WOYWW making flowers

Well here's my table, what a mess!  Everything has just been piled up and not put away - I'm a bad girl!  But I do have an excuse .. ..

I'm still busy helping with the DIY but managed to find a little time to make paper flowers for a project I have in mind .. .. So, for today's WOYWW over on Julia's blog  I've taken time out to show you how I make them.  I've used the two smaller flower dies from Marianne's Craftable square doily CR1203 - for each flower you will need to cut two pieces .. ..

To show you, I've used a gold paper.  For the larger flower you will have to snip in towards the centre so it looks like the cut smaller one.  

To create the shape you start by rolling the sides of the petals, one edge under and the other edge upwards.  You can see the smaller flower on the top I've done both sides of the petal but on the larger flower at the bottom I've just started and only done one edge .. .. ..

Once you have finished rolling you need to press the centre of the flower with a ball tool to create further shape .. .. ..

Then turn over and glue the bottom of one of the flowers  before sticking the two together. Try to stagger the petals so you get more detail.  Use the ball tool again to press into the centre to make sure the two pieces are stuck together and to redefine the shape again .. .. ..

Finish off your flowers with a punched or diecut stamen and a gem.  Here you can see I've finished the gold flowers but still have to add the centres to my white ones.  I hope you found the pictures helpful, it was difficult to decide what to show .. .. if you have any questions please just shout!

Now it's back to the DIY.

Birthday Wishes

When the North wind blows my internet goes! And it's been blowing for days and getting worse.  Fingers crossed I get to load this post .. .. I gave up on it yesterday.  This little Sarah Kay stamped image was one I coloured a while back but hadn't managed to put a card together, then Mum asked me to make a birthday card for her to send to my sister so this is what I came up with. I've coloured with my Copics to match the Nitwit freebie papers that came in a magazine, ages ago.  I've been browsing the Nitwit shop to try and find them - does anyone know which collection they are in?

Apart from those very pretty papers, I've used SU! card in Sahara Sand and the new Primrose Petals to cut my mats and embellishments.  Most are Marianne dies, apart from the pretty lace mat behind my text - that's a Nellie's Choice die.  I've finished with a lace bow, a button from my box and of course the pearls.

So here's the list of Marianne dies for you:
oval mat around my image is LR0240 with the middle cut out
flowers from LR0129 and LR0130 layered up
skeleton leaves from LR0228
red spiky fronds from LR0192
butterflies from LR0158

Totally Gorjuss are looking for lace this time around, Fun With Shapes and More are asking for 3 patterned papers plus pearls, lace and flowers - check! And at the One Stop Craft blog challenge it's anything goes!

Not sure when I will get around to blogging again as I'm busy helping Jason with the DIY - even if it is just holding bits of wood whilst he saws and hammers then clearing up the debris.  Yesterday was destruction day, so hopefully today we can start to rebuild - who knew moving a door was so complicated!

Sweet Tweet

I have some very exciting news to share with you today ... ... I was asked to be one of the February Guest Designers for Sylvia's Wee Stamps digi designs - and of course I said yes!  So today's DT card for Totally Papercrafts uses one of the Wee digi designs - in fact it's a freebie so if you want it just go to Sylvia's blog and grab it!

This week at Totally Papercrafts we want to see your own hand made embellishments so lots of scope for punching and die-cuting pretty bits and pieces to decorate your paper-crafted project.  We have two sponsors for this challenge, Alota Rubber Stamps and Saturated Canary digi designs - please stop by the challenge blog to read all about the prizes.

Here's my card.  I've coloured the image to match the pretty Spring Chic papers, those 50 sheets are disappearing fast now! I've kept things simple, but sweet I think, and gone for a little die cut lace edging, swirls and flowers.  To get the flowers to match I scribbled the Copic colours onto plain white card before punching and die-cuting my flowers then added the Stardust Stickles to bling things up a little.  The text is stamped with Brilliance Pearlescent Orchid ink and I've also inked the edges of my patterned paper with it too. The Marianne dies on this one are:
corners LR0143
swirl and open flower LR0112
lace edge LR0161

Moving Along With The Times have a punch it out challenge this week so perfect for my card to enter!  My Time To Craft have a things with wings theme so my little love birds should fit that bill!

A different corner

This week on Cute Card Thursday our challenge is for you to do something a little different in the corners of your creation.  Our sponsor for this challenge is Alota Rubber Stamps.

I've inked up one of my older Sarah Kay images and coloured with my Copics before going a little mad with the Marianne diecuts for embellishments!  The papers are a bit of a patchwork of Nitwit magazine freebies as I didn't have one piece, or even two pieces, big enough to cover my base card.  I've used SU! Blushing Bride card for matting and my diecuts and Pink Petunia Versamagic chalk ink to edge the papers and the base card.

