Amelie's First Xmas Card!!

There's nothing like starting them young! This is Amelie this morning, making her Daddy's Christmas card - she loves colouring and gluing, and glitter was very popular!

And this is the finished card - not bad for an 18 month old, although she did have a bit of help from Mummy!

I've still not quite finished my Christmas cards yet - hopefully now she's asleep, I can make the last couple!

Thanks for looking,

Mum's Xmas Card!

I know my mum reads my blog, so hadn't originally posted this card - however, I missed the post collection on Saturday (official last posting day) so I have no idea if it'll make it by Christmas! Therefore, I've posted it here so Mum can at least see it before then LOL!! I'm also entering it at the last minute for the Papertake Challenge, which is monochrome. The embossing folder is the Cuttlebug Lace Tree, highlighted with gold glitter and a gold ribbon on white pearl card that has a hint of gold to it.

Thanks for looking,

New baby card

This card is for my friend Katie, who had a little girl, Isla Rose, almost two weeks ago. We met at antenatal classes, so her little boy, Jacob, is three weeks older than Amelie. The thought of having an 18 month old and a newborn to look after is more than I could cope with, but Katie's doing amazingly! I saw Isla today and she's still so tiny - she weighed 7lb 2oz when born on Monday 1st December, so is probably still smaller than Amelie was at birth, as she was 8lb 15oz!

As well as being a card for Katie, this also ticks off two challenges for the week. I love this week's sketch for Sketch Saturday and think I'll be using it a lot. The Penny Black challenge this week was a recipe - the card had to include three flowers, two papers and one ribbon, as well as a PB image. I adore this hedgehog and making the card brought back memories as I used this image for Amelie's birth announcement/thank you cards. The papers are from the Papermania "Raspberry Champagne" pack, as are the three flowers - I punched them from the pink paper I've used in the card.

Thanks for looking,

A new card at last!

It's been such a hectic week, what with covering extra hours at work, having loads of lessons to prep for my own modules and now Amelie being poorly, that I haven't really had any time for crafting :( Still, as I couldn't go to work today as Amelie was too poorly for creche, I managed to (almost) make a card while she had her nap and I've finished it off this evening. Apologies for the rubbish photo - I'll replace it tomorrow if I can get a better one in daylight! The layout is for Sketch Saturday, and I've incorporated two other challenges too. Cute Card Thursday's challenge is using punches - the snowflake embellishments are made with x-cut punches - and Secret Crafter is to use either dry or heat embossing, in this case the lilac part of the card is embossed with a Cuttlebug folder.

Thanks for looking,

New digital scrapbook layout

I've been playing around with Photoshop a lot recently, mainly because I'm teaching it from Friday, and partly because I want to do something with the hundreds of photos I have on my hard disk that never see the light of day. This page is based on a template I bought from Designer Digitals - once you've learnt how to clip and merge layers, they're so easy to use. The digital papers and alphabet are from a Shabby Princess free kit (Sweet Serenity), although I've recoloured the letters to match the page. I love this set of images of Amelie, taken in July this year, playing with a tunnel her Nannie bought her from a car boot sale. The fact that her top matches the colour of the tunnel was just a happy coincidence, but it made the layout colour scheme much easier!

Thanks for looking,

Card for a male friend

I must admit that I find men's cards the most difficult to make, especially when you can't use boats, cars or sports! I started one card for this friend then abandoned it half way through as it was too dull (greens and neutrals) and tried this one instead. Both sides of the card front are covered in matching patterned paper in reversed colour schemes, from the Papermania "For Him" pack, with a different paper on the inside of the card. The inside has a pocket made from the same paper and a tag, also covered with that paper, with a peel off on the front and the hand-written message on the back. I hope it goes down well! I'm hunting for stamps that I can use for men's cards but I'm not having much luck finding anything that doesn't revolve around boats, cars or sports, or shirts which has always seemed a strange theme for a card to me! If anyone has any recommendations, I'd love to have them!

Thanks for looking,

Apologies and a quick challenge card

First of all, sorry for the lack of cards recently! I've been snowed under with work and just too tired when I do have some free time to do much :( I've been given an award by Joanne too, which is fab and I promise I'll post it up as soon as I get time to work out who to pass it on to!

This card is for Sketch Saturday using Lili of the Valley die-cuts and papers, so was quick enough to do in between the washing and ironing while Amelie's asleep! Unfortunately, the new spray adhesive I bought the other day has stained through the papers and turned them dirty yellow in places :( I've tried to clean up the picture a bit in Photoshop, but think the card is destined for the bin unless it dries clear. It's annoying as it's specifically sold as a craft spray adhesive suitable for paper - I guess I should have tested it out first!

Thanks for looking,

Same stamp, different card!

