Mum's Birthday

It's my Mum's birthday tomorrow and I've made this card for her. I'm pretty certain she won't see it before the big day as she doesn't have a PC. The flower stamp is a free stamp I got with the Craft Stamper magazine a few months ago. I stamped it in black Stazon onto watercolour paper once, then stamped it onto a post it note. I then cut out the flower on the post it note and stuck it over the top of the already stamped flower. I then stamped the flower slightly overlapping the post it note flower. This gives the impression of the flower being behind the front flower. I did this several times to give a bowl full of flowers. I then painted them using my watercolour pencils, which are one of my favourite items in my craft room. I used some white Smooch to highlight the centre of the flowers and some of the dots. The bowl I made by drawing round the small bowl from our food mixer and cutting a straight edge at the bottom. I then covered this with some Basic Grey paper and added a ribbon and bow. The tag for the sentiment is also cut from watercolour paper and coloured with watercolour pencils. The flowers and bowl are then mounted onto Basic Grey paper and Bazill card. The pearls were coloured with a peel off pen as was the sentiment.

Well what a beautiful day it is today ! I'm keeping everything crossed that it will stick around for a few days. We're all off out tomorrow for a birthday pic nic with my Mum so the weather has changed just at the right time.

Thanks for looking.
Sue

Thanks !

This is a card I've made for a lady at work to give to a friend. The idea I was given was gold and white, well I got the gold bit but struggle with the white ! I got the idea for the layout from my friend Vic's blog where she had done the Mojo Monday challenge. The embossed floral background is some paper I've had for ages and I've absolutely no idea who makes it. The other card is Bazill and the edge is punched using my favourite (my only) Martha Stewart punch. The embossed flower mounted on top is a Cuttlebug folder and the stamp is by My Sentiments Exactly, again a stamp I've had for ages and not used very often. This was cut out with Nestabilities and mounted onto the scalloped square Nestability. I quite like this card but I'm not sure the lady at work will, so I may have to make a plan 'B' !

Well it's been such a lovely day here ( not!). My sister is in Florence at the moment and she sent me a text this morning, when it was hammering it down with rain, to say it was very hot and she was sitting in the shade with a cool drink. Can you tell I'm going very green ! Oh well, back to the mess downstairs formerly known as my lounge !

Thanks for looking.
Sue

Tanda Teaser 'Oh Baby!'

This is my card for the Tanda Teaser this week which is 'Oh Baby'. I drew around the smallest dish for our food blender, taking care to leave a flat edge at the bottom and a flat edge on the left hand side. I then covered the card with paper, apologies I don't know who it's by, and then punched the edge of the bazill card with a Martha Stewart punch and added the ribbon. The sentiment is peel off's that I've coloured with a peel off pen. A very simple card as I've not had much, well hardly any, time for crafting this week end.

Well where has this week end gone ! I can't believe that it's Monday night already. We're progressing quite nicely with the kitchen. It's going to take us longer than we thought, but I know we'll be really pleased when it's finished. We've just got to put up with having all the contents of the kitchen scattered around the house !

Thanks for looking.
Sue

Black and white !

One of the things I love about crafting is that you can start out with one idea and end up making something completely different, and this in one of those occasions ! The main image is a Clarity stamp which I've shaded with some Faber Castell Pitt pens. I then inked around the edge of the card with Adirondack Slate and then swiped black Stazon around the edge. The word is from a Rubbadubbado stamp set stamped in black Stazon. The flowers are stamped twice with black Stazon so that some are paler than others. The large flower is from a set of Making Memories flowers called 'Sweet'.

Well tomorrow is 'd day', as we start the kitchen. The old fridge freezer was taken away today when the new one was delivered, so we've got a cool box at the moment with just the bare essentials. Better go get some shut eye as tomorrow is going to be a long day !

Thanks for looking.
Sue

Alot of pink !

First of all I want to thank my very good friend Vic for the above blog award. The award is to say that she thinks my blog is a real treasure. I have to say that this lady is a jewel herself and if I've ever felt like I've lost my 'mojo' she always succeeds in helping me find it again - a very special person indeed and I feel compelled to give this award back to her. I am also giving this award to another special lady, Sheila Oliver, who introduced me to card making a few years ago. I attended one of her wonderful workshops and once I'd see how to heat emboss I was hooked ! Thanks Sheila !

