Merry Christmas

What a bad blogger I've been recently, but I hope to rectify that now and show you two Canvas's that I started back in the summer, in the shed, while I was unable to craft indoors. They were never quite finished, until yesterday when I decided not to bury them till next year and get on and finish them. They were made using a mixture of spray inks, glimmer mists, stencils and grunge paste, silver and gold gilding waxes and plenty of die cuts. Some where layered to make chip board (let it snow and deck the halls), the rest then arranged on the canvas's.

 I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to all of my followers for your wonderful comments and support over the last year. It's been great having you visit and I've enjoyed coming and visiting you as well. I wish you and your families a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and look forward to seeing you in 2016.

Sue

Thomas Kinkade For Special Friends

Every year a friend asks me to make a card for friends of his family in Ireland and this year was just the same. As the people to receive the card are huge Thomas Kinkade fans (as I am) each year I try to make a different card. This is my effort for this years card, a beautiful church nestled in the valley, with a footpath winding through the snow. The topper has been decoupaged and mounted onto some textured silver card, before being mounted onto the backing paper. The die is a Sue Wilson die which I cut in card and then sprayed with stick and spray and covered in glitter.

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

Sue

Rudolph Days and Getting Back To Normal

Well I know that it's been a while since I last posted. Thank you to those who expressed concern but it was just life (and decorating) getting in the way. I'm glad to say that after 4 months of not having a Craft Room, I moved back in this week. Below are the first results of makes in the new improved room. Because everything had to be moved out and then moved back again it gave me a chance to explore some stamps from Chocolate Baroque that have not been for an outing for a few years. They were stamped onto white card and then coloured with pencils before getting the distress ink treatment. Then mounted onto some matching card and backing papers from Artylicious Seasons Greeting CD. I made these with the Rudolph Days Challenge over at Scrappy Mo's. This is the last challenge this year but I will continue to join in next year, it's a great way to get a head start on the Christmas cards.

I hope to have some more cards to share over the weekend, but next week I'm taking a short break with some crafting friends from the UKSN at the Manor House Hotel in Devon. Lots of different crafting things to try, so I'm looking forward to this.

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

Sue

Lavinia - Glitter and Gems

Wow, it seems like ages since I was last here. We have been so busy trying to decorate after having the builders in. We have at last finished our bedroom and have manages to paint some of the ceilings, there are still some to do and a lot more decorating too. But we are going to have a rest for a while as we are off on a cruise tomorrow, we're going to the Caribbean and will be gone for 24 days. A nice length of time to recharge the batteries before starting again when we get home. While the builders were here and I cowered in my shed I got the brushos out that I bought last year and had a play with them. I love the results I got with them they are very random. So when I saw the challenge on Lavinia's blog this month I had a go at over stamping them. I'm very pleased with how they turned out.

The challenge is to add Glitter and Gems. The glitter is on the wings and I've added the gems to the corners of my cards.

I hope to be back later or first thing tomorrow with another card I've made for another challenge,  but I'll have to see how time goes.

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

Sue

Rudolph Days And More Playing In The Shed

Today I have some cards that I made for Scrappymo's Rudolph Days challenge. It's three cards made with two ink pads (Tumbled Glass and Spun Sugar distress inks) and one stencil (Snowflake Flurry from Imagination Crafts) but three different finishes. After covering three pieces of card with the two colours I set about decorating. The first I used Grunge Paste and then when it was dry I popped the stencil back over and used Inka Gold in Silver and then buffed with a soft cloth before addng a ribbon and the die cut snowflakes. I then matted onto silver card and added the sentiment which was from a Tim Holtz Sizzix set.

The second card I used a ready made polyfilla (hubby just happened to have some lying around) and got a slightly rougher look to the finish, when this was dry I took Pebeo's gilding wax and rubbed over the top without putting the stencil back over. I love the shabby look that I got with this finish but wish that I had distressed the edge of my card before mounting it.

