CD Sunday - We Are Sailing

Here I am with my next scheduled post. You've had two weeks since the last CD Sunday challenge and hopefully now that Christmas is over you'll all be ready for a new one. This week it was my turn to choose and I've gone with We Are Sailing. So I want to see your cards with ships or boats or even rafts. For my card I've used By The Water's Edge form Card Creations Plus. I started with an 8x8 card base, and printed my topper (decoupage of course) and the backing paper. I mounted the backing paper onto some silver mirri card, and also the topper after I had cut it out. The decoupage was put together using glue gel. Before putting the topper onto the card I placed some twine around two of the corners. I finished by adding Birthday which was cut out using the Plantin School Book cricut cartridge. I hope you'll pop over to the blog and take a look at the wonderful cards the rest of the DT have made for your inspiration, and I will be picking the top three when I return from my trip in mid January.

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

Sue

Craft A Scene - Week 3

I'm back again with my second scheduled post toady, this time with my Craft A Scene hat on. We are still asking for your Winter Scenes, with the option of making a tri shutter card (details over on the blog). For this card I made my background first by blending Tumbled Glass and Chipped Sapphire distress ink over the page. Then I stamped with versamark ink and embossed with white embossing powder. The stamps used were all from Sheena Douglas, and the Little Bit Scenic range, apart from the sentiment which is from Chocolate Baroque. Do pop over to the blog and see what the DT have made for your inspiration this week.

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

Sue

CD Sunday - The Three D's......

... DL, Die Cuts and Decoupage. It's time again for another new challenge over on the CD Sunday challenge blog,  and this time chosen by Carol. For me this is the first of a batch of scheduled posts, as for the next month I shall be in Florida, today getting ready to board a Cruise ship. For the next week we'll be Island hopping in the Caribbean, followed by a week in Orlando. This is for a Family reunion, the family of my Daughters fiancee. There will be 100 plus people on the cruise and 40 plus people over Christmas. On the 29th December everyone departs for their various homes, and hubby and I have decided to stay on and enjoy the winter sun returning on the 16th January. Anyway back to the card, this week I've used Messy Rabbit's Christmas from Joanna Sheen. I printed my backing paper straight onto the card and folded for the DL. Next I cut out and added my decoupage which was put together with glue gel. My die cut is Happy Christmas, which is a Robert Addams die. I'd forgotten I had this disc until I was looking for decoupage to fit onto a DL card, it's worth visiting some of the older discs from time to time. I do hope you'll pop over to the blog and take a look at all the great cards the DT has put together for your inspiration this week.

I hope to keep in touch while we are away, Internet permitting. Thanks for taking the time to look, and your kind comments which are always appreciated.

Sue

Snowy Village

Just a quick post today, as I'm rushing around trying (but not succeeding) to get a mountain of things done. I made this card using a digital image from Delicious Doodles , a beautiful snowy black and white sketch which I just had to colour. I used a mixture of inktense and aqua pencils to colour it in, before adding loads of glitter to make it sparkle. I used an 8x8 card base, some red card for matting and I embossed the backing paper in an embossalicious folder from Crafter Companion. I then blended Peeled Paint distress ink over the top, but it doesn't look very green in this photo. I put the topper on with some foam pads, made the sentiment on the PC and added a Poinsettia made with a Marianne die. Delicious Doodles have got some wonderful Digi stamps, if you've not seen them before it's worth taking a look.

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

Sue

Snowflake Swirl

I think I have just about finished my Christmas cards now, and they are all written out ready to be posted. I needed to get them all finished this week, as we are going away for Christmas, I'm hoping to blog while I'm away Internet permitting off course. This is one of the cards that I made, by blending Tumbled Glass and Chipped Sapphire distress inks onto some white card. Then I used the snowflake swirl stamp from Chocolate Baroque around the outside of the card with versamark and embossed with a white sparkly embossing powder. I then stamps a sentiment also by Chocolate Baroque in the centre. I finished them by adding some tiny blue gems in the centres of the snowflakes.

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

Sue

Inspired By .....

Eileen's Crafty Zone. I love Eileen's work, and have been lucky enough to attend a couple of her workshops. The card that I'm showing you today was inspired by Eileen and what I have learnt at her workshop. I had great fun making this yesterday, splatting (Eileen style) and getting inky, blending and stencilling. The stamp is Tim Holtz, which came with a set of dies which made cutting out the snowman so much easier. The ladies attending Eileen's workshop this coming weekend will be make a card using this stamp (this is where the inspiration came from) do pop over and take a look at Eileen's blog, her work is amazing.