Here's the card so you can see the diecuts and what I did in the corners, and the white dots added with my pearl maker pen.  Here's the list of Marianne dies:

fancy oval mat and leafy bits from LR0240
corners from LR0180
lace edge LR0161
flowers from LR0235
heart one of three  in LR0149
scalloped edge hearts COL1307 one of the new sets that comes with clear stamps - I used 3 of them on my little love hearts.

There are a couple of challenges I'd like to link my card too, on the Stamptacular Sunday blog the theme is for spots and stripes (there are some on the papers and also on the little boy's and little girl's clothing), and  Die Cutting Divas have an anything goes challenge.

Love is in the Air

Sorry I'm late posting my DT card today for the Stampavie and More challenge, I've been busy knocking out noggins and bashing up old plasterboard to put out for the bin men then generally sweeping up after Jason - phase 3 of the bungalow revamp has begun!  We still have some snagging jobs left on phase 2, not least the dirty big crack in my bedroom wall to be put right by the builder, and phase 1 is always going to be on-going as we work around the central living area. The outside work has been put on hold until the weather improves but needs to be done before next winter!  Anyway - on to my card .. .. ..

Our theme for the next two weeks is to show a little love on your creations.  For my card I've inked up one of the new LOTV stamps I treated myself too last week, and of course I've coloured with my Copics.  There was a slight hiccup with the back of the cart .. .. originally I'd used the B90 shades of blue but then everything else took a turn towards violet so I had to go over with a pale RV000 to tone things down, thankfully you can do that with Copics!

Here's the finished card, it's a tent fold created so I could use the pretty Marianne rectangular frame.  I found a little piece of digi paper in my stash that's covered in hearts, inked the edges with Pretty Petunia Versamagic chalk ink before matting with the discontinued Almost Amethyst card from SU!  I've used the same ink around the edge of the image and text, to highlight the embossed areas on the diecut layer, to colour my flowers and the centre of my heart.  I've finished off with a few diecut swirls, an organza ribbon bow and pretty pink gems.  My pictures are looking a bit blurry - I wonder if the camera lens is covered in plaster dust!

Of course I've used several Marianne dies so here's the list:
rectangular scallop mat and flowers LR0111
swirls LR0112
double layer heart COL1307

It's an anything goes theme on the Lili's Little Fairies while the Charisma challenge is for hearts and flowers and Sweet Stampin' would like to see some ribbon - so I'll enter with those challenges.

Marianne Candle Box

I wanted to enter the Marianne Design Challenge again, this time around it's for a lantern or candle box.  There are some beautiful examples of lanterns by the ladies on the Design Team, but I'm afraid it was beyond me at the moment, not least because I haven't got any vellum or acetate for making the 'window glass'.  However, I did see that Jolanda had just created a decorated box for T-lights so I thought I'd have a go.  It might not be obvious at first what is inside my box as I covered the top with paper plus the stamped image and embellishments but hopefully it will fit the bill for the challenge.

I've tweaked the measurements for a mini pizza box so that it will hold the 6 T-light candles.  The top of the box and the top edges are covered with a butterfly print from the Pretty Paper bloc PB and I've used another pattern piece to line the inside of the lid.  I have stamped the Vintage Lady and coloured her with my Copics then cut the oval Creatable as a mat before fixing to the lid with 3d foam tape.  I cut another oval for inside to lay on top of the candles, both have the edges inked with Aspen Mist Versamagic chalk ink and I've also inked the edges of the papers too.  The text inside the lid is from the Craft Fairy Christmas set with a pretty mat created from the small die in LR0240, then to finish inside I've added the butterfly.  On the top I've created a flower embellishment from the dies in the oval set plus a couple of other bits.  Here's the list of Marianne products I've used:

patterned papers from Beautiful Butterflies paper bloc PK9089
blue vintage lace JU0845
stamp vintage lady CSO849
text stamp SF1118
oval mat for text LR0240
oval doily and flower Craftable CR1204
leaves from LR0228 and LR0242
butterfly LR0158

The challenge over on The Squirrel and the Fox blog is for something new - my new things are the oval Craftable die, the vintage lady stamp and the pretty papers I've used on my candle box.

Hope

Today it's another card I've had to get my son to snap for me .. .. DH is bringing new batteries for my camera, hopefully this evening.  The image is from Wee Stamps digi store and is called Hopeful - I've coloured her with my Copic pens and as she had printed out quite small I ended up making a little 5" square card.  I have a pile of cream cards this size to use up but have noticed a tendency for rubber and clear stamps to be getting bigger so need to use a bigger card, at least digi's give you a touch of flexibility although I still have to figure out the page positioning and sizing .. ..

