The Other Side Of Me

Sorry this isn't a great photo of this card, I didn't realise there was a shadow on it, it seems to depend what time of day I take the photograph. I could hardly wait for these scalloped card blanks to arrive from Which Craft so I could start playing with them. At first I was just going with the daffodils stamp (from Woodware) but then got a bit carried away into a fantasy land of bugs and flowers and birds. The sentiment says, 'Bugs and kisses' which is really appropriate (from Pink Petticoat) and the flower button was one I had in my stash that worked really well. I wasn't looking forward to cutting the scallops out of my backing paper, but I found it really easy with my craft knife. I can't wait to use them again. Hope you like it, Mrs O.

I've had loads of family and friend cards to make in April, I don't know why it's such a popular month. The card above is for my dear friend Priscilla, a true sister in Christ. I love this cute image from Pink Petticoat. I had a big dither about which colours to use on it, as I wish I could match the backing paper, but it's still quite sweet. The paper is MME Wild Asparagus, by the way. These are the papers I originally bought to scrapbook with, but I've used a lot of it for cards as well and still have loads left. The sentiment says, 'Have a tweet day!' which is really cute. I've just finished it off with little roses from Wild Orchid crafts. They always manage to lift a card out of the ordinary into something really special. I'm off to eat my last Easter egg (sob!) Have a great day everyone, Mrs O.

I had a wonderful trip to Hobbycraft on Good Friday. I don't always find very much there, but was very pleased with my finds this time. I've bought some silver embossing powder, so I look forward to playing with that very soon. I'm telling you this, because this is my Easter card: The stamp is called 'Duck Mum' from Little Claire's Designs . It's very sweet (look at the little duck on the left, crying its eyes out!) but I really wanted to do some 'He is risen!' type cards. In Hobbycraft they actually had a couple of stamps with crosses on, but it's a bit late by Good Friday, isn't it? I'm going to see if I can find something in the sales and save it for next year. I hope you've all had a wonderful Easter. More cards coming soon. Mrs O.

Another card today, using the Time For Tea stamps and paper. I've stamped the cup and saucer onto the patterened paper and cut it out with my craft knife. I had to be very careful around the handle as it's so easy to pull it off! I stamped 'Tea for two' onto some patterened paper, cut it out and stuck it onto white cardstock before cutting it out again. It gave it an amazing firmness like chipboard. The pink gingham ribbon is from my stash. Actually I can't believe it's necessary for one person to have so much ribbon! There are three little blue roses from Wild Orchid Crafts just above the sentiment, with some little leaves at the back cut using a Nellie Snellen punch. I use this all the time. All this talk of tea has made me quite thirsty, I'm off to put the kettle on! Have a great day everyone, Mrs O.

Well, it was all going so well, I uploaded my card and saw it all in place (and thankyou so much for your kind comments) then later that day  my poor laptop went into a bit of a coma, which is why I haven't put anything on for the last few days. Then today Mr O has come in and revived it. How does he do it? I need to be careful though, as I am now addicted to blogging and can't cope without it, so I will be desperate if we need a new computer. I am delighted to say that the technical side of uploading my photo was a doddle, so I think I might have a go at entering another challenge soon. Anyway, here is today's card: These stamps are from a set called Tea House by Dovecraft. I came across these, and the matching papers in my local craft shop and grabbed them very quickly! I've got a bit of a thing about teapots, so these stamps are perfect for me. The papers all work wonderfully well together. Well I'm off for a quick horse ride now that things have cooled do...

Good morning everyone, let's see if this works! Here is my card for the St Luke's Hospice challenge: I'm so glad I've found this blog. They are raising money for a hospice in Sheffield, not very far away from us at all, and it's because of this that I've decided to pluck up the courage to have a go at my very first challenge blog. The theme is 'Say it with Flowers', which I think I have done, don't you? The stamps are from Pink Petticoat, but they were free with Simply Cards and Papercraft (rapidly becoming my favourite magazine). I didn't have any matching backing paper, so I got out the little daisy stamp and stamped all over a piece of card, so I could colour them with Promarkers and they'd match the little toppers exactly. The blue border was just plain card coloured with a blue Promarker too, so that matches as well. The ribbon was just a piece of green from my stash, but it worked a treat. The wording says, 'A little note... to ...

This is my first ever attempt at bunting on a card and I absolutely love it! You know what I'm like, once I like something it goes on everything, so look out for bunting in future. These are Craftwork Cards Vintage papers, but they were free with a magazine. I wouldn't say I'm really a vintage girl, but these papers were so pretty I couldn't resist them. I had fun making this one. I cut circles of three different sizes in different papers from the same set. It's amazing how well they all work together. I used a black marker pen on each one, then scrunched them up, opened them back out and glued them together. I've coloured card candy (the little pink and green circles) and put one in the centre of each rosette. I'm having a go at my first ever card challenge tomorrow. For some reason I didn't see the blog post when they put it on, so I'd better hurry up. Have a great day everyone. Mrs O.

I've only been crafting for just over a year, but it's funny how my own style has developed in that time. I can't help noticing I work mainly in pastel colours, I am a genuine 'less is more' person (although you may find that hard to believe with some of my cards) and I have a lot of room for little bears, trees, flowers and birds (and, for some reason, tea pots and cake stands!) And I'll probably talk more about cardmaking than most, because it's all still so new to me. And to prove my love of birds, here, as they say, is one I made earlier: This whole kit is from Little Claire's Designs. I am in their 'stamp of the month' club. It's brilliant, as they send you the stamps, plus everything you need to make one card, and loads of design ideas for other ways to use the stamps, which is brilliant for someone like me. I heat embossed the owls, which gives them more impact, and of course I coloured them with my fabulous Promarkers (but I'm cur...

This is my first ever attempt at a black and white card. Sorry the photo's not great. I only realised I didn't have a picture of it after I'd put it in the bag and was too lazy to take it out! The bird cage is a peel-off I've had for ages. I've just seen some stunning ways to use peel-offs but generally they're not my favourite thing, but this one was perfect for what I wanted to do here. The white card is embossed with dots to give it some texture. I have just put a general 'Happy Birthday' sentiment on here. I always wonder whether it's best to be general in that way, or whether to put, 'To a special sister,' or something. I think when people buy cards they are looking with a specific recipient in mind and you have to almost train them to 'think wider'. Although crafters see cards like this all the time, the average customer does not, so you have to encourage them to think a bit differently. I hope once a person has bought one of m...