Wishing You All Merry Christmas

This is just a quick post today to say a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everyone who takes the time to stop and take a look at this blog. I hope that you all have your Christmas preparations under control and that you're ready for the big day. I have a few bits that I need to sort out today before my Mum arrives to stay for the week, then I'm ready to sit down and enjoy the festivities.

I'm looking forward to seeing what is going to be on your blogs in 2012.
Happy Crafting

Sue x

My Last Christmas Card (I Hope)

I have just finished making my last Christmas card, this one is for my son's friend to send to his girlfriend. I had made one for his brother last week the same, but in another colour, when he saw it yesterday he phoned me up and asked if I had time to make one. Well I managed it, but I'm not making anymore until next year. I have used Debbi Moore's Art Deco Magical Christmas for this one, it was printed onto glossy photo paper, with the backing paper mounted onto gold mirri card and some Marianne die cuts added to the corners.

I hope that you all have a very Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year.

Thank you for taking the time to look

Sue

CD Sunday - Fifties Fun

What a hectic weekend this has been, big family Christmas meal on Saturday evening after a day shopping. Then up again Sunday morning for more shopping, I'm glad to say that I have now finished, it's just the wrapping up to do and put up the decorations. I will also admit that I'm not going to cook Christmas dinner this year, we are going to a local pub, which also does very good food. After being ill over Christmas last year, where I had My Mother, Mother-in-law and Father-in-law all ill as well, hubby had to cook dinner for himself and my son. I think he was worried that I would make him cook it again this year.

Back to this weeks challenge over at the CD Sunday blog, which is Fifties Fun, and for the first time in weeks I am making a card that has nothing to do with Christmas. I used MCS Fab Glam Fifties for this, it has so many great images to choose from. As I love the combination of blue and lemon I chose this elegant lady in front of a shop window. I made an A5 base card from a sheet of light blue centura pearl and matted and layered with silver mirri card. The base backing paper was made by using the colour pick tool, and keeping the colour solid. The next backing paper was from the CD, The flowers were also on the CD as an Icon, these I printed 3 times and decoupaged them onto the corner of the card. I added a little lemon ribbon around one of the backing layers, and added a tag with a sentiment.

One of the things that I love about MCS is the facility to make matching inserts and envelopes, these I normally do after I've photographed my card for the challenge. But as I knew that I would not take a photo of this one until the daylight this morning I got on and made my envelope last night. I overlaid the backing paper to one side of the plain background, making a duo paper. There is a template for envelopes on most of the MCS CD's, so by just laying this over the top it gives you all the cutting and score lines, add a little DS tape and a spot of lick and stick and you have a lovely matching envelope.

Thank you for taking the time to look.

Sue

Times Gone By Robin

This week has flown by and I can't believe that it's Thursday already. Today I thought that I would show you another card that I made for my Mother-in-law, this one to give to my father-in-law. This time I've used this beautiful image of a Robin from the Times Gone By CD by Joanna Sheen. The image has been decoupaged and had lots of glitter added. This was a nice and easy image to cut out, but still gives a great effect, and then mounted onto some gold mirri card.

I think that I've nearly finished my Christmas cards this year with only four family cards left to make. I have decided that next year I am going to start early (like in January) and try and make one card a week, that way I should be well ahead as December comes closer. Still this will be my 4th year where I've not had to resort to buying a box to finish everyone.

Thank you for taking the time to look.

Sue

CD Sunday - Things With Whiskers Week 2

Last week the challenge over on the CD Sunday blog was Things with whiskers, because of the hectic run up to Christmas this challenge is running for 2 weeks this time. There's an amazing CD (if the design team's samples are anything to go by)  up for grabs for one lucky person this week, someone has already won one. So if you didn't get a chance to enter last week, there's still time. Each year I get the job of making what my Mother-in-law calls her special cards,and this year was no exception, the only problem was she forgot to tell me until last week, ten 8x8 cards later I have just finished, and this one is perfect for joining in again this week with the challenge. It come from the Giordano Christmas CD from Joanna Sheen, and I must admit to forgetting what gorgeous images there are on this. After cutting out all the decoupage pieces,  I mounted the base piece onto some matt silver mirri card, and the built the decoupage up. The backing paper is the one that matches the image, and the sentiment computer generated then put through the foiler.

Thank you for taking the time to look.

Sue x

CD Sunday - Things With Whiskers

This week the challenge over on the CD Sunday blog is Things With Whiskers, and as I'm still making Christmas cards I decided to go with House Mouse. This has been stamped and coloured with promarkers, then I've used the Adirondack Lettuce ink pad to add a touch of colour around the edge, and mounted the image onto some red mirri card. The backing paper comes from the Artylicious Seasons Greetings CD, and this is also mounted onto red mirri card. I've added some red ribbon from my stash, some card candi, and the parcels I found in the back of a cupboard, I can't remember how long I've had them, but some years at least. Finally the sentiment is from the same stamp sheet as the mice.

