Christmas stocking .....

... Hello again - I managed to get into my craft room again yesterday afternoon.  Kathryn went over to a friend's house, so I had some time to play.  I decided to make a card for this week's 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown - 52CCT08-13 challenge.  The challenge this week is to use some felt on the card.  Now I have to admit that I was having a few problems with the challenge, but, after a search through my stash, I came across some cute felt embellishments.  Here's my card:

Stamps: My Favourite Things - Stitched Stockings; Waltzingmouse - Nordic Winter
Inks: Stampin' Up! - Real Red, Gumball Green
Dies: Spellbinders - Fleur de Lis Squares (S4-318) # 2 and 4, Squares Lg (S4-126) #6
Accessories:  SU Card - Real Red; Gold linen texture card, white lustre card and felt stocking from stash

I had two little felt Christmas stockings and one elf body - no head, just a body!  I decided to go with the stocking ;)  I stamped a background using a couple of  stitched stockings images and a few of the tiny stamps in that set.  I used my favourite ornate square dies to cut a couple of mats from some gold linen texture card and a plain white layer onto which I stamped a greeting all the way round.  I used my Fiskars stamp press to get the sentiments in exactly the right place.  I finished the front by adhering the felt stocking to the small ornate square and attached it to the card. On the inside I cut a couple of mat layers, one in red and one in white onto which I stamped the sentiment and border. 


I think I'm going to make another card today using the other felt stocking!

I'm up silly early again - I don't know why I'm getting up so early, but at least I can make use of the time.  That's all for now.  Have a good day!

Mother's Day Take Two ....

.... Good morning from a snowed in Northville.  We woke to a blanket of thick, heavy, wet snow - it's awful stuff.  Jonathan and I managed to clear half the drive so that he could get to work, and then I started on the other half.  I was rescued by a kind neighbour, Brian, who has a gas powdered snow machine - it was so, so quick!!  Drive and paths now cleared. 

Anyhoo!  I'm here with my second Mother's Day card - a bit later than planned, but it's here.  I used the following challenges in the making of the card:

• Dynamic Duos - DD#41
• Clean & Simple Stamping - FTL229
• CAS-ual Fridays - CFC91

Stamps: Uniko Studio - The Hands of Time; Stampin' Up! - Occasional Greetings (discontinued); CAS-ual Friday Stamps - Only You
Inks: Versamark; Memento - Grey Flannel, SU - Pool Party, Island Indigo
Accessories:  Cuttlebug EF - Art Deco; SU Card - Pool Party, Island Indigo; Promarkers - Ice-Grey 3, Pastel Green, Marine; Silver embossing powder, gems and white lustre card from stash

This card was so easy to make.  I love, love the shades of teal with just a touch of silver.  I was pretty faithful to the sketch just changing from a square card to rectangle as it worked better with the design.  And you might have noticed that I kept to the same set of stamps for this card as the first card.  I really enjoy colouring this doily, and it's actually very easy to cut out.  The line of gems came just like that; I only had to measure it to the right length.


For the inside I cut a mat in pool party and a white layer onto which I stamped some more doilies and a sentiment.   I should also mention that I got some inspiration for my card from Vicki B's card - thanks!

Both cards will be in the post today and should get to the UK in time for Mother's Day!

Kathryn is enjoying a snow day; she's watching Mirror, Mirror at the moment!  Jonathan phoned when he got to work; he said that the roads are not too bad, just very slushy and wet.  It's above freezing so the snow is actually melting now - I can see it dripping of the branches on the tree in front of my window!!

That's all for this morning - I'm off to have some breakfast now.  See you soon.

Mother's Day ....

... Good evening - I do hope you've all had a fabulous weekend.  I did plan to do quite a lot of crafting this weekend, but instead caught up with Season 4 of Fringe - it was brilliant.  I finally got into my craft room about 4.00pm this afternoon.

