Jingle Bells

Just the one picture today, and not a frill in sight!  When I saw that the Winter Wonderland challenge was for bells, I immediately thought of this cutie on the Penny Black clear set Jolly Follies, and the text is from a very old little clear set. My base is a dark green card from my stash in a tent fold with an inner to match the outer - I need several simple designs like this for DH to give out to his friends and clients so I might repeat this one.

I've coloured the stamped image with my Copic pens then cut out with Marianne Design die CR1202.   The patterned paper is also from Marianne Design and has the look of layers, but isn't - so a quick and easy card.

I am feeling rather tired again - a few ups and downs recently and lack of sleep has got to me.  I was hoping for a good night last night, but the b**** car alarm went off at 4.45 this morning!  I suspect my neighbours cats were dancing on the bonnet again - I'll give 'em dancing if I get my hands on 'em!

Anyway - I am best left in the grumpy corner today so will catch up with you all later - although the postman might cheer me up as I've had email notification that my new Marianne dies are on their way, and also a couple of new Copic pens for my collection  .. .. I might just be tempted to do a little light colouring then!

And, one last thing, the Marianne Design Challenge blog have candy!

look at that beautiful collection of crafty loveliness!  I'm entering - are you?

A very frilly Frilly Christmas card!

Well I didn't get to press the button yesterday for this card, and Mat spent time with my machine in bits to try and see what was slowing thing down .. .. he will be getting a few extra 'bits and bobs' for it then fingers crossed I will be speeding along nicely.  Unlike the car .. .. but that's another story!

So, here is my next Frilly creation, and I went to town rather on the decoration taking my inspiration from Neline Plaisier's Christmas designs in the Marianne Design the Collection brochure #7 on page 6.  I've used my new ivy, snowflake and flower dies - will give you the list of numbers at the end. My base card is again cut with the Go Kreate large frame Filly #10 and the paper on the top is from my scrap box - I think it was probably a magazine freebie some time ago.  I am trying very hard to use up the paper stash .. .. The image is cut out with a Nestie circle and matted with a couple of scallop circles, then behind that I have a Marianne Design circle with the embossed areas inked with dark blue chalk ink.

The image is a little mouse from the Penny Black clear set Holly Day Critters, coloured with Copics, with a pearl pen to create the snowflakes and stardust Stickles over the ice patch.  I've also added a blob of stardust Stickles to the centre of my snowflakes too and used a pearl pen to add the white pearls to the centre of the flowers.  I've inked the ivy sprays, some more than others, and the flowers with the dark blue chalk ink and found just enough dark blue paper to cut the snowflakes, although I think they would have looked better if not quite so dark.

Here's the list of Marianne Design dies I used on this card:

large circle from LRO141
ivy corners CR1253
flowers from CR1251
snowflake from COL1330

The Totally Gorjuss blog challenge is Christmas in July, Addicted to Stamps would like to see lots of layers, and over at Charisma Cardz they want you to make your own embellishments, well I nearly always do!

I've got Frillies!

Yes, after weeks of trying to decide between the different shapes and sizes, I finally ordered a set of Go Kreate Large Frame Frilly #10 dies - and what wonderful service, they came the following day!  Of course, now I want another set .. .. but will have to wait a month or so for the piggy bank to fill back up!  I've had no problems cutting through a double layer of card to create my blank, making sure I didn't go all the way through on the spine so I had a card .. .. and then cutting a paper layer to fix on the top.  Expect to see several shaped cards in the next few days .. ..

But this is my first design, a Christmas card with Lili of the Valley's stamp, the perfect snowman, coloured with my Copics then a touch of Lace Stickles for the snow.  I've embellished with various Marianne Design snowflakes, and had to strategically place a couple of them when I discovered that I hadn't washed my hands well enough after picking strawberries from the garden - oops!  I've also added lots of Stickles to the snowflakes too, a real sparkly number under the lights, but not showing up too well in my pictures.





Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge is for snowmen or snow-women this week and Holly Jolly are also looking for snowmen, and I think I can just about manage to enter the Christmas Card Challenge for snowflakes.