Thank you for taking the time to look.

Sue

Forgotten Friday 42 - White Christmas

The weeks are certainly rushing by towards Christmas, and it's time once again for Forgotten Friday over on Judith's blog. This week I have decided to combine my card and also enter the White Christmas challenge that Glenda Waterworth (Chocolate Baroque) has set (you could win up to £50.00 to spend in her shop). For this I have used The cottage stamp from the Hearth and Home stamp sheet, from Chocolate Baroque, which I stamped with a black Memento ink pad and coloured with aqua pencils. I then coloured the rest of the image by using distress ink pads in Tumbled Glass, Broken China, Antique Linen and Tea Dye. Then with a quickie glue pen I used glitter to show the snow. I then mounted the image onto navy card and then some white, I went around the edge of the white card with Chipped Sapphire. Next with white card I stamped randomly around the edge with a snowflake stamp from the Snowflake flourish stamp sheet, also from Chocolate Baroque, and embossed with an iridescent clear embossing powder (doesn't show on the photo). I then used the Tumbled Glass, and Broken China ink pads to colour over these, cleaning with a cloth when I had finished to bring the snowflakes back to a white. Then I added some navy ribbon down the side and a stamped sentiment from Lili of the Valley. Finally I added a poinsettia and a couple of flourishes made from Marianne dies, which I coloured again using Tumbled Glass and Broken China ink pads.

If you have neglected stash in your cupboards, make something pop it on your blog then visit Judith's blog leave her a comment and she will come and visit your blog.

Thank you for taking the time to look.

Sue x

Snowflakes

This week I decided to make a couple more angels using the Artylicious CD Seasons Greetings, and one of the snowflake backing papers. Rather than use a punch along the bottom of the angels though I dug out my Fiskers decal edge scissors and trimmed a little off. I then ran a thick nibbed glue pen along the bottom and added some glitter. After looking for something to decorate the front I decided to make some small snowflakes from spellbinders dies. This in turn led to me making snowflake decorations out of some glitter card that I've had in the cupboard for a couple of years. Think I'll have to get back to making Christmas cards tomorrow though.

Thank you for taking the time to look.

Sue

CD Sunday - On Safari

Well it's my last week as Guest Designer on the CD Sunday challenge blog. I've really enjoyed my stint, and would like to thank the wonderful ladies who run the blog for the opportunity to be part of the team for a short while. For this weeks challenge I've used Joanna Sheen's Jayne Netley Mayhew Collection (this is one of my favorite discs) and the baby elephant design. I used a piece of silver centura pearl card for the card base, and some black card along with the silver centura pearl for matting and layering. I printed both backing papers using the patterned one for the backing and the baby elephant one as a border (the backing paper lent itself to this, as the elephants were in line across the page). I mounted the largest topper and the smallest and used both of them on the card, then just added some card candi to 2 of the corners. I've chosen not to put a sentiment on this card at this time as it will go into my box as a ready card, I can add the sentiment when I need it. 

Thank you for taking the time to look.

Sue

Forgotten Friday 41 - Angels

I can't believe that it's Friday again already, it must be time for Forgotten Friday over at Poppy Cottage. This week I have decided to use a template that I downloaded last year from a blog I visited after seeing these wonderful Angels at Fred Said. There was a very good video tutorial which I'm glad to say was still there, as after downloading the template I put it on the side meaning to make some. One year on and I'm just getting around to it. I'm not going to go into lots of detail on how I made them, as I'm sure that the instructions over on the other blogs are far better than I could do.

This angel is using an image from MCS Paper Craft Library.

This one an Image available to buy from the Fred Said Store.

And finally this one also uses an image from Fred Said.

The bows are some that I've had in my stash for some years, and the feathers were also some that I've had for a couple of years. Unfortunately I have run out of feathers, and have had to order some more, still I can make some more Angels while waiting for them to arrive. The only thing that is missing are halos and I've got some pipe cleaners coming for those along with the feathers.

Forgotten Friday is a great fun challenge to take part in, why not have a rummage in your stash and join in.

Thanks for taking the time to look.

Sue

CD Sunday - Trees

This is my third week as Design Team Guest at the CD Sunday challenge blog, and this week the subject of the challenge is Trees. I decided to go with Joanna Sheen's Pamela West Collection 2. I have used this gorgeous picture of bluebells in a wood, with the sun streaming though (a promise of warmer things to come next year I hope). I have used an A5 white card base, and some centura pearl for matting and layering in 2 shades of mauve. The topper has been printed onto glossy photo paper and set at a jaunty angle. The backing paper is a matching one, and I've popped a bit of purple ribbon across the card. The flowers are some from my stash that were a light cream colour, so these I coloured  with the bluebell coloured pro marker, just adding a little touch of aubergine to the ends and the middle. Butterfly and leaves are both from Martha Stewart punches, and the swirl from a Marianne die, with  some pearls added to the middle of the flowers and the corners just to finish.

