Animal Crackers at Joanna Sheen

I made this very quick card for a friend and thought I'd enter it into the Joanna Sheen Animal Crackers challenge. The horse is an old Anita's stamp that I got in a sale for £1. This is it's first inking and all I've done is ink it with Gathered Twigs distress ink and moved some of the colour with a water brush. I've used a Crafts Concept embossing folder for the top of the card. The ribbon was rescued from a chocolate box. As I said a very quick card - I'll be making some more of these for my animal charity.

Paperback Christmas Tree

While I was blog hopping last night I came across KraftyKows blogspot and the fabulous Paperback Christmas Tree and decided I needed to have a go. I went to the charity shop and bought a damaged paperback which was going to the tip. It was larger than the normal size and I'll get three out of it for my 50p.

I did a search for a tutorial and there are loads out there but they all say to fold the bottom of the page up so it is flat. I've left mine hanging as I like the effect and I've sat it on a glass candle holder - another charity shop buy for 20p. Once folded I coloured the edges with Peacock Feathers distress inks and added a few sprays of Aqua Lagoon Cosmic Shimmer Mist. I added some aqua sequins all around which were from a pack that cost me £1.00 at the Market Gallery in Southampton. There are loads in this pack and I've hardly used any. I  finished it with a star sprayed with the same Shimmer Mist. I'm not 100% happy with the star so that may change on the next one as I'm sure I'll be making lots of these. They are so quick and ideal for children to sit and make once the book is cut.

This is what I used

And this is the tree

And the bottom pieces which should have been folded up along the horizontal edge

I'm entering this into the Anything Goes challenge which is Let's Not Be Square and the Incy Wincy  challenge - Anything But a Card.

Polka Doodles Summer Challenge

The theme this week at Polka Doodles is Summer. For my card I've chosen an image from the Sugarplum Daisy CD which I coloured with Promarkers and a paper which I think is from the Pretty Sweet CD. I punched the daisies and buttercups but wasn't sure about the layout. Sketch N Stash came to the rescue with a fabulous sketch. I've used the flowers as one border at the bottom and used a Martha Stewart punch for another. A ribbon and card strip border for the left side and finished with a JustRite sentiment and some gems. I've had the JustRite stamps for a couple of years but only came across them again a couple of weeks ago and I think I'll be using them a lot now.

Kusudama Flower Ball

This is another project that I saw at Kate Evan's DoCrafts demonstration a couple of weeks ago in Dorchester. I cut the squares out when I got home and started the folding but gave up after a few. Yesterday, I decided to sit in the garden and finish the folding. I must admit that for me it is one of those projects that once you've started folding and realise how much there is to do, you say never again. But now it's finished, I love it and I've started cutting the 60 squares for the next one. You can see that some of my squares were either not equal to start with or were folded unevenly but hey, flowers aren't always even either. For the next one I'm making sure that everything is right as I go along.

I've used Papermania Parkstone Pink papers and it took 4 12x12 sheets. The next one will be slightly larger using 4" squares instead of 3". I also think it may look nice with vintage buttons in the middle of the flowers so I'll have to see what I've got in my box that's suitable. There's a great tutorial HERE and HERE   if you want to have a go.

Go Green & Recycle

The challenge at Polka Doodles this week is Go Green and Recycle. I was looking for some gold leaf for another project and came across this set. It was only a cheapie set but ideal for what I wanted. When I opened the packaging, the gold and silver leaf were in separate pieces of card which make perfect card blanks.

I've printed a background from the Sugarplum Daisy CD for the inside and Piper sitting from the Pretty Sweet CD.  I've added some acetate behind the aperture (from a Bigz die packaging) and stuck on some birds again from the Sugarplum Daisy CD. As the card blank was so pretty, the only other thing I've added is the JustRite greeting and a small piece of ribbon recycled from a top and coloured with Promarkers.

To me she looks like she's sitting at the window wishing she was allowed out. I did think of adding some spots to her face as if she had measles but thought that would be too limiting so I've made it a simple get well card.

I'm also entering this into the Little Red Wagon challenge this week which is Pretty Packaging and I think this is just perfect.

Now to get back to my original idea - no wonder my desk is always a mess!

Mini Prom Maze Book

I saw Rosemary Merry make a little 3x3 Maze Book from a 12x12 sheet on the Polka Doodles show a few weeks ago and then I saw one in the flesh at Kate Evans demonstration on Saturday so decided to have a go. It was really easy to make with only folding and 3 cuts. I thought it would make a great little book for Leah's prom pictures. There are 16 main pictures and 7 pull out tabs. Her dress was aqua and black so I've matted all the pictures in aqua to match. The papers and stickers are from an old Papermania Touch of Teal set which I got from Sussex Stationers when they were closing down. I hope she likes it.

Joanna Sheen - Going Round in Circles

This is a very quick card for the Joanna Sheen Going Round in Circles challenge. I've used  the Furry Friends CD and thought this little dog was perfect. I printed the spotty paper straight onto card and cut a circle out for the rocker base. The image and mat are cut with Nesties with lots of round gems added. The card is finished off with a Craftwork Cards greeting and another gem. It will make a great card for my animal charity.

Polka Doodles British Olympics

The challenge this week at Polka Doodles is to use red, white and blue and make a card for the British Olympics. For my card I've gone for the red/white/blue colours and the British theme but I thought I'd got for a sport that has been missed out of the Olympics - something that we Brits would win hands down!