For my last card I used some silver sparkle medium that I had bought at a show a couple of years ago. I was not the tried and tested variety that I had used in the past from Imagination Crafts but one that can be dried with a heat gun. I have to say that I was pleased with the finish, but it does not look so nice in the jar. Both of the last two cards I used the same sentiment as the first.

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

Sue

Playing In My She Shed

Well I can't believe how fast time has gone by since my last post. I'm glad to say that the builders have now finished. The plasterer had done his bit for the builder but we want a couple more ceilings taken back to smooth (rather than artex) and they are coming in at the beginning of next week. At the moment we are trying to get our bedroom painted just so we can move some furniture into there while the other ceilings are done. Anyway while the builders were here I slipped into my She Shed and had a play with the Lavinia Stamps again. When I had to move stuff out of my craftroom in the house I found a box of die cut shapes for stamping and matting, part of a bundle that I had bought a few years ago from QVC. The card was from Kanban so all good quality and was crying out to be used. Below are two of the cards that I made while I was playing, the first made with the same colours that I used in my recent challenge card for Lavinia and the second in blues and greens.

The flowers were made using a Tattered Lace die and embossing folder set and coloured using distress inks, the sentiments are from a collection that I bought from Crafters Companion. I had quite a few play days in the Shed before I had to come in and join in with the decorating (not my favourite way of using paints, but needs must I suppose). I still have some bits from my playing to show you but they do need finishing properly before I post them on here.

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

Sue

CD Sunday Gorgeous Gowns

Well the builders have almost finished, there is just 1 and 1/2 ridge tiles to go in place, which can't be done until next week. They have finished knocking the house about (it's so peaceful now), just the plasterer to come in at the beginning of the week then we can start to clear the dust and decorate. I can't say that I was sorry to see them go. The only plus to them being here is I spent the week playing in my shed getting messy and using what I could reach craft wise.  Any way onto my card today, this has been made for my Sister-in-law's 45th wedding anniversary tomorrow, for my father-in-law to give to them. It also falls at the right time to add to the CD Sunday challenge this week which is Gorgeous Gowns. I've used Debbi Moores One Fine Lady 2 for my 8x8 card and some texture gold card for the matting and die cuts. The dies were from Rob Addams All occasions dies and the flowers from my stash.

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

Sue

Hot Bright Colours At Lavinia

Last Tuesday saw the beginning of our alterations that we are having carried out, the scaffolding had already been up for a week at this stage so I was glad that they had started, but it also meant complete upheaval inside the house (not something I was looking forward too). So feeling a bit apprehensive Tuesday, I thought as they were outside I would keep up to date in blogland. I clicked onto the Lavinia challenge blog to see who had been the lucky winner last month and was most surprised to see that it was me. I had placed an order for some of the new stamps on the website and was waiting for them to arrive, so this meant I could now go back and order the ones that I had not done with the previous order. Both orders had arrived by Thursday and by this time the house was in complete chaos, a hole open to the elements in the roof no ceiling in part of our bedroom and they were starting on downstairs which meant that by the end of the day there would be a hole right through the house to outside. Friday morning came and I got up and retreated into my She Shed, which I normally use for my more messier crafting, taking my new Lavinia stamps with me. I found my distress inks and some embossing powders and managed to come up with this card to enter into this months challenge, which is Hot Red Colours. Thank you to Tracey and Kevin for the wonderful prize you give each month on the challenge blog, I've really enjoyed using these wonderful new stamps. The Happy Birthday die is from the new collection from Tonic and the flowers were made using Hellen, from the Tattered Lace Trio collection.

Back today and I've just found out that the builder will not be here today as he's not feeling well, hope he make it tomorrow. Thanks for taking the time to look and your kind comments which are always appreciated.

