Up, up and away...

Greetings to you all, I hope you are well.
Apologies for the quiet recently but I have been unwell, I am currently typing this very slowly as I can only see out of one eye due to having an infection that has sealed my left eye shut with all the swelling :/
Today's post took me almost a whole day to put together-everything takes longer when you are not your best, doesn't it?
Well, I have been wanting this stencil for ages-ever since I saw it at a show and I was so excited when I finally bought it!

Hot Air Balloon stencil- Imagination Crafts
Sparkle in Copper, Sand and Brown- Glitz Craft
Up, up and away stamp- Dreamees
Gems, charm and ribbon from my stash.

This design is a fun one to put together-I was a bit hesitant with the guillotine at first as it's such a lovely image!
I figure this card could be used to send to someone who just graduated, or got a promotion,  someone moving house, or leaving work/retiring. There are many uses for this and I like versatility ;)

I hope you like it as much as I liked making it!  Let me know what you think, and until next time-Happy Crafting xx

Challenges Entered:
Imagination Crafts- Anything Goes
HIding in my Craftroom- Fall Colours
Brown Sugar- Anything Goes
Crafty Catz- Anything Goes
Sister Act Card Challenge- Anything Goes

Christmas Again!

Greetings to you all, I hope you are well.
Today it's Christmas cards again!
I have made a lot of these, in different colours, with different charms and ribbon. I did blog a different version of these last year (if anyone remembers!!)

I die cut lots and lots of letters!
I think these cards are really effective-let me know what you think!

I used:
Memory box typewriter letters
Martha Stewart Snowflake punch
Card, ribbon, paper and charms from my stash!

Gluing the letters on was the trickiest part of making this card-Top Tip: put the glue on the back of your hand and pass the die cuts across it-that way you don't end up with loads of glue on your card, practically obscuring your die cut!  (Thanks to Cheremane for that tip xx)

I hope you like this card-I had a lot of fun creating it :)

Challenges Entered:
Inspiration Destination- Anything Goes
Paper Creators- Use a Charm
Crafting at the Weekend- Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by, until next time-Happy Crafting!
xx

For a Friend

Greetings to you all, I hope you are well.
Today a break from Christmas for you all! The inspiration behind my previous post.
I made this card for my good friend and fellow crafter and I loved it so much that I am making another!! (Well, I am blessed to have more than one friend so why not?!)

I like inking-to me, it's not crafting unless you get ink on yourself!! So this card uses lots of ink!!
It's incredibly bright and colourful (a bit of a departure from my usual colours!) but it's an upbeat sentiment being used and I thought it warranted a rainbow accompaniment :)

I used:
Friends are like Stars stamp by Inkylicious
Stars, Stars 1 and Star Cluster stamps by Lavinia Stamps
Versafine Onyx Black Ink

Distress inks in: Mustard Seed, Salty Ocean, Peacock Feathers, Festive Berries, Mowed Lawn and Seedless Preserves
White card blank, black card, metallic gold card and black ribbon from my stash!

The various distress inks were applied and then splashed with water to give a multi tonal effect, once dried with a heat gun, the stars and sentiment were stamped, the backing was then mounted and layered onto the card, as were the sentiment and ribbon, before adding the bow to finish it off.

I hope you like this card-I had a lot of fun creating it :)

Challenges Entered:
FairytaleStamper- Use Flower or Ribbon
Crafting When we Can- No Designer Papers
Crafting at the Weekend- Anything Goes


Thanks for stopping by, until next time-Happy Crafting!
xx

Fairy Christmas

Greetings to you all, I hope you are well.
Today it's back to the Christmas cards (well there are always so many of them to make!!)
I made this card based upon one I made for my good friend and fellow crafter (I will probably blog that one too!)

I used lots of ink!!
It's really bright and colourful and, I think, reflects the joy and fun of Christmas-the cheeky fairies trimming the tree stamp finishes it off nicely.

I used:
Christmas Eve, Stars, Stars 1 and Star Cluster stamps by Lavinia Stamps
Versafine Onyx Black Ink
Distress inks in: Mustard Seed, Salty Ocean, Peacock Feathers, Festive Berries, Mowed Lawn and Seedless Preserves
White card blank, black card, black gems and black ribbon from my stash!

I hope you like this card-I had a lot of fun creating it :)

Challenges Entered:
Lavinia Stamps- Add Some Ribbon
4 Krafty Girlz- Anything Goes
Sassy Studio Designs- Anything Goes
Inspiration Destination- Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by, until next time-Happy Crafting!
xx

Holiday by the Sea

Greetings to you all, I hope you are well.
Today is a non-descript kind of day here in Rhyl, North Wales so it is perfect for crafting!!
I decided it was time for a break from Christmas preparation today so my card is beach and holiday related rather than anything to do with Christmas!