In the UK Mother's Day is a moving date; it falls on the fourth Sunday in Lent so is much earlier than Mother's Day in the US.  As both my Mum and Mother-in-law are in the UK I need to make a couple of cards for them.  Here's the first:

Stamps: Uniko Studio - The Hands of Time; Stampin' Up! - Occasional Greetings; Hot of the Press - Stitches; CAS-ual Fridays Stamps - Loving Thoughts, Only You
Inks: Memento - Grey Flannel; SU - Daffodil Delight
Dies: Spellbinders - Circles Sm (S4-116) # 5
Accessories: SU Card - Daffodil Delight; Cuttlebug EF - Mistletoe Kisses; Promarkers - Ice-Grey 3, China Blue, Sunflower; White Lustre card, ribbon and gems from stash

I followed a couple of challenges for this card: Mojo Monday - MOJO281 and Play Date Cafe Challenge - PDCC170.  I realised today that's it's been a while since I played along with these challenges - but I love the colours and it's a really fun sketch.

I cut a panel, slightly smaller than the card base, stamped the faux stitching and then embossed it in my bug.   I stamped a couple of the lovely doilies from Hands of Time, the solid one in yellow and the open one in grey which I coloured with Promarkers and then carefully cut both out.  I stamped the sentiment onto white card and added a few of the smaller doilies around the sentiment, then I cut it out with my circle nesties.  The ribbon started off white - I simply coloured it blue with my Promarker so that it's an exact match.  I also coloured the gems with Promarkers.  The sentiment circle was attached with dimensional tape. 

I decorated the inside to match the front.  I cut a mat layer in yellow and on the white panel I stamped several of the doilies, using the second impression to make them a little more subtle.  I stamped the greeting in yellow and grey. 

I'm not sure yet whether this is for my Mum or my Mother-in-law.  They would both like it!!

That's all for now - I'll be back tomorrow with the other card.  See you soon.

Easter Greetings ....

.... Hi everyone - it's been a bit of a morning here.  It started snowing just as Jonathan and Kathryn left for school and came down quite quickly.  It's finally stopped so my next job will be to go out and clear the drive!  Yea!!!!  Roll on spring!!!

I have realised that it's actually not long until Easter - I think it's early this year.  Anyway, I need to make lots of cards for family and friends in the UK and this is the first.  I used this week's challenge from CASology - CAS32 where the cue word is "FLAME" as the inspiration.  Personally, I'm not religious, but Ben's grandmother is and I like being able to make cards specially for individuals.

Stamps: Waltzingmouse - Nestie Eggs, Spring Baskets, Bright Season
Inks: Distress - Antique Linen; Stampin' Up! - Real Red, Pumpkin Pie, Daffodil Delight; Memento - Tuxedo Black; Versamark
Dies: Spellbinders - A2 Matting Basics A (S5-131) #6, A2 Matting Basics B (S5-132) #6, Nested Eggs (S4-264) #5, Fancy Framed Tags Two (S5-128)
Accessories:  Gold card from stash; Cosmic Shimmer EP - Olympic Gold Lustre; Cuttlebug EF - Swiss Dots; White Lustre card from stash

I cut the egg shape using my Spellbinder dies (they come out every Easter), stamped the outline in Versamark and heat embossed with gold lustre powder to give a subtle edge to the egg.  I used my Fiskars stamp press to position the sentiment, the candle, flame and glow.  I ran the white mat through the Cuttlebug to give some texture and lightly sponged on Antique Linen to define the dots.  I stamped a simple greeting onto white card, cut it out with one of the plain borders from the tag set, while in the die I sponged a little colour over it.  I used dimensional tape to adhere the egg to the card.  For the inside I kept it very simple with gold and white mats.  On the white mat I stamped another Easter Egg and greeting across the centre panel.

It's a pretty clean and simple design, and I hope it CAS enough for the team!!  So pleased that I've finally made a start on my Easter cards.

Now I'm off to shovel away the snow!!  Be safe!

Edited to add:  Just got in from shoveling snow!  I am absolutely exhausted!  I think we had 3", maybe even 4" of snow all over the drive and paths.    It's taken just over two hours to clear it all away.  Off for a large cup of coffee now :)  See you tomorrow!

For a guy ...

