Thank You cards and A Happy New Year

Here a few quick and simple Thank You cards I have made for the children to send.
Photography not up to scratch again, sorry :-( - must stop polishing the table LOL




This was made from A4 card, cut to 25cm in length, 11cm high. I scored at 5cm intervals, folded and marked the top fold in the centre (2.5cm)and 3cm down each side, joined the marks up and cut along the lines, so that all ended up with a tag shaped top. I would usually add ribbon or a brad to each of the tag tops but as these have to be posted I have tried to keep them as flat as possible - blooming Post Office - grrrr!! I cut 8 pieces of patterned paper into 1.5" squares (sorry to mix measurements) then cut the letters THANK YOU on with my George cricut cartridge at 1" high. Letters then stuck to squares which were mounted onto the base card. I have left 2 blank pages on the reverse side for the children to write their Thanks.



This card was made using the same measurements as above only as I used a 12 x 12 sheet of paper I was able to cut 6 pieces, so only put THANKS on this card, leaving the back blank for handwritten thanks.



The final card was cut from A4 card, down the length of the card. I like this shape card. Used some scrap paper, DCWV paper, grosgrain ribbon and 'Thank You' stamp from SU - just love this set! Again kept simple and flat, as this also needs posting....

Well my friends, have managed 3 posts in 3 days, lets hope I can keep this up PMSL
and also managed to get in just before New Year, and while I am still sober, still got quite a bit of Tia Maria left in the bottle so won't be before I go to bed - ha ha!!

Will be off down to the beach tomorrow to watch all the silly people go in the sea for the annual fundraising for the Inshore Rescue. Luckily they don't go in until midday, so plenty of time for a lie in. Good luck to all taking part, rather you than me!

Just gonna get my coat onto go outside and see the New Year in, and watch all the search lights from the ships in the harbour.

Wishing you all a Happy and Healthy New Year.

Mum's Christmas cards

2 posts in 2 days, thats pretty good going for me! Not quite sure what has happened to my background, will have to find out what's going on, time for a new one maybe!

Here are the Christmas cards I made for Mum, I did make special cards for Dad and my In Laws but forgot to photograph them before I sealed the envelopes :-(



The first one is from the children to their Nanny. The image is a Magnolia courtesy of my SBS21 sister, who sent me a stash of images with my birthday card, thanks Heather you are a star, really love this image. Coloured with Promarkers, which I used to colour the mulberry paper, organza ribbon and scalloped circle. The charm is from Ebay, I found a local seller who sells them in batches of 10, so I was able to buy a selection and could go and collect them, so no waiting for the postman!



I dusted off my medallion stamps for this next one..... using Petite Holly, with 3 different coloured card, dark green, pistachio, and red, I stamped and cut 7 layers, glittered with crystal art institute glitter. I used gold holly embossed card to mount the medallion on and finished off with some organza ribbon and peel off greetings. Just noticed detail not too clear in the picture - better get some photography tips off of my daughter!

Wishing everyone a Healthy & Happy New Year.

Matthew's 1st birthday

Here is the card I made for a very good friend's son, Matthew. He was 1 yesterday, that year has flown by. He was having a little nap when we went round to see them, but soon woke up. He looked so cute, with his little red cheeks and bed hair, but didn't take long to wake up enough to open his present, a beautiful Paddington Bear, which he snuggled into immediately.

The card design is one I have seen on various blogs, and in the January issue of Making Cards. The project is one of 3 in this issue, by my SU granny, Amanda Fowler. I was really pleased with how this turned out and plan to make a some more using this design,the bottom picture shows the card folded flat, to go in a C6 envelope, when you pull the tag, the box section unfolds and the tag stands upright.
Turquoise card from stash, used my new clear stamps from Scrappy Cat for the greeting and versamark inked the present image to give a watermark effect. BP from DCWV Baby Boy mat stack, 1 cut with George & Basic Shapes cricut cartridge, used double sided sticky stuff and Glamour Dust for the bling.

I have 5 birthday cards to make by this time next week, am gonna try and be more organised next year, ROFL, have made a couple of Christmas cards and gift tags today, while tidying up craft room. It seems such a shame to be putting all that lovely craft stash away, didn't realise I had accumulated so much Xmas stuff, packs of paper unopened, stamps uninked, embossing folders still in original packaging - how bad am I?

Have got some photos of special Xmas cards I made this year and photos of projects made at SU team training recently that I will try and post tomorrow, am trying to avoid shopping!

Stampin Up!

Saturday 13 December saw the first team training day for Inspiring Inkin. I had a wonderful day, and will show some of the projects we made over the next few days, when I have rediscovered them in my craft room! I had to bring some of them home to complete as we ran out of time..... Hoping to finish them off tomorrow, as I am refusing to leave the house - am totally shopped out and need a day indoors!

I am going to set up a pen share - please contact me if you are interested in taking part. There are 48 Stamp'n'Write markers in the set which are split into 4 colour families. The large set comes in a horizontal storage case to hold all 48 (RRP £99.95 + P&P). The individual colour families can be purhased separately for £24.95 + P&P but do not include a storage case.

