Thinking Of You

I'm still in Southampton so that I can visit my Aunt in hospital so craft supplies are a little limited. However, while doing some clearing out in my old craft room this morning I came across a clear stamp set of flowers and sentiments. It has no makers name on it but I think it may have been an early Butterfly Kisses set although I can't be sure. I also found a bag of bits that I had put aside for the playgroup. I'm ashamed to say I raided it for a black ink pad and I also found some iridescent glitter glue so I've stamped the foliage onto scraps of white card (which were temporarily held together with post it notes on the back) and added the glitter glue and layered them onto a black mat. I've also stamped two butterflies, cut them out and added glitter glue over them. I don't have any black ribbon here so I've used a scrap of black card  and added three gems. The glitter doesn't show in the first photograph so I've taken one at an angle to try and show it as it has a lovely greenish tint. And as I've used scraps again, I'm entering this into Pixie's Crafty Workshop Snippets Playground - my third this week so I'll be in with a chance to win Ryn's lovely Water Droplets stamp - fingers crossed

Cuttlebug Mania 3D Summer

The girls at Cuttlebug Mania want us to make a 3D project with a summer theme. My Aunt is currently in hospital in Southampton and is likely to be there for at least another week so I've made a little container to keep some bits and pieces by her bedside. I took it up last night and it's got tissues, hand cream, hair brush and linen spray in it now

It's a simple design made out of a 9x9 piece of paper in a nice summery colour and tied with some ribbon. I've decorated it some die cut cats which I cut in the Cuttlebug with Memory Box dies and her name cut from Tattered Lace dies and a flower from Joy Craft dies. These are all cut with scraps of white card and are slightly different shades but as they are on different sides, it doesn't show. And as they are cut from scraps, I'm entering it into Pixie's Crafty Playground

Dahlia Fold Dress

The technique this month at Technique Time Tuesday is to use the Dahlia Fold. I wasn't very pleased with my first effort so I  thought I'd have another go. I've been thinking about this for the last week but as I've been staying in Southampton, this is the first chance I've had to try it. I've used three of the "petals" punched from vellum scraps to make a skirt and the bodice is the Large Tab punch by Stampin Up (it's punched from dark purple card but looks black in the picture) A scrap of ribbon for the belt with a couple of gems added. The backing paper is glittered and is from the Fizzy Moon Celebrations paper pack and the sentiment is from the Stampin Up set For My Family. As I've used scraps of vellum for the skirt, I;m entering this into Pixies Crafty Snippets Playground

School's Out at Cuttlebug Mania

I'm really missing my craft room at the moment as I've been staying in Southampton since Wednesday so that I can visit my Aunt in hospital. I did however buy a new Papermania embossing folder yesterday and when I got up at 4.30 this morning I thought I'd have a play. And then I remembered the Cuttlebug Mania challenge this week is School's Out. I really didn't think I'd be able to enter this week as I don't have a lot of craft stuff here but I do have my old Wizard so I used the embossing folder for the background. I found some old stickers and thought the graduation owl would be perfect. The green is a lot brighter in real life but I only had the camera on my mobile to take the picture so it's not the best. A touch of ribbon to finish. The wording inside the card is Congratulations - you certainly measure up.

Spots or Stripes

Spots or Stripes is the theme of the May challenge at My Mum's Craft Shop. I've used both on my card with papers from the Basic Grey Cupcake pad which I've had for yonks. I've followed this layout at Sketch N Stash but turned it on it's side

The image is Picture Perfect by My Favourite Things and is perfect for my cousins daughter as she is studying photography at college. I've coloured her with Promarkers and paper pieced her skirt. The sentiment is from the same set. I'm also entering this into the Passion For Promarkers Anything Goes challenge. It's their 4th anniversary and lots of lovely prizes on offer so pop over and have a look.