I'm entering this card into the following challenges:

Artistic Inspirations - Winter Wonderland
Creative Inspirations - Contemporary Colours
Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
Sister Act Card Challenge - Anything Goes
Stamping Sensations - Free and Easy
My Craft Creations - Anything Goes

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

Sue

December Quintiles

I've been up for what seems like hours already this morning, were having a new boiler fitted. So I needed to be up ready for when the plumber arrive nice and early. I know it's only 9.10 a.m. at the moment, but it's not what I consider early and they're not here yet. Anyway enough moaning about that and onto the reason I'm here. This morning I wanted to share my December Quintiles with you (I've made them both the same so I'm only showing one). Those who follow regularly will know that on the Chocolate Baroque group, there are a few of us who make these little 5x5 tiles and swap them every month. December's is the last before we move onto something new next year. I stamped with versamark and then embossed with white embossing power to start with, them blended distress inks in Tumbled Glass and Stormy Sky's across the card. I then stamped the scene stamp onto some card with Midnight blue Stazon, then cut around the outside and mounted it onto the tile. I added some gems to the centres of the snowflakes. After swapping two tiles every month, I've now got a beautiful collection of 22 tiles and another two to come. I have given some thoughts to what I'm going to do with them all and have decided to place them all in a scrapbook, they're far too good to leave tucked away somewhere.

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

Sue

A Bit Late - November Quintiles

I've just posted my December Quintiles ready to be swapped later this month, when I remembered that I had not shared my November tiles with you. I was a bit stumped to start with, but after thinking about it for a little while this is what I came up with. I coloured my night sky with a deep blue (I can't remember which), then stamped and embossed the tree's with black sparkle embossing powder. Then with the top of a stamp from the Wistreia Lane set from Chocolate Baroque, first with versamark ink, then I added embossing powder. With the smaller flower head I again stamped with versamark and a different embossing powder. I made both of the quintiles the same so I've only posted the one here.

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

Sue

Craft A Scene - Winter Scene

I'm back again for the second time today, this time with my Craft A Scene hat on. As it's the first of the month it's time for a new challenge. We had lots of gorgeous card to look at last month. This month we are asking for your Winter Scene's also with the option of making it a Tri Shutter card. The information for this will be on the blog. For my card I used stamps from Hobby Art, I stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black and then added the colour using watercolour pencils. Mounted the scene onto some silver mirri card and then stamped the sentiment with versamark and embossed with silver embossing powder. The rest of the DT have made some beautiful scenes for your inspiration this month, I hope you can pop over to the blog and take a look.

I'm also going to enter this into the following challenges:

Ladybug Crafts - Christmas/Winter
Stamping Sensations - Free and Easy
Creative Fingers - Anything Goes
 Sister Act Card Challenge - Anything Goes

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

Sue

CD Sunday - Home Sweet Home

This week has flown by so fast, I can't believe that it's Sunday again already and the first of December at that. Which also means that it's time for a new challenge over on the CD Sunday Blog. This week it's Beryl's turn to choose the theme, and it's Home Sweet Home. For me that meant that it was the perfect excuse to get out Joanna Sheen's Thomas Kinkade project book (I also had an order for a card where I know that the recipient of this card is as nuts about Thomas Kinkade as I am). I started with an 8x8 card base and then used silver mirri card for the matting. I cut out my layers of decoupage and glittered each layer before putting it together with glue gel. The poinsettia is a Marianne die which I cut out one of each sized layer in a pearlised white card, and one in silver. and the sentiment was made on the PC. Do pop over to the blog and take a look at the gorgeous cards my fellow teamies have made for your inspiration.

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

Sue

Christmas Card Request

A couple of weeks ago I had a request for a Christmas card, for a Wife. But the request was could I include music, musical instruments and a cruise ship on it. I put my thinking cap on, and this is what I've come up with. I used some pale blue Centrua card and the Darice embossing folder from Crafter's Companion, then inked around the edges with Stormy Sky distress ink. Then using the Chocolate Baroque Music Fanfare stamps and some pale blue card, I stamped out 2 hearts and then three cello's, then cut them out. I don't have a cruise ship stamp, but have got the three ships from Clarity Stamps so I've used those as a focal point. The die cuts are Marianne and the sentiment made on the PC. I've used Silver mirri card to mount everything onto. The person who ordered this has not seen it yet, I hope he like's it.