I like shaker cards and my friend recently did a shaker picture so I felt inspired to do my own shaker card!  Using sand from practically on my doorstep, I give you this summer scene to bring back some good memories :)

I used:
Beach scene stamp by Impression Obsession
Cocoa Memento Ink
Acetate
Sand
Tattered Lace Fishing related dies
Brilliance Gold Ink
Distress inks in: Gathered Twigs, Rusty Hinge, Salty Ocean, Tumbled Glass and Chipped Sapphire
Blue Card, Brown Card and shell charms from my stash!

The brilliance Gold was put onto the die cuts first and then light dustings of the various distress inks applied to give a multi tonal effect that alters as you move it in the light.

I hope you like this card-I had a lot of fun creating it :)

Challenges Entered:
Amusing Challenge- Anything Goes
Crafting At The Weekend- Anything Goes
Paper Creators Crafts- Use a Charm
Tattered Lace- Holidays

Thanks for stopping by, until next time-Happy Crafting!
xx

Christmas Time

Greetings to you all, I hope you are well.
I did start early on my Christmas cards this year, hoping to be prepared for Christmas fayre season and not chasing my tail to catch up as I was last year!
I have already blogged one design for this year (and will, no doubt, blog the amended version of that also) and those of you who followed me last year may even remember this next one.

 This was my first ever Christmas card design-in purple and silver with black.  This time around however, I offer it in several colour combinations, all utilising my absolute favourite Christmas stamp from IndigoBlu:
Blue and platinum

Green and gold

Red and gold

All with black ink.

Wow! embossing powder in silver metallic and in platinum
Gold embossing powder
IndigoBlu Christmas tree stamp
Liquid pearls in: onyx, imperial purple, gold, platinum and blue
Black soot distress ink
Versafine onyx black ink
Lavinia stamps small star stamp
Various small sentiment stamps

These are for sale, price frozen from last year, at £1.20 each or 10 for £10.
I do hope that you like these, please let me know what you think.
Until next time, Happy Crafting xx

Creative Blog Hop

Creative Blog Hop   I was asked by the lovely Cheremane Smith to take part in the Creative blog hop which, every Monday, sees lots of different crafters sharing information with others on their blogs, so here goes:     1. What am I working on?


When it comes to papercrafting, I am working on Christmas cards right now as I would rather not be surprised when December gets here!  I am also knitting a jacket for a lovely lady and designing a Tunisian crochet handbag! I always have several things on the go- a change is as good as a rest so they say ;)

2.How does my work differ from others in my genre?


I don't know that I have a particular genre, I like to have a go at everything! I think that coming to crafting from an art background gives me a different outlook and I often have different ideas about how products can be used so I guess that makes me different!


3. Why do I write/create what I do?


If I didn't create, I would go insane! There are so many ideas inside my head that I just think I might explode if I didn't let some of them out-it would be a colourful explosion though!! Actually, that gives me an idea.......


4. How does your writing/creative process work?   To be honest, I know this sounds really cheesy but I have had quite a few ideas come to me in dreams, or in that place between awake and asleep-I usually scribble some notes or a rough sketch so I don't forget then go about gathering what is required to make it!
Other times, it's just a case of picking up a crafting item, putting it to paper and seeing what grows there!!
 I am now supposed to pass this hop onto three other crafters but the only actual crafter that blogs who i know in real life, is the one who passed this on to me!  Therefore, I am only nominating one person (but hope she can nominate 3 in order to keep the blog hop going!), her post will be live next monday.  The crafter who blogs that I pass this creative blog hop onto is:

Rita She is a talented lady who has been crafting much longer than I have, and her work is very different to mine.  She is always encouraging of others and offers inspiration with each post, it will  be interesting to see her responses next week :)

That time of year

Greetings to you all, I hope you are well.
I return from my blogging sabbatical with renewed vigour and start as I mean to go on! So, it's August which can mean only one thing-the c word.
Here is the first of this year's Christmas designs from me, I like it but think it needs a bit of tweaking before I make a whole bunch of them!

After learning from the wonderful Cheremane Smith, the technique of using the alcohol inks on photo paper to create fabulous backgrounds I just had to give it a try :)

I used:
5x7 card blank
Photo paper
Alcohol inks in Pool, Cool Peri, Cloudy Blue and Silver
Jet black Archival ink
Tree stamp from Indigo Blu
Christmas sentiment stamp from Dreamees
Gunmetal mirri card
Teal pearlescent card
Teal ribbon
Blue and white Stickles
Gems and a charm from my stash!