I would need 4 people to set up the pen share, and this way everyone gets the storage case at the end of the plan, but only have to purchase one set of markers at a time, on a monthly basis. This would cost £24.95 + £2.50 per set to include postage to your home address. Please contact me if you are interested in taking part in this or if there are any other share schemes you would like me to set up.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Some last minute Christmas cards

Last week at school was as usual very busy, but HOORAY, on holiday now!!!!
I have been really bad this year and sent quite a few shop bought cards
:-( as I haven't had the time to make them all! Here are a couple of my last minute makes - all of these cards are made from A4 cardstock cut in half lengthways.




I scored across cardtock at 2cm, 4cm and half of the remaining unscored length to give a mini fold at the front of this card to which I stuck the snowmen, an Anita's stamp I think?, that I coloured with Sakura gelly roll pens and some snow writer to add further dimension. BP DCWV Xmas stack (last year) and greeting from stash.




This card was made in the same way as above. The stamped image was from an SU set 'Wondrous Gift' (usual price £19.95) that I received for placing an order of £150 or over, in addition to the usual hostess gift. Offer only available until the end of December. Image stamped in Green Galore and Really Red ink.



The final card was scored at 15cm. Image is from Whiff of Joy, coloured with Promarkers, mounted onto red CS from stash using a corner punch. I used Snow Writer again to add extra dimension. I used stamp from Wondrous Gift set detailed above to background stamp the CS with stars and added white organza ribbon to finish.

Hit the shops today to do some more present shopping, nearly there...... Off to Gunwharf Quays tomorrow, where I am hoping to finish the last few bits, then just wrapping and family Xmas cards to make.

Small gift bags

Managed to escape to my craft room tonight, but still got a naked Christmas tree in the lounge LOL, really must decorate it tomorrow night!

We have Year 6 pupils who cover the office at lunchtime and I wanted to give them a little something to say THANK YOU. While browsing the Stampin Up! website I discovered a project to make a small gift bag from a C6 envelope. I had a trial run and was pleased with the result, so decided I would make these for the children.

Had great fun, playing with my SU goodies to create these. Envelopes from stash, a couple of them had a faded edge, so wouldn't have been able to use them for cards, so pleased not to have them go to waste! Stamped with Versamark inkpad and Polka Dot stamp from - you guessed it SU. Scored the envelope 2cm on 3 edges and folded both ways to ensure a crisp fold. Scallop punched to top edge, which was then folded over, punched 2 holes near the top with Big Bite then threaded ribbon thru the holes. Sentiment from Cuddly Buddly again, mounted on SU round and scalloped round punches, don't know how I managed without these....

A few quick cards

Haven't felt much like crafting recently, had raging toothache last week, several visits to the dentist, a couple of prescriptions and quite a few pounds lighter, in terms of weight and money , I am finally pain free.
Had to make a couple of cards last week to ensure they got there in time, so used the opportunity to use some of my new goodies.

I made a quick wallet to send some Christmas money to my Niece. I cut a DL card, used my SU jumbo roller along the length of the card, after having a play on some spare card stock. The snowflake is a Cuttlebug cut and embossing die, cut on pearlescent card and finished off with Glamour Dust. I have long admired this die on other people's blogs and could resist the temptation no longer! I stuck a strip of card, decorated with the same roller, inside the card to slip the money under.



The image on the Thank You card is from Fourth Dimension, one used once..... Coloured with watercolour pencils. I have just noticed that the photo looks a bit washed out, it is much better IRL. I found some mulberry paper to mount the stamped image onto, obviously not used that for a while as it was quite far down on a pile of papers! I used my new SU scalloped circle punch and circle punch which works really well with the round sentiments from Cuddly Buddly.
I used to cut circles on my Cricut and try to stamp the sentiment in the middle not very successfully, however that is all behind me now, its so easy with these punches.




Thought I would try a pink and chocolate colour combo for my Niece's Christmas card. The stamp is from Funky Kits, think this image is really cute. Used my SU ink pads to watercolour the image, a bit of Glamour Dust added to the boots and ear muffs, and SU punches for the scalloped edge on the gold card and tab on the main image. The sentiment is Cuddly Buddly and have again used my SU punches to cut the circles. These punches are fab and so easy to use. I think there will be a few more in my craft room before long!!

Birthday crafting goodies

Finally, here are the goodies I got when we went out last Thursday. All I need to do now is unpack them and get crafting! Had some sad news at the weekend and my mojo has gone AWOL. Really need to pick myself up and get on with some crafting, as you can see a lot of the things are Christmas themed, so hoping to get some time out this weekend to shut myself in my craft room and make some cards. I did manage to make couple of cards for a DT call, I hope they are good enough, not sure, but as the old saying goes 'nothing ventured, nothing gained'

Still have my SU goodies to christen as well. There is a team training day next Saturday which I am looking forward to, get to meet some of the team, but I need to make some samples to take with me to do swaps with, had better get my skates on.....