Thank you for taking the time to look.

Sue x

Forgotten Friday 40 - Oh Christmas Tree

I can't believe that it's only 36 days until Christmas, and I'm still making my Christmas cards. So this week's Forgotten Friday project is of course a Christmas card. I have used a Christmas tree from the Angels and Trees stamp sheet that last saw an outing 2 years ago, and a sentiment from the Family Christmas stamp sheet, both from Chocolate Baroque. I've kept it very simple, stamping the tree straight onto the card base, and embossing with gold embossing powder. I then added lots of gems from my stash. The sentiment was stamped and embossed onto an off cut of card that has been in a box for more time than I care to remember. I cut this out using an X Cut die cut and just ran a metallic gold pro marker around the outside before mounting it onto the card.

Why not have a go at making something from your forgotten stash, pop over to Judith's blog and find out all about Forgotten Friday.

Thank you for taking the time to look.

Sue x

Joy To The World.

I'm trying to be good this week and get on and make some Christmas cards. And as I've only been posting for the two challenges that I take part in recently, I thought that I would share this one with you. The stamp that I've used is from Chocolate Baroque, stamped with versamark ink, and embossed with Wow black sparkle embossing powder. I cut the topper out using a spellbinders label, and then made one slightly bigger by drawing around the outside of the die and cutting it out by hand. The backing paper is from Artylicious Seasons Greetings (the wording on the backing paper also says Joy to the world). The ribbon is from my stash and the flower is a Marianne die along with the swirls.

Thank you for taking the time to look.

Sue x

CD Sunday - Paisley Fun

Another week and another Sunday, time for a new challenge over on the CD Sunday challenge blog. This week it's Paisley Fun and I've used Artylicious Filigree Fusion CD and this lovely Paisley Mandala stamp from Chocolate Baroque. First I picked a colour and printed off two sheets of backing paper in different designs but the same shade and mounted them onto matt silver mirri card. I found some corner peeloffs in my stash and added these, also some silver ribbon across the middle of the top layer of matting. Then I stamped five of the paisley stamp, and embossed them. Next I coloured them in using promarkers in shades of purple/mauve/lilac, then cut out the various layers and put them together using silicone glue. I then stamped out just the middle of the stamp four times and coloured using the same shades as the main image. I cut out the flowers and leaves, then added these to the card. Another rummage in the cupboard and I found I had some pearls in matching colours that I've added to the paisley design just to finish it off. The Birthday Greetings stamp is also from Chocolate Baroque.

Thank you for taking the time to look, your kind comments are always appreciated.

Sue x

Forgotten Friday 39 - Rememberance

I can't believe it's Friday once more. Earlier this week I was rummaging through the cupboard looking for a stamp that I knew was in there somewhere, when I came across this stamp. I knew that this was what I would use for this weeks Forgotten Friday challenge, in memory of all those brave men and women that have given their lives for our Country.

For this card I used the poppy stamp from the Flora and Fauna stamp sheet from Chocolate Baroque, there are some lovely stamps on this sheet, but this has to be my favorite. First I stamped it twice and once again onto some copier paper, then I coloured one completely, and one just the poppies. I thin cut out the one I stamped onto copier paper and used it as a mask over the coloured image. I then coloured the background using distress ink pads. Next I cut out the bottom petals of the poppies and mounted these onto the image with some silicone gel just to give it a bit of depth. I then mounted it onto a piece of red mirri card, then some black card. Lastly I mounted it all onto a card base made with some grey centura pearl card.

Why not have a rummage through you cupboards and stash and join the Forgotten Friday challenge. Pop over to Judith's blog and find out what it's all about.

Thank you for taking the time to look.

Sue x

Forgotten Friday 38 - Christmas

We've already past Friday this week, and I am only getting around to putting this card onto the blog now. I'm so glad that Judith gives us a week to join in. For this weeks card I have decided to go with a Christmas card, it's coming around so quickly now and I've just realised that I need to get on and make some. The image that I've used is from a set bought from Create and Craft a couple of years ago, and I believe that it's from the Pilkington Lane range. I have tried to give it a cold crisp feel, by making the sky very blue and adding Sukura stardust pen to the roof of the cottage and the snow (not that it's shown up very well in the photo). The backing paper is from my all time favorite Christmas CD, Artylicious Seasons Greetings. I have added a sentiment from Lili of the Valley, mounted onto a spellbinders die. I've also added a poinsettia made from a Marianne die.

This is a fun challenge, so why not pop along to Judith's blog and find out what Forgotten Friday is all about.

Thank you for taking the time to look.