I hope you like it, let me know and Happy Crafting xx

New Baby

Greetings one and all, I hope today finds you well.  I am better today than I have been so am getting a blog post done!  I realise I have been slacking of late but ill health and an uncooperative portrait to paint have taken much of my time-good news though, the portrait is almost done!!! I think I will throw a party once I get the finished painting in the post! Everyone invited :)

Today's offering is a card I made alongside one for my friend who recently had a baby girl. On the one for my friend, I used the die cut letters to write the baby's name but it looks just as lovely here saying 'new baby'.
White ribbon was attached to pink pearlescent card which was then layered onto the white pearlescent card base. The same white ribbon, added with a couple of thin strips of pink ribbon, was hand tied in a bow and attached to the top of the card on the left. The lettering (memory box die cut) was placed on the right and the stamped image centrally below these.

 Three pearl gems from my stash complete the card.

 

Stamp is by Molly Bloom. Coloured with ProMarkers, cut out using Spellbinders Grand Nestables, edges dusted with Victorian Velvet Distress Ink and then blinged with teeny gems from my stash.

Well, that's it! Short and sweet-I hope you like it :)

Let me know what you think.

Until next time, Happy Crafting xx

Challenges entered:

Whoopsi Daisy- Anything Goes

Crazy Challenge- For The Little Ones

Love To Create- Make It For The Kids

Craft-Dee Bowz- Anything Goes With A Handmade Bow

Fan-Tastic Tuesday- Anything Goes

Through The CraftRoom Door- Always Anything Goes

Imagination takes wing!

Greetings one and all, I hope you have enjoyed your bank holiday weekend if you are in the UK-the weather hasn't been great but we are quite used to that!!
Today a colourful make (I am a tad besotted with all things teal at the moment!), using several products from Imagination Crafts and a variety of stuff from my stash. 

Using and 8x8 card blank I made from linen effect white card, I took the beautiful Peacock Feathers distress ink and went all around the outside edge through a butterfly stencil from Imagination Crafts. The black gloss card and the leaf stencil used to get the glittery image onto it are also both from Imagination Crafts! The black card was layered onto some colourful paper I had lurking about-the paper included a shade close to peacock feathers so I figured it would go nicely :) This was all then layered onto some dark gun metal coloured mirri card, spider webbing in silver was attached running across the middle and two pieces of teal ribbon running vertically up the right hand side were added before it was all stuck to the card blank.

The double ribbon was hand tied (got it on my second attempt!) and the small rosette and butterfly were made by putting Sparkle Medium in a mold and letting it set.  The other butterfly was stamped onto acetate with distress ink (yes you can probably guess the colour!!) and silver embossing powder was sprinkled onto it and heat embossed before being cut out and stuck on-I used the heat to get the wings to curl upwards. The birthday sentiment was unused from some kit or other.

Apologies for being brief and to the point, but it's time for a nap for me!

Thanks for reading, I really appreciate it and you are encouraged to leave a comment to let me know how I am doing, thank you and Happy Crafting xx

Challenges entered:
Imagination Crafts- Things with wings
Sentimental Sundays-Things with wings and a sentiment
That Craft Place- Ribbon/Lace

Wuthering Heights

Greetings to you all, I hope you are well on this fine day.
Today's offering is one I am really proud of-a card I have been meaning to make ever since I saw this stamp! She instantly looked to me like a character from a romantic tragedy and so here she is as Cathy from Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights!

The stamp is Isabella by Visible Image and I have coloured her using Derwent Graphitint watercolour pencils (with the exception of her skin and the heart in her hands for which I used my trusty pro markers!).  She is half cut out to give the impression that she has come out of the page behind her (a page from the literary classic, Wuthering Heights!).

The gathered twigs distressed edges of the torn page, along with the sanded, distressed edge of the craft core card as a background, give the card an aged feel which I think adds to the timeless quality of the coloured image.



The red of the roses, both mulberry paper and die cut, perfectly complements the red of the heart in the stamped image. I really enjoyed making this card and am really pleased with how it turned out :)

The dies used are both from Tattered Lace, the paper roses are from Wild Orchid. The finishing touches, cocoa liquid pearls in each corner, some jute twine tied around the bunch of flowers and 3 red pearl gems from my stash.




Thank you for stopping by and checking out my blog, let me know what you think xx


Challenges entered:
Tattered Lace- Romance and Roses
Visible Image- Anything Goes

Blue, Birds and Buttons!

Greetings one and all, I hope you are well.  Apologies for my silence but I have been a busy bee readying my work to go in a new shop that opened locally this week.  Knitting Bee and Craft Shop in Colwyn Bay has a lovely display of my work on sale alongside the work of local crafters :)
So, without further ado, on to my post! Today is a card, an entry made so I can enter the Wild Orchid Challenge-not something I usually do, I usually make the card then see what I can enter but this challenge calls for use of the colour blue, birds and buttons as well as use of at least one wild orchid product so it did really present a challenge as I hardly ever use birds and am really not a fan of buttons on cards!