I've used more of the pretty Spring Chic papers and this flower patterned one does have a cream background, then I inked the edges with Orchid Brilliance pearlescent ink as I've not got a matching pink card for matting .. .. so many pinks but not the right shade! I've added different layers from scraps and diecut bits and pieces and finished off with punched flowers and butterflies, a sprinkling of tiny gems and a silk bow.  To get the centres of my flowers the right shade I punched out of white paper then coloured with the Orichid ink - a bit messy but at least they match!  The plain pink bottom layer is from the paper pad so I know it's going to tie in. The only Marianne dies on this card are the tags created from the plain die in LR0187, the lace edge with LR0161 (also used to create the embossed faux stitching) and the swirls snipped from the garden branch LR0151.The butterflies are the smallest punch and emboss set by Nellies Choice and the flower punches are old ones from way back!

As I've included a couple of little banner tags on my card and other Marianne bits and pieces, I can have another entry for the Marianne Design Divas challenge - this one you can enter more than once.

Creative Inspirations have an anything goes theme with the option of flowers, while Moving Along With The Times are looking for you to Bling It On! - hopefully my little gems will be enough.

Out of this World

This week our theme on Cute Card Thursday is Out of this World, and we are sponsored by Rick St Dennis.  Rick kindly gave some of the DT a few digi designs to play with, and we are joined this week by members of his DT sharing their creations.  Do stop by the CCT blog and take a look at all the amazing samples and read about the prize.

I have chosen to use one of my older LOTV fairy stamps to create my card, along with a selection of Marianne dies and a base tent fold created with Spellbinders labels 8.  Unfortunately my camera ran out of battery power when it came to taking the picture and I had to get my son to snap the card with this phone, and the light is reflecting off the flowers rather too much and not enough sparkle is showing up on her wings, tiara and the leaves.  The fairy is coloured with my Copics then touches of sparkle added with Stardust Stickles before being fussy cut and fixed to my card with 3d tape.  I've inked the edges of the base as well as adding the swirl design (an old Magnolia stamp), diecut pink layer and some of the embellishments with Victorian Velvet DI, and I coloured my white pearl paper with it as well then cut out the flowers. The blue layer and pink patterned layer behind are from my bit box, I did wonder about the blue layer but I think it makes the card pop.

On to the Marianne dies I've used:
the blue trellis layer and pink mat behind it, together with the text layer and swirl are all from LR0236,
the little heart is from the new Collectables Candy Hearts set COL1307,
the skeleton leaves are from LR0156 with added Stickles to catch the light and tie in with her wings,
and the flowers are created from the smallest die in the LR0145 by snipping each petal in towards the centre then rolling the edges and finishing off with a tiny pink pearl.

The Creative Card Crew have a girly theme this week, Stamptacular Sunday have Fairy Fever, and over on the Allsorts challenge it's for flower power.  I woke up several times in the night with the cough and feel drained today .. .. so think I'll go back to bed now and catch up with you all a bit later on.

WOYWW #190

Time to share with Julia's What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday again .. .. I've missed a few what with one thing and another, but thought I'd join in again today.  On my desk, or rather the dining room table, today I have new stuff!  What you can't see is the large box of man size tissues and mug of Lemsip off to the side.  The little pile of crafty goodies is my prize (plus some extras I added in) for winning the November challenge at Dies to Die For, and thank you Tracy for the little extra bits too.  The current month is an anything goes theme so why not see what you can come up with .. .. ..

And for those of you who love the Wee digi images and stamps as much as I do, Sylvia has released the most adorable little dragon today - take a look at her blog here for details and a sample made by Mariska.
And if you want to buy him pdq then he's at the bottom of this page.

I'm afraid I've not managed to get much done today, I thought yesterday I was on the mend and actually had a night without coughing.  But, since I woke up I've been cough, cough, cough and now my head is filling up with mucus and nasties - yukky!  I'm not going to be able to make it to the craft show at Exeter tomorrow, or Fri/Sat either - I will miss seeing my crafting friends but I'm sure they will appreciate me not passing on my germs!

Bunting and Bunny!

I have this cute Easter Bunny to share with you today, he is one of Sylvia's sweet designs for Wee digi stamps, I've printed him off and coloured in with my Copic pens.

The pretty Easter Egg paper is from the Spring Chic set I've promised myself to use and I thought it matched the image beautifully and I've used matching papers from the pack to create the bunting and the flowers.  I've used SU! Baja Breeze card for matting and my diecuts, and have edged the paper, diecut bunting and flowers and my text with pink Orchid Brilliance pearlescent ink.