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

Sue

CD Sunday - F Is For

A new challenge for us today on the CD Sunday blog, and this week it's Caz's turn to pick the theme, it's F is For. So put your thinking caps on and lets see what you can come up with this week. I've gone for Fishing, which is hubby's favourite past time. Although he has become more of a fine weather fisherman in recent years, when he was younger he went whatever the weather was. I've used Debbi Moore's Scene Cards For Men, which was a recent purchase from the NEC. I mounted the scene/back image straight onto the card (A5 green base card), and then decoupaged the layers. The sentiment was also from the CD, I curled the edges very slightly on this to make it look a bit weathered. I hope you can pop over to the Blog and take a look at the cards that the DT have made for your inspiration this week, and I'm looking forward to visiting your blogs to see what you've come up with for the letter F.

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

Sue

Trying to blog from my iPad

This is a little experiment to see if I can blog from my iPad. So just a few words and that's it for today. Fingers crossed it works.

Sue

 

Posted with Blogsy

Playing With The Gelli Plate

First I'd like to say a big welcome to the new followers that have joined this week. Earlier this week I mentioned that I had a play with my Gelli Plate prior to the workshop I attended on Sunday. Here are two of the results from that play. The first was copying Tracey from Lavinia Stamps and the demo that I watched at the NEC the other week. She was making scenes by brayering Adirondack Inks onto the Gelli Plate, then stamping onto this before taking a print from the plate. I loved the look of these so set out to repeat it myself, although not very successfully. Although the background colours came out OK, I felt that the ink from the stamps has beaded a bit. This was the best out of a small bunch that didn't end in the bin.

Feeling slightly disappointed I had a play at just putting the Adirondack inks on with the brayer (as well as the first time I'd used a Gelli Plate, it was also my first time with a brayer). I have to say I love the backgrounds made this way and they do tend to look like they have been printed onto the card. Then I stamped onto the background in the traditional way, and using torn paper to make my hills. I think it gives a far better result, so will probably stick to this way in future, although I'm sure some more playing will be on the cards.

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

Sue

November Journal Workshop

I've been so busy lately, but on Sunday I found some me time. I set off early with Hubby and our Daughter (who were going to Bluewater Shopping Centre) to Kent and another day in the company of like minded crafters. Last month I attended both of the workshops that Eileen ran, this time it was just the Journal Workshop. I had a wonderful day, unfortunately most of the other ladies that were to attend had gone down with Flu, so it was just Eileen, Hellen, Sheila and myself. We still had a great day though and a lot of inking was done. Eileen had created a wonderful page in her journal to inspire us, using a wonderful stencil from Stencil Girl, unfortunately the stencil was a large almost A4 size, and my journal is only 8x8, Hellen created a wonderful page using some of the other A4 stencils that Eileen had brought using the same sort of technique. I had a play with some of the many stencils that Eileen has and with a few stamps this was my first page of the day.

Next I used just a stencil around the edge of the page, and then filled the empty area in the middle using some of the many Lavinia stamps that Eileen had brought for us to play with

In the afternoon Eileen and I got out our Gelli plates and had a play, the first time that I had used one was the day before when I opened mine and used it with some Adirondack ink pads (I'll show you what I did with it later in the week). We tried both paint and ink pads and brayer, I personally did not like the paint but maybe I need to play some more. I do like the effect you get with the ink pads though and I managed to make the little scene below, which I have now stuck into my journal. I also managed to do my first reflection, with a little bit of tuition from Eileen, who also showed me how to get the cracked ice effect on the reflection as well. I added the branches in the corners to give the scene some depth.

All that remains now is to say thank you to Eileen, Hellen and Sheila for your great company and a fantastic day. Also to say thank you for taking the time to look, and your kind comments which are always appreciated.

Sue

Craft A Scene Week 3 - Tree's, Tree's, Tree's

Here I am, back with my second post today, this time with my Craft A Scene hat on. We are still asking for your scenes with tree's. So far we've had some beautiful entries, but there is still time for you to join in. For my scene this week I've used stamps from Inkylicious (the tree's and grass) and Lavinia (the stag). I used centura pearl card, but the reverse side and distress inks in colours, peeled paint, forest moss and mustard seed. I put the colour onto the card using a blending tool, then stamped with Versafine, black onyx for the tree's and stag and forest moss for the grass. I then used the edge of the blending tool to just add a bit of shading under the tree's. Finally I went around the outside of the card with forest moss, before mounting onto a 6x6 green card base. Please do pop over to the challenge blog and take a look at the lovely cards my fellow teamies have made for your inspiration.