I'm supposed to be tidying up the table and putting crafty things away before the grandkids arrive, but I might just finish off another frilly card I have almost made, then I can schedule it to share with you tomorrow.  Enjoy your day!

Christmas in July

As I had my Copic pens out on the table I thought it might be an idea to colour some Christmas images and get started on those festive cards.  This little cutie is from Lili of the Valley and called Milly Winter Window.

I have a few challenges I can enter with my sweet festive card: both Sweet Stampin' and Crafty Catz blog challenges are for Christmas in July, while the Cutie Pies challenge is pretty in pink, and the Papertake Weekly theme is dieing for a punch.

And the theme for the monthly challenge over on LOTV's Ideas to Inspire blog is for a touch of pink - perfect!

I've created a tent fold card with a scallop blank then added the mats and pretty papers before decorating with lots of Marianne Design die cut pieces.  These are the dies I've used:

star border - LR0134
holly sprays - LR0244
mini poinsettias - LR0142

I have to do a bit of tidying up now as the grandkids are coming on Sunday, plus there was a swarm of flying ants in the conservatory yesterday evening that caused a minor panic!  I went around with the fly killer, Jason siliconed up the hole they were flying out from, and after leaving them to die I had to go and dyson up the bodies.  The spray has left a residue on the windows so guess what I'm doing later today .. ..

Whatever you are doing, enjoy your weekend and hopefully the sun will keep shining wherever you are.

Beside the Sea

It's time again for our next challenge over at Cute Card Thursday, and with memories of the summer we have just had (as it's now raining), the theme is beside the sea.  Our sponsor for this challenge is Heather's Hobbie Heaven, pop on over to the CCT blog to read about the prize and see the rest of the DT seaside inspiration.

I have scrambled over boxes and retrieved my Copic pens .. .. I've given up waiting for the new furniture to arrive and with Jason off on holiday next week it can stay put in the warehouse until he comes back.  The image is one of my older Penny Black stamps, as is the postcard tucked in behind it, and I've coloured with my Copics - but I am out of practice and haven't got the shading quite the way I wanted.  The little shells are all stamped from various collections of clear and rubber I have accumulated over the years, and again coloured with my Copics.  The paper and that swirly wave are freebie magazine papers by Nitwits, and finally I've added the diecut leaf sprays and shimmery pearls, although the ones by the shells aren't showing up in the picture.

The Kreative Stamping Friends blog challenge is for summer holiday creations, and Crafty Creations are also looking for summer cards so I will enter my card with both of them.

Another go at Shabby Chic

I've been messing about again and trying to make a card in the shabby chic style.  My starting point was a very old Papermania paper pack of suitably shabby chic paper with a page already printed with little squares.  I simply cut out a 4 square piece, edged it with the embossed faux stitches and inked around with Antique Linen DI.  I did the same with the mat and the under layer from another sheet of the paper.

I wasn't sure where to go next with it but from my perusal on Pinterest I knew I would need pearls, a bit of lace, possibly some ribbon, flowers and swirly bits. So, I set to with my Marianne dies and the tiny Martha Steward hydrangea punch and a MS lace edge punch, getting very inky fingers with the DI and not really knowing how it was going to turn out!

I am still not sure about the smoky blue organza bow but it's too late now to change it as it's well and truly stuck down.  I found a button that matched the colour scheme and tied a bit of string through it before fixing over the heart, hopefully you can see the shimmer on it as I took the picture under my work lamp.

These are the Marianne Design dies I've used:

flower -LR0111
butterfly - LR0153
leafy swirls - LR0271
heart - COL1307

The Divas by Design challenge is anything goes, so here goes with my shabby chic card!

It's a boy!

Here in the UK we have a new baby Prince, and it so happens I had a card already made up in blue!  A while back I treated myself to the pram die from Marianne Design and it has cut out beautifully from heavy white paper - I've heard say it can be tricky on thicker card .. .. will have to try again and see.  I used a subtle blue ink over the embossed areas and cut out paper to fix behind for the hood and cover - certainly a Royal looking perambulator - not the modern buggies we see today!  I wonder which kind the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will choose for their new little Prince?

The card is created just with die cuts from various Marianne Designs, papers from Nitwits and little gems, a fancy ribbon and the plain card for matting and layering.  The pennant across the top I created from the star die, just cutting off the points - wish I had thought of doing that before!

