Pencil Lines Sketch 235

Getting back into the swing of mojo-ness and scrapbooking as opposed to making cards all the while, I've taken part this week in the Pencil Lines Sketch.

My subjects are my gorgeous daughter and her adorable friend who have been close friends for many years; growing up together since they were toddlers.  Though they don't go to the same school, they live in the same street and sleep over / play together frequently.  Hopefully they will have a life-long friendship; they're very similar in nature, both polite, quiet, cheeky, hardworking girls with a wonderful sense of friendship and family. I love that they have each other so close at hand.

Creative ingredients:
Cardstock; Coredinations Whitewash - Alphas; BasicGrey; Spotty cardstock; My Minds Eye - Heart; Sizzix die - Buttons - Ribbon - Bakers Twine; The Twinery - Black & White journalling pens.

Kirsty Wiseman's Wednesday night online crop

Kirsty hosts an online crop via Ustream a couple of times a week on a Wednesday evening and tonight I had to do a bit of speed scrapping as I had to get my LO done and dusted within the hour so that I could concentrate on watching the final of Masterchef at 9pm.

AND I MADE IT TOO!!!!!! (I'm a bit sad that my fave Tom didn't win, but all credit to Tim on winning the title which was very well deserved).  No doubt the guys and Sara will ALL have very bright futures ahead of them in their careers as talented chefs and maybe there'll be a Michelin star (or two) with Tom's name on in the future!

Anyhoo, I digress.  My post is meant to be about a LO that I produced tonight, so here is that LO - a bit bright, so get your sunnies out and shade your eyes!

I bought the Spacehopper for Will as a Christmas pressie but Freya kind of bagged it as her own and within about 20 minutes of taking it outside it got it's first puncture which Will repaired.  Within about 10 minutes of it's next venture outside it had split completely!  Well that was £15 well spent NOT!!!!!!  I did manage to get a couple of indoor photos posed on it before it blew up though.

The cardstock is a VERY bright orange to match the vivid/lurid colour of the space hopper (oh, who also remembers these from their childhood days? Please say it's not just us two!)

While you're reading; can anyone please identify the BasicGrey patterned paper that I used?  I can't remember which range it was from.

Creative ingredients:
Cardstock - BasicGrey paper - Alphas; Woodware, BasicGrey & Thickers -  Tab; Sizzix die - Bakers Twine; The Twinery - Inkpad; QuickQuotes

Twisted Sketch 56

My mojo is home and (hopefully) here to stay, so I'm looking for new challenges to take part in and I've therefore created my first card for the Twisted Sketch Blog.

The twist on the sketch?  It's got to have yellow and yellow my card has - lots of it! In fact it's as sunny as the sunniest day of the year so far!

I don't know the paper manufacture unfortunately as it was included in a RAK from the lovely Rebekah.  I'd used the rest of the paper for a project that I'll upload on Thursday for PaperPlay Challenges, who's design team I'm on.  I wrapped my scalloped card with yellow and orange Bakers Twine. The inside of the card is accented using the last of the sheet of patterned paper as well as a little journalling spot for the greeting.

Creative Ingredients:
Paper (To be confirmed) - Baker's Twine; The Twinery - Alphas; BasicGrey - Embossing folder: Cutlebug - Button, Gold card & gems; stash

PaperPlay Challenges - For a mum/mom

This week over on PaperPlay Challenges, we're kindly sponsored by Inky Impressions who are offering 1 stamp of the winner's choice and an Inky Goodie Bag

Our theme is to create something for  a Mum - this can be new mother, mother's birthday, etc... as Mother's Day is Apr 3rd in UK/Ireland


I made a clipboard for Mum to make her notes on.  It's made from an A4 opaque plastic clipboard (which was liberated from my friend, Kirsty Wiseman's craft room a couple of weeks ago).  I coloured the background using Alcohol Inks in red, yellow, blue and green, which when mixed together has given a lovely tortoiseshell effect. It's then decorated with BasicGrey Indian Summer paper, a paper lunch bag which I've cut to reveal a pocket for secret notes, some ribbon, lace and lots of flowers for that girlie touch.

You can see the range of flowers that I've used here.  Some ready made and the two white ones in the centre of the larger flowers are handmade and VERY 3D!

Creative Materials
A4 Clipboard - BasicGrey Indian Summer paper - Tim Holtz alcohol inks - Paper lunch bag; Poundshop - Flowers: Prima - Leaves; X-Cut punch - Butterfly; Prima - Lettering; Tim Holtz Vintage Market Sizzix die - Ticket; Tim Holtz - White pen: Inkssentials - Brads, ribbon, lace & gems from stash.

Promarker creations

Seeing as I forgot to take my photos away with me to scrap last weekend I enjoyed a VERY chilled session or two just colouring in, using big girl colouring pens of course AKA Letraset Promarkers.