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

Sue

CD Sunday - Simply Square

I'm here today with my first post of the day, this one for CD Sunday. This week the theme is Simply Square and was chosen by Jenny. I've used The Christmas Box by La Pashe and Artylicious Seasons Greetings for my card this week, and a 7x7 blue card base. I've also used Gold mirri card for my matting, the backing paper was from the Artylicious CD and the topper from La Pashe. I have decoupaged this card, but there is not a lot of it so the card is still fairly flat for posting. I'm off out today so this is being scheduled. You may remember that last month I attended a weekend of workshops with the wonderful Eileen Godwin, well I'm going back to do another day of journaling with Eileen today. Needless to say I'm really looking forward to it. I hope that you'll pop over to the blog and see the wonderful cards that the DT have made for you're inspiration.

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

Sue

CD Sunday - Pennant Parade

As I write this up, it's late Saturday afternoon and I can't believe how cold it seems today. I had got to like the mild weather we've been having lately. I have scheduled this to post Sunday morning when I hope I'll be enjoying a cup of tea in bed, before visitors arrive for the day. This week's theme over on the CD Sunday blog is Pennant Parade, and was chosen for us by Sue B. I decided to do a Christmas card for my DT card this week (another one made ready for sending out). I've used Crafters Companion's The Snowman and The Snowdog CD. I started with an A5 blue card base and used silver mirri card  for my matting. I printed off a backing paper and one of the toppers along with the pennants and the dog ( I took these into MCS so that I did not waste ink printing off what I would not use), the topper was mounted using foam pads. I used some silver thread that I have in my stash and hung the pennants onto this, and cut out the dog and popped him onto the corner. Please do pop over to the blog and take a look at the lovely cards the DT have made for your inspiration this week.

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

Sue

Bright Hot Colours

I've been quite busy the last couple of weeks, but I've found time to make a card for the Lavinia Challenge this month which is Bright Hot Colours. So I got out the Yellow, Orange and Red distress ink pads and made a background, then set about making my scene. I've tried to keep it in line with the time of year that it is and give it an Autumnal feel with leaves of the red shades (we still have quite a lot of leaves on our trees here at the moment). Yesterday I spent the day at the NEC, and watched Tracey make an amazing scene using ink pads and the Gelli Plate. I have the Gelli Plate and the ink pads so I just need to get them out and start using them now. I bought loads of goodies and spent lots of money, watched lots of demos and am feeling very inspired at the moment. I just need to find space to put all the new things away, so that I have the space to use them.

As well as entering this into the Lavinia challenge I am also going to enter this into the following challenges -
Creative Fingers Challenge - Anything Goes
Sister Act Challenge - Anything Goes
Inspire Me Fridays - Anything Goes
Ladybug Crafts - Autumn Colours
My Craft Creations - Anything Goes

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

Sue 

Craft A Scene - Tree's, Tree's, Tree's

I'm a little late with this post, as we had unexpected visitors this afternoon. It was a lovely surprise though and great to catch up with old friends. This month the theme over on the Craft A Scene blog is Tree's, Tree's, Tree's. A nice easy one for you this month, so come on and get creating your scenes, all we want to see in them is Tree's. For my card I've used a 6x6 Crafters Workshop stencil, which I've ink through with distress inks. Before removing the stencil I coloured the bark of the tree with a distress marker, making the tree's look like silver birches. Then using stamps from Sheena Douglas I coloured the scraps of paper left over from the tree's with the distress inks, and stamped the leaves. I then cut these out, went around the edges with more distress ink, and then popped onto the card using glue gel. I went around the edge of the card, which is cream with spiced marmalade distress ink and added a sentiment, also from Sheena Douglas.

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

Sue

CD Sunday - Stripey

Sunday again, how it's come around quickly. This week the new challenge over on the CD Sunday blog is Stripey, and is chosen for you by Jocelyn. My card base for this card is 7x7 and a beige colour. I have used gold mirri card for the matting and backing papers from Sue Smith's Stripe and Co. For the topper I've used The Christmas Box by La Pashe, which has a little decoupage on it too. As always the DT have been hard at work making cards for your inspiration for you, so don't forget to pop along to the blog and check them out.