Anyway, here's the list of dies I used:
pennant from star die CR1226
'Baby' and pin - LR0217
pram - LR0218
flowers with pretty heart embossed areas from the new CR1251
blue leaves - LR0226
white prays - LR0106
butterfly - LR0158

The Creative Card Crew challenge is for baby creations in predominantly pink or blue - I'll enter with my blue Baby card.

Shabby Chic maybe?

The card I have to share with you today is my DT creation for the next Totally Papercrafts challenge to make your own flowers - from paper of course!  We are sponsored by Doodle Dragon Studios for this challenge, and the rest of the DT have made some really gorgeous floral cards so do take a look at them on the TPC blog.

My card came about because of Pinterest yet again!  I have seen so many beautiful vintage/shabby chic creations and it is a style that I have tried many times to get right, but somehow it all goes grungingly wrong.  After perusing hundreds of creations I came to the conclusion that what I like is a cleaner, lighter look with lots of pinks and blues. Well, first problem was not having any light pink or blue pp that might fit the bill, but I did have fawn papers from the Nitwits Crab Apple Lane Too collection, and a lighter piece from Quilty Pleasures that I used for to create my flowers.  I've added the embossed faux stitching to the edges and inked with Sahara Sand Versamagic chalk ink - I prefer a chalk ink as I don't make as many mistakes with it as with DI!  To pick up on the touch of pink in my pretty flower pp I found a Coredinations card in my stash, and together with a fawn card I've cut my various Marianne Design die cut pieces.

I've used these Marianne Design dies:

birdhouse and bird - LR0205
fawn fern spray - LR0245
pink fronds - LR0107
flower stamens from the mini poinsettia set - LR0142
flowers - CR1201

I punched the little butterflies with the tiny Nellie's Choice punch and emboss set and finished off with a sprinkling of pearls.

Craft Your Passion blog challenge is for a Thank You card so I can enter my card with them.

Try to keep cool this weekend if you are here in good ole' Blighty! We really shouldn't complain, and me least of all seeing as I'm only a couple of miles from the Atlantic Ocean.  At least I don't have to nag anyone to cut the grass as most of it has turned brown or wilted in the heat, the water butts are now empty and the poor willow tree has dropped most of it's leaves (all over the lawn making it look even more brown).  Thankfully my new bedroom has a double door opening on to the back garden and any breeze cools things down in here .. .. so I might just stay put with a cool drink and browse Pinterest for more inspiration.

Oranges and Lemons

This week on Cute Card Thursday our theme is Oranges and Lemons - nice and refreshing for the sunshine we are having this summer.  Our sponsor for this challenge is Whimsy Stamps, please check out the CCT blog for details and inspiration from the rest of the DT ladies.

As my Copics are put away for the moment, my card is created just with die cuts, all from Marianne Design apart from the scallop circle mat.  I'm a little lacking in the orange but have used orange ink to edge my layers and to add colour to the embossed areas on the bottom daisy layer.  Sorry the picture is a bit blurry, I have the camera set to 'flowers' but it means it's only focusing sharply on certain areas and the back of the card is a bit fuzzy again, at least you get an idea of the many layers I have fixed with 1mm foam tape, so will squish down to post.

Here's a better picture taken head on.  As you can see, I have inked the embossed areas of my die cuts and around the edge of the smaller flower.  The background paper is a piece from my stash - thankfully I found something in yellow!  And for the list of Marianne Design dies I used:

cupcake - LR0160
lace edging - LR0161
lace mat in white - CR1201
yellow mat behind cup cake - LR0180
daisy flowers - LR0106
cut leaves - LR0156

I can enter the Marianne Design Divas challenge to create with lots of layers again, and of course Marianne Design products - I have lots of layers on my cupcake card!  And as promised, a better entry for the Totally Gorjuss theme of something sweet, my lemon cupcake.  Crafty Cardmakers would like to see a birthday creation as they are celebrating their 4th birthday - Happy Birthday! and seize the cake .. ..