I adore my Promarker pens and believe these have brought to life some lovely stamps that I would not normally have used (thanks Kirsty for letting me use your stamps, perhaps you can confirm who the manufacturers are so that I can afford them due credit!)  I love how different the same image can look depending on the colours you choose to colour her in.

These are my creations (you can click on them for a larger picture to see the detail of the colouring/blending if you like)...

(Promarkers - BasicGrey paper & ribbon - Making Memories tag - Hero Arts greeting stamp - Memento inkpad - Sarah Kay (I think) girl image)

(Promarkers - BasicGrey paper - Twill - Making Memories tag - Hero Arts greeting stamp - Memento inkpad - Sarah Kay (I think) girl image - Ticket stamp)

(Promarkers - BasicGrey paper - Martha Stewart butterfly & flower punch - Stampin'Up leaf punch - Memento inkpad - Sarah Kay (I think) girl image -Inkssentials white pen)

(Promarkers - BasicGrey paper & ribbon - Prima flowers - Kirsty Wiseman greeting circle - Memento & QuickQuotes inkpads - unknown stamp manufacturer)

(Promarkers - BasicGrey paper - Kirsty Wiseman greeting circle - Memento & QuickQuotes inkpads - Unknown stamp manufacturer - Inkssentials white pen - Button)

This skater boy has 'distressed/grungy' clothing.  I achieved this look by roughly colouring my finished image with the blender pen.
(Promarkers - BasicGrey paper - Memento & QuickQuotes inkpads - Unknown stamp manufacturer - Tim Holtz ticket - Ribbon - Cuttlebug Herringbone embossing folder)

(Promarkers - Memento & QuickQuotes inkpads - Unknown stamp manufacturer - Ribbon - Cuttlebug embossing folder)

Congratulations!

I made this recently to congratulate two lovely people on their engagement.

I am in love with everything BasicGrey and couldn't resist the vintage / shabby chic look of this Capella, distressed around the edges and then inked and torn, matched with ivory lace, ribbon, pins and flowers.  The sentiment, which I printed out onto Letraset SAFMAT, is kept simple.

For those who've never used SAFMAT before, you simply run it through your printer (I use an Epson inkjet but have previously used it on a Hewlett Packard).  Allow it to dry thoroughly then cut it out and rub it on to your project.  It leaves a gentle matt effect, but looks great as it allows the background image to show through.  You can click on the photo above for a better view of the applied SAFMAT .

Creative Materials:
Cream cardstock - BasicGrey Capella paper - Lace - Ribbon - Pins - Flowers; Prima - Leaves; Stampin' Up punch - Sentiment printed onto Letraset Safmat - Inkpad; QuickQuotes

PaperPlay Challenges - Embossing

If it's Thursday then it's challenge time again over at the PaperPlay Challenge Blog  This time we'd like to see your creations made using EMBOSSING.  You can choose to either dry emboss or heat emboss, it's entirely up to you!

We're kindly sponsored this week by MELJENSDESIGNS who gave us some really cute images to work with.  They're offering up 4 images to one lucky winner who joins us this week.

My cats image was printed out and is coloured using Promarkers.  I chose to dry emboss a heart cut on my Big Shot using a Sizzix Heart die and the Cuttlebug Heart Blocks embossing folder.  The card is backed by a lovely, vintage looking piece of BasicGrey Capella paper which I inked the edges of using a QuickQuotes inkpad.  Flowers are from Prima. and it's finished with a couple of journalling spots cut from cardstock, lettered with alphas from Making Memories and tied with some gorgeous pale green/blue lace.

The perfect card for my parent's 53rd wedding anniversary at the end of this month.

Birthday card for an old person!

I'm not good at making cards for old people, but a friend of ours is celebrating a birthday today, so I thought I'd make the effort!!!!!

Happy Birthday Kevan ;-)  (Wish me luck when we deliver this cheeky little creation later, won't you?)

The images are freebies from Create with TLC that I've combined together to make my greeting.

Creative Ingredients:
Cream A5 Card - Backing paper: BasicGrey 'Max & Whiskers' - Image; Create with TLC - Promarkers - Patty's Pretties from Kirsty Wiseman - String - Glossy Accents

Happy (belatedly blogged) Birthday, Susan

Only a few days late posting this card for our lovely friend Susan.  It was made and hand delivered on time (I promise!) but I never got round to tweaking the pic and uploading it through the week.

I'd like to enter this into the Ribbon Girl Challenge to make a project using the colours Cream, Pink and Brown.

Creative Ingredients:

Brown checked paper: BasicGrey - Pink & Cream paper/cardstock; scraps - Photograph; I took that! - Alphas; Making Memories - Flowers: Prima - Leaves; Woodware punch - Brads - Ribbon - Gems

Tweaked cards R us!

