just got to sort out the inside and it's finished.  There's also various images from The Crafty Purple Frog and Crafts U Print that I have cut out for future commissioned cards.  The rest of the bits-and-pieces are leftovers from cards/magazine that I haven't tidied away yet.

If you fancy having a look at other entrants for the WOYWW please click here.

2nd Birthday Card

I needed to make a card for a little girl who will be 2 this week.  I used a Papernation little girl with her sunflower decoupage and backing sheet that I've had for some years now.  I used my Cricut to make some layers for the image to sit on and also to cut out the circles, number "2" and the words "AVA" and "TODAY" - it's a perfect piece of equipment for things like that.  I have simply just distressed the edges of the papers I have used and the embellishments are items off the decoupage sheet, some glittery/sparkly stars, a die-cut sentiment and inside and the back is finished off with some matching Papernation peel-offs.

This card fits the following challenges:

Cricut Cardz - Anything goes and Cricut cartridge (I have used Plantin Schoolbook and Accent Essentials)
Crafty Creations - Shows is your numbers
ABC Challenge - F is for flowers
Paper Cutz - Anything goes
Lexi's Creations - Happy Birthday - Congratulations on your first birthday Lexi's Creations
Paper Sundaes - For someone little
Top Tip Tuesday - Anything goes
I Did it Creations - Girls of my dreams
Party Time Tuesdays - Anything goes
Sisterhood of Crafters - Show us your bling
Little Red Wagon - Something old/something new - old is the decoupage and backing papers and new is the die-cut sentiment.

In a Sweet Pea Dream - Challenge 3

Over at the In a Sweet pea Dream Challenge Blog the challenge is Christmas.  I haven't got any of the lovely Sweet Pea Christmas stamps so have adapted one I already had using typical Christmas colours of red and green.  I have coloured the image with Promarkers/Copics and the sky has been filled in with chalks.  I then tore the edge of the image with my X-cut tearing ruler and then distressed the edges with a glitter chalk (these ones are more like a paste and a little more difficult to use but I thought perfect for the edges).  I have then layered the image onto some scraps of paper and put some leaf brads in the corners which I have had since I first started cardmaking and never used.  The backing papers are two scraps leftover from a Crafty Ann's Design Team card and the bottom piece is a scrap leftover from a piece of Basic Grey paper.  The card is then finished off with some poinsettias from Crafty Ann's Digi Shop which I have painstakingly cut out, a ticket sentiment and a ribbon bow.  Certainly a non-traditional Christmas card.

This card also fits the following challenges:

Little Red Wagon - Something old/something new - old is the brads and new is the ribbon bow
ABC Challenge - F is for flowers
Just Inspirational - Stamped project
Sarah Hurley - Colouring
Paper Cutz - Anything goes
Top Tip Tuesday - Anything goes
Winter Wonderland - Vintage
Allsorts - BINGO - brads, flowers, ribbon (bow)
Gingerloft - Winter
Pear Tree Designs - Free for all
Sweet Pea Stamper - Brads/bow or both.

Craft Your Passion Challenge - Guest Design Team Position - Week Three

Well week three is here as my role as Guest Design Team Member for the Craft Your Passion Challenge Blog.  This week the topic is orange, purple and black but it did not have to be a Halloween project.  I used my image and colour in with a mixture of Copics/Promarkers and distressed the edges with Tim Holtz's Spiced Marmalade, Dusty Concord and Black Soot distress ink pads.

For the card itself I cut off a small strip off the front so that a peel-off border would show.  The pearlescent paper I've had for ages and ages.  The orange scrap is leftover from a Design Team card for Crafty Ann's and the paper is available from Crafty Ann's Digi Store.  The purple paper is from Hot off the Press paper pad which I got for my birthday a few weeks ago.  The card is simply finished off with a ticket sentiment, some black stars and three metal clips that I've had for a while as well.

Please go and have a look at all the other Design Team cards here.

This card fits the following challenges:

Cards for Men - Happy birthday
Papertake Weekly - 3 of a kind (3 metal clips)
Crafty Creations - Show us your numbers (numbers on the ticket sentiment)
Digi Doodles - Person or people
Just Inspirational - Stamped project - either rubber or digital
Sarah Hurley - Colouring 
Paper Cutz - Anything goes
Crafty Emma - Male birthday card.

Commissioned With Love Card

I was asked to make a With Love card for someone for her partner who is into all types of dancing. I used an image from a My Craft Studio Simply Silhouettes CD and kept it simple (as I was asked) with some matting and layering, a sentiment and some card candy.

This card also fits the following challenges:

CD Sunday - Monochrome
Daring Cardmakers - Welcome to the dance
Raise the Bar - Get a hobby.