Winter White

I've been on Pinterest again and drooling over all the fabulous WOW creations, and even made up my own WOW inspiration board so I could find my favourites at a glance.  And seeing as it is just too darn hot to be outside during most of the day, I stayed in and got to creating a frosty Winter card.

I have used Marianne Design die cuts and the Swiss Dots embossing folder, and of course lots of Stardust stickles that just don't show up in the bigger picture - but at least you can see them on the Poinsettia flower in close up.

Here is the card, I tried hard to get the embossing on the holly garland to show up, I hope you can make it out and see that I've sparkled the berries too.  The text I cut from the same textured card as my bottom layer then curved it and just stuck down the outer letters of each word to add more dimension, hopefully it wont flatten too much in the post.

The list of Marianne Design dies I used:
Holly garland - LR0127, Poinsettia straight - LR0122, cut leaves - LR0128, Christmas text - LR0225

The theme at Crafty Creations is a time to sparkle, perfect for my Christmas card, and the Marianne Design Divas challenge for this month is for lots of layers so here is my first entry into that challenge (with another one to follow tomorrow).

Love Me Do

oo that picture is a bit fuzzy - but hopefully you can get the idea and I wanted to show the inside of the card where I've added a piece of matching paper and a die cut oval to write on.

This is one of those cards that has been in the making for some time - so long I had forgotten I had the Wee stamps bridal image already coloured up, and unfortunately the Copic shades have faded - especially the lavender grey shades I used for his tux. As my pens are in the sideboard with boxes and chairs piled up in front of the door I can't do any touching up.  Hopefully though it's ok, especially as there's lots of white on the card.

Here's a picture head on so you can see the pretty ivy leaf die cut embellishments from another of my new dies from Marianne Design, CR1253.  They were a pain to cut out, worked ok on some shop bought printed paper but not cutting very well on my smooth white, mind you I had the same problem with the oval mat, CR1204 so guess it's the paper I'm using.  I persevered as they are so pretty, and with the stamped text, punched butterflies with tiny gem bodies, and a touch of Stardust sparkle I'm quite pleased with the end result. There's enough interest to make it pretty but flat enough to fit a normal envie and go through the post!

The Created with Love challenge is an anything goes theme so I will enter my card with them, and the Anything Goes challenge is for the same.  At Totally Gorjuss the theme is something Sweet - I think the image is sweet so will enter with them, although I do have something else in mind to do as well, now that the postman has been!

At last a card!

I made a card, in fact I made two cards and a couple of festive tags as well - although it has taken me over a week to get them finally finished!

Today I'm sharing a simple festive creation for the ABC Christmas challenge where the theme is N for NO embellishments - that means:

No ribbon or lace

No gems or pearls 

No brads or flowers 

No charms or twine 

No beads or dew drops 

No pins or card candi

No buttons or bells!

Or anything else you can think of!

Well, that doesn't leave much does it?!  I carefully studied the DT creations and could see that die cuts were used, along with paper/card embellishments, phew something for me to work with then!

I created my tent fold base card from Gumball Green cardstock by SU! - not my favourite colour I must say, but it did more or less match the Nitwits Christmas paper;  Jason has connected me up with a printer, but it only works with colour so I still can't get any digital images printed off - I think I'm going to have to buy a new printer as I have beautiful Wee characters just waiting to get out of my pc!

Back to the card, I've embossed a piece of thick white paper with the snowflake design and added a stamped holly border from a set of stamps I recently treated myself too - they are the Christmas Borders and Frames by My Paper World and I've stamped in Tea Leaves Versamagic chalk ink then added the red berries with a marker pen.  You can just see the inside of my card in the top picture where I've stamped the border again down the left side of the insert, but what you can't see is the little holly spray I stamped in the right hand corners.

The pretty holly circle is my new Marianne Design die and the centre piece that cuts out I simply twisted, then stamped and die cut the text to fit on top, fixing the layers with 3d tape for added interest.  I've dragged a red chalk ink along the edges of the border and the embossed snowflake layer, and my printed pattern circle, as well as the insert, just to tie things together, before finishing off with the little hearts that were in my waste jar (hopefully they don't count as embellishments!)

That's all for now, I'll be back tomorrow with my other card and who knows, I might even get around to making something else this week too!