Sue

Rudolph Days

For those of you who read my post from yesterday, you will see that we are about to have work carried out on the inside and out of our house. So you know that I have no craft room at the moment. The one thing I did make sure that I could get too though was the computer, so I have been able to make these four cards to enter into the Rudolph challenge this month. I managed to get some 8x8 card blanks from a hard to reach pile, and printed off some decoupage and backing papers. I already had the dies cut out so it was just a case of adding them to the completed cards

 I've used Debbi Moore's new Santa 3 CD for these cards. Printed out onto matt photo paper and matted onto gold mirri card.

 

 They kept me occupied yesterday while it was raining. I'll have to go and see what I can find to get my hands on today as it's pouring down at the moment. So no workmen again today.

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

Sue

Lavinia - Anything But A Card

This months challenge over on the Lavinia Blog is Anything Goes, so my first thoughts were a canvas. However hubby and I have decided that after living in this house for 26 years and never using the chimney for a fire, we would have it taken down. This would free up space, not only in the loft but our bedroom and my craft room. Great idea on paper, but now over two weeks later (work is due to start this week weather permitting) most of my craft room has been dismantled and the contents spread out over the rest of the house. Good job I knew exactly where to lay my hands on my Lavinia stamps, not so good, the canvases are somewhere, where? I might remember when I go to put everything away again. I did manage to find this scrap of card and have made this tag though, it just as well they want anything but a card, cos that might have been a request to far for this week.

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

Sue

Imagine....

I have a small (5x7) canvas to show you this evening using a stamped image from Indigo Blu. I bought this stamp back in April at Ally Pally and had stamped it out but not coloured it in. I also has a couple of small canvases sitting on my worktop, so I thought why not combine the two. I first used some texture paste and a Splodgeaway stencil, then when dry I sprayed it with Dylusion Sprays. When the spray had dried I rubbed some Pebeo Gilding Wax over the raised parts. I coloured the image with Promarkers and stamped a sentiment from a Tim Holtz stamp sheet and used Distress ink around the outside.

Good news on the FIL front, he finally made it home yesterday with a larger care package than when he went in.

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

Sue

Special Things

Ever had one of those weeks where nothing goes right? Well I had one last week, every time I tried to craft something went wrong or someone turned up. Hubby went away for the weekend, so I thought great a whole weekend to craft. No, that didn't work either. I did manage to find the time to finish this box, which is for a little girls Birthday at the end of this week, so it was just in time. I bought the box at The Works and then covered it inside and out with papers from Crafters Companion Flower Fairies CD, using the Rose fairy. I then cut out the bottom layer of decoupage and used matt medium to pop it onto the box. Then got out the cricut and cut out the letters, choosing to put My Special Things rather than Keepsake or Memories on the lid.

I'm hoping to have a more productive week this week but who knows.

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

Sue

Rock Star

My card today is for the CD Sunday challenge at the moment which is Rock Star. It's an 8x8 card base with navy blue card for the matting. Both the decoupage topper and the backing paper are from La Pashe Best of 2012. I opened the topper in MCS and enlarged it so it would go onto the larger card base, then teamed it with a backing paper from the same CD. I added some card candi in one corner and the sentiment, which is from All Occasion Dies.

FIL continues to improve and is hoping to go home from hospital later this week.

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

Sue

Pick of the Batch

I made a serious start on my Christmas cards at the end of last week. Then earlier this week I happened to pop onto Sarn's blog and saw she was taking part in a challenge on Scrappy Mo's blog called Rudolph Days. This is not a challenge that I normally take part in (because I'm not that organised), however as they were nearly finished I though why not. So 24 cards later I've picked out 2 to show you toady. I've used Crafters Companion Paintbox Poppets Winter Collection CD for both of these, toppers teamed with backing papers from the CD. Silver mirri card for the matting and sentiment die cuts, these were from All Occasion Dies and Tattered Lace. The snow flake corners are from a Sue Wilson die as well as the poinsettia. This was cut out of white card and glittered afterwards.

I would like to thank those of you who mentioned my FIL in the last post. I'm glad to say that after a slow start he's beginning to make a recovery and is now on a normal ward. He's also moaning a bit which has got to be a good sign.