I've used Nikky's Britannia papers imported into Craft Artist and the teapot and cup from Picknix Welcome Home which I made into stencils to add the flag. The poster is a freebie which you can make your own from here:
http://www.keepcalmstudio.com/

The colour of the poster was brighter red but I toned it down to match the papers.

Man About Town

As much as I love Wild Rose Studio stamps, I wasn't keen on the new Man About Town set which was released earlier this year. However, I saw some examples at My Mum's Craft Shop in Pounbury at the weekend and changed my mind.  These three cards use the DIY Legend stamp and the Man About Town papers and Craftwork Cards greetings. The first one also has some Saville Row card candy. I've also used the sketch from Sketch N Stash so will be entering this one into the challenge.

On the second card I've used a Crafts Too embossing folder on the black card )although it doesn't show too well in the first picture) and the tools at the bottom are a Die-namics set called Tool Charms.

The third is very simple as the background paper is very busy and I've only added the card candy.

One of these is for my brother-in-laws birthday and the other two will go in my charity box. These are really quick cards as they don't need any colouring and I think I'll be getting the Celebrate in Style stamp next and probably another pack of the super papers. 

Kumihimo Bracelet

I did a class at the Half Moon Bead Shop in Poundbury yesterday and made a gorgeous bracelet using a Kumihimo braiding disk. It was a great class, very friendly and a fantastic tutor. I'll definitely be back for more. The most difficult thing was choosing the beads as Louise had lots of examples using  totally different beads and the bracelets all looked unique. I eventually settled on silver and blue Long Magatama beads and blue lagoon size 8 seed beads. I finished it with silver dome ends and a magnetic clasp with a safety chain. Unfortunately the light's not very good and makes the silver look yellowish but it's definitely silver

When I got home I sat watching television and made the basis of two more - I just need the findings for them and it was too late to go through my stash. I can see this will be very addictive.

My second one is a copy of the colours that Louise used in one of her examples - Transparent Green and Chartreuse Long Magatama with beige opal seed beads. This is a lovely colour and I think I'll use champagne coloured findings for this one.

My third one just uses size 8 seed beads which makes a much finer bracelet. I seem to have a lot of tops with yellow in so I used Yellow Rainbow and the beige Opal again. Again, I'll probably go for champagne coloured findings to finish.

Strawberry Wishes

The image for this card is Strawberry Wishes by Hobby House. It's a pre-coloured image and is so cute - just right for a quick card.The papers are by Kate Knight and were free with a magazine some time ago. Lots of bling as I'm entering it for the Cutie Pie challenge which is glitter and bling. The fglowers have some bling brads in the middle which are from Lakeland so they must be a few years old. The mats and swirls are cut from glitter card although it doesn't show in the picture. The layout is the from the Sketch N Stash challenge.

Make a Gift Card at Polka Doodles

The Polka Doodles challenge this week is to make a gift card. I'm having a bit of a problem with my printer at the moment so could print off any papers so I've had to raid my stash and look what I found.

I'd used quite a few of the free papers and the stamps last year but there were enough papers and stickers left to make this quick gift card. When I first saw this idea, I dismissed it as being too difficult but it really is super easy.

Polka Doodles Fairies and Fantasy

This weeks Polka Doodle challenge is Fairies and Fantasy. I've made my card in Craft Artist and been having a real good play with it. I started with a basic butterfly shape which I imported and made into a stencil. I them imported the topper from the Sugarplum Fairy CD and laid it over the stencil as a backing then cut it. I've imported the fairy from the same CD and used the cutout studio to remove the second image. This makes her like a png image so you can place her wherever you want without a background. I've done the same with the sun and bird. I've also added some flowers from the Picknix CD. Once I had the design how I wanted, I moved the fairy, the sunflowers and second bird to a different page and printed everything off. Then cut the butterfly out and a second blank one for the back of the card and stuck them together. I've cut the elements out and decoupaged them onto the design. For glitter, I've added diamond stickles to the centre of the flowers and gone over some of the design with a stardust pen. Glamour dust has been added to the fairy wings and the centre of the sun. A lot of playing about but I'm quite pleased with the result.

LIM - Lucky Dip

I haven't entered a card for the Less Is More challenge for ages but I wanted to make a card for my forum friend Val. She's been in hospital for 10 weeks now and must be absolutely bored stiff. I've sent her a couple of cards but as she always entered the LIM challenges, I thought this would be perfect for her.

The challenge this week is to use their blog header as inspiration. I've used the colours and a flourish from it. I picked out the stamps I wanted to use but wasn't sure about the layout so I went back to week 52 and used the sketch from that. The flourish stamp is a small set by Kanban and the sentiment is from a Stampin Up set called Hopeful Thoughts. Both are stamped with Versafine and embossed with ebony WOW embossing powder and the flourish strip layered onto mirri card.

Get well soon Val x

Trooping The Colour at Polka Doodles

I wasn't at all sure about the colours on this card but hey ho. The stamp is Fergus with Poppies by Wild Rose Studio coloured with Promarkers. The backing paper is by Wild Rose Studio too. The flowers are made with a Nellie Snellen punches which also emboss.

A bit of a rush card and I think I've just sneaked in for the Polka Doodles challenge deadline.