I'm glad to say that after my little tumble last week my knee is a lot better, although it does twinge if I move a bit quick or awkwardly. Thank you to you all for your good wishes. I shall be back later on today with my posting for the new challenge on the Craft A Scene blog.

Sue

CD Sunday - Travels Abroad

Normally by 8.00 a.m. I have already posted the new CD Sunday card, but this week I must apologise as I'm a little late (and to think I had an extra hour in bed too). I was asked if I would take my cards along to a local Christmas Craft Fayre yesterday. So having been busy all week getting ready all yesterday morning while hubby was walking the dog, I started loading the car. I was in and out of the front door with arm loads of stuff when my ankle just gave way and I found my self on the wet floor outside the front door. With no hubby to help me up, and my ankle shouting at me with pain, I managed to get back in doors. Rather shaken and with a throbbing ankle, I got changed out of the wet things and with hubby helping to load the car, driving me to the venue and helping set up I settled in for the day. It was while sitting waiting for the first customers to arrive through the door that I discovered I had somehow managed to hurt the knee of my other leg. Anyway I had a good day, but on getting home I was in so much pain from my knee (the ankle has paled into insignificance by now) instead of getting on and scheduling my post, I sat with my leg up. So here I am Sunday morning, still in pain from the knee, posting this a little late.

This weeks theme has been chosen by Christine, and it's Travels Abroad. It's going to be great to see where in the world you are all going to take this week, the design team along with guest Wynn have made some great cards to inspire you so do pop over to the blog and take a look. For my card I've used Joanna Sheen's Tales Of The Orient, and a beautiful Japanese garden. I started with an A5 white card base, and some burgundy card for matting. The matching backing paper had a beautiful border on it which I cut off and matted up separately. I matted the topper onto white and then burgundy card, added some matching card candy and some flowers from my stash.The sentiment can wait until I've decided who will receive the card.

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

Sue

Fun Filled Weekend - Part 2

I'm back again with the second instalment of my weekend with Eileen Godwin, this time with Sunday's workshop which was all about journalling. I have long wanted to start a journal but not knowing really how to start, so as soon as I saw that Eileen was running a workshop for this on the Sunday I put my name on the list to attend. On Sunday morning I turned up at the Village Hall, and out of 10 of us 8 had as yet unused journals. Eileen gave us a demo of the sort of things she liked to do in her own journal and how to make a splat with distress stains. Next it was our turn, so armed with some distress stains we all got splatting. Below is my first page, after splatting I used a stencil and distress inks. I felt it need a little lift, so went around where the stencil had been with a black distress marker. I then add the stamped words before finally putting some white acrylic paint circles on the page.

My second page I was not very happy with to start with, but it has grown on me. I did consider tearing the page out, but in the end I left it. Again I did the distress stain splats, and a Tim Holtz stencil with which I added some lines with distress ink. I used a Tim Holtz stamp set for the Butterfly's, and with another stencil added some flowers at the bottom.

After doing two pages inside the book, I took a look at my covers these were white but I felt that they would not stay that way long if I continued to get inky fingers. On the Saturday I had really enjoy the technique that Eileen had shown us using acrylic paint bring it down the page in stripes, but leaving white space at the bottom. It was nice, bright and very colourful and would hide any fingerprints, I hope. I also used the same London set that I had used the day before, along with the bitty grunge set. The words I used came from a Wendy Vechi set that was for journalling.

Of course I had to give the back page the same treatment as the front. I used the enamel accents to finish them both off, and as they took some time to dry I had to leave the book out flat.

So while that was drying I had another play with splats, distress inks and some of the new Stamps by Ryn. This is about the same size as the pages in my journal, so I will try and add it at some point.

All too soon my weekend of crafting was at an end, but I had so much fun. It was great to see what everyone else had done during the day, and they were all different. I'm going back next month for the journalling workshop, I can't wait to find out what we'll be doing then.

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

Sue

Craft A Scene Week 3 - Foul/Fowl Weather

I'm back again with my second post today, this time for Craft A Scene. We are still asking for your creations for Foul/Fowl Weather, my last offering for this theme included rain, this one I've gone for the bird element and this gorgeous digi stamp from Nicecrane Designs. I printed it onto some white card and also white copier paper. With the copier paper version I cut out and used as a mask then coloured the water and sky using Distress inks and brushes. I coloured the island with pro markers and added some Gray to shade the swans. Finally I added some reeds and a sentiment then mounted onto some matt silver mirri card before placing onto a 6x6 blue card base.