The challenge over on Marianne's Design Divas blog is for banners and/or bunting - and I won a prize on the last challenge! When I was moving and tidying my craft stash I found a box of different threads and the pretty pink ribbon tape was crying out to be used so I've added my bunting created by cutting down pieces I made from the plain tag in set LR0187 then fixing at jaunty angles with 3d foam pads.  I did have a minor catastrophe with the flowers, originally I used my white pearl maker pen to add the centres, but for some reason it spread out - perhaps I was trying to make them too big.  So to rectify the situation I cut the little stamens and stuck them on top then finished off with tiny pearls.

The Marianne dies I've used on my Bunting and Bunny card are:
bunting from LR0187
flowers and swirls from LR0111
flower stamens from LR0105

The Stamp With Fun challenge is for swirls, so as I have included some I'll join in!  And I've been catching up over on my friend Vicki's blog and saw a cute card she had made for the Tuesday Throwdown challenge - a new one to me - where the theme is for furry friends - hope they like bunny wabbit!

KISS

My uncle died last week, he was a couple of years younger than my Dad who died 18 months ago, so they were both around the same age in the end.  He had been a little poorly but at the end he just fell asleep in his chair, never to wake up.  I made this card for Mum to send to my aunt.  The family has drifted apart and as the funeral is in Kent it's too far for Mum to travel, and they didn't come to Dad's funeral .. ..

I had the pricked edge already in my bit box but as it was done on a textured piece of white card I was dubious about stamping and colouring with my Copic pens.  I think it worked out ok and deliberately went over the swirls with the pale green not minding if the ink bled.  The little green stars in the centre of the flowers are flat embellies from years back but work and don't add to the postage.  The stamp is several years old and I can't remember where I got it, there is a slightly larger flower as part of the set.  The text is from a tiny set I got at a craft fair a couple of years back.  I used the bright pink SU! card to create a little square and then added a white insert for Mum to write on, I thought pink would be ok as it was going to my aunt.

Totally Gorjuss have a KISS challenge so I'll link up with them.  The bugs are winning with me at the moment and I feel awful, the coughing is taking it out of me and I fear that I might end up with the lung infection I had several years ago that really knocked me for six and led ultimately to the ME diagnosis.  I'm going to have to take it easy, maybe do a little crafting and ease back on the DIY for a bit .. .. those hall doors still need to be painted though.

Birthday Girl

I have another Wee card to share with you today.  I've finally got a way of using the nice A5 card I prefer for colouring with my Copic pens in the printer, thanks to a bit of fiddling about by my son.  I still can't do much about resizing or positioning on the page, but as the sweet Wee images lend themselves to cute little cards and my current favourite paper pad is small scale it all worked out well in the end.  This cute little lass is Amy from the Wee Stamps digi collection.

The paper pad is Spring Chic from the Me to You collections, expect to see more of it in my posts as my excuse for buying it was that I would use it!  After watching a demo on C&C tv the other day I noticed a trend for going off the card with elements of your design, so what started out as a simple 4" square tent card created from the retired SU! card called Pink Passion, grew into a card to fit a C6 envelope by mounting little Amy off the top!  As it is a small creation I didn't want to overwhelm things with fancy floral embellishments so simply cut a couple of 'see through' flowers and the swirls.  The tiny little butterflies are created with the smallest Nellies Choice punch and emboss set and were an afterthought when I accidentally dropped a blob of glue just above the heart balloon.  I think it was a happy accident as they tie in with the colour in her clothing.

Not so many Marianne dies on this card, the flower and swirls are both from LR0112 whilst the text is stamped onto a piece of pretty paper cut from the plain label die in set LR0187 as is the gingham layer behind.  I've inked the edges of my patterned papers with Orchid Brilliance pearlescent ink and the sparkle around my image is Stardust Stickles.  The flower brads are ancient and the little pink gems for the butterfly bodies are from my stash.  I am feeling very virtuous using up some of my older craft stash .. .. perhaps I might treat my self at the upcoming Exeter Craft Fair later this week if I can get rid of my cough and sniffle bugs .. .. ..

Moving Along With the Times have a Birthday theme so I'll link up with them. The theme at Dream Valley challenges is girls, girls, girls .. .. so perfect for my little Amy!

