Flowers and Swirls

Oh my!!  I can't believe that it is almost a month since I last posted anything!!  First up my sincere thanks to all of you who have sent me your best wishes - they are all truly appreciated.  I am REALLY sorry but at the moment I am struggling to sit for any length of time so just haven't been able to make it round to your blogs lately as the time I spend on the computer is so limited.  I hope you'll bear with me on this!!

Anyway talking of limited time I had better get on with showing you my card for today.  I realised this morning that I had never gotten around to showing you a card that I did actually manage to make this year for my Mum so thought I'd show you her Mother's Day card.

The papers used were by Prima and were from the Jack and Jill collection and the main image was stamped from my Daisy Daydreams stamp set (Aspects of Design No.38).  The swirls were die-cut using a Magnolia swirl die and the added flowers were numerous ones that I had got in my stash.  The Happy Mothers Day was a stamp that I cut into three pieces.

I coloured the main image using Copics and added a muted dotty background around the flowers using my lighter coloured Copics.

I then took a dark brown Copic and run it around all the edges of the die-cut swirls to help them stand out and also used my Copics to lightly stain some of the flowers to match the distressed look of the background papers.

This was a circle that I punched out from a piece of scrap Prima paper and then handwrote the words.

As this was a 'special' card for my Mum I went ahead and decorated the inside of it too using those same Prima papers and nestabilities dies.

Here's a closer look at the left hand panel. I used a LOTV sentiment for the wording and mounted it too a large yellow daisy to simulate the 'sunshine' sentiment.

And a closer look at the right hand panel before I went ahead and wrote in it.  I added some 'distressing' of my own to the nestabilities panel using distress inks to match the papers and a sponge to apply them with.

I hope you like it!!

I'd like to enter this into the Allsorts Week 120 Flowers and Swirls Challenge.

Nestabilities Storage

Oh my goodness I cannot believe that I haven't blogged for almost a month!!  Where does the time go??

My sincere thanks to those of you who keep asking how I am. The truth of the matter is that I am currently waiting to have an operation performed on my back.  Actually I say 'an' operation, it is infact two major operations in one go.  It seems that my back has got to the stage where it won't get better on its own and so I've agreed to have these operations done.  It will take me 3-6 months to recover from the operation itself so during this time I won't be demoing or tutoring at all and probably not even card making either as I won't be able to bend, twist, lift anything or infact do very much at all.  Originally I thought the operation would be happening this month but my surgeon is on leave and it won't be happening until around mid November.  I'm finding it very hard to sit for any length of time which is why I haven't been blogging very much.  However I do still have some things to show you that I made last year so when I feel up to it I will pop on and load up something for you!!

So without further ado here is one I made earlier - lol!!  As you can see I used my Bind It All on the side of this to hold the pages together which consist of magnetic sheets and plasma as this is one of my notebooks that hold some of my nestabilities.

The cute image is by StampAvie which I stamped with black Memento ink and coloured using Copics and then die-cut it with one of the nestabilites labels die.

I find the magnetic sheets so useful for holding the nestabilities in place.

The paper is from my stash that was from one of the collections by My Minds Eye.

StampAvie stamp, paper and copics from The Glitter Pot
Magnetic sheets from The Stamp Man
Bind It All from Stamp Addicts

I'd like to enter this into -
Allsorts Anything But A Card Challenge
Sir Stampalot Anything You Fancy Challenge

Summertime

Hi everyone.  I thought I'd amaze you all by not leaving it too long this time before showing you another card!!

This is one that I made a little while back using a cute stamp by Penny Black along with some swirls and wording from my Fancy Flourishes stamp sheet. Thought this would be quite an appropriate card to load up as the sunflowers are just beginning to come out now even with the distinct lack of sunshine that we've been having recently!!

The image was coloured using Copic markers, (What else - lol!!) and the background stamping was done using a Versamark inkpad and Crystal embossing powder.

Penny Black stamp and Prima flowers from The Glitter Pot.

Fancy Flourish stamp sheet from The Glitter Pot or The Stamp Man.

Don't forget that if you fancy picking up a bargain to check out The Craft Barn's half price Summer Sale!!

I'd like to enter this card into the Flower Power challenge at the Penny Black at Allsorts Challenge blog and also into the Allsorts Free and Easy Challenge Week 112.

Shaped Stepped Card

Hi everyone.  First of all I would just like to say thank you to everyone for your kind comments regarding my Copic Certification.  They were all very much appreciated!  (Also I know that some of you have been asking how I am now - I'll tell you all another time!!)