I've used the same snow couple stamp here, but with a very different colour scheme. In what I think is a record for me, I've managed to combine four challenges into one card!! I'd love to have the time to make individual cards for all the challenges, but I'm just too busy at the moment, so have to combine if I want to enter more than one! Anyway, the challenges are: Penny Black (funky Christmas - an xmas card using a non-traditional, modern colour scheme), Secret Crafter (decoupage - although the photo doesn't show it that well, the stamped image has three decoupage layers), Cute Card Thursday (snowflakes) and Sketch Saturday (the layout sketch).

Thanks for looking,

Triple Challenge Christmas Card!

Wow, I think I managed to combine three challenges in one card! The theme is "Let it snow" for Papertake, the layout follows the sketch for Saturday Sketchers and the colour scheme is monochromatic (well, almost, as the papers have a touch of yellow and the snow couple's noses are orange!) for the Penny Black challenge. The snow couple stamp is PB and coloured with watercolour pencils and a touch of pearlescent chalk to give the snow some sparkle and the papers are from Dovecraft's Winter Wonderland pack. I've used the wording on the paper in place of an extra sentiment as I don't think I need to add anything else.

Thanks for looking,

Another double challenge card

My Christmas card for this week and another card that covers two challenges - Papertake, which is a sketch this week, and the new Forever Friends challenge blog - their challenge this week was to use three different papers in a card. The papers I've used are all from the FF Christmas Snow pack. The central paper includes the image of the bear, and I've then used two extra sheets of that paper to decoupage the bear to give him a bit of depth.

Thanks for looking,

Double challenge and a new technique!

I love trying new techniques, and when I saw this one described on the Cuttlebug challenge blog I knew I had to try it! It involves inking the inside of a Cuttlebug embossing folder, so that when you emboss the card, the non-embossed areas of the card take on the ink colour, and the embossed areas stay the colour of the base card. I've used the DeVine swirls folder with this technique for the four backing panels on this card. The ink pad was a Distress Ink in Tattered Rose, which I've also used direct-to-paper for the coloured panels. The fairy is an Anita's outline sticker, coloured with watercolour pencils.

The double challenge is for Secret Crafter (the layout sketch) and Cute Card Thursday, whose theme was "fairies and angels".

Thanks for looking,

Baby Girl sparkly card

My step-sister Kathryn had her baby girl, Darcey Kate, on Thursday morning, weighing in at a health 8lb 2oz, a little sister to Dougie who'll be four in January, so this card is for her and her family. It also qualifies for two challenges, Daring Cardmakers and Papertake, both of whose theme for this week is sparkle!


The letters were die-cut from plain white on my cuttlebug using my Sizzlits Round-a-bout alphabet set. I then passed them through my xyron sticker maker upside-down and coated the sticky surface with Pink Champagne glitter. I added two thick coats of dimensional glaze to give an epoxy effect. I then passed them back through my xyron the right way up to stick them onto the card - the xyron is great for sticking awkward shapes as it just puts a layer all over the back and it's a lot stronger than wet glue. The main card photo hasn't picked up the colours or glossy finish very well, so here's a slightly better close-up!

Thanks for looking,

Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge #5

Now half term is over I've not got as much time to craft, hence the lack of activity here so far this week :( However, I have been able to make one card today while Amelie's been asleep, and here it is! It's for the Secret Crafter challenge, which is a sketch with a twist - the card colour scheme has to be pink, white and brown. Pink and white didn't pose a challenge, but brown did - can you believe I don't have any brown patterned paper? I think that's a situation that needs rectifying LOL! I've decided to go with Fluffles again too as he's quite quick to stamp and colour, and I never know how long I've got until Amelie wakes up!

Thanks for looking,

Sketch Saturday No 22

A quick card to scrape into this week's Sketch Saturday challenge - I love this sketch and really wanted to do a card for it, but time ran away from me until today. This card uses Forever Friends stickers that arrived yesterday - I adore FF and I'm so glad they have a craft range now! As promised, now with better photo that actually reflects the colours used a bit better :)

Thanks for looking,

This week's Christmas card!

I've managed to use the last of the three Penny Black cat in a wreath images that I stamped and coloured in last month for this week's Secret Crafter challenge. This week's challenge is a sketch, which I've rotated to suit the shape of the stamp. The little wreath embellishment I made myself, using two Nestability dies (a scalloped circle and plain circle) inside each other - I put them both on the cutting plate together to make lining it up easier. I then embossed the cut-out wreath with a section of the cuttlebug Lacy Tree folder. The greeting is hand-written with a brush marker, and is the one bit of the card I'm not happy with, but I didn't have a stamp small enough to fit inside the wreath!

Thanks for looking,

Ellie the Elephant for Friday Sketchers

I've been waiting for an opportunity to use this stamp, part of a set I bought from Stamposaurus at Ally Pally last month. They're absolutely adorable :) The layout is for Friday Sketchers - in addition to following the sketch, the challenge was to use a horizontal image and not take it outside the horizontal backing paper (see the sketch for a better explanation!!). Ellie herself is coloured with fun flock, so she feels all velvety. It's the first time I've used flock but don't think it will be the last, as I love the effect. I just need to expand my colour collection beyond grey ;)

Thanks for looking,

Another digital scrapbook page!