... Good evening!  It's rather later than I thought!  I've had a lazy day reading a book - really nice, but then I realised that I needed to make a birthday card for one of my cousins and get it in the post tomorrow.  I've used a few challenges to make this card:

• Retro Sketches - RS51
• Muse - MUSE5
• Colour Q - cQc177

Stamps: CAS-ual Friday Stamps - Rad; Amy Tangerine - Aspire
Inks: Stampin' Up! - Cherry Cobbler, Pool Party, Always Artichoke
Accessories:  SU Card - Crumb Cake, Always Artichoke, Pool Party; White Lustre from stash; Clear embossing powder

 
The inspiration card over at Muse - MUSE5 is by Marion Vagg.  The idea with MUSE is to take inspiration from Marion's card - there are so many possibilities with this card.  I saw the chevron pattern and decided to go with that as the theme.   For the layout of my card I used Kim's sketch based on this card.  I love the colours over at Colour Q - cQc177 they are perfect for a guy card.

I used Crumb Cake to make the card base and front panel.  When I went to Archivers on Saturday I got some stamps by Amy Tangerine (first time I'd seen her stamps); I liked the images in this set - the chevron banner and ampersand are from that set.  I stamped the chevron in Versamark and embossed with clear powder.  Then I cut out the banner and coloured sections of the chevron with the coordinating inks.  For the greeting I used Rad by CAS-ual Friday Stamps - stamping part of the greeting directly on the Crumb Cake panel and part on white card which I adhered over the chevron banners.  I finished the front with some home made chevron brads and a bold ampersand.  The inside is very simple - a piece of white card with a couple of chevron at the top and bottom.

Edited to add:  Just so you know the front of the card reads "Hope your birthday is awesome &".   Not, as my husband thought, "Hope your birthday is & awesome". 

That's all for now.  I'll be back again tomorrow!

Quick movie review ....

... Afternoon all!  Kathryn and I have just got in from the movies.  I promised a review of Warm Bodies - a rather unusual zombie movie.  It's a romance!!  Honest!  Julie is rescued from some zombies by R - he's also a zombie, but he's a bit different.  He thinks and is lonely.  R keeps Julie safe and then something happens to him - his heart beats - and he changes.  If you've got tweenies - age 11 up - and you need to find a film they might enjoy - this could be it.  It's actually very good.  Good acting, super music and you feel good when you leave the cinema!

Now we're off to continue our movies fest at home - going to watch Pitch Perfect.  I do like to spend the day with my daughter - she's wonderful. 

Back tomorrow with a card - see you!

Doily Love - take 2 ....

... Morning!!!  It's President's day today and is a federal holiday, which means that Kathryn has a day off school.  Unfortunately, this is not the case for Jonathan; he has had to go to work.  So Kathryn and I are planning a day out together.  I got this card made last night.  It'll have to go in the post on Tuesday - but should get to the UK in time.

Stamps: Waltzingmouse - Dainty Doilies Small, L'il Buddies
Inks: Stampin' Up! - Regal Rose
Dies: Die-namics -     Fishtail Flags Layers STAX
Accessories: Kaisercraft Design Paper - Secret Admirer; Kaisercraft - Secret Admirer Doilies; Stampin' Up! Design Paper - Marina Mist; Doily from local supermarket; White lustre card

I've made this card for three challenges:

• Waltzingmouse Blog Party - WMSBP02-13 where the theme is doilies
• Play Date Cafe Challenges - PDCC169
• Freshly Made Sketches - FMS73

I really like the colours in this week's Play Date challenge, but I have to admit that I've struggled a bit with them - the colours in my card are brighter tones than on the graphic, but I think they work.  This is a bit out of my comfort zone as I don't often use just design papers.  But these papers from Kaisercraft are so pretty that I had to try.  I cut a sheet to cover the front of a square card.  I got the doilies from my local supermarket last year - pretty.  For the horizontal panel I cut a piece of Marina Mist DP.  I cut the banner tag from white lustre card and stamped a simple birthday greeting in pink.  The green doily comes from the coordinating Kaisercraft set.