I started with the image stamped on a die cut heart (a product of time spent at my crafty friend's house!) and, aside from the brown of the bird box, everything else is coloured in a shade of blue. I used at least six different blue Pro Markers!! The edges of the heart were then distressed using Tumbled Glass and Stormy Sky inks.

So with the blue and the birds taken care of, I needed to include buttons and of course, Wild Orchid products!  I attached a large grey button to a hand tied bow of dark blue silky crush ribbon. The background kind of created itself! The book scraps you can see are excerpts from Fellowship of The Ring, just jazzed up with a touch of distress ink around the edges!! I added two more grey buttons in the top left corner seeing as I was using buttons on a card I figured I should do it in style!!
The flowers used are from Wild Orchid, I used the same two distress inks as earlier to add a touch of blue to the ivory roses.

So, there we have it-Blue, birds and buttons!!
Thank you for reading, let me know what you think and, until next time, Happy Crafting :)

Challenges entered:
Wild Orchid Challenge- Blue, birds and buttons
Delicious Doodles- Blue and brown
Creative Knockouts-Ribbons and Bows

New bookmarks

Greetings to one and all, I hope everyone is well. I am in the midst of a flare up so have not been able to attend the events I had planned to this weekend, fingers crossed that the pain eases tomorrow so I can get back to shabbying a bedside cabinet!

I have not been sitting around doing nothing though (don't tell me off) so I thought I would share with you some of the bookmarks I have made over the past couple of days while I've been sitting here.

This first one is for all you Alice in Wonderland fans out there!  The charm is a bronze colour, it's the white rabbit from the story-complete with playing card outfit and a pocket watch! He is a cutie.  The bookmark itself is bronze in colour and has flowers and teeny butterflies on.  The tiny beads are red and black with just one white one, I thought this nod to the white roses being painted red was appropriate (maybe I have read that book and seen the Disney film too many times?!).

The next bookmark I would like to show you today is antique silver in colour:

The charm here is a beautiful peacock, in the same silver colour as the bookmark.  I used mainly irridescent little beads here, with blue ones interspersed because the shade of these is the same as the shade of blue seen on peacocks (I should get myself some peacock green beads too-I have made a note of this!).  This bookmark is just very pretty and quite feminine.

Final one I am sharing today is a nautically themed one, as I do live by the sea!

The bookmark and charms are bronze in colour, the bookmark has fish on the main body and the top of it where it curves over is a dolphin-really lovely.  The anchor and the small shell charms stick with this theme and the main bead colour used is blue for obvious reasons ;)
I think this one is my favourite of the three and the one most suitable for anyone-who doesn't like dolphins??!

Each of the bookmarks is attached to the backing card using jute in three places, so what looks like a line across the bookmark or a distortion in the charm is just this holding it in place.

Thank you for stopping by, let me know what you think and, until next time, Happy Crafting xx

Spring Fairy

Greetings to you all :)
I hope today (tonight is more accurate!!) finds you well.  I was quiet last week due to being away-I went camping to an idyllic spot where there was no internet, almost no phone reception, it was bliss! Photos to follow I am sure-haven't checked them for keepers yet!

Today's share is quite a collection of experiments! Spring colours are not really my usual palette but I figured I would give it a go! The biggest experiment, for me, was alcohol inks on mirri card through a mask! I used the Imagination Crafts butterfly mask that I used previously and used alcohol inks in Lettuce and Pesto colours to make the background for this card.

The same mask was used-flipped over so that the butterflies face the opposite way, but with inks-mowed lawn distress ink, along with a touch of Peacock Feathers distress ink, to produce the strip across the middle of the card, this was attached to lemon coloured paper.  Vine leaves and creeping ivy (from Lavinia Stamps) were then stamped up the edges of this middle strip, in both the distress inks mentioned and Memento Cottage Ivy. The fairy was stamped in Versafine Onyx Black before being cut out and stuck at different heights using silicone glue-I am thinking that perhaps she could do with a little glitter on her wings, what do you think? Let me know.
The distress inks were used to stamp stars around the edge of the card blank before attaching the lemon paper/silver mirri card combination.
The sentiment was decorated using the same stamps and inks as were used for the strip across the centre.

The flowers were all placed beneath the fairy to give the impression that the fairy dust she is sprinkling helps the flowers grow!  The gardenia and the various roses are from Wild Orchid Crafts, the daisy and hydrangea blooms are from my local craft store.
Card is finished off with 3 green gems and a couple of extra roses on the sentiment.