 I'm finding links appearing in my posts that have nothing to do with me - if you come across a link that is underlined, don't bother clicking it unless you want spam or useless info!  I'm not sure how to stop it, perhaps it's because I've had to try yet another internet service and this time I'm using Chrome as it's associated with blogger .. .. .. it's dam annoying though.

rescued from the bit box

It has gotten very cold here in Cornwall, well cold for us at any rate. It was just too cold to keep going into the conservatory to find crafty bits and pieces so I cleared out a drawer in the sideboard, lugged my diecutting machines onto the kitchen bar area, spread my pens, embellies and papers all over the table and piled boxes up on the floor .. .. no doubt there will still be something that I need out there but at least I can stay in the warm a little longer!

Anyway, about my card .. .. .. The base of it was already done - probably over a year ago as it's retired SU! card called Orchid Opulence with a MS punch around the page white layer then a piece of Cuddly Buddly patterned digi paper layered over that.  I also had the cute little Wee digi stamp Suzi with bunny partly coloured, well her hair and skin tones were done, so I finished her off and added a touch of sparkle with Stardust Stickles to match the square mat edge.  The flowers are made with a punch, they punch out all different sizes in one go, and the little white sprays are from Marianne die LR0106.  I've added tiny pale blue pearls to the centre of the flowers and the pink pearl hearts at the top on a strip of scrap paper that was left from making something else.

The Charisma Cardz challenge is to use at least two punches on your creation so as I have two plus the die, I can join their challenge.  Stampin' For the Weekend are looking for girlie creations this time around, and so are the Divas by Design blog so here's one for them too.  Whatever you are doing this weekend, have fun!

Embossing at Totally Papercrafts

The theme this week on the Totally Papercrafts blog is embossing and our sponsors for this challenge are Doodle Dragon by Dustin Pike and Kenny K - please stop by the blog for details of the prizes on offer.

The team is now split in two so we take it in turns to create every couple of weeks but the challenge is still weekly, this week it's the turn for the team I'm in.

I thought I'd do something a little bit different and use a selection of diecuts with embossed areas, which I've highlighted with Walnut DI so they stand out. The little lad is a LOTV stamp, coloured with my Copics, and I was hoping I had a 'sorry' stamp in my stash – but I haven't. Anyone know where I can get one? The closest I got was the little circle stamp by Cuddly Buddly and I found a tiny bee stamp too so added it to my image to tie the two together.

The papers are old ones by K&Co and I forgot how pretty they are as well as being quite thick and double sided, so more than capable of standing alone without the need for a mat for support. Apart from inking the edges and embossed areas, there's just a length of ribbon, a pretty little golden heart button and then the pearls to finish things off.

The Marianne dies I used on this card are:

oval mat behind image from LR0240

mat behind text from LR0235

rose leaves from LR0162

red fronds from LR0192

flowers from LR0111

stamens from LR0112

The Daring Cardmakers challenge for this week is also calling for embossing so don't forget to link up your creation with them too!

Diamonds are Forever

This week on Cute Card Thursday we want to see a little diamond sparkle on your creations, so bling it up! Our sponsor is Whimsy Stamps with a choice of 5 digi stamps as the prize.

I have inked up one of my old style wood block Penny Black stamps, cut out with a Marianne scallop circle die and coloured with Copics plus a touch of diamond dust here and there.  I've made an easel card and always find them difficult to photograph, but here goes .. .. ..

I have had the pretty lace in my stash for ages, and the text is from a clear Papermania set that I've had a while too.  The pretty pink papers are new though (I know I said I wouldn't buy any more) and from the Me to You Spring Chic 6"x6" paper stack - all very pretty and double sided too so if you don't like one side there's always the other!  The flowers are made with pearl paper that is old and I have a stack of it so no doubt you will see lots of pearly white flowers over the next few months .. .. these are made with Marianne's die set LR0145 using the smallest, middle and largest dies then curving with a big ball tool and simply stacking one on top of another with a diamond in the middle

This is a close up of the text and some of the flowers.  I've added diamond Stickles to the swirls and leaves to keep with the challenge theme, but it is looking rather blue under certain light and hardly showing up at all in some of the pictures.

Here's the list of Marianne dies I used on this card:
large scallop circle LR0112
text cut with LR0116 and swirl from the same set
leaves LR0117
flowers LR0145

The theme on the One Stop Craft blog is 'New Beginning' - I think a wedding card is very apt for that so will enter my card with them.  Over on the Die-ing for a Challenge blog the theme is Celebrations so I can enter with them too.

spots and stripes

This is my first DT card made for the Stampavie and More blog challenge - a fabulous team and what a pleasure to be included with them.  The challenge this time around is for spots and stripes and runs for two weeks.

I have inked up my little cricket lad by LOTV (currently on sale) and coloured him with Copics to match in with my papers.  They are magazine freebies by Serif that I've had for ages, matted with the now discontinued SU! card in sage shadow.  My resolution this year is to use up some of the stash or face a major chuck out before I can buy any new, and I hate throwing good things away.