Go Green

That's the theme at CD Sunday this week. I missed last week and the previous ones were just inside the deadline so I was determined to do better this week. For my card I've gone for the golfing green with this image from Joanna Sheen's Nostalgia Collection CD. The backing paper is from the Forever Friends Good Life collection and the sentiment is by Stampin Up. Some Card Candi and a golf bag from my stash to finish. I'm also entering this into the challenge at That Craft Place which is Makes For Men

Sunday Sketch & Stamp

I nearly forgot about my card for Sunday Sketch & Stamp so had to make a quick one when I got up this morning. This is the lovely sketch from Anne-Marie

The stamp I've used is Catus Librum by Stampendous and I've stamped it with Fired Brick distress ink. The backing paper is from a Fancy Pants design pad called Off To School. I've used a Hobbycraft paws background stamp for the right hand panel - this is great value at £2.99 as it's quite a large stamp. The sentiment is by Stampin Up and the ribbon and buttons are from my stash. I'm also entering this into the challenge at Here Come The Boys - Must Have Buttons

Steampunk Owl

The theme at Daring Cardmakers this week is Ink It Up so I got some Distress Inks out for a play. For the background I've used Old Paper and Frayed Burlap stamping the Kaisercraft Bubble Wrap stamp with the latter. The Stampendous Steampunk Owl is stamped with Frayed burlap and coloured with Old Paper and Peacock Feathers with a touch of Walnut Stain on the branches. I've added some garden string and a clock charm from an old bracelet

Dahlia Fold at Technique Time Tuesday

This is my third different technique for Technique Time Tuesday and I must say I enjoyed the first two a lot more! The design team have some lovely examples so I thought I'd have a go. I've made the flower and added some additional pairs in the corners. The centre rose is from a pack on got on Ebay and a little lace to finish. I'm really not sure if I'll try this one again

You are purrrrrrrrfect

The theme at Cuttlebug Mania this week is to use a cat or cats on you project. Now as you might imagine I have lots of cat stamps so it was a difficult choice which one to use. I've been looking for a nice paw print embossing folder but I've only found a border one or one with bones on too so I decided to make my own. I've used scraps of white card and my EK Success paw border punch and a fine pair of tweezers

I used this section of punched card to line up the paws putting dots of glue into alternate paws

 It took a bit of time as the paws are quite small but I was quite pleased with the result

This is the embossing sheet

and this is the resulting embossing

The embossing isn't deep (I've used two layers of the paws so I may add another later) but it does show up.

Once I'd sorted the background I looked up and saw this Memory Box cat die so decided to go with that instead of a stamp. I've also use a Marianne Birdhouse die and stamp set and a bird die which is also by Memory Box. I wasn't sure what colour to do the birdhouse and when I looked through my scraps I found one of the cuff things that go on the bottom of takeaway hot drinks and thought it would be perfect

It's finished off with a sentiment by Wild Rose Studio. I'm also entering this into the Snippets Playground at  Pixie's Crafty Workshop

We're lucky that Buddy doesn't seem to be interested in all the birds that we get in the garden but he does spend hours sat on the compost bin watching mice in the woodshed. I took this from my craft room window this afternoon

Tic Tac Toe Birthday Card

I've managed a little time in the craft room today but as I can't sit for very long at a time, it's not been too productive. I have managed to make a card for the Cuttlebug Mania challenge. The girls have given us a lovely Tic Tac Toe challenge and I have chosen the centre line of their grid which is Ribbon, Embossing and (cup)Cake. For my card I've used a couple of small Cuttlebug folders with Core-dinations card stock which I've distressed to show the embossing. I rarely use these small folders but I'm quite please at how they have come out so I'll be looking at the others I have. Some criss-crossed ribbon and a bow to finish. 