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

Sue

Well I'm not quite sure where the last week disappeared too. My Father-in-law was rushed into hospital last Sunday evening with Pneumonia and was in a pretty bad way. They managed to get him stable but he's been on the High dependency ward for the last 7 days with little improvement until yesterday, when the consultant said he was finally improving. My card today is one that I was asked to make for a 70th birthday for a lady who loves dogs. It's an 8x8 card and I used Joanna Sheen's Giordano Puppies and Kittens CD for this one. I found some textured card for the matting that matched the colour of the little dachshund on the topper and also cut out a die cut dog (die from Tattered Lace). The flowers are from Heartfelt Creations and the Greeting from All Occasion Dies.

Hopefully this week will less hectic.
Thanks for taking the time to look and your kind comments which are always appreciated.

Sue

Random Act Of Craftiness and CD sunday

What a lucky month this July is turning out to be for me. Not only have I become a grandmother for the first time but on returning home from a trip into town on Friday, I found a card from Fed-Ex through the door to say they had left a parcel with my neighbour. At the time my neighbour had gone out so I was puzzled as to what it could be. Hubby had not ordered anything, my son said he hadn't either and I wasn't expecting anything. So when the neighbour returned she handed me a very heavy parcel. I was now even more puzzled as I knew that anything I had have ordered and forgotten about would not have weighed this much. Then I spotted Tonic on the box and the word Tangerine, now I was worried. Had I accidentally pressed buy while I was looking at this on a website. No, I couldn't have. Then when I opened it there was a lovely letter inside from the wonderful people at Tonic Studios. It seems they had decided that a handful of people were going to receive a Random Act Of Craftiness and I was one of the lucky people who had been picked (hubby says that my smile was getting bigger as I read down the letter). In the box there was the cutting machine and plates (all different colours), orange for cutting, green for embossing and pink for embossing folders with a white top plate and last but not least was a lovely orange carry case to store the machine in. I been using it today to try different dies and it cuts beautifully. The only dies that it won't cut are the thick Sissix dies. A most generous Random Act of Craftiness I'm sure that you'll agree with me.

Anyway now onto my card for today, this is for the CD Sunday challenge at the moment which is Add A Stamped Image. For no other reason than the CD and stamps were sitting on my worktop when I made the card I have used Crafters Companion's Nordic Christmas for this card. It's a 5x5 white card base. 2 different backing papers matted onto silver mirri card and silver ribbon wrapped around them. The stamped image was coloured with spectrum noir pens and fussy cut before sticking to the card with glue gel. The sentiment is also from the stamp set. Now that I've made a start on my Christmas card I really must make a few more.

If you've made it this far down my post, Thank You for taking the time to look and your kind comments which are always appreciated.

Sue

21st Birthday Card

Wow, where has the last 11 days gone. I've been busy visiting our gorgeous new Grandson Andrew, then I had an order from a friend for 7 cards, 4 of them 21st birthday cards to the same person (male) from different family members. I also decided that as I had not touched my knitting machines for the last 3 years that I would sell them. So I took a photo popped it onto eBay with a buy it now price thinking it would sit there for the 4 weeks and sold it within 1 hour. The person who bought it then wanted to pick it up the following day, so I had to quickly find and pack all the bits and pieces that go with it. Still it's now gone and I have more space, but hubby has banned me from filling it with crafting stuff.

Anyway onto my card today. I was given a small list of interests (very small) one of them being Party's, so I got out the Visible Image stamps that I bought at Ally Pally earlier this year. I started with a 6x6 piece of card and blended mowed lawn, salty ocean and peacock feather distress inks onto it. Then using a Clarity stencil (Jo's Bubbles) and some white ink I set about doing a Bokah technique, it was the first time I'd done this and I'm pleased with the result. Next using the drummer, the singer and the guitarist I stamped with Onyx Black Versafine ink on top. I used some blue card for the matting and some green card for the background which was made up of the word stamps that came with the stamps in different shades of green. The sentiment was cut using All Occasions dies. Hopefully I'll be back soon.