Without further ado here is the card that I've got to show you today which is one that I made earlier this year using some of the fabulous Molly Bloom stamps from Sir Stampalot.  I can't tell you how much I enjoyed working with these stamps!  As you can see I thought it would be nice to make something a little different with the stamps and decided to create a garden scene with dimension!

The girl (Molly), the stamped flowers, butterfly and bee are all from the Molly Bloom range, the fence and flower border are MS punches and the large blue die-cut flowers and swirls are Magnolia DooHickey dies.  The shaped panel at the back is a large Nestabilities die (Labels One) and the papers are from an old range by My Minds Eye.

Here's a closer look at the back panel for you. The stamped leaves around the flower panel are from a Leafy Swirl clear stamp set by Woodware that Francoise Read designed and the wording is from a Personal Impressions stamp set designed by Paula Pascual.  The shaping at the bottom of the panel is a MS edging punch called Topiary.  The small punched out flowers were done using the MS Hydrangea punch.

And here's a closer look at Molly for you.  All the colouring was achieved using Copic markers.  I hope you like it!!

Molly Bloom stamps from Sir Stampalot.
Copic markers and MS punches from The Glitter Pot or The Craft Barn.
Grand Nestabilities Labels One die and Magnolia DooHickey dies from The Glitter Pot.

And talking of The Glitter Pot and The Craft Barn they are both having a 50% of Summer Sale at the moment so you may want to check them out and see what bargains are to be had!!

I'd like to enter this card into the Allsorts Free and Easy July Challenge (Week 111) and the Sir Stampalot Anything Goes July Challenge.

A Summer Snooze

Hi everyone.  Sorry that I've been missing for so long but things here are a little challenging at present!!

Anyway today I thought I'd share another card with you that I made using that Penny Black Make A Wish clear stamp set.  (As I think a lot of you already know I just love this set and so I thought I'd enter this card into the Penny Black at Allsorts June Challenge.)

The background paper is by Basic Grey, the wording came from my Fancy Flourishes stamp sheet and the imagery was coloured with Copics.  And talking of  'Copics', I am now
Copic Certified!!!  Hurray!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here's a closer look at the main panel for you.

I also added some subtle sparkle to the dandelion heads using the Clear Spica pen. Hopefully you can see it a little clearer here!!

All products and materials used on this card came from The Glitter Pot.

Hope you like it!!

Having Fun?

Hi everyone.  First of all many thanks to those of you who left me such lovely comments on my last post - I truly appreciate each and every one of them so THANK YOU!!

Today I thought I'd share a card with you using one of my favourite clear stamp sets by Penny Black called Make A Wish.  There are quite a lot of stamps in this set and they all interact with one another really well.  For the background swirls and the 'best friends' wording I used my Fancy Flourish stamp sheet.  The paper is from my stash and is an old Basic Grey one from the Kioshi collection.  I distressed around the edges of some of the panels using a brown inkpad.

I used three separate stamps to create my focal panel which I stamped with a black Memento inkpad onto Craftwork Cards smooth Digital White cardstock and coloured using Copic makers.

Here's a closer look at the colouring for you.  Hope you like it!

I'd like to enter this into the Teddy Bear's Picnic challenge over on the Allsorts Challenge Blog. (After all with all the fun these cuties are having they must have packed their picnic basket - it's just not in view!! LOL!!)

All products used came from The Glitter Pot.  Talking of which don't forget that it is their Spring Spectacular weekend coming up next weekend on Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th May and then the weekend after it is The Craft Barn's June Extravaganza weekend (Saturday 4th and Sunday 5th June) and this time they have 24 demonstrators to show you lots of different techniques and products.  Most definitely a date for your diaries!!  Click here to find out more about the Extravaganza. Unfortunately, much to my chagrin, this time around I am unable to be at either event but I know that they will be super weekends!!

Stepped Easel Card

Morning everyone.  Today I'm sharing my second and last card that I have made for the Belles 'n' Whistles Challenge Blog as part of my guest dt work.  The challenge this time around is called Shaping Up For May Flowers.  To find out what it is all about click here to go and visit the BnW Challenge Blog.

For this challenge I thought I'd make a stepped easel card which I think worked out quite well.  I have photographed it at a slight angle so that you can see what I did. I used the BnW Wishes stamp for my main image along with some green Basic Grey backing paper, the Magnolia Lovely Fence DooHickey Die, Prima flowers to decorate, the Martha Stewart Flower Patch edging punch and the Frond Branch punch.

Here's a closer look at the front step of the card where I used the Flower Patch edging punch and hand drew the grass.

