Birthday bear

I made this card last week and Faith's Chocolate Bear took a fancy to it straight away.
The bear on the card is taken from my new Cd from Jayne Netley Mayhew. It has been simply layered onto red holographic board with metallic flowers down the side and a red organza bow on the top corner. The red outline is already on the image I just cut slightly outside it to give a white border.

The Cd contains lots of animal and floral images and so far I have made just 3 cards using it but i'm sure there will be many more to come.

40th birthday

It's my brother in laws birthday 40th Birthday next week so I needed something special for his card.

As he is in the Fire Service and is also a part-time fire fighter with his local Station this Fireman stamp from Paper Nation was just the thing for him.

I coloured it with a combination of watercolour pencils and paints and layered it up onto tag shapes of patterned vellum, white card, shiny red card and torn mulberry paper to give a hot fiery look to it. The layers are all held together with a small round brad. The sentiment is a gold peel-off.

The dark blue A4 cardstock has been folded twice to give an overall DL size.

Lili of the Valley challenge

This is quite a new Challenge blog and this week we were told .....

We would like to see your creations on the theme of ENCHANTMENT. We are thinking of Fairies, Dragons, Unicorns, Witches etc, but we are sure you will come up with lots of ideas that we haven't even thought of...and don't forget you are not restricted to Lili of the Valley products or just stamping, be as adventurous as you like.


This fairy from Lili of the Valley has been glittered and layered up onto white paper embossed with Cuttlebug's snowflake folder. This has been layered onto burgundy paper and placed onto a square white card. A simple peel-off completes it.

Male birthday

It's my brother's birthday at the end of the week so I made this quick and easy card using Joanna Sheen's Oriental Dreams Cd. The image was mounted onto a paint sample from Crown paints in Boutique shade, a nice blue/green colour. The dark blue base card is A4 but has been folded twice to make a DL size. Instead of a greeting I added 3 small brads in a similar colour to those in the image.

Sunshine & Football

We decided to take a ride out today and visit somewhere new. We ended up in Abergavenny, a busy market town with castle ruins and great views. It just so happens that there was a craft market taking place in the market hall. I didn't buy anything but was amazed at the amount of stalls selling handmade cards, I don't know how they manage to make any money with so many of them in the one place but it was interesting to see what was on offer.

On our way out we took a walk up to the castle ruins and admire the views over the distant hills.

The sun made it almost feel like summer again and as you can see hardly a cloud in the sky.

We had to be back for Mick to watch the England football match on television. This is the sight I came downstairs to find. He tells me now he would like England footie socks for Christmas!! Note he's playing on MY Nintendo DS again.

Think Pink

The Think Pink sale will soon be here so i've made the last of my contributions. I sent a parcel off yesterday and have a few more things to pack up and send later in the week.

During the Cyber Crop over on Bubbly Funk we had various classes and I have managed to get things done from a couple of them to send.

The Dotee dolls were Suzie's class, I made 3 of these but Sallie pinched the spotty one I showed earlier so I have sent these 2.

Kaz's class was to alter a clipboard. This is the 2nd I did, the first I forgot to take a pic of before I sent it.

The ribbons are chipboard ones which have been decorated and had magnets put on the back. They were in the Think Pink kits from Bubbly Funk. they are now ready to be sent.

These pink organza bags were also in the kits and I have put rose scented tea lights in them.

A couple of the decorated ribbons have hanging chains on them while the other has a magnet on the back.

The small one is done in shrink plastic and has a few beads attached and a clasp to make a handbag charm.

The decorated notebooks were part of the weekly challenges. They have all been covered and various embellishments and ribbons attached to 'pretty' them up a bit.

The little bags contain matching gift tags threaded with organza ribbon and are from the Cute Companions Cd volume 1 from Crafters Companion.

Finally a few more cards which went in yesterday's parcel.

The flower card is made from freebies in Making Cards magazine.

The others are all from Cd's.

I used Oriental Dreams by Joanna Sheen, Golden years by Sharon Duncan and Cute Companions by Crafters Companion.