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

Sue

CD Sunday - Fox And Friends

Sunday again already, I can't believe how quickly they keep coming around. I had a lovely weekend last week and have put the cards that we made on here, and will be putting the Journal pages on tomorrow. As it's Sunday it's time for a new challenge over on the CD Sunday blog, and this week it was my turn to pick the theme. I've gone for Fox and Friends, and am looking forward to seeing what you all come up with this week. For my card this week I have used Pollyanna Pickering's British Wildlife CD From Creative Crafting World, and these Fox's who seem to have plenty of friends. I've used an A5 card base, and gold mirri card for the matting. I then used one of the square toppers and a small one which I popped into the corner, and a matching backing paper. I added some ribbon across the bottom half of the card and finally some flowers from my stash to finish it off. We still have Wynn as our GDT, and again she and the rest of the DT have made some wonderful cards for your inspiration, please do pop over to the blog and take a look.

Thanks for taking the time to look, and your kind comments which are always appreciated.
I'll be back later today with my offering for Craft A Scene

Sue

Fun Filled Weekend - Part 1

Last weekend I was lucky enough to be able to attend one of Eileen Godwin's workshops. I have long been an admirer of Eileen's style of crafting and use of bright bold colours, but lacked the confidence to take the plunge and be so bold. So I booked myself onto one of her workshops and set off to spend a week in Kent. With the help of Sat Nav we found the Village Hall quite easily and hubby dropped me off with my bag of craft equipment, my lunch and a few nerves, after all I was on my own and didn't know anyone. However after a warm welcome from Eileen, she showed me where to sit and I was soon chatting to the ladies around me, Hellen, Helen, Diane and Sue. Thanks you for being so friendly ladies.

We made three projects (cards during the day) and time flew past. We made two cards in the morning, one that had to be started and then left to dry, and the other we got on and made while the first was drying.

The first one above, I feel I kept within my comfort zone colour wise as these were colours that I would use everyday, but it was a great technique involving getting pearlised card stock wet before adding the colour.

Next I went way out of the comfort zone, using acrylic paints in very bold colours for me. And I loved it, now all of the acrylic paints I've bought and left in the cupboard will be coming out and getting a new lease of life. After the paint was dry I went over it with a stencil and distress inks, then a Tim Holtz stamp from the London sights set. The small circle stamp was from Designs by Ryn, then the circles added with a shot glass and white acrylic paint. Finally the dots are Enamel Accents (very much like Glossy Accents) and they take a long time to dry.

After lunch Eileen showed us how to make this gorgeous card above, it was such an easy technique but looks so effective. Embossed in white on water colour paper and then finger painting over the top with distress inks in the colours desired, just finishing off the leaves with a paint brush.

Than all of a sudden it was time to pack up, I could not believe that I had been there nearly 6 hours - the day went far to quickly. However Eileen has started up a Jounalling workshop, and I had put my name down for this too. If you pop back on Monday you will see what fun I had then.

Thanks you for taking the time to look, and your kind comments which are always appreciated.

Sue

CD Sunday - Butterfly

It's Thursday evening and I'm scheduling my post for Sunday Morning. As today (Sunday) I am attending a Journaling Workshop with the talented Eileen Godwin. Yesterday (Saturday) I was attending a card based workshop with the same talented Lady. Anyway as it's Sunday it's time again for another new theme over on the CD Sunday blog. This week Wendy has chosen for us, and it's butterfly. For my card I have used Krafthands, Kew Collection, and this beautiful old fashioned Bearded Iris. When we first moved to our current house over twenty years ago, there were loads of these in the garden, but lined up against a fence. I decided to move them and only a couple have ever come up again. This Month Wynn is our GDT, and I know that both she and the DT have made some lovely cards for your inspiration this week. So please pop over to the blog and take a look.