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

Sue

Heartfelt Flowers and Canvas

First of all let me say a big thank you to those of you who left their good wishes on my last post. Mum and Andrew are now back at home trying to get into some sort of routine (I remember it well), I'm sure that it won't take to long. Today I would like to show you this canvas that I have been working on over the last couple of weeks. It's for a workshop that my crafting buddy Elaine and I are going to run in August. The letters on the background are texture paste through a stencil made on the Scan-n-cut, then when dry and painted with gesso and was sprayed with Tattered Angels Glimmer Mists. I stamped very lightly and randomly over the canvas with a text stamp when the spray was dry. Then made some flowers using Heartfelt Creations Sun Kissed Fleur, Classic Leaf and Open Leaf stamp and die sets, coloured with aqua pencils and stuck on with glue gel. The butterflies are from a set from Stampin Up.  I've really enjoyed making this canvas and I hope that the ladies that come along to the workshop enjoy making it too.

I'm going to enter this into the challenge over on the Love To Create blog which wants Anything Mixed Media/Creative/Inky Goes...

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

Sue

Exciting News

Just had to let you know that our baby grandson Andrew George arrived yesterday afternoon (2nd July) at 15 58p.m. weighing 6lb13oz. This photo was taken when he was just 2 hours old having cuddles with Grandad. My daughter Vicky was very lucky she got up a 5.00 a.m with pains and had had him less then 12 hours later, not bad for a first baby and with no pain relief either. She's hoping they will let her come home today so I've been down to their house and collected the ironing that she was putting off doing while the weather was so hot. That will be one less thing she will have to worry about. Suppose I'd better go and make a start on it now.

Sue

Pixies At Sunset

My card today is my entry into the Lavinia Challenge, who are asking for Any Colour You Like this month. I've also used scraps for my ever expanding box to make this card using, just a new sheet of black to make the card base. I coloured my card with Spiced Marmalade and Mustard Seed distress inks and then using versafine Black Onyx ink I stamped over the top. I added a Sakura pen to the wings of the pixies and white Signo pen around the windows on the pod houses before adding some Crystal Stickles.  To finish I found a piece of black card and a piece of gold textured card to mount onto and then popped it onto the card base.

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

Sue

July Wedding

Well I can't believe that I'm back for the third day in a row. Hubby played golf all day yesterday so I ignored the housework and got down to some crafting. Last October we attended a wedding in Cornwall when Hubby's cousin got married. At the beginning of July it's the turn of her Daughter, this card is one of three that I have to make for the big day. I shall be sending this down with FIL as we won't be going to this one. My daughters baby is due in two weeks time and we felt we needed to stay closer to home at this time. Anyway onto the card, it an 8x8 white card blank and sliver mirri card for the matting. The image is from Lily of the Valley coloured with spectrum noir pencils. The background paper is from Joanna Sheen's Holly Pond Hill CD and the die cuts from Marianne, Crealies and All Occasions. I will be entering this into the challenge over at Stamping Sensations who this month are asking for cards using dies and punches.

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

Sue

A Christening Plate

Just as we were going on holiday the other week I had a phone call asking if I could make a boy's Christening card for 21st June. So I said that I could but not until after the holiday. When I got home and looked for suitable images to use for a Christening I realised that I didn't have anything, so a quick look on Crafts-u-Print was called for. I found this beautiful cutting file by Tina Fitch and as I own 3 cutting machines I bought the file. I used white pearl and light blue pearl card and cut out using the Scan-n-cut. In the photo the blue doesn't look very blue but in real life it looks better. I layered it together using glue gel and added a sentiment to the back of the plate and pearls to the cross. It also has a stand and and a box included in the files, but I've not photographed them. I think I shall be looking to see what other files she has and making use of the cutting machines.