Craft space update

Well you all asked for them so here goes. I've tidied up a bit as i've gone along or run out of space but this is my table as it was yesterday, and yes Kaz I do use the sofa bed for storage! It is right behind my chair and it's all too easy to turn round and put things on it.

Blog Candy

Hazel is celebrating 20,000 visitors to her blog by giving away Blog candy today so get over there right away. You need to leave her a comment and link to your blog so that she can visit. Simple as that.

'New' Craft Space

Well these are the pics of my new craft desk and re-organised room.

I had previously worked on a very small desk which we bought about 9 years ago for Sallie to do her homework on.

The desk is looking very tidy and organised at the moment but probably won't stay like that once I get to work. It has a lovely pull out section at one end and we've put a 2 drawer filing cabinet under the other end. I've also got a magnetic notice board.The stacking boxes are full of stamps with a selection of unmounted stamps in Cd cases on top. My Cuttlebug can stay out now and hopefully be used more.

I already had this large storage unit in which I keep my boxes full of papers, card, tools, embellishments, inkpads etc. etc. etc. Also a pile of books and magazines and my card and Atc swaps.

We took the single bed out and replaced it with a sofa bed covered with the quilt and cushions. We'll see how comfy it is to sleep on when Sallie comes tonight.

Just call it my Ikea room 'cos that's where all the furniture apart from the chair came from. We bought the new items on Monday and they were delivered on Tuesday morning and all assembled and in place by yesterday. Mick reckons it is my Christmas present come early.

80th Birthday

Mick's Mum has asked me to make a card for her sister's 80th birthday next month which meant I also needed to make one from us as well.

This is the one I made for us to send, I used glitter board, brads, peel-offs and base card from my stash but the whole of the topper is made from freebies from Making Cards magazine with a little bit of glitter glue added.

I bought some Joanna Sheen stamps a couple of months ago when I was first asked about this card as I knew the look I wanted for it It is from the Happiness Oval set of Victorian Doylie range and has been stamped and embossed in pink on cream pearlescent paper.The 2 background papers are from Joanna's Oriental Dreams Cd. I found a bunch of fabric flowers in a local shop and used 3 from it to make a spray and added an organza ribbon bow which was all attached with silicone glue. The sentiment was printed on the computer. As the flowers stand out from the card so much I had to make a box on which I will stamp the name.

Baby Cardigan

The Think Pink sale is looming ever nearer and so I had to get this cardigan finished to send the pic to Di to put on the blog. I started it last month but put it away when we went on holiday, that is a fatal thing to do as I much prefer to get things knit in one go.

It is a much smaller version of one I did for Faith. This one buttons up the front though instead of being crossover. It's in the same cream yarn (I bought a BIG ball of it) and has small pink buttons. I love the way the bottom edge rolls up instead of being ribbed.

Cyber Crop

Over on the Bubbly Funk forum at the weekend we had a Cyber Crop with many of the members providing classes and tutorials for different craft items.

We also had online chats and help with any queries and we played 3 games of bingo in the chat room.

The bingo was more manic with each game we played, 1 on Saturday and 2 on Sunday. On Sunday evening the pace of the comments were coming so thick and fast it was hard to keep up and concentrate on the game. Somehow though I managed to win the game.

All the forum members sent a big 'thank you' to Di who organised the whole thing and did the bingo and also to Caroline who runs the forum and Bubbly Funk Shoppe.

So far i've only managed to complete 1 class. That is for a Dotee Doll which was Suzie's class. It was inspired by this blog. It is so easy to make and so much fun. I've finished 1 of them and last night stitched the face and body of 2 more. I have no felt for the back though and no stuffing so they will have to wait until i've been shopping now.

I feel the hair was inspired by these pics I took of Faith after I had crimped her hair.

Bubbly Funk Birthday cards

Even more lovely hand crafted cards to show, this time from my friends on the Bubbly Funk Birthday list.

Ann used a lovely bright background, Ali sent a pot of flowers and Maxine used iris folding.

Tracy used spirelli and dry embossing, Janice sent a felt heart and Tracey a mini aperture card.Karen stamped and coloured, Beth sent flowers and Kaz a lovely pink button.Carol made a tag card and Kathy sent lots of flowers in pots.