Sue x

CD Sunday - Sunset

It's my first week as guest designer for the CD Sunday challenge blog, and this week the challenge is Sunset. This week the sponsor is Caroline (check out her blog, she has some amazing digital artwork on there). I have kept things quite simple for this challenge, using some of the artwork that Caroline provided for the design team to use. The image is from Rob Addams CD Fabulous Folds, which along with some really nice cards with different folds, there are some beautiful images that can be used for cards. As the images are in PDF format I took a snapshot of the image I wanted to use, saved it as a jpg, then took it into MCS to use it with Carolines artwork. The sentiment was also generated in MCS, and I mounted both of these onto some gold mirricard. The card base was made by printing the backing paper from the CD straight onto the card and then folded in half.

Thank you for taking the time to look.

Sue x

CD Sunday - Puss Cat

The challenge this week over on the CD Sunday blog is Puss Cat. A lovely choice, I have so many CDs with cats on, but my favorite has to be Ivory Cats from Joanna Sheen. This week I decided to go with something a bit different than a card, and I've made this little stationary set with notelets in. It is a perfect gift to give to someone, and with Christmas just around the corner will come in handy.

First I started by printing off the notelet sheets and envelopes from the CD, and then trimmed them and made the envelopes up. Next I picked an image that liked to go onto the front of the wallet and printed the matching backing paper twice. I used a sheet of centura pearl card for the wallet. The measurements that I used for the wallet was 17cms depth, and 28 cms across, this I scored at 13 and 15. Next I made a small pocket on the inside, I used card that matched card I had used for the wallet, but plain white would also do. This measured19cms x 12 cms, then I scored the card down the two shortest edges and then along one long edge at 1 1/2 cms and again at 3 cms. When you fold these in you will see that it will give you an area to stick to the inside bottom of the wallet, you will have to trim a small amount away for this to fold easily, but it should be quite easy to see which bit this is. By adding a piece of ribbon around the middle of the wallet it can be tied into a bow when finished but this I do before putting any matting on. I have used a darker colour for the matting for both the back and front and the insides. By carefully trimming the backing paper there is enough left to also add matting onto the pocket. For the front I have used the largest image from the sheet of images, but trimmed it slightly to fit, and added a stamp to the corner saying "Just a note...". All that is left is to pop the notelets and envelopes inside.

Thank you for taking the time to look.

Sue

Forgotten Friday 37 - Halloween Again

What a beautiful sunny Friday it is today, and as it's Friday it time to join Judith with another project using something that is unused or forgotten. The stamps that I have used this week defiantly qualify for this challenge, I bought them last year from Chocolate Baroque because I really liked them and just had to have them, but I don't do Halloween, so they have sat in the back of the cupboard. Earlier this week I got them out and used them for the Halloween challenge over on the CD Sunday blog, so rather than just put them away again I've used them for this card. I stamped the house onto some white card stock along with some extra bats and a sentiment.I then used scattered straw, dried Marigold and spiced marmalade distress inks to colour the background and all the bits I stamped. The backing paper was a free download from Bearly Mine blog, and it went so well with the image and the colours that I'd picked. The image is mounted onto some brown card long with the sentiment, and the backing paper is mounted straight onto a 6x6 brown card blank, I used a little spiced marmalade around the edge of the backing paper just to pull it altogether. Finally I just added the bats.

If your wondering what Forgotten Friday is all about, pop over to Judith's blog and take a look.

Thank you for taking the time to look, your kind comments are always appreciated.

Sue

CD Sunday - Halloween

This week the challenge over on the CD Sunday blog is Halloween. I don't normally do Halloween (I can hear you booing and hissing now), but last year I did buy some stamps from Chocolate Baroque because I liked them. They have sat unused in my cupboard until now. I stamped out the image and sentiment and then coloured them in with promarkers, I used 3 different shades of orange for the background and then used a darker orange and ran the colour around the edge, then mounted them onto some brown card stock. I cut around the cat stamp and used the darker orange for the eyes and around the edge. The backing papers are from Bearly Mine Designs Designer Extreme volume 111, I finished the card off with a piece of ribbon coloured with the orange to match.

 

Thank you for taking the time to look, your kind comments are always appreciated.

Sue

Forgotten Friday 36 - A Little Extra Sunshine

Well Friday has come around very quickly, I can't believe we've been home from holiday nearly a week. As it's Friday it's time for a Forgotten project. and this week on my rummage I found this lily stamp from Chocolate Baroque, like most of my stamps. I stamped the image 3 times, and once onto a piece of copier paper this I cut out and used as a mask. I coloured the image with promarkers, and parts of the other 2 images. Then after masking the main image I sponged some colour onto the background using Adirondack ink pads in colours Lemonade, Sunshine Yellow and Sunset Orange. I then cut out the parts that I wanted to decoupage from the other pieces I'd coloured, and layered these onto first some brown card and then some gold mirri card. The backing paper is from the Damask Delights CD also from Chocolate Baroque, I went around the edge of this with the Sunset Orange ink pad, I mounted this onto some gold  mirri card. I've added a bit of brown organza ribbon onto the corner of the  backing paper and onto the corner of the image, then just added some card candi. The sentiment is from another Chocolate Baroque stamp sheet, which I thought matched the feeling of the main image.