Thank you for reading and Happy Crafting :)
xx

Challenges entered:
Lavinia Stamps-Spring Colours
Wild Orchid Crafts- 3 Different Flowers
Imagination Crafts- Anything Goes

Another Purple Card!

Greetings to you all, I hope that everyone is well :)
I know my last card was purple, but it's just such a great colour that this one is purple too!  Although there are flowers on this one, today's card is predominantly butterflies!

The mask used is by Imagination Crafts. I used the mask as is and applied a glitter medium to it for the central panel, I then layered this with a black card and silver mirri card.  The same mask (once cleaned in soapy water and dried, of course!) I used again for the background-this time with distress inks in Milled Lavender and Dusty Concord. I ran two lengths of ribbon up the background card before attaching the central panel to it. 
Completely different flowers on this card:

Using the paper flowers from Donna's Kraft Kabin in Rhyl, I layered them up and added a sparkly centre before allowing the butterflies to rest upon them!  The butterflies are monarch I think, Martha Stewart punch-nice and easy to add to any project!  I used two different shades of purple glitter card to punch the butterflies from :)  The butterfly closest to the flowers (bottom left corner of the above photo) is actually sparkle medium used with the glitter card once a butterfly had been punched out!
The sentiment is a Kanban stamp from a set, stamped in versafine onyx black and then layered with a shadow effect onto some black card.  The sentiment was then placed on top of the pink spider webbing (also from Donna's) running across the card.  A dragonfly brad from my stash sits in the top left corner of the sentiment card, and there are punched butterflies on the sentiment, on the spider's web, on the background card-just everywhere!!
I finished this off with 3 lilac gems from my stash and a double purple bow to match the ribbon on the card.

Lots of different things going on but I like to think they work :)
Thanks for stopping by, let me know what you think!
Until next time, Happy Crafting xx

Challenges entered:
Imagination Crafts- Anything Goes
Bunny Zoe's Crafts- monochrome
Craft-Dee Bowz- Anything Goes with a handmade bow
Scribble and Scrap- Anything Goes

Flowers, flowers everywhere!

Greetings one and all, I hope everyone is well.
I spent most of my afternoon working on this card, then went for a crafty nap before blogging it!  (Sometimes you have to give in to the exhaustion!)
Today's offering is a card with more shiny gems than I have ever put on one card before!!!  It has been blinged ;) :

This card is particularly girly for me, but not much pink!!! The thing I wanted to try was getting lots of flowers on there, I reckon I managed it:

All the paper roses are from Wild Orchid.
The topper is a stamped image-alas, I do not recall the company that made the stamp (it's from a crafty day with my friend-I shall find out as it is her stamp!!).  I coloured the darling picture in using my promarkers and then added a splash of colour to the edge of the die cut with Milled Lavender Distress ink.  I did the same to the distressed die cut for the sentiment.  The sentiment was double stamped once with Dusty Concord and then with Versafine Onyx Black for a shadow effect.

The pale pink spider's web and the two larger flowers in the background are from packs bought from Donna's Kraft Kabin in Rhyl (3 packs for a pound-bargain!), I sat the roses on one and the topper on the other.  The backing paper is by Dovecraft in the Back to Basics IV pack, and I went around the edge of it with Dusty Concord Distress ink. The ribbons, die cuts and gems (lots of teeny sparkly gems!!) are from my stash.

Well, there you have it, a girly, flowery, bling card from me!  I hope you like it, thanks for taking the time to stop by and feel free to leave a comment, I really do appreciate them :)
Until next time, Happy Crafting xx

Challenges entered:
Wild Orchid Challenge- Bling it up
Milk Coffee Challenge- Spring
Creative Corner- April Showers Bring May Flowers

Simply Cute

Greetings to you all, I hope everyone has had a great weekend :)

Just a quick make for you all today-using up the teddy bears I coloured in for Mother's Day cards!!

So the fizzy moon stamp was coloured in using pro markers (I am fond of my pro markers!!), the backing papers are Dovecraft, card blank is 6x6.  The ribbon across the centre is white, to match the handmade flowers used, the third flower is made from a blue paper one and a smaller ivory coloured one then finished with a small white button.  The white flowers I bought from the lovely Elaine, and the other paper flowers I got from Donna's Kraft Kabin in Rhyl.
Happy Birthday stamp is by Visible Image (discontinued) and the card the sentiment is stamped on was cut out using a distressed edge die by Spellbinders, as was the glitter card shadowed behind it.
It's all pretty simple and all kinda cute :)
No challenges entered with this one, it's just a quick post as I realise I have been neglecting the blog just lately!
I shall catch you all in a few days, thank you for stopping by (feel free to leave a comment), Happy crafting!
xx