For the inside I decided to use another sheet of paper from the pack.  I cut it to fit the card - making sure that I kept the birdcage image in the top corner.  I stamped a couple of doilies in the opposite corner and left a space for the greeting.  It is actually a very clean and simple card!

That's all for now.   Kathryn and I are off to see Warm Bodies - an unusual twist on a romance - a zombie and human!!  It's had good reviews.  I'll report back!  See you soon.

Doily Love with a twist ....

... Good afternoon - I'm later posting this card than I planned.  But I spent this morning catching up with season 4 of Fringe; a series that both Jonathan and I really enjoy.  So I didn't actually get into my craft room until 2.00pm.   It's 17th February (half way through the month already) and that means it's time for the Waltzingmouse Blog Party and the theme is doilies.  My card has a twist - I've gone for a Christmas doily:

Stamps: Waltzingmouse - Nutcracker Sweet, Big Bloom Poinsettia, Dainty Doilies - Large, Dainty Doilies - Small, Compliments of the Season II, Seasons of Love Tags
Inks: Versamark; Versafine - Vintage Sepia; Distress - Gathered Twigs, Festive Berries; Stampin' Up! - Always Artichoke
Dies: Spellbinders - Grand Circles (LF-114) #1
Accessories: Design Paper - Kaisercraft Christmas (free with Simply Cards & Papercraft); Papermania Ribbon; SU Card - Always Artichoke; Staedtler Aquarell Pencils; Staedtler Ergosoft Pencils; White and clear embossing powders; White lustre card

I had planned to make a birthday card with a doily, but when I saw the sketch for this week's Jingle Belles - JB:13:04 challenge I knew exactly how I wanted my card to look - and it does!!  I'm also submitting this card to this week's 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown - 52CCT07-13 where we have to include hearts/love.  If you look at the tree is has several tiny hearts!!

I started with this backing paper - "Christmas Times" - I sponged some ink around the edge to distress it a little.  I layered this onto a green mat and attached it to the card base.  I used the smallest of my Grand Circle nesties to cut the backing vellum circle and then stamped the lace doily onto vellum and embossed with white powder.  I cut out the doily and coloured the reverse with Ergosoft pencils which I blended with Sandor.  I stamped the Christmas tree in Versafine ink and embossed with clear powder.  I coloured the tree with Aquarell pencils and aquabrush.  Once dry I cut out the tree and attached it to the card.  I finished the front by adding a strip of ribbon and adding a poinsettia.  I stamped the sentiment in Versafine using my new Fiskars stamp press which makes positioning stamps really easy!

For the inside of my card I cut a green and white mat.  On the white mat I stamped a doily in green - third generation impression to keep it subtle finishing with a greeting in bold red.

That's all for now - I'm off to join the Blog Party and see all the gorgeous doily cards!  See you soon.

One for four .....

...  Hi!  Weather's a wonderful thing - you think you're prepared, but it changes by the minute!  We've had gorgeous sunshine, some rain and thick snow - all in a few hours!  Mind, it hasn't got above freezing at all!  We went to the shops this morning and I had a quick visit to Archivers - such a lovely place to visit - I didn't come out with much - honest :)

I've been playing in my craft room since getting home and I've made a very CAS card for four challenges:

• Less is More - LIM107 - where the theme is "up in the air"
• CAS-ual Fridays - CFC90 - to use black, white and one other colour
• CAS(E) this Sketch! - CTS15 
• Dynamic Duos - DD#40 - Black Tie combo of Tempting Turquoise and Black, with the theme of clouds

Stamps: PTI - Scattered Showers
Inks: Stampin' Up! - Tempting Turquoise, Daffodil Delight; Memento - Tuxedo Black
Accessories: SU Card - Tempting Turquoise; White Lustre and Black card from stash

This is about as clean and simple as it gets!  I cut black and turquoise mats for the front and on the white layer I stamped the sentiment in turquoise.  I stamped the clouds (up in the air!) onto a scrap of white card using the second impression to give the idea of storm clouds, and then cut them out and adhered them to the card with dimensional tape.