Here you can see the fence die a bit better which I coloured using Copic markers.  I also coloured and shaped the punched out Frond Branch pieces before sticking them into place.

And here is a close up of the main image which I stamped with black Versafine onto watercolour card and coloured using Distress inks.

I hope you like it!

Belles 'n' Whistles Wishes clear stamp and Martha Stewart punches came from The Craft Barn.

Magnolia Lovely Fence Doohickey Die and Prima flowers came from The Glitter Pot.

A Card For A Special Friend

Hi everyone.  A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to win one of the Belles 'n' Whistles challenges and my prize for winning is to guest design for the next couple of challenges.  Luckily for me I had already got some of their beautiful images already coloured and just waiting to be made up into cards so I grabbed my Tea Time girl (from The Craft Barn) and assembled this card following Anki's sketch. (Click here to see the sketch and to see how to enter this challenge.)  The background paper is from one of the Basic Grey 6x6 paper pads - can't remember which one!!)

I used my circle nestabilities die to cut a circle from the dp - embossed it using the Daisy Pattern embossing folder and coloured the embossed daisies with light coloured Copic markers.  I then handwrote the Happy Birthday and added the faux stitching using a 0.3mm Copic black multi-liner.

I used my Labels Twelve Nestabilities die to cut out the Tea Time girl. Once I'd stuck these components to the main card I stamped the Leafy Swirls with Walnut Stain Distress ink.

The flowers are by Prima from their E Line collection, the butterflies are a Martha Stewart punch and I used an assortment of self-adhesive pearls for decoration.

The girl was stamped onto The Craft Barn's smooth white Copic card and coloured using Copic markers but as I did this last year I'm afraid I can't remember the colours I used!!  Still - I hope you like it anyway!!

All the products used came from The Craft Barn apart from the Prima flowers which are from The Glitter Pot.

Best Friend

Hi everyone.  I'm afraid I am still struggling, so hence me not posting very regularly at the moment.  Luckily I do still have some cards to show you  that I made last year and just haven't yet posted up, so here is one of those cards!

I originally made this for a demo at The Glitter Pot using some very pretty double sided background paper and the Kira With Kitten stamp by Wild Rose Studio.  (I'm afraid that it has been so long that I can't remember whose paper this is but it did come from The Glitter Pot!)  The best friend wording came from my Funky Flourishes stamp sheet.

I stamped Kira with black Memento ink and coloured her using Copic markers - can't remember the colours!!

Here's a closer look at the colouring for you.

All materials used on this card came from The Glitter Pot and talking of this fabulous shop reminds me to tell you that in just over a months time they will be hosting their Spring Spectacular weekend on May 28th and 29th.  You can find out more about it here.

Then the weekend after that it is The Craft Barn's June Extravaganza which is always a fantastic weekend with loads of demonstrators.  Click here to see the line up and find out all about it!!  With both of these fantastic events looming I'm going to start saving now!!

Spring has Sprung!

Morning everyone.  My goodness I cannot believe how warm it is here on the south east coast of the UK at the moment.  The garden is just springing to life and all the birds are twittering.  So as all the spring flowers are looking gorgeous at the moment I thought I'd share a floral card with you.

All the images on this card came from my Swirly Flutters 'n' Floral stamp sheet.  The background for this card was sponged using Bundled Sage Distress ink and then stamped using the text and swirl stamp from the Swirly Flutters 'n' Florals stamp sheet along with Bundled Sage and Tumbled Glass Distress inkpads.

The colouring was done with Copic markers then some glitter glue was added for some subtle sparkle.

All products used on this card came from The Craft Barn.

I'd like to enter this card into the Bloomin' Blossoms challenge over on the Allsorts Challenge Blog.

Hope you all have a great weekend!!

Tim Holtz Blog Candy

Hi everyone.  Just a quick post to let you know that The Stamp Man is offering up some wonderful Tim Holtz blog candy.  Click here to go and find out all about it!!  You have until the 26th April 2011 to enter.

Craft Stamper E-Zine and Thanks Everyone!!

Hi guys!!  First of all I would like to say a huge thank you to all of those who voted my 'You're Grounded' Craft Stamper project as one of the best projects of 2010 - I am sooooooo thrilled!!

Katy has put together the 12 most popular projects of 2010 into an e-zine which is absolutely FREE to download for the next 6 months. Click here to download your FREE copy.  And that's not all!! There is  some blog candy up for grabs too just for advertising Craft Stamper on your blog.  Click here for the details.