Felt purse for Hannah

Here is my latest felt project, a little purse I've made for my niece, Hannah.  I started with a rectangle of fawn felt then glued a length of ribbon across one short edge to stiffen the inside purse opening as this felt is quite soft.  I've folded the shape and blanket stitched the edges then decorated with the die cut pieces, a little butterfly bead, a button and bow and the little beads and lazy daisy leaves.  The die cuts are mostly by Marianne Design, just the centre of the flowers is a Nellies Choice button die. Here's the list of dies:  heart from CR1225, flowers from LR0105, and leaves from CR1248. I found a plastic snap fastener in my sewing box so have used that to close the purse.

I will have to see if there are any blogs with felt ideas and challenges .. .. please let me know if you come across any.

I have the dogs with me this weekend as DH has gone to his brother's wedding (and no, I wasn't invited) - a totally OTT affair with top hat and tails and a sit down dinner .. .. I give it less than 10 minutes before he 'misplaces' the hat! We are settling into a kind of routine which is ok for now, I just wish we could both find the time to take a holiday together.

Enjoy the weekend sunshine - I think I might try another felt project .. .. .. but should really be tidying up and clearing out the lounge ready for the new furniture arriving any day now.  We haven't managed to get the new laminate floor laid (10 boxes still sitting in the corner of the room) and I've not been able to strip the wallpaper off the walls, let alone get the plasterer in.  Oh well, maybe when the weather get's back to a normal British summer, i.e. rain!

Felt needle or pin book

I'm back!  Life has been rather stressful here what with Mum not being well with the shingles then getting a secondary eye infection .. .. she is on the mend now but feeling rather down in the dumps and at times I just have to walk away .. .. otherwise I'd scream!  Anyhow, the sun is blazing, the garden is wilting and I'm sunburned - shouldn't mind too much though as no doubt it will be raining again soon.  I've not got much crafting done, just a little more playing with felt that I can do sitting in the garden, and lots of browsing late at night on Pinterest for inspiration.  Consequently I've had to order more colours and a cupcake die - watch this space .. ..

Here's the next project I've completed, a small felt needle or pin book created with Nestability classic ovals - plain on the bottom and a smaller scallop for the cover.  I've used Marianne Design dies for the flowers, LR0107, and for the leaves, CR1249.  I found the little butterfly beads in a long forgotten box and finished things off with the pearls and lazy daisy stitches.

I've one more completed project to share with you later but for now it's bye again! and keep safe in the sunshine!

hugs,
annie x

Felt Needle book

As promised, here is the pic of my new felt needle book. It measures approximately 90 x 100mm when closed and has two smaller layers of light weight felt inside to stick the needles in.  I decided to have another go at blanket stitching, this time I think it has turned out ok, although I still could do with more practise!  I blanket stitched all around the brown layer and used the same embroidery thread to stitch the layers inside  so that when folded in half it would create the needle book.

I've decorated with various die cut flowers and then stitched the beads into the centres, then used up the beads along with some pearls to create a decorative trim on the spine - not to any design, I just made it up as I went along!  To finish I've stitched lazy daisy leaves in the same green thread I used for the veins on the die cut felt leaves - I can remember being taught how to do them when I was 7 years old, about the same time as I got my very first needle case.

The dies I used to create the embellishments are:

Little flowers from a button die in Nellies Choice fancy circle set.  Leaves from Marianne Design CR1248 and CR1249, flowers from LR0105 both sizes and the centre of the larger flower from LR0145 the smallest die. The little purple hearts are waste from another project and are just fixed with 'tacky' pva glue.

I finished another one - smaller and a different shape but with rather a lot of pretty embellishments on top - I got carried away again!  I need to take a picture then will share it with you - but now the sun is shining and the garden needs a little tlc .. ..  Enjoy the sunshine this weekend xx

Scraplings for TPC

Something new for me thanks to Pinterest and Debby's pin pictures coming up on my home feed page - then of course I had to do a little poking about and discovered even more of them - another obsession perhaps!  I can vaguely remember doing them a few years back but I don't think they took off, however, it's a great way of using up odds and ends and they also make a nice little gift as a bookmark or tag for a pressie.