And here's the card.  As it's for a boy/man I've avoided any flowery embellishments and instead added the little bird house and bird along with the sprays.  I've inked all the embossed areas of my diecuts with Bundled Sage DI and cut out the cricket ball headed his way .. .. will it be a 6 or a duck I wonder? Better watch out little bird!

To use up the paper I've even decorated the inside of my card too!  The text is from an old mini clear stamp set.  The Marianne dies I used on this card are:

birdhouse and bird from LR0206
greenery twigs/fronds LR0245
embossed square mat LR0234
The embossed stitching around my image mat is created by running an embossing ball took along the edge of the mat placed up against the ridge line on LR0161

The Allsorts challenge is for dies or punches this week so I can enter with them. And I found a new challenge blog called The Squirrel and The Fox where it's an anything goes theme - so I'm in with them too!

Marianne Winter card

We've had no internet for the past few days so I couldn't get my card linked up for the Marianne Winter challenge – I think I'm still just in time though!  I've switched my browser to Firefox as well, at least now I can load my pictures here without having to switch to HTML, although things are still very slow but probably more to do with my box of tricks purring away on the floor.

 I did manage to grab a couple of Marianne stamps and some pretty Christmas papers along with the text die in the sale at Bunny Zoe's – what a bargain! They came pdq too so I got inking and put this card together. Cute little Daisy is coloured with my Copics then finished with glitter and snowy dots made with the crystal pearl pen .. .. this colour slides about a bit so on my snowflakes the blobs have slipped when I moved the finished card off my desk to somewhere safe to dry .. .. ah well, but they are pretty in real life with a pearl lustre like the inside of sea shells.

I've matted with retired SU! card in pale plum, although the big snowflake circle is cut with a slightly darker colour (thanks to my friend Wynneth for that one – it's on my wish list now!)

The Marianne products on this card then are:

Daisy stamp DDS3325

patterned paper from Christmas Wishes pretty paper bloc PK9087

text cut from LR0225

large snowflake circle LR0185

snowflakes LR0125, CR1226, CR1227

I have piles of catching up to do and lots of blogs to visit that I've not seen for the past 4 days!  Thank you for your kind comments and I promise to stop by everyone who has visited me and left a comment over the next few days.

The Everybody Art challenge blog have 'girl' as their theme, so as I have Daisy on my card I can enter with them too.  And over at Bunny Zoe's Crafts the monthly challenge is an anything goes theme, and seeing as I've used my new stash from the store, I thought I'd enter.

Christmas already!

I really didn't feel like making a Christmas card again so soon .. .. but I do love to enter the Marianne challenges and the Design Divas current theme is for a Christmas card.  My little owl was already coloured, fussy cut and stuck onto the tree, sitting forlornly in my box of half made bits and pieces, so it wasn't too much of a chore to cut a couple mats and put this simple card together.  I've inked the embossed areas in the diecuts and the edges of the papers with Walnut DI then finished with a little scrap of ribbon and a scatter of tiny pearls.

These are the Marianne products I used for this card:
Patterned paper from Eline's Warm Winter Wishes bloc, owl stamp from Eline's owls clear stamp set EC0141, text from Eline's Winter Wishes clear set EC0132.  Dies used: snowflakes - LR0123, LR0124, CR1227, Christmas tree LR0136, oval scallop mat from LR0235, smaller swirl embossed mat from LR0240.

Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas challenge is for a festive card but positively no Santas! owls are ok though!

Beat the blues

The challenge this week on Cute Card Thursday is titled "beat the blues" - interpret as you wish and the DT have come up with several different interpretations.  Our sponsor for this challenge is Katharina at Whiff of Joy with a choice of stamp for the winner.

Now in my opinion, the best pick me up when I'm feeling blue is a nice cuppa and a slice of cake, or even a cupcake will do!  I've used the cute stamp from Lili of the Valley and coloured in shades of blue with touches of pink to lighten the mood.

I'm still having to load my pictures in the HTML mode and it takes an age, but at least I am managing to get by - I really don't want to have to switch my internet package in order to 'fix' things as suggested by blogger .. .. surely with so many people experiencing the problem they can sort it out.

Anyway, this is my card, another scrap of digi paper matted with blue textured card for the base.  I've cut the large Marianne scallop circle from white then 3d mounted it on top of the patterned paper with the image in the centre.  I had to take the picture with my daylight lamp so the embossing isn't showing up clearly, and the colours are looking washed out too - roll on longer days and some sunshine, please!  As I used an open scallop circle design I thought I'd use the open flower die, but it didn't look right being able to see through so I backed it with a white flower and then could hide the snips of swirls in behind without worrying about ends showing!  A couple of little butterflies, the text greeting and little pink gems finish off my girly card.  I hope it cheers you up!