If you have any forgotten of neglected stash in your cupboards and think you would like to join in, or just find out what Forgotten Friday is all about, pop over to Judith's blog and take a look.

Thank you for taking the time to look, your kind comments are always appreciated.

Sue

CD Sunday - Around The World

The challenge over on the CD Sunday blog this week is Around The World. My biggest problem was which of the many CDs was I going to use for this. After looking at quite a few, I finally picked Joanna Sheen's, Jayne Netley Mayhew Collection 2, and one of the wonderful African Big Cats. I have used a dark brown card base for this card, and some textured gold card stock. The backing paper is the one that matches the image, this I ran the Vintage Photo distress ink around the edge. The topper is mounted onto a piece of the same brown and gold card and set at an angle. The sentiment is from a words stamp set from Chocolate Baroque. I have finished with some card candi, and a bit of dark brown ribbon.

This will make a nice ready card to add to my box.

Thank you for taking the time to look, your kind comments are appreciated.

Sue

Forgotten Friday 35 - Hats and Handbags

Well I'm back from my Holiday in Florida, we had a really great time, although it was rather wet for some of the time we were there. We had 7 1/2 inches/19 cms of rain in 36 hours the middle weekend, needless to say we did not do much for those 2 days that it rained. We were lucky though there were other areas not to far away from where we were staying that had 11 inches/28 cms in the same time period. Still we saw lots of sun as well and it does dry very quickly there. We stayed in a beautiful villa, on a small residential estate, and slept in the biggest bed I have ever seen (my husband is 6ft and could lay on the bed sideways and not touch the edges). Still it was back to reality yesterday, unloading cases and sorting the washing etc.

I did make some crafty purchases while away (hubby allowed me a small corner of the case on the way home). As well as Halloween at the end of the month, which the Americans start decorating for at the beginning if October, it was also Columbus day on the 10th, the 2 big Craft shops Michael's and Joannes had sales the week before leading up to the day it's self. I managed to get 6 cricut cartridges (3 from one shop and 3 from the other)the dearest 2 were $39.99 about £25.50 in British money 3 were $34.99/£22.25 and one was only $19.99/£12.70, I also bought replacement blades again cheaper than here. I needed new cutting plates from my Cuttlebug so picked some of these up from what I thought was $7.99 only to find out as I went through the checkout that they were on sale also and only cost me $4.35/£2.75 (I went back and got another set while I was there). My final bargain was the Tim Holtz weathered clock die, a very kind lady in front of my gave me a 50% off coupon that had to be used that day on any item of regular price. As the Tim Holtz products were not in the sale I went and found the clock die, this should have been $19.99 (my first thought at seeing this price was that I would probably get it in the UK for about the same price once I had converted the money) with the coupon this took the price down to $9.98/£6.35. I bought a couple of other things as well but these weren't in the sale.

Anyway back to forgotten friday I will admit to making this card before I went away so that I would have something ready to post when I got home. I made this while we were having the heatwave before I went, so it was inspired by sunny days where a hat could well have been needed. The stamps are from Chocolate Baroque which I've had for a long time and they have been very neglected, which is a shame as the are beautiful stamps to use and to colour. The images were stamped with Memento black ink and coloured with aqua pencils in shades of lilacs and pinks. I then cut the main image out with a spellbinders oval and made a frame using a scalloped edge oval and a plain one in the middle. The backing paper is from the Filigree Fusion CD also from Chocolate Baroque, I mounted this onto the same gold card that I used to make the frame with. I added a pale pink ribbon around the middle of the card and added the handbag from the same stamp sheet as the lady, and the umbrella from a matching stamp sheet, these had been cut out and added as embellishments.

If your wondering what Forgotten Friday is, or would like to join in, pop over to  Judith's blog and find out what it's all about.

Thank you for taking the time to look, your kind comments are always appreciated.

Sue

Forgotten Friday 34 - Happy Birdday

Gosh how fast Friday has come around, which means that it's time for Forgotten Friday over on Judith's blog. This week while looking for a stamp I wanted to use on another project, I stumbled across this set of stamps from Chocolate Baroque, unused for some time. The weather has been so great the last few days in inspired me to get all the bright promarkers out to colour the birds in, and I  dug out some bright zingy card to use for the matting. I coloured the background with  a couple of Adirondack ink pads in Citrus and Aqua and used a Memento ink pad for the sun. The grasses and other backing stamp were from another stamp set and I stamped these in Citrus. I must admit that I made this card yesterday, in preparation for today, as I'm off to Florida tomorrow and have been packing and clearing up all day (my daughter is coming to look after the dog while we are away). Needless to say I have left some space in my suitcase to bring some crafting goodies home with me.

Why don't you see if you have any forgotten or neglected craft stuff in your cupboards, pop over to Judith's blog and find out what it's all about.

Thank you for taking the time to look, your kind comments are appreciated.