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

Sue

30th Birthday Cards

Today I thought I would show you the 3 different cards that I had to make for my Daughters 30th Birthday today. All are 8x8 card bases, the first was made using this gorgeous large swallowtailed butterfly stamp from Stampin Up (I just had to have it). I stamped it and then embossed with white embossing powder, then coloured over the top using a stylus tool and Adirondack ink pads. I wiped away the ink that settled on the top of the white embossing, and then cut out. The backing paper was a download from Chocolate Baroque, which I took into MCS to lighten the colour, after cutting it to size I went around the outside of the page using Storm Adirondack ink. A Martha Stewart punch was used for the fancy panel, which I placed some wide lace under. The sentiment was made on the PC and again coloured with the Storm ink. The corners are from a Marianne Die.

The second card from my Son to his Sister was made using the Fabulous Shoes CD from Katy Sue, with art work from Sandra Wright. When my Daughter first saw this CD she fell in love with it, so it was the obvious choice to use.

Finally the last card from my Father-in-law was again using a Katy Sue CD, with art work by Sandra Wright, but this time it's the new Flights of Fantasy CD. The flowers used on the last two cards are made using a crealies die, also the leaves. The corners on the last card are a new Marianne corner die.

We're off out for a meal tonight with my Daughter and her partner, she hasn't seen the cards yet. It's a good job I know that she won't look at my blog before we meet up.

My next post will be a scheduled one, as this weekend I'm attending two workshops, held by the talented Eileen Godwin, of Eileen's Crafty Zone. The first is a card based workshop, which I should have attended earlier this summer, but it was the weekend my Mother-in-law passed away. And the second is the following day and more journal based, so I hope to have plenty to show you when I get back.

Thanks for taking the time to look, and you kind comment which are always appreciated.

Sue

21st Birthday Cards

Yesterday was my Niece's 21st Birthday, and this was the card that I made for her big day. This is one of the many that I've had to make over the last week or so. I used The Fabulous Fashion CD from Katy Sue (Flowersoft) with the wonderful art work by Sandra Wright. It is an 8X8 card, with the topper being decoupaged. The flowers were white, but I coloured them with pro markers to match the colours of the dress. I used my Cricut and the Plantin cartridge to put her name and age on it.

Last Saturday was my other Niece's Birthday (my sister and I were so kind to my Mum, all of her Granddaughters are born with 5 days of each other - in different years of course) she was 23 so no age on her card. It was made the same way as the other one, minus the Cricut letters, and the flowers were made using a crelies die. This time Happy Birthday was cut out using Occasions die cuts.

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

Sue

Craft A Scene - Foul/Fowl Weather

I'm back again with my second post today, this time for Craft A Scene. This month we're asking for your Foul Weather scenes, and also to include a bird or birds in your scene. For this card I used a 6x6 card base, and silver mirri card for the matting. I used some matt card stock from Lavinia stamps to stamp my scene onto, and stamps from Lavinia, Sheena Douglas and Designs by Ryn.I started by stamping my Island in the middle of the card with blue Stazon, I also stamped the thistles and birds with Stazon. I stamped the willow leaves at the top using chipped Sapphire distress ink doing first and second generation stamping. Next using my brushes I used distress inks in milled lavender for the sky, and faded denim for the water. I went around the outside with chipped Sapphire and then added the raindrops, I have also added glossy accents too, in the hope that they look wet. I hope that you will pop over to the blog and see what the rest of the DT have made for your inspiration this month.

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

Sue

CD Sunday - To The Moon And Back

Well another Sunday has come rushing around, bringing with it a new month, and as it's Sunday it time again for a new challenge on the CD Sunday blog. As it's the first Sunday of the month it means we have a sponsor and this month it's the lovely Lynda Chapman from Creative Crafting World. Lynda very generously sent the DT some art work for this challenge, please don't forget to pay the blog a visit to see what we've all made with it. If you read my blog post earlier this week you will know that this is a busy month for me with lots of family birthdays coming up, so with this in mind I made this card for our Great Niece who is going to be 7 on the 17th (the little fairy even looks like her). I used an 8x8 white card base for this card and used gold mirri card for the matting. I printed off one of the design sheets and cut out all of the elements, I decoupaged the main image and added the stars down the side of the card and the daisies at the bottom. I also printed off the alphabet sheet and cut out the name Darcy and added it. Finally I added a ribbon rosette in a matching colour.

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

Sue

Spooky

I can't believe how fast this year has gone, and that it's October already. This is always a busy month for me as it's our wedding anniversary Friday. Saturday is my niece's birthday, the 8th is my other niece's birthday - she's 21 this year. Then 9th is our godson's birthday and the following day my Daughters birthday (30 this year), and that's just the beginning of the month.

