The Other Side Of Me

I've been working on a scrapbook page for March, come and have a look: I'm so pleased with this page, I think it might be my favourite so far.  It took ages to make because I knew I wanted to do something with the ribbons that go with this scheme, so I took the plunge and ordered them.  I'm so glad I did as they really add to the page. I've also been searching all over the internet as I wanted to do my own wording.  Eventually I plumped for the MFT set from Dies to Die For.  They are fabulous to work with. Here are some details: Of course it's a photo of The Boy that provides the inspiration.  This was taken last June when I played about with an England flag with Barnaby.  He wasn't frightened of it at all.  After having these photos taken, I galloped up a hill with the flag streaming out behind me and John filmed it.  Barnaby didn't bat an eyelid.  He is such a brave boy.  (Most horses would absolutely freak out over this!) Can you see the ribbon

You may recall me saying in a previous post that I have a thing about bicycles.  Well it's true, and sadly I can prove it!  Check this out:  I saw this card on Pinterest a while ago and immediately recognised the papers, as I have these.  They are Thrift Shop by October Afternoon.  I couldn't resist the opportunity to use some of them up, as I'm on a mission to use up as much dsp as possible this year.  The original card has stitching on the sections, but I felt this didn't really need it as I wanted to keep the focus on the stamped image.  I did like the touch of paper piecing the bike basket though, I've never done that before. I've stamped the bike in Basic Gray ink, just to make it slightly softer and coloured it with a grey Promarker.  I haven't used those for ages, I'd forgotten what fun they are. The cardstock is Very Vanilla, but I've gone over it with my Tim Holtz old paper distress ink. I've popped some black checked ribbon whi

Hello Blog Friends! Is it snowing where you are?  I can't believe we woke up to about 4 inches of the white stuff this morning.  It's March , for goodness' sake!  But isn't crafting the perfect antidote to this ridiculous weather?  I don't know where I'd be without it at the moment. As you know, I've set up a card swap group.  The first card I made was to go to Sue Ralph, and this is what I made: I kept it nice and simple as I'd said to send out a card with 'Hello' or 'To brighten your day' or something similar just to get to know one another. The card base is Baja Breeze and it seemed to dictate the rest of the card, really.  The ribbon is Baja Breeze, too, and I've stamped and cut out the base of the flower, using my Sizzix set, then stamped on vellum for the top flower, in white ink, which I then heat embossed.  I am definitely not embossing enough and need to make a card at least once a month with a touch of heat embossing o

Good morning everyone!  After the bizaare weather yesterday we have sunshine so I am popping on with a quick post before I go and ride The Boy (more about him in a post coming soon). This year I have decided to make a birthday card for all of my work colleagues as well as the residents, so here is the card I made for Ana: I saw a similar card on Pinterest, by a lady called Cathy ( Maine Mountain Stamper ) and decided to have a go. When I look at a card I want to make the first thing I do is ask myself what it is about the card that appeals to me.  Why do I want to CASE it?  In this 'case' (!) it was the colour combination, which turned out to be Calypso Coral and Pool Party, but I loved the whole 'flowers in a row' thing, and the use of the squares. So my next job is to work out how I can replicate this style, especially if I don't have the stamps or dies used on the original card.  My flowers are from a set by Little Claire Designs, which worked perfectly

Good morning everyone!  It's actually a sunny day as I write today's post.  Maybe spring will finally put in an appearance soon. As promised, I'm now able to show you my wonderful birthday cards. These were all made by members of my brand new card swap group, plus an extra surprise.  There is some amazing talent out there, let me tell you!  Let the parade begin: This card is from my dear friend Ann Wall.  I blame her entirely for my addiction to Stampin Up!  She runs a wonderful craft group in Derbyshire, where I learned so much.  Fabulous use of the Feeling Sentimental stamp, don't you think?  I got this as a birthday present and can't wait to ink it up. What amazed me about these cards was that each one contained something significant that I love, whether it be a colour or element on the card.  In this case, it's the bicycle as I have a passion for  images of bikes.  I adore the stamped image on this wonderfully simple card by Victoria Jefferies. You

I promise I will be back later with a post showing my birthday cards, but I need to be quick to get this card on before the deadline. These are the colours for this week's colour Q challenge: I have been dying to use my new Clockworks set from Stampin Up, especially for my son in law's birthday on April 1st.  So I have a masculine stamp set in my hand, and then I see these colours, which shout 'masculine' to me, so I put them both together and came out with this: The cardbase is Lucky Limeade.  I've substituted Garden Green for Glorious Green, too.  I stamped the sentiments in the middle, covered them  up with a piece of card, then stamped various images around the edge of the card, which leaves this lovely border.  The two small cogs are stamped in Lucky Limeade, as is the clock.  I had great fun with this, here is a close-up: This is actually heat embossed.  My stamp-a-ma-jig got quite a work-out here, as I stamped the clock face in Lucky Limeade, then w

Good morning all.  Just to say first of all that I had a wonderful birthday yesterday and received some of the most beautiful cards I've ever seen, all made by members of the card swap group.  It absolutely made my day, and I can't thank you enough.  You are a very talented bunch of crafters.  I'll be showcasing the cards on here very soon, because you just have to see what I got! And now for today's card.  I saw this on Pinterest and just had to have a go.  The hardest part was working out the measurements to get 4 equal strips of paper, and now I can't remember what they are!  I had to ask my engineering husband to work it out for me in the first place (I don't do maths!)  The card base is 7" x 5" in Lucky Limeade (my new favourite colour!) so the next layer is a 1/4" shorter all round, then I cut and stuck the dsp down, and then cut with the framelits dies.  The stamp is from Sprinkled Expressions, a retired set, but as with any card I make

I've recently bought the Designer Frames Folders from Stampin Up and I am having such fun with them.  I played around researched for ages, because I kept getting creases in my card stock and found an awesome video that really helped.  If you're suffering from the same affliction (!) you really need to watch this video , it's fabulous. This is the first card that I made: I decided to have a go at making a sympathy card, before I really need one and don't want to make it!  I bought the sentiment stamp a few weeks' ago in a local craft shop.  It's actually got a little flower at the beginning of the words that's very similar to the Summer Silhouettes stamp used at the top, but I wanted the wording to be symetrical, so I just inked the letters.  Here's a close up of the stamped flower in the frame: You can see the frame more clearly in this pic.  As you can see, there are no dents in the surrounding cardstock.  I cut a little piece of white card

Hello everyone, time to share a card creation.  Have a look: Way back last year, our American cousins got hold of this beautiful dsp, Spice Cake, and I have to admit to having crafting envy!  I was so thrilled when we finally got it.  But the American girls had also found amazing ways to combine it with the Gently Falling stamp set, so imagine how pleased I was when it turned up in our catalogue this year.   This is just the sort of card I had in mind.  Having never come across 2-stage stamp sets until I met SU!, I think they are something that will fascinate me for ever.  I stamped the outline of the leaf in Soft Suede and then the inner leaf with Pool Party, taken, of course, from the colours in the dsp.  What a combination that turned out to be!  I haven't looked at this card for a while and I still love it! I am also pleased to say that my card swap group is up and running and would like to say a big thankyou to all those taking part.  The idea is that we make a card