Sue

CD Sunday - Winter Wonderland

Another Sunday has come, and gone, which means that it's time for the CD Sunday Challenge, which this week is Winter Wonderland. This week I have chosen to use The Snowman CD from Crafters Companion. I cut the backing paper to size and then just ran a blue ink pad around the edge of the paper to give a bit of definition. The smaller piece of backing paper I mounted onto a bit of blue centura pearl card and added a bit of silver ribbon, again using a blue ink pad around the edge. Then the decoupage was also mounted onto blue centura pearl, the sentiment is a Lily Of The Valley stamp which was embossed using a silver sparkle embossing powder then cut out with a circle nestie, and mounted onto a scalloped circle also a nestie. Now I have another Christmas card ready to pop into my box.

Thank you for taking the time to look, your kind comments are always appreciated.

Sue

Steampunk

As some of you might of read in an earlier post, it is shortly my Daughters  Birthday, she turns 28 this year, I can't believe how fast the time has gone. For all the family's birthdays I get the job of making the cards for my Mother-in-law, so this is what I have made for her to give to my Daughter. Recently I bought 2 sets of steampunk stamps by Kanban from Create and Craft, and thought this was the ideal opportunity to use them. This is my first attempt at steampunk, but I'm quite pleased with the results.

First I stamped and embossed the dress with brass embossing powder, coloured it with promarkers then cut it out. Next I stamped one of the stands onto a plain white piece of card and embossed this in a black embossing powder, then I used Milled Lavender and Dusty Concorde distress inks to colour the background. Then giving the dress a bit of a shape I stuck it onto the background using Glue Gel. I mounted it onto some gold mirri card and used a corner punch on the corners. The backing paper is a download from Chocolate Baroque called Stucco Backgrounds/Brights, this I also used Dusty Concorde to distress the edges. I stamped around the edge of the backing paper with a stamps from the Steampunk Christmas stamps also from Chocolate Baroque, and a couple of the smaller stamps from the Kanban sets. I have been looking to buy the Spellbinders Sprightly Sprockets set but have not been able to so far, so instead I have the Pinking circles, and although they are not cogs they don't look to bad. I then coloured some cream flowers with the same colour promarker that I used to colour the dress and added a black flat back pearl into the centres, with a couple of leaves from a Martha Stewart punch to finish.

I'm just hoping that she likes it.

Thanks for taking the time to look, your kind comments are appreciated.

Sue

Forgotten Friday 33 - With Love

While we are away in October it is our 31st Wedding Anniversary, so for this weeks Forgotten Friday project I have decided to make a card for Hubby. I have used this lovely image from Chocolate Baroque called Romantica. It was stamp with Black Memento ink and then distressed with Peeled Paint ink pad. The backing paper I think was from the Adorables Christmas CD, I say think as it was in my off cuts box and matched the colours I'd picked, again I went around the edges of the paper with the Peeled Paint ink pad. Next I added a bit of ribbon from my stash, and some Prima flowers, the swirl is a Marianne die. Finally the sentiment is from another Chocolate Baroque stamp sheet.

Thank you for looking, your kind comments are always appreciated.

Sue

CD Sunday - Black And Blue

What a nice surprise, I came back from holiday to find that I was second in the top three from the Peacock challenge over on the CD Sunday Challenge Blog the other week, Thank you. I must admit to being thrown when I saw what this weeks challenge was, but after thinking about it for a couple of hours this is what I've come up with. I used MCS, Lavender and Paper Lace, and the silhouette folders from both of the Cd's, using 4 different images to make my topper. I then found a backing paper in shades of green, which I changed in the effects section to shades of blue. I then colour picked one of the blues to make a plain background, and with 2 more of the silhouettes made another backing paper to mount the topper onto. I printed the same blue onto a sheet of plain white card and folded this in half to make my card base. I mounted the topper and backing paper onto black card, added some black organza ribbon and some black gems from my stash.

Thank you for looking, your kind comments are always appreciated.

Sue

Forgotten Friday 32 - Pear Mandela

I'm a couple of days late posting this card for the Forgotten Friday challenge, as I have been away for the past week in Devon with my Mother. We had a lovely time and although the weather forecasts did not promise good weather, we managed not to get wet at all, any rain falling at night. Now it's back to normal for two weeks, then I am away again, with Hubby this time to Florida.

Here is this weeks card, made with the Pear Mandela stamp from Chocolate Baroque, I hate to admit this but it's the first time I've used this stamp. I stamped it out five times and then coloured each layer with water colour pencils. I then cut them out and layered them, putting just a little glitter to the bottom layer. The backing paper is from the Seasons Greetings CD, also from Chocolate Baroque, I cut this to size then just ran the Pine Needles Distress ink pad around the edge. There was also a larger pear and larger partridge which I stamped and added to the corners. The greeting is from another stamp sheet (sorry can't remember which one).

Thank you for looking, your kind comments are always appreciated.