So to today's card, this is one I've made for another lady at work who's birthday is at the weekend. She doesn't work Friday's so I've had to get it ready for tomorrow. The flower images are stamped with black Stazon onto white card and then I've chalked over the top. I've swiped around the edges of the stamped images with ink. The background card is stamped with a small flower which I stamped onto scrap paper first and then stamped onto the card. This made it so that the images weren't too dark. The pearls were coloured with a pink peel off pen as they were originally white. The stamp set I've used for this card if the Brenda Walton set from Inkadinkadoo. The sentiments are black peels offs, which were just the right size.

So we've emptied the freezer as the new one is being delivered on Friday and we need to defrost it tomorrow. I'm actually getting quite excited now, how sad is that ! Running a little late tonight so just time for a quick 10minutes of TV before bedtime.

Thanks for looking.

Sue

And another one !!!

I was so hooked with the colour combination of yesterday's card I had to do another one ! The main image is another stamp from the Vintage set which was stamped with Adirondack Stream ink. I think this image is absolutely gorgeous. I cut it out with a square Nestability and swiped round the edge with Stream, mounted it onto another square and then a scalloped square. The background spotty paper is Basic Grey and I've punched the edge with a Martha Stewart punch. The corner shapes are a Cuttlebug die cut out of the same card and paper and stuck on the opposite colours ( if that makes sense !).

Well the many (many) boxes of the kitchen have arrived, we've just got to put it together now. The good thing is the weather forecast isn't very good so I won't mind being inside at the week end, the down side is I won't be able to craft any where near as much as I would like, but hey you can't have everything !

Thanks for looking.
Sue

Vintage Collection

This card was made with the new set of vintage stamps I bought at the week end. It's not quite what I was originally thinking but I do love this combination of colours. The spotty paper is Basic Grey and this was stamped with Adirondack Stream ink. The Vintage Collage stamp was stamped with Stream onto some more Basic Grey paper and mounted on foam pads and I swiped the ink pad around the edge of the paper.

Well it's been another windy, wet and cold day. I must admit I'm getting a bit fed up with being blown about and getting soaked. We've had the confirmation telephone call about the delivery of the kitchen so all being well we should have lots of boxes by tomorrow afternoon ! Let the fun begin !

Thanks for looking.
Sue

Z card challenge !

This week over on the Tanda Teaser the challenge was to make a Z card. So after some investigation and a little bit of experimentation this is what I came up with. I decided that it needed something better than an envelope so I made the above box for it too.

The stamps are a set I picked up yesterday from a local craft shop. They are a set of vintage stamps by TJ Designs. The images are absolutely delicious and I've only used one or two on this card so plenty more to go at. The main image was stamped in Timber brown Stazon ink and cut out with the square Nestabilites and mounted onto a scalloped square which I cut from watercolour paper and sprayed with Coffee Shop Glimmer Mist. The other images are stamped with my favourite ink pad the Archival Sepia. I grunged a little of the Sepia ink over the card and rubbed it along the punched edge. The punch is by Martha Stewart and I put the brown peel off pen into the larger of the two holes and the ink was literally sucked into the card.

The flowers were punched from some Bazill card I picked up yesterday too, it doesn't show up too well on the photo but it has raised dots all over it. The pearl in the middle was actually white but I coloured it with the brown peel off pen so it would blend in. The words on the inside were stamped with the Habico clear alphabet stamps again in Archival Sepia ink and I also added a swirl from the Basic Grey Two Scoops set of stamps. I have to admit I wasn't sure when I started this card but I'm really pleased with the end product !

Well the weather here today has been absolutely awful so we've not done a great deal. We had to make a quick dash to the 'tip' to get rid of some rubbish from the garage as our new kitchen is being delivered on Tuesday. Boy am I looking forward to the next couple of weeks (not!). I'm thinking that the chip shop and local take away and of course my Mum will be seeing alot of us !

Thanks for looking

Sue

Finished article !

So this is what I ended up with, which I suppose isn't too far from what I was thinking. I tore the edges of the watercolour paper and then inked it with Sepia Archival Ink, and just added a little more on the edge. I cut the edges of the background paper with a pair of deckle scissors and than ran the sepia ink around that too. The sentiment is a peel off that I coloured with a brown peel off pen. The bottle top is from a bottle of Cava that we had recently and I put the top in my craft room thinking it may come in useful ! I dabbed some alcohol ink onto it so it wasn't too shiny and flattened it out a little.Brads and ribbon added for interest. I have to say I'm really impressed with the Faber Pitt pens, I think they will get a quite alot of use.