Two in One

Greetings one and all, the sun was out here-I hope the day was bright where ever you are :)
Today's card is a little different as it is two cards in one! It was a request from my friend-a frugal fella whose mum's birthday is close to Mother's Day, so he wanted one card for both occasions.  He let me know that she likes dragons and owls, I tried to keep it light and bright for spring, so here we go:

The doily bits are just one die cut doily cut up, the dragon topper and Paris tag are from Kanban (in my stash cos I got them cheap somewhere!).  Stamps are by Visible Image, Kanban and borrowed from a friend! The ribbon and charm are from my stash-I did make it clear that I have oodles of charms, right?! Flowers are from Wild Orchid, save for the white one in the bottom left corner that I attached some fake feather to (I am allergic to real feathers!!)-that lovely flower was handmade for me by a nice lady called Elaine who lives just up the road!
My friend liked the card, I just hope that his mum does too :)
Thanks for stopping by-let me know what you think, I do love to read your comments.
Until next time, Happy crafting xx

Challenges entered:
Wild Orchid-Spring Fling
MilkCoffeeChallenge-At Least 2 flowers
Natalie and Amy-Flowers

Edit (6th April):
Thank you all for your wonderful comments. I was delighted to hear that the recipient of this card loved it! That really made my day and so I thought I would share it with you all :)

Mother's Day

It's that time of year-in the UK it is any way!! Mother's Day on 30th March.
So, I have been making some cards for the occasion for those of you with mothers around to buy for.
My first offering is a cutey one, designed to look simple and ideal for a younger child to give (there's a button on there!! Using buttons always makes me feel like a kid!!).

I used a 6x6 cream coloured card blank then attached backing papers by Dovecraft from the Back to Basics range.  Rather than just have one design, I cut two of the same colour scheme in half and used them both!  A piece of white ribbon across the middle covers any join and looks nice :)
The flowers are all made of paper and can be purchased (at the bargain price of 3 packs for £1) from Donna's Kraft Kabin in Rhyl.  The lil' bear is a Fizzy Moon stamp-I use him a lot as I find this stamp to be so versatile.  Stamped in Tuxedo Black Memento ink and coloured with Promarkers.

The sentiment I just wrote and printed from my laptop ( my printer can usually cope with just black!!) and cut out using Spellbinders' Distressed edges. I used the next size up die for cutting the glitter paper and voila! a card :) Pearls are from my stash-I have quite the stash of charms and gems!! (as I am sure you all do if you're honest!!)
So, that's it, my first Mother's Day card.
Thanks for stopping by, let me know what you think-your comments are really appreciated.
Have a good day, and Happy crafting xx

Challenges entered:
Emergency Crafters Challenge- Flowers
Seemacrafts- Something for mum
The Cupboard Trilogy Challenge- Mothers
Cutie Pie Challenge- Mum

A Kind Of Magic!

Greetings to you one and all, I hope you are all well :)

I have labyrinthitis lately as well as all other ailments, but it means that, as I have to be sitting down, I have the time to blog!  Trying to see the silver lining to each cloud these days ;)

So, here is the first of the posts: I am a huge fan of all things mythical as they invoke imagination-without which life is in danger of being a dull ole place! So I do love the fairies from Lavinia Stamps. In fact, I have gone all 'Lavinia Stamps' on this card!!

The background is one of the papers they make, I have added some vine leaves and ivy stamped in onyx black versafine ink around the edges. The stargazing couple is one of my favourites, they are so cute! They also in the versafine black ink.  The spiral of stars and the 'happily ever after' stamps are done in versamark and then Sparkling Snow Wow! embossing glitter was used.

The small stars stamp was done in versamark and then Black Twinkle Wow! embossing glitter-I do love using embossing powders, it's like magic when you apply heat, and who doesn't like a bit of magic in their days?!
I layered this onto some silver mirror card and then onto some beautiful teal card-this card is such a lovely colour that I hate to cut it!!
As there is a lot going around Facebook and Twitter about cancer awareness, I included a pink ribbon on this card in memory of my mum.  Some pink gems to finish, and voila!

Thanks for stopping by, let me know what you think :)
Happy crafting xx

Challenges entered:
Lavinia Stamps- Add Something Pink
Challenges and Candies- Embossing
Stampin' For The Weekend- Anything Goes
That's Crafty-Inky Antics
Brown Sugar- Anything Goes

A Bit Different for a Wedding!

Greetings to one and all!
I hope today finds everyone well. I have been a bit on the absent side in blogland just lately but I am determined to change that! I have been busy making wedding cards and I now have a display of my cards on sale in a local wedding car business :)
So today's share is a wedding card!
I think of the twenty-something cards I took there last night, only one was a traditional all white card! What can I say? I march to my own beat!