Sue

Peacock Lady

One card 2 challenges. This week I was running a bit behind, I normally make something for the Forgotten Friday challenge that Judith holds on her blog, and then something for the CD Sunday challenge. This week I have combined them and just made the one card. I have used this lovely image of a Peacock Lady that comes from Chocolate Baroque called Peacock Ladies. As it's has not been used for 2 years or more, it more than qualifies for the Forgotten Friday challenge, which asks you to make something from your forgotten or neglected stash. The theme this week at the CD Sunday blog is Peacocks, and I think that this lady in her Peacock finery covers that. I have also made it for my Daughters Birthday, which is in October (She does not live at home or visit my blog), when I will be sunning myself on a beach somewhere in Florida.

To make this card I used, a sheet of centura pearl card in a turquoise  shade to make large size square card. The backing paper was printed from the Peacock Summer Party CD also from Chocolate Baroque, I mounted this onto some matt silver mirri card. The stamp was coloured with promarkers and distress ink pads. I used a Martha Stewart punch to make the band across the middle, and added some ribbon. The feather I bought sometime ago but never got around to using.  The gems used are a lovely colour of peacock green but don't really show in the photo, and finally the sentiment was computer generated.

Thank you for looking, your kind comments are always appreciated.

Sue

Forgotten Friday 30 - Adorable Christmas

Two and a half weeks without the Internet, and what have I been up to, Making Christmas cards among other things. Last year I bought the Crafter Companion Adorables Christmas collection, and this is the first time its had an outing, so qualifies for the Forgotten Friday challenge. For this card I have used a large square card base. The backing papers were cut to size, then I went around the edges with a faded jeans distress ink pad. I also did this on the card used for the decoupage, I then added some glitter to the fur on the clothes and the top of the sign post. I found some Christmas peel offs in the cupboard so added on of these to a spellbinders banner.

Thank you for looking, your kind comments are appreciated.

Sue

CD Sunday - Just Because...

.... I love the flower fairies. For the last two and a half weeks I've had no Internet, as we have just changed our provider. I'm glad to say that we are at long last back online. I thought "it will only be for a couple of weeks, I can manage that", but it felt more like a couple of months. I missed the fact that I had come in the top three with my entry to the Buttons challenge, Thank You Ladies. For this weeks challenge I have used one of the beautiful Flower Fairies, I will admit to having this already cut out ready to go with the backing papers, I just hadn't got around to putting it together. I used a large square card base, mounted the backing papers and decoupage topper onto some pink mirri card, added some pink organza ribbon and some corners made with a Marianne die.

Thank you for looking, your kind comments are appreciated.

Sue

CD Sunday - Buttons

This week the Challenge over on the CD Sunday challenge blog is Buttons. Like the ladies I have chosen to use the Grandmas Buttons CD, having bought this when it was on Create and Craft, it has sat on my shelf and not been used. I don't know why because it has some really beautiful images, backing papers, and sentiments on. There were so many great colours in the backing papers to choose from, but for this card I wanted to keep it quite muted, so that the topper and decoupaged imaged stood out well. I mounted the backing paper and sentiment onto gold mirri card, before mounting it onto an A5 card base. The decoupage was mounted onto a Marianne Die that I coloured with Dried Marigold Distress Ink. I added the buttons to the corners, threading them first with embroidery threads in different colours. After adding the sentiment, I found some flowers that I felt went well with the colours and just added some buttons to the centres.

I have to say a big thank you to Judith who recently sent me a wonderful box of crafting goodies, inside was a little jar with some brightly coloured buttons, these are what I have used on this card.

Thank you for looking, your kind comments are always appreciated.

Sue

Friday - Not Quite Forgotten

This has got to be a first for me, two posts in one day. Judith at Poppy Cottage is on Holiday at the moment so there's no Forgotten Friday this week, but I could not let Friday pass without making something  from my neglected and forgotten stash. This week I found this stamp which comes from the Flora and Fauna stamp sheet, available from Chocolate Baroque . I love this gorgeous Geranium, and have several large pots in my garden with these planted in them amongst the other plants. This was stamped with Memento black ink and then coloured with promarkers. I then distressed the edges with a Tattered Rose distress ink pad. The backing paper is from the Essence of Nature CD, also available from Chocolate Baroque. I mounted the image and backing paper onto some green card stock, and added some red ribbon. I decided not to add a sentiment to this card as it will go into my store cupboard.

Thanks for taking the time to look.

Sue

Recency Seasons - Bonnets

Today has seen the launch of Nancy Watt's Regency Seasons. This is a MCS Click, Print, Go twin CD, and a Pick Of The Week on Create and Craft . I'm one lucky person, as I got to make some samples for this wonderful new CD. Below are the samples that I've made, as well as the beautiful images used to make these, I've also used mirri card, a couple of peel offs, ribbons, flowers, pearls, gems and Marianne dies.

Thank you for looking, your kind comments are appreciated.