Thank you so much for all your hard work. The cards have only been taken out of the lounge window this morning. they will all go into my craft room now for inspiration in the future.

Stamping Mad Birthday cards

These are the cards I recieved from my friends on the Stamping Mad forum Birthday list.

This first one from Keren has 4 panels but was difficult to photograph fully open.
Annie gave a pile of pressies, Santtu a coloured backer and Wendy sent flowers. Caz coloured the initial, Ruth sent the cake and Lynn sent flowers.
Trixie used butterflies and the girl in bonnet is from Megan.

Thank you so much for all your cards.

Sallie's Cards

My daughter, Sallie, is well into cardmaking now and always makes cards for the family.

These are the ones she made for my birthday and our wedding anniversary last month.

The pink hearts card is one that Mick asked her to make for him to send to me for my birthday. Not sure that he's paid her for it yet!

Faith's birthday card

I made this card as soon as we came home from holiday as Faith's birthday is in the 2nd week of september.
The image is a stamp from from Paper Nation which has been coloured using polychromos and sansodor. It has been layered up onto lilac card and then onto pink cardstock. Faith's 2 favourite colours. I added a pink organza ribbon to make it even more 'girly' for her. The 'F' and '7' have been cut with my Cuttlebug and the other letters are peel-offs as is the greeting.

Back Home

We've just come back from 2 weeks in Tenerife where we have a timeshare apartment. Sallie met us there for the first week, she travelled from East Midlands while we flew from Birmingham.

We don't normally take many photos as we go there most years just to relax and lie by the pool in the sun.

This year however as we came out of the shopping centre one night we heard music and came across an acrobatic troope performing in the square.

This person managed to keep the pot balanced for what seemed like ages as he tossed it around on his head, shoulders and back.

The strength and balance of this man was amazing as he was handed chair after chair to balance on each other before doing incredible stunts at the top.

We took a walk one day and found a new shopping centre which has a water display with fountains. It was advertised as having a water and light display so we went along on our last night to have a look and were not disapointed.

There was music playing and the coloured lights and water seemed to perform in time to it. Very loud and very colourful and certainly worth a visit when we go back another year. Finally a couple of pics of the 2 of us by the water.

17th August 1974

17th August 1974, that was the day Mick and I were married -34 years ago.

This is the card I have made to give to him on our Anniversary this Sunday.

I used an cream A4 card in a hammered finish. The backing papers are from K & Co, Vines and Dots in peach and citrus. They were cut using the edge of a Fiskars template after being carefully lined up so that the pattern matches. Dufex boards in silver featuring hearts finish the card.

Dufex never shows up well in photos and the light isn't good today so the card looks much brighter in real life.

Think Pink Challenge

The Think Pink Challenge on Bubbly Funk is well underway now, in fact i think we are on challenge 6 already.

If you've not looked at this site yet please click on the link above or the banner at the top of my page to find out what it is all about.

We've been given a theme each week to work to and just dip in and out as the fancy takes us. Entries can be made any time not just the week of the challenge so it really is great if you don't get chance one week to catch up whenever you can.

This is my contribution so far. I have not blogged them as they were done but decided to wait until I had a batch ready to send away.

As the main theme is pink I decided to use up some of my knitting yarn and make this matinee jacket in my favourite pattern. It has turned out a bit peach coloured in the photo but is a bit pinker in real life.

Cute Card Thursday

This week the theme is 'The two of us'
We need to use two of something on our card, it could be 2 people, 2 animals or 1 of each.
This week Nikki from Dewdrop Craftz has very kindly donated a gorgeous stamp. Do pop into the shop and check out the other fantastic stamps they have to offer!

I've not done one of these challenges for a little while now but just happened to have this card ready made for another challenge but as it has not been shown on my blog yet here it is.

The image is Car Couple from Paper Nation, it has been stamped in grey versafine ink and coloured using polychromos for the couple and shimmery watercolour paints for the car. It was stamped onto white card and layered onto a piece of grey textured card.

The main card is a ready embossed one from DCWV called Dragonflower.

The card was originally made for the Think Pink Challenge over on the Bubbly Funk Forum. Do check this out as it is for a really good cause and lots of us on the forum are making things for it.