So this is on an 8x8 cream coloured card blank, with brown pearlescent and ivory pearlescent card layered on it.  The butterfly in the background and the Eiffel tower die cut in the centre are both actually from wall paper!  It is the paper I have on my craft room walls and I love it! I think it is elegant and so it seems perfectly at home on a wedding card.  The sentiment stamped in the bottom left corner was double stamped in vintage photo and gold embossing powder so that it has a shadowed effect.  The gardenia and the roses are from Wild Orchid, the ribbons and the charm are from my stash.  As always, I could not resist the obligatory three gems in the corner but I went with pearls as they say wedding to me more than sparkly gems do-it's been a while since I went to a wedding mind you!
Stamp is by Visible Image (not sure it is available anymore though as they stopped all sentiments and then are bringing new ones out)
Wallpaper was from Wilkinsons.
Thank you for stopping by, please let me know what you think I do love reading your comments :)
Happy crafting...until next time xx

Challenges entered:


Creative Card Crew- Charms
Fan-Tastic Tuesday- Anything Goes (as long as it's square)
Wild Orchid Crafts- Wings and Things

Butterfly script

Greetings to you all, no posts last week as it's difficult to blog when you have no permanent base! As of next week though, the site re-opens and I will be back in my caravan :).   I will be starting up workshops and craft club the first week of April, I am excited about sharing the new designs.

Today's post is a card I made, I made my own backing paper for it- which was so much fun that I am looking to do it more often!!

                      

Stamps used for this are all by visible image: small butterfly, Bronte border and ink splats.
 I made the backing paper using all of the stamps, then trimmed it down to size to fit on the card blank before matting and layering with green card and silver mirror card.  I then stamped the butterfly on its own and matted and layered that-using the same card but swapping their order in the layering.  The card is finished with the 'Happy Birthday' sentiment surrounded by Bronte border.

Items used:
8x8 blank card
Christmas green shimmer card
Silver mirror card
Versamark
Gold embossing powder
Memento tuxedo black ink

I hope you like this card, thanks for stopping by. I would love to hear what you think :)

I will be back on Sunday, in the meantime, enjoy and happy crafting! xx

Challenges entered:
Eureka stamps- Add a butterfly
Love to create- Anything Goes
Seize the Birthday- Anything Goes
Keep it simple- Things with wings

I've been painting!

Greetings one and all!
No post yesterday as I was busy painting! So today is the very painting I was finishing yesterday :)  A forest in the autumn, with light pouring into a clearing amongst the trees (I tell you what it is in case you can't see it!!).

I call it 'Red Autumn' and it is acrylic on canvas board-not very easy to paint on a circular canvas but I think it works.  This is the first time I have done a painting entirely with palette knives rather than paint brushes-I used my fingers too in places!!  It is 30cm-that's 12 inches in size.

I thought the shades of red were appropriate today with it being valentine's day :)

So let me know what you think, Happy Valentine's Day everyone and Happy Crafting!
xx

Something to keep you warm

Greetings everyone, I hope you are well and have not been blown away in these horrendously strong fast winds out there today!
As the weather here in the UK is becoming colder, I figured that now is the perfect time to switch from cards to scarves! So today, a little something to keep you warm in the colder temperatures :)

I knitted the scarf (been a long time since I knitted anything-I had to buy new needles as I have no idea where mine are!!) and set about producing the brooch to attach to it, a little something to set it apart from all the other scarves knitted from the same wool!

Brooch is made of:
orange felt
orange/brown organza
orangey brown fabric
brown organza
art palette charm
flower charm
small beads in orange, amber, ivory and varying shades of brown
Large dark orange bead

All beads are from either Doodleso in Prestatyn or the haberdashery in Eccles indoor market. Felt is from Doodleso and other fabrics are from hobbycraft show last year, charms are from my stash (I have oodles of the art palettes if anyone wants any, just give me a shout!!)

Let me know what you think.
Stay safe folks and, until next time, Happy Crafting! xx

One for the Men

Greetings to one and all, me again! I shall be blogging each day this week to make up for my silence last month, and although this makes three cards in a row, there is something different coming your way shortly!

Today's make brings a distinctly masculine card-I have been calling it a 'Dad card' as every component reminds me of my dad!  If anyone's dad is like mine, then this would be the perfect card for him beit for a birthday or for Fathers' Day ;)

This is an A5 card, I figured it made a change from the small square cards I have blogged so far this week!  All stamps used are by Visible Image.
The tools were stamped on to small (4cm x 4cm) squares of card that had been distressed, then they were varnished and allowed to dry before fixing them to the front of the card using 3D foam pads-I am not sure the shine of these 'tiles' is visible in the photo but it is very effective.