Birthday card and goodies

Here is the gorgeous birthday card I received from my blogging and SBS21 buddy Heather. The card is really lovely, the image has a wonderful sheen to it which the photo doesn't do justice to, really must look at the user manual for my camera!!
She was an absolute sweetie and included some stamped images (2 of each - she must know I go over the edges...especially when I have had a drink or two!)from the Magnolia Winter collection.I particularly like the Edwin & Tilda on Ice image and everywhere we went today had sold out :-(

A big THANK YOU Heather for the beautiful card and the images, I will colour them very carefully and post the cards I make with them on my blog. You realise I will have to buy a flourish die or Cricut cartridge now!

Had a lovely day today, was taken to Crafts U Love, The Craft Barn, and The Glitter Pot, a round trip of about 200 miles, (and worth every one!) by hubby who didn't know what to buy me. It would have cost him a lot less if he had only listened to my not so subtle hints over the last month or so for a Bind It All ROFL. Will post a picture of my goodies soon.

Stampin Up! goodies have arrived!

My birthday came early this year - the DHL lady delivered my Stampin Up! goodies yesterday, yaay, the only trouble was it was 9.30 and I had to work until 4.30 knowing that all those lovely scrummy goodies were under my desk just waiting to be unwrapped and played with!!

I managed to unpack them and 'stroke' them but STILL haven't had time to play with them as its been busy here. I was showing a lady at craft club last night how to do medallion cards and had visitors tonight, hopefully tomorrow!

Crafty Day

I've had a very productive day, tidying up my craft room and finishing off cards. The only thing is it doesn't look any tidier now, but I have about 12 cards that I have completed today. I have even managed to fit in a couple of challenges!!

The first card is for the CCT challenge this week which is to include 'Snowflakes'
I used Bazzil Bling for the base card. The image is Funstamps, glittered and coloured with Sakura gelly roll pens, mounted on ovals cut with George & Basic Shapes cartridge. Snowflakes are cut using Punch Bunch cutter. To continue the snowflake theme I added a sheet of vellum to the inside of the card, which I stamped using white ink and snowflake stamps from Banana Frog.



The BP shown in this picture is from a pack from Dovecraft, last year I think. The snowflakes on the bottom right and top left are again from Punch Bunch punch, double layered and tweaked to give more dimension, attached to the card using brads from stash. Excuse the fingers in the photo but the card wouldn't stay closed!



This is what the card looks like when not held closed. I am really pleased with the way this has turned out.




This card is for the PTW challenge this week which has to be 'snow related.'
The stamp is from Whiff of Joy, coloured with watercolour pencils. Snow effect added to the snowman and the edge of Charlie's hat. BP is this year's Dovecraft paper. Panel on left of the card has been embossed with Swiss Dots folder and accented with white ink pad. Silver ribbon from stash and Xmas banner (bargain from Lakeland) added to complete the card.



Now my mojo has returned with a vengance, normal service should be resumed, so you should see a bit more of me!
Will be looking out for delivery man tomorrow, hoping he has my Stampin Up! goodies....

Latest makes....

Apologies for the absence this week, i've not been idle tho!!
I have had a couple of birthdays to make cards for, forgot to photograph one of them but here are the other two.

The first one for Adam's mate Tom who was 13 yesterday, he plays for Spartan Colts, the same footie team as Adam, so I coloured the footballer with the team colours.



The next card was for Chris, Ellie's friend who was 18 yesterday, he plays in a band called The Vision, hence the image for his card. I used glossy accents on the guitar to give it an extra dimension although its not to clear in the pic.



I have been hooked to watching I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here, its filmed not far away from where we stayed when we visited Oz a few years back. I watch it in the lounge and can't get comfy crafting there, so have been busy knitting a couple of mohair scarves for crimbo pressies - only prob is they have made me sneeze sooooo much! Nearly finished them then got a waistcoat to remake.

Really have to get into my craft room and have a massive tidy up tomorrow as I am expecting delivery of my Stampin Up kit early next week - am sooo excited, just like a child at Christmas :-o

YIPPEE!!! I've been published........ and nearly missed it!!

I am totally lost for words, and for those of you who know me, know that this doesn't happen very often!!

I was feeling a bit under the weather today and decided to have a quiet day, DH was at work and the children at school and college, it's the first day I have had the house to myself for ages. I was having a quick flick through a magazine that I had already looked at, I usually do this and earmark items of interest. On one page I saw a picture that looked remarkably like a card I had made..... on closer inspection I realised it was a picture of my card that I had emailed in August. As I hadn't heard anything from the magazine I thought it wasn't good enough to be published. Its in the November issue of Cardmaking and Papercraft, top left corner of page 8. This has really made my day and given my mojo the kick up the backside I needed! All I need to do now is claim my goodies for being published.

Have been browing the Stampin Up catalogue again today and have finally decided which stamp sets I want, the form is completed and ready to be posted tomorrow.