I would  like to thank everyone for their recent kindness too regarding my last post.  I honestly can't thank you all enough for the kind comments you left me both here on my blog and via email.  I must just say an extra special thank you to Mustavcoffee and Tracy (Craftnut) who both sent me cards which were so unexpected and therefore really made my day.  I'm really sorry that I haven't been able to reply to you all individually but am finding it a little difficult at present, especially after taking a fall yesterday and hitting my spine against the wooden base of my bed!!  By the way I wouldn't recommend doing this as it doesn't exactly help matters!!  I'm now off to lick my wounds............................

Just before I go I must just say that I think that Sam was a deserving winner last Sunday night on Dancing On Ice!!  Sunday nights won't be the same for a while now!!

An Explanation and an Award!

Hi everyone.  As some of you may have noticed I haven't been posting as regularly as I used to nor have I been able to visit everyone's blogs as much as I would like to!  There is a valid reason for this and as some of you have been asking how I am I thought it was maybe about time that I let you know what is going on with me!

Basically for some time now I have been struggling due to having a poorly back.  I have had a 'naughty' back ever since childhood as I have a twisted spine.  Over the years my spine has become more twisted and this in turn has caused all sorts of other stuff - most of which I cannot even begin to spell the terminology let alone pronounce!!  Anyway without boring you all rigid it has meant that for the past few months in particular I have been in a lot of pain in my back, neck and leg which means I cannot sit for any length of time - hence me not doing much blogging or crafting!

Tomorrow I am off into hospital - (just for the day) to have a procedure done on my back which may or may not help, so if you can all keep your fingers crossed for me I'll be VERY grateful!!  It'll then depend on the outcome of this procedure as to whether anything more will need to be done.

Anyway enough of all that.........................has anyone been watching Dancing On Ice on ITV?  I just love this programme and tonight it is the final so you can all guess what I'll be doing tonight!!  I cannot make up my mind if I would like Sam or Laura to win - does anyone else have a preference?

I am so thrilled to have received a blog award from my friend Jo.  Thanks so much Jo - I cannot say just how much I appreciate receiving these awards!!

Now apparently I need to tell you 7 things about myself and pass it onto 7 people so here goes-

1) As you now all know I have got a 'naughty' back!

2) I absolutely adore milk chocolate but can't eat it so much now due to being allergic to dairy products although I think some may be called for this week!!

3) I'm allergic to fur so we have no pets.

4) My favourite colour is lilac.

5) I'm a natural blond but last year I got fed up with my hair colour and so went first a plummy/red colour then to a bright red and lastly to a brown with reddy undertones before going back to blond again!  It's amazing just how different you look with such a drastic change of hair colour!!

6) I probably have the biggest collection of jeans than anybody.  As far as I'm concerned you cannot have too many pairs of them!

7) I love all things Vampire especially the Twilight films and books and The Vampire Diaries!

Right now for the REALLY hard bit of passing this onto just 7 people-

Sharon - The Little Stamper
Tracy - Craftnut Designs
Sandra - Stamping For Pleasure
Louise - Just Love To Stamp
Mustavcoffee - Crafty Musings
Sarah - Sarah Wright Designs
Lisa - The Craft Garden

Hope eveyone is enjoying their weekend.

Shaped Card

Morning everyone.  Today I thought I'd share a card with you that I made using the Grand Nestabilities Labels One die and the Grand Calibur machine. (I must say that I am soooooooo pleased that I went ahead and bought the Grand Calibur!!  The only drawback is that it doesn't take thick dies but as I don't tend to use these very much anyway it isn't really a drawback for me.)

For this card I used the largest Labels One Grand die and then folded it in half to achieve my base card.  I was then able to emboss the top two thirds of the card using the Cuttlebug's Daisy Pattern folder by opening the card out flat and positioning the folder exactly where I wanted it and running it through the Grand Calibur - you just cannot do this with the Cuttlbug machine as it is too small.

Next I stamped a piece of teal bazzill cardstock using one of my flourish stamps (Fancy Flourishes) then used that same size Labels One die to cut it. I trimmed it down and stuck it to the base of the card and used one of the shaped bits (left over from die-cutting the panel) for the top of the card. 

The wording was stamped with black ink (taken from my Fancy Flourishes stamp sheet).  The girl is by Wild Rose Studio (Ava with Present) and was stamped with black Memento and coloured with Copics.

All materials used came from The Glitter Pot including the Grand Calibur.  Hope you like it!!

Springtime

Hi everyone.  Today the sun is shining and the spring flowers are peeping through the ground so I thought I'd share a spring like card with you today which I'd like to enter into the Anything For Spring Challenge over at the Belles 'n' Whistles Challenge blog.