Items used:
Blank silver grey A4 card
dark blue card (for layering)
white card for stamping on
Distress Inks in: Tumbled Glass, Salty Ocean, Stormy Skies and Chipped Sapphire
Versafine ink in Deep Lagoon
foam pads
Versamark
Gold embossing powder
Daler-Rowney Watercolour Varnish

I enjoyed making this card, in fact, it felt as if it made itself!
Let me know what you think and, until next time-Happy Crafting!
xx

Challenges entered:
Visible Image- Love (because my dad LOVES to use tools and create things out in his garage! and I love my dad)
Cards und More- Men Only Cards
Allsorts- Colours beginning with 'B'
Crafty Card Makers- This is a man's world

Red, White and New!

A simple design today with no 'twiddly bits' as my dad calls them (I think he means die cuts!)
In classic red and white-the heart image is perfect for Valentine's Day, but with no sentiment this card could be suitable for anniversaries, or even the birthday of a loved one.

Card is just under 6x6 inches (it fits into a 6x6 envelope) and the clean lines offer an alternative to the usual handmade card.  Difficult to see here, but the heart design glitters and sparkles in the light-very effective especially on the bird/butterfly/dragonfly shapes appearing to emerge from the heart.

Items used:

Wow! Sparkling Snow Embossing Glitter
Heart stamp by IndigoBlu
Versamark pigment ink
Red pearlescent card
White pearlescent card
maroon or black card (I did some cards with each)
gems

Thank you for reading, I would love to know what you think!
Happy crafting xx

Challenges entered:
Glitter and Sparkle-Valentine's/Add some red
Addicted to Stamping-Hearts
Sparkle N Sprinkle- Anything goes using glitter, embossing powder or flocking
That Craft Place- Love

Purple Delight

Greetings to you all, I hope you are well :)

A new card today-one that will be part of my workshops that start in April, in Rhyl and in Salford, venues to be confirmed watch this space :) If you are interested in attending or want to be notified as soon as dates and venues are finalised, please drop me an email at craftyshutterbug@gmail.com

Predominantly using two colours, this is a pretty feminine card (without being overly girly!). I am a fan of purple-can you tell? Let me know what you think of the use of just purple and white for this card :)

The cute image is from a Fizzy Moon stamp, I used Dusty Concord Distress Ink to stamp it as that stayed with the existing colour scheme created by the layering of card.

Items used to make this card:
Silver, dark purple and light purple card stock
Purple floral design and purple gingham card stock
White card for stamping on
Die cut flower, ivy leaves and floral swirl in purple card from my stash
Ivory organza ribbon
Circular sentiments stamp by Dreamees
Fizzy Moon Flower stamp
Dusty Concord Distress Ink
Purple flocking for large flower petals
Purple, lavender and white mulberry paper flowers from WildOrchidCrafts

This card could be given for any number of occasions: Birthday, Anniversary, Valentine's Day, Get Well, or even just because :)
Card will be added to my shop shortly, priced at £2.75

Please let me know what you think, thank you for reading my blog and Happy Crafting!
xx

Challenges entered:
Wild Orchid Challenge- Love is
That Craft Place- Love Challenge
Crafty Ribbons- Anything Goes with Ribbon

Guardian Angels

Greetings one and all!
Humblest apologies for my prolonged absence, I am back and aim to share my arty and crafty exploits twice weekly once again. I hope Christmas was everything that you wanted it to be and that your 2014 has been excellent thus far, mine has been a little shaky but with definite high points and I am hoping it will shape up to be a truly fabulous year :)

I hope to be getting a proper shopping cart feature added to my website to make purchasing simple and efficient, but until I have added these to my site you can message me at craftyshutterbug@gmail.com or comment here if you would like to buy.
Today's offering is not a card, but a small trinket that could be given for any number of occasions; birthdays, anniversaries, christenings, or even just because-but I made them as I think they will be a nice alternative to a box of chocolates for Valentine's Day (certainly longer lasting any way!).  A gift symbolising that the recipient is never alone, that they have someone who cares watching over them, to protect and shelter them.

Items used to make a Guardian Angel:
mini bottle
silver thread
rose wing charm in vintage look silver colour
brown faux suede cord
black velvet cord
Glossy Accents-absolutely the best glue for this sort of thing!
teeny metal screw in loops (usually found at jewelry making stockists)

The real beauty of these is that you can hang them from anything, anywhere-in a room, on a noticeboard, in a car, from a mirror or you can wear it around your neck as a pendant. Let me know what you think :)
While stocks last, each one will come supplied in a red or silver favour bag-so no need to wrap!
Price is a bargain £3.99 + 90p postage or you can collect if in the Salford area or Rhyl area.

That's it from me today-Happy Crafting xx