Each month on the Chocolate Baroque group we have a swap of quintile's (5x5 square piece's of work) with a new theme each month, and this month is Spooky. I know that here in the UK we don't celebrate Halloween like our friends in the US and Canada, but I do love the Halloween stamps, so for this month I had just had to get out those stamps. For the first tile I've used stamps from Nevermore and Witches Brew sets and distress ink pads in colours Milled Lavender, Picked Preserves and Dusty Concord. I added a little glitter to the small mushrooms by the witch in the hope that they would look a bit magical.

For the second tile I've used stamps from the Bewitched Moonlight set. I've used distress ink pads in Mustard Seed, Wild Honey and Spiced Marmalade. I then stamped some of the mushrooms in Rusty Hinge and Vintage photo, I also used Vintage Photo to create some shadows. Glitter again to the mushrooms and also the rat's wings.

I'm entering these into the following challenges:

Inspire Me Fridays - Anything Goes
Artistic Inspirations - One Layer
Sister Act Card Challenges - Anything Goes
ART Card Challenges - Anything Goes

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

Sue

CD Sunday - 1950's

How Sunday morning's seem to come around so quickly these days, it's time again for a new challenge at the CD Sunday blog. This week the theme is 1950's and was chosen by Carol. For my card this week I've used MCS, Fab Glam Fifties, if only I had a lovely slim figure like this lady. I used a 6x6 white card base to start with, then teamed everything with the topper and used shades of green. The flowers started off as white and I painted them with some pale green pearlidoodles that were in my cupboard, and added some flower brads to them that I've had for some time and the bow was picked to match the coat. I hope to be back on track with my commenting this week, we've just spent the last week in Cornwall with my Mum and Hubby's Dad. We had a lovely week but had no mobile phone signal for most of the time, and no Internet for the whole of the week. It's great to get back to normal this week. This is Anne's last week as GDT, please do pop over to the challenge blog and see what she and the other DT members have made to inspire you this week.

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

Sue

CD Sunday - Snow People

Time once more for a new Challenge on the CD Sunday blog, and this week it's Beryl who has picked the theme, she went for Snow People. As I had just received the Crafters Companion Snowman and Snowdog CD it was the obvious one to use for this challenge. I've used an A5 white card base, and some silver linen textured card for the matting,and matching paper for the backing from the CD. This jolly group of snow people seem to be having a wonderful time, but I'm glad we don't have weather like this just yet. We still have Anne with us as GD this week and she again, with the rest of the DT have made some lovely cards for you as inspiration, do pop the blog and take a look.

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

Sue

Lavinia Challenge 7 - Add A Flower

I've made this card for a friend who is just about to turn 50 (good job she doesn't read my blog), we were neighbours as children and our Mum's are still neighbours now, and great friends too. It also fits the challenge on the Lavinia Challenge blog this month, which is Add A Flower. My scene was made using various shades of browns and oranges in Adirondack, and a little spiced Marmalade distress ink for the edges and the flowers. I cut the design out using a grand nestie, then used the next size up to cut a matt in brown. I then place it onto an 8x8 white card base, I considered adding Happy Birthday and 50, but changed my mind and have left it blank. I finished by adding some glitter to the wings and stars.

I am also going to enter this into the following challenges:

Inspire me Fridays - Anything Goes
Sister Act Card Challenge - Anything Goes
Lady Anne's Challenges - Anything goes Stamp Challenge
My Time To Craft - Autumnal Colours
My Craft Creations - Stamped or Digi Images

Thanks for taking the time to look, and your and comments which are always appreciated.

Sue

Craft A Scene - Week Three - Dusk To Dawn

I back again with my second post today. It's week three over on the Craft A Scene challenge blog. This month we are asking you to make your scene between Dusk and Dawn, so you could have something like this with a setting sun, or moonlight. For my card I use some matt card stock from Lavinia stamps, my brushes from Inkylicious, and Adirondack ink pads. I started at the bottom with the yellow and worked upwards with blues getting darker all the time. The stamps are from a set called Daydreamer, from Inkylicious and stamped using Black Onyx from Versafine. I thought this chap looked as though he had either fallen asleep under the tree, while the birds made their way home to roost, or he was sitting waiting for the stars to come out. I mounted it onto some black card stock, and a 6x6 light blue card base, finally I added some card candy from my stash. Do pop over to the challenge blog and check out the inspiration from the other Design Team members.

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

Sue