Well my neck has eased up quite alot over night so I'm going to strike while the iron is hot and do some more crafting. I've got the house to myself my other half is at work today, so no distractions ! I had to make a small purchase of some vintage stamps from the local craft shop on my way back from town so I think they need to be played with this afternoon !

Thanks for looking.
Sue

Work in progress

I started these images this afternoon but unfortunately my neck is not letting me do any more at the moment, so I thought I would share the work in progress. The stamps are by Joanna Sheen and are from the Wine Stamps set. I stamped the images in black Stazon onto watercolour paper, then I've shaded them with my new Faber Pitt artist pens. It's a little bit of an experiment but I'm quite pleased with my first attempt. In the latest Craft Stamper magazine there is a project that has used these pens and it looks absolutley gorgeous ! So they were a 'must have' purchase.

Hopefully I will be able to use these images tomorrow, neck permitting ! I have an idea for a 50th birthday card for my boss, so will have to see if what's in my head actually matches what I make tomorrow.

Right I think it's time for a cup of tea and a quick episode of Stargate Atlantis, I have to say I am quite hooked!

Thanks for looking.

Sue

Just a quickie !

This card was a really quickie. I made it for a friend at work who needed a birthday card last minute. The stamp is a freebie that came with a Craft Stamper magazine which I stamped in black then clear embossed and painted with H2Os. I cut it out with the circle Nestabilities and mounted it onto a scalloped circle Nestabilite. The paper is from a book of free papers that came with the last Cardmaking and Papercraft magazine. The edge of both the paper and the card it's mounted on to are punched with the Waterfall punch. Eh voila !

I've not had a good week this week as my lap top has been playing up again and I've had a stiff neck and shoulder, so not been able to sit at my table. It's starting to ease now and I'm going to get it sorted tomorrow so hopefully I will be able to play with the Manga set of Fiber Pitt pens that arrived earlier this week.

Thanks for looking.
Sue

Fairy Tale !

The main image on this card is from the Tanda Stamps Dragons & Fantasy set which I stamped with black ink then clear embossed it. By mistake I bought a Cosmic Shimmer watercolour paint which I used to paint this image. It gives a lovely gold sheen when the light shines on it so I'm classing it as a 'happy accident'. The ticket stamp was a free stamp which came with the last Craft Stamper magazine, I stamped it in black and clear embossed it, I then painted it with H20s. The main card was sprayed with Glimmer Mist gold and I then stamped the swirls over the card.

It's been a lovely sunny day again today, pity it's not going to last according to the weather man. Ashes to Ashes is on and I'm trying to write this and watch it at the same time, so I'm going to sign off now so I can watch it properly.

Thanks for looking.
Sue

Tanda Teaser ' Cracking up' !

This is my card for the Tanda Teaser challenge this week called 'Cracking up'. I didn't have a crackle stamp or any crackle glaze so I'm hoping that this will fit the bill. I started with a plain piece of white card which I chalked with a set of All Night Media chalks then I sprayed it with Glimmer Mist - Coffee Shop. I stamped the images in black Stazon ink, which were from the Elusive Images set called Paris Secrets. Then I put a piece of HeatnBond iron on adhesive over the top and heated it with my heat gun. This is a technique that I learnt at a workshop I did with Sheila Oliver aka Manicstamper. When it's heated the webbing shrinks to the card and also wraps itself quite nicely around the edge. I then put some Perfect Pearls on top and heated it again. The webbing sucks in the colour and gives it a lovely sheen. I wanted it to look a little more aged so I sprayed it again with the Coffe Shop Glimmer Mist and used a small paint brush to work it into the holes of the webbing. I chalked the background of the main image with chalks then stamped the image in black Stazon. I sprayed some Medici Mixed Media in Wedgewood onto a scrap piece of card then used it as a watercolour for the sky. The edges were torn then I sprayed the image with Gold Glimmer Mist and while it was still wet I went around the edge with some Coffee Shop Glimmer Mist on a paint brush. The script paper was torn and edged with Espresso alcohol ink.

I have to say this card has taken me ages to do but I've loved every second of it !

It's been quite a lovely day here, not at all what the forecast said on the TV last night. I've also had some quality time in my craft room which has been a real pleasure.