The Marianne dies I used are:
scallop circle, blue open flowers and swirl from LR0112
additional swirl from LR0111
white flowers from LR0105
butterflies from LR0158
white mat behind text from LR0235

I'd also like to enter my card into the Everybody Art challenge for pastel colours, and the Stamp with Fun challenge for Tea - well you can't have a cup of tea without a cake, or two!

Review of 2012

I owe the idea for this post to my dear blogging friend Kelly, who got it from Coops .. .. and as I've not got a card to share with you at the moment I thought it might be a fun thing to do.  You go look at the stats on your post listings and show the card or project that has the highest views and/or comments for each month in the previous year.  I'll just stick with the views next to each post for now and I'm guessing it's the total over all, even if the numbers seem to change in the overall stat listings ... who knows how blogger works these things out!



In January I made this card for the Lili of the Valley challenge for something new - it has been the second most popular card of all time on my blog with 276 views so far - and I must admit is one of my all time favourites too.

In February I made a baby boy card for the Marianne Design Diva's challenge with a cute image and papers by Eline - its had 184 views so far

 

In March I created a spring card for the Less Is More challenge for a one layer card with script - I used my old Elusive Images tulip script stamp and kraft card to stamp and colour my design, but I didn't like it even though it's had 114 views.  I went and tweaked it for this card, which has only had 21 views, but imo is much nicer!

 

I only posted 4 cards in April as we were at the beginning of the building work and things were all upside down, plus the garden was taking up a lot of my time too.  This simple card was made for the Less Is More challenge for a charm - it's had 49 views



 

In May I played along with the Less Is More colour challenge for a touch of yellow and created this daisy card with a simple background daisy stamp from Elusive Images.  It has had 207 views so far!



I only posted once in June, with this card for the Lili of the Valley anything goes challenge - it's had 98 views

I had a complete break from crafting during the summer months and only posted in July with an update on the building work.  Finally, come October I was sorted out and my stash unpacked, well mostly anyway.  Although my craft area is in the conservatory, it's not heated so I tend to work at the dining room table in the evenings .. .. and a down side is that my card and paper stash is getting damp out there so I may have to rethink some of my storage options this year.

I eased back into blogging with this card for the silver Less is More colour Challenge, and it ended up with 197 views! I used one of my very old stamps from Elusive Images and found the heat gun and embossing powders!

 

 

November's card has had 176 views and was my fantasy Charistmas card made for the Marianne challenge - and I won!

 

 

December's top card has had 101 views - a red and green Christmas card with an adorable stamp by Lili of the Valley

 



I hope you have enjoyed looking at my top view cards for 2012 - and should you choose to share yours, please let me know so I can come take a look .. .. I like being nosy!

Something New

This is the card I made for the Totally Papercrafts Something New challenge that unfortunately I couldn't share with you on time. We have two sponsors this week, Meljen and Bearly Mine - please stop by the TPC blog for the links and info about the prizes. The internet connection is down to just 2 bars today meaning it's agony trying to get around or do the link ups .. .. ..

I have used another of my old vintage rubber stamps from ebay so I have no idea who made it, but it is one that I have used a few times for a classic design of card.  I've coloured with Copics and inked the edges with a soft pink chalk ink to take off the stark white.  Again I've used up a couple of digi patterned papers from the enormous stash pile, one on the background and one cut with my new Anja trellis design Marianne die with it's matching plain background die cut from white card. After layering up the two pieces I cut them in half to peek out either side of my image.  A strip of lace and more Marianne diecuts to decorate then a final sprinkling of gems finished things off.  This is the first time I've cut the big flower dies and scored them to create the dimension - the finished flower reminds me of a magnolia blossom, what do you think?  I don't usually go for such big blooms on my cards when I have an image for the main focus, so just kept to the single flower with the filigree sprays.

These are the Marianne dies I used:
LR0236 Anja's Large Ovals for the trellis and the swirly spray
LR0192 for the spiky sprays
LR0168 & LR0169 for the flower
LR0111 for the stamens

When and if I can, I shall come back and link my card to the Craft Catz blog challenge and Stampin' For the Weekend where it's anything goes for both.  Over on the Our Creative Corner blog the theme is for aqua + pink + a flower, so fits my card perfectly!

Sweet Dreams

At last I am able to share my card with you .. .. after browsing the blogger forum it seems that lots of folks are having the same problem as me trying to upload pictures.  I tried various 'solutions' until eventually I came across a post from someone called Katney who said to try switching to HTML version for my post .. .. and it worked! once you come back into the compose version you can see your picture and make it bigger or smaller as normal.