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

Sue

Four Legs And A Tail

I have a few Birthdays coming up in the next few weeks and this card is for hubby's Brother-in-law, it also fits with the theme over on the CD Sunday challenge blog this time. They are asking for cards to include four legs and a tail, so I have that covered with the giraffe and the elephant. I used Crafters Companion Destinations CD for my card. I started with an 8x8 white card base, and used a dusty gold pearl card for the matting. Both the backing paper and the toppers where printed from the Africa section on the CD and I added some card candy to it to finish.

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

Sue

Feel The Beat

Well we're back from our Cruise and had a wonderful time. Now the washing and Ironing has been done and put away I have some time for Crafting. This card has been made for our Great-nephew who is about to turn 17 next week. I've used this great stamp from Visible Image that I bought while at the Ally Pally show earlier this year, along with some more from the same series. I thought that they would make great cards for teenagers. I must admit that it's the first time it's been inked and it was lovely to work with. The main image was stamped onto some card that I had coloured with distress inks, I then added the Birthday greeting which is from Chocolate Baroque and embossed with Wow Black Sparkle. The other stamp was from the same set and I used it to stamp around the edge of the card base this time embossing with Wow Gold Sparkle.

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

Sue

Add Some Bling or Glitter with CD Sunday

Just a quick post from me today as I'm off on holiday in a couple of hours. Yesterday saw hubby going off to play golf with his friends leaving me to pack ready for today. I did mumble a bit under my breathe when he went but I managed to get everything packed (I think) and then found time to make this card for the CD Sunday challenge which this time is add some bling or glitter. This lovely little fairy has glitter on her wings. I had this on my to do list for when I got home, but now I have one less thing on there to do. I used Creative Crafting World and At The Bottom Of The Garden for this and decoupaged the image, die cuts from All Occasion Dies and a Martha Stewart round the page punch.

We are off to the Canary Islands and Madeira on a cruise, sailing at 5.00 this evening from Southampton. I'm glad to say we only live about an hour from the dock so not a long journey before we get there. Just hope that my son remembers to water the tomato plants while we are away. He may still live at home and walk past them everyday but he has a memory like a sieve.

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

Sue

Retirement

I have a quick card to show you today, that was made for a friend of ours who has just retired. He and his wife have been talking for quite a while about getting a camper van and touring the UK when he retired. So when I saw this image on Card Creations Plus CD "The Great Outdoors" I knew this was what I would use to make the card. We went to dinner with them the other evening and I'm glad to say he loved the card.

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

Sue

A 21st Birthday

This is a card that I've made for a friends daughter who is just about to turn 21. I found myself reaching for the Fabulous Fashion CD by Katy Sue (Flower Soft) and used the combination of the Dress, Hat and Handbag (I couldn't make my mind up which to use)

 The images are all decoupaged and then I added die cuts from All Occasion dies and Tonic. The close up below shows the panels and flowers that match, and as you can see I've used the same flowers on the fronts.

Last of all I added the verse for the card to the back, and it's ready to be delivered.

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

Sue

Silver Wedding Anniversary Card

In 1968 when I was 8 and my sister was 4 we moved. We made friends with the girl who lived next door and our Mum's still live in the same houses next door to each other now. Twenty Five years ago at the beginning of June she got married and now it's coming up to her Silver Wedding Anniversary.
I shall be away on the day but have made this card to leave with my Mum to give to her on the day. I've used Debbi Moores Country Rose CD for the papers and the decoupage roses on this box card, also a heart paper punch, tattered lace champagne bottle and die cuts from All occasion dies. The Die cut on the front is from Tonic, cut out 3 times and stuck together then painted with black gesso. Once the gesso was dry I added some pebeo silver gilding wax and then placed onto the front flap.