Thanks for looking.
Sue

Normal service resumed !

Well I've got my lap top back and it seems to be OK ( famous last words !) so I'll just have to see how it goes. This card was an order I did earlier on this week while I was off line. A friend at work needed a card at short notice so this was a quick one I put together. The background paper is actually from the book of papers that came with the Cardmaking and Papercraft magazine that landed on the mat this week. The papers are actually quite nice and this piece fitted the bill as the request was for dusky pink. The stamp is the one I picked up at the NEC which I don't know who it's by, unfortunately. She was stamped with black Versacolour and then clear embossed. The shopping bags were painted with H2Os. The sentiment was stamped directly onto the paper and everything was mounted onto some brown Bazzill card and the favourite Waterfall punch was used down one side. The cocktail glasses are a Quickutz die and the paper flowers are Papermania.

Well I wish this weather would make it's mind up whether it's going to warm up or not. I keep switching the heating off and then switching it back on again ! We were going to have a barbecue tonight but as it's gone very dark and is now raining I think we'll have to go with plan 'B' instead !

Thanks for looking.
Sue

Technical hitch !

I'm without my lap top at the moment as it's decided that it won't let me open any programs ! So I won't be able to post a photograph today but I'm hoping that normal service will be resumed tomorrow.

I have to say I feel like my left arm has been chopped off without it, I keep wanting to go online and look at things and then realise I can't. Fingers crossed I'll have it back tomorrow !

Sue

Bottom of the drawer challenge !

I set the challenge between myself and my friend Vic ( see the link to 'Blue Jelly too') to use something that was bought some time ago and has been gathering dust. I bought this set of Serendipity stamps at least 12 months ago and they've never seen the light of day ! 

I brayered some white card with Adirondack Butterscotch, Caramel and Lettuce then stamped the tractor in Archival Sepia ink and cut out with Nestabilities Large Labels. I cut another out of Basic Grey paper and stuck it an an angle to where I wanted to put the tractor. The stripey paper is also Basic Grey and the brad is a 'Great Big Brad' by Hot off the Press. The top of the card I dabbed Butterscotch ink and Sepia ink all over as I didn't want it to look too clean. The two words are from the K&Co set of embossed words called Life's Journey. 

Well I nearly didn't post tonight as my lap top has started playing up. I think I'm going to have to take a trip to the shop in the next village to get it sorted as nothing drives me more mad than a PC that doesn't work ! I daren't try and open any thing else now so I'm going to hit the publish post button and keep everything crossed !  

Thanks for looking.

Sue

Sketch Challenge

I saw a sketch challenge in the latest Craft Stamper magazine and thought I'd have a go. The background was created by brayering with Eggplant, Wild Plum and Lettuce Adirondack inks. Then I stamped over this with a stamp from the Tanda Stamp Flourishes Set 1 in Eggplant and Lettuce. The main image is also a Tanda Stamp from the Retro Women Set 2, which is stamped withe black Stazon ink onto a scrap piece of brayered card. The two side images are also from the Flourishes Set 2 and are stamped in Adirondack Wild Plum and Olive Green Stazon. All the images are mounted on to white card. The sentiment is from a set of K&Co embossed stickers called Life's a Journey. I've had them for absolutely ages and thought that this project would be perfect to use one of them on. 

Well we've finished the pond and put some plants in it and also in the garden. I have to say I'm very pleased with what we've achieved this week end, just need my body to recover before we do any more ! 

Thanks for looking.

Sue 

  

What's the buzz !

This is my attempt at the Tanda Teaser this week, which is yellow and blue. These are  not colours I would normally use together so this was a real challenge ! The stamp is by Whipper Snapper and is one I've had for ages but I think I've only used it once. I stamped it in black ink ,clear embossed it and then painted it with H2O's. I then used Nestabilities to cut out the image and mounted it onto the same blue paper as the main background. I stamped the letter 'z' onto the yellow Bazill  card and then tore the bottom edge. The ribbon has been threaded through the ribbon brad and the corner shapes are a Cuttlebug shape. This was a really quick card to do and I've fitted into our busy week end, between re-lining the pond, clearing out the garage and doing the garden ! 

I have to say I'm absolutely shattered now ! We've not stopped all day again today and we're just watching a bit of TV before bed. 

Thanks for looking.

Sue