So, better late than never, this week the theme on Cute Card Thursday is Something New - new home, new job, new baby etc.  Our sponsor for the challenge is Nikki at Bunny Zoe's Crafts with a £10 gift certificate for our winner.  I have made a new baby card with a very old stamp from my collection, it was a naked rubber ebay purchase several years ago and I've no idea who it is by, but it's certainly a sweet image.  I've coloured with my Copics then cut out with one of my new Marianne dies.  The patterned papers are from my large digi stash that I am determined to shrink .. .. at least not having easy access to a printer at the moment means I shan't be adding to it!  I've added a doodle stitch edge to the base layer, and looking at it perhaps I should have added the stitching to the cicular blue layer behind the image, not that much of it is left on show .. .. needless to say my embellishements are cut with various Marianne dies then finished off with a pretty organza bow and blue pearl accents.

Marianne dies I used:
LR0235 to cut out image
LR0112 for large scallop doily and swirls with pearls
LR0111 for swirl without peals (bottom right)
LR0106 for daisies

The For Fun challenge is also for something new, and the Papertake Weekly challenge is an anything goes theme so I can link up with them too.

I'll eeek out my posts until I catch up with the days .. .. fingers crossed the solution works for the next one!

Normal Service Suspended!

Update #2 - to fix the problem you need to be in the HTML screen then click the picture icon and upload your picture from your pc.  When you go back to Compose screen you will see the photo and can resize as usual.  Hope this helps as it seems to be a problem across blogger today.

Update - I have a good connection to the internet and seem to be able to get around quite easily.  BUT - the blogger 'insert image' isn't working - at least it's not giving me the option to add a picture from my pc .. .. .. anyone have a sugestion?  I have looked at the blog help pages but they don't tell me anything - according to them I should be getting the option to click and select from my pc's files. Just in case it was a problem with having too many pictures on my blog I went and deleted 2007 posts, I might do the same for 2008 but honestly, I don't think that is going to be the solution.

SO HELP NEEDED PLEASE!

We have been without internet for most of today - the reason we were given was that they are carrying out 'routine servicing'.  Although I can now get connected, I can't upload any pictures so my DT card for Cute Card Thursday is still not showing on the challenge blog, and needless to say it's not here either .. ..  I can't leave comments on any blogs either, although I can sometimes see them, but it's taking an age to load especially on the blogs with lots of extras in the side bars or the followers icons.

I'm not sure how long it will be before normal service is resumed.  Until then, poor me a large one!

Favourite Five from 2012

I'll start by wishing you all a very Happy New Year!  My year has not started particularly well with car troubles and a few lingering family worries, but I am determined to stay more positive in 2013 and look after myself a little better.  After all, if I'm not well I can't look after anyone else!  My granddaughter is still with us so I'm not getting much crafting done, but hubby has had to leave and go back to work, thankfully it's a short week and he should be back at the weekend.  It does mean I can sit at the computer late at night without worrying that my tapping away is keeping him awake .. .. so here I am!

Debby is doing her Fabulous Favourite Fives again - I missed the Christmas Card selection but will join in with the main event .. ..

My first favourite is a card I made last January with one of the beautiful Lili of the Valley baby stamps, and it seemed to be popular with my blog followers too as it's had over 230 views!  If you want to take another look at the post, it's here


My second card is another baby creation, this time for a little girl, and uses another beautiful Lili of the Valley stamp.  You can read the post about this card here



You can see from both of these that I have been developing my passion for adding embellishments cut with Marianne's dies, and the third card is no different!  I've used the same gorgeous Lili of the Valley image as my first favourite card only this time I've gone for a lavender pink colour and made a pillow box and decorated the back as well - if you'd like to see more then please look here

With building work going on I was unable to craft for several months during the summer and when I did get back into the swing of things it was mostly Christmas creations I was making.  However, after treating myself to yet more Marianne dies I started entering the challenges and this is my fourth favourite card - more of a challenge as it couldn't be a square or rectangle!  You can read more about it here

And finally, my last favourite would be the last card I posted in 2012, the Wiebelkaart - but that's an easy one to find .. .. just scroll down one post!  Instead I'll share a black and white card I made with some of the fabulous Marianne products - it's here

I hope you enjoyed seeing my favourites as much as I did making them.  I'm sure you can tell that my favourite stamps are by Lili of the Valley and my favourite dies are from Marianne.  I am sure that's not going to change very much in 2013 .. .. but we will see!

Happy New Year and thank you for all your support during the last year.

Love and Hugs,

Annie x