I made a quick card a week or so ago (at VERY SHORT NOTICE... GARY!!!) but couldn't get it across to Guernsey in time for Valentines Day (ordered Friday, needed by Monday) so I've changed and tweaked it a bit to become a for a card for his wife's birthday instead.

Hopefully Jules will love it. If she doesn't then it wasn't me that made it! ;-)

Creative Ingredients:
Cream A5 Cardstock - Paper; BasicGrey - Punch; Stampin' Up Bird/branch & Martha Stewart Butterfly - Flower; Prima - Stamp - Tim Holtz - Brad - Pins - Ribbon - White pen; Inkssentials

Daring Cardmakers

Daring Cardmakers challenge this week is around the subject of 'Steampunk"; a term I'd never heard of until Friday when it popped up in my blogwatch.  So I had to Google the term to find out how to interpret it 'Rosie Stylee'.

Well it seems that there are lots of free images out there in the Steampunk era so I nabbed two and printed them out on to some cream cardstock which I inked the edges of to add a little vintage look.  The greeting I created myself in PS using two different fonts to go with the lady holding her binoculars 'seeing the bright future ahead' that the light bulb invention in the other image would bring.  Clever eh? HAHA!

This card is available for sale.  Please see my "Cards for Sale" page for details.


Creative Ingredients:
Cream 5"x7" cardstock - BasicGrey Capella papers - Images free from the internet - Ribbon - Glossy Accents - Inkpad; QuickQuotes

Cards update

February's a pretty busy month as far as birthdays goes.  Mine was on 2nd.

This lovely lady celebrated a special one on 8th.

This one flew over to Belgium to this lovely lady.

And this one stayed at home to go to South Shields to the lovely Jane who I had the pleasure of meeting when I went to London to cook with Ainsley Harriott.

Bring on the lighter nights is all I can say as night time, 'flash' photography is doing my doofers in!

Materials:
BasicGrey Paper - Tim Holtz on the Edge House Die - Tim Holtz sentiment stamp - Ribbon - Fiskars Scallop scissors - Computer generated sentiments - Thickers numbers - Making Memories alpha stickers - Prima flowers - pins - Martha Stewart butterfly punch - brads - corrugated cardboard - Stickles glitter glue

Kathy's Waffle Sketch File

Jan / Feb 2011 - Triangles & Circles.

Ok, I've just realised when typing up this post to go with Kathy's sketch that I didn't include triangles; instead using circles for my bunting!  Sorry to be so dim Kathy!!!!

Materials:
White pearlescent cardstock - Prima Flowers - Brad - Papers: Prima & (turquiose) offcut from scraps - Rub on: BasicGrey - Alphas; Making Memories - LOVE diecut pressie from Rebekah Montague - Inkpad; QuickQuotes

BasicGrey cards

I was sent a load of stash recently from a very lovely friend of mine as she knows how much I love BasicGrey (Thanks Steph!)

These cards, chocolate bar and mini clipboard were made from only 2 sheets of 12x12 patterned paper.  Love the vintage/shabby chic look and feel of them.

Sneaky peek...

Sneaky peek...

Sneaky peek...

A5 card

A5 card

Materials used:
BasicGrey paper - 'Bingo' clipboard - Ribbon - Lace - Prima flowers - Martha Stewart Butterfly punch - Corrugated cardboard - Brads - Pins - Tim Holtz stamps -

Kirsty's Cyber crop

Catching up on Blog posts not done.

From Kirsty Wiseman's Wednesday night Cyber Crops:

Week 7 - 13th October 2010

(This was during my blonde phase!)

(Materials: Sassafrass papers - Dunelm Blooms - Bazzill Brad - Thickers alphas - Pink waxed thread)


Week 8 - 20th October 2010

My lovely friend Kate at her wedding shower.  Miss my girlie lunchtime chats with this great girl!

(Materials: Papers; offcuts from scrap box - Blooms; Prima - Alphas; BasicGrey - Bird & decorated brad; K&Company - Glitter; Stickles)

Kirsty's Cyber Crop

I really wanted to play along 'in real time' with Kirsty Wiseman's sketch cyber crop tonight, despite being still awake at 5am this morning, when my alarm goes off at 7am.

And tired though I was (and still am) I managed to stay awake long enough to do the cyber crop, watch the Ustream video of Kirsty creating her own LO and to chat with the lovely ladies in the Ustream chat room.

I'm going to try and make every cyber crop LO using BasicGrey papers:
a) because I LOVE BasicGrey, and
b) I have rather a lot of BasicGrey papers

So using photos of me which were:
a) 20 years ago.
b) 2 stone lighter.
c) 2 dress sizes smaller.
d) 2 children less
I came up with this 12"x12" LO.  These pics are soooo embarrassing, I can't believe I'm sharing!