There are some lovely bright pink tulips out near us at the moment so I took these as inspiration for my colour theme of pink and green.  The background paper is by Best Creations which came from The Craft Barn - as too did everything else that I used on this card apart from the flower punches.

I stamped my main image (Watering) onto smooth white Copic card with black Memento ink and coloured using Copics. The wording (from my Fancy Flourishes stamp sheet) was stamped with brown ink and the whole card was misted with a pearl glimmer spray.

I'm afraid that I forgot to make a note of what Copic colours I used but here is a closer look at the panel for you. I kept the colouring quite soft for this and as you can see she has got a pink tulip behind her!!

As I've already mentioned all the stamps and materials used here came from The Craft Barn and right now The Barn are getting lots of new yummy products in including the Tatty Button stamps and some of the Polka Doodles range too!!  And the new glitter card they are now stocking is just gorgeous! This card doesn't shed its glitter and comes in so many wonderful colours so if any of you are in the vicinity you might like to stop by and check out all the new yummyness for yourselves!!

Spring Flowers

Well it seems that spring is just around the corner so I thought I'd share this card with you today.

All the stamps on this card are by Denami Design (from Stamp Addicts).  Flowers were coloured using Polycolor Pencils - also from Stamp Addicts.

Have a great weekend everyone.

The Stamp Man Curls 'n' Swirls Challenge

Hi everyone.  Today is the start of a brand new challenge over on The Stamp Man's Challenge Blog and this time around we would like to see entries incorporating Curls 'n' Swirls!  I've got to admit that this is right up my street as I love all the swirly elements and stamps that are around at the moment!

This is a book that I did earlier this year to store some of my Nesties in using both my Funky Flowers (Aspects of Design No.56) and my Fancy Flourishes (Aspects of Design No.58) un-mounted stamp sheets along with the Cuttlebug Stylized Flower embossing folder which is just full of swirly bits! (All available from The Stamp Man.) As you can see I punched out some extra swirls too in order to embellish it further.

For the main flower panel I built up an arrangement of flowers, leaves and swirly bits using some of the elements from the Funky Flowers stamp sheet and then watercoloured them using Sakura Stardust pens which gives them such a delicate look as well as adding some gorgeous shimmer!  Then using a light blue chalk inkpad I stamped one of the flourishes (from the Fancy Flourishes stamp sheet) around the flowers then used a silver inkpad and Stardust embossing powder around the edges of the panel.

For the inside of the book I cut up some magnetic sheets and stuck them either side of some square bits of mountboard. To separate the pages of the magnetic sheets I added some sheets of plasma and stuck pieces of DP on the bottom of the plasma to make pockets.  I then bound it altogether using the Bind It All machine.

Then as you can see I photocopied part of the front of the matching Nestabilities leaflet and popped it into the pocket.

Hope you like it and that you will play along with the Curls 'n' Swirls Challenge. Don't forget to hop on over to The Stamp Man's Challenge blog to see all the other gorgeous creations that the rest of the DT have made!

Have a great weekend everyone!

(NB The magnetic sheets and Sakura Stardust pens are not listed on The Stamp Man's website but they can be purchased from The Stamp Man's bricks and mortar shop/unit.) 

Playful Pepper

Hi guys.  Today I thought I'd share a card with you that I made for a very good friend of mine.

I stamped and embossed the background using that lovely Scrolling Along Penny Black stamp again. (See told you this was one of my favourite stamps!!)  The happy birthday is also a PB stamp too and the dog (Pepper) came from a Helz Cuppleditch clear stamp set.

It's been a while now so can't remember whose DP I used but it did come from The Glitter Pot as too did the clear stamp set and PB stamps.  For some interest I used my Floral Lace MS edging punch and the EK Success swirl punch.

I stamped Pepper with black Memento ink and coloured him with Copic markers, die-cut him with my Deckled Rectangles Nesties and added faux stitching with a white opaque pen.  The flowers are Prima and the pearls are from my stash.

As this card was for a special friend I went ahead and decorated the inside of it too using those Deckled Rectangles Nesties again along with that same flourish punch and another MS punch Doily Lace Trim (from The Craft Barn).  The wording stamp is by Penny Black and is such a lovely sentiment.

Here's a closer look at Pepper and the bee.  Hopefully you can make out that I stamped that Scrolling Along stamp around Pepper with Versamark Dazzle to add some soft decoration around him.

I hope you like it!!

I'd like to enter this card into Sir Stampalots All Creatures Great and Small Challenge as with Pepper being after the bee it seems quite apt!