CD Sunday Wedding

The theme this week at CD Sunday is Weddings. I've been a little poorly this week and not even been in my craft room but I wanted to enter this challenge as they were kind enough to pick my Purple Paradise card as their winner last week. I was feeling a bit better this morning but as time was running out I needed a quick card so I've gone to my folder of leftovers from other projects and found this lot from The Polka Doodles Love & Cherish CD

and this is the quick card I came up with. As it's mostly from leftovers, I'm also entering it into Pixie's Crafty Snippets Playground - again, just in time

Spots & Stripes

That's the challenge at Docrafts this week. For my card, I've used this layout at Sketch N Stash

I'm also entering this card into the Forever Friends Fortnigtly challenge which is Pastel Colours so I've used some papers from the 6x6 Forever Friends pads that I've had for years - they're from two different packs. The topper is a relatively new purchase from the Forever Friends Kraft ultimate kit. The butterflies are a Sizzix Embosslit die and the flower is from a Papermania pack. The sentiment is by Craftwork Cards

Sweet Baby

This is my card for the Marianne Design challenge and I'm just in time for it. I've used this pretty layout from Tuesday Morning Sketches

I've used the Marianne Design Petra Small Ovals for the image which is Don & Daisy baby coloured with Promarkers. The three backing papers are from Eline's Romantic Nursery and the flowers are cut from the leftover pieces of card with a Marianne die. The greeting is from the Tab and Text die and stamp set but I've cut it with Stampin Up punches. The buttons are from my stash

Sunday Sketch & Stamp 155

Sam has given us this fantastic sketch to work with this week

For my card I've used a backing paper from the My Mind's Eye Come Away With Me pack. The image is from Plane & Simple by Stampin Up cut out with oval Nesties. The sentiment is also by Stamin Up from the  Itty Bitty Banners set. The planes and buttons are from my stash

Potting Shed

I'm trying to get some "Dad" cards done for the charity shop. For this card I've followed this sketch at Tuesday Morning Sketches

I've used another Kanban topper and some backing papers that were on my desk. Some twine and a Stampin Up sentiment finish this quick card

Purple Pansies

The theme this week at CD Sunday is Purple Paradise. For my card I've used The Big One CD and this poppy design from the Labelled With Love section. The backing paper is from an old Papermania Creative Tones pack and the sentiment is by Craftwork Cards. Lace and gems from my stash finish it off

Garden Shed

This is the layout at Sketch Saturday this week

A quick man's card using a Kanban topper. The bottom paper is by Papermania and the top one is from a Paper Cellar pad. The chevron is a Dienamics die and the watering can is from my stash

Get Whale Soon

The challenge at Daring Cardmakers this week is Ingredients - you need an aperture, something beginning with P, diecuts or punchies and some blue. For my card I've used the Stampin Up Whale from the Oh Whale set and stamped straight onto the base card. I've cut and aperture from the backing paper with Nesties and a smaller one from a blue cardstock then layered them on the card with 3D foam. My diecuts are by Marianne and Dienamics and my pearls meet the P requirement. The sentiment is from the same stamp set.

I'm also entering this into the Incy Wincy Ocean Animals challenge and the Crafting Musketeers first challenge which is Anything Goes

One For Pixie's Crafty Workshop

Di left me a lovely comment on my last card with the fan so I thought I'd do one just for the Snippets Playground. I had to go into the bin for this - the first doily I cut  tore as I took it out of the die as you can see below

I also used the waste from cutting the doily as one layer. I've cut up lots of squares all from snippets, and put them through the Bug with the Roses and Swiss Dots folders and made the background. The sentiment is by Stampin Up again cut from scraps. Another button from my stash (so pleased I've organised them now) and a tassel finish it off and with a bit of tape on the back, the tear doesn't show.

One For Mum

The challenge at Cuttlebug Mania is One For Mum and at the Crafter's Cafe challenge is Mother or Female. For my card, I've used the XCut Doily die and cut a paper from Webster's Pages Best Friends pad which was free with a magazine. I've cut and folded the diecut to make a fan - I did this with a doily at a class at Jendenink but the doily was quite thin. whereas this is quick a good thick paper. I've added a tassle which is from a very old Trimcraft pack by Laurence Llewelyn Bowen and a button from my stash. I've layered some white card embossed with the Cuttlebug roses folder onto pale green card and put it all together. The sentiment is from the Delightful Dozen set by Stampin Up