Over at Totally Paper Crafts this week the theme is for the boys (or men who as we all know stay little boys at heart).  Our sponsor for this challenge is Squiglyfly, please stop by the TPC blog to read all about it and see the rest of the DT's inspirational designs.

I have stamped up some fishing images onto my SU! Soft Suede base scraplings then coloured with Polychromos pencils before embellishing with little odds and ends of string, buttons, ric rac, and fluff.  If you want to take a look at more Scraplings I have created a board of my favourites here. I particularly like some of the Christmas designs and am thinking about making a couple for the grandsons as bookmarks so will have to browse about for more ideas .. .. well that's my excuse!

Mum is not so good today but hopefully will be well enough for me to get to the shops as the food cupboards are looking a bit empty, and to be honest, I need to get out of the house!  I did manage to finish another needle book last night so will show you one of them later on today .. .. if I remember!

I forgot it was Thursday!

Just at the moment I don't know where I'm at .. .. Mum has shingles affecting her face and eye, although thankfully just on one side.  The doctor has called and she has even more pills and sticky cream to put in the eye, and I think I will have to call the hospital and get her laser eye treatment postponed.  Today she is not so good with a bit of a temperature so I'm hovering and checking up on her a bit more.  In between time I thought I should quickly put something together for this week's Cute Card Thursday challenge, seeing as I missed out joining in with the DT girls last week.  Our theme is 'stars and stripes' with a big Happy Celebration Day to all our friends in the USA.  We are sponsored this week by Nikki at Bunny Zoe's - always a fabulous prize!

My card is a simple kraft C6 base and then papers and a die cut from Nitwits that came free with a magazine some time ago.  I already had the text stamped up in my scrap kraft pack so it was simply a case of cutting the pieces out, die cutting the star border LR0134by Marianne Design, and then hey presto!  I think the fastest card I ever made!

The Squirrel and the Fox blog are running a Christmas in July challenge so I will enter my card with them.

Oh, and in case you are wondering .. .. I finished my felt needle case and am rather pleased with it so will share with you soon - now I am working on another one .. ..

Felt hearts

A while back I opened an account with Pinterest - be warned though, it can take over your life!  Somehow or other I saw some felt Christmas decorations and then after putting 'felt' into the search box - WOW! I was gobsmacked at the gorgeous things I was seeing.  Some of my favourites I've added to my 'Felt and Fabric Inspiration' board here.  When I was a little girl I was given a needle book made from felt and over the years it has sadly started to fall apart, so I will try to make a new one soon.  In the mean time I saw lots of pretty heart decorations and with my growing collection of dies thought it would be an excuse to start a new craft without too much expense .. .. after all, if I have the dies all I need is a scrap of felt, right? And those boxes of beads and buttons that are gathering dust really need to be used up .. .. ..

I made a couple of star and tree decorations last Christmas, my first attempt, and made the red heart too, but finished it off today with the decoration on the reverse.

My attempts at blanket stitching around the edges looked awful so I've just used a stab stitch with embroidery threads, made loops from ribbon, and a tiny button to tidy up the back of the pink heart.

It doesn't show up in the pictures, but the white felt on the reverse and the front of my red heart is actually glittered felt so catches the light.

The hearts are cut with Marianne Design die CR1225 and to decorate the red heart I've added a little fancy heart button and red ribbon bow. I found that a good thick 'tacky' pva glue will hold things in place, so it helps to add a little before you start stitching the layers together, and to stick on the embellishments.

And this is the heart I've made today. Cut with the same Marianne Design heart dies, then to embellish the front I've cut the flower and mistletoe leaves from LR0189 and added the little pearl beads.  I did have difficulty with the stems of the mistletoe as they tended to break - I think I need to get firmer felt, mine is quite thin.

Well what do you think?  I forgot to say they are both padded with wadding so are nice and squishy.  Any 'solid' die would work, I think, but any with too much detail might disintegrate.  I am going to try cutting and layering up some flowers next, ready for my new needle book.




I'm still not able to get at my stamping and Copics so you might see a few other craft items from me in the coming days/weeks.  In the mean time I am sure I can loose several more hours browsing Pinterest for more felt inspiration!