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

Sue

Mirrors Workshop

After running a workshop at the recent retreat that I attended this Sunday saw me running another with my Crafting buddy Elaine. We were making the same as at the retreat, Mirrors. We arrived and set up the hall at 9.00 a.m yesterday morning and by just gone 9.30 a.m everyone  (all 6 ladies) had arrived and we made a start. Taking the mirrors out of their frames was a bit of a challenge, I've always found it quite easy to do when at home. But in true fashion they decided to be awkward and it took about 30 minutes to get them out in the end. By lunch time everyone had the frames prepared and the decoration stuck on, next it was just let them dry before painting with black gesso.

 As well as providing the mirrors, embossed card and chipboard embellishments we provided another mirror for everyone to take home and try on their own. So while they were all drying off between the various stages everyone was embossing card and making chipboard shapes (these are made using 3 die cut shapes the same and gluing together).

Then finally it was time to put some colour on, again we supplied everyone with 2 colours of Viva Gold for use at home to get them started. The results were stunning and I think that everyone was pleased with the results of their efforts during the day, and I know that Hannah had completed her second mirror by the end of yesterday evening.

The next workshop will hopefully be held in August and will be Canvases, hope to see you all again ladies.

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

Sue

More Mini Albums

Last month I made my first Mini Album, it was much admired by friends and family and my sister asked if I would make one for her friend. She's due in about 2 weeks time and doesn't know if it's a boy or a girl. But I thought that I would get on and make one of each anyway as I'm sure that the one that not required will find a new home soon enough. I used papers and images from Crafters Companion Bebunni Baby collection. This is the link to my previous post if you would like to see how it all opens out. The instructions for these wonderful little albums and many more are by Kathy Orta of Paper Phenomenon. This one is 4x6 Gift Card Folio.

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

Sue

Stepping Out with CD Sunday

The current challenge over on the CD Sunday blog is Stepping Out,  when I saw this challenge my first thoughts were to use the Fabulous Shoes CD. But after a bit of thought and searching I found this image which also fits the theme. The CD is Crafters Companion Beatrix Potter Nursary Rhymes, it also fits nicely with the fact I need to make a Birthday card for a 4 year old girl too. I used an 8x8 white card blank to start with, printed the papers that I need from the CD. I did have a little trouble with the bottom sheet of backing paper ( the colour was not quite right) but after taking it into MCS I soon changed it to match. I mounted the backing papers onto silver mirri card and added lace to the second layer down one edge and some corners from an All Occasions die. The topper has been decoupaged using glue gel before being stuck on with foam pads. The name and age were added after I cut them out using the new die set and die cutting machine from Spellbinders - The Sapphire. It's so handy as it takes up hardly any space and is ready when I want to cut out something small, like the letters or corners. Finally I added some flowers cut from a Crealies die, I have lots of these sorts of flowers ready to use on cards. I'm even managing to post this card over a week before the challenge ends, the last two have been by the skin of my teeth.

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

Sue

Pink, Blue And A Little Bit Of Glitter

The current challenge over on the Lavinia blog is Pink, Blue or Both, this is my take on the colours. I started with a 51/2 x 51/2 piece of card and a couple of pieces of sponge the randomly splodged pink and blue chalk paints. Once this was dry I then put some hills onto it using Chipped Sapphire distress ink. I stamped over all of this and added some glitter before mounting onto some blue card stock and finally adding it to a 6x6 white card base.

I liked the effect of sponging the paints onto the card, they blended together well, I shall be using that technique again.

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

Sue

Steampunk Roses

While moving some boxes of stamps about the other day I came across the one marked steampunk. So I decided before putting it away again to have a little play, this is the card that I ended up making. The roses and the cogs are from Chocolate Baroque off of the set called Steampunk Butterfly, and the distressed corners are from a set by Sheena Douglas call Ageing Beautifully. I started with an A6 piece of card and covered it with distress inks, after this had dried off I over stamped with the cogs and corner embossing with gold embossing powder. I then stamped the roses and also embossed with the gold embossing powder before colouring with distress markers. I then cut them out and shaped them to give a bit of dimension before sticking them on with glue gel. I then coloured a larger piece of card using the same colours and over stamped lightly using a matching colour with the cogs (they are so faint you can hardly see them). last of all I popped it all onto a brown A5 card base and used an All occasions Die for the Happy Birthday.