Wow, Amelie's been asleep for 2 hours and 20 minutes so far - something of a miracle!! It means I've had more time to play around with the Shabby Princess stuff I downloaded :) This page is using their "Harvest Spice" kit, which comprises of digital papers, elements and an alphabet, so the layout is my own design this time. This picture of Amelie in her wellies and waterproof was also taken last month, out for a walk on our local common.

Thanks for looking,

Digital scrapbook page - Amelie at Wisley Gardens

I found a lovely site called Shabby Princess at the weekend that has some wonderful free digital downloads, including a "piece of cake" album with pages that you just need to add photos and journalling to (my kind of scrapbooking - can be done in 15 minutes while Amelie is asleep!!). So I decided to have a play this morning during Amelie's nap time and this is what I came up with - the two photos are from a trip to RHS Wisley Gardens last month, on the one Sunday of September when the sun shone!

Thanks for looking,

My first ATC!

The Penny Black Saturday Challenge this week was to create an ATC (Artist Trading Card). It's something I'd never attempted before but have fancied trying for a while, so I thought I'd give it a go for the challenge. The biggest challenge was finding a Penny Black stamp or sticker in my collection that was small enough! I ended up using this bear stamp, one I've had for ages and love but have always struggled with using on cards as it's so small. The background is a flower stamp, stamped in Versamark and chalked. The bear is coloured with watercolour pencils and the sentiment added with the fine-tip end of a brushmarker, which I've also used to ink the edges of the ATC.

I'm fairly pleased with the result, but I think I need to play around with this format more before I really get to grips with it!

Thanks for looking,

Simple Christmas Card for Two Challenges!

Something a bit different to what I've been doing recently - a simple card with a heat embossed image. I made the card for two challenges - the layout is for Sketch Saturday's Sketch 21, and the theme is for Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge 3, which is "blue, white and a touch of snowflake". It was so quick and easy to do that I think I'm going to make half a dozen or so for sending out, maybe altering the colour scheme. I played around with the image in Photoshop (trying to get rid of some of the glare from the pearl card) and decided it looked quite nice in lilac or pink, so I might try that for real!

The stamp is an Anita's one I've had for a couple of years and the embossing is a Cuttlebug folder.

Thanks for looking,

I've found a new challenge blog!

I found a new challenge blog, Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge, while blurfing at the weekend and loved the sketch. I actually made the card on Monday evening but it's taken until now to get a decent photo in daylight - every photo I've taken with the flash has either darkened the red mirri card to almost black or the flash has bounced off the twinkling H2Os and lost the detail. Even this photo isn't great, but it's the best of a bad bunch! I love this cat image from Penny Black - I stamped and coloured it three times as soon as I got it, so one more still to use up :) The backing paper is from a DCVW Xmas stack.

Thanks for looking,

Blog candy

Scrapmumur, whose lovely blog that serves both as card inspiration and a chance to use my French, is giving away one of the gorgeous Whiff of Joy stamps, plus a card she's made with it, here.

Three challenges in one card (just!)

I've actually managed to combine three challenges in this card, which I'm pretty chuffed with! The layout is for the fab sketch from Friday Sketchers, the theme is for the Penny Black Saturday Challenge, whose theme this week is "Thanks a Bunch" and I just about manage the Cute Card Thursday challenge, which is "Buttons and Bows" - ok, so just one bow, but hopefully it'll be enough to count! The patterned paper is from the DCVW floral stack, which I love, and the main image is coloured with twinkling H2Os as usual! The card blank is chalked to match the lilac colour scheme.

Thanks for looking,

Another Christmas Challenge Card!

This card is for the Penny Black Saturday Challenge - I've figured that if I make a Christmas card every week then I may just have enough by 24th December!! The challenge this week was a sketch - I like these as it means I don't have to struggle with layout inspiration! The snowman and snowflakes are PB stickers, so this was quite a quick card too (well, it's actually been in progress for two days, but that's because Amelie woke up when I was halfway through it on Monday morning!!).

Thanks for looking,

A card I wish I hadn't had to make

This is the hardest card I've ever had to make, for a friend who lost her husband just over a week ago. He was 33 years old and they have two small children. My heart goes out to her - the funeral is today and I can't imagine what she's going through. I wish I could have been there, but it's up in Worcester and Darren's mum wasn't able to get the time off at short notice to look after Amelie. They're in my thoughts though.

I went through so many possibilities with this card, including decoupage sheets kindly offered by friends on the Imag-e-nation forum, but in the end decided that simplicity was best. The main image is a Penny Black sticker, mounted on silver then lilac card and the main card is chalked to match. The sentiment is a peel-off sticker - it's not really what I wanted, but it was the only thing I had that matched, as I'm currently printer-less.

Thanks for looking,