The sentiment on the front suggests that you might be a bit in the dumps or feeling down, so for the inside I stamped the sun (again second impression) and a greeting.  I layered the white onto more turquoise card.

I lost yesterday to a day of editing holiday photos.  I took lots of photos when we went to Chicago and California last year, but hadn't got around to editing any of them.  So I spent most of the day going through them and have uploaded the images to my Flickr account if you want to see them.  The next job will be to make some scrapbooks of our trips.

That's all for now.  Jonathan is busy working on his photos and Kathryn is sorting our her Social Studies homework and I'm off back to my craft room to make a few birthday cards. 

Be safe!  See you soon.

Non traditional Christmas colours ....

.... that's the challenge for this week at 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown - 52CCT06-13.  The team want us to make a Christmas card using Brown, Yellow and White!!!  Here's my card:

Stamps: Waltzingmouse - Yonder Star, Yonder Star Background, Compliments of the Season II
Inks: Stampin' Up! - Daffodil Delight, Early Espresso
Dies: WMS - Yonder Star Cut Files
Accessories:SU Design Paper - Daffodil Delight; Lace and gems from stash

The DT came up with some gorgeous cards with these colours, but it's taken me most of the week to work out what I was going to do.  However, once I decided on the stamp sets the card came together really quickly!!  I stamped the wonderful Yonder Star Background on the front of the card (it was the second impression - didn't want the brown to be too strong).  I found this pretty cream lace in my stash and wrapped that around the middle of the card.  I used my Cameo to cut the star and mat layers (Claire has them in the shop - they are free).  I used my new Fiskars stamp press to stamp the star - so easy to get it in exactly the right place.  I meant to cut the mat layer out in brown card but forgot!  So I sponged on some early espresso on the white card, adhered the star and then used dimensional tape to attach the star to the card.  I finished with the a simple sentiment and a bit of bling in the centre of the star.

For the inside I cut a mat in SU design paper and on the white card I stamped the outline star in yellow and a sentiment in brown.  I certainly found this a challenge, but am very pleased with the result.

That's all for today.  Kathryn will be getting in from school shortly and I need to go and tidy my craft room.  After my spring clean in January I've been quite good at putting things away, but I've slipped this week and my desk looks like a bomb site!!

See you tomorrow!

Love is in the air ....

.... well, it is Valentine's Day, so I think it's appropriate that my card as a Valentine theme.  I've used three challenges to make this card, and they are:

• Less is More - LIM106 - to make a one layer card with a music theme
• CAS-ual Fridays - CFC89 - to use a love song title for inspiration
• MUSE - MUSE4 - to take inspiration from Therese Calvird's card

Stamps: Waltzingmouse - My Heart, Musical Backgrounds
Inks: Memento - Tuxedo Black; Stampin' Up! - Wild Wasabi
Accessories: Hearts by Lori Whitlock (Cameo stencils); Cosmic Shimmer Mist - Purple Violet; Sakura Pigma Micron Black Pen; White Lustre card from stash

I took the song title "Love is in the Air" - John Paul Young (see the link to U-tube at the bottom of this post) as inspiration for the theme creating music balloons floating free in the air.  From Therese's card I took the colours - I just love purple and green!  And, of course, this is a one layer card.

I cut some hearts on my Cameo, placed a few on the top of my card and lightly misted with purple Cosmic Shimmer spray.  Once dry, I removed the heart shape, placed the stencil over the heart and stamped the music background into the heart.  I stamped the word "Love" in Memento ink and then wrote in the rest of the sentiment.  I drew the balloon strings by hand.  I have a small group three balloons in the distance - they are coving an "oops" moment with a bit of green ink!!

I have to admit that I'm not entirely happy with this card.  I think there's a kernal of good idea here somewhere, but I don't think I quite got it right!!  Still I've made it so I'll share it.  I think I was a bit heavy handed with the misting.  I'd like to have some constructive feedback on this one! 

I decided to go back and draw around the heart shapes to give more definition to the music balloons!  I think this works so much better.  It's not perfect, but a huge improvement.

Here's that link to Love is in the Air!




That's all for now - see you soon!