The challenge over at Stamping Sensations this month is Flower Power so I'm going to enter this card.

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

Sue

Curious Cats With CD Sunday

The current challenge over on the CD Sunday blog is Curious Cats, and this is my offering for the challenge. I have quite a few discs with images of cats on but in the end I went for this one which is on Joanna Sheens, Giorando Puppies and Kittens CD. The backing paper is a matching one from the same CD and before putting it onto the card base I went around the outside with picked raspberry Distress ink. The corners I've used are from All Occasion Dies, as is the Happy Birthday. I used spellbinders dies for the image and the decorative circle. The daisies are from my stash, I've had them so long I can't remember where they came from they were finished by popping a yellow flat backed pearl into the centres.

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

Sue

Butterflies At Sunset

I thought it was about time I posted something on here just to let you know that I'm still here. Hubby and I have been busy decorating, clearing the room was the easy part putting everything back after has taken a couple of days. Still this is the card that I want to share with you today. It's made using a stamp from Chocolate Baroque called Butterfly Dreams, I also used a stamp from a set called Fantastic Florals to make the backing card. It was all coloured with Distress Inks and Distress Pens and I used glossy accents on the berries.

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

Sue

Layer It Up With CD Sunday

I nearly forgot that I had made this card to post for the challenge over at CD Sunday which at the moment is Layer It Up. I love doing decoupage and as I had not done any for a while it was fun. The image is from Kraftyhands Vintage Transport and the backing papers are from Sue Smith Plaid and Co. I used a gold linen textured card for the matting, also for the die cut Birthday greeting and 80 today.

Just a quick post today.

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

Sue

The First UKSN Residential Retreat

Last weekend saw the first residential retreat for the UK Stampers Network. It was held at the Holiday Inn Express in Nuneaton and attended by 8 enthusiastic crafters (Ann, Elaine, Karen, Mickey, Nicola, Sue D, Sue R and myself Sue T). Half of us arrived on the Friday with the rest arriving first thing Saturday morning for a bright and early start. Saturdays workshop was run by Mickey and saw us making mini albums using papers from Graphic 45, By The Sea. We were crafting so hard that we didn't stop for coffee or teas we just had them beside us while we worked. Lunch saw us crossing the Hotel car park to the pub next door who had our lunch ready and waiting for us. Then it was a quick turn around and back for the afternoon where we carried on with the Albums. The time just flew by and it was 7.00 o clock before we knew it. A quick change and we were headed back our to the pub for our evening meal, we were joined by Sue D's Husband and my Husband.

 Working on our Mini Albums

Sunday after a good nights sleep we were back in the craft room ready to go by 9.30 again. This time it was my turn to run the workshop, we were altering mirrors bought at Ikea. The above photo shows us working on our base layer, and the one below, after a lot of gluing, we painted everything with black gesso.

 While we waited for the layers to dry we started Elaine's workshop which was to make a bouquet of flowers from paper and decorate the jar to hold them. Again we crafted through and had coffee and tea while we worked. We also popped across the car park for lunch again. By the time we returned it was time to finish the mirrors.

In the above photo you can see that sue D is putting some Inka Gold/Pinflair Buff It's on to the gesso painted frame. It was then time to get stuck into making our paper flowers, but by now the time was passing too fast and we were struggling to get them finished. But armed with all of the petals, stems and instructions these were taken home to complete.

On the photos above and below is what we managed to make between us over the weekend, I know I had great fun and really enjoyed myself and I think that everyone else did too. Hubby enjoyed himself fishing and found some great fishing lakes only four miles from the hotel. He is already talking about fishing there next year when we have the next residential retreat (well fingers crossed).

A big thank you goes to Mickey and Elaine who organised the weekend.

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

Sue