This was Kirsty's sketch this week.  Hope you played along too.  Don't forget to share your LOs too.



Requirements: 

You can do this sketch
or
choose 5 products in addition to card and paper to make an entirely different layout of your chosing
or
Combine the two - always interesting!

The 5 products you must use are:
Rub ons
One tag with ink (rubber stamped or coloured in)
Ribbon
3 buttons
This download here (print it out and use it on your layout) - resize of necessary!

Right, I'm so bloody tired and I really need to catch some zzzzzzz's.  Night!

Rosie D's challenge 74 - Summer Birthdays

Did you remember to pop over to Rosie D's Challenge Blog and wish Mervi a very happy Birthday? I do hope so!

Well, here's my reveal of my summer dress card that I made for Mervi's challenge.

If you haven't already taken part, remember that Mervi is giving away a prize to celebrate her birthday to one lucky participant in the challenge blog.

Materials:
White pearlescent card.
Cardstock: Coredinations.
Paper (for dress): Black Market Paper Society.
Dress Stamp: Creative Expressions.
Alphas: BasicGrey.
Butterfly punch: Martha Stewart.
Ribbon: Stash.
 

Rosie-D's Challenge Blog #66

Brenda's challenges for the first half of March over on Rosie D's Challenge Blog   is Think Spring.  I love the new life and greenery that's poking through the still cold soil at this time of year.  It brings such hope of warmer times, don't you think?

As I said previously, I haven't made a card this time but something a little different featuring my gorgeous dog Maisy.

Remember to take a moment or two to pop over to the Challenge Blog and see the fantastic work from the DT members and show your support for Brenda's challenge.  You have another week to take part and possibly win two stamps from our fantastic sponsor, Sir Stampalot

Materials:
Papers: K&Company Hannah Scrap Pad To Go.
Rubons: K&Company Transfers To Go.
Alpha & Phototurn stickers: BasicGrey.
Ribbon: Ribbon Mad.
Butterfly: Amy Butler.
Rub on trees: Hambly Screen Prints.
Brad: K& Company.
Vinyl photo accent sticker: Thickers.

Just a few more...

I HAVE been making cards and crafting, just it seems not sharing the danged stuff!  So here they are...

 

 (Sentiment stamp: Tim Holtz - Papers: offcuts - Leaf: Doodlebug - Ribbon: Ribbon Mad - Embossing: Cuttlebug - Inkpad: Stazon)

(Sentiment stamp: Tim Holtz - Ribbon: Ribbon Mad - Embossing: Cuttlebug)

   

(Papers: BasicGrey - Stamp: Hero Arts - Ribbon: Pj's from Primark!)

Now I know I made this one for a challenge, but and danged to know which one as it was made a week or so ago and has sat on my desk ever since! OOPS!

(Papers: My Minds' Eye - Alphas: Bella!)

Crafting for me!

My daughter had a sleepover at a friends house on Saturday night.  The boys had a film that they wanted to watch which wasn't to my taste so I took myself off upstairs to my room, sat my iPod on the docking station, pressed play, turned up the volume and crafted FOR ME!!!!!  It's so lovely sometimes to not have a deadline and it worked wonders for me too as I managed to get 4 layouts made!!!!  This brings my daughter's album right up to date now.  The kids each have their own album with nursery & school photos in and apart from her current photo which is in the lounge I have nothing to catch up on with her.

These are what I created...

My Flowerpot Angel:

Pretty in Pink:

 

Nursery Friends:

Year 3:

Materials:
Cardstock: Papermania. Adhesive felt: from stash, sorry, I've forgotten the manufacturer.  (no manufacturer detailed).  Flocked paperStamps: BasicGrey.  Inkpad: Stazon.  Blooms: Aunty Sarah's; Prima.  Gromlet and photo corners: We Are Memory Keepers.  Journalling Pens: Stabilo & Sakura.
Cardstock: Bazzill.   Patterned Papers: Bella! Sarah-Jane Paperz.  Ribbon: John Lewis.  Gromlet: We Are Memory Keepers.  Stamp: BasicGrey.  Glitter Glue: Stickles.  Bloom: Dunelm.  Journalling pens: Stabilo & Sakura.
Cardstock: Papermania & scraps.  Rubons: Scrapworks.  Paper: Scraps.  Tag: Stationery store.  Brads: Stash.  Gems: Stash.
Cardstock: Bazzill.  Frame: Cut on the Craft Robo from Scenic Route paper.  Tags & Brad: K&Company.   Flowers: Studio Calico kit.  Alphas: Thickers.  Rubons: Doodlebug.  Glitter Glue: Stickles.  Paper ribbon: Sassafrass