Sue

CD Sunday - Bling It Up

The challenge this week over at the CD Sunday blog is Bling it up. For this I have used Debbi Moore's Diamonds and Lace CD. After printing out the backing paper and mounting it onto some gold mirri card, I added a couple of corners cut with a Marianne die, I also added a strip of gold mirri card that was left over. I've added Bling to the border in the form of gems and also went around the edge of the topper and sentiment with gold glitter, adding a gem at either end of the sentiment. I then just added a little iridescent glitter to the dress and a gem in the front of the fur wrap.

Thank you for looking, your kind comments are appreciated.

Sue

Forgotten Friday 27 - Fairyopolis

Time once again for Forgotten Friday, how the weeks seem to be flying by, it does not seem possible that we are already over half way through the year. I've been moving things about in my Craft Room this week, and I came across 6 different decoupage from Crafters Companion, Fairyopolis CDs, that I printed and cut out when the CDs first came out and for some reason did not get around to putting them onto cards. So these defiantly qualify for the Forgotten Friday challenge over on Judith's blog. I started by using a large square card base for this card, then printed off a couple of the backing papers from the CD that matched the Poppy Fairy. I mounted these onto gold mirri card, and added some ribbon. The finished decoupage is also mounted onto gold mirri card, I finished the card with two corners cut from a Marianne die.

 

Thank you for looking, your kind comments are appreciated.

Sue

CD Sunday - Dreams

The challenge over on the CD Sunday blog this week is Dreams. I instantly found myself reaching for Joanna Sheens Enchanted Dreams CD, there are so many beautiful dreamy images to choose from. The only problem being was which one to choose. In the end I went with this image of a sleeping mermaid from the "By The Sea" section. What I love about these images are, there is so much going on in the picture, you find something new every time you look at them. For this card I have used a large square card base, made from 2 A4 sheets of white card stock. I mounted the topper and the backing paper onto some green mirri card, added some peridot coloured gems to the sides. The ribbon, which is a beautiful pale green colour, has in the photo, come out looking more yellow. When in fact in real life it looks a far better match. The sentiment was printed on a laser printer and then put through the foiling machine with a green coloured foil to match. Again like last week I made this card with someones birthday in mind and as I type this it is already in the post.

Thanks for looking, your kind comments are appreciated.

Sue

Forgotten Friday 26 - House Mouse

It's Friday once again, and time for a rummage to see what I have not used for a while. This week I found this House Mouse stamp which I bought last year. Although I used some of the stamps that I bought from this range, this one had not been used before. I stamped onto some white card stock and coloured the image using promarkers. I then used a memento ink pad, Cantaloupe coloured to give it a bit a glow around the edges. The backing paper is from MCS Papercraft Library, Volume 10 Winter Whimsies, I thought that it matched this image perfectly. The sentiment is from one of the House Mouse Christmas collection of stamps. I've used some green and red mirri card to mount everything onto, and added some ribbon in both of these colours. The poinsettias and swirls are from a Marianne Die, the centres are from a Nellie Snellen punch.

Why don't you pop over to Judith's blog and see what Forgotten Friday is all about.

Thanks for looking, your kind comments are appreciated.

Sue

CD Sunday - Nautical

This weeks challenge at the CD Sunday blog is Nautical, and it fell just right for me this week, as I had to make a card for a male 65th Birthday. I have chosen to use this lovely picture from Joanna Sheen's Thomas Kincaid CD. I have been a fan of this artist for a long time, but have never had the money to buy any of his work. This CD means I get to look at it any time I want.

For this card I have used a large square card base, made by folding the end over of an A4 sheet and adding another piece of card to the back. The backing paper is from the maps section on the CD, but the colour was stronger than I wanted it, so I took it into MCS and used the opacity function to lighten it, I mounted it onto some matt silver mirri card. I also took the topper into MCS so that I could add the text to it, this is also mounted onto matt silver mirri card. Then I found some cord that I've had in the cupboard for sometime and tied some boating knots and added them as embellishments.

Thanks for looking, your kind comments are appreciated.

Sue

Forgotten Friday 25 - Breath of Spring

I don't know where the time goes these days, I can't believe that it's Friday again. That means that it's time to find something that's been forgotten or neglected and make something with it. This week I have used a stamp from Chocolate Baroque called Breath of Spring, this was a guild stamp sometime ago. I started this card by first using a Martha Stewart around the page punch that I bought the other weekend at the Newbury Art Stamps show, I used a memento ink pad in New Sprout to add a little colour around the edge of this. Next I stamped the image and coloured it using promarkers, then cut it down to fit the punched mat. Then distressed it slightly with Vintage Photo distress ink and ran the ink pad around the edge to make the edges darker. The backing paper used is from the Artylicous Fantasy Floral CD, and mounted that onto some gold mirri card, a little bit of lilac ribbon added to the bottom and some flowers that match.  All this was finish off on a 6x6 card base made from a piece of green centura pearl card.

Thanks for looking, your kind comments are appreciated.

Sue